Back in 1980, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard squared off with opponent Roberto Duran in what has become known as the No Mas fight. Late in the eighth round of this epic battle, Duran turned away from Leonard and said to the referee, “No mas!” which is Spanish for “No more!” Sugar Ray was declared the winner by technical knockout, and surely experienced an indescribable feeling of elation that no doubt eclipsed the sting of his earlier defeat to Duran a few months before.

As inexpressible as his joy was that day, however, it pales in comparison to the joy the Ephesians experienced when the Apostle Paul used those same “no more” words in his epistle to them:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

These dispensationally revolutionary words no doubt eclipsed the sting of the apostle’s earlier description of their position before God as Gentiles in time past:

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles…that at that time ye were… strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:11,12).

Imagine the jubilation those dear Ephesian believers experienced upon learning that they had gone from being “strangers from the covenants of promise” to being “no more strangers”! Sugar Ray never had it so sweet!

But here we need to point out that the Gentiles were not just strangers from God in time past, they were strangers from “the covenants of promise” that God made with Israel. These covenants of promise differed from the conditional “if-then” type covenant that God made with Israel in the Law in that they involved unconditional promises that God made to His people with no strings attached.

The Abrahamic covenant, for instance, was an unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham wherein He promised to give him the promised land “for an everlasting possession” (Gen. 17:8). Inherent in that promise of the land is the promise of eternal life, for Abraham could not possess the land forever without living forever. It is this covenant of “promise” (Rom. 4:16) that Paul says extends “to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all.” In this covenant of promise, God promised Abraham eternal life in exchange for nothing more than believing the gospel that was preached to him, just as God graciously does for us (Rom. 4:3-5). Thus it is that we partake of the spiritual blessing of eternal life that was promised to Abraham without partaking of the physical blessing of the land that was promised to him.

The New Covenant was another unconditional covenant that God made with Israel (Jer. 31:31-34), a covenant to which we were once strangers but now are “no more strangers” to the “spiritual things” of this wonderful covenant of promise (Rom. 15:27) which we receive by grace. We partake of the spiritual blessings of the new covenant without the physical blessings of this covenant which belong to Israel, just as we partake of the spiritual blessing of eternal life that God promised Abraham without partaking of the physical blessing of the land that God promised him.

We know that there are some in the grace movement who hold that we are still strangers to the New Covenant, but when Paul says that we were “strangers from the covenants of promise” in time past, but now “are no more strangers,” we have to assume that he is saying that we are no more strangers to the thing he mentioned we were strangers to just a few verses before, the covenants of promise. The Greek word and English word for “strangers” is the same.

Boxer Manny Pacquiao recently lost the “fight of the century” after Floyd Mayweather landed 148 of his punches to his 81, with 348 of Manny’s punches connecting with nothing but air. But armed with eternal life, and equipped with the spiritual things that once pertained only to Israel (Rom. 9:4,5), and furnished with “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:3), you are now ready to step into the ring and “fight…not as one that beateth the air” (I Cor. 9:26). If you’re not familiar with all of these blessings that God has to offer people freely by His grace, why not get in the Book that you “might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (I Cor. 2:12). Then, “freely ye have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8), and be ready to fight anyone who tries to put the saints under the conditional promises of the Law!

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

Did you ever wonder how God could call David “a man after His own heart” (I Sam. 13:14)? True, He called him that before his horrific infractions of adultery and murder. But even after his death, God said of him that he did “keep My statutes and My commandments” (I Kings 3:14). How can this be?

Well, to begin with, compare how Balaam was able to say of God that “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel” (Num. 23:21). This, of course, was because the Jews could say that “as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12), and Isaiah could pray with confidence, “Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back” (Isa. 38:17). Similarly, God was able to turn a blind eye to David’s sins, knowing that Christ would one day pay for them.

But there has to be more to it for God to be able to call David a man after His own heart, and I believe there is. You see, when God said of David that his heart was “perfect with the Lord his God,” He said that in contrast to Solomon, whose wives “turned away his heart after other gods” (I Kings 11:4). Despite his great sins, David never fell into idolatry. He always had a heart for the Lord, and a burning desire to serve Him.

As a pastor, Christians often ask me how I can think so highly of them when, in many cases, I have counseled them through their times of sin and failure, and so I know their deepest shame. I always explain that it is their heart for the Lord that God looks at, and so I always try to do the same. I don’t mean to say that those who strive to serve the Lord can do no wrong in my eyes, but this is very close to being so.

So it is that while we should always strive to live our lives as perfectly as God sees us in Christ (Phil. 3:10-14), if you are beating yourself up about your past sins and failures, stop it. Remember that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (I Sam. 16:7), and if God doesn’t behold your iniquity, neither should you.

Finally, if you are a judgmental Christian, why not learn to look upon others the way God looks at you, and “receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

“Can you explain Matthew 11:12, especially ‘the violent take it by force’?”

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

The “violence” that the Lord said the kingdom had suffered since John’s day was the violent resistance that the unbelieving leaders in Israel waged against the proclamation of the kingdom gospel. These violent rulers made several attempts on the Lord’s life as He preached the kingdom of heaven (Luke 4:29; John 5:18; John 7:1,19,25; 8:37,40; 10:31). As the Lord went on to explain, these violent attempts on His life were attempts to take possession of the kingdom by force.

The Lord illustrated all this with the parable of the “householder” who represented God (Matt. 21:33), “which planted a vineyard” that represented Israel in the Old Testament (Matt. 21:33 cf. Isa. 5:1,2,7). God “hedged” or “fenced” Israel (Matt. 21:33 cf. Isa. 5:2) with an invisible wall of protection from her enemies, but also “digged a winepress” (Isa. 5:2 cf. Matt. 21:33), which indicated He expected to reap a harvest of grapes from his vineyard to press into wine in return for His efforts. But the “servants” that God sent Israel to gather these fruits, the Old Testament prophets, were violently persecuted (Matt. 21:35,36). Last of all, He sent them His Son (Heb. 1:1,2), but when Israel’s leaders “saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill Him; and let us seize on His inheritance” (Matt. 21:38), His inheritance being Israel (Isa. 19:25).

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.