Jonathan Brentner
What I’m about to write may seem unlikely. How is it possible that a topic seemingly unrelated to Bible prophecy could further validate the Lord’s promise to restore a glorious kingdom to Israel?
I’m fully persuaded that Scripture confirms the nation’s continuing place in God’s sovereign plan for the future. But long ago, what I learned as I worked on my master’s thesis in seminary led to a deeper conviction of why this must be the case.
The title was “Roman Catholic Justification in the Light of Scripture.” My understanding of what Paul wrote about justification by faith, first of all, solidified my belief in eternal security. The message of Romans 8:31-38 is clear: If God pronounces us righteous, it’s a done deal. No one can overturn His judicial verdict upon our lives. It’s impossible.
Consider this: if the One who brought the heavens and earth into existence with just a word goes on record declaring that we are righteous, then that is surely what we are. If God, in view of our entire lives, declares us not guilty, who is to say otherwise? At the moment of our rebirth, our salvation is a done deal. No one can overturn His verdict, which is the substance of Paul’s argument in Romans 8:31-38.
Long ago, Roman Catholic theologians moved God’s justification of the sinner from the time of regeneration to the end of his or her life. I suspect they did this to add uncertainty to the lives of believers, which enabled the church to demand unwavering loyalty and exert almost total control over them. Perhaps they understood the finality of justification, and if it happened at the moment of our rebirth, as Paul taught in the book of Romans, then absolutely nothing could change our rock-solid place of favor in God’s sight. The Holy Spirit thus becomes the driving force in the life of a believer, not the church.
What does our security in Christ have to do with the future restoration of Israel? Paul sums up this vital link in Romans 11:29, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.”
Please stay with me as I connect the dots between God’s forever promises to Israel and our security as New Testament saints.
Endtime Doctrines and Seducing Spirits
Terry James
Again, God’s warning through Paul the apostle is clear about the matter. The endtime generation will experience a great increase in false doctrines that seduce the people of that era.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth” (1 Tim. 4:1-3).
Sadly, much of the replacement theology of our time –including that of the Catholic Church– is based in this satanic tripe because of the ignorance of those who hold to the belief that Israel no longer is heir to God’s promises to them. The blasphemy of claiming God would ever renege on an unconditional promise is held as doctrinal truth by major denominations within Christianity today. I believe it is one of the key elements of doctrinal integrity that will one day separate the Philadelphian Church from the Laodicean (read Rev. 3:7-19).
It is incredible that we could come to this point in the perversion of God’s truth. But, here we are, right on schedule in relationship to all other prophetic signs of the times, so far as God’s prophetic Word is concerned.
As disturbing as these blasphemies are, there are others far more troubling, in my view. They are far more troubling because they come, supposedly, from within Christianity. The most egregious examples are the new Bible versions based upon texts other than the authorized.
There isn’t space to go into detail here, but the new “Bibles” that tone down the blood atonement of Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection, or that relegate God to gender-neutral status rather than acknowledging Him in the masculine –that try to present a message that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with things like judgment, punishment, or Hell –that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with Christ’s coming again and the prophetic Word, are not Heaven-sent but hell-spawned.
Let us not be deceived by those who seek to diminish Jesus Christ in any form. Let’s not fall for any other gospel, but be fortified and edified by that once given –the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). That is essential to understand in this last time.
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