The speaker said, "Welcome to reality, where the word of God is rightly divided. For us today, the Bible begins in Romans."
Shouldn’t he at least back up to WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS is the BEGINNING of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Oh, no! He won’t do that because he is a ‘mid-Acts-er’ who believes PAUL preached a DIFFERENT gospel of Jesus Christ .... for the speaker, "the Bible BEGINS in ROMANS!"
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
Well now, since the speaker thinks the Bible begins in Romans .... he must believe ‘the gospel of GOD concerning His Son Jesus Christ’ (Rom 1:1-3) .... instead of ‘the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’ (Mark 1:1) .... which, to a ‘mid-Acts-er’, are DIFFERENT gospels:
Rom 1:1-4 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
The speaker put himself in a Catch 22 because PAUL wrote that ‘the gospel of God’ (which he was separated unto) was promised afore by God’s prophets in the Bible .... which the speaker just said didn’t BEGIN until Romans.
The speaker would have another problem with PAUL’s (beginning in Romans) ‘gospel of God’ because PETER also wrote about ‘the gospel of God’ (1 Pet 4:17), and ‘mid-Acts-er’ don’t allow Paul and Peter to have the same gospel .... even though Paul was quite clear about the penalty for that:
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
In Gal 2:7-9, there is a specific Greek word for the words ‘to’ and ‘toward’ showing Peter and Paul went different directions, but they did not have different gospels. If Peter was preaching a different gospel than Paul preached, he would be accursed.
The scriptures show Peter and Paul preached the SAME gospel in 1 Cor 15:1-11.
1 Cor 15:11 Therefore whether it were I (Paul) or they (including Peter from 1 Cor 15:5), so we preach (the gospel from 1 Cor 15:3-4), and so ye believed.
1 Cor 3:22-23 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas (Peter), or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
1 Cor 4:1 Let a man so account of us (Paul, Apollos, Peter), as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
The speaker said Romans chapters 9-11 introduced the concept of ‘right division’ and ‘who is Israel, where is Israel, and you’re not Israel’.
Shouldn’t he at least back up (beginning in Romans) to WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS about who is the Jew?
Rom 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Maybe Paul could ‘rephrase’ that. Who is Israel?
Phil 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Shouldn’t the speaker at least back up to see Who CHRIST is in us, rather than concentrate on who WE are in Him? The center of attention ought to be CHRIST FIRST, not us:
Col 1:25-27 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
The speaker said, "You know how I know I’m saved? The word of God says I am." Book, chapter, and verse, please!
The speaker said, "If you want to see Jesus Christ, just go look in the mirror." When Jesus dwelt among men, people were able to see Him, in the physical:
John 12:21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Jesus can be seen now only with the eyes of faith when we believe that He died for us .... but not in a mirror:
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
We look for Him to come from heaven and change our bodies to be like His:
Phil 3:20-21 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him;
for we shall see him as he is.
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
2 Tim 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
When Jesus returns in glory (Matt 24:30), everyone will see Him then (2 Thess 1:7-10). The world will know:
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
The speaker said, "Abortions - they’re His. Modern genocide works out to the glory of God. It’s done in His good pleasure. He gets them - they’re His." I was deeply troubled by the speaker’s flippant words and insensitivity about abortion.
The speaker said, "The first thing you do when you learn the grace message is to go back and tell everybody they’re wrong." What does that tell you about ‘the grace message’? GOD's grace does not produce that attitude, but 'mid-Acts-hyper-dispensationalism' does.
The speaker said, "Romans 6 has a great infamous history." The dictionary defines ‘infamous’ as having a very bad reputation; notorious; in disgrace or dishonor causing or deserving a bad reputation; scandalous; outrageous.
I thought the speaker’s ‘big picture’ and ‘heavenly view’ lacked focus. He did excessive story-telling instead of Biblical exposition.
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
