The BIG Picture (Study)

What does it REALLY mean to be 'In Christ'? According to 2 Corinthians 5:17 , when you hear the Gospel and respond positively to the faith that wells up inside you, and you call upon God, ---in that moment you are sealed into the body of Christ (in Christ) by the Holy Spirit ( 1 Cor.12:13 ) and you become a new creation ( or a new creature, KJV  2 Cor.5:17 ). But, notice the word "if" in the verse. This makes it conditional! It is only if we are in Christ that we are a new creation ! In order to understand what " a new creation " means, we need to dig into what is means to be " in Christ ". Note these two Key Concepts ( *positional reality and *description ) Being "In Christ" is a positional reality . When you respond to the grace gospel and become 'saved', in that instant, you are created as a new being and are clothed in the righteousness of Christ and are perfect before God. Being "In

Paul, The First into a New Program It is incredibly important to understand God's Word in the right context, and this is greatly supported by identifying periods of time, being aware of patterns or nuances, recognizing people groups and changes in program or instruction throughout the Bible. The example below is one such instance where, based on what Paul says, "that IN ME first...as a pattern..." , it could be a bit confusing what he means by it! We have to dig in deeper and analyze why Paul said this and understand it in context with right division in the Word. A very interesting scripture to analyze in regard to the divisions within the Word is, 1 Timothy 1:15-16 It is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief [foremost] . But for this reason, I obtained mercy, in order that in me first , Christ Jesus might show all patience [longsuffering, grace] as a pattern to those

Two Verses that might Challenge your Doctrine (Part.2) This is  part 2  of the series Click here to start with  Part 1 The two verses I deal with in this article played a HUGE role in helping me to understand the Bible in its proper context. If one does not understand how to divide the Word and bring context to the two verses that are mentioned in this article, they can be pretty hard to interpret correctly. As I mentioned before in part 1, these are the two verses that got me on the path of studying the Word in a dispensational way, ( or as Paul puts it, rightly dividing the Word of truth , 2 Tim.2:15). The reason is because these two verses mention some very interesting things, things that will cause you to question if you actually read the verse correctly, things that will certainly make you think twice about what Paul was really saying. So, let me introduce the second verse to you, Romans 16:25-26  Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to  my gosp

Two Verses that might Challenge your Doctrine (Part.1) The following two verses referenced below played a HUGE role in helping me to understand the Bible in its proper context. If I never knew at that time what I now know about the Bible, these two verses would have been hard to swallow, hard to digest, hard to agree with! I trust you get my point. :) In actual fact, it is these very two verses that got me on the path of studying the Word in a dispensational way, (or as Paul puts it, rightly dividing the Word of truth, 2 Tim.2:15 ). The reason is because these two verses mention some very interesting things, things that will cause you to question if you actually read the verse correctly, things that will certainly make you think twice about what Paul was really saying.  So, let me break your suspense and jump into the first of these two verses and provide some comments and interpretation on them. Our first verse is, 2 Corinthians 5:16

The Connection between Abraham and Paul (Part.2) This is  part 2  of the series Click here to start with  Part 1 Lets connect the dots between Abraham and Paul Having set the scene,  in part 1 , that creation is corrupt in both heaven and earth, we indicated that God predestined the cleansing of these two realms by two separate people groups.  Genesis 22:15-17  is an incredible verse that describes the two people groups in God's plan of redemption, but lets have a look at some  even more incredible connections  ( similarities or parallels ) within these two people groups. Both people groups belong to  a new faith stream  ( this is my own personal description ) that describes a branching off from the main undercurrent of unredeemed humanity.  In order to become part of  'the faith stream',  one needs to respond  'by faith'  to the gospel * , the good news and instruction of redemption that God prescribed a

The Connection between Abraham and Paul (Part.1) Setting the scene There are 2 programs in God's PLAN of redemption; an  earthly  program and a  heavenly  program. We all know that Genesis 1:1 reads, Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the  heavens  and the  earth . Heaven and earth are two  separate  realms that make up God's creation. We should also be aware that both these realms are corrupt and need 'cleansing'.  The heavens were corrupted when God cast Satan out of the 3rd heaven as we read in  Isaiah 14:12  and  Ezekiel 28:16 , and the result of  this is confirmed in  Job 15 , Job 15:15  Behold, He  [God]  puts no trust in his saints  [angels, see Job 4:18] ; yes,  the heavens are not clean in His sight . The earth and everything in it is corrupt and under a curse as we read in, Genesis 3 .   The conclusion of this is that God predestined two programs in his great redemption