Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 4
To receive chastening, you need to judge RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT.
To repent of works, is to JUDGE righteous, binary judgment. That is receiving chastisement.
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
To judge men according to fleshly works is not righteous judgment.
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
You need to judge yourself, judge mankind, judge the church… NOT looking at the things that are seen (the appearance), but at the things which are NOT SEEN.
To judge spiritually by WORDS, instead of judging by fleshly WORKS, is righteous judgment.
To receive chastisement, you need to understand that salvation has nothing to do with fleshly works, and that works are not required for salvation, or required after salvation as a result of, or evidence of, or proof of salvation. You need to stop yourself, and judging men’s salvation by fleshly works.
You need to change your mind from judging by fleshly works, to judging only by WORDS.
Because that is how we will be judged.
Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
You will be judged by whether or not your words are HIS words. You will be judged by whether you UNDERSTOOD and RECEIVED His words… His gospel. Whether you believed the WORDS, of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You need to change your mind from judging by what can be seen, to judging only by Jesus Christ. Because that is how we will be judged.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; …
You are either just as righteous as Jesus Christ, or you are UNRIGHTEOUS. If you are not as perfect as Jesus Christ, if you are not 100% incapable of sin, just like Him, you are not going to be justified.
That is how we need to judge ourselves. That is righteous judgment. That is receiving chastisement.
1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
You either have Jesus Christ, and your works don’t matter, or you do not have Jesus Christ and your works don’t matter. Saved or lost… fleshly works don’t matter!
To think that they matter is wrong judgment! To think that they matter is to have NOT received chastisement, and to not have received Jesus Christ.
Now I believe that just like Hebrews provides the chastening of Israel, that they might hear and repent, and believe, and get saved, Romans 11 shows that that same opportunity to hear and repent, and that same chastening… is now sent to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
And so these warnings, these chastisements, now have come on the Gentiles.
God is now speaking to the Gentiles “as unto sons”, for as long as they, as a people, receive chastisement. As long as they believe… as long as they continue to ACCESS Christ, ACCESS grace, BY FAITH!
Romans 11:20-22 … because of unbelief they were broken off … take heed lest he also spare not thee. … otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
God refused Israel and gave the chastisement and the opportunity to become sons of God in truth, by faith, to the Gentiles. Now spiritually, the Gentiles are now offered the same spiritual chastisement.
But, you might think that all this presents a problem… Why? Because He says…
Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If God chastens all those that He loves, and if preaching and rebuke via the gospel is chastening, and God is preaching the gospel to unsaved people today, through the Bible and through the Church, does this mean that God actively loves the Gentiles? Does it mean He loves the whole world? Does it mean He loves lost people? The answer is NO!
Here is what you need to understand: The Lord chastens all that He loves. But the Lord does not ONLY chasten His sons, and the Lord does not only chasten those that He loves. Just because God chastens someone, it does not mean that they are loved or that they are a son. That is the negative (the reverse) of what it says.
You’ll never find a place in Bible that says God loveS unsaved people.
And Hebrews 12:6 is not proof for that lie either. It says… “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”
It does NOT say “whom the Lord chasteneth he loveth”.
It does NOT say that He loves every person that He chastens. It ONLY says that the Lord chastens every person that He loves.
It does not say that every person that he scourgeth, he receiveth as a son. It ONLY says those that he receiveth, he scourgeth.
Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
It says that if you HAVE no chastisement, then you are a bastard and NOT a son.
But it does not say that if God chastises you, that you ARE a son. You can’t ASSUME the negative!
It says that EVERY SON receives chastisement. It says that if you RECEIVE/ENDURE chastisement that God counts you as a son. That God loves you.
You’re not son just because God chastens you… but you are a son if you RECEIVE it.
Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth …
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Just like Hebrews 12:6, these do not say God loves everyone that He chastises.
It only says God chastises everyone that He loves.
You can’t assume the negative of that statement. You can’t assume that God loves all the Hebrews or all the Gentiles. They have to RECEIVE the chastening. They have to REPENT at the chastening!
The Bible does not say that God ONLY ever chastises His sons. See, God chastens people He hates too!
Psalms 94:10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
Who are “the heathen”? Appears 148 times. They are the Gentiles, the nations… and also the heathen are simply called “the wicked”.
Psalms 9:5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
Psalms 59:5 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
And the heathen, the wicked, God does NOT love. He hates them.
Psalms 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
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A man in his unsaved state, especially a Gentile, a heathen, is not loved. He is hated.
But even in his unsaved heathen state, he is preached to, and he is chastened with words, so that he might believe and be saved, and BECOME loved of God.
Galatians 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; …
The Bible does not say that God loves the heathen. But it does say he chastises them, and preaches to them, so that they might get saved. And those that repent, He adopts them, and loves them, and deals with them as with sons. We can become His sons, through faith.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
In our unsaved state, as hated heathen, He chastises us and justifies us, and makes us to be His sons, through faith.
The Lord chastens, not ONLY his sons, but lost people too – He chastens them, to try to get them to hear and get saved.
Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. … 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. 19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: … 22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. 23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. … 29 Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, 30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
God OFTENTIMES chastens lost people to try to get them to hear and get saved. He sends them a messenger to preach to them GRACE. He speaks to them, once, maybe twice. But if they refuse, they are left alone. They are not loved simply because they WERE chastened once or twice in the past.
But Israel is different than the Gentiles. Israel’s default state was to be loved of God.
Hosea 9:10-16 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: … 15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. 16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
Israel was chastened because they WERE loved. They deserved chastening, because it was theirs by birth. The Gentiles are now chastened out of mercy, because of Israel’s rebellion.
This is the uniqueness of the children of God, after the flesh. This is the uniqueness of the bastard.
He was given chastisement out of necessity. He was spoken to AS a son, he was chastened AS a son, but he rebelled. And so he is loved no more, he gets no more chastisement, he is dealt with as a bastard… he is cut off. He is hated.
God LOVED Israel, past tense, when He chose them, and gave them the covenants to inherit.
But when they reject it, and won’t receive it, they are loved NO MORE. They are cursed.
So not everyone who has been chastised is loved. But everyone who is loved is chastened.
The Gentiles have been graffed into the New Covenant, so there is SOME application of their situation and their spiritual things to the Gentiles. But you need to be careful, to not apply everything that you find in the book of Hebrews, to the Gentiles. It doesn’t all apply.
The Gentiles have now been given the same chastisement, the same treatment, the same opportunity to repent and be adopted… to become true SPIRITUAL sons of God.
Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
God can chastise unsaved people. It doesn’t mean He loves them, or that they ARE saved… at least not yet. They have to RECEIVE, ENDURE, that chastisement to become sons, to be received as sons, and to be dealt with as sons.
Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Israel, as the son of God by a bondmaid, was given chastisement as a son. But because Israel rejected that chastisement… Israel’s was cut off, and their chastisement was taken away from them. They are now being treated as bastards, and not as sons.
You have to receive the adoption of sons. Then God will love you, and deal with you as with a son.
Truthfully, only those that get saved ARE LOVED of God.
Romans 9:24-26 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Who are the children of God, who are the actively, presently, beloved? Not the Jews. Not the Gentiles.
Those that are called and come out “OF the Jews” and out “of the Gentiles”. Those are his people.
God does not actively love all Jews or all Gentiles. He loves His children. He loves those that get saved.
Romans 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
It doesn’t say “if God ever chastened you, even once, then you are a son”. Lost people have been chastened. It doesn’t make them sons.
It also doesn’t say, “if God never chastened you, ever, even once, ONLY THEN are ye bastards”. You can have been chastened in the past, and yet be a bastard today.
It says “if ye BE without chastisement”. If ye BE. Not if ye WERE. If you actively, currently, ARE… WITHOUT chastisement. If you don’t have it today. If you never received it. If it was taken away from you, because you would not receive it. If you are WITHOUT it… outside of it… then, you are a bastard, and not a son.
This chastisement was given to Israel. As a nation. As a people.
The very book of Hebrews was a chastening. Likely their last chance.
And when they refused it, God took it away… and chastisement, and repentance, was granted to the Gentiles.
Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Acts 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
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Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
That is written to Jews. They were spoken to AS unto children, they were chastened AS children.
But the individuals, have to REPENT, in order to be adopted. To truly be children, and truly be loved of God.
Those that refuse it, they are not counted as sons, but as bastards. They are not beloved.
In Revelation chapters 2 & 3, Jesus is speaking to churches. Not to individuals, but to people groups. He is rebuking, chastening the churches because of the false doctrines and spiritual wickedness that they were allowing into them. And He says…
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
This was written to a church. Not to the Church. Not only to saved people. And not only to lost people.
But to a local church, in which there were some saved people and some lost people.
This church had a candlestick. It was a candlestick. This church as a people was graffed into Christ. BUT… not everyone who was in that church was in Christ. There were false teachers and false doctrine in that church, for which they were being chastened… from which they were being warned to repent… as a church… as a people. And if they refused.. what would happen to them?
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
If they did not repent… if they would not remove the false doctrines from them, and/or remove themselves from the false doctrine, then their candlestick would be removed.
What does that mean? Well the candlestick was a church.
Revelation 1:20 … the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
And those churches were at the feet of Jesus… Jesus was in the midst of them.
Revelation 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
They were surrounding Him, near Him. I think we could say graffed into Him, abiding in Him.
These are NOT individuals, they are churches. They are groups of people. God either continues to love them and chastise them, because they believe, or He casts them away as rejected and cursed for their unbelief.
If a church which was formerly preaching the true gospel of grace (that is, a church that had a lit candle.. it had light – it had the gospel) is infiltrated by false prophets and that church begins to believe and preach false gospels… and if when they are rebuked, chastened, with words, being told to repent… as in Hebrews, and as in Revelation 2 and 3… if they refuse, then Jesus will remove them away from their place. He will cut off that church, that group of people, in unbelief so that they have no more access to Jesus Christ.
And that is what happened to all of those 7 churches in Revelation. Those churches are not there anymore. There are no Bible believing, gospel preaching churches there, in what is now all Muslim cities.
Those candlesticks have been removed. Cut off from their place.
That is what He did to those seven churches, and that is what He did to Israel.
Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
The Jews didn’t ALL not believe. A small remnant did believe. Nevertheless, they were all, as a people group, counted in unbelief, and cut off in unbelief. Because enough of them refused the chastisement of God. They refused to repent at His words, at His rebuke.
And maybe, it was only one person. One false prophet. One person who defiled many others… who they refused to put out, in order to save the church.
This is how God deals with GROUPS OF PEOPLE. He rebukes them, He chastises them with words… and if they, as a group, won’t hear, and separate themselves from the iniquity, then He cuts off ALL the people.
Joshua 22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
What is “the accursed thing” in the New Testament? It is false gospels and false teachers!
Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Unless the people removed that accursed thing (that false gospel) from among them, or they all removed themselves from those that were accused, they were ALL going to be cut off.
Numbers 16:22-24 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
He chastises all the people, and commands them to GET AWAY from the accursed.
In the OT it was, separate yourselves from the uncleanness of man or you will be cut off and die physically.
In the NT is it, separate yourself from unbelievers, from false teachers, or you will be cut off and die spiritually.
2 Corinthians 6:14,17 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
You have to get away from the unclean thing… from unbelievers… from false doctrine.
If you have unbelievers in your church.. put them out! If you have people who believe and teach false gospels in your church… put them out!
If you are in a church with UNBELEIVERS… Get out! If your church is not WHOLLY preaching the true gospel… get out, and get away! That church is either cut off… it is going to be cut off soon.
You need to get away, and separate yourself from those that preach false gospels, so that you and your children, are not cut off when God cuts THEM off.
You need to COME OUT from those that preach fleshly things; fleshly good works. Unclean things.
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How do you separate yourself SPIRITUALLY, and not touch the “unclean thing” spiritually?
You repent of FLESH, of fleshly works, of your own righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
You have to receive this chastisement… you have to repent of works… in order to get saved, and not be cut off with unbelievers.
To be clear, I am not saying that a saved person can get cut off and lose their salvation.
They may be cut off in some way that their understanding is taken away and now, in this life they are unable to find truth and understand it. But even if that can happen, it is only in the flesh. Their spirit is abiding in Christ. It has peace with God. There is no condemnation to it. They have already received chastisement spiritually, and produced good fruit. Their spirits cannot be cut off from the Spirit.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Ultimately, we receive chastisement by receiving Jesus. Receiving every part of chastisement (the spiritual rebuke and any and all the spiritual and fleshly punishment) is all accomplished the moment that we get saved.
Jesus told Thomas, “behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side:”
Paul talked about “the marks of the Lord Jesus”.
The chastisement of our peace is in HIS body. We need to go into Christ. To go into rest, into grace, by faith.
When we receive Jesus, we receive chastisement.
When we get saved, we receive the chastisement which was upon Christ, and we obtain peace with God.
We don’t have to get chastened in the flesh to become sons of God. Physical punishment does not make anyone a child of God. Only DYING and being BORN again makes one a child of God.
Our chastisement was on Him. We just need to receive it, in Him.
When we go into Him, and access Him by faith… into Christ, into rest, into grace, then our chastisement is complete… our peace with God is set.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Once we have gone into grace, we have PEACE with God. Our chastisement is over. We don’t have to receive it again and again continually to remain a Christian.
Fleshly things are not eternal. They don’t last. So they must be done DAILY.
But spiritual things last forever. So they only need to be done ONCE.
Hebrews 10:10-12 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Carnal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins had to be done DAILY.
But a spiritual sacrifice only needs to be done ONCE.
You have to eat worldly food and drink worldly water over and over. DAILY. If you don’t you’ll die.
But you don’t have to eat spiritual food DAILY. You just have to eat Jesus ONCE.
You don’t have to drink spiritual water DAILY. You just need to drink the gospel ONCE.
You don’t need to bring forth spiritual fruit DAILY. You just have to bring it forth ONCE.
You can, and you should do it daily! But you don’t have to! You just have to do it ONCE. And it lasts forever!
You need to repent unto salvation. But you don’t need to repent daily… you only need to repent ONCE.
You need to die with Christ. And be born again in Heaven. But only ONCE.
You don’t need to die daily. You can. You SHOULD. Paul said that he did. But you only HAVE TO die ONCE.
True spiritual things are eternal. They don’t need to be done MORE THAN ONCE!
The same is true of chastisement.
We MUST receive chastening… but only ONCE. We don’t have to continually receive more and more chastisement throughout our lives. We just have to receive it once.
Fleshly chastisement needs to be given over and over. If you don’t, your son will NOT OBEY.
But spiritual chastisement only needs to be received ONCE. If God does it once, and a son receives it once, they never NEED it again. They will never disobey. They “cannot sin”!
Christians have already received chastening, one time, in Christ, and are now at peace with God. No more chastisement is required.
Hebrews isn’t preaching fleshly works and fleshly chastisement. It is teaching SPIRITUAL things. It is teaching our gospel! The gospel of grace.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Hebrews 12:11 is the only other verse in the Bible with chast* and peac*.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
This direct link proves that the passage in Hebrews 12 about receiving chastisement, is NOT about God trying to get people to obey the law, or trying to get them to live a cleaner life and sin less. Not at all!
It is about receiving salvation. Repenting of works and receiving Jesus. This is how we receive the CHASTENING that yields PEACE!
Hebrews… is not preaching another gospel. It is preaching our gospel!
If you have repented of works, believed on Jesus, and confessed the gospel of Christ unto salvation, then you have received chastening, and produced “the peaceable fruit of righteousness”.
Receiving this rebuke, this chastisement in Hebrews, yields the peaceable FRUIT of righteousness!
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What is “the peaceable fruit of righteousness”?
Well, here is the only instance of “peace” and “fruit of righteousness” in the same verse in the whole Bible, and it is the only other instance of “fruit of righteousness” in the NT:
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
The fruit of righteousness makes peace. Makes peace between God and men.
What is this peaceable fruit of righteousness? Well if you are familiar with James 3, you can probably guess.
James 3:10-18 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. … 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Your fruit is what comes out of your mouth… your fruits are your WORDS!
The fruit of righteousness is pure salvation doctrine. It is righteous judgment. Perfect and binary. No partiality! It is heavenly WISDOM that gives eternal life to those that receive it.
To preach the gospel out of your mouth, is to SOW the peaceable fruit of righteousness, whereby we MAKE PEACE, between God and men.
The fruit of righteousness is NOT man’s earthly good works. It is not earthly love. It is not the joy and peace and longsuffering of MANKIND on Earth. It is heavenly doctrine, spiritual wisdom, the WORDS of eternal life.
A man’s fruit is not His WORKS. Nor is it his attitudes, or his feelings, or emotions, or desires.
A man’s fruit is his wisdom: his counsels, his doctrine, his beliefs, his WORDS in his heart.
Dec 31 2024
Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 4
Hebrews 6 & 10 – The Impossibility of Salvation – Part 4
To receive chastening, you need to judge RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT.
To repent of works, is to JUDGE righteous, binary judgment. That is receiving chastisement.
1 Corinthians 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
To judge men according to fleshly works is not righteous judgment.
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
You need to judge yourself, judge mankind, judge the church… NOT looking at the things that are seen (the appearance), but at the things which are NOT SEEN.
To judge spiritually by WORDS, instead of judging by fleshly WORKS, is righteous judgment.
To receive chastisement, you need to understand that salvation has nothing to do with fleshly works, and that works are not required for salvation, or required after salvation as a result of, or evidence of, or proof of salvation. You need to stop yourself, and judging men’s salvation by fleshly works.
You need to change your mind from judging by fleshly works, to judging only by WORDS.
Because that is how we will be judged.
Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
You will be judged by whether or not your words are HIS words. You will be judged by whether you UNDERSTOOD and RECEIVED His words… His gospel. Whether you believed the WORDS, of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You need to change your mind from judging by what can be seen, to judging only by Jesus Christ. Because that is how we will be judged.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; …
You are either just as righteous as Jesus Christ, or you are UNRIGHTEOUS. If you are not as perfect as Jesus Christ, if you are not 100% incapable of sin, just like Him, you are not going to be justified.
That is how we need to judge ourselves. That is righteous judgment. That is receiving chastisement.
1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
You either have Jesus Christ, and your works don’t matter, or you do not have Jesus Christ and your works don’t matter. Saved or lost… fleshly works don’t matter!
To think that they matter is wrong judgment! To think that they matter is to have NOT received chastisement, and to not have received Jesus Christ.
Now I believe that just like Hebrews provides the chastening of Israel, that they might hear and repent, and believe, and get saved, Romans 11 shows that that same opportunity to hear and repent, and that same chastening… is now sent to the Gentiles.
Romans 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
And so these warnings, these chastisements, now have come on the Gentiles.
God is now speaking to the Gentiles “as unto sons”, for as long as they, as a people, receive chastisement. As long as they believe… as long as they continue to ACCESS Christ, ACCESS grace, BY FAITH!
Romans 11:20-22 … because of unbelief they were broken off … take heed lest he also spare not thee. … otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
God refused Israel and gave the chastisement and the opportunity to become sons of God in truth, by faith, to the Gentiles. Now spiritually, the Gentiles are now offered the same spiritual chastisement.
But, you might think that all this presents a problem… Why? Because He says…
Hebrews 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If God chastens all those that He loves, and if preaching and rebuke via the gospel is chastening, and God is preaching the gospel to unsaved people today, through the Bible and through the Church, does this mean that God actively loves the Gentiles? Does it mean He loves the whole world? Does it mean He loves lost people? The answer is NO!
Here is what you need to understand: The Lord chastens all that He loves. But the Lord does not ONLY chasten His sons, and the Lord does not only chasten those that He loves. Just because God chastens someone, it does not mean that they are loved or that they are a son. That is the negative (the reverse) of what it says.
You’ll never find a place in Bible that says God loveS unsaved people.
And Hebrews 12:6 is not proof for that lie either. It says… “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”
It does NOT say “whom the Lord chasteneth he loveth”.
It does NOT say that He loves every person that He chastens. It ONLY says that the Lord chastens every person that He loves.
It does not say that every person that he scourgeth, he receiveth as a son. It ONLY says those that he receiveth, he scourgeth.
Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
It says that if you HAVE no chastisement, then you are a bastard and NOT a son.
But it does not say that if God chastises you, that you ARE a son. You can’t ASSUME the negative!
It says that EVERY SON receives chastisement. It says that if you RECEIVE/ENDURE chastisement that God counts you as a son. That God loves you.
You’re not son just because God chastens you… but you are a son if you RECEIVE it.
Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth …
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Just like Hebrews 12:6, these do not say God loves everyone that He chastises.
It only says God chastises everyone that He loves.
You can’t assume the negative of that statement. You can’t assume that God loves all the Hebrews or all the Gentiles. They have to RECEIVE the chastening. They have to REPENT at the chastening!
The Bible does not say that God ONLY ever chastises His sons. See, God chastens people He hates too!
Psalms 94:10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
Who are “the heathen”? Appears 148 times. They are the Gentiles, the nations… and also the heathen are simply called “the wicked”.
Psalms 9:5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
Psalms 59:5 Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
And the heathen, the wicked, God does NOT love. He hates them.
Psalms 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
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A man in his unsaved state, especially a Gentile, a heathen, is not loved. He is hated.
But even in his unsaved heathen state, he is preached to, and he is chastened with words, so that he might believe and be saved, and BECOME loved of God.
Galatians 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; …
The Bible does not say that God loves the heathen. But it does say he chastises them, and preaches to them, so that they might get saved. And those that repent, He adopts them, and loves them, and deals with them as with sons. We can become His sons, through faith.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
In our unsaved state, as hated heathen, He chastises us and justifies us, and makes us to be His sons, through faith.
The Lord chastens, not ONLY his sons, but lost people too – He chastens them, to try to get them to hear and get saved.
Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. … 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. 19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: … 22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. 23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: 24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. … 29 Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, 30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
God OFTENTIMES chastens lost people to try to get them to hear and get saved. He sends them a messenger to preach to them GRACE. He speaks to them, once, maybe twice. But if they refuse, they are left alone. They are not loved simply because they WERE chastened once or twice in the past.
But Israel is different than the Gentiles. Israel’s default state was to be loved of God.
Hosea 9:10-16 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: … 15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters. 16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
Israel was chastened because they WERE loved. They deserved chastening, because it was theirs by birth. The Gentiles are now chastened out of mercy, because of Israel’s rebellion.
This is the uniqueness of the children of God, after the flesh. This is the uniqueness of the bastard.
He was given chastisement out of necessity. He was spoken to AS a son, he was chastened AS a son, but he rebelled. And so he is loved no more, he gets no more chastisement, he is dealt with as a bastard… he is cut off. He is hated.
God LOVED Israel, past tense, when He chose them, and gave them the covenants to inherit.
But when they reject it, and won’t receive it, they are loved NO MORE. They are cursed.
So not everyone who has been chastised is loved. But everyone who is loved is chastened.
The Gentiles have been graffed into the New Covenant, so there is SOME application of their situation and their spiritual things to the Gentiles. But you need to be careful, to not apply everything that you find in the book of Hebrews, to the Gentiles. It doesn’t all apply.
The Gentiles have now been given the same chastisement, the same treatment, the same opportunity to repent and be adopted… to become true SPIRITUAL sons of God.
Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
God can chastise unsaved people. It doesn’t mean He loves them, or that they ARE saved… at least not yet. They have to RECEIVE, ENDURE, that chastisement to become sons, to be received as sons, and to be dealt with as sons.
Hebrews 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Israel, as the son of God by a bondmaid, was given chastisement as a son. But because Israel rejected that chastisement… Israel’s was cut off, and their chastisement was taken away from them. They are now being treated as bastards, and not as sons.
You have to receive the adoption of sons. Then God will love you, and deal with you as with a son.
Truthfully, only those that get saved ARE LOVED of God.
Romans 9:24-26 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? 25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Who are the children of God, who are the actively, presently, beloved? Not the Jews. Not the Gentiles.
Those that are called and come out “OF the Jews” and out “of the Gentiles”. Those are his people.
God does not actively love all Jews or all Gentiles. He loves His children. He loves those that get saved.
Romans 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
It doesn’t say “if God ever chastened you, even once, then you are a son”. Lost people have been chastened. It doesn’t make them sons.
It also doesn’t say, “if God never chastened you, ever, even once, ONLY THEN are ye bastards”. You can have been chastened in the past, and yet be a bastard today.
It says “if ye BE without chastisement”. If ye BE. Not if ye WERE. If you actively, currently, ARE… WITHOUT chastisement. If you don’t have it today. If you never received it. If it was taken away from you, because you would not receive it. If you are WITHOUT it… outside of it… then, you are a bastard, and not a son.
This chastisement was given to Israel. As a nation. As a people.
The very book of Hebrews was a chastening. Likely their last chance.
And when they refused it, God took it away… and chastisement, and repentance, was granted to the Gentiles.
Acts 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Acts 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
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Hebrews 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
That is written to Jews. They were spoken to AS unto children, they were chastened AS children.
But the individuals, have to REPENT, in order to be adopted. To truly be children, and truly be loved of God.
Those that refuse it, they are not counted as sons, but as bastards. They are not beloved.
In Revelation chapters 2 & 3, Jesus is speaking to churches. Not to individuals, but to people groups. He is rebuking, chastening the churches because of the false doctrines and spiritual wickedness that they were allowing into them. And He says…
Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
This was written to a church. Not to the Church. Not only to saved people. And not only to lost people.
But to a local church, in which there were some saved people and some lost people.
This church had a candlestick. It was a candlestick. This church as a people was graffed into Christ. BUT… not everyone who was in that church was in Christ. There were false teachers and false doctrine in that church, for which they were being chastened… from which they were being warned to repent… as a church… as a people. And if they refused.. what would happen to them?
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
If they did not repent… if they would not remove the false doctrines from them, and/or remove themselves from the false doctrine, then their candlestick would be removed.
What does that mean? Well the candlestick was a church.
Revelation 1:20 … the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
And those churches were at the feet of Jesus… Jesus was in the midst of them.
Revelation 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
They were surrounding Him, near Him. I think we could say graffed into Him, abiding in Him.
These are NOT individuals, they are churches. They are groups of people. God either continues to love them and chastise them, because they believe, or He casts them away as rejected and cursed for their unbelief.
If a church which was formerly preaching the true gospel of grace (that is, a church that had a lit candle.. it had light – it had the gospel) is infiltrated by false prophets and that church begins to believe and preach false gospels… and if when they are rebuked, chastened, with words, being told to repent… as in Hebrews, and as in Revelation 2 and 3… if they refuse, then Jesus will remove them away from their place. He will cut off that church, that group of people, in unbelief so that they have no more access to Jesus Christ.
And that is what happened to all of those 7 churches in Revelation. Those churches are not there anymore. There are no Bible believing, gospel preaching churches there, in what is now all Muslim cities.
Those candlesticks have been removed. Cut off from their place.
That is what He did to those seven churches, and that is what He did to Israel.
Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
The Jews didn’t ALL not believe. A small remnant did believe. Nevertheless, they were all, as a people group, counted in unbelief, and cut off in unbelief. Because enough of them refused the chastisement of God. They refused to repent at His words, at His rebuke.
And maybe, it was only one person. One false prophet. One person who defiled many others… who they refused to put out, in order to save the church.
This is how God deals with GROUPS OF PEOPLE. He rebukes them, He chastises them with words… and if they, as a group, won’t hear, and separate themselves from the iniquity, then He cuts off ALL the people.
Joshua 22:20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? and that man perished not alone in his iniquity.
What is “the accursed thing” in the New Testament? It is false gospels and false teachers!
Galatians 1:6-8 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Unless the people removed that accursed thing (that false gospel) from among them, or they all removed themselves from those that were accused, they were ALL going to be cut off.
Numbers 16:22-24 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
He chastises all the people, and commands them to GET AWAY from the accursed.
In the OT it was, separate yourselves from the uncleanness of man or you will be cut off and die physically.
In the NT is it, separate yourself from unbelievers, from false teachers, or you will be cut off and die spiritually.
2 Corinthians 6:14,17 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
You have to get away from the unclean thing… from unbelievers… from false doctrine.
If you have unbelievers in your church.. put them out! If you have people who believe and teach false gospels in your church… put them out!
If you are in a church with UNBELEIVERS… Get out! If your church is not WHOLLY preaching the true gospel… get out, and get away! That church is either cut off… it is going to be cut off soon.
You need to get away, and separate yourself from those that preach false gospels, so that you and your children, are not cut off when God cuts THEM off.
You need to COME OUT from those that preach fleshly things; fleshly good works. Unclean things.
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How do you separate yourself SPIRITUALLY, and not touch the “unclean thing” spiritually?
You repent of FLESH, of fleshly works, of your own righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
You have to receive this chastisement… you have to repent of works… in order to get saved, and not be cut off with unbelievers.
To be clear, I am not saying that a saved person can get cut off and lose their salvation.
They may be cut off in some way that their understanding is taken away and now, in this life they are unable to find truth and understand it. But even if that can happen, it is only in the flesh. Their spirit is abiding in Christ. It has peace with God. There is no condemnation to it. They have already received chastisement spiritually, and produced good fruit. Their spirits cannot be cut off from the Spirit.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Ultimately, we receive chastisement by receiving Jesus. Receiving every part of chastisement (the spiritual rebuke and any and all the spiritual and fleshly punishment) is all accomplished the moment that we get saved.
Jesus told Thomas, “behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side:”
Paul talked about “the marks of the Lord Jesus”.
The chastisement of our peace is in HIS body. We need to go into Christ. To go into rest, into grace, by faith.
When we receive Jesus, we receive chastisement.
When we get saved, we receive the chastisement which was upon Christ, and we obtain peace with God.
We don’t have to get chastened in the flesh to become sons of God. Physical punishment does not make anyone a child of God. Only DYING and being BORN again makes one a child of God.
Our chastisement was on Him. We just need to receive it, in Him.
When we go into Him, and access Him by faith… into Christ, into rest, into grace, then our chastisement is complete… our peace with God is set.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Once we have gone into grace, we have PEACE with God. Our chastisement is over. We don’t have to receive it again and again continually to remain a Christian.
Fleshly things are not eternal. They don’t last. So they must be done DAILY.
But spiritual things last forever. So they only need to be done ONCE.
Hebrews 10:10-12 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Carnal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins had to be done DAILY.
But a spiritual sacrifice only needs to be done ONCE.
You have to eat worldly food and drink worldly water over and over. DAILY. If you don’t you’ll die.
But you don’t have to eat spiritual food DAILY. You just have to eat Jesus ONCE.
You don’t have to drink spiritual water DAILY. You just need to drink the gospel ONCE.
You don’t need to bring forth spiritual fruit DAILY. You just have to bring it forth ONCE.
You can, and you should do it daily! But you don’t have to! You just have to do it ONCE. And it lasts forever!
You need to repent unto salvation. But you don’t need to repent daily… you only need to repent ONCE.
You need to die with Christ. And be born again in Heaven. But only ONCE.
You don’t need to die daily. You can. You SHOULD. Paul said that he did. But you only HAVE TO die ONCE.
True spiritual things are eternal. They don’t need to be done MORE THAN ONCE!
The same is true of chastisement.
We MUST receive chastening… but only ONCE. We don’t have to continually receive more and more chastisement throughout our lives. We just have to receive it once.
Fleshly chastisement needs to be given over and over. If you don’t, your son will NOT OBEY.
But spiritual chastisement only needs to be received ONCE. If God does it once, and a son receives it once, they never NEED it again. They will never disobey. They “cannot sin”!
Christians have already received chastening, one time, in Christ, and are now at peace with God. No more chastisement is required.
Hebrews isn’t preaching fleshly works and fleshly chastisement. It is teaching SPIRITUAL things. It is teaching our gospel! The gospel of grace.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Hebrews 12:11 is the only other verse in the Bible with chast* and peac*.
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
This direct link proves that the passage in Hebrews 12 about receiving chastisement, is NOT about God trying to get people to obey the law, or trying to get them to live a cleaner life and sin less. Not at all!
It is about receiving salvation. Repenting of works and receiving Jesus. This is how we receive the CHASTENING that yields PEACE!
Hebrews… is not preaching another gospel. It is preaching our gospel!
If you have repented of works, believed on Jesus, and confessed the gospel of Christ unto salvation, then you have received chastening, and produced “the peaceable fruit of righteousness”.
Receiving this rebuke, this chastisement in Hebrews, yields the peaceable FRUIT of righteousness!
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What is “the peaceable fruit of righteousness”?
Well, here is the only instance of “peace” and “fruit of righteousness” in the same verse in the whole Bible, and it is the only other instance of “fruit of righteousness” in the NT:
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
The fruit of righteousness makes peace. Makes peace between God and men.
What is this peaceable fruit of righteousness? Well if you are familiar with James 3, you can probably guess.
James 3:10-18 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. … 14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Your fruit is what comes out of your mouth… your fruits are your WORDS!
The fruit of righteousness is pure salvation doctrine. It is righteous judgment. Perfect and binary. No partiality! It is heavenly WISDOM that gives eternal life to those that receive it.
To preach the gospel out of your mouth, is to SOW the peaceable fruit of righteousness, whereby we MAKE PEACE, between God and men.
The fruit of righteousness is NOT man’s earthly good works. It is not earthly love. It is not the joy and peace and longsuffering of MANKIND on Earth. It is heavenly doctrine, spiritual wisdom, the WORDS of eternal life.
A man’s fruit is not His WORKS. Nor is it his attitudes, or his feelings, or emotions, or desires.
A man’s fruit is his wisdom: his counsels, his doctrine, his beliefs, his WORDS in his heart.
By Pastor • Christian Doctrine, Problem Texts • 0