Category: Kingdom Concepts

2 Great Errors About Salvation

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Intellectual

1. Salvation comes through believing certain facts ABOUT Christ instead of ENTRUSTING OURSELVES TO Christ

Many believe they are saved because they believed certain facts about the atonement. But doctrines cannot save us. We must entrust ourselves to the One Who is risen to save! Don’t trust doctrines ABOUT Christ; TRUST CHRIST!

Hebrews 7:25

Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.

Transactional

2. Salvation comes through a PAST TRANSACTION with God instead of an ONGOING  RELATIONSHIP with God through Christ based on a faith that works through love

Many believe they have eternal life because they made a transaction with God in the past. Salvation is NOT yesterday; salvation is TODAY! It is not found in a transaction, but in a risen Savior! Trust in Christ! Trust Him TODAY, not yesterday!

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 

Working together with Him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive God’s grace in vain.” For He says:

I heard you in an acceptable time, and I helped you in the day of salvation. Look, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.

“SavED” In The Past Tense

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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

The Bible speaks of being saved in 3 tenses, past, present, and future. What does it mean that we were “saved in the past.” When the Bible speaks like this it is referring to the fact that there was a time in our past when we turned from our rebellion and through faith submitted to Jesus Christ. It was at this moment that we were reconciled to God. Salvation in the past tense refers that time when we were reconciled to God.

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9-14 NKJV

In Luke 18 we see an illustration of this in one of Jesus’ parables. Here we see that the moment the tax collector humbled himself in repentance towards God and called out for mercy he was justified. That is, he was accepted by God. This later happens in reality in Luke 19 when Zacchaeus repented of his sins during dinner and Jesus immediately declared, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

For more on this topic, here is a short video:

Devilish Men & An Angry God

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No one can be born a Christian, we must be born again. We have all joined Satan’s rebellion against God and we must be reconciled to God. Satan sought to set himself on God’s throne. Adam and Even ate the fruit so they could become like God. And each of us have chosen to be lord of our own lives, living for our desires instead of the will of God.

On the other side, God is holy and hates sin and rebellion. The Bible teaches that He will take vengeance on His enemies. Consider this description of God:

God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORD avenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies…

Nahum 1:2 NKJV

The situation is bleak indeed. But God desires to reconcile rebellious men, so He sent His Son to bridge the divide. But we must repent and submit to Him.

Here is a short video with more detail on this issue:

A Gate, A Way & An End

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Matthew 7:13-14

13 “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. 14 “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. -NKJV

Jesus compares Christianity to a gate, a way, and an end.

All people have turned away from God and must be converted through repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must be born again. We must enter the gate.

After we enter the gate the journey is not over, it has only just begun. We must walk the narrow road that leads to life by continuing to trust in Christ and submit to Him as Lord. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we must put sin to death.

At the end of the road, we will be judged according to our works. We are reconciled to God through faith in Christ, but our faith will be judged by what we have done.

For more on this topic here is a short video:

The Law of Christ (OT Interpretation #6)

Published on by Christopher C. Chapman2 Comments

20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 

– 1 Corinthians 9:20-21 NKJV

25 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. 

– James 1:25 NKJV

12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

– James 2:12-13 NKJV

2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

– Galatians 6:2 NKJV

In the fourth post in this series we noted that there are many commands in the Bible. There is one set of commands in the Old Covenant called the Law of Moses, and there is another set of commands in the New Covenant called the Law of Christ. The New Testament teaches that we are not under the Law of Moses, but we are under the Law of Christ (i.e. the law of liberty). We have been considering the Old Covenant Law, but now we must turn our attention to the New Covenant Law so that we can understand which commands we are obligated by God to obey. A failure to distinguish between these two sets of commandments leads either to Judaizing (i.e. extreme versions of the Hebraic Roots movement) or lawlessness (i.e. “hyper-grace”), both of these are deadly errors which we must avoid for the sake of our souls.

Jesus’ Commandments

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 

– Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 

– Luke 6:46 NKJV

What commands are included in the Law of Christ. To put it simply, the Law of Christ is made up of the commands of Jesus Christ. He commissioned His apostles to go make disciples teaching them to obey all that He had commanded. Anything written in red letters is the law that we are obligated to live by. Jesus is the King Who has all authority in heaven and on earth, and we are not only commanded to confess Him as Lord, but to submit to HIm as Lord.

Continue reading “The Law of Christ (OT Interpretation #6)” →

Under Law or Under Grace? YES! (OT Interpretation #5)

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Engraved on Stone

Deuteronomy 4:11-14 establishes that the Old Covenant is made up of the 10 Commandments as well as the commandments related through Moses to the people of Israel in the Sinai Desert. Deuteronomy 5:1-6 teaches that this covenant was not given to the patriarchs of Israel like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but only to the generation that came out of Egypt under Moses. And Exodus 20-24 reveals that the Law of Moses was given as one holistic law, it was not divided into a ceremonial, civil and moral law. Though we can see that the individual commands are applied to different areas of life, they are each interconnected and make up one law known as the Law of Moses and referred to as the Old Covenant by the New Testament writers.

Now we must ask, do Christians still need to obey the Old Covenant commands? Are we under the authority of the 10 Commandments?

4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 

2 Corinthians 3:4-6

In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 Paul is writing to the Corinthians and defending his ministry as a minister of the New Covenant. He declares that he, and his co-laborers are sufficient ministers, but not in themselves, only by the grace of God’s Spirit. In verse 6 he begins to address some differences between the Old and New Covenants. In this verse he begins to teach that the New Covenant is of the Spirit, not mere letters, and that it brings life, not death.

Continue reading “Under Law or Under Grace? YES! (OT Interpretation #5)” →

What About The Ten Commandments? (OT Interpretation #4)

Published on by Christopher C. Chapman5 Comments

How Many Old Covenant Laws Are There?

How should we understand the Law of Moses? Is it broken up into various parts (e.g. moral, ceremonial and civil) as some traditions teach, or is it one unified whole? When we read the Scriptures we will find many commandments. Since 1 Corinthians 9:19-21 shows us that there are at least two different collections of laws in the Bible (e.g. Law of Moses and Law of Christ), it is important to know which commands belong to which law. This way we know which commands apply to Christians, and which do not.

In Exodus 19 God instructed the people of Israel to gather around Mount Sinai to receive God’s commandments. In Chapter 20:1-17 we read that God began to address the people directly. This first string of commandments in Exodus 20 are what we know as the 10 Commandments. He spoke these directly to the people from the mountain.

Continue reading “What About The Ten Commandments? (OT Interpretation #4)” →

A Nation Set Apart (OT Interpretation #3)

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In the last post we discussed some of the different aspects of the Law of Israel. We noted that it was primarily a national constitution for the nation of Israel that acted as a relational contract (i.e. covenant) between God and Israel. It also provided them with a culture, religion, legal system and moral code to call their own. In this post we want to touch on other reasons gave the Torah (i.e. Law of Moses).

Stemming the Tide

Besides being a national covenant (i.e. constitution) it was also given to Israel to curb the corruption of sin. God desired to bring Christ the Savior into the world at the right time, but first he had to set the stage. Israel was chosen to be the nation that would bring this salvation into the world (John 4:22). This was the second part of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. But God’s stage could not be set without some semblance of righteousness. So before the Word of God became flesh in order to renew the nature of men through His resurrection and the second birth, God would have to give them something to hold back the tide of sin. For this reason, God gave them commands written on stone along with strict punishments for breaking it.

This law code could not change the hearts of the Israelites, but it could restrain the corrupting influence of sin. In many cases the breaking of the social laws would result in the death penalty. Those that committed adultery or murder were to be put to death by the testimony of two or three witnesses. The murderer or adulterer was given no chance to “reform” himself because he had already been corrupted by the influence of rebellion and this leaven was not to be given a chance to infect the rest of God’s people. The punishment of the offender did not only stop him from influencing others, the example that was made of him would have the added benefit of discouraging those who were being tempted to commit similar crimes.

Continue reading “A Nation Set Apart (OT Interpretation #3)” →

A National Covenant (OT Interpretation #2)

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In the last post we discussed the difficulty of harmonizing the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. We mentioned that throughout history there have been a few main ways to attempt to reconcile these two sections of the Bible which seem to be at odds on many points. Basically there is the Jewish way, the Gnostic way and the Christian way. The Jewish way says that Jesus was a teacher of the Law of Moses. The Gnostic way says that the Old Testament was written by an inferior god. And the Christian way which says that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament Scriptures.

The heart of the Old Testament is the Law of Moses. So in order to understand how the Old and the New Covenants can be reconciled we should start with an understanding of the nature of that Law. In this post we will discuss some various ways of looking at the Torah (i.e. first 5 books of the Bible).

The Constitution of Israel

1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 

– Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV

In Genesis 12 God promises Abraham that he would make his descendants into a great nation. And He was going to use that nation to be a blessing to all the nations of the world. The first aspect of this promise points to the creation of the nation of Israel. The second aspect points to the coming of the Messiah and the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom of God to all nations (John 4:22, Galatians 3:15-20, Genesis 22:18).

Continue reading “A National Covenant (OT Interpretation #2)” →

3 Ways to Read the Old Testament (OT Interpretation #1)

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Seems So Confusing

As a new disciple I found it very difficult to read the Old Testament, particularly the Law of Moses which is the foundation of the Old Testament. As I read the story of the Exodus and the commands that were given in that generation, I was confused at how to understand the Old Covenant in light of the New. The rest of the history of Israel in the Old Testament was intrinsically connected with the commands given through Moses, and yet when I came to the New Testament I was hard pressed to understand what the Law of Moses had to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So in this series I want to ask the question, “How are Christians supposed to approach the Law of Moses?” 

Those of us that are familiar with the New Testament and with the issues faced by the early Church will easily recognize that modern believers are not the first to wrestle with trying to harmonize the Old and New Testaments. Most of Paul’s letters and a lot of the content of the Gospels were dedicated to this particular issue. And the post-apostolic authors of the pre-Nicene era of church history also spent a lot of time on this issue.

Continue reading “3 Ways to Read the Old Testament (OT Interpretation #1)” →