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1 Cor 3:10-11: "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
In these two passages of Scripture we have the apostle Paul writing about the foundation of the Church in this dispensation. In the Ephesians passage he writes that the Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the chief cornerstone. But in the Corinthian letter he states that he has laid the foundation of the Church, that that foundation is Jesus Christ Himself, and that the Church can have no other foundation. Please explain how both statements can be true.
In Romans, Paul had an ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known so he wouldn't build on someone else's foundation. Christ is always the Foundation of our Faith. What Paul is talking about is the building someone else does on that Foundation.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote that he had laid a foundation as an expert builder. He did that "by the grace God has given me." The foundation Paul laid was Jesus Christ. That's the only Foundation. Paul laid the foundation of his Gospel on Christ, Who is the Foundation of Faith. Paul laid his foundation as an expert builder. Someone else was building on it. Christ is The Foundation. Paul built the foundation of his Gospel on The Foundation. Others came along and built on Paul's foundation which was The Foundation. "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."
In Ephesians, Paul wrote that God's household was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the Chief Cornerstone. The Foundation of the apostles and prophets is Jesus Christ. They had no other Foundation on which to build but Christ. The word "cornerstone" is akrogoniaiou . Paul used the word once in his writings. It comes from akron ("extreme, highest") and gonia ("corner"). Builders laid the "chief cornerstone" to give strength to the two walls connected to it. Paul presented Christ in Ephesians 2 as the One Who united Jews and Gentiles: "For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility ... In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."
God gave Paul a mission: to lay the foundation for a new Household; a new Dispensation. Paul built the foundation for the Dispensation of the Age of Grace on Jesus Christ, the Great Foundation of our Salvation. It is now our responsibility to build carefully on the foundation Paul laid using gold, silver and costly stones. Christ deserves our very best.
If true that Christians "misuse" God's Grace, what happens to us? Does God punish us? Do we lose our salvation? Paul speaks clearly to these issues.
"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ... because anyone who has died as been freed from sin ... In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its eveil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms becaues you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."Romans 6:1-23
God's Grace calls us to a life of righteousness; a life of holiness. All of us should understand slavery. We were slaves to sin once. Now we are free from sin and have become slaves to God. The benefit we reap leads to holiness. The result is eternal life. God's Gift to us is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christians have every reason to stop sinning. We don't have to sin any longer. We did at one time, but not any longer. We can choose to live righteously. God's Grace gives us the freedom and the power to live for Him. And we need that power. Paul teaches us that Christians fight a battle within themselves every day.
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war aginast the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."Romans 7:21-25
This spiritual battle inside every Christian leads us to make mistakes, sin and "misuse" Grace. Does it mean we lose our salvation?
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."Romans 8:1-11
Christians "misuse" God's Grace because we are human; we are flawed. The power of sin is still alive in the members of our bodies. The power of Grace is alive in our minds and spirits. God encourages us to win the battle and do better every day. He encourages us to grow in the "grace and knowledge" of Jesus Christ. He shows us what's wrong and encourages us to do what's right.
Paul wrote this prayer for all Christians:
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."Ephesians 3:14-19
If our eternal salvation is based on our ability to keep from "misusing" God's Grace, then we're in big trouble. Fortunately, it is not. Eternal life is a Gift of God's Grace. God saves us by grace through faith "and this not from yourselves, it is the the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). Salvation is an unmerited gift. We didn't earn it or deserve it. We just received it because God wanted to give it to us. We didn't do anything to get. There's nothing we can do to lose it. God doesn't give His Gift to His children and then take it back when they're bad. God is a Father to us. He teaches, rebukes, chastens, disciplines, loves and encourages us like a good parent. Also like a good parent, God doesn't kick us out of the family because we make mistakes or disobey. God keeps working with His children to help them become better people throughout their lives.
Christians have a very special gift: the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory."Ephesians 1:11-14
Christianity is a relationship. It begins when we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord. It continues throughout our life on earth. It's a time of growth and service. It continues throughout eternity as we enter into the presence of Christ and enjoy Him forever. Salvation is something we enjoy, not something we fear of losing.
God used obedience to the Law, repentance and water baptism in His management of the Kingdom Household. The purpose was Love and Grace and the means was Christ's Sacrifice.
God uses Grace through faith without works in His management of the Grace Household. The purpose is Love and Grace and the means is Christ's Sacrifice.
The message that Peter, James and John preached was different from the message Paul preached. However, both messages grew from One Heart. God's Heart was filled with Love and Grace for the Jews of the Kingdom Dispensation and for the Gentiles and Jews of the Grace Dispensation. The Jews of the Kingdom Dispensation obeyed God's Law and trusted in the Sacrifice of Christ. The Gentiles and Jews of the Grace Dispensation obeyed the Law of the Spirit of Christ and trusted in the Sacrifice of Christ.
We have many differences with the children of the Kingdom Dispensation, but we also have many similarities. We are fortunate that God has given Gentiles so much time and opportunity to respond to His Call of Grace. The day will come when God will end the Dispensation of Grace and turn once again to Israel. God will bring back the Kingdom Dispensation, deal with Israel and give the world a Great and Mighty King, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have so much to do and so little time to do it.
Jesus also had much to say about where people would spend eternity. He said some would go to heaven and some would go to hell. Jesus came to the Nation of Israel to cleanse the people and prepare them for the Messianic Kingdom. Jesus was the Messiah. He managed His Kingdom by the Law of Moses the the Power of His Spirit.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."Matthew 5:17
Jesus told them they would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless their righteousness surpassed that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. He told them to fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28) Jesus told them it would be better for them to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand that caused them to sin than to continue to sin and go to hell. (Matthew 5:29-30)
That's the Message of the Kingdom Age. What about the message of the Age of Grace? What happens to people who sin? What's happens to people who don't receive Christ as their Savior? What happens if they never hear the Gospel of Christ? Does God have a right to punish someone He never gave a chance to be saved? The definitive answers come from Paul's writings. He is the Apostle of Grace.
Paul wrote that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. He wrote that God's anger is being revealed against the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about God is plain to them. God made His Truth plain to people through what He created. Even though they knew God, they didn't glorify Him as Gofd and didn't thank Him. Their thinking became futile. Their foolish hearts were darkened. They worshipped the creature instead of the Creator. God gave them over to shameful lusts. Men and women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. God allowed people to follow their sin and become full of it. Even though they know what's right and wrong, people continue to sin against God and others. God's Law stated that the penalty for such disobedience was death. (Romans 1:16-32)
Paul wrote that sinners who judge others have no excuse for their own sinful actions. He told them they were storing up God's wrath against them because of their stubborness and unrepentant heart. Paul warned them of a future day when God would reveal His righteous judgment against them. People who rejected the truth and followed evil would receive God's wrath and anger. Paul stated that every human being who does evil would receive trouble and distress. Paul never used the word "hell" in his letters, but his presentation of God's anger, wrath and judgment was clear. God would punish them and allow them to die apart from Him. (Romans 2:1-11) Paul wrote the Ephesians that people were "by nature objects of wrath." I could quote other verses, but the point in clear. Every person is born into a lost condition. They are "dead" in their sins. They live in the only way they know how: "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts." Paul continued his thought with the great statement that anyone could escape God's wrath by Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ. The opportunity is ours "because of his great love for us." (Ephesians 2:3-4)
God's Loving Hand is held out for anyone who wants eternal life. It's simply a matter of believing God's Word. Salvation is by Grace, through faith and not of ourselves. It's God's Gift, free and clear. If a person believes God, God will give that person eternal life. If a person does not believe God, God will judge and punish them.
What if a person never hears the Gospel of Christ?
"All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."Romans 2:12-16
The world is approaching a day when God will judge the secrets of all people. John the Apostle wrote about it in some detail.
"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."Revelation 20:11-15
This is an awesome sight! The human race, all of it, will stand before Jesus Christ. This is the same Jesus Who was born to a virgin in a little manger in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. This is the same Jesus Who taught and healed the masses. This is the same Jesus who bore our punishment for sin in His Body. This is the same Jesus Who died on the Cross to pay the penalty for the sins of the world. This is the same Jesus Who rose from the dead so He could give life to everyone who would believe Him. This is the same Jesus Who ascended back to His heavenly throne so He could guide and direct all who would follow Him through His Holy Spirit. This is the same Jesus Who holds out His Hands of Grace to the human race 24 hours a day. This is the same Jesus Who will come for His Body of believers in the middle of the air and take them to be with Him forever. This is the same Jesus Who will fight the battle of the ages and return to an earthly throne in great power and glory. This is the same Jesus Who will rule the earth from Jerusalem and bring peace and prosperity to a broken world. This is the same Jesus Who will fight and defeat Satan and punish him forever in a lake of fire. This is the same Jesus Who will ascend to a Great White Throne in Heaven to judge the human race. This the same Jesus Who will watch as the earth and sky flee from His awesome presence.
Jesus Christ will judge mankind on the basis of "what they had done as recorded in the books." It all comes down to this. God is the Judge. He makes the final decision. He is the only One Who knows. A person who never heard of Jesus Christ but did "by nature things required by the law, ... are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them." God knows what every person knows and what they do with what they know. God will judge a person who has never heard the Gospel of Christ based on that. God knows the heart of every man, woman, boy and girl who has every lived and will ever live. Jesus will do the right thing when He judges the world. He is fair and abides by the rules He designed.
The reality of life is that every human being is "dead in transgressions and sins." They are "gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts." All people are "by nature objects of wrath." Our responsibility is to share the Gospel of the Grace of God whenever and wherever possible. God's responsibility is to guide us in our ministries and save those who believe Him. God loves the world so much He sent Christ to die for our sins. He loves the world so much He sends His children, members of the Body of Christ, to share His Love with the lost. When everything is done, when earth and sky are no more, God will do the Right Thing!
God's confusing the languages at the Tower of Babel pushed people even further from each other. God scattered the people all over the world. That may also be the time at which God changed the racial structure of civilization.
God later called out for Himself a special people through Abram (Abraham). Abraham was a direct descendent of Shem. Abraham married Sarai (Sarah) who was his half-sister. Abraham's brother, Nahor, married his neice, Milcah. Nothing is said about their having done anything wrong by marrying a close relative.
God did forbid marriage to close relatives hundreds of years later. It had to do with Israel moving into the promised land and not doing things other nations had done. Sexuality was one of the areas. Leviticus 18 goes into great detail about unlawful sexual relations. The law was written to the males of Israel. "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord." (Leviticus 18:6) The rest of the chapter goes into great detail about who is a close relative. They include mother, step-mother, sister, step-sister, half-sister, grand-daughter, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and the daughter or grand-daughter of a woman with whom an Israelite was having sexual relations. No mention of cousins in the law. Israelites continued to marry cousins (1 Chronicles 23:22).
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"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
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Last Updated: 12/20/1999