As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
I Timothy 1:3
The apostle Paul’s constant concern — is don’t be deceived. Don’t be led astray. But, deception comes in a hundred different forms. It was no different than it is today, and it’s so subtle.
Satan has one objective. And that is to lead people from God’s saving grace and he doesn’t care how he does it. He will use the Scriptures. He uses churches. He’ll use anything that you can imagine (the world system).
Yes, the devil uses the Word of God and he uses churches (the men who lead the Church). Paul had to deal with this very thing in his day and so do we. NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
The apostle Paul warned the body of Christ for 3 years with tears. That as soon as he was off the scene savage wolves would come in from outside the Church and from within. With one mission to steal, kill and destroy the Church.
‘For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn every one night and day with tears.’
Acts 20:29-31
What? Certainly, there is nothing wrong with Scripture and going to church, right? Of course not, congregations led by faithful men standing fast in the gospel of grace, of course not.
But, if unfaithful men and women are used by Satan to guide people off course just a bit (with a false gospel) or by a lot (with no gospel at all). Satan wins!
God is absolute. Christendom today treats God like a Santa Claus-type figure. By twisting Scripture to make God fit into their beliefs (thee flesh), the lifestyle they see fit, and not what God has clearly delineated in Scripture.
We don’t get to tweak God’s nose and say this is how I want it. No way!
God is Sovereign. He’s absolute. And like it or not we have an exclusive Gospel.
You cannot water it down with man’s ideas and assume that God will accept it. He will not. He is Sovereign. He is absolute. And He is an exclusivist.
Matthew 7:13-15, comes to mind. Narrow is the way…and how many find it? Few! Why? Because the majority doesn’t want to take God at His word. Because the majority has been deceived by false teachers that have come into the Church from outside (bringing the world system into the church) and from within.
This is exactly what the Lord said in Matthew 7:14-15, and what the apostle Paul warned about many years later in Acts 20:29-31.
‘“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.’
Matthew 7:13-15
False teachers will twist Scripture with perverse doctrine to convince masses of people that “Oh well, certainly God will accept me, in spite of my sinful lifestyle, in spite of living a life in complete opposition to the doctrine God revealed for grace age believers.” No, He won’t. God is absolute.
The reason God set aside the Nation of Israel was to fulfill the promises of Genesis 3:15, that the Seed of the woman would come to be the Redeemer of mankind.
In order to bring that to a fulfillment, He sovereignly chose one man, Abraham, to create a people for Himself, the Jewish people, and promised Abraham that through him would come a great nation and through this nation would come the Messiah.
So God begins to prepare the Nation of Israel for the role of being the missionaries to the nations. Exodus 19:6 says, “And ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of Priests and a holy nation.” He put them under Law (not the Gentiles), to prepare them for that tremendous role that every Jew would carry out.
But when the opportunity came and they could have had their King and the Kingdom, and they could have brought all the nations of the world to a knowledge of their God (Zechariah 8:23), they dropped the ball. In their unbelief, they rejected their promised King and the Kingdom (Luke 19:14).
The crescendo of this rejection and unbelief was the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7 & 8.
Resulting in God turning from the nation of Israel and calling out another apostle, the apostle Paul. God commissioned Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles with the gospel of grace (Acts 9:15; Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:1-11). Which is salvation to both Jew and Gentile based solely on God’s grace appropriated by faith alone in the finished work of the cross APART FROM THE MOSAIC LAW AND TEMPLE WORSHIP (Romans 3:21).
Ultimately, the temple was destroyed and the Jews were dispersed into every nation under the sun.
God’s Eternal Purpose
So God, through His unsearchable wisdom and knowledge; sovereignly commits ALL ISRAEL (the Jewish people) to disobedience (Romans 11:32) so that He might have mercy and ALL MANKIND.
And at the very same time promises (at some future time) to return to His chosen people, when He decides the last Gentile has come into the body of Christ (Acts 15:16; Romans 11:25). To fulfill the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David (Romans 15:8).
‘Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”’
Lamentations 3:22-24
God’s mercies are indescribable.
The Hebrew word for “mercy” is used over 250 times in the old testament. Ultimately it refers to God’s love which encompasses God’s amazing grace, love, sovereignty, holiness, forgiveness, compassion, truth, and of course faithfulness.
Who’s writing?: The prophet Jerimiah
Who is Jeremiah writing to?: Israel, specifically ‘Judah’
When was it written?: 586 – 520 BC
What were the circumstances?: Judah has been taken captive by Babylon as punishment from God for Judah’s many transgressions. Just as the prophet Jerimiah had been prophesying for 40 years and he (Jeremiah) was Lamenting over his prophecy being fulfilled right before his eyes.
How to make an application to our lives today?:
It is crystal clear from the book of Lamentations and all of Scripture that God will restore His chosen people, the Jews. In spite of Israel’s severe punishments which include being removed from their homeland and dispersed into every nation on the planet. God will fulfill all the covenant promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. God is faithful. The Jews are back in their homeland after being out of the land for almost 2000 years and against all odds. God promised He would kick them out of their land but He also promised that He would bring His chosen people back. Not because the Jews are now obedient and faithful. No way!
The Jews are back in their land because God is faithful. And that’s the application for us today as members of the body of Christ under grace. That no matter how tough life gets, or how unfaithful we may feel.
God is faithful all the time and He will never let us go (Read Romans 8:31-39).
The Bible is a progressive revelation. Adam didn’t have the totality of God’s plan of redemption. Nor did Noah, Abraham, Moses or any of the prophets know it all. Not even the twelve had the full counsel of God (Luke 9:44,45; 18:31-34; John 20:29), because God’s revelations were progressive.
God dealt with mankind differently throughout the ages. Same God, but different instructions for salvation and how to worship Him between Adam and the apostle Paul.
So as we progress on up through human history, and move up through the Scriptures, we finally come to this place where the apostle Paul becomes the go-to person for instructions on how to worship God, on how believers are to live their daily lives, and of course, the gospel by which all mankind will be judged.
It is the Apostle Paul who reveals how that all of these things (all that happen before the Lord revealed the gospel of grace to him) were leading to the place where Salvation could now (not before) go to the whole human race (“the Mystery” Romans 16:25). Not by works of righteousness which we have done (Titus 3:5; Romans 3:21), but by faith in what Christ accomplished in His death, burial, and resurrection (“the gospel” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to shed His blood on the cross and died for our sins.
Was buried in the ground.
And rose again from the dead three days later.
I Corinthians 15:1-4
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,
The Gospel is a ‘FREE GIFT’
The gospel is a free gift because everything that God the Father required for the payment of mankind’s sin was accomplished through God the Son. By and through Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and reserrection.
‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’
II Corinthians 5:21
‘being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ‘
Romans 3:24
‘and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ‘
Philippians 3:9
Salvation is a Free Gift
Romans 6:23
‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
Romans 5:15
“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one (this is Adam) many (or all as the Scripture says in other places) be dead, much more the grace of God,…”
Romans 5:16
“And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one (Adam) to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.”
Romans 5:18
“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.”
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