Malachi 3:6 (NIV)
6
"I the LORD do not change.
So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
If we look at Mal. 3:6, we find that GOD NEVER CHANGES.
So if we can find ONE example How GOD SAVED ONE PERSON, we will know HOW GOD SAVES EVERYONE FROM ADAM ON.
Romans 4:3 (NIV)
3 What does the Scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD:
THEREFORE,
The OLD TESTAMENT FOLD THAT WAS SAVED were those WHO BELIEVE GOD WOULD SEND A MESSIAH TO PAY FOR THEIR SINS.
The NEW TESTAMENT FOLD THAT IS SAVED were those WHO BELIEVE GOD DID SEND A MESSIAH TO PAY FOR OUR SINS.
THAT IS THE SAME FAITH, THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM.
Why did I use the word FOLD there ? ? ?
BECAUSE JESUS NEVER EVER DID USE THE WORD CHURCH, and NEITHER DID THE APOSTLES.
Matthew 16:18 (YLT)
18
`And I also say to thee, that thou art a rock, and upon this rock I will build my assembly,
and gates of Hades shall not prevail against it;
QUOTE:
Greek NASB Number: 1577
Greek Word: ἐκκλησία
Transliterated Word: ekklêsia
Root: from
1537 and
2564;
Definition: an assembly, a (religious)
congregation:--
New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.
END QOUTE:
They CHANGED the DEFINITION of the WORD
ekklêsia That meant ASSEMBLY, and some time during the early 300 A.D. to incorporate CHURCH. Prior to that it OLD ENGLISH translation was:
circe
They did is a GREAT DISSERVICE by using the word CHURCH, instead of ASSEMBLY, Because it almost single handily CUT OUT the O.T. ASSEMBLY, causing a lot of the CHURCH to think GOD WAS FINISHED WITH ISRAEL, WHEN HE IS NOT.
HERE IS THE TRUTH:
John 10:14-16 (HCSB)
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me,
15 as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep.
16 But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Other Sheep is N.T. Fold, This Fold is the Last of the O.T. Fold. Remember the Birthday of the Church is not until after the Ascension at the Day of Pentecost. HE IS ADDRESSING THEM AS CO-EQUALS, and Men choosing to use CHURCH in the BIBLE instead of FOLD or ASSEMBLY the two words HE did use; automatically CUT the O.T. FOLD OUT, and Wrongly making them second class CITIZENS of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. HE EVEN SAID, they will become ONE FLOCK, at the RAPTURE, I assume. In the Millennial Kingdom, there will be a fourth TEMPLE, with PRINCE DAVID (Resurrected) SITS ON THE THRONE of ISRAEL forever! CHRIST IS KING OF THE WHOLE WORLD.
Now I hope you can wrap your head around this TRUTH. THEY ARE CO-EQUALS in the BODY as Dead in CHRIST, as our loved ones are also Dead in CHRIST, because BOTH HAVE THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM. I have a lot to show you in SCRIPTURE to verify that statement.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (HCSB)
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.
15 For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first. {That HAS to include the O.T. Fold HE was talking to in John 10:14-16.}
17 Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (HCSB)
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
{O.T. Fold also believed GOD would send a Messiah to pay for their sins.}
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (YLT)
20 And now, Christ hath risen out of the dead--the first-fruits of those sleeping he became,
21 for since through man
is the death, also through man
is a rising again of the dead,
22 for even as
in Adam all die, so also in the Christ all shall be made alive,
23 and
each in his proper order, a first-fruit Christ, afterwards those who are the Christ's, in his presence,
{O.T. Fold, starting with Adam, will be first out of the GRAVE, in my opinion, is what it means by Proper Order.}
Isaiah 54:5-6 (HCSB)
5
Indeed, your husband is your Maker— His name is Yahweh of Hosts— and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
6
For the LORD has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God.
Isaiah 62:5 (HCSB)
5 For
as a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons will marry you; and as a groom rejoices over ⌊his⌋ bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
{Israel's dead in Messiah (Christ) are Co-equal part of the BRIDE OF CHRIST!}
Ezekiel 34:24-26 (NRSV)
24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant
David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely.
26 I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.
Ezekiel 37:25-28 (NRSV)
25 They shall live in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your ancestors lived; they and their children and their children's children shall live there forever; and
my servant David shall be their prince forever.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them;
it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will bless them and multiply them, and
will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.
⮘FOURTH TEMPLE ⮘
27 My dwelling place shall be with them; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ⮘MORTALS ⮘
28 Then the nations shall know that
I the LORD sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary is among them forevermore.⮘FOURTH TEMPLE ⮘
Zechariah 14:9 (NRSV)
9
And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one.