Doctrine

1.5 Credit hours

Eternal Security

AKA Eternal Salvation, Eternal Security or Once Saved Always Saved

Chapter One 

   Where are the words “Eternal Security” found in the scriptures? They are not found anywhere in the scriptures, it is a by-product of Calvinistic doctrine.

   Calvinism has people  eternally secure before the foundation of the world, and there is nothing they can do about it.

  The apostle Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles, and to him, alone were given the doctrines of the church, which is Christ’s body. Colossians 1:18 & 24 In the Church Age you are saved from the moment you believe the gospel, and not before.

   We will study the different churches mentioned in the scriptures, such as the church in the wilderness that was in the old testament that is mentioned in Acts 7:38 in another chapter, but in this chapter, we will focus on what our apostle taught the body of Christ.

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

   The words Eternal Life are words found together in scriptures some twenty-six times, but never in the old testament, and they together form the doctrine of “Eternal Life”.

   Was there eternal life available in the old testament? Absolutely, as far back as chapters two and three of the book of Genesis where we learn about the tree of life, which if a person were to eat of it, they would have lived for ever:

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

   Abraham was promised by the LORD that he would be given all the land that he walked up and down in, and he never received it in his life time, so the only way the LORD could keep his word, was if he was to raise Abraham from the dead.

Genesis 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

   If the LORD was going to give it to him personally forever, then the LORD would have to give Abraham the ability to live for ever.

   What does Job, the oldest book in the scriptures have to say about this subject?

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

   Job believed in life-ever-after, because someone up the family tree told him that there was such a thing. It could have been God himself, since he talked with him in the book of Job.

Everlasting Life

and

Everlasting Shame and Contempt

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

   The prophet Daniel speaks here of everlasting life, and that could be considered eternal security by many, but not so fast.

   Daniel was an old testament believer under the dispensation of the law, he was not saved by grace through faith as we are today.

   Notice when everlasting life is acquired by those according to Daniel. It is when they will awake at the resurrection! It was not a present tense salvation as we have today. It is the exact same thing mentioned by Peter to the leaders of Israel in Acts chapter three:

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

   Peter tells Israel and their leaders that if they repent of killing their Messiah, and believe on him, then their sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. When is that going to be? Keep reading:

20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

   Israel will receive everlasting salvation when God the Father, sends his Son Jesus Christ back to this earth out of exile in heaven, and he resurrects believing Israel and gives them everlasting salvation in their kingdom and then he will send unbelieving Israel to shame and everlasting contempt in the lake of fire.

Everlasting Salvation

Isaiah 45:17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

   While eternal life is eternal life, the doctrine of eternal life differs in different dispensations. What I mean by that is, that the means of obtaining eternal life is different in different dispensations.

    Eternal life in any and all dispensations is still eternal life. It is a life that lasts eternally, but for Israel is only begins after the resurrection, we have eternal life as a present tense possession today.

   For example, if a believer under the Law died, they would receive eternal life when they were resurrected into their kingdom in the future.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

   We today in the dispensation of grace are not waiting for our eternal life, as we today possess it the moment we believe the gospel of our salvation.

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

   This study will mostly focus on eternal life in the dispensation of grace, and it will be contrasted to eternal life in different dispensations.

   I know I have lost some of you already because you have been taught that salvation is the same in every dispensation, and you may not want to continue on, but I beg you to compare scripture with scripture and see for yourself without any denominational hierarchy dictating to you what to believe.

   Just believe what the word of God says, as it is spoken by the apostle Paul, to the body of Christ, instead of blending messages spoken by the prophets, or the apostles to the circumcision written specifically to the nation of Israel while they were still under the Law. Jesus Christ himself was a minister of the circumcision Jews:

Romans 15:8  Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Chapter Two

Salvation in the Dispensation of Grace

   The study we are looking at is really a study on whether or not one can lose their salvation once they have received it.  A Calvinist will say a believer has eternal security even before belief, in fact from eternity it was foreordained that they would endure unto the end.

   An Armenian will say I have a hundred verses that say you can lose your salvation, while his counterpart says he also has 100 verses that say you cannot lose your salvation, and both of them are telling the truth, but how can that be so?

   Do the scriptures contradict themselves? 

    No, and a thousand times more, no! The solution to the problem is to study the scriptures the way that the scriptures command you are to study them. and that is because they refuse to obey Christ’s command through the apostle Paul to rightly divide the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

How does someone get saved today?

   In Acts 16:30 The Philippian Jailer asked Paul and Silas: 30 ., Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

   Being saved is synonymous with having salvation, and it is received by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.  So, what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? What are we to believe about him? Are we simply to believe that he is Lord and he is Christ? Is that it? No.

   We must believe in the gospel of the grace of God that teaches us how that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, as 1st Corinthians proclaims is the gospel good news) whereby, we must be saved today.

The Gospel of the Grace of God Acts 20:24

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

   What is the gospel of the grace of God that Paul received, and that he testified about to the world?

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

   If a person has believed the gospel of the grace of God as delivered to us by the apostle Paul, then that person is saved. They have salvation. The question for many then becomes:

Once I am saved, can I ever lose my salvation?

   This is the real aim of this study. We all understand that the word eternal means forever, but the question is when does a person receive eternal life?

   Is it at the moment of salvation, or is it at the moment of their passing, or at the resurrection if they have endured unto the end and kept the faith?

   It is really about whether or not my salvation is maintained throughout my life, do I maintain it or how. If you maintain it, is it secure at all? No, it is not.

    As we said earlier you can sit a Calvinist and an Armenian down across from one another and they will both have lots of verses to support their teaching, but they are directly opposed to one another, so they can’t both be right.

   They can however both be wrong, and a third option be correct, which is the case in this very important matter.

    Because neither of the two groups rightly divide the word of truth they are starting at the wrong starting point, facing in the wrong direction, and unconvinced of the other’s directions to them because they both see things the other group has wrong in their theology, never considering option C. How clever is our adversary?

Salvation in the book of Hebrews

   First of all, the book of Hebrews is not written to you in the Church, the body of Christ. It is written to the Hebrews (Israel), just as James is not written to you in the Church, the body of Christ, but it is written to the twelve tribes scattered abroad (the twelve tribes of Israel). See James 1:1-2

    So when you read Hebrews, you need to put it where it belongs dispensationally, just as is laid out for you in the bible, right after Paul's thirteen epistles to the Church, the body of Christ. Romans through Philemon.

    The epistles are lumped together for a reason, the Hebrew Epistles (called the General Epistles by Calvinist who oppose Dispensationalism are placed after the Pauline Epistles for the Church Age (Dispensation of Grace).

    They are placed there because the doctrine found in them is for Israel and it is identical with what was being taught to the little flock that was waiting for their kingdom to be established. 

   Once the Church, the body of Christ is raptured out of this world up to heaven, Israel's program which has been put on hold will immediately start back up again and Hebrews through Revelation will be their doctrine. 

   In Hebrews through Revelation we have Israel's doctrine for a Kingdom people, with Kingdom hopes here on this earth. In Paul's Epistles we have the Church, the body of Christ's doctrine which has a heavenly people with a heavenly destiny.

Chapter Three

  Chapter three along with chapters six and ten in the book of Hebrews are the chapters that give believers today the most problems, because this is where groups go to teach that you can lose your salvation and if you do not understand its audience you will be caught up in that as well and confused.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

   The recipients of this epistle are made partakers of Christ, if they hold the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end of the end. The end of what? Their life’s? No, the tribulation period.

   This is not Paul teaching the body of Christ anything. This is written by an unknown Jewish disciple of the twelve Apostles to the nation of Israel (Paul wasn't taught his doctrine by the twelve, he was taught directly by Christ.

   The writer is telling the Jews that are following the Kingdom Program in the last days of the Tribulation Period that they need to hold on to the end.

   Unto the end of what? Their life? No! He is not talking to us in the Church Age that we have to keep on believing unto the end. We have eternal life today in the Age of Grace, which is why it is called Grace. 

   During the Tribulation Period those that hold the beginning of their confidence (belief in Christ) stedfast unto the end of the Tribulation Period i.e., those that endure unto the end, they will be made partakers of Christ in the Kingdom. This is not written to the Body of Christ in the Church Age. It is written to the Hebrews for the Tribulation Period! That is why Hebrews and the other Hebrew Epistles appear after the Church Age Epistles.

   Paul could not have written Hebrews according to Hebrews chapter 2:3. He didn't meet the writer’s requirements found in that verse. 

Chapter Four

   This chapter along with chapters three and ten are the chapters that give believers today the most problems because this is where groups go to teach that you can lose your salvation and if you do not understand its audience you will be caught up in that as well and confused.

   Can I remind you who the book is written to? It is written to Hebrews, not the body of Christ! This is not our epistle in the dispensation of grace, it is Israel’s (the Hebrews).

   It was written for that first century kingdom church made up of solely Jews (with the exception of Cornelius’s household) and for the tribulation Saints enduring to the end of the time of Jacob’s trouble. 

1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit.

   The writer wants to go on unto perfection, the deeper things, the strong meat instead of the milk that is listed in verses one and two to help mature the believer and equip them for the time that is upon them, so they don't fall away.

   Notice that the writer says that repentance from dead works was a foundational teaching under this Hebrew system along with faith towards God.

   Notice also that the Hebrew audience is told go on past the foundational doctrine of baptisms plural, not baptism singular. When you read the word baptism in the bible don’t always think of the word water.

   There is the baptism with the Holy Ghost (being filled with the Holy Ghost) which happened at Pentecost and numerous other times to the twelve apostles and others.

    There is of course baptism with water that John did called the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, which is not how Paul baptized those that he baptized.

   There is the baptism by the Holy Spirit (not with the Holy Spirit) that believers today receive the moment they are saved and are placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. 

   And lastly, there is the baptism of fire that is the baptism for all the lost in Hell and eventually in the lake of fire for rejecting Christ.

   The doctrine of laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment are also foundational truths that every believer in either program (Israel’s Kingdom Program which is on hold today, and our Mystery Program which is in full effect until the rapture) should understand and be able to teach to others that don’t know.

   The writer wants to take his hearers on unto perfection (completeness) in their understanding of God’s programs and his word.

   This he will do if his hearers will simply digest the milk and be obedient to it, so it can have its opportunity to mature its hearer to the point they will be able to handle the strong meat of the basic principles of the doctrine of Christ.

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

   What is the writer saying here? Is he saying that a person in the dispensation of grace can lose their salvation? No! No! No! He is not talking to a member of the body of Christ here, but he is speaking to the remnant of Hebrews believers under the kingdom program that were saved in the gospel time period and early Acts.

   Those first century believers who were once enlightened (like Judas Iscariot) and tasted of the heavenly gift (the kingdom of Heaven) and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost (they were filled/baptized with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost).

   They all tasted the good word (the gospel of the kingdom) and they have tasted the powers of the world to come (Apostolic signs and wonders like God killing Ananias and Saphira) if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance.

   These verses teach exactly what they say that someone who had these experiences and then left them (fallen away) for whatever reason could not be saved again (be renewed unto repentance).

   You, nor anyone else who was saved in this dispensation of grace, has never had a taste of the kingdom of heaven, nor have you been a partaker of the Holy Ghost in the way that the apostles were on the day of Pentecost.

  Nor any believer during the time when Israel was being offered the kingdom. This will be the same situation Israel will find itself in during the tribulation period when the kingdom will be offered again to Israel and this book of Hebrews will be of utmost importance unto them at that time.

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

   The writer is explaining the importance of receiving God's word into his hearers’ minds and hearts, so they can use it to produce fruit from it, he is also explaining the danger of hearing and not allowing it to have its perfecting work in their life.

   If you put this book in its proper place as speaking to Israel under the Law in the Tribulation Period and not for us today under Grace, it makes perfect sense.

   We have eternal security today in the age of grace, but Israel did not have in the Old Testament nor will they have it in the Tribulation Period.

Chapter Five

Hebrews 10

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

   Be honest with yourself, these verses are not for us in the Church Age. Christ is our once and for all sacrifice for sin, but Israel was on a short accounts system.

   They continually had to keep offering for their latest sins since their last offering. There was no offering for Israel that gave them forgiveness in the future, so they had to sacrifice year after year.

   These Tribulation believers will have works that go along with their faith after the Rapture just as James teaches the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad in the book of James which is an Hebrew epistle written to Jews going through the Tribulation Period.

   You cannot run to the Greek and say verse twenty six doesn’t mean exactly what it says because it does mean exactly what it says. It is not written to me or you in the dispensation of grace, it is written to Israel under their dispensation.

28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

   To do despite to the Spirit is to openly oppose, be against, or to defy the Spirit of grace. It is to oppose God by supporting something he no longer supports because he has a New Covenant that he has paid a great cost to inaugurate.

   Who is man to say, "we will stick with your old plan"? God says they will be attributing the blood of the New Covenant as an unholy thing.

   They are literally saying I don't want your blood sacrifice Jesus, I will bring my own sacrifice from a calf or a goat and if you don't like it tough! We do that when we place tradition above the word of God.

   There was Moses' covenant and then the New Covenant in Christ’s blood and if you think the punishment was rough under Moses’ the writer of Hebrews tells you that it is even worse for someone who rejects, not Moses, but Jesus.

30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

   This is talking about religious people who in the Tribulation Period decide to follow the Old Covenant and reject the New. It will have eternal consequences for them.

   Today Messianic believers are being spiritually drugged into going back under the Law when their sacrifice has already been paid.  They call it Jewish roots, but what many of them do is try to put Jews back under the Law when they are under Grace.

   They have to keep the Sabbath and the Feasts, and they don't believe in the rapture, plus they think they are going through the Tribulation Period.

   They don't understand who they are today in the Body of Christ, that they are not Israel under the Law. In this age there is no Jew or Gentile but the one new man of Ephesians.

32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; 33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. 34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

   For a Jew to turn to Christ in the first century meant almost guaranteed persecution and rejection from their families and friends. It may have meant the loss of their jobs and homes. For some it meant prison and even death.

   Some claim the writer of Hebrews must be Paul because he was in jail here. That is like saying the fish in your tank must be a guppy because I have a guppy in mine. Thousands of believers were persecuted for their faith in those days.

   It is only in modern day American Christianity where almost no one suffers for their faith that they would come to this position.

   The Bible says that all who live godly shall suffer persecution. Going to Church on Sunday in not all that is required to live a godly life. Who are you telling about Christ today? Try it and see if you don't get a little taste of persecution.

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

   The author is encouraging his hearers to stick to the narrow path with the remnant and stay away from the wide path that most will be following in sacrificing at the Temple because God will not be in that Temple, he will be in the wilderness with the faithful, and the faithful will inherit the promises made to the Jewish people.

37 For yet a little while, and  he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

   Jesus their King will come and set up the Kingdom which during the Tribulation Period will be "at hand" again as it was in the days of Christ's earthly ministry, but this time it will not be delayed because of Israel's rejection.

   The just shall live by faith: but! That’s a big but, because after that the writer says, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

   This is not how Paul explains “the just shall live by faith” in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11. Here it is stated that those who draw back go unto perdition.

   Perdition is damnation of the soul for eternity as opposed to believing unto the saving of the soul. That is not doctrine for the dispensation of grace but for Israel’s Program under the Law or Covenant(s).

 Chapter Six

A Great Chapter on Eternal Security

Romans 8

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 

   If you are in Christ Jesus (saved), you are to walk after the Spirit’s leading, and not after the flesh’s leading. Once a person is in Christ Jesus he can never be condemned.

   Christ even told his disciples that if they believed on him that sent him, they would not come into condemnation, but that they were passed from death unto life. John 5:24 

   Paul tells us we are free from the law of sin and death, he does not however tell us that we are free from ever sinning again or from death. For some reason people think that if they sin, they must not be saved after reading this portion of scripture.

   Our flesh must pay the penalty of sin which is death, but if you are saved, your soul and spirit has been cut free already from your body.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

   The law was weak because of the human element involved, our flesh, and so Christ came in the “likeness” of sinful flesh, for the purpose of condemning our sinful flesh.

   How did he do that? With his own flesh on the cross.   He did not come in sinful flesh as each one of us did at our birth, but in the likeness of it.

  The necessity of the virgin birth was so that he could come without sinful flesh. When God originally created Adam, he made him “after his own likeness” Gen 1:26, but Adam sinned and corrupted that likeness.

   Adam’s sons were not born in the likeness of God as their father was created, instead, they were born in sin after the likeness of their father Adam.  

   When Christ came, he was not in the likeness you and I as fallen sons of Adam, but he came in the likeness of Adam prior to his fall (without sin).

   A lost person can never walk in the Spirit and be declared righteous, but because Christ fulfilled the righteousness of the law, we who walk in the Spirit can have that righteousness fulfilled in us through him. 

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

   The lost/carnal mind thinks what he thinks because he is still attached to his flesh, but the believer has been detached from the power of his flesh by the Spirit the moment he trusts Christ.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

   A lost person can’t please God, but the saved person because he has the Spirit indwelling him is already pleasing to God. Paul tells us that the body is dead because of sin.

   We will all die because of sin because the wages of sin is death, but Paul is reminding us here that when we are saved, we die to our flesh by the power of Christ to detach us from our flesh. He is also reminding us that we are alive spiritually speaking, through the righteousness of Christ.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 

   The believer has the sure hope that God shall make his dead body alive by the power of the Spirit which is in every believer, which came into every believer as the earnest of our inheritance (the down payment) at the moment we believed the gospel.

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

   Because the Spirit quickens our mortal bodies, we are debtors to the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body. We are to tell the flesh no.

   Try picturing an empty coffin that is about to be placed in the ground and every time your flesh wants to give in to sin, you simply cast that thought into that casket and bury it.

The spirit of bondage

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

   When the scripture calls us the sons of God because of our faith they are not referring to our being sons of God by creation like the angels of God are referred to as. See Gen 6 and Job 2

  The spirit of bondage is a reference to the law, with its system of rules and regulations, tutors and governors to lead us as a child needs his parents to help them in their childhood. Israel under the law feared God and often served God out of fear. 

The Spirit of adoption

    We on the other hand are not under that system, but we have  received the Spirit of adoption at the moment we were saved, and we are not seen as children needed to be led around with governors and tutors, but as fully mature sons and daughters adopted by the Father.

    This is the first time that the word adoption is used in scriptures and it does not mean what the modern definition of the word means.

   Adoption in scripture has to do with a child at a set time that is appointed of the father is adopted into the family with full rights and privileges of being a son.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 

   The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we (believers) are the children of God. As children we are heirs of God, and God does something totally different with us because of what God's Son has already done on our behalf.

   At the appointed time Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the scriptures. We were never under the law (tutors and governors) and at the moment we trusted Christ we were received by God and placed into his Son as sons.

   Because we are sons, we are entitled to be heirs one day of all that God possesses.

   There are different levels of suffering that a person may go through in their life as a believer that is radically different from the type or amount of suffering that another member of the body of Christ might suffer simply because of where we were born.

    If there is no suffering at all then we must realize that the problem lies with us and not God, for if you are a witness with your lips and your life of what God has done through you by saving you, you will receive some form of persecution. There are no such things as secret agent Christians.

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 

   What a hope for us to know that all we have suffered in this life is not even worth mentioning when compared to the glory we shall receive when the sons of God will one day be manifested at the onset of Christ’s kingdom.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

   We were made subject to vanity and one day we will lose these vile decaying bodies and put on a new one that will be recognized by all believers of all times just like the disciples recognized Moses and Elijah at the mount of transfiguration.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 

   Because of Adam’s fall not only was all of humanity cursed but all of creation as well and one day soon the curse will be lifted from both, but until that day, we both creature and creation are groaning and travailing in pain together. 

   The hope here is defined differently than the word we use today, it is not “I sure hope I am going to be saved” but rather “I have the hope which the non-believer does not that I am saved and already possess everything God has for me and I am just waiting to receive it.  

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

  All believers have the Spirit indwelling us to help us when we don’t know what to pray for or what to do. He is our intercessor.

   The Spirit does not speak in tongues for us as some claim. The Spirit intercedes in our behalf to God and then He is used by God to minister back to us His response according to His will for us.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

   Don’t get all worried here and start thinking that the Calvinist are right, remember most of them have been baptizing babies for centuries.

   If they got something as easy as baptism wrong, then it is certain that they have problems in other areas as well.

   Those whom God foreknew, speaks of the mystery program regarding the church in the age of grace. Before time began God foreknew gentiles would be saved in this age of grace and he predestinated those who would be saved to be conformed to the image of his Son.  

   Notice that Paul tells us that they are predestinated not to salvation but to be conformed to the image of his Son. See the related study in chapters 9-11 on the doctrine of election.

30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 

  We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, and called to be sons. Justification is what every lost person needs, and glorification is what every saved person receives one day.  

   To be justified is to be declared righteous by Christ’s payment on our behalf.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 

   Since God spared his own Son for us, He will also freely give us all things. Why should he hold something back from us since he has already given us the most precious thing He has?

   Remember are blessings are all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. It is Israel that is promised earthly blessings.

33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 

   Since God has justified us there is no charge that can be leveled against us by anyone that can carry any weight with God. No one can condemn someone that God has declared righteous.

   The title of God’s elect is one that needs to be understood in its proper context. There are many things that are called “elect” in scripture that are in different ages under different programs so to lump them all together will cause a perverse doctrinal view of election as many already have.

   There are elect today in the body of Christ which Paul speaks about in verse thirty-three and there are also elect in the old testament under the law that are different.

   The elect were the believing remnant up until the body of Christ was formed after the resurrection.

   Example: The Messiah is called “mine elect” in Isaiah as well as Israel herself is called “my elect” in the same book. The believing remnant of Israel during the tribulation period is also call “the elect” in Matthew and Revelations, but they are all different from the elect during the church age.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 

   We are more than conquerors through Christ when all of lives trials come our way because we shall receive a far greater reward than we can imagine for the light trials that have come our way in this life.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   Death can’t separate us from the love of God for it is then that we truly begin to live in his presence. Life can’t separate either for he is the way the truth and the life.

   As powerful as the arch angel Michael is, he presents no threat to separate us from the love of God nor could Satan and his minions represented here as the principalities and powers of this world. They are indeed powerful, but they are only created beings and no match for the Creator.

The End