Old Thoughts for the New Day 27

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)

The opportunities for entering the Kingdom of God are greater then ever. So are the dangers. Many will be deceived and fall away from the faith in the days to come. Those who truly know their God will increase in strength and perform exploits.

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. The Lord of Hosts is ready to enter the everlasting doors of the hearts of His elect. He is the Lord, strong and mighty in battle.

But to ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place requires clean hands and a pure heart. It is absolutely necessary the believer not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false (Psalms 24).

The great delusion of our day is that God accepts our works because we are "saved by grace." This is a wrenching of Paul's doctrine to our destruction. The grace of God is never an excuse for our sin. Divine grace is what we call today a jump-start. We are forgiven our past sins so we may make a fresh start with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has been given to us so we may be able to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and His Apostles.

When we regard our forgiveness as a permanent amnesty such that our behavior does not affect our standing with God we have departed from the New Testament. We are following the traditions of man, particularly those found in the destructive model of biblical interpretation termed "dispensationalism."

It is time for us now to abandon these traditions, realizing that God is looking for those who will read the New Testament and do what it says.

Christians who persist in the delusion that Divine grace is excusing them from keeping the commandments of God will perish in the darkness that is coming upon us just as Achan and his family perished under the heap of stones. No believer who refuses to obey the numerous commandments found in the New Testament is a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been deceived, not having loved the truth.

After the sin of Achan had been dealt with severely the Lord blessed Joshua and the Israelites with great victory. When we put the sin out of our life God will bless us with more victory than we have ever known.

After the great victory at Ai, Joshua renewed the covenant with the people. The blessings were read from Mount Gerizim and the curses from Mount Ebal, as the Lord commanded Moses.

There was not a word of the Law of Moses that Joshua did not read.

Would today that God's ministers teach the entire New Testament and not just a few "key verses." We need to avoid supporting our topical preaching with a few favorite passages. We must take a passage and expound on it, avoiding our traditions, making sure we keep our interpretations in line with the context. The believers of our time are getting only half a loaf, and the half they do get is so colored by faulty dispensational thinking that the people cannot get the sense of the passage.

Continued. Old Thoughts for the New Day 28