ELECTION AND PREDESTINATION FOR THE SAINTS?
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isa 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. It is evident to me from the testimony of Genesis 1-3 that God created man with free will. And even though man fell through the exercise of that free will and became a sinner by nature, the capacity of man to continue to exercise that free will and so respond either positively or negatively to God was not eradicated, destroyed, or imprisoned. This is evidenced to me immediately after the...
Read MoreDETAILS OF THE PIT AND WHERE IT IS LOCATED
Psa 69:14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Psa 69:15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. First of all my understanding is that “the pit” is the basic description of the fact that there is a shaft like cavity that descends into the earth, just like the word “pit” is used to describe a hole or cavity going deep into the ground, or the shaft of some excavation leading into the earth. This shaft like cavity descends into the earth and right into the heart of the earth. In connection with this, it is described as “the bottomless pit,” having no visible of detectable bottom, nor designated or...
Read MoreTO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST
Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. God our Father has fully equipped us as “sons” with the doctrine of His will and His love toward all mankind, and we being members of the “body of Christ” are given the progressive edifying stages in our epistles. Therefore by the time we reach the pages of Ephesians we are introduced to the doctrine of God the Father’s overall plan for both the earth and the heavenly places in “ages to come.” Furthermore we also come across the Father’s...
Read MoreTHE JERUSALEM WHICH IS ABOVE
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. In accordance with the overall issue of God’s design and purpose for the earth, and particularly in accordance with the issue of Him replicating what He has in His Heaven on the earth in the very land of...
Read MoreWISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE WILL OF GOD
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: Since the beginning of time man has sought after wisdom and knowledge; whether the wisdom and knowledge of this world, or wisdom or knowledge into the will of God. However as wisdom and knowledge are thought to have the same meaning, this is not the case at all. Possessing knowledge is the issue of gaining information about an unknown situation, issue, subject, or anything not understood by the individual prior to gaining this new-found insight....
Read More“REDEMTION,” “PROPITIATION,” AND “JUSTIFICATION”
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Rom 3:22 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: Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: There is a legitimate distinction between the issue of the provision the Lord Jesus Christ made on the cross for the complete forgiveness of a person’s sins, and the actual response of God’s Justice to that person which results in His Justice completely forgiving him all of his sins past, present, and future. And this legitimate distinction is...
Read MoreSATAN’S ATTACK ON THE SAINT’S SONSHIP GROWTH
Pro 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: Pro 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Pro 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Pro 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. As we progress through our sonship lives we come across many challenges and many ‘enticements’ that will come our way, and these things can work to ‘stall’ or ‘sidetrack’ our advancing on in the...
Read MoreTHE WAR IN HEAVEN AND OUR HEAVENLY VOCATION
Col 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the...
Read MoreDOES GOD BLESS THE BELIEVER WITH MATERIAL THINGS TODAY PT.1
I understand the issue of us being ‘blessed’ by God in this present dispensation of His grace to be sort of like the counterpart to the issue of chastening in this dispensation; or the ‘flip side’ of the same sonship coin, so to speak. And so just as I understand that chastening in this present dispensation is of the ‘sonship variety,’ and as such differs from the physical, circumstantial type chastening of childhood common in God’s program with Israel, so also do I understand the same to be the case with God’s blessing. It too differs from the physical, material, and circumstantial type blessings of childhood common in God’s program with Israel. Therefore, we have ‘sonship blessing’ today, if I can put it that way, in contrast to ‘childhood blessing.’ And since...
Read MoreDOES GOD CHASTIZE THE SAINTS TODAY?
First of all in my understanding the issue of chastisement is easy to understand, appreciate, and recognize, when we are in God’s program and dealings with Israel; especially in the “time past” portion of Israel’s program. As passages like Leviticus 26 set forth, God’s chastisement of them was a natural part of the contracted curses and punishments of the Law contract. Since Israel opted to be dealt with by God on the basis of their works, and hence receive from His Justice what their works merited, their failure to produce the righteousness of the Law merited the specific physical and circumstantial punishments of chastisement that are set forth and delineated in the Law. Therefore physical and circumstantial chastisement in God’s program with Israel was a...
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