In the previous four postings I have shown Biblically that the field workers, grinders, servants, field plants, fish, virgins, sheep and goats serve as parabolic symbols of two widely divergent groups within what is commonly called “the church.” One group worships, serves, believes and obeys the Biblical God while the other believes it is doing so but in fact worships, serves, believes and obeys another god due to having embraced a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).

The Apostle Peter speaks to this truth in his first epistle, chapter 4, verses 17,18 where he notes that self-judgment must be an on-going activity in the church, and that only the righteous within her can be saved–and they just barely. The Apostle Paul confirms Peter’s Words by telling church people that they must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Several things stand out in this statement: Those to whom the letter was written–the church at Philadelphia–do not have salvation in that they must figure (work) out how to attain it. If they were already saved, what was there to fear? They were to fear lest they failed to meet God’s salvation Standard. That Standard was (is) the Holy Bible–God’s Book of Standards by which we will all be judged (Jn. 12:44-50). In any society, for any judgment to be legitimate it must be based on a standard (law) that applies to everyone in that society. To be effective, most of the people in the society must believe in the standard and abide by it. Those who do not must be dealt with in order for peace and well-being to prevail.

The society of God–His church–is no exception. The Standard/Law God established in His society is His Word–His gospel–which the prophets and apostles put forward and commanded that everyone in that society have faith in and obey. In Galatians 3:11 God tells us through Paul that God’s true saints live by faith. In Romans 10:17 he tells us that faith comes from hearing the Word of God–thereby establishing a faith-Word connection. Most people in Paul’s day were illiterate and there were few copies of God’s Word. In order to know what was in it the people had to hear it read aloud on God’s Sabbath by priests in the Temple their local synagogue. Paul stresses the fact that it is ONLY by believing and obeying that Word/gospel that we can be saved: “Moreover brethren, I declare to you THE (only) gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain (1 Cor. 15:1,2). Note several things: 1) Paul was writing to the church about the church–his “BRETHREN.” 2) He was writing about the GOSPEL–the good news about the coming Kingdom of God on earth. 3) Those in the Corinthian church would be saved by that gospel IF they obeyed it. Otherwise they would have HEARD IT IN VAIN.

These Scriptures reveal that the Standard by which we must judge ourselves, work out our salvation, base our faith and receive salvation is the Holy Bible–the Word/gospel of God that will judge all of mankind. Those, along with all other Scriptures, were recorded by God’s men “for OUR instruction UPON WHOM THE END OF THE WORLD HAS COME (1 Cor. 10:11). The reader needs to understand that when Paul wrote these words the New Testament did not exist–he was referring to the Old Testament. This proves that the entire Bible applies to those living at the end of the age.

It is imperative that we understand that there are two widely divergent groups embodied with what is commonly called “the church,” each having its own version of Christianity.  One group is large–millions of outlets (churches) available–politically powerful and socially accepted. This group is known as Catholicism/Protestantism and numbers over two billion globally. The other group is tiny, numbering only a few thousand globally, politically weak and socially rejected. This group is known Biblically as the Church of God (not to be confused with the denomination of that name). These are those Jesus identified as “My brethren” in Matthew 12:47-50 who “… do the will of My Father in heaven.” It is this factor–obedience to God–that causes them to be rejected by the larger group as well as the society in which both groups live. To be continued. L.J.