Hashkama – There by the Grace of God
He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
I had completed this article and was about to send it to be uploaded on the website, when a friend, named Mieke Mantel[i], sent me a tract she had written on Facebook. It rather sums up in a few sentences what I have written. She is asked, and answers questions: “Them – What belief are you? Me – Well I am a bible believer. Them – Well I know that, but what are you called? Me – His Child. Them – (laughs) No I mean, what denomination, like what is it called? Me – I broke free from religions and just started following what I was reading in the bible. Them – (looks at me weird). Me – Yeah, we just read the bible in our home and try to walk in it.”
Two recent incidents took me back to past memories. The first concerned a Facebook group. I had shared an article entitled Hashkama: Look Up[ii]. A comment was left saying: “URGENT! Brother, can you help me here? We ALL agree Jesus died on the cross for our sins BUT MANY (Matthew 7:13-14), if not MOST, disagree on what God commands man to do in order to receive salvation. In simple terms ‘What must I do to be saved?’” I suggested to the questioner that since he was the admin of the group, he had probably reached an understanding of how to be saved. He replied that he has been a Christian for 31 years and was very confident about what the Bible teaches with regard to salvation; and that he is an Admin of several groups to a total of 120,000 people. I didn’t tell him how long I have been a Christian, it is not a competition – and anyway, if it were, how could I compete with such a spiritual giant, him being an Admin of several Facebook groups? His opener was: ‘URGENT!’ It wasn’t at all urgent, in fact it was dishonest and misleading from the beginning. He already had a clear understanding – to his mind – of how to be saved. Secondly, he referred to me as “Brother”, recognising me as a Christian. The whole thing made me think he wanted something concrete to disagree with. The article he was commenting on wasn’t even on salvation per se or about ‘how to be saved;’ but included an incidental reference I suppose, that one could possibly lose one’s salvation; such a statement is anathema in much of Christendom, but the concept is clearly seen in Scripture. To see it one has to believe the Bible and what it says. It was probably that which upset him, but he wasn’t honest enough to say so. A Freudian slip may be that he knew where to put capital letters except when it came to ‘the Cross’, where he used a lower-case ‘c’. He supposedly wanted clarification on what I believed. He said that anyone who is saved should know the simple gospel message because they just “experienced it;” they just “obeyed it.” He said that the answer is simple enough that anyone should be able to answer it in a matter of “seconds.” The problem is that one question leads to another and there is no end to it, especially from someone who already knows what he believes. Jesus knows the heart of man is deceptive (Jeremiah 17:9), and people tried to trap him in conversation (Matthew 22:18; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-20). Easy believe-ism is rampant in Christendom and is a killer of true faith, so I wasn’t going to go there. I had just written the next online article[iii] which would be available the following week. He had told me what a busy person he is, but he didn’t consider that I might live a very busy life too. The article answered his question “simply”, so I said I would post it in his group. When I went to do that only days later, I couldn’t find the group. He had obviously blocked me – this was Cancel Culture Christian style. He had done what he intended doing all along. He had referred to me as “Brother” yet it was as if he had slammed his church door in my face. Is this how we are to use the grace of God extended to us? What if I had been a new believer or young Christian? I think on this occasion, Mark might have missed the mark. Christians claim to be so different from the world, but really some of our behaviour is very similar. In the past I was ‘cancelled’ by friends because of my understanding of the tribulation and rapture; I wasn’t running with the popular crowd. There are Facebook groups that are purely Pre-Trib, and you have no chance if you present a different view; you are not welcome, Cristian or not! Christian Cancel Culture is a Satanic reality. I haven’t come across any ‘Great Tribulation’ groups on Facebook, or anywhere else yet, but it might be interesting if there were such. I did see something like a “Persecution Now” group. The second example concerned a couple that were watching a church meeting on Zoom. They were elderly and probably not entirely up to the technical stuff of today. They had not ‘muted’ themselves, and muttered away through the whole meeting, complaining all the time. Am I better than those in the two examples? Probably not – perhaps even worse. We are all guilty before the Lord. It is only His mercy and His grace that any of us are still living. Should we continue living like those in the two examples? They were reminders, if I needed reminding, that God is Righteous. He called us out from selfish, sinful lives. The Lord’s Coming is at hand; will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)
So how did this remind me of my past? Years ago, I was in fellowship where prayer and Bible study were essential to life itself. It was an atmosphere of belief, but not everyone believed the same things, so it was quite lively in discussing the different doctrines and the various understandings. We had the easy believers of once saved always saved, and we had those who insisted that only those who persevere to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13). We had the Pre-Trib ‘”rapture-‘errs’” and the various other kinds; so discussion was wide-ranged, interesting and sometimes frustrating, resulting in some moaning and groaning. As a new believer I was taught and believed that anyone praying the ‘sinner’s prayer’ was saved for eternity. Also, I believed in the prevailing Pre-Trib rapture teaching. I read the Hal Lindsey books, popular at that time, with great relish. However, since those early days, and having read the Bible from cover-to-cover a number of times, and thought my way through God’s Word, my understanding has changed immensely over the years. It is not only our understanding that has to be challenged and to mature; our thought-life and the way we live has to change too. We seem to be far from the teaching of Scripture in the way we live according to God’s word. We appear to be very much like those that dropped during the desert wanderings. I suggest it is helpful to study God’s dealings with the people of Israel, in the Old Testament Scriptures as well as the New Testament. When the words were written “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), the only Scriptures available were those of the Old Testament.
Let’s take a brief look at God’s dealings with Israel. They all “experienced it” and in the beginning “obeyed it.” Abram/Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3). We know that he believed God because He followed God, journeyed through life with God, and did what God told him to do. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham (Genesis 17:8) “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” It was four-hundred years later when the Israelites entered the land. Abraham’s faith was followed by his walk (Hebrews 11:8-12). It is the obedience of faith (2 Corinthians 10:5), not only that one believes in Jesus but that one continues and remains in Jesus. This is to continue to walk in the Spirit and not fall back into being led by the flesh, the fallen nature. Near the end of his life, writing to Timothy Paul said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). For Paul, faith in Jesus was ongoing. Someone wrote to me saying that their faith is simple. If they simply believed and simply obeyed that would be fine. Often it is that someone has entered, but they have never walked the walk of faith. They make a confession and that’s it. Let’ go back a bit.
Joseph you will remember, had been sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers (Genesis Ch.37) – Yes, slavery was around long before there were white English or white Americans. In the New Testament we have a somewhat similar situation, which is developing in our own time – “Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death” (Matthew 10:21). Eventually Jacob and his descendants descended into Egypt (Exodus 1:5) to escape the famine. Joseph, the slave, under God’s hand had been raised to the powerful position of being second in command in Egypt. In Genesis 41:53 through Genesis Ch.45 we read of the famine and of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers; and in Genesis Ch.46, Jacob goes to Egypt. The Hebrews settled in Egypt until things changed and they were no longer welcome, and the people of Israel themselves became slaves in Egypt. You can read the story through yourself. The Hebrews were oppressed to the point where they called out for help (Exodus 2:23-25; 3:9); and God heard their groaning (Exodus 3:7). What happened then is a reminder of what could be happening now in the so-called free world and in the coming days. Freedoms are being lost all the time, and Christians are despised for not running with the world into destruction.
Moving on, God instructs the Israelites in Exodus Ch.12, that each household was to slaughter a lamb and to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. They were to eat the meat that night with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast – see 1 Corinthians 5:8 in the New Testament. Each family believed and followed the instructions. They were led under the covering of God, out of Egypt to travel to the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the land of Canaan. Some claim that this is a picture of the rapture. If it is, of all those that came up out of Egypt, only two entered Canaan. Others liken the liberation from Egypt to redemption. The same applies, of all those that came out of Egypt, only two entered the Promised Land. Many, having fallen into unbelief, and fell in the desert. (Hebrews 3:19. See also 2 Peter 1:6-10). Christianity is a life-long walk with the Lord. It isn’t a one-time confession of faith so now I’m going to heaven. That is only the beginning, the starting post; it is not the finishing post. Many fell away in the Old Testament, and many fall away in the New Testament. Some believe, but only for a while then they quickly fall away (Mark 14:16-17). But, according to the parable, they did believe with joy to begin with. They heard the word and received it with joy; they entered the race but they did not run it; they dropped out. Some drop out quicker than others. Some go on religiously just in case, thinking they are safe, but they do not live the life God has called them to. There will be a great falling away (from the faith – 1 Timothy 4:1) before Christ comes again, and takes those that endure to the end, who are alive, out from the earth to meet Him in the air 1 Thessalonians 4:17).
We should not fall for the argument that people in the Old Testament were not regenerate. Nowhere does it say that they fell away because they were unregenerate. The people fell away because they were unfaithful to the covenant. They had been redeemed by God, but they failed to trust Him. They departed from the faith they once knew. The ‘once save always saved’ divide the testaments when it suits them, but unite them when it comes to proving their various points – infant baptism, crossing the Red/Reed Sea and so forth. Moses was in the Old Testament and so was Elijah, yet they were also alive in the New Testament appearing in the land of Promise with Messiah! (Matthew 17:3-4; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30-31)). “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Moreover, who are the two witnesses in Revelation Ch.11? Could they be people that had not died before? Because: “…it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Are they, as some suggest, Old Testament prophets? It does seem that God accepts the Old Testament as relevant in the New Testament. Messiah quoted from those Scriptures, since the New Testament had not even been written; for Jesus, there was no discontinuity with the Tanakh. He didn’t negate the word, not one jot or tittle (Matthew 5:18), or the experiences of those in the Tanakh. Some Old Testament saints appear not to have died, but were transported straight to heaven. Can you name any of them? How many New Testament saints enjoyed a similar experience? My memory is not so good now, but I can’t think of anyone. Paul speaks of a man in Christ that was caught up to the third heaven, but he didn’t know if he was in the body or out of the body (2 Corinthians 12:2-5). Some in the future will “not sleep” but will be changed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-57).
Watch the language
“He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:2). Notice the question. He didn’t ask “When you were saved.” His question was, “when you believed.” The initiation in the process of salvation can be spread over a short time, and is for some. On the other hand, it can take weeks, months or years. It involves repentance towards God, faith in Jesus, baptism in water, and reception of the Holy Spirit. Having begun, we are to continue walking in the Spirit and obedience to God’s word. Salvation is a continuing process. We are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved (Matthew 24:13; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 4:16 – “You will save yourself and your hearers.” Clearly Timothy was not yet saved; Hebrews 9:28). These Scriptures are just a few examples of the future emphasis concerning being saved. Our salvation is final and complete when Christ returns – 1 John 3:2).
I will perhaps return to this theme in the future, but will have to bring it to a close for now. We will finish with a mention of the book that is in God’s hand, often referred to as the book of life. It is mentioned in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament. This book contains the names of those that He has redeemed. David begged that his sins be blotted out, because if your sins are not blotted out, your name will be. The book of life is mentioned in Philippians 4:3; and Revelation 3:5 where we note that it really is possible to be blotted out of the book of life: “Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.” The Way of salvation is a journey, a walk, therefore, walk worthy of the calling” (Ephesians 4:1, Colossians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:12).
Blessings and shalom
Malcolm [27.06.2022]
[i] https://www.facebook.com/mieke.mantel
[ii] http://saltshakers.com/?p=2184
[iii] http://saltshakers.com/?p=2208
