By Dr. Randy White 
Jesus told a parable about a prideful Pharisee that reminds us of the glory of grace! Grace is so amazing that we need regular reminders of its depth, breadth, and height.
“And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (Luke 18:9–14, NASB95)
BE CAUTIOUS
I am a believer in “grace-alone” salvation. I know that almost everyone says this, but not everyone really teaches this. Grace-alone means that you and I do not have a shred of goodness to offer God, but that He has, in grace, paid the penalty for sin and made an offer to mankind to be saved in Jesus Christ. Even so, we have an amazing ability and desire to add something to the simple grace-alone salvation revealed in Scripture. These additions put us in the same place as the Pharisees, who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous.” The Pharisee in the parable of Luke 18:9-14 was disgusted with the tax-collector because the tax man had not lived up to the works of pharisaical religion. It is the sin of pride, which is at the root of our continual desire to add to the Gospel.
One of the old hymns states,
“nothing of my own I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.”
It is inspiring to sing, but it is oddly offensive to the human spirit. Who among us wants to admit that we have nothing to bring? Deep inside, we are convinced that we have at least a little goodness that caused us to become the person we are today. Because of this sinful tendency, we need to be careful, lest we add for others restrictions on salvation that are man-made.
BE CAREFUL
If you listen carefully, you will find that many of our invitations to Christ involve or imply works. We say things like:
• Commit your life to Jesus
• Jesus needs to be the Lord of every area of your life
• Give everything you have to Jesus
These statements are appropriate in discipleship, but in evangelism they imply a “work-hard-to-be-saved” theology which is opposed to grace-alone. When the Gospel is presented, it should be presented for what it is: GOOD NEWS! It is, in fact, the greatest news! God has satisfied the requirements for the salvation of mankind, and now the offer is freely given to any who would believe. In other words, we do not need to present the demands of the Gospel, but the free offer of the Gospel. There are demands of discipleship, but we often try to develop disciples before a person has been saved! Jesus simply told Nicodemus, “You must be Born Again!” The Gospel only has one demand: believe! Jesus paid it all, and He is all a person needs to be saved. After a person experiences new birth, their lives will begin to change, and even more as we disciple them.
BE CONSCIOUS
What does it take for a person to go to heaven? In a word: Jesus! That is why, after all, we are called CHRISTians. Christ is the fundamental difference. Be conscious about this grace-alone reality, and it will cause a never-ending spring of rejoicing to well up within you.
Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
JERUSALEM—Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is preparing a major offensive in the coming days against the opposition targeting his regime, an informed Syrian government source confirmed.
The source said yesterday Assad was warned by Russia that if the coming counterinsurgency targeting the opposition is not successful in the next 4-6 weeks,
Syria should be prepared for a war.
The resource did not say whether the possibility of war referred to a Russian expectation of international intervention in Syria.
RUSSIA SUPPLYING HELICOPTERS TO SYRIA
The information comes after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday accused Russia of sending helicopter gunships to Syria for use in crackdowns on rebel positions across Syria.
“We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria,” said Clinton. “They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn’t worry—everything they are shipping is unrelated to their [the Syrian government’s] actions internally. That’s patently untrue.”
Continued Clinton:
“And we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically.”
Also yesterday US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland echoed concerns by UN envoy Kofi Annan that a so-called massacre is being organized against the Syrian opposition.
“The United States joins joint special envoy Kofi Annan in expressing deep alarm at reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organizing another massacre,” Ms Nuland said. “People will be held accountable.”
THE HOULA MASSACRE
A previous attack against civilians in the Syrian neighborhood of Houla saw 108 people, including 49 children, reportedly executed at close range on May 25. The international community quickly blamed Assad’s forces for the massacre.
This past weekend, Germany’s leading daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, quoted sources claiming the Houla massacre was actually committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants.
Immediately following the massacre, KleinOnline reported Syria presented the United Nations and the U.S. with information that claimed it was a group affiliated with al-Qaida, armed by Turkey, that slaughtered the civilians in their homes in Houla, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.
The international community has widely condemned Syria, pinning the blame for the Houla massacre on forces acting under the direction of Assad’s regime.
Assad’s regime several times has claimed al-Qaida was behind a series of attacks blamed on Syrian forces.
Last month, Syria said it arrested 26 al-Qaida “foreign terrorists,” including one Jordanian.
Two weeks ago Assad used a rare national address to blame “terrorists” and foreign elements for the Houla massacre.
The massacre further galvanized world opinion against Assad and has led to stepped-up calls by the opposition for the use of military force to oust the Syrian regime.
The U.S., Italy and Spain announced last week they are expelling Syrian ambassadors after similar moves by France, Germany, Britain, Australia and Canada.
In retaliation, Syria said it is expelling diplomats from Turkey and 10 Western countries, including the U.S. and the U.K.
Much of the Western news media blamed Assad’s troops for the Houla massacre.
But underscoring the gap of information on the ground, many news media reports at first claimed the civilian deaths in Houla were caused by mortars and shelling by Assad’s forces.
Two days later, much of the news media changed its tune, parroting a U.N. report that says most of the 108 victims of the Houla massacre were shot at close range, some of them women, children and entire families gunned down in their homes.
Survivors and witnesses cited by the U.N. blamed the house-to-house killings on pro-government thugs known as shabiha.
Largely unreported is Syria’s claim that an armed terrorism element is behind the massacre.
Middle East security officials told KleinOnline Syria has sent information to the U.S., U.N. and other international bodies indicating the house-to-house slaughter was carried out by a group affiliated with al-Qaida that came from North Africa.
According to Syria, the jihad organization entered Syria via Turkey, where the militants were first armed. Syria did not blame Turkey directly for the massacre, the security officials said. The Syrian report stated Turkey likely believes the al-
Qaida elements were going to fight Assad’s regime.
For months now, Turkey has been hosting the Syrian opposition and agitating for international military intervention against Damascus.
COLLABORATION BETWEEN SYRIAN OPPOSITION AND AL-QAIDA
Two weeks ago one Egyptian security official told KleinOnline there is a growing collaboration between the Syrian opposition and al-Qaida as well as evidence the opposition is sending weapons to jihadists in Iraq.
An Egyptian military attaché detailed the alleged collaboration between al-Qaida and the U.S.-aided opposition in Syria that operates under the banner of the National Free Army.
The purported cooperation extends to recent suicide attacks and bombings in Damascus and in the embattled Syrian city of Homs.
The military official told KleinOnline that Egypt has reports of collaboration between the Syrian opposition and three al-Qaida arms:
Jund al-Sham, which is made up of al-Qaida militants who are Syrian, Palestinian and Lebanese;
Jund al-Islam, which in recent years merged with Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group of Sunni Iraqis operating under the al-Qaida banner;
Jund Ansar al-Allah, an al-Qaida group based in Gaza linked to Palestinian camps in Lebanon and Syria.
The Arab League, which has condemned Syria, previously privately recognized an armed terrorist element agitating against Assad’s regime.
A leaked Arab League dispatch, posted in February by the Anonymous group, said Arab League monitors on the ground in Syria several times witnessed an “armed entity” provoking Syrian forces and placing civilian lives in danger.
That section of the classified report read:
“The Mission determined that there is an armed entity that is not mentioned in the protocol. … In some zones, this armed entity reacted by attacking Syrian security forces and citizens, causing the Government to respond with further violence. In the end, innocent citizens pay the price for those actions with life and limb.”
WHY I AM NOT A DISPENSATIONALIST; John Nelson Darby is recognized as the father of dispensationalism later made popular in the United States by Cyrus Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. Charles Henry Mackintosh, 1820–1896, with his popular style spread Darby's teachings to humbler elements in society and may be regarded as the journalist of the Brethren Movement. CHM popularised Darby more than any other Brethren author. As there was no Christian teaching of a “rapture” before Darby began preaching about it in the 1830s, he is sometimes credited with originating the "secret rapture" theory wherein Christ will suddenly remove His bride, the Church, from this world before the judgments of the tribulation. Dispensationalist beliefs about the fate of the Jews and the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Israel put dispensationalists at the forefront of Christian Zionism, because "God is able to graft them in again," and they believe that in His grace he will do so according to their understanding of Old Testament prophecy. They believe that, while the methodologies of God may change, His purposes to bless Israel will never be forgotten, just as He has shown unmerited favour to the Church, He will do so to a remnant of Israel to fulfill all the promises made to the genetic seed of Abraham. I am not a dispensationalist; it is unbiblical.
