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1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;  

This is a response to the second comment from a "prominent grace pastor" with whom our brother Keith has been corresponding concerning the pastor's aversion to the finished cross-work of Christ. The first comment was answered and published in a previous blog. 

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*Posted with permission from the author*

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The following is a response to a YouTube comment from a preacher who calls himself a right divider. He left quite a lengthy post under our podcast No One Has Ever Believed Paul's Gospel In Vain. We have broken it down into sections here to avoid missing any points.

Some consistently preach incorrect information and then act as if that false information should not be corrected. Correction works the same way judgment does: As soon as you declare that others shouldn't judge, you are guilty of making a judgment yourself. Likewise, proclaiming that we should not go around correcting others is indeed a correction given by the one complaining. 

February 18, 2024

"Four Different Types of Reconciliation"

This blog was produced from an excerpt of the podcast first published on the WTTR mobile App on January 16th, 2024.

Are Forgiveness & Justification Synonymous? 

We've all heard that puzzle analogy. You know, the one about how when we learn to study the scriptures in the way that God intended, it's like putting all of the pieces of a puzzle together so that you can finally see the picture. I believe it is a very accurate description. However, to me, there is more to it than just the thought of putting a jigsaw puzzle together. So, here is my take on it:

A dear brother in Christ, and minister of reconciliation wanted me to proof a piece he was writing. In it he mentioned how that Saul's name was changed to Paul. The following was my response:

It took me 15 years to understand this, I'm going to tell you in less than 30 seconds.If nobody sees you as an enemy, you're not important.If nobody talks behind your back, you're not relevant.If somebody tries to take advantage of you, it means you have value.If somebody tries to put you down, it means you're already above them.Hate only comes from below, never from above.If they doubt you, it means you're doing things that they believe are impossible for themselves.Criticism, that's just a hidden form of admiration.Your haters are actually your biggest fans.They just haven't figured out how to clap yet.This is W-T-T-R, Truth Time Radio.Today, we're asking the question, Just what does it mean to be a good minister?As members of the Body of Christ, we only have one apostle, his name, Paul, and he tells us exactly what a good minister is.1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6, If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.So, to be a good minister is to put the brethren in remembrance of these things.What things?Well, contextually speaking, doctrines of devils.He said, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, (thats the faith of Christ) giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;What are the doctrines of devils? Verse 3 forbidding to marry.What church do you know that does that?The Roman Catholics, they require celibacy from their bishops, priests, nuns, monks.The ancient Gnostics were very similar in what they taught.They were extremely strict concerning celibacy and taught that it was a means to achieving noces, noces, meaning special spiritual knowledge.Okay, now, let's see, what's next here on the doctrines of devils list?Paul says, Commanding to abstain from meats, and who does that?Again, the Catholic church, abstain from meats on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.But they make some sort of provision for fish, I think, I know they used to.And let's not leave out the Seventh Day Adventists.They very strongly encourage to abstain from meats as well.According to Paul, these teachings are doctrines of devils.Meanwhile, most choose to look away in the name of love and tolerance, refusing to take a stand and say anything against those evil teachings.Let's just hold hands around the ecumenical, let's all get along kumbaya campfire, even though they're teaching adults and even children to practice doctrines of devils.It's despicable.In light of this truth, we, we're certain that neither Catholics, Gnostics, or Seventh-Dayers have good ministers, not according to the word of God.A good minister is one that has allowed the word of God to equip them to edify others and minister grace to the hearer, Ephesians 4:29.A good minister agrees with God even when it affects them financially or goes against the traditions of men.Today, God doesn't forbid marriage, men do.He doesn't forbid marriage, and he created meat to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth, 1 Timothy 4:3.A good minister is one that communicates clearly and presents truth with conviction and compassion.Doesn't mince words and doesn't suffer fools gladly. 2 Corinthians 11:19.A good minister knows right from wrong and is not afraid to speak up about it, no matter who likes it or not.A good minister will not shy away from labor in 1 Thessalonians 5:12 Paul wrote, And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.A good minister will encourage you to remain steadfast and actively engaged.They try not to get discouraged in well doing to spot the difficulties and challenges they may be faced with.In the 6th chapter, in the 6th chapter of the book of Galatians, Paul, he said, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.A good minister will nourish others in the words of faith and good doctrine because our nourishment is a high priority, very important.What does your daily diet consist of?Is it milk or meat?Are you growing?We need to grow and mature spiritually.That's what allows us to spot and avoid false teachers.You remember, you remember reading about Epaphras?Who was he to Paul?He was a dear fellow servant.He meant a lot to Paul, and he told those at Colossae that Epaphras was a faithful minister of Christ.He was a good minister, being a good minister involves being a good steward.Titus 1:7, For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;1 Corinthians 4 verses 1 and 2, Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.That's a good minister.A good minister is Titus 1:8, But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; (Titus 1:9) Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.A good minister is one who preaches the gospel without charge.They don't charge for the gospel.That would be an abuse of power.1 Corinthians 9-18.In Ephesians 6, Paul said, And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.So a good minister is one who speaks boldly.A good minister is an ambassador, one who is able to Ephesians 3:9 make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. How that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ by the gospel.A good minister refuses profane and old wives' fables.1 Timothy 4:7, And instead exercises themselves unto Godliness.A good minister studies to show themselves approved unto God.In order to be an unashamed workman who rightly divides the word of truth while shunning profane and vain babblings.Profane and vain babblings is what we're hearing today, those adding a "do" to forgiveness.A good minister will rightly divide water baptism from spiritual baptism, mandatory law tithing from goodwill grace giving, divides the return of Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom from the catching away to meet him in the air and go to heavenly places.A good minister divides time past Israel, having to do something about their imputed trespasses from the but now world not having to do anything about trespasses.Coming into the knowledge of these truths, it removes the chains.Having a transformative understanding of the gospel brings spiritual freedom.A good minister will make a straight cut and slice it right, preach the word of truth rightly divided without placing limitations on forgiveness.After hearing a good minister, you should walk away feeling free and light with a spring in your step, feeling encouraged and edified, ready to go to work and share the good news with others.If you're solid, if you're grounded in Paul's gospel, your words, they're going to bring grace to the hearer, and telling someone they got to do something for forgiveness is not ministering grace to anyone.Telling them they can lose their salvation, that's not ministering grace. Think about telling someone they can lose their salvation when it's not even theirs to lose.We commit our salvation to the Lord rather than trying to self-manage it.Doing so brings peace. Relinquishing control is what enables us to conquer all these anxieties we had about our salvation. This happens when we start relying on his power to save and to keep us safe. Christ assures us that he will finish what he began, Philippians 1:6. Paul said, If we believe not, he abideth faithful and he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13. And in Acts 20 verse 32, he said, And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.Our inheritance is set, locked in. It cannot be denied to us.In Ephesians 4 Paul said, And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.Those who don't believe this are those who don't want to believe it.Hey, it's heresy to reject eternal security. How can you lose your salvation when the Holy Spirit has sealed it unto the day of redemption? I have complete and full trust in the person of the Holy Spirit to keep his promise. Paul didn't mince words in Ephesians 1:13. He said, In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,Meaning, we're eternally kept by God's power. Salvation is a gift and the gifts of God are what?They're irrevocable. There's no sound argument against the eternal security of the believer,none, never has been, and the only reason some of us, myself included, used to think we could lose our salvation is, we didn't bother to rightly divide God's word of truth. We didn't study right.But once we did, once we caught on to this, we realized that the only ones in scripture who could suffer loss of salvation was those outside the dispensation of grace. There is something an interesting term called the personal incredulity fallacy. It's a fallacy, and it's where someone claims that something is false because they can't fully understand it. It's false because I can't believe it. It can't be true because my brain does not accept it. It's where their brain bypasses and avoids engaging with the evidence. But we should never say something is untrue just because it seems counterintuitive. We should never regard it as being false based on our personal inabilityto believe or understand it. That's just not how it works. This is what limited forgivers do, though. They can't imagine how God could stop imputing someone's trespasses without that person having a hand in it. And because they can't imagine it, they think it means it's not true.That's how their brain works. To them, their lack of understanding makes it not true.This is the personal incredulity fallacy. It's flawed logic. Limited forgivers are guilty of this, and they come in all flavors. The Church of Christ, for example, the Church of Christ limited forgivers say you have to, you got to be water baptized to be forgiven. Methodists, they'll tell you you have to confess your sins to God, and even to one another for forgiveness.And the Baptists, they come along and say you have to turn from your sins for forgiveness.Mormons, for what they deemed to be serious sins, they'll say you got to go see the bishop to make restitution. That's much like the Jehovah's Witnesses. They send you to the church elders to get forgiveness. And the Catholic Church, of course, they'll have you doing multiple things.One of the most popular is to take your sins inside the confessional booth where you can sit down with a priest, he'll absolve them for you. Even though the Bible is clear, there is only one mediator between God and man, and that's Christ Jesus, not the man in the booth. 1 Timothy 2:5.But what should we expect from a religion that invokes the dead, prays to Mary, and bows to statue?Their personal incredulity, it has them blind to this truth. But a good minister, a good minister won't fall into this trap. A good minister will rightly divide that which was meant for Israel according to the prophetic program, from that which is meant for us according to God's mystery program.A good minister knows there is more than one gospel in the Bible, and today salvation is found in believing that Christ having died and shed his blood for all your sins, he was buried and rose on the third day offering eternal life as a free gift to all who will believe on him.Grace and peace.

2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 15, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.This is W-T-T-R.The word of reconciliation and songs of grace.Today we're asking the question, was forgiveness completed or only made possible?A problem we see with those who limit God's forgiveness is, instead of putting in the work to define biblical terms, they allow someone else to do it for them.Well, he's the preacher, he's the teacher, he wouldn't steer us wrong.Don't be so sure.Maybe not on purpose, but we're to prove all things, 1 Thessalonians 5:21.Understanding the terms in your Bible is critical.Forgiveness is not the same as justification, righteousness goes beyond being forgiven, and reconciliation is the culmination of God's grace, not simply a theological abstraction.Limited forgivers, they can't handle us because we challenge their assumptions and denominational dogma.And we let scripture define its own language.Philippians 1 verses 9 and 10, Paul wrote, And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve all things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;This is a wonderful passage on discernment.Discernment gives us the ability to think for ourselves, to make sober judgments, to be wise in our decision-making.King Solomon in all his wisdom, he said, Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad.And the writer of Hebrews wrote, For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. For he is a babe, but strong meat belongeth to them that are a full age. Even those who by reason of us have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.Which sounds similar to Paul over there in Ephesians 5 where he said, We should walk circumspectly, not as fools, but to be wise and redeem the time, because the days are evil.As we see, God placed emphasis on using discernment throughout all dispensations.It's not about just knowing right from wrong, but right from almost right.Discerning the gospel from almost the gospel.When discernment is used, we're able to separate truth from error.With all readiness of mind, we receive the word by searching the scriptures daily,to see if what passes through the ear and eye gate is true.Paul said those over there at Berea did their own homework.They thought for themselves.Hey, thinking for yourself has become a lost art.A thing of the past.Look around and you'll notice that today most would rather be told what to think than to actually put in the work to think for themselves.They're tribal, brain lazy, group thinkers that trust whatever the rest of the tribe says.Okay, was forgiveness completed or only made possible?Well, it depends on where you get your information.Man or God?Man says forgiveness was made possible, God says having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, Colossians chapter 1. Having made peace through confessing your sins?Having made peace through your being water baptized? Having made peace by your belief and being saved first?No, having made peace through the blood of his cross.Be aware that there's a big push going on right now to take the focus off the crossand put it on self.False teachings are not only coming from denominations anymore, they're also coming from grace circles.From those who have physically left the church building, but their mind is still there.You'll encounter them if you haven't already, you will, and you'll know them by their fruit.Matthew 12:33, Jesus said, Either make the tree good and the fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and the fruit corrupt. For the tree is known by his fruit.What fruit is he talking about here?Next verse, Oh generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things?For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.See, the fruit Jesus is speaking of is words.And telling someone that the blood of Jesus isn't sufficient for forgiveness unless they add something with it, that's rotten fruit.Rotten to the core.Rotten fruit produced by those who place limitations on God's forgiveness.We're hearing from a lot of you lately who are discovering that in the grace circles,there are those who have never graduated from their denominationalism.Teaching that the blood of Christ and his sacrifice didn't forgive your sins, but only made forgiveness possible.This one gentleman, a former limited forgiver, I asked him, I said, In the Old Testament, when the priest made a blood sacrifice, did Israel's sins get forgiven?He said, sure did.I said, So, you're telling me that the blood of an animal was enough to forgive thosein the Old Testament, but we have to add something to the blood of Jesus?In that case, you're saying the blood of an animal was more powerful than the blood of Jesus.He was speechless.And he had a light bulb moment and realized the error that he had been taught.Taught by someone by the way who mentioned us.Before that, he had no clue who we were.But he began listening, praise God, and ended up catching on and understandingreconciliation.Something that happens a lot.All things work together for good, right?See, if you think the blood of an animal was good enough to forgive Israel's sins,but the blood of Jesus needs you to add something to it to forgive yours, then your belief system needs a makeover.Or a complete overhaul.You're saying that animals' blood forgave their sins, but for us, the blood of Jesus only made forgiveness possible.Hmm.That's pretty hard to believe that there are actually people who think like this.In the Old Testament, on the day of Atonement, the High Priest, he would act as mediator for Israel.He'd enter the Holy of Holies and provide a blood sacrifice.When he did, their sins were forgiven right there on the spot, and peace was restored.This was how reconciliation with God was made.It was forgiveness done, not forgiveness possible.And the same goes for us today.When the blood of Jesus atoned for our sins, our sins were forgiven, right there.Again, forgiveness done, not forgiveness possible.Limited forgivers, they miss the mark on this.Saying forgiveness only occurs after we add something to the blood of Jesus is error.His sinless blood was enough.Adding sin confessing, water baptism, or human belief, human prayers, anything involving us, that only taints the pure and perfect blood of Jesus Christ.Telling someone they need their sins forgiven is not the gospel.Forgiveness is not in our hands, it belongs to God, Daniel 9:9.He required one final blood sacrifice and he got it, Jesus supplied it.He needs nothing from us.We're filthy rags and not capable of triggering a holy God's forgiveness.This dispensation didn't begin at the cross.It was still hidden and secret at that time, because if Satan and his cohorts would have known about it, they would not have crucified Jesus.If they had known that the cross of Christ was going to make a way for a new dispensation where God was going to stop imputing the world's sins and take Satan's best man, Saul of Tarsus, and use him to Acts 17:6 turn the world upside down, if they had known that, they would not have had Jesus hung.1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 7 and 8, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Satan is the God of this world and what Christ accomplished at the cross was kept secret from him until Paul, the due time testifier, came on the scene.1 Timothy 2 verses 5 and 6, For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.What happened at the cross wasn't testified at the cross, it wasn't the right time yet, and if left up to the modern day limited forgivers, it still wouldn't be being testified today.Some say they're a Pauline grace believer but claim that God is still imputing sins.We had been in ministry for almost 10 years before encountering a limited forgiver.That's when we first heard a grace pastor teach that God only stopped imputing sins to believers, which flies in the face of what Paul clearly wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:19, To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world (unbelievers) unto himself, not imputing their (the unbelievers) trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us (believers) the word of reconciliation.This is not a difficult verse to understand. Nothing vague about it. The Son accomplished the world's forgiveness on the cross, 1 Corinthians 15:3, and is why the father stopped imputing sins.According to this present dispensation of grace, no one has to do anything for forgiveness.Now for salvation?Oh yeah, you got to believe Paul's gospel. No belief, no imputed righteousness, no imputed righteousness, no justification.2 Corinthians 5:19 assures us that God from his side has already reconciled the world unto himself, and he's not charging anyone's sins against them.No one can do anything to get their sins forgiven, all they can do is Acts 26:18, receive forgiveness.My friend, this is the gospel of your salvation. Think about this now.The first sin on earth was committed where?In the garden.Which brought what?Sin and death for all humanity.And Jesus was buried in the tomb located where?In a garden.And when he resurrected, he defeated what?Sin and death.So, the first place sin and death entered is the place where Jesus defeated sin and death.In a garden.Adam brought in sin and death.Jesus rose and took out sin and death.Now, here's where the limited forgivers run the train off the track.Being forgiven alone does not save anyone.Never has.To be saved, you must be justified.Forgiven and justified, spelled different, are different.They're not the same and occur at different times.Forgiveness occurred at the shedding of blood, justification occurs at the moment of belief.If they could only get that. Forgiveness occurred at the shedding of blood, justification occurs at the moment of belief.This is what scripture says.It's not debatable.Forgiveness occurred at the shedding of blood, justification occurs at the moment of belief.Say that over and over until you get it.This doesn't line up with the limited forgiver theology.Paul says, And be ye kind one to another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.We forgive others as God forgave us.He forgave us while in unbelief.And knowing this should make us so tenderhearted that we too freely forgive those who have offended us without them having to do anything for it.We forgive others like God forgave us.Our forgiveness toward them shouldn't hinge on whether or not they deserve it.The beauty of forgiveness is, we forgive without their belief.They don't have to believe it.Because it's not up to them.Same with God.Him forgiving you doesn't depend on you.And you'd have to have sort of a narcissistic attitude to claim that it does.Our forgiveness depended on what Jesus did and not what we can do.If you hung a forgiveness picture on your wall, you better not be in it.Forgiveness belongs to God, Daniel 9:9.And he forgave us for Christ's sake.Not our sake.The lack of understanding Bible terminology has caused many to miss this incredible truth concerning forgiveness.To help untangle the terms that tradition conflates, go to our website and get our new book, Understanding Biblical Terminology According to Scripture, not Tradition, and remember, everyone wakes up at different times, so just keep being the alarm clock.We take this moment to remind you the gospel is not, he forgives and forgets.It's he forgave and forgot.Place your trust in the risen Christ Jesus and receive the free gift of salvation today.Truth Time Radio.Celebrating the word of reconciliation, and songs of grace.

Welcome to the Truth Time podcast. Truth Time is available worldwide through various platforms.Podcast, local radio, Facebook, YouTube, and now you can listen from the free Truth Time app.You can listen from your phone, have Alexa play us, and even take us with you in the car.Now for a shot of Truth with no chaser, here's Trey Searcy with today's podcast.Last week I recognized and saluted a few ministers of reconciliation and this week I wanted to do the same.Brother Scott Evans, who you hear on the mobile app during the Truth Time Look in the Book episodes, we're hearing from a lot of folk who are being blessed by those words can't express how grateful we are to be laboring alongside this brother.Scott has been a part of this ministry for many years, and when you're at the website and reading the podcast transcripts, do know that without Scott, without him putting in the work transcribing those transcripts, they would not be there in text form available for YouTube for you to study through.And I can't begin to tell you how many people do that. Some who have had a problem understanding something, but after reading through and mowing over the transcripts, something clicked.So thanks to Brother Scott, your service to the Lord is invaluable.We also salute Copio Felix who ministers reconciliation throughout Kenya, Africa and is also sometimes featured right here on the app.As is our dear brother, Donnie Holt, who preaches reconciliation like nobody's business there in North Carolina.Thank you, sir, for all you do.And Joseph Browning, hats off to you there in Chicago, Illinois, who's been a real blessing to the ministry here.Thank you, Joseph. He's been a listener of ours for years and has a great passion for rightly dividing the word of truth.And a big thanks to Rafael Lima, who is there in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.We love you, brother. Stay strong and hang in there. And we salute our dear brother Aaron Taylor, Aaron holding it down there in South Alabama, Enterprise, Alabama.A big salute to you and we thank you for all your service.I'm reminded of our apostle and what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, One that planteth and one that watereth.That's two, but Paul says they're one.We praise God for these fellow laborers, unified co-workers who share one purpose, to see souls saved and saints edified.1 Corinthians 15:58, Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always bounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.In a passage we often talk about there in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 16 and 17, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is laid upon me. Yay, woe is it unto me if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.Praise God, ambassadors for Christ, ministers of reconciliation, here we are banding together to publish the greatest news.You can't find anything better, the greatest news known to mankind.When you're in the mood for some good news, it doesn't get any better than this.God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.2 Corinthians 5:19, not imputing their trespasses into them, and this gospel, this gospel of reconciliation has been committed unto us.To tell the world that the work, all the work necessary for their eternal soul salvation is d-o-n-e, done, already completed, and all that's left, all that's left to do is by grace through faith, acknowledge it.Acknowledge that God has reconciled you.Your acknowledging that is what reconciles you to God, verse 20.So, verse 19, God was in Christ reconciling himself to you, verse 20, now you reconcile yourself to him.That's the deal, that's the reconciliation good news, this is such a simple yet profound message.One that bringeth great joy, unexplainable peace, peace like you've never experienced before.Words, great words of comfort, words that give us the assurance of knowing just how expansive God's love is.2 Corinthians 5:20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.This is the message, this should be the message on the lips of all believers today, telling the world to be ye reconciled.God commended his love toward us, isn't that good news? In that while we, while you and I were yet sinners, Christ died for us.So it's time to rest, to rest in that good news, to stop striving for God's love.Hey, we don't have to strive for his love, his acceptance, his, listen, we don't have to take a test and we don't have to pass a test.We don't have to endure through anything.That's the message of religion.That's weak, so weak and watered down for those of us who have come into the knowledge of the truth.Hey, we're not fingers crossed, hoping and waiting to see how this thing all turns out. We already know.We don't have to Matthew 24:13 endure unto anything.We don't have to endure into the end to make it because we were sealed at the moment of belief.Ephesians 1:13, praise God, God doesn't need us to perform anything.All he wants from us is our trust.Believe on him that justifieth the ungodly.Other than trusting him by believing this gospel, there's nothing else to do.Nothing else to do for salvation. Oh, we work. We're saved unto good works, but no striving for our eternal soul salvation.We already have it. We're secure in him, hid with Christ in God and Colossians 2:10 complete in him.Complete in the one who is head of all principality.Complete in the one who is head of all power.Complete in him who we were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.We were buried with him in baptism.We were raised, praise God, raised through the faith of the operation of God.The handwriting of ordinances that was against and contrary to us has been blotted out, blotted out completely, taken out of the way and nailed to the cross of Christ.This was all done out in the open.The principalities and powers were spoiled as Jesus was victorious, victorious all by himself.Praise God, this is cause for celebration.Hey, I challenge you to celebrate this.If you're not already, go ahead and try it.It'll bring peace that passeth all understanding.We can stand firm in the ministry of reconciliation.We can open our mouth and declare that we are holy.We are blameless.We can say that because we're a child of the living God.And don't let the God of this world convince you otherwise, to convince you of anything that would contradict this news.If that's what you've been doing, repent, ten toes down, stand firm and change your mind, flee all the expectations that religion has placed on you.As the old song says, Free your mind and the rest will follow.You know, while to some, including works with salvation, oh, it just seems harmless.No big deal.I mean, God did all that for you.You must have to do something for him to be saved.To them, including a little self-effort seems harmless, but it's not.It's an admission of your own self-righteousness is what it is.So, repent, change your mind of that today and start enjoying the liberty,start enjoying the rest that you have in his righteousness,righteousness done in behalf of you.He loves us unconditionally.You don't have to strive for God to love you more because he can't.You ever thought of that?God can't love you any more than he already does.When you believed the gospel, the good news of your salvation, you were adopted into his family, Romans 8:15, eternally safe, eternally secure, at the moment of belief you became one of his children, Galatians chapter 3.You know, many, many teach that the whole world is God's children.You hear that all the time, but the Bible doesn't teach that.You'll hear a lot of universalists say that, but that's not Bible.That's their imagination.Galatians 3:26, For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.See that?It always amazes us how simple Bible truths get overlooked.Children of God are only those who have believed, put their faith in, their trust in, Christ Jesus.Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.Children of God are only those who have believed Paul's gospel.And under the current administration of grace, this economy, the believer's life is not about striving harder to win brownie points with God.Hey, you're either in Christ or you're not.And in Christ, in him there is no need to prove anything.No need to prove your worth.How can you prove your worth anyway when your worth no longer hinges on you?Kind of hard to do, right?Your worth is no longer found in yourself.So, it's pretty free when you come to realize you come to this knowledgethat, and understanding that your worth is in Christ, in him you can let go of all the endless worry, strife, and work and performance.God's not looking at your performance so that he can evaluate you.You're in his Son and he's already been evaluated.His test score is your test score.How about that?Now that's really good news.You don't have to be any more than you already are.In him you can let go of all the anxiety.No need to carry it around any longer.The best way for you to find rest in him is to let your thoughts align with his thoughts.We have the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16, For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?But we have the mind of Christ.Now those are good words.Having the mind of Christ and actually using it, now that's different.We have the mind of Christ in 13 epistles.The mind of Christ is understanding his purpose for us in this dispensation of grace.The mind of Christ stands in opposition to the wisdom of man.The mind of Christ enables us to spiritually discern and separate what is actively going on in the, "but now," from that which is past and will be in the future.This is why Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:7 wrote, We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.And in Philippians 2:5 he said, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.This is about the revelation of the mystery that was revealed to Paul, the faith of Christ that he penned with 13 epistles directly to you.Your instructions for salvation, your walk, your destiny, hey, understanding this allows us to let go of the performance works based lifestyle that religion has enticed us with.Which can only offer endless distractions.Some of us know full well what it's like to be trapped in the religious bubble, running the hamster wheel.We wasted valuable time and energy striving to achieve the impossible, to please the Lord in the energy of our flesh.It never worked.To live by faith is opposite to walk by orchestrating.Instead of orchestrating, we should just allow God's word to do its work in and through us.In Christ, we're not judged by our weaknesses.We're not judged by our failures.One thing that can help us, this can help us.It can help us to cease from all the striving is to receive what Paul wrote in Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. I love this passage. If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.Where's your focus?That's what this is about.Understanding your identity will change your focus.Listen, once we change our affection, we can cease from striving.It's this world that demands that we strive for this and strive for that, but in Christ we find rest.In him we find peace.In him we find contentment.Blessed with all spiritual blessings, lacking nothing, equipped with all knowledge.Okay, guys, keep pressing on, keep pressing forward.Second Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.The work for your eternal soul salvation was completed.Acts chapter 13 verse 37, But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.Be it known unto you, therefore men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you, the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.This gospel is something to be celebrated.He, who knew no corruption, God raised from the dead.And through this man, Jesus Christ, is preached unto all the world, the forgiveness of sins.And all that believe are justified from all things.That's shouting ground good news.I am a boat rocker.If you've landed here and are searching for something to help you escape the chaos found in the denominational system, your search is over.Here to help you sort it all out, this is WTTR Truth Time Radio.

We've got a question here, Brother Trey, we're very thankful to have found this station.We've enjoyed the in-depth studies.My question is, does Galatians 1:15 hint at predestination?A Calvinist friend of ours used this verse to try to prove their position, saying that God predestined the apostle Paul by separating and choosing him before he was born.We don't think so, but would like clarification.Okay, Galatians 1:15, But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, this is Paul speaking, and called me by his grace.So, the Calvinist is saying Paul was predestined from his mother's womb.However, this is not a literal description of his mother's womb.The woman, the mother here, represents Jerusalem.God separated Paul from his position as a pharisaical Jew.Paul was separated, or Saul, I should say, was separated from the one nation, Israel's dispensation of law, and put into the ALL nations, dispensation of grace.We can know this by reading the entire chapter.When it's read in context, this verse becomes clear.This sneaky Calvinist has removed it from its context.Look at the verse that follows.Verse 16, To reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the heathen immediately.See that?So Paul said God separated him from his mother's womb, and the next verse tells us what followed that separation.He says, I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia.Now, if verse 15 is speaking of the literal womb of Paul's mother, then Paul came straight out the womb and went straight into Arabia, and then returned unto Damascus.No logic whatsoever.No, this is speaking of being separated from his former religion.Something many have trouble doing today, by the way.Even those in grace circles.My wife and I have been complaining about this for years.And it's not getting better.It's getting worse, actually.Those who are having trouble separating themselves from their former way of thinking.Now, watch what Paul says here in verse 13, For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and wasted it.This is what God separated Paul from, the Jews religion.And in verse 14, Paul said that he profited in the Jews religion.That too is happening today.Those who have come to understand grace, to a degree, but still desire to prosper.God separated Paul from all his former prophets.Saul was famous in the Jews religion.He was feared, revered, and most likely well off financially.But was willing to give up his popularity that came with his former religion and counted it as BS, bulldung, as he called it in Philippians chapter 3.So, then we come to the verse in question here, verse 15 in Paul says, "but." So, all that we just read followed by, "but," but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace.So, everything before the, "but," helps to set up the context of verse 15.And this clearly is speaking of being separated from his Jewish religion and not the literal womb of his mother.And finally, for the nail in the coffin, in chapter 4 of this same book, verse 26, he says, Jerusalem, which is above is free, which is the mother, which is the mother of us all.So this is the mother he was referring to just three chapters earlier, Jerusalem.Now if you turn back to chapter 1 and read verse 17, he said, Neither went I up to Jerusalem, there it is, Neither I went up to Jerusalem to them, which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.Now watch, verse 18, Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days.How long was Paul separated from Jerusalem, his mother's womb?Three years.So there's the answer.

>>Hello, Trey. This is a fellow dispensationalist calling from Baltimore, Maryland.I discovered your channel a couple months ago, and I will tell you that there's no better way to put this message out live stream in worldwide.I can't believe how comprehensive it is the way you explain scripture.I've been rightly dividing since probably about 2017, and I will tell you, sir, I am compelled to give every Christian that I talk to the address, TTR, True Time Radio, tell them about the live stream.I'm just amazed at how good you do what you do.Your, your eternal reward.Singular, most Christians say rewards, plural.I think your eternal reward will be great.You've done a great thing for the body of Christ and I love you, brother.<<

When talking to others about the revelation of the mystery, there's one thing you might discern, they're having not yet understood that the Apostle Paul was the last to whom the risenChrist appeared.1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning with verse 7, Paul said that Christ Jesus was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time.Think of that; our apostle, the dispensation of grace apostle, was the last to whom the risen Christ appeared.And of course we know that in auditory visions he came back, he gave Paul an abundance of revelations which through him completed the last revelation of himself.That's why in Colossians 1 we read, Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, which is given to me for you, and watch this, to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery, which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints. Verses 24-26.These words, hey the words Jesus gave Paul were the words that fulfilled that completed the word of God.So, without Paul's Damascus road encounter and all the subsequent meetings he had with the Lord, we wouldn't have a Bible.No one would possess God's perfectly preserved word because it was Paul's 13 epistles that completed his word.Furthermore, without those 13 epistles, we have no identity.The very identity of you and I, we as members of the body of Christ, isn't found outside of Paul's writings.Something that modern Christendom overlooks, the church which is his body Ephesians 1:22 is exclusive.It's an exclusive term only found in the epistles of Paul.You and I, we don't exist.We don't find our identity anywhere else in scripture.This is mind-boggling for some who are hearing this for the first time, but because at that time, listen, those scriptures, what they speak of as Paul said Ephesians 2:12, Paul here says at that time, we were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in this world.The, "at that time," he's speaking of is before he received his revelations.Any writings you find that lead up to Paul are not talking about or including you.We were outside, we were outside looking in.What was going on then was for the circumcision.John 4:22, salvation was of the Jews.We were outside and that was the position and identity of the Gentiles prior to the Apostle Paul being given the Ephesians 3:2, dispensation of grace.Thank God, thank God.It was Paul who wrote and completed the Word of God, and that explains why Paul said that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Timothy 3:17.Today, we're throughly furnished because of the writings of Paul if the Lord would not have returned and laid out his predestined plan for us, which is what we find in Paul's books, Romans through Philemon, we would not even be in the picture.But praise the Lord, he had a secret, the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, 1 Corinthians 2:7.Yes, he had a secret, one that before revealing it was kept hidden, one that was decided in the heavenly realm, Ephesians 1:4, before the foundation of the world.Oh, we thank God for keeping his new creature church a secret and assigning a special apostle to take a special gospel and reveal it to the nations.We're so grateful, our heart is full of joy that he equipped him with the Acts 20:24 gospel of the grace of God, which is separate by the way, separate and apart from the law of Moses.Paul was the set aside apostle born out of due time to give us hidden revealing truths that were previously not known, how that God stopped charging sins to the world on the merit of what Christ Jesus our Lord did.Paul was committed with the word of reconciliation in his commission, his purpose, was to Acts 26:18, open our eyes and turn us from darkness to light, turn us from the power of Satan unto God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins, receive the truth that had taken place at Calvary.Think about that there in Acts 26:18, the word received that matches 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which alsoye have received, received.Today, our receiving doesn't make forgiveness true any more than receiving will make his 1 Corinthians 15:3 death true.Or, receiving makes his verse 4 burial or resurrection true.Doesn't matter if we believe it or not, it's true, our receiving it by grace through faith makes us saved.Belief cannot magically activate your forgiveness, not the forgiveness that took place 20 centuries ago.But now it can activate your salvation that takes place at the moment you believe the gospel, which places you into the body of Christ.See, once you start, once you start rightly dividing the word of truth, you can move forward.A change of mindset from your old denominational way of reading scripture, you'll have a paradigm shift from thinking like the old man to thinking like the new man, from the mind of Adam to the mind of Christ, from corruption to liberation, bondage to freedom, darkness to light, from death to resurrection.Freedom isn't found in trying to improve the flesh or doing anything.You'll find it when you reckon your flesh crucified, when you reckon yourself Romans 6:11 dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.Or what about Romans 6:3, Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.Verse 4, Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.Newness of life.Oh, that's good, that hits hard, that's good news.Hey, today, go ahead, decide today, I implore you.Or as Paul would say, I beseech you, to let this be, let this be the day that you decide to start walking in newness of life. Christ died for every one of your sins.God brought in the dispensation of grace. And because of what Christ did, he stopped imputing sins to the world. And in this time of grace, all one must do is hear the good news,the good news of the gospel, how that he died for your sins, he was buried, and he has risen to justify you, to justify all who would believe on him exclusively, believe on him alone.Without 1 John 1:9, without Matthew chapter 19, what shall I do to inherit eternal life, keep the commandments. No, that's not the gospel. Acts 2:38, Repent and be water baptized for the remission of sins. No, Paul was revealed our better news.Romans 5:13, For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.Hey, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Praise God, the stone was rolled back, and now, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.There's power, there is great power in his resurrection, eternal life giving power. And all that is required is to rest in that good news alone, trusting Christ with our eternal salvation, his life. That's what we need. Forgiveness is a done deal. What you need is life.You only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself.

Hebrews 1:1, God who at sundry times and in divers manner spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.Sundry, an adjective meaning several, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. By the prophets.There's our clue, there's our clue, and we know that the book of Hebrews isn't speaking of you and I, it isn't speaking of us for we're not spoken of in prophecy. At that time we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, outside all of the covenants, go study for yourself.In time past, God was dispensing prophecy information throughout your Bible in the books that lead up to the ministry of your Apostle, the Apostle Paul. But then something changed, and he began to dispense mystery information, mystery simply meaning secret information that had not been revealed prior to Paul. Today, we're discussing the advantages of being a dispensationalist, more specifically, a mid-Acts or Acts 9 dispensationalist.Approaching your Bible, understanding the scriptures dispensationally will eliminate much of the chaotic seed that has been sown by religion, the confusion that is found in nearly 50,000 Christian denominations. Matthew 18:18 Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.How's that going for you today? Not well, no, I understand. You see, the reason that you don't have binding and loosening power is because this information wasn't for you. It's pretty simple.This was for another dispensation. The next verse, look at the next verse, it doesn't work either.Verse 19, ...if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall (not might) it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.This doesn't work, doesn't work because it's not your mail. It's the wrong dispensation.Things like this make it hard to understand how anyone could go against dispensationalism, to go against approaching scripture with dispensational lenses.And truth be told, listen, when we come right down to it, at times, everyone is a dispensationalist.If you're not separating from your wife during her menstrual cycle, Leviticus 15:19, you're a dispensationalist. If you're not Deuteronomy 21:18, stoning your rebellious childrento death, guess what? You're a dispensationalist. If you're not a vegetarian, Genesis 1:29, and you're okay with eating meat, 1 Timothy 4 verses 3 to 5, welcome to the dispensationalist club because you are one. Hey, you'd think that everyone would have sense enough to recognize that not all things written in scripture applies to them. If you think the church started back there in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you're a dispensationalist. If you think the church began in Acts chapter 2, like the famous dispensationalist, Charles Ryrie he thought, then you're a dispensationalist.Wrong dispensation, but a dispensationalist nonetheless. And we should note that most are fine with Acts 2 dispensationalists. Tell someone you're an Acts 2 dispensationalist, and they'll barely bat an eye. They're fine with that. Even though, now listen closely, they're fine with you being an Acts 2 dispensationalist. Even though not one, not one Acts 2 dispensationalists do what Acts 2 says to do.None are able to Acts 2:4 speak multiple languages without being taught to.And not one is living a communal lifestyle by verse 45, having sold all their possessions and goods and parted them to all men. Talk about hypocrisy. Welcome to hippocratesville, population in the millions. You cannot execute your hands-on doctrine if you don't first figure out where it is. Can we learn from Acts 2? Yes, things written afore time are for our learning, Romans 15:4, but my hands-on doctrine? No, listen, not found in Acts chapter 2. God didn't supernaturally give me the ability to speak in multiple languages. I'm not living the communal lifestyle.I haven't sold all my possessions. So, the wise thing to do is to get real and realize that the church, which is his body, didn't begin until Acts 9 with the calling out and saving of the Apostle Paul, which makes me an Acts 9 dispensationalist. That's right. Everyone is a dispensationalist in some respect. But if you get your dispensational starting point correct, you'll be able to do what your doctrine says to do. The advantages of being a dispensationalist is knowing what is and what is not written directly to us. When dealing with those dispensational opposers, notice how they will, they credit a man with coming up with it instead of God himself. Somebody get them a Bible because in Ephesians 1:10, the word of God, if that means anything to you, the word of God speaks of the dispensation of the fullness of times. This is future, when he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. And Paul mentions the dispensation we currently live in and he said, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given me to youward. That's Ephesians 3:2. In Colossians 1:25, God inspired Paul to write this, Whereof I am made a minister, according to the... here it is, ...the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to fulfill the word of God. Oh, what do we have here? Listen, without God making Paul a minister and without God giving him his own personal dispensation, the dispensational naysayers wouldn't even have a Bible.And as a result, listen, as a result of their ignorance, people, they like to say there's only one gospel in the Bible. No, there's only one gospel today at present, but there is more than one gospel in your Bible. They say that even though in 1 Corinthians 9:17, Paul said, A dispensation of the gospel,... let me say that again, ...a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.So, for us Bible believers, we're, we're starting to see here, dispensations are not an invention of any man, they belong to God himself. And he put them right here in his perfectly preserved word some 1800 years before a man named Darby. So, don't fall for the lies. A stewardship over different instructions for different people during different times, hey, that's God's idea, not man's. Remember Hebrews 1:1, God who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. He did it in time past, and he did it again with the Apostle Paul. That's why Paul said, Whereby when you read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now, as it is now revealed into his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. As it is now, not before.There were obviously things not known in other ages that were made known in the first century to the Apostle Paul. This isn't hard to understand, just hard for some to believe, because it shakes the foundation of what they've been taught. Want to get men riled up?Go against their tradition.Bringing awareness to there being distinct dispensations in the Bible goes directly against tradition. The dispensation Jesus gave Paul concerned a different gospel with a different destination and is why no one prior to Paul had ever even heard about dying and going to heaven to spend eternity. The dispensation of the gospel given to Paul was Roman 16:25 kept secret since the world began. This revelation of the mystery deals with how that God was in Christ, reconciling the world into himself, and it's there where he stopped charging sins to us. The mystery was how he did this without a covenant or the law. This was mystery, not prophecy, mystery, meaning hid in God and kept secret. Something I find incredibly noteworthy is out of the 13 epistles of the Apostle Paul, he used the word "dispensation" four times, not once, not twice, not even three times, but God had Paul to put it in the Holy Scriptures four times, which is more than the phrase, "born again." Yet, we don't have people today trying to discredit the phrase, "born again," by suggesting that a man came up with it in the 1800s, now do we? A dispensation needs a steward and the Apostle Paul is the steward for this current dispensation we live in. It deals with the management of God's revealed purpose, how things are ordered and managed within a certain setting. His writings contain the daily affairs for the body of Christ. That's where we find our marching orders. To have a steward of a household, someone in charge, someone who, who managed the daily affairs so that the house ran smoothly.A steward's responsibility would also deal with dispensing, how things are distributed.So, when we, when we speak of there being different dispensations, this speaks to how God has different ways of sorting out one thing from another in different time fragments. A dispensation is not a period of time as some teach, but it does happen within a specific time. When we allow his word, when we allow it by itself to reign as our final authority, we cannot help but to see that God governs differently with each administration and each economy. With each, man is given different responsibilities. God does not change. He's the same yesterday and today and forever, but his expectations of mankind have varied from one dispensation to the other. Your salvation doesn't depend on you building an ark, but Noah's did. I don't know how a student of the word could deny that there's different dispensations in this Bible. You got to really go out of your way not to see this, not to see how that God related to his people differently throughout scripture.In time past, the law governed Israel, but in time present, grace governs us. Go read Titus chapter 2, read verses 11 and 12. In Matthew through John, God governed them by their keeping of the law. Matthew 23 verses 2 and 3, Jesus speaking said, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, whatsoever they bid you observe and do. That's the law. That's performance.And in chapter 19 verses 16 and 17, a man asked Jesus, What good things shall I do that I can have eternal life? His answer? Keep the commandments, the law. Most reject dispensationalism, which results in missing God's dual purpose and divine plan for mankind. You can't get out of the first book of the Bible without recognizing this duality. Genesis 1:1, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. He created both for a specific reason, one for an earthly kingdom and the other for a heavenly kingdom. Matthew 6:10 goes right along with it, Jesus said, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. God's will will indeed be done in both.Then watch what Jesus tells Paul to tell us, Ephesians 2:6, ...and have raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So are we waiting on thy kingdom come?No, we are not. This is God's dual plan for humanity right here for all to see and understand his dual plan. One found in prophecy, books before and after Paul, the other found in mystery, Paul's books, Romans through Philemon.Religious institutions continue to cause confusion by overlooking Bible dispensations four times we see the word, but the concept is actually in several places. In fact, a dispensation can be traced all the way back to Adam in the garden. It's vital that we, we recognize the dispensations of God and the stewards that managed each one. Adam, Adam was a steward. He was a manager. Adam was the steward of the garden. Abraham was a steward of the promise. Moses was a steward of the law. And Paul was a steward of grace. Now grace can be found all throughout the Bible in each dispensation, but not a full-on dispensation of grace. When we talk about that, that's nowhere outside of the Apostle Paul's writings, Romans through Philemon. Do your homework. Come to your own conclusion.Jesus gave us some insight of the, the word, "steward," in Luke chapter 12 verse 42, And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make rule over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? God has different stewards with different rules for different households. Paul is our Apostle, Romans 11:13, and was given the responsibility of being a steward of the mysteries of God for this grace dispensation.As we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Listen, studying scripture through dispensational lenses, you know what it's going to do? It's going to open up your understanding like never ever before. My job here today as an ambassador for Christ, my job is not to convince you of anything. Anything I can talk you into someone else can come along and talk you out of. I want you in this book discovering these truths for yourself. If you don't come to the same conclusion we here at Truth Time have, that's fine, but we want, we got to get you in this book.During the, the, the Cambodian genocide, I think it was 1970, it was in the 70s, but there was a man, a man who led this, who led a regime called the Khmer Rouge. His name was, his name was something like Pol, Polpot, or Polpot. I may be pronouncing it wrong, but Pot told his men to target those who wore eyeglasses. Those who wore eyeglasses he considered a threat because they were more likely to be intellectuals, and the educated, it was the educated that were seen as their biggest threat. So, acquiring knowledge was a reason to be stopped and interrogated, which often led to a death sentence for wearing eyeglasses. And if you remember, God told Israel that they were destroyed for lack of knowledge, but here we see people being destroyed for having knowledge.We should be very thankful, very thankful indeed that we currently have no such regime.We're free to 2 Timothy 2:15 study, educate ourselves so we can rightly divide the gospel of our salvation from the gospel not of our salvation, dividing the dispensations found in scripture.Paul said to consider what he said and the Lord will give you understanding in all things, 2 Timothy 2:7. Those today claiming to be covenant in their theology, we've had to deal with them for quite some time now, many times over the years, over the years of our ministry. And well, at times they too have to become dispensationalist to a degree. They have to because at times, they have a moment of clarity and realize just how idiotic and contradicting their teachings sound.So, they have to tweak it back, shave off a little, and change what they're saying.But you don't because, because you don't have to.As an Acts 9 dispensationalist, we simply don't have to do that. But most, they tend to take a little from one dispensation, a little from another dispensation, they cherry pick is what they do, they get some parts here and parts there and then make a combo meal. Their failure to recognize the distinct stewardship given to the Apostle Paul results in them being unstable. People will run from cover to cover one end of the Bible to the other, trying to make everything about them.Stealing Israel's mail. But dispensational understanding will help you with that. It clears the cobwebs and lets you know where you stand. I don't forgive others to be forgiven, Matthew 6:14. I forgive others because I'm already forgiven, Ephesians 4:32.I don't get baptized to receive the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38, because the Holy Spirit baptized me into the body of Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:13. The reason I haven't Matthew 19:29 forsaken my home, my family, and land as a condition to inherit everlasting life, is because I'm a dispensationalist.And so are you if you're honest. See, one dispensation teaches one thing, another dispensation teaches something else. Over time, God has used more than one body of principles to govern man.In scripture, God's divine purpose doesn't change, but the means did. He dealt with different people in different times using different manners. Understanding what dispensation we're currently in will ultimately help us answer two very important questions. What is God doing, and what is to be expected of me today? In time past, God gave Moses a dispensation of law for Israel, but he gave Paul a dispensation of grace for us. Under the law, they were expected to keep it in order to inheriteverlasting life, but our salvation is according to mercy, Titus 3:5, and not by works of righteousness which we have done. The idea of our Bible having different dispensational truths is really not a hard concept to grab hold to, but to do so, you've got to get rid of some nonsensical notions that have been put forth by those who teach covenant theology. Their idea of rightly dividing is to make a distinction between the old covenant and new covenant, to which a Bible believer, they know that both the old covenant and the new covenant are meant for the same people. The House of Israel and the House of Judah. Truth confirmed by Jeremiah 31 verses 31 to 34, and Hebrews chapter 8 verses 8 through 13. Go read it, then believe it. You're not there. We're not old covenant, we're not new covenant, we're not old covenant Israel, we're not new covenant Israel, we're not either or we're neither nor. You and I are members of the church which is his body, Ephesians 2:22.Covenant theology and their failure to rightly divide, they have to pretend that all the books of the Bible contain one message to every one of all time, which leaves them scratching their head while having to make up stories to explain certain verses instead of simply believing them as they are written, as they were written and to whom they were written.If you sit down at a poker table, the, the dealer, he'll dispense cards. Your cards will change from one hand to the next. You go to a soda fountain, place your cup underneath the dispenser that says, Sprite, it shouldn't be a surprise when you get a Sprite. Sprite is not Coke, Coke is Coke.Sprite's not Coke, no more than law is grace. Sprite's not Coke, law is not grace, and Israel is God's first born, you are not. You're the church, which is his body. The Bible is structured like, like a library. It's not a single, linear novel. The Bible is made up of various books written to various people throughout different times describing various events. In it, we see certain markers that distinguish dispensations. And hopefully something I've said here today will help you see the simplistic nature of how your Bible is actually laid out. God's word wasn't written to fool anyone. There's no trickery here. It is man who's responsible for that.Now, I'm, I'm in no way saying that there aren't some things in scripture that are hard to understand, there certainly are. But let me tell you this, you don't stand a chance of understanding this book until you first figure out the layout.If you're on the interstate driving from one state to another, you'll notice that each state dispenses speed laws, and some differ from the next. You're cruising along at 75 miles per hour and, and you look at your heads up display and notice the speed sign turned red. That's your warning.A warning that a new dispensation, a new speed limit is in effect.As dispensationalists, we have our own heads up system. When we look to God's word, we notice the changes.We see how he dealt with Adam and Eve before sin, and we see how he changed his dealings with them after sin. We recognize how things changed after the flood from before the flood.We see the clear differences found in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John from the letters of Paul.They're different, different instructions, something different's going on.And a lot of people see this. That's why they call Paul a heretic.And on the flip side, Martin Luther thought James was the heretic.Wanted his books removed from the Bible.Because much of his teachings are opposite to Paul's. He got that right.But as Acts 9, mid-Acts dispensationalists, we have the answer to the supposed conundrum.We don't want James' book removed from the Bible. It's perfect right where it is.Your dispensational thinking won't line up with traditional thought, so don't be surprised when you're labeled a heretic also.What do you think those law-dog Judaisers thought about Paul when he came bullhorning the gospel of grace in their cities? They tried to kill him, that's what they did.Wanted him dead, preaching salvation by grace through faith alone, hey, it comes with a price.If your belief system's been put together like one of those crazy quilts, I think they're called, some column album quilts. You know, the ones that women used to sew, maybe still do, putting a piece of history in a here and then placing a picture of somebody here, it's a beautiful thing, but that's not how our Bible operates.We have to rightly divide the dispensations and keep them in their proper place.It helps the believer to discover their true identity in Christ, no longer having to, to cherry pick from various dispensations, trying to piece them all together and figure out who you are and where you stand, it'll never work. You'll be unstable in all your ways.But listen, you don't have to rightly divide to get saved. We want to make that clear.All you have to do for salvation is hear and believe Paul's gospel.But the problem is, many never hear and believe the correct gospel because they never heard it taught dispensationally. But you hearing and believing the gospel is the main thing and we want to motivate you. Truth Time Radio is here to do just that, to get your nose in God's book. His book is the only authority. If we presented something that got you in this book studying for yourself, we did our job. We did what we set out to do because we believe that for many, that's all that's lacking, putting God's word before their tradition, putting his word before mama said, daddy said, preacher said. So, being dispensational means we recognize that God has had different methods of speaking.As dispensationalists, we see and respect the timelines, the plans, and the purposes. We know that his purpose for Israel was to make of himself a peculiar nation of kings and priests to inherit heaven on earth. Matthew 5:5, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. That's not you. But thankfully we're not left out. He has a plan and purpose for us, too.To set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth, Colossians 3:2. Those two verses do not say the same thing. They oppose one another and they're supposed to. Nothing wrong with your Bible, it's your approach. And if you are not looking at your Bible dispensationally, things will get confused really quick. Like it or not, agree with it or not, your Bible is not saying the same thing everywhere to all people. There are two groups of people with two separate destinations, and you're a part of the new creature heading for heavenly places, not a nation of people looking for their new city to come down on earth. There's a reason the term, "the church which is his body," is found in Paul's writings. There's more than one church in your Bible, but the body of Christ church was a unique entity that remained hid in God before being revealed to the Apostle Paul.An honest look at scripture will bear out everything I'm telling you here. Just go put your nose in the book, study this book. God has more than one people, one purpose, and one destiny.But this truth, it'll remain hidden until you put on your dispensational lenses and take a fresh look.Christ died for your sins, he was buried, three days later he rose to justify all that would rest their faith in him, solely in him alone. The world's sins stop being imputed at the cross.Our victory is found in him and in him alone. There's only one way to heaven and it is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When a man who is honestly mistaken, when he hears the truth, he'll either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.

John, he writes, How do you believe people were saved during Jesus' earthly ministry, which is before his death burial and resurrection?Okay, John, thanks for the question.They were saved by the gospel of the kingdom.The only requirement was to hear and believe that Jesus was who he declared himself to be, the Christ, the Son of the living God, John 20 verse 31, But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."Through his name."It's quite obvious that John didn't teach life through the cross.He taught life through his name.That's how they were saved, and other than the thief on the cross, after they believed, they had to be water baptized.It wasn't an option, it was a must.They had to do so to prove their belief.The thief on the cross was saved without water.But if he had come down off the cross and refused baptism, he would have suffered loss of his salvation.Because even though their belief in the name placed them in right standing with God, they had to maintain that standing while alive.That's why Jesus said, But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13.Some, you know, them that those that like to make salvation the same all throughout the Bible, not recognizing the uniqueness of Paul's gospel, they don't believe what we just read.They don't believe that Matthew 24:13 means what it says.They have to juggle the verse to make it line up with their theology.Salvation by enduring unto the end isn't grace.Don't let anyone fool you.It's interesting how most miss this.Salvation by enduring is salvation by merit.Deuteronomy 6:25, And it shall be our righteousness,...Hey, let me repeat that.It shall be our righteousness, our righteousness.If we,... and here comes to the condition, ...if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us...See that?Just like Matthew 24:13, here is another one, here's another one they don't believe.Deuteronomy 6:25.When rightly dividing is overlooked, now please listen, listen closely and mark my words here.When rightly dividing is avoided, there will be a slew of verses that your preacher will either have to change or ignore.Now, in Matthew 19, we see an excellent example of what it meant to endure unto the end starting with verse 16. Come with me, if you have your King James Bible.Here it says, And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God:...And then he answers the man.He answers his question.He said, ...but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.Now, is this the dispensation of grace?No, it is not.The law was still in effect, and it shall be our righteousness.Remember? If we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us, what shall I do?Keep the commandments.He didn't say, Believe the gospel.How that I died for your sins was buried and rose the third day.How could he?He's very much alive here, and talking to the man.You see, what some do is they, they, they read Paul's gospel back into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.They read Paul's gospel into Acts chapter 1, chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.That's intellectually dishonest.Paul didn't come on the scene, he didn't come along until Acts 9, and you're not going to find his gospel back there unless you take a plunger and shove it back in.The man asked a simple question and got a simple answer.You want eternal life?Keep the commandments.Because righteousness was found in the law like we just read.And watch what Paul says about it.Watch this.Let's see here.Philippians chapter 3, come with me.Philippians chapter 3 starting with...Hmm...Verse 4, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:Are you hearing this?Oh, you've read it, but, but did you grasp what you read?Paul said, now listen, he said, If any other man... if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I (that's Paul), I more:What's Paul talking about here?That doesn't sound like grace.No, it's not, because Paul is speaking of time past.He says he was circumcised on the eighth day.He was of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin.He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law.He was a Pharisee.Concerning zeal, he persecuted the church.And he goes on to say, Touching the righteousness, which is found in Christby grace through faith.Is that what it...?No, that's not what it says.Touching the righteousness which is in the law...Righteousness in the law?That's right.Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.Blameless, Paul said.Oh, you mean Paul never sinned?No, he was blameless because he understood what was required of a man, what the law required of him when he did sin.He had an out, a way to get back into right standing.What did Paul say?Where was righteousness in time past?Touching the righteousness which is in the law.Not in Jesus, not in the gospel of trusting Christ by grace through faith.Nope.You got to read that back in to all those, to those books outside of Romans through Philemon.It's not there.The gospel of trusting Christ by grace through faith alone, that's Paul's present day gospel.That's the one for us.But it's nowhere to be found outside of his epistles.His epistles are for the body of Christ, the body of Christ, an entity that's not found outside of his epistles either.Not many stop to think about these things.The body of Christ is an exclusive term to the Apostle Paul.Putting your trust in Jesus, his finished crosswork and resurrection,dying and going to heaven, that's not the gospel of the kingdom.That's Paul's gospel.That's what Jesus gave to Paul, Galatians chapter 1 verse 11.Paul was taught by no man.None of the twelve had to teach Paul the gospel of the kingdom for him to go preach, because that wasn't his gospel.He was given an exclusive and a distinct, unique gospel straight from the mouth of the risen Lord Jesus Christ from heaven.So, watch out for the pulpit magicians out here who, who read Paul's gospelback into a place where it does not fit.Putting Paul's gospel in the gospel of the kingdom will pervert the gospelof the kingdom.Putting the gospel of the kingdom into Paul's gospel will pervert Paul's gospel.That's why in Galatians 1, he said, There is not another, presently not another gospel than the one I preach.Watch out for the blenders, they're conflating what God said is to be kept separate.The gospel of the kingdom is different than Paul's Acts 20:24 gospel of the grace of God.As members of the body of Christ we find our salvation, our worthy walk,our eternal destiny in the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of Christ,the gospel of Christ as presented to the apostle Paul.As members of the body of Christ, we do not find our salvation, our worthy walk, or our eternal destiny in the gospel of the kingdom.That was about the good news of Israel's coming Messiah to be their king in their kingdom.And again, not about anyone dying and going to heaven.That didn't come till later.That's Paul's gospel.I can take this Bible and preach Jesus two different ways.I can preach Jesus according to prophecy, or Roman 16:25 according to the revelation of the mystery.You need to get that.Don't take my word, go study this out for yourself.Be an Acts 17 verse 11, be like those of Berea.It's Paul's gospel, his gospel of Christ that is by grace through faithand that not of yourselves which is clearly, I mean, come on, that's clearly not the gospel of the kingdom, where one had to be water-baptized for the remission of sins, keep all the commandments, and forsake everything in order to inherit everlasting life.Some fools want us to believe that's grace.That's not grace.That's nonsense is what it is.Even Jethro with his six-grade education could get this.Over the years, over the years while witnessing Paul's gospel, his gospel of Christ to others, after mentioning some of these things I'm speaking with you guys about today, some of these things that had to be done according to the gospel of the kingdom, most, what do they do?They get a, that look of unbelief on their face.Until, until, until I have them open the book and read it for themselves,and they're still a little astonished, but at least they, they actually see that I'm speaking scripture.Matthew 19:29.Now watch this.Matthew 19, if you've got your Bible, Matthew 19 verse 29.If you don't have your Bible, make a note, a physical one or a mental one,and go read this for yourself.If you're a Bible believing student of God's word, you're not going to read this and come away with, "Oh, there's just one gospel all throughout the Bible."You can't do it.Not, not if you're intellectually honest.You just can't.Matthew 19:29, And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,..."My name's sake."Ah, there's John 20:31 again, Life through his name,... keep reading, ...shall receive an hundredfold,... and what?What's the next four words?Shall inherit everlasting life.So, there's only one gospel, huh?How did they get saved according to the red letters of Jesus?Oh, just believe that he died for your sins, he was buried, and he rose again.I don't think so.Anyone telling you there's only one gospel in the Bible is unlearned.Anyone that says that what we just read here in the red letters of Jesusis the same salvation by grace through faith that he told Paul to preachis ignorant to the scriptures.And obviously, they don't know what grace even means, but that's okay.Ignorance is curable.You only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself, so, get in this book.Hey, grace is the opposite of having to do these things we're reading about.Grace is not having to forsake your house, your land, your brother, your sister, father, mother, wife, and children, but that was, yes, that was the gospel of the kingdom.We just read it.In clear red letters right here on the page of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, those things had to be done.Why?Jesus told them to inherit everlasting life, a very simple message.To inherit everlasting life, it would have been hard for anyone to complywith what Jesus said, but especially, especially those with great wealth.Hence the reason for Mark chapter 10, there where over there where Jesus said, (24b) Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! (25) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.Mark chapter 10 verse, verse 24 and 25.Hey, that this has no application for today's gospel of grace.And you're teaching a fairy tale gospel if you say it is.Rich, poor, whatever, doesn't matter today when someone hears and believes the gospel of their salvation, they're saved.They don't have to abandon anything.No forsaking, nothing about a camel going through an eye of a needle in our gospel.Today, it's about the simplicity of Christ.The gospel Jesus gave to Paul.To further the point, think about what Paul wrote, a, wrote there in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.He said, He was given a dispensation of the gospel.Think about that.Paul was given a dispensation of the gospel for his very own.Who else said that?People who pretend and play church and say, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,that's where I find my instructions.They have a rough time when they come to verses like this, like this one here in Matthew 19:21.They come here to where Jesus said to, Inherit everlasting life, you got to forsake your house, your family, and all your land,...and they'll say something like, Well, what Jesus was really trying to say,...Hey, he wasn't trying to say anything.He said it perfectly, very frankly and candidly by the way.See, the remedy to your problem would be to believe what he said.Part of the maintenance plan for those under the gospel of the kingdom was to forsake all, and if you don't believe that, your problem isn't with preachers like me.Your problem is with the word of God.Sadly, it seems that his word is not your final authority that traditions of men is.A Bible believing student, a student of God's word, shouldn't have any trouble, seeing very plainly that the gospel of the kingdom is totally detached from Paul's, "my gospel."He says, "my gospel" three times and for good reason.It's different.The gospel of the kingdom does not tell us how we receive life.The gospel Jesus gave Paul does.Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in him that his death, burial and resurrection will see you through.No mistake about it.No sins imputed.He shed his blood for them all.They buried him and he has risen.Praise God.

Kept secret and made known are polar opposites.It seems like there's not much further you can get on that one.We had someone the other day trying to tell us that, well, the mystery was known by the prophets.But they couldn't prove it.You know, a lot of people say a lot of things.But when it comes down to it, when you give them their time, their space, their few minutes to explain it to you, and they couldn't prove it because the scriptures that Jesus was talking about were written by the prophets, all those prophecies that testified of him.But none of the prophets, not a one, knew the mystery.They didn't know the mystery scriptures that would one day interrupt and put that prophecy program on hold to bring in a postponed dispensation of grace.The mystery scriptures that would provide us with things never spoken before.Secret data hidden in God before, not from, before the foundation of the world.Guys, when we compare the verses and we can see the contrast.We see the comparatives.It opens our eyes to truths that you've never seen before, still just thinking about it and talking about it, be about it, get in this book.That's our job.Back it up, confirm it, be an Acts chapter 17:11 Berean and go search it for yourself.Make sure what we're telling you is true.That's exactly right.We're here to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery by doing what?, rightly dividing the word of truth, comparing scripture with scripture.Most don't know how to rest in this finished crosswork because of that.This finished crosswork of Christ, it doesn't happen by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John knowledge.It won't happen.Hebrews through Revelation will not give you peace.You won't find it there.You won't find the joy.You won't even find the term, "body of Christ."No.You see, people's been in this religious system has you working toward the cross, but for many years now, we've been committed to teaching others how to work from the cross, to work smarter, not harder, to help you separate right from almost right.There's a whole lot of almost right out there.There is.When you rightly divide the word of truth, it's clean.It's not eat the meat and spit out the bones.It's just eat the meat.There should be no bones.You only get two educations, the one you're given and the one you give yourself, so keep shunning profane and vain babblings, and keep educating yourself, educating yourself in the Pauline epistles.Too many men, they mix their religious poison that alters the composition of Paul's gospel.Most church buildings today are, they're a place to go for worshipatainment.Worshipatainment.It's Six Flags over Jesus.Oh, yeah.True worship is found, guys, in studying the very words of God that are written down right here in 66 books.Worship minus the entertainment, opening God's perfectly preserved word, and getting to the heart, cutting to the heart of the gospel, the way Paul, our 1 Timothy 1:16 pattern, taught us to do.Now, that's true God honoring worship, patterning ourselves after our apostle.He said, For I had determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.1 Corinthians chapter 2, yep, yeah, this brother Paul, this man, hey, he had no shame in the game.No shame when it come to preaching the gospel.What we've commonly seen happening today is an ungodly watering down of what true worship is.It's not what you see on TBN, Daystar.And the main thing is they don't understand the fellowship of the mystery.They don't understand.2 Corinthians 5:19, God was in Christ doing what?Reconciling the world into himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.But there's all kinds of physical acts people are doing, trying to get the non-imputed sins, now, which non-imputed sin can you go, go to the altar and pray through for?Which non-imputed sin can you say the Lord's Prayer and him forgive you?Well, I should say the sinners prayer as they say.Right.We did a teaching on that.That's nonsense.It is.Had a listener send us that pamphlet that he found at a restaurant telling you to say that prayer.Yeah.Won't do a thing for you.Right.And prayer is a work.So, if you're praying to get saved, then you're working for your salvation.Our apostle is going to tell us that that's not going to do it.That's right.I mean, really, really clear, it's not going to happen.Well, you just said prayer is a work.Right.That takes, that takes most of twistianity by surprise.They don't have no clue that prayer is.They'll say, I mean, I've had them tell them prayer is not a work.I don't feel like I'm working.I don't care what you feel like.We're reading scripture.Paul says.Paul says it is.In prayer.And labor is work.In prayer is work.So yeah.Prayer is a work.You can't be saved by a work.Forget it.Prayer is something saved people do.It's not something unsaved people do to get saved.Right.Right.That's a lie of the devil.It's one of the most popular ones.And again, the only thing worse than going to hell is going there and being surprised, and there's going to be a lot of folk in hell because they prayed that prayer.Right.And you made me think of a verse when you were talking about the word worship awhile ago and saying that people don't worshipatainment.Right.Worshipa...I have to write that down.That's, that's a new one you just sprung on me like you usually do, but worshipatainment.I will forget that.That's a, that's a good one.Um, Philippians 3:3, For we are the circumcision,... and we know what Paul means when he says circumcision here, he's not talking about the Jews' religion.We're talking about what happened as a result of the operation of God, ...which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.Talking about all the worship that you see going on in churches on TV, the worshipatainment, TikTok platform in front of people.It is flesh.It is, it is flesh.If you look at it this way, though, you can understand that to lift your hands up to heaven and praise God, there's nothing wrong with that.But, once you do that and look at your hands as being the worship to God, that's when the problem comes in because worship should be a reaction.This is a reaction.It's a response.Whenever you're forcing the worship, that's your flesh, just like emotions and feelings and everything, we're not emotionless, we're not without feelings, but those are a response.They're not what leads us.The truth leads us.I mean, I know you do too.I have a reaction to the truth.What should be the response is what's leading you is when it becomes of the flesh.That's right.It's an ungodly watering down of what true worship is.Liftin' your hands and praisin' the lightbulbs.Yeah.If you pay attention to what they say and what they're doing, they're doing it, there's really a religious term that just hit my mind, an invocation.They're doing it to invoke the spirit that should already be living inside of them and sealing them up.Oh, no, what are you talking about?They have the spirit, boy, after the service, "The Spirit sure showed up and showed out today."What? The Spirit showed up?Are you saved?They haven't been taught that if you're saved, the Spirit is there with you.It doesn't dwell in these temples made with hands.Oh no.It goes with you wherever you go. That's right.Again, we're back to this false worship watered down and that's why we're constantly here focusing on the cross of Christ because the preaching of the cross has the ability to turn the world upside down.We're constantly focusing on the resurrection because that's where we find our assurance accepted in the beloved.We're not doing things to be accepted.No.We're not doing things to get favor with God.No.Already got the, listen, I'm in Christ.Does Christ have favor with God?Then Trey Searcy has favor with God.I'm complete in Christ.That's right.What I find out is that whenever I got saved, I was sanctified set apart because I was placed into Christ versus being outside of Christ.I don't know how much more sanctified I can get than that.Now, my job is to try to walk in that as best as I can.It's trying to live up to what you already are.Right.Now, I'm not doing that because I need a motivation of a prize that I'm going to win when I get to heaven.I'm doing that because I want to do what Paul says to do, which is what will be pleasing to the one who died for me.

Today, on Truth Time.Some who hold to the idea that all believers of all time were saved and sealed and couldn't lose their salvation.You know, the ones who boldly proclaim that everyone in the Old Testament was looking forward to the cross, these folks have a hard time understanding what the word, imputation, means.It isn't some mystical, magical act of God to have something imputed.The word just means accounted, reckoned, or charged, all accounting terms.So, when we see that righteousness was imputed to Abraham, it just means that God judged him as righteous.He wasn't zapped with an infusion of God's righteousness to dwell within him.God just called Abraham's faith in his promise to him a righteous act.This, is Truth Time Radio.Part 14b of our Romans study coming up, we closed last time by answering the question, Was Abraham justified by faith as demonstrated by Paul or by works as demonstrated by James?The answer is both, both Paul and James are correct.The reason why this is even possible is because it was Abraham's faith that was accounted to him as his own righteousness, not God's.Being made the righteousness of God, 2 Corinthians 5:21, is a unique characteristic that applies only to this present dispensation of grace.It's one of the many mysteries that was revealed to Paul. It's not a part of prophecy doctrine.In our last discussion, we showed how all throughout scripture the requirement to be counted righteous has always been to observe and do.Whatever that particular faith prescribed.No matter what dispensation, Deuteronomy 6:25, And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.Some read this, but they don't really believe it. They blow through the verse and miss two very important words, "our righteousness."Even Jesus himself, during his earthly ministry instructed Matthew chapter 23, he instructed his disciples, Observe and do whatsoever the one that was sitting in Moses' seat would tell them to do.That's how their righteousness, not God's, that's how their righteousness would be accomplished.That's the wrong dispensation for being made righteous.That's yours alone and don't forget it. And listen, this is important.This truth about righteousness was not only true about the law of Moses, but also true with Noah, with Abraham, with Noah and Abraham when there was no law.Ezekiel 14:14, here's what your King James Bible has to say about it, Though these three men,... now listen if you want to flee from that error you've been in about imputed righteousness, here's your chance. Here's your chance to agree with God, Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.What is it about these two words that have some in a pickle?Two words, "their righteousness."You can agree with God or disagree, the choice is yours. And just in case any of us missed it the first time, six verses later, God repeats himself.Verse 20, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.See, it's this sort of candid and frank straightforward, no holds barred truth that separates Bible believers from non-Bible believers.Okay, Job 27:6, My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.First two words out of Job's mouth, "My righteousness."Old Testament, New Testament, doesn't matter, nothing changed. Watch. Matthew 5:20, For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.Your righteousness.The truth about this is even revealed in the red letters, but most miss it.See, the crosswork, the crosswork is what brought the change, and that change it isn't made known until the risen glorified Christ appears to Paul in Acts chapter 9.Now, turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 22, where we see David speaking about his own righteousness. Verse 21, The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness...And verse 25, Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness...And David's not done, he mentions his own righteousness two more times in Psalm 18 verses 20 and 24.If you don't believe the words, "my righteousness" means "my righteousness," if God's own words can't do it, you've got a colossal problem.1 Kings chapter 8 verse 32, Then here thou in heaven and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked to bring his way upon his head and justifying the righteous... Now here comes the good part,... to give him according to his righteousness.Could God make it any planer?I'm here today just holding fast the faithful word as I've been taught. Titus 1:9, That I may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayer, allowing God's word to make the case.Over and over, we see this repeatedly throughout scripture. You can find this demonstrated multiple times in Ezekiel.You'll see it. You'll see that the righteous man can actually turn away from his own righteousness. Here's one I'll share with you, but there's plenty more you can go look up for yourself. Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 24 watch, But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,... ever seen this before?,... when the righteous turn away from his righteousness,... there it is in plain King James English.Be sure you don't miss the wording we've been going over, we've uncovered here in this study. We've seen the words, his righteousness, their righteousness, my righteousness.And these personal pronouns have one thing in common, none refer to God's righteousness. As we've been hammering over and over receiving God's righteousness, his imputed righteousness is something reserved only for those in the body of Christ, and we will continue to stand on that truth because that's what God says.Agreein' with him is the number one cure for ignorance. And we too, we too, those of us under grace, also have the instruction to observe and do for righteousness.Ephesians 1:13. Number one, we hear the gospel, observe, number two, you trust Christ as a result of believing the gospel you heard.And there's the do, observe and do. This is our obedience to God's word, our faith of Christ doctrine for salvation, Roman 16:26, listen, But now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.Romans 15:18, For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought by me to make the Gentiles obedient by word and deed.Word and deed. Think about that. Word equals God's word to us, our gospel.Deed equals our doing. And our only deed for salvation is believing.Believing is doing just like Paul said in Acts chapter 16 verses 30 and 31.What must I do to be saved, the jailer's question to Paul and Silas. What did they say? Believe. And as a result of belief, we receive God's righteousness by virtue of our own declared identity of being in the body of Christ.Because the Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness, he's the righteous one. We're righteous, not of ourselves, not of our own works, as was required of those Old Testament saints in time past, but you see, our but now gospel is not their time past gospel.They received eternal life by their righteousness, which was based on their obedience, not by the blood of Christ, not by grace through faith in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness, but his future hope and salvation was according to a faith that was validated through covenant, not apart from works, but justified by them.That righteousness could be lost, lost through disobedience, and that covenant could be broken, nullifying the promise.In a moment, we'll see how what James wrote concerning Abraham confirms this.This truth about righteousness is found in your New Testament as well. Truth for those outside of the Romans through Philemon parenthetical dispensation of grace.Take John for example, what does he say about righteousness? 1 John 3:7, Little children, let no man deceive you, he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.What? To hear some tell it, John was a grace apostle who preached the same gospel as Paul.That's straight up error is what it is. Notice the 2 Corinthians 5:21, "made the righteousness of God in him," is missing. John doesn't know anything about that.Some who hold to the idea that all believers of all time were saved and sealed and couldn't lose their salvation.You know, the ones who boldly proclaim that everyone in the Old Testament was looking forward to the cross, these folks have a hard time understanding what the word, imputation means.It isn't some mystical, magical act of God to have something imputed.The word just means, accounted, reckoned, or charged, all accounting terms.So, when we see that righteousness was imputed to Abraham, it just means that God judged him as righteous.He wasn't zapped with an infusion of God's righteousness to dwell within him. God just called Abraham's faith in his promise to him a righteous act.And that righteous act caused God to count Abraham righteous in that moment.Paul says in verse 3 of Romans 4 that Abraham's belief was counted unto him for righteousness.In verse 9, he says that his faith was reckoned to him for righteousness.And in verse 22 of the same chapter, he says that Abraham's faith was imputed to him for righteousness.Counted, reckoned, imputed, terms used to say that God judged Abraham as righteous because of his faith.This is not the same as the 2 Corinthians 5:21 being made the righteousness of God in Christ.It's not the Romans 5:19, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.The Old Testament saints didn't know anything about being made righteous, didn't know anything about being quote unquote, "the righteousness of God."That would have sounded blasphemous to them.Clearly, when we talk about anyone before or after the dispensation of grace being righteous, it is their righteousness, not God's.Their own righteousness depended on their ability to maintain it through works.No one outside of the dispensation of grace had Christ in them as their hope of glory.No one outside this dispensation was sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption, and with everlasting life as present possession.They had to Matthew 24:13, endure in their faith to the end of their lives, and that would preserve them until the Acts chapter 3:19, times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.They're still waiting on grace to come, that grace that Peter talked about.That's when they'll be born again, born again into the regenerated earth, where they will rule and reign as kings and priests with Christ.This is really just Mid-Acts dispensationalism 101, just plain truths of scripture, and anyone claiming that those from time past couldn't lose their salvation have yet to fully grasp the uniqueness of Paul's ministry.You've got to abandon context to make the argument that those from time past could not lose their salvation.If the Twelve and the rest of the little flock couldn't lose their salvation, and Ananias and Sapphira should have never died for lying to the Holy Ghost.This is a good time, uh, let's take a look into what James, what he says regarding Abraham's justification and how it compares to what Paul said.Romans chapter 4 verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath wear of to glory, but not before God. (Verse 5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.We see Paul here clearly stating that it was Abraham's faith, not his works, for which God initially counted him righteous.This was when Abraham finally believed God. He took him at his word and believed the promise that God had made him.Then God said, Abraham is righteous for believing me.But our next question should be, What did Abraham's faith tell him to do?As you'll see here in Genesis chapter 15, because his faith was imperfect, he questioned God.About how he would know for certain, the promise would come to pass.In verse 8 he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it.Verse 9, He said unto him, take me a heifer of three years old and a she-goat of three years old and a ram of three years old. And a turtle dove and a young pigeon, verse 10, And he took unto him all these and divided them in the midst and laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not.And on and on it goes, I challenge you to go read it. Start with verse 8 and read through verse 21.It's amazing that all this information is right here in plain sight, yet some only focus on the part that says Abraham believed in God and he counted it to him for righteousness.Abraham was counted righteous for believing God's promise, but that faith was just step one in his righteousness.Genesis 17:1, and when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect. See that? Be thou perfect. That's his own righteousness.That's not 2 Corinthians 5:21, God making him righteous. That's not Abraham receiving God's righteousness.And that's why he could stop believing or disobey God and he would no longer be counted righteous.He wasn't eternally secure and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.Faith brings about righteousness, but works through obedience demonstrates it.And that's precisely what justification is, a declaration of righteousness.If one isn't righteous, they cannot be justified, and if one is justified, they must be righteous.The evidence is overwhelmingly clear.Now, what does James, we looked at Paul, what does James say about how Abraham was justified?James 2:14, What does it profit my brethren, though a man say he has faith and have not works? Can faith save him?Anything ambiguous about this verse? Not at all. Now drop down to verse 17, Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.Verse 18, Yea, a man may say thou hath faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.Verse 19, Thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. Verse 20, But will thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?James and Paul are saying two completely different things about faith without works.Paul says he that believeth and worketh not, his faith is counted for righteousness.James says that if a man has faith and no works, that his faith alone cannot save him, and goes on to describe how a man is justified by works, using a different example from the life and walk of Abraham than Paul did.James 2:21, Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?Verse 22, Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect.That imperfect faith that was enough for God to count for Abraham's righteousness was made perfect through his works of obedience.Don't miss it. Now look at verse 23. See here what James says those works accomplished for Abraham. Paul, he spoke of the initial faith which was counted as Abraham's righteousness before he was instructed to do anything. James speaks of Abraham's work of obedience which justified him. Abraham's works declared his own righteousness.His works literally proved his right standing before God. His act of obedience was his declaration of righteousness, his justification.Verse 23, And the scripture was fulfilled which sayeth Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.Did you hear that?James says that the very scripture Paul uses to show how an uncircumcised Gentile, Abraham, was counted righteous because of his faith that scripture wasn't fulfilled until Abraham's work of obedience which earned his justification.He makes that even clearer in the next verse, verse 24, You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.Abraham wasn't justified by faith only. His initial faith caused him to be counted righteous.But if he did not obey, he would have most definitely lost that righteous standing with God, because he would not be justified.No one can be saved without being justified because without justification there's no righteousness.And we all know what happens to the unrighteous, which is a truth throughout all dispensation.The difference is the means by which a man is justified.Today we cannot lose our salvation because we, we're only counted righteous and justified as members of the body of Christ, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but because of what Christ did.And our identity is in him as members of his body.Apart from Christ we're not righteous. Upon salvation we're made the righteousness of God in him.I'm in the body of Christ and Christ is in me, Colossians 1:27, God made known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.Not true for Abraham.So, if Abraham's means of justification is different than ours, why does Paul use it as an example for us?Because Paul is still making the case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel to an audience in Rome with a very large population of Jews.Remember, the Jews were always promised that they would be the light unto the Gentiles.Now, Paul comes along explaining how Gentiles could be accepted of God without Israel, without them being the mediator.So, what better example to use for this than Israel's own Gentile father according to the flesh?Abraham.Think about the parallels.Abraham was not under the law of Moses, and the Gentiles were never under the law of Moses.In Abraham's day, sin was not imputed because the law had not entered, Romans 5:13.And today, sin is not imputed because we're not under the law, 2 Corinthians 5:19.Abram, the Gentile, was accepted of God and counted righteous according to his faith and not by works of the law.Gentiles are accepted of God and made the righteousness of God in Christ according to our faith.A lot of parallels there.Today's popular preaching says you've got to get your sins forgiven before God can save you, which is something missing altogether for Abraham.There's no example of Abraham needing to get his sins forgiven because where there is no law, there is no transgression.He had not broken any law because there were none to break.Therefore, no sin was imputed.If sin is not imputed, there's nothing to be forgiven.Yet, now listen, Abraham was not counted righteous until after he believed God.While our instructions, the gospel to be believed and the means by which we are counted righteous and justified are completely different than Abraham, his starting point for salvation, his initial circumstances were identical to ours.No sin needed to be forgiven, yet not counted righteous until we exercise faith toward God according to his good news for us.Amazing!What better case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel is there, than for Paul to speak, What sayeth the Scripture, concerning the Gentile Abram's imputed righteousness?This isn't about what James says fulfilled that scripture regarding Abraham.It's about a Gentile being accepted of God without Israel's help, without the law of Moses, without the fleshly sanctification that Israel was instructed to maintain.Abraham is not an example for how to be saved during the dispensation of grace.Abraham could lose his salvation and his righteousness if he did not do works to be justified.He was on the endurance maintenance program and we are not.Abraham is an example of God's acceptance of faith exercised by a Gentile resulting in imputed righteousness without the need to first get sins forgiven because they were not even being imputed.Out of time for now, we'll continue in this Romans verse by verse study.Meanwhile, remember, when a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth,he'll either quit being mistaken or ceased to be honest.

Okay, today we're asking the question, one of the most important questions there is.When it's all said and done, this is really all that matters.Are you sure you're saved?Are you sure you're saved?These multiple ways of being saved we've all heard has led to mass confusion.The question, Are you sure you're saved, is a very direct question that often gets inconsistent answers.So today, I thought I'd share some of the ones I've heard over the years.And I encourage you to try this.Try asking some of those in your circle if they're certain of their salvation.It can get rather interesting.You'll be surprised at some of the different answers you get to the same question.You might get, Yes, I believe in God.As if believing in God saves you.No, the question is, are you sure you're saved?Not if you believe in God or not.And don't be surprised when some say, Yes, I know Jesus.Or they might say, Yeah, I'm saved, I love the Lord.As if knowing or loving him saves you.A couple of times I've heard, That's none of your business.And here's one of the more popular ones I've got.Oh, I'm saved, I go to church.Because as we all know, church attendance is what saves you.You'll find that over there in the book of 1 Opinions Chapter 2.I asked one gentleman about it, and he said, Oh, yeah, I stopped drinking years ago.One time I was actually told, Yeah, I'm saved because I try to do good, and I'm a vegetarian.That's one for the books right there.The diet gospel.Another one I've heard a few times, Yeah, I'm saved, my father was a preacher.And some, some will say, I hope so.Others have said to me, Saved from what?One common response is, I've always been a religious person.Or as one lady I remember telling me, I'm very spiritual. And then she said, I pray daily.Because we all know, do we not, that in Acts Chapter 16, there when, when the man at Philippi, the jailer, when he asked Paul and Silas how to be saved, they said, Be spiritual and pray daily.Be religious.Attend church.And don't forget to eat your veggies.When I've asked the question, Are you sure you're saved?, many times I've heard, I'm a good person.That's a popular response.Another popular one I recall hearing, I'm being saved.Probably a Catholic.Not sure.And I lost count of how many, how many I've encountered that they're trusting their eternal destiny to the sinner's prayer.After one gentleman told me that I said, So you believe in salvation by works?And pretty emphatically, he immediately said, No.So, I had him read Colossians Chapter 4 Verse 12.There where Paul describes prayer as a work.Labor means work, to toil, to travail.Prayer is a work, but salvation is Ephesians 2:9 not of works.If we could say a prayer and be saved, we wouldn't need the gospel.Christ came down for nothing.Prayer is something we have as a result of salvation, but it cannot activate or achieve salvation.But that's how false gospels start.And they spread.Over the years I've heard, Oh, yes, I walked the aisle.Got baptized.I'm a pastor.Hey, because you're a pastor don't mean you're saved.It just means you're a pastor.Many unsaved men have a certificate on their wall.I've heard, I made Jesus Lord of my life.Gave him my life.Committed my life to him.Surrendered my life to him.Turned from my sins.Received the gift of the Holy Ghost.I'm a faithful tither.I'm a Sunday school teacher.I've even heard, I keep the Sabbath.All false ways to be saved.Every one of these are about self.Look at me.Look at me.Look what I have done.Look what I can do.All having nothing to do with what Jesus did.And make no mistake, those who make salvation about themselves are the very ones who think they can lose it.Not realizing that salvation belongs to the Lord, Jonah 2:9.What the Lord done is permanent and you can't undo what he has done.Some treat their salvation as something God started but you gotta' finish.No, salvation is of the Lord.He's the perfect object of my faith.So, anytime old Mr. Doubt comes and pays you a visit, just remember, your salvation now belongs to the Lord.It's not your responsibility to keep your salvation intact.It doesn't hinge on your strength, but his.Grace only works when we don't.There's only one correct answer to the, Are you sure you're saved question.However you want to word it, that's fine.But the answer must always point to Christ and away from you.The answer has to center around faith alone in his death having paid for all your sins, and his resurrection which justifies you to eternal life.But sadly, most of the answers I've gotten place the focus on their own accomplishments.When I get these answers, I'm reminded of just how bad today's ministers have failed.So inconsistent with their various versions of what they call the gospel.It's powerless.Romans 1:16, For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.But the modern day false gospels are powerless. These I've spoken with, and listen, many tell me they've been in church most of their lives, but their takeaway on how to be saved is nothing more thansome self-evaluation psychobabble that they learned from the religious toxicity system they've been involved with. Even if they do happen to mention the cross of Christ, they end up doing a 180 back to their self. Salvation by performance. It's truly a heartbreaking reality. The old serpent has been changing God's way of doing things since thegarden, and with the help of man, he's still succeeding today. Religion's only going to offer you a mixed bag of nuts with no consistency, and that's why these so-called church buildings are full of false converts. They've got 'em caught up in activities and ignorant to how they should Romans 10:3 give up on self and submit to the righteousness of God.They're in the choir, the band, they're soloists, musicians, pastors, youth ministers, deacons, Sunday school teachers, greeters. My wife, she grew up in a Baptist church. Baptized, joined the church, daughter of a deacon, won a bunch of Bible trivia contests, always confessed her sins.Was the church pianist and traveled the country with a southern gospel group. But so what?She had never heard the gospel of grace presented clearly. She was on her way to hell from the piano bench. After we met and got married, a few years in, I heard a clear presentationof the gospel. And it was then that I realized I was just religious and lost.Got saved sitting in my office. I'll never forget that day. I was so fired up, I made the coffee nervous. Went home, told her about it. Her response was, I thought you were already saved. Religious, yes. Saved, no.So, I presented the gospel to her. And for several, several days, maybe weeks, she pounded me with questions and scenarios.One after the other. Then one day, I came home from work, and she shared with me how she had realized that after all those years of churchianity, she wasn't saved either.And earlier that day, had finally trusted Christ alone for her salvation.And listen, stories like ours are common. For around twenty years of ministry now, we've had many others to give us very similar accounts. Had one pastor tell me that he'd pastored a church for several years, unsaved. Didn't know it until he came across our website and for the first time heard the gospel of his salvation explained in a clear and precise manner that he could finally understand. Said when he heard it, he knew immediately that he wasn't saved. He realized he'd been depending on Christ, plus himself. Part God part him.It don't work that way. You're not the co-savior.Hearing the pure grace gospel is a major wake-up call. A game-changer. It makes many realize that they'd been Christian in name only. Just like I was, just like my wife was.Listen, being a Christian is not about calling yourself one or hanging out with others who call themselves one. Engaging in religious activity, that doesn't make you one.Salvation happens when you get to the end of yourself and recognize thatthe only thing you can do for it is believe. You may have heard it said, Believing is the only thing you can do without doing anything. A terrible saying. Terrible. And quite frankly, one that I might have said myself in the past. But it's a bad saying, and it's not even true.In Acts chapter 16, the jailer fell down before Paul and Silas and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt besaved. They gave him what he asked for, something to do. So, as it turns out, believing is not the only thing you can do without doing anything, because believing is doing. But it's not doing something in your flesh.And understanding that is key to your salvation. It's paramount. Because listen, you can't save yourself. Resting your faith in the fact that Jesus did all the work necessary is your only hope.100% him, 0% you. Nothing other than you believing the gospel will save you. Not your worship, your Bible reading, your good deeds, and kindness toward others. Your participating in altar calls won't do it. Satan has to be cracking up over that one. There has probably been more false conversions at the altar than anywhere else in church buildings. Well, no. I'd say the baptistry actually gets the first place trophy for that. Ask yourself why any church would need an altar today. The altars in scripture were used for animal sacrifices and would have been a bloody mess.But modern-day churchianity says, Hey, we got a better idea. Let's have our people... let's see if we can entice them to come forward, kneel down, and lay their head on it. Yeah, let's do that pastor. You're such a genius. Such foolishness is what this is. Today, there's no sins been forgiven at any church altar.We've had many denominations saying many different things about forgiveness and salvation, but there's only one gospel.There's not different paths to salvation, there's only one.Paul said, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.But you've got to be a critical thinker.Be discerning.You'll know them by their fruit, by the words that come from their mouth.If we could get the religious folk on a truth serum, they'd admit that they're not sure what they believe.They don't know if they're saved or not.They're never truly at peace about their salvation.I know that feeling, but not anymore.I now have a no-so salvation.If you can have it and not know it, you can lose it and not miss it.But those that have it know it, because of the incredible peace and assurance that it brings.You see, for the most part, people really just don't think.Most churches don't teach the art of thinking for yourself.They teach groupthink.And there you are trapped in the groupthink bubble, which most always leads to conformity.And Paul gives stern warning about groupthink conformity.Romans 12:2, And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.Notice the words here, That ye may prove.You'll be hard-pressed to prove anything while caught up in groupthink.You'll just go along to get along and believe everything everyone else believes.We not only see this in church buildings, but on social media platforms as well.It's real bad on TikTok.Cult-like group members who have forgotten how to think for themselves so they can form and start believing what the rest of the team believes.It's just like a Sunday morning formality.A form of godliness, but denying the power.And what's the power they deny?The gospel of Christ.The power of God unto salvation.Because they add self-effort to the equation.Your salvation is not based on a partnership.It's either Christ alone, or you're on your own.Many, what they've done, they've been socialized into the church, but never saved into the church.The only way to become a member of the Bible church Paul calls the body of Christ, is to abandon self and rest in him. Colossians 3:3, Your life is hid with Christ in God.Adam and Eve were God's creation, and they still failed, so don't beat yourself up when you fail.His perfect creation couldn't do it.And we came through a sinful womb, so we certainly can't.They couldn't live in perfect obedience, and neither can we.We need Jesus.That's how we have eternal life.Not by works of obedience, but through faith in the second Adam who was perfect on our behalf.Stop trying to gain salvation by living up to an expectation.It's not about what others expect of you.It's not even about what you expect of you.It's okay to relax and be at peace while resting in him.Christ lived the perfect life we couldn't live.He took the punishment we couldn't take.His perfect work was designed to take the pressure off us.But religion comes along and tries to put the yoke back around our necks.Christ died for all your sins before you committed the first one.He was buried and he has risen.Now there's an offer on the table that you should take advantage of.He's offering you his eternal life in exchange for your faith.Believe the gospel and be saved right now.It's the best decision you'll ever make.Remember, when a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he'll either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest.

Do not obey 1 John 1:9, it cannot help you.1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Some have asked us, Do I have to confess my sins to go to heaven?And they're surprised when they learn that neither John or anyone in his audience was ever concerned with going to heaven.See, John was an apostle of the circumcision, and those who were saved by his gospel, they are awaiting their restored earthly kingdom, Acts 1:6.Their eternal destiny is not heaven.It's a popular teaching, but it's not true.Going to heavenly places is Paul's gospel, his gospel to us.But for John, Peter, James, and all the apostles of the circumcision, they're looking forward to reigning in their earthly kingdom, sitting on twelve thrones and ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel.No one outside of Paul's epistles are destined for heaven.When reading 1 John 1:9, don't miss this important point, who is being addressed? Whose John's audience?For much too long, Christianity has suffered from a broken system, one that can only be put back together by rightly dividing the word of truth.The books Hebrews through Revelation, which would include 1, 2, & 3 John,they were for the circumcision, and they correlate with early Acts where Peter is addressing, Ye men of Israel.As we've been discussing for several weeks now, John never penned a word to you.In John 4:22, he penned the words of Jesus saying, Salvation is of the Jews.And in Galatians 2 verses 7 through 9, Paul said that John, he preached the gospel of the circumcision, so John's gospel, see, this is what you need to understand, it's not only to the circumcision, but of the circumcision.It's a different gospel.1 John 1:9 is forgiveness based on the if-then policy.It's conditional upon them doing something for it, but our forgiveness, our forgiveness today is based on the blood of Christ.For us in this dispensation, it's as if God, he had a legal pad, and after the perfect sacrifice of Jesus was made, he goes and takes out his pad, stamps paid in full, and paid in full, my friends, that means you and I can rest.Paid in full.If I were to draw you a chart, I might put parentheses around the 13 books, Romans through Philemon, the 13 books of Paul.Those books are both to and for you.That's where you find the gospel of your salvation, instructions for your worthy walk, and about your inheritance, and future destination, and so forth.But 1 John, hey, that's outside those parentheses, it's a Hebrew epistle aimed at Hebrew people.It reflects the Romans 15:8 ministry of Christ to the circumcision under the law, but it does not, now listen, it does not reflect Christ through Paul in this dispensation of grace.We're the uncircumcision, not circumcision, and our gospel says God, 2 Corinthians 5:19, he stopped imputing the sins that John's audience had to 1 John 1:9 confess.Man, this is good news.As recipients of God's grace, 1 John 1:9 just can't be our mail.Here we have one of the most popular verses among twistiantity, and it directly contradicts what Paul tells us.Paul never gave a to-do list of how to get our sins forgiven. Confessing to get forgiveness was a national plea to Israel.But people use it, they use it as their mediator, and they've literally replaced Jesus with their own confession of sins.They replaced the 1 Timothy 2:5, Christ Jesus, who is the only mediator between God and man.With words, they replaced it with words that come from their mouth.The problem we're faced with is some say they believe the gospel, but never really did.Because believin' 1 Corinthians 15 1 through 4 plus 1 John 1:9, that's not believin' the gospel.Ephesians 2:8 and 9 is not a difficult passage, For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For by grace are you saved.Now, how do you square 1 John 1:9 with that?Can't do it.Grace means unearned, 1 John 1:9 is a way of earning it.For by grace are you saved and that not of yourselves.Put that up against 1 John 1:9 and ask the question, is confessing my sins of myself?Of course.It's yourself doing the confessing.Surely you see the contradiction here.But some, hey, they stay busy confessing their sins while on their way to hell.You cannot reconcile 1 John 1:9 with Paul unless you understand how to rightly divide the word of truth.Without rightly dividing the gospel of your salvation from the gospel not of your salvation, you'll remain lost and without hope.We're always amazed at just how many who claim they believe their Bible, but when put to the test, they do not.Case in point, let's look here at 1 John chapter 2.We were there in chapter 1, let's go to 2, we'll come back, but 1 John chapter 2, and let's look at verse 3, And hereby, we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments.Does that line up with your relationship with God?We know we know him if we keep his commandments?Really.I know I know him because after hearing the gospel of my salvation, I trusted Christ by believing it, Ephesians 1:13.Some make the claim that John taught Paul's gospel of grace, but he did not.And it's evident if you just believe the words on the page.Now don't pull the alarm chain and step off the train just yet, stay on board for the rest of the ride.We're just getting started.1 John chapter 2 verse 3.1 John 2:3 here is just one chapter after 1 John 1:9 is it not?The same book.So, if you've chosen to follow 1 John 1:9, then surely you're a commandment keeper also, right?Or is 1 John 1:9 okay for you, but yeah, you choose to disobey this one.Well, God doesn't allow cherry picking.He allows rightly dividing, but not cherry picking.Not one member of the circumcision here in 1 John would think that Paul's Romans 6:14 words where he said, You're not under the law, but under grace, they would never think that that was written for them.Not a chance, because they were under the law.We just demonstrated that in 1 John 2:3, and now all we have to do is keep reading.Go to 1 John chapter 3.Look there, get with me, verse 4, here we see the words, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.Sound like a grace preacher to you? No.Not one person in John's audience was in the body of Christ, resting in their eternal security, havin' been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and waiting to go to heaven.They operated on probation, not salvation.Matthew 24, He that endures to the end shall be saved, remember?When you're ready to stop playing games with the verses, the truth is not hard to locate.Okay, while here, while here in chapter 3, let's keep it moving, verse 22.Drop down, and here we see, And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments,...This is conditional.This is not grace, this is a conditional system, if we keep, if we do.This is more law for you.They were under the law, you are not.The book of 1 John never had you in mind, and is why the verse doesn't work for you.This is a covenantal law verse, not a dispensation of grace verse. Ephesians 3:2, If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which has given me to youward,...No Paul, most haven't.Think of the words you just read, If whatsoever we ask, we receive of him.If that were operating today, why is St. Jude's and Schreiner's hospital packed with sick and dying children?If whatsoever ask you receive is to you, then why do we have global hunger?Or did you forget about that?Maybe that one slips your mind when you pray.Maybe it doesn't fit between all those personal prayers you're praying for yourself.Or, maybe this verse just plain out don't work today.Some of you are in those 1 John 1:9-er churches, and you need to get closure on this today.2 Corinthians 5:21, we're all familiar with this one, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.Now ask yourself, come on, if I'm the righteousness of God in him, why would I be confessing my sins?If your sins aren't on God's mind, why are they on yours?Satan wants to keep you sin-conscious, but God says, We're accepted in the beloved, Ephesians 1:6, complete in Christ, Colossians 2:10.So, if we're complete in him already, if we're complete in him and already accepted, why would we confess our sins?Limited forgivers teach a very blurry view of forgiveness, which makes the cross of Christ of none effect.Let me give you a bit of hard truth, hope you can digest it.If instead of trusting the cross of Christ, you're depending on 1 John 1:9 to forgive your sins, your next stop is hell.God reserved a special place for you that will one day be thrown into a lake of fire, a place where you can roommate with Satan.1 John 1:9 does nothing but place you in mind bondage.That's all it does.It does nothing but keep you stuck right there on the wash, rinse, repeat cycle.So, make sure you bring plenty of soap.It has you keeping short sin accounts with God, even though 2 Corinthians 5:19 says there's no sins in your account.Confessing sins for forgiveness was written to Israel concerning their mutual covenant agreement of doing, that they had with God.If they did, he did.That's how it worked.Popular preaching won't tell you this, but we will, and we'll use God's word to prove it.It's all the proof we need.You want more evidence?Leviticus chapter 26 verse 40, If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, immediately we see confession, a match with 1 John 1:9.Why?Because confessing for forgiveness is always about Israel.John may be in the New Testament of your Bible, but it matches their Old Testament doctrine.Let's keep reading, With their trespass, which they've trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies.If then, now watch, here's their if-then-covenant language, the mutual covenant of doing between both God and Israel, not you.You've never been under a covenant a day of your life.Keep reading, If then, their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, then... here's your timeline, ...then will I remember my covenant with Jacob.Ah, this sounds familiar, right?Sounds like Jeremiah 31, does it not?There when Jeremiah wrote, This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.Also sounds like Peter over there in Acts 3:19, Repent and be converted so that your sins can be blotted out when the Lord returns.Confessing sins was for the nation Israel and never meant for us.Confessing sins today only undermines the good news that Paul revealed.Now, grab Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah chapter 1, these are all verses here, all verses we're going over that were to the children of Israel, verses outside of the grace parentheses of Romans through Philemon.They match 1 John 1:9, but they do not match your gospel found in Paul's letters of Romans through Philemon.That's where your instructions are located.Okay, Nehemiah 1, and notice here in verse 6, Let thine ear now be attentive and thine eyes open that thou mayest hear the prayer of the servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess,... here we go again, ...confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee, both I and my father's house have sinned.Amazing what a little study does.When we apply ourselves instead of relying on others to do the work for us. Okay, let's continue, Psalm chapter 32 verse 5, I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sins. Selah.How did David get his sins forgiven?Oh, just like us, Trey.Everyone in the Bible is saved the same way.Everyone in the Old Testament was looking forward to the cross.Wrong.Just believe the Bible, and stop trying to read what was only later revealed to Paul back into what David believed.David's gospel wasn't Paul's gospel, and yes, there's more than one gospel in your Bible.OK, Psalm 51.Here's more from king David.This is his prayer.Verse 1, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Blot out my transgressions?You know what that should sound like to you?Foreign language.If you've been hearing correct teaching, that is, this isn't your mail.Your mail says, Did you hear about the cross of Christ?Your mail says, Did you know that God stopped imputing your sins?But for David, oh no, different administration means different data.His news isn't your news.Verse 2, Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.Sounds like 1 John.All David knew was the wash, rinse, repeat cycle, the one that God designed for him.What about Job?What does, what does he have to say about all of this?Job 33 verse 27, He looketh upon men, and if,... oh, there's, there's, here's the condition again, ...if any say, I have sinned,... there's the 1 John 1:9 confession, ...and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.See where we're going with this?Outside of our dispensation of grace, forgiveness was never solely based on the shed blood of Jesus.It was conditional, and only an unbeliever of God's infallible word would argue against this.Mark 1:5, And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, doing what?Confessing their sins.The 1 John 1:9 pattern is found in multiple places in your Bible, but missing from all 13 epistles of Paul.And that, that is why what Paul wrote is called the dispensation of the grace of God.That's why you don't see that language anywhere else in scripture.Oh, they found grace, a little here, a little there, but they were never totally saturated with the dispensation of grace, good news that you and I have today.Grace means forgiveness is unconditional and unearned, but for Israel it was conditional and earned.But we're under a different administration with a different economy, and in not one place does Paul tell us to confess our sins to get them forgiven, as if forgiveness is still yet in future.I can't begin to count how many times over the years that we've encountered a limited forgiver who had never heard this good news.Partial blame, of course, goes to the Catholics.They went to the wrong mailbox, took mail that was addressed to the children of Israel, and called it a sacrament of confession.Then came along the Protestants, not wanting to be left out, you know.They lined up like Pavlov's dogs and got a few pieces of stolen mail for themselves.Let's take a quick look here at a verse in Leviticus chapter 5.Leviticus was written to who?The Levitical priesthood.To the Levitical priesthood of Israel, and not Father O'Connor over there at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.Okay, Leviticus chapter 5 verse 5, And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing.Confess to who?The Levite priest.This was a verbal confession that was mandatory, not optional.The priest acted as a mediator to facilitate forgiveness.After hearing the confession, he would decide which procedure needed to be taken.You can go and read Leviticus chapter 4 to see all the nuances of this.But this practice, this practice of confessing to the Levitical priesthood carried over to the 12 apostles.In John 20 verse 23, we see Jesus telling them, Whosoever sins you remit, they're remitted unto them, and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.Are you beginning to see how all this started?Where the Catholics got it?Where the Protestants got it?It shouldn't really be a secret as to why we see so much confusion today.If you fail to divide Israel's prophecy from Paul's mystery, you're bound to be confused into thinking that confessing of sins is needed for forgiveness.The confusion comes from either thinking you're old covenant Israel or new covenant Israel, and that confusion will remain until you come to see that you're neither.You're not either or, but rather neither nor.You're not old covenant Israel.You're not new covenant Israel.You're the one new man, the new creature church, which is his body.Rightly dividing the word of truth will change your perspective on forgiveness, but it won't happen until you allow Paul to be your apostle.Romans 11:13 and Galatians 2:7, to allow him to be who Christ called him to be.Acts chapter 9 verse 15.How do we as believers?How do we?This could be a question so let's address it.How do we as believers deal with our sin?We flee from it.2 Timothy 2:22.Sin is not becoming for a saint of God, Ephesians 5:3.So, we deal with it.Instead of confessing it over and over and asking for forgiveness, we just stop and deal with it.And we thank God for having forgiven us all sins.But confessing for forgiveness of sins that are already forgiven is a waste of time.And time is a valuable commodity.We should be redeeming the time because the days are evil.We're not to be unwise, but to understand what the will of God is.That's how to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.We're not beggars in need of forgiveness.As recipients of God's grace, we're not called to live beggarly lifestyles.We're not called to make confession for forgiveness a part of our daily practice.We're called to rest in the forgiveness already granted.And accepting the grace-based finished crosswork will allow you to do just that.God's not forgiving us according to some installment plan.1 John 1:9 is not a bar of soap.We're not in the wash, rinse, repeat cycle.We're on this side of the cross where God declared that he stopped counting sins.Unlike James, Peter, John, or the Old Testament saints, we're recipients of God's dispensation of grace.We operate in step with a different economy.If he were keeping a record of our sins, then Christ's sacrificial death was of none affect.It was in vain.Romans 5:13, For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.You know what that means in the Greek?Same thing it means in English.We're not under the law, so sin is not imputed when there is no law.So, next time you feel the need to look up to the sky or your bedroom ceiling and ask God to forgive you, I want you to stop and think first.Ask yourself, which non-imputed sin am I asking God to forgive?If God stopped imputing sins, no one needs forgiveness.What they need is eternal life.What they need is to hear the good news of how Christ died for those sins that they're getting ready to ask forgiveness for.We taught a message around 2012 called, 1 John 1:9 is not your bar of soap.And today, here in 2026, we still stand on that.Nothing's changed.The blood took away your sins, he died, he was buried, and he has risen.Stop wrestling with your sins and rest in that good news.Trust him, believe on him, and just rest.Grace and Peace.

Grab uh, Philippians chapter 1 for us if you don't mind, you know Paul tells us, The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they're foolishness unto him.Yes.Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.Yes.You know, many spiritualize and they tell spiritual lies, they can't see the truth because they don't have spiritual eyes. Yes, yes. Okay, did you get Philippians 1? Yeah, Philippians 1, give me verse 3. Verse 3, okay. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer ofthe mind for you all making requests with joy. Joy. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Amen. You know, you can give me your thoughts here, but when I read verses, I often, I've have made a habit to look for keywords that stand out to me. Here, right off the bat, I see joy. It just stands out. Fellowship stands out. Gospel. These are just three words. When I first glance at this, they just jump off the page here. In prayer, Paul did what? He made request with joy. You know, this isn't about just happenstance praying. No, we're to be precise in our words and with a heart full of joy. You know, Paul loved to fellowship and we know that from his 13 epistles, he loved fellowship with fellow saints. So there's the word fellowship over the gospel.Yes, yes. Well, and you're not going to have fellowship unless you are unified indoctrine in the gospel. And let's make it clear, unified, not uniformity. No, we're to all speak the same thing. I beseech you brother that you all... Paul says, Consider what I say and the Lord give the understanding and all things. So we're to just consider what Paul says.One of the first things on the list is to get ego out of the way. That's correct. Yes. Yeah, because I mean, when ego's in the forefront, ego wants to say something that nobody else has ever said to learn some new thing. Yeah. Say or do some new thing. That's over in Acts. He's not commending them for that. He's not saying, Good job, look for something new. That's a bad thing. You know, and you remind me of something by saying that, that Paul wrote to us in Romans 16, and grab Romans 15 for us. But in 16 there, you know, we're all familiar with the verse. He says, Brethren, Mark them, which cause divisions. Yes. Mark them which causes offenses contrary to the doctrine which what? which ye have learned and avoid them. Now, the doctrine which "ye" here, the Romans, have learned was the doctrines of Paul, Pauline doctrine. Anybody teaching contrary to anything Paul wrote, avoid them. And he goes on to say those that do so, they don't serve our Lord Jesus Christ. They're serving their own belly. They're going by their feelings. Yes. That's right.And they make good. What does he say, fair speeches? And they got words that deceive the simple. Yes. They deceive the hearts of the simple.Yes. Yes. That's right. That's right. Grab. Did you get Romans 15? Yes. All right. I'll like what Paul says here. Read. Well, I'll read it, I've got it here. I've got it somewhere. Let me pull this up real quick. This thing's slow. Romans 15:4, And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Verse 15, Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given to me of God. Verse 16, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. This goes along with Romans 11:13, does it not?Yes. Ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. That's powerful. Yes. Yes it is. I love the reading of that passage. Yes. Yes. And here we have, That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Now, this speaks to the fact that we are sanctified by the Holy Ghost when we believe the gospel and are placed into the body of Christ. The offering up of the Gentiles would be acceptable because the offering up of the Gentiles is sanctified by the Holy Ghost. That's right. Oh, you mean you don't have to do physical calisthenics to make your way there?No. Do I have to show up to the spiritual gymnasium? No. No. No. No. You take all the fun out of it.No. You don't... I have to show off my flesh. That's exactly what you're going to do when you do things in your flesh, is show it off. Make, I mean, that's a fair show of the flesh. Yeah. Yeah.He's speaking over in Galatians. Is it in Galatians where he's talking about them constraining them to be circumcised in order to make a fair show in the flesh?We can just fill in the blanks. Now, that's in context. That's, that's right. But in the context of the Pentecostal Church, in the context of the Baptist, the Methodist, and on and on it goes, there's a wide, wide list of how you can show off your flesh. They constrain you to walk the aisle.They constrain you to be water baptized. They constrain you to speak in tongues.Join the church. Say the sinner's prayer. And it's so that they can make a fair show of your flesh because what happens, whenever that happens, you get to stand up before the, I mean, first of all, you have to walk down in the first place and, and, and put yourself on full display, walk in the aisle and you have to go down and you have to submit yourself to the pastor or preacher. Whatever he tells you, you need to do when you get down there in order to make it to heaven. Keep it simple and keep it clean. No extra ingredients. These ingredients that you can't pronounce. No, we just need the gospel. The simplicity that's in Christ. Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. Right. Well, and I can speak from the perspective of growing up Baptist.I can tell you how all the technicalities and all of the formalities will put your mind in a place to where you believe that being a part of an organization is what saves you. Right.And I mean, it doesn't matter if the preacher is saying that it's Jesus is the one saving you while you're doing all these things that organization tells you to do. I mean, it's just saying one thing and doing another because according to this organization, if you're not doing these things, then you're in some trouble. You always have that catch that even though every Baptist church that I was a part of preached once saved always saved, there was always the catch that, well, if they backslide, if they stop going to church, if they turn their back on God, if they do all of these things after salvation, but what they'll say is that you were never saved in the first place.Now, this is a Calvinistic idea. It's a Calvinistic idea because that's what they will prep into the Baptist church. Calvinism is in all sorts of denominations. Right.And it's really what it is, it's backloading works into salvation by saying, Well, if they're not staying true to God after their confession of salvation, then well, it's just because they never really believed it anyways. As if they can read hearts. Only God can do that. Yes.There's always a distraction from the finished crosswork. There's always some distraction.No matter how big or small it may be, but, you know, there's always a different teaching that's going to distract you from that that makes your goal turn into something else. Yeah.Besides, understanding that gospel as fully as you can so that you can give it to others.Right. Let's look at Philippians chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1, guys, if you want to follow along, verse 9, And this, I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in what? knowledge and in all judgment. Yes. You shouldn't judge. No, we make spiritual judgments every day all day. Yes. Verse 10, That you may approve things. How are you going to? We can't approve things if we don't judge. Right. We have a book that does the judging for us. We just read it, install that doctrine, and therefore we are able and prepared fully equipped to approve things that are excellent. That you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, verse 11, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Faith, powerful words from our Apostle Paul delivered unto the saints.That's right. Right smack dab here in the middle of this dispensation of grace. Yes.I get so filled with joy, like a kid in a candy store, been doing this for a long time, and I'm just, well, as I said last night, I'm more excited about this today than I was when I first ran across this. Me too. I like verse 10 where he says that, Ye may approve things that areexcellent. I just love that phrase that very, I mean, it's without offense till the day of Christ, which is when we're caught up to be with him. That's right. Not to be confused with the day of the Lord. Oh, go back there in the Old Testament and we can see some prophets.They'll tell you about the day of the Lord. Aren't you glad that we're not appointed to wrath?That's right. Praise God. That's right. Yeah. And but, but to approve things that are excellent.You have to have your love abound more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. And that judgment, when Paul speaking of knowledge here, he's talking about knowledge along with judgment. That makes me think of wisdom. Amen. Because you, you know, we've said it often, you can have all the knowledge in the world, but no wisdom, it's not going to, I mean, we shouldn't be easily impressed, impressed with just knowledge. Let's do Proverbs chapter 18, Faith. Oh, wait, Trey, Paul's epistles are the only epistles for you. No, incorrect. There's wisdom throughout this entire Bible from cover to cover.All the Bible's for you, but it's not all written to you. And even Paul's epistles were not written directly to you. I am not a Galatian. I'm not a Corinthian.I am not Titus. I'm not Timothy. But I am, well, I should say, I was a Gentile. Now there's neither.Yeah. You're just a neither. I'm just a neither, but I'm, but I'm thankful. I'm a neither, too.I've got a heart full of joy that I'm in the body of Christ. And I'm sealed unto the day every redemption. Proverbs 18:15 guys, The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge. There we are back to that word. I hope we're, we're paying attention to the common denominator of some of these verses we're reading. The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.That's interesting. Let's take a look at Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1, and guys, see if you notice the contrast from what we see here, to what we later see as things progress from our Apostle Paul. Luke chapter 1, are you there, Faith? Yes. I'm going to sip coffee. You're going to read verses 76 and 77. Okay. 76 and 77 of Luke chapter 1, And thou child shalt be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins. There you go.What do you see here? What do you see the progressive contrast from something going on here, to the but now and what we have? Remission of sins. Luke here says to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, and we know when reading the book of Luke and this brother says his people at that time he's talking about Israel because we're outside the covenants of promise. We're aliens from the commonwealth at this time. His people by the remission of their sins. Remission of sins is not Colossians 2:13 forgiven of all sins, which is why we read through the Pauline Epistles starting with the book of Romans and we see how it progresses into the what? 2 Corinthians 5:19, God's not imputing sins. Luke's talking about having knowledge of salvation unto his people.That's Israel. Peter's doing the same thing guys when he's giving them that murder indictment there at the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 3. Future sins are going to be blotted out. That's when they will be born again, and that's when they'll have all their sins blotted out. You can go over there, Faith, 1 Peter, 2 Peter to where he talks about, we were purged from our what? old sins, purged from our old sins. Hey, his little letter over there matches perfect with Acts chapter 3, does it not?It does. Matches up perfectly, but it does not match up with the Apostle Paul and the glorious news that he had for us. Yes, yes, and, and Peter also speaks of the grace that is to come.Yes, the grace that is to come, and Paul, on the flip side of that says, The grace that we're standing in. We're already standing in the grace that Peter and the little flock is looking afar off to see coming. It's coming down the road. At the same time they get their new covenant.At the same time they get born again. At the same time they get those sins blotted out. They'll stand in that grace, a future grace.

Today on Truth Time.So, Abraham's belief being counted as righteousness was about Abraham's righteousness being recognized by God, and not God's righteousness being imputed to him.A benefit only we enjoy, those of us here under the dispensation of grace.Those who advocate for eternal security all throughout scripture apparently have never workshopped this idea.They chose to parrot the traditions of men.But had they studied to show themselves approved, had they only taken the time to evaluate the what-ifs, they would have had to answer the question of, what would have happened if Abraham did not continue obeying God?Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness, but his future hope in salvation was according to a faith that was validated through covenant.Not apart from works, but justified by them.This is Truth Time Radio.Okay, here we go.Let's dive into Romans chapter 4.Romans chapter 4.How many have heard it said that Abraham was saved the same way we're saved today?And that he, he couldn't lose his salvation?Today we're going to test that.Last time in chapter 3 verse 30, we studied out the terms by faith and through faith and showed the differences in both terms relative to Paul's specific usage for the circumcision and uncircumcision.Real quick, let's clear something up concerning verse 30.Within the context that Paul speaks of here, he's still making the case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel in terms that his kinsmen in the flesh would understand.And that's something to keep in mind.Some, they'll tell you that the book of Acts is a transitional book and they'll do so as a way to escape answering hard questions.Or if something seems to not make sense, they'll say, Well Luke, he didn't write anything to you.But just because it records a transition from Peter and the eleven, from their kingdom gospel to Paul's gospel of the grace of God, doesn't disqualify the book of Acts from having doctrinal application for us.Transition isn't irrelevant to doctrine.On the contrary, it's essential that it's recognized.If transition disqualifies application, then you may as well throw out the entire book of Romans because it's transitional.So come on, it's, it's vital that we think through these things.Everything isn't true just because someone you respect says so.Paul literally spells it out for us in easy to understand one syllable words in chapter 1 when he says, From faith to faith.And, when he transitions from being Romans 3:31, established, to being Romans 16:25, stablished.Paul's taken his kinsmen in the flesh, Jews who were not part of the little flock kingdom, he takes them from their previous faith of God to the but now faith of Christ.From law to grace.From prophecy to mystery.Romans is the ultimate transitional book. Looking at Romans 3:30 will help us see the central message that Paul is conveying through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.Starting with verse 29, Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.Verse 30, Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith.Notice he says, Seeing that it is one God who is, verse 29, God of both the Jews and the Gentiles.One God.Not a God for the Jews and another God for the Gentiles.Paul demonstrates the same sentiment here.1 Corinthians 12:6 is the same thing, And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God, which worketh all in all.See, Paul is still convincing his kinsmen in the flesh, that the same God of their fathers had now opened the door to the Gentiles.This is important to note, because it helps us understand the relevance to Abraham in chapter 4, keeping with the fact that Abraham's instructions for salvation were different than ours during the dispensation of grace.Yet Paul references Abraham to make his case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel to those of Israel.Not as a means of Gentile salvation, but as a means of Gentiles being accepted in the beloved.For Paul, Abraham is used as an example of justification by faith.But for James, he is used for an example of justification by works.So which is it?Faith or works?We'll find out a little later on here.Okay, chapter 4 verse 1, What shall we say then, that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found?Verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by works, he'd have whereof to glorybut not before God.The phrase, "What shall we say then," tells us that we must reference what was written immediately before verse 1 to see why the word, "then," is used.So back up to Romans 3:31, Do we then make void the law through faith?God forbid. Yea, we establish the law.The last thing Paul said in chapter 3 is that the law is established through faith, not made void.So this answers the question for those of Israel.Does justification by faith only mean there is no need for works?Paul's answer?No.Good works are established by faith.Notice the language Paul uses in verse 1 and 2 of chapter 4, Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh.Right here we should note Paul is speaking directly to those of his audience who were Jews.Abraham was their father, their father as pertaining to the flesh.So what did their father Abraham find according to the flesh?That he could glory in his flesh if he were justified only by works.Yet James does say he was justified by works.How do we reconcile this?James 2:24, You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.We'll come back to the full scope of this, the full context of this passage here in James in another episode.The contradiction here is already quite obvious just by comparing Romans 4:2 with James 2:24, especially when we know that there is no boasting in ourselves where our salvation is concerned because it is not of works that could be boasted of.Verse 3 takes this thought a little further, For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.Abraham's faith in what God had promised credited righteousness to his account.Some try to make this complex by claiming that because righteousness was counted to him, that means he was eternally saved and secured right then and there.But that's simply not true.Our first clue is this verse does not say that the righteousness of God was imputed to Abraham.It doesn't say that.Having God's righteousness imputed is a mystery only active during the dispensation of grace.And it's why we as the church the body of Christ, the new creature, the one new man, are a completely different entity than the kingdom saints, as well as Abraham and those in Genesis before the law.The imputation of God's righteousness to the believer is not something available outside of the dispensation of grace.You need to get that.Put that to memory if you want to stay ahead of the curve.The only way for those saints to be counted righteous was through their own faith and obedience.What does Deuteronomy 6:25 say? And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us.This is not your mail, but it's good for our learning.Hey, if the kingdom saints didn't keep the law, they couldn't be righteous.Just believe the verse.They had to observe to do all the commandments.That's faith plus obedience.Plain and simple.But just because Deuteronomy 6:25 is written in the context of the law, now that does not mean that righteousness hasn't always required observing and doing.Even before the law, we see how that Job was called upright, which is the same as calling him righteous.Not only because he feared God, but also because he eschewed evil.That is observing and doing.That's faith plus obedience, just like those under the law in Deuteronomy 6.Moreover, we see how that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.But a question to ask is, how?How did he find grace?Was he under the same grace and administration Paul taught?To hear some, some of the wrong dividers tell it, he was.This is the view of those who falsely teach that everyone in scripture is saved the same way.When listening to ministers and their sermons, you need to pay attention.You might notice how observation is often replaced with conjecture.And make no mistake, when someone says everyone in scripture has always been saved the same way, conjecture is being applied.You know, you've heard it.They say everyone in the Old Testament was looking forward to the cross.Next time you hear that, just file it away over there in the folder marked, "Rubbish."Because that's a view that runs directly afoul to what Paul taught.There's more than one gospel in the Bible, and it's why Paul commands usto rightly divide the gospel of our salvation.2 Timothy 2:15 and Ephesians 1:13.Go put those together.Put those two verses side by side and see what you come up with.If there's only one gospel, then there's nothing to divide.And Paul lied.But there is more than one, and it's why everyone you read about in scripture has not been saved the same way.Abraham could lose his salvation.You cannot.He wasn't sealed unto the day of redemption you are.David wasn't sealed either.And it's why he took out his reed pen and on papyrus he wrote, Cast me not from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.Psalm 51:11 in your King James Bible.David knew he could lose it.But today's preachers and all their genius would correct David if he were here.Saints, isn't it outstanding being able to put these things together like this?Instead of just throwing it up against the wall and hoping it sticks.So now, let's not lose sight here.Let's keep tracking this.Back to Noah.Genesis chapter 6 verse 9, These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in all his generations. And Noah walked with God.If Noah was just, then he was counted righteous.Why?Because he walked with God, observing and doing, faith plus obedience.This is not salvation by grace alone in Christ alone.And no, Noah wasn't looking forward to the cross.As we showed you in our Understanding Terminology series, justification is a declaration of righteousness.And righteousness has always been obtained by faith plus obedience.So this idea that Abraham obtained God's righteousness by faith, or that his righteousness could not be lost through disobedience is utterly false.Romans 4:3 isn't talking about the righteousness of God being imputed to Abraham.Paul is referring to Abraham's righteousness.Just like Job, fearing God and eschewing evil was his righteousness.And Noah's walking with God was his righteousness.Just like if the Deuteronomy 6:25 children of Israel observed to do all that God had commanded them, they were told it would be their righteousness, not God's.And we know it's not the imputation of God's righteousness because that is only available to us, believers during this but-now dispensation of God's grace.I hope you're digesting this. It'll change your entire perspective, and it'll help answer questions that before you couldn't answer.In time past, they were counted righteous for observing and doing the instructions God gave them.Faith first, that's right, but observing and doing had to follow.There was no doing without faith.Their faith is exactly what caused them to obey their instructions.Following the rules apart from faith was a big no-no. That would only incite glorying in the flesh like Paul said in Romans chapter 4 verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.This was the problem the Pharisees and those scribes who sat in Moses' seat had.Matthew 23, starting with verse 1, Then spake Jesus to the multitude and tohis disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do. But do not yeafter their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on man's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlargethe borders of their garments, and love the uttermost rooms at feast, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.Are you connecting these dots?It was kingdom doctrine to have faith plus works, but they had works with no faith.They did things to be seen and admired of men.They gloried in their fleshly self-righteousness while hypocritically instructing others to do things they didn't do themselves.These Scribes and Pharisees back here, they knew the law from beginningto end. Oh yeah.That's why Jesus told his disciples, Hey, whatsoever they bid you observe and do.Because it would be their righteousness to observe and do just likeDeuteronomy 6:25 said.But this weak show of fake obedience by the Scribes and Pharisees back here did not come from faith. It came from flesh. So, Abraham's belief being counted as righteousness was about Abraham'srighteousness being recognized by God, and not God's righteousness beingimputed to him.A benefit only we enjoy. Those of us here under the dispensation of grace.Those who advocate for eternal security all throughout scripture apparently have never workshopped this idea.They chose to parrot the traditions of men.But had they studied to show themselves approved, had they only taken the time to evaluate the what-ifs, they would have had to answer the question of, What would have happened if Abraham did not continue obeying God?Think.Would he have still been counted righteousness while in disobedience?What if he stopped believing?What if he said, "No," to circumcision?Could he have lost his righteous standing?Sure he could.Because it was his own righteousness that was accounted for, not God'srighteousness being imputed to him.Oh, this is getting good.By now you should be settling in and starting to see that this business some teach of how everyone throughout the Bible was saved by the same gospel is a fairy tale.Okay, here we are, we've made it to verse 4.And a quick thanks to all of you who, who've expressed how much you're enjoying this verse-by-verse study here in Romans. The response has been amazing and it is certainly a tremendous honor and joy that you selected us to take you through what could arguably be the most profound and prolific book in this Bible.So, we're glad to be with you. Verse 4, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but ofdebt. This verse indicates that the reward is earned if it is worked for.When you put in the time for your employer, you clock in, you clock out,your reward, a paycheck, is owed to you.After you finish the work, until you get that check, your employer is in debt to you for that work you completed.So, here Paul says if a person works for salvation, their reward, their salvation, is owed to them out of debt rather than grace.He says the same thing in Romans 11:6 when he penned, If by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. For salvation, grace and works are mutually exclusive.They're disjointed.Because we can never work hard enough to earn our justification.That would make it meritorious and give us the right to glory in our flesh.But as Paul told us in verse 27 of the last chapter, chapter 3, Boasting is excluded by the law of faith.Abraham could not earn his salvation.He was initially counted righteous because of his faith.And his faith told him to do works in order to be justified. But if he refused to observe and do, then he would lose his righteousstanding with God. No question about it.It's not debatable.Grace and mercy has been extended by God throughout all dispensations. But there is only one dispensation of grace.Where you've been sealed until the day of redemption, regardless of whatyou do or don't do after your initial salvation.In verse 4, Paul said trying to earn salvation by works would mean God is indebt to you, paying you for whatever your self-righteous works are worth. And that's not a good thing. Philippians 3:9, And be found in him not having mine own righteousnesswhich is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.Oh, aren't you thankful?Aren't you glad God isn't in debt to you to pay you what you're owedconcerning your salvation?It's certain that the wages we earn won't get us anywhere near heaven, and is why for us to be obedient we're told not to work for salvation. Our work could never measure up.Next verse, verse 5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.Some say the, "his faith," is Christ's faith, but Christ isn't in the immediate context.Him that justifieth the ungodly is God the Father.And the faith mentioned here belongs to him that worketh not.That can't be Christ. Christ did all the work necessary for our salvation, so there's no way hecould be the him that worketh not.The one that does not work in this verse is the believer who exercises faith in God, God the Father, who justifies the ungodly. The believer believes on God and therefore the believer's faith is counted for righteousness.The context of the entire chapter is the fact that Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness.So to claim that this is about Jesus having faith is to claim that Jesus needed to be counted righteous in the sight of God the Father. And if you think Jesus needed to be counted righteous, then you cannot believe he was the fullness of the Godhead bodily.You don't believe Jesus is God.Only sinful man is in need of being counted righteous.That's why the need to have faith applies to men, not God.Abraham believed on him that justifieth the ungodly.To believe on is different from believing in.You cannot believe on someone without believing in them.But you can believe in someone without believing on them.When Abraham believed God, he didn't just believe in him, he believed on him.He had believed in God since at least Genesis 12.Abraham obeyed the instructions, but he didn't believe on God until chapter 15 where the context of that passage says Abram, not Abraham, finallybelieved in the words that the Lord had been speaking to him since chapter12. Genesis 15:4. Watch, And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth of thine ownbowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Looknow toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.By this time Abraham, still Abram, had left his homeland.He journeyed to the land of Canaan, kept going south and building altars to God there along the way. He arrived in Egypt. He by this time had lied to Pharaoh about his wife being his sister, causing plagues upon Egypt. He had became very rich in cattle, silver, and gold, went back to Canaan,was told again by God of his promise to him in chapter 13, rescued Lot when he was kidnapped, and paid tithes to Melchizedek.I mean, he was a busy man.And think about it. He had done all these things before scripture tells us that he was counted righteous.It wasn't until God repeated his promise unto him the third time, that he believed it.He didn't believe the future hope God was promising him until the word of the Lord came to him in Genesis 15:1.Immediately after, he believed God. Abram asked God how he would know that he would inherit the land, and God instructed him to make an offering.And then God used that offering for the covenant God made with him concerning this promise. Genesis 15:18, In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,Unto thy seed have I given this land.Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness, but his future hope and salvation was according to a faith that was validated through covenant, not apart from works, but justified by them.Now get this, okay? His future hope, his salvation, was according to a faith validated through covenant, not apart from works, but justified by them. His righteousness could have been lost through disobedience, and that covenant could be broken, nullifying that promise.And this, this is the reason why both Paul and James can make two different statements about the one same man concerning how he was justified.So we ask again, was Abraham justified by faith or by works?The answer?Both.And tune in next time to find out why.Alright, if you're questioning your salvation, understand this, for Christ's sake, God stopped imputing your sins.Christ died for them all, was buried, rose on day three.So stop trying to achieve salvation by climbing the ladder rungs.You'll never make it.There's no ladder to climb.There's no ladder to salvation.Christ is salvation.Trust him alone.You trust him not self for making the full payment for your sins and defeating the grave on your behalf.Do that, do that and rest in him for your eternal soul's salvation.Grace and peace.

The Truth Time app is now here, all day, everyday, 24 hours of non-stop, rightly dividing the word of truth.You've now found your home where you can study and grow in the word of reconciliation.Truth Time Radio, so glad you're here.Those who limit God's grace, are we correct in calling them Bible believers?Those who sprinkle a little grace here and a little grace there, do they actually believe the word of truth rightly divided?I know they say they do, but do the words they speak confirm this?There is no limit on God's grace.We can't limit it because we didn't give it, and make no mistake, limiting his forgiveness comes in all forms.It's in all denominations. They think you have to do something for forgiveness. They place conditions on it.It's a serious problem, and one that results from not actually believing their Bible.Oh, they believe parts, but not all.And their unbelief has led them to teach all sorts of errors.Take the Presbyterians, they teach that forgiveness is a process that includes communal sin confession.They think baptism assures believers of God's forgiveness and cleansing.The Seventh Day Adventists will say they believe that forgiveness is a freely offered gift to be accepted, not earned.Yet they teach that without confessing your sins to God, you can't be forgiven.So which is it? That's our question. Which is it? These two are different.You see, religion has a way of taking away your ability to think, to think for yourself.Methodists, they, they rely on 1 John 1:9 and James 5:16 for their forgiveness.Mormons have a multiple step process. Church of Christ, they depend on their water baptism.The Freewill Baptists, they say forgiveness is not earned by works, but only received when an individual voluntarily turns from sin and to God.Again, which is it? You have to pick one because these are not the same.Religion teaches forgiveness in all manner of mixed up ways.Some say confess your sins, others say abandon your sin.If you abandon all your sinful behaviors and habits God will forgive you.And then you've got those who say forgiveness comes when you turn over a new leaf and toward a new life.Some say if you, if you don't feel genuine Godly sorrow for your sin, then God cannot forgive you.All these various ways seems to point to you.The focus is on you and off the cross.The Catholics, they give the priest the authority to act as an instrument to grant absolution and forgiveness, which will involve examining one's conscience, true sorrow, contrition, confessing mortal sins at least annually, and performing penance to amend one's life.Such a mess, such a mess, but God's grace, it's amazing.And we're seeing there's an increasing number realizing that there is nothing you can do to be forgiven because Christ did it all.All credit goes to him. He did all the doing that needed to be done.Through his Son he finished something that most refuse to accept.At the cross, the Son took our sin upon himself, satisfying the Father which opened the door for the whole of mankind to be made righteous and justified.2 Corinthians 5:21 For he, God the Father, have made him, God the Son, to be sin for us.Mmm, that's good.Jesus, who knew no sin, by him doing this, we have the opportunity to be made righteous through faith in him.That's where he Colossians 1:20 made peace through the blood of his cross.And if you're saved, God has committed this word of reconciliation to you. Go tell it.That's why in Ephesians 4:1 Paul beseeches us to walk worthy of this vocation wherewith we are called.Our vocation is the gospel of reconciliation. That's what we've been commissioned with.The sum and and substance of the gospel is what Paul called the word of reconciliation which is what enabled us to have right relationship with God.A relationship that couldn't have happened until the enmity was removed, which is what happened at the cross.Colossians 1:27 Paul wrote, To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:Our job, hey, hey listen, our job guys, is that we let the world in on this.How that peace is found by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. That's the only way to have Christ in you, the hope of glory.Complete restoration and peace comes when, when we are Romans 5:1 justified by faith. There is great peace in knowing we have been reconciled to God and have 100% complete and secured assurance.We're totally secure in our eternal salvation. This lifelong discussion, you know, you've heard it, the one that says you can lose your salvation, it, it's foolish.Satan laughs at all the debates that's gone on about losing your salvation.Listen, once you're saved, Christ is your head, right?Therefore, if we could lose our salvation, our head would have to be decapitated.How absurd, it's foolish to even entertain such an idea. Only a narcissist would think that they can undo what God has done.It's judicially impossible for God to un-adopt someone, impossible.Salvation is secured by God, not maintained by man.We have a divine commission, guys, let's get serious about this, a commission to tell others of how they are kept by God's grace.We've been committed to tell the world how that God is not angry with them because of their sin, which was cleared by the way, their account was cleared at the cross.And in doing so, now they can be saved. The hostility is gone, and right now, under the grace administration, God doesn't see anyone as his enemy.So, what does that make you and I?Peacemakers. And as peacemakers, that's what we're supposed to be preaching.We're to be peacemakers who repair the breach, bringing words of comfort to repair the divide and, and help restore what's broken.The oppressed need to be freed and we have the good news to do it.The gospel of reconciliation is the only thing able to bring together that which has been torn apart.The world avoids a relationship with God because they think there's something they got to do with their sins first.Having missed the fact that he was the initiator, he did something with our sins.Our job is to make known that reconciliation was initiated by God through his Son at the cross.He initiated it, and all that is needed from the unbeliever is to respond in faith.But how can they if they don't know it?See, through the pharasitical mindset of most of the world, Satan has in place his systematic oppression which has inhibited the masses from the gospel of reconciliation.God has done everything needed for worldwide restoration, but it can't even come close to happening until we have made it known.We need more ministers of reconciliation, those willing to step up, step up to the plate and face this issue head on.Willing to fight the good fight that's needed to heal the breach between mankind and God.I just read a, I read an article earlier from a pastor who claims that to be forgiven you must quote, "Turn from sin and return to God, confess specific sins, agree with God about all your wrongdoings, renounce sinful attitudes and habits," and I'm quoting this, "make restitution when needed, forgive others, and recommit to obeying God's word." End quote.This is crazy. This is nonsense. This limited-forgiver religious system is a real mess, that I can tell you.All it does is make forgiveness a process.Forgiveness is not a process. We have, we have no to-do list. Jesus, he was given the to-do list and he finished it all. He finished it and the process is done.The information is no longer hid, so no one has an excuse.Through the dispensational change, God stopped charging, stopped counting, stopped imputing sins.It was achieved for us on the cross and announced to and through the Apostle Paul in due time, 1 Timothy chapter 2.There starting in verse 5 he said, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (Verse 6) Who gave himself a ransom for... how many? How many does it say? ...for all, to be testified in due time.Where did this take place?At the cross, but was it known there?By no means. It was to be testified in due time, and Paul was the due time testifier of this outstanding news.And now we have it right here, in 13 books, Romans through Philemon.I have an article here from the Forrest Hill Baptist Church. We need to look at it.Just give me a moment to pull it up here. You know, what we have to understand is that it, it's Satan's greatest priority to keep secret the truth of what took place at the cross.You understand that, right? You can't have it getting out to the masses.Over there in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, we're told how that the fullness of the crosswork was hid from Satan.And now it's his desire to hide it from as many as possible. And to his credit, he's doing a real good job.This from the Forrest Hill Baptist Church titled, "How can you be forgiven of your sins?"The title alone makes me want to puke. How can you be forgiven?As if it's future and up to you instead of past with all credit going to Christ. See how that works?Forrest Hill Baptist Church, obviously limited forgivers here who put the burden of forgiveness on human effort.All right, this article is very lengthy, but, uh, we're going to skip through some here at the first and get to the heart of it.When telling everyone how to get forgiveness, they say, quote,

Truth Time Radio. We will continue to deliver sound biblical teaching to help you grow in grace, rightly dividing the word of truth and keeping it real.Glad you have chosen to be with us today here to preach Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery.We're mic side and grace ready to make known Paul's, "my gospel."He called it, "my gospel," multiple times for a good reason.And it's a truth that twistianity continues to ignore, but we'll stay right here unmovable, preaching Jesus Christ according to the mystery.Mystery not prophecy.What was being taught before Paul, the gospel of the earthly kingdom, primarily concerning circumcised Jews.Romans 15:8, Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:Whose fathers? Around 50,000 Christian denominations and no one's asking this question.They just mosey along, continuing to traffic in the red letters of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as if that's instructions to us today, the body of Christ.Is this the fathers of the Gentiles? No, even though the denominational crowd continues to deny this.John 4:22, Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.So, at this juncture, Jesus didn't have you and I in mind. We weren't in the picture.John 1:11, He came unto his own, and his own received him not. To put it plain and simple, John never said a word to you.Don't you just love it when God's word begins to make sense? It'll do that once we drop our prejudices.John's gospel was to prove that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, and not that he came to die so that the father could once and for all stop imputing the world's sins.Some teach John 3:16 as a salvation verse. Why would they do such a thing? They didn't keep reading. Watch what happens when we do, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.Believe what? Hang on and we'll see, we'll find out starting with verse 17, For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.How John? How could the world be saved according to your gospel?Next verse, He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because... and here's our answer, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.That's the crosswork, right? That's the bloodshed, right? Everyone's sins being paid for, right?Wrong. According to John's gospel, they could have everlasting life, how? By believing in the name of Jesus."In the name." Three, one syllable words.If you're smarter than a fifth grader, you can get this.But, if you'll go find a Baptist church to go to this weekend, they'll preach the socks off John 3:16 calling it a salvation verse.And to do so, you know what they got to do? They got to add the cross. It's not there. Acts 4:12, now watch, we're over here in the book of Acts 4 chapters in and this is what we read, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.So, this business of salvation in his name in John was still going on over here in early Acts.What's missing? Paul's gospel. Paul's gospel of the grace of God was nowhere in sight at this time.Galatians 6:14, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,...Paul only gloried in the cross of Christ, yet John did not. We literally have the gospel of the name versus the gospel of his cross.These are far from being the same.Let's continue shall we?Flip the pages, flip a few pages here till you come to chapter 8, chapter 8 verse 37, And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.Did the eunuch believe that God stopped imputing his sins? That he was buried and he is risen to justify him unto eternal life?Certainly not. This wasn't their gospel. That was never required of him.The requirement for salvation was believing with all thine heart that Jesus is the Son of God.In the very first chapter of John, he tried to warn us that the book wasn't about the death, burial, and resurrection for salvation.Chapter 1 verse 12, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:Nothing hard about it. The book of John doesn't contain the gospel of our salvation. Our salvation is not found back there on the other side of the cross.John's presentation is meant to reveal Christ as Israel's Messiah.People that are saying, Believe John 3:16 to be saved, are only giving Satan a reason to throw a big party.One like you've never seen, because there is no salvation in John 3:16.If you had been back there in the previous dispensation and you had stood up and said, To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses into them, they would have thought you to be nothing short of a heretic.And some will call you that today for saying that.Calvary's cross wasn't in focus just like it, for many it's not in focus today.It wasn't in focus, and even when they did eventually receive it, it was only remission for their sins that were past.So, regardless of popular preaching, John's gospel can't save us.He never preached Christ crucified for our sins in the resurrection unto justification. He just didn't do it.Chapter 12 verse 13, turn there real quick if you can. This is how he presented Jesus. Watch, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel...Now that's pretty simple is it not?John presented Jesus as king of Israel, verse 15, Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh,...Who's the daughter of Zion? Is that the Galatians 2:9 heathen that Paul went to? I don't think so.See, don't be like the sloppy preachers who, who are guilty of reading mystery data that was kept secret since the world began, Roman 16:25, back into prophecy data that had been hid since the world began, Acts 3:21.Don't do it.John chapter 14 verses 1 and 2, Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.And here come all the wrong dividers along to preach you a sermon about you receiving a mansion one day.And you can hear the songs playing on southern gospel radio. All sorts of made up romantic stories about walking the streets of gold.But are you going to be in that new city Jerusalem here on earth, or do you inherit heavenly places where your spiritual blessings are?Without right division you're left double-minded and unstable.The book of John doesn't have your applicable day-to-day doctrine in it and is why John 14:13 doesn't work for you.Oh, you'll hear it preached, but it don't work. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.Folks, John never said a word to you. But most miss this and there they are confused and a prime candidate to be tossed to and fro.John 20 verse 8, Then went in also that other disciple,... now watch, this is interesting, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. Verse 9, For as yet... here's our timeline, For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.Now that you've pulled away from the church parking lot, put your brain back in and think.John chapter 20, 17 chapters after John 3:16, and the disciples had no clue about the resurrection, which without it we have no salvation.Yet, popular preaching says we're saved by believing John 3:16.Boy, Satan really is the God of this world. 17 chapters after John 3:16 and 16 chapters after John 4:22, but some still remain standing there in their prideful ignorance refusing to budge.But I've got good news. There's a way of escape.To escape all manner of biblical ignorance, we need resident in our inner man, strong meat that belongeth to them that are of full age.We can glean a lot, now listen, we can glean a lot from John. I love reading this book.All his books.All scripture's profitable and for our learning.But the gospel of our salvation is missing. He doesn't address it because he doesn't address us. His books are to Israel concerning the prophetic program and the earthly kingdom.At that time, for a Gentile to have gone into the kingdom, they would have needed Israel acting as a mediator.John 4:22, salvation is of the Jews, remember? Is that how it is today? It is not.1 Timothy 2:5 as a part of what was revealed to Paul. Listen, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;What's missing? Israel? What's missing? The red letter words of Jesus in John chapter 4. Regardless of what Jesus said in the red letters of John 4, salvation is no longer of the Jews.Their kingdom was postponed and he returned to the Apostle Paul with some different news or some different people going through different times.Jesus said one thing back there prior to dying so that his father could stop imputing sins, but then he comes and says another, something different here to the Apostle Paul.The reason you have to rightly divide the word of truth, it's non-negotiable.How do the ones who claim to follow John miss this?When read exegetically, the book of John teaches salvation based on belief, but had to be followed by performance as a part of maintaining salvation.See, those seeking everlasting life in Israel's earthly kingdom had to hold out and endure unto the end.Mark 13:13, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:...Oh, and there's the name thing again, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.To endure meant they had to remain. They had to last. That's not grace. Grace is unearned, unmerited, but endurance is merited.When you're following Jesus here in John's red letters, I should say pretending to, you're following Israel's Messiah, who came not but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.And for what reason, to judge?John 9:39, And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.What we read there in John 5 about those who did good and got resurrection of life compared to those that did evil and got damnation, that is judgment.And has nothing to do with the dispensation of grace we find ourselves in today.If you think God's judging us today, I might ask, hey, where are all the dead bodies? We're not in the day of judgment, we're in the day of grace.Where are all the dead bodies, as in Ananias and Sapphira?Matthew 16:19 (actually 6:19), Jesus over there said, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:But that's exactly what they were doing.And when Peter approached them to inquire about it, they lied to him.Does this instruction apply to you today?No, and you've got the savings account to prove it.Different instructions for different people in different times.This is rightly dividing the word of truth.Prior to the postponement of Israel's prophetic program after the stoning of Stephen, there were people getting sentenced to death for the very thing we do today without any repercussion, without any punishment.Christ didn't come to judge us, rather, he took our judgment for us.Our judgment occurred at the cross when he died for our sins and God stopped imputing them.Christ was judged in our place and God's wrath was satisfied.But, you know, sadly, at some sporting event this weekend, and in churches across America, someone's going to stand up, stick out their chest and pray, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Give us this day our daily bread, even though we have plenty in the pantry.Oh, and don't forget to forgive our sins when we forgive others, even though the sins we're asking you to forgive are not being charged. Amen.Round and round the cray-cray goes, where it stops nobody knows.What most miss is that at the time John's writing about there was no such thing as this gospel of reconciliation.The book of John is prophecy not mystery, with its focus on Israel's earthly kingdom.Daniel 2:44, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.That's the focus.The prophetic events John wrote of doesn't include you.You and me were Ephesians chapter 2 without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.We were strangers from the covenants of promise.We had no hope, and we were without God in this world.And there's no salvation by resting in the finished crosswork of Christ in the book of John.Salvation came by belief in the name, and the name of the only begotten Son,and had nothing to do with the bloodshed for our sins at Calvary.Nothing to do with him being buried and raised on day 3.No, that was the gospel the Lord later gave Paul after he actually did it.After his death, burial, and resurrection, and his ascension and return to Paul.Prior to that, Paul's gospel wasn't being taught.That's why over there in Galatians 2, when Paul went up to Jerusalem to meet with the other apostles, he said, And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel...That gospel? What in the world are you talking about, Paul?What a strange thing to say.I mean, if Paul was preaching the same gospel as the other apostles,that's what Satan wants us to believe, then why did he say, I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach?...Using the words, "that gospel," certainly sounds like it's different.The gospel of reconciliation was never preached by the Twelve.John's in prophecy.He's speaking in accordance to the gospel of the earthly kingdom program.Alright, so you're here and you're starting to see some things you haven't seen before.Hey listen, this edifice of understanding comes as a product of rightly dividing the word of truth.When you're standing on the right foundation, when you have it under you to build upon, the pieces start to align themselves and fall in place.That's just how it works.But, if you're not approaching your Bible dispensationally, most everything I'm saying here today is flying right over your head.When reading John, this apostle, who according to Galatians 2, went to the circumcision with the gospel of the circumcision, he operated under the law and very plainly and candidly told his audience that, Whatsoever they ask, they would receive because they kept his commandments and did those things that were pleasing in his sight. 1 John 3:22.And many claim this verse even though it doesn't work for them.They claim it even though it was written under the law program.Hence the three words, "keep his commandments."This whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, was a promise to the law keeping circumcised on the eighth day, pork abstaining, Sabbath keeping, waiting on their earthly not heavenly kingdom little flock of believing Israel.And never meant for anyone today.But some, they'll pray this law verse as if it's a grace verse and they get disappointed when it doesn't work.My, it's so nice to not only read 2 Timothy 2:15 but to actually put it in practice.When the word of truth is rightly divided all the dots begin to connect.1 John 2:18, Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby ye know that it is the last time.It's sort of hard to miss the prophetic framework of John's epistle here.He's obviously dealing with tribulation issues and not what we're presently experiencing in this current dispensation of grace.John 20 verse 31, But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.Life through the name is not what Paul called, "my gospel."Life through the name is not 1 Corinthians 15, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel.It's not 2 Corinthians 5, God made Christ to be sin for us and therefore he stopped imputing sins to us.He took your punishment upon himself which means that if you trusted him alone, this, this life you're now living is the closest to hell you'll ever get.And if you're trusting in anything you have done, this is the closest to heaven you'll ever get.Proverbs 15:14, The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.Knowledge is a game changer, yes it is, so remember you only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself.It's amazing how you find the truth.It's like I've went down into a rabbit hole of nothing but truth.It's crazy how I've been lied to by the so-called churches and so-called preachers all these years that all they do is preach, Confess your sins at a alter and give us your money for blessings.It's crazy.A few days, well actually a few months I've been praying every night to guide me and lead me in the right path of truth.Finally I want to know the truth.Give me the truth.Only a few days ago a buddy of mine introduced me to Truth Time Radio.He said it would open your mind and open your eyes and it did.I can't believe how much lies has been taught to me over the years.It's amazing what y'all are doing.It really is.Stay with us.We will continue to deliver sound, biblical teaching to help you grow in grace.Rightly dividing the word of truth and keeping it real.Truth Time Radio, celebrating the word of reconciliation and songs of grace.

Such a joy to be here, if there's a cloud nine, I'm on cloud 10.Hey, we're above ground. That's a good thing. We're alive and here for another day able to share love.The love, the joy, the peace, the peace that passeth all understanding as our apostle Paul tells us.That peace that comes with, well, having the understanding that we're saved eternally secure and sealed unto the day of redemption. Praise God.Isn't that good news? It brings a special kind of joy, does it not?Are you guys affected the same way I am when you read through, when you study out these wonderful, powerful words that were written directly to the body of Christ?The one in Rome there to all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be saints, grace to you and what? Peace.That's what we're talking about. Peace from God our Father, comma, and the Lord Jesus Christ.Then he went on to do the same thing when he addressed the church at Corinth where he opens up and says, Grace be unto you and peace again.Grace and peace from God our Father, comma, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.Then what happens? Well, we journey on down through the books and we look there at the book of Galatians and we see he did the same thing all over again.This is a pattern.Paul's our pattern, and this seems to be a pattern developing here.He said, Grace be to you and peace.There it is again.Are you experiencing this peace? That's the question. The peace of God from the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.As ambassadors, grace and peace, faith should be in everything we do. Yes. If we're to follow after the words of Paul, we claim to.We say, oh, yeah, we follow Paul. But then we, we don't. Philippians 1, you can go over there. You'll see it again. There goes Paul as his custom.There again, he says, Grace be unto you and peace. Oh, I love it. Peace. Peace from God our Father, comma, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.You guys, you can't escape. You can't escape this truth, this knowledge, this wisdom. God's grace and peace.You can't escape it when you're reading through the Pauline epistles. You just can't. It's peace that passeth all understanding.It's peace that you can't find. I can't find. We collectively, we cannot find outside of our apostle. I mean, we're to magnify his office. We do.Read the entire Bible, but magnify those letters that brings peace to you because of the other, the other epistles are not addressed to you. They're for you, but they're not to you.So you want the peace that passeth all understanding to dwell and reign in your heart? You need to get into Pauline grace, the grace apostle designated, especially for you and I.When we go to our spiritual mailbox, we have grace letters. I don't know if, I can't think of any better news than that. We go to our post office and we get bills.Oh, coffee is good. Thanks. Now we go to our Truth Time post office box. That's much better. Much better.Hearing from you listeners and we love that, but it's still even that nothing like the grace mailbox that's for the body of Christ. It's so good.And if you're here today and you're not aware, you know, this is a foreign, foreign lingo, this crazy guy's talking, well, maybe you should consider, decide to be a workman that's no longer ashamed.There's so many people, Faith, in churches on the pew behind the pulpit that are ashamed, or they ought to be.They ought to be. Maybe they're not conscious of that, but yes, they should be ashamed. This will happen when you begin to rightly divide the word of truth that shame, it'll disappear.And I think most are aware of the shame. They just hide it. They get good at hiding it, too.Ya, ya.Well, I was, I was, I was good at hiding it. I was really good at faking it until you make it. You, you learn to go along to get along, you know, and so you don't cause any problems.You keep your head down and you don't ask questions and just move along with the rest of the herd when you're in that denominational or mainstream mentality.And you learn to do that and you get used to it. And if it ever dawns on you that these things that the man behind the pulpit's saying are not adding up, you know, that's the first step to being able to step out from under that spell, so to speak, whatever you're in that, because you don't want to make waves, you don't want to start trouble.Is it kind of like the abusive wife syndrome? Yeah. Yeah. Keep your head down. Yeah. Put on a front. Most people, even some of your closest acquaintances and friends don't even know the abuse that's going on behind closed doors.Yeah. And the same thing happens in churches. Go ahead. It does. No, no, you're fine. No, it does. It's very similar to that because you have to put on a mask. You have to hide behind.Happy little Christian.Yeah, the, "Christian love club." You did a podcast on that a few years back, but it's under the guise of love, but it's not genuine love.It's supposed to look like what the world believes love is. Yeah.But it's really not. It's to the core, evil.Therein lies the problem when we, as should be bold body of Christ believers, allow the world to define words such as love.No, our Bible, and more precisely, our apostle, he describes that. Right. Right. And love, I made a Facebook post about this years ago.But love is not defined by the receiver, but by the motivation of the giver. But often we look at love as being how it makes a person feel, which is the one on the receiving end of that love.So, if it doesn't make you feel... let's say you offer correction to someone, or you tell them a hard truth.And for some people it doesn't matter how gentle you say it. You can say it with, you know, with the sweetest tone and the kind of sound, the smile on your face and you can be loving and caring and show affection,and it doesn't matter if that's not something that the person wants to hear if they're not in the right headspace to receive that.So, that is going to be the person on the receiving end, they're not going to define that as love.But that's not how we define love. Love comes from the giver. The giver is the one who determines whether or not it's love.That's right. It's your motivation. So, is your intention to harm this person, to hurt this person, to belittle this person with a correction or that hard truth, or is your intention to help them, to make them see something that they may not see because they're right in the middle of it?Or something that they haven't, if it comes down to scripture, if it's something that they haven't understood correctly, is your motivation to embarrass them, or is it to help them grow?How they take that correction or how they take that truth does not determine what your intention is.Correct.Genuine Christian love is true love. That is, I mean, that's going to be the only true love and the only ones who have the ability to show that love are those who know the love that Christ (Ya, good point) has put in us.So, I mean, we know the love of Christ, therefore we can share.Just because someone calls themself a Christian or says that they represent Christianity as a whole or, it doesn't mean that they do.So, we can't let some who don't know what they're talking about dictate what the truth is.

1 Thessalonians 5 verses 21 and 22, Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. What's evil? Religion.Abstain from it.What's good?Grace.Hold fast to it.God laid it out pretty simple here, guys.In Ephesians 3:2 Paul said, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:No, Paul, they haven't. Most still haven't heard about it. Your gospel remains 2 Corinthians 4:3, hid.In this day of grace, hey, you want to know God?If you do, if you want to know him, and in you're presently involved with religion, put on your best pair of Nike's and run.I'm just, I'm just keepin' it real. You may think you know God, but you don't. You know religion's version of him.And it matters not what some call themselves. You can say grace this, grace that, and still not have a handle on what really went down at the cross.Blind to the truth of reconciliation and still religious, they don't believe God stopped imputing the world's sins.To the religious mind, that sounds crazy, because they see themselves as good people, and the world as bad people.Just proof, just more proof that they never fully left religion, hanging on to their goodness as if it means something.Some, some look at the goodness of others, and they're impressed. They, they allow it to convince them that the words they speak, they must be true.But hey, that's not Bible. That's human nature.It's why the Mormon boys put on a clean white shirt and tie before coming to your door. It's why pastors hang their credentials on the wall of their office, so you can see them.As if a piece of paper from a theological seminary means anything, as if it means they speak the truth, it does not.You either understand the Bible mid-acts dispensationally or you don't.And be careful, watch, because even the grace message is being hijacked by fakers, pretending to understand Paul's unique apostleship.Oh, they got a little. They understand a little, just enough to be dangerous. But, it's being hijacked by those who never truly left their denomination.Paul talks about them in Acts chapter 20.In Acts 20 he says, he called them wolves. He said, Some wolves coming in from the outside, and some are already among us. Speaking perverse things to draw away disciples, only causing you to digress backwards.Hey, we're seeing that now, some are saying that Romans 3:25 is the gospel of your salvation.Even though the verse only speaks of sins that are past.Newsflash, you having faith that you've only been forgiven of your past sins will leave you lost and on your way to hell.That's phony baloney. That's a phony gospel that's making false converts.All and past are different.Colossians chapter 1 verse 14, In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.And just flip the page and watch.Here we'll see which sins Paul was speaking of, Forgiving you all trespasses, Chapter 2 verse 13.All trespasses, not remission for sins that are past.Religion's greatest tool has been to cause confusion concerning forgiveness.Satan would love nothing more than for you to believe that Romans 3:25 is the gospel of your salvation.Some, they conflate past and all, just as some conflate forgiveness and justification.Which leads them to believe that forgiveness of sins is conditional.It flies in the face of grace by putting you under the law of, "do."When you tell someone they have to do something for forgiveness, you've just made, "do," a law.And it doesn't matter what the, "do," is, you don't have to teach the law of Moses to teach law.Any, "do," any, "do," you place on forgiveness runs contrary to what God said through Paul for this grace dispensation.His forgiveness was for all sins, not past sins.And was unconditional, not conditional.It happened at the cross, not at your turn from sin.It happened at the cross, not when you said a prayer.It happened at the cross, not when you were baptized.At the cross, not when you believed and got saved.Saying you got to do something to be forgiven only poisons God's pure, undefiled, unconditional forgiveness.We didn't have to do anything for it, it was freely given, and if we allow Ephesians 4:32 to be our pattern, we forgive others the way God forgave us, unconditionally.Have you ever noticed, have you ever noticed how some they, they'll go to great lengths to avoid someone who hasn't forgiven them?Avoiding them, thinking they're still angry, and perhaps they are.And that's how they see God.Religion has taught the unbeliever that they need to go to an angry God to get forgiveness.So out of fear, they most often don't.Satan loves this teaching.But God's way is so much better, right? It's so much better than man's.He says that after the sacrifice of my Son, I stopped being angry and stopped imputing sins to the world.God's not angry with anyone today, and it's a message that few preach.Few preach it and it's why most don't know it. They've never heard it.As ambassadors, it's our job to publish this good news so the world will have one less reason to avoid God.He's not angry with you about your sins, and the only thing separating you from him is unbelief.Salvation isn't getting your sins forgiven, it's believing they already are.Believing he forgave every last one of your sins, was buried, and rose to give you new life.But some, they think their belief is the birthmark of their forgiveness.They've chose to give no regard to Colossians chapter 2 where we learned that at the cross, the handwriting of ordinances that were against and contrary to us were all blotted out, every one of them.Taking out of the way and nailed to the cross, limited forgivers don't believe this.They don't believe this verse and they don't believe 2 Corinthians 5:19 where God said he stopped counting the world's trespasses.Neither verse is hard. I mean, both are simple. Acts 26:18 is another simple verse, and it's another one that limited forgivers don't believe.Here, the Lord said to open their eyes, now watch this, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins,...They don't believe it so they try to twist it to make you think you have to do something for forgiveness.They say you have to believe first. No, you don't.Listen, you would never ask someone, Hey if you will first receive my forgiveness, then I will forgive you. How illogical is that?Forgiveness is at the heart of our faith, so it's important that we get this right.It's what allows us to embrace our new identity and successfully live out the grace life confident in Christ.It's what leads to a life of peace and purpose.So thankful you've chosen to be here with us today. You've downloaded the app and you're enjoying this grace life with us.It's just awesome to be a saved by grace through faith member of the body of Christ. Praise the Lord.United, unity bound by peace.United by faith in Paul's one doctrine, the faith of Christ, the Ephesians 4:1 body, one faith, one Spirit, one baptism and one calling.What's sad is often it's those who claim to know the most about grace that are the ones that have the most difficulty showing it.Grace is unearned, unmerited, but they hold on tightly to the position that one must do something for it.We're to forgive others as God forgave us, instead of holding grudges and harboring bitterness, we freely forgive.Forgiveness doesn't automatically mean reunion, reunification, okay? Don't get it twisted.Forgiving someone doesn't always mean there will be reconciliation.They may never be a part of your life, just as most of the world will not reconcile to God and be a part of his.But as he did so do we, we freely forgive without requiring anything from those we forgive.And the ones who can't do this, they're the ones teaching limited forgiveness.To be frank, they're stuck, reliving, rehashing things in their past and holding grudges, which only breeds anguish.Anguish that can lead to emotional distress.Some have a problem giving grace to others because they've never understood the grace God gave to them.But be that as it may, we are to freely forgive. Forgiveness is free.We freely forgive without the person who wronged us having to ask for it.They don't have to beg for it. They don't have to acknowledge it.They don't have to show remorse. They don't even have to know about it.Because we're to Ephesians 4:32, forgive as Christ forgave us.Oh, this, my friend, this is the beauty of forgiveness. We can free ourselves from the energy it takes to hold on and harbor unforgiveness.And we don't need anyone's permission to do it.Which is what God did, forgave us without our permission or belief.By forgiving unconditionally, we display that God kind of forgiveness that was shown to us.This is how we release ourselves from the offender's offense against us.Forgiveness belongs to the offended, not to the offender. Go read Daniel 9:9.God forgave us on the basis of what his Son did, not on the basis of what we did.And we forgive the same way.An argument used by the limited forgivers is that if God forgave the world, then the world is automatically going to heaven.As if they can use forgiveness as their ticket. This is just more toxic stew they're serving. There's no truth to it.What they've done is confuse forgiveness with justification.They're separate words with separate meanings and separate calendar dates.No one goes to heaven for simply being forgiven. Forgiveness only took one. God.But justification, it requires the individual to respond in faith.Same goes for reconciliation. God reconciled you unto himself, now you need to reconcile him to yourself.His parts deal when he done, and he didn't need you to do it.Your part is undone until you believe what he did.Complete reconciliation can never be achieved without two agreeing parties.So when the unbeliever places faith in what Christ completed, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:20, they are reconciled to God.It's important we have this correct, this correct understanding of these terms will help you navigate your way through the Bible.Forgiveness and justification are not synonymous, not by grammar, definition, or context.Some things are up for debate, this is not. God's word is the independent arbiter of truth.Justification is a legal judiciary act whereby God removes guilt so that he can then declare the guilty party righteous.But he had to forgive first.Forgiveness doesn't mean you're justified, because it doesn't clear you from guilt.Now if you can grab on, if you can grasp this, you can get out from behind the eight ball.Okay?The key is to educate ourselves by letting God's word, not man's, but letting God's word be our final authority.Exodus chapter 34. For those having trouble with this, allow God to help you here.Exodus chapter 34.You've heard what the grace school had to say about it. Now try God on for size.Exodus 34 verse 7. Moses, speaking of the Lord here, said, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;...You see it? It's a big flashing light, it's a big billboard right here in front of you.No longer hidden in plain sight, we're bringing it out here for you. That's forgiveness without clearing guilt, plain and simple.God forgave the world without their belief, but his forgiveness did not clear one person in the world of their guilt.His forgiveness didn't clear the guilty for what they were forgiven of.We just read it and we can do it again. Here's more, Numbers chapter 14 verse 18.Same thing, watch, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty,...Uh-huh, again, made ever so clear.Don't kick against the pricks. Receive this truth. Are you beginning to see this? Limited forgivers have no argument. They never have.They've been playing with you for some time now, but it's time you arm yourself with God's word and stand up to their nonsense.Just connect the dots. It's pretty simple. When God stopped imputing sins to the world, he did not clear anyone of guilt.So, being forgiven by itself will not get you into heaven.Make no mistake. No guilty person goes to heaven. They go to hell.They go there because of guilt and not because of sins that are not being imputed. That makes no sense.How can you go to hell for sins that are not being imputed? How can you go to hell for sins that were put on Christ?Take them off Christ and re-impute them to you, each person, and then send them to hell?Can't do it, but you can send them to hell because they're still guilty of those sins because they were never placed in Christ and justified, meaning that God not only sees them as forgiven, but sees them as innocent, not guilty, as if they've never ever sinned in the first place.Because you're in Christ and Christ never sinned.So, if you're in Christ and he never sinned, then you're seen as he's seen.Having never sinned, completely innocent, not guilty.See, being in Christ does not mean forgiven, because Christ was never forgiven.You get that, right?This is so simple, most miss it.Just because God stopped charging sins didn't make anyone not guilty and is the same with us.Just because we choose to forgive someone doesn't mean that person isn't guilty of what we forgave them for.It just means we chose to forgive them and let it go.If you haven't already gotten this, at some point you got to catch up, catch up and catch on, and you can better articulate the gospel.Not one person listening today had their guilt taken away when Jesus hung, bled, and died on the cross, not one.You probably, you know, most of us know someone who likes to hold something from your past over your head to sort of keep you in check, right?That's not love at all.But they didn't come up with that on their own.Knowingly or unknowingly, they got that from religion.The world is set up on the religious system and affects even those who claim no religion.Religious people like to hold sins against others.But you were born with no sins in your account because of the blood of Jesus.He took care of it before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye.And conflatin' forgiveness with justification distorts both.Say you're, say you're in a courtroom and a man's on trial.He's being tried for murder.The victim's father, he stands up, looks over at the defendant and says, I forgive you.What happens after that?Well, to hear the limited forgivers tell it, the murderer is set free and everyone goes home.Because they claim that forgiveness and justification mean the same thing.So, once the father stood up and said, I forgive you, that meant the man's not guilty.But to us, we who are sober thinkers and we who believe what we just read earlier in Exodus 34:7 and over there in Numbers 14:18, we know that's not how the judiciary system functions.We know that while forgiveness only takes one, the one who was offended,that forgiveness doesn't clear the offender of his guilt.So he can't walk out of the courtroom just because the father said, I forgive you.Because forgiveness is not synonymous with justification.Religion has messed up the masses.And this has caused a competitive mindset.Which is responsible for a lot of unnecessary struggle, pain, anxiety, and discouragement.It's responsible for creating a competitive atmosphere that will not only have you competing against others, but competing against yourself.Listen, there's no one more competitive than me.Ask anyone who knows me.But leave it on the field, in the ring, on the court.Leave it there because it has no place in grace.We were forgiven on the merit of what Christ did and not what we do.The way was made clear by the death, burial, and resurrection for every sin you'll ever commit, and salvation is a free gift for all who will simply believe that the work is finished.No need to compete for something unearned.No amount of stopping, starting, doing more, doing less, doing it longer, harder, none of that.We're complete in him, complete in Christ, and that can't be improved on.And the body of Christ, we're loved unconditionally, but most never hear this in any of these Fortune 500-style churches.And if they do, it's always followed with a, "but," and then they add a condition.It's a counterfeit gospel that only appears to be good news.But as ambassadors with a greater news, the best news, we need to be faithful to the assignment.Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ.2 Corinthians 5:20, ...as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.So many wonderful verses overlooked.Another verse that flies under the radar is found over there in the 5th chapter of Romans.It's rarely preached, verse 13, (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law...)Now that's a good verse.It should settle it.When limited forgivers come here, they have a hard time with this one.Has the law been in effect during your lifetime?Well, if the answer is no, and it is, then the Truth Time position here, the one we hold to, is correct.And the entire limited forgiver platform callapses.That argument faceplants.For Christ's sake, God stopped imputing the world's sins, and this offends the grace Pharisees.I don't know why.It's good news.But, hey, Satan has to be celebrating.Millions out here needing to hear this, but religion with its man-made cohorts remain blind to this truth.And we forgive others, listen, we forgive others the same way God forgave us.He forgave us and stopped imputing our sins without us doing anything.We didn't have to be there, we didn't have to acknowledge it, we didn't have to know about it, ask for it, believe it.He just did it.He demonstrated his immeasurable love by 2 Corinthians 5:19, removing the sin barrier that had stood between him and man, making a way for us to, verse 20, be ye reconciled by simple faith.Which we do by believing the gospel, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.When the unbeliever repents, changes their mind, changes it from what they were trusting for salvation, and decides to trust Christ alone, they are cleared of guilt, justified, made righteous.We're not saved by asking, inviting, turning, making, forsaking, praying, or joining, but through simple faith in what Christ done for us, on our behalf, in our behalf.It's amazing news, guys.Be faithful to the assignment, go tell someone about this today.And remember, you only get two educations.The one you're given, and the one you give yourself.Grace and peace.