The BIG Picture (Q&A)

The Sabbath day is a holyday under the Jewish law program. We are not under law, but under a new program of grace that God began when Israel was blinded due to their unbelief and rejection of their Messiah. So there is no need to choose any specific day. You can worship God, and gather for prayer and fellowship on any day. (Praise the Lord!!) Let me give you some background to support my reply: In Exodus 20:8-11, the bible defines the Sabbath law, that it was an absolutely required ordinance to keep. As a matter of fact, it carried the death penalty for anyone who broke this law. In Numbers 15:32-36 we encounter someone picking up sticks on the Sabbath and even this simple or mundane task incurred the fateful sentence. This law (as with all the other Mosaic laws) would remain in force throughout the Old Testament, into the Gospels, and even into Acts. It was only suspended after the Jerusalem Council Meeting in Acts 15 where Paul's grace gospel and doctrine became the new and only ...

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Why does Paul say he is not 'ashamed' of the gospel of Christ? Have you considered that the word ashamed stands out as unusual or odd in this sentence. Why would you be ashamed of something that has innate power to save another person? Was there something connected to the gospel of Christ that caused Paul to say this? Let's dig a bit deeper to understand this peculiar statement. The cross was a curse to the Jews Deuteronomy 21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. To the Jews who were under the Mosaic Law...

The Kingdom Gospel preached by Peter and the other 11, was a completely different gospel than Paul's Grace Gospel for today. Rom.16:25; Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 2:7-8 Paul's gospel requires that to be saved we must trust in the death, the burial and resurrection of Christ (1 Cor.15:1-4). Prior to Paul, no one preached that the gospel of salvation had been sent to Gentiles nor offered salvation through faith in the cross work of Christ. The Kingdom Gospel that Peter preached was proclaimed to Jews ONLY. Throughout the four Gospels and even into the early chapters of Acts, the prophetic program of the King and the Kingdom was still in effect and the audience remained wholly Jewish. On the day of Pentecost, Peter addressed only Jews, i.e., "men of Judea" (Acts 2:14), "men of Israel" (Acts 2:22), and the "house of Israel" (Acts 2:36). The Kingdom Gospel did not recognize the cros...

Answer Request: Can someone expound on the age of grace/age of law differential in dispensationalism? If I expound on this question I will write a book, LOL! There is so much detail I can get into here, but let’s avoid all that right now and just give the absolute bottom line. What you have identified in your question is the great division in scripture between God’s two programs that form part of the whole redemption plan of God for humanity. What is the LAW program? It begins with Moses and belongs exclusively to the Jews. The Law is conditional; If you do this you are blessed, but if you disobey you are judged and punished. We see this trend throughout Israel’s history. This program is accompanied by signs and miracles. God works in the physical realm and shows His mighty hand in and through Israel. Salvation in the LAW program is by faith in the Messiah and by works of obedience (being baptized, receiving the Holy Spirit, obeying the Law, enduring to the end) During th...

There are TWO things to be aware of regarding this question about paying for the consequences of your sin. ONE: From a spiritual, and eternal point of view, the consequences of your sin has been completely removed, assuming that you have heard and responded in faith to the grace gospel**. The moment you believe in the grace gospel, you are eternally saved, and your sin is nailed to the cross of Christ, (Col.2:13-14). The Bible says that the penalty (or consequence) of sin is death, but because you placed your faith and hope in the cross-work of Christ alone, you are forgiven, that penalty is removed, and you have been acquitted in spirit and have life. Eph.24 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)  Rom.5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, ...

No. They are not the same locations (or destinations). I'll keep this short as there is a lot that can be said about both "heaven" and "the Kingdom of God". Heaven is divided into three levels, (1) The 3rd heaven which is where God's throne is, (2) The 2nd heaven which is the created universe containing the stars, planets and other heavenly bodies (3) The 1st heaven which is the atmosphere around earth and where the bird and planes fly. (For example, Paul was taken up into the 3rd heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2) The Kingdom of God could have many meanings, but the meaning that it most predominant in the New Testament concerns the 1000-year earthly kingdom of Christ's literal and physical reign after the 7-year Tribulation, known as the Millennial Kingdom. The book of Matthew calls it the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is the Kingdom that comes from heaven to earth when Christ comes at His second coming. It is this Millennial Kingdom of Christ's earthly ...

This is a great question! 👍 My son is married already, but if he were 5-years old again, I'd stir up his awe by pointing to a high skyscraper and say, "heaven is higher than that!". After this, I'd point to a plane flying overhead and I'd say, "heaven is higher than that!". Lastly, I'd take him out into the yard during the daytime and point to the moon in the blue sky. Then I'd say, "heaven is higher than that!". As the dad, I'd just stand in pleasure at the reaction of his wonderment. How precious is child-like faith. As for you and I as adults, we'd have to wade through all our logic and paradigms in order to release ourselves into simple faith and just stand in awe when God, our heavenly Father, through His Word says, "heaven is higher than that!". Let's see what God says in His Word. The "waters above the firmament" is the divide between the 3rd heaven (God's throne), and the created heavens (or ...

Because God is just and righteous, He could not simply "dish out mercy" . The mercy we received came at a price! The cost of our punishment had to be paid. Jesus chose to take our punishment upon Himself, and in doing so, we could freely receive God's mercy. Mercy: According to the Bible, we have all sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8). As a result of that sin, we all deserve the judgement of death (Romans 6:23) and to be destroyed in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:12-15). With that in mind, every day we live is an act of God's mercy. If God gave us all what we deserve, we would all be, right now, condemned for eternity. A simple definition would be that mercy is deliverance from judgment . In essence, mercy is God not punishing us as our sins deserve . Grace: We deserve nothing from God. God does not owe us anything. Anything good that we experience is a result of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:5). Grace is simply defined as unmerited favour . God fav...

Answer Request: What is it about the mark of the beast that connects it to loss of salvation? Salvation is anything pertaining to what can enable or PREVENT people from receiving God's gift of salvation. So how is it a mark on the hand or the forehead as mentioned in Revelation can undo or show a decision that has been made against the good news of Jesus' work of redemption for us? What are the elements of that mark which must be present and intrinsic in order that it comes true as predicted that none who have the mark will have eternal life? One must remember that although sin separates man from God, it is their faith in a 'gospel' that saves them. Salvation has ALWAYS been by having faith in God; by trusting God's word above anything else. The word 'Gospel' is translated as "good news". This good news is ANY message that God chose to reveal to man at that point in time when they lived. If that person heard the good news that God com...

Answer Request: HAVE WE BEEN WARNED NOT TO JUDGE OTHERS, is this correct? Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matt.7:1,2)……. Then Paul says: “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and [in] all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;” (Phil.1:9,10). So what is it then? Judge or do not judge? The following is my personal understanding and stance on "judging others" in this grace dispensation.  When reading from the Gospels (or any book outside Paul's epistles), one must always remember that the advice or commandments given there belong to the Law dispensation. Your quote above from Matt.7:1-2 is a classic example of law. Notice the conditional statements given by Jesus. Paraphrasing, Jesus is saying, "If you jud...

A personal interpretation of the destinations of Israel and the Body of Christ according to a dispensational right division of scripture. Genesis 22:16-17 ... By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou [Abraham] hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son [from sacrifice]: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; In the above reiteration of the covenant promise to Abraham, God mentions two very different locations. The stars and the sand. Now what is significant of these? Why did God speak of these two locations? There MUST be a reason! Nothing God says is insignificant or meaningless! So, in order to understand the meaning of this, we need to look into other scripture for confirmation. Scripture must interpret scripture! Before we continue, I want to point out that this is not the ON...

Can I just start by saying that God does not hold a sword to your neck, expecting you to serve His purpose after you get saved. He does not lay any pressure on you to slog it out in service to Him, whether by fear or by compulsion. No! God saves you from eternal damnation, but once you’re saved, your purpose is yours to choose. Now stop and read that again! God’s salvation is primarily for your eternity. However, your temporary life here on earth is still yours to live. How you live it is based on your relationship with God from the point of your salvation and onwards. You can choose to live for God out of thankfulness to Him, giving yourself over to be a living sacrifice (Rom.12:1), or you can choose to ignore Gods Word and resist renewing your mind by studying His Word and fight against the gentle transforming work of the Holy Spirit within you. In either case, whatever you choose, you remain saved and sealed unto salvation (Eph.4:30). OK. Now that we have settled that, consider p...

I’ll answer your question in a roundabout way. In the garden of Eden, God walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. They were in fellowship and this was as it was designed to be. But sin and the resulting fall of humanity changed this all, separating man from God so that we were not able to look upon Him (for their own survival). Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. Since we are not able to look upon God, we require faith! Faith to reach out to Him, faith to communicate with Him, faith to fellowship with Him. So, in the age of antiquity, (ie: the period in the Bible before Israel), God was visible in His creation. Man was able to look at the mountains and seas, nature, the sunsets, and the stars at night. All creation would testify to the glory and existence of God. Romans 1 tells us the following, Rom.1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible t...

In the grace dispensation today, a believer's salvation is established in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. In other words, Jesus has done everything necessary to redeem you. There is absolutely zero more works necessary that you still need to do in order to be saved. There is no need for you to earn salvation! It is a gift, freely given by God to those who would choose to simply receive it. This is God's utter grace poured out over you in Christ. Eph.2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Once we have responded to the grace gospel, we are eternally saved. The Holy Spirit, at the moment of our salvation, seals us for that day when Christ returns. Nothing can change that! Once sealed by the Holy Spirit, you are eternally identified as God's child. So, this brings us to the working out of our salvation.   As mentioned above, it has NOT...

The Holy Spirit resides inside a believer. Since this is the case, I sense His presence within me, steering me, guiding me by His 'still small voice', and with the peace that He provides me to know that He always has the best in store for me. Personally I don't attribute any bodily sensations to the Holy Spirit, like a warm feeling or a fleeting touch on the shoulder, etc. These are just bodily sensations or the mind creating these awarenesses. I am aware that the Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations promote these external sensations due to their doctrine. I have come from these denominations and lived under this doctrine for years, but I speak for myself and from my own experiences when I say that whatever I experienced during those times was my own fabrication. Today, I believe that God works through His Word and not through physical sensations . He has called us to walk in faith, not in sight , (2 Cor.5:7). It can be a dangerous thing to seek out physical sensation...

Answer Request: In the Bible, what have you read that has left you in utter disbelief leaving you wondering just how, just why? It’s not so much a verse of a passage that I’ve read in the Bible that left me in utter disbelief, it’s more of a view of the Word that I discovered one day that left me wondering how I missed this for so long! The view I refer to is an instruction that Paul gives to Timothy (in 2 Tim.2:15). Paul told Timothy that he should ensure that he interprets the Word based on dividing it, (between God’s plan and program for Israel, and His plan and program for the Body of Christ) . Dividing the Word correctly will ensure that these programs are not mixed, which, if happened, will cause much confusion and contradictions when trying to make sense of the content of the Bible. Let me give you some insights here. Consider how a dispensation, ie: the administering or managing of things, can change matters like: the gospel message, forgiveness, diet, baptism, ob...

The four gospels are a reflection of the life and purpose of Christ according to the prophets and the Kingdom program. God selected 4 Jewish apostles to document the life of Jesus Christ from 4 different views, or characteristics based on this program. Let me outline these in summary: There are 4 "BEHOLD" prophecies that represent how Israel should recognize their Messiah. Zech.9:9 Behold your KING comes Zech.3:8 Behold my SERVANT Zech.6:12 Behold the MAN Isa.40:9 Behold your GOD There are 4 "BRANCH" prophecies that define the characteristics of the Messiah. Jer.23:5 ...a righteous BRANCH and a King shall reign...in the earth. Zech.3:8 ...my Servant the BRANCH. Zech.6:12 ...man whose name is The BRANCH; Isa.4:2 ...the BRANCH of the LORD... The gospels also harmonies with the prophecies that describe the 4 faces and characteristics of God as specified in Ezek.1:10 and Rev.4:7 Matthew = Jesus as King (LION – MESSIAH/KING OF THE JEWS) – genealogy of Matthew traces back...