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,”
The Old Testament saints (especially under the Mosaic law) did not fully
understand everything. They were under a cloud of ignorance, simply because
they could not see the future, where all the tabernacle sacrifices were
leading. They knew that the Messiah was coming, but they did not know when.
That is why throughout the Old Testament (as evidenced in Luke 2:23)
it was said: “(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that
openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;),” because every
pregnant saintly woman hoped to give birth to the coming promised Messiah. I
can only imagine how elated Mary felt when she finally learned that she was
to be the mother of the blessed Savior!
So in the New Testament, everything came into view. When Paul speaks of “my
Gospel,” he doesn't mean that it belongs to him; but rather, he was the
first apostle to preach the Gospel of free grace, which Christ Himself
revealed to him. Galatians 1:12, “For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In
theology, we have LAW and GRACE (i.e., LAW and CHRIST). Paul is considered
the greatest preacher in history of salvation by GRACE. Keep in mind that
God never intended for the Old Testament saints to get to Heaven by keeping
the LAW. Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
God knew they would fail to perfectly keep the LAW, which is why the high
priest annually had to kill a male lamb, without blemish, which pictured the
sinless Savior. That lamb's blood was then sprinkled only by the high priest
upon the mercy seat in the holy of holies, to atone (cover) for the sins of
the people. The book of Hebrews is all about the blood. When Jesus entered
into the heavenly Holy Place (Hebrews 9:12), He did it ONCE for all mankind,
not just to cover (atone), but to forever take away the sins of every
believer. Forgiveness of sins is a free gift, already paid for, for anyone
who wants it. Jesus is offering eternal life to all humanity, which we
simply need to accept BY FAITH, simply by believing the GOOD NEWS that Jesus
died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and resurrected three days
later. Anybody who gladly accepts that GOOD NEWS as their own, relying upon
Jesus Christ to get them to Heaven, is immediately and forever saved. What a
great Savior!
The “mystery” of which the apostle Paul spake is not that salvation BY FAITH
was a secret unheard of until the New Testament (Acts 10:43), but that its
manifestation in the preaching of the Cross was new.
Luke 24:44-47, “And he said unto them, These are the
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that
all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” All of the Old Testament prophets
preached salvation by faith alone in the coming Messiah. Acts 10:43, “To
him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins.”
The solution of GRACE fulfilled the need revealed by the LAW. Evangelist Lester Roloff (1914-1982) likened LAW and GRACE to being two different doctors | Part Two. When we get sick we go to the doctor for a diagnosis, and then he prescribes a remedy to make us better. Dr. Law diagnosed mankind as being diseased with sin, but Dr. Grace prescribed 'THE GOSPEL' as the remedy. The future was a big mystery to the Old Testament saints. They only knew salvation in the sense that the lamb's blood needed to be shed and applied to the mercy seat by the high priest to cover their sins for another year. Hebrews 10:1, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” It was still salvation by grace through faith in the Old Testament—by faith in the blood of the coming Messiah—but it was a mystery to them.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, and was buried, and raised up triumphant three days later, all of a sudden everything made perfect sense! Jesus was the fulfillment of everything that had taken place throughout the Old Testament! Romans 10:4 says that “CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVETH”! That is so beautiful! It means when you believe on Jesus as your Savior, you have reached the end of the line, you are home! Jesus is the end of the line. The train of the LAW stops at GRACE, everybody off! The law was as a train, which transported everyone to Jesus, to be saved by grace. That is exactly what Galatians 3:24-26 teaches. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Oh, please let those words sink in dear reader—BUT AFTER THAT FAITH IS COME, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A SCHOOLMASTER, FOR YE ARE ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD BY FAITH!!!
I listened to a horrible sermon today by Dr. Andy Bloom (Pastor of the Central Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida) in which he says repentance means more than a mere change of mind. He says that to be saved, a person must realize Christ's power to overcome sin, and they MUST ACCEPT IT by receiving Jesus as their “Lord” and “Master.” That is the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation!!! It makes me sad and alarmed how relaxed professed Christians (including many independent fundamental Baptists) have become toward heresy in our churches today! Pastor Andy Bloom is preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL! Kindly, if Dr. Bloom truly understood LAW and GRACE, then he would not embellish the Gospel by adding works to it! He insists that turning from sins is not a “work.” I hear that deceptive argument quite often. Common sense tells us that any human effort is a “work.” What saith the Scripture? A group of people asked Jesus what “work” we must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus said this in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
The train stops at Jesus Christ, everybody off! While they were riding the train under the LAW, nobody knew what to expect when they arrived at their destination. It was a mystery to them. Ah, but when the train arrived in the New Testament, now it all makes sense! We are so blessed to be living on the New Testament side of things. I think I would have hated living under the LAW, not knowing what is coming ahead. We are so blessed to know these things, and even more, we have the incredibly insightful books of Daniel and Revelation telling us what God is going to do in the future. What a great God and Savior!!!
The apostle Paul had a burning desire to see people saved. He saw that the Jews were zealous in their religious beliefs, BUT NOT ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE! Respectfully, that describes Pastor Andy Bloom, who is zealous for God, but NOT according to THE TRUTH of the Scriptures...
Romans 10:1-4, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 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. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
Christ being “THE END” of the LAW means exactly what is says—once you place your trust (reliance) in Jesus Christ, believing the 'GOOD NEWS' of His death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection the third day, you have reached the end of the line! Pastor Bloom perverts the Gospel of free grace, when he says (full MP3 sermon) that the people who “BELIEVED” in John 2:23-25 didn't really get saved, because they believed, but refused to commit their lives to Christ as “Lord” and “Master.” I find no place in the entire King James Bible, where someone “believed” on the name of Jesus but didn't really get saved, because they failed to also make a commitment to Him. Dr. Bloom is teaching a strange doctrine. Faith in Christ is all you need! I do not intend to be unkind, God knows my humble heart, I am simply obeying the Scripture to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3).
Attention all passengers—Jesus Christ is the next and last stop. The train stops here, EVERYBODY OFF!!!
