Welcome to Is, Was and Will Be. The emphasis of this web site is to reveal the magnitude of God’s truth that can only be found in the sum of His word.

Psalm 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

The importance of this verse in understanding God’s Word cannot be overestimated. God’s Word, like Christ Himself, “Is, Was and Will
Be”. We simply must know Christ in His fullness as being “Is, Was and Will Be”. Anything less keeps us blinded to ever knowing the true Christ. One cannot be a Preterist and know Christ. One cannot be a Dispensationalist and know Christ. One cannot be a “Presentist” and know Christ. The only way to know Christ fully is to know Him as “He who Is, Was and Will Be”. It is for this reason that Christ, through His own Revelation, reiterates this truth on 11 separate occasions.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from
the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Christ giving you the eyes to see this revelation is one of the greatest steps toward beginning to understand all of God’s Word. All of God’s Word must be applied to Christ for Christ is God’s Word. When you begin to recognize that every account of His Word, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, has an “Is, Was, and Will Be” application, then you will be able to embark on your journey to see the fullness that is in Christ Jesus.

As you scour the site, we pray that you will be given the ability to see and hear the deep spiritual truths presented throughout. For those of you who are here for the first time, we recommend that you begin by first reading a few of the articles which lay out a foundation for the message being taught here. The first paper is “Rightly Dividing the Word Using a Principle Only the Apostles Understood”. This article will help you see how the word of God is to be used, by showing you how Christ opened the understanding of Scriptures to His apostles. After reading that article, read the article entitled “Strong Delusion – Will God’s ‘Strong Delusion’ Deceive You?” Here you will become exposed to many of the obstacles within the church that actually block your road to spiritual maturity. Finally, be sure to read “After the Counsel of His Own Will” where you will learn that all these things are being worked from the Will of God, and that man’s ‘free’ will is only another of the many idols of our own heart.

If for some reason, you have a question and cannot find it addressed anywhere on this site, please don’t hesitate to email us. While Mike cannot personally answer every email that we receive, either he or someone from our team will make sure that you get a prayful answer to your sincere question.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all my pleasure:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Remember, all that you will ever come to see and hear and all that keeps you blinded to the fullness of Christ are from Christ Himself. Spiritual blindness is as much a miracle of Christ as is being given the ability to see and hear the deep things of God.

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Again, we welcome you and hope you enjoy the site.

2Co 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Larry Groenewald

(All Scriptures quoted are from the King James translation of the Bible, except where otherwise stated)

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study: the interest of building the body of Christ through each member’s place and participation in it!

1Co 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

The focus is Jesus Christ, the Head, and how He organised His multifaceted body to function with one mind now, and in the age to come, to fulfill the Father’s purposes for this creation.

1Co 12:12-14 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.

Christians, in general, have attached various meanings to the concept of “the body of Christ”. These divers meanings in Christendom range from Jesus’ physical body while He was on earth to the bread that is eaten at the Lord’s Supper, as Paul describes in 1Corinthians 11:20-29. But for those with spiritual eyes to see there is more than meets the physical (eye).

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

It states clearly here in 1Corinthians that the ONE body is known by the ONE spirit of the Father. Those who drink “into one spirit” of the Father are part of the “one body” of Christ. The one spirit to drink into is the Word and doctrine of Christ:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The Word of God (written in the books from Genesis to Revelation – ref. 1Co 4:6) is the one spirit given to His church who is joined in this age by the one mind of Christ:

Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2Co 13:11  Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

1Pe 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.

The Body of Christ is the spiritual body which is the one undivided church, because there is no schism (divisions) in this body:

1Co 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

This is really important to see. The body is known by the same name(s) as that by which the Head is known. The concept of “name” in Scripture relates to doctrine(s), character and functions, to which these verses also allude:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name [Greek: “onoma” = authority, character, knowledge, function] unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Mat 1:20-21 But while he [Joseph] thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  21  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name [Greek: “onoma” = authority, character, knowledge, function] JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name [Greek: “onoma” = authority, character, knowledge, function] Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name [Greek: “onoma” = authority, character, knowledge, function] written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Rev 17:5-6 And upon her forehead was a name [Greek: “onoma” = authority, character, knowledge, function] written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Here are a few examples of how the character and functions of the Head, Jesus, are also carried through to the body of Christ:

Jesus is the Saviour/Judge of the world and so is the body prepared for those functions…

1Ti 4:9-10  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.  10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Act 10:42  And he [Jesus] commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Jesus is placed as the high priest over God’s house, and that house is the house of priests, which is His body…

Heb 10:19-21  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;  21  And having an high priest over the house of God.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The reason for the body analogy

1Co 12:12-14  For as the body [Greek “soma”] is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body [Greek “soma”], being many, are one body [Greek “soma”]: so also is Christ.  13  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body [Greek “soma”], whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.  14  For the body [Greek “soma”] is not one member, but many.

The Greek word translated as “body” (Strong’s #G4983) used in these verses is “soma” and it has a root in this Greek word “sozo” (Strong’s # G4982) which has the following meaning: “to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): – heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole” (Ref.  Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). This word was carefully chosen by the spirit of God when He chose to describe those whom the Father drags to Christ. It is a purpose-filled dragging, not just to belong to a type of social organization. Those dragged to Christ will know that they will serve a function in God’s plan and His order, according to the one doctrine of Christ. God is not of confusion, and the body of Christ reflects God’s order, even as the physical body demonstrates.

1Co 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Jas 3:16 For where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every foul deed.

God is purposeful and organized in what He does. The human body is one of the best analogies to show unity and order and is therefore an excellent metaphor of the church under the Headship of Christ. The body is not an organization (a human creation), but an organism (it is a living thing which produces life) which is orderly organized by the Head. Unity of doctrine and order is of utmost importance. If there is no unity and order, there is confusion, which is not what those in the true church of Christ want to see. This is also why the apostle Paul rebuked the unruly one in the church of Corinth:

2Co 12:20  For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults [confusion].

A person one day remarked concerning order: you get “graveyard-order” and “maternity ward-order”. The first is marked with deadness and silence; the “maternity ward-order” is marked with a lot of noise (almost chaotic with cries and laughter), and very bloody (though very clean and hygienic). The latter type of order is where new life is experienced. God’s “maternity ward” is Jesus Christ and His body. The new spiritual life is what the Lord and His church desire above all. That is the driving force to “built up a spiritual house” as we “present our bodies a living sacrifice” until we are all released from this physical body at the time of “the redemption of the purchased possession” – at the first resurrection when the redeemed of the Lord will receive the fullness of their spiritual inheritance to be the kings and priests of God on this earth (ref. Rom 8:19-39; Rom 12:1; 1Pe 2:5; Eph 1:14).

Rev 20:4-6  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.  6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The proper functioning of each member of that spiritual body becomes extremely important to the rest of the body. Each member of the body is unique, yet closely connected to the ones next to it and gets nourishment through that connection to the one Head. The body respects the uniqueness of each member, but one mind (the mind of the Head) unites all the members in that body. Each member finds its unique function only as the Head determines:

1Co 12:12-13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

As the natural body’s parts are happy with their designated positions and functions, so the members of the spiritual body of Christ are happy with what place and role they play to make the body function orderly.

Lists and descriptions of the body’s character and functions

There are numerous lists in the New Testament whereby the character and different functions in the body of Christ are described. To the church in Rome the apostle Paul gave the following directives, as the spirit of God inspired him to write:

Rom 12:6-8 Then having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, if prophecy, according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, in the ministry; or he who teaches, in the teaching; or he who exhorts, in the encouragement; or he who shares, in simplicity; or he who takes the lead, in diligence; or he who shows mercy, in cheerfulness.

To the church in Corinth Paul said this…

1Co 12:8-10 For through the Spirit is given to one a word of wisdom; and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; and to another faith by the same Spirit; and to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; and to another workings of powers, to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; and to another kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues.

1Co 12:28 And God set some in the church, firstly, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers, then works of power, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, kinds of languages.

Paul wrote these inspired words to the church at Ephesus from which we can learn so much in terms of the leadership functions in the church and how every member can contribute to that ultimate purpose:

Eph 4:11-16  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:  14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;  15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:  16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

There are similarities and differences in the above mentioned lists. How do we deal with that? To the natural mind this proves a conflict or a contradiction, but the spirit-mind of Christ helps us to add all together. The one list adds to the others and brings a fuller picture to the spiritually discerning reader – “line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there al little”:

Psa 119:160 ASV  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.

Isa 28:9-10  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

These above mentioned lists concerning the body of Christ also do not cover all the different functions that are mentioned in Scriptures which are necessary for a healthy spiritual body.

Functioning in the body of Christ by word or deed

There are many ways in which we serve others – by word and by deed:

1Pe 4:10-11 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister/serve, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

These functions of the spirit of God in the church of Christ have three dimensions which are distinguished in these words:

1Co 12:4-6 Now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which works all in all.

These three dimensions are interrelated because of their common origin: they are from the same Lord (the Head, Jesus Christ) who has the same spirit of God, the Father. 

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

We know that the spiritual application of God’s Word is of higher and eternal value (John 6:63), but we do not despise the physical application, as it is through the natural that we can enter and then, God willing, grow to the deeper spiritual applications.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Paul referred to the disorderly Corinthians as spiritual babies in Christ. They (like all of us at our appointed times) were going through a carnal and physical stage in their spiritual development in the church, and they did not value the spiritual order and growth in faith. After showing them their carnality, Paul shows them how the spiritual application of these functions in the body of Christ should be desired much more. He would not “have them ignorant” of that all-important “more excellent” spiritual application:

1Co 12:1 Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

1Co 12:31 But zealously strive after the better gifts. And yet I show to you a more excellent way.

These gifts and ministries can only fully function when the “more excellent way” of love is adhered to. We are all to “follow after charity (love)”.

1Co 14:1 Follow after charity [love], and desire spiritual [gifts]…

This is how the scriptures define love:

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

The operation of love makes the body function properly as love is the important ingredient of the gifts and ministries of the spirit of God, which enable the body of Christ to function properly and become a healthy spiritual body.

THE DIVIRSITIES OF GIFTS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD

The danger of the gifts of the spirit of God is that carnal babes in Christ apply all the gifts carnally and in a selfish puffed up way (highlighting the users rather than the purpose of the gift). This is one reason why the book of Corinthians was written for our admonition, as we all deal with these attitudes in our own spiritual growth. The Corinthians in Paul’s day focused on the carnal application of these gifts, and we read what this focus will always bring about:

1Co 1:7  So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:

1Co 1:10-13  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.  11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.  12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.  13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Although God is the giver of all gifts, to Paul it is important throughout these words to emphasize their spiritual (non-carnal) purpose in the body (the church):

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

Any gift is something that is undeserved, but given without “variableness” (no change) nor “shadow of turning” (recalling the gift):

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God knows the end from the beginning, and He has planned every minute detail of our lives – nothing we do can change His mind about the gift He has given us.

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

God knows that the emphasis is not on the receiver’s abilities or lack thereof, but for the objectives the gift will achieve as determined by God alone. The end goal of everything is to reveal the glory of God. God does not change His mind.

Job 23:13-14  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.  14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

None of the gifts of the spirit of God work in isolation of the body of Christ. All gifts are given to the body to profit the whole body. Selfish ambitions are not tolerated in the body. The natural body will reject all foreign things and the spiritual body is no different. The Head is going to present His Church holy and without blemish:

Eph 5:25-27  …Christ also loves the church, and gave himself for it;  26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The nine gifts that are used by Christ to sanctify and cleanse His Church are…

1Co 12:8-10 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

All these gifts are necessary in the one body and link with the ministries and operations to cause the body to function properly, ‘decently and in order’ according to the ‘one mind’. Let’s list the nine gifts and give a short explanation of each:

The gift of the Word of wisdom

1Co 12:8  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;

This is the first spiritual gift mentioned in the list, and we are reminded to “covet earnestly the best gifts” (1Co 12:31). There is good reason why this gift stands on top. This gift is primarily given to preach (or teach) the Word (the gospel in particular). Jesus never preached (or taught) anything “of Himself”, except the Words (works) of the Father:

Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

God’s words are His works – that is everything about Him we need to know. Jesus never got upset when people interrupted and stopped him. He allowed people to ask questions, want advice or help. The interaction of Jesus with people also included having to listen to them and to have discussions with them. Even at an early age people were astonished at His wisdom and His answers:

Luk 2:46-47 (DRB)  And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions.  47  And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers.

Preaching, however, does not only have a verbal side, but also has to do with our daily dealings with people (family, friends, colleagues, etc.). This links beautifully with the next point here under this gift of the Word of wisdom. The root for the word “wisdom” in the original Greek means to be clear, considerate, meek, discreet and thoughtful in the way we live in relation to what we preach and teach. James wrote these truths:

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 

The Word (preached and taught with wisdom) affects our daily lives for others to witness – it is the “demonstration” of God’s Word (“of the spirit and of power”) when it is backed by our lifestyle:

1Co 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

The Word of wisdom displays a powerful spiritual witness to the testimony of Jesus Christ in the spiritually matured:

Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

The importance of this verse in understanding God’s Word cannot be overestimated. God’s Word, like Christ Himself, “Is, Was and Will Be”. We simply must know Christ in His fullness as being “Is, Was and Will Be”. Anything less keeps us blinded to ever knowing the true Christ. One cannot be a Preterist and know Christ. One cannot be a Dispensationalist and know Christ. One cannot be a “Presentist” and know Christ. The only way to know Christ fully is to know Him as “He who Is, Was and Will Be”. It is for this reason that Christ, through His own Revelation, reiterates this truth on 11 separate occasions.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Christ giving you the eyes to see this revelation is one of the greatest steps toward beginning to understand all of God’s Word. All of God’s Word must be applied to Christ for Christ is God’s Word. When you begin to recognize that every account of His Word, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, has an “Is, Was, and Will Be” application, then you will be able to embark on your journey to see the fullness that is in Christ Jesus.

As you scour the site, we pray that you will be given the ability to see and hear the deep spiritual truths presented throughout. For those of you who are here for the first time, we recommend that you begin by first reading a few of the articles which lay out a foundation for the message being taught here. The first paper is “Rightly Dividing the Word Using a Principle Only the Apostles Understood”. This article will help you see how the word of God is to be used, by showing you how Christ opened the understanding of Scriptures to His apostles. After reading that article, read the article entitled “Strong Delusion – Will God’s ‘Strong Delusion’ Deceive You?” Here you will become exposed to many of the obstacles within the church that actually block your road to spiritual maturity. Finally, be sure to read “After the Counsel of His Own Will” where you will learn that all these things are being worked from the Will of God, and that man’s ‘free’ will is only another of the many idols of our own heart.

If for some reason, you have a question and cannot find it addressed anywhere on this site, please don’t hesitate to email us. While Mike cannot personally answer every email that we receive, either he or someone from our team will make sure that you get a prayful answer to your sincere question.

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Remember, all that you will ever come to see and hear and all that keeps you blinded to the fullness of Christ are from Christ Himself. Spiritual blindness is as much a miracle of Christ as is being given the ability to see and hear the deep things of God.

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Again, we welcome you and hope you enjoy the site.

2Co 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Dear Mike:

Brother, thank you for the tremendous work you do in guiding those of us who are hungry for the truth. It was only recently that I became aware of the milk doctrines of Christ. Upon investigation I have been shown a basket of info on these precious first principles of faith, but I have never discovered a comprehensive dissertation on their tenets from your blessed perspective. I would like to see a paper by you listing and then explaining each one as a matter of record. Although I believe I am familiar with the general principles of most of them, I am at a loss to explain to my own satisfaction the doctrine of the “laying on of hands”. Is this doctrine the foundation upon which the Catholic Church establishes their belief in Apostolic Succession? Or does it have to do with specific gifts of power conferred for a short time only upon the first disciples of Christ for the specific purpose of kick starting Christ’s ministry? If you have the time or can direct one of your close collaborators to reply I would be greatly appreciative.
May God Bless You For The Ages To Come,
M____

Hi M____,

Thank you for your question.
I actually believe that it is very significant that there are only six doctrines mentioned as the first principles of the oracles of God and considered to be milk as opposed to strong meat.
These six doctrines are mentioned in Hebrews chapter six as doctrines which those who are able to receive “strong meat” ought to go beyond. Here are the verses immediately preceding the verses which mention the six milk doctrines:

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [ be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [ even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Now we have those six “first principles of the oracles of God” listed for us as milk which if one knows only milk, we are told he is “unskilful in the word of righteousness. Here is that list:

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

For all who are able to receive it, these are the doctrines in which we tend to stagnate. These are the doctrines which are preached in every church in the nation, day in and day out, week in and week out, month, year, and decades in and out, as if there were no doctrines that matter beyond these six first principles of the oracles of God. Are they important doctrines? Yes, indeed they are important. Here is just how important they are:

1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

“As a newborn babe” these six doctrines seem like a t- bone steak. Let’s list these doctrines numerically in the order they are given, and we can see just how important they are to a newborn baby:

1) repentance from dead works
2) faith toward God
3) baptisms
4) laying on of hands
5) resurrection of the dead
6) eternal judgment

All of these doctrines are “sincere milk” to those who are just coming to them. But if we have known God for several years and we have not gotten beyond these six “principles of the doctrine of Christ”, we are “yet carnal… babes in Christ.”

1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [ even] as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [ to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [ there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

I will comment on each of these six doctrines, referred to as “sincere milk.”

1) Repentance from dead works:

While I am grateful that God has given me repentance for my sins, I pray that He also give me of His chastening grace to overcome those sins in my life. But overcoming cannot begin without first being repentant of sin. I thank God for the fact that He has given to me “repentance from dead works.”

2) Faith toward God

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [ that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

It is impossible to please God without faith, and yet grace and faith are both a gift from God:

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

We cannot even believe in God and His Word without Him giving us the faith to do so. We are all like the father of the demon possessed son who cried out “Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief:

Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

With so many buying into the theory of evolution with all of its lies of “science falsely so called,” with the love of so many waxing cold and accusing God of being an unloving God, with all the lies of Babylon blotting out the light of God’s Word, I am especially thankful for the faith toward God He has bestowed upon me. “It is the gift of God” which very few have been given.

3) baptisms

Yes, it is plural baptisms. It is through baptism into Christ’s death that we are saved from our sins:

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

It is in coming to see that we must die to sin that we are truly baptized. It is baptism which changes our lives in a way that others can actually see that change:

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

It is through baptism that we become a new man. But all of this is done, not through a physical ritual as is practised by the churches of Babylon. The baptism which truly washes us clean of our sins is the “washing of water by the word:”

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

God’s own Word is the ‘water’ which purges us of our sins. Nothing without a man either defiles or cleanses a man. All that God does is done within. It is what is accomplished within that causes outward manifestations:

Mat 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26 [ Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [ which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

And yet Babylon insists on outward rituals as proof first. Consequently the inside of the cup cannot be cleansed by ignoring what is to be cleansed first. Physical water is “without a man:”

Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

The things without a man can neither cleanse nor defile a man. If the inside is not first cleansed by “the washing of water by the word,” no amount of physical water will cleanse a man within.
That baptisms are plural and progressive as revealed by all of the types of baptisms given in the Old Testament. The flood of Noah typifies our earliest baptism as we first come to see our need for a Savior. The crossing of the Red Sea typifies our deliverance from the powers of Egypt over our lives. The crossing of the Jordan is a later baptism which follows the rebellions we all have toward God as we experience the fire of His Word burning out those kings and mountains within us which rebel against His dominion over our flesh.
After this baptism we still face the baptism of the Jordan and the circumcision which follows that baptism. This prepares us to fight the giants within our ‘land’ which symbolizes our carnal lusts and passions within our bodies.
But after fighting the giants within and casting many of them out, according to God’s Word “written for our admonition” we still have yet another baptism. Even after overcoming many of the giants who would have us dead, we still must be carried off into Babylon where we will be thoroughly indoctrinated in all of her false teachings for a symbolic seventy years.
But at God’s appointed time we will as part of “living by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God,” recross the Jordan and return to our Father and begin to rebuild His temple within us.
Every crossing of any body of water typifies the doctrine of “baptisms.” I am thankful that I will indeed be baptized with the baptism with which my Lord is baptized:

Mat 20:23 (a) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with:

Having said all of this I must point out that the apostle Paul began his ministry baptizing new converts. But after it was revealed to him that the only cleansing accomplished was the cleansing done by “the word,” he then makes this statement:

1Co 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
1Co 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
1Co 1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
1Co 1:16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

“Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel” is just another way of saying that the washing of the water is by the word of the gospel. Christ came “under the law” and was baptized “under the law.” But when He came up out of the water of John’s baptism, “the heavens were opened” and Christ himself “baptized not, but His disciples:”

Joh 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
Joh 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Joh 4:3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

Why are we informed that Jesus Himself did not baptize? It is to tell us that Christ was never concerned with outward rituals. But His carnal disciples and the carnal multitudes were still ‘under the law,” and very much impressed with and in need of outward signs of righteousness. The Truth has always been that any real washing that would be accomplished would be “the washing of water by the word.”

4) Laying on of hands

As a child hands were laid upon me as I was baptized in water. Hands were again laid upon me as it was prophesied that I would be used of God. We all laid hands upon each other as we prayed for each other’s physical health and well being. And hands were also laid upon the heads of those whom we ordained as deacons and teachers and evangelists.

Mar 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
Act 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

I am grateful for all the hands that have been laid upon me over the years. It has been part of bringing me to where I am in the Lord. Without every step we have taken we could not be where we are.
But once again, “there is nothing without a man which can defile him.” So the outward laying on of hands or refraining from this outward ritual is not what ordains one to the ministry, heals one or baptizes one. What does ordain one to the ministry, heal the sick and baptizes one, is demonstrated by the stories of the Gentiles at the home of Cornelius, and the healing of the centurion’s servant. What accomplishes all of these things is, in reality, faith in the words of Christ. Here is a story very much agreeing with the message of the holy spirit being given before the laying on of hands and before physical baptism.

Mat 8:5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this [ man], Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [ it].
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard [ it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A physical presence with the physical laying on of hands is what is needed by those whose faith is equal to that in Israel. It is “the children of the kingdom” who “seek after a sign,” who are “weak in the faith” and who “who shall be cast out into outer darkness.”
Yes, the doctrine of the laying on of hands is also one of the six milk doctrines which are used of God to hold back the multitudes who must have a sign:

Mat 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

When Christ says “wicked and adulterous” He is not talking physically. He is not talking about physical wickedness or physical adultery. What he is speaking of is “ninety and nine righteous men who need no repentance.”

Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

The reason the “ninety and nine” think that they “need no repentance” is because they have all had hands laid on them as they were baptized, healed and ordained.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

As with baptisms, Paul’s ministry began with laying on of hands and many healings. It ended with the Epaphroditus “being sick nigh unto death…”

Php 2:25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
Php 2:26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
Php 2:27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Trophimus was left sick at Miletum:

2Ti 4:20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

Timothy suffered from a ‘stomach affliction and often infirmities.

1Ti 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

And Paul himself suffered from being sick:

Gal 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.
Gal 4:14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

The apostle Paul, like all of us, laid hands on many and had many prayers answered at the beginning of his ministry. But it is not answered prayer, but unanswered prayer which will try our faith as it no doubt tried the faith of the apostle Paul.
I have no doubt in my mind that Paul prayed earnestly and fervently for Epaphroditus, Trophimus, Timothy and for His own healing. But those prayers were not answered. If we cannot understand that God will, when we can bear it, try our faith to show us where we are weak, then we are not worthy to be used of Him to deal with our own brothers who have sold us into Egypt. God is calling us to “crush strong nations afar off.” He is not using mere babes to “rule this world.”

Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Laying on of hands is a milk doctrine which should not be the foundation of anyone’s faith. It certainly has nothing to do with the false doctrine of Papal succession, except as it serves to demonstrate how childish are such outward rituals.

5) Resurrection of the dead

Jesus Christ taught the resurrection of the dead. He taught it as both within, and without. He taught the resurrection of the dead both as a present spiritual experience and He taught it as a dispensational, future event:

Mat 22:28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
Mat 22:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Mat 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Paul was, of course on the same page as his Lord, teaching that it is through a present death and resurrection that we are brought to that future resurrection of the dead:

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ [ be] in you, the body [ is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [ is] life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

With the apostle Paul, I consider myself dead to sin and through Christ in me, alive unto righteousness.
None of which denies a future death and resurrection from among the dead:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [ and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive [ and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead comforts me very much.

6) Eternal (aionian) judgment

The doctrine of aionian judgment is closely tied to the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Here is the basic truth of the purpose for aionian judgment:

1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord…” For what purpose are we now being judged? “That we should not be condemned with the world.” But to what is the world condemned? Here is what those who do not now judge themselves are facing:

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [ the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

There it is staring us in the face. The great white throne is simply a later, less desirable judgment. And what is judgment? “When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord.” Why does the Lord judge and chasten “the dead small and great?”

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Now ask yourself, ‘Who does God love?’ Does He love only those who believe on Him? Is that to be found in Joh 3:16? Does his propitiatory sacrifice apply only to those of us who have accepted Him as our savior? What does God have to say about this question:

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Who will “Believe on Him?”

Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [ things] in heaven, and [ things] in earth, and [ things] under the earth;
Php 2:11 And [ that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [ is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The demonic doctrine of eternal torture in eternal fire does anything but glorify God as a loving Father who chastens His wayward sons. Thisis what He says will occur in His time:

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [ Greek – drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

No man “can” come to God except the spirit of God drags him to God. So who does God tell us will be drug to Him?

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment [ chastening – 1Co 11:31-32] of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [ Greek – drag] men unto me.

But doesn’t this means just all who accept Christ in this age? What does God say He means by all? Does He mean as all who believe only? Or is it “As in Adam all die” How are we to understand that Christ will drag all to Himself?

1Co 15:21 For since by man came] death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

It is to be understood “as in Adam.” That is how God will drag all men to himself. Will it all be accomplished in this life? Is the first resurrection the only hope for salvation? Not according to God’s Word. According to God’s Word, the first resurrection is but the firstfuits of God’s harvest of bringing mankind into His barn:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order : Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then [ cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

God’s harvest, like his Old Testament shadows reveal, is a three- step harvest. Christ is the earliest harvest, the barley harvest, 50 days before the wheat harvest know as “the feast of firstfruits.” Is this not what God’s New Testament also teaches? Of course, it is:

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Are we the only fruits who are “Christ’s at His coming? No, we are not the only fruits. Christ is before us, we are “His at His coming,” but “then comes the end harvest “in the end of the year:”

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, [ which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

God has three harvest’s as He drags all men to Himself; 1) “the feast of unleavened bread” followed fifty days later by 2) “the feast of the firstfruits of your harvest,” also known as the the feast of Pentecost, which simply means ‘count fifty.’ And last, but greatest in number Isa 3) the fall harvest, ” the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year.”
“As in Adam all die so in Christ will all be made alive. But each in his own order 1) Christ the first of the firstfruits, then 2) “They that are Christ’s at His coming… a kind of firstfruits” and “then comes the end” [“the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year”].
And this is what the Word of God says throughout:

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 4:9 This [ is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
1Ti 4:11 These things command and teach.

“Specially,” not ‘exclusively.’ Who do you know who “commands and teaches” this “faithful saying… worthy of all acceptation? Not one church in orthodox Christianity.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And the final scripture of many dozens which I could reference is:

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

The apostle Paul discusses all of these doctrine in his epistles. After a discussion about the events leading up to the fist resurrection he make this statement:

1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

So I am very thankful for the doctrine of eternal judgment. The doctrine of eternaI (aionian) judgment is nothing more than the doctrine of universal salvation. I no longer believe in an eternal death or an eternal life of torment in literal flames of fire. Neither of those doctrines are of any comfort.
But having an appreciation of all of these milk doctrines, I must now advise you to read the paper entitled ‘Will God’s Strong Delusion Deceive You?’ It is the doctrine that all you need to be saved are these six doctrines. Nothing could be further from the Truth, and yet nothing has been more successful in keeping God’s people from going on to maturity:

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [ be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk [ is] unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [ even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving [ Greek- going beyond] the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Why do we need to go beyond these six ‘first oracles?’

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child [ Greek – nepios – baby], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children [ Greek- nepios- babies], were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons [ An entirely different Greek word- huios – mature son].
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons [ Greek – huios – mature son], God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son [ huios] into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son [ huios]; and if a son [ huios], then an heir of God through Christ.

” If a huios then an heir of God through Christ.” God is calling many to remain as immature nepios babes in Christ. Out of those many babies He is calling a very few to “leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity. The few who are chosen out of the many called are to be the future rulers of this world. God is not using babies to rule this world. He will only use those who have “had their senses execised to know good and evil and who want to go on to the “strong meat” of “filling up in my body what is behind of the afflictions of Christ…”

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

I hope this puts these six basic, “first principles of the doctrine of Christ in the Biblical perspective that the apostles Peter and Paul put them in:

1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes [ Greek – nepios – babies], desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Let us all appreciate “milk of the word” for what it is. Milk is for spiritual babies. But let none of us be guilty of refusing to “grow thereby” and ‘leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ so we can go on unto perfection and maturity.’

Mike

[ For indepth studies on each of these milk doctrines go here.]

Belief in a Triune God-head has been declared by some to be one of the required beliefs to which one must confess to avoid the label “cult” these days, or in post-Nicean days, “heretic”. Having read many essays on this subject over the years, one thing has become clear; proponents of the Trinity are forced to go outside scripture, outside the family and outside reality to explain how three equals one. So, having no delusions of settling this question once and for all, let us simply consider what scripture says on this subject.

The pivotal trinity scriptures, of course, are the last three verses of the Gospel of Matthew:

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake to them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

There it is – “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” Isn’t that three in one? Does the use of the words “Holy Ghost” here (Strong’s Concordance #40 hagios= holy, #4151 pneuma = spirit or ghost) somehow exclude the Father from being “hagios” or “pneuma?” Of course not! Christ calls His Father hagios, holy (Joh 17:11). Also, we are told “God is a spirit” (pneuma) (Joh 4:24).

It must be noted at this juncture that the command to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and holy ghost in Mat 28:19 itself was added by the Catholic Church in the second century to uphold their own belief of a triune diety. A reader from New York kindly pointed me to the credible proof of this truth. Baptism was done in the name of Jesus Christ only. This fact is admitted in their own Catholic Encyclopedia II, page 263…

“The baptismal formula was changed from the name of Jesus Christ to the words Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by the Catholica Church in the second century.”

Additionally, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, page 2637, under “Baptism”, says:

“Mat 28:19 in particular only canonizes a later ecclesiastical situation, that its universalism is contrary to the facts of early Christian history, and its Trinitarian formula (is) foreign to the mouth of Jesus.”

We can further use as proof of this verse’s error as quoted from “The Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C. 1923, New Testament Studies Number 5” by Bernard Henry Cuneo:

“The Lord’s Command To Baptize An Historical Critical Investigation. By Bernard Henry Cuneo page 27. “The passages in Acts and the Letters of St. Paul. These passages seem to point to the earliest form as baptism in the name of the Lord.” Also we find, “Is it possible to reconcile these facts with the belief that Christ commanded his disciples to baptize in the triune form?” Had Christ given such a command, it is urged, the Apostolic Church would have followed him, and we should have some trace of this obedience in the New Testament. No such trace can be found. The only explanation of this silence, according to the anti-traditional view, is that the short christological (Jesus Name) formula was (the) original, and the longer triune formula was a later development.”

These and various other listings agreeing to the later addition of the “Holy Ghost” to this verse are numerous, and many can be found listed as “A Collection of Evidence Against the Traditional Wording of Matthew 28:19” by Clinton D. Willis.

Now we know from the scriptures that the Father is “hagios” and “pneuma” spirit. So is there any scriptural reason to believe that the “hagios pneuma” is the spirit of the Father? As a matter of fact, the scripture says exactly that!

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Let’s consider a few other scriptures on this subject. Notice:

Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost (hagios pneuma).

Now look at:

Luk 1:35 The Holy Ghost shall come upon you and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Matthew says simply “she was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost.” Luke 1:35 mentions “the Holy Ghost”, “the Highest” and “God.”

Who is the Father of Christ?

So who fathered Christ? Well, since Christ spent His whole earthly ministry talking about “my Father” (Mat 7:21), and “My Father and your Father” (Joh 20:17), it should be obvious who is the Father of Christ.

Then in Matthew 12:31, Christ says “the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” Why did Christ say this? Because He had just been accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons (note vs 24). So how does Christ respond to this accusation? Notice vs 28:

Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

He then goes on to warn them against blaspheming the “hagios pneuma“, Holy Spirit, translated Holy Ghost in the KJV.

Obviously Christ had cast out the demons by the Holy Ghost, or as He puts it in verse 28, “by the Spirit of God.” This same account in Luke 11:19 calls the hagios pneuma “the finger of God”, again indicating the Holy Spirit is the essence through which God operates.

Then what is Christ’s relationship to the Holy Spirit? To answer this question, as always, we must consider all sides of the question and all the scriptures on the subject. A couple of very revealing scriptures are John 14:28 and Luke 11:11-13.

Notice first:

Joh 14:28 My father is greater than I.

Remember now, both Matthew and Luke, as shown above, say Christ was fathered of Mary by the hagios pneuma, Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. Maybe that explains why in all His earthly ministry Christ speaks often of His relationship with His Father (Joh 14:10-11; 15:1; 11:41-42), but never once mentions His relationship with this other ‘person’ supposedly equal to Himself and the Father.

What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?

A careful reading of John chapters 14-16 makes it clear what the hagios pneuma, Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is and what function it serves.

First we will look at Luke 11:11-12.

Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

Let’s notice here Christ is telling us the Father has (owns) something He wants to give to us: something of His He considers will nourish and strengthen us. What is this nourishment the Father has for us? Notice verse 13:

Luk 11:13 If you then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?

Notice here that even the King James translators render the Greek words “hagios pneuma” as Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is a gift God the Father has for us if we will only ask Him.

We still need to understand what Christ has to do with the Holy Spirit. So let’s go back to John 14 where the “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” (vs 26) is first mentioned in scripture. As a matter of fact, the only mention of the Comforter in all of the King James Bible is in the 14th, 15th and 16th chapters of the gospel of John. Notice I said “in the King James Bible.” I did not say “in the Bible.” I’ll explain the reason for this shortly.

First let’s see what scriptures reveal about this “Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost” (Joh 14:26). The context of this chapter is established in the previous chapter 13. In John, Christ says:

Joh 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You shall seek me: And as I said unto the Jews, whither I go, you cannot come; so now say I to you.

Now, read verses 4-6 of chapter 14: “And whither I go you know and the way you know. Thomas saith unto Him, “Lord we know not whither you go and how can we know the way?” Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by Me.” Going on to verse 10: “Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works.”

Where is the Holy Spirit in all this? Christ says “I am in the Father and the Father in me.”

Notice the wording of verses 16-20; the first mention in all scripture of “The Comforter.” “And I will pray the Father, and He will send you another Comforter (Greek: parakleetos, Strongs #3875), that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him; for He dwells WITH YOU (Christ) and SHALL be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.” In other words, Christ comes to us through His Father’s spirit. Now look at verse 20: At that day (when the Comforter “dwells with you”) “you shall know that I am in my Father and you are in Me and I in you.”

As clearly as it can be stated, our Savior has here said, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” If we can see as Christ told Phillip that “I am in the Father and the Father in me” (vs 10), then we will understand who the Holy Ghost is and what its function is. So why then would Christ use the word “another” Comforter? Was the Christ who “dwells with you” (vs 17) somehow different from the Christ who “shall be in you?” Oh, how true this is!

The apostles knew Christ outwardly in the flesh for 3 1/2 years without even being converted (Luk 22:32). They had baptized more disciples than John (Joh 4:2), cast out demons (Luk 10:17) and healed the sick (Luk 10:9), yet Christ tells Peter in Luk 22:32 that he has never even been converted.

We all experience Christ in the flesh (baptism, demons cast out, healings); blessings indeed, but all experienced in the passing flesh long, long before He begins to live His life in us. So John 14:17, “…He dwells with you and shall be in you” is as true today as the day the apostle John wrote those words. As good as Christ in the flesh was, “another comforter” is much better. The apostle Paul puts it this way: “henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.” Another, a better Comforter has come. He is not just WITH us. He is IN US!

Let’s go back now to John 14. Christ continues to expound upon the coming of “another Comforter.”

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Notice Christ mentions only His Father and Himself. Now verses 25 and 26:

Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name [remember verse 18], he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

These words sound very similar to the verses mentioned earlier when we posed the question, “Is there any scriptural reason to believe that the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of the Father?” The first scripture is:

Luk 12:11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
Luk 12:12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

Notice now how Matthew is inspired to relate this same event.

Mat 10:17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
Mat 10:19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

There it is, made plain by the scriptures. The Holy Ghost is the spirit of the Father; a gift the Father gives to those who ask Him (Luk 11:13). Christ is in the Father, and we are in Christ, and Christ is in us (Joh 14:20). Teaching us all things (Joh 14:26) the “comforter…even the Spirit of Truth…” (Joh 14:16 and 17). AND WHO DOES CHRIST SAY THIS “COMFORTER…EVEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH” IS??

Notice what John says:

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things [including the holy spirit] that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The Holy Ghost, the gift God has to give to those who ask him (Luk 11:13) is also Christ’s spirit so that…:

Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Now Joh 16:7 makes sense.

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Ever wonder why the Holy Ghost couldn’t come while Christ was here?

We can clearly understand that pivotal scripture in Matthew.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [which should read simply “in the name of Jesus”:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Is Christ The Comforter?

If the Holy Ghost, was given to Christ by His Father, and through that “holy spirit of God” (Eph 4:30), the hagios pneuma, which is the Comforter, the parakleetos, is now Christ in us, then there should be a scripture that calls Christ the parakleetos.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

It so happens that there is just such a scripture, but you would never know it by simply reading your King James Bible or for that matter using your Strong’s concordance, which is keyed to the King James English. If one uses Strong’s, one will see the four places where parakleetos appears in John 14, 15 and 16.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

These scriptures certainly reveal Christ as the parakleetos as we have shown. However, you would need to use an Englishman’s Greek Concordance (Wigram’s) or America’s Online Bible to find the only other appearance of this Greek word in all of the scriptures. It’s not translated Comforter there. Remember as you read this that, according to John 14:26, The Comforter (parakleetos) is the Holy Ghost. The scripture before us is the First Epistle of John, chapter two verse one. “My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate (parakleetos – not even capitalized here in the KJV) with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” There it is once again stated straight out. Jesus Christ is the parakleetos, the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost. In what way is He the Comforter? He is the Comforter because “all the Father has [including “the holy spirit of God”] He has given to Me” and Christ now gives the Holy Spirit “to whom He will.”

“Christ is our parakleetos, but not of Himself.

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

In conclusion I will repeat the verses which demonstrate how Christ is “the Comforter which is the holy spirit”:

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He [“the comforter… even the spirit of Truth”) shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath [including “the comforter… the spirit of Truth”] are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This all serves to make super clear that “the comforter, which is the holy spirit… even the spirit of Truth”, has been given to Christ by His Father, and it is through “the holy spirit of God” (Eph 4:30) which was given to Christ by His Father, that Christ can make this statement and can be our parakleetos, our comforter:

Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Heb 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I [Christ] will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

One God The Father

So what is the conclusion and sum of this discussion? There are several scriptures that come to mind. The first is:

Luk 10:22: All things are delivered to Me of My Father: and no man knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him.

Another scripture along these lines is:

1Co 15:27 For He (the Father) has put all things under His (Christ’s) feet. But when He (the Father) saith all things are put under Him (Christ) it is manifest that He (the Father) is excepted which did put all things under Him (Christ).
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto Him (Christ) then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him (the Father) that put all things under Him (Christ) that God (the Father) may be all in all.

Ephesians 1:10 says this is ‘all things in heaven and on earth.’ The Holy Ghost, of course, is not mentioned.

The Godhead is Understood by the Things That are Made

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ: and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God (the Father).

Paul is applying in this verse the principle he lays down in Romans 1.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and God head; so that they are without excuse:

Paul’s point in 1 Corinthians 11 is that the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Notice now verse 12:

1Co 11:12 For as the woman is of the man even so is the man by the woman: but ALL THINGS OF GOD.

Every man ever born excepting Adam, came through a woman. In a sense Adam came “by the woman”. Applying the Romans 1:10 principle, we could say that in the beginning, God (the Father has no beginning) the Father created Christ and through Christ created the rest of creation. And how does this fit with scripture? Very well indeed. Notice:

Col 1:15 Who (Christ) is the image (not God but the image) of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him (Christ) were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

This, of course, agrees with the gospel of John.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The Word Was God

Does it not say, “The Word WAS God?” Yes, it does, and He certainly is. Notice:

Joh 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

Psa 82:6 If He called them gods unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of Him whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Obviously, as far as Christ was concerned, being a god is quite different from being THE Father.

Who Can Be Worshipped?

Certainly Christ can be worshiped (Mat 8:2; 9:18; 14:33 and 15:25). Does being worshiped make one “Father of whom are all things?” Apparently not. Notice:

Rev 3:9 I will make them of the synagogue of Satan to come and worship before your feet.

Worship is apparently something reserved for gods, but only for those gods who can say with Christ “my Father is greater than I am” (Joh 14:28).

Now let’s allow the risen Christ Himself to reveal to us His relationship to His Father. After all, it is He, not John, who is the revealer. Read Revelation 3:14.

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD:

There it is! Christ Himself is calling Himself “the beginning of the creation of God.”

Did Any of The Apostles Teach Anything About A Trinitarian Godhead?

In conclusion, the overwhelming weight of scriptural evidence is that they did NOT teach any such doctrine. How then, did they address this question? Apparently there was no question in the minds of the apostles. Here’s the most succinct statement in scripture and one to which we should all be able to give a resounding AMEN!

1Co 8:6 (a) But to us there is but ONE GOD (and who is that one God?) THE FATHER, OF WHOM ARE ALL THINGS and we in Him…

Here is one of those straightforward, simple scriptural statements. It is in agreement with all scripture. We would do well to simply believe it.

Let’s finish the verse. There is something else God the Father (of whom are all things) wants us to understand about the way He operates, because He is a very consistent and faithful God and Father.

1Co 8:6 (b) … and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Remember now the Romans 1:20 [invisible Godhead is understood by the things that are made] principle? Also, remember the 1 Corinthians 11:12 [the woman was taken out of the man but the man is by the woman but ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD] principle?

Well, here those principles are again: And one Lord Jesus Christ, BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, and we by Him.

1Th 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

Heb 12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Let us all rejoice that before God the Father ever created the first physical prototype, that the last Adam was provided to redeem all those who were in the first Adam (1Co 15:45). According as He has chosen us in Him (Christ) BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD Having made known to us the mystery (Greek: secret) of His will, according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself: [Now here’s the secret!] That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things IN CHRIST, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in Him: (Eph 1:4,9,10)

But How About 1 John 5:7?

The answer to this question is certainly ancient history to any student of the scriptures who has progressed beyond the “If the King James Bible was good enough for the apostles, then it’s good enough for me!” attitude.

Here is what Jameson, Fausset and Brown Commentary has to say on this verse:

The only Greek manuscripts IN ANY FORM which supports the words, in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one; and there are three that bear witness in earth are the Monfortianus of Dublin, copied evidently from the MODERN Latin Vulgate; the Revianue, copied from the COMLUTENSIAN POLYGLOT; a manuscript at Naples, with the words added in the margin by a recent hand; OTTOBONIANUS, 298, of the fifteenth century, the GREEK of which is a mere translation of the accompanying Latin. ALL the old versions omit the words. The oldest manuscripts of the VULGATE omit them: the earliest VULGATE manuscript which has them, WIZANBURGENSIS, 99, is of the eighth century.” (Emphasis is the author’s.)

One should know that the three men who wrote the JFB commentary believe in the Trinity, and go on to attempt to justify what they admit are words added in the margin by a recent hand.

Let us by God’s grace seek only the truth of God’s word as it was given to us by holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2Pe 1:21) Also, That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His son Jesus Christ. And these things we write unto you that your joy may be full. (1Jn 1:3-4)

[If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Mike Vinson.]

Rightly Dividing the Word Using a Principle Only the Apostles Understood

Part 1

Updated November 4, 2023

The Bible is without question the most well-known book in the history of this world. It is the most revered book on earth. It has for decades consistently outsold every other book in the world. Bible sales top 100 million every year. It always heads the best seller list.

While it is no doubt the most quoted and most popular book in the world, it is at the same time paradoxically the least read and even less understood book of all time.

Why is a book so universally acknowledged as the Word of God, or at the very least the greatest piece of literature in existence, so completely misunderstood or ignored?

God gives us His answer to this paradox. Within this answer we are given a key to unlocking the scriptures. Notice this statement directly from the mind of God via the pen of the apostle Paul: “the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1Co 2:14).

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Notice: “the things of the Spirit of God” are spiritually discerned. They are “foolishness” to the natural mind. The natural mind may want to receive them but “neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned”.

So no amount of writing, explaining or educating can give one an ability to receive “the things of the Spirit of God” because they are spiritually discerned.

Education is not the gift of the Spirit of God. Take note what the educated leaders of the church said of Christ, “How knoweth this man letters having never learned?”

Joh 7:15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

Christ was not illiterate, and the Pharisees acknowledged this fact. However, they could not understand where his “knowledge of letters” came from “having never learned” within their educational system. Christ was not as the learned pharisee, the apostle Paul, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. Yet at the age of twelve, he was asking questions of the teachers in the temple at Jerusalem, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Luk 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
Luk 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

So how did He come by this knowledge? We are given the answer in a response from Christ to a statement made by Peter.

Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Christ’s response was:

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

No amount of education gives one “spiritual discernment.” Spiritual discernment, to whatever degree one has it, is given only those to whom “the Father reveals it.” It is to just such people that this discussion is addressed; to those who know through “Christ in them” (Gal 2:20) that the Bible in the original Hebrew and Greek is the revealed Word of God to mankind.

Now the apostle Paul made a statement to just such a man that has given rise to much discussion and disputation over the years. Timothy was a young man of whom the apostle Paul thought so highly that he called him his dearly beloved son (2Ti 1:2). As such, he admonished Timothy to diligently study “the word of Truth.”

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Could there possibly be a connection between this “rightly dividing” of 2 Timothy 2:15 and the “spiritually discerned” of 1Corinthians 2:14? Surely the answer to this question and the godly understanding of both of these scriptures is demonstrated for us in the scriptures themselves in the examples set for us by Christ and His apostles as they quoted the scriptures.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Can anyone deny that the manner with which Christ and His apostles understood and handled the scriptures should also be our manner of understanding and using “the Word of Truth” (2Ti 2:15)? Would the apostle Paul “rightly divide” scripture in one manner and expect us to “rightly divide” it some other way? Surely not!

Let us without any “idols of our hearts” (Eze 14:3-4) examine how Christ and the writers of the gospels and the apostle Paul “rightly divided the word of truth.” Let us with an open mind search for the examples given us of how they went about discerning “the things of the Spirit of God.”

The best treatment ever given this subject, to the knowledge of this writer, is within the pages of a 150 year old book by Andrew Jukes. The name of the book is The Mystery of the Kingdom. Mr. Jukes takes note that Christ is called “the Word of God” (Joh 1:1). As such whatever applied to Christ in the flesh will also apply to the written Word. Contrary to the modern concept of Christ having a halo around His head, nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is Christ was so common looking that He could, and He did, lose Himself in a crowd of Jews of His time.

Luk 4:28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Seeing Christ in the flesh alone, no one would ever have known He was the son of God. As we have related, this was only revealed to a few at that time, not by flesh and blood, but by “my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 16:17). Christ was in every visible way as common as any human who ever lived.

However, there was much more to this Jesus, the “son of Joseph” (Joh 6:42), than met the eyes. Casually seeing Christ, one could never have discerned the boundless love within Him. One could never simply by meeting and shaking hands with Him have been aware of the complete and total oneness He was with the written Word. No one without a revelation from God would ever have known that this man was the supernaturally conceived and begotten Son of God.

No, outwardly, he was the perfect disguise for the creator of the universe living among His creatures in “the same… [mortal] flesh and blood” (Heb 2:14).

Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own (the Jews) received him not.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Anyone who did not ‘need’ Christ certainly did not recognize who He was. Anyone who came to Christ measuring Him against their preconceived idea that the Christ had to be a physically powerful man with the intent of throwing off Roman rule was surely disappointed.

To the ‘righteous’ of the day, He was a great disappointment, picking corn on the Sabbath, healing on the Sabbath and then telling a man to pick up his bed and carry it on the Sabbath. To such, Christ was a door shut tight, keeping God out of sight.

Now if it is true that Christ, the Word in the “flesh” (Joh 1:1), could not possibly have been discerned as such by the natural man, then the same must be true of the written Word. Is that also true of the written Word? Is it possible that, just as Christ was undiscernible as the Son of God, there is also more to the written word than meets the eye? Could it be that just as the Word in the flesh was hidden right out in the open, so the written Word is right there for anyone to see, yet only those “to whom it is given” (Mat 13:11) can see it and understand it? Could it possibly be so foreign to the average person that simply reading the Words, considering the context, and believing what was written, was not enough to grasp the deepest meaning of what the scriptures say? Here is Christ’s own answer to that question:

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

If Christ’s parables are designed to keep the multitudes from “knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, then surely some principle for “rightly dividing the Word” is revealed within Christ’s parables. All Christ’s parables used natural words to convey spiritual concepts. The sower of the seed was not a literal sower, the field was not a literal field, the seed was not literal seed. The fowls of the air, the briars and thorns that devoured and choked out the seed were never intended to be understood in the natural realm. It was all to be properly understood only in the spiritual realm. This same principle was carried through in observing the way the Word of the Old Testament was understood by the writers of the New. Christ and His apostles cannot tell us to “rightly divide the Word” by simply considering the context and the words written, while they themselves apparently ignore the context and assign a different meaning to words other than their original primary natural meaning. Did Christ and His apostles ignore the context and natural meaning of the words of the Old Testament?

Do the writers of the New Testament quote the Old Testament out of context? Let us with an open prayerful mind see if it is true that the writers of the New Testament quoted the scriptures of the Old Testament completely out of context. Consider the context of the very first Old Testament scripture quoted in the New Testament. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is pregnant, and the marriage has not yet been consummated. The situation demands an explanation, so Mary tells Joseph the truth. What is the truth? According to scripture, “thy Word is truth” (Joh 17:17). Is the truth easy for Joseph (or anyone) to accept? No! The Truth is never easy for Joseph or any of us to accept and to understand. Neither Joseph nor you nor I would have believed Mary. The context demands that we just naturally cannot believe her. Only the most gullible, blinded-by-love man would have bought such a fantastic story, yet it was the truth. As with Peter (Mat 16:17), so with Joseph, so with you and me; a supernatural revelation is required to convince anyone of the truth.

Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Dreams seem as real as life, and if God wants us to believe our dreams, we will believe them. We come now to the first Old Testament scripture quoted in the New Testament.

Mat 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Mat 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Was this scripture really written about Christ’s mother and His birth as Matthew says it was? Is that the context in which we find it? Or is Matthew quoting the Old Testament completely out of context?

Let us check the context. Today’s method of scriptural interpretation teaches that the examination of the context is the primary rule for understanding the Word of God. My ‘first year Bible’ teacher told us… “There are three rules for studying the scriptures. The first rule is to consider the context, the second rule is to consider the context and the third rule is to be sure to consider the context. With those ‘three rules’ in mind let’s look closely at Isaiah 7:14, which is quoted in Matthew 1:23:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The context shows that this statement is addressed to king Ahaz, the king of Judah.

Isa 7:10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
Isa 7:11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isa 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Isa 7:13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Matthew applying these words of Isaiah 7:14 to the birth of Christ certainly does not follow today’s commonly accepted rules for scriptural interpretation, which dictate that context is the most important element to understanding the scriptures.

To the natural undiscerning eye, there is nothing here to connect this to the birth of Christ. Ahaz was concerned about the conspiracy by the northern kingdom of Israel under king Pekah with Rezin the king of Syria against Ahaz. What possible sign would the birth of the Messiah some 480 years later be to Ahaz? The need to know what the outcome of this conspiracy would be IS the context. In context there was an immediate and urgent concern. Yet Matthew, without explanation or apology, applies this verse to the virgin birth of Christ.

The second chapter of Matthew also contains prophecies which appear to be taken completely out of context. This chapter tells us of the wise men coming from the east to Jerusalem searching for “the king of the Jews” (Mat 2:2). After inquiring of the chief priests and scribes, Herod tells the wise men that the prophets say the messiah is to be born in Bethlehem.

Mat 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

The wise men find Christ, worship him, present him with presents “and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way” (Mat 2:12). After the wise men depart, an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream:

Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

Now we come to our next out-of-context prophecy:

Mat 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Out of Egypt have I called my son” (vs 15). This was a quote from Hoseah 11:1 which reads:

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

In context, Hosea is simply saying that as Israel, not Christ, was being called out of Egypt, they were in the process of departing from God:

Hos 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Still Matthew, once again without explanation, applies this verse to Christ’s return from Egypt. Surely, we would wonder WHY DOES MATTHEW NOT EXPLAIN HIMSELF?

Let us continue with this “totally out of context” and “you can go anywhere with that” application of scripture. An even greater violence to the modern rules of exegesis (scriptural interpretation) is contained in the very next verses:

Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Was this event prophesied and foretold in the Old Testament? According to Matthew, it certainly was:

Mat 2:17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
Mat 2:18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Matthew is quoting Jeremiah:

Jer 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Now Ramah, as Matthew very well knew, is nowhere near Bethlehem. It is not even in Judah. Ramah is a city in Ephraim. Bethlehem is south and west of Jerusalem, and Ramah is many miles away, north and east of Jerusalem.

Furthermore, Judah, the tribe of Christ, was not born of Rachel but of Leah. All of this is very well known by Matthew, yet he once again WITHOUT EXPLANATION quotes this scripture from Jeremiah 31:15 and applies it to this horrendous event in and around Bethlehem in the time of Christ.

Mark uses this same out of context rule of scriptural exegesis in the first three verses of his gospel.

Mar 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Mar 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Mar 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Mark is quoting Malachi 3:1…

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mark only quotes half of verse 1. Checking the context, let us pick up where Mark left off: “and the Lord WHOM YE SEEK, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, WHOM YE DELIGHT IN: behold he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts”. That is the last part of verse 1. Verses 2 and 3 say He will purify the sons of Levi when He; “whom you seek”, and “in whom ye delight” comes, “and He shall purify the sons of Levi; and purge them as gold and silver.”

None of this would appear to the natural mind to apply to Christ’s coming in the flesh when the “sons of Levi”, the priests, had Him crucified. Yet we are told by the Holy Spirit that the first half of Malachi 3:1 refers to John the Baptist. Why would the holy spirit handle the scriptures in this way?

Notice once again Mark doesn’t bother to explain himself. Like Matthew, he applies scriptures to Christ which we would say with our natural mind are taken out of context.

Read the second part of Mark’s statement. Along with all the New Testament writers, Mark apparently practiced what today is criticized as “proof texting”, taking only that part of the scriptures which makes his point while completely ignoring the context.

Let’s see how Mark 1:3 appears when read in context. This second part of Mark 1:3 is a quote from an entirely different prophet. It is quoted from Isaiah 40:3. Read it with the verse before and a couple of verses afterward, and ask yourself if you would, with today’s “context, context, context” rules of biblical interpretation have ever guessed this was a prophecy about John the Baptist. Verse 2 says:

Isa 40:2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Verse 3 and 4 continues…

Isa 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

…and verse 5:

Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Was the “glory of the Lord” revealed at the coming of John the Baptist? Did “all flesh” see it together? Yet we are once again informed without explanation that Isaiah 4:3 is a reference to John the Baptist.

Luke quotes the same scripture and draws the same conclusion, once again without explanation or apology as if there were some commonly understood principle being applied of which we today are apparently woefully ignorant.

Does the apostle John take this same approach to scripture? Yes, he does.

Joh 1:23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

All four gospels quote the same scripture and draw the same conclusion with the same assumption that ‘You understand what I mean.’ (Mat 3:3, Mar 1:3, Luk 3:4, Joh 1:23)

The word ‘hermeneutics’ is commonly used in seminaries and among bible students, but many people are unfamiliar with its meaning. The dictionary explains the word as “the science and methodology of interpretation; especially of scriptural text.”

Before we examine the apostle Paul’s hermeneutics, let’s examine one more scripture which the apostle John applies to Christ. John quotes a verse from Psalm 69 and applies it to Christ driving the animals and money changers out of the temple:

Joh 2:16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.
Joh 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Notice that John says “His disciples remembered that it was written…” It is clear that all Christ’s disciples were applying the same rules of exegesis, and they all appear to quote scripture completely out of context.

Remember the headings in the Psalms are inspired along with the Psalms themselves. The heading says this is a psalm of David. David confesses:

Psa 69:5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

This is obviously not talking about our sinless Savior. David continues in verses 6 and 7:

Psa 69:6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
Psa 69:7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
Psa 69:8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
Psa 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Applying today’s context hermeneutics, it would appear that John has taken this statement by David about himself completely out of context and applied it to Christ.

Next week we will examine how Paul handled The Word, and we will see if he used it in this same ‘cherry picking’ manner.

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Rightly Dividing the Word Using a Principle Only the Apostles Understood

Part 2

Let us examine the apostle Paul. Did he ever apply this “spiritualizing” principle? Indeed he did. To quote him out of context, he did it “more abundantly than they all” (1Co 15:10). It is commonly taught in Christian churches and seminaries that God’s chosen people today are the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. Genesis 12:1-3 is the first mention of God’s covenant with Abraham, whose name at this time is still Abram.

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Notice the “had said” in verse 1. This is a reference back to the time when God had first spoken to Abram while Abram was still in “Ur of the Chaldees”.

Gen 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

The deal (covenant) God had with Abram at first, while still in Ur, was very general and rather vague, at least as far as what Abram was to receive was concerned. What he was to do was specific enough:

Get out of your country.
Get away from your kindred and from your father’s house.
Go to a land that I will show you.

Exactly what was he promised?

I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great.
You shall be a blessing.

In line with, and as a result of these three promises to Abram, God says:

Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Verse 4 tells us Abram was still in Haran and departed from Haran when he was 75 years old. Verse 5 says he took his wife Sarai and Lot, his nephew, and “they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.” Verse 6 says he passed through the land of Canaan “and the Canaanite was then in the land.” Hence, the name “land of Canaan.” Now the Lord adds more detail to His promise to Abram. Notice:

Gen 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

The next mention of this covenant with Abram is in chapter 13:

Gen 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Gen 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

The promise now is somewhat altered:

Instead of simply promising to make Abram “a great nation”, he is told “I will make your seed as the dust of the earth.”
Instead of “to a land that I will show you”, he is told “for all the land which you seest, to you will I give it and to your seed forever.”

The most specific description of the land given to Abram, is in chapter 15:

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

In Genesis 17:4 he is told:

Gen 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

This is where his name is changed from Abram to Abraham, which means “a father of many nations.”

Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

The last mention of the promises given Abraham is in Genesis 22.

Gen 22:10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Gen 22:12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Therefore the Lord says to Abraham:

Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

So here we have the promises in their final form:

Abraham is to inherit the land of Canaan from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.
His seed is to be “as the dust of the earth”, “as the sand of the sea” and “as the stars of heaven.”
“Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies.”
“And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

“Thy seed” meant that these promises were passed on to Isaac and from Isaac to Jacob. These are the “promises made unto the fathers” referred to by the apostle Paul in Romans 15:8 and Galatians 3:29.

What do these promises mean to Paul? Do they mean, as we are told today, “Abraham’s seed according to physical descendants are to possess modern Israel, and we will be blessed if we support them and cursed if we do not?”

No, the message we are commonly taught today concerning Israel is nothing like the true message of Paul. Paul, like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter and James, seemed to have a principle of scriptural interpretation that Christians, as a whole, do not grasp.

What did the promise “in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” mean to Paul? He tells us in Galatians 3:

Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

To Paul, the promise “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:18) had nothing to do with physical descent. Paul took this as a statement concerning a spiritual principle, the principle of faith in the word of God. To Paul the “thy seed” of Genesis 22:18 are those in Christ.

Gal 3:29 And if you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promises.

“Heirs according to the promises?” Is Paul saying that the Gentiles who accept Christ are to inhabit Canaan “from the river of Egypt, to the great river, the river Euphrates?” Does Paul also spiritualize the promised land? Well, yes, he does!

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

“Heir of the world”? Where did he get that? What happened to “from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates?”

To Paul all the promises were primarily and ultimately spiritual statements having nothing to do with the physical realm. They certainly had nothing to do with Abraham’s physical seed and descendants.

Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

What does “in Isaac” mean? Does it mean physically descended from Abraham and therefore entitled to the promises?

If it does, then you are saying that the promises don’t pertain to you; the adoption (maturing to the point of carrying on the Father’s business) doesn’t apply to you. Instead, you are saying the adoption and the promises apply to those who today, by the letter, are called “God’s chosen people”, but who Paul calls the “son of the bondwoman” whom he says “shall not be heir with the son of the free woman” (Gal 4:30).

If we believe that “Israel according to the flesh” is still “God’s chosen people”, like Esau, we are selling our birthright and believing that the son of the bondwoman (Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her children) will be made heir with the son of the free woman. It is Hagar, the bondwoman, who answers to Jerusalem that now is and is in bondage with her children (Gal 4:25). Paul is not saying that the other Jewish apostles, or any believing Jews who happened to be in Jerusalem, were in bondage. He is saying that being “of Israel” or “of Abraham” physically, has nothing to do with being “the seed of Abraham” or “an heir according to the promise.”

So who does God “count for the seed?” Who are the “heirs according to the promise?” Let’s go right back to where we left off.

Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

Who then are the “heirs”, these “children of the promise?”

Gal 3:29. If you be Christ’s, then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

This agrees with Christ’s statement in John 8:37.

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Christ says they are Abraham’s children in verse 37 and says they aren’t in verse 39. As Paul said in Romans 9:6, “They are not all Israel who are of Israel.”

See how far Paul carries this spiritual approach to the scriptures in Romans 9:

Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Does this not sound just like Abraham when told that his son “according to the flesh” was not to be counted for the seed. His immediate response was like Paul and many of us today. “Oh, that Ishmael (Jerusalem that now is) might live before thee” (Gen 17:18, Gal 4:25-30).

Continuing now in Romans 9:4:

Rom 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;

So the adoption and the promises “pertain to Israel” and yet Israel “according to the flesh” is “the son of the bondwoman” (Gal 4:30) and cannot be heir with the son of the freewoman. So to whom now does the adoption pertain?

Rom 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God [the seed of Abraham (vs 15)] for ye [you Roman Gentiles] have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”.

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us (Gentile Ephesians) unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ…

Who then is Paul calling “Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises?”

Since Galatians 4 seems so hard for many to grasp, let’s consider Ephesians 2:11.

Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Just how near is near?

Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Paul has just revealed that as far as God is concerned, Israel in the flesh has been replaced by Israel according to the Spirit. He goes on in chapter 3 verse 2:

Eph 3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Is this some extra-scriptural revelation of which Paul is speaking? Hardly! Standing before Agrippa in Acts 26:22, he states clearly that he spoke “none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.”

Act 26:22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
Act 26:23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

Two chapters later speaking to the Jews in Rome “he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning until evening” (Act 28:23). Of course, they rejected it, and Paul makes this statement to them:

Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God [the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants and the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises] is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will hear it.

Continuing now with Ephesians 3:3:

Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles [Paul here and in Acts 15:25-27 says the apostles agreed with Paul] and prophets by the Spirit;

What is this mystery (secret) revealed to Paul and the apostles?

Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Notice: no Jew versus Gentile; no body versus bride; no heaven versus earth inheritance, but rather “fellow heirs”.

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Any doubt about the oneness of the body of Christ should be shattered by these plain statements by Paul as to who constitutes an Israelite. There are still those, though, who contend that there is a “body” made up primarily of Gentile believers and a “bride” made up of Jewish believers. “You can’t be both a body and a bride” they say.

Yes, God can and does give us His children, many different, sometimes apparently contradictory, descriptions. We are sons and virgins. We are trees and temples. We are stones and lights. We are soldiers and sheep, etc.

Paul concludes Galations with this summary statement.

Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

It is a strange phenomenon how so many see the words “Israel of God” in verse 16 and immediately forget “this rule” laid down in verse 15. They revert right back to the flesh and the letter, forgetting the truth of God revealed in Romans 2:27.

Rom 2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

So what is the scriptural circumcision?

Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

So we Gentiles who are in Christ “are the circumcision.” We are God’s chosen people. There cannot be two chosen people. There is no such thing as “chosen” versus “elect” or “elect” versus “very elect”. Few people realize it, but the words “chosen” and “elect” are the same in the original Greek. The Greek word is eklektos (#1588 in Strong’s concordance).

An oft-quoted scripture is Matthew 24:24.

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

It is believed by many that the “very elect” mentioned here are somehow separated from those who are called merely “elect”, and this group is somehow separated from those who are merely “chosen”.

Since we are the “Israel of God”, and we are both the bride and the body, will we reign in both heaven and earth? As a matter of scriptural fact, that is exactly what the apostle Paul says in 1Corinthians 6:2.

1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

Paul even says that God:

2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Paul specifically points out that the new covenant (#1242 – same as testament) is NOT OF THE LETTER, but of the spirit. Yet some still say this is not the new covenant referred to in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where the new covenant is first mentioned.

Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Apparently some still think this is not the same “new covenant” referred to by Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:6. They apparently don’t notice that the Ephesian Gentiles are “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens…” (Eph 2:19); that the Gentile Ephesians are no longer “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel”; no longer “strangers from the covenants of promise” (vs 12).

Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

If this is a “new covenant” that pertains to the Gentile Corinthians and Ephesians but is not connected to the “new covenant” mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-33 quoted above, then we must conclude that God had an old covenant with these Gentiles. This obviously is not what Paul had in mind. Paul is referring to the only new covenant mentioned in scriptures (Jer 31:31).

Going back to 2 Corinthians 3:6, the very next verse, after mentioning the “new covenant”, refers to the old covenant, calling it the ministration of death.

2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
2Co 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
2Co 3:8 How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?

There are many other scriptures in Paul’s writings we could mention to demonstrate his “out of context” spiritualizing use of scriptures. Let us go on now to James to see if he does the same thing.

Acts 15 is known as the Jerusalem conference chapter. Certain believers from the area of Judea had taken it upon themselves to teach the Gentile disciples in Pisidian Antioch that they could not be saved unless they practice the outward sign of “circumcision and keep the law of Moses” (Act 15:5). There was obvious freedom of thought and expression because verse 7 says there was “much disputing”.

Finally, Peter stands up and makes a profound statement; a statement he later had to live up to (Gal 2:11). In Acts 15:

Act 15:8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Now we come to James, the so-called “circumcision apostle.” Does he agree that there is “no difference” between how a Gentile and a Jew are saved?

Act 15:13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:

Act 15:15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
Act 15:16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
Act 15:17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Why would the Gentiles need the tabernacle of David rebuilt to “seek after the Lord?” James somehow equates “building again the ruins thereof” with the calling of the Gentiles.

This is a quote from Amos 9. Let’s check the context there:

Amo 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
Amo 9:11 In that day [of verse 10] will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
Amo 9:12 That they [of the house (tabernacle) of David] may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

Reading this passage in Amos, it simply seems to be saying that David’s throne will be restored “as in the days of old” (vs 11). The throne of David is no older than David and Solomon when all twelve tribes were still under the “tabernacle of David” (vs 12) “That they (those of David’s house or tabernacle) might possess…the heathen, which are called by my name.”

Does this sound like a prophecy of the calling of the Gentiles at the time in Acts 15? Had David’s throne or tabernacle been restored? Yet, once again, as if everyone present understood exactly what was meant (not what was said), James, like all the other apostles, doesn’t bother to apologize for or explain what he’s ‘getting at.’

Does anyone doubt that the “tabernacle of David” to which the Gentiles seek is Christ who even now has inherited the throne or tabernacle of David?

If, as some tell us, physical Israelites are to be returned to their former prominence, this scripture might have been better placed, had it been quoted on the day of Pentecost when all present were Israelites by physical birth. Even then there was no restored tabernacle of David. Instead he Holy Spirit has seen fit to place it here in Acts 15 in connection with the calling of the Gentiles, “that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.” James agrees with Peter (vs 15) that circumcision and the law of Moses was “a yoke upon the neck of the (Gentile) disciples, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.”

Act 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

This must have been hard for the twelve original apostles to receive and fully accept. Peter’s trials with this part of God’s mind are enumerated for us in Acts 10 where Cornelius is called, and again in Galatians 2, where both Peter and Barnabas are seen struggling to accept this part of God’s workings.

Gal 2:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
Gal 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

This situation deserves our scrutiny. Why did Paul confront Peter? Was it really because ‘Peter made the mistake of attempting to mix administrations?’ If that were his sin, Paul missed a good chance of clarifying this. Instead, he waits until “certain came from James” to point out this supposed sin of ‘administration mixing’.

Such a suggestion is of course absurd. Peter’s sin was not ‘administration mixing’ but “dissimulating.” Dissimulation is the Greek word ‘hupokrisis‘ (Strong’s #5272). This word is from hupo-krinomai (Strong’s #5271) which is translated “feign” in Luke 20:20 where the chief priest and scribes “watched him (Christ) and sent forth spies which should feign themselves just men.”

The reason Paul waited until “certain came from James” to reprove Peter was because Peter needed no reproof until then. Strong’s definition for dissemble is “to act hypocritically in concert with.” This is what Paul meant by “they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel.” Peter was not “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3). He had forgotten that:

Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

Hadn’t Paul agreed with Peter that Peter would go to the circumcision and Paul would go to the Gentiles? Indeed he had. So what did that mean?

Did it mean that Paul had one gospel, a “gospel of the uncircumcision” while Peter had another gospel, the “gospel of the circumcision?” It is right here in this chapter where Paul is reproving Peter for “not walking uprightly according to the gospel.” In the concordant version of the New Testament, ‘the’ in “the evangel” is in dark print, indicating that Paul is aware of only one gospel, a gospel which did not allow one part of the body of Christ to separate itself from, or set itself above, the rest of the body.

Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

The word “both” is a reference back to the “circumcision” and the “uncircumcision” of verse 11:

Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

The circumcision and the uncircumcision are “one body” and both have only “THE (one) gospel.”

Rightly Dividing The Word – Part 3

We ended our last study pointing out that the only differences tolerated within the body of Christ are “diversities of gifts [and] differences of administrations” mentioned and revealed in 1Corinthians 12. This chapter reveals that there are indeed “differences of administrations” within the body of Christ, but it also points out that “there is but the same Lord”:

 What I did not point out at the conclusion of our last study is that the subject of  First Corinthian 12 is “concerning spiritual gifts” (vs 1), and after reviewing a few of the gifts of the spirit Paul concludes:

1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

So any “diversities of gifts or differences of administrations” concerning spiritual gifts are within ONE BODY. Verse 28 says that the apostles, all of them, are part of “the body”. Had this not been the case, Peter would have been justified in separating himself from the Gentiles, and for that matter, should never have been eating with Gentiles in the first place.

Much earlier Peter had stood up to the chief priest and the Sanhedrin saying:

Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

He had been willing to risk his life to preach the gospel, had been thrown into and supernaturally delivered from prison. Yet here was a part of “the gospel” which he and Barnabas had trouble fully taking to their bosom.

Php 3:3 For we [Gentile Philippians] are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

Why were Peter and Barnabas along with apparently all “the other Jews” having such a hard time accepting believing Gentiles as “the Israel of God” and counting their own physical descent as “dung” (Php 3:8)? The reason is given in John 16:12:

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

This was as hard for the original twelve apostles of Christ to receive as for Christians today to be told “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1Co 15:22). Their reluctance to accept this Truth signifies our own reluctance to accept the full extent of the love of God and “[that] all happened to them and it was written for our admonition…” (1Co 10:11).

Even today, many in the body of Christ reject God’s decree: “the son of the bondwoman (Jerusalem which now is – Gal 4:25) shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” citing Galatians 4:31 “WE BRETHREN, ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE FREE (WOMAN)” as pertaining to themelves.

In Acts 2:29, Peter, speaking to the Jews from “every nation under heaven” (vs 5) on the day of Pentecost, is showing them the scriptures foretelling the coming of Christ. He quotes from Psalms saying:

Act 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

When God says “according to the flesh”, He means “according to the flesh.” So Christ came “of the fruit of his (David’s) loins according to the flesh.”

Likewise, when it says “we are able ministers of the New Testament (covenant) NOT OF THE LETTER (FLESH) BUT OF THE SPIRIT, it means of the spirit (Rom 2:29). “Inward Jews” are [the spiritual] Jews [with whom]; the covenant with Abraham was confirmed (Rom 3:17) of God IN CHRIST [that’s all in spirit].

Rom 3:29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: [that’s spirit]

Paul interprets “from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates” to mean the whole “world” (Rom 4:13) [that’s spirit also]. He explains to the Gentile Corinthians that they are to “judge the world” (1Co 6:2). This is because they are, in Christ, counted as “Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). It is all “of the spirit” (2Co 3:6 and Rom 2:29).

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1Co 2:14).

In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul says:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Paul explains in Romans 11:

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

When Will He “Take Away Their Sins?”

If that is the case then we really need to know WHEN HE will “TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS?”

Those whose ‘affection’ [the Greek is ‘mind’ (Col 3:1,2)] is on the earth, say this time period is during the millennium. They quote Ezekiel 37, the chapter of scripture which refers to “the valley which was full of bones.”

Chapter 36 sets the stage for chapter 37. It is addressed to “the mountains of Israel” (vs 1). In the first twenty verses, he describes their punishment and why they were punished. In verse 21, he says: “But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.” Then the Lord declares:

Eze 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:

Verse 25 says: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean and then again the Lord declares another spiritual fact:

Eze 36:26 A new [spiritual] heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh [‘Flesh’ being contrasted with ‘stone’ signifying a spiritual heart].
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

We must at this juncture determine what is meant here by replacing a heart of stone with a heart of flesh. Do Jews have “hearts of stone?” How could anyone have a “heart of stone?” A heart of stone is to the spiritually minded person a “carnal (fleshly) mind” (Rom 8:7). “…the carnal mind is enmity against God: [it profanes His name among the heathen]; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Now Ezekiel says this ‘heart of stone’ is to be replaced by a heart of flesh. If a ‘heart of stone is figurative (and it obviously is) what is the meaning of a ‘heart of flesh’ in this verse?

The answer is to be found in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter.

1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest [the way you live your life (Gal 6:7)] is not quickened [given life] except it die.

We must die ‘to the flesh’ before we die ‘in the flesh’, or we will not be in the first resurrection (Joh 12:24-25). Paul has both deaths in view here:

1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:
1Co 15:38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. [what we sow is what we reap (Gal 6:7)].

Before we read verse 39 of 1 Corinthians 15, let us jump ahead to verse 44, and remember this is all in answer to the rhetorical question “with what body do they come in the resurrection?”

Here in verse 44, Paul makes a statement we must accept and apply if we hope to grasp what is meant by a ‘heart of flesh’ in Ezekiel 36:26. “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.”

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Now we know that this chapter concerns the resurrection of the dead and that in the resurrection “it is raised a spiritual body.”

Return now to verse 39:

1Co 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

So the resurrected body is “incorruptible”, “glorious”, “powerful” and “spiritual”. These “invisible things of God” are “understood by the things that are made” (Rom 1:20). God’s only way of communicating with us is in terms we can grasp – in physical terms. So still speaking of resurrected, spiritual, invisible bodies, we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:40:

1Co 15:40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

In the resurrection of spiritual bodies, even though they are “incorruptible”, “glorious”, “powerful” and “spiritual”, there are still degrees that “differ one from another” in every one of these spiritual qualities.

Going back to Ezekiel 36 and 37, we can now see that the “heart of flesh” of 36:26 and the “sinews, flesh, and skin” of 37:8 are all physical descriptions of a spiritual resurrection.

1Co 15:44 – It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If this is a resurrection, then the bodies are spiritual.

There is an important scripture that is completely neglected by those without spiritual eyes. It has to be overlooked because it denies a second physical death which the physically minded demand.

In Hebrews 9:25, Paul explains that Christ did not have to “offer himself often; as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others.” In verse 26, he says:

Heb 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

This all explains the time and the place of the resurrection of Ezekiel 36 and 37. There are two resurrections, the first and the second, but no one is in both.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [That “blessed and holy… first resurrection” (Rev 20:6)]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Second resurrection to judgment at the great white throne judgment, Rev 20:11-15].

We die once and are resurrected once. “It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” is the truth of God’s word.

The fact that Christ appeared to be a physical body immediately following His resurrection, does not mean His or our resurrected bodies are physical. His purpose at that time was to prove to His skeptical disciples that He had indeed risen from the dead. He even appeared in a locked room with the wounds He received at His crucifixion, just to prove to doubting Thomas that what Thomas had heard about Christ being alive was true. Why do so many ‘Christians’ insist that we are raised in bodies of flesh and blood, but they do not insist that Christ will forever have nail holes in His hands and a big spear hole in His side???

Indeed, a spiritual body is much more alive than a natural body, but Christ needed no holes in His body when He appeared to John in Revelation 1:14 – “…His eyes were as a flame of fire (vs 15); And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.” It appears that spirit can appear in many forms.

Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

That’s a plain and very clear statement. If you can see anything, it is composed from something invisible (God’s spirit).

Continuing that thought, Christ speaking to Nicodemus said:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Now remember, Paul has revealed to us that in the resurrection, “it is raised a spiritual body” (1Co 15:44).

Now read:

Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth and you hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, an whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.

Everyone born of the Spirit is invisible like the wind? That’s what Christ told Nicodemus. So when Christ appeared in the flesh after His resurrection, this was for the benefit of those in the flesh. It would have been totally unnecessary otherwise. Physical sight is essential for those who are still in the flesh.

Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.”

If you, a Gentile Christian, must see with your physical eyes, and if you, like doubting Thomas and Nicodemus, cannot yet bear to hear of spiritual things, then you see natural Jews, “Israel according to the flesh”, as “the Israel of God”. When we see “Israel according to the flesh” as “the Israel of God” then like Esau we are forfeiting our birthright to the “son of the bondwoman” (Gal 4:26-28).

Dan 12:2 Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some (“flesh of beasts” and “glory of the terrestrial”) to shame and everlasting contempt.

This coincides with:

Eze 36:27 I will put my spirit within you, and cause you [through a fiery experience (1Co 3:13)] and chastening judgment [1Co 11:32] to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them”, and “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.”

There you have it: incorruptible “glorious”, “powerful” “spiritual” bodies who “remember (their) own evil ways” who “loathe themselves” and are raised to “shame and everlasting (olam) contempt.”

Israel “in the flesh” is neither better nor worse than the Gentiles “in the flesh.” ‘Circumcision avails nothing and uncircumcision avails nothing’ (Gal 6:15). It follows then that the resurrection and reward of both would be the same. Sure enough, it is! The assertions, and that’s all they are, of the Jews, Catholics or Protestants to the contrary, the word of God will not fail. This same prophet who gives us the “whole house of Israel…without hope” and “cut off” from God in a “valley of dry bones”, gives us the timing of this event.

Speaking to Jerusalem (Eze 16:3) God tells ‘her’ (Eze 16:55) “When their sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.” This is what Paul meant when he said “and so all Israel shall be saved.” This is that of which Paul spoke in Romans 11:15 when he asked: “For if the casting away of them (Israel) be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?” (The second resurrection which is for all mankind)

This is what Paul meant when he said “so then brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” Unlike Esau, let us hold fast our birthright, because “they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise (that’s us!) are counted for the seed.” So Israel is no longer Israel according to the flesh, but what Paul in his summary of Galatians calls “the Israel of God”. Israel has become a spiritual nation, the “Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). And since “as in Adam (did you choose to be ‘in Adam’?) all die; so in Christ (it is God who ‘draws us” in our “own order) will all be made alive” (1Co 15:22). Then Abraham’s seed will indeed be “as the dust of the earth” and “as the stars of heaven for number”.

In the last chapter of Luke, chapter 24, we are given an account of some of the events surrounding the day of the resurrection of Christ.

Luk 24:13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
Luk 24:14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
Luk 24:15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
Luk 24:16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Christ joins their conversation, and in verse 27 we are told: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Here is Christ himself “rightly dividing the scriptures”, “concerning himself”. What were these “things concerning himself”? They were the things He had revealed to James, Peter, John and Paul, etc., and they were in most cases what today’s Bible expositors would say were “taken out of context”, prooftexted”, “spiritualized”. Words concerning David, Israel, etc. he explains to these men on the road to Emmaus are actually “things concerning himself.” He ends up at least starting to eat a meal with these two disciples (vs 31) “and their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.” As soon as they received spiritual vision, Christ departed. In biblical typology, it is significant that they received their “opened eyes” while “breaking bread” (Joh 6:48). This whole scene is repeated within mere hours.

Luk 24:33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,

Luk 24:35 And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.
Luk 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Luk 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

So while once again “breaking bread” we are told:

Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

The ‘food’ or ‘breaking bread’ to those with “eyes to see and ears to hear” (Mat 13:13) is understanding the “spirit” (2Co 3:6) of the covenant.

What was given the disciples “…that they might understand the scriptures” as demonstrated time and again in this paper, was a principle of scriptural understanding that defies the context-oriented reasoning of virtually every Christian denomination or seminary in the world, whether Catholic or Protestant. Before we attempt to give a verbal expression to this principle, let us demonstrate its application by the one apostle we haven’t yet quoted.

In Acts 1, the disciples are gathered in the upper room awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit (vs 15). “In those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said… (vs 16) Men and brethren this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.” Peter says the scriptures from Psalms he is about to quote were “by the Holy Ghost” speaking of Judas:

Act 1:20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

This verse (Act 1:20) is nowhere to be found in Psalms as quoted here. It is actually a conjunction of two separate Psalms with many Psalms in between. The first part is from Psalm 69:25. In this psalm, David is simply asking God for protection from his enemies (vs 1). “Save me, O God: for waters are come into my soul. (vs 13)…my prayer is unto thee, O Lord…(vs 14). Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of deep waters. (vs 18)…Deliver me because of mine enemies (vs 19)…mine adversaries are all before thee.” In context, this is all about David’s enemies. Christ had “opened (Peter’s) understanding, that (he) might understand the scriptures” (Luk 24:45). Peter now understands about whom this is actually speaking. Now in the verse of which Peter quotes only half in Acts 1:20, which is Psalm 69:25, “Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents”, he left off the “and let none dwell in their tents.”

The last half of Acts 1:20 is quoted from Psalm 109. The inspired heading declares this “a psalm of David…” In verse 2, he says “…The mouth of the wicked…are opened against me.” From verses 2 to 19, David calls down curses on HIS enemies. Verse 20 says “Let this be the reward of MINE adversaries.” Christ only days before had opened Peter’s understanding (Luk 24:45) “…that they might understand the scriptures.”

Armed with this new “understanding”, Peter borrows only verse 9 out of this chapter of Psalms, throws it together with the first half of Psalm 69:25 and concludes that all these experiences of David are actually referring to Christ.

Where did the apostles then get the “understanding” that allows such “out of context”, “prooftexting”, “you can go anywhere with that” approach to scriptures?

They got it from Christ

Luk 24:45 Then opened He [Christ] their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.

What was it they understood at that point that they hadn’t understood before?

In Luke 24:44, Christ laid down this principle; the one which is rejected by those who, generally speaking, consider themselves today to be “the body of Christ.”

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Christ had been explaining it to them for years. In Luke 24:44-45, Christ simply opened their spiritual minds (previously blinded and veiled) to understand and remember what He had been showing them all along. The principle is “as he is so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17). Christ was rejected by the church. His doctrine was more than they could receive. If all of the “out of context” verses we have quoted, from virtually every writer of the New Testament, is any indication of what Christ had been teaching them, it is clear (Mat 10:24) “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord” (vs 40); “He that receiveth you, receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent me.”

Matthew 25:40 and 45 sum it up thusly: “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

In other words, Christ had taught His apostles over and over that anything that applied to any of the Old Testament patriarchs or prophets or Israel or any particular Israelite (“one of the least of these my brethren”) will, and does apply to Christ. Also, anything that applies to Christ as the head of His body, will apply to any part of His body, or to any part of spiritual Israel.

If the head must suffer, the body must suffer with it (Rom 8:17, 2Ti 2:12). “As He is, so are we in this world” (1Jn 4:17).

If Christ were hated, we will be hated also (Mat 10:22-25).

What applies to David or any Old Testament patriarch or prophet or Israelite, will apply to Christ and through Christ to us, His body.

This is the principle upon which the apostles had been discipled for so long and so repeatedly that it needed no apology or explanation, because it was so universally understood at that time, but it is lost today.

How can we relate our sins to a perfect Christ?

Someone will say “but David and Daniel and others, including all of us, have confessed to sin. How can this be applied to our perfect and sinless savior?”

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.

If David says (Psa 51:9) “Hide your face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities,” Christ says the same thing to the Father for David, the patriarchs, Israel, any Israelite and any part of His body.

Out of context?

We can see the spiritual application isn’t out of context at all! The literal fleshly application is the error. (2Co 3:6) “Who (God) also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter (the fleshly, physical, literal, context oriented) kills, but the spirit (as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren…) gives life.” According to Romans 7:6:

Rom 7:6. But now we are delivered from the [letter of the] law that being dead [“the letter kills”] wherein we were held, that we should serve [the law of God (Rom 7:22, 25)] in newness of Spirit and not in oldness of letter.

Prooftexting?

It was Peter who was chosen to reveal to us in 2 Peter 1:20 that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation (vs 21). For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The word ‘private’ in verse 20 is Strong’s #2398, idios in the Greek. It appears 109 times in the New Testament and is generally interpreted as ‘apart’ or ‘his own.’ So “no scripture of prophecy” is to be taken ‘apart’ from other scripture or used on ‘its own.’ Why not?

2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

It all has the same author, the Holy Spirit, so it will never contradict itself if taken as a whole.

Psalm 119:160 says in the King James version: “Thy word is truth…” but the Concordant version and many others recognize the proper translation of the Hebrew here as “the sum of thy word is truth…”

Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them.

No prophecy of the scripture is of its own interpretation, but is to be taken in the context of the rest of scripture. The principle referred to by Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:1 – “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” is especially true when using the Word of God. If you have only one scripture with which to establish doctrine, there is no scriptural basis to the doctrine. One isolated scripture is not enough.

Yet the average person cannot accept this principle of understanding the Word of God: (Isa 28:13) “But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little and there a little; (prooftexting) that they might go, and fall backward and be broken, and snared and taken.” God’s method of understanding His word is also His method of keeping it hidden from those to whom it “is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” Just as at the Red Sea, the same cloud that gave God’s Israel (in the flesh) light by night, was deep darkness to the uncalled Egyptians.

“You can go anywhere with that”

The above subhead is a direct quote from ministers who cling to the literal “context oriented only” modern understanding of the Word of God. The same ministers admit that the “Lamb of God” is not to be taken literally. They will admit that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is not to be taken literally, that we are not literal temples, nor are we to literally eat Christ’s flesh or drink His blood. This is the vast majority of the shepherds of the flock, at least as far as Protestant churches are concerned.

There are those who are willing to go as far as to agree that the word “fire” in scripture is generally figurative and that the lake of fire might even be figurative. The one thing most of them refuse to recognize as figurative or a “type” is the one thing Paul went to such great lengths to clarify; that is, who the true “circumcision” is, who the “seed of Abraham” is, who the “children of the freewoman” are and who is the true “Israel of God”. On these points, most Christians do not want to give up the flesh for the spirit.

While there are many who do not recognize the “Israel of God” as being those who are in Christ, they do at least recognize the fallacy of denying the cross, the disciplining grace, the “if we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him” part of the gospel. On the other hand, many of those who say “you can go anywhere with the spiritual approach to scripture” are the same people who teach that we are saved by “grace alone”; that the statement “we are not under the law, but under grace” means God’s law does not apply to Christians. It is this literal, fleshly, letter-oriented thinking that “can take you anywhere.”

The truly spiritual take on scripture will lead you nowhere but where Christ and the apostles went with it; and that was straight to God through Christ.

So is anything to be taken literally or naturally?

Having spent so many pages pointing out (1Co 2:14) “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit”, we cannot close this discussion without making the point that it is in the same book of 1Corinthians 15:46, that we are told “Howbeit that was not first which was spiritual, but that which is natural; and AFTERWARD that which is spiritual.” A second witness to this principle is Romans 1:20:

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

The spiritual is understood by the natural, and the spiritual is never first, but the natural is first.

Consistent with this truth, every detail of the first coming of Christ was fulfilled in a literal way, Christ was: “born of a virgin”, “called out of Egypt”, “Rachel weeping for her children”, “forsaken of his friends”, “his visage was marred” but “not a bone was broken”, “they parted his garments”, etc.

Not one detail failed to have a “natural first” fulfillment. While the natural must come first, it is not the natural that saves us, but the spiritual.

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”.

Joh 6:63 – “It is the spirit that giveth life” and finally 2Co 5:15-16 – “And that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them and rose again. (vs 16) Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more” (after the flesh).

Hardly anyone recognized the signs of the first coming of Christ: the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon and Anna in the temple and family members Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth and her husband, Zecharias, were all given supernatural revelations concerning the birth of Christ. No doubt this whole scenario will be repeated with the signs of His second coming. Everyone was expecting the messiah, but no one recognized Him when He came. Everyone is looking for Christ to come again. No doubt every detail of the signs of His second coming will also be fulfilled, but nothing has changed. Christ as much as told us that our religious leaders can discern the face of the sky (the outward, literal) but cannot discern the signs of the times. Who knows how many seals of the book of Revelation have been opened and no one is aware of it. How many trumpets have already sounded and God’s people still do not hear the call to battle? Do those who think ‘God’s Israel’ are those who slew Christ expect seven literal seals to open and seven literal trumpets to sound?

The world has its eyes on the Middle East, while Christ is urging us to watch and keep our garments (Rev 16:15) “Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

Let us pray with Paul (Rom 12:2) “be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, (our understanding, our way of thinking) that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

If you approach God’s written Word to prove yourself right with any of your own preconceived ideas, what Ezekiel 14 calls “idols of the heart”, you will see exactly what you want to see. However, the written Word, the truth, just as Christ was in the flesh, will be a door shut tight hiding the true light within.

On the other hand, come to the written Word with an open heart seeking only to know the mind of God, willing to give up every preconceived idea, every false church doctrine, every ounce of pride, with the heartfelt attitude of “not my will, but thine be done”, and the written Word becomes a wide open double (as in two witnesses) door, shining a light brighter than the sun on endless truths never seen before though they were there; and you had been stumbling all over them for years. “How could I possible have been so blind for so long?” you’ll wonder.

So it was with Christ in the flesh. Who was it that was able to receive Christ? It was the tax collectors who were hated by everyone. It was the prostitutes everyone despised and who probably despised themselves. It was the poor who had nothing to lose. It was the sick who had no other hope. These were those with whom the Spirit of God could work to give them the love, the healing and the hope they had never had before. Had they not needed Him, they would never have known Him.

David is a type of Christ, and those who were drawn to him while being persecuted by the established church of his day typify those who follow Christ today. Who was drawn to follow David while he was, in type, waiting for “the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14)?

1Sa 22:2 And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

We simply do not come to Christ while everything in this life is going well. Christ puts us into distress. He makes us aware of our spiritual debt to Himself, and we must experience severe discontentment before we cry out to Him to save us from our enemies within and without.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory [That “blessed and holy… first resurrection” (Rev 20:6)].

So it also is with the Lord as the written Word. As we need it and can receive it, God will reveal Himself and His word to us (Mat 11:27).

The degree of understanding given by God seems to correlate with the degree of need and hunger in the individual. “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2Co 12:9).

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

[Another valuable resource which should be read in conjunction with this article would be The Keys to The Kingdom]

[Reach the author at vinsmike@gmail.com for comments and questions.]

Part 11 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #7 – Samson and His Philistine Wife

Only five chapters later we find the second blatant, straightforward statement in the book of Judges revealing to us that evil is “of the Lord.”

Judges 13 is the story of Samson’s parents and the birth of Samson. Samson’s father was a man of the tribe of Dan. “His name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and bare not” (Jdg 13:2). The angel of the Lord appears to Samson’s mother and informs her she will conceive and bare a son. He tells her “no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines” (vs 5).

So we now know that God had determined before he was even conceived, that Samson would “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines”. But how had He determined to accomplish this?

This chapter concludes: “and the woman bare a son and called his name Samson: and the child grew and the Lord blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Estaol” (Jdg 13:24, 25).

How had “the Lord blessed him?” Exactly what does “the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times” mean? Had God written His laws on Samson’s heart? Was Samson blessed with an indwelling of God’s Spirit? Is that what “the Lord blessed him” means? Is that how “the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times”? Hardly! The Lord worked evil even in Samson after the counsel of His own will.

The very next few verses tell us what Samson did that “was of the Lord” (Jdg 14:4). Immediately after telling us “And the spirit of the Lord began to move him…” the very next verse tells us: “And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman of the daughters of the Philistines. And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore get her for me to wife” (Jdg 14:1, 2).

God had told Israel “take heed to thyself, lest thou…take of their daughters unto thy sons…” (Exo 34:12 & 16). Yet this is what we are told Samson did immediately after telling us “…the Lord blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began to move him…”

Are we being told that God was responsible for Samson’s disregard for the laws God had given Moses forbidding the sons of Israel to marry the daughters of the people of the land? Samson’s parents knew this would displease God: “Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me for she pleaseth me well” (Jdg 14:3).

Does this sound like Samson had the Spirit of God? Yet we are told “the Lord blessed him. And the spirit of the Lord began to move him…”

It should begin to become obvious that “Put forth thy hand” and “the spirit of the Lord…mov[ing] him” in the old covenant is a far cry from the “walk in the Spirit” of the new covenant.

But was Samson’s self-centered, rebellious decision to marry a ‘daughter of the Philistines’ really “after the counsel of [God’s] own will?” (Eph 1:11). Here is the brazen, explicit answer of the word of God: “But his father and his mother knew not that it [Samson’s self-centered disobedience to God] WAS OF THE LORD, THAT HE SOUGHT AN OCCASION AGAINST THE PHILISTINES…” (Jdg 14:4).

The workings and the mind of God are both once again revealed in stark contrast to the workings and the mind of man and of the flesh. In spiritual terms, Samson was as carnal and self-centered as the day is long. Yet he is God’s instrument in “seeking an occasion against the Philistines”. Even his motivation for the greatest act of his Philistine slaying career was not one of repentance. His disregard for the need of obedience to the source of his strength and might persisted to the bitter end.

• After slaying a lion with his bare hands,
• After slaying thirty Philistines for their garments,
• After catching 300 foxes and releasing them with firebrands into the crops of the Philistines,
• After slaying the Philistines who had burned his Philistine wife and father-in-law,
• After slaying one thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass,
• After carrying the gates of Gaza “and the two posts…bar and all…to the top of a hill before Hebron”,

After performing all these mighty works THROUGH “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD…MOV[ING] HIM” (Jdg 13:25), Samson still could not see that God was using A CARNAL MAN OF GOD to accomplish his goal of destroying his enemies.

While Samson was alive he never conquered either the beast within himself or the enemy without.

It was only “THROUGH DEATH” that both of these were accomplished: “…So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Jdg 16:30). “…That THROUGH DEATH He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). “In the body of His flesh THROUGH DEATH, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight” (Col 1:22).

This story of the life and death of Samson demonstrates that the ultimate work of God is never accomplished through the works of the flesh. More abundant life, the ultimate work of God, is performed THROUGH DEATH.

To be one of the “blessed and holy” who has part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6), we must DIE TO THE FLESH NOW and “bring forth much fruit” (Joh 12:24). But being in either resurrection still requires the death of literal physical flesh for “flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD…” (1Co 15:50): “So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Jdg 16:30). “Let me die with the Philistines” was Samson’s last prayer (same verse). Carnal Samson, like the carnal Corinthians, “came behind in no gift” (1Co 1:7). But like gifted Samson, denominational tendencies proved the Corinthians were “yet carnal and walk[ed] as men” (1Co 3:3).

The message of Judges 13-16 is the same as the message of the book of Revelation: “I will come unto you quickly and will remove your candlestick out of his place except you repent” (Rev 2:5). This is the exhortation of all of God’s word from Genesis to Revelation.

The function of grace is to “teach [chasten]… us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world” (Tit 2:11-12).

Samson is a type of those who want only to hear of the ultimate outcome but never the process. That’s because the process is a fiery trial: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial WHICH IS TO TRY YOU…(1Pe 4:12). This is the chastening Paul speaks about in Tit 2:11, 12; this is the “fire [that] shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1Co 3:13-15); this is the “everyone shall be salted with fire” that Christ tells us about (Mar 9:49); this is the “flaming sword which turned every way, to keep THE WAY of the tree of life” (Gen 3:24). That ‘way’ is Christ: “I am the way, the truth and the [tree of] life: no man cometh to the Father but by me” (Joh 14:6).

Christ is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), and being consumed by a fire is a “chastening and scourging” that is not pleasurable. “Get her for me to wife…for she pleaseth me well” and one should “be rich and increased with goods and [in] need of nothing” sounds so much more appealing that “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mat 16:24).

It is not the vocalized name of Christ that is denied in the last days. The enemies of Christ love to use His name: “Many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Mat 24:5). It is not the use of the name they despise; it is the mention of the cross, the mention of the process that is so despised: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies [not of the name but] of the CROSS of Christ” (Php 3:18). But Samson and the churches of God see no need for this process. They are the called, the people of God. And they say if there is any doubt about that, witness the supernatural gifts we have. We “come behind in no gift”; we can slay a thousand Philistines in a day”; “…have we not…in thy name done many wonderful works” (Mat 7:22).

Yet both the church of Laodecia and Samson must come to see that they are “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

Samson was a man “moved” by the spirit of God. He was led by the spirit and he knew nothing of the fruits of the Spirit. Indeed, contrary to what many believe, the Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, for Christ had not yet died and “…If I go not away [die] the Comforter will not come unto you…” (Joh 16:7). It is important that we understand that so long as we are living for the flesh, the Spirit cannot dwell in us. Christ did not die to the flesh so we could live in it. He died to the flesh so He could live in us, and then we, since He is living in us, can also die to the flesh: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me…” (Gal 2:20).

Those who want only to hear of the ultimate outcome of grace and want to hear nothing of the process must still endure the process, for the flaming sword turns “EVERY way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen 3:24). Teaching salvation by grace without teaching the burning out process of grace is nothing less than deception and darkness.

Let us ask the Father to give us the spiritual discernment to be able to distinguish the moving of the Spirit from the fruits of the Spirit. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but as Samson, the carnal Corinthians and the church of Laodecia all demonstrate, gifts and the moving of the Spirit do not necessarily produce the fruits of the Spirit. We do not know them by their gifts. We know them [God’s true called ones] only by their fruits (Mat 7:16, 20).

An evil tree is very often gifted by God even as Samson, the prophet Balaam, King Saul, Solomon and many other men of God demonstrate. But an evil tree can NEVER bring forth good fruit, therefore we know them ONLY by their fruits. That fruit is described in Gal 5:22: “…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…” etc. God quite frequently gives gifts of the Spirit without the gift of an indwelling Holy Spirit as Christ’s own yet unconverted disciples demonstrated (Luk 10:20). The deception we face is not obvious and would deceive the elect if possible. Let us try the spirits. Gifts are good in their place, but don’t try spirits by gifts. “Ye shall know them by their fruits ” (Mat 7:16 & 20).

Part 12 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #8 – “An Evil Spirit from the Lord Troubled [Saul]” 1Sa 16:14

There are two prominent Sauls in scripture. Both were God’s rejected anointed. Both were popular with the rejected people of God. Both persecuted the true people of God, and both were predestinated to destruction. That’s right – King Saul and Saul of Tarshish were destined for destruction. There is, of course, one major difference. King Saul died in the flesh, while Saul of Tarshish died ‘to the flesh’. But once again both by God’s sovereign design and for our admonition.

Four times in this one chapter we are told:

•  The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD troubled him” (1Sa 16:14).

• “And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit FROM GOD troubleth thee [the extent of God’s sovereignty apparently used to be common knowledge.

•  “…and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit FROM GOD is upon thee, that he [David] shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well” (1Sa 16:16).

•  “And it came to pass when the evil spirit FROM GOD was upon Saul, that David took an harp and played with his hand” (1Sa 16:23).

Twice more in I Samuel we are clearly and straightforwardly told “the evil spirit from God came upon Saul” (1Sa 18:10) and “the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul as he sat in his house…” (1Sa are told the function of evil spirits is to work the counsels and the purpose of God. Maybe we really don’t wrestle against flesh and blood! (Eph 6:12)

Part 13 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #9 – David Numbers the People

“And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and HE moved David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah: (2Sa 24:1).

In Exo 30:12-16, God had instructed Moses never to number the people without collecting a “ransom for his soul”: “When thou takest the sum of the children after their number then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; THAT THERE BE NO PLAGUE AMONG THEM WHEN THOU NUMBEREST THEM” (Exo 30:12).

This census of Israel was for one reason only: “And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation…”

Apparently Joab and his captains were aware of this warning: “And Joab said unto the king, now the Lord thy God add unto the people how many so ever they be, an hundredfold, and that the eyes of my lord the king may see it: but why doth my lord the king delight in this thing” (2Sa 24:2)?

The story goes on. Though Joab finds this a repugnant assignment which he and his captains try to talk David out of doing, David is insistent. The people are numbered and as a result seventy thousand are slain in one day by “a pestilence” (2Sa 24:15).

Notice who we are told “moved” David against them to say, go number Israel and Judah.” “…the Lord…HE moved David.” Now my KJV Bible margin tells me the ‘he’ in this verse is Satan. They refer us to 1Ch 21:1 to prove their point: “And Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number the people.”

Those bible scholars were so uncomfortable with the idea of God using Satan as an instrument to fulfill His preordained plan and purpose, that they were willing to violate the rules of grammar rather than admit to doctrinal error. “…the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and HE [not Satan] moved David…” The subject of this sentence is “the Lord” not Satan. The pronoun ‘he’ refers back to the subject, the Lord.

Now, let us go on over to I Chronicles 21 and see if here at last we can say we have a scripture which does not show God to be responsible for evil: “and Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel” (1Ch 21:1).

Is there anything in this verse which tells us that Satan was doing something contrary to the sovereign will of God? Is there anything here which would contradict Paul’s numerous assertions that “all is of God”? Does this contradict Paul’s statement” “…according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will”? (Eph 1:11).

Let us see if the writer of I Chron. 21 thought this was all really Satan’s idea: “And God was displeased with this thing, therefore He smote Israel” (1Ch 21:7).

Why, if God is more powerful than Satan, and we all agree He is, why does He hold Israel accountable for what Satan tempted David to do? Why is Satan never punished for all the misery for which he is supposedly responsible.

The answer is that “the crooked serpent” is simply “an evil spirit from God” doing what he is commissioned to do. He can do no more, and he can do no less than what he is sent to do by the only sovereign power of the universe: “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem…” (Jdg 9:23); “an evil spirit from the Lord troubled” [king Saul] (1Sa 16:14). “The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof…” (Isa 19:14). When the Lord mingles a perverse spirit, man’s presumed freedom of choice doesn’t deter “Him who worketh all thing after the counsel of his own will” (Eph 1:11).

Part 14 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #10 – Ahab Goes to Ramoth-Gilead

2 Chronicles 18 is the story of Jehoshaphat the king of the southern kingdom of Judah ‘joining affinity’ with Ahab the king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Ahab is a very wicked king married to Jezebel, a very wicked queen, responsible for the death of many of the true prophets of God.

Once again we are given a glimpse into the spiritual realm. Once again it is revealed that evil spirits are daily sent by God to accomplish His purpose. Truly…

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

To the carnal mind, Ahab seems of his own ‘free will’ to have decided to go to war with the Syrians at Ramothgilead. He has given a feast in honor of Jehoshaphat and asks Jehoshaphat to go to war with him. Jehoshaphat “answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war” (2Ch 18:3).

But Jehoshphat had one request to make of Ahab before they go to war: “And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire I pray you, at the word of the Lord today” (vs 4). So Ahab rounds up four hundred prophets who dutifully tell Ahab, “go up for God will deliver it into the king’s hand” (vs 5).

There must have been something about these prophets that made Jehoshaphat recognize them for the hirelings and money hungry men of God they were, because he turns to Ahab and asks him: “…is there not a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? (vs 6).

“And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesies good unto me but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so” (vs 7).

So Ahab, wanting to appear as an objective seeker of truth before Jehoshaphat sends a messenger for Micaiah. The messenger tells Micaiah that four hundred prophets had prophesied in favor of the king’s desire of his own ‘free’ will to go to war. “Let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good” the messenger urges Micaiah (vs 12).

“Even what my God saith, that will I speak” was Micaiah’s response. So the messenger places Micaiah before the two kings, between the kings before him and four hundred paid prophets behind him. “And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to battle or shall I forebear? And he [Micaiah] said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.” (vs 14).

Now Micaiah had just told the messenger sent to fetch him that he would speak only “what my God saith.” That being the case the Lord must have told Micaiah that Ahab had told Jehoshaphat that Micaiah never prophesies good unto me but always evil. The Lord apparently wanted the truth to be given to Ahab at his own request. “And the king said unto him, [still feigning as an objective truth seeker]. How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord.” (vs 15).

So Ahab asked for nothing but the unvarnished truth, which he is about to receive. Ahab was the old covenant equivalent of the leader of modern day Protestants because Israel broke away from the house of David and started a ‘new church’ over the extortion of money from the people. Jehoshephat was the old testament type of ‘a good pope’ whose fathers had extorted money from the fathers of the Protestants.

The modern day equivalent of this scene would be a summit of the leaders of every European nation whether Catholic or Protestant; every leader of the Western Hemisphere whether Catholic or Protestant; the leaders of any nation which mentions the name of Christ, along with about four thousand of the religious leaders from all these nations.

One leader of these “Christian” nations is particularly intent upon going to war against the perennial enemy of the ‘people of God’. He is willing to go it alone if necessary, for this is a clear-cut case of good versus evil. We know this is a case of ‘the people of the true God’ versus those who don’t even profess the name of Christ. But this leader of the greatest “Christian” nation on earth would really rather form a coalition to ‘go up to Ramoth-Gilead.’ The four thousand Christian leaders operating under a carnal understanding of a biblical principle, “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7), tell the political leaders of this imaginary summit that God is on their side. While they are obviously a group of groveling men-pleasers, they think they are operating and speaking of their own “free will”.

But what is the truth about the choices we make. Micaiah is about to give us a lesson in ‘spirit realm civics 101’. This lesson is “written for our admonition.” It is not a tale of the extraordinary as our stubborn flesh wants us to believe. If this tale is an unusual event, then it is of no value for the admonition of the believer, but this is NOT an unusual event, any more than the events related in Job 1. “These things were our examples…and they are written for our admonition” (1 Corinthians 6 & 11). These are “examples” FOR US. This is how the universe is run every day: “Then [after Ahab insisted on hearing the truth] he [Micaiah] said, I did see all Israel, scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, did I not tell thee that he would not prophecy good unto me, but evil?” (vs 17).

Ahab must have known his four hundred prophets were lying, for when Micaiah agreed with them, Ahab insisted on hearing the truth. But Ahab did not have a love of the truth anymore than the religious leaders of our day who are ridiculing the advice of our Lord to Peter: “then said Jesus unto him, put up again thy sword into his place: for ALL they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Mat 25:52).

If ever there appeared to be a worthy cause to fight for, Peter had chosen the most worthy. He was fighting for the Son of God and against the forces of evil. Or at least it appeared so to a yet unconverted Peter (Luk 22:32). Yes, right after telling Peter he wasn’t yet converted, Christ did say :…he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one” (vs 36). But for what purpose? “For…this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, and he was reckoned among the transgressors” (vs 37). That was the only reason given by Christ to buy [not take up] a sword. It was only for the purpose of fulfilling the prophecy that Christ was to be “reckoned among the transgressors”.

The four thousand modern day prophets of ‘Ahab and Jezebel’ who are beating the war drums today, often remind us that Christ said “sell you cloak and buy a sword”, but how many remind us of what the Lord told Peter when Peter took up the sword and cut off the right ear of the high priest’s servant? “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword?”

But “all things are of God” (2Co 5:18) and this is especially true of deceived prophets (Eze 14:9).

But Micaiah was only getting started on spirit realm civics versus ‘free will’, when Ahab interrupted him complaining, then as now, “did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?” (2Ch 18:17). The truth of God is always negative concerning fornicating religious and political leaders of God’s people.. Yes, the truth of God always has been negative concerning the rejected firstborn like Cain, Ishmael and Esau and the rejected anointed like Eli, King Saul and Ahab. These are all types of the flesh, and “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

“…therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. [These are the “powers and principalities” including the “spiritual wickedness in the heavens” of Eph 6:12]

2Ch 18:19 And the LORD said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
2Ch 18:20 Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
2Ch 18:21 And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And [the LORD] said, Thou shalt entice [him], and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do [even] so.

“All the host of heaven” no doubt included righteous spirits who no doubt suggested Ahab’s conversion. But the hosts of heaven are not privy to the knowledge God reveals to those who seek to know his mind.

I have attended numerous funerals in my sixty years on this earth. Invariably the ministers will read:

1Co 2:9 – “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” And that is where they always stop.

Why do they stop here? Because God has not opened their eyes to see the next verse: “But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit; for the spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1Co 2:10).

Do the angels understand the deep things of God? “…which things the angels desire to look into” is a statement made by Peter concerning the salvation of those in Christ.

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

“To the intent that now unto the principalities and power in heavenly places might be known BY THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God.” This phrase ‘principalities and powers in heavenly places” is the exact thought and words translated spiritual wickedness in high places in Ephesians 6:12. High places and heavenly places are both the Greek word epouranios, [Strong’s # 2032]. No, the angels do not know the “deep things of God.” They will in due time learn the manifold wisdom of God BY THE CHURCH.

Understanding the sovereignty of God is one of “the deep things of God”. It is one thing to say ‘yes, I believe God is sovereign.’ It is quite another to understand the depth of God’s sovereignty.

•Mat 13:11 – “…He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”

•Mat 13:17 – “…many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

‘Freedom of choice’ is not a scriptural phrase and is in fact an unscriptural doctrine. “having made known unto us the mystery of HIS will, according to HIS GOOD PLEASURE which HE hath purposed in HIMSELF” (Eph 1:9) is a scriptural statement and is in fact a scriptural doctrine. “All things are of God” (2Co 5:;18) and are “predestined according to the purpose of HIM who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11) is the exact opposite of man’s free will. Yet it is accomplished through the choices men make because, as we have demonstrated, it is God who “moves” men (2Sa 24:1) to make the choices they make.

So what is “His good pleasure which HE hat purposed in HIMSELF? Here is the answer. Believe your Bible! “No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the LAST DAY” (Joh 6:44). Does that sound like God wants us to believe that ‘no one can come to me except he chooses to by his own free will?’

Who will be drawn to Christ? What does the Bible teach? “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL DRAW ALL MEN UNTO ME. This He said signifying what death [crucifixion] He should die” (Joh 12:32-33).

Was Christ lifted up in crucifixion?

Who do the scriptures [not the prophets of Ahab and Jezebel] teach will be “made alive in Christ”? “AS in Adam ALL die, [it wasn’t by our own ‘free will’ we were born in Adam] SO in Christ will ALL be made alive” (1Co 15:22).

The entire fifth chapter of Romans makes this same statement five times in a row. If all were made sinners and subject to death in the first Adam then ALL will be made righteous and given life in the second Adam. Notice Rom 5:18 says “ALL MEN” receive justification “AS” all received condemnation. Five is the number of grace, and grace chastens us until we overcome our ‘idols of the heart’ (Eze 14:7).

Getting back to Micaiah’s class on spirit realm civics, someone might ask why did God allow “all the host of heaven” to participate in this discussion of His predetermined fate of King Ahab and then choose a “lying spirit in the mouths of all of his [Ahab’s] prophets” to accomplish this end? Why did He not deal with Ahab as He did with Jonah or as He dealt with David when David numbered the people or with Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus? Are some people simply too evil for God, with all the powers and principalities at His disposal; are they simply too evil for Him to convert? Hardly! “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump [this is Adam] to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonor?” (Rom 9:21). God did not make us ‘robots’ as some contend this doctrine signifies. We are simply a lump of clay in HIS HANDS: “as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jer 18:6). Even when we turn the world upside down as Ahab and Jezebel, this “turning of things upside down [is to be] esteemed as the potter’s clay” (Jer 29:16).

How clear! “All is of God” (2Co 5:18). Oh, yes, we think WE have chosen God of our own free will, but the truth straight from the mouth of our Savior Himself as “ye have not chosen me [or your own ‘free will’] but I have chosen you…” (Joh 15:16). We think evil men are evil because THEY have chosen to be evil, but Paul says it is “the Potter” who has made them to be “vessels of dishonor”. If “the thing formed” does not have the right to ask “why had YOU made me thus”, what right has a ‘vessel of honor’ to say “I chose to live for God”? Or, “I may not have contributed much to my own salvation, but I did contribute the faith to choose God.” This is what many of us have been taught. We simply did not understand Romans 9, and our eyes were blinded to Ephesians 2:8 which says “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that [that faith] NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is the gift of God.”

Part 15 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #11 – Judas and the Murder of Christ

If the very faith to be saved is “not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”; if “ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (Joh 15:16); if God simply has “mercy on whom HE will have mercy” (Rom 9:18) and if He truly “works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11), then He must also indeed “create evil” (Isa 45:7) and “hate” people before they are even born (Rom 9:11-113), “harden hearts” (Rom 9:18), blind eyes, keep from understanding, keep from being converted and keep from being healed (Joh 12:40).

Is this true? Is God really the one who is responsible for all the evil in the world?

Ask yourself, what is the most evil action of men of all time? Because you are “of the earth, earthy”, you may think it was the burning of witches at the stake, pulling men apart with horses, sawing men in two, etc. You might think that certain men ordering the deaths of so many people make those men the most evil men of all time. If you think any of these things, you are wrong. There has been one death that was worth more than all deaths of all kinds, of all time in the eyes of God. This was the death of the only sinless human being whoever lived – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whom are we told to hold responsible for this most heinous crime of all time? Are we told that our sins killed Christ? No, we are not! We are not told that we loved and therefore chose Christ, but rather that we did NOT choose Christ (Joh 15:16). We are told “not that we loved God, but that HE loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins” (1Jn 4:10). Propitiation means “atonement, that is, (concretely) an expiation” (Strong’s Concordance #2434). Anyone for whom sins are atoned is saved from the penalty of sin, which penalty is death (Rom 6:23).

But those who have been ‘dragged’ to God and saved by the fiery chastening and cleansing of grace in this age, are not the only ones to be saved by this ‘propitiation’ of Christ: “…if ANY man sin, we have an advocate [parakletos – Strong’s #3875 – “COMFORTER WHICH IS THE HOLY SPIRIT” Joh 14:26] with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1Jn 2:1).

We are not the only ones this propitiation covers. We are simply “…a kind of FIRST fruits of his creatures…[begotten] of HIS OWN [not our] will” (Jas 1:18). Since we are only “a kind of first fruits”, “he is the propitiation of our sins; and not for ours only, BUT ALSO FOR THE WHOLE WORLD” (1Jn 2:3). Christ did not die for our sins only, but for all sin of all time, “THE WHOLE WORLD” “…specially [but not limited to] of those that believe” (1Ti 4:10).

We still haven’t discovered who the scriptures say was responsible for the death of Christ. Was it the Jews who knew that his parables spoke of them (Mat 21:45)? No, we are told by Christ Himself that it was not given to them to understand who He was, nor to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God (Mat 13:11-16). Therefore, while hanging on the cross, Christ admitted “they know not what they do” (Luk 23:34).

Was Judas responsible for the death of Christ? He felt so guilty that he hanged himself shortly after the death of Christ (Mat 27:5). But Judas could never have carried through with this deed if Satan himself had not been sent to “enter…into Judas” (Luk 22:3), hardening him to carry through with the task that Christ Himself had told Judas “that thou do, do quickly” (Joh 13:27). Christ in no way discouraged Judas. It took both Christ and Satan to get Judas to commit this dastardly act.

Who then was responsible for the greatest crime and evil of all time? Peter tells us who was really responsible for the death of Christ. We are told twice, so we cannot possibly misunderstand, even though the whole world is blinded: “…Him [Christ] BEING DELIVERED BY THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Act 2:23). Was Christ slain by the Jews? NO! He was “delivered [to death] BY THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD.”

Did the other disciples see it this way? “Against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together, FOR TO DO WHATSOEVER [crucify Christ] THY HAND AND THY COUNSEL DETERMINED BEFORE [the world began – 1Ti 1:9] TO BE DONE” (Act 4:27 & 28).

There it is! Who killed Christ? “…the Gentiles and the people of Israel” (pretty much covers EVERYBODY). Were they responsible for this the worst crime of all time? Absolutely not! “They know not what they do.” Who did know what He was doing? Who is responsible for the death of Christ? “Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done.”

Will Judas or the Jews be caused to give an accounting of their deeds even though they can truthfully plead “why has thou made me thus?” Yes, they will give an account for their deeds even though they are not responsible: “that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth…” (Mat 23:35).

Will the Gentiles be caused to give an account of their evil deeds? Certainly: “the wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23).

The truth will always remain the same: “HE WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11).

Part 16 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #12 – Saul of Tarsus

We have one final example which should dispel any doubts about the foolishness of a doctrine which teaches that man’s will is free from the hand of the Potter. IT IS TRUE GOD DOES NOT FORCE US TO DO ANYTHING: “…the goodness of God LEADETH thee to repentance” (Rom 2:4). God is the potter and we, mankind, are all the lump of clay (Rom 9:21). A potter does not force the clay to do anything; he ‘leads’ it, he forms it. Since salvation is of the Jews, we must all, Jew or Gentile, be formed as Gentiles first: it is God who leads and forms us this way first: “Ye know that ye were [past tense] Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, EVEN AS YE WERE LED” [formed by the Potter] (1Co 12:2). Before Adam ever ate of the tree, he was formed by the Creator “of the earth, earthy” flesh and blood and therefore corruptible (1Co 15:50).

Thus David tells us: “I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa 51:5). David was a man “after God’s own heart”, yet he made this statement concerning our original state. Do we dare to disagree? We are all born naked, composed of clay, dust, ‘shapen in iniquity’, ‘conceived in sin’.

Saul of Tarsus was no exception. He was first formed a vessel of dishonor, “marred in the Potter’s hand” (Jer 18:6). Notice how God led Saul to repentance. If only God will give us eyes to see that these twelve examples are NOT exceptions to God’s way of working. If only God will let us see that all these things are for our examples and are written for OUR admonition. Then we can give Him His due credit and recognition. Then we can rest in His assured love knowing that “He worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN will” (Eph 1:11).

Saul as a zealous young church leader had consented to the stoning of righteous Stephen. He was constantly “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (Act 9:1). Let us observe how God reforms this “marred vessel”. Observe how the goodness of God led Saul to repentance. Is Saul’s own will free of the forming and leading of the Potter? Of course not.

Saul went to the high priest “and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way [following Christ], whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Act 9:1 & 2). He ‘freely’ chose to slaughter the disciples of ‘this way’. This Saul was a marred vessel in the hand of the Potter: “and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the Potter” (Jer 18:6). The Potter does not make mistakes. He deliberately makes vessels to honor and vessels of dishonor.

The vessels of dishonor are endured “with much longsuffering” so God can “demonstrate His wrath and make His power known” (Rom 9:22). These vessels of wrath are “fitted to destruction that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy which He hath AFORE prepared unto glory. Even us whom He hath called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.” Saul’s experience demonstrates how God “destroys” a vessel of wrath.

“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Act 9:3-6). At this point Saul’s highly esteemed ‘freedom of choice’ was looking very much like a pile of dung. “Kick against the pricks” is scriptural lingo for pitting our ‘free will’ against the will of the Potter.

“And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: and they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink” (Act 9:7-9). God didn’t force Saul to do anything. He forms and leads Saul to willingly ask the very man he was moments before threatening to slaughter, “Lord what wilt thou have me to do?” One moment Saul is asserting his ‘own free will’, and the next moment he is conscious of how blind he was. He is now seeking to know the will of Him who worketh ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. He did this willingly. God didn’t need to force him to ask “what wilt THOU have me to do?” God simply destroyed the marred vessel and “he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the Potter to make it…as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in my hand…” (Jer 18:44-6).

Are we so spiritually blind that we think this account of Saul is just an interesting segment of early church history? No, this too, is for our admonition.

Jesus said “…I am come into this world that they which see not might see; AND THAT THEY WHICH SEE MIGHT BE MADE BLIND” (Joh 9:39). Saul of Tarsus certainly thought he could see: “Touching the righteousness which is in the law, [Saul was] blameless” (Php 3:6). Saul had to be shown just how blind he had been. “He was three days without sight…”

After three days of total darkness, a disciple named Ananias, who lived on a street called Straight, prays for Saul. “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith…” (Act 9:18). This was written for our admonition. Saul’s ‘road to Damascus experience’ once again is NOT an exception to the ways of God. It may be unusually dramatic, but that is for the purpose of making the truth an open door for those to whom “it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom” of God, while hiding the truth from those to whom “it is not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God.”

Saul of Tarsus had more than any other man “…whereof he might trust in the flesh” (Php 3:4). He thought he had need of nothing, yet he was brought to see AGAINST his own fabled ‘free will’ that in reality he was naked and blind (Rev 3:17).

Until we are chastened and scourged as was Saul (Heb 12:6), we will not be received by God. We will continue in our blind, naked condition thinking we have need of nothing. Christ will tell us “you have not chosen me” and we will maintain we still have freedom of choice. He will say we are “predestinated” and “he worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN will” we will yet take the credit for accepting Him as our savior.

Such is the reluctance of the beast of Ecc 3:18 to vacate and relinquish its claim to the temple of the Holy Ghost [Spirit] (1Co 6:19). Through the false, deceptive doctrine of free moral agency, the abomination that maketh desolate is “standing where it ought not (let him that readeth understand)…”

It takes no spiritual vision to see a physical man standing in a physical temple in a physical nation called Israel. It takes no spiritual vision to see a physical number stamped in a physical right hand and a physical forehead. So while the whole deceived, blinded Christian world allows Jezebel and those who say they are Jews but are not to cause them to commit fornication, He causeth ALL, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in the [spiritual] right hand and in their [spiritual] foreheads. He that hath understanding counts the number of the beast and understands that it is [spiritually] the number of ‘a’ [any one in Adam] man. For Adam, along with all the other beasts, was created on the sixth day. It is ‘Adam’ who stands in the temple demanding our worship.

And all those to whom it is not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God will and do worship this beast in themselves and will gladly kill any who dare suggest that we love our enemies, or put up our sword, or in any way suggest that ‘Adam’ is poor, miserable, blind and naked. To propose that it is those who name the name of Christ who need to repent is considered the same as giving aid and comfort to the enemy. In reality, of course, it is those who want to fight a physical fight who are giving aid and comfort to old unrepentant Adam.

“The weapons of our warfare ARE NOT CARNAL, but mighty through God to the pulling down of [spiritual] strongholds” (2Co 10:4). “For we WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS in high places [heaven]” (Eph 6:12).

Though the opposite may appear to Adam to be so, those who know Christ, and see things through the eyes of Christ, will not let the “things which do appear” to deceive them into thinking that the weapons of our warfare are physical and carnal.

Part 17 – What About Eternal Life and Eternal Torment?

Now if anything in these pages has had any effect on your understanding of the sovereignty of God in all things, then what lies ahead will be a struggle to understand how the Bible can say “as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive” and at the same time, teach that “the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever” (Rev 14:11). “Lying spirits”, which are nothing more than false doctrines which have set up their abode in us, are loath to leave their dwelling to which they are so accustomed. Lying spirits teach that God is a monster who through either eternal torment or eternal annihilation will destroy most of His creation. Ridding the temple of God of these spirits will take a mighty spiritual struggle. It has always been so for anyone coming out of the Babylon of the apostate people of God. An in-depth investigation of the word translated eternal, eternity, forever, forever and ever, everlasting, etc. will be the next step. What one will discover is that the Greek word behind these five English words, plus about thirteen other words and phrases, including phrases such as ‘world without end’, ‘courses of time’, ‘end of the world’, ‘before the world began’, are ALL translated from the same little Greek word. That word is aion [Strong’s #165] in its noun form or aionios [Strong’s #166] in its adjective form.

To this day, it seems incredible that the leaders of every Christian denomination on earth would agree the best translation for the question the disciples asked in Mat 24:3 – “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world” should really read “end of the age“. Yet these same leaders would rather condemn most of mankind either to eternal torment or eternal death rather than to acknowledge how little the flesh, with its fabled ‘freedom of choice’ has to do either with salvation or the affairs of this world. They are blinded to the other places in scripture where this same little word is used. To have the blinders removed would be to destroy at least one of their huge idols of the heart.

There are many ‘idols of the heart’ which deceive the masses of humanity. Some have a stronger grip on us that others. The “immortality of the soul”, “eternal torment” or “eternal death”, “salvation by works”, or “no works are needed whatsoever” and thousands of other ‘lying spirits’ are “idols of the heart”. The most ingrained idol of all is that of man’s ‘free will’. To give up this idol amounts to nothing less than casting the beast (Ecc 3:18) out of the temple of God (1Co 3:16). The beast in each of us will not go without a mighty spiritual struggle.

Acknowledging that God really is the creator of the good AND the evil gives the flesh NOTHING to claim lordship over, not even evil. It leaves the flesh feeling desperate. The flesh will not accept this the most completely dramatized and blatantly stated of all doctrines: “That they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord and there is none beside me” (Isa 45:6)

So what does that mean? Simply: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil: I THE LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS” (Isa 45:7).

We can cling to this idol and argue that God only brings evil on those who choose evil, that Cain chose to be the ‘seed’ of the serpent instead of the ‘seed’ of the woman. Such statements deny that God knew in advance what Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, the serpent and each of us would be before He ever created man, or that He made provision for it all “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9) and Titu1:2). It denies James’ teaching that God knows “what shall be on the morrow” (Jas 4:14). Whether good or evil, circumstances will be what “the Lord wills” (Jas 4:15), because they will ALL be “according to the purpose of Him who worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11).

Part 18 – The New Testament on the Subject of ALL IN ADAM

We have already covered Christ’s teaching to his disciples that He would DRAG all men to himself (Joh 12:32). We have mentioned Paul’s statement that “AS in Adam all die SO in Christ will all be made alive” (1Co 15:22).

We have shown that no one can come to Christ except the Father draw [drag] him (Joh 6:44). We have demonstrated that it is only those to whom it is GIVEN to understand the mysteries of the kingdom who will do so, and the rest are blinded by God Himself (Mat 13:11, 17; Mat 20:16; Mat 22:14). These are New Testament scriptures which are ignored, denied and contradicted by the idols of our hearts.

Paul

“Who will have ALL MEN TO BE saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1Ti 2:4).

“God is the Savior of ALL MEN, specially [because they are the FIRST FRUITS, not the only fruits] of those that believe” (1Ti 4:10).

What does Paul teach will become of you if you have evil works? “Every man’s work shall be made manifest” for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try EVERY MANS WORK OF WHAT SORT IT IS” (1Co 3:13).

Peter tells us not to think it strange concerning the fiery trial that “IS TO TRY YOU… For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of GOD…” (1Pe 4:12, 17). These scriptures tell us the purpose of ‘fire’. So let’s go back to I Corinthians 3 and let Paul finish his thought. “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereon [on the foundation of Christ] he shall receive a reward” (1Co 3:14). Now this is commonly taught, but the next verse isn’t. What does Paul teach will happen to those who do not produce good works?: “If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; YET SO AS BY FIRE” (1Co 3:15).

What Paul is saying is that anything that cannot endure the fire (gold, silver and precious stones) will be burned up (wood, hay, stubble 1Co 3:12).

This theme is repeated in Hebrews 6:8 “But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”

The Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire

So there is no way to avoid the fire that guards the ‘tree of life’, Christ. The only way to get to Him is through burning out of us everything that offends God.

There are two times when this will be done. There are two judgments: “For the time IS COME that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?” (1Pe 4:17, 18).

What is the end of those “that obey not the gospel of God” and where do the “ungodly and the sinner appear?” When is the “fulness of the Gentiles” accomplished? (Rom 11:25). (See the Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit article on web page listed below, PDF version pages 20 and 92.)

They appear at the next judgment. They appear at the Great White Throne Judgment of Rev 20:11. And what happens there? Do the scriptures really teach us that the wicked dead, those whose works were “wood, hay and stubble”, “nigh unto cursing whose end is to be burned”; “death and hell were cast into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14); are these scriptures telling us that all these wicked dead will either be tormented in literal fire for all eternity or else be literally burned up and be dead for all eternity? No, of course it doesn’t. It is only an ‘idol of the heart’ false doctrine that makes our loving Father out to be so heartless.

This is not a black throne judgment, it is the white throne judgment. And what do the scriptures teach us judgment is?: “When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord…” (1Co 11:32), not killed forever or tortured forever.

There, now we know the purpose of judgment. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb 6:12) because “judgment must BEGIN [NOT END] at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17).

Now if judgment “BEGINS with the house of God” and “we are chastened of the Lord” why would we think the second judgment would do anything else? What do the scriptures teach will happen to those who are in Adam as the outcome of God’s judgments? “When thy judgments are in the EARTH [the great white throne judgment; the chastening that befits a white throne] THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD will learn righteousness” (Isa 26:9).

So at the end, in the end of the book of Revelation, the story is the same as at the end of the book of Genesis: “God meant it [evil] unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this [white throne judgment] day, to save much people alive” (Gen 50:20). The parallel to this scripture in the New Testament is “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev 21:4).

You may ask: ‘How can you possibly say “much people are saved alive” when we were just told they were cast into the Lake of Fire which “is the second death”?’

The answer is that you cannot separate verse 14 from verse 15. The “whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire” of verse 15 is for the destruction of “death and hell” in verse 14. The second death is the death or destruction of ‘death’ itself. We know this is so because we now know that judgment is chastening (1Co 11:32), and verse 13 of Revelation 20 tell us “they were judged every man according to his works”. “There is nor more death” is only five verses below this statement. As long as even one person is dead, death has not been destroyed.

Now Paul’s statements in 1Co 3:15 “if any man’s [sinful] works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; YET SO AS BY [the lake of] FIRE,” makes perfect sense.

Now it makes sense for Paul to tell the Corinthians “…deliver such an one [the Corinthians’ fornicator] unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh [death] THAT THE SPIRIT MIGHT BE SAVED IN THE [great white throne judgment] DAY OF THE LORD JESUS” (1Co 5:5).

Joseph’s brothers were in total ‘outer darkness’, weeping and gnashing their teeth until Joseph revealed himself to them.

Part 19 – The ‘Fire’ of the Lake of Fire

“I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood [hay and stubble], and it [Gods word] shall devour them” (Jer 5:14). It is a tormenting experience to have the spirit of God to burn out all of our sins and shortcomings, but it is not an eternal experience. It is the goal and purpose of the lake of fire. The lake of fire is a chastening and scourging experience.

There, that is the fire that devours the wood, the hay and the stubble which are all the evil deeds of all mankind of all time. It is the Word of God. And the Word of God is Christ (Joh 1:1), the “One Seed” of Gal 3:16. Therefore the ‘fire’ that ‘devours the wood’ is also those who are in the One Seed, those who are in Christ. Do you doubt this? Read Isa 33:14, 15: “… Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”

The answer is not what any of the churches teach; not the eternal death crowd, and not the eternal torment crowd.

Both camps refuse to give up the idols of their heart, ‘their’ stumbling blocks of iniquity (Eze 14:7).

The answer is not Satan and his angels nor the wicked dead. The answer is “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly…”(Isa 33:15). The lake of fire IS those who are in Christ for we will be like him (1Jn 3:2) and He “is a consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), which will purge all wickedness including “the devil and his angels (Mat 25:41).

Part 20 – ‘Eternal’ Is Not a Scriptural Word

Both the ‘eternal death’ and ‘eternal torment’ camps refuse to admit that the Hebrew word ‘olawm‘ and the Greek word ‘aion‘ simply mean a period of time, long or short, with a definite beginning and a definite end.

These words, the Hebrew word olawm and the Greek word aion, are the words that God sent an evil spirit to have translated with 18 different English words and phrases to hide their meaning.

“What will be the sign of the coming and the END of the aion” proves this word has nothing to do with eternity. It does have something to do with a period of time that ‘ENDS with the ‘coming’ of Christ.’

The fact that our calling “was given us in Christ Jesus before times aionios” proves once again that this word has nothing to do with the English word ‘eternity’ because our calling was “pro chronos aionios“, “before times eonian” (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2).

Were we called ‘before’ eternity? No. Will eternity end when Christ returns? No. Does aion have anything to do with eternity? A thousand times, no! The word eternity by its very definition does not have a beginning nor an ending.

“The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for the aions of the aions” (Rev 14:11), not for eternities of the eternities.

This white throne judgment and the lake of fire is simply a later, less desirable judgment, but it is still A CHASTENING (1Co 11:32) to burn up the wood, hay and stubble works of the wicked dead. Nevertheless, he himself shall be saved yet though as by fire” (1Co 3:15), THE LAKE OF FIRE. “… some having put away [a good conscience] concerning faith have made shipwreck. Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander: whom I have delivered unto Satan, THAT THEY MAY LEARN NOT TO BLASPHEME” (1Ti 1:20).

How will Satan teach Hymeneus and Alexander not to blaspheme? The same way he taught David not to number the people.

If “the potter has mercy (Rom 9:18) and gives Hymeneus and Alexander a spirit of repentance, they may return to God as David did. If ‘the potter hardeneth’ (Rom 9:18) they will die in their sins as Esau and Pharaoh and King Saul and Ahab did. They will be resurrected at the great white throne judgment. ‘Their works will be burned and they will suffer loss, BUT THEY THEMSELVES SHALL BE SAVED, YET THOUGH AS BY THE LAKE OF FIRE’ (1Co 3:15).

Complete article in PDF format with page markers and section identifiers.

After the Counsel of His Own Will

Does Mankind Have Free Will?

Including Twelve Examples of How God Deals With Mankind

Part 1 – Who Are They Who Refuse Christ?

Matthew 21:45 and Luke 14:1 tell us Jesus was talking to the “chief priests and Pharisees” in Matthew 22.

In Luke 14, the excuses given for not coming to the supper were “I have bought a piece of ground”, “I have bought five yoke of oxen” and “I have married a wife.” In response to these excuses, the “Lord” the “master of the house” had these men of industry replaced with “the poor, the maimed, the halt and the blind”.

Christ concludes this parable “none of those men…bidden shall taste of my supper”. “Taste of my supper” is to receive and understand Christ (Joh 6:32-35). This declaration “I am the true bread: is placed right after Christ fed the five thousand (Joh 6:10).

Clearly Christ is saying that those who refuse to come to the “great supper” are those who refuse Him. The parable of the marriage supper is preceded by this statement:

Mat 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

So there is no question as to whom those who were too industrious to attend the “marriage …dinner” of Matthew 22 or the “great supper” of Luke 14 are. They are the religious leaders of the people of God of every generation. These are the very same people who say…

Rev 3:17 …I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

The question more precisely is why did they refuse to accept the invitation to come to the “great supper” of Luke 14:16 or the wedding ‘dinner’ of Matthew 22:4? The question at the heart of these parables is: WHY WOULD ANYONE REFUSE AND REJECT THEIR SAVIOR? Why are “the multitudes” led by their leaders away from Christ?

Why is one blessed if he accepts the invitation to this marriage supper?

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Once again the question is still why would anyone refuse and excuse himself from what is simply the single greatest honor that can be bestowed upon anyone in all of the history of mankind? No one doubts that those two parables represent the first resurrection:

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The excuses given in both parables are the same:

Mat 22:5 But they made light of [it], and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

Part 2 – The Real Reason Christ is Rejected

When we ask ‘why’ what we are really asking is, “Does man have a free will?” “Does man make free choices?” No one denies that we make choices every day. “Will I take this job or that job?” “What time will I get up?” “Will I take time for breakfast?” “Which food will I choose?” “Which route will I take to work?”, and so forth. We make hundreds of decisions every day. No one denies that we make decisions. Those who declined their invitation to the great supper and the wedding chose not to attend. We are told what they chose. It’s not debatable.

However, we are also told why they failed to accept their invitation to be in the marriage supper of the Lamb. Everyone knows that Israel has rejected her Messiah. “When the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that Jesus spoke about them” (Mat 21:45). These are the leaders of God’s people.

It wasn’t just the leaders though: “The chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should…destroy Jesus” (Mat 27:20). The multitude…? What multitude? It was the same multitude which the day before had said “blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Luk 19:38). Verse 37 says: “The whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.” This is called the triumphal entry into Jerusalem the day before Christ’s betrayal.

One day the multitudes are calling him “the king that comes in the name of the Lord”, and the next day the same multitude is “persuaded [by the chief priests and elders]…that they should…destroy Jesus.”

How is it possible to be so fickle? Outwardly it was “…because he was nigh Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. However, overnight Christ had been taken prisoner and was standing in shackles before Pilate. All the mighty works they had seen that had inspired the multitudes to say “blessed is the king that cometh in the name of the Lord” all of a sudden didn’t seem so mighty. No matter how many times we may think scripture says otherwise, “he that taketh a city” will always be considered “mightier than he that ruleth his spirit” while God considers the opposite to be true.

Pro 16:32 [He that is] slow to anger [is] better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

This is only the apparent reason for the multitudes and their leaders rejecting Christ. The scriptures give us the true reason. Here is the true reason:

Luk 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Luk 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things [which belong] unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Of course this is in complete accord with Matthew 13:11: “…To them it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” This ‘blindness of Israel’ referred to by Christ here in Matthew 13 is quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10 and is repeated again and again in the other gospels (Mat 4:11, Luk 8:10, Joh 12:40) and throughout Paul’s epistles (Rom 11:8, etc.).

Why does Israel reject their Messiah? “Because…to them it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” Who blinds them to this vital knowledge? What are we told? Are we told anywhere in the pages of scripture that because of the free will of the chief priests and elders and because of the free will of the multitudes, Israel ends up refusing their invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb? No, we are not told such a thing.

Here is what we are told.

Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. That is the “of a TRUTH” of the whole matter.

Just how far does this “thy counsel determined before to be done” go? Does it go no further than man’s free will permits? Could Judas, the chief priests and elders, Pilate or the multitude possibly have of their own free will chosen not to destroy Christ?

Will we believe what a minister tells us or will the word of God have pre-eminence for us? Here is what the scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation:

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Is it unfair at this point to ask, “Did the nation of Israel reject Christ after the counsel of their own ‘free will’?” Is there anything that is not after the counsel of His will? Is anything too evil to be included in ‘all things’? Only if you believe that the lives of ‘X’ number of men are more valuable than the life of Christ whom God, according to Acts 4:28, “determined before” to be slain. All the lives and suffering of all the men and women, boys and girls from Adam to the consummation are not to be compared to that which was sacrificed for their sins. That sacrifice was by the counsel of God and Him alone. Men’s choices were simply used to accomplish that end.

Yes, we ‘choose’ in all the decisions we make every day, but is this really the result of our free will? What happens when our free will conflicts with “the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL”?

The answer is obvious. There can only be one truly free will to which all others are subordinate. Only One will can work “all things after the counsel of His own will.” All other decisions are ‘worked’, caused by that One will and may appear to be free, but we will demonstrate they are always in “all things” caused decisions.

Too often we read these parables of Christ and apply them to the religious leaders of Christ’s day instead of applying them to Christianity today and to ourselves as well. What do the scriptures say of this “pass the buck” attitude?

1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Rom 11:22 …continue in [his] goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

The point made repeatedly in Christ’s parables was two-fold: 1) the first shall be last and the last, first, and 2) many are called, but few are chosen (Mat 20:16).

Nowhere in scripture are we told, “Many decide to come to God, but few decide to endure to the end.” There are many admonitions given to us in scripture: ‘don’t eat of the tree’, ‘choose therefore life’ (Deu 30:19), ‘come to the marriage…dinner’ and ‘come to the great supper’, etc., etc.

This God, who gives us so many admonitions, wants us to “know…that…I form the light AND…darkness…good AND evil” (Isa 45:7). He informs us that the trials of Job were HIS idea (Job 1:8); that “all the evil the Lord had brought upon” Job was indeed from the Lord himself (Job 42:11).

Yes, Adam was told, “Don’t eat!” Did an all-knowing God choose not to know what Adam’s choice would be? Has He chosen not to know what our choices will be? After all, we are all “in Adam”. What do the scriptures teach ultimately happens to “all” who are in Adam?

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

We are told that we were called in Christ “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9), so God must have known in advance what Adam and each of us and those who refused to come to the wedding would choose.

Israel has been broken off for rejecting her Messiah, and yet Peter and John and the entire church in Jerusalem prayed “with one accord” (Act 4:24).

Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus whom you hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 for to do WHATSOEVER THY HAND AND THY COUNSEL DETERMINED BEFORE TO BE DONE.

Why did the Jews refuse to come to the wedding feast? Was it because they chose to put other things ahead of their Messiah? Of course that is the obvious, outward, carnal, fleshly explanation. Yet we are plainly told that while we appear to make choices – good or bad – of our own “free will”, the spiritual, scriptural fact is: “We wrestle [in our apparent ‘free will’] not against flesh and blood, but against [spiritual] principalities, against [spiritual] powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [the celestials – Strong’s #2032 – epouranious]” (Eph 6:12).

Yet it appears from our perspective that the chief priests and Pharisees and “the people of Israel” chose “of their own free will” to refuse their Messiah.

The “first Adam” in the temple of God, “the beast” is loathe to leave that temple. He of his own ‘free will’ will never admit that while yes, he makes choices every day, those choices have nothing to do with ‘free will’. Every choice we make, from casually scratching our head to choosing Christ as our savior is a caused choice.

Why did “the people of Israel…gather together…against thy holy Child Jesus…to do whatsoever [God’s] counsel determined before to be done” (Act 4:28)?

Was this a unique situation that was of such importance that God had to personally step in to see for sure that Satan would enter Judas, and Judas would betray Christ to the chief priests and they would send him to Pilate to be crucified? Is this what “thy counsel determined before to be done” means; that God steps into the affairs of men only occasionally for Esau, Pharaoh, maybe even Jeremiah, certainly in the case of Christ’s crucifixion, yet only occasionally? Is that what scripture teaches us about the counsel of God?

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

If “the very hairs of our heads are numbered”, why would we believe that the all-knowing God who hardens hearts, blinds eyes and stops ears is not also, through the “principalities and powers” at His disposal, causing every trial and test, every chastening and scourging, and yes, causing ALL things – especially our very hearts and thoughts and choices – “according to the counsel of HIS WILL?”

These are the scriptural truths concerning the extent of the counsel of His will. Nowhere do the scriptures teach otherwise. The fact that God insists that we give an accounting for and confess our sins has nothing whatsoever to do with our being responsible for our wretched actions and condition.

It was God’s free will that created us of dust instead of spirit. It is from His hand that every person born comes into this world naked; testifying of our sinful, dying, of-the-dust composition.

God Himself takes the responsibility for every evil act ever committed (Isa 45:7), even the most evil act of all time: the death of our sinless, perfect, spotless Savior (Act 4:28).

This all being made so clear in scripture, one would expect a just God who hardens hearts, blinds eyes and stops ears to make provision for the salvation of all of His creatures. Is that indeed the case? Here is what the Savior Himself has to say: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw (Strong’s #1670 – helkuo – drag) ALL MEN unto me” (Joh 12:32).

Part 3 – Did Peter agree with Christ?

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9).

Indeed we must all choose day by day to pick the good and reject the evil. Nevertheless, it seems that the God of the universe, the God who not only created light to bring us out of darkness, is also the creator of the very darkness out of which we are to come.

The God who creates the good we are told to choose is also the God who creates the evil we are to refuse.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

These are profound scriptures rigorously avoided by the bulk of Christendom. I need to reword that because the scriptural truth is that they do not avoid this scripture. According to Christ, the truth is that God has blinded them to this scripture, and they don’t even know that it is in the Bible. Being blinded by God Himself, when it is pointed out to them, they still cannot see it: “To them it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:11).

To whom is it not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom? “All these things spake Jesus to the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake He not unto them” (Mat 13:34). For what purpose did Christ speak in parables? “…lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them” (Mat 13:15).

Here’s the way Mark puts it: “But without a parable spake He not unto them: and when they were alone, He expounded all things to His disciples” (Mar 4:34).

I’ve already quoted Matthew 21:45, but let’s be clear that the “chief priest and Pharisees” and “lawyers and Pharisees” were indeed included in those to whom Christ spoke in parables “to whom” it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”. Here again is:

Mat 21:45: “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that he spake of them”.

As I understand the question, “Who are these people who refuse to come to the wedding supper?” The answer is: it is those to whom Christ spoke these very parables. It is those to whom it is not given to “know” or to “see” or to “hear” or “be converted” or “be healed”.

Why are these things not given to them while, on the other hand, we are told “because it is given unto you to know…but to them it is not given”…blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Mat 13:11 and 16).

The answer is: God had decided, not “before the world began”, but “before eonian times (the Greek word is aionios – Strong’s #166) that certain ones are predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11) to be “called… with an holy calling, not according to our works but ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PURPOSE and grace which was given us in Christ before the world began (before chronos aionios – before times ‘eonian’ – 2Ti 1:9).

Now John the Baptist had admonished the same scribes, lawyers and Pharisees to “repent for the remission of sins” (Luk 3:3). Had the multitudes, including the scribes and lawyers and Pharisees repented, Christ would never have been crucified, and we would have no savior. However, things are not left to chance with God.

Those who crucified Christ certainly did not consider themselves robots any more than you or me. Indeed robots are nowhere to be found in scripture. The scriptural word for us all is far more basic and simple than being a robot. In God’s eyes, we are nothing more than slightly moist dust. We are clay, and God is the Potter. Here are God’s words to every one of us:

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay [the first Adam made by the Potter] was marred in the hand of the potter [that’s God]: so he made it again [the second Adam] another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it].
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter’s hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

This, too, is couched in admonitions to repent, yet in the same breath we are told that it is God who makes the “marred vessel” first and then destroys the marred vessel and replaces it with “another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make.”

This is in accord with how the first Adam [that’s us] comes right from the hand of the creator, the Potter. He [we] was naked, meaning according to Revelation 3:17, he was a sinning machine and of the dust; corruptible. Serpents do not literally eat dust, but the Adversary certainly does feed on our flesh. “Dust shalt thou eat” has been the nourishment of the Adversary since Adam. We have all come from the hand of the creator naked, sinful and of the dust; corruptible. Anyone who believes that Adam would never have died if he hadn’t eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil believes that flesh is after all incorruptible and can live forever.

One must eat of the tree of life to live forever. The first Adam never did that. Adam did not die and become corruptible because he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam sinned, was spiritually naked, because he was corruptible and of the flesh, of the dust, and was dying: “In the day that you eat thereof DYING you shall die” (Gen 2:17). Few people notice that the tree of the knowledge of good has the same root as the tree of the knowledge of evil. Consequently they are confused as to why Cain’s offering to God was rejected. After all, Cain “brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord” (Gen 4:3).

They are very few indeed who are given eyes to see that it was God Himself who planted the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Fewer still see that both good and evil HAVE THE SAME ROOT.

There is much more revealed here in chapter two of Genesis:

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The truth which seems to be the least understood of all is that even the tree of life is ‘made to grow out of the ground’. The truth of this simple statement gives the lie to Satan’s, “You shall not surely die” untruth (Gen 3:4). Satan convinced the first Adam of a lie which has been ensconced in Adam’s children from the beginning. In effect, what Satan told our parents and is still telling us today is, ‘you will never surely die.’ However, Christ tells us:

Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life…

That is why Christ had to come in the flesh and partake of our earthy, dusty composition. “OUT OF THE GROUND made the Lord to grow…the tree of life” (Gen 2:9).

Both trees grow ‘out of the ground’. What this tells us about ourselves is: “that they [mankind] might see that they themselves are beasts” (Ecc 3:18). Paul puts it like this: “…that was NOT first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is OF THE EARTH [even Christ, the tree of life] earthy: the second is the Lord from heaven” (1Co 15:46-47).

The scriptures teach us that ONCE Christ died to put away the sins of the world, and “it is appointed unto man ONCE to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:26-27). We are NOT immortal, and we are NOT ‘spirits having a physical experience.’ “Dust thou art”, destined to have a spiritual experience, but only after Christ enters into our lives. When He does enter our lives, we receive His spirit as an earnest of the paid-for possession: “Now are we the sons of God”, but we still have to die to the flesh here and now, and even if we live until “He shall appear [and] we shall be like Him” (1Jn 3:2), we still must be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Salvation is not in us coming out, it is rather outside of us through Christ coming into us and changing us.

The essence of this whole subject is that “the Lord made to grow…” ALL is of God, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life BOTH “the LORD MADE TO GROW.” They both have their beginnings “OUT OF THE GROUND”, not out of the spirit.

The elect are saved “by means of death” (Heb 9:15, 27), not from death. That is how ‘life’ comes ‘out of the ground’.

This is all a perfect picture in type of Ephesians 2:8-10. “By grace we are saved through faith…for we are HIS workmanship.” Christ, our sacrifice, shed His blood for us “while we were yet in our sins” (1Co 15:17). It is not shed for those who ‘decide to repent’. It was shed for us “while we were yet in our sins”. Those who fill the master’s house at the wedding feast are not those who willingly chose to come to the wedding: “the Lord said…go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luk 14:23).

Who fills the master’s house for the wedding? Those people who are compelled and dragged to the wedding fill the house. That is what scripture teaches everywhere.

We don’t even contribute the faith to our calling. “It is the gift of God.” We are dragged and compelled to accept Christ. The Greek for compel here in Luk 14:23 is anagkazo – Strong’s #315. It appears nine times in the New Testament and never has anything in common with the concept of “free will” or “free moral agency”.

Anagkazo is the same word in Act 28:19: “I was constrained to appeal to Caesar…”. Paul did not want to appeal to Caesar. He felt “constrained” to do so. In all nine instances it has this concept, those affected by being “compelled” are never the initiators of the actions taken upon them. “And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme…” (Acts 26:11).

Another scripture tells us who it is who will fill the master’s house at the wedding supper: “No man can [choose to] come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (Joh 6:44). Very few Christians indeed are aware that the Greek word translated ‘draw’ here in John 6:44 should be translated “dragged”. The Greek word is helkuo – Strong’s #1670. It appears eight times in the New Testament. Every time this word is used, it is instructive to us to understand exactly how God “the Father draws” us to His wedding supper. Counted down they are:

8) Jas 2:6 – “…do not rich men draw (drag) you before judgment seats.”

7) Act 21:30 – “And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul and drew (dragged) him out of the temple…”

6) Act 16:19) – “And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew (dragged) them into the market place unto the rulers.”

5) Joh 21:11 – “Simon Peter went up and drew (dragged) the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three…yet was not the net broken.”

4) Joh 21:6 – “And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw (drag) it for the multitude of fishes.”

3) Joh 18:10 – Before I quote this scripture, let me say that it is my strongest desire to avoid what Peter does here. It is typical of overzealous Christians to use the sword (the word of God) as Peter does, and it is hard for anyone to hear if his ‘ear’ has been cut off by the sword. The high Priest’s servant was obviously not being “dragged” by the spirit of Christ. Nevertheless, there is a spiritual message in this and in every incident recorded in the scripture. The lesson here is that God’s word (the sword) when used rashly on a uninquisitive and unreceptive soul has the effect of cutting off their ‘ears’. Those who are not being dragged by the Spirit but are still forced by overly zealous converts to look at scriptures they’ve never seen and don’t want to see, end up without “ears to hear” (Mat 13:13). However, Christ gave the high priest’s servant back his ear. I personally like to think that this is telling us that this entire experience gave this one servant the ability to see and hear the words of salvation from the One who is capable of “dragging all men” to himself (Joh 12:32) each in his own order (1Co 15:22 and 23).

Back to John 18:10: “Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.” Depending on the weight, it is most likely that ‘dragged it’ might not be the best translation here, but one thing is certain; swords do not decide to jump out of scabbards any more that fish decide to come to land or jump into boats. It is God who tells us that we are “given eyes to see and ears to hear.” If we don’t see and understand, the only reason we don’t is because “to them it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 13:11-16).

2) Joh 12:32-33 – “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw [drag] ALL MEN UNTO ME. This He said signifying what death He should die.”

Has Christ been lifted up on the cross of crucifixion? Of course, He has. Now through the fiery chastening and scourging of grace, He will drag every man who has ever been born to Himself: “For God so loved THE WORLD [while we were yet in our sins (1Co 15:17) that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life…that THE WORLD through Him might be saved” (Joh 3:16-17). Is this just a weak wish on God’s part, or is this what will happen? “Every knee should bow… and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:10- 11).

1) Joh 6:44 – “No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me DRAW [drag] him…”

No doubt many would have followed Christ before His crucifixion just as they did, 3000 in one day, after His resurrection. They were not being dragged to Him by the Father. Instead, He gave them eyes not to see, ears not to hear and hardened hearts lest they should be converted and He should heal them.

These are the eight times the word ‘draw’ appears in the entire New Testament. Once again, we are shown that it is “the Lord God [who] made to grow every tree…the tree of life…and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:9).

This is the real reason the Jews rejected Christ. This is the real reason most people are (temporarily) ‘lost’ during this age. This is also why Christendom in general will refuse to come to the wedding.

Here are a few plain, straightforward scriptures regarding God’s methods of operation.

Eph 1:11 – “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL.

Eph 2:8 – “By grace are ye saved through faith: and that (faith) not of yourselves: it is the gift [“to you it is given (Mat 13:11)] of God.”

Paul equates this gift of faith with God showing mercy on us: “So then IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WIILLETH (no free moral agency) nor of him that runneth, BUT OF GOD THAT SHEWETH MERCY” (Rom 9:16).

This plain straightforward statement, which annihilates the false doctrine of man’s “free will”, is preceded by this declaration from Him who “worketh all things after the counsel of HIS own will”: “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…” God is insistent that we understand we have virtually NOTHING to do with our being called and being dragged to Him. It is all by “predestination” and “the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11).

The life that we “now live in the flesh [is not of our choosing but] by the faith of [not in] the son of God” (Gal 2:20) “that [faith] not of yourselves IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD” (Eph 2:8). It is the faith of the Son of God, not of you or me or any other man, but the faith of Christ.

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them He also called…” (Rom 8:30). “So then it is NOT of him that willeth…but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom 9:16) is in this context: “For the children [Jacob and Esau] BEING NOT YET BORN, neither having done any good nor evil [before ever being given a chance to choose the good and refuse the evil], THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION [predestination (Rom 8:30, Eph 1:11) MIGHT STAND…as it is written “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Rom 9:11, 13). This is before they were born, and it is written for our admonition. This is not telling us of an exceptional case. This tells us how God operates “all after the counsel of His own will.”

This, Paul knows, sounds so unfair, unjust and unrighteous to us. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God…?” (Rom 9:14). He then goes directly into the total sovereignty of God: “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…It is not of him that willeth, but of God who showeth mercy” (Rom 9:15-16). To reinforce the truth of which Paul was well aware: “I [God] create evil (Isa 45:7), he adds this to the fact that God hated Esau before he was even born: “…the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in thee, And that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore HE hath mercy (drags) on whom HE will have mercy and whom HE will HE hardeneth [blinds]” (Rom 11:17). But doesn’t the scripture teach that blindness comes from “the God of this world”?

Of course, “the God of this world (age – aion ) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2Co 4:4). That’s the same reason Christ spoke in parables; “lest they should be converted and I should heal them” (Mat 13:15). Who sends the god of this age to blind the minds of unbelievers? “He [God] hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted and I should heal them” (Joh 12:40).

And again: “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day: (Rom 11:8). This is what Paul means two chapters earlier where he says: “So then it is not of him that willeth…but of God who sheweth mercy…Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth (blinds, gives them the spirit of slumber, does not open their eyes or ears – Rom 9:16, 18).

Since He hardened Pharaoh’s heart before Moses ever arrived back in Egypt (Exo 4:21), since it is He who blinds people’s eyes and stops their ears, and since it was He who gave the murderers of our Lord the power to do their evil deed, since “none is able to withstand…” Him (2Ch 20:6), why DOES He yet find fault?

In other words, if the people who chose not to attend the wedding supper were actually fulfilling God’s purpose, and if those who do attend are dragged against their own fleshly will, through chastening and scourging, to the wedding supper, WHY DOES HE YET FIND FAULT?

Does Paul now contradict himself and the entirety of scripture and say God finds fault with sinners because they choose to close their eyes, they chose to stop their ears, they want the spirit of slumber, they have chosen to harden their hearts and they chose not to attend the wedding feast?

No, that’s not his answer. He first rebukes us for our ignorance:

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed [Esau, Pharaoh, those who refuse to attend the wedding feast, you or me] say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus?

Paul realized that those who repent and come to Christ only do so because they have experienced something from God which opened their blinded eyes and their deaf ears; raised them from their spiritually deaf condition, and brought, or dragged them to realize that they were in desperate need of a savior. Here are those who will fill the seats at the wedding supper:

Mat 11:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Why were these people blind, lame, leprous, deaf, dead and poor? The answer is because they are being dragged to Christ. These are all absolutely incurable conditions that require a “road to Damascus” experience to be cured of them. We sometimes think, “If I were struck to the ground, saw a bright light, heard a voice and became blind for three days, I, too, would be a dedicated disciple.”

God tells us of our walk with Him:

· “Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth EVERY son who He receiveth” (Heb 12:6).

· “…We must through MUCH tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).

· “If…we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom 8:17).

· “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him…” (2Ti 2:12).

Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus is not given to tell us how unique Paul was. Rather it is for our admonition. Anyone, who truly knows Christ, knows Him not because he has been a zealous disciple of some organized church, as Paul was. Those who truly know Christ, read His word for themselves. Jesus Christ Himself strikes them down and “chastens…and scourges EVERY SON He receiveth.” He brings them to see how blind they have been while in their service to the organized church. While being made aware of our blindness, we are assured that we will be given sight.

We must be brought to understand that we are, of ourselves, as good as dead; we must see ourselves as incurably lame and leprous and deaf. Now we have been ‘dragged’ to Christ. Now we have a personal experience and relationship with the only head of the church. We eventually see ourselves as the temple of God for He now dwells in us. The beast of Ecclesiastes 3:18 has been cast out of the temple. We no longer serve the beast. We have overcome his mark for “here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man…” (Rev 13:18).

There may or may not ever be a physical temple built in earthly Jerusalem. Neither the temple, nor the beast with which God concerns Himself, are built with hands. “He that hath understanding” will see that our warfare is spiritual (Eph 6:12). Knowing the time of the appearing of some man, his date of birth and his name and street address will do one no spiritual good if the spiritual beast is still demanding one’s wholehearted worship in the only true temple of God.

“To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). The true temple is a spiritual temple, not made with hands. It is occupied by the beast from the moment of birth. That’s why John, two thousand years ago, could say “the time is at hand” (Rev 1:3). “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads” (Rev 13:16). Two thousand years ago Christ said, “The time is at hand.”

We all belong in at least one of those groups: either small, great, rich, poor, bond or free.

Who are those who stand on the sea of glass mingled with fire before the throne of God?: “…and them that had gotten the victory over the beast (in themselves – Ecc 3:18) and over his image (churches claiming to be Christian that are truly in the image of the first beastly Adam) and over his mark (in their right hand and their foreheads) and over the number of his name (“it is the number of a man…”), and they sing the song of Moses” (Rev 15:2-3).

Why do they “sing the song of Moses”? It is because, like Israel of old, they have been dragged toward God. Israel did not ask to be delivered from Egypt. “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. As they (Moses and Aaron) called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images” (Hos 11:1-2). Israel was constantly wishing they had never left Egypt. At the first opportunity, when Moses was in the mount forty days, they returned to the idol worship to which they were so accustomed.

The point is that Israel did not choose God; God chose “Israel according to the flesh.” And “as [He] called them so they went from [Him].”

Is it the same under the new covenant? “Now ALL THESE THINGS happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world [Greek word aion or age Strong’s #165 -] are come” (1Co 10:11).

So why did all these things happen to “Israel according to the flesh”? “Now these things were [for] our example…now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [#5179 – Greek word is tupos or types] and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends [Greek: telos #5056 – the predetermined end or outcome] of the world [aion #165 – age; a long or short lifetime or a long or short period of time. Never in scripture is aion/age used to mean eternity or endless time. More on this later…] are come” (1Co 10:5 and 11). Where in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James or Jude is there even a hint at “free moral agency”?

Part 4 – Does James Teach ‘Free Will’?

You might answer, “Right here in this passage Paul says this is for our admonition.” Then you would probably ask, why are we given admonitions if we don’t have freedom of choice? Does not James teach us “Let no man say…I am tempted of God…but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” (Jas 1:13-14). Is not this scriptural proof of “free moral agency”? Doesn’t this statement of James prove that we have freedom of choice?

The scriptural answer is absolutely not! Doesn’t it prove we choose? It surely does! Does it prove our choices and choosing is ‘free’ and uncaused and of ourselves without a cause? Not according to James. James teaches us we ought never to say, “We will…for that [because] ye ought to say IF THE LORD WILLS, we shall live and do this or that” (Jas 4:13-15). Does that sound like James believed in man’s ‘free will’? Notice what James says leading up to this statement that “every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.” Does he teach us that this proves we have freedom of choice apart from the will of God? Is James teaching us that our salvation hinges upon our free choice? Here is the whole of what James taught concerning being tempted: “My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. Knowing this that THE TRIAL OF YOUR FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (Jas 1:2-3).

He then ties this need for patience to a need for wisdom. An impatient person is certainly not a wise person since “in your patience possess ye your souls” (Luk 21:19). Now we come to verse 12 of James 1: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.”

Now for the oft quoted verse 13: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.” This word ‘tempted’ in the Greek is peirazo – Strong’s #3985. This is the singular form of the same word used in verse 2: “My brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (peirosmos – Strong’s #3986). Why is James in verse 2 telling us to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations”, and then in verse 14 telling us that “every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed?” Is James saying we should be aware of our own lust and rejoice in it?

Of course, that is not what James is saying. If you believe in:

· ‘freedom of choice’ however, or if you believe that

· your choices are free from the influences of a God who “creates evil”, who “blinds and stops ears lest they should be converted”, who “hated Esau before he was born while he was in his mother’s womb having done neither good nor evil”, who “hardens whom He will and shows mercy to whom He will”, who declares “so then it is not of him that wills, but of God that shows mercy… therefore hath He mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth” (Rom 9:16, 18);

· if you still believe that “grace through faith and that [faith] not of yourselves” actually means freedom of choice, then you must certainly believe that James, too, is teaching ‘freedom of choice’.

James is not teaching the sovereignty of man in his own salvation. James knew that “the spirit that dwells in us [given us by God (Rom 9:20-21)] lusteth to envy” (Jas 4:5). He also understood that the solution was not ‘freedom’ of choice, but “He giveth more grace.” James also knew the whole meaning of the word grace (Tit 2:11-12). This scripture teaches us that GRACE CHASTENS US. The word “teaching” is really “chastens”.

James 4:15 Explains James 1:13-14

It is James who reveals to us the exact opposite of what christendom deduces from James 1:14-15. It is not what the flesh will accept. Here again is the true teaching by James regarding ‘freedom’ of choice: “Go to now ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. [And what’s his point?] For what is YOUR LIFE? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings [freedom of choice]: all such boasting is evil” (Jas 4:13-16). Our lives are as a vapor and subject to “if the Lord wills.”

That is the teaching of James concerning the subject of free moral agency and freedom of choice. Unless, of course, our stubborn flesh wants to ignore Romans 9, “It is not of him that willeth” and here again in James “what is your life.” Are we to believe that James is teaching God’s sovereignty over our financial affairs, but he stands back and leaves our salvation entirely up to us? No! James taught, “If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that.” If our very life in the flesh, which we must all experience before we are given the opportunity to choose Christ, is dependent upon “if the Lord will”, then surely that choice itself will be “His workmanship”.

This teaching of James concerning the sovereignty of God in all things is in accord with the teachings of Paul that the elect are “predestinated unto the adoption of children according to the good pleasure of His will…being predestinated according to the purpose of Him WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS [Jacob, Esau, Pharaoh, you and I all of the same lump] AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:5, 11). His is the only free will mentioned in scripture. All other wills are contingent upon “If the Lord will…: (Jas 4:15). “If the firstfruit [those in Christ] be holy, the lump [those who reject Christ in this age] is also holy” (Rom 11:16).

Let’s return to Romans 9. Here Paul tells us that God “hated Esau before he was born” while he was in his mother’s womb having done neither good or evil, THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION MIGHT STAND…As it is written Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated…so then IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH [man’s ‘free’ will] BUT OF GOD THAT SHEWETH MERCY…For the scripture sayeth unto Pharaoh even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. That I might shew my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy [by dragging some to him through chastening and scourging – Heb 12:6)] on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth [by ‘giving them eyes that CANNOT see and ears that CANNOT hear lest they should be converted and healed’]”

Rom 9:19 Thou [those who believe in ‘free’ will – this is definitely not James] wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

No one has ever resisted His will! (2Ch 20:6).

“Nay, but O man [who refuses to admit his will is not a ‘free’ will], who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed [by God] say to him that formed it [for destruction], Why hast thou [God] made me thus? Hath not the potter [God] power over the clay [man] of the same lump [all humanity] to make one vessel [those He drags to the wedding supper] unto honor, and another [those who refuse their invitation to the wedding supper, those He blinds, gives ears that CANNOT hear and hardens “lest they should be converted and I should heal them”] to dishonor” (Rom 9:11-21).

Paul concludes this chapter: “But Israel which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness… because they sought it not by faith but by works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone…” (vs. 31-32).

Is Paul contradicting himself? Do verses 11-21 place all the responsibility for the wrong choices of Esau and Pharaoh on God’s shoulders while verses 31 and 32 place the responsibility for Israel rejecting their Messiah on Israel’s shoulders? Does Israel refuse to accept their wedding supper invitation without a cause? Is their choosing to refuse their invitation “free” choice? Was God gambling that the Jews would reject Christ and crucify him when He sent down His son? Did they stumble at that stumbling stone by choice, of their own ‘free’ will? NO! “God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day” (Rom 11:8).

“But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail [placed there by God] untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read the vail is upon their heart” (2Co 3:14-15).

Mat 13:11 …Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

All these statements and many, many others are made concerning the very people who were being admonished by John the Baptist and Christ to “repent” and be converted (Mat 3:2 and 4:17).

Why then does James say, “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed…?” James said those words because they are true. God himself does not force us to sin. He doesn’t have to force us to sin. He created us of the dust, corruptible. We came this way from the creator’s hand. Adam was flesh and blood which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”; and he was this way from the creator’s hand.

The statement is made before they even ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). This is not a simple statement of history here is Genesis 2:25. It is the same statement made in Revelation 3:17: “Thou…art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked…[but you aren’t ashamed] because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing…” (Rev 3:17).

Do you think Adam was ashamed of his nakedness? We are told that neither he nor his wife were ashamed. Was Adam thinking “Wow, I’m in a terrible spot. I’m flesh and blood. I’m corruptible and subject to death. I need a savior.” No, Adam never saw his wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked condition until he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “…I had not known sin but by the law…” (Rom 7:7). Only after Adam saw that he had disobeyed God did he see that he needed a savior, a covering for his ‘nakedness’. Even then there was only the type of the ultimate sin offering at hand for Adam and his sons until the real sin offering was finally offered by God’s sovereign decree (Act 4:27-28).

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a type of the “law of Moses” (Act 13:39). It made Adam aware of the already existing death he was dying: “In the day that you eat thereof, dying you shall die” is the proper translation of Genesis 2:17. Adam was dying by virtue of being made of the dust and being naked from the Creator’s hand. There was no doubt in God’s mind what Adam would do. Did God Himself tempt Adam? He didn’t have to do that. Did God have to force David to be tempted by Bathsheba? No, and like David we are all willing volunteers for the job of sinning. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Like Adam, we are not aware of our sin until we are under the law: “I had not known sin, but by the law…” (Rom 7:7). “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal 3:24).

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not the “tree of sin”. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not make Adam and Eve naked and of the dust, corruptible. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid…” (Rom 7:7). The law, like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, does not cause us to sin; it merely tells us what sin is: “I had not known sin but by the law” (Rom 7:7). So what was the ultimate cause of Adam’s sin? It was his earthy, dust, fleshly composition combined with his naked [in sin] condition (Rev 3:17). Add to this also a tempter, and Adam’s fate was sealed. Now, let’s ask honestly and scripturally who was responsible for all of this.

Isa 45:5 I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things] [harden hearts, blind eyes and stop ears to the truth]. I make peace [with those to whom I show mercy] and create evil [vessels for dishonor, hardened hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears, leprous dying bodies, etc.]

Whether it is physical or spiritual “who maketh the dumb or deaf, or the seeing or the blind? have not I the Lord?” (Exo 4:11). “Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight [make righteous or honorable] which he hath made crooked [hardened and made dishonorable]?” (Ecc 7:13).

Let’s now ask a few questions and answer them with the scriptures James knew so well.

• Who makes evil men? “The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea even the wicked for the day of evil (Pro 16:4). “Behold I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy” (Isa 54:16)

• Who causes some to refuse their invitation to the wedding supper? “O Lord why hast thou made us to err from thy ways and hardened our heart from thy fear…” (Isa 63:17).

• When our hearts are hardened and we sin against God, who is responsible for our chastening afflictions? “Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and afflict us very sore?” (Isa 64:12).

• Who is responsible for those who repent and end up filling the seats at the wedding supper? “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, AND THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF ME, saith the Lord” (Isa 54:17).

• Who is responsible for our repentance and turning from our own ways? “…Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke; TURN THOU ME, [by chastening grace  (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6) and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God” (Jer 31:18).

• Who is responsible for the fate of Israel? “And the vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter…” (Jer 18:4) [God the potter does not make mistakes; He deliberately created a ‘marred vessel’ first: Adam, Cain, Ishmael, Pharoah, Esau, King Saul and physical Israel] vessels of dishonor, created for “the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord” (1Co 5:5).

Since the vessel was made marred, God made it again [the new vessel is not the same as the old one; it is the new covenant of 2Corinthians 3:6 and Galatians 6:16 as opposed to “my kinsmen according to the flesh” of Romans 9:3 – another vessel] as seemed good to the potter to make it…O house of Israel [the physical descendants of Abraham, the marred vessel; the many seeds of Galatians 3:16], cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jer 18:4-6).

When the world turns on God’s people, who will ultimately be responsible? “Israel came into Egypt and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham…He [God] turned their heart [Egypt, the world] to hate His people…” (Psa 105:23-25).

When Paul says that we are “predestinated according to the purpose of HIM WHO WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11) does He really mean ALL THINGS? “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord (Pro 16:33). “The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Pro 16:1).

Scripturally, the sovereignty of God is total. The flesh will not accept this for it leaves the flesh with nothing in which to boast.

Have we made a choice to reject the admonitions of scripture? Woe be unto us. Every statement concerning the sovereignty of God in the lives of individuals or nations is always followed by admonitions to choose the good and refuse the evil. This is true because God has always reserved a remnant to Himself (Rom 9:27, Rom 1:5).

Do we choose to die to self, take up our cross and follow Christ? Very well. We will all be judged according to our deeds [Greek: ergon, Strong’s #2041 meaning works]

Either way the scriptural truth is: “But now O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay and thou our potter; and we are all the work of THY HAND” (Isa 64:8). In other words, “By grace [chastening and scourging – Heb 12:6] are ye saved through faith and THAT [even just the faith] NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is the gift of God. Not of works [that we do ourselves – Isa 54:17] lest any man should boast. For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto GOOD WORKS, which GOD HATH BEFORE ORDAINED [predestinated] that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:8-10). “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OF ME saith the Lord” (Isa 54:17).

Clearly there is no room for the flesh to take credit for any righteousness which “Christ in us’ may perform through us. “We are HIS workmanship.”

God’s sovereignty is not limited to “every good and perfect gift” (Jas 1:17). The fact that every good and perfect gift is from above does not say that ONLY the good and perfect gifts are from above.

Both James and Paul agreed that “all things” (Eph 1:11) depend upon “If the Lord will…” (Jas 5:15).

The Lord has been gracious to reveal to us that not only does every good and perfect gift come from above, but that for the sake of “the good pleasure of HIS will” (Eph 1:5), [He] worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). ‘All things’ includes both the good and perfect and the evil: “O Lord, why hast THOU MADE US TO ERR FROM THY WAYS, AND HARDENED OUR HEART from thy fear?” (Isa 63:17). “It is not of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy…therefore hath he mercy on whom HE will have mercy and whom He will He hardeneth” (Rom 9:16, 18).

James was well aware that the “trying of our faith worketh patience” (Jas 1:3) and that all things depend on “If the Lord will” (James 4:15). So when he tells us “…God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth He any man” (Jas 1:13), it becomes obvious that James was aware of the details of God’s methods. “It is God which worketh in you both to will [the desire to please God] and to do His good pleasure” (Php 2:13).

So what does scripture reveal to be the method God uses whereby it can be said that God is sovereign over the good and the evil and yet God himself tempts no man?

Part 5 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #1 – The Tempting of Mankind (Adam and Eve)

The first example is the pattern for all of God’s sovereign actions concerning the tempting of man. God’s sovereignty had Christ slain for Adam’s transgression before Adam was ever created: “Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to HIS OWN PURPOSE and grace, which was GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN” (2Ti 1:9). And again: “Paul…in hope of eternal life which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Tit 1:1-2).

Obviously God had decided in advance that Adam would be tempted and would transgress his direct command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is most instructive to note that the made-of-the dust, weak, corruptible and “naked” [which scripturally means sinful (Rev 3:17)] Adam, as well as the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, were both the product of the Creator. The only question now is how will Adam be tempted so that God can truthfully say that He Himself tempts no man? This was no problem for the creator. Adam and Eve were “drawn away of their own lust and enticed” (Jas 1:14). What was the instrument used to effectuate the temptation for which Adam was “made to err from your ways” (Isa 63:17)? It was and always is the Adversary himself or one of his minions called in scripture “evil spirits”. Did God Himself tempt Adam? No, He did not. Did God force Adam to transgress His command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Absolutely not.

God never needs to force anyone to sin or transgress. He made us weak and corruptible “of the dust” to begin with. God never needs to tempt us because the serpent is nourished by the ‘dust of the ground’. Serpents never literally eat the dust of the ground. Serpents are carnivorous. They eat rats, mice, small reptiles, etc. The ‘dust’ spoken of in Genesis is “the spirit that dwelleth in us which lusteth to envy” (Jas 4:5). This statement is made by James, the same New Testament writer who tells us in chapter one:

Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Will anyone who claims to be familiar with these scriptures: “It is the spirit that giveth life (Joh 6:63); “Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created…” (Psa 104: 30); “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8), etc, etc. deny that “the spirit in us lusteth to envy” is the very spirit the Creator breathed into Adam which gave Adam his “breath of life”? Yes, it was God who gave us “the spirit in us [which] lusteth to envy.”

No, James was not teaching ‘freedom’ of choice. James was simply teaching choice; choices caused to be made within the influence of the Creator. The Creator is the ultimate cause of all things, including every choice we make.

Understanding God’s sovereignty does not relieve us of giving an account of our actions to God, nor does it relieve us of our daily decisions and choices. Understanding God’s sovereignty simply means that we now understand that all of our choices and decisions are CAUSED choices and decisions.

In our pride and vanity, we do not want to admit it, but the truth of the scriptures is that every choice we make is a caused choice. “Freedom of choice” and “free moral agency” are false doctrines that defy the declarations of God in His word that…

Pro 20:24 Man’s goings [are] of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

Rom 9:16 So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

Eph 1:11 …who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

…and…

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

Part 6 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #2 – The Trials [Temptations] of Job

Updated October 12, 2010]

Most of us are aware that Job was a man of great patience. In one day Job lost all his oxen, asses, camels, sheep and all but one of the servants that cared for each group, and finally all his sons and daughters died in the home of the eldest with only one servant escaping to bring the bad news to Job.

This first chapter of Job is a perfect parallel to what happened to our original parents in the garden of Eden. Note the parallels:

•Whose idea was it to try Job in this way?

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job…

It was the Lord who drew Satan’s attention to Job. What was Satan doing up to that time?

Job 1:7 …going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Why does Satan do this?

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

That’s why Satan is “going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it.” He is “seeking whom he may devour.”

•Whose idea was it for Adam to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Satan’s creation? No, God “creates evil” (Isa 45:7). Did Satan place this tree in the middle of the garden and make it so pleasant and appealing to the eyes that it would tempt our parents? No, this, too, was by God’s “predestinated” design and counsel (Eph 1:11). Why, on the other hand, were they not attracted to the tree of life? God NEVER told them they could not eat of the tree of life. Why did they not desire the tree of life? Because it: “hath no form or comeliness and when [they saw it] there [was] no beauty that [they] should desire it” (Isa 53:2). Who was it that created the crooked serpent to entice our parents to transgress God’s command?

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

It was God who formed the serpent and placed him in the garden to tempt Adam and Eve. The entire event was “for to do whatsoever thy hand [God’s] and thy counsel [God’s] DETERMINED BEFORE to be done” (Act 4:28).

We know this is so because, besides this scripture here in Acts, we are also told twice…

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

And again…

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

And once again Revelation 13:8 refers to “the lamb slain FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.” Ask yourself, did God know from the foundation of the world and before the world began that the Lamb [Christ] would be slain for our sins and that we would be called with a holy calling “in Christ”, but he didn’t know for sure what our parents would do when He commanded them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Was God trying to thwart His own plan when He gave Adam and Eve that command not to eat of the tree? In other words, did God’s plan and purpose hinge upon Adam’s ‘free will’, or was it all of God “…being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things [including our caused choices] AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11)?

No, the scriptures reveal from Genesis to Revelation that “all things [are] of God” (1Co 11:12); “and ALL THINGS [including our good or bad choices] are of God…” (2Co 5:18); and “…the Father of whom are all things” (1Co 8:6) and finally,

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

Now if the most heinous crime of all time, the unjust murder of the perfect lamb of God was “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Act 4:28), why would lesser crimes be any less so? The truth is they are no less “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”

See how revealing this first chapter of Job is? This is not an unusual event. “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them” (Job 1:6). Note it does not say ‘there was finally a day’ or that ‘”Satan sneaked in also among them.’ That’s not what the scriptures teach. This is where Satan operates. This is his predestinated function to serve as the crooked serpent, the Adversary, the tempter, the devil.

Satan comes before God daily “seeking whom he may devour.” Here is the truth of scripture. Look beyond the physical and believe what the spirit [the words that I speak unto you…are spirit – Joh 6:63] reveals. Here is what the spirit, the word of God reveals is the truth of what we are really dealing with:

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood [freedom of choice], but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. [Strong’s #2032 – epouranios– the celestials or the heavens]

“Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed” is certainly the truth of Jas 1:13, 14. This scripture, however, in no way negates or contradicts the fact that the spiritual reality is that our “own lusts” are the very ‘dust’ on which the “spiritual wickedness in the heavens” dines. It is “all of God” who “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

What James is saying is “…ye know not what shall be on the morrow” so it serves no purpose whatever to say “I am tempted of God.”

James wants us to “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this that the trial of your faith worketh patience…If any man lack wisdom [gives in to his own lusts] let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally…Blessed is the man that endureth temptation for WHEN HE IS TRIED, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (Jas 1:2, 5, 12).

It is right at this point, after informing us of the absolute necessity for trials and temptations in the life of the believer, predetermined by the sovereign will of God, before we can “receive the crown of life”; it is right at this juncture that we are told not to use the truth of the sovereignty of God’s will as an excuse to yield to our lusts (Jas 1:13-14).

James is so like Paul. Immediately after telling us we are really wrestling with spiritual wickedness in the heavens, Paul says: “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day…” (Eph 6:13).

Understanding and believing “an evil spirit from the Lord” is used to “[draw us] away of our own lusts” in no way relieves us of still being held accountable for being drawn away of our own lusts. “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God [and I can’t resist His will]: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He [Himself] any man” (Jas 1:13). James is saying that since “you know not what the morrow bringeth” [but God certainly does], that to use such a mindset is counter-productive.

Both James and Paul teach us to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7). The fact that we cannot successfully “resist God’s will” (2Ch 20:6, Rom 9:19) is not an admonition to lay down and do nothing. “Not knowing what the morrow bringeth” James tells us, should make us want to say “the Lord willing, we will…” “put on the whole armor of God” and “…resist the devil”. In other words, what James teaches is that since we know that God’s will will be done on the morrow, therefore we should strive even harder to do that very will; “if the Lord will…we shall…do this…” (Jas 4:15).

Paul puts it like this: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). James says “faith without works is dead” (Jas 2:26). In another place Paul tells us: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal 6:7). There is no difference in the teachings of these two great men of God. There was no doubt schism in the body of Christ, but it was never between James and Paul. Both of them saw and understood the sovereign will of God in all things: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow…for that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that” (Jas 4:14-15).

On the other hand, God knows exactly what shall be on the morrow because He is “the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev 22:13).

Why Temptations?

Our trials and tests are never for God’s information or benefit. They are rather for our own information and benefit. God is our maker. “He knows our frame, he remembereth that we are dust” [just a meal for the tempter] (Psa 103:14).

Our trials, our being drawn away of our own lusts and enticed, show US: “The heart is deceitful ABOVE ALL THINGS, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer 17:9)

So what is it Job needs to see about himself? Why did Job have to suffer the loss of everything he owned including his own children and later head-to-toe painful boils?

If Job were “perfect [Hebrew: tawm – Strong’s #8535, undefiled rather than perfect] and upright [man] and one that feared God and eschewed evil” (Job 1:1), why did God ‘take down the hedge’ and all of a sudden, send the adversary to take everything Job owned away from him and shortly thereafter to strike him with “sore boils from the sole of his feet unto his crown” (Job 2:7)?

The answer to this question has to do with much more than simply teaching us about the patience of Job. The very purpose for the book of Job is to teach us that our ‘tawm‘ [the word translated ‘perfect’ in Job 1:1], our ‘good works’ are NOT OF OUR OWN FREE WILL. In other words, what Job had to suffer so much to learn and what WE MUST LEARN, is that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isa 64:6), that though we may appear to make good decisions on our own, the truth and the reality is that we are “HIS workmanship” (Eph 2:10), and that “thou…hast wrought all our works in us” (Isa 26:12).

When we claim ‘free moral agency’, our works are filthy rags. When we admit we are His workmanship then “thou hast wrought all our works in us”, and now God can accept us.

There is that word ALL again. He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). “For of Him and through Him and to Him are ALL THINGS” (Rom 11:36).

Job did not yet realize this. Job actually believed that his righteousness was of himself. He thought that he was a good man because HE had chosen to be righteous. It was his lack of understanding that “all things are of God” (2Co 5:18 and Isa 26:12) that precipitated and required the trials that Job endured. It was Job’s belief in his ‘freedom’ of choice, his ‘free moral agency’ that he had of himself chosen the good and refused the evil, that God had not chosen him, but he had chosen God; this is what cost Job so dearly. Here are the scriptures:

• “For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment. Should I lie against MY right? MY wound is incurable without transgression” (Job 34:5-6). These are the words of Job. Elihu, who is quoting Job, was the only comforter who the Lord did not rebuke for his advice to Job. Had Job really claimed to be righteous? Yes, he did. Here are his own words:

• “God…hath taken away my judgment…and…hath vexed my soul. …Till I die I will not remove MINE integrity from me. MY RIGHTEOUSNESS I HOLD FAST AND WILL NOT LET IT GO: MY heart shall not reproach me as long as I live” (Job 27:2, 5, 6).

That attitude cost Job dearly. It will also cost us dearly. As long as we cling to ANY claim whatsoever, to contributing anything whatsoever toward our salvation, we are no better than Job. We are saved by grace [chastening and scourging, Titus 2:11-12, the word “teaching” is actually chastening] through faith and that faith is not even ours. “It is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). “We are HIS workmanship” (Eph 2:10). “That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1Co 1:29).

Now concerning Job, does God agree with Elihu? “…The Lord answered Job and said, shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him? He that reproveth God [like Job], let him answer it…Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” (Job 40:1, 2, 8). God did not pass the buck to Satan or Job’s ‘free will’.

What does Job answer? Does he resort to ’till I die I will not remove MY INTEGRITY from me. MY RIGHTEOUSNESS I hold fast and will not let it go:  MY heart shall not reproach me so long as I live”? Is that how Job answered God when God showed Job that his belief in his free moral agency was essentially saying that he (Job) could disannul God’s judgment by making good choices of his own free will, his own righteousness?

No. Like Saul of Tarsus, whose ‘free’ choice was to disannul God’s judgment, Job saw the light. Powers and principalities in high places were at work on Job’s [and on Saul’s] ‘free’ choice. Instead of persecuting the Lord, Saul of his own ‘free’ will recognizes his blindness and asks, “Lord what will thou have me to do?” (Act 9:6). And Job, of his own ‘free’ will now answers “I know that thou canst do everything [including CAUSING our choices by either hardening our hearts or showing his mercy through chastening and scourging till we of our own ‘free will’ say ‘not my will but thine be done]…wherefore I abhor myself and REPENT [‘perfect’ men don’t need to repent] in dust and ashes.” Job had come to see that his righteousness acts were filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Job now realized “the Lord hath brought forth [my] righteousness” (Jer 51:10).

“I know that thou canst do everything, and that NO THOUGHT can be withholden from thee” (Job 42:2), is the truth of the scriptures. The trouble with this scriptural fact is that it flies in the face of the false doctrine of ‘free’ moral agency which of necessity teaches that God has chosen not to know what our choices will be. Therefore His hands are tied, and responsibility for our salvation is in our own hands in the final analysis . The most critical thing to our salvation, outweighing even the death and resurrection of Christ, is our ‘freedom’ of choice, our ‘free’ will; so this false doctrine teaches.

Free Will Exposed

This doctrine teaches that God sent His son into this world to save only those who choose of their own free will to believe in Christ in this fleshly life. If He hardens your heart, blinds you and gives you ears not to hear, He only does this to those who of their own ‘free will’, choose not to accept their invitation to the marriage of the Lamb. So all of God’s efforts to draw all men to Himself are for the most part nullified by man’s ‘free will’ according to this doctrine of ‘free will’. The thinking goes like this: ‘It is because of free will, that many are called, but few are chosen. As much as this pains our Father, our ‘free will’ has tied His hands. It’s out of His hands; most will, depending on just how heartless and helpless a Father one serves, be either eternally dead or eternally tormented, because God has chosen NOT TO KNOW IN ADVANCE what our choices would be. Therefore, so the teaching goes, our eternal death or torment is after all, our own fault, because we of our own free will, have chosen not to attend the wedding of the Lamb.’

Is this what Job learned as a result of all of his trials? No, this is NOT the message of the book of Job. Here are Job’s own words concerning what God chooses to know: NO THOUGHT CAN BE WITHHOLDEN FROM THEE (Job 42:2).

• “The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is FROM THE LORD” (Pro 16:1).
• “The kings [Pharaoh, King Saul and King Ahab and our] heart is in the hand of the Lord…He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Pro 21:1).
• “Man’s goings [ways] are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way?” (Pro 20:24).
• “O Lord, I know that the way [goings] of man is not in himself: IT IS NOT IN MAN THAT WALKETH TO DIRECT HIS STEPS” (Jer 10:23).

What room is there for ‘free will’ in these scriptures?

Let us go back to Job chapter one, and notice how God manipulates the Adversary to accomplish His purpose in Job. It is the Lord who draws Satan’s attention to Job. Satan never asks God first for permission to prove Job. Showing Job His total sovereignty is God’s purpose in this book. It is the Lord who first mentions Job: “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect [good] and upright man, one that feareth God and esheweth evil?” (Job 1:8) So the Lord himself admits that Job is a good man that fears God and hates evil.

Job’s only fault was his mistaken belief in his own freedom to choose to “fear God and eschew [hate] evil.” Job did not yet appreciate the sovereignty of God; “you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you” (Joh 15:16). “No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (Joh 6:44).

Satan has no doubt about the sovereignty of God: “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face” (Job 1:11).

How does the Lord go about “put[ting] forth thine hand” to “touch all that he hath”? “And the Lord said unto Satan, behold, all that he hath is in thine hand…”

Here is God about to do what he tells us in Isa 45:7 He does: “I…create evil. I the Lord do ALL these things.” How does the Lord do all these things? Does God Himself “put forth his hand?” No, that is not how he “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). “God cannot be tempted of evil neither tempteth He [Himself] any man” (Jas 1:13). How can God insist on his sovereignty in all things, including the evil, and yet say He tempteth no man” Job himself tells us: “By His Spirit…His hand hath formed the crooked serpent [the tempter, Satan – Rev 12:9] (Job 26:13). Lo, these are part of His ways: but how little a portion is heard of Him? But the thunder of His power who can understand? (Job 26:13-14) Evil spirits are not self-created: “His Hand formed the crooked serpent.” Satan is not a loose cannon walking to and fro in the earth robbing God of 99% of His creation. Satan “could have no power at all…except it were given [him] from above” (Joh 19:11). He entered Judas and convinced him to betray Christ to the religious leaders of God’s people of that day (Luk 22:3). Was Judas aware of Satan’s influence upon him? Of course not. Judas, like so many of God’s people today, thought he was exercising his “freedom of choice”. Judas, like Adam and like all of us, was certainly exercising choice. Like Adam and all of us, he will have to give account for those choices and will “suffer loss” for “works” of “wood, hay and stubble” [wrong choices producing sin] (1Co 3:12-14).

Neither Adam nor Judas nor any of us are exercising “freedom of choice”. Our choices clearly are not free but are all worked “after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Our choices, good choices, like following Christ, and our sinful choices, like betraying Christ and living lives dominated by the flesh, are all ’caused’ choices. All ultimately are caused by the ultimate cause of all:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Here is how we are all “made… wicked for the day of evil”:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

So our will to do evil really “is no more I that do it…” This is twice repeated. Then we are told what compels us to do evil, and we find that it is because of “a law”. Who is the only lawgiver?

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

So we do not will to save ourselves, it is the “one Lawgiver” who either saves or destroys us, and we are “predestinated according to His will, not our own will.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Concerning our struggles against our natural flesh we are told:

Eph 6:12 We wrestle not with flesh and blood [our supposed free will] but with…spiritual wickedness in the heavens.

Adam’s chances of making the right choice because of some fabled ‘freedom’ of choice were about as slim as Judas’ chances of deciding not to betray Christ. Satan’s “entering into Judas” (Luk 22:3) was no more a matter of Judas’ ‘free’ will than when Satan influenced Peter to rebuke Christ for informing His disciples of the necessity of His impending death. Christ did not turn to Peter and encourage him to make better choices: “But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things of men” (Mar 8:33).

Christ was not merely using a figure of speech. Christ knew that Satan “savored the things that be of men”. It was Christ Himself, the Word of God, who had decreed in the garden “dust shalt thou eat.” Christ knew how the universe operated, for the Father had used him to set it up as it is (Rom 11:36). Christ knew that Peter was at that very moment losing, and losing badly a ‘wrestling match’ with spiritual wickedness in the heavens (Eph 6:12).

Peter had to be brought to see this in himself. Because God had predestinated Peter to mercy, he chastened him with a rebuke: “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Heb 12:6).

There was no rebuke or chastening for Judas but rather, right from the mouth of our Savior Himself: “that which thou doest, do quickly” (Joh 13:27). Satan “entered into” Judas to harden his heart or Judas would never have been able to carry through with his dastardly assignment: “So then it is not of him that willeth [how clear!]…but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth” (Rom 9:16-18).

Man boasts of his ‘free’ will: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow…ye rejoice in your boasting [we will do this or that; reject or accept Christ] all such rejoicing is evil” (Jas 4:14, 16). Whether we accept or reject Christ will be decided by whether we are dragged to the Father by circumstances beyond our control or hardened into rejection by ‘spiritual wickedness in the heavens’. Yes, we do make choices, but they are never free from “Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will.”

Part 7 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #3 – Jacob and Esau

Isaac was Abraham’s second son, the child of promise, born after both Abraham and Sarah were past the age of being able to bear children. Abraham’s first son was begotten in a natural manner. Abraham had married Sarah’s handmaid Hagar, and Ishmael was born of this union.

There was nothing miraculous about the birth of Ishmael on the other hand. It was completely normal and natural.

Isaac’s birth was NOT a natural birth, but was supernatural, foreshadowing the spiritual, supernatural birth of Christ and of all those who are in the ‘one seed’ (Gal 3:16). Now Isaac brings forth two sons; Esau his firstborn and Jacob, Esau’s twin brother. We are told Abraham is the father of the faithful, who brings forth the child of promise. Remember “we, as Isaac are children of promise” (Gal 4:28). If those in Christ are “as Isaac, children of promise”, who then are the twin brothers they bring forth but the many who are called (Esau) and the few who are chosen (Jacob)?

Both are born of the elect. Just as Judas despised his elect position as one of Christ’s twelve disciples “whom also he named apostles” (Luk 6:13), and traded his eonian birthright for thirty pieces of silver, so Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup.

Judas had not cast in his lot with the despised cult. The people of God who betrayed and slew Christ were those who were in the vast majority, with thousands of years of traditions on their side. Had not Moses told Israel to swear by the name of Yahweh (Deu 6:13 and 10:20), to hate their enemy (Deu 7:2 and 20:7), eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Exo 21:24 and Deu 19:21). Hadn’t Moses told the men of Israel that they could put away their wives “if thou have no delight in her…” (Deu 21:14)? Hadn’t Moses told Israel not to gather food on the Sabbath but prepare for the Sabbath on the sixth day (Exo 16:5)?

Let it be made clear that no one here is advocating that we add anything more to the New Covenant than what is revealed in the New Covenant scriptures. The parallel being drawn here is that there is as great a difference between the revealed truths of the new covenant scriptures and the false teachings of orthodox christendom today, as there are between the old covenant “law of Moses” and the new covenant “law of Christ” revealed in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.

Christendom has almost two millennia of history and time-honored traditions totally contrary to new covenant scriptures.

Christ said not to fear man (Mat 10:28, Heb 13:6) so we call our ministers ‘reverend’ which means ‘to be feared’, thus defying scripture. Christ said not to call any man father, yet many Christians do just that when referring to their spiritual leaders. Christ repeatedly said that the dead people He raised from the dead were ‘asleep’. Paul speaks of the dead as those who are asleep in Christ, who without a resurrection are perished, yet christendom teaches the immortality of the soul. Christ tells us that every sacrifice would be “salted with fire”, yet He also says that He will “draw [drag] all men to Himself”. Paul tells us that those with works of “wood, hay and stubble” will be “tried with fire and burned up, yet he himself will be saved”, “He will have all men to be saved”, He is the “savior of all men specially [but not exclusively] of those who now believe”.

Peter tells us that God is longsuffering toward us, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Again, Paul tells us that AS through the sin of one man, all are made sinners even so through the righteousness of one man shall all be made righteous. “As in Adam all die, SO in Christ shall all be made alive” (1Co 15:22).

Yet in the face of all these new covenant scriptures, Christendom has a long time-honored history and tradition of teaching the inconceivably cruel and unscriptural doctrines of either eternal death or worst of all, eternal torment in a literal lake of eternal fire with no hope of ever being redeemed by a loving Father.

What do these last two false doctrine have in common? They are both based on another unscriptural doctrine called the doctrine of free moral agency or the doctrine of man’s free will.

So here are the twin brothers of the elect father of the faithful. One will not receive the birthright and will marry the daughters of the people of the land; the other will live in temporary tents in peril of his life at the hand of his more popular and populous twin brother; for his brother is a man of the field (Gen 25:27), which Christ himself tells us is the world (Mat 13:38).

The truly elect of Christ love those who hate them. They have a love that far exceeds mere ‘phileo‘ love. The true elect have a love that does not depend on love being returned. It is a carnally impossible love. It is ‘agape‘ love. It is the love of God for all mankind.

Esau loves his brother only if his brother loves him, for he is the rejected elect, the many called who come in Christ’s name and admit that Christ is indeed Christ, yet they deceive many.

So why is ‘the many’, who is the rejected twin brother of the elect – deceived and rejected? Is it because they decided to be unappreciative of their birthright? Did Esau choose to be a man of the world? Is that what scripture teaches us of either Esau or of the “many who shall come in my [Christ’s] name and shall deceive many”?

Why do the scriptures say Esau was rejected? “…the children being NOT YET BORN, neither having [chosen to do] any good or evil THAT THE [PREDESTINATED] PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION [BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD] MIGHT STAND, NOT OF [CHOOSING TO DO] WORKS, BUT OF HIM THAT CALLETH…as it is written Jacob have I loved [before he was born] but Esau have I hated [before he was born]…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy…and whom He will He hardeneth… Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?” (Rom 9:7-21). That is the ONLY scriptural reason given for Esau’s rejection. He sold his birthright because he was rejected, “being not yet born, neither having [chosen to do] any good or evil…”

He was not rejected because he chose to despise his birthright, but he chose to despise his birthright “that the purpose of God might stand…” (Rom 9:11). His choice was a God-caused choice “that the purpose of God according to election [before he was born] might stand…” Every choice made by either Jacob or Esau was a caused choice…caused by “principalities [and]… powers in the celestials” (Eph 6:12).

Part 8 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #4 – Joseph and His Brothers

Why are “our works” and “our righteousnesses” so despised by God? God Himself calls them “righteousnesses” (Isa 64:6). He does not say our iniquities are as filthy rags. Is it nothing more than taking credit for what HE has done in either “drawing” us to Him or “hardening” us? Is it not simply because this fleshly claim of man’s sovereign choices denies the truth that “O Lord, thou art our father; we are [merely] …clay, and thou art our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa 64:8).

The story of Joseph and his brothers demonstrates how true this is. Joseph had ‘chosen’ to share a dream he had with his brothers: “Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed” (Gen 37:6). He then delights them with the story of their “sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaf” (vs 7). Jacob had ‘chosen’ to show favoritism toward Joseph. “When his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they [‘chose to’] hate him, and could not speak peaceably unto him” (Gen 37:4). It was just at this juncture that Joseph decides to tell his brothers of his dream. “And they hated him yet the more” (vs 5).

To make matters worse, Joseph then dreams another similar dream. He dreams that “the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me” (vs 9). Joseph shares this dream with his father and his brothers. This time even “his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What…shall I and thy [dead] mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (vs 10).

Now even Jacob rebukes Joseph. Joseph’s decisions are not winning him many friends. Of course, this all leads to his brothers plotting his death and being talked out of that by Judah, who instead convinces his brothers to sell Joseph to some Ishmaelites who, in turn, sell Joseph to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard.

Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph of attempting to seduce her, and Joseph ends up spending years in prison where his gift of interpreting dreams finally falls on the receptive ears of Pharaoh’s imprisoned baker and cup bearer. The dreams are not his dreams now, and Joseph was no doubt questioning whether the dreams he had shared with his family would ever be fulfilled. Next, the Pharaoh himself has a dream which none of his wise men can interpret. The Pharaoh’s cup bearer, whose dream Joseph had correctly interpreted, finally remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh of Joseph’s gift. Joseph is brought before Pharaoh, interprets the dream and is given control of the entire nation to prepare for the famine about which the Pharaoh had dreamed. Every person involved in this long gripping story is making what we might call large and small decisions and choices every day.

As Egypt’s famine intensified, Joseph’s brothers decide to go down to Egypt to buy grain. At this point God uses Joseph as a ‘lake of fire’ to burn up the wood, hay and stubble in his guilt-ridden brothers. The story climaxes with Joseph and his brothers and their father having a tearful reunion. After saving Egypt from famine, Joseph now saves his own family, and in the process, they end up literally bowing down to Joseph and begging him for their lives.

Several years later, Jacob died in Egypt and was carried back to Canaan for burial. At this point, Joseph’s brothers become concerned for their lives and again beg for forgiveness from Joseph. “And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him…” (Gen 50:17).

What Joseph says to his brothers when they beg for his forgiveness after the death of Israel is no doubt the most complete and yet succinct commentary in all of scripture on the origin and purpose for all evil. Can we believe what is clearly stated here in the book of beginnings?

“And Joseph said unto them, fear not for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you thought [assuming you had free will] evil against me; BUT GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, TO BRING TO PASS, AS IT IS THIS DAY, TO SAVE MUCH PEOPLE ALIVE” (Gen 50:19, 20).

Here we have the reason for everything that has ever occurred; both good and bad. “Having made known unto us the mystery [the secret] OF HIS WILL [not ours], ACCORDING TO HIS GOOD PLEASURE WHICH HE HATH PURPOSED IN HIMSELF” (Eph 1:9). What is His good pleasure that He has purposed in Himself?

Is it to save only a remnant of mankind? Or is it to save all of Egypt – the world? Is it not to “save much people alive”? “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one, ALL THINGS IN CHRIST [as in Adam SO in Christ – 1Co 15:22] both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him. [It is all] predestinated according to the purpose of Him who WORKETH ALL THINGS [even Joseph’s brothers evil deeds] AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:10, 11). Salvation must depend upon only one will. It cannot be BOTH ours and Gods. The only one it depends on is “HIS OWN WILL”.

Part 9 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #5 – Pharaoh’s Heart is Hardened

While the churches of Babylon would have us believe that the Pharaoh who withstood Moses was simply an extremely stubborn man, the scriptures lead us to believe the exact opposite. While Moses was still in Midian, before he ever returned to Egypt,…the Lord said unto Moses, “When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go” (Exo 4:21). The Lord dragged Moses back to Egypt against every excuse Moses could come up with, and now he is telling Moses that when he does tell Pharaoh to let my people go, even before the Pharaoh is told to release Israel, God tells Moses, “I will harden his heart, that he shall not let my people go.”

Is God working against himself? Of course not. Anyone who asks such a question is missing the whole point. The point is that God “works all things after the counsel of His own will”. Understanding the sovereignty of God in no way exempts us of being under that same sovereign will in our own lives:

• “Now these things were [for] our examples…”1Co 10:6)
• “ALL these things happened unto them for our ensamples [same Greek word as examples] and they are written for our admonition” (1Co 10:11)

In other words, it was all predestined by God “for our ensamples” and “for our admonition”. To what intent were they done for our admonition?… “That they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that I am the Lord, and there is none else, I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I THE LORD DO ALL THESE THINGS…Woe to him that striveth with his Maker!…Shall the clay [that’s mankind] say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou…” (Isa 45:6-9). Put Isaiah 45 with Romans 9 and ‘free’ will is revealed for the boasting of the flesh that it is. Certainly we have a will but nowhere is it said to be ‘free’ of the Potter’s hand.

Part 10 – Twelve Examples of God’s Modus Operandi

Example #6 – Abimelech and the Men of Shechem

Another story revealing just how much free will man has is the story of Abimelech, the son of Gideon. Gideon himself, as with all men, was the work of the Potter’s sovereign hand. Gideon did not choose to conquer the Midianites. God chose Gideon and as always, dragged him to do His will. His will was for Gideon to throw off Israel’s oppressor, the Midianites. God was so insistent that we understand how very little flesh has to do with His work that He sent 31,700 men back to their homes and kept only 300 men to conquer vast numbers of Midianites.

Why keep only 300 out of 32,000? “And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people that are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand [my freedom of choice] hath saved me…by the three hundred men…will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand…” (Jdg 7:2, 7). God literally dragged Gideon to do His will, then God saved Gideon and Israel. He worked it all after the counsel of His own will.

The story of Gideon’s son, Abimelech, is even more blatant in making the point that God is responsible for all things: “And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. And Gideon, the son of Joash, died in a good old age and was buried in the sepulcher of Joash his father, in Ophrah, of the Abiezrites” (Jdg 8:30-31).

After Gideon’s death, Israel immediately forgot God and returned to idol worship. His son Abimelech, the son of “his concubine that was in Shechem”, conspired with his relatives in Shechem to massacre his seventy brothers in Ophrah: “And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren…being threescore and ten person, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son…was left for he hid himself” (Jdg 9:5).

Soon after this bloody event, Abimelech was “made…king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem” (vs 6). At this point, scripture reveals to us much of the mind and workings of the Potter. The question posed by the apostle Paul in Romans 9:20 “Why hast thou made me thus?” is answered here. Equally revealing is the biblical use of words such as ‘fire’, ‘trees’, ‘vines’ and ‘brambles’. How these words were understood and used by Christ, His apostles and all the prophets is revealed here in a prophetic challenge issued by Jotham to his brother Abimelech and the men of Shechem: “And when they told it [Abimelech’s coronation] to Jotham, he went and stood on Mt. Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you” (Jdg 9:7).

Jotham then puts forth a prophetic parable: “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them: and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, come thou and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble [thistle] Come thou and reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now, therefore if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king and if ye have dealt well with [Gideon] and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; …then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: BUT if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother” (Jdg 9:8-21).

What are the trees but the unfruitful, idol-worshiping people of God?

What is the olive tree, the fruit of which furnishes the fuel to light the seven lamps in the house of God, but those who having God’s Spirit in them “are the light of the world” (Mat 5:14)?

What is the fig tree but those who have “learn[ed] to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be no unfruitful” (Tit 3:15)?

What is the vine but those branches on the true vine who “bring forth much fruit” (Joh 15:1-5)?

There exists on this earth mammoth trees which bear no fruit. Such trees when cut down can be used to build the temple of God, but while standing are proud and fruitless. These are the world renowned cedars of Lebanon whose “lofty looks…shall be humbled” (Psa 29:5, Isa 2:10-13).

What is the bramble under whose shadow the cedars of Lebanon so willingly place themselves? Is it not those who “bear thorns and briars [and are] rejected, and [are] nigh unto cursing’ whose end is to be burned” (Heb 6:8)?

We now come to the most revealing verse. This verse, like so many which convey the same truth, has been in God’s word all along. But God has given us “eyes that cannot see” through false doctrines like the almost universally accepted doctrine of man’s free moral agency. Man is an ‘agent’ true enough. However, he is anything but free. Man is a slave. He is either a servant [Greek: slave] of sin or a slave of righteousness (Rom 6:16-20). Either way man is never a ‘free’ moral agent.

Here now is another verse which teaches us blatantly “man’s goings are of the Lord, how can a man then understand his own way?” (Pro 20:24). This verse shows us why “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jer 10:23). Is there “evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amo 3:6). Here is the way God does it: “Then GOD SENT AN EVIL SPIRIT between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech” (Jdg 9:23).

This is the ‘fire’ that “came out of the bramble and devoured the cedars of Lebanon”. This is the ‘fire’ that “came out from the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and devour[ed] Abimelech.”

Is this not the same fire with which Christ says EVERY sacrifice will be salted? (Mar 9:48-49). Is this not also the ‘fire’ of verse 47: “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire”? Of course, it is. Does anyone seriously believe that we will enter into the kingdom of God with one eye? Of course not! This is figurative language. Christ is not teaching us self-mutilation, but rather a whole-hearted life of service to our heavenly Father. The subject does not change from verse 47 to verse 48. Christ, Paul and Peter all understood the meaning of the word ‘fire’ in scriptural terms. It is a figurative word typical of burning out the wood, hay and stubble in our works. So Paul also says: “Every man’s work [not his physical body] shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by FIRE; and the FIRE shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1Co 3:13).

So what happens to us if our works are “wood, hay and stubble” like the men of Shechem and of the household of Millo? “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; YET SO AS BY FIRE [the lake of fire]” (1Co 3:15). This is the “destruction” of 1Corinthians 3:17 – “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are”. When the evil works are all burned up, the old man is “destroyed” yet “he himself [the new man in Christ] is saved though as by fire”.

What kind of fire is this? It is the kind of ‘fire’ that came out between the men of Shechem and Abimelech: “That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of [Gideon] might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem which aided him in the killing of his brethren” (Jdg 9:24).

If “God sent an evil spirit [to let fire come out] between Abimelech and the men of Shechem”, then He no doubt sent an evil spirit to cause “fire to come out between Abimelech and his brethren.” “Shall there be evil in a city [of Ophrah] and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amo 3:6). Understanding God’s sovereignty is the secret spoken of in Amos 3:7 – “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.”

Once again it is apparent that God “worketh ALL THINGS after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL” (Eph 1:11). This is the first time the scripture blatantly informs us of the origins of evil spirits: “Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech” (Jdg 9:23).

Did God Himself tempt the men of Shechem? No, they were drawn away of their own lust and enticed, but how was this accomplished? Was it by stripping the men of Shechem of their ability to make choices? No, it was accomplished by giving them the ability to choose. They may well have felt they were exercising ‘freedom’ of choice. What was the actual truth when viewed through the opened spiritual eyes the Word of God affords us? “God had sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.” What was God’s purpose in doing this? “…and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech” (Jdg 9:23).

Adam, Job, Pharaoh, Abimelech, King Saul, Judas, Pilate, Saul of Tarsus and you and I must all choose. However, don’t boast in your ‘freedom of choice’. It is nothing more than another nourishing meal for the serpent. It is what Ezekiel 14 calls an “idol of the heart”. God’s people today think they are too sophisticated to bow down to a physical idol, but they will kill you and think they do God a service over an ‘idol of the heart’. The adversary couldn’t care less which idol we serve. Any idol makes just another good meal for him. Notice also how Ezekiel puts it: “And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel” (Eze 14:9).

So, who claims to be responsible for all the “many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many” (Mat 24:5), “and many false [deceived] prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many” (Mat 24:11). Read Ezekiel 14:9 for the true, ultimate answer.

Who did Job see as responsible for the incredible trials he endured? “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). “…and they [Job’s friends and family]…comforted him over all the evil that THE LORD HAD BROUGHT UPON HIM…” (Job 42:11).

The first chapter of Job, like Judges 9, informs us that the Lord Himself does not try men. He uses Satan for that purpose.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. (And this includes Satan who was made for God’s purposes) And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

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