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The
Hall of Faith
and the faithful
members of God's Inductees! - Part III
This is the third
part in a series of studies that will investigate members of The Hall
of Faith. Hebrews 11 is an astounding chapter that gives us detailed
information on those saints who took God at His Word without seeing a clear
picture of what would lie ahead for them. Let me first say that under
this wonderful dispensing of God's grace, there is no expression of faith
required for us since Jesus Christ has accomplished everything we need!
Unlike the saints that we will read about, an expression of faith or action
was indeed
required of them in their response to God's commands.
And these all, having obtained a good report through
faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing
for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11:39-40
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: 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: 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. - Genesis 12:1-3
Abraham - In
Hebrews 11:8, the bible tells us that by faith, Abram was called out by
God to receive an inheritance from Him without having any idea where he was
going! In doing this, Abram left the comfort and security of his father's
house. As a member of the Hall of Faith, this is the first mention of Abram
amidst several passages that describe his unwavering faith while living
among idolaters including his own family (Joshua 24:2,3). The Holy Spirit uses an
interesting phrase here when we are told that Abram actually "sojourned" in
the land of promise but was still a stranger. It's no different then
you and I deciding to build a house and then walking through the framework. We
know it is eventually going to be the place where we live, but it is not yet ready. This is
the type of faith Abram had friends. The big difference in the house
example is that he did not have a physical
framework but instead had the framework of the word of God
as his promise! And during the time of his life he
 wondered
about dwelling in tabernacles (portable houses) with his family as he
received instruction from God. In this grace-centric ministry, this is
an excellent segue into discussing the relevancy of Abram and his faith in
regards to what the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 3 and Romans 4:
Galatians 3:6-9 - Even as
Abraham believed God, and
it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye
therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. 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. So then they which be of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham.
Romans 4:1-6
What
shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but
not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.
To re-cap, in Hebrews 11
and as a reminder, while we read about the foundations of faith, each
saint (prior to God's Dispensing of Grace) was required to demonstrate obeisance
to Him by an action or an
outward manifestation of an inward change. However, Paul also drives home
in the above verses doctrine that pertains to justification through faith alone through Christ
alone. In doing this, he points out in both instances of the Galatians and Romans passages above,
that Abraham (while he was still Abram) did nothing but believe God and
take Him at His word and therefore righteousness without works was imputed
to him (Genesis 15:6).
Scripture also says that those who are of faith are
also blessed with Abraham! However, this does not imply
that we (His Body) are awaiting the same faith! Remember that
Abraham's "faith" (as the father of Israel) under the Dispensing of
The Promise was that while he looked forward to receiving the land, he
took actions to demonstrate his faith in God and through his example of a
pleasing testimony to God, he demonstrated great trust which qualified him
as a member of the Hall of Faith. Similarly using
the model of faith, Paul uses Abraham's faithfulness as the
basis for the doctrine of
justification through faith without works! Erroneously, many teachers miss
this fundamental fact and read The Body of Christ into the blessings of the
land
promised only to Israel. This is also known as "covenant theology".
This belief teaches that God is through with Israel and that He has raised
up another body of believers in their place. Today, there are many orthodox
churches and other religious institutions that quietly embrace this falsity.
But friends, even more deceiving than
the
seemingly apparent, traditional, religious organizations lie the
fundamental, bible-believing churches who under the banner of grace wrangle
scripture while wreaking havoc across Christ's Body. The result of this
chaos have believers doubting their salvation (since it is always tied
to a ritual or rite....like water baptism) or having to prove their
faith by the actions of their conduct. This is why so many
 believers
are judging one another rather than trusting in the sufficiency of Christ's
redemptive work for their eternal position! Only through "rightly
dividing" scripture and understanding Paul's distinctive message of grace
(vastly different from Peter and the apostles to be clear)
can believers free themselves from the shackles of what ultimately amounts
to a form of covenant theology.
"But
friends, even more deceiving than
the seemingly apparent, traditional, religious organizations lie the
fundamental, bible-believing churches who under the banner of grace wrangle
scripture while wreaking havoc across Christ's Body."
Abram, at
this point and in Hebrews 11 "looked for a city which had foundations whose
builder and maker was God." The word "looked" actually means
that he expected this city from God, taking Him at His word and acting upon
it! In Genesis 12, Abram (a Gentile at this point) took God at His word
and left when he was told to leave the safety, sanctity and stability of
where he resided. It was this expression of faith and succeeding action that
made Abram an inductee of the Hall of Faith.
Sarah - In
Hebrews 11:11, Sarah (like Abram's faithfulness) herself received
strength (GK - dunamis) to conceive seed because she judged God
faithful! She took God at His word and acted upon that belief that while
being not only barren from her youth but also past child-bearing age!
She trusted God and therefore trusted her husband Abraham so it can be said
through faith she believed God!
On account
of Sarah's faith jointly through the power of The Holy Spirit, Abraham and
Sarah were able to have an heir from their own flesh as God had promised.
Through one man, who was as good as dead (in age and in the ability to
father children) came a nation as innumerable as the stars in the sky and as
the sand of the shore.
Hebrews 11:14-16 -
These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and
were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of
that [country] from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to
have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an
heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath
prepared for them a city.
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Let This Cup Pass Before Me....understanding
the agony of Jesus Christ.
And he
took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful
and very
heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and
fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he
cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter,
What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He
went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this
cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. –
Matthew 26:37-42
The
account that you just read was from the book of Matthew in the 26th
chapter. In this popular but sad historical event, the Lord Jesus Christ
was praying fervently to His Heavenly Father. In Luke 22, the
bible also records even more detail of Christ’s faithful prayer to God the
Father:
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Verse 42
(as in Matthew 26) a prayer to the Father for Him to
“allow this cup to pass”
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Verse 43
Jesus received strength from an angel during this prayer while He
was in communion with God on this issue
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Verse 44
Jesus prayed in agony (a struggle for victory, great anguish) more
intently after receiving strength
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Verse 44
Also in this verse, large drops of sweat fell from His head very
similar to blood. Medical reports on these passages suggest that due to
the great stress of His prayer a condition called “hematohidrosis”
occurred. Although this medical condition is relatively rare, according
to Dr. Frederick Zugibe (Chief Medical Examiner of Rockland County, New
York) it is well-known, and there have been many cases of it. Around the
sweat glands, there are multiple blood vessels in a net-like form."
Under the pressure of great stress the vessels constrict. Then as the
anxiety passes "the blood vessels dilate to the point of rupture. The
blood goes into the sweat glands." As the sweat glands are producing a
lot of sweat, it pushes the blood to the surface - coming out as
droplets of blood mixed with sweat.
“Christiananswers.net” accurately reports on what specifically is troubling
to Christ when mentioning about our Lord’s pending receipt of the sin of
mankind and its associated guilt! The ministry also correctly makes note of
commenting on the looming forsaking of His Father (towards Christ) due to
this sin. However, the thrust of this article will emphasize the separation
or death of God for it is this fact that Christ agonized over! In
eternity past, I am certain that He, The Holy Spirit and God the Father
anguished over the origination of man’s plan of salvation. But in His great
love for us, this ingenious plan was carried through to perfection.
Even
though Christ foresaw the brutality of the cross and was not looking forward
to this component of punishment, even though He questioned His disciples
concerning their perseverance against temptation, (Mark 14:37-40; Matthew
26:40-43, Luke 21:45-47) I believe His real anguish came at the very
thought of His separation from God The Father prior to this actually
occurring as recorded! I believe scripture would support this for we can
read about how angels ministered to Him during prayer and that he sought
fellowship from Peter, James and John who eventually did fall asleep.
In
Psalm 16, David through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
unknowingly prophesied for Christ who would proclaim;
“my heart is glad, and my glory
rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest
in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell; neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
“Even though Christ foresaw the brutality
of the cross and was not looking forward to this component of punishment,
even though He questioned His disciples concerning their perseverance
against temptation, I believe His real anguish came at the thought of His
separation from God The Father prior to this actually occurring!”
Although Jesus Christ foresaw the day where God The Father would forsake Him
as the sin of mankind was placed upon Him, Christ also knew that one day
they would again have the restoration of their fellowship! For some time in
the limitless eternal state of God there was a rift in the Godhead as The
Son took on sin for mankind as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21:
But
through the suffering of the pending cross before Him, Jesus Christ would
feel the loss of the separation from His Father. Once I was asked why such a
big deal was made of the separation of the Tri-Unity of God since God knew
that ultimately fellowship with The Father and The Son would be restored. I
countered with the question; “How long would you like to be apart from
someone that you love?” The natural answer from this individual
was that they would not want to be separated from the one that they love.
Well friends, neither did God! In fact, it is easy to humanize the thoughts
of God and assume that the 3 days and 3 nights of Christ’s death and burial
would be the equivalent of a long weekend retreat apart from a spouse or
loved one. The bible says in 2 Peter chapter 3 that "1000 years are as a
day and a day is as 1000 years." Therefore it is wrong to assume that
our timetable is equal with God's. We are quick to humanize God and deify
ourselves with the way we think but that has been man’s problem since the
garden!
On a more personal note, I
thought about the pain that God The Father must have gone through when He
was  separated from His Son, as I took my son
to college the other day. The overbearing, unavoidable feeling of loss
was overwhelming to my wife and I. For years, we had watched a little
baby grow into and through the phases of toddler, youngster, teen and
young man! That life span of course all happened ‘last week’ because
that’s the way it seemed. Yet, I think the toughest part for me was
going upstairs to his room to face the inevitable: the empty bed. After
an emotional first weekend, my wife and I were very thankful to God that
this loss was not due to a tragedy. We were (and still are) grateful how
technology can make communication so easy these days! But in my tears
during these times of change, I thought of the verses in Philippians 3:
10 through 12 that I may have the privilege and honor of identifying
with the sufferings of Christ being made conformable unto His image.
The first steps at understanding the bible
is
to understand how God is dealing with you!
If you are like me,
when you read the bible you come across many passages and / or chapters of the
bible that are troubling. Yet, in our ignorance, we know that its not God’s
Word that is the problem but instead our lack of understanding! Our sin nature
is more attracted to man’s tradition (what man says about God) rather than
holding obeisance to the bible (what God says about man). Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry to
Israel used an awesome illustration of the principle of stewardship or
management in Matthew 25 while talking to the apostles. Christ went on to
describe the accountability of each servant based on the responsibility given
to him. Later, the resurrected, risen Christ revealed to the apostle Paul
doctrine (our marching orders for Christian living today) on this very issue of
stewardship, which is greatly neglected by believers.
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and
stewards of the mysteries of God.
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:1-3
Before a child of God
can truly begin to apply God’s Word to His life while studying the bible, he
must understand some important concepts such as:
- How is God
dealing with mankind (or in other words, what are the current marching orders
of the day…)?
- Who is
God talking to?
- What is
the context of the conversation?
As the
text in Hebrews
13:8 stated, Jesus Christ IS the same yesterday, today and forever, but thank
the Lord, He HAS indeed changed His dealings with mankind. God’s dealings with
mankind are called “dispensations”.
The word “dispensation” is not made by man
but in fact used several times in scripture.
Please see "First Steps" in the next column
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Today's World News
Galatia - The saints at Galatia had the
same problem Darren Stevens had!
1 O foolish Galatians,
who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2
This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of
the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? - Galatians 3:1-3
The book of Galatians is about re-teaching believers on correct
doctrine. As noted above, Paul was rebuking the saints when he
candidly called them "foolish". He was not joking or poking fun at them
beloved. They were being unwise, unintelligent or plain old idiots in
regards to what Paul had previously taught them! The apostle
wanted to know who or what had caused them to be "bewitched" in their
thinking? The saints had been charmed or swayed by someone who would
bathe them with praise in order to convert their way of thinking. My,
isn't this interesting when thought about in comparison to what goes on
in many assembles today. In the previous chapters of Galatians, a
dispute had arisen between the kingdom saints and those grace-age saints
taught by Paul. So much so, Barnabas himself was carried
away with these issues in that he didn't say a word when Peter
was separating himself from believers when it came time to eat! What are
the issues you may ask? The same issues that plague our churches today!
Have we fallen from grace in our mind-set too? Do we substantiate our
position in Christ by realizing (and studying) the accomplishments
of the cross or do we attempt to keep our righteousness through
law-keeping or any equivalent "church-type activity? Pastors do a great
job at talking about how Christ and His atonement for the debt and
penalty of our sins in regards to salvation, but they fail miserably
when talking about the results of Christ's work that transcend well
beyond salvation. Friends did you know that:
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We are rooted up, built up, established in "the
faith" and complete in Him? (Col. 2:3-10)
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Circumcised made without man's hands but through
Christ's payment instead? (Col. 2:11)
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We buried with Him in baptism and risen with Him
through the power of God? (Col. 2:12)
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Resurrected together with Him and forgiven all
trespasses? (Col. 2:13)
Folks, this is just the
beginning! Read Ephesians, Philippians and the rest of of Paul's letters
in order to be edified, encouraged and equipped. But most of all, I pray
that we would not be "bewitched" into thinking that law keeping
would surpass the riches of His grace as we understand the manifold
(revealed) riches of God in our Lord Jesus Christ!
(First Steps continued.....)
The very sound of the word strikes
fear into many a believer and anger in most.
Why you may ask????? P-R-I-D-E, plain and simple. Back in the Garden of
Eden, the devil himself used the same subtlety when he asked Eve, “hath God
said”? Unfortunately, it is more acceptable to follow man’s tradition and check
your mind at the door of the church rather than heed to the inspiration of God
the Holy Spirit through the Pauline Epistles, all made possible through the
completed, sufficient work of Jesus Christ!Failure to understand
the true teaching of dispensations and the distinctive ministry of our apostle
Paul has led many to make false applications of the Bible. This is nothing short of “covenant theology”
(A belief that the Body of Christ has replaced Israel and will receive all of her
promises and blessings.) Some, who do not understand the truth about
dispensations, have attacked the very teaching of it and even refuse to believe
that God has ever changed His dealings with mankind.
The purpose of this web
site is to answer these objections and to equip the believer so that they can
understand the true nature of dispensations as well as Paul’s distinctive
ministry, which has not been faithfully taught in Christendom. Perhaps a clear definition of
the word at the beginning will help.
Definition of
Dispensation: the act of dispensing or something dispensed; a specific arrangement, system
or administration by which something is dispensed.
As an
example,
Moses dispensed the Law.
The word dispensation does not necessarily mean a period of time.
Conversely and although time does pass during a particular dispensing of a
message or ministry, it always has a
beginning and an ending resulting in man's failure! However, such in the case of marriage, some of God's instructions carry
over to and through His other dispensings. In another example, murder is still
wrong in the sight of God even though we are not under the law! The
steward of a household is given the responsibility of dispensing the affairs
assigned by his master. Thus Moses was entrusted with the dispensing of the
Law.
He was God's steward of
that dispensation. Today, although grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ, and His atoning accomplishment, the gospel of the grace
of God and the Dispensation of Grace was committed to Paul as he received it
from Christ. It was his
responsibility to dispense this “good news” to the Gentiles. While alive, he
was God's steward for this dispensation to “pass the baton” to us.
“And I
thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled
me, for that he counted
me
faithful, putting
me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I
am chief. Howbeit for this cause I
obtained mercy,
that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all
longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him
to life everlasting.” – 1 Timothy 1:12-16
Friend, did you read
that wonderful verse? Jesus Christ chose Paul the blasphemer and persecutor so
that IN PAUL FIRST, JESUS CHRIST MIGHT SHOW FORTH ALL LONG SUFFERING, FOR A
PATTERN TO THEM WHICH SHOULD HEREAFTER BELIEVE!!
Imagine a pharmacist working behind the counter.
What is his job? He “dispenses” medication to those who are ill or need
treatment. What would happen if he gave the wrong medication or dispensed the
wrong drug to a patient? Sickness, ineffectiveness or even death! If we do not
understand how God is dealing with us, we have become poor dispensers, managers
or stewards with what God has entrusted to us.
With this
understanding, it should be easy for us to identify the various dispensations
within God's dealings with mankind and we will know the difference between
Israel and the Body of Christ. The apostle Paul told a young pastor named
Timothy to “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth”. Most expositors focus on the
“study” part of this verse, as if God would be impressed by how hard we study.
In fact, we are to show ourselves approved unto God by “rightly dividing” the
word of truth!
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COFFEE CORNER
The real meaning of the impending
perilous times
and last days of 2 Timothy! - Part VI
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses,
and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts, Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the
truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
But they shall proceed no
further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also
was. But thou hast fully known
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, Persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what
persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and
being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned
and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.-
2 Timothy 3:1-17
In our last issue in The LSJ, we closed on how Paul comforted Pastor Timothy who had
been under attack because of the message of grace. Keep in mind; the
letters to Timothy are to Christians….those people that
have trusted in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for
their justification (taking on the very righteousness of God).
Starting in verses 10 through 13, the apostle to the
Gentiles assured Timothy that he fully believed that the young leader
knew his doctrine which was substantiated by Paul’s’ ‘manner of life,
purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto him’. From a ‘religious’
standpoint you can rest assure that if you embrace the message of
grace as Christ instructed Paul to preach, you will be on the outside
looking in. To this day there are many components of belonging to a
church body that I still miss. I loved being with my family
studying the word of God together with other believers… (so I thought…I
really don’t know now). I loved singing hymns because I love to
sing. Although looking back, the many hymns filled with law and “have to
do’s” must
 have
fallen with Satan when he fell from the sky as “lightening”. I loved
being with nice people until I found out that they weren’t nice (and
neither am I). During the time that I attended church in a building the
way everyone else does, I guess I miss the most of what I never
really truly had… friends. It was all a hoax,
 religious
piety and self-righteousness and writing this still brings tears to my
eyes. Not for what was, but what should be, for what God wants us to
have in His Son…today! I can’t imagine how God is grieving about the
train-wreck man has made of His glorious message and dispensing of
grace.
Paul continued to
warn Timothy of the coming perilous times without setting a date.
Paul set the environment; what to pay attention to, not the exact
date of our departure as false teachers do (there is another known
pastor / teacher winding up for a 2011 rapture date….gimme a break -
RICK)!
Paul specifically warns in verse 13 that “evil men
and seducers will wax worse and worse”. The evil that he speaks
of is what is called nominative in the Greek (denoting a title) meaning
that this evil is specific to grace-age believers.
Several words for
“seducers” (Greek - goes {go'-ace})
are used here friends and I think they all apply to some degree:
† a
wailer. howler, deceiver
† a
juggler, enchanter (because incantations used to be uttered in a kind of
howl)
From the increase
in the charismatic movements that display wailing and howling in the
pulpits and in the aisles to “deceivers” and imposters”,
 Paul’s teaching
is up-to-date, relevant and applicable for defending the faith as we
battle today’s false gospel in the world! These times have indeed begun
to wax worse and worse friends. Every day it appears that a different
cult or religion is growing in numbers and that a new book or revelation
is claimed in the process as if we need any more than what the risen,
glorified Christ told Paul to tell us today!
The phrase “shall
wax” (GK –prokopto) coupled with
waxing “worse and worse” that Paul describes is indicative of the
promotion and proliferation of a grace-less gospel draped around a Paper
Jesus. Friends, have you noticed how beautiful churches look these
days? When I am outside of my home, I often hear the beautiful sounds
of the church bells and think how nice it would be if the doctrine on
the inside was as beautiful as the music on the outside. These “times”
will be plentiful of teachers who cause others to go astray, to be led
in error or deceived (GK –planao)
as they themselves are deceived!
But Paul encourages Timothy by telling him that despite all opposition
and trouble:
† Continue
in the things which you have learned (increasing knowledge)!
† Continue
in the things that you have been assured of (faithful, trustworthy,
established and firmly persuaded)!
† Continue
in the things that you do knowing
who you have learned them from!
Upon further
examination of Paul’s words to Timothy, he is simply not just telling
him to hang in there friends! The word “continue” (GK
–meno) means that Paul wants Timothy to hold continually
to “the faith” and to endure, to not depart or perish and
to remain “as one” in his thought and doctrine with the apostle
of the Gentiles. The apostle also charges Timothy with the fact that he
“knows” (GK –eido) of Timothy’s
foundation and he wants him to perceive
with the eyes, to discern, to examine and behold all that he
has told him.
"Paul’s teaching is
up-to-date, relevant and applicable for defending the faith as we battle
today’s false gospel in the world!"
If Timothy does
this, the facts of gospel of the grace of God will speak for themselves
in relation to how we are to carry ourselves as leaders and stewards of
this distinct and glorious message! As relevant as today’s compromises
are in the Body of Christ, Paul exhorts Timothy to hold fast and to
reflect on the holy scriptures he had been taught that made him wise
unto salvation from the time he was a child, but maintained through
faith which is in Jesus Christ!
To declare, I say, at
this time His righteousness!
Romans 3:21-26
21 But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe:
for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might
be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
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