Formerly Mid Acts - NOW ACTS 28
"You cannot find the answer to a question you're not asking." (Mid Acts Brother Scott Mitchell of Grace Family Bible Online) I owe to him the raising of the question for which I then tried to find the answer, which is, "Why does Paul insist his gospel can be found in the Old Testament prophets?"
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Is the creation of 2Cor.5:17 and the new creature of Gals.6, the creation of the one new man found in Ephesians 2?
Is the creation of 2Cor.5:17 and the new creature of Gals.6, the creation of the one new man found in Ephesians 2?
Brian Kelson answers:
Mid-Acts and Acts 28ers agree, there are many wonderful truths in Paul, but here is where we differ, not all of those truths are about us today.
Certainly the Jew and Gentile believers of Galatians were justified without the works of the Law for example. They were made righteous by grace through faith but those believers were not members of the church which is His Body, they were the seed of Abraham and to be blessed with faithful Abraham in the Promised Land as Gals.3 clearly says.
Having failed to test the things differing in Paul (Phils:1:9-10), Mid-Acts believe everything Paul wrote contains within it some unveiling of the mystery of Ephesians. They believe the Acts period was a transition; Paul had some progressive revelation which was finalized, or reached its ultimate revelations in Ephesians and Colossians. This we continue to find from Paul’s writings is indeed scripturally groundless on both points. The very subject matter of Paul’s letters negates this misplaced viewpoint and divides his letters into two distinct dispensational groups.
During the Acts period Paul was witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. He held embraced the hope of Israel, worshipped the God of Israel’s fathers, and had not offended the Jews in anything, Acts 24:14, 25:8, 26:6-7, 22, & 28:20. I’m certain if Paul had preached during Acts, the truth of Ephesians that the Jews
no longer held any dispensational advantage, he would have offended many.
Where Mid-Acts fail (and most other Christians for that matter), is in their inability to distinguish between redemptive truths common to all dispensations and dispensational truths unique to each one. Redemption through our Lord’s shed blood, faith and righteousness reckoned are not unique to our present calling, they can be found in type, shadow and prophesy from page one of the sacred Word. Certainly, some of these precious redemptive doctrines are highlighted and expounded in Paul’s Acts period letters but this fact does not demand or prove in any way that the nation of Israel had been set aside and/or our new calling was introduced or being unfolded.
Because of this failure to rightly divide continuing and discontinuing truths, many Mid-Acts (MAs) doctrines are supported with an eisogetical understanding of certain Scriptures. With their viewpoint firmly entrenched, they read into Paul’s Acts letters the later truths of Ephesians not actually there.
2Cor.5:17 is a case in point. Here the words “if any man” be IN CHRIST, he, that ONE, is a new creation. Without a thought to the context, many Mid-Acts brethren will unite this passage with Eph.2 which speaks of a new creation where God has made of Jew and Gentile one new man. In their minds, they believe this proves the Mystery was in Paul during Acts. They claim this creation of 2cor.5 is the new creation of Ephesians 2 but the context of Corinthians will not allow
this. Rather than note carefully the context, they are dragging back into Corinthians, truths which are impossible to fit there.
Ephs.2:11-17 says clearly that “in Christ” God has created of the both, (Jew and Gentile) one new man. This is not any man being a new creation in Christ; this
is two groups of believers being created one new group in Christ; the great church which is His Body. Corinthians is about an individual being a new creation in Christ which is not the Ephesians creation. This error of Mid-Acts has resulted from not dividing the things differing.
Now let us examine the context of Corinthians which forbids this Mid-Acts joining of things differing. In the very next chapter 2Cor.6:2, Paul encourages the Corinthians that they receive not the grace of God in vain and this is not the dispensation of the grace of God for he immediately quotes Is.49:8 thus;
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.[Is.49:8]) 2Co 6:1-2
Here is Isaiah 49:
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; Isa 49:8
Isn’t the Word of Truth amazing? 2Cor.6 is an inheritance on the earth as per the very OT passage Paul uses. This has already been confirmed with 1Cor.15 which we shall see shortly.
Is.49 is the very chapter in which the command to turn to the Gentiles is the one given Paul in Acts 13:
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth (Is.49:6). Act 13:46-47
Paul turned to the Gentiles according to a command of prophesy from Is.49 in Acts 13. Paul did not turn to the Gentiles because any revelation of the new creation of Ephesians 2 had been given him. It is Is.49 in Acts 13 and the encouragement for the Corinthians in 2Cor.6 is from Is.49, no change, nor progression, still none other things than the prophets and Moses did say should come. Despite these contextual restraints, MAs insist the creation of 2Cor.5 is that of Ephesians 2. Nope, not a right division chance of that.
2Cor.6 is the OT. The Gentiles saved in Acts 13 are included according to the same OT prophesies which are about the Israel and the Promised Land, not heavenly places. Is.49:7, 10, 13. Is.42:1, 6 are interesting and should be read here with Acts13:47, 26:23.
How can 2Cor.6 be the mystery of Ephesians? It can’t be. How can the creation of 2Cor.5 be the new creation of Jew and Gentile out of Eph.2? It can’t be, the context will not allow such a Mid-Acts convenience. Also of interest in 2Cor.6 is the fact that Paul uses the OT to establish the relationship between the Corinthians and God the Father
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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 (Lev.26:12). Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (Numbs.16). 2Co 6:14-18
Those Acts period Corinthian believers had separated themselves from unrepentant Israel (Acts2:40), and were typified in those who had done the same back in Israel’s picture salvation. Unrepentant Israel was destined to experience God’s wrath which does not mean dispersion in the world and a new dispensation introduced.
God was their father, they were His sons and daughters and all based upon Lev.26:12 and Numbs.16. That is not the church which is His Body in 2Cor.6 and it is not the new creation of Ephesians in 2Cor.5.
These OT passages of Paul are the basis of hope for the Corinthians during Acts;
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved..... 2Co 7:1
What promises? The promises found in the very OT passages Paul had been using, not the promises given in a dispensation hidden away from previous ages and generations and hid in God.
Now here is another fascinating thing about 2Cor6 and verse 2. In it Paul uses “today” found in Is.49, and this same prophetic appeal is found in Hebrews albeit from another prophet. Notice in this Hebrew appeal Moses is in the house, but the Lord over the same house, which house the Hebrew and Corinthian believers constituted. This is not the church which is his Body since Moses was never a servant in our calling;
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Heb 3:5-9
Here is the Old Testament “today” warning of Hebrews 3:5-9;
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Psa 95:7-11
This is a quote from Ps.95 as you can see, which Psalm speaks of the Lord as a great King in whose hands are the deep places of the earth and the strength of the hills. This is Hebrews, hardly heavenly places. Here is the hope given in Hebrews;
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, Heb 12:18-23
In Hebrews the believers had come to Mt Zion, the church of the first born and an innumerable company of angels, where the Trumpet of the OT is featured along with the New Covenant, Hebs.12:18-24. Hebrews knows nothing of the present dispensation of the mystery where Zion, Angels, the New Covenant and the church of the firstborn have no place.
The Hebrews were warned with a look back to Israel’s typical salvation accompanied with the emphasis on “TODAY” and the things held in hope were the fulfillment of Israel’s greater salvation. But these things are also featured in Corinthians.
This "today" warning in Hebrews harmonizes with the today emphasis of Is.49 in 2Cor.6.
In 1Cor.10, Paul warns the Corinthians from the failures in the wilderness, just like Hebrews;
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 1Co 10:1-10
The today warning in Corinthians is for those who were partakers of the earthly calling just as the today warning was for the Hebrews who would partake of that same earthly calling. The Corinthians were also waiting for the Trumpet and the resurrection to the earth. This is proven in 1Cor.15 which resurrection is Is.25 as follows;
And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. Isa 25:6-10
Which mountain is it in Isaiah 25? The prophet has already written about it in an earlier chapter;
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isa 2:1-5
The Trumpet resurrection of Is.25 in 1Cor.15 is to Mt Zion. The Hebrews had come to Mount Zion and a Trumpet. Will we yet embrace the falsehood that the creation of 2Cor.5 is some isolated part of the mystery of Ephesians found among such an earthly setting? Impossible, the creation of 2Cor.5 must harmonize with the earthly calling in view.
2Cor.5 is about the new creation of an individual who is looking for that very resurrection to the earth. The ones who had believed into Christ at Corinth, were warned about “today”, and had been warned by a reference back to those who were without faith in the Exodus just as the Hebrews were warned.
Mid-Acts leave Hebrews out of Paul which is a convenient position for them. It would be so inconvenient if MAs included Hebrews in Paul because then they would need to acknowledge the dispensational harmony of Hebrews and Corinthians. Acts 28 recognizes that Hebrews and Corinthians were both written in the Acts period before the revelation of The Mystery of Ephesians.
Here are other dispensational features of the Acts period common to Corinthians and Hebrews.
In Corinthians, Paul declared those believers had been confirmed with supernatural gifts unto the Trumpet coming of the Lord which was near for not all of them would die;
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 1:4-8
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 1Co 7:29
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (age) are come. 1Co 10:11
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:51-52
Here are the same supernatural gifts, the ends of the ages and near return of the Lord as found in Hebrews where we have already seen the Trumpet and the assembling of the believers on Mt Zion;
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, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, Heb 6:4-5
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb 9:26
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Heb 10:37
Can we see these clear and consistent dispensational things in both Hebrews and Corinthians? Notwithstanding the creation of 2Cor.5 is not the one of Ephesians, but suppose we imagined it to be so, could we force it into Hebrews? Absolutely not! Can we force it into Corinthians? Absolutely not!
Paul also refers to a new creature in Galatians 6, another letter written during the Acts period. Could this creature or creation, be that of Ephesians? Mid-Acts certainly think so but does the context allow this? Here is the passage;
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Gal 6:14-16
This context is equally contrary to the Mid-Acts view that this creation is that of Ephesians 2. Israel, nor the Israel of God have no place in our present dispensation of grace having been put aside at Acts 28. So what is this new creature? Paul had already written about the impotence of circumcision or not back in chapter 5 where faith is the key;
Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do all the Law, you who are justified by Law are deprived of all effect from Christ; you fell from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness out of faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any strength, but faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you that you do not obey the truth? Gal 5:2-7
Those who returned to seeking righteousness by works had fallen from grace, the grace faith brings. Paul has already expounded the righteousness apart from the law obtained by grace through faith, and faith is the key to this new creature. Faith brought sonship, the blessings of Abraham and an earthly inheritance;
Then He supplying the Spirit to you and working powerful works in you, is it by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations through faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all nations be blessed." So then those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Gal 3:5-9
Abraham believed God, faith in Abraham was reckoned to him for righteousness and these Jews and Gentiles of the Acts period were the sons (heirs) of Abraham. In this regard Isaac, the heir given Abraham so long ago, typified these Acts period believers, Gals.4:29. The same faith which made them righteous, made them the seed of Abraham;
But before faith came, we were kept under Law, having been shut up to the faith about to be revealed. So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But faith coming, we are no longer under a trainer. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ. There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Gal 3:23-29
Since Paul had already declared these justified Jewish and Gentile believers as the seed of Abraham by faith, it is contextually impossible for the new creature of the last chapter to be the new creation of Ephesians 2. The one new man is
not the seed of Abraham. Galatians knows nothing of the church which is His Body.
While in Galatians it is noteworthy to find the very same dispensational elements already found in Corinthians and Hebrews.
The Galatians were to enjoy the inheritance in the Promised Land, Gals.3:18, 29. They were endowed with supernatural gifts, Gals.3:1-5, 1Cor.1:4-8, Hebs6. The Galatians were anticipating the New Jerusalem referred to as their mother, Hebs.12. In Galatians, the New Jerusalem is inseparable from the prophet Isaiah;
But the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all. For it is written, "Rejoice, barren one not bearing; break forth and shout, you not travailing; for more are the children of the desolate than she having the husband." (Is.54: But brothers, we, like Isaac, are children of promise. Gal 4:26-28
If our Apostle in Galatians 4, is inspired to turn to Isaiah 54 it would seem reasonable in our exegesis to do the same;
Rejoice, O unfruitful one that never bore; break out a song and shout, you who never travailed. For more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married woman, says Jehovah. Make the place of your tent larger, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break out on the right hand and on the left. And your seed shall inherit the nations, and people will inhabit ruined cities. Do not fear; for you shall not be ashamed, nor shall you blush; for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For Jehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected, says your God. Isa 54:1-6
I love the way the Lord is so emphatic at the close of the chapter;
.....This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from Me, says Jehovah. Isa 54:17
The prophet speaks of a wife, an inheritance of the nations and ruined cities and righteousness that is FROM Jehovah. This righteousness had already been proclaimed in Is.45:15-15 and chapter 52. This is so consistent with Paul’s Acts period redemptive and dispensational preaching. Paul preached about righteousness by faith through grace but directed every saint to the promises made to the fathers as their hope. Abraham was heir of the world in Roms.4 and the righteousness of the faithful was directly from the Lord. But I digress. In Galatians 4, Paul had linked the New Jerusalem with Isaiah and maybe the word wife is the key. The New Jerusalem is called the Bride, the Lamb’s wife in Rev.21:9 where the Lord makes all things new.
Those who love to rightly divide the Scriptures and compare spiritual with spiritual, will reject out of hand any imaginations that the creature of Gals.6 and the new creation of 2Cor.5 are the one new man of Ephesians 2. The dispensational contexts of Corinthians, Galatians and Hebrews are on the same page; they will not allow such a terrible eisogesis. Written during the Acts period, they know nothing of the present dispensation of the grace of God given by revelation to Paul after Israel was put to one side at Acts 28.
These consistent links in the Acts period letters soundly affirm that the dispensation in view is a continuation of that of Isaiah, Malachi and Matthew and Corinthians and Galatians are not speaking of the creation of Ephesians 2.
Deborah Collins at 5:18 PM
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"You cannot find the answer to a question you're not asking." (Mid Acts Brother Scott Mitchell of Grace Family Bible Online) I owe to him the raising of the question for which I then tried to find the answer, which is, "Why does Paul insist his gospel can be found in the Old Testament prophets?"
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Is the creation of 2Cor.5:17 and the new creature of Gals.6, the creation of the one new man found in Ephesians 2?
Is the creation of 2Cor.5:17 and the new creature of Gals.6, the creation of the one new man found in Ephesians 2?
Brian Kelson answers:
Mid-Acts and Acts 28ers agree, there are many wonderful truths in Paul, but here is where we differ, not all of those truths are about us today.
Certainly the Jew and Gentile believers of Galatians were justified without the works of the Law for example. They were made righteous by grace through faith but those believers were not members of the church which is His Body, they were the seed of Abraham and to be blessed with faithful Abraham in the Promised Land as Gals.3 clearly says.
Having failed to test the things differing in Paul (Phils:1:9-10), Mid-Acts believe everything Paul wrote contains within it some unveiling of the mystery of Ephesians. They believe the Acts period was a transition; Paul had some progressive revelation which was finalized, or reached its ultimate revelations in Ephesians and Colossians. This we continue to find from Paul’s writings is indeed scripturally groundless on both points. The very subject matter of Paul’s letters negates this misplaced viewpoint and divides his letters into two distinct dispensational groups.
During the Acts period Paul was witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. He held embraced the hope of Israel, worshipped the God of Israel’s fathers, and had not offended the Jews in anything, Acts 24:14, 25:8, 26:6-7, 22, & 28:20. I’m certain if Paul had preached during Acts, the truth of Ephesians that the Jews
no longer held any dispensational advantage, he would have offended many.
Where Mid-Acts fail (and most other Christians for that matter), is in their inability to distinguish between redemptive truths common to all dispensations and dispensational truths unique to each one. Redemption through our Lord’s shed blood, faith and righteousness reckoned are not unique to our present calling, they can be found in type, shadow and prophesy from page one of the sacred Word. Certainly, some of these precious redemptive doctrines are highlighted and expounded in Paul’s Acts period letters but this fact does not demand or prove in any way that the nation of Israel had been set aside and/or our new calling was introduced or being unfolded.
Because of this failure to rightly divide continuing and discontinuing truths, many Mid-Acts (MAs) doctrines are supported with an eisogetical understanding of certain Scriptures. With their viewpoint firmly entrenched, they read into Paul’s Acts letters the later truths of Ephesians not actually there.
2Cor.5:17 is a case in point. Here the words “if any man” be IN CHRIST, he, that ONE, is a new creation. Without a thought to the context, many Mid-Acts brethren will unite this passage with Eph.2 which speaks of a new creation where God has made of Jew and Gentile one new man. In their minds, they believe this proves the Mystery was in Paul during Acts. They claim this creation of 2cor.5 is the new creation of Ephesians 2 but the context of Corinthians will not allow
this. Rather than note carefully the context, they are dragging back into Corinthians, truths which are impossible to fit there.
Ephs.2:11-17 says clearly that “in Christ” God has created of the both, (Jew and Gentile) one new man. This is not any man being a new creation in Christ; this
is two groups of believers being created one new group in Christ; the great church which is His Body. Corinthians is about an individual being a new creation in Christ which is not the Ephesians creation. This error of Mid-Acts has resulted from not dividing the things differing.
Now let us examine the context of Corinthians which forbids this Mid-Acts joining of things differing. In the very next chapter 2Cor.6:2, Paul encourages the Corinthians that they receive not the grace of God in vain and this is not the dispensation of the grace of God for he immediately quotes Is.49:8 thus;
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.[Is.49:8]) 2Co 6:1-2
Here is Isaiah 49:
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; Isa 49:8
Isn’t the Word of Truth amazing? 2Cor.6 is an inheritance on the earth as per the very OT passage Paul uses. This has already been confirmed with 1Cor.15 which we shall see shortly.
Is.49 is the very chapter in which the command to turn to the Gentiles is the one given Paul in Acts 13:
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth (Is.49:6). Act 13:46-47
Paul turned to the Gentiles according to a command of prophesy from Is.49 in Acts 13. Paul did not turn to the Gentiles because any revelation of the new creation of Ephesians 2 had been given him. It is Is.49 in Acts 13 and the encouragement for the Corinthians in 2Cor.6 is from Is.49, no change, nor progression, still none other things than the prophets and Moses did say should come. Despite these contextual restraints, MAs insist the creation of 2Cor.5 is that of Ephesians 2. Nope, not a right division chance of that.
2Cor.6 is the OT. The Gentiles saved in Acts 13 are included according to the same OT prophesies which are about the Israel and the Promised Land, not heavenly places. Is.49:7, 10, 13. Is.42:1, 6 are interesting and should be read here with Acts13:47, 26:23.
How can 2Cor.6 be the mystery of Ephesians? It can’t be. How can the creation of 2Cor.5 be the new creation of Jew and Gentile out of Eph.2? It can’t be, the context will not allow such a Mid-Acts convenience. Also of interest in 2Cor.6 is the fact that Paul uses the OT to establish the relationship between the Corinthians and God the Father
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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 (Lev.26:12). Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (Numbs.16). 2Co 6:14-18
Those Acts period Corinthian believers had separated themselves from unrepentant Israel (Acts2:40), and were typified in those who had done the same back in Israel’s picture salvation. Unrepentant Israel was destined to experience God’s wrath which does not mean dispersion in the world and a new dispensation introduced.
God was their father, they were His sons and daughters and all based upon Lev.26:12 and Numbs.16. That is not the church which is His Body in 2Cor.6 and it is not the new creation of Ephesians in 2Cor.5.
These OT passages of Paul are the basis of hope for the Corinthians during Acts;
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved..... 2Co 7:1
What promises? The promises found in the very OT passages Paul had been using, not the promises given in a dispensation hidden away from previous ages and generations and hid in God.
Now here is another fascinating thing about 2Cor6 and verse 2. In it Paul uses “today” found in Is.49, and this same prophetic appeal is found in Hebrews albeit from another prophet. Notice in this Hebrew appeal Moses is in the house, but the Lord over the same house, which house the Hebrew and Corinthian believers constituted. This is not the church which is his Body since Moses was never a servant in our calling;
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Heb 3:5-9
Here is the Old Testament “today” warning of Hebrews 3:5-9;
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Psa 95:7-11
This is a quote from Ps.95 as you can see, which Psalm speaks of the Lord as a great King in whose hands are the deep places of the earth and the strength of the hills. This is Hebrews, hardly heavenly places. Here is the hope given in Hebrews;
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, Heb 12:18-23
In Hebrews the believers had come to Mt Zion, the church of the first born and an innumerable company of angels, where the Trumpet of the OT is featured along with the New Covenant, Hebs.12:18-24. Hebrews knows nothing of the present dispensation of the mystery where Zion, Angels, the New Covenant and the church of the firstborn have no place.
The Hebrews were warned with a look back to Israel’s typical salvation accompanied with the emphasis on “TODAY” and the things held in hope were the fulfillment of Israel’s greater salvation. But these things are also featured in Corinthians.
This "today" warning in Hebrews harmonizes with the today emphasis of Is.49 in 2Cor.6.
In 1Cor.10, Paul warns the Corinthians from the failures in the wilderness, just like Hebrews;
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 1Co 10:1-10
The today warning in Corinthians is for those who were partakers of the earthly calling just as the today warning was for the Hebrews who would partake of that same earthly calling. The Corinthians were also waiting for the Trumpet and the resurrection to the earth. This is proven in 1Cor.15 which resurrection is Is.25 as follows;
And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. Isa 25:6-10
Which mountain is it in Isaiah 25? The prophet has already written about it in an earlier chapter;
The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up
to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isa 2:1-5
The Trumpet resurrection of Is.25 in 1Cor.15 is to Mt Zion. The Hebrews had come to Mount Zion and a Trumpet. Will we yet embrace the falsehood that the creation of 2Cor.5 is some isolated part of the mystery of Ephesians found among such an earthly setting? Impossible, the creation of 2Cor.5 must harmonize with the earthly calling in view.
2Cor.5 is about the new creation of an individual who is looking for that very resurrection to the earth. The ones who had believed into Christ at Corinth, were warned about “today”, and had been warned by a reference back to those who were without faith in the Exodus just as the Hebrews were warned.
Mid-Acts leave Hebrews out of Paul which is a convenient position for them. It would be so inconvenient if MAs included Hebrews in Paul because then they would need to acknowledge the dispensational harmony of Hebrews and Corinthians. Acts 28 recognizes that Hebrews and Corinthians were both written in the Acts period before the revelation of The Mystery of Ephesians.
Here are other dispensational features of the Acts period common to Corinthians and Hebrews.
In Corinthians, Paul declared those believers had been confirmed with supernatural gifts unto the Trumpet coming of the Lord which was near for not all of them would die;
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 1:4-8
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 1Co 7:29
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world (age) are come. 1Co 10:11
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:51-52
Here are the same supernatural gifts, the ends of the ages and near return of the Lord as found in Hebrews where we have already seen the Trumpet and the assembling of the believers on Mt Zion;
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, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, Heb 6:4-5
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb 9:26
For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Heb 10:37
Can we see these clear and consistent dispensational things in both Hebrews and Corinthians? Notwithstanding the creation of 2Cor.5 is not the one of Ephesians, but suppose we imagined it to be so, could we force it into Hebrews? Absolutely not! Can we force it into Corinthians? Absolutely not!
Paul also refers to a new creature in Galatians 6, another letter written during the Acts period. Could this creature or creation, be that of Ephesians? Mid-Acts certainly think so but does the context allow this? Here is the passage;
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. Gal 6:14-16
This context is equally contrary to the Mid-Acts view that this creation is that of Ephesians 2. Israel, nor the Israel of God have no place in our present dispensation of grace having been put aside at Acts 28. So what is this new creature? Paul had already written about the impotence of circumcision or not back in chapter 5 where faith is the key;
Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do all the Law, you who are justified by Law are deprived of all effect from Christ; you fell from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness out of faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any strength, but faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you that you do not obey the truth? Gal 5:2-7
Those who returned to seeking righteousness by works had fallen from grace, the grace faith brings. Paul has already expounded the righteousness apart from the law obtained by grace through faith, and faith is the key to this new creature. Faith brought sonship, the blessings of Abraham and an earthly inheritance;
Then He supplying the Spirit to you and working powerful works in you, is it by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Therefore know that those of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations through faith, preached the gospel before to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all nations be blessed." So then those of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Gal 3:5-9
Abraham believed God, faith in Abraham was reckoned to him for righteousness and these Jews and Gentiles of the Acts period were the sons (heirs) of Abraham. In this regard Isaac, the heir given Abraham so long ago, typified these Acts period believers, Gals.4:29. The same faith which made them righteous, made them the seed of Abraham;
But before faith came, we were kept under Law, having been shut up to the faith about to be revealed. So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But faith coming, we are no longer under a trainer. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ. There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Gal 3:23-29
Since Paul had already declared these justified Jewish and Gentile believers as the seed of Abraham by faith, it is contextually impossible for the new creature of the last chapter to be the new creation of Ephesians 2. The one new man is
not the seed of Abraham. Galatians knows nothing of the church which is His Body.
While in Galatians it is noteworthy to find the very same dispensational elements already found in Corinthians and Hebrews.
The Galatians were to enjoy the inheritance in the Promised Land, Gals.3:18, 29. They were endowed with supernatural gifts, Gals.3:1-5, 1Cor.1:4-8, Hebs6. The Galatians were anticipating the New Jerusalem referred to as their mother, Hebs.12. In Galatians, the New Jerusalem is inseparable from the prophet Isaiah;
But the Jerusalem from above is free, who is the mother of us all. For it is written, "Rejoice, barren one not bearing; break forth and shout, you not travailing; for more are the children of the desolate than she having the husband." (Is.54: But brothers, we, like Isaac, are children of promise. Gal 4:26-28
If our Apostle in Galatians 4, is inspired to turn to Isaiah 54 it would seem reasonable in our exegesis to do the same;
Rejoice, O unfruitful one that never bore; break out a song and shout, you who never travailed. For more are the sons of the desolate than the sons of the married woman, says Jehovah. Make the place of your tent larger, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes; for you shall break out on the right hand and on the left. And your seed shall inherit the nations, and people will inhabit ruined cities. Do not fear; for you shall not be ashamed, nor shall you blush; for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. For your Maker is your husband; Jehovah of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For Jehovah has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were rejected, says your God. Isa 54:1-6
I love the way the Lord is so emphatic at the close of the chapter;
.....This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness is from Me, says Jehovah. Isa 54:17
The prophet speaks of a wife, an inheritance of the nations and ruined cities and righteousness that is FROM Jehovah. This righteousness had already been proclaimed in Is.45:15-15 and chapter 52. This is so consistent with Paul’s Acts period redemptive and dispensational preaching. Paul preached about righteousness by faith through grace but directed every saint to the promises made to the fathers as their hope. Abraham was heir of the world in Roms.4 and the righteousness of the faithful was directly from the Lord. But I digress. In Galatians 4, Paul had linked the New Jerusalem with Isaiah and maybe the word wife is the key. The New Jerusalem is called the Bride, the Lamb’s wife in Rev.21:9 where the Lord makes all things new.
Those who love to rightly divide the Scriptures and compare spiritual with spiritual, will reject out of hand any imaginations that the creature of Gals.6 and the new creation of 2Cor.5 are the one new man of Ephesians 2. The dispensational contexts of Corinthians, Galatians and Hebrews are on the same page; they will not allow such a terrible eisogesis. Written during the Acts period, they know nothing of the present dispensation of the grace of God given by revelation to Paul after Israel was put to one side at Acts 28.
These consistent links in the Acts period letters soundly affirm that the dispensation in view is a continuation of that of Isaiah, Malachi and Matthew and Corinthians and Galatians are not speaking of the creation of Ephesians 2.
Deborah Collins at 5:18 PM
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