Is Obedience Only for the Legalistic, Part 2

March 11, 2017 Eddie Leave a comment

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Mathew 5:17-19

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Part 1 Summary

In the earlier blog, we looked to the word of God to answer the question about legalism and the role of God’s law in the heart of the believer.

Briefly, we saw that there are many laws in the Bible. Some were temporary (Ceremonial and Sacrificial). These laws or ordinances were like a school master that taught God’s people about sin, salvation, and the coming Messiah.

These had their purpose and their end came when type (e.g. spotless lamb) met anti-type (i.e. Jesus). When Jesus came, we no longer needed the School Master to teach us. We now had Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection as our teacher and hope.

But, the law that is eternal is the moral law contained in the 10 commandments. Jesus did not come to abolish it or to destroy it. On the contrary, His life magnified the law and made it honorable. Example: Jesus told us men that looking upon a woman with lust was the same as committing adultery

“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Mathew 5:28

Here we see Jesus “magnifying” the law. He makes it bigger so we can clearly see or understand to scope of the law. It also demonstrates that man is sinful to the core. It tells us we need a Savior not only from eternal death but from the power of sin.

Sin is defined in one place as the breaking or transgressing of the law.

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

1 John 3:4

John goes on to tell us something very important for the believer.

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

1 John 3:6

Is it not clear that if someone sins, they don’t know Him? But if the believer “abides” in Him, that person will not sin. Now be careful here. It is not saying you are perfect and never sin. It means you do not practice sin as clarified in the the next verse:

He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

1 John 3:7

Before John ever gets into this discussion, he sets the boundaries of the discussion by saying this:

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1 John 2:1

God’s desire is that we do not sin. We have Jesus as our advocate in heaven (another topic for another time) to cover us should we sin. But this advocate is not an excuse to practice sin. That the true follower will not do. The thief will not continue his life of stealing. The adulterer will stop sleeping around. The person with other gods will give them up. Is this a fair statement?

Here is what we must remember: We are born with a sinful nature. When we are born again, we are given a spiritual nature. These two natures will compete against each other and it is our choice and God’s action as to which one will win the war between flesh and spirit. Keep in mind that battles may be lost due to the carnal nature, but this does not mean the war is over and a victor crowned. Paul describes this battle in Romans 8 (Another study for another time).

One of my favorite writers wrote something that I think is very appropriate here and supported by the grace of our great loving God:

“There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John,

“These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1.

Steps to Christ, P. 64

The law, specifically the 10 commandments, point out to sinful man what is sin. To know about the law and sin is to know more about the God who gave it and more about ourselves. It points out how really sinful we are and that we need a savior because we cannot “enter into the womb a second time” and be reborn. We cannot give ourselves a new spirit. The law enhances the reality of grace and His power, but God’s grace does not eliminate the law otherwise he could have simply eliminated the definition of sin instead of having his Son pay the penalty for sin i.e., death. This would be a divine loophole of sorts. I don’t see where God provides loopholes, but He does supply grace and power.

The law, like God, is eternal and it is given the same description as God Himself. The law expresses His character which is holy, just, and good.

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Romans 7:11, 12

We can not take the 10 commandments off the wall and wash our face with it, the law points out the smudge on our face, which tells us we need to be cleansed. To try to wash our face with the law would be the definition of legalism. Instead, the law indicates God’s will for us and that we need a Savior not only for breaking it, but for the power to obey it as will be shown in the following discussion.

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When talking about the law of God, we must discuss the topic of new covenant versus old covenant. Here many make a deadly mistake, thinking the old covenant was about keeping the law for salvation, but the new covenant is freedom from keeping the law and living under grace. This implies disobedience. As we shall see both covenants include obedience to God’s law. The new covenant does not diminish the requirements of the law, but there is a twist that should give encouragement to us and help us avoid legalism.

Jesus is the “Mediator of the new covenant.”

And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Hebrews 9:15

By the sacrificial death of Jesus upon the cross, He redeemed everyone, including those under the first covenant. This redemption for them and for all “who are called may receive the promise of eternal life.”

So again, we see that the cross is the central point for both those in the old testament and the new testament. It is here where all, on both sides of the cross, look by faith to Jesus for eternal life. Those in the old testament looked forward in faith and were instructed by the School Master or the sacrificial and ceremonial laws given by God through Moses to teach them about Jesus. They were not saved by works and obedience, but by faith in the spotless lamb of God (Jesus).

Those of us on this side, look to Jesus’ death on the cross by faith for eternal life and we have the life of Jesus and the testimony of His followers to teach us. Also, we have the experience of those before the cross to teach us as well. In fact, those before the cross and the writings of the old testament can instruct us in righteousness.

Paul wrote to Timothy and reminded him of this fact. Paul wrote it before the writings of the other new testament writers were known and brought together. So Paul’s message to Timothy is referring to the writings of the old testament when he said,

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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16

Those books in the old testament will reproof, correct and even instruct the new testament believer in righteousness. Further, it will make us complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We should never say or believe things like, “That is in the old testament, I am a new testament believer.” Rather, we should say, we are a believer of “All Scripture.”

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The experience of God’s people before the cross serve as examples of how we should both live and respond to God.

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

Romans 15:4

Their lives and experiences become examples of how to live or not to live. Their experiences will give us hope!

Jesus is also found in type all through the old testament. To bypass these books is to miss Christ.

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them.”

1 Corinthians 10: 1-7

So as we look at the new covenant or the new testament, we must not forget the value of the old covenant and the old testament. It still provides us help in our Jesus journey. It is even provides information that should be obeyed and understood by the Christian who appreciates the value of the new covenant.

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To understand the new covenant, we must understand the old covenant. Is that a fair statement? Why two covenants? Did God make a mistake and create a new covenant because it was impossible or too difficult to live under? Many think this because of somethings Paul states.

Generally, a covenant is defined as an agreement between two parties, but it can be simply a promise by the Lord. For example, the Lord made a promise to the people of earth to not destroy it by water ever again. This was a covenant or promise from the great Creator.

“I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth… and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

Genesis 9:13,15

The Lord did the same type of “one-sided covenant” with Abraham when he promised him land and descendants:

“On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—’ ”

Genesis 15:18

“And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.”

Genesis 17: 2-7

However, these covenants (promises) of God are not the covenants distinguished as old by Paul.

There was a point where the people of God tried to make a covenant or agreement with God and they became “old.”

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

Exodus 19:5-7

In the next Chapter of Exodus (20) we see these words:

And God spoke all these words, saying:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

Exodus 20: 1-2

Then the Lord spoke the 10 Commandments Himself as shown in Exodus 20: 3-17

Here was the covenant the people made. It seemed to be the response God wanted, but noticed they agreed to obey God based on fear and their own efforts. They state, “all that the Lord has said we will do.” They attempted to obey God under their grit and determination. Obedience was not from the heart but rather from duty and fear. After a while their promises faded away and became old.

They were afraid of God and this formed their their response.

Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Exodus 20:19

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Citing the fear and poor promises of the people, the writer of Hebrews cites the need for a new covenant:

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.”

Hebrews 8:6

What better promises? Did God make a promise that was inferior or had a fault? No! The problem or fault was found with the people who made the covenant with God as shown in the verse that follows:

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them. He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.“

Hebrews 8: 7-9

The fault was with the people who made a promise they could not keep.

Have you ever made a promise to God while under fear? “God if you will just get me out of this situation, I will serve you until I die.” But, after you are delivered, you forget your promise and go back to serving only yourself. In this situations, you are doing exactly what the children of Israel did. They made a promise they could not keep. Why? Because they were attempting something without a changed heart. They did not realize their own weakness. God desired them to obey out of love and through His power.

Continuing in Hebrews 8, we see the better promise, but it still contains God’s law and obedience.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Hebrew 8:10

So the new covenant is one where God provides the promise and the people respond to His love in obedience because they have a new heart (rebirth). But notice that the new covenant still involves the law of God and obedience. The law is never destroyed or eliminated, it is a new attitude about it where the obedience comes from the new heart. If it is on the heart, do you think you will obey the letter? The spirit and the letter of the law go together. Let me explain:

If a born again Christian says to his wife, I obey the law concerning adultery in the spirit, but not by the letter. What has he just told his wife? Would the wife be comfortable about the separation of spirit and letter? Could the husband sleep with her sister (letter) but keep the “spirit.” NO! If He is living in the spirit of the law, he won’t even allow himself to look at a woman with lust! Especially, he will not tempt himself with pornography! Men, if you are looking at porn, you need Jesus to both forgive you and to help you overcome it. It is sin!

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“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.“

Romans 7:6

Paul is explaining how we often get the cart before the horse. Many try to serve only in the letter. These are the legalistic.

In a very difficult part of Paul’s writing, he continues to explain that the law is spiritual and we are carnal. There are the two natures that live and fight within us until Jesus returns. The purpose of the law is to tell us what God considers as transgression and how sinful we are:

I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7: 7

“…by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Romans 3:20

Here Paul understands that desiring the possessions of another person is sin, but he goes further:

“I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”

Romans 7: 9

Paul was “foot loose and fancy free” as we say in the South. But, when he became aware of the words of the law, he came under great conviction and he saw his way of life meant death, for he had said earlier in the chapter,

“the wages of sin is death.”

Romans 6:23

The law points out what God calls sin regardless of what the world might think. When we come to accept the fact that we are sinners, we seek God and find forgiveness and the power to live a life in Christ. We don’t want to continue in an unsatisfying life of sin and disobedience. God begins to write His laws in our hearts so that our obedience comes from a new heart powered by God himself. The law does not go away. In fact, it becomes a writing inscribed in our way of thinking so that the thief stops stealing, the liar stops lying, etc. If, in our brand new way of thinking, we do slip; we have an advocate with the father.

I have heard someone say, I obey the law with my spirit and not by letter. I am under grace. How does that work?

Paul cautioned again such thinking when he said,

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

Romans 6:15

Being “under grace” does not mean one can disobey God’s law. We are not “under” the law because we are not under the penalty, because Jesus paid the penalty for our transgression of the law. His death shows the permanence of the law.

The followers of God are shown to be true followers by obedience to it. To claim we follow Jesus and willfully disobey is to not be a follower, for He said,

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?”

Luke 6:46″

It is like saying I am a follower of Robert Atkins, but I don’t obey the diet plan. I obey it in my spirit, but not the letter. How much weight do you think that person would lose?

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It is no wonder that Satan himself is upset with the last day people who wish to testify of Jesus Christ through an experience of obedience to His words that include the 10 commandments. This identifies them as true followers and not religious pretenders.

“And the dragon (Satan) was enraged with the woman (church), and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.“

Revelation 12:17

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Conclusion

God’s 10 Commandment law has never been destroyed. It is still a sin to have other god’s, to build statues of gods and fall down before them. It is still a sin to disrespect God’s name and character. It is still a sin to forget the Sabbath of the Lord and dishonor his creation and the time He blessed. It is still a sin to dishonor your parents, to murder, to commit adultery, to steal, to lie, and to covet your neighbors possessions.

All 10 of these commandments line up under the two great commandments. The first being to

“love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” The second is like it, “to love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22: 37-39

The first 4 commandments hang (summarized) under the first principle and the last six under the second principle.

But notice the order. If one fails to love God completely, they will not be able love their neighbor with a Christ like love. They will in effect become legalistic (if connected to religion) and a worthless noisy show-off of a cymbal if God’s love is not the basis for their obedience:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”

1 Corinthians 13:1

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No. Obedience is not for the legalistic although there are many who obey to somehow impress God or attempt to make themselves worthy of blessings and salvation.

Obedience is for those who have been born again, where love for their Creator and a testimony to the true God can be expressed through obeying his word.

To obey God is to have true freedom. Just ask the man in prison who murdered someone or the person whose life is run by lying.

To say that we love Him and not obey Him makes us a liar.

“He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

1 John 2:4

Obedience comes from a new heart supplied by the Redeemer. It is not religious, but it is real. Obedience is the walk with the One you love, not the requirement for walk. The walk, like a child, will be shaky at first, but as you hold the Father’s hand, you will get stronger to do his will, but unlike the earthly example, our hand must be in the hand of our Creator constantly, because if it isn’t, we have the possibility of returning to the mud from which we were cleansed (See 2 Peter 2: 18-22)

I close with the inspiring words from Steps to Christ, p. 60, 61

“But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love. The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, “I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience–the service and allegiance of love–is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the scripture says, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 5:3; 2:4. Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience.”

God's Will For Us

Is Obedience Only for the Legalistic? Part 1

March 6, 2017 Eddie Leave a comment

Recently, I heard a radio preacher say, “The Old Testament was about obedience, but the New Testament is about grace.” I don’t want to read too much into this or interpret his statement incorrectly, but I hear this same idea said in different ways. In almost all cases the implication is there are two methods of salvation:

1.) Obedience for those before the cross and

2.) Grace and faith after the cross.

Obedience (Old Covenant) Grace/Faith (New Covenant)

Only a few days later, I heard another speaker talk about Galatians in such a way that it lead me to believe that talking about obedience was “another gospel.” The preacher stated: “nothing can be added to the work of Jesus. To add anything else is “another gospel.” Without a doubt, no one can add to what Jesus has done for sinful man. and we cannot do enough good works to merit salvation. including obedience. Here is the proof:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:9, 10

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.“

Galatians 5:18

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Romans 3:21-23

All three of the verses above were from Paul. Paul was a highly educated and dedicated Hebrew. Before his conversion, he considered himself “blameless” concerning the righteousness that comes by the law. but then he discovered Jesus and his eyes were opened.

Paul, seemed to be concerned where people would take verses like those above. He abruptly asks a question at the end of Romans 3 and again at the beginning of Romans 6 to clarify:

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Romans 3:31

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 6:1

The established law has a place in the Jesus Journey of the believer, but what is it?

Despite Romans 3:31 and other “obedience” verses we shall see, people continue to quote verses that would seem to say, we can pretty much ignore the 10 commandment law. Here are a few:

We are not “….under the law, but under grace.”

Romans 6:14

“The law was done away with.”

Colossians 2:14?

“The law has been nailed to the cross.”

Colossians 2:14?

Obedience is “another gospel.”

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel”

Galatians 1:6

Incorrect application of these passage may make it sound like God does not want us to obey and if I want to obey God, I have reverted back to the Old Testament way of salvation and have become legalistic, perhaps even lost. By choosing to seek to live in obedience, I have left the gospel of grace and faith. So is obedience only for the legalistic?

I have tried to boil this down to 5 important thought questions:

1.) Has obedience ever been a method of salvation? Was Moses, the prophets, the people of Israel saved by the works of the law? Has anyone ever been able to save themselves through obedience?

2.) What is the relationship between obedience and grace? Are they mutually exclusive of each other?

3.) What does Salvation mean and what is the purpose of the law?

4.) Does God expect me to live a life in disobedience to his commandments? What happens if I start to try to obey?

5.) Does Obedience have anything to do with the new covenant?

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Now I am certain, I don’t need to get up get dressed and head to the local temple and sacrifice a lamb for the sins I have committed. This was definitely part of the instructions God gave Moses to give to God’s people. I also know that being circumcised is not a prerequisite to being a part of God’s people. But, how do I relate to God’s law? What is the danger if I ignore it or if I obey it?

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What is God’s law?

Is it just the 10 commandments?

Is it the old sacrificial system given by God to Moses?

Is it some spiritual thing that I keep in my spirit but am careful to not obey the letter?

Here is what I know from God’s word;

The word “law” appears 529 times in the entire Bible. If you throw in “statute” and “ordinance” we can add another 219 times. So that brings us to 748 verses.

Do they all mean the same thing? This is where many people get confused.

The three main categories for these 748 verses are used primarily in 1 of 3 main ways:

A.) God’s Ten Commandments written with His own finger.

“And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.”

Exodus 31:18

B.) The laws given by God to Moses concerning the sanctuary services, sacrifices, feast days. The ceremonial laws contained in ordnances. Written by Moses and placed in a pouch in the side of the Ark of the Covenant.

“Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.”

Deuteronomy 31:26

These ordinances and laws were ceremonial and gave identity and teaching to the chosen people before the cross. After the cross, God made the Jew and Gentile one.

“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.”

Exodus 18:20

“….having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”

Ephesians 2:15

C.) The word of God contained in the “books of the law” a.k.a Torah (First Five books of the Bible)

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Joshua 1:8

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psalm 1: 2, 3

So it is always important to understand which law God is referring to before making any decisions as to what God would have you do.

One last question before we start, Does the freedom given me by the grace of God give me license to disobey?

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In this post, we will start with questions #1 and #2

1.) Has obedience ever been a method of salvation? Was Moses, the prophets, the people of Israel saved by the works of the law? Has anyone ever been able to save themselves through obedience?

The answer is NO! The Jews of old were saved just like those of the New Testament: By the grace of God through faith and not of any works. Listen to Paul:

“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Galatians 2:21

There would have been no need for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins or the sins of those in the Old Testament time if “righteousness” could come through the law.

Through the ceremonial feast of Passover (Exodus 12), the Jews under those laws were taught that the unblemished innocent male sheep had to die for their sins. They had to believe this in faith. Merely following the directions of God through Moses was not the point of their forgiveness but led them to understand about the coming Messiah who was the “true lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” John 1:29

So by faith, the Jews looked forward to the Cross for their salvation not in obeying the law. But the law was good in that it came from God himself through Moses and it taught (through an object lesson) the cost of sin, the price that had to be paid, and the transference of their sin onto the unblemished Son of God.

When Jesus came, type met anti-type. There was no longer a need to have ceremonies and laws that pointed forward to Jesus. Now they had the life and teachings of Jesus and that teacher (using types) ended.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Galatians 3:24, 25

All those ceremonial laws pointed forward to Jesus and His death on the cross that they might have faith in Him. Today, we look back at Jesus and the cross that we might have faith. Both of us are saved by faith, not by the works of the law of ceremonies.

Those laws had fulfilled their purpose of pointing the OT people to Jesus. When He died on the cross they ended and we were no longer “under” those sets of laws.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Galatians 3: 23

This faith spoken of by Paul is another word for Jesus. The faith that is revealed is Jesus. It is clear from Hebrews 11 (Faith Chapter) that those of the OT lived their lives by faith as we do:

The term “By faith” or “through faith” appears at least 19 times in Hebrews 11! They are all references to the OT people of faith!

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off…And these all, having obtained a good report through faith.”

Hebrews 11: 13, 39

Please keep in mind, faith is not a thing….a religious thing….It is “trust” in God. It is made evident by a response. A person can say they have faith in God, but their works will show it. Faith is not based on nothing. It has substance and evidence. This substance and evidence comes through trusting in God’s word.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:18

Paul shows the method of salvation i.e., grace through faith not of works. James tells us that the works (obedience) produced from a believer is the evidence of their faith. The two go together.

James goes on to say,

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

James 2: 8-12

James uses the term “law of liberty” twice. Here is the hint that obeying the law gives liberty. Just ask the murder in prison or the person who is trapped in a web of lies. There is a blessing in obedience to God’s 10 commandments. Wouldn’t you agree? We are not talking about the method of salvation, but rather the results of salvation.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it,and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25

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2.) What is the relationship between obedience and grace? Are they mutually exclusive of each other?

How can anyone claim to be a follower of the only true God and not obey?

“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

1 John 2:4

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

Luke 6:46

“Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”

Luke 6: 47-48

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 6:1

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5: 17-19

Heaven and earth remains and so do the 10 commandments. Anyone who teaches to break the least of the commandments is not doing the will of God. I don’t want to be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Do you? The best way here is to teach to obey the law of God.

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Conclusion:

The 10 commandments remain as does heaven and earth. The ceremonial laws taught about Jesus and salvation, but they ended at the cross where type met anti-type.

Obedience does not save you, but a saved person will be obedient. The thief will stop stealing. The liar will stop lying. All of this happens because of the new birth….the new heart God gives the person saved.

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people”

Hebrews 8:10

If you are thinking the new covenant spoken of here is for Jews only. Remember there is neither Jew nor Greek and that if we belong to Christ we are “Abraham’s seed” (Father of Jews) and “heirs according to the promise.”

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.“

Galatians 3:28

“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Galatians 3:29

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“A woman is driving way over the speed limit. Suddenly, she sees in her rear view mirror the flashing red and blue lights of a police car and hears the familiar wail of the siren. She pulls over, grabs her purse, and takes out her driver’s license. The policeman approaches, takes her license, and returns to his car.

She wonders how much the ticket is going to be (she was way over the limit); she also worries about how she will be able to pay it. A few minutes later the policeman comes back and says, OK, Miss, what we are going to do, so that you don’t have to face the penalty of the law again, is abolish the law. You no longer have to worry about the speed limit.

As ludicrous as that story is, it’s no more so than the theology that teaches that after Jesus died, the law, the Ten Commandments, was abolished.” Dr. Keith A. Burton,

“Wages of sin is death.”

Romans 6:23

“Sin is the transgression of the law.”

1 John 3:

The definition of sin has never changed.

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“There are two errors against which the children of God–particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace–especially need to guard. The first, already dwelt upon, is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy.

The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption.

But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love.”

Steps To Christ, page 59, 60

Essential Christian Beliefs

Fundamental Christian Belief #9-The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Christ

February 5, 2017 Eddie Leave a comment

If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

1 Corinthians 15:14

What is the most important fact about Jesus; is it the prophecies about His life? Perhaps it is His death for our sins upon a cruel wooden cross.

All are important, because without one the others become false. For example, Paul cuts straight to the point and tells us our faith is empty if Christ was not resurrected. He goes a step further a few verses later:

And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

1 Corinthians 15:17

What does this mean…we are still in our sins?

Before there could be a resurrection, there had to be a life and a death. In this study we will look at these three facts about Jesus that are unlike any other person claiming the be The Way, The Truth, and The Life!

If Jesus is true, all others are false, because He is clear there are not multiple ways, multiple truths, nor multiple paths to life.

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Overview Statement and study verses:

In Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God’s will, His suffering, death, and resurrection, God provided the only means of atonement for human sin, so that those who by faith accept this atonement may have eternal life, and the whole creation may better understand the infinite and holy love of the Creator. This perfect atonement vindicates the righteousness of God’s law and the graciousness of His character; for it both condemns our sin and provides for our forgiveness. The death of Christ is substitutionary and expiatory, reconciling and transforming. The bodily resurrection of Christ proclaims God’s triumph over the forces of evil, and for those who accept the atonement assures their final victory over sin and death. It declares the Lordship of Jesus Christ, before whom every knee in heaven and on earth will bow.

(Gen. 3:15; Ps. 22:1; Isa. 53; John 3:16; 14:30; Rom. 1:4; 3:25; 4:25; 8:3, 4; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4, 20-22; 2 Cor. 5:14, 15, 19-21; Phil. 2:6-11; Col. 2:15; 1 Peter 2:21, 22; 1 John 2:2; 4:10.)

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Last time we discussed good and evil and the great controversy between Christ and Satan. This is an ancient battle between Christ and His church and Satan and his followers:

And I will put enmity
Between you (Satan) and the woman (Eve),
And between your seed (Satan and his followers) and her Seed (Jesus and His followers-church);
He (Jesus) shall bruise your head (Satan),
And you shall bruise His (Jesus) heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Here is the first prophecy of the enmity between good and evil (Satan and Christ) and the first coming of the Messiah to save the people from the wages of sin. It reveals the plan of salvation and gives Eve hope that her off spring would produce the Savior.

As humans on this planet, we have a problem. It is deadly…literally. This problem is called sin. Because all of our ancestors have sinned since the beginning of time, we are also sinners just as we are all human. God told Adam and Eve that their disobedience to His word would lead to death. Indeed, it did. We get paid for our inheritance and work of sin. Those wages are death.

For the wages of sin is death…

Romans 6:23

How many of us have sinned according to scripture?

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:23

Where did sin begin?

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners

Romans 5:19

What is sin?

for sin is the transgression of the law.

Have you broken any of the 10 commandments? If you say no, you have broken the 9th one regarding false witness (lying)

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 1:10

There is no escaping the fact that we are all sinners and we are all destined to eternal death. But, this is where the good and graceful character of God the Father comes in. Also, it is where His character is demonstrated through Jesus! It is most beautifully expressed through the most famous of all Bible verses: John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Read closely and you will see that God makes a way of escape from perishing (eternal death). This “perishing” is a result of our ancestors and ourselves breaking his law of liberty. God’s law was designed to make man happy and free. In fact James refers to God’s law in these exact terms.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25

God’s law is not meant to keep you from enjoying life, but exactly the opposite. It is designed to give liberty and blessings. Happy are the ones who know this!

Let’s go back to some of the verses just quoted and the pivot point. They point out the problem and the solution all in the same verse!

Let’s start with Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, BUT (pivot point) the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Wages is something you get paid for doing work, but God says, he is offering eternal life as a gift. But this gift is found through Jesus!

Another verse quoted earlier:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (pivot) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 3:23 and 24

Again, it is in Christ alone where we can find justification meaning we can be accounted sinless through Jesus!

Another verse:

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, (pivot) so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:19

While Adam’s sin put us all under the curse of sin and transmitted the plague of sin, the obedience of Jesus will make us righteous! How does that happen?

Let’s summarize where we are so far.

1.) God’s love and grace for us provided a solution to the death penalty that He Himself pronounced upon the human race because of sin and disobedience!

2.) That solution is found in His gift of Jesus to us.

3.) Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience.

All of this shows that God’s law cannot be changed to deal with the sin problem. Otherwise, God could have said, “Well, I see you can’t keep the law, so I will make it easier for you.” He couldn’t say, “I will just do away with the law.”

My wife recently got a speeding ticket. If we dealt with breaking the law as some teachers say about God’s law. The cop would have said, “Look, I understand you can’t keep the law, so we are going to put the limit higher, say 120 mph. Does that work for you?

Or the cop could have said, “Since you can’t keep the law, I am just going to have the law thrown out.”

Or how about this one?

“I know you were speeding and broke the law, but if you keep it in your heart, I won’t give you a ticket.”

NO! These reasons to break the law of man is just as ridiculous when applied to God’s immutable 10 commandments. Just because the cop let us off because of his mercy does not free us up to disobey it!

Jesus obeyed the law perfectly. So many are tempted to say, “Since Jesus kept the law, I am free to break it because the law can’t be kept.”

But listen to the emphatic words of Romans 3:28, 31

we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. (v. 28)

Our justification (Jesus, makes it like we never sinned) is by faith in Him alone, but (pivot) don’t forget the rest of the verse:

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. (Verse 31)

The law is never thrown out by faith, it is established. As the prophecy about Jesus states. The life of Jesus made the law honorable

The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.

Isaiah 42:21

So point number 1: It is the life of Jesus and trust/faith in Him that we can be accounted righteous/justified in the sight of God. It is His robe of righteousness that covers our sinfulness

He kept God’s law and did not sin unlike Adam. So as Romans 5:19 states. This one man, Jesus, many (not all) are made righteous!

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:19

We are commanded to obey, but it is not our obedience that will save us from the “perishing.” But, if we are truly saved, we have a new heart that desires to obey the will of God. The thief will stop stealing, the liar will stop lying, the adulterer will stop messing around on their spouses.

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

James 1: 22-23

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Now let’s understand the importance of the death of Jesus

As mentioned earlier, the wages of sin and disobedience is death. Death has passed upon all of us. We see it every day. If you took an hour to read and study this material, approximately 6,000 people will die on planet earth. That is 55.3 million people per year! Even if you are a Christian, you will die…unless Jesus returns before that event.

The death that Jesus saves us from is “eternal death.” Death where there is no hope of a resurrection. Contrary, to the world’s teaching our soul is not immortal. Only God has immortality and the soul can die. This we can discuss at another time, but here are a couple of verses to support this Biblical fact:

the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality,

1 Timothy 6: 15-16

God alone has immortality, not the soul. Immortality is given to us at the resurrection as we will see shortly.

The soul who sins shall die.

Ezekiel 18:20

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10:28

Notice, that only God himself can (and does) destroy the soul of those who do not fear (respect) Him and it is done in hell. Hell is not a place of eternal living for the soul, but rather its destruction. Those who would attempt to call hell as a place of unending punishing do not understand that the soul and body is destroyed-hence eternal death and not eternal living demonstrates the soul is not immortal.

People confuse eternal punishment and eternal punishing. The Bible teaches a punishment that is eternal in that it is eternal in its effect, but not in its duration. To believe in eternal punishing would require a soul and body that could not be destroyed.

So, yes the soul is not immortal.

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Jesus paid the penalty of “eternal death” when he died on the cross. He took our sins and paid the penalty for us! This is known as the substitutionary atonement for us.

Without His death, we would have no hope to live again. If not for Jesus we would have to pay the wages by never living again. It is said, that Jesus didn’t just die, but he died the death of a sinner without hope because he became sin for us:

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

2 Corinthian 5:21

This author brings to light the terrible death of Jesus. It was not all physical! Jesus was aware that he might be dying a death of no hope! A death reserved only for the lost and Satan himself.

“Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.” Desire of Ages, P. 753 E.G. White

There are hundreds of Bible prophecies about the life and death of Jesus. His purpose for coming to this earth was to:

1.) Reveal the real character of God the Father;

2.)Live a life demonstrated as obedience to the will of God;

3.) Give wisdom about the kingdom of God;

4.) Pay for the sins of man

5.) Seal the truthfulness of all this by the most powerful event ever demonstrated on earth: His bodily resurrection from the dead!

6.) Become our Mediator and High Priest until he returns

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When Paul tells us; “if Jesus is not resurrected, we are still in our sins,” it is in the context of the truthfulness of the life and death of Jesus!

If the resurrection is not true, then all other things about him is not true for He said he would be crucified and then rise the third day.

By Jesus being raised from the dead, it gives us the hope of the same. I have never read in the Bible where our hope is in dying and immediately going to heaven. This claim is not only not supported clearly by the Bible, it is also cruel. If my Mom is looking down on me and my struggles with life, is that heaven for her?

During the time of Paul, many people were expecting Jesus to come any day. But, in the meantime, many of the saints were dying. Listen to the comfort Paul gave them. Did he try to tell them to be comforted by the fact that they are in heaven? Read closely where he directed their worried minds:

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring (resurrect) with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

(Where are they? they are asleep in Jesus!) Paul then paints a picture of what happens when Jesus returns and where they are to find comfort.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

Do you see how we all go to be with Jesus at the same time! No one goes ahead! What a reunion day that will be! If we try to find comfort regarding our loved ones in any other way, it is not biblical!

It is the power of Jesus’ resurrection that gives us hope. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!

Paul told the Corinthians, who did not believe in the resurrection that we are of men “most miserable” if there is no hope of a resurrection.

But tell me this! Since you believe what we preach, that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying that dead people will never come back to life again? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead. And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless; and we apostles are all liars because we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, and of course that isn’t true if the dead do not come back to life again. If they don’t, then Christ is still dead, and you are very foolish to keep on trusting God to save you, and you are still under condemnation for your sins; in that case, all Christians who have died are lost! And if being a Christian is of value to us only now in this life, we are the most miserable of creatures.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (TLB)

Paul makes it clear that if Jesus was not raised, then the dead will not be raised. They are all lost! And if this is the case, we are foolish to keep believing in Jesus. The last verse is right to the point. If all we have is this life as a Christian, we are most miserable of all creatures!

And another point, immortality is put on at the second coming and at no other time!

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 Corinthians 15: 51-53

Is it not clear that our hope of immortality is given to us at the second coming of Jesus?

Rejoice! Jesus indeed arose and many saw Him as Paul explains:

I passed on to you right from the first what had been told to me, that Christ died for our sins just as the Scriptures said he would, and that he was buried, and that three days afterwards he arose from the grave just as the prophets foretold. He was seen by Peter and later by the rest of “the Twelve.”^[After that he was seen by more than five hundred Christian brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. Then James saw him, and later all the apostles. Last of all I saw him too, long after the others, as though I had been born almost too late for this. For I am the least worthy of all the apostles, and I shouldn’t even be called an apostle at all after the way I treated the church of God.

1 Corinthians 15: 3-9

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is historical fact, supported by ancient prophets and his followers who were willing to face torture and death for the truth in Christ. These facts turned timid men who ran when Jesus was arrested to mighty men of faith.

Many church-going Christians today do not have that faith. Why? It is because religion has become something you do once a week in a building. But, faith can come to the weakest every day. First we are to ask for it.

you do not have because you do not ask.

James 4: 2

Second, faith only comes through God’s word that leads you to a personal relationship with Jesus.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17

Do you want more faith in Jesus? Put more of His word in your heart and live by it!

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”

James 4: 4

And when the bad times come, and they surely will, you can put your trust in Him because you have His words hidden in your heart. You know Him! Then you will see the way to get your Answers From Scripture.

Blessings my friends as you search God’s word and as you put your entire life into the hands of the One who lived, died, was resurrected, and will return again for you to give you the gift of an unending life of happiness and joy free from the troubles of this earth!

Essential Christian Beliefs

28 Fundamental Christian Beliefs-#8-Good and Evil

January 12, 2017 Eddie Leave a comment

The Great Controversy

Overview:

All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God’s adversary, and led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the global flood, as presented in the historical account of Genesis 1-11. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation.

(Gen. 3; 6-8; Job 1:6-12; Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18; Rom. 1:19-32; 3:4; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:6; Rev. 12:4-9.)

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The Beginning of Good and Evil-The Great Controversy

The controversy between God and Satan is recorded at the very beginning of God’s word, but it started before the creation of Adam and Eve and their encounter with Satan in the garden of Eden. Even further back in time, the battle between good and evil arose in an unlikely place… under unusual circumstances.

An important principle in knowing the difference between good and evil…right and wrong is this: It is defined by God alone and revealed in His word. It is impressed upon the heart of every person through the Holy Spirit. Mankind has no authority to define or modify what God has already defined. God is the creator of good and Satan is the creator of evil.

“When he (the Spirit) comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.

John 16:8-11 (MSG)

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To understand the beginning of good and evil and the great controversy between Christ and Satan, we must go back to a time before the creation on man. In fact, we must go back heaven itself! Using the King of Tyre as symbol for Lucifer (The name for Satan before he fell), God reveals to us the story of Lucifer and the beginning of sin.

“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;…You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.”

Ezekiel 28: 12,13

The picture of a man in a red suit, goatee, pitch fork standing in flames is an inaccurate picture of this being formerly referred to as Lucifer. Lucifer means, “light bearer” or “morning star.” Lucifer was wise and beautiful. But something happened to Lucifer and iniquity began to grow in his heart.

For you have said in your heart:
“I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.”

Isaiah 14: 13, 14

Someone has said that Lucifer had an “I” problem. Notice the number of times he uses with the word “I.” Lucifer began to think too highly of himself. He became prideful and thought he could “be like the Most High” God!

These sinful traits of character shows its ugly face in our world today. Pride, discontent, and narcissism are ancient signs of rebellion against God. Ultimately, it leads to shame and destruction, which is the very destination of Satan and the angels who follow him.

Lucifer was perfect in his ways, but iniquity rose up in his heart due to his “I” problem (pride)

“You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.

Ezekiel 28: 14-15

But this pride, discontent, and rebellion (as with all his followers) will lead to a fall and ultimately to eternal destruction:

Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18

Satan and his angels were removed from the holy atmosphere of God’s presence and the faithful angels. Thus began a war unlike any seen on this earth:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12: 7-9

Contrary to popular opinion, the earth is Satan’s headquarters, not some eternally burning place under the earth aka hell.

And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”

Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

Job 2:2

Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.

Revelation 12:12

William Shakespeare was right when he said,

“Hell is empty. All the devils are here.”

Satan’s time on earth begins to end when Jesus returns and leaves it empty. The wicked dead and the wicked alive are destroyed, and the righteous dead and alive are taken to where Jesus is now-heaven. This earth will be the place of bondage for him for 1,000 years as he awaits his judgment with no one to tempt or carry out his wicked deeds. The clock for the 1,000 years starts after the return of Christ and the resurrection.

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

Jude 1:6

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.

Revelation 20: 1-3

For more information on the 1,000 years see:

Part 4-Second Coming Predictions-1,000 Years?

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!…

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Isaiah 14: 12, 15-16

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.

Malachi 4:1

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Satan Kicked Out of Heaven

Because of Lucifer’s rebellion against God and His pride, the destruction process began with Him and his angels being removed from their station in heaven .

When Satan was barred from heaven and sent to this earth, he took one third of the angels. After the fall of Adam and Eve, he began his great destructive work on planet earth. When Jesus was born, he was right there working through Herod to kill the little infant Jesus as told in this passage.

His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

Revelation 12:4

The following summarizes the fall of Lucifer as discussed so far.

“Little by little Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation. The Scripture says, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” Ezekiel 28:17. “Thou hast said in thine heart, . . . I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. . . . I will be like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13, 14. Though all his glory was from God, this mighty angel came to regard it as pertaining to himself. Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.”

“Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. Lucifer’s disposition to serve himself instead of his Creator aroused a feeling of apprehension when observed by those who considered that the glory of God should be supreme. In heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined.”

Patriarchs and Prophets, Page 36, 37

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The work of Satan:

The Bible Says Satan:
Deceives / persecutes (Revelation 12:9, 13)	Quotes/misquotes Bible (Matthew 4:5, 6)
Falsely accuses / murders (Revelation 12:10 John 8:44)	Traps / ensnares (2 Timothy 2:26 1 Peter 5:8)
Makes war against God’s people (Revelation 12:17)	Binds / prompts betrayal (Luke 13:16 John 13:2, 21)
Imprisons (Revelation 2:10)	Possesses / hinders (Luke 22:3-5 1 Thessalonians 2:18)
Works miracles / lies (Revelation 16:13, 14 John 8:44)	Appears as angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Brings disease / afflicts (Job 2:7)	His demons impersonate pastors (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Slanders (“Devil” means “slanderer”)	Calls fire from heaven (Revelation 13:13)

How Satan was able to introduce his rebellion to planet earth:

The first recorded incident of controversy about good and evil between God and Satan is recorded just after the creation story:

And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

Genesis 3:1

All was good for Adam and Eve until this question. Satan brought doubt to Eve by simply asking a question about her own understanding of what God had said. “Eve, maybe you didn’t understand God correctly. I know God better than you and I know what He meant so I am going to interpret for you. Your understanding is too literal and too simple.”

“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:4-5

As is Satan’s method, he mixes part lie and part truth:

The lie: “You will not surely die.” He implied, Your disobedience to God’s instructions will not result in death. We know this is a lie for God said through Paul.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Romans 5:12

The truth: “You will become like God….You will know good from evil.” We know this is truth for God said,

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil…”

Genesis 3:22

Does this exchange between the Eve and Satan sound familiar? In our modern quick-food society, we group ourselves around “interpreters” of God’s simple word, but God tells us through Peter:

…no prophecy (teaching) of Scripture is of any private interpretation,

2 Peter 1:20

The only interpreter of God’s word is found in the next verse:

for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:21

It is the Holy Spirit (the 3rd member of the Trinity) who provides the interpretation of God’s voice through the inspiration of holy men who speak the truth. Without the work of the Holy Spirit in this interpretation, we fall on dangerous ground of misunderstanding not only God’s word, but God Himself! Each one of us as individuals are called to be like a little group of people called Bearans:

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Acts 17:11

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Why didn’t God just destroy Satan?

Yesterday, I heard a presentation from my pastor that addresses the question, “Why didn’t God just destroy Satan and save us a lot of problems?”

If Satan had been consumed up in smoke when “iniquity was found in him,” shortly afterwards the other angels would have deducted they would be likewise consumed if they were not careful. Sin would have remained even though Satan was gone. Remember, sin was not understood and it is likely the angels would have served Him out of fear and misunderstanding of his real character i.e. love.

Another person asked, “Well, why didn’t God just zap their memory of the eradication of Satan? No one would know or remember.”

The pastor thought for a minute and said, “Yes, no one would know, except for One. God would know. It would be against his nature of good and purity to do such a thing, even secretly”

The pastor continued by using an example and a question. “Let’s say there is a van full of women and children that is hit head-on by a drunken truck driver. Why didn’t God prevent it?” This would be the first question of almost anyone. Shouldn’t God have forced his way upon the choice of the drunken driver and the event?

He went on to say, “God does not interfere in man’s affair unless he is given permission! This thought I had to ponder. Then I realized, I have to give God permission to save me. I have to give him permission to intervene in my life. How do I do this? The answer if found in talking to Him (also know as prayer.)

The Lord Jesus did this when He taught us to pray,

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 6:10

Sin is here because our ancestors have not asked God to intervene. When they have, He shows up and protects His people. But, overall, we have not given him permission to do so. In fact, we have told him to go away…we are just fine without Him. But are we? Satan has shown us that his way leads to unhappiness, death, and destruction.

Like an earthly father, God wanted to protect his children from evil. His plan was to give them nothing but life, love and joy. God is love. He wanted his creation to know only love. But, evil entered into the garden and they were deceived. It is easy to second guess God allowing this to happen. But, He honored the greatest and most powerful gift to mankind: the power of choice. Love cannot be forced. Faith cannot be legislated.

But love can draw people to the Lord. If not resisted, each person can find peace from sin and its penalty. God’s love and character was made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross for every man and woman’s sin. He paid the penalty for sin…eternal death.

And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

John 12:32

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

Jeremiah 31:3

The journey through good and evil will make forever strong the love and faith of those who choose God over the accusations and lies of Satan. It is because of this knowledge of good and evil that sin will never rise up a second time:

Whatever they plot against the LORD he will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time.

Nahum 1:9

God will not allow sin to be in some small corner of the universe. Sin and sinner alike will be consumed to ashes for eternity.

Satan is consumed by fire and turned to ashes. Then the controversy is ended.

“You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you.

Ezekiel 28:18

The same will be the fate for those who did not give God permission to save them:

You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the Lord of hosts.

Malachi 4:3

…and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

2 Peter 2:6

“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.”

Great Controversy, page 678

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Inspiration

Joe and the CEO

December 30, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

When I hear or read Psalm 19: 14, I think of Joe McClaron. Joe was a retired worker for the railroad who probably had the lowest paying job in the bank (internal mail courier). In the 70’s I was working for a small community Bank in Nashville, TN. But, this story is about Joe. He was a short slightly built black man identified by the nearly all white bank as perhaps the most humble person on the face of the earth. His countenance bore a perpetual smile that forced you to at least grin regardless of the type of day you were having. Joe seemed to never experience a bad day. He was quick to tell you about the love of His God….if you asked why he was always smiling….He never pushed God on anyone, but God was right there in those bright eyes penetrating your thoughts and intents. I was a brand new Christian at the time and enjoyed many “God” conversations with Joe. We both loved to talk about the Bible and our Lord.

Another remarkable thing about Joe was that the highest ranking person in the bank, James Webb (Chief Executive Officer/President) and Joe became great friends! You could sense that both respected each other for their appointed portion of life. The humblest lowest paid black man and the highest paid and highly respected white man in the community were buddies and they didn’t mind showing their great love and care for each other. It was a joy to watch God’s influence on this unlikely relationship. Many times, I would see James with his arm around Joe, both having a good laugh as they walked through the marbled lobby.

Sadly, Joe became sick and was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He died a quick death. Almost everyone at the bank attended Joe’s funeral at his small church on the south side of Nashville. His influence transcended race and color. For a moment that day, there were only people (no color) who came to pay their respect for Joe and the God he served everyday….with a smile….

The next day, the board room at the bank was dedicated to Joe and it became the Joe McClaron Board Room. Surprisingly, I was asked to have the dedication prayer for the room. In my prayer, I asked the Lord to instill the spirit of Joe McClaron’s life and beliefs in this room and that each one of us would learn to start our day with the same prayer Joe prayed every day,

” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”

Psalm 19:14

Often, now before I get out of bed, I start my day with these words. Today, Lord, may the words of my mouth….. Joe’s influence still reaches out to me some 40 years later.

A few years ago, James Webb died…a man full of years and still highly respected. His funeral was at the city’s largest Presbyterian church in Nashville. It had been years since I left Nashville City Bank (long since sold to another bank), but Joe’s influence remained among it’s ex-employees. We all reminisced about the wonderful relationship between Joe and James. Praise God for those who reflect the love of God in their daily lives such as Joe and James.

Thank you Lord for giving me such a wonderful memory of Joe who knew you in such a way that the joy he experienced with You influenced everyone he met. Help me to remember that the experience with you is a joyful one and that your burden is light. Let it be reflected in my eyes and my face so that people will want to know about the joy in my heart.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30….

Essential Christian Beliefs

28 Fundamental Christian Beliefs #7-The Nature of Man and Sin

December 3, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

Man and woman were made in the image of God with individuality, the power and freedom to think and to do. Though created free beings, each is an indivisible unity of body, mind, and spirit, dependent upon God for life and breath and all else. When our first parents mistrusted and disobeyed God, they denied their dependence upon Him and fell from their high position under God. The image of God in them was marred and they became subject to death. Their descendants share this fallen nature and its consequences. They are born with weaknesses and tendencies to evil. But God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself and by His Spirit restores in penitent mortals the image of their Maker. Created for the glory of God, they are called to love Him and one another, and to care for their environment.

(Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7; Ps. 8:4-8; Acts 17:24-28; Gen. 3; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:12-17; 2 Cor. 5:19, 20; Ps. 51:10; 1 John 4:7, 8, 11, 20; Gen. 2:15.)

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“The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.”

Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33

The Beginning of Sin and Death

The story of mankind begins good….very good, but takes a sudden turn when lies, mistrust, and disobedience enters the garden of Eden and the heart of its two occupants. We don’t know how long Adam and Eve enjoyed this perfect earth before the attack of Satan, but one day things changed for the bad…very bad.

At the encouragement of a fallen angel, our first parents chose to mistrust God and believe the lies from an angry enemy. This choice led to disobedience (sin) and ultimately death for them and the entire planet. It was a seemingly small act, but it had eternal consequences. Like a small spark in a dry forest, the deception of Satan whipped up the growing winds of disobedience and produced a consuming flame destined to destroy this planet and its people.

The only survivors, when this is all over, will be those who have yielded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repented, and allowed the Son of God to come into their life and to give them eternal life. God’s story is one of paradise lost (Genesis) and paradise restored (Revelation). In between these two events is the story of redemption through the love and sacrifice of our Creator. Although His image in us has been marred terribly, He, alone, has the power to restore it even among a rebellious planet of sin. He is able to save to the uttermost.

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Sin had started before Adam and Eve. Satan had been removed from the presence of God to this earth because of his sin of pride and desire to be like God:

For you have said in your heart:
“I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.”

Isaiah 14: 13-14

Because pride and holiness cannot exist together and the infection of rebellion endangered the other angels, Satan was cast to this earth.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:9

It is here on earth where the enemy continues with deceptions and accusations against God as untrustworthy and unmerciful. He led the first man and woman, made in the image of God, to believe the lie that we are immortal (like God) and we can be like God. He insinuated that God was holding back something that would be to their benefit. When Satan and Eve began their conversation, she repeated the words God had told Adam and her:

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Genesis 3:2-3

But, true to his nature as the “father of lies” (John 8:44), Satan refuted God’s statement and spoke the first recorded lie:

“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:4-5

From this pivotal moment in the young earth’s history to this very moment, the “whole world” believes the lie that the human race, or at the least our soul, is immortal.

An ancient religion advocates the idea of reincarnation and the idea that no one dies. According to this belief, after dying , the human spirit comes back as an animal or some other person. This is a lie. For God said,

“…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:17

For the wages of sin is death…

Romans 6:23

…just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Romans 5:12

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Death is Death, Not Life

Another lie taught by modern and popular Christian preachers is the idea of an “immortal soul.” It is a catch phrase used by many popular preachers, “Your soul will not die and you will live in one of two places after death–heaven or hell.” This implies that “you will not surely die” but live forever. A careful Bible student can search the scriptures and not find the phrase “immortal soul.” Scripture states clearly that the soul is mortal (subject to death) and only God has immortality (not subject to death).

“Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

Ezekiel 18:4

He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality

1 Timothy 6:15-16

Death is just want it says it is. Some will say that the soul or spirit goes to either hell or heaven, but this is not supported by scripture and is a work-around for the idea of complete death.

Let’s examine the Bible definition of the soul and the Bible definition of death.

In the beginning, Adam became a living soul when he was created.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

If you read this carefully, you can see a formula for the soul:

Dust + God’s breath = living soul

Death is the opposite:

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12: 7

Here is the verse many will cite as the Spirit going back to God. But, a careful study, even of the Greek, will show that this is not a conscious soul, but the breath God gives to bring life.

David the psalmist agrees when he wrote:

You hide Your face, they are troubled;
You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

Psalm 104:29

The writer of Job concurs about the sustaining power of God through His very breath. The breath or spirit belongs to God.

If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.

Job 34: 14-15

So the formula for death is:

Dust – God’s breath (Spirit) = Death (no longer a soul-returns to dust)

When we die the spark of life or the breath of God leaves us and we return to dust:

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:19

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.

Ecclesiastes 3:20

So what is the state of man during this time?

For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecclesiastes 9:5

When we visit the remains of our loved ones, they do not know we are there. They are dead.

His sons come to honor, and he does not know it; They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

Job 14:21

So man is dead not alive when he dies. It is complete death. How can he be anything else? But, there is good news! It is found in the fact that Jesus was resurrected and will give life in the last day to those who chose to believe Him! The Bible is clear that death is like a quick sleep.

If you would like more information on Biblical proof that death is like a sleep until the Lord returns, please see:

Life and Death Confusion (Part 1).

Life and Death Confusion (Part 2).

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Sin and Death-The Bad Seed Grows in our Garden

So, in the beginning it was good, but it turned bad. The bad seed infected the entire human race. This seed has sprouted in many different ways in many different times. War, anger, violence, hatred, deception, lies, infidelity, sexual sins…all had their beginning with Satan and it passed to Adam and Eve and then to our forefathers.

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…

Romans 5:29

How it must have broken the heart of the first parents to discover their first born son, Cain had murdered Abel! The first murder was due to jealousy producing anger and mistrusting the appeal from God. Listen to God attempting to save Cain from his own anger.

Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Genesis 4: 4-8

Cain had the choice to listen to God, resist his urges (rule over it), but chose to listen to his own feelings and the voice of Satan. Cain’s actions are no different than any other person today who becomes angry and ignores the voice of God to “do well” and “rule over it” (sinful urge).

When we were conceived, this seed of sin is passed on to me and you!

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.

Psalm 51:5

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

Romans 3:23

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”

Romans 3: 10-12

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7: 24

There is not one of us, left alone without God, who is righteous, understanding, or a seeker after God. We are useless without God. can we be “delivered from this body of death.” Only through Jesus We can’t even do good without Him.

Can an Ethiopian change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.

Jeremiah 13:23

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Satan’s Plan Foiled

So we are all on death row with a limited time to live. But, wait! God is gracious towards us and makes a way of escape! He sent His Son to live among us (God with us), to give us an example of a life dependent completely on the strength of God the Father. Jesus would also die for our sins and pay the penalty of sin for us! At a point predicted in ancient prophecy, Jesus

“…was cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26).

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

Galatians 1:4

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Philippians 2:8

When Jesus died, he carried the entire weight of sin upon himself and died a death of no hope for us! What great love!

“Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb.”

Desire of Ages, p. 753

He became the perfect sacrifice for our sins and died the death we deserved that we might have life than only He deserved. He was resurrected from death and this resurrection gives us the hope. Our hope is in His return! He promised to return to take us where He is now:

I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also

John 14: 2-3

His reward of eternal life is when He returns and no other time:

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me…”

Revelation 22:12

The resurrection is so important that Paul said, if there is no resurrection of the dead, our faith is useless:

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

1 Corinthians 15: 13-14

Believing in the resurrection takes faith. If we don’t believe it, we cannot claim salvation from death.

….if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

On that great day when Jesus will return, He will raise to life those who died in Christ and those of us alive will rise to meet Him and them in the sky!

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Before that great reunion morning, the salvation of God is saving us from the habits of sin and writing on our hearts His law through Jesus. He is saving us to the uttermost! Saved from the penalty (justification), the power (sanctification), and the presence of sin when He comes (Glorification)

He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 7:25

That is right! We have the power to overcome our sins through the work of mediation Jesus is performing right now in the heavenly sanctuary.

For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us

Hebrews 9:24

Jesus knows that our condition is so bad, that we need to start over through a new birth:

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

John 3: 5-7

The sin seed in us produced carnality and sin and has continued from birth to birth throughout all generatios. But, when Jesus, through the Spirit, comes into our life, we have a new seed planted. This seed produces the opposite of the desire of the flesh.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Romans 8:5

Here are God’s steps in the plan of salvation:

Because of sin our nature is corrupt and we are lost in at least three ways:

We (God’s creation) once had life, but now all of us are subject to death. The tree of life was taken away from us. This very well could be a literal tree that perpetuates life. More on that another time.
We once were in a right relationship with God, but now we are all sinners and our nature is to rebel against Him, disbelieve His words, and disobey His commands (also known as His will for us).
We once walked in the garden with God, but now we are separated from Him physically.

But, the good…no…very good news is that God saves us every way possible! He restores all of the above because He is good and gracious towards his fallen creation! He had a plan before the foundation of the world…before he created us and before sin entered in. This plan would ensure rebellion would never rise again. This plan is revealed to us in scripture:

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1: 20-21

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

1 Corinthians 15: 3-4

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From Scripture we can understand how the plan of salvation works.

God’s Step 1-God’s grace and love is the basis for the plan.

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

Ephesians 2:8

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…

John 3:16

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God’s Step 2-Jesus paid the penalty of sin (death) by dying in our place at the time predicted by the ancient prophets

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Galatians 4:6

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

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God’s Step 3-By faith produced through the word of God and the Spirit of God, we accept this grace and receive salvation

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Ephesian 2:8

God’s grace and the faith He provides for us as a gift does not mean we can disobey God’s law (His will). This is where sin all started! Faith actually does the opposite, it establishes the law in our heart as part of the new covenant.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Romans 3:31

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Hebrews 8:10

Don’t forget, as a follower of Christ, you are of Abraham’s seed, and a spiritual Jew:

And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3:29

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart,

Romans 2:28-29

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Step 4-Jesus provided us an example as a way of life. We are to live (walk) this way by the same way we received Him (faith)

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

Colossians 2:26

To fail to walk by faith is sin.

for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Romans 14:3

Even though we may have received the gift of salvation, we are instructed to “put on the whole armor of God.” This armor covers the Christian from head to toe:

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:11

Why are we commanded to put on the armour if there was not a possibility that Satan could attack us again as in the beginning and deceive us from the security of the Garden of God’s happiness. We must be on guard and find security in the presence of God. Like Eve, we can wander from the security of God’s presence. Eve would have never have been overcome by the enemy’s temptation if she was at the side of the One who walked with them in the cool of the morning.

While it is true that no man shall pluck us from his hand, we must be in his hand and not walking apart from him. Also, this verse does not say anything about the freedom of choice to leave. So, we must be on our guard because as Jesus told a converted Peter:

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Luke 22:31

Satan wanted to make Peter fall and he did….even to the point of cursing God to prove he was not a disciple!

Years later, Peter told the believers to be on guard. He knew that Satan wanted them too…even to the point of devouring them!

Be sober, be vigilant; because^[your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith

1 Peter 5:8

Like a hungry lion, the enemy looks for the weak sheep. Don’t be a weak sheep, stay close to him and grow in the word and fellowship with strong believers.

Step 5: Finally, Jesus will save us from the presence of sin and change us from mortal to immortal when He returns

There is nothing more exciting in the word of God, than when mysteries are revealed. We don’t have to be in doubt about God’s ultimate plan to change us from mortal (subject to death) to immortal (not subject to death). Paul’s word are very clear. All this happens at the last trumpet when Jesus returns:

1 Corinthians 15: 51-5

Here is the clearest passage in the Bible about what happens when Jesus returns:

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope…

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

Conclusion

Let these words sink in and contemplate them closely. It is truth. This all started with the lie of Satan that we would not die. He deceived us and continues to do the same to many today. We all have an appointment with death. But, immortality awaits those who sleep in Christ. We will rejoice and worship with others, who have taken faith in Jesus, on a new earth (paradise restored) when Jesus returns.

Let it be Lord! Let it be soon!

Our hope is in His return and the resurrection.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 66: 22-23

The tree of life was lost in the Garden (It perpetuated eternal life) because of doubt, mistrust, and disobedience to the plain instructions of God. It is returned when Jesus returns and he sets up His eternal kingdom. He gives it to those who have been redeemed by His blood of forgiveness and those who now trust and obey the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Revelation 22:4

I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19: 2-27

Essential Christian Beliefs

28 Fundamental Beliefs-#6 The Spirit

November 20, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

God the eternal Spirit was active with the Father and the Son in Creation, incarnation, and redemption. He is as much a person as are the Father and the Son. He inspired the writers of Scripture. He filled Christ’s life with power. He draws and convicts human beings; and those who respond He renews and transforms into the image of God. Sent by the Father and the Son to be always with His children, He extends spiritual gifts to the church, empowers it to bear witness to Christ, and in harmony with the Scriptures leads it into all truth. (Gen. 1:1, 2; 2 Sam. 23:2; Ps. 51:11; Isa. 61:1; Luke 1:35; 4:18; John 14:16-18, 26; 15:26; 16:7-13; Acts 1:8; 5:3; 10:38; Rom. 5:5; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Peter 1:21.)

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No doubt the topic of the Spirit is a mystery and difficult to understand. A good student of the word knows that some things have been revealed to us very clearly and others have not.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

The Bible, particularly in the writings of Paul, talk of mysteries, but these mysteries are often revealed. Some are revealed only if we search. Other mysteries with explanations are right in front of our face, but we won’t accept them because they cut directly across preconceived ideas or cherished sins. In addition, we know that if we are not on a spiritual plane, we will not understand.

The Spirit

Because of preconceived ideas, the Spirit is visualized by many Christians as a wispy smokey like vapor presence that is only interested in getting people excited and worked up. How often have we translated someone who is happy or loud as “in the spirit.” But, there is much more that is revealed about the Spirit.

1.) The Spirit was present along with God the Father and the Son at creation and participated in the creation of man. We are made in their image!

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters…And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 1:1, 26

2.) The Spirit works and communicates on another dimension called inspiration.

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

2 Samuel 23:2

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.

2 Peter 1:21

3.) It was prophesied that The Spirit would anoint Jesus and direct His ministry.

The Prophecy:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isaiah 61: 1

Fulfillment:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book (Isaiah), and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

Luke 4: 18-21

4.) The Spirit was present at Jesus’ baptism (along with the Father) and was seen in the form of a dove:

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him

Luke 3:21

5.) The Spirit provides help and comfort on a spiritual plane while Jesus is physically not present:

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter) , that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:16-18

6.) God the Father was with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is how God is with us today!

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Acts 10:38

7.) It is the work of the Spirit to direct people in the pursuit of truth. He points people to the truth by whatever He hears from the Father and Jesus.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:13

8.) The Spirit’s primary job is to bring conviction upon every person regarding sin and point the fallen to Jesus as the way to eternal life:

I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

John 16:8

But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

John 15:26

9.) The Spirit prepared the disciples for a world mission and gave them power.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

10.) The gift of the Spirit is given to those who ask for it! We don’t receive because we don’t ask!

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13

11.) The Holy Spirit is given to those who repent and are baptized.

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38

12.) After baptism (public display of intent to walk with Jesus), the Spirit gives to the born again believer different gifts to profit all who are in the church.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues (languages), to another the interpretation of tongues (languages). But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

1 Corinthians 12: 7-11

Please notice that the gift of the Spirit is not something you work towards or train yourself to possess, it is given to you by the will of God. It is also given to both sexes. It is not limited to men only.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3: 26-28

13.) The Spirit gives wisdom and insight that is not understood by those without this gift:

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)

14.) It is the work of the Holy Spirit to give the repentant sinner a new heart and new life different from the carnal life.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3: 6-8

15.) God the Father will gladly give the Holy Spirit to those who ask:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

Luke 11:13

16.) Once you have the Spirit, you have the choice to either live by the Spirit by the carnal thinking of the world. If you choose to live by the Spirit, you will have life and peace:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:5-6

17.) Once the Spirit comes into a repentant sinners life, they will produce fruits of the Spirit. These are life qualities different from the fruits produced by a carnal person:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22

It is by these fruits that demonstrate the rebirth experience:

18.) The Spirit separates the true follower from the false:

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:17-20

19.) It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction upon the heart of the sinner regarding sin, unbelief, judgement , and draw them to Jesus for salvation from eternal death and the sins that entangle a person’s life.

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

John 16:8

20.) With the Spirit of God, the follower of Jesus will been born again and will receive eternal life.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God..” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3: 3,5

21.) Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

“And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

Luke 12: 10

Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is the only unpardonable sin because it is continuous. This ongoing persistent turning away from the prompting of the Holy Spirit leads to a scar on the heart where there are no longer any feelings or response possible. For many years, this person turns off the Spirit and turns on to the pleasures of this world. They enjoy a short life of sin rather than eternal life offered from Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Paul said, it this way.

“….having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”

1 Timothy 4:2

Today, if you feel the pull of the Spirit drawing you to make a decision, surrender to God and you will find Jesus and the Spirit in your life giving you conviction, repentance, direction, power, and peace. Won’t you do it today?

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Conclusion on the Trinity

For the last several weeks, we have been letting God’s word tell us about the Trinity. From the scripture, we see the Spirit as God, along with the Father and the Son. All three participated in the creation of the universe and of all life including you and me!

All three are active in bringing back mankind from the loss of eternal life and giving them what was meant for their creation: Life, joy, and growth instead of demise.

Wisdom and spirituality can only come as a gift from the Father who is full of grace. But, He has also has set up laws to protect us from walking down a path that will lead to destruction. This wisdom is found in Jesus and the Spirit draws people to Jesus and gives them a new life in Him.

The Saviour said, “Except a man be born from above,” unless he shall receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a new life, “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3, margin. The idea that it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man by nature, is a fatal deception. “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.” “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:7. Of Christ it is written, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men”–the only “name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” John 1:4; Acts 4:12.

Steps To Christ, page 18, 19

Essential Christian Beliefs

Fundamental Chrisitian Beliefs #5-The Son

November 9, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Colossians 2: 9,10

We have been talking about the Trinity or the Godhead as Paul describes Them in his letter to the Colossians. Paul states it plainly: In Jesus, we see The Father, The Son, and The Spirit in bodily form.

If one reads and studies the Bible carefully, they will see The Son, Jesus Christ from Genesis to Revelation. He is in the Old Testament as well as the new.

The Jews of old anticipated the coming of the Messiah for thousands of years. Time and tradition had perverted the identifying features and mission of the Messiah so that when He appeared, they knew him not.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

John 1:10

How could the priests and the people of Jesus’ time miss that Jesus was the Christ…the long awaited Messiah? At the end of Jesus’ ministry, He gave Bible studies to the disciples on at least two occasions to explain what they had all missed in the Scriptures concerning Himself. Let’s take a look:

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:27

In this narrative, Jesus is talking with two discouraged disciples on their way to Emmaus after the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a wonderful story of how they listened to Jesus (whom they did not recognize) for almost 3 hours as they walked on a dusty road between sorrow and life changing light.

Scripture tells us that Jesus started at “Moses.” Moses is the Torah or the first five books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. From these 5 books, he pointed out “Himself.” Then he moved to the prophets. There are 4 major prophets of the Old Testament, aka as Tanakh or the present-day Hebrew Bible. The major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel . Just image as Jesus described himself from these books! We will look at just a few in our study.

Then there are the minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

What a Bible Study! Jesus teaching these two disciples for almost 3 hours about Himself from all these 20 books of the Bible. But wait, there is more!

Later that day, at evening, He surprised the other disciples (minus Thomas) while they were gathered and hidden away on the first day of the week for “fear of the Jews.” They had the same sorrow and fear as the two on the way to Emmaus! They were not gathered to worship, but to fear and lick their wounds! Let’s look at the account:

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

John 20:19

Luke adds detail to what happen next:

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.

Luke 24: 44

Not only did he teach them about all the things that must be fulfilled about him from the books of Moses; the major and minor prophets, but also the psalms. The Psalms are not just the book of Psalm, but the poetic books of the Tanakh! These include Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon!

What a Bible study that must have been! He disclosed himself in the entire Old Testament Bible! The New Testament had not been written, but all through the entire Tanakh or what we know as the Old Testament Jesus was revealed! Have you seen Him there? You find Him when you search for Him and with all your heart!

“The burden of Christ’s preaching was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Thus the gospel message, as given by the Saviour Himself, was based on the prophecies. The “time” which He declared to be fulfilled was the period made known by the angel Gabriel to Daniel. “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.” Dan. 9:24.

Desire of Ages p. 233

(For more on the time prophecy of Jesus appearance on the scene as the Messiah see Part 3 Second Coming Predictions (7 Years of Tribulation?)

(At the end of this study is a chart showing 351 of the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus.)

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It is true, even today, that many religious people miss seeing Jesus in the Old Testament. Some have gone so far as to say that these wonderful books about Jesus have been “done away with.” Some churches boast they are a “New Testament” church. They are limiting themselves in their knowledge of Jesus to 1/3 of the Bible! Paul told young Timothy that ALL of the scripture is good for the believer to follow:

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: 16-17

If our experience is based only on 1/3 of the Bible, we might have only 1/3 of the knowledge for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. More important we may only know 1/3 of what we can know about Jesus!

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Summary:

The Son God the eternal Son became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Through Him all things were created, the character of God is revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. Forever truly God, He became also truly human, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived and experienced temptation as a human being, but perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested God’s power and was attested as God’s promised Messiah. He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead, and ascended to heaven to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf. He will come again in glory for the final deliverance of His people and the restoration of all things.

(Isa. 53:4-6; Dan. 9:25-27; Luke 1:35; John 1:1-3, 14; 5:22; 10:30; 14:1-3, 9, 13; Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; 2 Cor. 3:18; 5:17-19; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-19; Heb. 2: 9; 8:1-2.)

Jesus is the Messiah and can be proved from the Old Testament.

Prophecy	Description	Fulfillment
1. Gen 3:15	Seed of a woman (virgin birth)	Gal 4:4-5; Matt 1:18
2. Gen 3:15	He will bruise Satan’s head	Heb 2:14; 1 John 3:8
3. Gen 5:24	The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated	Mark 16:19
4. Gen 9:26-27	The God of Shem will be the Son of Shem	Luke 3:36
5. Gen 12:3	Seed of Abraham will bless all nations	Gal 3:8; Acts 3:25-26
6. Gen 12:7	The Promise made to Abraham’s Seed	Gal 3:16
7. Gen 14:18	A priest after the order of Melchizedek	Heb 6:20
8. Gen 14:18	King of Peace and Righteousness	Heb 7:2
9. Gen 14:18	The Last Supper foreshadowed	Matt 26:26-29
10. Gen 17:19	Seed of Isaac (Gen 21:12)	Rom 9:7
11. Gen 22:8	The Lamb of God promised	John 1:29
12. Gen 22:18	As Isaac’s seed, will bless all nations	Gal 3:16
13. Gen 26:2-5	The Seed of Isaac promised as the Redeemer	Heb 11:18
14. Gen 28:12	The Bridge to heaven	John 1:51
15. Gen 28:14	The Seed of Jacob	Luke 3:34
16. Gen 49:10	The time of His coming	Luke 2:1-7; Gal 4:4
17. Gen 49:10	The Seed of Judah	Luke 3:33
18. Gen 49:10	Called Shiloh or One Sent	John 17:3
19. Gen 49:10	Messiah to come before Judah lost identity	John 11:47-52
20. Gen 49:10	Unto Him shall the obedience of the people be	John 10:16
21. Ex 3:13-15	The Great “I AM”	John 4:26; 8:58
22. Ex 12:5	A Lamb without blemish	Heb 9:14; 1 Pet 1:19
23. Ex 12:13	The blood of the Lamb saves from wrath	Rom 5:8
24. Ex 12:21-27	Christ is our Passover	1 Cor 5:7
25. Ex 12:46	Not a bone of the Lamb to be broken	John 19:31-36
26. Ex 15:2	His exaltation predicted as Yeshua	Acts 7:55-56
27. Ex 15:11	His Character-Holiness	Luke 1:35; Acts 4:27
28. Ex 17:6	The Spiritual Rock of Israel	1 Cor 10:4
29. Ex 33:19	His Character-Merciful	Luke 1:72
30. Lev 1:2-9	His sacrifice a sweet smelling savor unto God	Eph 5:2
31. Lev 14:11	The leper cleansed-Sign to priesthood	Luke 5:12-14; Acts 6:7
32. Lev 16:15-17	Prefigures Christ’s once-for-all death	Heb 9:7-14
33. Lev 16:27	Suffering outside the Camp	Matt 27:33; Heb. 13:11-12
34. Lev 17:11	The Blood-the life of the flesh	Matt 26:28; Mark 10:45
35. Lev 17:11	It is the blood that makes atonement	Rom. 3:23-24; 1 John 1:7
36. Lev 23:36-37	The Drink-offering: “If any man thirst”	John 7:37
37. Num 9:12	Not a bone of Him broken	John 19:31-36
38. Num 21:9	The serpent on a pole-Christ lifted up	John 3:14-18; 12:32
39. Num 24:17	Time: “I shall see him, but not now.”	John 1:14; Gal 4:4
40. Deut 18:15	“This is of a truth that prophet”	John 6:14
41. Deut 18:15-16	“Had you believed Moses, you would believe me.”	John 5:45-47
42. Deut 18:18	Sent by the Father to speak His word	John 8:28-29
43. Deut 18:19	Whoever will not hear must bear his sin	Acts 3:22-23
44. Deut 21:23	Cursed is he that hangs on a tree	Gal 3:10-13
45. Joshua 5:14-15	The Captain of our salvation	Heb 2:10
46. Ruth 4:4-10	Christ, our kinsman, has redeemed us	Eph 1:3-7
47. 1 Sam 2:35	A Faithful Priest	Heb. 2:17; 3:1-3, 6; 7:24-25
48. 1 Sam 2:10	Shall be an anointed King to the Lord	Matt 28:18; John 12:15
49. 2 Sam 7:12	David’s Seed	Matt 1:1
50. 2 Sam 7:13	His Kingdom is everlasting	2 Pet 1:11
51. 2 Sam 7:14a	The Son of God	Luke 1:32; Rom 1:3-4
52. 2 Sam 7:16	David’s house established forever	Luke 3:31; Rev 22:16
53. 2 Ki 2:11	The bodily ascension to heaven illustrated	Luke 24:51
54. 1 Chr 17:11	David’s Seed	Matt 1:1; 9:27
55. 1 Chr 17:12-13	To reign on David’s throne forever	Luke 1:32-33
56. 1 Chr 17:13	“I will be His Father, He…my Son.”	Heb 1:5
57. Job 9:32-33	Mediator between man and God	1 Tim 2:5
58. Job 19:23-27	The Resurrection predicted	John 5:24-29
59. Psa 2:1-3	The enmity of kings foreordained	Acts 4:25-28
60. Psa 2:2	To own the title, Anointed (Christ)	John 1:41; Acts 2:36
61. Psa 2:6	His Character-Holiness	John 8:46; Rev 3:7
62. Psa 2:6	To own the title King	Matt 2:2
63. Psa 2:7	Declared the Beloved Son	Matt 3:17; Rom 1:4
64. Psa 2:7-8	The Crucifixion and Resurrection intimated	Acts 13:29-33
65. Psa 2:8-9	Rule the nations with a rod of iron	Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15
66. Psa 2:12	Life comes through faith in Him	John 20:31
67. Psa 8:2	The mouths of babes perfect His praise	Matt 21:16
68. Psa 8:5-6	His humiliation and exaltation	Heb 2:5-9
69. Psa 9:7-10	Judge the world in righteousness	Acts 17:31
70. Psa 16:10	Was not to see corruption	Acts 2:31; 13:35
71. Psa 16:9-11	Was to arise from the dead	John 20:9
72. Psa 17:15	The resurrection predicted	Luke 24:6
73. Psa 18:2-3	The horn of salvation	Luke 1:69-71
74. Psa 22:1	Forsaken because of sins of others	2 Cor 5:21
75. Psa 22:1	“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?”	Matt 27:46
76. Psa 22:2	Darkness upon Calvary for three hours	Matt 27:45
77. Psa 22:7	They shoot out the lip and shake the head	Matt 27:39-44
78. Psa 22:8	“He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him”	Matt 27:43
79. Psa 22:9-10	Born the Savior	Luke 2:7
80. Psa 22:12-13	They seek His death	John 19:6
81. Psa 22:14	His blood poured out when they pierced His side	John 19:34
82. Psa 22:14-15	Suffered agony on Calvary	Mark 15:34-37
83. Psa 22:15	He thirsted	John 19:28
84. Psa 22:16	They pierced His hands and His feet	John 19:34-37; 20:27
85. Psa 22:17-18	Stripped Him before the stares of men	Luke 23:34-35
86. Psa 22:18	They parted His garments	John 19:23-24
87. Psa 22:20-21	He committed Himself to God	Luke 23:46
88. Psa 22:20-21	Satanic power bruising the Redeemer’s heel	Heb 2:14
89. Psa 22:22	His Resurrection declared	John 20:17
90. Psa 22:27-28	He shall be the governor of the nations	Col 1:16
91. Psa 22:31	“It is finished”	John 19:30; Heb 10:10-12, 14, 18
92. Psa 23:1	“I am the Good Shepherd”	John 10:11; 1 Pet 2:25
93. Psa 24:3	His exaltation predicted	Acts 1:11; Phil 2:9
94. Psa 30:3	His resurrection predicted	Acts 2:32
95. Psa 31:5	“Into Your hands I commit my spirit”	Luke 23:46
96. Psa 31:11	His acquaintances fled from Him	Mark 14:50
97. Psa 31:13	They took counsel to put Him to death	Matt 27:1; John 11:53
98. Psa 31:14-15	“He trusted in God, let Him deliver him”	Matt 27:43
99. Psa 34:20	Not a bone of Him broken	John 19:31-36
100. Psa 35:11	False witnesses rose up against Him	Matt 26:59
101. Psa 35:19	He was hated without a cause	John 15:25
102. Psa 38:11	His friends stood afar off	Luke 23:49
103. Psa 38:12	Enemies try to entangle Him by craft	Mark 14:1; Matt 22:15
104. Psa 38:12-13	Silent before His accusers	Matt 27:12-14
105. Psa 38:20	He went about doing good	Acts 10:38
106. Psa 40:2-5	The joy of His resurrection predicted	John 20:20
107. Psa 40:6-8	His delight-the will of the Father	John 4:34; Heb 10:5-10
108. Psa 40:9	He was to preach the Righteousness in Israel	Matt 4:17
109. Psa 40:14	Confronted by adversaries in the Garden	John 18:4-6
110. Psa 41:9	Betrayed by a familiar friend	John 13:18
111. Psa 45:2	Words of Grace come from His lips	John 1:17; Luke 4:22
112. Psa 45:6	To own the title, God or Elohim	Heb 1:8
113. Psa 45:7	A special anointing by the Holy Spirit	Matt 3:16; Heb. 1:9
114. Psa 45:7-8	Called the Christ (Messiah or Anointed)	Luke 2:11
115. Psa 45:17	His name remembered forever	Eph 1:20-21; Heb. 1:8
116. Psa 55:12-14	Betrayed by a friend, not an enemy	John 13:18
117. Psa 55:15	Unrepentant death of the Betrayer	Matt 27:3-5; Acts 1:16-19
118. Psa 68:18	To give gifts to men	Eph 4:7-16
119. Psa 68:18	Ascended into Heaven	Luke 24:51
120. Psa 69:4	Hated without a cause	John 15:25
121. Psa 69:8	A stranger to own brethren	John 1:11; 7:5
122. Psa 69:9	Zealous for the Lord’s House	John 2:17
123. Psa 69:14-20	Messiah’s anguish of soul before crucifixion	Matt 26:36-45
124. Psa 69:20	“My soul is exceeding sorrowful”	Matt 26:38
125. Psa 69:21	Given vinegar in thirst	Matt 27:34
126. Psa 69:26	The Savior given and smitten by God	John 17:4; 18:11
127. Psa 72:10-11	Great persons were to visit Him	Matt 2:1-11
128. Psa 72:16	The corn of wheat to fall into the Ground	John 12:24-25
129. Psa 72:17	Belief on His name will produce offspring	John 1:12-13
130. Psa 72:17	All nations shall be blessed by Him	Gal 3:8
131. Psa 72:17	All nations shall call Him blessed	John 12:13; Rev 5:8-12
132. Psa 78:1-2	He would teach in parables	Matt 13:34-35
133. Psa 78:2b	To speak the Wisdom of God with authority	Matt 7:29
134. Psa 80:17	The Man of God’s right hand	Mark 14:61-62
135. Psa 88	The Suffering and Reproach of Calvary	Matt 27:26-50
136. Psa 88:8	They stood afar off and watched	Luke 23:49
137. Psa 89:27	Firstborn	Col 1:15-18
138. Psa 89:27	Emmanuel to be higher than earthly kings	Luke 1:32-33
139. Psa 89:35-37	David’s Seed, throne, kingdom endure forever	Luke 1:32-33
140. Psa 89:36-37	His character-Faithfulness	Rev 1:5; 19:11
141. Psa 90:2	He is from everlasting (Micah 5:2)	John 1:1
142. Psa 91:11-12	Identified as Messianic, used to tempt Christ	Luke 4:10-11
143. Psa 97:9	His exaltation predicted	Acts 1:11; Eph 1:20
144. Psa 100:5	His character-Goodness	Matt 19:16-17
145. Psa 102:1-11	The Suffering and Reproach of Calvary	John 19:16-30
146. Psa 102:25-27	Messiah is the Preexistent Son	Heb 1:10-12
147. Psa 109:25	Ridiculed	Matt 27:39
148. Psa 110:1	Son of David	Matt 22:42-43
149. Psa 110:1	To ascend to the right-hand of the Father	Mark 16:19
150. Psa 110:1	David’s son called Lord	Matt 22:44-45
151. Psa 110:4	A priest after Melchizedek’s order	Heb 6:20
152. Psa 112:4	His character-Compassionate, Gracious, et al	Matt 9:36
153. Psa 118:17-18	Messiah’s Resurrection assured	Luke 24:5-7; 1 Cor 15:20
154. Psa 118:22-23	The rejected stone is Head of the corner	Matt 21:42-43
155. Psa 118:26a	The Blessed One presented to Israel	Matt 21:9
156. Psa 118:26b	To come while Temple standing	Matt 21:12-15
157. Psa 132:11	The Seed of David (the fruit of His Body)	Luke 1:32; Act 2:30
158. Psa 129:3	He was scourged	Matt 27:26
159. Psa 138:1-6	The supremacy of David’s Seed amazes kings	Matt 2:2-6
160. Psa 147:3-6	The earthly ministry of Christ described	Luke 4:18
161. Prov 1:23	He will send the Spirit of God	John 16:7
162. Prov 8:23	Foreordained from everlasting	Rev 13:8; 1 Pet 1:19-20
163. Song 5:16	The altogether lovely One	John 1:17
164. Isa 2:3	He shall teach all nations	John 4:25
165. Isa 2:4	He shall judge among the nations	John 5:22
166. Isa 6:1	When Isaiah saw His glory	John 12:40-41
167. Isa 6:8	The One Sent by God	John 12:38-45
168. Isa 6:9-10	Parables fall on deaf ears	Matt 13:13-15
169. Isa 6:9-12	Blinded to Christ and deaf to His words	Acts 28:23-29
170. Isa 7:14	To be born of a virgin	Luke 1:35
171. Isa 7:14	To be Emmanuel-God with us	Matt 1:18-23; 1 Tim 3:16
172. Isa 8:8	Called Emmanuel	Matt 28:20
173. Isa 8:14	A stone of stumbling, a Rock of offense	1 Pet 2:8
174. Isa 9:1-2	His ministry to begin in Galilee	Matt 4:12-17
175. Isa 9:6	A child born-Humanity	Luke 1:31
176. Isa 9:6	A Son given-Deity	Luke 1:32; John 1:14; 1 Tim 3:16
177. Isa 9:6	Declared to be the Son of God with power	Rom 1:3-4
178. Isa 9:6	The Wonderful One, Peleh	Luke 4:22
179. Isa 9:6	The Counselor, Yaatz	Matt 13:54
180. Isa 9:6	The Mighty God, El Gibor	1 Cor 1:24; Titus 2:3
181. Isa 9:6	The Everlasting Father, Avi Adth	John 8:58; 10:30
182. Isa 9:6	The Prince of Peace, Sar Shalom	John 16:33
183. Isa 9:7	To establish an everlasting kingdom	Luke 1:32-33
184. Isa 9:7	His Character-Just	John 5:30
185. Isa 9:7	No end to his Government, Throne, and Peace	Luke 1:32-33
186. Isa 11:1	Called a Nazarene-the Branch, Netzer	Matt 2:23
187. Isa 11:1	A rod out of Jesse-Son of Jesse	Luke 3:23-32
188. Isa 11:2	Anointed One by the Spirit	Matt 3:16-17; Acts 10:38
189. Isa 11:2	His Character-Wisdom, Knowledge, et al	Col 2:3
190. Isa 11:3	He would know their thoughts	Luke 6:8; John 2:25
191. Isa 11:4	Judge in righteousness	Acts 17:31
192. Isa 11:4	Judges with the sword of His mouth	Rev 2:16; 19:11, 15
193. Isa 11:5	Character: Righteous & Faithful	Rev 19:11
194. Isa 11:10	The Gentiles seek Him	John 12:18-21
195. Isa 12:2	Called Jesus-Yeshua	Matt 1:21
196. Isa 22:22	The One given all authority to govern	Rev 3:7
197. Isa 25:8	The Resurrection predicted	1 Cor 15:54
198. Isa 26:19	His power of Resurrection predicted	Matt 27:50-54
199. Isa 28:16	The Messiah is the precious corner stone	Acts 4:11-12
200. Isa 28:16	The Sure Foundation	1 Cor 3:11; Matt 16:18
201. Isa 29:13	He indicated hypocritical obedience to His Word	Matt 15:7-9
202. Isa 29:14	The wise are confounded by the Word	1 Cor 1:18-31
203. Isa 32:2	A Refuge-A man shall be a hiding place	Matt 23:37
204. Isa 35:4	He will come and save you	Matt 1:21
205. Isa 35:5-6	To have a ministry of miracles	Matt 11:2-6
206. Isa 40:3-4	Preceded by forerunner	John 1:23
207. Isa 40:9	“Behold your God”	John 1:36; 19:14
208. Isa 40:10	He will come to reward	Rev 22:12
209. Isa 40:11	A shepherd-compassionate life-giver	John 10:10-18
210. Isa 42:1-4	The Servant-as a faithful, patient redeemer	Matt 12:18-21
211. Isa 42:2	Meek and lowly	Matt 11:28-30
212. Isa 42:3	He brings hope for the hopeless	John 4
213. Isa 42:4	The nations shall wait on His teachings	John 12:20-26
214. Isa 42:6	The Light (salvation) of the Gentiles	Luke 2:32
215. Isa 42:1-6	His is a worldwide compassion	Matt 28:19-20
216. Isa 42:7	Blind eyes opened	John 9:25-38
217. Isa 43:11	He is the only Savior	Acts 4:12
218. Isa 44:3	He will send the Spirit of God	John 16:7-13
219. Isa 45:21-25	He is Lord and Savior	Phil 3:20; Titus 2:13
220. Isa 45:23	He will be the Judge	John 5:22; Rom 14:11
221. Isa 46:9-10	Declares things not yet done	John 13:19
222. Isa 48:12	The First and the Last	John 1:30; Rev 1:8, 17
223. Isa 48:16-17	He came as a Teacher	John 3:2
224. Isa 49:1	Called from the womb-His humanity	Matt 1:18
225. Isa 49:5	A Servant from the womb	Luke 1:31; Phil 2:7
226. Isa 49:6	He will restore Israel	Acts 3:19-21; 15:16-17
227. Isa 49:6	He is Salvation for Israel	Luke 2:29-32
228. Isa 49:6	He is the Light of the Gentiles	John 8:12; Acts 13:47
229. Isa 49:6	He is Salvation unto the ends of the earth	Acts 15:7-18
230. Isa 49:7	He is despised of the Nation	John 1:11; 8:48-49; 19:14-15
231. Isa 50:3	Heaven is clothed in black at His humiliation	Luke 23:44-45
232. Isa 50:4	He is a learned counselor for the weary	Matt 7:29; 11:28-29
233. Isa 50:5	The Servant bound willingly to obedience	Matt 26:39
234. Isa 50:6a	“I gave my back to those who struck Me”	Matt 27:26
235. Isa 50:6b	He was smitten on the cheeks	Matt 26:67
236. Isa 50:6c	He was spat upon	Matt 27:30
237. Isa 52:7	Published good tidings upon mountains	Matt 5:12; 15:29; 28:16
238. Isa 52:13	The Servant exalted	Acts 1:8-11; Eph 1:19-22; Phil 2:5-9
239. Isa 52:14	The Servant shockingly abused	Luke 18:31-34; Matt 26:67-68
240. Isa 52:15	Nations startled by message of the Servant	Luke 18:31-34; Matt 26:67-68
241. Isa 52:15	His blood shed sprinkles nations	Heb 9:13-14; Rev 1:5
242. Isa 53:1	His people would not believe Him	John 12:37-38
243. Isa 53:2	Appearance of an ordinary man	Phil 2:6-8
244. Isa 53:3a	Despised	Luke 4:28-29
245. Isa 53:3b	Rejected	Matt 27:21-23
246. Isa 53:3c	Great sorrow and grief	Matt 26:37-38; Luke 19:41; Heb 4:15
247. Isa 53:3d	Men hide from being associated with Him	Mark 14:50-52
248. Isa 53:4a	He would have a healing ministry	Matt 8:16-17
249. Isa 53:4b	Thought to be cursed by God	Matt 26:66; 27:41-43
250. Isa 53:5a	Bears penalty for mankind’s iniquities	2 Cor 5:21; Heb 2:9
251. Isa 53:5b	His sacrifice provides peace between man and God	Col 1:20
252. Isa 53:5c	His sacrifice would heal man of sin	1 Pet 2:24
253. Isa 53:6a	He would be the sin-bearer for all mankind	1 John 2:2; 4:10
254. Isa 53:6b	God’s will that He bear sin for all mankind	Gal 1:4
255. Isa 53:7a	Oppressed and afflicted	Matt 27:27-31
256. Isa 53:7b	Silent before his accusers	Matt 27:12-14
257. Isa 53:7c	Sacrificial lamb	John 1:29; 1 Pet 1:18-19
258. Isa 53:8a	Confined and persecuted	Matt 26:47-27:31
259. Isa 53:8b	He would be judged	John 18:13-22
260. Isa 53:8c	Killed	Matt 27:35
261. Isa 53:8d	Dies for the sins of the world	1 John 2:2
262. Isa 53:9a	Buried in a rich man’s grave	Matt 27:57
263. Isa 53:9b	Innocent and had done no violence	Luke 23:41; John 18:38
264. Isa 53:9c	No deceit in his mouth	1 Pet 2:22
265. Isa 53:10a	God’s will that He die for mankind	John 18:11
266. Isa 53:10b	An offering for sin	Matt 20:28; Gal 3:13
267. Isa 53:10c	Resurrected and live forever	Rom 6:9
268. Isa 53:10d	He would prosper	John 17:1-5
269. Isa 53:11a	God fully satisfied with His suffering	John 12:27
270. Isa 53:11b	God’s servant would justify man	Rom 5:8-9, 18-19
271. Isa 53:11c	The sin-bearer for all mankind	Heb 9:28
272. Isa 53:12a	Exalted by God because of his sacrifice	Matt 28:18
273. Isa 53:12b	He would give up his life to save mankind	Luke 23:46
274. Isa 53:12c	Numbered with the transgressors	Mark 15:27-28
275. Isa 53:12d	Sin-bearer for all mankind	1 Pet 2:24
276. Isa 53:12e	Intercede to God in behalf of mankind	Luke 23:34; Rom 8:34
277. Isa 55:3	Resurrected by God	Acts 13:34
278. Isa 55:4a	A witness	John 18:37
279. Isa 55:4b	He is a leader and commander	Heb 2:10
280. Isa 55:5	God would glorify Him	Acts 3:13
281. Isa 59:16a	Intercessor between man and God	Matt 10:32
282. Isa 59:16b	He would come to provide salvation	John 6:40
283. Isa 59:20	He would come to Zion as their Redeemer	Luke 2:38
284. Isa 60:1-3	He would show light to the Gentiles	Acts 26:23
285. Isa 61:1a	The Spirit of God upon him	Matt 3:16-17
286. Isa 61:1b	The Messiah would preach the good news	Luke 4:16-21
287. Isa 61:1c	Provide freedom from the bondage of sin	John 8:31-36
288. Isa 61:1-2a	Proclaim a period of grace	Gal 4:4-5
289. Jer 23:5-6	Descendant of David	Luke 3:23-31
290. Jer 23:5-6	The Messiah would be both God and Man	John 13:13; 1 Tim 3:16
291. Jer 31:22	Born of a virgin	Matt 1:18-20
292. Jer 31:31	The Messiah would be the new covenant	Matt 26:28
293. Jer 33:14-15	Descendant of David	Luke 3:23-31
294. Ezek 34:23-24	Descendant of David	Matt 1:1
295. Ezek 37:24-25	Descendant of David	Luke 1:31-33
296. Dan 2:44-45	The Stone that shall break the kingdoms	Matt 21:44
297. Dan 7:13-14a	He would ascend into heaven	Acts 1:9-11
298. Dan 7:13-14b	Highly exalted	Eph 1:20-22
299. Dan 7:13-14c	His dominion would be everlasting	Luke 1:31-33
300. Dan 9:24a	To make an end to sins	Gal 1:3-5
301. Dan 9:24a	To make reconciliation for iniquity	Rom 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18-21
302. Dan 9:24b	He would be holy	Luke 1:35
303. Dan 9:25	His announcement	John 12:12-13
304. Dan 9:26a	Cut off	Matt 16:21; 21:38-39
305. Dan 9:26b	Die for the sins of the world	Heb 2:9
306. Dan 9:26c	Killed before the destruction of the temple	Matt 27:50-51
307. Dan 10:5-6	Messiah in a glorified state	Rev 1:13-16
308. Hos 11:1	He would be called out of Egypt	Matt 2:15
309. Hos 13:14	He would defeat death	1 Cor 15:55-57
310. Joel 2:32	Offer salvation to all mankind	Rom 10:9-13
311. Jonah 1:17	Death and resurrection of Christ	Matt 12:40; 16:4
312. Mic 5:2a	Born in Bethlehem	Matt 2:1-6
313. Mic 5:2b	Ruler in Israel	Luke 1:33
314. Mic 5:2c	From everlasting	John 8:58
315. Hag 2:6-9	He would visit the second Temple	Luke 2:27-32
316. Hag 2:23	Descendant of Zerubbabel	Luke 2:27-32
317. Zech 3:8	God’s servant	John 17:4
318. Zech 6:12-13	Priest and King	Heb 8:1
319. Zech 9:9a	Greeted with rejoicing in Jerusalem	Matt 21:8-10
320. Zech 9:9b	Beheld as King	John 12:12-13
321. Zech 9:9c	The Messiah would be just	John 5:30
322. Zech 9:9d	The Messiah would bring salvation	Luke 19:10
323. Zech 9:9e	The Messiah would be humble	Matt 11:29
324. Zech 9:9f	Presented to Jerusalem riding on a donkey	Matt 21:6-9
325. Zech 10:4	The cornerstone	Eph 2:20
326. Zech 11:4-6a	At His coming, Israel to have unfit leaders	Matt 23:1-4
327. Zech 11:4-6b	Rejection causes God to remove His protection	Luke 19:41-44
328. Zech 11:4-6c	Rejected in favor of another king	John 19:13-15
329. Zech 11:7	Ministry to “poor,” the believing remnant	Matt 9:35-36
330. Zech 11:8a	Unbelief forces Messiah to reject them	Matt 23:33
331. Zech 11:8b	Despised	Matt 27:20
332. Zech 11:9	Stops ministering to those who rejected Him	Matt 13:10-11
333. Zech 11:10-11a	Rejection causes God to remove protection	Luke 19:41-44
334. Zech 11:10-11b	The Messiah would be God	John 14:7
335. Zech 11:12-13a	Betrayed for thirty pieces of silver	Matt 26:14-15
336. Zech 11:12-13b	Rejected	Matt 26:14-15
337. Zech 11:12-13c	Thirty pieces of silver cast in the house of the Lord	Matt 27:3-5
338. Zech 11:12-13d	The Messiah would be God	John 12:45
339. Zech 12:10a	The Messiah’s body would be pierced	John 19:34-37
340. Zech 12:10b	The Messiah would be both God and man	John 10:30
341. Zech 12:10c	The Messiah would be rejected	John 1:11
342. Zech 13:7a	God’s will He die for mankind	John 18:11
343. Zech 13:7b	A violent death	Mark 14:27
344. Zech 13:7c	Both God and man	John 14:9
345. Zech 13:7d	Israel scattered as a result of rejecting Him	Matt 26:31-56
346. Zech 14:4	He would return to the Mt. of Olives	Acts 1:11-12
347. Mal 3:1a	Messenger to prepare the way for Messiah	Mark 1:1-8
348. Mal 3:1b	Sudden appearance at the temple	Mark 11:15-16
349. Mal 3:1c	Messenger of the new covenant	Luke 4:43
350. Mal 4:5	Forerunner in spirit of Elijah	Matt 3:1-3; 11:10-14; 17:11-13
351. Mal 4:6	Forerunner would turn many to righteousness	Luke 1:16-17

Essential Christian Beliefs

28 Fundamental Christian Beliefs-#4 The Father

October 18, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

God the eternal Father is the Creator, Source, Sustainer, and Sovereign of all creation. He is just and holy, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The qualities and powers exhibited in the Son and the Holy Spirit are also those of the Father.

(Gen. 1:1; Deut. 4:35; Ps. 110:1, 4; John 3:16; 14:9; 1 Cor. 15:28; 1 Tim. 1:17; 1 John 4:8; Rev. 4:11.)

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The Jews of old wanted to kill Jesus because his actions seemed to cut across their long-held beliefs about God the Father and their traditions.

For example, He healed a man lame for 38 years on the Sabbath. He told him to take his bed and walk.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

John 5:10

The Jews were more interested in being religious and making up rules that God never intended. They were the Sabbath police. It had become their duty to enforce it to the letter. But, through this healing on the Sabbath, Jesus demonstrated it was made to be a blessing for mankind, but the religious dealers had turned it into a day of “do’s” and “don’ts” whereby the rules could be used as a basis for the priests to measure the “sin” of those they wanted to control.

But, the Creator of the Sabbath was in their midst and they knew Him not. Jesus attempted to clarify the purpose of the Sabbath by saying,

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2: 27, 28

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Jesus spent much of His short life undoing the damage religious people had done. His main work was about revealing the true character of the Father, which no man had ever seen physically nor had they seen the Father by example. This was Jesus’ mission to declare the Father.

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

John 1:18

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:17

Although the Father is “invisible,” Jesus came not only to die for our sins, but to reveal the true God, for He said to a curious disciple named Phillip,

“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’”?

John 14:9

Understanding and knowing God the Father is critical in the plan of salvation. Jesus expressed this in His prayer to the Father when he said,

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

It is equally important to understand God the Father AND Jesus in order to have eternal life. It is not always what you know as much as Who you know! Otherwise, only the highly educated Theologians would have eternal life. God made the playing field level by giving the opportunity to “know Him” through a personal one-on-one experience regardless of position in life. Many do not know Him, because they do not search for Him.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Many don’t find because they don’t search with all their heart. It is not a casual search, but one with effort.

During the time of Christ, the character of the Father had been maligned, both by word and representation by those who thought they knew God. Yet, none had seen the Father at any time. Only Moses was allowed to see the backside of God. It is from this event, that Moses begins to understand the real nature of God…simply by looking.

Moses asked to see Him,

“Please, show me Your glory.”

Exodus 33: 18

God responded by saying,

“I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

Exodus 33: 19-23

When the Lord passed by, Moses was inspired to say,

“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”

Exodus 34:6, 7

Can we not describe Jesus the same way? There is no difference between God the Father and Jesus who came to reveal the true character of God the Father.

But we must remember that judgement is also part of the character of God. There is more in the description of God. Moses continues,

“…by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation…”

Exodus 34: 7 (last part)

Those who have clung to their idols of self worship and sin are not “cleared.” Why? Is not God merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…?

So why are some not “cleared?” It is because they choose not to repent. Their desire is to focus only on the joys of a sinful world and the satisfaction of the carnal desires. Please do not take this too far and feel it is a sin to enjoy pleasure. God has set the boundaries of pleasure in His word so that His creation will not go down the path of the wrong kind of pleasure leading to death. The euphoric feeling given by drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and over eating are pleasures that is good for a moment, but leads to an miserable life.

God does not interfere with our choice to sin, but He does use the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin. It is those who yield to the pulling of the Spirit that will find a new path to real joy and happiness. However, if a person elects the sinful pleasure of this world, then they have their reward only on this earth, which is a mere wisp of time.

It is the indulgence in self that will lead to pain and suffering.

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.

Luke 12:19

“…eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

God responds to this person with this mindset,

‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

Luke 12: 20

When that person dies, all his things go to someone else.

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Another aspect of God’s character often missed by many is this: God takes no delight in the death of the wicked. Even the destruction of the wicked in the end time is called his strange act.

Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.

Ezekiel 33:11

For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

Isaiah 28:21

Our longsuffering God does not want anyone to perish.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

But God the Father offers eternal life for those who will believe and trust in Him.

For God (The Father) so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

It is important to understand the character of God in this very popular verse. God loves. He demonstrates it by giving something to us that is very precious to Him. The reason? So that a person will not perish. This verse, in itself, provides the proof that there is no eternal place of torture. The penalty for not believing is to perish. It is NOT to live in a place of torture. Only the saved have eternal life.

The wages of sin is death….not life in a place of burning. Romans 6:23

It is the work of the enemy to paint the wrong picture about God the Father. As we see from the time of Jesus and even to this day, God is painted as a cruel tyrant whose anger is so great that He punishes people by unending fire.

But the life of Jesus and the clear teaching of the Bible shows a Father who loves his children and desires to save them from eternal death. He wants to give them life and pleasure, but the kind of pleasure that leads to joy and happiness. A born again Christian can begin this joy now. Like Paul, he or she knows that it is the return of Christ when the reward of eternal life is given to all those who believed in Him during this life.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

Revelation 22:12

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When I was young, I came to a point where I viewed God as this angry old bearded man, with arms crossed, and eyes fixed upon me just waiting for me to make a mistake so He could condemn me to hell.

So many today, as in the times of the Scribes and Pharisees, have a similar view of God the Father. We may also think the same way about most things God intended to be a blessing. We want to turn our religion into a burdensome list of things to do to or not to do in order to obtain the favor of God.

Many of us have put God the Father as the God of works, fire, and death of the Old Testament and Jesus as the loving man of grace in the New Testament. But Jesus, made it very clear that we may see God the Father in his own life.

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

John 14:10

It is when we give our life and plans to God the Father and to Jesus that their same characteristics will be born in us and brought to maturity as we live by faith daily. Jesus prayed this might happen to us just as it did for the disciples.

I do not pray for these (disciples) alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

John 17: 20,21

When the world will see the true nature of God through us, they will have the opportunity to see the true nature of God the Father in the same way Jesus corrected the errors of the time by His example.

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It was Jesus who used the term “Father” when describing God. In this description, we can begin to understand the closeness between Jesus and the Father.

But, it was also Jesus who told us,

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Matthew 23:9

This verse has brought some confusion, but let’s read it in its context. What prompted Jesus to say this? Who was the audience? All of these questions are answered by context. Let’s read some of the verses before it.

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:

Matthew 23:1, 2

The subject was the religious leaders of the time–the scribes and Pharisees. They were very hypocritical and had selfish motives in their “religious” work.

But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

Matthew 23: 5-9

By reading the context, we can see that we are not to use the term father in a religious setting. God the Father does not want anyone to take His place nor interfere with direct access to the throne of grace. We can only come to the Father through Jesus.

No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6

Jesus alone is our high priest. We are to be careful in our understanding of the work of men on this earth who would seek to take the place of God. Because Jesus is our high priest and understands us like no other human, we can come boldly to God the Father

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

John 4:14-16

But, it is no problem calling our parent father. Jesus told us,

“You know the commandments:…honor your father and mother.’”

Luke 18:10

Our earthly father, in the best setting, is a opaque picture of a loving Father in heaven. Both are connected with the powerful act of Creation. But, our heavenly Father far exceeds the love and compassion of our earthly father.

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Matthew 7:11

We don’t have to look too far without seeing that God the Father is good in every sense of the word. One of my favorite authors summarizes this study well:

“Nature and revelation alike testify of God’s love. Our Father in heaven is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. Look at the wonderful and beautiful things of nature…

“…God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in earth. Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these but imperfectly represent His love. Though all these evidences have been given, the enemy of good blinded the minds of men, so that they looked upon God with fear; they thought of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice,–one who is a severe judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men.”

Steps to Christ, p. 10-11, EG White

Essential Christian Beliefs

28 Fundamental Beliefs-#3 The Trinity

September 30, 2016 Eddie Leave a comment

The Trinity

There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a unity of three coeternal Persons. God is immortal, all-powerful, all-knowing, above all, and ever present. He is infinite and beyond human comprehension, yet known through His self-revelation. God, who is love, is forever worthy of worship, adoration, and service by the whole creation.

(Click on the Bible verses below to quickly access the verse in New King James Version.)

(Gen. 1:26; Deut. 6:4; Isa. 6:8; Matt. 28:19; John 3:16 2 Cor. 1:21, 22; 13:14; Eph. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2.)

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The Trinity is one God existing in three Persons. This does not mean there are three Gods. The word “Trinity” is not found in Scripture. It is a term used to describe the triune God—three coexistent, co-eternal Persons who make up God. In this study, we will see that the concept of the Trinity is found throughout Scripture.

Each participated in Creation

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”

Genesis 1:26

From the start of God’s word, we see a coeternal Godhead made up of three distinct persons yet one. They interact with each other and perform specific roles in the universe and on earth….They all work to save mankind from eternal destruction that is sure to come.

The use of the word “Our” indicates there is more than one person, otherwise it would be read as,

“Let (me) make man in (my) image according to (my) likeness”

Present on that week of creation were the Spirit, God the Father, and the Son-Jesus

And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 1: 1-3

Notice that the “Word” become a personal pronoun “He.” Who is this? Let’s let the Bible speak for itself a little further down in John 1

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth

John 1:14

Who became flesh and was with us? Who is described as the only begotten of the Father? Is it not clear that it is none other than Jesus? From this passage, we can clearly see that Jesus was with God (Father) in the beginning along with the Spirit.

Let’s look at another few verses that make this passage even more clear. Notice in Colossians that through Jesus “all things were created” and they are “for Him.”

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Colossians 1: 15-18

Further God (Father) calls His Son God!

But to the Son He says:

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

Hebrews 1:8

So, we see God the Father, Jesus in his pre-human form participating in the creation of all life and all the universe. Further, The Spirit of God as the third member of the Godhead is vital in the creation of man and giving him life.

The Spirit of God has made me,
And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Job 33:4

The Father, The Son, and the Spirit are the “Our” found in Genesis 1: 3. In a future post, we will examine all Three in separate studies.

The Lord is One

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

Deuteronomy 6:4

As we will study in a future post, the plan of salvation began before the foundation of the world. The Trinity would participate in different roles but with the same purpose and forthrightness. They are one in purpose, but separate in their roles. Isaiah pulls back the curtain on the mystery of God dwelling among us in order to save us.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8

Jesus was sent to us to save a planet in rebellion. We were on the path to eternal death and annihilation, but God intervened and sent forth His only begotten son to die for us that we might have a way of escape.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

Here we see two members of the Godhead at work. God the Father sending His Son. The motivation? Love for us, His creation.

This was foretold in the Tanakh (Old Testament)

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with Us)

Isaiah 7:14

The gospel writer Matthew recognized Jesus as Immanuel. He wrote:

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Matthew 1: 22, 23

While upon the earth, Jesus recognized his role and referred to himself in his pre-incarnate existence when he said to His accusers,

Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

John 8:57, 58

Jesus was referring them to the Torah and the story of Moses and the burning bush, when God stated,

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’

Exodus 3:14

This statement infuriated the Jews. they took stones and attempted to stone Him as blasphemous (claiming to be God) as the Torah allowed.

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

John 8:59

So Jesus was claiming to be God to the Jews! He is part of the Trinity with one specific purpose…the salvation of man. He demonstrated there was another member of the Trinity when he prayed to the Father and asked that His people (including you and me) would be one as they are one:

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours….

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You”

John 17:9, 20

In this prayer, Jesus also refers back to his pre-existence when he prayed,

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

John 17: 24

Paul tells us that the eternal Three are seen in Christ,

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily

Colossians 2:9

Jesus confirmed this when he told His disciples that seeing Him is the same as seeing the Father. Keep in mind, this is not a reference to his physical being, but His character, purpose, and will

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 14:9

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The Mystery and the Work of The Spirit

The Trinity is a mystery to most for a couple of reasons:

1.) To understand spiritual teachings, one must be spiritual. Too many today operate on a purely day-to-day human level way of thinking. But, once they have been influenced by the Spirit, a whole new world opens to them

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:4

It is the work of the third member of the Godhead to help us all move from our carnal way of thinking to a spiritual level:

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth

John 16:13

Did you notice that the Spirit is given the designation of a personal pronoun, He?

At the baptism of Jesus, all three are present. Can you see them in this verse?

^“When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He^[c] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3: 16,17

2,) Understanding the truth comes from a desire (will) to do God’s will and to act on the truth given you.

If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

John 7:17

When Jesus left this earth, he made a promise to his disciples and to us. It was a promise of the work being passed on to the omnipresent Spirit.

“But now I go away to Him who sent Me…I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

John 16: 5, 7, 8

Again, these verses designate the Spirit as “He” and the work “He” will do until Jesus returns.

So through out Scripture it is easy to see the working of the eternal Three and their roles in the great plan of salvation.

Next time, we will begin our study of each one separately. Until then, this is my prayer,

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

2 Corinthians 13:14

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If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

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The Great Controversy

Overview:

(Gen. 3; 6-8; Job 1:6-12; Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-18; Rom. 1:19-32; 3:4; 5:12-21; 8:19-22; 1 Cor. 4:9; Heb. 1:14; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 3:6; Rev. 12:4-9.)

The Beginning of Good and Evil-The Great Controversy

Satan Kicked Out of Heaven

The work of Satan:

How Satan was able to introduce his rebellion to planet earth:

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Why didn’t God just destroy Satan?

Satan is consumed by fire and turned to ashes. Then the controversy is ended.

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The Beginning of Sin and Death

Death is Death, Not Life

Sin and Death-The Bad Seed Grows in our Garden

Satan’s Plan Foiled

Here are God’s steps in the plan of salvation:

God’s Step 1-God’s grace and love is the basis for the plan.

God’s Step 2-Jesus paid the penalty of sin (death) by dying in our place at the time predicted by the ancient prophets

God’s Step 3-By faith produced through the word of God and the Spirit of God, we accept this grace and receive salvation

Step 4-Jesus provided us an example as a way of life. We are to live (walk) this way by the same way we received Him (faith)

Step 5: Finally, Jesus will save us from the presence of sin and change us from mortal to immortal when He returns

Conclusion

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The Spirit

1.) The Spirit was present along with God the Father and the Son at creation and participated in the creation of man. We are made in their image!

2.) The Spirit works and communicates on another dimension called inspiration.

3.) It was prophesied that The Spirit would anoint Jesus and direct His ministry.

4.) The Spirit was present at Jesus’ baptism (along with the Father) and was seen in the form of a dove:

5.) The Spirit provides help and comfort on a spiritual plane while Jesus is physically not present:

6.) God the Father was with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is how God is with us today!

7.) It is the work of the Spirit to direct people in the pursuit of truth. He points people to the truth by whatever He hears from the Father and Jesus.

8.) The Spirit’s primary job is to bring conviction upon every person regarding sin and point the fallen to Jesus as the way to eternal life:

9.) The Spirit prepared the disciples for a world mission and gave them power.

10.) The gift of the Spirit is given to those who ask for it! We don’t receive because we don’t ask!

11.) The Holy Spirit is given to those who repent and are baptized.

12.) After baptism (public display of intent to walk with Jesus), the Spirit gives to the born again believer different gifts to profit all who are in the church.

13.) The Spirit gives wisdom and insight that is not understood by those without this gift:

14.) It is the work of the Holy Spirit to give the repentant sinner a new heart and new life different from the carnal life.

15.) God the Father will gladly give the Holy Spirit to those who ask:

16.) Once you have the Spirit, you have the choice to either live by the Spirit by the carnal thinking of the world. If you choose to live by the Spirit, you will have life and peace:

17.) Once the Spirit comes into a repentant sinners life, they will produce fruits of the Spirit. These are life qualities different from the fruits produced by a carnal person:

18.) The Spirit separates the true follower from the false:

19.) It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction upon the heart of the sinner regarding sin, unbelief, judgement , and draw them to Jesus for salvation from eternal death and the sins that entangle a person’s life.

20.) With the Spirit of God, the follower of Jesus will been born again and will receive eternal life.

21.) Blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Conclusion on the Trinity

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For in Him (Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Colossians 2: 9,10

Prophecy

Description

Fulfillment

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The Trinity

Each participated in Creation

The Lord is One

The Mystery and the Work of The Spirit

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"He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28