The BIG Picture (Study)

Building on the Foundation Matt.16:13  When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  We are probably all familiar with parts of this text above. The part I

Two Programs for Two Realms (Part 3) There have been so many revelations in my dispensational journey, and one of the first (and biggest) that I learned of was the understanding of TWO programs in God's great plan of redemption. One will not see, let alone understand, this concept of two programs unless one recognizes the divisions in scripture, 2 Tim.2:15 . Without the divisions, everything will seem to flow into each other and merge with each other and then you miss the entire revelation all together! It all starts with Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . These are not just describing different physical realities but also refer to separate realms, one spiritual and one physical. Both these realms became corrupt; the heavens, due to the rebellion of Lucifer,  Job 15:15 , and then later the earth, due to the rebellion (or disobedience) of Adam, Genesis 3:6 . The redemption plan of God involves the setting up of two programs, one to c

Only Israel is 'Born Again' Today, we are familiar with the term, 'born again'. We hear it often in evangelical messages or when speaking of people who are saved. One might say he is a 'born again' Christian, or on this day and in this circumstance I came to the Lord and was 'born again'. But is this term being used accurately according to biblical context. Are you and I, today, under the dispensation of grace, really 'born again'? Let's look at the first time it was used in the King James bible. Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again , he cannot see the kingdom of God. ... 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ... 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.   It would be natural to assum

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

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

Enjoy this Visual Comparison of Prophecy and Mystery Click on image to enlarge

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