Your Word declares that if we, Your people, who are called by Your
name, will humble ourselves and pray and seek Your face and turn
from our wicked ways, then will You hear from heaven and You will
forgive our sin and will heal our land.
(2 Chronicles 7:14)
We bow before Your sacred throne and humbly ask Your
forgiveness for the sin of idolatry! Your word demands; “Thou shalt
have no other gods before Me”, yet we have, under the banner of
pluralism and hedonism, embraced and worshipped the gods of
this world. Take us back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
(Exodus 20:3)
Through moral and spiritual compromise and complacency, we have
allowed our nation to conform to the ways of the world by turning
away from our spiritual roots found in Your Word.
(Romans 12:2)
Our silence has produced a secular nation and all nations that forget
You, shall be forsaken. We ask that You hear our cry, for we need
You, in these desperate times, to lead us out of our politically correct
fog of constant confusion and take us back to Your moral clarity.
(Psalm 9:17)
O Lord our God, King of the Universe, we confess that America
cannot survive without Your presence. Your statutes founded this
blessed land and we look to You, Father God, to preserve it, for
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”
(Psalm 33:12)
As commanded in scripture, we pray for all who are in authority
who govern our nation; may their decisions be led by the perfect
compass of your Holy Word which clearly discerns right from wrong.
(I Timothy 2:1-3)
O Lord our God, You have promised to raise up righteous leaders
into high places and to remove those who have displayed unrighteous
authority. We earnestly pray that You will once again exalt the
righteous and expose the deeds of the ungodly.
(Proverbs 14:33-35)
America must have spiritual renewal for moral survival! In this
season of prayer, we unite in humble heartfelt hope and ask that You
forgive us and deliver us from the folly of our transgressions. Guide
and sustain our nation as we turn from our sin and return to You,
the God of our fathers. (Psalm 51:1-17)
The time has come to declare our trust in You to heal our land.
(2 Samuel 22:2-4; Psalm 5:11-12; Psalm 57:1-3)
We pledge to exercise our God given rights of “life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness” in voting for future leaders from the county
courthouse to the White House who obey and honor Your Word.
(Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Psalm 119:44-48; Psalm5:11)
We pledge to vote the Bible in selecting those that will govern our
country. (Deuteronomy 16:18-20)
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, for You are good and Your mercy
endures forever. We petition heaven with our united prayers as we
seek Your blessing, Your peace and Your protection for America.
(I Chronicles 16:34; Numbers 6:22-26; Romans 15:13;
Psalm 5:11)
May the Lord our God, be with us, as He was with our forefathers;
may He not leave us or forsake us; so that He may incline our hearts
to Himself, to walk in all His ways... that all peoples of the earth may
know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.
(1 Kings 8:57-60)
In the Old Testament David's Psalms, and in the New Testament Paul's Epistles, are stars of the first magnitude. His apprehension was quick and piercing; his expressions were fluent and copious; his affections very warm and zealous, and his resolutions no less bold and daring: this made him, before his conversion, a very keen and bitter persecutor. He became the most skilful zealous preacher; never any better fitted to win souls, nor more succesful. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
The genuiness of the Epistle to the Romans has never been questioned. It has the unbroken testimony of all antiquity, up to Clement, the apostle's "fellow laorer in the Gospel, whose name was in the Book of Life" (Philippians 4:3 "...And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life...")
And who quotes from Romans in his undoubted Epistle to the Corinthians, written before the close of the first century. The most searching investigations of modern criticism have left it untouched..."
There were Jewish Christians at Corinth, where this Epistle of Romans is said to be written. We have upon record that Romans was the first of many by Paul. The first eleven chapters of Romans is docrinal while the last five chapters are practical and instruct us in the concerns of salvation, persons saved, the electiion of grace and the admission of Gentiles into the church.
Romans then ends with an apology, salutations, a benediction and doxology to God.
PART ONE: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference
Romans Doctrine The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference Proof of
the 2nd Resurrection, what God is doing with Israel:
PART ONE: Romans: JUSTIFICATION
(Be Steadfast)
2 Peter 3:14-16 "...Therefore, beloved, looking forward to
these things, (the return of Jesus and His Kingdom), be diligent to be found by Him
in peace, without spot and blameless; and account that the longsuffering of our Lord
is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to
him, has written to you...as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things,
in which are some things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and
unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures..."
(By the date that Peter was writing this epistle of Romans, Paul's writing
was already considered Scripture; Christianity at this time was also considerred a
sect of Judaism, or of the Jews, and was taught at the feet of Gamilio)
Romans BACKGROUND: Written in AD 56, 10 years before the book of Colossians
while Paul was in Corinth...)
Acts 20:1-3 "...After the uproar had ceased, Paul called
the disciples to him, embraced them,and departed to go to Macedonia,...Now when
he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to
Greece...and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he
was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia..."
1 Corinthians 16:1-2, 5 "...Now concerning the collection
for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also:
On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as
he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come...Now I will come to you
when I pass through Macedonia (for I am passing through Macedonia)..."
Romans 15:22-24, 20, 25-26, 28 "...For this reason I also
have been much hindered from coming to you. (Already a church
in Rome) But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great
desire these many years to come to you, (Because of his
citizenship in Rome) whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I
hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I
may enjoy your company for a while...(That portion of Spain in the
Roman Empire that hadn't received the Gospel) And so I have made it my
aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another
man's foundation...But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it
pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the
poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem...
(Achaia is Greece)Therefore, when I have performed this
and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain..."
(Conclusion of the third journey of Paul's)
Romans 1:8 "...First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ
for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world..."
Acts 2:1-2, 4-6, 8-10, 38-39, 47, 41 "...Now when the Day
of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled
the whole house where they were sitting...And they wre all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance...And how
is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and
medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining
Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,...Then Peter said to them,
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God
will call...praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to
the church daily those who were being saved...Then those who gladly received his
word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them..."
Theme of Romans
Romans 1:11 "...For I long to see you, that I may impart to
you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established--..."
Romans 1:15-16; 15:14-15 "...So, as much as is in me, I
am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for every one who
believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek...(Basis for
belilef in Faith) Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that
you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one
another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points,
as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,..."
(No personal encouragement or correction had been
there)
2 Peter 1:12-15 "...Therefore I will not be negligent to
remind you always of these things, though you know them, and are established in
the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by
reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus
Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a
reminder of these things after my decease..."
Romans 15:16 "...that I might be a minister of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles
might be accetable, sanctified by the the Holy Spirit..."
2 Corinthians 10:13-16 "...We, however, will not boast
beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us--a
sphere which especially includes you. For we are not extending ourselves beyound
our sphere (thus not rerachiing out), for it was to you that we came with the gospel
of Christ; not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but
having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our
sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another
man's sphere of accomplishment..." (Immense world of Gentiles
to reach)
Romans 15:20 "...And so I have made it my aim to preach
the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's
foundation..." Left evangelist Titus in Greece, where the Church
was not yet established and writes him to do so.)
Psalm 65:4 "...Blessed is the man whom You choose, and
cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with
the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple..."
(On repentance, we are reconciled back to God, according to
His Will)
Romans 16:22-23 "...I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle,
greet you in the Lord. Gaius, my host and the host of their whole church, greets
you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother..."
(Romans Irony 1: They were all in Ephesus)
Romans 15:33; 3:31; 6:1-2; 3:23, 28, 30 "...Now the God
of peace be with you all. Amen...(A duplicate letter sent to
Ephesus. Understanding Romans is to understand the doctrine of Justification
through the blood of Christ, made righteous. Romans KEY ISSUE: Acts 15 and the
"ceremonial Law", the ritual of the Law, and does Grace negate the Law?)
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we
establish the law...What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?...for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,...Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law...Since there is one God who will
justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith..."
([Romans: Purged from sin] The catholic church [universal] in
Italian means world-wide church of God which is the counterfiet church, believe
Peter to be the 1st Pope; the Petrine Doctrine, Bishop of Rome)
Matthew 16:19 "...And I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven..."
(Ten proofs that the Petrine Doctrine of Rome is false and that
Peter was never in Rome.
(1) Romans Commission to preach to the Jews:)
Galatians 2:7-9 "...But on the contrary, when they saw that
the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the
circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the
aspostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles),...
and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the
grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowshiip, that we should go the Gentiles and they to the circumcised..."
2 Timothy 1:11 "...to which I was appointed a preacher, an
apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles..."
((2) Paul to the Gentiles; Peter to the Jews. Paul not Peter
established the church in Rome, and was the apostle to the Romans)
Romans 15:16; 1:11; 15:20 "...That I might be a minister
of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the
Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit...
((3) Did not build on anyone else's foundation)
for I long to see you, that I may impart
to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established---...and so I have made it
my aim to peach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on
another man's foundation..."
(4) Twenty-six specific individuals mentioned in Romans about
those in Rome, but (5) does not mention Peter)
((6) In 59 AD Paul went to Rome, Peter didn't meet him)
Acts 28:11-15, 17, 21-22, 24-26 "...After three months we
sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, whch had
wintered at the island. And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days..From there
we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew;
and the next day we came to Puteoli, where we found brethren, and were invited to
stay with them seven days. And so we went towards Rome. And from there, when
the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three
Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage...And it came to
pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together, so when
they had come together, he said to them: "Men and brethren, though I have done
nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet, I was delivered as a
prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans...
((7) The elders did not know the basic truth)
And they said to him, "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor
have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. "But we
desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is
spoken against everywhere...And some were persuaded by the things which were
spoken, and some disbelieved. So when they did not agree among themselves,
they departed after Paul had said one word; "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through
Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, "saying, 'Go to this people and say; "Hearing you
will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;..."
Isaiah 6:9-10 "...And He said, "Go, and tell this people:
'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
return and be healed'..."
Acts 28:29 "...And when he had said these words, the
Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves..."
((8) Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Phileon which
were written in Rome do not mention Peter at all!)
((9) All, including Peter
2 Timothy 4:16, 11 "...At my first defense no one stood
with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them...Ony Luke is with
me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry..."
((10) Simeon "the Pater" or father was Magus the Magician who
founded the "false" Christianity)
Romans PART TWO: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference continues:
Romans Doctrine Update: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference Proof of
the 2nd Resurrection, what God is doing with Israel:
Romans 1:11, 15 "...For I long to see you, that I may
impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established--...So, as much as
is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also..."
Romans 1:16 "...For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew
first (Peter's Commission) and also for the Greek (Paul's Commission)..."
(This message is written as a doctrinal study rather than a
personal letter, principally to the Gentiles)
Romans 1:1-4 "...Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to
be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.
Old Testament promise; Paul to Timothy; Isaiah, Philip used all
truth from the Old Testament
(A "slave of";
one-third in Rome were former slaves, they could buy their citizenship)
which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning
His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the
flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead..."
(Romans: Both man and God)
Matthew 22:41-46 "...While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, sayng, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose
Son is He?" They said to Him, "the Son of David." He said to them, "How then does
David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right
hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'? "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is
He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did
anyone dare question Him anymore...."
(Hebrew form of Holy Spirit)
Psalm 110:1 "...The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right
hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."
Romans 1:5 "...through whom we have received grace and
apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name...."
Hebrews 4:6 "...Since therefore it remains that some must
enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of
disobedience..."
James 2:17 "...Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead..."
Romans 1:6-7 "...among whom you also are the called of
Jesus Christ; to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ..."
(Romans: Set apart for God's possession)
1 Corinthians 8:5-7 "...For even if there are so-called
gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet
for us there is only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and
one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with conscousness of
the idol, until now hear it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being
weak, is defiled..."
Romans 1:8-14 "...First, I thank my God through Jesus
Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world...For God is
my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, making request if, by some
means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to
see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established--
that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you
and me. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to
come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you
also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to
Barbarians, both to wise and unwise..."
(The Romans mass produced statutes of their leaders; the
Greeks had complete statutes of themselves; on some the heads were added later)
(Through Jesus: Holy of Holies, as in Old Testament with
sacrifice and priestly cleansing; New Testament Christ is our High Priest, the Order
of Melchizedek)
Philippians 2:3 "...Let nothing be done through selfish
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than
himself..."
Romans 1:15-16 "...Some indeed preach Christ even
from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from
selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add afflilcton to my chains..."
Acts 10:34-35 "...Then Peter opened his mouth and said:
"In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears
Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him..."
Romans 1:16; 2:8-9; 1:17 "...For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,
for the Jew first and also for theGreek...but to those who are self-seeking and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation and
anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;...
(Romans: Two and one-half to three and one-half years between the Jew
and Gentile tribulation and the Day of the Lord)
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The
just shall live by faith..."
Habakkuk 2:4 "...Behold the proud, his soul is not upright
in him; but the just shall live by his faith..."
(Romans: God's righteousness being exalted through Faith from start to
finish)
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "...and to wait for His Son from
heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath
to come..."
Romans 1:18-19 "...For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth
in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for
God had shown it to them...."
John 6:44 "...No one can come to Me unless the Father
who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day..."
1 Corinthians 2:7-11 "...But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
which none of the rulers of ths age knew; for had they known, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor
have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who
love HIm." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit
searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of
a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things
of God except the Spirit of God..."
Isaiah 64:4; 65:17 "...For since the beginning of the world
men have not heard nor perceived by the ear nor has the eye seen any God besides
You, who acts for the one who waits for Him...For behold, I create new heavens and
a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind..."
Romans 1:20-27 "...For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,...
(Romans: Are made by creation; science proves the existence of Eve,
but won't admit it)...because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him
as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish
hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the
glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds
and four-footed beasts and creeping things...
(Idolatry, Evolution)...Therefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave
them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is
shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty (AIDS)
of their error which was due..."
Leviticus 18:22 "...You shall not lie with a male as with a
woman. It is an abomination..."
Romans 1:28; 8:7; 1:29-32; 2:1-3 "...And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to
do those things which are not fitting;...Because the carnal mind is emnity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be...being filled with all
unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full
of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters,
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, undiscernigg, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;...
(Promise Breakers)...who, knowing the righteous
judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not ony do
the same but also approve of those who practice them..."
Romans: To the Jews
Luke 12:47-48 "...And that servant who knew his master's
will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with
many stripes, but he who did not know, yet committed thngs worthy of stripes, shall
be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be
required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more..."
(Romans: House of Israel as opposed to the Gentiles)
Romans 2:4 "...Or do you despise the riches of His
goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leads you to repentance?..."
Acts 11:18 "...When they heard these things they became
silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles
repentance to life..."
2 Timothy 2:24-25 "...And a servant of the Lord must not
quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who
are in oppposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may
know the truth..."
Romans 2:5-6 "...But in accordance with your hardness
and your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one
according to his deeds..."
Romans: The Parable of the Talents
Matthew 25:14-30 "...For the kingdom of heaven, is like a
man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods
to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each
according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who
had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five
talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who
had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long
time the lord of these servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who
had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, "Lord, you
delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them."
His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a
few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me
two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' His lord said to him,
'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will
make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' Then he who had
received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping
where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And
I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look , there you have what
is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you
knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I would have recieved back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent
from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will
be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what
he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'..."
1 Corinthians 15:33 "...Do not be deceived: "Evil
company corrupts good habits..."
Romans 2:7 "...eternal life to those who by patient
continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortaility;..."
Matthew 24: 42, 44, 46 "...Watch therefore, for you do not
know what hour your Lord is coming...Therefore you also be ready for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him...Blessed is that servant
whom his master, when he comes, will fnd so doing..."
Romans: Enduring and overcoming to the end
Romans 2:8-12 "...But to those who are self-seeking and
do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew frst and also of the
Greek Obedience to God's laws; but glory, honor, and
peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For there is no partiality with God. For as many as have sinned without law
Christ will also perish without law
Christ, and as many as have sinnned in the law will be
judged by the law..." God
Acts 17:30 "...Truly, these times of ignorance God
overlooked, but now commands all men evrywhere to repent..."
Romans 2:13-21 "...(for not the hearers of the law are just
in the sight of God, but the doer of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do
not have the law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these, although not
having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their
thoughts accusing or else excusing them). In the day when God will judge the
secrets of men by Jesus Christ, accordng to my gospel...Indeed you are called a
Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and
approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are
confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind , a light to those who are in
darkness, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of
knowledge and truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach
yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?..."
Luke 6:42 "...Or how can you say to your brother, "Brother,
let me remove the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the plank
that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and
then you wil see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother's eye..."
Romans 2:22-24 "...You who say, "Do not commit adultery,"
do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make
your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For "The
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written..."
Isaiah 52:5 "...Now therefore, what have I here, says the
Lord, "That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them make
them wail, " says the Lord, and My name is blasphemed continually every day..."
The setting of bad examples
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 "...You shall not oppress a hired
servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens
who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and
not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out
against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. The fathers shall not be put to death for
their children or shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be
put to death for his own sin. You shall not pervert justice due the stranger of the
fatherless, not take a widow's garment as a pledge. But you shall remember that
you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there;
therefore I command you to do this thing. When you reap your harvest in your field,
and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord our God may bless you in all
the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the
boughs again it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. When you
gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the
stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. And you shall remember that you were a
slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this thing..."
Romans: The Jews boasted in the Law, the Greeks boasted in the
culture
Romans 2:25-29 "...For circumcision is indeed profitable
if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has
become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous
requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even
with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not
a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the
Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God..."
PART THREE: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference continues:
Romans Doctrine Update: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference Proof of
the 2nd Resurrection, what God is doing with Israel:
2 Peter 3:16 "...as also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some
things hard to understand, which those who are untaught and
unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do also the
rest of the scriptures..."
The book of Galatians
parallels the basic premise that Paul writes in
Romans
Romans 1:27, 32; 2:9,13-15; 29
"...Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the
woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men
committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the
penalty of their error which was due...
(Romans: Speaking to the Gentiles) who,
knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who
practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same but also approve of those who practice them...
tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil,
of the Jew first and also of the Greek;..
(for not the hearers
of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the
law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the
law, by nature do the things contained in the law, these,
although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who
show the work of the law written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves
their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)
(Romans: Outward appearance of Law-keeping is
circumsision)...But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the
letter; whose praise is not from men but from God..."
Colossians 2:11-12 "...In Him you
were also circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the
circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which
you also were raised with Him through faith in the working
of God, who raised Him from the dead..."
Romans 3:1, 23-24; 3:2, 2:20; 3:3
"...What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of
circumcision?...for all
(Jew and Greek)have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."
(Not by keeping of the law where we all fall
short...the Key Message of Chapters 1-4)...Much in
every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the
oracles of God (The sayings, the Scriptures,
the promises, and the knowledge)...an instructor of the foolish,
a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in
the law...For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief
make the faithfulness of God without effect?..."
Genesis 22:12-18 "...And He said,
"Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for
now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from Me..Then Abraham lifted his
eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a
thicket by its horns. So abraham went and took the ram, and
offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And
Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide;
as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the Lord it shall be
provided."
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a
second time out of heaven, and said: "By Myself I have
sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and
have not withheld your son, your only son, in blessing I will
bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the
seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of
their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice..."
Hebrews 6:13 "...For when God
made a promise to Abraham, becuse He could swear by no
one greater, He swore by Himself..."
Galatians 3:16 "...Now to Abraham
and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And
to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed." who
is Christ..." (These promises are now
unconditional because Abraham obeyed in Faith)
Romans 3:4; Psalms 51:4
"...Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar.
As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words, and
may overcome when You are judged"...I cried to the Lord with
my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill..."
Romans 3:5-8; 1:11; 6:1 "...But if
our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God,
what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak
as a man)...certainly not! For then how will God judge the
world? (Unrighteousness is held
accountable and unbelief does not nulify God's promises.)
For if the truth of God has increased through my lie...
(being slanderously reported, that Paul was
teaching to do evil that Grace may abound)...to His glory,
why am I also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, "Let
us do evil that good may come"?--As we are slanderously
reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation
is just...For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some
spiritual gift, so that you may be established--...What shall we
say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?..."
1 John 3:4 "...Whoever commits sin
also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness..."
Romans 6:2 "...Certainly not! How
shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?..."
Jude 4 "...For certain men have
crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God
into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ..."
Romans 3:31; 9-10; Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3;
"...Do we then make void the law
through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establilsh
the law... What then? Are we better than they? Not at all.
For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that
they are all under sin. As it is written: "There is none
righteous, no not one;...The fool has said in his heart, "There
is no God."
They are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down
from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any
who understand, who seek god. They have all turned aside,
they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does
good, no, not one...The fool has said in his heart, there is no
God. They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
there is none who does god. God looks down from heaven
upon the children of men, to see if there are any who
understand, who seek God.
Every one of them has turned
aside; they have together become corrupt;..."
Ecclesiastes 7:20 "...For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin..."
Jerimiah 17:9 "...The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can
know it?..."
Romans 8:7; 3:11-18 "...Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to
the law of God, nor indeed can be...There is none who
understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have
all gone out of the way; they have together become
unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their
throat is an open tomb (Talk that leads to
death); with their tongues they have practiced deceit.
(Psalms 5:9 "...For there is no
faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is destruction; their
throat is an open tomb; they flatter with their tongue.
The poison of asps is under their lips.
Psalms 140:3 "...They sharpen their
tongues lilke a serpent; the poison of asps is under their lips...
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Psalms 10:7 "...His mouth is full of
cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue is trouble
and iniquity..." Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Proberbs 1:16; Isaiah 59:7-8 "...For
their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood...
Their
feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction
are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known,
and there is no justice in their ways; they have made
themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not
know peace..." destruction and misery are in their ways; and
the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of
God before their eyes..." Psalms 36:1
"...An oracle within my heart concerning the transgression of
the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes..."
Romans 3:19, 21, 27 "...Now we
know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are
under the law, (Without Christ) that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God..." (The law referenced
here is the Old Testament, Psalms,
and Isaiah)...But now the righteousness
of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the
Law and Prophets,...Where is boasting then? It is excluded.
By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith..."
(Law refering to a principal)
The Law of God: the Law or Torrah; the
Prophets and the Old Testament; laws of principal, and His
great Law of Love; the New Testament...plus the cerimonial
law as opposed to the moral law of God).
Romans 7:7-12; 3:20 "...What
shall we say then? Is the law sin? On the contrary, I would
not have known sin except through the law. For I would not
have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall
not covet." But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment,
produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the
law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the
commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me,
and by it killed me. Therefore the law is a holy, and the
commandment holy and just and good..."
The law is perfect, we are not, and
therefore under the death penalty..." Therefore by the
deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin.."
James 1:21-25 "...Therefore lay
aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive
with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save
your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in
a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who
looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is
not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be
blessed in what he does..."
Romans 3:21 "...But now the
righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,..."
Jeremiah 31:31-34 "...Behold, the
days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah
--not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, "Know the Lord", for they all shall know
Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the
Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more..."
Ezekiel 37:1-14 "...The hand of the
Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the
Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was
full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around,
and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and
indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man,
can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord God, You
know." Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and
say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus
says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath
to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you
and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath
in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the
Lord." So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I
prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and
the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked,
the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and skin covered
them over; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to
me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say
to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four
winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may
live." So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath
came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an
exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, Son of man,
these bones are the whole house of Israel They indeed say,
'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut
off!" Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the
Lord God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and
cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into
the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord,
when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought
you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you
shall live, and I will place you in your own land,. Then you
shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,
say the Lord..."
Genesis 22:18 "...In your
(Abraham's) seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
because you have obeyed My voice..."
Early prophecy of Jesus Christ and coming
of grace
Romans 3:22; 5:9; 3:30, 23-24; 9:16
"...Even the righteousness of God whch is through faith in
Jesus Christ (through His blood) to
all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;...Much
more then, having now been justified (the
act of making a person righteous) by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through Him (at
the time of baptism, we look to Jesus to pay the penalty of
our sins)...Since there is one God who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith...
Jew or Gentile...for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, being justified
(the act of making a person righteous)
freely (we have done nothing to deserve
justification) by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus...So then it is not of him who wills, or of him
who runs, but of God who shows mercy..."
Titus 3:3-5 "...For we ourselves
were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and
hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of
God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Spirit..." (By His
grace which means unmerited pardon and forgiveness and
through the redemption meaning ransom or slavery)
Romans 6:6; 3:25 "...knowing this,
that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves
of sin..." (Freed from the guilt and power
of sin and become slaves of Jesus Christ)...whom God
set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance
God had passed over the sins that were previously committed..."
(An apeasing of some anger; expiation
would be a better meaning for atonement).
Hebrews 9:14, 12 "...How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself with out spot to God, purge our conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?...
(Jew or Gentile Not with the blood
of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the
Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal
redemption..." To cover the transgressions
of God's Laws
By His blood,
(Romans: An atonement or covering), through
faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His
forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were
previously comitted. Does not include
future sins unless we repent
1 John 1:9 "...If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness..."
Romans 3:26-31 "...To demonstrate
at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just
and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is
boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No,
but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the
God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God
who will justify the circumcised by faith and uncircumcised
through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith?
Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law..."
Galatians 3:29 "...And if you are
Christ's then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise..."
Romans 4:1-3 "...What then shall
we say that Abraham our father has found according to the
flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has
something of which to boast, but not before God. For what
does the Scripture say?
(Genesis 15:6 "...And he believed
in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness...")
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.." His belief or faith: Old
Testament proof for New Testament Doctrine
Romans 4:4-8 "...Now to him who
works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But
to him who does not work
(not dependant of perfect deeds of the Law,
or perfect obedience, to obtain salvation) but believes
on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness
of the man to whom God imputes
counts righteousness apart from
works:
Psalm 32:1-2 "...Blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,..."
"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
(By the blood of Christ), Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin..."
David was looking forward to God's coming
mercy and grace through Christ
Romans 4:9-10 "...Does this blessedness
then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the
uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to
Abraham for righteousness. (If we are
confident and believe God's promises, He will forgive our
failings or short-comings.) How then was it accounted?
While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while
circumcised, but while uncircumcised..."
Genesis15:3-6, 17:7, 24, 26 "...Then
Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring: indeed
one born in my house is my heir!" And behold, the word of the
Lord came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but
one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."
Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward
heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them"
And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." And he
believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness...And I will establish My covenant between Me
and you and your descendants after you in their generations,
for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your
descendants after you...Abraham was ninety-nine years old
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin...That
very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son
Ishmael;..." (Circumsision not required for
justification)
Romans 4:11-13 "...And he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be
the father of all those who believe, though they are
uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them
also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are
of the the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the
faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was to
Abraham or to his seed through the law but through the
righteousness of fatih..."
Genesis 26:5 "...Because Abraham
obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments,
My statutes, and My laws,..."
Romans 4:14-16 "...For if those who
are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise
made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath;
(we all fall short and are under the death
penalty) for where there is no law there is no
transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be
according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all
the seed,
(circumcised and uncircumcised)
not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who
are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all..."
Romans 3:28; 2:6-8; 6:1-2, 15; 3:31
"...Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart
from the deeds of the law...who will render to each one
according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient
continuance in doing good seed for glory, honor, and
immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and
wrath...What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to
sin live any longer in it?...What then? Shall we sin because
we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!...Do we
then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the
contrary, we establish the law..."
Ephesians 2:10 "...For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them..."
Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:12
"...And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went
to make war with the rest of their offspring, who keep the
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ...here is the patient of the saints; here are those who
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus...And
behold I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give
to every one according to his work..."
James 2:14-17 "...What does it
profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not
have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is
naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to
them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not
give them the things which are needed for the body, what
does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have
works, is dead..."
Matthew 5:19; 7:21-23 "...Whoever
therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments,
and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven...Not everyone who
says to Me, "Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will
say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!..."
Romans 4:17; Genesis 17:5 "...(As
it is written....."No longer shall your name be called Abram, but
your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of
many nations",..."I have made you a father of many nations")
in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who
gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist
as though they did;..." (Spoke of the future
in the past tense as though it had already occured; shows
God's Word is absolute, [sure, and ancient I might add]
Titus 1:2 "...In hope of eternal life
which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began..."
Hebrews 6:18 "...Let them do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to
share,..."
1 Peter 2:24 "...who Himself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to
sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were
healed..."
Romans 4:18; Genesis 15:5 "...who,
contrary to hope
(refers to
Romans 4:19
where Abraham, being old thought he couldn't conceive, had
Faith, and believed contrary to nature),..in hope
believed, so that he became the father of many nations,
according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants
be."...Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now
toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number
them" And He said to him, "so shall your descendants be..."
Romans 4:19-22 "...And not being
weak in Faith, he did not consider his own body, alredy dead
(since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness
of Sarah's womb . He did not waver at the promise of God
through unbelief, but was was strengthened in faith, giving
glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had
promised He was also able to perform..and therefore...
(Genesis 15:6 "...And he believed
in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness...")
"It was accounted to him for righteousness..."
Philipians 1:6 "...Being confident of
this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will
complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;..."
Romans 4:23-25; 5:1-3 "...Now it was not
written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us.
It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses,
and was raised (font color="blue">to make us righteous)
because of our justification...Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God...
Our new spirit body...And not only that, but
we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance;..."
James 1:2-3 "...My brethren, count it all joy
when you fall into varius trials, knowing that the testing of our faith
produces patience..."
Romans 5:4; 9:33 "...and perseverance,
character; and character, hope...As it is written:
(Isaiah 8:14; 28:16 "...He will be as a
sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the
houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem...Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion
a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily...")...Behold, I lay in
Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on
Him wlll not be put to shame..."
(Paul quotes the Septuagint, Greek Old
Testament)
Romans 5:5 "...Now hope does not
disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who (which) was given to us..."
Acts 5:32 "...And we are his witnesses to
these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to
those who obey Him..."
Romans 5:6, 8:7, 5:7-9 "...For when we
were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly...
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject
to the law of God, nor indeed can be...For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man somone would even
dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners,
(enemys of God)
Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified
(made righteous) by His blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through Him..."
(forgiven through baptism)
Matthew 24:13 "...But he endures to the
end shall be saved..."
Romans 5:10 "...For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,
much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life..."
Isaiah 59:2 "...But your iniquities have
separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face
from you, so that He will not hear..."
Romans 8:11; 5:11-14 "...But if the Spirit
of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
(Christ's Life imparts Life to us). He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you...and not only that, but we also
rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have
now received the reconciliation.
(Atonement)
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death
through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned--
(for until the law [codified on Mt. Sinai] sin
was in the world, [From Adam to Moses]
but sin is not imputed when there is no law. [
There had to be Law because there was sin and death as result of
sin from Adam to Moses]. Nevertheless death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to
the likeness of the transgression of Adam,
[eating of the forbidden fruit] who is a type
of Him who was to come..." [Others committed
sin by breaking the Sabbath and adultery, etc.]
1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45-47 "...For
since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the
dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive...
As it is written: Genesis 2:7 "...And the
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being"..."The
first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a
life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and
afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven..."
Romans Doctrine Update: 10-20-2009
PART Four: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference continues:
Romans 5:15-18 "...But the free gift is not like the offense.
For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift
by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like
that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from
one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many
offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned
through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift
of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as
through one man's offense judgment came to all men, even so through one Man's
righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life..."
Hebrews 9:27 "...And as it is appointed for men to die
once, but after this the judgment..."
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 "...Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. At Christ's return For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed..."
Galatians 2:20 "...I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;and the life which I now live in the flesh I lilve
by fatih in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me..."
Romans 5:18-19 "...Therefore, as through one man's
offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one
Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For
as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's
obedience many will be made righteous..."
Philippians 3:9 "...and be found in Him, not having my own
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith;..."
Romans 5:20-21; 3:8; 6:1-2 "...Moreover the law entered
that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much
more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord...
(God's law was codified, the Ten Commandments, to make
aware of sin, to enable mankind to seek God's grace and mercy)...And why
not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"? --as we are slanderously reported
and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just...What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall
we who died to sin live any longer in it?..."
1 John 3:4 "...Whoever commits sin also commits
lawlessness, (Transgression of God's Law) and sin is
lawlessness..."
Jude 4 "...For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who
long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace
of our God into licentiousness (lawlessness) and deny
the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ..."
Romans 6:3-7 "...Or do you not know that as many of us
as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we
were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from
the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also
shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no
longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died (In Baptism)
has been freed from sin..."
Hebrews 10:26; 6:4-6 "...For if we sin willfully after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins...For
it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly
gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word
of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to
an open shame..."
Romans 6:8 "...Now if we died with Christ, we believe
(Faith in the Resurrection, and that Christ's blood covers our
sin) that we shall also live with Him..."
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 "...And if Christ is
not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also
those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable..."
Romans 6:9 "...knowing that Christ, having
been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has
dominion over Him..."
Revelation 20:6 "...Blessed and holy is he
who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death
has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand years..."
Romans 6:10-15; 6:1; 6:16 "...For the
death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He
lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be
dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefoe do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments
of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being
alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of
righteousness to God.
For sin shall not have dominion over you for
you are not under law but under grace. (Making
provision for sin brings us back under the law, which we have been
freed from) What then? Shall we sin because we are not
under law but under grace? Certainly not!...What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?...Do you not know
that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that
one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of
obedience to righteousness?..."
John 8:34
"...Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly,
I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin..."
Romans 6:17-23; 7:1-2 "...But God be
thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
(The spirit of the Law) And having been
set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
(By the obedience of God's Law) I speak
on human terms because of the weekeness of your flesh. For just
as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of
lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present our
members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you
were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What
fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death.
But now having been set free from sin, and having become
slaves of God, you have your fruit to holinesss, and the end,
everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord...Or do you not know, brethren
(for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has domninion
over a man as long as he lives? (The laws of
marriage is used here to distinguish between law and Grace and is
not intended to be a complete doctrine on marriage) For the
woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as
long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the
law of her husband..."
Matthew 19:4-9 "...And He answered and
said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the
beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, "For this reason
a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer
two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let what
God has joined together, let not man separate." They said to Him,
"Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and
to pur her away? He said to them, "Moses , because of the
hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but
from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another,
commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits
adultery..."
Romans 7:3-4 "...So then if, while her
husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an
adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so
that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
(The symbolism of baptism)
Therefore, my brethrren, you also have become dead to the law
through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another,
even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear
fruit to God..."
Marriage of Christ and the Church
Ephesians 5:25-32 "...Husbands, love
your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for
it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not
having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and
without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their
own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever
hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord
does the church. For, we are members of His body, of His flesh and
of His bones, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This
is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church...."
Romans 7:5-6 "...For when we were in the
flesh, the passions of sins which were aroused by the law were at
work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been
delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that
we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter..."
Christ fulfills the Law; murder begins in the heart;
adultery in the heart; marriage is sacred and binding;
Jesus forbids oaths; go the second mile;
love your enemies)
Matthew 5:17-48 "...Do not think that I
came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy
but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass
away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is
fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the
kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that
unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of
heaven.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall
not murder,' and whoever murders will be in danger of the jujdgment.
But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother,
'Raca!,' shall be in danger of the council. but whoever says, 'You
fool!,' shall be in danger of hell fire, Therefore if you bring your gift to
the altar, and there remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him,
lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over
to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you,
you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last
penny.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall
not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman
to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in is heart.
And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from
you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish,
than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand
causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more
profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your
whole body to be cast into hell.
Futhermore it has been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife,
let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that
whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality
causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who
is divorced commits adultery.
Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You
shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But
I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's
throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head,
because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your 'Yes
be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more that these is
from the evil one.
You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But
whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If
anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your
cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him
two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow
from you do not turn away.
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies,
bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who spitefulluy use you and persecute you, that; you
may be sons of our Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on
the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not
even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your
brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the
tax collectors do so?
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven
is perfect..."
1 John 5:3 "...For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not
burdensome..."
Psalm 119:70 (David
was a man after God's own heart) "...Their heart (the proud
and wicked) is fat as grease (insensible), but I delight in Your Law..."
Romans 7:22, 7, 12; 3:20; 7:8-18 "...For I
delight in the law of God according to the inward man...
(Serve in the Spirit, not the letter).
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I
would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You
shall not covet."...Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is
holy and just and good...Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh
will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin...
But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all
manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was
alive once without the law, but when the commmandment came, sin
revived and I died. And the commandment which was to bring life,
I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy and the
commandment holy an just and good.
Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin,
that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is
good, so that sin through the commandment might become
exceedingly sinful..For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am
carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand.
For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
(God's Laws and Commandments show us our
sins)But now, it is no longer, I who do it, but sin that dwells in
me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do
not find..." (God will not force us to go His way,
but we must have the will to obey)
Deuteronomy 30:19 "...I call heaven and
earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you
and your descendants may live;..."
Romans 8:26 "...Likewise the Spirit also
helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered..."
Acts 1:8 "...But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth..."
Romans 7:19-25; 8:1-7 "...For the good
that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that
dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one
who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to 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 will deliver
me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our
Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh the law of sin. (Deliverance from sin
through the power of the Holy Spirit, without which, we are
helpless)
There is therefore now no condemnation
(Now free from the death penalty)
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God
did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on
account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
(By perfectly keeping the Law, and dying for our
sins) that the righteous requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit. (Christ's Righteousness in us)
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. (Heart and core of the New Testament
Teaching
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for
it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be..."
Luke 16:15 "...And He said to them, "You
are those who justify ourselves before men, but God knows your
hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
the sight of God..."
Romans 8:8-9; 4:21 "...So then, those who
are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in
the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
(Biblical definition of a Christian) and being
fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to
perform..." (Definition of Faith)
Hebrews 11:1 "...Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen..."
Galatians 2:20 "...I have been crucified
with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself for me..."
Romans 8:10-11 "...And if Christ is in you,
the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of
(Christ's) righteousness. But if the Spirit
of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dewlls in you..."(The presence of
God's Spirit is the key to the resurrection)
1 Corinthians 3:11, 15 "...For no other
foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ...If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he
himself will be saved, yet so as through fire
(Trials)..."
Hebrews 2:10 "...For it was fitting for Him,
for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through
sufferings..."
1 Corinthians 3:12-14 "...Now if anyone
builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest; for the Day will
declare it, because it will be revealed by fire
(Trial); and the fire
(Trial) will test each one's work, of what
sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built to it endures, he will
receive a reward..."
Romans 8:12-13, 26, 14-15 "...Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the
flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds sins of
the body, you will live...Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercessions for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered...For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For if you did not receive
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
adoption Sonship; Huiothesia, Huioi) by
whom we cry our "Abba, Father."..."
1 John 3:9 "...Whoever has been born of
God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin,
because he has been born of God..."
1 Peter 1:23 "...having been born
begotten again, not of corruptible seed
humanbut incorruptible,
God's through the word of God which
lives and abides forever,..."
Romans 8:16 "...The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God..."
(Parallels human conception)
1 Corinthians 2:11 "...For what man knows
the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God..."
Romans 8:17 "...and if children, then heirs--
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,
that we may also be glorified together.."
Hebrews 2:10 "...For it was fitting for Him,
for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through
sufferings..."
PART 5..............................................................................................................................................
Romans Doctrine Update: 11-18-2009
PART FIVE: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through
Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference continues:
Acts 1:8 "...But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth..."
Romans 8:26 "...Likewise the Spirit also
helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered..." (Key to
overcoming)
Matthew 5:48 "...Therefore you shall be
perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect..."
(By being in the Spirit of the Law)
Romans 8:13, 16 "...For if you live
according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body, you will live...The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God..."
(Parallels human conception)
1 Corinthians 2:11 "...For what man knows
the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?
Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God..."
Galatians 5:22 "...But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."
(Gentleness, self-control)
Matthew 5:1-12
(The Beatitudes: The Qualities of God")
"...And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when
He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His
mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for
they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil
against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you..." (The genetic
qualities the Father wants us to have)
1 Peter 2:24 "...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes,(Trials and sufferings), you were healed..."
Romans 8:18-23, 26, 24-25, 27-28 "...For
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us...For the
earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of
the sons of God...For the creation was subjected to futility
(Decay), not willingly, but because of Him
who subjected it in hope;...because the creation itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and
labors with birth pangs together until now. And not only they, but we
also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption , the redemption of
our body... Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered...For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not
hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope
for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance...
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He makes intercession for the saints accordng to the will of
God. And we know that all things work together for good to those
who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose..."
John 6:44 "...No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at
the last day..."
Acts 2:39 "...For the promise is to you and
to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our
God will call..."
Romans 8:29-31 "...For whom He
foreknew, He also predestined (For the first
resurrection)to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also
justified (Made righteous by the blood of Jesus
Christ); and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us?..."
Acts 2:38-39 "...And now I say to you,
keep away from these men (Judas of Galilee
during the census), and let them alone; for if this plan or this
work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God you cannot
overthrow it--lest you even be found to fight against God..."
(Gamaliel's advice to Israel)
Mathew 16:18 "...And I also say to you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it..."
Romans 8:32-39 "...He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It
is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the
right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is
written: (Psalms 44:22 "...Yet for Your
sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter..."). Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death
nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord..."
Matthew 7:13-14 "...Enter by the narrow
gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many (The majority of
mankind) who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few
(God's elect) who find it..."
(The True Church of God)
Romans 11:26 "...And so all Israel will be
saved, as it is written: (Psalms 14:7 "...Oh,
that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord
brings back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel
be glad..."); and Isaiah 59:20-21 "...The
redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from
transgression in Jacob, says the Lord. "As for Me", says the Lord,
"This is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My
words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your
mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth
of your descendants' descendants," says the Lord, "from this time
and forevermore...")..."...the Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He
will turn away ungodliness from Jacob..."
Zechariah 12:10 "...And I will pour on the
house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of
Grace and suplication; then they will look on Me whom they have
pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and
grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn..."
Matthew 5:37 "...But let your 'Yes' be
'Yes', and your 'No,' be 'No'. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one..."
Romans 9:1-3 "...I tell the truth in Christ, I
am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy
Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I
could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh..."
Exodus 32:32 "...Yet now, if you will
forgive their sin--but if not, I pray , blot me out ouf Your Book which
you have written..."
Romans 9:15, 4 "...For He says to
Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." Who are
Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants,
the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;..."
Exodus 4:22 "...Then you shall say to
Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord: "Israel is My son, My firstborn'..."
Romans 9:5-6; 2:28; 9:7 "...of whom are
the fathers and from whom, accordng to the flesh, Christ came,
who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. But it is not that
the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who
are of Israel,...For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that
circumcision which is outward in the flesh; (Not
all Isralites are living up to their Spiritual potential)...nor are
they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In
Isaac your seed shall be called..."
Genesis 25:1-6 "...Abraham again took a
wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran,
Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan begot Sheba
and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and
Leummim. And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch,
Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And
Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. But Abraham gave gifts to
the sons of the concubnes which Abraham had; and while he was
still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the
country of the east..."
Galatians 3:29 "...And if you are Christ's,
then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise..."
(Abraham had many seeds which there are now
many nations, but God's elect, the called-out ones are from the
seed of Isaac through Israel)
Romans 9:8-12 "...That is, those who are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the
children of the promise are counted as the seed. For this is the
word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a
son." (Belief in God's promises)And not
only this, (Faith)but when Rebecca also
had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac. (for the
children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works
but of Him who calls), it was said to her, 'The older shall serve the
younger.'..."
Genesis 25:23 "...And the Lord said to
her: "Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be
separated from you body; one people shall be stronger than the
other, and the older shall serve the younger..."
Romans 9:13 "...Jacob I have loved but
Esau I have hated..." (The predestined calling;
God chose Jacob even before any wrongs had been committed)
As it is written: Malachi 1:2-3
"I have loved you says the Lord. Yet you say, 'In what way have You
loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?", says the Lord". Yet
Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his
mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness..."
2 Samuel 8:14 "...He also put garrisons in
Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites
(Descendants of Esau) became David's
servants. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went..."
Romans 9:14-16; 11:33-34 "...What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have
compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs,
(Vigorus human activity) but of God who
shows mercy...Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His
ways past finding out! Isaiah 40:13
"...Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has
taught Him..." Jeremiah 23:18 "...For who has stood in the counsel
of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His Word? Who has
marked His word and heard it?..."
Job 36:22 "...Behold, God is exalted by
His power; who teaches like Him?..." For who has known the mind
of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?..."
Romans 11:35-36; 9:17-21 "...Or who has
first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?" For of Him and
through Him and to HIm are all things, to whom be glory forever.
Amen. (Be grateful and thankful for our chosen
calling)...For the Scriptue says to Pharaoh,
Galatians 3:8 "...And the Scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the
gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall
be blessed..." Exodus 9:16 "...But
indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My
power in you, and that My name may be delcared in all the earth..."
(The Pharaoh was a type of the Devil; Egypt a
type of earth; the Red Sea of our babtism out of the world or into
God's elect) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and
whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He
still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" But indeed, O man,
who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him
who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does not the
potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one
vessel for honor and another for dishonor?..."
Isaiah 45:9 "...Woe to him who strives with
his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or
shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
Romans 9:22-25 "...What if God, wanting
to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that
He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of
mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even you whom
He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says
also in Hosea: Hosea 2:23 "...Then I will
sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had
not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people,
'You are My people!' And they shall say, 'You are my God!'..." "I will
call them My people, who were not My people (
The Gentiles), and her beloved, who was not beloved'..."
1 Peter 2:10 "...who once were not a
people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy
but now have obtained mercy..."
Romans 9:26 "...And it shall come to pass
in the place where it was said to them,
(Hosea 1:10 "...Yet the number of the
children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place
where it was said to them, 'You are not My people, there it shall be
said to them, 'You are the sons of the living God,...")... 'You are not
My people,' there they will be called sons of the living God..."
Romans 9:27 "...Isaiah also cries out
concerning Israel: (Paul frequently quotes Old
Testament Prophecy to prove New Testament Doctrine);
Isaiah 10:22-23 "...For though your people,
O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them will return;
the destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the
Lord God of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the
land..."; Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand
of the sea, the remnant will be saved..."
Romans 11:5; 9:28-29 "...Even so then,
at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of
grace...", "...For He will finish the work and cut it short in
righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the
earth. And as Isaiah said before: Isaiah 1:9
"...Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we
would have been made like Gomorrah..."; "...Unless the Lord of
Sabaoth (Hosts) had left us a seed,
Deuteronomy 29:23 "...The whole land is
brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does
any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and His
wrath..."; Isaiah 13:19 "...And Babylon, the
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be as
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah...";
Jeremiah 49:18; 50:40 "...As in the
overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities,
says the Lord, 'no one shall abide there, nor shall a son of man
dwell in it..." Amos 4:11 "...I overthrew
some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you
were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not
returned to Me, says the Lord..."we would have become like
Sodom, and we would have
been made like Gomorrah..."
Isaiah 10:23; 28:22; 1:9 "...For the Lord
God of hosts will make a determined end in the midst of all the land...
Now therefore, do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, a destruction
determined even upon the whole earth...Unless the Lord of hosts
had left to us a very small remnant , we would have become like
Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah...";
Matthew 24:22 "...And unless those days
were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake
those days will be shortened..."
Romans 9:30-32 "...What shall we say
then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel,
pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of
righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it
were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling
stone..."
Acts 4:10-12 "...Let it be known to you all,
and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by
Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone which
was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief
cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved..."
Romans 9:33 "...As it is written:
Psalms 118:22 "...The stone which the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone..."; "...behold, I
lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever
believes on Him will not be put to shame..."
Isaiah 8:14; 28:16 "...He will be as a
sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the
houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem...Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion
a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure
foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily..."
Romans 10:1-2 "...Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I
bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge..."
Philippians 3:6 "...concerning zeal,
persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the
law blameless..."
Romans 10:3-4 "...For they being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
(Because they rejected Christ whom only His
Righteousness we can obtain);...Christ is the end
(The goal or purpose) of the law for
righteousness to everyone who believes..."
1 Peter 1:9 "...receivng the end
(Greek: Telos) of your faith--the salvation
of your souls..."
James 5:11 "...Indeed we count them
blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job
and seen the end (Purpose or goal)
intended by the Lord--that the Lord is very compassionate and
merciful..."
1 John 5:3 "...For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandents are not
burdensome..." (To become Christ-like, as He
kept the law perfectly)
Romans 10:5 "...For Moses writes about
the righteousness which is of the law,
(Leviticus 18:5) "...You shall therefore
keep My statutes and My judgements, which if a man does, he shall
live by them: I am the Lord...";..."The man who does those things
shall live by them."
Romans 7:14; 3:23; 10:5-9; "...For we
know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin...for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
Romans 10:5 "...For Moses writes about
the righteousness which is of the law, "The man who does those
things shall live by them..." (The Old Covenant
Law)...Romans 10:6 "...But the
righteousness of faith speaks in this way
(Quoting Moses from:
Deuteronomy 30:12-14) "...It is not in
heaven, that you should say, 'Who will ascend into heaven for us
and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Nor is it beyond the
sea, that you should say, 'Who will go over the sea for us and bring it
to us, that we may hear it and do it?' "But the word is very near you,
in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it...")
(The New Covenant Law);..."Do not say
in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ
down from above)...or, "Who will descend into the abyss?" (that is,
to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word
is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word
of faith which we preach): Romans 10:9
"...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart that God has raised Him form the dead, you will be
saved...";
(The Holy Spirit which lives in believers and
promotes obedience)
Matthew 15:11-20 "...Not what goes into
the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this
defiles a man. Then His disciples came and said to Him, "Do You
know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this
saying?" But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly
Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are
blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will
fall into a ditch." Then Peter answered and said to Him, "Explain this
parable to us." So Jesus said, "Are you also still without
understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the
mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things
which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they
defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornifications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These
are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands
does not defile a man..."
James 2:19 "...You believe that there is
one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble..."
Matthew 7:21-23 "...Not everyone who
says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he
who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that
day 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out
demons in Your Name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness!..."
Luke 6:46-48 "...But why do you call Me
'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? Whoever comes
to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom
he is like: "He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and
laid the foundation on the rock. And when the floods arose, the
stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it,
for it was founded on the rock (Christ)..."
(Founded on obedience to God's Law)
Romans 10:16 "...But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our
report?" Isaiah 53:1) "...Who has
believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?..." (Our belief must bear fruit)
James 2:17 "...Thus also faith by itself, if
it does not have works, is dead..."
Romans 10:10-13 "...For with the heart
one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made to salvation. For the Scripture says:
"...(Isaiah 28:16 "...Therefore thus says the
Lord God: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes
will not act hastily...(Jeremiah 17:7)
"...Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the
Lord..."; "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."...For
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord
over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the
name of lthe Lord shall be saved..."
Romans 10:14-15 "...How then shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are
sent? As it is written: Isaiah 52:7 "...How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good
news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things,
who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns!...";
Nahum 1:15 "...Behold, on the mountains
the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O
Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows. For the
wicked one shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off...";
How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
who bring glad tidings of good things..."
(Progression to conversion)
Romans 10:16-18 "...But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, indeed:
(The church of God as they work today)
"Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world..."
Psalms 19:4 "...Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world..."
Romans 10:19 "...But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:
the Gentiles) I will move them to anger by a foolish nation..."
Acts 17:1-6 "...Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ."
And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These
(Could be us in this end-time) who have turned the world upside down have come here too..."
Romans 10:20-21 "...But Isaiah is very
bold and says: Isaiah 65:1 "...I was
sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who
did not seek Me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that was not called by My name...";...I was found by those who did not seek Me I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me...But to Israel he says: Isaiah 65:2 "...I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people who walk in a way that is not good, according to their own thoughts:...All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people..."
Part 6..............................................................................................................................................
Romans Doctrine Update: 12-1-2009
PART SIX: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference continues: Concerning God's Calling and His Elect
Matthew 7:13-14 "...Enter by the narrow
gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is
the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few
who find it..."
Romans 9:18; 11:25-26 "...Therefore He
has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens...For I
do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant to this mystery,
lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part
has happened to Israel until the fullness of he Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
Psalms 14:7 "...Oh, that the salvation of
Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord brings back the
captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad..."
Isaiah 59:20-21 "...The Redeemer will
come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,
say the Lord. "As for Me", says the Lord, "This is My covenant with
them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in
your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of
your descendants, nor from the mouth of our descendants';
descendants," says the Lord, "from this time and forevermore."...
TheDeliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away
ungodlinessfrom Jacob..."
Romans 11:1-4 "...I say then, has God
cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast
away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the
Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel,
saying, 1 Kings 19:10, 14 "...So he said,
"I have been very zealous for the Lord of hosts; for the children of
Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your alters, and
killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek
to take my life." But what does the divine response say to him?
1 Kings 19:18 "...Yet I have reserved
seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal,
and every mouth that has not kissed him..." "I have reserved for
Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.."
(The type of God's elect today, a small number
that's obeying God)
Romans 11:5-6; 4:4; 11:7 "...Even so
then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election
of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise
grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace;
otherwise work is no longer work..." (Mercy and
grace does not mix with works)..."...Now to him who works,
the wages are not counted as grace but as debt...What then? Israel
has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the
rest were hardened..."
Hebrews 4:1, 6 "...Therefore, since a
promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you
seem to have come short of it. For indeed the gospel was
preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard
did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I
swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest," although the works
were finished from the foundatin of the world. For He has spoken in
a certain place of the seveth day in this way: "And God rested on
the seventh day from all His works"; and again in this place: "They
shall not enter My rest." Since therefore it remains that some must
enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter
because of disobedience..."
Romans 11:8 "...Just as it is written:
Isaiah 29:10, 13 "...For the Lord has
poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your
eyes, namely the prophets; and He has covered your heads,
namely, the seers...Therefore the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these
people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their
lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear
toward Me is taught by the commandment of men..."; ..."God has
given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and
ears that they should not hear, to this very day..."
Deuteronomy 29:3-4 "...the great trials
which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders.
Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see
and ears to hear, to his very day..." (But were
still held accountable as to repentance)
Romans 4:7 "...Blessed are those
whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered..."
(As the city of Ninevah was warned by the
prophet Jonah)
Romans 2:14 "...For when Gentiles
(Non-believers), who do not have the
law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves..."
Matthew 13:13,16, 23 "...Therefore I
speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and
hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand...But blessed
are your eyes for they see, and for your ears for they hear;...
(Parable of the Sower)But he who
received seed (The Word of God) on
the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who
indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hunderfold, some sixty,
some thirty..."
Romans 11:9-12 "...And David says
Psalms 69:22-23 "...Let their table
become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap. Let their
eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; and make their loins
shake continually..."Let their table become a snare and a trap, a
stumbling block and a recompense to them; let their eyes be
darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always...
I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not!
But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has
come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and
their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!...
(How much greater when Israel and Judah are
called as nations in the world tommorrow)
Zechariah 12:10 "...And I will pour on the
house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of
grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have
pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son,
and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn..."
Romans 11:13-18 "...For I speak to you
Gentiles (Unbelievers); inasmuch as I
am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any
means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save
some of them. For if their being castaway is the reconciling of the
world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
(Referring to the 2nd resurrection)
Ezekiel 37:1-14) "...The hand of the Lord
came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set
me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He
caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very
many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said
to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord
God, You know.
Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O
dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to
these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you
shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover
you with skin and put breath in you and you shall live.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was
commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and sudenly a
rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I
looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin
covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Then He said
to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the
breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them,
and they lived, and stood upon their feet , an exceedingly great army.
Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house
of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and
we ourselves are cut off!' Therefore prophesy and say to them,
'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O My people, I will open your
graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you
into the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your
graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves..I will put
My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own
land. Then you shall know that I , the Lord, have spoken it and
performed it," says the Lord'..." For if the firstfruit is holy,
(The remnant now being called) the lump
is also holy (The whole nation); and if the
root is holy, so are the branches.
And if some of the branches were broken off, and you
(The Gentile unbelievers), being a wild
olive tree, were grafted in among them and with them became a
partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,
(of the promises that were made to Israel)
do not boast against the branches. But if you boast, remember that
you do not support the root, but the root supports you..."
Ephesians 3:6 "...That the Gentiles should
be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in
Christ through the gospel..."
Galatians 3:29 "...And if you are Christ's,
then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise..."
Ephesians 2:11-13 "...Therefore
remember that you, once Gentiles
(unbelievers) in the flesh--who are
called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in
the flesh by hands--that at at that time you were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made
near by the blood of Christ..."
Romans 11:19-26 "...You will say then,
Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said.
Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.
Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural
branches, He might not spare you either. Therefore consider the
goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but
toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise
you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in
unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and
were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much
more will these, who are the natural branches, be grafted into their
own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your opinion,
that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of
the Gentiles has come in.
And so all Israel
(As a whole, but not every single individual)
will be saved, as it is written: Psalms 14:7
"...Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the
Lord brings back the captivity of His people, let Jacob rejoice and
Israel be glad..."; Iasiah 59:20-21 "...The
Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from
transgression in Jacob," says the Lord. "As for Me, says the Lord,
"this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My
words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your
mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants,"
says the Lord, from this time and forevermore..."; ...The Deliverer
will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;...
" (Some in the world believe in the universal
salvation doctrine, whereby all will be saved including the devil)
1 Peter 3:9 "...The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance..."
Deuteronomy 30:19 "...I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life,
(We have free moral agency, therefore not all will make the Kingdom, but will be cast into the lake of fire); that
both you and your descendants may live;..."
1 Peter 2:4 "...Coming to Him as to a living
stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious..."
Romans 11:27 "...For this is My covenant
with them, when I take away their sins..."
Isaiah 27:9 "...Therefore by this iniquity of
Jacob will be covered; and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin:
when he makes all the stones of the altar like chalkstones that are
beaten to dust, when wooden images and incense altars do not
stand up..."
Jeremiah 31:33-34 "...But this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No
more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of
them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more..."
Hebrews 8:10-11
"...(Quotes Jeremiah)
Romans 11:28-36; Iasiah 40:13;
Romans 12:1-2 "...Concerning the gospel they
(Both Jew and
Gentile) they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
(The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained
mercy through their disobedience, even so these also have now
been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may
obtain mercy. (Gentile teaching Jew in the 2nd resurrection)
For God had committed them all to disobedience, that He might
have mercy on all. (God's master plan; The
Incredible Human Potential); (1 Corinthians As a reference) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!.." For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen...";
"Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His couselor has
taught Him?";...I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your acceptable to God, which is our
reasonable service. (New Testament Principle,
Old Testament dealt in dead sacrifices) And do not be
conformed to this world, (Aeon or age),
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God..."
1 John 2:15 "...Do not love the world or the
things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father
is not in him..."
(Christ) who gave Himself for our sins,
that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the
will of our God and Father..."
Philippians 2:5 "...Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus..."
Colossians 3:10 "...and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,..."
Ephesians 4:23 "...and be renewed in the spirit of your mind..."
Romans 12:3-10 "...For I say, through the grace given to me, (By God's Holy Spirit) to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (Humility leads to harmony in the body of Christ) For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, (See
1 Corinthians 12 on Spiritual Gifts and
Unity in Diversity), so we, being many , are one body in
Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
(Inspired preaching or evangelizing)or
ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;
(Also Elders), he who exhorts,
(Counseling, encouraging, in time of trials),
in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads,
(Administrators), with diligence; he who
shows mercy, with cheerfulness With a positive attitude). Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil.
Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with
brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;..."
(Outdoing one another in honor)
Phillippians 2:3 "...Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better that himself..."
(True repentance)
Romans 12:11-12 "...not lagging in
diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer..." (Forward on our knees)
1 Corinthians 13:7
"...(Love), bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things..."
Romans 12:13 "...distributing to the
needs of the saints, given to hospitality..."
1 Timothy 5:8 "...But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse that an unbeliever..."
Hebrews 13:2 "...Do not forget to
entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly
entertained angels..." (Those who also pass
through the chuch area)
Romans 16:1-2; 12:14 "...I commend you
Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also...Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse..."
Matthew 5:44 "...But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,..."
Romans 12:15-16; 15:5; 12:17
"...Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind (The mind of Christ), towards one another. (In harmony). Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion...Now may the God of patience and
comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,...Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men..."
Proverbs 3:3-4 "...Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man..."
Romans 12:18-19 "...If it is possible, as
much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do
not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath
(God's judgment); for it is written,
(Deuteronomy 32:35 "...Vengeance is
Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day
of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon
them..;...vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord..."
Leviticus 19:18 "...You shall not take
vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your
people, but you shalll love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord..."
Romans 12:20 "...Therefore,
(Proverbs 25:21-22
"...If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he thirsty,
give him water to drink; for so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
and the Lord will reward you), if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he
thirsts, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on
his head..."
Romans 12:21-13:1 "...Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul be
subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God..."
Acts 4:19; 5:29 "...But Peter and John
answered and said to them,
(The Sanhedrin), "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge...Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said: We ought to obey God rather than men..."
1 Peter 2:13 "...and will receive the wages
of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the
daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own
deceptions while they feast with you..."
John 19:11 "...Jesus answered, "You
could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given to
from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the
greater sin..."
Jude 9 "...Yet Michael the archangel, in
contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of
Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said,
"The Lord rebuke you..."
Romans 13:2-3 "...Therefore whoever
resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who
resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror
to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the
authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same..."
1 Peter 3:13-14 "...And who is he who will
harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you
should suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed. "And do not
be afraid of their threats, or be troubled..."
Romans 13:4 "...For he
(The state and local governments and laws)
is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he
does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger
to execute wrath (Including the death penalty)
on him who practices evil..."
Romans 12:19 "...Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written:
(Deuteronlmy 32:35 "...Vengenance is
Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of
their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them...")
..."Vengeance is Mine, I will repay", says the Lord..."
(Through the local governments that He has
established)..."
Genesis 9:5-7 "...Surely for your lifeblood
I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require
it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother
I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man
his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. And
as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth
and multiply in it..."
Romans 13:5-6 "...Therefore you must be
subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers
attending continually to this very thing..."
Matthew 17:24-27 "...And when they had
come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to
Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?" He
said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus
anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? "From whom do
the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their own sons or
from strangers?"
Peter said to Him, "From strangers. Jesus said to him, "Then the
sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea,
cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you
have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and
give it to them for Me and you..."
Romans 13:7-10 "...Render therefore to
all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom
customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe no one
anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has
fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit
adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall
not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any
other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You
shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of
the law..." (The purpose and intent of the Law
which the Pharisees had missed and one of the reasons Jesus
Christ had to come to fulfill The Law to show what the intent was)
Mark 12:28-34, 38-40 "...Then one of the
scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving
that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first
commandment of all?" Jesus answered him, "The first of all the
commandments is : "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is
one. 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the
first commandment, "And the second, like it, is this: "You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these." So the scribe
said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for
there is one God, and there is no other but He. "And to love Him
with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with
all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more thatn
all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
So when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You
are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared
question Him...Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the
scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the
marketplaces. "the best seats in the synagogues, and the best
places at feasts, "who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense
make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation..."
1 John 5:3 "...For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not
burdensome..." (Keeping His Laws
Romans 13:11-14; 14:1-2, 21 "...And to
do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off
the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us
walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in
licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy; But put on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its
lusts. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes
over doubtful things.
For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats
only vegetables...It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor
do anything by which your brother stubbles or is offended or is
made weak..."
(A Jewish sect: The Essenes)
1 Corinthians 8:10 "...For if anyone sees
you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the
conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things
offered to idols?..."
Zechariah 8:19 "...Thus says the Lord of
hosts: "The fast of the fourth month,
(Tammuz), the fast of the fifth
(Ab), the fast of the seventh
(Tishri), and the fast of the tenth
(Tebeth), shall be joy and gladness and
cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore love truth and
peace..." (Added besides Atonement)..."
Luke 18:12 "...I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess..."
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 "...Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, snce you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth..."
Acts 18:21 "...but took leave of them,
saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing." And he sailed from Ephesus..."
Romans 14:3-11 "...Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day above another; another esteems
every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.
For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt
for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: Isaiah 45:23 "...I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath...";...As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God..."
1 Timothy 1:13 "...although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief..."
(God judges righteously)
Romans 14:12-13, 15, 14 "...So then
each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another any more, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way...Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died...I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself(
Spiritually); but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean..."
(The Levitical laws of clean and unclean meats are there for the carnal, physical man and are just as prevalent today as the time God gave them to the Isralites in the wilderness for their health, as well as our health today. Since the kingdom is not food and drink let us focus on Jesus Christ and His Kingdom which is Spiritual. Just as the Ten Commandments are real today as yesterday: All scripture is given for righteousness and instruction in righteousness)
Mark 7:15-16 "...There is nothing that
enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile him. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear..."
Romans 14:16-20, 15 "...Therefore do
not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure
(Spiritually), but it is evil for the man who eats with offense...Yet if your brother is grieved because of our food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food, for whom Christ died..."
Part 7..................................................................................................................................................
PART SEVEN: The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference Romans Doctrine The Issue of Circumcision, Justification through Faith Theme, Salvation: The Acts 15 Conference Proof of
the 2nd Resurrection, what God is doing with Israel:
1 Corinthians 8:1-4; 7-13 "...Now
concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have
knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone
thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to
know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.
Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know
that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but
one...However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some,
with consciousness of the idol, unti lnow eat it as a thing offered to
an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does
not commend us to God; (Made Holy)for
neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the
worse.
But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling
block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have
knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him
who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?
And because of our knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for
whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and
wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if
food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I
make my brother stumble..."
Romans 14:17 "...for the kingdom of God
is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit..."
Matthew 23:23 "...Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hyypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice
and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving
the others undone..."
Romans 14:21 "...It is good neither to eat
meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles
or is offended or is made weak..."
1 Timothy 4:3-5 "...forbidding to marry, and
commading to abstain from foods which God created with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every
creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received
with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer..."
Romans 14:22-23 "...Do you have faith?
Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn
himself what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he
eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from
faith is sin..." (A broader meaning of sin as this,
includes the conscience, which is a type of the Tree of Good and
evil, as we should be Spiritually minded of the Tree of Life which is
Jesus Christ)
1 John 3:4 "...Whoever commits sin also
commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness..."
Romans 15:1-2; 14:15; 15:3 "...We then
who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not
to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his
good, leading to edification...Yet if your brother is grieved because
of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with
your food the one whom Christ died...For even Christ did not please
Himself; but as it is written: "...Psalms 69:9
"...Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the
reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me...";...The
reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me..."
Mark 14:36 "...And He said, "Abba. Father,
all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me;
nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will..."
Romans 15:4 "...For whatever things were
written before were written for our learning, that we through the
patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope..."
Matthew 4:4 "...But He answered and said,
"It is written: Deuteronomy 8:3 "...So He
humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which
you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you
know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord..."
1 Corinthians 10:11 "...Now all these things
happened to them as examples, (Such as the laws of clean and unclean meats in Leviticus, the eating of these unclean foods causes many known diseases in today'world even with advanced technology, a pig is pig is a pig, and should not be eaten. God created all beasts for good and for a purpose, to be a scavenger. After all, our body is the temple of the Lord Jesus Christ who is Holy and always has been Holy, and wants our temple that He created to be Holy as well. For the unbeliever this is foolishness and he perishes daily through the deceiving spirits. Without God's Holy Spirit dwelling in our body the unbeliver faces wrath and calamity 24/7), and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come..."
2 Timothy 3:16 "...All Scriptures are given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."
[Side bar:
(1 Timothy 3:16 "...And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory...") We might add, He's coming again in all Power and Glory!!!]
Romans 15:5-8 "...Now may the God of
patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another,
according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth
glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore
receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of
God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to
the fathers..."
Romans 1:16 "...For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek..."
(Theme of Romans)
Romans 15:9-12 "...and that the Gentiles
might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:
(Psalms 118:26 "...Blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord...";
(2 Samuel 22:50; Psalms 18:49
"...Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to Your name...";...For this reason I will confess to
You among the Gentiles, and sing to Your name. And again he
says: (Deuteronmy 32:43 "...Rejoice, O Gentiles,
with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and
render vengeance to His adversaries; He will provide atonement for
His land and His people..."; Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!"
And again: (Psalms 117:1 "...Oh praise
the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples..."; And again,
Isaiah says: (Isaiah 11:1; 10 "...There
shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall
grow out of his roots; "There shall be a root of Jesse; and He who
shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in Him the Gentiles shall hope...
And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
(Jesus Christ) who shall stand as a
banner for the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His
resting place shall be glorious..."...Now may the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit..."
Acts 1:8 "...But you shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses
to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea ad Samaria, and to the end of
the earth..."
Romans 15:14 "...Now I myself am
confident concerning you my brethren, that you also are full of
goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one
another..."
Hebrews 5:12 "...For by this time you
ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first
principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk
and not solid food..."
Romans 15:15 "...Nevertheless, brethren,
I have written more boldy to you on some points, as reminding you,
because of the grace given to me by God..."
1 Peter 1:12 "...To them it was revealed
that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things
which now have been reported to you through those who have
preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--
things which angels disire to look into..."
Romans 15:16-18 "...that I might be a
minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gosel of
God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit..."
1 Corinthians 10:16 "...The cup of blessing
which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The
bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?..."
Romans 15:19-25 "...in mighty signs and
wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem
and round about to Illyricum I have fulluy preached the gospel of
Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not
where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's
foundation, (One of the reasons why Paul had not
been to Rome), but as it is written:
(Isaiah 52:15 "...So shall He sprinkle many
nations, kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been
told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall
consider....");..."..To whom He was not announced, they shall see;
and those who have not heard shall understand...")
"...For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to
you. But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a
great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to
Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and
to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your
company for a while. But now I an going to Jerusalem to minister the
saints..."
Romans 15:26-30 "...For it pleased those
from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the
poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them
indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been
partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them
in material things. Therefore, when I have performed this and have
sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. But I know
that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing
of the gospel of Christ. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord
Jesus Christ, and through the Love of the Spirit, that you strive
together with me in your prayers to God for me..."
2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 "...Finally, brethren,
pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be
glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from
unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith..."
Romans 15:31 "...that I may be delivered
from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for
Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints..."
Acts 28:17 "...And it came to pass after
three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So
when they had come together, he said to them: "Men and brethren,
though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our
fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the
hands of the Romans,..."
Romans 15:32-33 "...that I may come to
you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with
you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen..."
Romans 16:1-5 "...I commend to you
Phoebe our sister, who is a servant (deconis, or
Deaconess), of the church in Cenchrea,
(A suburb of Corinth), that you may
receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist
her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has
been a helper of many and of myself also.
(Letter may have been sent to the church at
Ephesus), Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in
Christ Jesus, (Who fled from Italy and taught
Barnabus), who risked their own necks for my life, to whom
not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved
Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ..."
1 Corinthians 16:19, 15 "...The churches
of Asia greet you. Aquila and Pricilla greet you heartily in the Lord,
with the church that is in your house...I urge you brethren--you know
the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia,
(Asia), and that they have devoted
themselves to the ministry of the saints--..."
Romans 16:6-12 "...Greet Mary, who
labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and
my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also
were in Christ before me. (The giving of the
Holy Spirit in Acts 2). Greet Amplias,
(A name of royality), my beloved in the
Lord. Greet Urbanus, (A urban dweller),
our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys
(Of royality), my beloved. Greet Apelles,
(Jewish), approved in Christ. Greet
those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion,
my kinsman. Greet those who are of household of Narcissus
(Who was beheaded), who are in the
Lord. Greet Tryphena (dainty), and
Tryphosa, (delicate), who have labored
in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, (Latin
for Persian woman), who labored much in the Lord..."
Romans 16:13 "...Greet Rufus
(red-haired), chosen in the Lord, and his
mother and mine..."
Mark 15:21 "...Now they compelled a
certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus,
as he was coming out of the county and passing by, to bear His
cross..."
Romans 16:14-16 "...Greet Asyncritus,
Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, (A slave
meaning "good luck"), and the brethren who are with them.
Greet Philologus and Julia, (Of the Imperial
Household), Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all
the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
The churches of Christ greet you..."
Philipians 4:22 "...All the saints greet
you, but especially those who are of Caesar's household..."
Romans 16:17 "...Now I urge you
brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary
to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them..."
(disfellowship)..."
Romans 16:17 "...But now I have
written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother,
who is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a
drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person..."
2 Thessalonians 3:6 "...But we
command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not
according to the tradition which he received from us..."
Romans 16:18 "...For those who are
such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
(Against the Law of God), and by
smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the
simple..."
Philipians 3:19 "...whose end is
destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their
shame--who set their mind on earthly things..."
Romans 3:8 "...And why not say, "Let us
do evil that good may come"?--as we are slanderously reported and
as some affirm that we say, their condemnation is just..."
Romans 6:1-2 "...What shall say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How
shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Jude 4 "...For certain men have crept in
unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation,
ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and
deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ..."
Romans 16:19 "...For your obedience has
become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want
you to be wise in what is good and simple
(innocent), concerning evil..."
Matthew 10:16 "...Behold, I send you out
as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and
harmless as doves..."
Romans 16:20 "...And the God of peace
will crush Satan under your feet shortly. (The
Church will deal a fatal blow to the head of Satan, wheras Satan
struck at the heal of the Church or Christ), The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen..."
Genesis 3:15 "...And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, (The Church),
and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head,
(Atonement: the devil chained one thousand
years), and your shall bruise His heal..."
(The Church's persecution)
Romans 16:21 "...Timothy
(Who was held in high esteem by Paul),
my fellow worker, and Lucius, Acts 3:1
"...Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of
prayer, the ninth hour...", Jason, Acts 17:5
"...But the Jews who were not persuaded, becomeing envius , took
some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob,
set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and
sought to bring them out to the people...", and Sosipater
Acts 20:4 "...And Sopater of Berea
accompanied him to Asia--also Aristarchus and Secundus of the
Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and
Trophimus of Asia...", my kinsmen, greet you..."
Acts 16:1-5 "...Then he came to Derbe
and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy,
the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was
Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra
and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took
him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that
region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went
through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which
were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the
churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number
daily..."
Romans 16:22-24 "...I Tertius,
(Third), who wrote this epistle, greet you in
the Lord. Gaius, my host and the house of the whole church, greets
you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a
brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen..."
1 Corinthians 1:14 "...I thank God that I
baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius..."
Romans 16:25 "...Now to Him who is able
to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept
secret since the world began..."
Romans 1:11 "...For I long to see you, that
I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established--..."
Romans 16:26-27 "...but now has been
made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known
to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
for obedience to the faith--to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus
Christ forever. Amen..."
1 Corinthians 2:7-11 "...But we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age
knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. But as it is written: (Isaiah 64:4
"...For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor
perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
who acts for the one who waits for Him..."),..."Eye has not seen, nor
ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which
God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed
them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes,
the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man
except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so no one knows
the things of God except the Spirit of God..."
This concludes the Romans Doctrine Study.
Watch for further Doctrine Studies as we continue to drink of the Spirit of God's Word. Merry Christmas!, and God bless you and your family!
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