I knew it! With a name like this I knew you could not help but read this blog. Let me explain. I am a hunter. I started hunting because I love the woods. I don’t hunt anything I don’t eat. Well, other than a random pest or two. When you start cooking wild game you find out that you must prepare and cook wild game a bit differently than beef or chicken. One of my favorite ways to prepare deer is to can the meat. Yeah, I already see your nose curling up. Please bear with me in my folly. This is not like homemade Spam. When you can your own meat, it is cooked at high temperature for 75 minutes if your doing pints in glass canning jars. This is by far one of the best ways to eat deer meat. Super tender and it's just sitting on a shelf, no freezer needed for whenever you need a quick meal. You might be thinking it time for me to get to the point. OK, point number one. I would dare say 97% of people I tell about canned deer meat instantly think it sounds disgusting. Did you? I can guarantee close to 97% of the same people I could get to try my canned deer meat would think it’s a great way to eat deer and is delicious. Point number 2 is, it is very hard to get people beyond that initial reaction of “that sounds gross.” If I can get them to try it, I can pretty much guarantee they will not think it’s gross and will probably think it’s great. Still you’re asking; what’s the point? The point is that I sometimes must describe how great canned deer meat is before someone will try it. Our job as ambassadors is very similar. When you first explain to someone that God actually intends for them to be able to understand scripture themselves without running to commentaries and study Bibles, they many times are very skeptical. They were taught that they need highly educated men to explain the Bible to them. They were taught indirectly that they should just believe the preacher and stop asking all the questions. As a minister of the mystery, I must with patience and love explain how awesome it is to understand what God is doing. I must do my best to get people to get beyond the initial thought that they will never completely understand scripture. I need to take the time to help them see the value of becoming a Bible believer. I need to use examples and show them the clarity that scripture can have in their life. Much like explaining to people how great canned deer meat is regardless of their initial reaction to this gourmet delicacy. As a right divider, are you prepared to help people see the benefits of proper Bible study? Can you help people see what they are missing? Think about how you would describe something you know to be great, but others might not be privy to. I don’t mean to be manipulative, but to be able to describe the joy and excitement of truly understanding the Bible. Enthusiasm is contagious because it shows them you are truly excited share. God would have all men saved and then come to the knowledge of the truth. Christians will never come to a knowledge of the truth without understanding the mystery. Are you prepared to share the mystery with enthusiasm and excitement? Can you describe the joy and awe scripture can give when properly understood? If not, learn. If so, go get someone to try canned deer meat. It’s good stuff.   

Paul uses an interesting word four times in scripture that we rarely utter. This word is “utterance”. Some might consider this word outdated or archaic. I call it a Bible word. When you read words in scripture that you don’t understand or use, read all the uses in scripture and let the Bible define the words for you. Paul uses this word twice in reference to praying for his ability to share information about two specific things. In Colossians 4:3 Paul ask for prayers for utterance that he might speak the “mystery of Christ”. In Ephesians 6:19 Paul is asking for prayer for utterance to “make known the mystery of the gospel”. Enquiring minds would want to know, why does Paul think Christ was a mystery (secret)? Jesus himself taught for 3 years and his disciples continued preaching about him. Secondly, Jesus himself taught a gospel and his disciples also continued this message. Yet Paul was asking those around him to pray he might make known the mystery of the gospel and the mystery of Christ. How about you? Do you have an enquiring mind? If you don’t rightly divide, you just read past these statements with no thought to them at all. Maybe you were not taught to pay close attention to every word. Maybe you were taught to look for the general thought or meaning and have never considered WHY Paul thinks Christ and the gospel are a mystery. For those of us that understand right division and understand every word matters, Paul say exactly what he says for a reason because words matter. The mystery information Paul reveals to us about Christ was not taught during Christ’s earthly ministry. The information Paul reveals to us about the mystery gospel of grace was not taught during Jesus’s earthly ministry. This is EXACTLY why Paul calls these a mystery. Paul also understands the weight and importance of the ministry that was entrusted to him. Therefore, he is asking for prayer for open doors and utterance to speak these unsearchable things. Why are we talking about this? I want you to understand that if you understand the mystery, then you cannot be silent about it. You are holding the key to a door that your Christian friends and family CANNOT open without you. They are not being taught the mystery in their churches. You MUST share the mystery regardless of the outcome. The few that will actually study and learn the truth will be eternally grateful. I want you to understand that if you understand the clear gospel of grace that only Paul teaches in scripture, then you MUST share it with your Christian friends and family. They are not hearing a clear gospel in their churches. YOU must be the one with the utterance to share the clear gospel with the confused Christians around you. The few that will compare scripture with scripture will be eternally grateful. Looks to me like there are 135 people that follow our Facebook page. I am praying for 135 people to have the guts to share the mystery with someone. I am praying for 135 people to share the clear gospel with someone. I am praying for your utterance! Go stir the pot a little.          

We are working through the book of Romans right now and we just finished up chapter 7. The last verse of chapter 7 seams a little out of place at first. In verse 25 Paul says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Now that does not seem out of place unless you consider the first 24 verses. Paul has spent the chapter explaining the problems he has with sin and the constant battle with the old man, his flesh. Then he gets to verse 25 and thanks God. This is typically the opposite of our thought process. Context matters. Paul made an extremely important statement in 6:14 that is carrying through the context. He said, “For sin shall not have dominion over you”. I believe the point Paul is making for us is that we should be THANKFUL FOR THE STRUGGLE OVER OUR SIN. Do you realize where you would be without the struggle? You would be dominated by sin as unsaved people are. The fact that you have the ability to struggle against the flesh and the old man is something to be thankful for. I realize we don’t think about it this way, but Paul was thankful he could struggle over the flesh and is in the position to win this fight. Here is where I believe this chapter should motivate us in an amazing way. Paul struggled with sin every day and still accomplished amazing things for God. Why? Because he made the decision to MOVE FORWARD while in the midst of struggling over his sin. I can tell you this, if I would have waited to be perfect before starting our church, I would still be waiting. I will tell you this also; if you keep waiting to be perfect and you no longer struggle with sin to do something for God, you will NEVER accomplish anything for him. If you think you are not in a position to be used of God because you are struggling over some things, I challenge you to study Romans chapter 7 and its context closely. Paul is not saying that you should live in immorality and try to serve God at the same time. He IS SAYING, it’s important to keep “pressing towards the mark” while you are constantly fighting off the old man. If you feel like you are in a constant battel with sin, then you are in the fight just like Paul is describing in detail. Paul did not just focus on the struggle, he said he was thankful for it. Paul pressed ahead while in this battle and accomplished great things for God. YOU CAN TOO! Do you seriously think the preachers and teachers you have looked up to were perfect? They weren’t, and neither are you or I. We need to be thankful we can battle the flesh, and then get engaged in accomplishing something while we are here on the earth. The struggle should not stop you from serving, it should enable you to serve. Maybe if we would have heard a little less DO’S and DON’TS constantly in church and were told the struggle is normal, then we might have been engaged a long time ago. Proper doctrine matters! Understanding Paul’s doctrine about this struggle is a vital part of the Christian walk. Are you walking and working while in this struggle? You should be!

Confusion abounds in Christianity. I am not saying that Christians are ready and willing to admit this. Christians sit in their churches each Sunday listening to the same verses used over and over again to teach the truth as they see it. One of the most useful things I ever did is to study the doctrine of all the other denominations besides mine. I discovered that they also had verses to prove different conclusions than I held. In an honest Christian looking for truth this should cause pause at least and really should cause doubt. Thankfully I did not stick my head in the sand and pretend I never seen this elephant in the room. Thankfully I decided for myself that there must be an answer to the confusion. Thankfully I was willing to admit that I could be wrong. This trait is quite rare. In my experience, most Christians know they don’t really understand the Bible but are not willing to admit they could be wrong. I had a eye-opening experience that really made me realize the extent of the problem. As a Deacon in a Baptist church, I took part in revising a church constitution. Part of this project was to take a look at the Statement of Faith. What I studied during this project was the list of the “Fundamentals” or the “Baptist Distinctives” or whatever you want to call them. Here is what you most likely will find if you have the guts to try it, A statement sometimes followed by 20 or more verses to prove the statement. At a glance this seamed quite impressive. You would look at that long list of verses and think to yourself, this no doubt is an easily proven fact. Here is what I found out after helping to revise the Constitution and statement of faith in 2 different Baptist churches. You and I were being bluffed into thinking all those verses actually prove the statement. What I found was the first few verses were clearly about the context of the statement. But the further you got from the clear verses you found that most of the verses had little or almost nothing to do with proving the statement and were thrown in just to make a long list. Maybe your statement of faith does not look this way? Do you know? There was a period of time when I read the statements of faith of all the major denominations from many different churches. By and large I found this to be true over and over amongst all the ones I read. If you are sitting in a church Sunday after Sunday betting eternity on the chance you picked the correct church or were raised up in the right denomination, you are on thin ice no doubt. There are things you must figure out. These are things that WILL affect your eternity. If those verses listed are found in Israel’s Old Testament and Israel’s New Testament you are in a perilous position. Church doctrine for today comes primarily from your Apostle Paul. Yes, every verse in the Bible is true and accurate as written, but Paul was sent by Jesus directly to you with the message valid today in the age of grace. If your foundation is not built upon Paul’s doctrine, you’re just trusting in man’s opinion. Sadly today, most Christians are completely fine believing their pastor and church creed. They have more important things to do. I implore you to figure these things out for yourself. And when something smells fishy, is usually is. Stop, dig in and keep digging.  

One of the responses I regularly hear after I attempt to share the mystery with people is that I am “worshipping Paul.” What I am actually doing is attempting to help people see that they were taught to demean Paul’s position to an unbiblical one. You most likely have been told that Paul is a “missionary” just like I was. Do you know that missionary is not a Bible word? It’s not in scripture. This “Paul the first missionary” myth has been perpetuated over centuries. What we actually should be doing is letting the Bible define Paul’s God given position, authority, and titles. The title given Paul by scripture and thus the Holy Spirit is “Apostle.” Paul no-doubt understood that men with an agenda would demean his character and authority. This is rampant today. We find Paul regularly defending his apostleship throughout his books. Scripture affirms Paul’s apostleship without doubt or debate. Scripture goes beyond this declaring Paul as the “Apostle of the Gentles” (Rom 11:13 + II Tim 1:11) Scripture proves Paul himself had the “signs of an apostle” (II Cor 12:12) Scripture uses the word “apostle” at least 16 times for Paul. What I do is give Paul the position scripture does. What I do is give Paul the authority scripture does. What I do is give Paul the respect scripture does, no more and no less. I am not concerned with the fact that modern Christianity has for hundreds of years not recognized or purposely not given Paul the position scripture does. Modern Christianity is wrong on dozens of points. God has always worked through men in scripture. Moses, Abraham, Judges, Prophets, and Apostles alike. The scriptural FACT is that Paul is the man of authority in this dispensation, because Jesus GAVE HIM that position. I follow Paul so I can be pleasing to Jesus my Lord and Savior. You will be ashamed someday if you do not follow this scriptural command to build upon what Paul built. (Rom 2:16, I Cor 3:10) Tradition has taken the place of proper direction today in churches. Agenda has taken the place of proper instruction in churches. Pride and arrogance keep Christians today from building upon what Jesus is doing through Paul in this dispensation. My intent and desire is for you to fulfill what God desires for your life today. You will NEVER accomplish this outside of giving Paul the place scripture does. He is YOUR APOSTLE. You are to follow HIM today to be pleasing to Jesus. This is the clear teaching of scripture. I pray you would see through all the haze of church agendas and find the liberty we have in Christ. 

Here at church, we are currently working through a study on the fact that we are secure in Christ. As part of this study, I am currently teaching on our redemption that is “in Christ”. As part of the word study for this lesson I looked at all uses of the word redemption and its variants. When I got to the word “redeeming” I noticed neither two uses of the word in the NT is in relation to our salvation. These two instances are actually used to relate a very important admonition to us, the body of Christ. Both of these instances actually deal with how we as Christians relate to the insane world around us. Yes, I said insane. If you don’t agree, you are not very informed. Your freedoms as a Christian and as an American are under attack at an unprecedented and unbelievable rate. I digress….. Ephesians 5:16 tells us as Christians that we must be redeeming the time” Time is probably your most valuable asset. Outside of your salvation, time is the commodity you as a Christian MUST “redeem” (ransom, purchase back) from the world around you. The world around you is presently evil. The world around you has thousands of things to put your time into bondage. This is exactly why Paul’s second use of the word also refers to “redeeming the time” – Col 4:5. Why? We MUST walk in wisdom as we navigate this world. God’s will is that we would be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Church today is a scary place to find truth. Today I googled the question: “Examples of people in the Bible that lost their salvation” Very interesting search indeed. What I noticed is that even the people arguing the position I hold CANNOT articulate correct doctrine about eternal security. Confusion about eternal security in Christianity is completely about the lack of rightly dividing the scriptures. The FEW denominations that do believe in eternal security CANNOT properly support their position. John 10 is not about us, or our salvation in this age. I’ll return to the point. Many of us must start redeeming our time. Many of us must start setting some things aside to make room for proper study. Many of us must decide that our kids don’t need to participate in multiple sports. Many of us must decide that the TV is not actually that important. We are given a limited amount of time in this life to come to a knowledge of the truth. Our knowledge matters. What information we gain during this lifetime matters. Let me be clear. I do not study every night. I have hobbies. I have responsibilities outside my church, as do you. I even watch TV sometimes. But I understand this: You will make time to do the things you really want to do. We must ransom some of our time that this world finds uses for and make a decision to accomplish something for the Lord. I’m not trying to pick on you. I’m trying to help you understand that the knowledge you gain here on earth directly correlates to reward at the judgment seat of Christ. No, I’m not talking about “crowns”. I am talking about the responsibility you will be given at that time. Redeem some of that time for the Redeemer and you will be FOREVER grateful you did. Paul’s gospel matters. (Rom 2:16)
 

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
II Tim 2:24-26
​
I hope you will consider a few things our Apostle Paul has to say here in his correspondence to Timothy. In these verses Paul instructs teachers to be gentle, patient, meek, and not apt to strive. This is excellent advice. There is a balance to shoot for in instructing others. The balance is to speak the truth “in love.” The balance is to be bold in our stand and in the doctrine we are held accountable to teach by our Apostle and thus Jesus our Savior but yet loving. What I really want you to consider in these verses is the description Paul gives to those Timothy will be teaching. Paul’s description is as pertinent today as it was the day it was penned. Paul tells Timothy that he will be teaching those that “oppose themselves.” I’m sure you have heard the phrase “We are our own worst enemy” Pay close attention to the context of these people that oppose themselves. They are in the snare of the Devil who takes them captive at will. I would challenge you to think about this warning and admonition by Paul. Those that oppose themselves need what Timothy has. Timothy has learned and is supposed to share what Paul taught him. Timothy is also to teach other men this Pauline doctrine so it can be handed down. Churches today are devoid of Paul’s doctrine. Christians today live day by day within the confounds of their “church language.” They utter the slogan phrases as they were taught Sunday after Sunday ignoring the plain and clear divisions scripture teachers us. This church language we all learned and still struggle to clear from our heads is exactly what causes us to oppose ourselves. The tradition we learned from preaching, hymns and praise and worship songs specifically works against a proper understanding of scripture. Satan has used the church itself to hinder Christians at every step, opposing themselves daily through bad doctrine. I implore you to pay more attention to this doctrine that will keep you from being taken by Satan “at his will.” By spending so little time in Paul’s books, Christians are setting themselves up for failure on a daily basis and literally allowing Satan to mislead them. A smart animal can detect where the trapper has been by noticing the scent left behind, the leaves disturbed in and unnatural way, or things that don’t appear to be normal. A Christian grounded and settled in Paul’s doctrine for today can be prepared for Satan’s snares by the knowledge gained by applying scripture as scripture itself instructs us. According to Paul it is possible for them to “recover themselves.” The requirements are to change your mind about what the truth is. Here are the two choices of truth you have: scripture alone, or scripture as taught through man’s agenda. There is a huge difference between these two options. If you cannot believe EVERY VERSE in EVERY CHAPTER in EVERY BOOK exactly AS WRITTEN in scripture then you are trusting in a man’s agenda. Please don’t go on opposing yourself. Paul wrote 13 books to you specifically about recognizing Satan’s snares. Won’t you study them?

1Ti 1:10-11 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

2Ti 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

1Ti 4:6 ¶ If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

Our Apostle Paul talks more about doctrine than anyone else in the Bible. Paul’s books are chocked full of doctrine from beginning to end. Let me teach you something about the gospel. Paul’s gospel is the clear teaching of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Paul’s gospel however does not stop here. Paul’s gospel is so much more. Timothy learned from Paul that sound doctrine was according to the glorious gospel Paul taught him. This is of course the mystery gospel. The unknown and hidden gospel God had kept hidden in his mind until the time had come to share the grace message to the world. Israel’s final rejection of their Messiah should have and according to prophecy was the final straw. The “acceptable year” had been rejected and the “day of vengeance” was the next thing on God’s prophetic timetable. Jesus’s gospel fully expects and even verifies Isaiah’s prophecy. Jesus even explains to his disciples exactly what to do when they see the signs of his coming and the day of God’s vengeance approaching. But this day never happened. Instead, God stopped the prophetic timetable and delivered to Paul a unknown gospel that provides grace to everyone. This gospel was kept hidden because of God’s manifold grace and wisdom. Paul’s gospel explains the only clear gospel for this age but goes so far beyond. Paul’s gospel reveals and clarifies the doctrine we are to follow today in this unforeseen age of the mystery. Satan hates this gospel and everything relating to it. Satan has seen to it that when I preach the unsearchable riches of Christ, that preachers and other Christians despise me for it. Satan has seen to it that when I teach the Bible from a pure literal perspective people call me names and think I’m teaching some strange doctrine. Timothy is told to “take heed” to this doctrine I teach. The Corinthians were told to “take heed” how they build upon what Paul had started lest they lose their reward. I am only asking you to also “take heed” to what Pau is saying. Paul told Timothy to consider what he was teaching and the Lord would give him understanding. I’m asking you to do exactly what scripture clearly does, to take heed to your apostle. Then you too can have the eyes of your understanding enlightened (Eph1:18) Then you to can stop praying for God’s will and actually start doing it. How about it? Will you start believing your Bible over what ANYONE else says? This is exactly what Jesus asks you to do. 

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to share God’s manifold wisdom with another believer. Even though this person has been in church for many years and has taught and preached, he did not know God’s manifold wisdom. This, sadly, is the state of the majority of Christians today. Most Christians have had ten thousand instructors, (I Cor 4:15) professors, teachers, preachers, deacons, and elders, all teaching them throughout their Christian life and they are no closer to God’s manifold wisdom than they were many years ago. I regularly talk to Christians with decades of Christian experience but little true understanding of proper doctrine. I am not questioning their sincerity, dedication, or love for the Lord. I am telling you as clear as I possibly can that years and years of sitting in fundamental churches today DOES NOT mean you understand your Bible. What I have found over and over is that when the rubber meets the road, I rarely meet Christians that truly feel in their heart of hearts that they understand the Bible. The reason? They don’t understand the mystery. Understanding the mystery revealed to the Apostle Paul is THE KEY to ALL true Biblical understanding. It was Paul that was given the responsibility to share the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Eph 3:8) It was Paul that was given the responsibility to make all men see the fellowship of the mystery. (Eph 3:9) It was Paul that was sent to the Gentiles to share with us the program God kept hidden for ages and generations but is now revealing. (Col 1:26) Why? Why Paul? Jesus DID NOT minister to Gentiles. Jesus was sent here to fulfill everything written about him in the Law and the Prophets. No OT prophet revealed the things Paul did. These things were kept secret on purpose. (Rom 16:25) Here are the facts: Christianity by and large is ignorant of Paul’s mystery and Paul's doctrine. The reason for this is Bible colleges and seminaries don’t teach God’s manifold wisdom. This is the reason preachers don’t know it either. They are all building on the wrong structure. The building Paul built has Christ as the foundation, but Paul is the wise masterbuilder. (I Cor 3:10) and we must all “take heed” how we build thereupon. This warning is about building upon the information Jesus revealed to Paul after Christ’s ministry on earth was over. You are NOT the lost sheep in Jesus’ teaching, Israel is. You are not the subject of the parables, Israel and Israel’s kingdom is. You are not the subject of prophecy, Israel is. These are simple rules for proper Biblical interpretation but create an understanding of scripture you can’t imagine. God would have ALL MEN come to the knowledge of the truth. Most NEVER WILL. The simple reason; not following their apostle. Yes, it is this simple.