The Master‘s Class, LifeChange Church Wichita

TO BE ELECTED BY GOD (1 Peter 1:1b to 2a)

The Bible emphatically teaches the doctrine of election, and this is a doctrine that has caused endless debates and disputes throughout the ages.  People will either go off the deep end into hyper-Calvinism with this doctrine, or they avoid it like the plague because they don’t understand it.  When it really is quite simple to understand.  Man complicates it by assuming that God cannot know anything that man does not know.  That really is the heart of the problem for man in understanding this doctrine.  

However, the truth is that man’s mind is limited, and God’s mind is unlimited.  Man’s capacity to know things is finite, and God’s knowledge is infinite.  Man’s knowledge is bounded by the constraints of time, it encompasses what has happened in the past and what is happening right now.  Man can only guess at the future.  

God created the concept of time so His knowledge is unconstrained by time.  He knows all things from before time began until well past the day when eternity makes time irrelevant, and He knows it all at the same time.  God cannot learn anything, since by definition He already knows it all.  

In today’s lesson, Peter gives us his own inspired insight into the subject.  He bluntly declares that our election is based on God’s foreknowledge.  Without hesitation, or qualification, Peter says that God has elected a certain company to become members of the royal family of heaven.  However, God does this and never violates our own volition, or our own right to choose.  God woos, He does not ravage.  He does not endow His creations with wills of their own, with the power of choice and personal accountability for their behavior, and then act as though they had no such thing.  

God’s election of certain members of the human family to become members of the royal family takes into account the response of each individual when confronted by the Holy Spirit with the offer of salvation.  While this may sound difficult to understand, the simple truth of it is that if you want to be a part of the elect of God, then choose Christ when the Holy Spirit presents salvation to you.  

Salvation boils down to one question, will you accept or reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master.  

If you say yes, then you will become part of the elect of God, and you will spend eternity in heaven with Christ.  

If you say no, then you will not be part of the elect of God, and you will spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell, forever without the light of God.  

Listen to this powerful Biblical doctrine of God’s foreknowledge and how it can bless you because God knows who you are, where you are, what you are going through, and He has a plan for you.  If you are believer, then God will empower you to deal with any persecution or trial that you may be going through.  He knew about this before it ever occurred and He has prepared you for it, and He is with you every step of the way.  

GOD'S PLAN WILL BE DONE (Romans 16:21-27)

One of the great Biblical promises that we have as believers is that God’s plan will be done.  No matter what man does to mess things up in this world, no matter what schemes and plots that Satan has for this world, God’s plan will be done.  It will be done just like He set it up to be done before He created the universe and everything in it.  Nothing has changed in this plan, and nothing will change.  God’s plan will be done, period.  

The fact that I know this promise of God to be true is comforting to me, and that is why God gave us this promise, so that we could be comforted knowing that God was in control.  Paul closes out this epistle with a declaration of this promise.  The almighty God of the Bible is the everlasting God, and His purposes and His goals are pursued by Him from age to age.  Christians may be feeble and frail, but God is strong.  The church may look like it is weak and divided, but it is the body of Christ and therefore it is linked to Omnipotence.  Whatever else may fail, the work of God cannot.  

Paul draws our thoughts to Him whose loving counsels foresaw the fall of man, provided for it before the foundation of the world, foreknew us, foreknew you and me, loved us into the kingdom, and who arranges for all things to work together for our good and His eternal glory.  Paul also draws our thoughts to the Son of His love, our blessed and glorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  And having filled our hearts and mind with these thoughts, Paul says a final Amen to this great epistle.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT (Romans 13:3-7)

When you think of what the government is responsible for doing, what is it that comes to mind?

Certainly our world today has come to believe that the government is responsible for the success of every citizen.  The government is to assure that all of our needs are met from cradle to grave.  If you are hungry, don’t worry about working or finding a job, any job, to feed yourself or your family, the government will feed you.  

If you don’t have a home, don’t worry, the government will make sure you have the money to buy that home.  The government will even make sure you have a cell phone, a college education, transportation to get where you need to go, and all of your medical bills are paid.  No job required, in fact, if you do get a job, the government will stop paying you and take money away from you to give to those that don’t have a job.  Kind of makes you wonder why people go to work at all, doesn’t it?

The people of our nation have come to believe that the government is to cover your losses if your business fails, or if you can’t pay back your student loans.  The government chooses to do this because it knows that it is the most efficient and cost effective agency that can meet everyone’s needs.  Right?  Every social welfare program we have is run effectively by the government.  There is no waste, or fraud, or people taking advantage of the system.  

If this is not true, then why do we keep asking the government to do more of it?  If every time you went to the doctor, he failed to treat you, wouldn’t you stop going to that doctor?

But is any of this part of the role that God wants the government to do for its citizens?  That is what our lesson is about today, what the government’s responsibilities are, as intended by God.  

SHOULD A CHRISTIAN SUBMIT TO A GOVERNMENT THAT REJECTS GOD? (Romans 13:1-2)

Now, I have to admit that this is an interesting question as we see the political races begin to escalate.  Without question, our current government, including the democrats and most republicans, have rejected the role that God has played, is currently playing, and will play in our nation and our world.  

So, the question is, should a Christian submit to a government that rejects God?

What role should the believer play in fighting against this type of lawlessness?

Do we stand by and do nothing, or actively fight against it?

Paul is going to tell us in our lesson today that human government derives its authority from God, and that governments are appointed by God.  Evil men may be elected to power or they may seize power.  They may have no thought of God at all, but the very fact that God permits them to seize the reins of power means that God has a purpose to fulfill even in their cruel and evil ruling.  

It is a saying well worth considering that people get the kind of government they deserve.  If you vote in a socialist tyrant, then you are going to get a socialist tyrant as your leader.  If you reject God’s truths about right and wrong in your lives, then you are going to have a government that rejects God’s truths about right and wrong, and that means the concepts of greed, corruption, dishonesty, cruelty, and lawlessness will control your government.

Governments may be weak or strong, just or oppressive, benevolent or cruel, wise or foolish, but in each case God has His way and moves His own plans forward.  We may not see God’s plan and purposes in an evil government, but God has a plan nonetheless, for God is in control.

Paul is going to tell us in our lesson today that disobedience to governmental authority is disobedience to God and will be judged accordingly.  We are going to see that the believer has their citizenship in heaven, but they are also a resident in the world down here, which gives them a twofold responsibility.  If there is a conflict between the two, then our first responsibility is always to our Lord in heaven.  We have a responsibility to human government, but our first responsibility is to always obey the law of God.  

I don’t believe that the Word of God declares the role of the believer is to fundamentally change our nation.  It is to preach a gospel that is the power of God unto salvation which will bring into existence individuals like the men who signed the Declaration of Independence and gave us a government of laws.  If there is to be a fundamental change in this country, then it will be God that will bring it about by working in the hearts of man.

The truth is that there is nothing is wrong with our form of government; there is something wrong with the individuals who are in positions of power.  We need to remember this as we choose the people who will fill these positions in the next election.  

Should we as believers run for political office?  Absolutely, we need people in these offices that understand the spiritual heritage of our founders.

Should we as believers support those candidates that respect the Word of God and the role that God plays in our society?  Absolutely, we need to discern what the true beliefs of a candidate are and support those who respect the will of God.

Should we as believers, lawfully, and actively, stand against the murder of innocent children, and the corruption of the God instituted concept of marriage?  Absolutely, we need to stand against lawlessness in the world.

Should we as believers submit to a government that is corrupt and rejects God?  The Bible says that we must, and my prayer is that God will grant us the power and the wisdom to do as the Word of God demands that we do.  

WHY CAN'T CHRISTIANS GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER? (Romans 12:3-5)

WHY CAN’T CHRISTIANS GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER?

To be honest, this is a question that at first you might say, well of course we can.  We believe in the same God, and we all have Jesus as our Lord and Master, at least this is the case if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ.  The problems begin when you start talking about how you go about being saved, who can be saved, and then once you are saved whether or not you can lose your salvation, or even what the word saved really means.  

But let’s make it simpler than trying to make all of the various Christian religions get along, because that hasn’t happened in over a thousand years, and it is not likely to happen any time soon.  Let’s ask the question of whether or not members of the same church should be able to get along?  Now it is even more obvious that we should be able to get along with those who attend the same church that we do, but if you look at the statistics of how many churches split, we would have to say that getting along is not happening the way that it should.  

So the question is why?  Why can’t members of the same church get along?

The answer is really simple, but hard for people to do.  The reason people fail to get along is that they take their eyes off of what God wants them to do, and how God wants them to behave, and they begin to act as the world around them behaves, and they do the things that they think is right.  

Paul has given us the basic first steps for members to get along with each other in the first two verses of this chapter, surrender to God, and then let God transform you into the image of Christ.  It really is that basic, that simple, but so hard to do.  If we are all allowing Christ to show through us, then we will get along with each other.  

Listen to this podcast to learn the way Christians are supposed to relate to each other to complete the kingdom work of God.  

WHO ARE YOU CONTROLLED BY? (Romans 12:1)

If you were to ask the general population of this country, Who are you controlled by?  Many, if not most, would declare that nobody controls me, I control myself, for this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, right?  However, the truth of the matter is that there are likely a number of entities and people that we submit ourselves to be controlled by.  For example, the government bodies that we live under, both nationally and locally.  We submit ourselves to the authority of, and the rules and procedures of, these men and women who say they have the authority to rule us.  

There is your employer, you submit to their authority.  Your spouse.  Your peers.  Your religion.  Law enforcement.  So there are lots of entities and people we allow to control us.  We submit to their authority, and what they tell us to do, we do.  We are controlled by them.

Now, most Christians would immediately reply, Well Keith, obviously I am controlled by God.  And my reply would be, do your actions match your words?  Considering the way society’s shift in morals is moving at breakneck speed today, Christians are going to be faced with some difficult decisions.  For many years, in this country, the general moral and ethical principles of the country were based on Judeo-Christian values, so the Christian in this country had it fairly easy.  

Yet, we stand today at a crossroad in this country.  Nine men and women in black have decided that marriage is defined by what they say it is and that it is not defined by God.  Never mind that it has been defined by God as one man and one woman, and for almost all of history, and in almost every civilization, as one man and one woman.  Man’s definition is that marriage can be two women, or two men, or three women and men, or ten women or ten men, or in other words, anything goes.  For without the absolute truths of right and wrong as established by God, anything does indeed go.  

This decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has set the stage for the U.S. government to criminalize Christianity.  If you choose to say what the Word of God says about homosexuality, it will be deemed as hate speech.  The consequences of this will be that you can be fined, arrested, or have your business, your home, and your job taken away from you for stating what God says.  

If you are a Christian, you will then have a choice of submitting yourself to the authority of the government, or to God.  While the Bible is clear that we are to submit ourselves to local authorities, which are established and allowed by God, it is also clear that this obligation only goes until they dictate you violate God’s Word.  So this question of, who are you controlled by, will quickly transform from an intellectual exercise to a reality.  

Now, as for me and my family, our choice is that we are controlled by God, and no government, especially 9 people in black robes, is going to change that.  While I understand that those are brave words, and that they will very soon be tested, therefore, we are depending solely on God to empower us to live those words in our lives as we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, wholly controlled by Him.  

GOD'S PURPOSE IN RESTORING ISRAEL PART II (Romans 11:27-36)

Over the last couple of weeks of our study, Paul has declared that it is certainly within the power of God to not only temporarily remove Israel from the place of religious privilege as a result of their rejection of Him, but it is also within the power of God to restore a believing Israel to that place once again.  The almighty Creator of all things, has the power to do as He has promised.  

Not only is it within the power of God to restore Israel, Paul also tells us that it is within the purpose of God to restore Israel.

Paul has left no question that God will fulfill His promises to Israel.  God will restore Israel, for it is God’s purpose to restore Israel.  God planned these events from the foundations of time, and nothing that man has done, or can do, will change God’s plan and purpose.  God chose Israel to be His channel of truth and righteousness to the world, and that is what they will be when He restores them.  

What is God’s purpose in restoring Israel?  It is to show His power and His glory to a world that has rejected Him.  He is telling the world that there is but one true God, and that He alone is deserving of our worship.    

GOD'S PURPOSE IN RESTORING ISRAEL (Romans 11:25-26)

God has declared in His Word that He will restore Israel to it place of religious privilege.  In this week’s podcast we discuss when God says this event will occur.  It is not a specific date, for no man knows this date, but the Bible tells us that it will occur when the Fullness of the Gentiles is complete.  

Listen to this podcast to learn about the difference between what the Bible calls the Times of the Gentiles and the Fullness of the Gentiles.  When God has finished using the Gentiles to spread His message of eternal life, He will turn again to the Jews.  He will judge them, and then He will bless them.

ISRAEL WILL BE RESTORED (Romans 11:16-24)

In last week’s lesson, we discussed God’s judicial blinding, or hardening, of the nation of Israel for their rejection of Christ as the Messiah and their subsequent rejection of the gospel message.  Paul described for us the place of special religious privilege the Jews had been granted by God as the channel of God’s message of salvation for the world.  But their rejection of God’s plan and His Son, Jesus, as the Promised Messiah caused God to remove them, temporarily, from this place of religious privilege.  Since the day of Pentecost, it has been the church, that body of true believers, who have now occupied the position of being God’s channel of the gospel message to the world.  

So, Paul has given the Gentiles a warning that they should not be proud of the fall of the Jews and their own rise to a position of religious privilege, for this is but a temporary state of affairs, as well.  Without a doubt, God’s plan for dealing with Israel includes their restoration to the position of being the channel of salvation for the world.  

In this podcast Paul uses the illustration of the olive tree to explain to the believing Gentiles what God is doing by dealing with Israel during this period, the relative positions of the Jews and Gentiles in God’s plan, and the power and purpose of God to restore Israel to its place of spiritual privilege.

ISRAEL'S NEED OF A SAVIOR (Romans 10:1-9)

Since the day that God called Abraham from the Ur of the Chaldees, the Jews have been looking for a Messiah, a Savior.  Today’s podcast discusses Israel’s rejection of God’s plan for obtaining righteousness, and how they tried to establish their own righteousness through dedication to keeping the law and other religious ceremonies. We are going to see a how a people can be dedicated to the ritual of worshipping God and still be lost.  This is a message that should resonate with everyone who is dependent on their religion to worship God and to obtain eternal life in heaven.

The key to God’s present dealings with Israel is His salvation.

Today, God is offering salvation to the Jew on exactly the same terms as He is to the Gentile, and He makes no changes whatsoever based on the nationality of the lost person.  We must all find God through His grace and His plan of salvation.  If a Jew wants to come into God’s favor, he must come to Calvary as a lost sinner and accept his Messiah as Savior and Lord. This is the message of our podcast today.