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Hoyte Nelson's Poems/ Reflections & Biblical Essays
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Essay Abraham’s Children “Therefore
know that only those who are of faith are the children of Abraham” (Galatians
3:7). The
Scripture says this, “Just as Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; therefore, only
they that are of faith are the sons of Abraham. And the Scriptures, foreseeing
that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to
Abraham, saying, In you all the
nations shall be blessed… And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s
seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3: 6-8).
There is one simply truth before us that cannot be
altered without distorting the central truth of the gospel, and that truth is
this: salvation is by faith in the promise, promised first to our father
Abraham, and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. (Gal. 3: 29) All that Abraham hoped for
was contained in that “promise,” but that was enough for time and eternity.
Salvation is by faith in the promise, now fulfilled in Jesus Christ: The mystery
hid from the Old Testament prophets – that the Jew and the Gentile world be
forever one in Christ as the temple of God (Acts 13:13-17). There are many other gifts, given subsequent to the
“Promise,” that were meant only
for a people called “Israel,” but the “promise” given to Abraham is
forever complete in Christ Jesus (Genesis 12:3). Prophecy, Pentecost, and a hidden mystery: When
God spoke to Ezekiel saying, “Then I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them.
And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of
flesh” (Ezekiel 11:19, NKJV), what was He prophesying about? I believe
He was referring to the time when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church
at Pentecost. Remember
that they were already God’s children, but they were still waiting for the
promised “gift” of the Holy Spirit. [Of course the Old Testament Prophets
did not know of the mystery that was kept secret form them, (and the angels),
that was to be fulfilled in Christ]. They could not have known that one-day the
wall between the Jew and the Gentile would be forever removed; that they would
become one body in Christ as the “Israel of God.” (Galatians 6: 16); that
is, when the Church of Jesus Christ would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to
fulfill God’s purposes in the spreading of the gospel to this world. Simply
put, Pentecost is the “then,” that the prophets of old were referring). The
question might be asked, but what about Pentecost and the promise given to
Abraham? It should be understood that multitudes were saved before Pentecost;
therefore, Pentecost was not given to
effect change in the “so great salvation” that was fulfilled in Christ’s
first Advent as promised to Abraham; therefore, the Holy Spirit’s coming at
Pentecost was in fulfillment of the “promise” given to the children of God
in fulfillment of Old Testaments prophesies concerning “a new heart of which
the OT saints waited” (Jeremiah 24: 7; Ezekiel 11: 19). Jesus said that when
he is come, He will “convict the world of sin” (John 1:8); nevertheless,
“faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is the anointed
word of God, which brings salvation purchased at Calvary, it is the Holy Spirit
Who subsequently brings the change in the human heart in what is called “the
new birth (John 3:1-18). In other words, there are now
two acts of God, (though given simultaneously since Pentecost), that are
factually two different blessings. i.e., God’s call to salvation by faith in
Jesus Christ (John 6:44), and Secondly, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit poured
out at Pentecost to enable (among other things), His children for service. (Acts
1: 8) Therefore, I believe the Scriptures teach that one is saved when he is drawn by the
Spirit of God, through the word of God, to faith in Jesus Christ; and the New
Birth is the subsequence gift of God to His children whereby we are born again
as a direct gift of Pentecost.
Amazingly, God, on the day of
Pentecost, gave to this Apostolic Church the “sign” in varied languages
(tongues) to show to them that the gospel was not only for the Jews, but for the
peoples of the world also. Without this “sign.” The Peter would never have
understood the Cornelius experience. This was the “KEY,” given to Peter by
our Lord, to open the door to the Gentiles, without which, all would be in
darkness. (Acts chapter 10 and chapter 11) Remember that the Pentecostal blessings were not then
a part of the Abrahamic Promise (covenant) given to Abraham wherein we have
salvation, but was a subsequent blessings for God’s people; who are God’s
people by faith in the Promise, fulfilled
in Jesus Christ. For God had said in Ezk. 36: 27, and I will (“then”) put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk
in my statutes...” (The “then” was Pentecost). There are many promises given to us as God’s
children, but only one Promise, given to Abraham, of which we are now partakers
by faith in that promise, fulfilled in
Jesus Christ; who is Himself our salvation! “And
if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according
to the Promise” (Galatians 3: 29). I’m thrilled, as a Gentile, to be a part of
Abraham’s family on an equal standing with all of God’s children. There is
no more Jew and Gentile, for we are all one in Christ Jesus: Thus, the “Israel
of God” (Galatians 6:16b). |