The Daily Word of Righteousness

The False and the True, continued

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (II Corinthians 3:18—NIV)

What is our modern preaching? It is a form of an ancient philosophy called Gnosticism.

We are preaching a false gospel today in the Evangelical churches. What we are claiming cannot be supported by the Scriptures except for a few verses taken out of context.

The Evangelical message is false, unscriptural, destructive. It is not satisfying God's needs.

God looks down on man. He sees man's wretched moral condition. He cannot have fellowship with man.

What is God's solution? How would you solve the problem if you were God?

Would you give a formula, an incantation which if said and believed would bring people into Paradise while they were still sinful and rebellious? Would you do this?

Or would you devise a means of forgiving them and then set about to change them into the image you desired? If you had the power to do both, which would you choose to do?

God has chosen to do the latter. He devised a means, by the blood of the cross, to forgive mankind. Then He sent grace into the world, not to be a substitute for a change in personality but the means of changing the sinful personality—the very opposite of the way grace is defined today.

The true program of salvation includes an ongoing forgiveness provided we are following the Spirit of God. The end result of the various forms of Divine grace issued to us is a new creation in the image of Christ. As we then keep the commandments of Christ, the Father and the Son come and make Their eternal abode in us.

The three dimensions of the program of salvation are revealed in the three major convocations of Israel and also in the three major symbols of Judaism.

The three convocations of Israel are:

Passover

Pentecost

Tabernacles

The three symbols of Judaism are:

The Altar

The Lampstand

The Booth

Can you see that these two sets of three correspond?

Passover corresponds to the Altar. The two symbols tells us in order to begin the program of salvation, of removal from the personality of Satan and rest in the Personality of God, we must have our sins forgiven by means of the blood atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

The blood of the Lamb gives us the authority to begin the program of salvation.

The feast of Pentecost corresponds to the Lampstand. These portray the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom and power to go through the program of salvation.

The feast of Tabernacles and the Booth reveal the ultimate intention of God, which is that we become His eternal dwelling place.

To be saved is to be brought from our membership in the adamic race and installed at God's right hand as a living stone in His eternal temple.

Can you see how totally different this program is from that of belief in Jesus being a pass out of Hell and a ticket to Heaven? Salvation is not a change of place, it is a change of personality and the establishment of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is not a ticket to another place. It is a process of judgment, deliverance, transformation, and indwelling. Quite a different matter, wouldn't you say?

To be continued.