What Becomes of Our Flesh? Part 1

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Mike,

Let me see if I understand your points as I have summarized them.

Assuming I endure to the end; I once suffered wrath and was headed for the lake of fire. Now the Father corrects me without anger and is refining me.

THEN: Walk according to flesh:

  1. Wrath.
  2. Lake of fire.

NOW: Walk according to Spirit:

  1. Correction.
  2. Trials and tribulation.

Am I getting it, or am I way off?

Thanks,

P____

 

Hi P____,

You get it!! As far as the connection between obedience bringing blessing and disobedience bringing wrath, you have the correct scriptural picture.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were [all] by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

What you and I and all of “historical orthodox Christianity” have missed in the past is the fact that God is more strict on His elect than He is on the unbelieving. What we have missed is the fact that God’s wrath is not to harden, but to chastise and to teach. What we have missed is:

Rom 2:8-9… indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

And what we have forgotten is who really is a Jew as revealed in this same chapter of Romans:

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  (a) But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly;

So verses 8 and 9 are not addressed to some terrible person “out there somewhere.” They are rather addressed to “he [who] is a Jew… inwardly.” Rom 2:8-9 are addressed to God’s elect.

If this is not so, then the story of King David taking another man’s wife has no admonition for me at all because I, as God’s elect, am supposedly incapable of such a heinous act. I, as God’s elect, cannot possibly be deceived and therefore, I as God’s elect will never again ever experience the wrath which God promises to pour out on “all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men.” That phrase “all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men,” actually means, according to “historical orthodox Christianity” ‘excluding the unrighteousness and ungodliness of God’s elect.’ This is what the whole world believes. But is this what the story of David tells us? Is this what Rom 2:8-9 are saying? Is this the message to God’s elect when we are told that God poured His wrath out upon Israel’s unrighteousness and ungodliness?” Why then are we told that “all these things happened to them, and they are written for our admonition” if in fact it is impossible to deceive God’s elect? The Truth is, of course, that it really is impossible to deceive God’s very elect. But what we are again forgetting is the fact that God’s very elect are only revealed to us after we have “endured to the end.”

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

There are many ‘saved’ people, but they are all ‘dead’. All the rest are “being saved” as the Greek aorist tense indicates. Israel typifies God’s elect who were chosen out of the covenant people who were under the covenant God made “with [Noah] and [Noah’s] seed after him.” Here is the scripture:

Deu 7:6  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deu 14:2  For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Deu 14:2 is the verse Peter quotes in reference to God’s elect:

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:

Time after time we are admonished “not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought,”  “not be high minded but fear.”  We are told that we who consider ourselves to be God’s elect “will also be cut off if we continue not in His goodness.”  And we are told that God’s “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, [are] upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew [God’s elect] first, and also of the Gentile;”  Time after time we are admonished: “let him that thinketh he stands, take heed lest he fall”  I have only recently noticed where that verse is located in God’s Word. Just look at where this verse is found:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things [that caused God to reveal his wrath from heaven against Israel’s stubborness] happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Again, who is the “Jew” who receives God’s wrath on all of his ungodliness and unrighteousness first?

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.

In spite of all of these plain statements, we have been led to believe the exact opposite, that God is not angry with the sins of His elect so much as he is with the sins of the uncalled or the called but not chosen. So, in effect we are telling ourselves that God really does have a double standard for how he deals with mankind. In the case of His elect He never gets angry with sin in their lives, but in the case of the called but not chosen, He does get angry and wrathful with their persistent sins. What kind of logic is that?

It certainly does not accord with the words of Our Lord Himself.  In Luke 12, in the words of Christ Himself, is the principle upon which all unrighteousness and ungodliness is judged for all time. Here are the words of our Lord on this very subject of how God deals with sin in the lives of His elect and in the lives of all others as well. This chapter begins with this warning:

Luk 12:1 (b) … He began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Luk 12:2  For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Luk 12:3  Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

In other words, it behooves us to always speak the unvarnished truth in sincerity or we will be made ashamed when our lies are revealed before all. It is better to judge ourselves now and admit to our false doctrines now, rather that to have these lies purged from our hearts at a later less desirable judgment.

Christ continues in this chapter of Luke to admonish His disciples again to be extremely vigilant and to have their hearts and minds on the things which are above and not on the things of this earth:

Luk 12:34  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luk 12:35  Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
Luk 12:36  And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.

We are admonished to have this ever-vigilant attitude:

Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Luk 12:38  And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.
Luk 12:39  And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Luk 12:40  Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Peter asked the question which we are even now asking about all of this:

Luk 12:41  Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?

Christ goes on to answer Peter:

Luk 12:42  And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom [his] lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Luk 12:43  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Luk 12:44  Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

So the answer is, yes indeed, Peter is to consider himself as being spoken of here. He and we are never to allow ourselves to take on the following attitude:

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

Why not have this attitude? It is because this attitude always produces a certain mindset which Christ so graciously warns us against in advance. Just look around you and verify what such a smug mindset produces spiritually. Here is the spirit that “he that thinketh he stands” displays for all to see and to “try and to see whether [this] spirit is of God:”

Luk 12:45  But and if that [same elect] servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
Luk 12:46  The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

This elect servant of God has not endured to the end. He is called and he is chosen but he, like Judas, is not faithful. He has traded in the spirit for dispensationalism and says: “My lord delayeth his coming;”

You know that I have never taught that we continue to suffer God’s wrath even if we repent and change our ways.

But what I have come to see is that God’s wrath is “revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” This wrath is revealed to the [inward-elect] Jew first and also to the Gentiles.”

What the book of Revelation teaches is that John looked behind him and saw this man called Christ. So the Revelation of Jesus Christ is not just all the good men in the Bible and all of the commendable works of the churches in the first three chapters of Revelation. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is that net and all that is in it (of Mat 13:47). It is looking behind us to see that the first Adam also figures and shadows Christ. Is it a blasphemous statement to say that a marred vessel is a figure of Jesus Christ?

Unlike us, Christ Himself does not distance Himself from His creation. Christ Himself tells us that He is “The Alpha and The Omega, The Beginning and The End. Now you need to tell me where I am missing the boat when I conclude that if Christ is The Beginning and The End, then He is also everything in between. In other words, He is working all things, and all things are a reflection of His workings. He has no problem making these statements. It is only in our minds that we cannot associate God with working all [even evil] things “after the counsel of His own will”. It is only in our minds that Christ cannot be associated with all the evil; the lust of the eyes, the lust of the heart, and the pride of life, which are all in the first Adam. But Christ Himself had no problem at all in “being sin that knew no sin” (2Co 5:21). Christ knows who it was who created that “marred vessel of clay”. He also knows what it is like to live in and to feel the corruptible pulls of that marred vessel.

Christ knows that it is the very few who will overcome those pulls of the flesh, as He has already done. Christ knows who those few are who will be found worthy by His sovereign work, to rule and to reign over this earth just before He destroys all flesh and saves all spirits through those very few elect who are not just called and elect, but who are also faithful and “endure to the end”. And it is that last part, being faithful to the end, which is at the core of where we have all been so wrong for so long. We fail to remember that God’s very elect are not really revealed until they have “endured to the end.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

In the meantime, God’s very elect can, and many times do, appear to be very evil men. Was Saul of Tarsus not God’s elect while watching the garments of those who were stoning Stephen? Was Peter not God’s elect while separating himself from the Gentiles, years after eating with Gentiles in the home of Cornelius? Do King David’s gross sins not typify such heinous crimes in the lives of God’s elect? Here are the scriptures which show that the Revelation of Jesus Christ, just like the Revelation of the kingdom of God, includes not just the good fish in the net, but the net itself and all that is in the net. That is the Revelation of Jesus Christ and that is the revelation of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is the “Like unto a net”. And it is like unto everything in that net. Here are the scriptures:

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,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

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:

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who [the first Adam] is the figure of him that was to come.

Mat 13:47  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

Adam is a “figure of Christ [and] the kingdom of God is like a net that gathers of every kind.” Now we can, and we do, put Adam away from Christ and we separate ourselves from the bad fish which are not gathered but are “cast away”:

Mat 13:48  Which [net], when it [the net, the kingdom of God] was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
Mat 13:49  So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
Mat 13:50  And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:51  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.

Do we understand these things? Well, of course we do. It means exactly what it says. “At the end of the age, the angels will sever the wicked from the just and cast the wicked into the furnace, and those wicked will experience God’s wrath and be wailing and gnashing their wicked teeth.” “Yea, Lord, we understand”???

But there is just one thing wrong with our understanding. We have again forgotten our Lord’s words:

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

But it is “within you” only if you receive its ruler “within you”. Until that time this is the message to the “historical orthodox Christian church” into which we are all first “carried away”:

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Luk 10:9  And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
Luk 10:11  Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

The kingdom of God comes “nigh unto ” us all, some times many years before it is “within us”

Now that we know that the kingdom of God is within us, let’s examine what it is that is “within you”:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men [Mike Vinson] slept, his enemy [Satan] came and sowed tares [lies] among the wheat [truth], and went his way.

There are tares growing with the wheat “within you.” This is not someone else ‘out there’ who is lost. This is Mike Vinson and all others who believed and are believing all the lies of Babylon. Maybe now the Lord’s answer to His servants: “Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers [God’s messengers of Truth], Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” makes a little more sense. Maybe now we can see that this ‘harvest’ is the judgment we are now enduring as the tares and thorns and briers are being burned out of us.

What else is “within you”?

Mat 13:31  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Mat 13:32  Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Christ interprets these birds as “the wicked one” (Mat 13:19). And this is all “the kingdom of God… within you.”

What else is the Kingdom of God… within you “likened unto”? Here is what the kingdom of heaven within you is likened unto:

Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Is this where the likening of ‘the kingdom of heaven’ within you stops? No, contrary to what we have been taught in Babylon, it is not. The rest of this parable is also ‘the kingdom of heaven within you’, and it is for our admonition, lest we “think we stand” when in reality we have been had for lunch by the Adversary:

Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. [His dead body is cast into “the streets of that great city”]
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. [Just like Joseph told his father what His brothers were doing – Gen 37:1-2]
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? [“You wicked servant” is what the Lord called the servant who hid his pound in a napkin. The parables are all the same. They are all “within you.”]
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Now, how do these last two verses square with this Babylonian doctrine?:

“I once suffered wrath and was headed for the lake of fire. Now the Father corrects me without anger and is refining me.”

No, “So likewise will my heavenly Father do also unto you…” and unto me. Our Lord is especially “wroth with that servant who knows “that “the kingdom of God is within you”, who knows that “the invisible things of God are understood by the things which are made”, who has been “shown compassion, loosed of his bonds and forgiven his debt”, and who turns right around and “crucifies afresh” his own fellow servant.

Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

So while it it true that God’s wrath is not just continually being poured out on His elect with no regard to how much they repent and change their lives, it is equally true that His wrath is continually poured out upon all evil at all time, but His wrath is especially upon those who know to do good, and God’s elect who do know to do good, and do it not. Here are the scriptures:

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
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 [only if we are God’s elect], even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21  Because that, when they [God’s elect] knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. [We “glorify God” as Christ glorified God, only when we obey Him and forgive our brothers. When we “know God” and disobey Him anyway “we glorify not God”.]
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27  And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

These physical sins mentioned here are mere shadows of their spiritual realities of which we are all guilty just as surely as we are all murderers:

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.

Is this not you and me at that stage of our walk? Did we not hate our brothers? Did we not believe all the lies of Babylon?

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Romans one continues:

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31  Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Are these words for someone else? Is this describing someone else? Is it that other person who “knows the judgment of God…?”

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Is God’s wrath for that wicked man ‘out there’ somewhere else? Is that to whom this chapter is addressed?

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Do we think that this is the only verse in this chapter which is addressed to God’s elect?

Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

Do we think that “every man” excludes God’s elect? Is verse 6 for us, but verse 5 is for those people ‘out there?’

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.

Again, is verse 7 for us, but verses 8-11 are not for us because God’s wrath does not come upon the sins, ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who know their master’s will and do it not?

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
Rom 2:2  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Rom 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.

We have been taught that God has respect to his elect. God’s elect are what He works in them. God’s elect are the Jews mentioned above. All things are “to the Jew first and also to the Gentile”; to God’s elect first and then to the rest of mankind through God’s elect.

But look at what it is which is “to the Jew first:”

Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

We say to ourselves; “but God’s elect obey the Truth, therefore they don’t need to receive of His wrath. When we quit being Babylon, God’s wrath recedes in our lives.” But when the beast’s deadly wound is healed in God’s elect, then God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the Truth in unrighteousness.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans one and two are written to God’s elect. We see all the admonitions against homosexuality, and we think that these are to be understood only in an outward manner. That is not so. Homosexuality has a spiritual application which we have all participated in at one time or another. Every time we fail to submit to the words of Christ and put church doctrine above the words of God, we have just then committed spiritual homosexuality by not submitting to our Lord and believing that we are just as good a leader as he is. We are told right here in this chapter that this is all addressed to us. And we are plainly told that …

Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Verses 8-9 leave us no doubt that God’s elect are the primary targets of His wrath because they know the Truth and:

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not [himself], neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

If they will “ask the more”, then they will receive the more stripes and not less as we are led to believe.

I hope that this has helped you to see that God’s wrath, like everything about God and His character, is for our good and also for the good of all mankind. I especially hope that you see that contrary to a doctrine which teaches that God does not deal with the sins of His elect with wrath, that much rather it is the spiritual Jew who is singled out to be especially dealt with in wrath:

Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

If, on the other hand, God’s elect are obedient and treat their fellow servants with love and compassion, then these verses will be his glory:

Luk 12:42  And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
Luk 12:43  Blessed [is] that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Luk 12:44  Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

I pray that the Lord willing that will be you and me. But God does not take us into His confidence and tell us that we are His very elect. Instead He admonishes us to be faithful until the very end, and we will then be saved.

Mike

Other related posts