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Bible Study- Lutz, Florida
Rightly
Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book
Lesson 4
Before we continue I want you to know that I teach
the Bible using the entire book.
I do this by comparing Scripture with Scripture. I do not “lift” a single verse or two from
the Bible and then use that to build a doctrine. Some do.
This is why you’ll see us leaving the book of
Romans and visiting other books in the bible as time goes on and as the need
arises.
I will use as many Bible verses as I think
necessary to demonstrate what the book is saying in regard to our subject
material and in some cases what the Bible is NOT saying.
And this is Biblical. The Apostle Paul writes this to us Believes,
1 Corinthians 2
12: Now we have
received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we
might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13: Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (KJV)
God
the Holy Spirit also led the Apostle
Paul to write this for us,
2 Timothy 3
16: All
Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, for training in righteousness;
17: so that the man
of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
One of the most frequent problems I encounter is
that when people read their Bibles they are unable to discern the difference
between Jesus Christ’s ministry to the Jews, under the Law, based upon the
covenant promises, and the Lord Jesus Christ’s dispensation of grace toward
both Jew and Gentile based upon faith in the gospel alone.
Romans 15
8: For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision (the Jews – gentiles were called the “uncircumcised”) on behalf of the truth of God to confirm
the promises given to the fathers.
Who were the fathers?
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were the fathers of the
Jewish nation.
These three men received the covenant promises from
the Creator God (Jehovah) which Jesus Christ came to fulfill during His earthly
ministry (see Genesis 12; 15).
One
cannot teach Scripture accurately by taking Scriptures which were written to the
nation of Israel and applying them to the church, or vice-versa.
Just
as it's wrong today to stone a man for gathering sticks on the Sabbath (see
Numbers 15:32-36), it is also wrong to take the Lord's instructions for Israel
and apply them to the church today.
This does not mean
you toss out any portion of your Bible!
Read that again.
What
I do mean to say is this.
Not
everything that is written in the Bible is written to us or for us Gentiles at
this present time. However, what has
been written is there for our “learning.”
It
is possible for someone to make the Bible say pretty much anything you want it
to say. I’ve told my classes this on
many an occasion over the years, so be alert.
You,
the Bible reader, must be able to discern the Truth.
You
must learn to separate those things that were written to the Jew, under the Law,
in keeping with the covenant promises, from
the “mysteries” that were kept hidden in the mind of God before the age began
that now pertain to you and me in the Age of Grace.
You
must learn to “Rightly Divide the Word of Truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) (KJV)
Paul’s Stewardship
Ephesians
3
1: For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for
the sake of you Gentiles—
2: if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s
grace which was given to me for you; (only Paul received these
revelations from the risen Lord Jesus Christ and only Paul was given this
stewardship of grace; so when Paul writes you are reading the words of Jesus
Christ! No other apostles received these
revelations.)
3: that by revelation there was made known to me the
mystery, as I wrote before in brief.
4: By referring to this, when you read you can
understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5: which in other generations was not made
known to the sons of men, as it has now
been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
6: to be specific, that the Gentiles are
fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the
promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,
7: of which I was made a minister, according
to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of
His power.
8: To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was
given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
9: and to bring to light what is the
administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created
all things;
These
verses are plainly written. Paul’s
message is quite clear.
The
Lord Jesus Christ has chosen to reveal a “dispensational” change a.k.a. a
“Divine Ordering” or management of affairs and events in the world.
This
has happened frequently throughout creation’s history. The first event occurred in the Garden of
Eden after Adam’s sin. Adam’s act of
disobedience prompted a “dispensational” change in the way the LORD God managed
the affairs of mankind.
And
so on it goes down the timeline of history…
The
thing that trips people up time and time again is their “mixing” Jesus’
teachings under the Law with the revelations Jesus Christ revealed to the
Apostle Paul some ten years after the Lord Jesus Christ’s Ascension and you
can’t do that. It doesn’t work.
It
wasn’t meant to.
You
won’t find any mention of the Body of Christ, or being saved by faith alone apart
from keeping the Law of Moses anywhere in the four gospels. These topics and many more like them are not
in there. But people put them in there
all the time.
But
here’s the Truth! The teachings of the
Age of Grace are unique to the Apostle Paul and his letters are Scripture (see
2 Peter 3:14-17).
Think
this through before you neglect or discard his writings.
This
is why some people believe there are “contradictions” in the Bible.
There
are no contradictions in Scripture.
There
is only a failure to rightly divide it.
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
rights Reserved
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