The BIG Picture (Q&A)

Phil.2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. There are a few things we must put into context in order to properly understand what Paul says here to the Philippian church about 'working out their salvation'. 1. The Jews had to add works to their faith in order to be inherit salvation The very essence of the law was built on a foundation of works. This is why the book of James hammers home the need to prove your faith with works . Even the need to endure in these works was needed to be able to enter into the Kingdom. Matt.24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The Jews had to obey the law and prove their faith to be counted worthy. They had to pick up their cross and foll...

The word 'repentance' , in the biblical context, translates simply to, 'a change of mind' . We cannot read any more than that into the word. The change of mind is motivated by God's good news that a person can be reconciled to God. So, if a person believes the good news of God, they ultimately have changed their mind from unbelief, and repented . Originally, it was Israel that was called to repent. Throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels, the prophets would bring the message of God to the Jews and provide the conditions of repentance. In the Gospels it was John the Baptist, Jesus and later, the 12 apostles, which called Israel to repent, for the King had arrived and the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Today, repentance is used widely in Christian circles. The problem however is that it is not understood correctly! The word has lost much of its original meaning and most people think it means penance. What is penance? Penance is defined as any act or a set of acti...

Answer Request: I wanted to hear what your take is on 1 Cor 11 - (head covering when praying). This was a letter written to the church of Corinth by Paul in particular to those Christians - but the way Paul speaks about how the woman came after man, for man, and about dishonour for not covering your head - What is your view on this? Although there are churches today that are practicing this 'rule', it is sad to say that they are not doing it because scripture commands it, but because they are stuck in a man-made system of tradition and/or denominational entrapment. However, for the majority of churches today, this practice is not adhered to and not enforced, and rightfully so. This is not a blatant rejection of scripture today, because when one digs deeper into the truth, one finds that this is more of a cultural issue in Paul's day than a direct command from the Lord that required women to cover their heads ...

Answer Request: I'm a Christian and I believe in Jesus and the Bible. My pastor at church spoke in tongues. I know it was because of The Holy Spirit since the Bible says so and its a good church, but I felt my heart jump like I was scared. Why is that? I love Jesus. In this Kingdom dispensation, the program of Israel under the law, the purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was so that the disciples could receive power to be witnesses of, and be able to testify with signs that Jesus was the Christ and Israel's Messiah. The Holy Spirit would empower them to speak in tongues, to prophecy, to bring things to remembrance (John 14:26) and provide "signs" or miracles to validate their message during the Acts period. Remember that for Jews to believe a prophet or an apostle, they required signs to validate the message. The sign of tongues, (which was the ability to speak in other discernable, and intelligible languages, and not unintelligible words) , was ...

Answer Request: What does the word "but" mean in Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts 1:5, Acts 11:15-16? Is water baptism gone? Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Luke 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: John 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. The "but" in those verses informs one that these are two baptisms for Israel. The fi...

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 ...

Answer Request: Why don't today's Christians realize Jesus spoke of Holy Spirit baptism in John Chapters 14, 15 & 16, "The Promise" (Acts 1:4-5; 8), the One baptism (Eph. 4:5)? Why do they believe Matt 28:19+ water baptism that makes Two baptisms violating Eph. 4:5? People do not realize that the grace dispensation today only has ONE baptism, that [waterless] baptism performed BY the Holy Spirit at the moment a person is saved. The person is immersed into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Most of Christendom today has unfortunately mixed up the doctrines of two separate programs in the Bible; the Kingdom (Law) Program and the Grace Program. In the Kingdom Program there are two baptisms. One of water, for the cleansing of sin, and one of Spirit, for the anointing of priesthood. BOTH are part of the requirements of the Kingdom gospel and both are absolutely required for salvation in order to enter into the Millennial Kingdom at Jesus second return....

God would have punished you IF you were living under Israel's Law covenant . The Law had conditions. If you do this, God says I will bless you. If you don’t do this, God says I will curse/punish you. This conditional living with related blessing and cursing is predominantly seen in Israel’s history during the Old Testament and Gospels. But today, you and I are under the dispensation of God’s grace. The Law conditions are not in effect today. God is not punishing us because we do not hold to the Old Testament Law. We have grace through the gospel and by sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Please understand that the tithe is an instruction exclusively to Israel (to the Jews). It formed part of their law and the offering of a 10th of their harvest and other things was to honour God and thank Him for His providence, (Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 14:24; 2 Chronicles 31:5). This program of Law has been put on hold in our age. Paul says that we are no longer under the law, but under...

Israel have always been under a covenant program. If they did what God commanded, they were blessed. If not, they fell under a curse. The very essence of the law was built on a foundation of works. This is why the book of James hammers home the need to prove your faith with works. Even the need to endure in these works was needed to be able to enter into the Kingdom. There are many verses in the Gospels that demand the need to endure, Matt.24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  Further statements that emphasis this point are, that they had to prove their faith, or be counted worthy, or pick up their cross and follow, or sell all they had and follow their Messiah. Works and endurance were key to the Jewish existence and salvation.  One more example that can imply this is the parable of the faithful servants. The end of the parable reads as follows, Matt.25:28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 29 For ...

Paul taught of only ONE baptism. What baptism is that? A waterless baptism of the Holy Spirit that places you into the Body of Christ at the moment you are saved. This is unique to the Body of Christ who receive salvation through the grace gospel. For the 12-apostles in the book of Acts, it was always TWO baptisms. The 12-apostles could never separate baptism (water and Spirit) from their gospel. Consider the instructions and order of the Kingdom gospel,  Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice that after a Jew repented, they had to be baptized in water. Water baptism was a requirement in the Kingdom gospel as it was for the cleansing for priesthood (Exo.19:6), something that ALL Jews had to do,  Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria ha...

There's a lot of people today that do a lot of good things, but these things are according to the Kingdom program which is NOT how God is working today and neither is it rewarding you today. For example, you might think that baptizing someone in water today is good and spiritual because it was done in Acts, but water baptism is meaningless in the grace dispensation. It's your faithfulness to the mysteries that will be accounted as a worthy walk and as good fruit [works] as you walk in the Spirit. Rom.2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel .  Rom 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel , and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery , which was kept secret since the world began, Notice the above verses! It says, "according to my gospel, AND the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, ....