Part #4 of #4….. “BE YE FOLLOWERS OF ME”…..Continued from Crumb 0053
“Moses And Paul Cannot Live Together Under The Same Roof, For Law And Grace Do Not Mix”
Moses was the “proponent of the Law”.
We have this time period beginning at Moses and all the prophets, till the stoning of Stephen in [Acts 7:57-60].
Everything that was written during this time period was predominantly to the nation of Israel. Not to the Body of Christ, for it was yet an “unrevealed mystery” .
So it was not written “to us”.
Whereas when Paul, the “proponent of Grace” writes, he is writing predominantly “to us” believers, the “now revealed mystery”, the Body of Christ.
It’s why we maintain that, while all of Scripture is “for us”, yet, not all of Scripture is “to us”.
These two “don’t mix” nor are they supposed to mix.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what has happened in Christianity or Christendom. We have mixed them.
We have been and still are, coveting those things, which belongs to God’s programme for Israel.
Let’s not forget that God is not through with the nation of Israel, as many wrongly propagate.
Because Israel rejected Christ at His first advent, many think that God is done with Israel.
“We are now the spiritual Israel”, they say.
NO WE’RE NOT and we will “never be”. We are The Body Of Christ.
There is no such thing as a “spiritual Israel”, whoever coined that phrase to begin with.
In the programme of God Almighty, we have “The Nation Of Israel” and “The Body Of Christ”. That’s it!
God’s “programme” for the nation of Israel has been ‘set aside’ (for a certain time period). Not the nation of Israel itself.
They are still very much a part of God’s unfinished plan for them as a nation.
Israel, by no means, has been “forgotten”.
“I say then”, Paul is writing concerning Israel, “Hath God cast away His people? God forbid” [Romans 11:1].
Have Paul’s Fears Been Realized?
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and all the flock”, Paul told the Ephesus Church elders in [Acts 20:28].
He reminds them that the Holy Spirit had made them “overseers to feed the (“Christ’s Blood Purchased”) Church of God”.
And now Paul goes on to give them the stark reason why, as he looks down the future road. He had good reason for these fears and concerns.
“For I know this”, says Paul with surety, “that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you”. And then he voices his concern, “not sparing the flock”.
The Enemy Within
Paul then warns them that there would ‘also’ be enemies from within, “ from your own selves shall men arise”.
They were going to come from “within” the Church, the congregation [Acts 20:29-30].
And what’s worse is that these men were going to speak, “perverse (or twisted) things, (in order) to draw away disciples after them”.
Alexander, Hymenaeus and Philetus are the evidence of this as recorded in 1st and 2nd Timothy. It started way back then.
SO are we seeing this perversity today?
ARE we seeing the kind of people that Paul warned us about, drawing away disciples or followers after themselves?
HAVE Paul the apostle’s fears been realized?
You be the judge!
Living With Paul
We need to live with Paul as did “Aquila and Priscilla” under the same tent as tentmakers [Acts 18:1-3].
We’ll actually get to learn a few things.
Under Paul’s Spirit-filled influence, they were able to revolutionize the ministry of Apollos [Acts 18:24-28].
They expounded to Apollos, “the way of God MORE PERFECTLY”.
Well how do you suppose Aquila and Priscilla were able to do that?
They had lived together with Paul for about eighteen months making tents.
During this period they were diligently learning and getting to know “the whole counsel of God” from Paul.
That’s the Bible Seminary every believer should want to be going to.
It’s free if we are “willing”.
We need to live with Paul, and learn from him, if we really want to see “fruitful results”.
Understanding Dispensations
This age in which we live under is Biblically called, “the dispensation of Grace” [Ephesians 3:2], instituted by GOD Himself.
The Biblical definition or understanding of a “dispensation” is very simple.
It’s a “period of time”, or an “era/age”, where God is dealing with the human race in a “specific way”.
And that specific way today is “through Grace”, which came by way of the cross. It is through Christ’s death on the cross, His burial, Resurrection and “Ascension”.
It is through belief in the message of this finished work on the cross, that God is saving people “individually”.
This “Salvation” takes place the moment we “Believe + Nothing Else” (NO LAW or religion, rites or rituals). It is solely God’s “Saving Grace”.
The message of the cross is what was revealed to Paul the apostle by the Ascended Lord Jesus Christ in Glory.
“Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again for our justification” [1 Corinthians 15:1-4] and [Romans 4:25].
Before Grace came, God was dealing with the human race “through the Law”, which came by the way of Moses. So that time period would be known as “the dispensation of the Law”.
“The Law was given by (through) Moses, but Grace and Truth came by (through) Jesus Christ” [John 1:17].
God Sticks Uncompromisingly To His Programme
We have all probably figured by now that God can “never” be compromised. He sticks unchangingly with His agenda and His Arm cannot be twisted.
That is what makes Him “Perfectly Reliable” and “Trustworthy”. It is WHO HE IS.
HE is still today the “I AM THAT I AM” of the Bible.
We need to understand that God “WILL NOT” operate outside the borders of His Own dispensation.
We are the ones who try to live and operate outside of it. And it just does not work that way!
No doubt there are things that are common to all dispensations. As we spend time with Paul, those will be both understood and applied.
But if we operate outside of this current dispensation of Grace, then rest assured that God is not in it.
We think HE is, we can make others think HE is, but HE is “not”.
I wonder if this has got your attention, but plain and simple logic tells us that.
There is so much perversion and twisting of God’s “Word of Truth” these days, which is so rampant!
This is another major reason why we need to pay heed to Paul the apostle.
He alone can boldly say, “Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me” [1 Corinthians 4:16].
“But no” numerous people say, “I don’t follow Paul, I follow Jesus”, referring to the “Words in red” in the Gospels. This is how many think!
Reading those Gospels are no doubt imperative, but must be understood in their “right context”.
The Gospels Don’t Mix With Paul
“Now I say”, Paul categorically and emphatically states in [Romans 15:8], “that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision”.
Well, who were “the circumcision” that Paul is referring to? The Jews, the nation of Israel!
Paul then goes on to give us the reason why:
“For the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:”
The next question would then be, “Who were “the fathers”? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jesus was under a “Covenant obligation”, to fulfill the promises made to them starting way back in [Genesis 12:1-3]
That is why He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” [Matthew 15:24].
It has always been “Jew first” [Romans 1:16].
There was a “Divine Order” in God’s plan of Salvation for the Gentiles.
Paul Raised For This Age Of Grace
By raising the apostle Paul, this same Jesus, now in “Ascended Glory”, was doing something “totally different” and “totally new”.
That is what we as “Grace Age believers” need to comprehend.
What we need to understand is that when we follow Paul, we “ARE” indeed following that same Christ Jesus.
This same Jesus Christ has given us “full permission” and in fact, strongly exhorts us to follow Paul.
“Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ”, says Paul in [1 Corinthians 11:1].
Well, Who revealed to Paul to write that? Was it the Ascended LORD or was that Paul’s own idea?
WE NEED TO SETTLE THAT ONCE AND FOR ALL!
We all know, that with the high levels of deceptions out there, our greatest need of the hour is “discernment”
“Discernment” is not the ability to tell the difference between a ‘truth’ and a ‘lie’, or even right from wrong.
It is the ability to tell the “subtle difference” between “the truth” and what is “almost the truth”.
And unless we truly get to know Paul, we will “never” truly be able to discern.
Discernment is undoubtedly a gift from God, but is “not void of knowledge” [Hebrews 4:12].
We need to have “the whole counsel of God”.
“Therefore my people are gone into captivity (which is a bondage), because they have no knowledge” [Isaiah 5:13]. This was God’s problem with Israel back then in time.
It’s no different today as many have, and still are being taken captive by men twisting and perverting the Truth.
The Exhortation From Paul And Jesus
“Therefore watch, and remember”, was Paul’s exhortation to those Ephesus Church elders in [Acts 20:31].
“That by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears”.
Paul had taught them, “the whole counsel of God”.
Without violating Scripture, we can say that it’s with the same tears, that Paul, through his epistles, gives us the same admonition today.
This same admonishment that Jesus gave back then in His days, is still very apt for us today.
“Watch therefore”
