When we were in Greece
this last spring, I saw something I never expected to see. On one of the
tours, the guide pointed out Mars Hill. It is a unusual feeling to look on a
place you’ve heard mentioned in the Bible! At Mars Hill, Paul was amazed at
the many gods worshipped by the Greeks. He tried to explain to them about
the true God. How that He is the Creator and that we are His offspring.
MARS HILL, ATHENS GREECE
And Paul explained to
them that God’s children should not think of Him as made of stone or wood or
by an artists concept. But it fell on deaf ears for the most part. There
were a few who heard what he was saying and understood but the majority did
not believe him, especially the part about the dead being resurrected. But
it was not their time to understand the truth and be saved.
They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they
cannot see; [and] their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Isaiah 48:18
The men of Mars Hill were just like the rest of this world. They were blind
and deaf to the truth because their minds were closed to it by God. Had God
wanted them to understand Paul, they would have. Had God wanted to remove
all their idols on that Hill, He could have. He did not chose to do so for
His own reasons.
The carnal mind is closed and does not understand the truth until God opens
it. Christ explained that unless the Father draws you, you cannot come to
Him. John 6:44 says “No man can come to me except the Father which has sent
me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Contrary to popular
opinion, you cannot choose to be saved. You do not choose the Father, He
chooses you. And, He chooses when to call you too.
Once you understand that God is not trying to save everyone right now,
things begin to make better sense. If God shuts the eyes of a person so that
they cannot see the truth, it is for their spiritual protection until their
time comes to be saved.
Why else would He shut the ears of a person so that they cannot understand
the truth and be saved? He doesn’t want them to be saved right then. This is
borne out by Jesus Christ Himself! Most people think parables were given to
make things clearer, but not so according to Christ in Mark 4:11.
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the
kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done
in parables, that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they
may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and
[their] sins should be forgiven them.”
In another place Paul explains purposeful blinding on God’s part.
“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest
ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened
to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel
shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this [is] my
covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” Romans 11:25-27
Since God will save all Israel, why do people think just the opposite? Most
of Christ’s generation rejected Him, yet “all Israel will be saved.” How do
those 2 concepts fit together? Easy, they rejected Him because they were
blinded at that time…and they will be saved later!
The Church of God is the only religion who recognizes and teaches that God
is going to save the majority of all mankind. Some think that only their
church will be saved and the rest will go to hell! Not so. The mystery of
the Kingdom of God is that God will save almost everyone.
Concerning the unconverted of the world, He simply protects them by closing
their minds to the truth, until their day of salvation comes. Only those who
have their minds open are qualifying for the Kingdom of God right now. This
is the day of salvation for them.
When Jesus Christ was a man on this earth, His sole purpose was to begin the
process of salvation by His death. And as those who are under the New
Covenant right now, we picture His death by our baptism. We go under the
watery grave and come back out “dead” to sin. Now if you keep Passover every
year, you renew the New Covenant by continuing to partake of the body and
blood of Christ. You are counted sinless for another year forward. By this
method, you can be sinless in God‘s sight, just like Christ was. By this
method will all men be saved. It is a mystery of the Kingdom of God. This
scripture says it all.
“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that
are Christ's at his coming.”
I Corinthans 15:23
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