The Cincinnati Church

Gen 11:4-  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Sometimes man in his supposed infinite wisdom gets things totally backwards.  Genesis chapter 11 tells us of a time when all the inhabitants of the earth spoke the same language and were working together to make a name for themselves.  They thought that if they built themselves a city and a tower that would reach unto heaven, they would retain their unity and strength and would not be “scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”  Still today, there really is “no new thing under the sun” (Ecc 1:9).  After the destruction of the world trade center, we are determined to “make us a name” and “build us...a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven,” by building the world’s tallest skyscraper.  Ironically, their efforts to prevent being scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth actually caused God to do that very thing; “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (Gen 11:8).  The “wise” men of this world may think that they can outsmart or outdo God, but “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:13). 

Faith-Grace-Faith-Grace

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Acts 18:27: 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:

      Which came first, the grace or the faith? The featured texts, at first glance, seem to be teaching opposite relationships between faith and grace. In Eph 2:8, the grace that eternally saved the saints in Ephesus, to whom Paul is writing, came through, or by means of, faith. In Act 18:27, the disciples believed (had faith) through, or by means of, grace. So which is it, do we get God’s grace through faith, or do we get faith through grace? The answer is that both of these statements are correct. The key to understanding this apparent contradiction is to understand of whose faith each verse is speaking. If both verses are speaking of our personal faith, then we have a contradiction in scripture or at least something that is very confusing. Since, “The law of the LORD is perfect” (Psa 19:7) and “God is not the author of confusion” (1Co 14:33), we know that there is no contradiction, nor confusion, when these verses are properly understood by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1Co 2:13). 

In today's Christianity, the general consensus is that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of every single person that has ever lived throughout all time. This meditation will provide a logical and biblical examination of whom Christ died for. This meditation is a bit long, but very interesting, so please do not be like Eutychus (Acts 20:9).

Possibility number 1: Jesus died for the sin of nobody.

This scenario is a logical possibility. The conclusion of this possibility is that every person who has ever lived will spend an eternity in hell because "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom 3:10), "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), and we know that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). Although it is logically possible, the scripture teaches otherwise. Only about a million verses could be used to disprove this possibility, but one will suffice. The Bible teaches that "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" (Heb 9:28). This rules out possibility number 1.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matt 13:45-46).

Before getting in to the meat of this meditation, it is necessary that the reader understand what the "kingdom of heaven" is that Jesus is referring to in this parable. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are two phrases that are used interchangeably in the Bible. The book of Matthew uses both phrases, while the other gospels only use the "Kingdom of God". For example, the phrase "kingdom of heaven" is used in the parable of the leaven in Mat 13:33, and the phrase "kingdom of God" is used in the same parable in Luke 13:20-21. The New Testament local church is God's kingdom on earth which began at the ministry of John the Baptist when he preached, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mat 3:2). The coming of the kingdom of God in those days was a fulfillment of the prophesy made by Daniel concerning king Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the statue made of gold, silver, brass, and iron mixed with clay (Dan 2:31-35). Daniel interpreted the four parts of the statue in the king's dream to be four great kingdoms of the earth, beginning with the head of gold which was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom of Babylon (Dan 2:38). Three great kingdoms would follow after Babylon (Dan 2:39-40). During the time of the fourth kingdom, another kingdom would emerge and remain forever and consume all the kingdoms of the earth. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever" (Dan 2:44). The three great kingdoms that succeeded Babylon were the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks, and the Roman empire. The kingdom that God set up during the days of the Romans was the Kingdom of Heaven/God that John the Baptist proclaimed at the beginning of his ministry into which men actively entered by penitent baptism (Luk 16:16 c/w Mat 21:31-32 c/w Luk 7:29-30) to submit to King Jesus and be joined unto an assembly of believers, per Acts 2:38-47. God's kingdom is the kingdom of the local church which began about 2000 years ago and broke in pieces and consumed all the kingdoms of the earth and, regardless of what the Mormons say, has stood forever and "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mat 16:18).

"37) And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 38) But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39) No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. " (Luke 5:37-39)

Some have observed that in the days of Jesus' earthly ministry, wine was evidently made by putting grape juice into wine skins for it to ferment and become wine. Wine is produced when the yeast in grape juice eats the sugar and produces alcohol as the byproduct. During this process the wine expanded and stretched the wine skin. If new wine was put into an old wine skin, it would break the old wine skin when it was fermenting. This is the physical explanation of the parable. This parable has spiritual implications also. Until the days of John the Baptist, Israel was under the law, the Old Testament religion. Since that time the Kingdom of God has been preached, which is the New Testament church (Luke 16:16). The religion of God was reformed by Jesus Christ at His first coming (Heb 9:10). The New Testament church could be said to be the "new wine" while the Old Testament form of religion is the "old bottle." Just as new wine cannot be put into old bottles, the N.T. church cannot be put in or subject to O.T. ordinances. Although few, if any, churches these days have animal sacrifices as part of their worship service, most of them have carried over one or more of the ordinances from the O.T. religion, in a sense putting new wine into old bottles. Many people today believe that they earn eternal salvation by keeping the works of the law in one form or another. The Bible clearly teaches the contrary, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal 2:16). Eternal salvation is by grace alone, without works (Rom 11:5-6, Eph 2:8-9). Works are anything a person does. Belief is a work (John 6:29, Acts 16:30-31, Heb 4:11 c/w Heb 4:3), faith is a work and a weighty matter of the law (1 Thes 1:3, Mat 23:23), and repentance is a work (Mat 12:41 c/w Jonah 3:10). Eternal life is not based on anything a man does such as believe, have faith, or repent (Rom 9:16). It is only based on God's election of saints unto Christ's saving work on the cross (Mat 1:21, John 6:37-39, Rom 9:11-13, Eph 1:3-12, 1 Thes 1:4-5, 2 Tim 1:9, Titus 3:5, 1 Pet 1:2, Heb 1:3, Heb 10:14). Making works of the law necessary for eternal salvation is putting "new wine into old bottles."