Was Jesus God?

We’re currently studying Paul’s epistle to the Romans and perhaps the greatest of all things to recognise is that none of what Paul writes about means a thing unless Jesus is God.

In fact if Jesus wasn’t God Christianity itself doesn’t exist and there’s no hope for this world and the countless millions who’ve lived in it and are living in it today.

Many people challenge the deity of Jesus Christ and even some who say they’re Christians say that nowhere in the Bible did Jesus claim to be God. Nothing could be further from the truth!

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Covenant Names of Jehovah (YHWH) in the Old Testament

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Was Jesus God? – Transcript

If we want to understand the foundation of Christianity, we have to understand who Jesus is, not just what He did on the cross, not just the miracles, not just the teachings — but who He claimed to be. Everything rises and falls on that.

If Jesus is not God, then His death means nothing more than the death of any other man. If He’s not God, then He cannot save anyone and the cross is just a tragedy, not a triumph and certainly not salvation.

But if Jesus is God — if He’s the same God who spoke to Moses, who led Israel, who created the world — then everything He said and did carries divine authority. Then His death can be and is the payment for sin. Then His resurrection is the defeat of death. Then His words are the very words of God.

But the fact that “Jesus is God,” is challenged by many sceptics. It’s common to hear these crowds asking, “Well, when did Jesus ever say He was God?”

Many, if not most Christians don’t know their Bible, so they freeze up.

When people ask that question They expect Jesus to have said the exact phrase, “I am God,” in those exact English words, but it’s important to realise that by Jesus just saying “I am God” doesn’t prove anything. Any crazy person can say that, and many have.

I could say I’m a brain surgeon, but it’d be a real idiot that believed me without me ever once proving it in the operating theatre.

But that’s not how God revealed Himself in Scripture. God didn’t say to Moses, “Hello Moses, I am God.” He said, “I AM THAT I AM.” That was His name. That was His identity. That was His declaration.

So when Jesus uses that same name — I AM — again and again, He’s declaring Himself to be the same God who spoke from the burning bush. And when He takes the titles, roles, and works of Jehovah from the Old Testament and applies them to Himself, He’s making the strongest possible claim to deity.

And we’ve also got to remember that the Jews of Jesus’s day knew full well that He claimed to be God. That’s why they crucified Him.

The book of John is full of these claims. But to see them, you have to know the Old Testament. You have to know who God said He was, what God said He would do, and how God described Himself. Then, when Jesus shows up doing the same things and using the same names, the picture becomes clear.

Let’s  look at the “I AM” statements of Jesus, the miracles He performed, the Scriptures He fulfilled, and the reactions of the people who heard Him. We’ll see how Jesus declared Himself to be God — not in one sentence, but in every sentence, every miracle, every title and every action.

We’ll understand why the Jews wanted to stone Him, why the disciples worshipped Him, and why the early church preached Him as Lord. We’ll see why Paul said He created all things, why Peter called Him the Shepherd, and why John wrote his Gospel quote, “that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”

And we’ll see why Jesus Himself said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

Before we can understand Jesus’ claims, we have to understand God’s name. Not the name people give Him, but the name He gave Himself.

Let’s take a look at Exodus 3:13-14,

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

 

When Moses stood before the burning bush, he asked God a simple question: “What is Your name?”

God answered with words that shook the world:

“I AM THAT I AM.”

“Tell them I AM hath sent me.”

That name means God is self‑existent. Eternal. Dependent on no one. The One who simply is. No beginning. No end. No source. No creator. He is the Creator.

In the Old Testament, this name appears as LORD, L_O_R_D in all capital letters — Jehovah. Jehovah means “He is” or “The Self‑Existent One.”

The name Jehovah is an English way of pronouncing God’s covenant name, the divine name Y-H-W-H, the Tetragrammaton, the most profound name in existence with the deepest of meanings. The covenant name God revealed to Moses.

Ancient Israelites considered this name too holy to pronounce, so they substituted Adonai (“Lord”) when reading Scripture aloud. The original pronunciation was eventually lost and that’s why we get forms like Yahweh and Jehovah.

It’s meaning is rooted in God’s self‑revelation to Moses. It’s how God’s people speak of Him.

Whenever we see “LORD” all in capitals, that’s the name God gave Moses.

If we go back to Genesis 1:1 we read —“In the beginning God…”

Before heaven, earth, time, space, or matter, God already was. In Genesis 2:4 we see “the LORD God”—Jehovah—making heaven and earth. He was already there!

In Genesis 15, Abraham talks directly with this same LORD (Jehovah), the One who made all things and made the covenant with him.

In Exodus 6:3 we see God talking to Moses,

And I (God) appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

He’s revealing His name Jehovah. This is the same “I AM”, the One who simply is.

Throughout the Old Testament, Jehovah is described with certain roles:

  • Creator in Genesis 1
  • Shepherd in Psalm 23
  • Light in Psalm 27 and Isaiah 60
  • Bread in Deuteronomy 8
  • Judge in Isaiah 45
  • Vine‑Owner in Isaiah 5
  • Resurrection in Daniel 12

These weren’t just poetic images. They were identities. They were the ways God revealed Himself to His people. We have a list of the covenant names of Jehovah below this recording.

When Jesus comes and uses these same titles — bread, light, shepherd, vine, resurrection, judge — He’s not speaking randomly. He’s taking the identity of Jehovah and applying it to Himself.

And when He uses the name “I AM”, He’s directly claiming the name of God.

This’s why the Jews reacted so strongly. They knew exactly what He was saying.

All this matters because when we get to the Gospel of John we see that John’s whole purpose is to prove that Jesus is the Son of God and  we see Jesus uses that same name—I AM—for Himself. It’s not an accident.

Jesus is taking the name of the eternal God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

If somebody asks, “Is Jesus God?” the book of John is a good place to look. If we want the gospel of the grace of God, John isn’t the book for that—that comes later in Romans. But John shows who the Savior is.

John 1:1 says,

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 

John’s telling us the Word is God. Later we learn this Word became flesh—Jesus.

Now while remembering Exodus 3 when Moses asked God His name, and God said, “I AM THAT I AM,” we go to John 8:52–53 where the Jews argue with Jesus.

They say Abraham and the prophets are dead, so who does Jesus think He is, saying people who keep His sayings will never die? They think He has a devil. Jesus tells them He knows the Father, and that if He denied that, He’d be a liar like them.

Then He answers their question: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.”

Jesus isn’t guessing—He’s telling them what Abraham actually did and only God would know that.

The Jews say, “You’re not even fifty years old. Have you seen Abraham?” And Jesus replies in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

They knew exactly what He meant. “I AM” is the name revealed to Moses—YHWH, the Tetragrammaton, a Greek word meaning “four letters.” It’s the name of Jehovah in Exodus 3. So when people ask, “Where did Jesus say He was God?”—there it is right there. He’s saying He’s the I AM, the very name of the eternal God.

God didn’t create Israel just to give laws and then later switch to Jesus. Without Israel, without the covenants, without Jehovah speaking to Moses and Abraham, we wouldn’t know who Jesus is.

The Old Testament shows God’s power in His creation, His miracles, His promises and covenants—so that when Jesus came doing the same works and speaking the same way, Israel should have known that God was now standing in front of them in person.

If all we had was the book of John, without the Old Testament, Jesus’ claims could be brushed off as just a man talking big. But His words and His miracles fulfill Scripture and connect Him to the God of Israel. That’s why John proves Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus didn’t just claim to be God—He fulfilled everything that God said He would do to the tiniest detail. He did the same miracles God did for Israel. He spoke the same name. He acted with the same authority. That’s how we know He’s Jehovah in the flesh.

Now let’s look at the “I AM” statements.

We already saw “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” He’d just multiplied the loaves and fishes. The people wanted more food, but Jesus told them they missed the point. The miracle wasn’t about filling their stomachs—it was to show who He is. They wanted the bread. He wanted them to see the Bread‑giver.

God fed Israel with manna in the wilderness. Now Jesus stands there saying, “I am the true bread.” Only God could say that.

Everything He did pointed to the same truth: Jesus is the almighty I AM, the same Jehovah who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The Jews knew exactly what He meant. That’s why they got angry. He was taking the name of God.

In John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” In the Old Testament, God is the One who gives light, who created light, who led Israel with a pillar of fire. Jesus is claiming that same role.

In John 10:7, He says, “I am the door.” In verse 11 He says, “I am the good shepherd.” In the Old Testament, Jehovah is Israel’s Shepherd (Psalm 23). Now Jesus says He is the Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.

In John 11:25, standing at Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” Only God gives life. Only God raises the dead. Jesus doesn’t say, “I can help with resurrection.” He says I AM the resurrection.

In John 14:6, He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Not “a way.” Not “a truth.” He says He is the way to the Father. No prophet ever talked like that.

In John 15:1, He says, “I am the true vine.” Israel was called God’s vine in the Old Testament. Jesus says He’s the true one — the source of life and fruit.

All these “I AM” sayings tie Jesus straight back to the God of Israel. He didn’t come out of nowhere. He came fulfilling the covenants, the miracles, the promises and the prophecies. God showed Himself to Israel in power in the Old Testament so that when Jesus came doing the same works, they’d know God was now standing among them in the flesh.

Jesus didn’t just claim to be God.

He acted like God. He spoke like God. He did the works of God. And He used the very name of God for Himself — I AM.

That’s why John wrote his book: so we’d believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the same Jehovah who spoke to Moses and Abraham, now here amongst mankind in human form.

In John 6:29 Jesus told the people,

…This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

They wanted power, miracles and signs but Jesus said the real work is to believe! To believe on the One God sent—Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

In verse 30 (John 6:30) the crowd ask Jesus,

What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

 

In verse 31 They remind Jesus,

Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

 

But Jesus corrected them in verse 32:

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

 

He’s saying it wasn’t Moses who fed them—it was Jehovah God. And now Jesus says He is the true bread.

Then in verses 33–35 Jesus says,

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

 

He’s not talking about literal bread or literal drink. He’s talking about believing on Him. Catholics miss this when they say you must literally eat His flesh. Jesus explains the meaning Himself: coming to Him and believing on Him is the “eating.”

In verse 47 (John 6:47) He says,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

 

See, that’s the point. Eating bread keeps your body alive for a day, believing on Jesus gives everlasting life.

He says in verse 48,

I am that bread of life.

 

Israel ate manna and still died. But Jesus says in verse 51,

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

 

Either He’s God, or He’s a madman. There’s no middle ground.

Even the Old Testament taught this.

In Deuteronomy 8:3 God said,

And he humbled thee (Israel) , and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

 

He gave Israel manna so they would learn that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. That LORD is Jehovah the great “I AM”.

God wanted Israel to trust Him daily. Jesus wants the same thing: trust Him, the true bread from heaven.

Then in John 8:12, Jesus gives another “I AM” statement:

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

 

He says if we follow Him, we won’t walk in darkness. That’s a huge claim. In Genesis 1:3, God created light before the sun existed. In 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, Paul says God shines spiritual light into our hearts through Jesus Christ, who is the image of God. Jesus isn’t claiming to be a teacher of light—He claims to be the light itself.

Paul says God commanded light to shine out of darkness, and that same God shines the light of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus can say, “I am the light of the world.” He’s claiming to be the very source of truth, life, and understanding.

People may choose not to believe Him, but they cannot say He never claimed to be God. He did—again and again—by taking God’s name I AM, by performing God’s works, and by offering what only God can give: eternal life.

Paul says this in 1 Timothy 6:15–16,

Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, (which means ruler of great authority), the King of kings, and Lord of lords;

Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.

 

That light is God’s own glory. No man can see God in His full light. Yet Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” He’s claiming to be that same divine light.

Israel already knew God as their light. Psalm 119:105 says,

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

 

Isaiah 49:6 says God would make Israel a light to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 60:1–3 says,

Arise, shine, for thy light is come… the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

 

That LORD is Jehovah, I AM, God and He promised to dwell with Israel and shine His glory through them.

So when Jesus comes and says, “I am the light of the world,” He’s claiming to be the very light Isaiah spoke of—the glory of Jehovah shining on Israel.

In John 3, Jesus explains that He came from heaven, just like the manna and just like the light that comes from above. In verses 19–21 He says, “Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.” Darkness is sin. Light is truth and righteousness. Jesus says He is that light. People who hate truth avoid Him. People who want truth come to Him.

In John 12:44–46, Jesus says if you believe on Him, you are believing on the One who sent Him. If you see Him, you see the Father. Then He says again, “I am come a light into the world.”

He tells them in John 5:39,

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

 

The Old Testament showed God as light, bread, shepherd, door and life. Jesus takes all those titles for Himself.

Revelation 21:23 says that in the future kingdom they won’t need the sun, because “the Lord is the light of it.” Jesus is claiming to be that same Lord.

Then in John 10:7, Jesus gives another “I AM” statement:

I am the door of the sheep.

 

To understand that, we must know the Old Testament. God led Israel like a shepherd leads sheep—through the wilderness, through danger, feeding them, and protecting them.

Isaiah 53:6 says,

All we like sheep have gone astray.

That “we” is Israel.

Psalm 79:13 says, Israel speaking,

So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

 

Israel were God’s sheep.

So when Jesus says, “I am the door of the sheep… I am the shepherd,” He’s claiming to be the same Shepherd who led Israel in the Old Testament—the same Jehovah who fed them, guided them, and saved them.

Psalm 95:7 says, “He is our God; we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

Israel were God’s sheep. He was their Shepherd.

Jesus taught Israel to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven,” because God was the Father of Israel as we see in Exodus 3. Over and over the Old Testament says Jehovah is the Shepherd, the Light, the Bread, the Door, the One who leads His people.

Jesus isn’t just using nice pictures. He’s tying Himself directly to the God of Israel.

Every “I AM” statement is a claim to deity. People may choose not to believe Him, but they can never say He never claimed to be God. He did—again and again—by taking God’s name, God’s titles, and God’s works for Himself.

 

Psalm 100:3 says,

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 

So when Jesus says in John, “I am the bread of life… I am the light of the world… I am the door… I am the shepherd,” He’s taking titles that belong to Jehovah. That’s how He declares He is God.

It’s like my earlier example of me claiming to be a brain surgeon. I could say I’m a brain surgeon, but only a fool would believe me without me proving it in the operating theatre and having that reputation.

Israel had the “book” that told them what God does. Jesus came doing the same works God did. That’s how they should have known who He was.

God often rebuked Israel’s shepherds—its leaders—for failing to care for His people.

Ezekiel 34 says the shepherds fed themselves instead of the flock. They didn’t heal the sick, gather the lost, or strengthen the weak. God said He would judge them. Then He promised He Himself would come and be the true Shepherd.

Everything those false shepherds failed to do, Jesus did. He healed the sick, lifted the broken, found the lost, fed the hungry, and cared for the weak. That’s why He says, “I am the door of the sheep… I am the good shepherd.” He’s doing exactly what God said He would do.

Jeremiah 23:1–2 also rebukes the pastors who scatter God’s flock. Jehovah says He will visit them for their evil. Then He promises to raise up a righteous Shepherd for His people. When Jesus comes, He fulfills that promise. He is Jehovah in the flesh, doing the work the shepherds refused to do.

People often read Psalm 23 at funerals, but it’s about Israel in their wilderness and tribulation. “The LORD is my shepherd… He leads me beside still waters… He restores my soul.”

That’s what God did for Israel. Jesus comes and takes that same role. He leads, feeds, protects, and restores. He is the Shepherd of Psalm 23 because He is Jehovah, the mighty “I AM.”

Paul says in Romans 15:8 that Jesus was a minister of the circumcision to confirm the promises made to the fathers. That means Jesus came to Israel to fulfill everything God said He would do.

So when Jesus says in John 10, “I am the door of the sheep,” He’s saying He’s the only true way into God’s fold. The Old Testament is the frame, and Jesus fits it perfectly. Anyone who doesn’t fit that frame is not the Shepherd.

Jesus fits every prophecy, every picture, every promise. That’s why He keeps saying, “I AM… I AM… I AM.”

He is Jehovah God in the flesh, the true Shepherd of Israel.

In John 10:11, Jesus says,

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  

 

That was a hint of what He would do later. A normal shepherd might protect sheep, but who dies for sheep? Jesus knew exactly what He came to do. He knew the mystery. He knew the cross. He knew He would lay down His life. He says this long before He dies because He is the I AM.

Jesus came to Israel, the lost sheep. In Matthew 15:24, He says,

I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 

In Matthew 10:6, He tells His disciples to preach only to Israel. So the sheep are not Gentiles—they’re Jews. But not all Israel believed. Only the little flock of Luke 12:32 heard His voice.

In Matthew 26:31-32, on the night before the cross, Jesus quotes prophecy from Zechariah 13:7. He says,

I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.

 

He tells them He’ll rise again, but they still don’t understand. They go to the empty tomb thinking someone stole His body. We understand now because we can look back.

Peter later writes in 1 Peter 2:25 to those scattered sheep, the scattered believing remnant of Israel, calling Jesus their Shepherd.

Israel’s prophets had spoken of this long before.

Then in John 11:25, Jesus gives another “I AM” statement:

Jesus said unto her (that’s Martha) I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

 

Lazarus has died. Martha says she knows he will rise “at the last day.” How does she know that? Because the Old Testament scriptures taught the resurrection of God’s people and she believed that.

But Jesus says, “I am the resurrection.”

He’s claiming to be the One who gives life at the last day—the same God who promised resurrection in the Old Testament. He asks her, “Believest thou this?” She answers, “I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God.”

Then Jesus proves His claim. He raises Lazarus from the dead by His own word.

Elijah and others raised the dead too, but they never said, “I am the resurrection.” They said God did it. Jesus says He is the life. That’s a claim only God can make.

This miracle wasn’t about Lazarus. It was a sign to unbelieving Jews to show who Jesus is. If God raises His people at the last day, then who is this man who raises the dead right now? He is the I AM.

Jesus keeps saying it:

I am the bread of life.

I am the light of the world.

I am the door.

I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life.

Every one of these ties Him to the God of Israel. We have to read the Old Testament and John together. That’s how we see it. Jesus didn’t need to say the exact words “I am God.” He said it in every way that mattered—by taking God’s name, God’s titles, and God’s works for Himself.

In John 11:41–42, Jesus prays before raising Lazarus.

He says, “Father, I thank You that You hear me… but because of the people standing here I said it, that they may believe You sent me.”

He wasn’t raising Lazarus just because He loved him, even though He did weep at the news of his death.

He raised Lazarus as a sign, so the people would believe He was sent by God.

Yet even after seeing a man raised from the dead, many still refused to believe and began plotting Jesus’ death. Just like Abraham said in Luke 16, “If one rose from the dead, they still won’t believe.”

Then Jesus gives another great “I AM” statement in John 14:6. He says,

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 

That’s not just the religious slogan it’s become today. In the Old Testament, God was Israel’s way. God led them through the wilderness, told them when to fight, where to live, how to walk.

Psalm 119 is full of prayers like, “Teach me the way of Thy statutes… make me to go in the path of Thy commandments.” Israel knew God alone was the way.

So when Jesus says, “I am the way,” He’s claiming to be the same God who guided Israel.

He also says, “I am the truth.”

Psalm 119:160 says,

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

 

God is the source of all truth.

John 1 says Jesus is full of grace and truth—a description used of Jehovah in the Old Testament.

In John 17:17 Jesus prays, “Thy word is truth.” And who is the Word? Jesus Himself. So when He says, “I am the truth,” He’s claiming the very nature of God.

Some people argue about whether Jesus had “faith” like we do. But faith is trusting in truth. If you are the truth, you don’t “believe in” truth—you are it.

Jesus didn’t need faith the way we do. He lived in perfect obedience because He’s God manifest in the flesh.

Then Jesus says, “I am the life.”

We don’t have life in ourselves—we die. We need life from God. Jesus says He is that life.

In John 5:24, He says those who hear His word and believe have everlasting life.

In John 5:28–29 He says the dead will rise at His voice. Only God can do that. That’s why He says in John 11, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

He also says in John 15:1, “I am the true vine.”

In the Old Testament, Israel was God’s vine, God’s vineyard, God’s olive tree. But Israel failed. Jesus says,

I am the vine, you (Israel) are the branches.

 

If they don’t abide in Him—believe Him, follow Him—they will wither and be cut off. That’s kingdom truth for Israel. But in this dispensation, the dispensation of grace that you and I live in today, believers are not branches on a tree—we’re members of His body. A body part that is weak or sick is cared for, not chopped off.

The branches of the vine are Israel, especially those who believed Him.

He says in verse 2 (John 15:2) that every branch not bearing fruit is taken away, and the ones that do bear fruit are purged to bear more.

That’s covenant language. Under Israel’s program, fruit proved faith. A branch with no fruit was worthless. That’s why James 2:17 says,

Faith without works is dead.

 

Thank God our salvation today in this dispensation of Grace doesn’t depend on fruit, but theirs did.

Jesus keeps saying “I AM” because the whole point of John’s Gospel is to show He is the Son of God—Jehovah in the flesh.

Every “I AM” statement connects Him to something God said or did in the Old Testament. When Jehovah says, “Every knee shall bow to Me,” and Jesus says He is the Judge before whom every knee bows, that’s a claim to deity.

Paul says the same in Colossians 1:16–17,

By Him were all things created… He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

 

That’s Genesis 1. That’s the I AM. Jesus existed before creation because He is God.

In John 18, when they come to arrest Jesus, He shows this again.

Judas brings soldiers with torches and weapons. Jesus already knows everything that’ll happen—because He’s God and knows all things. He steps forward and asks, “Whom seek ye?” They say, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answers, “I am he.” The moment He says “I AM,” they fall backward to the ground. That was the power of God.

Isaiah uses the phrase “I am he” for Jehovah. Jesus uses it for Himself.

Israel needed to believe who He was.

Today, the whole world. if they’re to receive life, must believe who He is and what He did—that He died for our sins and rose again.

But we can’t understand the cross until we understand the Person on that cross. And Jesus made it plain: He is the almighty I AM.

The Secret Gospel

The secret gospel really starts in Luke chapter nine, in the middle of Jesus earthly ministry where He’s surrounded by the disciples.

“Speed Slider”

The Secret Gospel Timeline

The Secret Gospel Timeline – Press Image To Expand

Terms Paul Used for His Gospel

Paul uses these terms to describe the Gospel he preached;

  • Gospel of God – Romans 1:1, 2 Corinthians 11:7, 1 Thessalonians 2:8, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, & Romans 15:6
  • Gospel of his Son – Romans 1:9
  • Gospel of Christ – Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 9:12, 1 Corinthians 9:18, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 9:13, 2 Corinthians 10:14, Galatians 1:7, Romans 15:19, Philippians 1:27, 1 Thessalonians 3:2 & Romans 15:29
  • My gospel – Romans 2:16 & Romans 16:25
  • Gospel of peace – Romans 10:15
  • Christ’s gospel – 2 Corinthians 2:12
  • Gospel of your salvation – Ephesians 1:13
  • Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ – 2 Thessalonians 2:14
  • Gospel of the blessed God – 1 Timothy 1:11
  • Gospel according to the power of God – 2 Timothy 1:8
  • Gospel of the uncircumcision – Galatians 2:7
  • Gospel of the circumcision – Galatians 2:7.

The Secret Gospel – Transcript

Our study of the book of Romans has lead to where almost every sentence opens up more and more of the reality of what the body of Christ is, how and why there is a body of Christ and our personal part in it.

I must admit that until my study of Romans Christianity for me was confusing and full of loose ends that always seemed to flap about with no anchor point.

As I studied the passages, that have no comparison in any literary work of mankind, what began to unfold was an understanding of the gospel as I’ve never experienced in my 40 some years as a Christian.

Paul’s writing is very deep and very complex in that he crams so much into his sentences with parentheses and side bars everywhere, and yet, once I realised how to read his explanations and sidebars without losing the original point of the sentence, I began to see the utter simplicity of salvation.

This bought a new awe of God’s wisdom, a new respect for the Word as a whole and led me to be more sure and certain of salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ than ever before.

Finally I found a sense of wonder that Romans is both the foundation and the finish of the Body of Christ, and, along with the entire rest of the bible, was intended for me personally, just as it was intended for you personally.

One of the great freedoms I found was timing. Understanding the Lords timing and the different ways He’s dealt with mankind since the foundation of the world, and the ways He’ll deal with mankind in the future.

Understanding timing, or context, blows away all the seaming contradictions of the Word.

The teaching and preaching that says we’re saved by grace and then goes on to list all that we must and must not do always made me have a sense of mistrust in the bible even though I was convinced it was God’s Word. How could God say one thing here and then an almost opposite thing there.

I put it down to man’s interpretation but Romans made me realise that the bible’s not open to man’s interpretation. It says what is says and means what it says.

 

I found that an overwhelming amount of teaching and preaching in modern day churches, especially on social media channels and Christian television, comes from a stockpile of bible verses that’s almost like a preacher’s toolbox.

Selected verses are pulled out of the box and often used out of context as a basis for sermons that’re often some sort of feel good, life enhancing speech. Very seldom are these toolbox verses used within the context they’re part of.

An example would be the word “therefore”. It’s used 105 times in Pauls epistles from Romans to Philemon and 27 times in Romans alone and every time it’s used it’s telling us that we can’t understand what follows the “therefore” if we don’t know what the “therefore” relates to in the previous passages. So often the context makes what follows the “therefore” a completely different message than what’s being preached.

 

Another good example of context is Philippians 4:13 where Paul says,

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

 

If we isolate that verse we can easily see where a motivational preacher can use it to urge his audience to be positive because we can do all things through Christ because He gives us the strength to do all things. A new car? No problem! A new house? Good as done! Overweight? Just pray and you’ll be slim.

But when we see the verse in context we see it differently.

The previous two verses must be read to understand exactly what Paul’s saying. Philippians 4:11-13,

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

This happens in so many places throughout the bible, and in any other book or writing for that matter, where context absolutely matters and is critical to understand what’s being said.

 

Almost all scripture, and almost every verse, is a puzzle piece, a part of the whole picture of God’s dealings with mankind.

The biggest objection to this comes from those who don’t believe that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God.

The challenge for every one of those folk is to first settle for themselves what the Bible actually is.

Once the evidence is looked at honestly anyone can prove that the Bible is a supernatural, living Word.

Of course one step before that is to first be convinced that God actually exists and that He really is the omnipotent almighty Creator of the universe.

Again the evidence for that is overwhelming and everywhere and only those who willingly blind themselves to that evidence can reject it.

Remember “proof” is the result of convincing evidence.

 

So, the discovery of God’s timing, the ages, the dispensations by which God deals with man in different ways is vital in understanding the Word of God.

And, within God’s timing, perhaps the most important piece of timing is the section we could call Paul’s secret gospel, especially for the Body of Christ today.

One of the most valuable tools we can have in this respect is a timeline chart and we have a very basic timeline chart available below this recording.

 

Paul’s secret gospel really starts in Luke chapter nine, in the middle of Jesus earthly ministry where He’s surrounded by the disciples.

Let’s read Luke 9:1-6,

Then he (Jesus) called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. 

And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. 

And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. 

And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. 

And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. 

And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.

 

So we see that they preached the gospel.

So what exactly does the word “gospel” mean?

The word in our concordance is basically described as meaning “Good News” or “Glad or Good Tidings”.

The actual word “gospel” only appears in the New Testament section of the Bible although the concept of “good news” absolutely does appear in the Old Testament, especially in Isaiah 40:9, Isaiah 52:7 and Isaiah 61:1. Jesus used these verses in His earthly ministry.

 

The word gospel is used in three different but connected meanings:

Firstly, the “Gospel” as the account of Jesus’ life in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These books are called “Gospels” because they tell the good news about Jesus. The word is like a title or genre here, such as “The Gospel according to Matthew.”

 

Secondly, The “Gospel” as the good news of the long prophesied Kingdom of God that Jesus, who was God, came to earth in human flesh to usher in.

We know that Jesus, when He came to the earth came to Israel, the chosen nation. He was the Jews long prophesied Messiah,

We see that all through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and early Acts.

In Matthew 15:24 this is specifically stated but the entire context of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John displays this. It’s about Israel.

In Matthew 3:1 at the beginning of Jesus’s earthly ministry we see this,

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

 

Thirdly, The “gospel” as the message of salvation — the good news preached by Paul.

Paul uses the terms gospel of God, gospel of his (God’s) Son, gospel of Christ, my gospel, gospel of peace, Christ’s gospel, gospel of your salvation, gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, gospel of the blessed God, gospel according to the power of God, gospel of the uncircumcision, gospel of the circumcision and many times simply The gospel. There’s a list of references to Pauls terms below this recording.

 

These 3 groups do not contradict each other. One is the story, one is the heralding in of the earthly Kingdom (they kingdom come), the other is the salvation message that was revealed to Paul.

 

1 Timothy 2:4  reveals God’s will,

Who (God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

To undertake this will of God we need to know the gospel.

In Luke 9:1-6 here we have Jesus sending out the twelve and they’re preaching the gospel.

Christians believe that’s what we’re doing, or should be doing today, going out to the towns and preaching the gospel. And if they don’t receive us, if we think they’re not receiving the gospel, we’re going to shake the dust off of our feet.

 

But one of the basics of the timings, the dispensations we’re talking about here is that Jesus revealed a secret to Paul.

Paul explains it in Romans 16:25 like this,

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, 

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 

 

What does this mean and how does this “my gospel” as Paul puts it differ from the gospel we just read about in Luke 9?

Is there a difference? Why was it a mystery and only revealed to Paul?

 

Paul preaches, Jesus Christ according to the revelation of this mystery. So Christ revealed a mystery, a secret to Paul. And it includes information about the gospel, the gospel Paul calls my gospel.

It’s about Jesus Christ, but it’s about Jesus Christ according to the revelation of this mystery which Paul says was kept secret since the world began.

Look at 1 Corinthians 2:7,

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 

 

In verse 8 (1 Corinthians 2:8) reads,

Which (this mystery wisdom of God) none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

 

Did these quote “princes of this world” crucify Christ? Yes they did.

Did they know this mystery then? No. Because Paul says if they had known it, they wouldn’t have crucified him and that needed to happen to bring salvation and righteousness into the world.

 

Let’s go to Ephesians 3:3-9,

How that by revelation he (God) made known unto me (Paul) the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 

Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 

Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. 

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

 

This mystery was preached by Paul.

So here’s Paul saying he’s teaching a mystery that’s been revealed. And it includes information about the Gentiles. And the gospel and God’s grace. And this was kept secret since before the beginning of the world and it was revealed to him by Jesus.

 

Look then at Colossians 1:25-27 where Paul again talks about this mystery,

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; 

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 

Whereunto I (Paul) also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. 

 

Paul says that this mystery gospel is not just for the Gentiles, but it’s to every man. Obviously, when we talk about men in the Bible, we’re talking about mankind there.

So every man means every man and woman.

 

What happened when Jesus revealed this mystery to Paul.

Let’s go to Acts 9 and see what happened there that was so special.

Acts 9:3-5. and remember that Paul is called Saul here. His name was changed later.

We read,

And as he (Saul – Paul) journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 

Now to Act 9:6,

And he (Saul) trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

 

So here’s Paul. He’s on the road to Damascus when Jesus the Lord comes to him. He tells he’s going to tell him what to do in response to Paul asking the Lord what do you want me to do?

The Lord tells Paul to go into Damascus where there’s a man called Ananias. At this stage Paul has lost his eyesight.

 

At the same time Jesus is dealing directly with Ananias and in Acts 9:11-12 we read,

And the Lord said unto him (Ananias), Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. 

 

Ananias questions the Lord because of the evil reputation Paul has of persecution to those who believe in Jesus as the Messiah.

Jesus explains to situation to Ananias in Acts 9:15,

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: 

For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

 

In Acts chapter 22:12-15 Paul explains the events that occurred in detail to an audience in Jerusalem and he says Ananias told him that “the God of our fathers hath chosen thee” to know God’s will, and to see “that Just One,” and hear the voice of His mouth, and be a witness “unto all men.”

 

Paul repeats it again in Acts 26:14–18, where Jesus

says He appeared to Paul “for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness,” and that He is sending Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes… that they may receive forgiveness of sins.”

 

So in Acts 9, Christ Himself gives Paul a ministry and begins revealing His will to him. This is the same thing Paul talks about in Romans 16, 1 Corinthians 2, Ephesians 3, and Colossians 1. Christ reveals the mystery that was kept secret since the world began. It includes a gospel committed to him by Christ.

 

In Galatians 1:11-12 Pauls says to the Galatians,

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 

For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

 

Paul didn’t get this gospel that he’s preaching from anyone other than Christ.

Paul reminds them how he once persecuted the church, was zealous in the Jews’ religion, but God called him by grace “to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen.” He didn’t go to the apostles to learn anything—he went into Arabia and back to Damascus. His gospel came straight from Christ.

 

So here’s where this one thing, the gospel, gets confused and it’s only by understanding the changes in dispensation, the timing that we can erase the confusion.

Paul says, I preach the gospel. It was a mystery kept secret. It was given to me directly by Jesus Christ. And yet in Luke 9 Jesus is sending twelve people, and they’re going out through all the cities and they’re preaching the gospel.

So how can they preach the gospel when it was unknown before it was revealed to Paul?

Paul’s preaching the gospel and says it was a mystery until revealed to him. How could it be if the disciples were preaching it long before Paul was even converted?

Paul’s preaching a gospel that was kept secret, given to him directly by Jesus. The disciples are given a gospel from Jesus to preach that was not a secret.

 

This is where so many controversies and arguments are birthed and it’s such a shame because it’s so simple when we let the Bible speak and stay out of its way.

 

1 Corinthians 9:16 gives a bit more context about Paul and the the gospel that he’s preaching and, and the ministry that he was given of the Lord,

For though I (Paul) preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! 

 

Why does Paul have to preach the gospel?

Next verse 1 Corinthians 9:17,

For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. 

Paul says, a dispensation of the gospel, is committed to him, and that’s what he’s testifying of.

Christ gave him information, revealed a mystery, wisdom that had been kept secret, and committed it to Paul to minister.

This gospel Paul calls  “the gospel of the grace of God” is unique because it offers salvation to God’s enemies by grace through faith, and Paul himself is the pattern.

In Act 20:24 Paul talks about his ministry to the Ephesian elders and he says,

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

 

Paul calls it the gospel of the grace of God.

What’s unique about his gospel, in part, is that it talks about salvation for God’s enemies by grace through faith. And Paul is a pattern as we see in 1 Timothy 1:15-16,

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.  

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.

Paul is a pattern of an enemy of God being saved by His grace, and we too are enemies of God, and we too need God’s grace to save us.

Colossian 1:21-22,

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; 

This ministry that Paul had was regarding in part the gospel, and that gospel was a gospel of God’s grace that was offered to his enemies.

Let’s look into a little bit more about what that gospel included and how that worked in Galatians 1:8-9

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 

Something about this gospel is so important that Paul says if any other gospel is preached unto you, let that person be accursed.

However, we have this conflict between the gospel that was revealed to Paul, which any man who preaches otherwise is cursed, and the gospel Jesus Himself gave to the twelve apostles to preach.

Let’s get a bit more detail about the gospel that Paul preached before we look at the gospel during Jesus earthly ministry.

Paul says that we’re sinful enemies of God and will face God’s judgment, and we deserve death.

Romans, which Paul wrote and is the foundational book of doctrine for the Body of Christ, includes information about his gospel and salvation.

In Romans 3:23, which we’ve studied in our verse by verse study of the book of Romans Paul concludes this,

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

Paul concludes this after painstakingly building the picture in the previous chapters of Romans.

And in Romans 1:18-32, Paul talks about the judgment that’s coming to sinners and he describes what a sinner looks like and if we’re honest with ourselves we can all recognise ourselves in that awful description.

The end of that passage should send chills up our spine. Romans 1:32,

Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. 

The passage continues in Romans 2:1-3 with one of those “therefores” we talked about,

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 

But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

 

There’s no one that’s going to escape that judgment. We’re all sinners. God’s going to judge that sin, and the result is going to be death.

But Paul also says God offers a gift—eternal life through Jesus Christ. And that gift comes through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for sinful, ungodly enemies of God. Those who receive this free gift will escape judgement because there’s nothing to judge. Their sin has been paid for by death even the death of God Himself in the flesh.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, Paul declares the gospel he received from Christ. Here it is,

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 

 

Paul says in Romans 16:25 that this gospel includes things that were not revealed before. In Romans 5:6–10, Paul says Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners, for enemies, who we all were, and that we’re “justified by his blood” and “reconciled to God by the death of his Son.”

Colossians 1:14 and Ephesians 1:7 say His blood brings redemption and forgiveness.

Paul also teaches that believers have eternal life because we are joined to Christ. In Romans 6:6–11 we’re told that our “old man with its body of sin is crucified with him,” and we’re to reckon ourselves “dead unto sin, but alive unto God.”

In Romans 8:11, the same Spirit that raised Jesus will “quicken our mortal bodies.”

In 1 Corinthians 15:20–22, Christ is the “firstfruits,” and all in Christ “shall be made alive.”

So how do we get into Christ?

We become “in Christ” the moment we believe the gospel, when the Holy Spirit places us into Christ’s body, uniting us with His death, burial, and resurrection. That’s it. Paul never commands to “Become in Christ” or “Get into Christ” or “Try to be in Christ”.

Instead, he declares it as a completed fact for every believer:

No ritual.

No process.

No striving.

Just faith in the finished work of Christ.

Paul says salvation is by grace through faith, not by works or the law. In Romans 3:24–28, we are “justified freely by his grace,” and God is the “justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Paul concludes that a man is “justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” In Romans 4:4–5, he says if you work for it, it’s not grace—but to the one “that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Because Christ’s blood justifies, redeems, and gives eternal life, we’re complete in Christ. Ephesians 1:3 says we have all spiritual blessings in Him.

Colossians 2:10 says we’re complete in Him. No law‑keeping can add to what Christ already finished.

 

So Paul’s gospel is this:

We’re all sinners and enemies of God whether Jew or Gentile and we’re all facing judgment and death.

Christ died, was buried, and rose again for our sins.

His blood brings forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation.

Eternal life is given to all who believe.

And this salvation is a free gift of grace, not of works.

This gospel that was revealed to Paul is part of the mystery, kept secret until Christ made it known and it includes something new: “one new man”, the body of Christ.

In Ephesians 2:14–16, Christ broke down the wall between Jew and Gentile and made “of twain one new man,” reconciling both to God in one body by the cross.

In Ephesians 3:6, Paul says Gentiles are now “fellow heirs… of the same body.”

This is part of the hidden wisdom Christ revealed to him.

 

Now, let’s skip back to the four gospels.

There were twelve people that Jesus sent out and they were preaching a gospel and Paul wasn’t even around then. Paul came on the scene in Acts 8 and then Acts 9 is when Jesus reveals the mystery to Paul.

So what did Jesus actually send the twelve disciples to preach?

In Matthew 10:5–6, Jesus commands them and we read,

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: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

That’s already different from Paul, who is sent to all men, especially Gentiles.

In Mark 6:12, the twelve preach that men should repent or change their mind about breaking the covenant, because the kingdom was coming. Their message was about Israel’s promised kingdom, not the body of Christ. The term “The Body of Christ” is only found in Paul’s writings.

And if the kingdom was “coming,” then it obviously wasn’t here yet.

Paul, on the other hand, preaches forgiveness now, reconciliation now, and one new man made of Jew and Gentile now.

Another difference is in Luke 18:31–34, where Jesus tells the twelve He will die and rise again, but they quote “understood none of these things.”

Yet Paul’s gospel centres on Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The twelve who preached in Luke 9 didn’t even know about it and when they were told of it by Jesus they didn’t understand. Peter even began to rebuke Jesus. That alone shows the two messages, the two gospels cannot be the same.

In Luke 18:31–34, Jesus takes the same twelve men He sent out in Luke 9 and tells them plainly that everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will now happen—He’ll be handed to the Gentiles, mocked, beaten, killed, and rise again the third day. That’s the death, burial, and resurrection, the same truth Paul later preaches in 1 Corinthians 15:1–4. But, again, the twelve “understood none of these things.”

It was “hid from them.”

That’s a big problem if the gospel they preached in Luke 9 was the same as Paul’s. How can you preach a gospel that you don’t even understand?

Just a few verses earlier in Luke 18:18–25, a rich ruler asks Jesus how to get eternal life. Jesus does not tell him what Paul tells us. He doesn’t say, “Believe my death and shed blood, it’s a free gift by grace.”

Instead Jesus points him to the commandments, and then tells him to sell all, give to the poor, and follow Him into the coming kingdom.

That’s the gospel of the kingdom, not the gospel of the grace of God.

Rich or poor doesn’t matter for us today, but in that kingdom message, refusing to give up riches meant he could not enter.

So what gospel were the twelve preaching in Luke 9 and Luke 18? It clearly wasn’t Paul’s gospel, because they didn’t even understand the cross or resurrection. Their hope of eternal life was tied to doing the law and following Christ into the earthly kingdom.

 

Then Jesus dies in Luke 23 and rises in Luke 24 and none of the disciples believed it at first—not just Thomas, but all eleven of them, minus Judas, and we see this in Luke 24:9–11 and 36–41.

After He appears to them, Jesus spends forty days teaching them, opening their understanding to the law, prophets, and psalms as we read in Luke 24:44–45.

He explains that it was written that Christ must suffer and rise again, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached “beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46–47). He blesses them and ascends into heaven.

Luke also wrote the book of Acts and Acts 1 continues the same story. Jesus shows Himself alive for forty days and gives commandments to the apostles (Acts 1:1–3). Surely now they understand the Scriptures He taught them.

Then in Acts 2, Peter finally preaches—but notice who he preaches to in Acts 2:22: “Ye men of Israel”.

Not Gentiles. Not all men. Israel.

And what does he preach? That they crucified their Messiah. He doesn’t preach the one new man, the body of Christ, or salvation by grace through faith without the law. He preaches the kingdom message to Israel, but now with the added fact that Jesus rose from the dead.

So even after the resurrection and forty days of teaching, the message the twelve preach in Acts 2 is still Israel‑focused, still kingdom‑focused, and still not the gospel Paul later calls “my gospel,” revealed to him as part of the mystery.

Paul says that if the mystery had been known, the rulers would not have crucified Christ.

That means God planned the cross before the world began as the way to deal with sin.

But Peter says in Acts 2 that Israel wickedly crucified Christ.

Why? Because under the gospel of the kingdom, Israel was supposed to recognize Jesus as their Messiah and believe who He said He was. That would be the key to usher in the long prophesied glorious kingdom. Instead, they rejected Him and crucified Him, going against God’s revealed will for them.

Peter preaches in Acts 2:24 that God raised Jesus from the dead and in Acts 2:36 he says, “God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

The people are pricked in their hearts and ask, “What shall we do?”

Peter does not preach Paul’s gospel of grace.

Instead he says, “Repent and be baptized… for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). This promise is to Israel and their children.

In Acts 3:13–15, Peter again preaches to Israel. He says they denied the Holy One and killed “the Prince of life”.

He says the lame man was healed by faith in His name, not faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. There’s a big difference. Then Peter says something very important Acts 3:19: their sins will be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come. That’s future—when Christ returns. That’s not the same as Paul’s teaching that we have forgiveness now through Christ’s blood.

Peter also says in Acts 3:21 that what he’s preaching was spoken “by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began”. This is diametrically opposite to what Paul says, that his gospel was a mystery kept secret since the world began (Romans 16:25). Those two things simply cannot be the same.

Peter’s message was prophesied. Paul’s message was hidden.

Peter’s preaching to Israel only, offering the kingdom, calling them to repent so the kingdom can come.

Paul preaches to all men, Jew and Gentile alike, about a new man, the body of Christ, created by the cross (Ephesians 2:14–16).

Paul’s gospel requires Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for the ungodly (1 Corinthians 15:1–4; Romans 5:6–10).

Peter’s gospel in Acts 2–3 does not preach the cross as good news for salvation; he preaches it as Israel’s crime.

So we see clear differences:

– Peter’s gospel was prophesied while Paul’s was a mystery.

– Peter preached to Israel while Paul to all men.

– Peter preached repent and be baptized while Paul preached grace through faith.

– Peter preached future blotting out of sins while Paul preached present forgiveness, forgiveness now.

– Peter preached faith in Jesus name while Paul preached faith in His finished work on the cross.

It’s not the similarities that matter—it’s the differences.

And even one difference means they cannot be the same gospel.

So the gospel in Luke 9 and Acts 2–3 is not the same as the gospel Christ later revealed to Paul.

This is one of the basic truths of the bible and can only be fully understood when we divide the word of God correctly into it’s past, present and future dispensations as 2 Timothy 2:15 says.

Paul’s gospel is the secret gospel Jesus gave to him, and it’s different from the kingdom gospel preached before.

Both are correct in their right context and dispensation. Jesus is the Author of both and we need to understand both.

What About Israel?

What About Israel?

Following the terror attack by Islamists on a Jewish gathering at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia on the 14th of December 2025 we find ourselves drowning in a sea of words. Unfortunately the vast majority of those words and the ideology behind them bear little resemblance to the truth.

When making statements about Israel there is only one place where the unadulterated truth is available, and it’s available to every person on the planet, and that’s the Bible, The inspired Word of God.

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Biblical Current Israel Comparison

Biblical / Current Israel Comparison – Press Image To Expand

What About Israel? – Transcript

In this episode I’d like to challenge you, my dear listeners, to not just listen but to have a Bible (preferably a King James Bible) open while you listen and to check out the verses I’ve provided.

Following the terror attack by Islamists on a Jewish gathering at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia on the 14th of December 2025 we find ourselves drowning in a sea of words. Unfortunately the vast majority of those words and the ideology behind them bear little resemblance to the truth.

When making statements about Israel there is only one place where the unadulterated truth is available, and it’s available to every person on the planet, and that’s the Bible, The inspired Word of God.

The vast majority of those doing the talking, on all sides, would heartily disagree with that statement, of course, but we must ask those people, “If you reject the Bible as truth then what is the basis for what you’re stating is truthful fact?”

People rarely form a point of view on their own.

Most people shape their beliefs from a mixture of sources such as family traditions, religious teachings, their community, books, media, and social media.

Many opinions are formed from trusted voices such as preachers, teachers, politicians or from someone who knew someone who had a particular experience.

Over time, these influences shape how they see the world and what they consider “truth.”

But knowing where information comes from is only half the challenge.

The harder question is how a person decides whether or not their source of information is trustworthy.

Some rely on authority figures, others on the news or entertainment media or some even on personal experience.

Others base facts on whether or not the information fits what they already believe or what they want to believe.

 

Careful thinkers, those who care more about getting it right rather than believing something that’s corrupt or wrong, look for evidence.

They ask who produced this information? What motives have they got? Can the claims be checked against independent sources?

Truthfulness isn’t guaranteed by the loudest voice or the most familiar one, or by what may feel is right emotionally, but by a willingness to test rather than simply accept.

 

When we look at our universe and the life it contains and the countless perfect systems needed to sustain that life, we must accept that a great and mighty creator was responsible for it all, God, who is outside of time and outside of our known dimensions.

 

Once we accept that and we come to realise that His power, His majesty and His wisdom are far beyond our ability to imagine, we look to Him as the one and only source of absolute truth.

We come to understand that God has an eternal plan for mankind and we naturally long to hear what that plan is.

We learn that God has revealed that plan to every man that desires to look for it.

He’s given us a book, the Holy Bible, which contains all the revelation he’s given to mankind, little by little, over many centuries.

If we care to look at the evidence we can prove that this Bible is in fact the inspired Word of God.

It’s here, in this Word of God, in the whole story, not just selected verses, that we find the truth of the beginning of and the history of, the nation of Israel.

But even with the Bible we must see the whole book, the whole story, the whole plan, and not just cherry picked verses used to proof text a particular stance or doctrine. The whole bible must be studied and rightly divided as 2 Timothy 2:15 says.

An example of wrongly dividing is the Islamist who believes God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Ishmael, or those that preach that the church has replaced Israel.

Many modern day preachers use scriptures in isolation to try and prove just about any doctrine such as, God wants you wealthy and free from the challenges of this present world.

There’re seemingly endless false or doubtful doctrines that come from taking verses out of their correct context.

We need to see that although God’s character, who He is, never changes, His dealings with man do. For example when He spoke to Abram in Genesis 12:1 we know He wasn’t talking to us today just the same with Exodus 9 where God is instructing Moses and the same with countless other places even when the Lord Jesus walked on the earth. Every word of the Bible is for our instruction as 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us but not every word is for us to carry out under the dispensation of grace that we live under today.

 

In Genesis 12:1-3 God speaks to Abram who would later be Abraham. Let’s read,

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

 

God gave the fathers of Israel a special promise that they would be the channel of God’s blessing and curse to the world.

If anyone was to be blessed they needed to bless Israel, and if anyone did not, they’d be cursed. Israel was the channel of God’s judgment and reward toward the earth.

 

People, kings, and nations were blessed or cursed depending on how they responded to the channel of God’s blessing, Israel, and we have numerous proofs that this was so.

Jesus was not sent to Gentiles as we see in Matthew 15:24, but look how a Gentile centurion who sought healing for his servant from Jesus, is described as blessing Israel in Luke 7:4-5,

And when they (the elders of the Jews) came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he (the centurion) was worthy for whom he should do this: 

For he loveth our nation (Israel), and he hath built us a synagogue. 

 

When most of the Bible describes Israel as the channel of God’s blessing, it’s easy to assume that God’s doing the same thing today as He’s always done.

Sincere Christians continue to bless Israel according to Genesis 12:3 and seek their favour in order to receive God’s blessing.

But this is a mistake which has it’s seed in the failure to rightly divide the word of truth as 2 Timothy 2:15 advises we should.

 

Our Blessing through Christ today, in the dispensation of grace in which we live is not Israel.

The problem with trying to obey Genesis 12:3 today is that it ignores the way we access the riches of God’s grace according to the mystery of Christ given to the apostle to the gentiles, Paul.

 

According to the mystery, Israel is fallen today and although it will always be God’s chosen nation it has no spiritual standing with God in this dispensation as we read in Romans 11:11,

I (Paul) say then, Have they (Israel) stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: (here Pau’s saying God forbid that their fall is permanent. It’s not.) but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them (Israel) to jealousy. 

 

Israel is counted in unbelief and all in sin, exactly the same as the Gentiles as we see in Romans 3:9 and Romans 11:32.

 

In the church today, the body of Christ, there’s neither Jew nor Gentile. Being Jewish doesn’t give anyone gain closer access to God or his blessings in this dispensation as we see in Galatians 3:28 which reads,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

 

Paul describes in Ephesians 2:13 that though Israel was the channel and access to God’s blessing in time past, now our access to God and his blessings comes through the body and blood of Christ,

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

 

And Ephesians 2:18,

For through him we both (that’s Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

 

If there wasn’t a single Israelite in the body of Christ, and thankfully there are many, every member would still have all spiritual blessings in Christ as we see in Ephesians 1:3.

God has changed the channel of his blessing from the nation of Israel to the body of Christ which we see in Ephesians 3:1-6. Let’s read,

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: 

 

There are Jews who’ve been saved by the gospel of grace, but blessing Israel as a nation today ignores God’s will and blesses unsaved men because of their flesh as we see in Galatians 6:15.

 

God’s channel of blessing has changed, and so has how punishments are dealt.

The promise of Genesis 12:3 includes not only a blessing but a curse. In Genesis 12:3 if anyone fails to bless Israel, they’re cursed by God.

Many pastors and teachers who fail to see the mystery try to place a country that does not politically endorse the Zionist movement today as cursed.

By the way a Zionist is simply someone who supports a Jewish, self-governed homeland in the land of Israel (historically called Palestine).

 

In contrast to Genesis 12:3, Paul says that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law in Galatians 3:13-14 which reads,

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 

 

The body of Christ can’t be placed under a curse any more by God’s grace.

 

Our glory is not in the nation of Israel, but in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ through which we receive every spiritual blessing and redemption from every curse as Galatians 6:14 explains,

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

 

However we can Bless Israel today.

The mystery of Christ describes how God’s blessings can come upon anyone despite Israel’s fall, and how curses can be removed from sinners who don’t deserve such a deliverance. The mystery is revealed in the grace of Christ.

 

Today all men are offered salvation freely, not through covenants, a special nation, or the law, but through the finished work of Christ as we see in 1 Timothy 2:4,

Who (that’s God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

 

Though Israel is temporarily fallen today as a nation, they can still be saved. In the future, Israel will return as the nation above the nations in Christ’s earthly kingdom, but not today.

Romans 11:26-28 explains this.

 

To bless Israel (or any nation) today, we bless them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray for and urge them to put their faith in Christ as the means for all spiritual blessings under grace.

 

Unfortunately, for many who refuse to see the fellowship of the mystery, this is seen as the ultimate offense especially by Israel. That offense existed in Paul’s day, and it continues today. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:23-24,

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 

 

In this dispensation of grace, God is not sending blessings through any nation, but rather through Christ to the church, which is His Body as we see in Ephesians 1:22-23.

Studying the Bible with a dispensational view not only helps us understand the Bible but also helps us make sense of the news in relation to Israel.

 

What Is God’s Prophetic Purpose For Israel?

The Bible describes a two-fold plan and purpose that God has for the universe.

The difference between these two programs which are inside God’s overall purpose comes to us two ways. Firstly by what was ‘spoken by the mouth of the prophets since the world began’ as in Acts 3:21, and secondly that which was ‘kept secret since the world began’ as in Romans 16:25.

We mark the difference between the two programs by calling the first “prophecy”, while the other is the “mystery”, revealed to Paul as in Ephesians 3:1-5.

 

The prophetic program, “prophecy” promises a future dominion on earth, while the mystery program “mystery” promises a dominion in heavenly places.

These two programs describe the way to God’s single purpose for eternity – that all things would be in Christ as we read in Ephesians 1:10,

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 

 

God began to reveal his plan for the earth almost immediately to Adam, then to Abraham, and eventually to the nation of Israel. However, he kept the information of his heavenly program, “the mystery” a secret from the foundation of the world as Ephesians 3:9 explains, and we read,

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 

 

God’s program for the earth can be summed up like this:

Israel is created as God’s chosen people. God created the nation Israel to have a privileged status before Him as a peculiar people and we see that in Genesis 12:2, Exodus 19:5, Romans 3:1-2 and many other places.

This chosen nation is promised a kingdom on earth and God promised a specific piece of land that would mark where He would set up His kingdom on earth and we see this throughout the bible especially in Genesis 13:15, Deuteronomy 34:4, Psalm 37:22, Matthew 5:5 and Isaiah 2:2-4.

 

A Messiah was promised to Israel that would lead the nation into world dominion and power as we see in Daniel 2:44-45, Isaiah 9:6-7 and Jeremiah 23:5.

This kingdom will rule the world with the Messiah as King.

Israel will be the channel of blessing to the Gentile nations Genesis 12:3, Genesis 22:18, Zechariah 8:20-23, Isaiah 60:3, Matthew 5:16.

 

In this prophecy program righteousness comes through God’s covenants.

God gave the Old Covenant as a token that Israel would be a nation that followed after God. The New Covenant would replace the old as the method of attaining righteousness and entrance into the kingdom as we see in Deuteronomy 6:25, Ezekial 36:24-27, Matthew 5:20, John 14:21 and 1 John 3:7-10.

A remnant of Israel will live through a great tribulation before entering the kingdom. With the divine protection of God, Israel will be able to live through the time of His wrath poured out on earth against all who reject Him.

They’ll be refined as silver and come out prepared to enter the kingdom on Earth says Daniel 9:24, Zechariah 13:9, Mark 13:13 and 1 Peter 4:17.

 

All these aspects of the prophecy program stand in stark contrast to the aspects of God’s mystery program, “the Mystery” or God’s program for heavenly places.

Today we who are saved are not participants of God’s program for the earth. We’re ambassadors of God’s heavenly purpose residing on earth to do His will see 2 Corinthians 5:20 and Ephesians 2:6.

 

Understanding the difference in the Bible between the Prophecy and the Mystery is a key to understanding what God’s will is for us today.

This basic truth can help us better understand our Bibles and the purpose of our Lord and Savior.

 

What about national Israel now, today?

Their story doesn’t begin in 1948, when Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben‑Gurion, publicly announced the Israeli Declaration of Independence, The State of Israel was established just hours before the British Mandate in Palestine expired.

The British Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate that gave Britain legal authority to administer the territories of Palestine and Transjordan after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in World War I.

Instead the story starts, as we’ve pointed out, in Genesis 12, when God calls Abram to “go…to the land that I will show you,” promising to make him into a great nation, to bless those who bless him, and to curse those who curse him, Genesis 12:1–3. That promise is unconditional. God binds Himself to it in a covenant ratified in Genesis 15 and reaffirmed in Genesis 17.

 

The apostle Paul describes in Romans 11:25 the present state of spiritual Israel,

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 

 

He then looks forward to a future national turning to Messiah in Romans 11:26,

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 

 

Put together, Scripture speaks of a time, such as is today, in which Israel is going back to their land but still largely in unbelief and under intense pressure through which they’re mysteriously preserved as a nation until God opens their eyes again after the fullness of the gentiles, when this dispensation of grace has ended.

When God’s grace ends His wrath starts against all unbelief. He cannot offer grace freely to every person while bringing wrath at the same time.

What will follow will be a terrible tribulation the likes of which the world has never before seen but a remnant of the nation of Israel will believe and they will be miraculously preserved through the period of tribulation to enter the Kingdom that’ll finally come after this 2000 year interval in the Kingdom’s prophecy timeline due to Israel’s rejection of the Messiah.

That interval period was revealed to Paul as “the Mystery”.

Today the nation is physically going home but spiritually far off, and yet they’re right at the center of God’s unfolding plan.

Today, as in every other nation in the world, personal, individual salvation is only possible through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ no matter whether we’re Jew or Gentile.

Which Bible Version?

Which Bible Version Should I Choose?

The Bible version issue is one of the most misunderstood controversies among Christians, and it is a big controversy. People choose a bible for many reasons, often because they simply like the cover.

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Bible Preservation

 

What About The King James Bible?

Since Eden, there’s been a battle between the pure Word and the corrupted one. That battle still goes on.

We should be sure that the Bible we’re reading truly is God’s inspired word and not some human’s critical take on what the words should say.

The changes in many newer Bible versions aren’t small—they’re serious!

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TextComparison

 

When A Loved One Dies

Death is terrible. It’s man’s worst affliction and when we die there are usually loved ones that suffer.

There’s nothing more grievous and painful than the death of someone we love.

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When a Loved One Dies – Transcript

When a person dies who we’ve shared our life, our time and our love with and who we’ve created precious memories with the pain can seem unbearable. With those that have no hope that pain can be seen as incurable.

 

There’s very little comfort for those who feel they’ve lost everything and have hope in nothing.

Sometimes we cope with this grief by focusing on living our lives in as they would intend it to be lived, honouring the memory of the lost loved one.

However, that does nothing to cure the pains and the consequences of death. One day we’ll die also. What’ll happen to those we leave behind? The cycle continues.

Those without hope have little comfort in the face of death, but those who know and trust the gospel have every hope. So much so, that not only is death conquered by resurrection, but the sting of death is alleviated.

 

God teaches us this in Romans 5:12,

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

 

The original cause and source of death in the world is sin.

God has no pleasure in death. It’s mankind’s self-inflicted injury. It started when man rebelled against God.

But, God, in Christ, came to earth and died a sinless death to pay the penalty for all our sins. He conquered the source of death which is sin and then defeated the effect of it when he resurrected from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:21 reads,

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

 

The gospel teaches that these benefits of the cross are offered to all men freely if they trust what Christ did for them.

The solution is when we’re reconciled to him through the sacrificial death of God’s own son and we read 2 Corinthians 5:18,

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

 

This ministry of reconciliation is given to his ambassadors to proclaim as victory over death, hell, and the grave.

Now, there’s no need for anyone to die without hope.

 

Just because our loved one is saved doesn’t mean that what we suffer at their death is any less. It’s still suffering, but the sting of death is replaced with the hope of eternal reunion and resurrection at the coming of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:57,

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory [victory over death] through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

That the dead in Christ continue to live is not something mystical or symbolic. It’s a truth that was explained by the gospel that works in those that believe. The dead, if they are in Christ, live forever. That they have died in their earthly body means they are in a different place. We know it to be a better place.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8,

Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 

 

Those who die in Christ leave us to gain a higher position in heavenly places. Some call death a promotion to glory for a saved person since the soul is not lost, but rather promoted ahead of us into the glory that we’re still waiting for while we’re in this earthly body.

Philippians 1:21,

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

 

Even with this knowledge that our saved loved one lives on in an indescribably better place the pain of that loved one’s departure is very real. But those who’re also in Christ are not ruined by that pain because even though it’s sad for us that they’re no longer with us here, they’re now operating in a better place with better blessings by the promise of the gospel of Christ. All is not lost.

 

Everyone suffers great loss when a loved one dies. Only those who face death with the hope of the gospel can be sure that the one they lost is not gone forever.

It’s written in Psalm 116:15,

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 

 

With the knowledge of the gospel we can now understand why.

 

Many people ask, “Why doesn’t God stop all suffering?”

To do that God would need to prevent life itself.

Every man, woman and child born into this present broken existence cursed by sin is subject to suffering in one way or another.

 

Suffering was not introduced by God. It was introduced by humanity through sin and its consequences. God has been involved in removing suffering and sin ever since. This is called salvation.

 

If God were to prevent all suffering immediately, then he must prevent all people born in sin from being born at all.

This would be the ultimate abortion, and would be a quick end to humanity.

 

God knows that life is better than death and would rather let people live with the hope of salvation, than to condemn them all to certain non-existence and death.

 

If there is a sure hope of salvation, then living, even in suffering, is better than not.

God shows his will in Jesus Christ being sent to suffer and die while bringing the message of hope and life to all .

Romans  5:8,

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

 

And 2 Timothy 1:9-10,

Who (that’s God) hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 

But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 

 

Hope helps people endure pain by assuring us of something much greater that’s just around the corner. But some people see nothing beyond their suffering.

That’s where scripture steps in. Through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, we can have hope (Romans 15:4).

The Bible shows the evil and suffering in this world, but it also gives us a greater hope.

 

When God revealed the mystery of Christ to our apostle for the Body of Christ today, Paul, He gave the greatest comfort to those who suffer.

Colossians 1:27,

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

 

This glory is far greater than anything we suffer here.

Romans 8:18,

For I (Paul) reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

 

But we only see that through faith, not sight and that faith comes by the Word of God.

Romans 10:17,

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

 

We trust that God can and will do what 2 Corinthians 4:14 promises,

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. 

 

Therefore we see our suffering through the light of 2 Corinthians 4:17,

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

 

Romans 5:2-4 says this regarding our suffering,

By whom (Christ) also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 

 

Paul says in Philippians 4:11,

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 

Suffering is real. It’s not something to ignore or accept without help. The treatment is hope—and that comes by faith in God’s Word rightly divided.

Some sufferings won’t go away until glory, but we wait for the hope of righteousness by faith (Gal 5:5).

Rom 8:24-25 says we’re saved by hope,

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 

 

The world offers temporary comforts like jokes, food, music, positive thinking all manner of fun and amusement but these things don’t solve the real problem. Only God does. He confronts the problem and gives the solution in Jesus Christ. We were once enemies of God, but His kindness appeared as Titus 3:4 tells us. He loved us when no one else could. In Christ, we have forgiveness and eternal life and that’s real comfort.

 

Galatians 1:4 reminds us that we live in a present evil world. Sin brings suffering, but sin was paid for at the cross. One day it will be removed, completely, but until then, we trust God’s strength in our weakness.

 

To say every tragedy is God’s wrath is untrue and a poor testimony to His grace.

That’s not how God works today. That thinking ignores the mystery revealed to Paul. God’s not judging the world. Hew will one day but He’s not today. He’s offering grace and peace (2 Corinthians 5:19–20).

Even Peter saw the delay in judgment as God’s longsuffering as we see in 2 Peter 3:15.

God’s not dealing with the world through death and destruction. He’s offering reconciliation and heavenly hope.

 

When tragedy strikes, we should see it as a symptom of the broken world that Galatians 1:4 details, and let it move us to preach the gospel. Christ was made sin for us so we wouldn’t bear the punishment. Our hope is in heavenly places as we see in Colossians 3:2–4 and Philippians 3:20).

 

God has been offering salvation to a suffering dying humanity for thousands of years. It’s man that’s rejected His hope of salvation.

For Bible believing Christians suffering and death needn’t be the problem it is for a world that rejects Christ.

Does Your Pastor Believe the Bible?

Most people expect to go to church to learn about God and the truth of the Bible.

Most of those people automatically accept that the pastor or preacher believes the Bible literally and completely.

Perhaps they should question that.

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Does Your Pastor Believe the Bible? – Transcript

 

A nationwide survey among a representative sample of America’s Christian pastors shows that a large majority of those pastors do not possess a biblical worldview.

In fact, just slightly more than a third (37%) have a biblical worldview and the majority—62%—possess a hybrid worldview known as Syncretism which is the blending of ideas and applications from a variety of worldviews into a unique but inconsistent combination that represents their personal preferences.

More than six out of 10 pastors (62%) have a predominantly syncretistic worldview.

Here’s a link to the survey.

The modern picture of a false teacher is the cult leader dressed in robes, uniforms, or clothing that sets them apart from followers and carrying staffs, medallions, books, or other objects that suggest spiritual or ideological power.

However, there should be a real concern that today’s false teacher looks much more like the average pastor and the above research and a number of others like it provides the evidence.

These pastors and teachers are often much loved and probably genuinely believe they’re preaching bible truth.

While the Bible speaks about false teachers we mustn’t think this is just an ancient problem.  Half of the pastors surveyed denied one or more of the following Biblical worldview positions:

The Bible is accurate in its teaching.

Jesus was sinless.

Satan exists as a real being.

God is omnipotent and omniscient.

Salvation is by grace alone.

 

We’re given the responsibility to evangelize. 1 Timothy 2:4 says (God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

Paul teaches us that the front line of the spiritual battle is within the Christian community.

 

The Galatians were being deceived by those teaching ‘another gospel’ Let’s see Galatians 1:6-9,

I (that’s Paul) marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 

Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 

As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 

 

Paul was afraid that the Corinthians would also fall captive to false teachers preaching ‘another Jesus’, ‘another spirit’, and ‘another gospel’. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4) says,

But I (Paul again) fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

 

Later in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul shows that false teachers look like the ‘apostles of Christ’ and ‘ministers of righteousness’,

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

If it’s true that appearances can be deceiving then who do we trust and more importantly, what do we believe?

 

We must go back to studying the source and learn what the Bible really says. This is the only safeguard against false teachers and false teaching.

When we do this and undertake a systematic study of God’s Word to mankind we’ll find that the answer is the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery in 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, 

 

We can’t teach the Bible any old way, we must rightly divide it into the correct contexts, the ages and times that have been revealed piece by piece by God over many centuries.

As 2 Timothy 2:15-16 says,

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 

 

A failure to rightly divide the context, the ages and the times of the Bible effects the spiritual growth and eternal destiny of deceived millions. Romans 16:17-18 confirms this,

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. 

 

If you’re in a church with one of these pastors then get out as fast as you can and then learn how to rightly divide and therefore understand God’s Word.

This poll we give a link to in the transcript relates to America but comparing America’s vast recognition that God is real to most other western nations suggest that in our nation of Australia these false teaching statistics are far worse.

Our Biggest Problem

What’s the spiritual problem that overrides everything else?

The answer is sin.

What is sin?

It’s a word that’s largely shunned by our culture and we don’t hear it talked about much anywhere. Why? Because it’s religious talk however, it’s what the Bible describes as man’s biggest problem.

Let’s try to put it in terms that we can understand and communicate to others.

“Speed Slider”

Our Biggest Problem – Transcript

 

Look at Romans 3:10.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Not being righteous is sin and all people sin.

Verse 11, Romans 3:11 states,

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

What does this mean?

Well, it means we don’t understand things, even though we think we do, and where there’s misunderstanding, all sorts of problems result.

In addition there’re none that seeks after God.

Not seeking after God is a sin.

Why?

Verse 12, Romans 3:12, tells us why,

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 

That means there is a way, a right way, and going the wrong way would be us going any way we want to without the sense of right and wrong. There is a way and there is a truth.

They are together become unprofitable. Unprofitable has the idea of rotten fruit. It speaks of something that’s permanently bad and so it’s useless.

There is none that doeth good. No. Not one.

There’s many people signalling that they’re doing good or saying that they’re doing good but when you look at the results, it’s hard to find much change for the good.

Paul’s talking about people not doing it God’s way but their own way, according to their own ideas and beliefs.

 

Romans 3:13,

Their throat is an open sepulchre (or an open grave that reveals the rotting remains inside); with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:  

(An asp is a small and very venomous snake that’s an ambush predator, often hiding and striking quickly very often causing death. What a fitting example of the speech of the unrighteous.)

 

We speak lies. Little white lies, big lies and deception. We’re full of it! We twist the things we hear for a greater effect and we leave out vital pieces of a story. We think that what we say puts us on a pedestal in front of people so they see us the way we want them to see us. We all do this to a greater or lesser extent.

 

Romans 3:14-18,

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: 

Destruction and misery are in their ways: 

And the way of peace have they not known: 

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

 

How easy it is for us to sprout cursing and bitterness and even bloodshed when we don’t agree with something or someone. How often we pull down others to make our own position look better. We do it so often we barely even think about it.

 

This is Paul’s long description of this spiritual problem called sin.

What does spiritual mean?

Spiritual means of the spirit or the inner man? We’re talking about the mind and the soul, not the body.

When we talk about the mind, we’re talking about our inner man, part of the real us. The world, or natural man, doesn’t talk about the spirit or about sin or the fear of God, but they do talk about the mind and the inner man without realising they’re talking about something spiritual.

 

The Bible says sin is a spiritual problem but the world talks about people having problems in their mind, their understanding, and having problems with depression, fear, loneliness, anger, pride, and inadequacy.

These’re the reasons people go to therapists.

The world’s exchanged what the Bible calls spiritual for therapist talk that really can’t solve the problem.

They call it scientific because it’s under the guise of science and the belief is that we can solve this mind problem through talk with maybe a few mind altering drugs thrown in.

 

The Bible also prescribes talk as the answer, only it uses different talk, different words. The world actually understands that our greatest problem is not a physical problem, but, of course, they ignore and deny that the solution’s in the scripture.

The Bible clearly says there’s something wrong with us and that’s not what we want to hear when we go to a therapist who’ll almost never say that there’s something wrong with us. It’s always some sort of external problem that affects us.

But the Bible says that there’s something wrong in our soul. We’re ungodly. We’re unrighteous. We’re ignorant. We’re foolish. We’re lacking wisdom and we were born with the problem and that hurts! The truth often does.

The world says, there’s nothing wrong with us! The world will even exchange this spiritual problem by talking about us being mentally unhealthy. We’re sick because of something that’s happened to us. It’s not actually us.

We caught some sort of non-physical disease and we can fix it through communication and by changing the way we think about ourself.

It’s technically doing the same thing the Bible’s trying to do but by using different communication, different doctrines and different teachings.

 

When doctors do diagnostic tests on us medically, like blood tests or x-rays or blood pressure tests, these’re physical.

But when the diagnosis and the treatment only happens by talking to us, trying to get us to think a certain way, then that’s spiritual.

 

We’re talking here about our biggest spiritual problem and we’ll see how faith in Jesus Christ can solve that problem.

However, the biggest spiritual problem is so big that even believers struggle with it.

And so we need to understand the problem before we can treat it.

 

People talk a lot today about depression and there is a hormonal and physical side to it, but there’s also thoughts and thinking.

Fear, loneliness, anger, pride, inadequacy, failure, and all the emotional effects they bring fall under inner man problems.

The way I think is a spiritual issue that centres in the mind.

We ask what’s life is about? What should we live for? What’s the point? What’s the meaning of what I’m doing? How should I make this or that decision?

These questions are not physical but spiritual.

We can have enough food, clothing and shelter and not be in any physical pain and yet still have these problems.

They come from somewhere and if we’re alive and able to think they’re there.

We’re a soul, a spirit and these are soulish and spiritual questions.

As we said, this is not only a problem for the unbeliever, but also for the believer.

 

Look at Romans 6:16,

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

 

Much of what Paul writes in his epistles are written to believers who’re filled with correct doctrine. He writes to get our minds to think a certain way. Why? Because even believers have spiritual problems.

We can’t be thinking, well, I’m a Christian. Christ died for my sins so I’m all good.

We face these same dilemmas if we’re honest with ourselves. Paul himself did. Just read Romans 7:15-25.

Paul’s talking to believers in this verse (Romans 6:16). Is he saying here that there’s none righteous, No. Not one, that we’re all sinners? No, he’s past that. He’s talking to believers who trust that Christ died for their sins.

He’s talking to people who know that it’s not their works that saved them, but it’s the work of Jesus Christ imputed to them by faith. They already know about their justification and salvation.

They’re already in Christ.

He’s talking now about how we should live.

Shall we continue in sin or not? How should I think about my life and where should I go and how should I walk?

He says, don’t you know!

See, there’s something that we know, or we should know. We know that whom we yield ourselves servants to obey we become servants to whom we obey.

Now, again, that word obey is one of those words people don’t like to talk about today, especially in marriage ceremonies.

Obey is not a word we use and yet obedience is actually part of the solution to this big spiritual problem.

If we’re a Christian and don’t like the word obey, we’re not appreciating how God wants to change our mind to solve our biggest spiritual problem, which is us not wanting to obey.

Oh yes, we’ll take salvation but I’m not going to obey anything! We’re just looking for the goodies. But how do we even get saved without submitting to Christ by faith? The obedience of faith.

We’re defining our biggest spiritual problem which exists internally and it’s about what we think.

 

In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul’s again talking to believers, this time in Corinth and they’re having a problem.

1 Corinthians 3:1,

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 

 

The Corinthians were sinning and Paul, for the first chapters in 1 Corinthians deals with their thinking, their mind, because he knows that’s where the problem is and that’s where the problem can be solved.

He says to them that he needs to deal with their spirit because there’s an issue there with their understanding, their knowledge.

He says he can’t speak to them on a spiritual level but instead on a carnal, earthly level as babies in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:2,

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 

 

He says they need to understand certain things. This’s not how it works with our physical problems.

It doesn’t matter what we’re thinking in our physical problems. We can exercise or take some medicine or have bandages and dressings applied but it doesn’t matter what’s going through our head when we take those measures.

They’re going to fix our physical problem but the spiritual problems require things to be put into our spirit.

We do that primarily through communication, listening, talking and thinking through the Word of God, which is God’s words communicated to us.

The next verse, 1 Corinthians 3:3 says,

For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

 

Envying, strife and divisions are not physical problems. They’re spiritual problems and they’re causing these Corinthians to walk through life just like the rest of mankind in the world.

 

Envying, strife and divisions are words that’re often used in religious conversation, but people don’t often define them. The Bible, in Ephesians 2:2 calls it the course of this world or worldliness.

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

 

Then there’s the big one, selfishness!

Doing what I want is selfishness. It’s devotion to self and what I enjoy. Living to please myself.

You might say I wouldn’t call it selfishness. It’s just my life.

No one who’s selfish calls themselves selfish.

Selfishness is the opposite to godliness, which the Bible talks a lot about, which is devotion to God and His enjoyments or living a life pleasing to God, which many Christians understand but struggle to actually do.

 

The biggest spiritual problem that overwhelms all the rest is selfishness.

Here I am in this world and there’s only one me. No one else is like me. I have one life to live. It’s my life and the thought that it’s all about and for me is the biggest spiritual problem.

All sin comes from selfishness.

As we’ll see in the Bible it’s described in various differing terms.

 

Look at James chapter one, verse thirteen.

James 1:13-15,

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

 

Notice the selfishness in this verse. It’s not just people defining what’s a sin.

If we understand this principle of selfishness, we’ll know what is sin, whether we use that word or not.

This verse shows us that God doesn’t try to persuade us to do wrong or to sin. He wants us to operate in the way He intended our body and our mind to operate.

So when a man’s tempted with sin, verse fourteen says, he’s drawn away of his own lust.

No one’s doing this to us especially God. It’s our own lust that draws us away and entices us.

 

Jesus is a perfect example of this because he wasn’t a sinner. He was God, manifest in the flesh, but He was tempted.

But he didn’t have the enticing, sinful selfishness that you and I have.

So when He was tempted with something that would hurt him or hurt others, He says no! He knew what was true.

You and I being ignorant about what’s true and not knowing spiritual realities, think that life is about us.

We’re tempted in whatever bubbles up inside of us. It’s our own lust that tempts us.

When lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.

This is how sin works in us. It doesn’t come from God or float down from the sky. This is sin in us and this’s the big spiritual problem.

 

If we ask people what’s the biggest problem they have, it’ll often be their jobs or the things of this world, or most commonly other people. People are the problem and by that they mean other people. I’m the good one, it’s other people that’re the problem. We all get that, but James, chapter one says it’s our own lust. It’s selfishness that’s at the heart of the problem.

 

Every sin comes from that selfishness.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45 that it’s what comes out of the mouth that corrupts the man because,

… for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Then He says in Matthew 15:11,

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

 

What we truly are in the inner man will eventually come out of our mouths in words.

Without the knowledge of God, we love ourself.

Even Christians teach this now. When Jesus said in Mark 12:31 to love your neighbour as you love yourself, many Christians say see, you’ve got to love yourself first.

That’s extreme selfishness.

The whole idea of loving your neighbour combats selfishness. Jesus is saying, just as selfish as you are is how you ought to love that neighbour. That’s what he’s saying.

But today it’s, “Make sure you love yourself first” and that’s not the instruction Jesus is giving there and it’s a misleading and damaging concept and it’ll swerve us away from the knowledge of the truth and therefore away from the answer.

 

Our biggest spiritual problem that people seek therapy for comes from selfishness and that’s not in a therapist’s instruction manual.

In fact if you front most therapists claiming you’re guilty and there’s something wrong with you, the advice is likely to be no, nothing’s wrong with you. It’s these outside influences that’re the problem. You need to think better of yourself.

But, that’s selfishness even though that’s the popular cure today for even thinking you have a problem. But that doesn’t solve your actual problem. It feeds it. It actually makes it okay to have that problem.

 

Look at Romans 1:21

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations (or empty and foolish), and their foolish heart was darkened.

 

Paul here is carrying on from Romans 1:20 where he states that men are without excuse.

He’s trying to explain the real issue of sin which’ll lead to Romans three, which says, there’s none righteous. We’re all sinners. We all come short of the glory of God.

Paul’s stating that when man knew God and walked in the beauty He created, before there was any question of evolution because man knew the beauty and excellence of creation, they glorified him not as God.

Why didn’t they glorify God?

They had their own life to live. Selfish! They had something else that they thought deserved glory besides God.

So they’re glorifying something else, namely the things that they make, the inventions of their hands, their own achievements, but they glorified Him not as God, neither were they thankful.

 

Now, what’s behind ingratitude? What’s behind us not being thankful when we’re given things. The answer is because we think we deserve it!

If we’re owed something, there’s no reason to be grateful when it’s paid! We just receive it and say, finally, things are made right.

But thankfulness comes from a heart that knows we don’t deserve it. Even if we need it, but we realise we don’t deserve it we’re thankful to the one who provided it. That’s gratitude.

 

God provides life and sets us in His incredible creation that provides everything our body needs to live. He gives us a purpose, even though most people are ignorant of it. We’re born ignorant of it, but we can learn and we can know about that purpose.

 

Paul says here in this verse that men are without excuse because they can know God but even when they knew God, they weren’t thankful resulting in them becoming vain in their imaginations with foolish, darkened hearts.

They gave themselves over to futile philosophies and speculations about other gods, and as a result man lost the capacity to see and think clearly. It’s the old saying “there’s none so blind as those that will not to see”. Those who don’t want to see lose the capacity to see.

 

Romans 1:22,

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

 

See the selfishness there? It’s not wrong for men to become wise. God actually says, seek wisdom. He wants us to be wise.

But they professed themselves to be wise. If we have to tell other people how smart we are, there’s a problem and we’re probably not that wise.

They profess themselves to be wise but they actually become fools. There’s a self-centred need to appear wise even if they’re not.

 

Romans 1:28,

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 

 

Because of men’s refusal to retain God in their knowledge in any form, either as Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer or Saviour, God gave them over to a debased mind to commit a catalogue of other forms of wickedness.

This verse gives an insight into why evolution has such an appeal for natural man. It’s got nothing to do with their intellects but everything to do with their wills.

They don’t want to retain God in their knowledge and they’ll do anything to erase Him.

It’s not that the evidence for evolution is so overwhelming that they’re forced to accept it; it’s because they want some explanation for the origin of everything that eliminates God completely. They know that if there is a God, then they’re responsible to Him and they can’t abide that. Here we have extreme selfishness.

 

Romans 1:29 and the first part of the verse,

Being filled with all unrighteousness,

 

God calls it unrighteousness. They call it lifestyle choices, so it’s not right or wrong.

To them rights aren’t given by God or by the government, they just declare them themselves. It’s a “self” choice. I want it to be this way therefore it is.

 

The rest of Romans 1:29 and down to Romans 1:31 gives this dark list of sins which characterise man in his rejection and failure to retain God in his knowledge. Notice that he’s full of them, not just an occasional dabbler in them.

He’s trained in sins which are not fitting for a human being,

fornication (or sexual immorality, adultery, and other forms of illicit sex), wickedness (or active evil practices), covetousness (greed, the incessant desire for more), maliciousness (the desire for harm on others; venomous hatred), full of envy (this is worse than just wanting what someone else has as in jealousy. It’s a sense of “if I can’t have it nobody can), murder ( the premeditated and unlawful killing of another, either in anger or in the commission of some other crime), debate, (contention, strife and wrangling), deceit (deceiving by trickery or treachery), malignity (of bad character, depraved of heart, malicious and full of craftiness) whisperers (secret slanderers, gossips) Backbiters (open slanderers, those who bad-mouth others) haters of God (or hateful to God), despiteful (uplifted with pride, either heaps insulting language on others or does them some shameful act of wrong) proud (haughty and arrogant), boasters (an empty pretender who parades self), inventors of evil things (devisers of mischief and inventing new forms of wickedness), disobedient to parents (rebellious to parental authority), Without understanding (lacking moral and spiritual discernment and understanding, without conscience and foolish), covenant breakers (breaking promises, treaties, agreements, and contracts whenever it serves their purposes), without natural affection (acting in total disregard of natural ties and the obligations that go with them), implacable (uncompromising, unforgiving, unrelenting and unyielding), unmerciful (cruel, vindictive, without pity): 

 

Do you see selfishness all over this?

There’s a hundred different words to describe it, but it all comes from us thinking we’re more important than anything else in the world. Selfishness.

If we could just get rid of our own selfishness we’d be perfect but all of us, even believers, struggle with our sin and our selfishness.

 

The only cure to this is God and godliness. Truth. It’s all over the scripture.

Look at Titus 2:11 where Paul states,

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 

 

The next verses, Titus 2:12-13 teaches us that we should deny ungodliness and we read,

Titus 2:12,

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 

 

Godliness is devotion to pleasing God while ungodliness is pleasing ourself.

Grace teach us that. It tells us we should live soberly, which has little to do with drinking alcohol but much to do with our mind.

The grace of God enters our heart and mind through faith. Where does faith come from?

Hearing the words of God, Romans 10:17.

So we have the Bible, God’s Word. We hear what it says and faith comes at that point and we believe that Word.

And then grace, that information, that doctrine, that belief goes into our heart and mind and now there’s something in there that wasn’t there before.

And now we have a choice to either serve what we’ve always served or serve this other thing that we now believe.

Faith is the beginning of the solution to our biggest spiritual problem.

The grace that comes through faith teaches us to think properly. An unsaved person can’t think this way and a lot of Christians can’t.

If we don’t know the Word of God, we don’t have the strength and faith to understand His will and we can’t think the way God would have us think.

Grace teaches us God’s wisdom and the knowledge of God so that we can live soberly and right and we can know how to please God.

God’s purpose for Paul, and by extension us, is in 1 Corinthians 1:17,

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 

 

The gospel, the cross of Christ, is what we preach.

Why is the cross so significant? We understand that Jesus paid the sin debt in our place but it’s more than that.

It affects our life. In fact, we’re dead if we trust Christ. The cross is an instrument of death. If we’re crucified with Christ on the cross, as Galatians 2:20 tells us we are, we’re  dead.

When we realise that our selfishness, is the problem the only answer is death.

But if I die, if I died with Christ then I’m not alive anymore. That sinful and selfish old man is dead, crucified even though my body is still currently functioning according to this world.

How does this happen?

Well, Christ Jesus died for you and me and we died with Him when we first believed. Then, through His resurrection, we also were resurrected to live again, eternally, since the old sinful man is now dead. This is all done by faith, by believing. It’s a spiritual transformation. Something happened to the inner man that did not affect the outer man, the body. We’re resurrected into Christs body as a member of His body. We are the Body of Christ. It’s only by understanding the depth and reality of the spirit and it’s relationship to our earthly body that we can begin to understand this great mystery and incredible miracle.

 

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 1:18,

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 

 

Paul’s talking about knowing Christ and Him crucified as being the power of God and through that power solving our biggest spiritual problem of selfishness, of sin, and it’s foolishness in the extreme to those who knowingly reject the preaching of it. They can’t see it.

 

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 1:19, quoting from Isaiah 29:14,

For it is written, I (God) will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

 

What is that understanding of the prudent and the wisdom of the worldly wise that God’s condemning here?

Remember, God says, pursue wisdom, seek wisdom. So why is He despising the wisdom of the world?

 

Verse 20 (1 Corinthians 1:20),

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

 

You dispute with someone because you think they’re wrong, which means the disputer thinks that they’re right.

You have someone here, and this is each one of us, before we knew the gospel, who thought they were right and God was wrong, so they dispute with God.

The Christian believer’s wrong. But they’re right.

That’s the dispute of this world. Selfishness. They declared themselves to be wise but they became foolish.

 

In verse 21, (1 Corinthians 1:21)

For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom (that’s their own worldly wisdom) knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 

 

Their own wisdom kept them from believing God. Why? Because they knew what was best, they knew all truth.

The experts claim they’re the wise ones. Those religious people and their belief in their so called God are ignorant.

 

When we listen to people’s arguments against God they often sound like they’re accusing God of doing something wrong.

If God’s so loving, why did he allow this? They’re blaming God for something.

Most attacks against God is declaring their own righteousness over and against God.

Of course that’s the epitome of selfishness. They think they’re smarter and more moral and ethical than God.

And we’ve all been there, even in our Christian life when we say I don’t understand why God’s doing this.

That’s actually the point where we start to learn. No one can learn anything until they first recognise that they don’t know it yet.

Going into to any class and saying, “I already know everything you’re teaching in this class” ensures you learn nothing.

We need to want to learn and we put aside ourself so we can learn from someone else.

So if God knows that every person is going to be inadequate in themselves and He’s the only perfect, adequate one, and He wants to educate and communicate and dispense His Word and truth to us, we have to say, I’m willing to listen. I want to hear. I will believe. Speak to me. That’s hearing the word of God, which brings faith which enables grace to be received and as a result of that grace, godliness!

 

Drop down to verse 27.

1 Corinthians 1:27-31,

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 

That no flesh should glory in his presence. 

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 

 

God doesn’t use the most glorious people. He uses the foolish and the base and He makes us wise, righteous, sanctified, and redeemed in Christ Jesus and confounds the wisdom of the world.

That worldly wisdom is to seek glory and achievement and be the best person you can be, and don’t consider other people. Climb on top of others to be at the top of the mountain. Be the best. That’s the wisdom of the world.

 

We say, well what’s wrong with being the best? Nothing! But if the goal leads into thinking that we’re better, we’re the best and we’re all there is to it, this’s a problem.

Jesus taught in Matthew 19:30 that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. If we’re really going to succeed, we actually have to serve.

 

The wisdom of the world is the opposite. Trample over everyone I need to to do what’s good for me. That’s the selfishness that breeds all sorts of sin.

That’s why the love of money is the root of all evil. There’s nothing wrong with money but the love of it causes it to be an obsession at the expense of anything else.

 

Selfishness first manifested in the Garden of Eden where God provided everything that Eve ever needed, but she wanted more.

The world says. It’s all about me. But it’s not all about me.

But Jesus died for me and saved me so I’m very special.

No! He did that to show His glory. Remember verse twenty one? That no flesh should glory in His presence?

If we want to know the glory of God, we’ve got to recognise it’s not us that’s going to be shining brighter than the sun, it’s God.

We’re not the pinnacle of God’s creation that He’s going to put on display for eternity for everyone else to look up to.

We’re the privileged receivers of His glory.

 

The Bible uses the word foolishness which is defined as the rejection of God’s wisdom. Thinking we know better than God.

Philippians 2:3

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 

 

Strife and vainglory are two different words that describe selfish activity. Why do we strive with other people? Because I’m right and you’re wrong.

Now the Bible talks about a good way of striving.

We can strive for truth, for what’s right, but striving because we just want to be right is selfish. Vainglory. It’s glorifying ourself.

But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.

The world’s wisdom is to have a high opinion about yourself. But God says we need to have a lower more real opinion about ourself and who and what we really are. Directly opposite.

Look at Ephesians 4:17,

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 

 

Believers can walk that way. We can be selfish. He’s saying, don’t do that.

What’s wrong with their mind? It’s vain. What’s vain about it? It’s all about themselves and it’s empty. It can be seen as good from the worlds point of view but if it’s not what pleases God, it’s selfish.

The next verse (Ephesians 4:18) explains the result of this walk of the other gentiles,

Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 

 

These are unbelievers Paul’s talking about.

He says, don’t act like those who don’t know the truth and think they know better than God.

In Ephesians 3:16-17 Paul prays,

That he (God) would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 

 

So there is a teaching of Christ and faith that’ll dwell in our inner man, our heart, that will give us understanding about how to walk through this life.

We need to increase the knowledge of God and the wisdom of God to be able to understand things. Sometimes the choices we make don’t require God’s wisdom like what shirt will I wear today or should I spend all my wage or should I save some.

However if we make a stupid choice, we’re going to have to face the consequences.

It’s the same thing in the more important matters of life and the things that God wants us to do in His will.

Faith is us hearing God’s words and believing them. We’re actually receiving the truth of God and admitting we’re wrong.

 

The Old Testament says in  Proverbs 9:10,

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

 

What is fearing God? Well, it’s not about being scared of God, even though there’s an element of that in His power, but it has to do with us reverencing and respecting what He says. That’s the beginning of wisdom. It’s not what we think, it’s what He says. That’s godly fear, and that’s faith and we have a book that tells us God’s Word, the truth.

 

2 Timothy 2:15 says,

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

Study to show ourself approved unto God, not approved of other people.

You see the lack of selfishness in that. There’s godliness being communicated here and the antidote to selfishness.

Look at the next verse (2 Timothy 2:16),

But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

 

So if we want to prevent selfishness, we shun profane and vain babblings. We increase in the knowledge of the word of truth, rightly divided.

We serve the Lord, not other people and we don’t subvert or corrupt the hearers.

That means we’re not doing things for ourself, but for other people’s benefit with the knowledge of God’s Word. That’s what God wants.

1 Timothy 2:3-4,

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

The truth is realising that without God, my life is completely empty and without purpose. Without God, all there is is myself.

And so we have in Galatians 5:19-21, the works of the flesh which are manifest or made clear and they all speak of selfishness, our thinking without the knowledge of God.

But in Galatians 5:22-23 we see the opposite, the fruit of the Spirit,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

Love and charity is toward other people and toward God.

Joy comes from God.

Peace comes from God through our understanding that it’s not all about me. It’s about helping other people know the things of God.

We think we can’t have peace unless we have more stuff. But we can have peace with far less.

There’s nothing wrong with having the things, the material possessions, what’s wrong is the mindset of selfishness, self-centredness that’s so often behind the desire for ever more possessions.

This verse speaks of long suffering or patience, not being easily provoked and slowness to avenge wrongs. These’re traits that don’t come from the selfish mind which wants to react according to our hurt feelings and emotions.

 

Gentleness comes from considering the other person. Niceties and politeness and good manners are actually charitable and consider other people, something increasingly rare in today’s world. I’ll do, act, wear and say whatever I want to. People question why we have to use polite manners and chivalry and all the rest. Because it’s charitable to say please and thank you and consider others through polite manners, otherwise, it’s all about ourself.

 

Meekness is taking the offenses of other people and not letting them shape who we are.

 

Temperance is self-control or mastering our desires our passions, and sensual appetites. The opposite is to be out of control, reacting to and partaking of every emotion or feeling of the self.

 

All of the works of the flesh are selfish while the fruit of the spirit is a result of the opposite.

 

First Corinthians 13:1-13 speaks about charity.

It says very clearly it seeks not her own, charity doesn’t seek herself. It’s a lack of selfishness.

Pride is the opposite of charity being very clearly selfish.

Pride elevates self, while charity seeks the good of others.

Pride leads to destruction, rebellion, and separation from God. It’s marked by self-sufficiency, arrogance, and a refusal to submit to God.

Proverbs 16:18 warns,

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 

 

James 4:6 says,

…God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 

 

This shows pride as a barrier to divine grace.

Pride is defined as an inordinate self-esteem, thinking of ourself in the wrong way, thinking ourself higher or better or superior than others and it’s what the world tries to promote.

Pride is supreme selfishness and that’s why God hates it.

 

All of our failure, inadequacy, feelings of being unsuccessful or loneliness can come from the wrong idea that we deserve something.

 

Now look at 1 Timothy 6:3-5 where Paul describes false teachers who say different things than what the Lord Jesus Christ said.

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 

 

Wow. Paul just unleashed a bomb on these people.

If any therapist, any psychotherapist, any doctor, any friend or any pastor says anything that encourages you to love yourself more than serving God, or even to love others more than loving and serving God, then that person is proud, knowing nothing and destitute of the truth.

People encouraging selfishness and everything contrary to godliness is at the heart of the problem according to the Word of God.

And what does the next verse (1 Timothy 6:6) say?

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

 

Paul says withdraw yourself from selfishness. It’s a cancer.

While the Bible doesn’t use the term “cancer,” the analogy is fits.

Cancer spreads silently and destructively, much like selfishness in the heart which destroys healthy relationships, erodes trust, and isolates individuals.

Cancer’s often hidden beneath the surface, just as selfishness can masquerade as good intentions.

We must be very wary of anyone who says it’s okay to love ourselves and that we should love ourselves first.

 

If we think it’s still about us, it’s not. We’re simply the receiver of God’s grace.

God wants to give us the blessings of knowledge, wisdom and truth that’ll cure our selfishness. It’s the spiritual medicine.

Where are our spiritual blessings? In heavenly places.

We often think God, it’s better if you give it to us now because I really need them right now. Well, what we really need is faith. We just don’t have the best idea about what God should do. Maybe we should trust that God is the righteous judge of the earth. He’s our Savior and those blessings are only found in Him, not in us or this world.

 

The solution is not a therapist. It’s the scripture, the truth of God. The bad news is we all have this problem. The good news, is the gospel that Jesus Christ, can save us.

Another Rapture Failure

Let’s talk about the rapture—and why it didn’t happen on Tuesday the 23rd of September 2025, even though some pastor said he was “a million percent sure” it would.

This isn’t the first time someone’s predicted it and got it wrong of course. It happens all the time, and every time it fails, people mock dispensationalists as if they’re the ones who made it up.

So this article is about the failed rapture and what the Bible really says, and where our hope should be.

“Speed Slider”

Another Rapture Failure – Transcript

Last week was the Feast of Trumpets, one of Israel’s seven feasts. Some Christians think Jesus will return on that day because of verses like 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 that mention trumpets. Revelation talks about trumpets too which leads people to think that maybe the rapture will happen during that feast. But they never know the year. So it keeps getting predicted—and keeps failing to happen.

This time, it was a preacher from South Africa who said Jesus told him He’d return on September 23, 2025. He went online, and told people, and it spread, especially on TikTok. Some believed it, some mocked it and when it didn’t happen, there was embarrassment. This preacher then held a livestream that night, trying to explain why no one was being raptured. He said maybe it was happening later, maybe at midnight. But it didn’t happen.

 

The South African preacher who was at the centre of this was a chap named Joshua Mhlakela. He claimed to have received a divine vision in which Jesus told him the rapture would take place during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, coinciding with the Feast of Trumpets. Mhlakela’s prophecy gained widespread attention online, especially through a viral interview on the Centtwinz TV YouTube channel.

Despite his certainty, he said he was “a billion per cent sure”, the prediction, of course, didn’t come to pass, leading to public reactions ranging from satire to disappointment.

Here is a link to his video.

 

Some of this bloke’s followers took it so seriously they reportedly quit their jobs or sold possessions in anticipation.

You’ve got to give them credit for acting on what they believed. But the problem wasn’t their actions—it was the false hope they were trusting in. That’s why truth matters.

We need to know what God’s doing and where to put our hope.

 

The Bible says clearly: no man knows the day or the hour.

Mark 13:32 says not even the angels or the Son—only the Father. Matthew 24:36 says the same. So when someone sets a date, they’re going against Scripture. Some try to twist it, saying “He said day and hour, not month or year.” That’s silly. Jesus meant no one knows the exact time.

But here’s something vitally  important. Matthew 24 is not talking about the rapture of the church.

It’s about Israel and the second coming of Christ to the earth.

So many people get confused and think Jesus is talking about the rapture there—but He’s not and that’s a big part of the problem.

People don’t understand the rapture teaching, so they mock it, misteach it.

If we’re going to teach it, teach it right and especially in the correct context. Don’t set dates. That’s dangerous. The Bible warns against it. People who do so should be marked and silenced. That may sound harsh, but this isn’t a game. If you stand up and say, “I divide God’s word rightly according to 2 Timothy 2:15,” and then predict the rapture, you’re missing the point, hurting the ministry and confusing people.

 

We believe in Jesus’ return and we hope for it, but He hasn’t told us the day.

If someone claims to know it, they’re either lacking discernment or don’t know the Bible well enough. And that disqualifies them from teaching.

Even if they get other things right, they need to give it up because every time a crazy rapture date prediction fails it opens the Bible up for ridicule.

So let’s teach the truth. Let’s keep our hope in Christ—not in dates.

 

The rapture is real. But it’s not on our calendar. It’s in God’s hands.

We can never set a rapture date. I believe in the rapture or raptures, plural, but the Bible doesn’t give us the day or hour.

I am, and I hope you are, a Bible believer who takes Scripture literally. Just because someone misreads the Bible doesn’t mean the Bible’s wrong. The Bible’s always right. If it truly is God’s Word it’s impossible for it to be in error, it’s people who’re wrong.

The Bible never gives the date of Christ’s return. So when someone claims they know it, they’re either foolish or lacking biblical sense. They should be marked, shamed, and silenced, but they never are. They get second and third chances and people keep listening and that’s the real problem, listeners.

If nobody listened to that stuff and stopped donating to these false teachers they’d fade away.

 

In 1844, William Miller, a Baptist evangelist, predicted that Jesus would return for his second coming. When this didn’t happen on the date, October 22, 1844, it resulted in what was called the “Great Disappointment,” and was a period of confusion and despair for his followers, known as the Millerites. The failed prediction and subsequent events led to the formation of new religious groups, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church

 

End-of-the-world predictions aren’t just Christian. Secular folks do it too—global warming, climate collapse, you name it. But Christians get mocked more, especially dispensational Christians.

 

Here’s just a few failed predictions:

  • 1000 AD: Pope Sylvester II said the world would end. Wrong.
  • 1033 AD: People thought Christ would return 1000 years after His death. Wrong.
  • 1284 AD: Pope Innocent III predicted the end based on Islam’s rise. Wrong.
  • 1658 AD: Columbus calculated the creation date and said the world would end. Wrong.
  • 1914: Charles Taze Russell (the Jehovah’s Witnesses founder) predicted the end. He was wrong multiple times.
  • 1981: Even the greatly respected Chuck Smith said the world would end. Wrong.
  • 1982: Pat Robertson predicted October or November. Wrong.
  • 1988: Edgar Whisenant a former NASA rocket engineer turned prophecy teacher, wrote “88 Reasons Why…” Wrong.
  • 1989: Peter Ruckman. Wrong.
  • 1994: Harold Camping. Wrong.
  • 2007: Pat Robertson again. Wrong.
  • 2011: Harold Camping again. He was a preacher who predicted a two-part rapture event for 2011: a spiritual judgment on May 21, 2011, followed by a physical rapture and the end of the world on October 21, 2011. Wrong.
  • 2012: Mayan calendar panic. Wrong.
  • 2015: John Hagee and Mark Biltz predicted that a series of four consecutive total lunar eclipses, known as a blood moon tetrad, between 2014 and 2015 would be a sign of end-times events, as described in the Bible. Their prophecy connected these eclipses, which coincided with Jewish holidays, to significant events throughout history and to events prophesied for the future. These predictions did not come to pass, of course. Wrong.
  • 2017: Numerous YouTube prophets using Revelation 12. Wrong.
  • 2025: Joshua Mhlakela. Another failed rapture prediction for 23rd September 2025. Wrong again.
  • Today: The internet and social media is full of misleading, uniformed and often diabolical teachings and unfortunately that’s rubbed off on many churches.

 

Every time, this happens people get hurt and that’s why it matters. It’s not just silly—it’s serious.

The rapture is biblical, but it’s not tied to a calendar date so stop setting dates and stop listening to those who do. The Bible says no man knows the day or hour (Mark 13:32, Matthew 24:36). That’s clear. Let’s teach the truth and not chase predictions. Let’s keep our hope in Christ—not in false teachers or the calendar.

 

Let’s define what scripture means by “rapture”.

The word “rapture” isn’t in our English Bible, but that doesn’t mean it’s not biblical.

Words like “Trinity” and “millennium” aren’t in the Bible either, but the ideas are.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 Paul says,

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 

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. 

 

That’s the rapture. The Latin Bible used the word “rapturo,” which means “caught up.” So when someone says that rapture isn’t in the Bible, it is. It’s in the Latin bible and in the English bible as ‘caught up.’

 

This passage doesn’t tell us when the rapture happens—just that it does happen. So we can’t use this verse alone to prove a pre, mid or post tribulation rapture. It’s not strong enough for that, but it does clearly teach that the church will be caught up to meet the Lord.

 

If we believe the Bible, we believe in miracles. We believe in a worldwide flood, talking donkeys, floating axe heads, and Jesus pulling a coin from a fish’s mouth.

So believing that God can catch up His church into the air isn’t hard. The world mocks it, and even some Christians do, but the Bible says it’s a fact.

We either believe the bible or we don’t. Those who don’t have far more pressing and serious problems than trying to understand the rapture.

 

Now, we need to be aware that there’s more than one “catching up” in the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 4 is a resurrection and a translation. Translation means a sudden change of place or form. Jesus was transfigured—His figure changed. That’s what “trans” means: change. So when believers are caught up, they’re moved and changed. They don’t fly. It’s a sudden and instantaneous physical change of form and location.

 

1 Corinthians 15 is about resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 we read,

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

 

The fact that this was a mystery means that it wasn’t known before. The rapture is a mystery revealed to Paul. It’s a resurrection of the dead in Christ and a translation of the living. That’s what the Bible teaches.

It means not everyone will die. Some will be changed instantly. That’s a big deal. Most people think you die, then face judgment and resurrection. But Paul says, “Here’s a mystery: some won’t die. They’ll be changed.” That’s a translation—a change of form and location and it happens “in the twinkling of an eye.” That’s fast.

The “twinkling of an eye” is often interpreted as an immeasurably brief instant far faster than the 300–400 milliseconds of a blink, possibly as quick as the time it takes light to enter and reflect within the eye, or even the speed of thought.

 

At the last trumpet, the dead will be raised incorruptible—that’s resurrection—and the living will be changed. So both groups get glorified incorruptible bodies, but the living don’t die first. They’re just changed. That’s what we call the rapture.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 talks about almost instantaneous change of location or being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air. So between these two passages, we see the rapture is both a resurrection and a translation. The dead rise, the living are changed, and both meet the Lord.

 

Now, there’re other raptures in the Bible, other times God took living people to be with Him.

Look at Genesis 5:24.

And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 

No death is mentioned. God just took him. That’s a rapture—a living man taken to be with God.

 

Then there’s Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11,

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

 

Elisha, who was the successor to Elijah in the prophetic ministry to Israel, saw it happen. Elijah didn’t die—he was taken. That’s another rapture.

 

Some say Enoch and Elijah are pictures of the church being raptured. Maybe, maybe not. But the point is, God has taken people to heaven before. It’s not new. First Thessalonians 4 is just another example—this time for the church.

 

Even Ezekiel had moments like this.

Ezekiel 3:12 says,

Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. 

 

It’s not the same as being taken to heaven, but it’s the same kind of language—being lifted, moved by God. So when we talk about rapture, we’re talking about God taking someone—changing them, moving them, lifting them up.

 

So we shouldn’t get hung up on the word “rapture.” We should instead focus on what Scripture says. The church, the Body of Christ, will be caught up. That’s real and it’s biblical and anyone who takes the Bible seriously understands that.

Many people mock the idea of the rapture but the truth is, the Bible shows God taking people up again and again. You can argue about when the rapture happens, but you can’t deny it’s in Scripture.

 

Acts 8:39 is another example.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 

 

Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch, and then the Spirit catches Philip away. He disappears and shows up in Azotus. That’s not heaven, but it’s still a sudden move—God did it. That’s also a form of rapture.

Paul talks about another one in 2 Corinthians 12. He says he knew a man caught up to the third heaven. He doesn’t name the man, but the language is clear—“caught up.” Same words as 1 Thessalonians 4. That’s a rapture. It wasn’t the church. It wasn’t all believers, just one man. But it still happened. So there’s more than one rapture in the Bible.

 

Revelation 4:1 shows John hearing a voice like a trumpet saying, “Come up hither.” Immediately, he’s in heaven. That’s a change of location, another rapture, so we shouldn’t get stuck thinking rapture only applies to the church. God raptures people.

 

Revelation 11:12 gives another example. Two witnesses—likely Moses and Elijah—come to Jerusalem, preach, do miracles, and get killed. Their bodies lie in the street. Then God raises them, and they hear a voice saying, “Come up hither.” They go up to heaven in a cloud. That’s a rapture too.

 

In Revelation 12:5 there’s another one. A woman (symbolizing Israel) gives birth to a man child—Jesus—who is caught up to God and His throne. That’s Christ’s ascension, seen in Acts 1:9. The disciples were talking to Jesus, then He went up, and they just stood there looking until angels told them to stop. That’s another rapture.

 

So what is rapture? It’s when God takes someone—alive or dead—and moves them, often to heaven. It’s a resurrection and a translation, not just one event. It’s not just for the church. It’s all through the Bible and therein lies the problem.

Very few people, including the majority of rapture teachers, don’t see the whole bible as the revealed plan of God for mankind. Most rapture teachers use isolated verses to try to prove their point of view, verses like;

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, 1 Corinthians 15:51–52, John 14:1–3, Philippians 3:20–21, Titus 2:13 and, of course, Matthew chapter 24 among others.

1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 are the strongest verses relating to this event with 1 Thessalonians 4 emphasizing the change of location and 1 Corinthians 15 emphasizing the change of form.

Together, these verses form the foundation of the rapture doctrine and while they certainly don’t specify timing, they affirm the event itself.

Many will use 1 Thessalonians 5:9 to place the timing of the rapture. It reads,

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

 

This verse is used to place the rapture event before the pouring out of God’s wrath on the earth in the tribulation. Some even go so far as to use this verse as proof that the rapture event occurs in the middle of the seven year tribulation  because  the first 3½ years are seen as tribulation, but not God’s wrath.

The seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15–18 marks a turning point where God’s wrath begins, and the church is removed.

So to those who think this way, the rapture’s not before the tribulation begins, but before the worst part it, or the Great Tribulation, while the pre tribulation believers see the whole tribulation event as God’s wrath.

 

The folk who believe the rapture event happens after the great tribulation invariably use Matthew 24:29–31 which reads

Immediately after the tribulation of those days… they shall see the Son of Man coming… and he shall send his angels… and they shall gather together his elect…

 

These folk believe the rapture event and the second coming of Christ are the same event.

 

Now, there’re many people who defend the rapture badly.

I believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, that is that the church is caught up before the tribulation and the pouring out God’s judgment and wrath upon a God rejecting world  and before the appearing of the figure known as the Antichrist, the white horseman as revealed in Revelation 6:2.

But we’ve got to defend that with Scripture, not cartoons or culture.

 

Too many people get their ideas from TikTok or movies or series like Left Behind, that sold millions of books. But it’s fiction. Even the writers say it’s not Scripture. It’s based on the idea of the rapture, but it doesn’t follow the Bible even though many people believe it does because of course they don’t read the bible themselves.

 

Another bad reason to believe in the rapture is escapism. Some accuse Christians who teach the rapture correctly as teaching that we don’t care about the world because we’re just waiting to leave it. That’s not true. We care about truth, about living right, and about sharing the gospel. But we also believe God will one day take His church out before judgment comes.

 

And don’t believe anyone who tells you the rapture can be dated. Acts 1:7 says it’s not for us to know the times or seasons. God decides when it happens. It’s not based on how good or bad the world is. It’s not triggered by politics or disasters. It’s God’s call, in His time.

Let’s stick with the Bible rather than build our faith on movies, trends, traditions or world circumstances.

 

Some folks think believing in the rapture means just sitting around waiting for God to take us out of this rotten world. That’s not true. If we’re saved 2 Corinthians 5:20 says we’re ambassadors for Christ.

We don’t belong here, but we’re here for a reason—to represent heaven and preach truth. Ambassadors don’t ignore the world—they speak up, they influence, they serve. We’re not here to escape—we’re here to work until He comes.

We’re to do what Paul did in Ephesians 3:9,

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 

 

We’re here to carry out 1 Timothy 2:1-3

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 

 

1 Timothy 5:8  tells us,

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

That’s our duty—not just waiting for the rapture.

 

Another bad reason to say that the rapture is near is because we see things getting bad and yes, the world is wicked and we know it’s worse than ever.

But Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:1,

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 

 

He wrote that 2,000 years ago. He described people as proud, unthankful, unholy, disobedient, and much more and all that fits perfectly today. But it fitted back then too. The world’s been wicked for a long time. We shouldn’t act like it just started.

 

If you feel overwhelmed by evil, maybe turn off the news and stop scrolling endless social media. Headlines and posts aren’t Scripture. We’re responsible for our lives, our family, our church, the body of Christ of which we’re a member. We’re not responsible for the whole world. Let’s focus on what we can do and not get anxious about what we can’t do.

 

Many people use Matthew 24 to try to prove the rapture and that’s a mistake. It comes from an almost complete misunderstanding of scripture an in particular God’s prophetic timeline.

Verse 36 of Matthew 24 says no one knows the day or hour. Verse 37 compares it to Noah’s day—people eating, drinking, marrying. Then the flood came and took them away.

We need to recognise that’s judgment, not rapture.

Verse 40 says “one taken, one left.” Again, that’s judgment. In Noah’s day, the ones taken were destroyed. Only eight were saved.

Judgement and wrath, the opposite to Grace.

Matthew 24 is not about the rapture of the church, the Body of Christ, being caught up to meet the Lord. It’s about people being judged and removed when Christ returns.

 

Matthew makes it clear that Jesus came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and in Matthew 10:5-6,

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: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

 

Many are unclear of the importance of seeing and understanding that Jesus’s earthly ministry was to Israel fulfilling prophecy and promise to Israel, God’s chosen nation.

 

The body of Christ was a mystery revealed later to Paul after Jesus’s death burial and resurrection, Ephesians 3:3–6.

It didn’t exist in Jesus’ earthly ministry. So when people say Matthew 24 or Revelation 4:1 is the rapture, they’re misreading it.

Revelation 4 says John was caught up to heaven, but John wasn’t part of the body of Christ—he was one of the twelve apostles, promised to judge Israel’s twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28). That’s not the church, the Body of Christ, being raptured.

This isn’t just a point of view. The bible clearly draws this picture when we look at the whole story and not just single verses. Many never see this whole picture because they don’t read the whole book.

Bible knowledge today is too often received from social media reels or memes or television preachers. That so called knowledge is often gained from others who also don’t read the whole book.

 

Single verse proofs don’t build strong doctrine. If our whole teaching stands on one unclear verse, it’s shaky.

Even verses like 2 Timothy 2:15 or 1 Thessalonians 1:10 help support the idea of the rapture, but they don’t prove it by themselves alone.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 says Jesus “delivered us from the wrath to come.” That’s true—we’re saved from wrath because we’re in Christ and Romans 5:9 reaffirms this. But that verse doesn’t say when or how we’re delivered. It’s about salvation, not timing.

 

Titus 2:13 says we’re “looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

That’s a good verse. But again, it doesn’t mention heaven or being caught up. It just says look for His appearing. That could mean His return to earth, which Israel was also told to expect. So while it fits the rapture idea, it doesn’t define it or prove it on its own strength.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 is the clearest rapture passage: “caught up together… to meet the Lord in the air.” That’s the rapture. But even that doesn’t say when it happens. So using it to prove a pre-tribulation rapture doesn’t work by itself.

 

We believe in the rapture not to escape trouble, but because it’s part of God’s plan.

Paul never taught that we avoid suffering. In fact, in Romans 5:3–4 he said tribulation builds patience and hope.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says that God’s grace is enough for our trials. So we don’t teach that the rapture as a way to dodge hard times. That’s not biblical.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:2–3 warns believers not to be shaken or deceived. Paul says the “day of Christ” won’t come until there’s a falling away and the man of sin (Antichrist) is revealed. That’s future judgment. Some try to twist this to fit their rapture timeline, even changing the Bible to make it work. That’s dangerous.

 

The truth is, many Christians have either lost sight of or have never understood the real foundation for the rapture.

It’s not built on one or two verses. It’s built on a wide understanding of the mystery of the church, the body of Christ, and God’s purpose for it along with the understanding of God’s dealings and His promises to Israel and who and what the “remnant” is.

Failing to understand Israel’s time line and where that nation is at present on that timeline and who the remnant are, will ensure our viewpoint of the rapture and the second coming of our Lord is sketchy at best.

 

So yes, the rapture is real. But let’s teach it right. Let’s not rely on weak or cherry picked verses or cultural ideas. Let’s build our case from the full counsel of God’s Word.

That’s how we help others see the truth and avoid confusion.

 

Some folks teach that the rapture must happen before anything else, like the falling away in 2 Thessalonians 2. But that verse doesn’t say the rapture comes first. Some twist the word “falling away” to mean “going up,” like a rapture. That’s not what the text says. If that’s our only proof, it’s weak.

 

So what’s the strongest proof of a special rapture for the church? It’s the difference between prophecy and mystery.

That’s the key.

It’s in the understanding of Hebrews 1:1-2 which tells us that God has spoken to man in divers manners at sundry times.

God’s character, who He is is unchanging but the ways He’s dealt with and communicated with man have most definitely changed.

Most Christians don’t separate the times when the Lord dealt with man through prophecy and when He dealt with man through the mystery.

Failing to be aware of this change is the cause of confusion and error in the Body of Christ, especially where the doctrine of the rapture and the Kingdom of God is concerned.

 

The times of prophecy is virtually everything in the Old Testament. Then in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and early Acts, we see the partial fulfillment of prophecy in the coming of the long prophesied Messiah to set up the also long prophesied Kingdom on earth over which the Messiah would rule with the restored nation of Israel.

It’s a partial fulfillment because that Kingdom under the reign of Christ was never fulfilled. It was never fulfilled because the conditions of its fulfillment were never met.

That condition was faith.

Israel had to believe that Jesus Christ was the prophesied Messiah and they had to accept Him.

Not only did they not believe Jesus was the Messiah, they rejected Him continually in spite of all the proof positives and the clear prophecies in scripture.

They murdered Him and in the cruelest of ways, by crucifixion.

 

As a result we see an interlude to the prophecy timeline where salvation is offered freely by grace, through faith, to all men, Jew and Gentile.

The time of mystery is what was injected into this interlude in prophecy. It’s that period that began with the stoning to death of a powerful disciple, Stephen, who, in Acts 7, zealously preached to the Jews about their past and current disobedience to the Word of God.

It was virtually the last straw in Israel’s continued rejection of God and His promises that where, up until now, waiting to be fulfilled as soon as Israel believed.

After the death of Stephen Jesus Christ revealed a great mystery to a zealous persecutor of the early church, Saul, who the Lord miraculously saved and who became Paul the apostle to the church, the Body of Christ. The Word of God tells us about that from Acts chapter 9.

 

This mystery had been kept secret by God since the before the world began and we see this in Romans 11:25, Romans 16:25, 1 Corinthians 2:7, 1 Corinthians 15:51, Ephesians 1:9, Ephesians 3:3-4, Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 5:32, Ephesians 6:19, Colossians 2:2, Colossians 4:3, 2, 1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:10, Ephesians 3:2, Colossians 1:25 and in many other places.

God always knew this dispensation would happen but He never revealed it prior to Paul except in types and shadows. He effectively gave the nation of Israel every possible opportunity to walk into it’s promises of greatness and into the incredible Kingdom on earth, the Kingdom Jesus Himself said was at hand with His coming in Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7, Mark 1:15 and Luke 21:31 and other places.

 

Then we see the prophetic timeline continue again in the so named Jewish epistles or the tribulation epistles of Hebrews to Revelation.

These letters contain doctrine, warnings, and encouragement relevant to those living during the Tribulation, a time of global judgment and persecution, directly opposite to the current time where God’s distributing grace to all men, not judgment and wrath.

God is not dispensing grace through faith alone and judgement and wrath at the same time. How could he?

Judgment and wrath are most definitely coming but the dispensation of God’s free grace to all men, Jew and Gentile will end first.

The new creature that Paul’s epistles reveal, the Body of Christ who are not appointed to wrath will no longer exist on earth and the period of free grace to all men by faith alone will be gone forever.

These Jewish or Tribulation epistles are not written to the Church as we know it today, the Body of Christ, but to Tribulation saints, including Jewish and Gentile believers who come to faith during that period.

 

So, the whole issue of the rapture, the catching away of the Body of Christ is not revealed in one or two verses. It’s a picture that’s built up of an understanding of the whole counsel of God.

Paul tells the Ephesian elders this in Acts 20:27,

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 

 

The whole counsel of God, the Bible as we have it today, includes the knowledge of both the history of and God’s promises to Israel. Without this knowledge you and I are hopelessly unable to accurately define God’s plan for the future.

 

The Bible teaches multiple resurrections and rapture is a form of resurrection.

In John 5:28-29 Jesus says,

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

 

1 Corinthians 15 the great resurrection chapter says Christ rose first, then those who are His at His coming, then the end.

Revelation 20:5 talks of “the first resurrection.” So there’s more than one resurrection.

The issue is timing. If there are different resurrections, we need to know which one is ours.

That’s where rightly dividing the word and understanding the whole counsel of God comes in.

 

Paul says in Galatians 3:28 that the church is a new creature, not Jew or Gentile. Let’s read,

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

 

However, Peter preached prophecy spoken since the world began as we see in Acts 3:21

Whom (Jesus) the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 

 

But Paul preached mystery kept secret since the world began in 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, 

 

That’s how we know the church is not Israel.

 

Israel has a calendar. The church doesn’t. That’s why using Jewish feast days like the Feast of Trumpets to predict the rapture is wrong.

These people say that Passover was fulfilled by Christ’s death, Unleavened Bread by His burial, Firstfruits by His resurrection, and Pentecost in Acts 2. So the Feast of Trumpets, the rapture, must be next. Wrong.

Those feasts were given to Israel. The church isn’t Israel. The Feast of Trumpets was a call to repentance before the Day of Atonement. It wasn’t about going to heaven. It was about Israel remembering their covenant and preparing to deal with sin. That’s not the church’s calling.

 

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1–5 that we don’t need to know the times and seasons. Why? Because we’re not in darkness. We’re not part of the night—the time of wrath and judgment.

We’re in the day. That’s dispensational truth. The church isn’t appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). We’re not waiting for judgment—we’re waiting to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

 

Paul warns in Galatians 4:10 and Colossians 2:16 not to get caught up in holy days, months, and seasons. That’s Israel’s program, not ours. If a ministry is focused on calculating dates and times, Paul says it’s off track. Our calling is to preach Christ, not guess calendars.

 

So yes, the rapture is real. But it’s not based on feast days or weak verses. It’s based on rightly dividing prophecy and mystery. The church has a heavenly hope, not an earthly calendar. That’s the foundation of the pre-tribulation rapture.

The Great Tribulation in Matthew 24 is called “Jacob’s trouble”—it’s for Israel. The church doesn’t fulfill prophecy. We’re a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), not Israel.

 

That’s why the rapture of the church is before the tribulation. Not just because of verses like 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (“where it says we’re delivered from the wrath to come”), but because wrath is part of prophecy, but today we live in a time of grace.

God doesn’t pour out wrath and grace at the same time. Today, He’s giving grace to the whole world. In the tribulation, He gives wrath. That’s a different time, a different people, a different purpose.

 

Paul says we’re ambassadors of peace (2 Corinthians 5:20). We preach the gospel of grace. But when God starts working through Israel again to bring His kingdom by force, He stops working through His ambassadors. That means the church is removed. If the church stayed through the tribulation, it would have to stop doing its mission. That doesn’t fit.

 

There are many resurrections and raptures in the Bible. The church’s rapture is different from Israel’s resurrection. The Second Coming is different from our catching away. Why? Because the people are different. The times are different. The purpose is different. That’s why rightly dividing prophecy and mystery really matters. It’s comparing Romans 16:25 to Acts 3:21.

 

If we don’t separate Israel and the church, grace and wrath, prophecy and mystery, all we’ll get is a mixture of the two which’ll only bring confusion and error.

When we learn Paul, the apostle of grace’s message, and rightly divide him from Peter, James, and John, who preach to Israel, we see clearly that the church has a special rapture before the tribulation.

Can We Lose Our Salvation?

Can you lose your salvation or once you’re saved are you always saved?

This has been a long-standing debate in Christianity for centuries. Some believe salvation can be lost, while others believe it is eternally secure.

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Can We Lose Our Salvation? – Transcript

The debate persists because the Bible contains verses that seem to support both the “Once Saved, Always Saved” position and the “You Can Lose Your Salvation” position.

Many individuals who claim to be Christians do not fully understand salvation. This misunderstanding exists even within churches and among pastors and teachers, but it’s crucial that we understand what the Bible teaches about salvation.

Does the Bible’s apparent support for both views mean that God contradicts Himself? Absolutely not!

Understanding the Bible correctly, especially its context and realising that God has dispensed the revelation of His plan progressively over history, can clarify this issue.

 

What’s often missing in this debate is the understanding of dispensations—the periods in which God progressively revealed His will to humanity. The 66 books of the Bible were given by divine inspiration over thousands of years. Later revelations continued to either replace or clarify earlier revelations.

 

It is evident, even with minimal bible study, that God operates differently across different timeframes in Scripture. For instance, what God instructed the nation of Israel to do in the wilderness or what He told Noah, Moses, or King David is not always for us to do today.

 

For example, Isaiah 20:2 states:

At the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.’ And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.

 

Clearly, this was a specific instruction to Isaiah, not a directive for us today. Yet, many Christians overlook such specific instructions and assume that if it’s in the Bible, it automatically applies to us today. This creates confusion and error.

 

We must understand what the Bible teaches about salvation and how God’s plan unfolds over different periods. No one living before the dispensation of the Body of Christ had the complete Word of God as we do today. It should be, and it is, easy for us to recognise Gods dealings with man and how they’ve changed over time.

It’s not that God changes, He doesn’t, but the methods which He deals with mankind do definitely change from age to age. This method of Bible study is explained in 2 Timothy 2:15 as “rightly dividing the word of truth.”

When we rightly divide the Word, we gain a clearer understanding of the Bible and we see why salvation, once received, is eternal.

 

It should be that all Christians are saved, and all saved people are Christians, but this is not always the case and most of us realise this.

If we ask most professing Christians what makes them believe they’re saved, their answers often involve works, behaviour, or moral standards, but these are not what salvation is according to Scripture.

 

Many misunderstandings arise from misinterpreting biblical texts or taking verses out of context. The key to understanding salvation’s permanence lies in understanding Scripture within its dispensational context, or rightly dividing it.

 

We should ask: What was the last thing God revealed about salvation? Did it replace, enhance, or change what was previously known?

When we do this, we see that salvation, once genuinely received, is eternal and can’t be lost.

 

As we said, the Bible appears to support both the “Once Saved, Always Saved” and the “You Can Lose Your Salvation” viewpoints. For example, John 10:28-29 strengthens the “Once Saved, Always Saved” view, and we read:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

 

On the other hand, much of the Bible suggests that salvation can be lost or never received while a person is still alive.

Every Christian, and even many non-Christians, believe that after death, our eternal destination—heaven or hell—is fixed and unchangeable.

The dispute about losing salvation concerns the period between being saved and dying physically. See the simple timeline image below.

 

We’re born into this world, and one day we believed the Gospel—that Christ died for our sins, according to scripture, was buried, and rose again the third day according to scripture (that’s 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). At that moment, we were saved.

Then we continue living in this body here on earth and we struggle, we fail and we sin, and sometimes we lose faith.

 

So, can these struggles cause us to lose the salvation that we received when we believed?

To answer this, we must understand what salvation is according to the Bible.

If we ask, “Can I lose my salvation?” we reveal a lack of understanding about salvation. Why? Because it’s not about what “I” did; it’s about what Christ did!

 

As 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 states:

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

 

Paul was sent by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel, not to baptize or perform rituals. His focus was solely on Christ and Him crucified—the Gospel.

Why? Because the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Paul, in Romans 1:16 states:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

 

Salvation is not about us. We can’t do a thing to earn or orchestrate it. God accomplished it through Christ. When we say “I” lost it, we mistakenly assume control over something we neither earned or deserved and neither can we do anything to keep it. That’s what  grace is.

Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

Salvation is not a reward for our good works or even a reward for our faith. Faith is the medium that enables us to believe, not a work deserving a reward. That faith is not even inherently ours! It comes when hearing the word, Romans 10:17,

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

 

Titus 3:5 clarifies this:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

 

Romans 4:5 adds:

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 

Salvation isn’t physical, at least not while we’re here on earth in our earthly body, it’s a spiritual mercy—a forgiveness of sin undeserved and given by God. It’s not ours to lose; it’s God’s gift. How do you lose that?

When we say, “I” lost “my” salvation we’re failing to realise that it’s not me that’s in charge of getting it or keeping it and it’s not “mine” to begin with.

Romans 1:16 reiterates that salvation is God’s power, not ours.

Titus 2:11 says:

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

Grace is what God does and what He gives.

 

Salvation’s not membership into a club or recognition of earthly achievements. Some interpret passages like Jesus’s parable of the talents in Matthew 25:23 where He says “Well done, good and faithful servant” as salvation, but salvation is found in God alone. To be saved is to know God and align with His truth and will.

 

Salvation is not ours; it’s God’s. If we view it as a reward for our behaviour or our faith, we’ve misunderstood salvation and it may even mean we’re not saved to begin with.

We can’t even choose salvation without first hearing God’s word. Our choice to believe is a response to that word.

 

The Gospel is the only power of God unto salvation.

If we doubt our salvation, it may indicate we were never saved. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ’s finished work. If we don’t trust in Christ’s work, well, we can’t lose what we never had.

We’ve got to know whether or not we’re saved. If salvation never happened, we’re lost, eternally.

Every one of us have been there. Everyone who’s now saved was lost before that.

 

The question of losing salvation stems from the sin, failure, and doubt we all experience after we’re saved.

Let’s deal with the question of sin.

Romans 3:10 says:

There is none righteous, no, not one.

 

Sin has plagued the world since the fall of man and it separates us from God’s holiness, righteousness, joy, peace, and love.

Now, it’s not that God can’t be in the presence of sin as many people believe. That’s a myth.

God became incarnate and dwelt among sinners. God’s not a sinner, but if He couldn’t be in the presence of sin, you and I can’t be saved.

 

God is holy and perfectly righteous and without sin, and because of that, our sin separates us in judgment, meaning we deserve judgment from a holy, perfectly righteous God. We don’t compare to Him, we come short of His glory.

So we can see why people would ask, “If someone is saved and they sin afterward, even a terrible, extreme, repeated sin, how can they still be saved. Surely they’ll lose their salvation”.

 

Now, sin is a serious issue and we can’t diminish it in any way, but the good news is that God has provided a way to save sinners from sin!

That’s why he didn’t just kill Adam and Eve and start over again after they sinned. He always intended to provide a way of saving sinners, which tells us that sin’s not a problem for God even though it’s in contrast to His righteousness and holiness and must be dealt with.

He’s always given us the realisation that we’re all sinners right back when He gave the law through Moses, but He also provided sacrifices and ways to deal with that sin.

We know that it’s not sin that condemned Israel in the past, or us today, but the lack of faith required to believe God and His remedy for sin.

Mankind’s lack of faith in God and what He’s done has always been the problem.

Hebrews 11:6,

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

 

God’s dealt with sin in such a way that goes far beyond human comprehension and displays His perfect wisdom.

His perfect righteousness and His perfect justice is satisfied completely while still achieving what He intended in the beginning, that man would live eternally in perfect unity with Him, free from the penalty, the power and the presence of sin.

 

Every one of us ever born of Adam has sinned.

Romans 3:23 states:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

 

Sin demands punishment. God’s perfect righteousness demands that, and that punishment is death, as Romans 6:23 explains:

For the wages of sin is death.

 

God, in His perfect righteousness, can’t bypass judgment for some people and force punishment on others. That would make Him unjust.

His solution was to send His only begotten, perfect, sinless Son to die for sinners as the perfect sacrifice for sin.

Romans 3:21-27 teaches that Christ’s shed blood is a propitiation, which means an appeasement, or atoning for all sin, and, through faith in His shed blood, Christ Jesus becomes the payment, the atonement for sin for all time.

That happened 2,000 years ago.

 

Sin separates us from God and we’re all corrupt, no matter how good we try to be. But God provides a way to save sinners.

Romans 6:23 concludes:

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

No one can be saved without Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection.

Salvation comes when a person hears God’s offer of salvation through the Gospel, which is God’s Word about salvation, His power to salvation, as we’ve already talked about. The person hears that word and believes it and is instantly saved.

God’s way of saving us from the consequences of sin is not by us being good or doing right.

To prove this, He gave a perfect, holy, righteous law to a nation He created, saying, “Do this and live.” Most of the Bible records that nation’s failure to keep the law.

Even with prophets, a law showing righteousness, and other helps, sin dwells in us, and we cannot maintain our own righteousness.

 

God’s way to save us from sin is not for us to stop sinning or to do good. That is not the Gospel that saves. History and the Bible show that man can’t stop sinning, no matter how hard he tries. Jeremiah 17:9 confirms this:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 

God provided salvation through a sacrifice—His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, and His resurrection. This is the Gospel. Man hears it and believes it. Faith is the only requirement. Whether we believe or not, the Gospel is the power of God to salvation.

 

Salvation is not escaping the punishment for sin.

The price must still be paid, but instead of us paying the punishment of eternal death, Jesus Christ paid it for us.

Being sinless and perfect, He wasn’t entitled to death. He chose to die in our place, receiving the wages for sin that we deserved. His unjust death could not hold Him eternally, and He rose on the third day, as prophesied.

 

When we believe the Gospel, we’re freed from the law that requires our death because Christ paid that price. We’re saved from the penalty of sin (death) and the power of sin to condemn us.

Romans 8:1 states:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

One day, we’ll also be saved from the presence of sin, which we’re not free from today. This understanding was not always clear in Scripture.

 

So if we refer to the timeline image below, we have the beginning, where God made Adam and Eve and sin entered into God’s creation.

We had to learn the lesson of sin’s corruption and God’s provision  for salvation from that sin through the cross. We learn it through the Bible, through the ages of God intervening in humanity and introducing revelation knowledge piece by piece with each treasure trove of revelation either replacing or adding to what was known before.

 

Now, how can we say God saved us from sin if we still sin?

Well, salvation from sin doesn’t mean the elimination of all sin in this life.

God promises perfection, glory, cleansing, righteousness, and holiness, but we don’t see that yet in this world.

In the timespan between our trusting the Gospel and our physical death we still sin.

If we think we don’t sin, we need to go back to the law in the first five books of the Bible or to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount to see our sin, even as saved individuals.

 

In Romans 7:17-25, Paul shares his own experience with sin after salvation. In verse 19, he says:

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

 

Paul acknowledges that sin remains in him, even though it’s been forgiven through Christ’s cross. Sin will not be removed until our glorification after our physical death. Until then, Paul, like us, contends with sin in the flesh.

Romans 7:18 states:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

 

Paul wants to do good but he can’t always do it. Romans 7:19 reiterates:

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

 

This struggle is familiar to all of us. Only the self-deceived would claim they have no problem with sin.

When we trust the Gospel for salvation and sin continues in us, it raises questions like what are the consequences and the effect of our sin after our salvation? Am I no longer saved? Will sin nullify God’s promise?

 

In Galatians 1:4, Paul says we live in a present evil world. Even though Christ died for our sins and we accept and trust in that we continue to live in this world, within the presence of evil.

 

The Corinthians had many sins, and yet Paul never questioned their salvation because of that sin.

The Galatians, however, tried to live in self-righteousness, and Paul questioned their salvation. The issue is not sin after salvation but whether works are viewed as earning salvation, which may indicate a lack of true salvation.

 

In Romans 7:21-24, Paul concludes:

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

 

Some theologians argue that Paul is describing his pre-salvation state, believing that once saved, a person no longer struggles with sin. However, the truth is that Paul is speaking of his struggle with sin after believing the Gospel, and it’s a struggle shared by all who’re saved.

 

God dispensed grace after His provision for salvation at the cross. This dispensation of grace, given to Paul and, through Paul, to the world, ensures that grace abounds over all sin.

Romans 5:20-21 states:

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Eternal life is only possible because grace covers all sins.

Without this grace, no human could be saved, and Christ’s sacrifice would have been in vain.

Ephesians 3:2 highlights this dispensation, this dispensing of grace by God. It says:

…The dispensation of the grace of God which is given me (that’s Paul) to you-ward.

 

This final revelation, given through Paul, supersedes previous teachings on salvation, emphasising that grace abounds over all sins—past, present, and future.

If we fail to understand this dispensation of grace, we may easily focus solely on our sin, leading to doubts about our salvation.

The revelation of the mystery of grace shows us who we are in Christ Jesus.

 

The Bible teaches both that salvation cannot be lost and that it can be lost through continued sin and without Paul’s epistles, we’d only see a conditional standing with God, requiring good works and sinlessness to maintain salvation.

However, salvation can’t be lost in today’s dispensation because of God’s grace. Today, God dispenses grace to all sinners who believe the Gospel.

 

Romans 5:8 reminds us:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

See, Christ died for us while we were sinners, not after we stopped sinning.

Believers may fail in their faith, but salvation is not about our success. It’s about Christ’s finished work.

Even the Thessalonians, who were praised by Paul, lacked perfection in their faith.

1 Thessalonians 3:10 Paul states:

Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

 

Faith is not about future events but about trusting in Christ’s past work to save us now.

If salvation were future, it could be lost. But salvation is based on Christ’s finished work, not our efforts.

We’re saved by grace through faith in Christ’s completed work, not by our works or our future expectations.

 

Now, the book of James was written by one of the apostles of the Lord and addresses faith and works in chapter 2.

We notice that the book of James doesn’t mention the cross of Christ at all and is directed to the twelve tribes of Israel, as stated in James 1:1:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

 

James is writing before the revelation of the mystery given to Paul. He’s writing in the time, the age, of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, not the gospel of God’s free grace to all who believe.

By the time of James’s writing, Jewish communities, especially those who believed that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah, were scattered widely across the Roman Empire due to many factors not least the persecutions of Paul prior to his salvation and other Jewish sects and leaders.

James is still preaching the same gospel of the kingdom that the Jewish apostles taught and that Jesus Himself taught during His earthly ministry.

That gospel was that the Messiah had come and God’s long given promise of an earthly kingdom was now at hand.

That gospel, the gospel of the kingdom, absolutely required faith PLUS works.

However, under the terms of the New Covenant, as outlined by Jeremiah 31:31 and Hebrews  chapter 8, the Holy Spirit, who was given according to prophesy in Acts chapter 2, would, put God’s laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. They wouldn’t think of or desire anything else.

Hebrews 8:10-11

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 

 

It was only after the constant, continual rejection of the Messiah, God’s word and the Holy Spirit that God set aside Israel in blindness and, through the revelation to Paul, showed a mystery that was never prophesied, never before revealed to mankind.

Romans 16:25 -26,

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, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

 

That mystery was free salvation to all, Jew and Gentile (there would be no racial or national difference).

Rom 10:12-13,

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

 

The mystery reveal to Paul included the creation of a new creature, the Body of Christ.

Romans 12:5

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1 Corinthians 12:27,

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 

 

So James is one place where there’s controversy about faith and works. It says in James 2:14:

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

 

James answers no, faith alone can’t save.

This challenges the belief that salvation is by faith alone, without works, especially when a person overlooks the weight of Paul’s epistles that support salvation by faith alone.

James 2:10 states:

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

 

This verse emphasises the impossibility of achieving righteousness through the law, through works, on one hand while seemingly saying we need works on the other. In other words it’s impossible for us to keep the law by our works but equally impossible to be saved without them.

So salvation is impossible then? Is this a contradiction in the Bible?

 

To understand James 2:14, we must consider what we’ve just explained about James and we also must consider verses 15-16:

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

 

The point is not about good works but the lack of profit in faith that does nothing. Verse 17 states:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

 

Faith without works is dead. Verse 18 continues:

Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

 

Notice the emphasis on “my works.” James’s argument is about demonstrating faith through my works, not Christ’s finished work.

 

Verse 19 clarifies:

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

 

See, just the belief that there’s one God can’t save.

Even devils recognise God but they’re not saved.

James speaks truth but within a different dispensation.

He’s addressing Israel under the law.

James’s teaching highlights the need for a great work to save us—a work only Christ could accomplish on the cross.

 

James was not offering the gospel message given to Paul. That gospel wasn’t given to James.

The completed Bible as we have today didn’t exist at the time. James didn’t preach trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross, His death, and resurrection to save us from our sins without the law and Israel. Instead, he spoke truth about faith and works, emphasizing the need for a work too great for humans to achieve.

 

Does faith require our work or is it simply trust in Christ’s finished work?

This question is crucial to understanding salvation. If we believe our works contribute to salvation, even partially, we misunderstand the gospel.

Trusting that Christ died for our sins, while believing that works are also necessary, undermines the gospel of grace. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Christ’s completed work.

 

Salvation is not something we receive after death; it’s offered now. We can possess it now because the work is already done.

Trusting God to save us in the future implies uncertainty, as anything could happen to prevent us from receiving it. Salvation is a present reality, secured by Christ’s finished work.

 

So, where does the idea of trusting God for future salvation come from?

The Bible!

Much of the Bible, especially before Paul, speaks of God’s promises to save in the future if a person trusts Him. Trusting God involves obedience, as faith without action shows a lack of trust in Him as Lord and Savior.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

 

Future salvation is an ongoing theme throughout scripture both up to Christ’s revelation of the mystery of the dispensation of grace to Paul and after the dispensation of grace has ended, and that future salvation is tied to covenants.

A covenant is a mutual promise between God and individuals, requiring fulfillment by both parties. Until it’s fulfilled, the covenant remains active.

For example, God’s covenant with David promised his seed would sit on the throne, but this hadn’t occurred yet. Similarly, God’s promises to Eve, Abraham, and others were future-oriented, awaiting fulfillment.

Faith is the difference between those who believe God keeps His promises from those who doubt that He does. Trusting God’s future actions relies on covenants and promises.

 

Biblical language like “enter in” reflects hope for future salvation, as seen in Matthew 7:14:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 

Jesus also said in Matthew 24:13,

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

 

This language emphasises the need for enduring faith and obedience to “enter in” after physical death.

Salvation is promised but not yet received, like Israel’s wilderness journey.

They were promised the land but didn’t enter it due to the lack of trust and obedience.

The book of Hebrews, written to Israel, discusses conditional and future salvation.

Hebrews 4:1 warns,

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

 

Hebrews 4:11 adds,

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

 

See how faith and endurance are essential to enter into God’s rest.

Hebrews 4:16 encourages seeking grace and help from God during this journey.

Hebrews 12:14 states,

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

 

Israel’s covenants and promises remain unfulfilled, requiring endurance and faith in future salvation.

However, in contrast, in the age we live in today, faith in our already  complete salvation looks back to the event of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Ephesians 1:13 says,

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.

 

Salvation has already been purchased and offered freely to those who believe.

Then it says we’re sealed with the Holy Spirit.

This provision for salvation is all in the past, not the future. Christ did the work, rose from the dead, and revealed the gospel of salvation, which was preached to us.

We believed in what Christ accomplished and were sealed with the Holy Spirit at the moment of belief.

We’re not waiting for the Holy Spirit or Jesus’ return to save us, as salvation was completed during His first coming. Those who’re saved have already received atonement.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 declares,

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

This transformation occurs the moment we believe.

The grace of God has appeared, granting us salvation as a current possession, not a future one.

The Bible proclaims that salvation is a finished work.

This completed salvation is unique to Paul’s epistles.

When we first believed in Christ’s death, resurrection, and role as Savior, God’s grace saved us through His work, not ours.

 

At that moment we believed, we received forgiveness for all sins, redemption through His blood, reconciliation with God, regeneration, and justification.

Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us, or pass to our account, granting us a position in His body and heavenly places.

The Holy Spirit indwells us, making us His temple. These realities are not based on feelings but on faith.

 

Salvation can’t be lost because the work’s already done.

We’re reconciled, regenerated, justified, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

By faith, we trusted the gospel, and God transformed us. This transformation is irreversible, because it’s God’s work, not ours.

 

Salvation is about who we are in Christ, not our behaviour. Christ’s blood forgave our sins, redeemed us, and reconciled us to God. Salvation is complete and can’t be undone.

Confusion arises when people associate salvation with works of the law.

Many passages used to argue that we can lose salvation come from Israel’s law and covenants, not Paul’s epistles, through which Christ revealed the dispensation of God’s grace, present salvation.

 

Christ hasn’t returned yet to reign in righteousness, and national Israel’s promises are still unfulfilled.

Salvation today is by faith through God’s grace, revealed to Paul as a new pattern for saving sinners.

The Bible, and Paul, absolutely teaches good works, but those works they neither to earn or keep salvation. The gospel of grace accounts for sin and failure, unlike the many teachings focused on persevering to the end.

 

Paul’s experience, as described in 1 Timothy 1:12-16, demonstrates God’s abundant grace.

Despite being a blasphemer and persecutor, Paul obtained mercy and became a pattern for believers.

God saves sinners, justifying the ungodly through faith in Christ’s work.

 

This dispensation of grace emphasises God’s amazing, unlimited grace by offering salvation to all. While judgment will come, today is the time of salvation for everyone.

 

Romans chapter 6 teaches that when we trust Christ, and we believe the gospel, the spirit baptises us into Christ, which means we’re baptised into the death of Christ.

We’re crucified with Christ as Galatians 2:20 tells us.

Romans 6:5-8 also makes this clear,

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

For he that is dead is freed from sin. 

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

 

Our old man is dead. It was the old man that made us condemned and lost and now it’s dead.

We were dead spiritually, condemned in sin to eternal death, and then, when we trusted Christ’s finished work on the cross, His cross became our cross and our old man was crucified, found guilty, condemned, convicted, and put to death.

How is it that I still live?

We’re a new man in Christ.

That killer, the old man, is dead and has paid the penalty of sin, which is death. Our wages for sin have already been paid by death. The old man was killed in Jesus Christ on the cross.

No matter what we do, we can’t raise that killer back from the dead. We’ve been made a new creature in Christ Jesus. That new creature is the Body of Christ and that’s the main subject of this great mystery that Paul repeatedly talks about through his 13 epistles.

It’s  mystery that was not known since the foundation of the world until Christ revealed it to Paul.

 

Look what Paul says in Romans 8:3-4.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

We’re dead to the law.

The righteousness of the law is now fulfilled in us who walk after the spiritual, new man in the body of Christ.

Romans 7:5 talks more about this,

For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 

 

Has Christ come yet? Is the kingdom already set up on earth? Are we all dead in heaven? No, of course not.

Yet Paul says Romans 7:6,

But now (hear the word “now”) we are delivered from the law, that being dead (that’s the old man) wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

 

That’s because a dead man’s not subject to the law, is he?

Our old man died. That means the law has no power to condemn us anymore because the debt to sin is paid in full.

So, here we are, a saved person, crucified with Christ, alive in Christ, and we sin. We break God’s law. Does that law have the power to condemn us? Not anymore it doesn’t.

That’s what Paul’s saying here. Because of Christ, we’re dead to the law. We serve now in newness of the spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s given and our spirit’s been quickened or made alive. Can we kill our quickened, alive spirit?

We can’t! Just as we couldn’t make it alive in the first place.

These are God’s doing.

We simply said, “I want to be saved. I receive your offer of salvation and I believe that Christ did everything necessary to save me.”

He did it. It’s not anything we did.

Our faith didn’t do it. Our faith was activated when we simply heard the word of God and then we believed it and trusted it.

The body of Christ, that we’re now in since we believed, is not under the law.

If we’re not under the law, we can’t be condemned and killed by it. Our sin has no power to condemn us.

People tend to fear sin and ungodliness and losing salvation because of it. But Christ dealt with all that!

There shouldn’t be any question about the law and sin being able to condemn us because of our failure to do right.

But there is a worry about this. Look at Romans 11:6.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

 

If we make our salvation something that’s earned or kept by our good works, it’s not of grace, is it? And that’s a problem because that’s not the gospel that saved us.

The Galatians fell into this very situation.

They heard the gospel that saved them. They trusted. At least that’s what Paul thought. Then, after they were saved, they started thinking that their good works could get them things that Christ already gave them. And Paul asks, “Did you actually trust what I told you or did you not? I’m afraid that you totally missed Christ.”

This is why we find some of the most liberating statements relating to the assurance of salvation in the epistle to the Galatians.

They were trying to do good works. The Galatians weren’t being accused of sin. They’re being accused of trying to do good works to earn God’s favour.

Look at Galatians 5:4,

Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

 

Many people bring up this passage to show how you can fall from grace and the Bible does say that.

What’s the conditions to fall from grace in Galatians 5:4? Is it our sin? No!

Is it because we’ve lost faith or lacking in faith or need strengthened faith?

No!

What’s the condition that’s in place for Paul to say that if this happens, you’re fallen from grace?

Christ has become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are what? Justified by the law. What’s it mean “justified by the law”?

It means you do it and you say, “Look, I’ve done it all. I’m not guilty. I’ve kept the law.”

Paul says, “If that’s you, you’re falling from grace.” That’s really not a conversation about losing salvation. Usually, it’s about sinners, seeing themselves as self-righteous people believing their justification comes from their own good works and good behaviour. If this is the case you’re fallen from grace. Is this saying that if I do good works, I’m not saved anymore?

No way! Good works is what we’re ordained to do.

It’s saying that if we think that’s what justifies us and that’s what keeps us we should re learn the gospel.

We’re justified by Christ, by faith, not by works, not by  trying to keep the law which no one can ever do.

We’re not under the law in this dispensation and Paul’s the only one that teaches us that.

Everywhere else in the Bible, Israel is under a law program, either the old covenant or the new covenant, which is the law written in their hearts.

 

In Galatians 2:16, Paul confronts Peter, a Jew who taught law-keeping despite believing in Jesus.

Paul declares that no one is justified by works of the law, but by the faith of Christ—“for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Grace, not law, saves us, and it can’t be undone by sin.

Galatians 2:19-21 explains that through the law, we died to the law to live unto God.

I am crucified with Christ… yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” If righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain.

 

Paul’s frustration isn’t about sin but about seeking justification through works. Salvation is in Christ, not ourselves.

He took us out of our old man and placed us in Him. We can’t lose salvation because it’s entirely Christ’s doing.

By the dispensation of grace, salvation is offered to all—Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free. If we trust Christ’s finished work, we’re saved—even knowing we’ll sin afterward.

“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).