The BIG Picture (Q&A)

TRUE or FALSE: Dispensational changes between Kingdom and Grace doctrine. God spoke doctrine to Israel by the prophets, and He speaks to us today through the mystery doctrine penned by the Apostle, Paul. All scripture is inspired by God and are words of truth and life, and although all scripture is for our learning, it is important to recognize and acknowledge that not all scripture is for our application. With this in mind, is the following passage doctrine for us today? True or false. Mar 11:25-26  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  (26)  But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. See the answer here:  Why do some feel like Christianity is contradicting?

God does not forgive sins one at a time when we commit them. Neither does He choose which sins to forgive and which not to. God’s forgiveness is total and complete . The provision of the cross, the blood of His Son, justifies us instantaneously and completely when we believe in His Son. Paul explains this in Romans chapter 3, Rom 3:21-24  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;  22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:  23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Before you were saved, you were a sinner. After you respond in faith to the grace gospel and trust that God saves you and justifies you, you remain a sinner. In other words, NOTHING changes in the body! However, EVERYTHING chan...

Asking for forgiveness... There is nothing wrong in asking for forgiveness if you know you have fallen into sin or had a moment of weakness. It is completely natural to want to apologize for your wrongdoings, but, realize that this does NOT ever affect your positional stance with God. Through a faith response to the grace gospel of Jesus Christ, and His cross work, you are once and forever cleansed from sin. As grace believers, our sins have been nailed to the cross of Christ, and we have, by the grace of God, received in its place, the imputed righteousness of Christ. Nothing can change our position in Christ and before the Father, so asking forgiveness, or not asking forgiveness, does not change or affect our standing before God. The grace believer's salvation is forever secure and they are "sealed with the Spirit." (Rom. 5:1-2, 8:29-39, 6-8; Eph. 1:13-14, 4:30; Phili. 1:6; 2Tim. 1:12). "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of ...

Below is a comment made in response to an article about " How can you be saved ".  Comment: There is one thing you HAVE to do. You need to REPENT of your SINS and ask God’s forgiveness. Then you can accept the free gift of God, SALVATION.  Is this true?  It is my conviction that it is not! Salvation is not dependent on a person having to repent and ask for forgiveness. Let me clarify below, Repentance is a sticky topic and one that is very skewed due to the influence of confessionals in a certain sect of Christianity. To repent is not to verbally state, “I am sorry”, which many believe is the case. Rather, to repent is defined as “a change of heart”. This is brought about by hearing the gospel, and through it the power of the Holy Spirit will bring conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgement. Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart ...

Answer Request: Can the evilest person alive be forgiven and saved? What about a traitor can they be forgiven and saved? It says God can save the vilest person, is that true? The salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ is unconditional. Please note what I say. God's grace is only available through Jesus Christ, BUT when we receive that grace, it is unconditional. This grace is free and given in unlimited amount irrespective of who you are and what you have done. This means that if a person (irrespective of their life; how good or bad they were, what their crimes or sins were, or what they have done) makes a choice to respond to the grace gospel and believe that Jesus Christ is their ONLY hope, they will be saved and come into right standing with God. It is important to understand God's grace, and what His grace means, in order to comprehend this. God's grace is so far above what we as people can understand based on what we see and experience in the wor...

Forgiveness is one step of faith. That’s how close it is. You see, God has already forgiven us through Jesus Christ. He has already provided every human being with forgiveness. It is up to that person to believe it and receive it. Paul writes the following, Col.2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; When you respond to the gospel in faith, you are instantaneously and utterly forgiven. Your sins are placed upon Christ and nailed to His cross. Then, in place of that, Christ’s perfect righteousness is imputed to your account so that you stand completely pure and holy before God. This is our spiritual (or positional) stance before God the moment we are saved. Conditionally, we still live in the flesh (for a time being), and this walk is ...

Answer Request: If you return to sinning ways but realize what you're doing is wrong and turn back to God, will the Holy Spirit still be in you? When we become Christians, by responding in faith to the grace gospel, we are immediately saved, and our spirit is regenerated. However, this does NOT change our minds (that are still filled with our ‘old' lifestyle and habits) and it does not change our flesh nature! Even as Christians, and even though we aspire to live a holy life, by walking in accordance to the indwelling Spirit, we still fall. Even the best of us fail in temptations and deceit. Sin will ever be present as we live in a sinful and corrupt world, and God knows this! His Word is there to help us to renew our minds (Romans 12:2) and to strengthen us by filling us with truth, and part of our daily purpose is to soak in His Word and allow it to change us from within, but our Adamic nature will always be present, and sin will always be sneaking up on us. We...

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, ...

Colossians 2:10 …and you [saved by the grace gospel] are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in [waterless, 1Cor.12:13] baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven [past tense] you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. One must understand that when you respond in faith to the grace gospel, you are utterly forgiven of ALL your sins, past, present and future. Thinking any less means that you diminish the power of the cross, the sacrifice of Ch...

Answer Request: I'm in despair. I feel like I won't be forgiven for my sins. God doesn't love me. There's no hope for me anymore. I give up on my journey to salvation. What should I do? The first thing to understand is that faith is not feeling . Faith is not in your head or in your emotions. What is faith? It is a confident knowing that something is true even if you don't feel it. It's a choice you make and a stance you take without the evidence to back it up. Now, the above is important to understand! It is important that you come to the position of accepting it as true. So, read it again and let it sink in. With the above truth let me bring you to one of the most famous scripture passages in the bible. Let's look at this verse through the eyes of faith, not feeling! John 3:16 For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his S...

There are many persons that use the Lord's prayer as a template for their prayers. This of course is fine if you take its structure as an example and start with affirmations and worship, then pray about your needs and ask for provision, protection, and strength in your daily walk. It is not a good idea to pray the prayer word for word however. Why not? It is because the words within this prayer example are connected to the Jewish Kingdom program and is not relevant for you and I today. Let's first start by looking at the prayer example that Jesus taught his disciples,  Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come , Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors . 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Now let's...

As a child I recited a simple bedtime prayer that included asking for daily forgiveness. In the innocence of child's prayer, this was beautiful, but as we are exposed to, and grow in the truths of God's Word, we would learn that there are two primary periods where forgiveness is dealt with differently. It is imperative to learn the difference and apply the right mindset and faith to our current relationship with God regarding forgiveness.  During the Law dispensation, forgiveness of God was conditional. One had to merit forgiveness from God by obeying specific instructions (works) to receive forgiveness from Him. At the time that the temple was built, around 1000 BC, God said the following to Israel in the book of Chronicles,  2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." So we see t...