Rightly dividing scripture & OSAS

Bob Ryan, in another thread, makes salvation conditional upon the perserverance of the individual. Among other citations, he cites Romans 11:22ff.

The warning there, however, clearly involves and identifies the nation of Israel and the world of Gentiles. It is not directed to the individual born-again authentic Christian believer.


Romans 11:24
"For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed (the availability of certain of God's promises in the NT), contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, (the Nation of Israel) which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?"

If God took that which was natural, broke it off, set it aside and grafted in we Gentiles, and He's been letting us as individuals participate in the offer of salvation by grace through faith, and then sees the Gentile world rejecting Him (as is happening today in the USA and around the world), he will end the church age and will graft national Israel back in. This is precisely what will happen after the church, the Body of Believers, has been raptured and the Great Tribulation has taken its toll (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 is very encouraging for we born-again authentic Christian Believers. Here again, Paul is adddressed the "brethren," a group of Christian Believers.) Israel will be grafted back in, Peter will have the "keys to the Kingdom" of the 1,000 year reign on earth for the Jewish nation, with Jesus seated on the Throne of David. (So much for the idea that Peter was the first pope - the keys are to the Kingdom established for the 1,000 year reign).

For a reference, not for a binding contract on Christian Believers, see Jer_3:4-5; Jer_3:21-25; Jer_3:50.

.........and now to bed, you sleepy head.........

 

The 144,000 witnesses, LeBuick, are Jewish converts to Christianity who, during the Great Tribulation, will attempt to lead non-Christian Jews to Christ, as well as non-Christian gentiles trapped in the Trib. Those they win over will lose their life during the Trib, but not their eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 is the gospel, pure and simple. Since it is the gospel, and since we have so many scriptural examples to go by in context, we know that the language here is not saying that salvation is contingent upon hanging on to it, about daily striving to stay saved, about wondering what our status is. On the contrary, the language here clearly indicates that we have to understand and know that we are believing because God is calling us, the Holy Spirit is witnessing to us; we have to know what and why we are believing in a spiritual confrontation with Christ, not a fleshly decision to "join the club," to impress others, or out of some self-righteous, egotistical motive.

Paul says it like this: if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. Too many people don't know what they believe. They don't know what they thought they believed. They can't remember (keep in memory) because they don't know what they believed! There are folks all over the south and midwest who, when asked about their standing before God, will respond with "I'm a babtist." They don't have a clue about salvation by grace through faith, the gift of God. They have some idea about what it means to be a Christian but can't put it into words. They just hope they've understood. They just hope they've got it right. And it isn't a conscious, day-by-day hope, it's put on the back burner. They may go forward in a service, get "babtized", with no idea what they are doing. They did it because a friend did it. They did it because Mom or Dad did it. They did it for recognition as a "good person." And after that they just forget it and go on about their day.

That's what Paul is talking about. In essence, he is saying "If you understand what I preached to you, unless you really don't", or "If you understood what I preached to you, unless you really didn't." It is so plain we are to believe the Gospel. Here is the Gospel that saves each of us in verses 3 and 4:

"For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day." Where-when did he receive that? On the road to Damascus was where it all began. He received it from Jesus Himself, our Risen Lord! He sends Paul out to the Gentiles with the instructions that salvation comes from believing the Gospel. How shall they know without a preacher? How will they know if none is sent? Paul says, in effect, I'm not talking about the first five books of the Bible, I'm not talking about Jewish traditions, I'm not talking about some mystical formula, I'm talking about John 3:16-17, John 14:6, Romans 10:8-13, and all those other relevant scriptures. Paul says that Christ died for us, was buried, and He rose again. And he says "You can believe it!" Believing it results in a changed life for some instantly. For others, it takes a little longer. Bottom line, they are saved, sealed, sanctified, will be glorified, and will live with Him forever. Their status before God depends entirely upon what Jesus did, not upon some daily effort on our part. To say that we have to work for salvation is to deny the efficacy of His incredible sacrifice, Tetelestai! Amen!

 

12,000 from each of the 12 tribes will be chosen to witness during the Tribulation, LeBuick. They will be Jewish witnesses for Christ. Read Revelation. There are several references, but try Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 for starters.

As to Bob's response, the simple truth is that these passages tell the brethren the letter is written to, to declare 'whazup', "unless they believed in vain." When I was a kid my grandmother told me that taking the name of God in vain was profanity. Now I know that it means claiming to be a Christian without ever having acknowledged Christ as Savior. There are lots of folks like that today in various denominations. Ask them what they believe and they will respond with something like "I was baptized at birth." "I was confirmed at age 14." "I've been a good person all my life." "My daddy was a missionary, I'll have you know!"

The warning to the followers is that the time will come when the church age will end, as I have said. The rapture will snatch up the Body of Christ, not based upon an individual's works, but based upon His sacrifice. The day of the catching up is very close when one looks at the condition of those who claim to be Christian and who are not. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, as the saying goes. Counterfeits and frauds abound among so-called "Christian" groups. They have their reward. Once the church is gone, that dread and awful appearance of antichrist will be a fact, followed by the Great Tribulation, during which unsaved persons of every race, creed, color, national origin, and religion (Christianity is not a religion) will be challenged by the 144,000 on the one hand and satanic intervention on the other, God saving a remnant, then turning in grace to establish the Kingdom once offered to Israel and establishing the 1,000 year reign. The church will have been "cut off" and the Nation of Israel grafted back in to their own olive tree.

Romans 9:1 through 11:36 has been aptly titled "The Jewish Interlude" by dispensationalists. It is a parenthesis in the Book of Romans. It is written to Christians in Rome about Paul's great concern for his fellowmen, the Jews. The topic throughout is the Jews.

As EricB posted in another thread (and I read this after I posted the above):

To understand "believing in vain", we must remember that many people in the New Testament, beginning with the ministry of Jesus Himself while still here, were hastily accepting Christ, but they did not understand what the purpose of His mission was. So they "believed" (John 8:31), but eventually their true fruits surfaced (v.37ff). Most others of this class, while not disputing Jesus to His face would show their true colors when persecution would come and they quickly abandoned Him. It's in this context that we have all the scriptures on perseverance until the end. Like the others, these people "believed" and followed for the wrong reasons.

...............Many gentiles had also fallen into a similar misunderstanding or misuse as well. (Such as those described who would rise up and apostasize, drawing away their own following, thus using the Church for control). Yet if people "persevered" in faith, then it would have shown that they truly understood Christ's purpose (i.e. the true Gospel). Today we have many cults, liberals, etc. who "believe" in Christ, but knowingly twist or reject parts of the Bible; in effect creating a whole different concept of Christ (as different as the political Messiah of Israel), and most do not even speak of thinking they are "saved", or if they do, they make up their own idea of how to be saved (being good, keeping certain works, being baptized into their group, etc.). All of these are the people who "believed in vain", not someone who really believed they were saved, but fell into sin.