[Stvvv1611]

Originally Posted by Stvvv1611

Abraham is only half the equation of what justification without works would look like to the Jew; David is the other half and we’ll look at him in our next post.

When posting my last post I noted that Jerry, to whom these posts were being directed, is no longer active. Being the case, I find it hard to continue addressing someone who isn’t listening… in more ways than one. However, believing he’ll be back to take a peek at answers to questions he could not respond to, I will conclude these series of posts. I’m grateful for the encouragement received from others regarding these posts and since I know they’re still tuned in, you will note a change in my ‘tone’ of writing. I assume that all who have kept up with this study directed towards Jerry, understand my directness and sarcasm, as such, in light of the category in which these posts fall under (Ruckman), and in view of the fact that often one has to fight fire with fire, as the case with Jerry. I would never have jumped in this discussion if it wasn’t for the way Jerry responded to Chette777 in ignoring a response of his followed by… “This ends the debate, if you accept the Bible?” Thus, I will conclude this study on ‘By Faith’ ‘Through Faith’ in my normal style of presentation.

Since the creation of man and the calling out of Israel from among the nations as God’s chosen nation and people, the Jew understood only how God dealt with man ‘by faith’… believing God in obedience.

The scripture foreseeing that God that would eventually bring the Gentile into the picture on more even ground, other than a submissive role which is still to be demonstrated in a future millennial earthly kingdom, God preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. As demonstrated in last post, this promise was based on a future seed (Christ) ‘through faith’ by grace… in believing.

Acts 26:16-18 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

In taking out the ‘work’ aspect of obtaining righteousness and promoting a righteousness by grace simply in believing, Paul was accused of (among other things) living life without law (Rom 6:1, 15). God was also now saving a remnant of Israel by grace without works under Paul’s ministry (Rom 11:5-6), but how in the world would Paul convince any Jew of a possible salvation? Easy… by way of examples that were exceptions to the rule in how God dealt with two OT saints; Abram and David. We concluded Abraham as example of justification without works showing the difference of how righteousness was imputed prior to Gen 15 (by faith) and then in Gen 15 (through faith). In other words… obedience verses believing.

David, as presented by Paul in Romans 4, brings another very important aspect into the picture concerning this way of justification:

Romans 4:6-8 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

The issue concerning Abraham was works verses believing; the issue with David concerns iniquities /sins / sin! David was in deep doo doo! A word used by Paul (dung; Phil 3:8) may express same so perhaps we could say, since David was a shepherd, that David was in deep sheep dung!

Acts 13:38-39 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Up till now the work ‘element’ that I’ve focused on is that of offering sacrifices for… without the shedding of blood is no remission (Heb 22). As indicated in above passage there were certain sins or things from which one could not be justified by the law of Moses in which David committed two of them; murder and adultery!

Now… we need to make a distinction before moving on with this thought and that is the difference between Israel being baptized unto someone and we being baptized into someone. Yes… words are important!

Once again we can rely on the perversion of the NIV to distort a most important doctrinal distinction here:

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (KJV) 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 (NIV) 1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

How can you take a multitude of Jews and strangers (Ex 12:38; Lev 17:8) and put (baptize / consecrate / sanctify) them into a human being? You can’t! Unless… that being is a special ‘Being’:

Galatians 3:27-28 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

1 Cor. 6:16-17 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

Jesus spoke of a special relationship that was to exist between He, the Father, the twelve and those who would believe through theirword:

John 17:20-21 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

We see this union illustrated throughout the Acts period (Ac 2:41, 47; 5:14; 11:19-24) and Paul even spoke of those…“…who also were in Christ before me (Rom 16:7). It’s not my purpose here to dive into specific hopes and callings (who is going to spend eternity where), but Paul speaks of a future dispensation in which all things in Christ (both in heaven & on earth) are going to be made manifest and then goes on and speaks to addressed Gentiles as God’s inheritance and to their inheritance (Eph 1:10-18):

Ephes. 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Before making my point regarding the importance of distinguishing between Israel being baptized unto Moses and Jew & Gentile now being baptized into Christ, in previous posts I proved that Paul didn’t receive his gospel from the twelve, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ and it is through his gospel that Jews and Gentiles were now being baptized into Christ. Regardless of which gospel (kingdom or grace), I do not believe that once in Christ, someone can fall out of Christ! I do believe in the eternal security of the believer! If one argues against the eternity security of the believer then my question is… what or who are you relying on for salvation!? Do you have a ‘by faith’ or a ‘through faith’ salvation!?

Can the same be said about those baptized unto Moses or born into this Nation that remained under law?

TEXT COMMANDMENTS RESULTS IN FAILURE TO OBSERVE
Gen 17:1-13 – circumcision (basis of contention in Acts 15) – that soul shall be cut off from his people–v14
Ex 12:14-18 – memorial of unleavened bread (Passover) – even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land–v19
Ex 30:22-32 – oil of holy ointment – shall even be cut off from his people–v33
Ex 30:34-37 – pure & holy perfume – shall even be cut off from his people–v38
Ex 31:12-17 – Sabbath – every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death:...that soul shall be cut off from among his People...he shall surely be put to death–vv14, 15
Lev 7:18-27 – improper eating of the sacrifice – the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity–v18...that soul shall be cut off from his People–vv20, 21, 25, 27
Lev 17:1-11 – place of the blood offering – blood shall be imputed unto that man;...that man shall be cut off from among his people–vv4, 9
Lev 17:10 – eating of blood – will cut him off from among his People–v10
Lev 18:6-21 – uncovering nakedness–19 adultery–20; seed passing through the fire to Molech–21 – For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their People–v29
Lev 19:5-7 – eating of the peace offering – that soul shall be cut off from among his People–v8
Lev 20:6, 27 – familiar spirits & wizards – will cut him off from among his People–vv6, 27
Lev 22:1-9 – washing – that soul shall be cut off from My presence–v3 lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore–v9
Lev 23:23-32 – day of atonement – he shall be cut off from among his People–v29 the same soul will I destroy from among his People–v30
Num 9:13 – Passover – even the same soul shall be cut off from among his People...that man shall bear his sin–v13
Num 15:30 – presumptuous sins – that soul shall be cut off from among his People–v30 that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him–v31
Num 19:1-22 – water of separation – that soul shall be cut off from Israel–v13 that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation–v20

Here’s the issue… reflecting back on Ac 13:38-39 regarding those ‘things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses’, once a year on the day of atonement, Aaron would lay both hands upon a scapegoat confessing all the iniquities and sins of the children of Israel followed by the offering of another goat for a sin offering:

Leviticus 16:21-22 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD… 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

The only biblical deduction one can possibly come to is that those who fell prey to any of the sins listed that necessitated separation from Israel obviously was omitted from the Day of Atonement ceremonies conducted by the High Priest. This is exactly where David found himself!

Psalm 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

By all rights, David should have either been expelled from Israel or stoned! No… God desirest not sacrifice, for the penalty for David’s sin should have been death. Perhaps a substitute was found in the death of a child (2Sam 12:14)?

I have no idea how David came to conclusion that the LORD had really forgiven him, but I saw a movie on TV many years ago that really stuck with me that I thought greatly illustrated David’s resolve. In this movie David was before the Ark of the LORD broken before God in dire desperation; it was a do or die situation. That’s exactly what sin and conviction will do to you… it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks (Ac 9:5). David had witnessed once before what would happen if someone unauthorized would touch the Ark (Num 4:15-20; 2 Sam 6:1-11), as was the case of Uzzah; 2 Samuel 6:7 “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.” Anyways, the movie portrayed David finding resolve by placing his hands on the Ark to determine either God’s judgment or God’s forgiveness… I guess there is one other passage or two we could consider in determining how David knew the LORD’s forgiveness, but then that would mean he would have had to simply take God at His word:

2 Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

In Romans 4, Paul provided a solid case as to what justification ‘through faith’ by grace and without works would look like to the Jew. Paul’s argument was based on events in the lives of two men; Abraham and David. Abraham was an exception to the rule under the OT in that God imputed righteousness to him through believing (Gen 15) as opposed to obedience (Gen 12), as was the principle of ‘by faith’. David was an exception to the rule under law because David found grace and mercy from God regarding sins that the law had not provided for and that David had committed (Ac 13:38-39)!

That Jerry… is Paul’s argument in Romans 4.

Here’s why it is essential to discern between justification ‘by faith’ and ‘through faith’ (Rom 3:30):

1. Salvation – A. If distinction isn’t made then how does one know if they’re not applying ‘by faith’ principles of justification to ‘through faith’ justification? B. If ‘by faith’ justification isn’t completely understood, then I believe ‘through faith’ justification cannot be completely appreciated! C. The answer to easy believism today may find its roots in this confusion… one does something like joining a church, being baptized or walking an aisle thinking they just got saved.

2. Eternal Security – Distinguishing between the two resolves this issue immediately; one’s obedience verses the obedience of another (Christ; Rom 5:19).

3. Gospels – Recognizing the distinction clears the way for understanding gospels relating to each the Jew and Gentile; gospel of the circumcision & gospel of the uncircumcision… the gospel of the kingdom & the gospel of the grace of God.

4. Baptism w/water – Want to resolve the age long debate between the Church of Christ and Baptists over Mk 16:16 and Ac 2:38; get a grasp on the distinction between ‘by faith’ and ‘through faith’. The Church of Christ understands ‘by faith’, the Baptist ‘through faith’, but neither understanding the other has to force scripture to their own doctrinal interpretation. The Church of Christ, I personally believe, preaches a false gospel while the Baptist has to force interpretation on baptism w/water that simply isn’t there.

Stvvv1611
2 Timothy 2:15

PS I’m sure I’ve raised some questions; please feel free to ask or comment and I promise not to respond to you as I did Jerry