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Bible Study: Lutz, Florida
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
2
Timothy 2:15
Is there more than
one gospel in effect today?
Part XIV
The
Covenant Gospel and Paul’s Gospel of Grace
“House Work”
I
want to welcome all our regulars visitors and then give a special shout out to
all those folks who are “checking us out” on the web for the very first
time.
We’re
an informal Bible study that meets twice a month, in a home, located in Lutz,
FL.
We
break bread together (more often than not this is pizza and a salad), we take
the time to enjoy each other’s company and conversation, and then we sit down
to view a video taught by Les Feldick.
These DVD’s each cover a particular book or subject in the Bible from Genesis
to Revelation. After the video, we discuss
the video answer questions, talk about politics, and we discuss personnel
issues, then we pray, and then we are finished for the night. This takes about two hours.
This
is a casual and relaxed kind of environment…shoes off king of thing.
And
this is how a Bible study should be.
There’s no pressure to perform or to memorize Scripture verses. There is no measuring stick, tests, or a
final exam.
No
one is keeping track of anyone’s progress.
Here, we simply love on one another.
By
the way, I highly recommend my friend Mr. Les Feldick to the world.
His
Bible lessons may be found on line at: http://www.lesfeldick.org/
For
all our friends visiting us from around the world I want to thank you again for
taking the time to study God’s Word along with us; and take the time to check
Mr. Feldick out. You won’t be
disappointed.
It’s
been almost five years since we started this Home Bible study in Lutz, Florida.
This
is no small achievement, especially in this day and age my friends.
Therefore,
my first inclination is this. God
is good!
And
my humble response to this is:
Colossians 3
17: Whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
through Him to God the Father.
I
give God the honor and the glory for the victories both big and small that have
come from this small group.
Mission Statement
It’s
been sometime since I posted my ministry’s mission statement.
It's taken from Colossians
chapter 1.
I am committed to the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ
according to the revelation of the mystery Romans thru Philemon; without
apology.
Colossians 1
25: Whereof I am
made a made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to
me for you (Gentiles), (why) to fulfill the word of God.
(KJV)
*****
For
those folks who believe or misunderstand that I ignore or discount the rest of the Bible.
I never said that. I feel like
Mitt Romney all of a sudden…
Every word of this
Bible is accurate and true, in its original form.
We
don’t ignore any part of the Bible. What
does the Apostle to the Gentiles say?
2 Timothy 3
16: All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness;
However, this is
where most of the Christian world gets lost.
Most of the Bible
is NOT WRITTEN to us GENTILES!
But it’s profitable
for our learning and our training in righteousness.
It has a purpose;
therefore, we do not throw it out.
To find Grace Age
Doctrine, you have to go to the letters of the Apostle Paul.
You will not find
any teachings or discussions on the Grace Age in the Old Testament, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, or John.
If you take the
Apostle Paul’s writings out of the Bible (Romans thru Philemon) you eliminate every
teaching on the Grace Age that the Lord Jesus Christ intended for you to know
and consequently your hope for salvation in this era!
*****
The Covenant Gospel
and Paul’s Gospel of Grace
We
left off where, the LORD God had chosen Moses to take this message to the
Egyptian ruler, “Let My people go!”
God promised Moses that he would use him to deliver the Hebrew people from Egypt, even though the king would refuse to let them go. (Exodus 3:17-22)
In
truth, Moses’ real ministry began after the LORD God led the Israelites out of
Egypt.
In
this Bible lesson, I want to examine the most striking similarity between Moses
and the Apostle Paul and to do this we need to start at Exodus 19.
Moses
received the entire Mosaic Law from the LORD God at Mt. Sinai.
Exodus 19
1: In the third
month (here
is the #3 yet again) after the sons of
Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into (where
exactly) the wilderness of Sinai.
2: When they set
out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the
wilderness; and there Israel (they had become a nation while enslaved in
Egypt) camped in front of the
mountain (this is the LORD God’s mountain.)
We
Believers have a tendency to focus only on the Ten Commandments.
But
in truth Moses received the entire Mosaic Law not just the Big Ten.
This
transaction took years to complete not weeks or months.
·
The
LORD God gave Moses the Moral Code (Exodus 20:1-17)
·
The
Judgments or Social Code, which deal with life and man’s interactions with man
(Exodus 21-24)
·
The
Ceremonial Code or the Spiritual Law with deals with the teaching of doctrine
through ritual response to the LORD God (Exodus 25 thru 34 and then the book of
Leviticus)
Paul’s Journey into
the Wilderness of Arabia
The area known as Arabia included the region governed by Aretas (II Cor. 11:32) which extended from Damascus and east of the Jordan River south to Edom with Petra as its capital.
Mt. Sinai is located somewhere in this expanse.
Of
course, the location of Mt. Sinai is a mystery. No one knows its whereabouts.
But
dedicated archeologists such as Dr. Aardsma continue to search for it.
Here
is a link to a website that reveals some interesting evidence about one
possible location of Mt Sinai: http://www.biblicalchronologist.org/answers/sinai_location.php
Please
remember:
·
Like
his counterpart Moses, the Apostle Paul was called to service by Jesus Christ.
·
Moses
was chosen to be the “mediator”
between Jehovah (which is Jesus in the Old Testament) and the Jew only.
·
The
Apostle Paul was chosen to be the “mediator”
between Jesus Christ and both Jew and Gentile.
For now there is no difference.
When
we last left Saul, yes Saul, he wasn’t called Paul yet.
Saul
had been preaching Jesus is the Son of God to the Jews.
Saul
was rescued from these same Jews who sought to kill him, by some Jews he had
converted, and they ushered him out of Damascus. (Acts 9:25)
After
this, he slips away into the Wilderness of Arabia and stays for 3 years (37 – 41 AD).
It’s
time to inject a bit of “logic” into our Bible study, after all Saul is human
as are we.
Consider
this: Saul’s whole world had been turned upside-down in a matter of a moment’s
time on the Damascus road. Saul believed
he was acting in God’s behalf in his persecution of Messianic Believers; he was
serving the Law after all.
Messianic
Believers taught blasphemy when teaching that Temple Sacrifices had become
obsolete in Christ. Saul was protecting
what he loved his religion and his God.
Now,
Saul realized that he been persecuting Jesus, the risen Savior, and His
Messiah!
Could
he be forgiven for this act? What could
he do, under the Law, to achieve forgiveness, for the Law, which he has already
knows, has condemned him!
Imagine
the turmoil Saul must have been going through and the anguish.
Do
you think Saul needed a “time out?”
Was Saul led into
the wilderness by the Holy Spirit?
We
know from reading Acts 9:17 that Saul was “filled
with the Holy Spirit,” when Ananias laid his hands on him in the home of
Judas. Afterward, Saul got up and was
baptized, in keeping with the Mosaic Law.
We
know that Saul, after he regained his strength, immediately began preaching “Jesus is the Son of God” to the Jews in
the synagogues located there in Damascus.
I’d
say this is an outward sign from someone who is Spirit led, in my opinion.
But
Scripture is silent as to whether or not Saul was actually led by the Holy
Spirit into the wilderness of Arabia.
I
would say yes, but that’s my opinion.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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