 001 - KARMA KARMA originated from ancient pagan religious teaching which refers to all acts, words and thoughts of one life, supposed to determine a person’s fate in his next stage of existence. Karma is always refers to bad fate which results from evil deeds, thoughts and words. Karma today is defined as divine requital or retribution for evil done to another person. It portrays God as a “Terminator” of wicked people who abused, withhold justice, or plotted mischief against another. God is perfectly righteous and just in everything and if He is going to kill or exterminate all the wicked, then this planet will be empty of human being. For all have sinned. Divine discipline is executed against the carnal believer who ignores the Word of God not because of their sins. Divine judgment is executed against unbeliever who rejected the Gospel of Christ not because of their evil deeds. A wayward person will accumulate self-made miseries for him to suffer in as much, he made other suffers. Majority of our miseries are self-made not from God or from the Devil. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire human race. He died for the sins of every human being in every generation in every place. He paid it in full –no sin is excluded. God is not in business of punishing for their sins because there is nothing (sin of men) which Christ did not include in His death. A person who violates the Laws of Divine Establishment and the Laws of the land will suffer the consequence of his action [Romans 13:4]. Karma is outside the essence and personality of God. God is not happy about the death of evil people. God will destroy his enemies not our enemies [Nahum 1:2]. God will judge the believers in time by divine discipline [1 Corinthians 3:11-15, Hebrews 10:30, 12:6-8]. God will also judge all the unbelievers at the same time in the Great White Throne judgment at the end of the 1000 years reigns of Christ [Revelation 20:11-15]. God is not punishing anyone on earth because of his evil deeds. The misery of a person is always the result of previous bad decisions or evil deeds he made. Deuteronomy 32:35-43 is a promise given to the Jews under the curse and blessing clause [Genesis 12:3] and not to us. God will destroy all the anti-Jews or anti-Semitics, not our personal enemies. Karma is outside the nature, character and personality of God. God solved the problem of man, namely sins because there is no way we can solve it. Would God punish men because of something He already dealt with? Karma cultivates fear in the hearts of the ignorant and deceived. It distorts the truth of God’s Word and enslaved many into human good. Although karma encourage good deeds yet in the eyes of God it does more harm than good it deceives people. It distorts the goodness of God. Divine retribution because of human rejection of God’s grace is not karma. Divine discipline because of ignoring or rejecting Bible doctrine is not karma. Karma is not of God but of the Devil. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 002 - FENG SHUI FENG SHUI is more than 3000 year- old Chinese Philosophy and art of placement. It is means “wind and water” which claims to create spiritually, healthful and appealing home. FENG SHUI is a balance of yin and yang- that is finding harmony between energy flows. Practitioners believe that certain places are luckier, certain shapes are more conducive to a balanced life, some symmetry are preferred over angles. FENG SHUI popularity is alarmingly high. Developers, builders, home- owners are all consulting FENG SHUI masters. Even Christians are affected and it deceives the elite, intelligent, the rich and poor alike. Let us consider several things about FENG SHUI: It originated from the cultic practices of astrology, fortune telling, charms of the ancient Eastern religions, and a mixture of science and superstition. God alone has the Master Plan for the life of every person base on their personal decisions as foreknown by God in the eternity past and included in the divine decree. To trust FENG SHUI for your future health and wealth is to accept satanic lies and human viewpoint. FENG SHUI objects and charms looks harmless ad decorative but without knowing that some pagan religions are actually using them as religious object of worship. To display those icons is to invite the curse of God into your home. FENG SHUI like any other icons has power supplied by Satan, whose demons attends and ministers to their devotees. FENG SHUI is a false hope and a false object of confidence for your wealth and health. Nothing in this world can guarantee your good health and future except God. It claims to provide somewhat perfect environment that provide good future. But not even the perfect garden of Eden was able to guarantee good and healthy future. Your good future begins at the very moment you believe and accept the free gift of salvation and it continues in your spiritual growth and maturity. No objects (like FENG SHUI fishes and plants) can create a happy and lasting marital relationship. Good health and wealth comes from the justice of God through His grace pipeline. FENG SHUI designed porcelain jars and items (like frogs, horses) are all related to ancient Chinese folk religion that dominates the Chinese culture. FENG SHUI is a demonic cult dressed as science and philosophy. To many, it is innocent and harmless looking. Some FENG SHUI rituals and traditions are widely welcome without suspicion that they are demonic (like the blood of animals or man offered during the digging of building foundation 1 Cor. 10:20). FENG SHUI is a booming business and a growing cult religion that is creeping the doors of many homes undetected by ignorant believers. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 003 - GHOST STORIES The term “ghost” did not appear in the Greek New Testament, because there is no word for ghost in the Greek language. The Greek word “PNEUMA” is translated “ghost” twice by King James Version [Matthew 27:50 & John 19:30] And as “spirit” 268 times. The Hebrew word ‘NEPHESH” (spirit) is translated “ghost” twice by KJV [Job 11:20, Jeremiah 15:9], and as “spirit” 230 times, and as “wind” 90 times. The title “Holy ghost’ occurs 86 times by KJV and “ghost” twice in Matthew 14:26 and Mark 6:49. Ghost [PHANTASMA is “a thing seen only in one’s imagination”, a supposed appearance of an absent person – in a shadowy form. Ghost as define by the dictionary is the spirit of one who is dead, who is supposed to live in another world and appear to living people as pale, dim, shadowy form. Unbelievers are dichotomous [soul and body] without human spirit. Only the believers have human spirit [body, soul and spirit]. Therefore, unbelievers cannot have ghost. The Holy Spirit is not a ghost, because He is not a dead person, He is not a PHANTASMA. The Holy Spirit is not a ghost because he is not human spirit. Ghost stories were created by pagan religious fanatics who capitalize on such superstition to support their false and heretical doctrines as a tool or machinery for manipulating the ignorant. The human body [soma, is the material organism animated by soul and by human spirit [if believers]. The spirit may be separated from the body while the soul can only be distinguished. When a person died, his soul directly go to heaven or hell –it has no capacity to stay on earth. The Greek verb to breathe out, and out the soul, to expire [Mark 15:37,39, Acts 5:5, 12:23] denotes the fact that the soul of a dead person has no part in the world of the living. The traditional religion teaches that the soul person stays for 40 days on earth before departing to purgatory or heaven. Such teaching is fictional and heretical. At the point of physical death, the soul and human spirit [if believer] separate from the body and go directly to heaven [Luke 16:22] and go directly to hell if unbeliever. The demons are playing on people who believed in ghost, and they are using the features, voices and characteristics of the dead people to deceive the living. Ghost stories are designed to create terror and fear in the hearts and minds of the ignorant. The demons are good impersonators –they take the physical form of the dead. They pretend as the ghosts of the dead. Ghosts are no fiction but genuine demons disguising as spirits of the dead roaming the world of the living. The KJV had committed serious error by translating “Spirit” to “ghost”. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 004 - WE DO NOT PRAY FOR THE DEAD Salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Salvation is final-it is a privilege of a living person to believe and receive the free gift of redemption of his soul while he is alive. The final destination of a dead person, either heaven or hell is no exchange no return. Every person has the chance to be saved while alive. The dead has no chance to change their situation. They are permanently assigned their everlasting destination. Praying for the dead, lighting candles, honoring them with praises, offering flowers (but insulting and mocking them while living) is fictional, heretical and unbiblical teaching. Many pagan religions honor their dead on certain occasions. The practice did not originate from the Bible. The traditional religion introduced the prayer for the dead only in A.D 300 but many Eastern religion and Chinese folk religion pray for their dead several thousand years ahead. The dead people has no capacity to hear, prayer, or mass and indulgences Offered in their behalf. God does not listen to the prayer of the unbelievers. God determine the final destination of the dead based on the individual decision to accept or reject Christ’s finished work. No person can change his decision after his physical death. Our final destiny depends on our own decision now: believe or reject Jesus Christ. Prayer for the dead was designed to increase church revenues through the sales of candles, indulgences, payment for mass, flowers and other gimmick. Praying for the dead builds false hope and confidence for life after death. It creates false expectation that dead men can change their final state. Praying for the dead to change their final state is like asking the president to pardon a criminal already executed by lethal injection – an entirely useless effort. Talking to a dead person through prayer is like talking to someone in the telephone when the line is dead. Dead people cannot hear the prayer of the living. They have no capacity to know what is going on earth. A birthday or anniversary celebration for a dead person is ridiculous since the dead person ceased to exist. Age is the duration of life in the world and it stops at the moment the person dies. It is stupid to continue counting years, which the dead person did not utilize for living. God will not hear the prayer for the dead people since there are no longer on earth. God cannot change their final state because His decision is not based on the petition, request or prayer of men. He acts according to His essence. God cannot change the decision He made. He cannot revise the action He made He is perfect. His actions and decisions are all based on his perfect nature. Revision or change is for something not perfect. Prayer cannot change His perfect decision or action. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 005 - THE TEACHING OF PURGATORY THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY IS AN INSULT TO GOD AND HIS FINISHED WORK OF REDEMPTION THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. In effect, it implies that the death of Christ is not sufficient for the sins of man. It implies that human good work is the final authority for one’s final destiny of the soul. It implies that religious traditions and rituals [like mass, prayer for the dead, indulgences, etc.] are more powerful and authoritative than the Creatorship and Messiah-ship of Jesus Christ THE DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY IS AN INSULT TO THE GRACE PLAN OF GOD. It insults salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. It implies that salvation is by human good works –by the will of man and not by the work of God [John 1:11-13]. Acceptance of purgatory is rejection of God’s plan of grace. Purgatory is a devious invention of the traditional church released only in A.D. 1414 together with the dogma of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ did not mention purgatory in any of His preaching. No writers of the Canon of the Scripture mentioned anything about purgatory. No Old Testament writer or prophet or judge ever mentioned purgatory. Even the very text use by the Catholic as proof-text for their dogma of the purgatory IS NOT ACTUALLY ABOUT PURGATORY [see 2 Maccabees 7:9, 14:46, 12:43-45]. PURGATORY INSULTS THE HUMAN RATIONAL REASONING. There are too many questions that has no answ
The Bible is the Word of God. God is Truth. God is true to Himself and there is no lie in Him. Who is lying? The Bible? God? They are liars- the sons of their father [John 8:44b] and there is no truth in them. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 006 - SAINTHOOD? BEATIFICATION is the declaration by a decree of the pope that a deceased person is among the blessed in heaven and deserved religious honor. A beatified person is entitled “blessed”. Beatification is prelude to canonization into sainthood. CANONIZATION is a ritualistic mass where the pope formally declared and officiate dead people into the official list of saints of the Catholic Church. The canonization of dead people was pioneer by Pope John XV in A.D. 995. SAINTHOOD is not an attainment but a state, a condition into which God in grace calls men. It is a spiritual positional status in Christ. Positional sanctification is the state that predetermined by God for all regenerated believers into which He calls them and into which they begin their Christian course and pursue it. Genuine sainthood has several characteristics:
The Lord Jesus Christ did not beatify or canonize anybody into sainthood. No apostle or disciple of the Lord Jesus beatify or canonize anybody into saint hood. It is ridiculous that legendary people l who allegedly existed and died hundred of years ago was declared blessed and declared saints by a decree of the Pope. The beatification and canonization of dead people is an old political gimmick and financial strategy of the church to force the nation into total submission. The Pope is a political strategist who knows how to manipulate the affairs of a nation. A person with old sinful nature all throughout his life on earth has no power or authority to ordain another sinner into sainthood. The Bible called the living regenerated Christians as the genuine saints [HAGIOS meaning separated from sin and consecrated to God [1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1, Galatians 1:1, Philippians 1:1]. Saints by the authority of man, saints in the eyes of men, saints respected and honor [even worship] by men BUT SUFFERING IN HELL! J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 007 - HALLOWEEN IS DEMONIC THE HOLLOWEEN FEAST started out long before the birth of Christ in Eastern Europe and ancient China when people would go out dressed in gory and horrifying costumes made of animal skins to cast away the spirits of the dead who returned as wandering witches. Halloween officially began in early 7th century A.D. It was inspired by the ancient Celtic rituals of the Druids help in honor of SAMBAIN, the god of the dead, whose feast falls on the first day of November. The Druids believed that on October 31, SAMBAIN summoned all the evil spirits that had inhabited the bodies of animals. Candles were lit to guide the evil spirits to the home of their kinsmen. The Druids believed that the souls of the good where taken into paradise while those of the wicked were left wandering between the space of moon and earth. To appease those evil spirits who were believed to haunt the living and cast misfortunes on them, they offered food and shelter. Luxurious tombs in the cemetery are adaptation of this belief. The term Halloween comes from Medieval England meaning “All hallow eve” or the eve of the saints. The practice of “tricks or treat” originated in Ireland, the pumpkins from America and the flying witches on sticks from England. The Catholic adapted the feast of All Hallow and All Souls day in 7th Century A.D. FALLACY OF HALLOWEEN FEAST: The soul of a dead person whether in heaven or hell cannot leave their final state to visit the living [Luke 16:26, 31]. At the moment of physical death, the soul separate from the deceased body and immediately go to heaven or to hell [Luke 16:22-23]. There is no purgatory-otherwise, Jesus Christ need not come and die for the sin of the human race. [Romans 3:21-28, 8:1]. If a person rejects the plan of grace and His salvation, then nothing and nobody can change the divine decision [Matthew 12:32b]. There is nothing spiritual about the feast of Halloween. It is not spiritual to celebrate the Halloween. There is nothing logical about the feast of Halloween. All Souls day and All Saints day are purely superstition. Halloween is a satanic scheming that diverts people from the truth of God’s Word. Halloween is religious commercialism and business that makes life in this world more difficult and bitter. Halloween is hallucination, a substitute for the Truth of Scripture. It is slavery in the form of religious tradition. All Saints day which actually do not in anyway relate to genuine saints use by the cults to scare and trick people. All Souls day supposedly remember the departed ones. It is ridiculous to celebrate the feasts of souls when in reality they are in severe pains in hell. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 008 - ST. VALENTINE? VALENTINE’S DAY originated from a Roman fertility festival known as the FEAST OF LUPERCALIA observed in Ancient Rome as a day of offering gifts to the goddess of free-sex and fertility. The Catholics substituted it with some “Christian” symbolism There were three origins of St. Valentines according to variety of legends. The most famous was that of a Roman priest martyred around A.D. 269. Here we see that a man who renounced and vowed not to marry inspired Valentine’s Day. He was known as VALENTINUS a replacement for Roman god LUPERCALIA. According to another religious legend, VALENTINUS condemned to death by Emperor CLAUDIUS II, for converting the family of ASTERIUS. On the eve of his execution that fell on February 13, 270 A.D., he wrote a farewell love letter to young girl and signed it “From your Valentine”. The second legend was that of the bishop of TERNI who was martyred in the same time frame [VALETINUS was martyred] for crime of loving a young girl. POINTS TO CONSIDER: Valentine’s Day and everything about it came from pagan ritual of sex and fertility. Our modern Valentine’s Day originates from priests who renounced marriage but both were in love with young girls The color red is not the color of love of God. Love has no color. Love is not just romance or sex. Cupid is not an angel of God. There is no such thing as angel of love. Valentine’s Day enslaves people to do things that are burden some. It creates false hope and expectation from human solution. The feast of St. Valentine and its romantic celebration has no biblical and spiritual relevance. Valentine’s Day is commercialism and bondage of high degree. Its concern is romance, sex and lust. The believers are not commanded to celebrate Valentine’s Day and there is no room for it in the Christian churches [Galatians 4:9-10]. Valentine dinner date will not solve or improve your marital conflict or secure your marriage affair. The Lord Jesus and His disciples did not celebrate Valentine’s Day. The Bible is silent about it because it is not biblical but pagan. Some apostate churches are joining the world in the celebration of this evil ritual of sex and fertility. Such affairs cannot glorify the church. To use pagan activities such as Valentine’s Day to raise money for the church is devious and blasphemous. We cannot join people who claims that they are fundamentalists yet observe and celebrate pagan rituals like New Year, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries. 009 - THE TRUE CHRISTMAS We do not believe that Jesus Christ born on December 25, A.D. 1. IT WAS NOT DECEMBER 25 BECAUSE: December is winter in Palestine region and the whole land would be wet. But the shepherds were out in the fields watching their flocks by night [Luke 2:8]. The shepherds will never bring out their flocks into the field during rainy season because the sheep will get sick and die. The baby was wrapped only in swaddling clothes and yet he did not freeze to death [Luke 2:7]. The registration of all citizen of the SPQR took place during summer [Luke 2:1]. Luke mentioned QUIRINIUS the governor of Syria whom the Roman Emperor CEASAR AUGUSTUS visited in Syria sometime in March where he signed the decree for worldwide census. The census took effect 30 days after it’s signing. It was bishop LIBERIUM of Rome [the fox] who officially proclaimed in A.D. 354 that all Catholics celebrate Christmas day on December 25. December 25 was adopted by the Catholic from the Roman feast of the UNCONQUERED SUN, which falls on the midnight of December 24. The Roman unconquered sun god is SATURNALIA [SATURNALA] but the Roman Catholic took the symbolism and applied it to Jesus Christ as the UNCONQUERED SUN OF JUSTICE. DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS, the man who invented the modern calendar widely use by the Catholic around the world assigned December 25, A.D. 1 as the birthday of Christ. Tradition claimed that Jesus Christ was born on midnight but there is no way to prove that. The Bible did not say He was born at midnight. Tradition claimed that Jesus Christ was visited by three kings whose names were GASPAR, MELCHOR & BALTAZAR about ten days He was born. They were not three but presented only three pieces of gifts. They were not kings but sorcerers or magicians. The Bible did not mention their names. They came two years after when Jesus was no longer wrapped in swaddling clothes. DIONYSIUS invented the year of the birth of Jesus Christ as commanded by the Pope without scientific basis and without mathematical formulation. He created his calendar in six century based on spurious records and which are not historically accurate. DIONYSIUS counted the first year as 1 A.D. with the year preceding Christ’s birth. Scientists and astronomers were Obliged to subtract I year, so that 4 B.C. becomes 3 B.C. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, Jerusalem but not on December 25, 1 A.D. So, December 25 is happy birthday unconquered sun god SATURNALA not happy birthday Jesus! The sun god and goddess come with many names and faces but continue to infiltrate the local churches unopposed and happily welcome by the ignorant. WHAT CHRISTMAS IS ALL ABOUT YULE, which means 12 days of gluttony and cavorting Scandinavian nudists, the word came from Norse. CHRISTMAS TREE, which came from tree worshiping Scandinavians, who passed their PINETHEISM to the pagan Roman Catholic who modified it into CHRISTMAS TREE-FETISHISM. The ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Germans had their tree gods, which they decorated in some occasion. SANTA CLAUS, which came from the Netherlands introduced by the Dutch throughout the world. From Nicholas to Santa Claus, the name varies from one language to another. Washington Irving gave Santa Claus the superman power to fly in 1809. Cartoonist Thomas Nast made him puffed cheeks and marsupial paunch look in 1813, becoming more popular than the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan Claus is a cute substitute for the Savior of mankind. EXPENDING MONEY. The Spanish word for spending money is PAGAR, from the same root word we get the term PAGAN and PASCUA [Christmas]. FIRE AND LIGHTS, which came from ancient Germans and Normans who burn their evergreen trees to ward off evil spirits. The ancient Chinese use firecrackers to scare big evil spirits. CHRISTMAS LANTERNS especially the five-pointed star that symbolized Satan, the god of this world, who brings the Christmas evil spirits around and invites the money hungry fund-raisers. GIFT-SEEKERS everywhere. Endless envelops, and crisp paper money. Some public servants had their envelopes ready as early as October. COLOR LIGHTS, which signifies that you are believer of Christmas [not necessarily Christian] and that you moneybag is ready. MERRY CHRISTMAS means give me money. MANO PO NINONG- MANO PO NINANG means three to five hundred bucks. CHRISTMAS PARTIES EVERYWHERE, it is better to go on vacation [hide away] than to stay home. KRISS KRINGLE, which means Santa Claus with his stupid exchange gift. The witches of Scotland practiced this exchange gift using evil curses for their enemies. MR. LONELY, which means that suicide is on the rise because depression is very high on the air. MORE ROBBERY because materialism is high and majority is in financial crisis or out of job. HIGH PRICES BUT GOOD BUSINESS for the greedy crocodiles. RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES giving gifts of sardines and few kilos of rice to the poor but keeping the imported items for themselves. GOOD POLITICIANS giving gifts from public funds with their own name printed on plastic bags – good time for campaigning and political gimmick. Christmas is all about hypocrisy, heresy, gimmick, lies, commercialism and Satanism. Christmas is not for Christians! J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 010 - NEW YEAR: A PAGAN REVELRY NEW YEAR celebration connotes heathenism and paganism. Its origin is difficult to determine since most ancient pagan religions have their own version of New Year revelry –based on their own calendar. Ancient religions based their New Year celebration on the movement of the sun, moon, stars and earth –that is astrological not astronomical. ASTROLOGY is the supposed science of the effect of celestial bodies on human affairs, and related to ASTROLATRY, which is worship of the heavenly bodies [ASTROLATREA). ASTROLOGER is a person who claims to know and interpret the supposed influence of the stars and planets on persons or events. Could a person foretell the events in people’s lives based on the happenings in heavens? This is what the fortune-tellers and horoscope are all about. The New Year Celebration is based on Taoism, FENG SHUI and combination of pagan practices like preparing fruits on the table to invite abundance of food for the coming year. The noise making and fireworks is to drive away evil spirits [like the spirit of famine, poverty, bad lucks, etc.], which are the primary teaching of cults. Believers are not supposed to share in the table of demons or cup of demons or sacrifice to demons [1 Corinthians 10:19-22]. SHARERS IN DEMONS refers to the activities, practices of believers that are not of the Lord. [Like, when you consult a FENG SHUI master regarding your house construction]. The believer is said to be SHARERS IN DEMONS whenever he consult his zodiac prediction for guidance. The CUP OF DEMONS and TABLE OF DEMONS refers to practices, traditions and rituals of the world adapted by the believers [like celebrating Christmas, New Year, Valentine]. Paying homage to the dead on November first, hanging Christmas lanterns or putting up a Christmas tree are partaking in the cup of demons. Celebrating new moon, New Year, new millennium is actually celebrating the feast of some astrological deities [gods]. It is not Scriptural and it is demonic in nature. FIRECRACKERS are to scare evil spirits of poverty, sickness, misery, and poor health. It originated from ancient pagan practices of driving out the evil spirits from animals. THE MIDNIGHT MEAL is an adaptation of midnight offerings of foods and drinks to pagan gods. The New Year celebration is a mixture of ancient superstitions and traditions disguised as Christian celebration. “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons”. “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons”. [ 1 Corinthians 10:19-21] New Year celebration is burdensome and costly for some. For some it is their source of pride and self-glory. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 011 - THE FAKE HEALERS MIRACLES, including healing the sick were the credentials of the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples, to whom He gave the spiritual gift of healing but the cessation of the gifts came at the end of the apostolic age. GOD WANTS YOU WELL is a statement of the most presumptuous and most arrogance statement of ignorance. Some disoriented believers assumed that the will of God excludes sufferings and troubles in this world. PHYSICAL HEALTH is not a sign of true spirituality or poor health is a sign of carnality. Our physical condition has nothing to do with our spiritual life. We are to continue our momentum toward spiritual maturity regardless of our physical condition. Apostle Paul suffered severely from his so-called thorns in the flesh. Majority of God’s servants are afflicted with some kind of illness. In God’s plan, affliction and sufferings are normal parts of the Christian way of life. MIRACLES are divine prerogative. He does it by His own decision apart from human intervention or request. God does not operate from human request or demands. God will not interrupt or change the law of nature for the sake of believers pleading ignorantly and aggressively. Yes, God heals today! God heals according to normal natural laws. God acts based on His essence [nature] not on the presumptuous faith of fake healers. If it were the sovereign Will of God to heal all illness, sickness and affliction, then, all human would be immortal. There is no promise in the Bible that God will heal all the sickness and illness of men. There is no promise in the Bible of miraculous healing for those who will claim it. The employment of such method is contrary to the way and manner God operates in relationship to man. What we have is not Jesus Miracles Crusade’ but “Satan Unscrupulous Crusade”. MIRACLE DOES HAPPEN TODAY on personal affair, according to the grace of God on the individual, not according to the command of the fake healers. Jesus Christ did not heal all the sick people in the crowd but individually. The apostles and disciples did not heal in that manner. GOD WILL NOT OBEY THE DEMAND OR REQUEST OF A MAN TO HEAL ALL THE SICK PEOPLE IN THE CROWD AT THE SAME TIME. God will not obey the capriciousness and arrogance of the fake healers. It is not their faith in God that works since they are ignorant of Divine Will, plan, and purpose. Satan is feasting with healing crusades nowadays. He is trapping thousands into the snare of deception. Satan is using them as his instrument of deception. Satan empowered and energizes them to do his will. Their faith is not faith in God because they are ignorant of Bible doctrine. Their healing is questionable. Their so -called authority is not from God. 012 - HYPNOTISM HYPNOTISM is the act or process of putting into a sleeplike state a person with little will of his own and little feeling, or consciousness. The victim acts according to the suggestions of the hypnotist [the person who hypnotized him]. HYPNOSIS is from the Greek word “HYPNOS”, the god of sleep and the English word “OSIS”. A condition somewhat resembling deep sleep but more active in the state of unconsciousness, in which a person has little will of his own and little feeling, acts according to the suggestion of the person who brought about this condition. HYPNOTHERAPY is the treatment of mental or physical disorders by means of hypnotism. Hypnotherapy is being use by paramedics, faith healers and modern witch doctors as substitute for anesthetics. Some called it “spiritual injection”. A more popular version of hypnotherapy is now being use by the cults. The so-called HYPNOSOPHY, the science of hypnotism, has infiltrated the religious main stream, a practice once exclusive only to the pagan cults, voodoos, sorcerers, magicians and the occults. THE 4 STAGES OF HYPNOTISM: 1. THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL RELAXATION STAGE designed to recondition the emotional and psychological state of the person/s being hypnotized. Relaxing and sugar coated words of encouragement and lies from human viewpoint prepares the souls of the deceived. 2. THE RE-INFORMATION STAGE where suggestive information [a mixture of truth and lies] is injected to the soul, replacing the previous stored information in the soul of people under hypnotism. 3. THE ACCEPTANCE STAGE under which the hypnotize person will receive, accept and believe the suggested informations or data planted upon him during the hypnotic session. Such data or informations are very difficult to erase. The lies planted in his soul are accepted as truth. 4. THE ILLUSION STAGE in which the hypnotized person will live according to the information planted in his soul during the hypnosis session. Modern False preachers and false prophets are using hypnosis to deceive the ignorant with their extra Biblical teachings, practices, and sensational ministries. Therefore, the deceived followers accept the imaginary cures for the genuine illnesses or the real cures for the imaginary illnesses. The so-called “slaying of the spirit”, a practice popularized by the PSEUDO BELIEVERS invites demonic spirit to take control over the unbeliever in the crowd. FOR THE DECEIVED BELIEVERS such healing, miracles, wonders are reality and truth. They cannot see the lies and deception behind it. Because they accept the lies-they have to reject the truth of Bible doctrine. THE ILLUSIONS HAS BECOME TRUTH IN THEIR SOULS. They have no room for the truth. Beware of hypnotists in sheep clothing! Beware of those sweet and comforting words! 013 - EXORCISM Believers are not vulnerable to demon possession since they have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit [1 Corinthians 6:19]. Only unbelievers are vulnerable to demon possession. There are 2 physical manifestations of demon possession: 1. Demon induced mental illness [Mark 5:1-5]. 2. Demon induced physical illness [Matthew 8:16, 9:32-33] 3 BONA FIDE MEANS FOR REMOVAL OF DEMONS: Ø Satan personal intervention or decision to leave the body of a person he possessed [Matthew 12:24]. Ø Direct Divine intervention or command to the demons to leave the body of a person the demons possessed [Mark 5:8]. Ø Personal decision of the person possessed to believe and accept the Gospel. The baptism of the Holy Spirit automatically kicks out the demons from the body of man they possessed [1 Corinthians 3:16, 9:32-33]. There is no Christian Exorcism in the Bible: The Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples CAST OUT demons to authenticate theirs divine calling- as proof of being servants of God. The Jews were looking for a sign of their calling. The Greek verb for CAST OUT is EKBALLO which is used in all account when Christ or His disciples CAST OUT demons. The verb EXORKIZO, the derivative of English noun EXORCIST, and the Greek noun EXORKISTES, and its cognate verb HORKIZO, is used in reference to religious fakers who attempted to expel demons by uttering mysterious incantations [Acts 19:13-17, Matthew 7:22-23]. The Bible used EXORCIST for pagan Jews who attempted to evict demons by religious oaths and rituals. Exorcism is never an indication of salvation or a sign of God’s approval or sign of spirituality. Exorcism and deliverance ministries are out of line with God’s plan. THE APPARENT SUCCESS of those who engage in exorcism can be attributed either to the cooperation of Satan to leave or direct involvement of demons to evacuate the body of a person, or JUST A BIG HOAX. PSEUDO CHRISTIANS and religious unbelievers are using exorcism as a heretical sign of divine favor and PSEUDO SPIRITUALITY to deceive the ignorant of Bible doctrine. The Lord Jesus Christ warned that religious fakers who exorcise have no part with Him [Matthew 7:22-23]. The vast popularity of the modern exorcists is just preparation where they will mushroomed. Satan has just begun empowering his fake healers like the nuns and priests, the miracle workers, the cultic healers. The priority of the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles was the Gospel and the Bible doctrine NOT EXORCISM. 013 - IS FASTING APPLICABLE TODAY? FASTING IS THE INVENTION OF MAN and not commanded by God. Fasting was borrow by the exiled Jews in the early part of theirs Babylonian exiled to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish exile had inserted the ceremony of fasting in the fifth month of the Jewish calendar. Later, they added fasting in the fourth, seventh and tenth month. The ritualistic ceremonial rites of fasting took place without real meaning in the Old Testament time. Zechariah raised a very timely and vital question; “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain [ritualistic fasting] as I have done these many years? [170 years in captivity] (Zechariah 7:3b). GOD ANSWERED THAT QUESTION WITH FOUR MESSAGES: · The Jewish exiled fasted for 170 years of captivity but not for God [Zechariah 7:4-7]. · The Jews fasted but refused to pay attention to God and to His Bible doctrine [7:8-14]. · The Jews prayed and fasted but violated the Mosaic Laws and Word of God [8:1-17]. · Genuine prayer and fasting will have real meaning during the millennial kingdom [8:18-23]. TO FAST (nesteo) is to abstain from eating and used for voluntary fasting. Fasting is based on the free will decision of the positive volition believers. CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES OBSERVED voluntary fast [like on the day of Atonement] but imposed no frequent fasts in addition [Matthew 9:15]. Christ taught the need of purity and simplicity of motive. What He taught was suitable to change the mental attitude. The very purpose He designed for all believers. THE FAST OF ACTS 27:9 refers to the Day of Atonement of the Jews not a fasting instituted by the Church Age believers [Leviticus 16:29]. THE JEWISH BELIEVERS IN ACTS 13:2-3 had carried over to Church Age time the Jewish practice, which the LORD JESUS CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES DID NOT COMMANDS the Christians to practice. SOME PRINCIPLES: THE JEWISH EXILES IN BABYLON INVENTED & INSTITUTED FASTING but never commanded by God. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST DID NOT COMMAND THE CHRISTIANS TO PRACTICE FASTING. THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES DID NOT COMMAND THE CHURCH AGE BELIEVERS TO FAST. FASTING WAS NEVER A SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT and it has no spiritual relevance in the Old Testament and today. We are not more spiritual if we fast and we are not less spiritual if we do not fast. When it comes to our spiritual life, BIBLE DOCTRINE IS TOP PRIORITY not fasting. 014 - WHAT IS ANOINTING? The Hebrew verb “MASAH” [TO ANOINT] has three meaning: 1. To smear something on the object [Genesis 31:3], 2. To anoint the shield, meaning to lubricate [Isaiah 21:5] 3. To temper with oil, meaning to butter bread [Exodus 29:2] The Hebrew noun “MASIAH” that means ANOINTED ONE was used only for Jesus Christ [Psalm 2:2, 18:50, 89:38]. MASIAH was used figuratively for king Saul as the LORD’S ANOINTED [1 Samuel 24:6] and Cyrus as HIS ANOINTED [Isaiah 45:1]. GREEK VERBS FOR ANOINTING: MURIZO, meaning to anoint the body for burial [Luke 7:46, Mark 14:8] “You did not anoint [ELAION] MY head with oil, but she anointed [MURON] MY feet with perfume (embalming ointment)”. EPICHRIO, to rub on used for the blind man when Jesus healed him from blindness [John 9:6, 11]. ENCHRIO to rub in, or to smear with the eyes of the LAODICEANS meaning to beautify it [Revelation 3:18]. ALEIPHO used for an anointing of any kind: a. A physical refreshment [Ruth 3:3, Daniel 10:3] b. Anointing of the sick that is to heal [Mark 6:13, James 5:14] by applying some medicinal ointment or oil, c. Anointing a pillar or foundation [Genesis 31:31] d. Anointing the captives [2 Chronicles 28:15] e. Anointing the priests or kings [Exodus 40:15] CHRIO confided to sacred and symbolic anointing of Christ as the ANOINTED ONE OF GOD [Luke 4:18, Acts 4:27, 10:38, Hebrews 1:9] CHRIO also refers to ANOINTING OF BELIEVERS FROM GOD [2 Cor. 1:21]. CHRISMA a Greek noun stands for ANOINTED ONE meaning Christ, standing by metonymy for the Person Himself (as for the Holy Spirit), [1 John 2:20, 27, Daniel 9:26]. CHRIO refers to the work of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation imputing righteousness of God to the believer. ANOINTING is the exclusive work of God for man. MAN CANNOT ANOINT AN OBJECT OR A PERSON FOR GOD. THERE IS NO COMMAND FOR THE BELIEVERS TO ANOINT ANOTHER PERSON TO DO SERVICE FOR GOD. THE BELIEVERS HAS NO POWER, AUTHORITY, OR COMMISSION TO ANOINT AN OBJECT OR A PERSON FOR GOD. A PERSON ANOINTED BY A SO CALLED “ANOINTED PERSON” IS NOT HOLY IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. TO CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER OR AUTHORITY TO ANOINT ANOTHER PERSON FOR GOD IS HIGH LEVEL ARROGANCE! 015 - SUICIDE SUICIDE is the act of killing oneself on purpose. There are two (2) kinds of suicide: the honorable suicide and dishonorable suicide. HONORABLE SUICIDE refers to suicide missions designated as a military action or operation that is certain to result in the death of the persons involved, like a suicide missions inside the enemy territory. DISHONORABLE SUICIDE refers to a suicide in a moment of extreme fear, extreme despair or deep anxiety, the result of which is often ruinous to one’s own interests. SEVEN CASES OF SUICIDE IN THE BIBLE: TWO BELIEVERS committed suicide but different in category. Samson’s was of honorable purpose [Judges 16:30], but king Saul’s was of dishonorable purpose [1 Samuel 31:4]. FOUR UNBELIEVERS resolved to die by suicide because of personal failures: ABIMELECH (the son of Gideon) committed suicide because of failures in his political career [Judges 9:54]. The armor bearer of king Saul committed suicide as sympathy to failure of his master [1 Samuel 31:5]. AHITHOPHEL, (private counselor of king David) resolved to commit suicide because unfulfilled dreams and ambitions [2 Samuel 17:23]. ZIMRI, (servant of king ELAH) also resolved to die by suicide because of political failures [1 Kings 16:18]. JUDAS ISCARIOT was the only one from the New Testament who died by suicide. ONLY SAMSON died in the state of spirituality, from weakness was made strong [Hebrews 11:32,34]. THE REST OF THEM refused to accept defeat and failure –and was overcome by emotion. ONLY GOD has the authority and right to terminate our biological life on earth. The time and manner of our physical death is divine prerogative. SUICIDE IS COWARDICE to face the trials and pains of life. It is not an escape from reality. SUICIDE MAY RESOLVE TO MORE SUFFERINGS and problems rather than solve the present problem. It will hurt your love ones more than your self. SUICIDE IS FAILURE to know and utilize the divine solutions God has provided to every believer. We are not left in this world without divine resources. SUICIDE IS HUMAN SOLUTION that actually is not a solution but a trap from Satan. SUICIDE IS EMOTION that kicks out reason and truth. It is emotion out of control and reality. SUICIDE IS THE REJECTION OF GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE and acceptance of satanic schemes to resolve human problems. DISHONORABLE SUICIDE is not the will of God for man. WHY WE DO NOT CELEBRATE BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY The Scripture speaks specifically only have two birthdays, both were from royal family and pagan family. The first was pharaoh, who declared an amnesty on his birthday [Genesis 40:20]. The second was Herod ANTIPAS, in whose birthday revelry, John the Baptist was beheaded as a gift for HERODIAS [lady Herod]. The celebration of the anniversary of one’s birth is universal practice, originating from early Egyptian era, passed to Church Age believers. Under the Mosaic Laws, age was the chief qualification for authority and office. This implies that the Jews of the Old Testament and New Testament times kept record of theirs birth [John 9:21 Luke 2:42]. The Jews had recorded theirs date of birth as time reference and as per requirement of the Roman Laws that requires counting of birthdays. However, there is no recorded birth -day celebration of any kind among the Old Testament believers. There is no recorded birthday or anniversary celebration of any kind among the New Testament saints. THE CELEBRATION OF BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY ORIGINATED FROM PAGAN RELIGIONS NOT FROM SCRIPTURE OR BELIEVERS. SOME PRINCIPLES: Birthday or anniversary celebration is a big financial burden for most believers. Church anniversary celebration is not only a financial burden for church members but entirely not Scriptural. Giving a lavish birthday celebration promotes the uplifts the arrogance and ego of many. Lavish birthday celebration is only waste of money, time, effort and energy after all you cannot every body. The believer does not live for this world or for the things of this world but for God. We are here to please God and not men [Colossians 3:2-3]. The world is not our home, but we are the citizens of heaven. We are to set in our souls the heavenly things as our top priority in life. [Philippians 3:20, Colossians 3:2]. The believers are the stewards of God’s logistical blessing. Therefore we must properly dispose our own resources for eternal and profitable things things that are eternal in values. OBSERVING DAYS, months, days or season is a direct disobedience to God and His Word [Galatians 4:9-10]. The believers are no longer slaves of the cosmic systems. We are no longer the blind followers of satanic traditions, trends, religious rituals, trends and practices. The issue here is not financial but spiritual. WE DO NOT CELEBRATE BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY BECAUSE IT IS NOT BIBLICAL. It is not spiritual to celebrate. There is nothing spiritual about church anniversary celebration. It is not biblical. 016 - DANCING IN WORSHIP THE SO CALLED MUSIC MINISTERS have infiltrated the churches with their heretical music and practices such as “SPIRITUAL DANCING”. THEY CLAIMED THAT DANCING IS AN EXPRESSION OF WORSHIP and legitimate in the church because it glorifies God. They based their teaching on Psalm 149:3 and 150:4 as supporting text. A careful study of Psalm 149 and 150 reveals that the context refers to Israel after the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ NOT for Church Age Christians. The setting of the text is the millennial kingdom not the Church Age era. GENUINE PRAISE AND WORSHIP IS POSSIBLE ONLY in the absence of unrighteousness in the world. Ecstatic worship is not possible in our time because of our old sinful nature. Genuine praises, verbal expression, [such as singing doctrinal oriented music, new tongues], and physical expression [such as dancing] is the general characterize the people of God. DAVID DANCED because the Ark of the Lord was going back to Jerusalem [2 Samuel 5:12-23]. DAVID DANCED BEFORE THE LORD –before the Ark of the Lord. It was a personal matter between him and God. Nobody told him, nobody commanded him, or asked him to dance. He danced from his free will volition [1 Chronicles 15:29]. DAVID DANCE IN THE STREET not inside the Temple or worship hall. Not during worship but in the street. Note the phrase “looked out of the window” of 2 Samuel 6:16. MICHAL saw the king, her husband from her window. “The young girl will rejoice in their dance” [Jeremiah 31:13a] refers to revive Israel during the millennial kingdom not during the Church Age time. The Lord Jesus Christ did not dance to worship. No disciples or apostles ever dance during worship. Old Testament believers did not dance during worship. THERE IS NO COMMAND FOR THE CHURCH TO DANCE. Dancing can- not proclaimed or explained the Word of God. Dancing is expressions of the body [body language] that invites sexual acts. In ancient times, dancing was associated with idol worship and temple sex [Exodus 32:19]. DO NOT SPIRITUALIZED THE THINGS OF THE WORLD SYSTEM -no matter how professional and “good” in the human eyes”, your dancing in the church it is still evil and unbiblical. Emotional church musical rendition plus emotional dance expression is not by any means can become a spiritual experience. Religion and dancing is twin, the two cannot separate. Where there is religion there is dancing. Since our nation is very religious, we have dancing anywhere. Those who missed the dancing floors of disco pubs and bars will surely enjoy dancing in the church, especially the gays. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 017 - PRAISING GOD “THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE” [Hebrews 13:15] is one of the most distorted teachings in many churches today. The phrase “the sacrifice of praise” was first used by Jeremiah [33:11] referring to animal sacrifice and to thank offering of the revive Israel during the millennial kingdom. THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE refers to their [Israel] act of bringing animal sacrifices and offerings as expression of worship. The phrase “JOYFUL LIPS” [Psalm 63:5b] is a figure of speech that denotes the soul [KARDIA] in the state of sharing the happiness of God. The phrase “WITH THY PRAISE” also refers to a soul that is knows the happiness of God through the Word of God stored in his KARDIA and not by emotion [Psalm 71:8]. Take note, His praise, not the praise of men. Both the JOYFUL LIPS and MOUTH FILLED WITH HIS PRAISE refers to soul with Bible doctrine. Praises such as “PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH”, “GLORY TO GOD”, “PRAISE JESUS” and etc. are useless if it comes from the lips of the unbelievers. CARNAL BELIEVERS who habitually praise God with religious phrases are just wasting theirs saliva –they are like noisy gongs and cymbals. Such emotionally motivated and habitual mannerism of verbal praises does not glorify God rather it is using the name of the Lord in vain. The glory of God is intact within Himself, whether man praises Him or not. His glory does not depend on man. GENUINE PRAISES TO GOD focuses on the Person and works of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Real praise center on divine essence not on man who is worshiping [Psalm 7:17]. TRUE PRAISES is based on the Word of God [Psalm 56:4, 10] not on human faith or righteousness. THE FRUITS OF THE LIPS comes from spiritual maturity of the souls that has been nurture with the Word of God [not from emotional experiences in our religion]. OVER PRAISING is when the lips of a person verbally expresses some religious phrase [like “praise the Lord] without knowledge of Bible doctrine. It is taking the name of the Lord in vain [Deuteronomy 5:11]. THE LIFE OF BELIEVERS INSIDE THE WILL, PLAN AND PURPOSE OF GOD IS THE LIFE THAT GLORIFIES GOD. Not just the lips that expresses some religious phrases [Matthew 15:8, Mark 7:6]. “THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME” [Mark 7:6]. OVER PRAISING is pure arrogance wrapped in hypocrisy of verbal and emotional expression apart from the Truth of God’s Word in his mind and heart. IT IS NOT A SIGN OF SPIRITUALITY BUT OF DEEP IGNORANCE OF BIBLE DOCTRINE AND CARNALITY. LET YOUR WORDS BE SEASON WITH SALT [SALT is Bible doctrine not non-sense praises]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 018 - RAISING HANDSWHY DID DAVID raise his hands while praying? He lifted his hands toward the holy sanctuary [Jerusalem] in order to identify with the offering up of sacrifices by the priests since he was far away in exiled [Psalm 28:2, 63:2-4]. He prayed at the time the sacrifice was being made in Jerusalem. David expressed his oneness with the evening sacrifice when he was away from the holy sanctuary. That is the reason why he raised his hands toward Jerusalem (not toward heaven) [Psalm 14:2]. SHOULD WE DO THE SAME? NO! – Because the sacrifices of animals had ceased. The Lord Jesus Christ died to fulfill the sacrificial law- once and for all. He paid in full. NO! – Because we do not have the altar [sanctuary] with us. NO! – Because there is no command for us to raise our hands during worship or prayer. NO! – Because physical posture has nothing to do with true worship. It is not sign of spirituality to raise your hands in worship or prayer. NO! – Because everyone is doing it even the cults and pagans. THE LIFTING OF HANDS has nothing to do with genuine worship. The lifting of hands is not an expression of worship, it is not an element of worship and it is not a spiritual experience. We do not become more spiritual if we raise our hands and we do not become less spiritual if we do not. It has nothing to contribute to our spiritual life or experience. 4 General categories of lifting hands in the Scripture: Lifting of hand in reference to everyday obedience to Bible doctrine [Psalm 119:48] as an expression of submission. Lifting of hands in reference to priestly function of offering sacrifices in the altar or [Psalm 134:2] as an expression of identifying himself to the sacrifice. Lifting of hands referring to David personal volition to lean toward God and toward His Word [Psalm 143:6]. Lifting of hands in prayer refers to the Church Age believer’s act of praying for others the ministry of intercession for the lost [1 Timothy 2:8]. The above-mentioned categories of lifting hands are figurative never literal and physical. David did not actually raise his hands in reference to Psalm 143:6. Believers do not have to raise theirs hands to show off positive volition toward God and His Word. We do not have to raise our hands while praying because “LIFTING UP HOLY HANDS” means to pray for the lost [1 Timothy 2:8]. Christianity is not a religion that blindly follows practices, rituals, traditions invented and taught by man. We have to examine every ritual, every practice, every tradition, and everything the preachers are proclaiming as the Word of God. We are not blind followers following blind leaders. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 020 - CHURCH CHOIR MUSIC in the Old Testament had accompanied all of Jewish life and it was parallel practices in other religious systems. TRAINED MUSICIANS appeared around the time of Solomon in the Temple worship with elaborated adaptation of pagan rituals and practices. THE TABERNACLE WORSHIP MUSIC has six characteristics: No untrained musicians were commissioned and given responsibility. Professionalism was the rule in the Temple services. The Temple Choir was consisted only of 12 male adults above 30 years old. No young people or female were involved. There were no percussion instruments and there were no dancers. The music was traditionally Jewish and purely religious. The congregation was musically involved. The music was never emotionally manipulated to produce results. A handful of New Testament passages provide us information how music was performed during the early church: Jewish music styles were not carried over to Church Age music. No disciple or apostle mentioned the existence of choir or any person giving a special number during worship. Their music was short and doctrinal in nature. It was actually Bible doctrine preaching added with melody [Acts 16:25, 1 Corinthians 14:15, 26]. The priority of the Lord Jesus Christ was to teach Bible doctrine not to teach church music [Ephesians 5:19]. Both in the Old and New Testament, music did not take the center-stage of theirs spiritual life. The center of our spiritual life is the Word of God. Modern day religious music is devious and deceitful. MUSIC MINISTERS are skillful in manipulating and captivating ignorant followers into emotional and ecstatic experience. They can easily sway the life of the church into a new dimension of religious experience with out spirituality. The priority of every local church is to teach Bible doctrine using the 4 basic systematic approaches to biblical studies: exegetical, exegetical, historical and grammatical methods The local church is robbing the believers not only with their precious time, energy and resources but also with spiritual blessing in eternity. THE “HOLY ENTERTAINMENT” [musical presentations, concerts, choirs, etc], provided by some churches are not only diverting the focus of believers to the Lord but also substituting God with church celebrities [church singers]. CHURCH MUSICIANS are always the source of problems and conflicts in the congregation. They are often the most carnal and arrogant. Music does not prepare the heart and soul for worship. Filing of the Holy Spirit is the only preparation we need for worship. We are filled with the Holy Spirit by rebound not by asking God to fill us with Holy Spirit. Music only excites the emotion of man. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 021 - THE PHRASE “GOD BLESS YOU”IT IS DIVINE PREROGATIVE TO BLESS or not to bless. He bless according to divine essence –His perfect standard, unaffected by what a man does or not [Genesis 49:25]. GOD BLESSES HIS PEOPLE [the saved or regenerated] not all the people, according to what a man demands or asks in prayer [Psalm 29:11b]. Man has no power or authority to compel God to grand or answer their request to bless a person or group of people. GOD WILL NOT HEAR THE REQUEST OF THE UNBELIEVERS for blessings except the blessing of salvation. ALL BELIEVERS ARE UNDER THE DIVINE BLESSING of logistical grace. Logistical grace is the divine provision for material and spiritual needs of all believers necessary for their existent while in the world. God Made Covenant with Abraham to bless Israel [Genesis 12:2-3, 22:17 26:3]- not Abraham but God. Man is not in position to make Covenant with God. Isaac pronounced blessings to his sons based on that Covenant, but the blessing was conditional: “If they live by the Covenant”. Moses pronounced blessing for Israel but the blessing was possible only if they live by the Covenant, that is, if they live according to the Word of God [Numbers 6:24-25, Deuteronomy 1:11, 15:4]. God is blessing the believers based on the righteousness He imputed at the point of salvation- not because of our effort to please God. All believers by position in Christ are already blessed. The life we have received from God is accompanied by more than 40 blessings. God is waiting to bless His children. To receive the blessings from God –man must be adjusted to the justice of God. There are three adjustments to the justice of God. For all unbelievers: the adjustment of salvation, that is, salvation in Christ alone, by faith alone. For carnal believers: the adjustment of rebound through the grace of God. For growing believers: the adjustment of spiritual advancement toward maturity by continuous intake of Bible doctrine. TO BLESS GOD is not just verbal or written expression of magical religious words such as PRAISE THE LORD, but to live inside the will, purpose, plan and system of God while moving toward the goal of spiritual maturity. God blesses the positive volition believers so that they can glorify God in time and eternity [Psalm 16:7, 34:8, 145:1, 21]. Therefore, the phrase GOD BLESS YOU is exclusive for growing and advancing believers living in the will, purpose and plan of God. GOD BLESS YOU is not for unbelievers and not for carnal believers under divine discipline. Man has no power, authority to grant blessing to another person. Man has no power or authority to ask God to bless anybody –no matter how spiritual he is. To bless a person or not is a divine prerogative. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 022 - THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION The scripture forbids us to have fellowship with God to have fellowship with unbelievers who have rejected the Gospel of salvation. They attached the title CHRISTIAN to themselves but denied the power of Christ to save. They are the unbelievers among the believers [2 John 7-11]. They are the goats among the sheep. The Scripture commands us to expose apostasy [Ephesians 5:11] in the light of God’s Word. The Scripture mandated believers not to YOKE TOGETHER IN ANY SPIRITUAL ENDEAVOR [2 Corinthians 6:14-18]. The term yoke in this context refers to any spiritual endeavor. Believers are commanded to separate from DISOBEDIENT BRETHREN who made decision not follow the Word of God. THOSE WHO DISOBEY THE WILL, PLAN, OR PURPOSE OF GOD in their lives [Matthew 18:15-17, 1 Cor. 5:11, 1 Timothy 6:3-5 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6]. God’s work done in God’s way and God’s time produces good result. God’s work done in man’s way in man’s time produces bad results. Believers and unbelievers doing the work of God in God’s way produce only bad results. Believers and carnal believers doing the work of God in God’s way produce only bad results. Believers who apply human ability and resources in doing the work of God will produce only bad results. We obey God by not affiliating our local church with apostate churches, mission or evangelistic effort, which is ecumenical in nature and purpose. We obey the Word of God by not affiliating our church with those who do not practice Biblical separation. We cannot join the heretics, the schematics and backsliders on reason because the Holy Spirit will never work in the life of believers contrary to the will of God. The will of god for the local church is not ecumenicalism, or political unity of all believers, not inter-nationalism, not inter-denominationalism. Christians must concentrate on Bible doctrine-the top priority of all believers in the world. We must refuse to waste the logistical blessing for spiritual growth by useless inter-fellowship with the apostate. THERE IS ONLY ONE FAITH and that faith is the Bible doctrine given by God written in the pages of the Bible. THERE IS ONLY ONE BIBLE DOCTRINE but many church doctrines and if their doctrine is not Bible doctrine, then we cannot accept them. We cannot have fellowship with them. ONLY BIBLE DOCTRINE IS PERFECT and all church doctrines are corrupt and misleading -deceiving people. Biblical separation is justified because God cannot tolerate any compromise when it comes to our spiritual life. God separated Israel by calling them out Egypt into the wilderness [literal] and made His own people. God separate the Church as His own people. Believers are in the world but not of the world. We are on earth but we must live for the things above. We cannot obey God without separation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 024 - PROSPERITY THEOLOGY PROSPERITY THEOLOGY is the belief that God wanted every believer to be financially prosperous in this world. Some claimed that the Bible promises tremendous material blessing for every believer. MATERIAL PROSPERITY IS NOT A SIGN OF SPIRITUALITY OR VIBRANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. The top 200 most riches people of the world are unbelievers. The Bible does not teach such doctrine [prosperity theology] but rather rebuke the selfish ambitious of the believers to become rich. Believers are warned not to double time to become materially prosperous. BUT THOSE WHO WANT TO GET RICH FALL INTO TEMPTATION AND A SNARE AND MANY FOOLISH AND HARMFUL DESIRES WHICH PLUNGE MEN INTO RUIN AND DESTRUCTION [1 Timothy 6:9] Material prosperity is very dangerous for immature and carnal Christians. It is a snare that drags believers into a deep pit of spiritual stagnation. Genuine promotion comes from the Lord. Self-made success is never long lasting and often filled with miseries and pains. Everything in this world is a matter of God’s grace not of human effort to improve or promote him. FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY IS A ROOT OF ALL SORTS OF EVIL, AND SOME BY LONGING FOR IT HAVE WANDERED AWAY FROM THE FAITH AND PIERCED THEMSELVES MANY A PANG [1 Timothy 6:10] The lovers of money will find it hard to love God with their entire mind, with all their soul and all of the heart. THE LOVER OF MONEY are pretending as LOVERS OF GOD and teaching wealth and health doctrines to deceive the unsuspecting. They are using the Bible in their fraudulent scheme to earn big amount of money from their ignorant followers [1 Timothy 6:3-9]. They invented the so-called SPIRITUAL SEED MONEY, FAITH OFFERING, LOVE GIFT and numerous terms to deceive their followers. God does not prosper a believer because he tithes. The Old Testament believers paid their tithes but God did not prosper them all. God is perfect and His standard is perfect. We cannot adjust to God’s standard by imperfect tithing or giving offering. Tithing was for Old Testament Jews not for Church Age believers. We are not Jews and we are not under Mosaic Laws. Tithing was never a spiritual act but an obligatory national religious taxation for all Jews- believers and unbelievers alike. Most religion teaches physical and material prosperity in the world. Pagan religion emphasizes on prosperity disguises as spirituality. Material prosperity in the world is not a sign of spirituality or good relationship with God. Poverty is not a sign of carnality or poor relationship with God. GOD LEFT US IN THE WORLD not to accumulate wealth for ourselves. And as long we are in flesh [corrupted with old sinful nature] we shall remain sickly and weak. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 025 - CULTIC CHRISTIAN MUSIC HOW DOES A SONG BECOME A SPIRITUAL SONG? There are four things that determine the spirituality of a song: FIRST, The composer and singer/s must be both regenerated and spirit-filled believers. SECOND, The lyrics of the song must be an expression of Bible doctrine resident in the soul of both the singer and composer. THIRD, The lyric of the song must be doctrinally correct and consistent with the Word of God as a whole. FOURTH, The central point of the message of the song must be the essence or character of God and the works of God. The focus of any so called Christian music must be the essence or nature of God and His perfect work, not human passion, desire or ambition to work for God or to serve God through ministry with men. SPIRITUAL SONG is a song based on the Scripture written and sang by mature believers [Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19]. Singers in the Old Testament Temple were adult male not below 30 years old, no youth or female choir members. The purpose of the local church is not to refresh or unload the cares of believer but to know God and His will for our life. The local church is not an entertainment theater to applause and gives recognition to talented but carnal believers. The church is not for the lonely in hearts to relax but a school to learn Bible doctrine. Christian music or song is basically preaching and proclaiming Bible doctrine and not to entertain people. The purpose of singing spiritual song is to teach the plan, the will and purpose of God. Spiritual song is for SINGING PREACHERS TO PROCLAIM THE WORD OF GOD with melody. Singers are also preachers of the Gospel and Bible doctrine. PRAISE IS NOT JUST VERBAL EXPRESSION OF THE TONGUE BUT THE EXPRESSION OF GRATEFUL SOUL BASED ON PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. GENUINE PRAISE COMES FROM THE SOUL MOTIVATED BY THE WORD OF GOD [COLOSSIANS 3:16]. Praising God is always connected to what the Lord has done- we do not praise God for nothing. The cult of Christian music glorifies the celebrated singers or song leaders. The church can exist with the three essentials (salvation, spirituality and Scripture), even without gifted singers and dynamic song leaders. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE LOCAL CHURCH IS DOCTRINAL STUDY NOT MUSIC. The Church is being deceived by music that is doctrinally incorrect. We must examine every line of the song to see if they fit into the truth of the Bible. Beware of music that uplifts the feet and upbeat the hands but stagnate the soul. Emotionally touching songs are capable of bringing the mood of the congregation into different emotional experience. ONLY BIBLE DOCTRINE IS CAPABLE OF GIVING US A GENUINE WORSHIP EXPERIENCE. Whenever we sing spiritual song, let God alone be the center of our souls, not the song or worship leaders, not the singers. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 026 - THE TRADITIONAL GOOD FRIDAY The teaching of traditional religion about the day the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified is fictitious and purely unbiblical. JESUS CHRIST DID NOT DIE ON THAT PARTICULAR FRIDAY. Let us consider the following truth: There were 4 Sabbaths that fell on that week Christ was crucified:
The Jews measure their days from sun –down to sundown [from 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM], not from midnight to midnight [12:00 MN to 12:00 MN]. On that week, from 6:00 PM Tuesday to 6:00 PM Wednesday was the Feast of the Passover. The Passover lamb was slain [1 Corinthians 5:7] and the memorial meal was eaten on Tuesday night, [not on traditional Thursday], the eve and the preparation for the actual Passover which fell on Wednesday [not on traditional Friday]. The Jews celebrated the Passover once a year every Wednesday of the Jewish month of NISIN [April], which is the last week of the 50 days celebration of Jewish religion. Gregorian calendar was not yet in used them. That particular Wednesday was also the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread described in John 19:31, designed also as the preparation day for the rest of the week [Exodus 12:11, Leviticus 23:6-7] That particular Thursday and Friday was designated as Jewish holy days as no worship or killing days, which they cannot violate by having somebody, hang and died on a cross. THERE WAS NO CRUCIFIXION THAT FRIDAY. Jesus was in the tomb for three days and three nights (72 hours) based on the veracity of the Scripture [Matthew 12:40, 1 Corinthians 15:4]. If Jesus Christ was crucified and buried before 6:00 PM of Friday and was resurrected on early Sunday morning- then He was dead and buried in the tomb for only one and half (1½) day and not three days and three nights as declared by the Word of God. The Word of God cannot lie. The Bible is the Truth not the teaching of self-righteous men who invented foolish church doctrines. We also reject the teaching about Resurrection on Sunday because He rose from the death not on Sunday early morning. Jesus Christ did not die on Friday and He did not rise from the grave on Sunday. We have to reject the traditional views and teaching of holy week because of its erroneous and fictitious nature. We reject the teaching of traditional Good Friday because Jesus Christ was crucified during the Passover as the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ rose from the grave before 6:00 PM of Saturday because 6:01 PM was already Sunday. He was in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights. If Christ was buried on Friday, then, He was in the tomb for 1½ day only. When it comes to spiritual truth, the Bible is always the authority not the church dogmatic teachings J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 027 - PALM AND EASTER SUNDAY Jesus Christ and His disciples went to Bethany six (6) days before the Passover [John 12:1-11]. On the next day, five (5) days before the Passover, Jesus Christ and His disciples entered Jerusalem [John 12:12]. If the Passover was celebrated on the first Wednesday of April, therefore, Jesus Christ and His disciples entered Jerusalem on Saturday (not Sunday). THERE WAS NO PALM SUNDAY SINCE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ENTERED JERUSALEM ON SATURDAY AND NOT ON SUNDAY. The Lord Jesus led the apostles in celebrating the Passover mean on the eve of Passover. They ate the Passover meal before 6:00 PM of Tuesday since 6:01 PM is already Wednesday. For reference, take note that in Luke 23:44, 12:00 NN is sixth hour and 3:00 PM is ninth hour. Also, 5:00 PM is the eleventh hour. There was no Good Friday because Jesus Christ was hanging and died on the cross on Wednesday. There was no Ash Wednesday in the Bible. No writer of the Scriptures ever mentioned it. There was not Black Saturday in the Bible. No writer of the Scripture ever mentioned anything about it. God did not die. It was the humanity of Christ that was slain. His perfect humanity died spiritually. His Deity cannot die. The early Church did not celebrate Ash Wednesday, Holy and Good Friday, Black Saturday and Easter Sunday. The Bible mandated the believers to celebrate only two symbolic rituals: namely the Lord’s Supper and water Baptism by immersion. Satan is the master of deception and two of his favorite schemes are seclusion of believers and substitution in the area of truth, teachings, and practices. He secludes the genuine believer from the truth or he secludes the truth from the believers. He hides them behind the bushes of lies and deception. He brings something that looks like the genuine or truth and replaces it. Satan wanted to displace all the truth in the hearts of believers something that is exactly the look alike. Denominational doctrines are nothing but look alike of the Biblical truth. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 028 - THE LAST TEN DAYS OF JESUS ON EARTH.
029 - PETER WAS NEVER A POPE The apostle Peter was well aware of his role and function in the infant Church. He never claimed himself as the highest leader or the first Pope of the Church [1 Peter 5:1]. Peter challenged the local church leaders to serve freely and without motivation for sordid gain [1 Peter 5:2]. He did not assume the role of an overall leader. Peter rebuked the local church leaders for their greed for power. He warned the potential abuser of authority and dictators [1 Peter 5:3]. He encouraged the demonstration of genuine humility [1 Peter 5:5, Philippians 2:3-9] among fellow saints. PETER REFUSED TO RECEIVE HONOR AND GLORY from men. He rejected all forms of human approbation [Acts 10:25-26]. Peter was sharply rebuked by the Lord Jesus Christ for his pride and ignorance of divine will and divine purpose [Matthew 16:23]. Apostle Paul rebuked Peter for his double-mindedness and hypocrisy that almost mislead others [Galatians 2:11-14]. Peter was married [Matthew 8:14, Luke 4:38, 1 Corinthians 9:5]. Peter never went to Rome not even for a short visit –since he was an apostle for the Jews not for the Gentiles. If he was in Rome, then could never left him out in his greetings in Romans 16. Peter was never the head of the Church [Revelation 16:18-19, Psalm 61:2-3, Revelation 3:7]. The Pope is the successor of Peter. There is no Biblical record that peter visited Rome and that he shared the same prison cell in Rome. Paul was beheaded alone in Rome not together with Peter. Peter was not a Pope because he was never a Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic priestly system was installed only in A.D. 294 or 270 years after the dead of Peter. Peter cannot be a Roman Catholic or Pope because his view of priesthood is contrary to the Roman Catholic system and traditions [1 Peter 2:5,9]. The apostle Peter is not the gate -keeper of heaven. The KEYS of Matthew 16:19 is the Gospel of salvation. By believing a person receive access to heaven, by rejection a person is condemn to hell by his own choice, not by decision of Peter. Peter has no power or authority to forgive the sin of another person. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church [Colossians 1:18] not Peter or the Pope. Christ alone has the power to reconcile men to Himself, not the apostle Peter [Colossians 1:20]. Apostle Peter was crucified upside down and beheaded when he was already dead because he lived based on Bible doctrine, which is contrary to traditional viewpoint of the Romans. The Romans was responsible for the death of Peter. So, they killed their Pope. “You are Peter (PETROS, a tiny stone), and upon this rock (PETRA, a great mass of solid rock) I will build MY Church” [Matthew 16:18]. JESUS CHRIST IS THE ROCK of offense [1 Peter 2:6-8, Romans 9:33]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 030 - MARY IS NOT THE MOTHER OF GOD THERE ARE SIX Mary in the Gospels. The famous of which is MARY THE MOTHER OF CHRIST’S HUMANITY, who did not claim herself as the mother of God. The Lord Jesus Christ did not call her as the mother of God. No writer of the Scripture ever called her the mother of God. She is the mother of Jesus not the mother of God. Mary did not claim herself as mediator between sinners and God. The Lord Jesus did not address her as the mediator between man and God. No writer of the Scripture addressed her as the mediator [1 Timothy 2:5, John 14:6]. Nowhere in the Bible Mary is called the mother of God. Christ did not mention that she is the mother of God. The Vatican conferred her the title mother of God” only in A.D. 431. The Vatican council instituted prayer to Mary in A.D. 600. The Roman Catholics officially adapted HAIL MARY in A.D. 1508 [see Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25, 9:24]. Mary is not the GATE OF HEAVEN and that no one can see heaven without passing through her [see Acts 4:12 and John 14:6]. Mary the mother of Jesus has genuine humility. The writers of Scripture did not ascribe to her titles that belong to God alone. She is not above all the woman but a sinner just like anybody else [Luke 1:47]. Mary was a sinner but forgiven because she trusted Jesus as her Savior. Only Jesus Christ was born without sin (without old sinful nature). Mary was born sinner just like the rest of humanity [Luke 1:46, 1 John 1:8-10]. The dogma of Immaculate Conception of Mary was officially adapted in A.D. 1854 by Pope Pious IX. Jesus Christ is the only Person who ascended to heaven in His resurrected body being the FIRST BORN AMONG THE RESURRECTED. Christ ascended to heaven with witnesses looking up to Him [Acts 1:9-11]. There are seven resurrections in the Bible. The first was history since Jesus ascended to heaven. The second is yet to come- the rapture of the Church. If Mary ascended without the Bible predicting is very questionable. How come the Vatican formulated the dogma of Mary’s ascension only in 1950? Why Pope Pious XII was forced to sign it. Mary the mother of Jesus is not a virgin forever because she gave birth to several sons and daughters after the birth of Jesus [Matthew 13:54-56, Mark 6:3, John 7:5]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 031 - HOMOSEXUALITY HOMOSEXUALS ARE NOT BORN but made. God created a 100% male and a 100% female –nobody in between. After creating man, God said, “It is very good”. HOMOSEXUALS ARE MADE, and it begins at home. Homosexuality is not biological. There is no such thing as abnormal DNA or cell that triggers such malady. Homosexuality is a mental attitude sin, resulting from build-up of satanic doctrine in the soul. There are several factors that help in the making of a homosexual:
Homosexuality is spiritual sin, under the same category as idolatry, lying, hatred, envy, etc. The homosexual are not more sinful or less sinful. ALL MEN ARE EQUAL when it comes to standing before God. WE ARE ALL SINNERS. God gave them over in the lusts of theirs hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them [Romans 1:24]. Just like anyone who is filled with lust, they corrupt the Word of God [Romans 1:25]. God gave them over to degrading passions; that they exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural. They burned in their desire toward one another of same sex [Romans 1:26-27]. They receive in their own persons the due penalty of their error they have loss their human integrity. God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things, which are not proper [Romans 1:28]. They are motivated to do improper things. Homosexuals are filled with all types of unrighteousness, deceit, murder, envy fornication, wickedness, maliciousness and malignity, malice, strife [Romans 1:29]. Homosexuals are gossipers, slanderers and backbiters, haters of God, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, covenant breakers, unloving, unmerciful, implacable, without understanding and compromisers with evil [Romans 1:29c-32]. Homosexuality leads to more serious problems like alcoholism and drugs, seduction of kids, masochism, sadism, incest, AIDS, serious psychological damages, satanic possession, crimes, and many more. Christians must disagree with the new morality. Reject homosexuality but accept the person. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 032 - CAPITAL PUNISHMENTGOD HIMSELF authorized retaliation laws of punishment for crimes, administered by duly appointed authority (government) as part of divine establishment that insure freedom, security and peace within a national entity which provides precedence for remembering the victim. GOD HIMSELF instituted government for man [Genesis 9:5-]. He authorizes capital punishment as a consequence to the crime of murder [Genesis 9:6a]. The divine reason-viewpoint for the implementation of the death penalty is stated in Genesis 9:6 b and James 3:8b. The IMAGE OF GOD and the LIKENESS OF GOD refers to soul life of every person, therefore, he who unjustly kills a man dishonor God-the Creator of all life. All form of government and types of leadership comes from God [Romans 13:1], which authority has been given and delegated by God to carry out the purpose for which He established it [Daniel 2:20-21]. Satan is the author of rebellion, and all forms or resistance against established authority. Those who opposed any established authority has opposed the word of God and they will receive the condemnation upon themselves [Romans 13:2]. The national government is justified to sentence a criminal guilty of heinous crime to die by execution for several reasons: God has duly appointed the national government to penalize murderers to die under the force of the law [Leviticus 24:17, 22]. The government of the people was instituted by God to insure freedom, security and peace [Genesis 9:5-6, James 3:9b, Daniel 2:20-21]. The criminal must be eliminated for people to live in peace and security. The government is responsible for the enactment and enforcement of laws and including the capital punishment. The criminality will increase if the guilty criminals are not executed. WHOEVER SHEDS MAN’S BLOOD, BY MAN (GOVERNMENT) HIS BLOOD SHALL BE SHED (CAPITAL PUNISHMENT) [EXODUS 21:23, 12]. God is perfectly just and righteous. All men are equally sinful before God. All men are under the SENTENCE OF JUDGMENT [2 Corinthians 1:9], so, all men are criminals in the eyes of God. JUDGMENT (KRIMA which meanssentence) is a decision passed on the sin of others. KRIMA is especially designated the sentence from God toward men [2 Peter 2:3]. KATADIKE is the divine judicial judgment for a person sentence to eternal damnation by the ONLY TRUE AND PERFECT JUDGE [Acts 25:15]. Since criminal instinct is present in every human being, therefore, all men are under condemnation, unless acquitted by the grace of God [Romans 8:1]. Men will go to hell because they have rejected the grace of God, not because they are criminals found guilty by the human court. Believers are mandated to exercise virtue impersonal love towards all men criminal or not. Study also: Exodus 21:12, 23-24, 22:20, Deuteronomy 13:4-5, 17:8-12, 22:20, 22:25-27. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 033 - STO. NINOSTO. NINO according to traditional religion is the representation of Jesus Christ true humanity. STO, NINO is not the representation of the Lord Jesus Christ BUT ONLY THE ASSUMED REPRESENTATION because of the following reasons: ITS IDENTITY IS UNCLEAR. There are too many forms from here and around the world. Almost every community has their own version- representing a different a people. JESUS CHRIST DID NOT REMAIN A CHILD. It is ridiculous to say that the Lord Jesus remained a little boy. JESUS CHRIST DID NOT MINISTER to man not until after His baptism or when He was 30 years old. CHRIST DID NOT HAVE MANY FACES like the STO. NINO scattered around us. Even the unsold plastic dolls in the market are being converted into STO. NINO. JESUS CHRIST IS NOT A SAINT. Saint is a living regenerated believer [Colossians 1:1, Philippians 1:1-2], once a sinner before God but by faith received the free gift of salvation. IT IS TREATED irreverently. They just put it anywhere- inside the motel rooms, karaoke bars, sauna cubicles, drinking saloons, etc. GRO, swindlers, Drugs pushers are wearing tiny icons of STO. NINO. IT HAS BEEN COMMERCIALIZED. Some barter it for wrappers of soaps, toothpaste, etc. They are peddling it and even available for installment. STO. NINO is nothing but superstition because of so many baseless claimed attributed to it. Its various form is often similar to pagan deities. Its miracles are often doubtful and ridiculous contrary to the will and plan of God. Its miracles are often inconsistent with God’s perfect character and way of doing things. Its miracles are not the act of God for it did not point to the way of salvation [Job 1:16, 19, 2:7, Rev. 13:1-4, 11-15]. Its messages leads the blind devotees astray and depriving them with the precious truth of God’s Word [Deuteronomy 13:1-3]. It does not point to the true salvation but misleading the people. Like all the other icons, it is nothing but the worship of pagan gods [Exodus 20:4-5, Acts 17:29-30, Psalm 135:15-18, Revelation 21:8]. ALL THE VENERATION, ADORATION, PRAISE, WORSHIP, AND OFFERING ON STO. NINO IS SACRIFICES TO DEMONS AND NOT TO GOD [1 Corinthians 10:20]. It is ridiculous that even the street kids have their very own STO. NINO DE PALABOY. The STO. NINO is not cute and harmless because it is an object of demonic worship and household god representing the Devil. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS NOT THE STO. NINO, but Satan in his cutest form. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 034 - THE LAYING OF HANDS THE PHRASE “laying of hands” on somebody could mean: “to kill, to murder or to destroy” [Genesis 22:12, 37:22, Nehemiah 13:21, Job 9:33]. ANOTHER meaning of the Hebrew SHALACH or “laying of hands” is to attack the enemies [Joshua 8:19, 26]. The phrase lying of hands was used in reference to Jacob’s ritual ceremony of blessing the heirs (when the grantor was dying). The laying of hands originated from the Egyptians not from the believers of Old Testament. In the Tabernacle, the laying of hands [CAMAK in Hebrew] was used as a symbolic substitution of priestly act designed to transfer sin from man to animals sacrificed at the altar [Leviticus 3:2,8,13, 4:4, 15,24, 6:12, 16:21, 24:14]. The laying of hands were used in the Old Testament for ordination of kings and prophets, adapted by the New Testament early believers for ordination of missionaries- men who were spiritually mature and capable of leading a local church [Acts 13:1-3, 1 Timothy 4:14, 5:22]. The laying of hands was used during the early Church Age by apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ in relation to their ministry of healing the sick [Mark 16:18, Luke 20:19] as authentication of their apostolic calling. Since the lying of hands was common practices of the Old Testament prophets, there fore it was widely accepted by the unbelieving Jews of the early Church Age [Matthew 9:18, Acts 8:18-19] After the book of Acts, there are no mentioned of laying of hands for the sick, demon-possessed or for the problematic. The prophecy of Mark 16:18 were fulfilled in the apostolic era. The Bible is closed- the Canon is completed. The lesser gifts of the Spirit (tongues, healing and miracles) have already ceased [Hebrew 6:2 1 Corinthians 13:8b]. The sign gifts are for the unbelieving Jews [1 Corinthians 14:1-19] and not for the believers of the Church Age. We are not Jews. There are several principles that we have to remember related to laying of hands. The historical inferior sign gifts are no longer applicable to Church Age. It is doing what God has already stopped. There is no command for us to lay hands to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to rebuke human problems, to anoint or to bless anybody. The laying of hands has no spiritual relevance; it is not a symbol of spiritual truth. The laying of hands is not Biblical doctrine since its authority had already lapsed. The laying of hands is not a symbol of spiritual authority. The laying of hands is an ecumenical practice – now widely circulated among the cults and pagan. Everybody seems using it for his personal benefits. Our priority is not to lay hands but to grow and mature spirituality through consistent study of the Bible doctrine. We are to examine every teaching, every ritual and every practice. We have to investigate every teaching and everything we do in the church- to see if it is Biblical doctrine. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 035 - THE APOCRYPHATHE APOCRYPHA includes 14 books added to the Septuagint and also found in the Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Canon. It came from nowhere 280 after the Hebrew Canon was close. APOCRYPHA means a secret or spurious teaching. It was originally written in Greek [except for some portion of BARUCH, JUDITH, TOBIT and First MACCABEES and ECCLESIASTICUS which were written in poor Aramaic]. We REJECT THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS for several reasons: The Apocrypha was not included in the Canon because of its imperfect and poor historical background and setting. The Lord Jesus Christ did not quote from any book of the Apocrypha. No writer of the Scriptures ever quoted or mentioned anything from the books of the Apocrypha. The Hebrew historian Josephus expressly excluded the Apocrypha books from the list of the sacred writings because they were spurious. The Hebrew historian Eusebius also excluded the Apocryphal books in the list of sacred writings. No mention of the Apocrypha was made in any catalogue of the Canonical books before the 5th century because the Catholics slipped it in during the middle of 5th century. These books were never asserted to be divinely inspired or to possess divine authority in their contents. No prophets were connected with these writings unlike the Old Testament Canon were written by a prophet, either by office or by gift or both. The Apocrypha contained many historical, geographical and chronological errors. It teaches doctrines and upholds practices, which are contrary to the Canon of the Scripture. It teaches prayer and offering for the dead [2 MACCABEES 12:41-46] and the justification of suicide. It teaches the atonement sin and salvation of the soul by almsgiving [ECCLESIASTICUS 3:33, 25-29] and justified the cruelty to slaves. It advocates hatred of the Samaritans, sanctioned lying, encourage magical incantations, it encourage and justified assassination. It teaches the doctrine of purgatory and angelic power for intercession. MODERN APOCRYPHA is a collection of 14 religious books- mostly written within the last hundred years and purporting to add to the revelation of the Canon of the Bible. They claimed to be genuine documents of the Christian antiquity but proven by the scholars as hoax. Some of them are:
There were many attempts to infiltrate the Bible with spurious writings but failed the test of Biblical Canon. The genius of God had protected the Canon of the Scripture by His power and wisdom. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 036 - CHRISTIANITY IS NOT RELIGIONTHE TERM “RELIGION” is never use for Christian but only for false object and subject of worship. There are two words for religion. THRESKEIA used to denotes unreal and deceptive, false reverence [Acts 26:5, Colossians 2:18] DEISSIDAIMONIA used to denotes fear of gods and also refers to superstitious practices [Acts 25:19, James 1:26]. JAMES made a clear boundary line between unreal, deceptive reverence and THEOSEBI that is the reverential worship of God [James 1:27]. All religion is demonstration of false reverence, superstitious practices and pseudo love toward God or gods. Religion is a masterpiece of the devil. He taught man the principles of human religion (superstitious, deceptive, and unreal) and made them accept it with open arms [Genesis 3:5, 4:3-5]. Satan gained great advantage in misleading and deceiving people. Religion is the futile effort of men to reach God. It is trying to find God. It is trying to please God through human means and systems, human standards and self-righteousness. Religion is trying to be good to win God’s favor- trying to gain God’s love and approbation by giving more, doing more, praying more, serving more. Religion is blinded by its arrogance to see the work of Christ from the cross down inside the soul of every maturing believer. Religion lacks the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in leading, teaching, and renewing the heart and mind through Bible doctrine. Religion is blind to see the traps laid by Satan to destroy both the ignorant believers and unbelievers. Satan is loading them into the ecumenical ship ready to sail in the ocean of religious heresies. Religion is a satanic trap to hook all sects and denomination into ecumenical bandwagon preparing them to form the one world UNITED RELIGION of the Great Tribulation. Religion is blind to realized that theirs is another gospel, another Lord, another faith, another Christ. Religion is humanistic in its viewpoint and practices. Man is exalted above God and above the Word of God. It rejects the Bible as the final authority of truth and reality. When religion is oppose by any system or by Christianity, it becomes hostile and antagonistic. When threatened, it exercises intimidation, when uncertain, it emphasizes tradition. When suspicious, it employs interrogation. When corrected, it retaliates by destroying their persecutors. Satan is the author of religion. God is not the author of any religion, sect or denomination. Religion is imperfect work of imperfect man. God is perfect and He demands perfection from imperfect man. That perfection is possible only through the perfect Work of Christ for man. God accepted us based on that perfect Work, not because of what we are or not. God accepted us on the merits of Christ. Our merits are not acceptable because of our imperfection. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 037 - ECUMENISMSATAN is building the ONE WORLD CHURCH [ecumenical church] that will be revealed in its ugliness during the Great Tribulation. Satan aim to enlist all local churches and attach them to ecumenical bandwagon. He has the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES and all the religious sects around the world. The Roman Catholic is now using the ploy of praying for world peace as the bait to trap religious group into this evil and monstrous scheme. THE PRESSURE IS ON. Satan wants to make connection with every local church around the globe (maybe with the help of the internet). THE PRESSURE WILL INCREASE every day until the lord Jesus Christ takes the Church Age believers by rapture. ECUMENICAL is not from God-it is not Scriptural but invented by the Roman Catholic. Ecumenical is a theological term dealing with universality, unity and dominion of the “Christian faith” [Catholic doctrine] and the “Christian church” [the holy Catholic church]. The unity of the ecumenical church is political in nature not spiritual. The universality refers to every kind of doctrine and belief [pagans, cultic, occults, liberal and anything]. The dominion is the revival of the old Roman religion in a world power and absolute dictatorship. The ecumenical church is not concern about beliefs and doctrines of the churches because the anti Christ will disband the One World Church after using it and force it to worship Satan [Revelation 13]. Ecumenism in the seminaries and universities has dethroned God and replaced Him with man. They openly rejects the Word of God, accepts any humanistic viewpoint. They apply evolutionary philosophies to the Bible and Christianity. They are working now toward widespread rejection of the Bible as the Word of God. They reject the divine inspiration and direct revelation from God of the Bible. They reject the accuracy of historical accounts of the Bible, and the miracles as actual events. They claimed that many characters of the Bible did not really exist and nothing but fictitious. ECUMENISM capitalizes on human love toward others. “LOVE YOUR BROTHER” regardless of his views, beliefs, and race, colors, creed, doctrine, and principles in life. They are accusing the fundamentalists as unloving and unchristian because of Biblical separation. Their love is full of hypocrisy because it does operate on the basis of truth and reality. Their acceptance of another person is simply minding your own business. DO NOT MIND OTHERS are translated as love your neighbors. Ecumenicalism is good for many since it appeals to the ego and sinful nature of man. It is well accepted among the nominal Christians because it provides adequate room for surface level peace and goodwill. ECUMENICALISM is a hungry wolf in sheep clothing pretending as lovers of God. It is the tail of the dragon dragging men to hell. What is good in the eyes of men and Satan is not good in the eyes of God. Beware its power of enticement! J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 038 - SCIENCE AND THE BIBLETHERE IS NO precise data and tools for determining the geological age of the planet earth. Carbon and radiometric dating system are based on widely divergent and speculative interpretations of data that which cannot be verified. The Bible was not designed to be a scientific textbook, however, actual scientific data recorded in the Bible is limited but accurate. No conflict exists between what the Bible says in the original text and the correct interpretation of natural science or of the natural phenomena by science. God sustains all scientific laws and all phenomena which science seeks to categorize and classify. The purpose of the Bible is to communicate God’s spiritual law and spiritual phenomena. However, the infallibility of Scripture extends to every subject touched on by the Bible not only spiritual truth. Whenever a conflict exists between scientific theory or principle and what the Bible says the Bible is always true and right. When a conflict arises between a historical interpretation and what the Bible says the Bible is always right. Wherever the Bible comments on science – science must agree with the Bible for it is the truth. The Bible is not required to agree with science. Since God existed before science. God’s Word is the point of reference and authority, not science. God created all so called scientific laws and sustains all the laws in the entire universe. The term SCIENTIFIC LAWS is a misnomer because science does not develops or enforces these laws. The so-called scientific laws are based on the statistical assumption that the universe, which operates according to fixed norm, will continue to do so. SCIENCE can observe, classify, describe and apply these normative operations but is powerless to control them. A DISTINCTION must be maintained between illegitimate scientific speculation and legitimate observation. Only God in His grace can guarantee the continuation of these laws [Colossians 1:16]. KNOWN SCIENTIFIC LAWS and phenomena which man has been able to observe, classify, and apply depend entirely upon the faithfulness of God. The Lord Jesus Christ at the present time guarantees the continuous operation of every bona fide scientific law [Colossians 1:17, 2 Peter 3:4-5]. The entire human race with the entire creation, the stability of out environment and the condition of the atmosphere depends on the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect will for the imperfect man. JESUS CHRIST holds the universe together by the power of His Word. He postpones eternity to give the members of the human race ample time and opportunity to appropriate the grace of God [2 Peter 3:9]. That opportunity begins at the moment of faith in Christ and continues throughout the believer’s life in the world. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 039 - THE BIBLE AND EVOLUTIONSCIENCE CANNOT CONTRADICT THE BIBLE because (the Bible) is the very foundation of all Truth. Physical matters are not reality but spiritual matters. The Bible is the only prolific source of all truth. Science is the systematized knowledge of truth and from where we can identify every truth. Science is not the source of truth, the Bible is. The Bible teaches that physical realm is not all of reality, but that is coexistence with a spiritual realm [John 4:24, Revelation 16:24]. The physical realm is permeates by the spiritual realm [Ephesians 6:12]. The physical and spiritual realm interacts on each other [Matthew 17:19-20, John 13:2]. The ultimate source of all knowledge and power is the spiritual realm not the physical realm [Psalm 111:10, Matthew 28:18, Romans 11:33-36]. Most of the men who laid the very foundations of our modern science were also men of Biblical faith like GALILEO, COPERNICUS, FRANCIS BACON, JOHN NEWTON, KEPLER and others. BUT THERE WERE also stupid men who wanted to be known as scientists and inventors. Their works were merely just hypothesis and theories that can- not be proven. Foremost of this is the Darwin’s theory of evolution. THE “PROOFS” of evolution will dissolve under scientific process of investigation. The hypothesis of the evolution is still a hypothesis. EVOLUTION cannot account for the first atom. It cannot explain how the original matters were changed from homogeneous to a moving and living one. It fails to give clear explanation how the present universe is a cosmos and not chaos. It fails to explain how life came from non-living original form. It fails to explain the leap from botanical world to that of animals. It fails to explain the leap from animal world to that of man. It fails to explain the law of continuity-why does a dog produce a dog and not an evolutes specimen. It fails to explain the present distribution of matters on numberless stars, planets, and moons in numberless galaxies. These are but few of the questions that the Darwinians have no answer. Science is something that can be proven, categorized, applied and supported by facts and data. It evolution cannot produce proofs, facts and data the laboratories cannot analyze, categorize and apply, then it is just a theory. Maybe, it is better to call it as: Darwin’s Fairy Tales of Evolution. Let us try some practical questions: Have you seen anything evolves from something? Have seen something that changes it form? Why the dogs are still the dogs? Be careful! The traditional religion have already approved and adapted the theistic evolution theory as church dogma. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 040 - DIVINE PROTECTIONTHE COSMOS DIABOLICUS (the world system) is a very dangerous place for the regenerated believers. Our short or momentary stay before going home to our final destination is described, as “THE DAYS ARE EVIL”. THE DAYS ARE EVIL applies only to believers living according to the will, plan and purpose of God. The days are evil for the growing believers because Satan is the god of this world. The days are evil described the condition of the world since the fall of man [Ephesians 6:11], and where the scheming of the devil focus on the advancing believers. GREATER AFFLICTIONS and sufferings awaits the advancing saints –yet, they are to be completely preserved [1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 3:2-3, 2 Timothy 4:18]. God in His perfect justice may deliver the saint physically through or from disaster or pains, or His sovereignty may allow the death. God will deliver us, not necessarily from suffering but out of the midst of suffering [1 Corinthians 10:13]. For a believer with nurturing relation-ship with God and in constant fellowship with Christ, any place is a safe place. The only safe place in the world is in the center of God’s will. Outside the will and plan of God is the most dangerous situation for any believer wandering restlessly in the world [Ephesians 4:27]. The indwelling Holy Spirit in the life of every believer guarantees the physical protection- meaning to say, physical death will come in the perfect time. It will come in perfect time, neither early nor late. Divine protection is absolute. However, the believer cannot endanger himself and them ask God to rescue him. Divine protection is lifted up by the time the believer has to depart from the world as schedule [Hebrews 9:27]. God’s timing, manner and place of the believer’s physical death are perfect. There is no crisis or disaster in life, which God is unable to deliver the saint, but He will not deliver us from all of it. If deliverance is not in God’s perfect plan –it is because God has a perfect purpose for the dead of the suffering believer. Basic steps for handling the crisis: Hand over the problem or situation to the Lord [Psalm 55:22]. Accept the crisis as a test from the Lord [Isaiah 28:29]. Counter the pains with the fact that God has a perfect knowledge of everything. Continue to be occupied with the Lord from the doctrine in your souls [Psalm 37:4-5]. Continue to be undisturbed by worry and fear [Isaiah 26:3-4]. Continue to depend on God-rest in Him. Confidently be secured in His infinite power [Psalm 57:2-3]. Never threaten by human power but continue to put your trust in divine power. A believer with Bible doctrine in his soul can be happy in a lion’s den while the immature believer can be miserable in a comfortable palace. God’s plan for the believer continues regardless of his situation, failures and mistakes. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 041 - FREEDOM OF RELIGIONGOD HONORS the individual privacy and free will decision. God will never stop or prevent you from doing what you want to do. He will never interfere with your free will decision. FREEDOM OF RELIGION is a matter of individual volition expressing its options. FREEDOM however demands that practicing religion be a matter of individual options rather than be mandated by the state. A LEADER is wrong to force his subjects to worship a false god. In the same way, it is wrong to demand that they worship the true God. GOD NEVER needs the sponsorship of any leader or state. Alliance of religion and state constraints invariably cloud the issue of the Gospel. A STATE sponsored religion is anti-biblical. Believers in mistaken zeal should never promote or uphold legislation whereby the government supports Christianity. This is not a legitimate function of the government. Christianity becomes anti-biblical when they support a candidate or a party. This is not the legitimate function of a local church. There is nothing spiritual about the believers supporting their most preferred candidate [1 Samuel 8:6-7]. THE BELIEVER’S SERVICE to God and to his nation never depends on his political, economic or academic status or that of his nation but on the great faithfulness and grace of God. Anybody can work out his success story but real success comes from the Lord. Promotion is from the Lord not from self-effort. FROM THE SAME faithfulness and grace of God that set up presidents, kings, establishes nations – He also abolishes empires, removes presidents and leaders that no longer fulfill God’s purpose [Daniel 2:21]. Regenerated Christians should never allow the state or any person (political or spiritual leaders) to dictate their spiritual life convictions [Daniel 3:18, 1 peter 4:19]. WHEN HUMAN POWER persecutes true believers- Divine power protects the saints in relaxed mental attitude [Psalm 33:9-11]. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity- man’s weakness is God’s showcase of strength. God can turn cursing into blessing when the believer refuses to compromise. God cannot honors any compromise of divine standard [Daniel 3:30, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 31:15, 37:1-10]. The welfare of a nation does not depend on political leaders but on God alone. The function of the local church is to proclaim the Gospel not to ride on politics. The function of the state is to rule the people by legislation not to intrude with the private volition of the saints. There is nothing spiritual about supporting good beats in the politics. Supporting political party or individual candidate as “spiritual endorsement” is good milking cows for greedy pastors and religious leaders. GOD RESPECTS the free will decision of every individual while some are playing little god in the lives of others. IT IS YOUR DECISION –IT IS YOUR LIFE! J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 042 - SPEAKING OF TONGUES SPEAKING OF TONGUES is no longer a legitimate spiritual gift in our present age for several reasons: The only purpose of speaking of tongues as revealed in the Scripture is as sign for the unbelieving Jews. [Study Acts 2:5-8, 36,41 10:9-48, 19:1-7, Mark 16:15-18]. The gift of tongues was not meant to continue throughout the history of the Church [Study 1 Corinthians 13 & 14]. The apostle Paul did not mention or name the gift of tongues in his two last epistles [Romans 12 and Ephesians 4]. Tongues are not the sign of baptism of the Spirit because all believers have been baptized with the Spirit at the point of salvation [Study 1 Corinthians 12 & 13]. Those who ask for it do not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and there is no command for us to seek for it. Tongues are not the biblical method of Christian growth. Tongues are never mentioned after 1 Corinthians. We can grow only through continues intake of Bible doctrine. We cannot use the Corinthians church as model for speaking of tongues when in reality Paul corrected their deceitful mistakes. Tongues are not exclusive domain of Christianity. Majority of the pagan and cultic religion practice the speaking of tongues. Speaking of tongues is not the mark of spiritual maturity. Christ commanded Christians to bear fruits that remain [John 15:16]. Tongues are temporal gifts and now a history [1 Corinthians 13:8]. Speaking of tongues is not church edifying spiritual gift but only the one speaking [1 Corinthians 14:14]. Speaking of tongues is not the basis of Christian unity. The basis of our unity is spiritual- that is Christ and His Work on the cross for the entire humanity. We are united in the Blood of Christ and not by political and mystical unity invented by men. Speaking of tongues in the Scripture is not babbling of unknown words but well understood by those who heard it [1 Corinthians 14]. Speaking of tongues is divisive. It has buried many local churches that broke apart. Instead of building up- it divine and destroy. Speaking of tongues is diverting the focus of the believers away from God and away from His Bible doctrine. Only Christ is the center of our spiritual life and ministry not tongues. Speaking of tongues is a minor and unimportant doctrine that does not have basis for our generation. The Lord Jesus Christ did not command us to speak in tongues. There is no verse in the Bible that command to practice speaking of tongues Speaking of tongues is dangerous since the deceitful spirits are using it for advancement of satanic lies [1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12] Speaking of tongues is not the proper way to glorify Jesus Christ but through consistent study of Bible doctrine and spiritual advancement toward spiritual maturity. We glorify God by receiving blessings that results from spiritual maturity. Speaking of tongues is the least among the spiritual gift. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 043 - ALCOHOLISMDRINKING alcoholic beverage is an ancient issue in the human race. The Bible issued neither a license to drink nor a command to abstain. The Bible comments on the correct and incorrect use of alcohol along with its many variables. ALCOHOL is toxic, destructive, a curse and detrimental when used as escape from reality or for licentious purposes. ALCOHOL is a blessing, helpful, and beneficial when used for various medicinal purposes. It is good for the dying person when used as depressant to produce sedation [Proverbs 31:6-7] It improves blood circulation and it stimulates the appetite of the older person [Psalm 104:15, 1 Timothy 5:23]. The condemnation of drunkenness not the alcohol itself or the drinking per se is classified as sin [Proverbs 23:30, Isaiah 5:11, Romans 13:13]. HABITUAL drunkenness incapacitates anyone, rich and poor alike, but especially those in temporal authority like government, military leadership and other authority [Proverbs 31:4-5]. Those in spiritual authority like pastors and deacons [1 Timothy 3:8]. SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLES IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE THAT APPLIED TO DRINKING: The principle of expediency: The saint should never drink where drinking becomes an issue to the unbeliever. The principle of love: The believer should refrain from drinking so as not to lead weaker believer astray. The principle of supreme sacrifice: The believer is warned not to drink when his life is completely dedicated to a specific church ministry, mission, and spiritual leadership. The principle of liberty: The believer must exercise his spiritual freedom to drink or not to drink with respect to Bible doctrine. Some adverse effects of alcohol:
Drunkenness is just a waste of money, time and energy. It is classified as sin in the Bible. Avoid the danger of being filled with alcohol that destroyed your focus and concentration on Christ [Ephesians 5:18]. The habitual drunk believer fails to use the grace provision for learning and applying Bible doctrine. He fails to use the divine resources for spiritual growth and maturity. Christ did not advocate social drink when He turned water into wine [John 2:1-11] since wine was part of their daily meal. The real issue is WHO AND WHAT CHRIST IS and not the wine. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 044 - IDOLATRYIDOLATRY is the giving of honor, worship, adoration and veneration, any form of devotion, reverence, respect, and praise to any person or anything other than God. IDOLATRY is anything that occupies the FIRST PLACE in a person’s KARDIA or soul and succeeds to dislodge God’s Lordship to be the seat of a creature or something. An idolatrous act is committed when a person exhibits respect, admiration, adulation, devotion or love for some body or something, taking the place of Christ in the life of a person. IDOLATRY is as old as the Devil. The modern form of idolatry is nothing but the revival of some ancient forms. The first to be mentioned in the Bible as temple of idolatry was built by Nimrod 400 years after the flood [Genesis 10:8-12, 114]. The god of Nimrod was also worshiped in some other names as MARDUK, SHAMASH, BAAL, BUL and BEL. During the reign of NABOPOLASSAR, the emperor of the New Babylon, the city known for its 53 temples of gods and 180 altar to SUN-god ISTAR. In the Old and New Testament Israel, the gods of EGYPTIAN, BABYLONIAN, ASSYRIAN CHALDEAN, MEDES, MACEDONIAN, PERSIAN, GREEKS and ROMANS took various modification and changes. New names and facelifts were added. Several religious sects appeared in Israel with ancient gods with new names and in their new forms. It was the Romans who internationalized many of the ancient gods in their new forms and names. For example, the Babylonian god BAAL was also called MARDUK, BEL, and BUL by the Israelites. The CHALDEANS called it SHAMASH. The Greeks called it ZEUS or JUPITER. The Romans called it ST. PETER. The Babylonian god ASHTORETH was renamed ASTARTE by the Greeks and Romans. The SIDONIAN (Nineveh) called it ASHTOROTH. The PHONICIAN called it THE LADY OF THE SEA, while the Romans called it THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. 4 TYPES OF MAN-MADE IMAGES:
For God’s commandments concerning idolatry, study Exodus 20:4-5, and Deuteronomy. 5:6-9, and also Isaiah 45:20. For God’s distress call against the act of idolatry, study Deuteronomy 4:16-20, 29:16-17, Leviticus 19:4, 26:1, Ezekiel 22:3-4, Galatians 5:20-21. Studying the following text will be a great help for refuting the teaching and practice of idolatry: Isaiah 44:9-20, 45:16, Jeremiah 10:1-15, Hosea 8:4, 13:2, Romans 1:17-22, Ezekiel 14:6, Acts 17:29, Colossians 3:5 and Revelation 21:8. IDOLS ARE NOTHING and the worship of idols is actually the worship of Satan behind the idols [1 Corinthians 10:20-21]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 045 - HOUSE VISITATION The Greek verb which was translated into English as TO VISIT, which means to inspect, to look upon or to exercise oversight. It signifies four things:
VISITATION - EPISKOPE, that could means INSPECTION by God for the purpose of rewarding, blessing [1 Peter 2:12], or punishing, or for the judgment His people for their deeds. There are two primary Divine visitations –FIRST: the visitations of God for the purpose of blessing the believer [Genesis 50:24, Ruth 1:6]. SECOND: The visitation of God for the purpose of punishment [Jeremiah 5:9 and Lamentations 4:22. Jesus Christ visited (inspected) the homes of his disciples FOR ONLY ONE PURPOSE and that is to preach the Word of God. His visitation was to preach the Gospel and the Word of God- NOT TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO ATTEND SUNDAY SCHOOL OR worship service. THE HOMES were often the venues of His proclamation of Gospel since there were no church building for preaching and teaching the Word of God. The only purpose of house visitation is for preaching and teaching the Word of God –not for raising funds. The apostle Paul visited homes for the purpose of preaching and teaching the Word of God. Today, in areas where we have church building as the proper venue for preaching and teaching Bible doctrine, our gathering and coming for fellowship is a matter of free will volition [Hebrews 10:24-25]. We are responsible to exercise our volition. Every believer is under obligation and responsibility for him self to grow and mature spiritually. Because we are mandated by the Word of God not to neglect our gathering for the fellowship in the Word-there is no need to invite the members. House visitation is for the physically sick and afflicted church members who cannot come to church venue- not for lazy and negative volition church members. The pastor and the church leaders are not mandated by God’s Word to keep visiting the church members in routine basis. The New Evangelicals not the Lord Jesus Christ or any of His disciples invented House visitation. They are using it for monkey business [2 Timothy 3:1-6]. Fetching church members to attend the regular worship services is like forcing a bull to drink water when it is not thirsty. Visiting female church members in unholy hours in unholy situation is very dangerous for any pastor. Those who are ignorant of Bible doctrine and especially the emotional are very fun of visitation because they feel accepted and recognized. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 046 - MODERN DAY PROPHETS400 YEARS before the birth of Christ (400 B.C.) no true prophets of God appeared for the following reasons: The entire Old Testament has been written and its books were made available as guide for God’s people. It was God’s will that a period of about 400 years should lapse between the prophecies of the Messiah and His actual (first) coming. The cessation of New Testament prophecy came when this portion (NT) of God’s Word was completed in 69 A.D. The completion of the Canon of the New Testament explained the absent of prophecy in the post-Canon Church Age. In the early Church Age, men were called prophets only in the extended sense of presenting the people of God truths received from careful study of the Bible doctrine. Not truth received by direct revelation from God. PURPOSES OF PROPHECY in the Old Testament:
TEST FOR OT PROPHETS:
FALSE PROPHETS were men predicted or prophesied in the name of a false god or idol [Jeremiah 2:8, 23:13]. False prophets are men who falsely claimed to receive messages from the Lord [1 Kings 22]. False prophets are men who ceased to be true prophets of God because of material benefits they gained or because of compromise with false and twisted doctrine they upholds [1 Kings 13]. False prophets are teaching another Jesus and another salvation. They have another faith and another gospel. They glorify and exalt men above God. They honor men above the Lord. The modern day false prophets are worse than the Old Testament false prophets in the sense that they are more greedy, devious, wicked in many aspects. They are excellent deceiver and liars that their very words are regarded as the word of God. YES INDEED! We have prophets today and they are 100% false prophets of Satan, men who reverse the Word of God for their own gains. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 047 - ANTICHRISTS & ANTICHRISTANTICHRIST refers to a person who denies Jesus Christ as God and Savior of all men. The term is found only in John’s epistles, which can mean: AGAINST CHRIST one who opposes Christ or INSTEAD OF CHRIST –one who assumes the guise of Christ. There is a great difference between ANTICHRIST and ANTICHRIST. ANTICHRIST refers to the various forerunners of the Antichrist himself. There are four categories of antichrists in the world today: A PERSON WHO IS AGAINST CHRIST refers to anyone who rejected Christ from personal conviction, deceived by erroneous doctrines, evil scheming or enticed by antichrists movements. They are antagonistic, negative and critical toward God and His plan of grace. They are enslaved by established and legalistic religion. They are enslaved by some distorted idealism, church rituals and traditions, or by demonic power. A PERSON WHO PROFESS TO KNOW GOD BUT REJECTS CHRIST refers to the professing believers without true relationship with God. They are the wolves in sheep clothing, replacing Christ with another Jesus. They replaced Bible doctrine with another gospel, and the true salvation with another faith. They are enslaved to humanistic social gospel. They accept the secularization of the church with all kinds of modern and liberal humanistic views. They are open to ecumenism, liberalism, and to all kinds of new teachings. The local churches are infiltrated with their new ideology without knowing it. A SAVED PERSON WHO IGNORES THE LORDSHIP OF CHRIST in his life [1 John 2:8-11] refers to carnal believer who ignores the Lordship. They are ignorant of Bible doctrine and always running ahead of God. They are walking against the will of God in every way and all the way. They reject the plan of God and substitute it with their own plan. A PERSON WHO CLAIMED TO KNOW CHRIST BUT OPENLY OPPOSES HIM refers to those who made decision to reject and replace Christ with someone else. They are the religious leaders who are deceiving and misleading people. They are satanic emissaries who hinder the preaching of the true Gospel and persecute believers. THE ANTICHRIST will appeared during the Great Tribulation and refers to the evil power that already operates anticipatively of the Antichrist [1 John 4:3]. He is the first Beast [Revelation 13:1-10], the man of sin [2 Thessalonians 2:3-4]. He is the false Christ of the Great Tribulation who will not deny the existence of Christ, but will trade upon the very expectation of Christ Second coming, affirming that he is the true Christ. He is Antichrist theologically because he will claim to be God himself [2 Thessalonians 2:4]. He is Antichrist politically because he will attempt to rule the whole world. He is Antichrist satanically because he will use and prosper in satanic power. The ANTICHRISTS could be anybody who reject and ignore Christ. The Antichrist is one and only person of the Tribulation whose triple imperfection is symbolize by 666 [Revelation 13:18]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 048 - APOSTASYTHERE ARE 5 categories of APOSTASY (APOSTASIA: falling away) in the Scripture: FALLING AWAY AS TO REJECT THE PERSON OF CHRIST (1 John 2:19, 4:6) refers to a person who does not depart from where he is, but standing away – having chosen from the beginning to stay away, not to believe instead of believing. This refers to those who would reject Christ not to the saved persons who would depart [2 Thessalonians 2:3, Acts 21:21]. FALLING AWAY AS IN LIVING A LIFE OF SIN THAT DENIES THE FAITH. This is in reference to believers who have been enlightened, tasted the goodness of the Lord but turn away from faith. It involves the deliberate shifting of the KARDIA from partial obedience to total disobedience. The issue here is not salvation but the lost opportunity to spiritual maturity [Hebrews 6:4-8] It is IMPOSSIBLE TO RENEW THEM AGAIN TO REPENTANCE. It indicates several things: The statement is an unclear translation of a Greek philosophical language. The believer cannot loss his salvation. For it is based on the essence of God not on wavering faith [2 Timothy 2:11-13]. Our salvation is the finished Work of God, there is nothing to add and there is nothing to change. The believer in this context decided NOT TO REBOUND or changes his mind. God respect that decision and execute the divine discipline of SIN UNTO DEATH [Hebrews 10:26, 1 Corinthians 11:28-32]. APOSTASY will cause the execution of painful SIN UNTO DEATH [2 Peter 2:20-22] against the carnal believer. SIN UNTO DEATH means the painful preservation of the soul, but the destruction of the body [1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20]. FALLING AWAY AS IN TIMES OF SUDDEN MATERIAL PROSPERITY [1 Timothy 6:9-10] refers to immature or carnal believer who have been engulfed with the blessing of the world system, and deliberately choosing to fall away from faith. The believer finds “happiness” in his prosperity, success, power, wealth and glory. The believer thinks that he has find security in the material things. The believer in this category will rebound after God has removed his most treasured wealth and success. FALLING AWAY AS WHEN UNDER THE GREAT PERSECUTION [Matthew 24:9-13] refers to persecution under the Great Tribulation. FALLING AWAY FROM DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT BIBLE TEACHING [John 6:60,66] refers to those who cannot accept the truth of the Scripture, both the unbelievers and believers. The unbeliever does not fall away from the faith because they are outside the plan and will of God. The so-called BACKSLIDING is NEVER falling away from the faith BECAUSE OF SOMEONE’S character or evil deeds but BECAUSE OF HIS NEGATIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE toward God and toward His Word. We do not fall away because of someone but because of our negative mental attitude and rejection of the truth. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 049 - THE DOCTRINE OF TIME GOD IS LIFE and His life is eternal life [Jeremiah 10:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:19]. There never was a time when God did not live. The eternal God is the caused and origin of time. He invented time for man. God is not subject to time. TIME IS FINITE, consisting of duration and succession. Eternity is infinite, it has duration without succession. Eternity is infinite duration. GOD IS INFINITE and has duration only. Man is finite-having duration and succession while in the world. The human life is but a temporal duration and succession. GOD TRANSCENDS TIME as well as all creation. God always accomplishes in time WHAT HAS TO BE DONE in time as part of plan of grace. There is nothing to add or subtract from the plan of God. The plan of God for man in time includes the variations of blessing and adversity. TIME IS A LINE OF PROCEDURE as far as man’s perspective is concerned. Eternity is beyond human natural perception –since God is not the subject of time [Deuteronomy 32:40, Psalm 90:2, 102:27, 1 Corinthians 2:7]. God uses time for the benefits and advantage of the believers in the world. Our eternal life has two phases: First: ETERNAL LIFE IN TIME. God gives us one day at a time to live. A portion of which belongs to Him for our learning of his Word. Second: ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN. By the effects of ultimate sanctification all believers’ will received their glorified resurrected bodies designed for eternal fellowship with God. 5 REASONS WHY GOD INVENTED TIME:
The believer must walk as a WISE MAN and make use of their time by consistent study of Bible doctrine [Ephesians 5:15-16]. Basic giving is GIVING OF TIME in true worship, service, prayer, grace giving and in others expression of worship. Since the generosity and faithfulness of God is giving us time, therefore we must give time back to God. REDEEMING THE TIME or making the most of your time is a mental attitude of the believer dominantly occupied with the person of Jesus Christ- It is using God’s given time TO KNOW GOD THROUGH HIS BIBLE DOCTRINE. It is the intrinsic ability of the soul saturated with Bible doctrine to keep focus on Christ. It is not from the natural determination or human will or sincerity to know God but the over-flowing virtue personal love toward God. Redeeming the time is a choice between enjoying the pleasure of the world [miseries] and the pleasure of knowing Christ [Ephesians 5:16a and Colossians 4:5b]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 050 - FALSE PROPHETS / TEACHERSTHEY REJECT the authority of the Scripture [1 Peter 1:12, 2 Peter 1:20-21]. Some agreed with the infallibility of the Scripture but honors their religious leaders above the word of God. Some partially rejected the authority of the Word and at the time recognizes the authority of their leaders above the Scripture. Some totally reject the authority of the Word and accept nothing but the authority of their leaders or gods. THEY REJECT HERMENEUTICS or the science that deals with the principles. They interpret the Scripture without going through the process of historical, categorical and exegetical studies [1 Corinthians 2:6-8, 10-14]. They interpret the Scripture from ignorance [1 Timothy 1:7, Hosea 4:6-9, James 3:1-5] and from arrogance [Philippians 1:15-17, 1 Timothy 5:22, 2 Timothy 3:6-7].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 051 - THE CROSS OF JESUS The cross (stauros) was instrument of death. Death by crucifixion originated somewhere in the East. Alexander the Great learned of it from the Persians. The SPQR borrowed the idea from the Phoenicians through Carthage and perfected it as a means of capital punishment. The Romans reserved crucifixion for slaves, assassins, and for those who committed heinous crime like rebellion and sedition against the SPQR. Only rarely were Roman citizens subjected to this kind of treatment. Upon receiving the death sentence the condemned person was flogged with Roman’s lashes or a whip loaded with sharp metal, bones and stones. He was then required to shoulder the cross bar upon which he was extended and carry to the place of his crucifixion. At the crucifixion site he was stripped and tied or nailed to the cross bar, which then was fastened to an upright post. A projecting peg gave the condemned a place to sit his feet to relieve the strain on his arms. Death therefore was slow in coming, except when it was hurried by soldiers breaking the crucified man’s leg [John 19:31]. Crucifixion was abhorrent to the Jews [1 Corinthians 1:23, Galatians 3:13], as much to the Romans (Cicero, in Verses 1, 5, 66). The Jews considered crucified men accursed by God [Deuteronomy 21:22-23]. In the New Testament, when the term STAUROS (cross) refers to Jesus Christ the term has both a literal and figurative meaning. Literally, it meant the physical instrument by which Jesus was put to death [John 19:17, 20:25, Matthew 27:35 and 2 Corinthians 13:4]. Figuratively, the cross of Jesus became the mark of God’s redemptive action in history. It was symbolic of the means God employed for releasing into the world a power that is sufficient to save men for good [1 Corinthians 1:18]. Since the cross was reserved for the criminals, it symbolized the sufferings and humiliation Jesus endured with joy for the Royal Family of God [Hebrews 12:2]. It indicates the depths to which He was willing to go to lift up the worst and lowest of men. The cross of Christ also stood as the symbol of God’s unique purpose for Him [Acts 2:23, Matthew 16:21, John 18:11]. The is a metonym for Christ's mission, a symbol both of God the Father will for Jesus Christ and His voluntary submission to the will and purpose of God. In relation to Christ, the literal and the figurative cross has spiritual meaning to us His beneficiaries. There was only one cross where Christ died and the cross that saved us through His death. The cross is just the instruments not the cause and source of redemption. Jesus Christ is the only cause and source of salvation and redemption of the human race. The cross is just like the electric chair or lethal injection today. Wearing a cross as in pendant is like wearing an electric chair. The Lord Jesus Christ did not remain on the cross. He was buried but rose from the death. To depict Him still hanging on a cross is to say that He did not raise from the death and that is blasphemy.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
052 - AN IDOLATROUS CROSSIn one of the military campaign of Israel to free Edom from heathenism, they became impatient of the terrible journey and so they grumbled against God [Numbers 21:4-5]. The Lord sent fiery serpents to bit the Hebrews, so that many of them died. They asked Moses to intercede and the Lord told Moses to make a bronze serpent, mounted it on a standard (a measuring rod) for every one to see. Everyone who was bitten but looked at the bronze serpent did not die [Numbers 21:6-9]. Numbers 21:8 was an exemption of Exodus 20:4 for several reasons: The Hebrews repented prior to the making of the bronze serpent. The purpose of the bronze serpent was to remove the effect of poisonous venom in the bodies of those bitten by snakes. The bronze serpent was to serve as a reminder of their disobedience and the resulting divine discipline that lead to their sin unto death (1 Corinthians 10:9). The bronze serpent was not designed to be an object of worship. No personal faith was involved in the part of those who were bitten, but only obedience to take a look. 100 years later, Hezekiah broke into pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made. For almost 100 years, the Israelites burn incense to it. The idol was called Nehushtan, the name given by King Hezekiah [2 Kings 18:4]. There was no time in the history of Israel that they did not worship idols. They were never free from attraction of idols worship. When they went out of Egypt, they brought the idols of their Egyptian masters and worshipped them [Joshua 24:14, Ezekiel 20:8-18, 23:3-8]. The worship of idols was an abomination to the protagonists of Hebrew monotheism. The prohibition against idolatry found expression in the Decalogue [Exodus 20:4] that forbade the representation of God in any form. The commandment was not an attack to artists or sculptors but on the idolaters. To worship idols to go a whoring after other gods, therefore idolatry was described as adultery [Hosea 1:2,9:1, Ezekiel 16:15-17, 23]. Idolatry degrades both God and man. It denies the existence of the only true God whose glory cannot be adequately captured in any tangible form. A visible representation of the deity tends to restrict a person’s concept of God, for he will base his concept of God, consciously or unconsciously upon the image or idol. The crucifix or cross is lifeless, powerless and cold. It cannot bring hope or real comfort to anyone. It cannot drive away demons or spiritual beings since they are not threaten by material objects that have no power. If Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because the Israelites offered incense to it, then all the assumed representation of the true God must be destroyed also. Anything can be an object of worship whenever a person ascribe to it any form of adoration, veneration, praise, worship, reverence and honor that truly belongs only to God.
053 - CARRYING YOUR CROSS DAILYThe cross was used also of the followers of Jesus Christ, both literally and figuratively. Literally, because crucifixion was a frequent occurrence and the spectacle of condemned men carrying their crosses to the place of execution was very common. Christ’s words about taking up the cross daily and following Him must first of all have been interpreted literally. These words must have been understood as a prediction of the same physical means of death for His disciples. It was fulfilled in the early Church early history [Matthew 23:34, Romans 5:3]. Metaphorically, it was for Christ, the symbol of our sacrifice that His followers must bear the cross [Mark 8:34-35]. To bear the cross means a growing progressive life under the control of the Holy Spirit- that is to reside inside the plan, will and purpose of God. To deny self means to live and function under the power of the Holy Spirit and to reject the leadership or dictatorship of the old sinful nature. The cross means the will, the plan, and the purpose of God for every regenerated believer. The cross is not our personal problems, self-made miseries, poverty, injustice, hardship in life. To take up your cross and deny yourself is to live under the power of the Holy Spirit and to accept the leadership of the Holy Spirit in all aspects of your life while advancing toward the goal of spiritual maturity, which is the will of God. If in the experience of Jesus the cross was a metonym for His mission (death on the cross), the believer is called upon to do the will, the plan, and purpose of God in positive volition. The cross symbolizes His life under the will of the Father. The cross has become a symbol of full obedience and positive volition for the Lord Jesus. The bearing of literal cross has nothing to do with repentance or obedience, humiliation, self-sacrifice of the person doing it for God. God despise it no matter how sincere it maybe. There is no need to imitate the cross- bearing of Christ, because we cannot duplicate His redemptive work on the cross. God the Father accepted His once and for all sacrifice not because of the cross but because of He is the One and only God-Man. If Christ would die today to redeem men, He will die by lethal injection or by electric chair. Then, some people will be wearing a miniature lethal injection or of an electric chair. The cross does not symbolizes Christianity but criminality, not salvation but deception, not the power of God but the power of the Roman Empire. The cross of Calvary must be printed in the soul of every regenerated saint not in any where in the house or building. The house is not a believer Jesus did not die for the house. It nice to see crosses of many variations in the cemetery since it symbolizes death not life. The cross of the believer is to do the will and purpose of God. The cross of every believer is invisible but glorious. The result is far greater than anything in this world the glorification of God in time and in eternity.
054 - CHURCH HOPPINGA NEW TREND IN SELECTING A LOCAL CHURCH has arise not base on doctrinal position but for many humanistic reasons. People hop from one church to another looking for their most perfect church. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH STYLE OF WORSHIP – worship that satisfies their carnal senses, emotion and ego. They ignored the theology of worship as long as it exalts the worshipers rather than exalting God. The name, denomination, doctrines and leadership are not important to many ignorant churchgoers. They go for church that has sensational worship. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH THAT PROMOTES UNITY OF ALL CHURCHES. In the late 70s the compromise of many churches was in the issue of soul winning. In the 80s was in the issue of mission work. Churches then joined and cooperate with the task of soul winning and mission regardless of their doctrinal stands. Today the compromise is the area of unification of all churches that is ecumenism. Churches today are all unified in church style of worship that leaves out Bible doctrine and God. Churches today are music centered and man-centered. Music and the so-called music ministers have dethroned God and have taken away the role of the preacher. Pastors are now taking the role of praise and worship leaders. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH THAT THE ONLY ACCEPTANCE IS ATTENDANCE. The gauge of success in the churches today is big attendance. Big crowd is the bait that keeps people coming back. Big attendance is the center of their success. The gimmick is how to make the attendance keep growing climbing and increasing regardless of teaching and leadership. They care less about Biblical rejection and doctrinal heresy or massive corruption. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH WITH HUMAN LEVEL OF PERCEPTION. People go for easy to understand Bible, easy to understand messages that are always out of context. Such people are hypnotized not think and search the validity of the teaching. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH THAT ENTERTAINS rather than edify the body of Christ. They sacrifice the Truth for performances centered worship. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH WITH MULTI LEVEL PROGRAMS FOR EVERYONE. They have something for everybody. There are endless activities for the whole year. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH WHERE THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE DOING. They are sincere and faithful but they are sincerely and faithfully wrong. If only they will come to the point of realization that what they are doing are wrong. PEOPLE GO FOR CHURCH THAT GIVE WAY TO THE CLAMORING OF THE PEOPLE. The leaders are listening to the demands and requests of the people. PEOPLE GO FOR THE CHURCH WHERE THE PREACHING IS ALWAYS MAN-CENTERED AND GOOD FOR THE EARS. PEOPLE GO FOR THE CHURCH WITH DYNAMIC MAN-PLEASING PASTORS. If the Lord Jesus and the apostles are here today, they will not make the mistake of going to any of these local churches.
055- IDENTIFYING THE CULTSA CULT is a group of people, which claiming to be Christians embraces a particular doctrinal system taught by an individual or group of leaders, which denies one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian faith. A CULT is a deviant group from orthodox Christianity that deviates from one or more of the fundamental teachings of the Christian faith. A CULT is professing Christianity but denies and rejects the major doctrines of the Bible. The cults are professing Christians. Islam and Buddhism for example are not cults because they never claimed or called themselves as Christians. The major cults in our country are the Jehovah’s witnesses, the Mormons, the New Age movement, the Moonies, the Freemasons, the Christian Science, the SDA, the INC, the RC and most of the Full Gospels and Charismatic groups. The cults deny intensely or cleverly some or all of the doctrines of the Christian faith while at the same time profess themselves as Christians. The cults normally have a dogmatic and legalistic leadership structure with a closed ecclesiastical system. The cults have some secrecy about their leadership personalities and people behind, organizational system, dogmatic teachings, and meetings. The cults openly or clandestinely deny salvation by grace through faith alone. They undermine the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ by requiring additional works or co-operation effort. The cults are reducing the absolute authority and sufficiency of Scripture. They expressly accuse the Bible of containing errors. The cults are using the Christian vocabulary-but they mean different things. The cults redefined biblical terms with different meaning for their own gains and benefits. The cults have their own exclusive belief system and practices. The cults by large, rejects and denies the doctrine of eternal punishment. Some says that hell and its fire is not literal fire or punishment. Some are teaching universalism –that all will be saved at the end. Some are teaching annihilation- that God will destroy into nothing. They teach that there is no conscious eternal suffering. The cults emphasis on direct revelation or vision from God and that God spoke to their leaders. The cults claimed signs and wonders in various forms. Some claims that they have raise a large numbers of genuine Christians from the death. The cults put strong appeal to the false knowledge of the future. Because of widespread ignorance of the Bible, many are attracted to the one who seems to know what is ahead and are able to convincingly promote it. The cults thrive on their inaccurate prophecies of the future events. According to the record of the major cults groups, majority of their converts are from mainline denomination churches who are ignorant of the Christian doctrines. Let us take the warning of Hosea 4:6 seriously and take the radical steps to prepare for spiritual battle ahead of us [Ephesians 6:10-18]. We must be vigilance and discerning [1 Peter 4:7-8] proving all things related to our faith [1 Thessalonians 5:21].
056 - MONEY Money was designed as medium of exchange. Coined money was unknown until the middle of 7th century B.C. Before the invention of coins, gold and silver metal was measured in terms of ingots or rings. Croesus king of Lydia was the first to preserve his money in form of coins. When Cyrus the Great captured Lydia, he adopted the concept of coinage. Cyrus spread the concept throughout the Persian Empire and beyond. Monetary transactions are a legitimate function of life. Barter trading was not only burdensome but also inaccurate in transacting the values of goods. Money makes life easier and better in many aspects [Genesis 23:9, Jeremiah 32:44]. Money at this point is a useful servant and effective tool. The giving of money is an expression of the believer’s royal priesthood [Hebrews 13:15-16, 1 Corinthians 16:2, 2 Corinthians 8-9]. It replaces the animal sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament believers. Money has no credit with God meaning to say, the amount we give is not the issue, but the mental attitude of the believer in giving [Proverbs 11:4, 13:7, 11]. The love of money is the head of the materialism lust and slavery to details of life [Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:9, 11]. The desire for money is very perilous for any believer. No amount of money can purchase the salvation of our souls –the Lord Jesus paid for it in full by His blood (that is his spiritual death), so that we can live for God [Mark 8:36-37, 1 Peter 1:8-19]. The love of money can cause the rich man to put his trust in the wrong things [Mark 10:23-25]. It can hinder the unbeliever from seeking salvation [Luke 16:19-31]. The love of money can become part of slavery to the details of life [Ecclesiastes 5:10-6:2]. The love of money will become the root of kinds of evil in the soul of a person [1 Timothy 6:6-12,17-19]. Money can destroy the grace orientation of a believer and contribute to his carnality and reversion of his mental attitude [Acts 5:1-10, James 4:14-5:6]. Money can be a source of deceit [Jude 11, Numbers 22-23]. Money at this point has become a cruel master and a dangerous enemy. Money is the means for happiness. For the believer there is no happiness from the details of life, including money. The believer’s happiness is built on his progressive advancement and growth toward spiritual maturity. Money is never the means for security. Grace provides a security for which there is no substitute [Matthew 6:24-33]. Money has wings and it can fly away. Money cannot guarantee anything. God is the best security in life –He guarantees everything. Few can pass the test of prosperity for money can easily change the mental attitude of a person for the worst. Money cannot buy salvation, happiness love, spirituality, stability, tranquility and the grace of God. Some, instead of using their money and loving people are actually, loving their money and using people.
057 - NATIONAL DEGENERATION DEGENERATION is the process of spiritual deterioration of a nation, which leads to the loss of national identity. God use armed conflicts to execute the highest degree of divine discipline to a nation, which continually reject His plan, purpose and will. THE 5 CYCLES OF DIVINE DISCIPLINE: ONE. National spread of diseases and big percentage of the population are in decaying health status. There is a brisk decline in agricultural prosperity. There is terror and fear everywhere –the government is disabled to control the raising criminality. There is steady death in combat, and loss of personal freedom. TWO. There is a repeated economic recession and depression. The market is falsely stabilizes by the government. There is an increasing personal and national discipline because of continuous negative volition. THREE. There is a widespread violence and breakdown of law and order. There is disorder everywhere starting from the high-ranking government officials to the poorest of the poor. There is also a chain of national disasters. The nation as a whole is very insecure The insecure husbands will result to insecure wives. Insecure parents results to insecure children. Insecure children produce an insecure generation. Insecure generation will demands security from insecure government. Insecure officials will offer entitlements to insecure people. Insecure generation becomes arrogant people who are divorced from divine establishment and divine institutions. Insecure generation becomes slaves to false theories and human viewpoints. They resolve to breaking the family system and trying to replace it with something else of which they are not sure what. They resolve to break the government system and trying to replace it with their unrealistic ideologies. Insecure people dwells in unreality, false hope, and false solutions to human problems. They are often disillusioned and without spiritual integrity. FOUR. The fourth cycle of discipline comprises of military conquest or aggression of foreign or local or both working for the overthrow of the government. There is widespread famine, separation of families, poverty and political dissolution. FIVE. The fifth cycle of discipline comprises of the destruction of a nation due to maximum rejection of Biblical and established principles [study: Deuteronomy 28:15-48, Hosea 1:2-3:5, and Leviticus 26:14-39]. Some factors that contribute for the degeneration of a nation:
058 - EARTHQUAKE EARTHQUAKE is the shaking of the ground resulting from the release of stored elastic strain energy due to sudden deformation of a region of the earth surface. The destruction with which earthquake are commonly associated is caused by seismic waves that travel outward in all direction. The focus of most earthquakes is less than 100 meters below the earth’s surface. The Bible contains numerous facts about earthquake (RA’ASH), the Hebrew word for earthquake, which literally means CRASH [Amos 8:8, 9:5]. The increase of the number of earthquakes is notable: In 1970s – 40,000 earthquakes /year In 1980s – 55,000 earthquakes /year In 1990s – 76,000 earthquakes /year During the Old Testament times, very destructive earthquakes had occurred in the ancient Palestinian area and most part of the Middle East [Joel 3:16, Amos 1:1 and Zechariah 14:5]. The shaking of the earth is always attributed to God [Psalm 68:8] and to His presence [1 kings 19:11] and to His anger [Isaiah 13:13]. There are several scientific reasons for earthquakes like volcanic and tectonic in origin. An earthquake is the sudden release of elastic strain energy in the earth’s crust, caused by movements deep beneath the surface. Earthquakes occur where sizeable stresses build up in the rocks along fault lines, which are associated with movements of the tectonic plates. From time to time, this build up is discharged in zones where the rocks are weakest causing a series of shock waves known as seismic waves. These waves can have high destructive effects on the earth’s surface as they caused the ground to roll or undulate and shake from side to side. Earthquakes are divine instrument of judgment for the unbelievers who are ignoring or has rejected God’s plan of grace [Amos 1:1, 6:9,11]. Earthquakes are instrument of divine discipline for the carnal and backsliding believers who continue to reject the Bible doctrine. Earthquakes will increase in numbers and in magnitude as Rapture and the Great Tribulation are nearing it realization. The worst earthquakes are yet to come during the Great Tribulation. It will break all the record of the strongest earthquakes. Believers must overcome the fear of future crisis and national disasters such as strong earthquakes. Spiritually mature believers are not exempted from the effects of destructive earthquakes. For them it is undeserved suffering or disaster testing for blessing not for destruction. No place on earth is safe from earthquakes. No man-made structure is earthquake proof for the coming series of earthquakes to come. The only secure and safest place in the world against anything is in the center of God’s will, inside the plan and purpose of His grace. God is our refuge in times of “earthquakes”.
059 - THE HOPE OF THE BELIEVERSThus says the Lord, (being) Curse is the man who put his confidence (trust) in man and makes flesh (old sinful nature) his strength, so that his heart (KARDIA kardia) turns away from the Lord, for he shall be like TUMBLEWEED in the desert [Jeremiah 17:5-6]. Blessed (being made happy) is the man whose confidence (trust) is in the Lord and whose confidence (trust) is the Lord [Jeremiah 17:7] Fearful people are like tumbleweeds in the desert, they live in the parched places (stony wastes). Tumbleweeds have no roots, they are vulnerable to any wind that blows, and they are being carried in many different directions. Dried or parched places refers to spiritual condition of the souls that turned away from God. It refers to souls that have chosen to trust in man rather than in God and souls that constantly ignores and rejects the Word of God. It refers to the souls that failed to wait upon the Lord and resolved to seek help from man. Believers who remain negative towards Bible doctrine will not see prosperity (Christian values) when they come [Jeremiah 17:6]. Prosperity in this context refers to spiritual maturity not material wealth. Tumbleweed is a Christian of the world living without God in his life and without Bible doctrine in the soul. Tumbleweed is a person living in fear and insecurity who is always seeking help from just anybody, even from the Devil. Tumbleweed is a person without confidence in God but most of the time confident and dependent on human resources. Most of the unhappiness of believers is the results of direct involvement of his soul in the affairs of the world. His soul is saturated with the things of the world [Ephesians 5:11, Colossians 3:2a]. Genuine happiness is the result of the fortification of the soul with Bible doctrine. Believer with confidence on God is like a tree planted by the water (Bible doctrine), that extends it roots by a stream (metabolized Bible doctrine). Such person will not fear when the heat (sufferings) comes, but its leaves will be green, (progressive spirituality) and it will not be anxious in a year of drought (suffering for blessing), nor cease to bear fruit (reach maturity), [Jeremiah 17:8]. Genuine happiness is sharing the joy and happiness of God, and any other source of happiness from the world will bring nothing but pure unhappiness. Satan is like a partridge that hatches eggs, which he has not laid. He promises happiness that he cannot give [Jeremiah 17:11]. Satan is without integrity, without moral values and without satisfaction and therefore forever unhappy. If Satan is very unhappy, how do you expect him or his world systems to make you happy? To deceive people Satan initiates continuous changes that produce nothing but false hope. Cosmic people (like politicians) can give nothing except change that produce worse results.
060 - INNER HAPPINESS Genuine happiness is a by-product of grace orientation in the life advancing believers. The grace of God fills the emptiness in the soul through the resident EPIGNOSIS. SHARING the happiness of God has nothing to do with our surroundings or circumstances like the details of life. It is the result of knowing God and being saturated with HIS THINKING. The more we know God, the more we know His thinking. The more we know His thinking, the happier we become. Inner happiness is the result of continuous spirituality and spiritual advancement toward maturity of the believer. It is not based on our present conditions, surroundings or situations in life. Inner happiness is based on Bible doctrine resident in the soul called EPIGNOSIS and not on our emotional conditions. Inner happiness is dependent on our relationship with God and our spiritual standing not on our success in life. Our material, physical, sexual, and emotional conditions have nothing to do with true happiness. Inner happiness is not the enthusiastic joy that is trigger by emotions like the so-called HOLY LAUGHTER. Inner happiness is from the grace of God and not from our emotion. Inner happiness is not laughter. Laughter can be empty of happiness. Inner happiness is something you cannot command or dictate to happen. It is the fruit of continuous spirituality and growth of the believer. Inner happiness is something you cannot beg or ask God. The justice of God initiates the inner happiness when the believer has reach the maturity mark. Inner happiness surpasses all human understanding because the believer can possess it even in the midst of severe sufferings and crisis. Inner happiness is a sign of spiritual maturity and spirituality not a sign of outward joy. It is peace within the soul and mind of the believer. Inner happiness is not boasting of self or man but of Christ. Not of the great things you wanted to do for God but of things Christ has done. The unspiritual and immature believer cannot fake the inner happiness that comes from God. No amount of prayer or fasting can produce it. LAUGHTER is not inner happiness for several reasons: Laughter is an expression of ecstatic delight but inner happiness is not an ecstatic experience [Psalm 126:2]. Laughter is often the expression of disdain or derision against somebody rather than expression of inner happiness. Our God is not a God of laughter [Psalm 2:4]. Laughter can be a manifestation of deep sorrow [Proverbs 14:13] or an expression of rebelliousness or defiance of the soul [Job 5:22]. Laughter can be expression of joyful wonder [Genesis 17:17] or disbelief [Genesis 18:12]. Laughter is easy to fake, easy to emote or imitate, it is from man, not from God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
061 - GENUINE REVIVALREVIVAL (anathallo), meaning to flourish anew, used metaphorically for mental change of attitude [Philippians 4:10]. REVIVAL (anazao), meaning to live again, to regain life, used of moral revival from sin [Luke 15:24 and Romans 7:9]. The term revival appear only 4 times in the Old Testament and 5 times in the New Testament is never applied to physical or spiritual death. There is no revival for the unbelievers because you cannot revive the spiritually death person. Man cannot bring about authentic revival because revival can come only from the hand of God. Revival is not something you ask or demand from God. It is something you do as an act of obedience to the word of God. It is the decision of the soul to return back to God. Revival is the work of God. No human being can bring revival in the life of another person, either in particular or by group. Only the person involved is capable of making decision for himself as express in rebound. It is a personal decision. Genuine revival is free from human manipulation, gimmick, trickery, power or utilization of human resources. True revival is free from people’s power, human program and political machinery. Genuine revival is never divorce from the proclamation of the genuine Bible doctrine. There is no genuine revival without Bible doctrine in the souls of the believers. Only Bible doctrine can change the thinking or mental attitude of a person. The sovereignty of God chooses the proper time for the revival of every believer. No human timing or program and arrangement can decide for the time of revival. Collective revival is the result of divine intervention in the life of believers under the state of reversionists who individually decided to rebound after hearing the proclamation of Bible doctrine. Genuine revival comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting and restoring the carnal believers. Revival is for believers under the state of operational and temporal death, not for those under the spiritual death. Revival is the result of rebound and the act repentance and not of prayer and fasting, penance and sacrifice of the rebellious in hearts. The dynamic praise and worship leader has nothing to do with genuine revival because they are not vital for such revival to take effect. The cults of praise and worship has deceived the ignorant of Bible doctrine into believing that music is the key factor in modern day revival. The religious ecstatic experiences of the charismatic are mistaken for true revival. Genuine revival is the work of the Holy Spirit deep in the souls of spiritually sleeping and inactive believers. The Word of God change their mental attitude not the pleading, urging and influence of the preacher or musicians. The Holy Spirit will use the Word of God to change the mental attitude of the believer. Nobody can take that capacity to revive anybody except God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
062 - PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD THE moment a person step out of the kingdom of Satan [Colossians 1:13] and transferred into the kingdom of Christ, he declared war against the devil- his former father [John 8:44]. The believer is never safe in the devil’s world from that time. God provides trained and always available special invisible forces to back up every believer in the world [Hebrews 1:14]. It is improper to always pray for your protection while in trouble waters when God has already settled everything –for the protection of His beloved. Satan chose the planet earth for his place of exile and GHQ during the angelic conflict [Genesis 1:1-2]. The fall of Satan and the resultant angelic conflict led to the desolation of earth. The earth and the whole universe with its laws of operation will not always exist as it does at the present time [2 Peter 3:10-12]. The preservation of the world, including the human race depends exclusively on the omnipotence and immutability of the Lord Jesus [Colossians 1:17]. The reason for the preservation of the world and the human race is to resolve the angelic conflict in human history and to bring many sons into glory [Hebrews 2:10]. Jesus Christ holds the universe together by the power of his Word [Hebrews 1:3]. And especially, He holds the life and welfare of His sons in the hallow of His hand. Divine protection guarantees that any place is a safe place because God is in control of everything – if the believer is in His will, plan and purpose. He postpones eternity, meaning to say that God delays the destruction of the planet earth, to give the human race ample opportunity to appropriate the grace of God [2 Peter 3:3] The earth will be preserved until the end of the millennial kingdom of Christ. No weapon of destruction made by man will demolish the world. During the Great Tribulation, Satanic forces will cause terrible damage to the planet but it will survive. At the Second Coming of Christ, great physical changes on earth’s surface will occur. All the man-made structure will disappear. Christ will dispose all the garbage of the planet. No trace of the old things will be visible. The preservation of the planet is not the priority of the believers. The so-called ecological gospel is nothing but garbage. There are 5 INDESTRUCTIBLE THINGS with permanent values: The soul of every person is permanent and indestructible. The salvation of every person is permanent. Nothing can destroy the everlasting life we receive from God [Romans 8:38-39]. The Word of God-the Bible doctrine in the soul is indestructible [Isaiah 40:8]. The resurrected glorified body of all believers is everlasting [1 Corinthians 15:40, 49-54]. The historical records of spiritually mature believers (including his blessing in time) are indestructible [Philippians 4:3, Psalm 69:28]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
063 - BIBLICAL SEPARATION Several words are important for this doctrine. First, the Greek aphorizo, that means “to mark off by bounds or to put asunder. Second, the word chorizo, that means to separate oneself or to depart. Third, the word apodiorizo, that means to make separation. Biblical separation refers to several things: THE DIVINE ACTION IN CALLING MEN apart for Himself, that separation for God’s own possession [1 Peter 2:9-10] God’s imputation of divine perfect righteousness and eternal life carries with it the privileges of election and positional sanctification. THE DIVINE ACTION IN SETTING MEN apart for the work of the Gospel. They are separated for the ministry [Acts 13:2]. They are called, prepared and send by God not by men [1 Corinthians 1:1, Colossians 1:1], but trained among men [1 Timothy 5:22]. THE DIVINE JUDGMENT UPON THOSE who would reject Christ for eternal separation from God [Matthew 13:49-50, 23:32-33]. THE DIVINE COMMAND TO SEPARATE FROM UNBELIEVERS:
THE VOLITIONAL SEPARATION the believer must do in order to reach spiritual maturity. That is to separate from any form of distractions or to fully concentrate in learning the Word of God. This is not necessarily physical separation but the concentration of the soul in learning Bible doctrine [2 Timothy 2:21, 15]. THE SEPARATION THE BELIEVER MUST AVOID: 1. Separation in marriage of both believers because of immorality [1 Corinthians 6:13, 18, Hebrews 13:4]. 2. Separation that causes division or faction in the church [1 Corinthians 3:3]. THE SEPARATION OF BELIEVERS BY UNBELIEVERS:
THE SEPARATION THE BELIEVERS MUST prepared to suffer –maybe not a physical separation but emotional. That is being alone in a crowd because Of his faith, calling and beliefs [2 Timothy 1:8, 12, 3:11-12]. THE DIVINE COMMAND TO SEPARATE FROM COSMIC BELIEVERS who are living in the world without God [Romans 16:17-18 and 1 Corinthians 5:11-12]. Every believer must be prepared to encounter most of the 14 categories of separation and to apply the divine problem solutions to each case. Such separations are often painful and disheartening. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
064 - PEACETHERE are 14 Greek terms for peace in the Bible that can translate in English as soundness, safety, security, welfare, harmony, concord, assurance, prosperity, good health, completeness, and peace. The Old Testament widely used the term SHALOM, which describes prosperity of material sort, regarding welfare [Genesis 43:27]. The word SHALOM also means prosperity of all wealth and health [Exodus 18:7, Isaiah 38:19, Psalm 38:1] or the safety of a person [Job 5:23]. When someone says, SHALOM it is like saying “Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good day, happy New year, happy birthday!” All in one word. The PEACE OF GOD [Philippians 4:7, Colossians 3:15] refers to Christ’s finished work of redemption. That is the reconciliation with God, the justification in His sight. The PEACE WITH GOD is the result of His finished work on the cross for man [Romans 5:1]. All the recipients of the free gift of salvation through their simply and non-meritorious faith have PEACE WITH GOD –that is the effect of Christ’s spiritual death for the human race [Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Titus 1:4, Philippians 1:2]. The GOD OF PEACE refers to the only source of peace for the believers trapped in Satan’s cosmic system. The PEACE in this context is not something men derive from within the man, from others or from something. GOD IS GOD of peace whether there is peace or wars in the world [Romans 15:33, 16:20, Philippians 4:9, Hebrews 13:20]. The PEACE OF GOD is not dependent on the situation of the world but on perfect character of God. GOD IS OUR PEACE regardless of our situations, and we cannot expect peace from anyone else but from the KING OF PEACE alone [Ephesians 2:14, Hebrew 7:2]. The peace of 2 Thessalonians 5:3 is pseudo peace, that is human good works motivated by old sinful nature and inspired by Satan. God will frustrate this man-made peace during the Great Tribulation. All the man-made peace in this world can produce only more troubles rather than provide genuine peace. God cannot provide the kind of peace familiar in the world –the peace that comes from material success and prosperity. Genuine inner peace that comes from God is available to every believer at the point of spiritual maturity. It is the peace that comes from knowing God and His happiness [John 14:27, 16:33] Ecumenicalism cannot provide peace but division and faction. No political body can provide peace to antagonistic people around the globe. Genuine maturing believers are the targets of more satanic assaults than the unbelievers but at same time, they experience the peace that comes from God. The peace of God is not restricted to any place, even in the middle of chaos and conflict; the believer can experience the peace that passes all understanding. The Muslims will traditionally enter a room (empty or with people) by greeting with "peace upon you" referring to bad spirits or jinn. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
065 - THE DAY OF THE LORDGod always accomplishes in time what has to be done in time as part of His plan for man. Therefore everything will come as decreed by God- and that is without doubt. Since time is a line of procedure as far as man’s perspective is concerned, everything is in order of events according to divine decree. Apostasy, a sign to watch is now a reality. The term apostasy in this context refers to collective and world -wide apostasy and not to individualize or small group of falling away, which is on going since the beginning of the Church Age. The day of the Lord refers to the massive and collective falling away or apostasy before the rapture of the Church. All false Christian churches and all false Christians around the world will join the ecumenical church or the UNITED RELIGIONS. The United Religions is a charter of the United Nations – a community of faith united for the sake of peace and healing among religious sects. People from all nations united for the sake of peace and prosperity toward all men, regardless beliefs and doctrines. The UN and the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for the birth and growth f the United Religions. The United Religions or One World Religion will revealed the Antichrist, the MAN OF SIN (lawlessness), the son of destruction and demand that all the people of the earth to worship him as the “Christ” [2 Thessalonians 2:3]. The ecumenical church has started condemning the fundamentalists and separatists claimed for exclusivity and uniqueness of the independent local churches. The ecumenists are condemning the genuine Bible doctrine as hostile toward the unification of all religions into one-world religion. The One World Religion is the “NEW CHRISTIANITY” comprising of cults, humanists, occults, atheists, and all kinds of antichrist bounded together for “creating an inclusive process” that will work for world peace [1 Thessalonians 5:3]. The day of the Lord refers to the Great Tribulation when everyone will greet anyone with “PEACE BE WITH YOU” while killing each other. The day of the Lord refers to the ANTICHRIST reigns on earth. The antichrist is the worst kind of dictator in the entire human history. The son of destruction will be a Jew by blood with dynamic personality and super IQ and born politician. He will deceive the world with his very charismatic personality and articulate linguistic ability [2 Thessalonians 2:10, Revelation 13:8]. He will assume the role of Jesus Christ as the Messiah by deception and intrigue. He will be the greatest impersonator of Jesus Christ because he will imitate His life and works. He will claimed Himself as the Christ. He will not deny the existence of Jesus Christ but rather claim that he is the Christ. He will work upon the expectation of his appearing by through mystical manifestations like visions, dreams, apparitions, and some extra-biblical heresies. Satan is preparing his followers in some fellowships by singing “This is the day” of the Lord affirming that they are part of the Tribulation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
066 - REBOUNDREBOUND is the recovery from carnality. It is the only problem-solving device from God that function outside spirituality. Rebound is not operation by human power or human resources. Rebound is the non-meritorious and non-emotional acknowledgment of sins. Rebound is not sorrow for sins but the decision of the soul to follow divine instruction. Rebound is the trend reversing decision and the only solution provided by God for carnal believers to recover from sins. Rebound is a decision because the believers use his volition to sin and enter the state of carnality. Likewise, the believer must use his volition to recover from sin. Volition is the decision of the soul not of the brain. Rebound is not emotional because emotion is never a criterion for the spiritual life, and it has no value for God’s forgiveness. SYNONYMS FOR REBOUND: BE HEALED: [Hebrews 12:12-14] means that rebound transform you from weakness of carnality to spiritual strength of restored spiritual life. The dreadful curse has turned into blessing and its weakness become the strength of the suffering for blessing. Those who come short of God’s grace are those who respond to discipline with bitterness. CONFESS: [1 John 1:9], the naming of your personal sins in the privacy of your Royal Priesthood. Naming your sins does not require a lot of guts and faith. Confession with a man is a big traditional error, since all men have sins and fall short of the glory of God [Psalm 38:18] JUDGE YOURSELF [1 Corinthians 11:31] is the act of acknowledging that your personal sins were crucified on the cross and that Christ paid the full demand for penalty. Christ paid every sin in the world. YIELDING is the act of surrendering your ego and self-righteousness by admitting that you have sin [Romans 6:13, 12:2]. Rebound is the admission of guilt. LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT is to cut-off by your volitional the state of your carnality and reversionism. To cut off is to enforce a radical mental change of attitude toward his personal spiritual status [Hebrews 12:1]. BE SUBJECT TO THE FATHER is the decision of the soul to return to the Father under the authority of the Lord [Hebrews 12:9]. LIFT UP THE HANDS THAT HANG DOWN is to remove the shackle that bondage you from doing the will and purpose of God [Hebrews 12:13]. MAKE STRAIGHT PATHS is the decision of the soul to choose the divine viewpoint and reject the human viewpoint and solutions [Matthew 3:3, Hebrews 12:13]. ARISE FROM THE DEATH is to stand up again out from temporal or operational death [Ephesians 5:14]. PUT OFF THE OLD MAN is to put the old sinful nature out of control of your soul and make the Holy Spirit the president instead [Ephesians 4:22]. There are many synonyms for rebound in the Old Testament like Jeremiah 3:13, Psalm 32:5, 38:18, 51:3-4 and Proverbs 28:13. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
067 - DIVINE COMMISSIONS God gave the Church Age believers dual commissions
IN THE CHURCH AGE, every believer is a priest [1 Peter 2:5] who represents himself before God [Hebrews 13:15-16]. Our Royal priesthood is the basis for spiritual privacy and the ground for effective prayer [Romans 14:4, 10:2]. Every believer is a priest from the time he is born again, but this priestly function becomes effective only at spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is a result of the believer-priest function before God. The only setting for priest function is inside spirituality. The universal priesthood does not imply total independence of believers from one another because priesthood and the spiritual gifts create a balance. Success in the ministry does not belong to the priests but to God alone. We do not count heavenly success in our earthly ministry. The most visible and outward proof that we are rightly related to God is our service to God in season or out of season. The priests are servants of God, and the servants simply obey regardless of his own feelings, moods, health or physical condition. Inspired or not. We do not need any “spiritual inspiration” before we move to obey. The true priests of the Old Testament functioned from reaching the age of 25 until their compulsory retirement at 50 forsaking their personal conditions and situation in life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
068 - THE ROYAL AMBASSADORS God appoints the royal ambassador to be His representatives on earth. No ambassador appoints himself for such position and no ambassador is appointed by just anybody. God supplies all the logistical grace needed and necessary to perpetuate the believer’s physical and spiritual life in the devil’s world. No ambassador has to support himself while working for his country. The royal ambassador operates according to the written mystery doctrines of the New Testament. This is the written instruction related to our function. The royal ambassador of Christ has his citizenship in heaven. They are not the citizens of the country they serve. We are in the world but we are not of the world [Philippians 3:20]. The royal ambassador lives to glorify Christ and personally benefits not by following his own agenda but through fulfilling his royal merit by following the divine protocol. He does not stay behind on this planet to advance his personal interests. The royal ambassador does not take the negative volition of the people as a personal insult but continues to faithfully represent Christ regardless of mockery and offenses he receive. The insults they throw against Christ and His Word is not personally for the ambassador. The recall of the royal ambassadors on earth by rapture will commence the Great Tribulation. That is divine declaration of war against nations. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
069 - BARRIERS FOR SPIRITUAL LIFE THE CALL of God to serve him is understood or implicit. It is call for comradeship with Himself for His own purposes. The concern of every believer is spiritual reality not to serve God as soon as possible. Genuinely growing believers set their hearts on God but the religious people sets their hearts on their works and great ambition for God. The only goal of every Christian when it comes to spirituality IS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD and nothing else. COMMON BARRIERS: PRIDE. Christians are not immune to develop the deadly virus of arrogance that desire to do great things for God FAKE OBEDIENCE. Some believers are willing to do great sacrifices rather than do the will of God. They invest on big shows of half-hearted sacrifices for God than to obey God daily. WAITING FOR THE GREAT MOMENT. Some believers are praying and fasting asking God for the big thing to do instead of obeying him in every little details of life. WORLD SYSTEM. Some believers have adopted the world business system into their ministry. They are utilizing all the resources of the world. They baptized it with Christian names and spiritualized the carnal things. ENDLESS ACTIVITIES. Some modern day Christians are thinking that God is demanding for greater production like more tithes and offering, more people, more programs and more activities. Their endless activities are uprooting their faith from the truth of the Word. They are immerse in works for God but not rooted in the Word of God. WRONG DEVOTION. They are devoted to their work and ministries but very unfaithful to God and to His Bible doctrine. NEW MINISTRIES. They always have new ministries born out of impulses and pride. They planned their ministry out of their passion and emotion, which they mistaken for the voice of God. PIOUS GREED. They serve with great anticipation and expectation that God will bless them above the others. They have the burning desire to be promoted and exalted by God. COMFORTABLE MINISTRIES. They are willing to serve God but only in the comfort and luxury of the world. They are unwilling to leave their beautiful and cozy community. They decide where and how to serve God. SPIRITUAL SLUGGARD. They are always praying and praying without doing anything. They defy the plan and purpose of God with their prayer ministry. I MUST DO IT SYNDROME. They are always on the go –doing something for somebody. Their priority is to serve not to know God, not to learn the will and purpose of God. ANOTHER DOCTRINE. They are always hungry for new practices and teaching for the church. Since they are blinded by the ignorance of the Scripture they are always seeking for revelation from the visiting REVERSIONISTS preachers and musicians. The only antidote for the above cases is the act of rebound and the intake of Bible doctrine. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
070 - FEARFEAR has many faces and sources. The Greek word PHOBIA (phobia) or fear in English, is a learned response and can be unlearned through the inexpensive fortification of your soul with Bible doctrine. No amount of behavioral therapy or systematic desensitization (that is psychological therapy combined with hypnosis) can successfully eliminate fear in the mind and heart of a person. Satan bombarded the entire human race with humanistic viewpoint since the beginning of human history, making man believe his lies and fearful of his schemes. The primary source of fear is the old sinful nature bombarded with satanic lies (that is the combination of satanic and human viewpoints). Satan is working overtime creating and building up tensions, worries, panic, lies, confusions, and fear in the hearts of men. RELIGIOUS TEACHING, PHILOSOPHY, AND SUPERSTITIONS PASS FEAR TO HUMAN SOULS. Religion has succeeded in creating fear in the hearts of men in a very subtle and unsuspecting manner. Religion is the best instrument of Satan in pulling men into the pit of demonic influence. There is a very long list of fear, most of which are illogical, pure superstition and unreal. YOU MUST DEFEAT FEAR BEFORE IT DEFEATS YOU AND ONLY THEN YOU CAN DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY. When it strikes, it must not be allowed to ignite a devastating chain reaction of mental attitude sins that always incapacitate thinking, decision-making and actions. CATEGORIES OF FEAR:
Fear develops slowly, gradually and progressively until it engulf the whole of your being. Give fear an inch today, and tomorrow, it will destroy everything you have. FEAR FOCUS ON THE PROBLEM but the Word of God focuses on the divine solution to human problems. The only way to solve human problem is by divine solution. Human solutions to human problems are NO SOLUTION but breeds more problems leading to fear. Fear exemplifies human viewpoint and obstructs problem solving. JR Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
071 - VICTORY OVER FEAR GOD EXPECTS every Church Age believers to overcome his fear through the divine provision and divine problem-solving devices provided at the point of salvation. NO BELIEVER is left without defense and protection in satanic cosmic systems. It is irrational, illogical and useless to pray for some kind of power to overcome your fear when in reality God has already provided everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. God has provided every thing in advance and nothing is lacking or missing. God has provided a ten (10) line of defense in the soul of the believer against the four (4) intense conflicts: 1. Temptation of the old sin nature (OSN) 2. The pressure stress in the soul of the believer 3. The enticement or allurements of false doctrines 4. The tendency to trust in human solutions and human viewpoint The ten problem-solving devices are:
Fear breeds arrogance while the Word of God in the soul nurtures genuine humility. Fear prevents living the spiritual life while Bible doctrine rejuvenates the spiritual life. Fear obstructs problem solving while the Word of God initiates problem solving. How to handle the stress of the battle and pressure of life is something you cannot learn apart from the actual situations. Psychology, psychiatry and hypnosis with positive thinking will not solve the fear that dominates the human souls. No believer will survive the cosmic system without Bible doctrine in the soul. God will not remove the problem or the suffering but God will convert the evil that assails us to our benefits. He will build a wall of fire around the believer and protect him by the power of God [Zechariah 2:5, 1 Peter 1:5a]. There is nothing as accident in the life of the believer-everything is part of His decree, nothing is unknown to God. Nothing we do will ever surprise Him. God deliver and rescue us in His perfect timing. Nothing is too late and nothing is too early- everything is just in perfect timing [Psalm 91:14-16, Romans 8:28]. No believer will die of famine (that is economic recession or depression) or from war (that is disaster, calamity and death) [Job 5:19-20]. No weapon of war will take your life as long as God’s plan for your life is to stay on earth. The believer with Bible doctrine in the soul will survive the scourge of the tongues (that is slander, mockery, insults, unfair dealings). The life of the believer is insured by the Character of God-you are under His security blanket. When you loss everything but not your integrity, your future is secure by the integrity of God –not by anything else. Bible doctrine in your soul is the guarantee. God honors his Word wherever it may be found. The life of the believer is secured and protected by the power of God, which is the best and perfect protection in the entire universe. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
072 - SECURITY IN THE MIDST OF FEARYOUR TENT IS SECURE (PERIKRATES- perikrates) signifies having full command and control. The English term secure is from the Latin SECURA meaning free from anxiety. It has the Greek equivalent AMERIMNOS (amerimnos), meaning stability, security [Job 5:24, 1 Peter 5:7, Philippians 4:6-7]. THE ANTONYM of secure is insecurity meaning, loaded with cares. YOU WILL LAUGH [Job 5:22a] means to have humor. It is an indication of inner contentment and peace of mind amidst severe tragedy. His sense of humor is the result of sharing the happiness of God that knows the mind of Christ. The WILD BEASTS is metaphor for the sudden violent disasters. The believer is under instruction not to be frightened by the possibility of violent devastation or changes. God will not drive away the wild beasts but He will make the VENUM or poison totally ineffective against the growing and advancing believers. FOR YOU WILL BE IN LEAGUE with the stones of the field [Job 5:23] refers to the stones that were designed to use as weapon against you. The same stones will be your friends –they will not hit you. There are bullets without your name on it. THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD will be at peace with you [Job 5:23b], refers to the effects of disaster and calamity turned into blessing for your welfare. YOUR DESCENDANT will be many [Job 5:25]; means that life must go on for the believer regardless of his situation or condition, regardless of his pains and sufferings. Life must go on. No one and nothing could destroy the believer until his final appointment to depart from this planet. Likewise, the planet earth will be preserved for the purpose of God until at the end of the millennial reign of Christ. Worldwide destruction is impossible because only God has the right to destroy this planet. God created it and He alone has the right to destroy it [2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1]. LIKE THE STACKING OF GRAINS in its season [Job 5:26] is metaphor for the security provided by divine logistical grace –a guarantee from God. ROOT CAUSE OF INSECURITY:
The believer has no entitlement to be insecure in the world because God has provided already the remedy. The believer becomes insecure when he focuses on the crisis not on God. There are seven emotional sins that stems from fear:
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
073 - VIRTUES AGAINST FEARTHE Christian life is a life of victory for we have the VICTOR Himself. We are not aiming, aspiring or fighting for victory but FROM VICTORY. THE victory of the Christian life is not goal, not the objective, not the project but the CAUSE, the REASON why we endure, the very purpose why we have to continue advancing. The growing believer who is residing in the will and purpose of God is secured even in the midst of trouble waters-in the worst conflict and disaster. Whenever fear strikes, the believer must resolve to apply the divine solution –that is to totally rely and put your confidence on God [Psalm 56:3]. The Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer is the antidote for fear. God will not remove the cause of our fear but He will reverse the effects of fear by His presence [Psalm 118:6]. DO NOT ANXIOUSLY LOOK ABOUT YOU refers to believers who are seeking human solutions to resolve their problems [Isaiah 41:10]. God in His perfect omniscience knows exactly our problems and the exact solutions. We must look for God who has the solution. Remember, human solution is no solution. VIRTUE AGAINST FEAR: BE STRONG…DO NOT BE AFRAID. The souls of the believers are not immune to fear that affects the human will and effectiveness to keep advancing toward the goal [Deuteronomy 20:1-]. STRONG refers to the power of the spiritual life. Courage is the expression of this strength. Combine strong and courage and you have moral courage. DO NOT BE AFRAID, means that we do not dwell on the possibility of personal injury or death but the objective set before us. As Christians, we do not dwell on losing the battle but we focus on the VICTORY we already possessed. DO NOT PANIC. Some irrational and emotional terror may paralyze the mind and the heart. Bible doctrine alone has the power to clear this panic and fear. Only the ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE WORD OF GOD CAN ERADICATE this kind of panic. But the encouragement from human viewpoint creates pseudo peace and more fear. Tranquility under severe pressure is the overt expression of a courageous soul with Bible doctrine. DO NOT TREMBLE. The fear in the soul cause incapacitating physical reactions or emotional outbursts, that continues to shake the believer for long. Battle courage that comes from the Word of God may not eliminate fear, but allows you to put your training in action in spite of it [Psalm 27:3, 46:6-9, 55:22-23, 140:1-2]. Trembling obscure your focus of divine reality and removes the possibility of good decision. It handicaps the believer from doing the will of God. GOD IS IN CONTROL of human history and of all events in the entire universe. Nothing comes as accident to believers. Everything is part of the divine decree. God in His perfect knowledge of all things related to man keep an eye on every event. Nothing escape His wisdom. Some events happen because God allows it and some happen because He causes it. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
074 - OVERCOMING FEAR PRINCIPLES OF VICTORY: 1. OVER FEAR OF DEATH The death of the believer is exactly God’s decision. The divine decision for us to die is victory since God is the absolute authority in life and death [1 Corinthians 15:55-57]. The divine decision regarding the believer’s death includes the manner, the time and place of death [Psalm 116:15]. The believer is always under God’s protection until the Lord takes him home. Since God is perfect, His timing is perfect in all manners of life and death [Job 1:21b]. Death is the wise and gracious choice of God and always the best for the believer. In death, we are face to face with the Lord. We are in a place of perfect happiness, leaving all the troubles and suffering behind. 2. OVER SUDDEN CRISIS GOD is in control of human history. All events in human history are for the benefits of the believers including the worst disaster and calamity. National discipline does not exempt the spiritual believer from sorrows and pains. Sufferings for the mature believers are not designed to destroy them but to accelerate their growth. The saints are expected to use divine solutions and not to seek more miseries for themselves. Disaster or crisis cause sorrows to the believer that leads to repentance [2 Corinthians 7:9-11]. More crisis and disasters are expected before the Second Advent. The believers are expected to endure such sufferings and never give up. 3. OVER SORROW AS believers, we have hope, a real confidence based on the Essence of God [1 Thessalonians 4:13]. Physical death is not the end of their story (the deceased). Enduring grief and sorrow becomes an imperative of the Christian life. You cannot stop normal living because people your love ones have died and gone to heaven (hell). You cannot resent others who are enjoying life when you are in a state of sorrow. You cannot demand your relatives and friends to join your extended grief and mourning. You must not tarnish their memory of the deceased by becoming morbid, bitter, resentful or vindictive. Your grief and loneliness is a private matter between you and the Lord. Your loneliness belongs to you alone, in the same manner; your confidence belongs to you alone. The death of the deceased is a perfect decision of God (no matter how brutal and ruthless the manner maybe). We know very little about them but God is perfectly knowledgeable. To complain and to ask God about His perfect decision is to question His sovereignty and righteousness. Our sorrow (no matter how grievous) is just temporal and personal matter. It is not the affair of the whole community or the affair of the local church. The believer is displaying his immaturity by asking or soliciting sympathy from others. The Christian life is a life of victory and the believer must appropriate or apply that victory from moment to moment of his sojourning in the world. We are fighting and advancing from the VICTORY OF CHRIST not to gain our own victory. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
075 - INCESTGOD is the source of perfect morality, but Satan introduced the new morality (part of human viewpoint), which the fallen man (corrupted by old sinful nature) gladly embraces. The big four (Satan, the old sinful nature, the ADAMIC evil trends, and the human negative volition) are campaigning for the promotion of incest. The two daughters of Lot, who were infected with the sin of Sodom, were the first to commit incest [Genesis 19:31-36]. They raped their aged father doubting the ability of God in providing husbands for them. They reasoned from the new morality (that is old immorality) that approved anything that feels doing good. Reuben had sex with his father’s concubine [Genesis 35:22) as proof of his macho-syndrome (machismo instinct) and thereby lost his father’s blessing [Genesis 49:3-4]. AMNON, the son of David by AHINOAM raped TAMAR (the daughter of David by MACAH, the mother of ABSALOM [1 Samuel 25:43, 1 Chronicles 3:2]. AMNON raped his half-sister TAMAR because of mistaken lust and passion mistaken for love. He displayed later on his sexual problems, strong moral corruption, brutality and masculine confusion [2 Samuel 13:10-14]. ABSALOM raped his father concubine publicly [2 Samuel 16:22] showing to all Israel his rebellious leadership, his domineering behavior and ignorance of the Divine establishment. The Corinthian Church tolerated a member who had sexual affairs with his father’s wife (not his own mother) [1 Corinthians 5:11]. INCEST is not new- it is as old as the devil. FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTES TO INCEST: The old sinful nature (OSN) has a new defense counsel (the new morality), which justify incest as long as it feels good and enjoyable. The evil trends are gathering too much support from the media (all sorts of pornographic materials, sex gadgets and products, sexual stimulants like VIAGRA) and indorsed by the New Age Movement, bringing the moral collapse of our society. The public is receiving too much encouragement from prominent people who are preaching the “gospel of sex” through literature and media. The electronic media had added a new leap into what they called the cyber-sex. The public is being bombarded with numerous materials denying any moral values left in the soul of men. The hearts of many are occupied with sex 24 hours a day. The world accepts and encourages the new trends of broken marriages, broken homes, broken relationship. It is becoming normal. Because of this people are lonely and dishearten are searching for some kind of happiness. The search for frantic happiness resolves to commit incest as an expression of antagonism and anger against men and God. Some failed to carry on with their normal living are inflicted with psychosis. The rapid rise in idolatrous worship decreases the interest with Bible doctrine and has given way to more immoral acts. Immorality is the big sister of idolatry. Those who have committed incest are insane, demon-possessed or deceived by demonic doctrines. They are not in the right frame of mind. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
076 - NEW MORALITYWE CAN summarize the teaching of the new moralists related to sexual sins by the following: The new morality justified that no church or institution has the right to dictate how to satisfy sexual needs as long as no person is harm. Sex as long as it is good is justified, whether it between the same sex, or opposite sex or between man and beast or just with anybody. Homosexuality and lesbianism is very much welcome and justified as long as it does not hurt any person. To use another person for personal sexual gratification is justified. The failure to apply love is the real injustice. Love of course is define as sex and when it comes to love, there is no limitation. The new morality is more concerned with the “whys” of sexual behavior than sexual sins. They put more stress on motivation and attitude or better attitude for sex than the act of sexual lust or perversion. The new morality defined love as sex. It promotes the sex-saturated society and it honors sexual revolution. It accepts pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, post-marital sex, virtual sex, and cyber-sex. Sex with anybody is not condemned. It uses sex-exploitation mediums such as pornographic movies, magazines, books, TV shows, and etc. It accepts any form of sex: heterosexual, homosexual and auto-sexual. It advertises safe sex, the use of contraceptives and the use of sexual gadgets and sex energizing drugs. The decay of a nation begins with the collapse of its sex standards (morality related to sex). The new morality is destroying nations silently and sweetly. People are learning to fornicate, create sexual situations, follow modern sexual trends and commit sexual perversion without guilt. Nothing can etch the indelible scars of sexual sins. The ugly memories will come and wrestle with your mind from time to time. Illegitimate baby cannot be unborn. Child rearing and financial responsibility will not just go away and self-made miseries will linger for a long time. The movie and TV personalities are the sex trendsetters and young people are following their reel life without proper evaluation. Following the cosmic standards and life style is very dangerous for the soul of the believers. There are ways that seem rights in the eyes of the believers but are entire disgracing and dishonorable to God. There are things that seems right in the eyes of men but improper in the eyes of God. There are things we called sins but they are not in the eyes of God. There are things we simply ignore or accept but are sins in the sight of God. This is because our standards are relative and bias. We must know what is sin and what is not before God. The new morality is just the revival of the old times morality. There is nothing new under the sun. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
077 - TRUE LOVE OR INFATUATIONTRUE ROMANTIC LOVE develops slowly and gradually. Infatuation develops at almost no time. True love always starts slowly. You have to know a person before you can truly love that person. Those who rush into marriage learn it by sad experience of self-made miseries. Infatuation is rushing into a bad decision. True is attracted in the total personality of the one love. Infatuation is mainly interested in the physical features. Infatuation depends on few non-sense things. True love is attracted with most of the qualities of the one love. True love affects your whole personality. Willing to learn, adjust and change to bring out the better qualities. Infatuation is blind and daydreaming –trying to believe that the only thing that matters is their love for each other. True love is not only interested in the whole person but that interest is growing warmer as the day goes by. In infatuation, the interest for each other grows between hot and cold –if not freezing. True love believes that the most important person in the whole world next to Christ is the one you love. Infatuation revolves only around the merry-go-round of fantasy but always searching for someone new. Separation and distance makes true love fonder. Infatuation will not survive the test of separation and distance but will seek happiness in another person. True love always cultivates and never dominates. True love causes two different personalities grow intimately together that when separated even for short time-a part of you seems to be missing. True love will live through quarrels and lots of disagreements-learning how to handle conflicts with poise. Infatuation may do a lot of kissing and making up but later may declare war that may never be solved. True love can easily resolve quarrels and disagreements for healthier relationship. Infatuation can ignite little disagreement into a massive forest fire leading into permanent break-up. True love is concern about giving way to improve and build stronger relationship. Infatuation is concern only about getting and receiving from the relationship for personal gains and interest. True love is always unselfish always giving. Infatuation is always waiting to receive and getting. True love dwells in genuine humility and sacrifice for the one love. Infatuation dwells in human ego and castle of arrogance. True love is always responsible-willing to pay the cost –willing to endure hardship and suffering. Infatuation is always ready to escape into the open sea of unreliability. True love is not love at first sight but the result of knowing and accepting the person just as he/she is. Some people are infatuated (not in love) with God, which they did not know about, as they are infatuated with a man or with a woman that they did not know. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
078 - HOW TO TELL IF YOU ARE IN LOVETRUE ROMANTIC LOVE distinguishes between a body and a person. Choosing a girl because of her beauty and shape is unstable criterion. She might become Coca-cola all right- but 2000 ml. in the next few years. Selecting a guy for his physique and good-looking face is like selecting a treacherous great white shark over the friendly ugly humpback whale. TRUE love generates respect. Erotic lover who whispers sweet nothing in private but tear you down in public is like a clown. He is using another person to produce laughter by giving his lover bad remarks. Such person will do well in circus but not in the family. TRUE is self-giving –it is not what you can get from another person but what you can give with out expecting anything in return. The passionate desire for her/his body is not love but lust. Any prostitute can fully satisfied that burning desires. TRUE LOVE can thrive without physical expression until full commitment for marriage. If your only reason for having a sweetheart is to have someone to hug and caress- better buy yourself a life size doll. True love will not pay with sex and escape. It will not hurt the other person after getting what he/she likes. True love is willing to pay the full cost of responsibility. True love seeks to build a life and permanent relationship of marriage. The objective and goal of any relationship is marriage. Marriage is a triangular relationship between God, a man and a woman, not a triangle between three persons. Lust will not settle for octagon. TRUE LOVE is not for experimental and trial purposes. The basic principle is not to be involved with anybody you are not willing to marry. Get involved only after you physically, emotionally and spiritually prepared. TRUE LOVE embraces difficult serious and difficult responsibility. Marital responsibility is far more than money. It is commitment to love the other person come what may. Lollipops and roses have nothing to do with true love. True love can postpone gratification of sexual passion. True love can wait till marriage. Only a righteous person with Bible doctrine in the soul can function in this manner. True love is basically a commitment. Feeling, emotion, selfish and childish expressions would change and fall-out of love. Fallen expectations and broken promises are basic elements that you can avoid. You have to endure them. Personality differences, unpleasant and bad communication, misunderstanding and numerous marital problems are subjects for rebuilding the relationship not a criteria for separation. Immature couple cannot handle such problems. Marriage is a garage where both the husband and wife work to repair the errors and damages of their blissful relationship. It is not a recreation center for children to pass away their boredom. Marriage is not the solution to many problems of the adolescent and teen-age life but a puzzle of problems for adults to solve and enjoy. TRUE LOVE is founded on the Word of God-ignite by the virtue love for God and for man. It is for the right man and right woman not for kids. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
079 - WHY SEX SHOULD WAIT UNTIL MARRIAGEGOD DESIGNED SEX exclusively for married couples only, not for those who are in love. Our liberated society under the influence of the new morality is destroying the divine will regarding this issue. Today, love is defined as sex. Many young lovers are interested only with their passions and desire and not with the relationship. SEX IS FOR PLEASURE of married couples and not for those seeking pleasures or sexual experiences. God designed sex for pleasure, procreation and physical intimacy of husband and wife not for those seeking sexual adventure outside legitimate marriage. SEX before marriage or outside the legitimate marriage may end-up to broken relationships, broken family, broken hearts, separation and painful memories. SEX outside or before marriage may result to unwanted child, which means additional responsibility and headache. Teen-age marriage always results to self-made miseries for both of the couple. Giving in to sex before marriage is not proof of your love but a sign of passion or lust. There is proper time for everything under the sun. Sex with the wrong person at the wrong time is unhelpful and sadistic disregarding the impact on the other party. The unbelievers are of the world but for Christian to adopt the trend of the world is to reject the will of God (and to manufacture self-made miseries). Sex is for mature people with genuine commitment to love each other –come what may. Believers who follow the trend of the world regarding free sex or the new morality code (of sexual perversion) are living under the satanic will. The ability to have sex is not a sign of masculinity for a man and is not a sign of felinity for a woman. Sex proves nothing. Dogs just do it for no reason at all, except for their biological instinct. Sexual pleasure is temporal. Those who are seeking frantic happiness from sex will always be disappointed because sex cannot fill up the vacuum in your soul. Sex cannot fill-up the loneliness, the boredom and emptiness of your soul. Only God can answer that emptiness. Sex is not everything but God is. The beasts have their own pleasure of sex but they cannot possess happiness from sex. Man in the same manner cannot find any happiness from sex. God alone is the source of true happiness. Sex is not love. Real love can wait but lust is very hungry for sex. Sexual purity is not replaceable. The real issue here is the soul for the person. SEXUAL PERVERSION is the deviation from the normal function and therefore, it is not only social, political emotional sin but as well as spiritual in nature. Christian must aim to become spiritual and advancing believer- the best for his/her lover. A person whose mind is always filled with sex will eventually become rapist sex maniac or adulterer. A person who is not satisfied with one wife or husband will always look for another. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
080 - UNDERSTANDING THE SEX DRIVE THE HUMAN SEX DRIVE is the normal, God given part of the mentality of every normal man and woman. To be ashamed of it is to doubt God’s perfect righteousness and faithfulness to us. To misuse it (the human sex drive) is to thwart God’s plan and purpose. The sex drive energizes or destroys relationship, depending on its uses, application or control. THE MALE SEX DRIVE develops in adolescent, producing sperm and stores them in the seminal vesicles. When they are filled, the sex drives climb-up or increases and demands a release of the seminal fluids. God designed the male’s body to handle this in a natural way –by means of night emissions or nocturnal releases, other by masturbation. The male sex drive is biological, emotional, psychological becoming greater when aroused by sight or mentally ad responds readily to any visual or touches stimuli. Male sperm releases by masturbation develop almost automatically because of the combine sex drive and the external nature of the male sex organs. Therefore, if it is to be avoided, it must be a choice, a decision of the soul. From biological standpoint, masturbation is not necessary. THE FEMALE BIOLOGICAL system does not automatically build up sex drive, which demands a release. A man naturally turns to masturbation for release, but female must be taught or learn it first. A woman is stimulated sexually more by touch than by sight. It is more difficult for them to develop a strong habit of masturbation but more difficult to break it. SEXUAL SINS. Two categories of sexual sins are prominent all over the Scripture. Fornication (PORNEA) refers to an illicit sexual relationship, and adultery while MOICHOS refers to a sexual relationship outside marriage.SEXUAL SINS never begins by accident but through a series of pre-sexual experiences, which involves the mind and the soul. These are the things that excite, train, develop, and move the sexual drives.Most of the pre-sexual experiences that are not related to preparation for marriage contribute only to illicit sexual activities, like masturbation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
081 - MASTURBATION Masturbation is the gratification of the senses and the indulgence of the sexual appetite [Galatians 5:19]. The act of masturbation becomes an expression of sexual desires. Masturbation involves visualization and imagination of the physical body of man or woman as partner in the sexual act. The mind is involved in the act and therefore has committed the act of adultery [Matthew 5:28]. Masturbation is the selfish attempt to experience the sensations of sexual pleasure without having a physical sexual partner [Ephesians 2:3]. The act of masturbation always involved the mind. Masturbation can put a person in bondage of sexual passion and lust if not properly dealt [1 Corinthians 6:12]. Masturbation is a mental sin expressed overtly by physical gesticulation of muscles of the genital. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
PRAYERPRAYER comes in many sounds, styles, forms, concepts and variations linked with every religion. Most members of the human race practice it –but very far from Biblical perspective and principles. The prayer of the unbeliever are no less than a composition of pious words added with emotional flattery, most of which are borrowed from Christian dictionary reversed with invented meaning. God will hear only one prayer from the lips of the unbeliever and that is “Lord, save my soul through Jesus’ death on the Cross”. PRAYER apart from salvation is nothing but waste of time. God will not listen to their prayer because they are not His children. The prayer of the REVERSIONIST and carnal believers are all rejected except the prayer of rebound, that is “Lord, I have sinned against you”. PRAYER is God’s provision of grace for all believers in the world as a means of communicating with Him. Prayer indeed involves faith, but there is no recognition for the faith of the unsaved souls (unbelievers) and of the carnal believers. Prayer operates in the same way as grace. Faith is non-meritorious but God hears the prayer of the unbeliever for salvation through the merits of Christ who paid the sins of all men in full on the cross. Faith is non-meritorious but God hears the prayer of the carnal believer for rebound through the merits of Christ on the cross in behalf of all men. God do not honor our faith base on our perception of God. He is never move by our sincerity, sacrificial affection and devotion, sacrifices, penances or self-righteousness. God does not answer because we deserve it or that we have earned it. OUR PRAYER IS ANSWER BECAUSE OF WHO AND WHAT GOD IS, and not because of who and what we are. God’s answer is totally dependent on His character, on His divine will and purpose for the Church Age believers. God will never answer our prayer because of our faith; otherwise God will put the purpose of Christ’s redemption out of divine purpose. God will not accept man apart from the spiritual death of Christ. We ask God “in Jesus’ name” and not in our name, because it is Christ Who ahs the power, not our faith. Those who are trying to portrait themselves as men and women of fasting and prayer are also bragging that God will answer their prayer, are indeed ignorant of Bible doctrine. Their confidence is not based on the character (essence) of God; their hope is not based on the Word of God but on man’s (their own) misconception and misunderstanding of prayer. Their prayer is based on satanic and human viewpoint. Those who believe that God will bless them in answer to their prayer are missing the greatest blessing while we are in this world, and that is intimacy with God. THE MAJOR PURPOSE OF OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE IS TO KNOW GOD. And the purpose of prayer is to know God, and not get something for us One of the greatest areas of modern heresy is in the field of prayer. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
082 - THE PURPOSE OF PRAYERTHE PURPOSE is not to get from God what we wanted, but to make us accept what He wanted for us. All prayer is directed to God the Father [Matthew 6:9], in the name of the Son [John 14:13-14], in the power of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 6:8]. Since prayer is an extension of the faith-rest exhales toward God [Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24], it demands familiarity with the plan, purpose and will of God. It must be offered in the status of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is effective only when the believer is operating under the grace provision for perception of the Word of God. The believer is effective only inside the will, plan and purpose of God. THE god of this world [2 Corinthians 4:4] answers the prayer of those outside the will, plan and purpose of God. Satan answers the prayer that falls into the satanic viewpoint and satanic will [2 Timothy 6:9-10]. The devil will give worldly glory to his children, to whoever ask for it [John 8:44, Luke 4:5-7]. The irrevocable permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the sealing of the Holy Spirit guarantees the eternal security of the believer [Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30] but it does not guarantee the answer to our prayer. There are times when God will not hear their prayer like when: They pray with sins in their souls [Ephesians 4:19] They are not filled with the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 6:18] They are controlled by the OSN [Ephesians 4:27] They are sinning [Psalm 51:4] God in His perfect power, knowledge and justice sustains the whole creation without help from imperfect humanity. His perfect plans of grace fro the imperfect man absolute. There is nothing to add, minus or alter in His perfect plan. Man has nothing to contribute to it. Inside the plan of God there is nothing as fate or accident. Nothing will happen without the perfect knowledge of God. Every thing is under His divine decree. God knows all the events in the life of all human being in the entire human history. Every event is dependent on the decision of the soul (volition). God respect the decisions of every person, whether good or bad. Some events God causes to happen, others He allows to happen. All events that happened and all that will happen are all in the divine decree. Prayer is powerless to change the divine decision. Prayer is powerless to change the will, the purpose and plan of God. PRAYER is the fellowship of the soul (with imputed righteousness and Bible doctrine, living in experiential spirituality) with God. Prayer is designed to know God through the diligent studies of His Word. Some worship their prayer life and prayer habit. PRAYERFULNESS IS NOT THE MEASURE OR A SIGN OF TRUE SPIRITUALITY. Never trust anything including your prayerfulness except the grace of God. It is easy to slander God by sincere prayer life and habit without knowing God. God answer our prayer because of His imputed righteousness in us, not because of our effective prayer and fasting. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
083 - MYTHS ABOUT PRAYER THE following are common myths about prayer that has successfully infiltrated the Christian churches: PRAYER is conversation with God. Whoever propagated the idea of this myth is unaware of several major doctrines related to Divine essence and attributes. God is perfect and man is imperfect. Man cannot simply approach God the way we use telephone to call our fellow man. God is not interested with our nonsense talking. PRAYER is to get God’s blessing. Prayer is to know God not to get material things from God. The children of the world ask for the things of the world, but the children of God ask for the things of heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles did not ask for things of the world. It is easy to deceive the ignorant with their so-called great faith by asking God when in reality it is the devil that is answering their petition and requests. ANSWER to your material requests from god is not guarantee that you are a man of faith. The man of faith is a man of God’s Word. PRAYER is the ultimate power source. Prayer by itself has no power and there is no way that it can provide some kind of power or strengthening capability to the believers. Our faith has no power. God is the only and ultimate power source in the entire universe. Genuine prayer of the genuine believer is not mystical. Prayer is designed to make us one with Him and not to claim power for ourselves. Spiritual power is the result of Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer not by prayer and fasting. Some false teachers and prophets are always excited to pray anywhere and anytime. They are exhibitors of their so-called super faith, making false impression to the ignorant. Their faith and their prayer is nothing but a show. Being prayerful does not prove that we are rightly related to God. The cults and pagans are more prayerful but they are no rightly related to God. There is no place for boasting with regards to our prayer life. PRAYER prepares us for the greater work. Prayer does not prepare us for the greater work because it is the greater work. We do not pray to ask God for some power. Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God. Praying at all times- is like banking progressively. We cannot separate the habitual praying and the habitual studying of the Bible doctrine. The most difficult task inside the secret place of prayer is to concentrate on God. Prayer is the effort of the soul and mind to concentrate on the very presence of God. A SOUL WITHOUT BIBLE DOCTRINE WILL TALK TO GOD WITH HIS BRAIN AND TONGUE and sometimes with his tongue only. PRAYER IS THE COMMUNION OF THE SOUL WITH GOD, not a conversation with God using the tongues. Those who are known to men as very prayerful are seldom holy, and those unknown as prayerful men are always holy. The godly will never advertise his prayer life. The carnal and pseudo-Christians are building their faith in their experiences rather than in the word of God. Their prayer life is nothing but a show. Their faith is as good as there prayer life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
084 - MYTHS ABOUT PRAYERPRAYER IS TO HAVE GREAT SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. Prayer is not for the sake of spiritual experience but for the purpose of spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment is the result of stored and resident Bible doctrine in the soul. Some Christians pray because they get high, thrill, excited and felling spiritual without laboring on the line of God’s direction. They are surprise when the answer is different from what they asked. We are here not to prove that God answer prayer but to be living evidence and monuments of God’s grace. God did not save us in order to get answer from God, but to live for Him, to know His will and His purpose for our lives. It is dangerous to think that God wanted us to be His showroom or display center of His power. God’s purpose is to make us one with Him and not to show off the heavenly power in this satanic territory. PRAYER IS THERAPEUTIC AGENT FOR ALL AILMENTS. Majority of the cults and pseudo-Christians are prescribing prayer as all-purpose remedy for all kinds of sickness and ailments. Some combine prayer with fasting to be more effective. It is not the will of God for everyone to be perfectly healthy. This is a chaotic world of imperfect human beings. Only a perfect person will be free from all kinds of sickness and disease. If it is God’s will for us to be perfectly fit and healthy then, we are not going to die physically. Such teaching of false teachers is not supported by Bible doctrine. THE REAL FASTING is not from food, but from SELF (old sinful nature), from our ego and pride, self-glory, self-dependency, self-righteousness and anything that hinders us from true spirituality. Food has nothing to do with spirituality. We can eat with God in control of our lives and we can fast without God in our lives. PRAYER CAN CHANGE OUR DESTINY. The famous slogan or motto of the REVERSIONISTS that “prayer changes things” is a big moronic idea. Some believers are praying asking God to change their circumstances, situation, and the course of their life. They pray to change the historical events, people and event the course of nature. One of the many dangers of intercession is to pray and intercede in sympathy with those under divine discipline or judgment. Prayer could become the exaltation of our own compromise feelings and sympathy. In our act of kindness or respect to men, we disregard and dishonor Him. Only Bible doctrine can change man. No amount of intercession can remove and stop bad habits, bad temper, and habitual sins. Such things do not go away by praying and fasting but by act of kicking- through daily study of Bible doctrine. Radical actions without Bible doctrine can produce only bad results. If God is listening to human clamors and selfish requests, then God is out of control. PRAYER MOVES THE HANDS OF GOD. No human being can dictate or tell God what to do or what not to do. Prayer is not for man to give direction or guidance to God. God controls human history apart from the will and request of man. We cannot dominate His total and perfect sovereignty. All the above-mentioned myths about prayer are blasphemous. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
085 - THINGS WE NEED NOT ASKWE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR THE FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The status of being filed with the Holy Spirit is the automatic result of being restored, cleansed, forgiven, and resumed his position for blessings [1 John 1:9]. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the result of obedience to rebound and not by asking or requesting God [Ephesians 5:18] for it is a command. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO BLESS THE UNBELIEVERS. The unbelievers are spiritually death, separated from God. They are under the plan of salvation but not entitled to receive blessings. The only appropriate prayer is for their salvation. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO FORGIVE OUR SINS. Prior to the death of Christ for the sins of the human race, “forgive” [Matthew 6:12] was still looking forward to that act of redemption where forgiveness was totally provided [Ephesians 1:7]. Our prayer of rebound is to acknowledge that Work of Christ. (See: Rebound) WE DO NOT ASK FORGIVENESS FOR SINS WE ALREADY CONFESSED. God is not absent-minded or forgetful. The effect of forgiveness and cleansing is eternal and permanent. The divine forgiveness is guarantee by divine essence or character not by our feelings [1 John 1:9, Psalm 38:18]. It is blasphemy to keep asking God for forgiveness for sins He has forgiven. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO HEAL EVERY SICKNESS. There are 4 major cause of sickness: violation of the natural laws, divine discipline, undeserved sufferings and spiritual bondage (OSN). Each of this cause has the corresponding remedy. The cults are praying for sickness brought about by breaking the law of nature or divine discipline. That is a great ignorance! If a person walk under the rain without any protection and caught colds and flu – he needs medicine. If a believer is afflicted with sickness as divine discipline for his carnality he needs to rebound not prayer. WE NOT PRAY FOR THINGS GOD HAS ALREADY DECLARED NOT OF HIS WILL AND PLAN. Such prayer is presumptuous and arrogant. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO BLESS OUR SELFISH AMBITION OR PERSONAL PLAN. A common error in our prayer is asking or commanding God to approve our plans and ambition. Some cults are backing up their personal ambition with prayer and fasting in order to make an impression that it is the will of God. WE DO NOT ASK GOD TO CHANGE A PERSON OR INSTITUTION. The right prayer for those in the seat of power is not for their effective and Christian like characteristics but for their salvation [Romans 13:1-4, 1 Timothy 2:1-4]. The right prayer for wicked unbelievers is for the salvation not for them to have Christian like behavior and lifestyles. We do not force the unsaved to adopt and practice Christian values without salvation. The right prayer for the carnal and those in prolonged REVERSIONISM is not for their prosperity or good conduct, or effectiveness but for their act of rebound and positive volition. WE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR THINGS HE HAS ALREADY PROVIDED. We must know God and His will for us. WHO AND WHAT HE IS –and what He has done. Otherwise, our ignorance will lead to serious errors like, asking God for the gifts of the Spirit, which God distributed to every Church Age believers at the point of salvation. Some are asking for re-baptism of the Holy Spirit or for the filling of the Holy Spirit. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
086 - THINGS WE NEED NOT ASKWE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS NOT PROMISED in the Scripture for the Church Age believers. The exclusive and conditional promises for the Old Testament believers do not belong to us. The unconditional promises for the Tribulation and Millennial believers do not belong to us. The promises in the Scripture given to any particular person, group of people or nation do not belong to us. God is not going to do any promise made by certain preacher to his followers, which He did not promise in the Scripture. God will not give in to the capricious and illogical demands of man no matter how sincere and devoted their prayer might be. WE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR BLESSINGS GIVEN TO PARTICULAR PERSON OR NATION. The blessings of some Bible character do not belong to us. The blessing of a nation recorded in the Scripture does not belong to us. The experience of the Old and New Testament believers does not necessarily belong to us. We cannot ask God to repeat their blessing or experience for us. It is very wicked and selfish to ask God to give you the experience of people living in the different time and background. Numerous illogical and irrational practices of cults come from this satanic viewpoint. Miracle is an act of God based on His sovereignty, which operate apart from demands or request of man. All the act of God is free from human intervention and without human participation. Miracle is not miracle if human will, desire and action is involved. WE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR BLESSING OF A CONDITIONAL PROMISE without first fulfilling the condition required. Some believers are already demanding God to give them the ALL OF THESE THINGS of Matthew 6:33 without seeking the kingdom of God. They are asking God for THE DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS without the effort of taking delight in studying the Word of God in consistent basis [Psalm 37:4]. WE DO NOT ASK GOD FOR THINGS HE ALREADY TERMINATED. Petition and prayer for things or experience that God has already terminated is a sign of arrogance. Asking God for historical gifts like the gift of healing and tongues is a terrible mistake. Majority of ignorant believers are committing blasphemy daily every time they come to God in prayer. For example, whenever a believer pray in tongues. Speaking in tongue today is counterfeit because the Holy Spirit is no longer anointing such person. Since tongue is already a historical gift, as a sign to the unbelieving Jews. Whenever the believer misapply literally the context of 1 Timothy 2:8 by raising his hand on the air and ask God to bless and prosper those in the position of authority. The phrase “lift up your holy hands” is not literal action but figuratively. It refers to the act of intercession not raising hands. The prayer for all unbelievers is for their salvation and not for anything else. Another common mistake of believers is when they spiritualize the non-spiritual things by their cultic practices such as laying of hands, anointing and prayer with fasting. There are more heresies and blasphemies in the area of prayer than in any other part of our Christian life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
087 - THINGS UNNECESSARY TO PRAYERThere are 10 things with religious connotation that are not essential and has not relationship to genuine prayer. FASTING. There is no command for the Church Age believers to fast when praying. There is no command for us to fast. There is no verse in the Scripture that states the effectiveness of fasting if combine with prayer. POSTURE. No prescribed posture for prayer is stated in the Scripture. There is no prescribed posture for effective prayer. The raising of hands, the clasped hands, the clapping of hands, the beating of the chest and other irrelevant postures are all invention of man. Such postures are not related with spirituality and have nothing to do with the affectivity of prayer. PLACE. There is no required place for effective prayer. No prayer house, no prayer mountain, prayer garden are necessary for God to answer our prayer. The only right place for prayer is inside the will and plan of God [John 4:21-24]. God is unpractical to command us to pray at all times and pray at a very solemn and quiet place. The believer can be alone with God in the midst of a noisy crowd. If you do not know how to be alone with God, then even in the top of the prayer mountain, your mind is fill with the things of the world. PREPARATION. The only preparation needed for prayer and worship is the prayer of rebound. No religious music or singing, fasting and praise and worship are necessary for effective prayer. Music excites only the emotion and the mind but left out the soul with sins. Religious music is the greatest heresy of our time. The so-called music ministers are the greatest deceiver of the Church Age believers. PERSONALITIES. No super-faith and super-prayerful leaders are necessary to lead the congregation for effective prayer. God answer our prayer not because of who is praying –God has no favorite. The so-called prayer warriors are purely human viewpoint. Our weapon is the Word of God not prayer [Ephesians 6:17]. FAITH. The justice of God answers our prayer not on the basis of our faith but on the essence of God. It is not how much we can believe but WHO AND WHAT GOD IS. Faith is never the key for effective prayer but the grace of God. VISIONS. The mysterious illusion of the divine revelation or manifestation of the so-called God to some super-believer is hoax and not related to prayer. ANOINTING. Some cults claimed that they have received the double anointing or double portion of the spirit (of the devil of course) and that God will answer their prayer (as if they are God’s favorite). Such anointing is devious. COMMITMENT. Devotion to prayer does not guarantee effective prayer. It is easy to become devoted to prayer but never to God. Human sincerity is often sincerely wrong. PRAYER PARTNER. The prayer of others has nothing to do with our own effectiveness. Celebrated and dynamic prayer partner are not requirement for genuine prayer. God answers our prayer based on divine essence not because of our super-prayer partner. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
088 - PRAYING IN THE SPIRITPRAYING in the Spirit is not a spiritual gift [1 Corinthians 14:14-15, Jude 20], it is not praying in tongues, but refers to biblical principle that we are to pray only in the state of spirituality, even as we worship God through the Word of God under the filling of the Holy Spirit [John 4:23-25]. Praying in the Spirit is not mystical but refers to the act of obedience to be filled with the Holy Spirit during the entire course of prayer. The believer can only obey the command to pray at all times [1 Thessalonians 5:17] through the rebound provision of grace [1 John 1:9]. The believer can remain in the state of spirituality only through the grace provision. TO BE continually spiritual is to be in the spiritual praying ground at all times. Praying in the Spirit means praying while in the state of spirituality. God did not command the Old and New Testament believers or the Church Age believers to pray with fasting. The Jewish exiles in Babylon borrowed the practice of fasting and slowly integrated it into their religion. The believers of the infant Church Age practiced fasting for 4 reasons:
Fasting does not make prayer less or more effective since the vital thing is spirituality not fasting. FASTING IS POSSIBLE IN ANY SPIRITUAL STANDING:
Anybody can fast and pray. Few Christians can out beat the cults and pagan when it comes to fasting. Fasting is not a spiritual exercise. Fasting is not a sign of spirituality or superiority or spiritual maturity. Prayer with fasting cannot advance your spiritual life –it cannot accelerate your spiritual growth. PRAYER WITH GROANING: Groaning (STENAGMOS-stenagmos) is not crying in audible voice but something you cannot hear. It refers to silent and covert intercession of the Holy Spirit not to prayer of the one praying. The indwelling Holy Spirit intercedes for the believer according to the will, plan and purpose of God. The groaning of the Spirit is not express with the believer’s senses and therefore, does not produce some mysterious audible and non-sense sounds. The intercessory prayer of the indwelling Holy Spirit does not pray through speaking of tongues, because being Member of the Godhead, He will not communicate with God the Father in such foolish unknown tongues. There is no need to speak in tongues since the gift has already ceased. All the speaking of tongues today is not from God and they are all fabrication. There is no need to emote our emotion, since God does not answer because of our feelings, sincerity and devotion. The Prayer in the Spirit is something man cannot imitate or forged. It is the communication of the Holy Spirit from the life of spiritual believer to God. PRAYER AND LOGISTICAL GRACE BELIEVERS who are blowing their trumpets to announce their success in the area of prayer are also blowing the reality of their spirituality. Arrogant believers worship their prayer habits more than they worship God. They worship God in their prayer without removing the high places of idolatry in their souls. They are making false external obedience without spiritual reality [2 Chronicles 15:17]. Their prayer habit becomes their canon or measurement of holiness. They are building prayer as their altar of sacrifice – they worship their prayer not God. The ALL THINGS of Matthew 21:22 and WHATSOEVER THINGS of Mark 11:24 does not refers to desires of the old sin nature, but the desires of the indwelling Holy Spirit to glorify God in the life of the believers. God has already provided all the basic and necessary resources for the believer to reach spiritual maturity and thereby glorify God. However, God has to wait until the believer reach the state of maturity before He can pour out blessings (to believer) that will glorify Him to the maximum. Why would God excite us to ask material blessings when in fact He rebukes our carnal desires from Genesis to Revelation? The apostles and the disciples did not ask anything related to their physical needs from God. God has already promised to provide all the needs of His children [Philippians 4:19] called the logistical grace, made available to every believer regardless of spiritual status. Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the Spirit of God. The purpose of prayer is not to get from God what we wanted, to make us accept what He wanted for us. For this reason, we can only pray on the basis of God’s truth. The logistical grace covers our need in four aspects:
God supplies logistical blessing to all believers faithfully, constantly and unconditionally. There are no criteria for receiving the logistical blessing. No prayer is required and no need to ask God in prayer. If we say that we have faith but constantly asking God for material blessings, then we are lying. The believer continues act of asking God for his material needs is the denial of his faith [Matthew 6:25-34]. The faith that is always asking is not faith but pleading without knowledge. Logistical grace is for all believers but escrow blessing in time is for mature believers only. One of the most common forms of evil in the local churches today is the so-called prayer request. Their prayer is all about themselves, and for themselves. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
089 - PRAYER & INNER HAPPINESSINNER HAPPINESS is the state of completed happiness found only in the hearts of the advancing and mature believers. It is the place of spirituality and spiritual maturity where the believer based his happiness on the will, purpose and plan of God. It is the place of total blessedness. The state of happiness is the ultimate goal of the Christian life. THE COMPLETED HAPPINESS is the stabilized happiness of Christ while He was in the world. The peace of God in the believer is stabilized by Bible doctrine. The INNER HAPPINESS is found only inside the will, purpose and pan of God or DIVINE DYNASPHERE. There is no genuine inner happiness outside this realm of God. The inner happiness is the derivative of Bible doctrine in the soul of the believers. To reach the completed stated of happiness one must begin from positive volition to pursue the Truth of Bible doctrine. There is no short cut to inner happiness. The short cut is often leads to miseries. The COMPLETED INNER HAPPINESS comes to those who are diligent and discipline in studying, learning and applying Bible doctrine [Romans 14:19, Proverbs 3:13]. The phrase MAY BE FULL (PLEROO-pleroo) of 1 John 1:4 indicates that the action the Bible doctrine brings us to complete our inner happiness [2 John 12]. Satan’s substitute for inner happiness is PSEUDO –HAPPINESS from religion, in which emotion is integrated with some illegitimate and mystical forms of ecstatic expressions, like tongues, holy laughter and slaying of the Holy Spirit. PSEUDO INNER-HAPPINESS SATAN can counterfeit only the outward manifestation of the work of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. The inner happiness that comes from God is counterfeit-proof. Nobody can fake it, in the same way; nobody can fake genuine salvation, spirituality, spiritual maturity, and spiritual self-esteem Satan can satisfy the delusion of the ignorant and the carnal believers. The remedy for deception is the full-knowledge of the Truth (EPIGNOSIS), knowing the genuine manifestation, knowing the real thing from the bogus one. The counterfeit inner happiness of the cults is mostly outward shows. They spiritualized almost everything. The speaking of tongues and holy laughter is not manifestation of the genuine inner happiness. They have programmed and animated smiles –the reel type of happiness, one that comes out from their defiled souls as commanded by the old sinful nature. Their smiles and laughter are all counterfeit. The pseudo-inner happiness does not have degrees or categories. All of them can instantly reach the peak of ecstatic joy as they follow the mood of the praise and worship leader. We do not ask God to give us the inner happiness because it is not imputed or distributed. It is the result of life that nurtures on the Word of God for a long period of time. The cults have short cuts for everything: such as instant spiritual maturity, instant pastors, instant servants of God, and instant messages from God all comes from their super powerful prayer. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
090 - PRAYER IS…PRAYER IS NOT:
PRAYER IS:
IF GOD is perfectly immutable, infinite in knowledge and unchangeable, why do have to pray? Does the divine essence and divine decree eliminates the need for prayer? ANSWERS: Effective prayer makes requests which God answers. Things we ask in time are all incorporated into divine decree in the eternity past [Isaiah 65:24]. Effective prayer is our powerful weapon in the angelic conflict. It is our distress call. We are not capable and able enemies of Satan –but Satan is no match to our resources in Christ [Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2]. Prayer is not actually a weapon but like a bucket we use for drawing our resources in Christ. Effective prayer is the powerful and the strategic action of the spiritually mature believer for tactical victory. We are not praying for victory but from the victory of the Lord Jesus [Romans 8:37, Ephesians 3:10]. Effective prayer is enjoying the great presence of the Lord not just talking or asking Him for things. It is designed for knowing Him, knowing His plan, will and purpose through His Word [Philippians 3:10, 1 John 1:3]. THE ELEMENTS OF GENUINE WORSHIP: are salvation, spirituality or the Spirit filled life of the believer and Scripture in the soul. Prayer is an expression of true worship. Fasting is not an element of worship and is not an expression of worship. THE BASIS OF GOD FOR HEARING OUR PRAYER is not because of anything in the part of man, but because of the ministry of God the Son, Jesus Christ:
Our non-meritorious faith is not the basis of God for answering our prayer. Be careful of the cults of prayer that deceives the ignorant. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
091 - FAITH FAITH is one of the most misused and abused biblical term, distorted by some theologians and reversed by the cults and REVERSIONIST Christians to make its meaning favorable to their false doctrines. The Greek noun PISTIS (pistis) when translated as faith has dual meaning. First in the objective sense, PISTIS means WHAT IS BELIEVED that is the whole Bible doctrine. Secondly: PISTIS refers to the believer’s application of Bible doctrine to experience that is faith –rest. FAITH by itself cannot function as a virtue. Faith and hope are subordinate system that function within the sphere of the love complex. Love is superior to either faith or hope because love is the characteristic virtue of the entire divine sphere. FAITH represents an entire system of applying the word of God, while hope is a system derived from knowledge of Bible doctrine stored and residing in the soul. HOPE is absolute confidence in future divine provisions and blessings [Romans 8:24-25]. The believer can apply doctrine and advance from the hope of blessing in time to hope of blessing in eternity but only inside the sphere of God. In English Bible, Hebrews 11:1 is commonly mistaken for a definition of faith, but where PISTIS was used in its passive sense, what is believed –the object of faith, that is Bible doctrine. Hebrews 11:1 is actually a definition of hope. Bible doctrine reveals the plan of God. Under His plan, He glorifies Himself by blessing us. He can bless us only because of a series of imputations, which create a potential for blessing. Both hope and faith are part of confidence toward God, as a virtue, we must remember that the standard of virtue is His divine essence, and not the relative systems of human morality and ethics. Here is a corrected translation of Hebrews 11:1-2: “Now, Bible doctrine is the reality from which we keep receiving the hope, the proof of matters not being seen. For by it, (Bible doctrine in the soul) men of old gained approval (when they reached spiritual maturity)”. “By faith (means of doctrine) we under stand…by faith (means of doctrine) Abel offered a better sacrifice [Hebrews 12:3-4]. IN each CASE OF Hebrews 11- Bible doctrine made the difference. It converted each one’s potential into hope, and that hope gave him confidence which led him to spiritual maturity and beyond. Each person expressed his maturity in the various courses of action recorded in this honor roll. AND WITHOUT FAITH (BIBLE DOCTRINE IN THE SOUL) IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD [Hebrews 12:6]. Seeking God is the determined, steady and regular academically disciplined, and diligent (self-motivated with spiritual concentration) intake of the Word of God. We cannot separate faith, and hope from Bible doctrine. Faith apart and depart from the Word of God is not the biblical concept of faith. We cannot separate faith and hope from love because it is the primary virtue of the divine sphere. Faith apart from Bible doctrine is not faith. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
092 - FAITH & THE GRACE OF GODGOD did not thwart our volition in salvation; otherwise, He would destroy His plan of grace. He would cancel the purpose of salvation that each person might choose to have a personal relationship with Him. God does everything for man to have salvation, except make the decision for us. Positive volition is the only missing link, the only factor needed to complete our reconciliation with God. Though we are born totally detestable to God, a single decision of non-meritorious faith in Christ closes the gap and establishes us as God’s children [John 1:11-12]. God’s plan of grace is based on God’s integrity, not on any merit in the human race. God loves us because of WHO AND WHAT HE IS, because of the provisions he has made, because of the cross that fulfilled the perfect demands of His righteousness. That is grace. After salvation the justice of God remains the source of our blessings- we are the beneficiaries of God’s plan of grace. We are always under grace, as we were saved by grace (not by our own faith) of God, and we are always under the grace of God as objects of God’s personal love [Ephesians 2:8-9]. We are saved by grace through faith, not by faith. At the moment of faith alone in Christ alone, God permanently imputes His absolute righteousness to every believer, eliminating any need to earn God’s approbation with human good or human self-righteousness. We live the Christian way of life by following God’s mandates, not by striving to fulfill our own legalistic ideas of what ought to please God. No human merit can earn God’s love or blessing after salvation. THE phrase THE UPWARD CALL OF GOD refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit at the instant a person first believes in Christ [Philippians 3:13-14]. Every human being is born spiritually dead; we have a spiritually dead understanding of God, and spiritually dead faith to believe in Christ. We are unable to comprehend spiritual things and totally incapable of a relationship with God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is vital, first, to make the Gospel clear, and second, to make our faith in Christ effective for salvation. In itself, our faith has no power to save us. The Holy Spirit must take our faith and make it effectual in establishing an eternal relationship with God [John 16:8-11]. We receive no credit or merit for believing in Christ. All glory belongs to God and to Him alone. We are saved exclusively by the power of God. The upward call is designated COMMON GRACE, extended to all individual, while the ministry of the Holy Spirit is converting the believer’s faith into salvation is called the EFFICACIOUS GRACE. In every case where common grace is not followed by faith in Christ, efficacious grace does not occur. The faith of the unbelievers is spiritually dead faith, and the faith of the carnal believers is operationally dead or temporally dead. Both faiths are useless [James 2:17-20]. Faith in salvation is non-meritorious in the same way, faith after salvation is also non-meritorious. Man has nothing to boast concerning his faith. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
093 - FAITH OR GOD’S GRACE The justice of God imputes the logistical grace to the righteousness of God to every believer [Psalm 23:1, Matthew 6:26], on the basis of equal privilege and equal opportunity to enable them to grow and mature spiritually. Every believer received the love complex but only few utilize its power. Many Christians today fail to progress beyond salvation. They are unable to utilize the grace and power of God [2 Peter 3:18]. The logistical grace includes the provision for the believer to advance and reach spiritual maturity. It is compose of four interrelated blessings: life support, temporal support, security provisions and spiritual provisions. The so-called prayer of faith of pseudo men of faith is always petition made under the grace provision. Praying for things God has already included in His provision. Asking great material things from God proves only that they are not men of faith. The Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles and disciples did not ask God for such things. Logistical blessing is provision for all believers. No prayer, petition or faith is required to receive such blessing. Prayer in relation to logistical grace is for the purpose of thanksgiving and gratitude not to demand or request. The Lord Jesus did not use His faith to ask the Father any of such provision. The Humanity of Christ did not use His faith to heal or to make miracles. His purpose on earth was not to be known as miracle worker, man of faith. His ministry was fourfold:
There were only 20 cases of healing recorded in 4 gospels, 5 of which are repetition. There were only 7 persons whom Jesus delivered from demon possession and there were only 9 miracles associated with Christ. FAITH IS NOT OUR DEFENSE AGAINST DEMONS: The Church is mandated to remain on the defense line against the Devil and his demons [Ephesians 6:11]. We are taking offense against old sinful nature (OSN) and against the cosmic systems by growing in grace and in knowledge of Christ [2 peter 3:18]. Defensive action is the only way to prevent defeat by Satan [James 4:6-7] Submission to God is our offensive action. Resisting the devil is our defensive action [1 Peter 5:8-9], and is by our daily and progressive study of Bible doctrine [Ephesians 6:10-17]. The battleground for the spiritual life is the soul. When the armor of God is in place, the soul is protected from the assaults of Satan. Where the defensive wall crumbles, the soul is left exposed to satanic darts and missiles. The battle is between divine viewpoint and satanic viewpoint, thought against thought, mental attitude against mental attitude. We do not win such battle by driving away or casting out evil spirits. We can win the spiritual warfare only through the power of God in our lives, as we are control and energize by the Holy Spirit and empower by the Word of God (the EPIGNOSIS in the soul). We have the victory; we are winners if only we are not going to surrender before the battle starts. Faith (Bible doctrine in the souls) is the victory [1 John 5:4]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
094 - FAITH AS MEANS OF PERCEPTION Never do we earn or deserve any credit in the entire plan and system of God. His entire plan is alive with grace not with human achievement. The imperfect man cannot and will have no meritorious role in God’s perfect plan. Man has 3 basic means of perception: RATIONALISM relies on human reason and logical consistency as the criterion for reality, totally apart from authority and revelation of the Scripture. In rationalism man engages his intellect, deducing a logical system to explain reality. EMPIRICISM establishes reality based on the experience of the senses because reality is what you see, hear, smell, taste and feel. In empiricism man hones his powers of observation for discovering answers in the world and the universe around him. FAITH is reality based on confidence in the authority and veracity of God. Faith, the non-meritorious system of thinking comprehends infinite spiritual truths that are beyond the finite mind reasoning powers and sensory system. IN FAITH the credit does not belong to the subject but to the object. Not to the one who believes but to what is believed. After salvation, we must live by grace. Grace includes all human merits. Faith remains the only means of perceiving and applying Bible doctrine. God has provided everything we need for learning God’s Word. They are called grace provisions for the saints to understand doctrine through spiritual IQ not human IQ. Human IQ is an index number indicating degree of human intelligence and is the result of meritorious perception. SPIRITUAL IQ is created by the filling of the Holy Spirit, related to the amount of Bible doctrine stored as EPIGNOSIS in the right lobe of the soul [Colossians 1:9], is the result of non-meritorious faith perception. Believers has the ability to learn Bible doctrine apart from human IQ-since it is not a factor for learning doctrine. The mentality of the soul has two lobes. The left lobe is the home of GNOSIS (gnosis) that is academic knowledge of the Scripture. The right lobe is the repository of EPIGNOSIS (epignosis) that is full knowledge. GNOSIS is receptive comprehension, the academic knowledge that is not usable for application in life. It is non-edifying. The application of gnosis doctrine is reversion of the Bible doctrine where true doctrine may generate pride, legalism, inflexibility, inconsiderateness, narrow-mindedness and compounding superiority. EPIGNOSIS is designed for application as wisdom and spiritual common sense in the spiritual life –it is available for application unlike gnosis, which is not applicable for any application. This is the reason why the REVERSIONISTS are very good in human viewpoint reasoning. Filling of the Holy Spirit and positive volition are equally essential in faith perception, otherwise, the Holy Spirit cannot convert and transfer gnosis from the left lobe to the right lobe to become EPIGNOSIS. The positive volition believer filled with the Holy Spirit concentrates on the pastor’s teaching, resulting in gnosis. The believer clearly perceives the doctrine and believes what he has learned. The Holy Spirit takes the gnosis and converts it into EPIGNOSIS and seals it eternally –to be reinforces by more doctrines while on earth. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
095 - THE OBJECTIVE OF FAITH THE objective of faith (for the unbelievers) is not to make you pleasing, approvable, or acceptable before God but to receive the free gift of salvation by believing Christ alone could save us. The faith we utilized to receive salvation in non-meritorious and has no power to save the soul. The purpose of faith for the believers is not to perform miracles, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, or to do great things for God but to appropriate the power of God in our spiritual momentum toward spiritual maturity. The faith we utilize to grow and advance in the spiritual life is non-meritorious and has no power to energize, accelerate or promote us from immaturity to maturity, or to remove us from carnality and transfer us to spirituality. Faith apart from Bible doctrine is pure presumptuous faith. Faith as a subordinate virtue cannot function by itself. Faith is not founded on what we can believe or our sincere conviction that are inspired by old sin nature. True faith is founded by what is believed that is, Bible doctrine. An average person with good ability to concentrate can receive not more 50% doctrine communicated by his pastor (the first discussion of a certain doctrine). If he has a high positive volition, he can retain not more than 20% of what is converted as EPIGNOSIS. When required to apply the doctrine in his KARDIA, he will do well with not more than 1%. Out of the total doctrine taught: 50% he missed and flew away. 50% he perceived as gnosis. 20 % of the gnosis becomes EPIGNOSIS. 1% of the EPIGNOSIS becomes available for immediate recall and application. This explained why the believer must be faithful in listening; studying and re-studying the Bible doctrine until he fully absorb the whole doctrine. A noble Christian is one who is willing to keep learning until he has mastered the doctrine [Acts 17:11]. OUR objective is saturation of Truth but there is no way to accelerate the process other than its gradual gathering and storing in the right lobe. The positive volition believer develops a frame of reference for receiving and retaining more doctrine necessary to build up the Truth. Because truth builds upon truth, we must persist in learning precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10). The Jesus Christ is the Author (ARCHEGOS-archegos), meaning; He is the Cause and Source of all things refers to Christ as the ONE who brings something to completion (of our faith –what we believed). Hebrews 12:2a refers to the work of God in providing, nurturing and bringing into completion His plan for our lives. But God cannot do anything without the cooperation of our free will (volition) to grow. The believer must have the DESIRE (positive volition) to grow and advance to maturity. He must enforce his desire with DECISION to reach his goal or objective. His decisions must show DETERMINATION in the midst of trials, testing and suffering. To his growing determination, he must attach military DISCIPLINE not to allow anything or anybody to hinder his spiritual growth and momentum. The most extra-ordinary faith is not one that raises dead people from the grave but one that is willing to learn Bible doctrine regardless of situation and conditions. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
096 - FAITH & THE WORK OF GOD ONCE a person believes in Christ, his salvation in Christ is permanent, secured and cannot be canceled by anything he thinks, does or says. Salvation is the non-reversible work of God. No human sin, human decision, human ridiculousness can destroy the believer’s eternal security-not even his renunciation of faith [2 Timothy 2:11-13]. At the point of salvation God imputes His absolute righteousness to every believer and declares him righteous or justified [Romans 3:21-28]. If God will exclude any one from eternal salvation who possessed his imputed righteousness, He would have to deny His own righteousness and justice, because He contradict His own pronouncement of justification. Our salvation is strong as the essence of God. Between the point of salvation and reaching spiritual maturity, every believer is the beneficiary of logistical blessings unconditionally provided regardless of spiritual standing before God, and without the necessity of faith or anything from man. At the point of spiritual maturity, the believer continue to receive logistical blessings plus the blessing in time –all because the believer received the imputed righteousness form the justice of God. It is the only basis for all subsequent blessings. The real issue is our adjustment to the justice of God not our faith. Our vital contact point with God is our spiritual adjustment to His justice- not our non-meritorious faith. In some cases, the faith of the so-called men of faith is not only non-meritorious but also notorious. GOD BLESSES US ONLY BECAUSE CHRIST WHO INDWELLS US MEETS HIS PERFECT STANDARDS AND BECAUSE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS IN US. GOD WILL NEVER BLESS US FOR WHAT WE DO OR WHAT WE DO NOT DO, NO FOR WHO AND WHAT WE ARE, BUT FOR WHO AND WHAT GOD IS. God is blessing you not because of your brilliant personality, not because of your enthusiasm in the work the church, not because of your marvelous abilities, talents and spiritual gifts. God is blessing you because you possess the principle of His integrity- divine righteousness. The justice of God is free to bless only divine righteousness wherever it maybe found [Romans 8:31, 5:16-17]. If the basis for salvation is human faith then, nobody is going to heaven. If the basis for blessing mankind is our faith, then nobody will ever receive anything from God –because our faith is always wavering, unstable, imperfect, and blemish with old sin nature, which God cannot accept by any means. God cannot throw away his absolute integrity (His perfect righteousness and justice) and lower Himself to the level of imperfect man by accepting our imperfect faith. FAITHFUL IS THE WORD: FOR IF WE DIED WITH HIM, WE SHALL ALSO LIVE WITH HIM. IF WE PERSEVERE (living in the will, plan and purpose of God) WE WILL RULE WITH HIM (as recipient of eternal blessing) IF WE DENY HIM (reject divine will to mature) HE WILL DENY US (withhold eternal rewards because we are loser). IF WE ARE FAITHLESS (living in carnality) HE REMAINS FAITHFUL (divine essence) FOR HE CANNOT DENY HIMSELF (His perfect immutability and veracity [2 Timothy 2:11-13]. So, this is not about GREAT FAITH but about GREAT GOD. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries 097 - HOW TO INCREASE YOUR FAITHTHE humanity of Christ encountered two persons with “great faith”. The first was a woman [Matthew 15:28], and a centurion [Luke 7:9]. In several occasions scolded His disciples for their little faith or lack of faith [Matthew 14:31, 16:8, 17:20, 21:21 and Luke 12:28]. GREAT FAITH is not an excellent measure of faith but the capacity to believe the Truth they heard. Believer, like Stephen who was described as a man FULL OF FAITH refers to Bible doctrine stored in his soul available for utilization at any situations may require. Great faith is not mystical and exclusive to few (like the TV preachers around us) who claimed to have special anointing from God. LITTLE FAITH refers to gnosis that failed conversion and transfer into EPIGNOSIS in the right lobe of the soul. It is academic faiths that will soon fade away lacking capacity for recall and application. Christians with weak faith are doctrinally ignorant and unable to resist temptation and open to any compromise [Romans 4:19]. TO GROW STRONG IN FAITH requires the positive volition to leave behind the weak faith of carnality and concentrate in studying Bible doctrine diligently, systematically, and progressively avoiding every intermission and barrier that diverts the focus of the soul from Christ. That decision to grow strong begins with an act of volition [Romans 4:20]. TO INCREASE OUR FAITH is to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ by means of continuous and progressive learning of Bible doctrine. No amount of prayer and fasting can increase our faith [2 Peter 3:18]. Like the lowly mustard seed, our faith must germinate, grow it roots down –ward before it can bear fruits upward [Luke 17:5-6]. No amount of prayer and fasting, miracles, healing, tongues, and exorcism can add a millimeter to our faith. The people surrounding the life of Christ and the apostles had enough miracles and yet remained unconverted. THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL LIVE BY FAITH is a statement that describes the normal lifestyle of the Christians inside the plan, purpose and will of God. The Word of God possesses such believers and whose principles and viewpoint are dominantly biblically accurate [Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11]. RIGHTEOUS MEN became strong in their faith gradually –being energize by the Holy Spirit as they move slowly toward spiritual maturity by the grace of God. They utilizes the power of the divine sphere not their own power. They refused to leave the divine sphere and not heeding Satan’s enticement to leave even for a while [Ephesians 3:16, 19]. THE RIGHTEOUS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING THE FULLNESS OF GOD WHICH COMES BY KNOWING GOD NOT BY WORKING FOR GOD. We come to know God by living within the system in which Jesus Christ lived while on earth. That system is the divine sphere of blessedness [John 1:16]. Only inside the divine sphere we can think His thoughts and develop the same mental attitude that govern His life [1 Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 2:5] His inner dynamics becomes our inner dynamic. His virtues become our virtues. His capacity for life becomes our capacity for life. His happiness becomes our happiness. His integrity becomes our integrity [John 15:11, 16:13-15]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
099 - FAITH IN CONFLICT FAITH does not believe without proof of God’s essence. To believe God is to know Him, His purpose, His plan, operation and systems. Faith that is ignorant of God’s essence is presumptuous faith. Faith is not trusting a creature or putting your confidence on man. True confidence is based on God’s essence. A misdirected faith is not faith but human compromise with evil schemes. Faith is not claiming biblical promise and urging God to fulfill it, without knowing His plan and purpose. It is easy to say, “I believe that God will do it” without the confidence on God. Faith is not human capacity coated with our selfishness and arrogance in demanding His intervention for something entirely impossible to settle or resolved. Faith is the divine action of His righteousness and justice. It is not demanding something for our needs and problems. Faith is not what you make to believe or what you like to believe but what is believed [Hebrews 12:2c]. The justice of God provided all Church Age believers with equal privileges and equal opportunity to reach spiritual maturity. The measure of faith is the results of individualized volition to use or not to use divine resources. Only faith (doctrine) can established the spiritual life of the believer individually and collectively (Acts 16:5). No amount of ‘spiritual messages” or spiritual music, tongues, and others can make you grow and move toward spiritual maturity. Your faith can grow exceedingly or remain stagnant - depending on your study of the Word [2 Thessalonians 1:3, James 2:18-17]. THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH [1 Timothy 6:12] refers to the battle the Church Age believers have to face while advancing toward spiritual maturity. The battle is about volitional responsibility to study or not to study Bible doctrine –not fighting demons. Our faith is powerless against Satan and his demons. TO DEPART FROM FAITH [1 Timothy 4:1b] is to reject Bible doctrine and to accept the doctrines of demons. To ere from the faith or to wander from the faith is to fill your mind with human viewpoint or satanic viewpoint [1 Timothy 6:10b]. THE SPIRITUAL BATTLEFIELD where each one of us is assigned to fight is the soul, not the planet earth that is why, our soul must be possessed with EPIGNOSIS Bible doctrine. The spiritual warfare that we have to win is right here in our soul- not in some ghostly houses or temple of demons. There is no command for the believers to expel demons from this planet. WE cannot bully Satan with gnosis doctrine in our NOUS. Memorized Scriptural text has no effect on Satan-he has memorized it better than the believers. The truth we learned will establish real convictions and belief. The principles we gained will guide our conduct in the world. The truth will set us free. EPIGNOSIS are permanently stored in the soul, preserved for eternity. If however, remain unused- the Holy Spirit will ask for refresher course that may include preventive suffering. There is no spiritual maturity without the application of EPIGNOSIS to life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
100 - FAITH-REST FAITH REST relies on the infinite power, energy and resources of God. It is God’s gracious, matchless, endless provision for believers in time. It is a moment-by-moment Sabbath. Without rest, there is no spiritual power, strength and spiritual capacity to serve God. There is absolutely nothing in the spiritual life with this moment-by-moment rest. It will be a spiritual life without the wonderful shower of blessings. The faith-rest life is characterized by continuous, perpetual faith that believes the promises of God [Hebrews 4:10]. It is signify by diligence in seeking life that is not operating by the energy of the flesh [Hebrews 4:11]. The faith-rest life is characterized by knowing the Word of God, the will of God for man. The believer who is applying faith–rest is allowing the Word of God to inspect his mind, heart and soul. He is willing to take constant examination (testing) by giving the Word of God freedom to judge his thought and life [Hebrews 4:12-13]. The faith-rest life is characterized by being a witness to the world regarding the wonderful grace of God. It is becoming a showcase of divine grace in the world of chasm and chaos [Hebrews 4:12]. It is characterized by series of testing of undeserved suffering, which demands continual trust or confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is life that is learning to depend on God in every area of his life. It is a life that trusts on nobody except God. A life that is totally independent from men and totally dependent on God alone [Hebrews 4:15-16]. FAITH-REST is something we do not earn, we do not deserve, and we do not have the right but because of God’s grace, it is possible. Faith-rest is not an exercise we do in times of crisis or problem, but moment-by-moment exercise. Faith-rest is like a water reservoir that you fill during the rainy days and use during the dry seasons. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
101 - THREE STAGES OF FAITH REST: STAGE 1: Claim a Biblical promise. The believer stands on the veracity of God’s Word, giving life to the Bible doctrine stored and resident in the soul [Romans 8:28]. STAGE 2: Apply a doctrinal rationale. The believer recalls doctrinal truths to form logical premises, on the basis of God’s essence and character [Romans 8:29-30]. Foreknowledge: God thought about you in the eternity past. Predestination: God designed a plan for you in the eternity past. Election: God chose you for the privileged part of His plan. Justification: God can bless you because you possess His righteousness Glorification: God can bless you forever in heaven. STAGE 3: Reach a doctrinal conclusion and take control of the situation [Romans 8:32-32]. IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US IF GOD GAVE US HIS SON, HE WILL ALSO GIVE US ALL THINGS THE Christian key to faith-rest is the appropriation of God’s grace by faith and the utilization of divine problem-solving devices. WAITING UPON THE LORD is synonym with faith-rest. To wait is to continue trusting God until He restores your human strength with divine strength. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries
102 - FAITH VS. WORKS? THE subject of faith is one of the most misinterpreted term in the Bible and the most abuse among the religious. It has different meaning from religion to religion. The main elements in FAITH (PISTIS-pistis) in its relation to the invisible God as distinct from human faith are especially brought out in the use of this Greek noun and corresponding and verb PISTEUO (pisteo) are:
All this stands in contrast to belief in its purely natural exercise, which consists of an opinion held without necessary reference to its proof. The object of Abraham’s faith was not on God’s promise (that was the occasion of its reference) but rested on God Who made the promise [Romans 4:17-21]. Faith is non-meritorious and has no power of its own. The power is on God the object of our faith. Faith for example does not rest on the wooden cross-used by Christ, not on the dead person but on the Living Person [Romans 3:25]. LITTLE FAITH, literally “little of faith” (OLIGOPISTOS-oligopistos) is used only by the Lord as a tender rebuke for anxiety of those who refused to accept and believe Him. GENUINE FAITH has 4 elements:
A DEAD FAITH is purely academic knowledge of God, religious not biblical in context and without reality. Dead faith is futile and handicap to bring the reality of salvation [James 2:14]. Dead faith is not faith at all. A MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, AND NOT BY FAITH ALONE refers to several doctrinal truths [James 2:24]. Paul in his epistle to Romans had in mind Abraham’s attitude toward God-his acceptance of God’s Word. Paul used the event in Abraham’s life recorded in Genesis 15, James that in Genesis 22. Paul focus on BELIEVED [Genesis 15:6] and James on OBEYED [Genesis 22:18]. Paul was dealing with genuine faith while James was talking about dead faith [James 2:14, 17, 20], that kind of faith that cannot save. For Paul faith is the acceptance of God’s Word (the whole doctrine), with James it is the acceptance of the truth (certain statements about God), which may fail to affect one’s conduct. With Paul results in acceptance with God, that is justification. With Paul, works are dead works (human good works). With James they are life works (divine good works). With regards to justification, Paul is occupied with right relationship with God, James with right conduct. Paul testifies that the ungodly can be justified by faith; James testifies that only the doer of God’s Word is justified. To dispute that salvation is by faith plus works and use the words of James is very appropriate for some cults because they already warranted their condemnation to hell. The “faith” of James cannot save anyone unless it shows it works. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine ministries 101 - THE DIVINE DECREE The decrees of God are His eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurity. The several contents of this one eternal purpose, because of the limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore called Decrees. The decree being the act of an infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, comprehending a plan including all His works of all kinds, great and small, from the beginning of creation to an unending eternity; ends as well as means, causes as well as effects, conditions and instrumentalities as well as the events which depend upon them, must be incomprehensible by the finite intellect of man. The decrees are eternal (Acts 15: 18; Ephesians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13), unchangeable (Psalms 33:11; Isaiah 46:9), and comprehend all things that come to pass (Ephesians 1:11; Matthew 10:29, 30; Ephesians 2:10; Acts 2:23; 4:27, 28; Psalm 17:13, 14). The decrees of God are: Efficacious, as they respect those events He has determined to bring about by His own immediate agency; or Permissive, as they respect those events He has determined that free agents shall be permitted by Him to effect. This doctrine ought to produce in our minds "humility, in view of the infinite greatness and sovereignty of God, and of the dependence of man; confidence and implicit reliance upon wisdom, righteousness, goodness, and immutability of God's purpose. God's decree is a theological term for the comprehensive plan for the world and its history, which the sovereignty of God established in eternity. Paul refers to "the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with His will (Ephesians 1:11). The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. The decree of God is His eternal and immutable will related to the future existence of events, which will happen in time and regarding the precise order and manner of their occurrence. Under the divine decree, the will of God refers to God’s decision, which He has made in the eternity past from His attribute of sovereignty, which established that certain things would actually come into being while other things would not. This is His sovereign choice as to what will take place in time. Nothing can exist apart from His decision to make it exist. Many things that occur are results of angelic or human free will acting contrary to God’s desires. God nevertheless decided or willed that these things would take place. Thus He makes our volition truly free. Divine decree has rendered all things as certain to occur, He decided that they would exist. Because God decreed that we would have free will, He also decreed that all of our decisions-whatever they might be, would certainly take place even those contrary to His desires. The divine decrees are the eternal plan of God by which God has rendered certain all of the events of the universe both human and angelic history. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
102 - THE PURPOSE OF THE DIVINE DECREE God knows everything that is knowable and there is nothing that He needs to know- He knew ahead of time precisely what would exist but He also decreed the exact manner, consistent with His integrity, in which He would handle our decisions. God knew exactly every decisions we are to make during our entire lifespan-He knew every error and bad decisions but He will never intervene with our decisions whether bad or good. The divine decree is the chosen and adopted plan of all God’s works it is God’s eternal purpose, according to the counsels of His own will, whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass. There are no points of similarity between God's decree and the decrees of human rulers, but there are important differences that are distinct. We have to distinguish God's will of decree from the will of precept; a closer parallel exists between God's will of precept and human decrees. THE WILL OF PRECEPTS refers to the commands and laws that God sets for his creatures, commands which call for obedience but which are often transgressed. THE WILL OF DECREE, on the other hand, refers to the eternal, perfect, all-comprehensive, unchangeable, and efficacious plan of God, which is carried out in history. The decree of God is the sovereign choice of the divine will (God’s sovereignty) and mentality (God’s omniscience) by which all things are brought into being and controlled-made subject to His pleasure and producing His glorification (Isaiah 46:10). The Trinity pre-existed everything and every creature. No one is above God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. No one originated God for God has no origin. HUMAN DECREES (like those of Darius's order to worship the image (Daniel 6:7-12), Cyprus's command to rebuild the temple (Ezra 5:13), and Caesar's decree for a census (Luke 2:1; Acts 17:7) are not similar to divine decrees. "Decree" (dogma) is also used for the decisions of the Jerusalem Council (Acts 16:4) as well as for various Jewish legal regulations, ordinances, or rules (Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:14-15). Similar terms are used for God's decree against the king of Babylon (Daniel 4:24), for His decree concerning rain and the sea (Job 28:26; Proverbs 8:29), and for His laws governing human life (Psalms 119:5, 8, 12). There are also instances where God's decree refers to His regulations issued in history (Exodus 15:25; Romans 1:32). Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish a decree that is the historical revelation, which is part of God's eternal plan from a regulation or order of God's in history that does not specifically refer to the eternal decree (see Psalm 2:7). The discussion of God's decree is generally restricted to the eternal plan established before the creation of the world. In contrast to every human ruler, God has always existed. He existed before He created the world, and His decree or eternal plan was established before the creation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
103 - THE DIVINE DECREE AND NEGATIVE VOLITION The elect were chosen "before the creation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4; Hebrews 4:3; I Peter 1:20; 2 Timothy 1:9; I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:11). We are not chosen based on our righteousness because God chose us before we were born. The relation of eternity and time, of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, makes human understanding of God's eternal decree very difficult. Several important distinctions are helpful. The decree is not eternal in exactly the same sense that God is eternal. God created and designed the divine decree in relationship to angels and human beings. The decree results from the free, sovereign will of God; it must be distinguished therefore from the necessary acts of God within the divine Trinity. The decree of God must also be distinguished from its execution in history. The decree to create is not the actual creation of the world "in the beginning" (Genesis 1:1). The decree to send Jesus Christ is not carried out until Jesus was born of Mary in the days of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-7). When human agents are used in carrying out God's decree. Some decreed events occur by God's direct agency, as creation, regeneration, and the first and second comings of Jesus Christ. Other decreed events are carried out in history through human agency; sometimes they occur through obedient human agents who live according to God's law, the will of precept. Sometimes the decree is fulfilled through sinful, disobedient human action, as in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The complex issues involved in the relation of divine sovereignty and human responsibility or irresponsibility in carrying out the eternal decree becomes clearer when one examines scriptural references to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The eternal, divine decree clearly lies behind the cross of Christ. Before His death Jesus indicated that "the Son of man will go as it has been decreed" (Luke 22:22), and Peter told his Pentecost audience that Jesus of Nazareth "was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23). The crucifixion was the most heinous crime of human history; the crucifiers transgressed God's commandments, his will of precept [Acts 4:27-28]. The above-mentioned text also refers to the sin of those taking part in the crucifixion: Judas, Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel. The crucifixion was part of God's eternal decree, and sinful human action was involved; but the guilt of such action is not minimized even when it functions as means to effectuate God's decree. Reflection on this crucial event of redemptive history is helpful since so many of the complex issues involved in understanding the relations of God's decree and human history are involved. Scriptural references to God's decree are generally set forth in concrete relation to historical situations for the purpose of promoting comfort, security, assurance, and trust. The Lord foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the peoples; but the plans of the Lord stands firm forever. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
104 - THE DIVINE DECREE IS NOT A SECRET The purpose of God’s heart through all generations is clearly revealed (Psalms 33:10-11). Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21). The decree of God is largely secret and unrevealed but only to the unbelievers and ignorant believers they have no awareness of God's decree. Biblical prophecy reveals key features of God's eternal plan. The first such prophesy was the promise of a Deliverer from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), which runs throughout the entire Scripture. Isaiah frequently refers to God's decree and contrasts Yahweh with the idols; He makes "known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come," and His "purpose will stand" (Isaiah 14: 24-27) Some portion of God's decree, have not yet carried out in history but only revealed by prophecy, yet provides the basis for the Christian's hope for the second coming of Jesus Christ in glory, for the consummation of God's kingdom, and for life everlasting in the new heaven and the new earth. The divine decree is not inconsistent with human freedom and significant human history every individual is totally responsible for his own life because he alone creates his own history. Divine decree is not limited to foreknowledge of future events and God cannot compromise with human initiative and cooperation. The perfect foreknowledge of God is related and limited only to believers. Traditional objections to divine decree are:It is inconsistent with human free will or volition
The illustration of Christ’s crucifixion provides an answer to such objections. Failure to distinguish the will of decree and the complex ways of its execution, may lead to fatalistic or deterministic concepts of God's decree. Then humans are considered robots and history is viewed as a programmed computer. The importance of history is promoted, at least in part, by the secret, unrevealed nature of God's decree and His demand that our lives be governed by such revealed commands. Adam's fall and Christ's crucifixion were included in God's decree He did not force the outcome. Humans acted freely but irresponsibly; they did precisely what God commanded them not to do. The divine decree or God’s will for the believers are all written in the pages of the Scripture but the blind cannot find them. The teaching of the Bible is secret only for those without spiritual eyes (that provides spiritual capacity to see Christ in the pages of Scripture using the eyes of their souls) [Ephesians 1:17-18]. This is called spiritual perception it is more than illumination. Under the divine decree, the doctrine of illumination relates to that ministry of the Holy Spirit that helps the believer understand the truth of Scripture. In relation to the Bible, the divine revelation relates to the unveiling of truth from the Scriptures. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
105 - DIVINE ELECTION Divine inspiration concerns the method by which the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of Scripture; and illumination refers to the ministry of the Spirit by which the meaning of Scripture is made clear to the believer. The unregenerate man cannot experience this illuminating ministry, for he is blinded to the truth of God (I Corinthians 2:14). The Lord promised His followers that when the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost He would lead them into the truth (John 16:13-16), and this includes understanding the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:9-10). However, such understanding is not without conditions. The believer must himself be maturing and in fellowship with the Lord to experience this full perception of truth, for carnality in his life will hinder the ministry of the Spirit (I Corinthians 3:1-3). He also would expect to benefit from the Spirit ministering through others who have the gift of teaching (Romans 12:6-7), and such ministry can be experienced orally or through the printed page or various other media of Bible doctrine. But ultimately it is the Spirit who is the direct connection between the mind of God as revealed in the Scriptures and the mind of the believer seeking to understand the Scriptures. The Scripture speaks of election of grace which refers to: The election of individuals to office or to honor and privilege like, Abraham, Jacob, Saul, David, Solomon, were all chosen by God for the positions they held; so also were the apostles. There is also an election of nations to special privileges, that is, the Hebrews or Israel [Deuteronomy 7:6, Romans9:4). The election of individuals to eternal life (2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:2; John 13:18) the ground of this election to salvation is the good pleasure of God (Ephesians 1:5, 11; Matthew 11:25, 26; John 15:16, 19) not the good works of the individual. God claims the right to do so (Romans 9:16, 21). It is not conditioned on faith or repentance, but is of sovereign grace (Romans 11:4-6; Ephesians 1:3-6). All that pertain to salvation, the means (Ephesians 2:8) as well as the end, are of God (Acts 5:31; 2 Timothy 2:25; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:5, 10). Faith and repentance and all other graces are the exercises of a regenerated soul; and regeneration is God's work, a "new creature." Men are elected "to salvation," "to the adoption of sons," "to be holy and without blame before Him in love" (2 Thessalonians 2:13; Galatians 4:4, 5; Ephesians 1:4). The ultimate end of election is the praise of God's grace (Ephesians 1:6, 12). The Scripture employs a very rich vocabulary to express several aspects of election. Five types of election call for distinction. First: The elections of angels (1 Timothy 5:21; 1 Corinthians 6:3; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) as elect servants of the Lord. Election to service is evident in God's sovereign choice of David as Israel's king (1 Samuel 16:7-12) and in Jesus' choosing of the disciples and apostles (Luke 6:13; John 6:70; 15:16; Acts 9:15; 15:7). The election of Abraham's descendants to form the theocratic nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6-7; 10:15; 1 Kings 3:8; Isaiah 44:1-2; 45:4; 65:9, 15, 22; Amos 3:2; Acts 13:17; Romans 9:1-5) J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
106 - THE DIVINE DECREE AND DIVINE ELECTION The election of Israel originated in God's sovereign choice, expressed His covenantal love, and served the goal of redemptive history culminating in Jesus Christ. The election of the Messiah is a fourth type of election. Isaiah referred to the servant of the Lord as "my chosen one" (42:1 Matthew 12:18). Of the Synoptic only Luke refers to Jesus as the Chosen One (9:35; 23:35). Peter echoes another Isaiah reference (28:16) in 1 Peter 1:20 and 2:4, 6. These references indicate the unique mediator-ship office of Christ and the Father's pleasure in Him. The election to salvation, with which the rest of this article is concerned, the most common NT reference to election is God's eternal election of certain persons to salvation in Jesus Christ. The subject is dealt with comprehensively in Ephesians 1:3-11 and Romans 8:28-11:36. The whole doctrine of election is summarized in Ephesians chapter one. Election unto salvation is then defined as the unchangeable purpose of God before the foundation of the world, out of the whole human race, which had fallen by its own fault out of its original integrity into sin and ruin. God has, according to the good pleasure of His will, out of mere grace, chosen in Christ to salvation a certain number of specific men, neither better nor more worthy than other, but with them involved in a common misery (1.7). God out of His most free, most just, blameless, and unchangeable good pleasure has decreed to leave in the common misery into which they have by their own fault plunged themselves, and not to give them saving faith and the grace of conversion and "finally to condemn and punish them eternally" NOT for their sins (1.15) but for rejecting His plan of grace. Predestination thus includes election and reprobation, and reprobation involves both a sovereign passing by (preterit ion) and a just condemnation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
107 - PRINCIPLES OF ELECTION Election is a sovereign, eternal decree of God. The elect have been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (Ephesians 1:11). God chose us in Christ "before the creation of the world" (Ephesians 1:4). God's sovereign decree is not arbitrary; "in love He predestined us... in accordance with His pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:29). The presupposition of God's eternal decree of election is that the human race is fallen; election involves God's gracious rescue plan. It is not based on human works or God's foreknowledge of works (Romans 9:11). The elect are chosen to be holy and blameless in His sight"; they are adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:4-7). Hence election leads to "redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. The same perspective is evident in Romans, for those whom "God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (8:29). The presupposition is that they are fallen, and hence God's predestination includes calling, justification, and glorification. This presupposition, that the fallen race is the object of predestination. Election is "election in Christ"; election involves rescue from sin and guilt and receiving the gracious gifts of salvation. Election in Christ is evident in the words already quoted from Ephesians 1:4-5, 11, and Romans 8:29. Christ is not merely a subsequent means to effectuate a decree of election; election is in Christ and through Christ. God the Father decreed to give to Christ those who were to be saved, and effectually to call and draw them into His fellowship through His word and Spirit" (I.7). Thus God's election is in Christ, and Christ is both the foundation of election and the foundation of salvation. Election involves both the elect's salvation and the means to that end. This is already evident in the repeated references to election in Christ, but it is made even more specific. God chose the elect to be holy and blameless in His sight to be adopted as His sons. “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” [Ephesians 1:4-9] For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified [Romans 8:29-39]. God chose the elect "to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Hence the preaching of the Gospel is indispensable in effecting God's election (Romans 10:14-17; Acts 18:9-11). The salvation of the elect has its decretive origin before time, is realized through means in history, and culminates in eternal glorification. God decreed to give them true faith in Him, to justify them, to sanctify them, and, after having powerfully kept them in the fellowship of His Son, finally to glorify them, for the demonstration of His mercy and the praise of the riches of His glorious grace" (I.7). This feature of election negates the objection that if one is elect, one will be saved regardless of whether or not one believes. It also excludes the objection that election leads to a libertine spirit; unbelief and careless living are inconsistent with the scriptural doctrine of election. Election is individual, personal, specific, and particular. Ephesians refers repeatedly to "us" and "we" in connection with election (1:4-5, 12). In Romans, Paul refers to "those" whom God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified (8:29-30). Romans 9 indicate that personal election unto salvation was operative within the election of Israel. Paul states that "not all who are descended from Israel are Israel" (9:6, 8) and he shows that "God's purpose in election" distinguished between Isaac and Ishmael, between Jacob and Esau (9:7, 11-13). This is also the implication of the expressions in John 6:37-40; 10:14-16, 26-29; 17:2, 6, 9, and 24. Particularly, personal election leads to the believer's comfort and does not promote carelessness or false confidence. The ultimate goal of election is the glory and praise of God. Election to salvation involves personal privilege, blessing, security, and comfort for the elect. But Scripture makes clear that it is "to the praise of His glorious grace" that everything leads (Ephesians 1:6). The elect have been chosen and predestined "in order that we ... might be for the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:12). God's goal is "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:10; I Peter 1:1; 2:9; Matthew 13:27-30; 24:31). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
108 - THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD The sovereignty of God refers to His absolute right to do all things according to His own good pleasure (Daniel 4:25, 35; Romans 9:15-23; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 4:11). The sovereignty of God is the biblical teaching that God is King, supreme ruler, and lawgiver of the entire universe. God "has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all" (Psalm 103:19). As the "Most High," God is "sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes" (Daniel 4:17, 25, 34; 5:21; 7:14). Israel's King David acknowledges "the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor" of God "for everything in heaven and earth" is His (I Chronicles 29:11). This prayerful acknowledgment of God's sovereignty is echoed in the conclusion of the disciples’ prayer: "for yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever" (Matthew 6:13). God is indeed the "only Ruler, the King of Kings and Lord of lords" (I Timothy 6:15; and Revelation 19:16). The sovereignty of God thus expresses the very nature of God as all-powerful and omnipotent, able to accomplish His good pleasure, carry out His decreed will, and keep His promises. Several divine names express God's sovereignty. He is called "God Most High" (Genesis 14:18-20), "God almighty" (17:1; Exodus 6:2), "Sovereign Lord" (Gen. 15:2), and "Lord God Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). "Sovereign Lord" or "Master" in Luke 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Peter 2:1; Jude 4; and Revelation 6:10. God's sovereignty is expressed in the comprehensive plan or decree for human history; He "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" (Ephesians 1:11). His sovereignty is exercised and displayed in history in the work of creation, providence, and redemption. The "Sovereign Lord" has "made the heavens and the earth" and "nothing is too hard" for Him (Jeremiah 32:17-23), indeed, "all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27; 14:35; Luke 1:37). The sovereignty God upholds and governs the created world in His providence. He rules the destiny of men and nations (Acts 14:15-17; 17:24-28). Adam's fall occurred within the context of His arrangement (Genesis 2:16-17) as did Christ's crucifixion (Acts 2:23; 4:27-28) and all other events- His providential rule is all-comprehensive- "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things (Isaiah 45:7; Ephesians 1:11). The gracious work of redemption also manifests God's sovereignty. He promises, covenants, and works redemptive history. The Messiah is Himself "Mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6-7), "the Son of the Most High" whose "kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:33). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
109 - DIVINE DECREE AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD From the beginning of His public ministry to its end Jesus Christ's message concerns "the kingdom of God" (Mark 1:15; Acts 1:3). After the resurrection Christ claims "all authority in heaven and earth" (Matthew 28:18), and the ascended Christ is exalted "far above all rule and authority, power, and dominion" (Ephesians 1:19-21; Philippians 2:9-11; I Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 5:9-14). Hence the earliest Christian confession was simply: "Jesus is Lord" (Romans 10:9). The gospel itself displays God's sovereignty; it is "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16), and "to those whom God has called" Christ is "the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:24; Ephesians 1:18-22). The authority of Scripture is also an expression of the sovereignty of God since all Scripture is "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). That is why "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35) and the very reason everything in it will be fulfilled and accomplished (Matthew 5:18; Luke 24:44). The "sovereignty" of God is one of the transmissible attributes; "sovereignty" expresses an inherent characteristic of God, and a distinction is sometimes made between "sovereign will" and "sovereign power." God's sovereign will and power are not arbitrary, despotic, or deterministic; His sovereignty is characterized by His justice and holiness as well as by His other attributes. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility are paradoxical and beyond human comprehension. Divine sovereignty and human sovereignty are certainly contradictory, but divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not. God uses human means in history to accomplish His purposes, yet such means do not involve coercion. God effectuates His will even through sinful, disobedient human actions (Genesis 45:5, 7-8; 50:19-20). The crucifixion of Jesus Christ, certainly the most heinous crime in history, occurred within the boundaries of "the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God," for the crucifiers did what God's "power and will” had decided beforehand what should happen (John 19:11). The Christian who is being renewed in the image of God and progressing in sanctification should again exercise dominion over creation as God's vicegerent in promoting the kingdom of God in human history to the glory of the Sovereign Lord (Genesis 1:28). Volitional responsibility is the relation to a free moral agent has to a decision or act for which the agent is answerable, accountable, or personally responsible. The counterpart to responsibility is negative volition, which is the decision, or act is chargeable, attributable, or imputable to the agent. Assumed here in both cases are a law imposing an obligation and a sanction enforcing the obligation. A sanction is a promise of reward and the threat of punishment. The lawbreaker deserves the punishment, and the law keeper is entitled to the reward because of merit, or the right of payment. Responsibility and culpability, are particularly concerned with the extent to which a decision or act owes its origin to an agent's will guided by reason. Responsibility for a bad act is called guilt. There is no corresponding designation of responsibility for a good act. This is probably accounted for by the fact that responsibility is more often associated with acts of wrongdoing than right doing. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
110 - VOLITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY A related concept is justice, the measure of merit. Justice stems from the idea of equality between two persons having some agreement, understanding, or contract between them. If one party fails to keep the agreement, then he or she upsets the equality, thereby owing compensation to the other party. The person keeping the agreement has something due him or her. Justice is served when the offending party pays the offended party whatever is deserved or merited, that is, whatever is considered to reestablish the state of equality. From the standpoint of the offended party the compensation merited is regarded as a reward. From the standpoint of the offending party the compensation that is owed is seen as a punishment. Moving beyond the limits of the simple contract situation into the broader context of moral responsibility in general, we find that punishment has several functions, since more than an individual is usually offended by an act of wrongdoing. That act may be a crime against the group or the state. It may also be a sin against God. Retributive punishment serves the offended person by getting back at the offender and restoring the balance which justice demands. Corrective or rehabilitative punishment serves the offender by bringing him or her back to the place of equality with the rest of the group or society. Preventive or deterrent punishment serves the group or society by forestalling future wrongdoing of the type committed. Vindictive punishment serves the law and the lawgiver, both human and divine, by putting down one who has flouted the very ideas of law, equality, and justice. By so doing, that person has offended the holiness and justice of God Himself. Although responsibility is being treated here as a moral phenomenon, we have reflected the biblical approach by looking at it from the standpoint of some of the concerns of legal responsibility. A study of legal responsibility as such would lead into such topics as an offender's intentions, strict liability, and criminal insanity. Instead we shall focus on a concept, which is central to moral responsibility as such, namely, the concept of freedom. Some does not hold responsible for a decision or act claiming that man’s will is not free; hence for them there is no such thing as moral responsibility but man possesses free will. They blame such factors as the person’s heredity, social background, mental history, character and environment. Another condition necessary for moral responsibility is knowledge of what is expected of one. A person who is ignorant of a rule or law is either not held responsible or is thought to have a reduced degree of responsibility, as long as he or she did not willfully bring about that ignorance. However, ignorance of the law and regulations excuses no one. Certainly in Scripture, but also in general usage, responsibility extends to the family, to larger groupings up to a nation, to groups of nations, and to even the entire human race. But the primary focus of responsibility is a person who can be held accountable, an agent who has the power or ability to make decisions and act on them intentionally. One act intentionally when one does something for a reason, that is, because of one's beliefs and desires. This is why God is said to judge "the thoughts and intents of the heart." Specific biblical teachings relative to human volition and responsibility will be discussed separately in this book. Because God holds every human being responsible for the sin of the first human being (Romans 5:12), He gave us, free will volition. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
111 - HUMAN VOLITION God's giving of the law through Moses created a much greater sense of responsibility in Israel (Romans 7:7). The rest of the human race is NOT less responsible, however, for "when they do by nature the things contained in the law... [they] show the work of the law written in their hearts" (Romans 2:14-15). Volition is the free will decision of the soul (not of the brain) toward God and His Bible doctrine. Positive volition is a good decision toward God and His Bible doctrine. It is decision inside the spiritual life from position of strength (spirituality). It operates in knowledge or cognizance of Bible doctrine and acceptance of God’s plan of grace. Negative volition is the bad decision against God or against His Bible doctrine from position of weakness. It operates in ignorance or rejection of God’s plan of grace and the Person of Jesus Christ. Whether or not a person knew a particular thought, or act as wrong, he did it because he wanted to do it [James 1:13-15]. It is foolishness to remain passive and naïve to the correlation between our decision and misery in life. The human free will is always the cause of miseries. Nobody is exempted from making bad decisions. No matter how smart and genius we are-someone can always deceive us. Despite our human wisdom and experience we will remain unprotected from our own bad decision because we have subjectivity and sentimentality that can distort and divert our thinking. Both human intelligence and our subjectivity cannot guarantee our soul from making bad decisions. Even the previous experiences both in the world and in the Christian life afford very little help. No great adviser with his good advices can keep us from making bad decisions and doing the foolish things that we set our minds on doing. We hate to suffer and of-course we do not like suffering the miseries that we brought upon ourselves through bad decisions that we made. And nobody wants to admit that his bad decisions brought his own calamities. We use our negative volition to make bad decisions that triggers self-induced miseries or divine discipline. Seldom has the believer suffered alone from his bad decisions- in most cases, the immediate victims are the family members. One bad decision could bring suffering to many – take the example of the first Adam. If not by one’s own volition, suffering results from someone else’s negative volition. We seldom suffer alone from our negative volition. Suffering for negative volition and suffering for personal sins are not the same thing. The believer is disciplined for his own personal sins and in many cases suffers alone. A bad decision from negative volition does not only results to personal self-made miseries but extends to the whole family, community or even to the entire nation. In the world, the innocent suffer with the guilty (the person who made the bad decisions). Innocent or guilty, each believer must apply the divine solutions available in the divine sphere through his good decision from position of strength. The believers are not excused from making bad decisions and never excuse for failure in using the divine solutions in solving human problems. We have no immunity to fail but we have no immunity not to overcome our failure. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
112 - NEGATIVE VOLITION AND MISERIES IN THE WORLD Bad decisions limit future options. Believers and unbelievers do stupid things that divorce then from reality and blame others for the effects of their negative volition. God is rational and He reveals Himself to the teachable, humble, willing to obey and with positive volition believers. Under arrogance complex, the negative volition people ignore God through preoccupation with self (old sinful nature). Under hatred complex, the negative volition people attack God, His plan of grace, and Bible doctrine. An unbeliever who adheres to the divine establishment but then reacts with negative volition will begin to oppose the very truth they formerly believed. That is why, people who rejected the Gospel of Christ also rejected the correct principles of divine establishments- their last spiritual state is worse than the former volition [2 Peter 2:20]. Each rejection of truth by believer or unbeliever intensifies negative volition until the individual has locked himself into extreme antagonism toward God [Exodus 9:34-35]. Each rejection of truth from negative volition adds miseries that affect the lives of the individual concerned and the life of the people surrounding him. Every individual manufactures self-made miseries through negative volition expresses by bad decisions that are contrary to the will, plan and purpose of God. Human negative volition is the cause of human miseries and tragedies. We create our own miseries and problems that divert us away from God. When by your negative volition, you embrace satanic ideas or viewpoint, You become your own enemy. You accept demonic doctrines because your volition operates without truth of the Bible (Bible doctrine)- your soul is empty of God’s Word. This condition is called “vacuum in the soul” and will results to hardening of the soul. When negative volition succeeds in creating vacuum in the soul, the rejection of God’s Word becomes automatic and morally accepted for the person involved. When you reject Bible doctrine, you open yourself to receive satanic doctrine willfully and progressively. Satanic doctrine is the destructive substitute for doctrine. When human negative volition presents any opportunity, Satan seizes the initiative for evil viewpoint (human and satanic doctrine) to infiltrate the soul until he can no longer make good decisions. Very severe darkness from spiritual blindness will black out his soul until he develops hardening of the heart [2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Exodus 7:22, 9:34]. Negative volition can be a subtle detour from the truth of the Bible – a major distraction to spiritual growth and maturity. Because, unknowingly or deliberately, you fall victim to satanic influence by your own volition, you choose to submit to the spirit working among the children of disobedience (those with negative volition) Eph 2:2) Through our active or passive consent, you create an opening for demonic doctrines to enter your soul. Bible doctrine is objective reality –not just subjective. Arrogance distorts all truth. If a person indulges in arrogance, he loses all objectivity and distorts God’s Word. God is logical not illogical therefore, knowledge of the truth (Bible doctrine) is the only environment of genuine thought. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
113 - THE DANGERS OF NEGATIVE VOLITION This doctrine explains how and why, a carnal and reversionistic believer refuses to give his precious time and concentrate on Bible doctrine - but instead focus on himself. The reversionistic people always over think about himself – exalting himself above the others this is called illusions or daydreaming. Negative volition is a condition of the soul, unseen by human eyes but discernable by the power of the Holy Spirit. Some may not openly reject the truth but are negative because they think only in terms of self –that is, their old sinful nature. Satan can lure the growing believer into arrogance or hatred complexes so that they can attain cosmic strength instead of spiritual strength. Cosmic strength cannot sustain anybody for it has nothing except pseudo strength. The believer will become entangled in self-righteousness-bounded in hatred thrown into the pit of rebellion. The believer will become hypersensitive to suffering, subjectivity, vacillating, and demanding time or attention from others, always seeking sympathy and approbation. You alone can convert negative volition into positive volition, in the same way; you alone can convert negative volition into temptation and temptation into sin. No amount of counseling can help, no amount of advise will avail, no amount of encouragement can change the situation. Only your volition has the key to change the course of history. As a believer, you sustain your spiritual advancement through daily decisions to learn and apply Bible doctrine. You manifest the Bible doctrine resident in your soul through spiritual growth and advancement toward maturity. In opposition to God’s plan, Satan uses and administers his own power system (the cosmic system) to prevent, divert, impede or reverse our spiritual growth and momentum. Of course, God allows Satan intervention because He saw our respond toward satanic viewpoint before the creation the world. What happened and what is happening is included in the divine decree. The foreknowledge of God determined what is going to occur based on human free will or volition. Each believer must decide to exercise his positive volition in applying Bible doctrine. We use our volition to get out of the divine sphere and we us our volition to stay for good. Since volition is the guardian of the soul, we must decide not to allow the inside double agent (the OSN) to take control of the soul. As an essential part of giving mankind free will, God allows human volition enough free leashes to be genuinely free. At any time, a generation can respond with positive volition to the Gospel and Bible doctrine heading off national catastrophe. The only factor that stands between the Philippines (or any nation) and maximum divine discipline is the positive volition of genuine believers. God will bless any nation only if there is strong pivot of mature believers to be recipients of His super- grace blessing in time. Blessing is more difficult for God to bestow when the believer’s volition is involved, but that is exactly what God has achieved by creating the divine protocol plan. The believer with positive volition gains strength by using Bible doctrine and by exercising his own soul by inculcating the very thinking pattern of Christ’s humanity in the midst of underserved sufferings and using God’s resources in solving human problems [1 Corinthians 2:16]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
114 - POSITIVE VOLITION Genuine spiritual exercise does not involve the performing or observing supernatural events like miracles. The positive volition is not human good works, not a system of human good or human powers but a mental attitude that freed God to freely bless the mature believer in time. Rational thinking is the essential human activity that distinguishes man from animals. Man was created with a soul capable of rational thought. For that reason, the mentality of the soul is the battlefield of the angelic conflict. Man uses his free will to decide the state of his mentality. When the believer thinks evil, he is evil who resides in Satan’s cosmic system and must use his positive volition to get out and go back to spirituality. Spiritual advancement is manifested basically by the believer’s ability to rebound immediately after falling into sin and to continue moving toward his goal of spiritual maturity no matter how complicated his life maybe. The free will decisions of the believer to rebound and his positive volition must take its form in aggressive action and persistent accumulation of Bible doctrine and the utilization of the divine resources or problem solving- devices. This steadiness of purpose is vital in reaching spiritual maturity. Positive volition is the only key that unlocks multiple blessings. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
INEQUALITY AND POSITIVE VOLITION Man was never designed to be equal we are born unequal and human free will assures further inequality. The more decisions people makes the more unequal they become. Freedom and equality can never co-exist. God’s protection of freedom guarantees that inequality will be a perpetual historical trend. Never in the history of mankind can equality be achieved. Equality in human history is impossible because of two reasons: First-because God has designated human volition to be the key issue in the angelic conflict. Second –because Satan, the god of this world gives preferential treatment to his servants, the unbelievers. Both God’s perfect justice and Satan’s injustice assure human inequality in all dispensations. We are born unequal and the very fact God perpetuates our lives after birth means that we are also born with opportunities. Our great opportunity lies in the fact that we are possessors of eternal life and the perfect righteousness of God. Each individual is given the chance to succeed or fail, but even in success or failure inequality truly exists. No two people succeed to the same degree and no two people equally fail in the same degree. Inequality is not detrimental in itself. Inequality is distorted into a problem by the arrogance of resenting inequality, by self pity or refusal to face reality and our very own inability to explore the opportunities of one’s own capacity in a particular realm. No two persons are alike and the same. Man is designed and designated to shape by his own volition. The proper use and application of human volition makes freedom and genuine happiness a reality. The careless and unwise use of volition enslaves a person to details of life. Despite any limitations in circumstances, talent, mentality, health, appearance or any other outward factors and because man has soul- therefore, the realization of his life’s potentialities comes from human free will or volition not from fate or luck. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
116 - VOLITION AND THE HERITAGE OF FREEDOM Freedom is the most valuable possession of human beings. Human freedom is the heritage of human birth the extension of the volition of the soul as the UNCAUSED CAUSE of man’s thought and action. Freedom is self-determination, the function of the free will, never forced by threat, violence, not determined by environment, society or genetics manipulation. In the sphere of freedom, the Lord Jesus Christ freed us to receive salvation and to advance in the divine sphere [Galatians 3:13, 5:1]. Freedom is the hope of the new birth (regeneration), which provides access to the believer to the love complex the realm of spiritual freedom [2 Corinthians 3:17]. Bible doctrine is called the LAW OF FREEDOM, which defines the believer’s freedom to glorify God [James 1:25, 2:12]. Positive volition toward the Word of God is the basis of spiritual freedom [psalm 119:45]. No one can prevent you from freedom to think of Bible doctrines; no one can stop you from your daily intake of Bible doctrines except yourself. No extenuation (partial justification or excuses) can relieve you of your personal responsibility to redeem the time inside the divine sphere. Freedom as our human heritage and spiritual heritage also has become our very own national heritage. The existence and perpetuation of national liberty demands respects for legitimately established authority that depends on the cumulative personal integrity of all citizens. The only factor that limits the life of every individual is his volition. The only factor that limits the spiritual status of the believer is his volition. The justice of God releases blessings upon the believer depending on his adjustment to the justice of God. No adjustments means no spiritual blessings. There are three spiritual adjustments to the justice of God all of which requires positive volition toward God and toward His Word. Salvation is the non-meritorious decision of the soul outside the divine sphere, outside the plan of God. Salvation is one time decision-valid once and for all. It is one time response to the grace of God. Rebound is the non-meritorious decision to re-enter the divine sphere from state of carnality. Rebound is the adjustment to the justice of God that restores, cleanses, forgives, and positions the believer for blessing based on the work of Christ. Spiritual maturity requires a series of positive volition decisions from position of strength that opens more doors of opportunities in the future. Spiritual mature believers make a wise decision that creates options for greater decisions resulting to more blessings from the justice of God. Carnal and immature believers make wrong decisions that close future options for greater decisions. We all enter the Christian life with some handicap from our lives as unbelievers and from exposure to satanic doctrines. Every handicap and difficulty is nullified by God’s system of grace. Only your own negative volition prevents you from living the normal Christian way of life and advance toward spiritual maturity. There is only one issue: How will your volition function, negatively or positively? Volition can be used to succeed or fail in the Christian life but the grace of God provides only for success! Two strongholds hinder the proper function of volition: the arrogance and hatred complexes. Both paralyze the soul, distort the Word and follow the path of Satan. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
117 - THE OBJECTIVE OF THE DIVINE DECREE The center of the divine decree is the glory and personal pleasure of God. The center of human history is Christ, which is the center of the universe. Anything the Members of the Trinity decide to originate is decided with two concepts in mind: IT IS FOR THEIR PLEASURE. Our concept of pleasure is different from pleasure of God. His perfect happiness is part of His infinite character; therefore His pleasure is not impulsive, emotional or frivolous. For their own pleasure, the Trinity created the angelic hosts with perfect knowledge that some angels would revolt. For His own pleasure, God created man with free will and would share His happiness. God designed that man would become the demonstration of the fullness of God’s essence to those angels who had impugned God’s character. After the fall of Adam, God’s pleasure is human adjustment to the justice of God through salvation, For Christians; God’s pleasure is adjustment to the justice of God through rebound and advancement toward spiritual maturity. Salvation, spirituality and spiritual maturity provide capacity for the blessings of God it opens the windows of heaven for believers to receive what God had prepared in grace. IT IS FOR THEIR GLORY. Everything the Trinity had decided in the eternity past and everything the Trinity decides is for their glory. God has always existed in perfect glory. Anything He does reflects His glory and results in His glorification. God does not depend on us for His pleasure or for His glory. God enjoyed His perfect glory in the eternity past when no one else existed. He is expressing them in us and toward us- we are here as part of God’s pleasure and glory. It is the pleasure of God to permit creatures to exercise free volition. We should have no illusions about ourselves. We are here not to glorify ourselves not to impress God but to synchronize or to harmonize ourselves with His pleasure and glory. The purpose of our existence is to glorify God NOT to claim glory and honor for ourselves. When God created Adam in His image, he was in full capacity to glorify God being without old sinful nature and personal sin. But when Adam fell into sin, he removed his capacity to glorify God. Apart from the imputed eternal life and righteousness, man has no capacity and is not in position to glorify God. Unbelievers have no power or capacity to glorify God for several reasons: First: no amount of human good works can bring honor and praise to God. Second: the perfection of God can accept only something that satisfied His own perfection (that is His imputed righteousness in the believer). Third: the believers adjust to the justice of God through provision of grace (salvation, spirituality and spiritual maturity) and not through human dead good works. Fourth: man by nature is totally depraved before God. Therefore, our redemption and justification is through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to destroy or to insult the glory of God because His glory is not dependent on human action, character, morality or decision. His glory is intact with His perfect character and is never affected by human morality or character. The most devious actions of the combined forces of all demons and wicked men cannot destroy the glory of God. The only way to glorify God is to adjust to His perfect justice through His perfect system of grace. He provided a perfect method and a perfect means to satisfy His perfect demands from imperfect men. We cannot devise our own method of glorifying God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
118 - THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD The key for understanding the divine decree is the knowledge of God’s omniscience. God has three kinds of knowledge: Self-knowledge: God knows Himself; He has never had to learn anything about Himself. His self-knowledge has always been perfect, total and complete. He is aware of His own essence and the infinite capabilities of each Members of the Trinity. Omniscience. God knows at the same time all things outside Himself. God knows all things about every person in the universe. God knows everything both the actual and the possible. The actual are those that He foreordained, decreed and programmed to happen, while the possible are those things that could have happened but did not happen and will never happen. The possible includes the decisions that will not materialize because God knows that you will not make such decision and therefore, God did not decree it to happen. Foreknowledge. This subcategory of God’s cognizance acknowledges only what is decreed, but foreknowledge does not make the decree certain. Foreknowledge is the printout of the actual facts (not the possibilities) related to the volition of the believer. The Scripture to unbelievers never applies foreknowledge. God knows perfectly, eternally, infinitely and simultaneously all that is knowable, both the actual and the possible. God always knew about everything. Because He is eternal-His knowledge is eternal. Because God is sovereign –His knowledge is in control of all creation. Because God is superior His knowledge is superior to our inferior knowledge of Bible doctrines. His superior knowledge is far greater than human knowledge or intellect. The only link between our inferior knowledge and God’s superior knowledge is the Bible doctrine. The minutest details of both the angelic and human history is perfectly and completely in the mind of God at all times. he perfect omniscience of God perceives the free as free, the necessary as necessary, together with their causes, conditions, effects and relations as one individual system of things, every link of which is essential to the integrity of the whole. God perfectly knows every relation between each cause and effect. Every cause and effect is related to another cause and effect. God is never puzzled or confused by any twist of circumstances or events. Since human volition is the uncaused cause of the human function so that the course of history depends on the will of men. The course of human history is simply as man thinks, wills it or does it. That is why, man has no reason for complaining, for falling apart, for failing in a crisis, left out or for feeling sorry for himself because God has already provided everything we need related to spiritual growth and existence in the world. The infinite knowledge of God is not limited by time and time does not limit God’s knowledge because for Him, the future is as perspicuous as the past. God created time and time is in God but God is not in time. The perfect omniscience of God knows the valid alternative to human history the possible and the actual. God knows what would have been involved in every case where a man’s decision might have been different from what it was. Even though God knew which way you would choose to go and decreed only the very things that would become reality –and He knows exactly all the repercussions of each alternative. GOD is all knowing or omniscience (which comes from the Latin OMNI, which means all, and SCIENTIA meaning knowledge. God is perfectly wise His wisdom is perfect. He knows perfectly and eternally all that is knowable, whether actual or merely possible. God knows everything that has been known or ever will be known. Never was there a time when God did not know everything that is knowable –He never learns anything because He has always known everything [Proverbs 15:3, Isaiah 36:9-10, 1 John 3:20]. The omniscience of God is both eternal and infinite –He has always known everything and there is nothing that He does not know [Acts 15:18]. The omniscience of God has complete and absolute knowledge of everything that is knowable and unknown to us. Everything is totally comprehensible to the infinite God. The Bible reveals only a small fraction of God’s perfect knowledge for us to known and understands Romans 11:33]. The omniscience of God is perfectly wise and has absolute knowledge of everything since maximum knowledge belongs to the Omniscience of God [Ephesians 3:10]. Every detail of all creation and history is in God’s mind at all times and always has been from the eternity past. This is God’s mentality connected with His infinity. The future is as clear as the past. God foreknows the future since all events take place according to His counsel (or what we called divine decree). God foreknows, but His foreknowledge is not predetermined. God knows every step you will take, but He never interferes with human volition. He foreknows the function of every free will. He knows what every being will choose and He knows which way each person will decide in the function of his free will in every situation of life. Although God never interferes with free will, God is gracious and all wise, so, He may determine, which choice is made through His gracious influence through:
God’s perfect knowledge (omniscience) is not subject to development, reasoning, regretting, foreboding and revising, because His omniscience is always total and perfect, therefore it cannot be develop beyond what is already is. God knows all the conclusions as well as the premises; hence, even though He is totally reasonable and rational in all things, He never needs to reason out. We can never second-guess God. There is no way we can improve on His system. We can simply go along with His perfectly wise policy (which He designed for our best interest) or reject it, in such case, His perfect plan goes right along without us. Although His omniscience transcends time and eternity, His perfect knowledge of all events before they occur does not violate or interfere with human volition. By divine design human beings are free agents who can choose to partake of God’s grace or reject Him. Making every person personally accountable to God for every decision and action that has been made. Under the omniscience of God, there is no such thing as FATE OR BAD LUCK because all events take place according to His counsel (the divine decree) and our present is the result of our previous decisions that we have made. God knows what would have been involved in every case where a man’s decision might have been different from what it was. Divine omniscience knows every thought, decisions, and action in human history, how they all relate to each other and how they relate to all the possible alternatives. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain but merely acknowledges what is certain. It knows what is already in the decrees regarding believers only. In the foreknowledge nothing can be certain until it is first decreed- only then can what will happen be foreknown. God knows all actual events as certainly the future because He has decreed them to be certainly futurity. God decrees relate equally to all future events of every kind:
The divine decrees alone establish certainly. For believers-foreordination, predestination, elections are synonymous with the decrees. Foreknowledge is an act of the infinite and perfect wisdom of God in determining the certain futurities of events in the life of the believer. In the eternity past, the omniscience of God fed into the decree all the facts of reality (not the possible) simultaneously, not in stages. The decrees have become the complete and consummated right of the sovereignty of God determining the certain futurities of all things in human history. No decree can become complete without the sovereignty of God. Because He knows the end from the beginning –God wills certain things to happen. Many areas of the decrees have been fulfilled historically, up to and including this present moment, but all were future when decreed, including those events that have been fulfilled. No event is directly caused by the decree. The decree merely establishes what will be caused, but the decree is the not the cause. The fact that a thought or action on your part is in the decree does not mean that the decree caused you to think or do it. The cause is your free will your volition. Your thoughts are in the decree because in the eternity past. God had the perfect wisdom to know what you would think and to not omit from His planning the fact that you would think it. Because of the free will of act of man, the decree provides the following: The agent shall be a free agent. Since God provided man with free will, the decree establishes volition never coercing anyone’s decision-creating everyone accountable for his own decisions and actions. All the antecedents of the act in question shall be what they are. Whenever a decision is made it shall be the result of decisions previously made. Once something happens, that is It is part of the system of cause and effect it becomes part of the basis for other things happening and down the line. All present conditions of the act shall be what they are. God is not going to make reality suddenly vanish or become different or reverse itself. God enables us to orient ourselves to reality and to face the facts. What God decreed shall come to pass without changing its course. The act shall be perfectly spontaneous and free on the part of the agent without coercion and compulsion. The act shall be certainly futuristic. That is, it will definitely take place, as certain, after the decree is given. Wishful thinking cannot change what has already occurred. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
119 - ELECTION AND THE OMNISCIENT OF GOD The divine decree is a basic category of biblical theology a very important doctrine in which the majority of believers are basically ignorant. The divine decree vested solely with the will of God what His creation should be. God alone decided in eternity past what human beings would be like we would be rational beings with free will volition. Because God cannot contradict His own nature (the essence and attributes of God) necessitated His willingness to provide the highest and the best for mankind. When God created man (Adam), He created the highest and the best compatible with His perfect plan. Adam was created perfect in body, soul and spirit and put him in a perfect environment. The best and perfect that man has received in creation has been lost through the fall and because of that, the perfect God who created mankind now condemns us. Nevertheless, God still wills the highest and the best for mankind. With our free will, we may miss some or all of these great and best things. The best things can come only from God and our consolation is that it is still available. We have to understand the difference between the omniscience and the perfect foreknowledge of God. Foreknowledge is more limited in scope than omniscience but omniscience knows both the actual and the possible. Foreknowledge includes the actual only and is related to the redeemed only. The omniscience of God knows all that would have been involved had He adopted any one of an infinite number of plans of action. He also knows all the consequences had man chosen a different course of action within the realm of his own volition. Foreknowledge refers only to things, which God did decree or adopt as the plan of God but things related only to the children of God. Only the decree of God establishes the certainty or reality. Only reality can be foreknown nothing can be foreknown until first decreed. Events cannot occur without being decreed by God to occur. God’s decrees never originate from His foreknowledge. Although the omniscience, the decree and the foreknowledge of God exist simultaneously in the mind of God, they must be separated into a logical sequence for us to understand them. First come omniscience, then the decree, then and the foreknowledge. The divine decree is based on omniscience; foreknowledge is based on the decree. Election is the exclusive plan of God for believers. All the elect are believers. All the Church Age believers are elect members of the royal family of God. Election is God’s complete agreement with His own foreknowledge. God simply agrees with Himself (foreknowledge) and puts a stamp of approval (election) upon what He decreed [1 Peter 1:2]. God elected or chose believers where He alone knows ahead of time (before it occur) that if given free will, they would freely choose to believe in Christ. Therefore, God decreed that such an act of faith would actually occur and that God agreed not only that their positive volition to the Gospel and Bible doctrines would occur at a certain point in time- and that all the blessing of salvation would be their eternal possessions [Ephesians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13]. Election is declared through God’s perfect foreknowledge and election is the function of predestination. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
120 - ELECTION AND HUMAN HISTORY Predestination permanently and eternally relates to the Church Age believers to the plan of grace [2 Tim. 1:9]. Predestination means that the believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ through retroactive and current positional truth, in which the saints shares the destiny of Christ [Ephesians 1:5]. The believers also share the election of Christ, which occurred in eternity past [1 Peter 2:4-6]. God gracious and unconditional covenants to Israel can be fulfilled only to the elect. God cannot just pour out His perfect blessings to anybody outside election. In the Old Testament, Israel refers to those Jews who were also spiritual Jews through faith in Christ. The genuine Jew is not merely the physical seed of Abraham but His spiritual seed as well. Unless the racial Jews follow the pattern of Abraham in salvation, he is not elected because not all-racial Israelite is genuine spiritual Israelite. The unconditional covenants to Israel are promises for the elect Jews for those who have believed in Christ who possess God’s imputed righteousness and eternal life. The covenants of God to Israel are eternal, so therefore, the recipients and beneficiaries must have eternal life. The divine decrees include all the facts of human history. These are the facts, which were fed into the decree by the omniscience of God. The entire lives of all members of the human race are on the divine decree. Beginning with the first breath until the time of physical death all is recorded based on the divine decree. You do not know what the future holds for you but God does. He recorded it in the eternity pass. Only the events and things recorded will come to past. For God, there is nothing that could surprise Him. This divine will and purpose originated entirely within Himself before He created our universe. The will of God (the divine decree) is in His mind at all times. He alone designed it for His own pleasure, perfectly compatible with His essence and related to His glory. Therefore, it pleases God to run the compact disk of our recorded life (the divine decree) to the end. He knows what is on it, and He is running it for each one of us. Space and time are the venue of the battle –the overall setting in which we live and use our volition for or against the will of God. These broad concepts are all in the divine decrees and also the details, which reach down to the minutia of life. The most minor details of every event and happening in the world are included in the decree [Luke 12:6-7]. Nothing escapes the perfect knowledge of God. The Godhead functions under the divine decree in relation to human beings, not under the pressure of time and infinity but in relation to man as supreme Creator. The Members of the Godhead function in a way that is immanence, intrinsic, and subjective. Subjectivity is perfect when God is dealing with Himself. How the Godhead maintains and supports the believer is transient (the divine decree keeps running), extrinsic (because such actions occurs outside the Godhead), and objective (because our only point of contact with the perfect God is the perfect justice of God revealed in the Scripture. The divine decrees are efficacious (the direct work of God); because His work always succeeds in having intended effect, the decrees actually determine all that ever was or will be. The divine decrees guarantee certainty. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain; it merely perceives what is certain. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
121 - OMNISCIENCE AND TIME The divine decrees are all comprehensive. No slightest confusion could exist as to one of even the smallest events without confusion to all events. All events in human history are interwoven and interdependent. The decrees do not eliminate the need for prayer because God looked down at the corridor of time to see what believers would ask in prayer. Effective prayer makes requests, which God answers. These answers the things we ask in time are incorporated into the decrees in eternity past [Isaiah 65:24]. God has answered our prayer even before we ask. Prayer is a powerful weapon in the angelic conflict when wielded by the mature believer who knows what he is doing [Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2]. Because the decrees are eternal, it also means that God never gains in knowledge. What God has known at any time He has always known even before He created the universe. Since all the decrees were all decreed simultaneously in eternity past, God is never surprised by anything we do or fail to do. He knew everything simultaneously. He built divine provisions around the free choices we would make, included the whole life span of all human beings in the entire human history. The divine decrees existed before the existence of the universe, before angels and before man and before everything. The decrees of God are unchangeable and certain. Nothing will ever arise to necessitate a change in the decree. It is unchangeable because it deals only with reality and rejected the wishful thinking. It is certain because omniscience always knew that these things would occur under the circumstances of their exact and particular moment in history. The changelessness of the divine decree is a great blessing of logistical grace because if there is erasure, correction or changes then we are never secure. But because there are no erasures, corrections, deletions, no last minute changes there is no possibility of becoming lost in the shuffle. All the provisions for our needs are absolutely secure. Our protection in the hand of God is absolute and certain. The decree is the free choice of divine sovereignty and God is not bound to follow a necessary pattern or course but His perfect faithfulness and truth He will incorruptly complete what He has begun. God will run your decree up to the end. Once God decreed you to exist-that become the perfect plan the future events in your life will occur tomorrow and the next day. You will never suddenly cease to exist. Your exit is under the perfect time appointed for your departure. No departure from this life is too early or one second delay [Hebrews 9:27]. Our entry on earth is in perfect timing and likewise our exit is in perfect timing. God has decreed ends as well as means, causes as well as effects, conditions and all instrumentalities as well as the events, which depend upon them. God is never surprised by your reaction, action or lack or response because He knew perfectly everything about every individual and nothing is unknown to Him. There is no sudden death or sudden changes from human volition because He knew all that will occur. God’s omniscience knew all about the historical events. There is no sudden or accident in history of man. There is no development or collapse of a nation that is unknown to God. Before they occurred God knew the exact causes, conditions, successions of history because He sustains and controls history. He knew every ebb and flow. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
122 - DIVINE ACTIONS Some things God decreed to do Himself. We call these immediate things. Creation is immediate. God created space, matter and also time. Salvation is immediate creation because it was a direct action of the divine sovereignty and no secondary agency was involved. The control of history is dependent on the omnipotent power of God, in which He takes a direct hand in the matter rather than relegate (reduce in importance) the task to secondary causes. Other things He decreed that some agency would perform (such as the free will of man) would perform this we call mediate things. God accomplishes some things through the action of secondary causes acting the law of necessity. Other things God has decreed to promote or permit free agents to do in the exercise of their own free will and self-determination. On one hand, human volition is responsible for sin, human good, and evil from old sin nature. On the one hand, man is free to believe in Christ through non-meritorious positive volition resulting in eternal salvation. Some events are rendered by the decree of God to be just as certainly future, however, all events are equally certain to occur whether caused directly by the sovereignty of God or caused by the free will of man. Primary, secondary, tertiary, every cause for every event is equally in the decree and will occur. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist in human history as an extension of the angelic conflict. There is one all-inclusive will or purpose of God concerning all that ever was or will be from the beginning of human history until its termination on the last of the Millennium. God has known every thought, decision, and action that has ever occurred or will occur because all events come into being through one decree. God’s will in this aspect refer to God’s sovereign decisions to what would come into existence or in short, the divine decree and not to divine guidance. This will and purpose of God originated within Himself long before any creature of any kind existed. His will is always consistent with His perfect essence. The will and purpose of God (the divine decree) was objectively designed for His own glory, pleasure and satisfaction. All creatures have been placed in time and space and all events related time and space were instantaneously and simultaneously decreed. The fact that all events were decreed results in divine action. All divine action related to creation is the work of grace. The work of grace is the policy of His integrity in blessing the believers. Divine actions falls under two classifications: Divine actions within the Godhead are immanent, intrinsic, and subjective. Divine actions related to creation are transient, extrinsic, and objective. God did not decree Himself to be God. God existed prior to and outside of the decree, so that the divine decree do not act upon God, He act upon the decrees. Since the divine decrees are efficacious having the power to produce the indented effect they determine all that ever was or will be. They include God’s directive will, permissive will and overruling will. These three categories of divine will describe the manner in which God’s sovereignty controls history they are subcategories of divine action as related to His creation. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
123 - THE WILL OF GOD The directive will of God, the permissive will of God and the overruling will of God show how the sovereignty of God deals with human volition. The will of God as to what would exist (that is the divine decree) calls for God’s will (His perfect attributes of sovereignty) to function toward us in certain ways:
All things depend on God’s will (the divine decree) and nothing certain from God’s will. The divine decrees originate from His own omniscience, and in the eternity past the divine decree separated the facts from fiction. Again, we have to make a distinction between God’s omniscience and His foreknowledge. God’s decree does not originate from His foreknowledge. God’s foreknowledge makes nothing certain; it merely perceives what the decrees have made certain. Prophecy never determines history. Nothing can be foreknown until it is decreed. The divine foreknowledge is God’s cognizance of what He has decreed regarding believers. We must make distinction between the desires of God and the decrees of God. The decree of God merely establishes the facts of history many things are included which God does not desire. They are in the decree because the omniscience of God knew that, given free will, His creatures would reject the plan and purpose of their Creator. All sins are act of negative human volition and although God never approves of sin, He puts them in the decrees because He knew we would commit them. The decree deals with reality with certainty with what actually happens. Just because God decrees a particular event to take place does not mean He approves of it. Sin, human good, and evil are not the desire of God, but they are in the decrees because people do these things from their own volition. God desires His perfect will, but angels and men use their god-given freedom to violate the desires of God. The very fact that sin and evil are in the decree is proof that our volition is truly free. The decree is the all-exclusive will of God; they contain all the facts of history both the decisions, which pleases God and those, which displeases Him. God does not desire to cast His creatures into the Lake of Fire, but it is decreed as certain for all men who reject Christ as Savior [2 Peter 3:9]. God’s desire is for all unbelievers to come to a change of mind toward Christ but for those with negative volition at the point of God’s consciousness or Gospel-hearing, the Lake of Fire is decreed and become a divine retribution. God does not desire to discipline believers, but it is decreed as certain for all carnal or immature God desires to express His perfect justice toward you but if you do not permit His justice to bless you His justice will not hesitate to discipline you. We are created as free agents responsible for our own decisions. Either we adjust to the justice of God or the justice of God will adjust to us. God will never cause us any kind of misery or pains we manufacture our own miseries. The desire of God is always contrary to the will or system of men. There is nothing we can do against the will of God except to reject or refuse it. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
124 - INEQUALITY IN THE DECREE We must distinguish the decrees of God in eternity past from the action of God in time. The action of God in time is the execution of the decree. The execution is not the decree but logically follows the decree. We must make distinction between God’s decrees and God’s laws. The laws of divine establishment regulate human conduct they are set up for human volition to obey. They are for all men believers or unbelievers alike. By protecting and perpetuating the human race, these laws give each of us a chance to be evangelized and after believing in Christ, we have the opportunity to grow and reach spiritual maturity without interference or coercion. The laws of the divine establishment can be broken by human volition, but the divine decrees cannot. We cannot violate the divine decree because any decision we make was known in eternity past and was included in the decree. The divine decrees are the all-comprehensive will of God and are only partially revealed in Scripture, the laws of God regulate man’s conduct in time and space are completely revealed. The omniscience of God in taking cognizance of the fall of man graciously provided a plan for blessing man based on divine imputations from the justice of God. This plan of grace involves the omniscience of God providing into the divine decree seven imputations, which provides maximum blessings for mankind in time and in eternity. The decree of God contains the historical reality regarding every human being’s levels of attainment inside the plan of grace. True freedom means that some people attain all these imputations while other do not. Genuine freedom insures inequality. There is no equality in this world and there is no equality in eternity. The road to equality is the road to slavery not genuine freedom. True freedom and equality do not mix. Non-meritorious human volition can fall short of any potential in God’s plan. God knew the extent to which each individual advances in this plan in eternity past. God knew that some would remain unbelievers that others would believe but remain spiritually immature, that few would advance to spiritual maturity. Those who reach maturity receive blessings in time and greater blessings in eternity they would glorify God and bring Him pleasure. In obvious cases, the potential exceeds the reality. The potential is totally known to God’s omniscience; only the reality is in the divine decree. Since God is perfectly righteous and just, our attainment of divine blessings is through imputation by which we also glorify God and do His pleasure. The glory of God is related to believer’s advance to spiritual maturity and the resultant imputation of divine blessings. God is glorified not only in what He is but also in what He has decreed. To the finite mind, the decrees are many, but to God, they are all one plan embracing cause and effect, means and ends. The decree includes every detail in the experience of every creature, including the minutest aspects as the number of hair in your head. In the event of national disaster, the spiritually matured believer will be isolated and alone, yet able to do his job and live his life unto the Lord, knowing that God has not forgotten him. The decree of God is the sovereign purpose of God, which efficaciously accomplished by God alone, apart from all creature talents, ability, mentality, counsel or cooperation. Therefore, human volition creates obvious inequality inside the plan of God, but God did not create this inequality but our human volition. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
125 - THE ORIGIN AND SUBJECT OF THE DIVINE DECREE The divine decrees unite in one all-inclusive and final objective the glory of God {Romans 11:36, Hebrews 2:10]. Since God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are infinite the members of the Godhead are worthy of all glory. God’s glory is what He is and receiving glory is not new to the Trinity. All three Persons have always had it and always will. In eternity past, the Godhead did not need to add anything to what “They” already had God has never suffered any kind of deficiency. Since God is the Origin and Subject and not the object of the divine decree, the Members of the Godhead, God will inevitably be glorified by every thought, every decision and by every action in human history. The good and evil are included; sin, evil and everything will add up to the glorification of God [Psalm 76:10]. The perfect plan of God began with His glory and will end up with glory. It is never hindered, it never stops, it moves on with you or without you no matter what you do. If a person remains unbeliever and go to hell, the glory of God will remain untarnished and un-compromised. Nothing from human reaction can tarnish the glory of God. God is glorified not only in what He is but also in what He has decreed. The things that God causes directly and the things that permit indirectly are all in the divine decree. Since God created man with free-will volition in the soul He therefore permits the free will to function with self-determination. Otherwise man would never have fallen. God permitted the fall it was not His directive will but His permissive will is as much a part of the decrees as is directive will. This is true because the decrees are human history in the eyes of God recorded in the eternity past. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man co-exist in human history. The divine decrees do not oppose human freedom. Man is free to glorify and serve God but the manner and of glorification and service is prescribed by God and not left to human free will or imagination. Since the divine decree is the sum total of God’s plan and purpose in eternity past, it centers on the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. God accomplishes the work of salvation while man gains the benefits apart from human merit or ability. Without violating human volition, God has designed a plan so perfect that it includes direction, provision, preservation, function, cause, and effect for all believers. The perfect plan of God is consistent with human freedom. God is never unfair; He does not coerce or limit human freedom. He graciously provides guidance as to how we should use our volition. God revealed His plan in the Bible. The highest priority of the believer is the cognition, retention, and application of Bible doctrine. God permits some things to happen. other things He causes, but all things work for His perfect plan. Some things please Him, others do not but God always recognizes reality. This is a very important aspect of our relationship with God. Everything, which is decreed, is reality and like God, we must face the facts. Because God deals with reality, His plan must deal with things as they are. His perfect solutions start with “what is”, and never with “what is not”. There is no wishful thinking in God. He never rationalizes anything. He never blesses us because of our schemes, plans, character, ideas or self-righteousness. He blesses us on the basis of His character.
126 - THE CREATION OF ANGELS The angelic conflict started long before the creation of the universe –long before the existent of man. In the eternity past, God created the angelic beings From the Greek term aggelos we got the English word "angel". It may denote either a human or a heavenly "messenger." Yet in the NT, except in Luke 7:24; 9:52; and perhaps Rev. 1:20, it is used only for heavenly beings. The term chosen by Scripture to denote angels gives us the clue to the function by which they are primarily to be known and understood. They are God's messengers or ambassadors. They belong to His heavenly court and service. Their mission in heaven is to praise God (Rev. 4:5). They devote themselves to doing God’s perfect will (Psalm 103:20) and in this activity they behold His face (Matthew 18:10). They accompany God in His work of creation (Job 38:7), though they themselves are also creatures (Psalm 148:2, 5). They also assist in God's providential ordering of human historical affairs (Daniel 12:1). Above all they are active in the divine work of reconciliation (from Genesis 19:1-2 onward). In fulfillment of their mission they declare God's will or decree (Luke 1:26-27) and do His work (Matthew 28:2). There seems to be some ordering in their ranks; some are referred to as archangels, as over against those who are referred to as simply angels (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9). The function of angels may be seen clearly from their part in the saving mission of Jesus Christ. They are naturally present when this both begins with the nativity (Matthew 1; Luke 1-3) and ends with the resurrection (Matthew 28:2) and ascension (Acts 1:10). They also assist the church in its early ministry (Acts 5:19; 10:3). They will play an important part in the events of the end time (Rev. 7:1-). Finally they will come with Christ when He returns in glory (Matthew 24:31) and separate the righteous and the wicked. They do not do the real work of reconciliation, which is Christ's prerogative. But they accompany and declare this work, praising the God of grace and glory and summoning men and women to participate in their worship (Luke 1:46). Interestingly, there seem to be only two angelic recorded appearances between Christ's birth and resurrection: at the beginning of His way to the cross in the temptation and then before the crucifixion itself in Gethsemane. This is perhaps because Jesus had to tread His way of atoning self-giving alone, and in His humiliation He is made a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:9), though exalted far above them by nature (Hebrews 1). Yet angels did not withdraw from the scene, for they rejoice at sinners repenting (Luke 15:10) and will hear the Son of man confess those who confess Him (Luke 12:8). The Bible offers only a few hints about the nature of angels. Belonging to the heavenly sphere, they cannot be properly conceived of in earthly terms. They are mostly described in relation to God, as God’s angels (Psalm 104:4). The two angelic names, Michael and Gabriel, emphasize this relationship with the “el” suffix attached to Hebrew name of God. It is as God's angels, perhaps, that they are called "elect" in 1 Timothy 5:21. Hebrews 1:14 described them as "ministering spirits" in a conflation of the two parts of Psalm 104:4. They figure as the "heavenly ones" (Psalm 29:1) or the "holy ones" (Job 5:1) who are set apart for God's service; both these terms occur in Psalm 89:6-7, though "sons of God" is here another rendering of "heavenly ones" (Psalm 29:1). The "gods" of Psalm 82:1, in whose midst God holds judgment, are often thought to be angels too. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
127 - THE NATURE OF ANGELS Like Christians, angels are also called “children of God” but we need not infer from this usage, because angels are lesser deities. Indeed, the Bible clearly warns us not to worship them (Colossians 2:18; Revelations 19:10). Among the heavenly beings mentioned is made of the seraphim (Isaiah 6:2) and, more frequently, the cherubim. Cherubim guarded Eden after the expulsion of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:24). They form God's chariot at His descent (Psalm 18:10). Figures of cherubim adorned the Ark (Exodus 25:17) and Solomon's temple (I Kings 6:23), so that Yahweh is enthroned above the cherubim (I Samuel 4:4; Psalm 80:1). Ezekiel offers an elaborate visionary description (Ezek. 1:10; 9:3; 10:15-22) in which their form is human (1:5) but symbolical traits stress their glory and spiritual excellence Of the angels named, Michael is called "the great prince" (Daniel 12:1) and the other angels seem to be led by Him (Revelation 12:7), though God Himself, of course, is the Lord of hosts and Prince of the host (Daniel 8:11). The man who appeared to Joshua in Joshua chapter 5 usually taken to be an angel, says that he has come as commander of the army of the Lord, Gabriel, the other angel named in canonical Scripture, is the angel of the annunciation (Luke 1:26). Distinctions seem to be indicated in Revelation 4-5 with the references to the beasts and the elders, but the exact significance of these terms is disputed. The apocryphal archangels (Raphael, Uriel, Jemeil Tob) are all fictitious. From the various statements about the nature of angels, and Paul's use of the terms "principalities," "powers," "thrones," "dominions," and "forces," early and medieval theology evolved a complex speculative account of the angelic world. The error in so much angelology was to deal with angels apart from the biblical witness. Even regarding their function there was a tendency to rationalize or to focus interest on the idea of the guardian angel (Matt. 18:10). Though they come in human form, the angels are essentially non-corporeal. Even they were present at the time of creation, they are still creatures (Psalm 148:2, 5). They form an ordered unity, yet their plurality entails the existence of individuals within the totality, with a possible gradation in function. As compared with humans they have the advantage of being in God's immediate presence and serving as His direct messengers. They also guard the proprieties, if that is the meaning of I Corinthians 11:10, and seem to play some role in or over the nations (Daniel 10). But when men and women respond to God's saving work in Christ they are raised above them, enjoy their ministry (Hebrews I:14), and will finally judge them (I Corinthians 6:3), for even angels are not faultless in God's eyes (Job 4:18; 15:15). In Judges 13:2-3 this seems to be identical with God. Many have thought, then, that in the OT at least the reference is to the pre-incarnate Logos. Liberals have explained it as a softening of theophany to angephany but without showing why this does not always apply. Another questionable interpretation is that God speaks so fully through the angel that He himself is virtually speaking. Certainly the "angel of the Lord" of Luke 2:9 is not Christ, but this does not in itself rule out such an equation in the OT. Has there been a fall (expelled fro heaven) of angels? The Bible speaks of the dragon and his angels (Revelation 12:7) and also of powers of evil (Ephesians 6:12), so that while we cannot be too dogmatic on the subject, we have to assume that there is a real kingdom of evil in grotesque caricature of the angelic kingdom. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
128 - THE ANGELIC BEINGS Angels (aggelos in Greek and malakh in Hebrews. Both terms means messenger, an order of created beings, superior to man, belonging to heaven and engaged in service of God. Angels are spiritual (spirit), supernatural, eternal, and celestial being with no material bodies but can assume the human form when necessary [Hebrews 1:14, Luke 24:4, Acts 10:3]. Angels of God are majestic and glorious beings [Psalm 148:2-5, Colossians 1:16]. Created before the creation of the universe and before the creation of man [Job 38:7]. They are superior in power and strength than men [2 Peter 2:11]. Although they are endowed with superior intellect and wisdom [2 Samuel 14:17, 20], they are not omnipotent [Psalm 103:20] and not omniscient [1 Peter 1:21]. Like human beings, they were created with volition –freedom and capacity for making free will decision [Jude 6, Genesis 1:31]. The men are equal to them after resurrection to eternal life [Luke 20:34-]. They are to be judged by mature believers of the Church Age [1 Corinthians 6:3]. The elect angels of God in no way will speak or act contrary to God’s will, purpose and God’s Word [Galatians 1:8]. Angels are not sexual beings- therefore they do not marry. Angels appeared in human form but never appeared in sub-human form or in the form of animal [Acts 10:3, 30]. They always appeared as men, never as women or as children, never as infant and they have no wings [Genesis 18:2, 19:1, Hebrews 13:2, Joshua 5:13, Judges 6:21-22]. They appeared fully clothed and never half-naked. There is no recorded appearance of angels in the Bible to unbelievers [Matthew 24:37-39]. In some occasion, they appeared with awesome appearance in clothing or countenance [Judges 13:6, Luke 24:4, Daniel 10:5-6, 18]. OTHER TERMS FOR ANGELS: SONS OF GOD [Job 38:7] – a phrase prior to angelic rebellion was applied generally to all angels of lower rank, but became exclusively designated for demons after the angelic revolt [Genesis 6:2-4, Job 1:6]. Angels of God are also called HEAVENLY BEINGS –referring to all ranks [Psalm 29:1, 89:61] or HOLY ONES [Psalm 89:5-7] or HEAVENLY HOSTS [Luke 2:13] or HOSTS OF ARMIES [1 Samuel 1:11] and HOLY MYRIADS [Jude 14]. They are called HOLY ANGELS or ANGELS OF GOD [Luke 9:26, 12:8] or GOD’S ANGELS [Hebrews 1:6, Psalm 103:20] and others. DISTRIBUTION OF WORK: Some angels announced beforehand the birth of some of God’s select servants [Genesis 18:9-, Judges 13:2-24, Luke 1:13 and 2:8-15]. Certain angels on some occasions forewarned the righteous of imminent danger or threatening disaster, destruction or calamity [Genesis 18:16-19, Matthew 2:13, Daniel 8:1. Certain angels guided and instructed some righteous believers when the Canon of the Scripture was completed [Acts 7:38, 8:26, Galatians 3:19]. Certain angels’ interpreted dreams and visions for some select servants of God [Zechariah 1:9, Daniel 7:16, Revelation 17:7]. Angels destroyed the enemies of God’s people and in some occasion defended them [Exodus 12:23, 29]. Angels are sentry guards over believers, client nation and local spiritual churches [Psalm 34:7, 91:11, Matthew 18:10]. They are watchers over the universal Church of Christ [Revelation 1:20]. They are the ministering Spirits to the Church Age believers under the undeserved sufferings. They assists in the divine judgment of unbelievers and divine discipline of the carnal and reversionistic believers [Rev. 18; 1, Mark 13:27]. They praise God continually in the past, present, and future [Revelation 19:1-3]. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
129 - THE RESULT OF ANGELIC CONFLICT In the eternity past –outside time reference of human history-before the creation of our very own planet earth, the angelic host revolted against God. This rebellion was lead by Lucifer –one of the archangels assigned to protect the throne of God. This great warfare began when Lucifer challenged divine authority and persuaded 1/3 of the angels to revolt against God [Isaiah 14:13-14, Ezekiel 28:12-15]. Human history is both the extension and resolution of the angelic conflict. Humanity was created to duplicate the conditions of the prehistoric revolt of the angels. Like the angelic beings, human beings are endowed with free will volition, and that free will would be tested to see whether man would choose for or against God. Satan himself instigated the events that led to man’s fall. Adam followed the same pattern of arrogance, which initiated the angelic rebellion. Satan was present when God announced Genesis 3:15: “And I (God) will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman and between your seed (unsaved humanity) and her seed (the virgin born Messiah), He (the Seed-Jesus Christ) shall bruise you on the head (Satan’s final doom) and you (Satan) shall bruise Him (Jesus Christ) on the heel (His spiritual death on the cross).” The arrival of the Savior would settle the angelic conflict in God’s favor. To prevent God’s plan for unfolding, Satan designed a series of counter strategy beginning from murder of Abel ending with the God revolution at the end of the millennial kingdom. Angelic convocations are held periodically in heaven to consider historical trends [Job 1:6-12, 2:1-7, Zechariah 3:1-7]. Man is the subject for close scrutiny by both elect and fallen angels on earth and in heaven [1 Corinthians 4:5]. There are two major players that greatly influence human history: The Lord Jesus Christ as the One who controls human history and the One having the sovereign power to over-rule the machinations of Satan [Psalm 33:10-19, 135:5-6] and the preservation of mankind. Satan interferes and intervenes with Christ who controls human history. As the author of evil in the cosmos diabolicus, Satan is ever trying to eradicate the Jews in the most devious manner. Never has one race been the target of such animosity and terrible persecutions. Nevertheless, the Jews have survived their evil tormentors. Every Jew is a reminder of God’s faithfulness. Satan is the assumed ruler and god of this world who can accomplish only what God may permit, therefore any attack against God or His people can never fully succeed apart from God’s permission. Man is the witness against Satan. Man is not the subject of conflict between God and Satan but the evidence of God’s sovereignty and plan of grace. There is no power struggle between God and Satan because God is omnipotent and Satan is not. God is sovereign Satan is not. Power struggle is between opposing party with equal strength not between an inferior and superior rivals. Man is not in the crossfire between two rival forces but God’s exhibit number one –an evidence of God’s perfect righteousness and perfect justice against Satan’s evil, corrupted and imperfect nature. We are part of the human history inside the God’s decree for the human race as God’s evidence of perfect plan of grace. God is proving Satan’s imperfection there is no need to prove His perfection. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
130 - CHRERUBIM & SEPRAPHIM Cherubim and seraphim are angelic ranks superior to angels, may be similar to that of chief angels or archangels but greater when it comes to function. The meaning of the Hebrew term cherubim and seraphim are not only questionable but also uncertain. Our limited and problematic Biblical information are from two sources: First, in the artistic representation or interpretation of Hebrew artists in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple Second, in the visions of Ezekiel (for cherubs) and the visions of Isaiah for the seraphs Angels appeared to men in human forms, but no one had actually seen a cherubim or a seraph personally except in visions or dreams. We cannot rely on the artists’ concepts and not in the visions of Ezekiel and Isaiah because their descriptions are more of figurative rather than literal. Angels appeared to men without wings, while in visions both the cherubim and seraphim appeared with wings. The Bible used the term angels for angels and the term cherubim for cherubim and the term seraphim for seraphim. Generally the appearance of the cherubs was like that of man [Ezekiel 1:5], they have two faces [41:18] or four faces [1:6,10, 10:14, 21-22], four or two wings [1:6,11, 1 Kings 6:24], under their wings they had human hands [1:8, 10:8,21], their legs were straight not capable of bending. Their feet were like the sole of calf’s foot [1:7], as for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man, all four had the face of a lion, on the right the face of a bull, on the left, all the four heads had the face of an eagle [1:11]. Such descriptions are not literal and physical but figuratively. The cherubs have three revealed important functions: First, they served and are serving as guardians or sentry guards in God’s vital and important installations like the Garden of Eden [Genesis 3:24]. Second, some of their work are related and are associated with fire. From flaming sword [Genesis 3:24] to stone of fire (which symbolized the presence of God) [Ezekiel 28:14-16], to special wing of lighting bolts (Ezekiel 1:4, 13, 27-28) and burning coal [Ezekiel 10:2, 6-7]. Third, they were bearers of God’s throne-chariot. God was characterized as one who sits between two cherubs [2 Kings 19:15, 1 Chronicles 13:6, Psalm 99:1, Isaiah 37:16, Exodus 25:22]. God was represented by the cloud of glory upon two cherubs of the Ark of Covenant. God sat on the outstretched wings of the cherubs called the chariot. The wings power of the cherubs made the throne-chariot “airborne” and moved in any direction without turning [Ezekiel 1:16-17, 21, 10:11-17]. The cherubs driven throne-chariot was seen as the storm cloud [Ezekiel 1:4]. God was pictured as riding on flying cherubs [2 Samuel 22:11, Psalm 18:10]. In the Ark of Covenant, cherubs are the ideal representatives of the redeemed animate creation. Their presence in the Ark of Covenant signifies that the prospect of the redeemed and glorified creatures was bound up with the sacrifice of Christ. Cherubs represented redeemed human beings in permanent union with Christ. This union was figurative, proceeding out of the mercy seat. This union is the manifestation of our eternal, and permanent union with the Lord Jesus. The faces of the cherubs were set toward the mercy seat –suggesting a consciousness of the means whereby union with Christ has been produced. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
132 - THE HUMAN HISTORY IN THE ANGELIC CONFLICT There are two types of angels: the elect they are forever servants of God and the fallen the forever enemies of God. There are two kinds of history: angelic and human history. Long before the human history Satan revolted against God and was able to allured one third of the angelic host [Isaiah 14:13-14]. Satan and his demons were brought to trial, charged, convicted and were sentenced to the Lake of Fire [Ezekiel 28:16-18, Matthew 25:41]. However, his execution was postponed until the end of human history [Revelation 20:10]. Satan objected to God’s verdict just as he continues to contend against God during the human history. Satan a term that means “adversary” implies one who contends against authority, one who appeals, an attorney who continually objects to perfect divine judgment and God’s perfect character. Because of God’s perfect justice, God convened an appeal trial in which He would demonstrate His perfect disposition [Psalm 145:21, Zechariah 3:1-10, Luke 2:14, Romans 9:23, 11:25-36], while allowing Satan every opportunity to prove his own case [Job 1:12, 2:6, Matthew 4:1-11]. The existence of man on the face of the earth is divine evidence of God’s perfect plan of grace. God magnificently answers every aspect of Satan’s objection in the pre-historic trial for the benefits of man and elect angels. While at the same time, Satan is attempting to prove he is equal with God but his arrogance, incompetence, and evil will confirm his guilt. Human history is the appeal trial of the angelic conflict where the numerous and diverse aspect of God’s perfect wisdom were revealed through the Church, to the rulers and through the authorities (fallen angels in the heavenly places [Ephesians 3:10, 6:12]. The angelic conflict began from the moment of the satanic rebellion in the eternity past and will terminate at the end of human history and (at the end of millennial kingdom) and execution of the verdict against Satan. During the course of the angelic conflict, Satan applies the “good and evil” scheming. His works are good in the eyes of men and demons but evil in the eyes of God. Satan is a professional deceiver, destroyer, accuser and murderer who work from a solid motivation of arrogance complex. He is working hard in an attempt to justify himself before God, while at the same time trying to put himself equal with God. The entire human history is God’s evidence of His perfection and sovereignty, but Satan is using it as an evidence of his arrogance and greed. The human history is human wisdom in action, which is contrary to acceptance and perception of God’s Word. The evil of Satan is mixed-up convictions –opposing each other in every direction and perspective. Man is creating his own story this we call history. There are two types of human history: First, those that oppose and reject God and His plan of grace for man but accepts human viewpoint for solving human problems. Second, those that accept divine viewpoint and God’s plan of grace. Human history is therefore the action and decision of the human volition. Human volition is running ahead of God, walking away from God, walking without God or walking with God –doing His purpose and desires. Human history includes what God causes directly to happen and what God allows to happen coming from human volition. God is protecting man from self-destruction by not allowing every human desire to materialize inside the cosmic system. Christ is the center of human history not man. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
133 - CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF HUMAN HISTORY The center of human history (geographically speaking) is the nation of Israel because the Jews are the apples of the eye of God. However, Christ is the center of human history. Remove Jesus Christ and nothing is left to man. With a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in heavens and things upon the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance having predestined according to His purpose that works all things after the counsel of His will [Ephesians 1:10-11]. The material things of the world are not the concern of God. He created the earth and all the things in it for the benefit of man. God is not the benefactor of the creation. The phrase ALL THINGS IN CHRIST refers to exclusive members of the human race that is, the believers in time and in eternity. The material creation is not important to God as much as the souls of men. God send His Son to die for men not for material things of the world. And He put all things subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all [Ephesians 1:22]. All the souls of all men (whether you like it or not) are under the absolute sovereignty of God. God must be the object of worship because He is the Creator of all things and all creatures. He provided salvation whether you believe or reject Him as Savior of your soul. He is the only Savior. The meaning of life is Jesus Christ not the success in the world. The real success is doing the purpose and will of God not material prosperity or riches gained by human genius. Therefore, there is no real success without Christ in your life. Because Christ is the Creator and He created all things, both in the heavens and on earth [Colossians 1:16], therefore, there is only one reason for the existence of all things- no other than Christ Himself. In the same manner, no seat of power, dominion or any type of rulership, visible or invisible, which is not created through Him and unto Him? Christ is the Head of the visible body of the regenerated people in time called the Church and He is the Head of the spiritual kingdom of God. He alone has the preeminence among the entire human race able not to sin and not able to sin. God created only “One” genuine Church but men created too many churches that lead nobody to heaven. It can lead only to self-destruction. The universality of the Church does not automatically include the membership of the entire human race [Colossians 1:17-18]. There is no means of reconciliation other than the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary [Colossians 1:20]. What you think of Christ is not important and it does not affect in any way the reality of perfect work of God. The perfect plan of salvation is not dependent on human perception or opinion. Everything that comes into being and everything that occurs are decreed by God to happen. No events ever occurred apart from the sovereign will of God. Some things happen because God allows it to happen based on human volition. Some things God directly cause apart from human freewill or contribution. But nothing will ever happen apart from the perfect will of God. During the Great Tribulation, God will lift His restraining power over mankind. Man will experience the worst kind of destruction that results from human volition that went out of control. Human free will that is left to do its desire without restrain will result to chaos and destruction. Human history left to its own is dangerous and fatal. To reject God and His plan of grace is self-destruction. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
134 - THE OBSERVERS OF HUMAN HISTORY The apostle Paul appears to have taken the expression “powers and principalities” from late Jewish apocalyptic thought, where it was applied to intermediate beings lower than God and higher than man. Apart from passages where the reference is unmistakably to human authorities (Rom. 13:1-3; Titus 3:1), principalities archai and authorities (exousiai) or powers (dynameis refer to cosmic intelligences, occasionally angelic, but usually demonic (Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 15:24; Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:1). Other similar spirit powers are dominions (kyriotetes Eph. 1:21; Col. 1:16), thrones (thronoi Col. 1:16), and the rulers archontes) of this age (1 Cor. 2:6). It is not possible on the basis of NT evidence to rank these spirit powers or to attribute distinctive meanings to each. Six acts in the drama of the principalities and powers may be delineated: CREATION: In the creation plan these powers were designed as good spirits. They were created by Christ and subjected to His lordship (Colossians 1:16). THE FALL OF ANGELS: For reasons undisclosed in the NT some spirit powers separated from Christ (Jude 6) in a rupture of cosmic proportions (II Pet. 2:4), necessitating atonement (Col. 1:20). DEFEATED BY CHRIST: In His ministry Jesus resisted satanic temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and conquered evil spirits (Luke 4:35), delegating this power to His disciples (Mark 3:15). In His death he disarmed the forces of evil (Col. 2:14-15). In His resurrection and exaltation He subjected them to his lordship (Eph. 1:20-22; 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:22). Christians are enthroned with Christ and share this victory and ought to live accordingly (Col. 2:20-3:4). LEARNING: The spirit powers, who are not omniscient, learn the manifold wisdom of God, by witnessing the historic experience of the Church (Eph. 3:10). CONTINUING WARFARE: Although defeated and under instruction, the spirit powers have not yet surrendered. The vestiges of their power continue to corrupt the disobedient (Eph. 2:2). The Christian's most powerful and deceitful enemies are still demonic (Eph. 6:12), but God's power is stronger (Eph. 6:10-11) and no evil power will separate the Christian from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39). TOTAL DEFEAT: The days of this warfare are numbered and the outcome certain. With the consummation of the kingdom of God the evil powers will be robbed of all malignant efficacy (1 Cor. 15:24). On His 33 years on earth and up to the cross Jesus Christ, who in His life was not the slave of any power, law, custom, community, institution, value, or theory, destroyed the powers' pretensions to sovereignty, thus making authentic living possible. Principalities and powers are eternal and supernatural beings, because they are confronted by Christ "in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:20; 3:10; 6:12) and also because the Christian's warfare is specially said to be "not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers" (Eph. 6:12). To identify the principalities and powers with human or abstract, impersonal forces is probably the result of cultural presuppositions determining exegesis It is possible, however, that Paul intended his reference to thrones, dominions, principalities, and authorities in Col. 1:16 to embrace earthly as well as heavenly powers. The matter invites further research. But for the present time, while allowing that all human systems are wide open to corruption from demonic forces, it is safest to avoid identifying principalities and powers with sociopolitical structures. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
135 - THE DISPENSATIONS OF HUMAN HISTORY A dispensation is a period of human history defined in terms of divine revelation. The Bible describes it as:
The doctrine of dispensations is the vehicle by which believers living at a specific time can orient to God’s will, plan, and purpose for their lives. God never changes there is no variation or shifting shadow in God [James 1:17]. Change is an integral characteristic of His plan for the entire creation. But God is never impulsive or arbitrary –the changes He incorporates into His plan are designed to attain His unchanging purpose [Hebrews 6: 17]. The doctrine of dispensations recognizes the different mechanics and procedure as well as the continuities that run from one period to the next. The doctrine is essential for understanding the believer’s post salvation experience. Knowledge of dispensations enables the believer to handle the Word of truth accurately. The Greek words for dispensation used about twenty times in the NT, mean "to manage, regulate, administer, and plan the affairs of a household." This concept of human stewardship is illustrated in Luke 16:1-2, where the ideas of responsibility, accountability, and the possibility of change are detailed. In other occurrences (Ephesians1: 10; 3:2, 9; Colossians 1:25) the idea of divine stewardship is prominent an administration or plan being accomplished by God in this world. Dispensations refer to God’s administration of or plan for the world, it describes the unfolding of that program in various dispensations, or stewardship arrangements, throughout the history of the world. The world is seen as a household administered by God in connection with several stages of revelation that mark off the different economies in the outworking of his total program. Thus from God's viewpoint a dispensation is an economy; from man's it is a responsibility to the particular revelation given at a particular time. In relation to progressive revelation, a dispensation is a stage within it. Thus a dispensation may be defined as "a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God's program." God did not reveal all truth at one time but through various periods and stages of revelation. This principle of progressive revelation is evident in the Scriptures themselves. Paul told his audience on Mars Hill that in a former time God overlook their ignorance, but now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). The majestic opening of the book of Hebrews outlines the various means of progressive revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2). One of the most striking verses that show different ways of God's dealing with mankind is John 1:17. The concept of progressive revelation does not negate the unity of the Bible but recognizes the diversity of God's unfolding revelation as essential to the unity of His completed revelation. Any study of the Bible must deal with the distinction between the era of Israel and the Church –this is the starting point in the doctrine of the dispensations. Jesus Christ is the key to the divine interpretation of history. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
136 - THE REASON FOR DISPENSATIONS Since Jesus Christ is the center of human history He is also the key for understanding human history [Ephesians 3:10-11, Rev. 1:8]. The doctrine of the dispensations spotlights Him He is the center of the six human dispensations. The knowledge of the doctrine of dispensations prevents the horrid mistake of twisting biblical truth and it provides basis for correct interpretation of the Word of God. Many principles, policies and procedures that God established remain constant throughout history. The believer cannot overlook certain changes that distinguish one era of biblical history from another. The very reason for the change of divine policies and operation for human history must be defined since God reveal His unchanging glory, wisdom, and power under different conditions. From God’s eternal perspective the ultimate in this long and varied demonstration of His character is the relationship between Christ and the Church, in which the believer is in eternal union with Christ [Ephesians 1:17-23 3:10, 21]. The only explanation for this multifaceted divine revelation that unfolds throughout human history lies in the angelic revolt. Satan and the host of angels who joined his rebellion were brought to trial and convicted and were sentenced to the Lake of Fire. The sentence of the fallen angels to eternal Lake of Fire was pronounced long before mankind existed but the execution was postponed until the end of human history [Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10]. The reason for the postponement of execution of the sentence was because Satan objected to God’s perfect verdict. Satan appealed for re-trial, just as he continues to contend against God. Any objection to perfect divine judgment slanders the character of God. God convened an appeal trial in which He would demonstrate His perfect character and perfect verdict against Satan. The divine reason for the creation of mankind is to resolve the angelic conflict. God will answer every aspect of Satan’s objection in the pre-historic trial. Simultaneously, Satan is attempting to prove himself equal with God (Isaiah 14:14), but the devil displays only arrogance, incompetence, and evil, which confirms his guilt. Human history is the appeal trial of the angelic conflict. The numerous and diverse aspects of God’s wisdom are revealed through mankind, and most dramatically through the Church to the rulers and the authorities (fallen angels) in the heavenly places [Ephesians 3:10, 6:12]. In every segment of the appeal trial of Satan, the grace of God and the perfect justice of God are proven again and again. God introduces changes into His administration of human history in order to present His perfect plan of grace, disprove Satan’s case, and deliver a decisive closing argument. These changes produce the dispensations. God created only one doctrine of dispensation while various cultic religions fabricated their own versions of dispensations based on human viewpoint and not based on biblical truth. In this book, we refer only to one doctrine of dispensation and that is the biblical doctrine of dispensations. Dispensation is God’s perfect design for human history a stage where He manifests time after time His gracious acts for the benefits of man. The primary purpose and design of dispensation is for God to reveal progressively His gracious plan for man, while men are getting worst but God remains perfect and just. Dispensation is a reality and there is no way to get rid of it. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
137 - TIMES AND EPOCHS The Greek word translated “times” is “chronos”while for epochs the word is “kairos”.Chronos regards time as succession of events –one following after the other in chronological order. In some occasion, the bible used “chronos” for a segment of time with a dispensational connotation [Romans 16:25, 1 Peter 1:20]. In contrast, “kairos”denotes an era, a system or order of chronology, a period of time characterized by a distinctive development. This noun is always for the organization of historical events in their dispensational categories. In various passages kairos refers to Church Age [Romans 8:18], the Jewish age or Israel [Ephesians 2:1-12] or times of the Gentiles, which is not a single dispensation but a broader period that includes the Church Age and Tribulation [Luke 21:24]. The Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples about “the times and epochs” and had taught them at length concerning dispensations. They were not ignorant of dispensational doctrines as others may presume based on the disciples question in Acts 1:6-7. They were familiar with dispensation [Matthew 23:27-25:46, John chapter 14 up to 17]. It was our Lord’s extensive dispensational teaching that prompted their questions [Acts 1:6-7, Matthew 5:17, 24:3]. The disciples did not doubt the existence and reality of dispensation, but their idea of the kingdom of God was distorted by two religious sentiments. First was the anti-Romans and secondly, the popular Jewish distorted belief. The primary barrier and the number one anti-biblical dispensation truth are the religious doctrines. If the biblical dispensation is truth, then, all the religious doctrines must be heretical lies. The doctrine of dispensations explains why the disciples were perplexed.“ And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel”. He said to them, “It is not for you to know times and epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” [Acts 1:6-7] The disciples were living in a period of earth-shattering events and they failed to notice the end of Christ’s ministry to Israel and the beginning of His ministry to the approaching Church. Like some Church Age believers, they confused different period of time (dispensations) with their own time. They failed to understand God’s purpose for their lives in the current age [Colossians 2:16-3:3]. The arrival of the Church Age enabled the Disciples of Christ to understand the times and epochs [Acts 1:8]. The Church Age believer has a more complete perspective than Christ’s disciples had while He lived in their presence. The Lord ascended into heaven and left His disciples confused with the doctrine of dispensations. The apostle Paul became the chief advocate of the dispensational teaching although he was still an unbeliever at the time of Christ’s ascension [Galatians 2:1-, 2 Peter 3:1-16]. Twenty-one years after Christ’s ascension Paul gave orientation to believers in Thessalonica concerning dispensational doctrines: “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourself know full well that the day of the Lord (His second advent) will come just like a thief in the night...But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief [1 Thessalonians 5:4]. Ignorance of this doctrine makes the believer confused about God’s plan and purpose. To know this doctrine makes the believer alert and attentive to the plan and purpose of God for his life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
138 - AGES AND ADMINISTRATION Two more Greek words for dispensations: the noun aion and oikonomia in addition to chronos and kairos. The noun aion usually translated “age” refers to dispensations as categories of human history [Romans 16:17, Ephesians 3:9]. Oikonomia had come to mean the management of a household; it implies order not chaos, a plan rather than confusion, an arrangement rather than disarray. Oikonomia does not denote time but described a divine administration during a distinct historical era [[1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:8-10, 3:2-3, 8-9, 1 Timothy 1:3-4]. Oikonomia identifies the Church Age, during which God administers a set of divine policies and provisions unique only to the Church Age. Administration becomes an important issue in distinguishing the dispensations from one another. At decisive junctures in His overall plan for mankind- God institutes changes in delegated authority, responsibility, procedure, and available assets. These changes in the divine administration of human history involved first one group of people, then another, and another. The categorization for the dispensation is derived from the people at the focus of divine revelation in a specific period of time. In the course of human history, this focus passes from several benefactors:
Each administration involves new divine mandates accompanied by new divine resources for fulfilling those mandates. As a result, the post-salvation way of life of believers is significantly different in various eras of human history. Scripture reveals the believer’s way of life most comprehensively in the dispensations of Israel and the Church the details of which disclosed and confirmed the principle of change against a background of continuity. The doctrine of dispensations is not biased and arbitrary classification superimposed by man on the Bible. They are an integral part of divine revelation. The Greek vocabulary establishes that the subject of dispensations is presented in the Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ is the number one exponent of the doctrine of dispensations He affirmed the existence of distinct times and epochs which God the Father has fixed by His own authority. To reject the doctrine of the dispensations is to reject the perfection of Christ who taught it but widely misunderstood by His disciples. His disciples missed the beauty of the doctrine because of their racial prejudice and religious sentiments. In the same way, some Christians of the Church Age are missing the truth of the doctrine because of their ignorance and faithfulness to their religious leaders. They accept the teaching of their leaders without further investigation or examination [Acts 17:11]. To accept the teaching of any preacher or pastor without further examination of their basis in Bible is fatal. A couple of supporting verses is not enough to form a doctrine or a teaching. A doctrine must agree with the entire body of biblical doctrine. Do not accept a teaching without a clear and concrete foundation in the Word of God. Is the doctrine applicable for us in the Church Age or for believers in the past dispensations? Is the doctrine for our era or dispensation or for another dispensation? J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
139 - THE SIX DISPENSATIONS Human history may be classified into six dispensations. These six can be grouped into three categories of two dispensations each. The Theocentric (or the pre-Incarnation era) dispensations are the Age of the Gentiles and the Age of Israel, which occurred “long ago” before God had spoken to us in His Son [Hebrews 1:1-2]. The Christocentricdispensations begin with the first advent of Christ (also called the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union) and continue with the Church Age, which is the present dispensation. The Church carries out to completion the precedent established in our Lord’s first advent. The Eschatological dispensations are the Biblical prophecies and promises for the end of history compose of the Tribulation period and the Millennium kingdom. There are six major dispensations because God’s unified, integrated, unchanging plan for human history calls for many expressions of His grace. In every dispensation God has a particular plan for the believer’s post-salvation way of life. God graciously provides the means for executing that plan, and the Bible reveals these various provisions. Salvation however, is appropriated in only one way throughout the human history, which is by grace through faith [Genesis 15:6, Acts 16:31, Romans 3:22, 30, Ephesians 2:8-9]. In every dispensation, there is only ONE Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in that dispensation [John 14:6]. Faith in Christ secures an eternal relationship with God. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved “ [Acts 4:12].God remains the same. The way of salvation remains unchanged. But against a background of immutability and continuity, the doctrine of the mystery reveals the strategic changes that make these new dispensations unique. Church Age believers are a new spiritual species [2 Corinthians 5:17] with a totally new position in Christ [Romans 8:38-39, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 30] and a magnificent array of privileges, responsibilities, and opportunities never available to believers of earlier ages [Ephesians 1:3-14]. Divine administration becomes an important issue in distinguishing the dispensations from one another. At decisive junctures in His overall plan for mankind, God institutes changes in delegated authority, responsibility, procedure and available assets. These changes in the divine administration of human history involve first one group of people, then another, and another. 140 - THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW The dispensation of the Hypostatic union stands as line of differentiation between Israel and the Church. Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law on one hand and set the precedent for the Church age protocol on the other [Romans 6:14, 7: 4-6, 2 Corinthians 3:7-13 and Ephesians 2:15, Colossians 2:14]. At the Exodus God founded Israel as a theocracy personally by the Second Person of the trinity. The whole thrust of the Jewish way of life was spiritual. Because God ruled Israel, every aspect of life in the nation had spiritual significance, and the Mosaic Law did not distinguish between spiritual and secular issues. Obedience to divine establishment was part of the Jewish believers, and observance of the holy days and animal sacrifices were required of all citizens, including unbelievers but such rituals were meaningful to OT Jewish believers only. There were distinctions between the freedom code, the spiritual code, and the establishment code as a categorical approach to communicating the wide scope of the Mosaic Law. But all aspects of the Law add up to one code for a unique political entity with a spiritual origin, a spiritual destiny, and a King who is God Himself. The entire Mosaic Law is an integrated whole [Matthew 5:18, Galatians 5:14]. The entire Mosaic Law is a particular expression of God’s eternal and holy character [Exodus 19]. He gave the Law to a distinctly defined group of people [Romans 2:17-20, 3:19]. It was designed for several explicit purposes and was effective for a limited period of time [Galatians 3:23-25]. The Mosaic Law regulated life in God’s unique client nation, exposed man’s sinfulness, and demonstrated his need of a Savior, and the most important purpose of the Mosaic Law was to anticipate the coming of Christ [Matthew 5:17]. The Mosaic Law was far more than simply a rule of behavior. It was superior to contemporary codes of any era in human history, but it was not primarily ethical but messianic. Therein lies its true greatness. Its mandates depicted the Person and work of Christ and protected the line of Christ until He would arrive in the flesh. The incarnate Jesus Christ achieved the ultimate purpose of the Mosaic Law. He fulfilled the Mosaic Law, once and for all. Anticipation was replaced by reality. This fulfillment is a tribute to the faithfulness of God. Since all parts of the Law functioned together as one code, the Law has been abrogated as a whole. The sum of the Law is no longer pertinent and no longer governs any tribe, people or nation [Romans 10:4, Galatians 3:23-25, Hebrews 8:13, 10:3]. The regime of the Mosaic Law has ended. The Church is not under the Law, but under the grace [Romans 6:14]. Jesus Christ has set us free from the bondage of the Law, and it is ridiculous to impose the obsolete code upon the believers. The Law has lost its power and authority. The Law is history. The end of the Mosaic Law does not leave believers or unbelievers lawless [Romans 6:15, 13:1-7]. A new code of divine mandates, which also expresses the essence of God, now defines the believer’s way of life. This code is called the divine Protocol Plan (for the Church Age). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
141 - THE LAW OF CHRIST The divine protocol plan is an integrated whole, just like the Mosaic Law but it has a different objective that is to glorify the victorious Christ to the maximum. The protocol plan accompanies a different array of divine blessings for the believer. The protocol plan of God has a different thrust; greater responsibility placed upon each believer to think and apply Bible doctrine for himself in the privacy of his own priesthood. Many principles found in the Mosaic Law also appear in the protocol plan. The only reason for this is that, both come from the same source, from God Himself. The character of God remains unchanged even as He makes dispensational changes in human history. God was perfect before He gave the Law to Moses, perfect during the tenure of the Law, and perfect when fulfilled and rescinded the Law in Christ. The succession of dispensations reveals His changeless essence to man and angels. God expressed His perfect. Holiness to man in legal terms long before the Mosaic Law was existed, and He continues to provide ethical norms and spiritual instruction now that the Law has ceased to govern. Before, during and after the time in which the Mosaic Law was in effect in Israel, other expressions of divine law functioned among Gentiles to whom the Mosaic Law never applied [Genesis 26:5, Exodus 19:5, Romans 2:14-16]. In the Church age the operative divine law is not the Mosaic Law but the Law of Christ [1 Corinthians 9: 20-21].The divine protocol plan is also called the Law of Christ or the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [Romans 8:2]. Christ fulfilled the entire Mosaic Law in the power of the Holy Spirit in the prototype divine sphere. The Church Age believer obeys the new “law of Christ” by following His precedent; filled with the Holy Spirit in the operational spiritual sphere [Romans 8:2-4]. Since the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled and abrogated the Mosaic Law [Hebrews 8:13, 10:9], practices instituted for the nation of Israel are not included in the post salvation plan of God for the Church age believers. They do not contribute the Christian way of life. The church does not offer animal sacrifices, observe holy days or the Sabbath, or maintain the Levitical priesthood, worship in the sacred building, offer tithes, or have minute details of civic life prescribed by spiritual ordinances. There is now a new, universal priesthood of all believers [1 Peter 2:9, Hebrews 7:12, 8:1], a greater emphasis on individual responsibility [Galatians 5:1], and a separation of church and state [Romans 13:1-7, Matthew 22:15-22]. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament Law and taught His current followers to live apart from legalism. He proclaimed His ruling platform for the millennial kingdom and He revealed the plan of God for the Church. Never was the Mosaic Law intended to be a means of salvation or a breeding ground for self-righteousness. The Law revealed the necessity for grace and the source of that grace, Jesus Christ Himself. Both the Law and the protocol plan reveal the plan of grace. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
142 - TRANSITION BETWEEN TWO DISPENSATIONS Three separate dispensations converge in the Age of the Hypostatic Union. This pivotal era is, therefore, a challenge to accurately interpret.
These three dispensations closely put side-by-side divine administrations as well as the presence of Christ Himself, which exhibit the grace, and wisdom of God in paralleled depth and variety. Each dispensation fulfills its own purpose in the overall plan of God. The close similarities are different in divine mandates. Divine policy for each of these dispensations differs significantly from the Mosaic Law. That is why, the Lord Jesus Christ in many occasions said; “You have heard that it was said in the Mosaic Law. But I say…” (Matthew 5:21-48). Christ proclaimed the kingdom of God to the Jews in terms of their Mosaic Law frame of reference. He used the Mosaic Law as the foundation and point of departure for explaining the way of life in the promised kingdom under His personal rule. He ministered to the needs of the Jews by strengthening and expounding the true meaning of the Law. He taught them how to live from the legalistic and ritualistic but degeneracy that was persistent during His time. The Jews misunderstood the Law as the means of salvation and the basis of their self-righteousness (Matthew 5:20, 6:1-18). Nobody can earn salvation by his or her obedience to the Mosaic Law. “Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:28). Man in his arrogance, deceives himself by boasting in his obedience to the Law without understanding that the Law brings nothing but sin and death. “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "You shall not covet" (Romans 7:7). The Law revealed the necessity for grace, and the source of that grace is Jesus Christ Himself. When Israel rejected the grace of God, the Lord Jesus Christ retracted His offer of the kingdom. He announced a new divine system the mystery doctrine for the Church Age (John 14-17). In the Millennial kingdom the spiritual and the civil will come under one power system. Christ will rule, not as God ruling over one nation (Israel) but as the God-Man over Israel and the entire world. Divine mandates in the Mosaic Law were imposed to regulate believers and unbelievers in the OT Israel. He deferred His kingdom platform for Israel and introduced another divine system, where the church and state separates are two distinct entities. Christ now controls history in a manner that gives each Church Age believer tremendous and marvelous opportunity (with great responsibility) for having spiritual impact in the world. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
143 - THE MOSAIC LAW IN THE CHURCH AGE Since the Mosaic Law belongs to the Word of God, therefore it has value for the Church Age. The Mosaic Law was subdivided into three sections. Codex I: Protected human life, liberty, property, privacy and divinely delegated authority. Unbelievers and believers alike of every dispensation can protect freedom by avoiding the destructive sins of mentioned in this Codex. This explains why every provision of the Decalogue, except Sabbath is also found in the Law of Christ. Codex II: Presented the purpose for which God gave man free will –to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The ritual provisions of the Law still have value because they reveal the Messiah as the only Savior. Codex III: Contains instructions in many fields that especially pertinent to Israel. Most provisions of the Mosaic Law have no value in other nations but they testify to the faithfulness of God in guiding his people in specific events or circumstances that were often very difficult. Most of these provisions are neither reconfirmed nor clearly taught or excluded from Church Age practices but they reveal the character of God. For example, the principle of capital punishment is given to the Church Age (Matthew 26:52, Romans 13:3-5), but its specific application in such cases of adultery, homosexuality, or juvenile rebellion is not reconfirmed (Leviticus 20:10, 13, 9). God has given the Church Age believer general guidance concerning divine establishment, in contrast to the hundreds of exact and rigid Mosaic laws that precisely defined life in OT Israel. Their only option was to obey. In the Church Age, God encourages the believer to think and apply the basic truths of divine establishment according to the legitimate processes of human government in his own nation. Because there is separation of church and state in the Church Age, every believer is free to think and act as a responsible person of his community and nation. God entrusts the application of divine establishment principles to each generation of the Church Age. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law; therefore, His Church is free from the Law (Galatians 5:1). The Christian freedom from the Mosaic Law is not lawlessness or lack of direction, but such freedom exists within the framework of God’s protocol for the Church Age (John 15:10-12, Galatians 5:13, 1 Corinthians 9:19-21). The Church Age believer lives under the new law introduced, announced, and executed in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2-4) inside divine power system. The perfect humanity of Christ grow and matured under this powerful system of divine assets and resources from the time of His physical birth until His death on the cross. Church Age believers also have these extraordinary opportunities to advance spiritually, but only inside this divine sphere. The believers of the Church Age therefore are the epoch of spiritual freedom, which adapt the divine establishment principles to their own circumstances, life’s objectives, and heritage of their nation. A believer who wishes his nation to prosper can learn much from the Mosaic Law without inflexibly and blindly superimposing its provisions and rules not applicable to other nation. The Mosaic Law was divine regulations for OT Israel under the reign of God as their “political”, “military” and spiritual Leader. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
144 - THE CHURCH AGE The Church Age is a brilliant advance in biblical history with marvelous perspective in the progress of divine dispensations. The Age of Israel ended with the Advent of Christ in his perfect humanity, greater things had come (Hebrews 1:1-2). The Church arrived on the scene as an amazing expression of God’s power and grace. The Church is a breath taking spiritual phenomenon. Never before in the history of mankind the believer in Christ help such position in relation to the Godhead (John 14:12) The Church is the unique body of believers, united with Christ by His spiritual death on the cross and by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church is a body of extraordinary people who have received spectacular privileges from God through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church Age began in A.D. 30 on the day of the Jewish Pentecost and will terminate with the Rapture of all Church Age believers (physically alive) or resurrection (physically death). The Church Age era alone offers the greatest challenge to the individual believer in all human history. This is the era of the royal family of God. Every Church Age believer belongs to Christ’s royal family, founded as a consequence of His strategic victory at the cross and His rejection by Israel (1 Peter 2:9). During the course of the Church Age God is forming this body of believers for the maximum glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer of the Church Age received the new royal status of the resurrected Christ and extends the great power of the hypostatic union into great power of the Church Age. The position, assets and opportunity given to the Church Age believers are marvelous. The dispensation of the Church is the era of the royal family of God, founded as a result of Christ’s strategic victory at the cross and His rejection by Israel. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the Excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). The adoption and acceptance of the Church Age believers into the kingdom of God is through the complete work of Christ, who received God’s mercy. The believers are the genuine recipients of God’s mercy. Divine mercy is related to the free gift of salvation, believed and received by sinners through their non-meritorious faith in Christ’s death on the cross on their behalf. The Church is the body of believers spread out around the world designed for maximum glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. God gives each Church Age believer the new spiritual status of the resurrected Jesus Christ, and also extends the power of the Hypostatic Union into the great power of the Church Age. Christ holds three titles of royalty, each with a royal family:
145 - THE ROYAL FAMILY OF GOD As the God-Man, Christ won the victory over Satan at the cross (1 Corinthians 15:57) and was granted a new royal title that may be considered His Battlefield royalty (Hebrews 1:3-4, 13). This third title is:
When the Lord Jesus Christ ascended in triumph to heaven (Ephesians 4:8), God the Father invested Him with the glories of battlefield royalty and seated Him at the right hand of the throne of God (Psalm 110:1). God the Father inaugurated the Church Age to establish a royal family for the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone who believes in Christ during the Church age is a member of the royal family of God, also known as the Body of Christ or the Church Universal (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 1:22-23) The very presence of spiritual royalty on earth makes the Church Age unique in human history. During the Church Age every believer can live in the operational divine power system just as during the dispensation of the humanity of Christ resided in the prototype divine power system. Every member of the royal family can utilize the divine power and divine problem-solving devices that enabled the humanity of Christ to win His strategic victory over Satan, sin and death. We depend entirely on Christ, by extending the great power system. He equipped us to exploit His strategic victory and win tactical victories in our own lives. As we grow spiritually, the positive influence of spiritual royalty on earth spreads invisibly from the individual believer to other people, to organization, to nations, to future generations and to the angels. This powerful collective impact of the Church Age believers is one of the extensive, historical characteristics of the Church Age. During this dispensation God maintains a spiritual presence, not a political presence among mankind. God now works through gentile client nations. Israel was the client nation throughout the Old Testament time. The nation of Israel as God’s chosen nation was the recipient, custodian, and the communicator of the written canon of Scripture. God assigned the nation of Israel to proclaim and furnish the entire human race with the Word of God, but failed. Israel selfishly kept the Word of God for them, legally casting away the proselyte Jews and totally shutting behind the gentiles. They arrogantly cut all the possible access of the gentiles to the Scripture, but God unlocked the door they closed tied with religious hypocrisy. During the Church Age, the believers are commanded to proclaim the good news of the Gospel of Christ in their respective locality. The Roman Empire was the first gentile client nation where the Christians grow, nurtured, matured and launched the missionary work to other nations. The Church Age believers are the royal ambassadors of God to the world. They are the representatives of the Christ mandated to proclaim the Gospel in season or out of season. “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Our spiritual nobility is for the purpose of communicating the Gospel and proclamation of Bible doctrines. We are not ordinary people; we are the royal family of God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
146 - THE CLIENT NATIONS During the Church Age any gentile nation can serve as a client nation by practicing the following principles.
The client nation of the Church Age is significantly different from the Age of Israel. God entrusts the Christians with the preservation and communication of the written canon of Scripture. He blesses and protects the gentile nations as long as the nations uphold its client responsibilities. Israel is the only nation on earth in which God has sworn an eternal covenant. He will honor his unconditional covenants at the 2nd Coming of Christ (Romans 11:25-29). Israel is now under divine discipline throughout the Church Age and restricted from client nation functions. These are the times of the gentiles (Luke 21; 24), which will continue until Christ Second Coming. Today, God extends client nation privileges to non-Jewish nations. The Lord Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul mandate the believers to uphold civic duty under the Roman Empire (Luke 20:21-25, Romans 13:1-7). God deals with the client nation in keeping with spiritual condition of its believers. The protection of human life and the privileges of privacy and freedom are the primary concern of a nation’s government. No government however is responsible to support the work of the Church. God deals with the client nation in keeping with the spiritual condition of its believers. Basically, the protection and judicial provision it grants to the Christians. Logistical grace blessings and blessings of spiritual maturity to advancing Christians overflow the nation. Divine discipline of carnal and unspiritual believers affects the nation as well. This explains the nation’s historical rise or fall. The book of Psalms has a lot to say concerning about this: O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds. My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart. God is a righteous judge, And a God who has righteous anger every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. Psalm (7:9-12) For a nation to enjoy divine blessing must maintain a strong circle of mature and advancing believers. The spiritual impact of these saints gives the nation its vigor and life. Weak and passive nucleus of Christians will result to the fall of the nation. The client nation is God’s principal missionary agency during the Church Age. Every believer contributes to the spiritual impact to his nation, and has a solid responsibility to evangelize those in his periphery (Acts 1:8). He is also responsible to support both the local and foreign evangelization, and the accurate Bible doctrine teaching. Such support may include prayer, service, financial contribution or some other form of and encouragement. The continuation of solid doctrinal teaching depends on believer’s responsibility to support such ministry from positive volition and understanding of God’s Word. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
147- PRE CANON & POST CANON ERA The Church Age is divided into two separate periods:
The pre canon is relatively short period in which the New Testament canon was being formed. The pre canon is documented in the Book of acts, which preserved the historical record of the early Church but does not attempt a comprehensive presentation of Church Age doctrines. Some phenomena found in Acts were required in initiating the Church Age but were no longer pertinent after their purpose was achieved and the Church Age doctrines were authoritatively and permanently recorded in the New Testament epistles The pre canon period was differentiated by temporary spiritual gifts such as apostleship, prophecy, knowledge, tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles and healing (1 Corinthians 12-14). These temporal gifts have limited purpose needed during the pre canon period:
After God fulfilled these purposes, the temporal spiritual gifts were no longer necessary, and were step-by-step removed after the completion of the New Testament Canon (1 Corinthians 13:8). The pre canon period came to an end with the death of John (the beloved), the last apostle, sometime after he wrote Revelation A.D. 96. The pre canon is distinct from the post canon period in many ways.
The post canon period is the era of permanent spiritual gifts. Gifts like pastor-teacher, evangelism. Helps and administration are designed to preach or proclaim the Biblical doctrines of the written Word of God and carry out the spiritual functions of the local church (Ephesians 4:11-13). The spiritual gifts of the post canon period of the Church Age are designed to sustain and operate the royal family of God. The post canon Church Age believers lives by divine truth in their souls, without depending on the emotional stimulation of overt rituals, divine appearances, direct revelation from God, miraculous deeds performed by some highly visible Christians. Spiritual maturity is the objective of the Christian life in every dispensation and believers in this era possesses powerful spiritual devices & resources than any other era. Bible doctrine gives the believers inner power, and our spiritual victory lies in using these spiritual assets and resources resulting to progressive attainment of spiritual maturity, with all the mental and emotional riches. The post canon emphasizes:
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
148 - ISRAEL DURING THE CHURCH AGE The Church Age is unique while being related to other eras or dispensation. Dispensation orients the believer to God’s plan for history. They unlock the wealth of the Scripture for personal application. Widespread ignorance of God’s Word confined believers to fallacious and erroneous religious impression. Some Church age believers thought that Christianity is a blend of the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, some portion of the Mosaic Laws, and some social ethics with no accurate idea how these diverse standards merge in the doctrine of the dispensation. These religious errors develop into exaggerated emotions in worship of God. Some religions integrate Scripture in an unsatisfactory manner assuming that God’s unconditional covenant with Israel have transferred to the Church and that Israel has become a spiritual entity with no national future. They sincerely but incorrectly believe that Israel and the Church are one people and that the true spiritual Israel is now the Church. Both the OT and NT clearly declare and identify the true Israel, the chosen and elect people of God in the OT, the recipient of God’s promises, is not only spiritually regenerate but also ethically Jewish. God’s magnificent faithfulness to the flesh and blood nation of Israel cannot be reduced to a spiritual or a figurative dimension only. Strong continuity does indeed run through the divine view of history. God perceives all events as one indivisible system; every parts of the whole are still distinct parts. Some theologians look at the whole and see unclear consistencies; others look at the same whole and see the distinctions. The doctrine of dispensations clearly and thoroughly integrates both change and continuity, both consistencies and distinctions. Some thought that Israel was merely a shadow of Christ and the Church, and the Church is a fulfillment of divine covenants with Israel; overemphasize continuity in the plan of God. They underestimate the implications of the changes God has instituted. Striving for an interpretation of the Bible that makes God’s plan organic and consistent according to their own views, they make God’s character inconsistent. These theologians wish to dissolve the ethnic definition of Israel and release God from His sworn obligation to honor His promises to His chosen nation. God keeps His promises. He is true to Himself, true to His Word, and true to all who trust in Him. Dispensational shifts or changes do not undermine the integrity of God or the stability of His plan. On the contrary, such changes achieve His unchanging purpose for human history. God is ever perfect and no changes or shifts in human history can make Him imperfect. God will fulfill His promises to Israel not during the Church Age but during the Great Tribulation and Millennial kingdom. Israel is presently under the divine discipline but God will never in anyway forsakes Israel. God will fulfill His unconditional covenants to Israel no matter how disobedient they might be. God cannot break His own Words. The changes in the dispensations are because human beings are unstable and ever changing. God included these changes in the divine decree, with due respect to human free-will (positive or negative) volitions. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
149 - THE CHURCH The Church is unique, and the Church Age believers are living under the divine system of privilege. They belong to a highly superior position and great opportunity; they are the nobility of heaven residing on the face of earth. Every Church Age believer holds the rights and privileges of heaven while living on earth. God has marvelously provisioned us and systematically instructed us to walk worthy of such privileges. These privileges are unique to the Church Age:
These privileges form a single balance whole. Each complements the others. As the believer learns what his assets are and how to use them, they begin to function together as an integrated system. Awareness and consistent use of these assets keep the believer moving in the Christian way of life. These privileges constitute the unique meaning of Christian life, purpose, and define the very designed God has for the Church. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The baptism of the Holy Spirit is once a lifetime experience of the Church Age believers. At the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit places every believer into permanent union with Christ (Galatians 3:1-5, 14, 26-27, Ephesians 4:4-5). This immediate ministry of the Holy Spirit is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It occurs at the very moment an individual believe and receive the free gift of salvation in Christ. It creates an everlasting union with God. “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12; 12-13). The baptism of the Holy Spirit sets the believer apart from unbelievers and apart from believers of all other dispensations. Every Church believer is sanctified in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:2, 30) for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:13-140. The baptism of the Holy Spirit created a new spiritual royalty, set apart for the maximum glorification of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is to link and unite permanently the Church Age believer to Christ and to make the power system of the Hypostatic union and the Church Age readily available to the believer. There is nothing mystical about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and there is no need for second experience. The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs apart from human manipulation and will. No human being can command God to make certain action demanded by men. The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs under the divine process of imputation of eternal life – the life of God to the believer. The baptism of the Holy Spirit creates the Trinity to reside in the believer. At the point of salvation, God restored the human spirit of an individual to be the residence of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), which guarantees the eternal security of the believer. In the OT Israel, there was no baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not permanently given to believers. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
150 - BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not the same as the filling of the Holy Spirit, just as it is not an experience or the work of grace after salvation, and it is not and never was, speaking of tongues. Those who failed to carefully distinguish the baptism of the Holy Spirit from spiritual gifts sincerely but inaccurately thought that the baptism of the Holy Spirit involves speaking in tongues. The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation for all Church Age believers, while the gift of tongues operated only in the post-salvation experience of a few first-century Christians. The phenomenon of tongues was a temporary spirit gifts designed to warm Israel of impending national judgment (Isaiah 28:11) and evangelism. The listeners but not the speakers evangelized Jews in gentile languages understood. The gift of tongues practiced by few believers during the pre-canon period of the Church Age dramatizes the Jews failure to evangelize the Gentiles. The gift of tongues was a miraculous sign to alert Israel to her decadence, which is why, no one, has legitimately spoken in tongues since A.D. 70, when Jerusalem fell, and the purpose for this temporary gift expired. “If there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away” (1 Corinthians 13:8b). The gift of tongues ceased long ago, but the baptism of the Spirit occurs in every generation of the Church age, and it never involves human emotion or ecstatic experience, because genuine baptism of the Spirit has absolutely no relation to feelings. The believer may be elated or feel nothing at the moment of salvation. Regardless how a person feels in that initial instant of faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit unites him with Christ forever. The baptism of the Holy Spirit comes unnoticed and without warning. No human being can sense or detect the baptism of the Holy Spirit in any way. No senses (sight, hearing, touch, or smell) can confirm this spiritual event in the life of a person. The spiritual ministry of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation is known only through Bible doctrine, which the believer learns after salvation. No person has the authority or power to command or demand the Holy Spirit to baptize an individual or group of individuals. The Holy Spirit will never submit, obey, or listen to human pleading or begging under the guise of powerful prayer of cultic preachers. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is never earned nor deserved by the believer. God give this fabulous gift by grace, totally without regard for human merit or human good works. Eternal union with Christ is complete at the very moment of salvation, accomplished entirely by the grace of God before any believer has a chance to perceive his spiritual position in Christ or learn about this thing. Baptism of the Holy Spirit comes before spiritual growth, Christian service, or knowledge of salvation. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is not progressive and cannot be improved, since the ministry of the baptism of the Holy Spirit has permanent and eternal effect. Never in all eternity can it be undone, lost, canceled, or render void by anything, and never does it need to be repeated (Romans 8:38-). The spiritual impostors have created their own “reverse version” of baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is fill with ecstatic emotions and mystical rituals. The primary purpose of baptism of the Spirit is to permanently link the saints to Christ, not to show off the “spiritual power’ of the cultic preachers. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
151 - THE PROTOCOL PLAN OF GOD The baptism of the Holy Spirit opened the door for the royal family of God to an extra-ordinary Christian way of life under the power of the Holy Spirit. We call this the protocol plan of God. Protocol is a rigid long-established code prescribing complete deference to superior rank and strict adherence to due order of precedence, precise and correct procedure. As earthly royalty lives by humanly made protocol. The refined behavior and high standards of conduct in a vibrant aristocracy are supported by a system of protocol. Each member of the royalty is thoroughly trained and to be familiar with the manner in which various activities are conducted. Each is trained to know his proper place in each royal activity. Protocol enables everyone to know what to do in a given situation and thus creates an environment of poise, graciousness and orderly system. Protocol resolves routine questions and frees the person to devote his energies to substantial issues or to enjoy the event in hand. Spiritual royalty is not less than the earthly royalty. Church Age royalty need never wonder what the Christian life requires of him. He need not stumble or feel awkward in any aspect of his relationship with God. Since he belong to a spiritual dynasty founded by the Lord Jesus Christ in which the standard of conduct follows the precedent clearly established by the humanity of Christ on earth. The entire royal protocol is available for every Church Age believer to learn and master. The protocol plan is clearly defined and taught in the New Testament. The spiritual protocol plan of God for the Church supersedes the ritual plan of God for Israel. The protocol plan of God is not new because it is long established in the mind of omniscient God. God knows the way of life He would unveil for the Church Age. The exactness of God’s code for spiritual royalty expresses His own perfection. God decreed one way of doing each thing, and that way is the only right way in the sight of God. We cannot define the Christian way of life in any way we please. God prescribes complete deference to the ends and means of His plan. The very concept of the protocol means that even a right thing becomes wrong when done in a wrong way. A wrong thing done in a right way is still wrong. A wrong thing done in a wrong way is wrong. Only a right thing done in a right way is right. This is precisely correct procedure. The right thing done in the right way is the protocol plan of God. The right way demanded by protocol is life under the divine power system divine sphere. The most basic concept of true Christian way of life is residence, function and momentum inside the divine sphere. The divine dynasphere or divine sphere is the believer’s safe secure, and spiritual palace. The perfect God can only devise a perfect plan for the imperfect Church Age believers. The protocol plan is a perfect plan, which the believers cannot execute through human ability, human power, human wisdom, human talent and human good works. God cannot accept any human contribution to His perfect plan because it would only corrupt the perfect plan. The justice of God guards the integrity of His protocol. This is called grace, where man enters the plan of God exclusively on the merits of Christ, and will continue in the plan of God by divine power. The believer lives the Christian life only on divine resources and divine power (Ephesians 4:20-24). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
156 - MYSTERY DOCTRINE The Greek noun musterion originally referred to the secret doctrines of ancient religious organizations. Only those persons initiated into the group knew the mysteries. Their doctrines were well known among its members, but secret to the outside world, because nothing was disclosed to outsiders. Paul borrowed this well-known pagan term to communicate the divine truths of the royal family of God. Paul use the term musterion, where the initiates are the Church Age believers and the doctrines are those concerned with the Church. God did not disclose Church doctrine to the writers of OT Scripture, but these marvelous truths now are revealed throughout the NT epistles. Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever (Romans 16:25-27) “that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of His power (Ephesians 3:3-10) To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Colossians 1:25-29). “Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. “But holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience (1 Timothy 3:9). “But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). The mystery doctrine reveals all the politeuma privileges of the Church Age believers, which set the Church Age apart from other dispensations. The mandate to “keep holding the mystery doctrine” identifies the most vital function of the royal family of God. That function is to continually learn, retain, and apply the doctrines of the Church Age. Hearing, meditating on doctrine, living by doctrine is the highest form of worship. The royal family of God has a unique potential to worship God because of the unprecedented extent of divine revelation in the mystery doctrine (Ephesians 3:18). The mystery doctrine of the Church Age is received, perceived, revealed, and metabolized into the souls of the believers by the resident Holy Spirit. The unbelievers cannot in any way perceive and understands the Word of God, because they do not have the Holy Spirit – the only Teacher. Pastors, preacher and Bible teachers are just the communicator of Bible doctrines. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
157 - THE INVISIBLE ASSETS The protocol plan of God set forth the royal way of life that God expects of the Christian because of the exalted position in Christ. The mystery doctrine unveils the Church Age with all its divine assets and mandates which define the Christian’s way of life. These three marvelous benefits of our heavenly citizenship are parts of a larger picture. They belong to a portfolio of invisible assets that God the Father designed in eternity past for every Church Age believer. The term portfolio refers to the holdings of an investor synonym for his riches. God has lavished the riches of His grace upon the believers, making each of us fabulously wealthy (Ephesians 1:3-8, 3:18, Philippians 4:19). The Church Age believer is a citizen, and that implies extreme wealth. Our citizenship (politeuma) is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), and our portfolio is described as including “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:13). This emphasizes the source of these fabulous blessings who is God the Father and the process or mechanic of receiving them (only through Christ. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) “To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). These portfolios of invisible assets can be categorized by using worldly terms, which we understand. Ephesians 1:1-6 categorized these assets into primary, secondary and personnel.
The Church Age believer’s glorious destiny and immeasurable riches are exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask of think (Ephesians 3:20). The Bible reveals them in many glimpses and increments; they must be explained in numerous ways and from various points of view. The escrow blessings are designed to motivate the Church Age believers to aim for spiritual maturity. In escrow blessings, the Grantor is God the Father who in eternity past deposited in heaven vast wealth indented for the Church Age believers. The Lord Jesus Christ was designated as the Escrow Officer who will distribute the escrow blessings at Bema when the Grantee, (believers) reach spiritual maturity. The election and predestination assets guarantee the existent, function, and operation of the believer in the hostile world. It is designed for the growth and momentum of the believer inside the divine sphere. The positive volition of the believer is a tremendous assets when combine with spirituality. Negative volition on the other hand is great liability and a very dangerous enemy. Undeserved suffering is an asset with tremendous blessings for the positive volition believer. It accelerates and promotes the suffering saints right under the nose of Satan. We are going to study these tremendous assets in the following pages of this book. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
158 - THE EQUALITY FACTOR The election and predestination of believers bring tremendous advantage and blessing. Election & predestination are the equality factor. Every Church Age believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the protocol plan of God. At the moment of salvation, no one is superior and no one is inferior. No one has higher position than any other, and no one is disadvantaged. All human standards of superiority and inferiority are set aside by the election and predestination of each Church Age believer in the eternity past. Race, gender, intelligence, nationality, economic status, social status no one of these help or hinder the believer in fulfilling the protocol plan of God. Help lies entirely in divine assets and the only hindrance is the believer’s own refusal to learn Bible doctrine and utilize his invisible divine assets. Under the assets of divine election, each Church Age believer has equal privilege with every believer (Ephesians 1:4). Every Church Age believer represents himself before God. Also under election, every believer (winner or loser, carnal or spiritual) has the blessing of logistical grace. The logistical grace blessings are necessary for life support, personal security, and provision for learning Bible doctrine. Under the assets of predestination, every Church Age believer has equal privilege at the moment of salvation (Ephesians 1:5). All believers have the same position in Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The divine power system gives every believer equal opportunity to advance by executing the protocol plan of God. Each possesses his own operational divine sphere, which is his royal palace and powerful seat of power. The divine sphere is the Church Age believer’s royal palace, his magnificent but invisible seat of power. Spiritual growth, momentum and advancement is possible only inside the divine sphere. No reception, perception or understanding of Bible doctrine is possible outside. God cannot deal with any believer outside the divine sphere and no blessing from God will ever pour upon the believer when he is outside the divine sphere. Being outside the sphere means carnality. Equal privilege and equal opportunity for every Church Age believer in time means inequality in the eternal state. Each believer’s volition accepts or rejects the provisions of grace coming from divine sovereignty. The divine sovereignty provides the equality factor but the free will volition of man expresses individuality. Some believers respond to doctrine advance spiritually and reach spiritual maturity and become spiritual winners. The Christian winner keeps on using his privileges and opportunities. A winner is perseveres against all troubles until he becomes a winner. Others reject doctrine, enjoy the world and become spiritual losers. The perfect justice of God puts all the Church Age believers in the same level of equality and opportunity to make the flow of grace without partiality. The grace of God ensures all human superiority and inferiority. It has nothing to add or minus to the perfect plan of God. Man has nothing to contribute to the plan of God. Equal privilege and equal opportunity also reveal the reality of human depravity before God. Men enter the plan of God through His grace and can remain inside God’s plan only through His grace. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
159 - ROYAL COMMISSIONS Included in the fabulous package of blessing brought by spiritual royalty are the two royal divine commissions granted to every Church Age believer. Each Christian is a royal priest and a royal ambassador. A priest is person who represents him-self or other before God. During the dispensation of the Gentiles, the head of the household represented the family in the matters of worship. The family priest’s duties included presenting revealed doctrine and officiating in rituals and animal sacrifices (Genesis 4:3-5, 8:20, 14:18, 22:13). In the dispensation of Israel, God ordained the Levitical priesthood to serve on behalf of the nation (Number 3:5-10, Leviticus 8:1-20). OT Israel’s specialized priesthood taught Bible doctrine verbally and ceremonially through the rituals authorized in the Mosaic Law. The Levitical priesthood included only unblemished adult males from the family of Aaron in the tribe of Levi (Leviticus 21:17-21). Before the Church Age, membership in the priesthood was severely restricted to small minority among believers. In the Church Age, the priesthood has been extended to include every person in union with Christ (1 Peter 2:5-9, Revelation 1:6, 5:10). Because of the spiritual union with Christ, the Church Age believer belongs to the highest and most exalted of all priestly order under the high priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a royal priest, each Church Age believer represents himself before God, which is the basis for believer’s spiritual privacy, in which he lives his own life before the Lord (Romans 14:4 & 10, 2 Thessalonians 3:11-12). The believer’s priesthood is also the basis for offering effective prayer. The primary function of the royal priest is the faithful intake of Bible doctrine, which is the basis for spiritual growth and the attainment of spiritual priesthood. Spiritual growth is a result of the believer-priest’s divine protocol function before God. The setting for the royal priest’s duties is inside the divine sphere, in contrast to the service of earlier priesthood at physical altars or material temple. The believer is fully ordained priest at the moment of salvation, his priesthood becomes more effective as he attains successive stages of spiritual growth. The royal priesthood of believers does not imply independence from another believer. The priesthood and spiritual gifts create a balance. The priesthood emphasizes the individual; spiritual gifts emphasize the group. Spiritual gifts are related to royal ambassador’s function, they divinely given abilities that support the many necessary functions within the local congregation and in propagating the Gospel outside the local church. The spiritual priesthood emphasizes the believers’ responsibilities before God while the spiritual gifts emphasize the believers’ responsibilities before men. The believers are autonomous before God, but living in isolation from one another is not the will of God. Every believer Church Age believer is a priest, but not every priest has the same spiritual gifts. The Christian labor or service of individual believer-priests creates contact with others. The privacy of priesthood treats each individual with respect precludes sins; this permits human relationships to develop on a solid foundation of personal virtues. Here, privacy supplies the vital factor for rewarding relationship with others. Priesthood is privacy in personal relationship with God, and personal in the Christian way of life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
160 - THE INDWELLING TRINITY At the moment of salvation, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit take up residence in the spirit of the Church Age believer. Never before the Church Age and never afterward does God indwell every believer from the moment of salvation. The indwelling is permanent, and it cannot be changed, remove, stop, or render void or suspended for even a second. It will continue uninterrupted throughout the believer’s lifetime on earth.
On the question “How can God indwell a believer?” here’s the explanation: God is omnipresent, which involves His immanence and His transcendence (Deuteronomy 4:39, 1 Kings 8:27, Psalm 139:7-8, Proverbs 15:3). Immanence means His entire essence is always present everywhere so that the whole of God is in every place (Jeremiah 23:23-24, Acts 17:27-28). Transcendence means He is wholly independent of the created universe so that no particular place is exclusively contains Him (Psalm 113:5-6, Isaiah 55:8-9, John 8:23). Immanence and transcendence exist in complete balance, so that the whole earth is full of His glory. God is wholly in every point of the universe, while at the same time He is exalted infinitely beyond the universe (Isaiah 6:1-3). If God is everywhere, what does the indwelling of the believer means? The combination of immanence and transcendence means that God is free to be local, to have His presence at a particular “place or location” (Exodus 19:20, 24:9-18, 40:34, John 1:14). God is never restricted by time and space, and His sovereignty can decide how He wants to indwell in these temporal and physical dimensions. God does not always have to be present in the same sense (as we human can understands). When God, indwells within the creation, He dwells by His own choice and in a manner of His own choosing. God’s sovereign decision in this matter is remarkable expression of His love and eternal purpose for the Church Age believers. The indwelling of the believer is God’s local presence in a more intimate relationship with the believer than has ever existed prior to Church Age dispensation. This marvelous and fantastic indwelling presence within the believer is astounding fact and basis for blessing beyond imagination. Each member of the Trinity has a specific purpose for residing in the believer. The indwelling of God the Father is related to the glorification of His protocol plan (Ephesians 1; 3, 12). The Father is the Author of invisible assets, the Grantor of escrow blessings for time and eternity. He is the Author of the protocol plan and the designer of the divine sphere. He is revealed indirectly through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. His indwelling confirms His personal ministry to every Church Age believer. It is necessary to understand the purpose of each member of the trinity for indwelling the Church Age believers and the distinction of each purpose. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
161 - THE AVAILABILITY OF DIVINE POWER In the OT dispensations the power of God was available to a few believers. The temporal endowment of the Holy Spirit empowered some Old Testament believers who held positions of unusual responsibility. God gave these selected and important believers access to His power to carry out their particular functions (Numbers 11:16-17, 27:8 -, Judges 3:10, 6:34, 11:29, Micah 3:8). In most cases, the endowment of the divine power was for limited period of time during the course of their function. In the Church Age, the protocol plan of God is executed through a power plan or structure available to every Church Age believer. The indwelling of the Trinity is extended to every member of the royal family of God. The ordinary believer is indeed extra-ordinary in this dispensation. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit enables the individual believer to execute the protocol plan of God. The Holy Spirit operates the divine power system or divine sphere, and supplies the power necessary for perception and application of Bible doctrine by which the believer advances to spiritual maturity (John 14:16-17, 16:12-14, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16). The power of God the Son and God the Father was made available to every believer. Each Person of the Trinity exercises His absolute power in behalf of the Church Age believer. These magnificent resources become operational in the life of the believers only through the execution of the divine protocol. Spiritual growth and advancement toward maturity enhance the believer’s utilization of divine power. The available divine power is not mystical or magical in any sense but spiritual and designed to glorify the Lord. The omnipotence of God the Father is related to the portfolio of divine, fabulous but invisible assets. As the believer’s learns and obeys the Father’s plan, he begins to experience the “riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7-9). The omnipotence of God the Son does not only controls but also preserves the universe and perpetuates the human race (Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3). He controls human history by blessing nations that have a large enough pivot of positive volition believers and by judging nations with too large a spin-off of negative volition believers. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit directly minister to each believer who has positive volition toward God and His Word. The Holy Spirit plays the busiest role in the life of every Church Age believer advancing toward spiritual maturity. The divine power available to every Church Age believer is not designed to make the believer famous for his faith or power, as if God is at his disposal and commands. The primary purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ in the life of the believers and not to attract the attention of men toward the believers. Miracles are the least thing that God can do for the human race. God has done the most difficult thing for Him to do, which is to die in behalf of the sinful human race. Miracles entirely depends on the sovereignty of God, He do it without any help or contribution from any created being. The miracles recorded in the Scriptures are the work of God in His own way, in His own manner, in His own Time, apart from human intervention. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
162 - THE ABSENCE OF PROPHECY The post-canon Church Age is the only era in the entire dispensations in which no biblical prophecy will be fulfilled. The only prophetic events concerning the Church Age are its beginning, which was prophesied by Christ (John 14:16-17, 16:7-15, Acts 1:5), and its termination at the resurrection or Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). The only prophecies fulfilled in the pre-canon Church Age deal not with the Church but with Israel. The Bible is the mind of Christ and not a complete historical book of the future. The relatively few events it describes are selected to reveal Christ not the future events. Many prophetic events have been fulfilled in the past just as others will be in the future The Church Age stands between two periods rich in prophecy. Numerous OT prophecies were fulfilled during the Hypostatic Union and more prophecies concerning Christ and Israel will be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation, but the Church Age is a period of prophetic silence. No events of this dispensation are found in prophecy, except for its termination. The prophetic events following the Rapture concern the Tribulation. None of the geopolitical alignment events need to exist prior to the rapture of the Church. World conditions might seem parallel to biblical descriptions of the Tribulation; this does not indicate that the Rapture is near. Throughout the Church Age the doctrine of the imminence of the Rapture holds true (James 5:8, Revelation 22:7, 12, 20). The Rapture of the Church is the next prophetic event, but the time is not announced. Rapture was possible in the time of apostle Paul, tomorrow or a thousand years from now. Baseless speculation has no place in biblical doctrines. Advancing believers are growing in love for Christ and developing eager anticipation for His appearance (1 Corinthians 1:4-8, Titus 2:13), but such enthusiasm must be tempered by patience (James 5:7-8) and redirected toward fulfilling God’s purpose in this present dispensation. Unfulfilled prophecies and promises concerning Israel still belong to Israel and God will keep his promises to the Jews. However, the fulfillment of those divine prophecies will not be seen until the Church departs and the Tribulation begins. The issues for the Church Age are not to fix our attention to certain prophetic events but to focus on Bible doctrines. Christ directs our focus on more important matter the Word of God. He directs us to concentrate on the tremendous mystery doctrines. The Church possesses the completed canon of the Scripture given to sustain spiritual growth, which glorifies Christ. The Church has access to the same divine assets and resources that totally sustained the humanity of Christ. The Church was created with the capacity to have the mind of Christ (epignosis) in the souls. God excluded prophetic events from post-canon Church Age to emphasize the dynamics of Bible doctrine in the soul. Believers should learn the whole realm of Bible doctrine rather than specialize in prophecy. We need to study prophecy but such eschatological studies should never distract us from the most vital priority. The impact and influence of the church Age believers is invisible and generally indirect. Believers create the trends of history –anonymously. The absence of prophecy emphasizes the individual believer’s potential impact. Knowledge of eschatology helps us to interpret events and historical trends as they occur in his own generation, but the absence of prophecy stress his need to grow up spiritually until he can think with biblical perspective. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
163 - THE INVISIBLE HEROESEvery individual Christian has a major role to play in his generation of the Church Age. Believers can be invisible heroes or invisible villains, but there is no ordinary Christian in the royal family of God. When a Church Age believer advances to spiritual maturity, he has a positive impact or influence on history. He is the factor for prosperity in his locality. His spirituality functions as the salt and the light of his community. The negative impact of the royal family of God also comes from the individual believer who also rejects the will, plan and purpose of God brings suffering and divine discipline upon himself and becomes the source of adversity in his periphery and nation. The power system of the Church Age was to create invisible heroes. An invisible hero is a spiritual believer who advances to spiritual maturity and received his fivefold impact: PERSONAL IMPACT: People in the mature believer’s periphery, including his own family, loved ones, organization, company and closed friends receive blessing by their association with him. The blessing comes in form of logistical grace provision, protection and prosperity in various aspects. God is blessing the people around him, in his local church, his company or organization all because of the spiritually mature believer. God is protecting the community from various disasters and calamities because He is protecting the mature believers. God is concerned about the welfare of the mature believer not because of the people around him. The spiritually mature believer is the friend of God (James 2:23) under the super grace sanctions, and maximum blessings available to spiritual superheroes. HISTORICAL IMPACT: Every nation receives blessing through the mature believers who reside within its borders. The vigor, prosperity, and survival of a nation revolve around mature believers we called “pivot”. A pivot is a group of anonymous unsung, spiritually mature believers, which is the only solution to national degeneracy. Below a certain level of national decline, the spiritual pivot is the only solution and a nation’s only hope. Blessing to the nation is an escrow blessing our Lord distributes to the mature believers. The mature believers contribute positively and effectively to their nation. They do not crusade in the name of Christianity to remake or whitewash their nation in the image of their personal interest (Romans 13:1-7). They are good citizens (made better by their Christianity) whose presence in the community itself is more powerful than the political power play of the pseudo-Christians. The pivot of mature believers is more powerful than the greatest organization of the world that is constantly manipulating the world’s political system. The impact of the pivot is stronger than the most powerful bomb ever exploded on earth’s surface. INTERNATIONAL IMPACT: Nations are blessed by association with mature believers who come as missionaries from another nation. The spiritually mature missionary is an invisible hero, a source of blessing to two nations, the nation in which he serves and the nation from which he is sent. Spiritually mature believers are catalysts for blessings wherever they go. They are the spiritual assets of every nation. Carnal believers are liabilities. Nations that accommodate them are always at risk of experiencing something unpleasant. Calamities and disasters follow them wherever they go. Spiritual maturity is measured by Bible doctrines stored in the souls of the believers not by activity involvement. Spiritual maturity is never determined by length of time the Christians are member of a local church but by the amount of Bible doctrines resident in the soul, by their personal knowledge of God, knowledge of God’s will, God’s plan and God’s purpose. Most often, the most active in the church are the most carnal and ignorant of God’s will. Spiritual believers are the subjects of divine protection, wherever the go, as long as they are dong the will of God, whether they are full-time missionaries or overseas contract workers earning their living. God may use an evil government to protect the mature believers (like what He did for apostle Paul). Paul was given military escorts in several occasions to protect his life from religious murderers. His imprisonment was logistical blessings under the will of God:
It is always safe to be in God’s will. The most dangerous place in the world for the believers is outside the will, plan and purpose of God. Spiritually mature believers are always safe and secure in God’s hand. Carnality always jeopardizes the believer’s security in the world. In such cases, where the carnal believer is living for the world, his worst enemy is not Satan, OSN or the world but God Himself. “You adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God? (James 4:4). The carnal reversionistic pastors are the real troublemakers; bringing a lot of troubles to every home they entered. Like Absalom, they are stealing the hearts of the people away from God (1 Samuel 15:6). They are extremely dangerous saints (Jude 4-7). ANGELIC IMPACT: God will summon the spiritually mature believers behind the witness stand to testify about the grace of God in the appeal trial of Satan. The mature Christians are strong evidences of the grace of God. Not all Christians are qualified to testify because the testimony will come from the devils cross examination of the super-grace mature believers under maximum sufferings of evidence testing (Job 1:6-2:6, Matthew 4:1-11, Ephesians 6:11-12). Angels (both elect and fallen) are constantly observing the human race (1 Corinthians 4:9, Ephesians 3:10, 1 Timothy 5:21, 1 Peter 1:12), and the mature believer will pass such cross-examination only by using divine resources:
The spiritually mature believers have far-reaching impact among the people of the world, human history and angelic beings. You can contribute better things for your country through spirituality and maturity than politics. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
164- HERITAGE IMPACTThe loved ones and close friends of the spiritually mature believers receive blessings after his physical death. The spiritually mature believer can face death with complete assurance that God will care for those he leaves behind. He can rest in peace being assured that he need not worry about their welfare. His immediate family and close friends are blessed not necessarily because they are spiritual or matured Christians themselves but because of God’s high regard for the departed mature believer. Therefore, losers and carnal believers or unbelievers can receive heritage impact just as they receive personal impact blessing during the mature believer’s sojourns on earth. Heritage impact blessings do not impose any regulation or rule on the beneficiaries. The Christian’s privilege of having spiritual impact is being defied by passiveness and open neglect of Bible doctrines. Pastors and Bible teachers are neglecting their duty in teaching pure Bible doctrines instead they push their followers to be involved in futile, unsuccessful and ineffective ventures like:
Trends in nominal Christianity show signs of an imbalance that emphasizes the visible at the expense of the invisible, the material at the expense of the spiritual, the believer’s overt image at the expense of the inner dynamics of Bible doctrine in the soul. Ignorance of biblical doctrines is the root of these deep-rooted problems. Ignorance undercuts every human good intention. No matter how the Christian desires to make his life count for God, if he is ignorant of God’s plan, will and purpose, he will fail to glorify God. At best, his life is spiritually empty and lacking spiritual impact. At worst, his impact is for evil as he inadequately struggles in Satan’s cause to improve the devil’s world. The manner and extent of the glorification of God in the Church Age are left to the positive volition of the individual believer, hence the scope of the Christian’s influence is virtually unlimited. Believers create the trends of human history – anonymously. Since the invisible impact of the spiritually mature believers is not restricted, Satan is working double time to hamper the growth and momentum of every positive volition believer by every means. The Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly encouraged the Church Age believers to take initiative, advance spiritually, and pursue their spiritual destinies (John 14:13-14, 15:16, 16:23-24). Christians are not left powerless and incapable of gaining spiritual victory since God has already provided everything we need to grow and advance spiritually. We are not endowed with supernatural power for our own gratification and pleasure. What we received is the authority to utilize the power of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Our authority to use the power of the Holy Spirit is never left at our own judgment or will but according to divine purpose. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Our authority for using the power of God is always related to our spiritual advancement and momentum toward maturity. It is not designed for mystical power play or building a super-faith image. What the world is seeing is the demonstration of religious power play from mystical sources, not the power of God in action. The power God left for the Church Age believers are designed for selective and exclusive purposes under the divine system:
It is ridiculous to claim that the power of God is responsible for things He declared no longer acceptable and allowed in the Church Age, like healing the sick, miracles, signs and wonders. God will not use His power for such things because they are not necessary and obsolete, since it belongs to another era or dispensation. Religious display of demonic power in many churches is blasphemous. God will never allow His power to be manipulated by such unregenerate or reversionist people. The perfect God will never put His power in the hands of sinful men, who will misuse or abuse it. The so-called miracles, signs and wonders are actually the work of the devil that is using his advocates to deceive the ignorant of God’s Word. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries 166 - ETERNAL IMPACTThere are three things in this world that has eternal value:
In the world, only the Trinity and the Word of God are eternal, they have no beginning and have no end. The souls of the believers received the eternal life of God, which is more accurate to call “everlasting life” because it has a beginning (the moment a person believed and received the free gift of salvation) but has no ending. In this planet, people (including believers) are deeply absorbed in the things of the world. They are trapped in the matters of the world and things of the world. Carnal believers at the point of their pseudo strength create different spiritual power that comes not from God but from Satan. God is glorified by His own power system, by His own perfection and never by human self-righteousness. Self-righteousness is human alternative for the perfection of God and His work for the entire human race. Self-righteousness is replacing the power of God with human power. It is substituting the finished work of Christ on the cross for the salvation of man with human incapacity to gain the approval of God with human works. Human good works cannot please God and have no access to God because it is not based on Bible doctrines. “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). God can accept only His own perfection and righteousness. There is no other way to be acceptable before God than through His perfect righteousness and we do not have that kind of righteousness. The grace of God means that Christ earned our merits before God. He earned our acceptance to God has already provided us that righteousness in Christ Jesus the moment we believe and accept the free gift of salvation. We live in God’s righteousness by constantly storing Bible doctrines in the souls. We can only live in God’s way by progressively and systematically studying Bible doctrines until we depart from this world. Christians cannot do the will of God unless they have knowledge of the will of God planted in their souls. They cannot obey the will of God unless they know the Word of God. They cannot love God unless they know the Word of God. They cannot serve God unless they know the Word of God. There is only one issue here, before we can love, serve, and worship God; we must know Him through His Word. For things to be acceptable before God requires several elements:
The issue is not doing great things for God but doing the right thing at the right time in the right way. God is not asking believers to aspire great things for Him but to do His small things accordingly. Most of the Old Testament believers listed in Hebrews chapter eleven simply lived for God on day-by-day basis. God is not asking the believers to do the impossible to have spiritual and eternal impact. He has provided unlimited possibility for us to glorify Him in time and in eternity by simply doing His will, one day at a time. Do not follow the mystical preachers who goad their followers to do great things in this world as expressions of their “spiritual victory’ in conquering the world for God. The duration of human life is divided into three segments: When a person is young, he is full of energy and has all the time in the world but has no money. Most Christians are wasting their lives for nothing during their younger life. They are wasting their most important possessions (time and energy) for thinking nothing except the things of the world.. The best thing a person can do for himself is to study the Word of God while he has all energy and the time to do so When a person is adult, he earns all the money he desires in the world but has no time for the most important thing, which is the Word of God. For most people of the world, life begins at forty, and so, they devote the rest of their lives for earning money. When a person reached his seniority his energy diminishes to do the things he wanted to do, though he has money and all the time. Human superiority and inferiority does not contribute to spiritual growth and advance toward spiritual maturity. Church Age believers are graciously provided with all the blessings vitally related to spiritual growth and maturity. There is nothing we need to add or improvise or contribute to divine provisions. The believers are capable and able to do and fulfill the plan, purpose, and will of God in any circumstances, in any situation or condition. Only carnality hinders the momentum and advance of the Church Age believer. Negative volition believer has the entire alibi not to do the will and purpose of God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
167 - THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH The Church Age dispensation will close in a very dramatic exit of every Church Age believer by a forceful and speedy event called Rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 gives us clear cut picture of this event: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. The Rapture is the forceful and rapid evacuation of all Church Age believers still alive in the world regardless of spiritual standing before the Lord. The Rapture will signal the end of the Church Age and will activate the beginning of the Great Tribulation. God will remove every believer on the earth’s surface before Satan rule the world with his devious government. The Great Tribulation is the climax of God’s divine discipline for Israel, not for the Church Age. The seven years is designed for Israel to function as client nation. The rejected and neglected function of Israel in the OT as chosen people for God’s own purpose will continue under stressful conditions. Israel will proclaim the salvation of God through Jesus Christ in that era. The Rapture is the removal of all Church Age believers from the world before Satan rules over men in total wickedness. Spiritual standing is never an issue for the Rapture but blessed are those who are found sober (spiritually) when it occurs. The Rapture will come unexpectedly and speedily without notice. It was possible during the time of the apostle Paul; it is possible today, tomorrow or maybe 2000 years from now. Christ will not go down on earth but will stay and meet the Church Age believers in the clouds. It will happen at the same time or simultaneously all over the world without respect to geopolitical situation, weather or time elements. It will happen rapidly in almost no time without waiting for a drunken believer to wake up. The Rapture will test the mental attitude of every believer in relation to his or her eager anticipation of Christ’s appearing. The issue is not when the Rapture will take place but “how prepared the believer to meet his God face to face”. For those who are giving priority to their spiritual life, there is nothing to worry about. Believers will leave behind everything they treasure except the Bible doctrine stored in their souls and the indwelling Holy Spirit. The treasures of the world are no longer basic in the permanent and eternal residence of the believers in the presence of the Lord. Believers will leave everything behind for the unbelievers to greed and fight over. The Rapture is the forceful evacuation and removal of the believers from the face of the earth without the privilege to carry those valuables the immature and carnal believers love so much. It is absurd but true that some Christians will hesitate to leave because of their precious things. The wife of Lot looked back because she was grieved for the lost of her precious belongings. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
168 - THE GREAT TRIBULATION Two eschatological dispensations will occur after the Rapture of the Church: the Tribulation and the Millennium. Eschatology is the study of future or final events. They are prophecies yet unfulfilled to anticipate history’s finality. These two eschatological events will occur after the Church is completely formed and transferred to heaven, the eternal and permanent residence of all Christians. The eschatological dispensations are separated from the Church because they are presented in the OT (Isaiah 34:1-6, 63:1-6, Daniel 11:40-45), while the Church was undisclosed in the OT. The Tribulation precedes the founding of God’s promised kingdom on earth, which is Israel. These seven years of dramatic events will start immediately after the Rapture of the Church and will terminate with the second advent of Christ. The Jews called it “the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). It is also called the time of Satan’s desperation because of the violent power struggle that will take place (Revelation 12:12). The first half of the Tribulation will be a time of relative prosperity and overt world peace. Satan will attempt to create his own “millennium” to prove that he is equal with God (Isaiah 14:14). Satan will simply used mankind to justify his rebellion against God. He will manipulate people to gain his own selfish interest. Behind the scenes, Satan will be pressing down the people to obey his ruthless rule. He will be clamping the human race in tyranny through power politics and religious manipulation, the worse kind of tyranny. It will be a ruthless form of government without respect for human life, privacy, freedom and personal property. Tribulation will be a period of total evil, unopposed and unrestrained by God. The outbreak of evil will reveal, through contrast the historical impact and importance of mature believers as channels for divine blessing. The absence of the spiritual pivot will give Satan free hand. At the beginning of the Tribulation, there will be no believers on earth. The restraining influence of the true invisible Church will be gone from the face of the earth As the devil is left alone to do his devious strategy, the world situation will turn grim. The false peace and prosperity of the first 3 ½ years will deteriorate into horrible disaster. The arrogance of Satan will be expose in his incompetence and it will become known that he cannot rule the kingdom he grabbed from Adam. The Tribulation will be an era of human and satanic failures. Satan will rule the world with total corruption and bad decisions. A larger portion of earth’s population will destroy itself because of greed (Revelation 6:1-). His utopian government will be marked with coercion, slavery and violence. He cannot create a politically and socially perfect world. He will be a total failure and but will insists on his desires. The last 3 ½ years of the tribulation will witness the unprecedented violence of satanic machinations disentangle and doomed to failure but still struggling to retain his rule over the world. Satan will obligate his united forces to exterminate all the Jews (Revelation 12:17), in order to eliminate the beneficiaries of God’s unconditional covenants to Israel. Satan will pursue this heinous policy in an attempt to prove God unfaithful to His promises. He will kill the Jews in the name of world peace. Satan is thinking that if God could not fulfill His unconditional covenants, His character would be flawed, and Satan would have grounds for demanding dismissal of all charges against him and the fallen angels. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
169 - THE MILLENNIUM The Millennium is the one thousand years reign of Christ over all nations after He returned to deliver the Jews from the hands of the united forces (Isaiah 5:26-30, 11:11-16, 14:1-3). He will come to establish His kingdom in fulfillment of the unconditional covenants to Israel (Daniel 9:20-24) The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Son of David will destroy the forces of Satan (the United Nations forces) and depose the devil as the ruler of the earth. The Lamb of God will gathered anew all the dispersed Jews and rule the earth under a perfect government possible only under His leadership. This is the fulfillment of the magnificent prophecy concerning many nations of Gentiles coming to Jerusalem to entreat the favor of the Lord (Zechariah 8:20-23): "Thus says the Lord of hosts, `It will yet be that people will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. And the inhabitants of one will go to another saying, "Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will also go.” So many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord.’ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, `In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." The Millennium (a Latin term for one 1000 years) will commence with the Second Advent of Christ and terminate with the Last Judgment and complete destruction of the present universe, including your beloved planet Earth. This is the final dispensation under the human history prior to eternal state. The Church (the royal family of God) will accompany the Lord Jesus Christ in His return (Second Advent) who will reign with Him (Revelation 1:16). The Second Coming of Christ will mark the resurrection of all Old Testament believers and the Christian martyrs of the Tribulation (1 Corinthians 15:24). The survivors of the Tribulation will enter the Millennium in their natural physical bodies and joint the Church and OT Jewish believers in their resurrection bodies. There are four major participants of the 1000-year reign of Christ:
Following the Second Advent of Christ will be the restoration of the client- nation Israel, then the imprisonment of Satan and his fallen angels into the endless pit (Revelation 20:1-3). It will be followed by the removal of all unbelievers from the earth by Baptism of Fire (Ezekiel 20:34-38 for Jews and Matthew 25:31-46 for Gentiles), then the coronation of Christ. The Millennium will demonstrate to all created beings both human and angels the Excellencies of His grace in outstanding in leadership in a perfect government and perfect environment. After one thousand years, Satan will be released from captivity (Revelation 20:7-9). The devil will lead rebellious elements of the human race and his own fallen angels in a desperate conspiracy against the Lord’s perfect government. That rebellion is called the Gog and Magog Revolution; this final outburst of satanic violence will be suppressed immediately. Satan’s argument for the defense reduced to frantic violence and with God’s demonstration of grace completed, this will terminate the appeal trial of Satan. The purpose of the Millennium is achieved so human history will end. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
170 - VOLITIONAL ASSETS Volition is the freewill decisions of the soul, for or against God and His Bible doctrines. It operates in ignorance or cognizance of God and Bible doctrine. Positive volition is an active desire to know God. It is love for truth, which expresses itself in persistent learning the Word of God and constantly living by its teaching. Volition is a liability if the believer is negative to God and toward His Word. Volition is an asset only if it is being build up or strengthened by Bible doctrine in the soul. The more Bible doctrine a believer knows the greater his resources for comprehending additional doctrine. The believer with little doctrinal frame of reference will have slow moving comprehension. Knowledge builds on knowledge. Truth builds on truth. Your good decisions to learn the Word of God create options for further good decisions to keep learning. As your personal capacity or ability for doctrine expands, your love for Bible doctrine also increases because truth and wisdom are intrinsically worthy of love. Your capacity and receptivity for doctrine is sharpened by your invisible foundation of biblical truth. The mature believer’s intense discernment and progressive desire for doctrine may seem to be only a natural result of his expanding doctrinal frame of reference. The maturity of the believer’s positive volition is the invisible work of God. Our spiritual growth and maturity itself is a gift of grace. God can work freely only in the souls of positive volition believers. He assists the believers in spiritual reception, perception, and application of Bible doctrines. Advancement to spiritual maturity requires a consistent pattern of good decisions made from a position of strength. Good decisions are those that obey the mandates of the divine protocol. The position of strength is the divine dynasphere, in which the Holy Spirit makes the Bible doctrine understandable and use the believer’s stockpile of doctrine to fuel his spiritual advancement. There are two aspect of positive volition: the intangible & the tangible aspects. The tangible is the conscious aspect of the saint’s positive volition (like the decision to listen to Bible doctrine teaching. The Holy Spirit supplies the intangible, spiritual and the unfelt effectiveness of the believer’s positive volition. This true but invisible dimension, which the Christian does not experience, is disclosed only in the content of the Church Age doctrines. Knowledge of thee Holy Spirit’s unseen role gives the Christian Age believers sense of gratitude for increases in his desire for truth, comprehension of Bible doctrine, and personal love for God, all of which he does experience. Human intelligence, wisdom and IQ are not protection for making bad decisions. Experience affords very little help and no good advise or adviser can keep us from doing the foolish thing that we set our minds on doing. No one can escape the consequences of his decisions. If man’s decision has no effect, he would not have free will. Man has free will and his bad decisions will harvest its consequences. If not created by one’s own negative volition, suffering result from someone else’s volition. The innocent suffer with the guilty. Man manufactures his own problems that result to discipline. God manufactures solutions to human self-made miseries. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
The Church Age believer possesses fabulous advantages but his positive volition still lacks the power in itself to advance him spiritually (Galatians 3:3, Ephesians 4:20, 23, 30). Spiritual growth and maturity is a marvelous divine achievement. Desiring to grow does not produce growth, nor unquestioning devotion and obedience to religious formula, including rigid legalistic attendance to hear Bible teaching. Growth comes not by hoping or striving but a result of learning, thinking and solving human problems with Bible doctrines. The Word of God is the power of God (Romans 1:16, Hebrews 4:12). Even the keenest human intellect cannot penetrate the mystery doctrine and it is totally impossible to grow with out the grace of God. Once the grace of God meets the helplessness of man, He places us in an invisible position of strength – the believer’s invisible palace and power room. The power of God the Holy Spirit operates after salvation only inside the divine power system or divine dynasphere. The Spirit’s communication ministry aids in comprehension, assimilation, and application of the truth, but each individual believer has to make three major decisions from time to time: One. The Christian chooses to reside in the divine dynasphere and listen to doctrinal Bible teaching. The Holy Spirit makes genuine Bible doctrine understandable to the believer’s soul (1 Corinthians 2:12). Two. The Christian chooses to think about Bible doctrine, to believe the particular doctrine he hears, and to integrate the new information or doctrine with the truth he already knows. The Holy Spirit converts gnosis or academic knowledge into epignosis or genuine knowledge & understanding (1 Corinthians 2:13). Three. The Christian chooses to apply the Bible doctrines he learned in the circumstances of his life. The Holy Spirit aids in the recall of the truth so that the believer can walk (live) by means of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). In every stage of hearing, learning, thinking (meditating), and using Bible doctrine in solving the problems of his daily circumstances, the believer provides the non-meritorious positive volition and the Holy Spirit provides the unseen power, the spiritual IQ or the ability to understand the word of God. The Holy Spirit provides every vital aid for reception, perception, comprehension, assimilation, and application of Bible doctrine. The Holy Spirit’s communication work is powerful but deliberately invisible. The teaching (doctrine) is spotlighted not the teacher. The Holy Spirit never put himself in the center stage unlike some celebrated TV and radio so-called Bible teachers. The preacher or pastor is the communicator of the Bible doctrine but the real teacher is the Holy Spirit who operates in silent support of the normal, human learning process (2 Timothy 2:15). The believer’s conscious experience is concerned about his listening, thinking and applying of the truth. He thinks about the doctrine he hears, mulls it over, accepts what he believes is true and lives by the truth he accepted. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ in the lives of the believers who obey the mandate to be filled with Holy Spirit by faith (Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 4:30, 5:18, 1 Thessalonians. 5:19). The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ rather than Himself (John 16:13-14). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
The Holy Spirit illuminates the mind (thinking) of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:10-16). The Church Age believer “knows” the Spirit but “beholds” Christ in contrast to the world, which neither beholds nor knows the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-19). The Holy Spirit’s vital and indispensable ministry operates below the surface – silently. The doctrinally aware believer slowly learns to appreciate the invisible power that operate behind the surface and all the more appreciate the facets of the positive volition, which are discernible that without it his spiritual life will never advance. As he grows, his positive volition itself changes. Beyond simply opting to hear, accept, or apply Bible doctrine, his growing positive volition becomes an expression of his own spiritual autonomy. And when firmly grounded in truth, his doctrinal thinking pattern becomes his outlook on life. He acquires a scale of values in which his relationship with God has become his first priority. His confidence in God enables him to directly and honestly face his own questions in life, as an essential part of being receptive to truth. He fills every space of his soul with Bible doctrine, even his subconscious so that he develops the instincts of grace, gratitude, and true worship. He has trained his senses to discern good and evil by constant practice of learning to apply Bible doctrine to life’s situation (Hebrews 5:14). His positive volition taught him not to waste vital time for nothing like watching endless TV shows. He avails himself of every opportunity to learn Bible doctrine. He stretches forward with a goal to reach the highest level of spiritual maturity. He loves and desires truth more than anything else. Only in such condition human volition becomes an asset in itself. This asset (positive volition) becomes the driving force in his spiritual life. The increasing desire to know and worship God drives the potential spiritual winner toward his destiny. The advancing believer remains free (with his volition under his own rules), his old sinful nature (OSN) can still divert him to turn aside into error or indifference. But after positive volition is strengthened by the progressive intake of Bible doctrine, his frame of reference and his conscience operate in favor of God and His Truth. He has set his momentum to trust forward and his negative volition would go against his own grain. His negative volition will always defeat the fight against supremacy. Negative volition is dangerous foes of the believer that must be weakened by progressive intake of Bible doctrine. We must remember that volition is the decision of the soul not of the brain and the soul filled with human and satanic viewpoint can only produce negative volition. Positive volition is never automatic and any believer in any stage of spirituality can become dull of hearing (Hebrews 5:11). Growing believers are in danger of departing from the Bible doctrine after having built a foundation of elementary knowledge (Hebrews 6:1-6). In this passage, advancing saints are warmed of possible loss of momentum by ignoring dispensational distinctions. They have correct basic foundation or frame of reference of basic doctrines. At some point of their Christian life they began to neglect the basics they had learned. They were attracted to OT obsolete Jewish rituals, which halted their growth and momentum. Satan has all kinds of bait waiting to hook the ignorant believers. Beware! J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
171 - DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT Divine encouragement is different from human encouragement and there is no point of similarity but only of contrast. Divine encouragement plays a vital and indispensable role in transforming the believer’s positive volition (Phil. 2:1). The invisible resources that God provides for every Church Age saints surpass the human imagination. As the advancing believer begins a trend of making right decisions, his spiritual assets produce their powerful results. He grows up spiritually. Pressures only accelerate his spiritual advance. He achieves spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and finally spiritual maturity. The results of executing the protocol plan of God encourage him to advance further as his confidence in God continues to grow and establishes in truth. This confidence from his own cumulative experience of God’s grace strengthens his determination with his positive volition to keep on fulfilling God’s very own purpose for his life (Philippians 3:12-14). As the believer is continually filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with the Word of God as result of his spiritual progress he is now qualified to take the series of spiritual board exams or testing called undeserved suffering for blessing aims to encourage the saint and not to destroy him. There are three major categories of sufferings in the world:
Self-made miseries are the results of bad decision from ignorance of God’s Word and or lack of relationship with God. Both believers and unbelievers experience self-made miseries when ever OSN in control. Believers faces divine discipline when ever they violate the laws of divine establishment or the divine protocol plan of God. Divine discipline is for the purpose of waking the believers from spiritual slumber (operational death or temporal death). Divine is just a wake call for the carnal or reversionist believers. The advancing believer is learning to apply Bible doctrine to solve his problems but in spiritual maturity his spiritual ability to use Bible doctrine in life’s circumstances will be tested severely. Each of the three stages of suffering for blessings are aimed to encourage the believer to advance further rather than to slow down. Suffering for blessings is God’s way of manifesting and pouring out his bountiful grace to advancing believers under fire. Believers will experience the brutality of the world the cosmic system and of the devil. The whole system of the devil’s world will be against him; he will be left alone with no one to turn to except God. Satan can use everyone against the advancing believer even the very people he cherished most. Everything can be used against him and so he needs the maximum Bible doctrine in his soul to remain victorious. The world will reject and despise the believer because of his faith in Christ. Satan will curse him to death. Advancing believers will fail several times before reaching the summit. The strongest believer, the apostle Paul failed in several occasions but he did not permit himself to be a loser. This phase of the Christian life is something that all of us must aspire, the glorification of Christ in time. Suffering for blessing is not only an asset but also a grand privilege and opportunity in the Christian life. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
172 - ASSETS FOR UNDESERVED SUFFERINGS The different categories of assets are example of continuity in the midst of changes. These assets demonstrate the immutability of God. The changes in human history are because of the ever-changing men, not because God is changing His dealing with men. God is never making any adjustment toward men. The superior God will never adjust to the inferior men. In every dispensation God uses suffering as a means of blessing the spiritually mature believer. God in His marvelous grace designed pressures for each stage of believer’s advance in spiritual maturity. The divine objective is accelerated spiritual growth. Genuine Christianity is not a religion of suffering, no matter how historians cropped up the distortions and forged the images they invented. Suffering is part of the Christian life, both for the carnal or spiritual. We are mortals living in the cosmic system with other mortals, all possessing an OSN. God frees the advancing believer from his self-induced misery by the doctrine he stored in his soul. As the advancing believer learns to use the Word of God to solve every human problem, God slowly adds in undeserved suffering into His plan of grace for the mature saints. At this point, God uses this type of suffering to accelerate the CA believer’s momentum. As the saint learns to use his divine assets, the horrible suffering for blessings loses much of its dread. God uses the right kind and the right degree of suffering to stretch the believer beyond his human resources, compelling him to rely utterly upon the grace of God. The succession of the undeserved suffering is designed to teach the believer the all-sufficiency of God. The believer might fail a test and collapse under pressure, but never is the pressure greater than he can bear if he uses the doctrinal resources in his soul (1 Corinthians 10:13). And if a believer fails is as near as the divine solution of rebound. Suffering has different purposes in each successive stage of spiritual growth. [Please see Bible Doctrine Book 4]. God does not administer any of these categories of suffering until the believer can handle the pressure and benefit from the experience. This suffering for blessing is never designed to destroy the growing believer but God’s rationale is to replace the Christian’s futile confidence in human resources with increased confidence in God. The pain is real and the purpose is also real real blessing. Therefore, suffering for blessing is necessary to intensify the believer’s use of divine assets. The Christian who fall short to reach spiritual esteem does not receive the assets for undeserved suffering. He still suffers (mostly from self-induced misery or divine discipline), but his pain is not designed for blessing. His bad decisions cause him to go through under the law of volitional liability or responsibility. God restrained and put the believer under divine discipline to alert him to his failure and to motivate his return to the only solution: the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. Suffering for blessing is different type of suffering since the pain is different from self-induced misery and divine discipline. The purpose is different from other categories of sufferings. The effect and result is also different from the rest of the sufferings. The believer can not request, demand or command God to provide him this asset for suffering because it is the result of spiritual growth and maturity of the soul. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
173 - PERSONNEL ASSETS Personnel assets are special categories of assets since they sustain the life and operation of the local church. They relate the individual believer to an organization or group of believers in which he plays an important part. Every Church Age believer possesses at least one spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:7). They are God’s given abilities related to the function of the royal family of God on earth. From His sovereign bounty the victorious Lord Jesus Christ initially distributed spiritual gifts to celebrate His triumph (Ephesians 4:7-13). Shortly after the Church Age began, the Holy Spirit took over the distribution of spiritual gifts as part of His ministry of glorifying Christ (John 16:14). Throughout the Church age, the sovereign Holy Spirit bestows spiritual gifts at the moment of salvation (1 Corinthians 12:11, Hebrews 2:4). Totally apart from human merit, ability, talent, or wisdom, the spiritual gifts operate on divine power, not on human energy. The spiritual gift, which remains unexploited, has begun to grow. When he reaches spiritual maturity, his gifts functions fully and effectively, even if he is unaware that his activities involve a spiritual gift. The only gifts that demand special preparation in order to function properly are the communication gifts, particularly the gift of pastor-teacher, and certain gifts of administration. Spiritual gifts are witnesses to the grace of God the Father and they are witnesses to salvation in the Church Age (Heb. 2:4). They are not dependent on human ability, morality, intelligence, talent, or human achievement, but are allotted solely by decision of God the Holy Spirit. At any point in the Church Age, each spiritual gift in every geographical area is necessary for the function of the Body of Christ in that area (1 Corinthians 12:27-31). All spiritual gifts function through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in and through the believer (Acts 2:4) and always function under the team concept, each a member of the whole Body of Christ. But the function of spiritual gifts depends on renovating the thinking with Bible doctrine (Romans 12:2-3) and they can only function to the fullest in spiritual maturity. There are two categories of spiritual gifts, the temporal and permanent: Temporal spiritual gifts (of the pre-canon era) are necessary for the communication of mystery doctrine until the canon of the Scripture was completed and circulated. The gift of tongues ceased in A.D. 70 at the fall of Jerusalem (1 Cor. 13:8-10). After the completion of the Canon, the gifts of apostleship, prophecy, healing, and miracles were no longer necessary and were terminated in A.D. 96 (Acts 19:11-12). Permanent spiritual gifts (of the post-canon era) include: pastor-teacher, evangelist, helps, mercy, giving and administration (Romans 12:8, Phil. 2:27, 2 Timothy 4:20). They continue to function after the completion of the Canon and throughout the Church Age (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:31). All spiritual gifts were given after the resurrection, ascension and session of Christ (Ephesians 4:8). The first batch of spiritual gifts was given on the Day of Pentecost, when the dispensation of Israel was interrupted and the Church Age began (Acts 2:1-). Except for the short transition in the pre-canon Church Age, each spiritual gift is distributed at the moment of salvation (Acts 2:1-, 8:14-17, 19:2-8). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
174 - ABUSES OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS The apostle Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians deals with their compound spiritual problems including the abuse and misuse of spiritual gifts, in which the apostle Paul prescribed regulation and order for the exercise of gifts. The widespread carnality and apostasy of the Corinthian Church tried to find ways to continue the application of the sign gifts such as tongues and healing, beyond the closing of the Canon in A.D. 96. Anyone today who claims to possess the first century gifts of apostleship, prophecy, miracles, healing, words of knowledge is apostate. These are sign gifts given to Church Age believers before the completion of the Canon. Possession of spiritual gifts that put you behind the scene never indicates spiritual inferiority, and eye-catching gifts do not indicate superiority and must never be a source of splitting up in the church. There are no superior or inferior spiritual gifts. They are all from God but each has different angle of manifestation and service but with the same purpose. The temporary gifts of apostles and prophets were designed for several purposes:
After the pre-canon communication gifts were terminated in A.D. 96, the permanent communication gifts of pastor-teacher and evangelist were established. The pastor-teacher communicates the whole realm of Bible doctrine inside the local church, while the evangelist communicates the Gospel to groups of unbelievers outside the local church. The gifts of the pastor-teacher and evangelist are bestowed to men only (1 Corinthians 14:34-35, 1 Timothy 2:12, 3:1-7). There were ladies evangelists in the books of Acts, but those were under the pre-canon period not post-canon. Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. The qualifications of the pastors and preachers must be patterned to the biblical criteria, and not by criteria set by the local church council, or pastoral “hiring” committee. The pastors are not employee or hired workers but men called by God to set apart their selfish desires and aspiration to give their entire life for shepherding their local congregation. They are men on duty assigned to communicate the whole realm of Bible doctrine on seasons or out of seasons. Pastors are not contract workers left to the mercy of the executive committee of the local church. The pastor of every local church must be the most spiritually matured believer in that group not a spiritual novice. The local church is the very classroom for training pastors and workers not the seminary. Most seminary are like canned foods factory. They produce sardines, edible but not nutritional value. They provide your souls nothing but junk foods. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
175 - BLESSINGS FROM THE JUSTICE OF GODThe godhead had infinite glory in the eternity past and will have it in the eternity future. There was never a time when God was without His glory. At the cessation of human history God’s glory will be perfect as it was before the beginning of time. God is not in time but time is God. Human defectiveness does not stain the glory of God and His glory does not depend on created beings but we depend on His glory. Grace is born of the glory of God. Grace means that God does all the works which adds up to our blessings whether in time or in eternity. Divine blessings are all grace. The only things related to us that glorify God are what God Himself accomplished for man, and such accomplishment are of the grace of God. They are called divine imputation. Divine imputations clearly demonstrate the truth that the glory of God begins with the glory and will end with the glory. The doctrine of divine imputations erect the framework upon which is built all other doctrine pertaining to our relationship with God. They are the skeletons or the structure that gives strength to every principle and concept related to the Christian way of life. The definition of imputations is the story of grace, the story how divine integrity accomplishes the purpose for which God created mankind. But sad to say, that the doctrine of divine imputation is one of the most neglected and untouched teaching. Its full scope is not understood since it is left alone and seldom communicated from pulpits. Imputation is the function of the justice of God motivated by love in ascribing, reckoning, or crediting some thing to someone for cursing or blessing. Imputations fall into two categories: real and judicial. A real imputation credits to a person something, which belongs to him, something antecedent to him. There is an affinity between what is received and the one who receives it. Real imputation must have a place to go, a target ready and waiting to receive it. What is given in a real imputation goes where it rightfully belongs. Real imputations have affinity between what is received and the one who receives it. Real imputations have a home. Judicial imputations give emphasis to the Source, the justice of God and it does not have a home. Judicial imputation does not have a home in the person to whom it is given. It is not antecedently his own. Judicial imputation is when something is credited where it does not rightfully belong, where there is no affinity, where there is no direction. God must immediately take some form of judicial action to rectify the situation. Divine justice must immediately pronounce a verdict, whether of cursing or of blessing. Judicial imputations give emphasis to the Source –the justice of God, rather than any affinity between the giving point and the receiving point. There are seven divine imputations, five of which are related to salvation, two are real and three are judicial, the sixth and the seventh imputations are related to spiritual maturity of the Church Age believers. We must examine these divine operations if we are to understand how the justice of God functions toward us and if we are to see the tremendous advantage of having justice of God as our point of contact with God. All believer, whether he knows it or not, has already been involved in all five categories J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
176 - THE IMPUTATION OF THE SOUL LIFE The first real imputation from the justice of God occurs for every member of the human race at the moment of physical birth. God imputes soul life to biological life creating human life. Biological life begins at conception and is the means of transmitting the sin nature. Soul life is created by God at the physical birth and imputed as the means of transmitting the human soul. The combination of biological life and soul life becomes a physically alive human being. Inside the fetus, the sensory intermediate and motor nerves stimulate muscular action, called reflex motility. The fetus is totally mother dependent, its movement often sympathize with the mother’s emotional or physical condition. The development of the body inside the womb is not a human being with a life of his own until the sovereign God imputes soul life, resulting to human life. Only God has the power to create a human life and no human being is a biological accident. God personally created each one of us. The first imputation occurs when the viable fetus emerges from the womb. Human life begins when God imputes the breath or spark of life. This spark is called NESHAMAH in Hebrew, and is the same BREATH that God breathed into the nostrils of Adam, whose body God formed of dust from the ground (Genesis 2:7). Soul life always comes in the same way, directly from God, whether to Adam as an adult or to all progeny of Adam as infants. God gave the spark of life not only to Adam but also individually to each human being (Isaiah 57:16, Job 33:4). God always provides human life in the same way, by real imputation and always for the same purpose, for our happiness and blessing. As the body develops within the mother womb, there also develops within its cranial area the format soul. The format soul is the biological life, the material qualities of the developing brain. It consists of the genetic format for the mentality, inherited from the genes of both parents. The Hebrew word NEPHESH often translated as soul or life refers to the souls fully formed, immaterial essence, which is provided by God at the moment the spark of life is given. The breath of life transforms the fetus and its format soul into a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The format soul becomes the home for the imputation of soul life. The spark of life ignites the format soul, and only upon the ignition at the moment of birth does the fetus become a living human being. Human life can be imputed only where it has a home, and it is always a real imputation from God. This process is not subject for revision, or suspension but a permanent arrangement. The breath of life resides in the soul forever. The breath of life is eternal and so, the soul has become eternal as well. The soul life is immaterial, not mortal but eternal matter. Even when your soul leaves your body in physical death, your life is still in your soul; and your life will never be separated from your soul. If your whole body evaporated in bomb explosion, your soul will remain uninjured, and your life would remain intact in your soul. There is nothing in this world that can destroy your soul life, and there is no such thing as soul death or soul sleep. If you believe in Christ, the moment your soul departs from your body you will be absent from the body, and stand face to face with the Lord forever (2 Corinthians 5:8). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
177 - THE IMPUTATION OF ADAM’S SIN In the same moment that soul life is imputed, the second real imputation occurs as a result of Adam’s deliberate sin in the Garden. Adam’s original sin is imputed to its home, the sin nature. This is real imputation because there is an affinity between Adam’s sin and Adam’s trend or sin nature, between his act of disobedience and the corruption that it caused in him. The result of this imputation is that we are all born physically alive but spiritually dead. This imputation makes the cross possible, it makes salvation possible, it lays every advantage each one of us will enjoy in time or eternity. Adam’s original sin plus a sin nature equals spiritual death. But these two factors come to us in different ways. Adam’s sin directly imputed by the justice of God at the moment of physical birth, his sin nature is passed down genetically through the male procreation. The genetically formed sin nature is the home for the imputation of Adam’s sin and the result of this affinity is spiritual death for all members of the human race except Christ Spiritual death is not only total separation from God and a complete lack of relationship with Him but also the first function of the justice of God in condemning the fallen man. Our initial relationship with the justice of God is spiritual death because justice must condemn before it can bless. God condemns sin. Hence God is not the author of sin, Adam is. To implicate God with sin is blasphemous. God is neither the source of sin nor does He sponsor sin, tempt to sin or ever failed to judge sin. A perfect God could create only perfect creatures. When God create Adam and Eve there was no sin, and no sin nature existed not until the fall of man. God gave the original man and woman everything they could have ever needed to remain in a sinless status. If Adam and his wife had not decided of their own free wills to eat from the forbidden tree, god would have continued to perpetuate the Age of Perfection indefinitely. Although Satan was the first sinner among all God’s creature, Adam was totally responsible for the fall of man. The immaterial soul that comes from the hand of God is perfect and that is true for the original couple and in us. The soul is instantly tainted only because it comes under the corrupting influenced of the old sin nature. In Adam, this contamination occurred at the moment he sinned, in us at the moment of physical birth. The creation of the human soul, their imputations to biological life, and its consequent corruption by the imputation of Adam’s original sin occur simultaneously. The human soul never preexists before uniting with the body. At birth, we became facsimiles of Adam at the Fall. We became slaves of the sin nature. Adam was the ruler of the world and the authority over the woman. He was the head of the human race as it existed in the Garden and consequently was the federal head of all mankind but he gave up such leadership because of the woman. Even though the woman was the first to disobey, it is his sin, not hers that plunges mankind into condemnation. Since we were seminally in Adam, through his own choice, he fell under the sovereignty of the sin nature (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Adam was created first and assigned as the head of mankind. The woman was deceived while Adam knew exactly what he was doing when he sinned (1 Tim 2:13-14) Adam sinned deliberately and with a perfect knowledge of what he was doing.
Adam’s original sin becomes the sin of every human being. His condemnation becomes the condemnation of everyone in this planet. His nature after the Fall becomes our nature before spiritual birth. Sin nature or old sin nature is not part of the soul, but resides in every cell of our body (Romans 6:6, 12:7:7-18, 8:3-5, Ephesians 4:22). Men are spiritually dead not because of their personal sins but because they possess the old sin nature (OSN). We are all condemned before we sinned, and we sinned personally only as result of our spiritual death never as the cause. OSN condemned the human race. Our condemnation come at the moment we are born physically not at the moment we sin (Romans 4:8, 5:13). We are born spiritually dead; we are born candidates for the grace of God. God is able to save us before we sinned and He is able to save anyone who dies prior to reaching God’s consciousness. Our condemnation and human good works has nothing to do with our receiving of blessings from God. We do not have to impress God in anyway. There is nothing we can do by our own power and ability to change our status before God. God can accept only His own righteousness. We became sinners not by our own sin but by the sin of Adam. We become acceptable to God by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The old sin nature is not endemic to the soul but resides instead in the cell structure of the human body. OSN is also called:
The sin nature is both material and immaterial. The material part is its residence in the cell structure of the body. The immaterial part is the function of its specific trends toward sin, toward human good and toward evil. We refer to these three specific trends collectively as Adam’s trend or Adam’s sinful trend. Everyone’s sin nature includes all three of these specialized trends that function in different combinations at different times. The specific trend toward sin tempts the believer to produce all categories of personal sins, mental, verbal and overt. The trend toward good tempts you the believer to produce human good, which includes all attempts to earn salvation or the approbation of God. It also includes all human production apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit, and all misguided efforts to improve the world for the welfare of man. The trend toward evil is the intensification of the other two trends good and evil. Good and evil is not only the policy of Satan as the ruler of the cosmic world system but also the function of the sin nature as the sovereign of human life. On the material side, the sin nature resides in the mortal human body, contaminating every cell’s structure or function. Every human chromosome also carries the sin nature and each microscopic chromosome in every cell is contaminated with Adam’s sinful nature. The only remedy is to get rid of this mortal body. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
178 - THE IMPUTATION OF PERSONAL SIN TO CHRIST The term ONLY BEGOTTEN of John 3:16 means UNIQUELY BORN SON, a term that refers to Christ perfect humanity. We are all born facsimiles of Adam after the Fall, that is why we share his original sin by real imputation and his nature by genetic transmission, consequently, we share his spiritual death. The Lord Jesus Christ was born a facsimile or type of Adam before the Fall. Adam was created perfect; our Lord was born perfect, without the corruption of the sin nature. The mother of Christ’s humanity, the Virgin Mary was born spiritually dead. She was not immaculate, sinless, or perfect. She is not the mother of God. God is eternal, has no source, and has no origin and no mother! Mary like every member of the human race was a sinner in need of a Savior. Her body was a body of corruption, her genes and chromosomes carried the sin nature. After Christ was born, Mary bore at least six other children by Joseph through normal procreation (Matthew 13:55-56). All were born spiritually dead possessing OSN, which they received through their father. Mary was not the miracle but the virgin birth of Christ. Mary did not remain a virgin. The miracle was that the Holy Spirit provided 23 perfect chromosomes to fertilize her normal and pure ovum. She conceived apart from the contamination carried by male sperm. Her pregnancy was a virgin pregnancy it was totally free from the corruption of Adam’s sinful trend. The real issue here is the virgin pregnancy of Christ not the virginity of Mary. Christ was born without a human father; Joseph was not even Christ’s stepfather yet he took the privilege of nurturing the Lord in the Word of God. When the fetus, as biological life emerged from Mary’s womb, God the Father imputed soul life to its genetically prepared home, Christ’s format soul. The result was a human life at birth, as it would have been with any other member of the human race. Christ was born true humanity, He was not just a true humanity but also a perfect humanity qualified to represent mankind before God. But at the same moment, when the justice of God would normally impute Adam’s original sin to a newly born infant, no such imputation was possible because Christ had no genetically formed sin nature. Adam’s sin had no home in Christ’s physical body. There was no affinity between Christ and Adams’ original sin because, through the virgin pregnancy, Christ was not seminally in Adam The birth of Christ was unique. He was born both physically and spiritually alive. He was the only perfect being born into this world. The other perfect being was created (Adam) in a perfect environment. Christ was born in the midst of totally depraved mankind. He was the only free Man ever to enter Satan’s world. Free from the devil’s dictatorship, free from sovereignty of OSN, free from the imputation of Adam’s sin, and totally free from the condemnation of spiritual death. The Greek word MONOGENES in John 3:16 is not “only begotten” Son but “uniquely born” Son. Christ is only person who entered Satan’s world in perfect condition. He has to be perfect since God can accept only a perfect sacrifice according to His own standard and criteria. He was without blemish of sin nature and without the spot of Adam’s trends. While the love of God motivated the gift of the Savior, the justice of God had to judge our sins in Jesus Christ as our Substitute, and the perfect righteousness of God had to find Him an acceptable sacrifice. Christ was perfect at birth but He also had to be perfect when He reached the cross, thus, our Lord could not commit any personal sin during His life on earth. In His humanity He could be tempted and could have sinned. In His deity, however, neither could He be tempted nor could He commit sin. He was TEMPTABLE BUT IMPECCABLE. Through His positive human volition He was able to avoid sin when He was tempted as a man. In his divine essence, the integrity of God meant sin was completely out of questions. HE WAS ABLE NOT TO SIN AND NOT ABLE TO SIN. Like perfect Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ could fail only in one way, and that is by committing an act of negative volition to the Father’s plan for the Incarnation. That is why; Satan intensified his efforts to prevent the cross by putting the free will volition of the Lord’s humanity repeatedly to severe testing (Matthew 4:1-11, Hebrews 4:15). He was tempted far beyond anything we will ever face. The recorded temptations are but a few of the traps and snares that Satan brutally and persistently laid in His path. Unlike the woman in the Garden whose ignorance of doctrine made her vulnerable to Satan’s wiles, Christ remained absolutely obedient to the Father’s plan all the way to the cross (Luke 22:42). He was the only Person in the entire history of man who did not disobey the plan, the purpose and will of the Father, a proof of His perfection. Jesus Christ is God’s gift to mankind. He is acceptable to the righteousness and justice of God. Adam’s original sin was totally foreign to our Lord and was not imputed to Him at birth. Our sins had no place in Him on the cross. Thus, when the justice of God the Father imputed our sins to Him, it was a judicial imputation. Each judicial imputation is incomplete until God takes action to complete it - judicial verdict always follow. When the sins of mankind were charged to the impeccable humanity of Christ, the justice of God had to take action; He judged the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s judgment of our sins in Christ, including Adam’s original sin, wiped our slate clean: we need only to accept this divine action in our behalf through non-meritorious faith in Christ who took our place. God the father loved the Son on the cross with a love beyond anything we can imagine. Since eternity past their love rapport never diminished. But for the sake of man, God forsook Christ on the cross. The cross was an act of justice. Love motivated the gift of Christ as a substitute sacrifice for our sins, then the justice imputed our sins to Christ: Righteousness rejected our sins, justice judged them. This was the greatest act that God could possibly have performed in demonstration of His matchless character. Satan thought he had scored a victory when man Adam in the Garden. Satan seized the scepter of the world but God finessed him out of every advantage by condemning the entire human race in Adam. By it we receive our so great a salvation (Hebrews 2:3) and God demonstrates the remarkable and fascinating wisdom of His justice. Much more, we are now in a position to be blessed in a phenomenal way, even in the midst of the devil’s world. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
179 - OUR POINT OF CONTACTThe contact point of Adam and ISHAH with God was the love and grace of God. All the blessing of the Garden came from this point of contact. Justice was not man’s point of contact with God for several reasons:
Adam and ISHAH were simply the perfect work of the perfect God, and they would stay that way as long as they did not reject God’s authority. Only one reference to the justice of God existed in the Garden. This was a warning that justice would become their point of contact if they ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The nature of this tree, like that of the tree of life, has been long misunderstood. The tree of good and evil embodied Satan’s plan. The connective “and’ is not a contrast, but a link of two similar concepts. Good and evil was and is the sum total of Satan’s policy for ruling the world and for proving himself to be as good as God: to eat from this tree was to agree and accept the demonic doctrine. Adam was the ruler of the earth during the Age of perfection. They were created and placed in the Garden to resolve the angelic conflict; they were protected from Satan’s influence as long as they had positive volition toward God and His doctrine. Now, the two trees in the middle of the Garden represented the opposing sides in the angelic conflict. Adam and ISHAH jointed the rebel’s group. Satan is the sovereign of the world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2), and he rules through the policy, which he naturally calls “good”, but which God calls “evil” (Galatians 1:4). Evil is the sum total of Satan’s genius; it is his thinking totally opposed to the mind of Christ- the Bible doctrine. Every person born into this world (except the perfect humanity of Christ) is a natural citizen of the devil’s world. We are all born under divine condemnation: physically alive but spiritually dead. All because Adam rejected God’s provisions in the Garden and decided to eat from the tree of knowledge of Satan’s plan, and plunged the entire human race into spiritual death –under Satan’s regime. Every person born into this world is a certified enemy of God living in the enemy’s territory and also serving the enemy. At the fall, Adam and ISHAH came under a new system. No longer perfect, no longer sinless, no longer qualified to stay in a perfect Garden. Their point of contact ceased to be His love. Their new, depraved condition demanded justice, and justice immediately went into action. Righteousness is the principle of His integrity. Justice is the function. Love is the motivation of the policy of divine integrity: Righteousness demands righteousness Justice demands justice What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes in love. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries180 - DEMANDS AND STANDARDS OF GODThe justice of God, His immovable strength of character is His system of dealing with imperfect man. There is no sentimentality, concession, altruism or any weakness in His nature. The inviolable righteousness of God stands guard over the justice of God, and the justice protects God’s entire essence from compromise when dealing with sinful man. Without exception righteousness of God demands righteousness, the justice of God demands justice. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes through Divine love. The principle, the function, and the motivation of God’s integrity are immutable and impartial; therefore His attributes are never violated. No imperfection in us escapes ultimate judgment; no petite sin in escapes His attention. No blessing comes to us apart from grace. No discipline comes to us apart from grace. What the righteousness of God accepts, the justice blesses through love and grace. What righteousness rejects, the justice condemns and the love provides a solution through grace. All cursing and blessing come from the same source; the inevitable, final result of every function of divine integrity is the glorification of God. In grace, God does all the work, carrying out the dictates of perfect righteousness. God receives all credits while we reap the benefits in a totally non-meritorious way. God’s standards are so infinitely high that no one can meet them but God himself. Only what God does reflect absolute righteousness. God cannot approve of or accept less than His own righteousness; He cannot bless anything less than His own standards. This is the meaning of righteousness demands righteousness. God designed man to be prospered and blessed and to share god’s own happiness. God possesses only the ultimate in happiness. His happiness is perfect, eternal and it cannot be diminished or increased. God is happy about always being entirely fair. His perfect righteousness is His glory. He recognizes His own perfection and takes pleasure in His own glory. God enjoys claiming all glory for himself simply in the interest of absolute truth. Perfect happiness is part of God’s character. It is impossible for him to be unhappy since thoroughly enjoys every facets of His own existence. For example; God is satisfied and delighted with His plan of grace. In grace, He shares His own happiness with believers through bible doctrine resident in their souls. God’s pleasure depends on His perfect character, never on human imperfect character or deeds. God cannot be happier than He already is, and nothing you can do, think, or say can make God unhappy. Man is incapable of adding or detracting from His perfect happiness. God is neither happy with our sins or negative volition nor indifferent with reversionists. His plan calls for believers to share His happiness, not for Him to depend on yours. God wants to bless us, but He cannot since we have no righteousness that meets His demands and standards. We are all condemned and He cannot prosper us no matter what we do. Just, there is no way we can please Him by our own. His integrity demands that He must bless His own righteousness. So He decided in eternity past to impute His own righteousness to us at the moment we believe in Christ. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
181 - THE IMPUTATION OF DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS The righteousness of God is the very root and center of God’s essence; it is the principle behind every action God has taken toward every man since the fall of Adam. The function of divine integrity has imputed to every believer the principle of God’s integrity. At salvation, you and I were dropped in the middle of the most exclusive relationship in the whole universe the relationship within the Godhead; between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The integrity of God is the magnificent object of God’s love, and now we have part of his integrity. As far as the love of God is concerned, we cannot work out our way in or force our way in, but once we possess God’s righteousness, He has made us the eternal objects of His love. God loves His integrity, we have the very principle of His integrity, and therefore god personally loves every believer. Justice saves us through grace and we shall remain under His grace forever. We never earn or deserve what God’s justice gives us in grace; there is no affinity whatever between the absolute righteousness of God and our status of total depravity. Divine righteousness is credited and imputed where it does not rightfully belong – the sinful men. In the same way, the sin of men was imputed where it does not rightfully belong the perfect humanity of Christ. That is what we called judicial imputations. The cluster of two judicial imputations might be considered an exchange: ALL THE SINS OF MEN GOES TO CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD GOES TO SINFUL MEN. The first judicial action at the cross makes possible this second judicial imputation when we believe. Together they form ‘the greater” of salvation. God must pronounce a judicial verdict to complete this second judicial action of imputation. He must take action to rectify a situation where no affinity exists. He looks at us as possessors of the very principle of His integrity. From the bench of heavenly court, God pronounced each believer not guilty or justified before God. FROM ONE MAN’S SIN IN THE GARDEN, THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE IS CONDEMNED FROM ONE MAN’S WORK ON THE CROSS, THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE CAN BE JUSTIFIED. This is the judicial act of vindication that occurs at the moment of salvation when God the Judge sees His own perfect righteousness in us (Romans 5:16). Because of our total condemnation at birth for Adam’s one sin, plus the blotting out of all personal sins at the cross, the justice of God is now free to bless any member of the human race who believes in Christ. The first blessing we receive, the factor that turns everything around, is the imputation of the righteousness of God. At the Cross, God the Father made one divine pronouncement; one order from God which become the basis for his entire relationship with the believer (Romans 5:1), the pronouncement is what we called justification. God pronounced the verdict because Christ done a right act in the fulfillment of a legal requirement. From the judgment of many sins at the cross comes one act of justification. At physical birth, justice acts against us to pronounce us condemned before God. At spiritual birth, justice acts in our behalf to appoint us righteous (Romans 5:19). The later verdict gives us the potential for all other divine blessings. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
182 - THE IMPUTATION OF ETERNAL LIFEGod intends for the blessings of time to be permanent, and He makes them permanent by carrying them over from time to eternity. He parlays the blessings He gives on earth into even greater blessings and rewards in heaven. The real imputation of eternal life implies far more than that we will live forever. Every person will live forever but unbelievers will live forever in hell. The security of divine blessing is a major principle behind the imputation of eternal life. Eternal life is far more than it appears to be on the surface. Christianity is far above the born again cliché. God gives eternal life as a real imputation because there is an affinity between eternal life and the human spirit. God the Holy Spirit sets up this affinity at the point of salvation, when He creates the human spirit to be His home. Just as biological life is the home for soul life forming human life, so also God prepares the human spirit as the home for eternal life. In their origin, both the soul and the human spirit are creative acts of God. Both are unchangeable, indestructible facts of existence. When God imputes soul life to biological life its result is permanent and irrevocable. When God imputes eternal life that pact or arrangement is also permanent and irrevocable. Life can never be separated from its home when imputed. There is nothing we can do to break apart, cancel, alter or render void a divine imputation. Satan and all his demons cannot destroy either soul life or eternal life. Even God cannot undo what He Himself has done. The unbeliever in the Lake of Fire, with his soul intact and undamaged, will be completely and constantly aware of his terrible situation. The believer’s living soul will be in full operation in the midst of the glories of heaven. The fact that people are alive right now, both believers and unbelievers, is merely the present manifestation of the reality that they are alive forever. While still in the world, every living person has the opportunity to avoid the GWT or the Last Judgment by possessing the two vital requirements: First: His perfect righteousness and Second: His life. Both are imputed to the believer at the moment of salvation. Eternal life is God’s life, an attribute of His essence. Eternal life is the very life that He is. Imputed to us, it assures us a never-ending relationship with God. We have security in both time and eternity because of the imputation of eternal life. God’s life in us not only implies that we will live with Him forever, but it also guarantees that we will receive a resurrection body-minus the sin nature, minus human good and evil regardless of spiritual status on earth. That is ultimate sanctification. God is making us like his Son, and He accomplishes this in three stages:
183 - THE IMPUTATION OF BLESSING IN TIME The purpose of the five imputations that I have already outlined is for blessing the believers. Now the sixth and seventh imputations of time and eternity respectively from the justice of God are beyond blessing that we have known about (John 10:10). Every human being is the beneficiary at birth of the two imputations namely: the soul life to biological life and Adam’s original sin to old sin nature. When a person believes in Christ, he personally appropriates three more imputations namely: his personal sin imputed to Christ on the cross for judgment, God’s perfect righteousness imputed on him and God’s eternal life Every believer who has ever lived has been benefited by all five of these decisions of divine justice. But just as salvation carries the plan of God a stage human life and spiritual death, there is yet a stage beyond salvation. This is the realm of maximum blessing from the justice of God. For unbeliever is just a potential not yet a reality. In the same manner, the blessings of time are merely a potential for the immature believer. As human: you are alive forever, as believer: you are saved forever, but you may or you may not see the blessings of time and eternity. The blessings of time occurs when the justice of God pours blessings through His grace pipeline to the righteousness of God in the spiritual mature believer residing in the divine sphere. It is given only to the believer who, through Bible doctrine, possesses capacity for blessings. This is real imputation because there is an affinity between divine blessings and imputed divine righteousness. Two judicial imputations were required before there could be any such real imputation of blessing in time. By believing in Christ, we as it were, exchanged our sins for God’s perfect righteousness so that we actually possess part of the integrity of God. Only when we have His righteousness is there a home in us into which God can pour His blessings when we reach spiritual maturity. Righteousness in God demands His perfect righteousness in us. What God’s righteousness accepts His justice blesses. This axiom stands unbroken even when God blesses us. The justice of God can bless only the indwelling righteousness of God imputed at the moment of salvation. God is consistent and faithful; He prospers us only when, in doing so, He avoids all possibility of compromise to His perfect character. The blessings of time (exclusive for the spiritually mature believers) fall into six categories:
The blessings in time are the “much more” of Romans chapter 8. It is the “abundant life” of John 10:10 and the “greater grace” of James 4:6 reserved especially for the mature believers. Spiritual maturity is measured by the maximum Bible Doctrine in the souls of believers. Spiritual maturity is the beginning of the normal Christian life and the opening of the “windows” of heaven for pouring amazing blessings that comes from the justice of God. Blessings in time are different from logistical blessings for sustaining the CA believers in the cosmos diabolicus but designed for glorifying Christ. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
184 - THE BLESSINGS IN ETERNITYWhen the Lord Jesus Christ evaluated the lives of believers and rewards them accordingly, He does so a Judge (John 5:22). He functions as Judge because all divine blessings and all imputations come from the justice of God. God is glorified through blessing man totally without compromise to divine righteousness. He is glorified to the ultimate by what He will give in that final imputation. The mature believer is the home or target of the final imputation. The mature believer’s hope becomes reality when eternal rewards and eternal blessings are credited to his resurrection body In order to anchor his confidence in this future reality, the mature believer must be familiar with the sequence of events leading up to and immediately following his final evaluation. The mature believer will not be evaluated until he receives his resurrection body. Real imputation of rewards cannot take place until a home or target has been prepared for them. No Church Age believer will be evaluated until the entire royal family of God has been formed the corporate completion of the body of Christ. Only then will the resurrection or Rapture take place. In that moment, each member of the royal family receives a body exactly like Christ’s resurrection body, free from sin nature, free from good and evil. The believer’s real self is his soul and human spirit and the body is a house or temporary residence for the real person. The departed Church Age believer’s soul and human spirit, with eternal life intact, are united with an interim body (Luke 16:19-31) to dwell in heaven with the Lord forever (2 Corinthians 5:1-6, 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Each individual is fully conscious, indeed, no longer limited by a mortal body, his perceptive ability is enhanced. He is fully recognizable and perfectly happy but as yet minus a resurrection body. At the Rapture, these multitude of CA believers, called “the dead in Christ” will accompany the Lord from heaven to a rendezvous in space above the earth, where they will be joined by the living CA believers. There, both the dead in Christ and the Rapture CA believers will receive their resurrection bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54). Immediately after the Rapture, there will be a period of fantastic happiness and celebration, a grand reunion of the entire royal family of God, assembled for the first time in spontaneous collective and massive recognition of Christ (Romans 14:11). When the celebration reaches its high point, suddenly it gives way to momentous solemnity. The Lord Jesus Christ will convene court (Romans 14:12). The court of BEMA will evaluate every member of the royal family of God. This time of worship and of breaking into song will culminate as Christ leads the entire royal family of God back to heaven. As the era of the Church Age reach its completion, the interrupted Age of Israel will resume for its final seven years (Daniel 185 - THE DIVINE ESSENCE
ESSENCE literally means as BEING, which referring to inner intrinsic nature, the true substance, and the invisible qualities but manifested by a person’s thoughts and actions.
ESSENCE is the basic constituent of being a thing, the intrinsic nature of something, that which underlies all outward manifestations and is both permanent and unchangeable. Essence implies being or existence [Romans 1:20 John 1:1].
GOD’S ESSENTIAL BEING can never be completely defined or grasped by human corrupt and finite humanity. Only as HE reveals Himself to us in the Bible can we, in a limited way, comprehend His Person and nature.
God in grace has revealed Himself, and what is revealed of God’s essence is reveal to be understood through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The believer is dependent upon the infallibility of the Word of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit to fully understand the invisible, immaterial, infinite, unlimited and perfect essence of God.
GOD IS SELF-REVEALED for no man can find anything about God without HIS self -revelation. Man has no capacity, ability, resources and power to understand anything about God without God providing us the ability, the capacity, the power and resources to know HIM.
We do not have the frame of reference in our humanity or even the entire human race combined that can help us understand or illustrate the perfect character of God. There is no parallel between divine essence and the so-called human essence. THE PERSONALITY OF GOD: GOD is a REAL PERSON with personal attributes and perfect personality without limitations. The personality of man is variable, undependable, and corrupted by the old sinful nature. The essence of man is not real but REEL and the attributes of man imperfect as his soul.
THE Bible uses ANTHROPOMORPHISM which ascribes to God human physical characteristics, that which HE does not possess but explain HIS essence, acts and decisions, policy and decisions in terms of human anatomy. God used the language of men in revealing Himself.
The Bible uses ANTHROPOPATHISM, which ascribes to God some human passions, emotions, characteristic and attributes, which HE does not possess but reveal and explain HIMSELF, HIS divine policy, acts and decisions for man. God alone has the perfect and infinite personality.
The infinite and perfect personality of God is the pattern HE used for creating or constructing man. God created a physical body with immaterial soul –which is the real person [Genesis 1:27]. The phrase GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS IMAGE connotes that man possesses all the attributes of personality not the attributes of deity. Man does not possess the nature or attributes of God- there are nothing good in man.
Adam was originally without the old sinful nature; he possessed soul and human spirit. When Adam fell, the image of God was marred but not destroyed. From that moment, sinful man has become totally incompatible with the integrity and incapable of having a relationship with HIM. The old sin nature is inherently hostile to the integrity of God. The old sinful nature operates in opposition and rebellion against the will and plan of God. The personality of man is in no way similar or parallel with the personality of God.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
186 - SELF-EXISTENCE
GOD exists eternally, without being sustained by Him or by any other source. God has no beginning. Yahweh means the SELF-EXISTENT ONE. God is the SOURCE of all sustaining but does not need it Himself. God exists as an infinite Person who does not need help from anyone. He is the infinite Source with infinite capacity who provides for our needs.
God’s existence is unalterable. He is the Cause of all existence outside Himself, but He has no cause for Himself. That is why we adjust to Him and He does not adjust to us. If God caused us to receive His life, He can also afford to give us some of His energy. God is infinitely capable of supplying His energy to His children.
This is an indirect, impersonal supply line available for the entire human but the only beneficiaries are the Church Age believers. The direct for the Church Age believers is called grace.
There is nothing beyond God. When we made our first adjustment to His justice by believing in Christ-we are related to the One who has no origin, the Cause but has no cause. So, then, if there is nothing beyond God our relationship with Him is the ultimate.
There are points of similarity between the essence of God and the soul of man-since the soul was patterned after the essence of God. God’s being (essence) is unseen or invisible, real with ten basic attributes (such as sovereignty, righteousness, justice, eternal life, love, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, veracity and immutability). The human soul is unseen or invisible, real and has some attributes (self-consciousness, volition, mentality, emotion and conscience). Beyond that there is no parallel between divine essence and the human soul.
God has no origin, He is the Cause but He has no cause. God is perfectly familiar with every secondary cause outside of Himself. He has every attribute necessary to make Him the perfect Judge of all human beings.
God created time but He is not in time. Time is for man not for God. God created space but God is not in space. Time is finite while God is infinite. God transcends time.
Time is a line of procedure as far man’s perspective is concerned. God always accomplishes in time what has to be done in time as part of His divine plan of grace. God is not the subject of time but He uses time for the advantage of the believers in the world [Psalm 90:2, 102:27, 1 Cor. 2:7].
God invented time for the following reasons: 1. For our orderly and systematic existence in the world. 2. For our convenience and comfortable existence. 3. For God to manifest His eternal life to us. 4. For believers to exercise their royal priesthood and royal ambassador for Christ. 5. For believers to reach spiritual maturity and therefore receive blessing in time and eternity.
God exists outside time. No one brought God to existence. There was never a time when God does not exist. We are related to the One who has no origin, and the Cause and the Source of all things.
The attributes of God are perfect and eternal. Attributes are those qualities and perfections, which belongs to God alone never applicable to any created beings.
“For since the creation of the world His INVISIBLE ATTRIBUTES, His eternal power and divine nature have been CLEARLY SEEN, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” [Romans 1:20]. The personality of God comes from the attributes of His essence.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
187 - THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
DIVINE ATTRIBUTES or essence is the characteristics of His essential Being, which are eternally and inherently in Him. Divine attributes are HIS ESSENTIAL BEING, which are eternally and inherently in Him.
AFTER salvation we belong to God and we are designed to understand the thought and the functions of God. The difficulty of the believers in studying the divine essence is that it brings the finite mind to constant and difficult contemplation of the perfect and infinite matters unknown to us.
The grace of God and the work of God are the manifestations of His essential qualities (His attributes), it is important to know and understand WHO AND WHAT GOD IS, (that is to understand His attributes). To understand His attributes is to understand WHO AND WHAT GOD IS. To understand the manifest Person (Jesus Christ) of the Godhead is to understand His divine essence or characteristics.
God in grace has revealed Himself. And everything that are revealed are revealed to be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit. The believer can and must master the information God has provided. After salvation, the believer is designed to understand the thoughts and function of God. There is no excuse not to study the Word of God. The attributes of God are categorized into absolute and relative attributes.
Absolute Attributes are:
1. SPIRITUALITY – God is spiritual, real yet invisible. God is life and the source of all life.
2. INFINITY – God is without boundaries or limitations. He is infinitely perfect.
A. SELF-EXISTENCE – God exists eternally, without being sustained by Him or by anything else. His existence is unalterable. B. IMMUTABILITY – God is unchangeable and always at His best. He cannot be better or worse. C. UNITY – God is perfectly consistent and there is one perfect, absolute, infinite Spirit [Isaiah 44:6], which the Three Persons possesses it [John 5:44, 17:3].
3. PERFECTION – God is perfect in intellect, affection and character. A. TRUTH OR VERACITY God is true to Himself [Psalm 25:5, John 17:17]. B. LOVE-God is love. C. RIGHTEOUSNESS – God is perfectly righteous or holy in everything [Deut. 32:4].
Relative Attributes are:
1. ETERNITY – God is eternal. There was never a time when God did not exist. 2. IMMENSITY – Divine attributes related to space and to His creation: A. OMNIPRESENCE B. OMNIPOTENCE C. OMNISCIENCE
3. ATTRIBUTES related to moral beings: A. FAITHFULNESS B. VERACITY C. MERCY D. GOODNESS E. RIGHTEOUNESS F. JUSTICE
4. PERFECT AUTHORITY God renders account to no one, He consults no one. He is the final and absolute [Psalm 145:14, Matthew 20:15, 1 Timothy 6:15].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
188 - SOVEREIGNTY
THE sovereignty of God is His eternal, infinite, unchangeable will expressed in the divine decrees in eternity past. God is the Supreme Being of the universe [Deut. 4:39], the King of heaven and earth [Psalm 47:2, 93:1-2], Who has absolute prerogative and perfect volition.
God’s sovereignty is eternal [Psalm 93:2], infinite [Psalm 8:1, Acts 5:39, Hebrews 6:13], and Self-determining [Job 9:12, Psalm 115:3, 135:6, Daniel 4:35]. By divine decree, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man co-exist in human history. Both are invisible, though we can see their results [John 7:17, Phil. 2:13, 2 Peter 3:9].
The sovereignty of God is the final cause of all things; He created and maintains the universe. God’s sovereignty always operates for His own glory. It is always totally compatible with all of His other divine attributes.
It was the sovereign will of God to reveal Himself to us through Bible doctrine, and to deal with us through a policy of grace and to give us them most fantastic and unique plan of God.
It was the sovereignty of God that sent Jesus Christ to the Cross-to provide our eternal salvation and to reveal to us the unique factors of the Church Age and made a decision to indwell us as the confidence of glory [Colossians 1:27].
God has never made a bad or wrong decision. All divine decisions are from the sovereignty of God, made from a position of eternal and perfect infinite strength –based on eternal wisdom and omniscience; therefore, it is impossible for God to make a wrong decision. God in His perfect sovereignty expresses supreme wisdom and grace in His decisions that relate to us.
God has never made a mistake or bad decision with regard to our living or with regard to the time, manner and place of our departure from this world. God has the power to execute His will under all conditions. God’s sovereign will and power are never arbitrary.
The sovereign God decreed the function of the free will of man, this is designed to resolve the angelic conflict by exhibiting to Satan and demons that God’s judgment on them in eternity past was just and fair.
It is the sovereign wills of God that all men come to a saving knowledge of the Lord [2 Peter 3:9], although the free will of many refuses God’s saving Work resulting in eternal condemnation [John 3:18, 36].
No one can exist independently of the sovereignty of God, Who imputed soul life to biological life creating human life at birth. God keeps you alive to reject or accept His will. Every attempt to live independent from God is the showroom of arrogance.
Under the sovereignty of God, the person who dies without reaching the point of accountability at the God –consciousness is automatically saved, since his free will has not yet had the opportunity to accept or reject the Work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
THE AUTHORITY OF GOD is derived from all His attributes. God has absolute authority over possible things and actual things. Over possible things: God is sovereign in that He leaves them as merely possible or destines them to become reality at a specific point in the future.
Over the actual things: God is final and the only Authority [Psalm 145:14, Mt. 20:15]. God delegates and establishes systems of authority in the human race. God renders account to no one. He acts in conformity with His own perfect character. His perfection cannot be less than perfection any decision He makes.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
189 - THE AUTHORITY OF GOD
The authority of God rests in 3 things:
GOD IS CREATOR. God gave existence to every creature and to all things. He has the right to save or judge, reward or discipline. He is compelled to discipline the carnal and backslider under the influence of evil. God is compelled to bless and reward the mature believer under the influence of Bible doctrine.
This exercise of authority is always consistent with His very own essence and plan- this is contrasted with the secondary rights which men recognize in the ownership of private property [Psalm 50:10].
GOD IS THE REDEEMER. He freed us at the Cross-, giving us the right to choose for or against His plan of salvation and Bible doctrine. For anyone to qualify, as God basically requires three qualifications: First He must be the Creator of all things and not a creature Himself. Secondly, He must be self-existence –not totally dependent on anything and eternal in nature. Thirdly, He must be the provider of Redemption or salvation. All the so-called gods in this world failed in these triple tests.
GOD PROVIDED BIBLE DOCTRINE. The authority of God is expressed in Bible doctrine and obedience to His authority. Since God is self-revealed, He disclosed everything we need to know about His plan, purpose, will and His personality in the Word of God. Our questions about God and His plan, purpose and will are all answered in the Bible. No question about God is left without an answer in the Scripture.
The purpose of the Bible doctrine is for us to know God. There is no other place in the world where we can find truth about God other than the Bible. Any information about God and His plan, purpose and will from other source are absolutely incorrect.
THE FREEDOM OF GOD: God is free to bless man only when man is adjusted to His justice. The incarnation and spiritual death of Christ was the free of God [Divine sovereignty] provision for salvation for man.
After salvation, God is free to bless man only under the state of spirituality once restored to fellowship with God through rebound. God is all the more free to bless the believer when adjusted through spiritual maturity.
The authority of God is perfect and absolute in every way. He never interferes with human volition or decision. Although God has absolute authority over mankind yet He is not a dictator.
The freedom of God is not truly an attribute; God’s sovereignty is. The freedom of God cannot contradict the righteousness and the justice of God. He must be consistent with Himself- because He cannot compromise His essence.
The Divine omniscience saw the decisions of men in the eternity past and put them in the divine decree. The sovereignty of God works only according to decisions made by human freewill. The freedom of God is based on human volition.
GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSON [Acts 10:34] refers to Divine sovereignty, which is perfect from human imperfect influence, work, intervention or petition. If man can influence God in any aspect, then, He is no longer perfect and righteous.
Divine decisions come from divine essence not from who and what man is, but from WHO AND WHAT GOD IS. God is not double minded or fickle minded depending on human suggestions. The freedom of God toward men is based on His righteousness and justice, which guarantee that all His actions and decisions are perfect.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
190 - RIGHTEOUSNESS
GOD is perfect, both in His Person and in His character –all His attributes are perfect [Deut. 32:4, Psalm 7:9, 113:3, Jeremiah 23:6, John 17:25, Romans 1:17, 10:3, 1 John 2:29].
God possesses eternal, unchangeable, absolute righteousness. Divine righteousness combined with His perfect justice is described as holiness [Exodus 15:11, 19:10-16, Isaiah 6:3].
All justice is administered from the perfect righteousness of God [Lev. 19:2, I Samuel 2:2, Psalm 22:3, 47:8, 119:9, John 17:11, Rev. 3:7].
God is absolute good. This good is of intrinsic value which is perfect righteousness that refers only to God [Psalm 25:8, 34:8, 86:5, 119:68, Luke 18:19]. God is infinitely perfect, He cannot be tempted, nor can He sin. Sin ha boundaries, measures, standards and limitation. God is beyond standards, measures, boundaries and all kinds of limitation. Therefore, God cannot sin and He cannot tempt anyone to sin, but He recognizes sin in us.
God cannot be complicated with ignorance, absurdities, temptation, or approval of sin. He cannot accept human weaknesses as logical and legitimate reason for violating the divine protocol.
Righteousness is the principle or standards of divine integrity. All that God does adheres to this measure of perfection. God’s righteousness is perfect demanding perfect justice. What the righteousness of God demands the justice of God executes.
Divine righteousness is the standard of all human righteousness. Human righteousness is relative and imperfect. Divine and human righteousness is in total disagreement and in different dimension. Righteousness is intrinsic with God being part of His essence or nature. Genuine righteousness is unknown to fallen man. At the point of salvation, God imputed His righteousness on man, making him qualified to stand before God any time with out reference to his present life. The imputed righteousness and the permanent indwelling Holy Spirit guarantee our eternal salvation.
The righteousness of God as revealed in the Scripture is not the righteousness that the world religions are talking about. The perfect righteousness of God stands on three solid realities: a. The perfection of God b. The truthfulness of God c. His perfect works
FOR ANYONE TO BE TRULY RIGHTEOUS he must possess the three solid realities in his life.
The word for righteousness in the New Testament is dikaiosune (dikaiosune) that also means “justice”. It comes from Attic Greek noun dike (dike) and Greek adjective dikaios (dikaiosThe suffix sune changed the meaning of a noun or adjective from the simple to the complex, from the concrete to the abstract.
THE DIKAIOSUNE OF GOD means one of the two things: a. His righteousness as the principle or standard of Divine integrity b. His justice as the function or action of His integrity.
The genitive case of theos (theos makes the difference between these definitions: it is both a subjective and possessive genitive. Theos in the possessive genitive indicates something that God possesses as a principle: God possesses perfect righteousness. On the other hand in the subjective genitive the noun is the subject of the action, that is, it produces the action: The function of God’s integrity always includes justice directed toward mankind.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
191 - DIKAIOSUNE
Dikaiosune is always an abstract term that connotes two parts of God’s integrity set against the background of all His attributes. Divine integrity is infinite, perfect, eternal, unchangeable and truly unfathomable apart from its revelation in Bible doctrine.
Dikaiosune as a divine policy or principle involves God alone apart from man. But as a divine action it includes man. In this sense, DIKAIOSUNE is sometimes used as synonym for human righteousness term mistranslated by English as “godliness” and becomes a technical term for spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is the believer’s maximum adjustment to the justice of God.
DIKAIOSUNE THEOU usage encompasses not just the spiritual mature but ALL believers are included in its legal sense. The term means justification: God is the expert and perfect Judge who has all the evidence and can pronounce only a fair and objective verdict.
When a person believes in Christ, God is free because of the cross to credit to that person His own righteousness the very principle of divine integrity. Immediately from the bench of the supreme court of heaven: God recognizes this new piece of evidence in the case. Because the believer now possesses God’s perfect righteousness, God pronounces him perfectly righteous.
This is the essence of salvation- the reality of our justification before God. This is the story of grace. Grace means that God does all the work and receives all the glory:
A. At salvation we are justified as possessing His righteousness B. At spiritual growth we are justified by acknowledging the effects of possessing that righteousness by rebound believing that we are completely justified. C. At spiritual maturity we are vindicated as having in our souls Bible doctrine, the thinking and verbalization of His integrity.
Now we see, our human righteousness and personal achievements (of all kinds) have nothing whatever to do with our justification before God. We are justified by His grace not by our effort or merits but by the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God can bless the spiritually dead, totally depraved citizens of the kingdom of Satan without destroying His own perfection since salvation is the 100% work of divine justice and righteousness. Man has nothing to add and there is nothing to subtract to God’s perfect work of redemption.
Salvation means that God treats us in justice. God did not lower His integrity or perfect standard of righteousness to save us. Divine perfection and holiness is intact. When God sent His Son, as a Man He did not lower His perfect standard, He was simply expressing His perfection.
The unbending strength of every facet of His absolute essence is fully behind everything He thinks or does toward us. God never makes exceptions. He does not act on emotion. He never feels sorry for the poor-lost sheep, or overcome by sentimentality. He never accomplishes or does anything on impulses. God works are never tentative or shortsighted, and His plan never needs revision or editing or correction.
DIKAIOSUNE THEOU guarantees that not even God himself can undo the things He did or change His work. There is no loophole that needs to be closed because loopholes exist. His work is complete perfect and free from any error. This is our security, our comfort, and blessing. Perfect plan and work of salvation can come only from the ONLY PERFECT GOD of the Bible. Any imperfection is denial of deity.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
192 - JUSTICE
GOD is perfectly good and just. Man is nothing but moralistic, legalistic or just some kind of distorted human good from old sinful nature by which he tries to impress God and people around him.
God is righteously perfect, demanding perfect justice. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes. JUSTICE IS THE FUNCTION OF THE INTEGRITY OF GOD.
God is fair and it is impossible for God to be unfair in the function of divine justice. Divine justice administers the system of divine laws, which is compatible with divine righteousness and sovereignty.
GOD IS THE JUDGE OF ALL MANKIND, whether man recognizes it or not. God renders daily decisions in heaven with regard to all members of the human race. He is an incorruptible and fair Judge of the all men. It is impossible for perfect God to make a bad decision as a Judge.
The justice of God administers the blessings and penalties that are demanded by His perfect righteousness [Deut. 32:4, Job 37:23, Psalms 19:9, 50:6, 58:11, 89:14, Isaiah 45:21, Jeremiah 50:7, Romans 3:26, Heb. 10:30-31, 12:23].
The divine penalties are not form of angry revenge designed to hurt but a form of correction for a good purpose. With growing and unchangeable sin and evil there is corresponding unchangeable judgment and condemnation; thus, God is proven to be consistent. Condemnation is caused by human free will volition that went against the will, plan and purpose of God.
The justice of God was displayed vividly at the cross, where Christ was judged as a Substitute for us. The Lord did not say any thing about being judged unfairly for us.
Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God was qualified to go to the cross because He remained perfect in His humanity all throughout His life on earth. He did not loss His impeccability for a single minute [John 1:29]. Because God’s perfect righteousness demands the judgment of sin, all human sins had to be judged on the cross.
The justice and righteousness of God were the points of contact with Jesus Christ in hypostatic union on the cross. His humanity had to be judged for our sins to propitiate divine righteousness [Luke 22:19].
From the moment we were born spiritually dead, the justice of God is our point of contact, and continues to be our point of contact after salvation. The righteousness of God is the principle divine integrity, while the justice of God is the function of divine integrity. What the righteousness of God demands the justice of God executes.
God evaluates all mankind from the His justice now and forever, cover all believers and unbelievers. The judgment of all sins of the unbeliever on the cross comes from the divine justice, as does the believer’s discipline. The unbeliever’s eternal agony in the Lake of Fire, and the believer’s ultimate sanctification and blessing in eternity comes from the same Source which is the justice of God.
Everything God does toward us from any of His attributes goes through His justice. Justice is the safeguard of all divine action related to mankind.
“May HE judge Thy people with righteousness, and THINE afflicted with justice – He is the Lord: His judgment s are in all the earth” [Psalms 72:2, 105:7 and 1 Chronicles 1:14].
Man has immeasurable opportunity for compromise violating God’s character at almost at every turn. That’s why God must guard His first and foremost by making His justice our point of contact.
GOD never has the slightest trouble keeping His attributes uncompromising one never compromises another. God never at any point compromises when He deals with fallen, sinful, and imperfect man. Whenever God blesses man –He is not lowering His perfect standards. He cannot lower Himself to our imperfect level without destroying His perfection.
THE JUSTICE OF GOD GUARDS THE DIVINE ESSENCE:
The reason God can bless us is that His justice stands guards over all the rest of His attributes. The justice of God, the function of His integrity, is the guardian of God’s essence in all that He does toward imperfect creatures.
Within the Members of the Godhead, there is no need for a guardian since there is no possibility of compromise. All the three Members of the Trinity are perfect, coeternal and co-infinite all Three possess the same integrity. Thus, in Himself, God is free to regard His personality. The fact that God is a perfect Person there is nothing to worry about compromise of His character.
Everything God does toward us from any of His attributes goes through His justice. Divine justice is the ultimate safeguard of all divine action related to mankind.
If God’s point of contact with us were His sovereignty, then man will have no free will volition God would program us to move mechanically. God would choose who would go to heaven and the angelic conflict could not be won.
If God’s point of contact with us were His omnipotence He would be a tyrant, God will do everything Himself by His own power. He would force people to believe in Christ. There would be no free will volition and believers cannot glorify God.
If love were His point of contact with us, there is no need for Christ to die on the cross and there is no need for His justice and righteousness to be propitiated because God would save every human being there is no need for the Lake of Fire.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD GUARDS DIVINE JUSTICE:
God executes His justice apart from bias, prejudice, never arbitrary or capricious. His righteousness guards His justice. His justice is free from corruption and impossible to be corrupted by anything. It always functions according to the standard of fairness found in God’s perfect righteousness [Psalm 9:8].
Divine justice is the guard over God’s entire essence while the righteousness is the watchdog over His justice. Whereas justice is the function of divine integrity, righteousness is the principle of divine integrity. What the righteousness of God demands, the justices of God perform. What righteousness condemns, the justice judges? What righteousness approves, the justice blesses.
Absolute righteousness is the key to the character of God. If He did not have absolute righteousness, God would not be God. Righteousness protects His impeccable justice when dealing with sinful man.
Righteousness rejects sin therefore divine justice judge’s sin and executes salvation. Righteousness rejects human good- being relative it fall short of divine perfect standard. Justice Judges all forms of legalism, religiosity, human good works, and self-righteousness. It rejects evil; justice totally judges it [Isaiah 64:6].
God graciously imputes His righteousness to believer at the point of salvation- now; God approves His own righteousness imputed in the believer.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
193 - LOVE
LOVE belongs to the Being of God and cannot be disassociated from His eternal being [1 John 4:7-8, 16]. His love never diminishes or improves. God is love whether or not He has a creature to love.
His nature is to bestow Himself, to give Him self; thus love is the motivation of divine integrity [John 3:16, Ephesians 2:4-5].
Through eternity God has had a perfect object of His love in Himself, there was never a time when each Member of the Godhead did not love His own righteousness and the righteousness of the other Members of the Trinity.
The only object ever worthy of God’s love is God’s own eternal, unchangeable, perfect and absolute righteousness. God’s love was not less because there was no angelic or human object it did not increase once there were creatures to love.
God’s attribute of love is different from human love, which God does not possess. Even if we understand human love, which is not guarantee that we understand God’s love. Divine love in its totality is beyond our comprehension since it contains no emotion or passionate desire.
God does not love us because of what we are or what we are not. He loves us because of WHO AND WHAT HE IS. He loves His own righteousness with an infinite love and since we possess His righteousness at the moment we believed in Christ, He loves us with infinite love [Gen. 15:6, Romans 5:3].
God’s love is always related to His integrity thus He is very particular about whom He loves and admits into heaven. Jesus Christ is the only One worthy, and the only through His merits are we acceptable before God. There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn the love of God or the right to live with Him in eternity.
Only God is said to be love [1 John 4:8]. Our love is always related to an object. GOD IS LOVE does not only refer to His attributes of His essence, which is an integral part of WHO AND WHAT HE IS, but also that His love is the perfect example of genuine love.
God’s love for God is subjectively internal within the essence of each members of the Godhead. God’s love for God is objectively external between the Members of the Trinity merit. God’s love remains eternal and changeless because He is eternal and unchangeable. Changes in man do not create changes in God’s love. His love does not depend on us or any other created object.
God’s justice and righteousness support and guarantee His love. His love also is directed toward His own character. He loves WHO AND WHAT HE IS [Psalm 11:7, 33:5, 37:28].
DIVINE IMPERSONAL LOVE for man is directed toward all members of the human race. I t is unconditional and without any reference to the object. It emphasizes the Subject and the integrity of God.
DIVINE PERSONAL LOVE is directed only to the redeemed members of the human race and therefore, exclusive for believers only. It is conditional, putting emphasizes to the object –the recipient of His righteousness. It emphasizes the positive volition of the saints toward God and His Bible doctrine.
Divine impersonal love toward mankind is manifested in divine action of delaying mankind’s final judgment [Romans 2:4].
Divine personal love for believers is manifested in divine provision of salvation [1 John 2:2], logistical grace provision for believers in time [Romans 5:10, 17], and the super grace blessings of the spiritually mature [James 4:6]. Divine personal love for believers will continue to manifest in distribution of blessings in eternity.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
194 - ETERNAL LIFE
GOD is life [Jeremiah 10:10, John 1:4, 14:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:19]. There never was a time when God did not live. He has always existed and His life is called eternal life.
Eternal life has no beginning and has no end. The life of the believer is technically called EVERLASTING LIFE, which has no end but begins at the moment of salvation.
Eternal life applies to the Being of God- the essence of God. God’s eternal life means that He has always existed and will always exist, there was never a time when God did not exist. He never had a beginning, no one preceded Him, and nothing caused God to come to existence.
Our difficulty in understanding the absolute infinity of God is because we are in time. Time is the invention of God for the convenience of His creatures. God is the cause and origin of time. God is not subject to time [Psalm 90:2, 102:27, 1 Cor. 2:7, Ephesians 1:4, 1 Timothy 1:17] God invented time so that He could manifest His eternal life to mankind.
We adjust to God by possessing His eternal life through faith in Christ. Man cannot live without time. Time is without substance yet is an object of God’s creation. God is not in time but time is in God. God transcends all creation including time. To Him one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day [2 Peter 3:8b].
God is logical and therefore does not need to be chronological [Romans 12:2], but He can be chronological if He chooses. God always accomplishes in time what has to be done in time as part of His eternal plan.
Time is finite it has succession and duration. Eternity is infinite it has duration only. The infinite God has duration only. He is not in time but time is in God.
Time is a line of procedure as far man’s perspective is concerned but eternity is beyond man’s perception, reaching into infinity.
The eternal life of God is imparted to all who believe in Christ as [John 3:16,18, 10:10, 14:6, 1 John 5:11-12]. Christ as the Creator is the source of all life [Hebrews 1:2]. God the Father is the Source of life from the standpoint that He breathes the life; The Holy Spirit is the Source of life as the agent of regeneration [Titus 3:5].
The Godhead are elated to life in specific, different ways that never contradict each other and are totally compatible with the operation of the Godhead:
Eternal life in relationship to man, is the everlasting relationship with God reserved in heaven for every person the moment they express faith in Christ. Eternal life is the life God when imputed to believers (everlasting life) is life designed for heaven for the world. It is life designed to continue living in the presence of God (in heaven) not in the world.
The eternal life of God has no beginning and has no end –it is infinitely and absolutely perfect when imputed to man remains perfect and infinite. Nothing can change, alter, revise or undone what God has created for the believer. To claim that our eternal life is not permanent is to say that God has cheated us with fake eternal life.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
195 - THE LIFE AND LOVE OF GOD
SINCE God is eternal therefore His life and love is also eternal, unchangeable, totally infinite and perfect.
The Divine self-love-directed toward the perfect righteousness among the members of the Trinity, is totally justified because of the perfect character of God. The self-love of God is infinitely perfect nothing can alter or change it.
The Divine personal love directed toward all believers because they possess the perfect righteousness of God is infinitely perfect nothing can change or alter it.
The Divine impersonal love of God toward all mankind as sinners [unbelievers and believers alike] based on the perfect divine integrity rather than on the merits of men is infinitely perfect nothing can change or alter it.
It is impossible for man to love another person forever because his emotion is not forever. Imperfect man does not possess the kind of love that God possesses.
The eternal life of God also refers to His absolute existence: GOD IS. He is the self-existing one. YAHWEH – the Great I Am [Exodus 3:14], who has neither beginning nor end [Psalm 90:2, 102:27].
The self-existing life of God means His existence is entirely self-contained and does not depend on anything external to Himself. The Hebrew word RESIT, translated to English as “beginning’ [Genesis 1:1] refers to the beginning of the work of creation and not to the beginning of God.
The Members of the Godhead existed eternally prior to creation since They had no beginning [John 1:1]. The Lord Jesus Christ was with the Father even before the creation of time and the entire creation.
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega [Rev. 1:8]. Alpha refers to the eternal preexistence of Christ while Omega refers to Jesus Christ in hypostatic union during His First Advent. He is the eternal Son of God and as humanity, the Son of David, who will return as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords at His Second Advent and reign forever.
God is timeless. He does not thinks in terms of past, present, future, short or long periods of second, minutes, hours, days, months, and years as we do. Yet as loving and eternal God He cares enough to extend His gracious offer for us to share His eternal life [Psalm 8:4, John 3:16,36].
Time, which is finite, has both succession and duration. Its duration is measured by its succession in contrast to eternity, which has duration only. Therefore, eternity is beyond man’s perception, reaching into infinity.
Human love is finite- it has duration and succession. It is not permanent and will not last forever (infinity). Man is but temporal and finite.
By the grace of God, every believer is a recipient of eternal life of God –where the finite has become infinite, the temporal has become permanent, the mortal has become immortal –man has transcend beyond time.
We cannot learn or understand the love and infinity of God by mastering human love and life, because we have nothing in this world that could make us understand the Person and works of God. The finite has no capacity to understand the infinite.
The eternal life of God in us (Church Age believers) is something we cannot fully understand until we reach heaven where finite and temporal things have no place.
The issue is not the life or the love of God that we have received but the resulting effects and application of possessing such love and life.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
196 - OMNISCIENCE
GOD is all knowing or omniscience (which comes from the Latin OMNI, which means all, and SCIENTIA meaning knowledge. God is perfectly wise His wisdom is perfect. He knows perfectly and eternally all that is knowable, whether actual or merely possible.
God knows everything that has been known or ever will be known. Never was there a time when God did not know everything that is knowable He never learns anything because He has always known everything [Proverbs 15:3, Isaiah 36:9-10, 1 John 3:20].
The omniscience of God is both eternal and infinite He has always known everything and there is nothing that He does not knows (Acts 15:18).
The omniscience of God has complete and absolute knowledge of everything that is knowable and unknown to us. Everything is totally comprehensible to the infinite God. The Bible reveals only a small fraction of God’s perfect knowledge for us to known and understands Romans 11:33].
The omniscience of God is perfectly wise and has absolute knowledge of everything since maximum knowledge belongs to Omniscience of God (Ephesians 3:10).
Every detail of all creation and history is in God’s mind at all times and always has been from the eternity past. This is God’s mentality connected with His infinity. The future is as clear as the past.
God foreknows the future since all events take place according to His counsel (or what we called divine decree). God foreknows, but His foreknowledge is not predetermined.
God knows every step you will take, but He never interferes with human volition. He foreknows the function of every free will. He knows what every being will choose and He knows which way each person will decide in the function of his free will in every situation of life.
Although God never interferes with free will, God is gracious and all wise, so, He may determine which choice is made through His gracious influence through:
A. Bible doctrine resident in the soul of the believer. B. God’s control of the variable of life that are beyond human control. C. God’s direct control of human history.
God’s perfect knowledge (omniscience) is not subject to development, reasoning, regretting, foreboding and revising, because His omniscience is always total and perfect, therefore it cannot develop beyond what is already is.
God knows all the conclusions as well as the premises; hence, even though He is totally reasonable and rational in all things, He never needs to reason out.
We can never second-guess God. There is no way we can improve on His system. We can simply go along with His perfectly wise policy (which He designed for our best interest) or reject it, in such case; His perfect plan goes right along without us.
Although His omniscience transcends time and eternity, His perfect knowledge of all events before they occur does not violate or interfere with human volition. By divine design human beings are free agents who can choose to partake of God’s grace or reject Him. The God’s given human volition makes every person personally accountable to God for every decision and action that he made.
Under the omniscience of God, there is no such thing as FATE OR BAD LUCK because all events take place according to His counsel (the divine decree) and our present is the result of our previous decisions that we have made. Nothing is accidental. Every event happened as the result of the divine will, human will or satanic will.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
197 - OMNIPRESENCE
GOD is eternally, wholly; personally and simultaneously present everywhere [Psalm 139:8, Proverbs 15:3, Deut. 4:39, Acts 17:27]. God is the totality of His presence- without diffusion, expansion, multiplication, or division. He penetrates and fills the entire universe and everything beyond the universe to infinity [Psalm 139:7, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Acts 17:27].
God is free to be local while at the same time existing throughout all space and beyond space [Exodus 19:18-20, Lev. 16:2]. Omnipresence describes space in relation to God. Immensity describes God in relation to space.
God is not subject to the laws of space. As He did with time, God invented and created space. Space is large, but not as large as God. God cannot be more or less than He is. We cannot measure God.
God is the Cause of space He put order into space. Space is one of the boundaries God has given to us, the other being time. We cannot escape time or space, it would be disaster to do so- our entire orientation in life is tied up to time and space.
In relation to space, God is immanent in space and transcendent outside space. Since God is the Creator, the Cause of space God would exceed those boundaries to infinity.
God has the ability to construct time and space and is inside them as well outside them. Knowing this, we have no cause for worry on our personal or national problems.
God may be Self-limited as in the case of the Incarnate Person of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union kenosis (Philippians 2:7).
God’s infinity is intensive rather than extensive that is, God is not to be thought of merely as extending infinity beyond time and space but as possessing within Him infinite resources. God is the perfect Person who passes beyond all phenomena and constitutes the basis for them, as possessing within Himself a boundless supply of the infinite energy of His spiritual life and personality.
Omnipresence means that God is personally present, knowing firsthand our sins, problems, circumstances, because He is available to help, able to protect or provide our needs.
God exists beyond spatial limitations. He is immanent and transcendent. Immanence means His entire essence is always present everywhere in nature, in history, in all the affairs of mankind [Jeremiah 23:23-24, Acts 17:27-28]. Transcendence means He is totally independent of the created universe so that no particular place exclusively contains Him [Psalm 113:5-6, Isaiah 55:8-9, John 8:23].
Immanence and transcendence exist in balance, so that the whole earth is full of His glory [Isaiah 6:3]. His whole being is present in every point in the universe, while at the same time He is HOLY and EXALTED infinitely beyond the universe [Isaiah 6:1,3]. He pervades the universe while at the same time He is free to be in specific location.
Omnipresence assures no believer will ever be alone in any given time anywhere in the world or beyond. The Father fills heaven and earth [Jeremiah. 23:23-24]. Jesus Christ promises not to leave the believers without the Comforter while in the world [Matthew 28:20]. The Holy Spirit permanently resides and indwells the believer [1 Corinthians 6:19].
God is not in time or space but time and space is in God. In relation to doing the will of God He has to provide us with the means of complying with His order. He gives us time and space so that we could be at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
198 - OMNIPOTENCE
GOD is all-powerful. His power is infinite. He is able to do all things within the range of His character, that is, He can do all things, which are not Self-contradictory or contradictory to His divine nature or attributes. For God to do contradictory things would not imply power but imperfection and impotence.
God will never make right wrong nor act foolishly. He never abuses His power. His power is perfect and beyond comprehension of the finite mind [Isaiah 44:24, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 1:19-20, 3:20, Hebrews 1:3].
He can do all He wills to do, but He may not will to do all He can do. God will not do all things especially those dictated by men.
If God is limited at any time, it is because of a Self-imposed limitation consistent with His plan and essence.
God has infinite power and energy [Psalm 8:3]. He does not sleep and never gets tired. He was never worn out and never will be. God is compassionate but never ridiculous or illogical and He will never sympathize with the lame excuses of men –human alibi that are basically rooted in laziness.
When you need to do His will-He will provides the energy even before you come into realization of your inadequacy. By applying what we know of the infinite power of God we can see that God will always provide and thus we must therefore carry on no matter how we feel.
God never condones giving up when it comes to our spiritual life and divine will. When you start making excuses, you begin to develop maladjustments to the grace of God. We are insulting the power of God that He made available to us. In times of crisis, suffering, adversary or various trials, ignorant believers are still asking God for power or strength, which He has already provided at the moment of salvation. Some thought of God’s power as something mystical in nature for making miracles, healing or sensational ministry.
God will not ask or command us to do something in which He has not provided the capacity to fulfill. God did not impute His power to believers but allows them to use His power to do His will. His omnipotent power is not for doing miracles but for doing His plan of grace.
Miracles are the very least God will do and He does need human assistance for doing miracles. Miracles are for the unbelieving not for the believers.
The omnipotence of God is manifest in the lives of believers adjusted to the justice of God through their tactical victory in the angelic conflict, not in the exercise of the signs gifts or like healing or tongues that has come to cessation.
God is unlimited in His ability and authority, which guarantees order and systematic operation of His creation. Omnipotence is the superior divine power of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit supplies the power to the believers to do the will of the Father [Acts 1:8, Romans 15:19].
During the humanity of Christ, He limited the independent use of His deity to strictly conform to the plan of the Father and to utilize the power of the Holy Spirit. His purpose was to demonstrate to Church Age believer’s dependence on the Father’s plan and the Holy Spirit’s power in the Christian life [John 3:34, 5:17, 6:65, 8:28, Isaiah 42:1, Philippians 2:6-8].
The perfect and infinite power of God is not capricious but totally in harmony to His perfect essence, therefore, we can be sure that everything He does is perfectly good for He cannot violate His own essence.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
199 - IMMUTABILITY
God is unchangeable. He cannot change and will never change. Human being change but the perfect God is not subject to change. [Psalm 33:11, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17]
God cannot be better or worse than His essence. He never had a day when He was better or worse, in contrast to human being. The Creator is not like the creature. You cannot give God a good day or a bad day; He certainly will not give you either.
The language of the anthropopathy or symbolic human representations used by the Lord Jesus Christ merely represent His perfect attitude toward variations in man, in history, in time. God may appear to change but He does not. He is merely expressing His character differently as called for differences and changes in man or history.
God merely brings into view a different aspect of His unchanging Person and plan when we change. He treats each person as an individual and every historical event according to the facts of the case [Psalm 33:13-15, 139:1-18, 23-24, 147:4-5].
God deals with everything according to complete and perfect information He possesses. He does not deal with everything or with everyone the same way otherwise that would be stupidity not immutability. He is wise and just, and that He knows when to do what to do.
God, as the Chief Justice is perfect without any contradictions. He is immutable yet able to evaluate different situations in different ways. Since He is unchangeably perfect, His pronouncements are always perfect.
Immutability is consistent with God’s freedom and ceaseless activity. God simultaneously deals with millions and millions of people who come under His especial attention.
God is free to act according to His essence. The fact that He is immutable means that He cannot change His own nature, not that He cannot act as divine nature dictates but with respect to human free will. Thus God is always at His best –the changes in His creation do not affect him.
The pseudo Christians invented the doctrine of God’s second best. They claimed that God always has the second best for erring believers. Such teaching is purely demonic.
God is always at His best. He cannot make any mistake or error. No characteristic or attribute of God can change. He cannot compromise His perfect immutability. He merely brings into view a different aspect of His unchanging Person and plan when we change.
Prayer cannot change the plan and will of God –no matter how sincere and prevent. God answers our prayer not because of what we are or not but because of His essence or WHO AND WHAT HE IS.
God cannot reject prayer that are adjusted to divine justice and which is according to divine plan and purpose [John 15:7]. We receive positive answers to our prayer because we prayed according to His will.
Since each divine attribute is consistent with His integrity no attribute can supersede or operate independently of God’s other attributes. This means God will never act arbitrarily, capriciously or in violation of what He has already decreed. Divine omnipotence cannot dominate or overrule His immutability.
From God’s perfect immutability comes His faithfulness He is always reliable and He will never let anyone down. He is faithful to keep Word [Lamentations 3:22-23, Hebrews 6:17-19]. God remains faithful although we may be faithless [2 Timothy 2:13].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
200 - VERACITY
GOD is not only true to other beings but God is true to Himself [Psalm 25:5, John 17:17, 1 John 5:6]. Each Members of the Trinity was true to each other and each true to Himself, possessing perfect integrity. They always possess perfect integrity based on truth of divine essence.
God does not hold the truth as being something He acquired He is the Truth from eternity past. The truth has never been diminished or compromised in Him; God is the Source of Truth.
God is the source of Bible doctrine. From the Truth that God is comes the Truth we have in writing. Every form of knowledge-every truth we have dwells in God’s absoluteness. The divine attribute of veracity guarantees the divine revelation in any form –spoken [pre-canon] or written canon [post-canon] in its accuracy, perfection, and absoluteness [Deut. 32:4, John 6:32, Hebrews 8:2, 1 John 5:20].
We do not naturally possess the Truth within ourselves; we are born liars because the OSN reside in us [Romans 3:4]. We cannot compare our human integrity with the integrity of God.
There is a vast amount of truth that will not be revealed until we get to heaven, but whatever God has revealed for us in time is design to be learned and understood by every believer.
If we are to adjust to the veracity of God, we must acquired truth in our souls. God designed the human body as the slave of the Spirit not the master or dictator. The soul is the steward of Bible doctrine not of human viewpoint. Souls without Bible doctrine operates through satanic viewpoint, stirs by emotions, flame by human passion and lusts.
People often adjust t each other by lying and deception. But we cannot adjust to God in the same manner because we cannot deceive Him. We must adjust to His justice through the Truth of His Word in our souls.
a. The Truth of the gospel in salvation. b. The Truth of rebound in spirituality c. The Truth of Bible doctrine in spiritual maturity.
God is infinitely perfect in veracity and faithfulness express to us in the Bible doctrine. In veracity, God honors Bible doctrine resident in the soul of the believer. God honors His Word wherever it is found.
Maximum Bible doctrine in the soul constitutes maturity adjustment to the perfect justice of God. It is maximum rapport with the integrity of God. Maximum Bible doctrine in the souls of believers is the only thing that will deliver the nation from national apostasy and divine discipline. With out Bible doctrine in the soul spiritual maturity is impossible to achieve.
In veracity and faithfulness God fulfills all His promises this is our basis of confidence toward God [Deut. 7:9, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 10:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:3].
God is eternally true to Himself, therefore, He cannot be untrue to any creature even in just one occasion. He cannot deny His perfection and holiness. His absolute veracity or Truth is evident in Words [John 8:45-46], in His Works [Psalm 33:4] and in His Ways [Revelation 15:3].
Understanding WHO AND WHAT GOD IS and completely relying upon His perfect and absolute character for both adversity and prosperity build a foundation of confidence and inner peace. The results are wise decisions and actions in every circumstance of life. Genuine confidence in God comes from the knowledge of His essence. Doubts and refusal to obey often comes from severe ignorance of divine essence and Personality.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
201 - GOD IS ONE IN ESSENCE 3 IN PERSONS
The doctrine of Divine Essence recognizes the existence of God from eternity past in three Persons –each Person being coequal, coeternal, co-infinite with identical essence or attributes.
a. The Father [1 Corinthians 8:6, Ephesians 1:3] b. The Son [john 10:30, 14:9, Colossians 2:9] c. The Holy Spirit [Isaiah 6:8-9. 11:2, Hebrews 10:15-17]
THE ONENESS OF GOD, called THE GLORY OF GOD, is the identical essence or character IN ALL THREE PERSONS [John 10:30]. All the attributes of divine essence are present I God but all are not always manifest at the same time.
God exists in Three Persons but when emphasizing essence, the Scripture uses the phrase “GOD IS ONE” one being a descriptive adjective meaning identical in essence not a numerical figure.
TRINITY: a term not found in the Bible but the concept is purely Biblical. Historically, the formal doctrine of the trinity derives from the early church councils which sought to explain the Biblical testimony regarding:
A. The Oneness and unity of God in Three Persons B. The Deity of Christ C. The Personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit
No single passages in the Scripture delineate point-by-point the very complex doctrine of Trinity. The doctrine of the Trinity was formulated by combining all passages related to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Everything that God has made known about Him can be understood, even the fact that He is singular in one sense [Deut. 6:4] and plural in another [Isaiah 48:16]. The concept of the Trinity is established in both the Old and New Testament. The Oneness and Equality of the Trinity is emphasized in both Old and New Testament forming a solid unity of the Scripture.
ELOHIM the Hebrew word for God in plural form, which indicates the existence of more than One Person in the Godhead. The Old Testament generally uses the word JHWH when referring to one member of the Trinity. The English Bibles translated JHWH as Jehovah or Yahweh.
The context of Scripture may indicate which Member of the Trinity or Godhead the TETRAGRAMMATON: JHWH describes like in John 6:46, 14:9-10, 12:39-41.
Occasionally, Yahweh implies all Three Persons, in which the English Bibles simply translated using the pronoun Us or Thee like in Numbers 6:24-26, Genesis 1:26-27, 3:22. 11:7, Isaiah 6:8.
We cannot understand the infinite, eternal, spiritual God with our natural perception that is why God communicated to us in form of expression we could understand. He described His indescribable Person and plan in terms of human reasoning and experience, which is foreign to Him.
God uses two languages of accommodations namely; ANTHROPOPATHISM and ANTHROPOMORPHISM to accommodate our limited ability and capacity to comprehend the infinite. God uses human languages, symbolism, and experiences to illustrate the truth of the infinite God. God cannot use the language of angels and heaven. The doctrine of the Trinity is not human invention but divine revelation designed for finite mind.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
202 - THE TRINITY
The doctrine of the Trinity does not advocate three gods in one, but that one God exists as Three Persons coequal, co-infinite and coeternal. All the Three separate Persons of the Trinity possesses the same identical essential nature (Psalm 110:1, John 10:30].
The Trinity defines the unity of God as having one divine with specific and describable attributes. Each Person of the Godhead has a purpose related to the eternal plan and plan of God. The Bible ascribes to each person distinct roles not jointly shared by the Trinity.
A. The Father is the Planner, the Source of all things B. The Son is the agent through whom the Father’s plan is enacted C. The Holy Spirit is the revealer and empowers the plan in our lives.
Trinitarian tenets are not abstract theology. There is a practical reason for every believer in Jesus Christ to fully comprehend this doctrine. Our view of the Trinity affects our relationship with God:
A. Our overall view of the Trinity determines our understanding of the Person and works of Christ. B. Our view of the Holy Spirit affects our concept of living the Christian life. C. Our view of God the Son in His Hypostatic union (or His perfect humanity) determines our spiritual advancement toward spiritual maturity and spiritual motivation.
Genuine worship and spirituality are possible only with a Biblical perspective of the Godhead. We can only have a maturing and advancing relationship with God if we understand the Trinity.
Knowledge of the Trinity is essential in our understanding of the Divine essence and full knowledge of the divine essence is vital in understanding the Trinity. You must comprehend the unity of the Godhead before you can begin to grasp the concept of the Trinity.
Although each member of the Godhead has a different function, they cannot act in opposition to one another. Never assume that God adopts one of the Three names to coincide with each phase in His plan. The Three Persons are separate and distinct and exist separate even though They are One God in essence.
THE ANALOGY OF LIGHT: Light is a single phenomenon with three distinct properties:
o ACTINIC- or radiating energy is like God the Father, neither seen nor felt. o LUMINIFEROUS –or illuminating light- is like God the Son, both seen and felt. o CALORIFIC –or heat producing energy –is like God the Holy Spirit, felt but not seen. o AS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT –The Father is Source of the soul life; He breathes the spark of life (NESHAMAH). The Holy Spirit is the source of life- as the agent of regeneration who puts the believers into union with Christ.
The Father is God: co-infinite, co-equal and co-eternal with the Son and with the Holy Spirit. But the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit.
The Son is God: co-infinite, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. However, the Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is God; co-infinite, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and with the Son. But the Spirit is not the Father and the Son is not the Holy Spirit. We can only understand the doctrine of the Trinity by faith not by human perception.
GOD IS THREE PERSONS BUT ONE GOD WITH ONE ESSENCE
One God exists in three distinct personalities that are not similar to three separate human personalities. Divine personality is not the same as human personality. No two human beings have the identical essence of personality that the Members of the Godhead possess.
There were several events and occasions in the Old and New Testament, which vividly demonstrate to us the reality of the Trinity. For example, in Isaiah 6:1-3, the angel repeated the word HOLY three times as addressed to the Three Persons of the Trinity. God is Three Persons but One God with one Essence.
In Matthew 3:16 water represented the will of the Father for the Son during the First Advent. Under the water refers to Christ’s identification with the Father’s plan for man salvation. As the Lord Jesus Christ emerged from the water, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove [Luke 3:22].
“And Behold, a voice out of heavens, saying, this is My (God the Father) Son (Jesus Christ), in Whom I (God the Father) am well pleased [Matthew 3:17]. The voice of approval was from God the Father, the approved person is the Second Person of the Trinity.
“Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in THE NAME of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit” [Matthew 28:19].
Believers are baptized in the NAME not names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The term name is in singular form and parallel LORD in Isaiah 6:3 affirming that God is one in essence but Three Persons. While the emphasis in Isaiah 6:3 is on the Three-in-One, in Matthew 28:19 is on the One-in-Three.
The term FATHER is use in the Scripture which refers to the relationship between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity, which also defines our family bond through regeneration. The title Father emphasizes the absolute authority and design of the First Person as author of the divine plan for humanity [John 14:24, Ephesians 1:1-23].
FATHER OF JESUS CHRIST, a title of the First Person [Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 1:3], which indicates the relationship between Christ and the Father. Jesus Christ is both the revelation of the Father and the focal point of His divine plan for the human race [John 1:14, Ephesians 1:1-23].
The relationship of the Father and Son has existed from eternity past in divine decree [John 17:5, 24], although possessing equality with the Father all throughout the eternity [Philippians 2:6]. The Son functioned in a subordinate role to accomplish the redemptive will of the Father. Phrases such as His only begotten Son”, the only begotten Son of God” must be understood in the sense of the unique mission of the Second Person of the Trinity.
THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD is exclusive to believers only [John 8:42-44, Ephesians 1:5] And does not include the entire human race. God the Father is the Author of salvation, and all believers are personally and eternally related to Him through the new birth. The concept of universal fatherhood of God is purely heretical and blasphemous.
Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe who possess two natures (perfect humanity and perfect deity) that are inseparably united in hypostatic without loss or mixture of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties, or attributes, the union being personal and eternal.
The doctrine of the Trinity is manifested from Genesis to Revelation- although the term itself was human invention. The term Trinity is a shortcut or a key that unlocks a lot of truth chain together.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
203 - THE INDWELLING TRINITY
The Trinity indwells every Church Age believer permanently evidence and guarantee of eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer so Christ may take up royal residence there. The indwelling puts the Spirit’s help within the believer. The instantaneous effect of the indwelling is permanent –it cannot be undone, loss, cancel, alter, change or reverse by anything or any one. It does not need to be repeated for the second time or so.
The indispensable ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit operates only within the believer is filled with Spirit. The believer cannot exist and reach spiritual maturity without the Word of God in his soul and the very operation of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The indwelling Christ, invisible today in time, will be the first Person the believer will see in the moment of physical death [2 Corinthians 5:8], but from that very moment, the SHEKINAH GLORY will be visible to the believers in glorious glorified and resurrection bodies.
The SHEKINAH GLORY indwells the Church age believers for the purpose of fellowship with the glorified Christ the unique Person of the universe, the perfect God-Man.
All the attributes of divine essence are resident in all Persons of the Godhead, but not all are manifested at the same time. The attributes of the Trinity never operate in a vacuum independently of each other.
God the Father indwells the believer [John 14:23, Ephesians 1:3, 6, 12, 4:6] for the glorification of His protocol plan.
God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer [Romans 8:11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20, Ephesians 1:7-19, Romans 8:11] for several reasons:
1. To create a Temple for the indwelling Christ 2. As down payment of our spiritual inheritance. 3. To empower us in the execution of the Father’s plan
God the Holy Spirit indwells the believer for several purposes:
1. As Badge of the Royal family of God membership [John 14:20] 2. As guarantee of the availability of divine power in time [2 Corinthians 13:4-6, Romans 8:10] 3. As guarantee of eternal life and resurrected body [Colossians 1:27] 4. As the depository of blessing in time and blessing in eternity, as the escrow officer at Judgment Seat of Christ [Ephesians 1:3]. 5. As the basis for assigning highest priority to our relationship with God and the use of divine power [John 2:24]. 6. As motivation for continued growth and momentum when under any phase of undeserved suffering for blessings [Galatians 2:20]. 7. As the basis for the glorification of Christ in the unique life of the Church Age believers [John 17:22-]. 8. For our worship and privacy in our unique relationship with God. 9. As the Source of energy for Christ’s ambassadors in the satanic world system [2 Corinthians 5:20]. 10. As heirs of Christ joint heirs with Christ [Romans 8:17] and who will accompany our Lord and glorify Him forever [Ephesians 2:6-7]. 11. As the personal Great High Priest of the royal priesthood. 12. As guarantee of the divine perfect omnipotent power available to the mature believers for offensive attacks against satanic strongholds.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
204 - SUMMARY OF IDENTICAL ATRIBUTES
o God the Father and God the Son possesses the same attributes: o The perfection and authority of God and of Christ [2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 1:19, 2:22] o God is Truth and Christ is the Truth [Psalm 25:5, John 6:32, 17:17, 1 John 5:6] o The authority of God and Christ [Matthew 7:27, 8:27, 28:18, John 5:22,27] o The omnipresence of God and of Christ [Psalm 139:7, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Matthew 28:20, John 14:20, Colossians 1:17] o The omniscience of God and of Christ [Isaiah 36:9-10, Psalm 33:13-15, Proverbs 15:3, Matthew 9:4, 12:25, Luke 6:8] o The omnipotence of God and of Christ [Isaiah 44:24, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Matthew 8:26-29, 19:26, Ephesians 1:20-23] o The holiness of God and of Christ [Leviticus 11:44-45, Deut. 32:4, Mark 1:24, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 2:20] o The justice and righteousness of God and of Christ [Acts 3:13-14, Hebrews 1:9, Rev. 16:4-6, 19:1-2, John 5:30, 2 Tim. 4:1] o The veracity and faithfulness of God and of Christ [Numbers 29:19, Deut. 7:9, 1 Cor. 1:9-10, John 5:30, 2 Tim. 4:1] o The pre-existence of God and of Christ [Genesis 1:26, Rev. 14:7, Psalm 102:25-27, Proverbs 8:22-23, John 1:1, 3, 8:58, 17:5, 24] o The attributes of God the Father are all identical with the attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ is not God, then such titles would never been ascribed to Him.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
205 - THE DEITY OF CHRIST
o The deity of Christ in His pre-incarnation stage is UNKNOWN TO MAN o The deity of Christ in the hypostatic union is REJECTED MAN o The deity of Christ in the glorified Christ is IGNORED BY MAN
Philippians 2:6-8 described Christ as ekenose from kenoo meaning emptied of the glory of God (emptied of divine essence) of His pre-incarnate majesty and glory [John 17:5]. Christ in His perfect humanity did not regard equality with God He emptied Himself, He humbled Himself. As a perfect man He is not equal with God but as a perfect Deity He is equal with God.
There were times during His hypostatic union that Christ spoke as Deity and there were times when He spoke as perfect man.
When Jesus Christ claimed Himself as the Son of God, He was speaking from His Deity [Psalm 2:7, Hebrews 1:7-8, Matthew 2:15, 3:17, 8:29, 14:33, 17:5, 26:63-65].
When He claimed equality with God He was speaking from His Deity [Isaiah 40:3-5, Matthew 3:3, Luke 24:27, 44-47, 1 Corinthians 2:8, James 2:1, John 5:18, 19:7, 10:30, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, 1 John 5:20]
As unique Person of the universe, Jesus Christ, He possesses two natures: perfect humanity and perfect Deity. Jesus Christ is both undiminished deity and true humanity. He bears every attribute of deity and is eternally related to the other two Members of the Trinity [Isaiah 48:16, John 1:1-4].
AS GOD, Christ has all authority and has the life of God and imparts eternal life and forgives sins [Matthew 28:18, John 5:26, 10:28, 5:22].
AS SON OF GOD, Christ is the exact re-presentation of the Father’s nature. AS THE SON OF MAN, He took the likeness and form of man – and lived in the world.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
206 - TITLES ASCRIBED TO CHRIST
The following are Titles ascribed to Jesus Christ with corresponding Names for God or other terms frequently use for God. (This is a partial list):
1. ANOINTED [Psalm 2:2] called THE WAY [John 14:6] or THE SEED [Genesis 13:15] 2. ALPHA and OMEGA [Revelation 21:6] the GOD OF ETERNITY (EL ‘OLAM) [Genesis 21:33] 3. CHRIST [Matthew 1:16] or SAVIOR (YASHA) [Isaiah 43:3] 4. DAYSPRING [Luke 1:78] the GOD WHO WILL PROVIDE (JEHOVAH-JIREH) [Genesis 22:14] 5. DAYSTAR [2 Peter 1:19] the LIGHT GIVER [Genesis 1:16] 6. DELIVERER [Psalm 18:2], the LORD MY SHEPHERD (JEHOVAH-RAAH) [Psalm 23:1] 7. EVERLASTING FATHER [Isaiah 9:6] or FATHER (ABBA, AB) [Psalm 89:26] 8. GOOD SHEPHERD [John 10:14] the SHIELD (JEHOVAH-RAAH or MEGEN) [Psalm 3:3] 9. HOLY ONE [Psalm 71:22] or the HOLY ONE OF GOD [Mark 1:24] (SSADDIG) [Psalm 7:9] the RIGHTEOUS ONE or (QADOSH) the HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL [Psalm 71:22] 10. I AM [John 8:58] the JEHOVAH or YAHWEH (JHVH and YHWH) the SELF-EXISTENT [Exodus 3:15] 11. IMMANUEL [Isaiah 7:14] who is called GOD IS MY BANNER (JEHOVAH-NISSI) [Exodus 17:15] 12. JUDGE (SHAPHAT) the RIGHTEOUS JUDGE [Acts 10:24,Genesis 18:25] the LORD-OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS or the RIGHTEOUS ONE (JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU) or the JUST [Acts 3:14] 13. KINGS OF KINGS [Revelation 19:16], the JEHOVAH SABOATH [LORD OF HOST] [Malachi 1: 14. The LAMB OF GOD [John 1:19] EL NOSE –the God of Forgiveness [Psalm 99:8], or El NOSE 15. LORD [Matthew 7:21] ADONAI or LORD OF HOSTS [Jeremiah 11:20] ELOHIM or TSEBHAOTH or LORD OF LORDS [Rev. 19:16] 16. LORD GOD ALMIGHTY [Rev. 4:8] EL ELYON –the God Almighty or Most High God [Gen. 14:18-24] 17. MASTER [John 1:38] The True Prophet of God [Acts 3:20-21] 18. MIGHTY GOD [Isaiah 9:6] ELOHIM or Mighty God [Psalm 50:1] EL GIBBOR [Deut. 10:17] EYALUTH (Strength) [Psalm 22:19] 19. Prince of Life [Acts 3:15] or the Prince of Peace called JEHOVAH SHALOM [Judges 6:23]- EL RAHUM (God of Compassion) 20. REDEEMER [Job 19:25] GAAL or YASHA (Savior) [Isaiah 43:3] SAVIOR or ROCK –TSUR (God) [Isaiah 44:8] the Son of God [Matthew 4:3] SON OF MAN [Daniel 7:13] WONDERFUL COUNSELLOR [Isaiah 9:6] JEHOVAH –RAPHA (God that Heals) or JEHOVAH (the Lord sanctifies) or the WORD –LOGOS [John 1:1] (God Who sees me) the EL ROI [Genesis 16:31], the God Who cleanses the hearts 21. YAHWEH (LORD) [Genesis 4:1, Exodus 3:2] –ADONAI YAHWEH (LORD GOD) [Genesis 15:2, Ezekiel 28:6] or ADONAI (LORD) [Genesis 18:27), YAH YAHWEH (LORD) [Isaiah 12:2]
The Center of the Bible is Jesus Christ Who is magnified by various names and titles that attributed to God alone.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
207 - JESUS CHRIST
The JEHOVAH or YAHWEH of the Old Testament is the Christ of New Testament. The Hebrew terms JEHOVAH; YAHWEH (sometime written as YHWH or JHVH) is exactly the same meaning with the Greek terms: o Kyrios Iesous= the LORD JESUS o Kyrious Iesous Christos = The LORD Jesus Christ
There are four (4) Hebrew words that are translated LORD in English:
o YAHWEH manifests divine omnipotence, veracity, omniscience, omnipresence, and sovereignty of Christ o ADONAI YAHWEH bears the justice and righteousness and eternal life, of Christ o ADONAI manifests the grace of God, bears the essence of God o YAH YAHWEH manifests the essence of God
There are four (4) Greek terms that are translated LORD in English that bears the essence and attributes of God
1. Kyrios or Kurios the Name of God used exclusively referring to Christ [Luke 1:32, Rev. 1:8] 2. Despotes - Name address to God when referring to Christ [Luke 2:29 ] 3. Kyrios Theos (Lord God) – the title of God used for Christ [Rev. 11:17] 4. Kyrios Iesous Christos = the Lord Jesus Christ [Romans 1:7, James 2:1] –the only unique Person of the universe and the only Savior of mankind
There are various form for JEHOVAH that refers to Jesus Christ:
o THE KING OF GLORY [Psalm 24:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:8], OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS [Jeremiah 23:5-6, 1 Corinthians 1:30] o ABOVE ALL [Psalm 97:9, John 3:31, the FIRST AND THE LAST [Isaiah 44:6, 48:12, 16, Rev. 1:17, 22:13] o JEHOVAH’S EQUAL [Zechariah 13:7, Phil.2:5-6] the LORD OF HOSTS [Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:45] o THE SHEPHERD [Isaiah 40:10-11, Hebrews 13:20-21]- the MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT [Malachi 3:1, Luke 7:27]-the OBJECT OF PRAYER [Joel 2:32 1 Corinthians 1:2] GOD IS ONE [Deut. 6:4 and 1 Corinthians 8:6]
The books of the Bible developed their themes around the Person and Work of Christ:
Matthew presented Him as the serving King of Kings. Mark portrayed Him as the suffering Servant of Christ. Luke presented as Son of Man, John as the Son of God. The book of Acts revealed Him as Power of the Church, and Romans as the Gospel.
In Corinthians, He is the Transformer of the carnal nature, in Galatians –He is the Rent Veil. In Galatians-the One sitting in the heaven, in Philippians- He is our Sufficiency That is available for any given situation. Colossians gave Him the Title as the Shadow now come in the flesh.
He is the coming King of the Thessalonians and the glorious appearing God and Savior of the Timothy. He is our Blessed Hope of Titus and the Forgiver of the restless wanderer of Philemon He is better than angels of Hebrews.
He is the Fulfiller of Hebrews, the Rock of Salvation and the blessed assurance of the epistles of John.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
208 - THE OFFICE OF JESUS
The Lord JESUS CHRIST performed His saving work in the threefold role of:
o Prophet [Deut. 18:15, Luke 4:18-21, 13:13, Acts 3:22] o Priest [Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 3:1, 6:20, 7:26, 8:1] o King [Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 45:6, John 18:36-37, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:11]
Fulfilling His office work of Prophet Christ:
o Claims to bring the Father’s message to man [John 8:26-28, 12:49-50] o Proclaims His message to the unbeliever and to His disciples [Matthew 4:17-] o Predicts the future events [Luke 19:41-44] o He continues to reveal His Word to us [John 16:12-15] by the power of the Holy Spirit. o Executing His office work of priest, Christ:
o Offered Himself up to God as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and to reconcile men back to God [Hebrews 2:17, 9:14, 28] o Continue to make intercession for all those who come unto God by Him [John 17:6-24, Hebrews 7:25, 9:24].
Performing his office work of king, Christ:
o Calls out of the world a people for Himself [Isaiah 55:5, John 10:16, 27] o Gives them leadership, protocol, censures and laws by which He visibly governs them [1 Corinthians 5:4-5, 12:28, Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 5:20, Titus 3:10] o Preserves and supports them in all their temptations and sufferings [2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Romans 8:35-39] o Restrains and overcome their enemies [1 Corinthians 15:25] o Powerfully orders all things for His glory and their own good [Romans 8:28, Colossians 1:18] o At the appointed time, will overcome all those persecuted His people and all those who rejected His gospel [Psalm 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 1:8]
In filling these offices Christ fulfills all the need of all men.
o As the Prophet of God He meets the problem of man’s ignorance, supplying him with knowledge. o As the Priest of God, He meets the problem of man’s guilt, supplying him perfect and total righteousness, acceptable to God. o As King, Christ meets the problem of man’s weakness and dependence, supplying him with power and protection.
The Lord Jesus Christ exercise His threefold offices in the estates of His humiliation and His exaltation [Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 2:6, Revelation 19:16]. The Scripture clearly represent Him as exercising all three offices in both estates – both during His earthly ministry prior to His spiritual death and now, since His resurrection and ascension.
The purpose of Christ’s Incarnation is not to humiliate Christ but to glorify Him (His perfect humanity). Incarnation is designed to show to men the divine mysteries the only begotten God [John 3:13, 8:58, 17:5].
Christ became a man in order to reveal the justice and the perfect love of God for the imperfect men. He became a Man in order to die for men. Christ became a man to glorify God Himself and to manifest God’s absolute power in man’s absolute weakness. He became a Man in order to bring gifts to men, especially the gift of grace. It is exceeding graciousness of God for the exceeding sinfulness of men.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
209 - THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved in several reasons:
From the fact that the attributes of perfect personality, perfect intelligence are ascribed to the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1 Cor. 2:10, 11; 12:11). The Holy Spirit reproves, helps, glorifies, and intercedes (John 16:7-13; Rom. 8:26)
The Holy Spirit executes the offices peculiar only to a divine personality. The very nature of these offices involves personal distinction (Luke 12:12; Acts 5:32; 15:28; 16:6; 28:25; 1 Cor. 2:13; Heb. 2:4; 3:7; 2 Pet. 1:21). His divinity is established:
The names of God are ascribed to Holy Spirit (Ex. 17:7; Ps. 95:7; comp. Heb. 3:7-11); and
Divine attributes are also ascribed to Holy Spirit omnipresence (Ps. 139:7; Eph. 2:17, 18; 1 Cor. 12:13); omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10, 11); omnipotence (Luke 1:35; Rom. 8:11); eternity (Heb. 9:4).
Creation is ascribed to Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:2; Job 26:13; Ps. 104:30), and the working of miracles (Matt. 12:28; 1 Cor. 12:9-11).
Worship is required and ascribed to Holy Spirit (Isaiah 6:3; Acts 28:25; Rom. 9:1; Rev. 1:4; Matt. 28:19).
The Holy Spirit is a Person not a force, not an influence but co-equal, co-infinite and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Son.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
210 - THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
The primary witness of the Holy Spirit is to Christ, not to Himself, or to Bible doctrine [John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-15, Matthew 16:16-18] though the Spirit’s witness focuses upon the Person and the work of Christ, it incorporate:
o The totality of God’s saving acts for the entire human race o The intrinsic and instrumental authority of the Scripture o The nature of fallen man and the their response to God o A ministry of assurance and instruction to God’s own possession o The center of the witness is that Jesus is Lord and Christ [Acts 2:36], the truth that the antichrist denies but which the believers affirm [1 John 2:20-22].
THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN SUSTAINING JESUS CHRIST as prophesied in the Old Testament [Isaiah 11:2-3, 42:1]:
The Holy Spirit was given without measure (constant unhindered filling) to the perfect humanity of Christ [John 3:34]. In the humanity of Christ, the Holy Spirit was never grief or quench, not even for a second because He did not sin.
The Holy Spirit was related to the baptism of Jesus Christ as the One that confirmed His identity, calling and mission.
The Holy Spirit sustained Christ during His entire earthly ministry [Luke 4:14-15, 18]. There was never a time during the humanity of Christ when He did not rely on the power and resources of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit sustained Jesus Christ when Christ was bearing our sins on the cross [Hebrews 9:14].
The Holy Spirit had a part in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus [Romans 8:11, 1 Peter 3:18]. The present ministry of the Holy Spirit in relation to Jesus Christ results to His glorification [John 7:39, 16:14].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
211 - THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the world:
RESTRAINING EVIL in the cosmic system so that the believers can continue to exist [2 Thessalonians 2:6-8]
CONVICTION OF SIN so the unbelievers will come to realization of his own sin and depraved condition before God [John 16:8-11]
REGENERATING MEN [John 3:14-16]
The ministry of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation:
EFFICACIOUS GRACE [Ephesians 2:8] –is the work of the Holy Spirit in providing the unbeliever access into the plan of God through the merit of Jesus Christ. It is the perfect work of God where human power and ability has no merit.
REGENERATION is the imputation of eternal life at the moment anyone believes in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation making the person passed from spiritual death to eternal life. The Holy Spirit regenerates the unbeliever making him a child of God [Titus 3:5].
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The Holy Spirit baptizes the unbeliever making him a child of God, sealing him permanently a part of the kingdom of God [Romans 6:1-4].
SEALING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [2 Corinthians 1:21-22] –The Holy Spirit sealed the believer permanently and nothing can destroy or change that relationship. We are children of God forever.
INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The Holy Spirit permanently indwells the believer and nothing can destroy that indwelling. The Holy Spirit will never leave or forsake the believer.
DISTRIBUTION OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS The Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to every believer at the point of salvation.
FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Making the person qualify to receive the blessings of salvation.
212 - The post-salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit:
CONVICTION OF PERSONAL SINS – The Holy Spirit provide Bible doctrine to convict the believer of his personal sins and guide them to execute the grace provision.
FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT The divine provision for the believer to maintain spirituality and go back to point of blessedness. It is a provision for knowing and doing the will of God.
GLORIFY CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER [John 7:39, 16:7, 14] The Holy Spirit is assigned to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in the lives of the believers in three stages:
o At spiritual maturity when the believer has accumulated maximum Bible doctrines in his soul and has become capable of doing the will of God – o At the point of spiritual victory over personal sins applying Bible doctrines to his problems and rejecting human viewpoint o At the point of undeserved sufferings and disasters –when the believer resolved to trust and believe God- rejecting human solutions.
The Holy Spirit convicts the believer to rebound [John 16:8-10, 1 John 1:9] and as a result, fills the believer with Bible doctrine. The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ in the world through spiritual maturity –in the function of Royal priesthood. The Holy Spirit glorify God in the life of the believer whenever he overcome undeserved sufferings or gains momentum in the function of spiritual ambassadorship [John 14:12-15].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
213 - SINS AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Person of the Holy Spirit refers to the distinct role of His Person- the unseen power of God, the Person through whom divine power is conveyed. He reveals the plan of God on earth and is the agent for executing the Christian way of life.
The lack of material form or substance, of the Spirit does not make Him any less a person than the Father, Who is equally invisible. The term ghost is a mistranslation of pneuma, which is used for Spirit. There is no word for ghost in Greek. phantasma which means apparition [Matthew 14:26] is never used for the Third Person of the Trinity.
The role of the Holy Spirit must not be confused with the other Members of the Trinity. The phrase “the Lord is the Spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit [2 Corinthians 3:17], which asserts the deity of the Third Person, the phrase never means that the Spirit supersedes the presence of the resurrected indwelling Christ in the believer [Romans 8:10, Galatians 2:20, Colossians 1:37].
The activity of one Member of the Trinity cannot be attributed to the other. They are separate and distinct Persons, both of whom are equally present with and in the believer.
BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT refers to the unpardonable sins committed by unbelievers during the Hypostatic union of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the sin of rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting the unbelievers to change their mind toward Christ [Matthew 12:13-32].
The sin of blasphemy attributes the works of the Lord Jesus Christ as coming from the devil. It rejected the redemptive work on the cross for the sin of the human race. They called Him the devil or Satan.
RESISTING THE HOLY SPIRIT [Acts 7:51] is the sin of rejecting the Holy Spirit in making convicting the unbeliever to change their mind toward Christ –so as to believe and accept Christ as Savior.
LYING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT [Acts 5:1-10] is the sin of false motivation coming from the old sinful nature based from satanic and human viewpoint. Lying to the Holy Spirit may appear with any or all of the following characteristics: o Ignorance of the True Bible doctrine o Arrogance and hatred complexes o Desire for human recognition o False Humility o Desire for self-glory and self-honor o Desire for divine approbation
The sin of lying to the Holy Spirit steams from selfish desires to be known as spiritual, faithful or committed servant of God. It is aspiring great thing for God without giving Him all the glory. It is human motivation energizes by ego and arrogance to do little or great things for God.
QUENCHING THE HOLY SPIRIT is the sin committed by the believers perform as human good work- energized by the old sinful nature, coming from the area of strength of the soul that results to asceticism [1 Thessalonians 5:19, 2 Corinthians 11:13]. Quenching the Holy Spirit is human good works outside spirituality. It is doing noble or good things from the power of old sin nature and apart from the will and purpose of God. It is doing the will of God by human power and resources.
GRIEVING THE HOLY SPIRIT refers to personal sins of the believers coming from the area of weakness of the soul that results to lasciviousness [Galatians 5:19-21]. It is thinking and acting contrary to the will of God, based from the satanic viewpoint. It is the adaptation of satanic will, purpose and scheming into the human lifestyle.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
214 - THE UNPARDONABLE SIN
"Therefore I say to you, any sin (hamartia) and blasphemy (blasphemia) shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy (blasphemiai) against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.
"Truly I say to you, all sins shall (panta ta hamartemata) be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"
BLASPHEMY is giving wrong impression to others about our Lord Jesus Christ- that is teaching or talking about false character or attributes of Christ. This category of blasphemy shall be forgiven [James 3:1-2].
The issue on the above verses is not between God and Satan but between the Holy Spirit and Satan particularly, the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting men of sin, their spiritual standing before God.
FORGIVEN (aphiemi) meaning to remove away the sin, in order that the sin can never be fond and charge against the sinner [John 16:8-10].
It applies to any and all sins that will be removed by God from the regenerated men. This verb is in the coming future, which means that it will be taken away each time that is necessary to do so. This forgiveness is not automatic, but requires the exercise of human volition.
The forgiveness of God does not require any action from human resources or power but from the merit of Christ in behalf of mankind His spiritual death on the cross. SHALL NOT BE FORGIVEN HIM (ouk aphethesetai) refers to that, h sin or guilt which shall not be removed or taken from the unsaved person [John 16:8-9].This applies to one time blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be taken away from the unbeliever in this age or age to come. This applies to one time eternal sin of rejecting the salvation by grace through the spiritual death of Christ.
In the absence of the Holy Spirit, there is no one to convict the person of his sin. If the Holy Spirit does not convict a person, then he cannot and will not repent.
Genuine but carnal and worldly believers may suffer the sin unto death if they do not rebound [1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 1:20] yet they are eternally saved. Sin unto death is the sin leading to death [1 John 5:16].
Among the Members of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is the most subject of mockery, insults and persecution. All the members of Cultic-heathen religious groups who have heard but rejected the plan of God and those who rejected Christ will receive the full judgment of the lake of fire.
We do not pray for brethren under heaven heavy divine discipline leading to divine discipline of sin unto death. We do not pray for the cultic leaders to believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
The phrase shall not be forgiven applies to the heathen and not to Christians any where in the world. This category of blasphemy has no forgiveness since it rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. God cannot forgive those who rejected His plan of grace. Rejection of Christ are categorize into three: Rejection from conviction (like Caiaphas) Rejection against conviction (like Pilate) Rejection without conviction (like Herod)
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
215 - THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT
The primary witness of the Holy Spirit is to Christ, not to Himself or to Bible doctrine [John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7-15, Matthew 16:16-18]. Although the Holy Spirit’s witness focuses upon the Person and work of Christ, it incorporates several things:
o The totality of God’s saving acts for the entire human race o The intrinsic and instrumental authority of Scripture o The nature of fallen man and positive response to God, o The ministry of assurance and instruction to God’s own possession
The center of the witness is that Jesus is Lord and Christ [Acts 2:36], the truth that the antichrists deny but which the believers affirm [1 John 2:20-22].
The verb "to be a witness martus or "to bear witness to," sometimes rendered "to testify" is used of the "witness" o of God the Father to Christ, John 5:32, 37; 8:18 (2nd part); 1 John 5:9, 10; to others, Acts 13:22; 15:8; Heb. 11:2, 4 (twice), 5, 39; o of Christ, John 3:11, 32; 4:44; 5:31; 7:7; 8:13, 14, 18 (1st part); 13:21; 18:37; Acts 14:3; 1 Tim. 6:13; Rev. 22:18, 20; of the Holy Spirit, to Christ, John 15:26; Heb. 10:15; 1 John 5:7, 8, which rightly omits the latter part of v. 7 (it was a marginal gloss which crept into the original text: it finds no support in Scripture; o of the Scriptures, to Christ, John 5:39; Heb. 7:8, 17; o of the works of Christ, to Himself, and of the circumstances connected with His death, John 5:36; 10:25; 1 John 5:8; o of prophets and apostles, to the righteousness of God, Rom. 3:21; to Christ, John 1:7, 8, 15, 32, 34; 3:26; 5:33, RV; 15:27; 19:35; 21:24; Acts 10:43; 23:11; 1 Cor. 15:15; 1 John 1:2; 4:14; Rev. 1:2; to doctrine, Acts 26:22 to the Word of God, Rev. 1:2; o of others, concerning Christ, Luke 4:22; John 4:39. 12:17; o of believers to one another, John 3:28; 2 Cor. 8:3; Gal. 4:15; Col. 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:11, 3 John 3, 6, 12 o of the apostle Paul concerning Israel, Rom. 10:2; (i) of an angel, to the churches, Rev. 22:16; o of unbelievers concerning themselves, Matt. 23:31; concerning Christ, John 18:23; concerning others, John 2:25; Acts 22:5; 26:5; "to give a good report, to approve of," Acts 6:3; 10:22; 16:2; 22:12; 1 Tim. 5:10; 3 John 12 (1st part); some would put Luke 4:22 here.
In the OT the Spirit of the Lord (pneuma kyrios) is generally an expression for God's power, the extension of Himself whereby he carries out many of his mighty deeds (e.g., 1 Kings 8:12; Judges 14:6ff; 1 Sam. 11:6).
The origins of the word "Spirit" in both Hebrew ruah and Greek (pneuma) are similar, stemming from associations with "breath" and "wind," which were connected by ancient cultures to unseen spiritual force, hence "spirit" (John 3:8, note the association with air in English; e.g., "pneumatic," "respiration,".). The use of the term "Holy Ghost" for "Holy Spirit" based on an obsolete usage of the word "ghost" (from Middle English and Anglo-Saxon, originally meaning "breath," "spirit" is incorrect.
Thus it is understandable that God's creative word (Gen. 1:3) is closely akin to God's creative breath (Gen. 2:7). Both ideas are identified elsewhere with God's Spirit. As an agent in creation, God's Spirit is the life principle of men.
The primary function of the Spirit of God in the OT is as the spirit of prophecy. God's Spirit is the motivating force in the inspiration of the prophets, that power which moved sometimes to ecstasy but always to the revelation of God's message, expressed by the prophets with “thus saith the Lord”. Prophets are sometimes referred to as "men of God" (1 Sam. 2:27; 1 Kings 12:22) in Hosea. 9:7 they are "men of the Spirit” of God.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
216 - THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ISRAEL
The Holy Spirit was not universally given to all believers until Christ was glorified by being seated at the right hand of the Father [John 7:39].
The Holy Spirit only endued with power some Old Testament saints to perform special functions:
o Political leaders [Genesis 41:38] o Artisans who worked in the Tabernacle and Temple [Exodus 28:3, 31:3] o Administrators [Numbers 11:17, 25] o Political and military leaders [Judges 3:9-] o Kings of Israel and prophets of God
Old Testament believers were discipline by removal of the Holy Spirit [1 Samuel 16:14, Psalm 51:11]. Certain of believers obtained the Holy Spirit by request prior to doing the will of God in certain mission [2 Kings 2:9-10, Luke 11:13].
MORE ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Lord Jesus Christ gave the Holy Spirit without request to the disciples just before His ascension –for the purpose of sustaining them for the ten (10) day interim before the Church Age began [John 20:22].
The Holy Spirit does not act base on human petition or intercession but according to His integrity that is righteousness and justice. The Holy Spirit is unaffected and untouched by human emotion, sincerity or humility.
The NT teaching of the Holy Spirit is rooted in the idea of both the spirit of God as the manifestation of God's power and the spirit of prophecy. Jesus, and the church after him, brought these ideas together in predicating them of the Holy Spirit, God's eschatological gift to man. When Mary is "overshadowed" by the power of the Most High, a phrase standing in parallel construction to "the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:35; cf. 9:35), we find echoes of the OT idea of God's Spirit in the divine cloud which "overshadowed" the tabernacle so that the tent was filled with the glory of the Lord (Exodus 40:35; Isaiah 63:11ff. identifies God's presence in this instance as "God's Holy Spirit").
Luke records Jesus' power to cast out demons "by the finger of God," an OT phrase for God's power (Luke 11:20; Exodus 8:19; Psalm 8:3). This power is identified as the "Spirit of God" (Matthew 12:28), the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:32). At Jesus' baptism the Spirit came upon him (Mark 1:10; "the Spirit of God," Matthew 3:16 "the Holy Spirit," Luke 3:21), and He received God's confirmation of His divine Lordship and messianic mission (Matthew 3:13)
Jesus went up from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1), and after the temptation began His ministry "in the power of the Spirit" (Luke 4:14). Taking up the message of John the Baptist, Jesus proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God (Matthew 4:17), a coming marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28) as the sign of the messianic age of salvation (Luke 4:18, Acts 10:38).
From the beginning of Jesus' ministry He identified Himself with both the victorious messiah king and the suffering servant figures of OT prophecy (Isaiah 42:1) ideas, which Judaism had kept separate. When Jesus identified Himself with the Messiah promised in Isaiah 61:1-2 He stopped short of reading the "words of judgment" of Isaiah 61:2b (even though Isaiah 61:2, "comfort to those who mourn," is part of Jesus' teaching at Matthew 5:4). This emphasis is made again when John the Baptist asks whether Jesus is indeed the one who was to come (Luke 7:18-23).
Jesus understood the Holy Spirit as a personality. This comes out especially in John's Gospel, where the Spirit is called the “Paraclete” i.e., the Comforter (Counselor, Advocate). Jesus Himself was the first Counselor (John 14:16).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
217 - THE PARACLETE
When He is gone, He sent the disciples another Counselor, that is, the Spirit of truth- the Holy Spirit (14:26; 15:26; 16:5). The Holy Spirit will dwell in the believers (John 7:38; cf. 14:17), and will guide the disciples into all truth (16:13), teaching them "all things" and bringing them "to remembrance of all that [Jesus] said" to them (14:26). The Holy Spirit will testify about Jesus, as the disciples must also testify (John 15:26-27).
Paul taught that the Holy Spirit, poured out in the new age, is the Creator of new life in the believer and that unifying force by which God in Christ is "building together" the Christians into the body of Christ (Rom. 5:5; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:22; cf. I Cor. 6:19). Romans 8 shows that Paul identified the Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ with the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ as the spirit of prophecy in I Pet. 1:10), and that these terms are generally interchangeable. If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9); but those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom. 8:14).
We all have our access to the Father through one Spirit (Ephesians 2:18), and there is one body and one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4). We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body -and we received one Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13). The believer receives the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15), indeed, the Spirit of God's own Son (Gal. 4:6).
“…Who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4) The Spirit of Holiness refers to the integrity of God (justice and righteousness) that guarantees our resurrection and eternal in Christ. It refers to God as a Person who holds our spiritual redemption (salvation) and physical redemption (resurrection). The Spirit of Holiness guarantees our redemption through the work of Christ.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2). The Spirit of Life refers God as the Cause and Source of the Life that comes from God. The Holy Spirit gives the life of God to those who believed and received His grace.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out," Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). The Spirit of adoption), which refers to the work of God in bring men into His Heaven by His power and grace upon men.
But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore also we speak (2 Corinthians 4:13). the Spirit of faith refers to Holy Spirit function of converting the gnosis into epignosis in the soul of positive volition believers.
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13) The Spirit of Promise points to God who cannot deny and violate His own perfect plan for the human race. The Spirit of Promise explains the faithfulness of God based on His own perfection, and not based on human good works or righteousness.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17) - The Spirit of Wisdom refers to perfect knowledge of God the Holy Spirit, particularly related to His omniscience concerning man. The Holy Spirit is not only an invisible Person but also an absolute and intelligent Person who knows everything around the world.
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29). The Spirit of grace explains the total depravity of men before God. God did everything for man’s salvation and growth inside the plan of God. Everything about our salvation comes from the grace of God.
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you (1 Peter 4:14). The Spirit of glory refers to the pre-incarnate and eternal glory of God. God is not dependent on mankind to be glorious. His glory is intact with Him no matter what happen to human history. The glory of God is not based on actions, reactions or thinking of man but on His perfect characters.
Each of these eight (8) descriptions of the Holy Spirit is mentioned only once (hapax legomena) giving a very significant truth above the Person of God the Holy Spirit. Such titles are related and associated with divine essence and functions.
The pneuma Kurios or the Spirit of the LORD [Luke 4:18] refers to the Second Person of the Trinity at work in the perfect humanity of Christ.
And when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them (Acts 16:7). The Spirit of Jesus refers to God manifested in Christ not to his humanity. It affirms the truth that Jesus Christ is co-equal with God since He the Spirit of God.
What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love and a spirit of gentleness? (1 Corinthians 4:21). The Spirit of gentleness refers to the Christian virtue produce by the soul operational and functional inside the divine power system and loaded with Bible doctrine. This is the soul advancing toward spiritual maturity. The Spirit of gentleness is produced by spiritual maturity.
The pneuma tees Profeeteias (Revelation 19:10) is the Spirit of Prophecy referring to Christ’s perfect knowledge of all things (omniscience) in the future, which He reveals to us through His Word. The Holy Spirit is also called; o The Spirit of the Lord o The Spirit of God o The Spirit of Christ o The Spirit Truth o The Spirit Jesus Christ o The Spirit of your Father o The Spirit of Him o The Spirit of our God o The Spirit of the living God o The Spirit of His Son
The Spirit is the Comforter, the Helper and the Paraclete [John 14:26]. He is the Searcher, the Revealer of the truth, and the great Teacher of the Believer. He is the only Guide, the Indweller and the Strengthener of every believer.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
218 - THE INDWELLING & FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit indwells the body of every Church Age believer, together with the Father and Son. The purpose of the indwelling is to make the believer’s body a temple worthy of Christ. [2 Corinthians 6:16]. The believer by himself is not capable of providing an acceptable dwelling place for Christ the Shekinah glory. The presence of this secret spiritual sanctuary for Christ to dwell made it possible for the believer to obey the command to glorify God in your body [1 Corinthians 6:19-20].
The command to glorify God is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit executes and maintains the plan of the Father in the life of the positive and who adheres to the will, plan and purpose of God. Two vital ministries of the Holy Spirit are involved in the glorification Christ- the filling and indwelling.
The Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer so Christ may take up royal residence there while the filling of the Holy Spirit enables the believer to reflect the glory of the resident Christ.
Indwelling puts the Spirit’s help near at hand, in fact, within the Christian himself; filling actually delivers the Spirit’s help as He invisibly energizes the divine sphere.
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent while the filling of the Holy Spirit is intermittent. Scripture never commands the Church Age believers to be indwelt by the Spirit but rather regards the indwelling as a constant reality. The Bible commands the believer to be filled with the Spirit [Ephesians 5:18, Galatians 5:16].
The believer cannot change the indwelling of the Holy Spirit while the filling of the Spirit is a matter of choice.
The believer loses the filling of the Holy Spirit by committing sin. He restores the filling of the Holy Spirit by confessing or acknowledging his sin to the Father [1 john 1:9]. The principle of rebound remains the same in all dispensations as the only means of recovering fellowship with God (but the fellowship with God does not include the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the power source in the divine sphere –living outside is living under the power of the old sinful nature (called “grieving or quenching the Spirit” Ephesians 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Living inside the divine sphere implies being filled with the Holy Spirit. While the believer concentrates on Bible doctrine and through which the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth in the soul of the believer [1 Corinthians 2:9-16].
The indispensable ministry of the indwelling Spirit (like illuminating the Bible doctrine, convicting the believer to rebound, teaching the Word and others) operates only when the believer is filled with the Spirit.
Filling of the Holy Spirit is the “access key” that opens many doors inside the will, plan and purpose of God.
The instantaneous effects of the indwelling is permanent it cannot be lost, undone, alter, cancel and it does not need repetition or what they called the “second baptism” of the Holy Spirit.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred when the believer decided to believe and receive the salvation by grace alone, through faith alone – in Christ alone. At that moment the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the believer permanently.
Nothing can make the indwelling of the Holy Spirit invalidate –not even God because He cannot deny Himself or void His perfect decision or work [Romans 8:37].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
219 - THE SHEKINAH GLORY
In the Old Testament Israel, the Pillar of fire and the Pillar of cloud was the Shekinah Glory the spiritual presence of the Second Person of the Trinity manifested through physical created things in the world.
The Shekinah Glory dwelt between the Golden cherubs in the Tabernacle [Leviticus 26:11-12] and dwelt between the golden cherubs at the Temple [1 Kings 8:11]. The presence of the Shekinah Glory in the Temple and Tabernacle was the focal or center point of worship of the ancient Israel.
The Shekinah Glory became a Man [John 1:14, Luke 9:28-56] to die and redeem men from the penalty or wages of death –that is the spiritual death that Adam left for all men. During the Hypostatic union of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shekinah Glory dwelt among men but was not recognized by many.
The Shekinah Glory indwells the Church Age believers for the purpose of fellowship with the glorified Christ [1 Corinthians 6:16]- It is synonym with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was the Paraclete (during the Hypostatic Union) but when He is gone to heaven, He send the Holy Spirit Paraclete to indwell the saints.
Before the Church Age, the Shekinah Glory, the Paraclete resides among the people of God but did not indwell them permanently. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was transient and temporal.
The Shekinah Glory of Christ is the visible manifestation of God's glory. While Scripture denies any permanent localization of God it does describe, simultaneously with his transcendence, his "glory," or apprehensible presence. Glory may be expressed in God's "face," "name" (Exodus 33:18-20), "Angel", pre-incarnate appearances of Christ, or "cloud" (Exodus 14:19), The Shekinah concerns the cloud, which surrounded the glory (40:34), like thunderheads through which lightning flashes (19:9, 16).
The Shekinah first appeared when God led Israel from Egypt and protected them by "a pillar of cloud and fire" (13:21; 14:19). The cloud vindicated Moses against murmurers" (16:10; Num. 16:42) and covered Sinai (Exodus 24:16) as he communed there with God (vs. 18; cf. 33:9). God "dwelt" among His people in the tabernacle (miskan), "place of dwelling," a type of his dwelling in heaven (I Kings 8:30; Heb. 9:24).
The Shekinah guided Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 40:36-38); and, though the ark's loss meant “Ichabod” [no glory]" (I Sam. 4:21), the cloud again filled Solomon's temple (I Kings 8:11; cf. II Chronicles 7:1). Ezekiel visualized its departure because of sin (10:18) before this temple's destruction, and Judaism confessed its absence from the second temple. The Shekinah reappeared with Christ (Matt. 17:5; Luke 2:9), true God localized (John 1:14 “skene” or "tabernacle"), the glory of the latter temple (Hag. 2:9; Zech. 2:5). Christ ascended in the glory cloud (Acts 1:9) and will some day so return (Mark 14:62; Rev. 14:14; Isaiah 24:3; 60:1).
God is holy and calls Israel to be a holy nation. The temple and its priesthood remind her of this vocation to holiness. The sacrificial system provides atonement for the sins of the people and for the sanctuary (Lev. 16). The holy God reveals his name, his glory, and his presence to Israel at Mount Sinai. However, the tabernacle is to be the ongoing focus of God's presence throughout Israel history. God is seen as permanently dwelling in the tabernacle or temple (Exodus 29:43-46; I Kings 6:13); but he also manifests his glory, in blessing or wrath, at critical moments in Israel's life (Exodus 40:34-38; Num. 14:10 16:19; Ezek. 1-10; 43:1-7; Mal. 3:1). The rebuilding of the temple is an indispensable token of God's continuing will to bless Israel (Hag. 1:18-19; Zech. 4:9-10).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
220 - THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. God the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, while the Father is neither proceeding nor begotten.
The Holy is God Himself who possesses all the attributes of infinite and perfect deity. He is Person who has a mind, wisdom, a will and emotion [Romans 8:27, Ephesians 4:30, 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 12:11, Acts 15:6-11]. As a Person, He can be lied to [Acts 5:3], resisted [Acts 7:51], grieved and blasphemed [Ephesians 4:30, Matthew 12:31], or insulted [Hebrews 10:29].
The Holy Spirit is of the same essence as of the Father and of the Son. Although the Holy is same in substance, equal in power and equal in authority with the other Persons of the Trinity, He is subordinate to them in role and function. There is a functional hierarchy within the Godhead (in relation to men in the world).
God the Son is under God the Father who sent the Son in to the world [John 3:17, 17:8]. God the Spirit is both sent by God the Father and God the Son [John 15:26]. The Son glorifies the Father and [John 14:13] and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son [John 16:13-14].
In the lives of believers, the most laborious task of the Holy Spirit is the conviction of sin leading to rebound and its results-the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit the coming of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation is a one-time experience for the believer at the same time of conversion [Ephesians 1:13]. The Holy Spirit indwells the believer and makes him a child of God permanently [Romans 8:9-14]. The divine relationship made by God transcends time and space a relationship that goes beyond time and space.
The filling of the Holy Spirit is a repeatable work of the Holy Spirit in the post salvation life of the believer, which enables the submissive believer to live a victorious Christian live by the power and grace of God. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one-time experience that needs not repetition.
THERE IS NO SECOND BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE!
The book of Acts is a historical book where the narrative is descriptive not prescriptive, therefore the period covered by Acts is transitory. Many of the recorded events were one-time and non-repeatable events or experiences. The historical context may not be neglected in our efforts to understand the Word of God.
What the cults calls “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is actually called by the Bible as filling of the Holy Spirit. The so-called “baptism” of Acts 1:5 is defined as filling in Acts 2:4. The Koine Greek word baptizes has several meaning: to dip, to immerse, to cleanse, to wash or to be filled.
There is no command to believers for second baptism of the Holy Spirit but for the filling of the Holy Spirit. The believers of Acts chapter 1 and 2 were not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended to heaven. The “disciples” of chapters 8 and 10 did not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was their first (and last) baptism of the Holy Spirit, and not a second baptism.
The title for the Holy Spirit as Paraclete is often mistranslated as “helper” or “comforter” came 50 days after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. Some Christians regard the Holy Spirit as their servant-helper. The events of Acts 2, 8, and 10 were unique they are not repeatable and were not meant to be normative. There were no second baptism and there were no consistent pattern of second baptisms. And there is no necessity for the second baptisms because the Holy Spirit will be with the believer forever.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
221 - SLAIN BY THE SPIRIT?
The reversionist Christians are teaching that unless the believers are slain by the Holy Spirit they are not spiritual and less equipped for doing the work of the kingdom of God.
Is being slain by the Spirit Biblical; does the Spirit of God slay people? Can you cite any situation or event recorded in the Bible where the Holy Spirit had a ministry of slaying people?
During the “manifestation” of the growing and dominating charismatic phenomena of being slain by spirit, people fall backwards. Often those who fall backwards also start rolling on the floor and some go into uncontrollable fits or seizures (similar to that of epilepsy a form of chronic disorder of the nervous system characterized by partial or complete loss of consciousness.
King Saul was slain but not by the Holy Spirit but by evil spirits [1 Samuel 19:23-24] because he disobeyed God. Saul fell down backward and for a day and a night he lay down naked.
Eli the high priest fell backwards broke his neck and died [1 Samuel 4:18]. It was divine judgment for Eli. The murderous mob looking for Jesus fell backwards when confronted [John 18:6]. Falling backwards is not sign of blessing but judgment, not a sign of spirituality but of corruption.
The slaying of the spirit is not Biblical and not the teaching of the Lord Jesus or of His disciples. Slaying people is not the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in the Scripture that teaches or implies such work or function of the Holy Spirit. No Bible character ever mentioned that he in any way had experienced the slaying of the Holy Spirit. The slaying of the spirit is not the work of God but of the devil. The advocates of the devil invented such doctrines to mislead and deceive the ignorant.
PRAYER TO HOLY SPIRIT - WORSHIP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-infinite with the Father and with the Son. In essence possessing the same attributes with the Father and with Son, but in function (toward the created beings), He is different.
We received our salvation in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ [Acts 4:12]. There is no other Name given under Heaven where a person can be saved other than Jesus Christ. A person is not saved unless he received that salvation in the Name of Christ.
Our spiritual service is acceptable only to God if we are filled with the Holy Spirit and if serve God in the Name of Jesus Christ [Mark 9:41].
We pray to God the Father in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit [John 14:13].
We assemble together for worship of God the Father in the Name of Christ under the leadership of the Holy Spirit [Matt. 18:20].
We “hold fast” in Christ’s Name in the midst of crooked and perverse generation in the power of the Holy Spirit [Revelation 2:13].
We worship God the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. We serve God the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit
We are commanded to pray to the Father through the Son but we are not commanded to pray to the Holy Spirit. We are not in any way, instructed to bypass the function of the Father or the Son of God.
The functions of the Holy Spirit are not the same with the Father or with the Son. The devil and his world has gained favorable devious themes through satanic scheming that destroy and separate men from one another.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
222 - THE DIVINE NAMES AS VEHICLES OF REVELATION
Efforts to find the origins and significance of the Hebrew divine names in other ancient Near Eastern cultures have yielded generally disappointing results. One of the major reasons for this is that the ancient Hebrew theology invested these names with a uniqueness that renders investigation outside the narratives of the OT incapable of exploring fully their historical and religious significance.
Basic to ancient Hebrew religion is the concept of divine revelation. While God is conceived of as revealing his attributes and will in a number of ways in the OT, one of the most theologically significant modes of the divine self-disclosure is the revelation inherent in the names of God.
This aspect of divine revelation is established in the words of Exodus 6:3, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My Name the Lord [Yahweh] I did not make myself known to them." According to classical literary criticism, the verse teaches that the name Yahweh was unknown to the patriarchs. Thus, an ideological conflict exists between the Priestly author and the earlier believer of God who frequently put the name Yahweh on the lips of the patriarchs.
However, the words "by My Name Yahweh I did not make myself known to them" have a somewhat hollow ring if the name Yahweh is understood only as an appellative. The reason for this is that Moses asks in Exodus 3:13, "What is his name?” mah-semo has demonstrated that the syntax of this question does not connote an inquiry as to the name of God but an inquiry into the character revealed by the name. He says, "Where the word 'what' is associated with the word 'name' the question asked is what finds expression in or lies concealed behind that name".
Exodus 14:4 also support the view that the name Yahweh embodies aspects of God's character. It says, "and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh." It is hardly likely that the intent of this assertion is that they would learn only the name of the Hebrew God.
In the light of these observations, the use of the concepts of the name of God in the early narratives of the book of Exodus is far broader than simply the name by which the Hebrew God was known. It has a strong element of divine self-disclosure within it.
The corpus of divine names compounded with el and a descriptive adjunct also support this concept. The very fact that the adjunctive element is descriptive is an indication of its value as a source of theological content.
Typical of this type of name is el rot ("God who sees"; Gen. 16:13) and el olam ("God eternal"; Gen. 21:33). These el names sometimes emerge from a specific historical situation that illuminates their significance.
The Meaning of Yahweh, Jehovah (LORD): Efforts to determine the meaning of the tetragrammaton (YHWH) through historical investigation have been rendered difficult by the rareness of informative data relative to the various forms of the name ya in historical sources outside the OT. For this reason the investigation has generally followed philological lines. The form ya was originally an ejaculatory cry, "shouted in moments of excitement or ecstasy," that was "prologue to ya(h)wa(h), ya(h)wa(h)y, or the like." He suggested further that the name Yahweh arose from the consonance of an extended form of ya with the "imperfect tense of a defective verb." Thus, he saw the origin of the name in a popular etymology and asserted that its original form was forgotten.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
223 - UNDERSTANDING THE NAMES OF GOD
The tetragrammaton should be understood as consisting of the ejaculatory element and the third person pronoun hu' meaning "O He!"
Another approach to the problem is to understand the tetragrammaton as a form of paronomasia. This view takes account of the broad representation of the name ya in extrabiblical cultures of the second millennium B.C. The name Yahweh is thus understood as a quadrilateral form and the relationship of the name of “haya” (“to be”) in Exodus 3:14-15 is not intended to be one of etymology but paronomasia.
The most common view is that the name is a form of a trilateral verb hwy. It is generally regarded as a third person imperfect verb in a causative stem. Is it is a Greek causative participle with ay preforrmative that should be translated "Sustainer, Maintainer, Creator-Establisher."
With regard to the view that the tetragramaton is an elongated form of an ejaculatory cry, it may be pointed out that Semitic proper names tend to shorten; they are not normally prolonged. The theory that the name is paronomastic is attractive, but when appeal is made to the occurrences of forms of ya or yw in ancient cultures, several problems arise. It is difficult to explain how the original form could have lengthened into the familiar quadrilateral structure. It is also difficult to understand how the name Yahweh could have such strong connotations of uniqueness in the OT if it is a form of a divine name that found representation in various cultures in the second millennium B.C.
The derivation of the tetragrammaton from a verbal root is also beset with certain difficulties. The root hwy on which the tetragrammaton would be based in this view is unattested in West Semitic languages before the time of Moses, and the form of the name is not consonant with the rules that govern the formation of lamed he verbs as we know them.
It is evident that the problem is a difficult one. It is best to conclude that the use of etymology to determine the theological content of the name Yahweh is tenuous. If one is to understand the theological significance of the divine name, it can be only be determining the theological content with which the name was invested in Hebrew religion.
Jah, Yah. This shorter form of Yahweh occurs twice in Exodus (15:2 and 17:15). The former passage is echoed in Isaiah 12:2 and Psalm 118:14. It also occurs numerous times in the adoration or worship formula haleluya (“praise yah”)
The compounding of yah with Yahweh in Isaiah 12:2 yah yhwh indicates a separate function for the form yah, but at the same time an identification of the form with Yahweh.
Yahweh Seba’ot (“the Lord of Hosts”) is The translated as "He creates the heavenly hosts" has been suggested for this appellative. It is based on the assumption that Yahweh functions as a verbal form in a causative stem. This conclusion is rendered difficult by the fact that the formula occurs in the expanded Aramaic form yhwh elohe sebaor ("Yahweh God of hosts"), which attributes the function of a proper name to Yahweh. The word seba’ot means "armies" or "hosts." It is best to understand Yahweh as a proper name in association with the word "armies."
The names of God are vehicles for knowing and understanding His personality or essence not for the purpose of identification. God uses names that provide information’s and documentation of His perfect essence or personality to believers. The names of God are medium for knowing God.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
224 - ELOHIM and EL SHADDAI
The root of Elohim is El or el. The form elohim is a plural form commonly understood as a plural of majesty. In the OT the word is always construed in the singular when it denotes the true God. In the Pentateuch the name elohim connotes a general concept of God; that is, it portrays God as the transcendent being, the creator of the universe. It does not connote the more personal and palpable concepts inherent in the name Yahweh. It can also be used to apply to false gods as well as to judges and kings.
El. El has the same general range of meaning as Elohim It is apparently the root on which the plural form has been constructed. It differs in usage from Elohim only in its use in theophoric names and to serve to contrast the human and the divine. Sometimes, the pronoun El is combined with yah to become Elyah.
El Elyon (“God most High”) from which the word elyon an adjective meaning "high," is derived from the root Ih ("to go up" or "ascend"). It is used to describe the height of objects (II Kings 15:35; 18:17; Ezekiel 41:7) as well as the prominence of persons (Psalm 89:27) and the prominence of Israel as a nation (Deut. 26:19; 28:1). When used of God it connotes the concept of "highest."
The name El Elyon occurs only in Gen. 14: 18-22 and Ps. 78:35, although God is known by the shorter title Elyon in a significant number of passages.
There is a superlative connotation in the word elyon In each case in which the adjective occurs it denotes that which is highest or uppermost. In Deut. 26:19 and 28:1 the superlative idea is apparent in the fact that Israel is to be exalted above the nations. The use of the word in I Kings 9:8 and II Chronicles 7:21 may not seem to reflect a superlative idea, but there is an illusion to Deut. 26:19 and 28:1, where the superlative idea exists. The superlative is also evident in the use of the word in Psalm 97:9, where it connotes Yahweh's supremacy over the other gods.
EL SHADDAI The root word of sadday is obscure, which has been connected with the Akkadian sadu ("mountain") deity by some ancient theologians. Others have suggested a connection with the word "breast," and still others have seen a connection with the verb sadad ("to devastate"). The theological significance of the name, if it can be understood fully, must be derived from a study of the various contexts in which the name occurs.
The name Shaddai frequently appears apart from El as a divine title. The translation “God Almighty” is somewhat dubious since it is based on a Hebrew root sadad, which does not exactly mean “almighty”, but “to deal violently with.”
Shaddai refers to a tribal deity, a high god worshipped by the patriarchs, who were not monotheists. They usually point to Deuteronomy 32:17 and Joshua 24:2, which recorded the facts that theirs ancestors served and worshipped other gods beyond the Euphrates.
Zurishaddai [Numbers 7:36] in many ancient Egyptians documents, Shadai amni is the same as Shadai-amni the Egyptian god of the mountains. Out of its 46 appearance in the Bible, only the RSV translated el Shaddai to God Almighty.
Shaddai is one of the unknown deity and who came from nowhere but feared by the ancient Israel who did not know God [see Deuteronomy 32:17]. The patriarchs were not monotheistic but served other gods [Joshua 24:2]. It is true that the term shaddai or shadday is in the Bible but does not refer to God of the Bible.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
225 - THE GOD OF ISRAEL
El-Eloe-Yisrael is an appellation that occurs only in Gen. 33:20 as the name of the altar that marked the place of Jacob's encounter with God. It denotes the unique significance of El as the God of Jacob.
Adonai is from the root dn which occurs in Ugaritic with the meanings "lord and father." If the word originally connoted "father," it is not difficult to understand how the connotation "lord" developed from that. The basic meaning of the word in the Old Testament is "lord."
Critical to the understanding of the meaning of the word is the suffix ay. It is commonly suggested that the ending is the first person possessive suffix on a plural form of addon" my lord"). This is plausible for the form adonay but the heightened form adonay which also appears in the Massoretic text, is more difficult to explain, unless it represents an effort on the part of the Massoretes "to mark the word as sacred by a small external sign."
Attention has been drawn to the Ugaritic ending -ai which is used in that language "as a reinforcement of a basic word," However, it is doubtful that this explanation should be applied in all cases. The plural construction of the name is evident when the word occurs in the construct as it does in the appellation "Lord of lords" adone ha adonim) in Deut. 10:17. And the translation "my Lord" seems to be required in such vocative addresses as my Lord Yahweh what will you give me?" (Gen. 15:2; see also Exodus 4:10).
It appears, then, that it is best to understand the word as a plural of majesty with a first person suffixual ending that was altered by the Massoretes to mark the sacred character of the name.
Other Names of God in the Bible: The name Baali occurs only once, in Hosea 2:16 "My Baal," in a play on words. The word means "my husband," as does , the word with which it is paired.
Ancient of Days is an appellation applied to God in Dan. 7. It occurs with other depictions of great age (vs. 9) to create the impression of noble venerability. The title is related to Christ title as Son of Man the perfect Judge of all men.
Abba is an alternate Aramaic term for "father." It is the word that Jesus used to address God in Mark 14:36. Paul pairs the word with the Greek word for "father" in Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6.
The alep that terminates the form 'abba functions as both a demonstrative and a vocative particle in Aramaic: In the time of Jesus the word connoted both the emphatic concept, "the father," and the more intimate "my father, our father."
While the word was the common form of address for children, there is much evidence that in the time of Jesus the practice was not limited only to children.
The word occurs three times in the NT. Mark uses it in Jesus' Gethsemane prayer (14:36). Paul employs it twice for the cry of the Spirit in the heart of a Christian (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). In every case it is accompanied by the Greek equivalent, ho pater that means Father.
Abba is from the Aramaic abba. It signifies "my father." It is not in the Greek Bible. In the original text, the Lord Jesus said only "Abba! Abba!" but the Aramaic and the English translators combined Greek and English terms. Paul's usage suggests it may have become a quasiliturgical formula.
Abba! Father! Denotes intimate relationship between Jesus Christ and God the Father
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
226 - YAHWEH
Yahweh. The parallel structure in Exodus 3:14-15 supports the association of the name Yahweh with the concept of being or existence. It says, "I AM has sent me to you" (vs. 14; "The LORD has sent me to you" (vs. 15). The name "I AM" is based on the clause "I AM WHO I AM" found in 3:14 which, on the basis of the etymology implied here, suggests that Yahweh is the third participle form of the verb ehyah (I am).
The Aramaic clause “ehyeh aser ehyeh” been translated in several ways, "I am that I am" (AV), "I am who I am" (RSV, NIV), and "I will be what I will be" (RSV margin). Recently the translation "I am (the) One who is" has been suggested. The recent modern translations are grammatically incorrect.
The main concern of the context is to demonstrate that a continuity exists in the divine activity from the time of the patriarchs to the events recorded in Exodus chapter 3. The Lord is referred to as the God of the fathers (13, 15, 16). The God who made the gracious promises regarding Abraham's offspring is the God who is and who continues to be. The affirmation of verse 17 is but a reaffirmation of the promise made to Abraham. The name Yahweh may thus affirm the continuing activity of God on behalf of his people in fealty to his promise.
Jesus' application of the words "I am" to Himself in John 8:58 not only denoted his preexistence but associated him with Yahweh as the begotten Son of God.
Jesus was the fulfillment of the promise given to Abraham, the fulfillment of which Abraham anticipated (John 8:56).
In the Pentateuch, Yahweh denotes that aspect of God's character that is personal rather than transcendent. It occurs in contexts in which the covenantal and redemptive aspects of God predominate. The name YHWH is employed when God is presented to us in His personal character and in direct relationship to people or nature; and 'Elohim, when the Deity is alluded to as a Transcendental Being who exists completely outside and above the physical universe" This precise distinction does not always obtain outside the Pentateuch, but Yahweh never loses its distinct function as the designation of the God of Israel.
The name Yahweh Saboath appears for the first time in Israel's history in connection with the cult center at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3): It is there that the tent of meeting was set up when the land of Canaan had been subdued by the Israelites (Josh. 18:1). The name apparently had its origin in the period of the conquest or the post-conquest period. It does not occur in the Pentateuch.
It is possible that the name was attributed to Yahweh as a result of the dramatic appearance to Joshua of an angelic being called the "commander of the host of Yahweh" at the commencement of the conquest (Joshua 5:13-15). The name would thus depict the vast power at Yahweh's disposal in the angelic hosts.
The association of this name with the Ark of the Covenant in I Samuel 4:4 is significant in that Yahweh is enthroned above the angelic figures known as the cherubim (II Samuel 6:2). Because the name was associated with the Ark of the Covenant, David addressed the people in that name when the ark was recovered from the Philistines (2 Samuel 6:18).
The almighty power of Yahweh displayed in this name is manifested in the sphere of history (Psalms 46:6-7; 59:5). His power may be displayed in the life of the individual (Psalm 69:6) as well as the nation (Psalm 80:7). Sometimes he is simply referred to as "the Almighty."
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
227 - ELOHIM
Elohim is the more general name for God: In the Pentateuch, when used as a proper name, it most commonly denotes the more transcendental aspects of God's character. When God is presented in relation to his creation and to the peoples of the earth in the Pentateuch, the name Elohim is the name most often used. It is for this reason that Elohim occurs consistently in the creation account of Genesis 1:1-2:42 and in the genealogies of Genesis. Where the context takes on a moral tone, as in Genesis 2:4bff., the name Yahweh is used.
Throughout Genesis and the early chapters of Exodus Elohim is used most often as a proper name. After Exodus 3 the name begins to occur with increasing frequency as an appellative, that is, "the God of," or "your God." This function is by far the most frequent mode of reference to God in the book of Deuteronomy. When used in this fashion the name denotes God as the supreme deity of a person or people. Thus, in the frequent expression, "Yahweh your God," Yahweh functions as a proper name, while "God" functions as the denominative of deity.
The appellative Elohim connotes all that God is. As God He is sovereign, and that sovereignty extends beyond Israel into the arena of the nations (Deut. 2:30, 33; 3:22; Isaiah 52:10). As God to His people He is loving and merciful (Deut. 1:31; 2:7; 23:5; Isaiah 41:10, 13, 17; 49:5; Jeremiah 3:23). He establishes standards of obedience (Deut. 4:2; Jeremiah 11:3) and His sovereignty punishes disobedience (Deut. 23:21). As God, there is no one like him (Isaiah 44:7; 45:5-21).
The same connotations obtain in the use of the shorter form el He is the God who sees El roi Genesis 16:13) and He is el the God of Israel (Genesis 33:20).
As El Elyon, God is described in his exaltation over all things. There are two definitive passages for this name. In Psalm 83:18 Yahweh is described as "Most High over the earth," and Isaiah 14:14 states, "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High."
However, in the majority of cases the attributes of this name are indistinguishable from other usages El or Elohim. He fixed the boundaries of the nations (Deut. 32:8). He effects changes in the creation (Psalm 18:13).
This name occurs six times in the patriarchal narratives. In most of those instances it is associated with the promise given by God to the patriarchs. Yet the name is often paired with Yahweh in the poetic material, and thus shares the personal warmth of that name. He is known for his steadfast love (Psalm 21:7) and his protection (Psalm 91:9-10).
The root of Adonai means, "lord" and, in its secular usage, always refers to a superior in the OT. The word retains the sense of "Lord" when applied to God. The present pointing of the word in the Massoretic text is late; early manuscripts were written without vowel pointing.
In Psalm 110:1 the word is pointed in the singular, as it usually is when it applies to humans rather than God. Yet Jesus used this verse to argue for His deity. The pointing is Massoretic and no distinction would be made in the consonantal texts. Since the word denotes a superior, the word must refer to one who is superior to David and who bears the messianic roles of king and priest (vs. 4).
The name Abba connotes the exclusive fatherhood of God. This is affirmed by the accompanying translation ho pater ("father"), which occurs in each usage of the name in the NT (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
228 - ABBA
The use of this name as Jesus' mode of address to God in Mark 14:36 is a unique expression of Jesus' relationship to the Father. He spoke to God like a child to its father, simply, inwardly, and confidently. Jesus' use of Abba in addressing God reveals the heart of his relationship with God.
The same relationship is sustained by the believer with God; It is only because of the believer's relationship with God, established by the Holy Spirit, that he can address God with this name that depicts a relationship of warmth and filial love.
In a sense the relationship designated by this name is the fulfillment of the ancient promise given to Abraham's offspring that the Lord will be their God, and they His people.
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet while Omega being the last letter. These letters occur in the text of Rev. 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13, and are represented by "Alpha" and "Omega" respectively. They mean "the first and last." (Compare: Hebrews 12:2; Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; Rev. 1:11, 17; 2:8.) In the symbols of the early Christian Church these two letters are frequently combined with the cross or with Christ's monogram to denote his divinity.
The rendering of the Greek expression to Alpha kai to O which is found in three places in the NT (Revelation 1:8; 21:6; 22:13):
In this phrase there is probably a reference to the Jewish employment of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to indicate the totality of a thing. "The symbol t' was regarded as including the intermediate letters, and stood for totality; and thus it fitly represented the Shekinah It is a natural transition to the thought of eternity when the expression is related to time.
The expression is essentially the same as Isaiah's words, "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). Thus it is a claim that the one to whom it refers is the Eternal One.
The expression in Revelation 1:8, due to the explanatory phrases that modify the subject, refers to the eternity and omnipotence of the Lord God. In 21:6 it is further defined by the words "the beginning and the end and in 22:13 by the words "the first and the last." The thought conveyed in the second and third occurrences is the same.
In patristic and literature the expression referred to the Son. It seems clear, however, that the first two occurrences refer to the Father (1:8; 21:6), while the third properly refers to the Son. On its last occurrence (22:13) the phrase is applicable in many senses, but perhaps it is used here with special reference to our Lord's place in human history. As creation owed it’s beginning to the Word of God, so in His incarnate glory He will bring it to its consummation by the Great Award.
Holy One of Israel: This title for God occurs twenty-six times in the book of Isaiah and only six times in the rest of the OT. From the very first chapter (1:4), Isaiah contrasts the perfection and purity of God with the corruptness and sinfulness of Israel.
A God so powerful and so holy deserved to be held in awe (8:13; 29:23), but instead the people of Israel spurned him and mocked him (5:19). It is against the background of Israel's blatant sin that Isaiah presents his vision of the Holy God in chapter 6. So overwhelming was his glimpse of the holiness of God in the heavenly temple that Isaiah acknowledged his sin and responded in obedience to the Lord.
Throughout the rest of the book Isaiah refers to "the Holy One of Israel" as the God set apart from all other Gods and worthy of all honors.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
229 - HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL
Jeremiah announces the defeat of mighty Babylon for the same reason the children of Israel were judged with fifth cycle of discipline [Jeremiah 50:29]. The Holy One is the judge of the entire world.
Six times Isaiah links the "Holy One of Israel" with the word "redeemer" (41:14; 43:14; 47:4; 48:17; 49:7; 54:5). Just as God delivered his people from the slavery of Egypt, so will he bring them back from the Babylonian exile. God will build a highway for the redeemed, called "the way of holiness" (35:8-10). An incomparable and faithful God will once again come to the rescue of his chosen people (49:7).
It is likely that Isaiah patterns the name "the Holy One of Israel" after the title "the Mighty One of Jacob." This name for God first occurs in the patriarchal blessing of Genesis 49:24, and appears three out of six times in Isaiah (1:24; 49:26; 60:16). The first time it is given as "the Mighty One of Israel," rather than "Jacob," probably echoing "the Holy One of Israel" in 1:4. The God whom Jacob worshipped needed to be revealed in new power to the rebellious nation of Isaiah's day.
THE LOGOS is the most usual Greek term for "word" in the NT: occasionally with other meanings (account, reason, and motive); specifically in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (John 1:1, 14) and perhaps in other Johannine writings (I John 1:1; Rev. 19:13) it is used of the second person of the Trinity. In ordinary Greek parlance it also means reason.
According to John 1:1-18 the Logos was already present at the creation ("in the beginning" relates to Gen. 1:1), in the closest relationship with God ("with" pros, not meta). Indeed, the Logos was God (not "divine," This relationship with God was effective in the moment of creation (1:2). The entire work of creation was carried out through ("by" =dia, verse 3) the Logos. The source of life (1:4) and light of the world (9:5) and of every man (1:9), and still continuing (present tense in 1:5) this work, the Logos became incarnate, revealing the sign of God's presence and his nature (1:14).
The prologue thus sets out three main facets of the Logos and his activity: his divinity and intimate relationship with the Father; his work as agent of creation; and his incarnation.
In I John 1:1 "the Logos of life," seen, heard, and handled, may refer to the personal Christ of the apostolic preaching or impersonally to the message about Him. Revelation 19:12 pictures Christ as a conquering general called the Logos of God. As in Hebrews 4:12, it is the OT picture of the shattering effects of God's word which is in mind or soul.
Diverse factors give some preparation for John's usage. God creates by the word (Genesis 1:3; Psalm 33:9) and his word is sometimes spoken of semi personally (Psalm 107:20; 147:15, 18); it is chock-full of life, dynamic, achieving its intended results (Isaiah 50:10-11). The wisdom of God is personified (Proverbs 8, note especially verses 22. on wisdom's work in creation). The angel of the Lord is sometimes spoken of as God, sometimes as distinct (Judges 2:1). God's name is semi personalized (Exodus 23:21; I Kings 8:29).
In the Palestinian Judaism, besides the personification of wisdom, the rabbis used the word me’mraword," as a periphrasis for "divinity.
Among the philosophers the precise significance of Logos varies, but it stands usually for "reason" and reflects the Greek conviction that divinity cannot come into direct contact with matter: The Logos is a shock absorber between God and the universe, and the manifestation of the divine principle in the world.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
230 - LOGOS
In the Stoic tradition the Logos is both divine reason and reason distributed in the world (and thus in the mind or nous.
In Alexandrian Judaism there was full personification of the word in creation (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1; 16:12). The Logos is "the image" (Colossians 1:15); the first form protogonos), the representation (charakter, Hebrews 1:3), of God; and even "Second God" deuteros theos; the means whereby God creates the world from the great waste; and, moreover, the way whereby God is known through spiritual perception not through human wisdom.
Logos occurs frequently in the Hemmetica though post-Christian, these are influenced by hellenistic Judaism. They indicate the Logos doctrine, in something like Philonic terms, in pagan mystical circles.
John 1 differs radically from philosophic usage. For the Greeks, Logos was essentially reason; for John, essentially word. Language common to Philo's and the NT has led many to see John as Philo's debtor. But one refers naturally to Philo's Logos as "It," to John's as "He." Philo came no nearer than Plato to a Logos who might be incarnate, and he does not identify Logos and Messiah. John's Logos is not only God's agent in creation; He is God, and becomes incarnate, revealing, and redeeming.
The rabbinic me’mra hardly more than a reverent substitution for the divine name, is not sufficiently substantial a concept; nor is direct contact with Hermetic circles likely. The source of John's Logos doctrine is in the person and work of the historical Christ. "Jesus is not to be interpreted by Logos: Logos is intelligible only as we think of Jesus.
Its expression takes its suitability primarily from the OT connotation of "word" and its personification of wisdom. Christ is God's active Word, his saving revelation to fallen man. It is not accidental that both the gospel and Christ who is its subject are called "the word." But the use of "Logos" in the contemporary hellenistic world made it a useful "bridge" word.
In two NT passages where Christ is described in terms recalling Philo's Logos, the word Logos is absent (Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3). Its introduction to Christian speech has been attributed to Apollos.
The apologists found the Logos a convenient term in expounding Christianity to pagans. They used its sense of "reason," and some were thus enabled to see philosophy as a preparation for the gospel. The Hebraic overtones of "word" were under-emphasized, though never quite lost. Some theologians distinguished between the Logos prophorikos or Word latent in the Godhead from all eternity, and logos prophorikos, uttered and becoming effective with creation and the creation Origen seems to have used Philo's language of the deuteros theos. In the major Christological controversies, however, the use of the term did not clarify the main issues, and it does not occur in the great counsel.
There is nothing in the Bible to support the heathen notion of a literal divine fatherhood of clans or nations. Several passages of Scripture imply that God is the Father of angels and men as their Creator (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalm 86:6; Luke 3:38). But it is chiefly in connection with Israel, the Davidic king, and Messiah that references to the fatherhood of God occur in the OT.
By the historical event of deliverance from Egypt, God created the nation of Israel and subsequently cared for them, establishing a special relationship with them. Allusions to his fatherly regard for them look back to this crisis as the time of the nation's origin.
The most usual Greek term for "word" in the NT is logos occasionally translated with other meanings (account, reason, motive); specifically in the prologue to the Fourth Gospel (John 1:1, 14) and perhaps in other Johnnaine writings (I John 1:1; Revelation 19:13) it is used of the Second Person of the Trinity. In ordinary Greek parlance it also means reason.
According to John 1:1-18 the Logos was already present at the creation ("in the beginning" relates to Genesis 1:1), in the closest relationship with God ("with" pros, not meta or syn) Indeed, the Logos is God (not just a "divine being”. This relationship with God was effective in the moment of creation (1:2). The entire work of creation was carried out through by - dia vs. 3) the Logos.
The source of life (1:4, probable punctuation) and light of the world (cf. 9:5) and of every man (1:9, probable punctuation), and still continuing (present tense in 1:5) this work, the Logos became incarnate, revealing the sign of God's presence and his nature (1:14).
The prologue thus sets out three main facets of the Logos and His activity: His divinity and intimate relationship with the Father; His work as agent of creation; and His incarnation.
In I John 1:1 "the Logos of life," seen, heard, and handled, may refer to the personal Christ of the apostolic preaching or impersonally to the message about Him. Rev. 19:12 pictures Christ as a conquering general called the Logos of God. As in Hebrews 4:12, it is the OT picture of the shattering effects of God's word, which is in mind.
Diverse factors give some preparation for John's usage. God creates by His Word (Genesis 1:3; Psalm 33:9) and His word is sometimes spoken of semi-personally (Psalms 107:20; 147:15, 18); it is active, dynamic, achieving its intended results (Isaiah 50:10-11). The wisdom of God is personified in His Word. The angel of the Lord is sometimes spoken of as God, sometimes as distinct (Judges 2:1). God's name is semi-personalized (Exodus 23:21; I Kings 8:29).
John chapter 1 differs radically from philosophic usage. For the Greeks, Logos was essentially reason; for John, essentially word. Language common to Philo's and the NT has led many to see John as Philo's debtor. But one refers naturally to Philo's Logos as "It," to John's as "He." Philo came no nearer than Plato to a Logos who might be incarnate, and he does not identify Logos and Messiah. John's Logos is not only God's agent in creation; He is God, and becomes incarnate, revealing, and redeeming.
The source of John's Logos doctrine is in the person and work of the historical Christ. "Jesus is not to be interpreted by Logos: Logos is intelligible only as we think of Jesus Its expression takes its suitability primarily from the OT connotation of "word" and its personification of wisdom. Christ is God's active Word, his saving revelation to fallen man. It is not accidental that both the gospel and Christ who is its subject are called "the word."
The apologists found the Logos a convenient term in expounding Christianity to pagans. They used its sense of "reason," and some were thus enabled to see philosophy as a preparation for the gospel. The Hebraic overtones of "word" were under-emphasized, though never quite lost.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
231 - FATHER
The emancipation of the believers from slavery marked them off from other people as His adopted children. His care for them is frequently compared to that of a father (Hosea11:1; Deut. 14:1; 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 2:7; 89:26; Deut. 1:31; 8:5; Isaiah 1:2). On the other hand, a response of filial love expressed in obedience was required from them (Jeremiah 3:9; Malachi 1:6), and since it was so often refused, a more restricted conception of the fatherhood of God resulted. According to this deeper view, he is the Father of the God-fearing among the nation rather than of the nation as a whole (Psalm 103:13; Malachi 3:17).
The number of instances of the word "Father" as applied to God in the Gospels is more than double the number found in the remaining books of the NT. In the Gospel of John alone, the term occur 107 times. Two points in connection with Jesus' use of this title are of special interest:
First: He never joins His disciples with Himself in allusions to His relationship with the Father in such a way as to suggest that their relationship to God is of the same kind. He was aware of standing in an intimate and unparalleled relation. He claimed to be the preexistent eternal Son, equal with the Father, who became incarnate for the fulfillment of his purpose of salvation, being appointed by Him sole Mediator between God and men (Matthew 11:27; John 8:58; 10:30, 38; 14:9; 16:28; 3:25; 5:22).
Second: When he speaks of God as the Father of others He almost always refers to His disciples. While accepting the teaching of the OT that all persons are children of God by creation and receive his providential kindness (Matthew 5:45), he also taught that sin has brought about a change in men, necessitating rebirth and reconciliation to God (John 3:3; 8:42; 14:6).
In accordance with this, the apostles teach that one becomes a child of God by faith in Christ and thus receives the Spirit of adoption (John 1:12; Galatians 3:16; 4:5; Romans 8:15). Sonship leads to likeness and inheritance (Matthew 5:16; Romans 8:17, 29; I John 3:2). The Father is revealed as sovereign, holy, righteous, and merciful. Prayer may confidently be offered to him, but only in Jesus' name (Matthew 6:32; John 17:11, 25; 14:14).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
232 - ANGEL OF THE LORD
Both in the Old and New Testament the angel of the Lord mal’ak yhwh) is represented as acting on behalf of the nation of Israel as well as of individuals. The lack of precise data in the OT with regard to the identification of this figure and his relationship to Yahweh has given rise to a number of conclusions. We have to understand the presence of the Angel of the Lord in the OT as an attempt to express the concept of Theophany in a less direct manner because of the early realization that it is impossible to see God.
The figure of the Lord may have been inserted into some of the older traditions in place of an original Canaanite writings. However, this presupposes an already concrete idea of the concept and does not explain its origin or the nature of the concept in early Israelite religion.
Many understand the angel of the Lord as a true Theophany. From the time of Justin on, the figure has been regarded as the preincarnate Logos. It is beyond question that the angel of the Lord must be identified in some way with God (Genesis 16:13; Judges 6:14; 13:21-22), yet he is distinguished from God in that God refers to the angel (Exodus 23:23; 32:34), speaks to Him (2 Samuel 24:16; I Chronicles 21:27), and the angel speaks to Yahweh (Zechariah 1:12). The evidence for the view that the angel of the Lord is preincarnate appearance of Christ is basically analogical and falls short of being conclusive.
The NT does not clearly make that identification. It is best to see the angel as a self-manifestation of Yahweh in a form that would communicate his immanence and direct concern to those to whom he ministered.
ANGEL OF THE LORD: The word "host" is associated in the OT with God's heavenly throne, with the created order, and with divine and human warfare. The heavenly host is the angels of God's council, also called "holy ones" or "sons of God" (I Kings 22:19; Psalm 89:6, 8; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7).
Although at times the biblical writers consider the heavenly bodies almost naturalistically as markers of time (Genesis 1:16; Isaiah 40:26; Nehemiah 9:6), elsewhere they describe them as exercising a delegated authority over the nations of the earth (Deut. 4:19; 32:8). While the heavenly host is as a whole subservient to God's will and offers him praise (Psalm 103:21), there are also elements of discord within its midst (I Kings 22:21; Job 1:6-12; 15:15), leading to God's final judgment (Isaiah 24:21).
The heavenly host also refers to God's army. The Lord of hosts yhwh sebaot) is a title associated with the Ark of the Covenant and the holy wars of early Israel (I Samuel 4:4; Numbers 10:36). In God’s saving appearance (or theophany) in support of Israel's army, He is accompanied by heavenly warriors (Deut. 33:2; Judges 5:20). The angelic leader of the heavenly host is called a "prince" (Hebrew ‘sar” a title later associated with the archangels (Joshua 5:14; Daniel 8:25; 10:13; 12:1).
The divine, cosmic, and military associations of the heavenly host reach far back into the biblical tradition and into the background of the ancient Near East, and they continue to flourish in the apocalyptic literature of the intertestamental period and to a lesser extent in the New Testament (Luke 2:13; Revelation 12).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
234 - MESSIAH
The study of the rise and development of the figure of the Messiah is primarily historical, and then theological. Confusion arises when specifically Christian ideas about the Messiah invade the OT data. Jesus' concept of his messianic mission did not accord with contemporary popular Jewish expectation.
In the OT, "Messiah" is the Hellenized transliteration of the Aramaic mesiha. The underlying Hebrew word masiah is derived from masah, “to anoint or smear with oil’ This title was used sometimes of non-Israelites - sometimes of the prophet as in I Kings 19:16. But most frequently it referred to the king of Israel as in I Samuel 26:11 and Psalm 89:20. It is noteworthy that the word "Messiah" does not appear at all in the Old Testament.
The primary sense of the title is "king," as the anointed man of God, but it also suggests election, i.e., the king was chosen, elect, and therefore honored. It could scarcely be otherwise than that it referred to a political leader, for in its early stages Israel sought only a ruler, visible and powerful, who would reign here and now. But the entire evidence of later Judaism points to a Messiah not only as king but as eschatological king, a ruler who would appear at the end time.
David was the ideal king of Israel, and as such he had a "sacral" character, and this sacral characteristic came to be applied to the eschatological king who was to be like David.
How did the national Messiah come to be a future ideal king? After the death of David, Israel began to hope for another like him who would maintain the power and prestige of the country. But Israel came into hard times with the rupture of the kingdom, and with this event there arose a disillusionment concerning the hope for a king like David.
Gradually the hope was projected into the future, and eventually into the very remote future, so that the Messiah was expected at the end of the age. This is the mood of the messianic expectations in the latter part of the OT. It looks forward to the birth of the Davidic king in Bethlehem; and Zechariah 9 and 12 describe the character of the messianic kingdom and reign.
The Son of man figure in Daniel is not to be identified with the Messiah; it is later in the history of Judaism that the two figures were seen to be one. The suffering servant of Isaiah by reason of his role is yet another figure. So the Messiah or future ideal king of Israel, the Son of man, and the suffering servant were three distinct representations in the OT.
. As in the OT the formal use of "Messiah" is rare. It is well to remember that in this literature there is a distinction between Messiah and messianic; a book may have a messianic theme but lack a Messiah.
The book of Enoch is best known for its doctrine of the Son of man, which has many messianic overtones. Yet he is not the Messiah, but a person much like Daniel's Son of man. It remained to the Psalms of Solomon (48 B.C.) to provide the one confirmed and repeated evidence of the technical use of the term in the inter-testamental literature.
Out of the welter of messianic hopes in this period there emerges a pattern: two kinds of Messiah came to be expected. On one hand, there arose an expectation of a purely national Messiah, one who would appear as a man and assume the kingship over Judah to deliver it from its oppressors.
On the other hand, there was a hope for a transcendent Messiah from heaven, a Person with two natures: a perfect God and a perfect Man who would establish the kingdom of God on earth.
To the popular Jewish mind of the first two centuries before and after Christ these two concepts were not mutually hostile, but tended rather to modify each other. It has been argued by some scholars that the conflation of the concepts of Messiah and suffering servant took place in hypostatic union.
It remained for Jesus to fuse the three great eschatological representations of the OT, Messiah, suffering servant, and Son of man, into one messianic person. Apart from this truth there is no explanation for the confusion of the disciples when he told them He must suffer and die (Matthew 16:21). That Christ knew Himself to be the Messiah is seen best in His use of the title Son of man; in Mark 14:61-62 he equates the Christ and the Son of man.
"Christ" is simply the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "messiah." John 1:41 and 4:25 preserve the Semitic idea by transliterating the word "messiah." Jesus willingly accepted the appellation Son of David, a distinct messianic title, on several occasions, the cry of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:47), the children in the temple (Matthew 21:15), and the triumphal entry (Matthew 21:9), to name but a few. It has long been wondered why the Lord Jesus did not appropriate the title Messiah to Himself instead of the less clear title of Son of man.
The former was probably avoided out of political considerations, for if Jesus had publicly used "Messiah" of Himself it would have ignited political aspirations in his hearers to appoint Him as king, principally a nationalistic figure, and to seek to drive out the Roman occupiers. This is precisely the import of the Jews' action at the triumphal entry. Jesus seized on the title Son of man to veil to his hearers his messianic mission but to reveal that mission to his disciples.
The first generation of the church did not hesitate to refer to Jesus as the Christ, and thereby designate Him as the greater Son of David, the King. The word was used first as a title of Jesus (Matthew 16:16) and later as part of the personal name (Ephesians 1:1). Peter's sermon at Pentecost acknowledged Jesus not only as the Christ, but also as Lord, and so the fulfillment of the messianic office is integrally linked to the essential deity of Jesus. Acts 2:36 affirm that Jesus was "made" Christ, the sense of the verb being that by the resurrection Jesus was confirmed as the Christ, the Messiah of God. Romans 1:4 and Philippians 2:9-11 contain the same thought. Other messianic titles attributed to Jesus include Servant, Lord, Son of God, the King, the Holy One, the Righteous One, and the Judge.
The doctrine of the hypostatic union, first set forth officially in the definition of faith), concerns the union of the two natures dyo physes) of deity and humanity in the one hypostasis or person of Jesus Christ. It can be stated as follows: In the incarnation of the Son of God, a human nature was inseparably united forever with the divine nature in the one person of Jesus Christ, yet with the two natures remaining distinct, whole, and unchanged, without mixture or confusion so that the one person, Jesus Christ, is truly God and truly man.
Jesus Christ is truly, perfectly, and wholly God and truly, perfectly, and wholly man.
Admittedly, this doctrine leaves many metaphysical questions unanswered. However, it should be noted that this doctrine was not produced as the fruit of philosophic speculation on the possible singular co subsistence of the finite and the infinite. Rather it was offered as a precise description of the incarnation recorded in Scripture, drawn from the greatest extent of biblical data and making use of whatever language that might help in that descriptive task (such as the introduction of a technical distinction between thesis, physis and hypostasis). 235 - THE MAN JESUS
THE BIRTH OF JESUS: The Lord Jesus was born not on December 25, 1 A.D. because of several reasons: December is wintertime in Palestine area and of course, the sheep and shepherds cannot be in the open field at nighttime as mentioned in the Bible narrative. The newly born child would freeze to death if wrapped only with thin cloth. The census all-over the Roman Empire was implemented 40 days after the Emperor Tiberius decreed it when he visited
It was the Bishop of Rome (the fox) who officially proclaimed in 354 A.D. that Christmas be celebrated on such day.
THE PERFECT MAN: Jesus Christ must become true humanity because of 4 reasons that no other person can fulfill. He became a genuine humanity in order to be the Savior of the human race, to die on the cross of Calvary and to be mediator between God and man. He became a genuine man to become our great High Priest forever and to rule as the Son of David during the millennial kingdom.
He had to become a man in order to take our place (of condemnation before God). It was man (Adam) who sinned; therefore, it must be man who must pay the penalty of sin. For until a Man can stand in the presence of God, no man can stand in the presence of God.
He had to be a Man because it is impossible for the deity to die. It is impossible for deity to suffer spiritual death (that is to become sinful before God). It is impossible for the deity to be separated from God and from His essence.
While Jesus was on the cross, God the Father poured out all His wrath against sin on Him who has no sin. God the father poured His wrath on Him while His humanity was separated from God that is while He was spiritually death.
The acceptance of Christ as a Man meant the acceptance of His sacrifice. The acceptance of His sacrifice meant the acceptance of all those who seek entrance into the presence of the Father through Jesus Christ [Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 1:13, Psalm 110:1, 1 Peter 3:22].
Christ as the SECOND ADAM has no Adamic original sin without the old sinful nature (AOS & OSN), He is the unique begotten Son of God and the unique God-Man- perfectly impeccable. Because of Jesus the justice of God is freed to bless man. Jesus is the only Person born spiritually alive and by His own volition chose to die for man. He is the only Man equal with God. He is the only Man equal with man, and the only man accepted and approved by God.
It is impossible to produce a biography of Jesus Christ due to very limited materials provided by the writers of the Gospels. As believers, we cannot accept the non-Christian and pseudo-Christians materials. All the Gnostic and extra-canonical materials are misleading and heretical.
Jesus Christ is the only unique Person in the entire universe for several reasons: He was born spiritual alive and became spiritually death only for 3 hours while hanging on the cross.
He was born without the old sinful nature and He died by His own will. He was tempted more than all the men and women in this world but He ascended to heaven without committing a single sin. His death on the cross (His spiritual death) gives eternal life to those who comes to Him by faith in Christ alone.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
236 - JESUS OF NAZARETH
JESUS as the proper name and Christ as the official, name of our Lord: to distinguish him from others who possessed the same name. He is spoken of as "Jesus of Nazareth" (John 18:7), and "Jesus the son of Joseph" (John 6:42). This is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshuaƒz, which was originally Hoshea (Numbers 13:8, 16), but changed by Moses into Jehoshua (Num. 13:16; 1 Chronicles. 7:27), or Joshuaƒ| After the Exile it assumed the form Joshuaƒz whence the Greek form Jesus. It was given to our Lord to denote the object of his mission, to save (Matthew 1:21).
The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods,
1. That of His private life, till he was about thirty years of age; and 2. That of His public life, which lasted about three years
In the "fullness of time" He was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter (Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:23; comp. John 7:42
The expression ¡§Jesus the Christ¡¨ is a combination of a name, "Jesus" (of Nazareth), and the title "Messiah" (Hebrew) or "Christ" (Greek), which means, "anointed." In Acts 5:42, where we read of "preaching Jesus the Christ," this combination of the name and the title is still apparent. As time progressed, however, the title became so closely associated with the name that the combination soon was transformed to a confessional name, Jesus Christ. The appropriateness of this title for Jesus was such that even Jewish Christian writers quickly referred to Jesus Christ rather than Jesus the Christ (Matthew 1:1; Romans 1:7; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:1; I Peter 1:1).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
237 - THE ONLY BEGOTTEN
The Greek word monogenes occurs 9 times in the New Testament- the second half of the word is not derived from gennao, ¡¥to beget¡¨," but is an adjectival form derived from genos, "origin, race,¡¨monogenes, therefore, could be rendered "one of a kind." The translation "only" will suffice for the references in Luke and Hebrews.
In the Pauline writings, the term idios huiosƒw clearly stated the reality of monogenes (Rom. 8:32). Since the apostle Paul used "beloved" ƒv(agapetos) of the Son, some have concluded that the two words agapetos and monogenes are equivalent in force.
Though the translation "only" is lexically sound for Johnnanine passages, since in all strictness "only begotten" would require monogennetosƒz the old rendering "only begotten" is not entirely without justification when the context in John 1:14 is considered.
The verb genesthaiƒnoccurs at the end of 1:13 ("born of God") and ginesthai ƒnin 1:14; these words ultimately go back to the same root as the second half of monogenes. Especially important is 1 John 5:18, where the second "born of God" must refer to Christ according to the superior Greek text.
. The Sonship in John is linked to preexistence (17:5, 24, and the many references to the Son as sent of the Father).
In its significance monogenes relates to several areas: (1) being or nature (uniquely God's Son), (2) the revelation of God to man (John 1:18), and (3) salvation through the Son (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). "The adjective 'only begotten' conveys the idea, not of derivation and subordination, but of uniqueness and consubstantiality: Jesus is all that God is, and He alone is this".
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
238 - JESUS AS LORD
The phrase "Jesus is Lord" is probably the earliest of the Christian confessions and worked its way into the various acts of Christian worship. In what may well reflect a baptismal liturgy Paul writes, "If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' ... you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9). Similarly, in the confessional or creedal formula in Phil. 2:11 every tongue shall confess, "Jesus Christ is Lord." Furthermore, only by the Holy Spirit can one say, "Jesus is Lord" (I Cor. 12:3).
It is important to note that it is Jesus as the risen and exalted one who is Lord, that is, the believing community in virtue of His exaltation to the right hand of God confesses the lordship of Jesus. In his Pentecost sermon Peter declares that Jesus whom they crucified God has raised and exalted to his right hand; and the whole house of Israel must know assuredly that God by this exaltation has made Him Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).
According to Paul, Jesus as Lord is declared Son of God with power through His resurrection from the dead. This must not be taken to mean that lordship is not to be ascribed to the earthly ministry of Jesus but to reinforce the point that the significance of the title in the life of the church is linked to His exaltation. To underscore this, Psalm 110:1 was drawn on heavily (Matthew 22:44; 26:64, Acts 2:34-35; Hebrews 1:3).
In the Palestinian community "Lord" was most commonly linked with Yahweh and became a regular circumlocution for the divine name in the public reading of the Scriptures. In the Greek Old Testament it is a translation of the Hebrew term "Adonaiƒzƒp a designation for Yahweh. Furthermoreƒz the use Maranatha ("Our Lord, come" or "Our Lord is coming") in I Cor. 16:22 suggests an early Palestinian origin. It is suggested, therefore, that when Jesus is called Lord, it is affirming his oneness with God.
They Jews have argued that the title, which makes Jesus equal with God, could not have arisen in the monotheism of Palestine, and that Jesus was first worshiped in these Hellenistic Christian communities. Though the debate is exceedingly complex, the former explanation is probably to be preferred. The recognition by even the enemies of Jesus that He acted and spoke with the authority of the OT Lord is not to be dismissed.
As the title for the exalted one, "Lord" has special reference to the present work of Christ as over against His former work on earth or His future work. The life of the community is lived under Jesus' lordship (Rom. 14:8). The baptism, or gift, of the Spirit is the act of the risen Lord that creates and extends the church. Through the Spirit the lordship of Jesus is exercised so that even the work of the Spirit is to be seen as the work of the risen Lord.
Having ascended on high He has given the church its spiritual leadership for the equipping of the saints and the perfecting of His body (Ephesians 4:11). The diversity of gifts and the variety of services are the singular activity of the Lord (I Cor. 12:4-5). The empowerment of the church is also expressed in the head-body imagery employed by Paul so that the head sustains the body and keeps it on course in the fulfilling of the divine plan (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18; 2:10). In the church the risen Lord thereby continues His own ministry begun in the incarnation.
Prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and intercession are carried on in the church by virtue of the presence of the Lord at the right hand of the Father (Rom. 8:34). The church rejoices in the Lord (Rom. 5:11; Phil. 3:1; 4:4). All the promises of the present meaning of ministry and witness are rooted in the lordship of Jesus. The promise of spiritual victory and the certain, present reality of the love of God flow from His presence at the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34-39)
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
239 - LORD OF LORDS
The whole of the created order also comes under the lordship of Jesus. He is the sovereign firstborn over all creation, for it was created through Him and is sustained by Him (Col. 1: 15-16; Heb. 1:3). The structure of the text of Colossians 1:15-20 shows that Jesus has the same relationship over the created order that He has over His new creation, the church. Only so do we perceive meaning in both the world and creation. So it is the purpose of God to bring all things to their fulfillment in Him (Ephesians 1:10). In the Old Testament, He is known as the LORD of Lords (Adonai ha Adonim ¡V Deut. 10:17).
The Lordship of Jesus over history is carried out through the Church and its proclamation. By virtue of His lordship the church is free to live in the world as servant. Being free from the necessity of power and achievement, for the victory is sealed, the church functions in terms of faithfulness and obedience, knowing that it is God who gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6) and that the conquest of death as the last enemy is a certainty in the light of the victory of Christ (I Corinthians 15:25-26).
The gift of freedom is that by which the church bears witness to His lordship. The cross is taken up daily. The same is to be said of the weakness of the church. In Revelation the beast is allowed to make war against the saints and to conquer them (Rev. 13:7), but the final chapter reverses the script. The foolishness of the Church also bears witness to the lordship of Jesus, since it is by paradox that the Church prospers. Paul's testimony regarding Himself is true for the church: When it is weak, then it is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10).
The consequence of the church's reflection on the lordship of Jesus was to establish, in spite of the threat it might have posed to monotheistic commitments, the oneness of Jesus with God. He was incorporated into the singularity of God. So a title whose basic thrust is to assert Jesus' present power and authority in the church and in the world leads the church to recognize that the authority is the direct, not mediated, authority of God Himself. Jesus as Lord speaks not only of His work but of His person also, a fact made clear by the way the various NT writers use the OT. Thus we see the prominence of the "name" of Jesus ((Philippians 2:9-10; Acts 2:38). During his earthly ministry His lordship is obscured for the sake of redemptive work, but after His resurrection He is declared openly to be what He always has been, one with God in power and Person.
MESSIAH: (Greek: huios tou anthropou; Aramaic: bar nasa; Hebrew: Ben Adam). This Christological title appears 69 times in the Synoptic Gospels and 13 times in John and meets the most demanding tests of authenticity because of its original use by Jesus. There is no evidence of a well-defined Son of man Christology in Judaism before the time of Jesus.
Since nothing in Judaism corresponds precisely to the nuances of meaning Jesus gives to the term, and as the early Church makes no use of it in its own theology, attempts by radical critics to discount Jesus' originality in applying the title to Himself run counter to the fact that it satisfies especially well their own criterion of dissimilarity as the basic test of authentic sayings of Jesus.
Rejection of the title in any of its three shades of meaning may thus be seen to rest on pre-suppositional, not exegetical, grounds, since no other title used by Jesus so clearly attests His messianic self-consciousness; while numerous religious contemporary and humanistic viewpoint of interpretation begin with the a priori assumption that the church, not Jesus, is responsible for a His Christology.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
240 - THE SON OF MAN
The first intentional use of Son of man by Jesus functions as a substitute for His personal pronoun "I," and as such conveys extraordinary claims of authority on His part, quite different from its ordinary and simple reference to "man" in the psalms and as a form of address in Ezekiel. As Jesus uses the title in Mark 2:10, He claims the authority to forgive sins, indicating that He is consciously and creatively investing the title with deep spiritual meaning, tantamount to sharing the prerogatives of God.
Similarly His use of the title in the grain-field episode of Mark 2:28 indicates his authority over the sacred Sabbathƒz another claim of correlativity with God. The explicitly redemptive character of His ministry is evidenced by His personal claim that "the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 8:20; 11:19; 12:32), which indicates His servant-hood.
The second sounds His familiar theme of open table fellowship with outcasts, and the third concludes a powerful passage on His binding of Satan and a warning about "the unforgivable sin" against the Holy Spirit, by whose power Jesus is invading the demonic kingdom, another personal claim to correlativity with God. Matthew sayings are two in number (13:3; 11:13) and imply respectively that is, He is the Lord of the harvest), and that He knows who He is.
For since the Christology is so high and Jesus so aware of His equality with God, radical redaction criticism must be completely reassessed as to the originality of Jesus and the creativity of the early Church if these sayings are accepted as genuine.
Son of Man as Prophecy - This is equally true of the second group of Son of man sayings in which Jesus prophesies of His future suffering. If the first group is accepted as authentic, the second follows coherently. If on a priori grounds the first is rejected, then the second group will be rejected as "prophecies" of the church created after the fact. Of the eleven passages in this category, eight are in Mark (8:31; 9:12, 31; 10:33; 14:21, 41) and all disclose Jesus' messianic awareness that He is to suffer as a ransom for many. In considerable detail Jesus foretells His betrayal, condemnation, death, and resurrection.
The temptation of the naturalistic critic will be to explain these prophecies as church created, but only if the reality of biblical prophecy and the incarnation are discounted. On the assumption that the evangelist is giving an authentic account of Jesus' prophecies; a coherent picture of His personal awareness of His redemptive mission and His authority as the true Prophet of God [Deut. 18:15-22].
The third group appears to be more enigmatic in the sense that Jesus refers to the Son of man in the third person. A number of more radical interpreters take this to mean that Jesus was referring to another than Himself, and since the sayings, interpreted in this fashion, would not suggest His messianic self-consciousness, they are willing to allow the possibility of authenticity. There are nineteen of these sayings, all of which portray the Son of man as a glorified divine being, whereas in the first two groupings Jesus generally speaks of Himself in terms of humility and suffering.
It is important to note that, the Son of man, who is given everlasting dominion and glory and kingdom by the Ancient of Days. Jesus consciously personifies the Son of man, and as He draws His disciples about Him and empowers them to participate in His redemptive reign He allows them to share in the corporate Son of man as saints of the Most High, and in His reign as He as king inaugurates the kingdom of God. Son of man and kingdom of God appear to be nearly interchangeable in both individual and corporate senses.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
241 - THEOPHANY
The Angel of the Lord or the Angel of God or the Angel of Jehovah, which is the Old Testament Theophanic Mediator or what we called Christophany, which ƒnis the visible physical appearance of the Second Person of the Godhead who assumed the human form.
The Angel of the Lord is a distinct personal Self-manifestation of God, Who is called the Incarnate Logos [Judges 2:1]. The Angel of the Lord is unique and distinct from God yet introduced Himself as the Deity. He had the same specific personality of angels but superior in rank and distinguishable from angels in general.
The Angel of The Lord spoke with divine authority as though He was God Himself [John 1:1-14], unlike the angels who are under divine authority. He had the authority to forgive sins [Exodus 23:31], and had direct authority to execute divine order. He is the Guardian Angel of the chosen nation Israel [Isaiah 63:7].
The Angel of the Lord did not appear on earth while Jesus was in the flesh, the one who appeared before the shepherds was probably the archangel Gabriel, referred to only as the ¡§angel of the Lord¡¨ by the writer of Luke [Luke 2:9].
The public appearance of the Angel of the Lord made a turning point in human history. He was there in the founding of the chosen race; He was there in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, in the founding of the Theocratic government in Mt. Sinai, in leading the Hebrews into settlement the Promise Land and in the founding of Solomon¡¦s temple.
The Angel of the Lord supported Elijah in preserving monotheism by destroying the 450 prophets of Baal and the 600 prophets of Asherah. During the Babylonian captivity the Angel of the Lord protected the children of Israel.
The Angel of the Lord helped and encouraged Hagar [Genesis 16:7, 21:17] during her ordeal. He stopped the sacrifice of Abraham and prior to this, visited and warned Abraham [Genesis 18:1-, 22:11-15]. He assisted Eliezer in searching in searching for a wife for his son Isaac [Genesis 24:7, 40]. He gave instruction to Jacob [Genesis 31:11-15], He appeared to Moses and later delivered to him the 10 Commandments [Exodus 3:6-10]. The Angel of the Lord led and served as the Commander of the Israelite army [Joshua 5:14, 6:2] and as the King of the chosen nation for many years [1 Samuel 8:7].
Note: Angels are always spoken of the masculine gender-there is no feminine form of the word. Angels appeared to believers prior to the completion of the canon of the Bible but ceased after the completion of the Canon. Angels appeared to men and women of God, never to kids.
Angels appeared to people in human forms but without wings. The Bible recorded the appearance of angels in form of adults male not in appearance of little children.
Angels appeared to some Old Testament saints but no one had actually seen a cherubim or seraphim and except in dreams or vision. Only 2 Old Testament characters had these kinds of vision.
The Bible called the ƒnƒnTheophanic ƒnChrist as the Angel of the Lord, and that term is exclusively used for the Lord Jesus. The Bible uses the term angel for angel, the term cherubim for cherubim, and seraphim for seraphim. The Angel of the Lord is not just an angel, not a seraph and not a cherub. He was the pre-incarnate Christ.
The term ¡§Angel of the Lord¡¨ was a language of accommodation for man to understand the spiritual matter.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
242 - THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST
The perfect humanity of Christ advanced through all stages of spiritual growth, reaching spiritual maturity at the early age of twelve years old [Luke 2:40].
His attainment of spiritual self-esteem characterized by virtue personal love toward God and its attainment of spiritual autonomy characterized by virtue impersonal love toward all men [Luke 2:52].
The humanity of Christ signified His positive volition to the plan of God the Father submitting to the baptism of John. His immersion symbolized His obedience to the plan of the Father for His first coming. Plans of grace that no one but the infinite and perfect impeccability of Jesus Christ could execute.
Christ¡¦s declaration of His submission to God¡¦s will elicited the strongest possible attestation of our Lord¡¦s spiritual maturity [Matthew 3:17, John 1:14]. As true humanity, Christ had utilized the divine sphere fulfilled the pattern of spiritual growth.
At the outset of His public ministry, He was immediately taken into the desert, to face His evidence testing [Matthew 4:1-15]. The humanity of Christ was tested severely all throughout His ministerial days. The account recorded in Matthew chapter 4 is only partial of His daily testing.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
243 - FACTS BEFORE HIS BIRTH
It is impossible to produce a biography of the Lord Jesus Christ due to very limited materials provided by the writers of the Scripture. We cannot accept the non-canonical materials and materials from extra-Biblical sources.
Numerous prophecies from Genesis to Malachi are related to His birth as true humanity [Isaiah 9:1-2]. The appearance of an angel first to Mary [Luke 1:26-38], and then to Joseph [Matthew 1:18-25] concerned about the first coming of the Lord Jesus. His predecessors were also mentioned [Isaiah 40:3-5, 9-10, Matthew 3:1-3, Mark 1:2-3, Luke 7:24-27].
THIRTY YEARS IN NAZARETH
Although this lasted for 30 years, yet the material is confined only to the birth stories and one brief incident when Jesus was about twelve years old [Luke 2:41-52]
The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) are composed of 89 chapters with a total of 3744 verses. However, only eleven (11) verses are related to His 30 years in Nazareth. Compare to 8 chapters or over 1800 verses related to His last 10 days before His death.
His home life in Nazareth for 30 years has little relevance to our spiritual life because of their negative volition and open rejection of the Messiah and the Word of God.
The people of Nazareth called Him nothing but the ¡§carpenter¡¨ or the ¡§son of the carpenter¡¨ is an obvious indication of their hardness of the heart (hardening of the kardiaƒw [Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3].
The mystery of the hidden years also reveals the reality that any believer has the same potential for maximum for spiritual maturity in any given situation or circumstances.
The real issue about the hidden years is not what He did or what He did not do, but WHO AND WHAT HE IS inside the cosmos diabolicus. ƒ|ƒnThat is, how He maintained His perfect impeccability in their midst of sinful men.
The real issue about the virgin birth is not the virginity of Mary but the birth of the Son of God into perfect humanity (without old sinful nature and Adamic original sin) the real issue is the kenosis. ƒnƒnƒn
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
244 - THE KENOSIS
KENOSIS: ƒvƒwƒnfrom the Greek verb kenoo ƒnƒnmeaning to deprive oneself of a rightful function, to debase oneself. It explains how the supreme God of the universe condescended to become a man and suffer the humiliation of the cross [Philippians 2:6-8].
THE 2 STATES OF CHRIST:
The state of His humiliation: having taken the form of a servant, having become in the likeness of men [Philippians 2:7]
The state of His preincarnate ƒ{eternal state, as being in the form of God, equal with God [Philippians 2:6]
The truth expressed here concerning His pre-incarnate state is that He had to be equal with God in order to have the form of God. He could not be God the Son without being God.
He who showed us the ƒvmorpheƒnƒ{ the form of God or the essence of God, had to be equal with God. Prior to His incarnation He was in the form of God- He was in essence of God, and after His incarnation, in spite of His voluntary humiliation, He was still in the form of essence of God.
But in spite of His essence as a Deity, He took upon Himself the true essence of a servant ¡V the form of a man. How could the sovereign, infinite, perfect and immutable God become a servant yet remains God?
The answer is not speculation but history ¡Vthe historical life of Christ in the hypostatic union on earth. God has resolved the issues. The answer to this question reveals the dynamics of Christ integrity.
To become a servant, Christ had to veil His preincarnate glory and power [John 17:5]. All throughout His life on earth (during His Hypostatic union) Christ refused to use or exercise the attributes of His Deity apart from the mission given to Him by the Father [Revelation 13:8]. Satan tempted His humanity to use His divine Deity for His own benefits.
As a perfect Deity, Christ remained perfect omniscience, but as a true humanity, He was born ignorant (He was not bon with Bible doctrine implanted in His soul) but He learned Bible doctrine, little by little, precept by precept [Isaiah 28:10] from the early age.
As God, Christ remained omnipotent, existing equally in heaven and on earth [John 13:13], while as a Man; He endured primitive technology and all the discomfort of His day. As Deity His omnipotence held together the universe, maintaining and sustaining it, including all the needs of all His children around the world [Colossians 1:17].
During His Incarnation, Jesus Christ did not exercise His divine attributes to benefit or glorify Himself. Instead, the Father¡¦s design of the divine attribute ƒnassigned to God, the Holy Spirit the mission of sustaining and glorifying Christ (John 8:56, 16:14).
Divine power system or dynapshere explains kenosis because humility does not stand all alone in the divine system but the foundation of all other viruses and by what Christ voluntarily chose to do, not just what He voluntarily chose to restrict [Philippians 2:5-8].
Kenosis is the most dramatic demonstration of objective divine love of the Members of the Godhead for one another.
Since the divine dynasphere met the absolute standards of God the Son in the eternity past, we can place our confidence in the divine dynasphere ƒnas our Christian way of life. From His omniscience in eternity past, Christ knew every detail of the divine dynasphere ƒnƒ{its tremendous divine dynamics that is identical to his own.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
245 - IMPECCABILITY
ƒnOur Lord¡¦s complete and uninterrupted reliance on the divine dynasphere is manifested is manifested in the sinless perfection of His life- His freedom from free categories of sin.
Christ remained free from all three categories of sin, namely the old sinful nature, the Adamic original sin, and personal sin. The virginal conception of Christ enabled Him to enter the human race free from the inherent sin nature that corrupted every person born into the world [Romans 3:23, 1 Corinthians 15:22]. Therefore, there was no home to which Adamic ƒnoriginal sin could be imputed.
He faced life having to contend only with avoiding personal sins. He remained unblemished and spotless- free from personal sins [1 Peter 1:19]. Were He a sinner, He would be condemned. He would have to bear the punishment for His own sins and would be unqualified to substitute for mankind. Only someone not under condemnation can take the place of the condemned.
Christ is not able to sin [non posseƒn peccare] refers to His Deity. God cannot tolerate sin or any imperfection; He cannot be tempted to sin. No sin appeals to Him, and He never tempts us to commit sins [James 1:13]. The phrase ¡§Christ is not able to sin¡¨ (posse non peccareƒn) refers to His perfect humanity, which possess the ability to resist sin [Hebrew 4:15].
For 33 years, the humanity of Christ remained inside the plan, purpose and will of God (the divine dynasphere), the perfect environment of virtue love complexes. Although Christ was tempted in every way that we are, He never violated kenosis but consistently relied on the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit ¡V He remained in the power system, He remained impeccable all throughout His humanity [1 John 3:5].
The divine dynasphere ƒnempowered Him to reach the cross fully qualified to bear the sins of the human race. God the Father provided all the support necessary for Christ to accomplish that mission. God does the same for us ¡Vso that we can finish our mission that is to glorify Christ in time.
THE DEITY OF CHRIST: Cannot be tempted and cannot sin.
THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST: Can be tempted and can sin.
THE GOD¡VMAN: Cannot sin (Not able to sin) and cannot be tempted (able not to sin)- that is, impeccability.
Sovereignty is divine volition, absolute free will in the eternal and infinite essence of God. Each person of the Godhead is sovereign ¡Vsubject to no one, dependent on no one, answerable to no one.
The pleasure of God the Father was to author a plan to reconcile fallen man to Him ¡Vthe pleasure of the Son was to execute His plan of grace [John 8:29].
God the Son did not cease to be sovereign when He decided to obey the authority of the Father. The sovereignty of the Son aggressively upheld, seconded, and affirmed the sovereignty of the Father.
Kenosis was an offensive not defensive divine strategy, aimed ultimate victory in the angelic conflict. Christ accepted the challenge to wield the most powerful weapon ever designed the divine dynasphere.
Therefore, the omniscience of Christ knew from eternity past every detail of the divine dynasphere and its dynamic power and resources. Since, the divine dynasphere ƒnmet the absolute standards of God the Son, we can place our confidence in the will, plan and purpose of God.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
246 - THE LAMB OF GOD
Twice in the NT Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and on each occasion by John the Baptist (John 1:29, 35). The word amnos (ƒnlamb) is found also in Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19; and in the Greek version of Isaiah 53:7. These last references suggest Isaiah 53 as the immediate context for John's declaration concerning Christ, the Messiah, as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
The Lamb of Isaiah 53 was identified with the Messiah as the servant of God. This identity of Jesus as Messiah with the Lamb of God was certain for His disciples with Bible doctrine (John 1:20, 23, 29).
The use of the genitive of possession, the Lamb of God, specifically relates Christ to God in the act of sin bearing. He is at once the sacrificial victim presented to God and the victim provided by God. In this relationship he bears the world's sin, removes it by taking it on Himself. As in Isaiah 53 he bears "on Himself alone the iniquity of us all," by being "led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before his sheerer is dumb."
. The two figures, that of Isaiah 53:7 and that of Exodus 12, consequently coalesce in the designation. They are not contradictory but complementary. "All the utterances of the New Testament regarding the Lamb of God are derived from this prophecy (Isaiah 53:7), in which the dumb type of the Passover now finds a tongue".
All the ideas surrounding the figure of the lamb built up through the progressive revelation of the OT may indeed go into the concept as it occurs in the NT. In Genesis there is the necessity of the lamb, Abel brought the firstlings of his flock (Hebrew 9:22); in Exodus, the efficacy of the lamb, the blood sprinkled door posts (Revelation 7:14; 1 Peter 1:12); in Leviticus, the purity of the lamb, without blemish (1 Peter 1:19); in Isaiah, the personality of the lamb, "He," the lamb, as the servant of the Lord (John 1:29; Rev. 5:12-13). Nowhere, therefore, does the figure merely suggest "the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1); it always carries with it a sacrificial sense (Revelation 5:6, 12; 13:8).
In the book of Revelation the unqualified designation lamb (arnion)ƒw occurs eight times in symbolic reference to Christ and unites the two ideas of redemption and kingship. On one side are such statements as a Lamb which has been slain (5:6, 12); those "who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (7:14); "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony" (12:11); "they which are written in the Lamb's book of life" (21:27).
The stress here falls upon the redeeming work of Christ as the Lamb of God. On the other side, connected with the title is the idea of sovereignty. It is the Lamb that was slain that has power to take the book and loose its seals (5:6-7); there is reference to the wrath of the Lamb (6:16); and the Lamb is seen in the midst of the throne (7:17); the throne in heaven is the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1, 3); the wicked make war against the Lamb but the Lamb is victorious (17:14). In the general term "lamb", then, two ideas unite: victorious power and vicarious suffering. At the heart of God's sovereignty there is sacrificial love.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
247 - THE INCARNATE CHRIST:
Incarnation from Latin in and caro ƒnmeaning stem and carn, meaning flesh. In the context of Christian theology, the act whereby the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, without ceasing to be what He is, God the Son, took into union with Himself what He before that act did not possess, a human nature, "and so [He] was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person, forever. Like many other theological terms, this term can be misleading. It might suggest that the eternal Logos by the act of incarnation was confined to the human body of Jesus of Nazareth. The implication of such a construction of the result of the incarnation is that God the Son, kenotically "emptying" Himself, divested himself of his attribute of being always and everywhere immediately present in his universe.
But to hold such a view is tantamount to contending that He who ¡§enfleshed¡¨ Himself as Jesus of Nazareth, while doubtless more than man, is not quite God. Divine attributes are not, however, characteristics separate and distinct from God's essence that He can set aside when he desires. To the contrary, it is precisely the sum total of God's attributes that constitutes the essence of His deity and expresses His divine glory.
Jesus, during the days of His flesh, claimed omnipresence for Himself in Matthew 18:20 and 28:20 declared that Jesus Christ possessed "two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinctiveness of the natures being by no means removed because of the union, but the properties of each nature being preserved. The doctrine, thus clarified, means that in the incarnation the divine Logos, while in the body of Jesus and personally united to it, is also beyond the bounds of the human nature He assumed. Scripture support for this doctrine is replete [John 1:14; Romans 1:3; 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:7-8; I Timothy 3:16; I John 4:2; 2 John 7, also Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 1:21-22; I Peter 3:18; 4:1).
It is very important, in light of what has just been said, to underscore that in the incarnation the divine Logos did not take into union with Himself a human person; otherwise, he would have been two persons.
The Scriptures will not tolerate such a view. Never does Jesus Christ, when referring to Himself, say "we" or "us" or "our"; He always uses "I" or "me" or "my." What the divine Logos, who was already and eternally a person, did do, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, was to take into union with Himself a human nature with the result that Jesus Christ was one person with a divine nature (i.e., a complex of divine attributes) and a human nature (i.e., a complex of human attributes).
This is not to say that the human nature of Christ is impersonal. The human nature of Christ was not for a moment impersonal. The Logos assumed that nature into personal subsistence with Himself. The human nature has its personal existence in the person of the Logos. It is in-personal rather than impersonal. The Son of God did not become personal by incarnation. He became incarnate but there was no suspension of His divine self-identity.
The Effecting Means of the Incarnation: according to Scripture, whereby the incarnation came about is the virginal conception (a more accurate description than virgin birth) of the Son of God by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:16, 18, 20, 23, 25; Luke 1:27, 34-35; 2:5; 3:23; Galatians 4:4). Due to the interpenetration of the Persons within the Godhead (John 14:20; 17:21-23; Hebrew 9:14), the Holy Spirit, by means of the virginal conception, insured the divine personality of the God-man without creating at the same time a new human personality.
If Christ had been generated by man, He would have been a human person, included in the covenant of works, and as such would have shared the common guilt of mankind. But now that His subject, His ego, His person, is not out of Adam, He is not in the covenant of works and is free from the guilt of sin. And being free from the guilt of sin, His human nature could also be kept free, both before and after His birth, from the pollution of sin.
Representations of the Incarnate Person: Because Jesus Christ is the God-man (one person who took human nature into union with His divine nature in the one divine person), the Scriptures can predicate of His person whatever can be predicated of either nature. In fact, can be predicated of either nature. Also, the person of Christ may be designated in terms of one nature while what is predicated of Him so designated is true by virtue of His union with the other nature.
1. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement when what is predicated of Christ is true by virtue of all that belongs to his person as essentially divine and assertively human; that is, redeemer; prophet, priest, and king.
2. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement when what is predicated of Him, designated in terms of what He is as human, is true by virtue of His divine nature.
In Romans 9:5 Christ is designated according to His human nature ("Christ according to the flesh"), while what is predicated of Him is true because of His divine nature ("God over all, blessed forever"). The Scriptures do not confuse or inter-mingle the two natures. It is the person of Christ who is always the subject of the scriptural assertions about him.
3. The person, and not a nature, is the subject of the statement, when what is predicated of Him, designated in terms of what He is as divine, is true by virtue of His human nature.
In I Corinthians 2:8 Christ is designated according to His divine nature ("the Lord of glory"), while what is predicated of Him is true because of His human nature (man "crucified" Him). Again, there is no confusion here of the divine and human natures of Christ. It is not the divine nature as such which is crucified; it is the divine person, because He is also human, who is crucified.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
248 - HYPOSTASIS
The word is a transliteration of the Greek hypostasis, "substance," "nature," "essence" (from hyphistasthai, "stand under," "subsist," which is from two Greek words that means "under," andƒz "cause to stand"), and denotes a real personal subsistence or person. In philosophy it signifies the underlying or essential part of anything, as distinguished from attributes that may vary.
It developed theologically as the term to describe any one of the three real and distinct subsistence in the one undivided essence of God and especially the one unified personality of Christ the Son in His two natures: human and divine
The classic Chalcedonian definition of God, one essence in three hypostases , was unfortunately translated into Latin as "one substance [Gr. hypostasis] in three persons" (una substantia, tres personae). This not only confused threefold substance with the one ousia (Latin essentia, "essence"), but the Latin word persona ("face" or "mask") is very different from the Greek hypostasis.
Bible translators tried unsuccessfully to resolve the conflict by defining hypostasis as synonymous with the very different word persona. Although much confusion still reigns, orthodoxy has generally held to the one substance of God, known in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
God is ¡§One in essence, three in Hypostasis¡¨ is quite different from ¡§One in essence, three in persons¡¨. Hypostasis emphasizes the equality of the Godhead- eternal, infinite and absolute but different in functions.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
249 - PREEXISTENCE OF CHRIST
The preincarnate existence of Christ may be only a simple, contemplative inference backwards from the spiritual glory of the present Christ, certainly its clearest expression is found in later writing reflecting upon the messianic assessment of Christ in the primitive Christian community (Acts 2:22-23; 10:38). Yet preexistence is at least implied in words of Jesus Himself: "The son of man came"; the owner of the vineyard "had still ... a beloved son: finally the Father sent Him." It is explicit in sayings attributed to Jesus in John's Gospel: "I came down from heaven"; "The glory I had with thee before the world was."
Jewish scholars attributed "ideal" preexistence to things (law, temple) and persons (Adam, Moses) deeply reverenced, echoed perhaps in Paul's calling Christ "last Adam ... from heaven." Greek thinking, reflected in Philo, was familiar with preexistence of souls. But it is unnecessary to find here more than a source of usable terms. The idea that the Son of God, eternally preexisting in glory with the Father, moved by love became incarnate was too central to Christian faith to depend upon coincidences of language for its basis.
Paul appeals for generosity because Christ, "though rich became poor." He pleads that converts live as sons because "God sent forth his son"; argues for self-effacement from the fact that Christ, being in the form of God, "emptied Himself"; contends, against the Gnostics' pleroma ƒnfilling the gulf between God and creation, that "all things were created in, through, and for Christ ... who is before all things.
As "Lord from heaven" Christ provides the pattern of our resurrected humanity; as He first descended, so He has ascended, the measure of His triumph and assurance of ours (2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-6; Col. 1:15-16; Ephesians 4:8-9). For such practical, pastoral exhortations one does not argue from fringe speculations, but only from familiar, accepted, foundation truths.
John's Gospel and Epistle, assuming that Christ came from God and went to God (John 13:3), emphasize His being sent by the Father on divine mission, expressing divine love (John 3:16; I John 4:9-10), a revelation of the unseen Father by one belonging "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), a divine Word, present when God spoke at creation and now again conveying meaning and power to the world (John 1).
For John as for Paul, mankind's salvation derives not from any human initiative but from the coming of the eternal Son into time. That is the crucial truth here at issue.
The implications of preexistence are a concern of subsequent Christian thought. Does it impair the manhood of Jesus? Why the delay in Christ's arrival? Does preexistence imply continuity of memory between the eternal Son and Jesus? But the fact of preexistence is not questioned, except where Christ's deity and divine mission are wholly denied.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
250 - STATES OF JESUS CHRIST
The states of the Lord Jesus Christ refer to the different relationships He had to God's law for mankind, to the possession of authority, and to receiving honor for Himself.
Generally two states (humiliation and exaltation) are distinguished. Thus, the doctrine of the twofold state of Christ is the teaching that Christ experienced first the state of humiliation, then the state of exaltation. Within each of these states five aspects may be distinguished.
THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST
There are five aspects under the humiliation of Christ:
5. Victorious Proclamation
The incarnation, or Christ's taking to Himself a human nature, was itself a step of humiliation. He gave up the honor and glory that belonged to Him in heaven (John 17:5). He also gave up His right to exercise divine authority for His own benefit and the right to enjoy his Lordship over all things in heaven and on earth (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:6-7; Hebrews 2:9). Thus He gave up the status of ruler and took on the status of a servant. Furthermore, He subjected Himself to the demands of living under the law (Galatians 4:4), thus making it necessary for Him to obey perfectly the OT laws that God had commanded of His people (John 8:46; Matthew 3:15).
He took on Himself the obligation to obey God perfectly as a man, as our representative, in order to earn salvation for us through a record of perfect lifelong obedience (Romans 5:18-19). This he had to do in the strength of His human nature, without miraculous assistance from His divine powers (Matthew 4:3-4).
It was a true human nature, which the Son of God took to Himself. It was not merely a human body, but also a human mind (which learned as we learn, Luke 2:52), and a human soul (which could be troubled as we are troubled, John 12:27; 13:21). Thus, Jesus was fully man, made like us "in every respect" (Hebrew 2:17). He had to be fully man in order to become the sacrifice that was offered for man's sins: if He was not fully man, we could not have been saved.
Nevertheless, the human nature of Christ was not subject to sin (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 4:15; I John 3:5). Thus, His human nature was like Adam's human nature before the fall.
Yet Jesus did not give up any of His divine attributes or become less fully God when he took on a human nature. He remained fully God (John 1:1, 14; Col. 1:19; 2:9), omnipotent (Matthew 8:26-27; Isaiah 9:6), omniscient (John 2:25; 6:64; 16:30; 21:17), eternal (8:58), and incapable of dying (2:19; 10:17-18). However, these attributes were veiled, not generally manifested during Jesus' earthly ministry (Matthew 13:55-56), and never used for His own benefit or to make the path of obedience easier for Him (4:1-11).
Thus, Jesus remained fully God and became fully man as well. It is sometimes said, "while remaining what He was, he became what He was not." (It should be remembered that it is God's Son, the second Person of the Trinity, who became man.
God the Father did not become man, nor did the Holy Spirit: Matthew 3:16-17; John 1:1; 3:16; Galatians 4:4). It is the most amazing fact in all history that one who was eternal and infinite God should take to Himself the lowly nature of a man and should then continue to exist for all eternity as fully God and fully man as well, united in one person.
It is important to insist that even while existing in these two natures, Jesus Christ remained one Divine Person. His human nature was not an independent person by itself (capable, e.g., of talking to the divine nature or acting in opposition to it). In a manner that surpasses our understanding, the human and divine natures of Christ were integrated into one Person, and He remains as both God and man, and yet one Person, forever.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
251 - THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST
The suffering of the Lord Jesus lasted throughout His whole life, though they culminated in His trial and death on the cross. He experienced the ordinary sufferings of living in a fallen world. He was weary (John 4:6), thirsty (19:28), hungry (Matthew 4:2), sorrowful (John 11:35), and lonely (Matthew 26:56). He felt great grief at human sin and its terrible effects (Matt. 23:37; Mark 3:5; 8:12; John 11:33-35, 38).
He endured human opposition and intense hatred against Himself (Luke 11:53-54; John 15:18, 24-25). He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).
Moreover, He "learned obedience through what He suffered" (Hebrews 5:8); that is, His moral strength and ability to resist temptation increased with the successful meeting of each more difficult temptation, especially those connected with hardship and suffering. He experienced the sufferings of enduring great temptations without yielding (Matthew 4:l.-11; Luke 11: 53-54; 22:28; Hebrew 2:18; 4:15; I Peter 2:21-23), especially in the Garden of Gethsemane just prior to His death (Matthew 26:37-38; Hebrew 5:7; 12:3-4).
Here it must be remembered that one who does not yield to temptation most fully feels its force, just as someone who successfully holds a heavy weight overhead feels its force much more than someone who drops it at once.
His humiliation increased in intensity at the time of His trial and death. Physical sufferings connected with crucifixion were terrible, as were the mocking and shame connected with such a death. But even worse were the sufferings in spirit that Jesus experienced when God the Father put on Him the guilt of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13; I Peter 2:22; Isaiah 53:6). The Father turned away His face, so that Jesus was left alone with the blackness of sin and guilt upon Him (Matthew 27:46). Then, as Jesus fulfilled the role of propitiatory sacrifice (Romans 3:25; I John 2:2; 4:10), He bore the fury of the intense wrath of God against sin, and bore it to the end.
The penalty for sin was the spiritual death of Christ (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). It was necessary that Jesus Himself die to bear our penalty. His death was not similar to ours. His human spirit and soul was separated from His body and passed into the presence of the Father in heaven (Luke 23:43, 46).
Thus, He experienced a death that is like the one we, as believers will experience if we die in this present age. The knowledge that Jesus has gone through death before us should remove from us the fear of physical death (I Corinthians 15:55-57; Hebrews 2:14-15).
It is not correct to say that Jesus' divine nature died, or could die, if "die" implies a cessation of activity, a cessation of consciousness, or a diminution of power (John 2:19; 10:17-18). Yet by virtue of union with Jesus' human nature, His divine nature experienced what it was like to go through spiritual death. Whether the divine nature was ever itself the object of divine wrath against sin is not explicitly stated in Scripture.
Jesus' body was laid in a tomb (Matthew 27:59-60), and He continued under the state of physical death for a time. Thus, Jesus' humiliation was complete in that He suffered all the punishment and shame due to fallen mankind as a result of Adam¡¦s original sin.
It does not seem correct to say that Jesus descended into hell, at least not according to any sense in which that phrase can be understood today, apart from spiritual meanings which may be assigned to the doctrine of victorious proclamation.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
252 - THE EXALTATION OF CHRISTThere are four aspects of Christ¡¦s exaltation:
The resurrection was the transition point into Jesus' state of exaltation. It was the Person of Christ that was exalted, not just His human nature, but the focus of this activity of exaltation was the change in His human nature to a new, much more glorious state.
The resurrection was not just a restoration to life, but the beginning of a new, better kind of life, a resurrection life (Romans 6:9-10). After the resurrection, Jesus still had a physical body that could be touched and held (Matthew 28:9; John 20:17, 27), could break bread (Luke 24:30), prepare breakfast (John 21:12-13), and eat (Luke 24:42-43). It was a body of "flesh and bones," for Jesus said, A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have.
Yet this physical body of Jesus was no longer subject to weakness, sickness, aging, or death. It was imperishable and glorious and powerful (I Corinthians 15:42-44; the term "spiritual" here means not "nonmaterial" but "conformed to the character of the Holy Spirit"). It is possible that John 20:19 implies that Jesus had the ability to enter a locked room miraculously. It is clear, however, that since Jesus was the "first-fruits" of the resurrection, we will be like Him when we are raised from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20, 23, 49; Philippians 3:21; I John 3:2).
The resurrection demonstrated the approval of God the Father and His satisfaction with Christ's work of redemption (Isaiah 53:11; Philippians 2:8-9). Now Christ was exalted to a new status with respect to the law as well: He was no longer under the law in the sense of being obligated to obey the OT as our representative, for His work of obedience in our place was complete (Romans 5:18-19).
The resurrection also was the initiation of a new relationship with God the Father, for Jesus was exalted to the role of messianic "Son" with new power and authority which were not His before as God-man (Matthew 28:18; Acts 13:33; Romans 1:4; Heb. 1:5).
Forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:3), Jesus ascended up to heaven and entered more fully into the privileges of His state of exaltation. The NT clearly presents Jesus' ascension as a bodily ascension and therefore as ascension to a place (Luke 24:51; John 14:1-3; 16:28; 17:11; Acts 1:9-11), though it is a place ordinarily hidden from our physical eyes (Acts 7:55-56; 2 Kings 6:17). Thus, Jesus retained His human nature when He returned to heaven and will retain it forever (Hebrews 13:8). However, Jesus' human nature is now worthy of worship by all creation, unlike our human nature.
When Jesus ascended into heaven He received glory, honor, and authority that were not His before as God-man (Acts 2:33, 36; Philippians 2:9-11; I Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:3-4; 2:9), especially the authority to pour out the Holy Spirit on the Church in greater fullness and power than before (Acts 1:8; 2:33).
After Jesus ascended into heaven He also began His high priestly work of representing us before God the Father (Hebrews 9:24) and of interceding for us before God (7:25; Romans 8:34).
A further state in the exaltation of Christ was His sitting down at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Acts 2:33; Ephesians 1:20-22; Hebrews 1:3). This action shows both the completion of Christ's work of redemption and His reception of new authority as God-man to reign over the universe.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
253 - ONE IN HYPOSTASIS
The term is designated as One God in three Persons. It is not a biblical term, "however the term Trinity" has been found a convenient designation for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It signifies that within the one essence of the Godhead we have to distinguish three "hypostasis" who are neither three gods on the one side, nor three parts or modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God.
The main contribution of the OT to the doctrine is to emphasize the unity of God. God is not Himself a plurality, nor is He one among many others. He is single and unique: "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Duet. 6:4), and He demands the exclusion of all pretended rivals (Deut. 5:7).
Yet even in the OT we have clear intimations of the Trinity. The frequent mention of the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2) may be noted, as also, perhaps, the angel of the Lord in Exodus 23:23. Again, the plural in Genesis 1:26 and 11:7 is to be noted, as also the plural form of the divine name and the nature of the divine appearance to Abraham in Genesis 18. (See appendix A)
The importance of the term Trinity (Psalm 33:6), and especially the wisdom, of God (Proverbs 8:12) is a further pointer, and in a mysterious verse like Isaiah 48:16.
In the New Testament there is no explicit and brief statement of the doctrine of the Trinity but the evidence is overwhelming. God is still preached as the one God (Galatians 3:20). Yet Jesus proclaims His own deity (John 8:58) and evokes and accepts the faith and worship of His disciples (Matthew 16:16; John 20:28). As the Son or Logos, He can thus be equated with God (John 1:1) and associated with the Father, that is, in the Pauline salutations (I Corinthians 1:3). But the Spirit or Comforter is also brought into the same interrelationship (John 14-16).
It is not surprising, therefore, that while we have no dogmatic statement, there are clear references to the three Persons of the Godhead in the NT. All three are mentioned at the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17). The disciples are to baptize in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The developed Pauline blessing includes the grace of the Son, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). Reference is made to the election of the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:2) in relation to the salvation of believers. .
In the fully developed doctrine of the Trinity, insisting that there is only One essence or substance of God safeguards the unity of God. Yet the deity of Jesus Christ is fully asserted against those who would think of him as merely adapted to divine Sonship, or preexistent, but in the last resort created. The individuality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is also preserved against the notion that these are only modes of God for the various purposes of dealing with man in creation or salvation. GOD IS ONE, yet in Himself and from all eternity He is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the triune God.
Rationalist objections to the Trinity break down on the fact that they insist on interpreting the Creator in terms of the creature, i.e., the unity of God in terms of mathematical unity. More scientifically, the Christian learns to know God from God Himself as He has acted for us and attested His action in Holy Scripture. He is not surprised if an element of mystery remains which defies ultimate analysis or understanding, for He is only man and God is God. But in the divine work as recorded in the Bible the one God is self-revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and therefore in true faith he must "acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity."
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
254 - SEATED IN GLORY
Christians presently share in this session of Jesus at God's right hand (Ephesians 2:6) largely in terms of sharing in spiritual authority over demonic forces (6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-4) and power to gain increasing victory over sin (Romans 6:11-14).
In this exalted state of reigning at God's right hand, Christ will reign until the end of the age, when all His enemies will be conquered (I Cor. 15:24-25).
When Jesus Christ returns to the earth in glory, His exaltation will be complete, and He will receive all the glory that is due to Him as the God-man who has purchased our redemption and is worthy of eternal and infinite honor. Jesus Christ will some day return to the earth to reign in triumph (Acts 1:11; Revelation 1:7), publicly and finally to defeat all His enemies (2Thessalonians 1:7-8; Revelation 19:11-21), and to sit as judge of all the earth (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 22:12).
Then His kingdom will be established forever, and, exalted with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15; 22:3-5).
In the state of humiliation, Christ is called by God the Father as the ¡§SON OF MY SORROW¡¨ in reference from the point of His Incarnation to His burial.
In the state of exaltation, Christ is called by God the Father as the ¡§SON OF MY RIGHTHAND¡¨, in reference from the point of His resurrection to his Second Coming.
On the Cross of Calvary; (refers to Christ¡¦s spiritual death), the phrase ¡¥to lift up (hupsoo), literally means ¡§the lifting up of Christ in His crucifixion¡¨ (John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32-34), illustratively of the serpent brass that symbolized Christ who bear the sin of the human race
In heaven, the phrase ¡§to exalt highly¡¨ ƒvhuperrupsoo) is used of Christ, the literal and metaphorical of the exaltation of Christ by God the Father [Philippians 2:9, Acts 2:23. 5:31].
The Resurrection of Christ-is the first notable stage of exaltation in which the divine power was manifested in raising ƒvanastasis) the dead body of Christ [Acts 2:32, Romans 1:4].
The Ascension of Christ ¡V is where we see a perfecting process of the glory inaugurated by the resurrection. By His resurrection, Jesus Christ, as the God-Man inaugurated a new form of relationship with saints, where He also prepared the ultimate union of the Church Age believers with Him [John 14:2].
In His Session at the right hand of God [Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:44, Acts 2:33-36] Christ exercise His Kingly rulership over His people, He sends the Holy Spirit to His own people [John 14:26, 16:7] and He pursues the ministry of intercession [Hebrews 7:25, 9:24, Romans 8:34, I John 2:1].
At His Second Coming, Jesus Christ as the Ascended Lord will return and fight for the Remnant of Israel, He will raise all the dead believers of the Old Testament and all the martyrs of the Great Tribulation. Then, He will judge Satan and his fallen demons. Christ will fulfill His union with the Church Age believers as the Heavenly Bridegroom. Finally, He will inaugurate His one thousand years reign ¡V the millennial kingdom.
At the end of a thousand years, He will judge all the unbelievers of every dispensation at the Great White throne Judgment.
The perfect God-Man is the Maintainer, Sustainer and the Establisher of every saint sojourning in the satanic world.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
255 - THE POSITIVE VOLITION OF CHRIST
The first 30 years of Christ in His perfect humanity were called ¡§the hidden years¡¨ because they were spent behind a small carpentry shop in a very insignificant place of the Roman Empire.
The mystery of the hidden years reveals the reality that believer has the same potential for maximum growth and advancement toward spiritual maturity regardless of our life situation, environment, or condition in life or circumstances.
The positive volition of the believer has nothing to do with the geographical location or condition. Positive volition is a state of the soul and does not affect our condition, or mood, our physical place or situation. Nothing can penetrate our volition except our negative mental attitude toward Christ or His Word.
The short Gospel narrative (compose of 11 verses only) concerning the 30 years of Jesus Christ on earth reveals several things.
First, In the home of Joseph, the usual Jewish practices and traditions were observed carefully and sincerely. The perfect humanity of Christ was able to obey the all the Law of Moses.
Secondly, Joseph had trained his children (especially the male) in the OT Scripture analysis¡¦s and interpretation.
Thirdly, The spiritual wisdom and spiritual maturity of the humanity of Christ at the age of twelve (12) years old was already at the maximum level.
Fourthly, The Lord Jesus Christ possessed His divine consciousness¡¦ of a divine mission, which His family did not understand or and believe.
The humanity of the Jesus Christ was a member of the poor Jewish family circle. He was just a poor child who dwells in a very poor community.
The real issue about the hidden years is not what He did or what He did not do, but WHO AND WHAT HE IS inside the cosmos diabolicusƒ| The real issue about the virgin birth is not the virginity of Mary but the virginal conception or the birth of Jesus who has no original sin or Adamic original sins.
In the strength of the Divine dynasphere ƒzƒnthe freewill volition of the Lord Jesus is ABLE NOT TO SIN. He was able to resist all the real and brilliantly subtle temptation. He overcomes all the pressures and pains in this world. Christ applied the power of the Divine system to resist the genius of Satanic.
The sphere of God is made available to Church Age believers by means of divine resources. The sphere is far more powerful than Satan¡¦s entire cosmic diabolicus was protected and sustained but never sheltered from satanic scheming.
Because we are not sheltered from the direct attack of Satan, that is why we need our positive volition toward God and His Word Jesus Christ demonstrated to us how to live in the cosmic system by the power of God. He shows us how to live in a dirty and totally polluted environment (in spiritual aspects).
The Lord demonstrated to us, how to live our Christian live apart from self-made pains and miseries through bad and wrong decisions. He shows us what could be gained and accomplished by total reliance on the grace and power of God. The Lord shows us how to pass the trials and suffering of life by through positive volition.
By our decisions to obey God mandates, we obey and follow our Lord in the divine dynasphere ƒzƒnwhere after the most grueling testing; there we can still find power to spare. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
256 - THE SUPERIOR HIGH PRIEST
The Lord Jesus Christ is superior to angelic hosts, superior to Moses and Abraham, superior to the Law, because, He is the only perfect High Priest.
Jesus Christ is the only Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens [Hebrews 4:14], the Apostle (apostolos) and High Priest (archiereus) of our confession (the conviction from the Bible doctrine resident in the kardiaƒw. He is the merciful and faithful High Priest [Hebrews 2:17] and the only High Priest over the house of God [Hebrews 10:21].
The character of His Priesthood: Superior, eternal, perfect, very powerful, a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek [Hebrews 5:6-10].
His commission is from God the Father He is called by God not to glorify Himself but to do the will of God [Hebrews 5:4-5].
His preparation for Priesthood is through by becoming a Man and offered Himself as a Sacrifice (Hebrews 2:17, 10:5].
His Sacrifice is an acceptable sacrifice, which obtained eternal redemption for all members of the human race ¡Vwho will believe in Christ [Hebrews 8:3, 9:12,14, 27-28, 10:4-12].
His Sanctuary is in heaven, a perfect Tabernacle not in this world, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, who appear in the presence of God for us [Hebrews 4:14, 8:2-4, 9:11-12, 10:12, 19].
His Ministry is Extraordinary:
He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted (that is tested by undeserved sufferings) [Hebrews 2:18].
He sympathizes with our weaknesses (trials by suffering for blessings) [Hebrews 4:15]. He saved the believers for eternity and he makes intercession for the regenerated [Hebrews 7:25]. He is the Mediator of a new Covenant- for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first Covenant [Hebrews 9:15].
He is the Mediator of a better Covenant enacted on a better Promise [Hebrews 8:6]. He is now in heaven- appearing in the presence of God for us [Hebrews 9:24].
The Effects of His Priesthood
He delivers the regenerated from the fear of death and from the power of death [Hebrews 2:14-15]. Believers now have the access to the throne of grace through Christ [4:16]. His sacrifice is once and for all [9:16]. He imputed His indestructible eternal life to every born again believers [7:16, 25]. He cleanses our conscience from the human good works or dead works [9:14]. He will never mention sin or demand penalty or accountability for our sins when He returned [9:28].
Believers now have the capacity for hope of blessing in time and hope for blessing in eternity as an anchor of the soul [6:19-20]. Christ is totally dependable being our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. His one time offering sanctified all believers and our sins and lawless deeds He will remember no more [10:15-17].
He is now the Author and Perfecter of our faith [12:2-3] and we can function as Royal Ambassador by His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit [13:13-16].
God had promised that the Messianic King would also be a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek [Psalm 110:4]. Such a promise indicates the imperfection of the old Aaronic order of priesthood Jesus Christ perfectly fulfills this promise.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
257 - THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRIST
Angels were created superior to the human race, yet in the realm of Christ¡¦s humanity, He is far superior to angels by means of His ascension and session at the right hand of the Father [Hebrews 1:4]. In His glorified body He has obtained or inherited a better name, supremacy of character over angels, because God the Father exalted Him.
Jesus Christ is superior in His relationship with the Father. The term ¡§son and father¡¨ are words of relationship in the human race and used as language of accommodation in Hebrews 1:5a, while they do not give adequate expression of relationship between the First Person and the Second Person of the Trinity-they do not give us some idea. It established the fact for us that there is a relationship between God the Father and God the Son.
Jesus Christ is superior in His Second Advent: The phrase ¡§When He bringeth ¡¨ƒnrefers to His Second Coming [Hebrews 1:6, Psalm 97:7]. The Greek term indicates ¡¥someone brought back into something¡¨, hence, Christ is brought back into the world by the Father.
There are three points connected with the term ¡¥first begotten or first born¡¨:
God the Father commands all the elect angels to worship Christ at the Second Advent. All fallen angels will be removed from the earth and Satan bound and the angelic conflict will be suspended.
Jesus Christ is superior in His ministry to angels because He is Ruler forever while the elect angels are servants forever [Hebrews 1:7-8, Psalm 104:4, 45:6]. In His humanity, Christ is a Scepter of Righteousness, which refers to His impeccability and to His ministry of righteousness.
God the Father addressed the Second Person of the Trinity as Deity after He became flesh and He is called God.
Jesus Christ is superior in His appointment since He always chose the righteous plan of God during His humanity. He voluntarily restricted the use of His own divine power but depended entirely upon the power of the Holy Spirit. He set His focus on the plan of God-even to the plan of the Cross- [Hebrews 1:9].
No one among the members of the human race in all time was ever indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit, as was Jesus Christ. Christ was the first Person that was completely controlled by the Spirit at all times.
Jesus Christ is superior to angels because He is the Creator. All that you can see and all that you cannot see came into existence by the Lord Jesus Christ ¡Vit was His hands that created the universe and sustain everything that is in it [Hebrews 1:10, Isaiah 44:24, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, Psalm 102:25].
Jesus Christ is superior to angels in His character. All human being are imperfectly temporal, always changing-often for the worst [Psalm 102:26, Hebrews 1:11]. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the only eternal, perfect and absolute human being that ever live and will ever live in all the earth [Psalm 90:2, Malachi 3:6].
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
258 - THE +VOLITION & HAPPINESS OF CHRIST
God is a God of order, not of confusion or disorganization, not legalism but orderliness. Since He is God of order, He provided divine protocol, which establishes the correct procedure to use under the plan and system of God. The imperfect believers must learn how to use the perfect protocol of God. No one can break the protocol of God without breaking himself. No one can counterfeit the protocol of God.
Every believer must learn how to obey the system God has established. The protocol is something you cannot counterfeit ¡Vsince the divine protocol cannot accept anything less than His very own perfection.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the first and the only Man who was indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit from the time He was born until the time He was ascended to heaven. He is the only Person who live and the last one to live completely by the divine protocol of God. He followed the divine protocol completely and accurately.
Christ was tested in every angels and details of His humanity. He prove the power of God and His positive volition are indeed very essentials to spiritual advancement. Christ was tested in every angle and details but was victorious even without using His Deity to influence His human needs.
The humanity of Christ did not encounter any self-induced misery or self-made suffering because He did not live outside the divine plan of God ¡V not even for one second. Temptation that leads to sin is possible only outside the will, plan and purpose of God. [James 1:12-15], whenever the believer welcome the dictatorship of the old sinful nature and therefore, the Holy Spirit is not in control of the soul of the believer, but the old sinful nature is.
Jesus Christ used His free will-volition to follow the Protocol plan of God. Free volition causes deserved sufferings under the law of volitional responsibility, but the existence of free will strips away every man made excuses for self-made misery. The believer¡¦s own negative volition is the only hindrance to spiritual growth and advancement under the Protocol plan of God.
There was no time in the life of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union when He has negative volition or when He was in the state of carnality. He was 100% spiritual all throughout His life as perfect Man.
The Lord Jesus Christ encountered every category of undeserved suffering and every category of testing possible to any human being. He faced every trial we encounter in our daily life [Hebrews 4:16, 1 Corinthians 10:13]. He did not rebuke His suffering or testing and driving it away, but overcome them all through the resources and power of the Holy Spirit.
The happiness of Christ in His humanity was the perfect happiness of God, not the happiness of man based on pleasures, leisure and treasures of the cosmic system. There was never a time when Christ became unhappy or lonely because of poverty, crisis, disaster, persecution, insults, and abuses from every direction.
Spiritual happiness is a state of the soul and not just emotional outburst. Genuine happiness is not external manifestation based on material aspects or factors. Materialism cannot provide true happiness it has nothing to do with abundance or with the absence of materials. The twin of materialism is extreme unhappiness caused by the things of the world.
The humanity of Christ was perfectly happy in poverty, persecution, rejection, mockery and insults, crisis and disaster, denial and injustice, betrayal and pains of all kinds.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
259 - THE DEATH OF CHRIST
Redemption, a compound Greek word (antilutron) ƒwƒzƒnmeaning ¡§the substitution¡¨ of money for a slave in order to set him free, translated as ransom. Cognate words are lutrones meaning redeemer or deliverer, lutrosis meaning redemption, lutrooƒz to release for a ransom and exagorazo to redeem from slave market in order to ser free.
Redemption therefore, is the saving work of Christ on the cross whereby all members of the human race are bought from the slave market of sin in which they were born spiritually dead. By the effect of redemption, men are delivered to the freedom of God¡¦s grace. Redemption is realized when a person is born spiritually by faith alone in Christ alone.
Jesus Christ as the only perfect member of the human race is the only qualified Redeemer [Hebrews 1:3] by His virginal conception [1 Timothy 3:16] and by His impeccability in the Hypostatic union [John 8:46, 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15 and 7:26-28].
Jesus Christ exhibits positive volition all throughout His Incarnation. The redemptive work of Christ was an act of His own free will [Luke 22:42] and He was obedient to the Father¡¦s plan of grace [Romans 5:19 Philippians 2:8].
The Blood of Christ was the ransom money or the purchase price of redemption [Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14]. It is the coin of the realm of heaven by which the purchase was made [1 Peter 1:18-19]. It depicts by representative analogy the saving work of Christ on the cross, that is His spiritual death ¡Vby which He was judged for all the sins of the entire humanity [2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24].
The soul of the believer is redeemed in salvation [Job 19:25-36]. Redemption is related to the mediator-ship of Christ [1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 9:14-15. Redemption of the soul leads to redemption of the body in resurrection and glorification [Ephesians 1:14]. Redemption of the body is the ultimate status of the believer as member of the Royal family of God [Romans 8:23].
Redemption of the soul is the basis for justification [Romans 8:34], the basis for three stages of sanctification [Ephesians 5:25-27], the basis for eternal inheritance of the saints in Christ [Hebrews 9:15] and the basis for strategic victory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict [Colossians 2:14-15, Hebrews 2:14-15].
Ransom ƒv(lutron- a means of loosing) was used in the OT as: ransom for a life [Exodus 21:30], purchase money for a slave [Lev. 19:20], purchase money for a piece of land or ransom money for a prisoner [Lev. 25:24, Isaiah 45:13].
RANSOM FOR MANY used by the NT for Christ, which means; the expiatory sacrifice of Christ under God¡¦s judgment upon sin of all men. This is an OT illustration and not a literal ransom [Matthew 20:28, 1 Timothy 2:6].
The beneficiaries are those who accept God¡¦s conditions and methods. The effects is provisionary universal, while the character of the sacrifice is vicarious ¡Vwe cannot in any way, disassociated His expiatory death from His character.
If we press for details of certain OT illustration beyond the actual statement of NT doctrines, them it becomes conjectural, that is, conclusion reached by guessing.
If we press the expression to become literal when it is out of the character of Christ, then we are making an assumption contrary to His essence and character.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
260 - UNLIMITED ATONEMENT
Unlimited atonement is the efficacious work of Christ on the cross on behalf of mankind. As a noun, it means reconciliation after enmity or controversy and includes satisfaction or reparation made for wrong or injury. As a verb, it has several related meaning such as ¡§to make up for errors, to be in accordance, to make reparation.¡¨ In the OT, the meaning of atonement is related to the Hebrew verb kaphar ƒzƒnmeaning ¡§to recover, to pass over.¡¨
During the OT times, animal sacrifices were used ¡§to cover¡¨ the sins, which represented the propitiation of God the Father by the judgment of Christ who covered our sins By His spiritual death on the Cross [Psalm 103:3, John 1:29] and thereby established reconciliation between man and God [Colossians 1:20-21].
Atonement in the OT refers to the use of animal sacrifice to represent the saving work of Christ. Animal sacrifices could not truly atone for sins. The concepts of OT and NT are brought together in Romans 3:23-26.
Atonement is unlimited because when Christ was judged on the cross-for sin ¡VHe paid for the sins of the entire human race and not just for the elect [Romans 5:6, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 Timothy 2:6, 4:10, Titus 2:1, 1 John 2:2, Hebrews 2:9]. Christ did not die only for the believers, that is, limited atonement.
Unlimited atonement eliminates sin from unbeliever¡¦s indictment at the Last Judgment, because Christ died as a substitute for all and was judged for all sins of the human race. At the cross of Jesus, God the Father rejected all the dead works of all men since Christ is the perfect atonement. Human good will be part of the unbeliever¡¦s indictment at the Last Judgment [Revelation 20:12-15].
Since all the sins of all men were judged at the Cross-, under the Law of double jeopardy they cannot be mentioned at the Last Judgment. Unlimited atonement covers sin only and not unbelief. The unbeliever in indicted at the Last Judgment because he did not believe in Christ while on earth [John 3:18, 36].
The Great White Throne Judgment (GWT) is the venue of the Last Judgment for all unbelievers of all generation to the Lake of Fire [Revelation 20:11-15]. Sins will never be an issue and will not be mentioned at the GWT. Every sin has already been judged at the Cross [1 Peter 2:24] and since Christ is the Judge of the GWT, He cannot mention that which He already paid for ¡Vthe reason for which He judged by God the Father [John 5:22, Revelation 20:11].
At GWT scene, there will be two sets of books. One is the Book of Life, which includes the names of every person who has believed in Christ. The second book, composed of two volumes, is the book of human good works of all unbelievers- from which their condemnation is solely based [Revelation 20:12].
No amount of human good works can atone for sin of any person. The justice of God cannot accept anything less than God¡¦s own perfection and righteousness. Sinful man cannot in any manner pay for his imperfection and unrighteousness.
Christ is not a debtor (opheiletes), that is, one who owes something to another. Debt (opheilema), here is metaphorically applied- because it demands an act of expiation and thus payment by way of punishment.
Death came through sin [Romans 5:12], which is rebellion against God-which involves forfeiting of the life. The separation from God caused by forfeiting of the life could be removed only by a sacrifice by which the victim and the one making the offering has became identified.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
261 - THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The Day of Atonement: (Yom Kippur) was a day of humiliation. The sense of guilt was to be deepened to its utmost intensity in the national mind; it was a day when the Israelites were conscious of their sins before God. It was the time for the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies.
The Day of Atonement speaks of the Lord's gracious concern both to deal fully with His people's sins and to make them fully aware that they stand before Him, accepted and covered in respect of all iniquity, transgression, and sin (Leviticus 16:21).
The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) centered on the high priestly ritual of the two goats (7-10, 15-17, 20-22). One goat is specified as a "sin offering" (9, 15). The priest would follow the rules of Leviticus 4, except that now he sprinkles the blood within the veil (4:15). This was a concealed act (4:17), observed only by the priest. But the Lord would have His people know, by personal experience, what had thus taken place secretly. He therefore appointed a public ceremony (4:20), which publicized what had been affected by the blood upon the mercy seat. The public ritual stresses, first, the truth of substitution.
The laying on of hands (4:21; 1:4; 3:2; 4:4) expresses the transference of sin from the guilty to the innocent, so that the latter actually becomes a "sin-bearer" (4:22; Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11-12). Secondly, atonement finally and irreversibly puts sin away: the sin-bearer goes, never to return, to the wilderness (vs. 10), a solitary (or "cut-off") land (vs. 22). In this connection the goat is said to be for "azazelƒp (verses 8, 10, 26), a word which, unused elsewhere, may mean a goat driven ƒnoff (combining ƒÕƒêƒz "goat," with ƒuazalƒz "to go away"), or a precipice (symbolic of a remote, menacing place). Or it may be the name of a supposed desert demon, signifying not an offering to such a demon but the banishing of sin to the place of total separation from the Lord.
The two sacrifices required a young bull (16:6) and one of the two goats. The bull was sacrifice in the brass altar and serve as offering for himself. The blood of the bull represented the spiritual death of Christ on the cross, collected in a large basin and passed the huge curtain into the Holy of Holies. Then, the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the bull on the altar [Romans 3:23].
MERCY SEAT means kapporeth Hebrew Colossians and the Greek hilasterion meaning propitiation refer to the wooden box called the Ark of the Covenant ¡Vwhich is the picture of the humanity of Christ. The gold refers to his deity. The wood and gold ¡Vpicture the uniqueness¡¦ of the God-Man- Jesus Christ.
The Ark of the Covenant contains three items: 1) the pot of Manna- a sign for the Israel¡¦s rejection of divine provision ¡Vthe Bread from heaven. 2) The tablets of the law ¡Va sign for Israel¡¦s violation of the Mosaic Law or rejection of God¡¦s plans related to the Levitical order. 3) Aaron¡¦s Rod that budded- a sign for Israel¡¦s violation and rejection of the authority of the Levitical ƒnpriesthoodƒ|
Jesus Christ entered the real Holy of Holies in heaven and fulfilled what the blood of animals cannot do [Hebrews 9:24, 10:4] for He not required of any special offering for His own behalf. He offered a sacrifice to pay the sin of all men and by entering the Holy of Holies; He conquered sin, spiritual death and physical death [Hebrews 9:12, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57]. Christ won the first strategic victory over Satan [Hebrews 2:14-15].
Christ has redeemed man, reconciled man to God and destroyed all the barriers that blocked man from God and fulfilled the requirements of the Laws. Christ now is the only barrier between God and man.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
262 - THE SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD
The shedding of the blood (in the language of the Scripture) involves the taking and giving of the life of Christ. In His sacrifice, Christ endured the divine judgment due to man¡¦s sin, by this, the believer become identified with Him in His deathless life through His resurrection.
Christ¡¦s spiritual death on the Cross-is suffering of payment. God the Father has forsaken Christ for three (3) hours in order to impute all sins of all men on Christ [Psalm 22:1-8, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34].His groaning (sheagan) ƒwƒnclearly indicates that Christ was screaming from the pains of judgment not from the pains of physical torture, insults or mockery.
The phrase ¡§But I am a worm¡¨ of Psalm 22:6 refers to Christ. Worms (tolaath) refers to very rare and expensive worms whose blood was gathered for making crimson dye of the ancient world. Only the robes of powerful kings were stained with this valuable pigment
The Blood of Christ refers to His spiritual death, the most valuable Blood the most rare of them all (since He is the only human without old sinful nature and Adamic ƒnoriginal sin) and the most noble of them all, (being the Son of God). His Blood spread His Royalty to every member of the Royal Family of God. Whereby, the slave (the unbelievers) has become children of the Master- this is the royalty by the grace of God through their personal faith in Christ.
The Blood of Christ depicts and set forth the meaning of the saving work of Christ on the Cross-through four (4) vital doctrines:
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
263 - ANALOGY OF ANIMAL BLOOD
The blood is the seat of animal life [Leviticus 17:10-14] and in the OT shadow worship; the blood of animals was used to represent redemption, the saving work of Christ on the cross. From the garments of the animal skin [Genesis 3:21] to Levitical ƒnoffering [Lev. 1:1-5:10], animal blood was used to represent the figurative blood of Christ.
While the animal blood was real and literal, it does not represent the literal blood of Christ shed on the Cross- because Christ did not die by bleeding to death. The animal blood represents the spiritual death of Christ on the cross [Colossians 1:20, Hebrews 10:19, 13:20, 1 Peter 1:2].
In real analogy, the physical death of the animal would be compared to the physical death of Christ. Animal sacrifice is a representative analogy in which the physical death of the animal on the altar represents the spiritual death of Christ ¡Vthe two deaths of Christ on the cross of Calvary.
THE BLOOD OF ANIMAL SACRIFICES WAS A SHADOW POINTING TO THE REALITY OF THE CROSS [Hebrews 9:12-24].
The Blood of Christ in expiation is the basis for rebound. The true meaning of the blood of Christ set forth in the direction for doctrines of Soteriology in threefold setting:
1. Redemption ¡V inward 2. Reconciliation ¡V manward 3. Propitiation ¡VGodward
God the Father solves the problem of sin by redemption through sending the Mediator between God and man. So by, redemption the Lord Jesus Christ reconciles man and propitiates God. The Blood of Christ is analogous to Redemption, Reconciliation and Propitiation.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
263 - THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
In the Tabernacle and later in the Temple ritual of animal sacrifices, the blood of animals was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the Passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Exodus 12; Leviticus 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Exodus 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with Him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20).
EXPIATION
Human quilt is expiated when it is executed with punishment falling on a substitute. Expiation is made for our sins when they are punished not in us but in another person who consents to stand in our room. It is that by which reconciliation is effected. Sin is said, "covered" by vicarious satisfaction.
The cover or lid of the ark is termed in the Greek OT as hilasterionƒz that which covered or shut out the claims and demands of the law against the sins of God's people, whereby he became "propitious" to them. The idea of vicarious expiation runs through the whole Old Testament system of sacrifices. Expiation therefore is the aspect of Christ¡¦s work on the cross that cancelled the debt for the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin is spiritual death.
REDEMPTION
The purchases back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, that is, redemption by a lutron (see Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). There are instances in the Greek Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Leviticus 19:20; 25:51; Exodus 21:30; Numbers 35: 31, 32; Isaiah 45:13; Proverbs 6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Num. 3:49; 18:15).
There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; Galatians 3:13; 4:4, 5; Ephesians 1: 7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:12; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Revelation 5:9).
The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of His people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by His doctrine, nor by His example, nor by the moral influence which He exerted, nor by any subjective influence on His people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners".
JUSTIFICATION
A forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which He pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the law, that is, as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon of sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in respect of the justified.
It is the act of a Righteous and Perfect Judge and not of a sovereign ruler. In Christ, the demands of the Laws were fulfilled in the strictest sense; therefore a believer is justified.
Justification is not the forgiveness of a man without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness that perfectly and forever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:6-8). The sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the believer is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith is called a "condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or apprehends Christ and His righteousness (Romans 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Philippians 3: 8-11; Galatians 2:16).
The act of faith, which thus secures our justification, secures also at the same time our sanctification; and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does not lead to licentiousness (Romans 6:2-7). Divine good works, while not the ground, are the certain consequence of justification (Romans 6:14; 7:6)
SANCTIFICATION
Sanctification involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Romans 6:13; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 Cor. 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Cor. 6: 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13).
Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it;
(1.) Secures union to Christ (Galatians 2:20),
(2.) Brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatening, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come."
Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Romans 7:14-25; Philippians 3:12-14; and 1 Tim. 1:15; also the confessions of David (Psalms 19:12, 13; 51), of Moses (90:8), of Job (42:5, 6), and of Daniel (9:3-20).
"The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections, which cling to him, he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray.
They are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.
RECONCILIATION
Reconciliation is a change from enmity to friendship. It is mutual, meaning to say, it is a change wrought in both parties who have been at enmity.
Romans 5:10 refers not to any change in our disposition toward God, but to God Himself, as the party reconciled. Romans 5:11 teach the same truth. From God we have received "the reconciliation" that is, He has conferred on us the token of his friendship.
So also 2 Corinthians 5: 18, 19 speak of a reconciliation originating with God, and consisting in the removal of His merited wrath. In Ephesians 2: 16 it is clear that the apostle does not refer to the winning back of the sinner in love and loyalty to God, but to the restoration of God's forfeited favor. His justice being satisfied, so that He can, in consistency with His own nature, be favourable toward sinners, affects this.
Justice demands the punishment of sinners. The death of Christ satisfies justice, and so reconciles God to us. This reconciliation makes God our friend, and enables Him to pardon and save us.
PROPITIATION
Propitiation is that by which God is rendered propitious, that is, by which it becomes consistent with His character and divine government to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure His love or make Him loving; it only renders it consistent for Him to exercise His love towards sinners.
In Romans 3:25 and Hebrews 9:5 the Greek word hilasterion ƒnis used. It is the word employed by the translators in Exodus 25:17 and elsewhere as the equivalent for the Hebrew kapporeth ƒw which means "covering," and is used of the lid of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:21; 30:6).
The Greek word hilasterion ƒndenotes not only the mercy seat or lid of the ark, but also propitiation or reconciliation by His blood; On the great Day of Atonement the high priest carried the blood of the sacrifice he offered for all the people within the veil and sprinkled with it the "mercy-seat," and so made propitiation.
In 1 John 2:2; 4:10, Christ is called the "propitiation for our sins." Here a different Greek word used (hilasmos)ƒwƒ| Christ is "the propitiation," because by His becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations He expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which He endured. (Compare Hebrews 2:17, where the expression "make reconciliation" of the Old English. is more correctly.
ATONEMENT.
In the Old Testament it is of frequent occurrence. The meaning of the word is simply atƒ{-one-ment, that is, the state of being at one or being reconciled, so that atonement is reconciliation. Thus it is used to denote the effect, which flows from the death of Christ.
But the word is also used to denote that by which this reconciliation is brought about, viz., the death of Christ itself; and when so used it means satisfaction, and in this sense to make an atonement for one is to make satisfaction for his offences (Exodus 32:30; Leviticus 4:26; 5:16; Numbers 6:11), and, as regards the person, to reconcile, to propitiate God in His behalf.
By the atonement of Christ we generally mean His work by which He expiated our sins. But in Scripture usage the word denotes the reconciliation itself, and not the means by which it become in effects.
When speaking of Christ's saving work, the word "satisfaction," the word used by the theologians of the Reformation, is to be preferred to the word "atonement." Christ's satisfaction is all He did in the room and in behalf of sinners to satisfy the demands of the law and justice of God.
Christ's work consisted of suffering and obedience, and these were vicarious, and they were not merely for our benefit, but were in our stead, as the suffering and obedience of our vicar, or substitute. Our guilt is expiated by the punishment that our vicar bore, and thus God is rendered propitious, that is, it is now consistent with His justice to manifest His love to transgressors.
Expiation has been made for sin, i.e., it is covered. The means by which it is covered is vicarious satisfaction, and the result of its being covered is atonement or reconciliation. To make atonement is to do that by virtue of which alienation ceases and reconciliation is brought about.
Christ's work of mediator-ship and sufferings are the ground or efficient cause of reconciliation with God. They rectify the disturbed relations between God and man, taking away the obstacles interposed by sin to their fellowship and concord. The reconciliation is mutual, meaning to say, it is not only that of sinners toward God, but also and pre-eminently that of God toward sinners, effected by the sin-offering He Himself provided, so that consistently with the other attributes of His character His love might flow forth in all its fullness of blessing to men.
The primary idea presented to us in different forms throughout the Scripture is that the spiritual death of Christ is a satisfaction of infinite worth rendered to the law and justice of God, and accepted by in room of the very penalty man had incurred. It must also be constantly kept in mind that the atonement is not the cause but the consequence of God's love to guilty men (John 3:16; Romans 3:24, 25; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 1:9; 4:9).
The atonement may also be regarded as necessary, not in an absolute but in a relative sense, that is, if man is to be saved, there is no other way than this which God has devised and carried out (Exodus 34:7; Josh. 24:19; Ps. 5:4; 7:11; Nahum 1:2, 6; Romans 3:5). This is God's plan, clearly revealed; and if that is enough for us to know. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT
The Day of Atonement was a great annual day of humiliation and expiation for the sins of the nation, "the fast" (Acts 27:9), and the only one commanded in the Law of Moses. The mode of its observance is described in Leviticus 16:3-10; 23:26-32; and Numbers 29:7-11. It was kept on the tenth day of the month Tisriƒz five days before the feast of Tabernacles, and lasted from sunset to sunset.
The Day of Atonement speaks of the Lord's gracious concern both to deal fully with his people's sins and to make them fully aware that they stand before Him, accepted and covered in respect of all iniquity, transgression, and sin (Leviticus 16:21).
The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) centered on the high priestly ritual of the two goats (7-10, 15-17, 20-22). One goat is specified as a "sin offering" (9, 15). The priest would follow the rules of Leviticus 4, except that now He sprinkles the blood within the veil (15).
This was a concealed act (17), observed only by the priest. But the Lord would have His people know, by personal experience, what had thus taken place secretly. He therefore appointed a public ceremony, which publicized what had been effected by the blood upon the mercy seat. The public ritual stresses, first, the truth of substitution. The laying on of hands (21; 1:4; 3:2; 4:4) expresses the transference of sin from the guilty to the innocent, so that the latter actually becomes a "sin-bearer" (22; Isaiah 53:4, 6, 11-12).
Secondly, atonement finally and irreversibly puts sin away: the sin-bearer goes, never to return, to the wilderness (10), a solitary ("cut-off") land (22). In this connection the goat is said to be for "azazel" (8, 10, 26), a word, which, unused elsewhere, may mean a goat given off (combining"goat," with ƒuazalƒz "to go away"), or a precipice (symbolic of a remote, menacing place). Or it may be the name of a supposed desert demon, signifying not an offering to such a demon but the banishing of sin to the place of total separation from the Lord.
264 - JESUS CHRIST DIED TWICE
Adam was created spiritually alive and through his negative volition became spiritually dead. Adamic sin is imputed to all human being after Adam ¡Vbecoming spiritually dead at the point of physical birth.
Jesus Christ is the only person ever born spiritually alive and through His volition deliberately chose to go to the Cross-to die spiritually and physically [Genesis 2:17].
The perfect God-Man had to pay the penalty or wages of sin (that is spiritual death) to free the human race from the slave market of sin. The term ¡§to die¡¨ occurs twice, literally translated ¡§dying you will die.¡¨ It¡¦s an idiom that indicates the intensity of death, the wages of sin- not the physical death but the spiritual death [Romans 3:23, 5:12, 6:23]. Our physical death is the eventual result of spiritual death. We did not earn the wages of sin but Adam earned it for us.
The sin of Adam is imputed to all human being that is why, all men did spiritually at the point of physical birth. All the personal sins of all men are imputed in Christ at the cross. Christ died spiritually on the cross for three (3) hours in order to purchase our salvation. He was spiritually death from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM ¡Vthough he had no sin of his own but was judged for our sins [2 Corinthians 5:21].
His physical death is necessary for His own resurrection [1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 20-23]. Christ was physically alive while being judged for our sins repeatedly screaming the words ¡§My God, My God, Why hast Thou forsaken Me?¡¨ In the original text, it is not a question mark but an exclamation mark.
His groaning was not for physical, emotional or psychological pains but for spiritual suffering- He bore the sins of all men of the entire human history.
When His spiritual death is completed, He shouted ¡§Telelestai ƒnmeaning ¡§it is finished.¡¨ (In the past with the results that goes forever [John 19:30]. Christ was still speaking after salvation was completed.
He was very much alive physically when He announced the completion of His legacy- the salvation of men. Christ physical death has nothing to do with the payment for sins of men. He was the only person who died twice on a tree.
o Christ physical birth was unique: without the seed of Adam o Christ humanity was unique: without sin and not able to sin o Christ spiritual death was unique: It saves men souls o His physical death was unique: It guarantees our resurrection
Christ is the only Person ever authorized to dismiss His own life when His mission was finish. By an act of His volition, His soul and human spirit left His body ¡Vdying physically [Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37]. Our physical death is the consequence of our spiritual death the result of Adamic ƒnoriginal sin. Christ¡¦s physical death was the completion of salvation, related to resurrection and glorification rather than the means for atonement for sins.
Our spiritual death is something we did not chose but passed to us through Adam. Christ¡¦s spiritual death was His own choosing and decision ¡V in order to save us.
For salvation He died the spiritual death for our resurrection He died the physical death for 3 days and 3 nights. Salvation is the redemption of the soul while resurrection is the redemption of the body. Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption and the physical death for our resurrection.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
265 - CHRIST DID NOT BLEED TO DEATH
In Genesis 2:17, the verb ¡§to die¡¨ (muth) literally means ¡§dying you will die.¡¨ In Colossians 1:22 the term used for death in Greek is thanatos in its singular form, meaning it refers to spiritual death of Christ not to His physical death.
The NT uses nekros for physical death never thanotosƒ| whenever the resurrection is mentioned, it is from nekros and never from thanatos ƒ|ƒnƒnIn Colossians 2:12, the word for death is in plural form referring to Christ¡¦s spiritual and physical deaths. (See the appendix for 7 categories of death)
In Isaiah 53:9a, death is in plural form (meweth ƒwƒnreferring to Christ¡¦s spiritual and physical deaths. Animal¡¥s blood illustrates the spiritual event that took place during Christ¡¦s 3 hours death on the cross. The Blood of Christ is synonym for the spiritual death of Christ not for physical death. The Blood of Christ is the means of expiation that is paying the penalty for sin.
When the Lord made the announcement of His finished work of salvation ¡VHe physically died but no blood was shed [John 19:30].
John 19:32-33 spoke about they called in Latin as ¡§crurifragium¡¨ which is the process of breaking the legs of the crucified person. Shattering the leg bones with a heavy mallet, but it was not necessary because Christ was already death.
John 19:34 ¡Vspoke about ¡§blood and water¡¨ (hudor), ƒwƒzƒnƒnthe grayish yellow fluid that separates from the clot in the coagulation of blood, it is better known as blood clots and serum.
If someone dies from excessive loss of blood, clots and serum do not form. The blood simply exists the body as whole red blood the same form that you see if you cut your finger. External bleeding was not the cause of His death. The sight of blood clots and serum is medical proof not only that Jesus Christ was physically dead but the fact that He did not bleed to death.
The blood of Christ does not refer to his physical, because He did shed blood to death.
His spiritual death is for the payment of sins of the human race and is called the blood of Christ. It¡¦s a representative analogy, which described His spiritual death not his physical death. ¡§For without the shedding of blood the spiritual death of Christ there is no forgiveness of sin [Hebrews 9:22b].
In the OT Israel the blood of the animals was literal but the forgiveness was symbolic. At the cross the blood was symbolic but the forgiveness was literal. In the Lord¡¦s Supper the blood is symbolic not literal. The wine is not turned into blood ¡Vwe are not cannibals.
Since Christ has a perfect body His blood continues sufficient vitamin K and coagulation factor to cause the coagulation almost immediately.
The term ¡§side¡¨ in John 19:34 (Zechariah 12:10) refers to the chest cavity. Water (hudor) refers to blood and serum means 4 things: 1. Christ did not bleed to death 2. Christ died before they killed Him 3. Christ dismissed His own soul and human spirit at His volition [Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46] 4. The blood of Christ was symbolic and His judgment on the cross was literal [Hebrews 9:22, 10:1-4, 10].
The expression blood of Christ is a figure speech referring to Christ¡¦s spiritual death not physical death. The soul is immaterial and the spiritual aspect of the human being it has no blood. If the blood of Christ refers to His physical death, then it must be literal blood not symbolic.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
267 - JESUS FROM NAZARETH
Jesus was born in Bethlehem (the house of bread), a city in the tribe of Judah, also called Ephrath in Genesis 48:7 or Ephratah ƒnin Micah 5:2 of which the inhabitants were called the Ephrathitesƒnƒn [Ruth 1:2, 1 Samuel 17:12].
In this place David was born and spent his early days as a shepherd. It was the setting for the narrative of Ruth and the place where the Lord was born of a woman.
Jerusalem is where the Bread from heaven or the Bread of Life came down from heaven. But Jesus Christ came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene [Matthew 2:23].
Jesus means Savior from the Hebrew Joshua, which means Jehovah, is salvation. Christ means Anointed, the Greek equivalent of Messiah. Jesus is His human name while Christ is His official title. Immanuel describes WHO HE IS, translated as God with us.
During His Hypostatic Union- to call Him as ¡§Jesus of Nazareth¡¨ was acceptable for the Gentiles but an insult for the Jews. They considered it as a reproach to Jewish people [Acts 24:5]. Pilate insulted the Jews when He wrote ¡§Jesus of Nazareth-king of the Jews¡¨, that is why, the Jews were asking Pilate to change it [John 19:21].
Christ indeed is a King and for the Jews- a crucified and rejected King. The title came from Pilate¡¦s sarcastic insult that was very much disliked by the Jews.
Bethlehem was first mentioned in Genesis 35:16-20, where Rachel-the wife of Jacob died by giving birth to Ben-oni (son of my sorrow) whom Jacob renamed Benjamin. Benjamin (son of my righteous hand). Both names refer to Jesus Christ [Isaiah 53:3 & Hebrews 1:3]. It refers to Christ humiliation and exaltation.
Jacob saw Bethlehem as a place of death ¡Vbut the birth of Christ made it the place of life. The SON OF MT SORROW would one day become SON OF MY RIGHT HAND and it. Bethlehem is no longer a place of burial (the place where the beloved of Jacob was buried) but a place of life ¡Vwhere Jesus Christ the Life giver was born.
Today, Bethlehem is nothing but a religious commercialized area and it remains very idolatrous as it was in the ancient times. There is nothing spiritual about the place.
The perfect humanity of Christ was never affected by insults or mockery of Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas or Annas ƒnbecause true dignity and honor are never external.
Genuine honor and integrity is not material in nature but spiritual. People who are wearing their dignity and integrity in their neckties or badge are very miserable.
People whose pride is attached to their family, race, culture, bloodline, royalty, power or wealth are easily insulted by such names calling. Christians with Bible doctrine in their souls are seldom affected by such insults. Nothing can hurt the dignity and integrity of Christ living within the believer with epignosis.
Jesus Christ was untouchable and solid since His perfect humanity stands in the Truth of the Word. Nothing in this world or anything else can demoralized Him or downgrade His values or viewpoints.
No amount of rejection and denial moved His to defocus His concentration from the will of the Father. Satan gave the full force of his devious scheming but Christ remained focused on His objective to do the will of God. Insults will not hurt a person unless he deserves it. Christ suffered from every type of people testing all throughout His life on earth.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
268 - THE ILLEGAL TRIALS OF CHRIST
There are 12 points of illegality related to the trials of Jesus Christ under the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) led by Annas and Caiaphas.
Jesus was arrested at nighttime. Taking steps in criminal proceeding after the sunset was expressed clearly prohibited by the Mosaic Law and by the Sanhedrin.
Jesus arrest was conducted through a bribed traitor ¡Va contradiction and violation of the Mosaic Law [Exodus 23:8].
The arresting party included some members of the Sanhedrin ¡Va clear violation of their own code of conduct.
The trial inside the Temple took place before the sunset sacrifice ¡Va violation of the Mosaic Law. Trials for criminal cases were conducted in the outer court not in the inner court of the Temple.
The requirements for 2 honest citizens as witnesses were ignored and by-passed [Deuteronomy 17:6].
The verdict was released in less than 12 hours. The Sanhedrin Rule of Courts provided that crimes punishable by capital punishment cannot its verdict given in the same of hearing. This provision was prevention for hasty and bias decision of the court.
The Lord Jesus Christ was tried under the secret court assembled by Annas and Caiaphas in unholy hours of evening. The Mosaic Law orders that such trials be opened to public during daytime.
The Sanhedrin originated those charges against Christ. The members of the Temple court were entitled to conduct investigation and not to originate or create cases against the accused. There was no investigation by the Sanhedrin.
Perjurers cannot serve as witnesses in the Temple court. The hire witnesses against the Lord were known as perjurers [Matthew 26:59-60].
The function of the Jewish crowd was not merely to try the case but to depend the accused or prisoner who was presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.
The Levitical ƒncode of conduct for priests prohibited the rending of clothes or garments while inside the Temple [Leviticus 21:10].
The members of the Sanhedrin voted simultaneously in contravention of their faith in the Law [Matthew 26:66]. The young members must vote first then the elders to avoid the anomalies of political influence or partisan voting.
The witnesses against Christ were not sworn in and were never in any way, cross-examined by the court or by the people.
The Mosaic Law by its strict and forceful implementation was par excellent compare to our legal systems. In the Mosaic Law and court order, the silence of the accused does not means the admission of guilt but a witness to the truth of innocence.
For that reason, the Lord Jesus Christ did not depend Himself with arguments of facts but with argument of silence.
The Jewish religious officials wanted to kill the Lord Jesus, but His lack of cooperation to make them popular and more powerful destroyed their poise and pseudo-dignity. They lose the argument and lose the case as well. Their so-called success in hanging the Lord have proven the corruption of the human system no matter how good it might looks like in the eyes of men. There is no justice in the world controlled and manipulated by the Devil.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
269 - GOLGOTHA
Golgotha ƒnis the Aramaic name of a place near Jerusalem where Christ was crucified the name appears only 3 times in the NT. The Aramaic word is the same as the Hebrew term that essentially means ¡¥head or skull.¡¨ Luke used the Greek not the Sematic term Kranium ƒnƒvfrom where we get the English word cranium). It was translated Calvary from the Latin calvariaƒn [Luke 23:33].
The Golgotha was very near Jerusalem, not within the City wall but not far [John 19:20, Hebrews 13:12]. The road leading to Calvary is a well-traveled road ¡Vthe Romans were busy crucifying the enemies of the state [Mark 15:21]. From the City, it was clearly visible from a distance [Mark 15:40 Luke 23:49]. This has led many to think of it as a hill, but nowhere in the Scripture is that so stated.
Numerous places around Jerusalem have been suggested as the site of Calvary none is serious contender for the actual spot of the crucifixion and burial of Christ.
Enterprising religious businessmen have invented their own place of Calvary- and so; Jerusalem today has more than a dozen version of Golgotha depending on which tourist agency one is traveling. Constantine commissioned Bishop Marcarius to find Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus more than 300 years after His death. Several Bishops also came up with their own version of Golgotha. Some even claimed that they found the cross from which Christ was crucified. The result was obvious, numerous Golgotha and numerous cross.
The Romans deliberately obscured many so-called holy places for financial reason. The SPQR removed any landmarks and obscured important religious site for the Jews and even building their own pagan temples after abolishing them.
The lack of legal documents and official ancient map made it impossible to locate the actual place of Christ¡¦s crucifixion and burial. The places of crucifixion (just anywhere among the busy roads) and the tombs of the criminals were not important to the Romans- so they did not have any records. The Romans avoid such recording for their own protection.
The Romans did not believe in the God of the Hebrews slaves and Jewish fanatics- so they paid no attention to such places.
Visiting such commercialized religious sites will not enrich our faith or knowledge of Bible doctrine or our relationship with Christ. Jerusalem and its vicinity have nothing to do with our spirituality. Visiting such places is simply waste of money and energy.
There is no such thing as holy place in the cosmos diabolicus (ƒnƒvdevil¡¦s world). We grow in our Christian faith by continuous intake of Bible doctrine not by visiting beautiful but expensive religious sites.
The Roman Catholics also created multi-level legends concerning the cross of Jesus, His burial place, His place of last supper with the apostles, the clothed used to wrapped his body and many more.
The religious fakers are good inventors of such legends but nothing is correct and faithful to God¡¦s Word. The foolish and the ignorant are satisfied with the legends but the wise will search for the Truth, the reality. We cannot be satisfied with the foolish and humanistic viewpoint.
Golgotha is just another killing field of the SPQR -there was and there is nothing important about it. We can change the venue, the time and day of Christ¡¦s crucifixion and it will not affect His redemptive work or His substitution for us.
The Golgotha and the Mary of the apostates and unbelieving are nothing but tools of deception. It is inviting people to reject and ignore the Truth. Biblical facts are facts of truth ¡Vreject it and you reject the truth.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
270 - THE SON OF GOD
Huios tou theou is a title and a means of expressing a relationship, especially of Jesus, which can be indicated in other ways. As a title it was relatively rare, especially in Hellenistic and Jewish circles but popular among Christian. The use of the phrase of Jesus the Son of God however, can be explained only in light of a Jewish background and peculiarly inside the Christian faith.
In the OT-the use of the phrase referred to several things like celestial beings (Job 1:6; 2:1; Psalms 29:1; 89:6) and Israel (Deuteronomy 14:1; Hosea 1:10) can collectively be called sons of God, Israel's unique relationship with God enabled it to be referred to in the singular as God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) or simply as his son (Exodus 4:23; Jeremiah 31:20; Hosea 11:1). The phrase indicates a symbolic relationship of God's referring to Himself as Israel's father (Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 1:6) and Israel to God as Father (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Jeremiah 3:4).
In Psalm 2:7 God is quoted at the coronation of the king as saying, "You are my son; today I have begotten you." David's descendants in particular are given divine approval in Psalm 89:26-27, where God called the Davidic king "firstborn" and had the king refer to him as "my Father." This special filial relationship for David's dynasty goes back ultimately to 2 Samuel 7:14.
Nathaniel who had had no prior contact with Jesus, had as his initial reaction to Him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel" (1:49). Martha's confession of Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world" (11:27), seems to reflect some type of messianic expectation.
Jesus preferred to refer to Himself as the Son of man, there is sufficient evidence that His identity as Son of God goes back ultimately to His own assertions.
This is especially true of John, but instances of it are also found in the Synoptic. When the high priest asked Jesus, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" He answered, "I am," and then proceeded to refer to Himself as the Son of man (Mark 14:61-62).
Earlier He had identified God as the Father of the Son of man (Mark 8:38), and in Matthew He referred to God as "my Father" (7:21; 10:32-33; 20:23; 26:29, 53). In a passage reminiscent of John, Jesus strongly expressed His filial relationship with God (Matthew 11:25-27, Luke 10:21-22) and implied it in His parable of the wicked tenants (Mark 12:6). Even as a boy of twelve Jesus recognized that God was his Father (Luke 2:49)
At the heart of Jesus' identity in John is His stated divine Sonship. In John 10:36 He admitted saying, "I am the Son of God." Frequently He referred to God as "my Father" (5:17; 6:40; 8:54; 10:18; 15:15). Such assertions as "I and the Father are one" (10:30) and "the Father is in Me and I am in the Father" (38) show that Jesus conceived of His divine Sonship as unique and unparallel.
At both Jesus' baptism and transfiguration, God the Father Himself identified Jesus as His Son in statements reminiscent of Psalm 2:7 (Mark 1:11; 9:35). Before Jesus' birth Gabriel appeared to Mary and identified the child as the "Son of the Most High" and "Son of God" (Luke 1:32, 35).
At His temptation the devil twice challenged Jesus with the words, "If you are the Son of God" (Matthew 4:-5, Luke 4:3, 9). During Jesus' ministry unclean spirits or demons directly asserted His divine Sonship (Mark 3:11, Luke 4:41; Mark 5:7). At the beginning of Jesus' ministry John the Baptist testified, "This one is the Son of God" (John 1:34) and at the cross, the centurion exclaimed, "Truly, this was [the] son of God" (Mark 15:39, Matthew 27:54).
The development of Jesus' divine Sonship in the NT came principally from his disciples. During his ministry they did this as a group (Matt. 14:33) and as individuals: Peter (16:16), Nathaniel (John 1:49), and Martha (11:27). Saul of Tarsus' initial preaching in Damascus emphasized this point (Acts 9:20). Jesus' divine Sonship occupies an important position in the Pauline and Johannine epistles and in Hebrews.
In the Pauline, "Lord" and "Christ" are the more frequently used Christological titles, but "His Son" or "Son of God" appears in most of his Paul¡¦s epistles, especially in contexts dealing with eschatology, Jesus' messianic rule, and salvation.
The Johannine epistles represent a special case, where Jesus' divine sonship was constantly asserted as a corrective to the Docetic ƒnheresy. The Hebrews writer applied OT messianic texts to Jesus as God's Son, but more importantly, Jesus' sonship is at the heart of his argument that Jesus was superior to angels, Moses, and the Levitical priests.
The key to understanding what NT writers meant by the title "Son of God" is found in the contexts in which the title occurs. Heading the list are those passages, which connect Jesus' divine Sonship with His royal office as Messiah. Jesus did this Himself in response to the high priest's question (Mark 14:61-62), as God had earlier done at His baptism and transfiguration, using the language of Psalm 2:7. Paul (Acts 13:33) and the Hebrews writer (1:5; 5:5) also applied this verse to Jesus, as He did (2 Samuel 7:14).
Gabriel told Mary that her son not only would be called God's Son but also would reign on David's throne (Luke 1:32-33). Later in Luke the demons' recognition of Jesus as Son of God was associated with their knowledge that He was the Messiah (4:41). The connection of the two occurs three times in the Gospel of John (1:49; 11:27; 20:31), as it does in Paul's letters (Romans 1:3-4; I Corinthians 15:28; Colossians 1:13). It surfaced in Peter's confession (Matthew 16:16) and in Luke's summary of Saul's initial Damascus preaching (Acts 9:20, 22).
While Son of God and Messiah are connected in the Gospel of John, the major theological point brought out by Jesus' divine Sonship is His own divinity. Other themes underscored in the NT by this relationship include salvation (John and Paul) and Jesus' high priesthood (Hebrews). The question of at what point the Son actually became God's Son is not addressed in the NT so much as the points at which He was designated Son.
These are in connection with His birth (Luke 1:32, 35), baptism (Mark 1:11), transfiguration (Mark 9:7), resurrection (Romans 1:4; Acts 13:33), and Second Coming (I Thessalonians 1:10). Hence, there is no formal adoption of Christology as implied by His divine Sonship; rather, numerous passages present the Son as clearly preexistent (Galatians 4:4; Romans 8:3; Colossians 1:13-17).
The believing Israelites in the OT were sons of God, so are disciples of Jesus in the NT, although Jesus is Son in a unique sense (John 3:16, 18; I John 4:9). Jesus Himself used this phrase of His followers (Matthew 5:9, 45), but it is in Pauline that the doctrine became most fully developed. Here it is a part of Paul's doctrine of adoption (Galatians 4:1-7; Romans 8:14-17), which has a pagan Roman, background, rather than Jewish, because the practice of levirate marriage in ancient Judaism neutralized the social dynamic for adoption. Faith is the vehicle for this adoption (Galatians 3:26), and the outcome is that the adopted sons of God become his heirs along with Christ and thus address Him as "Abba, Father," as Jesus did in the garden (Mark 14:36).
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
271 - THE MIRACLES OF GOD
Miracle is an event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to authenticate the divine commission of a servant and the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matthew 12:38) in the pre-Canon period. It is an occurrence at once above nature and above man. It shows the intervention of a power that is not limited by the laws either of matter or of mind, a power interrupting the fixed laws that govern their movements, a supernatural power.
"The suspension or violation of the laws of nature involved in miracles is nothing more than is constantly taking place around us. One force counteracts another: vital force keeps the chemical laws of matter in abeyance; and muscular force can control the action of physical force. When a man raises a weight from the ground, the law of gravity is neither suspended nor violated, but counteracted by a stronger force. The same is true as to the walking of Christ on the water and the swimming of iron at the command of the prophet.
The simple and grand truth that the universe is not under the exclusive control of physical forces, but that everywhere and always there is above, separate from and superior to all else, an infinite personal will, not superseding, but directing and controlling all physical causes, acting with or without them." God ordinarily effects his purpose through the agency of second causes; but he has the power also of effecting his purpose immediately and without the intervention of second causes, that is, of invading the fixed order, and thus of working miracles.
Thus we affirm the possibility of miracles, the possibility of a higher hand intervening to control or reverse nature's ordinary movements. In the New Testament these four Greek words are principally used to designate miracles:
(1.) Semeion, a "sign", that is, an evidence of a divine commission; an attestation of a divine message (Matthew 12:38, 39; 16:1, 4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; 23:8; John 2:11, 18, 23; Acts 6:8); a token of the presence and working of God; the seal of a higher power
(2.) Terata: "wonders;" wonder-causing events; portents; producing astonishment in the beholder (Acts 2:19).
(3.) Dunameis, "might works;" works of superhuman power (Acts 2:22; Romans 15:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:9); of a new and higher power.
(4.) Erga, "works;" the works of Him who is "wonderful in working" (John 5: 20, 36).
In the pre-Canon era, miracles are seals of a divine mission. The sacred writers appealed to them as proofs that they were messengers of God. Our Lord also appealed to miracles as a conclusive proof of His divine mission (John 5:20, 36; 10:25, 38). Thus, being out of the common course of nature and beyond the power of man, they are fitted to convey the impression of the presence and power of God.
Where miracles are there certainly God is. The man, therefore, who works a miracle, affords thereby clear proof that he comes with the authority of God; they are his credentials that he is God's messenger. The teacher points to these credentials, and they are a proof that he speaks with the authority of God.."
The credibility of miracles is established by the evidence of the senses on the part of those who are witnesses of them, and to all others by the testimony of such witnesses. The witnesses were competent, and their testimony is trustworthy.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
272 - THE PURPOSE OF MIRACLES
Miracles, it is said, are contrary to experience. Of course they are contrary to our experience, but that does not prove that they were contrary to the experience of those who witnessed them. We believe a thousand facts, both of history and of science, that are contrary to our experience, but we believe them on the ground of competent testimony.
An atheist or a pantheist must, as a matter of course, deny the possibility of miracles; but to one who believes in a personal God, who in His wisdom may see fit to interfere with the ordinary processes of nature, miracles are not impossible, nor are they incredible.
What we human considered miracles of God are in reality not supernatural to God they are normal and standard actions of God.
Unlike the modern world, the ancient world was not suspicious of miracles. They were regarded as a normal, if somewhat extraordinary, part of life. Ancient people typically believed not only that supernatural powers existed, but also that they intervened in human affairs. Miracles, then, did not present a problem to the early Christians as they attempted to explain and relate their faith to the culture around them.
In understanding miracles it is important to bear in mind that the biblical concept of a miracle is that of an event which runs counter to the observed processes of nature. The word "observed" is particularly important here. Our knowledge of nature is a limited knowledge. Clearly there may be higher laws, which remain unknown to man.
In any case, miracles are not correctly conceived of as irrational disruptions of the pattern of nature, but as only the known part of that pattern. This understanding of the biblical conception may well erode some of contemporary man's objections to miracles. It is purely a corrective to the erroneous view that miracles are complete violations of nature.
Biblical miracles have a clear objective: they are intended to bring the glory and love of God into bold relief. They are intended, among other things, to draw man's attention away from the mundane events of everyday life and direct it toward the mighty acts of God.
In the context of the OT, miracles are viewed as the direct intervention of God in human affairs, and they are unquestionably linked to His redemptive activity on behalf of man. They help to demonstrate that biblical religion is not concerned with abstract theories about God's power, but with actual historical manifestations and experiences of that power. The most significant miracle of the OT is God's action on behalf of the Hebrews in opening up the Red Sea as they escaped the Egyptians.
This miracle is the centerpiece of Hebrew history and of OT religion. It is a demonstration of God's power and love in action. And this action became the theme of much of the Hebrew religion and literature, which came after it. It was the Hebrew view that man does not know the being of God so much as he knows the acts of God. God is therefore known as he acts on man's behalf, and the miracle at the Red Sea is the paradigm of God's acting.
This emphasis on miracles as the redemptive activity of God is continued in the NT, where they are a part of the proclamation of the good news that God has acted ultimately on man's behalf in the coming of Jesus Christ into history. Miracles are a manifestation of the power that God will use to restore all of creation on its proper order, to restore the image of God in man to its full expression, and to destroy death. Again we see the theme of biblical religion as centered not on theory but on action.
273 - MIRACLES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
The central miracle of the NT, indeed of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures, is the resurrection of Christ. Every book in the NT Canon claims proclaims or assumes the resurrection of Christ on the third day after His crucifixion. It is discussed thoroughly in each Gospel and is declared by Paul in I Corinthians 15 to be the keystone of Christian faith. The reference to it in I Corinthians is much earlier (in date) than those of the Gospels.
When the ancient acceptance of miracles is considered along with the wholly depressing circumstances surrounding the ending of Jesus' mission on the day He was crucified, it can be seen that the best evidence for the resurrection is the existence, energy, and growth of the early Church itself. After the crucifixion the apostles were utterly defeated persons, and their movement was sputtering to a humiliating stop. They were completely without hope after watching Jesus die as a criminal.
Yet within a few weeks these same men were boldly proclaiming Christ's resurrection to the very people who had brought about the condemnation of Christ. They were preaching that Jesus was the risen Lord to any and to all. And these apostles were normal, rational, sane men. Individually and corporately they had undergone a dramatic change after the crucifixion, from depressed, insecure, and despairing men to confident and bold preachers. Surely it is reasonable, on almost any criterion of reasonableness, to consider that witnessing the risen Christ was what brought about this dramatic change.
It should also be noted that one of the earliest acts of Christian worship was the breaking of bread with its attendant symbolism of Christ's broken body. This phenomenon would be unexplainable without the knowledge of the risen Christ, unless, that is, one wishes to dismiss the early apostles as irrational masochists, which they clearly were not.
It should be clear then that the central miracle of NT religion is the resurrection of Christ. Without this miracle the early church would not have come into being, and we who live in the twentieth century would no doubt never have heard of the other NT miracles. Indeed, we would probably never have heard of Jesus of Nazareth, who would have been forgotten along with hundreds of other obscure preachers and miracle workers who wandered about the ancient Middle East.
The Gospels teach that the significance of all the miracles of Christ is that they are the prophesied works of the Messiah. The miracles are signs rather than merely wonderful works. They are, however, signs only to those who have the spiritual discernment to recognize them as such. Without the enlightenment that accompanies Christian commitment they are only "wonders," or wonderful works, and their true theological significance cannot be recognized.
Belief in the biblical miracles has always been a central feature of Christian faith, and this remains the case in the twentieth century. Christian faith is informed by the revelation of God to man in Scripture and in the mighty acts recorded there. Christian faith is not to be conformed to the culture around it but is intended to be a transforming influence in the midst of its cultural milieu. The continuing work of the church in the world may itself be viewed as evidence for the truth of the biblical concept of miracle. Certainly the Christian's experience of God as Redeemer and Sustainer is the experience of miracle. It renders the posture of skepticism untenable.
We do not need miracles for 3 reasons: First the gift is history, Secondly the functions of the prophets and miracles workers is over, and thirdly, the Bible is already complete.
274 - WHAT IS SIN?
SIN is "any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God" (1 John 3:4; Romans 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by omission or commission (Romans 6:12-17; 7:5-24). It is "not a mere violation of the law of our constitution, nor of the system of things, but an offence against a personal lawgiver and moral governor who vindicates His law with penalties. The soul that sins is always conscious that his sin is: o Intrinsically vile and polluting, and o That it justly deserves punishment, and calls down the righteous wrath of God.
Hence sin carries with it two inalienable characters,
The moral character of a man's actions is determined by the moral state of his heart. The disposition to sin, or the habit of the soul that leads to the sinful act is itself also sin (Romans 6:12-17; Galatians 5:17; James 1:14, 15).
The origin of sin is a mystery, and must forever remain such to us. It is plain that for some reason God has permitted sin to enter this world, and that is all we know. His permitting it, however, in no way makes God the author of sin.
Adam's sin (Gen. 3:1-6) consisted in his yielding to the assaults of temptation and eating the forbidden fruit. It involved in it,
o The sin of unbelief, virtually making God a liar; and o The guilt of disobedience to a positive command
By this sin Adam became an apostate from God, a rebel in arms against his Creator. He lost the favor of God and communion with Him; his whole nature became depraved, and he incurred the penalty involved in the covenant of works.
275 - ORIGINAL SIN refers only to the sin of Adam, committed when he was without sin and without old sinful nature. Our first parents being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam the federal head and representative of all his posterity- constituted Adam as he was also their natural head, and therefore when he fell all men fell with him (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall.
Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation, that is,
"Original sin" is frequently and improperly used to denote the moral corruption of our whole nature inherited by all men from Adam. Only Adam committed original sin because he sinned when he was without old sin nature. This inherited moral corruption consists in:
It is called "sin" (Rom. 6:12, 14, 17; 7:5-17), the "flesh" (Gal. 5:17, 24), "lust" (James 1:14, 15), the "body of sin" (Rom. 6:6), "ignorance," "blindness of heart," "alienation from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18).
276 - THE OLD SIN NATURE OF MAN
The old sin nature influences and depraves the whole man, and its tendency is still downward to deeper and deeper corruption, there remaining no recuperative element in the soul.
The presence of OSN (old sinful nature) leads to total depravity. It is also universally inheriting by all the natural descendants of Adam (Romans 3:10-23; 5:12-21; 8:7)- The doctrine of original sin is proved:
The original sin of Adam cost so much ¡V the contamination of the entire human race. Sin always costs more than it pays.
The Biblical Understanding of Sin
In the biblical perspective, sin is not only act of wrongdoing but also a state of alienation from God. For the great prophets of Israel, sin is much more than the violation of a taboo or the transgression of an external ordinance. It signifies the rupture of a personal relationship with God, a betrayal of the trust He places in us. We become most aware of our sinfulness in the presence of the Holy God (Isaiah 6:5; Psalm 51:1-9; Luke 5:8).
Sinful acts have their origin in a corrupt heart (Gen. 6:5; Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 17:9). For Paul, sin (ƒvharmatia) is not just a conscious transgression of the law but a debilitating ongoing state of enmity with God. In Paul's theology, sin almost becomes personalized. It can be thought of as a malignant, personal power that holds humanity in its grasp.
The biblical witness also affirms that sin is universal. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Paul declares (Romans 3:23). "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "Who can say, 'I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin'?" (Proverbs 20:9). "They have all gone astray," the psalmist complains, "They are all alike corrupt; there is none that does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14:3). Man is born into the world with the strikes of Adam with him.
Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS) is imputed at the moment of birth. The first personal sin was committed by Adam at the Garden of Eden and became Adam¡¦s personal sin, which is imputed or officially charged to entire members of the human race. The sin of one man became the sin of all men. In this life, we stand or fall with Adam (Romans 5:19).
277 - THE HARDENING OF THE SOUL
The OSN is the source of temptation to personal sin and human volition is the cause of personal sin. Personal sin is disobedience to God and His expressed will for us.
HARDNESS OF THE HEARTƒw which is closely related to unbelief (Mark 16:14; Romans 2:5), likewise belongs to the essence of sin. It means refusing to repent and believe in the promises of God (Psalm 95:8; Hebrews 3:8, 15; 4:7). It connotes both stubborn unwillingness to open our life to the grace of God (2 Chronicles 36:13; Ephesians 4:18) and its corollary insensitivity to the needs of our neighbor (Deuteronomy 15:7; Ephesians 4:19).
Whereas the essence of sin is unbelief or hardness of heart, the chief manifestations of sin are pride, sensuality, and fear. Other significant aspects of sin are self-pity, selfishness, jealousy, and greed.
The effects of sin are moral and spiritual bondage, guilt, death, and hell. James explained: "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown brings forth death" (1:14-15). In Paul's view, "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23, I Cor. 15:56 that is spiritual death or separation from God.
According to Pauline theology, the law is not simply a check on sin but an actual instigator of sin. So perverse is the human heart that the very prohibitions of the law that were intended to deter sin serve instead to arouse sinful desire (Romans 7:7-8).
Biblical faith also confesses that sin is inherent in the human condition. We are not simply born into a sinful world, but we are born with a propensity toward sin. As the psalmist says, "The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies" (Psalms 58:3, 51:5).
CONVICTION OF SIN: The biblical teaching revolving chiefly around the concept of "conviction" does not cover all shades of meaning of elenchoƒ| The word sometimes entails the ideas of "exposing" and "correcting" in addition to that of "proving wrong" or "showing the guilt of."
A sinless person cannot be the object of this conviction (John 8:46; I Peter 2:22). The world can, however, notably for its disbelief in Christ (John 16:8-9). A sinning member of the Christian community can be an object of conviction, too (Matthew 18:15 and also Ephesians 5:11). Similarly a whole congregation may be reproved (I Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 3:16; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15; James 2:9; Revelation 3:19).
The conviction of sin originates with the hypostasis of the Godhead: the Father (Hebrews 12:5), the Son (Jude 15; Revelation 3:19), and the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). It is mediated through Christian witnesses, especially preachers, as they spread and implement the word of God (Matthew 18:15; John 16:7, 8; Ephesians 5:11, 13; I Timothy 5:20; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9, 13; 2:15). Their witness intensifies the convicting work already present through the Mosaic Law (James 2:9) and self-revelation to the conscience resulting from illumination by Christ's first advent (John 3:20).
The outcome of this convicting work varies. In one sense, it is always effective because the object invariably receives divine illumination to see issues clearly (John 16:7-8). In another sense, it is only relatively effective because the object may respond with repentance (Matthew 18:15; I Corinthians 14:24) or rejection (Luke 3:19). What conviction does is to make clear the dire results if the guilty party persists in his wrongdoing. Without conviction he remains a victim of satanic blindness (2 Corinthians 4:4). Once convicted, he must respond with a choice to rebound or to ignore the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
278 - THE ENSLAVEMENT TO SINS
The core of sin is unbelief. This has firm biblical support: in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve trust the word of the serpent over the word of God; in the Gospels where Jesus Christ is rejected by the leaders of the Jews; in Acts 7 where Stephen is martyred at the hands of an unruly crowd; in John 20:24-25 where Thomas arrogantly dismisses the resurrection of Jesus.
Man is born into this world with three strikes against him; First, Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS) is imputed to every member of the human race at the point of physical birth. The personal sin committed by Adam at the Garden of Eden, which became AOS. God imputed AOS to every person born into this world because Adam represented the human race ¡Vand we stand and fall with him.
Through physical birth, we inherit a sin nature, which Adam passed on genetically to all mankind [Genesis 3:6-8, Psalm 51:5]. The OSN is passed to all members of the human race through the natural procreation.
Because the OSN is the source of temptation to personal sin and human volition is the cause of personal sin therefore, we shall remain enslave to sin while we are in our mortal bodies.
Personal sin is disobedience to God and to His expressed will ¡Vtherefore, any mental, verbal, and overt action or reaction contrary to the character and standards of God falls under the category of personal sin. Sin is always directed against God, even though they may involve wrongdoing against oneself or others [Psalm 51:4]. There is three serious strike against men: Adam¡¦s original sin (AOS), the old sin nature (OSN) and the personal sin.
SYNONYMS OF PERSONAL SINS:
The religious Jews were enslaved to three things that represent sin and one whole system of slavery: They were enslaved to their own corruption of the Mosaic Law ¡Va system of legalism and salvation by human works.
They were enslaved to a religious system ¡Va union of Judaism and government ¡V a lethal combination of dogma and politics. They were enslaved to the Roman Empire Judea stood in the shadow of the Roman Eagle.
As members of the human race, they were enslaved to the world cosmic system. As individual, each was slave to his spiritual and personal sin.
As slave, no member of the human race has the right or capacity to buy his freedom from the slave market. Only a freeman has the right and power to redeem a slave.
Jesus Christ came to redeem man from the slave market with His precious blood- that is His spiritual death on the Cross. He paid it in full- no sin was left out; nothing was forgotten or left behind. All the sins of all men of all time were the reason why Jesus died for us, that is to redeem us. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
279 - RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST
Resurrection (anastasis) ƒwƒnƒ{the rising up and restoration of a deceased person to life in body and soul to eternal life and glorified life
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the fist in the entire human history [1 Timothy 6:16]. Other reported cases were resuscitated. (Resuscitation is the restoration of an individual to his mortal body, but subsequently to die again, like in the case of Lazarus [John 11:43, 12:10] and the resuscitation of some selected OT saints while Jesus was crucified [Matthew 27:50-53].
Resurrection provides the deceased an immortal body, so that never again will he die [1 Corinthians 15:54]. To understand, the nature of Jesus¡¦ resurrected body, apostle Paul explained our future glorified bodies:
First. It will be raised in an imperishable body, from perishable mortal ƒv(phatharta) to Eternal body (thneta) [1 Corinthians 15:42]. Eternal body is a body designed and equipped to serve the Lord throughout the eternity future.
Secondly. It will be raised in glory [1 Cor. 15:43], from mere garbage of the flesh and blood to a glorious eternal body. That eternal body will be the reflection of the infinite perfection of God¡¦s handiwork. The glorious body is free from OSN, without AOS and without capacity for personal sins.
Thirdly. The eternal and glorious body will be raised by the omnipotent power of God a body more powerful than spiritual death and physical death and a body more powerful than sin [1 Corinthians 15:43].
Fourth. It will be raised in spiritual body with a new perfect nature with 100% positive volition toward God and His Word [1 Corinthians 15:45]. The resurrected body is a powerful body designed to do the will of God at all time in all the space and beyond. It will be a body without any hint for disobeying God.
The spiritual body is not for this world but designed for eternal fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. The immortal body is like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-Man forever. The resurrection body is capable of seeing Jesus Christ just as He is [1 John 3:2].
It is entirely difficult to have a clear concept of the resurrected body, since we have only mortal knowledge of our temporal bodies. And since the Lord Jesus Christ entered the world in supernatural and dramatic entrance He deserved also a supernatural and dramatic exit- the Ascension. He was the first to have resurrected body, both Enoch and Elijah did not die, therefore, they have no resurrection experienced.
There are seven categories of death and there are seven categories of resurrection as well. (Please see the Appendix)
The reality that Jesus Christ died and afterward rose from the dead is both the central doctrine of Christian theology and the major fact in a defense of its teachings. It is the witness of the NT that the resurrection of Jesus is the pivotal point of Christian doctrine and practices. Paul reports an early creed in I Cor. 15:3ff. Which both includes the resurrection as an integral part of the gospel and reports several eyewitness appearances
Then Paul relates the importance of this event, for if Jesus did not literally rise from the dead, then the entire Christian faith is fallacious (vs. 14) and ineffective (vs. 17). Additionally, preaching is valueless (vs. 14), Christian testimony is false (vs. 15), no sins have been forgiven (vs. 17), and believers have perished without any Christian hope (vs. 18). The conclusion is that, apart from this event, Christians are the most miserable of all people (vs. 19).
Paul even states that without the resurrection we should "eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (vs. 32). If Jesus was not raised, believers have no hope of resurrection themselves and may as well turn to hedonistic philosophies of life. He thereby strongly implies that it is this event that separates Christianity from other philosophies.
Paul teaches the centrality of the resurrection in other passages as well. In (Romans 1:3-4) he recites a brief Christology and asserts that Jesus was shown to be the Son of God, Christ, and Lord by His resurrection (Romans 14:9). This event also provides salvation (Romans 10:9-10) and ensures the resurrection of believers (I Corinthians 15:20; 2 Corinthians 4:14; I Thessalonians 4:14).
Luke's writings relate several instances where the resurrection provided the basis for the Christian proclamation. Jesus taught that His death and resurrection was a central message of the OT (Luke 24:25-27). Peter held that the miracles, which Jesus performed, and His resurrection in particular, were the chief indications that God approved of His teachings (Acts 2:22-32). Paul's teaching frequently utilized the resurrection as the basis of the gospel message (Acts 13:29-39; 17:30-31).
Other NT writings share the same hope. Jesus utilized His resurrection as the sign vindicating the authority of His teachings (Matthew 12:38-40). This event both ensures the believer's salvation (I Peter 1:3) and provides the means by which Jesus serves as the believer's High Priest (Hebrews 7:23-25).
Even such a brief survey indicates the centrality of the resurrection for the NT writers. Clearly, early believers such as Paul realized that this event provided the central claim of Christianity. With it the Christian message of eternal life is secure, resting on the reality of Jesus' victory over death. Without it the Christian message is reduced to that of one of man's philosophies.
For many scholars today who accept the literal resurrection of Jesus, the emphasis has shifted to stress Paul's concept of the "spiritual body" (I Corinthians 15:35-50), endeavoring to do justice to both elements. Thus, Jesus was raised in a real body, which had new, spiritual qualities. .
Resurrection is dispensational and a historical facts, although arguments for the resurrection have traditionally been based on two very weak lines of support. First, naturalistic theories have failed to explain away this event, chiefly because each is disproved by the known historical facts. The Bible is superior to any historical records for the fact that most historians are fabricator and liars. .
Second, historical evidences for the resurrection are often cited, such as the eyewitness testimony for Jesus' appearances, the transformed lives of the disciples, the empty tomb, the inability of the Jewish leaders to disprove these claims, and the conversion of skeptics such as Paul and James, the brother of Jesus. When combined with the absence of naturalistic alternative theories these evidences are quite impressive.
. One crucial center of attention has been I Corinthians 15:3-4, where Paul records material which he had "received" from others and then "delivered" to his listeners. It is agreed by virtually all-contemporary theologians that this material contains an ancient creed that is actually much earlier than the book in which it is recorded.
The resurrection of Christ is under fire not only from the atheists but also from the so-called Christians. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
280 - THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CHRIST¡¦S RESURRECTION .
Not only can the historical resurrection be established on the basis of witnesses, but also the additional advantage of these facts is that virtually all scholars admit them as knowable history. Since such a minimum number of facts is adequate to historically establish the literal resurrection as the best explanation for the data, this event therefore should not be rejected even by those critics who disbelieve the reliability of Scripture. Their questions on other issues do not disprove this basic conclusion, which can be established by critical and historical procedures.
Especially when viewed in conjunction with the eyewitness evidence from the early Church, we have a strong twofold apologetic for the historicity of Jesus' resurrection. This contemporary approach also complements the more traditional apologetic summarized earlier, all of which combine to historically demonstrate the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead.
As Paul asserted in I Corinthians 15:12-20, the resurrection is the center of the Christian faith and teaching. This event signals the approval of Christ' teachings (Acts 2:22-23) and thus continues to provide a basis for Christian belief today. It guarantees the reality of eternal life for all who trust the gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4, 20).
All the synoptic Gospels recorded the finding of the empty tombs and the heavenly Messengers and John added the details of the neatly folded grave image clothes [John 20:1-8].
The NT recorded 14 cases of appearances of Christ to more than 500 people after His resurrection. Matthew recorded the Galilean appearances and Luke the Jerusalem appearances.
The resurrection in glory is the most wonderful manifestation of the power of God ¡VWho raised Him from the dead. The believer is assured that the same power is at work at him.
By His resurrection, Christ was designated Son of God in power [Romans 1:4]. The Jews condemned Him because He claimed to be the Son of God and equal with God [Luke 22:70-71]. By raising Him from the dead, God the Father gave undeniable evidence that Jesus indeed is the Son of God.
Christ¡¦s resurrection was the beginning of His exaltation as Lord and Christ, God¡¦s anointed King, Prophet and High Priest Forever on the heavenly throne [Acts 2:29-36, Philippians 2:9-11].
In Christ¡¦s resurrection, the believer has the divine guarantee of his justification before God. The ground for these fundamental blessings is to be found in Christ¡¦s atoning death [Romans 5: 10, 17-19], but without the resurrection that dead would have had no atoning power. The Cross-without resurrection would mean that God has not been satisfied by Jesus redemptive work.
When Christ was raised, the believers whom He represented in His spiritual death and in His resurrection were raised with Him [Colossians 3:1]. Jesus Christ¡¦s resurrection in a glorious, immortal, powerful, and spiritual body guarantees the believer¡¦s future resurrection in a similar manner and power [1 Corinthians 15:47-, Philippians 3:21 and 1 John 3:2].
The reality of His resurrection is far greater in importance than His death [Romans 8:32-33]. Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption and He died the physical death for our resurrection, therefore, Christ is the Cause and Source of resurrection. Salvation is the redemption of the soul and resurrection is the redemption of the body. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
281 - EVIDENCES OF CHRIST¡¦S RESURRECTION
The four Gospels account of women finding the empty tomb and the Messenger of God [Matthew 28:6, Luke 24:1-5,24] and John added the details of neatly folded grave clothes [John 20:1-8]. Let me use their own allegation to refute their own claims:
The recorded appearance of Christ after His resurrection before His ascension:
To Mary Magdalene [john 20:11-17] To other women [Matthew 28:9-11] To Peter [Luke 24:34] To disciples on the way to Emmaus [Mark 16:12-13] To the 10 apostles [Mark 16:14] To the 11 apostles [John 20:26-29] To the 7 apostles [John 20:26-29] To the 500 hundred people [1 Cor. 15:6] To James ¡Vthe Lord¡¦s brother [1 Cor. 15:7] To the 11 apostles on a mountain [Matthew 28:16-20] To the apostles and disciples on His Ascension on Mt. Olives [Acts 1:3-] To Stephen at his martyrdom [Acts 7:55] To Paul at Damascus [Acts 9:3-6] To Paul in Arabia [Galatians 1:12, 17] To Paul in the Temple [acts 22:17-22] To Paul in prison in Caesarea [Acts 23:11-] To John in Patmos (Revelation 1:2-20)
The obvious lies of the oppositionists: Christ was betrayed, arrested, and judged in chain of falsification and fabrication.
The enemies of the Cross-invented the story of the stolen corpse in order to justified their accusation that the believers invented the story of resurrection. The presences of SPQR soldiers guarding the tomb refuted such lies.
The High Priest and the religious leaders bribed the guards to spread the rumors that His disciples took His corpse [Matthew 28:11-15].
It was unthinkable for soldiers to remain asleep and not to wake up with lot of activities and noise from alleged thieves while moving the stone cover.
It was illogical for soldiers to sleep while in mission of guarding the tomb and allowed the corpse to be taken away but half-dozen men.
It was ridiculous for the disciples to remove the corpse covering and run away with a naked corpse leaving behind the cloth [John 20:1-10].
The theory that the women went to the wrong tomb mislead by darkness is ridiculous if not hilarious since it was not the like our public cementery. The women were familiar with the exact location of the tomb since they help in embalming the corpse.
The women went to the tomb when the sun is already raising therefore darkness, was never a problem [Mark 15:47, Luke 23:55].
Mary Magdalene cannot make the same mistake twice. John and Peter cannot make the same mistake twice.
The theory that Jesus did not die but fainted and revived inside the tomb is ridiculous:
The Romans soldiers did not break His leg because He was already dead ¡Vthat is to make sure that the crucified is really dead [John 19:32-33].
Jesus¡¦ death was officially verified and ascertained by SPQR centurion who issued the death certificate ¡V[Mark 15:44-45]. The soldier pierced His side with a spear reaching His heart- if He was alive that would kill Him. The SPRQ soldiers are trained to kill their victim.
The allegation and assumption of men cannot cancel the validity and truthfulness of the Scripture.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
282 - THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST
As the only Unique Person of the universe, His spiritual and physical death accomplished two important purposes. His spiritual death was not because of His negative volition toward God or toward His Word. His physical death was not because of His old sinful nature, which He does not possess.
When Jesus died physically, His soul was neither abandoned to Hades nor His body suffered decay, because God raised Him up [Acts 2:25-36]. The resurrected glorified body is not designed to enjoy the carnal pleasures and leisure of the cosmos diabolicus ƒnas claims by some cults [Matthew 22:28-32, Mark 12:23-27].
The Hypostatic Union of Christ culminated with His resurrection. He entered the world supernaturally through virginal conception and He departed supernaturally through resurrection and ascension [Revelation 1:5].
The Royal Family of God or the Church Age believers will end with the rapture and resurrection of its members into heaven [1 Corinthians 15:23]. The Great Tribulation will conclude with the Second Coming and the resurrection of the OT saints and Tribulation martyrs [Job 19:25-26]. The Millennium kingdom will culminate with the resurrection of all unbelievers for Great White Throne judgment [Revelation 20:7-10].
Resurrection will provide the believers with glorified bodies suited and designed for their eternal fellowship with God. Resurrection will also provide the unbelievers damnable bodies suited and designed for eternal separation with God in the Lake of Fire.
Christ died the spiritual death for our redemption, and He died the physical death for our resurrection although Jesus Christ was not supposed to die physically.
CHRIST DIED PRAYING: The prayer life of Christ is an eloquent testimony that He renounced independent exercise of His divine powers and prerogative. His achievements were preceded and followed by prayer, every pressure or ordinary routine was a call for Him to pray [Luke 23:46].
His prayer revealed a filial Spirit ¡VHis eternal love and the glory of the Father as His consuming passion [John 17:4]. His prayer was lavish with thanksgiving and sincere gratitude [Luke 10:21]. His prayer was communion with God rather than personal petition and supplication [John 17:5]. His prayer composed of supplication for positive volition and advancement of His saints, or for salvation of the heirs of the kingdom.
His prayer involved no confession of personal sin [1 Peter 2:22]. He asked the Father¡¦s righteous judgment for the rebellious and reversionists all His prayers were invariably answered positively [John 11:42].
Christ became human to rescue man from eternal death ¡Vand by the grace of God, Christ tasted spiritual death for every man [Hebrews 2:9]. He lived as a man and undeservedly suffered in the world ¡V and died with His life as ransom for man [1 John 2:6, Hebrews 9:26]. He rose from the dead- proving His victory over death and revealing His power to provide eternal life [Romans 6:8-11, 1 Corinthians 15:20-22].
Christ is now in heaven preparing eternal home for the regenerated people [john 14:1-2] interceding for His children [Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25]. He is now defending the believers against Satan accusation ¡V He is the Advocate and the High Priest of the saints in heaven [Hebrews 5:9-10, Rev.12: 10]. He controls human history in favor of the believers in the world- providing logistical blessings necessary for their physical existence and all the resources for spiritual advancement. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
283 - THE SPIRITUAL BODY
Spiritual body (soma pneumatikon): The resurrected spiritual body in contrast to the physical body (soma psychikon), which is subject to sin and death (I Corinthian 15:44). Paul's teaching, like that of Christ, (1) stands in contrast to the denial of the afterlife by the Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33; Acts 23:6-8), and (2) contrasts with the Greek notion of the bare immortality of the soul, separated from the tomb of the body.
On analogy of God's revelation in nature, where the sown seed dies and rises to something that bears identity with the seed but is immeasurably different, Paul describes the resurrection of the dead. For Paul, again as with Jesus in His resurrected state, the person is conceived as a gestalt unity of body-spirit, not as a soul separated from the body. The whole person is lifted to a new level of existence, from the fallen and death-prone body-soul of Adam to the imperishable body-spirit of life in Christ (I Cor. 15:35-50).
Jesus in his resurrection appearances embodies the new imperishable existence, and though not of flesh and blood of the old order, or limited by physical parameters of that order (John 20:19-20), nevertheless has identifiable characteristics of flesh and bones, hands, and side, and can partake of food (Luke 24:36-43). This mysterious and "logically odd" language of the apostolic witness is not contradictory but complementary, as Jesus, John, Luke, Paul, and the other NT witnesses convey the divinely revealed fact that the new existence is like, yet different from, the old, on analogy of the identity and difference between the seed and the full grain.
Soma pneumatikon is Paul's way of saying that the believer's personal identity, as a body-spirit unity will be raised to a new life like that of Christ Himself.
J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
284 - THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
Jesus ascended into heaven on the fortieth day after His resurrection (Acts 1:3, 9), and the subsequent period of waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit appears to have lasted the ten days until Pentecost (Acts 2:1).
That act of the God-man by which He brought to an end His post-resurrection appearances to His disciples, was finally parted from them as to His physical presence, and passed into the other world, to remain there until His second advent (Acts 3:21)
Luke describes this event in a unique term in Luke 24:51 and more fully in Acts 1:9. Even if the words "and he was carried up into heaven" are not part of the true text in Luke 24:51, we have good reason for saying, in the light of Luke's clear and unambiguous words in his second treatise, that the doubtful words in Luke 24:51 express what was in his mind. In accordance with the oral testimony of the apostles, he carries on his story of the life of Jesus as far as "the day that he was taken up" (Acts 1:22).
According to the Gospel of John- our Lord referred on three occasions to His ascending into heaven (John 3:13; 6:62; 20:17). Paul speaks of Christ ascending far above all heavens in order to permeate the whole universe with His presence and power (Ephesians 4:10). Such phrases as "received up in glory" (I Timothy 3:16), "gone into heavens" (I Peter 3:22), and "passed through the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14) refer to the same event. Paul exhorts the Colossian believers to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1), and the numerous references in the NT to the session at the right hand of God presuppose the ascension.
In Eph. 1:20 and following verses, Paul passes directly from the resurrection to the exaltation of Christ to the place of supreme power and authority in the universe. In passages like Romans 8:34 and Colossians 3:1 the session might seem to be thought of as the immediate result of the rising from the dead, thus leaving no room, as some have argued, for the ascension as a distinct event; but it is difficult to see that there is any force in any argument derived from Paul's silence in such passages when in Ephesians 4:10 he states so emphatically his belief in the ascension.
Our Lord's post-resurrection appearances had, no doubt, shown that He belonged already to the upper world of light and glory; but with the ascension His fleeting visits to His disciples from that world came to an end, and the heavens received Him from their sight. Yet, through the indwelling Holy Spirit they were to come nearer to Him than ever before, and He was to be with them forever (John 14:16-18).
To object to the account of the ascension of Christ into heaven as implying a childish and outmoded view of the universe is, more or less, solemn trifling. The change which Christ revealed by the ascension was not a change of place, but a change of state, not local but spiritual, on the other hand we are not unscientific when we think of the land where "the king in all His glory without a veil is seen" as the upper world of light and glory, high above us as good is above evil and blessedness above misery.
The exalted Lord in heaven is our Advocate in the presence of His Father (Romans 8:34; I John 2:1; Hebrews 7:25). As our High Priest He offered on the cross the one perfect and final sacrifice for sins forever (Hebrews 10:12), and now, having sat down at the right hand of God, He has entered on His priestly ministry in heaven. As our King-Priest He communicates, through the Holy Spirit, to all believers the gifts and blessings that He died to win for them. "Christ's intercession in heaven," is a kind and powerful remembrance of His people, and of all their concerns, managed with state and majesty; not as a suppliant at the footstool, but as a crowned prince on the throne, at the right hand of the Father.
We have our place in heaven, said: The scum of the earth is on the throne of the majesty on high. We have "a sure pledge that He, as our Head, will also take us, His members, up to Himself. He sends us His Spirit, as the earnest of the promised inheritance.
The Holy Spirit was not given, in the fullness of His gracious working in the souls of men, until Jesus was glorified (John 7:39). "Being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens" (Acts 2:33-34).
Thus was it demonstrated to the universe that, the Risen Lord lives in heavenly communion with His and our Father, and that He takes an active part in the working of the power as well as of the grace of God in this world.
The Ascended Lord is with us in the struggle here (Mark 16:19-20), and we know that He has gone to heaven our entrance to secure, and our abode prepare (John 14:2;Heb. 6:20). Ascension is the visible departure of Christ into heaven, in order to receive His heavenly exaltation ¡Vwhere the Ascended Christ received His place of pre-incarnate power at the right hand of God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
285 - THE NECESSITY OF ASCENSION
The body and the nature of the Risen lord could not be subject to human Laws ¡Vit cannot permanently abide here in the world of corruption. Christ dramatic and supernatural entrance to the world also demands dramatic and supernatural exit.
The ascension and exaltation of Christ were essential to complete the Redemptive work (His spiritual death) of Christ. His Work was not yet finished when He rose from the grave.
He had not presented the Blood of the Atonement in the presence of the Father, nor had He yet been given His place at the right hand of the Father as the Giver of all spiritual gifts, specially the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It was further necessary in order that Christ might become an ideal object of worship for the entire human race. The nature of the Risen Lord resurrected body necessitated such event. Such body must exit or depart not by mortal dissolution but by glorification. The only Unique Personality and holy life of our Lord demanded a remarkable exit.
His redemptive work required such a consummation. His Ascension was a complete and final demonstration that His atonement had forever solved the problem created by man¡¦s sin and rebellion.
The nature of Christ¡¦s resurrection body necessitated a glorious departure from the cosmos diabolicus ƒnand not by dissolution. The Unique Personality and perfect life of Christ demanded a remarkable exit on earth.
The Redemptive work of Christ required such consummation-totally solving the problem of sin forever. The gift of the Holy Spirit was dependent on His glorification [John 7:39, 14:2, 19].
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ASCENSION The Ascension of Christ explained His disappearance from the tomb. It was the culminating assurance that the work He did had been completed to the entire satisfaction of the Father. It was also a divine vindication of His claims to Deity.
It was His divine inauguration into His heavenly Priesthood. As our High Priest in heaven [Hebrews 2:17-18], Christ is fully capable to succor, to sympathize [Hebrews 4:15] and able to save [7:15].
Christ intercedes for us, as our High Priest [John 17:24] forever. His mode of intercession as High Priest is not vocal but personal and perpetuity [Hebrews 7:25]
How could our imperfect and insincere prayer be acceptable to our perfect God? Christ our perfect High Priest receives our imperfect and unacceptable prayer and mingles them with the incense of His merits and perfection.
The Ascended Christ entered heaven as a Forerunner [Hebrews 6:20]. He has gone to prepare a place for His people [Hebrews 9:21-24]. He is now appearing before the heavenly Court in our behalf [Hebrews 9:24] and awaiting His universal dominion [Hebrews 10:12-13].
The ascension and exaltation of Christ assures us of a free and confident admittance into the presence of God [Hebrews 4:14-16]. The ascension of Christ assures our hope of immortality [2 Corinthians 5:1-8].
To say that Mary (the impostor) ascended and exalted into heaven is not only blasphemy but also desecration to God. The Bible did not mentioned anything about her ascension and exaltation ¡Vand she is not perfect but contaminated with OSN and AOS. Christ is God Who became a Man while their Mary is an imperfect human to whom her worshippers attached deity of the true God. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
286 - IN REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST
Christ went up to heaven in the entireness of His perfect well-known visible Person. His ascension is intended to convince the foes of the cross that they need not expect Him to appear again until the rapture.
1 Corinthians 11:20, the so called ¡§the Lord's table" (10:21), "communion," "cup of blessing" (10:16), and "breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42). The account of the institution of this ordinance is given in Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19, 20, and 1 Corinthians 11: 24-26. The writer of the Gospel of John did not mention it. It was designed:
(1.) To commemorate the death of Christ: "This do in remembrance of Me."
(2.) To signify, seal, and apply to believers all the benefits of the new covenant. In this ordinance Christ ratifies His promises to His people, and they on their part solemnly consecrate themselves in knowing Him through diligent and progressive study of Bible doctrine.
(3.) To be a badge of the Christian profession of faith and oneness with Christ,
(4.) To indicate and to promote the communion of believers with Christ,
(5.) To represent the mutual communion of believers with each other- the elements used to represent Christ's body and blood are bread and table wine. The kind of bread, whether leavened or unleavened, is not specified. Christ used unleavened bread simply because it was at that moment on the paschal table. Table wine was used because it was part of their regular meal (Matthew 26:26-29).
Believers "feed" on Christ's body and blood, not with the mouth in any manner, but by the soul alone, and by faith, which is the mouth or hand of the soul. This they do in the power of the Holy Spirit. This "feeding" on Christ, however, takes place not in the Lord's Supper alone, but whenever faith in Him is exercised (that is, whenever the believer is in communion with God or inside the divine dynasphere.ƒnƒ|
This is a permanent ordinance in the Church of Christ, and is to be observed "till He come" again (during the entire duration of the Church Age).
The center stage of the institution of the Lord¡¦s Supper is the spiritual death of Christ and His resurrection. Resurrection therefore is one of the cardinal facts and doctrines of the gospel. If Christ were not raised, our faith is vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). The whole of the New Testament revelation rests on this as nothing but a historical fact.
In His own discourses, also, our Lord clearly intimates his resurrection (Matthew 20:19; Mark 9:9; 14:28; Luke 18:33; John 2:19-22).
The evangelists give circumstantial accounts of the facts connected with that event, and the apostles, also, in their public teaching largely insist upon it. The resurrection is spoken of as the act:
o Of God the Father (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:24; 3:15; Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 13:20); o Of Christ Himself (John 2:19; 10:18); o Of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)
The resurrection is a public testimony of Christ's release from His undertaking as Surety, and an Evidence of the Father's acceptance of His work of redemption. It is a victory over death and the grave for all His followers.
The importance of Christ's resurrection will be seen when we consider that if He rose the gospel is true, and if He rose not it is false. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
287 - RESURRECTION AND WORSHIP
His resurrection from the dead makes it manifest that His sacrifice was accepted. Our justification was secured by His obedience to the death, and therefore He was raised from the dead (Romans 4:25).
His resurrection is a proof that He made a full atonement for our sins, that His sacrifice was accepted as a satisfaction to divine justice, and His blood a ransom for sinners. It is also a pledge and an earnest of the resurrection of all believers (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:47-49; Philippians 3:21; 1 John 3:2). As He lives, they shall live also.
It proved Him to be the Son of God, inasmuch as it authenticated all His claims (John 2:19; 10:17). "If Christ did not rise, the whole scheme of redemption is a failure, and all the predictions and anticipations of its glorious results for time and for eternity, for men and for angels of every rank and order, are proved to be hearsay. 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.' Therefore the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation.
The kingdom of darkness has been overthrown, Satan has fallen as lightning from heaven, and the triumph of truth over error, of good over evil, of happiness over misery is forever secured.
With reference to the report which the Roman soldiers were bribed (Matthew 28:12-14) to circulate gossip concerning Christ's resurrection, ¡§His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we slept," John 20:1-10.
The grave-clothes in which Christ had been buried were found in very good order, which serves for an evidence that His body was not 'stolen away while men slept.' Robbers of tombs have been known to take away 'the clothes' and leave the body; but none ever took away 'the body' and left the clothes, especially when they were 'fine linen' and new (Mark 15:46).
Any one would rather choose to carry a dead body in its clothes than naked. Or if they that were supposed to have stolen it would have left the grave-clothes behind, yet it cannot be supposed they would find leisure to 'fold up the linen.
WORSHIP is from the old English word that means "worthship", denoting the worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth. The principal biblical terms, the Hebrew saha and the Greek proskyneo, emphasize the act of prostration, the doing of obeisance. This may be done out of regard for the dignity of personality and influenced somewhat by custom (Genesis 18:2), or may be based on family relationship (Genesis 49:8).
On a higher plane the same terms are used of divine honors rendered to a deity, whether to the gods of the nation (Exodus 20:5) or to the one true and living God who reveals Himself in Scripture and in His Son (Exodus 24:1).
The tutelage of Israel in the wilderness laid great stress on the sinfulness of idolatrous worship and its dire consequences (Deuteronomy 8:19). No injury to God compares with the denial of His uniqueness and the transfer to another of the recognition due to Him. In this light must be understood His references to Himself as a jealous God (Exodus 20:5).
Perversion of worship is seen in Satan's avid effort to secure for him what belongs properly to God alone (Matthew 4:9), as well as in the blasphemous figure of the beast (Revelation 13:4). Undue deference paid to men verges at times on worship and is resisted by the godly (Acts 10:25- 26). Barnabas and Paul protested the attempt to worship them at Lystra based on the impression that they were gods who had come down to men (Acts 14:11-14). Loyal angels refuse veneration (Revelation 22:9). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
289 - DEPRAVITY AND SALVATION IN ASCENDED CHRIST
It is useful to distinguish between a broad and a restricted meaning of worship as applied to God. In general He may be honored with prayer and praise and the bringing of sacrificial gifts (I Sam. 1:3).
This cultic worship is especially appropriate in the house of God (Psalm 138:2) and when it is carried on with a desire to be clothed in his holiness (Psalm 29:2). In a still broader sense the service, which issues from worship and derived there from its inspiration may be included (Matthew 4:10).
In the narrower sense worship is pure adoration, the lifting up of the redeemed spirit toward God in contemplation of His holy perfection. Matthew distinguishes between the presentation of gifts by the magi to the Christ child and their worship of Him (Matthew 2:11).
Jesus made an epochal statement on this subject (John 4:24). To worship God in spirit involves a contrast with worship in the letter, in the legalistic encumbrance so characteristic of the Jew; to worship Him in truth contrasts with the Samaritan and all other worship, which is false to a greater or lesser extent.
Our Lord made possible a more intelligent worship of God by revealing the Father in His own Person. As the incarnate Son, He Himself is deserving of the same veneration (John 9:38; 20:28; Hebrew 1:6; Revelation 5:6-14).
290 - TOTAL DEPRAVITY: A proper definition of total depravity should not focus primarily on the questions of sinfulness vs. goodness or ability vs. inability, but on fallen man's relation to a holy God. Because of the effects of the fall, that original relationship of fellowship with God was broken and man's entire nature was polluted. As a result no one can do anything, even good things that can gain salvation merit in God's sight.
Therefore, we may concisely define total depravity as the unmeritorious ness of man before God because of the corruption of original sin. The concept of total depravity does not mean (1) that depraved people cannot or do not perform actions that are good in either man's or God's sight. But no such action can gain favor with God for salvation.
Neither does it mean (2) that fallen man has no conscience which judges between good and evil for him. But that conscience has been affected by the fall so that it cannot be a safe and reliable guide. Neither does it mean (3) that people indulge in every form of sin or in any sin to the greatest extent possible.
Positively total depravity means that the corruption has extended to all aspects of man's nature, to his entire being; and total depravity means that because of that corruption there is nothing man can do to merit saving grace favor with God.
The Bible teaches this concept of total depravity in many places. The Lord recognized good people (Matthew 22:10), yet He labeled His own disciples as evil men (Matthew 7:11). The mind is affected (Romans 1:28; Ephesians 4:18), the conscience is unclean (Hebrews 9:14), the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and by nature mankind is subject to wrath (Ephesians 2:3). God sent the flood as a judgment on mankind's depravity (Genesis 6:5). Depravity, according to the Lord, is in the inner being and is the root of evil actions (Mark 7:20-23).
Evil in the soul of man is compose of the guilt of original sin, and the loss of freedom of the will, and which affirms involvement in the sin of Adam only to the extent of giving mankind a tendency toward sin and not a sinful nature. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
291 - MEDIATORSHIP AND RECAPITULATION OF CHRIST
The implications of depravity are especially crucial in relation to salvation. Man has no ability to save himself. He can do well and make choices, but he cannot regenerate himself (John 1:13). Unless the Holy Spirit enlightens an individual he will remain in darkness (I Cor. 2:14).
RECAPITULATION: From the Greek anakephalaiosis Christ symbolically retraced the steps of Adam and humanity, Christ comprehended or brought to a head in Himself the whole of humanity, an interpretation which better accords with the meaning of Ephesians 1:10.
The parallels between Adam and Christ: Adam was made of virgin soil, was tempted by Satan, and brought sin and death into the world through disobedience at the tree. Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, resisted temptation by Satan, and overcame sin by obedience to death on the cross Christ passed through all ages of life, infant, child, youth, and old man, in order to sanctify all who are born again to God through Him.
He became what we are in order to make us what He is. As a result of His life, death, and resurrection all that was lost in Adam is regained in Christ. The human race was given a new start, and saved humanity is gathered together as one in Christ.
Christ also summed up and completed in Himself the revelation of God. The doctrine of recapitulation was important in the context of the Gnostic controversy because it secured the reality of the incarnation, the unity of mankind, and the certainty of redemption.
Christ took the role of a Mediator is to bring reconciliation between two parties. The biblical concept of mediation is to bring sinful man to reconciliation with a holy God, a major concern of the Scriptures.
The word "mediator" ƒvmesitesƒw is used only once in the OT Greek version Job 9:33, where it is translated "daysmanƒzƒp "umpire," or "someone to arbitrate": "He is not man like me that I might answer Him, that we might confront each other in court.
If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that His terror would frighten me no more" (Job 9:32-34).
Mediation in the OT is seen in the function of the offices of prophet and priest. The prophet was a man who spoke for God to man by way of revelation, instruction, and warning (Exodus 4:10- 16; Amos 3:8; Jeremiah 1:7, 17). The priest was a man who spoke for man to God by way of intercession and sacrifices (Deuteronomy 33:10; Hebrew 5:1). These offices complemented each other as mediators between God and man.
In the NT "mediator" is used six times. Twice it is used in connection with Moses as being the mediator of the law (Galatians 3:19-20). The word is used three times in Hebrews, where Jesus is shown to be the mediator of a new or better covenant (8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
After discussing the superiority of the new covenant over the old Covenant, the author of Hebrews states that with the inauguration of the new covenant there needed to be a new Mediator, who is identified as Christ (8:6).
Christ as the mediator sacrificed His life in order to inaugurate the new covenant and thereby reconciled man to God. A central verse in the mediatorial ƒnwork of Christ is I Timothy 2:5. Paul states: "This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom in behalf of all men, the testimony borne in these times" (I Timothy 2:3-6). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
THE NEW MEDIATOR AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Again there is death in connection with mediation. Beyond the passages, which explicitly use the terminology, the NT is replete with examples of Christ being Mediator. He represented God to man as a prophet.
Jesus Christ as the Mediator fulfilled the prophetic office as prophesied by Moses (Deut. 18:15-18)- was seen by Philip (John 1:45), Peter (Acts 3:22-23) Stephen (Acts 7:37), the Jewish people who heard Christ  The Christian Counter |