When talking to others about the revelation of the mystery, there's one thing you might discern, they're having not yet understood that the Apostle Paul was the last to whom the risen
Christ appeared.
1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning with verse 7, Paul said that Christ Jesus was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time.
Think of that; our apostle, the dispensation of grace apostle, was the last to whom the risen Christ appeared.
And of course we know that in auditory visions he came back, he gave Paul an abundance of revelations which through him completed the last revelation of himself.
That's why in Colossians 1 we read, Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, which is given to me for you, and watch this, to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery, which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to the saints. Verses 24-26.
These words, hey the words Jesus gave Paul were the words that fulfilled that completed the word of God.
So, without Paul's Damascus road encounter and all the subsequent meetings he had with the Lord, we wouldn't have a Bible.
No one would possess God's perfectly preserved word because it was Paul's 13 epistles that completed his word.
Furthermore, without those 13 epistles, we have no identity.
The very identity of you and I, we as members of the body of Christ, isn't found outside of Paul's writings.
Something that modern Christendom overlooks, the church which is his body Ephesians 1:22 is exclusive.
It's an exclusive term only found in the epistles of Paul.
You and I, we don't exist.
We don't find our identity anywhere else in scripture.
This is mind-boggling for some who are hearing this for the first time, but because at that time, listen, those scriptures, what they speak of as Paul said Ephesians 2:12, Paul here says at that time, we were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in this world.
The, "at that time," he's speaking of is before he received his revelations.
Any writings you find that lead up to Paul are not talking about or including you.
We were outside, we were outside looking in.
What was going on then was for the circumcision.
John 4:22, salvation was of the Jews.
We were outside and that was the position and identity of the Gentiles prior to the Apostle Paul being given the Ephesians 3:2, dispensation of grace.
Thank God, thank God.
It was Paul who wrote and completed the Word of God, and that explains why Paul said that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works, 2 Timothy 3:17.
Today, we're throughly furnished because of the writings of Paul if the Lord would not have returned and laid out his predestined plan for us, which is what we find in Paul's books, Romans through Philemon, we would not even be in the picture.
But praise the Lord, he had a secret, the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, 1 Corinthians 2:7.
Yes, he had a secret, one that before revealing it was kept hidden, one that was decided in the heavenly realm, Ephesians 1:4, before the foundation of the world.
Oh, we thank God for keeping his new creature church a secret and assigning a special apostle to take a special gospel and reveal it to the nations.
We're so grateful, our heart is full of joy that he equipped him with the Acts 20:24 gospel of the grace of God, which is separate by the way, separate and apart from the law of Moses.
Paul was the set aside apostle born out of due time to give us hidden revealing truths that were previously not known, how that God stopped charging sins to the world on the merit of what Christ Jesus our Lord did.
Paul was committed with the word of reconciliation in his commission, his purpose, was to Acts 26:18, open our eyes and turn us from darkness to light, turn us from the power of Satan unto God, that we may receive forgiveness of sins, receive the truth that had taken place at Calvary.
Think about that there in Acts 26:18, the word received that matches 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which also
ye have received, received.
Today, our receiving doesn't make forgiveness true any more than receiving will make his 1 Corinthians 15:3 death true.
Or, receiving makes his verse 4 burial or resurrection true.
Doesn't matter if we believe it or not, it's true, our receiving it by grace through faith makes us saved.
Belief cannot magically activate your forgiveness, not the forgiveness that took place 20 centuries ago.
But now it can activate your salvation that takes place at the moment you believe the gospel, which places you into the body of Christ.
See, once you start, once you start rightly dividing the word of truth, you can move forward.
A change of mindset from your old denominational way of reading scripture, you'll have a paradigm shift from thinking like the old man to thinking like the new man, from the mind of Adam to the mind of Christ, from corruption to liberation, bondage to freedom, darkness to light, from death to resurrection.
Freedom isn't found in trying to improve the flesh or doing anything.
You'll find it when you reckon your flesh crucified, when you reckon yourself Romans 6:11 dead unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Or what about Romans 6:3, Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
Verse 4, Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Newness of life.
Oh, that's good, that hits hard, that's good news.
Hey, today, go ahead, decide today, I implore you.
Or as Paul would say, I beseech you, to let this be, let this be the day that you decide to start walking in newness of life. Christ died for every one of your sins.
God brought in the dispensation of grace.
And because of what Christ did, he stopped imputing sins to the world.
And in this time of grace, all one must do is hear the good news,
the good news of the gospel, how that he died for your sins, he was buried, and he has risen to justify you, to justify all who would believe on him exclusively, believe on him alone.
Without 1 John 1:9, without Matthew chapter 19, what shall I do to inherit eternal life, keep the commandments.
No, that's not the gospel.
Acts 2:38, Repent and be water baptized for the remission of sins.
No, Paul was revealed our better news.
Romans 5:13, For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Hey, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.
Praise God, the stone was rolled back, and now, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
There's power, there is great power in his resurrection, eternal life giving power.
And all that is required is to rest in that good news alone, trusting Christ with our eternal salvation, his life.
That's what we need.
Forgiveness is a done deal.
What you need is life.
You only get two educations, the one you're given, and the one you give yourself.
Add comment
Comments