Dear Doves,

 

When studying the Bible, it is important to recognize that there are two primary perspectives to many subjects.  The Bible will rarely describe which perspective it is using when declaring things and leaves it up to the reader to study and come to a knowledge of both perspectives in order to rightly divide the Word.  For example there is most always God's perspective and man's perspective to everything.  We might also say that there is an eternal perspective and a temporal perspective and on some subjects there is a positional perspective and a practical perspective.  If you keep this in mind and ask yourself, "Which perspective is this verse speaking from?"  It will clear up much of the confusion when some verses appear to conflict with other verses.  Sometimes there is an extreme or superlative view given from either perspective which is true as long as we recognize that the superlative is being used, but is not meant to apply literally.

 

Jesus gives us a clear example of a scripture that was not meant to be applied literally when dealing with the devil's temptation.  Even though something is clearly written, we must also know what is "also written" in order to see everything in its correct perspective.

 

Mat. 4:6-7 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

 

As an example of the superlative, look at Mat. 9:35, "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."  Obviously, he didn't heal every single sickness and every single disease, but he healed every type of sickness and every type of disease.  Even in other cases when the scripture mentions that Jesus healed all, it is implicit that he healed all that came to him and believed him.  There were many sick among the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees that would not even consider Jesus to heal them.  Since the man at the gate called Beautiful, Acts 3:2, was laid daily at the gate, no doubt Jesus had passed him by many times and he wasn't healed, just like the multitude who waited by the pool of Bethesda who were left sick after Jesus healed one person and slipped away in St. John chapter 5. 

 

For an example of man's perspective, which is definitely not God's perspective, we could look at some of the statements in Job, or Ecclesiastes.  In Ecclesiastes, the preacher repeatedly says that "all is vanity and vexation of spirit" and uses the phrase, "under the sun" to indicate that its strictly man's perspective, and not God's.

 

From God's perspective, consider that Christ has completed the work and is seated at the right hand of God awaiting until his enemies are made his footstool.   

 

Heb. 10:12-14 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

 

He has accomplished the work, and "it is finished", but from a temporal standpoint, we must hold our confidence stedfast unto the end.  God only puts "ifs" in the scripture when there is actually a condition involved, as in the following passage in the same book.

 

Heb. 3:12-14 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.  For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

 

Same God, same book, two different perspectives!

 

God does everything completely, thoroughly, and eternally on his part, and then puts it on the table as a free gift for you to enjoy or reject.   From the eternal perspective, every believer is perfected and sanctified for ever, but from the temporal perspective, it is still up to you to war a good warfare and not make shipwreck, I Tim. 1:18-29.  Also notice that it is to the church at Sardis, in Rev. 3:5, that Jesus says, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."

 

Positionally, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  We have passed from death unto life, but in practice we can frustrate the grace of God, and do despite to the grace of God and even become servants to sin.  The exceeding greatness of God's eternal work of righteousness on our behalf is beautifully set forth in Romans 5:1-6:11, but then in verses 12-13, the admonition is necessary because God has left it up to us to put it into practice:  "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

 

Under the law, sin had dominion because man couldn't keep the law.  But once we became dead to the law, it could no longer exercise lordship over (Strongs 2961) us against our will, verse 14.  Then verse 16 cautions us that if you yield yourselves servants to sin, it can become you master.  No matter how wonderfully God sees us positionally, he still doesn't remove the free will for us to choose to reject the eternal perspective in favor of the old nature. 

 

To those of you who respond to my posts quoting the promises of God, I'm with you all the way!  All of the wonderful promises of God in Christ Jesus are "yea and amen!"   We have an anchor of the soul which is sure and steadfast, and it will hold!  But it doesn't matter how sure the anchor is, if you let go of it.  If some have let go, does that make the anchor any less sure?  Not at all!  However, denying that you can let go won't cause you to hold on either!  I pray that every one will come to realize that there are two perspectives in the scripture, that must be recognized in order to reconcile all scripture in this area.

 

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 

David Robinson