Understanding Grace

Obedience, Repentance, Mercy, Love and Grace

       One of my dearest teachers, Dr. O. Talmadge Spence brought to us the formula to comprehend a concept. I will try to explain it in my own words... He said that a person would not fully understand a concept till he had closed their own circle or the square inside its circle, maybe a square will be more suitable for the explanation: some people will have one part of the concept, other two and even three parts and still will not fully understand the concept of a thing. It is when you get the four parts that you will fully understand that concept.  That is what happens many times to people, it is when they get the four lines and close the square when they begin to fully understand the concept. So, there are many Bible commentators who will not follow the Spirit of the Scriptures but their own system of interpretation of the Scriptures which will not allow them to fully understand the concept they try to fit or teach about any doctrine. They will give us their opinion about some doctrine mixing everything.

There have been some controversies through the ages about these doctrines related to salvation and the way some brethren dealt with these doctrines. Their way of bringing to us their knowledge has become the Good News of Salvation as if we must do something else of what God Himself had commanded to do for us to be fully saved. So Obedience and Repentance are taught not just as doctrines to be learnt as results of a new born Christian believer’s way of living but as things needed before salvation. Let me set all these things in the right context of what the Bible teaches us about them.

The first thing Paul says for a preacher is that he was not to be a novice (I Tim. 3:6), but one who has been prepared for the ministry and to minister; the Missionary, the Preacher, the Evangelist, the Pastor and the Teacher. They are given to us as a gift from the Lord to His Church, which must be learned people fill with the Holy Ghost, and are set to prepare and edify the Body of Christ in perfection  (Eph. 4:11, 12).

So, many struggling pastors sometimes have no clear concepts about doctrines and his applications upon believers; also, many Christians have been taught under some kind of system, leading them to interpret the Scriptures under that condition and not to interpret it by Biblical theology. So, many people commit some errors which will be harder to clarify afterwards and these make them difficult to live walking in the Spirit and in the Avenue of Sanctification (Is. 35:8).

Let us explain certain concepts of these important doctrines. On one side we have Creation starting in a point of time for humankind; on the other side we have Redemption which was established before the foundation of the World (I Pet. 1:18-20). All according the revealed Scriptures, these are Biblical facts! After Creation of Adam and Eve we are told they sinned because they did not believe what God the Creator told them about the tree of the knowledge of the science of good and evil; the serpent was very subtle asking the woman in a way as if God had made a command and not a warning about the results of eating such fruit.  It is certain that Eve was led by the serpent which told her they will be like God knowing good and evil making her to think God was hiding her very good things according of the awakening of her desires… She saw three things: a tree good for food, which was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise… but the serpent shut up her mouth about the death that sin will do to them and lied to them telling “Ye shall not surely die”.

Things were coming on, so with Noah the Flood came, and Babylon’s tower and the confusion of languages. After This God called Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan and he went there following the mandate of God. God told Abraham that his people will be slave during 400 years in Egypt. After a while God choose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and gave him the Law. This Law was given under conditions: God will bless His people if they will fulfill the Law; so, the people has to know the Law, they will have to obey it, but if they will break the Law they were given time to repent and bring the needed offering for their sins, this will restitute communion with God; and clearly was told them that without shedding of blood there was no remission of sins. So the Law, holy and perfect, was under condition of fulfillment for the people of God. So communion and salvation were resting upon human decision on obedience and repentance. At the same time God was laboring on Redemption, setting the teaching of the kinsman which will redeem his relative slave.

With the coming of Christ grace and truth came to be the new deal for humankind, establish under the new covenant and prophesied by the servants of God of whom Jeremiah will be the best exponent, and worked by Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. This \new Covenant, the New Testament, was wrought without conditions but labored only by God, Who was to fulfill Redemption giving us salvation through His Son’s death on the cross of Calvary, which is the basis of our belief. Whom God the Father set by love His only begotten Son as the One we must believe to be saved.

            So, the Law is based in human condition: obedience and repentance to be restored. That’s the reason the Lord Jesus Christ told John the Baptist that it was needed for him to fulfill all justice when he was to be baptized by John in the baptism of Repentance. This was made in such a way that nobody could take this out of context telling he did not fulfill with the Law. The difference is that He did it for us, so we might say we have fulfilled too with the Law when we believe in Jesus as our Savior; because He is our substitute on the Cross of Calvary.

            Now Grace and Truth came with the Lord Jesus Christ, there was Grace before and there was the Spirit of God acting before, but now it is going to be different. God changed the way of dealing with us because of Christ. As His Redemption is perfect, God the Father decided to give us His only begotten Son to pay the price Divine Justice was claiming because the sin. He shed His blood on the Cross of Calvary and paid the price for our sins; fulfilling in that way the complete requirements the Justice of God demanded. The only thing we have to do is to believe in Him. We have to apply faith to accept the gift of God. It is all of Grace and by Grace.

            Now remember the concept, because here many commentators slip down trying to solve supposed items or issues they have not clarified before. So, many mix repentance with faith as a matter of changing the mind of the sinner to be saved…  But the Lord has not told us to do that at all. We just have to believe in the perfect work of Redemption Jesus Christ has done for us; He suffered chastisement before the cross, He was nailed to the Cross; He shed His blood on the Cross; He died on the Cross; He was buried according to the Scriptures and He resurrected the third day too. He was with His people 40 days and then He was taken to heaven on the clouds; then, the fiftieth day came the Holy Spirit to remain in the earth making the inner work of God in the soul of the sinners to convince of sin, of justice and of judgment (Jh. 16:8-11) and to enlighten, guide us and honor the Lord Jesus Christ according to His Word. We have nothing to do with His perfect Work of Redemption but to believe it.

            I know too that many theologians and Bible commentators speak of Sovereign of God and Human Responsibility. The subject is to know (again) the true concept of each. Related to Salvation God gives us a Graceful gift, which we have to accept it believing Him; this is our human responsibility, and it is not a simple fact because the Holy Spirit has been working in us to convince us we are lost sinners and we need urgently salvation, and there is One Who gave His life for us to do it. Which is our human responsibility? It consists in believe in the Grace of God applying faith, that’s all!

Resting in Him…

            There are so many things that happen in life which are so known to us and so near to us that we do not pay attention of the carnal ways, nor the natural ways of them, in such a manner are they a part of our lives that we do not acknowledge them to be a part of our sinful ways and we let them pass by as a normal form of life.

            In reading Psalm 32, I realize that king David took advantage of a gracious and forgiver Lord. He not only prayed, but confessed his sins and was sure of the immediate forgiveness granted to him by our blessed Lord. King David believed in the promised Jesus, while we believe in the historical Jesus. In all that he did, he kept his heart right unto the Lord. That means that he knew the way to always have communion with the Lord.

            I would like to share with you this precious Psalm, and encourage you to pray, to confess, and to be confident of the forgiveness our Lord grant to all that seek Him.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Thou art my hiding place, thou shall preserve me from trouble; thou shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct thee and teach thee the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

            Two more things may I say, for the Christian the small voice of the conscience many times is taken by the Holy Spirit, trying to guide us or to avoid us committing some wrongdoings. The other thing is referred to the great waters, which is talking us of divine judgment which confession has nullified. We have open entrance to the Great Throne of the Father, the Holy of holies, and before Him is our Great Defender, His holy Son. We do understand much more what the Bible says, but only the saints do understand that.

            If you are a sinner, be of good cheer, because our Lord Jesus Christ died for you too, and He is only waiting your confession to save you, and to give you peace and forgiveness.

Remembrances…

            Revising my old stuff I found some bulletins from Calvary Contender, which have left to appear since 2005. It was communicating news & views, notes & quotes, to warn & inform, and its motto was “Earnestly CONTED for the faith” Jude 3. Almost all its information has to do with things that were an issue in the States. They really were strong in their Christian fundamental stand.

            I would like to share with you some of those issues that affect to all of us, because they have to do with Christian character and doctrine. For example read this:

LINCOLN AND ‘CHOICE’.- In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1860, Douglas was pro-choice on slavery. He argued that the Supreme Court had spoken (1857 Dred Scott dec.) and that it was a basic constitutional right to own a slave. He said he himself was personally opposed to owning slaves, but that it was a slave owner’s “right to choose” to own a slave. Lincoln’s answer applies jus as directly to today’s abortion debate as it did then to slavery. He said: “No one has the right to choose to do what is wrong.” (3/92 East Side Echoes). “Pro-choice” is “no-choice” for the baby. (April 15, 1992 v IX n 8).

            Other one that I would like to quote is this:

‘THAT ONE LITTLE POINT’. - There is a significant difference between proclaiming the truth, and proclaiming the WHOLE truth—in saying what we should, and saying ALL we should. For the sake of peace, is it okay to be silent concerning just one “little” sin? That one “little” doctrine of inerrancy has divided the SBC. Fundamentalists could be popular, and enjoy fellowship with new-evangelicals, by ignoring unscriptural associations—just one “little” doctrine of separation. But truth cannot coexist with error. To compromise that one “little” doctrine of separation would cost us our fellowship with our Lord. Luther said: “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except THAT LITTLE POINT which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ!” (August 15, 1992, v IX n16).

            And one more; this time from Dr. O. T. Spence, who was quoted by them:

ESCRIPTURAL SEPARATION: THE ENDANGERED SPECIES. - Dr. O. Talmadge Spence (5/92/ Straightway) says: “More and more we see scriptural separation as an endangered species of doctrine among us as Fundamentalists. More and more we are watching those who were so militant for scriptural separation a few years back, yet now conforming to platforms which they had formerly condemned. We have been moving from a militant, separatist position to a suave, pragmatic position in the matter of ecclesiastical separation…” (July 15, 1992, v IX n 14).

            Now, for the sake of those who will be reading this blog and yet have not professing Christ, I have to say that a Christian fundamentalist is one who stands for the doctrines of the faith and practice separation from sin and apostasy. That has great love for the humankind and is willing to spread the Good News of Salvation to everybody, but at the same time, keeps himself from walking in sin as a manner to bring “others to Christ”. He is one that practice magnificence and Christian militancy.

TRUTH, TRUE

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”

And Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life,

no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 8:32; 14:6

            This is the translation of the Greek words aletheia and aletes. The words are a compound made up of lanthano which means “to escape notice, to be unknown, unseen hidden, concealed,” and the Greek letter Alpha prefixed. When a Greek wants to make a word mean the opposite to what it originally meant, he prefixes the Greek letter Alpha. For instance, dikaios means “righteous,” adikaios, “unrighteous.” Thus lanthano means “hidden, concealed,” and alanthano means “unhidden, unconcealed.” The Greek idea of truth is therefore that which is unconcealed, unhidden, that which will bear scrutiny and investigation, that which is open to the light of day.

            Thayer defines aletheia the noun (truth) as follows; “verity, truth, what is true in any matter under consideration.” In reference to religion, the word denotes “what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man.” When used of the body of truth in Christianity, it refers to the taught as taught therein respecting God and the execution of His purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposed alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles, the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers. It is used also of that candor of mind which is free from affectation, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit. It is also used of sincerity of mind and integrity of character, also of a mode of life in harmony with divine truth. The noun aletheia (truth), the verb aletheuo (to speak the truth), and the adjective alethes (true), are all translated in the N.T., by the words “truth” or “true.” There is another word alethinos which is also translated by the word “true,” but which has an added content of meaning that throws further light upon the places where it is used.

            The word alethinos, used twenty two times in John’s writings and only five times in the rest of the N.T., means, “that which has not only the name and semblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name.” It is particularly used to express that which is all that it pretends to be, for instance, pure gold as opposed to adulterated metal. In every respect it corresponds to the idea signified by the name. It is real and true, genuine. It is opposed to that which is fictitious, counterfeit imaginary, simulated and pretended. It is what we mean by the expression, “All wool and a yard wide.” It contrasts realities with semblances. It is opposed to that which is imperfect, defective, frail uncertain. The differences between alethes, and the word alethinos are covered up in the A.V., since both are translated by the one word “true.”

            For instance, in John 3:33 and Rom. 3:4, God is the alethes God in that He cannot lie (Tit. 1:2). He is the truth-speaking and the truth-loving God. But in I Thes. 1:9 and John 17:3, He is the alethinos God. He is not like idols and other false gods that are the product of the diseased fancy of man. But a God who in His completeness of Being has the real nature corresponding to the name. He is in His Being all that the term “God” implies. In every respect He corresponds to the idea which is signified by the term “God.” In the words of the Nicene Creed, the Lord Jesus is very God of very God. The Latin Vulgate distinguishes between the word alethes and alethinos by the use of verax for the former, and the word verus (very) for the latter. By the words “Very God of Very God” we mean therefore that the >lord Jesus is alethinos God. He is in His Being all that the term “God” implies. We have almost lost the word verus (very) as an adjective, retaining it only as an adverb. Thus the word “truth” must do duty for both words, with a consequent loss of part of the meaning of the second word. Wycliffe’s translation of John 15:1 is, “I am the verri vine,” that is, the alethinos vine, the vine that corresponds in all details to what one would expect of the Lord Jesus as a Vine. This does not deny that Israel also was God’s vine (Ps. 80:8; Jer. 2:21). But it does imply that no vine except the Lord Jesus realized this name in the sense that He was all that the name implied, and that to the full.

                                                           (Wuest’s Word Studies, Vol. iii, pag. 88, 89)

On Christian Character

            “Everyone is borne with a disposition mixed with the heredity of moral pollution and family distinctiveness. After the child is born, the age in which he lives endeavors to weave around him a certain personality. This comes about when the individual conforms to an age. Frequently, the uniqueness of his depraved disposition is swallowed up in the current vogue of the personality, style, mood, error, and spirit of the age.

            “God has an entirely different purpose in His will for the Christian who has been born again. The pollution of Adam, the heredity of disposition, and the personality of the age are to give way to the transforming power of the New Birth in separation, purity, power, prayer, Godliness, and maturity that reaches fruition in Christian character. Too many professing Christians fail to manifest consistency, loyalty, trustworthiness, love, determination, ethics, prayer, honesty, purity, humility, obedience, assurance, victory, honor, integrity, boldness, strength, or character.

            “What would be a workable definition of Christian character? To me, Christian character is a life of thoughts, attitudes, acts, habits, and practices which are dominated by the principle of the Word of God, which are brought into the life through the miracle of the New Birth, and which seeks to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ in all things.

            “In times like this there is a great need for godly Character!”

Dr. O. Talmadge Spence, Th. D.

May 17, 1980 “Joseph & his Brethren”

            Dr. O T. Spence was the founder and president of Foundations Bible College, was his pastor till his passed away on July 17, 2000. The College is now pastorate by Dr. H. T. Spence, his son, who is now the president of this Biblical College. If you like to know more of this wonderful ministry, please go Foundations Bible College

Epiphany

            It is considered in the double sense of the Word as the appearance of God in this world as well as the visit of the wise men to the Child, while they were coming from orient to Belen. A feast celebrated on January 6, and where the wise men presented their gifts to the Child Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh, as they worshipped Him. This story is found in Matthew chapter 2.

            There are many countries who celebrate this feast, with great signs and motives for the people and the children.  It is the time that gifts are given to the children for the good behavior maintained through the year. Few of them will receive coal as a sign of bad behavior, but later on they will be rewarded because “the three kings” are very magnanimous and they will not allow that any child pass by without gift.

            I guess you (the reader) have realized that I change from “wise men”, which is what the Bible says, to “the three kings”, which is what today’s’ people sustained, over all in Spain, where the roman-catholic church has maintained this feast as something very adorned of what the Bible says about it. They deduced that the wise men were magicians, that they were three (for the three gifts), and that they were white, brown, and black men (I really don’t know from which source they infer this, maybe from their desire that all ethnics be surrender to Christ).

            Now, many people will tell me that these things could have happened. That we do not know if that is true, and that why should we take out the illusion of thousands of children in the world that are expecting a gift? Do not other nations celebrated Christmas with papa Noel? Ahhhggg!!!

Certainly, we Christians celebrated Christmas as the coming of the Child Jesus as a gift and we are prompt to give gifts to our children at that time, but there are no lie in that. We celebrated the greatest gift that the humankind has received: the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross of Calvary, and as we celebrate his coming we show our appreciation to our children given them gifts for the blessing of the coming of the Son of God among us.

Yes, I know that there are a lot of difficulties to show people that they are wrong, but we Christian has to come back to the true worship and the true celebration of the coming of our blessed Lord.

CHRISTMAS!

I was recently at a clinic accompanying a lady to visit her bedside Dress. While waiting I read the Scriptures to take advantage of the time. It is always good to carry a pocket New Testament for those times. As the wait was long, I got up and I walked around the room, a cozy first floor full of seats with eight office’s doors, with their names on them next to each door, double in this case, that of morning and evening turns for every doctor or nurse. I stand up and walked a little bit and sat in another place, near the entrance door, where was on a large flat screen TV with various functions. In this case apparently had a Christmas presentation.

With beautiful photographs where the first said:

Christmas is to look to the future with optimism.

The second: Christmas is being at home.
The third: Christmas is light.
The fourth: Christmas is love and peace to the world.
The fifth: Christmas is a song.
The sixth: Christmas is peace.

            And last of all the picture one of a Santa Claus.... And I seriously wondered if these people really knew what it means Christmas. Because if it is true that Christmas is all these things, they are also missing the point, for these things come as consequence of something wonderfully supernatural.

Christmas is celebrated by Christians in remembrance of the coming of Jesus into this world as the Savior and Redeemer of our sins. It is the most glorious celebration of a birth that has been ever on Earth which Christians extol because of the prophecies and the words of the angels to the shepherds near Bethlehem. Of the more notable prophecies that Isaiah have the 7:6 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)" (see Matt. 1:21-23), and 9:6 "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (see Luk.1: 32, 33). Besides the same prophecy over the village of his birth foretold by Micah 5:2 (see Matt. 2:5, 6), which is the answer that was given to Herod by the chief priests and scribes when he asked in response to the question of the wise men. And with these few verses more than over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ.

But if something showed the blessing of his coming was the appearance of the angel to the shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch by night over their flock. When the glory of the Lord shone around them they were terrified. "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Indicating them where and how they would find Him, there appeared a multitude of the heavenly host saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:8-14). Extraordinary words from God to mankind for the birth of his blessed Son on earth.

Yes, man has something to celebrate at Christmas: the coming of his Savior to the earth. And it's okay to celebrate, and make gift exchanges, and give them hope with their children, but without forgetting the main thing that must be taught to all mankind is to acknowledge sin, repent, and accept the salvation that God offers us in His beloved Son, Who came to this world to die on the cross of Calvary to pay the price the justice of God required for our sins. This is the message of the Good News of Salvation.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!