In my nearly 30 years as a ‘mid-Acts-er’, during all that time COMBINED, I never heard so much teaching about Jesus Christ’s sacrifice from OUTSIDE of PAUL as I did in one night tonight. Verses came from Exodus, Leviticus, John, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Mark. Wow! Wonder what caused that change? Also, the preacher was introduced as Brother. I suppose the bishops decided to all be brothers instead! "If a man desires the office of a brother?" They are still not KJV only. They have stopped calling each other Pastor, but they still won’t accept their office as a Bishop. It seems as if they are having a Brethren conference, along with being deceitful about their position.
In an opening passage, about where grace and wrath meet together, a very important point was missed.
The sentence BEGINS in verse 5 and does not END until verse 11.
Notice what ALL this one sentence contains.
It tells of God’s DAY of wrath AND judgment that INCLUDES -- get this --
BOTH the reward of the saved .... AND .... the punishment of the lost!
THAT fact right there wipes out the ‘mid-Acts’ RAPTURE illusion, that only-saints-saved-by-PAUL’s-"unique"-gospel will be caught up to heaven 7 + ? YEARS BEFORE the 70th week of Daniel even begins .... at which time .... they will go before the judgment seat of Christ and get their rewards and ASSIGNMENTS to positions in the heavenly places (NOT the heavenly city, new Jerusalem, but some ‘other’ heavenly realm).
In God’s day of wrath and judgment (vs. 5) ....
the 1st issue named IN THE VERSES (vs. 7) is the reward of God’s everlasting life ....
and the next issue named (vs. 8) is the punishment of the wicked who get God’s wrath.
So, actually, there is God’s GRACE and God’s WRATH .... in the SAME day:
Rom 2:5-11 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
My point (the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked in the same day) is the VERY SAME TRUTH that PAUL taught unto the church of the Thessalonians. "That day" is the day of Christ (2 Thess 2:2), the day when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven:
2 Thess 1:7-10 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all (not separate ‘entities’ of saints) them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
The speaker spoke of "the system God set up to deal with sin .... teaching them (Israel) through the old testament .... and then (now, us) through the finished work of Christ." He would not say "through the NEW testament" because ‘mid-Acts-ers’ do not think they are under the new testament/covenant. They separate ‘the finished work of Christ’ (which they believe is ‘for them’) from the new covenant (which they believe is for Israel).
The speaker focused on "those great 2 words" .... ‘but now’. He called it "the Now Time Revelation" .... and said we first learn it through Paul:
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (He read the last part of this verse, but made no comment on it.)
Then he said the first time we learned it was when Paul preached it:
Acts 13:38-39 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness (Greek [aphesis]) of sins:
39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Did the speaker overlook Peter’s earlier testimony? Just after preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 10:38-41), Peter said:
Acts 10:42-43 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission (Greek [aphesis]) of sins.
Are having ‘the forgiveness of sins’ and receiving ‘remission of sins’ somehow DIFFERENT? They both result from believing in Christ. But in a ‘mid-Acts’ mindset, they are not the same, even though both ‘forgiveness’ and ‘remission’ are translated from the SAME Greek word [aphesis].
Before Paul, the scripture in John made the contrast between Moses (the law) and Christ (grace):
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Paul also made that same contrast between Moses (the law) and Christ (the end of the law .... which is grace):
Rom 10:4-5 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
The speaker taught that the first time we learn justification by faith and faith alone is from Paul. Then he pointed to Paul’s example of Abraham to demonstrate it. Yet they don't want Abraham as their father (Rom 4:11,16):
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
The speaker also quoted Paul’s pattern of David (which had several references to righteousness without works, that he did not mention from out of the OLD testament). He taught the time of justification by faith was only ‘now’, as the law "is not a faith alone system, but it is a faith system":
Rom 4:6-7 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Now if PAUL was the first one who taught justification by faith alone .... he could not possibly cite ABRAHAM and DAVID as the representatives of it .... because Abraham and David were both way before Paul! Duh?!
The speaker also said that Paul gave a commentary on the events of Moses in Exo 32:9 - 34:7, when he wrote about the ministration of condemnation. However, the speaker failed to show that Paul’s contrast in the context and passage (2 Cor 3:3-18) was between the OLD testament and the NEW (which WE are able ministers of).
I also thought it was ironic that when the speaker coughed and cleared his throat several times, he was not at liberty to take a drink of water, since the host (at the previous conference in April) indicated that preachers with water at the pulpit irritated him.
The speaker presented PAUL’s teaching on standing in grace:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
It is no surprise that, being a true ‘mid-Acts-er’, he failed to reveal PETER’s verse about the SAME thing:
1 Peter 5:12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
Maybe Paul’s standing in grace is different than Peter’s standing in grace? I don’t think so!
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
