Bible Concepts that need to be understood CORRECTLY based the interpretations of the Post-Apostolic churches

Ignored, misinterpreted or overlooked passages with extreme importance to eternal life

Source: Our Sunday DEEP DIVE discussions. Videos will be published in YouTube as a playlist

1. Temporal vs. Eternal. Isaiah 55:1-3 teaser; A narrative version of Colossians 3:2 and why we have to seek and be preoccupied with the things above instead of the things below, eternal things instead of temporal things, heavenly focus instead of earthly (worldly) focus
2. Righteousness of God; 2 Corinthians 5:21. imparted, not imputed and like the Parable of the Sower and John 15, believers WILL BE JUDGED not by what was imputed but what the believer did with what was imparted
3. The just shall live by faith; i.e., we live by what we do not see, not by what we see. Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4; 2 Corinthians 5:7. When we always react (negatively or adversely) to what we hear or see, we are training ourselves to live by sight instead of faith. Note: We obtain eternal life only if we live by faith.
4. Forgiveness of sins was meant ONLY for believers. Yup, you read that correctly. There is nothing in Scripture that clearly says otherwise. Christ said, I give my life a ransom for many, I came to seek and to save the lost and He came to heal. See Matt 20:28; Mark 10:45; Matthew 9:12; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31

Luke 4:18-19 does not even mention "forgiveness"

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me


    to proclaim good news to the poor.


He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

    and recovering of sight to the blind,


    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,


to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

5. The gospel of Christ is NOT forgiveness of sins. The “good news” is NOT forgiveness. It is an open invitation to enter the Kingdom of God where all  the benefits of salvation will be realized. The gospel of Christ is an open invitation into the Kingdom of God where he is King and Lord and ONLY the King’s will is to be obeyed. Do a search of biblegateway for "Kingdom of God" vs. forgiveness in the New Testament
6.  What does it mean to “receive” Christ in John 1:12? Receiving Christ means receive his "gospel of the Kingdom" and how to enter in:  In John 1:12 “receive him” means accept his invitation thus “if any man come after him, deny, take up cross, follow me” Matt 16:24-26; Mk 8:34-36; Luke 9:23-25, 14:26-27,33. Unless we renounce our bodies, our spirits cannot cling to Christ

• “You are still in the world. You are still in the battlefield. You daily fight for your lives. So you must be careful, that . . . what you have begun to be with such a blessed commencement will be consummated in you. It is a small thing to have first received something. It is a greater thing to be able to keep what you have attained. Faith itself and the saving birth do not make alive by merely being received. Rather, they must be preserved. It is not the actual attainment, but the perfecting, that keeps a man for God. The Lord taught this in His instruction when He said, “Look! You have been made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” Solomon, Saul, and many others were able to keep the grace given to them so long as they walked in the Lord’s ways. However, when the discipline of the Lord was forsaken by them, grace also forsook them. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.284.. 

5. See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing WORSE may happen to you

• He who sins after his baptism, unless he repents and forsakes his sins, will be condemned to Gehenna. Apostolic Constitutions (compiled c. 390, E), 7.398.
• God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning the past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out. For only the Father is the one who is able to undo what is done. . . . So even in the case of one who has done the greatest good deeds in his life, but at the end has run headlong into wickedness, all his former pains are profitless to him. For at the climax of the drama, he has given up his part. Clement of Alexandria (c. 195, E), 2.602.
• “Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.525.
• “If you do not guard yourself against [anger], you and your house will lose all hope of salvation. Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150, W), 2.23.
• Christ will not die again on behalf of those who now commit sin. …we should fear ourselves, least perchance, after [we have come to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but are shut out from His kingdom. And for that reason, Paul said, “For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed] lest He also not spare you.” Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.499.
• Being a believing man, if you seek to live as the Gentiles do, the joys of the world remove you from the grace of Christ. Commodianus (c. 240, W), 4.214.

8. A  fresh look at being united to Christ: Key to eternity.  

• Why we have to be JOINED to Christ. It is our joining to Christ enables us to partake in what He has accomplished through the atonement = conquer death and lift the curse of sin, subdue the devil and deliver us from bondage
• Baptism: Romans 6:1-11, 14-15
• Eucharist: John 6:53-58
• Vine Metaphor: John 15:1-8
• Contrast: bound to law Romans 7:3,4-6
• Gal 5:6 IN christ  6:15
• For Freedom 5:13-14, 18
• Ancients exhort to “cling to Christ”. Joined and united to Christ at baptism, Christ continues to cling (John 15) but it is up to us to keep on clinging.

9. Free from the Law and the "righeousness that exceeds...". 

• Gal 5:1; Ephesians 2:13-16
• Law of Liberty James 1:25; 2:12
• Rom 8:2
• Sermon on the Mount: extra mile, other cheek, righteousness that exceeds
• Summary: We are free from the Law because we are beyond the law when our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees DEMONSTRATED IN PRACTICE

10. Citizens and Aliens: Phil 3:20; Eph 2:19; John 18:36;  Col 1:13 When we have been transferred from the Kingdom of the world to the Kingdom of God, we become aliens to the world and cannot own any property nor be preoccupied with concerns of the world as demonstrated by our lifestyle
11. Assurance of Salvation: Not a fireworks celebration misrepresented by the false doctrine of "once saved, always saved" but Romans 11:20-21; FEAR!!! Philippians 2:12
12. Almsgiving saves from death:  Cornelius Acts 10 based on the Apocryphal books of Tobit and Sirach on "almsgiving". 

• Holy Scripture instructs us, saying, “Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving” [Tobit 20:8]. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.456.
• He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given. Prov. 19:17. 
• It is better to give alms than to store up gold; for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin. Tob. 12:8, 9. 
• Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. Luke 12:33.
• When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matt. 6:3, 
• If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, “ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jas. 2:15, 16. 
• But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 1 John 3:17, 18; see also Matt. 25:34–40.
• It is written, “Alms do deliver from death.” Assuredly, this is not from that [original] death that the blood of Christ has extinguished and from which the saving grace of baptism and of our Redeemer has delivered us. Rather, it is from the death that creeps in afterwards through sins. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.332.
• Make Christ a partner with you in your earthly possessions, that He also may make you a fellow-heir with Him in His heavenly kingdom. Cyprian (c. 250, W), 5.479.

13. Judgment of the believers: 2 Cor 5:10; John 5:28-29; Matt 25; Sermon on the Mount; Rich man and Lazarus Luke 16:19-25 (2 Esdras 7:75-101 NRSVA); Ephesians 5:3-6; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 
14. "You have your reward":   Christ's words. Summary meaning: If you have desired to be rewarded here on earth either by man or circumstance, and you get the reward, there is NO REWARD LEFT for you in heaven.
15. Only a minority will be saved and why:   Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Esdras 7:45-61 NRSVA
16. The sin of covetousness:  Why Paul says it is idolatry (10th commandment, meaning you lose your salvation!)

Note: WE WILL STILL ADD TO THE ABOVE LIST. There are so many topics to discuss in Scripture that most Christians are not aware of because they do not search the word, or they listen to the wrong people, or believe in the wrong doctrines and teachings corrupted by false teachers throughout the ages.