Resolving the conflict between Paul (faith w/o works) and James (faith w/o works is dead)
Galatians 2:7 – But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter
Galatians 1:11-12 – But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:11 – But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Peter wrote that ‘some of Paul’s teachings are hard to understand”. This makes sense when you consider that Peter didn’t fully understand Paul’s gospel of grace; remember Paul had it out with Peter in Galatians 2:11.
2 Peter 3:15-16 – And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Paul is God’s spokesman for Gentile nations today, not preaching Peter’s gospel of repentance and baptism:
Romans 15:8 – Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
Romans 15:16 – That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God.
More on being under the Law vs. Grace:
God does all the work; we simply walk in them:
Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Phil 1:6 – Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Col 1:28b – …for which I am toiling also, struggling in accord with His operation, which is operating in me with power.
Quoted: Justification by faith is being declared to be righteous by God simply by believing God that we are righteous. This evangel (good news) would be readily believed were it not for ANOTHER evangel in the New Testament stating that confession of sin to God is the only way for one to become right before God. This evangel is shockingly NOT based on the cross of Christ (for it was heralded BEFORE the cross), but rather on the confession of sin.
This evangel is known as “The Evangel of the Circumcision” and it is the evangel brought to Israel via Moses, via Peter, via Jesus while He was on earth. It is NOT the evangel brought to the nations via Paul, via the glorified Son of God Who was no longer confined to Israel truth when He called Saul the Pharisee on the road to Damascus.
Strange that, when confronted with both these gospels, the majority of the human race will ignore all of Paul’s amazing declarations concerning sin, in Romans, in order to believe the Israel gospel found via the Circumcision writers—Peter, James, John, and Jude. Why is that? Two reasons. 1) Humans would rather be accountable for their sins and have a part in their expiation rather than be the beneficiaries of the grace of God which does not include them, and 2) most of the human race remains unaware that the evangel of Paul and the evangel of Peter are not meant to be reconciled (it is impossible for them to be) and certainly not mixed.
The cross of Christ heralded by Paul occasioned a new humanity. But with a new humanity comes the erasure of national distinction. Thus, the cross of Christ becomes fatal to the Israelite message, which has Israel as the head of the nations during the Millennium. This is why the Israel gospel is not founded upon the cross, but rather upon a recognition of Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel.
For us, however, the cross is the centerpiece of our evangel. It is not only the basis of a new humanity, but for justification by faith. “We are reckoning a man to be justified by faith apart from works of law” (Romans 3:28). Justification and law do not commingle. Yet during the thousand-year Israel kingdom, law is front and center. Thus, even during the thousand-years Israel does not come into the truth of justification by faith.
God could not justify the old humanity, and so He put it to death. This is advanced (and advance) truth only for the body of Christ. Thus, no one embracing the Israel gospel of repentance and forgiveness is able to grasp the truth of justification by faith. God does not give it to them. And neither does He give them truths pertaining to the new creation. No, but they are (or will be) a reformed old creation. As odd as this seems to us, it is an Israelite undertaking.
“The cross of Christ” is mentioned neither in the book of Hebrews, nor in any of Peter’s letters, nor in John’s three letters. This is because the manner of Christ’s death is irrelevant to Israel’s gospel. The cross of Christ is still, to this day, a mystery to Israel. Not even our Lord’s disciples heralded it. How could they, when they didn’t even understand it? Nothing in the old covenant types could explain what happened on Calvary.
The death of Christ is important to Israel, yes, but the MANNER of His death they still cannot comprehend.
Only one man understood—and was meant to understand—the meaning of the depth of Christ’s six hours of suffering upon the Roman stake. To only one man was the secret of the cross revealed: the apostle Paul.
The cross of Christ abolished the fleshly advantage of Israel, considering all humanity—as the progeny of Adam—to be fit only for death. The cross of Christ therefore put the old humanity itself to death, opening the way to justification by faith to those who believe. Additionally, the cross of Christ was also God’s means of reconciling the heavens and the earth—the entire population of the universe—to Himself.
Nowhere will you find justification by faith in any Israel book of the Bible. Nowhere will you find the reconciliation of every inhabitant of the universe to God in any Israel book of the Bible. These epic themes are not the themes of Israel because the cross is not the theme of Israel. Their theme, their message, is forgiveness of sins for Israelites and the proselytes of Israel. For this, they need only grasp Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, the Lamb of God—and certainly not as the Progenitor of a new humanity, tortured for six hours on a Romans stake.
Quoted:
The Dispensations, in General-
KEY VERSE: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth,” – 2 Timothy 2:15.
WHAT TO TO? Study. WHY STUDY? To show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. HOW STUDY? By rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
DEFINITION: A Dispensation (or division of Scripture) is God making known (dispensing) what His will is for a particular, specific period of time, that is, God makes some offer to certain people. The test is do the people accept or reject that offer or revelation of His will. (See Scofield Reference Bible, Pg 5, old edition.)
You are a Dispensationalist if you believe salvation is by grace completely apart from any works; If you believe the Nation Israel did not accept their Messiah; If you believe salvation is offered to Gentiles and Jews; if you believe it is all right to have some coins in your pocket, an extra pair of shoes, and another garment; and if you believe each man is to provide for his own household, Instead of “all things common.” Once these points are established in the mind, there are many fine details that, when thought upon, fall into their proper place to the clarifying of the mind and satisfying of the soul and the banishment of confusion and uncertainty-and also to the giving of certainty of purpose and actions.
A knowledge of the Dispensations: (1) Saves from the feeling that Scripture contradicts itself-many confusing passages will become clear to you. (2) Enables you to be able to properly and correctly apply Scripture.
- Helps to give a grasp of the message for this Dispensation of Grace.
- Helps you to realize what the Lord’s purpose is for this Dispensation of Grace. (5) Knowing His purpose you can live and serve according to His purpose. (6) Guards you from doctrinal errors: for example, errors regarding healings, Israel, disarming (turn swords into plowshares, when does that apply? what dispensation?). (7) Shows where we are in the history of the world. (8) Guards you from fears, false hopes, and hopelessness.
Dispensation 1 began with Adam and the responsibility was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve disobeyed and the judgment was the expulsion from the garden of Eden.
Dispensation 2 began outside the garden. They were to bring an offering for sin. The failure eventually was world-wide corruption necessitating the universal flood.
Dispensation 3 began with Noah and his family on the cleansed earth.
The responsibility was to replenish the earth. Instead the people tried to build a tower to Heaven. The judgment: God confused their tongues and scattered the people.
Dispensation 4 began with Abraham who was promised that from him would come a nation. They were to keep separate from idol worshipers But all the family went down to Egypt. The judgment was slavery.
Dispensation 5 was LAW to the Israel nation.
Dispensation 6 is the Dispensation of Grace. This is the dispensation in which we live.
Dispensation 7 is the Millennium.
Notice what God dispensed in each dispensation; what was the revelation of His will-it was something different in each dispensation.
Yet all of this wondrous standing, given to us in the riches and glory of His grace, is made of none effect, and is utterly lost to those who force themselves back into a position which obtained in a Dispensation which has passed away.