"The Rule" Running the Test

All Grace teachers should be familiar with Acts 17 about being a Berean. In Acts 17 it says,

“10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

A true Berean is someone who receives the word with all readiness of mind and then searches the scripture daily whether those things are true or not.

There are two steps into being a true Berean:

1. Willing to listen and receive the word with all readiness of mind.

2. Search the scripture daily to see whether it is true or not.

You cannot accomplish step 2 if you are not willing to do step 1. If you are not willing to listen, then you are not a true Berean. It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter what the sign on your church says. Being a true Berean is not based upon calling yourself one or having the name “Berean” in the title of your church, but rather in the actual actions of what a true Berean does. Listening and searching.

Over the years I have seen many people call themselves Bereans but they do not perform the duty of one. Sometimes they will listen but then they do not search the scriptures to see whether it is true or not. They just take the preacher's word for it that it is true.

Then some people just won’t even listen.

Either one of these things, results to the failure of being a true Berean.

Sometimes you get people that actually listen and then test the teaching to see if it is true or not but their testing methods are not adequate and the testing results in a flawed conclusion.

When you hear a teaching, there are basically two methods that you can use to test the teaching to see if it is true or not, which are:

1. Use the scriptures to try to prove the teaching correct.

And the other:

2. Use the scriptures to try to prove the teaching wrong.

(For more detail on these two methods, please read the following article,)

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

Please allow me to demonstrate that the second method is much more accurate than the first method.

I was born and raised Catholic my wife was raised Baptist. Right after I got saved my wife and I got into a discussion about Mary, the woman that gave birth to Jesus, whether she was a virgin her entire life or not.

I was raised Catholic and they taught me that Mary was a virgin her entire life, but my wife being raised Baptist was taught that Mary had children after Jesus was born.

I told my wife that I did not believe her for I was absolutely sure that Mary was a virgin her entire life. Well she dusted off her bible and finally found the scripture that showed me otherwise.

So very early on I learned that there might be scriptures that go against what I believe, so I took everything I knew about God or thought I knew about God and threw it in the trash can and started over.

Nevertheless, we all get taught things and we surely believe these things, and if no one shows us anything better, we will continue to believe these things. But as we learn to be Bereans we learn to test the teachings we receive.

So let’s test this. Here’s the teaching:

Teaching #1

1. Mary was a virgin her entire life.

What scriptures would you use to prove this teaching correct?

Well you could definitely go to Isaiah 7:14 which says,

“14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

You could also go to Matthew 1, which says,

“20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

You could also go to the book of Luke and do the same thing. So you could take these few verses and teach this to show that Mary was indeed a virgin and she gave birth to Christ and by avoiding any other scripture you can say that she was a virgin her entire life.

Now let’s use a different method and instead of trying to prove this teaching correct, let’s try to prove this teaching wrong. So here’s the question: What scriptures would you use to prove this teaching wrong?

Well you could go to Matthew 13, which says,

“54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”

…and show that Jesus had brothers and sisters. You could also go to Matthew 1, which says,

“18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

Here it says, “…before they came together…” and also verse 24 & 25 which say,

“24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”

These verses show that Mary and Joseph eventually had sex and had children.

Now here is the point of all this, in trying to prove a teaching correct and trying to prove a teaching wrong you are using two separate methods that require you to look for different scriptures.

Trying to prove a teaching correct will not reveal any flaws because you are not looking for any, you are looking for scriptures that back up the teaching. You are not looking for scriptures that go against the teaching therefore you will not find any.

But if you are intentionally looking for scriptures that go against the teaching, this is when you can find flaws in the teaching. If you can’t find any scriptures that go against the teaching then there is a good chance that the teaching could be correct.

I have seen many times a teacher teaching the word of God and have people sitting in the seats taking notes and write down all the scriptures that the teacher uses. Then they go home and go back over the same scriptures that the teacher used and they come to the conclusion:

“Well, the teaching must be correct because all the scriptures he gave match the teaching.”

OF COURSE THEY DO!

A teacher is not going to use scriptures that go against his teaching, he is only going to use the ones that match his teaching and if you use the same scriptures the teacher used of course they are going to match and the teaching will look flawless and you will come to the same conclusion as the teacher. But that doesn’t make the teaching correct.

Let’s do another one:

Teaching #2

2. You need to be water Baptized in order to be saved.

A teacher goes to these scriptures:

“13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 16

“15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Acts 2

“38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

And the preacher goes on to say:

“Jesus got water baptized, and the scripture says that you need to be water baptized to be saved and you can’t get the Holy Spirit until you get water baptized. If Jesus had to do it then so do you.”

So what would you do to try to prove this teaching correct? You would use the same scriptures that this preacher used and avoid all the scriptures that go against it.

But what would you do to try to prove this teaching wrong? You would search the scriptures to find other scriptures that go against this teaching and compare spiritual things with spiritual and rightly divide the scriptures and show scriptures that go against it.

You see the problem here is that many people in order to prove a teaching correct, they use the same exact scriptures that the preacher used to prove it correct and of course they will come to the same conclusion.

Trying to prove a teaching correct will not reveal any flaws because you are not looking for any. But when you try to prove a teaching wrong this is when you can find the flaws.

Trying to prove a teaching wrong is the better method because if the teaching has any flaws this method will allow you to find them because you are actually looking for them.

So now we come to:

Teaching #3

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.

But before we go on let me ask you a few questions:

1. When you were first taught “the Rule” did you actually do the job of a Berean and test it to see if it was correct or not? Or did you just accept it and ran with it?

If you were like me your answer is, “No, I didn’t test it”. In my younger years, in my eagerness to learn the scripture this was one of the teachings that I received and did not test. It sounded pretty good to me and I just took it and ran with it. It was not till several years later I tested it after seeing a few scriptures that went against it.

2. If you really tested it, which method did you use? The try to prove it correct method or the try to prove it wrong method?

When I eventually tested it I used both. The “try to prove it wrong” method is the one that revealed the flaws.

3. When did you test it?

My answer would be the mid 1980’s.

4. When you tested it, did you find any flaws?

My answer would be yes.

5. When you tested it, were you looking for any flaws in the teaching?

Once again my answer would be yes.

We, being teachers of the word, are supposed to hand down the things we are taught so that others may learn also and teach others as we pass on. In 2nd Timothy 2 it says,

“2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

This is our job and it is what we are supposed to do. But sometimes a hiccup develops in the teachings and when this happens the hiccup is also passed down and gets taught also. So is the case with “the Rule”. I do not know who started this teaching but it has been passed down through several generations of grace teachers.

I do not condemn those that teach “the Rule” as flawless. They were just doing their job that they were supposed to do, handing down the teaching as they received it. I’m as guilty as anyone.

But there have been teachers through the years that have tested “the Rule” and found the flaws and have had no choice but to not teach it anymore. Some even rejected it the first time they heard it. As we test “the Rule”, you will see that it is just a hiccup in the teachings of grace that was handed down to us.

This doesn’t mean that all grace teachings are flawed by any means. But once you see the flaws in this teaching all you have to do is make a few adjustments to incorporate the scriptures that go against “the Rule” into your teachings and instead of avoiding these scriptures you will be able to teach that they mean exactly what they say.

So let’s get started testing “the Rule”.

First Question:

What scriptures would you use to prove the teaching of “the Rule” correct?

A dear brother in Christ sent me these:

Ephesians 1:22-23

“22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

People are made part of that body by the Gospel

Ephesians 3:6

“6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:”

1 Corinthians 15:1-4

“1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

These are all pretty good scriptures to try to prove it correct but I would add even more. You could add Galatians 2, which says,

“7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)”

…and show that Peter and Paul were teaching different gospels. You could also go to the book of Acts and show that nowhere in the book of Acts did Peter preach that Christ died for sins. That usually works also.

You could also use Galatians 1, which says,

“11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

..and show that Paul did not get his gospel from the apostles but got his gospel directly from Jesus Christ. This can be used to show that Paul received that Christ died for sins and Peter did not.

Most of you already know the drill. You were taught “the Rule” just as I was taught it and you already know how to use the scriptures to make it seem flawless.

But is it flawless?

Now here’s the next question.

What scriptures would you use to prove the teaching of “the Rule” flawed?

There are many scriptures to prove it flawed but I will start out by giving just a few here in this installment. I gave the 50 question primer to get your minds thinking, in this primer we showed in 1st Corinthians 12 where Paul told the Corinthians that they were in the body of Christ. We gave the gospel of Christ dying and paying for sins in 1st Corinthians 1-4 and we also gave verses 5-11 in which Paul refers to the 12 apostles. In verse 11 it says,

“11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.”

In this verse, Paul tells us that it did not matter whether it was him or the apostles that preached to the Corinthians as long as they believed. Paul clearly indicates that Peter was preaching that Christ died and paid for sins.

We also backed this up with Luke 24, which says,

“44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:”

These scriptures show us that after the resurrection that Christ taught the apostles why he had to suffer and in 1st Peter 3 Peter tells us that Christ had to suffer for sins,

“18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

So from these scriptures we can see that Peter also taught that Christ died for sins. The scriptures state in Luke 24 that Jesus told the apostles that he died for sins, in 1st Peter 3, Peter acknowledges that Christ died for sins and in 1st Corinthians 15 Paul tells us that Peter was teaching that Christ died for sins.

But this is just the beginning, a drop in the bucket, there are many more.

Now many of you that teach “the Rule” as being flawless will be bucking against these scriptures and many others that I will be showing. I encourage you to actually test “the Rule” and actually look for flaws in the teaching.

Of course, there will be some that refuse to test it and look for flaws. This is when I start to question if they are true Bereans or not. You cannot be a true Berean until you actually listen to the word with all readiness of mind and then search the scriptures to see if it is true or not.

I find it amazing that I have sat in many bible conferences and listened with all readiness of mind of “the Rule” being taught and then searched the scriptures to see whether it was true or not. But when it comes time for me to teach that “the Rule” is flawed, many do not want to hear it. They refuse to listen with all readiness of mind, much less to search the scriptures to see whether it its true or not.

Lord willing, in the next few months I will be covering several subjects that show the flaws in “the Rule”. Some of the points I will be showing by the scripture will be:

1. Salvation comes from, through and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life comes from Jesus Christ, not the gospels. The gospels lead you to Christ and tell you how God is doing things. The gospels do not put you in the new covenant church or the one new man. When you trust Christ as your Saviour, Christ puts you where he has made a place for you.

2. Peter and the apostles and anyone in the new covenant church could lead someone to Christ and that person could be put into the one new man.

3. The new covenant church (kingdom church) is Jew only. Uncircumcised Gentiles are not allowed to be partakers with Israel in their new covenant. God gave the one new man so he could save the uncircumcised Gentiles with the new covenant salvation and join them with the Jews.

4. The kingdom program stopped when the one new man was given. From the time that the one new man was given everyone that trusted Christ as their Saviour from that time forward went into the one new man regardless of who led them to the Lord.

If you noticed, every one of these points that I will be making go against “the Rule”.

1. The Rule declares that it is not Christ or his Holy Spirit that puts you into the one new man but rather Paul’s gospel.

2. The Rule declares that no one in the new covenant church could lead someone to Christ and they be put into the one new man.

3. The Rule declares that uncircumcised Gentiles could be partakers with Israel in their new covenant without the one new man.

4. The Rule declares that Jews or Gentiles could be put into the new covenant church all the way till Acts 28 or 70 AD. (Depending on who you talk to.) In other words, the kingdom program continued till this time.

5. The Rule declares that you could switch back and forth between the new covenant church and the one new man depending on which gospel you believed. (What you know, determines where you go.)

6. The Rule declares that Peter never taught that Christ died and paid for sins or that Peter received the info that Christ died and paid for sins from the apostle Paul. (Depending on who you talk to.)

Lord willing, we will also show that “the Rule” is what causes the division between mid-Acts brethren. The main problem of mid-Acts division is when Paul received the gospel of Christ dying and paying for sins.

The Rule declares that you have to have the gospel that Christ died and paid for sins to get into the body of Christ but the confusion is when Paul received this gospel, thus causing division.

There are many preachers that accept “the Rule” as flawless say that the teaching of Cornelius being in the one new man is what causes division, but the preachers that teach that Cornelius in the one new man claim that it is “the Rule” is what is causing the division problem.

Conclusion:

Let’s all be TRUE Bereans and do a thorough test of “the Rule” and see if it really is flawless.

I firmly believe that we can work out our division problems if we are willing to discuss them and be true Bereans and listen to each other and search and reason out the holy scriptures. In Ephesians 4 it says,

“15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”