The BIG Picture (Shorts)

Are there consequences to my sins if I am saved? (Part 2) As believers, the consequences of our sins are the results of our actions on earth, such as imprisonment for breaking the law or suffering physically if we abuse substances. These consequences are a result of our own actions and not God judging us for disobedience. God is not counting sins against us today, 2Cor.5:19. He has already freed us from sin's eternal penalty, but the temporary consequences of our fleshly behaviours are of our own doing and part of the law of reaping what we sow. Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  Though we have God's grace, our connection to God and our spiritual well-being is harmed each time we obey sin. God would prefer that we obey righteousness and grow spiritually. To overcome sin, we should renew our minds with the Word and obey its internal influence...

REACTION: You claim: “The only thing that removes God’s wrath and allows Him to justify us is to believe in the cross of Jesus.” Let's test it! If it's true then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, etc are all gonna burn in hell because they failed to believe in the cross of Jesus. REPLY: They do not belong to this dispensation. How could they believe in the cross when it was not yet made known. The gospel for Noah was to believe God and build the ark. Because he did, he and his family were saved, Heb 11:7. Similarly, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, etc… all obtained righteousness for believing the words that God spoke to them. Read Heb.11. In our dispensation, the gospel is to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus. By this we are imputed the righteousness of Christ, and we have peace with God. Any other way to obtain righteousness will fail because that is not what God instructed. Thus the ‘claim’ I wrote above stands, not because I say so, but because it is recorded as such i...

  REACTION: You misrepresent the Lord. Your illustration of the Lord dangling a sinner over hell is not the nature of our Lord. REPLY: My post was an allegory. Your reference to Isa.42 is a beautiful prophecy of the meekness of Christ in His earthly ministry. Meekness is one part of God’s character, but God is not only love and meekness. He is also just, and righteous. God will sooner throw us in hell than defile His righteousness. Yet, He does not because of the cross of His Son. See Rom 3:25-26; Rom 4:5. Through Jesus, God is in the unique position to justify the ungodly, Rom 3:26. God can remain just and righteous yet justify ungodly people! Why? Because of the cross of Christ. However, as much as God reveals his love, He also reveals His hatred and wrath towards unrighteousness and ungodliness. Just read Romans 1. Thus, we cannot only rely on God's meekness and love, because His righteous wrath still remains over us. The only thing that saves us from God’s wrath is the cross wo...

QUESTION: If God picked you up by your ankles and held you over hell and said, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t drop you in right now!”, what would your answer be? Only ONE answer from the following list will save you . Please note that all other entries are deceiving lies and empty vanities of men that have no power to save!   God, I tried to live a good and honest life. God, I joined a good church and worshiped you. God, I confessed Jesus as Lord and did miracles in his name. God, I love you so much, I adore Jesus Christ and I seek to please the Holy Spirit. God, I walked the church aisle and gave my heart to Jesus. God, I have my water baptism certificate folded in my Bible at home. God, I helped the local Jewish community and fixed their synagogue (acc. to Mat 25:31-46). God, I am filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. God, I believe that Jesus died for my sins and was raised for my justification. God, your word says you are faithful and just to forg...

QUESTION: When we die, what will we do in heaven? ANSWER: The Bible does not provide exact details about what we will do, but it does mention the Judgment Seat of Christ and the rewards we will receive.  In the heavenly kingdom, there are hierarchies of power, Col_1:16, like an earthly government. As the Body of Christ, our position and power in this kingdom will be according to our knowledge of Paul's mystery doctrine, Rom_2:16. Some will rule over domains, while others will carry out the orders of those in higher positions. In unity we will serve Christ and bring honour to Him by fulfilling His will and desires. While we don't know much about this time, we can be certain that it will be beyond our imagination, 1Co_2:9, we will live in perfection, and be in the presence of our Saviour. MARANATHA! For more details see, https://thebigpicturelink.blogspot.com/2024/01/dm25-every-mans-work-shall-be-made.html https://thebigpicturelink.blogspot.com/2024/01/dm26-results-and-reward-of-...

Obeying how many laws will save you? Have you encountered people who say that obeying the law of Moses is necessary for salvation? Asking them why, they typically respond... 'It's in the Bible'. But, did you know there are 600+ laws in the Mosaic law, not just the 10 commandments? So, what else does the Bible say about the law? According to James, if you choose to keep just one law, you are obligated to keep them all, and breaking just one law means breaking them all. Galatians says that the law is NOT of faith (but works). Ephesians says that salvation is by “grace” through “faith”. Furthermore, Paul clarifies that the purpose of the law is to point out sin, not to save. To be saved from God's wrath, Paul writes that you place simple trust in the completed cross work of Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection. Thus the law shows your need to be saved, but only faith in Christ can actually save. So, how many laws do you believe you are keeping? I'm sorry, but th...

COMMENT: Matt 25:41-61 clearly says that if we don’t do any good works, God will send us to hell. REPLY: The verse mentioned is referring to the ‘Sheep and Goats’ judgement at the end of a 7-year tribulation period. During this horrendous time, believers are required to support Israel in order to gain salvation. However, this passage, and its resulting judgment, is not applicable to the current dispensation of grace, where salvation is obtained through faith in Jesus Christ alone, without the need for good works. It is important to interpret scripture according to the correct times. One cannot take scripture from one dispensation and apply it to another; else you create confusion and false doctrine. Our ‘Mystery’ dispensation ends at the catching up of the Body of Christ to heaven. The scripture you quote is about 7-years later and is part of the ‘Prophecy’ dispensation which does not apply today.

COMMENT: Why did Peter command the Jews in Acts 2:38-39 and the Gentiles in Acts 10:48 to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? REPLY: That was the only means of salvation then. The grace gospel that Paul taught had not been revealed yet. During the majority of the 40 years, between Jesus' ascension and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, there were two gospels; the Kingdom gospel (only for Jews) and the Grace gospel (for all men). This is the transition period described in the book of Acts when both the 12-Apostles and Paul were preaching; the ministry of the 12 diminishing and the ministry of Paul increasing. By the time Jerusalem fell, the Kingdom gospel was fully suspended due to the blinding of Israel and only Paul’s grace gospel could save. Paul’s gospel will continue to save until the we are raptured, bringing a close to the Grace program. Thereafter, the Kingdom gospel will reactivate for the first half of the...

Jesus, taught Jews that they had to endure to the end; being His second advent. He instructed them to pick up their cross and follow Him, saying that no one is fit for the kingdom of God if they put their hand to the plough and look back, Lk.9:62. These are conditions for their salvation. In our dispensation, salvation is not dependent on endurance. While Paul encourages us to endure in our service to God and the Body of Christ, our salvation is not based on works or endurance. When we respond in faith to the grace gospel, we are saved and sealed eternally into Christ. The blood of Christ provides the surety of salvation without works or performance. Paul writes in Eph.2:8-9, "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Our salvation is a gift given to us by God's grace. We cannot boast! God saved us through the endurance of Christ, even unto death on the cross. Unlike Israel, it's b...

Every man's work shall be made manifest: 1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  (13)  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Many of us believe that our good works in this life will determine how we are judged when we stand before Christ's judgment seat. This is not true! What you did in this life has little bearing on that day. It's all related to what you know. The knowledge of Christ within you is what's represented by the gold, silver, and precious stones. In essence, it's a judgment of your understanding of Paul's doctrine and your development within it.  It is the degree to which the wisdom and knowledge you have gained from studying the Word has formed Christ in you, Pro 24:3-5. For details, see: https://thebigpicturelink.blogspot.com/2024/01/dm25-every-ma...

Did you know that Jesus rightly divided the Scriptures? Jesus was a dispensationalist during His earthly ministry, carefully handling Scripture to ensure its validity for His time. Rather than quoting any Scripture, He knew which parts were valid and which were not. For example, verses applicable to His Second Coming could not be forced into His First Coming, as this would be out of context with His current purpose. Psalm 91 and Isaiah 61 were Scripture, but not all of it was to be fulfilled during His First Coming. Jesus understood that it is not enough to be Scriptural; we must also be dispensational.  Those who profess to only follow Jesus in His earthly ministry should therefore take note how He correctly divided the Scriptures, quoting verses in their proper dispensational context. Then, taking this hint, they should conclude that by right division, we follow Paul's doctrine today, as the rest of Scripture, though for our learning, is not for our application today.

COMMENT: If we are saved by grace alone excluding works, I can sit here like a dummy for the rest of my life, and when I die, I'm in the hands of God our Creator. How absurd! REPLY: Your comment suggests childish ignorance of the Word. Rom 12:1-2 tells us that our reasonable service is to present ourselves to God for His purpose and to be transformed by renewing of our minds to the Word; to know God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will. Sure! You can sit like a dummy enjoying God's free gift of justification through Christ, Rom 5:1-2, but to apprehend perfection in Christ and the high calling of God, one must abandon childish things and prioritize the excellency of knowing Christ, Php 3:7-15. Salvation is more than just escaping hell through justification in Christ. This is only the first step. After this, you need to grow up in knowledge of the Word and have Christ formed in you. Attaining to this will determine the portion of Christ's glory and inheritance you will get in...

The phrase "look to Jesus" typically means to follow Jesus' teachings, not men's traditions, ordinances, or church creeds. It involves studying His Word and obeying it. This is the only way to grow in Him, learn from Him, and become more like Him. But, do we look to Jesus' teachings in His earthly ministry, or do we look to the revelation of the mystery that Jesus gave to Paul to teach? Contrary to understanding, we should follow Paul's pattern and the principles of his doctrine. Paul encourages us to follow him and imitate him as a pattern for today. Jesus' earthly ministry was not directed towards us, as He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So, in order to look to Jesus, one must follow the doctrine taught by Paul. His doctrine is given to us by the resurrected Christ and is meant to equip us to fulfill God's will in the present and prepare us for our heavenly purpose in the ages to come. Full article here: https://thebigpicture...

Some may believe in the necessity of water baptism, observing Sunday rest, speaking in tongues, doing good deeds, or obeying rituals, but, if they trust Christ alone and know that their works don't contribute to salvation, then they are saved. On the other hand, if they believe that certain works are required, in addition to faith, they are mixing faith and works, going against what Paul warns in Gal 3:1-3. If you are adding works to your faith for salvation, that faith you exercise implies that Christ's death was insufficient, contradicting faith in the gospel. The grace gospel teaches that salvation is solely by God's grace through faith alone, as Eph 2:8-9 states.  Paul says the following, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God." 1Cor7:19. Similarly, your works are nothing in the light of salvation by grace. Whether you have attempted to work for your salvation or not, know that salvation is availabl...

Just like the 12 disciples of Jesus are the apostles for Israel, Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles (or the Body of Christ, Rom 11:13). Whereas most of the Bible is about the prophetic program for Israel, which was suspended by Israel’s unbelief, Paul established the mystery program and doctrine that is applicable for us today. The 13-epistles of Paul provide all the information that we need in order to know how God is working with humanity today in the grace program.  See the image for a list for just a few mysteries revealed in Paul's letters.

What are life examples of unbelievers' futility of mind in Eph 4:17? Paul's epistles should be understood spiritually. Thus, 'vanity of mind' is not natural futility but rather spiritual futility. So, to provide life examples is not to list useless things men do in their mortality, or man’s inept activities or knowledge in his natural state, but to perceive it in view of his eternal existence. For an example of Paul's spiritual context, notice his attitude towards natural things and their futility, compared to the worth and significance of knowing Christ, here: Php 3:7-11. In summary, ‘vanity of mind’, if one occupies one’s mind on temporary things, is in contrast to the full value and excellency of the eternal things of Christ. To have a mind filled with goals, achievements, and knowledge of a temporary nature, is utter vanity, or futility, (or dung), in view of the knowledge of Christ and the pursuit of winning Christ and the eternal attributes and rewards that fl...