Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God...

#Cause_n_Effect

1 John 4:15 KJV — Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

This above Scripture is a statement declaring a wonderful truth: all those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, SUCH have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. Without the Spirit of God dwelling in them, there is absolutely no possibility of them confessing the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.

Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God is the effect of God's indwelling the confessor; God's indwelling enables the confession of Jesus as the Son of God; the former is the cause of the latter. Confession of Jesus as the Son of God evidences that a man has been brought into union with God.

Sadly, many will teach and believe that the confession of Jesus is the Son of God as the CONDITION to have God dwelling in them.

Putting the cart before the horse is a common but grievous error; in other words, just plain stupidity (i.e. completely lacking common sense),  just forget about being politically correct.

1 John 2:23 KJV — Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Matthew 16 KJV
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Attend to the word; be instant in season, out of season.

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/pfbid02c1jLcgikjrFwWwubDPvHuKS3FJ8LWBk5EeFkyFE2aJR6Cvi5mU3sDqCBgJrtoGBYl

Attend to the word; be instant in season, out of season.

1 Timothy 4:16 KJT
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

2Timothy 4 KJT
1 ¶I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Psalms 23 KJV
1 ¶[[A Psalm of David.]] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

The ministry of the word faithfully attended* to is your precious soul rightly shepherded by Christ's under-shepherds.

Being physically present at a service is not the same as ATTENDING to the ministry of the word.  That explains the scathing censure: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 3:7 KJT

Few think much of this divine ordinance because it's unspectacular and unglamorous.

*attend -  verb, to pay attention; listen or watch attentively; direct one's thought; pay heed.

 ----------
Mark Thomas
For those with seeing eyes it’s the highest office on earth.

Sincere offer to the Dead is Sincerely Misguided

September 27, 2010

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/pfbid0o3GRDxzEYW8tW3zRyhLf9ixXuAM5DgLG3TTRc7QfgnxL7RUJWS92KfJB15KxcULQl

FB reminds me of this exchange that took place nine years ago. A Professor of Theology asked, somewhat rhetorically, based on his teaching that God sincerely offers eternal salvation to those dead in trespasses and sins.

John 3:10 KJV — Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

Offering salvation - obviously to those without salvation, therefore still in their native state of sin and death - is like offering food to the dead, no matter how sincerely and earnestly and passionately and zealously offered.

----------

Prof Morrow inquired:
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Romans 10:18-21 (KJV)

Was God insincere when he stretched forth his hand to this disobedient people? Why would God stretch forth his hand to those he knew would reject him?

-------

Prof. Morrow, that's an interesting question. What was God sincerely doing?  Was He offering salvation to those who were dead in trespasses and sins, or was He rebuking His stiff-necked and disobedient people?

But I don't know what exactly the difficulty is.

If there is any, I don't see it yet.

Maybe the difficulty arises because we don't rightly divide the word of truth.

I take it as an established truth that God NEVER hold forth eternal salvation conditioned upon man's obedience or acceptance. This fable is plainly contrary to His moral character, contrary to His revelation, contrary to reason and common sense, etc.

I believe what is involved here is the temporal salvation of God's people which demands and requires the obedience of God's people. It has nothing to do with their eternal salvation - being saved from the eternal condemnation due to their sins. It has to do with their deliverance from the judgment threatened against them for their unbelief and disobedience. God is dealing with His people, whom He has made His own by free and sovereign grace, for their unbelief and disobedience.

This is confirmed because, in the previous verses, the Apostle Paul is also speaking of the temporal salvation that comes to those who do believe the gospel. Believing the gospel truth will save GOD'S CHILDREN and will bring them much deliverance, temporal salvation.

Eternal salvation came through Christ's finished work alone, and is applied FREELY by the Spirit alone... all completed by free grace alone. Temporal salvation - related to our well-being as God's children - is conditioned upon our obedience to the gospel. IF YOU APPRECIATE THIS BIT, MUCH CONFUSION WOULD NOT ARISE.

After I have read enough of the Bible for myself, the FALSITY of the new school Calvinistic doctrine of the perseverance of the saints in a life of faith and obedience and holiness to the end of their life becomes SO PLAIN! There is no such thing in the Scriptures.

God, Himself said, "MY PEOPLE ARE BENT ON BACKSLIDING!"

Remember this:

Isaiah 1:18-20 KJV
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

It is all about temporal salvation: eating the good of the land, or suffering temporal judgement of being devoured.

God would be VERY insincere if He is holding forth eternal salvation to those whom He knew very well had absolutely no capability to receive it; in fact, positively hostile towards God in their inward man. In reality, it would amount to a cruel and injurious mocking and taunting them.

But that is not true when God called His people to turn from their evil ways. They are able to, they have an obligation too; in this, they were able to exercise a choice... but they disobeyed. Disobedience would bring severe punishment here in the present life.

God did stretch forth His hand to His people, calling them to turn from their waywardness, sending them prophets after prophets... but they rejected God's Fatherly call to make amends.

They suffered for their disobedience throughout their history! 

"EVEN SO" - Pay close attention to these little words.

#evenso

Pay attention, close attention, to little words.

Romans 5:18 - KJT
"Therefore as
by the offence of one
judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
EVEN SO
by the righteousness of one
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." 

If sincere folks and their intelligent theologians had paid attention to those two small words 'EVEN SO' they wouldn't have ended up believing the fiction or fable of their legal justification by their faith!

Your legal condemnation was brought about by the act of your divinely appointed representative head of the human race, Adam;

EVEN SO,

your legal justification was brought about by the act of your divinely appointed representative head of His people, Christ Jesus.

Your vital/personal condemnation was brought about when you were brought into being through your conception in the womb of your mother;

EVEN SO,

your vital/personal justification is brought about when God effectually called you out of your native state of condemnation and death to that of justification and life.

Your practical/experiential condemnation is brought about by your actual acts of sins; they evidence your state of condemnation, and defile and condemn your conscience;

EVEN SO,

your practical/experiential justification is brought about by your acts of believing, they certify your justified state, your faith vindicates your justified state by God's free and sovereign grace.

EVEN SO, i.e. in the exact parallel manner...

Your justified state by the free grace of God is experienced by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone! It's not by observing the ceremonial laws as the Judaizers insisted; Apostle Paul marshalled Father Abraham to slap the Judaizer kids in their faces for such a silly nonsense..

Your justification by the free grace of God (the MANNER of your justification) is based solely upon Christ's righteousness and blood (the BASIS of your justification), i.e. His faithfulness in executing the work of redeeming all those whom God to Father had given to Him.

"You are justified by faith alone" (the popular sola fideism)
is vastly different from saying
"Your justification by the free grace of God can be experienced by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone!" 

Hell and the Lake of Fire Confounded

 

Rev 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

The Scriptures declare the lake of fire but Paul Washer replaces with hell as though they are synnymous.

Mr. Washer fails to distinguish hell from the lake of fire, like multitudes of others.

Hell is ONLY for the intermediate state after death.

The lake of fire is the eternal state after the general resurrection.

Hell is everlasting; it lasts as long as time lasts.

Hell shall be emptied at the end of time.

That which is everlasting lasts to the end of time.

The lake of fire is eternal.

.

Rev 20
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

i. Christ Jesus holds both the keys of hell and of death.
Revelation 1:18 KJV — I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

ii. At the end of time, both death (that holds the bodies of the dead) and hell (that holds the spirits of the dead) shall surrender up all its captives to Him who holds the keys of hell and of death.
- Hell shall be EMPTY,  with no one remaining in it any more. That shall be the end of the purpose and relevance of hell, and death too.
- BOTH death and hell shall be cast Into the lake of fire; they will NEVER trouble God's redeemed ever again.
- The second death is the death of both death and hell.

iii. Death [holding the bodies] and hell [holding the spirits] shall deliver up their captives for the general resurrection and judgement.

- those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life shall be ushered into their eternal inheritance in heaven; those whose names are not written in the book of life, THAT IS, NOT REDEEMED BY CHRIST, shall be cast into the lake of fire.

- YES, there are those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life who ended up in hell BUT such shall not end up in the lake of fire. They shall be surrendered up to Christ and be resurrected to glory. (Read all those solemn warnings by Christ on hell addressed to the disciples: hell can be avoided by taking drastic measures in dealing with sins.
- A man's place in the lake of fire is determined SOLELY by whether his name is written in the Lamb's book of life.

iv. The spirits of the righteous in paradise (distinct from heaven) shall come with Christ at His coming and be united with their resurrected bodies.

Just my minority non-conformist view.
You can have yours.

=========

Roger
Amen

Ann
So, Brother Sing, are you saying that Hell will be the temporary punishment of the elect who never submit their lives to Christ while living here or may be lapsed Christians? Who then will be taken up to glory with Christ at the end of time?

Sing F Lau
Ann: Hell is the intermediate state, thus temporary, between death and resurrection.

In the intermediate state, God's children are either in paradise or in hell; in the eternal state, ALL God children shall be in heaven; those whose names were not written in the book of life, unredeemed, shall be cast into the lake of fire.

Ann
Sing, That's what I got from your post but you also said "hell can be avoided by taking drastic measures in dealing with sins."

Do you mean to say it is like punishment or judgment for sin, that will be conquered upon our final resurrection when those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life (the elect?) are made perfect in eternity with Christ?

Sing
The punishment or judgement for sin - the wages of which is eternal damnation in the lake of fire - has been fully paid by Christ; He saved His people from the lake of fire by His works of redemption.

The temporal hell, the realm of the spirits of the dead during the intermediate state, is not so much punishment/judgement for sin; it's more correctional/chastening.

These words are addressed to God's children.
Hebrews 12
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

For many, the chastening continues beyond death.

Hebrews 10:31 KJV — It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Just my understanding.

Christ solemnly warned His disciples to take drastic measures to avoid hell.

Matthew 5
1 ¶ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Mark 9
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Why did the Lord so solemnly repeated the warning of hell to His disciples if there is no possibility hell for His OWN disciples. Some think the Lord Jesus Christ is joking or wasting words. 

Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

Dr. M Morrow
Sing,  I thank you for your answer to my last question. Here are a couple more... again, I am being honest and wondering how someone who holds your theological position thinks about these things. 

When Paul was on trial and said to Agrippa (Acts 26: 29) that he desired that he (Agrippa) and all that heard Paul speak that day were like him (Paul), that is, Christians, was Paul expressing a fleshly desire?  Also, in Romans 9, when Paul expressed a desire for his brethren (in the flesh), fleshly Israel might be saved...even (were it possible...) the sacrifice of his own soul...for their salvation... was that fleshly and wrong? 
Just wondering how you deal with these passages because they seem at first glance to express a desire in Paul's heart for the salvation of people who obviously were not elect people.

Thanks, your learning brother,
Michael Morrow

================

Brother Morrow,
You ask really good questions. I am always being taught by good questions - they drive me to study the Scriptures.

Let me make sure I get your question correct.
" 27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.

Was Paul expressing a fleshly desire?

No, not at all, but a true and sincere HUMAN desire, a genuine expression of the great commandment: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." A child of God desires good for his fellow men generally... He desired for them the transformation that he had... once a blasphemous enemy of the gospel, but now a follower of Jesus Christ.

The desire of God is compatible with His will and decree. He WILL NOT desire nor command those for whom He did not give Christ to be their Saviour to believe Christ Jesus to be their Saviour.

The desire of a child of God is compatible with God's will for him... "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself", and that includes desiring the good that one has for the neighbours.

MM @ "Also in Romans 9, when Paul expressed a desire for his brethren (in the flesh), fleshly Israel might be saved...even (were it possible...) the sacrifice of his own soul...for their salvation..was that fleshly and wrong? Just wondering how... you deal with these passages because they seem at first glance to express a desire in Paul's heart for the salvation of people who obviously were not elect people.

The narrative does express Paul's desire for the salvation of the people under consideration... the great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart are sincere and genuine.

There are several considerations here:
- What is the salvation that the apostle desires for the people under consideration? Was it eternal salvation by God's free grace, or a salvation that is dependent upon Paul's life and ministry?
- Would the apostle Paul be speaking of the salvation that is wholly and entirely by the free grace of God that he has so copiously asserted and demonstrated throughout the whole epistle?

I believe the apostle Paul desired the temporal salvation that comes to the children of God among the Jews ONLY through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

- Who exactly are the people under consideration? Brethren in the flesh. Did he mean 'all the Jews indiscriminately' or God's children who are among the Jews. I believe the context demands the latter.

Apostle Paul was dealing with a very unique problem among the children of God among the Jews - even though they WERE children of God, but BECAUSE of their old covenant background, they found letting go of the old covenant very hard, and enter the kingdom of heaven by believing in Jesus Christ a great stumbling block.

When Apostle Paul stated, "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel" - it is obvious that his concern WAS NOT with the PHYSICAL Israel, but the spiritual Israel among the Jews. They needed to be brought to the faith. The natural Jews WILL NEVER be able to be brought to the Jews.

"8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us."
=======

What do the words "imparted... also our own souls...?"

John Gill said this:
- but also our own souls, or "lives"; which is the highest expression and strongest proof of love that can be given; and respect is still had to the similitude of the nursing mother, who may be said to impart her blood, for such it her milk diversified, for the nourishment of her children: and such was the great concern of the apostles for the interest of Christ, the spread of the Gospel, and the good of souls, that their lives were not dear unto them, so that these ends might he answered: because ye were dear unto us; both because they were loved by God, redeemed by Christ, regenerated by the Spirit of Christ, and had the image of Christ stamped upon them; and also because that they were their spiritual children; and as children are dear to their parents, so were these to them, even to such a degree, as that, were there a necessity for it, they could freely have laid down their lives for them

Don't confound grace with works

Sir, what about this passage
(the inquirer quoted from NIV)

Romans 10 KJT
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

========

My apologies. I'm catching up.

This passage is an excellent example of the distinction between eternal salvation and temporal salvation. When the students of God's word fail to acknowledge the biblical distinction, they are messed up; they confound grace and works, ALWAYS!

Let's ask a few questions. I teach learners by asking questions so that they will become self-learning.

1. Who is able to confess "Jesus is Lord"? Who is able to believe in his heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead?
- one still dead in their trespasses and sins, OR
- one whom God has already saved, i.e. effectually called out of his native state of condemnation, death, and alienation to grace and salvation in Christ Jesus?

2. If the latter, what will his believing the truths of his salvation in Jesus Christ save him FROM then?

3. What did God, in Jesus Christ, save him from?

4. Is the salvation freely bestowed to him by the grace of God in Jesus Christ the same as the salvation that will be obtained by his work of believing the truth of his salvation?
- Why?

5. "...that you believe and are justified..." (from NIV)
- How does your act of believing justify you?
- How did God justify you?

The right answers to these questions will put you a few light-years ahead of not a few reformed and deformed theologians. 

The Order of the Salvation by Grace

September 21, 2023

#orderofsalvation

Romans 8:30 KJT
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

#salvation_purposed
#salvation_accomplished
#salvation_applied
       (#salvation_experienced)
#salvation_consummated

God sovereignly purposed the eternal salvation of His elect in eternity;

Christ sovereignly accomplished the eternal salvation of all the elect on the cross.

The eternal salvation purposed and accomplished is sovereignly applied to each elect personally in the effectual calling of each elect out of his native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

To call an elect out of his native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ, these divine activities must take place, in this number and logical order:

- justification by God's grace to deal with the condemnation (justification reverses the condemnation due to sins;)

- regeneration by the Spirit of God to deal with the spiritual deadness due to sins (regeneration quickens the dead with eternal life;)

- adoption by the Father into the divine family to deal with the alienation due to sins. Adoption is always accompanied by the bestowal of the Spirit to dwell in the adopted.

These divine activities - three in number, and in that logical number - are necessary to bring an elect out of his native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

This divine call is always effectual; it always accomplishes its purpose and end - WITHOUT any aid on the part of man whatsoever.
The effect is immutable; once effectually called by God, one remains immutably called. Nothing further is needed on his part for his glorification. The effectually called are perfectly fit for eternal glory. Nothing further is required; they have been saved by grace alone. The divine effectual call deals with their *BEING* as the children of God.

1 John 3:1 KJV — "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

God is not just interested in making His elect fit for heaven; He wants them to be informed and useful in their brief lives here on earth. To this end, the gospel ministry was ordained to call out His effectually called children and gather them into local churches under the Headship of Jesus Christ. This is DISCIPLESHIP; this requires the active part of the effectually called to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling; they are responsible for their spiritual *WELLBEING* as they journey through this world.

Meditate on these things.

They will get you beyond and above the reformed shibboleths.

[9/14, 9:42 PM] Sing Lau:

Concerning sanctification:

There are what the theologians termed "definitive sanctification" and "practical sanctification."

The effectual call definitively, once for all and immutably sets an elect apart from condemnation, death, and alienation to that of grace and eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.

The definitive sanctification is wholly by divine activities alone; it makes practical sanctification in His children possible. The gospel ministry is the divinely appointed means for the practical ongoing sanctification of His children here on earth.

[9/14, 9.48 PM] 
SDC inquirer - Leongsy
Positional sanctification and progressive sanctification

9/14, 10.02 PM]
Sing Lau:
Positional is a good term, it deals with the objective standing or status of a person.

Progressive is an unfortunate term: it implies linear progress, which is rarely true. So many of God's children make shipwrecks of their faith, with no progress whatsoever. Because of this "progressive" understanding, the reformed people will write off God's children as not being God's children because they failed to make the progress expected... that the fruitless hearers cannot possibly be the children of God...

[9/14, 10.04 PM]
SDC inquirer:
So u don't agree that those who are fruitless are not saved?

9/15, 1 9.22 PM]
Sing Lau:
Do remember a few things:
i. The parable describes something about the kingdom of God  - how the people in the kingdom of God hear the preached word. The parable is about the good and poor discipleship of God's children concerning the hearing of God's word.

- The 4 types of hearers are all God's children, those already saved by God.

ii. Common sense tells us that fruitfulness is expected of those who are spiritually alive, i.e. those whom God HAS SAVED by His grace in Jesus Christ.

- Only those lacking common sense expect fruitfulness from spiritually dead hearers.

- living plants that are fruitless is a sad reality. Only foolish people complain about the fruitlessness of a dead plant.

iii. Fruit-bearing requires great effort from God's children; they must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
- they have been saved with eternal salvation in Jesus Christ; His work has redeemed them from the eternal lake of fire.
- they must labour to save themselves from ignorance, ungodliness, fruitlessness, etc., relating to their spiritual WELLBEING.

Divine activities ALONE secured the eternal salvation for God's elect; God holds His children (the elect to whom eternal salvation has been applied)  responsible for using the means He has provided for their *temporal salvation*  - their spiritual well-being and usefulness while He lends them breath in their brief life on earth.

Ability and Responsibility

A man's responsibility is determined by the terms of the covenant to which he is a party.

I was asked:
Q1. Does a man's inability void his lawful duty?

A man's inability to perform a certain duty does not void his lawful duty. A man, though dead in trespasses and sins, is not exempted from his lawful duty and obligation toward God, his Creator. When God made man, God made him very good... he had the full ability and power of moral choice and free will to fulfil his lawful duty owed to God his Creator - to render obedience to God.

A man's inability to discharge his lawful duty towards his Creator is self-inflicted by his free will rebellion against his Creator.

All men, being sinners, are under a just obligation to repent towards God their Creator. NO single sinner has any right to remain in his sin. Every single sinner is under divine obligation to repent and turn from his sin.

A man's LAWFUL duties are defined by the terms of the covenant to which he is a party!

All of God's creatures are bound by the terms of the covenant of creation.

All of God's redeemed are bound by the terms of the covenant of redemption!

Q2. What determines a man's duty to believe in Christ?

A man's duties are defined by the terms of the covenant to which he is a party! His duty is not determined by his own inability or ability.

Only those embraced in the covenant of redemption are required by the terms of that covenant to believe Christ as their Redeemer.

All the children of God (elects who have been effectually called to grace and salvation in Christ Jesus) are duty-bound to repent and believe in the gospel of their salvation. They are God's redeemed, bound by the terms of the covenant of redemption. God's redeemed are duty-bound by the terms of the covenant of redemption to repent and believe in their Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ... because Christ is their Redeemer... it is their covenant duty to believe the truth of their salvation by Christ.

I do believe all God's children ALONE are under divine obligation to repent and believe in their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is their Lord and Saviour. Upon the basis of His life and death, they have been justified, regenerated and adopted. They are children first by God's free grace; then they are called to believe the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation Eph 1:13.

Why would anyone imagine that others are under the divine obligation to believe Christ as Saviour when Christ is not even the Saviour of all men? Why are others duty-bound to believe Christ as their Saviour when Christ did not give Himself as the Saviour of all men? That would amount to God putting some men under divine obligation to believe a big fat lie!

It is contrary to God's character for God to put any man under divine obligation to believe a lie - i.e. to believe that Christ is their Saviour when He had assuredly decreed that Christ is not their Saviour. 

To deliver such an one unto Satan

To deliver such an one unto Satan...

[23/07/2022 14:12]
Sir, I have a couple of questions on 1 Corinthians 5.
v2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Q1. What is meant by "he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you"?

v3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

Q2. What had Apostle Paul judged already?

v5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Q3. If this refers to apostolic authority only, no longer relevant to us, then what MUST the church do?

Appreciate your response.
--------

[23/07/2022 17:12] 

Q1. What is meant by "he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you."

Apostle Paul expresses his disgust and disappointment concerning the situation:
- they are puffed up about the hideous sin; they likely boast of their openness and progressiveness, e.g. “we are loving, we aren’t censorious, we respect people’s private life, blah, blah, blah.”
- they have not mourned for such grievous sin in their midst, and do the needful, "that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you."
- they have not exercised the authority, i.e. power to act; Christ has vested in the church the authority to deal with such matters, to remove an unrepentant member from the church body; they did not excommunicate such an unrepentant sinner. Excommunication is the responsibility and prerogative of the church, not any one individual, not even apostle Paul. So, even the Apostle Paul needed to instruct the church to do the excommunication.

Q2. What had Apostle Paul judged already?

“For I verily… have judged already… concerning him that hath so done this deed”
– Apostle Paul, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, has already exercised his apostolic authority on the matter; he has executed his judgment upon the man; this is a sharp slap in the face of the church for their inaction against, and tolerance of the hideous deed.

What is the judgment Apostle Paul has executed? What’s the basis of Paul apostolic authority? It is, “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” – verse 5.

1Co 5:4 “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Verse 4 has two distinct parts:
- “For I verily… have judged already… concerning him that hath so done this deed, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
- “when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” is related to what the Apostle Paul has already done;
- “in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” is related to what the church MUST do: administer excommunication, when they are gathered together.

Apostle Paul exercised his apostolic authority on the matter, and instructed the church to perform her duty: "he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you." No further need for prayers and seeking God’s will

Q3. If this refers to apostolic authority only, no longer relevant to us then what MUST the church do?

“No longer relevant” implies it was relevant before! It never was in the church’s power to execute such a judgment, i.e. “to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh…”

It’s the standing duty of the church to execute the power of our Lord Jesus Christ vested in the church to remove such a one from the fellowship and communion of the church, excommunicate. “… but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Mt 18:17b

The privileges of Apostolic authority belong to the Apostles alone; the privileges of church power, vested by Christ alone in each local church, belong to the church alone; each church is held responsible by her Lord Jesus Christ to administer that vested power according to the mind of Christ. ( We have touched on this somewhat in our study on 1689.26 on “Concerning the Church.”

Thank you for these excellent questions.

Keep asking; it will help all of us to learn and know the Scriptures better.

Appearance versus Reality

 "Judge not according to the appearance,
but judge righteous judgment." John 7:24

 

Luke 23 KJT
8 And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.
9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing...
11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
12 And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

One moment Herod was exceedingly glad to see Jesus; he even engaged Jesus in conversation. However, some time later he showed his true self.

What happened in between?
What explains the change?

He did these despicable things:
"questioned": eperōtaō: interrogated
"set at nought": exoutheneō: to make of no account, despise utterly, to treat as worthless.
"mock": empaizō: to play with, trifle with, make fun of...

 

Hate not thy brother - Leviticus 19:17

Hate not thy brother;

but love him - i.e. make an effort to convert him from the error of his way.

Lev 19 KJT
17 ¶Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

James 5 KJT
19 ¶Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

These Scriptures have been completely perverted by some: an attempt to correct an error is now seen as HATEFUL and UNLOVING.

Love me by converting me from the error of my way. To leave me in my error without making a sincere effort to convert me is HATEFUL... "thou shalt not hate thy brother..." by leaving him in the error of his way, that is to "suffer sin upon him."

In a bible study, I referred to Hebrews 2:14 KJT — "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil" - to make the point that the suffering of Jesus was as real as could be because He is the Word made flesh.

A student of the Hebrew language said that his Reverend instructor taught that the text reads as "blood and flesh" and not "flesh and blood" and that the blood and flesh refer to atonement by animal sacrifices in the OT and Jesus's incarnation respectively.

I said, "My KJT has the order of 'flesh and blood,' and the context speaks of the incarnation of the Word, John 1:1,14.

- It is lacking common sense, i.e. stupid, to say that "blood and flesh" refers to atonement by animal sacrifices in the OT and incarnation in the NT; this would necessarily make the children spoken of to be partakers of animal sacrifices and incarnation too.

The student went berserk because I corrected the bizarre idea of her revered instructor, a complete stranger to me; I haven't the slight idea who the instructor is.

She raved against me: "You do not love your brothers in Christ. So I am afraid that you are not an Elect. Because if you have loved your brothers in Christ, you would not have written to run them down with SO MUCH HATRED in your heart.

I replied: Thank you for your kind words...
May the Lord bless you in the days ahead. Amen.

 

The Seventy Weeks in Daniel's Prophecy

 

Some figures for us to wrap our minds on.

Daniel 9
24 “Seventy weeks 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.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

“Seventy weeks are determined" upon thy people and upon thy holy city for these specific events:
1. to finish the transgression, and
2. to make an end of sins, and
3. to make reconciliation for iniquity, and
4. to bring in everlasting righteousness, and
5. to seal up the vision and prophecy, and
6.. to anoint the most Holy.

NOTE carefully that the city's destruction is NOT within the seventy weeks determined upon city and people.

The command to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Cyrus the Persian in 456 B.C.

The 70 weeks is divided up into three parts: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week.

The 7 weeks (49 years) of rebuilding Jerusalem by those who returned from exile are covered by Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi.

Then, it was followed by the 62 weeks (62x7=434years) of intertestamental silence and darkness. The appearance of John the Baptist broke the long dark silence; his appearance also signalled the imminent appearance of the promised Messiah, the Prince.

The 70th week commenced with the public appearance/ministry of the Messiah. In the midst of the week (30AD), the Messiah was cut off, having fulfilled all the six things stated in 9:24.

At the beginning of the 70th week, some spiritual-minded Jews, understood from Daniel's 70-week prophecy, were expecting the imminent appearance of the Messiah. See Luke 3:15.

456 BC (the years Cyrus issued the imperial edict) + 483 (69 x 7) = 27AD
The Messiah was sent into the world at His water baptism in 28AD (28 comes after 27).
Jesus's ministry lasted around 3.5 years; then He was cut off in the midst of the last week of 7 years.

 

it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance

Sir, how would you interpret this passage?
Hebrews 6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
------------

Here are some observations:
Hebrews was written to Hebrew believers in Jesus Christ who were under the temptation of reverting back to their old covenant religion, that is, of falling away from their faith in Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul wrote to exhort them to hold fast.

Hebrews 10:23 KJT
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised."

"For it is impossible... If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

The subjects of the passage are described as those
- that were enlightened
- that tasted of the heavenly gift
- that were partakers of the Holy Ghost
- that tasted the good word of God
- that tasted the powers of the world to come

1. Of whom are these statements describing?
- those still dead in trespasses and sins, or,
- those who are effectually called by God, AS WELL AS converted to Jesus Christ by the ministry of the word?
- another group?

2. "If they shall fall away..."
- those described in 1 above CAN fall away.
- fall away from what? (take careful note that falling away from their faith in Christ and falling away from the state of grace into which they have been effectually called are vastly different!)
- What does it mean to fall away?
- How does the passage describe the falling away?
("... they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh,
and put him to an open shame.)
- Do you see the heinousness of falling away?

3. Why is it impossible to renew them again to repentance IF they should fall away?
- What's the relationship between repentance and faith in Christ?
- How does this relationship explain the impossibility of renewing them, IF they fall away, unto repentance?

The above may help you to do your own interpretation.
After rightly dividing (interpretation) the word of truth,
make your own applications of the truths learned.