Verification with Paul

Let’s review a bit and get on to the final application of this mystery.  First, we learned that Prophecy was written to the Jewish people and predicted how God would fulfill many of His covenant promises with Israel.  Taking one of these promises and applying it directly to a Gentiles life is not only dangerous, but it can be frustrating.  For instance if I am taking what Jeremiah 31:33-34 says, “…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother…”  You might be thinking, “What is wrong with me?  I don’t have all God’s laws in my mind, I need to be taught and I know my neighbor does too.”

Next, we learned that Paul was an apostle to the Gentile and had a supremely unique place in Biblical prophecy.  His message was the most difficult for Jewish people to understand.  First, Paul’s message was not in prophecy at all.  Jesus had a difficult time with the Jewish people (they crucified Him after all) and much of His story was laid out pretty clearly in prophecy.  Image how well Paul was received with a message that was not in the Holy Scriptures, I guess it is no surprise that he was harassed his entire ministry and eventually imprisoned and killed. 

Second, Paul’s unique message was to the Body of Christ, which including any believers in Jesus Christ.  As we studied earlier, in Paul’s message of the mystery there is no distinction between Jew or Greek.  Paul had a huge burden for his Jewish brethren (Romans 9:3), however, due to their unbelief he turned the focus of his ministry to the Gentiles (Acts 13:45-46).  This made many Jewish people angry and jealous of this new message.   

This leads me to the last application of the mystery before 2012, next year I am going to start my blog with my testimony and then move on to talking about faith and our salvation.  So, because of what you know about the mystery, approach the Bible by considering who the audience is for the portion you are studying.  Understand where you are in the Bible, is the portion of Scripture part of prophecy or mystery.  DON’T underestimate the importance of all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17), however, DON’T try to apply the whole Bible directly to your life.  Study the whole thing, apply Paul’s writings.  If you come to a Scripture that seems difficult, see what Paul (Romans-Hebrews) says about it.  In the Old Testament, the Hebrews were given strict rules about what to eat, here is what Paul says about that.  Romans 14: 3-4, “One man has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.  Let not him who eats regard with contempt him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.”  And so it goes, if you are being taught out of a portion of Scripture that is not part of the mystery just cross reference it to decide if this is a concept I should apply directly to my life, or is this a concept teaching me about God’s character and how He deals with people?  If you feel cheated because I just drastically cut down your Biblical application, don’t be dismayed.  If you could correctly apply to your life all that is in even one of Paul’s books all the time, you would make such an impact on your world, I can’t even comprehend.  If anyone out there is close could you please let me know, I would love to read your blog!     

A Literal Interpretation

So what, now you know some interesting, obscure Bible facts, does it have any impact on how you look at the Bible tomorrow?  I hope so.  Here is one application you can make as you apply the teaching of the mystery to your spiritual life. 

First, I want to make a comment about literal interpretation of Scripture.  The Bible is a book intended to be applied literally.  In other words, the Red Sea really did part, a pillar of cloud and fire really did guide Israel through the desert, the walls of Jericho really did fall down after Israel marched around them.  I have heard gifted preachers and teachers take parts of Scripture and extrapolate meaning.  Now of course, if a prophet from Scripture or Jesus is speaking and relaying a dream or parable it is to be taken as it is explained. 

I will never forget several Christmases ago when a preacher was using the well known Christmas prophecy from Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders…”  He explained that this was referring to the governing of our lives will be on the shoulders of Christ.  He was explaining that Christ wants to govern our lives.  If I take a literal view of Scripture then this makes no sense.  It seems to me that the prophecy is predicting that a son would be born and He would be in charge of the government.  However, if we look at the life of Christ we never see Him in charge of any government.  Is this Scripture just another contradiction or something that can be explained away by adding meaning to the words of the Bible?  I believe there is an actual literal interpretation just as there is with all Scripture if you take the time to dig deep enough.    

Many people feel the need to make Scripture make sense by adding meaning to the words.  This is a very dangerous thing to do.  How can I pick and choose those portions that should be taken literally verses the portions that I can just designate some random meaning?  Be careful if you find yourself doing this, because before long you will find someone who wants to take a part of Scripture that you take literally and apply their own random meaning.  People can explain away the resurrection, it did not really happen.  Jesus’ followers were so devoted and felt such a loss that they comforted themselves with tales of Him appearing to them.  Spiritualizing Scripture is very dangerous, be careful when you hear someone add meaning to the text of the Bible.  There is plenty of meaning, God does not need us to add anything.   

So what does the passage from Isaiah 9:6 mean?  If you study prophecy literally, this is how things were supposed to happen.  Christ was to come and eventually set up an earthly kingdom.  It is no wonder that the disciples were always asking about it, they knew the prophecy about Messiah and a kingdom.  They had been waiting for it since Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 2 Samuel 7:8-17, I Chronicles 17:11-15, Isaiah 9:7, Jeremiah 33, Amos 9:11…and so on and so on).  Now we know this time of the mystery was an unprophecied, unpredicted time that was hidden in the heart of God.  So, according to prophecy Christ would come and then set up an earthly kingdom.  Because we live in the mystery we know that while God interrupted his original timeline, it does not mean He has thrown it out.  God is faithful to keep His promises, so Christ will come back and set up an earthly kingdom, one in which He will fulfill all of the prophecy written about Him, including that the government will be on His shoulders, that He will reign on the throne of David forever, and so on.  They mystery is a parenthesis to the prophetic timeline that God intends to keep. 

Thank you for studying Scripture with me, I hope that you have a blessed Christmas.  I will write about another implication to the mystery in my next blog. 

A Virgin Birth...Really?!?!

Since Christmas is fast approaching I have decided to take a brief break from the mystery to address something that I believe is a huge stumbling block to many Christian people.  I know that sometimes I find myself sitting in church around Christmas and asking myself, can I, a logical and rational person really believe any story that involves a virgin becoming pregnant.  It seems much too far-fetched and outlandish to me.  So the story I am to believe is that God finds favor with a virgin girl named Mary, the Holy Spirit comes upon her and she finds herself pregnant with the Son of God.  As I look into this further I find that this claim is fully necessary, if I am going to believe Jesus was who He said He was. 

First, let’s look at prophecy.  Read Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.”  This is the first prophecy of Christ in the Bible. 

Who is enmity between?

What will her offspring do to Satan?  What will Satan do to Christ?

My point here is that a woman had to be involved, Jesus could not just descend on this world as a fully clothed thirty year old, He had to descend from a woman to fulfill this prophecy.  (Just a side note, Jesus in His lifetime fulfilled over 300 prophecies about Himself, many He had no control in fulfilling on His own). 

Sin is passed from the seed of the man (Adam) to his offspring.  Without confusing the matter entirely, an interesting side study about sin being passed through the seed of the father can be found in Hebrews 7:1-10 with the parallel passage in Genesis 14:18-20.  Look at 1 Corinthians 15:21,22, “For since by a man came death….For as in Adam all die.”  If Jesus had an earthly father he would have been born of sin, since the father carries the seed of sin.  Jesus had to be born of a woman, but not a man, in order that He could be the sinless Son of God. 

In Romans 5 Paul is explaining to us that through the sin of one man, Adam death and sinned reigned.  The law came to show man how sinful he was.  Even if you are a fairly good person, you were born of Adam, a sinful seed, the result being death.  However, Christ, being a type of Adam lived a sinless life, since He was not of the seed of Adam, so that all may have life.  5:17-18, “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. “

Let’s look at another prophecy, Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”  So it was necessary for Jesus to be born of a virgin to fulfill this prophecy.  How cool is that?  The virgin birth doesn’t have to be a stumbling block, but a confirmation of who Jesus was, and the power of His life and sacrifice.       

The Message of the Mystery

So, let’s talk a little about Paul.  Paul was an apostle, something he had to continue to defend his entire ministry.  He was not with the twelve during Jesus’ earthly ministry in fact he persecuted those who followed the message of Jesus.  Acts 7:58 recounts the stoning of Stephen, who was present?  Saul.  This is Paul before he takes on the identity of the people his message is for, the Gentiles.  In Acts 9:4, 15 Jesus is explaining that not only is Saul persecuting Him, but Paul will be the instrument to bring the message to the Gentiles.  Acts 15 finds Paul in sharp debate against the twelve apostles in Jerusalem, his message of the mystery is not quickly accepted among the Jewish community.

Let’s look at this message.  Many Christians today do not understand the mystery or the impact it has as you look at the Bible as a whole.  Ephesians 3:1-6 and 2:11-18 will give you a full and complete picture of the mystery, please read and study these passages to gain a full and complete understanding.  I will attempt to sum these passages up.

-Gentiles were far away from God without hope in the world.  Israel was close to God, they had the promise of circumcision and the covenants.  (2:11-12)

-Through Christ we are both brought near to God, we both can have full access to peace, the Father and the Spirit (13-18)

-Paul had a special revelation of a mystery that was given only to him (3:1-4).  (Paul, after his conversion spent 3 years learning from God’s Son in Arabia, Galatians 1:15-17)

-This mystery was never known in previous generations (3:5)

-This is the mystery:  Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members of one body and sharers in the promises through Jesus Christ. 

It is important to note here that now we are heirs together with Israel.  We, as Gentiles, are not promised any of Israel’s former covenant promises nor are we part of their future promises.  However, if you ask me, we are part of the best promises.  There are so many, I will list a few from Romans 8 (my favorite chapter in the Bible) and I will list more in a future lesson called Aspects of Our Salvation. 

We have the first fruits of the Holy Spirit, adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, we have hope, we are sons of God, we are co-heirs with Christ.  I didn’t even break a sweat, we are promised much, there is no reason going back or forward and looking for things promised to Israel.  Some of you are visual so I have created two time lines that may help you understand the unique place you have in the mystery (remember this time was unforeseen in Scripture, no wonder Paul had such a hard time).  Enjoy your time in God's word. 

Prophecy Timeline

Messiah born and shows himself through signs and wonders, dies on a cross, Christ ascends and 7 year tribulation, millennial reign of Christ for 1,000 years

Mystery Timeline

Messiah born..., dies on a cross, Christ's ascension, age of mystery, rapture of the church, 7 year tribulation, millennial reign of Christ for 1,000 years

When is the Mystery?

The short answer is the mystery is now.  Unfortunately, in order to use the Bible properly it is important to know when this mystery started.  Unfortunately many people who read the Bible only recognize two main divisions, the Old and New Testaments.  These people say the Old Testament is difficult to understand and has nothing for me so I will not read it.  The New Testament is where it is at and that is all I am going to read.  So, they open their Bible to Matthew and begin reading about Jesus, but before they get too far they start to be confused.  Look at what they run across:

Matthew 5:20, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 6:15, “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Matthew10:5-6, “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Matthew 15:24, “But He (Jesus) answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.””

These verses seem to fly in the face of everything they heard at church and Sunday school.  These verses contradict parts of the Bible that state:

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”

Romans 3:10, “There is none Righteous, not even one.”

Romans 10:12, “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him.”

Galatians 2:16, “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”

So this reader gets discouraged and quits.  Don’t quit there is an answer; the answer is the apostle of the mystery.  Read Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said to him, “God for he is chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.””  Paul is this apostle and he had a difficult ministry.  He was to go unto a previous unprophesied group of people with an unprophesied message.  Paul, being a Jew, was not winning any popularity contests with his own people. 

Everything done by God up to this point had been part of prophecy, Jews could have known what was going to happen and many recognized the fulfillment of prophecy.  However, here comes Paul with the message of the mystery, which, by its very definition is totally unknown. 

So, it is because of the message of the mystery that Paul can say:

Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, join in following my example…”

I Corinthians 4:16, “I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me.”

I Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”

It is with the entrance of the apostle Paul that the Mystery begins, and when Paul writes something you can know, believer, that it is TO and FOR you!

What was this message of the mystery that made Paul worthy of following?  This is what I will write about next time. 

What is Mystery?

The reason a lot of people believe the Bible is because of the prophecy.  God predicted what would happen and then did it.  A book written by so many authors (40 ish) over 1500 years and across three continents in three different languages when Microsoft was not even thought of should not be as consistent as it is.  Read 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 

How much Scripture is useful for us?

After my teaching on prophecy, I am afraid that some people may just toss their Old Testaments aside because prophecy is written TO the nation of Israel.  However, that does not mean it is not FOR the Gentile believer.  We learn so much about God’s holiness, faithfulness, lovingkindness and even Jesus from these Scriptures.  I am just saying be careful about taking a promise to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, or David and making it your very own.  Always look at the audience, this is why the teaching on the mystery is so powerful to me.  The audience for the teaching of the mystery is us.  Modern believers both Jew and Gentile living during this great unprophecied time called the age grace, the church age, or the mystery.      

What does the word mystery mean to you?

In the Bible this word mystery means a completely unknown, unprophecied event.  This mystery was hidden in the heart of God and was revealed to the apostle Paul.  Paul wrote what he learned from Jesus into several books in the New Testament.  Luke wrote Acts (which is largely about Paul’s ministry), Paul wrote Romans through Hebrews (there is some debate about Hebrews, but I am going with Paul here).  Mystery in the Bible is revolutionary because God has been in the habit of laying out everything that was going to happen for the Jewish people in Scripture.  As we look back we clearly see God prophecied many wars, defeats, exiles, returns, God even predicted Jesus’ birth, death, and kingdom reign.  The tough job for Israel was to wait patiently for each event, and then to know Scripture well enough to recognize when these things happened as fulfilled prophecy. 

Read Ephesians 3: 4-6, “In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to men in other generation as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus…”  Keep reading in your own Bible for more on this.

What are the parts of the mystery?

Is there any distinction between Jew and Gentile during the mystery?

So when is this mystery?  That is what I will write on next time.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read, this stuff is difficult, but if we both tap into the power of the Holy Spirit as we look at the Scriptures, I am confident this will be a profitable time for both of us.  Have a great day! 

What is Prophecy?

Of course most of you know that prophecy is parts of the Bible that predict the future.  There is a lot of the Bible that talks about the future.  Much of the Old Testament predicts the future Messiah and the future Kingdom.  Prophecy is directed at the nation of Israel, and if you are confused whether you are reading a prophecy in the Bible go back and look at the audience for whom it is written.  One piece of prophecy that is often misused is found in Jeremiah 31:31-34. 

Read these verses, who is this covenant with?

What will happen under this covenant?

Do you feel like this has already happened?

Read Ephesians 4:11, “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.”

How does this list of spiritual gifts contradict the promise in Jeremiah 31?

What is the need for teachers if we will have everything written on our hearts?  I know I for one don’t have everything written on my heart.  Maybe I have missed something here, but to know anything of God I have to study, pray, and discuss.  I have not yet experienced this automatic influx of information.  The good thing is I shouldn’t have.  First, I am not part of the nation of Israel, in the Bible I am called a Gentile.  Gentiles are not left out, they are just left out of applying prophecy written to Israel directly to their lives. 

While I don’t know all the history behind the crusades, much of that bloodshed was caused by Bible-believing Gentiles taking prophecy about land, written to Israel (Jer. 30:3) and trying to directly apply it to their lives.  If we learn to use the Bible correctly and properly understand Prophecy maybe we won’t make such mistakes in the future.    

In the Bible there is a section written to Gentiles and it contains what is called the Mystery.  This is what I will talk about next time. 

Please be patient, I left you hanging today, but it will come together more clearly when I blog next time.  Have a great weekend!

Paul's Gospel

I never want to assume that everyone reading this is clear on the gospel by which we are saved.  I have run into far too many Jesus lovers who still are unsure how to share their faith or answer the very basic question, “What do you believe.”  If you are one of these dear people then today is for you.  If you practice what I am about to teach, before long you will have all the confidence you desire to share with your neighbor, coworker or family member the wonderful truth that is our salvation. 

First begin by reading I Corinthians 15: 1-5, “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.”  (NIV)

Sum up Paul’s gospel.

This is a section of verses that I would highly recommend that you memorize, basically there are four major parts to Paul’s gospel, the death, burial, resurrection and witnesses.  But we need to know who this Christ was and for that I want to go to one other verse and then your gospel will be complete. 

Read 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Who is ‘Him?’

How is Christ described?

This is important, Christ’s death on the cross is significant because he was the perfect, sinless sacrifice.  When He hung on the cross it was so that He could shed His perfect blood on our behalf and that He could become “sin for us”.  If He had not been the sinless Son of God this transaction could never have taken place. 

The last step in this process is Faith.  You may be wondering what is faith, that sounds like a very churchy word and what do I place my faith in. 

First, faith is complete trust or belief.  I have heard parents say, “I have complete faith that Johnny is going to get into this college.”  However, in the mean time they have been going around collecting brochures for military programs and trade schools.  This is not faith.  Faith is placing all your trust and all your belief in one plan, having no contingency plan if it fails. 

As a Christ follower, ask yourself, “Am I relying completely on the work Christ did for me on the cross?”  Maybe you are relying on that, but just in case you are also being a good person, giving to church, open to other’s religious beliefs, and volunteering at your local charity.  Some of these things may be nice, but if you are hoping they may help you with your salvation you have not truly put your faith in Christ.  Faith is deciding that this is the only plan I have, I am confident it is the only plan for me.  Sometimes Christians are labeled as pig-headed, rigid or uncompromising.  However, once we have placed our faith in Christ’s work we have decided that this is the only way for me to get to heaven.  We have decided that this is the only way to be saved from our sins according to the Scriptures.  Trusting Christ’s death to forgive my sins must be correct and everyone else who is trying to get there another way is wrong.  They are not pig-headed, they are faithful, they have found truth and they have gotten rid of all the other options. 

Are you ready to place your faith in the plan of salvation laid out in the Bible?  Are you ready to lay aside all your contingency plans and put your faith in the only option that truly saves a soul?  Then right now just pray (talk to God) and tell Him what you are feeling and what you are ready to put your faith in.  And I will see you tomorrow so we can continue to grow and learn more about this faith according to the Scriptures.  Have a great day!

Why from Prophecy to Mystery?

At the core of this site was a fundamental need to understand the Bible (if I was going to base my life decisions around it, I wanted to understand it).  I have been reading and studying the Bible consistently for the last 30 years and many of those years were spent in utter confusion.  I read one verse in one part of the Bible, only to find another verse in another part of the Bible that seemed to contradict it.  Nothing made sense, I did Bible study after Bible study, book after book to no avail, I was still confused.  I knew there must be a secret to unlock the mystery of the Scriptures.  I knew the confusion was mine and not intended by God.  However, I asked many people, teachers, preachers, professors and they seemed at times just as confused as I was.  Now I am all about faith (if you keep reading you will find I am a BIG faith gal), however, at some point faith has to be met with truth.  I was seeking this truth, I was praying (along with Paul) for myself Ephesians 1:17, and eventually God had mercy on me and showed me "the wisdom and revelation so that I might know Him better."  I realized that picking verses, chapters or even books to study was not fruitful when it was not taken in context of the entire collection of Scripture.  I realized that when I understood my place in time relative to God's prophecy and mystery things in the Bible really fell into place.  This site attempts to show how you can understand God's Word, by including small Bible studies that will direct you on a specific path. 

This site is meant to not only be a devotional, but a Bible study.  That means that it would be very helpful to have your Bible open when you read and interact with the Scriptures by answering the questions that are posed.  Some have found it helpful to print the pages so they have time to study.   I will begin by including the verses I am using within the text, however, I plan to move away from this practice as time moves on.  Put your thinking cap on as you get ready to seriously interact with the Word of God!