February 25, 2020
Listener: Sir, if one talks about TRUTH then one can only talk about Jesus Christ. For He is Truth nothing but the truth, therefore your statement about a different gospel that Peter preached versus what Paul preached is in error. Anytime a person strays from the all-sufficient work of Christ, that person is in error.
TTR: Okay, the ball is in your court. Show me with scripture where Peter preaches the "all-sufficient work of Christ" for us.
Is this the "all-sufficient work of Christ" your talking about?
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
....Or is this it?....
2 Peter 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins
I do not see the "all-sufficient work of Christ" in either verse.
Acts 3:19 is Peter giving Israel a timeline as to when they can expect to have their sins "blotted out". Clearly this time being spoken of is when the Lord returns, and is why Peter says "from the presence of the Lord".
2 Peter 1:9 is Peter addressing Israel about being "purged" from their "old sins".
Is that the gospel that saves today? When witnessing to an unsaved person, do you tell them to have faith that their "old sins" were forgiven? And if they will wait on the Lord to return they can get the rest of them "blotted out"? That is precisely what Peter preached and is NOT Paul's gospel.
Listener: Consider Acts 8 when Philip preached the gospel to the Eunuch. The bible states he preached out of Isaiah 53 and the bible states he preached unto him Jesus.
TTR: Yes, but WHAT did he preach about Jesus?
32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Did you see the gospel that saves today? That "all-sufficient work of Christ" you claim was being preached?
Listener: This was all before Paul. No one goes to heaven at all by works.
TTR: You are correct to say "No one goes to heaven at all by works." but what you missed is no one here in Acts 8 was even considering dying and going to heaven. This is as you said "before Paul" and at the time, dying and going to heaven was not even an option. If I am wrong then please prove it with scripture. (Book, chapter, verse)
I submit that the Jews were never looking to go to heaven to spend eternity with God, but rather looking for their EARTHLY kingdom to be given to them.
Acts 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Matthew 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
"Kingdom come". Hence no one was planning on GOING anywhere. And to be a part of their earthly kingdom with Christ reigning as their king, faith without works was NOT their gospel. No, they had to have faith PLUS works to be saved and to STAY saved. This is why James wrote "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17) And in vs 14 he said, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
So in verse 14 James ask, can faith without works save anyone from the James 1:1 "twelve tribes" of Israel? Then he gives an easy to understand answer in vs 17: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."
The answer is No. Faith alone would not keep the twelve tribes of Israel saved. Works were required to MAINTAIN their salvation. For Israel, it was PROBATION not salvation, and mandatory that they "endureth to the end" to be saved.
Listener: It has always been the work of Jesus Christ and like you said to start with "God is not forgiving sin," This is what God accepts. He accepts only his son.
TTR: Correct, but you better know and believe the right gospel. The one that will get you IN TO His Son. And speaking of the word "accept", what was Peters good news about how to be accepted with God? Lets let the Bible (not man) answer this.
Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.
Now compare that to Paul's good news to US concerning "acceptance".
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Did you catch the contrariety?
Peter gives his audience something to DO to be accepted. They had to perform for their acceptance. Contrariwise, Paul declares that we have been MADE "accepted". How so? By something Jesus did FOR us. It's about HIS performance.
Both instructions are true, but both cannot be true and to YOU at the same time. That defies the law of non-contradiction.
When studying your bible it will greatly help if you pay attention and recognize that there are *Different-Instructions* written to *Different-People* living in *Different-Times.*
When comparing Peter with Paul, the dichotomy should be apparent. Peter says "he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness" while Paul says "him that worketh not,... his faith is counted for righteousness."
Are these two statements the same, or are they different? One says to work for righteousness while the other says to BELIEVE for righteousness. The bible either contradicts itself or there is something we must do in order to understand it correctly. I submit the latter. What we must do is RIGHTLY-DIVIDE the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). What Peter said WAS true and what Paul said IS true. A change was made in God's economy, His administration and dispensation.
Listener: The only other gospel that is preached is a false gospel by the false Christ, Lucifer, Gal 1.
TTR: Your claim is incorrect and is not supported with scripture. Every gospel in the Bible is a TRUE gospel. However, they can not all be followed at the same time. 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs us to divide something: "rightly dividing the word of truth." So if we are to divide the word of truth, it is imperative that we first know what the "word of truth" IS. The Bible is its own dictionary and defines it's own words and terms, so lets see how it defines the "word of truth".
Ephesians 1:13 ..."after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:".
There's our clear answer. God said the "word of truth" is "the gospel of your salvation".
Answer this: How can you rightly divide "the gospel of your salvation" if there is only one? If there is only one gospel in the bible, what would you divide it FROM?
Of necessity there would have to be more than one of something for there to be a need for division. Paul instructed you to divide "the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation" from the word of truth that is NOT the gospel of your salvation.
Noah's "word of truth" the gospel of his salvation, was not Moses' word of truth, the gospel of HIS salvation.
Moses' word of truth, the gospel of his salvation, is not our word of truth, the gospel of OUR salvation.
Noah's word of truth would not have saved Moses, and the word of truth given to Moses would not save Noah. It is Satan's work through religion that has blurred the lines and blended the gospels together. Acting as if they are all the same. They have NEVER been the same.
Yes, without Jesus, neither, Noah, Abraham, Moses, or anyone else in the bible could have gotten saved. But it was NOT, Jesus, and His finished cross-work and resurrection that they were asked to rest their faith in. With only a cursory read of any of those accounts would prove this to be true.
Lets continue our examination:
Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Notice, Paul, (when speaking of the gospel) says which "is not another". He does not say which WAS not another, or for that matter, which never will BE another. A bible believer knows that in the future there will BE another gospel. (Revelation 14:6)
Paul is not saying that there never was or will be another gospel. He is simply saying there is no other gospel other than his, at this TIME. ("Which is not another;")
Galatians 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Note that Paul warned that even if an "angel from heaven, preach any other gospel".
But Revelation 14:6 declares that an angel WILL preach another gospel.
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," And if you'll read Revelation 14 and pay close attention to the context you'll notice that something is missing. OUR gospel! (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
~Christ dying for all our sins, and rising the third day to give us His eternal life is not there.
~God through Christ reconciling the world unto himself and no longer imputing the our sins is not there.
~Being saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone, without any works of any-kind at any-time, is JUST NOT THERE.
Listener: Now your first presentation was great. Not what man does, prayers, asking God anything, giving God anything, and what you said about Christ was good. But it is Jesus all the way through the whole bible. Christ and Christ alone this is the real truth.
TTR: I've already shown that Acts 10:35 is not "Christ alone", and if you'll read Matthew 19 verses 16 to 22 you'll see where Jesus told Israel they must keep the commandments and sell their possessions to inherit eternal life. -That's certainly not "Christ alone". So your claim sounds like a religious denominational saying you heard and are now parroting, because its not supported with bible evidence. And bible evidence is what we here at TTR deal with.
Listener: Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death (he paid that price) but the gift (this is it the gift) of God is ( not will be or this way or that but is ) eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.1 John 5:10-13 (KJV)
10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. The record is that God hath given (past tense to all) eternal life and this life is in his son.
1 John 5:20 (KJV)
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
True God, and eternal life, this is the TRUTH. - Dana.
TTR: Dana, the book of Romans & the books of John were not written to the same people (Galatians 2:7-9) nor do they say the same thing about how to be saved. There was "the gospel of the uncircumcision" and "the gospel of the circumcision". 1 plus 1 = 2, not 1.
The book of John is speaking of a past time when the Jews were God's chosen people before their Romans 11:11 FALL. And if any non Jew wanted to be accepted by God they had to BLESS the Jew. However, in this current dispensation of grace, in God's eyes there is NO-JEW-TO-BLESS. God no longer puts any man above another because of his fleshly circumcision (Galatians 6:15).
In John chapter 4 John writes: "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews".
So I ask, is salvation of the Jews today? Is there any "Christian" church that teaches salvation is of the Jews? This verse was true for the time in which it speaks of, but do you honestly think this is to be followed for salvation today?
Today you will not find "the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation" by looking to the Jews for it. Currently, "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." (Romans 11:25)
Currently, Israel, is "Lo-ammi" *not Gods people* (Hosea 1:9)
And currently, God, is saving mankind through faith-alone-in-Christ-alone.
If you'll do your research you will find that none of the other apostles preached this good news. Not one of them preached Paul's "gospel of Christ".
I appreciate all of your email comments, but this time instead of writing back with a knee jerk response, do us both a favor and study this out first.
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