One For Israel Podcast:
https://fb.watch/hICCo7u3NU/
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace.
(Ephesians 1:7)
If you look for what God has to say about forgiveness, a simple search in your Bible will reveal scripture after scripture saying that human beings should forgive other human beings simply because God first forgave us.
The Bible’s primary emphasis on forgiveness is not on our forgiving one another, but is rather on our being forgiven.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7) God simply says: “Treat each other as I have treated you.” God loves the world, and He wants us to love His children as we love ourselves. This is an intensified form of the golden rule in which Christians are called beyond goodness to godliness. This not only necessitates forgiveness, but demands a radical forgiveness that gives greatly and requires us to rely on God. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:32) Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Eph 5:1-2)
If You Don’t Forgive, You Won’t Be Forgiven.
In the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us in verse 12 to ask the Lord to “forgive us as we forgive others.” In the passage immediately after the Lord’s Prayer, we are given a specific reflection on this line about forgiveness. Jesus explains this in verses 14 and 15 where He tells us that if you forgive, God will forgive you, and if you don’t, He won’t forgive you. This is certainly a dramatic emphasis with overwhelming consequences. To Forgive is to Align Ourselves with God. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 'There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This is what we call justification – if we are in Christ Jesus – that is, if we are united to Jesus by faith in him – our condemnation from God because of our sin is taken away. God acquits us. Counts us righteous. Justifies us. He does not look upon us any longer as guilty and condemned, but as forgiven and righteous because of what Jesus did for us.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." This is what we call sanctification. After we are justified, and because we are justified, the Spirit of God is poured out in our lives and begins to free us from the dominion of sin and death. This means that Christians are not only "counted" righteous in justification, but actually transformed by the Spirit of God into more and more actually righteous, loving, holy people. This is the practical evidence that we have trusted Christ and are united to him and are justified in him. The law could not justify us and the law could not sanctify us. It was powerless to do both of these things. Justification and sanctification come to us by union with Christ Jesus ("in Christ") for the law could not make them happen. What the law could not do is condemn sin in the flesh, that is, it could not deal with sin, absorb its punishment, remove our condemnation. So God did this by sending Jesus into the world to die for us: "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." There is no condemnation because God executed the condemnation for our sin on his Son. That is the basis of our justification. That is what the law could not do. It could not remove the condemnation for our sin.
It could identify it
and name it
and point away from it
and stir it up
and rub it in.
But it could not remove our punishment.
God did that in Jesus' death.
So again we see that justification is something the law could not do.
This is a purpose of God's condemning sin in the flesh.
God put our condemnation on Jesus and provided the basis for our justification "so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Walking according to the Spirit is what we mean by sanctification. So what we see here again, as in verses 1 and 2, is that sanctification is the result or the effect of justification. And that means that both justification and sanctification are what the law could not do. What the law could not do God did, he condemned sin by sending his Son to die for us, and because of this basis for justification he enables us to
fulfill the essence of the law by
giving us the
Holy Spirit.
That is what the law could not do:
justify us and sanctify us.
It could not remove our condemnation
or bring about our transformation.
"Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men." Flesh is what we are by human nature, and what we are by human nature is under condemnation. What is the remedy for condemnation?
If you are guilty of a capital offense and under the condemnation of a death sentence from God, what will save you? Commandments will not save you when your problem is guilt and condemnation.
What happens when commandments come? Paul tells us in Romans 7:9, "When the commandment came, sin came alive and I died."
The commandments don't bring about redemption, they bring about wrath. Romans 4:15,
"The law brings wrath."
A man who is guilty and under legal condemnation will not be saved by commandments; he will be saved by acquittal. He needs a judge to pardon and forgive. He needs justification by faith and not by works of the law. That's why Paul comes to the end of his long indictment of the human race in Romans 1-3 by saying, "By works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). So the law could not do what absolutely has to be done if we are to be rescued from our guilt and condemnation: it could not justify us. It could not set us right with God. It could not take away our guilt. It could not absorb our condemnation. Commandments of the law cannot remove guilt and condemnation.
Only Christ can.
Has it ever seemed as though God has abandoned you?
Maybe you feel like God has given up on you or isn’t hearing your prayers. If so, then you have a vague idea of how Jesus felt on the most difficult day of His life on earth.
That day, he hung on a Roman cross and cried out,
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
(Matthew 27:46 NKJV). These are also the opening words of Psalm 22, one of the most unique psalms in the Bible. We would call this a Messianic prophecy, which simply means it’s one of those remarkable passages in the Old Testament that points to the Messiah. And not only is this a Messianic prophecy, but it’s also a graphic description of the events that
took place on the day of the Crucifixion.
In fact, in many ways it’s more detailed and specific than the accounts provided in the actual Gospels.
What makes this psalm
so amazing
is that
it was written 1,000 years before
the crucifixion of Jesus took place.
In fact, the Jews didn’t practice crucifixion,
and the Romans didn’t develop it.
It was a form of death initially devised by the Medes, Persians, and Assyrians. When it spread throughout the East, the Romans borrowed it from the Phoenicians. So crucifixion wasn’t even practiced when the psalmist David originally spoke of it in Psalm 22. That’s why it’s all the more remarkable.
Yet the passage reads like a vivid eyewitness account
of the Crucifixion.
I don’t believe that when David wrote down these words,
he was describing a situation he was going through.
There was nothing in David’s life that would have even come close to approaching what he described here.
I think that when David penned Psalm 22,
God spoke to him in a way that enabled him to describe
the suffering of the Messiah.
I don’t even know that David fully grasped everything he was writing down. Statements such as, “They pierced My hands and My feet” ); “My strength is dried up like a potsherd” and “for My clothing they cast lots” are all vivid descriptions of what happened when Jesus was crucified. Now, it is impossible for us as humans to completely fathom what actually took place. But I think it’s important to try and grasp what was happening here, because it’s of the greatest significance and speaks of God’s love for us.
When Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
these weren’t delusional words coming from someone in pain.
It wasn’t that the faith of Jesus was failing.
Rather, Jesus was in full control of His faculties.
He wasn’t losing His mind.
Something of profound significance was taking
place, and He merely stated the truth of the
situation.
We know the sin of the world was put upon Jesus at one point, because speaking of this moment the Scriptures said of Jesus, “For He shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11). The Bible also tells us, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21) The Bible isn’t saying that Jesus sinned, because He never did. Rather, Jesus had to take our sins upon Himself. We assume this probably was during the three hours of darkness while Jesus hung on the cross, culminating in His statement, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus was forsaken of God for a time so that we might be forgiven. The ear of God was closed to him for a time so that it might be open to us forever. Jesus was there doing what had to be done.
And only he could do it.
Understand,
to be forsaken of God was much more of a
source of anguish to Jesus than to anyone else.
He was absolutely holy.
Never during one moment of His earthly life did he have one thought out of harmony with God the Father. Never did He even come close to sinning. He was in intimate closeness with God. This was something that had to happen in the life of the Son of God so that we could come back into a relationship with the Father—a relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden. 🍎
Yet this isn’t the way that God normally deals with His own when they face life’s hardest moments.
If you’re a child of God,
you have not been—and you never will be--
forsaken by God.
When you look at stories in the Bible of those who suffered, you’ll find that God always was with them in a special way.
For instance, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a fiery furnace for their bold profession of faith,
the king looked in and said,
“I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God”
(Daniel 3:25).
There was Jesus, in the flames with them.
When we read the story of young Stephen, who was being put to death because of his bold proclamation of the gospel, we read that he had a vision of Heaven. He said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:56 ). When the apostle Paul was speaking of his suffering and difficulties because of what he described as “a thorn in the flesh,” the Lord said to him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ). God met His people in times of need with special provision and comfort. And He does the same for us.
So often it’s during difficult times that we come into a greater appreciation of God’s grace and his power.
That is when we really see it shine.
God does not forsake His people. Jesus Himself said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). If you are a child of God, you have never been—nor ever will be—forsaken by God. Jesus made sure of this on the cross. Abandonment is probably the worst emotional experience anyone can suffer. Betrayal hurts, to be sure, but then anger and a need for self-preservation usually spring from those wounds to assuage the pain. Still, abandonment knocks the very ground out from under our feet as we realize the very one we depended on most has forgotten us. We have never felt so utterly alone and vulnerable. Yet, the most unbearable of all was the abandonment that Jesus felt while hanging on the cross as he uttered, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The God with whom he had so intimately communed on a daily basis now falls inexplicably silent and distant in the hour of Jesus’ greatest need.
Jesus had prophesied that when lifted up on the cross, he’d draw all people to himself. People would recognize in his tortured, broken frame their pitiful human condition. In the same way, a betrayed, crucified and abandoned humanity will recognize Jesus’ cry of abandonment as their own. God became human in Jesus precisely to experience all life’s trials, not so much to learn what it’s like to be human, for God surely knows, but rather to reveal that even in our darkest situations, God is truly with us. And in that moment, when we realize nothing can separate us from the love of God, we are saved. Just as Psalm 22 begins with abandonment, it later says: “For God has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch, did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.”
With his dying breath, Jesus echoed that realization:
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
He was thus proclaiming faith in God’s ultimate victory.
From of old God regarded our loneliness and lowliness, and, moved with compassion, God became one of us to be with us and deliver us from every evil. And we whom God has saved must, in turn, be with all our brothers and sisters in their hour of need. But to do this, we must see them as God sees them. With compassion. Feeling what they feel. Suffering what they suffer. Jesus experiences abandonment so that all who feel abandoned might experience Jesus. Expressing solidarity with all who suffer is truly an amazing grace. As Jesus died accursed upon the tree (Galatians 3:13), He was abandoned and forsaken by God’s goodness, kindness, love, etc. Jesus was left with only God’s wrath, vengeance, and fury. Jesus endured this for the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2a)
because of the love He has for God the Father and for us (Eph 5:2).
Jesus knew Psalm 22. He does not paraphrase. He quotes it word for word.
This psalm is a Psalm of David.
As such, many commentators explain that this had some sort of direct fulfillment in David’s life. However, Jesus is quoting this psalm as Messianic. And the Scriptures tell us that David wrote some prophetic psalms directly about the Messiah. For example, look at Peter’s message on Pentecost: "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:29-32)
Some of David’s psalms are undoubtedly prophetic.
They are directly about the Messiah. Jesus points to Himself as the fulfillment of David’s Psalm 22.
Notice that the Psalm doesn’t say, My God, my God, why does it appear that you have forsaken me? The question is asking why He has been forsaken. Everyone looking at Jesus upon the cross would have come to the same conclusion: this man is accursed by God.
That’s why the Jews wanted Him to be crucified. So, the question is: why did it have to happen this way? Why did this righteous, sinless Lamb of God, need to die accursed on a tree? Jesus was accursed by the plan of God in fulfillment of the Scriptures.
Not because the Christ deserved it
but because we do
as the penalty for our sin, transgression, and iniquity.
The psalm also speaks of the mockery of the people towards Christ. As He hung on the tree, being made a curse for us, the people derided Him.
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads. (Psalm 22:7)
This was directly fulfilled.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet--
I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:16-18)
The direct fulfillment is made explicit.
And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. (Matthew 27:35) In Jesus’s day, Gentiles were often referred to as dogs by the Jews (for example, see Matthew 15:22-28). Jesus quoted from Psalm 22:1 as He was surrounded by Roman executioners (“dogs”). They were a company of evildoers who literally pierced His hands and His feet.
They fulfilled the Scriptures by dividing His garments among themselves. Jesus quoted Psalm 22 intentionally.
He was pointing to the deeper reality beneath the surface.
Jesus wasn’t dying like other criminals for His own crimes.
He was not just saying that the first verse applied to Him.
Jesus was declaring to all that He was being despised, rejected, afflicted, and cast down for a purpose.
Not by the sword of man, or ravenous dogs, or the mouths of lions, or by a herd of wild oxen (Psalm 22:19-21). But by God Himself in order to impute us from our sinful human nature.
The word impute means “to credit to one’s account.” This word is important. We all need to pay close attention.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3). He stepped out of eternity and into time. Taking a second nature, humanity.
Jesus, being fully God and fully man, lived an earthly life.
Free of sin.
Sin did not dwell in His flesh as it dwells in ours.
He was perfect. He did not know sin.
He only knew the Father and His perfect will for Him. The Scripture says that He who knew no sin (Jesus) was made to be sin.
How can this be?
God the Father imputed sin to Jesus’s account. The Father reckoned sin to Jesus’s spotless account. Jesus came to condemn sin in the flesh. God is good, just, and righteous.
Thus, the problem of our sin must be dealt with.
Either we will pay the punishment for our own sin or God Himself will have to. There is no third option.
So that we might become the righteousness of God. The Father imputed or “credited sin to His account.” For those who are found in Christ by faith, believing in the Son of God and His perfect work on their behalf, God imputes (or credits) righteousness to our account. No one can earn right standing with God. It’s not possible. Because no one is good and no one does what is right (Romans 3:10-12). No one can escape condemnation by themselves.
The condemnation that our sin has brought upon us is inescapable without a perfect Savior.
Jesus is that Savior.
God imputed our sin to Christ and it was condemned in His flesh. Meaning He paid the price for it. Endured the wrath of God on behalf of sin. So that we, by faith, who are “in Christ” could have His righteousness credited to our account.
Therefore, all who are found in Christ stand before God justified. Not on our merit but on the merit of another. There is no longer any condemnation for all who are in Him. By the grace of God, through faith, God has made it possible for us to receive Jesus Christ’s perfect righteousness as a gift.
However, the Bible also discusses faith as a gift. It tells us that God gives us what we need when we are doing what He asks; He will help us do what seems impossible. We also know that God cares about us very much: He knows the hairs on our head and knows every little sparrow – and we are worth more than many sparrows. He is concerned that forgiveness is hard, and He hurts that it hurts you. No one has suffered more than He has or paid a greater price for forgiveness. It is not so much that He joins us on our journey of forgiveness, but rather that we are to join Him. He has not called us to hardship for the sake of hardship, but for the sake of life and glory, and He will take care of us as we lay down our lives. If we come under His yoke, He pulls the lion’s share. The Kingdom expands as we choose to live as God lives – this is what is meant by godliness. In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus the question we all want to ask once we’ve started to practice the discipline of forgiveness:
How many times do I have to forgive someone close,
someone who continues to wrong me?
When forgiveness goes well, it is freeing and life-giving,
but when it goes poorly
your transgressor can treat you with contempt and continue to transgress.
This happens particularly when people are very close to each other, such as in a marriage or a family. And it certainly does happen. Peter asks how many times he should forgive a brother who continually sins against him. “Up to seven times?” It is clear that he knew Jesus and His teachings, for Peter anticipated the Lord’s reply, and he may have been making a good effort to extend his heart to partake in the Kingdom and forgive many times.
Jesus replied by saying, “I tell you, not seven times – but seventy times seven.” At that moment, Jesus was the same as He was at creation and the same as He is today – His paradigm of thought was beyond what the apostles were ready to hear. He tells us that we are called to forgive our brother as many times as we are given opportunity – we are to never refuse to forgive. And when this seems impossible, we should thank God that this is how He forgives us.
One huge dividing line in Paul’s world was between Jews and Gentiles.
Paul had lived out that bias
(cf. Galatians 1:13-14).
There was a real wall in the Temple in Jerusalem. “Interpretations of purity laws resulted in Gentiles being excluded from the court of Israel (for Jewish men) and even the less pure court of women (for Jewish women).
Christians in and around Ephesus would know that Paul was in Roman custody because he had been accused of bringing an Ephesian Gentile beyond the temple’s outer court
(Acts 21:27–29).”*
Tribalism, nationalism, bigotry, fear and violence are not new—they’ve been part of the human condition in nearly all ages.
But Paul wrote in verse 14 that Christ destroyed that barrier in the Temple by rendering it pointless. Christ, he testified out of his own life experience, tore down the dividing wall(s) between people.
Ephesians 2:11-14: 11 So remember that once you were Gentiles by physical descent, who were called “uncircumcised” by Jews who are physically circumcised. 12 At that time you were without Christ. You were aliens rather than citizens of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of God’s promise. In this world you had no hope and no God.
13 But now, thanks to Christ Jesus, you who once were so far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group.
With his body, he broke down the barrier of hatred that divided us.
Ephesians said on the cross Christ broke down the barriers that separate people. In a global society, we all see differences between people that trigger hostility or fear in us. Who do you find it hard to like or to trust? How does it affect your feelings when you remember that Jesus died for them, too? How can Jesus' grace to you make you more willing to tackle the hard work of breaking down long-standing biases and actions? How can you discern those (in any nation or faith) who seek to tear down walls and create more goodwill and peace from those who wish to build higher walls? “Christ is our peace.” Do you see any difference between peace as a solely human effort to “split differences” and balance interests, and peace based on who Jesus is and who you are in him?
For Christ didn’t just pray these words; he achieved the possibility of a new humanity, unified and one, through his sinless life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection. Could there be true unity among Christ-followers, regardless of race or ethnicity?
The apostle Paul believed so,
as he saw the vital connection between believers’ justification by faith alone and their unity with one another, whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free. 'Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sin, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone”
In other words, when a guilty sinner stands before God, he can be declared “not guilty” when another man stands in his place and offers the perfect righteousness that God requires.
This perfect God-man is Jesus, who through his fully obedient, sinless life earned righteousness. Yet, he suffered our penalty on the cross, dying in the place of sinners. Those, then, who look to Jesus in faith, trusting in him as their probation-keeper and penalty-payer, are declared righteous. This is why Paul can say that Jesus’s death “was to show [God’s] righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
Indeed, justification is by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone. 'If we are united to Christ in justification, we are also united to one another.” The early Jewish believers in the resurrection, taking their cue from the apostle Paul, believed that sinners, estranged from a righteous God, can receive full acceptance by faith alone, whether they be Jew or Gentile, slave or free.
Therefore, as Paul shows in passages such as Romans 3 and Galatians 3, justification is indispensable not only to the gospel itself, but also to Christian unity. Learning about the doctrine of justification helps us see how Christ’s work and our faith in his work lead to ethnic harmony: one race united to Christ and, thus, to one another. The doctrine of justification is the foundation and the fuel for a unified new humanity.
It is striking to see how Paul transitions from the nature of justification, or what it is, to the effects of justification, or why it matters. In both Romans 3 and Galatians 3, Paul draws out the implication that a Christian’s union with Christ in his justification leads to unity with fellow Christians who share in Christ’s body and blood.
That is, if we are united to Christ in justification, we are also united to one another. In Paul’s mind, the division that existed between Jews and Gentiles in the Christian church was of utmost importance. He knew that unity in Christ required unity through Christ.
After stipulating that all humans share a common universal problem — the reality of sin and lack of righteousness (Romans 3:9–11) — he tells these early Christians that a righteousness outside of the law and outside of themselves is available to all by faith (Romans 3:21–22; 28).
Anyone can be justified by God, regardless of racial or ethnic heritage; God’s free gift of justification is available to all.
A new, united humanity made up of all tribes, peoples, and tongues is being formed by the God-man Jesus Christ.
God’s plan of salvation, once seemingly reserved for those with Israelite blood, was being thrown open to include those with other bloodlines.
What many did not realize was that this method was part and parcel of God’s mission from the beginning of time. Paul recognizes the scope of God’s redemptive plan when he writes, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Or is God the God of Jews only?
Is he not the God of Gentiles also?
Yes, of Gentiles also,
since God is one —who will justify the circumcised
by faith
and the uncircumcised
through faith”
(Romans 3:28–30).
As there is no distinction for those
who need grace by faith,
there is no distinction for those
who receive grace by faith.
When Christians realize that Christ is building a new humanity by uniting to himself those who believe in his justifying work,
they will see that they are spiritually united to one another.
God’s children would then be numbered by those who have faith in Christ, not by those who have lineage in Abraham.
In fact, writing to the Galatians, Paul would state this startling truth: “It is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7). These Gentile Christians in Galatia can count themselves part of Abraham’s spiritual family.
They have been united to the spiritual family of God
because of the achievements of Christ’s work that they received by faith alone. The reality of our union with Christ and the resulting unity we have with each other allow us to do Christlike deeds.
We can bless those who slander and insult us.
We can rejoice when justice is done but also weep when our fellow Christians (of whatever ethnicity) suffer.
We can forsake the wisdom of the world, which so easily polarizes us and often serves our pride.
We are those who prize peace, in the church and in the world, because we have peace with God.
Pharisaism is making a value judgment on someone else based on one’s own assumed secure position.
Of course, making a value judgment is not always wrong.
We have to make value judgments all the time. Our value judgment on that teacher may not be wrong either.
Because of the cultural environment we live in, because of the strong, humanistic philosophy in the field of education today, and because of the strong opposition towards evangelical Christianity today, we are probably safe to make such a value judgment.
However, what we have to be aware of is that before we make any value judgment on someone else, we have to examine how secure our own assumed position is.
When it comes to pharisaism, sincerity really does not matter.
You can be extremely sincere, and yet sincerely wrong!
The best examples of this, of course,
are the religious leaders of Jesus’ time,
the chief among them being the Pharisees,
from whom the word “pharisaism” is coined.
The most known of the religious leaders were the Pharisees.
They were a religious party. The word “Pharisee”
literally means “Separatist,”
the name given to them by their opponents because of their “holier than thou” haughty attitude.
Their supreme aim was to strictly follow both the written and oral law.
They looked down upon the common people who did not have the slightest chance of fulfilling the complex requirements of the Law.
However, the common people admired the Pharisees as representing the ideal followers of Judaism. The Pharisees had such a hold on the common people that no governing power could afford to disregard them.
However, not all Pharisees were bad. Many of them actually tried to promote true spirituality and piety. Some of the well known men of the New Testament were Pharisees such as, Nicodemus (John 3), Gamaliel (Acts 5:34), and Paul himself (Philippians 3:5). Some of them became members in the early church (Acts 6:7). Paul used the title of Pharisee with great respect and as a title of honor (Philippians 3:5).
What Jesus condemned was their hypocrisy, as evidenced by their
pride in their outward observance of the law
but inward spiritual void,
and their arrogant belief that they were more religious than the rest.
They in return accused Jesus of blasphemy (Luke 5:21), in league with the devil (Matthew 9:34), and of breaking the law (Matthew 12:2) which prompted them to seek to destroy Him (Matthew 12:14).
Scribes - Their job was to study and expound the law. The Pharisees were a religious party, whereas the scribes held religious office. Most of the scribes belonged to the Pharisaic party, whereas not all Pharisees were scribes. Scribes claimed positions of first rank, sought public acclaim of the people and wore long and expensive robes.
They were the strongest opponents of Jesus because He refused to be bound by the letter of the law (John 5:10; Mark 7:7-13).
They kept close watch over whatever He said and did (Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30; 15:2).
Sadducees - Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, the Sadducees were a political party favorable to the Roman government. They were priests of Jewish aristocratic class. All Sadducees were priests, but not all priests were Sadducees. They accepted only the written law and rejected the traditions of the Pharisees. They denied bodily resurrection (Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27; Acts 4:1-2; 23:8), the existence of the angels (Acts 23:8),
and the sovereignty of God over human affairs,
and believed that man is the master of his own destiny.
Because of these theological differences, they did not have a cordial relationship with the Pharisees. However, they joined with the Pharisees in confronting Jesus to show them a sign from heaven (Matthew 16:1). They also raised a question to Jesus about the resurrection (Matthew 22:23). Most of the criticism of Jesus was directed against the Pharisees, except on one occasion when He warned the disciples of the leaven of the Sadducees (Matthew 16:6, 11). Herodians - The Herodians were neither a religious sect nor a political party. They were Jews who supported the Herodian dynasty. They also joined with the Pharisees to oppose Jesus and
attempted to trap Him
by asking Him whether it was
proper to pay tribute to Caesar
(Matthew 22:15-22 and Mark 12:13-17; 3:6 are the only mention of them in the New Testament.).
Although there were many theological and political differences
among these four groups and they hated each other strongly,
they united in a common cause against Jesus.
However, Jesus’ most scathing rebuke was reserved for the scribes and the Pharisees who joined together as a group in hatred and strong opposition of Him. Jesus’ major encounter with the Sadducees was only on one occasion when they raised the question about the resurrection and marriage (Matthew 22:23-33; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38). Similarly, His only encounter with the Herodians was when they were incited by the Pharisees to raise the question about paying taxes to Caesar (Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17). There is no mention of the Herodians acting by themselves to oppose Jesus. But as mentioned above,
His most scathing rebuke was reserved for the scribes and Pharisees.
Why?
Humanly speaking, if anybody needed the message of God’s salvation, it would have been the Sadducees.
Sadducees were the modern-day rationalists who did not see any need of God or the supernatural. Following a humanistic philosophy, they put man in the center of the universe as the master of his own destiny.
If anybody needed the convincing proof of God and His revelation,
it would have been the Sadducees. Or, Jesus could have picked a fight with the Herodians. Like the present-day civil libertarians, they always argued for the separation of the state and organized religion.
Or, like the modern day politicians, they tried to solve all the social and moral problems by the involvement of the government. If anybody needed to be taught that only God can solve the social problems and take care of the need of the human heart, it would have been the Herodians.
But Jesus reserved His most scathing rebukes for the Pharisees and the scribes who without doubt were the most religious people of His time. They followed the law extremely carefully and were guardians of the religious establishment of Jesus’ time.
Like Paul before his conversion,
they lived according to the strictest code of the Jewish religious system
(Acts 26:5; Philippians 3:5).
However,
in their close scrutiny of the Law and in their best human efforts to
keep the minutest details of the Law,
they became blind even to the
clearest revelation of the
living Word of God.
They were very sincere, but sincerely wrong in the
value judgments they made about Jesus.
In their confrontation with Jesus, two basic issues were involved:
1) His relation with God the Father; His claims of being equal with the Father, and
2) His relationship with man; His mingling with the lowest class of people in the society; He came to serve and not to be served.
The scribes and Pharisees opposed Jesus in relation to His claims of being equal with God, and they objected to every claim that He made about His being equal with the Father: They objected to His use of the title “Son of God” for Himself. The Pharisees and scribes knew their theology well. When Jesus called God His Father,
they knew what He meant was being of the
same nature as God; i.e.,
equal with God, or
God Himself.
Jesus preached to the outcasts that through relationship with him, all ethnicities and religions were in equal relationship with God:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
This verse continues the proof that all Christians are, in the fullest sense, “sons of God.” Galatians 3:27 showed why this was so; the present verse shows that there are no exceptions, no inequalities.
All Christians alike, no matter what their race, status, or sex, stand on the same footing of sonship before God. There is a unity or solidarity in the Christian body.
What is true of one is true of all.
The spread of the Greek race through the conquests of Alexander, their ubiquitous presence, and the use of the Greek language as a universal medium of communication, led to the name “Greek” being applied to all who were not Jews. “Jew and Greek” is intended to be an exhaustive division of the human race, just as “bond or free,” “male and female.” This verse marks the immense stride made by Christianity in sweeping away the artificial distinctions which had been the bane of the ancient world, and prevented any true feeling of brotherhood springing up in it. Christianity, at one stroke, established the brotherhood and abolished the distinctions. Having now established the temporary and subordinate function of the Law, the Apostle finally repudiates every claim, whether on that or any other ground, on behalf of any distinct class to superior sanctity in Christ. All Christians, whatever their antecedents, are one in Christ.—οὐκ ἔνι.
Distinctions of creed or race
are incompatible
with true membership of Christ:
the legal barriers and social cleft which severed freeman from slave, even natural divisions as deep-seated as those of sex,
disappear in presence of the all-absorbing
unity of the body of Christ:
the Galatians were themselves a signal instance of the power of the Gospel to make men one in Christ: for their Churches were gathered out of the most diverse elements: Jew and Gentile, slave and freeman, male and female, had all contributed to their composition.
3:26-29 Real Christians enjoy great privileges under the gospel; and are no longer accounted servants, but sons; not now kept at such a distance, and under such restraints as the Jews were. Having accepted Christ Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and relying on him alone for justification and salvation, they become the sons of God. But no outward forms or profession can secure these blessings; for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. The putting on of Christ according to the gospel, consists not in outward imitation, but in a new birth, an entire change.
He who makes believers to be heirs, will provide for them. Therefore our care must be to do the duties that belong to us, and all other cares we must cast upon God. And our special care must be for heaven; the things of this life are but trifles. The city of God in heaven, is the portion or child's part. Seek to be sure of that above all things. There is neither Jew nor Greek - All are on a level; all are saved in the same way; all are entitled to the same privileges. There is no favoritism on account of birth, beauty, or blood.
All confess that they are sinners; all are saved by the merits of the same Saviour; all are admitted to the same privileges as children of God.
The word "Greek" here is used to denote the Gentiles generally;
since the whole world was divided
by the Jews into
"Jews and Greeks"
- the Greeks being the foreign nation best known to them.
The Syriac renders it here "Aramean," using the word to denote the Gentiles generally.
The meaning is, that whatever was the birth, or rank, or nation, or color, or complexion, all under the gospel were on a level.
They were admitted to the same privileges, and endowed with the same hopes of eternal life. This does not mean that all the civil distinctions among people are to be disregarded.
It does not mean that no respect is to be shown to those in office, or to people in elevated rank. It does not mean that all are
on a level in regard to talents, comforts, or wealth; but it means
only that all people are on a level "in regard to religion."
This is the sole point under discussion;
and the interpretation should be limited to this.
It is not a fact that people are on a level in all things, nor is it a fact that the gospel designs to break down all the distinctions of society.
Paul means to teach that no man has any preference or advantage in the kingdom of God because he is a rich man, or because he is of elevated rank; no one is under any disadvantage because he is poor, or because he is ignorant, or a slave.
All at the foot of the cross are sinners;
all at the communion table are saved by the same grace;
all who enter into heaven, will enter clothed in the same robes of salvation, and arranged, not as princes and nobles, and rich men and poor men, in separate orders and ranks, but mingling together as redeemed by the same blood, and arranged in ranks according to their eminence in holiness; Isaiah 56:8>
God does not see us through race, religion or identity.
Jesus Christ is the message of grace and sacrificial love,
redemption, resurrected life,
hope, peace,
and human unity.
The resurrection is the fulfillment of all of the Hebrew scripture, the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament, the Hebrew bible.
The New Testament is the TRUTH Hebrew.
The resurrection miracle and life is the free gift
offered to all people.
The spirit of god brings unity and peace among the nations,
Jesus christ is the messianic light and hope
that heals and redeems a broken world.
The body of Christ breaks down any distinction of race as brothers and sisters unified through the blood of christ, not human race or ethnicity.
We are one in the body of christ through the shedding of the blood of Christ on the cross, not through the shedding of animal sacrifice.
God sees not as man sees, that
He judges not as human beings judge.
He reads the heart. He knows the motives that prompt the action, and He recognizes and commends every faithful effort put forth for Him.
Jesus redeems and restores misgivings in believers through sacrificing his one and only son so that we can freely be in relationship with him and others. So, God judges you by what is in your heart, by your earnest and sincere efforts; rather than by what you can accomplish through your actions.
Blasphemy against the Spirit—the unforgivable sin—is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ. Furthermore, it is an issue of the heart that manifests in your words. The issue isn’t about a wayward, hateful or God-dishonoring word in a moment, but about the fundamental state of one’s heart before God.
Careful readers of the Bible should not only pay attention to details in immediate contexts, they need to stay attentive to ideas that have already been introduced by a biblical author. Before including Jesus’s comments about blasphemy against the Spirit and the unforgiveable sin, Matthew had already introduced the language of vipers and bearing fruit in relationship to the Pharisees through the words of John the Baptist. Matthew expected his readers to remember those words when they arrived at Matthew 12. Since Matthew 3:7-8 is about repentance (“bear fruit in keeping with repentance”), we should keep the repentance theme in mind when we try to ascertain the nature of the blasphemy against the Spirit/the unforgiveable sin in Matthew 12:33.
Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.”
The Holy Spirit speaks truth through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christians.
A concept that Matthew would also expect you to attend to while reading through his gospel is the theme of “fruit.”
He introduces this theme first in the words of John the Baptist that we just observed (3:8, also 3:10), develops it substantially when he includes Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (7:15-20), incorporates the same theme of fruit into the passage we’re primarily thinking about today (12:33), again into the parable of the soils (13:23), and finally in a judgment section that focuses, unsurprisingly, once more on the Pharisees’ failure to produce fruit (21:43).
The point, for Matthew,
is that whatever resides in people’s hearts begins to show up in how people live and speak (“fruit”).
Sin only means separation,
out of sync from
the living and active word of God.
Jesus Christ is not a new religion and we are living testaments to this amazing truth. We are mandated to share this good news to everyone and everyone deserves to know. If we can't feel free to be and show their true self and love of god, discuss their own religion, when they know what they are doing is noble and right then we are left with incompleteness, barriers, and separation that aren't supposed to be there limiting the full capacity of any relationship to confide in love and truth.
The words were “and the government shall be upon his shoulder"
describes the identity of the promised Messiah or Christ: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Another worthwhile observation is that this saying of Jesus is probably intertextually connected to Numbers 15:30-31: “But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the LORD…” Matthew 12:33: “Listeners steeped in the Old Testament would call to mind the laws that labeled particularly defiant sin as blasphemy and seemingly unforgivable—the flagrant, willful, and persistent rejection of God and his commands.” Matthew 12:31. The implication is that one who has committed the unforgiveable sin (separated from Relationship and closeness with God) is not accidently saying some particular set of words, but is willfully rejecting the Lord.
Notice, furthermore, that Numbers 15:31 adds, “because he has despised the Word of the Lord.” What is at issue is not just a word passing over someone’s lips, but a more fundamental posture of despising what God has revealed.
It should also be observed that the biblical description of the Holy Spirit convicting individuals of sin helps us understand why blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is such a grave issue. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is not simply saying something bad about the Holy Spirit (or about anything else, for that matter), but is a persistent rejection of the convicting work of the Spirit, whose job it is to expose our sin and lead us to accept Christ.
God reveals spiritual truth through the Holy Spirit, in order that we seek his will, repent, and return to relationship and intimacy with him. The only way to have relationship with the active and living god in this life is through Christ- who restores us to God. Jesus says about the Holy Spirit in John 16:8, “And he when he comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. This also goes along with the role of the Spirit in convicting individuals of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). As long as one rejects the Spirit, one can never find forgiveness for sins.” One doesn't recognize the spirit, or know Jesus, or recognize their separation from God and need for a savior.
Thus, the unforgiveable sin of blasphemy against the Spirit is not a wayward word uttered in a moment of anger. Nor is it some other dramatic sin, like murder, or suicide, or adultery. There is not a hint in Matthew 12 that Jesus had such sins in mind. (Besides, don’t we observe God forgiving such sins throughout the Bible?—think only of the narratives of David and Paul). Rather, as stated before, blasphemy against the Spirit is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ. It is an issue of the heart that manifests in one’s words (and actions).
Someone who hardens his or her heart against the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit and who refuses to repent of sin and turn to Christ in faith has committed a sin that never can be redeemed and integrated in the physical realm. It will happen in the spiritual realm, when it does occur. The person who repeatedly and without repentance rejects the Holy Spirit’s testimony to Christ is the one who has blasphemed the Holy Spirit. That sin is the only sin that never will be forgiven. “For every kind of sin, then, for every form of blasphemy or slander, it is implied that forgiveness is available—presumably when the sin is repented of. But what if one were to repent of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Is there no forgiveness for the person who repents of this sin?
The answer seems to be that the nature of this sin is such that one does not repent of it, because those who commit it and persist in it do not know that they are sinning." I would add that they do not know because they have rejected the Holy Spirit’s testimony about Christ and have hardened themselves to such a degree that they do not recognize their sin. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus is saying "I never knew you" that God will not answer prayers or confessions of repentance, but through Christ he can redeem forgiveness.
When the crowds saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
All power is given unto me.--
Literally, all authority was given, the tense used being that in which men speak of something that occurred at a given point of time.
The exaltation came,
the authority was given,
as at the moment of the Resurrection.
Sam 16 (v. 7) ...."For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Now through jesus death and resurrection, his spirit indwells in us and eliminates any distinction or barriers of race, ethinicy, or identity. We are all -equally- loved, worthy, valued and justified apart from ethnicity. Through the resurrection we are free from bondage and slavery of the law, and free to view others for who they truly are, children of God created equal. Witnesses to the resurrection and spirit are called to witness and testify the truth of Jesus Christ to all nations.
God does not judge us by our outward behavior or our acts like man does, but by the intents and desires of the heart. All human beings were created with a sin nature, because all human beings are imperfect beings. When we are truly forgiven, the slate is truly wiped clean. Words are only truly effective when the intent, not the delivery, is valued and recognized. God can recognize the intentions and viewpoint of the heart, but a biased lense will receive the message in an altered state. It is our responsibility to discover truth. A pleasing delivery of words does not assure a realistic outcome... The truth can never stay covered.
Immanuel, or ‘God with us,’ – a divine influence ever present
in human consciousness and repeating itself,
coming now as was promised aforetime,
To preach deliverance to the captives,
And recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty them that are bruised.“
The qualities of divine government – righteousness, goodness, mercy, justice, honesty, compassion, equality, infallibility, harmony, peace, etc. God’s government, being unlimited, universal, and eternal, is expressed everywhere and at all times.
No individual, group, or political party controls or monopolizes it.
It is neither red nor blue, conservative nor liberal.
It isn’t even middle of the road.
It cannot be dragged down by human posturing,
hatred, conflict, or fear.
The Hebrew word shakem translated “shoulder”
in Isaiah, Chap. 9,
means the neck area between the shoulders
where burdens are placed.
So true, divine government is borne by and rests upon the foundation or shoulder of the Christ, rather than upon the personalities of human beings.
If all true government is founded upon and supported by the Christ, God’s divine idea, it is permanent and complete.
Encompassing all, its qualities must be expressed in human governments as well.
And its success is not dependent upon the election of any one individual or party.
Here is where the message of Christmas becomes all-important.
Ponder the Babe in the manger.
He came to set us free from the terrible burden
(and inevitable failure)
of trying to run the universe.
Let the weary world rejoice.
Christ is born!
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