“Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be” (Rom. 4:18).

How big is your God? Man frequently limits his “gods.” Polytheists, with their abundant gods, indicate that one isn’t sufficient. But even Israel, whose God was the Lord frequently limited Him by fearing giants, making wrongful covenants, and murmuring. Today some professing “Christians” limit God in salvation through dependence on religious works and human understanding. Their manner of life is sometimes more by sight, feeling, or common sense than the eternal truth of God’s Word.

Abraham, the man of faith in Romans 4, had the audacity to believe in a God who promised big things. His wife laughed to herself at the promise because she knew better (Gen. 18:12). Humanly speaking, there was no hope, even for one child; and the promise of numerous children was ridiculous! But Abraham believed God based on the hope that was promised. From the human standpoint, he was hoping against hope. He was hoping where hope left off. He hoped beyond hope! But his faith was in the Almighty God Who can give hope where none exists, for He is the God Who makes the dead live and calls the non-existent into existence (Rom. 4:17). Abraham’s God was big enough to give hope when none existed, and Abraham didn’t doubt by unbelief. God could and did call forth a child from the dead reproductive systems of Abraham and Sarah.

Our salvation is truly hope beyond hope when all is considered. So if we can hope beyond hope for eternal life, we can do the same in our daily life and walk. Based on hope from God, we can live the adventure of hope beyond hope!

“Probably one of the biggest doctrines that I am confused about in the Bible is the doctrine of ‘being baptized in the Spirit.’ Is this for the Body of Christ?”

“Baptized in the Spirit” or “baptized with the Spirit” is misunderstood because of a failure to rightly divide the Word of God, separating God’s prophetic program from the mystery program.

In God’s prophetic program, at Pentecost, those believers were baptized “with the Spirit” (Acts 1:5; 2:4). They were filled with the Holy Spirit to miraculously speak in tongues and perform other signs and wonders as seen in early Acts (Acts 2:4; 4:30; 5:12). Also, it was the Lord Jesus Who sent the Spirit and baptized them with His power as promised in His earthly ministry (Luke 24:49; John 16:7).

Today, in the dispensation of grace, the believer is baptized “by the Spirit” into the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). It’s not the Lord Jesus Christ doing the baptizing, but the Holy Spirit Who is doing the baptizing. This takes place when one places their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior (1 Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 2:8-9). It’s a one-time transaction, and once it takes place, the believer is sealed by the Spirit until the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30). Paul also commands us to be “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18), which is an ongoing process. This is accomplished as we allow God’s Word to “dwell in [us] richly in all wisdom” (Col. 3:16), and we obey Christ’s commands for this dispensation, given through the pen of the Apostle Paul.

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph. 5:15).

“See then” refers to the immediate context that believers should “walk as children of light” (v. 8) as a bright testimony for Christ before the unbelieving world so that they might receive the way of salvation. To walk as children of light, Paul emphasizes that believers should not live in darkness like the world (vv. 11-13), so that our testimony may shine even more brightly and, by contrast, expose the darkness of the world.

The light of our testimony for Christ may be vast or small. We may light up one neighborhood, one home, one family, or even just as visitors to one hospital room, or our light might have a greater outreach depending on our circumstances in life. The light of our testimony may also be long-lasting or short-lived. It may be limited in time by a short life or a short time after we are saved before our home-going, or then again we may have many years to be a light for Christ, and our light might even continue shining after our home-going by virtue of the legacy we leave.

Faithfulness to be a light to the world that needs the Lord, wherever we are and however long we are here, is what God is most concerned about. It is God’s will that those with His light within them radiate God’s “goodness and righteousness and truth” (v. 9) from the Holy Spirit.

In light of these things, Paul wrote, “See then that ye walk circumspectly.” The term “walk” portrays our way of life, which unfolds in a daily, step-by-step process. Most often, when we walk, we do so to get somewhere, to reach a destination. The Christian walk also pictures steady progress toward a definite goal. And the goal for our lives and our daily walk is Christ: to know Him and to be more like Him (Phil. 3:10-14).

When Paul says to “walk circumspectly,” the word “circumspectly” means exactly, accurately, diligently, and carefully. The first half of this word—the “circum” in circumspectly—means around. For example, the word “CIRCUMference” refers to the distance around something. The second half of the word—the “spectly” in circumspectly—means to look. Think of the word “SPECtacles” which refers to eyeglasses through which one looks. Putting it together, “circumspectly” means to look around.

The idea is that of walking along a narrow path on the side of a steep mountain. Because a careless step could lead to disaster, every step is taken carefully, accurately, and with undeviating attention to the path. “See then that ye walk circumspectly” is in the present imperative in the original Greek, which means that it is God’s will that we continually walk carefully and pay close attention to how we live.

The believer’s daily walk in this world is one of resolve, honor, and courage. It is full of purpose and focus. We see that in this instruction to walk circumspectly. Walking circumspectly requires several things. First, to walk carefully as a consistent and faithful light before the world, we must rely on the Spirit and His strength by faith (Eph. 3:16), living by the truth of His Word, rightly divided.

To walk circumspectly is to live aware of the dangers around us that we need to navigate with care. The world, the flesh, and the devil are our continual enemies (Eph. 2:2-3). We must walk diligently so that our light does not grow dim through their influence and opposition.

To walk circumspectly further means being watchful for opportunities to honor Christ and make Him known. It means recognizing that God has placed us where we are for a purpose and that He desires to use us in the lives of those around us. As we walk carefully and attentively, we become more aware of the opportunities He provides each day to show His grace and let our light shine before others.

The believer’s walk is to be given careful consideration. It is to be the outgrowth of thought, purpose, and deliberate action. Life is made up of steps, events, and decisions. Walking circumspectly means keeping one’s spiritual eyes open to look around and consider the Lord and His will in each step we take, the situations we face, and the choices we make.

One who walks circumspectly surveys their circumstances and possible consequences before deciding, speaking, or acting. It is like the old saying, “Look before you leap,” which means to consider carefully the possible consequences before acting. Considering the consequences of our behavior in this passage is that believers are to “walk as children of light” before “the children of disobedience,” reproving the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:6-15). We do so in order that our careful, godly conduct might awaken them to their need for the Savior and lead them to the salvation He freely offers to all.

We are often asked what it means to be a “mid-Acts” dispensationalist. To answer that question, we first need to define what it means to be a “dispensationalist.

A dispensationalist reads the Bible as showing God’s unfolding plan across time, with Israel and the Church having separate but complementary roles, and prophecy (especially end-times events) taken literally. This contrasts with covenant theology, which sees more continuity (the Church as the fulfillment of Israel).

While dispensationalists in general see a difference between God’s program for Israel and His program for the Church today, they differ from “mid-Acts” or “Pauline” dispensationalists in three basic areas:

1. The biggest difference between a classic dispensationalist and a mid-Acts dispensationalist is when they believe the Body of Christ started. In general, traditional dispensationalists believe that the Body of Christ started at Pentecost with Peter, as recorded in Acts 2. Mid-Acts dispensationalists believe that the Body of Christ began with the Apostle Paul (either at his calling in Acts 9 or with his first missionary journey in Acts 13) and is based on his unique apostleship and revelations.

2. While both traditional and mid-Acts dispensationalists say that the Book of Acts is a transitional book, showing the change from the age of law to the age of grace, only mid-Acts dispensationalists are consistent in their interpretation. Traditional dispensationalists contradict themselves because, on one hand, they say that the Body of Christ started at Pentecost, but on the other hand say that those saved at Pentecost were added to the church which already existed, which was operating under the kingdom program for Israel. By contrast, mid-Acts dispensationalists say that the Body of Christ did not start until after the conversion of the Apostle Paul. This is consistent because it allows those who were saved at Pentecost—responding to a kingdom message—to be added to the kingdom church which already existed, and those saved after Paul to be placed into the separate Body of Christ.

3. Both of these differences (1 and 2) lead to the most practical distinction between traditional and mid‑Acts dispensationalists—where the Church today should go in Scripture for its doctrine of faith and practice. Because traditional dispensationalists fail to maintain a proper distinction between the kingdom program and the Body of Christ, they mistakenly apply the teaching of the Gospels and the General Epistles as sources of the Church’s doctrine today. This leads to contradiction and conflict when what is said about salvation in the Gospels (e.g., “believe and do” in the kingdom context) is applied directly to the Church today alongside Paul’s clear teaching of “only believe” (grace through faith without works). We clearly see this contradiction when traditional dispensationalists use John 3:16 in evangelism—but then define “believe” using Paul’s gospel—they are mixing two different dispensational programs and two different contents of faith. Scriptural consistency requires that we derive our doctrine of faith and practice from Paul’s epistles, while recognizing that all Scripture is profitable and offers valuable application.