The BIG Picture (Study)

The Faith Stream Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to ALL the seed. God started a new program when he called Abraham. If you look at the timeline in the banner at the top of this website, you will notice that from Abraham (AB), a new stream branches off from the main river of humanity . I call this new stream the "faith stream". Why? Well, that's quite easy to answer. It's called the faith stream because scripture refers to it by the same name . Once you have read this article, you too will recognize it and understand the significance of the faith stream in God's incredible plan of the redemption of believing humanity, and the restoration of creation. Before I can prove to you the faith stream , I need to...

Similarities of Peter and Paul in ACTS It is remarkable how perfectly some major events parallel between Peter and Paul. (I'm pretty certain it's by divine design.) The book of Acts revolves primarily around 2 apostles, Peter and Paul. One could divide the book of Acts as follows. Chapters 1-12 focus on Peter as the main apostle to the Jews, and chapters 13-28 focus on Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles. If you read the book of Acts from start to finish, without taking note of the exploits of these two men, you will certainly miss the incredible similarities that occurred across the timespan of their ministries. Many people might chalk this up to coincidence, but for me, I know God's hand is upon it. As a matter of fact, I can imagine how God thought it would be good to ev...

Our Doctrine Comes From Paul's Inspired Writings Let's not be ignorant of Paul's writings, but study them and apply them to your lives and walk worthy of our Lord. I came across this article written by Matthew McGee,  and I just had to share the second half of it ( shaded in gray below ) here on my blog, since I agree passionately with the point he raises. It is sad to say that too many people in our churches today are not aware that the content of Paul's epistles are written directly to them today, and are crucial for their edification and encouragement. People either think that Paul is a second rate apostle and dismiss his writings, or they set Paul's writings aside because they think it is of less importance than the red letter teachings of Jesus Christ. Little do they know that literally ALL of Paul...

OBS: God's Word is a Progressive Plan (Part.3) This is Part 3 of the Series Click here for Part 2 The huge gap between Jews and Gentiles During the Old Testament and the Gospels, there was a HUGE gap (or difference) between the Jews and the Gentiles. The reason for this gap was not because the Jews were discriminatory but because it was God's command and part of His plan. God had a purpose for Israel and this we see very clearly if we look into the Bible from a 'big picture' or 'cover to cover' viewpoint. Remember that the bible is God's plan or blueprint for the redemption of all of humanity and that there is a very specific and progressive order to the Bible which is clearly divided up into sets of periods, each with a unique purpose and design. We cannot mix content and expect that it will make sense. It is crucial to study the Word based on these divisions and to keep them separated i...

Q-A: The Bible - Why isn't all Scripture written TO You? I often use the phrase, "All Scripture is written FOR you, but not all Scripture is written TO you" , and this generally provokes a response of astonishment, if not a stronger aversion from the person. It does not however surprise me as there are not many who understand the Word rightly divided. So, lets delve into this phrase and explain it clearly and concisely. Think of a post office and a wall of mailboxes. If you had to pry open one of those mailboxes and read the mail from that box, you could learn something from the content of the mail, but it does not necessarily apply to you. For example, you could learn of an allergy that the mailbox owner has and even what medication to use from the doctors letter in that mailbox, but it would be incorrect (and possibly even detrimental) to dose yourself up on the medication prescribed to someone else. In the same way, the bible is a book written oven a...

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 ac...

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 ...

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 ne...