Christians have been known to use the word “lost” to identify those who are unsaved, and many of these Christians don’t know that “lost” is used 96.2% of the time as an identifier of lost Jews or lost things only in the old testament. (basically, nobody ever considered any nonJew to be lost in the old testament)

• the other 3.8% is found in 2 Corinthians 4 in which Paul writes that “our gospel” is “hid” because the god of this world has blinded the “minds” of the lost who don’t believe
• if this gospel of Christ would shine unto this new group of lost people, they’d know it was also for them all along

Humanity actually has a god of this world who is blinding people and so opposing God’s will that all be saved.

It is not that God let’s bad things happen to some so that they go to Hell, but that He has the gift offered to all in a world of blind people.

This changes our perspective since the blind by the pool needed to first believe and then sight was given.

*When God went from nation singular to nations plural, even the terminology changed in meaning.

 

A respectable Bible person was Joseph who looked sexual temptation straight in the eyes and fled from it, which is a common temptation of every man who has ever lived including Jesus. J then was given immense responsibility as God looked down to see he was diligent enough to be given more to handle. That is how the universe is organized with God leading in love instead of by force.

• Upon examination of the text, we find that God inserted certain words and phrases to teach us the predicable events that always occur.
• Here is the trip God takes us on:

In Genesis 39, he tells us of the events he observed as Joseph found himself at the brink of choices.

• In verse 10, J determines to “not hear her”…talk to the hand because the ears won’t hear. J apparently views himself as a force in control of his inputs.
• In verse 11, J plans to do business and finds he’s alone in the house with her by chance. The key word here is “alone.”
• In verse 12, she “catches him” and repeats her request for possibly the thousandth time and he turns from her and runs away as his actions follow the opposite words he’s been instructing himself with.

This all occurs rapidly in the account, but what is highlighted for us is that it’s repetition of words followed by action, which is at the core of every behavior whether good or bad.

When will we appreciate words for what they are? They are the doorway to all behaviors and once we know this, we can talk to ourselves every day until we turn the ship of our body to reflect what we’ve inserted into our mind.

Those who talk to themselves are more highly educated than those who don’t. Motivational speakers always without fail tell us to look at ourselves straight in the mirror and repeat words of affirmation every day until we change our behavior and some have been wise enough to find the deep truth that a man becomes what he thinks about.

We should know the color of our eyes very well.

What are we going to do since events are predictable and outlined by our gracious leader? Weather patterns are predicable when we take the proper measurements.

We see the events unfold before they happen and consider the opportunities that await those willing to peer through the fog into the clarity on the other side.

Of special note is that Joseph had no father to learn from and so his success is remarkable and similar to our generation of fatherless households as a result of a heightened number of divorces. – – There is a strong link between disregarding the circumstances in which we find ourselves and instead choosing a path of escape.

Sometimes we learn that thoughts often come from preconceived ideas that were conceived from others and that our life is merely a series of actions preceded by phrases composed of words that we were silly enough to believe then incorporate into our mind.

• and so reading while examining G&S is important

For example, a “born again” Christian is an oxymoron since no Christians existed when Jesus coined the two words in tandem.

Someone stripped them of their context then misapplied them to us and the majority of us saw the identifier words and incorporated them into our thought patterns, which caused a series of events in which some doubt their salvation since they’re reborn in their mind instead of made new.

The examples continue outside the Bible. Finding them is a hobby.

*Interestingly, “born again” is repeated once in the Bible by Peter since he was the one committed to the gospel of the circumcision (the Jews…see Galatians 2). Both Peter and Jesus were expected to preach gospels to the Jews at different times, while Paul preached the gospel of the grace of God for us during this time…aka now.

Over in 1 Peter 1, Peter discusses his brethren the Jews and how they are the scattered strangers who are “born again” of incorruptible seed instead of corruptible.

Now, this seed business and rebirth is a descriptive of Israel being God’s firstborn (see Exodus 4).

So, we were never God’s firstborn and so don’t get born again.

It’s serious and hysterical that the facts are scattered around the books like a scavenger hunt so that students of the Bible may rightly divide it. 😉

When God split the line of Abraham’s descendants and decided to have mercy on Jacob’s lineage and not on Esau’s, a separation was made so that when the Canaanite woman (a descendant of Esau) walked up to Jesus as the disciples watched, she made it known that she was a dog and that Jesus was a son of David (a descendant of Jacob).

• See Matthew 15
• Suddenly, we see Jesus say something peculiar…that “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
• Jacob obtained mercy as written in Romans 9, because the Lord Jesus was actually sent to his lineage and not to Esau’s
• Jesus gives us a glimpse of his longsuffering toward those without mercy when he sees her faith as she asks metaphorically about the bread of life even extending to the dogs.

*Romans 9 and Matthew 15 are linked, but considered hard to understand. It is quite common to attend church for years and never be shown the link.

This is only the beginning of a whole slew of thoughts since we Gentiles aren’t mentioned until verse 24 of Romans 9. Until verse 24, it’s all about those of the lineage of Esau not being included in the 12 tribes of Israel.

• who is man that he can reply against God?
• specifically, who are the Gentiles who may reply against God for having mercy on Israel and who are the Canaanites who complain that Esau should have been given mercy.
• This choosing was a slap in the face to tradition since Esau was the eldest, but God isn’t traditional and is instead new.
• The younger boy was given mercy and the inheritance, while the eldest was stripped of his birthright. Imagine being the first born of the lineage of Abraham only to have that status passed on to your younger brother.

Romans 9 has been a historical stumbling block to many since they keep thinking the entire chapter is about themselves, but Paul had been an academic Pharisee in his past religion who transitioned from people group to people group as he wrote. He provides new introductions to his paragraphs like verse 4 of Romans 9.

Text analysis using G&S reveals the truth that Paul’s brethren were the Jews who were his kinsmen according to the flesh as the firstborn of God…and the following verses up to verse 24 are all about them.

G&S = Grammar and Syntax 🙂

It’s interesting that we likely have never heard a sermon on the fact that Adam and Eve had done nothing good prior to eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden since they had no knowledge of good. (whew…look at that string of prepositional phrases)

• historical bias toward the evil half of the total knowledge is preached while the good is hardly thought about
• before the fruit, they were good based on the image, not based on their deeds

But men, as they often do, get biased to one perspective and forget that having our eyes opened makes us naturally able to see both sides and choose both sides equally

• an equal distribution creates lawbreakers

Now, there are no consequences for good deeds…only benefits, so men dismiss them and focus on the evil that creates consequences, which is natural to stare at the offense that inflicts and lose sight of the good.

• we watch the whip that hurts

Thousands of years later while looking at the beginning, our apostle wrote about knowledge in the following knowing that actual knowledge is important for the deeds:

“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton