Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. (Ezekiel 9:3-6)

The principle of marking those who would be protected from judgment was first mentioned in Genesis 4:15 when the Lord marked Cain as a warning to those who might try to kill him for murdering Abel.

It had also been hinted at when the Lord told Elijah He had reserved 7,000 faithful in Israel who had not succumbed to idol worship (1 Kings 19:18), but Ezekiel 9:4 stands as the clearest example in history of the Lord marking those who are His and protecting them from danger.  In the spiritual world the mark is a sign that the marked person belongs to the Lord and is off limits to anyone else.

Have You Been Marked?
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory (Ephes 1:13-14).

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:21-22).

In these two passages Paul revealed that all born again believers were marked at the time they believed to show that they belong to the Lord.  It’s the spiritual equivalent of a rancher branding his cattle with his mark of ownership.  The presence of this mark will protect us like it has protected others He has marked throughout history.

They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thes. 1:9-10)

But in our case, the mark doesn’t just protect us from the judgment taking place around us, it qualifies us to be removed from the judgment altogether. The Greek word translated from in the last phrase of the above passage means we’ll be separated (distanced) from both the time and the place of the coming wrath.  Peter used the example of Lot to describe this. (Note the similarity in the wording of 1 Thes. 1:9-10 above and 2 Peter 2:7,9below).

If The Lord rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men, then He knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment (2 Peter 2:7,9). The angels sent to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah couldn’t do so until they had Lot safely out of the way (Genesis 9:15-16, 22).

This mark can only be received on an individual or personal basis.  What I mean is we’re not marked because we’re part of the Church, we’re part of the Church because we’re marked. The concept of collective salvation is not Biblical.  Nor is it possible for a person with God’s mark to transfer its benefits to someone with out it.

Let Me Make This Perfectly Clear
God has stated this in no uncertain terms. In speaking of the judgment about to fall on the Southern Kingdom he had Ezekiel say;

“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord (Ezekiel 14:12-14).

Notice He didn’t have Ezekiel say, “If my people …”.  He said “If a country …”. Literally it means,  “When the Earth …”.  This tells me He was giving us a general principle applicable to all nations, not one that would only apply to Israel, as is the case with promises like 2 Chronicles 7:14 andJeremiah 29:11.

If any country persists in going against the will of God and doing things He has forbidden, and He determines to judge that country,  the believers in it, no matter how righteous they may be, can only  save themselves.  In Ezekiel 14:15-20 He repeatedly said that even if their own sons and daughters would be affected by the judgment, the prayers of these righteous men could not save them. They could save only themselves by their righteousness.

(Rev. 7:1-8 shows the marking of certain individuals will happen one final time after the Church is gone when the Lord will put His seal on the foreheads of His 144,000 servants to protect them from the coming Trumpet and Bowl judgments.  And once again His mark will only protect those to whom it will be given.)

Why Are You Doing That?
There is a currently popular trend in the US where groups of believers have been offering prayers of repentance on behalf of our country in an effort to stay the hand of God’s judgment.  But the Lord had Ezekiel tell us this would not accomplish anything.  If any nation continues to defy God by going against His ways, that nation will be judged and the prayers of the righteous people in it will only benefit themselves.  Only those who have received the mark of God will be rescued.

Proponents of repenting on behalf of our country use the examples of Jonah and Daniel to support their position.  I’ve written about Jonah in the past, showing how in that case every person in Nineveh, from the King to the lowliest servant, repented by clothing themselves in sackcloth and fasting (Jonah 3:6-9) in a united effort to avoid the judgment. It was not a case of a few repenting on behalf of the others. They were all repenting. Every one of them.

Those who propose Daniel’s prayer on behalf of Israel in support of this don’t understand that his case was not reflective of our situation either. According to Daniel’s own account, he was only reminding God of something He had already publicly promised to do;

In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lordgiven to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (Daniel 9:1-2)

Daniel had read the Book of Jeremiah, written almost 70 years earlier.  He knew that the time of captivity was nearly over and that God had already promised to deliver them.

“This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” (Jeremiah 25:11)

This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place” (Jeremiah 29:10).

And as for the claim that Daniel’s prayer brought Cyrus the Persian to conquer Babylon and free the Jews, Isaiah had foretold this 200 years previously, even naming Cyrus by name.  In the message given through Isaiah, God called Cyrus His anointed (chosen one) and included a detailed description of the plan by which Cyrus would conquer Babylon without a battle (Isaiah 45:1-7).

Jewish tradition holds that Daniel showed this portion of the scroll of Isaiah to Cyrus following the fall of Babylon.  In response Cyrus ordered the Jewish captives to be set free.  This was not something prompted by Daniel’s prayer, it had been God’s published plan all along.

Where the judgment of the US is concerned God has offered no prophecy of duration and no promise of restoration.  And now enough people have voted to continue on the path of rebellion to confirm the futility of offering prayers of repentance on behalf of our country.

Where Do We Go From Here?
Since I believe we’re at the End of the Age and that the US has no official role to play in bringing about God’s Kingdom, I see a future where the US continues to decline in power and influence while events  increasingly become centered in the Middle East.  I think the election results tell us God’s plan for the End Times is right on schedule and there will be no more delay.

Therefore, I believe we should continue living each day by trusting in the Lord and longing for His appearing to take us home.  We should stop worrying about our life here and focus our time, our talents, and our treasure on preparing for our life to come (Matt. 6:19-34).  And above all, we should remember that while there’s no such thing as repenting on behalf of our country, there is such a thing as asking the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of our unsaved loved ones toward repenting for themselves.  While there is no collective salvation, there are untold millions of cases where the destinies of individuals have been changed through the prayers of others. I know because I’m one of them.

Every idol in our lives is being removed.  Believing in our country, our leaders, our economy, our bank accounts or even ourselves is proving to be ineffective.  The only one left to believe in is God, and that’s just the way He wants it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:4-6).

The word “grace” appears 170 times in the English translation of the Bible, 37 of them in the Old Testament.  Of the 133 remaining, only four are contained in the gospels and they all refer to the Lord Jesus (Luke 2:40, John 1:14, 16, 17).  The Book of Acts contains 10 appearances, and  2 others can be found in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 1:4, Rev. 22:21) where they essentially open and close the book. That leaves 117 references to grace in the various Epistles.

As it’s used in the New Testament, grace is clearly a word that is meant for the Church. It comes from the Greek word charis, which is defined as “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”

Much has been written about the different approaches taken by Peter and Paul in presenting the Gospel of Grace to their audiences.   Some claim that Peter didn’t mention having our sins forgiven by the Lord’s sacrifice but instead preached a message of repentance and baptism.

But Paul emphasized the redeeming power of the Lord’s blood, shed on the cross.  He didn’t say much about baptism, claiming the Lord hadn’t sent him to baptize but to preach the gospel (1 Cor. 1:17), and spoke even less about repentance. From this some have concluded that Peter and Paul preached two different gospels.

Let’s take a closer look at this opinion.  We’ll use Peter’s first public message after the Ascension as an example.  Remember, he was talking to the crowd on the Temple Mount during their observance of the Feast of Pentecost. All of them were Jews and many of them were well versed in their scriptures.  Let’s join the conversation.

“Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:36-38)

To repent actually means to change our mind about something.  While it can bring about a change in behavior, none is necessary to fulfill the meaning of the word.  In the case of Peter’s audience the Jews had to change their minds about what it takes to be saved.  They had been taught that obedience to the law is what makes one righteous and that was wrong.  Peter said it’s believing in Jesus that brings forgiveness. It’s exactly what he had heard the Lord Himself say on numerous occasions (John 3:16, John 6:28-29, John 6:38-40).  Later Peter would say, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).  Believing in Jesus means believing He was the Son sent by the Father to die for the sins of the people.  He was both Lord and Christ.

Then Peter told them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  According to my concordance, the Greek phrase translated “in the name of” invokes every thought or feeling that is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, or remembering the name being referenced.  It can be used to establish one’s rank or authority, and to convert a request into a command.  A servant acting in the name of his master had the authority of the master himself.

To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to recognize His authority to do what He came to do and promised to do (to save us from our sins).  It means we believe He has such authority and has exercised it on our behalf.  That’s why John’s baptism didn’t bring either salvation or the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7).  He had no authority to save us from our sins. Only Jesus had that authority (Mark 2:6-12).

And finally Peter promised them the Holy Spirit.  There’s only one way to receive the Holy Spirit and that’s to believe that the Lord’s death paid the full price for all our sins as confirmed by His resurrection.  The Holy Spirit was not given to anyone until the Lord’s atoning sacrifice had been perfected in His victory over death (John 7:37-39, John 20:19-23) .

Somewhere in our past, legalistic preachers began teaching that repentance means to change our behavior, and with out a change in behavior there was no repentance.  But if that was the case, the phrase “repent and be saved” would require us to stop sinning before we could ask God to save us.  It amazes me that some of the same preachers who preach this also lead their congregations in singing “Just As I Am” while issuing an altar call.

In his answer to their question, “Brothers, what shall we do?”  Peter did not invoke the Law or their traditions, nor did he  set forth any other pre-conditions.  He simply said, “Repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.”  To his Jewish listeners these few words carried the full impact of the Gospel of Grace.

A Matter Of Perspective
I’m convinced that the whole debate over whether Peter taught a different Gospel than Paul can be resolved by a clearer understanding of the vastly different perspective of their two audiences.

Peter didn’t speak of the blood because the Jews already understood the idea of shedding innocent blood for the remission of sins.  Untold thousands of innocent animals had shed their blood in the previous two millennia to set the sins of the people aside and stay the hand of judgment against them. Their Temple was called a house of blood because at times blood had flowed like a river from beneath the altar. They needed to change their minds and understand that all those animals they sacrificed were but a temporary substitute for the sacrifice the Messiah made on their behalf, and while the blood of animals had set temporarily aside the peoples’ sins, the blood of Jesus washed them clean forever (Hebrews 10:1-4, 11-14).

On the other hand, Paul didn’t speak of the need to repent because Gentiles didn’t need to change their mind about the way to salvation. They had no way to salvation.  They needed to learn that there is a God and they were sinners destined for His judgment. They needed to know that this God had made a way for them to be saved from the penalty of their sins, and that way was the blood shed by the Lord Jesus for the remission of their sins.

Put another way, Peter summarized the Gospel like this.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1 :18-21).

While Paul said it this way.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

It sounds like the same gospel to me. Please remember that although these two men certainly had their differences in the flesh, when they preached or wrote about the Gospel they were both under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, who cannot contradict Himself.  The idea that Peter and Paul taught different gospels is not supported in Scripture.

A New Race Of Human
Whether Jew or Gentile, here’s what the Gospel of Grace means to us.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility (Ephes. 2:14-16).

In building His Church, God was taking some from among the Jews and some from among the Gentiles to create a new race of mankind.  We’re saved only by His grace, through faith (Ephes. 2:8-9), for the purpose of demonstrating the manifold wisdom of God to the heavenly beings (Ephes. 3:10-11). All the sins of our life have been forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14) and we’ve been invested with the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (Ephes. 1:13-14).  We’ve also been given the authority to become the very children of God (John 1:12-13) and heirs with Christ in His inheritance (Romans 8:17).

Being in Christ, we’ve become a new creation in God’s eyes.  The old has gone, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17).  From His perspective we’re already seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, in order that in ages yet to come He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (Ephes. 2:6-7). To this end God has taken ownership of us and accepted responsibility for making us stand ( 1 Cor. 6:19-20, 2 Cor. 1:21-22).  There’s no power in Heaven or on Earth that can do anything to change that (John 10:27-30, Romans 8:38-39).

Soon he’ll descend into the upper atmosphere and with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, He’ll call us up to His side (1 Thes. 4:16-17) and carry us off to our mansions in His father’s house (John 14:2-3). From that time on and forever we’ll always be with Him, joint heirs with Him in the inheritance His father has given Him (Psalm 2:8).

Meanwhile, Back On Earth
At the time of our departure the Gospel of Grace will see its fulfillment and the pause between the 69th and 70th Weeks of Daniel will come to an end.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matt. 24:14

By saying the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world again the Lord provided us with another confirmation that the Age of Grace will have ended and Daniel’s 70th Week will have begun.

In the New Jerusalem, the incredible home our Lord has been preparing for us, the Church will be enjoying the first chapter of our eternal life with Him, hidden away like a bride in her bridal chamber.  But on Earth Daniel’s 70th  Week will bring horrific judgments as God prepares the creation for its restoration.

Then the Times of the Gentiles will end, the creation will be restored to its original splendor.  The Lord will assume His rightful place as King of the whole Earth, and the Kingdom Age will begin. The New Jerusalem will descend out of Heaven to take its place as the source of light for the world (Rev. 21:24). The Gospel of the Kingdom and the Gospel of Grace will have both found their fulfillment in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.