Bible Doctrine

In the Charles Dickens novel “Great Expectations”, Estella – one of the main characters in that novel – utters the line, “Suffering has been my greatest teacher!”  Multitudes among the family of humans could well utter that same line.  I know I can.

Suffering prods the sufferer to look heavenward for help and relief.  Suffering instills in the one so tried to trust in God and to grow closer to Him by searching their mind and heart so that they might confess and forsake anything in their life that is displeasing to God.

There has been a great deal of suffering in my life, both mental and physical.  That suffering brought me nearer to our Lord.  The road to His side was long and winding, slow and tedious, but finally I reached His side and felt Him slip His hand in mine.  I’ll not look back ever again.  World, I have had you.  All that interests me now is the holy city to which I was granted citizenship many years ago.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Jesus told Nicodemus, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (See John 3:6).  We behave as humans because we are human.  It is as simple as that.  And that which is supernatural is supernatural.  God behaves like God, because He is God.  Many think God stopped moving supernaturally two thousand years ago, that His last performance was given on Patmos Island when He, in the person of Jesus Christ, appeared to the apostle John and gave him the revelation we now call the Book of Revelation.  They believe when the last apostle died, or when the last word of the Bible was penned, the door to the supernatural world was shut and God stayed on the other side, saying to humanity, as it were, “There, you now have my written word.  You’ll not hear from me any more until the day I send back my Son.”  

The more you get real with God, the more God will get real with you.  The more of “self” you surrender in utter and total submission to Jesus Christ the more of the reality of Jesus Christ you will experience in your moment-by-moment existence.  Withhold some area of your life from the Lord and the Lord will withhold some portion of Himself from you.

“ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine” (See 2 Timothy 3:16).  And there is a passage in the 7th chapter of Joshua that gives us keen insight into how our supernatural Creator operates.  A Jewish man by the name of Achan failed to consider that the God of Israel was and is a supernatural God that interacts with His people and warns, “I change not!” (See Malachi 3:6).  Following God’s  conquering Jericho by supernatural means, Achan had taken a Babylonian garment and some silver and gold and hid them in his tent, although having been warned by Joshua that the city was cursed by God and that the Israeli soldiers were to keep “hands off” any of the spoils of war.  And God said to them, “Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs toward their enemies, because they were accursed.  Neither will I be with you anymore, except you destroy the accursed from among you” (Joshua 7:12).  The sacred record goes on to say that Achan had practiced folly in trying to hide something from God.  Do you want God to stop interacting in your life.  Play the fool with Him.  Knowingly and willingly disobey Him.  Try to keep one foot in the world and the other foot in the kingdom of God.  It cannot be done.  The gulf is too great.  The chasm too wide.  Try being religious without being godly.  Jesus warns, “I will come unto you quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent” (See Revelation 2:5).  God will stop giving you any further spiritual revelation and will stop using you as a light for the world!  He further warns, “I will come on thee as a thief (with no warning at all), and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee” (Revelation 3:3).  But He will come swiftly.  That warning is written to the Lord’s church!  God tolerates no sin in the camp of His people.  “Be ye holy as I am holy!”  It is all or nothing with God.  No man can serve two masters.  The only worship and fellowship God approves is wholehearted worship and fellowship.  “You shall seek me, and find me, WHEN YOU SHALL SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART!” (Jeremiah 29:13).  God help you to understand is my prayer.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley 

When the Bible speaks of death, or the dead, it uses but two terms only, saying the one who has died is “dead” or “asleep.” No other terminology is ever used, not by any prophet, not by Jesus Christ, nor by any apostle. Such terms as “gone to be with the Lord,” or “now with the Lord,” or “safe in the arms of Jesus,” or “passed on to their reward,” etc. are never used in the scriptures – never! Does that surprise you? Even the apostle Paul uses the terms sleep and death interchangeably over and over again when speaking of believers who have died, saying, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him (for the dead in Christ rise first). For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain (living) unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Rise from what? From the dead! No scripture says they come down from heaven and are reunited with their physical bodies that have long before turned to dust or have totally disintegrated. (See I Thessalonians 4:13-16). “Then we which are alive and remain (living) shall be caught up together with them (these resurrected believers) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one another with these words”(verse 17-18).

Notice, believers are to comfort one another “with these words,” the words of the apostle Paul, not words totally unsupported by scripture. We comfort one another by assuring our bereaved brethren that the dead believer is only asleep and will be resurrected to immortal life when our Lord returns.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (I Corinthians 15:22-23). When are the dead brought back to life? Paul clearly says this occurs at the time of Christ’s return. Believers who die are not made alive at the moment they die. How absurd! They are brought back to life by being resurrected at the time of Christ’s return. Paul asks, “What advantages it me if the dead rise not?” (See I Corinthians 15:32). Paul knew nothing of a believer going to heaven at the moment they die. His only advantage of being a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ when fighting with beasts at Ephesus was that if they killed him he knew he would someday be resurrected from the dead. (Again, verse 17).

Read the entirety of I Corinthians 15. Paul clearly knew nothing of any intermediate state of life between the moment we die and the time of the resurrection. The dead are dead period. Paul never said “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” although that is what multitudes of misinformed believers think he said. He said he was “willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (See 2 Corinthians 5:8). Look at the context of 2 Corinthians 5 to see exactly what Paul was saying. He was assuring these formerly pagan Greek believers that they need not fear death and the eventual annihilation of their physical bodies as upon being resurrected they would be clothed with immortal incorruptible spirit bodies. I am willing to be absent from my home in Louisville, Kentucky and present in Honolulu, Hawaii, but if absent from Louisville does not mean I am in Hawaii. I might be in Texas, or New York, or France. Paul was willing to be freed from the limitations and afflictions suffered in his physical body, but that didn’t mean he was then present with the Lord. He, like all other believers, was then asleep, the profound sleep of death, awaiting the resurrection of the redeemed.

Peter, speaking of King David, said, “David is not ascended into the heavens” (See Acts 2:34). The thief on the cross did not precede King David in that regard. Jesus said, “No man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man” (Swe John 3:13). Elijah did not do so. Enoch did not do so. NO MAN did so! Brethren need to cry out to the Lord to lead them when reading the scriptures mentioning Elijah and Enoch if they think those righteous men are now in heaven. God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Did you think I was going to say, “Hold a seance?”  No, it is accomplished via the avenue of prayer.  But prayer is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the entire Bible.  Few seem to realize that this simple yet complex communications system devised and worked out by the very mind of God has built into it various safeguards so as to protect its abuse by unscrupulous carnal-minded men and women.  Not everyone can get through to God using this channel.  Haven’t you found the lines down from time to time yourself?  For instance, there is a verse in the Bible that says, “And whatsoever we ask (in prayer to God) we receive of Him, BECAUSE WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (I John 3:22).  This is just one of the safeguards God has built into His communications system, or prayer.  “Therefore, it is come to pass that as he (God’s prophet) cried (thundering out God’s commands and warnings), and they (ancient Israel) would not hear, so they cried (cried out to God in prayer), and I would not hear” (Zechariah 7:13).  God says if we ignore what He has told us to do through his prophets and apostles then He will ignore us when we cry out to Him in prayer.  God is no chump.  He is no one’s patsy.  No one ever gets over on God.  

In order to prevent ungodly men and women from abusing this tremendous privilege of communing with Him, God has decreed He will answer the prayers of only those human subjects who are striving to obey Him and please Him in all areas of their life.  Of course God is sovereign.  He can overrule Himself whenever He pleases or sees fit.  He can, and I am certain He sometimes does, answer the prayer of a Mormon, a wayward protestant, or a desperate descendant of Adam whose life is in imminent danger.  

One ingredient that assures a prayer will be answered is faith.  “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick” (See James 5:15).  We must believe God is listening and willing to consider our requests.  Of course all prayers do not include requests.  Read the Psalms.  Many prayers are prayers of praise and gratitude.  It is a thankless son or daughter who only speaks to their parent when they need their help or assistance. 

So take full advantage of what God has provided for His faithful sons and daughters.  If obedient, you will be glad you did.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Jesus spoke those words, “What I say unto you I say unto all” to His disciples.  Some of the first recorded words of Jesus Christ are found in Matthew 4, in the account of our Lord’s confrontation with Satan, wherein He said, “Man (Greek, “human beings, mankind” – not just the Jew) shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”  Over and over again throughout the Old Testament we find the words, “Thus saith the Lord.”  Some argue erroneously that when Jesus Christ spoke, during His earthly ministry, He was speaking only to the Jew and that none of what He said applies to the church.  Then there are those who say, “Well, some of what He said applies to Christians, but only some of His teachings so apply.”  It amazes me that those who say Jesus spoke only to the Jews are unable to grasp the plain and simple words Jesus spoke to His disciples shortly before His ascension back to the Father’s side in heaven.  Here is what He said: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore,  AND TEACH ALL NATIONS (Jew and Gentile), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.” (See Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20).  

Jesus said, “I am come a light into the world (not just to the Jew) that whosoever (Jew or Gentile) believes on me should not abide in darkness.  And if any man (Jew or Gentile) hears my words, and believes not, I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.  He that rejects my words (be he Jew or Gentile), has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken (during His earthly ministry and through His prophets and apostles) the same shall judge him in the last day.  (See John 12:46-48).  

Brethren, I believe I would pay close attention to what Jesus said during His earthly ministry as well as all He inspired to be uttered through the Hebrew prophets who preceded Him as that is the standard by which we shall all be judged at the last day.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

“Now IF we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:8). That’s a mighty big IF there, brethren. Many believers are in no manner dead with Christ, yet they are absolutely certain they are going to be resurrected by Him and live eternally with Him. “Knowing that Christ being raised from the death dies no more. Death has no more dominion over Him” (verse 9, Romans 6). Do you see the parallel Paul is drawing here? Just as death has no more dominion over the resurrected Jesus Christ, just so sin has no more dominion over the believer as that believer has died with Christ and been resurrected to walk in newness of life – a new creation! “Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be DEAD INDEED UNTO SIN, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lusts thereof” (Romans 6:11-12).

If sin keeps cropping up in the believer’s life, that believer is letting it do so. “Neither yield your members (your eyes, your imagination, your hands or feet) as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive (and new creatures) from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God for sin shall not have dominion over you (IF you refuse to yield), for you are not under the (death penalty of) law, but under grace (divine mercy and pardon). What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law (the death penalty), but under grace? GOD FORBID” (See Romans 6:13-15).

“Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Many believers are servants of Satan and don’t even realize it. Their deceived pastors and spiritual leaders have convinced them that God no longer sees any sin they commit and, hence, no longer counts it against them. In fact, they are told repeatedly that they cannot stop sinning – not as long as they are still in the flesh. Their “old man” has not died but is very much alive and will pull them into sin again and again. So they believe, and so it is true with many of them as they were never crucified with Christ. They merely believed Jesus Christ died for them and blotted out all their sins – past, present and future – at that moment. For decades I was duped into believing that devil’s lie and continued to sin daily, even hourly all the while thinking all was well with my soul.

“But God be thanked that you WERE (past tense) servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart (the deepest core of your being) that form of doctrine which was delivered you, being THEN made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). Have YOU been made free from sin? Do YOU have the ability to say, “NO!” to every temptation to sin that comes your way? Turn a deaf ear to that deceived preacher or Bible teacher who says that is impossible for he is an agent of Satan the devil in that regard. God help you to understand.

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

At this point there is a paradox that needs to be explained. In a real sense it can be said that it truly was impossible for Jesus to have sinned. But how can this be? How can I contend it was possible for Jesus to sin only to then turn around and say it was not possible for Him to sin? It became impossible for Jesus to sin due to His utter abandonment to doing the will of His heavenly Father. He continuously practiced every principle and law necessary for the avoidance of sin and failure, and, in doing so, it became impossible for Him to sin. The parents of John the Baptist did the same as it is written of them that “they were both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (See Luke 1:6). Continuously walking in the Spirit, Jesus never once fulfilled the lust of the flesh. Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, He was able to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, a hope held out to every totally surrendered child of God. (See Titus 2:12). Many cannot enter into this rest from sin due to unbelief. Satan has deceived multitudes into firmly believing escape from sin is impossible even for the dedicated child of God. They are thoroughly convinced that the flesh will always remain stronger than the Spirit of God, that the one thing God cannot do is instill a continuous holy walk and lifestyle in His children, not as long as Satan is around to tempt us. They scoff at the very idea that Zacharias and Elisabeth lived continuously holy lives. They must think Luke 1:6 is a misprint.

Jesus Christ’s mission is ongoing and that mission is “to present YOU holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (See Colossians 1:22). But this can only be accomplished “If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (verse 23, Colossians 1). But again, Satan deceives multitudes into thinking God already sees believers as pure, holy and without sin, having imputed Christ’s holiness to them in lieu of their godless, sinful lifestyle! GOD SEES YOU AS YOU ARE! Read revelation 2 and 3 slowly and carefully. Read Acts 5:1-11. Read I Corinthians 10 and 11 slowly and carefully.  

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

In order for a temptation to be a real, valid temptation the one being tempted must have the potential to surrender, or submit, to that appeal or allurement. A millionaire cannot tempt someone to jump across the Grand Canyon by offering them $100,000 to do so, because it is physically impossible for any human being to jump across the Grand Canyon. But, if offered $100,000 to do so, someone might be tempted to climb the wall of the Grand Canyon at some point as the canyon is 277 miles long and there are locations that are accessible for climbers.

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, and yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:14-15). Yes, Jesus was tempted to sin by Satan again and again, but he never capitulated, he never submitted, he never succumbed to any temptation. It could not be rightly said that Jesus was tempted LIKE AS WE ARE if it was impossible for him to surrender himself to the temptation and sin!

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” (Matthew 4:1). During that confrontation Satan seeks, probes, desperately tries to find an area wherein Jesus could be tempted to listen to the devil and fall prey to one of his temptations. This was not a bit of play acting on the part of either one of these ancient opponents, nor was this their first encounter. Satan had taken out Adam and Eve long ago. He had even caused the wisest man who ever lived to fall prey to his temptations again and again. (See Genesis 2 and 3 and I Kings 11). Satan would never have engaged himself in this confrontation if he knew he had no win. His successes had been many. Even father Abraham and King David had fallen prey to his temptations. (See Genesis 12:10-20 and Genesis 16:1-6. Also 2 Samuel 11-12). Aaron had made a golden calf for Israel to worship. (See Exodus 32). And the list goes on and on. Satan knew that Jesus had divested himself of His divinity, that he was now as much of a human being as though he had never been God. This was Satan’s golden opportunity to strike. But he failed. Thanks be to God, Satan failed.

Have you ever really considered what Jesus did for YOU, for me, for all humanity? He risked it all for us! What would have happened if he had sinned? Before answering that question we need to look at some amazing revelation given us in the first chapter of Hebrews. “God who at sundry (various) times and in diverse manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds (some versions read universe or ages), who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they, for unto which of the angels said he at any time , ‘You are my son, this day have I begotten you?’ And again, ‘I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?'” (Hebrews 1:1-5).

Those five short, terse verses contain some of the most amazing revelation found anywhere in the Word of God! They also contain the answer to the question, “What would have happened had Jesus sinned?” Notice how the International Standard Version words verse 3: “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of his being, AND HE HOLDS EVERYTHING TOGETHER by his powerful word……” Weymouth New Testament: “He brightly reflects God’s glory and is the exact representation of his being, and upholds the universe by his all-powerful word…..” Version after version read almost exactly the same. Had Jesus sinned, would He have died? NO! Would God the Father have had no choice but to consign the Son to hell? OF COURSE NOT! Then what would have happened? Hebrews 1:3 gives the answer. The universe would have imploded! All that God had created through the Son would be gone. There would be no earth, no humanity, no inter-planetary system. God and His heaven, including Jesus and all the spirit beings who have existed throughout eternity past would be as though God had never said, “Let us make man in our own image!” 

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

During His sojourn on earth, was it possible for Jesus to have yielded to any temptation and thereby been guilty of committing sin? I have no doubt that many believers would instantly answer that question with a resounding, “NO!” They would be wrong. I am going to show you by scripture after scripture that Jesus could have sinned. I am going to show you that He did not sin, but that the possibility of His doing so was ever present.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God” (Philippians 2:5-6, KJV). At least sixteen other translations of the Greek scriptures differ with the King James Version of verse 6, saying that Jesus did not think being in the form of God was something to “grasp” or “cling to!” (See the New Living Translation, English Standard Version, Berean Study Bible, King James 2000 Bible, Berean Literal Bible, World English Bible, Amplified Bible, etc.) All other pertinent scriptures fully support the numerous translations that say Jesus did not think being in the form of God was something to be grasped onto or to cling to. When the Father discussed the fantastic idea of bringing many sons to glory and both of these divine beings fully realized this would necessitate Jesus assuming the form and nature of man in order to accomplish their goal, Jesus said, as it were, “Your will is my will, Father. Let’s do it!”

Continuing with the 7th verse of Philippians 2, “But (Jesus) made himself of no reputation, but took upon him the form of a servant, AND WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (the living and the dead). And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (verse 7 through 11, Philippians 2).

The writer of Hebrews provides more light, writing, “For it became him (was fitting or appropriate) for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons (including daughters) unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus experienced the same trials and temptations as His brethren in the flesh experienced. The only difference is Jesus endured every trial and every temptation. At no point, at no time did He fail or surrender to the temptation. He never sinned! Not once!

“For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood (its cravings, desires, inclinations and lusts), he also himself likewise took part of he same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (to that fear)”. (Hebrews 2:14-15). Satan held the power of death in that he had the power to tempt humans to sin for he knew “the wages of sin is death” (See Romans 6:23).

“For verily he took not on him the nature of angels (he did not merely lower himself from the divine to that of a spirit being), but he took on him the seed (the descendancy, the DNA) of Abraham. Wherefore IN ALL THINGS it behooved (obligated) him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (HIS people). For in that HE HIMSELF HAS SUFFERED BEING TEMPTED, he is able to succor (aid, assist) them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:16-18). To be continued in Part 2…..

Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley