Category: The Thief on the Cross

Personal note: If only I could’ve presented the sum of all this to my CoC grandmother before she died. But it was not meant to be. Yet thanks to the testimony of the penitent thief, I still hold out hope that my grandma may have been saved. After all, I had sowed many seeds of the gospel in her life that may have even sprung up at the last minute. Only God knows. So I dedicate this article to her memory, for I loved her so very much, and today would’ve been her birthday. And who knows, maybe someone else’s grandmother is meant to come to Christ after reading this. I commit it all into God’s hands. May He be gracious to pardon this author and preserve the reader from anything that would not be solely for the honor of His glory.

THE PENITENT THIEF: A POWERFUL TESTIMONY OF GOD’S GRACE

Introduction:

Biblical theology has always acknowledged the fact that the New Covenant officially went into full effect, in the realm of time, at the cross. Its enforcement was NOT postponed until Pentecost. To say otherwise, as the CoC does, suggests a hyper-dispensational theory concerning the gospel that can never square with Scripture.

Strangely enough, the CoC will usually concede to the fact that church discipline (Mt. 18), church ordinances (e.g., Mt. 26:26-29) and the Great Commission, given to the church (Mt. 28) were all officially valid and applied to the church “in person,” by Jesus, BEFORE Pentecost. And yet, the CoC denies that the church even existed BEFORE Pentecost and refuses to acknowledge the common salvation that all true believers have with the penitent thief on the cross, all because he was saved “in person,” by Jesus, BEFORE Pentecost.

So one must ask: Why such non-sensical double standards?

The answer is painfully obvious.

No wonder the CoC has always discouraged its members from ever looking into historic confessions of faith that reveal what the Bible has to say about God’s everlasting covenant, what the true gospel really is, the only way that it can be obeyed and how God’s eternal plan of redemption has never changed.

It is imperative for all true believers to be studied up on this, for our historical confessions have entire articles of faith concerning these biblical truths, which most Christians are not even aware that they have in their arsenal against these dangerously heretical cults.

The CoC is notorious for dishonestly claiming to have no creeds, while hypocritically condemning Christian confessions of faith that have been passed down for centuries, which even have Scriptures to back them up. This means the CoC is inadvertently condemning Luke, for he spoke of Christians setting in order declarations of faith that state the things most surely believed among them (Lk. 1:1-4).

CoC’s are obviously trying to be silent where Scripture speaks (Acts 19:36). But they boast that they are silent where Scripture is silent. And yet, they cannot demonstrate any ability whatsoever of harmonizing their soteriology with the full council of God.

For example, they cannot biblically answer the question: What gospel did the thief on the cross obey, according to Hebrews 4:2?

Because the CoC cannot reconcile its so-called “new terms” of salvation (a different gospel) with Hebrews 4:2 and its parallel passages that are so intrinsically interconnected (e.g., Isa.53:1, Jn. 12:38, Rom. 3:29-30; 10:16 and Gal. 3:6-8).

In those passages, Isaiah, John and Paul all revealed that the report of Isaiah 53 was nothing less than the pure and unadulterated gospel of Jesus Christ, with nothing added to it.

Carefully notice that Isaiah, John and Paul NEVER added water baptism (or any other works) into the equation of salvation, for the gospel message does NOT include the actions of man.

The sum and substance of the entire gospel is simply Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2), nothing more, nothing less. And this was further confirmed by His resurrection, which was also founded upon His death (Heb. 13:20).

Paul made it clear that to obey the gospel is to believe the gospel (Rom. 10:16), which is all about what God has done in Christ to save sinners. And it can only be spiritually grasped by God’s grace gift of saving faith that rests in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8).

These truths confirm that the TRUE GOSPEL was preached long BEFORE Pentecost (e.g., Gen. 3:15, Mt. 4:23; 24:14; 26:13, Mk. 1:1-2, Lk. 3:18; 4:43; 9:6; 20:1, Acts 8:32-35; 10:43, Rom. 3:29-30, 1 Cor. 10:3-4, Gal. 3:6-8, Heb. 4:2; 9:15; 10:1-4). They also disprove the CoC’s water gospel interpretation of its isolated proof-texts (Mt. 28:19, Mk. 16:16, Jn. 3:5, Acts 2:38; 22:16, Rom. 6:3-4, Gal. 3:27, Col. 2:12, Tit. 3:5, 1 Pet. 3:21).  

New Testament ordinances NEVER meant new terms of salvation. Changes in dispensational covenants, and their different modes of regulation, have NEVER meant changes in God’s eternal plan of redemption. A New Covenant has NEVER meant a new gospel, but only a fuller revelation of the SAME GOSPEL, for it transcends any given dispensation.

Even the promised land of Canaan pre-figured eternal rest. The temporal promise never excluded the spiritual aspects of it. Scripture speaks of the GOOD NEWS GOSPEL in eternal terms and reveals the ONLY WAY that it can ever truly be obeyed (Heb. 4:2; 11:10, 16).

But the CoC condemns the only way to be justified before God. And Scripture warns that those who try to enter God’s kingdom any other way, than by God’s grace through faith in the precious blood and perfect righteousness of CHRIST ALONE (Heb. 6:19; 10:19-20). For such wicked endeavors tend toward robbing God of His glory (Jn. 10:1).

And that’s exactly what the CoC system does when it promotes a synergistic way of salvation that subscribes to a strange form of hyper-dispensationalism that suggests there has been two different gospels. Neither of which is the ONE TRUE GOSPEL.

The CoC claims there was one way of being saved in the O.T. and a different way of being saved in the N.T.  But different gospels for different dispensations is a completely foreign concept found nowhere in Scripture. Since there is only one Savior, there has ALWAYS been only ONE WAY of salvation (Acts 4:12; 15:11, Rom. 3:30).

Therefore, what was the ONLY GOSPEL that the thief on the cross could have ever possibly obeyed?

CoC leaders do NOT want to answer this question biblically. For to do so, would be undeniably detrimental to their sacramental-salvation-system. Consequently, such cultic conditioning renders CoC captives completely unequipped to answer such a simple question.

When cults center their theology on the false notion that “God has done all He can, so we must now ‘do our part’”… their application of salvation will vary. This is why the CoC invented its “new laws” of salvation, which can never square with Scripture. But since God still divinely intervenes, His application of salvation remains consistent, which is why true biblical theology can be harmonized with the full council of God.

At the very start of His ministry, Jesus submitted to water baptism in order to identify with those He came to save, fulfilling all righteousness on their behalf (Mt. 3:15). And those who are saved are to identify with Christ in water baptism, for it is symbolic of their identification with His death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-4).

This important part of their discipleship and progressive sanctification is NOT a part of their justification whereby Jesus’ perfect obedience on their behalf must be imputed to their account through faith. Solely by God’s free and sovereign mercy and grace. Only AFTER one has already been regenerated are they then enabled to bear fruits worthy of repentance (Mt. 3:8, 10), such as putting on (imitating and identifying with) Christ in baptism (Rom. 13:14, Gal. 3:27).  

But the CoC labors to instill legalistic fear by repeatedly hammering it into people that they will go to Hell if they don’t believe in its false Pharisaical formula for salvation that requires “baptismal cognizance,” the external availability of water, and a CoC mediator.  

So those who believe the true gospel of salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, will often be cruelly ostracized and demonized by the CoC and its staunch defenders who seem to no longer be able to think for themselves.

Sadly, cults take advantage of emotionally and spiritually immature people who have never been truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit. They exploit vulnerable people who want to be controlled and told what to do to get themselves saved, for poor souls, they have no internal substance.

So, when cult leaders encounter someone with a true Spirit-guided faith in Christ, they naturally perceive it as a threat to their system of control. As a result, they often become bound and determined to try to destroy that faith wherever they find it.

Such charlatans are more likely to tolerate and enable those who are on the same surface-level as themselves, no matter how wicked.  But free and faithful followers of Christ pose too much of a threat to their false support system. So no matter how much one may exhibit a true and living faith that results from a deep and abiding love for Jesus and His truth, CoC’s will often slander, shun or scourge them in their presence (Mt. 10:17).

And sadly, this is one reason why CoC’s have always bent over backwards to try to underhandedly debunk and undermine the common salvation that all true believers have with the penitent thief on the cross. No wonder they mercilessly make up things about us that are not true. For their heretical movement has been doing that to the penitent thief, and to Jesus our Lord, for centuries!

But the fact remains, that when every CoC doctrine is brought to this touchstone….all that went down AT THE CROSS...including the salvation of that thief…. the CoC’s false gospel crumbles into a million pieces.

Yet, if anyone still doubts that the thief’s testimony is a fatal blow to the CoC’s false narrative, then all anyone has to do is read the CoC’s official literature, listen to CoC podcasts, watch CoC videos and interact with CoC’s on that very subject. For they all bear witness to the fact that the CoC is NOT being misrepresented. Upon careful observation, one will quickly see just how desperate CoC’s can get when it comes to this unlikely standard bearer. For God set forth the penitent thief as a beacon of His divine mercy and grace, while the unbelieving thief was an example of His divine justice. 

Documented interactions with CoC’s all confirm that when this crux of redemptive history is brought up, the CoC’s hyper-dispensational heresies really begin to manifest, which often go undetected until they are brought to this touchstone….where they are ground to powder.

God has graciously provided us with the illustrious testimony of the thief on the cross, because He has set it forth as an exemplary monument of His divine mercy and grace, which completely dispels the CoC’s hyper-dispensational disputes that falsely portray it as being merely an exceptional case.

Although death-bed conversions are rare, when it came to the penitent thief’s salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone, it was NOT just an exceptional case; it was an exemplary case.

Rather than just being a mere blip of history, the penitent thief’s testimony of salvation just so happens to be an incredibly glaring witness against all of the destructive heresies that the CoC heavily indoctrinates its followers into.  It especially testifies against the CoC’s re-packaged version of baptismal regeneration. No wonder the CoC hates it so much!

Thankfully, God’s Word gloriously champions baptism out of the hold of the CoC’s sacramental salvation system, by revealing its true purpose and beauty, which the CoC sacrilegiously departed from when it introduced its profane pollutions.

To further prove this point, it’s finally time to go even deeper and re-examine the CoC’s hyper-dispensational heresies concerning the gospel. This overwhelming task has not been taken on lightly. After much prayer, many sleepless nights and decade’s worth of intense Bible study, it seems to be God’s timing to finally bring the CoC to the plumb line once and for all.

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Cor. 4:1-2).

So dear reader, you may want to brace yourself for this long, but well-worth-it journey into God’s Word, for He has “laid it on the line” when it comes to the CoC and other cults like it! For His righteousness is being exalted, and the self-righteousness of man-made religion is being plummeted, as the plumb line of God’s Word dismantles and overflows the CoC’s hidden things of dishonesty.

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” (Isa. 28:17).

Here goes:

Just to recap:  Although the penitent thief was saved exactly the same way that every sinner has EVER been saved, CoC’s deceptively claim (or at least until they’re exposed) that he was saved differently because he was still under the Mosaic dispensation, even though the thief died AFTER Jesus.   

Scripture discloses that the two thieves had their legs broken in order to speed up death, but NOT Jesus, for He had already died (Jn. 19:31-33)! So the thief on the cross was technically NOT still under the Mosaic dispensation right before he died. Jesus died BEFORE the thief, so the new covenant was officially in force upon the thief BEFORE he died!

“For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth” (Mt. 26:28, Heb. 9:16-17).

However, when called out on this, CoC’s will often say that since Jesus forgave his sins before He died, then the thief was still under the old covenant when he was forgiven. And supposedly, that’s why he didn’t have to obey the CoC’s “new terms” of salvation. Yet, they still want to assume the thief was “probably” already baptized by John anyway. And back and forth goes their topsy-turvy theories that can never be harmonized with each other, let alone the Bible.

What they can’t seem to realize, is that NONE of that even matters, in light of the ETERNITY OF THE CROSS, which reveals that the thief was saved exactly the same way that every sinner, throughout redemptive history, has ever been saved. Regardless of the two different dispensations that he lived under, and regardless as to whether John baptized him or not. For the essential content of God’s eternal plan of salvation has NEVER changed.

But the CoC will still try to present its same worn-out and disproven theory of there being a probate period between the cross and Pentecost, which is found NOWHERE in Scripture. In its vain attempts to promote its “new terms of salvation,” it ends up constantly speaking where Scripture is silent. For it is always introducing novel inventions that are completely foreign to Scripture!! Because one lie always leads to another lie, in an attempt to cover up its last one.

This is why the CoC trips itself up after introducing a probate period between the cross and Pentecost, for it simultaneously claims that Colossians 2:14 means that the Law of Moses was nailed to the cross. So by introducing such conflicting ideas, it creates a serious exegetical problem for itself.  Because if that’s what was nailed to the cross, and if there was no new covenant in effect until Pentecost, then that would mean weeks went by without any covenant or law at all.

Do YOU really believe that dear reader? If so, then can you explain exactly what covenant was in effect between the cross and Pentecost?

Sadly, when such unreasonable contradictions are confronted, CoC’s will often try to do damage control by saying things like, “Well, only the power of the Law of Moses was nailed to the cross,” which only digs their hole even deeper. If only they would acknowledge the verse that comes before Colossians 2:14, then they’d quickly realize that it was sin-debt, accumulated by transgressions committed against the law, that was nailed to the cross, NOT the law of Moses itself (Mt. 5:17, Rom. 3:31, 7:12-13).

Those who reject the gospel, still remain under the curse of the law. All who reject salvation in Christ alone are still under the covenant of works, which explains why they remain in legalistic bondage.

And such sad scenarios reveal the total desperation of those who try to uphold the CoC’s unbiblical, unworkable and self-refuting positions that can never be harmonized with Scripture. But sadly, natural, unregenerate, fallen mankind will always seek acceptance and justification with God through works. For they naturally have the “work of the law” written on their hearts by virtue of the Fall. 

Now, dear reader, admire the beauty and perfect accuracy of Scripture when it describes them….

“…who show the WORK of the law {in stark contrast to the singular “law of God”… e.g. Jer. 31:33, Heb. 10:16-17} written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them” (Rom. 2:15, brackets mine).

Fallen humanity has always sought to satisfy terrors of conscience by means of religious observances and moral works, in order to feel that they are at least “trying” to “do better,” which is a futile attempt to make up for the eternal offenses they’ve committed against God (Rom. 8:7).

By natural generation we are all “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3) unless the “law of Christ” is written on the tablet of our heart by God’s gracious intervention (Jer. 31:33, Gal. 6:2).

But when the CoC teaches what it calls “different terms” or “new laws” of salvation, it is actually promoting a form of subjective morality, which is extremely dangerous ground. For such an unbiblical concept is found nowhere in Scripture, except when it describes the damnable heresies of false teachers (e.g., Rom. 10:3).

The law of Christ, on the other hand, emphasizes and gives certainty to what is harmoniously conveyed throughout Scripture, which is the fact that true obedient faith is a gift from God that works by love (Gal. 5:6, Eph. 2:8). And so, it is like a law all of its own (Rom. 3:27). For “the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ” is a biblical concept that is so absolute that it could be compared to the “law of logic,” so to speak (Mk. 12:28-31, Rom. 8:2, Gal. 5:6; 6:2).

Nevertheless, it can never be compared to what Scripture calls the WORKS of the law, for Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2). True saving faith is NOT a verb. It is an adjective that describes a God-given attribute that He applies to our spiritual character upon regeneration. So that we can then uphold the law through the good works that proceed from that faith (Rom. 3:31).

However, despite the CoC’s desperate attempts to twist Scripture and re-define biblical faith, Jesus never made a way for God to lower His perfect standard of righteousness so that our imperfect works could then be accepted as a means of justification to appease God and enter Heaven. Jesus never made a way for our imperfect works to have saving merit (worth). As if God would EVER accept imperfect obedience for entrance into His holy presence! For that would make Christ’s perfect obedience pointless!! God forbid!

Jesus did NOT come to establish “new works of the law,” or “new terms,” or “new requirements,” or a “new legal code,” or a “new set of standards,” for attaining salvation. Because salvation has ALWAYS been, and ALWAYS will be, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ ALONE (i.e. Gal. 2:16; 3:24).

God has never lowered His perfect standard of righteousness (the moral principles of the law). In fact, He still demands that it be met, which is why Jesus fulfilled (not abolished) the demands of God’s perfect holiness and justice on behalf of sinners, so that they can receive God’s mercy and grace.

Despite the abolition of the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, the moral principles of God’s law still remain intact because His moral law is a reflection of His holy character, which never changes. 

Jesus didn’t come to free us from our duty to obey His moral law. He came to set us free from the curse of the law, because there’s no way we could ever follow God’s commands perfectly enough in order to escape the curse and attain salvation (Gal. 3:10). Thus, our desperate need for the Savior. Jesus’ righteousness is the ONLY righteousness that God will accept on one’s behalf.

But the CoC implies that there was one way of being saved by works, in the O.T., and a different way of being saved by works, in the N.T.  The blasphemous implications are that there have been two different works-salvation gospels!! As if a new legal system (the CoC’s so-called “New Testament laws”) replaced an old legal system.

This is due to the fact that the CoC confuses the New Testament (which reveals an effectual internal mode of administration) with the Old Testament (which had an external, ceremonial mode of administration). In fact, the CoC completely confounds the continuity and discontinuity between the two testaments, which is why it ends up fatally mixing law and grace.

The CoC teaches that the O.T. saints were saved differently because they didn’t completely realize all of the gospel promises in their fullness. And yet, it will not apply that same line of reasoning when it comes to the future (Eph. 1:10, the dispensation of the fullness of times). For to do so, would only further reveal how ridiculous it would be to suggest there are different gospels for different dispensations. If the CoC took that train of thought to its logical conclusion, then it would be forced to conclude that there could be a third gospel to obey in the future.

Nevertheless, many of its members still tolerate the fact that the CoC teaches that at one time Jesus was able to forgive people while He was on earth, as He willed, before He died. But afterwards, He was supposedly then limited and could only forgive based upon a person’s compliance with the “new terms” of His will (the CoC’s “New Testament Law”) that He allegedly left behind for His heirs.

To put it simply, the CoC suggests that Jesus had one will BEFORE He died, and a different will AFTER He died, as to how He wanted to save people. It not only makes it seem as though Jesus is now limited in how He can save people, but it also makes it look as though God must operate within the limited bounds that mankind must operate within.

Man distributes his assets as he wishes while he lives, but after death, a man’s assets are then distributed according to the will they may have left behind. The legal process of a probate period is given in order to prove the validity of the will before it is administered to the beneficiaries.

Dear reader, do YOU really believe that the sovereign God of the universe must operate within the limited capacity of mere men? For Scripture clearly reveals that He doesn’t (Isa. 55:8-9).

And yet, the CoC attempts to compare the court of heaven to the court of earth that doesn’t even have a civil precedent for an infallible surety that could ever compare to the eternal perfections of Jesus’ substitutionary atonement.  Jesus is an infallible Surety, Who came to do the perfect will of the Father, which is the eternal and unchangeable will of God (Jn. 6:38). And Jesus tells us what His will is:

“And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day” (Jn. 6:40).

Yet, the CoC would have us to believe that Jesus’ will changed as to how He wanted to save people!! As if Jesus would ever have a different will than the Father. God forbid!

The CoC stresses the doing of God’s will in verses such as John 7:17. But it leaves out the fact that doing His will means believing solely upon Jesus Christ for eternal life (Jn. 6:40) and how everything else falls into place after that (Mt. 6:33).

Jesus actually accomplishes and fulfills the will of the Father, so that none of His people perish in Hell (Jn. 6:39). God’s eternal will of redemption is immutable (Psa. 40:7-8, Jn. 4:34; 6:38-40).  Therefore, New Testament ordinances never changed it. Yet, the CoC would have us to believe that water baptism did!

When CoC’s are asked why Jesus didn’t water baptize anyone (because His main focus was THE GOSPEL), they’ve often speculated that it was because Jesus hadn’t died yet (Jn. 4:1-2). For they point out that one must be baptized “into His death” (Rom. 6:3). But such an evasion can still hold no water (pun intended), because Jesus didn’t command any of His disciples to wait until He died before water baptizing anyone. 

The fact remains, that a symbolic ordinance cannot literally effect what it signifies. When one is truly saved, they’ve been enabled to trust and depend upon Christ alone for their salvation, because they’ve been baptized by the Spirit, into the body of Christ. Water baptism is then performed as a testimonial, ritual re-enactment of that Holy Spirit regeneration (1 Cor. 12:13, Titus 3:5).

Even Romans 6 speaks of baptism being a “likeness,” a reflection, a demonstration, of our eternal union with Christ through His substitutionary atonement (Mt. 20:28), which is applied to our account by the Holy Spirit, through faith in Jesus’ blood (Rom. 3:25). Because God has ordained that Jesus’ imputed righteousness can only be apprehended by His free grace gift of faith, not by the meritorious works of man (Rom. 4:24).

Born-again believers are considered by God to be one in Christ, even in Jesus’ baptism of death (Mt. 20:21-23, Lk. 12:50, Mk. 10:38-39, Rom. 6:3-18, 2 Cor. 5:14, 15). God sees Jesus’ death as their death; He sees Jesus’ resurrection as their resurrection; He sees Jesus’ righteousness as their righteousness. This is why Romans 6 is all about a believer’s eternal union with Christ.

But the CoC falsely claims that Romans 6 is all about baptismal regeneration!! Because, its false philosophical concept of salvation-by-man’s-appropriation is founded upon faulty Pelagian views of the Fall, that happen to be at the very root of all the CoC’s heresies.

However, the biblical concept of salvation-by-God’s-application is founded upon sacred Scripture, which is why it’s the only view that can be consistently upheld by true believers. For if God had not appointed Adam to be the representative head of all mankind, and if God had not decreed the Fall, where Adam’s sin was imputed to all of his posterity, then there would’ve been absolutely no need for the last Adam’s representation of all who were objectively in Him by God’s divine decree (Eph. 1:4).

There would’ve been no need for His substitutionary atonement on behalf of all those He represented. There would’ve been no need for the imputation of their sins to Jesus and the imputation of His righteousness to them. This is why the CoC is conspicuously silent concerning the absolute necessity of this double imputation, because the biblical doctrine of original sin completely destroys its sacramental system of salvation-by-man’s-appropriation.

Not only does the CoC fail to acknowledge the eternity of the cross, but it also fails to acknowledge clear category distinctions when it comes to a believer’s objective union with Christ in eternity, and their subjective union with Christ in time. God’s elect were in Christ (objectively speaking) before the world began (2 Tim. 1:9, Rev. 17:8). They were viewed by God as being objectively in Christ when He accomplished their redemption (i.e., Mt. 20:28; Gal. 2:20).  Therefore, Jesus’ blood was objectively applied to them at the cross.

Then, by divine appointment, His redemption becomes an experiential reality in time. For His blood is subjectively and experientially applied to them when their heavenly Father draws them, with cords of love, to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ (e.g. Song 1:4, Jer. 31:3, Hos. 11:4, Jn. 6:44, 65-66). God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that every element of a Christian’s salvation is a fact of eternity, even before it takes place in time (i.e., Rom. 8:28-30).

These revealed truths are just a few of the reasons why so many CoC’s are floundering to come up with new sophistry. Even to the point that they are entering into ecumenical alliances, for they are losing more and more ground every single day.  So, whenever their hyper-dispensational heresies concerning the gospel are biblically and publicly exposed and annihilated, they will then flip-flop all over the place by saying things like…..“Oh, well, we’re not that big on dispensationalism anyway.” 

Seriously? No repentance for deceiving the masses for centuries?  No confession of sin? No humility or remorse whatsoever? Why??  Because, that’s how cults operate. For instance, the Jehovah’s Witnesses (which sprouted from the very same “restoration” movement) continue to pull the same deceptive wool over their follower’s eyes today, rather than humbly repenting of all their failed prophecies and heresies that have ruined so many lives and eternal souls.

So, like their heretical counterparts, when CoC’s are confronted with the truth, they will attempt another route to deceive, by saying something along the lines of…. “Well, Jesus had authority to forgive sins THEN, because He was still on earth. So no one today can be saved like the thief on the cross.” 

REALLY?!

Does the CoC truly believe that Jesus was only forgiving sins while He was physically on earth (Mt. 9:6)? Because that would imply that Jesus is no longer exercising His power and authority to forgive sins today! And that would be such a terrible contradiction of Scripture. Jesus has pre-eminence in ALL things, and He is alive forevermore (e.g. Col. 1:18; 1 Jn. 1:9). Therefore….

“See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven; Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.” (Heb. 12:25, 26).

But if we went by the CoC’s line of reasoning, we would have to conclude that Jesus’ atonement no longer atones, for He accomplished it while He was still physically on earth. How ludicrous! Just because Jesus’ atonement took place on earth, that does NOT mean that it doesn’t still apply to us today.

Likewise, just because Jesus forgave sins while He was still physically on earth, that does NOT mean the same forgiveness doesn’t still apply to us today. God forbid! Jesus accomplished redemption while He was still physically on earth. And yet, it still applies to us today, just as much as it did to the thief on the cross. Our forgiveness depends upon the definite atonement of Christ, just as much as his did!!

Every believer throughout redemptive history has always been saved based upon what Jesus accomplished at the cross. Even His resurrection became manifest on earth and was founded upon what He accomplished on earth (Heb. 13:20).  And yet, the CoC audaciously claims that we cannot be forgiven like the thief on the cross, all because Jesus forgave him while He was still physically on earth! 

CoC’s have also been known to say things like…“Christ is now in Heaven to advocate on behalf of the Christian, thus ONLY the Father forgives sins now through Christ.”  Yet, they dismiss the fact that Jesus advocated on behalf of believers and prayed that the Father would forgive their sins, even while He was still physically on earth, and even before His death (i.e., Lk. 22:32; 23:34, Jn. 17).

Therefore, we must ask: Does that mean ONLY the Father could forgive sins then too? If not, then why claim Jesus could forgive sins then, but the Father forgives them now through Christ? Surely CoC’s need to realize just how self-refuting such arguments really are.

They admit that the Father forgives sins now through Christ, for Christ is now a High Priest in Heaven to advocate on behalf of His people. Yet the reality of Jesus’ perpetual priesthood seems to completely elude them. No one has EVER heard from the Father, or had Him revealed to them, or been taught, drawn or forgiven by Him, apart from the high priestly mediation of Christ (Mt. 11:27, Lk. 10:22; 23:34, Jn. 6:44, 45, 65). Which was clearly typified by the mediatorial office of the O.T. priesthood; an order that was eternally vested in Christ alone (Heb. 6:20).

Yet, the CoC has the audacity to suggest that Jesus’ eternal, unchangeable priesthood was not really eternal after all.  And such a biblically incompatible idea can never be reconciled with the fact that Jesus advocated, as an eternal High Priest, on behalf of His people, even BEFORE His physical incarnation AND while He was physically on earth, and even BEFORE His death. But that never meant that only the Father was involved in the forgiveness of sins then either (i.e., Lk. 22:32).

When the thief on the cross said, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” it was as if he was pleading for Jesus to put in a good word for him to the Father. Because Jesus has never forgiven sins apart from His Father. No wonder the penitent thief openly acknowledged the kingdom that Jesus had inherited from His Father (Matt. 11:27; 26:29). For neither has the Father ever forgiven sins apart from the mediation of Christ.

Jesus will not pray for any person apart from His Father’s will.  And Jesus’ prayers for those the Father has given Him are ALWAYS heard and answered, because the Father’s will is ALWAYS fulfilled (Isa. 46:11, Jn. 11:41-42; 17:9). No wonder John chapter 17 is called “Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.” And His high priestly intercession and offering of Himself on the cross, for the remission of sins, was executed and enforced while He was still on earth, through the eternal Spirit (Heb. 9:14).

Jesus executed His Priestly office on earth when He interceded for His people in prayer, and when He offered up Himself as a sacrifice for their sins, once for all time (Eph. 5:2 Heb. 1:3; 5:1-4, 6, 7; 10:10, 12, 14; 7:27; 9:26, 1 Pet. 2:24). Yet, the CoC suggests that Jesus’ work on earth no longer applies to us today!

The CoC’s hyper-dispensational heresies concerning the thief on the cross, suggests that Jesus forgave his sins apart from His eternal and unchangeable priesthood. But forgiveness of sins has ALWAYS been, and ALWAYS will be, based upon Jesus’ eternal and unchanging priesthood (Psa. 110:4, Heb. 5:5-6; 6:20; 7:17, 21).

So, when CoC’s claim that people are saved differently today, the heretical implications are that there has been saints in the past, like the thief on the cross, who were saved apart from Jesus’ eternal priesthood. Therefore, the CoC’s false gospel is without any kind of biblical foundation. It is blatantly anti-typical of the Old Testament, and it violates the qualifications of a Kinsman-Redeemer which was set forth in the O.T. types.

For example, in Ruth 2:1, Boaz was a type and picture of Jesus as a Kinsman-Redeemer, for Boaz was Ruth’s close relative. Jesus took on the human nature of those He came to save, in order to be the Kinsman-Redeemer of a remnant of humanity (Gal. 4:46, Heb. 2:10-18). He also had to be fully God in order to execute His high priestly office on earth when He offered Himself as a sacrifice on their behalf.

But the false christ that is being presented by the CoC is not able or willing to save apart from man’s own contributions being added into the equation, which would mean that he is not a complete savior. The CoC even goes to the extent of making its false version of Jesus out to be capable of sin when it lays out its arguments against the biblical doctrine of original sin.  As a dire consequence, the CoC blasphemously implies that Jesus is not fully man AND fully God.

No wonder the CoC attempts to separate Jesus’ earthly incarnation from His eternal existence, for it contains no knowledge of how the Triune God of the Bible reveals Himself to those whom He loves.

Anytime we read in the Old Testament about God speaking or being revealed to people, it was the Lord Jesus Christ (Ex. 24:10, Jn. 5:37; 14:6). He reveals to us what He has heard from the Father (Jn. 15:15). And through the sword of the Spirit, God is still speaking to us today by His Son (Heb. 1:1, Rev. 3:20). Jesus even said His sheep will hear His voice, for through His Word, wielded by the Holy Spirit, He is still speaking and manifesting His forgiveness toward His people today (Jn. 10:27, Eph. 4:21).

Yet, the CoC claims that no one today can ever be forgiven of sins “by Jesus speaking it to them” like He did to the thief on the cross. They even attempt to deceitfully mishandle Mark 2:10 to try to prove that no one today can be saved like the thief on the cross, which reveals such a severe short-sightedness when it comes to the whole of Scripture. But no surprise, for the CoC has always ignored the beautiful harmony that exists between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Jesus has always been the Mediator between God and His people (Isa. 42:6; 49:8; 63:9, Mal. 3:1, 1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus wasn’t incarnate in the Old Testament, and yet, He was STILL forgiving sins even then (e.g., Num. 14:18-20). Or do CoC’s NOT believe that Jesus is God? Because that is exactly what their doctrine implies.

OF COURSE Jesus had the power and authority to forgive sins on earth during His incarnation, and even BEFORE His incarnation, and even BEFORE His actual atonement, and He is STILL exercising His power and authority to forgive sins today, apart from men’s works and their so-called “freewill” authorization.

Because, Jesus’ atonement was timeless. It was a spiritual reality before it even became a physical reality in time. God knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10). His eternal existence transcends time, so He is NOT limited by it! Even from everlasting to everlasting, He is God (Ps. 90:2). In eternity past, the Lamb of God was already considered slain, even before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). So the atonement covered the entire realm of time itself; past, present and future (Heb. 4:3; 9:15).  

Therefore, even though Jesus forgave sins before His physical sacrifice occurred, that forgiveness was STILL based on His atoning sacrifice, which was grounded upon the eternal decree of God (Acts 2:23, 4:28)! And since He is Infinite, He suffered an infinity on that cross that cannot be measured by time, for God is eternal, which means there is absolutely no way that our feeble finite minds could ever comprehend the torture He went through for His own.  What unimaginable, indescribable LOVE!!!! 

“Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (Jn. 13:1).

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8). So, the gospel has also always been the same, for He is the very substance of the gospel (Psa. 119:89). The timeless nature of the atonement also proves that its saving benefits have never depended upon the time of its accomplishment. The propitiatory sacrifice of Christ was once for all time (Heb. 10:10, 12).

Therefore, all saints in the Old Testament still essentially experienced the same new covenant blessings (God’s unmerited mercy and grace), by virtue of the eternity of the cross and their eternal union with Christ through faith (e.g., Ex. 34:7, Deut. 30:6, Psa. 65:3; 103:1-14; 130:4,7, Isa. 38:17, Micah 7:18-20, Jn. 3:3, Rom.4, Gal. 3:14-16).

Every aspect of a Christian’s salvation is a fact of eternity before it ever even takes place in time (i.e., Lk. 22:20, Rom. 8:28-30). So, whether the thief was under the old covenant, or the new, is completely irrelevant when it comes to the eternity of the cross and his eternal union with Christ.

Even in 2 Samuel 23:5, David spoke of the everlasting covenant of salvation (in present tense), and about how it was sure and ordered in all things, even though God didn’t “make it to grow” in his day, for it was only revealed vaguely in types and shadows in the Old Testament. Nonetheless, the gospel has always been a call to covenant union with Christ, Who died as our Surety to procure and provide all that God commands of us.

Anytime the gospel call has ever gone out within the realm of time, it has always been presented as an already accomplished fact.  When Paul said “Be ye reconciled to God,” he was in keeping with all of the Old Testament prophets who were always outwardly calling for sinners to enter into the blessed benefits of the reconciliation that God provides, in His Son, to save sinners (Jn. 10:9, 2 Cor. 5:20, Rom. 5:10, Col. 1:22). Because, like all of the O.T. saints, Paul had faith in God’s promises that there would be some who would be irresistibly prompted by the effectual, inward call of the Holy Spirit, to respond in faith and repentance (e.g., Isa. 53:10, Jn. 6:37, 10:27).

These foundational truths must first be understood and acknowledged, in order to grasp the fact that even in the Old Testament, sins could only be forgiven based upon the eternity of the cross and what the Savior actually accomplished there, in fulfillment of the everlasting covenant. The Old Testament saints were looking to Yahweh (the pre-incarnate Christ) for their salvation. Just as believers today are looking to the SAME SAVIOR, for the SAME SALVATION, because Jesus is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent!

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isa. 45:22).

Paul quoted Joel 2:32 in Rom. 10:13, to confirm the fact that Yahweh (or Jehovah) in the O.T. was the pre-incarnate Christ.  After all, didn’t Adam and Eve walk and talk with Him in the Garden (Gen. 3:1-15)? Wasn’t Abraham in communion with Him also (Gen. 18:13, 17-33, Jn. 8:58)? Didn’t Jacob wrestle with the pre-incarnate Christ for a blessing (Gen. 32:24)? Isn’t Jesus the same Good Shepherd of the O.T. (Psa. 23, Isa. 40:11, Jn.10)? Isn’t He the same eternal Son of God in the O.T. (Isa. 9:6-7, Psa. 2)? Wasn’t it Christ Whom the Israelites tempted (1 Cor. 10:9)? Didn’t Jesus say He was the One speaking in Psalm 82:6 (Jn. 10:34-36)? Isn’t the same Sovereign Savior and King of Glory in the New Testament the same Sovereign Savior of the everlasting covenant that was promised and kept by God even in the Old Testament, veiled in types and shadows (Psa. 24, Jer. 32:40)?

No wonder Hebrews 1:8-12 also applies Psalm 102:25-27 to Jesus! The O.T. saints were always looking for a fuller manifestation of God’s eternal plan of redemption, as they spoke of Christ “by the Spirit of Christ which was in them” (1 Pet. 1:9-11). Because Old Testament saints were saved by the same God Who gave them the old covenant, but they were NOT saved by virtue of the old covenant, or by the administration of it. They were saved by the same God, in the same way (through faith), and upon the same basis (God’s grace through Jesus and His saving work), with the same salvation that believers have today.

Even O.T. observance of the law was derived from a God-given faith. When Paul referenced Deuteronomy 30:12 in Romans 10:6, he clearly connected the true purpose of the law with the gospel of God’s promise of free righteousness by faith, because the impossible demands of the law have ALWAYS been meant to reveal fallen man’s desperate need to be spiritually regenerated by God’s free mercy and grace.

“For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:15-16).

Both Paul and Moses essentially declared the same gospel, by placing the pardon of sins in God’s free promise of divine grace alone, which is why they both preached repentance and faith. This biblical fact also reveals that the move from the Old Testament to the New was indicative of a progressive revelation of God’s eternal plan of redemption, NOT a contradictory revelation of the gospel, as the restoration cults would so deceptively have us to believe.

Different degrees of revelation never meant a difference in salvation substance (Acts 18:26, 2 Cor. 3:9-18). The gospel of God’s free grace in the O.T. is still the SAME GOSPEL that we have today!

“For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them” (Heb. 4:2).

So please prayerfully think this through:

The law and the gospel constitute the sum and substance of God’s revealed truth, for there cannot be a revelation of our desperate need for the Savior without a revelation of how bad sin is in the eyes of a holy God. It’s impossible.

No wonder we find that the old covenant was confirmed AND enforced on Mt. Sinai, by God giving the impossible demands of the law, through Moses (who typified Christ), to reveal people’s complete dependence upon God’s mercy and grace, through the coming Messiah. The same gospel parallel was demonstrated when the new covenant was confirmed AND enforced on Mt. Calvary, by God giving what He commands, to further reveal our complete dependence upon His mercy and grace, through the Messiah. The remarkable parallels are astoundingly undeniable!! Even the Mosaic covenant bore witness to the gospel (Rom. 3:21).

O.T. saints received remission of sins by God’s grace through faith in God’s promises concerning Christ (Acts 10:43). Not because of faith in animal sacrifices that could never take away sins (Heb. 10:2, 11). It was actually the substance of what those sacrifices stood for that took away their sins. Their faith was in Christ.

Although the old covenant ceremonies revealed the hopelessness of sin, they also pointed to the hope of good things to come, in order to relieve the saints from the constant ceremonial reminders of sin-guilt and to confirm them in the faith of Christ.

In this sense, the law and gospel were joined together, because the gospel also reveals our sin-guilt before God and our desperate need for the Savior. So, when God promised a new covenant, He revealed that it would be different as to the mode of administration (internal rather than external). But that it would NOT be a different way of salvation from the first, because the new covenant provides a revelatory EXTENSION of the very same eternal plan of redemption.

God revealed that the mode of administration under the old covenant would no longer be needed once a greater measure of His grace was given (2 Cor. 3: 6-18). So, when Jesus enforced the new covenant by the blood of His cross, He confirmed the eternality of the gospel and God’s moral law, for they both reflect His unchanging character and our desperate need for His free mercy and grace.

When God said, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:32-33), He revealed that the New Covenant would still continue to confirm and even further validate God’s sovereign distinguishing grace, in virtue of Jesus’ atoning death, as the ONLY basis of salvation (Acts 3:18, Gal. 4:6). Which was even being revealed under the types and shadows of the old covenant (i.e., Psa. 37:31; 40:8).

Therefore….

“He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second” (Heb. 10:9).

Jesus made it clear to the Samaritan woman at the well, that the hour was coming, when God’s people would worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:21-24), which required the taking away of the external ceremonies that had only been the “dead letter” of the true substance (Rom. 7:6). Therefore, Jesus’ fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, concerning the new covenant, was never a departure from the former covenant in its truest spiritual sense. For they both point to Christ alone as one’s only hope of salvation. All of God’s promises have been ratified and established in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

Jesus was falsely accused, by the Pharisees, of doing away with the moral principles of the law of Moses that was codified in the Ten Commandments. However, He made it clear that He actually established the spiritual fulfillment of those very truths (Mt. 5:17). He also perfectly fulfilled the strict rules and regulations of the old covenant, which included the external ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation that had only been types and figures of the reality they represented (Heb. 10:1).

Jesus ended the Old Covenant by fulfilling it. Ancient external practices were taken away because they can only be kept now in their ultimate spiritual sense. The eternality of those ceremonies was not in their temporary, external observance. Their perpetuity was only in the spiritual aspects of what those ceremonies signified (e.g., Gen. 17:13). Therefore, a fuller manifestation of the everlasting covenant even further validated the very reality that had only been previously revealed figuratively.

The superiority of the New Covenant, since Jesus’ death, is in its eternality and the fact that God’s people now have a fuller assurance of salvation, for a new and living way is more abundantly opened up to them. Because the O.T. types and shadows have now been fulfilled, in the realm of time, by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Heb. 6:11-15, 17-18; 10:1). As a result, we can now have a fuller view of the gospel, but it is still the same gospel, NOT the CoC’s new gospel!

However, in an attempt to escape the clear force of Scripture, the CoC deceitfully claims that its so-called “new terms” for salvation (a different gospel) could supposedly not be enforced until after Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Spirit’s outpouring at Pentecost. Hence, the CoC’s obsession with Acts 2:38.

But, according to Scripture, Jesus’ blood of the Covenant was poured out for the remission of sins, in the realm of time… AT THE CROSS!... NOT at Pentecost!! (Lk. 22:19-20, Mt. 26:28, 1 Cor. 11:25, Rom. 11:27, Heb. 9:22).

Furthermore, we read the following:

“Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin” (Heb. 10:18).

Jesus’ blood was no longer being poured out for the forgiveness of sins after His resurrection!! And despite the CoC’s dishonest claims, there were absolutely no further “terms” to be fulfilled on “our part” for the remission of sins in order to make His work effectual. Jesus even explicitly said, while still on the cross, “It is finished.” Because salvation is NOT about what we do. It is all about what He has done.

Regardless of the CoC’s blatant dishonesty, Jesus died and fully enforced the New Covenant BEFORE the thief died, BEFORE His resurrection and BEFORE Pentecost (Mt. 26:28, Jn. 19:31-33, Heb. 9:16-17).

How else could He have been resurrected? For the resurrection itself was PROOF that God the Father accepted His substitutionary atonement as “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). Jesus’ blood had already effectually sealed, fulfilled and enforced the terms of the new covenant, in the realm of time, AT THE CROSS...in order to “save His people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21).

“For this is My covenant unto them, WHEN I shall take away their sins” (Rom. 11:27).

And again, exactly WHEN was His new covenant officially in full effect and re-enforced in the realm of time? According to Scripture, it occurred at the time of HIS DEATH! (e.g. Heb. 9:26)…. NOT AT PENTECOST!!  

How else could the Holy Spirit’s official dispatch be ushered into public ministry at Pentecost? For the assignment of the Spirit’s outpouring in Acts was grounded upon the fully enforced terms of the everlasting covenant, sealed by Jesus’ blood (Isa. 53:10). So that the Spirit could then apply the benefits of those already enforced terms, in a unique and special way, to all whom the Lord added to the church (Acts 2:47).

God’s church was already in existence or else it could NOT have been commissioned, renewed and added to (e.g., Gen. 28:17, Mt. 16:18-19; 18:17; 28:19-20, Lk. 12:32, Acts 2:36, 47; 15:16). Moses was just a servant in God’s house, but Jesus was a Son OVER God’s house, EVEN THEN (Heb. 3:3-6). Because Jesus has always been the Head of the church, His body, His sheep.

The church was founded upon faith in Jehovah (Jesus) from the very beginning (Ex. 6:2-3). And remember, Paul quoted Joel 2:32 in Rom. 10:13, to confirm the fact that Yahweh (or Jehovah) in the O.T. was the pre-incarnate Christ.  Today, the new covenant is confirmation of God’s promises of His grace in Christ, through faith, that had been given to the church since the world began (Gen. 3:15, Joel 2:32, Rom. 10:13, Heb. 8:8-9).

Since there has always been one Great Shepherd, He has always had one sheepfold (Jn. 10:16) throughout redemptive history; sometimes referred to as the church in the wilderness, God’s sanctuary, the house of Israel, the tabernacle of David, the heavenly Jerusalem, or the general assembly and church of just men made perfect, etc. (e.g., Ezek. 37: 26-27, Acts 7:38, Heb. 12:22-23).  

So, a new state of the church beginning at Pentecost (the time of renewal), never meant an altogether “new church” (with “new terms” of salvation) that had never existed before. However, the CoC claims to be a “new church” that had never existed before, one that supposedly began at Pentecost. Which confirms the fact that it is, indeed, a heretical cult.

Some CoC’s even try to claim that Isaiah 2:3 establishes their “new laws” of salvation “beginning in Jerusalem.” But, just as the O.T. prophets called prayers “incense,” they also called the conversion of the Gentiles “the going up to Jerusalem,” which has nothing at all to do with the CoC’s alleged “new laws” being established in Acts 2:38. Jesus unpacked the true interpretation of God’s unchangeable law that had ALREADY been written in stone.

In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus made it clear that He was further expanding upon the significance of the moral principles that were behind the law that God had ALREADY given. Because, like the CoC, the Scribes and Pharisees had added their own external obedience interpretations (e.g. Matt. 15:2-3), rather than truly honoring the very heart of the O.T. as the absolute, authoritative, unchangeable, infallible Word of God. Regardless of their false claims of Jesus trying to change the law, and regardless of the CoC’s similar accusations, the N.T. wasn’t meant to replace the O.T. It was meant to shed more light upon it!

“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17).

The terms of God’s eternal plan of redemption have always remained intact, which is salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And just because the Holy Spirit applied the benefits of those same terms, that were more fully enforced at the cross (Isa. 53:10), in a unique and special way at Pentecost, does NOT mean that He applied a new way of being saved, or that He instituted “new laws” or “new rules” whereby one must be saved. Instead, along with many other spiritual gifts, He applied a greater evangelistic empowerment to spread the SAME GOSPEL, which is God’s ETERNAL plan of redemption. ETERNAL, meaning it never changes, which is why it transcends any given dispensation!

Sadly, CoC’s fail to acknowledge the biblical concept of God’s application, but God has ALWAYS provided His people with what He commands, under EVERY dispensation. For the “terms” of salvation have NEVER changed and have never depended upon the works of mankind! The “terms” of salvation, in EVERY dispensation, have ALWAYS been God graciously providing what He commands.

For a clear demonstration of this, compare Ezekiel 18 to Ezekiel 36. The “terms” have always been a salvation by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The terms have NEVER changed but have only become more fully manifested.

All of the Holy Spirit’s operations at Pentecost were in conjunction with all that Jesus had already executed, enforced, and put into operation at the cross (i.e., John 16:13, Joel 2:11, Acts 2:16). Even Christ’s ministry to His disciples in the upper room, before His crucifixion (Lk. 22:11-12), and their further receiving of the Holy Spirit, after His resurrection (Jn. 20:22), preceded the commencement of the Holy Spirit’s work in the upper room at Pentecost.  

Such perfect parallels not only reveal a conjoined mission in the Godhead, but they also reveal a difference between the initial indwelling of the Holy Spirit for salvation, and the filling of the Holy Spirit for greater evangelistic empowerment (Also see: Num. 11:25, Mt. 3:16, Lk. 1:15; 24:49, Acts 1:8; 5:8; 6:5-8; 7:55-56).

But, the CoC would deceptively have us to believe that the filling of the Holy Spirit, in the book of Acts, was a saving operation that had never occurred before. However, the same group of already saved disciples in Acts 2:1-4, were again filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 4:31.

Therefore, we must ask CoC’s: Were those saved disciples in Acts 2:1-4 supposedly “saved again“ in Acts 4:31? Furthermore, we must ask them: Was the Apostle Peter “saved again“ in Acts 4:8? But they cannot give a biblical answer, unless they finally want to come clean and confess that the CoC’s heretical doctrines are not supported by Scripture.

Although the thief was admitted into paradise (which is located in heaven, 2 Cor. 12:2, 4, Rev. 2:7), BEFORE Jesus’ resurrection, CoC’s suggest that there were people in the O.T. being “grandfathered” into the New Covenant, AFTER Jesus’ resurrection, by virtue of all the good works they did while under the Old Covenant!

So, we see that CoC’s are in lockstep with the Pharisee’s who also believed they were saved by virtue of their good works. But Scripture reveals that even under the old covenant they could only be saved by God’s grace, through faith, because it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for any of their imperfect works to save them (Acts 15:10).

Even the Gentiles, who didn’t participate in the old covenant ordinances, were being drawn into the SAME eternal inheritance as the fathers of the O.T.; the exact SAME WAY (through faith), and upon the exact SAME BASIS (God’s grace through Christ and His work on the cross). Because “THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE” (Acts 15:9)!!!! To further confirm this truth, Scripture re-emphasizes this crucial point:

“But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, EVEN AS THEY” (Acts 15:11, emphasis mine).

God’s eternal plan of redemption progressed even further after Pentecost, but that does NOT mean that His eternal plan of redemption ever became a different plan of redemption, or a different way of being saved. Moreover, Jesus’ confirmation and enforcement of the new covenant AT THE CROSS (the very crux of redemptive history), was even further confirmed by His resurrection, but that does NOT mean that there was a different way of being saved after His resurrection (Mt. 27:50; Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45, Heb. 9:26; 13:20).

Regardless of the CoC’s dishonest claims, there was NEVER any so-called “new terms” for salvation… “beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk. 24:47). Pentecost always meant a renewal of vows and consecration to God, NOT a “new gospel” or a “new legal code” for salvation (Lev. 23:15-21). The true gospel of Jesus Christ was first entrusted to the Jews and had its “beginning” long BEFORE Pentecost (e.g., Gen. 3:15, Isa. 53:1, Mk. 1:1-2, Jn. 12:38, Acts 8: 32-35, Rom. 3:29-30; 10:16, Gal. 3:6-8, Heb. 4:2; 9:15; 10:1-4).

Contrary to the CoC’s dishonesty, the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was even included in the blessings of Abraham (Gal. 3:14). Scripture also reveals that the Holy Spirit permanently indwelt and sealed believers who were alive during the Mosaic dispensation, even BEFORE they were ever “filled with the Holy Spirit” during the new dispensation (Acts 2:4, 32-33; 4:31; 6:5, 8; 7:55, 56, Gal. 3:14-16). Or else they could have never been saved (e.g., Lk. 2:25-32; 10:20, Jn. 3:5; 14:17; 15:13; 17:14). No wonder Paul commanded those who were ALREADY SAVED to then be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18-19).

The permanent regeneration, indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit has ALWAYS been essential to salvation (e.g. Isa. 63:11, Jer. 31:31-34, Ezek. 36: 26, 27; 39:29, Jn. 3:3, Rom. 8:9-11, 1 Cor. 2:10-16). Just because the Spirit’s outpouring in Acts was a unique and special gift to believers, does NOT mean that it was a new way of being saved, as the CoC would so deceptively have us to believe (Acts 15:8).

For instance, John wasn’t referring to the saving operations of the Spirit when he said, “the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified,” because Jesus’ disciples were already saved. Besides, the word “given” is not even in the original Greek (Jn. 7:39). So, John was obviously referring to the Spirit’s special outpouring, or else no Old Testament saints could have ever been saved, because no one can be saved apart from the saving operations of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9).

In John 3, Jesus even reprimanded Nicodemus for not being familiar with water being symbolic of the necessity of the purifying and regenerating agency of the Holy Spirit, even when the old covenant was still in force (e.g. Ex. 30:18, Deut. 21:6, Ezek. 36:25). Scripture interprets Scripture.

In direct opposition to the CoC’s false doctrines, believers in every age have ALWAYS been permanently indwelt, sealed and regenerated by the Holy Spirit (e.g., Deut. 30:6, Lk. 1:15, 41, Jn. 3:10). Or else no one could have ever been saved or filled with the Holy Spirit afterwards. Scripture clearly reveals that the O.T. saints were savingly indwelt by the SAME saving operations of the SAME Holy Spirit as today (e.g., Psa. 116:10, Isa. 63:11, Lk. 2:25-35, 1 Cor. 10:4, 2 Cor. 4:13, 1 Pet. 1:11).

These biblical realities further confirm the fact that the CoC is in grave error when it teaches a conditional and temporary indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers. It also further reveals that the CoC is deceiving people when it leads them to believe that the Holy Spirit had never indwelled, sealed and regenerated believers before Pentecost, for Scripture proves otherwise.

Now, for even MORE biblical proof that the new covenant went into full force AT THE CROSS, rather than being postponed until Pentecost, we read the following:

“Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Mt. 27:50-51, Mk. 15:38, Lk. 23:45).

The tearing of the veil, at the moment of Jesus’ death, symbolized the fact that His sacrifice was a definite, complete and effectual atonement for sins. It signified that entrance into “the Holy of Holies” was immediately open for all of His people, for all time, both Jew and Gentile, apart from the old covenant priesthood.

They did NOT have to wait until Pentecost to drop the ceremonial law, because the torn veil rendered it completely unnecessary for the sacrifices of expiation to continue (Dan. 9:27, Heb. 10:10, 14, 18). The O.T. prophets declared no time gap or interval between “the suffering of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Pet. 1:11). Because, contrary to the CoC’s counterfeit claims, there was never a so-called “probate period,” between the cross and Pentecost to prove God’s will. The proof was already being clearly revealed for all to see!!

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11).

AND THERE IT WAS!! The torn veil confirmed what God had done in Christ, AT THE CROSS!! It was an even fuller manifestation of the SAME gospel. It was a fuller manifestation of direct access through faith into this grace (Rom. 5:2)!! For Jesus has ALWAYS been the object of true saving faith, because He ALONE (apart from our own works)… is the way through the veil (Ex. 26:31-33, Jn. 14:6, Heb. 6:12-20; 9:1-28).

Even the observance of God’s perfect standard of righteousness (His moral law) springs from faith in Christ, for faith alone has ALWAYS been the only way to enter into God’s promises, NOT faith plus our own works. Irrefutably proving the fact that the CoC’s “new terms” for salvation is a complete sham. Yet, those who still have a veil over their heart are unable to apprehend the true gospel by faith.

Jesus’ death officially and immediately executed, inaugurated and ratified the new covenant (Mt. 26:28). IT WAS IMMEDIATELY PUT INTO FORCE!!! And this was confirmed by the fact that the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, to reveal that the Mosaic dispensation was finished and no longer in force (Mt. 27:51). For its types and shadows were fulfilled in Christ, Who is the very sum and substance of the TRUE gospel (Isa. 61:1-3, Lk. 4:17-22).  

The torn veil clearly revealed permanent and unparalleled access to God the Father through Jesus Christ.  All spiritual barriers to a fuller revelation of God’s grace were immediately REMOVED, and a believer’s free access to God by grace, through faith, was immediately REVEALED, even further, upon the death of Christ.

The torn veil was a dramatic illustration of the Mosaic dispensation being completely fulfilled, and the new covenant being everlastingly established. So that believers could have a fuller assurance and “confidence to enter the holy places” by the blood of Jesus, Who is the “new and living way” through the veil, His flesh. Without the burdensome animal sacrifices that had only foreshadowed the reality they represented (Heb.10:20-22). 

God’s original command to love was called “new” when it was more clearly set forth by Jesus (Jn. 13:34, 1 Jn. 2:8). Likewise, God’s original plan of redemption was called a “new and living way” when it was more clearly set forth by Jesus (Heb. 10:19-20).

The spiritual transaction was FINISHED and revealed publicly AT HIS DEATH. Therefore, the CoC’s so-called “new terms” for salvation were NOT awaiting “enforcement” at Pentecost, as the CoC so blasphemously claims.  Jesus had already “enforced the terms” of the new covenant AT THE CROSS!  And those “terms” did NOT include water baptism, or any other works, for salvation!

The torn veil further reinforced the fact that the “terms” of the new covenant were immediately in force, and the old covenant that had been violated by mankind was finally fulfilled by Jesus (Heb. 8:13). For He was the promised Seed (Gen. 3:15) Who satisfied the terms of perfect obedience and divine justice on behalf of those He came to save. All of which was previously prefigured in types and shadows.

The torn veil also revealed that God was done with the visible temple and its religious system, for it was left “desolate” and was finished off by the Romans in A.D. 70, just as Jesus prophesied (Lk.13:35; 19:41-44; Mt. 24:15-28). The old covenant was always meant to be temporary for it was only composed of “the shadows of the good things to come”(Heb. 10:1-4, 11-12).

Through HIS DEATH, Jesus officially removed all spiritual barriers, for all time, between God and His people (Heb. 4:14-16). Only then did the way into the most holy place become more fully manifest (Eph. 3:9-12, Col. 1:26, Heb. 9:8, 1 Pet. 1:19-20). What had been “kept secret” by lesser degrees of manifestation in the O.T., became even clearer in the N.T. (Rom. 16:25-26).

So, the question now is: How do we actually get into Christ? Well, just as the old gospel hymn proclaims, our “hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”….which is why our …. “anchor holds within the veil.”

“Which HOPE we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which ENTERETH INTO that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19, emphasis added).

We believe into Christ, for we can only enter into Christ, and His everlasting covenant of salvation, through faith in His blood. In order to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins, which was also granted to O.T. saints, through faith. Even though the Old Covenant was still in effect (Rom. 3:25). God enabled them to look beyond the Old Covenant veil of figures and shadows, to the true substance, Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:56). For their sin-debt was imputed to Jesus before it was even demanded of Him in the realm of time.

The remission of their sins was actually obtained at the cross, but was applied to them beforehand, based on the surety of Jesus’ future atonement that was infallibly decreed (Acts 10:43, Heb. 9:15). The blood that Jesus shed was the blood of the everlasting covenant, which is why it was even applied to David by faith (Psa. 32:1). Sin-guilt did not remain upon the O.T. saints until Jesus’ actual atonement or resurrection. For even in the O.T., they still experienced the same new covenant blessings, in virtue of the eternity of the cross and their eternal union with Christ.

What the law could not do, they obtained by Jesus and His future vicarious sacrifice as their surety, which they were enabled to apprehend by faith in His blood, which the ceremonial sacrifices symbolized.  Just as water baptism now symbolizes that one’s sins have been remitted by the precious blood of Christ. Which can only be spiritually apprehended by the grace gift of saving faith, the sole indicator of salvation. With works following to confirm that faith.

According to Scripture, even Jesus’ resurrection was founded upon the very covenant that He sealed with His very own blood.  For we read the following….

“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20-21, underlining added).

But CoC operatives seem to have a very low reading comprehension when it comes to Scripture. For even when faced with indisputable evidence, they continue their charade when they twist Romans 10:9 and 1 Corinthians 15:17, in an attempt to prove their “New Testament laws” (such as Acts 2:38) didn’t come into force until AFTER Jesus’ resurrection.

Are CoC’s REALLY that clueless? Because they constantly refute their own arguments!

The very fact that the thief on the cross was not required to confess Jesus’ manifest resurrection on earth (for it hadn’t occurred yet in the realm of time), is even further proof that one can only be saved because of the ETERNITY OF THE CROSS and what God already considered to be accomplished there (2 Tim. 1:9-10).

Nevertheless, the thief on the cross did indeed believe in Jesus’ impending resurrection to new life. Or else he would’ve never asked for Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom (Lk. 23:42).

Therefore, just because the thief had not acknowledged the full manifestation of Jesus’ resurrection, in time, that does NOT mean that he wasn’t still saved by believing the gospel. Jesus’ manifest resurrection on earth was an even fuller manifestation of the SAME GOSPEL, which gave Jesus’ followers even MORE assurance of salvation (Rom. 10:9)!!

Jesus’ resurrection was included in His death, because His resurrection was based upon His shed blood of the covenant, on the cross (Heb. 13:20). In this sense, the atoning death of Christ was joined to His resurrection (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).

And the thief witnessed, and trusted in, Jesus’ penal substitution. Because all spiritual truths are summed up in Jesus (Eph. 4:21). Everything that pertains to salvation is contained in Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2), which is why He proclaimed that it was finished AT THE CROSS.

Yet, CoC’s will often bring up the 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 definition of the gospel, which includes Jesus’ resurrection, in an attempt to dismiss the fact that the thief on the cross obeyed the gospel. But they fail to acknowledge that there are differences in DEGREE when it comes to believing the gospel, but there are NOT differences in KIND. There are varying degrees of saving faith, but there has never been various gospels to believe.

Old Testament saints didn’t fully understand the mystery of the gospel as it pertained to the salvation of the Gentiles, until God further revealed it (Eph. 3:5-10). Even present revelation differs in degree, compared to the degree of revelation that will finally be manifested at Jesus’ Second Advent. God’s divine revelation throughout redemptive history has always differed in degree, while remaining the same in salvation substance. Scripture clearly reveals that we go from one degree of revelation to another.

We go from faith to faith, and from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:9-18). But NOT from one gospel to another gospel, for there is no other gospel (Gal. 1:7).

Romans 10:9 explains that if we confess the Lord Jesus AND believe in our heart that He was raised from the dead, we will be saved. Because divine revelation progressed after Jesus’ resurrection. And that fuller manifestation of God’s eternal plan of redemption serves to further increase faith and enlarge it, but it is STILL the same KIND of faith that all the O.T. saints possessed, with essentially the same content. But, with an even more expanded view of the SAME GOSPEL

We also have the example of Apollos in Acts 18, who had to be shown a fuller view of the same gospel. And the thief on the cross obeyed that very gospel! No wonder he was still blessed with the same saving benefits, of the same grace that all saints have been blessed with, in every age, throughout redemptive history!

He was saved under the EXACT SAME TERMS OF SALVATION (through faith), upon the EXACT SAME BASIS OF SALVATION (God’s grace through Christ and His atoning sacrifice) that every sinner throughout human history has EVER been saved. Including all O.T. saints who were also saved by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Messiah ALONE.

Because God’s Word makes it abundantly clear that it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for any of their flawed works to save them (Acts 13:39; 15:10). No one has ever been, or ever will be, saved by their own works added into the equation (e.g., Ezek. 20, Mt. 19:26). All saints, in all ages, have only been saved by the supernatural circumcision of the heart (Deut. 30:6, Acts 7:51, Col. 2:11). Scripture is so abundantly clear, that all O.T. saints were saved the same way that true believers are saved today. For they too had the common testimony of Jesus (1 Pet. 1:9-11, Rev. 19:10)!!

But the CoC falsely teaches that people in the O.T. were saved under the old covenant of law, so that it can portray itself as a system that possesses a new covenant law of a “believing immersion” in Christ for salvation, to supposedly replace the old covenant law of a “believing circumcision” for salvation. It teaches that a so-called “salvation by circumcision” has been replaced with “salvation by water baptism.”

Galatians 5:6 makes it clear that circumcision never saved anyone. So, neither can baptism. For both ordinances were meant to be symbolic of one’s commitment to the Lord, NOT as a way to get saved. Not unless they could fulfill the whole law perfectly themselves, meaning they wouldn’t even need a Savior, which was an impossibility (Gal. 5:2-4).

Are CoC’s REALLY willing to dismiss the fact that Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, has ALWAYS been the very HEART of the gospel (1 Cor. 2:2)? Because that is EXACTLY what their false doctrine entails!

Are CoC’s REALLY willing to be consistent with their false doctrines, which imply that all of the Old Testament saints died in their sins due to Christ not yet being incarnate, sacrificed and resurrected? LET’S HOPE NOT!! Because Jesus’ resurrection actually proved that God discharged ALL of the sins that He bore for ALL of His people (past, present and future)…AT THE CROSS (Heb. 13:20-21).

The thief on the cross was saved because he obeyed the gospel, for there has always been only ONE GOSPEL that saves! He realized that apart from God’s merciful saving grace he was a doomed sinner. He repented and trusted in Christ alone as his only hope. Therefore, he obeyed the EXACT same terms of salvation that EVERY saved sinner in human history has ever obeyed. Because changes in dispensational covenants have NEVER meant changes in God’s eternal plan of redemption, which has always been the same. 

A New Covenant has never meant a new gospel. According to Scripture, fallen humanity has never been able to fulfill any kind of covenant of works for salvation. Because the entrance of sin made it impossible for anyone to ever please God apart from His free mercy and grace, in Christ Jesus, that enables one to believe unto salvation (e.g., Jn. 15:5, Acts 13:48, Gal. 3:8-16, Phil. 1:29, Heb. 4:2).

Jesus fulfilled the condition of obedience (what’s commonly called a covenant of works) that was originally presented to Adam and Eve before their fatal fall into sin that plunged all of humanity into spiritual and physical death. Therefore, all the blessings that were lost in Adam have been restored and procured by Christ, the “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). He fully satisfied God’s demands (the conditions) and fully satisfied divine justice (the penalties), on behalf of all who are in eternal union with Him.

“For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17).

Therefore, the thief on the cross was saved in exactly the same way that every sinner, in every age, has ever been saved, regardless of the two different dispensations that he lived under. For the essential content of God’s eternal plan of salvation has NEVER changed. Its fruit and application was even granted to all O.T. saints, in virtue of the infallibly decreed terms of Jesus’ future atonement.

The penitent thief’s testimony centered upon the reign of King Jesus within his heart, which is why he was enabled to acknowledge His Kingship and to respond with love and concern for the other thief’s soul. For those who’ve been forgiven much, are also enabled to love much (Lk. 7:47).

Thankfully, God delights to save the vilest of the vile. But the CoC causes its captives to think that they must jump through hoops in order to earn love.  And that kind of “love” is conditional and unbiblical.  Although God gives His people precepts to live by, His unconditional love cannot be bought by conditional behavior.

Yet, wicked people have never wanted to face God on His terms. But instead, they’ve always tried to run from Him in hopes to appease Him from a distance with their own works (e.g., Ex. 20:19, Heb. 12:19-20). They’ve always preferred to do things according to their own “terms” instead of God’s terms. Likewise, the CoC makes up a fictitious way of being saved that actually shuts the door of heaven on those who adhere to it.

Jeremiah warned:

“you were hypocrites in your hearts when you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord your God says, so declare to us and we will do it” (Jer. 42:20).

Just like the “restoration” cults of today, hypocrites in every generation pretend to be all about “obedience.” But once any of God’s people begin to extol that which ALONE produces TRUE obedience, they want nothing to do with it, which reveals their true colors. They would rather take at least some of the personal credit for their own salvation, instead of giving God ALL of the glory for His merciful grace through the saving work of Christ ALONE.

No wonder they maliciously try to stir up ill-will against the true God of the Bible and His people. Like the ancient Pharisees, they play upon the biased prejudice that most people already have against the true gospel. They want to pretend that we promote “an excuse for disobedience” when we point to the testimony of the thief and faith in Christ alone for salvation.

They even attack the word ALONE, by theorizing that if a person cannot find the exact phrase “faith alone” for salvation in the Bible, then that must mean we are saved by faith PLUS our own works. But when CoC’s are presented with their very own line of “logic,” they still can’t seem to grasp how illogical their line of reasoning really is.

For instance, they cannot consistently or logically go against the phrase “faith alone” without shooting themselves in the foot because one cannot find the exact phrase “Christ alone” in Scripture either, but that does not mean that we should worship Christ PLUS other gods!

Yet, according to the CoC’s faulty line of reasoning, we are supposed to conclude the opposite of what God’s Word actually conveys in context. To which we must respectfully say…no thanks. 

God’s saving gifts of grace and faith in Christ alone as our only hope of heaven, are not mere “ideas of Calvin.” They are actual biblical facts according to God’s Word. So, CoC’s can call Scripture “Calvinism” in a derogatory way all they want, but it will never change what God has set in stone. God commands that we look to Christ alone for all that He offers to us for salvation. Since salvation is based upon the blood and righteousness of Christ alone, then salvation has to be by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Him ALONE.

But ironically, CoC’s vehemently attack people’s faith in Christ alone as their only hope. Yet they will still religiously tack the name of Christ ALONE to the end of all their prayers! Which sadly goes to show that they don’t really understand what it truly means to pray in Jesus’ name; that He is our only hope, our only access to God, and that we can have direct access to God through Christ.

Through Him, “we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:2). “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18, emphasis mine). Even the absence of physical water cannot keep us from the love of Christ and access to God through faith in Him (Rom. 8:35-39, Eph. 3:12). No external circumstance can prevent “whosoever will” from partaking of the Water of Life freely….by God’s grace alone, in Christ Jesus ALONE.

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace” (Rom. 4:16).

Just as the Scripture above reveals, even faith in Him is attributed to the mercy and grace of God ALONE. Therefore, our own works cannot be connected with it for justification. If the gift of faith had not been procured by Christ, then it would not be by grace.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

So again, what can the CoC not comprehend about salvation being in Christ ALONE? Since salvation is in Christ ALONE, then it is by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in HIM ALONE.  No matter how much the CoC wants to arrogantly add the works of man into the equation, Scripture cannot be changed. Either Christ will be ALL of one’s salvation, or NONE (1 Jn. 1:9).

Therefore, if CoC’s continue to “neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him (Heb. 2:3-4), then they will not inherit eternal life.

Apart from Christ and what He accomplished at the cross, there would be no eternal plan of redemption, no good news, no gospel, no regeneration, no mercy, no grace, no true faith, no works of faith, no true obedience, no true repentance, no confession of sin, no pardon of sin, no baptisms, no love of truth, no love of God, no love of people, no Holy Spirit empowerment, no sound doctrine, no gospel preaching or teaching, no holy calling, no saints, no assembling together of the saints, no everlasting blood covenant of salvation, no propitiation, no reconciliation with the Father, no resurrection, no intercession, no justification, no perpetual priesthood of Christ, no throne of grace, and no hope of new heavens and a new earth.

Nevertheless, CoC’s still relentlessly attack and mock the only way that sinners can be justified before a holy God, by saying things like “that’s a lot of ‘alones,’” as if we are “adding more alones” by attributing everything that pertains to life and godliness to HIM ALONE (2 Pet. 1:3). How ludicrous! As if we are the one’s adding to Scripture by looking to Christ ALONE for our salvation!  Ugh!!

Yet, this is how ridiculous CoC’s can get when they try to project their own guilt of adding to the gospel, onto those who want to give all the glory to God alone. CoC’s even type up huge “to do lists” of all that they think they must do in order to get saved, intermingled with Jesus and His work here and there, as if He and His works are on equal footing with them and their works, if not lower. It is truly blasphemous!

They try to establish their own righteousness for salvation, rather than relying solely upon the blood and righteousness of Christ ALONE (Rom. 10:3). They don’t seem to be satisfied with Christ alone when they attempt to bring in other aids for their salvation. As a result, they end up completely cutting themselves off from having access to heaven, which is only through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

No wonder they seem to be in lockstep with those in the Old Testament who were also disobedient and disbelieving… those who also rejected the “old paths”….

“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jer. 6:16).

Instead of humbly realizing their need for the perfect righteousness of the promised Savior to be imputed to them through faith, they foolishly thought they could somehow satisfy God’s requirements of perfect obedience themselves (Ex. 19:8). Even in Ezekiel we see God freely offering grace, but the people insisted on their own obedience to the law for salvation. So, God gave them over to it, and held them strictly accountable to it. In order to show them their absolute inability to live up to His perfect standards of righteousness, and thus, to show them their desperate need of His mercy and grace (Ezek. 18).

By the time we get to Ezekiel 36 it becomes painfully obvious that the people are unable to obey God’s perfect precepts. So God finally reveals that He is the only one Who can save them and enable them to obey by giving them a new heart and spirit, in virtue of His merciful grace.

No one, not even O.T. saints, has ever been saved by their own obedience (Ex. 32:8, Deut. 9:13-14; 29:4; 32:20, 2 Kgs. 17:7-41, Isa. 1:2, 4, Heb. 3:10-11; 7:19). Ezekiel chapter 20 also makes it clear that the O.T. fathers were disobedient to God. They were sinful rebels and God saved the souls of a remnant of them, ONLY because of His unmerited grace and mercy upon them (i.e., Hos. 6:6-7). For only then would they be able to truly repent and obey from the heart.

Although God, His gospel, and the spiritual needs of humanity have never changed, CoC’s “suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” by trying to explain away the fact that the TRUE gospel was preached long BEFORE Pentecost.  For example, New Testament passages, such as Acts 8:32-35, referred to THE GOSPEL in the Old Testament. Romans 3:29-30 referred to THE GOSPEL in the O.T. Also, Galatians 3:6-8 referred to THE GOSPEL in the O.T. And Hebrews 4:2; 9:15; 10:1-4 referred to THE GOSPEL in the O.T., etc., etc.

How much clearer can it be?!

“There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

In the O.T., the gospel was often referred to as the promises and glad tidings (Acts 13:32, Rom. 10:15-16, Gal. 3:8, 14, 2 Tim. 1:1, 1 Pet. 4:6). In Isaiah, the gospel was even referred to as the “report” (53:1), and “the sure mercies of David” (55:3). Because the gospel has ALWAYS denoted the promise and doctrine of Christ, and how one abides in it by a faith that is granted and maintained by God’s mercy and grace (Gen. 3:15, 21; 6:8, Jonah 2:9, Hab. 2:4, Jn. 12:38, Heb. 11, 2 Jn. 1:9).

Even before it was more fully manifested in this church age (Rom. 1:1-2), the gospel has always been “the law of faith” and “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ” that sets believers free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 3:27; 8:2). This is also why the gospel is referred to as “the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:19), and “the riches of His goodness” (Rom. 2:4). And the riches of Christ, that were given to O.T. saints, surely included a full remission of sins (Heb. 11:26).

Although CoC’s try to put the cart before the horse, good works are the result of salvation, not the cause. The cause of salvation always precedes its effects, whether the effects be in the past, present or future. For the atonement covers the entire realm of time itself.

Even from the beginning, Abel was killed by his jealous brother Cain, because his righteous works were THE RESULT of his salvation by God’s grace, through faith in the promised Seed (Gen. 3:15, Heb. 11:4, 1 Jn. 3:12). His good works were faith in exercise. And the substance of true faith is Jesus, and always has been (Heb. 11:1).

Spirit-guided Simeon, Anna the prophetess, the woman at the well and all of God’s people had been faithfully awaiting His arrival (Lk. 2:25-38, Jn. 4:25, 1 Tim. 3:16). Christ was even the One the Israelites tempted in the wilderness (1 Cor. 10:9). Even Moses believed, obeyed and trusted in the pre-incarnate Christ (Ex. 3:3-6, 14). All O.T. saints were enabled, by God’s grace, through Christ, to bear fruits worthy of repentance (Mt. 3:8-10, Heb. 11).

They didn’t just believe Christ was coming, they believed in Christ, Who was coming. They delighted in Him and looked forward to His coming (Mal. 3:1). Just as believers do today, who also look forward to His second coming.

Abraham seen His day and rejoiced (Jn. 8:56, Gal.3:8, 16). For God’s everlasting covenant of salvation was concluded with Abraham BEFORE there was ever even a temple, circumcision or the law of Moses, etc. (Heb. 2:16; 8:10; 11:18). The Abrahamic covenant was a dual covenant. It was a covenant of grace because it promised that the covenant of works would be perfectly fulfilled by the promised Seed, the coming Messiah. And God’s Word clearly reveals that those who belong to Christ are of the Seed of Abraham BY FAITH, and heirs according to promise (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4, Gal. 3:14).

The condition of the covenant was not required of us but was promised to us.

Therefore, we must ask CoC’s how they could ever truly believe that God has a DIFFERENT eternal plan of redemption today, in light of these truths. Because, if they still refuse to believe that God’s eternal plan of redemption was concluded with Abraham, then according to Scripture, they cannot be a spiritual descendant of Abraham (Heb. 2:9, 16; 11:18), which would mean that they are NOT of Christ!!

Do CoC’s truly believe that God’s eternal plan of redemption changed at Pentecost? If so, then how was it ever eternal? How can any professing Christian deny that all of the Old Testament saints were justified by faith in Christ alone?

By faith, Daniel declared the Messiah would be “cut off, but not for Himself” (Dan. 9:26). In the Old Testament, all of God’s people were urged to believe in the Son of God (Psa. 2:7, 11, 12), for all O.T. sacrifices were only pointers to a fuller revelation of God’s love and mercy in His Son (Psa. 40:6; 51:16-17). Also, compare Psalm 40 to Hebrew 10 for further confirmation.

Agur even spoke of the Son of God (Prov. 30:4). And by faith, Isaiah foreseen the coming glory of the Messiah AND believed in Him personally, just as saints do today (Isa. 12:41; 45:22), which was reiterated in John 12:32-41.

The scenario between Abraham and Isaac (Heb. 11:17-19), and all of the O.T. “Feasts of First Fruits” all foreshadowed Jesus’ coming resurrection (i.e. Lev. 23:10-11). It all symbolized justification by God’s grace through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In verse 11, the words “to be accepted on your behalf” described how Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is imputed to all who believe. Including O.T. saints, which perfectly coincides with Romans 4:23-25.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20).

Hebrews 11:13, 17, 33, 39-40 also proves that none of the O.T. saints ever received the promises of God based upon any other way of salvation other than by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Just as God’s people do today, who ALL have the SAME eternal inheritance and share in the SAME saving grace that He bestowed upon Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David and every other saint, prophet, patriarch and godly king in the O.T. 

The differences in faith are not absolute, but only relative and comparative. For we now have even STRONGER consolation during this present reign of Christ and His kingdom. Which is why God encourages us to overcome obstacles just as effectively as the O.T. saints did, and even more so. Due to the fact that we have an even firmer foundation for belief today than they did. Because all of God’s promises have been more fully manifested in Jesus Christ (e.g., Hebrews 11:40 and 12:23).

Jesus’ resurrection, made possible by His shed blood of the covenant, also gives us even stronger assurance of salvation today (Rom. 10:9). The external O.T. ceremonies that ceased in practice were also given even more spiritual significance when Jesus fulfilled their shadows by the manifestation of His very substance. Therefore, the new covenant is “not according to that which He had made with their fathers” (Jer. 31:32), because there’s no need for candles once the sun has risen (Mal. 1:11; 4:2, 2 Pet. 1:19)!!

The new covenant is “new” because it more fully reveals that those who are brought into the everlasting covenant of grace are those who are effectually called into it (Jer. 32:40). The old covenant which God made with many (who all broke it) could not actually provide the reality that the Old Testament ceremonies signified (Heb. 8:9). For the blood of animals could never perfect anyone (Heb. 10:1-11). What the law pre-figured, it could not actually perform.

But all who are effectually called into the everlasting covenant are granted an everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24). Jesus’ blood and righteousness applies to all who trust in Him alone for salvation, because He has even procured their faith. They are those whom God has determined to save, to the uttermost, by the imputed righteousness and efficacious blood of Jesus Christ (Lk. 22:20, Heb. 7:25).

The new covenant fully reveals that God actually provides what He commands (Heb. 10:16-17). For Jesus actually obtained redemption (Heb. 8:10-13; 9:12-15; 10:11-12), whereas the old covenant priesthood could only point to this reality through shadows and types.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:3-4).

The Mosaic Law revealed people’s sins and their desperate need of the Savior (Gal. 3:19). But it never had the power to actually enable anyone to live godly. However, the new covenant, as it is more fully expressed in the New Testament, not only reveals God’s eternal moral law more fully, it also more fully reveals how God powerfully pardons sins and renews many to righteousness in virtue of Jesus’ vicarious sacrifice. He grants what He commands, by effectually calling people into His irresistible grace, which is His divine power that actually accomplishes His purposes. Thus, it is revealed as a covenant of grace, even in the Old Testament.

“He sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant for ever” (Psa. 111:9).

The Mosaic Law contained in ceremonies could never do this, which is why their observance has ceased and the preaching of God’s kingdom has increased (Lk. 16:16, Rom. 10:4). And this is why the Holy Spirit was poured out on God’s people, in fullness, after Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection (Jn. 7:39). Therefore, we now have a fuller view of Christ as our moral standard of righteousness, rather than the external, Mosaic form of law. Thus, the N.T. gives us a clearer view, and a deeper conviction, of our own spiritual heart condition, which is where all of our external actions spring from.

Therefore, the remnant that was saved in the O.T., even while the old covenant was still in effect, was saved only by being effectually called into the everlasting covenant of grace by the redeeming blood of Christ. For they too had the Spirit of adoption, whereby they could cry out to God as their Father (Isa. 63:16, Rom. 8:15).

Strictly speaking, they had the same faith, the same grace, the same gospel and the same eternal inheritance that believers have today.

All O.T. saints died eternally secure in the faith of Christ, even though they hadn’t yet received the full consummation of God’s promises concerning His first advent (Heb. 11:13). Likewise, saints today have eternal security in the faith of Christ, even though we haven’t yet received the full consummation of all the promises concerning His second advent. Even then, there will be a summing up of the SAME GOSPEL (Eph. 1:10). God’s eternal plan of redemption has always revealed the unchanging nature of His person and purpose, and how He progressively reveals it more abundantly throughout redemptive history (Heb. 6:17).

God’s church was in its infancy in the O.T. (Gal. 4:1-5), but His gospel, His kingdom and His Body (which is His people), have always been secured in Christ, for His eternal plan of redemption is eternal (Psa. 102:28, Isa. 2:3, Zech. 9:11, Lk. 1:32, Eph. 1:11, Titus 1:2). No one has ever obtained God’s blessings any other way than by Christ alone.

By comparing Exodus 19:5-6 with 1 Peter 2:9-10 one can clearly see that God’s people have always been His “peculiar treasure,” a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation.” And though His kingdom is in this world, it is not “of this world” (Jn. 18:36, Rom. 14:17).

“The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all” (Psa. 103:19).

God’s kingdom is spiritual, which is why Jesus has always reigned in His people through faith, love and the good works that proceed from those God-given graces that He procured for them (Psa. 47:2, Eph. 2:10). Those who observe His commandments and judgments are those who love the true God and Savior of Scripture (Neh. 1:5), because He first loved them (1 Jn. 4:19).

When Jesus referred to His people, He said “the kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21). For His people make up His body, His church, His kingdom, which has always existed throughout all generations (Psa. 74:2, 20; 146:13, Mt. 16:18-19). And they have always entered in by Holy Spirit regeneration, through faith (Mk. 1:8, 1 Cor. 12:13). As a result, they become a “new creation” that will eternally inhabit the “new Jerusalem” (2 Cor. 5:17, Rev. 21).

Water baptism is then performed as an outward demonstration of what has already occurred inwardly (Rom. 6:3-5). It is a seal, or a pledge, that confirms their salvation, NOT something that effects salvation by the performance of it.

Jesus told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God had come upon them (Lk. 11:20). He also told His disciples that they would see the kingdom of God come with power (Mk. 9:1), Not by observation (Lk. 17:20), but by experience, because the Holy Spirit would be more abundantly poured out. In order to empower them to spread the SAME GOSPEL even further (Acts 1:8).

No wonder Paul absolutely destroyed all two-gospel, hyper-dispensational heresies when he equated the gospel of God’s grace with the kingdom of God that Jesus and His apostles preached (Acts 20:24-25, 1 Cor. 15:11, Gal. 2:6-9). For they are ONE AND THE SAME!

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:4-6).

Despite the CoC’s hyper-dispensational heresies, there was NEVER one way of being saved in the O.T. and another way of being saved in the N.T., as if one legal system merely replaced another.  God forbid!  Such false teachings imply that God’s character has changed, and that man’s spiritual needs have changed, which are both an absolute impossibility! Therefore, CoC’s have dealt falsely with God’s covenant (Psa. 44:17).

The CoC has always promoted another way of salvation, a different kingdom (its earthly organization) and a different gospel, which blasphemously implies that there’s more than one God. But, in Romans 3:29-30, Apostle Paul made it clear that since there is only one God, there has always been only one way of salvation, and that is by God’s grace, through faith. Paul even confirmed this in Romans 4 where he reveals how Abraham was justified by faith BEFORE the Law was given, and how David was justified by faith AFTER the Law was given.

In Ephesians 4:5-6, Paul confirmed this one way of salvation, in one God, for all of God’s people are one in Christ, by faith in Christ alone, in every age. No wonder Paul described the salvation of God’s people as being grafted into one tree by faith, and how they are the “true Jews” or “spiritual Israel” by faith (Rom. 2:29; 4:11; 11:17, 20, Phil. 3:3, Gal. 6:16; 3:29, Rev. 2:9).

God didn’t replace ethnic Jews or national Israel with His church (an error of replacement theology). Instead, He expands His church, builds His church and adds to His church, throughout redemptive history (Heb. 3:3-6), for the gates of Hell cannot prevail against His spiritual house (Acts 2:47, Mt. 16:18, 1 Pet. 2:5). Jesus has always been the Rock foundation of His church (1 Cor. 3:11).

Therefore, the everlasting gospel that came to the Jews first, is made effectual in a remnant from EVERY tongue, tribe and nation, including ethnic Jews (Rom. 1:16; 11:5, Mt. 28:19, Rev. 5:9; 14:6). The word “world” is used in Scripture to describe all who are effectually called into His everlasting covenant (e.g., Jn. 3:16).

The writer to the Hebrews made it clear that coming to Christ is in line with the SAME FAITH that all of the O.T. saints had, which is now expanded, amplified and magnified by the establishment of the New Covenant. It is not just another version (or a newer version) of the Old Covenant. On the same hand, the gospel didn’t destroy the covenant of works, but rather established it, because Jesus was its fulfillment. Which made way for the covenant of grace to be officially and eternally established in time.

The Covenant of grace was never a covenant of works that fallen mankind could ever perfectly fulfill. Adam had already made that impossible. The dual nature of the Abrahamic covenant meant that it was a covenant of grace because the coming Messiah (the second Adam) would perfectly satisfy the demands of the covenant of works and would pay, in full, the penalty of it being broken by the first Adam and all his posterity.

The New Covenant is not just a covenant of works for mankind to try to fulfill, as the CoC would so deceptively have us to believe. And the revelation of God’s eternal plan of redemption is no longer limited to the stewardship of ethnic Jews (Acts 7:38). For Jesus was the only physical Seed of Abraham who actually fulfilled the covenant of works that was given to the Jews to convict them of sin and to point them to Christ.

But even after CoC’s have been confronted with all of the biblical evidence, the majority is still slipping in a DIFFERENT plan of redemption, not God’s ETERNAL plan of redemption. They continue to try to smuggle in a completely FORIEGN FOUNDATION for salvation that has never existed, and never will exist, because God’s eternal plan of redemption has always been, and always will be, based solely upon God’s grace through Christ and His work, NOT God’s grace through Christ PLUS our own work.

The CoC attempts to establish the righteousness of man’s works for salvation, rather than declaring Jesus’ imputed righteousness (which is apprehended only by faith) as the only way to heaven (Rom. 4:22-25; 10:3). And the pride that is inevitably produced by such self-righteous programming is clearly manifested when its staunch defenders refuse to admit when they are wrong and when they refuse to acknowledge the fact the CoC’s false interpretations have been historically and biblically proven to be tainted with cultic indoctrination that needs to be humbly repented of, rather than arrogantly boasted of.

The CoC’s official literature, especially concerning the thief on the cross, bears witness to the fact that its “new law,” which is founded upon “different terms,” is a completely foreign foundation for salvation that is found absolutely nowhere in Scripture (For an exemplary demonstration of this, please see: https://housetohouse.com/the-worlds-most-popular-thief/).

The CoC’s contention suggests that God’s perfect standard of righteousness (His moral law) was not perfect after all, for it supposedly had to be completely overhauled by Jesus. In other words, the CoC implies that Jesus had to become a new lawgiver with a new set of rules on how to be saved.  Simply put, the CoC’s false gospel is just a new law that Jesus supposedly instituted. However, Jesus NEVER set forth any of the CoC’s so-called “different terms” or “new laws” for a works-based-salvation.

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17).

Regardless of the CoC’s false and Pharisaical interpretations, God’s perfect standard of righteousness has NEVER needed to be corrected or added to. Instead, Jesus vindicated and confirmed the genuine interpretation of God’s moral law that had been perverted by the Scribes and Pharisee’s that CoC operatives have obviously become a modern-day counterpart of.

Rather than enforcing the CoC’s new gospel, Jesus re-enforced an even more powerful continuation of the SAME GOSPEL, which was further revealed and expounded upon “beginning at Jerusalem.” And how appropriate, for that is where Christ had been crucified by those who put a false interpretation upon the O.T. and refused to trust in Him alone for salvation (Lk. 24:47).

But those who do depend upon Christ alone for their salvation, are able to harmonize their theology with the full council of God (including Hebrews 4:2 and its parallel passages (e.g., Isa.53:1, Jn. 12:38, Rom. 3:29-30; 10:16 and Gal. 3:6-8).

No wonder the Apostle Paul equated the gospel with God’s eternal plan of redemption. He proclaimed that God’s gospel of grace was given before the world even began, and that it became even more fully manifest at the physical appearing of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished at the cross in time…

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:9-10).

But the CoC’s newfangled inventions were brought in to detract from God’s eternal plan of redemption, by introducing a DIFFERENT plan of redemption that unhitches the O.T. from the N.T., rather than revealing their intrinsic interconnectedness.

In the O.T. God promised a new covenant, and at the same time, He revealed that it would not be different in salvation substance from His everlasting covenant, because the new is a revelatory EXTENSION of the very same ETERNAL plan of redemption (Ex. 24:8, Psa. 89:3, 4, 28).

In this sense, the new covenant was already in effect, to an extent, even in the Old Testament. The very fact that Jesus was forgiving sins even BEFORE the cross, confirms that it was already in effect by virtue of the eternity of the cross (Gal. 3:17).

When Jesus re-enforced the New Covenant AT THE CROSS, He confirmed its eternality. Because the cross is at the very crux of redemptive history. The TRUE gospel, even in its ultimate manifestation at Jesus’ second Advent, will STILL be the same eternal plan of redemption that God has ordained, NOT the CoC’s “new set-up fees for salvation” that are a modern counter-part to first century Judaism.

If only CoC’s could follow Apostle Paul’s example, because he publicly renounced his former Pharisee-ism when he submitted to water baptism, which would’ve been a comfort for those believers who had been fleeing his previous persecutions. For he publicly confirmed his conversion through the ritual that represented it.

Only God can savingly justify a person through faith (Rom. 5:1). So, when James told people to “show” their faith by their works (Jas. 2:18), he meant that a professing believer should be able to “show” (to prove or justify their claim) by the fruits that come from a true and living faith (Jas. 2:24). Even God was said to be “justified” (or proven to be faithful) in man’s eyes (Lk. 7:29). In the same way, a true believer is “justified before men,” so to speak, by proving to be a faithful follower of Christ and not just a false professor with no true fruits to prove their claim.

On the other hand, Scripture is clear that we can never be “justified before God” by our own works (Rom. 4:2). Regardless of the CoC’s doctrinal errors, we are to never put the cart before the horse. Scripture reveals the true order of salvation. Having already been justified by faith alone BEFORE GOD, Paul’s God-given faith was then justified (proved) BEFORE MEN (Mt. 5:16; 10:32-33), when he demonstrated his God-given faith by his works (Jas. 2:17-26). 

After that, Paul went forth preaching the gospel of repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus, with absolutely NO mention of water baptism being a part of that gospel (i.e., Acts 6:1-2; 20:21, 1 Cor. 15:1-4, 1 Thess. 1:9). Because baptism is NOT a part of gospel preaching!  

Instead, water baptism is part of the sanctification and discipleship of Jesus’ “called out ones” (the elect, His church, His body, His scattered sheep), who obey the gospel… by coming to Christ through saving faith!! They are “grafted into Christ” by the Holy Spirit, through faith alone (Rom. 11:17-20).

There are many examples given to us in the Old Testament that foreshadowed how God’s people have ALWAYS been “engrafted into Christ” by faith, NOT by any works of their own. For example, neither saved Jews, nor saved Gentiles, in the O.T. were ever able to adhere to any covenant of works for salvation. Rahab, a Gentile harlot in the O.T., was highly commended in the “hall of faith.” But not because she had any salvific righteousness of her own that could have ever possibly commended her to God for salvation (Heb. 11:31). Seemingly, she had never even performed any of the ceremonial practices under the Law of Moses.

Rahab’s faith was counted as righteousness. She simply believed God and His promises. As a result, her God-given faith effectually worked by a love that rested in Him, unlike a self-generated, ineffectual faith that can only work by slavish fear. Her son Boaz also married a Gentile named Ruth, and because of her God-given faith, she gave up her entire family and culture to serve God and His people, for she too had a faith that effectually worked by love (Ruth 1:16). And these three are all honorably mentioned in the lineage of Jesus Christ, to reveal the fact that He sprang from both the Jews AND the Gentiles, because He is the Savior of both (Mt. 1:5).          

The mystery of the gospel of God’s grace was there all along (e.g., Rom. 3:21, Eph. 3, Col. 1:26,)!! No wonder Paul often quoted Old Testament prophets when he spoke of justification by faith (i.e., Joel 2:32, Hab. 2:4, Acts 17:3, Rom. 1:17; 4:6-8; 10:12-13, 1 Cor. 15:3, Gal. 3:11, 2 Tim. 3:15). Peter even quoted an O.T. prophet in Acts 2:31 who had spoken of Christ, the very object of that faith whereby one is justified. For Jesus Christ is the central focus of ALL the Scriptures!

“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk.24:27).

God’s eternal plan (decree) of redemption is the central element of every dispensation and every covenant.  No wonder Paul spoke of having the same saving faith that the O.T. saints had in the Messiah (Rom. 4:23-25, 2 Cor. 4:13, Psa. 116:10). Job also spoke of his faith in the Redeemer (Job 19:25:26). Micah demonstrated his faith in Jesus when he prophesied of His incarnation (Mic. 5:2). Zechariah demonstrated His faith in Jesus when he spoke of a fountain that would be opened for sin and uncleanness (Zech. 13:1). Enoch demonstrated his faith in Jesus when he prophesied that He was coming with thousands upon thousands of His saints (Jude 14). Moses demonstrated his faith in Jesus when he chose the reproach of Christ over the riches of Egypt (Heb. 11:26).

All of the Old Testament saints drank from the same spiritual Rock, “and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:3-4). For all works of the law pointed to Christ, Whom they were believing in. Even now, the law (which extends to all works) points to Christ, Whom we are to believe in. For God’s people have ALWAYS been justified by faith, NOT by works of their own (i.e., Rom. 11:6, Gal. 2:16, 21).

No wonder Jesus severely rebukes any who will refuse to believe what the O.T. prophets spoke of concerning Him (Lk. 24-25; 24:44-47, Jn. 5:39), which means the CoC and its heretical agents are on EXTREMELY dangerous ground, because its false doctrines are an out-and-out denial of what those prophets spoke of!!

In complete contrast to the CoC, biblical theology maintains a cohesive balance where Scripture interprets Scripture. For only in Christ Jesus do we have the key of knowledge that unlocks all of the Old Testament types and shadows, which happens to be the very key that all Pharisees, in every generation, have always tried so hard to keep hidden under loads of legalistic luggage (Lk. 11:51-53).

The only way the CoC can maintain any kind of artificial cohesion, is that it must necessarily deny the central plot of Scripture…THE GOSPEL. For the CoC’s superficial interpretations fragment Scripture into incohesive parts that unravel at the seams when they come into close contact with this touchstone. And this is why the CoC ends up having to completely ditch the Old Testament, for its “new terms” of salvation (supposedly beginning in Acts 2:38), cannot be harmonized with the whole of Scripture.

But the CoC blasphemously sets up its baptistery as a stumbling block that keeps people from direct access to Jesus, which is through faith in Him alone. Like Romanism, the CoC commits sacrilege by setting up its baptistery in such a way that it obstructs a clear view of the marvelous beauty of redemption by God’s grace through faith that is found in Christ Jesus ALONE.

But despite the CoC’s dishonest deceptions, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of His people (past, present and future), which irrefutably proves that the penitent thief on the cross was saved in EXACTLY the same way that EVERY sinner (past, present and future) has EVER been saved.  And that was by saving faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by his own works. Because those who are satisfied in Christ alone, are enabled to resist and renounce every false remedy and fake refuge of lies that cults have to offer (Jn. 10:5).

The true gospel initially tends to tear sinners down by detecting their every legalistic endeavor and by destroying their every delusive hope. As a result, it persuades them to relinquish every refuge of lies. But it does all of this in order to point them to a crucified Savior as their only hope of heaven (1 Cor. 2:2).

Because, before a person can truly be saved, they must first be humbled into the dust by being given a clearer view of their sad and sinful condition, in stark contrast to the divine perfections of God’s perfect and holy standard of righteousness. For only then will one fully throw themselves upon the mercy of Christ alone as their only hope of salvation.

This is why it cannot be stated strongly enough just how far the CoC’s dangerous hyper-dispensational heresies are leading people away from the truth. Although many sincerely think that they are “doing the right thing” by listening to CoC leaders, they are actually being led further and further away from the true God and Savior of Scripture.

Sincerity is no guarantee of Heaven. As it has often been said, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Although there are many ways to Hell, there is only ONE WAY to Heaven, which is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (Jn. 14:6).       

And the thief on the cross was supernaturally led to that one way of salvation, which is why he didn’t have to be told, by cult leaders, what to “do” to get himself saved (e.g., 1 Jn. 2:26-27). Because his heavenly Father drew him, with cords of love, to Jesus (See: Song 1:4, Jer. 31:3, Hos. 11:4, Jn. 6:44). His heart and mind was spiritually illuminated with the revelation of Who Jesus really was (e.g., Mt. 11:27; 16:17; 27:37), as the Holy Spirit applied to him all of the blessed benefits of God’s grace, which Jesus procured for him (e.g., Eph. 1:13-14). So that, he was able to spiritually apprehend Jesus by faith (e.g., Phil. 1:29).

The penitent thief looked to Christ ALONE for his salvation, just as all of the O.T. saints did by virtue of the eternity of the cross and their eternal union with Christ (e.g., Ex. 34:7, Deut. 30:6, Psa. 65:3; 103:1-14; 130:4,7, Isa. 38:17, Micah 7:18-20, Jn. 3:3, Rom.4, Gal. 3:14-16).

When the penitent thief simply asked for Jesus to remember him, Jesus’ perfect redeeming love went above and beyond anything he could have ever imagined or asked for (Eph. 3:20). What a beautiful testimony of God’s grace that completely destroys all of the CoC’s damnable heresies! May all glory be to God alone, Who has rescued the thief’s testimony from those who have always tried to destroy it!! For He sets the captives free!!!!

Copyright © 2024 by Lee Anne Ferguson