You must be born again? Passed from death unto life? In Christ are all made alive? For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish? Wonderful truths, but have we must the true focus and hope because of tradition and mythology? We exalt the finished work of Christ and we exalt the victory that was the lack of decay in the tomb and the glorious resurrection. #theology #christianity #salvation

We look at a popular verse in Jeremiah chapter 17 and do what we always do: look at the context! All of scripture is profitable. We can learn about the nature of God without having to apply every verse to ourselves directly!

Jeremiah 17:7 ("Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord") is quoted often, and for good reason. There is much to gleaned from this verse. But unless we rightly divide the chapter, we might actually miss the blessings God has in store for those of us called in this age to the current calling of God. #theology ology #prophecy #israel #christiandoctrine #christianity

A professed Christian school in Oregon thought that we're still in the Book of Acts and that every epistle is for us today. We cover one story from the school which tells the story of child (Ava Worthington) who died because of that bad interpretation (wrong division) of scripture. A simple administering of an antibiotic would have saved the child, but the school thought they would try to claim healing promises in Matthew 10 and James 5. Sadly, they did not realize those promises are not for us today. This school would continue in its belief and more children would die.

Matthew 7:1 ("judge not lest ye be judged") is probably the most quoted verse by believers and unbelievers alike in modern theological discourse. If we allow ourselves to think about it for over 4 milliseconds we'll realize there is no way the Lord is commanding his followers to never judge anything or anybody. To be sure, we must be very careful when we make judgments and we must always be aware of our own frailty and of our sin nature, but surely we must make judgments. We try to put a little meat on the bones by walking through the passage. And judgment is not limited to actions in scripture. We must judge doctrine, interpretations, and applications as well. And in judging these things, we must "rightly divide the Word of Truth." #theology #gospel

The overwhelming majority of what is Christendom believes it is functioning under the New Covenant and that it is somehow a New Israel or a replacement for Israel. This belief will destroy (and has destroyed) many a Bible commentary. Further, it has stifled the growth of millions upon millions of believers. Finally, it has deluded well over a billion into believing that can attain resurrection life by their own efforts.

On the right side of the web we find almost all the robbing from Israel. Not only does this lead to gross antisemitism, but it sadly leaves so many ignorant of the blessings of the far above the heavens. Believers trade the unsearchable riches of Paul's revelation in Ephesians for some ethereal heavenly hope based on earthly promises. Sad. But we don't have to stay where we are. God is ready to enlighten unto Paul's revelation those who seek it. #theology #zionism #israel

We take a look at some quotes from philosopher Bertrand Russell. We note the wisdom that we can glean from the atheist thinker and then ponder why he was an atheist. Each of needs to be open to further enlightenment from God and we heed Russell's admonition against prideful certainty (ignoring the fact that he was pretty sure about evolution for some reason). #theology #creation

We look at God's prophetic plans for the earth, the promised land, and for his earthly kingdom. We discuss the Lord's death, lack of decay, and resurrection and the importance these have in cleansing the multiple spheres in God's kingdom. We note that the overcomers of the Revelation, a cleansed Israel, is the Lord's Bride and will inhabit the blessing of the heavenly New Jerusalem which comes down to earth. #theology #israel #dispensationalism #prophecy

We walk through Ezekiel 36 and look at God's plan for the earth and the land in that book. A very popular verse for evangelists to preach and for believers to claim is Ezekiel 36:26. We note how it badly manipulated by so many today and, further, how it distorts and clouds an understanding of God's plans for the future of Israel. God is a promise-keeping God. Israel is his Bride and he will cleanse Virgin Israel one day and fulfill his promises to a cleansed and believing Israel. #theology #gospel #salvation

I also share a bit of my testimony and my journey in the faith. If we truly want to try to rightly divide the word of truth (interpret scripture correctly), we must keep testing our beliefs against the whole counsel of God and be willing to move as God reveals more and more.

NOT for us today:
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." -Ezek 36:26

If one correctly sees Israel in the texts of the Psalms and the Prophets yet the same one goes on to teach that the "church" is somehow a "new" Israel or a different version of the same Israel, he has many problems on his hands. Conversely, the believer who believes either that he is Israel and is entitled to Israel's promises as laid out in the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets... this one then has to deal with the curses and punishments connected with eventual blessings. We can only start to get a clear understanding of scripture when we seek to rightly divide the plan, the people, and the promises in view.

On the surface, we may be tempted to take some simple lessons from the Lord's parables. But in doing so, we will probably be doing great violence to the text and not only miss the message, we may completely destroy it. Scripture must be rightly divided and the especially goes for the parables. The Lord started to speak in parables as a judgment against the nation, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want his true disciples to understand them.