Grace4You

WHICH WORD WERE THEY PREACHING? ACTS chapter 8 v 4 Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. This is one of the clearest examples we have in the word of God that the dispensation of grace is not found any where in the Bible outside the letters written by the Apostle Paul. Why? Because the scattering of the saints was as a result of the persecution which was being carried out by the man himself, Saul of Tarsus, who was unsaved at this time.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. What gospel was being preached at this time? The gospel of the earthly kingdom that Peter preached on the day of pentecost that Christ was the promised Messiah of Israel. Repent ( That you crucified your Messiah), be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Are these the terms and conditions of salvation under the present dispensation of grace? I find it rather interesting that most Christians say they believe that salvation is by grace through faith alone in the person of Christ and they are absolutely correct. However the question I would like to ask is this. How did you arrive at that point? If you say we should be laboring under the great commission then it seems that you should be following the terms and conditions of the great commission. According to Mark 16 vs 15 – 16, you had to believe and then be water baptized in order to complete your salvation. You had to believe that Christ was the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, be water baptized for the remission of sins and then you would receive the Holy Spirit. Let's fast forward to the dispensation of the grace of God which the Lord Jesus revealed to Paul for the Gentiles ( That's you and me ). It also includes the Jews, since God is not dealing with Israel today according to the earthly kingdom program, because of their unbelief and rejection of Christ as her Messiah. The point I am trying to get across is the fact that Paul never preached Christ according to the terms and conditions of the kingdom gospel for salvation. It's not in the Bible and you would have to do some serious twisting of the Scriptures to arrive at that conclusion. So how then, can the evangelical church say they believe in salvation by faith alone but you are still water baptizing believers as a part of their salvation experience? You say water baptism is not a requirement for salvation but according to the great commission that you are so passionate about, it is an absolute requirement. We often hear the following that water baptism is identification with Jesus's death, burial and resurrection and yet this is not found in the Bible, it is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which places us into Christ at the time of salvation which identifies us with His death, burial and resurrection. It is a working of God not man. One of the ways you can tell if a church is preaching the dispensation of the grace of God in it's pureness and fullness, lies in their doctrinal statement and I have seen and read some pretty interesting doctrinal statements. Colossians 2 v 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. We have also heard that water baptism is an outward sign of an inward work of grace. This is pretty dramatic even for the unsaved. Most Christians are programmed to think, whenever they hear the word baptize, they immediately begin to think of water. Before His crucifixion Jesus spoke about a baptism He was distressed by. Was He talking about water baptism? Let's find out. Luke 12 v 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! Clearly we see here, that He was talking about His impending death on the cross. We are baptized into His death but it's not a water ceremony done by man.

You cannot just move over to Paul's message of grace and apply it to a previous dispensation without first acknowledging that there has been a dispensational change.

But this is exactly what the church, the body of Christ has done and is still doing. We have taken the dispensation of grace which the Lord Jesus revealed to the Apostle Paul for the Gentiles and combined it with Israel's earthly kingdom program, which is not in operation at the present time, because of their unbelief and try to make them one and the same message thus we have this teaching, that there is only one gospel in the Bible. Only one good news. It is true that today, there is only one good news for salvation, and that is salvation by grace through faith in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it does not lend any support to this idea that there is only one good news in the Bible. That is the tradition and teaching of men, who does not understand rightly dividing the Scriptures.

RECONCILING SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS IN THE BIBLE If you did not know that there were two different programs of God in the Bible, and that God is working in accordance with only one of them ( The dispensation of the grace of God), the Bible would be a very confusing book. Let us take a look at some of these seemingly contradictions. Acts 1 v 5: For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” pay very close attention to the words “baptized with”. Who was the baptizer on the day of pentecost? The Lord Jesus Himself. Mark 1 v 8: I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Let us now contrast the prophetic kingdom gospel with the gospel of the grace of God which was revealed to the Apostle Paul for the Gentiles. 1 Corinthians 12 v 13: For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Under grace, we are not baptized with the Holy Spirit but by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. The role has been reversed, hence we have the one baptism found in Ephesians 4 v 5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism. So those who say that at the time of salvation they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and this is the reason why they speak with tongues, as well as being baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, and then they follow up salvation with water baptism. Do you see how far we have drifted from the one baptism done by the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation? Galatians 2 v 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. What does James have to say about this? James 2 v 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect. 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? What's Paul's response. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Romans 4 1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: James justification by faith plus works and Paul's justification by faith alone, is one of the major doctrinal stumbling blocks within the body of Christ, because most Christians do not rightly divide. It is not a matter of who is right or who is wrong, it has to be viewed from a dispensational position. James was not writing in the the dispensation of grace to Gentile Christians, he was writing to the 12 tribes scattered abroad – James 1 v 1: James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: James perceived this new dispensation that the Lord Jesus revealed to the Apostle Paul at the Jerusalem council. We read about this in Galatians chapter 2: 1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6 But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

Understanding Paul's distinct apostleship and message as well as the temporary setting aside of the earthly prophetic kingdom program due to Israel's unbelief and rejection of Christ is the key to understanding the word of God rightly divided. At the Jerusalem council, Peter, James and John perceived, they saw through the illumination of the Spirit that the Lord Jesus had given a new message and program to Paul for the Gentiles, that was very different from what they were preaching. They were preaching Christ as the Messiah of Israel, they had to believe that He was the Son of God, and be water baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins. The Apostle Paul never preached Christ in this manner. He preached the death of Christ for our sins, His burial and resurrection as the foundation of faith leading to salvation. I am deeply troubled by Pastors and Bible Teachers who spend a considerable amount of time studying the word and somehow have not yet come to see that there are two different programs of God in the new testament and only one is in operation today, the dispensation of the grace of God. Do not allow the traditions and commandments of men to blind you. You have a lot more to give an account of, and if you mislead your congregation because of fame and the fear of men, you will suffer much loss. Preach the word rightly divided no matter the cost.

WHY DO MOST BIBLE TEACHERS USE THE FOUR GOSPELS AS THEIR MAIN SOURCE OF TEACHING? I am a firm believer that the whole Bible is for my learning, but not everything is for my obedience. That's why we are commanded in 2 Tim 2 v 15, to rightly divide the word of truth. I don't have any issues with the four gospels. In them we find a lot of practical teachings, that can be used to make spiritual applications but always through the mirror of the gospel of the grace of God. Because if what you are preaching from other parts of the Bible contradicts the message of God's grace, you are not preaching grace and make no mistake whatsoever about that.

There is something I need to make clear about those of us who embrace the present dispensation of the grace of God, found exclusively in the Pauline letters. We are not advocating that you should only read Paul's letters and ignore the rest of the Bible as many have accused us of. We believe the whole Bible is for our learning, as we have stated repeatedly but we also believe that the vast majority of your preaching should come from the Pauline epistles, since we are living in the dispensation of the grace of God and he is the one to whom this revelation was given for the Church the body of Christ. I enjoy sermons from the old testament and I am encouraged when I read about the faith of the patriarchs, how they trusted God in the midst of seemingly impossible situations, when everything seems contrary to hope, yet against hope they believed and their faith was rewarded. These are spiritual applications we can draw from when our faith is tested under grace.

Where I take exception, with regards to the four gospels, is hearing people say, this is where we find our doctrine, walk and position as members of the body of Christ. There are those who take the position that the words of Christ in the gospels are the most important, because those were spoken directly by the Lord himself. It's never my goal or intentions to disrespect another believer in Christ but much thought was not given to that statement, since Christ is the word of God. In the beginning was the word, so the words in red, doesn't make the rest of the Bible insignificant.

One of the keys to understanding the Bible, is to know who is speaking, to whom are they speaking and what are they speaking about. This will avoid much of the confusion we have within the body of Christ. What we find in the four gospels is Christ's ministry to the nation of Israel. He came to fulfill the promises made to the fathers. God's plan to bless the world through Israel. To whom was the great commission given? It was given to the nation of Israel. Both the old and new covenant was made with the house of Israel. During Jesus's earthly ministry, we have several places in the Scriptures where Jesus commanded His disciples not to go in the way of the Gentiles (Matthew 10 vs 5 – 6 ) , not because He despised them but He was following the perfect will of His Father. In Matthew 15, we read about the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus seeking help for her daughter who was demon possessed but the Lord answered her not a word. His disciples then came and asked the Lord to send her away but the Lord answered and said, I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. She then worshipped the Lord and begged for help. Again the Lord answered and said, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. If we were to refer to someone as a dog in today's emotionally sensitive world, we would be in a world of trouble, but that is the way the Jews referred to the Gentiles in those days, because the Gentiles were not God's covenant people and Paul tells us why in Ephesians 2 vs 11 – 13: Remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you 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. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. This Canaanite woman understood her role at that time, as a Gentile outside the covenant of promise and that Israel had to be blessed first. This was her response. 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

If we believe the great commission is the marching orders for the Church, the body of Christ, we are going to have to do it consistently, and not just the sections, that fits your particular brand of theology. I would like to place before you the commission found in Matthew 28 and Mark 16, and honestly tell me that your Church is doing all these things. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” I am amazed as to how quickly the evangelical Church clings to the commission found in Matthew 28 but rejects the same commission found in Mark 16, because it conflicts with their water baptism theory, which explicitly states that he that believes and is baptized will be saved.

I was looking at the doctrinal statement of a prominent mega church and was taken back momentarily by their baptism theory that we are commanded to be baptized but our salvation is not reliant upon it. This is clearly the teachings and commandments of men. Please show me in the Scriptures, where water baptism was ever performed and it was never a requirement along with faith to complete one's salvation. Is this what Mark 16 v 16 teaches? Interestingly, all the reasons we give as to why we practice water baptism such as; identification with Jesus's death, burial and resurrection and now some Churches have dropped the burial, because they are starting to see that He was not buried in water. What about this idea that it is an outward sign of an inward work of grace. None of which has any Scriptural support.

Why is it so hard for the Church to accept the one baptism taught in Scriptures, instead of feverishly trying to make a case for water baptism? ( Ephesians 4 v 5; 1 Cor 12 v 13 ). Under the great commission, you had to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and follow up with water baptism to complete your salvation experience. Acts 8 v 36: Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now let's fast forward to the present dispensation of grace. I have been to many church services and I have seen many alter calls but I have never heard the pastor saying to a recipient of salvation that they have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, be water baptized and then they will receive the Holy Spirit.

However, if you embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders then you must present salvation to the lost in this manner. You are going to have to be consistent with your message. Under grace we don't present Christ as the Son of God and water baptism as a requirement for salvation instead we preach that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day, believe this and trust him as your Savior. I challenge you to be a Berean and search the Scriptures for yourself to see if these things are so. Do you realize that under the kingdom gospel Israel was not required to believe in Christ's death, burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins? In fact on the day of Pentecost, Peter blamed the nation of Israel for having crucified their Messiah. 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Are we to assume that whenever someone walks down the aisle of your church and you have them repeat the salvation prayer that until they repent for having crucified Christ and be water baptized for the remission of sins that they are not really saved, let alone the indwelling Holy Spirit? But thanks be to God, the message of God's grace teaches what happens the moment we believe. Ephesians 1 v 13. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise

So if you are going to follow the great commission, you will have to preach faith in Christ and water baptism as a necessary requirement for salvation, and while you are at it, begin ripping out the pages of your Bible, which contains the letters written by the Apostle Paul, because he is the biggest impostor in all of the Bible. But this is exactly what we are doing when we embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders. Yes, we should go into all the world and preach the gospel but which gospel is the big question we all have to ask ourselves or we will end up frustrating the message of grace, which the Lord Jesus revealed to the Apostle Paul for the Gentiles. The evangelical church must remove its blinders and recognize that there has been a dispensational change, Israel and the earthly kingdom program has been set aside until the present dispensation of grace comes to a close with the rapture of the Church and then God will resume His dealings with the nation of Israel. It is predominantly a Gentile dispensation because Israel as a nation does not believe Jesus is her Messiah. Why are Gentile Christians so wrapped up in a Jewish program that God is no longer working with? Romans 11 v 32: For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Both Jews and Gentiles are committed to unbelief, that Christ might reconcile them both into one body through His Cross. If you embrace the great commission as the church's marching orders you have fallen from grace. But can you fall from grace if you never embraced it in the first place? The Galatian church fell from grace because they received the grace of God in its fullness until the Judiazers came along and perverted the message. Our new commission is found in 2 Corinthians 5 vs 18 – 21: Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

1 Cor 1 v 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. In closing, I implore you to read God's blueprints or specifications for the present administration of grace, as revealed to the Apostle of the Gentiles. 1 Cor 3. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Paul never preached Christ according to terms and conditions of the earthly kingdom program but instead, He preached Christ in this manner. 1 Cor 15. 1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. No mention of repent and be baptized, because Israel has been set aside in unbelief and the earthly kingdom program has been put on hold until the rapture takes place, at which time God will resume His dealings with them. Today God is dispensing His grace to all men without distinction.

The day that Paul got saved on the Damascus road, it was the best day of his life. The Messianic Church's most vicious and feared persecutor would come to know Christ as his Savior and that is the most unforgettable experience any person will ever have. Unfortunately, most Christians do not get pass his salvation experience. To them, he was just another Apostle like the rest of the twelve, not understanding the purpose for which he was called to be an apostle. When the Lord sent Ananias to meet Paul, his heart was immediately gripped with fear, because he had heard how ruthless this man was, but the Lord said to him. “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear my name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. This is one of the most amazing statements in all of the Bible. For those of us who understand the role of prophecy in the Bible, going as far back to the Abrahamic covenant, in Genesis chapter 12, it was the plan and purpose of God to bless the world through Israel. Salvation is of the Jews the Lord Jesus said to the woman at the well. The Lord also told the Syro- phoenician woman, that He was sent to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. However here in Acts 9 v 15, we see a role reversal. Paul is chosen as the apostle to go to the Gentiles first, whereas before it was Israel first. Here we begin to see that God was about to make a dispensational change. It did not happen overnight. The Lord Jesus spent several years training and preparing Paul for his ministry among the Gentiles. Throughout Paul's ministry, he constantly reminds us that he is the Apostle to the Gentiles. As Gentile Christians, you think we would be reading his letters first and foremost to see what God has to say to me as a Gentile Christian, but instead we are all over the Bible, naming and claiming promises that are not consistent or compatible with the present dispensation of grace. Because of Israel's unbelief and rejection of Christ as her Messiah, God began to gradually set her aside in unbelief. With the eventual setting aside of the favored nation because of unbelief, it paved the way for the revelation of mystery. This is just one of the several phraseology that Paul uses in reference to the dispensation of the grace of God ( Ephesians chapter 3 ). The revelation of the mystery was given to Paul by direct revelation from the Lord Jesus. He calls it the mystery for this simple fact, you can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find anything about the dispensation of the grace of God outside the letters written by the Apostle Paul. Why? Because it was hidden in the heart of God from ages and generations until the Lord made it known to the Apostle to the Gentiles. I have never heard a pastor in mainstream christianity preach from Ephesians chapter 3, and my question to you would be why. We can't just preach the parts of the Bible that we like, we have to preach it rightly divided, so that the plans and purposes of God falls in their proper dispensational order. No wonder the body of Christ is broken into thousands of denominations and there is total confusion on every side. You cannot mix the law of Moses and the dispensation of the grace of God together, because they are not compatible. In Paul's epistles, he repeatedly reminds us that we are not under law but under grace. Many Christians understand grace as a divine favor of God but not as an economy under which the whole world is living. Paul would be sent to the Gentiles to preach Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, kept secret since the world began. It is of extreme importance that as Christians, we understand that Paul did not preach Christ according to the kingdom gospel with regards to it's terms and conditions of salvation. It was his custom however, to quote from the old testament to prove mainly to the Jewish people among the Gentiles, that Christ was in fact the promised Messiah. This was the whole purpose of the Jerusalem council. There were some Judiazers who, were saying the Gentiles couldn't be saved unless they were circumcised and observe the law of Moses, and it caused a tremendous amount of tension among the saints that Paul had to travel to Jerusalem to communicate this special revelation that the Lord Jesus had revealed to him concerning the Gentiles. Salvation was to be sent to the Gentiles by grace through faith alone in the finished work of Christ at the Cross. In Galatians chapter 1 vs 11- 12, the Apostle Paul writes: But I make known to you brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. There are a lot of well meaning Pastors and Bible Teachers, who erroneously teaches that when the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem to visit with Peter, that the purpose of the visit was to learn from him about the Lord Jesus. How could we arrive at that conclusion, when Paul says otherwise? His message did not come from man, but through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Well either Paul is lying or I am reading the wrong Bible. Peter preached Christ according to prophecy, that which was already foretold by the prophets, pertaining to that earthly kingdom that will be set up right here on earth ( Acts 3 v 20 ). The kingdom gospel focuses on the Lord Jesus as Israel's Messiah and King as well as ruler over the whole earth. It looks forward to the return of Christ to establish His millennium kingdom, where Israel will once again become the preeminent nation. So while the whole Bible is for my learning, as I previously mentioned not everything in it is for my obedience. So many times I have heard Christians saying, I follow the whole Bible, and I know it sounds spiritual but stop lying to yourself. No one follows the whole Bible, because God makes it virtually impossible for you to do so. If that is the case, then it means we are living under the law of Moses and the dispensation of grace at the same time and the Bible clearly dispels that notion. According to Romans 16 v 25, Paul preached Christ according to the revelation of the mystery ( The dispensation of the grace of God_ Ephesians chapter 3 ). As members of the body of Christ, we have a heavenly calling, hope and position, according to the doctrines of grace. It is salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ Jesus plus nothing else. We must not allow the traditions and commandments of men to blind our minds from this blessed gospel of the grace of God.

Which commission should the Church the body of Christ be following as our marching orders? Matthew 28 vs 18 – 20 or 2 Corinthians 5 vs 18 – 19. Let's begin with the commission found in Matthew 28. To whom was the commission given? The Church as the body of Christ ( Made up of both Jews and Gentiles ) or the nation of Israel? According to Peter's sermon from acts chapter 2, he was addressing the nation of Israel. We must remember, that Pentecost was one of the seven great Jewish feast, which occurred 50 days after Passover, and so you had Jews, who lived in different parts of the world and who also spoke different languages, attending Pentecost to rekindle the national spirit. The Scriptures foretold the day of Pentecost. Peter's sermon was taken from the book of Joel and he is clearly addressing the Nation of Israel, and that is why I have such a difficult time, embracing this idea, that the day of Pentecost was the original birthday of the Church as the body of Christ. Think about this for a moment, the day of pentecost was a Jewish feast day. God is still dealing with the nation of Israel and the earthly kingdom program. Remember what the disciples asked the Lord Jesus prior to His ascension? Acts chapter 1 v 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”. Notice what they did not say, “ Lord will you restore at the this time the church the body of Christ?” Do you know why? Because there was no body, the formation of the church, the body of Christ, made up of both Jews and Gentiles on equal footing was still a secret hidden in the heart of God later to be revealed to and through the Apostle Paul. Christ was the baptizer, today the Holy Spirit is the One who baptizes us into the body Christ. I challenge Pastors and Bible Teachers, to seriously study the Scriptures and rightly divide the word to be an approved workman of God and stop trying to please men.

I have great respect and admiration for some of our Pastors and Teachers within the body of Christ. There are many of them who truly loves the Lord, and I have learned a lot from some of their teachings, which was very instrumental in my growth and development as a new Christian, for which i will always be grateful but I am deeply troubled that many of them have not come to see Paul's distinct ministry and message. This is not an indictment against these men, because some of them are truly brilliant men, but they read the early chapters of the book of Acts, the four gospels and the letters written by Peter, James, John and Jude and when they contrast them, with Paul's Epistles, they know the message and program is different. But a lot of these men, for good or bad reasons, have their own little fraternities and sometimes do not want to break rank, because of fame and fortune, so they come across things in the Bible that seems rather contradicting and in an effort not to offend their peers, they hold on to tradition.

But remember that one day you will have to stand before the Lord Jesus and I doubt very much, he will be talking to your fraternity friends.

Let me be absolutely clear, so that there is no misunderstanding. All Scripture is given by inspiration. The whole Bible is for our learning but not everything in the Bible is for my obedience. We no longer shed the blood of bulls and goats to atone for sins, but it's there as a reminder that God had the death of Christ in mind all along, throughout those years of the sacrificial system. Keeping all this in mind, if we go back to the day of Pentecost, we will quickly realize that the commission to go into all the world was given to the Nation of Israel, God's plan to bless the world through Israel, according to the abrahamic covenant, but in order for that plan to take full effect, Israel would have to trust Christ as her Messiah. There had to be national repentance. This is why they were commanded to launch their ministry, starting in Jerusalem, since this was the seat or headquarters of the religious leaders.

Every student of the Bible, knows that Israel, never embraced Christ as her Messiah and we learn from the word of God, that they have been temporarily set aside in unbelief and this is where the ministry of the apostle to the Gentiles (Paul) comes in. Paul writes in 2 Cor 5 vs 18,19. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. There goes our marching orders. With the setting aside of Israel, it paved the way for God to use Paul as the vessel to usher in the present dispensation of the grace of God. Yes!! We are to go into the whole world with the gospel but not according to Matthew 28, because that message and program focuses on the Lord Jesus as Israel's Messiah and king, as well as ruler over all the earth. But bare in mind, that the rapture of the Church, precedes the millennium reign of Christ. We don't preach Christ according to prophecy with regards to salvation for the simple reason, that it conflicts with the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery another name for the gospel of the grace of God and the terms and conditions of salvation are quite different from the present terms and conditions of the gospel of grace. On the day of Pentecost, how did Peter present the terms of salvation to the Nation of Israel? In Acts chapter 2 we read; Then Peter said to them. Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. I have been to many Churches throughout my lifetime and I have never heard one Pastor, presenting the terms and conditions of salvation in this manner. And my question to everyone of them, why not? If you are laboring under the great commission, if you truly believe that this is the marching orders for the Church, the body of Christ, why then are you not presenting repentance and water baptism as a prerequisite for salvation, and while you're at it, tell your congregation that if those terms and conditions are not met, they won't even receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you are going to stay on message, at least be consistent. Let us now now look at the terms and conditions of salvation under grace. Ephesians chapter 1 v 13 reads; In Him ( Jesus ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It's important for us to see that there has been a dispensational change with the temporary setting aside of the Nation of Israel. The moment a person hears the gospel of the grace of God, and trust Christ as their Savior, believing that He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day for their sins and justification, they are immediately sealed by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, forever as a child of God. This is how we gain stability in the Christian life ( Romans 16 vs 25 )

HIDDEN IN THE HEART OF GOD. Ephesians chapter 3; For this reason, I Paul the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given to me for you, how that by revelation, He made known to me the mystery. If you are a student of the Bible and you come across this passage of Scripture and it doesn't make you stop dead in your tracks and asked, what in the world is Paul talking about, maybe it's time you should. Why was it necessary for God to reveal a new dispensation? What event occurred on God's calendar of time, that brought about this change? Pay close attention to Paul's thought provoking statement: “If indeed you have heard”. The word “if” denotes possibility. A possibility that they might not have heard anything about the dispensation of grace. Which is the case within the body of Christ at this very moment. The vast majority of Christians are Bible illiterates, plain and simple. They don't study the Bible, because they think doctrine is too confusing, so they settle for emotional experiences and then there is the group that reads but when they come across passages that appears to contradict each other, rather than backing off and asking God for further illumination, they just spiritualize and we end up with more confusion. If indeed you have heard. If you have heard, why are you still preaching good works as a necessary requirement for salvation? Why are you water baptizing? Why are you telling others that if they are saved, then they should speak in tongues. Why are you observing Jewish laws and customs that were apart of the law of Moses. Do you not know that even when the law of Moses was in effect, it was never legally binding upon the Gentiles? Unless you became a proselyte and totally abandoned your Gentile heritage, became circumcised and obey Jewish laws and customs, only then you would be accepted by God. But with the temporary casting away of Israel, (Romans chapter 11) because of their unbelief and rejection of Christ as their Messiah, God raised up the Apostle Paul and used him as the vessel to usher in the present dispensation of grace. God has concluded both Jews and Gentiles in unbelief, that He might have Mercy on all. Also reconciling them both into one body through His Cross ✝ You can search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find anything about the mystery or the dispensation of grace. Why? Because we read in Ephesians chapter 3, that it was hidden in God, until the Lord Jesus gave it to Paul by direct revelation from Heaven. Whenever I hear people getting uptight about the Jews being God's chosen people and what about us? Who are we then? It is one of the clearest indicators that they don't understand grace as a dispensation. The dispensation of grace is a message and program, that is especially geared towards the Gentiles, yes in includes both Jews and Gentiles. We are on equal footing but it is predominantly a Gentile dispensation, because Israel for the most part, does not believe Jesus is their Messiah. We have the highest calling of all the dispensations that God has ever revealed to man and yet it is not preached to the vast majority of Christians. In Ephesians chapter 1, we read that we are blessed with every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, we are accepted in the beloved, and have total forgiveness of sins. We read in other parts of Paul's letters, that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the earth, we are seated with Him, in the Heavenly, we are sealed in Christ until the day of the rapture, not in danger of losing your salvation.

We are so focused on who we are not or should I say what people say we are not, that we are missing out on all that we are in Christ. We are complete in Him. Under grace, Christ is our everything, because He gave His everything by dying on a cross for your sins and mine. That is indeed grace, that is greater than all our sins.

Continuing with the theme of 2 Tim chapter 4, where Paul writes about people not enduring sound doctrine, he also mentions, that they will take matters in their own hands by heaping on themselves, teachers after their own lust, having itching ears. Through the hardness of their own hearts, they will only be attracted to preachers who will tell them what they want to hear and not what they need to hear. We are witnessing more than ever, where pastors are no longer preaching about the blood of Christ which was shed for our sins, denying the bodily resurrection of Christ and teaching that Jesus is not the only way to God. We have a lot of televangelist, whose primary goal is to preach feel good messages, that excite peoples emotions but leaves them spiritually bankrupt. Now more than ever, the Church as the body of Christ, needs to be rooted and grounded in the word of God, rightly divided, and especially the dispensation of the grace of God (Ephesians chapter 3 )

In 2 Tim 4 beginning in verse 2, the Apostle Paul commanded his young protégé to preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. In other words, preach the gospel of grace, when it is popular and when it is unpopular. Convince, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. Why? Because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. People have been straying from the truth for a long time, but today more than ever, we are seeing an epidemic and none more so, than in main stream Christianity. This ungodly doctrine, called the prosperity gospel, is a web woven in deceit, by these false teachers as a means of financial gains. To be continued..........