Bible Doctrine

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses AND FORSAKES them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). Satan has deceived multitudes into believing all one need do to obtain forgiveness for their sins is confess to God that they have sinned. Yet the scriptures declare again and again that there must also be REPENTANCE! Repentance is not mere sorrow for sin, it is the act of turning away from sin.

Millions think themselves to be forgiven of their sins when in reality the accumulation of their sins grows greater and greater with each passing day! The apostle Peter warns of those who, like the dog, return to their vomit, or, like the washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud. (See 2 Peter 2:22). One who confesses their sins but then returns to those same sins soon thereafter have no forgiveness – not yet! Their forgiveness is predicated upon their abandoning those sins – allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify and separate them from their sinful lifestyle. That’s what sin is in the life of many believers – it is their lifestyle. They commit the very same sins over and over again, day in and day out. Been there. Done that.

Jesus warned that whoever sins is a slave of sin: “Jesus answered them (the self-righteous Pharisees) ‘Most assuredly I say to you, WHOEVER COMMITS SIN IS A SLAVE OF SIN. And a slave does not abide in the house (the household of God’s people) forever, but a (faithful) son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free (from sin), you shall be free indeed'” (See John 8:34-36). (All comments inside parentheses are my own).

And THAT is probably the hardest lesson I ever learned. I came perilously close to being cut off from God, ejected from the household and family of God, due to the fact that I kept returning to my sinful ways. I did not allow our Lord and Savior to free me from my sins!

The Bible has nothing good to say about sin, WARNING that it enslaves, hardens, blinds, condemns, alienates, warrants punishment, and a host of other things – all bad! Show me someone who returns to sin day in and day out and I will show you someone who desperately needs God’s Holy Spirit and God’s forgiveness.

Yes, Jesus will forgive someone of their sins seventy times seven in a single day – that’s 490 times a day! (See Matthew 18:21-22). But notice what Jesus said to Peter immediately after telling him to forgive again, and again, and again. “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But for as much as he had not to pay, his lord (his earthly master) commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him, saying, ‘LORD, HAVE PATIENCE WITH ME, AND I WILL PAY THEE ALL.’ Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, AND FORGAVE HIM THE DEBT.” (See Matthew 18:23-27).

Here Jesus describes who can expect forgiveness, yes, even again, and again, and again. It is the one who is trying to overcome their sin – one who fully intends to walk in righteousness and give the Lord their all. It is to such a humble heart and desire to please that the Lord extends His forgiveness.

But keep reading. This one who has been forgiven so great a debt himself has a fellow servant who owes to him a great debt and who implores that he, too, be forgiven, “And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, ‘O thou wicked servant. I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?’ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. SO LIKEWISE SHALL MY HEAVENLY FATHER DO ALSO UNTO YOU, IF YE FROM YOUR HEARTS FORGIVE NOT EVERY ONE HIS BROTHER THEIR TRESPASSES.” (Matthew 18:30-35).

Friend, the Eternal forgives you a lifetime of countless sins, yet you refuse to forgive from your heart the single sin of your fellowman? God then refuses to forgive your sins. In His eyes you are no longer an obedient child. You are an unforgiven sinner! That’s a terrible price to pay for refusing to forgive someone who has sinned against you. Are you sure you are ready to pay that price???

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

Donald Wiley

Doesn’t the Bible speak of the regathering of the Jews to their ancient homeland? YES! Quite expansively. But that regathering occurs AFTER the return of Jesus Christ and is supernatural. It includes the resurrection of all of the Jews and their companion tribes, who have died down through the centuries! The elect of God, at that time resurrected themselves and then immortal spirit beings, will assist in this regathering. This regathering is shown in a vision given to the prophet Ezekiel and is recorded in the first ten verses of the 37th chapter of the Book of Ezekiel. In verses 11 through 14 God then interprets this vision for Ezekiel. Any one who interprets this vision differently has simply failed to let God speak. The establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 did not fulfill this prophecy. Only a small percentage of Jews returned to Israel at that time.

Any regathering prior to the Jews acceptance of Jesus as their true Messiah is a diabolic regathering initiated by Satan’s deceptions and can only result in the near annihilation of the Jewish people. Satan will attempt to complete the job he started with Adolph Hitler, and intensely desires all Jews to gather themselves together in one geographic location so that they can be annihilated en masse.

Read the 37th chapter of Ezekiel slowly and carefully. Do not “spiritualize” it. It is not an allegory. It is a blow-by-blow description of how God is going to literally resurrect the entire House of Israel and return them to their ancient homeland at that time. Every Jew who perished in Hitler’s death camps will be brought back to life. Auschwitz, Dachau and Buchenwald will give up their dead! Ravensbruck, Treblinka, and Bergen-Belsen will no longer cover their slain. Those who are and ever have been the apple of God’s eye, though cut off from fellowship with Him temporarily, will rejoice in their God, the God of Israel. The minute description of their living again given to Ezekiel is that of a literal physical resurrection. They are not resurrected as immortal spirit beings like the redeemed children of God, but are merely brought back to physical, temporary life again. It is then God will open their eyes to the truth and they will accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah, Savior and Lord. (See Zechariah 12:9-14 with Zechariah 13:1). God help you to understand.

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

Donald Wiley

• As I was driving to work this morning, a verse of scripture came to my mind: Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  At that same moment the fullest meaning of that verse came to my mind, that Jesus IS building His “called out ones” into a cadre of faithful followers and believers and has been doing so for two thousand years and more!  His “church” is not an identifiable denomination of like-minded Christians.  His assembly of followers is culled from myriads of differing denominations.  Some of His faithful ones have never been a member of any given denomination.  But they have all been seekers of truth with a innate hunger and desire to please their Lord in all things.
• The apostle Paul wrote, “For as many as are led  by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14).  When true spiritual awakening begins to stir in a human heart, that person so stirred might be already affiliated with about any given denomination or assembly of  believers.  Those with whom that one is associated might have long embraced spiritual error in some matters of belief or practice.  The one spiritually awakened might himself, or herself, be walking in error.  But remember in John 9:41, Jesus said that those who are spiritually blind are without sin in that regard.  And in James 4:17 we are reminded that it is the one who KNOWS to do right and fails to do so that is charged with sin.
• To say that God is fair is a gross understatement.  There is no mind in the universe that is as fair-minded as God.  “Are not my ways equal?” says God to ancient Israel.  (See Ezekiel 18:29).  Few seem to grasp that God has a plan, a perfect plan, a plan that will eventually give all born human a chance, a grand opportunity of coming into a right and eternal relationship with their Creator.  A human being’s death presents no obstacle to God, neither does one’s being born severely retarded, or blind, or deaf, or born into abject slavery and poverty.  NOTHING is an impediment to God and His willingness and ability to impart eternal life to any human being.
• Time figures largely in our manner of thinking and understanding.  When we learn that the Colorado River has been carving out the Grand Canyon for six million years, our minds are staggered.  When we are told that the earth itself is 4.5 BILLION years old, we are amazed.  But to God “a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day”  (See 2 Peter 3:8).  Peter could just as accurately have said, “with God a day is as a billion years and a billion years as a day.”  And your Creator’s “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (See Micah 5:2).  Our Creator was industriously and ingeniously working, creating and producing long before 4.5 billion years ago.
• Folks, we are not at the end of God’s great plan of the ages.  We are in its very beginnings!  This is what most preachers do not comprehend.  Some seem to think Jesus is going to suddenly “break through the blue” someday with a great ring of keys in His hand and say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s closing time.”  When, in actuality, He will probably say, “OK , let’s get started!” To be continued……….honest!
• Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
• Donald Wiley

• Folks who do not know the scriptures intimately well can easily buy into gross error when spoken by one who speaks with authority and convincingly.  And when the one so speaking has already been accepted by his audience as a man of God, an ordained minister, a seminary or Bible college graduate then much weight is given to whatever he says.  And when they follow along with him as he reads or quotes scripture and the scripture he is expounding seemingly says exactly what he insists it is saying, well, if error is presented thereby it is generally immediately accepted as divine truth.Here is a classic example. 
• A pastor reads word-for-word Luke 23:43.  Jesus is speaking to one of the thieves on a cross beside Him as they are both being crucified and says, “Verily (truly) I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”  Now that’s awfully plain and clear, isn’t it?  Just as clear as the words, “It is finished,” right?  Well, we have already shown that the words “it is finished” weren’t all that clear after all.  Neither are the words quoted above from Luke 23:43.  Oh, they seem to be, that’s for sure.  But let me assure you, they are not.
• Few Christians realize just how the early manuscripts of the New Testament were composed and written.  Many do not know that punctuation was not added to the scriptures for many centuries after their composition.  Those adding such punctuation were not the inspired authors, and they didn’t always place the right punctuation in the texts.  The original authors did not separate what they wrote into verses and chapters, nor into separate paragraphs.  That, too, came centuries later.  Nor were those who came later always super accurate in the word order transcribed. Where one places the comma in verse 43 of Luke 23 makes all the difference in the world as to what Jesus said to that thief.  He said one of two things: 1)  He either told that thief that he would join Jesus Christ in paradise that very day, or 2) He told that thief that although this was the day they would both die, still he assured him he would be with him in paradise someday.  Notice: “I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.”  If one places the comma after the word “today” it completely changes the meaning of what Jesus was saying.  If the comma is placed in front of the word “today” then Jesus is clearly saying that both he and the thief would be together in paradise that very day.  If the comma is placed after the word “today” then all Jesus is saying is that though making a promise on the day of His own death, still He was giving the thief assurance he would be with Jesus in paradise either that day or at a much later time.  One must then consider all other clear Bible texts that addresses what occurs when one dies in order to determine where the comma should be placed in Luke 23:43.  The scriptures are clear that the comma should have been placed AFTER the word today, for neither Jesus nor the thief went to paradise that day.  They both died that day and Jesus would not live again for three full days and nights.  For seventy-two full hours our Lord was DEAD!  Think on these things carefully and prayerfully.
• Christ’s Aged Servant (Galatians 1:10-12).
• Donald Wiley

 Paul in his defense before Governor Felix insisted that he “believed ALL THINGS which are written in the law and the prophets” (See Acts 24:14).  Therefore Paul, as well as all the other apostles believed the following:

“All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again” (Ecclesiastes 3:20).

“For the living know that they shall die, BUT THE DEAD KNOW NOT ANYTHING” (Ecclesiastes 9:5).

“Put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.  His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; IN THAT VERY DAY HIS THOUGHTS PERISH” (Psalm 146:3-4)

“The dead praise not the Lord, neither any THAT GO DOWN INTO SILENCE” (Psalm 115:17).

“Will you show wonders to the dead?  Shall the dead arise and praise you?  Selah.  Shall your loving kindness be declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in destruction?  Shall your wonders be known in the dark? and your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?” (Psalm 88:10-12).

“For He (God) remembered that they were but flesh (that’s all, no immortal soul); a wind that passes away, and comes not again (apart from a future resurrection from the dead)” (Psalm 78:39).

“What profit is there in my (shed) blood when I go down to the pit (the grave)?  Shall the dust praise you?  Shall it declare your truth?” (Psalm 30:9).

“For in death there is no remembrance of you.  In the grave who shall give you thanks?” (Psalm 6:5).

And what did God tell the first two humans?  “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (See Genesis 3:19).

Paul believed every word of that.  The dead aren’t praising God.  They aren’t forming any thoughts.  They are silent and have no remembrance of God or anything else.  They quickly decay and eventually become dust, returning to the ground from whence we came.  The redeemed await a resurrection when they will come forth from the dust clothed in immortality never to die again.

Peter agreed with Paul and the prophets of old.  Speaking of King David, Peter said, “Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day….for David is not ascended into the heavens” (See Acts 2:29, 34).  The thief on the cross didn’t ascend there either, but he will someday just as Jesus promised he would.

May our Lord give you eyes to see and hearts to understand is my prayer.

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

Donald Wiley

The reason the overwhelming majority of professing Christians are led into accepting and believing spiritual error is because the average Christian is woefully ignorant of the scriptures. If their pastor reads a bit of scripture from the pulpit, or quotes (often misquotes) some scripture text, and then expounds upon the same erroneously, the congregation is generally so ignorant of the scriptures that they buy hook, line and sinker whatever that pastor says. The pastor is not intentionally misleading them. He, himself, can be woefully ignorant of God’s Word, too, and really thinks the Bible says and teaches what he is proclaiming from the pulpit.

Thousands and thousands of preachers will assure you that no one can keep God’s commandments, and that because of this Jesus kept them for us. We do not need to try to do so. And what a devil’s LIE that is.

In Luke Chapter One, Luke says he is declaring “those things which are most surely believed among us (among Christ’s followers, the early Christians)” (verse 1). He then goes on to say that he “had perfect understanding of all things (the things he was about to relate) from the very first” (verse 3).  Now notice carefully what he says in verses 5 and 6 of chapter 1: “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias (father of John the Baptist), of the course of Abia (the priestly course in which he served at the temple), and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron (she, too could trace her ancestry to the priestly tribe), and her name was Elisabeth (mother of John the Baptist).” Now notice carefully this next sixth verse: “And they were both righteous before God (and God looks on the heart, seeing ALL), walking in ALL the commandments and ordinances of the Lord BLAMELESS.”

Of course, since ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, Zacharias and Elisabeth had sinned in their early years, but growing in grace and spiritual dedication, they came to a point in their lives wherein it could be truthfully said of them that they walked in ALL the commandments and ordinances of the Lord BLAMELESSLY!

I mentioned two human beings who kept God’s commandments AND ordinances BLAMELESSLY – the parents of John the Baptist. I also stated that this was a dedicated walk that was achieved through process of time and that before entering into such a walk they, like all the children of Adam, had sinned again and again from time to time. They, therefore, needed a Savior. They didn’t need someone to keep God’s commandments for them, though, as many preachers would contend.

Nor were the parents of John the Baptist the only ones mentioned in scripture as having been faithful commandment-keepers. In Genesis Chapter 26, verse 5, God says of Abraham, “Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, MY COMMANDMENTS, my statutes, and my laws.” Was God mistaken in this matter? Did He overlook something about Abraham? He, too, of course needed a Savior as when God first entered into his life Abraham was an idolator along with his entire family.

In 2 Kings, chapter 18, we read these words concerning King Hezekiah; “He clung to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, BUT KEPT HIS COMMANDMENTS, which the Lord commanded Moses, and the Lord was with him, and He prospered whithersoever he went forth.” (verses 6 and 7).

The apostle Paul himself said, “as touching the righteousness which is in the law (I am) blameless” (See Philippians 3:6). And, speaking before a council of the Jews and chief priests in Jerusalem, Paul matter-of-factly stated, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (See Acts 23:1). Had Paul been a commandment breaker he could not have said that.

And I could go on and on and on, quoting scripture text after scripture text proving again and again that God’s commandments are to be kept and were faithfully kept by many of God’s people down through the ages.

Do you want to know WHY Satan wants to convince you God’s commandments cannot be kept and that Jesus kept them for you and you can forget about trying to keep them, why he contends the commandments have been done away with? Because “the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart (in the benefits that accrue when you keep them). The commandment of the Lord is pure (why do away with a pure law?), enlightening the eyes (commandment-keepers have a true and far better understanding of God’s Word than do commandment breakers)….Moreover by them is thy servant warned (as to what offends God, e.g., commandment breaking), and in keeping of them there is great reward (both in the here and now and in eternity)” (See Psalm 19, verses 8 thru 11). THAT’S WHY SATAN DOESN’T WANT YOU TO EVEN THINK ABOUT KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS! And that’s WHY he deceives many preachers into preaching against commandment keeping. God help you to understand!

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

Donald Wiley

You probably have difficulty even pronouncing his name, don’t you? Aleksandr (pronounced like our Alexander) PanayYAHtov (that’s how you pronounce his last name) is a 32 year old wildly popular singer IN RUSSIA. You can’t be faulted for never having heard of him and for having no opinion whatsoever about him. So THINK! How can the billions and billions of Asians, Africans, and various aboriginal Indian tribes of North and South America be faulted for never accepting or believing in Jesus Christ in previous centuries? They never once even heard of Him!  Multiplied millions of them lived in centuries prior to Jesus Christ’s birth in Bethlehem!  Christianity was totally unknown in China until 635 A.D.  Even then it was a Roman Catholic monk who introduced Roman Catholicism to a comparatively few Chinese! Yet millions of Christians say such folk are without excuse, die lost and are sent to hell by a loving, merciful and understanding God.  Of course they argue, “These people don’t go to hell for rejecting Jesus Christ.  They go to hell because they are sinners.” That is similar to the old argument that people who fall to their death from great heights don’t die because of the fall, but because of the sudden stop!  Even if hell only lasted a millisecond, how can divine justice consign blinded, ignorant human beings to eternal death who lived and died never having had a chance at salvation?

Again, a counter argument they will offer is, “But in Romans Chapter 1 it clearly says they are “without excuse.”  Well, it does say someone is without excuse, but it does NOT say those who have never heard the gospel are without excuse.  Many are prone to forget that the Book of Romans is actually a letter and was originally penned without verse and chapter divisions.  Paul says that those without excuse were the people who suppressed the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).  He says the people to which he refers had manifestly been shown by God those things that could be known about him (verse 19). He says “they knew God” but were unthankful and became vain in their imaginations (verse 21).  They “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to…beasts” (verse 23).  “They changed the truth of God into a lie” (verse 25).  “They did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (verse 28).  They were “covenant breakers” who knew the judgment of God.  (See verses 31 and 32).  If it hasn’t begun to dawn on you yet just WHO Paul is talking about, he tells us quite plainly in verse 17 of chapter 2: “Behold, thou art called a Jew!”

When Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice.  I know not the Lord,” he spoke the truth!  He didn’t know the Lord.  The only gods he knew were the gods of Egypt: Ra, Isis, Osiris, Horus, etc.  How could he be faulted for rejecting Jesus Christ or for failing to pay homage to the God of the Hebrews.  That’s exactly what Moses called him when speaking to pharaoh. (See Exodus 5:1-3).

It was the Jews who changed their God.  “Has a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?  But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit” (Jeremiah 2:11).  Only the Jews did that.  It was the Jews who exhorted Aaron to make them a golden calf to worship, who “took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan” (See Acts 7:37-43 and Psalm 106:19-20).  The Jews were covenant breakers.  (See Jeremiah 11:10).

It was the Jew, and the Jew only, who knew the judgment of God: “He showed his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. HE HAS NOT DEALT SO WITH ANY NATION, AND AS FOR HIS JUDGMENTS, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THEM.  Praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 147:19-20).

If believers would read the prophets, they would not be so prone to buy into Satan’s lies. If they would listen to God speak through those prophets, they might see and understand more truth than they do. Missionaries can’t begin to imagine the needless anguish they cause mothers and fathers whose parents and grandparents have died having never had their minds opened to the reality of Jesus Christ and His mission to earth.  Upon first hearing the gospel, a question surely asked time and again would have been,”What about my mother and father?  They died a few years before you arrived with this wondrous message?”  Do you really think the only honest answer that missionary could give them would be to say, “They are burning in hell right now and will burn for ever and ever?”  

Oh, yes, there is one other argument many will raise to support their argument all humanity have an equal chance at salvation wherever or whenever they live.  Their argument?  If someone lives up to whatever light afforded them during their existence on earth, they will be saved.  Not a single scripture supports that argument.  In fact scripture clearly states that the knowledge of salvation gives light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.  (See Luke 1:76-79).  That is the plight of all humanity.  “There is none that understands.  There is none that seeks after God…And the way of peace have they not known.  There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:11, 17-18).  They all sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

God help you to understand is my prayer.  (To be continued,,,,)

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

Donald Wiley

In Numbers 24, verse 1, we read these words: “It pleased the Lord to bless Israel.” The true Israel of God is comprised of any and all truly converted persons on earth of whatever generation, whatever race, whatever gender. Those truly “in Christ”, thus true sons and daughters of God ARE spiritual Israel, and “it pleased the Lord to bless Israel.” The Word of God goes on to say in Numbers 24, “Blessed is he that blesses thee, and cursed is he that curses thee” (see verse 9). But read Numbers 23. It is only when God sees no iniquity, no perverseness in Israel that it is said, “the Lord his God is with him.” (see verse 21, Numbers 23). Separating from sin and a perverted or distorted spiritual walk is imperative for a spiritual Israelite to be blessed by God. If that child of God permits sin in their life or embraces spiritual error the blessing of God can be and often is removed.

Paul, in his letter to the believers in Rome, wrote: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime (previously – in the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament) were written for our learning, that we through patience (Greek, “endurance, fortitude”) and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). How much of Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Deuteronomy have you learned? These texts were written and preserved to guide and strengthen you, and, yes, to comfort you in your Christian walk. You would then realize what God had done for the fleshly Israelite of old He would also do for the spiritual Israelite – any true believer and follower of Jesus Christ. And whatever discipline and punishments exacted upon them would be exacted upon His sons and daughters today should we choose the path of rebellion and unbelief. “Now all these things (punishments and blessings) happened unto them (ancient Israel) for examples, and they are written (preserved in the Hebrew scriptures) FOR OUR ADMONITION UPON WHOM THE ENDS OF THE WORLD ARE COME” (I Corinthians 10:11).

When Paul writes the Gentile believers in Galatia and says “peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God,” he is not referring to fleshly Israel there but to spiritual Israel – every truly converted man or woman regardless of their ancestry, DNA, or genealogical background. (See Galatians 6:16). The “new creature” to which he refers in verse 15 is, again, spiritual Israel. When he writes the Gentile believers in Rome and says, “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel,” he is again speaking of the truth that God’s true Israel has non-Israelites in her ranks. Converted Gentiles become spiritual Israelites in God’s eyes. Paul had just mentioned that his “kinsmen according to the flesh” – that is, fleshly Israelites, were “accursed from Christ.” (See Romans 9, verses 3 and 6). Therefore when he wishes peace upon the Israel of God in the Galatian letter he cannot be referring to fleshly Israel as he knew they were accursed from Christ. That curse, of course, is only temporary. At Christ’s return it will be lifted, “for God hath concluded them all (save for a small remnant) in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all….for I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery….that blindness in part is happened to (fleshly) Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (to the nation of spiritual Israel), and so ALL Israel shall be saved…” (See Romans 11:32, 25-26). And in the 17th verse of that same chapter (Romans 11), Paul speaks of Gentiles as “a wild olive tree” that has been “grafted in among them (fleshly Israel)” thus becoming spiritual Israelites. And notice how Paul refers to this phenomenon as “this mystery” (verse 25).

Only God through His Holy Spirit can open a spiritual “mystery” to man’s mind. Unless God does this such remains a mystery. Men and women can then read these texts and have no inkling of what is being said. This is one of the major proofs of the divine inspiration of scripture and of the fact that there is indeed an invisible God through His invisible Holy Spirit working behind the scenes, illuminating, guiding, instructing His called out ones in His truth. Paul is again making reference to this mystery when, in Romans 4:16, he refers to Abraham as being “the father of us all” – Jew and Gentile! And in the 11th verse of that same chapter, Paul refers to Abraham being “the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised” – that is though they be not fleshly Jews. Again, in verse 17, God says to Abraham, “I have made thee a father of many nations” – Jew and Gentile. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul tells these Gentile believers, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham…So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham…that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (See Galatians 3:7, 9 and 14). And therein is contained one of the greatest truths of Holy Writ. Faithful children of God, though Gentiles physically, are spiritual Israelites, sons of God AND of Abraham. Therefore WHATEVER is promised to Abraham and his offspring is promised us – and that includes physical healing and a whole lot more! To be continued….

Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),

Donald Wiley

Lyricist Mack Gordon wrote the lyrics to that beautiful melody. I truly believe that our Creator could say the same to each and every member of the human family. There will never be another YOU! You are utterly and totally unique. My mother used to say of my Daddy, “When God created your Daddy he threw away the mold.” Well, when God created each of us He threw away the mold each and every time. That’s what makes murder such a horrible crime. The murderer is killing someone that is unique. They cannot be replaced – only resurrected. Parents who have lost a child and then go on to have other children realize the truthfulness in what I say. They can have other children, children they dearly love and care for, but they know there will never be another child like the child they lost. That child was unique and one-of-a-kind.

The same holds true for those lost in a war.  According to most estimates, World War II resulted in between 50 and 85 million dead, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.  Each and every one who perished in that horror were utterly unique, one-of-a-kind human beings.

Just as there will never be another you, there will never be another me. I, too, am unique. We are all a right smart curiosity, as my Uncle Jesse used to say.

The prophet Jeremiah likens God to being a Potter. We are the clay. He is daily molding and fashioning us into the grand and wonderful sons and daughters He wishes us to be. But we must be pliable in the Potter’s hands. We must let Him work. We must seek His will and then do His will as God gives us the ability to see and understand what He desires to do both in and with us.

Many plod through life totally unaware that there just might be a purpose in their having been born. To see one’s self as merely a human being, a cut above the animal kingdom – even detecting light years of difference between man and beast – is to miss entirely the reason for human life. When God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” you can replace the word “man” with your name. It will fit! (See Genesis 1:26)

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

Donald Wiley