Discovery Church or Ignorant Brethren and The F-Word (part 5)

Before I move on to the verse that the Pastor of Discovery Church suggested is the way a person obtains salvation, being Romans 10:13. You cannot miss the fact the audience of chapter 9 is none other than unbelieving Israel who had missed their Messiah. Paul addresses them as his kinsmen in the flesh, Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises. Don't let any of that be wasted on you especially the "covenants" and the "giving of the law". Israel is NEVER separated from the covenant relationship with God, neither are they separated from the law program. New or Old, both covenants contain the law and are for Israel.
Moving into chapter 10 of Romans, Paul continues dealing directly to Israel's situation in having missed their Messiah saying that his hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Paul speaks to their situation several times quoting Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah, Hosea and Moses with the language that they would be familiar. We come to Romans 10:9-10. the subject is confession, and once again this is Israel's issue and language as we see in the following verses:

• John 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
• John 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:
• Luke 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
• Matthew 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Clearly, the issue is confessing Jesus as Israel's Messiah and nothing at all with the Gospel of the grace of God which is trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as full and complete payment for all of your sins. To make it even clearer, 6 chapters after Mathew 10 in chapter 16 is the first time mentioned anything about his crucifixion and their response was:

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

Apparently, Peter did not know the gospel that was going to be given to Paul because the gospel of the grace of of God IS the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! So in the OT books of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, confession would have nothing to do with trusting Christ's payment for sins, rather, the issue is Christ being Israel's Messiah.

So, now we have summed up 33 verses of Romans 9, 12 verses of Romans 10, a total of 45 verses in which the Apostle Paul is pouring his heart out over his kinsmen in the flesh pertaining to their situation in missing their Messiah, not one single mention of the gospel of the grace of God, not even a hint of information that was "kept secret since the world began", but only that which was "spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began", not one mention of the church, the body of Christ. And now we come to verse 13 of Romans 10.

• Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

For what possible reason would you believe that the Apostle Paul ended his conversation with the audience in view, Israel, and has turned to presenting the gospel of the grace of God? Has Paul presented anywhere in Romans 9 or 10 that Christ died for their sins, was buried and that He rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures and they need to place their faith in what Christ has done which constitutes the gospel of Christ which is the power of God unto salvation? Or could it be Paul is still speaking to Israel concerning their situation and their language with the material they would be familiar? These are questions which demand a DUH response. The gospel which saves our never dying soul in this dispensation of the grace of God has not been presented and what Paul is doing is consistent with the previous 45 verses in that he is speaking to unbelieving Israel concerning their Messiah and their situation by quoting the OT prophet Joel in:

• Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Once again, we see the Apostle to the circumcision, Peter, quoting the same verse in:

• Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
• Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Joel wasn't presenting the Gospel of Christ, Peter was presenting the Gospel of the grace of God, so what were they talking about? let's see it in the verses between Acts 2:16 and 32.

• Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
• Acts 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
• Acts 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
• Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
• Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Does the word "tribulation" ring a bell at this point? The time of Jacob's trouble? Certainly you do not have in your belief system that the church, the body of Christ is a partaker of Israel's tribulation period or do you? Let's move on and wrap this up at looking at the verses concluding chapter 10 of Romans.

• Romans 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?
• Romans 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!
• Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
• Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
• Romans 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
• Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
• Romans 10:20 But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
• Romans 10:21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Verses 14 and 15: Paul quotes Isaiah 52 with the information concerning and familiar to Israel.

Verse 16: Paul quotes Isaiah 53 once again with the information concerning Israel and familiar to them concerning the suffering of their Messiah and His seed which is none other than Israel.

Verse 17: The emphasis is the truth pertaining to the scriptures, the Bible is the absolute truth and the source of everything we know about God.

Verse 18: Paul quotes Psalms 19:4 which pertains to the remnant of Israel.

Verse 19: Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:21 about a foolish nation which is Peter's little flock of Luke 12:32.

Verses 20 and 21: Once again the Apostle Paul speaks to Israel alone concerning their fallen situation and not a single word of any revelation of a mystery but only that which was spoken by a previous prophet.

Do you see the problem with determining Romans 10:13 is the plan of salvation for anyone today as we operate according to the "my gospel" of the apostle Paul which was kept secret since the world began?

• Romans 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
• Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
• Colossians 1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
• Colossians 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

The problem is the failure to rightly divide the word of truth. All of the Bible is truth, but it also requires to be rightly divided, truth from truth. What is true for one group is not necessarily true for another. The right division is clearly Israel under the law from the church, the body of Christ which is not under the law but under grace. The right division is clearly that which was spoken by all the holy prophets SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN from that which was kept secret SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. That would constitute rightly dividing prophecy from mystery.

To conclude this post I want to emphasize the importance of getting your Bible right, rightly divided of course, your never dying soul is relying on it. Believing in Jesus will not get you to heaven. Calling on the Lord will not get you to heaven. Following Jesus footsteps or following the information and doctrines of the Old Testament which on the authority of Hebrews 9:15-17 includes Mathew, Mark, Luke and John will not get you to heaven. Being someone that thinks love is the answer for everything will not get you to heaven. Confessing your sins, asking God to forgive you, asking Jesus in your heart, being a God chaser or God stalker (whatever that goofy junk means) will not get you to heaven. Confessing with your mouth will not get you to heaven. Commandment keeping, tithing, getting dunked in a tub of water will not get you to heaven.

Trusting the Gospel WILL get you to heaven!

• 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
• 1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Notice the nomenclature....ARE SAVED...not,,,thou shalt be saved...one is present, the other is yet and still future. So what is this gospel by which we ARE saved?

• 1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
• 1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

There it is! Christ did everything necessary to save our miserable worthy of Hell souls. HE died for your sins. HE was buried. HE rose again the 3rd day. That is the Gospel of YOUR salvation. NOT confession,,,NOT calling on the Lord,,,,,NOT keeping the commandments,,,,NOT asking Jesus in your heart...NOT making Jesus Lord of your life....and so on....

Your response to the Gospel if either believe and trust or reject it. Rejecting it is not only unbelief in the Gospel, it includes the belief there are other things necessary to seal the deal such as ....Calling on the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved....Confessing your sins and asking God to forgive you.....getting baptized,,,commandment keeping,,,,repenting of your sins (whatever that means since repent actually means to have a change of mind and is not turning from your sins) Confessing with your mouth and so on and so on. Anything you think you have to do to seal the deal is exactly what will send you to Hell because if you think what Christ did was not sufficient then you are not trusting what Christ did...period. You are saved by Grace through Faith,,,,what does Ephesians 2:8-9 say?

• Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

And that NOT of yourselves, it is a what of God? A Gift!

• Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Have you ever noticed how folks who claim to be saved always boast of how they were saved by the list of works THEY did without as a mention of what Christ did or what Christ did is way down the list after the likes of "I repented of my sins" or "I asked Jesus in my heart" or "I called on the name of the Lord" or "I love Jesus with all my heart" responses.

You have heard the Gospel of YOUR salvation in 1ST Corinthians 15:1-4, your response should line up with Ephesians 1:13.

• Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

If the sentence structure is too difficult, read it backwards. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise...after that you believed....the gospel of YOUR salvation,,,which you got from the word of truth,,,

Sounds too easy doesn't it? If it is so easy, why are you finding it so difficult? Ponder that until next time and I will try to conclude this look into the perverted teaching which is mainstream in practically ever church you will find in your phonebook. Discovery Church is not the only assembly which fails to "rightly divide" the word of truth, it just happens to be one in my particular area. It is not about persons or personalities and was never intended to be taken personally. It has been from the outset about......the doctrine.