Category Archives: Dispensationalism

Horror stories. How can a Good God exist when there is so much Evil in the world? (Part 3)

Part 1…

Part 2…

a href=”http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/evil.jpg”>
Is this a legitimate evaluation of The God of Israel and Chriatianity?

After having a short discussion with my fellow Blogger Richard Goode (in the ā€˜Commentsā€™ of Part 2) I realized that I will not be able to wind up this topic in three parts.
I need to take the time now to clarify several important points about what I hope to achieve, and then move forward.

The primary purpose of these blog posts under the heading ā€˜How can a Good God exist when there is so much evil in the worldā€™ā€¦ is to present to you how I deal with this issue as a *Dispensationalist King James Bible believer*
In the process of doing so I hope to show you that it is possible to *trust the scriptures*, and this is a completely different approach to the problem than how many Christians choose to deal with it. Ie Their solution is simply to tear out portions of the scriptures that in their opinion are incompatible with the idea of a Good and loving God.

In my view this is not only an unnecessary retreat which represents a victory for atheism and unbelief, but is also that most gross Human folly….Idol makingā€¦ Man fashioning God to suit his own ideas!
This is to turn the Universe upside down and makes a mockery of Religion.
By this means they validate the atheist assertion that Religion is merely subjective whimsical Human fabrication.

Though the Bible expressly condemns the addition and subtraction of text (eg Rev22vs18,19)
as a heinous crimeā€¦ nonetheless this is exactly what many people do! They think that by deleting and retranslating portions of the scripture whereby God visits mankind with harsh judgments that they are ā€˜helping Godā€™ā€¦ by sanitizing the bible from what they assume *Must be* corrupt additions and poor translationsā€¦ on the authority of their own conscience.
They think that by this way they ā€˜save Godā€™ from appearing a monsterā€¦ and make ā€˜the Christian religionā€™ more agreeable to the sensitivities of mankind.
Richard Goode Believes Hell in the Bible is a mistranslation for the grave.
Matthew Flannagan Believes Old testament references to God ordering the genocide of the Canaanites to be merely Hyperbole.
Yet does This ā€˜Bible Doubters solutionā€™ really work?
The answer is No!


Christians Burned.

I say you can piddle about rewriting the Bible as much as you like yet this does absolutely Zero in mitigating the very real evils and injustices suffered by mankind! And it is the existence of evil in the world which is the real challenge to the proposition that God is Good.
Ie Even if I were to grant Richard his assertion that hell is a mistranslation, that cannot alter the fact That God (if he exists) allows Hundreds of people, including children to be burned alive in fires every year.

One of the reasons I believe the Bible is Godā€™s word is because it correlates with grim reality!
ie itā€™s not written like a fairy story in which ā€˜everyone lives happily ever afterā€™
Ie it is not written like Richard would like it to be!
This adds weight to it’s objective crediblity!
The Bible is as ‘Raw’ as reality. And the God of the Bible is not simply an invented character…’a jolly nice old bloke’…yet he’s no Monster either. Yet still He is someone you had better take seriously!


“I believe in Spinoza’s God, Who reveals Himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God Who concerns Himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.” A Einstein.

A common accusation against a Good and loving God is that it appears that he does not care about the evils going on ‘down here’ie the faithless believe he does not intervene when he ‘ought’, but allows people like Hitler to commit genocide…and get away with it.
Yet God as described in The Bible cares a great deal about sin and evil in the world… and justice! The faithless fail to appreciate that God *Did* bring an end to Hitlerā€™s tyranny (death ends the evil works of us all), and the Bible teaches that even after physical death (which our spirit survives) we must face The judgment of God Almighty.
Ironically… because God cares a great deal about the morality of our deeds, and passes severe judgements upon them… this is then taken to mean God is a tyrant!… thus He’s Despised by Man ether way… Both for not caring and for caring too much!)

When considering the horrific realities which plauge mankind (which cannot simply be ā€˜deletedā€™ from our conscience as Richard so easily deletes hell from the scriptures) My Bible believers position on these things is thus:
*ā€˜Things happen on Earth (like the Australian bush fires) which are not Gods willā€™*ā€¦ yet he allows ā€˜realityā€™ to take its course.
And I argue this same principle holds good in respect to Damnationā€¦ ā€œGod is not willing that any should perishā€¦ though he allows reality to take itā€™s ‘natural’ course.
This does not mean he sits on his hands and watches.
The entire Bible is a testimony to Godā€™s intervention to save mankind from Damnationā€¦ without removing mankindā€™s freewill moral agency.

It is important to understand that the God of the Bible is not insulated from the Human condition. Though it is true that in the process of creating a moral reality, he allows Murderers to work their evil upon mankind, Yet still he allowed morality to ‘take it’s course’… even when it was his *own son* whom was being murdered!
Thus He has not put mankind through anything he was not prepared to endure himself.
(The truth is God has had to endure All sin and evil… It is all against him!)


“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perrish, but have everlasting life” (John 3vs 16)

2000 years ago God stepped into history, and meekly made a voluntary offer to End Human tyranny and oppression, and set up a completely just government under ā€˜The Prince of Peaceā€™ ā€¦ yet he was rejected!
*Contemplate this for a moment*
God did not impose himself upon Mankind but gave him a choice.
All the misery of the past 2000 years could have been avoided, yet Mankind loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were Evil.

What more when God stepped in he took upon himself the punishment for all mans Sins, so that he might be able to forgive every single person whom wanted to be saved from damnationā€¦ without denying Justice, or negating our Freewill moral agency.
Though it is Godā€™s will that everyone receives salvation, yet still he does not impose his will upon us or reality.
All this shows that God is not desirous to torture anyone in hell.
It also shows that God is not indifferent to the misery and evils we suffer.
It also shows Godā€™s utter integrity and objectivity, and respect for us his creationā€¦ as freewill moral agents. Ie He respects us to the degree that he will allow us to damn ourselves rather that force us to love and respect him.
These biblical truths destroys Richards assumptions that If hell is real God *must be* a Heartless Monster.

And the Work of Christ changes everything.
The sin that Damns the soul is not pick pocketing, not looking at Porn, But the Rejection of Christs work on the Cross…and rebellion against God.

Those lost souls whom end up in outer darkness will be free to curse God for eternity. They will never have to look at his face. Yet they will be in such a circumstance where their evil and malicious hearts can cause no further harm or chaos. They will be miserable because they will know that they forsook the Loving God who made them, and that they put themselves there!
Having lived ungreatful lives never giving thanks to God for the many blessings they enjoyed, they shall spend eternity with nothing.
And this will all be just.

It is at this point where I posit the Question: Was it possible for God to create Freewill moral agents capable of having a loving relationship with himā€¦ without making sin and evil, possible?
I think the answer to this question must be No!
Thus I ask you. Would you prefer to be an automation rather than a freewill moral agent? Understand that as a Robot you could never have a loving relationshipā€¦ or even claim responsibility/ credit for your own thoughts and actions.
Furthermore God being sovereign it is *his right* to decide whether or not to create Free will Beings capable of Love and morality.
Insodoing he had to weigh up the cost/ benefits involved.
On the plus side he would have loving children to enjoy and share reality.
On the negative side Evil could become a reality, and some of his children could be damned.
That God chose to go ahead with creating such beings is self evident.
We exist.

I will leave one final passing word in respect to The Great judgement of God for Sin.
It is this. I think Richard is greatly mistaken to think that God must bare all the responciblity for the Damnation of anyone and everyone.

Responciblity primarily lies with the Individuals themselves and their choices, and furthermore God has placed a measure of responciblity in respect to the Salvation of the Lost upon us Christians!

We are under the moral Obligation to preach the Gospel of the grace of God to the lost. We are to be witnesses for the truth… ‘living epistles’ shining the light of Christ in this world of darkness. Thus I say it is ‘rich indeed’ to blame God for the Damnation of the Lost when we ourselves know the truth, yet fail to warn our friends, neigbours, and family.
St Paul says in Corinthians 1vs 21 “it pleased God by the Foolishness of preaching to save them which believe…”
And again in Romans (10vs 13-14)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Thus I say to those people like Richard that if they are really serious about it being unconscionable to think that people might end up being Damned for Eternity (And I agree the proposition is frightful!), they ought to be like St Paul… ie be so burdened as to preach the gospel without ceasing… day and night! The gospel ought to be number 1 on their scale of importance!
Only when this is so can they look in the mirror and absolve themselves, believing they have fulfilled their Moral duty… which knowledge of such gravity demands.
Tim Wikiriwhi

In part 4 I will raise the question of what ground (if any) is there to stand upon whereby Men may condemn the judgements of Christian God?
I will discuss another verse from Leviticus which Richard does not like and propose an argument which may shock him. Ie That Godā€™s theocracy is *not Libertarian!* ā€¦none the less Libertarianism is right for us today.
I will present some scriptural arguments which teach us to have faith in Gods wordā€¦ even when/ esp when there are tuff things to swallow.
And I will start to develop the Bible story about The origin of evil.

Part 4 Here…

Update :

If God exists, why doesn't He stop rapists from raping?Why doesn't He stop suicide bombers from bombing?Shay He has all the power?Abi is He indifferent?Then, why worship Him?Are these your questions?Dr Zacharias, by the Holy Spirit, doth answer thee.Watch.PS:Seated beside Daddy Ravi is Professor John Lennox, a British Mathematician, Philosopher of Science, Christian Apologist and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.God's gat people, mehn.God's gat people.?

Posted by Uju Okorie on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Thorns in the Flesh.

Ruff Draft.

In the early part of the First decade of the New Millennium, The New Zealand Objectivists at The Free Radical Foundation invited one of their most revered Clerics to New Zealand. Tibor Machan. Joy and I traveled up to Auckland to hear him speak.
After everything had finished there was opportunity to have one on one conversations with him over a coffee. I had a question I wished to ask.
When my chance came, I introduced myself and asked him ā€œ Do you think it is possible to live in perfect accord with Objectivist values?ā€
After a moment he said ā€œYes,ā€¦ Of course.ā€ He said he believed that was one of Objectivismā€™s most important attributes.

Now, as a Free thinking Christian, That answer has always provoked contemplation within me. It must be nice to have a system of values and ethics which is not only attainable, but also leaves you with an absolutely clear conscience, and faith in the perfectibility of Humanityā€¦ Indeed faith in ones own self- perfection.
When one understands ā€˜The Egoismā€™ which is the central tenet of Objectivism, it is easy to draw the inference that such a Religion requires one to think of one self as ā€˜The ideal Human Beingā€™.

Now when this system is compared to the Judeo-Christian world view of Man as a Fallen and sinful being, guilty before God, One can see the appeal of such a faith, and the Temptation involved in wanting this world view to be trueā€¦ by those whom seek to ā€˜shrug offā€™ Guilt, and a Code of Morality which says Man has moral obligations beyond self-interest, and that ultimately we must all give account of ourselves before a supreme Moral Judge.

This is what freedom means to the Atheist. They think obligation to a moral code set by a Higher Power is a form of slavery. (I wonder if they also think of themselves as slaves to the Law of gravity!)

Now to me these notions smack of subjectivity! Of whim. How convenient it is to invent your own code of values that magically sanitizes all your selfish actions and absolves you of Sin!
It also occurs to Me that Objectivism is a Patent rejection of Objective moralityā€¦ which if they exist at allā€¦ are not merely a system of convenient sanctions that justify self interestā€¦ but are true whether convenient or not, even if their truth convicts us of evil.


ā€œThere are two types of people. Righteous Men whom think they are sinners, and sinners whom think they are righteousā€. Pascal

From my perspective Objectivism far from truly being Objective reeks of Psychological motivation, and may be clearly seen as just one more revolt from Christian/ theistic values. What is interesting about this is that Ayn Rand cherry picked many Theistic values such as Human rights, limited Government etc as suited her, and attempted to cloak them in atheist Garb.
This is a laughable ploy because an Atheist reality is an Objectively Amoral realityā€¦ the only codes of ethics and values of necessity being merely subjective conventions, and not Obligatory upon anyone.

There is good reason why I have started my post with this stab against Objectivism. It serves as a good back drop for contrasting my own beliefs and the dilemmas that they involveā€¦ and how My Christian world view causes me to humble myself, and confess my many short comings as a sinful Man.
It is my experience that the Biblical story of Humanities fallen Nature is tragically realā€¦indeed it is one of the most established facts of Human Nature. This being so it becomes clear how far from the truth the ideas of Objectivism are Though they may appear to have very pleasant ā€˜opiate effectā€™ for the conscienceā€¦ They are nonetheless a flight into pure self delusion.

Now I was born in 1967, into a world in which The King James Bible is a reality.
I did not write it. I did not invent the God of the Bible. I did not invent Christianity.
These were objective realities that existed independent of me, just as other realities like Beautiful woman, and Murder, and War.

How is a Man like myself supposed to treat this Objective reality called ā€˜The Bibleā€™?

The decision to embrace it as truth, or reject it as simply one of many deceptive fabrications, requires a thorough and impartial investigation.

Though there are Millions of man made false religions in the world, and many things contained within the scriptures that are cause for alarm, esp the News that I am a sinner and that my sin puts me at variance to the Holy God ā€¦creator of the Universeā€¦ These things are not grounds enough to reject it.
Ie Just because the world is flooded with Primitive superstition, and the world is wracked by religious conflicts, does not mean Religion is evil, or that All Religion is merely the fruit of Human imagination. To reach that conclusion is a very shallow pitfall that sadly many people are quick to leap into. They do it with gleeā€¦ thinking they are escaping Moral obligationā€¦ the self flagellation of guilt, and the eternal fires of Damnation.

It is my testimony that when the Bible is considered Objectively, that like a Man passing through a Labyrinth, with Dead ends, Booby traps, and even a Minotaur or twoā€¦ that there is one route trough all the confusion, and that, though battered and brused, it is possible to make the traverse that establishes the Bible as believably the Revelation of God to man. It is via such a quest for truthā€¦ such a voyage of perseverance and discovery, that the Older man may contemplate his pilgrimage, and realize all the Snares and pitfalls were laid down by those of malicious mind, or of weak intellects overcome by the fashions of their times, and by those whom despise the implications that arise when one accepts the bible as truth. The world is filled with such Naysayers whom desire to halt the Pilgrim in his tracks, and to deceive them into thinking their journey of faith is a lost cause.
I will soften this a bit, as I know but by the Grace of God there go I also.
I marvel that The gracious God has seen fit to reveal himself to me!
So thick are the groves of the Labyrinth, and so prone to selfish whims that I am, I wonder how I managed to become a vessel so filled with the Magnificent mysteries of God Almighty!
I too am a creature of my Time. I have the luxury of Living today in New Zealand.ā€¦ the luxury of hindsight. Thus I do not equate the luminosity I have received as a sign of my own genius, Indeed I wonder that I have received it, in spite of my manifold weaknesses and folly.

And perhaps this is the greatest secret of it all! God looks to the heart of a Man, rather than his intellect, and in this age of Grace God calls a man to his service, not because of his personal piety, but for His own Divine purposesā€¦

ā€œWho [God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world beganā€ (2Tim1vs9)

This is where My story as a morally weak and insignificant human being connects with the Divine plan, and is an example of how Christianity is diametrically opposed to Rands Ideals of Egoism.
What is incredible to realize is that because of our fallen Nature, our intellect can easily be trained to think diabolically and to vain imaginations and Grand delusions.
Yes Intelligence is no safeguard to avoiding error! It can be the source of great vanity and foolishness! It is prone to inventing false accusations against Godā€¦ and thereby exacerbating our alienation from him, and keeping us from a knowledge of the truth. This is why the Christian is told to avoid vain janglings of philosophy, and beware science falsely so-called. Thus it is when a philosophy or scientific assertion is made that contravenes the scriptures it must be thoroughly examined.
It is my experience that such assertions will inevitably prove to be vacuous. Or expose a false doctrine regarding the interpretation of scripture. Ie we must be careful not to simply throw out the assertion simply because it conflicts with our current ideas. I have learned mountains of truth from the critics of the Bible and Christianity!
They have helped me correct many errors.
Being a Christian does not mean shutting your mind.
Indeed though I am a man full of weakness and vice, yet still it appears to suit Godā€™s Divine purposes to use such a weak vessel as I.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
For after that in the wisdom God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believeā€¦ For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; The Base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosenā€¦ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with Excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucifiedā€¦.And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of Manā€™s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of Godā€¦ā€ (1Cor1vs19- 2vs5)

Let us hear what St Paul says about himselfā€¦

7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
St Paul (2Cor 12vs 7-10)

Here St Paul confesses to his own spiritual imperfectionā€¦ his sinfulnessā€¦ his inability to live up to Gods Holy standards. Moreover he says that he glories in this because God uses his weaknesses, to achieve his endsā€¦ and thus we see that Paul is humbled by his knowledge of his own weakness, That he keeps his intellectual vanity in check, knowing that he is not savedā€¦. Not raise to a higher plateau by his own genius, but rests in the grace of God Almighty, and the simple truth of The gospelā€¦ That Christ Died on the Cross for our sins, and was buried, and rose again for our justification.
There is no space for Egoism in the gospel!
The Gospel is not the preserve of Human genius!
And it is for this reason that many Vain intellectuals despise it!
Christianity is no elitist clubā€¦ no Utopian enclave like Galtā€™s Gultch!
According to the Bible any Plonker can go to heaven! Indeed Christ seems to busy himself saving the simpletons and scum of the Earth!

And Happilyā€¦ I am one of them.
The Bible is clear that as a fallen race of beings we cannot live up to Gods Holy (Objective) Moral standard. Though we can learn and reform ourselvesā€¦ and become better peopleā€¦We cannot perfect or Save ourselves.

Confession time. I am a man whom has many short comings. I am very Carnalā€¦ full of thorns in my flesh.
The words of St Paul ring true for meā€¦
ā€œFor what I would, That I do not, but what I hateā€¦that I doā€¦ Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?ā€ā€¦. (Rom 7vs14-25)

Yes I assert the doctrines of St Paul to be 100% true!
When a Person receives Christ they are ā€˜Born againā€™ and are sealed by the Holy Spirit. They begin a new Life, and yet they are still carnal, Mortalā€¦still sinful.
They have in fact become two people. Described as the Old man and the New Man, and will not become spiritually perfected until a special day called ā€˜The Day of Redemptionā€™ when God creates us new bodies that are no longer full of evil lusts.
Until that day Life involves a struggle between our two Natures, between our sinful carnal Nature and our new spiritual Life from Christ.
And what a struggle it is! Depending which Nature we ā€˜feedā€™ the most determines which Nature rules in our lives.
And I confess to being hopelessly carnal. This is my Achilles Heel! For all my knowledge of the scriptures, my lusts and carnality consume me to such a degree that I am unworthy to minister over others. I could never be the pastor of a congregation because I donā€™t know how to live a Godly Life. If holiness is the measure of Christian successā€¦I am a complete failure! A part of me is so ashamed that sometimes I wonder if I ought to stop preaching about Christ and go and hide somewhereā€¦ yet when I read st Paul I realize That apart from Jesus Christ, God has never had perfect servants working for him. All of his children have had to function under his benevolent grace and forgiveness.

I rest in his Grace, and stand fast in the liberty of Christ! (Gal5vs1kjv)
I trust in the Gospel truth that I have been deemed righteous by Faith without works, and that I have the righteousness of Christ, whom took upon himself my sins. (Eph 2vs8,9kjv)

Before I understood dispensationalism, as a young Christian I was taught that God only saves the Good peopleā€¦ that I must repent of all my sins and forsake them to be saved, and that if I ever returned to my old ways I would loose my salvation.
That was to fail to understand the gospel of grace and to be literally enslaved to the Jewish Law againā€¦ā€™the yoke of bondageā€™ (This is not the same type of ā€˜slaveryā€™ that atheists think of when they condemn religionā€¦This is talking about having to do works for salvation, not as atheists thinkā€¦ a system of Human subjection and control)

I was told Sex, Drugs, and rock and roll were all of the Devil, so I Tried to quit them allā€¦ burned my records, and avoided many of my old Lost friendsā€¦ yet always ended up relapsing.
I failed to maintain my promises to God to be a good boy.

Thus I learned never to make such promises to God, and thankfully though I struggled to live a godly life, I never abandoned my faith, and eventually I discovered the dispensational truth that I was completely under Gods grace, and Free from the Law.

Thus being set free myself, and knowing my own short comings this led me to having grace upon others as God has grace upon me.
My own personal struggles with life have helped me to be more understanding, more compassionate, and more tolerant of the struggle and sins of my fellow human beings.
Gods grace towards me has made me a Libertarian, because I see the hypocrisy of being full of vise myself yet calling the Law and government to persecute the vices of others.
Gods has shown tolerance and forgiveness of my sins, and calls me as a Christian to preach this ā€˜Good Newsā€™ to other lost sinnersā€¦ not lobby the State to persecute them.
Thus I am humbled before God, and the thorns in my flesh have helped me to see the glory of Gods grace clearly, and the true libertarian nature of Christianity.
Today though I am no Pastor, I am a witness for Christ and the truth of The King James Bible to anyone who will listen.
I wont caste pearls before self righteous Christ hating swine. As a Guy who Grew up in Glen Eden West Auckland, I have always Been a Bogan Westy and alway will be. I write this Blog with Richard in Bogan style, preaching a very Bogan Gospel.
I dont preach self-righteousness.
I despise Pharisaic Hypocrisy.
Putting my faith into practice, I busy myself in Libertarian Activism, standing up for justice and the rights of the oppressed minorities like Prostitutes and Drug addicts.

I donā€™t reject the Holiness of God simply because in the light of it I fall short.
I hold it to be objectively true in spite of the fact that such an acknowledgement means I must confess my own sinfulness.
This is an intolerable thing for an Objectivist to contemplate.
In their own eyesā€¦ to have self esteemā€¦ they need to delude themselves of their own perfection.

Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
AV King James Bible believer.
Dispensationalist.

Letter to Laodicea

ā€œTo the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of Godā€™s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ā€˜I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.ā€™ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.ā€ (NIV1984)

“I thank God I Baptized none of you…” St Paul. 1Cor1vs 14.

… “For Christ sent me not to Baptize, but to preach the Gospel:…” (1Cor1vs17)
Paul clearly teaches that he was not sent to baptize.

Now compare this with Christs commission to Peter and Co…
“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is Baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned…” (Mark 16vs15,16).

We see this is also recorded in Matthew “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost…” (Matt 28vs19)

Thus Christ *Did send Peter to Baptize!*
This distinction between Paul and Peter ought to be enough to show you God had different Commissions for each of themā€¦

In Luke 24 vs 46-49 Peter is told to “Begin at Jerusalem and to ‘tarry’ there until they recieve the ‘Power from on high’.”… and in the first chapters of the Book of Acts , having been taught by the risen christ 40 days ‘The things pretaining to the kingdom’ (1vs3) We find Peter obediently Staring his ministry in jeruselem, preaching to the Jews ‘That it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again the third day, and that repentance, and the remission of sins sould be preached in all nations…(compare Luke24vs46,47 to Acts 2 esp14-47)
Note in this chapter The Death of Christ on the cross is not preached as a glorious attonement for sins, but as a terrible act of sin and rebellion against God! (read Acts2vs22-23 KJV)
“Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”

Note that He preaches the Cross and resurrection of Christ …not as salvation but as prophetic evidence the Christ is Lord… and that By his resurrection they stand in Judgment of God…and God would render the Enemies of Christ ‘his footstool’
“Let all of the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts2vs36
“What shall we do?”… cry those Jews whom were pricked in their hearts by peters Preaching of Condemnation?
“Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of Sins” (vs 38)
“Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (vs40)
Then the believers sold all their possessions and had all things common. (vs44,45)
(They did this in expectation of Christ eminent return and setting up of his kingdom)

And We find Peter again Preaching The Cross *as Murderā€¦not salvation* in Acts 3vs 13-18 ā€¦and most importantly in vs 19,20 he says ā€œRepent 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 and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his prophets since the world began.ā€

Note that Peter is tell Israel to repent of their Evil rejection of their messiahā€¦Christ.
Note that Peter does not preach that Salvation occurred by the work of Christ on the cross, but would occur at a future time.
And if you read the rest of the Passage of Acts 3 you will see that Peter is specifically preaching to the Jews in respect to the Covenant God had with their fathers.

When you put all this together you realize that Christ Sent Peter to Re-offer the kingdom to Israel using the Death , Burial, and resurrection of Christ as evidence that Jesus was indeed the REAL DEAL , and that after they had repented and received their messiah the disciples were to spread out throughout the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom for a witness unto all Nations (Mat24vs13,14ā€¦) Then the end would Come with the Return of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of lords, destroying the antichrist and the enemies of Israelā€¦. And that those whom had not received the mark of the Beast, those whom had endured unto the endā€¦they would be savedā€¦ the rest would be thrown into the Winepress of the Wrath of God. (Rev19, Rev 14vs 18-20)
Then Christ will establish his millennial kingdom in Israel. (Rev20vs4)

Yet The Jews rejected the preaching of Peterā€¦ and his commission did not get passed the first stageā€¦ Did not go out into all the Earthā€¦.. thus the end did not come (Mat24vs13,14). Instead a great persecution of the disciples sprang up and though Peter continued in Jerusalem, many were scatted into the regions about yet preached to Jew only. (Acts 8vs1, Acts 11vs19).
And because Israel failed to repent, the Kingdom of Christ was postponed and the Nation of Israel was reserved unto Judgment. Thus began 2000 years of persecution and slavery for the Jews. ā€œAnd they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the gentiles, untill the times of the gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke24vs24)

And it is during this dispensation of the Judgment of Israel, that god raised up Paul to Preach Free Salvation to the gentiles. It Is to Paul The God reveals the secret mystery that was previously hiddenā€¦that the Death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was the divine atonement for the sins of Mankind.
It was to Paul that God sent to preach this Gospel of salvationā€¦without works. (Eph2vs8,9)ā€¦ thus with Paulā€™s Gospel the act of Baptism is not necessary. When we believe the Gospel we receive the righteousness of Christ (Pil3vs9, Rom5)ā€¦and he took upon himself our sins.
When Christ was Baptizedā€¦we were Baptizedā€¦we receive his righteousness.


ā€œChristā€™s Baptism by Johnā€ is part of the series of sacred paintings made by Woonbo Kim Ki-chang. / Courtesy of Heavenā€™s Door Gallery

I have got to leave off here as Iā€™m off to see my Family for xmas. I post this Sunday message a day early. It is by no means exhaustive yet I am out of time. I hope it at least show you that Paulā€™s commission was different to Peters commission, that Paulā€™s view of the Cross was very different to Petersā€¦. Paul Loves the Cross! Peter preached it as murder. I hope you see the difference between The Gospel of the un-circumcision (No Worksā€¦not a part of the Covenant of Circumcision), fro Peters Gospel of the Circumcision (The preaching Of Christ as King of the Jews). (Gal 1vs11,12, 2vs7,8)

Ask yourselves why those Christians whom deny the truth of Dispensationalism do not today sell all their possessions and have all things Commonā€¦as the followers of Peters Preaching did in the early Book of Acts?
They are hypocrites! ( I will be putting a message about this dispensational aspect soon.)


Anias and Sapphira struck Dead for trying to decieve the Apostles regarding selling all their posessions and laying the money at the Apostles feet. (Acts 4vs32-37, 5vs1-12)

May The Lord Bless those of you with the eyes to see and ears to hear this message.
Tim Wikiriwhi Libertarian Dispensationalist Christianā€¦Sinner saved by Gods Grace.
Praise the Lord for his mercy unto me.

The Irony. Why I follow St Paul… Not Jesus.


My Old Pastor and teacher of Dispensational Truth, The Late Dr Dennis Spackman. One of New Zealands greatest theologans.

Two weeks ago I posted an introduction to the doctrine of dispensationalism which may be described as ā€˜Rightly dividing the word of truthā€™ (2Tim2vs15).
This is necessary to distinguish changes in doctrine that have occurred with the process of time as God has made new covenants with mankind, and with the outworking of his purposes ā€¦ each ā€˜stageā€™ and ā€˜Milestoneā€™ being understood as Dispensationally relative.

Today I want to jump in boots and all.
I chose my title (why I follow St Paulā€¦ not Jesus) to provoke thought.
I have no doubt that a majority of readers will have already torn their shirts, accused me of heresy, ā€¦ and are now not even reading these words that Iā€™m typing.
They have already switched off.
How dare this Upstart Wikiriwhi teach people to follow Paulā€¦not Jesus????
He must be deranged!

For those of you whom are still reading let me tell you that I am about to show you one of the most importantā€¦yet least understood biblical truthsā€¦ Indeed nothing less than the ā€˜Revelation of the mysteryā€™ *Which was given to St Paul to reveal*

ā€œFor this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:ā€
Ephesians 3vs1-9.


The Apostle of The Dispensation and Gospel of Grace, St Paul in prison for his service to The gospel of Gods grace.

The Irony.
Thus I am about to show you that Paul was given his special ministry By Jesus Christ, and that by following St Paulā€¦ *we are being obedient to Christ.* to refuse to follow St Paulā€¦ is to reject the Doctrine that Jesus Christ Specifically gave to Paulā€¦for us.
Note that this mystery revealed to St Paul *Was Hidden* in other ages. Thus St Paul opens up hidden truth unknown in other ages, and ironically not to follow St Paul is to be both ignorant and disobedient to Christ!
Paul said …” Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” 1Cor11vs1.

*We do not worship Paul. He is not our saviorā€¦Christ is yet Paul is our God appointed Apostle, minister, teacher whose authority comes from Christ himself*

Why God saved the Antichrist Saul.
Most Christians are blind to the primary reasons God saved St Paul and made him an Apostle. They think he is just a late comer to the faith, virtually a tag a long. This is because they have been taught to think that Jesus ministry is the most important part of the Bible, and that Christ made St Peter the Chief Apostle. This is a gross error, founded upon poor teaching, false assumption, and ignorance. I pray that the Lord uses my testimony here to open your eyes to the mystery he revealed to St Paul and made him the Chief minister.

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
(1Tim 1vs 15,16.)

Here we Read that there was something very special about Paulā€™s salvation.
1. It was a demonstration of absolute grace.
2. It was for a pattern of Salvation for those whom would believe afterwards.

Thus Pauls conversion is a Dispensational milestone. A Marker for a dispensational change. A change from what you may ask? I will attempt to show you. If you do not harden you hearts to what I am saying, the Lord may grant you understanding. Ultimately this will open up to you the realization that the purpose of the Book of Acts is not merely to record the history of the deeds of the apostles, but to show the dispensational change and transition from the Godā€™s Jewish ministries through Christ and St Peter to that of an outpouring of Grace upon the Gentiles via St Paul.
Do not loose track of the fact that Paul *preached Christ* yet I hope to show you he preached Christ in a completely new way via *a completely new Gospel.*
Are you still with me? I know for many of you the news that Paul preached *a different Gospel* than was preached by Jesus or by St Peter is a mind blowing thing to contemplateā€¦ and that many of you will flat out refuse to consider it. Such people have blinders over their eyes. I will continue my message for the sake of those bold readers whom at least wish to see where I am coming from.

Enter Saul of Tarsus.

Before St Paul became the Apostle of the Gospel of Grace unto the gentiles he was a Zealous Jewish Pharisee of very high standing, and he was the chief persecutor of the Jewish followers of Christ. He was an Anti-Christ, whom rejected the notion that Jesus Christ was the true messiah of the Jews. He saw the Apostles and their followers as just one group of many heretical sects that followed one of many false messiahs that popped up from time to time, and that as a Zealous Jew it was his duty to suppress this heresy.
To understand the dispensational change that occurred at the conversion of St Paul on the Damascus rd it is essential to understand exactly what was going on prior to his conversion firstly under the Ministry of Christ before the crucifixion, and then under the ministry of Peter, who preached to the Jews that the crucified Christ was their Messiahā€¦ their King, and that they ought to repent from murdering him and be baptized as a token of their submission.
To understand what Peter was preaching after the cross we must go back to the ministry of Christ himself before the cross and see what he preached, and how he trained his disciples to preach and teach in his name.
Thus we will be looking at the chronological order of the ministries of Jesus, Peter, and Paul, and distinguishing what was common doctrine among them, and what was dispensationally distinct
Each of these ministries deserves thorough investigation, yet for the sake of maintaining the thread of this message I must necessarily skim over a great body of scripture and hope to go into greater detail at a later date.


The Good Shepherd

Why did Jesus visit Israel?
St Paul tells us this:

ā€œNow I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:ā€ (Rom15vs8)

Now those are very important things to understand!
1. Jesus was specifically a minister to the Jews.
2. He came to confirm promises God had made to their fathers.

These promises are scattered through the Old testament and are the special deals/ covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacoob, Moses, King David, King Solomonā€¦
and are the subject of many Messianic prophecies.
These prophecies take on a mysterious form, and are much easier to understand with the wisdom of hindsight ā€¦after their fulfillment none the less many devout Jews of the first century suffering under the Roman yoke lived in earnest expectation that God would soon deliver them from this subjection by raising up a Messiah born of the lineage of King David, who would overthrow the enemies of Israel and establish his Kingdom from which he would rule the world.

*This is the Redemption they expected from the Messiah* Not personal salvation from sin which they believed they already had via circumcision which made them part of the Abrahamic covenant, and the Temple sacrifices which atoned for their breaches of the mosaic Law), but National salvation from under the Yoke of the Gentiles!
This thread is found through out the four gospels.
Read Luke chapter 1vs68-74, Luke 2vs38,
They did not expect Christ to die a criminals deathā€¦but to rule as their King.
*Christs work of Salvation on the cross was unknown to themā€¦ It was a hidden mystery.*

It was to fulfill Gods Kingdom promises to the Jews Christ was born of the house of King David.
God visited his people. Luke1vs68.
Yet Christ came unto his own and his own (The Jews) received him not. John1vs 11.

And it is with this in mind that we can understand ā€˜The Gospelā€™ which Christ preached which is specifically called ā€˜The gospel of the Kingdomā€™

ā€¦Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying ā€œThe time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.ā€
Mark1vs14,15

Notice what Christ does not say! He does not say he has come to die on the cross to save mankind from their sins! That is a completely different gospel which st Paul would later preachā€¦ after the Jews had twice rejected their Messiah. Once before the cross when they rejected Christ and had him crucified, and they again reject him when he is preached as their Messiah by Peter after the resurrection, who preaches the crossā€¦not as salvationā€¦ but as condemnation and the resurrection as evidence that Christ is indeed the prophesied Son of David.

It will be a surprise to many of you to be told that even after the resurrection St Peter did not understand the cross of Christ as we do todayā€¦ as the Divine work of atonement. That was still a secret. In the early book of Acts Peter preaches the cross as a heinous act of murder and rebellion against God. He warns the jews that to continue to reject their messiah will result in the wrath of God falling upon Israelā€¦ thus for Peter the cross was not a glorious act of Love on the part of God, but a shocking crime against God perpetrated by Israel.

What most Christians fail to understand is that Christ preached the Kingdomā€¦not the cross, and Christ trained his disciples about things pertaining to his millennial kingdom, and sent them to preach the kingdom was at hand. And he specifically sent them *to the Jews*. Why? Because it was to their fathers God had made his promises! Read Mat 10vs1-7, and Mat15vs-22-28.
Furthermore to enter his kingdom was not by grace alone but required obedience to the Law, and other special works of repentance.
It required Baptism.
They had to be faithful to Christ unto deathā€¦(Mat
It required the wealthy to sell their possessions and give their wealth to the poor to prove they were prepared to forsake all the benefits they had under the worldly system of Mammon, and to follow after Christ. Thus Christ said it would be easier of a camel to pass thorough the eye of a needle (a very narrow canyon-like passage) than for a rich man to enter his kingdom. Many people mistake these conditions of the kingdom gospel as evidence that Christ was anti-wealth, when in fact these are merely temporary conditions to pass trough the transition from the Kingdom of Mammon into the millennial kingdom of Christ. (See Mark 10vs17-27)
All these conditions do not apply today under Pauls gospel of grace.

The greatest proof that the Cross had nothing to do with the Gospel of the kingdom is that Christ began to progressively tell his disciples about his betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection very late in his ministry
ā€¦ after they had been for a long time preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and that when he told them what would Happen they did not understand it at all! Peter in fact tried to correct Christ on this very thing because it did not make any sense to them.
ā€œBe it far from thee Lord!ā€ declared Peter.
He believed Christ was supposed to lead a revolution against the Romans and conquer them,ā€¦that was the what the gospel of the Kingdom was about!… Christ was not supposed to be defeated and killed!
Read Matt 16vs 21-23. Note this is when Christ began to show his disciples about his death, burial, and resurrection.
Grasp that before this timeā€¦when they were preaching the ā€˜Gospel of the kingdomā€™ (eg Matt 10vs1-7) they did not have a clue about the cross or the resurrectionā€¦thus it is impossible that they the gospel they preached said anything about it.

Whatmore even after he told them he would die on the cross and rise again the third dayā€¦they did not understand itā€¦*and it was hidden from them*
Read Luke 18vs31-34.

Thus Peter and his fellow Disciples were completely ignorant of work of Salvation which Christ would achieve at Calvary! Thatā€™s an amazing fact! *It was a Hidden mystery* which was kept secret until The Jews rejected their Messiah twice, and God raised up St Paul and revealed to him the wonderful Gospel of Graceā€¦and the secret of the cross…It was Christā€™s sacrifice for the Sins of Mankind, and his resurrection was evidence of his victory over sin and death, and that whosoever simply believes and calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!
The one and only condition upon the sinner is believing that Christ died on the cross for his sins, was buried, and rose again the third day for our justification.
No works!
Absolute Grace!
Here we see the Pattern which God showed us when he saved the Anti-Christ Saul. (St Paul).

In perfect Accord with his conditional covenants with the Jewish fathers, God postponed his kingdom and set Israel aside because they rejected their Messiah. Instead of establishing his kingdom in Israel, and them receiving all the blessing that would flow from that. Israel was to be destroyed, enslaved by the gentile powersā€¦because as Christ prophesied
ā€œknewest not the time of their visitationā€ (Luke19vs42-44)


The arch of Titus celebrating the Destruction of Israel

Thus Christ visited his people Israelā€¦ to fulfill the promises God made to their Fathers, yet because he did not appear as they expected him to appearā€¦(Like a conquering King) they rejected him, and framed him, and gave him over to the Romans to be wrongfully crucified.

Doubting Thomas
Another evidence that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ was hidden from the understanding of his disciple is the confusion that occurred when Christ was betrayed and killed.
While Jesus was as harmless as a lamb, Peter resisted the party which came to arrest Jesus and sliced off one of the guards ears. (In his mind it was revolution timeā€¦yet Christ restored the ear and went peacefully into custody.

This was absolutely contrary to what the disciple believed the messiah would do! They began to doubt that Christ was the messiah and before the cock crew Peter denied Christ three times.

Then after the crucifixion and Christ was buried, They disciples were full of doubts about Christ because they thought he was to ā€˜redeem Israelā€™ and when the woman reported Christ was risenā€¦they did not say ā€˜We knew this would happenā€™ā€¦we have been preaching about it to the people for years!…. They had to go and see for themselvesā€¦Thomas refused to believe it untill he put his finger in the nail holes of the risen Christ!….Thus The death, Burial and resurrection were complete mysteries to the disciplesā€¦.even after Christ had told them it would happenā€¦ they did not understand it because it did not fit into their comprehension of the Messiah overthrowing the Romans and Ruling as King of Kingsā€¦Gods Kingdom on Earthā€¦which they had been preaching. Read Luke 24!

Yet still when he was on the cross Christ prayed ā€œFather forgive them for they know not what the doā€ (Luke 23vs 34)
And it is in accordance with this prayer that God gives Israel a final chance to receive Christā€¦after the resurrection when he sends out Peter and the Apostles yet again to the Jews, this time preaching that They had murdered their Messiah, and that God was wrath with them for this wicked deed, and that The Death, burial, and Resurrection of Christ was actually the fulfillment of prophesy , and Peter called them to repentā€¦ā€Save yourselves from this untoward generationā€ (Acts chapter 2.)ā€¦ and God would send them Jesus their King.
Though many thousands of Jews did repent, ultimately Peters re-offer of the Kingdom was rejectedā€¦and they began to persecute Peter and the rest of the believersā€¦ culmination in the stoning of St Stephen. He preached to them about the Lord Jesus Christ and called them ā€œStiff necked and uncircumcised of heart and earsā€ā€¦called them ā€œBetrayers and Murderersā€ of Christā€¦.and they cried out and ā€˜stopped their earsā€™ and ran upon himā€¦ And they stoned him to death. (Acts 7 vs51-60)
Saul was present. Before he died Stephen declared that he saw Christ ā€˜standing on the right hand of Godā€™. Christ was ready at that very moment to descend from heaven and wipe out all the unrepentant Jews, and to overthrow the Romans and set up his kingdomā€¦ie Christ was ready for Armageddon, Yet God the Father had other plans. God Indeed instead of establishing his kingdom at this point in time, he would judge Israel as Christ had prophesied, yet he had a most wonderful surprise in store for the rest of humanity! And to reveal this surprise he chose the very chief of Sinners Saul of Tarsus ( St Paul).
Up to the Conversion of St Paul, in the early part of the book of Acts the Cross of Christ was not preached as salvation but as condemnation. Yet the Jews having rejected their messiah as reoffered to them by St Peter, In the ultimate act of graceā€¦God saved st Paulā€¦ā€He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israelā€ (Acts9vs 15)
From this part of the book of Acts Peter and his Kingdom Gospel to the Jews fades out and is superseded by St Paul and his Individualistic Gospel of the Grace, which is a completely New Gospelā€¦ nothing to do with the establishment of Godā€™s kingdom on Earthā€¦ and it is to Paul That God reveals the Mystery of the Cross of Christ as Salvation from sin for whosoever believes.
Paul tells us His gospel was received be special revelation (Gal1vs11,12)
He calls the Gospel of grace ā€œMy Gospelā€ Rom2vs 16.
And again

ā€œ Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Rom 16vs25,26

Paul tells us the Gospel of Grace to the gentiles was given to him, just as the Jewish kingdom gospel was given to Peter (Gal2vs 7,8)
Paul declares that he is the Apostle of the gentiles.
ā€œFor I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:ā€ Rom 11vs13

If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Col1vs 23-29

Paul declares ā€¦ That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Romans 15vs 16.


The return of Christ in Power and Glory…as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The current Dispensation of grace will not last for ever. It will finnish at the appointed time of God known as ‘The Rapture’ Then begins the short but terrible dispensation known as the Great tribulation period which will be the Kingdom of the Antichrist. During this time the Kingdom of Christ will again be ‘At hand’ and christ will return in Power and Glory and destroy the Antichrist and save Israel from their enemies…and then will establish his Kingdom on Earth.
Christ will indeed appear in power and glory as the Jews expected and will overthrow the AntiChrist and set up his Kingdom upon the Earth, and rule from Israelā€¦ yet that is still dispensationally/ chronologically specking still in the future.

I must leave off now. I pray that you may see the truth of dispensational right division and realize that while all scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousnessā€¦ that none the less there are important distinctions to be made, and that not every scripture is applicable doctrine for today. This means that we must be careful to give the doctrines of grace as taught by St Paul pre-eminence over the doctrine of other teachers and prophetsā€¦even over The 4 gospels which contain the teachings of The lord Jesus Christ himself! As Paul said to the Thessaloniansā€¦ā€For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which ye herd of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believeā€¦ā€ (1Thes2vs13).
*Understand that Pauls words are Christs words!* specifically given to him for us Gentiles living in the present dispensation of grace.
ā€œIf any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.ā€ (1 Cor14vs37)
Thus if any of my readers truly desire to serve God as they ought and to understand Gods plan and purpose for our dispensationā€¦ you must receive St Paulā€™s Gospel and doctrines which specifically apply to our age, and you must appreciate the The four Gospels primarily deal with Christā€™s kingdom gospel and ministry ā€˜to the lost sheep of the house of Israelā€™ ā€¦ most of which is not applicable doctrine for our age. I will expand upon these truths in future posts and contrast many differences in doctrine between What Christ taught pertaining to his Kingdom, from what Paul teaches us as being applicable todayā€¦here, and now. Thus I hope to secure in your minds the absolute importance of ā€œRightly dividing the word of truthā€.
My next message will focus upon the political distinctions to be made between St Pauls doctrines and those of Christā€™s conditions for Jews to enter his Kingdom.
Amen.

(I will be editing this post over the next few days. I post it in the Raw as Sunday is fast evaporatingā€¦ God Bless those of you whom have taken the time to read this message)
Tim Wikiriwhi Dispensational truth.

Dispensational Truth. 2Timothy2vs15, Ephesians 3vs1-9


Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth. Dispensational chart by Clarance Larkin.

Why do some Christian believe you must Keep the ten commandments to be saved, yet others believe salvation requires no effort whatsoever and is 100% secure from the moment of calling upon the Name of Christ?
Why do some churches teach tithing while others do not?
Why is it that some Christians believe Christianity supports Communism, while others say it supports capitalism?
Why do many Christians believe the Government ought to use compulsion to coerce the Nation into compliance with Biblical morality, yet others like myself believe in a separation of church and state, religious liberty, and maintaining a liberal and tolerant society?

Infidels and Bible critics say this confusion is caused by real internal contradictions within the scriptures. They say the bible is not a perfect divine Revelation but merely a fallible and flawed work, full of Human error, myth, superstition, and Barbaric/ savage ideology. They say the Bible ought to be treated like every other ancient textā€¦that today only fools believe it to be the Word of the True God.

I can sympathise with that view, yet by the grace of God, I have been granted the sight to see through this explanation, and a far greater truth has been revealed to me, the result of which is a powerful faith in the trustworthiness of the scriptures, and the realisation that the primary reason for the chaos within Christianity is because they have failed to grasp their Dispensational nature. The understanding of Dispensational truth highlights another vital aspect about being a Bible believer, in that it exposes what is at stake in regards to the ā€˜War of the Biblesā€™ā€¦ the competition between the hundreds of English translations, and that the King James bible is Superior in every way to the flood of modern Per-versions.
The reality is Dispensational truth is eroded to nothing in the modern translations which leaves The modern church in utter chaos! It is not surprising to me that this has caused many diligent Christians to loose faith in the inerrancy and trustworthiness of the Bible. Ie Modern translations have created a generation of Bible doubters rather than Bible believers.

The primary mistakes made by English speaking Christians which lead them into error are two fold. The first is to abandon the King James Bible in favour of watered down Modern translations, and the second is to jumble up all the scriptures together, ie they have very rude systematic understanding of the scriptures. Many actually believe you can cherry pick any scripture you like and apply it to your life today. Some even practice the superstition of randomly opening up the bible and put their finger on a verseā€¦and believe that that verse is a special message to them from God.
This is folly!
What these childish people fail to realize is that the Scriptures must be carefully and skillfully handledā€¦with great fear and trembling!
*Reverence*


For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. (2Cor 2vs17)

Furthermore it must be understood that some portions of the Scriptures are Absolute, while other parts are relative. That means some of the truths are universal and unchanging (for example Godā€™s holiness is universally upheld from the very first words in Genesis to the very last words in Revelation), while other truths are relative to specific, times, places, people, etc (for example Mans sinful nature is not a universal truth. There was a time before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit that they were innocent and sinless, and the bible also talks of a future time when we Sinful Christians will one day be completely renewed and become as sinless as Christ)
Having laid out these two contrasting principles it may appear so obviously rational that for Millions of Christians not to grasp these simple truths seems absurd, yet this is exactly what has happened! It has happened because they have been taught to jumble up, to confound and contort the scriptures and this is how all the various cults and denominations, from the Mormons to the Roman Catholics, all claim to be the true church.

The Habit at the heart of all the false doctrines, is to take scriptures out of their true context and misapply them ā€˜willy nillyā€™.
It is my contention that when the scriptures are correctly understood in contextā€¦ all so-called confusion and contradictions disappear, and portions of scripture that were once dark and a source of Dispute and doubt become fonts of Light and faithā€¦ and spiritual wisdom.
God is not the author of Confusion. (1 Corinthians)

*Grab your AV King James Bible if you have one! Also grab your Modern ā€˜translationā€™ too so you may compare bibles*.

Perhaps the most important scriptures to apprehend in relation to how the Bible ought to be handled is 2Tim 2vs15. It is a very serious violation that its truth has been utterly distorted and hidden in virtually all modern translationsā€¦exposing them to be the works of ignorant and subversive minds.
St Paul reveals the mighty principle that brings order from the apparent Chaos in the second book to Timothy. (2 Tim 2vs 15)
ā€œStudy to shew thyself approved unto God, A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.ā€

Firstly you must get hold of the word of truth! Ie you must get a trustworthy translation of the Scriptures in which you can have faith.
Then you must Study it diligently *Rightly Dividing it!*ā€¦ and this term ā€˜Rightly divingā€™ is not merely a figure of speech for ā€˜rightly interpretingā€™ the bible. It mean to rightly interpret the Bible * by dividing it up into distinct sections.*
That is the Key to understanding the Bible. The Bible is not to be jumbled into a lump.
We must distinguish the various milestone events which mark off epochs, and signal dispensational changes that occur with the process of time. By Rightly dividing the Bible into its relative dispensations or Ages, the developing plan of God is revealed, each age having its own peculiar characteristics that differ from age to age, yet are part of an overarching scheme.
Divdiing the scriptures dispensationally is essential because while Gods nature does not change, His covenants and how he deals with mankind does change with the process of time, so too does God progressively reveal truth to mankind.
St Augustineā€™s ā€œDistinguish the ages and the scriptures harmoniseā€ is an appeal to Dispensational truth and the harmony of the scriptures that results.

The scriptures may be laid out as a Timeline (See Larkin chart) that extends from eternity past, right through the creation of the universe to the present time, and then via prophesy projected far into the eternity of the future.
Sometime soon I will provide a list of Dispensational ages and how these result in Doctrinal changes, so that the unique nature of Our current age of grace may be easily distinguishable from other ages such as the age of the Law. I will show the importance of distinguishing the ministry of Jesus Christ and The twelve apostles, from that of our special Apostle of this current Age, The Apostle Paul, and show that they were very different programs in the overall scheme of God, with distinct Gospel messages, and distinct obligations. To keep this message as short as possible I will but point out one subject of dispensational change throughout the agesā€¦ that of what God ordains to be Mans food, and breifly show how these differences correlate to dispensational changes…


Adam and Eve.
The Age of innocence.
In The First Chapters of the Book of Genesis Before Man fell into Sin, God gave Man the herb bearing Seed for Food, and the fruit of trees for food. (Gen 1vs 26-29) Except the Fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.(Gen2vs15-17). After Man sinned he was thrown out of the Garden and God covered their Nakedness with the skins of animals. This is where Animal sacrifices and the shedding of blood to cover sin originates. It is probable that after the fall Man also began to eat meat. Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the Ground.
Then after a period of 2000 years, after the Great Flood of Noah, God specifically endorses the Eating of Meat saying “every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you” (except for Cannibalismā€¦taking Mans life being expressly forbiddenā€¦ā€™Whoso sheddeth mans blood , by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.ā€
(Gen 9vs1-6)


Noah gives thanks to God.

The Promise of a Kingdom.
God calls out Abram (Abraham) and makes a covenant with him. God Promises Abraham Land and to be with him and his decendants and that Kings would arise from his seed. And Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. The covenant is sealed via the institution of ritual of Curcumcision.


Abraham separates himself by leaving the Land of Ur and Follows the Lord God into the Land of Cannan.
There Sarahs’ handmaiden begets Abraham Ishmael. Later Sarah begets Isaac, the father of Israel (Jacob)

The Age of the Law.
Later still after approximately 700 years after the Great Flood, God gives Moses a list of ā€˜Kosherā€™ Meats as part of the Jewish Law. Under the Mosaic Covenant and Law they were no longer permitted to eat ā€œevery moving thingā€ as Noah and his decedents were allowed under the covenant they had with God Almighty. The Children of Israel under Moses had numerous dietary restrictions designed to make them ā€˜A peculiar peopleā€™ separate from the rest of humanity. They were to be Gods chosen People. From them would the Messiah be born. From them would God demonstrate himself to all mankind. Their covenant with God was conditional upon obedience. Conditional upon Keeping the Law of Moses. Should they live faithfully, God would reward them with blessing and plenty, should they break their covenant , then God would punish them, and so the history of Israel must be understood in relation to their conditional covenant with God. One of The meats they were forbidden to eat was Pork. Below is a Wikipedia link to Kosher foods that you may check out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_foods

God maintains his covenant with Israel and expands upon it via covenants with King David, and Solomon and from the time of Moses (about 1300bc) to the time of Christ The scriptures record the dealings of God with the children of Israel through times of obedience and blessing, though times of disobedience and judgment, trough times of Repentance and restoration. Christ was born a Jew during this dispensation of the Law, and lived faithfully by the Law of Moses. Thus he was circumcised, and would never have eaten Pork. We are told that Christ was a minister of the circumcision (the Jews), sent to fulfill the promises of God made unto the Fathers (of the Jewsā€¦ Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David) (Rom 15vs 8), Christ himself affirming this by saying ā€˜I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israelā€ (Matt15vs24)ā€¦ and ā€¦ ā€œThink not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.ā€ And it is in the light of this that his Gospel message to the Jews must be understood. His Gospel was ā€œRepent for the Kingdom of heaven is at handā€ and this gospel is specifically called ā€˜the Gospel of the Kingdomā€™
(Mark 1vs14,15).
Now I will expand upon this subject of Christ ministry to the Jews in following posts yet it is sufficient to note that ā€˜Christ the Kingā€™ was rejected by his people the Jews and he was crucified. St John tell usā€¦ā€He came unto his own and his own received him notā€ (John1vs10).
Now What is incredible to understand is that God was not surprised by Israelā€™s rejection of their Messiah. It was all foretold in many prophecies, and after the resurrection Christ Send Peter and the Apostles to re offer the kingdom to the jews and to preach that the Death of Christ was fulfillment of prophecy and proof that he was their Messiah. They did not preach that Christs death was an act of atonement for Sin because they did not understand that themselves. They preached it as an act of murder, as an act of rebellion and that The Jews stood in mortal danger of the judgment of God for rejecting his Christ.
This is the thrust of the first portion of the Book of Acts.
Yet Though many Jews did believe, ultimately this message from Peter was rejected as wellā€¦ the Jews beginning a Pogrom of Persecution culminating in the stoning of St Stephen.


The Pharasee Saul (St Paul) holds the coats while St Stephen is stoned to death.

The Age of Grace.
The End of the world could have happened right then and there, yet instead something truly amazing occurred instead.
God reserved Israel for Judgment, yet threw open the gates of Salvation to the whole Gentile world! (The Gate was still open to any Jew whom wanted to be saved yet this New dispensation was completely different. Not part of the Jewish covenants or Law, and so very few Jews were willing to forsake their ancient customs and to join with Gentiles in a completely new Fellowship). What is even more amazing is that God chose one of the very murderers of St Stephen to be his chosen vessel and Apostle of this new Program of Gods Grace. This person was St Paul. The second portion of the book of Acts shows the transition from Peters Jewish nationalistic kingdom ministry to Pauls individualistic Gospel of grace to the gentiles.


Christ Saves the Chief of Sinners as a example of Gods absolute Grace.

Paul said God chose him who was the chief of sinners, to demonstrate his absolute grace which was founded upon the New revelation That Christ death on the cross was a ā€˜covert operationā€™ that actually atoned for all the sins of Mankind so that whosoever received Christ, received the Forgiveness of God. *This is a completely New Gospel!* This has nothing to do with establishing Gods kingdom on Earth. We read that the Kingdom of God which was ā€˜at handā€™ was postponed and that Israel instead were to ā€œ fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.Luke21vs24) ā€¦ because they did not recognize the time of their visitation (Luke19vs44). This punishment being in exact accordance with the conditional covenant they had with God. Thus there was to be both severe Judgment, and Amazing Grace!


St Peter vision which showed him the dispensational change from Law to Grace.

After the failure of his ministry we see that God gave St Peter a special revelation to show him that Things were changing, and this was the vision of Heaven opening and ā€œa great sheet knit at the four cornersā€ being let down to earth: Where in were all manor of Four footed beasts of the Earth and wild creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, ā€œRise, kill, and eat.ā€ But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again a second time, ā€œWhat God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.ā€ This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. (Acts 10vs11-16)
Now the significance of this vision is to show Peter that the levitical Laws by which he lived as a Jew were being suspendedā€¦in fact superseded by a new dispensation of grace without the works of the Law! This is an incredible dispensational change! This also explains why Christians today can eat Pork and other things that were forbidden under the Jewish Law. We are under a completely different ā€˜Contractā€™ with God. We are under his pure Grace, It being revealed through St Paul That Christ took upon him all our sins and that ā€œ Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.ā€ (Romans 10vs13)
I will cut this off here. I hope I have shown enough for readers to appreciate how things change quite dramatically throughout the Bible and grasp the importance of ā€˜rightly dividing the word of truth.ā€™.
The Bible Is The word of God Almighty.
It is extremely complicated and must be handled with great care and skill.
The world is filled with false prophets and Ministers of Satanā€¦ wolves in sheeps clothing whom mishandle the scriptures and contort it into lies. I will discuss this Evil mishandling of the scriptures in more detail in future posts, yet I must leave off now. I pray that you may see the truth of dispensational right division and realize that while all scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousnessā€¦ that none the less there are important distinctions to be made, and that not every scripture is applicable doctrine for today. This means that we must be careful to give the doctrines of grace as taught by St Paul pre-eminence over the doctrine of other teachers and prophetsā€¦even over The 4 gospels which contain the teachings of The lord Jesus Christ himself! As Paul said to the Thessaloniansā€¦ā€For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which ye herd of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believeā€¦ā€ (1Thes2vs13). *Understand that Pauls words are Christs!* specifically given to him for us Gentiles live in the present dispensation of grace, which will soon end with The Rapture and revelation of the Anti-Christ.

Update: 9-12-11. Silly me left several very important portions of scripture out that are relivant to our dispensation!
In relation to what We Christians eat, We are ‘secure in Christ’… so much so that we can even eat meat that has been offered to idols! This ‘Liberty’ is found in 1 Corinthians Chapter 8. Thus as Christians we can safely accept invitations from Non-Christian friends and family to attend their festivals, celebrations etc without fear… and thus show that Christianity is a faith of tollerance, and Good will.

In 1Tim 4vs1-3 our Apostle Paul tell us that now commanding to abstain from meats is a “doctrine of devils”. He says that this falce doctrine will be part of a ‘departure
from the faith’ that will happen ‘in latter times’… thus we see that the church will fall into apostacy and will *Fail to rightly divide the word of truth* and will start to preach jewish legalism instead of Christian grace and will teach that ‘Christians must obey the Old testament Kosher laws… which do not apply in this age of grace.

*This is an important evidence that Doctrines change throughout the scriptures and that what was once commanded, can become itself ‘outlawed’. This is not a contradiction but distinguishes the character of different dispensations*


The Antichrist.

It is a great tragedy that so many so-called Christians are not Bible believers, but treat the word of God as if it is merely the words of Men.
Hear The words of St Paul Himself….

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. 1thessalonians 2:13
And…
“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
And to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:”
Ephesians 3vs1-9.

May God Bless you and open your eyes. Amen.
Tim Wikiriwhi