Dividing the Word Part Four:
What Happens When You Don't Rightly Divide Scripture?
PLEASE NOTE: I changed up the way I’m sharing information and am now on Youtube. You should definitely come check out my channel. Click the link, and I’ll see you there! (FYI - My beliefs have changed on some subjects since writing for this website.)
Welcome to another addition of “Dividing the Word.” Today, we’re going to look at some examples of what happens when people do not rightly divide Scripture. Brace yourselves. This could get ugly.
Whenever I find a tract in a public place, I pick it up and read it. It is very disappointing to see how many bad tracts are distributed by people who think they are doing a good thing. Most of the time, the tracts I find contain the Lordship Salvation false gospel of “repent of your sins, turn away from your sins and believe on Jesus.” If you have read my article “Repentance 101,” then you will know that repentance is a simple change of mind. In regards to salvation, repentance means to change your mind from unbelief to belief on Jesus Christ. Once a person is saved, that person should choose to repent, or change his mind, about his sinful lifestyle for various reasons. But whether that person cleans up his act or not, that person will remain saved because he has believed on Jesus Christ.
Now, take a look at the following tract:
Whenever I find a tract in a public place, I pick it up and read it. It is very disappointing to see how many bad tracts are distributed by people who think they are doing a good thing. Most of the time, the tracts I find contain the Lordship Salvation false gospel of “repent of your sins, turn away from your sins and believe on Jesus.” If you have read my article “Repentance 101,” then you will know that repentance is a simple change of mind. In regards to salvation, repentance means to change your mind from unbelief to belief on Jesus Christ. Once a person is saved, that person should choose to repent, or change his mind, about his sinful lifestyle for various reasons. But whether that person cleans up his act or not, that person will remain saved because he has believed on Jesus Christ.
Now, take a look at the following tract:
I have chosen to show you the tract above because I was blown away by the amount of doctrinal errors it contains. I highlighted the areas of nonsense that we are going to examine.
1. “…the vast majority of earth’s teeming inhabitants are now openly, recklessly, and persistently – without fear of eternal consequences – breaking the Ten Commandments…”
This tract makes a big deal about the Ten Commandments. First of all, the Ten Commandments were part of the law, and the law was given by Moses to the Jews. Gentiles did not have the law (Romans 2:14). The law was Old Testament. Jesus Christ instituted the New Testament.
John 1:17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
The purpose of the law was never to save anyone. The purpose of the law was to give the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:19-20: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
The law, or obeying the law, cannot save a person’s soul. The only thing the law can accomplish is to condemn, which is meant to show people that they need to believe on Jesus Christ because nothing else can save them.
Galatians 3:21-22: “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
In the age of grace, under the New Testament, God does not demand that we obey the Ten Commandments. God has one commandment that must be obeyed if any of us hope to go to Heaven and not Hell.
1st John 3:23: “And this is his (God’s) commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he (Jesus) gave us commandment.”
1st John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Jesus Christ abolished the law for believers, because the law works against people by condemning them.
Colossians 2:14: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances (the law) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
If it were possible to attain righteousness and be saved by keeping the law, or obeying the Ten Commandments, then Jesus Christ died for nothing.
Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Jesus Christ did not die in vain. Jesus died in order to make a way for us to receive righteousness outside of obeying the law.
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Obeying the law will never save a person’s soul.
Romans 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his (God’s) sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
A person could only earn their own righteousness by keeping the law, but the righteousness necessary for salvation is received by faith in Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:9: “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
The believer on Jesus Christ has righteousness placed on his record simply because of his faith.
Romans 4:5-6: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”
The righteousness we could earn by obeying the law would never be enough to satisfy God. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:24-26: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (sacrifice) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Stressing the law, or stressing out over the law, is not profitable for the believer on Jesus Christ.
Titus 3:9: “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”
When a person becomes saved, he is taken out from under the law and put under the grace of God. Belief on Jesus Christ effectively destroys the power that the law holds over a person. That person is no longer a sinner in God’s eyes, and he is instead deemed righteous. The law gives the knowledge of sin. If a believer puts himself back under the law, he is making himself a sinner once again.
Galatians 2:17-18: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things (the law) which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.”
So who is God truly upset with? Is it the person who is breaking the Ten Commandments? Those commandments were part of the law, and the law was merely a shadow of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:1: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
Hebrews 9:11: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;”
The law was a shadow. Jesus Christ is the high priest. Does God condemn those who break the Ten Commandments? No. God condemns those who do not believe on His Son.
John 3:18: “He that believeth on him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
I am not against the Ten Commandments. I am for keeping them in their right place. They were given to the Jews under the Old Testament. Under the New Testament, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to make a person realize that he is a sinner. Once a person knows that he is a sinner, then he will realize his need to be saved, which is where Jesus Christ comes in.
This tract claims that breaking the Ten Commandments is the big issue. The Bible says that not believing on God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the big issue. I’m going with the Bible’s story.
2. “‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God’ wrote Paul in Ephesians 4:30. Yet today’s irreligious, happy-go-lucky, party-loving multitudes are doing exactly that 24-7. This is the true reason why God is withdrawing His hand.”
The writer of this tract hopes you are not paying attention here as he seamlessly ties together two completely unrelated concepts. First of all, what is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?
John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
After Jesus Christ rose from the dead and went back to Heaven, He sent His Spirit down to earth for the sake of believers. The Holy Spirit was sent to lead believers “into all truth”. There is another purpose for the Holy Spirit as well.
Ephesians 1:13: “In whom (Jesus) 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,”
Ephesians 4:30: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
The Holy Spirit seals each and every believer on Jesus Christ in order to make their eternal salvation secure.
Now, let’s think about this rationally. The Holy Spirit is given to believers in order to seal them and lead them into truth. Unbelievers do not have the Holy Spirit. The tract we are examining was written for unbelievers. The tract claims that people everywhere are breaking the Ten Commandments, and that because of this, the following is true:
“‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God’ wrote Paul in Ephesians 4:30. Yet today’s irreligious, happy-go-lucky, party-loving multitudes are doing exactly that 24-7.”
How are unbelievers upsetting the Holy Spirit that they do not even possess? The Ten Commandments were given in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit was given in the New Testament. The Ten Commandments were given to the Jews. The Holy Spirit was and is given to all believers on Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not grieved by unbelievers breaking the Ten Commandments. The Holy Spirit is grieved by the wrong attitude of believers.
Ephesians 4:30-32: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Did the Scripture say that breaking the Ten Commandments grieves the Holy Spirit? No. The Holy Spirit is grieved when believers don’t behave like they should, being full of hate instead of love.
This tract claims that the Holy Spirit is grieved when unbelievers are breaking the Ten Commandments. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is grieved when believers are not behaving correctly. I’m going with the Bible’s story.
3. “1. Put God first… 4. Keep the seventh day holy”
“Christians” who teach that the Ten Commandments must be obeyed stumble when it comes to the two commandments above. Some of the commandments are easy to understand and are good rules to follow whether a person believes in God or not. Think about it. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t be envious. When Jesus Christ came to the earth, He gave two new commandments to the Jews, which were meant to illustrate the purpose of the original ten.
Matthew 22:36-40: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Jesus Christ did away with the law by obeying it.
Matthew 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Jesus fulfilled the law by obeying it. People were not able to obey the law, so Jesus came to earth and obeyed the law for them. Remember how I said that a person could only earn their own righteousness by keeping the law? Well that righteousness would never be enough to save a person’s soul. The law is impossible for a person to obey.
James 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
So Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and obeyed the law, and then, even though He was completely innocent, He died for the sins of the world. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is placed onto the record of each and every person who believes on Him.
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
The law was in place until John the Baptist began teaching people to believe on Jesus Christ.
Luke 16:16: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
The apostle Paul makes the point quite clear in the following verse:
Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
While Jesus Christ was on earth keeping the law, He gave two new commandments which taught the true purpose of the previous Ten Commandments. If you love God, you won’t worship other gods, bow down to graven images, disrespect God’s name, etc. If you love others as you do yourself, you won’t murder them, steal from them, lie to them, etc. Jesus Christ did away with the list of rules known as the Ten Commandments and gave the two new commandments. These two commandments were given to teach the Jews what they were supposed to learn from the Ten Commandments. These two commandments were given to the Jews, and they don’t have to be obeyed in order for a person to be saved, but it would be wise for all believers to live by them.
Now, there are “Christians” (such as the person who wrote this tract) who teach that believers in the age of grace must obey the Ten Commandments.
1st Timothy 1:7: “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
Some “Christians” desiring to teach the law misinterpret Scripture such as the following:
1st John 3:22-24: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
The preceding passage uses the word “commandments,” and because of this, some “Christians” assume that those commandments are automatically the Ten Commandments, even though the passage itself defines what the commandments are. And also, this passage is from the book of 1st John, which explains how to maintain fellowship with God. It was written for people who are already saved, not as instruction for how to be or remain saved.
Now, I’m going to show you how two of the Ten Commandments cannot apply to believers in the age of grace. What is the first commandment?
Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Some “Christians” these days have changed what God said to mean the following:
“Put God first”
Folks, there is nothing wrong with putting God first. In fact, that’s a great idea. Here is the problem: We are not under the law, but some “Christians” desire to be under the law, so they have changed the first commandment in order to give it a broader meaning. Why do you suppose that God told the Israelites not to have any other gods? Perhaps it was because the Israelites had other gods. Let’s look at just a few examples. Right after Moses had given the law to the Israelites, Moses went up into a mountain to talk to God, and the Israelites began to worship a golden calf.
Exodus 32:7-8: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 32:31: “And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.”
Here are some more examples:
Deuteronomy 31:16: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
1st Kings 11:4-8: “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.”
1st Chronicles 5:25: “And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.”
Jeremiah 22:8-9: “And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.”
Once more, what was the first commandment?
Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
My suggestion is that we take that first commandment quite literally. The commandment did not say to put God first. The commandment said to have no other gods. This should not be an issue for believers. If a person has truly believed on Jesus Christ, then they have trusted God to save them. That means that person is not trusting in another god. This is not like the Old Testament times, although there are false gods in this day and age. Believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of the one true God. There are no other gods, only fakes. And don’t let some “Christians” alter the first commandment and tell you that you must obey their interpretation of a rule that was given under law to the Jews.
Now let’s look at another commandment that could not apply to believers in the age of grace. Here is the fourth commandment:
Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The tract we are examining translates this commandment as follows:
“Keep the seventh day holy”
So what is the purpose of “keeping the Sabbath?” And who was this rule for?
Exodus 31:12-17: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
In “Dividing the Word” part one, we looked at how God used signs in the Old Testament. Signs were meant for the Jews, because Jews require them.
1st Corinthians 1:22: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:”
Keeping the Sabbath was a sign between God and the Jews. It was a sign of their covenant. Keeping the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments, which was a part of the law. Do you remember how I said that Jesus Christ did away with the law? Do you know how that was possible? Because Jesus Christ was bigger than the law. Recall that the law was merely a shadow of what would later come by way of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:1: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
There are religious people who teach that we must keep the Sabbath days. Did you know that Jesus Christ Himself encountered this same problem?
Mark 2:23-28: “And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. By believing on Jesus Christ, a person is believing on something much greater than a mere holy day. Should believers in the age of grace be concerned with keeping the Sabbath? I know someone who can answer that question. He was the apostle Paul, and he was the apostle of the Gentiles, or the apostle of the age of grace. In the following passage of Scripture, Paul describes what Jesus Christ achieved on the cross.
Colossians 2:14-17: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us (the law), which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Any “Christian” who judges a believer for not keeping the Sabbath is out of line. The keeping of the Sabbath was an Old Testament rule given to the Jews, and this rule does not apply to believers in the age of grace.
There is another important aspect of this Sabbath debate that we must look at. Saturday is the seventh day of the week, meaning that Saturday is the Sabbath. And yet, most churches come together on Sundays. There are lawful “Christians” who get all hot and bothered over this, preaching that it is wrong to attend church on Sunday because it is not the Sabbath. First of all, let me say it again: Believers in the age of grace are not expected to keep the Sabbath. And secondly, where did the idea of believers meeting on the first day of the week originate?
Acts 20:7: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
Here we have disciples coming together and breaking bread (Communion), and Paul preaching to them.
1st Corinthians 16:1-2: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
Here we have Paul instructing the church in Corinth to put money aside on the first day of the week, which is more than likely because that is the day that the believers gathered together. This money probably went to support Paul and other believers in their travels to start churches or to visit and strengthen those churches already established.
(Oh the heck with it. Let’s swerve off topic here and get onto the subject of tithing. Tithing is preached by many pastors as being necessary, and they will say that God requires at least ten percent of your income. However, what they won’t acknowledge is that this rule was not given to believers in the age of grace.
Numbers 18:26: “Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.”
Tithing ten percent was a part of the law, and the verse of Scripture above points out exactly who this rule was for (the children of Israel, or the Jews). Remember how under the New Testament, believers are not under the law? It’s funny how pastors, even the ones who teach that believers in the age of grace are not under law, still teach that ten percent of a believer’s income should go to church. Actually, it’s not funny at all, but rather convenient. Do you want to know what Paul, the apostle of the age of grace, had to say about tithing?
2nd Corinthians 9:7: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
There is no minimum amount of money required by God. If you give money to support a ministry, God wants you to do it because you truthfully want to, not because you think you have to. I can tell you this because I am not a pastor. This website is my ministry, and I am making no money from it. Pastors don’t like this truth on tithing, because they could stand to lose some money. I am losing nothing by telling you any of this. I am simply tired of believers on Jesus Christ being manipulated by religious “leaders.”
Hey, this wasn’t so off topic after all, now, was it? Here we are, talking about believers in the age of grace not being under the law. Tithing ten percent was part of the law. Yeah, this fits in just fine.)
Now, back to where we were. Believers coming together to have Communion on the first day of the week? Believers collecting money for the ministry on the first day of the week? It sounds to me like believers were, dare I say it, having their church services on the first day of the week. If a believer chooses to go to church on Sunday, it looks like that person would be in good company, since the apostle Paul was totally fine with that concept, and he was, after all, the apostle of the age of grace. There are religious legalists who say that believers must attend church on Saturdays in order to keep the Sabbath holy. There are pastors who say that Sunday is the new Sabbath, and believers must be in those pews on Sundays in order to keep the Sabbath. Both of these groups of people are wrong. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law so that believers in the age of grace don’t have to. Keeping the Sabbath was a part of the Ten Commandments, which was a part of the law, which was given to the Jews in the Old Testament. Furthermore, keeping the Sabbath was a sign between God and the Jews. Believers in the age of grace were never instructed to keep the Sabbath. Anyone telling you otherwise is a legalist, and anyone desiring to be under the law is rejecting the grace of God.
Galatians 5:4: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
4. “If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior, ‘He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’”
What you just read was a bunch of double-talk. If you have not read my page “Repentance 101,” you really need to. There, I prove that repentance is not “turning from sin,” as many religious people falsely define it to be. Repentance is a simple change of mind. Don’t believe me? Go read “Repentance 101,” which uses Scripture to back up my claims, rather than wishful thinking, which is what is used to support the false claims of religious people.
Now, this excerpt from the tract says a person must “repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus.” Repenting is simply changing the mind. Repentance in regards to salvation is going from unbelief in Jesus Christ to belief in Him. You don’t tell someone to repent and have faith in Jesus Christ to be saved. If they have repented concerning Jesus Christ, that means they have believed on Him. Look at how Paul described the salvation experience:
Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Repentance is not mentioned, because repentance has already taken place for the person who has believed on Jesus Christ. When an unbeliever repents, he believes on Jesus Christ. Telling someone they must repent and place their faith in Jesus is simply double-talk.
Now, the verse of Scripture used by the tract in this excerpt was a very peculiar choice. The writer of this tract seems to think this verse goes along with the salvation experience. It does not. This verse was written to believers, those who have already been saved. The book of 1st John was written in order to help believers maintain fellowship with God. Do you know what disrupts fellowship between God and His children? Sin. Notice what I said. Sin does not take away the salvation of a believer, as some religious people want you to believe. Sin will come between a believer and God, and it will break fellowship. Read the first chapter of the book of 1st John. We aren’t dealing with salvation, or the loss of it. We are dealing with fellowship between God and a believer.
1st John 1:1-10: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Fellowship. That’s what the preceding Scripture is all about. If you have been saved, and you want to maintain fellowship with God, don’t “walk in darkness”. The book of 1st John goes on to describe what walking in darkness is.
1st John 2:11: “But he that hateth his brother (fellow believer on Jesus Christ) is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”
When I read the comments of Lordship Salvationists, who are religious legalists, I always get the feeling that they hate other believers. Lordship Salvationists are very condescending, because they believe they are holier than all others and that this makes them truly saved. I don’t hate other believers, but I sure do hate religion. Religion keeps people lost and seeks to confuse true believers. Are you a believer on Jesus Christ? If yes, then don’t hate your brothers and sisters in Christ! Don’t condemn them to Hell and think you are holier than everyone else! Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Walk in the light. This will help maintain fellowship with God.
Now, look once more at the nonsense printed in this tract:
“If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior, ‘He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’”
The writer of this tract took a verse of Scripture meant for believers, and he applied it to the concept of getting saved. Folks, here is what the Bible says:
1st John 1:9: “If we (believers on Jesus Christ) confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When you confess your sins to God, your fellowship with God will be maintained. You don’t “repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus” to do this. You repent, or believe on Jesus Christ, in order to be saved, which would mean you placed your faith in Jesus. Then after you have been saved, confess your sins to God regularly in order to maintain fellowship.
5. “Those who do this in these end-times – thereby manifesting their loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments – will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”
This garbage is making my head hurt. Honestly, I am blown away by this nonsensical rubbish. How in the world someone can misinterpret Scripture like this is beyond me.
This tract is teaching that “If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior,” then “Those who do this in these end-times – thereby manifesting their loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments – will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”.
We already looked at this tract’s ridiculous double-talk of “repent, confess, and have faith”. Now this tract claims that when you do all of this, you are proving your “loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments”. Where does the Bible instruct believers in the age of grace to have a loyalty to the Ten Commandments? Oh, that’s right. It doesn’t. The Ten Commandments were a part of Old Testament law. The law gives the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and its purpose is to show people that they need a Savior.
Galatians 3:19-25: “Wherefore then serveth the law? (What was the purpose of the law?) It was added because of transgressions (sins), till the seed (Jesus Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
The person who wrote this tract is not using the law correctly. He is trying to put people under law instead of under grace. He is trying to make people save themselves rather than be saved by God. This is an abuse of the law.
1st Timothy 1:7-10: “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;”
The law is not meant for the righteous. Do you remember how a person receives righteousness?
Romans 4:5-8: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him (Jesus Christ) that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
Believers on Jesus Christ are given the righteousness of Jesus on their records. Do you know what this means? It means that the law is not meant for believers, because they are righteous in the eyes of God. The law has served its purpose by bringing the knowledge of sin to their attention, and once these people believed on Jesus Christ, they were no longer under the law, but under grace. When a person teaches that believers must obey the law, or that people wanting to be saved must be loyal to the Ten Commandments, that person is abusing the purpose of the law. That person is a false teacher, desiring to be a teacher of the law, who has no understanding of what he is saying. You don’t get saved by promising to be loyal to the Ten Commandments! You get saved by believing on Jesus Christ!
Galatians 2:16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
Now, moving on deeper into the absurdity of this tract, we find that it only gets worse. The writer of this terrible tract claims that when people devote themselves to the Ten Commandments, these people “will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”. This is just all sorts of wrong. In “Dividing the Word” part two, we found out that during the Tribulation, 144,000 Jewish servants of Jesus Christ will be sealed.
Revelation 7:1-4: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
In the Old Testament, Jacob had twelve sons whose offspring became the twelve tribes of Israel. God dealt with the Israelites, or the Jews, in the Old Testament. The law and prophets continued until John the Baptist came onto the scene. John told the Jews to believe on Him that was coming soon. Jesus Christ presented Himself to the Jews, offering Himself as the King they had been foretold of in their Scriptures. Jesus was not believed on and was instead crucified. Jesus rose from the dead three days later and told His disciples to take the Gospel to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem. The Gospel of belief on Jesus Christ for eternal salvation was given to the Jews, and then it was delivered to the Gentiles as well. The age of grace had fully set in. The next event on God’s calendar is the Rapture. The Rapture will call out the Holy Spirit and all believers saved during the age of grace. The Tribulation will set in immediately, and God will return to His old methods of using signs, law, and prophets in order to reach the Jews. During the Tribulation, 12,000 Jews from each of the twelve lines of Israel will receive the seal of God in their foreheads.
Now, getting back to this tract, the claim is made that people who devote themselves to the Ten Commandments will receive the seal of God in their foreheads. This is either a severe misunderstanding of Scripture or just plain stupid. Here’s why:
1. We are in the age of grace, and this seal in the forehead occurs during the Tribulation.
2. The seal in the forehead from Revelation 7:3 is not given to people who are loyal to the Ten Commandments. The seal is given to the
144,000 Jewish servants.
This tract has great news for the unbeliever. “If you repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus, and you promise to obey the Ten Commandments, then you will be sealed by God!” The tract doesn’t tell you that only 144,000 people are said to be sealed, so you better act fast, because reservations are filling up! Folks, this is truly sad. This tract was written by someone who could not rightly divide Scripture. This tract was published by an organization that could not rightly divide Scripture. This tract is distributed by people who cannot rightly divide Scripture. These people cannot understand that what happens during the Tribulation occurs… during the Tribulation! We are not there! We are in the age of grace. During the age of grace, people only have to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, and believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. During the Tribulation, God will seal 144,000 Jews on their foreheads, and if anyone else hopes to be saved, they will have to endure until the end for Jesus Christ (whether this means until the end of their lives or until the Second Coming of Jesus). This is Biblical. The asinine claims found in this tract are not Biblical.
This tract is taking a future event and trying to apply it to believers in the present age. Believers in the age of grace are not the ones being sealed in their foreheads. And obeying the Ten Commandments is never said to be the reason that the 144,000 Jews are sealed during the Tribulation. This tract makes an awful attempt to copy and paste various Biblical concepts together, while adding lies to the mix. This should be very evident to the person who takes the time to actually read Scripture.
6. “A careful study of the book of Revelation also implies that sincere yet misguided religious leaders will eventually misinterpret these events and claim that ‘God is directly punishing human beings for their refusal to keep Sunday sacred,’ even though the Ten Commandments plainly identify ‘the seventh day’ (Saturday) as the true day of rest.”
“A careful study of the book of Revelation”? Too bad the person who wrote this tract never conducted even a careless study of it. And supposedly, religious leaders during the Tribulation will claim that all of the catastrophic horrors that are happening are because people aren’t keeping Sundays sacred. Uh, Biblical reference for this? It’s not given in this tract. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this reference is not given is because it does not exist. I see that Revelation 14:12 is listed in the next sentence. Let’s look at the verse in its proper context.
Revelation 14:9-12: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
This passage is contrasting two different groups of people during the Tribulation. One group consists of the people who will have worshipped the beast, or the antichrist, and they will have taken his mark in their foreheads or hands. The other group consists of the 144,000 Jewish servants who were sealed with God’s name in their foreheads (discussed in “Dividing the Word” part two).
Now, I don’t see any mention in Revelation 14:12 of pastors demanding that Sunday must be kept sacred. Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the point. Maybe the point of referencing this particular verse of Scripture was to teach that people have to obey the commandments of God. Well, I have actually read the book of Revelation, and the people mentioned that keep the commandments of God are the 144,000 Jewish servants (Revelation 12:17). They are the “saints,” and they are alive during the Tribulation, the period of time right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The age of grace ends with the Rapture. The Tribulation then arrives, and God brings back signs (Luke 21:11, 25) and prophets (Revelation 11:3-12). We aren’t there yet. Are there great signs in the sky from God? Are prophets currently performing miracles in the name of God? No. They will be here during the Tribulation, when God returns His focus to the Jews. God used signs and prophets to reach the Jews (Hebrews 2:3-4). These methods will return once “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25). God turned His attention to the Gentiles in the age of grace, and this was meant to make the Jews jealous (Romans 11:11).
So the question remains: Where does the book of Revelation mention religious leaders blaming the horrors of the Tribulation on people’s disregard for keeping Sundays sacred?
The tract says that “the Ten Commandments plainly identify ‘the seventh day’ (Saturday) as the true day of rest.” Well there’s no debate here. The seventh day is Saturday. And this means what to the person who wants to be saved? Oh that’s right. Nothing, since believers in the age of grace are not under the law, and keeping the seventh day holy was part of the law.
7. “Above all, make sure you don’t miss heaven. Choose Jesus Christ today!”
Amen! Preach it! Wait a minute…. How does a person “choose Jesus Christ?” Oh no. The tract leaves us hanging without giving us the answer. Would it have been too much of a problem to end the tract with a great verse on eternal salvation?
John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” – Jesus Christ
Here is the sad truth: This tract was not written in order to help the lost become saved. This tract was written in order to keep the lost right where they are. Instead of telling people to believe on Jesus Christ, this tract teaches people that they must repent (a word which is not defined by this tract), confess, have faith, and keep the Ten Commandments. That last requirement means that people in this day and age are under the law, a teaching that is in stark contrast to what the apostle Paul taught. Are you going to listen to a tract written by a religious person adhering to Old Testament law? Or are you going to listen to the apostle Paul? Look carefully at the words of Paul:
Galatians 1:11-12: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Paul claimed that the Gospel he preached was revealed to him directly by Jesus Christ. What exactly was Paul’s Gospel?
1st Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
Paul’s simple Gospel is the reason that the following could be said:
Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Let’s recap: Paul received his Gospel directly from Jesus Christ. Paul’s Gospel teaches that belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves the soul of the believer. Some people think it’s cool to hate on Paul and say that he was an imposter with a fake gospel. Don’t buy into this nonsense. Did you know that Paul’s Gospel was taught by others as well?
Acts 10:43: “To him (Jesus Christ) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” – the apostle Peter
1st John 5:1: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” – the apostle John
Acts 8:36-38: “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 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. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” – the apostle Philip
John 3:16: “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.” – Jesus Christ
It looks like Paul was in good company. In any of the preceding Scripture, did you see any demands for keeping the Ten Commandments? No. What you saw was that simple faith in Jesus Christ is all that a person needs in order to be saved. This is why Paul made the following statements:
Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Let me ask you again: Are you going to listen to a tract written by a religious person adhering to Old Testament law? Or are you going to listen to the apostle Paul? You can repent, confess, have faith, swear allegiance to the Ten Commandments, click your heels together, kneel down while facing eastward and say “There’s no place like Heaven” three times, or you can believe on Jesus Christ and be saved. One of these ways is a religious lie. One of these ways is Biblical.
In “Dividing the Word” part one, we learned what it is to rightly divide Scripture, and why it is so important, such as when it is the difference between Heaven and Hell. In part two, we saw how a person’s view of the timing of the Rapture is dependant on that person’s ability or inability to rightly divide Scripture. In part three, we looked at how Scripture is abused by the Lordship Salvation crowd, people who are notorious for being unable to rightly divide Scripture. And now, in part four, we have seen just how ridiculous and dangerous it can be when a person does not rightly divide Scripture, and instead chooses to share a false gospel message with the world. The tract that we have examined today is something you should never, ever, ever give to a person who is not saved. The tract has one use, and one use only, and that is for educational purposes, in order to understand what not rightly dividing Scripture leads to (lies and religion).
1. “…the vast majority of earth’s teeming inhabitants are now openly, recklessly, and persistently – without fear of eternal consequences – breaking the Ten Commandments…”
This tract makes a big deal about the Ten Commandments. First of all, the Ten Commandments were part of the law, and the law was given by Moses to the Jews. Gentiles did not have the law (Romans 2:14). The law was Old Testament. Jesus Christ instituted the New Testament.
John 1:17: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
The purpose of the law was never to save anyone. The purpose of the law was to give the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:19-20: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
The law, or obeying the law, cannot save a person’s soul. The only thing the law can accomplish is to condemn, which is meant to show people that they need to believe on Jesus Christ because nothing else can save them.
Galatians 3:21-22: “Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”
In the age of grace, under the New Testament, God does not demand that we obey the Ten Commandments. God has one commandment that must be obeyed if any of us hope to go to Heaven and not Hell.
1st John 3:23: “And this is his (God’s) commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he (Jesus) gave us commandment.”
1st John 5:13: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Jesus Christ abolished the law for believers, because the law works against people by condemning them.
Colossians 2:14: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances (the law) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;”
If it were possible to attain righteousness and be saved by keeping the law, or obeying the Ten Commandments, then Jesus Christ died for nothing.
Galatians 2:21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
Jesus Christ did not die in vain. Jesus died in order to make a way for us to receive righteousness outside of obeying the law.
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Obeying the law will never save a person’s soul.
Romans 3:20: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his (God’s) sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
A person could only earn their own righteousness by keeping the law, but the righteousness necessary for salvation is received by faith in Jesus Christ.
Philippians 3:9: “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
The believer on Jesus Christ has righteousness placed on his record simply because of his faith.
Romans 4:5-6: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”
The righteousness we could earn by obeying the law would never be enough to satisfy God. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:24-26: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (sacrifice) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
Stressing the law, or stressing out over the law, is not profitable for the believer on Jesus Christ.
Titus 3:9: “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”
When a person becomes saved, he is taken out from under the law and put under the grace of God. Belief on Jesus Christ effectively destroys the power that the law holds over a person. That person is no longer a sinner in God’s eyes, and he is instead deemed righteous. The law gives the knowledge of sin. If a believer puts himself back under the law, he is making himself a sinner once again.
Galatians 2:17-18: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things (the law) which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.”
So who is God truly upset with? Is it the person who is breaking the Ten Commandments? Those commandments were part of the law, and the law was merely a shadow of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:1: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
Hebrews 9:11: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;”
The law was a shadow. Jesus Christ is the high priest. Does God condemn those who break the Ten Commandments? No. God condemns those who do not believe on His Son.
John 3:18: “He that believeth on him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
I am not against the Ten Commandments. I am for keeping them in their right place. They were given to the Jews under the Old Testament. Under the New Testament, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to make a person realize that he is a sinner. Once a person knows that he is a sinner, then he will realize his need to be saved, which is where Jesus Christ comes in.
This tract claims that breaking the Ten Commandments is the big issue. The Bible says that not believing on God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the big issue. I’m going with the Bible’s story.
2. “‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God’ wrote Paul in Ephesians 4:30. Yet today’s irreligious, happy-go-lucky, party-loving multitudes are doing exactly that 24-7. This is the true reason why God is withdrawing His hand.”
The writer of this tract hopes you are not paying attention here as he seamlessly ties together two completely unrelated concepts. First of all, what is the purpose of the Holy Spirit?
John 16:13: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
After Jesus Christ rose from the dead and went back to Heaven, He sent His Spirit down to earth for the sake of believers. The Holy Spirit was sent to lead believers “into all truth”. There is another purpose for the Holy Spirit as well.
Ephesians 1:13: “In whom (Jesus) 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,”
Ephesians 4:30: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
The Holy Spirit seals each and every believer on Jesus Christ in order to make their eternal salvation secure.
Now, let’s think about this rationally. The Holy Spirit is given to believers in order to seal them and lead them into truth. Unbelievers do not have the Holy Spirit. The tract we are examining was written for unbelievers. The tract claims that people everywhere are breaking the Ten Commandments, and that because of this, the following is true:
“‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God’ wrote Paul in Ephesians 4:30. Yet today’s irreligious, happy-go-lucky, party-loving multitudes are doing exactly that 24-7.”
How are unbelievers upsetting the Holy Spirit that they do not even possess? The Ten Commandments were given in the Old Testament. The Holy Spirit was given in the New Testament. The Ten Commandments were given to the Jews. The Holy Spirit was and is given to all believers on Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is not grieved by unbelievers breaking the Ten Commandments. The Holy Spirit is grieved by the wrong attitude of believers.
Ephesians 4:30-32: “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Did the Scripture say that breaking the Ten Commandments grieves the Holy Spirit? No. The Holy Spirit is grieved when believers don’t behave like they should, being full of hate instead of love.
This tract claims that the Holy Spirit is grieved when unbelievers are breaking the Ten Commandments. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is grieved when believers are not behaving correctly. I’m going with the Bible’s story.
3. “1. Put God first… 4. Keep the seventh day holy”
“Christians” who teach that the Ten Commandments must be obeyed stumble when it comes to the two commandments above. Some of the commandments are easy to understand and are good rules to follow whether a person believes in God or not. Think about it. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t be envious. When Jesus Christ came to the earth, He gave two new commandments to the Jews, which were meant to illustrate the purpose of the original ten.
Matthew 22:36-40: “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Jesus Christ did away with the law by obeying it.
Matthew 5:17: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Jesus fulfilled the law by obeying it. People were not able to obey the law, so Jesus came to earth and obeyed the law for them. Remember how I said that a person could only earn their own righteousness by keeping the law? Well that righteousness would never be enough to save a person’s soul. The law is impossible for a person to obey.
James 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
So Jesus Christ came to earth as a man and obeyed the law, and then, even though He was completely innocent, He died for the sins of the world. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is placed onto the record of each and every person who believes on Him.
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
The law was in place until John the Baptist began teaching people to believe on Jesus Christ.
Luke 16:16: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
The apostle Paul makes the point quite clear in the following verse:
Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
While Jesus Christ was on earth keeping the law, He gave two new commandments which taught the true purpose of the previous Ten Commandments. If you love God, you won’t worship other gods, bow down to graven images, disrespect God’s name, etc. If you love others as you do yourself, you won’t murder them, steal from them, lie to them, etc. Jesus Christ did away with the list of rules known as the Ten Commandments and gave the two new commandments. These two commandments were given to teach the Jews what they were supposed to learn from the Ten Commandments. These two commandments were given to the Jews, and they don’t have to be obeyed in order for a person to be saved, but it would be wise for all believers to live by them.
Now, there are “Christians” (such as the person who wrote this tract) who teach that believers in the age of grace must obey the Ten Commandments.
1st Timothy 1:7: “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”
Some “Christians” desiring to teach the law misinterpret Scripture such as the following:
1st John 3:22-24: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
The preceding passage uses the word “commandments,” and because of this, some “Christians” assume that those commandments are automatically the Ten Commandments, even though the passage itself defines what the commandments are. And also, this passage is from the book of 1st John, which explains how to maintain fellowship with God. It was written for people who are already saved, not as instruction for how to be or remain saved.
Now, I’m going to show you how two of the Ten Commandments cannot apply to believers in the age of grace. What is the first commandment?
Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Some “Christians” these days have changed what God said to mean the following:
“Put God first”
Folks, there is nothing wrong with putting God first. In fact, that’s a great idea. Here is the problem: We are not under the law, but some “Christians” desire to be under the law, so they have changed the first commandment in order to give it a broader meaning. Why do you suppose that God told the Israelites not to have any other gods? Perhaps it was because the Israelites had other gods. Let’s look at just a few examples. Right after Moses had given the law to the Israelites, Moses went up into a mountain to talk to God, and the Israelites began to worship a golden calf.
Exodus 32:7-8: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 32:31: “And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.”
Here are some more examples:
Deuteronomy 31:16: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.”
1st Kings 11:4-8: “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.”
1st Chronicles 5:25: “And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.”
Jeremiah 22:8-9: “And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.”
Once more, what was the first commandment?
Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
My suggestion is that we take that first commandment quite literally. The commandment did not say to put God first. The commandment said to have no other gods. This should not be an issue for believers. If a person has truly believed on Jesus Christ, then they have trusted God to save them. That means that person is not trusting in another god. This is not like the Old Testament times, although there are false gods in this day and age. Believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of the one true God. There are no other gods, only fakes. And don’t let some “Christians” alter the first commandment and tell you that you must obey their interpretation of a rule that was given under law to the Jews.
Now let’s look at another commandment that could not apply to believers in the age of grace. Here is the fourth commandment:
Exodus 20:8-11: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
The tract we are examining translates this commandment as follows:
“Keep the seventh day holy”
So what is the purpose of “keeping the Sabbath?” And who was this rule for?
Exodus 31:12-17: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
In “Dividing the Word” part one, we looked at how God used signs in the Old Testament. Signs were meant for the Jews, because Jews require them.
1st Corinthians 1:22: “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:”
Keeping the Sabbath was a sign between God and the Jews. It was a sign of their covenant. Keeping the Sabbath was one of the Ten Commandments, which was a part of the law. Do you remember how I said that Jesus Christ did away with the law? Do you know how that was possible? Because Jesus Christ was bigger than the law. Recall that the law was merely a shadow of what would later come by way of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10:1: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
There are religious people who teach that we must keep the Sabbath days. Did you know that Jesus Christ Himself encountered this same problem?
Mark 2:23-28: “And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. By believing on Jesus Christ, a person is believing on something much greater than a mere holy day. Should believers in the age of grace be concerned with keeping the Sabbath? I know someone who can answer that question. He was the apostle Paul, and he was the apostle of the Gentiles, or the apostle of the age of grace. In the following passage of Scripture, Paul describes what Jesus Christ achieved on the cross.
Colossians 2:14-17: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us (the law), which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
Any “Christian” who judges a believer for not keeping the Sabbath is out of line. The keeping of the Sabbath was an Old Testament rule given to the Jews, and this rule does not apply to believers in the age of grace.
There is another important aspect of this Sabbath debate that we must look at. Saturday is the seventh day of the week, meaning that Saturday is the Sabbath. And yet, most churches come together on Sundays. There are lawful “Christians” who get all hot and bothered over this, preaching that it is wrong to attend church on Sunday because it is not the Sabbath. First of all, let me say it again: Believers in the age of grace are not expected to keep the Sabbath. And secondly, where did the idea of believers meeting on the first day of the week originate?
Acts 20:7: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
Here we have disciples coming together and breaking bread (Communion), and Paul preaching to them.
1st Corinthians 16:1-2: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
Here we have Paul instructing the church in Corinth to put money aside on the first day of the week, which is more than likely because that is the day that the believers gathered together. This money probably went to support Paul and other believers in their travels to start churches or to visit and strengthen those churches already established.
(Oh the heck with it. Let’s swerve off topic here and get onto the subject of tithing. Tithing is preached by many pastors as being necessary, and they will say that God requires at least ten percent of your income. However, what they won’t acknowledge is that this rule was not given to believers in the age of grace.
Numbers 18:26: “Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.”
Tithing ten percent was a part of the law, and the verse of Scripture above points out exactly who this rule was for (the children of Israel, or the Jews). Remember how under the New Testament, believers are not under the law? It’s funny how pastors, even the ones who teach that believers in the age of grace are not under law, still teach that ten percent of a believer’s income should go to church. Actually, it’s not funny at all, but rather convenient. Do you want to know what Paul, the apostle of the age of grace, had to say about tithing?
2nd Corinthians 9:7: “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”
There is no minimum amount of money required by God. If you give money to support a ministry, God wants you to do it because you truthfully want to, not because you think you have to. I can tell you this because I am not a pastor. This website is my ministry, and I am making no money from it. Pastors don’t like this truth on tithing, because they could stand to lose some money. I am losing nothing by telling you any of this. I am simply tired of believers on Jesus Christ being manipulated by religious “leaders.”
Hey, this wasn’t so off topic after all, now, was it? Here we are, talking about believers in the age of grace not being under the law. Tithing ten percent was part of the law. Yeah, this fits in just fine.)
Now, back to where we were. Believers coming together to have Communion on the first day of the week? Believers collecting money for the ministry on the first day of the week? It sounds to me like believers were, dare I say it, having their church services on the first day of the week. If a believer chooses to go to church on Sunday, it looks like that person would be in good company, since the apostle Paul was totally fine with that concept, and he was, after all, the apostle of the age of grace. There are religious legalists who say that believers must attend church on Saturdays in order to keep the Sabbath holy. There are pastors who say that Sunday is the new Sabbath, and believers must be in those pews on Sundays in order to keep the Sabbath. Both of these groups of people are wrong. Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus Christ fulfilled the law so that believers in the age of grace don’t have to. Keeping the Sabbath was a part of the Ten Commandments, which was a part of the law, which was given to the Jews in the Old Testament. Furthermore, keeping the Sabbath was a sign between God and the Jews. Believers in the age of grace were never instructed to keep the Sabbath. Anyone telling you otherwise is a legalist, and anyone desiring to be under the law is rejecting the grace of God.
Galatians 5:4: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
4. “If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior, ‘He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’”
What you just read was a bunch of double-talk. If you have not read my page “Repentance 101,” you really need to. There, I prove that repentance is not “turning from sin,” as many religious people falsely define it to be. Repentance is a simple change of mind. Don’t believe me? Go read “Repentance 101,” which uses Scripture to back up my claims, rather than wishful thinking, which is what is used to support the false claims of religious people.
Now, this excerpt from the tract says a person must “repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus.” Repenting is simply changing the mind. Repentance in regards to salvation is going from unbelief in Jesus Christ to belief in Him. You don’t tell someone to repent and have faith in Jesus Christ to be saved. If they have repented concerning Jesus Christ, that means they have believed on Him. Look at how Paul described the salvation experience:
Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Repentance is not mentioned, because repentance has already taken place for the person who has believed on Jesus Christ. When an unbeliever repents, he believes on Jesus Christ. Telling someone they must repent and place their faith in Jesus is simply double-talk.
Now, the verse of Scripture used by the tract in this excerpt was a very peculiar choice. The writer of this tract seems to think this verse goes along with the salvation experience. It does not. This verse was written to believers, those who have already been saved. The book of 1st John was written in order to help believers maintain fellowship with God. Do you know what disrupts fellowship between God and His children? Sin. Notice what I said. Sin does not take away the salvation of a believer, as some religious people want you to believe. Sin will come between a believer and God, and it will break fellowship. Read the first chapter of the book of 1st John. We aren’t dealing with salvation, or the loss of it. We are dealing with fellowship between God and a believer.
1st John 1:1-10: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Fellowship. That’s what the preceding Scripture is all about. If you have been saved, and you want to maintain fellowship with God, don’t “walk in darkness”. The book of 1st John goes on to describe what walking in darkness is.
1st John 2:11: “But he that hateth his brother (fellow believer on Jesus Christ) is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”
When I read the comments of Lordship Salvationists, who are religious legalists, I always get the feeling that they hate other believers. Lordship Salvationists are very condescending, because they believe they are holier than all others and that this makes them truly saved. I don’t hate other believers, but I sure do hate religion. Religion keeps people lost and seeks to confuse true believers. Are you a believer on Jesus Christ? If yes, then don’t hate your brothers and sisters in Christ! Don’t condemn them to Hell and think you are holier than everyone else! Love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Walk in the light. This will help maintain fellowship with God.
Now, look once more at the nonsense printed in this tract:
“If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior, ‘He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’”
The writer of this tract took a verse of Scripture meant for believers, and he applied it to the concept of getting saved. Folks, here is what the Bible says:
1st John 1:9: “If we (believers on Jesus Christ) confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When you confess your sins to God, your fellowship with God will be maintained. You don’t “repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus” to do this. You repent, or believe on Jesus Christ, in order to be saved, which would mean you placed your faith in Jesus. Then after you have been saved, confess your sins to God regularly in order to maintain fellowship.
5. “Those who do this in these end-times – thereby manifesting their loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments – will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”
This garbage is making my head hurt. Honestly, I am blown away by this nonsensical rubbish. How in the world someone can misinterpret Scripture like this is beyond me.
This tract is teaching that “If we are willing to repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus as our Savior,” then “Those who do this in these end-times – thereby manifesting their loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments – will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”.
We already looked at this tract’s ridiculous double-talk of “repent, confess, and have faith”. Now this tract claims that when you do all of this, you are proving your “loyalty to each of the Ten Commandments”. Where does the Bible instruct believers in the age of grace to have a loyalty to the Ten Commandments? Oh, that’s right. It doesn’t. The Ten Commandments were a part of Old Testament law. The law gives the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and its purpose is to show people that they need a Savior.
Galatians 3:19-25: “Wherefore then serveth the law? (What was the purpose of the law?) It was added because of transgressions (sins), till the seed (Jesus Christ) should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
The person who wrote this tract is not using the law correctly. He is trying to put people under law instead of under grace. He is trying to make people save themselves rather than be saved by God. This is an abuse of the law.
1st Timothy 1:7-10: “Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;”
The law is not meant for the righteous. Do you remember how a person receives righteousness?
Romans 4:5-8: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him (Jesus Christ) that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
Believers on Jesus Christ are given the righteousness of Jesus on their records. Do you know what this means? It means that the law is not meant for believers, because they are righteous in the eyes of God. The law has served its purpose by bringing the knowledge of sin to their attention, and once these people believed on Jesus Christ, they were no longer under the law, but under grace. When a person teaches that believers must obey the law, or that people wanting to be saved must be loyal to the Ten Commandments, that person is abusing the purpose of the law. That person is a false teacher, desiring to be a teacher of the law, who has no understanding of what he is saying. You don’t get saved by promising to be loyal to the Ten Commandments! You get saved by believing on Jesus Christ!
Galatians 2:16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
Now, moving on deeper into the absurdity of this tract, we find that it only gets worse. The writer of this terrible tract claims that when people devote themselves to the Ten Commandments, these people “will receive ‘the seal of the living God … on their foreheads’”. This is just all sorts of wrong. In “Dividing the Word” part two, we found out that during the Tribulation, 144,000 Jewish servants of Jesus Christ will be sealed.
Revelation 7:1-4: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
In the Old Testament, Jacob had twelve sons whose offspring became the twelve tribes of Israel. God dealt with the Israelites, or the Jews, in the Old Testament. The law and prophets continued until John the Baptist came onto the scene. John told the Jews to believe on Him that was coming soon. Jesus Christ presented Himself to the Jews, offering Himself as the King they had been foretold of in their Scriptures. Jesus was not believed on and was instead crucified. Jesus rose from the dead three days later and told His disciples to take the Gospel to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem. The Gospel of belief on Jesus Christ for eternal salvation was given to the Jews, and then it was delivered to the Gentiles as well. The age of grace had fully set in. The next event on God’s calendar is the Rapture. The Rapture will call out the Holy Spirit and all believers saved during the age of grace. The Tribulation will set in immediately, and God will return to His old methods of using signs, law, and prophets in order to reach the Jews. During the Tribulation, 12,000 Jews from each of the twelve lines of Israel will receive the seal of God in their foreheads.
Now, getting back to this tract, the claim is made that people who devote themselves to the Ten Commandments will receive the seal of God in their foreheads. This is either a severe misunderstanding of Scripture or just plain stupid. Here’s why:
1. We are in the age of grace, and this seal in the forehead occurs during the Tribulation.
2. The seal in the forehead from Revelation 7:3 is not given to people who are loyal to the Ten Commandments. The seal is given to the
144,000 Jewish servants.
This tract has great news for the unbeliever. “If you repent, confess, and have faith in Jesus, and you promise to obey the Ten Commandments, then you will be sealed by God!” The tract doesn’t tell you that only 144,000 people are said to be sealed, so you better act fast, because reservations are filling up! Folks, this is truly sad. This tract was written by someone who could not rightly divide Scripture. This tract was published by an organization that could not rightly divide Scripture. This tract is distributed by people who cannot rightly divide Scripture. These people cannot understand that what happens during the Tribulation occurs… during the Tribulation! We are not there! We are in the age of grace. During the age of grace, people only have to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, and believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. During the Tribulation, God will seal 144,000 Jews on their foreheads, and if anyone else hopes to be saved, they will have to endure until the end for Jesus Christ (whether this means until the end of their lives or until the Second Coming of Jesus). This is Biblical. The asinine claims found in this tract are not Biblical.
This tract is taking a future event and trying to apply it to believers in the present age. Believers in the age of grace are not the ones being sealed in their foreheads. And obeying the Ten Commandments is never said to be the reason that the 144,000 Jews are sealed during the Tribulation. This tract makes an awful attempt to copy and paste various Biblical concepts together, while adding lies to the mix. This should be very evident to the person who takes the time to actually read Scripture.
6. “A careful study of the book of Revelation also implies that sincere yet misguided religious leaders will eventually misinterpret these events and claim that ‘God is directly punishing human beings for their refusal to keep Sunday sacred,’ even though the Ten Commandments plainly identify ‘the seventh day’ (Saturday) as the true day of rest.”
“A careful study of the book of Revelation”? Too bad the person who wrote this tract never conducted even a careless study of it. And supposedly, religious leaders during the Tribulation will claim that all of the catastrophic horrors that are happening are because people aren’t keeping Sundays sacred. Uh, Biblical reference for this? It’s not given in this tract. I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this reference is not given is because it does not exist. I see that Revelation 14:12 is listed in the next sentence. Let’s look at the verse in its proper context.
Revelation 14:9-12: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
This passage is contrasting two different groups of people during the Tribulation. One group consists of the people who will have worshipped the beast, or the antichrist, and they will have taken his mark in their foreheads or hands. The other group consists of the 144,000 Jewish servants who were sealed with God’s name in their foreheads (discussed in “Dividing the Word” part two).
Now, I don’t see any mention in Revelation 14:12 of pastors demanding that Sunday must be kept sacred. Ok, so maybe that wasn’t the point. Maybe the point of referencing this particular verse of Scripture was to teach that people have to obey the commandments of God. Well, I have actually read the book of Revelation, and the people mentioned that keep the commandments of God are the 144,000 Jewish servants (Revelation 12:17). They are the “saints,” and they are alive during the Tribulation, the period of time right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The age of grace ends with the Rapture. The Tribulation then arrives, and God brings back signs (Luke 21:11, 25) and prophets (Revelation 11:3-12). We aren’t there yet. Are there great signs in the sky from God? Are prophets currently performing miracles in the name of God? No. They will be here during the Tribulation, when God returns His focus to the Jews. God used signs and prophets to reach the Jews (Hebrews 2:3-4). These methods will return once “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Romans 11:25). God turned His attention to the Gentiles in the age of grace, and this was meant to make the Jews jealous (Romans 11:11).
So the question remains: Where does the book of Revelation mention religious leaders blaming the horrors of the Tribulation on people’s disregard for keeping Sundays sacred?
The tract says that “the Ten Commandments plainly identify ‘the seventh day’ (Saturday) as the true day of rest.” Well there’s no debate here. The seventh day is Saturday. And this means what to the person who wants to be saved? Oh that’s right. Nothing, since believers in the age of grace are not under the law, and keeping the seventh day holy was part of the law.
7. “Above all, make sure you don’t miss heaven. Choose Jesus Christ today!”
Amen! Preach it! Wait a minute…. How does a person “choose Jesus Christ?” Oh no. The tract leaves us hanging without giving us the answer. Would it have been too much of a problem to end the tract with a great verse on eternal salvation?
John 6:47: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” – Jesus Christ
Here is the sad truth: This tract was not written in order to help the lost become saved. This tract was written in order to keep the lost right where they are. Instead of telling people to believe on Jesus Christ, this tract teaches people that they must repent (a word which is not defined by this tract), confess, have faith, and keep the Ten Commandments. That last requirement means that people in this day and age are under the law, a teaching that is in stark contrast to what the apostle Paul taught. Are you going to listen to a tract written by a religious person adhering to Old Testament law? Or are you going to listen to the apostle Paul? Look carefully at the words of Paul:
Galatians 1:11-12: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Paul claimed that the Gospel he preached was revealed to him directly by Jesus Christ. What exactly was Paul’s Gospel?
1st Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”
Paul’s simple Gospel is the reason that the following could be said:
Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Let’s recap: Paul received his Gospel directly from Jesus Christ. Paul’s Gospel teaches that belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves the soul of the believer. Some people think it’s cool to hate on Paul and say that he was an imposter with a fake gospel. Don’t buy into this nonsense. Did you know that Paul’s Gospel was taught by others as well?
Acts 10:43: “To him (Jesus Christ) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” – the apostle Peter
1st John 5:1: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” – the apostle John
Acts 8:36-38: “And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 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. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” – the apostle Philip
John 3:16: “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.” – Jesus Christ
It looks like Paul was in good company. In any of the preceding Scripture, did you see any demands for keeping the Ten Commandments? No. What you saw was that simple faith in Jesus Christ is all that a person needs in order to be saved. This is why Paul made the following statements:
Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Let me ask you again: Are you going to listen to a tract written by a religious person adhering to Old Testament law? Or are you going to listen to the apostle Paul? You can repent, confess, have faith, swear allegiance to the Ten Commandments, click your heels together, kneel down while facing eastward and say “There’s no place like Heaven” three times, or you can believe on Jesus Christ and be saved. One of these ways is a religious lie. One of these ways is Biblical.
In “Dividing the Word” part one, we learned what it is to rightly divide Scripture, and why it is so important, such as when it is the difference between Heaven and Hell. In part two, we saw how a person’s view of the timing of the Rapture is dependant on that person’s ability or inability to rightly divide Scripture. In part three, we looked at how Scripture is abused by the Lordship Salvation crowd, people who are notorious for being unable to rightly divide Scripture. And now, in part four, we have seen just how ridiculous and dangerous it can be when a person does not rightly divide Scripture, and instead chooses to share a false gospel message with the world. The tract that we have examined today is something you should never, ever, ever give to a person who is not saved. The tract has one use, and one use only, and that is for educational purposes, in order to understand what not rightly dividing Scripture leads to (lies and religion).
Next we are going to look at a quote from Barack Obama. I am going to be lazy and copy and paste information from another website, since this website gives a rundown of what the context was for this quote. The quote came from a “speech made by Senator Barack Obama in June 28, 2006. He was the keynote speaker at an the ‘Building a Covenant for A New America’ conference sponsored by a group called the Call to Renewal.
It was one of Obama’s more religiously-based speeches that talked about the tensions that exist in a country of secular laws but religious passions. He argued that ‘secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.’ He called for a ‘reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism’ and called on those with narrow religious views to translate those into broader common values that can guide public policy.
As an example, he said, ‘And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let’s read our bibles. Folks haven’t been reading their bibles.’
This statement caused controversy among Evangelical Christians because it seemed as though Obama was being cynical about what could appear to be confecting statements in scripture.
Obama’s supporters say, however, that he was not making fun of those scriptures but merely using them to illustrate the point of his speech, which was to point out the complexity of holding religious values in high regard but trying to reconcile them with public policy.”
The bold emphasis to Obama’s words was added by me, and this material was taken from truthorfiction.com. Here is the link:
It was one of Obama’s more religiously-based speeches that talked about the tensions that exist in a country of secular laws but religious passions. He argued that ‘secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.’ He called for a ‘reconciliation between faith and democratic pluralism’ and called on those with narrow religious views to translate those into broader common values that can guide public policy.
As an example, he said, ‘And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s, or Al Sharpton’s? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let’s read our bibles. Folks haven’t been reading their bibles.’
This statement caused controversy among Evangelical Christians because it seemed as though Obama was being cynical about what could appear to be confecting statements in scripture.
Obama’s supporters say, however, that he was not making fun of those scriptures but merely using them to illustrate the point of his speech, which was to point out the complexity of holding religious values in high regard but trying to reconcile them with public policy.”
The bold emphasis to Obama’s words was added by me, and this material was taken from truthorfiction.com. Here is the link:
Now, a lot of Christians have said negative things about Barack Obama. I’m not here to do that. In my opinion, I’m not sure that any of the United States Presidents have been Christians, despite what they themselves have said. Most, if not all, have belonged to organizations like Freemasonry, which is a powerful and secret society that has no place in a Christian’s life. But that’s all beside the point of this article. What I would like to do is focus on the preceding quote made by Obama at this conference.
First of all, I agree with Obama. “Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles.” I think “Christians” would be a better group of people if they actually read their Bibles. I think a lot of Christians turn to religious phonies to interpret the Bible for them. Phonies like Paul Washer, David Cloud, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, etc., just to name a few. I feel this way because I have encountered “Christians” online who do not seem to have an original thought in their heads when it comes to doctrine. It’s as though they have all of their beliefs spoon-fed to them by false teachers, and then these people just repeat what they have heard without ever taking the time to question if what they are repeating makes any actual sense or not. Or maybe, just maybe, the problem isn’t that “Christians” aren’t reading their Bibles, but that they are not understanding what they are reading. More specifically, they are not “rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Bible is a lot like guns. Guns must be used by responsible people. Guns can be used to save lives, but in the wrong hands, guns become very dangerous and lethal weapons. They can kill people. The Bible is the same way. The Bible can be used to save lives, but in the wrong hands, the Bible becomes a very dangerous and lethal weapon. False teachers and their mindless followers abuse Scripture in order to send people to Hell by teaching them lies. So “Christians” need to read their Bibles, and they also need to understand their Bibles.
Now, Obama mentioned some extreme subjects in the Bible.
“Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination?”
Yes, slavery was ok in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 25:44: “Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.”
Have you been reading my series “Dividing the Word”? If you have, I bet that by now you can guess who the preceding instruction was for. Did you guess Old Testament Jews? If you did, congratulations! You have been paying attention! If you guessed wrong, then come on already! Don’t you see a common theme here? Look at who was being addressed by that passage that mentioned slavery.
Leviticus 25:1-2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.”
And yes, eating shellfish was an abomination in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 11:9-12: “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.”
Let’s try this again. Can you tell me who the preceding instruction was for? I know you can do it!
Leviticus 11:1-2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.”
“How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?”
Yes, stoning a disobedient child was indeed mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy. And once again, this instruction was given to Old Testament Jews.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21: “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”
Deuteronomy 21:8: “Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.”
“Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application?”
Jesus Christ focused His earthly ministry toward the Jews, because they were promised a king and a kingdom by God. Jesus Christ was that King, and the kingdom of heaven was that kingdom. As a whole, the Jews did not believe on Jesus, and instead, they crucified Him for what they thought to be blasphemy.
Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount was given to Jews. This sermon was not meant for the Gentiles. Note the way Jesus referred to the Gentiles in the following Scripture, taken from the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:31-32: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
Jesus referred to this outside group of people because they were not present for the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon was not teaching people how to be saved and go to Heaven, a concept that was not in place at that time and would remain unavailable until Jesus had died for the sins of the world. This sermon was teaching the Jews how to live so that they could enter into the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom could have been set up had the Jews believed on Jesus Christ as their prophesied king. Instead, this kingdom was placed on hold to make way for the age of grace, and this kingdom will be established at the end of the Tribulation.
Because the Sermon on the Mount was given specifically to the Jews, and it concerned the earthly kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19-20, 7:21), this sermon should not be used to, as Obama put it, “guide our public policy”. We are in the age of grace, so Scripture directed at the Jews and dealing with law, the earthly kingdom of heaven, etc., does not apply to us.
“So before we get carried away, let’s read our bibles.”
Reading the Bible is definitely a good thing to do, but understanding it is equally important (though harder to do). And while understanding the Bible can be difficult at times, there is one huge step you can take to make sure that you don’t become confused like so many others. When you are reading the Bible, pay attention to context. Ask yourself “Who is this Scripture speaking to? What is this Scripture about?” Otherwise, you will be left with a mess, and you will be placing yourself under both the law and grace, unable to tell where the line is. When you don’t rightly divide Scripture, you may as well be placing a loaded gun into the hands of a baby.
I’m not sure what Obama’s exact intentions were with this speech. Was he being sincere? Or was he mocking Christianity by intentionally failing to rightly divide Scripture? I don’t know. But this speech is a great reminder of why it is so important to rightly divide Scripture. It is because of “Christians” not doing this that we have so much confusion, debate, heresy, and false doctrine being spread within the “Christian” community. Obama focused on portions of Scripture that do not apply to the age of grace. How many “Christians” are doing exactly that in churches and on websites all over the country?
First of all, I agree with Obama. “Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles.” I think “Christians” would be a better group of people if they actually read their Bibles. I think a lot of Christians turn to religious phonies to interpret the Bible for them. Phonies like Paul Washer, David Cloud, Ray Comfort, John MacArthur, etc., just to name a few. I feel this way because I have encountered “Christians” online who do not seem to have an original thought in their heads when it comes to doctrine. It’s as though they have all of their beliefs spoon-fed to them by false teachers, and then these people just repeat what they have heard without ever taking the time to question if what they are repeating makes any actual sense or not. Or maybe, just maybe, the problem isn’t that “Christians” aren’t reading their Bibles, but that they are not understanding what they are reading. More specifically, they are not “rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Bible is a lot like guns. Guns must be used by responsible people. Guns can be used to save lives, but in the wrong hands, guns become very dangerous and lethal weapons. They can kill people. The Bible is the same way. The Bible can be used to save lives, but in the wrong hands, the Bible becomes a very dangerous and lethal weapon. False teachers and their mindless followers abuse Scripture in order to send people to Hell by teaching them lies. So “Christians” need to read their Bibles, and they also need to understand their Bibles.
Now, Obama mentioned some extreme subjects in the Bible.
“Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination?”
Yes, slavery was ok in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 25:44: “Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.”
Have you been reading my series “Dividing the Word”? If you have, I bet that by now you can guess who the preceding instruction was for. Did you guess Old Testament Jews? If you did, congratulations! You have been paying attention! If you guessed wrong, then come on already! Don’t you see a common theme here? Look at who was being addressed by that passage that mentioned slavery.
Leviticus 25:1-2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.”
And yes, eating shellfish was an abomination in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus 11:9-12: “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.”
Let’s try this again. Can you tell me who the preceding instruction was for? I know you can do it!
Leviticus 11:1-2: “And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.”
“How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?”
Yes, stoning a disobedient child was indeed mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy. And once again, this instruction was given to Old Testament Jews.
Deuteronomy 21:18-21: “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”
Deuteronomy 21:8: “Be merciful, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.”
“Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application?”
Jesus Christ focused His earthly ministry toward the Jews, because they were promised a king and a kingdom by God. Jesus Christ was that King, and the kingdom of heaven was that kingdom. As a whole, the Jews did not believe on Jesus, and instead, they crucified Him for what they thought to be blasphemy.
Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount was given to Jews. This sermon was not meant for the Gentiles. Note the way Jesus referred to the Gentiles in the following Scripture, taken from the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:31-32: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
Jesus referred to this outside group of people because they were not present for the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon was not teaching people how to be saved and go to Heaven, a concept that was not in place at that time and would remain unavailable until Jesus had died for the sins of the world. This sermon was teaching the Jews how to live so that they could enter into the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom could have been set up had the Jews believed on Jesus Christ as their prophesied king. Instead, this kingdom was placed on hold to make way for the age of grace, and this kingdom will be established at the end of the Tribulation.
Because the Sermon on the Mount was given specifically to the Jews, and it concerned the earthly kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19-20, 7:21), this sermon should not be used to, as Obama put it, “guide our public policy”. We are in the age of grace, so Scripture directed at the Jews and dealing with law, the earthly kingdom of heaven, etc., does not apply to us.
“So before we get carried away, let’s read our bibles.”
Reading the Bible is definitely a good thing to do, but understanding it is equally important (though harder to do). And while understanding the Bible can be difficult at times, there is one huge step you can take to make sure that you don’t become confused like so many others. When you are reading the Bible, pay attention to context. Ask yourself “Who is this Scripture speaking to? What is this Scripture about?” Otherwise, you will be left with a mess, and you will be placing yourself under both the law and grace, unable to tell where the line is. When you don’t rightly divide Scripture, you may as well be placing a loaded gun into the hands of a baby.
I’m not sure what Obama’s exact intentions were with this speech. Was he being sincere? Or was he mocking Christianity by intentionally failing to rightly divide Scripture? I don’t know. But this speech is a great reminder of why it is so important to rightly divide Scripture. It is because of “Christians” not doing this that we have so much confusion, debate, heresy, and false doctrine being spread within the “Christian” community. Obama focused on portions of Scripture that do not apply to the age of grace. How many “Christians” are doing exactly that in churches and on websites all over the country?
We’ve looked at an unbiblical tract. We’ve looked at Barack Obama taking Scripture out of context. Now we are going to take a look at one of the most famous “pastors” currently in America. Along the way, we are going to take a detour in order to examine a couple of other well known teachers. This next article went a little longer than I expected it to, so I’m gonna give it a separate page.