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How Do Scripture, God, and Sin Tie in Together?

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Lessson 7

The following studies show their connection with regard to Salvation & the Church.

Sin	God & Scripture [Romans]
Separates us from God [We are dead to God (Isaiah 59.1-2)] We are Lawless (1 John 3.4) Romans 3.9-18 Unrighteous Not Seeking God Turning Aside Don’t do good Tongue/Throat venomous No peace No fear of God Twisted Desires (James 1.14-15) Under Condemnation [Now Targets of God’s Just Wrath (Romans 5.12-17)] In the Status of ‘Sinner’ Sons of Disobedience (Eph. 2.1-3) Ungodly (Eph. 2.12 - w/o Christ, w/o God) Sinners Even our religion, service & worship are Tainted with defilement of our sin (Matt. 7.21-23; James 1.13-2.13, & 3.1-4.12; Romans 12.1-2; etc)	Romans 5.6-11 God Initiates (6-8) He saves the ungodly Christ died FOR sinners [nothing in us to make God want to save us] Justified (8-11) A declaration, or judicial action, by Christ’s bloody death. God declares ‘forgiven’ No longer accounting you a sinner (4.6-8). By Christ’s resurrection life, we have the reality of Life. So, we shall be saved from Wrath through Christ. We now have life through His Life Notice further about Justification: 4.1-6 Not of works (2) lest we should brag. But received by faith (3). The one who works - no grace(4) but debt! Faith trusts on God justifying the ungodly - faith accounted for righteousness.
God & Scripture [Ephesians]
Ephesians 1.3-14, & 2.1-10 Basis of our Salvation - according to (1.3-14): v. 5 The good pleasure of His Will v. 7 The Riches of His Grace (remember Rom. 4.1-5, grace not debt!) v. 11 The purpose of Him who works all things according to His own will [1 Jn 4.19 - because He first loved us, we are now able to love Him back - & one another] & all of this is To the praise of the Glory of His Grace [6, 12, 14] 2.1-3 - we were all bad off, impossible people, unable & unwilling to save ourselves. We needed someone to step in, take the initiative. God Initiates: 2.4-10 v. 4 - basis of our salvation - God’s rich mercy & great love v. 5 He makes dead men alive (by grace not debt!) v. 6 Raised us up together w/ Christ v. 7 Salvation is meant to display fully HIS mercy v. 8-9 By grace (not debt of works, or our ability) saved thru faith. This is all God’s Gift. v. 10 Saved to DO Good Works

 

Two more Scriptures ought to be examined in regard to the above:

2 Timothy 1.9-10

God Saved us

& Called us with a holy calling

Not according to our works

But according to His own purpose & grace (not of debt!) in Christ

When? Before the World Began

& Now revealed by the appearing of Christ our Savior, & declared in the Gospel

2 Thessalonians 2.13-14

Paul gives thanks to God for the Thessalonian Christians (who are God’s beloved)

Why? Because God [from the beginning] chose them for salvation

How was this salvation to come to them?:

Through the sanctification by the Spirit

& belief in the truth

God called them to This salvation through the Gospel

& the Goal of this salvation: that they might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Observe that Paul is not thanking them for saving themselves, making themselves ‘work faith’ - instead he is thanking God because God brought them into this Salvation.

Based on all these Scriptures (more could be added - in full context - from Old & New Testaments) it is clear that as God has always been the Initiator, the Savior, the Merciful, so He is even now. But how do I ‘stay saved?’ Good question. Remember what you’ve already learned about your own inability to save yourself & your desperate need for God to step in.

Jude 24-25

God is able to do what?

To keep you from falling!

& to present you faultless before His presence with exceeding Joy!

Philippians 2.12-16

v. 12b Commanded: work out your own salvation with fear & trembling. Paul is commanding them to work out the implications of their salvation (v. 14-16), not to make themselves a saved or savable people.

v. 13 How? God works in you, to do what?

To give you the will

To enable you to do

All for His good pleasure

This all agrees with what Paul says in 1.6: being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete until the day of Christ. That means that my salvation & my staying saved is God’s working in me, God’s enabling me. I am not left to my own devices. & if at any time I am saved (remain saved) by my own works, then salvation ends up being a debt, not of grace!!!!!!!

Hebrews 13.20-21

Notice in this blessing-prayer that the writer is rehearsing the great power of God through the resurrection of His Son, that it is all according to His everlasting covenant (remember all the things I pointed out in the study on covenant). After rehearsing God’s power & initiative, he then prays this: [Now may the God of peace…] make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever (21).

There is no room for bragging! Our salvation is by God’s initiation in & through Christ. It is by God’s undeserved, unearned - but desperately needed - mercy & grace. If at any point my salvation is by my work - then I am owed salvation - God is indebted (Romans 4.1-6). But, because of all that Scripture says about sin, etc, I can’t save myself at any point. For of Him & through Him & unto Him are all things! To Him be the Glory forever & ever. Amen (Romans 11.36)

Now we need to look & see how our studies of Scripture, God & Sin come together with regard to the Church of Jesus Christ.

Church

When Does the Bible say that the Church started & where?

The whole letter of Ephesians answers that - in the Old Covenant. For Eph. 2.11-3.13 is addressing how the Gentiles got brought into the covenant of God's grace.

V. 12-13: We {Gentiles} were once outside the commonwealth of Israel, far off, without Christ,, aliens or outsiders to the commonwealth of Israel. Notice the importance of being inside or outside of the kingdom or commonwealth of Israel.

V. 14-15: But now, through Christ's death, He has made both (Jew & Gentile) one by taking away that which kept us separate & divided (the law of commandments contained in ordinances - not the law, but the ordinances. See my lessons on the Holy Scriptures).

V. 15: Now He has made us into one new man - one new humanity or race - Christian!

V. 16: He reconciled us BOTH to God in one body.

V. 17: Christ preached peace to Jew (near) & Gentile (far off). This would have been through His Apostles & Prophets.

V. 18: Thru Christ BOTH have access to God by the work of one Spirit.

V. 19-22: Now He has made us who were once strangers & foreigners fellow citizens - fellow citizens of what? The commonwealth of Israel (pay attention to the context!). & He has made us members of God's household (1 Timothy 3.15 - the Church of the Living God), & temple. Now we have been brought IN to become fellow heirs (3.6). This passage directs us to an already established Old Testament commonwealth & household.

Note: Nowhere in the New Testament Scriptures does it ever say that the Church began at Pentecost. In fact, the Greek word, ekklesia (Hebrew is qahal), is mentioned all over the Old Testament Scriptures. For example: Deut. 23.3, 'An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord.' There the Hebrew word qahal is translated in the Greek Septuagint (LXX) as ekklessian. For another example, Psalm 107.32, 'Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders.' Here, again, the Hebrew qahal is translated in the LXX by ekklesia. & Paul, Peter, James, Jude & John, knowing their Holy Scriptures (& the Lord Jesus in Matt. 16.18), would have known the Old Testament connection between what they were saying & what had already been done before.

Foundations

To anticipate a possible objection, 'How, then, could Jesus say He would build (future tense) His Church on the Rock? & How could the Apostle Paul say the Church is built on the foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3.11) & the Apostles & Prophets (Eph. 2.20), if the Church already existed?' To answer the Ephesians passage first: Apostles & Prophets do not exclude the Prophets of the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, it makes complete sense because the prophets were ministering to us the things which they declared (1 Peter. 1.10-12).

With regard to the 1 Corinthian passage, Paul is obviously referring to the specific congregation at Corinth. When he planted that congregation of Christ's Church, he planted it squarely on Christ - not Plato or Aristotle, etc.

Matthew 16.17-19 & Acts 15.13-21

With regard to Our Lord's comment in Matt. 16.18, oikodomeo can mean build up again, restore (see Bauer, Arndt & Gingrich, 4th Revised & Augmented edition, p. 560). Because the qahal of God had fallen into disrepair - apostasy & sinful rejection of Yahweh/Jehovah - then it fits that Christ is rebuilding, or restoring the qahal/ekklesia of God. In fact, James quotes Amos & points out that the bringing in of the Gentiles was restoring the tent of the house of David (Acts 15.15-17). By bringing in the Gentiles, God was rebuilding the ruins (thus implying something which already existed!).

What becomes obvious here is the continuity of Holy Scripture, & God's program. There is one overarching covenant of God's grace. God initiates by bringing down what was set up to divide, & by redrawing the lines of 'Israel' to be all ethnic Gentiles & ethnic Jews who are In Christ! Thus fulfilling all of His promises to Abraham (See. Galatians 3 for example), Isaac, Jacob, & David.

Luke 1.30-33

The promise is that Jesus will reign over the House of Jacob, on the throne of David. How can this be if the Church is brand new? Because the Church is the Israel of God (see the above).

Jeremiah 31.31-34 & Hebrews 8.7-13

Look carefully at the promise to Jeremiah about the New Covenant. The New Covenant is TO & FOR Israel. How do the Gentiles get in? By being In Christ. The lines have been redrawn. The point - continuity of the Church & Kingdom of God!

Rejoice in the faithfulness of God in building up, growing, & continuing His Church!

Lesson 8: What is Baptism? >>

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