THERE IS NO LASTING VALUE IN JUSTIFICATION ON THE BASIS OF ONES OWN WORKS.

Galatians 3:22- But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

"The Old Testament has "included" or "enclosed" or "shut up" all of humanity under the umbrella of sin. Not a single person can appear before God on the basis of his own merit or righteousness. The totality of mankind is enslaved by sin and does not have the means to break free from its grasp. By "concluding" that everyone is under the bondage of sin, or under the curse of sin, the scripture shows that something external to mankind has to act to provide a solution that can save man from himself and his sinful nature. This "conclusion" also demonstrates that none of the paths that man has embarked on—primarily justification on the basis of one's own works—are of any lasting worth.

"Because all other paths are shown to be futile, the only option for salvation and glorification is the way that Jesus Christ has set forth. There are no other alternatives. Faith in what Christ has done, is doing, and will do is mankind's only hope.

"The story of the Israelites is a record of a people whom God chose, set apart, and blessed with incredible blessings and opportunities. But it is also a record of mankind's sinful nature, and how illogical it is that a man could stand before God on account of his own innate righteousness. God revealed just a portion of His will and character—the letter of the law—to Israel, and its history powerfully demonstrates that, by himself, man is unable to live up to God's standards.

"This should be a glaring testimony that some other means is required for man to have a relationship with his Creator. The solution is justification—being brought into alignment with God and His law—on the basis of belief in the Savior and His perfect sacrifice. This marks the beginning of the relationship. But because faith without works is dead, the way a man lives his life demonstrates who and what he believes in. If he has been justified before God and is being saved, his life will reflect God's mercy, providence, and sovereignty. We are not justified or saved by our works, but if we are justified our works will demonstrate that we are being saved. "Belief" in Christ will be an everyday, continual reality, and true belief will shape every thought, word, and deed." (David C. Grabbe, http://www.theberean.org/03/21/2017 )

The Apostle Paul Wrote That, "Saying That Any Portion Of The Bible Is "Done Away" Could Be Spiritually Suicidal".

• 2 Timothy 3:15-17 - and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (New King James Version)

“At the time Paul wrote this, "all scripture is inspired of God, and is profitable" referred to the Old Testament. Paul probably did not know that what he was writing would become Scripture.

“At its worst, saying that the law—or any portion of the Bible—is "done away" could be spiritually suicidal. At the very least, it will hinder growth because a person will not be thoroughly furnished to all good works. It is similar in principle to a student attending school who ignores certain selected sections of the textbook on the basis of his own perception of what he needs.

“I recall from my own school days expressing the opinion that I could not see why we had to study ancient Greek, Egyptian, or Roman history. I could not see what good I would ever get out of such courses, but others, much older and wiser, insisted that the history we were taught included teaching in these areas. My narrow point of view was that of an immature kid who did not understand what is required to produce a well-rounded citizen of the United States of America.

“In a similar manner, but with far greater accuracy and consequences, there is nothing extraneous in God's Word. We are to live by every Word of God (Matthew 4:4). If God is all-wise and all-powerful, if everything that He does is in love, and if He is working out a purpose that is in our best interest (that we might live forever with Him), why would God even give a body of laws—which Jesus said would never pass away until all is fulfilled (Matthew 5:18), and which Paul wrote is spiritual, holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12)—if God did not intend that its letter and/or spirit should be used for all time? God does nothing without meaning, so the law is included in Scripture for the sake of Christians."  (http://www.theberean.org/, John W. Ritenbaugh)

ETERNAL LIFE IS IMPARTED AT THE LAST TRUMPET.

In John 5:24 Jesus says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

When it comes to being alive or dead, Jesus places people in two categories.  Jesus identifies these two groups of people in the above verse.  The difference between these two groups is that those who are spiritually alive have heard Jesus’ words and believed in the One who sent Him, whereas the latter do not and are spiritually dead.  To understand the verse, it must be understood that Jesus is talking about a person spiritually.

Notice that “death” is put before “life” in this verse.  This is not a coincidence.  Since Adam and Eve, all humans have been born spiritually dead.  Physically man is alive at birth and continues to be “physically alive” until he dies.  At that point, according to the Bible, he no longer exists in any form. (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20).  Jesus is making the claim here that at “judgement” he can “impart eternal life” to those who believe in Him.

Jesus goes on (5:25-26) to state that He has the power to impart eternal life.  In (5:27-30) Jesus claims that in the future He will raise from the dead everyone who has ever lived and at that time will judge them for all eternity. This claim that Jesus is making about eternal life must be understood in the context of God’s plan of redemption as outlined throughout the Old and the New Testaments.

The Bible tells us that God gave us physical life and also that we all will eventually die.  This situation came about by the actions of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  God made available for them the gift of eternal life that is represented by the tree of life in Genesis 2:9.  The tree represented God’s way of life which was total obedience to God’s revealed will. 

The garden also had another tree which was the called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The tree represented man deciding for himself what was right and what was wrong.  They rejected the total obedience to God’s will in favor of choosing to follow their own will.  If they would not have done this, they would have received eternal life (Genesis 2:17).  God told them their fate, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

The good news is that God, from the beginning, had a plan, and the offer of eternal life still stands.  Through the rest of the Bible, God unfolds this plan for us.  We are rescued from death by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul explains how and when we will receive eternal life when he explains, “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Paul clearly tells us that this will happen when Christ returns to earth.  “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

This is when all Christians meet with Jesus, receive our immortal glorified bodies and return to heaven with Jesus to live eternally.

 

CHRISTIAN LIVING FOR GOD - TODAY AND BEYOND

IS THE OLD TESTAMENT RELEVANT TODAY?

This question can be logically answered in the Word of God.  When Christ was teaching he told the people to "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).

"The Jews considered that eternal life was revealed to them in their Scriptures, and that they had it, because they had the word of God in their hands. Jesus urged them to search those Scriptures with more diligence and attention....They did indeed search the Scriptures, but it was with a view to their own glory..." (https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/Matthew-Henry/John/John-5-39-44).

They searched but, because they were seeking "their own glory", they could not then and do not to this day see Jesus Christ as the messiah.  On the surface, that is what this scripture is referring to, the religious Jewish authorities questioning His claim to be the Messiah.

But there is a message here that goes deeper than this.  The message is for all Christians, from the apostolic period up to and including the present.  When Jesus taught He did teach what is recorded in the New Testament.  But, the New Testament had yet to be written.  The scriptures He was referring to, where Jesus always taught from, came from the Old Testament.  Jesus said that these books testify of Him.

HOW TO LIVE FOREVER!

 

THE ETERNAL PUNISMENT OF THE UNSAVED IN HELL IS NOT BIBLICAL.

Popular myth:

Hell is a Biblical doctrine that is in the Bible from the beginning to the end.

 

 

"This is not true! Two thirds of the Bible (the Old Testament) does not mention Hell at all. (“Sheol,” the Old Testament word that is sometimes translated as Hell, only means “grave” by definition, and it is where everyone in the Old Testament went when they died--good or evil, Jew or Gentile).  The other translation is a "pit". Thus the Old Testament does not contain the modern Christian concept of Hell!

"If Hell is real, why did God tell the Jews that burning their children alive in the fire to the false god Molech, (in the valley of Gehenna) was so detestable to Him? God said that such a thing “never even entered His mind” (Jer. 32:35).

"How could God say such a thing to Israel, if He has plans to burn alive a good majority of His own creation in a spiritual and eternal Gehenna of His own making?

"FACT: The King James Bible erroneously translates the word “Sheol” as Hell a total of 31 times in the Old Testament, thus setting a foundation for that doctrine in the New Testament as well as the majority of Bible translations to follow the KJV.

"Even so, most new translations have completely eliminated Hell from the Old Testament, as honest and better scholarship has demanded. The Jewish version of the Old Testament (the Tanakh) has no concept of Hell in it.

"The importance of this fact cannot be over-emphasized. If a doctrine does not appear as seed form in the books of the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, it cannot fairly be taught as a major biblical doctrine, if indeed it can be taught as biblical at all!"  (http://www.tentmaker.org/ifhellisreal.htm)

 

Christian Living for God - Today and Beyond, CLICK HERE FOR MORE!

The Relevance Of Bible Prophecy And The Old Testament In Christianity Today.

There are many Christians today who do not see any relevance, or very little relevance in the Old Testament much less Bible prophecy.  The Old Testament and Bible Prophecy is the very basis or foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is what the Gospel is based on and where it gets its authority. 

Jesus Christ when he was preaching, used the Old Testament and Bible prophecy to back up and support what he was teaching.  When the apostles went out to spread the Gospel as commanded by Jesus Christ, they followed His lead.

The Old Testament and Bible Prophecy are the parts of the foundation of the Church that Jesus Crist built.  Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:16-18).  People complain that the Bible is hard to understand.  On the contrary, it is very plain to those who seek the truth.
 
The Old Testament and Bible prophecy deals with the whole counsel of God’s Word and the hope of the Christian.  The hope of every Christian should be the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  The Old Testament and Bible prophecy deals with the end of the world and of humankind.  It is the Christians belief concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.


There are many people today concerned with current events and Bible prophecy reveals that the only hope for mankind is to be found in Jesus Christ.  The Old Testament and Bible prophecy is the doctrine of last things that will happen culminating in the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God an earth..

The Old Testament is important because it supports the New Testament.  Prophecy is what proves God's word and holds everything written as the Word of God to the truth.  There are over 300 prophecies regarding Jesus Christ's first coming and one quarter of the New Testament contains prophecy. 

Prophecy points to the sovereignty of God in real history.  It demonstrates what a believer is supposed to be doing in this age, the age you are living in.  Prophecy should be what causes people to want to live Godly lives according to His commandments. 

One of the most important things it has done since Jesus Christ left the Church behind to testify for Him is to  give comfort in the midst of all sorrow and wickedness in today's world and facilitates perseverance with a hope of the future.

The Old Testament and Bible prophecy are the impelling forces to warn people of their sins and drive them to repentance.  The future is not hidden from those who believe in Jesus Christ.  God's people, the Church of Jesus Christ, have not been appointed for the wrath that is to come to this earth.  Christians, should live each day with knowing that our future in Christ is certain as is testified in the Old Testament and Bible prophecy.