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Who Has Believed Our Report?

Who Has Believed Our Report?

Faith is so vital to the work of the Lord and is the only way by which every man is being saved in the appointed time.  There could be many studies done and redone about faith, what it is, how we receive it [a free gift] and covering the many warnings about falling away from the faith.  When the Lord finishes His work in us, only faith is remaining.  All else is burned up in the consuming fire of His word [the truth] and all things not of faith are shaken away by the earthquakes [the fiery trials] He brings to His people.  We are learning the fear of God and our obedience is being increased as our faith grows by this process.

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken [Our Faith] may remain. 

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire. 

The Lord works all things and just sifted His church cutting off those that believe not from those that believe. What started out focused on contending over the lawfulness of divorce quickly became a much bigger litmus test of childlike faith in the promises and plan of God for all men. As the study on the High Calling of Marriage taught, in faith when we believe the Gospel, we need to view physical marriage, in the same way, the Lord views and teaches us by example on spiritual marriage.  Our relationship with the Lord under the gospel of faith is marriage for life. His promise is our promise if we are Christ and He promises never to leave or forsake us in the Gospel despite our unfaithfulness and instead will teach us by our sufferings.  Paul speaking of marriage calls it the mystery and understanding it in its simplicity is the key to the plan of God for us to follow with all men.

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. [one with the Lord and His Father]

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

The trial and resulting sifting identified a great gulf between those that believe in the gospel and the promises of the Lord and those that claim faith but are still bound by the law that is not of faith.  Unless we are given to come to Christ and leave all our reasonings and strength behind we are not entering into the kingdom of God.

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Shown another way, it is only when we are dead to the law of our carnal reasonings that we become free to marry Christ in spirit.

Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 

Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 

Rom 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. 

We first try to marry Christ as an adulteress and have it both ways.  And this is the error of our fallen brethren, who have been cut off for our sakes that we might believe the gospel and be saved.

Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 

Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 

Reasonings of their carnal mind is being bound under the law and is going about seeking to establish their own standard of righteousness.  It seems so right to those married to the law of sin and death, but the lack of faith truly blinds one to the righteousness of God that only come by faith.  There are still bound to the law of their father the devil.

2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 
2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

The law [meaning the law of Moses /Gentiles] like all Words are Spirit [Joh 6:63] and symbolize something bigger than their literal meaning.  The law in the Scriptures is a symbol representing our own carnal reasonings that are by definition against the ways of the Lord and keep us abiding in spiritual death never finding the peace the Lord promises.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

Being under the law means we are still judging in the flesh and reasoning what is right or wrong, accusing and excusing, going up and down trusting in our own understanding to determine righteousness.  This is the same as wrestling with God [i.e. Jacob] which we all first do until the Lord reveals Himself to us and imparts true faith.  The professing people of God, “the Jews” have the law but the Gentiles that don’t profess God have the same law as it is written into the hearts and minds of all flesh.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 

Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 

The Lord is the Saviour of all men, both Jews, and Gentiles that have this built-in enmity that is being destroyed when faith comes upon us.  The Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes of every generation are the Jews who are yet carnal and constantly are disputing and contending over the law with endless questions and mindsets versus believing in the Lord with childlike faith.  When you see disputes over the law in the Scriptures see this as disputes between what is faith and what is the self-righteous reasoning of carnal men.  Stephen exemplifies the man of faith and is stoned to death for daring to stand up and preach Christ [faith alone] to the Jews.

Act 6:11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses [i.e. the law which is their carnal reasonings of right and wrong], and against God. 

The law was given by God to all men to hold them until the promise of Christ [faith] comes to us.

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 

The law of carnal reasoning over what is righteous ends when Christ comes and imparts true faith.  The time of reformation is at hand and the standard has been raised considerably especially for marriage that is a symbol for our relationship with the Lord.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

The putting away for any reasons so long as a writ of divorce is given is replaced with a temporary putting away without divorce and an ongoing seeking of reconciliation with our spouse.  [See Marriage Study for details].  When faith has come, the law for the lawless no longer applies.  To those in faith, there is a new standard of righteousness.  The bar is raised considerably.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

We need to be teaching and living the law of faith and be dead to the law of self-righteousness which is what the law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles represent.  All the disputes among the Jews and with the true disciples including our Lord were disputes and contentions over the law which is for a carnal nation only, those to whom Christ has not yet come and imparted faith

Heb 7:16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Heb 7:19  For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God

This is the message our brothers and sisters never embraced and if they did, they have fallen from the faith.  This is what we read about non stop the reasoning and disputing about the law that never ever ends with endless questions and arguments.  That is what is called Jewish fables and endless mindsets in the Scriptures and there are very many warnings about being so ensnared.

Tit 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 

1Ti 1:4  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 

Endless mindsets and carnal questions are the “practical reasonings” of men still bound to the law for the lawless and is not of faith.  Thank God we been given the gift of faith and lean not on our own understanding.

Php 3:2  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 

Php 3:3  For we are the [true] circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 

The true Jews that are being faithful have no confidence in anyone’s flesh or reasonings of what is righteous but are standing upon the commands and the promises of this glorious gospel.  It is that simple.

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 

Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. 

Like all the words of Scriptures, Circumcision and Uncircumcision are parables and symbols that represent something much broader and deeper than what the literal physical term means.  Keeping the law of Moses [Circumcision] profits us nothing towards salvation and neither does Uncircumcision, meaning one being a Gentile having not the law but still being a law unto themselves.  All that matters is love which is our obedience and keeping the commandments which is done when we walk by faith.

1Co 7:18  Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

1Co 7:19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Many under the law [law of self-righteousness not of faith] make a good showing in the flesh in preaching the carnal reasoning that keeps one abiding in spiritual death and not suffering the persecution that comes to those who walk by faith.  It is a very deceptive way we only escape by repenting and believing the gospel.

Gal 6:12  As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 

Gal 6:13  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 

Paul warned of those that would ensnare us into circumcision, meaning keeping the law of carnal reasonings and standing upon that rather than simple childlike faith.  Utterly amazing the seduction of the law and the appeal of the circumcision to our flesh.  Those of the circumcision are antiChrist’s that seduce the servants of the Lord striving to walk by faith into committing spiritual fornication.

1Jn 2:26  These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you

Without faith it is impossible to please God and there is no profiting of our new man until our hearing of the gospel is mixed WITH FAITH.  This is how one can be every learning but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth.  They need faith which they do not have if under the law.

Heb 4:2  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 

Pharisees and Sadducees hate to see the spiritually blind and lame Gentiles come to Christ and be healed instantly by faith.  Another witness that is through a childlike faith that the Lord perfects His praise and glory from the mouth of babes.

Mat 21:15  And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 

Mat 21:16  And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 

And earlier in Matthew.

Mat 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Indeed not many noble, not many wise in the flesh that are of the circumcision and the teachers of these carnal reasonings of righteousness are saved.  It truly is a miracle any man is saved by  the right arm of the Lord.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 

 Faith not Knowledge Saves

The Scriptures do convey many deep and dark mysteries about the ways of the Lord.  Yet it all comes back to the simplicity of Christ.  Do we have faith like a little child?  If we do then we are being saved.

Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. 

Being called up hither to a place of rest from our own works and reasoning we no longer live to eat, we eat to live and hold fast the most important thing.

 Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness [that only comes by faith], and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Rom 14:18  For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 

The temple that is Christ is far more important than the gold in the temple.

Mat 23:16  Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple [trusting in knowledge under the law] he is a debtor! 

Mat 23:17  Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 

Paul warns in every epistle he wrote of our being led astray and shrinking back into perdition and spiritual death.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

“Disciples indeed” are those who continue in the faith and are set free by the truth they abide in and follow.

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe [continue in the faith] to the saving of the soul. 

Our faith has been increased as we have come out from the bondage of the Circumcision and those that walked with us that trusted in their own knowledge and reasonings.  Lord willing, we are standing as little children and trust in the Lord and His simple commands and let Him do the work of salvation. We rejoice no longer in our inequity which is our own righteousness and understanding.  We now stand and rejoice in the Truth and do not bow down to the reasonings of our carnal mind.

1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity [self righteousness, not of faith], but rejoiceth in the truth; 

This is the main point in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; who refused to bow down to the reasonings of the law and worship the image our old man that our carnal mind sets up in place of the Lord’s Words.

Dan 3:12  There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 

The result of not bowing but standing in faith is we are hated and rejected by all men, persecuted by our own fellow Jews and cast into the fiery furnace.  Such is the cross and Jesus Christ and Him crucified which is the gospel we now preach.  Resting in Christ is resting from our own works and our ceasing of bowing to the call of the King of Babylon within us.

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

 The Promises Realized only Through Faith

Rom 4:2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 

Rom 4:3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 

Rom 4:4  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 

Rom 4:5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 

Lord willing a time comes when we stop working our own work and do the work of God entering into His rest.  What matters to God is our faith!

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

We have known of these verses for years, but the magnitude of them, and what it really means to rest from our work and lay down all our thinking and reasoning [the righteous self-reasoning of the law] is the only way we enter into life.  The Pharisees and Sadducees back then and the Pharisees and Sadducees today are trusting in their own knowledge and righteousness not knowing the righteousness of Christ because that only comes by the free gift given extremely few in the third day.

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 

Rom 4:14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 

Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is [In faith], there is no transgression. 

Abraham at first did not believe, but the story of Isaac is the example for us of faith of the new man.  In faith, we follow the Lord to the cross knowing He will raise us up and be faithful to all of His promises.  When we stagger not, then we are being saved and faith works its work in our lives.   But we must get out from the law of carnal reasoning that binds the entire world in unbelief.

Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 

Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 

Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 

Faith in the Lord and His promises are essential to salvation.  In fact that is the gospel and what we must turn to in faith.

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 

Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 

The Lord’s true people come through a sifting and a shaking process that separates the sheep from the goats which is spiritual speak for separating those who have faith from those that continue to trust in themselves and not the Lord.  That will be material for future studies as the Lord wills.

Mat 25:31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 

Mat 25:32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 

Mat 25:33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 

Faith is the Power unto Salvation!

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith

We need to start thinking about faith in a much wider and deeper way than we have been.  If we stay part of the circumcision or the uncircumcision, both representing carnality and unbelief, we cannot be saved in this age.  Abiding in Christ is abiding in that faith and standing and resting on His promises.

 1Jn 2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

1Jn 2:29  If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

To come to the wedding with Christ, we need to be clothed in proper garments that the Lord gives us called faith.  The same are the fine linen of the saints and that faith is only established and grown in us when we receive and believe the Gospel of grace.  It is by that faith through grace in which we stand [Rom 5:2] that we come to know the Lord and have His mind.

Isa 61:10  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

The testimony of Christ and faith in His promises has been and will continue to be rejected by all but the called, chosen and faithful few [the very Elect].  Faith in promises of God [i.e. the good news gospel of Jesus Christ], is always first rejected in favor of the reasonings of the carnal mind.  All men therefore come to the wedding without the proper garments but are rejected of the Lord as the parable reveals.

Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son …..

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 

Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 

Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Not having faith and trusting in our own riches, we are told where to go to get our clothing.  It is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and work the work of God that is bringing the fiery trials and destruction to our old way of life and thinking.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

As the King’s servants, we are not to go to the righteous and those that need no repentance.  Instead, we are to go to the poor and the sick and those who acknowledge their need for a spiritual physician.

Luk 14:21  So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 

Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 

Mar 2:17  When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

The Word of God is always first rejected by the “Jews” who are the Lord’s chosen people but are not faithful because they have not been given faith to believe and still are of the Circumcision.  Like Paul, all who preach faith in Christ are rejected and hated by their own people hence Paul and those that believe the gospel are sent forth as preachers to the Gentiles.

Act 13:45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things [faith, the gospel] which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 

Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 

Act 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 

 Who has Believed the Gospel?

The few that find the way are the few that believe the report of God, the Gospel.  It is only those same precious few are given to see [revealed] the strong arm of the Lord which is the same gospel that is the power unto salvation.

Isa 53:1  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 

The good news that if we walk by faith and rest from our own works and carnal reasonings, we will be saved.  It is not maybe with a bunch of carnal conditions that men continue to add.

The reasonings and our own thoughts are always more attractive to flesh than following the narrow way and walking by faith.  The carnal mind and those of the circumcision always have a more attractive plan that will tickle our ears and sway all but the very few given to stand steadfast in the faith.

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him

Christ’s ways are rejected and also are those who do Christ and follow in His steps and preach the gospel of grace and trusting solely in the Lord as the way of salvation and righteousness.  The Jews, the professing Body of every era, fulfills the Scriptures and rejects Christ despising Him and heaping shame upon Him and those that believe.

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

We as Christ, those that believe on Him are rejecting the carnal reasonings of men and follow our Lord to the cross.  This same death and stripes we receive for standing for righteousness and defending the Gospel are the very things that are saving us.

Isa 53:5  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 

Our flesh wants to argue and contend with those that now persecute and falsely accuse us and parade us naked and expose our past sins.   When we follow Christ and walk by faith, we do not fight or argue against those who know not what they do.  We keep our mouth shut and are led as sheep to the slaughter trusting in the resurrection to righteousness to come!

Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 

Oh, how precious to the Lord is the death of His saints, when the chosen few are able and willing to die for Him and stand up for righteousness sakes.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 

Those the Lord is saving by the faith are seeing their spiritual prosperity grow as they are matured in the fiery trials.  We are learning to give the Lord thanks in all our trials even abiding in faith and staying married to the spouse the Lord has given us.  We are being sanctified in all such trials and in turn are sanctifying our unbelieving spouse in the same way the Lord has been sanctifying us since He began to draw us to Him.

Isa 53:10  Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 

Scripture answers Isaiah’s question about who has believed our report?  Let’s never forget, it is all the Lord’s doing whether one has faith or not.

Joh 12:38  That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? 

Joh 12:39  Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 

Joh 12:40  He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. 

Those that now reject us as Christ and walk no more with Him [us], having departed from us [1Jo 2:19], did so because the Lord caused them to do it.  They cannot believe because He has blinded them.  This despite seeing many miracles and spiritual healings in their own life and the life of others. Lack of faith [unbelief] is such a strong delusion to workings of God.

Joh 12:36  While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. 

Joh 12:37  But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: 

I pray this study has helped us see faith in a different and brighter light.  May we see how strong the seduction of the “law for the lawless” …. those Jews of the “circumcision”,  and how that carnal reasoning leads one astray and hinders moving onward to maturity and partaking of the strong meat of the gospel.

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 

The Lord is losing none of those given faith [Joh 6:39].  We do tarry for those given faith but who are not yet strong enough to fight and engage with the Pharisees and Sadducees who know the Scriptures but remain bound by the law [the circumcision].  Let’s keep those brethren in prayer that their faith would be increased and they will be given the boldness to come out for Christ.

Joh 12:42  Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: 

Joh 12:43  For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. 

Reading Suggestions:

Hebrews 11

Daniel 3

Philippians 3

Romans 3

 

 

Studies

Bearing the Marks of Christ

The most basic promise and the whole premise of our relationship with God pertain to our being married to Him.  That is the essence of what being ONE with God is all about!  This letter is confronting the falling away from the faith that is prophesied to occur in the church in every generation.  Please be sure to read the prior two articles as they give greater context to what is addressed is in this letter to the church.

The Very High Calling of Marriage

Defending the Gospel on Marriage

These are not minor issues, they strike to the very heart of faith and whether one is walking according to the true faith or not.

To those given the precious gift of faith in Jesus Christ,

The gospel we now stand upon has been rejected by the elders and seemingly by the majority of the professing flock.  We do not engage and contend with those the Lord has blinded as indeed our mission is only to the lost house of Israel.  But to those precious few given the spirit of God, you need to be reminded of a primary sign of our salvation in the day of the Lord.  We thank the Lord for this trial and the sifting of His flock and our living out the Scriptures.

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 

Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 

The fact we are being persecuted for defending the gospel is a sign of our salvation.  We now suffer greatly for standing for the Lord’s righteousness.  The day of the Lord is nigh at hand.  We are told and warned of exactly what has unfolded if one has been given eyes to see.

1Ti 4:1  But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 

1Ti 4:2  through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 

1Ti 4:3  forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth. 

1Ti 4:4  For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving: 

1Ti 4:5  for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer. 

Those who have departed the faith are now forbidding you to marry Christ in faith.  That is what keeping you under the law, the circumcision and carnal reasonings of the Jews does.  We are not free to marry in the gospel until we die to that law.

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 

They also now command that you abstain from the meats of the gospel.  Woe unto them who teach the opposite of the truth and what our Lord commands.  The very body of Christ, His doctrine and your sacrificed life is what we must be nourished on to grow in Christ.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

Unless one is given to eat and take to heart those commandments now being rejected, they will in no wise inherit the kingdom of God.  The time for milk is over.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

A strong rebuke is necessary and commanded to win back brothers who have fallen away and are now preaching to you another gospel and commandments of men.

Tit 1:13  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; 

Tit 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. 

Tit 1:15  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 

Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. 

Ministers of the gospel preach faith in God and are helpers of each other’s joy teaching them to walk by faith in the Lord’s commands and promises.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 

We preach the gospel, Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Our faith cannot stand upon these many carnal reasonings under the law [Circumcision and without the law Uncircumcision].  We stand only in the power of God who can and will sanctify the unbelieving spouse in your house today and all mankind in due time.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

Paul and we now warn everyone not to be enticed away by man’s wisdom and reasoning.  The faith these men now teach is a weak faith with no power unto salvation.  It is really unbelief in the promises of God.  The gospel is now openly being mocked and many are making merchandise of it. They now tell you obeying the commands of God is likened to being “put on a leash”.  They implicitly are saying His commands are too grievous for us to endure.  The wisdom of the wise is perished.

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 

Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 

There are many warnings in the last days of deceivers, especially those of the false circumcision [i.e. those still bound by the law of Moses and their carnal reasoning, not walking in faith] who would entice us away from the gospel with clever words.

Tit 1:10  For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision

Tit 1:11  Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

The mystery of God is the marriage of God to His people through Christ thus becoming One.  This occurs when we walk by faith with the full assurance of His promises and are not enticed away by deceivers.

Col 2:1  For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 

Col 2:2  That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; 

Col 2:3  In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

Col 2:4  And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. 

Carnally minded men now contradict the promises of the Lord that says what God births within us overcomes the world and this applies within and without.  Many read the Scriptures but so few actually believe in the power of God to do what He has promised.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

Abraham is our example and the father of faith in believing that God could do what is impossible with man’s reasonings.  This is the faith that imputes the righteousness of Christ upon one who believes and saves them from their sins.  To be saved we cannot stagger on the promises.

Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 

Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 

Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 

Do not be deceived brethren but believe in the Lord and His promises.  To be saved one stands solely on the promises of God and abides in His commandments.  Those promises include that the believing spouse sanctifies the unbelieving spouse.

1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

But this promise is so much bigger than just in your home.  The entire marriage principle comes back to the salvation of all men and how the Lord is making all men “all in all” with the Father.

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church [which in due time extends to all mankind]

If Christ is born in you, then we give up our lives and rests from our own works and now wait upon the Lord to make His enemies [within and without including an unbelieving spouse] a footstool.  That is faith in action, the true work of God, resting from our own works and trusting God.

Heb 10:12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 

Heb 10:13  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 

What you are now hearing instead are smooth and crafty words that sound godly and righteous but are another gospel and a falling away from the faith of Christ.

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 

If one does not believe the gospel and its promises as it applies in our physical marriages, which are a shadow of the true marriage with God; then we do not believe in the Lord and have not the gift of faith.  All men shall be saved and made one with God and Christ being married in the Spirit.

Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Joh 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 

Gen 22:18  And in thy seed [Faith of Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 

A little leaven and denial of Christ in our physical marriages extends and leavens the entire loaf in negating the gospel and promises of the Lord.  Those the Lord uses to bring salvation stand only on faith and that is how the greater works are being done beginning at one’s own house and in their physical marriages in this age.

Joh 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 

Joh 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

Joh 14:14  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 

The true Body of Christ is the believing spouse that is going to sanctify the entire world in the appointed times.  Those of the false circumcision are telling you not to trust the Lord nor believe His promises on how believers sanctify unbelievers. They are now openly denying Christ and denying the gospel for which we have been emboldened to contend for the faith in the face of great adversity.  We are on trial in this church right now for nothing other than our expressions of the true gospel and the hope and promises of that gospel that the Lord has put into our hearts.  We are in good company and we rejoice in this trial.

Act 26:6  And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers. 

Act 26:7  To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. 

Those being circumcised by their own works and reasonings are still bound by the law of sin and death.  They now compel us to be circumcised like them and not to stand on faith.  We are warned to beware.

Php 3:2  Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 

Php 3:3  For we are the [true] circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 

Dogs are unbelievers still under the law returning again and again to their own vomit for spiritual food.  They stand opposed to those given faith who do the commandments [don’t divorce in faith].

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 

Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 

What men want to teach you about marriage does not hold up to the Lord’s high standards that command us to do not divorce in faith. This is another gospel built upon the law of carnal reasoning that appeals to all flesh.

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 

2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

If one does not believe a believing spouse will sanctify an unbelieving spouse, one is actually denying the most basic promise of God and the Gospel.  This is a massive fall from grace which is why Paul wrote so passionately and boldly to the Galatians to warn and admonish the church.  This sifting is the Book of Galatians being lived by those being saved in this age.

Gal 1:8  But even if we [the Apostles because some are proven false in the end], or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 

When one sees the false circumcision what Paul calls the circumcision as being those still bound by the law of carnal reasonings, then it becomes clear how the true ones suffer persecution for preaching and living the cross of Christ as the only way to salvation.

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

That is the rule of God the true Israel of God is following.

Gal 6:12  As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised [being bound the law of Moses and their carnal reasoning]; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 

Gal 6:13  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 

Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

Gal 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision [carnal law of Moses] availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision [carnal law of Gentiles – Rom 2:15] but a new creature. 

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

It is a great privilege to be chosen of God to stand on His Name and His Gospel and bear the stripes from people that claim they love Him and His servants.  This trial is an incredible blessing for those given to live out the Scriptures and be rejected and hated for the hope of the gospel the Lord has planted in our hearts.  Once we bear these stripes we no longer be troubled by those of the false circumcision that are dogs and outside the true faith.

Gal 6:17  From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. 

All preachers of the gospel live those words and bear stripes from their own people as well as the heathen and are paraded naked.  Part of the high calling and the cost we pay when we defend the gospel.

2Co 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 

2Co 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 

2Co 11:26  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 

2Co 11:27  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

The whole plan of God falls away when one does not believe.  May the Lord grant repentance to those who have fallen from His grace.  The faithful will not stand idly but will warn, admonish and blow the trumpet saving all that can hear from this strange fire.

2Co 11:12  But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 

2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 

2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 

This is not the church of any man.  This is the church of Jesus Christ, He is the Head and in His church,  the Lord gets all the glory and all things point back to His promises and His truths and not the reasoning of men.

We are standing in the face of tremendous opposition and contention and preach this gospel to the house of Israel.  We are to warn not to be entangled again with the bondage of unbelief and our carnal reasoning.

Gal 5:1  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 

Gal 5:2  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, [keep the law of carnal reasoning/ordinances] Christ shall profit you nothing. [there will be no sanctification]

Gal 5:4  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 

Gal 5:5  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 

We are to fear God and not men.  We are not bowing down to lies and unbelief that now masquerades as “teaching”.  Those telling you to divorce in faith are denying the Lord and His Words and mixing a lie with their truth thus poisoning or leavening the whole.

1Jn 2:21  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 

1Jn 2:23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 

Paul warns us that deceivers will use hypocrisy and speak lies [1Ti 4:1-5] to the people of God.  We cannot address them all here but in due time they will be exposed and burnt up in the fire. One such cunning and craftily worded deceit was just shared with you about working out your own salvation. Yes, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.  The work of God and who must work it in us is clear and it comes by faith.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

The work of God starts and ends with the God-given gift of faith and not the law of circumcision and uncircumcision which are the carnal reasonings.

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe [STAND ON FAITH] on him whom he hath sent. 

Woe to those at ease in Zion who have stopped pursuing the work of God in their heart and now lean back on their own understanding and wisdom.  We say Amen to working out your own salvation but what that means needs to be put back under the law of faith and not the carnal law for the lawless that have not received the gift.  That is why this saying is so truthful and the warnings of falling back into perdition. Our work for God is our faith and that is our obedience to the commands and promises of God.

Gal 5:6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision [Jews keeping law] availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision [Gentiles keeping law – Rom 2:15] but faith which worketh by love [our obedience]

Gal 5:7  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 

Gal 5:8  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 

The Word of God needs no helper and it is not going to win any popular votes, the deception and allure of the circumcision is just too great for those not given faith.  The Lord knows who are His and they are being quickened by the Truth.  We are resting from our own works in faith, we no longer have to worry about what the Lord is doing.  We just stand in faith.

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

We have great faith in the Lord and His promises and the blessings of keeping His commandments which are not complicated or grievous. We have been killed by the Jews for our testimony of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  We cannot be moved and wait upon our Lord who promised Elijah and those beheaded for their witness for the gospel that there is a remnant being saved by grace.

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 

Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 

Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

 

Rom 11:3  Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 

Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 

We all have denied the Lord and acted in unbelief, everyone is guilty. Yet many continue to deny the Lord and betray Jesus Christ by their words and deeds and we pray fervently they to be granted repentance for their error.

The shaking promised of the Lord has begun.  We are standing on faith and rejecting all the carnal reasonings of men who search the Scriptures but are not willing [Joh 5:39-40] to come to Him and stand on His commandments.

Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 

It is through faith in Christ and His commandments and promises that all men will be saved in their appointed time.  True faith will stop the mouths of lions and quench the violence and destruction of strange fire [false gospels].

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 

Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of [strange] fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

Not many stand with us yet we know there is a remnant that are being saved and in that we stand strong in the hope of the gospel we defend with our very lives.  We stand and wait upon the Lord.

2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. 

2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

As long as we are physically able, we will preach in this temple of God and blow the trumpet and preach the gospel to those precious few the Lord has given to hear and to believe.  The Lord is coming quickly to those being saved in this age.  Don’t let any man steal this crown from you.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 

We now put away those that fornicate with a false gospel and their carnal reasoning.  We give them over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so their spirit may be saved in their day of the Lord.  We do not divorce those who have now become our enemies and that is our example in physical marriage.  Those in faith, as the believing wife [bride of Christ], through our godly behavior, win back and sanctify our unbelieving spouse [who are of their father the devil] and reconcile them back as the Lord grants them repentance from their fornication.

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him [put away], that he may be ashamed. 

2Th 3:15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

The unbelieving in the gospel who are led by the Lord to depart, we let them depart and are under no further bondage.

1Co 7:15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. 

In the same way, our Lord is saving us we save those who still abide in sin and unbelief.

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 

Pete & Ronel and the remnant the Lord is saving

Studies

The Very High Calling of Marriage

The Very High Calling of Marriage

The Word of God regarding marriage is a much bigger lesson than just physical marriage to those given to receive it.  The standards for marriage be they spiritually with our Lord or physically with our God-given spouse, are far higher than we first believed.  Not many are able to receive the truth of the gospel and even fewer to walk it out in faith; however, the Lord has chosen some to be His preacher and go to those prepared to hear.

Rom 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 

Rom 10:15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!  

The word of God is not bound by men’s lack of understanding or lack of faith.  It will go forth and be preached and save those who are given to believe, whether men are pleased with it or not.

2Ti 2:9  Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 

Gal 1:10  For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 

Getting this marriage issue correct is far greater than just knowing how to behave in our physical marriages.  Marriage is the symbol and parable of our relationship with the Lord and the lessons learned about spiritual marriage apply to the physical and vice-a-versa.

Introduction:

Those in the true faith strive to obey the Lord and that means enduring through all the trials the Lord puts into our path.  Those in true faith being dead to the law of sin and death [their carnal reasonings] are resting from their own works and stand in Christ.  To those in faith, the simple commands of the Lord are clear and there is no allowance for divorce in any case or situation.  We wait and trust in the Lord and do as we are commanded in seeking restoration if that be His will.  This study will expose the errors of Babylon that continue to trouble many in seeing the truth and are still being used by the adversary to muddy the waters of life and sow confusion.  The calling for the faithful few coming out of the chosen few that come out of the many called is truly high.

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The function of marriage [Joh 6:63] is a shadow of our relationship with Christ as His bride and He as our husband.  Our marriage to Christ is for life and that is how the Lord wants His people to view and act on their physical marriages.  Being married in spirit or in clay, we become one with one another and it that view those in the Body are married to one another and are never to be permanently divorced.  These commands are to be obeyed in the same way we are not to physically commit adultery, fornicate, get drunk with wine, murder, etc.

Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

So right here the principle of oneness and the inseparableness of marriage is shown as the commandment of the Lord.  The Lord does not have two standards or rules for Himself and for us.  There is only one standard and we are to strive to follow His example and life in all things.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world

There are many more witnesses to this to establish it solidly as truth and the doctrine of Christ. The Lord never leaves us or forsakes us and that is our example to our spouses when we are married physically.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 

Marriage as the spiritual example shows that it was always intended by the Lord to be for lifeThe exceptions most believe comes from the law of the Gentiles [the law of sin and death – carnal reasoning] and not from faith and belief in the gospel.  This is the same as leaning on one’s own understanding and is a departure from the faith.  The Lord’s own words tell us that there is no provision made for divorce or putting away from the beginning as we will soon see.  Our obedience [love] is being completed as we grow in faith, stand in the face of our suffering and wait for the Lord to finish His work making no provision for the flesh.

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love [obey] the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.

Keeping Christ’s commandments is the end goal and purpose of the Lord’s work in us.

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 

Pro 7:2  Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

Our marriage to Christ only occurs in the day of the Lord [Day 3].  This is important to understand as what was lawful and righteous under the law, before our day of the Lord and marriage to Christ,  is no longer good enough to enter into the kingdom of God.  Scribes and Pharisees are us before we know the Lord and before we are given faith to believe the gospel.  When faith has come, the standard for righteousness is much much higher.

Mat 5:20  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

Pharisees argued with Christ about the way of life and those arguments will continue in our life when Christ comes to us and we begin to walk by faith and follow Him.  Those being made righteous walk by faith trusting nothing of themselves and their carnal reasonings that were all perfectly lawful under the law for a carnal nation, yet we cannot enter into life and know the Lord while we are bound to that law.

Eze 20:25  Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; 

It is those few given faith upon whom the gospel is received and believed meaning the time of reformation is come to them.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 

Christ the reformer, who changed what is lawful under faith, never uttered the word divorce in the times of reformation.  Divorce is never an option under the law of faith [gospel] as the commandment is clear and simple: what God has joined let no man separate.  Those that cannot receive the hard to accept yet simple truths show their unbelief and continued bondage to the law of sin and death in wanting to reason the Lord’s commandments.  Hopefully, the truth will be heard and they will be set free of that bondage.

We are all hardened in unbelief at first, rich with our knowledge of the Scriptures and outward obedience.  Yet we lack one critically important thing.  This trial brings new light on this parable.

Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 

Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

 The true gospel is not received or meant for those who are rich, it is meant and received only by the poor [Luk 4:18] who of themselves are counting on the Lord in all things.

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

In the day of the Lord, our wedding day with the Lord, it is no longer about the knowledge and our reasonings of the Scriptures which is a continuation of our being under the law and seeking to justify ourselves.  That is what Pharisees and Sadducees do as they search the Scriptures trusting on that knowledge [riches] yet being unwilling to obey the simple commands.  Such ones think they are awake to life yet are sleeping until awakened when Christ comes, and His commandments arise within us.

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

Joh 5:40  And ye will not come to me, [MY COMMANDMENTS] that ye might have life. 

Truth is rejected and those in unbelief will follow men who come in their own name with their spiritual riches and reasonings.

Joh 5:43  I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name [his own carnal reasonings about the commandments], him you will receive. 

Joh 5:44  How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

Sadly, some are now falsely believing that since their husband is “spiritually dead” and reasoning they could bear more fruit elsewhere have made plans and inquiries regarding departing their marriage via divorce.  This is a total twisting and perversion of Paul’s words that Peter warned us we would experience that is called the error of the wicked.

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 

2Pe 3:16  As also in all his [Paul’s] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 

2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 

Note the intro of Peter reference to Paul mentioning the cross and our longsuffering to find salvation.  Those standing in the faith will not be complaining to God they are condemned to a loveless marriage, they will know this is the cross, the longsuffering to which those in faith are appointed and in that they should be rejoicing.

Col 1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

May the Lord open the eyes of understanding, so these errors are spotted for what they are   — a stark departure from the true faith and living God.  Lord willing, we are teaching all to stand by faith and wait on the Lord, letting no man take their crown by coming down from their cross.

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

The Gospel:  Jesus Christ and Him Crucified

It is important to remind ourselves what is the gospel and how that is central to our faith.  We are to believe the gospel and all the related promises of God.  The gospel is also known as the “gospel of grace”.  It is all about trials and us going to the cross and trusting in the Lord and the example He gave us.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. 

When we begin to reason the marriage or any commandments, we are being moved by another gospel that has one reasoning under the law of sin and death when one should or can depart a marriage.  This is known as adding to the Word of God and that will bring further plagues and deceptions upon us if we are not given to repent and believe the gospel.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book

We are told many times we must endure to end, finish our race in order to be saved and be given the overcoming of our sins.  We won’t make it if we come down from the cross.  All such reasoning is our carnal mind that will naturally seek and reason away sufferings.  It is not of faith but from our father the devil who is rebuked when the truth is spoken.

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 

When we twist the Lord’s commandments, we are fallen from grace and our faith [is now unbelief] is said to be in vain.

2Co 6:1  We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 

Gal 5:4  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law [Rom 2:15 – carnal reasonings of Gentiles]; ye are fallen from grace.

Not many mighty works of the Spirit [i.e overcoming] are done if we abide in the midst of unbelievers.  This is why the canker that has been spread about marriage needs to get out of our fellowship.  It casts even more doubt upon the Lord’s promises if only we would believe.

Mat 13:57  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. 

Mat 13:58  And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. 

This dispute manifested when efforts to provide answers to “practical questions” about marriage and divorce was initiated.  Immediately one in truth could see how this took the conversation away from Christ and turned it back to man’s own carnal reasonings under the law.  The trumpet has been blown via this study and Lord willing, faithful watchmen will continue to expose these errors and departures from the only true faith that will save us.

Rather than entertain speculative hypothetical “what if” questions, acting in faith, would have us just believing the Lord.  His promises to us include that He won’t give us a trial beyond what we can handle [1Co 10:13]. Is the Lord not capable of making sure NONE of His little ones is abused to the point of no return?  Of course, He is more than capable, yet our carnal reasoning will continue to doubt and keep us in unbelief.

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man [trusting in his own reasonings and wisdom] to enter into the kingdom of God. 

Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

When we even begin to entertain the idea of divorce as a believer, we are entertaining our carnal reasonings.  All of it is doubting the promises of the Lord who tells us He is capable of ensuring none of his sheep are put into an untenable situation.  When we go beyond what is written it is not of faith but carnal works under the law.  Here are two witnesses proving the Lord will not bring any trial we cannot handle.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation [trial, grace, THE GOSPEL] taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 

Eph 4:7  But unto every one of us is given grace [the fiery trials] according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

We must be found faithful in the end.  This means we will not abandon the gospel but live it and declare it boldly in opposition to man’s wisdom and reasonings.

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 

1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

If we claim to be Jesus Christ, of His Body and of His faith, then we best get with the program of knowing it is appointed we be crucified and lose our life.  The bar is truly high and carrying a cross is harder than we thought just yesterday.  We will learn to trust in the Lord and His promises to deliver us from evil and not try us beyond what we can bear.  When the Lord comes to your personal earth [Luk 18:8] will He find faith?  We know from the sum it will indeed be very few in this age, the vast majority of the chosen few will fall away from the truth and follow the fables of their carnal reasoning.

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. 

Those not ordained to have faith will depart and walk no more with Christ once they are told how high the bar is and what the Lord demands from us.  This includes disciples who believed and walked with Christ for years even the one holding the bag of riches [knowledge of the Scriptures].

Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 

Anyone reasoning hypothetical questions and advising women to seek a divorce in order “to bear fruit unto the Lord” or do good works, has already departed from the faith and remain under the law of the Gentiles.

Gal 5:4  Christ becomes of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 

Gal 5:5  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 

Gal 5:6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love [1Jo 5:3 – obedience]

Gal 5:7  Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 

Gal 5:8  This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 

The will of God is that we abstain from fornication [spiritual and physical] and walk by faith in Him and His commandments alone.  We are not to give heed to these reasonings and carnal questions which are in fact spiritual fornication.

1Ti 1:4  Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. 

1Ti 1:5  Now the end of the commandment is charity [obedience] out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:  

The end of the commandment is a clear conscience towards Christ.  The new command is much higher than “love your neighbor as yourself”.

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 

We are to love others including our spouse as Christ loved us.  A truly godly husband or wife acting in faith is sanctifying her spouse in Day 3 as they submit to Christ and give up their life [and carnal reasonings] to die in order to sanctify themselves and their spouse.  It is the same example the Lord gave to His people to follow.  As the Lord was sent, so He sends His true ones to die for the sinners and unbelievers [Joh 20:21].

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us [we are His spouse]

If we are unwilling to do this our faith is feigned meaning we are not in the faith and have fallen from the true grace of God.  Christ is not attractive to anyone’s flesh, His commands are deemed too harsh and unloving by our carnal mind [Isa 53:2].  Christ rebuked the Pharisees strongly for trusting in their own knowledge and reasonings and unwillingness to come to Him with childlike faith.  We are all those Pharisees and will naturally want to please the flesh and our hearers with smooth words that sound godly but are a departure from the law of faith.

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: 

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: 

The time to be on guard for this is now, in the last days [Day 3] as the Lord is saving His people.

2Ti 4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 

2Ti 4:4  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 

This truth that is the gospel is not going to be popular.  We need to be extremely wary of reasoning away any of His commands the very force Paul dealt with and wrote often about in his epistles to warn us of the same.

Prisoners of Christ preach the commandments and singleness of the gospel knowing it is never going to be well received and will instead bring persecution and much opposition from our own spiritual family.

1Th 2:2  But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention

1Th 2:3  For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 

1Th 2:4  But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 

The simple truth and our obedience to those commandments is far better than volumes of knowledge that twist away the judgment of the Lord and make provision for flesh.

Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice [judgment].

Our trials, even severe trials in marriage, are to teach us and produce the fruit of the Spirit in us.  Lord willing, we will learn to trust the Lord in all things and wait on Him.  Ruling and reigning with Christ over our flesh requires us losing that life to gain spiritual life.  Our calling is extremely high as are the costs!

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 

Luk 18:28  Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. 

Disciples indeed” will be differentiated from disciples when the heat of the Lord’s trials is turned on and we are told to stand in faith and trust Him.  Few are given to continue but some will hear and believe the gospel.

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

We are to continue in the commands and not to seek to exit a trial.  Our doing so wrests away the judgment of God against our carnal life the very experience that is saving us from our sins.  So, it is with all of the Lord’s commandments and the accompanying trials He brings to accomplish our obedience and that includes issues pertaining to marriage.

Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;  

The Simple Marriage Commands

The risen Christ within us is the rising of His commandments within us! It is those commands to which we should look to establish what is good and acceptable in His sight.  The most basic commandment regarding marriage is to stay married and not seek to depart from what the Lord has joined together. Regarding marriage, the high calling is not difficult to pin down.

1Co 7:10  And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, [this is a command] Let not the wife depart from her husband: 

1Co 7:11  But and if she depart, [here is another command of the Lord] let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. 

We need to be watchful for the Pharisee spirit within us, that is yet carnal and wants to reason away the simplicity of the commandment.  Here are some more witnesses to the simple truth that divorce is not an option under the law of faith, it only being for the carnally minded who are bound by the law.

Mat 19:3  The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 

Mat 19:4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 

Mat 19:5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 

Mat 19:6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 

It is such a basic truth that the Lord causes and works all things [Eph 1:11] and has already determined every day and minute detail of our life [Psa 139:16, Isa 46:10].  This means that all of our physical marriages were ordained and caused by the Lord.  The Lord did it, He joined us together with our spouse be they a believer or an unbeliever.  We or no man is to be taking any action of cause to separate what the Lord has joined together.

No matter what the trials the Lord gives us, we are to stay married and trust and wait on the Lord, striving to obey Him in all ways.  Divorce is all related to the law for the lawless not for those that walk by faith in Christ and believe in the gospel.  Pharisees do not know the Lord and do not have faith and will reason against Christ [the Word, the commands].  Christ uses this to teach His disciples, those with ears to hear, the difference between the law of Moses/Gentiles and the law of faith.

Mat 19:7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 

Mat 19:8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 

Mat 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away [G630] his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 

Here we have some added details and contrast given by the Lord.  These are some of the most butchered and mistranslated verses in all the Scriptures.

Putting Away versus Divorce

It is critically important to know the difference between “putting away” and “divorce” as all the orthodox doctrines have it wrong as do the translators in nearly every version.   These differences between divorce and putting away are as applicable to spiritual marriage as they are to physical marriage.  Referencing how we behave in trials with our brethren, to whom we are married in Spirit, will be a huge reinforcement and witness to how we are to act in our physical marriages with divorce and putting away. Remember, physical marriage is just a shadow of a larger spiritual principle.

Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

These verses have been horribly mistranslated and continue to this day to give cover to the carnal reasoning and confusion on what are truly simple commandments of the Lord.  Here is the NKJV

Mat 5:31  (NKJV) “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 

Mat 5:32  But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. 

The NKJV words bolded in every case are not the word for divorce.  The subject being discussed is putting away if you look into the actual Greek words.  Here is the KJV which gets it right in two of the three places G630 is referenced.

Mat 5:31  (KJV) It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away [G630] his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 

Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away [G630] his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced [G630 – should say put away] committeth adultery.

The reason it is considered adultery if one marries someone who is put away is that such a one is not divorced, remains married and is thus unable to marry another.

There is another blockbuster error that has sowed much confusion over the commands about putting away.  One needs to understand that “putting away” a spouse for any cause other than fornication causes the one disobeying the Lord to commit adultery.  It is an error to say the one put away is caused to commit adultery as nearly every bible translation says.  Such reasoning is contrary to the Lord and who is to bear the inequity of sins.

Eze 18:20  The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him [the one doing the sinning, committing adultery by their disobedience]

Adultery is our disobedience to the Lord’s commandments spiritually speaking.  Said another way, it is our unfaithfulness to our Lord or His commandments.  The translators add to the carnal confusion over this by choosing to use the word “her” for G846 which adds to the twisting of this commandment.  The correction to this verse, which is 100% consistent with how the Greek word is used elsewhere is shown below.

Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her [G846 – himself or the same (i.e. the one doing the act of putting away)] to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is put away [divorced] committeth adultery. 

The wrongly put away wife does not commit adultery just because they have been put away.  What the Lord is saying, again consistent with the definition of spiritual adultery, is the disobedient husband [spouse] who puts away his wife [spouse] without cause is committing spiritual adultery with His Lord.  The works of our flesh in all manner come back to adultery [our disobedience] which always seems to listed first in a list of sins.

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness … 

The Pharisees asked Christ about “putting away” in Matthew 19 not divorce and His answer was changing the law on putting away.  Divorce was only mentioned by the Lord in His answer as he contrasted what was lawful under the law of Moses/Gentiles versus the new standard.  The Lord in giving new commands is speaking about PUTTING AWAY a spouse, not divorce.  As is the case for all things under the law of faith, the bar for obedience is being raised considerably.

Under the law for a carnal nation, one could put away their spouse for any reason so long as they gave a writ of divorce.  Under the law of faith, one can only put away [NOT DIVORCE] for the cause of fornication.  Both aspects of the “putting away” command are being raised to a higher standard.  The reasons for putting away are being limited to just fornication and the option to permanently cut them off by divorce has been removed.  The bar for those that walk by faith, trusting the Lord in all things has truly been raised HIGH.

Nothing in these so-called divorce verses in the Beatitudes, properly divided, that actually speak about “putting away’ are suggesting anyone in the faith can divorce their spouse and do so in the faith.  They are speaking about putting away, doing the same thing the Lord does to us, and commands we do to those who spiritually fornicate in the Body of Christ to whom we are married.  The Lord is 100% consistent in what He does with us, what we are told to do to our brethren spiritually and how we are to handle issues in the physical.

Only the Lord can and will end marriages He ordains and causes to be ended.  Paul speaks the Lord’s commandments consistently as the Lord and tells us not to depart [divorce] our marriages.

1Co 7:10  And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 

1Co 7:11  But and if she depart [in a putting away only situation], let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband [leave/forsake/divorce] put away [not G630] his wife. 

As the sum of the word shows us with eyes to see when addressing all these aspects of fornication, we are to separate for a time and a season always holding out the hope of reconciliation.

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross [our dying daily, carrying the cross, walking only by faith], by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 

Being married in Spirit to our fellow brethren, the spiritual or physical “Corinthian” fornicator is not to be permanently cut off or divorced forever.  They are to be put away with the intent they will be reconciled back in due time.  The Lord does not make it confusing, He is consistent in how the commands are applied.

1Co 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 

1Co 5:2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 

1Co 5:3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 

The law of faith has us staying unmarried and seeking reconciliation with our spiritual and physical spouses rather than divorce.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation

2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 

Christ dies for His enemies while they yet sin in order to reconcile them back to Himself.  In the same way and example, we don’t forsake our spouses, we seek reconciliation and wait upon the Lord.

1Co 7:11  But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away [not G630 – leave or forsake] his wife. 

Those holding to false doctrines and causing divisions in the church [the fellowship to whom we are married in spirit] are spiritual fornicators and they are to be marked and put away [not divorced]. It is the same thing as in our physical marriages.  Putting away is intended to bring shame to those fornicating and in due time lead them to be reconciled back.  Here are two more examples of putting away a fornicator.

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him [put him away], that he may be ashamed. 

2Th 3:15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. 

Rom 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid [put them away] them. 

The hope of putting someone away is to keep ourselves undefiled and let the Lord bring His wrath and destruction to turn their hearts back [reconcile].  It works the same in our spiritual and physical marriages.

1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

1Co 5:5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 

Christ puts us away when we spiritually fornicate but always accepts us back when we repent.

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 

The Lord takes us back when we repent, and ultimately the Lord will bring the fire to accomplish that repentance in our day of the Lord.

Isa 30:15  For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning [repentance] and rest [from your carnal reasonings of self] shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Under no circumstances are we to leave via divorce and disobey the commandmentDoing so is never of faith in the promises of the Lord including this one.

1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 

To the carnal mind, this will seem like a condemnation to a loveless marriage, but to those who believe and trust in the Lord, it unleashes great power [Christ in us] to work many mighty miracles.  This is giving all to Christ, the true tithe that will result in many miracles and overcoming, even the Lord sanctifying our unbelieving spouse.  Yet so few have faith.

Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing [power to overcome, strength to endure, faith, etc.], that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 

Welcome to the lake of fire and what walking by faith and carrying a cross is all about!  It is a much higher standard and hotter furnace than we first believed.  Those being saved in that day learn to wait and trust in the Lord.  If He breaks the marriage up, by His causing the unbeliever to depart, then we are no longer under any bondage as happened in several examples in our fellowship.

1Co 7:15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. 

A godly wife acting in faith can lawfully in faith separate for a time with the consent of their husband, but they cannot divorce in the law of Christ.  They stay unmarried and seek to be reconciled back to their husbands in the appointed times as the Lord makes happen.

1Co 7:16  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

We return to the Lord, our first love in Day 3, walking out the gospel, carrying our cross to death that has us striving for the high calling God commands as it was from the very beginning.  In the beginning, before the law of Moses/Gentiles was given, there was no option for putting away much less divorce.

Mat 19:8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 

That is the high calling of God and where faith brings us back to when we are released from the law of carnal reasonings.  It is a hard saying but divorce by the believer for any reason, is contrary to faith and there are zero exceptions.  This is the message throughout the Scriptures. The reconciling with Judah, the two sisters, Hosea’s unfaithful wife, the prodigal son, the dream is one and the Lord is 100% consistent in His commands and the road to eternal life.  When we receive the gospel, Christ marries us.

No matter how or where we are called, we are to abide there and suffer for righteousness sake and obey the Lord and stand in faith.  The fruit of righteousness is borne in all of us through our many sufferings.

1Co 7:18  Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised.` Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. 

1Co 7:19  Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. 

1Co 7:20  Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

Unbeliever not Pleased to Dwell with the Believer

These verses have also been widely misunderstood and abused in continuing to encourage and defend those who claim to be in faith to divorce their spouse.  Hopefully, the huge distinction of putting away versus divorce puts these verses back into their proper perspective.  They speak to PUTTING AWAY not DIVORCE as Paul is by no means now contradicting the Lord and his prior words in the same chapter.

1Co 7:12  But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 

1Co 7:13  And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him

If the Lord wants to end a marriage, He can and will do it.  He can easily make the unbeliever to depart lest we forget how sovereign the Lord is.   We of little faith need only to believe and wait on the Lord.

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

Many say they believe the Lord works all things but when their faith is tried on hard issues like marriage trials, they abandon the faith proving to be reprobates.

The true believer being made a prisoner [bondservant] for Christ and never moves or departs from where the Lord has placed him.  They bear their reproach, knowing its good work in them and wait on the Lord.

Psa 62:5  My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 

Psa 62:6  He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 

Only the Lord can open and close doors of life that all mankind pass through.  We are learning of His Sovereignty in all things in our trials and waiting on Him to deliver us from all our adversaries within and without.

Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

We are to be freed from serving our flesh and the old man as we no longer live for ourselves but unto the Lord.

1Co 7:21  Art thou called being a servant [of your flesh and lusts] care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 

1Co 7:22  For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant. 

1Co 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 

1Co 7:24  Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. 

Paul’s main point here is for us to serve the Lord not our own bellies.  We have been bought and now belong to Him as a believer and all of our behavior is to be conformed into godliness.  Our service to God is our work for God and that work is quite simply summed up by our Lord.

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

Marriage Trials Produce the Fruit of the Spirit

We serve the Lord well when we suffer for the sake of righteousness.  We can never in our doctrine imply that being bound to an unbeliever in marriage would hinder one from bringing fruit unto the Lord.  That opens the door to the carnal mind to come in and destroy the commands of God.  Such avoidance is not how God works.  We don’t avoid trials to bring fruit unto God, we go through the trial including being in marriage with an unbeliever.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

If we suffer for doing good, that finds favor with the Lord. That is what staying in a hard marriage does.  Without a word we win our spouses over by our conduct and their sanctification process begins.  The Lord puts us in those trials to try us and refine us as we suffer with Him.  We never seek to escape and wrest the judgment of God away.

1Pe 2:18  Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward

1Pe 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 

1Pe 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 

And another witness.

1Pe 3:17  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing [obeying God’s commands], than for evil doing. 

We are constantly warned about deception and deceivers that can creep in unawares and lead us astray from keeping His commandments.  Those in faith are in the last day and we are warned to stand firm and not to let any many steal our crown and move us away from the simple child life faith in the Lord to deliver us from all evil.  These admonishments are everywhere.

Col 1:22  in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish, and without charge in His sight, 

Col 1:23  if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister, 

The subject of marriage is an area the enemy has feasted upon the people of God. Suffering is our appointment and that will only increase the further we stand for the truth against much opposition and endure in our day of the Lord.

2Ti 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 

When one infers a believer should depart an unbeliever so they can bear fruit unto God, they have departed the faith and reverted back to carnal reasoning.  The trials, the suffering, the afflictions is the grace of God that is saving us and that we must walk through.  It is our doing righteousness in the trials that produces the fruit of the Spirit.

Christ’s Christ will save the entire world [their husband, their wife, all mankind] in the appointed time. This begins at home with our physical spouses yet so few truly have the faith to believe that.  We either have the Faith of Christ and act on that faith or we do not.  Reaping what we sow applies to our faith.

Mat 9:29  Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith let it be to you. 

When we have faith as small as a mustard seed that seeds says believe in Me and lean not on your own understanding.  The truth of the Word says we can and will win our spouse back. With God nothing is impossible, but we must have faith for the Lord to work His miracles.  That is the way we enter into Christ producing the fruit of the Spirit.

1Pe 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation [obedience to commands] of the wives; 

1Pe 3:2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 

When we find ourselves in difficult and challenging circumstances, we should always seek the Lord first [His Commandments]. Asking Him to come to us and help us, bringing His commands into His Kingdom is how we stand, grow in faith and bear the trial and thereby produce the fruit of righteousness.

Those acting in faith do not seek to depart a marriage even when it is hard and full of trials.  Those trials are producing fruit within us and they will in due time begin producing fruit in our spouse.  So says the Lord if we only believe and have patience in waiting for Him.

1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

All things,  even the suffering, and evil the Lord puts into our path are working together for good of those who believe [Rom 8:28].  To become like our Lord we ourselves must be taught patience and longsuffering.  Our Lord long suffers with us, giving us the example of long-suffering with our spouses.

1Co 13:7  [Love, our obedience] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

To remove those trials is in opposition to the true works of God.  The believing few are sanctifying the unbelieving both at home now and in the age to come to the whole world.  We are being made ministers and sent to those who shall be heirs of salvation.

Rom 15:16  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. 

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? 

Hard trials in marriage are a great proving ground of our faith to see if we will work the work of God or not.

Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

It is going thru these tribulations and trials that is making us worthy in the kingdom of God.

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 

2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 

Our food and drink as the Body of Christ is to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood [Joh 6:53].  That is the only way we find eternal life.  We best not water this down with the reasonings of Esau which is our carnal mind.  The Lord says such offerings are contemptible to the Lord.

Mal 1:7  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.

Mal 1:8  And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.

Those that belong to Christ have been bought with a price and live no longer for themselves but unto God.  If the Lord, who is working all things, puts us in an unhealthy marriage regardless of the physical and emotional issues involved, our most basic command is to stand and endure what the Lord has worked.  The righteous are never moved, it is always the unbelievers who depart.

Psa 21:7  For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. 

Navigating the narrow way in marriage, like all issues of life require us to put on Christ and not make any provision for our flesh in our actions.

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

As the day of the Lord approaches, the fire of “Day 3” is going to separate the few chosen from the many called when our bondage to Christ and adversity of our sufferings begin to manifest.

Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 

Those few having received the promise of the resurrection, will not be accusing and excusing under the law of the Gentiles.  Instead, they will turn down immediate deliverance and escape from trials so that they might attain to the better promise.  Paul wrote of those examples of faith so we might embrace the high calling.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

These hard to understand and accept truths will similarly grieve many yet they are the narrow way to eternal life which is knowing the Lord and His Father [Joh 17:3].

Seeking the Lord

When we begin to reason on the commandments, we open the door for strife and contention over what is the narrow way.  This is the danger of reasoning off the top line commandment of marriage.  For example, what is abuse can be a widely different standard depending on many factors.  We must truly be wise and wary of any such carnal reasoning and bring those thoughts into subjection to the commandments.  Where we have sincere questions, we are to ask the Lord, go to His Word and Commandments for wisdom when needed.

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luk 11:11  If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

When we are in trouble and need guidance in a marriage, we are to seek the Lord [His Word and Commands] as only He can give us life and deliver us.

Psa 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Pro 28:26  He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered

This does not mean we don’t seek counsel from others but we need to weigh all such counsel against the Lord’s commandments and the high calling.  We have so many warnings about the last days and the deceptions we will face as we earnestly contend for the faith.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We should always look within ourselves first to see if our ways please the Lord. That inward focus could change our circumstances.

Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

It is incumbent for the believer to always ask herself or himself,  “am I acting in the faith of Christ, am I obeying the commands”?

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

We should look to ourselves and evaluate our obedience [godly love] to the Lord in seeking to win over our spouse.  This is the same as nourishing our enemies by living the example of Christ providing them spiritual bread to eat and water to drink.

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

We need to grow in contentment as the day of the Lord is all about suffering in the flesh.

1Ti 6:6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

1Ti 6:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.

1Ti 6:8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

We have a body and a multitude of counselors to whom we can seek further help and encouragement along with our own work for the Lord.  These matters should be handled with the utmost privacy as we tempt not anyone with the spirit of gossip.

Pro 11:14   Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

The issues in this study are important matters of spiritual life and death.  Anyone battling hard issues in a marriage should seek counsel in private.  Come to the mature brothers or sisters to help you weigh the whole counsel of God and have peace in your heart of what is doing righteousness.

1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 

1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things [asking in His name – according to faith] that are pleasing in his sight. 

The Lord is working all things for good and the counsel of His will including all our trials in physical marriage.  The Lord knows what we need and will create the circumstances to accomplish His will in our life.  He does not need our help in going to the world’s courts to seek divorce to bring His will about and perform His strange work within us.

Act 17:25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Final Admonition

If we are being saved in this age, a day comes when we will face the fierce opposition to the truth that the Lord, Paul and the disciples faced.  When those persecutions and contentions come to sway us away from the truth, we cannot give in even for an hour.

Gal 2:5  To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 

When the commands of the Lord are replaced with many questions and reasonings about specific situations we best beware and know the trial of our faith is at hand.  We are to flee from such idolatry.

Tit 3:9  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. 

2Ti 2:23  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 

The day of the Lord is at hand when Christ arises within us and we stand on faith and preach the gospel.  Those found worthy will be persecuted and hated by their own people.  The Jews put Christ on trial and our faith will also be tested the same as our Lord’s.  May we all be counted worthy in our hour of trial.

Act 23:6  Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”  

Marriage is very hard, even for godly couples.  But as hard as it is, the Lord is able, He is even stronger.  Don’t sell the Lord short in unbelief and trust in Him.

Psa 147:5  Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. 

When we trust the Lord and stand in the face of great adversity that is when the Lord steps in and delivers His people.  We can do all things in Christ but being in Christ means we have to stand on faith alone and walk the gospel.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Many of us began well in faith but grow weary and fall back into perdition.  I pray this study will prick the hearts of everyone and awaken them from their sleep in the same way others have already been awakened.

 Eph 5:14  Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 

A prisoner of Christ bound to please Him and not men,

Pete

Articles

Water Turned Into Wine

“Water Turned Into Wine”

We cover the first “miracle” of Christ in this study. The word translated as miracle in our Bibles is from the Greek word “dunamis” or Strong’s G1411. Dunamis is primarily the word for POWER as it is most often translated.  All the miracles depict the power of the Lord at work in the lives of His people.  This outward miracle of water being turned into wine is also the first inward miracle the Lord works within us that brings us into faith [believing upon Him] and thus begins our being transformed by grace into the kingdom of God.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

The entire scriptures are written in parable using spiritual language and dark sayings to hide the meaning of the Scriptures and keep all but the chosen few in darkness.  Here is just one of the many witnesses to this truth.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

Ears to hear and eyes to see are indeed a blessing only the Lord can give that comes to very few in the appointed times (Mat 13:16, Mat 22:14).  Another layer of the Lord’s cloaking is that it’s not just the words but the events themselves that are done in parables.

Mar 4:11  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: 

Let’s keep these truths in mind as we search for the application and spiritual significance to us of the Lord’s actions.  Here is this event, both a parable and a miracle as foretold in the Gospel of John.

Joh 2:1  And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 

Joh 2:2  And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 

Joh 2:3  And when they [the disciples] wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 

Joh 2:4  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 

Joh 2:5  His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 

Joh 2:6  And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 

Joh 2:7  Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 

Joh 2:8  And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 

Joh 2:9  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 

Joh 2:10  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 

Joh 2:11  This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. 

Let’s begin by noting that this miracle takes place on the third day after John the Baptist tells [us] of the coming of the Lord, the one who comes after him.  We are gathered to Christ on the first day (John 1:35-40) and then on the second day, all the disciples begin to walk with Christ and were told of the many miracles and great things to soon come (John 1:43-51).   These three days symbolize our entire walk, the entire process with Christ that culminates at the wedding feast on the third day.  It is at this wedding where we begin to eat and drink with Him in the kingdom of God. This is our day of perfection when we partake of the true bread of life and the new wine and are being raised up to new life with Christ.

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Hos 6:2  After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 

Christ shows us in parable that eating his body and drinking His blood was the wine [faith and grace] of the new testament, the essence of eternal life.  New life comes only by death and that is what the living waters do when our time and hour for judgment is come when grace and truth meet us.

Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 

We are raised to life through death as we drink with our Lord in His kingdom within us (Luk 17:21).  The gathering of the disciples and the mother of Jesus at this wedding feast represents “the day of the Lord” when we begin to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood [the wine, the cup of His indignation against our flesh. i.e. the scourging grace]  the very things necessary to die to death [the second death] in order to live with Christ.

Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 

This gathering at the wedding in Cana [meaning “the branches”] is the gathering together of the church who are also the disciples of the Lord and collectively known as His mother and the brethren.

Mat 12:49  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 

Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

This first parable foretells of things that are not yet (Rom 4:17) as Christ reveals His secrets to His prophets (Amo 3:7) beforehand.

Joh 2:3  And when they [the disciples] wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 

Joh 2:4  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 

This feast is a shadow of us being gathered with Christ.  As His disciples, the Lord puts into us zeal and desire to know Him and seek His ways.  That is how we are drugged to Him.  That is what the wine will bring about and why we are given a desire to drink it at first not knowing the judgment it entails.  The wine the Lord serves is the faith of Christ which is far more than just knowledge of the Scriptures.  Drawn disciples want to know Him not know about Him.  This gift only comes and grows by eating His body and drinking of His wine [His cup].

Water is a symbol for the Word of God but is differentiated from wine.  Wine denotes the cup of the New Testament, also known as the cup of wrath of God against all our flesh and sins that we must drink to enter into the Kingdom.  There is no escaping our drinking this cup of wine (Jer 25:28) it is the one baptism of fire by which we are saved in the times appointed.

Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with…

The law and the prophets bring us to a point but they do not convert us.  To be transformed, faith is needed that brings with it the grace and truth that will save us.  When the living Christ is come, then the water is turned into wine and we grow in understanding which is transforming and healing us.

Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 

Turning water [knowledge of the scriptures] into wine [knowing the Lord in spirit and in truth] symbolically is what happens in the day of the Lord in the hearts and minds of every man.  It is by going through “this hour” that the spiritually dead are risen and come to know the Lord receiving the great reward of His mind and His holiness.

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

Christ’s time or “hour” had not yet come as He answered His mother as the 3.5 years of walking and preparing His disciples was not finished.  Later when His time to suffer drew nigh, the Lord tells us what to expect when He comes again in Spirit and in Truth and meets us again in the kingdom of God within.

Luk 22:14  And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 

Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. [the kingdom within you]

It is during this hour of judgment that we will be healed of all our spiritual infirmities and come to know the truth casting out all lies and defiling spirits of Spiritual Babylon (Luk 7:21, Rev 18:10).  This hour is the hour of our dying the Second Death as our Lord led the way.

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [and how is that accomplished]

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

It is this judgment, this scourging grace that comes with our faith that is the word in action that becomes wine.  This wine makes the new man merry as we rejoice more and more as Christ is revealed in us.

Psa 104:15  And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. 

Zec 10:7  And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 

It is the Lord’s angels (aka His Messengers, the very Elect) who preach the everlasting gospel (Rev 14:6) and bring the wine to the gathered disciples.  The purpose of this wine is proclaimed by these same angels.

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation [the wine of the gospel]; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 

The instructions of Christ to the servants to bring forth new wine is instructive when we can see with spiritual eyes.

Joh 2:6  (NKJV) Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. 

Joh 2:7  (NKJV) Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 

Joh 2:8  (NKJV) And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 

The six stone vessels represent us in our carnal unconverted state.  The six vessels like the number six symbolize man and specifically man’s flesh (666).  We are likened unto stones, hard-hearted and it is by this miracle of destruction by the Word [i.e. judgment, every stone is thrown down – Mat 24:2], that we are being made new and become the lively or precious stones (Rev 21:19) that make up the wall of the great city spiritual Jerusalem.

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 

Our unconverted vessel is first filled with the water representing the Word of God. That water is then converted into wine that brings about the destruction of death within us and the remaking of a new vessel or temple.

Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 

Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 

Two or three firkins (KJV) or “twenty or thirty gallons” as the NKJV translates, speaks to the differences in measures of faith between the unique vessels that comprise the Body of Christ.  Everyone gets the same water of the Word yet the measures of faith and what we can bear in manifold temptations and trials are different as determined by God.

Rom 12:3  (NKJV) For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 

When we [each stone vessel] are filled to the brim with the Word of God, there is no room left for any lies (demons) to return and take root.  This is how a vessel of stone is sanctified and prepared for every good work.

Joh 2:9  (NKJV) When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 

Joh 2:10  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 

The master of this feast is you and me in our immaturity and lack of understanding of the ways of the Lord.  Until we ourselves draw of these living waters and drink this wine, we will not understand the ways of God until we ourselves begin to serve it to others.  The flesh and our carnal mind prefer the old wine of the law that has us responsible for our salvation and being justified by our own works. What flesh wants to be a slave and dependent upon the Lord for all things?

Luk 5:37  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 

Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 

Luk 5:39  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” 

A new vessel is needed for the new wine and the wine itself will bring that new vessel forth!  The new wine of the gospel is the best wine because it is what is saving us as we drink it and put to death our carnal mind and learn to walk by faith.  Learning to drink this wine is part of the patience of the saints and how we are brought to the place to seek it knowing the death it works against our old man is bringing forth the blessing of God our new man.

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die [the second death] in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 

 Our being filled with this new wine is the beginning of our walking by faith embracing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, belief has now come!

Joh 2:11  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 

The first outward miracle Christ performed is also the first inward miracle Christ performs in the kingdom of God within us.  Being filled with the knowledge of the Word that washes us, is then followed by that same water being turned into wine when our hour of judgment is come [the coming with fire].

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 

It is through the water and the fire that we are given our reward and become rich in heavenly things.

Psa 66:10  For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried [in the fire]

Psa 66:12  Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. 

The coming of Christ to us twice is revealed in hidden parable by first filling the stone vessels with water and then secondly transforming that water into wine.  The Lord begins preparing us from this very first miracle for service in His kingdom preaching the gospel unto all the world within and without.

Mar 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 

Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

This miracle within us (Mar 4:11 – all things are done in parable) is what brings us into true faith when we actually believe in the Lord.  With this belief, thus, begins our day of salvation with is likened unto a thousand years [2Pe 3:8] and which will culminate in the greatest blessing of all time as we are being made partakers of His Holiness by drinking the wine (Heb 12:10-11).

Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Joe 3:18  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 

Drinking the wine of the gospel is what gets us beyond knowledge and brings us into true understanding and intimacy with our Lord where we love Him.

Eph 3:19  And to know the love [obedience] of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 

The end of the miracle is that the disciples begin to follow Christ as He did not stay still but began moving through all the cities and towns within Israel in the kingdom of God within you and me.

Joh 2:12  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days. 

Having been served this wine of the gospel, we are becoming spiritual wine stewards ourselves in service to Him.  Bringing the gospel to the rest of the dead within and without (i.e the Gentiles). The spiritually dead have never tasted of this new wine that is the very best the Lord makes. Yet a day, the last days for each, will come.  Faith will be followed with grace (wine) and all the dead (Gentiles) in the earth will be sanctified.

Rom 15:16  That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

We as the army of the Lord, speak the words of fire to those prepared to hear which is the same as serving our hearers a cup of wine that is working righteousness in them.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress [wine] of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

There are much more details and instructions on how we are to properly eat and drink in the kingdom of God and consume this wine.

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. 

There are indeed different tables and cups of wine and we best not mix the two up.  Lord willing those can be topics for future studies.

Sincere comments and questions are always welcome.  You can also email me directly at peterjwilson56@gmail.com