When Bible Study Isn't

[Dok]

Thanks very much, Kevin.

 

[chili]

Bingo!

 

[gemma]

..........Personally I believe that it comes down to faith. If we truely have faith in Jesus we will desire to obey Him and therefore our salvation is safe, but if we do not have true saving faith we will never be saved due to our sinful nature. This in essence is the Calvanist belief. Only we know if our faith is true as it will result in a desire to serve both God and man unconditionally.

I wholeheartedly agree!

 

[mistmann]

I'm sure you are familiar with Paul's instruction to Timothy to "rightly divide" scripture. Timothy needed to be clear on what was passing away (the Law) and the nature of the Good News, grace. Timothy could not look to the origins of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in witnessing to Gentiles. He could reference them when speaking to Jews, but he needed to make it clear that the teachings of Jesus to Jews in that day were applicable to the Kingdom of God, which had been "at hand." Once the Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ, the promise of the Kingdom of God on earth was phased out. It would not come into view again until after the Rapture, after the Tribulation, after Armageddon. The Jews needed to understand that; the Gentiles, knowing nothing of the Kingdom promise, needed to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord by grace through faith, the gift, not of the former Jewish law, rules, regulations, traditions, Kingdom promises, ceremonial washings / bathings, the Sabbath, others (a long list). Those Jews who gained insight into what was being offered to the Gentiles and accepted it, salvation by grace through faith, were saved, not of the works of the law, but of God's amazing grace.

Until we Christians learn to rightly divide scripture we will burden ourselves with the idea that the miracles / healings / promises available to the 12 + 70 as they went out to announce the Kingdom, are available today. They heralded the "at hand" Kingdom of God. Alas, the Jews rejected it, failed to connect the promises of old with the blessing of their Messiah, Jesus.

Failing to rightly divide does not mean that one is lost, bound for hell if one does not do that. It does mean that unnecessary burdens and misinterpretations and yes, heresies, are passed along to unsuspecting millions today, ala Hinn, Murdock, the Copelands, Capps, Meyer, and so many others on “Christian” TV, in local churches, in huge arenas.

Sorry for the delay in getting back here.

Your claim that the Lord somehow had a change of plans when the Jews rejected Christ is not only at odds with Scripture but also at odds with the Lord's proven ability to be well aware of all that is to happen in the future. Psalm 22 leaves us with no doubt Christ already knew He was to be rejected and crucified even in David's time. We know from Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22 that the plan has been a new earth under new heavens all along. From Hebrews 11:13 we know that all along the prophets and men of God of the OT regarded their true home as not here on earth but elsewhere. That on earth they were merely pilgrims and strangers (also translated sometimes as aliens).

We know from Revelation 20:7-14 that immediately after Armaggeddon comes judgement and the destruction of THIS earth.

Your comments about "rightly dividing" the scriptures and that Timothy had to use different parts of scripture when talking to the Jews than those he was to use in speakinjg to the Jews seems to indicate you have a misunderstanding of what the phrase translated as "rightly divide" actually means. It is a translation of the Greek word "orthotomeo" meaning (in this context - from Strong's) "to make straight and smooth, to handle aright, to teach the truth directly and correctly" and not dividing in the normal sense of the word. Darby (Darby's Literal Translation) translates it this way "cutting in a straight line the word of truth".

As Paul instructed Timothy we too must always take great care to ensure that what we teach is what the Bible actually SAYS "directly and correctly".