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Imitators
by Pastor John Fredericksen


A few weeks ago, when our grandson was about 27 months old, we noticed him doing something incredibly cute. He had put on his daddy’s flip-flops (a size 12) and was proudly walking around the room with a big smile on his face. He has become a great, natural imitator of what he hears us say and sees us doing. This got me to thinking that even we adults usually imitate someone.

Once Israel was in their promised land, “the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations…” (I Sam. 8:19-20). This was an unwise decision on the part of Israel. God had been governing them through a series of judges who represented the Lord. These judges certainly were not perfect, but this had been God’s design. Jehovah’s response to their virtual demand to Samuel to give them a king was, “they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (I Sam. 8:7).

This pattern of imitating the world later worsened. “They rejected His [the Lord’s] statutes, and His covenant…and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them” (II Kings 17:15). Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people frequently became too close and familiar with the lost people around them. In the case of Lot, he first pitched his tent toward Sodom but before long he was living within the city and had completely lost his testimony. In other instances, Israel made treaties with the heathen nations, began to intermarry with them, and in short order began to worship their false gods. They were imitating the wrong things and the wrong people.

This same danger is still entrapping many believers in our day. Far too often, we are unduly influenced by the way the lost in our society talk, dress, think, and by what they embrace as acceptable, even when these things are clearly displeasing to the Lord. We believers are too often caught in the trap of being overly occupied with sports, recreation, leisure time, and hobbies to the neglect of spiritual things and the Lord’s local work. The Lord has something far better in mind for us, and someone far better to imitate.

The Lord tells us in Romans 12:2: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” As believers, our lives are to be so transformed that there is a marked difference between us and the unsaved. Our standard ought not to be what the world is doing, or what the latest fad dictates. Our standard should be what would please and honor the Lord. There is no virtue in being weird, strange, or odd. These things do not enhance our testimony or effectiveness as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, we believers should be different from the world in many ways.

Believers do have someone they should be imitating. We should “mark them [godly believers] which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Phil. 3:17). Godly, knowledgeable Christians who followed Paul as he followed Christ and are fervent in their walk with Christ are the ones we should imitate.

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Can The Law Save?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


This writer does not wear clerical garb, but somehow when he visits a church away from home, someone is apt to step up to him and ask: “Are you by any chance a minister?”

Acts 13 tells how this once happened to Paul and Barnabas. They had entered a synagogue as strangers and simply sat down to listen. After “the reading of the law and the prophets,” however, the leaders of the service sent someone to ask them: “Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on” (Verses 14 and 15). Somehow Paul and Barnabas had been recognized as men of God.

The custom at that time was to read a passage from the Law and then some passages in which the prophets urged the people to observe the Law. This was followed by an exhortation by one or more of the religious leaders present.

Well, Paul did have a word of exhortation for the people, but it would be somewhat of a surprise. Getting to the point of his message, he preached to them Christ and the resurrection, and closed his talk with the words: “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses”(Verses 38 and 39).

This was the gist of his “exhortation”: Don’t trust in the Law for salvation — trust in Christ, who fulfilled the Law and died for your sins. This makes sense, and it agrees with the Bible as a whole. “By the Law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20): “it was added because of transgressions” (Gal.3:19): “for as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse” (Gal.3:10); but “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us” (Gal.3:13). “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law” (Rom. 3:28.).

It should be obvious that the Law can only condemn sinners, but it is also a fact that Christ died for sinners, to save them from the condemnation of the Law. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

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Is Water Baptism A Testimony?
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Let us suppose that you have been saved, but live a careless life and bear a poor testimony before the world. Would water baptism change this? What would it be worth?

But suppose you have been saved and live a godly, consistent life before the world. Is a water-confession necessary? How much is it worth? Don’t be afraid to answer this question honestly. How many “baptized converts” there are who cannot even give a word of testimony for their Lord among the lost!

In a sense, however, the baptism of believers by water in this age is a testimony — a bad testimony. When the Galatian believers submitted to circumcision it was a bad testimony (Gal. 5:2,3). Circumcision, while a part of Peter’s “gospel of the circumcision” had no place in “the gospel of the uncircumcision” committed to Paul (Gal. 2:7). And just as circumcision was connected with “the gospel of the circumcision” so water baptism was connected with “the gospel of the kingdom” (See Matthew 3:2,6; 10:5-7; cf. John 1:31; Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Luke 24:47; Acts 2:36-38; Acts 3:19-21).

We solemnly declare that the present day practice of water baptism is a reflection on the grace of God and a confession of a lack of appreciation of the finished work of Christ, and the believer’s completeness in Him (See Ephesians 1:6; Colossians 2:10). Furthermore, it betrays a poor understanding of the heavenly character and position of the Church of this age (See Ephesians 2:6; 1:3; Colossians 3:1-3).

Be a Berean. Search the Scriptures and see whether these things are so.

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A Clear Conscience
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


With the knowledge of good and evil man came into the possession of conscience. A sense of blameworthiness smote him when he committed, or even contemplated committing, evil. This has been so ever since. The Bible tells us that even the most ungodly and benighted heathen “show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another” (Rom. 2:15).

It is true that man’s conscience can be violated so often that it becomes calloused or, as St. Paul puts it: “seared with a hot iron” (I Tim. 4:2), but events or incidents can take place which suddenly awaken the conscience and make it sensitive again. Many a person has indulged in “the pleasures of sin” more and more freely until, suddenly, his sin has found him out and his conscience has caught up with him to condemn him day and night and make life itself unbearable.

The Bible teaches that all men outside of Christ are, to some degree, troubled by guilty consciences and certainly most are “through fear of death… all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15). But it also teaches that “Christ died for our sins” so that, our penalty having been paid, we might be delivered from a guilty conscience.

The works and ceremonies of the Mosaic Law could never accomplish this, but sincere and intelligent believers in Christ, having been “once purged,” have “no more conscience of sins” (Heb. 9:14; 10:1,2). They are, to be sure, conscious of their sins, but they are no longer tortured by a forever-condemning conscience, for they know that the penalty for all their sins, from the cradle to the coffin, was fully met by Christ at Calvary.

This is not to imply that even a sincere believer may not be troubled about offending the One who paid for his sins, but he knows that the judgment for these sins is past. Thus he earnestly seeks, like Paul, “to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man” (Acts 24:16).

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Two-Faced Christians
by Pastor Ricky Kurth


Our month January is named after Janus, the mythical Roman god of gates and doorways. Janus had two faces which looked in opposite directions, just as January looks back on the old year and forward to the new. Hypocritical people are often called “Janus-faced” or two-faced. Abraham Lincoln, not known for his good looks, was once called Janus-faced. He responded, “If I had two faces, do you think I’d wear this one?”

We can avoid being Janus-faced spiritually by putting off the old man and putting on the new man (Eph. 4:22-24). But many Christians find this difficult. Some feel they could more easily muster up the spiritual fortitude to live a consistent Christian life if they could just speak to the Lord “face to face” on a daily basis, as did Moses (Ex. 33:11). This blessing is of course not available to us during this dispensation—or is it?

When Paul told the Corinthians that one day they too would see the Lord “face to face” (I Cor. 13:12), he spoke not of the day when they would see His face in heaven, but of a face-to-face relationship with the Lord that they actually lived to see and enjoy. You see, as Paul wrote these words the Bible was not yet complete. Consequently, men were able to see God only as “through a glass, darkly.” The crude glass of ancient days gave men an unclear view of what was on the other side.

It reminds me of how before the launch of satellite telescopes, Earth-based telescopes labored under the limitation of having to peer at the stars through the earth’s atmosphere, which distorted man’s view of the heavens. One scientist likened it to bird-watching from the bottom of a lake! But the launch and perfecting of the Hubble telescope gave science a crystal clear image of Creation.

In much the same way, the addition of Paul’s last epistles completed the Word of God (Col. 1:25), and launched our understanding into the heavens (Eph. 1:3). Now as we look into the pages of God’s completed revelation, we are able to see God Himself “face to face.”

Paul used yet another metaphor to drive this point home. Looking into the unfinished Word of God was also like looking into the crude mirrors of those days. Mirrors in Paul’s day gave imperfect reflections, and so while everyone else knew exactly what Paul looked like, Paul himself knew what he looked like only “in part” (I Cor. 13:12). Similarly, with the Bible incomplete, men had an unclear view of the image of God. But once the Word of God was complete, Paul predicted: “then shall I know even as also I am known,” i.e., then he would know God as clearly as men knew him.

Thus there is no excuse for us to be two-faced Christians. As we peer daily into the pages of the written Word of God, we can see God “face to face,” and can sculpt our lives into His image:

    “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Cor. 3:18.).

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The Bible and Its Author
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Back on the shelf she placed the book with a sigh. It was too dull and uninteresting to wade through. She didn’t feel like reading anyway; in fact, she was utterly bored, and didn’t feel like doing anything.

The next night was different — very different. At a party she had met the kind of man she could really go for. He seemed interested in her too, and in the weeks that followed they saw more and more of each other, until she was sure she loved him.

One night he mentioned something about a book he had written, and somehow the title rang a bell with her. Where had she seen it? It bothered her that she couldn’t remember. When she reached home, however, it dawned on her all of a sudden. This was the book she had found so boring. She hadn’t even noticed the name of the author.

Taking the book down from the shelf again, she began reading. As she read page after page, she asked herself:  “Why did I think this book was dry? Say, this is some book! I had no idea he could write — and so well!” And thus, avidly, she continued reading far into the night.

Yes, it makes a great deal of difference if you know the Author — and especially if you love him! How many believers in Christ there are whose most precious hours are spent in reading and studying the Bible — a Book which once seemed dull and uninteresting to them!  The reason? They have come to know and love the Author!

Our Lord said: “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3). But how do we obtain the “life eternal” with which this knowledge is bound up? Our Lord said: “He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). Salvation is, after all, a love story to be believed, and by which we come to know Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

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Calvary In Retrospect
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


If the Bible makes anything clear, it is the fact that the secret of all God’s good news to man is centered at Calvary. It was because Christ was to die for sin that God could proclaim good news to sinners down through the ages.

It was not until some time after the crucifixion, however, that “the preaching of the cross” was widely proclaimed as a message by Paul in “the gospel [good news] of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24; I Cor. 1:18.).

The proclamation of “the gospel of the grace of God” was the natural accompaniment to the revelation of the cross as the secret of God’s good news to man. In this proclamation of His over-abounding grace to sinners, everything centers in the cross.

According to Paul’s epistles “we have redemption through His [Christ’s] blood” (Eph. 1:7), we are “justified by His blood” (Rom. 5:9), “reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10), “made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13) and “made the righteousness of God in Him” because God “hath made Him to be sin for us” (11 Cor. 5:21).

The “covenant” of the law was abolished by the cross (Col. 2:14), the curse of the law was removed by the cross (Gal. 3:13), the “middle wall of partition” was broken down by the cross (Eph. 2:14) and believers in Christ are reconciled to God in one body by the cross (Eph. 2:16). Little wonder Paul calls his message “the preaching of the cross”!

To the believer it is thrilling to see the cross as God’s reply to Satan when, at first glance, it had appeared that Calvary had been Satan’s greatest triumph! Thus we can exclaim with Paul:

    “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (Gal. 6:14).

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The Wonder Cure
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Most of us remember the drugstore product which swept the country like wildfire years ago and netted one man more than $3,000,000.00 in one year. It was called Hadacol. Whatever was wrong with you, Hadacol could cure it! Radio commercials and newspaper advertisements acclaimed its healing powers. Some small drugstores displayed signs over their doors reading, “MAIN ENTRANCE FOR HADACOL.”

One humorous story was told at that time about a woman who was supposed to have testified over the radio: “Before I began taking Hadacol I couldn’t read nor write; now I’m teaching high school!”

Some people seem to think that Christianity is like Hadacol was supposed to be. In fact, some evangelists give the erroneous impression that if one accepts Christ everything will suddenly go right. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Christian life is a battle, and we cannot win this battle without much diligent, earnest Bible study and prayer. In fact, it is this battle that makes the Christian life rewarding. Formerly we were “taken captive by [the devil] at his will” (II Tim. 2:26), but now God provides us with complete armor, including “the sword of the Spirit” and “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16,17), and says, “Stand fast.” Indeed, James 4:7 says: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

God has enlisted every true believer in His “armed forces,” as it were, and He encourages us each one to be “a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (II Tim. 2:3). Indeed, He expects this of each corporate assembly of believers as well, for Paul, by divine inspiration, wrote to the Philippian saints:

    “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).

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A Twofold Purpose
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Have you ever noticed the wording of the majestic statement with which the Bible opens?

    “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

It does not say that God created “the universe,” but “the heaven” and “the earth.”

This is because God had a special purpose for the earth quite distinct from His purpose for the rest of the universe. This purpose concerning the earth and the nations to dwell upon it is progressively revealed in the Scriptures. We look forward to its glorious consummation when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” — when the Christ who was crucified here shall come into His right, reigning as King of kings and Lord of lords.

But God also had a very special purpose concerning heaven which He kept hidden in His own heart of love until man’s sin and rebellion had reached their climax. Then He stooped down, saved the “chief of sinners” and used him to make known the wondrous secret of His purpose to offer to sinners everywhere, salvation by grace through faith alone, reconciling them to Himself in one body by the cross and giving them a present position and a future prospect in the highest heavens.

God’s purpose concerning the earth and Christ’s reign upon it is the subject of prophecy (Luke 1:68-76), His purpose concerning heaven and our exaltation there with Christ is the subject of “the mystery” (Eph. 2:4-10; 3:1-4). Into these two great subjects the Scriptures are basically divided.

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Grace And Debt
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

    “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:4,5).

As we look back at all the Old Testament types: the physical types, the narratives, the sacrifices, we exclaim: “The cross was not an accident, nor an afterthought on God’s part: He had it in mind all the while.” Surely Paul was right when he said of believers that “[God] 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” (II Tim. 1:9).

It is on the basis of the cross, typified all through the Old Testament, that God now saves us by grace through faith alone, and the types show that this was indeed His eternal purpose. Furthermore salvation should be by grace through faith.

As our text, above, declares: if man could earn his salvation it would be the payment of a debt, not the bestowal of a gift — and God will never be indebted to anyone. He will never be in a position where He owes us, sinners, a debt. Nor will He ever allow us to disgrace ourselves and annoy others by our boasting about how we earned eternal life. But He can, on the basis of the penalty paid at Calvary, bestow salvation as a free gift. This is why we read:

    “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

    “It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).

God owed Abraham nothing, but seeing his faith He said, in effect: “This man believes Me; I will count his faith for righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). And this He still does for those who trust Him, only He has now revealed the basis for this action: Christ’s payment for sins at Calvary. This is why, in Romans 4:5, He forbids works for salvation and declares that the believer’s faith is “counted for righteousness.”

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Christ And Politics
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Astronaut John Glenn in politics — running for the U. S. Senate! It seems odd to think of him in a political role, but evidently he feels he can serve his country best in politics.

But did you ever think of Christ’s relation to politics? He came into this world, remember, as a King. The very opening words of the New Testament are: “Jesus Christ, the Son of David…” (Matt. 1:1). This emphasizes the fact that He came from the royal line. John the Baptist had gone forth as the King’s herald, to prepare His way, and the twelve apostles proclaimed His royal rights as they preached “the gospel of the kingdom.” This was all in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

    “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David…” (Isa. 9:6,7).

Instead of crowning Him King, however, they nailed Him to a cross and wrote over His head His “accusation”: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

Actually our Lord had come especially, this first time, to be rejected and crucified for the sins of men. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and other Old Testament passages had predicted that at His first coming He would be despised and rejected. Matt. 20:28 says of this coming: “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Our Lord did not die an untimely death; the cross was not a useless sacrifice. He knew that man’s greatest need is moral and spiritual — that his sins must be paid for if he is not to be condemned forever before the court of eternal Justice. So in love He came to be rejected and suffer and die “the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18.).

He will come again to judge and reign as all prophecy indicates, but for the present He deals with mankind in grace. Eph. 1:7 says that “in [Him] we have redemption, through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace” and Rom. 3:24 declares that believers are “justified freely by [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

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Godliness In An Ungodly Day
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


It is an interesting fact that the words “godly” and “godliness” are not found in Paul’s writings until we come to the Pastoral Epistles, the very epistles that have so much to say about evil days and evil surroundings.

In the epistles to Timothy we read about the “perilous times” with which this present dispensation of grace will be brought to a close, while in the letter to Titus we read of “unruly and vain talkers and deceivers,” of “liars… evil beasts… lazy gluttons,” whom Satan would use to neutralize the work and witness of God’s servants.

To Timothy and Titus, these young men of God, the Apostle had much to say about godliness, and we must not forget that Paul’s words to them are also God’s Word to us, believers in Christ, who indeed appear to be living in the closing days of the dispensation of grace, surrounded by a steadily-rising tide of evil and an ever-growing number of wicked, godless men.

We do not mean to imply that the Apostle does not deal with the various phases of the Christian life in his other epistles, but rather that here in the Pastoral Epistles he wages a sort of campaign for individual godly living in the midst of increasing apostasy and godlessness.

May God help us, in our character and conduct, to exhibit “the power of godliness,” the spiritual power that comes from putting Christ first in all things.

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Baptism And The Remission Of Sins
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).

The twelve apostles preached and practiced exactly this. When Peter’s hearers at Pentecost were convicted of their sins and asked: “Men and brethren, what shall we do” Peter did not tell them that Christ had died for their sins and that they could receive salvation as the gift of God’s grace, apart from religion or works. Rather he said:

    “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38.).

Years ago, in a series of debates on dispensationalism, the author asked his opponent: “Suppose, after a Sunday evening service, some of your hearers were convicted of their sins and asked you and your co-workers: ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Would you tell them what Peter told his convicted sinners at Pentecost?”

“Why, of course!” he exclaimed.

“In those words?” I persisted.

He thought for a moment and then replied: “Well, I guess not exactly in those words.”

The fact is that this pastor would not at all have said to his hearers what Peter said to his. Even though a Baptist, he would not have said: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins,” for he believed that subjection to water baptism should be left to each person’s conscience, and he did not believe that it had anything to do with salvation. He would doubtless have said to any inquirers what Paul said when the convicted Gentile jailor asked: “What must I do to be saved?” Like Paul, he would have replied: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.. .” (Acts 16:31). Peter at Pentecost preached what he was commanded to preach under his commission: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16), but when God raised up Paul, that other apostle, He sent him to proclaim “the gospel of the grace of God” and the finished work of Christ.

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Mother Mary's Advice
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


    “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5).

When, at Cana’s wedding feast, the mother of Jesus had seen that the wine had run out, she had at first approached Him for help, but had received a reply which all the theologians of the centuries have not been able to soften: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come” (John 2:4).

She must learn the painful lesson that as Son of God He must deny the claims of any who would boast a closer relationship to Him on grounds of physical birth.

Mary must not think of Him as “My son”. She must, like every one else, learn to know Him as Her Lord and Saviour.

Humble, believing Mary could take the lesson well, however. Before this, when He had spoken in similar fashion she had “kept all these sayings in her heart”. Now she goes to the servants and says: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it”.

Mary would do the same today. If she could speak she would direct her worshippers to the Lord Jesus Christ, and say: “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it”.

Strangely, the vast majority seem to think of His words only as the words which He spoke while on earth. They have forgotten or have never known that our Lord Jesus spoke again from heaven by revelation to the Apostle Paul and that in his epistles we have the words of the Lord Jesus to us today (See Galatians 1:11,12; 2:7-9).

Paul was, in a special sense, the ambassador of the rejected Lord. To him was committed “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24) and the mystery of God’s “eternal purpose” (Eph. 3:1-11). In bringing his first Epistle to Timothy to a close, he wrote: “If any man teach otherwise [than he had been teaching] and consent not to wholesome words, EVEN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST…he is proud, knowing nothing…from such withdraw thyself” (I Tim. 6:3-5). Likewise, to the unruly Corinthians he wrote: “…If I come again, I will not spare: SINCE YE SEEK A PROOF OF CHRIST SPEAKING IN ME…” (II Cor. 13:2,3).

Mary’s advice today would be to believe the gospel that Paul preached, “…how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures…was buried, and…rose again the third day…” (I Cor. 15:3,4).

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Puzzle Or Picture
by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam


Where “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15) is concerned, our spiritual leaders are like a group of people, each one of whom holds a part or several parts of a jig-saw puzzle, but who fail to put them together and so never get to see the picture.

One sees clearly that the so-called “Great Commission” was a Kingdom commission and not ours. Another sees that the “one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5 MUST be the DIVINE baptism which makes believers one in Christ. Another sees that Paul’s apostleship was wholly distinct from that of the Twelve. Another sees that Romans 6:3,4 does not contain one drop of water. Another sees that the Christian’s position is spiritual and heavenly in character. Another sees that the Body of Christ, the Church of today, was never prophesied — even, that it did not begin at Pentecost with Peter and the eleven, but later, with Paul.

But while each sees some component part of “the Mystery”, Satan has used tradition to blind him to the rest. The result is that confusion continues to prevail and they still have a puzzle instead of a picture.

If only they would put the pieces together! What a clear picture they would see of “the Dispensation of the Grace of God”, and how eagerly they would join us in “THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY” (Rom. 16:25)!