"The
Gospel For Today"
All
references are KJV unless otherwise stated.
Modified,
Corrected or Updated 11/13/09
The
Gospel Of Jesus Christ Is The Only Gospel For Today.
Hey!--- Guess what! We
can turn our noses up at the apostle Paul's gospel if we want to! But, Paul's gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. Paul was chosen by God to bring the gospel of the grace of God to all the world. Therefore if Paul's gospel is hid it
is hid to them that are lost, who's minds have been blinded by the god of this world (Satan).
2 Corinthians 4:3-4.
v3. But if our gospel
be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost.
v4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Is there anything further that God could say that would make this verse any clearer? Read both verses slowly. "If
Paul's gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost". After Saul
was saved he was no longer that zealous Christ hater that wanted to destroy the Way. He was God's chosen man for the dispensation of the grace of God. God selected
him to be our pattern for everlasting life. God gave Saul a new name Paul. Thersfore we must follow Paul as
he followed the Lord Jesus Christ (1Corinthians 11:1).
1Corinthians
11:1 Be ye followers of
me, even as I also am of Christ.
My friends there is no other gospel under heaven where by we must be saved. We must believe the gospel in order to please God, just believe what He says and besaved.
1Corinthians
15:1-4
v1. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
v2. By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain.
V3. For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures;
v4. And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
To help us understand the gospel I like to show another very important verse here.
Romans 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,
Paul is the only apostle, that God commissioned to write to the Gentiles;
therefore our salvation depends on our grasp of the gospel of the grace of God that Paul preached. Paul wrote by inspiration the things committed to him by the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand the gospel
that the Lord Jesus and His twelve other apostles preached was not to nor was it for the world; it was to and for the Jews only! Does this shocked you? If so read the Scriptures:
Matthew 15:24 But Christ answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And furthermore He told His twelve apostles go not into the way of the Gentiles don't even go to the half Jews, the Samaritans.
The apostle Paul is the only apostle that could write this statement in: (2Corinthians 4:3-4) and we should pay very close attention to every word this apostle writes to us. We must be familiar with Romans through Philemon. But by do not neglect the rest of the Scriptures, they are written for our learning.
(2Corinthians 4:3-4).
v3. But if our gospel
be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost.
v4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
"William R Newell-1868-1956"
"You can judge any man's preaching or teaching by this one rule.
Is he Pauline? Does his doctrine start and finish according to
those statements of Christian doctrine uttered by the Apostle
Paul? No matter how wonderful a man may seem in his gifts and
apparent consecration if his Gospel is not Pauline, it is not
the Gospel; and we might as well get our minds settled at once
as to that".
Therefore our eternal salvation depends
on our ability to believe Paul's gospel of Jesus Christ, but don't just take my word
for it! Read all of Paul's letters rightly divided. That means (do not lump them together with the other scriptures) and you will see for yourself that there is no other no other Scriptures provides the message of salvation for the Gentiles. Paul's gospel is the gospel of the grace of God; it comes from the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ in heaven.
Again
don't just take my word for it. Read: 1Corinthians 15:1-4 it tells us
what we must believe for everlasting life. And 2Corinthians 4:3-4 gives us the results of refusing to believe
Paul's gospel. Ephesians 2:12 was our position in Christ before Paul was saved and sent to the Gentiles.
As a matter of
fact, before the apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles we were without God in this world and
we had no hope.
Ephesians
2:12 That at that time
ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world:
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Before
the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostle Paul to the Gentiles we were
condemned. As we just read in Ephesians 2:12 above being with out God in this
world and having no hope, truly if we have no hope that means we are condemned.
You probably think well that's not fair!
But clearly that is what the Scriptures say. On the other hand in the dispensation
of the grace of God, we do have hope through the death burial and ressurection of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we believe the gospel.
Ephesians
3:2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of
God which is given me to you-ward:
Romans
11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch
as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I
magnify mine office
We
should thank God the Father for giving us His Son and we should thank the Lord Jesus Christ for sending the apostle Paul;
to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul's writings can set us free only if we believe what God says.
"The
perfect, that Paul writes about"
In most of my pages I mention this next verse 1Corinthians 13:10 because it is the main verse that got me started in my study of the Bible. When we determined that that which is perfect is the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul calls my gospel and it was used to remove the law and the signed gifts the Scriptures opened up for me and I trust for you as well.
1 Corinthians
13:10. But
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away.
That
which is perfect has already come! That which is perfect is the mystery
that had been hid in the mind of God before the world began. But it was revealed to the apostle Paul for all mankind by the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ. That which is perfect
is the only gospel for today.
That which is perfect is what we know as the mystery gospel that Paul preached. It is also called the gospel of the grace of God, because it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul calls it my gospel.
Now the Jews can claim this gospel of the grace of God individually, just like the Gentiles. The Lord waited fourteen years after
Paul's conversion to send him up to Jerusalem
by revelation to
communicate the gospel of the grace of God that he preached to the Gentiles, to the Lord's
kingdom apostles and James the Lord's half brother. I ask you how could the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God be the same? The only true answer is it can not be!
Just think about it! How could
the twelve preach the same gospel fourteen years before they even knew what it was? The twelve didn't know the gospel that
Paul preached and that is why God sent Paul to Jerusalem by revelation to communicate it to them. Peter knew there was a change and he came to Paul's defense at the
Jerusalem council, he testified that God was taking out from among the
Gentiles a people for His name.
But, as for Peter and the ten, Paul's message was hard to be understood because
it did not conform to or even contain the law of Moses, it was completely by God's grace. The Gentiles were never under the law, customs, ordinances, and holy days, because they were not part of the Commonwealth of Israel. The Gentiles obtained pure grace by way of belief in Christ's death burial, resurrection and assention, Christ's finished work on the cross through Paul's gospel. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross plus nothing and you are saved.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Romans
6:14 For sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace.
Galatians
5:18 But if ye be led of
the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
The twelve
could not preach the same message that Paul preached because they
did not know it. And it was not their's
to preach. James the Lords half brother and the eleven
agreed, that since Paul's message was different and it was hard for them to understand, they would leave Paul's converts alone and stay with the Jews
only and that Paul and his helpers would go to the Gentiles.
(Galatians
2:1-2,9).
v1 Then fourteen years
after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus
with me also.
v2 And I went up by revelation,
and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest
by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
v9 And when James, Cephas,
and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was
given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of
fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto
the circumcision.
The
great commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave the twelve was different in that it was still under the law; and it was still part of the gospel of the kingdom. The twelve had to win
Jerusalem first then all Israel, before they could go into all the world and preach their gospel of the kingdom.
And if they had gone into all the world,
their gospel would have been the gospel of the kingdom, not the gospel
of the grace of God that Paul preached.
God
would not have have needed another apostle to go to the Gentiles everyone would have been on the same page. But the twelve did not complete their great commission therefore God chose Paul to preach the gospel of the grace
of God to the Gentiles. Later this same gospel would be offered the Jews as well. Paul called some of his helpers, apostles such as Barnabas,
Silas, and several others, but Paul was the only apostle directly commissioned by
the Lord Jesus Christ as the apostle of the Gentiles.
The kingdom apostles were not privy to Paul's gospel
until fourteen years after Paul received it; when the Lord sent Paul up to Jerusalem by revelation to communicate his gospel to the eleven plus James the Lords half brother. And still kingdom
apostles could not fully understand Paul's gospel, because it did not include the law of Moses.
Paul's gospel
was the gospel of the grace of God and it was for the Gentiles. The eleven plus James the Lords half brother agreed not to interfere with Paul's preaching. But now, Paul's mystery gospel is complete, and the Kingdom gospel is set aside. Paul's gospel is made known in all the world it is no longer a secret,
then according to Deuteronomy. 29:29 it is ours.
Deuteronomy
29:29 The secret things
belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children for ever,...
I
believe it is proper to stop reading verse 29 at the comma in the dispensation of
the grace of God. Because we are not under the law.
Here
are a few names Scripture gives to the mystery gospel: The gospel of Christ,
The gospel of the grace of God, My gospel, Paul's gospel, The gospel that
we preach and Our gospel. The mystery gospel was delivered directly by revelation to
the apostle Paul by the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul shared the mystery gospel
with all who would hereafter believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for everlasting life.
1Timothy 1:16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Titus
2:11 For the grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Ephesians
3:3 How that by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Romans
16:25 Now to him that is
of power to establish 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,
Romans
11:13 For I speak
to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,
I magnify mine office.
2Timothy
3:16 All scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness:.
2Timothy
3:17 That the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
As I said before, all of Paul's writings are to us,
they are for us and they are about us; all of the other Biblical writings are for our
learning. God does not want us to be ignorant of the past.
God wants us to know how He dealt
with the Jews and with all mankind in the past.
We
should understand through reading the old testament Scriptures how fortunate we are not
to be under the law. We should thank God everyday, that we are under His pure grace. Therefore when God looks at us He sees the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before the apostle Paul's was saved and commission as our apostle, we were
without God in this world and we had no hope. See:
Ephesians
2:12 That at that time
ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
hope, and without God in the world:
God the
Holy Spirit says, Paul is our apostle. All of Paul's words are Holy Spirit inspired and that is why Paul speaks with so much authority.
Romans
11:13 For I speak to you
Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify
mine office:
1Corinthians
11:1 Be ye followers of
me, even as I also am of Christ.
1Corinthians
4:16 Wherefore I beseech
you, be ye followers of me.
Philippian's
3:17 Brethren, be followers
together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for
an example.
Philippian's
3:18 (For many walk, of
whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
The Scriptures say we
must follow Paul as he followed the Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians
1:25 Whereof I am made
a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given
to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Colossians
1:26 Even the mystery
which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is
made manifest to his saints:
Ephesians
3:3 How that by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Paul
got his commission and his authority directly from the risen and glorified
Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that at one time God had two separate and distinct programs, one was under the Law and the other one was pure Grace. One was fading away because it was for the Jews only. It was called
the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the circumcision but it was set aside in Acts 28:28. The other message
is for all mankind. It is called the gospel of
the grace of God and the gospel of the uncircumcision, this gospel is the only gospel for today and it will will end with the rapture of the church.
1Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wouldn't
it be reasonable then to say, if two groups were the same and they taught exactly the same message
from God, then neither group would need
to explain the message they were teaching to the other group. This would indeed be true if they were the same? For the folks that insist there is no difference in the two messages. I have a question, has the god of this world blinded your minds? also how could Peter say that Paul's message was hard to be understood; if indeed it was the same?
Remember,
Paul's message to the Gentiles did not include the law of Moses. The eleven's message was to the Jews only was fully under the law of Moses. God made these two messages different;
He even called them by different names, they were created in a different dispensational
setting. Therefore why is it so hard to believe that they really are different?
Galatians
2:1-2,7-9).
v1 Then fourteen years
after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus
with me also.
v2 And I went up by revelation,
and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest
by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
v7 But contrariwise, when
they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto
me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
v8 (For he that wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the
same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)
v9 And when James, Cephas,
and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was
given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of
fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto
the circumcision.
The
James of Galatians 2:9, is the Lord's half brother; and now James is the
new leader and spokesman for the little flock. The great commission given to the twelve,
is left incomplete. The apostle James is killed Acts 12:2: This
was the beginning of the end of the dispensation of law.
Acts
12:2 And he killed James
the brother of John with the sword.
James
the Lords half brother assumes leadership of the little flock, Peter
steps down and the twelve begin to fade off the seem.
Note:
In Galatians 2:9, Paul says, James, Peter and John perceived the
grace that was given unto 'me'. He did not
say, they perceived the grace given unto 'us'.
Don't be fooled nor mislead by tradition, because this is the age
of deception. Paul was the only apostle chosen by God for
the Gentiles. Never the less Paul called some of
his helpers apostles.
The unsaved world will be
judged according to Paul's gospel at the Great White Throne, not according to Peter and the eleven's gospel.
Romans 2:16 In
the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ
according to my gospel.
1Timothy 1:16 Howbeit
for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ
might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which
should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Caution: Truely the only place you can find
the gospel for today is in Paul's epistles, because, they are written
to the church the body of Christ. Please do not misunderstand
what I am saying. We can not throw away the rest or any part of the Scriptures,
it is all for our learning and fits together perfectly.
2Timothy
3:16. All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Things
written before the apostle Paul's commission, are written for our learning.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
These Scriptures are essential for
our understanding of God's Word.
When the Jews recieved the law they did not understand how important
it was to do exactly what God told them to do. The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath found
out the hard way; it cost him his life. God did not spare Moses
either, He told Moses to speak to the Rock, but Moses struck it
instead. That great leader of the Jews was not allowed to enter the
promised land he could see it from afar, but God did not permit him to go in. God gives us instructions
for a good reason, and by faith we must obey.
A What if Story
For
demonstration purposes only, a friend gave me a little
(
What If Story)
that, I would like to share
with you. Please let me know what you think. You may consider this story to be a bit petty but, remember
it is to make a point and that point is follow instructions. Here we are dealing with a lesson in obedience;
and that means doing exactly what we are told to do. Be it by faith, by fear or by respect,
how well do we follow instructions?
In this story you are going on a business trip. Let's say you have two children, a boy and a girl. You do not want your children to be idle
while you are away you want them to be responsible. You want to test their integrity in your absence.
Therefore you
give each child specific instructions for the task you want them to complete in your absence. You call
each child to your side and give them specific instruction of the task at hand. You tell your
daughter her task is to wash the dishes each day. Then you tell
your son, his task is to take out the trash each day.
When you
return home you are told that your son washed the dishes each
day, and your daughter who took out the trash each day... Now my
question to you is would you consider these children to be obedient? Did they
respect your wishes, did they follow your instructions? It is true the
work was done. But, it was not done by the one to whom you assigned that responsibility?
Did your children do what seemed best in their own eyes? Don't forget
the work was done, but it was not done according to your instructions.
God gave the Israelites the
law, but it was to hard for them to bare, the yoke was to heavy.
God showed them by signs, miracles and wonders that Jesus
was the Christ, their Messiah. But, they did not believe
it and they hung him on a Roman cross. The nation of Israel was found to be destitute
of faith just like Cain and God set them aside in Acts 28:28.
God
sent the apostle Paul to the Gentiles with a better gospel; Paul told them,
Christ did all that was necessary for their salvation that they were not under the law, they are under pure grace just believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross plus nothing, and they are
saved. The gospel of our salvation in a nutshell can be found in: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Christ died
on the cross for our sins, He was buried, and after three nights and three
days in the tomb, He arose from the dead. He returned to the Father's right
hand to make intercession for us, if we only believe the gospel, we are saved.
Far to many so called Christians think they can keep the
law, but it is not ours to keep. They do not think that Christ's finished work
on the cross was sufficient. Do you actually think God will say, oh well they really
meant well? I'll let them into
my heaven. Folks I really don't think He will do that. I
believe he will say, depart from me... I never knew you.
The
nation of Israel was not obedient they did not believe God therefore God set them aside. The majority
of the Gentiles are not obedient either and they too will stand before
the Great White Throne. Neither group is obedient to God's instructions? What
do you think God will do? You do not have to guess any further you will get your answer at the Great white throne.
Everyone
who has not believe the gospel will stand before God's Great White Throne and fall
on their faces before the Lord Jesus Christ and admit He is Lord, but it
will be to late. Saving Grace and Mercy will be absent at the Great White
Throne. We must believe what the Lord Jesus Christ tells us today, through the
apostle Paul because tomorrow it will be to late.
Do
you remember how God instructed Cain and Abel? He said, bring a blood sacrifice
for sin. But, Cain a worker of the field brought the best of
his crops as a sin offering to God; in other words he did that which seemed
right in his own eyes and Cain was rejected.
Abel
on the other hand was a shepherd and he brought the best of his flock as a blood sacrifice
for sin to God. Abel's sacrifice was excepted, because he believed God.
Both men brought the best of what they had as a sacrifice to God, but Abel
took God at his word by faith, and offered the required sacrifice to God
and God called him righteous.
By faith
we must do what God tells us to do. We should not do the things
he tells someone else to do. Let's
pray that by faith we get our instructions right, because we only get one
chance, then comes the judgment. The Bema seat or Great White throne? Today you can choose, but tomorrow will be to late.
Today we can choose to believe God, or we can choose not to believe God.
Tomorrow our choices have already been made. Therefore, we can only choose
on this side of the grave.
Why
do you think the Holy Spirit directed the apostle Paul to tell us not to
follow Christ after the flesh? First of all we are not Jews and secondly
Christ's earthly ministry was not ours. Christ's earthly ministry
was to and for the Jews only.
2Corinthians
5:16 Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
This verse
is very clear to me now, Jesus after the flesh
is His earthly ministry to the Jews only. I pray that this is clear
to you as well. In Matthew 10:5 Christ commanded the twelve not to go to the
Gentiles. We must be clear: This is a commandment ! He
said, go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew
10:5 These twelve Jesus
sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of
the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Matthew
10:6 But go rather to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.
When we understand that the Lord Jesus after the flesh, is His earthly
ministry and it was to the Jews only to fulfil the covenant promises made to the fathers. We can then understand why He could have nothing to do with
the Gentiles until after His death, Burial, resurrection and ascension
back to the Father. Although He did, make at least three Gentile exceptions. Because of their great faith.
The
Canaanite woman, the Roman Centurion and one of the ten lepers. The Canaanite woman because of her great faith, the Roman
centurion because he loved Israel, the only leper
that returned to thank Him after he was cleansed was a Gentile
this demonstrated his gratitude and faith.
(Matthew
15:22-24).
v22 And, behold, a woman
of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying,
Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously
vexed with a devil.
v23 But he answered her
not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send
her away; for she crieth after us.
v24 But he answered and
said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matthew
8:8 The centurion answered
and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shoddiest come under
my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
One of the ten lepers that was cleansed was not a Jew, he was a foreigner
a Gentile.
(Luke 17:18-19).
v18 “Was
no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”
v19 And He said
to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
Before
the cross the Gentiles were with out God in this world and they had no
hope. After the cross, with the salvation of Saul (later called Paul) the
Gentiles received salvation as a free gift to all who would believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross.
The gospel
for all mankind is outlined in 1-Corinthians
15:1-4. Verses one through four, is Paul's basic
gospel for the Gentiles. We are told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross
and we are saved; these four verses cover the meaning of believe the gospel.
1Corinthians
15:1-4
v1. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
v2. By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye
have believed in vain.
v3. For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died
for our sins according to the scriptures;
v4. And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Corinthians
15:1-4 is the plain and simple truth of the gospel in a nutshell so to speak. Why do we continue
to test God by trying to follow the gospel of the kingdom that Peter preached.
But Peter preached Christ after the flesh and we can
not know Christ after the flesh.
Do
you think God will be like most of the folks that read my little (what
if) story? Will He just wink at our efforts
and say, I don't care how they follow me, as long as they follow me? Faith means that we believe God, if we want to please Him. God really does care how we
follow Him. Are we looking
for heaven as of by fire, or through a job well done, my good and
faithful servant?
Hopefully,
I have shown that, the only way to please God is by faith. Faith is
one of Scriptures absolutes. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of Blood, another absolute: For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God is another absolute.
Hebrews
11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please (GOD): for he that cometh to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek Him.
Hebrews
9:22 And almost all things
are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood
is no remission.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Here is what God
says, follow Paul as he follows Christ, not after the flesh, which is His earthly ministry to the Jews only. Therefore,
we must follow Paul's example because he follows the risen and glorified Lord Jesus Christ.
1Corinthians
4:16 Wherefore I beseech
you, be ye followers of me.
1Corinthians 11:1 Be ye
followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
2Thessalonians
3:6 Now we command you,
brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw
yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not
after the tradition which he received of us.
2-Thessalonians
3:6 is not telling us to relate to the world in this manner, it is telling us how we should
relate to other believers. The world can not follow Paul's example,
because they do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing about believers that are not
following his example, or he would not have said, every brother.
The world is not our brothers and sisters, believers are our brothers
and sisters.
The
entire Bible is God breathed and it was not left to chance or to someone else's
recollection. Have you ever heard someone say? Mark and Luke sure must
have been good note takers and their research was truly outstanding. Warning: If
the Scriptures are Holy Spirit inspired, you can not use
notes nor a good memory for the facts. The Holy Spirit supplies the information to write at the time of its writing.
If
the Scriptures are Inspired by God the Holy Spirit and it is; then it
cannot come from notes nor can it be trusted to the memory of other men or women.
Therefore no matter how closely we observe an event we can miss the part
that could make a big difference. If
someone tells you that Mark and Luke or even John could have received their information
from other men or women do not believe it, it is the devil's deception.
If we could only
remember and know that all Scripture is God breathed or Holy Spirit inspired. Therefore the writer can not use notes
from other men or women. The Holy Spirit inspires the writer as he writes. Better yet they wrote as the Holy Spirit directed them to write. Look at Moses he wrote from the beginning of creation with out notes. Moses wrote with authority and accuracy