by Jamie Pantastico | May 5, 2021 | Israel and Bible Prophecy |
The Word of God is the source of all our joy, love, and hope. The Word Himself is the object of our faith and who is the Word? Jesus Christ.
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ‘
John 1:1
‘Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ‘
2 Timothy 2:15
‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ‘
II Timothy 3:16
‘And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ‘
II Peter 1:19
The latest Baylor University of Health Science Center study found that teaching mental health best practices with Bible study has great benefit. This research proved to reduce symptoms of PTSD and increase the sense of purpose. Christianity Today quoted Robert L. Briggs, American Bible Society (ABS) president and CEO: “As America experiences a mental health crisis, this study shows the potential benefits of faith-sensitive care for traumatized people. The Bible has been shown to be a vital source for emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental healing .” The thesis examined the efficacy of the ABS program ” Healing the Wounds of Trauma ,” which was taught within North Prince George, Virginia’s Riverside Regional Jail. A total of 210 imprisoned men and women volunteered to participate in the five-session study which involves qualified facilitators reading Scripture with attendees while guiding them in the method of acknowledging their suffering, disclosing it, and taking their distress to the cross of Christ for redemption. This helped them release the issues that are holding them back from empathy for others and compassion. The participants were also asked to answer questions about themselves and their mental well-being prior to, directly after, one month after, and three months after completing the program. Another 139 imprisoned individuals reportedly offered to participate in the study without participating in the curriculum. When researchers compared the two groups, they discovered that the program produced clinically relevant effects. “Having a control group that is comparable to the experimental group allows us to determine if the intervention is having an independent or unique effect,” said Byron R. Johnson, one of the three researchers at Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion who worked on the study. Around 50% of the participants were white and aged between 18 and 65. An inmate has, on average, on average, been in prison five to six years before they are paroled. The study groups were divided into 22 clusters, with 10 male and 12 female participants. Participants aged from 18 and 65 years of old being around half white and half black. Much of them were in Virginia prison on parole or rehabilitation and on average five or six years they were in court. While the control group demonstrated much of the same attributes, such as being of comparable age, had similar interests, and the same marital status, they were less likely to have […]
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by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 28, 2021 | Bible Doctrine |
Contrary to the world and many in Christendom today. True believers are NOT to be sandpaper to the world. But instead, the Lord admonishes us to be kind, gentle and what is probably most difficult… we are to be PATIENT WITH THE LOST & EVIL WORLD AROUND US.
The Lord Himself is the epitome of patience…as the apostle Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:15;
and consider that the longsuffering (or patience) of our Lord is salvation (of who or what? ‘mankind’)—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
II Peter 3:15
Paul writes Holy Spirit inspired of course, in 2 Timothy, that we are to be kind, gentle, and patient with both fellow believers and the lost world around us.
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
2 Timothy 2:24-25
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 22, 2021 | Daily Encouragement |
The moment you try to do anything to merit favor with God for salvation, it is no longer a gift. When salvation becomes something you did (anything) for your salvation instead of what Christ has already finished on the cross, God’s grace is nullified. Galatians 2:20-21.
‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”’
Galatians 2:20-21
Think about this, if you have added anything other than by faith alone in the finished work of the cross for your salvation… Will God let you into His Heaven?
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith (faith alone. It’s just by our faith in what Christ accomplished, and made possible by the Grace of God),…
and that not of yourselves (because there is nothing you can do anyway); (Why? Because) it (salvation) is the gift of God not of works, lest anyone should boast.
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 22, 2021 | Verse-by-Verse Bible Studies |
The Biblical truth that God revealed to the apostle Paul alone new revelations that had been kept hidden in the mind of God is avoided and ignored by most preachers and teachers.
In Ephesians chapter three, Paul unloads and unpacks the mystery or secret of Christ.
Peter, John, and James didn’t teach this, Isaiah didn’t teach this, Jeremiah didn’t teach this. Why? It was all hidden in the mind of God until revealed to this one man, Paul. Just that simple concept is hard for people to deal with but it is a Biblical fact. Scripture is explicit, the ascended and glorified Lord Himself revealed to Paul and Paul alone these new revelations. Let’s take a look at the first 3 words of Ephesians chapter three verse one.
‘For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— ‘
Ephesians 3:1
For this reason,…
What does Paul mean when he says ‘For this reason…? ” He is referring to what he just expounded on in the previous two chapters. Of which the highlight is that NOW (and not before) we are saved by grace through faith alone. Passages most are familiar with and have seen on Bible tracts…
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith (faith alone), and that not of yourselves (because there is nothing you can do anyway); (Why? Because) it (salvation) is the gift of God (the moment you try to do anything to merit favor with God, it is no longer a gift and becomes something that you did for your salvation in place of what Christ has already completed and you nullify God’s grace Galatians 2:20-21), not of works, lest anyone should boast.
You will not find this language or teaching anywhere in Scripture except from Paul’s epistles.
We will continue and examine the remainder of Ephesians 3:1, in another post.
by Jamie Pantastico | Apr 12, 2021 | Bible Doctrine |
The apostle Paul could teach the full counsel of God because he was given the full counsel of God. Unlike Peter and the eleven and all Jewish writers before Paul, it was Paul alone who was given the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27; Ephesians 3:1-11).
Peter wrote, more like pleaded with his readers that they must go to Paul’s epistles for the things regarding salvation. These are Peter’s last Holy Spirit-inspired words he would write before he was martyred.
‘and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things (What things? Salvation!), in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. You, therefore, beloved, since you know this (Know what? What he is telling his readers to do and where to go for salvation!) beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; ‘
II Peter 3:15-17
Why not admonish his readers to refer back to the sermon on the mount? Or refer back to the Lord’s earthly ministry? “Regarding Salvation”. Remember, these are the apostle Peter’s very last words he would write before he is martyred and his Holy Spirit admonishment is to read Paul’s letters for salvation.
This is in no way a suggestion just to read Paul’s epistles and forget the rest of the Bible. NO WAY! Peter isn’t suggesting that nor does any other author of Scripture. I believe that we should study all Scripture to exhaustion. But what the apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:15-17 couldn’t be more clear. If you seek salvation you must read Paul’s letters. And if you don’t understand Paul’s epistles don’t try twisting them to fit your theology or you are doomed.
The Answer to the Question Why Did Peter say Read Paul’s Epistles?
First, the apostle Peter writes his last letter, 2 Peter sometime around 67-68 AD. This is 17 years after the Jerusalem council (51AD), and the Jerusalem council is crucial to why Peter writes what he did in 2 Peter 3:15-17. The Jerusalem council is where God revealed to the apostle Paul to go up to Jerusalem and explain to Peter and the leaders of the Jerusalem church how things would be moving forward. What things specifically? That salvation was for both Jew and Gentile by faith alone in the finished work of the cross apart from practicing the law and temple worship. And it was the apostle Peter who stood up during this council and said this:
‘But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”’
Acts 15:11
Peter didn’t stand up and tell Paul to take a hike. No one at the Jerusalem council told Paul to get out of here with these new revelations. Not one of the Church elders said we’ve been practicing the Mosaic law for 1500 years so thank you Paul but you can leave now. Why? Because they all recognized that Paul had been given new revelations from the ascended and glorified Lord Himself. But it was incredibly hard for Peter and the others of the Jerusalem church to just drop their Judaism (understandably). As we see Peter not long after the Jerusalem council has fallen back under the law and it is the apostle Paul that confronts Peter to his face, upbraided Peter and all that were doing the same.
‘Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I (Paul) withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him (Peter), so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I (this is Paul speaking to Peter) said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”’
Galatians 2:11-21
Wow! Today, we would say ‘he really told him off, and Holy Spirit inspired to boot!
From the time of the Jerusalem council and Peter’s last letter (about 17 years), he came to understand (remembering what was revealed to him by Paul at the Jerusalem council) that the law was fulfilled at the cross and there was no need to practice the law or temple worship. So after Peter’s great ministry with the Lord and through the early chapters of the book of Acts, after witnessing and performing countless miracles, witnessing the incarnation, walking with the resurrected Lord, and witnessing His ascension. The apostle Peter’s last epistle and last words admonish his readers to read Paul’s epistles for things regarding salvation.
Please take more than a moment and meditate on this truth.