Was Paul Saved Under the Kingdom Program?
by Pastor Ricky Kurth
WELL, “Was Paul saved under the kingdom program?”
No, Paul was “a blasphemer” (I Tim. 1:13) who, as a strict, Law-abiding Pharisee (Acts 26:5), would never blaspheme the Father, but was among those who blasphemed the Spirit when they stoned Stephen (Acts 7:51-8:1). This rendered him ineligible for salvation under the kingdom program, for the Lord had warned, “him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10).
How then could God save Saul? Well, remember that the Lord had warned, “whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come” (Matt. 12:32). The nation of Israel blasphemed the Spirit in the world that the Lord spoke of as “this world” when they rejected Stephen, a man filled with the Spirit (Acts 7:55). “The world to come” is defined in Hebrews 2:5 as the kingdom, the “world” which God will “put in subjection” under Christ, where people will fully know “the powers of the world to come” (Heb. 6:5) that they only tasted at Pentecost.
Since blasphemy against the Spirit was unforgivable in both those worlds, we know Saul was saved under the program of a whole new world, the dispensation of grace, “this world” in which we live (Eph. 1:21), “this present world” in which we are to walk and please God (Titus 2:12).
Today's Devotional Sponsor...
Term Paper
Kids have a greater need for speed than classroom computers can deliver.
Impatient to turn in his term paper, one restless student kept clicking the "Print" command.
The printer started to churn out copy after copy of the kid’s ten-page report.
The topic?
"Save Our Trees."
- From Mikey’s Funnies
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