If we believe God is faithful and will fulfill His promises to Jacob's descendants, then are we the new Nazis? Listen to this lesson to learn the view of a replacement theologian who makes this false accusation. Find out what Christian Palestinianism is to avoid the evils that come from it. Hear seven observations to help us recognize those who would have us believe that God doesn't keep His Word.
Have you seen any wolves lying down peacefully with lambs lately? That's what the Bible says would be happening if some theologians were right that the Church has replaced Israel and we are living in the Messianic Kingdom. Listen to this lesson to learn how literal interpretation shows us that we are still living in a fallen world. See how God will restore national Israel and fulfill all His promises to them. Find out the four types of supersessionism and learn when some in the church began to s...
Oh no! You see a letter from the IRS peeking out of your mailbox. After reading it, you don't assume it has a hidden meaning but that it means what it says. The same is true of the Bible. Listen to this lesson to learn about literal interpretation of the Scriptures. See how using allegorical instead of literal interpretation has led to Replacement Theology which teaches that God's promises to Israel now belong to the Church. Find out how this results in Christian anti-Semitism and its many evils...
When's the last time you thanked Israel for how it's helping you? Since the media lashes out at Israel as the number one trouble spot in the world, you may be wondering what they've done for you lately. Listen to this lesson to learn how even today the descendants of Abraham are fulfilling their role as a blessing to the world. Find out how the Apostle Paul expresses his searing grief in a rash wish of what he would be willing to do if it could help his Jewish unbelieving brothers. Enjoy an up-c...
If we're having troubles, is it because God doesn't love us anymore? Paul tackles this question head on and logically builds to a soaring crescendo of assurance that nothing can separate us from God's love. Listen and learn about the different judgments of mankind and how believers will be judged by Jesus Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us. See seven daunting life circumstances that we may face and why none can defeat us. Find out how Christ is our defense attorney and not even death or...
How's this for an iron-clad guarantee? Paul teaches that God Himself is for us, so no one can successfully accuse and convict us. Since God is the one who has cancelled the debt against us, there is no higher court to overturn His decision. Listen to learn the meaning of the legal terms of justification and imputation. Find out the answer to the question of whether our sins were paid for when Christ died on the Cross, or when we trusted in Him for our salvation. Understand the difference between...
True, guaranteed security is only a fantasy in this life. Romans 8 teaches that God planned a secure destiny for everyone who trusts in His Son. But is there any dreadful wrongdoing we can commit that means God will not complete our destiny? In this lesson we see that God promises that no matter how chaotic our life becomes, He will stay with us until the end. Understand the unbroken chain that God's plan rests on and the seven rhetorical questions that Paul presents to assure us that nothing ca...
The "would've, should've, could've" questions in life can eat us alive. None of us know all that could have happened, but God's foreknowledge includes these alternative scenarios along with all the actual events of the past, present, and future. In His infinite wisdom, God designed a road map to spiritual maturity called predestination. Its ultimate goal is for all believers to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Learn how predestination is not related to individual salvation but...
Does God's foreknowledge violate man's free will? Two major camps have emerged in this age-old battle. On the one hand hear how Calvinists teach that foreknowledge means God predetermines how humans can respond to him. On the other hand, learn how Scripture clearly shows that foreknowledge means God "knows beforehand" but this knowledge does not influence mankind's choices. This last view portrays God's sovereignty as far greater than a deterministic God by revealing that God allows humans to ma...
Foreknowledge and Predestination: A Calvinist Concept? Learn how one can support the correct meaning of foreknow and predestine from the same verses the Calvinist uses to support his very different and questionable meaning. How have some very respectable Calvinists scholars articulated their reasoning for their interpretation of the term foreknowledge? What is the fallacy of their reasoning? How is the meaning of a word determined by those in the business of defining words? Understand what forek...
Romans 8:28 is frequently quoted in times of suffering, but seldom broken down into specifics which give it enhanced significance in our practical understanding. This study shatters the idea of the narrow omniscience of God in strict Calvinism as applied to election, predestination, and God’s “call.” Though not all of Calvinism is the same, understand more fully the five points of Calvinism which place regeneration before belief, abolish the universality of volition, and limit response to the go...
These are some of the most widely quoted verses in scripture for comfort and for reference to the term predestination. It is essential to study them in terms of context and vocabulary. Discover the rich context that adds to the encouragement this passage brings. Understand the universally applied principle for every believer and the enhanced reality to believers who are focused on the path to spiritual maturity. See the historical baggage attached to the concept of “the called,” the application ...
Even with spiritual stability there is something inside of us that mourns viscerally under the effect of corruption of sin in the world. All of nature joins us in our inexpressible grief. Our groaning is so pervasive we cannot help but share it with God in our longing for the day we will be released from its hold. Through the yoke of our mourning, God moves us toward our destiny of glory which is the character of Jesus Christ. In this gift through suffering, God gives us hope to endure difficult...
Believers and nonbelievers will suffer. The difference is that believers can be elevated through their suffering. For an unbeliever, suffering begins and ends with the pain. Behind the suffering of a believer is a loving God with a plan to employ the realities of life as a test, a tool, a compass, a motivator or an encouragement to others. A review of the ten reasons why we suffer is an encouragement, not necessarily to pinpoint a specific reason, but to focus on the God behind the reasons and r...
Suffering is inevitable in the Devil’s world. Suffering isn’t just the agony of a catastrophic event. It includes the spectrum of difficulties in life from annoyances more evident when we’re weary, to those major assaults that wipe us out for long periods. Our response to suffering is the issue, beginning with recognition of God’s authority, encouragement and application of scripture, and possibly a change in behavior. Become familiar with the ten categories of suffering through illustrations of...
Inheritance in scripture can mean inheritance of salvation as a grace gift, or inheritance as a reward for spiritual growth. See how to discern the difference based on context and vocabulary. Paul hammers the Corinthian believers for lives that were rife with sin, addressing them as carnal. Still, it is clear that Paul is writing to believers. Since believers already have the inheritance of salvation, what inheritance is Paul talking about when he says the unrighteous shall not inherit? Clarify ...
Fundamental error can creep into scripture boldly, or, as in the interpretation of our passage, on the basis of punctuation alone. Our discussion in Romans concerns believers and the distinction between adoption as children and heirship as sons. As children of God at salvation, by grace, we are all adopted into the family of God as heirs of eternal life with potential for becoming heirs as sons. Because of choice inherent in the word potential, not all will become heirs as sons. Being heirs as s...
In Romans 8:13 we’re told that if we live according to the flesh we must die. Is this eternal death? What are the choices believers make that result in spiritual maturity and life? Is one who proclaims “Jesus' words” while consistently walking in the flesh someone God recognizes as a mature son? Is there a difference in being adopted as a son and inheriting, and between being a child of God and a son of God? How is it that our inheritance, which God has set aside for us, can be thrown into the L...
Is it true that the sin nature is just as powerful in the believer as in the unbeliever? According to different theologies, a “big” sin either makes you lose your salvation, or, if you commit one, you were never saved in the first place. Is there truth in either? See the two types of believers in Romans 8 who are conflicted between the Spirit and the flesh. How do they succeed or fail? When Paul teaches the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is that indwelling applied to a corporate body, the Church...
Context is the key to interpreting Romans 8. Romans 6, 7 and 8 are about how the justified live. Paul uses “flesh” in ways that suggest the location of the corruption of sin is in the body, not the soul. In a similar passage (Galatians 5), as in our passage, the requirement of the Law is love (the basis of all virtues of the Spirit), which is fulfilled in us only as we walk according to the Spirit. For believers, there is a war within between flesh and Spirit. For unbelievers there is no war, on...
We understand that walking by means of the Spirit is not an experience or methodology. It is knowing the eternal reality that you are entirely different and operating from a radical new identity. Our world is not gray. It’s black or white, God’s way or man’s way, and because of our new identity in Christ, we have the power to make choices for a Spirit-filled life that are finely honed with time and application of the Word. The condemnation we escape through our choice of being filled by the Holy...
Romans 8, one of the greatest chapters in the New Testament, needs to be understood with Galatians 5. Both pertain to the spiritual life. These truths which point out the profound advantages we have in the dispensation of the Church are learned through a growth process requiring study of scripture and conscience application. What is the progression Paul follows from Romans 6 that leads us to the believers’ relationship to the Law in the Church Age and the gift we have that emancipates us from th...
With regard to the election; evil succeeds because good men do nothing. God’s permissive will is not necessarily His desire. Christians fail when, like the pagan, they fail to show up to learn God’s Word and aren’t courageous enough to be leaders in the counter culture of God. Contrast the glory of the Law, though it is insufficient, with the more glorious sufficiency of the Spirit which equips us to be ministers of the New Covenant. It has been thought there were two New Covenants, one of them ...
In comparison to the Church Age, the Law provided little for the believer’s spiritual life. The Law was temporary, given by God so man could understand his impossible position of death. In the Church Age, the power of the sin nature is broken and the Holy Spirit indwells the believer, but even more is in store for the believer under the New Covenant, which is made with the house of Israel and the house of Judah but through which Church Age believers benefit. Through the Holy Spirit, New Testamen...
The Jews wrestled with the paradigm shift from hundreds of years under the Law to the new idea of Grace. This was a major change in the understanding of spiritual dynamics. The Law had its place as a teacher in progressive revelation. Under the Law there was condemnation, but there was no provision that enabled one to accomplish what the Law demanded…, until Jesus Christ. How is accountability for the believer under the Law different under Grace? Grace has replaced Law with a completely differen...
As a result of Pastor Dean’s leadership participation in The Dispensational Hermeneutics Study Group, he read and commented on Martin Luther’s timeless quote about the importance of knowing scripture’s original languages in preparation for pastors to teach the Word of God. In our passages we confront a dispensational shift, a change in the way God relates to us, from Law to Grace. The Law failed because it could not make man righteous. Because the Law was fulfilled in Christ, a new relationship ...
The transition from being under Law to being under Grace is best understood within a dispensational framework. What is the role of the Law in the Church Age? What was the role of the Law before the Church Age? The Jews valued the Law as a path to righteousness before God. It was never meant to be a means to personal holiness, but the bright light that exposed our unattainable need for righteousness. The value of the Law is never diminished in scripture. It is elevated as God’s creation, wondrous...
Our presuppositions are ideas accepted as truth which shape our thoughts and actions. They may have been developed within a cultural framework and will need relentless scrutiny through the absolute Truth of scripture in order for us to maintain objectivity. See why we can presuppose that when Paul is talking about the Law he is talking about the Mosaic Law. Understand the reason the Law was given and how the Jews came under a new authority at the beginning of this age of Grace. Paul illustrates ...
