12 Truths to Understanding God's Word (Parts 10-12)

[mharrell08]

Continuing from Parts 1-3 & 4-6 & 7-9:



Truth #10 'All is of God'

    [A] "ALL is of God..." (II Cor. 5:18). The word "things" is not in the manuscripts.

    [ B ] "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things..." [Greek: 'For out of Him, and through Him, and for Him, is ALL'—there is no word 'things']" (Rom. 11:36).

    [C] "For it became Him, for Whom are ALL things, and by Whom are ALL things... [Greek: 'For it became Him, because of Whom ALL is and through Whom ALL is...'—no 'things']" (Heb. 2:10).

    [D] "For by Him were ALL things created... ALL things were created by Him and for Him: and He is before ALL things AND BY Him, ALL things consist [Gk: 'hold together']" (Col. 1:16).

    [E] "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being [Gk: 'exist'—that's our ALL]" (Acts 17:28).

    [F] "...the purpose of Him Who works ALL things after the counsel of His Own will" (Eph. 1:11).


Few excerpts from Ray:

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Few Christians indeed believe this Truth. First they will insist that I took that phrase out of context. Let us see if that is true:

    "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, ALL THINGS are become new. And ALL things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:17-18).

Is it only in reference to the "new creatures" in Christ, that "All things are of God?" No, let's read the next verse:

    "To wit [Gk: 'that is'], that God was in Christ, RECONCILING THE WORLD UNTO HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation" (Verse 19).

Now we can clearly see that the "ALL things are of God" includes not only those now being made into new creatures, but also "the WORLD." Where does God ever limit Himself when it comes to saving His people:

    "And He is the propitiation for our sins, and NOT FOR OURS ONLY, but also for the sins of THE WHOLE WORLD (I John 2;2).


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God gave Joseph a dream that he would be in a position of great power and that even his brothers and his father and mother would be bowing down to him. His brothers especially hated him for what they considered a haughty attitude toward them. They hated him so, that they were going to kill him, but Reuben saved him and they rather sold him into slavery down to Egypt. In Egypt Joseph went through his 13 years of trial and testing. Later his brothers were forced to seek food from Joseph, and they feared for their lives. They thought that Joseph was as evil as they. Joseph, however, had compassion on them and made the following marvelous statement of revelation concerning the workings of God:

    "And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought EVIL AGAINST ME, but God MEANT IT UNTO GOOD, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Gen. 50:19-20).

Notice that God did not "change" what they planned, or "turn" the evil that they planned into something good. No, God "meant IT," it being the whole scenario from start to finish, for good. God didn't change anything or turn anything, rather God planned it to happen just as it happened FROM THE BEGINNING. God has never ever made a mid-stream correction in His original plan. God always knows the end of everything in the beginning: "Declaring the END from the BEGINNING..." (Isa. 46:10). But "Who will believe our report?"


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A few years ago someone tried to trip me up with this verse:

    "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it neither came it into My mind" (Jer. 19:5).

Here, I was told, is absolute proof that God learns new things that He didn't know before. Nonsense.

This is a simple problem of translating. The word translated "mind" in this verse is the Hebrew word leb, and it means the "heart with its feelings," not the mind. The King James very often confuses heart with mind and mind with soul, as if they were one and the same thing even though there are different words for each.

God's plan and purpose for humanity consists of many, many things which are not after God's own heart, but that are, nonetheless, absolutely essential for the completion of His plan:

    "Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:11).

This is God's HEART speaking in this verse. But in the MIND of God, the death of the wicked was absolutely necessary, and a prophesied fact that could not be avoided:

    "For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through" (Ver. 28).

This is but another of countless examples in Scripture that show God's mind and His heart. God takes no pleasure or delight in His heart over the horrible things that continually happen to humanity, but nonetheless, these things are absolutely essential to the fulfillment of the plan that God has devised in His mind.



Truth #11 'Is, Was, and Is To Come'

    "Grace be into you, and peace, from Him which IS and which WAS, and which IS TO COME..." (Rev. 1:4).

    "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME, THE almighty" (Rev. 1:8 ).

    "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which WAS, and IS, and IS TO COME" (Rev. 4:8 ).

    "Jesus Christ the same YESTERDAY, and TODAY, and FOR EVER" (Hebrews 13:8 ).


The testimony of Jesus Christ (Book of Revelation) pertains to prophecies that are fulfilled in the generation of believers who are, were, and will be.



Truth #12 'We must believe and OBEY the scriptures (DO what the scriptures admonish us to)'

"If any man will DO His will, he shall KNOW of [concerning] the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself" (John 7:17).

"But he that does truth [Gk: 'is DOING the truth'] comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they [his 'doings'] are wrought in God" (John 3:21).

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:9-10).

"My son, if you will receive my words, and hide ['treasure'] My commandments with you... Then shall you understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding" (Prov. 2:1, 5-6).

"And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is True, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the True God, and eternal [eonian] life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:20-21).

"And he that received seed into the good ground is he that hears the word, and understands it, which also bears fruit..." (Matt. 13:23).

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endures for ever [the eon]" (Psalm 111:10).


Excerpt from Ray:

Every single person I know that has stopped growing, spiritually, begins to go backwards, loosing what light they may have possessed because they are no longer faithful to the Word and commandments of Almighty God.

They all possess one or more "idols of the heart," that they will not give up or repent of. Sadly, in most cases, (even when backed into an indefensible corner with the Scriptures), it is extremely rare that such ones will acknowledge their sin and repent of their error. Over time such individuals usually become bitter, after which it is only a matter of time before Satan has them for lunch!


Marques

[onelovedread]

[E] "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being [Gk: 'exist'—that's our ALL]" (Acts 17:28).
[F] "...the purpose of Him Who works ALL things after the counsel of His Own will" (Eph. 1:11).

So based on these scriptures, when we 'mess up' and sin, it's all part of God's overall plan, right?

[mharrell08]

[E] "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being [Gk: 'exist'—that's our ALL]" (Acts 17:28).
[F] "...the purpose of Him Who works ALL things after the counsel of His Own will" (Eph. 1:11).

So based on these scriptures, when we 'mess up' and sin, it's all part of God's overall plan, right?

Yes, God is not surprised when we sin. He created us for the express purpose of sinning in order to show His Love towards us by saving and redeeming us:

Eph 1:3-5  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, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will...

Luke 5:31-32  Jesus answered and said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."


Marques

[onelovedread]

How can I not praise and thank God! What a plan!

[tamaralv]

I know I have not posted on the other threads regarding the Twelve Truths, but I wanted to thank you, Marques, for posting them. When I was drawn back to BTs almost three years ago I began by printing these truths out and studying them Scripture by Scripture with my bible. It's a place I still go frequently to "check" my understanding. These truths are so helpful to me and I pray others find them so.
Peace and Love in Christ Jesus,

Tammy

[Vangie]

Amen Tammy, I totally agree.  Thanks Marques--these principles are so vital for us to grasp.

[Ricky]

Hello, I have a question, Luke 5-31,32. who are these rightous people that are well, how can there be anyone rightous if Jesus says, No one is good except God ? I hope this ? is ok.

  Bless  you all    Ricky

[mharrell08]

Hello, I have a question, Luke 5-31,32. who are these rightous people that are well, how can there be anyone rightous if Jesus says, No one is good except God ? I hope this ? is ok.

  Bless  you all    Ricky

Jesus never says there are righteous people, only that He did not come to call them. A little 'tongue in cheek' statement.

All are sinners, and Christ came to save sinners [1 Tim 1:15].