Daily Bread

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Virgin Mary and the "144,000"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The story of the Virgin Mary is of intense interest to all who are longing for Jesus to come again, as He promised (John 14:1-3).

She had something in common with that special group, the "144,000” mentioned in Revelation 14:1-5. They "follow the Lamb [the crucified Christ] wherever He goes.” They do not resist or seek to evade the call. She said "yes” to the angel sent from the Father to announce to her the decision to choose her to be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:28-37). She did ask one question which was very appropriate and did not express any unbelief: "How can this be, since I do not know a man?” (vs. 34).

Otherwise, she offered no resistance or unbelief. Here was a call from heaven that totally would change the course of her life from then on; her sincere question answered, she readily agreed, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (vs. 38).

We search long to find a definition of what it means to "believe.” Well, here it is. The old lady Elizabeth used Mary's ready submission as a definition of faith. She said of Mary, "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord” (vs. 45; the word "blessed” means to be happy).

The "144,000” (obviously a symbolic number), have in the last days replicated Mary's happy consecration of herself to the Lord; they have done what the angel of great power says to do, "Come out of [Babylon], My people” (Rev. 18:1-4). These people are convicted of truth from God's word, truth that their family may not believe, nor their church, nor society in general. They are willing to step out for the sake of Christ and be considered "different” (cf. 1 Peter 2:9, KJV, for the word "peculiar”).

The "144,000” maybe for a long lifetime have endured opposition and even persecution from their family, their parents, or even their children. But just as the Virgin Mary was "blessed” (made happy), so this special group enjoy the gift of happiness in their submission of self to "the Lamb.”

When the Holy Spirit speaks to you through the Word, don't hesitate to respond with an enthusiastic "Yes.” Here I am, the child of God!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread” Archive: December 16, 2007.

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Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A Problem That MUST Be Solved

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

We talk a great deal about "the great controversy between Christ and Satan," and we look forward to the final end of the conflict with victory for Christ. (Yes, and for us, too! We don't want to forget that!)

But there is a problem that MUST be solved--the lukewarmness in the church. That word describes us all. How can such a church be ready for His second coming? Sincere people insist there is no problem--the church has always been that way and it always will be. "Christ will come when He gets ready, and if only a few are prepared to meet Him, that will be the end of the 'great controversy.'"

But wait a moment: Jesus says that His church being lukewarm makes Him so sick at His stomach that He feels like throwing up (Rev. 3:16 is clear). How can He come for a church that makes Him feel that way? And secondly, there must be a "marriage of the Lamb" before He can take His people home to glory (see Rev. 19:7-9). How can Jesus come if His Bride "hath [not] made herself ready" and makes Him feel like vomiting?

If Jesus cannot solve the problem of lukewarmness, He will forever be embarrassed throughout His great universe. How can He ascend the throne of His people's hearts if He cannot win them from a half-hearted, half-love the world/half-love Him, spiritual paralysis? Can He send disasters, like permitting Babylon to destroy Jerusalem? That would be like a Bridegroom sticking a pistol in his bride's back and telling her, "Say 'I do,' or I'll pull the trigger!" Could a marriage like that endure?

No, fear is not the answer. Jesus must somehow win the full heart-devotion of His church, or He can never be honored and glorified before the universe (and the world). There is only one way: reveal to His church His true character as "the Lamb that was slain." Let them SEE His cross, what His sacrifice amounted to, what it cost Him to save us, how He died our second death. That's why the Book of Revelation majors in the cross when it features Jesus as "the Lamb" twenty-five times.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 4, 2000.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

There we did it! Someone in the family was sick, we lost sleep, we had God-given duties to perform, we have a family to support, we have a long commute (we're trying to live in the country--isn't that good? But it means hours on the freeway), we are so pressed with responsibilities night and day, that we fall asleep at night exhausted. So now we haven't read our Bible and prayed as we should. We haven't maintained our relationship with the Lord. We have broken our part of the "contract” we have with Him.

Now it's up to us to re-build our "relationship” with the Lord. But under the New Covenant God's law is written in the heart, not on stone. Not only does He (a) initiate this blessed relationship with Himself (John 3:16, remember!) but (b) He "so loves” us that He seeks to maintain this relationship. In His personal absence Christ sends the Holy Spirit whose first work is to "convict ... of sin,” then "of righteousness,” and then "of judgment, because the prince of this world is condemned” (John16:7-12).

The Good Shepherd still seeks His "lost sheep” (Luke 15:3-7). This is the work of the Holy Spirit: "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left” (Isa. 30:21). The Lord of the Old Covenant is like your credit card company--miss a payment or be late, and the penalty begins. But the Good Shepherd of the New Covenant loves you so much that when you start to light up a cigarette the Holy Spirit tells you, "No! Don't do this!” If you're a glutton, when you go to the refrigerator at the wrong time He says, "No! Don't do this!” If you're an alcoholic and you begin to take a drink, He tells you "No! Don't take it!” He is constantly seeking to write that holy law in your heart.

You can beat Him off, you can refuse, you can be stubborn; but what are you doing? You are crucifying Christ afresh.

Now is the Day of Atonement, the time for New Covenant living. "Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). And thank Him that He hasn't forsaken you.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 3, 2003.

Monday, December 12, 2011

A Way Out--By Simply Looking

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The story in Numbers packs a powerful truth. The people were wallowing in Old Covenant darkness, forgetting that they were New Covenant children of father Abraham. "The soul of the people became very discouraged on the way" (21:4). They indulged in bitter unbelief and rebellion. Pure sin.

The Lord took the blame for what He did not prevent. He permitted poisonous snakes to afflict them. Fear motivated the people to "repent and beg Moses to pray that the Lord would "take away" the snakes (they couldn't pray!).

The Lord declined; instead, He appointed a way out for them: make one out of brass, lift it up so the people could see it on a pole; healing would come by simply looking. Other than that, no one was asked to "do" anything. We "see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death" "made to be sin for us" "who knew no sin," "that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (Heb. 2:9; 2 Cor. 5:21). Same idea: "seeing."

Worthy and unworthy people were treated alike: there's no record that the "good" were immune. The snake on the pole was for "all men."

Was the Lord teaching that law obedience is unimportant? No; He had another lesson for them that went deeper. Salvation is not secured by what we do but by what we "behold." The beholding brings "comprehension" of the "width and length and depth and height--to know the love [agape] of Christ which passes knowledge." Then we are "filled with all the fullness of God," ready for translation at Christ's coming (Eph. 3:18, 19).

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 31, 2006.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Listen, and Behold

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

If your soul is tempted, strained, pulled this way and that, bewildered, confused, take heart because God's true saints have had those same trials for 6000 years. But they have also been relieved, un-confused, saved from despair, by choosing to believe Good News truths like these:

(1) Are you convicted deep inside that you are a sinner? Listen to "the Pharisees and scribes" tell you the one true thing they ever uttered: "This Man [Jesus] receiveth sinners" (Luke 15:2). Jesus has said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Good news! The Holy Spirit has brought that conviction of sin to you; this is prima facie evidence that the Lord Himself is working for your salvation. Yes! Grasp that, realize it, and you will be singing the Hallelujah chorus for eternity.

But that paradox starts gnawing at your soul immediately: how can you be happy when you are constantly reminded that you are a sinner? The answer: the Holy Spirit's conviction of your sin includes the conviction that the Son of God is your Savior from it. Therefore your attention is being constantly drawn away from looking at yourself, and fixed on Christ. So, next:

(2) Salvation is yours by looking at Him. That's not the thoughtless glance. Listen to John the Baptist's impassioned cry to the multitude: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus emphasized this same truth to Nicodemus in that late-night interview: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever [you!] believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life" (3:14).

Look again: the "believing" here is the same as "beholding" because that was what the Israelites in the wilderness had to do: look at that serpent, and that meant look, and look, and look, intensely, as for their very life! That means put away your remote and let the Holy Spirit call you to dig in the Bible; now dig. Not as a "work," but let faith do the work (Gal. 5:5, 6). Let your soul become obsessed with how good the Good News is in the pure, true "gospel of Christ," God's message for today, which is the "present truth," the "third angel's message in verity" (Rom. 1:16; 2 Peter 1:17, Rev. 14:6-14). Learn truth as for your very life!

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: August 26, 2007.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

"Remember the Sabbath Day ..."

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

As a pastor I once urged young people to listen to classical music rather than rock. Since then I have often been reminded that much classical music, especially that composed by non-Christian composers since about the middle of the 19th century, has been just as much an expression of frayed nerves as is rock. Something happened to humanity about a century and a half ago that has set humanity's nerves on edge. It is expressed in popular music-a restlessness of spirit, an impatience with life, a minor key, frenetic irritation, expressed in cacophony and instrumental and vocal discord, yes, rebellion in music (if such it can be called). It's musical "enmity against God."

Some will say the problem was the Industrial Revolution; now we live in the age of roaring jet engines, diesel trucks, and jack hammers. It's like rubbing our eardrums with sandpaper. But we could endure all that and still be at peace in spirit if we could keep the Sabbath day holy. Industry is not primarily at fault; in fact, God has specifically commanded us, "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work" (Ex. 20:9).

About the same time in the middle of the 1800s came what must be a call from heaven to reverence God and give Him glory as Creator and Redeemer, by raising up the foundations of many generations-observance of the Lord's true Sabbath. It was intended by Heaven to be the call to "Come unto [Him], all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and [He] will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). The call to Sabbath rest was not a legalism burden, but a proclamation of the true Good News of justification by faith. Keeping the Lord's true seventh-day Sabbath was to be the path through which humanity realized that "rest." The restlessness of spirit that humanity find in rock music is actually Sabbath-less-ness, coming naturally with the loss of Sabbath-keeping.

Right now, pause where you are and "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: July 11, 2001.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

The "Last Generation"-2

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The Bible truth of the "last generation" tells a great story of success in God's work. It will include the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit in a full measure the world has not seen since the Day of Pentecost when Christ was ushered into His ministry as the world's High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.

What did the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost include?

Jesus has said that if He goes away, He will not leave us "orphans," but He will send us "another Comforter," whose first work will be to "convict of sin" (John 14:16; 16:8).

What sin did the Holy Spirit convict the people of, at Pentecost? Answer: The awful, the terrible sin of crucifying the Son of God (Acts 2:36). There is no sin deeper, more horrible.

To the last generation of people on earth, the Lord will send the same Gift in His fullness--bringing a conviction of sin that goes deeper than He has ever gone with a "body" of God's people, since Pentecost.

This outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be a fulfillment of Zechariah 12:10-14:

(a) The call to repentance will come first to the leadership of the church, "the house of David, ... the inhabitants of Jerusalem."

(b) It will be "the spirit of grace and of supplication." No high-pressure "professional" calls for superficial responses; this will be "grass-roots" in that it will go directly to the lowest layers of consciousness.

(d) This means that it will be an exaltation of "Christ and Him crucified," not just beautiful PowerPoint pictures, but by a clear heart-conviction of how contrary our character has been to that of Jesus.

(e) Repentance will be the direct result.

(f) But the fruit will bring glory to Christ, which will be the most glorious in all time.

May the Lord hasten the day!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 8, 2007.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

The "Last Generation"-1

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Jesus and His "Last Generation" of saints on earth is a topic that has grown tremendously in interest worldwide. The basic idea of the "Last Generation" is rooted in Scripture:

(1) The honor and vindication of Christ will be enhanced by a group of His followers who lay self aside and permit the Holy Spirit to reproduce in them a character that fully reflects Christ.

(2) Thus it will be demonstrated that sin has never been a necessary thing; "the gospel of Christ ... is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16). It has power to enable those who cherish the faith of Jesus to "overcome [sin] even as [He] overcame" (Rev. 3:21), that is, to "condemn sin" in their fallen, sinful flesh (Christ did!); they are the ones in that text who at last will "sit with [Him] on His throne."

(3) Further, they will be the 144,000 "who follow the Lamb [the crucified Christ] wherever He goes" (Rev. 14:4).

(4) They will be the "we" that Paul speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 who "are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord ... [when] the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we [the saints who follow the Lamb everywhere in that last generation] will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

(5) Thus "Jesus and His last generation saints" are "the blessed hope" of all ages, truth that has often been nearly forgotten.

(6) What will bring about this tremendous change, the most glorious in the history of the world?

(7) Answer: the pure true message of "Christ and His righteousness," that has no "Babylon" confusion left in it. [More tomorrow.]

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 5, 2007.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

How Close Has the Son of God Come to Us?

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

How close has the Son of God come to us in our humanity? Bible readers generally for centuries have recognized in Psalm 119 a prophetic revelation of the heart cries of Jesus in His incarnation. David wrote it, as he did Psalms 22 and 69; but he was "searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in [him] did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ" (1 Peter 1:11). We find there a revelation of Christ's human struggle with temptations and "afflictions" "like as we are [tempted and tried], yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15).

Read them, believing as you go, and you will be immensely comforted and encouraged. You will find repeatedly He says things that your heart has been trying to say from its deepest depths but you have been too uncertain or too shy to say. Jesus dares to pray the prayer you wish you had the boldness to pray!

For example: He tells our Father in heaven, "I am small and despised" (119:141). Yes! But don't forget the rest in that same breath: "Yet I do not forget Thy precepts." So, don't you "forget." There's the tension that Jesus felt in His own soul, like you know--one moment sensing your helplessness, the next remembering you've been adopted into the Father's family.

Jesus accepted discipline from His Father: "I know ... that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted Me" (vs. 75). Even He wasn't ready for His ministry until He was 30!

Instead of harboring resentment against those who "dealt perversely" with Him, He turned His attention to Bible truth: "I will meditate in Thy precepts" (vs. 78). So must you.

He was human enough to know what it is to long for revenge on those who treated Him unfairly: "When wilt Thou execute judgment on them that persecute Me?" (vs. 84). Have you ever noticed the innate desire that children know for fairness?

More than ten times in Psalm 119 Jesus prays (in old English), "quicken Me," which means, "make Me alive again." Before His Great Resurrection on "the third day," He had practiced being "resurrected" many times. It was no slang expression for Him, "I almost died!" He knows what a heart-stopping trauma is like. "They had almost consumed Me upon earth," He complains; that's when He prayed to be made alive again (vss. 87, 88).

Yes, He has come intimately close to us.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 23, 2003.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Repentance WILL Come

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

The last page of the Bible invites us to come if we are thirsty, and "take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). And Jesus says, "Come to Me" if we're weary and heavy-laden, and He will give us "rest" (Matt. 11:28-30). So, we "come" and we are baptized, and we become members of the church. We are so happy at last to find fellowship in the Lord; heaven on earth.

And we continue to "read the Bible, and pray, and witness" like we're always told to do. And we believe the Bible and say so, but then opposition and controversy arise. We're tempted to wish that we had kept still. So, we are driven to our knees to pray, and we ask the Lord, "Why is this happening? I wanted peace, and now this 'war' has come!"

The Lord has indeed promised, "the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out"! (John 6:37). As you wait quietly before Him in prayer, He answers your questions faithfully:

(a) If you keep your eyes on Jesus you will see a Man who was cruelly crucified because He told the truth. And He tells us all, "I did not come to bring peace but a sword" (Matt. 10:34). Deny self, take up your cross daily (Luke 9:23). But wait a moment--you never fight a battle alone! This is what you must believe.

(b) He faithfully promises, "'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" (Heb. 13:5, 6). You choose not to be afraid, in the Lord. Then … you're not afraid.

(c) Even in the church, the Lord's house, where we expect to find heaven on earth, we find conflict and even persecution. That's where the most severe and painful conflicts come! But the Lord still assures you, He won't forsake you.

(d) He loves the church for it is yet to become the Bride of Christ; and it does indeed have very severe problems within it, for Jesus tells the leadership of the church today that of all the "seven churches" of world history, you are the one outstandingly "miserable, poor, blind, and naked" (the little Greek word "ho" is there, the one; Rev. 3:17).

(e) Therefore do not give up on the church, the body of Christ, His Bride-to-be. The final victory in the "great controversy between Christ and Satan" comes at the very end and it requires that the church finally "overcome" and do what He says in Revelation 3:19--repent. It won't at last be fear that motivates her, but a deeper appreciation of what it cost Him to save us. That melted-hearted repentance will come, it has to come; hang on!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 5, 2007.

To subscribe send an e-mail message with "subscribe" in the body of the message to: dailybread@1888message.org

Robert J. Wieland's inspirational "Dial Daily Bread" messages are availalbe via e-mail to anyone who wishes to receive a daily portion of uplifting Good News. "Dial Daily Bread" is FREE. Due to travel or other circumstances, there may be intervals when "Dial Daily Bread" will not be sent.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Christ's Concern That We Not Be "Deceived"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Just before Jesus was to be crucified, His disciples wanted to show Him their glorious Temple, in their eyes the wonder of the world. As they were able to grasp that He was the long-awaited Messiah, they naturally associated His coming "kingdom" with the glories of their Temple.

Its coming ruin was the most ignominious national ruin in the history of the world (70 A.D.), more devastating than Nebuchadnezzar's destruction (586 B.C.), more horrible than the Sack of Rome (410 A.D.). In Matthew 24 Jesus lovingly cautions us of a similar devastation to come before He can return the second time. Imagine the disciples' bewilderment when He tells them that of its huge stones "not one ... would be left ... one ... upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

He was especially concerned that we not be "deceived," for over a dozen times He mentions some aspect of spiritual deception or apostasy that will ruin the souls of "many."

(1) The name of "Christ" or "Christian" will cover a huge amount of poisonous deception (vss. 5, 23, 24, 26). He cannot copyright His name.

(2) A large part of the "deceiving" will be "lawlessness," which is anti-agape in spirit (vs. 12; that's the word in the original).

(3) Because the agape will "grow cold," it means those who have that experience will have professed the service of Christ; in other words, they are church members.

(4) Anti-agape is the spirit that pervades the lukewarmness of the world church of Laodicea. Why? It humbles self.

(5) The experience of agape is what happens when the soul understands the "breadth and length and depth and height" of agape (Eph. 3:14-17), the love that drove the Son of God to go to "hell" to find us and die our second death (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14, 15); that agape "constrains" the believer to take up his cross and follow Jesus--it's the cross on which self is "crucified with Christ"(Gal. 2:20).

(6) But there's a big BUT in what Jesus says: "But ... this gospel ... will be preached in all the world ..." (vss. 13, 14).

(7) And there is the great angel of Revelation 18:1-4. Lukewarmness is impossible in the light of his message!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: June 17, 2007.

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Twisting Galatians Out of Shape

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

One of the problems people make for themselves in twisting Galatians out of shape is in 5:14, which tells us that obedience to the law of God is summed up "in one word": "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Aha, they say: "You must love yourself; you can't love anybody else unless first of all you love self." Then, when they think about that some more, some have ended up believing that "love of self is love of God." This has actually been accepted as righteousness by faith! Paul was an inspired apostle--what's the truth? Does he teach us to love self as the foundation of genuine Christian experience?

Clear-thinking people have wrestled with this problem for centuries. It doesn't take too much thought to recognize that the love of self is a very ugly thing, for it is the essence of all selfishness. When we see it in ourselves we usually like it but when we see it in others we are repulsed. Hundreds of years ago Martin Luther broke through the fog and saw what Paul meant. The law indeed is summed up "in one word": "Love your neighbor as you used to find it natural to love yourself."

From the first breath we ever drew it has been natural for all of us to love self. No baby cries because some other baby is hungry. Children are naturally self-centered. It's cute to see; but just let that "natural" self-centeredness grow undeterred, un-crucified, and what do you see? All the evil that curses this world.

What's the solution to this basic, totally universal problem? The previous verse: "By agape, serve one another"! This would be as impossible for us as jumping over the moon were it not that the Son of God was "made in the likeness of men." At the price of His cross He condemned this natural selfishness "in the flesh" (Rom 8:3), that it might be possible for us to "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5). Christ was agape in human flesh; none of us is born that way, but by faith we can become "partakers of the divine nature"--which is agape.

Thank the Lord for saving our souls!

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 22, 2000.

Friday, December 02, 2011

"A Chosen Vessel of Mine"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

"THE APOSTLE PAUL IS NOT GUILTY!" That's how the black headlines should read in the world's media. The apostle Peter is not accusing Paul of being "hard to be understood," which is the cardinal fault of would-be gospel preachers who are superficially minded (cf. 2 Peter 3:16). For anyone to stand in a pulpit and confuse people about the most blessed truth the world can know, is awful! Paul was anything but confusing to people.

People have glanced superficially at what the apostle Peter says there. It mentions Paul's "epistles, speaking in them of ... some things hard to be understood," and they assume (from their English Bible) that Paul's Romans or Galatians is a forbidding thicket of theological confusion; so skip Paul. You'll get to heaven fine without understanding him; all you need is the little ditty, "Jesus loves me this I know." Period. God asks no more of your understanding.

But the Lord Jesus Himself declared of Paul, "He is a chosen vessel of Mine" (Acts 9:15). It was He Himself who saw to it that many of Paul's "epistles" got into the New Testament; we need every one of them, especially Galatians and Romans. That's where at last we find the clearest answer to the question of what Israel's convoluted history means; set in perspective, it's the world's best good news for it's told in the light of the cross where the Jews crucified the world's Christ. In this grand Day of Atonement, the last of earth's history, we are privileged to overcome ancient Israel's sins, for as never before in 6000 years the message of "Christ and Him crucified" is to be proclaimed most clearly.

What Peter meant and said is different from the popular understanding: the problem was (and is) that people "wrest" or distort what the apostle Paul said, and thus rob themselves of eternal life, for it's "to their own destruction."

An example of a blessing overlooked is Romans 5. I well remember in younger days avoiding that chapter; I thought it was well over my head. So I deeply sympathize with those who think Romans 5 is forbidding to read. But the word that Peter used (in the Greek) was dusnoetos, which literally simply means "misperceived." It gets Paul off the hook; all you have to do is to read his epistles with perception! Try reading his Romans 5 with a different version also, it may help. He is simply saying that the sin of Adam brought on "all men" the inheritance of a fallen, sinful nature, with its death; Christ took on Himself that same nature (with its death), and became our new, or second Adam, reversing all that the first Adam did to us. Thus He gives the same "all men" His eternal life instead. And Paul says five times that it's a "gift," not a mere "offer"!

But you have something to do, and if you're an honest soul, you'll do it: youreceive the "gift," you thank Him for it, you appreciate it, you believe; and in gladness of heart you obey forever after.

--Robert J. Wieland

From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: January 5, 2007.