"The Rule" The Mid Acts Dilemma

How would you go about fixing a flat tire?

Simple. Put air in it and it is not flat anymore.

But what if it goes flat again?

You did not really fix the problem did you?

You saw the tire needed air so you aired it up, but it leaked out again, so you aired it up again, it goes flat again, and you air it up again. This is not fixing the problem. What you have to do is figure out why the air is leaking out of the tire. In other words you have to look for what is CAUSING the problem. It could be a puncture in the tire itself, a cracked rim or even a leaky valve stem.

Once you search for what is CAUSING the problem and find it, then you can fix it. The problem is the tire is flat. You cannot fix the problem with the tire until you find out what is CAUSING the problem, so finding what is CAUSING the problem is the beginning of the solution to the problem.

There is a problem among grace believers and that problem is when the body of Christ started. It’s not really a problem unless you let it be a problem.

Example:

A fellow Grace preacher e-mailed me a while back. He is an Acts 9 believer and he went to a bible conference. All the other preachers there were Acts 13 believers. Because of this, he said that he was treated as a reprobate.

Why did this happen?

Why would a brother treat another brother so rudely just because he believes the body of Christ started a few years earlier?

I guarantee you that all of them in this present day teach that Christ died and paid for sins and was buried and rose again and that you are saved by grace through faith not of works lest any man should boast.

So what is the big deal?

According to our calendar, one preacher believes the body of Christ started 1976 years ago, another preacher believes it started 1972 years ago.

So what?

Is this worth treating your brethren rudely? Are you going to let a disagreement on a starting time allow you to break fellowship with your brethren?

Now let’s turn this around. What if it were a conference where the majority was Acts 9 preachers and an Acts 2 preacher showed up? If you were an Acts 9 preacher would you treat them rudely? What about any combination of believers?

This is childish nonsense. At the judgment seat of Christ there will be no division among believers. We will all be as one. There will be no Acts 2 believers or Acts 9 believers, or Baptists, or Methodists, or dispensationalists, or theologians.

Paul said in 1st Corinthians 8,

“1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.”

Knowledge puffs up. Knowledge does not edify. Charity edifies.

NONE OF US know anything as we ought to know.

Treating your brethren rudely just because you think you know more than them is simply foolishness.

In John 13 Jesus said,

“34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Please do not tell me that you are under grace and that you do not need to love your brethren because I will not buy it and neither will Jesus when you stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ.

I will have my fair share of problems at the judgment seat of Christ but treating my brethren that disagree with me as an enemy, outcast or reprobate will not be one of them.

This is what I mean by this mid-Acts dilemma causing a problem. It’s only a problem if you allow it to be a problem. I’m an Acts 9 believer and I do not have any problem with my Acts 2, 9, 11, 13 or 28 brethren or any brethren for that matter. I do not treat them as enemies, outcasts or reprobates and when I put on a bible conference they are all welcome to attend and teach.

Call me weird or an oddball, but the Lord does not want division in the body of Christ. Treating your brethren as a reprobate definitely causes division. I can fellowship and discuss scripture with any believer and have a wonderful time doing it.

Anyway, back to the division problem. Among mid-Acts believers, we have Acts 9, Acts 11 and Acts 13 believers and maybe a few more different ones.

Personally, it doesn’t matter to me which position you take. I can fellowship with anyone that wants to fellowship with me. As long as you are teaching that Christ died and paid for sins and that you are saved by grace through faith during this dispensation of grace you are OK in my book.

I would not have any problem teaching side by side with you at a bible conference. Been there, done that.

But some brethren that are Acts 9 only want to fellowship with like-minded Acts 9 believers. The same goes with Acts 2, 11, 13 or 28. They only want to fellowship with like-minded believers. Once again, this just causes division in the body of Christ.

Now there is definitely a division problem among mid-Acts believers. But what is causing the problem?

Many mid-Acts teachers have gotten together and discussed their different views with each other but it was in vain and they have went their separate ways. It’s like airing up the tire that keeps going flat. You can air it up as many times as you want but you are wasting your time because you think continuing to air it up will eventually fix the problem but it is not. You have to look for what is causing the problem.

Let’s say you have an Acts 9 teacher and an Acts 13 teacher. They both have their different views on when the body started. They can talk back and forth with one another until they are blue in the face because they have not been looking for what is CAUSING the division problem between them.

If they never see what is causing the division problem, then the problem will never be fixed. Finding the cause is the beginning of the solution to the problem.

What is causing the problem is “the Rule”. Once again,

The Rule:

If you believe Peter’s gospel it puts you into the new covenant church (kingdom church) and if you believe Paul’s gospel it puts you into the one new man (the body of Christ). If Peter preaches to you, you go into the new covenant church and if Paul preaches to you, you go into the one new man.

Let’s say the Acts 9 preacher and the Acts 13 preacher both believe that “the Rule” is correct. By taking this teaching they both see that you have to have Paul’s gospel in order to get into the body of Christ, so the body of Christ cannot start until the gospel is preached and it cannot be preached until Paul gets it.

They both believe that Peter did not teach that Christ died and paid for sins but rather that Christ died and paid for sins was exclusive to only Paul.

So here is the division problem, if “the Rule” is correct, then the body of Christ could not have began until Paul received the gospel that Christ died and paid for sins.

So when did Paul receive this gospel?

Thus we have our problem.

The Acts 9 believers say that he got it in Acts 9 and the Acts 13 believers say he got it in Acts 13.

The amazing thing about this problem is that you cannot prove anything by the book of Acts because the book of Acts does not record anywhere in it that Christ died and paid for sins. If you use just the book of Acts, it’s all guesswork.

In a previous installment of “the Rule” titled, “the Rule – The Gospels”, we covered this problem of when Paul received that Christ died for sins in some detail, so we don’t need to cover that again. But rather we will look at this problem from a different approach.

If you have followed along in all the installments of “the Rule”, then you should be able to see at least a few flaws in “the Rule’ thus far, namely that Peter and the apostles also taught that Christ died and paid for sins.

One thing for sure that can clear up this division between Acts 9, 11, and 13 brethren is to show that Cornelius was in the one new man. Many Acts 9 believers DO NOT believe that Cornelius was in the one new man, but if they eventually saw this, it would help confirm their belief that the one new man started with the apostle Paul.

And of course, if an Acts 11 or 13 believer saw that Cornelius was in the one new man, then they would understand that the one new man started earlier than they previously thought. This would definitely clear up some of our division problems.

As mentioned, we have already discussed about who received when Christ died for sins. Now we are going to look at this mid-Acts problem from a different point of view. We are going to look at this not from a “when was the gospel given” point of view but rather a view based upon timing, Daniel’s seventy weeks, the number of years and when the dispensation of grace was given unto the Gentiles.

Here is the first question:

What caused the gap between Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks?

What caused Daniel’s prophecy to stop?

In Daniel 9 it says,

“24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

So here in Daniel’s prophecy he gives a time frame in which God will be dealing with his people. Just about every preacher knows that Daniel’s seventieth week has not occurred yet and that the 69th and 70th weeks have a gap in between them.

Once again, what caused this gap?

Let’s look at this chart of the 69th and 70th weeks without the gap:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/images/Charts/Israel%27sNewCovenant1.jpg

Here on this chart we have the beginning of the 69th week, which starts with the 477th year of Daniels prophecy and goes all the way to the 490th year of the prophecy and there is no gap in between them.

Jesus died on the cross the 14th day of the fist month of the 483rd year of Daniels’ prophecy at about 3:00 in the afternoon. To see why this is, you might want to read this article:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/daniels69thweek.htm

But something happened that caused the prophecy to cease. What caused it to cease is that Israel fell and became Loammi not God’s people.
Here is an article about when Israel became Loammi:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/AdvancedSeriesDoc/WhenIsraelBecameLoammi.htm

When Israel fell, God opened the door to the Gentiles by giving them the one new man and the dispensation of grace. Israel in part was blinded and broken off of the good olive tree and the Gentiles were grafted into the good olive tree.

This chart shows the 69th and 70th weeks with the gap between them caused by the dispensation of grace given to the Gentiles which includes the one new man:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/images/Charts/Israel%27sNewCovenant2.jpg

This animation shows the 69th and 70th weeks closed together with no gap, then the gap opens up and the dispensation of grace separates the 69th and 70th weeks and the one new man is given. This is when Israel fell and were broken off of the good olive tree and the Gentiles were grafted in as the animation shows. When the one new man is taken out of the way, commonly known as the rapture, Israel will be grafted back into the good olive tree and at this time Daniel’s prophecy can now resume.

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/Animations/Acts_9_640X360QTpjpeg.mov

So what we have here is that the prophecy stopped for a reason and it will start back up for a reason and those reasons are that the dispensation of grace was given unto the Gentiles and the dispensation of grace shall be taken away.

Question time again.

When did God open the door to the Gentiles?
What caused Daniel’s prophecy to stop?
What will cause Daniel’s prophecy to start again?
When was Israel broken off of the good olive tree?
When were the Gentiles grafted into the good olive tree?
When did God cleanse the Gentiles?
When did the dispensation of grace begin?
When did God give the one new man?

Now what we have seen is that “the Rule” is what causes the division problem. “The Rule” is an incorrect teaching and it causes division in the body of Christ.

The division between the Acts 9, Acts 11 and Acts 13 preachers is when Paul received his gospel. But there are many other factors that need to be figured into this equation, not just when Paul received his gospel.

Let’s check out the time frame between Acts 9 and Acts 13 and see how big of a period of time we are talking about.

We know for sure that Paul got saved on the road to Damascus. In Galatians 1 Paul says,

“15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.

19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother.

20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;”

So what we have here is Paul giving us a record that a minimum of 3 years passed from the time he got saved till the time he went to Syria and Cilicia which is where the city of Tarsus is. More than likely it was longer than this, but we know for sure it was a minimum of 3 years.

In Acts 9 it says,

“30 Which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.”

This matches Galatians 1 where Paul says he went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. So Paul hung out in Tarsus for an unknown period of time. In Acts 11 it says,

“25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:

26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

So here we have Barnabas finding Saul in Tarsus and he brought him to Antioch. Here at Antioch they taught for a whole year. This brings us to a minimum of 4 years passing since Paul got saved. Now let’s move on to Acts 13,

“1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”

Right here in verse 2 is where our Acts 13 brethren say that this is when the one new man began, when the Holy Ghost separated Barnabas and Saul.

So from the scriptures we covered from the time of Paul’s conversion to Acts 13 we saw a MINIMUM of at least 4 years that took place. We know there was more, but we definitely see a minimum of 4 years.

So what we are going to do is take this Acts 13 position and put it on a time chart and give it a minimum of 4 years between the time of Paul’s conversion and Acts 13. Let’s say the dispensation of grace and the one new man started in Acts 13 when the Holy Ghost called out Barnabas and Saul. Let’s see it on a visual chart:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/images/charts/MidActs1.jpg

So what we have here is we have Daniel’s 69th week which ends in the 483rd year, but we have go a minimum of 4 years more into Daniel’s prophecy because God has not opened the door unto the Gentiles yet and has not given the dispensation of grace unto the Gentiles yet. So what we have to do is take 4 years of the 70th week and put it right after the 483rd year of the 69th week. This presents a problem because it only leaves 3 years left in Daniel’s prophecy and splits the 70th week into two parts.

But let’s go ahead and stop Daniel’s prophecy at the end of the 69th week and look at it this way:

http://www.gracebiblestudy.net/images/charts/MidActs2.jpg

Now we have the prophecy stopping as it should but we have a minimum 4 year gap of unexplained time. It’s not Daniels prophecy, it’s not the dispensation of grace, it’s not the mystery, it’s not the one new man. What is it? It just doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t line up with scripture.

If Israel fell at the end of the 69th week but the Gentiles were not grafted in until a minimum of 4 years later, it just doesn’t make sense. This means that the dispensation of grace DID NOT separate Daniel’s 69th and 70th weeks and if the dispensation of grace did not cause the split, what did?

If the dispensation of grace did not cause the prophecy to stop at the end of the 69th week, what did? The bible says in Romans 11,

“11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.”

Israel fell at the end of the 69th week. This is what caused the prophecy to stop. And it was through their fall that salvation came unto the Gentiles. When Israel fell, God gave salvation unto the Gentiles.
In Acts 9 the Lord told Ananias,

“15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:”

In Acts 26 Paul is talking to King Agrippa about his conversion on the road to Damascus and he said that Jesus told him:

“16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”

So here we have the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus telling Paul that he is going to send him to the Gentiles and right after this he told Ananias that he is sending Paul to the Gentiles.

Question:

How could Jesus tell Paul in Acts 9 that he is sending him to the Gentiles if he had not yet opened the door unto the Gentiles?

He could because he already opened it. In Acts 10 the Lord told Peter,

“15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

The Lord was showing Peter that he cleansed the Gentiles. The Lord had already opened the door unto the Gentiles in Acts 10 and Paul tells us he did this by giving the one new man and the dispensation of grace.

Most Acts 11 or 13 believers believe in a pre-trib rapture. They believe that when the one new man is taken up this ends the dispensation of grace and Daniels prophecy resumes at this time and the seventieth week starts.

They believe the taking of the one new man resumes the prophecy of the seventieth week but they don’t believe the giving of the one new man ends the 69th week, which does not make any sense.

The giving of the one new man is what made the prophecy split between the 69th week and the 70th week. You cannot say the 69th week ends then there is a minimum of 4 unexplained years then the one new man begins then at the end the one new man is taken out of the way and the 70th week immediately starts. God does everything decently and in order.

“The Rule” is what causes the mid-Acts problem.

“The Rule” will not allow people to see the flaw in the split between the 69th week and the 70th week.
As we mentioned earlier, looking at the flaw in the split between the 69th week and the 70th week will allow mid-Acts brethren to see this division problem from a whole new perspective.

Allowing Daniel’s prophecy to continue past the 69th week causes some serious issues and takes away the years from the 7 year tribulation period.

Starting the dispensation of grace and the one new man a minimum of 4 years after the end of the 69th week leaves an unexplained gap of time that scripturally makes no sense at all. If it is not prophecy or mystery then what is it? It just doesn’t make sense.

This is our last installment to “The Rule”. As you can see, “The Rule” causes many division problems in the body of Christ. I do not know who made up “The Rule”, but I wish they would not have because it has caused plenty of problems.

As we started out this study with the example of the flat tire, you cannot fix the problem until you find out what is the cause of the problem. Once you know the cause of the problem, then the problem can be fixed. “The Rule” is the cause of many division problems in the body of Christ but not all of them. But now realizing what the cause to the problem is, we can overcome some of our division issues and work towards unity as the Lord beseeches us to do in 1st Corinthians 1:10 which says,

“10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”