04.2.01. Introduction

Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION

There is one true and living God, one true concept of man’s origin, one plan of deliverance from sin, one New Testament assembly which Jesus Christ is building, and one future kingdom of Jesus Christ. When the Holy Scriptures are handled correctly by a Christian whose mind is free from deception, he will readily admit that all conflicting views about theology, anthropology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology cannot be true. Hence, all the discussion about ecumenism is a sham, because it is a manifestation of deception.

Apart from the grace of the sovereign God, an obedient life to the revealed will of God, and a clear understanding of the whole counsel of God (all the major Biblical principles), one not only will misrepresent many Biblical principles but also will try to conceal his own lack of knowledge and character. Persons who think they cannot be deceived are the most reprehensibly deluded, because the most studious believer knows that no Christian is beyond seduction to some degree.

(See Romans 16:17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 5:6; 1 John 3:7.) Thus, the greater knowledge one has of the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3), the less deceit he will experience. Conversely, one who has little knowledge is incapable of withstanding the deluder’s craftiness, and he tries to defend his own fraudulence. No wonder Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

Persons who are denominationally oriented cannot honestly make an objective examination of any Biblical subject. When a Biblical subject is examined from the viewpoints of the Reformed Faith, Baptist Faith, Methodist Faith, etc., those making the perusal have already admitted that they are viewing the subject through denominationally colored glasses. Scripture speaks of “one faith” (Ephesians 4:5), and that one faith (system of truth) “has been once for all delivered [paradotheise, aorist passive participle of paradidomi, which means to deliver, entrust, hand down, pass on, or teach] to the saints” (Jude 1:3—translation). There is nothing superfluous in the sphere of God’s objective truth, because it is God’s gift once for all given to the saints, not to the unregenerate. Therefore, a Biblical subject must be studied not from the viewpoint of some “denominational faith” but by gathering all the Biblical data on the subject under investigation in order to view the subject in the light of the whole of Scripture rather than a few isolated passages. The following things illustrate that every so-called “denominational faith” is built on a few excessively emphasized isolated passages of Scripture:
(1) Those who teach baptismal regeneration have their “pig trail” of Scriptures which they think support their particular institutions (Mark 16:16; John 3:5; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:20-21). They are so deceived by their misinterpretation of these verses that they are unable to see that God’s purpose in His eternal covenant of grace, redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ, and Divine quickening (regeneration) by the Holy Spirit must precede water in the Divine order.
(2) Others, like those who believe in baptismal regeneration, isolate a few passages which they think teach that baptism in the Holy Spirit is for men today. This neopentecostalism is the result of John Wesley’s experiential theology, which was followed by Charles Finney’s experiential methodology. Although there are only seven references in the New Testament to baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; Acts 11:16; 1 Corinthians 12:13), the unsuspecting are led by neopentecostal religiously-zealous people, without Biblical knowledge, to think the Bible is full of the subject of baptism in the Spirit. The seven references mentioned are divided into two sections. The first five point to Pentecost and the last two point backward to what happened at Pentecost.
(3) Others take a few verses, like the “kingdom is at hand,” “the kingdom of God is come unto you,” “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom,” “the kingdom of God is within you,” and “translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 12:28; Luke 12:32; Luke 17:21; Colossians 1:13), and try to fit the whole subject of the kingdom into these few texts without explaining them within their own contexts. They deny a future kingdom and spiritualize these verses to mean either no future kingdom, a present realized kingdom, a kingdom in the heart, a present spiritual reign, gospel kingdom, etc. However, one cannot state too emphatically that a literal promise spiritualized is an interpretational hoax or breach of confidence.

Following Paul’s reference to the defection of some from the truth (2 Timothy 1:13-18), he personally exhorted Timothy to be strong and to commit the things he had heard from Paul to the charge of faithful men, who shall be capable to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2). Since every Scripture is God-breathed, men who are responsible to instruct God’s sheep can never permit revelation apart from the written word. To do so would be a denial that the Bible is perfect and complete. The man of God is qualified to teach others because he has been permanently equipped (perfect passive participle of exartidzo, which means to furnish perfectly or to be perfectly equipped) (2 Timothy 3:17). Having been permanently equipped, he must not do the following things:
(1) He must not believe in God’s sovereignty and deny His unconditional covenant which is associated with His eternal purpose.
(2) He must not hold to God-breathed Scripture and deny the authenticity of some of them.
(3) He must not do wrong in order to have the opportunity of doing right.
(4) He must not associate with those who reject the truth of God.
(5) He must not be contemptible enough to profess one thing and believe and practice another.
(6) He must not desire to embrace some passages but reject others that do not fit his organization.
(7) He must not talk about loving the Lord and His word while giving little or no time to either.

People want a one minute answer to a question on Biblical principles that involves hundreds or thousands of hours of examination. A complex question can never be resolved with a simple answer, because every Biblical subject is composed of many interconnected thoughts and parts. This may be illustrated with an interrogator and a physician. The interrogator may ask the physician what causes blood to flow throughout the arteries and veins in the human body. The physician would answer that the heart, a muscular organ, by rhythmic contractions and relaxations keeps the blood circulating throughout body. The answer may seem simple until the interrogator asks a second question, what causes the heart to contract and relax? Many physicians would give a scientific explanation of life; however, the life principle cannot be explained apart from God, the Giver of life. When God is brought into any discussion, the subject becomes so complex that it includes His eternal purpose. Hence, one can understand that most people have a meager (lacking fullness or richness) understanding of Divine principles. The richness and fullness of Divine principles can never be experientially known apart from a laborious study of God’s gold mine of eternal verities. The following is a brief list of important Biblical principles where understanding is lacking:

FIRST—The difference between the revealed and concealed things of God’s will is known to few “professing believers.” “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NASB). These are not two variant wills. That would be dualism (the theory that there are two basic principles), which contradicts the Biblical fact that God has one eternal purpose. God’s will is like a giant globe of which man is capable of seeing only the hemisphere of what God has been pleased to reveal. Man has always quarreled with God over what He has not been pleased to reveal, even though nature itself proves that in the Divine administration secrecy and benevolence coexist. God has not been pleased to reveal the mystery of the new birth in the changed life of one He chose in Christ (Colossians 1:27). God has not chosen to divulge the mystery of His breaking off some of the natural branches in order that the Gentiles shall be grafted in among them (Romans 11:17-26). Our ignorance of many things does not mean we cannot be sure of some things. Beware of the idea that everything unknown to you should be considered the secret things of God when you are too lazy to search the things which have been revealed.

SECOND—God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are immensely misunderstood. Some basic things are absolutely essential in order that one may have the Biblical understanding of God and man:
(1) Man “was” in a state of uprightness as he came from the sovereign God (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Before the fall, man was straight with the will and law of God. God did not create him and then make him upright. He created him upright. Had Adam’s uprightness been essential to his being, he would have lost his being in the fall.
(2) Man “is” in a state of depravity because of his sin in Adam. How could Adam, who stood in created uprightness, fall? Do not make the mistake of failing to distinguish between Adam’s state of created uprightness before the fall and his state of uncreated righteousness with which God clothed him subsequent to the fall. A frequently repeated question is, why did God make man capable of falling? Although God made the sun and moon incapable of falling, He did not create upright man incapable of falling because in passing from matter to life He passed from comparative to probable certainty. Since God cannot create God, He created human life with a will which man himself could exercise. In exercising his will to refuse God’s command not to eat the forbidden fruit, man lost his uprightness and thereby became incapable of choosing that which is good.
(3) God’s elected ones among men “shall” actually be in a state of grace. All the elect are in grace electively by the Father and redemptively by the Son before they are actually in grace by the Spirit of regeneration. Thus, the “shall” is made sure by election and redemption. All the regenerated will repent, but we must not assume that since we cannot regenerate a person we are free from the responsibility to reach people indiscriminately with the gospel for the conversion of those the sovereign Spirit regenerates.

THIRD—The proper distinction between the present assembly which Jesus Christ is building and the future kingdom is made by few professing Christians. By not making this distinction, many are deceived and are deceiving others, thus robbing them of spiritual blessings. The kingdom was not designed to be the means of reaching the elect of God, but it was intended to be the completion and perfection of God’s eternal purpose concerning the elect. In 2 Timothy 4:1—"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, and Jesus Christ, who is going to judge the living and dead at His coming and His kingdom" (translation)—Paul mentioned four solemn events:
(1) recognition of Christ as the present searcher of hearts,
(2) judgment that is destined to come,
(3) Christ’s personal coming or appearance, and
(4) Christ’s future kingdom. “Then the king shall say to those on his right hand, come, you who have been blessed of my Father, come into possession of the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34—translation). We are commanded to eagerly make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). “For in this way the entrance shall be richly provided for you into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11—translation). The success of God’s eternal purpose depends on His, not man’s, faithfulness. Man’s unfaithfulness never prevents the fulfillment of what God decreed. Therefore, the unfaithfulness of the first generation Jews did not prohibit the nation of Israel from entering Canaan (Numbers 32:13; Joshua 12:1). Furthermore, the Jews’ rejection of Christ during His first advent did not nullify God’s promise that “all Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26). Israel’s past and future are based on God’s election; therefore, election does not rest on Israel’s faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness. The coming kingdom is for not only the Jews chosen in Christ but also the Gentiles who are likewise chosen in Christ. The chosen Gentiles, being wild by nature, are grafted into the olive tree; and they shall partake of the blessings of the kingdom with the chosen Jews. Nothing in history has satisfied the description of events accompanying Christ’s coming and kingdom, such as destroying Satan’s power, casting him into the bottomless pit, delivering creation from the bondage of corruption, restoring all things, every eye seeing Jesus Christ, and His knowledge covering the earth as the waters cover the sea.