661 - Les Feldick Bible Study - Lesson 1 Part 1 Book 56 - Comparing Kingdom and Grace Doctrines

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 56 Comparing Kingdom and Grace Doctrines I John 1:1 – 1:9 We’re ready to start I John. Now these little epistles (James, Peter, John and Jude - and you might as well throw in Revelation as well) are all Jewish epistles. They are all addressed to Jewish believers – never forget that. I think these little epistles were all written about the same time that Paul was probably writing the Church-Age epistles. Not a word about salvation by faith and faith alone. And not a word about the Body of Christ, which we have been placed into. It is so plain they are not preaching Paul’s Gospel which we, in the Church Age, must believe for salvation. Now, when I refer to Paul’s Gospel, I’m referring to what he said in I Corinthians 15:1-4. The "Kingdom Gospel" starts out probably the plainest when Jesus asked the twelve disciples back in Matthew 16, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" So as you come into these little epistles, everything is directed as yet to Jewish Kingdom believers. They had simply believed Jesus was indeed the Messiah. There’s not a word about the Body of Christ in any of these little Jewish epistles. There’s also not a word about the resurrection. I John 1:1a John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." All right, so John is taking us right back to the first thought he had in his Gospel, that which was from the beginning. I John 1:1b Now stop and think - who is this John? I John 1:1c Luke 24:36-37 "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. Luke 24:38-39 Verse 40: Luke 24:40-41 Luke 24:42-43 Jesus, in His resurrected body, "ate"? Right in front of them to prove the point. He ate. Philippians 3:20 So "We’re looking for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." "Who (the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who’s standing back there in our verse in Luke – eating meat and honeycomb) shall change our vile body, (this body that’s prone to death and corruption. That one day our eternal body is going to be fashioned after this resurrected body in which Christ is now appearing to His disciples after His resurrection, after His death. Let’s read it again, "Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he (Christ) is able even to subdue all things unto himself." All right, now let’s come back to I John. I hope I made my point regarding when John says, "We’ve heard Him, we’ve seen Him, we’ve handled Him," Even the post-resurrection Christ - they had seen the nail-prints in His hands. I John 1:1b The same Word that you see in John’s Gospel verse 1, "In the beginning was the Word." And when we teach John 1, what do we always associate with words? I John 1:2 "(For the life [that is that life of the Messiah, the Christ] was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)" No, the point I was making was that the terminology "the only begotten Son of God" applied to His resurrection. John was one of the Twelve. I John 1:2b They’ve all been part and parcel of the God from eternity past and "that life was manifested (he says) unto us." How? Now verse 3. I John 1:3a I John 1:3 "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." I John 1:4 Remember, the vast majority of church people in Christendom still do not understand the difference between the Gospel of the Kingdom, which Jesus and the Twelve preached to Israel, and the Gospel of the Grace of God, which is preached to us Gentiles. Three years Jesus has been performing signs and wonders and miracles. What percentage of Israel has responded? Remember, this is to the Nation of Israel and Israel was under the Law. Matthew 16:13 "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, (up in Northern Israel) he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Matthew 16: 13b-15 "…Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Matthew 16:16b "…Thou art the Christ, (the anointed, the Messiah) the Son of the Living God" Did Peter finish that by saying, Who’s going to die for our sins and be buried and raised from the dead – NO, he doesn’t know that. And God doesn’t expect him to. Peter simply gives us the heart of the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus was the Christ. "Peter what’s the matter with you?" Matthew 16:17b #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible