WHERE ARE YOU? LAW or GRACE? PART - 2

~ James Fire

Now we continue in this study of the LAW or GRACE, picking up where we left off in Galatians, the third chapter. Let us carefully examine precisely what the Word says about these two supremely important aspects of the Scripture and our spiritual relationship to them both:

GALATIANS 3:26-29
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Read more!

WHERE ARE YOU? LAW or GRACE? PART - 1

~ By James Fire

We who have received salvation through the LORD Jesus Christ by faith, rejoice in the grace of God, that is, God's favor towards us that is wholly unmerited by anything we have done on our own account, but solely on the basis of the Gospel and the Lamb of God's finished work on the cross and His resurrection.

As Christians our desire is to walk pleasing to the LORD, growing in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ (2 PET 3:18) and in holiness (ROM 6:22; 2 COR 7:1). In that desire to please the LORD we can sometimes become so zealous as to adhere to Old Testament ways, specifically Mosaic Law (That is, the Law of God as given by Moses on Sinai) and all of the feasts, customs and edicts which the LORD specifically gave to the nation of Israel.

Some perceive Law as contrary to Grace, that they are opposed to one another. Others believe that Christians are obligated to follow the Law, even though salvation has always been according to God's grace (Old Testament as well as New); that there is no distinction between Old Testament saints of Israel and the saints of the New Testament church.

So what exactly do we believe? Should Christians follow the Law or not? Are we free to disregard the Law and simply ask for God's grace and forgiveness when we partake of sin? We shall consider these issues and more in this article of The TRUTH Under FIRE.

Read more!

The GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW: Ch. 12: Part ONE - The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE

By James Fire

In Chapter 12 we have a profoundly significant incident that correlates with a similar event that took place in MATT 9:32-34. When the witness of the Messiah is rejected by the official religious body of the Sanhedren, based on these specific miracles that He performed in these two chapters, it alters the LORD's ministry and relationship to Israel as a nation, which we shall see in this (and subsequent) chapters.

MATTHEW 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Here we see Jesus – Y'shua the son of Mary and Joseph, his step-father; He is an observant Jew and fulfilled all of the Law perfectly (MATT.5:17-18) as the spotless Lamb of God without blemish (1 PET. 1:19); and yet here we see Him and His disciples gleaning grain on the sabbath day and the Pharisees are quick to point this out.

The LORD replies by citing two examples of some others who did similar things and yet there is no blame laid against them for doing so by the witness of Scripture: David and his fighting men (1 SAM 21:1-6), and even the priests themselves of the Temple. The LORD then directs the Pharisees to recognize that there is One in their midst Who is greater than the Temple:

Himself: the Messiah of Israel, Who also happens to be the LORD of the sabbath, for it was He that instituted the Sabbath as the seventh day upon which Israel was to rest from all of their work, even as the LORD God rested (See EX 20:8-11; not in recuperation of strength, for that would be pointless for the Almighty, but merely a cessation of work) in His creation (GEN 1 and 2).

Read more!

The GOSPEL of MATTHEW: Ch. 11 – The MESSIAH and HIS KINGDOM MESSAGE:

By James Fire

The LORD Jesus Christ has just finished instructing His disciples on their mission for the Gospel, bringing the message of salvation to “the lost house of Israel” - but not yet the Gentiles . . . He also gave them warnings and admonitions regarding how they would be received by lost sinners and how they should respond to such dangers from those who are our persecutors. After having done all this, the LORD then proceeds to preach the Gospel and teach truth Himself among and throughout the cities of Israel. This is where we pick up in the beginning of Chapter 11:

MATTHEW 11:1-3
And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

Read more!

The POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT

~ by James Fire

This teaching was presented at ETERNAL LIVING WORD church - West Side (8/11/19), and it may be viewed on video here.

GENESIS 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-17
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

The awesome power of creation, solely the purview of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is something we can witness, at least in part, on our planet, our solar system, and from images taken by far-reaching satellites and radio telescopes sights and macro-cosmic wonders of galaxies beyond our imagining. We also observe the creation of God with microscopes, electron microscopes and other instrumentation whereby we can perceive the microcosmic universe. Whether in the vastness of the heavens, or the intricacies of the infinitesimal, God's handiwork is an incredible work to behold! 

Read more!

CROSSING The T’s STUDY in 2 THESSALONIANS aka PROPHETIC and PERSONAL Perspectives – PART 2 of 4

PROPHETIC and PERSONAL Perspectives from 2 THESSALONIANS - PART 2

STUDY # 2 – 2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-17: The Perspective of FALLING AWAY INTO DECEPTION and IT's BIBLICAL PREVENTION

Theme: The Day of the LORD (This phrase is also seen in JOEL 1:15; 2 PET 3:10; REV 19:19 and elsewhere). This phrase refers to that period of time when God actively and openly begins to deal with the people of the Earth in judgment, beginning with the Jew and then the Gentile as portrayed in REVELATION 6–19.

It begins with (1) the translation of the church or rapture (“bride of Christ”) from Earth to Heaven and culminates at (2) the Great White Throne Judgment with the 70th week of Daniel (“time of Jacob's trouble” JER 30:7) in which the world will see the 7 year reign of anti-Christ or “the man of sin” (2 THESS 2:3) occurring between those two points.

The saints at Thessalonica were anxious because they thought that the Day of the LORD was upon them, but Paul corrects this misunderstanding in explaining that two crucial events must first happen before this occurs; we will see what those things are in 2 THESSALONIANS 2.

Outline: Intro: 1:1-4;

SECTION I – Comfort in persecution: 1:5-12
SECTION II – The Day of the LORD vs. the man of sin: 2:1-12
SECTION III – Exhortations and instructions: 2:13-3:15; Conclusion: 3:16-18.

STUDY # 2 – 2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-17: The Perspective of FALLING AWAY INTO DECEPTION and IT's BIBLICAL PREVENTION:

Read more!