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Rightly Divided
To get past the Roman Road and Grace Only gates, you must master the bible. And not just the bible, but the bible rightly divided. The bible itself won’t help you. Normally, it will only confuse you. But the rightly divided bible will save your soul. Our text verse tells of this obscure, lost art. This may be the most unheeded, abused, and ignored verse in the bible. Its key words of “study” and “work” just don’t fit in with today’s Christian lifestyles. We know just enough about the bible to be dangerous. It’s knowledge by association, not by study or work. And that, friend, is not okay with God. Our text is founded upon a similar, previous passion. The passion of Moses, telling Israel their blessings if they obey the law:
Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
God has always wanted to be first and foremost in your life. This charge is repeated three more times in the Old Testament.
Key to rightly divided bible study, is the Holy Ghost, context, and good old fashioned horse sense. Which testament is it in…Old or New? Who was the writer? Which salvation dispensation was it in? What were the prevailing political, socio-economic, or religious trends? What was the hearer’s standing with God at the time? Who was the king? Context is everything. In one place Jesus taught: If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. If we rip this out of context, gild it as doctrine, and ignore all other scripture about family, we could start a brand new denomination. We’ll call it “haters for Jesus.“ Dart boards will line our sanctuary walls, with pictures of our family as targets. Of course, we will have to ban Mother’s Day and Father’s Day from our calendars. In another verse, Jesus said if we would be His disciple, we must take up our cross daily and follow Him. Now, this was no small chunk of wood friend. Is salvation then, only for those strong enough to tote such a load? What if I was able to tote it as a young man; but when I grew old and feeble, I could no longer hoist it? I mean, He did say daily…with no age limits.
While these are extreme examples, I trust you get the point. Every Christian denomination bases their belief on the bible. No musical instruments in church. Once saved always saved. Church must be held on Saturday’s. Sanctification is a separate work of grace. Pre…Mid…and Post-tribulation rapture. Confessing sins to a priest. The bride of Christ versus the wedding guests. There is no Hell. There is a Hell. Heaven is a renewed earth. Heaven is a brand new place. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I’ve even seen denominations split over translation of a single Greek word.
Scripture must always harmonize with the rest of scripture, and with the Creation. And that’s just the first step. It should also jive with the many sub-surface levels of scripture, basic bible hermeneutics, dispensational boundaries, and good old fashioned horse sense about God. Without the Holy Ghost, this task is impossible. You’ll go nuts thinking the bible is just one big contradiction of itself. On the one hand, God says: Thou shalt not kill. But then He commands Saul to kill all men, women, children, infants, oxen, sheep, camels and donkeys that belong to Amalek. There are hundreds of examples like this. In matters of salvation, rightly dividing the Word of God is even more crucial. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life…
Jesus Christ extends an invitation to each of us: Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you… There is only one successful response to this invitation…you must fall on the Rock and be broken. I mean, consider the times we live in. It’s the end of days. The entire world is deceived. The odds of your spiritual conception are slim to none. Your one hope; is to fall on your face, pray for the grace and mercy of God, and let His Spirit lead and guide you into all truth. That same raw emotion…the urgency to live…that made you a champion, is what draws us at last, to His mercy. In centuries past, people battled their own shallowness when the gospel seed fell on their path. It’s so much worse today. Folks once struggled to balance gospel obedience with the cares of this life. It’s so much worse today. Hearing the gospel isn’t really that novel. But hearing the truth about salvation, is a miracle of epic proportion. You’re bombarded with over a thousand variations of it. Your chances of birth hinge entirely on your own brokenness before God; and utter dependence on Him guiding you through the slimy darkness, to the correct fallopian tube, and the prized ova. It is, friend, the only way. Many may follow in the footsteps of noble Aquila, and explain the way of God to you more perfectly. But at the end of the day, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it.
One of the most popular violations of context, is found in the gospels. I know you’ve either heard it, or used it yourself. “What about the thief on the cross? He never repented!“ The thief, and Jesus Christ, both lived and died in the dispensation of law. New covenant salvation didn’t even begin until Pentecost. Then, of course, there’s the minor detail that the King of Glory reserves the right to pardon, forgive, resurrect, or escort to paradise, whomever He chooses to. But for us, living in this present dispensation of grace, it’s simply wrong: reaching back to a former dispensation, to justify ignoring the dictates of this new and living way. As well build yourself an ark.
Every dispensation in the bible is marked by a covenant. This covenant includes a promise from God for keeping it, and a judgment from God for breaking it. But there are two covenants that rise above all the others. One is law, and the other is grace. In the book of Galatians, Paul refers to these as the two covenants. The first includes @613 laws, the building plans for a wilderness tabernacle, and detailed worship and ceremonial rules for this tent. It’s proper construction was so important to God, that He showed Moses it’s heavenly counterpart, so he could pattern the earthly one after it. The second covenant is grace…also called the covenant of Spirit, or the promise of the fathers. This covenant began in Jerusalem with the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost. Though often prophesied in the Old Testament and the gospels, it’s appearing hinged upon some pretty awesome heavenly events taking place. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost…but in His earthly ministry, He never did. Even at His ascension from Olivet, He yet spoke of it as a future event.
Understanding law and grace is vital to rightly dividing the Word of God. Both rely entirely upon blood atonement. During the law, tabernacle service was designed to bring Israel back into fellowship with God. Since all humans were now infected with sin…and since God will not abide in the presence of sin…it must be removed from the scene before this fellowship can happen. A sinful man approaching a holy God, is like throwing ice cubes at the sun. Hence, we find a principle repeated over and over in these tent services…without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. According to God’s holy law, the penalty for sin…even a teeny weenie one…is death. No plea bargain. No appeal. Just death. As we previously reviewed, the life of all flesh is in the blood. It follows then, that only the shedding of blood…and thus the loss of life…could atone for sin. Millions of gallons of innocent animal blood was spilled under the law. But ultimately, the blood of animals could not atone for the sins of humans. Animal blood was a band-aid of sorts, to keep Israel in fellowship with God. …for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. This animal blood simply rolled Israel’s sins ahead for one year. On the annual Day of Atonement, a special ceremony was held to that end. Only on this one day per year, was the high priest allowed behind the veil; where the presence of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies chamber. But eventually, it would take a human life…and human blood taken behind that veil…to atone for the sins of humans. Therein was the dilemma facing the human race. There was no human blood qualified to make this sacrifice. They were all infected with sin. No sinless blood existed. the life of the flesh is in the blood, but all of Creation was sentenced to die. Creation would have to wait for the birth of a human, who’s blood was pure and uncorrupted from the law of sin and death. This, Jesus Christ accomplished.
I’m sure you’ve heard the famous story, of Moses climbing Mount Sinai to meet with God. This marked the beginning of the law covenant. Our Moses actually made the journey up Sinai twice. On his first trip, God gave Moses two tablets of stone, on which the finger of God had written His holy law. But on his way down Sinai, Moses broke the tablets of the law. So, he again had to climb Mount Sinai, repeat his 40 day fast, and God re-issued the law to him. On his second descent, he returned to the Israelites, and delivered the Law Covenant to their ears.
Turns out, Jesus also went up a mountain twice. On His first trip…up Golgotha’s hill…He was crucified. As they brought His dead body down the hill, His innocence broke the yoke, the curse, and the power of the law. On His second journey, His ascension from Olivet ended at God’s holy mount in heaven. Once there, He stood before that heavenly tabernacle, from which Moses had patterned the earthly one. As high priest, Jesus there entered the Holy of Holies…behind the veil…and poured on the mercy seat the only pure, sinless blood in all the universe…His own. At last, the righteous law requirement of life for life was met. Finally God’s judgment upon sin was satisfied. Therefore; as Moses had received the first covenant from God, and given it to the people, Jesus also received the second covenant: Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed this forth, which ye now see and hear.
Many times the yearly Feast of Pentecost had come and gone. This high holy day fell 50 days after Passover each year. But on this particular year, Luke writes that the Day of Pentecost had …fully come…. Jesus had been three days in the grave, and seen of men 40 days after His resurrection. When He ascended from Olivet, it had been 43 days since Passover…meaning that Pentecost was still 7 days away. So what did Jesus do for 7 days? What kept the new covenant at bay for 7 more days? Well, you know how Jesus is…always a stickler for fulfilling all righteousness. Before Aaron…the high priest…was allowed to minister in the tabernacle on earth, God required that he first be consecrated for 7 days. So it was with our High Priest…in heaven’s tabernacle…not for any sin of His own, but for those of all the human race, that He had taken to Himself. After the consecration of our sinless Lord, 50 days to Pentecost were accomplished, atonement was made, and the Holy Ghost was immediately poured out.
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