Chronology of Man
According to Scripture ©
by Bill Bonnett
Copyright 1998-2013©
www.abdicate.net, free use with entire study intact (Matthew 10:8 "...freely ye have received, freely give.")
Thanks first to the
Lord for putting this into my heart.
Second, to my wife who continually helps and supports me, Col. 3:18-19 & Pro. 31.
P R E F A C E
Some time ago there was a great movie about a bible professor that wanted to write a book. He never neglected the importance of a moral, but did not see the importance of including the Author of the moral, Jesus Christ, as the Authority by which he spoke. Because of that, a colleague wanted to show him the consequence of this decision and the impact of teaching only morals. He sent the bible professor 100 years into the future. He was amazed, not of the advancement of technology, but in how bored the church was, how acceptable sin had become, even to the point it was illegal to speak the Name of Jesus in a public school. That's when I understood what I knew to already be true, that Jesus nor His word would require anyone to defend Them, but to speak only the truth. Therefore, the question is the same now as it was for Pilot, in John 18:38, "What is truth?" Do we hold scripture as truth? When you read that there is "...therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." do you believe it? When we tell our kids they should not steal or that they should not lie, by whose Authority do we speak? If you do not state the Author, then the words are meaningless. Why? Because if we are shown that there is an Authority, therefore we are held accountable. This is the very reason why people so blindly accept evolution over scripture. Because, if scripture says that there was a beginning, and the words are true, then the rest of scripture is true and therefore, we are dead in our sins, condemned, and there is nothing we can do about it. No one likes to be told the truth who has conviction in their heart, so if the Truth is removed, then there is no conviction to acknowledge, "...having their conscience seared with a hot iron..."
Life changes all around us continually; yet, because we are a part of it, we tend not to notice. Leave for a year and come back and you will see all the changes. This is true of sin as well. A "little" sin isn't noticed so much, and if it is not challenged, then sooner or later, more slips in until you find yourself in a quagmire of unexplainable apathy. Psalms 139:23-24 cries out,
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
So subtle is sin, we require the Lord to point it out to us. No one is immune to sin; we are commanded not to be slaves to sin. Edmund Burke is credited for writing, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." It is irrelevant whether he wrote this or not, the words echo truth. If you do nothing, sin will abound.
Do you hold Scripture as true when it contradicts history books, when it contradicts what you learned in school, or what you see, or hear, or even what you comprehend as truth? On what basis do you hold your understanding to be true? A case in point: Wikipedia, although popular, many people won't use it as a source because anyone can say anything, so by default the information is automatically suspect. As the movie stated, scripture is accurate, but when science contradicts scripture, the science is flawed.
II Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
Other important verses are Hosea 4:6, II Corinthians 4:3-6, Revelation 3:18. Jesus brought truth and grace and fulfilled the law in the flesh. John 1:17, Romans 8:3-4. None of us can do that. As we were prisoners of the Law, Jesus made us prisoners of Righteousness. We are transformed from the enemy of God to the sons of God through Jesus. This is reiterated in the event of the Mount of Transfiguration, Matthew 17:1-8. The names of those that attended this event contain a great revelation:
Jesus means Salvation, Peter means Stone (the Law); James comes from Jacob which means the supplanter, i.e. replaces; and John means favored of God - grace. Just by their names, you can see the mission of the Lord here on earth:
Salvation comes by taking the Law and replacing it with Grace.
Peter, being so fearful, tried to honor the event by wanting to erect a monument to Moses, Jesus and Elijah. The problem was so severe that God the Father Himself spoke; affirming that Jesus was His Beloved and they were to listen to Him. Peter tried to lower Jesus and elevate the Law and the Prophets making them equal. But, Jesus came to fulfill the Law because the Law kills, II Corinthians 3:6. Jesus gave the Law to Moses to show that man cannot keep the Law, even if they so wish to. So why would the Lord give an impossible law? The single most hated thing is self-righteousness, Isaiah 64:6. "Filthy rags" in the Hebrew is menstrual rags. That's how gross self-righteousness is in the eyes of God. In Exodus 19, Moses was called up to receive the Law verbally so he could rehearse it in the ears of Israel in Exodus 20. This is what they said:
Exodus 19:8 "And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD."
Again the Lord asked if Israel would keep His Law, and they replied:
Exodus 24:3 "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do."
Pride, arrogance, ignorance and self-righteousness reverberated throughout the camp, and they accepted God's challenge instead of humbling themselves and asked for mercy. From Passover to the Sinai, not one Israeli died even though all they did was murmur against Moses and God. As soon as they accepted the Law, Moses went up to get the tablets. While he tarried, they broke the first commandment Exodus 20:2-6, Exodus 32:4. As soon as the Law was given, they sinned, and three thousand died! God showed their self-righteousness wasn't enough and they died in their sins.
Knowing that not all are like those that left Egypt, the Lord would send His prophets that gave hope of another way. What is the thing that the devil and man succeeded in doing with the Law? Cheapen it and hold man hostage through condemnation and guilt. Even Christians today are filled with this same mentality as the Pharisees - knowing full well that no one can keep the Law, the Pharisees watered it down to a bunch of legalistic rituals. Where preachers are to teach grace, they teach "don't do this" "don't do that" "love God" - all impossibilities because it's the Law repackaged for today's legalistic rituals. Jesus came to change all that!
What was the first thing Jesus said after the Father said to listen to Him? "Arise, and be not afraid!" The Pharisees cheapened the Law by making it "manageable" for man to think righteousness was obtainable. But under the Law, the judgment exceeds the sacrifice as is illustrated when Elijah fought with the prophets of Ba'al in I Kings 18. He had water poured onto the sacrifice. When God responded, not only was the sacrifice consumed, but the wood, stone alter, water and even the dust. When Jesus taught the Law this is what He said:
Matthew 5:27-29 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Jesus restored the impossibility of keeping the Law back to its original tenet. God never wanted the Israelites to accept the Law. From Abraham to Mount Sinai they lived under grace! No one died despite their murmurings and complaints. Yet, as soon as they arrogantly said they could keep the Law, they built an idol of gold and worshiped it. Three thousand died that day. Yet, after the death, burial and resurrection of the Lamb (Jesus Christ), fifty days later, on the same day Israel received the Law, the day of Pentecost, they received the Holy Spirit and three thousand were saved. Acts 2:41
The Law kills, Grace gives life!
Where the Law, written on stone, revived sin which kills us, God calls it the ministry of death, II Corinthians 3:6-11. The only thing written in stone was the Law - the Ten Commandments. If we could keep the Law, then why did Jesus have to come! Since this was one of my biggest issues with this correct thinking, I'm going to address the following:
Romans 8:1-2 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Prosperity preachers stop quoting this verse after they say "Christ Jesus", but the Spirit put it in there. I've even heard some say the next part of the verse was added by legalists. Yet, I contend that we are not the ones walking after Salvation, but the Spirit, therefore there is no condemnation which are in Christ Jesus. The Spirit wouldn't qualify that, else we're back to the Law: do good get good; do bad get bad. Is it not the Spirit that quickens us? Ephesians 2:5-7. Since we're dead, how can we be subject to sin? Romans 6:1-2. Understand God loves us personally, that we are dead to sin, and quickened to the life in Christ Jesus, there IS no more condemnation. There's no condition. We walk simply in faith just as we are saved by faith. We are sheep and prisoners. Know what do they have in common? They both must be taken care of. The means to DO is not within them. They follow the Shepherd or the Warden. Romans 4:13-16, This is a truth: if we are heirs of the world, now can we do that sickly or poor? It's the devil that steals these promises. If you don't believe that kind of thinking, then read this verse:
I John 4:17 "Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."
"...because as he is, so are we in this world"! This isn't a future promise, but one of His grace on us NOW, HERE on earth! Hallelujah! Glory to God! I have finally come to the understanding of what Paul meant in Romans seven. I wish to paraphrase first before you read the longest scripture reference of this study. The Law is righteous. But it demands righteousness from us. We don't have it, so our punishment is death. Any offence, no matter the size, carries a minimum sentence of death! God in His love says, "Though the Law is right, there is no love." Paul shows the war within each Christian: those things I don't want to do, I do them, sin. The things I want to do, I don't do them, doing right. I know you've heard some preacher say "Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul." He was quoting Jesus. I can't love myself that way, how can I possibly live that way towards someone I can't see or feel or grasp!? Face it, Jesus was only elevating the Law back to its proper place - an impossibility. Yet over and over Christians become slaves to a lie that somehow if only they did this or did that they could obtain this status. If you can't do anything to get saved, what makes you think you can do anything to live a saved life? It's all self-righteousness and it stinks on high! The sentence Paul says below, shows the condition these preachers are suffering from as they pass it on to their flocks: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." And he clarifies it even one step more: "I see another law...warring against the law of my mind...bringing me into captivity to the law of sin..." Today we wake up, thank the Lord, praise Him, sing to Him in the shower, kiss the family good bye, and off to work we go. On the way to work some guy cuts you off almost causing an accident and out vomits angry profanity. All the joy you had earlier is swallowed up with a little whisper - not necessarily from the devil - but the Law within, taught in church, understood by misreading scriptures - whatever the case, you're now devastated. You feel like a hypocrite, a phony. This is the war Paul is explaining. He finally cries out "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Thankfully he answers his own question and ends this internal war - even after reading it, I couldn't understand exactly what to DO.
"I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
It boils down to one thing: right thinking, which leads to right doing. You know the Law - or at least what your parents or pastors teach: don't do this, don't do that. What is it you want to do? Those things you're told not to do. Why? That's the sin within. When we're saved, sin is not remove from our bodies, only the freedom from sin. I know, that doesn't make sense. But it does. You see, Jesus lived in the flesh the lives He knows we cannot live in. We're born into sin - it's like trying to live without a heart. It cannot be done. Jesus, Who knew no sin, lived a life just like us, but without sin, and in the flesh won this conflicting war. Then He gave up His sinless life to become sin for us on the cross. He took our sin and we took His righteousness. Stop thinking of sin as a verb and see if for what it is, a noun. If you understand that when you call on the Name of Jesus to save you, you are no longer under the Law of sin!
I once had a debt of over $110,000 in credit cards and a mortgage of over $200,000. I only made $75,000 per year and had three growing kids. There was no hope for me. I prayed, surrendered the cards (I shredded them actually) and lived within the extreme limits of my salary - which to some was awesome. Even still, it'd be the rest of my life before I could get out of debt. Nothing I did would work. But!!! God heard me, blessed me, and now I have no debt and more funds than I need so I use it to help others. Do I ever want to go back into debt with all the pressures and worries that come with it? No way! My right thinking NOW keeps me from falling back into debt. When you believe you must "do" to be holy, you'll only fall deeper into sin debt. Then because you are conscience of your deeds, you condemn yourself. Then because you feel so bad, you only want relief, so you take some false "joy" in sin (name your vice here - food, drugs, shopping, porn, etc.) and the cycle repeats. When you take hold of the thought that you are free from sin (though it still resides in your mortal body, that "old" man) your spirit and soul are free from sin, you focus on the wonderful gift the Lord has given you. Faith. Grace. More Faith. More Grace. That's the correct cycle. So do we sin so grace can fix us? NO! Why would I want to go back into debt? When you sin, you repent - which means change your mind - and move on. It was paid for before you were even born let alone the moment you committed it. So now read:
Romans 7:14-25 "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
God does not want behavioral modification; He wants right thinking, so you can have right living.
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