It’s amazing how the Biblical truth of persevering in faith can be treated as some sort of repudiated “works righteousness” by some within the Once Saved Always Saved camp. Yet, there is not a single place in your Bible where any New Testament writer sets forth the doctrine that a once saved person will always be saved no matter what they do.

The gospel never calls us to a “one time belief. ” Instead, the gospel demands that we surrender our lives and follow Jesus. A faith that we are unwilling to walk out, is invalid and can not save, because God’s grace does not support those who live ungodly. Jesus told his disciples, “whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

In Acts 8,Simon the Sorcer believed those things which Philip preached and was baptized, but he wanted to continue in his old life of sorcery, rather than coming out of it.

When Peter and John came from Jerusalem, Peter confronted him because he offered Peter and John money in exchange for empowerment to give people the Holy Ghost.

In response, Peter said: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” (v. 20-23)

OSAS ideology is a mystical doctrine formulated by the minds of men who single out verses that speak of eternal life as being forever. By casting their own mystical interpretation regarding what it means to be saved they lead many astray.

It is a mystical interpretation because salvation is viewed as something that occurs by a “one time experience” without any real commitment to truly follow Jesus.

However, you will not find a single reference in the New Testament which teaches that a person can go on being saved after they  have abandoned God, abandoned their faith, and are willfully living a life of ungodliness.

1 Peter 1 speaks of the godly virtues we are to desire as we grow in the new life we have received in Christ. In verse 9, the apostle says: “he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

In contrast, we read the following in the next 2 verses: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” (v 10-11)

Salvation is not based on a momentary faith, which afterwards, you no longer need to be saved. Saving faith is that which comes through hearing the gospel and brings you into the grace of God, which teaches you to live godly.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. (Titus 2:11-14)

The grace of God does not teach you that you can continue in sin and have eternal life. The grace of God teaches you to live godly, for if your faith in Christ is genuine, you will want to forsake your old life of sin.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:1-3).

Living in willful sin invalidates our faith.

 

The Bible says, Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). The lacerations that came from the beating Jesus endured, the nails that pierced his hands and feet, the crown of thorns placed on his head, and the spear driven into his side, was the punishment he endured for our sins. This punishment was inflicted on Jesus by the hands of sinful men, and this is the revelation that comes forth in the New Testament.

Peter does not say, “Jesus bore our sins in his spirit,” but rather, “ in his body.”

Within the context of Peter’s description of Jesus bearing our sins, he tells us that Jesus suffered wrongfully while entrusting himself to God who judges righteously.

Someone once said to me, “It was not merely the stripes of men that Jesus endured.” The same person also told me “we should not hone it down to only the human aspects of the events.” These statements were made contending that there was an unseen exchange between God and Jesus, whereby Jesus was being punished by God in a way that was not visible by the things he was outwardly suffering at the cross.

Yet, according to the apostle Peter the bearing of our sins happened at the cross when Jesus suffered at the hands of sinful men, and by those stripes  (the stripes Jesus bore in his body on the cross) we are healed.

According to Jesus, the apostles, the angel at the empty tomb, and the whole of the New Testament, the things which the prophets foretold about the crucifixion of Jesus are those things which actually played out, on the ground, in the flesh, at the cross.

The Bible does not teach that there was a “behind the scene exchange,” which happened in the spirit realm wherein God was personally afflicting Jesus apart from those things he was suffering in his flesh at the cross.

Verses such as Galatians 3:13 which says that Jesus was made to be a curse for us are sometimes taken out of context and used to support the conclusion that God, behind the scene or in the spirit realm condemned and rejected Jesus.

Those who teach such things often present the cross in a manner as if what actually happened to Jesus in the flesh wasn’t sufficient, and therefore some other suffering or torture was needed, such as God punishing Jesus by pouring out his wrath.

However, Paul qualifies his declaration that Christ was made a curse for by saying, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.

According to Paul, Christ was made a curse for us in the manner in which he suffered physically. Paul tells the Galatians, Christ was made a curse “by hanging on a tree.” Not by some exchange between God and Christ behind the scene.

Under the Law it was the corpses of those who had already been executed, then hanged on a tree, which were cursed. In Galatians 3:1, the apostle Paul says, “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.”

Notice that Paul appeals to the Galatians according to that which actually happened, out in the open, at the cross, and not by some behind the scene exchange.

The crucified body of Jesus Christ is the emblem of our redemption, and through his slain body, which was hanged on a tree, we are free from the curse of the Law. He was made a curse by “bearing our sin in his body.” His Body was sacrificed.

The writer of Hebrews says we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. ~ Hebrews 10:5-10

When men teach that something more than the physical sufferings of Christ were needed for our redemption, it only leaves endless trail of theories which cannot be plainly seen within the scriptures, such as the following:

• Jesus suffered under the wrath of God.
• Jesus was treated as a sinner by God.
• Jesus died spiritually.
• Jesus had to suffer in Hell to pay the penalty for our sins.

However, the Bible teaches none of these. Our salvation is simply by the death and resurrection of the Son of God and our redemption through his slain body and shed Blood.

When Jesus died on the cross, he took the punishment (in His flesh) which the Law demanded by “hanging on a tree.” He did this to bring an end to the Law, to redeem those under the Law, and enable the blessing of Abraham to come on the Gentiles.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. ~ Galatians 3:13-14

May we learn what it truly means to glory in the cross.

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THE BODY OF JESUS WAS THE OFFERING FOR OUR SINS

• 1 Peter 2:24, Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

• John 6:51-57, I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any men eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

• Luke 24:39, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

• Colossians 1:20-22, And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

• Romans 8:3, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. (“In the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh is literally translated, “by a sacrifice for sin condemned sin in the flesh).

• Hebrews 2:14-16, Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:14-16).

• Note – Angels are spirits: “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire” (Hebrews 1:7). Jesus took upon flesh and blood, redeem us by His shed Blood through the offering of His sinless body. After His resurrection he appeared to His disciples and said the following: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have”

• Hebrews 10:5-10, Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

• Hebrews 10:18-22, Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

• 1 Peter 3:18, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

• 1 Peter 4:1, Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.

• Matthew 26:7-13, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

• Mark 14:8 says: She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

• Matthew 26:26-27, And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

• Mark 12:21-24, The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

• Luke 22:19-20, And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you

• John 2:19-22, Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

• 1 Corinthians 10:16, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

• 1 Corinthians 11:23-27, For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord

• Ephesians 2:13-16, But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby…

The holy garments worn by the high priest on the Day of Atonement foreshadowed the purity and humanity of Christ.

A traditional error states that on the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the holy of holies with a rope tied around him in case he were to die in the presence of God. According to this teaching, the people would understand that the high priest had fallen dead because they would cease to hear the bells on the robe of the high priest and therefore they could retrieve his dead body with the rope tied around him without having to go into the holy of holies.

Jesus was entrusted with complete authority from God the Father.

• John 5:20-30
• Matthew 11:27
• John 13:3-4

The Father gave Jesus the authority to judge and He gave Jesus authority over all things.  In John 12 Jesus declares that his death and resurrection would mean judgment upon both the world and the prince of this world.

• John 12:31
• John 16:33

The Father gave Jesus the command to lay down His life and to take it up again.

• John 10:14-18
• John 14:28-31

Those who crucified Jesus could not take His life until Christ laid it down.

• John 2:18-22; 5:35; 10:17-18; 11:25; 13:1-4; 14:28-31; 17:1-2
• Hebrews 2:5-17

Judas could not carry out the betrayal until Jesus gave him permission.

• John 13:27

They could not arrest him without His permission.

• John 18:3-12

Jesus could have saved Himself from the cross. Instead, He chose to die to fulfill the scriptures.

• Matthew 26:51-57

Death had no power to hold Jesus.

• Acts 2:23-24

Jesus gave Himself for us in surrendered obedience to the will of God. Jesus was given both the commandment and the authority to lay down His life and to take it up again.

• John 10:14-18
• John 14:28-31

Isaiah 53 reveals the suffering of God’s righteous servant, Jesus Christ. The question being addressed here is this: was it God, or men who condemned Jesus?

The key verses in Isaiah 53 are as follows:

• Verse 3, He is DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and WE HID as it were OUR FACES FROM HIM; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

• Verse 4, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet WE DID ESTEEM HIM STICKEN, SMITTEN OF GOD, AND AFFLICTED.

• Verse 6, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and THE LORD HATH LAID ON HIM THE INIQUIT OF US ALL.

• Verse 10, Yet IT PLEASED THE LORD TO BRUISE HIM; HE HATH PUT INTO GRIEF: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Not listed above is verse 8: He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Verse 8 is a pivotal verse in rightly understanding the nature of the sufferings of Christ. Verse 8 reveals that Jesus suffered unjustly in his crucifixion. Other translations render Isaiah 53:8 as follows:

• Unjustly condemned, he was led away… (New Living Translation).

• By oppression and judgment he was taken away… (Amplified Bible).

• He was condemned to death without a fair trial… (Contemporary English Version).

Isaiah 53:8 is quoted in Acts 8:33: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. Other translations render Acts 8:33 as follows:

• He was humiliated and received no justice … (NLT).

• In his humiliation he was taken away by distressing and oppressive judgment and justice was denied him … (Amplified Bible).

• In his humiliation justice was denied Him … (Holman Christian Standard Bible).

Jesus suffered unjustly, at the hands of men, from the time of his arrest to the time of his crucifixion. Yet it was the will of God that it be so.

In Acts 4, the gathering together of “the kings of the earth and the rulers against the Lord, and against his Christ,” is said to be according to that which “the Lord’s hand and counsel predetermined to be done” (Acts 4:26-28).

When Christ was condemned unjustly, the people were gathered  against God and against Jesus, “the Lord and his Christ.”

If we know that according to the hand and foreknowledge of God, the people were gathered together against God and Christ, we can conclude that God was not the one opposing his Son by personally condemning him from Heaven by pouring out his wrath. God was IN CHRIST, reconciling the world when Jesus was crucified (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Hebrews 2:9 tell us “by the grace of God Jesus tasted death for every man,” and Hebrews 9:14 tells us “Christ offered Himself without spot to God through the eternal Spirit.”

At the cross, God was not the one opposing and condemning Jesus; God was the one strengthening him and enabling him to endure the sufferings of the cross.

It is as a martyr giving his life for others, that Christ suffered and died, and it is in this way that statements such as in Isaiah 53:6, “…the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” and in Isaiah 53:10 “…it pleased the Lord to bruise him: he hath put him to grief…” were fulfilled. Not by God personally afflicting Jesus from Heaven, but by the surrendered obedience of Jesus to the will of God.

Notice the following from Paul’s sermon in Acts 13:

For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, THEY HAVE FULFILLED THEM IN CONDEMNING HIM. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And WHEN THEY HAD FULFILLED ALL THAT WAS WRITTEN OF HIM, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD… (Acts 13:27-30).

Notice that Paul says, “They fulfilled the scriptures by condemning him,” and in opposition to what they had done, “God raised him from the dead.”

According to Romans 15:3, the reproaches of the people towards God were levied against Jesus: “Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, THE REPROACHES OF THEM THAT REPROACHED THEE FELL ON ME.” 

Jesus was God in the flesh dying for His people, and their hatred and rebellion against God were levied against Jesus and in that place he responded with forgiveness. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

The author of Hebrews tells us to keep “looking to Jesus who ENDURED SUCH OPPOSITION FROM MEN, DESPISING THE SHAME, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (see Hebrews 12:2).

The shame Jesus endured was humiliation which came from men who hated and opposed God. The son of God was placed on public display in the most humiliating fashion wherein he was mocked and ridiculed by those who despised both he and his and Father; God.

He that hateth me HATETH MY FATHER ALSO. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and HATED BOTH ME AND MY FATHER. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE (John 15:23-25).

The hatred of the people towards Christ, which drove them to crucify him, was hatred towards God. Yet, it was the counsel of God to overthrow them in their worldly wisdom through the sufferings of Christ at the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:6-7). For more teaching along these lines, follow the links below.

https://michaelbattle65.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/the-nature-of-the-sufferings-of-christ/

https://michaelbattle65.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/jesus-was-given-the-authority-to-lay-down-his-life-and-take-it-up-again/

https://michaelbattle65.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/jesus-glorified-the-father-in-his-death-on-the-cross/

 

 

Like many of the righteous men who came before him, Jesus died as a martyr, yet he alone is the Messiah, and the Redeemer. Only his precious blood can save us from our sins.

The rejection of Jesus by those who condemned him was the culmination of the rejection of the prophets and righteous men God had sent to their ancestors. They became guilty of the blood of all the righteous and the prophets of God by their rejection of Jesus.

• Luke 11:46-52
• Matthew 23:29-39

In the gospels, Jesus likened his own death to those who had died before him for the glory of God. In Matthew 17:12-13, Jesus likened his death to that of John the Baptist:

But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. LIKEWISE shall ALSO the Son of man SUFFER OF THEM. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 

John the Baptist was not condemned by God, but was a martyr who died for the glory of God.

Jesus also describes his death as a martyr in the parable of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-43. In Verses 34- 39 we read the following. 

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them HIS SON, saying, they will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, THIS IS THE HEIR; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

As we can see in this parable, the Lord of the vineyard was not the one condemning his Son. Instead, it was the husbandmen who mistreated and killed the Son. They did to the Son as they had done to the other servants who were sent before him. This is the narrative according to Jesus and his apostles with regards to the nature of Christ’s sufferings. Jesus died at the hands of sinful men who unjustly condemned him: He was condemned by men, not condemned by God. 

As we continue reading this parable, Jesus says the following:

When THE LORD therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? (Matthew 21:40-42)

The significance of Jesus as the Stone which the builders rejected and the ONE God has chosen is abundantly clear throughout the gospels and the book of Acts.

Jesus never once attributed the things he suffered in death to the justice or wrath of God, as condemnation from God. He always attributed things he suffered in his death to the hands of sinful men.

Likewise, in the book of Acts, the apostles never interpret the death of Jesus as condemnation levied against Jesus from God. The apostles always held the people responsible for Christ’s death. Conversely, they attribute the resurrection to God in opposition to what the people had done in condemning and crucifying Jesus.

The message preached by the apostle Peter on Pentecost, was that Christ, whom the people had condemned, had been raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of God. By this message, Peter exhorted the people of Israel to repent and to believe all that the prophets had foretold of the Messiah.

Stephen, who was not an apostle, testified of the death and resurrection of Jesus while on trial before the Sanhedrin. Stephen did not preach that Jesus had been condemned by God. Instead, Stephen held the Jewish leaders responsible saying to those who were about to stone him that they had been betrayers and murders of Jesus, the Just One.

Their forefathers had persecuted the prophets who had showed beforehand the coming of Christ, and they had followed in their footsteps by their rejection of Christ. Stephen says that what they did to Jesus was that of resisting the Holy Ghost!

Because of his bold testimony for Jesus, Stephen was murdered by those to whom he testified of Christ. Stephen was martyred  (Acts 7:52).

Following in Christ’s footsteps, Stephen laid down his life for the glory of God. Stephen was not condemned by God, but rather was a chosen vessel who suffered martyrdom for the gospel and for the glory of Christ.

It is in this way -martyrdom – Jesus suffered and died. The nature of sufferings of Christ, according to the will of God, should be understood in the same way in which we understand others, who according to the will of God, suffered for glorify God.

Job and Paul are also examples. Both suffered for the glory of God, but it was not God opposing and afflicting them. Yet in their sufferings they were completely in the will of God and the purposes of God were accomplished through them. Likewise, it was the will of God for Christ to suffer for us to redeem us with his precious blood.

Isaiah the prophet had testified that Jesus would suffer an unjust death and this is exactly the same scripture that Philip began with when he preached Christ to the Eunuch in Acts 8: “In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.”

Isaiah the prophet, prophesied, that God would send the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the people of Israel for the Messiah (Isaiah 40:3). The New Testament reveals that this was John the Baptist of whom Isaiah had prophesied.

Before John the Baptist was born, the angel Gabriel appeared to his father, Zacharias, to inform him that he and his wife, Elisabeth, were going to have a child. Among other things, Gabriel announced the following concerning John the Baptist:

“…thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. And MANY OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; TO MAKE READY A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD” (Luke 1:15-17).

Notice that Gabriel says of John’s ministry, “he shall make a people ready for the Lord.” Keep in mind that this is reference to those within Israel, for John the Baptist was sent to the people of Israel, to prepare them for the coming of Jesus.

This visitation from the angel Gabriel left Zacharias startled and bewildered in unbelief, and resulted in Zacharias being struck dumb (or mute) because of his unbelief, until after the birth of John (Luke 1:20). After his birth, when John was eight days old, Zacharias and his wife, Elisabeth, brought the young child to be circumcised (Luke 1:59).

Some of the people thought that the child should be named Zacharias, after his father, but Elisabeth had told them that his name was to be John. So they made signs to ask Zacharias what the child’s name would be.

Zacharias then signaled for a writing table, and wrote, “His name is John.” The people were all amazed and Zacharias’ mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, and praised God (Luke 1:63-64).

Next we read the following:

And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country OF JUDAEA. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, WHAT MANNER OF CHILD SHALL THIS BE! And the hand of the Lord was with him (v.65-66).

Luke then tells us (in Luke 1:67) that Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied the following in verses 68-79:

68 Blessed be THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL; for he hath VISITED AND REDEEMED HIS PEOPLE,

69 And hath RAISED UP AN HORN OF SALVATION FOR US in the house of his servant David;

70 AS HE SPAKE BY THE MOUTH OF HIS HOLY PROPHETS, which have been since the world began:

71 That we should be SAVED FROM OUR ENEMIES, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72 TO PERFORM THE MERCY PROMISED to our fathers, and TO REMEMBER his holy covenant;

73 THE OATH which he sware to our father Abraham,

74 That he would grant unto us, that we BEING DELIVERED out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75 IN HOLINESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS before him, all the days of our life.

76 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;

77 To give KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION unto his people BY THE REMISSION OF THEIR SINS,

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby THE DAYSPRING ON HIGH HATH VISITED US,

79 TO GIVE LIGHT to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Then, in verse 80, Luke says of John the Baptist: “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing UNTO ISRAEL.”

John the Baptist was the messenger whom God sent to Israel to prepare them for the salvation He had promised to Israel. This is specifically why John came baptizing:

This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: BUT THAT HE SHOULD BE MADE MANIFEST TO ISRAEL, THEREFORE AM I COME BAPTIZING WITH WATER (John 1:30-31). 

Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, SAYING UNTO THE PEOPLE, THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE ON HIM WHICH SHOULD COME AFTER HIM, THAT IS, ON CHRIST JESUS  (Acts 19:4).

All the prophets before John had prophesied by the Spirit concerning the coming salvation in Christ. The apostle Peter tells us the prophets inquired and searched diligently, regarding the salvation and grace that was to come through Christ (1 Peter 1:10).

John was the last of all the prophets which would testify of Christ to Israel, and according to Jesus, there was no prophet ever who was greater than John. While the other prophets had the honor of testifying of Christ, only John had the honor of introducing Christ. John came baptizing for this purpose: to reveal the Christ (the Messiah) to Israel! (John 1:29-34). 

The fulfillment of Bible prophecy concerning the salvation for Israel was never about the Jews being in the land of Israel. It was always about the Jews repenting of their sins and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. This comes through clearly in the ministry of John the Baptist and the gospel he preached.

For more on John the Baptist, follow the link below:

https://michaelbattle65.wordpress.com/2015/08/05/the-axe-is-laid-unto-the-root-of-the-trees/

 

I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. ~ Revelation 22:16 

We are living in a time when many are using the word root in an effort to preach another gospel other than the grace of Christ, claiming that Christians need to discover their Jewish roots or their Hebrew roots. Yet Christians do not have Jewish roots because Jewish culture is not the root of our faith. Christians have spiritual roots, and Jesus Christ is the root of our spiritual lives through the faith of Abraham.

In Galatians 3, the apostle Paul tells us that God preached the gospel to Abraham when he gave the promise that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. ~  Galatians 3:8 

Paul then tells us that the covenant which God gave to Abraham was confirmed in Christ (v.17), and Christ is the seed to whom the promises were made (v.16). Therefore, Christ is both the root and the heir of the promises God made to Abraham.

God’s promise to Abraham, to make him the father of many nations, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  

Ethnic Israel is not the root of the Christian faith, neither is Jewish customs, culture, or tradition. Jesus is the root of the Christian faith, and in Jesus the fullness of God is revealed.

Writing to the believers in Colosse, Paul  tells them to be rooted and built up in Jesus Christ ~ Colossians 2:7a. Paul also tells them to mortify the deeds of the flesh because we have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. ~ Colossians 3:5-10

We are renewed after the image of Jesus, for it is Jesus that created our new man!

Paul goes on to tell us that in Jesus there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. ~ Colossians 3:11

As Christians we are called to be identified with Christ by living holy and godly lives. Our spiritual roots are found in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ, whether we are Jews or Gentiles.
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Israel and the Cross 

https://michaelbattle65.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/israel-and-the-cross/

Paul’s reference to not boasting against the branches (Romans 11:18) has to do with not boasting against the Jewish people as if God had replaced the Jews with Gentiles. God did not cast off the Jewish people in exchange for the Gentiles. Instead, God has grafted believing Gentiles into the faith of Christ with the Jews who believe the gospel. Jews who do not believe the gospel are cut off from covenant relationship with God.

Paul tells us that the Jews who have been cut off will be grafted back in again if they will believe the gospel. Paul does not say “WHEN” they believe, but “IF” they believe they will be grafted back in for God is able to graft them in again. This is not a reference to a resurgence of  a national status as a covenant nation, but a reference to individual salvation.

The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. Even though Salvation has come to the Gentiles through Israel’s fall (as a covenant nation), the call to be the people of God still stands for all Jews who will believe in Jesus Christ.

Therefore the unbelieving Jew is not outside the saving sphere of God’s grace. God did not replace one ethnic group with another, but extends the hope of salvation to all.

The point of the not boasting against the branches is that God has not cast away the Jews in favor of the Gentiles, but through the fall of NATIONAL ISRAEL as a covenant nation, salvation has come to all, and  because of the mercy shown to the world, God will be merciful to the Jew as well, granting life and salvation to those who will believe the gospel.

Any time you challenge Jewish identity (circumcision, DNA, culture, tradition, etc.) as being relevant to being in covenant with God, you will be marked by some as anti-Semitic. Yet it is precisely this: the relevance of Jewish identity as the mark of covenant with God, which has been taken away by the cross.

It is because of the cross, that the unrepentant Jews were persecuting the apostle Paul as well as persecuting the other Jews who believed the gospel. The cross alone is the power of God unto salvation.

The message of the cross, which was preached by Paul,  was a scandalous offense to the unrepentant Jew, for it takes away the boasting in  Jewish identity after the flesh.

In Galatians, the apostle Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Would you like to know why Paul says there is no bond or free, nor male or female, in the same line of thought as neither Jew nor Greek?

It is because the Law of Moses (Israel’s covenant) made a distinction with regards to all of these. Under ancient Israel’s covenant with God, the sign of the covenant was in the male’s flesh, and not in the woman’s. Women did not have the same status as men under the Law of Moses, and neither did the slaves as the free.

In essence, Paul is saying the old covenant (national Israel’s covenant) has no relevance now that Christ has come. All distinction “with regards to covenant status” has been annulled. In Christ all are ONE!

While men who boast in Jewish identity want to mesmerize you with Jewish culture and style, the God of scripture wants you to seek after Him through Jesus Christ.

In scripture it wasn’t the Jews who were saturated in Jewish culture and tradition that are highlighted. In scripture it was the Jews who were holy in the sight of the living God who are highlighted, for their lives were marked by righteous and godly character.

The emphasis of the Bible isn’t on Jews because they were Jews, or because of their culture. The emphasis of the Bible is on righteousness and unrighteousness and God made a distinction between righteous Jews and unrighteous Jews all throughout their history in scripture.

Power with God has never based on outward Jewish culture or tradition. Instead it has always been based on purity of the heart, for a true Jew in God’s sight is one who is a Jew inwardly and not outwardly (Romans 2:28-29). It’s always been about the heart with God, not about the outward things that people love to boast in.

Knowing God is not about Jewish tradition, culture, or style. Knowing God is about faith from a pure heart, and a pure heart comes through Jesus Christ. God isn’t impressed with how Jewish something is, for God looks on the heart and shows no favoritism.