A little side track!

Hello, I am back from vacation again, but not ready to write quite yet.  I am going to give the Holy Spirit a little time to speak and me a little time to listen.  So I thought I would put a link up to a great site about creation.  I am putting the link to the testimony page because I am sure you are going to want to check out testimony #36....

http://www.cecwisc.org/about/testimonials/

It is crazy how the Holy Spirit kept prompting me to write to Jay Seegert and thank him for coming to our church.  I kept putting it off, but finally got around to it and the Holy Spirit used what I wrote to go onto his newsletter and website.  I need to learn to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit right away, it always goes so much better than when I try to "force" something.  Hope you enjoy the Creation Education Center as much as I did!

Mission of the Mystery

Do you understand what I am talking about yet?  Do you find the Bible less difficult to understand?  When you open the Bible to Colossians, Luke, Jeremiah, do you take comfort knowing the audience and the time it was written?  Do you understand the unique ministry and writings of Paul?  If you answered yes to these questions then you have a secret mission.

Don’t you love a good mystery adventure?  Didn’t you always want to be the star in an action thriller?  Well here is your chance, this mission requires the greatest of caution and sensitivity as you share the secrets of….THE MYSTERY…dun, dun, dun.

I am being a little silly, but I am very serious.  This teaching of the mystery that I have been going over for several months now is an excellent and superior message.  Many people who you go to church and Sunday School with don’t get it.  They are frustrated, confused or just don’t care about understanding the Bible anymore.  It is your job to gently show them the truth from God’s word.  However, I have several warnings as you take on this mission, I have seen other agents lose their cool in a tough situation, but if you have the correct tools at your disposal you will hear:  MISSION COMPLETED.

Look at 2 Corinthians for your mission if you choose to accept it.  5:11 Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, but we are well known to God, and I hope we are well known to your consciences too.   5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died.  5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”

Go ahead and please read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21, here are a few points I want to make.

1.  Who are we persuading?  Those who don’t yet know the riches of the mystery of Christ.  However, this is not an opportunity for you to prove you are right and they are wrong.  This is not an opportunity for you to be exalted for your brilliance or debate skills.  Our arguments should be filled with humility and our speech should be seasoned with grace.  In your Bible studies or at church, gently begin pointing out things that differ, don’t argue just bring these things to their attention and let the Holy Spirit show them.  Explaining the inclusive nature of the gospel of Christ by acting like you are superior will only turn people away.  Remember you are humble, your message is superior.

2.  What should control us?  Christ’s love.  Christ spoke and acted out love.  If you find yourself talking more than doing people will stop listening.  Be an example out of love to those around you.  Search out those who need to see God through you and then be love to them, once you have built trust through love then begin sharing this truth.  Be careful that you do both, love and share, no one will mysteriously understand the reason behind your action unless you tell them. 

3.  You are ambassadors and what is your mission?  “Be reconciled to God…or else…?” “Believe as I believe or I can no longer be your friend?”  Of course not.  I don’t believe that is the kind of ambassador that Christ would want representing Him.  The key here is unity.  Paul’s writings say more about unity within the body than it does about the mystery. 

Maintain unity and a spirit of humility and you are on the right track to show those around you the excellent message of the mystery.  This message was hidden from generations, but now we know that at the cross God made a way for people who were enemies of Him to become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.  God revealed this message through His apostle Paul who took this message directly to the Gentile after Israel’s rejection.  Now, Jew and Gentile are co-heirs with Christ patiently awaiting glory.

On a personal note I wanted to thank all of those that are reading; it is amazing and encouraging to me.  I get private notes from many people, these notes are helping me to keep plugging along.  I just got word from my publisher that my book is on track to come out in November.  It is a Bible Study book that takes you through Acts and explains the mystery to anyone.  Think about a group that would benefit from a study like this, it could be another tool you use on your mission! 

I will be on vacation next week so don’t expect a post, take a week off!        

Don't be ashamed

2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

What is rightly dividing and why would I be ashamed of it? 

First, rightly dividing is recognizing that Scripture is laid out in a way that shows us the different administrations of God’s plan.  God had the task of writing a book that would give humans an accurate picture of who He is and how we can come to Him.  With Adam and Eve God showed us His care for humans and His desire for fellowship with them.  We also saw how seriously God takes sin as this first division ended and God threw Adam and Eve from the garden.  Can you see that God dealt with Adam and Eve differently than He dealt with Noah?  This is because before sin God could fellowship with man face to face, sin put a barrier up and deserved punishment so God showed another side of Himself.

When after humans were left to their own governing and became so wicked God could not look at it any longer, He showed His justice, judgment of wickedness and holy wrath as He sent a flood to wipe out all humanity.  After the flood, God made a promise (covenant) with mankind that He has not yet broken (Genesis 9).  God showed Himself to be a covenant making God. This is another division of Scripture.

Next, God made a promise to Abraham and set His descendents aside as a special people unto Himself.  Through Abraham God showed that He values Faith and obedience and those things would be counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).  This is another division of Scripture.

God then made a law for these descendents of Abraham (the nation of Israel) through His servant Moses.  God established Himself as holy and that man had to worship Him in a certain way.  Many people still attempt to follow these laws to the best of their ability.  Jesus when He came to earth was still under the Jewish laws that were established with Moses (Matthew 5:17). 

However, this time of the law ended as God ushered in His plan of the mystery through the apostle Paul.  Paul taught us many mysteries:  The mystery of the cross, the mystery of the church, the mystery of Jew and Gentile in one body, the mystery of Christ in us the hope of glory.  The list could go on (do a word study on the word mystery in Paul’s epistles and make a list of all that you learn).  This is the division or administration we currently find ourselves. 

So why would anyone feel shame over this teaching?  The biggest area of criticism over this teaching is that Christ was under the law in the gospels.  People like to apply the words of Christ, it is understandable, He is our leader, God, and lover of our souls.  However, when He took on flesh He humbled Himself to the restrictions of His body.  His body was Jewish and He followed the rules that other Jewish teachers followed.  Matthew is a book that shows Christ following the Mosaic law, so often when Jesus is speaking we have to keep His audience and the time period His was living under in mind.  According to John 1:11 who did Jesus come to? 

Another criticism of rightly divided teaching is that others say the church started at Christ’s birth, His baptism, His resurrection or at Pentecost.  I believe the correct division is later in Acts, check out Acts 9 when God calls Paul as an apostle to the Gentles, or Acts 13 where Paul sets aside the nation of Israel and turns to the Gentiles.  I believe this transition period between Acts 9 and 13 is where the correct division of Scripture takes place.  The implication of this is that the gospel’s often cannot be taken literally because the mystery was not yet revealed.  Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles who explains this division we currently live under. 

So are you ashamed to stand up for a rightly divided Scripture?  Next time we will talk about the ministry of correct division, if you understand this, you have a duty to share. 

What is all the fuss about?

So you are probably thinking, “Honestly Natalie, what is the big deal anyway.  We all believe in Jesus, isn’t that enough?”  I guess my question for you would be what is enough to you anyway?  For me, I want my faith to make sense.  I want to understand what I am hanging my eternity on.  I want the Bible to make sense and I want the ability to be able to explain my faith with others in a way that makes sense to them.  So, yes, believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is enough for your salvation, but just this knowledge is not enough for me. 

I want to “walk in a manner worthy of my calling” (Ephesians 4).  Look at Colossians 1:10, “so that you may live worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God.” 

So how do we do that?  This is my definition of “enough.”  It is not my goal to just capture the “Bible basics” and go no farther.  It is not enough to put my faith on a shelf and dust it off on major holidays or when I am feeling like life has not dealt me a fair hand.  My faith has to be logical, it has to be based on something concrete and if I don’t have that, I have nothing.  I have told you before I have a background in science so when I approach my faith, I don’t check my brain at the door.  I test what I hear, from every teacher and preacher against what I know to be true in the Bible. 

Guess what, the Bible holds up.  It is the most amazing collection of words that I have ever studied.  The Bible from cover to cover does not disappoint and will not leave you wanting more.  It works and is so cohesive I am amazed.  If you don’t find the Bible to be that, then you haven’t studied it enough.  At times I have to admit that I have been stumped, stumped for hours, stumped for days, weeks, years.  God has always been faithful as I have searched He has revealed. 

That is the key of course, are you searching, are you looking, do you have the faith to look for the answers and the patience to wait for them to come?  This mystery stuff may seem like a lot to do about nothing, but I have experience that if you keep searching the Scriptures you will find it to be the most excellent message. 

Look at some verses that God brought to my attention this week. 

Philippians 1:9-10, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may distinguish between the things which differ that are of more value in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.”

What are the things that differ?  This is the message of the mystery that Paul was a minister (Colossians 1:23-27).  You want to study something that is excellent, that has the most value in Scripture, study the mystery.  This is a concept that goes over the heads of many Bible students, but I think it is the key to understanding Scripture.  Keep going, keep putting the pieces together until you have had enough!

 

All Scripture

Let us not forget an important truth within the message of the mystery of Paul’s writings.  2 Timothy 3: 16-17 states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”  

Here is the great rub.  All Scripture is profitable to us, but not all Scripture is meant for us to make a direct application to our lives.  For instance when I study the Law, I see how holy God is, how sinful I am, how high God’s standard is, and how easy it is to fail.  However, I don’t all of a sudden decide to obey the Jewish dietary restrictions or to keep the Sabbath holy. 

When I study Matthew and realize that, “If my eye offends me, I should pluck it out. (Matt. 18:9)”  Or that, “God will not forgive me, if I don’t forgive others. (Matt 6: 15)”  I can feel like a hopeless failure.  I will never measure up the standards in the Old or New Testaments. 

Many look at the Bible and get discouraged and confused because these passages seem impossible to live by and seem opposite to the experience they have had with God.  Most of us are drawn to God because He is love and light and offers rest and peace.  However, then we study the Bible and realize that something is just not right.  So, while we learn much from Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures, look to Paul’s writings for application. 

Do these verses resonate with your spirit? 

Eph. 2:4-9, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! 2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Rom. 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Rom 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

I Cor. 15:1-4, “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, 15:2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. 15:3 For I passed on to you as of first importance  what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 15:4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised  on the third day according to the scriptures.”

2 Cor. 5:18-21, “And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 5:19 In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. 5:20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” 5:21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.”

Eph 4:1-6, “I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 4:3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Hang your hat on these verses and promises.  Learn and apply Paul’s writings, he was the apostle of the mystery, sent to the Gentiles.  Learn from all Scripture, apply these Scriptures and see if things get a little less confusing.        

Back to Mystery Part 2

This is where the truth of the mystery is so powerful.  First, let’s see what the mystery is and when it started.  Colossians 1:26, 27 “That is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” 

There are many verses in Paul’s writing about the Mystery, here we can see it was hidden.  This is huge and this is why it is so difficult for people to put much weight on it.  There is really nothing said about this mystery until Paul’s writings.  So there is no prophecy about this mystery, Jesus does not mention a mystery.   Can you imagine the persecution Paul suffered bringing forth a new message that was not previously found in Scripture.

We find out that now it has been revealed, when is now?  This is where the Book of Acts comes in so handy, “now” is when the apostle Paul comes on the scene, after Israel rejects their Messiah.  Let’s look at a few places in Acts, but I encourage you to study this book more closely, there are treasures in it that often get overlooked.  Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man (Saul/Paul) is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel.”  Paul’s mission from Jesus was to carry His name to the Gentiles, kings and Israel and Paul did just that, however check out Acts 13:45-48 to see what ultimately happened to this message Paul had, “But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they began to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him.  Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we are turning to the Gentiles.  For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed you to be a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed.”  And what was this message? Go back and look at Col. 1:26-27 or Ephesians 3:5-7, basically for the first time salvation was offered by faith through grace alone.  It was through Paul and his message of the mystery that the body of Christ (the church) was formed through simple faith.  Nothing was to be added to this faith and it did not distinguish between Jew or Greek, slave or free.  It was grace through faith apart from the Law, apart from Baptism, apart from outer works of any kind.  We live in a wonderfully unique period in time which requires simple faith for our salvation.  When Jesus walked the earth He still followed the requirements of the Law, because this was still required for salvation.  It was not until Paul was called to the Gentiles that the mystery was preached which was our gospel of belief in the shed blood of Christ. 

So, this is why applying the gospels to our lives becomes so difficult, Jesus was speaking to His audience the Jewish people and many times He was speaking about requirements of the Law.  People get very offended when they can’t apply the Sermon on the Mount or some parables to their lives because we have been doing it for years and it flies in the face of our church tradition.  However, I am suggesting that this misappropriation of Scripture is what is confusing us.  When you are reading something and you can’t verify it in Paul’s epistles be cautious.