He Is Able. . .

He Is Able. . .
Vol: 29 Issue: 5 Friday, October 5, 2018

One of the most popular misconceptions about Christianity is that, in order to be a Christian, one must be ‘good’. From the perspective of the Bible, being ‘good’ is something of a dichotomy.

On one hand, the Bible tells us to model our lives after the epitome of ‘good’ by emulating our Lord Jesus. But on the other, the same Bible tells us that actually reaching our goal of being ‘good’ is not possible.

Were it possible to be ‘good’ then we wouldn’t need a Savior. Think about it.

God gave mankind ten simple rules for living. None of them seem particularly difficult; love God, honor your parents, don’t steal or murder, don’t bear false witness, be content with such as you have, etc.

But the Bible says that not one human being (Jesus excepted) ever managed to keep all ten.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” Paul wrote in Romans 3:23.

Having examined the conundrum of mankind and the sin nature, Paul offers this opinion:

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28)

None of us has any difficulty remembering when we were unregenerate sinners. Committing sin was not a problem — it was easy as falling off a log. Being a sinner wasn’t that big a deal either, (as long as you weren’t as big a sinner as some other folks).

Then we got saved. Until it was washed away, we never realized how heavy and filthy and debilitating our sin was. Now, we know.

And as saved, Blood-bought, born-again members of the Redeemed Family of God, living in the world, but not OF it, we go through life keeping all Ten Commandments and seldom, if ever, slip back into our sin nature.

Where before we would have cursed at the driver who cut us off in traffic, now we bless him and pray for his soul.

We never lie, never curse, tithe faithfully, never have a ‘bad’ thought, never want to ‘get even’ with somebody who has wronged us, we pray without ceasing, give all the credit for our successes to God, and never, ever, get angry.

Our every waking moment is spent glorifying God for His mercy and we never speak to anyone without sharing the Gospel with them.

God’s love is reflected by us at every waking moment, and we are just as spiritual when we are alone as we are when we are in church.

That describes you, doesn’t it? You are truly blessed! (I wish that it described me.)

But it doesn’t describe me. Unlike many Christians I’ve met over the years, I still struggle with my sin nature. It didn’t vanish when I was saved.

I haven’t led a perfectly sinless life since my salvation. I’ve fallen, but thanks to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, I can get up!

One could sum up my personal Christian walk thusly:

“For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”

I know right from wrong, and I want to choose right, and I know that I hate sin, but I admit that sometimes do what I hate.

What does that mean?

According to Scripture, it means that,

“it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:17-18)

Assessment:

It is our obligation as Christians to spread the Gospel in all the world and lead as many of the lost to Christ as God gives us the opportunity. But lots of times, we don’t feel ‘good’ enough to carry the message.

I mean, how does one rail against somebody else’s sin while one’s own sin is ever before them?

Has our hypocrisy no limits?

In many ways, the world has a better grasp of the situation than we do. Here’s Joe Christian explaining about sin and death and hell, but the lost guy KNOWS Joe Christian still sins.

Think back to before you were saved. Did you think Christians were all sinless? Or did you think they were all hypocrites?

Admit it. Before you were saved, you used to look for imperfections among Christians. It made you feel better about yourself. Think about the person who finally DID lead you to the Lord. He was probably the one who admitted that Christians aren’t perfect.

As Christians, we tend to preach one kind of Christianity and live another. We can’t live the kind that we preach ourselves, and, for the most part, wouldn’t want to.

The average lost person thinks of salvation in terms of what he has to give up instead of what he has to gain.

To the world, a Christian can’t drink, can’t smoke, can’t watch TV, can’t listen to rock music, goes to church every day the doors are open, has to love everybody (especially those he can’t stand) and is generally about as phony as Homer Simpson’s neighbor Ned Flanders.

Why therefore, would anybody want to be a Christian? Christians not only make it sound like a miserable existence, it is so miserable that even Christians can’t meet the rigors that kind of existence demands.

“Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t even work when you are raising kids.

When we are saved, we are saved from the consequences of our sin, we are not saved from our sin nature.

We’d like to think we are, but in order to believe that, we’d have to also have a pathological capacity for self-deception.

Christianity is the essence of freedom, but we tend to present it to the lost as a form of bondage. You can’t do this, you can’t do that, you have to give this up . . . where is the Holy Spirit in all of this?

It is the Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin, and He doesn’t do it all at once. He created us, and therefore He knows our limitations.

Salvation frees us from the consequences of sin, but only death frees us from the propensity for it.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25)

The fact is that salvation was designed for sinners. The Bible makes it clear that all men have sinned, and that sin is part of our earthly existence. We are to avoid sin, but when we fall, we are to turn to Jesus and allow Him to pick us back up.

That is the essence of the Gospel. That Jesus loves us so much that, while we were yet enemies of God, He died for us.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to clean ourselves up first. He says, “Come as you are. I am able.”

“Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1st Corinthians 1:8-9)

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24)

Don’t let the enemy steal your victory by blinding you with your sin nature. You can still do a mighty work for God. Not because you are able.

But because He is.

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (2nd Timothy 1:12)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on February 20, 2008

Featured Commentary: Guilty till Proven Innocent ~Alf Cengia

Shifting Tides. . .

Shifting Tides. . .
Vol: 29 Issue: 4 Thursday, October 4, 2018

The last couple of decades has seen a slow,but undeniable shift in attitudes as the children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomer generation started to come of age.

The 1960’s radicals who swore to never trust anybody over thirty were faced with the choice between new slogans and accepting the bad news that passing thirty is an irreversible condition.

At eighteen, everybody is a radical. It is part of being eighteen. At eighteen, one knows all about living but nothing about life. (Veterans excepted)

As such, giving the vote to eighteen-year olds is like letting giving your kids a say in how to spend your surplus income. (“All in favor of putting this in my 401(k) instead of giving it to you say ‘aye’!”)

The eighteen-year olds got the vote largely in response to the Vietnam War in answer to the seemingly reasonable argument about being old enough to fight for one’s country but not old enough to vote for it’s leaders.

The result was that everybody who was old enough to be drafted voted against the war. By the time they were old enough to appreciate the consequences, they were also facing the irreversibility of turning thirty and having to take responsibility for the mess they made at 18.

Some took responsibility. Most invented new slogans. The result was thirty years of liberal domination of the American social infrastructure. Leftists took over the education system, pounding leftist propaganda into impressionable young minds.

In the 1970’s, Ivy-League universities like Yale and Harvard were turning out young Marxists faster than the Soviets were. They dominated the political scene until their children came of age.

Those who had children, that is. Those who invented new slogans like ‘pro-choice’ and ‘women’s rights’ pursued careers instead of families, dominating education, the arts, Hollywood and politics.

But a lot of those university-trained Marxists eventually, got married, had children, and suddenly, leftist values like abortion and feminism lost their appeal. They began to see aborted fetuses as dead children instead of tissue. They saw the great society secured for them by the Greatest Generation slipping away. So did their children.

The Baby Boomers children came of age in the 1990s. Thanks to the advance of progressive liberalism, there were fewer of them than there should have been.

The 1970’s feminist movement meant fewer families and fewer children. Unrestricted abortion meant fewer still. Those who survived were faced with having to pay off their parent’s libertarian excesses in the form of inflation and budget deficits.

As the Boomer children got into their twenties, many of them embraced the conservative values of their grandparents. Having personally experienced the benefits of progressive liberal public education, they started home-schooling their own kids.

By the time they recognized the irreversibility of turning thirty, they had handed both Houses of Congress and the White House to the Republicans.

Assessment:

The point here is not political. It is philosophical. Let’s settle the political first. In America, those with a conservative worldview have but two viable political choices. Either they can vote for Republican candidates, or Democratic candidates.

Since it is impossible for a conservative to support Democratic values like abortion, the abolition of the traditional family, the abolition of religion, the abrogation of personal responsibility, and political indoctrination passing for education, there is only one remaining choice.

That doesn’t mean that it is a good choice. Just the only one left.

Now, to the philosophical. Younger people are shifting toward conservative ideals because they have to live with the results of liberalism, rather than the ideals that spawned it.

Liberalism as an ideal is attractive. It stems from the idea of creating a utopia on earth, where everybody has enough, and nobody goes hungry. In its most pure form, it is called ‘communism’.

Communism, as an ideal, is the most perfect form of government ever devised. It is almost a carbon copy of the kind of government envisioned during the Millennial Kingdom. In a perfect world, everybody would share equally. Nobody would covet his neighbor’s goods because he had everything he needed. That is the pure essence of communism.

It doesn’t work because people aren’t pure. Neither does its offspring, American progressive liberalism. Which is why the philosophical tide is shifting to the right.

When Jesus toured the Judean countryside, Matthew notes; “He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

“Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:38)

In these last days, the shift away from the humanist worldview of the liberal left has opened the door for revival unlike any time since the Reformation. The fields are truly white with the last days’ harvest. But they are like sheep without a Shepherd.

The Bible depicts two harvests in the last days. The first is at the Rapture;

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (2nd Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Those who are taken in that harvest will spend eternity with the Lord.

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” (Revelation 14:15-16)

Those who are taken in THAT harvest will stand before the Righteous Judge with no Advocate and will be convicted according to their works.

It is our job to tell them they have a choice. Both harvests are fast approaching.

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on March 1, 2006

Featured Commentary: The Two Witnesses ~J.L. Robb

Faith Without Works is Dead

Faith Without Works is Dead
Vol: 29 Issue: 3 Wednesday, October 3, 2018

One of the main arguments against the doctrine of eternal security to those who don’t understand it is that its opponents believe it is a ‘license to sin’.

Salvation is a three step process. First, one must recognize his condition as a sinner. Secondly, that person must recognize that Jesus paid the penalty for that sin on the Cross. And third, that sinner must repent and be converted;

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

When one repents of one’s sin and trusts Jesus, then the Scripture says one becomes ‘a new creature’. “. . .old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

Repentance means more than mere sorrow or regret or despair or grief over sin. Bible repentance means a change of mind toward God that results in a change of action.

Writes Robert Girdlestone in “Synonyms of the Old Testament”;

“Repentance is neither sorrow without change or change without sorrow, but it is such a deep feeling of sorrow as gives rise to a determination to change.”

“Repentance is a change of mind or purpose. Until a man repents he commonly feels comfortable about himself and his “ways; but when the Savior, through the Spirit, gives him repentance, he changes his mind about himself, and seeing nothing good in his heart or in his works, his whole soul cries out, “Lord be merciful to me, as sinner.” (William Cathcart, Baptist Encyclopedia)

James Stewart explained ‘repentance’ this way in his book, “Evangelism”;

“Repentance is included in believing. Howbeit, repentance is not faith, nor faith repentance. ‘He that believeth’ implies repentance. ‘Repent and be converted’ involves faith. The hand that clutches the assassin’s knife must open it ‘ere it can grasp the gift its intended victim proffers; and opening that hand, though a single act, has a double aspect and purpose. Accepting the gift implies a turning from the crime the heart was bent on, and it was THE GIFT ITSELF that worked the change.”

Before looking more deeply into what repentance is, let’s take a look at what repentance is NOT.

Repentance isn’t fear of God’s anger coming from a consciousness of guilt or grief as a consequence of that guilt.

Judas was guilty of the greatest crime in human history — the betrayal of the Son of God. The Bible says that he was so filled with despair that he went out and hanged himself.

There is no indication that Judas had any sorrow for any other sin in his life, and he asked no pardon for his betrayal of Jesus. Judas’ despair was the result of great regret, but was not the same as repentance.

Judas had no change of mind, nor a change of heart. Rather than resolving to live a changed life and trusting the Lord for his forgiveness, he pronounced judgment upon himself and sentenced himself to death.

He was sorry for his crime, but he had no faith in forgiveness. He trusted to his own works.

The Greek word translated ‘repentance’ is ‘metanoeo’, which involves four things, according to R.C. Trench’s “Synonyms of the New Testament.”

1) “To know after,”

2) the change of mind consequent on this after-knowledge,

3) regret for the course pursued, resulting from the change of mind consequent on this after-knowledge, and,

4) the change of conduct for the future, springing from all this.

Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines metanoeo (‘repent’ as a verb) as ‘to change one’s mind’. Thayer’s defines ‘metanoia’ (‘repentance’ the noun) as “to change one’s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins.”

Repentance, as it relates to salvation, means to turn to God from sin. It means to bow before Jesus Christ as the God of one’s life. It involves a change of mind concerning Whose will issupreme, and involves a change of action as a consequence. There can be no salvation without repentance.

Repentance is denying self (a negative) while by faith affirming Christ (a positive). Repentance looks within; faith looks above. Repentance exposes us as miserable sinners; faith delivers us from that misery.

“Repentance is hunger, faith is the open mouth, and Christ is the living Food,” writes Cathcart.

Those who don’t understand the doctrine of eternal security take their personal view of ‘repentance’ and apply it across-the-board, according to the prism of their own self-experience.

For example, the smoker who, upon being saved, is convicted that smoking is a sin (changes his mind) and repents (changes his action) and quits, then applies smoking as a litmus test against which to measure the repentance of others.

In this view, someone who gets saved and doesn’t give up smoking can’t still be saved because he hasn’t really repented of his sin. Do you see the fundamental flaw in this logic?

Repentance is a change of mind, followed by a corresponding change of action. But it isn’t an instantaneous change, or the Scripture ” that He which hath BEGUN a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” would make no sense. (Philippians 1:6)

Repenting and trusting Jesus means turning their sin nature over to Jesus Christ, and being willing to allow Him to make the changes as He saw fit.

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18)

To the guy who gave up smoking, the guy who hasn’t quit yet didn’t repent. To take this view, one has to ignore the fact that God isn’t done with this second guy yet.

He hath BEGUN a good work in him, but the Scriptures say it is a PROCESS in which He [Jesus] will CONTINUE to perform that good work until the day we stand before Him at the Bema Seat.

(Or else we have to tear that verse out of our Bibles.)

The sinner who will be saved MUST repent, and that repentance will ALWAYS result in a changed life.

Because those changes aren’t the ones somebody else (or even the sinner himself) expects to see doesn’t mean there is no repentance or no salvation or a loss of salvation.

The saved person KNOWS who they were before Christ. And the saved person marvels at the changes God has wrought in him — because HE knows what they are.

Even if those who would judge him by his outward performance do not.

I recall a discussion I had with the Lord not too long after I was saved. The moment I was saved, I gave up all the outward sins, smoking, drinking, swearing, etc. It wasn’t too long until the enemy threw me a few curves, and the next thing you know, there I was, right back where I started. Or so I thought.

I went for a long walk and I enquired of the Lord — what is wrong with me? Was my repentance insincere? Was my salvation a sham?

How is it that the same God Who could speak the earth into existence out of nothing couldn’t give me the strength to keep me from picking up a cigarette? Where was my repentance? Was I still saved? Was I EVER saved?

And as I walked with Him, and questioned Him, He gave me the only answer that made sense. It was so obvious I wondered why I couldn’t see it before — I was walking with the Lord and asking Him why I hadn’t changed.

That’s when the lights came on. Before I got saved, I didn’t do that.

I went along my own way, running my life according to my own will and understanding, and the last thing I would have done would have been to go for a walk, talking to an invisible Savior and seeking His assurance and approval.

I still had a pack of cigarettes in my pocket, but I had changed my mind about myself, my relationship to God and my sin. My salvation had already produced evidence of a changed mind and a changed life.

As we walked, the Lord brought to my mind a whole list of things that I used to do that I didn’t do anymore. The changes just weren’t the ones I was expecting, in the order in which I had expected them.

The changes weren’t in the same order as in other people, but they were just as profound, since I KNOW who I was before. And so did God.

I was still a sinner. But I was a repentant sinner who was walking with God in the cool of the evening and I knew I had fellowship with Him because I WAS walking with Him in the cool of the evening, and seeking His will for my life.

The Apostle Paul, the greatest evangelist who ever lived, wrote of his own personal struggle with sin.

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Paul cries out in seeming despair, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Then the Lord gives him the answer to his question, just as He gave me mine.

“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25)

Eternal security is not license to sin. It is a recognition that sin exists in our lives, but also that,

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)

As I walked with the Lord, hating (but keeping) that pack of cigarettes in my pocket, was I walking after the flesh, or after the Spirit?

In his letter to the Romans, Paul says,

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof . . . for sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

My sin continued to exist, since I remain subject to the ‘law in my members’ but it no longer had dominion over me. I could still approach the Throne of Grace and seek His Face and pray with confidence.

The enemy’s efforts to convince me I was unworthy by virtue of my sin was overcome by God’s assurance I am forgiven by grace through faith. It wasn’t up to me — I didn’t need to give up in the face of my failure.

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” (Romans 8:33)

Answering the objection that eternal security is the same as a ‘license to sin’, Paul writes;

“What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

What IS the sin unto death? There IS such a sin — the Bible says so;

“If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” (1 John 5:16)

John makes it clear that there are sins which are NOT unto death, but Paul says the wages of sin is death. A contradiction? In both cases, the context indicates the comments are addressed to believers. So what does it mean?

“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”

The Apostle John recorded Jesus’ teaching that;

“It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

It is the Holy Spirit that calls us to salvation. Rejecting that call is the sin unto death for which there is no forgiveness.

The Apostle James writes;

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)

Opponents of eternal security seize on the second half of that verse to prove the validity of works, instead of looking at the entire verse in context.

In context, note that James is using a dead (unquickened) spirit to contrast against a ‘dead faith’.

Faith is NOT the spirit and the spirit is not faith. One has a spirit whether one has faith or not. The two are not the same. But one’s spirit is ‘quickened’ — made alive, BY faith.

Hebrews 11:1 defines ‘faith’. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

If one has faith, but does no works of faith, how does it follow that means his spirit is killed — since, by definition, saving faith results in a ‘quickened’ spirit?

If one has faith, but does no works of faith, he will bear no fruit. Leading someone to Christ is a work of faith that bears fruit. Passing up an opportunity to witness because one is too ashamed is a fruitless exercise. Without works, that faith will bear no fruit.

But we are not saved by faithless works, we are saved by workless faith. Others are saved, i.e., led to Christ, by our works on behalf of the Gospel. Or they are not, due to our failure.

Paul writes of the fate of him that has faith without works when that one stands before the Bema Seat;

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”

But note the following verse very carefully:

“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire.” (1st Corinthians 3:13-15)

Again, is this a contradiction? James says faith without works is dead, but Paul says that faith that produces no works will suffer the loss of rewards, before he notes carefully that loss of rewards isn’t the same as the loss of salvation.

Connecting the dots, we find the following:

1) Salvation is a free gift of grace, received by faith, and exclusive of works. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

2) Repentance means a change of mind toward God and sin that results in a change of action.

3) There is but one ‘sin unto death’. The only sin which will not be forgiven men is the rejection of salvation by denying the leading of the Holy Spirit.

4) Dead faith cannot produce spiritual fruit without works, so faith without works is dead.

5) Every person who by faith, accepts the free gift of salvation, will stand before the Bema Seat and be rewarded according to their works.

6) He who has no works will receive no reward, “BUT HE HIMSELF SHALL BE SAVED; yet so as by fire.”

Salvation comes by repentance for sin and faith in the completed work of the Cross as a substitutionary and all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.

Works of faith can only come AFTER that faith has been quickened by salvation. If the only sin unto death is the rejection of the free gift of salvation, then by definition, one who has saving faith has NOT rejected it.

His faith may not bear fruit, in which case, to all intents and purposes, that faith is ‘dead’ but the one with faith without works will ‘suffer loss’ but will himself be saved, ‘as by fire’.

This in no way means that works are irrelevant to bearing fruit, which is the Great Commission given to the Church, but it is clear that ‘works’ and ‘faith’ are two different things.

It offers no assurance that one can sin with impunity — sin bears its own reward, whether one is saved or lost.

Smokers get lung cancer, whether they are saved or not. Drug addicts overdose or die of disease brought on by a weakened immune system. Alcoholics get cirrhosis or die of some other alcohol related disease.

Sexual promiscuity yields a whole host of consequences, from the misery of divorce to the risk of death by sexually-transmitted diseases.

But only those who reject the offer of pardon procured for them by Jesus Christ at the price of His Own Blood sin the ‘sin unto death’.

The doctrine of eternal security is no license to sin, merely a recognition that sin exists, and that Jesus Christ alone has defeated sin’s eternal consequences.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)

Salvation is an issue between an individual and Jesus Christ. Repentance cannot be faked — one KNOWS in one’s heart whether one has repented or not.

So does Jesus Christ. Trust Him.

“. . .yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” (Romans 3:4)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on May 5, 2005

Featured Commentary: Uninvited Guests ~Wendy Wippel

The Power of One (The Omega Letter Vault)

The Power of One (The Omega Letter Vault)
Vol: 29 Issue: 2 Tuesday, October 2, 2018

We are delighted to announce that a long time member and friend, Joel, made the Omega Letter Vault in 2007 and has recently reactivated it.  (Coincidently the same time as Sukkot.) Here is a post from Joel explaining how it can be yours.

Hello everyone,

The Omega Vault is still available for download at: http://www.grizzlesoft.com/Downloads/Files/OmegaVaultSetup.msi

(Note: You may need to copy and paste the link directly into your browser to download, clicking the link may not work)

After you download the application, you’ll need to update it and start the downloading all of the articles before October 14th 2018. The last version I put out there was back in March 2013, so you’ll have to let the application sit for awhile and download all the articles since then.

Due to the closing of the Omega Letter, I will put a newer version of the software within the next few weeks that will include all of the user contributed articles as well, but feel free to grab the software now.

As for the articles, once you download them on the Vault, they are stored on your computer permanently in a local database file. One of the many reasons, the Vault was written was so that anyone could read the letters, even if the site came down or no internet access was available. (If fact, you can keep even copy the entire Omega Vault folder and put it on a thumb drive if you want it to be portable)

I will keep you guys posted when the new version comes out, but if the site comes down before then, there is a button in the software that will update it when everything is ready.

FYI: The Omega Vault only works with Windows. If anyone has any questions about the software or how it works feel free to contact Kari for my email address.

Best Regards,

Joel

Your favorite contributing author’s websites will soon be in listed and sent out to you in the upcoming days.  

THE POWER OF ONE: Jack Kinsella

”And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; or the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” (Ephesians 4:11-12)

The purpose of the Omega Letter is slightly different than that of most website ministries, in that the main focus of our attention isn’t to attract the lost.

Instead we target those already saved by grace in an effort to provide them (you) with the tools you need to be more effective in your own evangelistic efforts. There isn’t a lot of milk in the contents of the Omega Letter — this is a diet for meat-eaters only.

Note the purpose of each of the offices of the early Church. Paul outlines the job of the Apostles to seed the Churches, prophets to announce its arrival, evangelists to take the fight to the enemy, and pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints.

All offices aim for the same ultimate objective, the edification of the Body of Christ. Webster’s defines ‘edification’ as follows:

(1) The act of edifying, or the state of being edified; a building up, especially in a moral or spiritual sense; moral, intellectual, or spiritual improvement; instruction. (source: brainyencylopedia.com)

There are certain members of the Body that are assigned to ‘capture new ground from the enemy’ — these are ‘evangelists’. They are good at leading people to Christ.

They can take the battle right up to the devil’s camp and set free the captives of darkness. They are the front line men of the Kingdom and their job is to capture the “gates of the enemy”.

Because they are fighting against spiritual powers, the evangelist is a man of power in the Holy Spirit. We are not fighting with flesh and blood, but against “principalities and powers” (Ephesians 6:12-13). The evangelist must know how to fight with Spiritual weapons from God.

The work of the evangelist includes showing others how to overcome the enemy. A part of his ministry is to convict the believers and move them to action in the battle for the souls of mankind.

The evangelist is the man of war in the Kingdom of God. The evangelist is one who is not afraid to associate with those who are in most need of the healing power of God.

Jesus said,

“They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Matthew 9:12-13)

The most powerful evangelists are not necessarily the Billy Graham’s of this world who lead massive world-wide crusades. Consider this: Billy Graham’s crusades have, according to the encyclopedia, reached live audiences of 210 million people in 185 countries. He has led hundreds of thousands of people to make personal decisions to accept Christ into their lives, this being the main thrust of his ministry.

Many of his sermons center on the topic “Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation”. He has often advised US presidents and continues to be listed as one of the “Ten Most Admired Men in the World” in Gallup Polls. (source: brainyencylopedia.com)

There aren’t very many people in this world who haven’t at least HEARD of Billy Graham, even if they haven’t heard him preach. Now, imagine Billy Graham, standing before the Bema Seat, surrounded by the millions he led to Christ, as he accepts his reward. Wow!

BUT, who is Mordechai Ham? Most of us may not ever have heard of him, but he is a legend in heaven. Because standing in FRONT of Billy Graham is Mordechai Ham, the man who led Billy Graham — and by extension, Billy Graham’s millions — to Christ back in 1934.

Such is the power of one evangelist who is faithful to his calling. That power belongs to each of us who are faithful to the truth and prepared to share Christ with the skeptic.

That is why the Omega Letter touches on such a wide range of topics, like politics, social issuesand international affairs, instead of focusing exclusively on theology.

Each of us has, at one time or another, overheard someone, upon hearing of yet another murderous mother, homicidal husband or the latest wartime atrocity and exclaiming; “I don’t know what this world is coming to.”

We do. And it is our job to seize that opportunity as the Lord puts it before us. Many of you have been called to the ministry of the evangelist, whether you know it or not, or you would not be subscribers to the Omega Letter.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

It is the Power of One that can dispel the clouds of confusion that blind the eyes of the lost.

Jesus, the Great Physician and First Evangelist, outlined our mission for the last days in unmistakable terms, saying,

“The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

We are the ‘watchmen on the wall’ for the last days, and it is incumbent upon us to be able to discern the truth and sound the alarm.

It is a grave responsibility —

“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.” (Ezekiel 33:6)

Every person we meet in the course of a day has an eternal destiny. Either that person will spend eternity in heaven in the presence of Christ, or they will be cast into a Christless eternity ‘where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ — “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,” a destiny so certain that Jesus repeated it three times (Mark 9:44,46,48).

It was the Power of One, manifested through Mordechai Ham, that resulted in the millions of decisions for Christ over the lifetime of Billy Graham’s ministry.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2nd Timothy 1:7)

We have that Power of One through the One Who indwells us. But it is up to us to exercise it.

Instead of praying that the Lord will send forth laborers to His Harvest, pray to be one of the laborers that are to be sent.

You may not be the next Billy Graham. Instead, you may be blessed to be the next Mordechai Ham.

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on August 1, 2004

Featured Commentary: WILL ISRAEL GO EXTINCT? Part 2 ~Steve Schmutzer

Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly

Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly
Vol: 29 Issue: 1 Monday, October 1, 2018

”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.” (Isaiah 2:2-4)We discussed the four rational creations of God in the last briefing, but, judging from some of your comments, I didn’t do such a bang-up job of explaining it all. I will try and clarify the murky spots.

Some of you questioned the application of the word ‘creation’ to describe them. Nobody disputes the fact that the angels were created, or man. 

One member argues that Jews were not ‘created’ separately, but were selected from an already living group. Jewishness is both a spiritual and a physical manifestation, neither of which existed until God created it out by an act of His own will. 

Abraham was chosen out of the land of Ur to be the father of a great nation. Abraham decided that, given his age and that of Sarah’s, that he would father this great nation through Sarah’s Egyptian slave, Hagar. 

But God said that HE would create a great nation: 

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:” (Genesis 12:2) 

It was by the sovereign act of God that Sarah conceived, it was the sovereign choice of God that the Abrahamic covenant would flow through the descendants of Isaac, and it was by Divine decree that his descendants would be a peculiar people, unique from all the rest of humanity. 

The Abrahamic covenant resulted in a new spiritual creature, not Gentile nor angel, but children of the Promise. The Jews are genetically unique; the priestly caste of Cohanin bear the unique genetic signature of Aaron, enabling the modern Jews to positively identify the hereditary priests that are necessary to the restoration of Temple worship. 

Abraham didn’t make his descendants the children of the Promise. God did, by an act of His sovereign will. Until the creation of the Jews, there were just two spiritual creations — angels and Gentile descendants of Adam. 

That is the operative phrase here; ‘SPIRITUAL creation’. 

Let’s define ‘creation’ for the sake of clarification as that which comes into being by the sovereign will of God. 

By an act of His sovereign will, God introduced a third spiritual creation, one that had not previously existed. Jews are not Jews by choice, they are born Jews. 

A Buddhist Jew is still a Jew. No matter what religion a Jew practices — or none at all — the Jew is still a Child of the Promise and has a unique spiritual standing before God. 

It isn’t a question of attitude or whether or not the Jew has a ‘right relationship’ toward God. I don’t know exactly how God accomplishes His plan for the Children of the Promise, but I trust the Bible. 

“And so ALL Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:” (Romans 11:26) 

Angels were created with spiritual attributes unique to angels. Man was created with his own unique spiritual attributes. He became a Gentile, separated from God, with Adam’s fall. 

Out of Gentile spiritual humanity, God created a third unique spiritual being, the Jew, and endowed him with spiritual attributes unique from other men. 

The fourth spiritual creation is the Christian. This spiritual creation also comes into existence as the consequence of a sovereign act of God. This spiritual creature, like angels, Jews and Gentiles, has an eternal component, but unlike the Jews and the Gentiles, it is a new form of spiritual creation. 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

No matter how hard he tries, a Jew cannot become a Gentile by an act of his own will. No matter what religion he practices, (or even no religion at all), he will always be a Jew. I was born an Irish Catholic. But no matter what religion I practice, Catholicism, Christianity, Buddhist or Hindu, I will always be Irish. 

But, uniquely, only the Jew who becomes a Christian is no longer a Jew. By becoming a Christian, a Jew isn’t even a Jew to other Jews. Even Israel recognizes that he becomes a ‘new creature’ in Christ and often revokes or refuses Israeli citizenship to Messianic Jews. 

Equally uniquely, a Christian can never become a Gentile. Spiritually, he is already a ‘new creature’. His transformation is accomplished the sovereign act of God of forgiveness by grace through faith. 

A Gentile can become a Jew, or he can become a Christian. Reversing the process by an act of man’s will is impossible, since the process itself is accomplished by God, and “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29) 

The second question revolves around the continued existence of the Gentiles in the Millennial Kingdom. More than a few of you questioned that. 

We opened this briefing with Isaiah 2:4, which speaks of the ‘nations’ that will “go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.” 

Note that this is what a Gentile would say, not a Jew. 

Isaiah also says He will judge between the ‘nations’ [more than one] and will settle disputes for ‘many peoples’. 

They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, “nor will they train for war anymore.” 

Israel is but ONE nation. The Church is raptured and has received their translated bodies. The only possible explanation for the ‘nations’ is that they are Gentile nations. 

Will there be Gentile survivors of the Tribulation Period who enter into the Millennial Kingdom AS Gentiles? 

“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16)

“And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” (Matthew 25:32-33)

Jesus is speaking of the destiny of nations, not individuals. 

“Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:” (Matthew 25:34-35)

The sheep and goat nations will be judged as either worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom or unworthy, based on how each nation treated Israel. 

They are Gentile nations, neither Jew nor Christian. Christianity, as we understand it, ends with the conclusion of the Church Age. 

When the ‘elect company’ being called out of the world as the Bride of Christ reaches its complete number, the Rapture takes place, followed by the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There are tribulation saints, but those saints are not saved according to the Dispensation of Grace, but rather are saved according to the Dispensation of the Law. 

Tribulation saints, [with the exception of the 144,000 of Revelation 7] are NOT sealed ‘with the Holy Spirit of Promise’ (Ephesians 1:13) — since the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is unique to the Church Age. 

If all Tribulation believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, like the new creatures of the Church Age, there would be little point in devoting an entire chapter to describing the ‘sealing’ of the 144,000 Jews during the Tribulation. 

The Tribulation saints are NOT ‘new creatures’ transformed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but remain Gentiles, saved the same way the Jewish saints of the Old Testament were – by being declared judicially righteous by God. 

The Bible indicates that judicial declaration of righteousness is directly related to their treatment of the nation of Israel. It also says that the Gentile nations who enter the Mi
llennial Kingdom will serve Israel.

Melchizedek, king of Salem, was a Gentile, but the Bible calls him the ‘priest of the most high God’ for siding with Abraham against the King of Sodom and bringing Abraham bread and wine. (Genesis 14:18).

I realize a lot of this challenges what is taught today, mainly because of a fundamental misunderstanding of Dispensational truth. Dispensationalism holds that, during different periods throughout history, God dealt with man’s salvation in different ways. 

He walked with Adam ‘in the cool of the garden’ during the Age of Innocence. After the Fall, but before the Flood, God allowed man to pretty much govern according to his own will in what is called the ‘Age of Conscience’. After the Flood, God dealt with individuals one-on-one as he did from Noah until Moses. 

When Moses received the Law, it introduced a new Dispensation in which God dealt with His people judicially in a corporate, rather than individual manner, setting up Judges over Israel to rule according to Divine Decree. 

After the Jews failed miserably at keeping the Law, Jesus introduced a new Dispensation, the Age of Grace. The Age of Grace concludes with the Rapture of the Church and the withdrawal of the Restrainer. (2nd Thessalonians 2:7)

There is yet a final seven year period for the Age of the Law, during which God pours out His wrath against unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, called the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble’. 

Then there is the final Dispensation, the Millennial Kingdom, in which Jews and righteous Gentiles will live under the direct reign of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem for a thousand year period. 

Assessment: 

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2nd Timothy 2:15)

‘Rightly dividing the word of truth’ means that there IS a division in the word of truth. It means one cannot apply the tenets of the Age of Law to the Church Age and get any understanding of salvation by grace through faith. 

One cannot apply the tenets of the Church Age to the Tribulation Period and get any clear understanding of how the Tribulation saints can be saved, or how they could later subsequently be lost by accepting the Mark of the Beast. 

During the Church Age, the saints cannot be overcome by Satan — “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” does not apply in some metaphysical sense that eventually, we will die and be outside Satan’s power. In the Church Age, it means what it says. The devil cannot stand before an indwelt believer who pleads the Blood of Christ. 

But during the Tribulation, “it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to OVERCOME them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” (Revelation 13:7) 

Without an understanding of the division in the Word, that would appear to be a contradiction. The power ‘to overcome them doesn’t mean he has the power to kill them. 

Satan has ALWAYS had that power. Over the course of human history, he has killed uncounted billions through sin. But during the Church Age, believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Whose ministry is to guide the Church in all truth. 

During the Tribulation, the antichrist will be able to deceive ‘even the very elect’ and any, Jew, Gentile or Tribulation saint, who accepts his mark will be forever damned. 

” . . .and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4) 

Those who worship the beast and receive his mark are not among that company. 

Where, under the Dispensation of the Law, God says, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’; under the Dispensation of the Age of Grace, Jesus says, ‘turn the other cheek’. 

Were it not for the understanding of Dispensationalism, one could argue that Scripture contradicts itself. 

But unregenerate Gentiles are sinners. How can they enter the Millennial Kingdom? David sinned. Noah sinned. Abraham sinned. But note that, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. . .” (James 2:23) 

It is a difficult study, since the Bible doesn’t say that much about the Gentiles of the Millennial Kingdom, other than they will live in a restored ecology, will enjoy lifespans similar to those before the Flood, and that they will eventually be deceived one last time by Satan and will make war against God. 

The first six Dispensations are outlined in great detail, where we are only given a shadowy look at the Millennial Kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom will be administered directly by Christ from earth. There is no real need for detail. When the time comes, those alive then can enquire directly of Him. 

The Apostle Paul explains; “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1st Corinthians 13:12)

This Letter is being republished for the first time since Jack went home.

Featured Commentary: The Mysteries of God ~Pete Garcia

The Enemy

The Enemy
Vol: 28 Issue: 29 Saturday, September 29, 2018

According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the Hebrew word “satan” means “adversary” from the primitive root word satan meaning, “to lie in wait (as an adversary).”

Its first use as a proper name in Scripture is found, appropriately enough, in the sixth verse of the first chapter of the (chronologically) oldest Book in Scripture. 

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.” Job 1:6 

Because of its age, authorship of the Book of Job is probably the least certain of any book in the Bible. Rabbinic tradition says that Job the son of Uz, who was the son of Nahor brother of Abraham, who lived within living memory of the Flood, sometime around 2000 B. C.

“And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.” (Genesis 11:26-28)

The author may be Job himself, or possibly Elihu, a contemporary of Job, but Hebrew rabbinic tradition is as unanimous as Hebrew rabbinic tradition can get in its view that the book of Job predates Moses by centuries.

The longevity and lifestyles, the tone of the book, foreign from traditional ancient Hebrew, and the offering of a sacrifice by the head of the family all place Job at a point in history well before the Exodus during the time of the Patriarchs.

The name of Job’s friend, Bildad was short for Yabil Dadum, a name found in cuneiform sources of the second millennium B.C.  

Job is the titular character in a cuneiform composition entitled “Babylonian Job” and the name, “Job” is contained in the Egyptian Execration Texts c.(2000 B.C.)

Additional clues included mention of roving bands of Sabeans and Chaldeans, consistent with the 2^nd millennium B.C. and geographic clues suggesting Job was himself a pre-Babylonian Chaldean.

Elihu was a Buzite from northeast Arabia and Eliphaz was from Teman, a city in Edom.

It is safe to conclude that the Book of Job was written by a Chaldean relative of Abram at some point after Abram departed from Ur of the Chaldees at least seven centuries before Moses wrote what are commonly known as the first five books of the Bible.

In previous volumes of the Omega Letter we’ve discussed Dispensationalism, which is the systematic study of Scripture as progressive revelation, and the four classes of created spiritual beings; angels, Gentiles, Jews and Christians.

Job was a Gentile who lived before there were Jews and before God had begun the systematic revelation of His plan for mankind to the Jews in what we know as the Bible.

The Book of Job therefore, stands both outside it and before it. 

Assessment:

“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.”( 2^nd Peter 1:16)

Why am I going on and on about Job’s dates and location?  To demonstrate that Satan is NOT a mythical being who was invented by the Jews over the course of centuries. 

Satan was not invented by Moses; Satan was well-known to the ancients. So was the one True God.

Much of what Moses wrote down eight hundred years later was already known in the Gentile world when Abraham packed up his family and left the Land of Ur in what is today Iraq and headed for the Promised Land.

Job’s friends, Eilhu, Eliphaz and Bildad were from regions surrounding Ur from northern Arabia in the east to Edom in the West.   

Each of them was well-conversant with the One True God long before Charlton Heston thundered to Yul Brynner, “Let my people go!” and went off to write Genesis.

Job knew about the hydrological cycle, polar ice caps, that wind moves in circular paths, rather than in a straight line, that light was in motion . . .  and about Satan.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” (Job 1:8-9)

Remember, this was centuries before Moses wrote about the Garden of Eden. Because that is the point.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that “Satan’s greatest trick was in convincing man that he does not exist.” If Satan can convince you that he doesn’t really exist, then you are unprepared to withstand him when he attacks. 

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

We know from the Bible that Satan is the most brilliant of all created beings.  He is smarter than the smartest human, more crafty than the craftiest among us, more evil than the most evil among us, but then we have to confront the fact that he can’t figure out the Bible.

The Bible says in no uncertain terms that he loses at the end.  Secondarily, there is the question of why. What does Satan have to gain by keeping a lost person in the dark or by preventing you from effectively spreading the Gospel? 

According to the Bible, in the last days, Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where the beast and the false prophet are, just like every other sinner.  

So what does he have to gain by keeping you down?  And why bother, since he knows he can’t win? 

What he has to gain is time.  Satan is evidently aware of, and bound by time, just as we are.

“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Revelation 12:12)

Satan has known his time was limited from the beginning.  Job knew of his own redemption and Satan’s defeat eight hundred years before Moses first penned the words, “in the beginning.”

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27)

Satan doesn’t know when the Lord will return at the Rapture, but he knows numbers.  He knows from Romans 8:29 that there is a finite number of people predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son by becoming believers.

“Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)

Satan has no more idea how many believers are so predestinated than we do.  He only knows that the Lord won’t start to close down the books on his operation until the very last one comes to Christ.  

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2^nd Peter 3:9)

One of the last classes our military warriors attend after going through the staging process and before going into battle is a class called, “Know Your Enemy.”    

For Satan, it’s a numbers game.  He doesn’t care about you, particularly, but he does care about him.  If he can keep you down and keep you from sharing the Gospel, that keeps the numbers down. 

If he can convince his prospects that he doesn’t exist, that keeps the numbers down.

He knows that he doesn’t have to start racing against the clock until his number comes up.  And for all he knows, you are the one holding that spiritual bullet with his name on it. 

And he knows that his odds are getting worse with every passing day. 

“. . .  for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” (Revelation 12:12)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on May 31, 2011

The Indictment

The Indictment
Vol: 28 Issue: 28 Friday, September 28, 2018

According to the Bible, one day as Jacob was cooking a red stew, Esau came in from the wilderness ‘and he was faint’. Genesis 25:29 tells us of the episode that gave Esau his nickname, “Edom.’

“And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.” Which means red).

The Bible doesn’t go into detail about Esau’s condition beyond that, but it is worth considering the context. 

Esau was out ‘in the wilderness’ at a time when the ‘wilderness’ was a huge, dangerous and inhospitable place populated by wild animals and roving bandits. 

When Jacob demanded Esau’s birthright as first-born in exchange for a bowl of red stew, “Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?”

Clearly, Esau was ‘faint’ with hunger and exhaustion, but given context, Esau could have been in very bad shape. 

It was a dirty trick on Jacob’s part, and it set the stage for conflict that continues to this day. 

The Prophet Obadiah picks up the story of the Edomites and their abuse of God’s people, God’s land, and God’s Holy Hill, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 

Obadiah accuses Edom of “violence against your brother Jacob.” (v.10) Not just an ACT of violence, but constant, systematic and unrelenting violence.

Some Bible prophecy is near term, some long term, and, in come cases, like Obadiah’s, it is a single glance that encompasses a a broad period of time. Obadiah’s vision spans the entire scope of history from the first destruction of the Temple to the end of time. 

That Obadiah’s prophecies extend into the present day is evidenced by his references in verse 15-17 to the Day of the Lord, the recovery of the Temple Mount and references to land not yet recovered by Israel. Obadiah’s prophecy begins with the ancient Edomites and tracks their physical and spiritual descendants to the last days. 

So, can we determine their modern identity with any degree of confidence based on the Scriptures? 

Assessment:

The most compelling Scriptural evidence to identify the Edomites is found in Ezekiel 36:5. 

The first fifteen verses of that chapter give God’s viewpoint regarding the ownership and eventual disposition of what the world calls the “West Bank.” 

Ezekiel describes a conspiracy between the nations of the world and “Edom” to misappropriate that land that God had granted to Jacob. 

The book of Obadiah is also closely related to the prophecy of Ezekiel 35, which is a prophecy against the same group of people.

“All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; that they eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.” (1:7)

The ‘Palestinians’ are a ‘confederacy’ rather than a people. They have conspired with Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iran and the Saudis to lay claim to the West Bank as their ‘ancestral homeland’. Jeremiah 48-49 includes prophecies against these modern Islamic states, and provides additional support for the identification of the Palestinians as the Edomites. 

Further nailing down the identification of modern Edom is Obadiah 1:8:

“Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?”

The ‘wise men out of Edom’ are the imams and Islamic preachers who preach the destruction of Israel from the “Mount of Esau” (the stolen Temple Mount v.16). 

Let’s examine some of Obadiah’s indictments against Edom and compare them to Israeli-Arab conflict:

1) Violence against Jacob: “For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.” (v. 10)

2) Celebrating Israel’s calamities: “But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger;” (v.12a)

3) Handing over the Jews to their enemies: “neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.” (v. 12)

4) Taking possession of the Jewish holy places: “Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.” (v.13)

5) Mocking the God of Israel and His People from His Holy Hill: “For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.” (v. 16)

6) And finally, the destruction of something Obadiah calls “Mount Esau” — a symbolic reference to Esau’s deity, Allah, on ‘Mount Zion.”

“And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.” (v.21)

In case that doesn’t make the case for you, Obadiah’s chief indictment against Edom is its systematic, constant and unrelenting violence against Jacob. 

Let’s revisit that verse, substituting the word ‘violence’ with its Hebrew equivalent and look at the indictment one more time in context:

“For thy HAMAS (violence) against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.” (Obadiah 1:10)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on November 22, 2006

Featured Commentary: A Tale of Twp Social Justice Statements ~Alf Cengia

The Logic of Anti-Semitism

The Logic of Anti-Semitism
Vol: 28 Issue: 27 Thursday, September 27, 2018

One of the most enduring mysteries of the ages is, to my mind, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism.

It doesn’t follow any logical pattern that could explain it — indeed, taken as a purely social phenomenon, it makes no sense whatever.

Anti-Semitism appears to be universal; it has existed in every generation, among every people, on every continent upon which the Jew has put his foot.

European anti-Semitism dates back to the days of the Roman Empire, but Jews have been the targets of discrimination and pogroms on every continent and virtually every nation on the earth.

There is no nation that can claim to be free of anti-Semitism, and at the same time, there is no nation that can credibly claim it was harmed by its indigenous Jewish population.

Although an infinitesimal fraction of the global population, Jews have been awarded a quarter of all the Nobel Prizes given in the 20th century for chemistry, economics, literature, peace, physics and medicine.

Even the nations of the Arab world could have peace with Israel for the asking. Yet there is no nation on earth more universally despised.

Some anti-Semites (those who admit to themselves that they are) will argue that the Jews are “Christ-killers” invariably citing Matthew 27:25 as their ‘proof text’.

“Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”

That doesn’t explain anti-Semitism among non-Christians — in fact, it doesn’t even explain anti-Semitism among Christians.

The Jews who happened to be in the crowd self-pronounced the curse, but the entire nation wasn’t there — just the rabble.

In any case, it was Jesus Himself Who lifted that curse as soon as it was pronounced, saying,

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

And, finally, it wasn’t Jews that drove the nails through His hands and feet, or thrust a spear through his side. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment, imposed by Roman decree, carried out by Roman executioners, not for crimes against Judaism, but for crimes against the Roman Empire.

If the charge of ‘Christ-killer’ applies to the Jews, logic would dictate it would apply equally to the Italians.

Finally, Christians understand that Jesus was not executed for crimes against the Jews, or for crimes against Rome: those were simply the legal justifications under prevailing law at the time.

There is no nation, tribe or individual human being on this earth that did not play an equal role in His Death — He came to atone for the sins of all mankind.

And for three raging, horrific hours, the cumulative sin of the entire human race was heaped upon Him. Every person who ever sinned shares equal guilt with the Roman soldier who actually drove the spikes in His Body.

No, the “Christ-killer” label is an excuse to explain the existence of anti-Semitism.

It is not a reason for its existence in the first place.

Assessment:

Neither is the current conflict between Israel and the Arabs sufficient reason to explain anti-Semitism. In the first place, it predates modern Israel by 25 centuries.

But leaving that aside, this is the Modern Age of Enlightenment and Israel was born out the ashes of, if not the first, certainly the most successful effort at destroying the Jewish race in history.

The pitiful survivors of Europe’s madness dragged themselves back to their ancient homeland, where in a single generation, they turned a desert wasteland back into a land flowing with milk and honey.

Of all the nations carved from the empires of history, there is no greater rags-to-riches story than that of Israel.

A truly representative democracy surrounded by a sea of brutal dictatorships, it should shine as a beacon of hope to oppressed peoples everywhere.

Israel should, by all existing standards, be as much a beneficiary of ‘historical guilt’ as are Native Americans or African Americans, or Australian aborigines or any other historically oppressed peoples.

No matter what identifiable, historically oppressed ethnic group one compares to the Jews, there is no common denominator.

In the first place, a Jew is a person of a particular faith but of no particular ethnic background, as well as being a person of a particular background with no particular religious faith.

Moreover, those who explain their anti-Semitism on religious grounds generally don’t believe in the Jewish God anyway.

Jewish anti-Semitism is a fundamental tenet of Islam, and is cited as the principle reason for both the global jihad against the West and for the Islamic world’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Despite this undeniable truth, the United Nations accepts every charge laid against Israel by the Islamic world, no matter how spurious.

At the same time, it routinely ignores open acts of war committed against the Jewish state by finding some moral equivalence between Israel’s refusal to commit suicide on demand and Islam’s refusal to recognize its right to exist.

Compare Israel’s ‘human rights violations’ — even the most transparently fictitious ones — to actual human rights violations ongoing in Islamic nations like the Sudan, or Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, or Syria’s Assad regime.

There are no mass graves in Israel. Yet more UN resolutions have been passed condemning Israel over the past sixty years than those passed against all the rest of nations of the world combined.

It defies logical explanation.

America has no more faithful or trusted an ally among all the nations of the world than it has in Israel. It is hard to imagine criticism emanating from Israel on a par with the kind of criticism routinely heaped on the US by its other close allies like Britain, France or even Canada.

And America has few enemies more virulent than the Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas.

But the US is basing its entire peace process on creating a terrorist state on Israel’s borders. Never in international history has a nation been created while its people were engaged openly in a war of annihilation with the nation sponsoring its creation.

No other nation on the face the earth would even countenance being put in such a situation, let alone being forced into such a suicidal situation by its closest ally.

This, too, defies logical explanation.

Anti-Semitism cannot be explained by the secular history of the world. It really can’t even be explained by the religious history of the world. If there is an historical instance of Jewish oppression of Christianity to justify it, I can’t find it.

I can’t even find much of a case for the oppression of the Arabs by Jews — not even by modern Israel.

I visited Israel in 1992 just before the Oslo Agreement, including Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Masada and the Dead Sea, now all part of the Palestinian Authority.

Not once did I hear a murmur of discontent. The Palestinians were thriving, tourist dollars were pouring in, roads were being built . . . if I were to visit today, I’d likely not come back alive.

Who or what turned it a war zone?

In 1993, Israel was prepared to turn the Palestinian Authority into the jewel of the Middle East. It would have stood as a testament to Israeli tolerance.

But the Palestinians couldn’t get beyond their blind hatred of the Jews, and as soon as the opportunity presented itself, they attacked. Why?

The rest of the world, particularly in the West, is neither blind nor stupid.

The Western diplomats who scold Israel for retaliating against unprovoked rocket attacks against civilian targets KNOW that they would react with far less restraint were they the ones on the receiving end of the rocket fire.

They KNOW that the war would end the second the Palestinians stopped attacking.

Yet they support the Palestinian right to launch unprovoked random attacks against Israeli targets and condemn Israel for pin-point retaliatory strikes aimed exclusively against the attackers as ‘disproportionate.’ Why?

Why does the world hate the Jews? What have the Jews ever done to the world?

They survived — not as Israelis, but as Jews. The world would have no problem with a secular Israel. Or with a Muslim Israel. What it cannot countenance is a JEWISH Israel. It cannot even explain why.

Both the world’s dominant religions, Christianity and Islam, are rooted in Judaism. Islam claims it descended from the Jewish patriarch, Abraham, and Christianity was founded in Jerusalem by a 1st century Jewish itinerant preacher.

Neither faith would exist without Judaism, and neither faith COULD exist without the continued existence of the Jews. Since both faiths were born out of Judaism, both would crumble without it.

You can’t pull a foundation from under a building and expect the ediface to continue to stand. That is simply logical. If Judaism is rooted in a false theology, so is Islam and Christianity.

Why would Christians or Muslims knowingly fight against their own God?

So global anti-Semitism doesn’t make logical sense politically, economically, socially or religiously. Yet it continues to thrive, despite its self-destructive nature.

There is but one logical explanation for anti-Semitism, and that explanation is spiritual. The Bible says that Satan is the god of this world, and that it is his goal to be worshiped as such.

The existence of Israel is a constant reminder to the god of this world that his days are numbered. His goal is to eradicate all traces of God from the face of the earth.

And standing in his way is the Jewish state of Israel. The Bible also says that the Jews are the Chosen People of God and that they will not only endure as a people to serve as God’s ‘ensign to the nations’ that He exists, but that their existence is evidence of His ability to keep His word.

“Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is His Name: If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me for ever.” (Jeremiah 31:35-36)

For Satan to win, God’s Word must return to Him void. Israel’s destruction would accomplish that goal. That’s why the world hates Israel, even though it cannot explain why. Because by Israel’s very existence it is an offense to the god of this world.

Therefore, the big question, since Israel DOES exist, revolves around its RIGHT to exist.

No other explanation makes logical sense.

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on March 28, 2008

Featured Commentary: The Fear of Dying ~J.L. Robb

Israel’s Feasts: Foreshadows of Redemption

Israel’s Feasts: Foreshadows of Redemption
Vol: 28 Issue: 26 Wednesday, September 26, 2018

It is easy to see why secularists — and even many Christians — have a hard time getting their heads around the idea of what is called the Rapture of the Church.  When you take a step back and look at it, it does sound a little, er, weird.

Describe it without using Bible terms and see how it sounds:  People will suddenly disappear without warning, and will be transported — alive — into the air, and from there, it’s off to heaven.

What people?  Only the ones that believe. . .  if you aren’t a believer, you will be left behind.  If you aren’t a believer, how does that sound to you?  A little nuts, right?

Some years ago, I appeared on a National Geographic program called, “Doomsday: The Book of Revelation” that pitted “believers” against “experts” over how literally one should take doctrines like the Rapture, the Tribulation and Bible prophecy in general.

“Fundamentalists who believe in the apocalypse call it the Rapture,” the narrator intoned.  Nat Geo played the whole thing strictly for laughs, I thought, taking the Rapture about as seriously as it does Nostradamus.

Is the Rapture doctrine something made up by believers?  Or is it a legitimate part of the whole endtimes’ scenario?  How far back can we trace it?  Is there evidence that God had it planned from the start?

Or is it, as the skeptics say, a recently-invented doctrine from the early 19th century?

Assessment:

In the Book of Leviticus, God issued instructions to His chosen people, the children of Israel, concerning how they were to worship Him.  Leviticus gives instructions regarding the priesthood, the Law and the system of sacrifices.  God also issued instructions for seven designated feasts that Israel was to celebrate each year.

Each of the feasts is significant both to Israel and to the Church in that both highlight God’s provision for His people.  Both His provision for the needs of His Chosen People and His provision for mankind by the coming of the Messiah and His redemptive Work on the Cross.

The seven Levitical feasts played significant roles in the Lord’s earthly ministry and are symbolic of the whole redemptive story, from His death as the Passover Lamb to His Second coming when He will “tabernacle” (or dwell) with His people forever.

The first three feasts take place almost back-to-back, just as do the events that they symbolize.  Passover recalls the day the Lord visited judgment on all those that rejected Him, passing over those whose homes were sprinkled with the blood of a lamb.

Jesus was God’s Passover Lamb offered as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus died on the Cross and His Body was placed in the grave.  

The Feast of Passover is followed the very next day by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts one week, and it recalls Israel’s hasty escape from Egypt, (symbolic of the world) during which time there was no time to let bread rise. They ate it without yeast.

The Feast of the Unleavened bread symbolizes when Christ descended into Paradise (with the thief), where He led the righteous dead out of their captivity in Abraham’s bosom and into the presence of God.

The second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Feast of Firstfruits.  Jesus is the first-fruits of the Redemption Who conquered death and Hell and rose from the grave on the third Day after Passover.

Fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits is the Feast of Pentecost.  The Feast of Pentecost celebrated the end of the grain harvest.  Pentecost was also the day that Jesus ascended into Heaven, ending His earthly ministry, but not before promising to send another Helper, the Holy Spirit.

The arrival of the Holy Spirit is a reminder that the promise of salvation and future resurrection is as sure as the harvest and His indwelling empowers believers for ministry to bring in the harvest until He returns.

The Book of Acts records Jesus’ ascension into heaven at Pentecost, saying He rose into the air and was received into the clouds.

“And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

Pentecost concludes the spring-time feasts for Israel just as it concluded the Lord’s earthly ministry for the Church.  After Pentecost, there is a period of time before the Fall Feasts begin.   This is symbolic of the Church Age — the Lord has fulfilled the first four feasts of Leviticus to the letter.

To recap, the first three Feasts symbolized His death, His time in the grave and His Resurrection. His sacrifice and Resurrection are past, we have received His Holy Spirit and now we await His Return.  

The first three symbolized the major redemptive events of His First Advent — the remaining four tell the story of His Second Coming.

The Feast of the Trumpets is next on the calendar and it celebrates the waning of the agricultural year.  The growing season is over and the harvest is in the barns.   The Feast of the Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, marks the start of ten days of repentance, or “Ten Days of Awe.”

There are many that believe Rosh Hashanah symbolizes the “Fullness of the Gentiles” and that the Rapture will occur at some time during this ten-day period. How important is that? 

If there is no pre-Trib Rapture,  then the Feast of the Trumpets has no symbolic counterpart and the whole dual fulfillment interpretation falls apart. 

Recall Jesus’ admonition was that “no man would know the day or the hour,” but we COULD know when it was “near, even at the doors.”

A ten-day window out of one generation, somewhere in time, does no violence to the traditional understanding of either of these relevant Scriptures.  

And it fits perfectly with Paul’s description of the event in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement was the day the High Priest would make an offering for the sins of all Israel.  It symbolizes when God will turn His attention away from the Gentiles and back to Israel.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” (Romans 11:25)

Finally, Sukkot, the seventh feast day on God’s calendar takes place five days after the Day of Atonement.  It is the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles and lasts for seven days. It recalls the time the Israelites lived in huts made from palm branches prior to entering the Land of Canaan.

It also foreshadows entry into the Millennial Kingdom where Christ will rule from Jerusalem and people from every kindred, tongue and nation will be able to “tabernacle” or dwell in His presence.

Israel is back in the Land of Promise.  The fullness of the Gentiles is almost complete.  The Lord is coming back to reap His Harvest and we can almost hear the trumpet.

What a time to be alive!  Maranatha!

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on April 28, 2012

Featured Commentary: Bogus Burials ~Wendy Wippel

OL Sit-Rep 2018

OL Sit-Rep 2018
Vol: 28 Issue: 25 Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Dear Omega Letter Family: On the 18^th of September we announced that we will be closing this Omega Letter site.  We will keep the site up until October 13^th closing on October 14^th, our 17^th anniversary.  We know that Jack would want us to thank you all and tell you just how blessed and inspired he was by the OL family.

We have received an outpouring of love by those who have wrote in to express their sadness at the news and words of encouragement for “a job well done”. We have not taken any of it lightly. You have certainly surprised all of us by keeping Jack’s mission alive these past five years.

Our heartfelt thanks cannot adequately express how we really feel. We could not have done this without your prayers, support and generosity over these 17 wonderful years.

We are truly grateful for the contributing authors who have gone far and above the call of duty to share their insight and talent with us, that has continued the mission to equip the saints. Many of them have websites they are either working on, or already have up and ready for you. Please continue in your prayers and visit them there.  We will share a list with you to their websites so you can still get your daily inspiration from them.

The webmaster is retiring, our website is out dated, security would be compromised and with the short notice our choices are limited and some unattainable in this time frame. So these factors have lead us to the conclusion that to rebuild the website and keep it up and running as is, is not doable. We will continue to pray that Jack’s legacy, the contributing author’s work, and the wealth of info within the OL site will find a way to continue to be accessible to all who seek it but as this time we can’t make promises. We can only wait and pray.

This decision has been reached with many tears and prayers, seeking God’s direction in this situation. We can’t thank you all enough for the wonderful years that you have supported us with your prayers and generous support financially. Writing the OL was a mission of love that Jack got up every morning to do, he looked forward to sitting down to write the daily brief and fulfilling the mission that God set before him to do.  He accepted the assignment like a good soldier and took the battle on with enthusiasm.

All subscription membership recurring plans have been cancelled and refunds will be made on request.

If we haven’t addressed your concerns please email us.  It’s been a whirlwind of a week but we know that our Redeemer lives.  The battle is not ours, we look to God above and He will guide us safely through and guard us with his love.

Now a word from Jack’s Letter from 2005:

Humans know right from wrong because right and wrong are relative to actions. One can do right, or one can do wrong. Saving a person from being hit by a streetcar is a right thing. Pushing him in front of one is wrong — one might even say, ‘evil’. 

But good and evil are outcomes — and the outcome of our actions is known only to God. Allow me to illustrate. 

You are in Vienna, Austria, and the year is 1905. A man is painting a landscape portrait of downtown Vienna and doesn’t realize he has stepped back into the path of a street car. You see him, and push him to safety.

You did the right thing, right? It was a ‘good’ thing that you did, and not ‘evil’, right?

If you knew what the outcome of your good deed in 1905 would be — that is, if you knew at the time that you had just saved the life of Adolph Hitler and knew what he would become — did doing ‘the right thing’ result in a ‘good’, or ‘evil’ outcome? 

The first lie of the Garden of Evil was that man should trust in himself and on his own understanding. The Scriptures teach the precise opposite.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

The doctrine of eternal security flies in the face of that first lie by removing man from the equation altogether. Eternal security says that human righteousness is as ‘filthy rags’ before the Lord, therefore, Jesus paid the FULL penalty for sin. 

It teaches that man plays no greater role in his salvation than that of accepting the gift of Pardon offered him by repenting (which means to change one’s mind) about his sin and trusting in the shed Blood of Christ as a completed work. 

The Scriptures teach us we can be;

“confident of this very thing, that He which hath BEGUN a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phillipians 1:6)

One doctrine, that of salvation plus works, teaches that once He hath begun a good work in me, it is up to ME to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

The other, that of eternal security, teaches that, once He hath begun a good work in me, HE will continue to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

Which doctrine lines up best with the main theme of the revealed Word of God? 

We return to the message of salvation, but presented WITHOUT the implicit promise of eternal security for the believer.

“You are lost and deserve to go to hell. But Jesus has made a way for you to be saved. All you have to do is believe in Him and not sin again. Go to church, learn the Bible, quit smoking, drinking, swearing, having lustful thoughts, avoid all your old sinful friends, do good and don’t sin, and you shall be saved. But if you continue in sin after trusting Jesus, you will go to hell anyway.”

If one discounts the doctrine of eternal security as some kind of Satanic lie, then giving the Gospel in any manner differently that the one above is deceptive advertising. 

But the Scriptures teach;

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” (Galatians 6:15) 

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

If one is turned into a ‘new creature’ through God’s extension of Sovereign grace accepted through faith, how then does one turn ONESELF back to the old creature by an act of human will (sin)? 

Finally, there is the logic argument, as further advanced the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians.

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Galatians 2:21)

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28)

Featured Commentary: WILL ISRAEL GO EXTINCT? ~Steve Schmutzer