Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: (Romans 15:8)
Jeremiah made no effort to fulfill the prophecies the Lord gave him. Jeremiah contented himself with bearing witness of the mighty promises of God. Meanwhile he obeyed the Lord in the directions given to him each day. Let us do the same.
On and on goes the list of myths and errors. But the churches will be purified during the age of moral horrors that is approaching. Then the Gospel of the Kingdom will be seen to be a response to the statements of the Hebrew Prophets, not a new religion unrelated to biblical Judaism.
The Definition of Grace
The term "grace" has come to mean the perpetual forgiveness of the sins of the Christian whether or not he or she makes a success of victorious Christian living. We ought to try to do good, but if we are tempted and fall there is no real problem because we are saved by grace and not by works of righteousness we have done.
Let us look at several passages that employ the word "grace" and from them derive a more comprehensive definition.
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:33)
Grace as used here means the Presence and blessing of God.
Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. (Acts 11:23)
Grace means the Presence and blessing of God.
Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:43)
Grace here would mean to continue to trust in Jesus for salvation, according to the doctrine of Paul, rather than in the Law of Moses.
Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands. (Acts 14:3)
Trust in the atonement of Jesus rather than the Law of Moses.
And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. (Acts 14:26)
Presence and blessing of God.
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. (Acts 15:11)
Trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation rather than in the Law of Moses.
And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. (Acts 15:40)
Presence and blessing of God.
And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: (Acts 18:27)
Trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation rather than in the ministry of John the Baptist.
Another Unscriptural Pursuit:
And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: (Luke 4:9)
The challenging of us to "do great things for God." Nowhere in the Bible are we challenged to do great things for God. This is presumption. It is the challenge to leap from the gable of the Temple. It is soulish ambition in the things of God.
The "faith chapter" of the Scriptures is the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews. There is not one instance of aggressive faith in this chapter. The faith portrayed here is obedience to the revealed Word of God. True faith is a confidence in God's goodness, power, and faithfulness such that we obey implicitly His every command.
There is no evidence whatever in the Book of Jeremiah that Jeremiah challenged God to do exploits. A careful study of the Book will reveal that true faith, the faith by which the people of God of every century have lived, is the faith of obedience to that spoken by the Lord.
When God called Jeremiah in the beginning, Jeremiah protested that he was only a child. After this, God gave Jeremiah an unpopular message, a message that aroused hostility. The concept of an aggressive faith that challenges God to perform some grand idea of the believer is foreign to the Book of Jeremiah.
Today we have thousands of Christians who believe that the role of the churches is to govern secular society and to force unsaved people to behave in a manner acceptable to the Christians. Christians are attempting to impose their will on unbelievers. They will fail and may bring intense persecution on all of us.
The proper role of the Christian in the present hour is to bear witness of the Kingdom of God that is coming to the earth. To attempt to govern now is to move outside of the plan of God for His Church.
In America the churches are demanding that the civil government repent. But God is speaking to the churches to repent.
In some quarters the idea has been expressed that Christians are to use their gifts to set up the Kingdom of God now so that all will be ready for the Lord to return. According to the Scriptures, the present age will grow increasingly worse until the end. Then the angels of God will remove all wickedness and wicked people from His Kingdom. In that hour the saints of God will shine as the sun in their righteousness.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:43)
The greatest witness of all time will be given just before the Lord returns. But the Kingdom of God will not be established on the earth before the Lord Jesus returns from Heaven with His saints and holy angels. To teach otherwise is to invite presumption and destruction.
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