[…] That has always been our position that God is jealous that His sovereign choice and the sole and unmixed work of His Spirit be mediated through jars of clay. It is on the one hand all Him and nothing of man, but on the other hand, this wholly divine working is mediated through a people bearing His nature, so that “it is not I that does the work” (Jn 14:10; 5:19 see also Paul’s repeated ‘yet not I’s’) but “my Father is working and I work.” It’s the mystery of incarnation of the divine nature in the saints; it is the one in, and through the many, the old dialectic of paradox and mystery that has always stumbled humanism and works religion. This is why God is jealous that this be mediated through a “son of man” company that is in fact the overcoming church, and why the church must, of course, be here to complete the testimony AS the church. This waits on the fullness of revelation, but God is very jealous for the process by which such age-ending revelation comes about, but that’s another topic. Thank you for sending this. It casts a grammatical light on a choice of truth. How we interpret, and what we see in such things is also a reflection on how we are inclined. There is always a choice that reveals the disposition of the heart, even in the interpretation process, regardless of tools, resources, or training. I’m glad you’ve got such a ‘bead drawn’ on these things. […]
Matters of the Law: From Circumcision to Tithing
[…] Therefore, grace is never the absence of responsibility, but rather the power to fulfill ‘all righteousness’ by a newness of spirit that works by love. This, since nothing counts except what issues out of a new creation (Gal 6:15).
Thus, Paul’s vehemence against the law is essentially directed not against the law, but against the evil presumption that anything within the natural power of man (even the best will and resolve of religious man) could procure righteousness or contribute anything towards justification. That common presumption is always and under all circumstances and dispensations, WORKS. For this cause, Paul said “to whom we gave place, no, not so much as an hour SO THAT the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Pretty serious stuff. So serious that Paul says to Peter, “if I build again the things that I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” […]
The Key of the Mystery of Israel in the Reign of Grace
[…] Remember, the church, the body of Christ, in continuity with the righteous remnant of the OT, is NOT a NEW, but a ‘newly revealed’ entity (important distinction). Such a revealed entity does not end with the rapture, as held by some. Rather, at the end of Jacob’s trouble, the remnant of Israel that are left are transformed by the same revelation that arrested Paul on the Damascus road. It is this life giving revelation that makes the church the church (Mt 16:17-18), regardless of dispensation, whether now, or in a future millennium. The saved of Israel, together with all that will be gathered to Christ throughout the millennium, will be at that time the born again body of Christ on earth awaiting glorification at the second resurrection, but under a unique stewardship appropriately suited to that dispensation of divine purpose.
So then, who is ‘all Israel’? In Paul’s usage, ‘all Israel’ does not mean all that will ultimately be saved, i.e., the final coming in of all the elect. That is an attractive interpretation, but it does not satisfy the demands of the context. Manifestly, Paul has in mind the national regeneration of Israel at the end of the age.
Nor does “all Israel” mean every Jew, because two thirds will have been cut off out of the Land, and also many will fall in the wilderness of the nations during the desolations of Jacob’s trouble. Rather, the term ‘all Israel’ has in view a phenomenal uniformity of Jewish salvation that will obtain and endure throughout the millennium, extending into final perfection at the second resurrection. […]
