Deception doesn't announce itself.
It doesn't come in with a bullhorn setting off all the alarms.
Deception sneaks in quietly, while you're least expecting it, in the form of an angel
of light.
And there will be angels of light behind the pulpit Sunday morning.
Angels of light on your Facebook feed, telling you, you better watch out, mark and avoid those who have the audacity to say Christ's blood, all by itself, was enough to forgive you.
Think of that.
We tell you the blood of Jesus was so powerful, it didn't need anyone's help.
And we're the heretics.
This is Truth Time Radio.
We're back today, as ambassadors for Christ, preaching peace between God and mankind, ready to take another dive into the book of Romans.
Those who understand the importance of Mid-Acts Bible study know how important our apostle is to us.
Since Acts chapter 9, he's been the new apostle chosen to dispense a new program to both Jew and Gentile, with no distinction.
Some never pick up the Bible, others pick it up but don't believe it.
But Acts 9:15 isn't a difficult verse.
The Lord said Paul was a chosen vessel, to bear his name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.
The Roman audience were Jews in the flesh that knew the law, and heathen Gentiles who knew about the law.
As mentioned in part 1, Rome had an extremely large Jewish community, established about 200 years before Paul even wrote them.
Aquila and Priscilla had met Paul, took his gospel back to Rome, and it was there that the church was formed and began to meet in their house.
A church with a very strong Jewish presence.
But to hear some today, to hear them tell it, you'd think that everything Paul wrote was only for Gentiles.
But there's Jewish footprints all over.
The body of Christ at Rome was made up of both, Jew and Gentile, and if you follow closely when you're reading, you'll see that at times Paul goes back and forth from addressing one group to the other.
The church at Rome had a mixed audience, and this is true of Paul's other epistles as well.
Take the church at Ephesus, for example.
A Jewish community at Rome for 200 years, but there, there at Ephesus, they had one for over 300 years, by the time Paul arrived.
So, no need for alarm when we see Jewish-sounding things in Paul's epistles.
They do nothing to damage the dispensational parenthesis placed around his 13 letters.
You know, for years we've heard it said, even Paul's epistles have to be rightly divided from one another.
We divide his epistles from the rest of the Bible, but not from one another.
All 13 go together just fine when the foundation is laid correctly.
No need to rightly divide and create unnecessary sections within his epistles.
If something sounds Jewish, don't panic, and don't allow someone to confuse you with that Paul-preached-multiple-gospels fallacy.
We put that heresy to bed in part one, go listen.
Do so before you repeat it and embarrass yourself.
To better understand what you're reading, just remember that Paul's epistles were only written to Gentile nations, but not only to Gentile people.
The Acts chapter 9 children of Israel were there as well, dispersed among the nations.
Paul preached to two different groups, but only preached one gospel.
Brother John, who many of you have heard, he does the prison update segments on the
Truth Time mobile app.
He just informed us of a limited forgiver pastor in Pensacola, who's also spreading
the Paul's multiple gospel nonsense.
This fellow is all over the place.
He said that the Romans 1:1 gospel of God is a different and separate unique gospel unto itself.
He's also ignorant to the ministry of reconciliation.
Two Sundays ago, he absolutely butchered 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
The Bible says God's not imputing sins to the world, but certain men, they say that only applies to believers, not the world.
They say the non-imputation of sins only applies to those that do something.
They have to believe.
It's mid-Acts Calvinism from those claiming to preach Paul's gospel of Christ.
And it has no place in grace.
Instead of being ambassadors and telling the world that God made peace, they're out there saying God can make peace.
It's not finished until you help finish it.
Forgiveness limited to only believers.
Even in mid-Acts, you can't escape the L in TULIP.
Have you ever really thought about why the limited forgiver is so upset?
Arrgh!
These pesky sinners.
Who do they think they are down there in a burning hot hell with their sins forgiven?
I'm so upset I don't know what I'm going to do.
Hey Sherlock, they're in hell.
You can't make this up.
You don't have to.
Ignorance writes itself.
We're hearing from those beginning to recognize that every time one of the mid-Acts Calvinists attempt to refute that God actually stopped counting the world's sins at the cross, they stumble all over themselves.
This guy's video, for example, 46 minutes and 21 seconds of mess.
Dung, as Paul would say.
This Pensacola preacher should have prepared better, gotten his argument straight before putting the mic in front of his mouth.
His argument wouldn't last five minutes in a court of law.
The jurors would fall asleep.
The opposing lawyers would be asking one another, just whose side is this guy on?
And the judge would throw the case out.
Listen, as ambassadors, our job is to inaugurate this new system, this new policy.
To combat religion, we announce that God has made peace, already done.
He didn't save the world.
He made them savable.
Peace had to happen first.
So many doctrinal errors have come from Romans, including limited forgiveness.
Someone teaches it, then others run off parroting what they heard.
That's how poison spreads through the body.
When someone comes to you with a lie, and at first earshot, it sounds good, and you
believe it, well, that's one thing.
We've all fallen for a lie, every last one of us.
But if somewhere down the road, you're presented with the truth, and you reject it, well, now that's another thing altogether.
You then have a greater responsibility.
How you decide to respond to the truth is crucial.
The ante has been raised.
We're to use our critical thinking skills to test, to discern, to exercise sober judgment.
Just follow God's word.
It's always ready, steady, and doesn't change.
The problem with following men is, there's always another one.
OK, in part one, we covered verses 1 to 4.
Part two, verses 5 to 7.
Today, we'll pick up right here in verse 8 and just see how far we get.
And real quick, someone who gets the podcast on YouTube said they were not getting notifications of the new releases.
Come to find out, they had rang the bell, but hadn't said it to all.
So if you haven't done that already, be sure to do so.
When you click the bell, you'll see a drop-down, and there you'll see the word, ALL.
Click that, and you'll be notified of all new releases.
Okay, verse 8, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
Their faith and zeal of God is spoken of throughout the whole world, and Paul is commending them and encouraging them for this.
Verse 9, For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers.
Paul is praying for them every time he prays.
More encouragement here.
Verse 10, Making request, if by any means now at length, I may have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
As we get further into the study, we'll dive in a little deeper on the subject of Pauline prayer, because he goes further into the mechanics of it later in this letter.
But let's be clear.
He's not praying for a safe journey here.
He's praying that his journey be prosperous.
What does he mean when he uses the word, prosperous?
Verse 11, For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established.
He's not praying for physical things, but rather that these Romans, they would prosper spiritually by him.
A prayer that his journey will be prosperous in establishing his faith, the faith he preached among all in Rome, to their end.
Paul wants them to be fully established in the faith that he wants to impart to them.
We know this because in the next verse, he's hoping for mutual faith between him and them, those he plans to come and preach to.
One pastor teaches here that the quote, Some spiritual gift, is referring to the supernatural gifts of the Spirit outlined in 1 Corinthians.
No way.
Because the people in Corinth already had the spiritual gifts and as we've already established, some of them went back home to Rome before Paul wrote this letter.
Those spiritual gifts that were used to help establish the churches did not disappear just because a person moved.
And if an assembly was being established, those gifts would be needed even more than
they would have been needed at the already established church at Corinth.
So the supernatural giftings were already in operation at Rome.
If you need further proof, just go to Romans 12:6 where Paul gives instruction concerning supernatural giftings.
There would be no need for him to do that if some were not already given supernatural
gifts.
Paul is not saying, I'm going to tell you how to handle the gift of prophecy, but you
won't get it until I get there and lay hands on you.
Verse 12, This is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both
of you and me.
So far, we've learned that Paul is praying that his journey to Rome be a prosperous one.
That these Romans, who were already of a strong established faith, faith in the God of Israel, would hear him and be established in the faith he preaches, thereby having established a mutual faith between him and them, instead of their faith versus his faith.
And as a result, he would be comforted together with them.
At Rome, there are those who worked with Paul in Corinth, already established in the faith that he taught.
And there were also unsaved Jews in the flesh, who believed in the God of their forefathers, but not in Jesus as their Messiah.
And there were also unsaved Gentiles there.
Paul's hope of unity among these Romans, who disagreed with one another regarding the faith, was that by learning and believing the faith he would bring them, they might become unified.
And by the belief of that faith, they would be unified with Paul, and therefore they could all be comforted together, one with another.
This is how these Romans would become edified.
Without unification, there is no edification.
Verse 13, Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you, also even as among other Gentiles.
Paul had planned to come to them many times, but he was always hindered from doing so.
So it was important that he get them this information.
And a quick side note here.
Some are convinced that because Paul uses the phrase, Even as among other Gentiles,
that it somehow means these Romans were either all Gentiles, or at least predominantly Gentiles.
But it means no such thing.
Every synagogue in these Gentile nations were among them.
So the phraseology of quote, Even as among other Gentiles, doesn't support their point.
That theory doesn't work.
And as we go along, you'll notice that it's pretty obvious when Paul is addressing Jews about things that only those of a Jewish background would know, and when he's talking directly to Gentiles.
Like a big flashing billboard, Paul's a great communicator.
He clearly spells it out for us.
For example, Romans 11:13, For I speak to you Gentiles, who's being addressed here?
Correct.
Now flip the coin.
Romans 7:1, Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law.
Who's being addressed here?
Correct again.
Chapter 11, speak to you Gentiles.
Chapter 7, speak to them that know the law, Jews.
Verse 14, I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise.
Greeks were pagans with pagan gods, but among those pagan false god-worshiping Greeks arose philosophers.
For example, the Stoics, the Epicureans, those who Paul spoke to on Mars Hill.
They weren't seeking after the God of Israel.
They were worshiping an unknown God.
The Greeks were considered wise in the sight of most men, and they especially sought to be seen as wise among each other.
They sought after wisdom, but not the wisdom of God.
If those Greeks were somehow Israel-blessers, as some 28ers and hybrids claim, they wouldn't be seeking after the wisdom of men who created their own gods to worship.
No, they'd be seeking after the God of Israel.
And let's clear something up while we're here.
The term barbarian does not mean uncivilized or savage, as some teach.
If you want truth, you better go get it yourself.
During the Hellenic era, Greek-speaking wisdom-seeking people began to use the term barbarian to describe anyone who spoke a language unknown to the Greeks.
Had nothing to do with uncivilized or savage.
Greeks saw those whom they referred to as barbarians more like infants or toddlers that were difficult to communicate with.
So, if Greeks were considered wise, then barbarians would be considered unwise.
It didn't matter if Paul were speaking to the wisest of the philosophers, or the most
common barbarian, the message of his gospel did not change.
He never changed it for those whom he preached it to.
Instead, he was given wisdom from Christ about how to convey the same gospel to different people in a way they could understand, no matter who they were or what their background was.
Paul's our pattern, and it's why we, just as he did, are to meet others right where they are.
Read on.
Verse 15, So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Paul is ready to preach the gospel, but he's not going to build on another's foundation, so we know he's not going to preach his gospel to the little flock.
He never preached his gospel to the little flock, and he never preached the gospel of
the kingdom to anyone.
He was ready to preach his gospel of Christ to those at Rome, and not everyone was saved already.
There were those who needed to hear and believe Paul's gospel for salvation.
So regardless of what we hear some teach, Paul's epistles are not just for the already saved believers.
Like us today, Paul preached his gospel to edify the saved and to save the lost.
There's a duality here within Paul's letters.
Just look at the next verse, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Who was there in Rome?
Jews and Greeks, Gentiles.
Was everyone already saved?
No.
Paul is declaring that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, that he is ready to preach to all that are there at Rome.
His gospel of Christ, it alone, was and still is the only hope for salvation.
The first step to unity among this eclectic group of Romans here is to believe Paul's gospel.
To the Jew first, who already feared God, and to the Greek, who is a Gentile.
And if there's any barbarians there, they'd hear it too.
Paul never preached anything other than his gospel.
He only preached one.
This mid-acts hybrid spaghetti theology has crept in among the body, but this verse-by-verse study of Romans will help you to identify, mark, and avoid it.
And the men that teach this nonsense, think about it, think about it, these are the same ones trying to sell the sins are still being imputed lie, sins still being charged in the dispensation of grace.
The mid-acts Calvinists say that God only stops imputing sins to the believer, even though the Bible, God, He says, the world.
They actually delete one word and replace it with another.
An insult to our intelligence.
They clearly don't have a handle on the ministry of reconciliation.
They spread these perverse things while the blind sheeple fall in line and repeat it.
The blind leading the blind.
Lack of research has left many primed and ready for grievous wolves to enter in among them to draw away disciples after themselves.
You mean a man who graduated from Bible school could do that?
Yes.
You mean a man who teaches that Paul's my apostle might not tell me the complete truth about the cross work?
Yes.
But I've heard him say salvation's by grace, through faith, and he talks about the dispensation of grace, rightly dividing, and he said 1 Corinthians 15 is the gospel.
He could speak perverse things?
Who better?
That should be the question.
Who better to do so?
Deception doesn't announce itself.
It doesn't come in with a bullhorn setting off all the alarms.
Deception sneaks in quietly while you're least expecting it, in the form of an angel of light.
And there'll be angels of light behind the pulpit Sunday morning.
Angels of light on your Facebook feed, telling you, you better watch out, mark and avoid those who, who have the audacity to say Christ's blood all by itself was enough to forgive you.
Think of that.
We tell you the blood of Jesus was so powerful it didn't need anyone's help.
And we're the heretics.
Interesting.
Angels of light author books, speak softly, and flatter you with niceties.
It's deception.
Those not ashamed of the gospel of Christ are called to armor up and go fight the good fight.
But these milquetoast angels of light, they want everyone to just agree to disagree, ecumenicalists, who want to keep the focus on you living your best grace life now.
Well, Paul warned us about this.
Our apostle, our pattern, spent three years weeping, crying, warning the body of Christ Ephesians of grievous wolves among them, some from within the body, some from without.
Those paying attention are starting to discover that few actually believe the finished cross work worked.
They put a condition on it.
Some are just a little more subtle than others.
They'll say, you don't have to do anything for forgiveness.
Just believe.
Well bless his heart.
How much better off we'd be if they'd simply research the word believe.
Acts 16, the jailer says, what must I do?
Paul and Silas said, oh, you don't have to do anything.
Just believe.
Is that what they said?
No, that's the preacher's line.
But the God of your Bible never said that because that's a self-defeating statement.
Try saying it out loud.
Believing is the only thing you can do without doing anything.
Sounds nutty, and I think I've probably said that before myself, but it's just a cute little twist a man somewhere got started, and others, myself included, come along and gave it life.
We humans are prone to parrot what we hear, but as Bible believers, let's just go with what it says.
The jailer asked a simple question and he got a simple answer.
What must I do?
They said believe.
You know what that means?
Believing is doing.
Let God be true and every man a liar.
But let's be clear, while believing is doing, it's not a work.
A work is something done in the flesh.
But to believe is to do, and Paul said there's nothing to do for your forgiveness.
If you thought that, you've got some unlearning to do.
Forgiveness and salvation are not the same.
There is something you do to be saved, and that's believe.
But believing for salvation is entirely different than believing for forgiveness.
How so?
Well, for salvation, you're believing in something that's already done.
You're believing in the completed process and not including your belief as a part of completing the process.
Give that some thought.
Telling people they must believe to get forgiveness makes them part of the process.
The do to get forgiveness destroys Paul's pure grace gospel, and is why in not one of Paul's 13 epistles does he tell anyone what they must do to get their sins forgiven.
He never says to believe for it.
Have you investigated this for yourself or just believed what you were told?
Many aren't ready for the whole truth.
They're happy with the partial.
But I don't care if you're Billy Graham, traveled the world, counseled presidents and met the Pope.
If you're teaching others that forgiveness is achieved only after they do something, when Christ already did the doing and said it is finished, you're not teaching Paul's gospel of Christ.
Confess for it.
Pray for it.
Believe for it.
Pick your poison.
It only takes a drop to destroy it.
God stopped imputing sins to the world and that's true whether you believe it or not.
Believing the gospel is not what makes the gospel true.
Believing the gospel is what gives you eternal life.
You see, we're not afraid to tell you this.
We're not controlled by a group.
We don't preach one of those from the top down messages.
Something that came down from headquarters.
You won't get that here.
The mid-Acts position is correct.
No two ways about it.
But you shouldn't allow yourself to get sucked into the groupthink herd mentality vacuum that sometimes comes along with it.
The only group we fit in is the body of Christ.
His group.
Not a group, but THE group.
When we left denominationalism, we had had it with that type setting, the social construct of man.
We were done and not looking to fall back into anything like it.
Nothing wrong with the mid-Acts position though.
Let's be clear, but what some have done, and may not realize it, they've given it a denominational feel.
And for someone new to it, they begin to feel like they've simply traded one group for another.
We've heard this from many over the years.
But again, that doesn't change the fact that you'll never find a more correct doctrine than this of mid-Acts.
So we press on in the name of Jesus and his finished cross work.
Thank you, Lord.
Verse 17, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Here the word, "therein," is referring to Paul's gospel.
He's telling these Romans where the righteousness of God is found within his gospel, therein.
And not only is God's righteousness revealed within Paul's gospel, but it's also revealed from faith to faith through Paul's gospel.
So here again, we're talking about more than one faith.
Paul's, "My gospel," is going to reveal God's righteousness all the way from the faith of the fathers and prophets of Israel, to the faith that Paul is ready to reveal to these here at Rome.
From faith to faith.
The God that Paul speaks of is the same God of Israel from time past.
And while the law of Moses was to teach righteousness to the children of Israel, they mostly received God's judgment, his judgment toward them regarding their unrighteousness.
And here Paul is bringing this to their attention, to the attention of these Jews at Rome by recalling Habakkuk.
Chapter 2 verse 4, Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.
This verse in Habakkuk is part of the answer given him concerning his question, his question to God regarding the punishment of Judah.
The first part of the verse, his soul is not upright in him.
That's not a good thing.
And is the very reason Paul goes straight to the wrath of God in the next verse.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Join us next time and we'll pick up right here in verse 18 and see if we can get this framed properly.
We'll try to frame it properly as we discuss the wrath of God and to whom it was revealed.
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