The Gospels and the Mystery

[Musicmaster]

The false idea that followers of Christ within the Gospel of Grace believe that Israel and the Church today are exclusive from one another must misrepresent our beliefs in order to try and make their case in the minds of the ignorant masses who do not make any effort to "prove all things" as Paul instructed that we ALL do. Israel today has only the Gospel of Grace, as is true of Gentiles as well. Nobody is saved through works nor works of the Law. Faith alone also does not at all stand upon the foundation that works are unimportant. What we believe is that works are NOT a basis for salvation itself. Christ accomplished all that is necessary toward the Gospel of Grace. Israel was under the coupling of works coupled with the Blood of Christ, but we are not today under that because it was not spoken nor written TO us today. That is the basis for understanding dispensations.

There was a time that Gentiles had to join with Judaism and the Law in order to be saved, but not today.

MM

 

[John146]

The false idea that followers of Christ within the Gospel of Grace believe that Israel and the Church today are exclusive from one another must misrepresent our beliefs in order to try and make their case in the minds of the ignorant masses who do not make any effort to "prove all things" as Paul instructed that we ALL do. Israel today has only the Gospel of Grace, as is true of Gentiles as well. Nobody is saved through works nor works of the Law. Faith alone also does not at all stand upon the foundation that works are unimportant. What we believe is that works are NOT a basis for salvation itself. Christ accomplished all that is necessary toward the Gospel of Grace. Israel was under the coupling of works coupled with the Blood of Christ, but we are not today under that because it was not spoken nor written TO us today. That is the basis for understanding dispensations.

There was a time that Gentiles had to join with Judaism and the Law in order to be saved, but not today.

MM

A couple of things people miss.
1. The believe is justified by the faith OF Jesus Christ.
2. Failure to rightly divide the book of James and Paul’s 13 epistles.

 

[Musicmaster]

A couple of things people miss.
1. The believe is justified by the faith OF Jesus Christ.
2. Failure to rightly divide the book of James and Paul’s 13 epistles.

Absolutely. There is the faith OF Christ, and there is our faith IN Christ Jesus:

Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 24:24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 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;

Does the Gospel itself have faith? No, but the Gospel is the power unto salvation;

Colossians 1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love [which ye have] to all the saints,

Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

James indeed was speaking to Israel, as he clearly indicated in the very first verse of his epistle. The limited knowledge crowd throws what little they know into their theological blenders set on high speed and the lack in distinctions throughout scripture leads them to claim that it's all one gospel throughout. That's the battle cry of the ignorant masses who don't read the scriptures while pasting the cotton on the bunny tails in their milk-toast and wet-noodle Sunday school classes and study groups.

So, the faith of Christ accomplished for man what man could not, and His faith and Spirit within us stirred and empowers our faith.

Amen

MM

 

[Musicmaster]

There is this strange idea that the Lord does not incorporate differences, or changes if you will, throughout His timeline for this earth and mankind. In Genesis 2 we read:

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

...except one, of course.

In Genesis 9 we read:

Genesis 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

The Lord had man start out as vegetarian, and then later made allowance for man to eat anything and everything that lives as meat, along with herbs. Then in Leviticus, the Lord disallowed certain of the animal kingdom that the Jews were not allowed to eat.

So, the Lord has every right to set and change boundaries and limits, even in diet and clothing, as He has demonstrated throughout history. There are many other examples of things the Lord set forth for mankind in general that changed for reasons that we will no into here, but it's interesting that so many will deny the Lord's sovereignty over the salvation of mankind.

In times past, water baptism was necessary for remission of sins, which, one would normally surmise, is indeed a matter of salvation, for without remission of sins, how can one be saved? Peter said nothing about the Blood of Christ, and neither did Christ nor His disciples say anything about the cross to come in all their ministry in the four Gospels when they preached.

When Paul was raised up and shown a mystery shown that was shown, nor even hinted at, by the Lord to no other man until him, water baptism and entrance into Judaism was no longer the means through which Gentiles must enter in order to be saved. Salvation had to start with the Jews, and then to the Gentiles after the fulfillment of the prophecies and Laws that served as types and shadows of Christ, His crucifixion, burial and resurrection on the third day.

Where do these prideful disallowances come from within mankind if not from the desperate wickedness of the heart to say that the Lord could not have set for changes in His plan for salvation for mankind?

Romans 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.

Ephesians 4:17-19
17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

The claim of a singular gospel throughout is nothing but willful blindness to the differences of the elements within each gospel. The texts of scripture scream to the reader that we differentiate them in order to see the wondrous way the Lord works. Mankind is shifty and unstable, and thus requires variations in dealings with him...the worldwide flood being a very good case in point.

MM

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

When Paul was raised up and shown a mystery shown that was shown, nor even hinted at, by the Lord to no other man until him, water baptism ... was no longer the means through which Gentiles must enter in order to be saved.

... The texts of scripture scream to the reader ...

The texts of scripture scream to the reader that Paul baptized with water when he proclaimed the gospel

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. Acts 16:14-15​

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Then [the jailer] called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his house, straightway. Acts 16:29-33​

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And [Paul] departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Acts 18:7-8​

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Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts 19:4-5​

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[Musicmaster]

1 Corinthians 11:27-32
27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Many have thought that the "damnation" spoken of in verse 29 has to do with loss of salvation, and the text absolutely does not support that. The truths within the mystery revealed to Paul bear this out. Thayer's Greek Lexicon even says this:

"so to eat as to incur the judgment or punishment of God, 1 Corinthians 11:29"

Also, when we look at the outflow of failure to partake of the body and bloods of Christ in a worthy manner, it is that many are sick and have died a physical death resulting from partaking in such unworthy mannerisms as is stated in verse 30. Nothing is stated in this context that would lend to the idea of loss of salvation.

That is the wonder of this dispensation of grace in that unmerited favor given to us as a gift does not shield us from resulting judgement if and when we fail to judge ourselves, especially in the partaking of the body and blood of Christ Jesus.

MM

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

This passage of scripture nicely refutes the gospel of confusion that teaches Peter proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom to Jews and water baptized, and Paul proclaimed the gospel of grace to the gentiles and didn't water baptize.

Here Paul is in Corinth proclaiming the gospel to both Jews and Greeks. In other words, it was the same gospel to both Jew and gentile.

And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Acts 18:4​

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This was his custom in every place he visited up until the time when Jews in the synagogue in Corinth rejected his message, and he responded by saying he would no longer focus on Jews. So this shows that Paul's gospel originally was to both Jews and gentile converts in the synagogues

And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. Acts 18:5-7​

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When he left the synagogue a gentile proselyte who lived next door invited Paul and the other Jews with him, Silas and Timothy, to stay with him. There he continued to proclaim the same gospel to both Jew and gentile, as was his custom, as evidenced by the fact that the chief ruler of the synagogue and gentile proselytes believed Paul's gospel and were water baptized.

And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Acts 18:8-9​

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So this one passage refutes all points of the gospel of confusion by clearly showing that Paul proclaimed the same gospel to both Jew and gentile and water baptized.

 

[GWH]

When we look at the Gospel as preached by the twelve, and the Gospel given to Paul to be preached to Gentiles and Jews alike, it becomes quite clear, apart from over-spiritualizing everything one reads, that the two messages are not one and the same:

The Kingdom Gospel preached by Christ and the twelve:

Proclaimed repentance and water baptism for salvation (Acts 2:38)
Proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom ([URL='Matthew 4:17, Acts 3.19)
Saved and commissioned within Israel’s borders (Matthew 16:13, 16-17)
Taught in Christ’s earthly ministry
Ministered to Jews only (Matthew 10:5, Galatians 2:7-9)

The Gospel of Grace received and taught by Paul:

Proclaimed “believe” alone for salvation (Romans 4:5-6, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Proclaimed the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24)
Saved and commissioned outside Israel’s borders (Acts 9:3)
Was taught in Christ’s heavenly ministry (Galatians 1:1, 11-12)
Ministered primarily to Gentiles because of Jewish rejection (Romans 11:13, Galatians 2:7-9)

Paul was not taught by the twelve:

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received [it] not [as] the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

So, Paul was instructed by Christ Jesus, not other men in the mystery, which is the body of Christ, that was hidden in God, not the scriptures or the prophets:

1 Corinthians 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Ephesians 3:2-7
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Not given to the twelve, but only to Paul, who then preached it to all others from that point onward. Paul already knew that the eleven were preaching, but THAT is the reason he persecuted them, and killed them. If Paul was only preaching what the others had already been preaching, then all the scriptures stating otherwise make no sense.

1 Corinthians 2:7-9
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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.

See that? Not even Satan and his demons knew of the Gospel of Grace that would be extended to the Gentiles until after it was revealed to, and preached by Paul. They would not have pushed for the crucifixion of Christ had they known that the kingdom of the Gentiles would be greatly diminished from their clutches through Paul's Gospel. They knew of the Kingdom Gospel, but they did NOT know of the Gospel of Grace and its impact until after it was too late.

Thoughts?

MM

While the mystery was not fully revealed until Jesus taught it to Paul, who taught it in his epistles, especially EPH as you noted, there were hints and foreshadowings in the OT, including:

GN 15:6. Abraham’s faith in the Lord was credited to him as righteousness. This was a major theme of the teaching of the apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans (RM 4:3,9-12&16-17). This is why Paul teaches that a true Jew is one whose “circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code” (RM 2:29). Thus, all who become one with Jesus are spiritual Jews and God’s chosen people (EPH 2:13-3:6), although it is possible that the political nation of Israel may play a further role in history before the eschaton.

GN 22:8. These words of Abraham to Isaac may be viewed as the first prophetic reference to Jesus (JN 1:29), although they had an immediate fulfillment (in v.13). Many years later, Moses instituted the sacrificial system that also portrayed the future messianic atonement. Jesus instituted the observance of the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of the fact that His death fulfilled this system, so that Believers no longer need to practice it.

IS 9:2&7. These verses are cited in the NT as prophecies about Messiah (servant/chosen one), as is IS 42:1-9, in which Messiah will be “a light for the Gentiles” as well as for the Jews.

This teaching is expressed also in 45:22-23, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth… Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.”

A third statement is found in 49:6, “…I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

And again in 60:3, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” Finally, in 66:23, “All mankind will come and bow down before me, says the Lord.” Paul wrote about this “new thing” in EPH 2:11-3:13.

JL 2:28. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people… in those days.” And verse 32 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”, which Paul quotes (in RM 10:13).

ZCH 2:11. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become [His] people.” This refers to the latter days between the first or second coming of Christ, when the mystery revealed by Paul occurs: Gentiles as well as Jews who have saving faith like Abraham will become God’s chosen people.

 

[Musicmaster]

Even though we today are under grace through faith, we also understand that works cannot and will not supplement the grace extended to us:

Romans 7:14-20
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
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.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

So, all the mother Teresa's and others out there doing all manner of what fleshly people will say was good works, it is all filth so long as the individual is not under grace through faith first and foremost, AND as long as our works are HIs works that He works through us. In and of ourselves, it is because of the inferior nature of our flesh that our works are the basis for being judged for reward.

In other words, ANY individual professor of Christ Jesus who would think their works will be ANYTHING other than a measure for reward, treasure stored in Heavenly places, they are deceived. Teresa did many fleshly works, all of which are filthy rags in relation to salvation, and yet most look at her fleshly labors as the measure of her salvation. If she was not under grace, then she is in Sheol with all others rejected by Christ Jesus.

MM

 

[Musicmaster]

BTW, Satanclause and his elves stole our van Christmas morning...

MM