THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IGNORANCE AND BLINDNESS

By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

April 17, 2010

Recently on a dispensational discussion board on Face Book I wrote that Peter and the other apostles preached and wrote about the death and shed blood of Christ like Paul and they also preached and wrote that salvation was their present possession. A man answered me with a comment and said they didn’t. He is not the only one who has made this same comment to me on Face Book. Others wrote and told me I did not know what I was talking about. They said Paul was the only apostle who preached salvation through the death and shed blood of Christ and the other apostles will not be saved until the second coming of Christ. I replied to this man’s comment by quoting all the verses in Hebrews through Revelation that plainly state in no uncertain terms that the apostles preached and wrote about the death and shed blood of Christ and that salvation and eternal life was theirs then and not later. The next day he sent a reply to me which said that I was right because that previous night he had just read 1 2 Peter and saw for himself that it was true. (1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:24, 3:18)

A few months back when I made this same statement at a Bible conference there was a man who claims to be a “grace preacher” who absolutely refused to believe it even after I quoted the verses. He even mocked anyone who would believe such a thing.

What’s the difference between these two men? One was ignorant and the other was blind. The man who was ignorant believed the truth when he saw it. The blind man refused to believe the truth when he saw it. Why? Because of their heart attitude towards the word of God. The ignorant man approached the Bible with the attitude that if the Bible says it, I will believe it. The blind man approached the Bible with the attitude that if the Bible agrees with my dispensational theology I will believe it and if it contradicts it, I will reject it which he did. The ignorant man became wise. The blind man became even more deceived. You see, it's all about the condition of your heart.

Sad to say,there is a growing number of preachers and people within the so called “grace movement” who are like the second man. They are blinded by their dispensational theology to the extent they will not receive or believe anything that contradicts it, not even the Word of God. God give us more ignorant men like the first!