that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosever believeth in Him should not perish;
but have everlasting life"
Timothy 2:1-5
Our Father's wish as stated above is for ALL men to be saved, yes this includes women as well. He is not out to trick us, He is not out to make it "unreachable" He has not made it only attainable to a select "few" or to a "certain" religion, or to those who are "perfect."
Romans 10:9
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Now, you say can it be this simple? Well, yes, it can! It is not popular in the churches because they may not get your "tithe" after their sermon of "guilt" and you are a "disobediant child of God" speech from the pulpit every Sunday. However, due to our Lord Jesus, our brother, our Saviour, our mediator, and his blood, this is the requirement for salvation!! We'll go over it one more time;
Romans 10:9
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
| The 7 Dispensations of the Bible |
The Scriptures of the bible divide time, from the creation of Adam to the "new heaven and the new earth of Revelation 21:1 They are separated into seven "unequal" periods called "dispensations," although they are reffered to as "ages" in Ephesians 2:7
These periods are marked off in Scripture by some change in God's method of dealing with mankind, or a portion of mankind, in respect of the two questions of sin and of man's responsibility. Each of the dispensations may be viewed as a new "test" of the natural man, and each ends in judgement--man's utter failure!!!
Five of these dispensations or periods of time, have been fulfilled! We are living in the sixth, probably near the close of the sixth, and have just ahead of us, the seventh and last-- The Millennium.
I am going to briefly go over the 7 dispensations of the Bible and i think it will help you see where we are now, and God's simple plan for us...
| The first-"Man Innocent" |
This dispensation extends from the creation of Adam, in Gen 2:7 to his expulsion. Adam, created innocent and ignorant of good and evil, was placed in the garden of Eden with his wife Eve, and put under responsibility to abstain from the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This dispensation of Innocence resulted in the first, and in it's far reaching effects, the most disastrous of man's failures. It ends in judgement --"So he drove out the man," see Gen 1:26, 2:16,17,; 3:6; 3:22-24
| Man Under Conscience |
By Adam and Eve's sin, they transmitted to the human race, the knowledge of good and evil. This gave conscience a basis for right moral judgement and therefore the human race came under this measure of responsibility... to do good and avoid evil. The result of the Dispensation of Conscience was that "all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth; that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" God closed the second testing of man with the "flood" see Gen 3:7,22; 6:5,11,12;7:11,12,23
| Man in Authority Over the Earth |
Out of the fearful judgement of the flood God saved only 8 persons, Noah and his family. He gave the purified earth and ample powers to govern it. Noah and his descendants were responsible to do this. The Dispensation of Human Government ended on the Plain of Shinar, with the attempt to become independant of God or "bypass" God with the Tower of Babel and ends in the judgement of Confusion of Tongues.
| Man Under Promise |
Out of the dispersed descendants of the builders of the Tower of Babel, God calls on one man Abram, whom he enters into a covenant. Some of the promises to Abram and his descendants were purely gracious and "unconditional". These either have been, or will yet to be, literally fulfilled. Other promises were conditional upon the faithfulness and obedience of the Israelites. EVERY ONE OF THESE CONDITIONS WAS VIOLATED! The Dispensation of Man under Promise resulted in utter failure of Israel and resulted in the Egyptian bondage.
| Man Under Law |
Once again,the Grace of God, came to the aid of the helpless man and redeemed the chosen people out of the hand of the oppressor. In the wilderness of the Sinai He proposed to them the Covenant of Law, instead of humbly pleading for a continued relationship of grace, they presumptuously answered "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" Then the Israelites proceeded to continually and flagrantly violate the condiotions and law God set forth. And after many warnings then God closed judgement on Israel first and then Judah they were driven out of their land. Under the Law Christ came - "born of a woman- made under the law" which both Jews and Gentiles conspire to crucify Him.
| Man Under Grace - Now! |
The sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ imtroduced the dispensation of pure grace- which means "undeserved favor" or God righteousness instead of righteousness, as under the Law.
Salvation, perfect and eternal is now "freely" offered to both Jew and Gentile upon the "one condition of faith."
For by "grace" have ye been saved through "faith"; and that not of yourselves, "it is the "gift" of God" Ephesians 2:8,9
The predicted result of this testing of man under grace is judgement upon an unbelieving world and an apostate Church. see Rev 3:15,16 Luke 18:8; 17:26-30 and 2Thess 2:7-12
The first event in the closing of this dispensation will be the man of sin will be revealed, then the descent of the Lord Jesus from heaven when "sleeping saints" together with believers still living will be raised to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. see 1Thess 4:16,17.
Then follows the brief period called the great tribulation, then the personal Return of Jesus Christ to earth in power and great glory, and the judgements which introduce the seventh and last dispensation.
| Man Uner the Personal Reign of Christ |
After the purifying judgements which attend the personal return of Christ to the earth, He will reign over restored Israel and the earth for one thousand years--- The Millennium.
The seat of His power will be Jerusalem.
