The Wonderful Dispensation of Grace

[Bob Hill]

Since the Dispensation of the Mystery was so important to God, we should be faithful to this dispensational program God gave to Paul for us.

It is astounding to me that most Christians do not even know that the Bible places so much importance on the Dispensation of the Mystery.

Most Christians are not even aware that God says we all “should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery.”

Because of this separation by God, there are 2 spheres where believers go when they die. For the circumcision and proselytes, before the Body of Christ began, they go into the kingdom promised to David. Christ will be the king.

For the body of Christ of this Dispensation of Grace, we have a heavenly hope.

[b Phi 3:20[/b For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are extremely important, major differences between our Dispensation of Grace and the Circumcision Dispensation. Again, works for salvation and water baptismal regeneration are two of the big differences between the circumcision gospel and the gospel that God gave to Paul.

In Christ,
Bob Hill

 

[thelaqachisnext]

"In the fullness of times God sent forth His Son".
"In the Season Appointed by the Father from the Beginning, God sent forth His Son".

That is the message which was committed to the nation of Israel as Living Oracles; and the message was the Grace of God which would come to the whole world in the Kinsman's coming, to do the part of Kinsman and redeem the lost kingdom and His brother's seed -and marry the "barren Widow"
The Living Oracles teach the Truth about the True Mercy Seat as the New Man, the Strait Gate into the Kingdom of God.
The High Priest donned the pattern of the Garments of Christ and entered the Holy of Holies once a year to do the dress rehearsal for the Final Performance.

But that message is missed by you in MAD doctrine, and you stumble over the Stumbling Stone; That Foundation Stone of the New House built for the Glory of the Father to indwell, which is all patterned in the Secret, the Oracle, the Holy of Holies; in the Temple, the Furnishings, the Feasts, and the Priesthood.
The promised New Husband for earth has come in New Man flesh; the Only Firstborn of earth has come; and Grace is taught in the Oracles, in His New Man name.

Psa 45:2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Nebuchadnezzar's had the vision of the New Man, which is spoken of here;

Zec 4:7 Who [art] thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou shalt become] a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone [thereof with] shoutings, [crying], Grace, grace unto it.

He is the Stone, which is brought forth for the Father's Second Creation Human Being House; as the builders missed the message and God closed their eyes and covered their seers and prophets, so those who make up a new religion called MAD have missed teh message and the seers and prophets are closed to them.

But one who has their eyes opened sees the Son of Man/Son of God, come in flesh as their own Kinsman/Redeemer, the New Husband for earth's lost, and their "Husband" as Abraham did in Genesis 22, and rejoiced in His Day and was glad.

 

[thelaqachisnext]

"In the fullness of times God sent forth His Son".
"In the Season Appointed by the Father from the Beginning, God sent forth His Son".
At the Time He had set, God sent forth His Son.


That is the message which was committed to the nation of Israel as Living Oracles;
and the message was the Grace of God which would come to the whole world in the Kinsman's coming, when He came as the Mercy Seat to do the part of Kinsman and redeem the lost kingdom and His brother's seed -and marry the "barren Widow".

The Living Oracles teach the Truth about the True Mercy Seat as the New Man, the Strait Gate into the Kingdom of God.
The High Priest donned the pattern of the Garments of Christ and entered the Holy of Holies once a year, "serving as Christ who was to come in flesh" to do the dress rehearsal for the Final Performance.

But that message is missed by you in MAD doctrine, and you stumble over the Stumbling Stone; That Foundation Stone of the New House built for the Glory of the Father to indwell, which is all patterned in the Secret, the Oracle, the Holy of Holies; in the Temple, the Furnishings, the Feasts, and the Priesthood.
The promised New Husband for earth has come in New Man flesh; the Only Firstborn of earth has come; and Grace is taught in the Oracles, in His New Man name.
Once the Final Performance was done, and received, everafter Grace was received only through that Mercy Seat.

Psa 45:2 Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Psa 84:11 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Nebuchadnezzar had the vision of the New Man, which is spoken of here;

Zec 4:7 Who [art] thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel [thou shalt become] a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone [thereof with] shoutings, [crying], Grace, grace unto it.

He is the Stone, which is brought forth for the Father's Second Creation Human Being House; as the builders missed the message and God closed their eyes and covered their seers and prophets, so those who make up a new religion called MAD have missed teh message and the seers and prophets are closed to them.

But one who has their eyes opened sees the Son of Man/Son of God, come in flesh as their own Kinsman/Redeemer, the New Husband for earth's lost, "their" "Husband" the 'Isyh, and rejoice with believing Abraham, as Abraham did in Genesis 22, when he saw His Day and rejoiced in His Day and was glad.

 

[lightninboy]

Dear Lighthouse,
Thank you for your reply.

For clarification of my questions, please critique posts #196 and #259.

#196 The law did not provide eternal salvation at all but rather offered temporal purification for the Jews (Hebrews 9:13-14)
Because the utter sinfulness of man makes him absolutely incapable of having any part in earning his own salvation (Romans 3:21-23, 10-18; Psalm 14:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 64:6)
If merit allows a man to glory in earning his salvation and this kind of glorying is wrong, then why is it wrong for us but all right for those in other dispensations?
If merit was wrong for Abraham (Romans 4:2), the great Old Testament saint who was called the friend of God (James 2:23), then why is it all right for other Old Testament saints?
Because works-salvation makes God a debtor to man, something He can never be. (Romans 4:3-5; 11:35)
Second, even under the law, men came to God ultimately by faith. Even
though their faith might be expressed in works (as ours should be), it
was still faith that got God's attention.
With the exception of Judas, the apostles were certainly saved during the lifetime of Christ, though I would not speculate as to the exact time.

http://www.learnthebible.org/reject_works_salvation.htm


#259 To say that salvation is not the same in all ages is to say that man’s nature and needs have changed from age to age. This is impossible.
Some dispensationalists have said that Old Testament saints were not regenerated or indwelled by the Holy Spirit. But we must say, did not man’s fallen nature require such works of grace?
Whatever you need, the Old Testament saints needed as well. If you need the new birth, so did they. If you need the indwelling of the Spirit, so did they. The oneness of man’s fallen nature guarantees the oneness of salvation in all ages.

http://davidsonpress.com/salvation/salvation1.htm

 

[lightninboy]

Paul does not contradict Jesus, John, James and the rest of the Bible so that Acts 9 Dispensationalism is necessary.


Ephesians 3.1-13
Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ and he says that it is his job to reveal it. In verse 7 he makes it clear that the revelation of this mystery is good news--the Gospel. So for me to clearly reinforce what Paul is saying we need to grasp what Paul means by the Gospel, the good news or joyful message.
What we learn here is that the Gospel is not the message of justification by faith.
The Apostle Paul does not write in verse 6 that “this mystery is that we are saved by grace through faith and that not of our own doing, it is a gift of God, not of works so that no one should boast.” The Apostle Paul believes and teaches that doctrine and it is essential to all true Christianity, but that is not the mystery that was hidden from previous generations. Paul does not say that it was hidden from previous generations that they were saved by grace and not by their works. That is the only orthodox doctrine that there is or ever was both before and after Jesus.
Let me just reiterate this in case you might forget. When we read from the Old Testament in the worship service we are not reading from a time where people thought or when God claimed that humans could be saved by their good works. When we read the Ten Commandments in worship, we are not claiming that we can or should rely on our good deeds to give us standing with God. The First Commandment means trust God and no one else to save you--trust God and not on your own works for the forgiveness of your sins.
And it is also important to remember, if you want to understand why the unity of the nations is so essential as to be the mystery of the Gospel, that the nations did not develop from natural migration and spread. No, God curse the human race with different languages and forced the nations to form from the tower of Babel. The story of Genesis 11 is behind everything here. Remember, in the story of the tower of Babel, the people involved wanted to make a name for themselves. After they are scattered then God calls Abram and promises to make his name great. Furthermore, in Abram all the families of the earth will be blessed. God chose Israel as his special nation precisely to minister to the other nations. Redeeming the world from the curse of sin entails reversing the curse of the Tower of Babel which led to the divisions of nations.
So the Gospel, the mystery of Christ, is the fact that now Jew and Gentile are one in Christ in the church. The Gospel vindicates God because it announces the fulfillment of his promises. Remember what he said to Isaiah about Jesus in chapter 49, verse 6:
It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved out of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
The Gospel is about the fulfillment of that promise and the realization of God's love for the whole world. Yes at one time God chose Abraham and his seed but that was not to have a special priestly people forever for their own sake. God called Abraham for the sake of all the families of the earth, and in Jesus God fulfilled the goal of his covenant with Abraham.

 

[lightninboy]

Dispensational, pretribulationists believe that the New Testament teaches that the current Church Age is unique when contrasted with previous and future dispensations. We believe that the church was always a part of God' s eternal plan or decree, but that it was a mystery, not revealed until New Testament times.
It is common to hear from anti-dispensationalist, such as Dr. Kenneth Gentry, saying that dispensationalists believe that Israel was God' s plan A, which failed, so He belatedly came up with plan B- the church.
We believe that God' s single plan has always included the church, but He did not reveal the church age part of the plan in the Old Testament.
After having explained to the Ephesian Christians how God has taken elect Jews and Gentiles and placed " the two into one new man" (Eph. 2:15), he proceeds in chapter three to describe how this truth was a mystery, never before revealed in the Old Testament.
Paul calls this new revelation " the stewardship of God' s grace which was given to me for you" in verse two of chapter three. The word that the NASB translates " stewardship" is rendered " dispensation" by the KJV. This is one of the places where " dispensation" is used in the Bible (see also 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:25) and is where the modern use of dispensationalism is derived. How was the dispensation of God' s grace given to Paul? Ephesians 3:3 tells us that it was " by revelation." I believe that Jesus in His Upper Room Discourse (John 13- 17) gave a brief introduction of church age truth to His disciples. Yet Jesus said, " I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (John 16:12-13). One of the many more things that Jesus reveled, in this case to Paul, was " the mystery, as I wrote before in brief." When did Paul previously and briefly speak of the mystery? Most likely in Ephesians 1:9-10!
In concert with Paul' s mystery, James said in Acts 15:14-16 that God is " taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name" (verse 14), then He will return and restore Israel (verse 16). Coupled with Paul' s teaching in Ephesians 2 and 3, we know that those elect Gentiles of this church age are combined in a co-equal way with the Jewish remnant of the same period. When God' s purpose for the church is complete He will end this temporary age with the rapture before the tribulation. Then He will work through Israel to bring her into the bond of the covenant and then all redeemed peoples of the ages will reign in their own order with Messiah in the millennial kingdom.
Maranatha!

 

[lightninboy]

It must have been difficult for the Jews in the beginning of the New Testament times to grasp the truth that God had begun a new dispensation called the church. In their minds was God's promise to Israel throughout all of the Old Testament of an earthly Kingdom ruled by their Messiah.
Several factors made it difficult for the early Jewish believers to understand that in church, Jews and Gentiles were "fellowheirs" of salvation and equal in God's eyes and in the church. In the church the distinction between Jew and Gentile was removed. Paul while in Jerusalem rebuked Peter for shunning the Gentiles by getting up from eating with Gentiles when a group of Jews came in. (See Gal. 2:11-14) This show that even Peter did not fully understand or had no totally accepted the Gentiles as equal in the church.
All of the first Christians were Jews. These Jews believed Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament and they were looking for Him to set up His kingdom.
It was a least twenty five years after Christ began the church that Paul wrote these epistles. So for a many years after Pentecost, when the church began, there were those who still misunderstood. The Jews because of their Old Testament background failed to understand God's new program, the church. They had difficulty accepting that they had no special place as Jews in the church as they had in the Old Testament's promise of a Kingdom. They had from childhood learned to respect and keep the Law. Now Paul was explaining that the Law had been set aside for a higher the higher principle of Grace. As the New Testament was written during the first century God progressively revealed that the Kingdom was being temporarily set aside and God had brought about a new dispensation, that being the "Church Age."
It should be understood that the Gospel was first preached to the Jews. In the book of Acts, when Paul began his missionary travels he would first go into the synagogues and preach to the Jews. God was still offering the Kingdom to the Nation of Israel. This must have added to their confusion and misunderstanding of the matter. Paul preached to the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, but the most of them rejected the message and thus in time Paul stopped going first to the synagogues because of their rejection of the Gospel. God's offer to Israel of the Kingdom was valid and had they believed and received Jesus as their Messiah, God would have at that time established the promised Kingdom.
As the Gentile converts began to grow in numbers they took the leadership and within a century the makeup of the church was predominately Gentile. Thus, in the early church there was a transitional period of time when God was still offering the Kingdom to the Jews and establishing the church. It is my believe that God's offer of the Kingdom was finally withdrawn in AD 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. Please note that this was only a temporary withdrawal of the offer of the Kingdom and that at the end of the Tribulation God will establish the Kingdom as He promised.
There were three principles about the church and Israel that must be understood.
1. The church is not found in the Old Testament and is an entirely new program.
2. The promises to Israel were earthly in nature, mainly an earthly kingdom, whereas the promises the church are heavenly, and entirely distinct from Israel.
3. The church and Israel are two totally different programs. The church has a place in the overall Kingdom of God, but it is distinct from it. The Kingdom promised to Israel will last for one thousand years, however the church, as the bride of Christ, will rule with Him forever.

What was the mystery that was now revealed? "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." (Eph. 3:6) Paul tells them, that to him was given the task by God, "that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." (V8) In verse 9-10, he proclaims that this truth now should be known to everyone.
Clarifying this truth did several things in the early church. It showed all men that we all stand on level and equal ground before Christ. We are all sinners, saved only by Grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. It told the Jew he had no special place in the church different from any other believer. It was further evidence that the Law was for the Jew in the Old Testament dispensation and that it had been set aside as had the Kingdom. This revealed to even a greater degree the marvelous grace of God, and that the church was to live by grace and grace alone. This truth too was a great encouragement to the Gentile, who now understood that God accepted him equally with all men. To all the message is that we are joint-heirs with Christ Jesus. It proclaims the great of love of God for all men.

lightninboy speaks:

Notice that “the mystery” is that Jew and Gentile are EQUAL in THE CHURCH AGE.

I ask MAD: Were the first Christians Jews? You call those Jewish people on probation Christians?

 

[thelaqachisnext]

Dispensational, pretribulationists believe that the New Testament teaches that the current Church Age is unique when contrasted with previous and future dispensations. We believe that the church was always a part of God' s eternal plan or decree, but that it was a mystery, not revealed until New Testament times.
It is common to hear from anti-dispensationalist, such as Dr. Kenneth Gentry, saying that dispensationalists believe that Israel was God' s plan A, which failed, so He belatedly came up with plan B- the church.
We believe that God' s single plan has always included the church, but He did not reveal the church age part of the plan in the Old Testament.
After having explained to the Ephesian Christians how God has taken elect Jews and Gentiles and placed " the two into one new man" (Eph. 2:15), he proceeds in chapter three to describe how this truth was a mystery, never before revealed in the Old Testament.
Paul calls this new revelation " the stewardship of God' s grace which was given to me for you" in verse two of chapter three. The word that the NASB translates " stewardship" is rendered " dispensation" by the KJV. This is one of the places where " dispensation" is used in the Bible (see also 1 Cor. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:25) and is where the modern use of dispensationalism is derived. How was the dispensation of God' s grace given to Paul? Ephesians 3:3 tells us that it was " by revelation." I believe that Jesus in His Upper Room Discourse (John 13- 17) gave a brief introduction of church age truth to His disciples. Yet Jesus said, " I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come" (John 16:12-13). One of the many more things that Jesus reveled, in this case to Paul, was " the mystery, as I wrote before in brief." When did Paul previously and briefly speak of the mystery? Most likely in Ephesians 1:9-10!
In concert with Paul' s mystery, James said in Acts 15:14-16 that God is " taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name" (verse 14), then He will return and restore Israel (verse 16). Coupled with Paul' s teaching in Ephesians 2 and 3, we know that those elect Gentiles of this church age are combined in a co-equal way with the Jewish remnant of the same period. When God' s purpose for the church is complete He will end this temporary age with the rapture before the tribulation. Then He will work through Israel to bring her into the bond of the covenant and then all redeemed peoples of the ages will reign in their own order with Messiah in the millennial kingdom.
Maranatha!

You do seem to have the ability to think -which seems to be rare, these days, in so many; but thinking without the light of God's revealed information leads to man-made opinions. You should go check out the wording again, in light of the Living Oracles, about exactly what was not revealed and what was kept secret, which was hidden, until the season of His appearing.
"Christ", come, in human being flesh as the second human being creation was the only thing not "revealed" -even His 'secret' name as the second Human Being was revealed in the OT [which the angels desired to look into] and that name is 'Israel', the name of the Adopted sons, who are adopted into the New Man name from the old man [Adam] name.
His coming in human flesh was planned from the beginning.
His coming in flesh as the "Husband" of earth to replace the dead "husband" of earth was foretold.
The Church is Zion above, and Church is Congregation, Assembly, "House", of God "made for His Glory to indwell"; and that is most definitely the theme of the Living Oracles and of our redemption in the New Man -and Zion below was to have been the means of the bringing Zion above into fullness -and will do so much more abundantly than the Gentile Church has done for nearly two thousand years, after the Gentiles are "laqach" to heaven in the first harvest of earth's perfected sons of God.

The old man is that dead son of God, the "Adam", spirit, and in dead Adam there is neither Jew, Gentile, male, or female, as to the "one spirit" =one being, created to be one 'house' for the Father's Glory to indwell.
And the New Man is the Living Son of God, Israel, and Israel is Christ, come in second Man flesh of the New Creation, and is the One House the Father's Glory will fill -and He will give His Glory to no other than "Israel" -Adam lost it.

We call His Name "Jesus" [Salvation]; the Father calls Him "Israel", and declares no other will have His Glory.
We are born in Adam, as his multiplied seed; but we must be born again -a second birth- in Spirit, to be a son of God in the New Man.

Adam was to have been the human being house for the Glory of the Father to fill. Redemption was planned for Adam before the fall, for God does know all things before they happen [and Enoch saw the tablets written in heaven about all the doings of Adamkind and was grieved, for all things must happen before the evil is destroyed and the regenerated heavens and earth are come]; and the plan was put in place for our redemption before we were created, and the temple in heaven speaks of our redemption in the New Man, the True Mercy Seat of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAD doctrine denies the Truth taught in the Living Oracles:
We must be born again to have a part in the kingdom of God and be part of His New Man house which the Father will fill with His glory at it's fullness.
We can be born again in Spirit because the Redeemer has come, paid our ransom, and offers eternal Life in His Name, as sons of God filled with the Glory of the Father. -and whosoever will may come, and the Spirit says "Come" and the Bride says "Come" -but MAD doctrine says 'Yea, hath God said...?.

Best believe the Message of the Living Oracles and be born again, while it is "Today" -Tomorrow will be too late!

God chose "Israel", only! Christ come in flesh is the Revelation Paul saw -last and least of all the Apostles, "as an aborted child" who never got to handle and touch the parent, which the brothers did do.

In Adam all die, in Israel, all are made alive -whosoever will.

Adam is the defiled, rejected, cut off, dead in spirit former son of God.
Adam, our firstborn from whom we are multiplied, as his seed, was given the test in the Garden of God's planting, he failed, and we all died in him.

But God knew Adam would fail, and had the Temple in heaven all made from the beginning of creation which teaches the plan of Redemption for the seed of Adam in the New Man's Spirit of Adoption.

That Temple in heaven was copied exactly by Moses; no one could add to or take away one thing shown to Moses about the temple [tabernacle]; Every thing had to be exactly as shown; for irself, it's furnishings, the Priesthood, the clothing for the priests, and the Feasts all teach, as Living Oracles, about the Person and work of the New "Husband -'Isyh- for earth, who was "From the Beginning Hidden in God; Who was With God and Was God, and is come in flesh as the Husband for earth: the Firstborn, who brings "the many sons to glory" for the Father's Pleasure.

 

[Bob Hill]

In the dispensation of the Grace of God in Eph 3:2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, according to Eph 1:3, we see that God wants to pour out spiritual blessings on us Christians.

For Christians, we see that these blessings are accomplished by the Father. Eph 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

But, it goes further. God chose us, corporately, in Christ. This corporation was to be a group of individuals who would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior called the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ was a mystery, hidden in God until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul.
Eph 3:1-9 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and mutual partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which has been hidden from the ages in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.

I’m so glad I’m saved according to this mystery.

Praise God,
Bob Hill

 

[lightninboy]

There are several passages where Paul refers to the "mystery" kept secret since the world began. This has been taken by dispensationalists to mean something not at all contained in the Old Testament. But, the word "mystery" does not normally mean something totally unheard of, but something not understood.
There are many cases in the New Testament as well as the Greek Old Testament (LXX) where the word "mystery" is used. In each case it refers, not to something totally unknown, but to something not understood without divine revelation.
Mark 4:10-12,33-34
A "mystery" according to Jesus was an enigma, a kind of riddle, known but not understood without revelation from God. Jesus' parables were heard by the people, but the meaning was purposely withheld from them. They HEARD the parables, but they did not really HEAR them. They SAW, but could not really SEE. This is what Jesus calls a "mystery." Therefore, Jesus' parables remained a "mystery" to the Jews because they were not privy to the interpretations. In contrast, Jesus revealed his parables privately to His disciples, because it was given to them to understand the mystery.
Carrying this concept into Paul's use of the word "mystery," we see that there is no reason to conclude that the "mystery" is wholly missing from the Old Testament Scriptures and prophecies to Israel.
Paul commonly used the word "revealed" in relation to the present status of the "mystery." What does "revealed" mean? The most common definition is "uncovered" or "unveiled." This too implies it was formerly "hidden" in the sense of not being understood, rather than wholly unknown.
Matt 10:26-27
Matt 11:25
Paul told the Thessalonians that Jesus will be "revealed from heaven with His mighty angels" (2 Thess. 1:7). Was Jesus someone never before known? No. But, He has been unknown by most of the world. Paul told the Thessalonians that the "mystery of iniquity" would be "revealed" when the Restrainer moves out of the way (2 Thess. 2:7-8). Is the "mystery of iniquity" something completely unknown prior to the appearance of Antichrist? No, Paul informed the Thessalonians of this 2000 years ago.
Traditional dispensationalism is entirely dependent on a false view of the "mystery" Paul preached. In short, the "mystery" was the Gospel contained in the Old Testament in enigmatic form. Irenaeus was the chief Christian apologist against the heresies of Gnosticism. The Gnostics severed the Old Testament from the New, and the God of the Jews from Jesus and the Father. They held perverted views of Christ and the Gospel. You may be surprised to discover that the view of the "mystery" held by dispensationalists today is the same view some of the Gnostic cults held in Irenaeus' day. The idea that the "mystery" Paul preached was something revealed to him alone, and was not known or proclaimed until Paul, is not only taught by dispensationalists, but was also taught by the Gnostic heretic, Marcion.
If there is one passage that is most problematic for dispensationalism's "Mystery Dispensation of Grace" it is the following.
Rom 16:25-26
Paul plainly stated that the "mystery" was currently being revealed "by the prophetic Scriptures." While grammatically the term "prophetic Scriptures" COULD refer to the Epistles of the Paul as some dispensationalists claim, the term itself certainly does not demand it or even imply it. An examination of the use of the word "Scriptures" in the rest of the New Testament reveals that in every single case "Scriptures" refers to the Old Testament.
Lets compare the first and last passages of the Roman Epistle point by point.
1. In ch. 1 he refers to himself as being "separated unto the Gospel of God," and in ch. 16 he says "my Gospel," both statements connecting Paul himself to the Gospel.
2. In ch. 1 he says this Gospel was "promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures," and in ch. 16 he says the same Gospel has been manifest "by the prophetic Scriptures."
3. In ch. 1 he indicates the dissemination of this Gospel among the Gentiles "for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name," and in ch. 16 he says, "made known to all nations ... for obedience to the faith."
Also notice that Paul plainly equated the "mystery" with the Gospel in 16:25. Therefore, there is no escaping the conclusion that the "mystery" was contained in the Old Testament!

 

[Bob Hill]

In a nut shell, none of the mystery that was revealed to Paul was known before. It says in Col 1:26: “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”

It is not that the mystery was made known a little bit before it was revealed. The statement, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit”, is not saying that is was known to some extent, but not as well as it is now known. It would be more like saying: They didn’t have air travel in the first century as we do with airplanes in the 21st century. We know they didn’t have any air travel in the first century.

That’s what the Mystery is that was given to Paul by God.

Bob Hill

 

[thelaqachisnext]

There are several passages where Paul refers to the "mystery" kept secret since the world began. This has been taken by dispensationalists to mean something not at all contained in the Old Testament. But, the word "mystery" does not normally mean something totally unheard of, but something not understood.
There are many cases in the New Testament as well as the Greek Old Testament (LXX) where the word "mystery" is used. In each case it refers, not to something totally unknown, but to something not understood without divine revelation.
Mark 4:10-12,33-34
A "mystery" according to Jesus was an enigma, a kind of riddle, known but not understood without revelation from God. Jesus' parables were heard by the people, but the meaning was purposely withheld from them. They HEARD the parables, but they did not really HEAR them. They SAW, but could not really SEE. This is what Jesus calls a "mystery." Therefore, Jesus' parables remained a "mystery" to the Jews because they were not privy to the interpretations. In contrast, Jesus revealed his parables privately to His disciples, because it was given to them to understand the mystery.
Carrying this concept into Paul's use of the word "mystery," we see that there is no reason to conclude that the "mystery" is wholly missing from the Old Testament Scriptures and prophecies to Israel.
Paul commonly used the word "revealed" in relation to the present status of the "mystery." What does "revealed" mean? The most common definition is "uncovered" or "unveiled." This too implies it was formerly "hidden" in the sense of not being understood, rather than wholly unknown.
Matt 10:26-27
Matt 11:25
Paul told the Thessalonians that Jesus will be "revealed from heaven with His mighty angels" (2 Thess. 1:7). Was Jesus someone never before known? No. But, He has been unknown by most of the world. Paul told the Thessalonians that the "mystery of iniquity" would be "revealed" when the Restrainer moves out of the way (2 Thess. 2:7-8). Is the "mystery of iniquity" something completely unknown prior to the appearance of Antichrist? No, Paul informed the Thessalonians of this 2000 years ago.
Traditional dispensationalism is entirely dependent on a false view of the "mystery" Paul preached. In short, the "mystery" was the Gospel contained in the Old Testament in enigmatic form. Irenaeus was the chief Christian apologist against the heresies of Gnosticism. The Gnostics severed the Old Testament from the New, and the God of the Jews from Jesus and the Father. They held perverted views of Christ and the Gospel. You may be surprised to discover that the view of the "mystery" held by dispensationalists today is the same view some of the Gnostic cults held in Irenaeus' day. The idea that the "mystery" Paul preached was something revealed to him alone, and was not known or proclaimed until Paul, is not only taught by dispensationalists, but was also taught by the Gnostic heretic, Marcion.
If there is one passage that is most problematic for dispensationalism's "Mystery Dispensation of Grace" it is the following.
Rom 16:25-26
Paul plainly stated that the "mystery" was currently being revealed "by the prophetic Scriptures." While grammatically the term "prophetic Scriptures" COULD refer to the Epistles of the Paul as some dispensationalists claim, the term itself certainly does not demand it or even imply it. An examination of the use of the word "Scriptures" in the rest of the New Testament reveals that in every single case "Scriptures" refers to the Old Testament.
Lets compare the first and last passages of the Roman Epistle point by point.
1. In ch. 1 he refers to himself as being "separated unto the Gospel of God," and in ch. 16 he says "my Gospel," both statements connecting Paul himself to the Gospel.
2. In ch. 1 he says this Gospel was "promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures," and in ch. 16 he says the same Gospel has been manifest "by the prophetic Scriptures."
3. In ch. 1 he indicates the dissemination of this Gospel among the Gentiles "for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name," and in ch. 16 he says, "made known to all nations ... for obedience to the faith."
Also notice that Paul plainly equated the "mystery" with the Gospel in 16:25. Therefore, there is no escaping the conclusion that the "mystery" was contained in the Old Testament!

You're doing well, as to the OT foretelling the "Mystery"; but my point is that:
Jesus Christ come in human being flesh is the Gospel -the Good News, His own Person in the human flesh "come"! -And the Oracles speak totally and expressly of His coming, but until He came, the vale was over the Oracle, itself [the Holy of Holies, also called the "Secret"] and the Glory was only on the "Pattern", there, of His New Man body, which was the Mercy Seat, behind that vale.
He is come, the vale is split, the Way is open -and we can "know" Him.

until He "was come", He could not be "revealed" though He was totally all the Law and the Prophets Witness to.
It is the Flesh of His New Man that was not "Revealed" for He was not in that flesh until it was prepared in the Womb of the Virgin.

We have the promise of that same flesh in the regeneration -a body made like His, and glorified -if we are born of His Spirit.

 

[Bob Hill]

What is the FULL mystery Paul talks about, and how much, if any, was revealed before he was converted and received it from Christ? It may look as if ‘some’ of the mystery was revealed according to Acts 26.

But we have to remember where this account took place.

It was before Agrippa.

Paul declared: “Having obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets did say should come; that Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first to rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22, 23). This is supposed to prove that Paul could not have said anything about the Mystery before that.

Again, we must remember that Paul was on trial before Agrippa, charged with apostasy from Moses. Paul was making his defense against that charge. He was maintaining his innocence to the charges that he opposed the laws that were given to Moses. They had trumped up charges against him. Paul was always good at defending himself in these kinds of situations.

Another time in Acts 23:6-9, Paul used a ploy to get out of a jam: “But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, ‘Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!’ 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. 8 For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection -- and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. 9 Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, ‘We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.’”

That doesn’t mean that he lied, he just made a rebuttal to the false charges that were made against him by the Jews who caused him to be in jail. When you read Paul’s theological passages, and there are very many of them, we see that his gospel was different from everything before him.

In Christ,
Bob

 

[Bob Hill]

Colossians reiterates this: Col 1:24-27 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions for Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25&26 of which I became a minister according to the dispensation of God which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God, the mystery, which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ among you, the hope of glory.

When a person yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and believed that Christ died for him, then, he became a member of Christ’s body, the church. Outside of Christ, according to the Bible, there is no election of anyone.

In Eph 1:4, God chose us in Christ.

In verse 5, God gave the predestinated adoption to us.

In verse 11, God definitely showed that we are inheritors in Christ.

In verse 13, God sealed us in Christ. Therefore, we see love and blessings here, not fatalism.

So, we are chosen and sealed because we believed in Christ. Eph 1:4,12,13 “just as He chose us in Him 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.”

He didn’t choose us to be saved. He wants all to be saved, 1 Tim 2:3-6 “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

He chose us to be holy and blameless. Eph 1:4 “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blame before Him in love.” He chose everyone who would believe in Christ to be holy and blameless.

Christ paid with His life. He made it certain with predestination. Eph 1:5 “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. And He did all this by His grace. Eph 1:6 “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

So, God’s election is not to salvation. It is to perfection because we are in Christ. It is for our eternal security. We who trust in Christ as our Savior have this security. This is a spiritual blessing for the body of Christ alone.

In Christ,
Bob Hill

 

[thelaqachisnext]

In a nut shell, none of the mystery that was revealed to Paul was known before. It says in Col 1:26: “the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.”

It is not that the mystery was made known a little bit before it was revealed. The statement, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit”, is not saying that is was known to some extent, but not as well as it is now known. It would be more like saying: They didn’t have air travel in the first century as we do with airplanes in the 21st century. We know they didn’t have any air travel in the first century.

That’s what the Mystery is that was given to Paul by God.

Bob Hill

Not even!

The Son of Man/Son of God was the Mystery Hidden in God, concealed, kept secret -from the beginning: Paul is fully aware of Enoch and often quotes Enoch [as loosely as he quotes the OT], and He certainly speaks of the Son of Man as that Hidden One who was kept secret until His "Revealing" to the Elect.

In my experiences with you who are in the doctrine of MAD, I have never had one honestly examine Scripture which refutes that doctrine, or examine the history of the Church -and the former, accepted as Scripture writings which refute that doctrine, so I have no allusion that you will do so, but I refute your doctrine with Scripture -and Enoch refutes your doctrine totally; even if one does not accept 1 Enoch as inspired, still, it was in existrence pre-New Testament, Jesus quotes it many, many times, and so does James, John, Jude, Peter, and of course the True Paul of Scripture was a walking scribe on the writings of Enoch, as anyone can prove for themselves who actually do read all Scripture and reads Enoch -It doesn't even require an open mind to see that Paul is a student of Enoch in his writings, it is so clear; if one makes themselves familiar with the OT and NT -I mean familiar, not just loose skipper overs of Scripture, and familiar with 1 Enoch, unless they are stubbornly, willfully blind on purpose [as those were who had Jesus put to death, who knew He was the Messiah foretold ESPECIALLY in Enoch], then they cannot fail to see the errors of the doctrine of MAD; for it was totally refuted by all that was already written and accepted as Scripture [Inspired] in 1 Enoch thousands of years before MAD was invented.
-

-being familiar with both, MAD doctrine is proven to be false doctrine -and a gnostic sect.

 

[Bob Hill]

When we look at God’s intentional will, the first thing we should see is this. We were created for His will (pleasure). The question we must keep in mind here, is: do we ever thwart God’s intentional will? The answer is obvious since not all have believed what God wants.

Rev 4:11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Again, as part of this, He wants us all to love Him. But not all people do. Look at these passages.
Mk 12:30,31 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
1 Co 16:22 “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come! Then, He wants us all to love one another.”
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
1 Th 4:9,10 “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more.

Remember the question we must keep in mind here: do we ever thwart God’s intentional will?

In answer, we see that He wills all to be saved. 1 Tim 2:4 “who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

But, because man totally rebelled against God, in order to receive salvation, man must believe God and do what He says for salvation.

Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Mat 12:50 “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Heb 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

For us in this Dispensation of Grace, His will is found in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

In Christ,
Bob Hill

 

[Bob Hill]

Next, we see His will is that we be holy. 1 Th 4:3-8 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.” Do we thwart His will here?

It seems like Christians do all the time.

Bob Hill

 

[Bob Hill]

Then, we find His will is that we function in the local body. 1 Co 12:18,20-27 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

But it seems that most “Christians are not obeying God in this way.

Why have so many “Christians” basically abandoned God?

It seems to be that they love pleasure more than God.

Bob Hill

 

[thelaqachisnext]

God only sanctifies the House of His glory, and that House is patterned in the Oracle itself, as the New Man, "Israel"; Christ in New Man flesh; and the Oracle was built foursquare and was the Secret place behind the vale, where the Mercy Seat was sprinkled with the blood once, yearly, as a dress rehearsal by the "Christ" [the High Priest's office was that representing Christ] in His Garments of Glory; and on that Mercy Seat the Glory dwelt -and on that Mercy Seat, the Glory dwells; so to have the "Santification" of the Spirit one must be joined to Christ by adoption into His Spirit, and then they are promised the "Santification" by the Glory, in the New bodies to come.
-But the born again Believers get a downpayment of that glory, which was sent to the Church -His body of Believers- on Pentecost, when He was enthroned above and received it.


2Ch 29:5 And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy [place].

1Pe 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

To Israel, the Servant [the "New Man", God's Tried Foundation Stone of His New House for His Glory to indwell], He speaks;
Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, [in whom] my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Israel gets the Glory;
Isa 42:8 I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Sing unto the LORD a new song, [and] his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up [their voice], the villages [that] Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
~~~
Isa 42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

Isa 42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, [and] refrained myself: [now] will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.

Held in Silence no longer!!!!!

 

[thelaqachisnext]

A simple study of "perfection" in NT shows that the Perfection we are to come to is the "completion" in the adoption into the New Man; made whole in the New Man body of adoption because we are cleansed by the blood of sprinkling for our soul, and given the New Man Spirit of Adoption.

Jesus became sin for us on the cross and by that, tasted our death of separation from the Father, and descended into Sheol for us, leaving His body [which then was our Mercy Seat which received the Sprinkling for our Atonement]; but after three days, He was "Perfected", when He took up His uncorrupted New Man body to wear forever, immortal.

That is total "Perfection"
Those souls Jesus took with Him to Zion above at His ascension from Sheol, below, who were the captives held in the first death of separation from the glory of the Father, are "made perfect" in Spirit just as we who are also born again while yet in our bodies of death, below; but we and they will be perfected when we are whole in His image, in body and Spirit, immortal forever.

We who are joined to Christ's Spirit by adoption into Him [born again] are members of His True Church, Zion above, where those just men are -and to where all go at death since His ascension-and where they wait for the bodies of Adoption, which we will all get together at the time He calls Assembly and entrance is offered into the Holy of Holies on High for the party of seven days [seven years on earth].

we are come to...
Hbr 12:23 To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,