Our last blog began a discussion on this phase found in Ephesians 4:13, “unity of the faith.” We identified “the faith” in this verse as being the teaching of the gospel that rejects justification by the works of the law in favor of justification by faith in Christ Jesus. This news is good news…
Paul tells us that all of these men that were given to the called out in those last days or the end of the age(s), were given until some things were accomplished o fulfilled. If one applies these four phrases in verse 13 to the development of the body of Christ to include Jews and…
Ephesians 4:13 reads, “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” These gifts of gifted men would continue until a certain definite state of things is attained. That state is described with four phrases,…
The apostles had the power to lay hands on other saints to receive a measure of the Spirit (spiritual gifts). We have looked at this in other posts,noting that the promise of the Spirit in Acts 2:38 and Acts 5:32 was not automatic, but was given by the laying on of the apostle’s hands. Two…
A common thought among today’s Christians and church leaders is to apply Ephesians 4:11 as applicable, today. One author explains, “By these gifts the Church is founded, the ministry taught, and the Scriptures expounded in all ages.” He also writes, “Prophecy is not to be confined to the apostolic age: for St. Peter also testifies…
The significance of the Holy Spirit’s work during this concentrated period is weakened by the view that advocates the continuation of that work today. This is obvious by the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit that is claimed today is not the same as that prophesied by Joel and fulfilled in the “last…
Joel’s prophecy of the Holy Spirit precedes his prophecy of the great and terrible day of the Lord. We must not overlook this sequence of the last days and that both the Holy Spirit and the “day of the Lord” are events of the last days. We have already shown that the “last days” refer…
We can learn from the little information given in the Bible concerning the method of teaching. Teaching was done through direct guidance of the Holy Spirit either through Apostles and prophets or spiritual gifts. In the context of spiritual gifts, instructions were given to Corinth about speaking in their gatherings (1 Cor. 14). If anyone…
Once again, we struggle to find application to sealed and guaranteed promises that were not made to us, today. As a result of seeking to squeeze us into this same context, some believe His indwelling will manifest itself in miraculous powers but they struggle to provide any proof that what is witnessed today even resembles…
The Arrabon is a Phonetian maritime trade word that was used as a pledge granted by the buyer that guaranteed payment to the seller. It was both a pledge and a guarantee but it was not a downpayment because what was pledged was not kept as a first installment. A downpayment is an initial payment…