The phrase the
whole counsel of God
is found in
Acts 20:27.
In his farewell speech
to the elders of the Ephesian church,
Paul says,
“Therefore I testify to you this day that
I am innocent of the blood of all,
for I did not shrink from declaring to you the
whole counsel of God”
(Acts 20:26–27, ESV).
Declaring the whole counsel of God is what made Paul “innocent”
of anyone’s choice to turn away from the truth.
Paul had fulfilled his ministry among the Ephesians.
Paul spent several years in Ephesus prior to this speech. When he first arrived in Ephesus, Paul had found some disciples who had only heard of John the Baptist and did not yet know of the completed ministry of Jesus or the coming of the Holy Spirit. After bringing them up to speed by presenting Jesus to them, Paul baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:4–5). Paul then spent time teaching in the synagogue and, when he was opposed there, taught at the lecture hall, and “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). Verse 20 says, “The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Later, a group of merchants in Ephesus started a riot over the positive impact of the gospel in their city. After the riot ended, Paul said goodbye to the disciples in Ephesus before going to Macedonia. Several months later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul called the Ephesian elders to Miletus to meet with him.
It is here that Paul reminds the Ephesians
that he had “
not hesitated to proclaim . . .
the whole will of God”
(Acts 20:27)
Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV)
or “the whole will of God” (NIV)
or “the whole purpose of God” (NASB) in that
he spoke the complete
gospel.
He had given them
the
whole truth
about
God’s salvation.
He also revealed to them the “mystery” of God (Ephesians 3:9),
which in the context of Ephesians 3 is
God’s extending His plan of salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews.
Despite the opposition Paul faced in Ephesus, he continued to share the good news in its entirety. He did not shrink back from his duty but proclaimed the whole counsel of God. He tells the Ephesian elders, “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:19–21). Paul shared everything that God had revealed with everyone who would listen—and even some who wouldn’t.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders that, having given them the whole counsel of God, he is innocent if any of the Ephesians choose to turn away from Christ. Like the prophet Ezekiel, Paul had been a faithful watchman: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:17–19; cf. 33:1–9).
Paul emphasizes “the whole counsel of God” as a way to affirm the completion of his duties toward the Ephesians and to remind them of the truth. Paul warns, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29–31).
The whole counsel of God includes some things that are difficult to hear
the fact that we are dead in sin and deserving of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3) and the fact that we cannot save ourselves through works (Ephesians 2:8–9). The gospel is a call to repentance and faith. Believers will face persecution (John 16:33) and likely be considered foolish. But none of these things can dissuade us.
We should follow Paul’s example and also preach the whole counsel of God.
All Scripture is inspired, and all of it is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). We must preach it in its entirety and allow the Holy Spirit to use His sword as He sees fit (Ephesians 6:17).
Paul did not share half-truths or only
parts of the gospel;
rather, he shared
all of what God has revealed.
We must do the same.
A cornerstone was the
principal stone,
usually placed
at the corner of an edifice,
to guide
the workers in their course.
The cornerstone was usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed of any in the edifice. The Bible describes Jesus as the cornerstone that His church would be built upon. He is foundational. Once the cornerstone was set, it became the basis for determining every measurement in the remaining construction; everything was aligned to it.
As the cornerstone of the building of the church,
Jesus is our standard of measure and alignment.
The book of Isaiah
has many references to the Messiah to come.
In several places the Messiah
is referred
to as “the cornerstone,” such as in
this prophecy:
“So this is what the sovereign
Lord says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a
sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
I will make justice the measuring line
and
righteousness
the plumb line’”
(Isaiah 28:16–17).
In context,
God speaks to the scoffers and boasters
of Judah,
and He promises to send
the cornerstone--
His precious Son--
who will provide
the firm foundation for their lives,
if they
would but trust in Him.
In the New Testament,
the cornerstone metaphor is continued.
The apostle Paul desires for the Ephesian Christians to know Christ better: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19– 21). Furthermore, in 1 Peter 2:6, what Isaiah said centuries before is affirmed in exactly the same words.
Peter says that Jesus, as our cornerstone, is “chosen by God and precious to him” (1 Peter 2:4).
The Cornerstone is also reliable,
and
“the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame”
(verse 6).
Unfortunately, not everyone aligns with the cornerstone.
Some accept Christ; some reject Him. Jesus is the “stone the builders rejected” (Mark 12:10; cf. Psalm 118:22).
When news of the Messiah’s arrival came to the magi in the East, they determined to bring Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when that same news came to King Herod in Jerusalem, his response was to attempt to kill Him. From the very beginning, Jesus was “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (1 Peter 2:8).
How can people reject God’s chosen, precious cornerstone?
Simply put, they want to build something different from
what God is building.
Just as the people building the tower of Babel
rebelled against God
and pursued their own project,
those who reject Christ disregard God’s plan in favor of their own.
Judgment is promised to all those who reject Christ:
“Anyone who falls on this stone will
be broken to pieces;
anyone on
whom it falls will be crushed”
(Matthew 21:44).
Righteousness
brings
inner Peace
Not just in the Temple,
but
everywhere
As the
Spirit is within you
Dictionaries define
righteousness
as
“behavior
that
is morally
justifiable or RIGHT.”
Such behavior is characterized by
accepted standards of
morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness.
The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe
His own character
and constitute the plumb line
by which
He measures
human righteousness
The Greek New Testament word
for “righteousness”
primarily describes conduct in relation to others,
especially with regards
to the rights of others in business, in legal matters,
and beginning with relationship to God.
It is contrasted with wickedness,
the conduct of the one who,
out of gross self-centeredness,
neither
reveres God nor respects man.
The Bible describes the righteous person
as just or right,
holding to God and trusting in Him
(Psalm 33:18–22).
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness
is not possible for man to
attain on his own; the standard is simply too high.
The good news is
that
true righteousness
is possible for mankind,
but only through the cleansing of sin
by Jesus Christ and the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
This means that we are made righteous in the sight of God; that is, that we are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done. He was made sin; we are made righteousness. On the cross, Jesus was treated as if He were a sinner, though He was perfectly holy and pure, and we are treated as if we were righteous, though we are defiled and depraved. On account of what the Lord Jesus has endured on our behalf, we are treated as if we had entirely fulfilled the Law of God and had never become exposed to its penalty. We have received this precious gift of righteousness from the God of all mercy and grace.
To Him be the glory!
The dictionary definition
of self-righteousness
is “confidence in one’s own righteousness,
especially when smugly moralistic
and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others.”
Biblically speaking, self-righteousness, which is related to legalism, is the idea that we can somehow generate within ourselves a righteousness that will be acceptable to God (Romans 3:10). Although any serious Christian would recognize the error of this thought, because of our sin nature, it is a constant temptation to all of us to believe we are, or can be, righteous in and of ourselves. In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostle Paul came down particularly hard on those who attempted to live in self-righteousness.
Jesus’ condemnation of self-righteousness was especially harsh in His treatment of the Jewish leadership of the time. Six times in Matthew 23, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for rigidly adhering to their legalistic traditions in order to make themselves look better to others. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collectorwas specifically told by Jesus to “some who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9–14). The Pharisee assumed his acceptance with God based on his own actions, whereas the tax collector recognized that there was nothing in himself that would cause God to approve of him.
Over and over again in the Gospels,
Jesus clashes with the Pharisees and scribes
about true righteousness.
At the same time, He spends a great deal of time and energy warning His disciples about the dangers of self-righteousness, making it clear that, without Him, they could do nothing (John 15:5).
Paul’s treatment of self-righteousness is no less scathing than Jesus’ was. He began his great argument in Romans for the grace of God by condemning the Jews’ self-righteous trust in circumcision (Romans 2:17–24). He follows that up in chapter 10, saying that the Jews tried to gain acceptance with God based on their own righteousness, demonstrating ignorance of the true righteousness of God (Romans 10:3). His conclusion is that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, not man (verse 4).
Paul’s letter to the Galatian church also addressed this issue. These believers were being told that they had to do certain things to be acceptable to God, specifically, to be circumcised. Paul goes so far as to say that this is another gospel and calls those who advocate it “accursed” (Galatians 1:8–9). More tellingly, he tells his readers that, if righteousness could come from their own actions, then Jesus died “for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21), and that righteousness could come “by the law” (Galatians 3:21). Paul’s conclusion about the Galatian believers was that they had been foolish in their attempt to be perfected by the flesh (Galatians 3:1–3).
It would be an understatement to say that every believer is plagued by this attitude. It is in our sin nature to try to do something to merit our salvation. The costly freedom of grace, bought for us by the blood of Jesus with no contribution from us, is difficult for our prideful hearts to understand or appreciate. It is far easier to compare ourselves with one another than it is to recognize that we cannot measure up to the standards of a holy God. However, in Christ we can know true righteousness. In Christ, we can know the forgiveness of sin that comes to us through grace. Because He stood in our place, we benefit from both His sinless life and His sin-bearing death (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of His sacrifice, we can face our sin and bring it to the cross, rather than try somehow to be good enough for God. Only in the cross can we see the grace that covers all our sin and defeat the constant tendency toward self-righteousness in our hearts.
In the New Testament,
the glory of God
is revealed
in His Son, Jesus Christ:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus came as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of [God’s] people Israel” (Luke 2:32). The miracles that Jesus did were “signs through which he revealed his glory” (John 2:11). In Christ, the glory of God is meekly veiled, approachable, and knowable. He promises to return some day “on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).
Isaiah 43:7 says that God saved Israel for His glory—in the redeemed will be seen the distillation of God’s grace and power and faithfulness. The natural world also exhibits God’s glory, revealed to all men, no matter their race, heritage, or location. As Psalm 19:1–4 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” Sometimes Christians speak of death as being “received unto glory,” a phrase borrowed from this psalm. When the Christian dies, he or she will be taken into God’s presence and surrounded by God’s glory and majesty. In that place, His glory will be seen clearly: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In the future New Jerusalem, the glory of God will be manifest: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).
God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8; cf. Exodus 34:14). Yet this is the very thing that people try to steal. Scripture indicts all idolaters: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22–23). Only God is eternal, and His perfect and eternal attributes of holiness, majesty, goodness, love, etc., are not to be exchanged for the imperfections and corruption of anything in this world.
When the Messiah came, He brought with Him God’s kingdom peace.
This same otherworldly
peace was
Jesus’ parting gift to
His disciples
The ultimate endowment of peace was granted to us in
God’s gift of salvation
purchased by the
blood of Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross.
By way of Christ’s death,
we have been granted access to the throne of God
and restored fellowship with
our Heavenly Father:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”
(Romans 5:1–2, ESV; see also Isaiah 53:5).
A word often translated “peace” in the Bible
actually means
“to tie together as a whole,
when all
essential parts are joined together.”
Inner peace, then, is a wholeness of mind and spirit, a whole heart at rest. Inner peace has little to do with external surroundings. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
He had also told His followers that “in this world you will have many troubles.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
So peace is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of God.
The statement “you will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16) is part of Jesus’ teaching about recognizing true followers and avoiding false prophets. Beginning with verse 15, we read this context: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–20).
The seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew is a gold mine of teaching from the popular verse 1 to the well-known parable about the wise man building his house upon the rock (verses 24–27). In verses 21–23, Jesus makes a chilling announcement to many who assumed they belonged to Him. He warned them that on Judgment Day they will hear Him say,
“Depart from me. I never knew you.” Just before that warning, Jesus had indicted those who
pretended to follow Him but whose lives indicated something else.
He told His followers that the “fruit” of their lives proved what was inside their hearts
(cf. Mark 7:20–23).
When Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruit,” what does “fruit” mean? Jesus gave the illustration of grape vines and fig trees. When we see grape vines, we expect them to contain grapes in season. We also expect fig trees to produce figs.
A produce farmer who notices one of his fruit trees not bearing any fruit will cut it down. It is useless. Likewise, we would not come to a field of thistles and expect to harvest fruit. Thistles and thorn bushes can never produce fruit because of their nature. It is impossible. They have no capacity to produce anything but thorns (Matthew 12:33).
In our lives, every word and every action is fruit from our hearts. Sinners sin because that’s what is in their hearts. Thieves steal, rapists attack, and adulterers cheat because those sins are the fruit being produced from an evil heart. Bad hearts produce bad fruit.
When Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit” concerning false teachers, He was giving us a guide for identifying them. False prophets, speakers of lies, will have actions that correspond to their errant message. Just as their message is anti-God, so will be their works.
They will stray from the path of righteousness.
When we repent of our sin and receive Jesus as Lord of our lives (John 1:12; Acts 2:38),
He changes our hearts (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Our attitudes, actions, words, and perspectives change as we walk
in fellowship with the Holy Spirit
(1 John 1:6–7).
When our hearts change, our fruit changes.
Godly teachers
will display good
“fruit”
such as making disciples
(Matthew 28:19)
Often, people profess faith
in Jesus as Savior,
but it is
a mere profession with
no real faith.
Some religious groups encourage
baptism, confirmation,
or other religious rites that are supposed
to ensure one’s future in heaven.
But as time goes on, the fruit being produced
in such a life
looks nothing like what
is clearly prescribed in the Bible
(1 Peter 1:16).
Some attend church services but
spend the rest
of their time living entirely for themselves.
Some may rise to prominence,
even teaching or preaching,
writing books,
or
dominating the media,
but the
fruit
of their lives belies their words
(Matthew 24:24).
Greed, deception, immorality,
pride, or dishonesty defines them,
making them
false prophets by Jesus’ standards
(2 Peter 2:1–3).
While we can never know anyone else’s heart, we can make wise assessments about other people by observing the regular fruit of their lives. All of us stumble from time to time, and we may go through seasons of bearing little fruit (1 John 1:8). But 1 John 3:4–10 makes it clear that those who know God will not continue a lifestyle of bearing bad fruit. We have been transformed, and the fruit of our lives is evidence of that transformation. Apple trees don’t produce bananas, and strawberry plants don’t produce figs.
This fact of nature is also true in the
spiritual realm.
We can identify those whose
hearts have been redeemed
by the fruit we see in their lives.
In John 14:17, Jesus says, “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (ESV). Because the ESV capitalizes Spirit, modern readers can easily infer that the spirit in question is the Holy Spirit. To understand why Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth,” let us review the context of John 14.
John 14 is part of the Upper Room Discourse (John 13—17), a collection of teachings delivered by Jesus to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. In these final moments, the disciples were greatly distressed about the impending departure of their beloved friend, Jesus (John 14:1).
For this reason, Jesus took an extended moment to calm their troubled hearts and reassure
them that “another Helper” was on the way (John 14:16, ESV).
The Greek term translated
as “Helper” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) is paráklētos.
The form of this word is passive and means “one who is called alongside.” At the Son’s request, the Father will send another Helper to encourage and exhort the disciples.
John’s use of the term another implies that the disciples already had a helper—the one who would soon depart from the earth. Although the Gospel writers never explicitly refer to Jesus as a paráklētos, the term is applied to Him in 1 John 2:1. Thus, in the context of John 14:16, Jesus promises to send His disciples a helper of the same type, and that helper would continue the ministry that Jesus began.
In John 14:17, the identity of the helper is now revealed: He is the Spirit of truth (cf. John 15:26; 16:13). The Spirit of truth is God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. The Father will send the Spirit to come alongside the disciples. He is called the Spirit of truth because He bears witness to the truth of Jesus Christ (see John 14:6).
In contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of the devil, a being who does not hold “to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Because the unbelieving world remains ensnared by satanic falsehoods, they cannot receive the Spirit of truth (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14). Tragically, unbelievers prefer to walk by sight and not by faith, failing to understand that sight guarantees nothing.
At the moment of His baptism, Jesus received the Holy Spirit: John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him” (John 1:32, ESV). So, in a sense, the Spirit of truth was already withthe disciples. Following the departure of Jesus, however, the disciples will know the Spirit more intimately because He would be in them (cf. Romans 8:9–11 and Ephesians 1:13–14).
Before the disciples began their ministry, Jesus instructed them to remain in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4–5, ESV).
Once the Holy Spirit came upon them,
they were fully equipped
to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ
(verse 8).
Believers
should be thankful that
the Spirit of truth is with us, in us,
and upon us.
For, without His guidance and light,
we could not distinguish truth from error.
The truth will set you free”
is a common saying in academic circles that want to promote academic freedom and the power of learning. Many universities have this statement emblazoned on a sign near the entrance of a building.
But “the truth will set you free”
did not originate in academia; Jesus said it in John 8:32.
In context, Jesus’ statement has nothing to do with classroom learning.
In fact, John 8:32 speaks of a
higher form of knowledge
than is capable of being learned in a classroom.
Jesus had just finished a speech
at the temple
where He delineated differences
between Himself and His listeners.
“You are from below; I am from above.
You are of this world; I am not
of this world.
I told you that you would die in your sins;
if you do not believe that I am he,
you will indeed die in your sins”
(John 8:23–24).
The result of Jesus’ message was that “even as he spoke,
many believed in him”
(verse 30).
Then, in verse 31, Jesus begins to speak just to
those who had believed.
“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to
my teaching,
you are really my disciples’”
(John 8:31).
True discipleship is more than intellectual assent;
those who are
“really” followers of Christ
will “hold to” His Word.
That means they will not only accept
His teachings as truth,
but they will also obey His teachings.
Action is proof of faith
(cf. James 2:17).
True disciples of Jesus believe that He speaks the truth about God and the Scriptures. They also know that He is who He claims to be. Back in verse 25, the people asked Jesus who He was, and He responded, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.” There may be a tinge of exasperation in His response; He had repeatedly made known that He was the Messiah, the one they had anticipated for many years.
Verse 32 begins with, “Then you will know the truth.” “You”
refers to those
who are true disciples of Jesus.
True disciples will know
the truth.
More than that,
their eyes are opened
to a greater understanding
of the truth
(cf. 1 John 5:20)
The truth Jesus’ disciples
receive brings with it freedom.
Jesus continues,
“And the truth will set you free”
(verse 32). At that point in history, the Jews were under the rule of the Roman government. Even though Rome gave them an exceptional amount of autonomy, they were keenly aware of the Roman presence around them in the form of soldiers, governors, and empirically appointed kings.
When Jesus said the truth would set them free, however, He was not talking about political freedom (though the following verses indicate that’s how the Jews took it).
Jesus provides the best commentary for His own statement in verse 34. Jesus explains, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Being a slave to sin is the ultimate bondage.
The freedom Jesus
offers is a spiritual freedom from
the bondage of sin—that is,
release from the lifestyle of habitual
lawlessness.
He continues with an analogy: “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever” (verse 35). The people would have understood Jesus to mean that they were not members of God’s family, despite their biological relationship to Abraham (verse 37), because they were slaves to sin.
If they were to become
disciples of Jesus,
they would know the
truth
of their condition and the
truth about Christ,
and Jesus would set them free.
Believers would be freed from their
bondage and
brought into the family of God.
Jesus is the Truth
(John 14:6).
Knowing the Truth
will set one at liberty—free from sin,
free from condemnation,
and free from death
(Romans 6:22; 8:1–2).
Jesus came to proclaim
liberty
to the captives
(Luke 4:18).
“Live as people who are free,
not using
your freedom as a cover-up
for evil,
but living as servants of God”
(1 Peter 2:16, ESV).
Paul warns Timothy,
an elder of the church in Ephesus,
that there will come a time
when people
“will not endure sound doctrine”
(2 Timothy 4:3, NKJV);
instead,
“they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear.”
The idea of “enduring” sound teaching
has to do
with “tolerating” it or putting up with it.
In other words,
people will refuse to listen to what
is good and right.
They will be intolerant of
the truth.
Prior to the warning, Paul establishes
the source and utility of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are from the mouth of God,
or God-breathed,
and are beneficial for teaching,
among other things,
which
leads to the maturing and equipping
of the Christian
(2 Timothy 3:16–17).
This maturing and equipping has the purpose
of allowing the believer to
complete every good work that God has ordained.
Paul exhorts Timothy
to be ready to proclaim the Scriptures
at all times
(2 Timothy 4:1–2),
exhorting and correcting others by using
the Word of God.
Timothy is to study, practice, and then
teach the Scriptures
(cf. Ezra 7:10). In 2 Timothy 4:3,
Paul provides the reason for urgency in such a task:
“For the time will come when people will
not put up with sound doctrine.”
The Greek word translated
“doctrine” is simply referring
to “teaching” or “instruction.”
Often, teaching and instruction systematized
is understood as doctrine.
The Greek word translated
as “sound” can also be understood as “healthy” or “free from error.”
Paul is warning Timothy that there
will come
a time when people
will not desire to hear true or
correct teaching--
teaching that accords with reality.
Instead, “they will follow their
own desires and will look for teachers
who will tell them
whatever their itching ears want to hear”
(2 Timothy 4:3, NLT).
Usually, understanding sound doctrine requires the
individual to change his actions.
If it is something he does not want to do,
he may reject the teaching.
At first,
Peter did not
want to preach the gospel
to the Gentiles due
to an improper understanding
of what God
desired for him to do
Acts 10
However, God patiently
corrected his understanding
and prepared Peter to
proclaim the gospel
to Cornelius, a Gentile leader.
Peter responded to the
sound doctrine
and moved forward without
fear.
It is important that we, as teachers and learners, heed the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3.
As teachers, we must teach sound doctrine,
holding to the truths
of Scripture regardless of the consequences.
As learners, we must seek sound doctrine and receive it,
if we are to live according to the truth.
The learner’s desires
must take a back seat to the truths of Scripture.
Prayerfully, as the learner matures and is transformed
by the renewing of the mind,
his or her desires align more and more with
the sound doctrine of Scripture.
It is beneficial for the learner to desire sound doctrine.
It is also important for the learner to test what is being taught. During
Paul’s second missionary journey, he travelled across Greece,
proclaiming the
Gospel of Jesus Christ
to all.
Many believed in the Gospel
(Acts 17:4).
Paul eventually reached the town of Berea where he also presented the gospel. The Bereans notably received Paul with eagerness, and they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (verse 11). The Bereans are a perfect example of how the learner ought
to desire sound doctrine and examine
the Bible to test whether
an unfamiliar doctrine is
truly sound.
Since Christians receive the promised
Holy Spirit
at the moment of salvation
(John 14:17),
the spirit of wisdom and revelation
that Paul prays for
cannot refer to the initial gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Paul’s reference could easily be to an attitude or frame of mind (although the NIV and ESV capitalize Spirit, other translations such as the NASB and BSB translate it as “a spirit,” and the NLT
simply has “spiritual wisdom and insight”).
If not the Holy Spirit, then what does Paul ask
for in his request for
“the spirit of wisdom and revelation”?
The key is in the phrase that follows,
“in the knowledge of him”
(ESV),
or
so that you
may know him better
(NIV).
Second Peter 3:18 tells us to
“grow in the grace and
knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
To grow in grace is to mature
as a Christian.
We are saved by grace through
faith
(Ephesians 2:8–9),
and we
mature and are sanctified
by grace alone.
It is God’s grace that justifies us,
sanctifies us, and eventually glorifies us in heaven.
The sanctification process,
becoming more like Christ, is synonymous
with growing in grace.
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32–33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with, “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law.
All of the Old Testament Law can be placed
in the category
of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”
Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15).
In place of the Old Testament Law,
Christians
are to obey the law of Christ
Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.
Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. First John 4:7–8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” First John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
James writes of the doubting person
that he
is “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed
by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything
from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all he does”
(James 1:6–8).
A doubter is a double-minded person. Jesus had in mind such a person when
He spoke of the one who tries to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
Those who are double-minded do not have the
faith spoken of in Hebrews 11:1, 3:
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. . . . By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” We cannot be both “certain” and doubting, as is the double-minded person. One part of his mind is sure of something, while the other part doubts.
Jesus declared, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). God and the things of this world are of such opposite natures that it is impossible to love either one completely without hating the other. Those who try to love both will become unstable in all their ways. If someone struggles with being double-minded, he or she should read, study, and memorize the Word, for it is the Word of God that produces faith (Romans 10:17).
And he or she should pray for faith. God freely gives what is good to those who ask Him (Luke 11:9–12), and it’s good to ask for an increase of faith (Luke 17:5; Mark 9:24).
The term blasphemy may be generally
defined
as “defiant irreverence.”
The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God.
Blasphemy is also attributing some evil to God or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him.
This particular case of blasphemy, however, is called “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” in Matthew 12:31. The Pharisees, having witnessed irrefutable proof that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, claimed instead that the Lord was possessed by a demon (Matthew 12:24). Notice in Mark 3:30 Jesus is very specific about what the Pharisees did to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’”
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has to do with accusing Jesus Christ of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled. This particular type of blasphemy cannot be duplicated today. The Pharisees were in a unique moment in history: they had the Law and the Prophets, they had the Holy Spirit stirring their hearts, they had the Son of God Himself standing right in front of them, and they saw with their own eyes the miracles He did. Never before in the history of the world (and never since) had so much divine light been granted to men; if anyone should have recognized Jesus for who He was, it was the Pharisees.
Yet they chose defiance.
They purposely attributed the work of the Spirit to the devil, even though they knew the truth and had the proof. Jesus declared their willful blindness to be unpardonable. Their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was their final rejection of God’s grace. They had set their course, and God was going to let them sail into perdition unhindered.
Jesus told the crowd that the Pharisees
’ blasphemy against the Holy Spirit “
will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”
(Matthew 12:32).
This is another way of saying that their sin would never be forgiven, ever.
Not now, not in eternity.
As Mark 3:29 puts it, “They are guilty of an eternal sin.”
The immediate result of the Pharisees’ public rejection of Christ
(and God’s rejection of them)
is seen in the next chapter.
Jesus, for the first time, “told them many things in parables”
(Matthew 13:3; cf. Mark 4:2)
The disciples were puzzled at Jesus’ change of teaching method, and Jesus explained
His use of parables: “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven
has been given to you, but not to them. . . .
Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand”
(Matthew 13:11, 13).
Jesus began to veil the truth with parables and metaphors as a direct result of the
Jewish leaders’ official denunciation of Him.
In Matthew 6:24,
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted
to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.”
He spoke these words as part of His Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5—7),
in which He had said it was foolish to store up treasures on earth where
“moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal”
(Matthew 6:19–20);
rather, He urged us to store up
treasure in heaven where it will last forever.
The obstacle that prevents us from wise investment is the heart.
Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be (Matthew 6:21).
We follow what has captivated our hearts,
and Jesus made it clear that we cannot
serve two masters.
In Jesus’ warning that we cannot
serve two masters,
He specifies money
(or “mammon” or “wealth” in other translations)
as a
master in opposition to God
Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to abandon
all other masters.
He called Matthew from the tax collector’s booth
(Matthew 9:9)
Matthew obeyed and walked away from extravagant wealth and dirty deals. Jesus called Peter, James, and John from the fishing docks (Mark 1:16–18).
To obey Jesus’ call meant that they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything they’d worked for. Jesus called Paul, a successful Pharisee, with the words, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16).
Those words will never make it into a
mass-market ad campaign for Christianity--
but maybe they should, because that’s what it means
to follow Jesus
(Luke 9:23).
We must forsake everything else, no matter the cost (Matthew 10:34–39).
The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). This means He guards what is rightfully His. He is righteously jealous for our affections because we were created to know and love Him (Colossians 1:16). He is not jealous for His own sake; He needs nothing (Psalm 50:9–10). He is jealous for us because we need Him (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37). When we serve another master such as money, we rob ourselves of all we were created to be, and we rob God of His rightful adoration.
Jesus’ claim to us is exclusive. He bought us with His own blood and delivered us from our former master, sin (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Romans 6:17). He doesn’t share His throne with anyone.
During Jesus’ time on earth,
some people followed Him for a ways,
but their devotion was superficial
(Luke 9:57–62).
They wanted something Jesus offered, but they weren’t committed
(Mark 10:17–22).
Other things were more important.
They wanted to serve two masters.
We cannot serve two masters because,
as Jesus pointed out,
we end up hating one and loving the other.
It’s only natural.
Opposing masters
demand different things and
lead down different paths.
The Lord is headed in one direction, and our flesh and
the world are headed in the other.
A choice must be made. When we follow Christ,
we must die to everything else.
We will be like some of the seeds in Jesus’ parable (Luke 8:5–15)
only a portion of those seeds actually
bore fruit.
Some sprouted
at first but then withered and died.
They were not deeply rooted
in good soil.
If we attempt to serve two masters,
we will have divided loyalties, and,
when the difficulties of discipleship
clash with the lure of fleshly pleasure,
the magnetic pull
of wealth and worldly success
will draw us away from Christ
(see 2 Timothy 4:10)
The call to godliness goes against our
sinful nature.
Only with the help of the Holy Spirit
can we remain
devoted to one Master
(John 6:44).
Advocates of lordship salvation point to Jesus’ repeated
warnings to the
religious hypocrites of His day as proof
that simply agreeing to spiritual facts does not save a person.
There must be a heart change.
Jesus emphasized the high cost of discipleship: “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), and “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (verse 33). In the same passage,
Jesus speaks of counting the cost;
elsewhere,
He stresses total commitment:
“No one who puts a hand to the plow
and looks back
is fit for service in the kingdom of God”
(Luke 9:62)
In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus says that eternal life
is a narrow path found
by “only a few”
(Matthew 7:14);
in contrast, easy-believism seeks to
broaden
the path so that anyone
who has a profession of faith
can enter.
Jesus says that “every good tree bears good fruit” (verse 17);
in contrast, easy-believism says
that a tree can still be good and bear nothing but bad fruit.
Jesus says that many who say
“Lord, Lord”
will
not enter the kingdom
(verses 21–23);
in contrast, easy-believism teaches that saying
“Lord, Lord” is good enough.
Lordship salvation teaches that a
true profession
of faith will be backed up
by
evidence of faith.
If a person is truly following the Lord, then
he or she
will obey the Lord’s instructions.
A person who is living in willful,
unrepentant sin
has obviously not chosen to follow Christ,
because Christ
calls us out of sin and into righteousness.
Indeed, the Bible clearly teaches that
faith in Christ
will result in a changed life
(2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22–23; James 2:14–26).
A true Christian will not feel comfortable
living in unconfessed,
unforsaken sin.
A person who has been delivered from sin by faith in Christ should not desire to remain in a life of sin (Romans 6:2). Of course, spiritual growth can occur quickly or slowly, depending on the person and his circumstances. And the changes may not be evident to everyone at first. Ultimately, God knows who are His sheep, and He will mature each of us according to His perfect time table.
Is it possible to be a Christian and live in lifelong carnality, enjoying the pleasures of sin, and never seeking to glorify the Lord who bought him? Can a sinner spurn the lordship of Christ yet lay claim to Him as Savior? Can someone pray a “sinner’s prayer” and go about his life as if nothing had happened and still call himself a “Christian”? Lordship salvation says “no.”
Let us not give
unrepentant sinners false hope;
rather,
let us declare the
whole counsel of God
“You must be born again”
(John 3:7)
To “abuse” is to use something or someone
to bad effect or for
a bad purpose,
especially regularly or repeatedly.
Spiritual abuse
happens when a spiritual authority,
such as
a cult leader or abusive pastor,
seeks to
control individuals and
ensure obedience.
Spiritual abuse is closely
associated with
spiritual manipulation
and is not Gods plan
for
promoting spiritual growth.
A spiritually abusive group might claim that they are God’s sole channel of communication
and that they alone can rightly interpret God’s Word
Or the leaders might
point to God’s blessing on their work--
proved by increased baptisms,
perhaps—and push members to contribute
more generously
to their expansion programs.
Pushing for more money, promising that God will repay,
and piling on guilt can be signs of covert abuse.
Abusive groups also place great emphasis on performance-related works--
attending every meeting; volunteering to help at local, regional, and national events;
and devoting required minimum amounts of time to proselytizing.
Members are constantly reminded that the end of this wicked system of things is
imminent and so there is very little time left to spread the “good news.”
Everyone must do more in the
advancement of “God’s work.”
The dedication of each member
is tracked and
measured by the amount of time, effort,
and
money he or she gives to the cause.
If an individual’s efforts
begin to slip below expectations,
it will be noticed.
Spiritual abuse
can occur when
church or cult leaders
misuse Scripture
to bolster their own authority
and keep
their members under
their thumb.
For example, a spiritual authority may use Hebrews 13:17 (“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority”) to demand blind loyalty and unthinking obedience. A leader might say, “God has given me authority over you; thus, to disobey me is to disobey God.” If members grow uneasy and think about leaving, all the leader has to do is say, “If you leave this group, you will never go to heaven, because only we have the truth.” This type of manipulation is appalling, but it occurs more often than one might think.
Our loyalty is due Christ,
the Head
of
the church
(Ephesians 1:22),
not a particular organization, church, or leader.
Cults and abusive churches
pre-emptively
insulate members
from any
information critical of
the group.
Members are taught early on
to be skeptical of
any negative report about the group
and that the
biased media only lies about them.
These “lies” are identified as a form of persecution, which “proves” they must be the one true religion. So, for example, if journalists report on leaders who have been found guilty of child abuse, the organization simply tells its members they cannot believe anything the newspapers say about them—it’s all lies and smears.
If simple denial doesn’t work, they move on to
rationalization and wishful thinking.
Spiritually abusive leaders can become so adept
at thought and information control that those under
their sway will actually defend their new identity
over their former identity.
The more committed to the
abusive church
a person becomes,
the more isolated
he becomes from non-members,
and the more
he fears
punishment if he tries to leave.
Some people, after a lifetime of emotional investment
in a religious group,
simply do not know how they could
survive if they left.
They have no friends other than their
fellow church members.
They may have cut off contact with family members.
They probably have no interests (social or intellectual)
outside of their group.
Such is their fear of being ostracized that
many stay put,
keeping their misgivings to themselves.
Jonestown survivor Deborah Layton wrote,
“When our own thoughts are forbidden,
when our questions are not allowed and our
doubts are punished,
when contacts and friendships outside of the organization
are censored,
we are being abused for an end that never justifies its means.
When our heart aches knowing
we have made
friendships and secret attachments
that will
be forever forbidden if we leave,
we are in danger.
When we consider staying in a group because
we cannot bear the loss,
disappointment and sorrow our leaving
will cause for ourselves and those
we have come to love,
we are in a
cult”
(Seductive Poison. New York: Anchor Books, 1998, page 299).
Peter warned us that
“there will be false teachers among you”
(2 Peter 2:1).
As he described these false teachers,
Peter points to their
propensity to abuse their followers:
“In their greed these
teachers
will exploit you
with
fabricated stories”
(verse 3), or as the KJV puts it,
“They [shall] with feigned words make merchandise of you.”
Those who would attempt to use the Word of God
to take advantage of the church are greedy liars,
and they will bring divine retribution upon themselves:
“Their condemnation has long
been hanging over them,
and their destruction has not been sleeping”
(verse 3).
Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).
Those who claim to speak for Jesus today should not
be placing heavier
burdens on people than Jesus would.
A pastor
is to be a shepherd
Shepherds who abuse
the flock
can expect severe punishment
when
the Lord returns:
“He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place
with the unbelievers. . . .
From everyone who has been
given much,
much will be demanded;
and from the one who has been
entrusted with much,
much more will be asked”
(Luke 12:46–48).
With privilege comes
responsibility,
and
those spiritual wolves
who abuse their
authority will have to
answer to God
for the
harm they have done
The phrase the
whole counsel of God
is found in
Acts 20:27.
In his farewell speech
to the elders of the Ephesian church,
Paul says,
“Therefore I testify to you this day that
I am innocent of the blood of all,
for I did not shrink from declaring to you the
whole counsel of God”
(Acts 20:26–27, ESV).
Declaring the whole counsel of God is what made Paul “innocent”
of anyone’s choice to turn away from the truth.
Paul had fulfilled his ministry among the Ephesians.
Paul spent several years in Ephesus prior to this speech. When he first arrived in Ephesus, Paul had found some disciples who had only heard of John the Baptist and did not yet know of the completed ministry of Jesus or the coming of the Holy Spirit. After bringing them up to speed by presenting Jesus to them, Paul baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:4–5). Paul then spent time teaching in the synagogue and, when he was opposed there, taught at the lecture hall, and “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). Verse 20 says, “The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Later, a group of merchants in Ephesus started a riot over the positive impact of the gospel in their city. After the riot ended, Paul said goodbye to the disciples in Ephesus before going to Macedonia. Several months later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul called the Ephesian elders to Miletus to meet with him.
It is here that Paul reminds the Ephesians
that he had “
not hesitated to proclaim . . .
the whole will of God”
(Acts 20:27)
Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV)
or “the whole will of God” (NIV)
or “the whole purpose of God” (NASB) in that
he spoke the complete
gospel.
He had given them
the
whole truth
about
God’s salvation.
He also revealed to them the “mystery” of God (Ephesians 3:9),
which in the context of Ephesians 3 is
God’s extending His plan of salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews.
Despite the opposition Paul faced in Ephesus, he continued to share the good news in its entirety. He did not shrink back from his duty but proclaimed the whole counsel of God. He tells the Ephesian elders, “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:19–21). Paul shared everything that God had revealed with everyone who would listen—and even some who wouldn’t.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders that, having given them the whole counsel of God, he is innocent if any of the Ephesians choose to turn away from Christ. Like the prophet Ezekiel, Paul had been a faithful watchman: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:17–19; cf. 33:1–9).
Paul emphasizes “the whole counsel of God” as a way to affirm the completion of his duties toward the Ephesians and to remind them of the truth. Paul warns, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29–31).
The whole counsel of God includes some things that are difficult to hear
the fact that we are dead in sin and deserving of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3) and the fact that we cannot save ourselves through works (Ephesians 2:8–9). The gospel is a call to repentance and faith. Believers will face persecution (John 16:33) and likely be considered foolish. But none of these things can dissuade us.
We should follow Paul’s example and also preach the whole counsel of God.
All Scripture is inspired, and all of it is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). We must preach it in its entirety and allow the Holy Spirit to use His sword as He sees fit (Ephesians 6:17).
Paul did not share half-truths or only
parts of the gospel;
rather, he shared
all of what God has revealed.
We must do the same.
A cornerstone was the
principal stone,
usually placed
at the corner of an edifice,
to guide
the workers in their course.
The cornerstone was usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed of any in the edifice. The Bible describes Jesus as the cornerstone that His church would be built upon. He is foundational. Once the cornerstone was set, it became the basis for determining every measurement in the remaining construction; everything was aligned to it.
As the cornerstone of the building of the church,
Jesus is our standard of measure and alignment.
The book of Isaiah
has many references to the Messiah to come.
In several places the Messiah
is referred
to as “the cornerstone,” such as in
this prophecy:
“So this is what the sovereign
Lord says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a
sure foundation;
the one who trusts will never be dismayed.
I will make justice the measuring line
and
righteousness
the plumb line’”
(Isaiah 28:16–17).
In context,
God speaks to the scoffers and boasters
of Judah,
and He promises to send
the cornerstone--
His precious Son--
who will provide
the firm foundation for their lives,
if they
would but trust in Him.
In the New Testament,
the cornerstone metaphor is continued.
The apostle Paul desires for the Ephesian Christians to know Christ better: “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:19– 21). Furthermore, in 1 Peter 2:6, what Isaiah said centuries before is affirmed in exactly the same words.
Peter says that Jesus, as our cornerstone, is “chosen by God and precious to him” (1 Peter 2:4).
The Cornerstone is also reliable,
and
“the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame”
(verse 6).
Unfortunately, not everyone aligns with the cornerstone.
Some accept Christ; some reject Him. Jesus is the “stone the builders rejected” (Mark 12:10; cf. Psalm 118:22).
When news of the Messiah’s arrival came to the magi in the East, they determined to bring Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when that same news came to King Herod in Jerusalem, his response was to attempt to kill Him. From the very beginning, Jesus was “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (1 Peter 2:8).
How can people reject God’s chosen, precious cornerstone?
Simply put, they want to build something different from
what God is building.
Just as the people building the tower of Babel
rebelled against God
and pursued their own project,
those who reject Christ disregard God’s plan in favor of their own.
Judgment is promised to all those who reject Christ:
“Anyone who falls on this stone will
be broken to pieces;
anyone on
whom it falls will be crushed”
(Matthew 21:44).
Righteousness
brings
inner Peace
Not just in the Temple,
but
everywhere
As the
Spirit is within you
Dictionaries define
righteousness
as
“behavior
that
is morally
justifiable or RIGHT.”
Such behavior is characterized by
accepted standards of
morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness.
The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe
His own character
and constitute the plumb line
by which
He measures
human righteousness
The Greek New Testament word
for “righteousness”
primarily describes conduct in relation to others,
especially with regards
to the rights of others in business, in legal matters,
and beginning with relationship to God.
It is contrasted with wickedness,
the conduct of the one who,
out of gross self-centeredness,
neither
reveres God nor respects man.
The Bible describes the righteous person
as just or right,
holding to God and trusting in Him
(Psalm 33:18–22).
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness
is not possible for man to
attain on his own; the standard is simply too high.
The good news is
that
true righteousness
is possible for mankind,
but only through the cleansing of sin
by Jesus Christ and the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit.
We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
This means that we are made righteous in the sight of God; that is, that we are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done. He was made sin; we are made righteousness. On the cross, Jesus was treated as if He were a sinner, though He was perfectly holy and pure, and we are treated as if we were righteous, though we are defiled and depraved. On account of what the Lord Jesus has endured on our behalf, we are treated as if we had entirely fulfilled the Law of God and had never become exposed to its penalty. We have received this precious gift of righteousness from the God of all mercy and grace.
To Him be the glory!
The dictionary definition
of self-righteousness
is “confidence in one’s own righteousness,
especially when smugly moralistic
and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others.”
Biblically speaking, self-righteousness, which is related to legalism, is the idea that we can somehow generate within ourselves a righteousness that will be acceptable to God (Romans 3:10). Although any serious Christian would recognize the error of this thought, because of our sin nature, it is a constant temptation to all of us to believe we are, or can be, righteous in and of ourselves. In the New Testament, Jesus and the apostle Paul came down particularly hard on those who attempted to live in self-righteousness.
Jesus’ condemnation of self-righteousness was especially harsh in His treatment of the Jewish leadership of the time. Six times in Matthew 23, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for rigidly adhering to their legalistic traditions in order to make themselves look better to others. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collectorwas specifically told by Jesus to “some who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9–14). The Pharisee assumed his acceptance with God based on his own actions, whereas the tax collector recognized that there was nothing in himself that would cause God to approve of him.
Over and over again in the Gospels,
Jesus clashes with the Pharisees and scribes
about true righteousness.
At the same time, He spends a great deal of time and energy warning His disciples about the dangers of self-righteousness, making it clear that, without Him, they could do nothing (John 15:5).
Paul’s treatment of self-righteousness is no less scathing than Jesus’ was. He began his great argument in Romans for the grace of God by condemning the Jews’ self-righteous trust in circumcision (Romans 2:17–24). He follows that up in chapter 10, saying that the Jews tried to gain acceptance with God based on their own righteousness, demonstrating ignorance of the true righteousness of God (Romans 10:3). His conclusion is that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, not man (verse 4).
Paul’s letter to the Galatian church also addressed this issue. These believers were being told that they had to do certain things to be acceptable to God, specifically, to be circumcised. Paul goes so far as to say that this is another gospel and calls those who advocate it “accursed” (Galatians 1:8–9). More tellingly, he tells his readers that, if righteousness could come from their own actions, then Jesus died “for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21), and that righteousness could come “by the law” (Galatians 3:21). Paul’s conclusion about the Galatian believers was that they had been foolish in their attempt to be perfected by the flesh (Galatians 3:1–3).
It would be an understatement to say that every believer is plagued by this attitude. It is in our sin nature to try to do something to merit our salvation. The costly freedom of grace, bought for us by the blood of Jesus with no contribution from us, is difficult for our prideful hearts to understand or appreciate. It is far easier to compare ourselves with one another than it is to recognize that we cannot measure up to the standards of a holy God. However, in Christ we can know true righteousness. In Christ, we can know the forgiveness of sin that comes to us through grace. Because He stood in our place, we benefit from both His sinless life and His sin-bearing death (2 Corinthians 5:21). Because of His sacrifice, we can face our sin and bring it to the cross, rather than try somehow to be good enough for God. Only in the cross can we see the grace that covers all our sin and defeat the constant tendency toward self-righteousness in our hearts.
In the New Testament,
the glory of God
is revealed
in His Son, Jesus Christ:
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus came as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of [God’s] people Israel” (Luke 2:32). The miracles that Jesus did were “signs through which he revealed his glory” (John 2:11). In Christ, the glory of God is meekly veiled, approachable, and knowable. He promises to return some day “on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30).
Isaiah 43:7 says that God saved Israel for His glory—in the redeemed will be seen the distillation of God’s grace and power and faithfulness. The natural world also exhibits God’s glory, revealed to all men, no matter their race, heritage, or location. As Psalm 19:1–4 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” Sometimes Christians speak of death as being “received unto glory,” a phrase borrowed from this psalm. When the Christian dies, he or she will be taken into God’s presence and surrounded by God’s glory and majesty. In that place, His glory will be seen clearly: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In the future New Jerusalem, the glory of God will be manifest: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).
God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8; cf. Exodus 34:14). Yet this is the very thing that people try to steal. Scripture indicts all idolaters: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22–23). Only God is eternal, and His perfect and eternal attributes of holiness, majesty, goodness, love, etc., are not to be exchanged for the imperfections and corruption of anything in this world.
When the Messiah came, He brought with Him God’s kingdom peace.
This same otherworldly
peace was
Jesus’ parting gift to
His disciples
The ultimate endowment of peace was granted to us in
God’s gift of salvation
purchased by the
blood of Jesus Christ through His sacrifice on the cross.
By way of Christ’s death,
we have been granted access to the throne of God
and restored fellowship with
our Heavenly Father:
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”
(Romans 5:1–2, ESV; see also Isaiah 53:5).
A word often translated “peace” in the Bible
actually means
“to tie together as a whole,
when all
essential parts are joined together.”
Inner peace, then, is a wholeness of mind and spirit, a whole heart at rest. Inner peace has little to do with external surroundings. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
He had also told His followers that “in this world you will have many troubles.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
So peace is not the absence of trouble; it is the presence of God.
The statement “you will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16) is part of Jesus’ teaching about recognizing true followers and avoiding false prophets. Beginning with verse 15, we read this context: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–20).
The seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew is a gold mine of teaching from the popular verse 1 to the well-known parable about the wise man building his house upon the rock (verses 24–27). In verses 21–23, Jesus makes a chilling announcement to many who assumed they belonged to Him. He warned them that on Judgment Day they will hear Him say,
“Depart from me. I never knew you.” Just before that warning, Jesus had indicted those who
pretended to follow Him but whose lives indicated something else.
He told His followers that the “fruit” of their lives proved what was inside their hearts
(cf. Mark 7:20–23).
When Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruit,” what does “fruit” mean? Jesus gave the illustration of grape vines and fig trees. When we see grape vines, we expect them to contain grapes in season. We also expect fig trees to produce figs.
A produce farmer who notices one of his fruit trees not bearing any fruit will cut it down. It is useless. Likewise, we would not come to a field of thistles and expect to harvest fruit. Thistles and thorn bushes can never produce fruit because of their nature. It is impossible. They have no capacity to produce anything but thorns (Matthew 12:33).
In our lives, every word and every action is fruit from our hearts. Sinners sin because that’s what is in their hearts. Thieves steal, rapists attack, and adulterers cheat because those sins are the fruit being produced from an evil heart. Bad hearts produce bad fruit.
When Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit” concerning false teachers, He was giving us a guide for identifying them. False prophets, speakers of lies, will have actions that correspond to their errant message. Just as their message is anti-God, so will be their works.
They will stray from the path of righteousness.
When we repent of our sin and receive Jesus as Lord of our lives (John 1:12; Acts 2:38),
He changes our hearts (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Our attitudes, actions, words, and perspectives change as we walk
in fellowship with the Holy Spirit
(1 John 1:6–7).
When our hearts change, our fruit changes.
Godly teachers
will display good
“fruit”
such as making disciples
(Matthew 28:19)
Often, people profess faith
in Jesus as Savior,
but it is
a mere profession with
no real faith.
Some religious groups encourage
baptism, confirmation,
or other religious rites that are supposed
to ensure one’s future in heaven.
But as time goes on, the fruit being produced
in such a life
looks nothing like what
is clearly prescribed in the Bible
(1 Peter 1:16).
Some attend church services but
spend the rest
of their time living entirely for themselves.
Some may rise to prominence,
even teaching or preaching,
writing books,
or
dominating the media,
but the
fruit
of their lives belies their words
(Matthew 24:24).
Greed, deception, immorality,
pride, or dishonesty defines them,
making them
false prophets by Jesus’ standards
(2 Peter 2:1–3).
While we can never know anyone else’s heart, we can make wise assessments about other people by observing the regular fruit of their lives. All of us stumble from time to time, and we may go through seasons of bearing little fruit (1 John 1:8). But 1 John 3:4–10 makes it clear that those who know God will not continue a lifestyle of bearing bad fruit. We have been transformed, and the fruit of our lives is evidence of that transformation. Apple trees don’t produce bananas, and strawberry plants don’t produce figs.
This fact of nature is also true in the
spiritual realm.
We can identify those whose
hearts have been redeemed
by the fruit we see in their lives.
In John 14:17, Jesus says, “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (ESV). Because the ESV capitalizes Spirit, modern readers can easily infer that the spirit in question is the Holy Spirit. To understand why Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of truth,” let us review the context of John 14.
John 14 is part of the Upper Room Discourse (John 13—17), a collection of teachings delivered by Jesus to His disciples on the night before His crucifixion. In these final moments, the disciples were greatly distressed about the impending departure of their beloved friend, Jesus (John 14:1).
For this reason, Jesus took an extended moment to calm their troubled hearts and reassure
them that “another Helper” was on the way (John 14:16, ESV).
The Greek term translated
as “Helper” (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) is paráklētos.
The form of this word is passive and means “one who is called alongside.” At the Son’s request, the Father will send another Helper to encourage and exhort the disciples.
John’s use of the term another implies that the disciples already had a helper—the one who would soon depart from the earth. Although the Gospel writers never explicitly refer to Jesus as a paráklētos, the term is applied to Him in 1 John 2:1. Thus, in the context of John 14:16, Jesus promises to send His disciples a helper of the same type, and that helper would continue the ministry that Jesus began.
In John 14:17, the identity of the helper is now revealed: He is the Spirit of truth (cf. John 15:26; 16:13). The Spirit of truth is God the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity. The Father will send the Spirit to come alongside the disciples. He is called the Spirit of truth because He bears witness to the truth of Jesus Christ (see John 14:6).
In contrast to the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of the devil, a being who does not hold “to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Because the unbelieving world remains ensnared by satanic falsehoods, they cannot receive the Spirit of truth (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:14). Tragically, unbelievers prefer to walk by sight and not by faith, failing to understand that sight guarantees nothing.
At the moment of His baptism, Jesus received the Holy Spirit: John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him” (John 1:32, ESV). So, in a sense, the Spirit of truth was already withthe disciples. Following the departure of Jesus, however, the disciples will know the Spirit more intimately because He would be in them (cf. Romans 8:9–11 and Ephesians 1:13–14).
Before the disciples began their ministry, Jesus instructed them to remain in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit: “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, ‘you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4–5, ESV).
Once the Holy Spirit came upon them,
they were fully equipped
to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ
(verse 8).
Believers
should be thankful that
the Spirit of truth is with us, in us,
and upon us.
For, without His guidance and light,
we could not distinguish truth from error.
The truth will set you free”
is a common saying in academic circles that want to promote academic freedom and the power of learning. Many universities have this statement emblazoned on a sign near the entrance of a building.
But “the truth will set you free”
did not originate in academia; Jesus said it in John 8:32.
In context, Jesus’ statement has nothing to do with classroom learning.
In fact, John 8:32 speaks of a
higher form of knowledge
than is capable of being learned in a classroom.
Jesus had just finished a speech
at the temple
where He delineated differences
between Himself and His listeners.
“You are from below; I am from above.
You are of this world; I am not
of this world.
I told you that you would die in your sins;
if you do not believe that I am he,
you will indeed die in your sins”
(John 8:23–24).
The result of Jesus’ message was that “even as he spoke,
many believed in him”
(verse 30).
Then, in verse 31, Jesus begins to speak just to
those who had believed.
“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to
my teaching,
you are really my disciples’”
(John 8:31).
True discipleship is more than intellectual assent;
those who are
“really” followers of Christ
will “hold to” His Word.
That means they will not only accept
His teachings as truth,
but they will also obey His teachings.
Action is proof of faith
(cf. James 2:17).
True disciples of Jesus believe that He speaks the truth about God and the Scriptures. They also know that He is who He claims to be. Back in verse 25, the people asked Jesus who He was, and He responded, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.” There may be a tinge of exasperation in His response; He had repeatedly made known that He was the Messiah, the one they had anticipated for many years.
Verse 32 begins with, “Then you will know the truth.” “You”
refers to those
who are true disciples of Jesus.
True disciples will know
the truth.
More than that,
their eyes are opened
to a greater understanding
of the truth
(cf. 1 John 5:20)
The truth Jesus’ disciples
receive brings with it freedom.
Jesus continues,
“And the truth will set you free”
(verse 32). At that point in history, the Jews were under the rule of the Roman government. Even though Rome gave them an exceptional amount of autonomy, they were keenly aware of the Roman presence around them in the form of soldiers, governors, and empirically appointed kings.
When Jesus said the truth would set them free, however, He was not talking about political freedom (though the following verses indicate that’s how the Jews took it).
Jesus provides the best commentary for His own statement in verse 34. Jesus explains, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Being a slave to sin is the ultimate bondage.
The freedom Jesus
offers is a spiritual freedom from
the bondage of sin—that is,
release from the lifestyle of habitual
lawlessness.
He continues with an analogy: “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever” (verse 35). The people would have understood Jesus to mean that they were not members of God’s family, despite their biological relationship to Abraham (verse 37), because they were slaves to sin.
If they were to become
disciples of Jesus,
they would know the
truth
of their condition and the
truth about Christ,
and Jesus would set them free.
Believers would be freed from their
bondage and
brought into the family of God.
Jesus is the Truth
(John 14:6).
Knowing the Truth
will set one at liberty—free from sin,
free from condemnation,
and free from death
(Romans 6:22; 8:1–2).
Jesus came to proclaim
liberty
to the captives
(Luke 4:18).
“Live as people who are free,
not using
your freedom as a cover-up
for evil,
but living as servants of God”
(1 Peter 2:16, ESV).
Paul warns Timothy,
an elder of the church in Ephesus,
that there will come a time
when people
“will not endure sound doctrine”
(2 Timothy 4:3, NKJV);
instead,
“they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say
what their itching ears want to hear.”
The idea of “enduring” sound teaching
has to do
with “tolerating” it or putting up with it.
In other words,
people will refuse to listen to what
is good and right.
They will be intolerant of
the truth.
Prior to the warning, Paul establishes
the source and utility of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are from the mouth of God,
or God-breathed,
and are beneficial for teaching,
among other things,
which
leads to the maturing and equipping
of the Christian
(2 Timothy 3:16–17).
This maturing and equipping has the purpose
of allowing the believer to
complete every good work that God has ordained.
Paul exhorts Timothy
to be ready to proclaim the Scriptures
at all times
(2 Timothy 4:1–2),
exhorting and correcting others by using
the Word of God.
Timothy is to study, practice, and then
teach the Scriptures
(cf. Ezra 7:10). In 2 Timothy 4:3,
Paul provides the reason for urgency in such a task:
“For the time will come when people will
not put up with sound doctrine.”
The Greek word translated
“doctrine” is simply referring
to “teaching” or “instruction.”
Often, teaching and instruction systematized
is understood as doctrine.
The Greek word translated
as “sound” can also be understood as “healthy” or “free from error.”
Paul is warning Timothy that there
will come
a time when people
will not desire to hear true or
correct teaching--
teaching that accords with reality.
Instead, “they will follow their
own desires and will look for teachers
who will tell them
whatever their itching ears want to hear”
(2 Timothy 4:3, NLT).
Usually, understanding sound doctrine requires the
individual to change his actions.
If it is something he does not want to do,
he may reject the teaching.
At first,
Peter did not
want to preach the gospel
to the Gentiles due
to an improper understanding
of what God
desired for him to do
Acts 10
However, God patiently
corrected his understanding
and prepared Peter to
proclaim the gospel
to Cornelius, a Gentile leader.
Peter responded to the
sound doctrine
and moved forward without
fear.
It is important that we, as teachers and learners, heed the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3.
As teachers, we must teach sound doctrine,
holding to the truths
of Scripture regardless of the consequences.
As learners, we must seek sound doctrine and receive it,
if we are to live according to the truth.
The learner’s desires
must take a back seat to the truths of Scripture.
Prayerfully, as the learner matures and is transformed
by the renewing of the mind,
his or her desires align more and more with
the sound doctrine of Scripture.
It is beneficial for the learner to desire sound doctrine.
It is also important for the learner to test what is being taught. During
Paul’s second missionary journey, he travelled across Greece,
proclaiming the
Gospel of Jesus Christ
to all.
Many believed in the Gospel
(Acts 17:4).
Paul eventually reached the town of Berea where he also presented the gospel. The Bereans notably received Paul with eagerness, and they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (verse 11). The Bereans are a perfect example of how the learner ought
to desire sound doctrine and examine
the Bible to test whether
an unfamiliar doctrine is
truly sound.
Since Christians receive the promised
Holy Spirit
at the moment of salvation
(John 14:17),
the spirit of wisdom and revelation
that Paul prays for
cannot refer to the initial gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Paul’s reference could easily be to an attitude or frame of mind (although the NIV and ESV capitalize Spirit, other translations such as the NASB and BSB translate it as “a spirit,” and the NLT
simply has “spiritual wisdom and insight”).
If not the Holy Spirit, then what does Paul ask
for in his request for
“the spirit of wisdom and revelation”?
The key is in the phrase that follows,
“in the knowledge of him”
(ESV),
or
so that you
may know him better
(NIV).
Second Peter 3:18 tells us to
“grow in the grace and
knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ.”
To grow in grace is to mature
as a Christian.
We are saved by grace through
faith
(Ephesians 2:8–9),
and we
mature and are sanctified
by grace alone.
It is God’s grace that justifies us,
sanctifies us, and eventually glorifies us in heaven.
The sanctification process,
becoming more like Christ, is synonymous
with growing in grace.
The law of Christ, then, is to love God with all of our being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. In Mark 12:32–33, the scribe who asked Jesus the question responds with, “To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” In this, Jesus and the scribe agreed that those two commands are the core of the entire Old Testament Law.
All of the Old Testament Law can be placed
in the category
of “loving God” or “loving your neighbor.”
Various New Testament scriptures state that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Law, bringing it to completion and conclusion (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23–25; Ephesians 2:15).
In place of the Old Testament Law,
Christians
are to obey the law of Christ
Rather than trying to remember the over 600 individual commandments in the Old Testament Law, Christians are simply to focus on loving God and loving others. If Christians would truly and wholeheartedly obey those two commands, we would be fulfilling everything that God requires of us.
Christ freed us from the bondage of the hundreds of commands in the Old Testament Law and instead calls on us to love. First John 4:7–8 declares, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” First John 5:3 continues, “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome.”
James writes of the doubting person
that he
is “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed
by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything
from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all he does”
(James 1:6–8).
A doubter is a double-minded person. Jesus had in mind such a person when
He spoke of the one who tries to serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).
Those who are double-minded do not have the
faith spoken of in Hebrews 11:1, 3:
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. . . . By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” We cannot be both “certain” and doubting, as is the double-minded person. One part of his mind is sure of something, while the other part doubts.
Jesus declared, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). God and the things of this world are of such opposite natures that it is impossible to love either one completely without hating the other. Those who try to love both will become unstable in all their ways. If someone struggles with being double-minded, he or she should read, study, and memorize the Word, for it is the Word of God that produces faith (Romans 10:17).
And he or she should pray for faith. God freely gives what is good to those who ask Him (Luke 11:9–12), and it’s good to ask for an increase of faith (Luke 17:5; Mark 9:24).
The term blasphemy may be generally
defined
as “defiant irreverence.”
The term can be applied to such sins as cursing God or willfully degrading things relating to God.
Blasphemy is also attributing some evil to God or denying Him some good that we should attribute to Him.
This particular case of blasphemy, however, is called “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” in Matthew 12:31. The Pharisees, having witnessed irrefutable proof that Jesus was working miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, claimed instead that the Lord was possessed by a demon (Matthew 12:24). Notice in Mark 3:30 Jesus is very specific about what the Pharisees did to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’”
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has to do with accusing Jesus Christ of being demon-possessed instead of Spirit-filled. This particular type of blasphemy cannot be duplicated today. The Pharisees were in a unique moment in history: they had the Law and the Prophets, they had the Holy Spirit stirring their hearts, they had the Son of God Himself standing right in front of them, and they saw with their own eyes the miracles He did. Never before in the history of the world (and never since) had so much divine light been granted to men; if anyone should have recognized Jesus for who He was, it was the Pharisees.
Yet they chose defiance.
They purposely attributed the work of the Spirit to the devil, even though they knew the truth and had the proof. Jesus declared their willful blindness to be unpardonable. Their blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was their final rejection of God’s grace. They had set their course, and God was going to let them sail into perdition unhindered.
Jesus told the crowd that the Pharisees
’ blasphemy against the Holy Spirit “
will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come”
(Matthew 12:32).
This is another way of saying that their sin would never be forgiven, ever.
Not now, not in eternity.
As Mark 3:29 puts it, “They are guilty of an eternal sin.”
The immediate result of the Pharisees’ public rejection of Christ
(and God’s rejection of them)
is seen in the next chapter.
Jesus, for the first time, “told them many things in parables”
(Matthew 13:3; cf. Mark 4:2)
The disciples were puzzled at Jesus’ change of teaching method, and Jesus explained
His use of parables: “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven
has been given to you, but not to them. . . .
Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand”
(Matthew 13:11, 13).
Jesus began to veil the truth with parables and metaphors as a direct result of the
Jewish leaders’ official denunciation of Him.
In Matthew 6:24,
Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.
Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted
to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.”
He spoke these words as part of His Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5—7),
in which He had said it was foolish to store up treasures on earth where
“moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal”
(Matthew 6:19–20);
rather, He urged us to store up
treasure in heaven where it will last forever.
The obstacle that prevents us from wise investment is the heart.
Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be (Matthew 6:21).
We follow what has captivated our hearts,
and Jesus made it clear that we cannot
serve two masters.
In Jesus’ warning that we cannot
serve two masters,
He specifies money
(or “mammon” or “wealth” in other translations)
as a
master in opposition to God
Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to abandon
all other masters.
He called Matthew from the tax collector’s booth
(Matthew 9:9)
Matthew obeyed and walked away from extravagant wealth and dirty deals. Jesus called Peter, James, and John from the fishing docks (Mark 1:16–18).
To obey Jesus’ call meant that they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything they’d worked for. Jesus called Paul, a successful Pharisee, with the words, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16).
Those words will never make it into a
mass-market ad campaign for Christianity--
but maybe they should, because that’s what it means
to follow Jesus
(Luke 9:23).
We must forsake everything else, no matter the cost (Matthew 10:34–39).
The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). This means He guards what is rightfully His. He is righteously jealous for our affections because we were created to know and love Him (Colossians 1:16). He is not jealous for His own sake; He needs nothing (Psalm 50:9–10). He is jealous for us because we need Him (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37). When we serve another master such as money, we rob ourselves of all we were created to be, and we rob God of His rightful adoration.
Jesus’ claim to us is exclusive. He bought us with His own blood and delivered us from our former master, sin (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Romans 6:17). He doesn’t share His throne with anyone.
During Jesus’ time on earth,
some people followed Him for a ways,
but their devotion was superficial
(Luke 9:57–62).
They wanted something Jesus offered, but they weren’t committed
(Mark 10:17–22).
Other things were more important.
They wanted to serve two masters.
We cannot serve two masters because,
as Jesus pointed out,
we end up hating one and loving the other.
It’s only natural.
Opposing masters
demand different things and
lead down different paths.
The Lord is headed in one direction, and our flesh and
the world are headed in the other.
A choice must be made. When we follow Christ,
we must die to everything else.
We will be like some of the seeds in Jesus’ parable (Luke 8:5–15)
only a portion of those seeds actually
bore fruit.
Some sprouted
at first but then withered and died.
They were not deeply rooted
in good soil.
If we attempt to serve two masters,
we will have divided loyalties, and,
when the difficulties of discipleship
clash with the lure of fleshly pleasure,
the magnetic pull
of wealth and worldly success
will draw us away from Christ
(see 2 Timothy 4:10)
The call to godliness goes against our
sinful nature.
Only with the help of the Holy Spirit
can we remain
devoted to one Master
(John 6:44).
Advocates of lordship salvation point to Jesus’ repeated
warnings to the
religious hypocrites of His day as proof
that simply agreeing to spiritual facts does not save a person.
There must be a heart change.
Jesus emphasized the high cost of discipleship: “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27), and “Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (verse 33). In the same passage,
Jesus speaks of counting the cost;
elsewhere,
He stresses total commitment:
“No one who puts a hand to the plow
and looks back
is fit for service in the kingdom of God”
(Luke 9:62)
In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus says that eternal life
is a narrow path found
by “only a few”
(Matthew 7:14);
in contrast, easy-believism seeks to
broaden
the path so that anyone
who has a profession of faith
can enter.
Jesus says that “every good tree bears good fruit” (verse 17);
in contrast, easy-believism says
that a tree can still be good and bear nothing but bad fruit.
Jesus says that many who say
“Lord, Lord”
will
not enter the kingdom
(verses 21–23);
in contrast, easy-believism teaches that saying
“Lord, Lord” is good enough.
Lordship salvation teaches that a
true profession
of faith will be backed up
by
evidence of faith.
If a person is truly following the Lord, then
he or she
will obey the Lord’s instructions.
A person who is living in willful,
unrepentant sin
has obviously not chosen to follow Christ,
because Christ
calls us out of sin and into righteousness.
Indeed, the Bible clearly teaches that
faith in Christ
will result in a changed life
(2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22–23; James 2:14–26).
A true Christian will not feel comfortable
living in unconfessed,
unforsaken sin.
A person who has been delivered from sin by faith in Christ should not desire to remain in a life of sin (Romans 6:2). Of course, spiritual growth can occur quickly or slowly, depending on the person and his circumstances. And the changes may not be evident to everyone at first. Ultimately, God knows who are His sheep, and He will mature each of us according to His perfect time table.
Is it possible to be a Christian and live in lifelong carnality, enjoying the pleasures of sin, and never seeking to glorify the Lord who bought him? Can a sinner spurn the lordship of Christ yet lay claim to Him as Savior? Can someone pray a “sinner’s prayer” and go about his life as if nothing had happened and still call himself a “Christian”? Lordship salvation says “no.”
Let us not give
unrepentant sinners false hope;
rather,
let us declare the
whole counsel of God
“You must be born again”
(John 3:7)
To “abuse” is to use something or someone
to bad effect or for
a bad purpose,
especially regularly or repeatedly.
Spiritual abuse
happens when a spiritual authority,
such as
a cult leader or abusive pastor,
seeks to
control individuals and
ensure obedience.
Spiritual abuse is closely
associated with
spiritual manipulation
and is not Gods plan
for
promoting spiritual growth.
A spiritually abusive group might claim that they are God’s sole channel of communication
and that they alone can rightly interpret God’s Word
Or the leaders might
point to God’s blessing on their work--
proved by increased baptisms,
perhaps—and push members to contribute
more generously
to their expansion programs.
Pushing for more money, promising that God will repay,
and piling on guilt can be signs of covert abuse.
Abusive groups also place great emphasis on performance-related works--
attending every meeting; volunteering to help at local, regional, and national events;
and devoting required minimum amounts of time to proselytizing.
Members are constantly reminded that the end of this wicked system of things is
imminent and so there is very little time left to spread the “good news.”
Everyone must do more in the
advancement of “God’s work.”
The dedication of each member
is tracked and
measured by the amount of time, effort,
and
money he or she gives to the cause.
If an individual’s efforts
begin to slip below expectations,
it will be noticed.
Spiritual abuse
can occur when
church or cult leaders
misuse Scripture
to bolster their own authority
and keep
their members under
their thumb.
For example, a spiritual authority may use Hebrews 13:17 (“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority”) to demand blind loyalty and unthinking obedience. A leader might say, “God has given me authority over you; thus, to disobey me is to disobey God.” If members grow uneasy and think about leaving, all the leader has to do is say, “If you leave this group, you will never go to heaven, because only we have the truth.” This type of manipulation is appalling, but it occurs more often than one might think.
Our loyalty is due Christ,
the Head
of
the church
(Ephesians 1:22),
not a particular organization, church, or leader.
Cults and abusive churches
pre-emptively
insulate members
from any
information critical of
the group.
Members are taught early on
to be skeptical of
any negative report about the group
and that the
biased media only lies about them.
These “lies” are identified as a form of persecution, which “proves” they must be the one true religion. So, for example, if journalists report on leaders who have been found guilty of child abuse, the organization simply tells its members they cannot believe anything the newspapers say about them—it’s all lies and smears.
If simple denial doesn’t work, they move on to
rationalization and wishful thinking.
Spiritually abusive leaders can become so adept
at thought and information control that those under
their sway will actually defend their new identity
over their former identity.
The more committed to the
abusive church
a person becomes,
the more isolated
he becomes from non-members,
and the more
he fears
punishment if he tries to leave.
Some people, after a lifetime of emotional investment
in a religious group,
simply do not know how they could
survive if they left.
They have no friends other than their
fellow church members.
They may have cut off contact with family members.
They probably have no interests (social or intellectual)
outside of their group.
Such is their fear of being ostracized that
many stay put,
keeping their misgivings to themselves.
Jonestown survivor Deborah Layton wrote,
“When our own thoughts are forbidden,
when our questions are not allowed and our
doubts are punished,
when contacts and friendships outside of the organization
are censored,
we are being abused for an end that never justifies its means.
When our heart aches knowing
we have made
friendships and secret attachments
that will
be forever forbidden if we leave,
we are in danger.
When we consider staying in a group because
we cannot bear the loss,
disappointment and sorrow our leaving
will cause for ourselves and those
we have come to love,
we are in a
cult”
(Seductive Poison. New York: Anchor Books, 1998, page 299).
Peter warned us that
“there will be false teachers among you”
(2 Peter 2:1).
As he described these false teachers,
Peter points to their
propensity to abuse their followers:
“In their greed these
teachers
will exploit you
with
fabricated stories”
(verse 3), or as the KJV puts it,
“They [shall] with feigned words make merchandise of you.”
Those who would attempt to use the Word of God
to take advantage of the church are greedy liars,
and they will bring divine retribution upon themselves:
“Their condemnation has long
been hanging over them,
and their destruction has not been sleeping”
(verse 3).
Jesus’ yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).
Those who claim to speak for Jesus today should not
be placing heavier
burdens on people than Jesus would.
A pastor
is to be a shepherd
Shepherds who abuse
the flock
can expect severe punishment
when
the Lord returns:
“He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place
with the unbelievers. . . .
From everyone who has been
given much,
much will be demanded;
and from the one who has been
entrusted with much,
much more will be asked”
(Luke 12:46–48).
With privilege comes
responsibility,
and
those spiritual wolves
who abuse their
authority will have to
answer to God
for the
harm they have done
Today we are looking at the very first Torah portion, “In the Beginning.” The opening chapters not only introduce the key themes of the Torah – land, seed, and blessing – they also lay the foundation for the future Messianic hope.
Let’s take a look at Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” It is essential to notice that this verse already anticipates all the key themes of the Abrahamic covenant.
First, the text says that God blesses Adam and Eve. Right from the beginning, we see God’s intention to bless humanity – and that is God’s purpose for choosing Abraham: to bless him, his descendants, and all the families of the world through him.
Second, we see that God commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
This creation command actually becomes a promise to Abraham:
“Your seed will be as numerous as the stars in the sky!”
(See Gen 15:7 and Gen 22:17.)
Finally, notice God’s command to subdue the earth, or, in Hebrew, to “conquer the land.” This creation mandate clearly anticipates God’s gift of the “promised land” to Israel and their need to conquer it.
In Chapter 2, we again see prophetic glimpses of Israel’s future. After God creates Adam, he prepares a very special garden for him, and then brings him into the garden. We read, “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground. . . . And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Gen 2:7-9). Once again, we are reminded that, like Adam, Israel was first formed and then brought into the special place God had prepared.
Next, God commands Adam not to eat from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” lest he die (Gen 2:17). Like Adam, Israel was also given commandments which, if not obeyed, would result in death.
Moving on to chapter 3, we find the serpent, Satan, waiting in the very special place prepared for Adam and Eve. We know from chapter 1 that Adam and Eve were to subdue the earth, which obviously included the serpent. Rather than conquering the serpent, the couple falls prey to the serpent’s deception and is thrust out of the land. In essence, the first couple dies in exile for their disobedience.
Likewise, Israel was supposed to conquer the inhabitants of Canaan. Instead, they fell prey to the Canaanite temptations, disobeyed the law, and were exiled from the “promised land.”
Why all these parallels between
Adam and Israel?
They are there to point us to the Messiah. How? First, by prophetically foreshadowing
Israel’s disobedience and exile,
Moses has already
laid the theological foundation
for redemption
apart from the law
Second, given the prophetic certainty of Israel’s disobedience, the Torah’s introduction forces us to ask,
“If our hope is not in keeping the commandments, then where is it?”
Moses is glad you asked!
Even as God speaks forth judgment against the serpent,
the woman, and the man,
he prophesies the coming of the One
who will defeat the serpent:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between
your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel”
(Gen 3:15).
Victory over Satan is assured,
as is
the inheritance
of the
creation blessings –
not because of our abilities to keep
the law,
but because of
God’s promise to send the Messiah.
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Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone in Christ alone, and to God alone be the Glory! In John 8, Jesus makes a couple of His “Verily, verily” statements. In one, He tells a group of people, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58, ESV). Just prior to this, those who heard Jesus seem to have a favorable response to what He has said. However, their response is not genuine and lasting. They take great pride in the fact that they are Jews—descendants of Abraham. Jesus challenges their confidence in the flesh. They may be physically descended from Abraham, but they do not have Abraham’s character. They are not his spiritual descendants: “They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did’” (John 8:39–40, ESV). Then they say that they are not illegitimate children but claim God as their father (John 8:41). Perhaps this is meant as a backhanded insult of Jesus—an insult that becomes more direct in verse 48. The crowd gets more offended as the discussion progresses. Jesus tells them the devil is their father as evidenced by their works, and they claim that Jesus is demon-possessed (John 8:42–48). Jesus goes on to say that whoever obeys Him will never see death (verse 51), and the conversation heats up: At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet YOU say that whoever Obeys Your Word will never taste death Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?” Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing! My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me Though you do not know him, I know him If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do KNOW him AND obey HIS WORD Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of SEEING my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have SEEN Abraham!” (John 8:52–57). The whole argument is coming to a climax. How can Abraham have had any thoughts about Jesus when Jesus was born some 2,000 years after Abraham? Jesus gives the final statement that ends the discussion: “Very truly I tell you, . . . before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) Here, Jesus is not simply saying that He is older than Abraham. This is not just a claim to pre-existence before birth. He does not say, “Before Abraham was, I was” or “I was there before Abraham.” Jesus uses a particular formulation that is God’s NAME in the Old Testament as revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Moses asked God for His name in case the Israelites inquired who had sent him. God replied, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). The significance and the perceived audacity of Jesus’ proclamation can be found in the response of the people who heard Him say it: “At this, they picked up stones to stone him” (John 8:59). From their response, we can see that they considered Jesus’ statement to be blasphemy. Out of His mind indeed, as He took our place between murderers and received the insults and torture of humanity "And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, 'He is out of his mind'" (Mark 3:21). There was a time when everyone thought Jesus was nuts, His mom included. The Pharisees accused Him of being possessed and His family thought He was insane. They actually wanted to take Him away, maybe get some help, or hide Him from the public for a little while. From the various alternate readings to this text, it seems that early Christians didn’t like the idea of Jesus’ family thinking He was crazy. But that’s exactly what they thought. . And yet He responded with stubborn silence until He uttered the words, “It is finished!” Only an insane God would let sinners go totally free Only a God out of His mind would give eternal life to those who once wanted Him dead. Yet that is the reality we live in today! I pray that the church you attend is out of her mind as well, calling sinners saints in the blood of Christ! In all the other things that Jesus had said to them, nothing caused them to take up stones to stone Him. It was not until he claimed to be “I AM,” the God of the Old Testament, that they attempted to stone Him. For a mere mortal or even some sort of heavenly being to claim to be I AM was blasphemy, for that name can only be used of God. Jesus is claiming not only to EXIST before Abraham, but to be self-existent before Abraham—something that is TRUE of God and God Alone John gives us one other glimpse of the significance of the statement “I am” in John 18, when the guards come to arrest Jesus: So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:3–6, ESV). Jesus, however, does not attempt to escape arrest: “So he asked them again, ‘Whom do you seek?’ And they said, ‘Jesus of Nazareth. ’ Jesus answered, ‘I TOLD you that I am he’” (John 18:7–8). At this point Jesus is arrested. John’s inclusion of this incident seems to be a further indication of the significance of Jesus’ claim to be I AM in John 8:58. Jesus’ claim that “before Abraham was, I am” is a declaration that He should be identified with the God who spoke to Abraham and the God who revealed Himself to Moses as I AM The Bible speaks of seven different covenants, four of which (Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic) God made with the nation of Israel Of those four, three are unconditional in nature; that is, regardless of Israel’s obedience or disobedience, God still will fulfill these covenants with Israel. One of the covenants, the Mosaic Covenant, is conditional in nature. That is, this covenant will bring either blessing or cursing depending on Israel’s obedience or disobedience. Three of the covenants (Adamic, Noahic, New) are made between God and mankind in general, and are not limited to the nation of Israel. The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: the Edenic Covenant (innocence) and the Adamic Covenant (grace) (Genesis 3:16-19). The Edenic Covenant is found in Genesis 1:26-30; 2:16-17. The Edenic Covenant outlined man’s responsibility toward creation and God’s directive regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Adamic Covenant included the curses pronounced against mankind for the sin of Adam and Eve, as well as God’s provision for that sin (Genesis 3:15). The Noahic Covenant was an unconditional covenant between God and Noah (specifically) and humanity (generally). After the Flood, God promised humanity that He would never again destroy all life on earth with a Flood (see Genesis chapter 9). God gave the rainbow as the sign of the covenant, a promise that the entire earth would never again flood and a reminder that God can and will judge sin (2 Peter 2:5). Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3, 6-7; 13:14-17; 15; 17:1-14; 22:15-18). In this covenant, God promised many things to Abraham. He personally promised that He would make Abraham’s name great (Genesis 12:2), that Abraham would have numerous physical descendants (Genesis 13:16), and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). God also made promises regarding a nation called Israel. In fact, the geographical boundaries of the Abrahamic Covenant are laid out on more than one occasion in the book of Genesis (12:7; 13:14-15; 15:18-21). Another provision in the Abrahamic Covenant is that the families of the world will be blessed through the physical line of Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 22:18). This is a reference to the Messiah, who would come from the line of Abraham. Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10). The Palestinian Covenant, or Land Covenant, amplifies the land aspect that was detailed in the Abrahamic Covenant. According to the terms of this covenant, if the people disobeyed, God would cause them to be scattered around the world (Deuteronomy 30:3-4), but He would eventually restore the nation (verse 5). When the nation is restored, then they will obey Him perfectly (verse 8), and God will cause them to prosper (verse 9). Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 11; et al.). The Mosaic Covenant was a conditional covenant that either brought God’s direct blessing for obedience or God’s direct cursing for disobedience upon the nation of Israel. Part of the Mosaic Covenant was the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the rest of the Law, which contained over 600 commands—roughly 300 positive and 300 negative. The history books of the Old Testament (Joshua–Esther) detail how Israel succeeded at obeying the Law or how Israel failed miserably at obeying the Law. Deuteronomy 11:26-28 details the blessing/cursing motif. Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-16) The Davidic Covenant amplifies the “seed” aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant. The promises to David in this passage are significant. God promised that David’s lineage would last forever and that his kingdom would never pass away permanently (verse 16). Obviously, the Davidic throne has not been in place at all times. There will be a time, however, when someone from the Line of David will again sit on the throne and Rule as King This future King is Jesus (Luke 1:32-33) New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) The New Covenant is a covenant made first with the nation of Israel and, ultimately, with all mankind. In the New Covenant, God promises to forgive sin, and there will be a universal knowledge of the Lord. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create anew covenant between God and His people. Now that we are under the New Covenant, both Jews and Gentiles can be free from the penalty of the Law. We are now given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Within the discussion of the biblical covenants, there are a few issues that Christians are not agreed upon. First, some Christians think that all of the covenants are conditional in nature. If the covenants are conditional, then Israel failed miserably at fulfilling them. Others believe that the unconditional covenants have yet to be totally fulfilled and, regardless of Israel’s disobedience, will come to fruition sometime in the future. Second, how does the church of Jesus Christ relate to the covenants? Some believe that the church fulfills the covenants and God will never deal with Israel again. This is called replacement theology and has no scriptural evidence. Others believe that the church initially or partially will fulfill these covenants. While many of the promises towards Israel are still in the future, many believe that the church shares in the covenants in some way. Others believe that the covenants are for Israel and for Israel alone, and that the church has no part in these covenants. New covenant theology is best described as a hermeneutical principle, or an interpretative grid through which one reads and interprets the Scriptures. As a hermeneutical principle, it stands as a bridge between dispensational theology and covenant theology. That is not to say that new covenant theology has intentionally set itself up between dispensational theology and covenant theology, but that New Covenant Theology shares things in common with both dispensational and covenant theology. As such, we cannot say what new covenant theology is without reference to dispensational theology and covenant theology. Dispensational theology essentially sees the Scriptures unfolding in a series of, usually, seven “dispensations.” A dispensation can be loosely defined as the means through which God governs His actions with man and creation. Therefore, God’s governance was different with Adam than it was with Abraham, etc. Dispensational theology views the revelation as progressive, i.e., in each dispensation, God reveals more and more of His divine plan of redemption. However, while Scripture is a progressive revelation, each successive dispensation represents a new way of God dealing with His creation. In other words, according to dispensational theology, there is a strong level of discontinuity between the dispensations; once an old dispensation is over and a new one begun, the "old" way of doing things under the old dispensation is superseded by the new dispensation. And each dispensation is typically introduced with some new revelation from God. The thing to remember with dispensational theology is that there is a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church. They are two different people with two different destinies in God’s economy. The Church is seen as a "parenthesis" between God’s dealings with national Israel. The restored kingdom promised to Israel will be fulfilled in the Millennium. Until then is the Church Age—the time of the Gentiles. Covenant theology is effectively the polar opposite of dispensational theology. While both agree that Scripture is progressive, the overarching principle of covenant theology is the covenant. Covenant theology sees two theological covenants in Scripture—the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. The covenant of works was introduced in the Garden between God and man in which God promised mankind life for obedience and judgment for disobedience. The covenant of works was re-introduced at Sinai as God promised Israel long life and blessing in the land on the condition of their obedience to the Mosaic covenant, but expulsion and judgment in the event of their disobedience. The covenant of grace was implemented after the fall and represents God’s unconditional covenant with man to redeem and save the elect. All of the various biblical covenants (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, and the New) are outworkings of the covenant of Grace as God works His plan of redemption in human history. So, where dispensational theology saw a discontinuity between the various dispensations (and in particular between the Old and the New Testaments), covenant theology sees a great deal of continuity. This is especially evident in the fact that covenant theology does not see a sharp distinction between Israel and the Church. Both entities are seen as one continuous people of God with one ultimate destiny All of that serves as the backdrop to view new covenant theology. As mentioned previously, new covenant theology is a middle point between the two. It shares a lot in common with classic covenant theology, in particular the continuity between the Church and Israel as being one people of God. However, it also differs from covenant theology in that it does not necessarily view the Scriptures as the unfolding of redemption in a covenant of works/covenant of grace framework. Instead, it sees the Scriptures in a more promise/fulfillment paradigm. By far the biggest difference between new covenant theology and covenant theology is how each views the Mosaic Law. Covenant theology sees the Law in three ways: civil, ceremonial and moral. The civil aspect of the Law was those laws in the covenant of Sinai which governed the theocratic nation of Israel while they live in the Promised Land. The ceremonial aspect of the Law governed the worship of God by Israel while in the land. Finally, the moral aspect of the Law governed the behavior of God’s people. It should be understood that the Law, in and of itself, is one cohesive whole and that the Jews did not delineate between civil, ceremonial and moral; these are just terms used to help identify the three areas of Israelite life that the Mosaic Law governed. According to classic covenant theology, Jesus came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17). He did so by satisfying all of the ceremonial, civil and moral aspects of the Law. Jesus Christ is the reality behind the shadows of the Old Testament sacrificial system and thereby fulfills the ceremonial aspect of the Law. Jesus Christ also bore the penalty our sins deserved and thereby fulfilled the civil aspect of the Law. Finally, Jesus Christ lived in full accordance with the moral aspect of the Law and fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law. Now, the moral aspect of the Law represents the essence of the covenant of works. As such, it transcends the Mosaic economy. In other words, God has always required holiness from humanity The covenant of works was not negated due to the fall, nor was it negated even though it was fulfilled in Christ. The moral aspect of the Law still stands as the standard of morality for mankind because it is reflective of God’s character, and that does not change. Therefore, covenant theology still sees the Mosaic Law (especially the Ten Commandments) as prescriptive for the Church, even though the ceremonial and civil aspects have been rendered obsolete in Christ. New covenant theology sees the Mosaic Law as a whole and sees it all fulfilled in Christ (so far in agreement with covenant theology). However, because new covenant theology sees the Mosaic Law as a whole, it also sees the moral aspect of the Mosaic Law as fulfilled in Christ and no longer applying to Christians. Instead of being under the moral aspect of the Mosaic Law as summarized in the Ten Commandments, we are under the law of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21). The Law of Christ would be those prescriptions that Christ specifically stated in the Gospels The Sermon on the Mount In other words, the entire Mosaic economy has been set aside in new covenant theology; it no longer applies in any way to Christians. So, while covenant theology sees a continuity between the Old and New Testaments in regards to God’s people and the way of salvation, new covenant theology draws a rather sharp line of distinction between the Old and New Testaments when it comes to the difference between the old Mosaic covenant and the new covenant mediated by Christ. The old covenant is obsolete (including the moral aspect of the Mosaic Law) and replaced by the new covenant with the law of Christ to govern its morality. The Covenant of Works, also called the Edenic Covenant, is the first agreement made between God and man. God established the Covenant of Works with Adam in Genesis 2:16–17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’” In Covenant Theology, the Covenant of Works extends beyond the Edenic Covenant, becomes the basis of the Mosaic Law, and is contrasted with the Covenant of Grace As Bible history indicates, some of God’s covenants are conditional and some unconditional. The Covenant of Works is a conditional covenant. The Westminster Confession of Faith describes this covenant as one “wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience” (VII.2). That is, eternal life was promised to Adam and all his descendants if they obeyed God. Regrettably, Adam failed in his responsibilities and broke the Covenant of Works. Satan, in the form of a serpent, deceived Adam’s wife, Eve, into disobeying God with this lie: “You will not certainly die. . . . For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4–5). Enticed by this proposition, Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Adam, who obviously decided to make his own rules rather than obey God’s, followed his wife in sinning, and they both fell from their state of innocence. The consequences for Adam failing in his duty to obey God were quite severe. Adam and Eve, along with all of their descendants, lost their fellowship with God, their pure nature, and their garden home. Mankind was set on course to increase their commission of evil as time progressed. Adam and Eve’s firstborn son committed murder (Genesis 4:8), and before long “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5). In mankind’s fallen condition, a Covenant of Works had only the ability to bring misery and punishment upon people. Since the reward for mankind, under the covenant of Eden, was determined by their behavior, they could only reap negative consequences. Mankind was in dire need of redemption that would bring his account out of a negative status. Mankind needed rescue from punishment, and that’s exactly what God provided after the Covenant of Works was broken. After the fall, before Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), an action that implies the shedding of an animal’s blood. At the same time, God made a second, unconditional promise of redemption with Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:14–24), which also contains the first prophecy of Christ’s coming, with hints of the gospel (verse 15). What mankind needed was redemption from their hopeless condition. Jesus Christ came and obeyed the Covenant of Works perfectly in our stead, filling man’s account with good deeds. He was able to do this because He is God in human flesh and had not inherited a sin nature from Adam. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). The product of Christ’s work becomes anyone’s possession who accepts Christ in the New Covenant, which is a covenant of Grace and Redemption “And since Christ met the condition of the covenant of works, man can now reap the fruit of the original agreement by faith in Jesus Christ” (Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, First Banner of Truth, 1958, page 214). Theologians sometimes refer to Christ’s work in two parts: His active and passive obedience. His obedience was active in the sense that His actions conformed to God’s will. This active obedience, which consisted of His miracles, obedience to God’s Spirit, and good works, stands in substitute for an entire life of disobedience. Christ’s passive obedience is seen in His choice to yield to God and receive mankind’s punishment upon Himself. The passive obedience of Christ is sufficient to pay for all sinful lives, no matter how much sin has been committed. Christ met the terms of the Covenant of Works and exonerated all who will believe in Him. The New Covenant is the promise that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant, and His death on the cross is the basis of the promise (Luke 22:20) The New Covenant was predicted while the Old Covenant was still in effect-- the prophets Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel all allude to the New Covenant. The Old Covenant that God had established with His people required strict obedience to the Mosaic Law. Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), the Law required that Israel perform daily sacrifices in order to atone for sin. But Moses, through whom God established the Old Covenant, also anticipated the New Covenant. In one of his final addresses to the nation of Israel, Moses looks forward to a time when Israel would be given “a heart to understand” (Deuteronomy 29:4, ESV). Moses predicts that Israel would fail in keeping the Old Covenant (verses 22–28), but he then sees a time of restoration (Deuteronomy 30:1–5) At that time, Moses says, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (verse 6). When David was through trying to hide his sin, he confessed it freely Psalm 51 is that confession and plea for forgiveness. His request “create in me a clean heart” is simply another way of asking for forgiveness and spiritual cleansing. Psalm 51:1–10 is filled with poetic descriptions of forgiveness and cleansing, identified in italics below: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” The New Covenant involves a total change of heart so that God’s people are naturally pleasing to Him. The prophet Jeremiah also predicted the New Covenant “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. . . . This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (Jeremiah 31:31–33). Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and to establish the New Covenant between God and His people. The Old Covenant was written in stone, but the New Covenant is written on hearts. Entering the New Covenant is made possible only by faith in Christ, who shed His blood to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Luke 22:20 relates how Jesus, at the Last Supper, takes the cup and says, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (ESV). The New Covenant is also mentioned in Ezekiel 36:26–27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel lists several aspects of the New Covenant here: a new heart, a new spirit, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and true holiness. The Mosaic Law could provide none of these things (see Romans 3:20). The New Covenant was originally given to Israel and includes a promise of fruitfulness, blessing, and a peaceful existence in the Promised Land. In Ezekiel 36:28–30 God says, “Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. . . . I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.” Deuteronomy 30:1–5 contains similar promises related to Israel under the New Covenant. After the resurrection of Christ, God in His grace brought the Gentiles into the blessing of the New Covenant, too (Acts 10; Ephesians 2:13–14). The fulfillment of the New Covenant will be seen in two places: on earth during the Millennial Kingdom, and in heaven for all eternity. We are no longer under the Law but under grace (Romans 6:14–15). The Old Covenant has served its purpose, and it has been replaced by “a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22). “In fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). Under the New Covenant, we are given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8–9). Our responsibility is to exercise faith in Christ, the One who fulfilled the Law on our behalf and brought an end to the Law’s sacrifices through His own sacrificial death. Through the life-giving Holy Spirit who lives in all believers (Romans 8:9–11), we share in the inheritance of Christ and enjoy a permanent, unbroken relationship with God (Hebrews 9:15). Covenant Theology looks at the Scriptures through the grid of the covenant Covenant Theology defines two overriding covenants: the covenant of works (CW) and the covenant of grace (CG). A third covenant is sometimes mentioned; namely, the covenant of redemption (CR). Matt 5:17 Let’s begin to examine the various covenants detailed in Covenant Theology, beginning with the covenant of redemption, which logically precedes the other two covenants. According to Covenant Theology, the CR is a covenant made among the three Persons of the Trinity to elect, atone for, and save a select group of individuals unto salvation and eternal life. As one popular pastor-theologian has said, in the covenant of redemption, “The Father chooses a bride for His Son.” While the CR is not explicitly stated in Scripture, Scripture does explicitly state the eternal nature of the plan of salvation (Ephesians 1:3-14; 3:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:9; James 2:5; 1 Peter 1:2). Moreover, Jesus often referred to His task as carrying out the Father’s will (John 4:34; 5:30, 43; 6:38-40; 17:4-12). That the salvation of the elect was God’s intention from the very beginning of creation cannot be doubted; the CR just formalizes this eternal plan in the language of covenant. From a redemptive historical perspective, the covenant of works is the first covenant we see in Scripture. When God created man, He placed him in the Garden of Eden and gave him one simple command: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). We can see the covenantal language implied in this command. God sets Adam in the Garden and promises eternal life to him and his posterity as long as he is obedient to God’s commands. Life is the reward for obedience, and death is the punishment for disobedience. This is covenant language. Some scholars see in the covenant of works a form of what is called a suzerain-vassal covenant. In these types of covenants, the suzerain (i.e., king or ruler) would offer the terms of the covenant to the vassal (i.e., the subject). The suzerain would provide blessing and protection in return for the vassal’s tribute. In the case of the covenant of works, God (the suzerain) promises eternal life and blessing to mankind (the vassal represented by Adam as the head of the human race), in return for man’s obedience to the stipulations of the covenant (i.e., don’t eat from the tree). We see a similar structure in the giving of the Old Covenant through Moses to Israel. Israel made a covenant with God at Sinai. God would give the Promised Land, a reconstituted Eden (“a land flowing with milk and honey”) and His blessing and protection against all enemies in return for Israel’s obedience to the stipulations of the covenant. The punishment for covenant violation was expulsion from the land (which occurred in the conquest of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. and the Southern Kingdom in 586 B.C.). When Adam failed in keeping the covenant of works, God instituted the third covenant, called the covenant of grace. In the CG, God freely offers to sinners (those who fail to live up to the CW) eternal life and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We see the provision for the CG right after the fall when God prophesies the “seed of the woman” in Genesis 3:15. Whereas the covenant of works is conditional and promises blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience, the covenant of grace is unconditional and is given freely on the basis of God’s grace. The CG takes the form of ancient land-grant treaties, in which a king would give land to a recipient as a gift, no strings attached. One can argue that faith is a condition of the covenant of grace. There are many exhortations in the Bible for the recipients of God’s unconditional grace to remain faithful to the end, so, in a very real sense, maintaining faith is a condition of the CG. But the Bible clearly teaches that even saving faith is a gracious gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We see the covenant of grace manifested in the various unconditional covenants God makes with individuals in the Bible. The covenant God makes with Abraham (to be his God and for Abraham and his descendants to be His people) is an extension of the CG. The Davidic Covenant (that a descendant of David will always reign as king) is also an extension of the CG. The New Covenant is the final expression of the CG as God writes His law upon our hearts and completely forgives our sins. One thing that should be apparent as we look at these various OT covenants is that they all find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The promise to Abraham to bless all the nations was fulfilled in Christ. The Davidic king who will eternally rule over God’s people was also fulfilled in Christ, and the New Covenant was obviously fulfilled in Christ. Even in the Old Covenant, there are hints of the CG as all of the OT sacrifices and rituals point forward to the saving work of Christ, our great High Priest (Hebrews 8–10). This is why Jesus can say in the Sermon on the Mount that He came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). We also see the CG in action in the OT when God spares His people the judgment that their repeated sin deserves. Even though the stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant (an application of the CW) promised God’s judgment upon Israel for their disobedience to His commands, God deals patiently with His covenant people. This is usually accompanied by the phrase “God remembered the covenant he made with Abraham” (2 Kings 13:23; Psalm 105; Isaiah 29:22; 41:8); God’s promise to fulfill the covenant of grace (which by definition is a one-sided covenant) often overrode His right to enforce the covenant of works. That’s a brief description of covenant theology and how it interprets Scripture through the lens of the covenant. A question that sometimes arises regarding covenant theology is whether or not the CG supplants or supersedes the CW. In other words, is the CW obsolete since the Old Covenant is obsolete (Hebrews 8:13)? The Old (Mosaic) covenant, while an application of the CW, is not the CW. Again, the CW goes all the way back to Eden when God promised life for obedience and death for disobedience. The CW is further elaborated in the Ten Commandments, in which God again promises life and blessing for obedience and death and punishment for disobedience. The Old Covenant is more than just the moral law codified in the Ten Commandments. The Old Covenant includes the rules and regulations regarding the worship of God. It also includes the civil law that governed the nation of Israel during the theocracy and monarchy. With the coming of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the OT, many aspects of the Old Covenant become obsolete because Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant types and figures (again, see Hebrews 8–10). The Old Covenant represented the “types and shadows,” whereas Christ represents the “substance” (Colossians 2:17). Again, Christ came to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17). As Paul says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20). However, this does not abrogate the covenant of works as codified in the moral law. God demanded holiness from His people in the OT (Leviticus 11:44) and still demands holiness from His people in the NT (1 Peter 1:16). So, we are still obligated to fulfill the stipulations of the CW. The good news is that Jesus Christ, the last Adam and our covenant Head, perfectly fulfilled the demands of the CW and that perfect righteousness is the reason why God can extend the CG to the elect. Romans 5:12-21 describes the situation between the two federal heads of the human race. Adam represented the human race in the Garden and failed to uphold the CW, thereby plunging him and his posterity into sin and death. Jesus Christ stood as man’s representative, from His temptation in the wilderness all the way to Calvary, and perfectly fulfilled the CW. That is why Paul can say, “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). In conclusion, Covenant Theology views the covenants of Scripture as manifestations of either the CW or the CG. The entire story of redemptive history can be seen as God unfolding the CG from its nascent stages (Genesis 3:15) through to its fruition in Christ. Covenant Theology is, therefore, a Christocentric way of looking at Scripture because it sees the OT as the promise of Christ and the NT as the fulfillment in Christ. Some have accused covenant theologians of teaching what is called “Replacement Theology” (i.e., the Church replaces Israel). Such accusations are likely based on the fact that Covenant Theology teaches that the Church is Israel and Israel is the Church and its denial of any future plan for Israel. In 2002, Knox Theological Seminary issued a document clearly stating the CT position: “The inheritance promises that God gave to Abraham . . . do not apply to any particular ethnic group, but to the church of Jesus Christ, the true Israel“ (§VI), and “A day should not be anticipated in which Christ’s kingdom will manifest Jewish distinctives, whether by its location in ’the land,’ by its constituency, or by its ceremonial institutions and practices“ (p. 3). (“An Open Letter to Evangelicals and Other Interested Parties: The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel“). Accordingly, some have (reasonably) concluded that Covenant Theology takes the position that the church has either replaced or superseded ethnic Israel. Promises in the Bible made to ethnic Israel—people connected by blood to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—covenant theologians consider as metaphorically fulfilled in the Church, as “Israel” and the Church are all one “people of God,” a group that may or may not include people of Jewish ancestry, depending on the context. Unlike dispensationalists, covenant theologians deny any connection between ethnic Israel and the current or future land of Israel: “The entitlement of any one ethnic or religious group to territory in the Middle East called the ’Holy Land’ cannot be supported by Scripture“ (ibid., §IX). Many more things could be said regarding Covenant Theology, but the important thing to keep in mind is that Covenant Theology is an interpretive grid for understanding the Scriptures. As we have seen, it is not the only way to interpret Scripture. Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism have many differences, and sometimes lead to opposite conclusions regarding certain secondary doctrines, but both adhere to the essentials of the Christian faith: salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, and to God alone be the glory! Reformed Christians speak of Scripture as the unfolding drama of God's covenant of grace. We do this because the apostle Paul speaks of the Israelites, saying, "To them belong … the covenants" (Rom. 9:5). The Bible is a covenantal story, and one that Paul, again, describes as "the covenants of promise" (Eph. 2:12). The essence of the covenant of grace is the same throughout the Old and New Testaments-- God saves sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But its historical administration has varied by time and place. For example, the covenant of grace widened from the Old Testament to the New Testament, as it was administered first with small families (e.g., the families of Noah and Abram), then with the nation of Israel, but now with the church, which is made up of people "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Rev. 5:9). Also, it was administered in the Old Testament through what the New Testament authors describe as "types" and "shadows" (Heb. 8:5; 10:1), such as sacrifices, the priesthood, and the temple, all of which pointed to their reality, Jesus Christ (e.g., Col. 2:17). The Reformed creeds and confessions express the continuity of God's covenant of grace despite its many historical variations. For instance, the Heidelberg Catechism says: "… God himself first revealed [it] in Paradise, [and] afterwards [it was] proclaimed by the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law, and finally fulfilled in his well-beloved Son" (Q&A 19). This means the Bible is one story of the gospel, which God has spoken "in many times and in many ways" (Heb. 1:1), whether in Paradise to Adam; during the days of the patriarchs, such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses; through the ministry of the prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Joel; or through the ceremonies of the Levitical sacrifices. All of this came to fruition in Jesus Christ. Likewise, while recognizing the variations in the administration of the covenant of grace between the Old and New Testaments, the Westminster Confession of Faith affirms the continuity of the covenant in the promise of Christ and His fulfillment of it: This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all fore-signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation; Under the gospel, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the ordinances in which this covenant is dispensed are the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; which, though fewer in number, and administered with more simplicity and less outward glory, yet in them, it is held forth in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles; and is called the New Testament. There are not, therefore, two covenants of grace differing in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations . (7.5-6) When our Lord Jesus Christ was born, lived, died, and was raised from the grave, the covenant of grace reached its zenith in what the Bible calls "the new covenant" (Jer. 31:31; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:6; Heb. 8:8, 13; 9:15; 12:24). Under the covenant of grace, Christ accomplished what Adam failed to do in the covenant of works, so we receive grace: Man's work faileth, Christ's availeth; He is all our righteousness; He, our Savior, has forever Set us free from dire distress. Through His merit we inherit Light and peace and happiness. PROMOTERS of the FALSE “prosperity gospel” and Word of Faith MOVEMENT often like to talk about “seeding,” “seed faith offerings,” and “hundred-fold returns.” A seed faith offering is money given in faith that God will multiply it and return it to the giver. The more money you give—and the more faith you have—the more money you get in return Prosperity preachers often solicit gifts to their ministries by promising such in-kind returns: “Send me $10 and trust God to give you back $1,000.” They give their appeals for money a spiritual gloss with statements such as “God wants to bless you with a miracle” and “Jesus is bigger than your debt.” And they will misuse verses such as Mark 4:8, “Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” It’s good to remember the “seed” in this verse is the Word of God (Mark 4:14), not money The late Oral Roberts was highly influential in spreading the concept of seed faith offerings, and he taught people to expect a miracle when they sow a “seed” from their “need.” He wrote, “To realize your potential, to overcome life’s problems, to see your life become fruitful, multiply and provide abundance (i.e., health, prosperity, spiritual renewal, in the family or oneself), you should decide to follow the divine law of the sower and the harvest. Sow the seed of His promise in the ground of your need” (from “Principles of the Seed”). In the July 1980 edition of Abundant Life, Roberts wrote, “Solve your money needs with money seeds” (page 4). Richard Roberts, Oral’s son, says on his website, “Give God something to work with. No matter how little you think you have, sow it in joy and faith, knowing in your heart that you are sowing seed so you may reap miracles. Then start expecting all kinds of miracles!” In May 2016, Roberts’ newsletter appealed for monetary gifts with this statement: “Sow a special $100 seed. . . . If you will plant this seed out of your need and go into a holy agreement with me, then TOGETHER you and I will EXPECT A MIGHTY MIRACLE FROM GOD” (from his website, emphasis in the original). According to Oral Roberts, the way to take advantage of the law of sowing and reaping is three-fold : 1) look to God as your source, 2) give first so that it may be given to you, and 3) expect a miracle. As a “proof text” for the second step, seed-faith teachers like to use Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” The misuse of this verse starts with its application to material gain-- Jesus was speaking of forgiveness in Luke 6:37, not money. Also, there’s a difference between “Give, and” and “Give so that.” Seed-faith teachers advocate a selfish motive for giving—give so that you can get—and they state as much. The Bible teaches that we give for the sake of benefiting others and to glorify the Lord, not in order to enrich ourselves. Teachers of seed faith offering also like Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Of course, this verse says nothing about getting money or making seed faith offerings. Another passage misused by seed-faith preachers is Mark 10:29–30, “Truly I tell you . . . no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields.” Seed-faith teachers latch on to the promise of a “hundred times as much,” but they only apply it to “homes” and “fields”—that is, material wealth. They ignore the rest of the list. Are we to suppose that Jesus promised His followers a hundred literal mothers or that we should expect a hundred times more blood relatives than we have now? Or was Jesus speaking of an increased spiritual family? Since the mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters are spiritual, then perhaps the homes and fields are spiritual, as well. The promoters of the doctrine of seed faith offerings ignore several important details in Scripture. Consider, for example, 2 Corinthians 9:10–12, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” This passage says God supplies the seed for sowing; that is, He supplies the resources for us to generously give away. And, when we give, God will supply more resources so the giving continues. Note, however, the reaping is not monetary gain but “the harvest of your righteousness.” Also, it is thanksgivings to God that overflow, not our bank accounts. The seed sown in this passage does not result in miracles or in personal wealth. The promoters of seed faith offerings also ignore the fact that the apostles were not wealthy men. The apostles certainly gave to others: “I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well” (2 Corinthians 12:15). Based on the doctrine of seed faith offerings, Paul should have been a rich man. Yet, “to this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands” (1 Corinthians 4:10–11). The apostles were materially poor, yet they were spiritually blessed by the Lord. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), but we must not assume that His favor will be shown in financial returns. Nor should we appropriate promises given to Old Testament Israel for ourselves. Our motive for giving should not be to get money in return. Our goal should be godliness with contentment (see 1 Timothy 6:6–10). We should pray, “Lord, help me learn to be content with what I have, even if I am hungry or in need” (see Philippians 4:11–13). The seed faith teaching amounts to little more than a get-rich-quick scheme that preys upon the desperate and hurting among God’s people. Peter warned the church about such chicanery: “Through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you” (2 Peter 2:3, KJV). Christ, the true singular "seed of Abraham", can really be called Abraham's ultimate Seed, who secures for all who trust Him all our present spiritual blessings. Today all believers form part of God's heavenly people, the New Testament Church The question “who are the seed of Abraham? ” can be answered several ways, and it is important to make some distinctions. There is the Seed of Abraham (Seed being singular); there is the seed of Abraham physically (descendants of Abraham according to the flesh); and there is the seed of Abraham spiritually (those who, like Abraham, have faith in God) The (singular) Seed of Abraham is Christ, as Galatians 3:16, quoting Genesis 12:7, says, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” The passage goes on to explain that an inheritance was promised to Abraham’s Seed (Christ) apart from the Law. Later, the Mosaic Law was introduced, but it did not annul the promises made to Abraham or to Abraham’s Seed (Christ). Just as Abraham believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), so are all today who believe in God’s Son justified apart from the Law. In this way, Abraham is the “father” of all who believe (Romans 4:11–17) . “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29). Of course, the seed of Abraham can also refer to the Hebrew people who descended from Abraham through Isaac. Still more broadly, the seed of Abraham could include Arabs, who trace their lineage through Ishmael. This is the physical seed of Abraham. The spiritual seed of Abraham (believers in Jesus Christ) is comprised of people of all nationalities and ethnicities. The Jewish religious leaders of the first century took pride in that they were Abraham’s seed They saw their physical connection to Abraham as a guarantee of God’s favor This attitude kept them from seeing their need for repentance of the heart-- and brought condemnation from John the Baptist, who warned them to repent. Anticipating their fallback argument that they were the seed of Abraham, John said, “Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9). Jesus dealt with the same issue later. In speaking to the unbelieving Jews, Jesus emphasized their need to receive His words as truth and obey His commands. They replied, “We be Abraham’s seed” (John 8:33, KJV). Jesus then rebukes them for plotting ways to murder Him; their stubborn response was again, “Abraham is our father” (verse 39a). At this, Jesus makes a distinction between the physical seed of Abraham and the true, spiritual seed of Abraham: “If you were Abraham’s children . . . then you would do what Abraham did” (verse 39b). The conversation heats up as the Jews for a third time reference their connection to Abraham: “Are you greater than our father Abraham?” they ask Jesus (verse 53). Jesus provokes them further: “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (verse 56). The Jews’ are incredulous that Jesus would claim to be a contemporary of Abraham, and that’s when Jesus brings the exchange to a climax with a claim to full deity: “Very truly I tell you, . . . before Abraham was born, I am!” (verse 58) In a fury, the Jews attempted to stone Jesus (verse 59), again proving that being the physical seed of Abraham is not enough-- they had to be born again (John 3:3). Paul sums up the difference between the seeds of Abraham in Romans 2:28–29: “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” This explains why Christianity is an all inclusive Judaism Some Christians with Jewish linage, some without No distinction at this time Judaism 2,000 years ago drastically changed when “a new sect” of Judiasm (not a replacement, the continuation) started to follow a new way The Catholic Church traces its origins to the upper room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, when the Disciples of Jesus established the early Christian community. The Catholic Church considers the Cenacle, the site of the Last Supper, to be the "first Christian church" The Cenacle (from the Latin cenaculum, "dining room"), also known as the Upper Room (from the Koine Greek anagaion and hyperōion, both meaning "upper room"), is a room in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, just outside the Old City walls, traditionally held to be the site of the Last Supper, the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus held with the apostles According to the Christian Bible, the Cenacle was a place in which the apostles continued to gather after the Last Supper, and it was also the site where the Holy Spirit alighted upon the twelve apostles on Pentecost, Matthias having been "numbered with the eleven apostles" to replace Judas in Acts 1:25. The site is administered by the Israeli authorities, and is part of a building holding what is known as "David's Tomb" on its ground floor Cenacle" is a derivative of the Latin word ceno, which means "I dine". Jerome used the Latin coenaculum for both Greek words in his Latin Vulgate translation. "Upper room" is derived from the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Luke, which both employ the Koine Greek: (ἀνάγαιον, Mark 14:15 and Luke 22:12), whereas the Acts of the Apostles uses the Koine Greek hyperōion(ὑπερῷον, Acts 1:13), both with the meaning "upper room" In Christian tradition, the room was not only the site of the Last Supper, i.e., the Cenacle, but the room in which the Holy Spirit alighted upon the twelve apostles and other believers gathered and praying together on Pentecost. Acts 1-2 tell us that Judas had been replaced by Matthias, and 120 followers of Jesus gathered in this room after His ascension. It is sometimes thought to be the place where the apostles stayed in Jerusalem. The language in Acts of the Apostles suggests that the apostles used the room as a temporary residence (Koine Greek: οὗ ἦσαν καταμένοντες, hou ēsa as a place where they were "not lodged, but had for their meeting place“ The general location of the Cenacle is also associated with that of the house where the Virgin Mary lived among the apostles until her death or dormition, an event celebrated in the nearby Church of the Dormition. Pilgrims to Jerusalem report visiting a structure on Mount Zion commemorating the Last Supper since the 4th century AD. Some scholars would have it that this was the Cenacle, in fact a synagogue from an earlier time. While the term Cenacle refers only to the Upper Room, a niche located on the lower level of the same building is associated by tradition with the burial site of King David, marked by a large cenotaph-sarcophagus that dates to the 12th-century, but earlier mentioned in the 10th-century Vita Constantini. Most accept the notice in 1 Kings 2:10 that says that David was buried "in the City of David", identified as the Eastern hill of ancient Jerusalem, as opposed to what is today called Mount Sion, the Western hill of the ancient city. The first Christian Church was founded in 33AD in Jerusalem immediately following the Ascension of Christ (undercover) According to the text of the Acts of the Apostles, the Lord appeared bodily to His disciples, after His passion, being visible to them for forty days, strengthening their faith and preaching to them about the Kingdom of God, while at the same time He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit (Act 1:3-4). His disciples kept the command of Christ, remaining and continually waiting His Ascension in Jerusalem waited together (Acts 1:12-14), in the attic of the house of Sion, having already elected Matthias as the twelfth Apostle (Acts 1: 15-26). After the event of Pentecost, during which the descent of the Holy Spirit had occurred, and many among the audience of the Apostle Peter converted to Christianity, the faith in Christ was consolidated and the newly catechized together with the Apostles formed the First Church of Jerusalem. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). The gift of the Holy Spirit For Jesus’ followers their lives were to be upended again when he told them his time on earth would be short and he would be physically leaving them. Addressing their anxiety, he promised two things. First, help would come in the form of the Holy Spirit. And, if they were open to receiving the gift of the Spirit into their lives, they would have the strength and courage to not only live and love as Jesus had taught them, but to show others how to as well (John 14:15-31). Second, Jesus promised he would prepare a home for all his followers after their time on earth was over (John 14:1-14); death would not be the end. The Ascension and Pentecost Jesus did depart from the earth – an event we call the “Ascension” (Acts 1:6-12). Then, 10 days later, the remarkable event called “Pentecost” occurred. Just as Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit filled the hearts and minds of his followers, giving them the courage and strength to testify to all that Jesus had said and done (Acts 2:1-11). Pentecost is often regarded as the birth of the Church. It was a critical moment for those who wanted to continue to follow the way of life Jesus had proposed. God’s Holy Spirit was not only at work within them but would be for all generations to come. Antioch in the Bible is the name of two New Testament cities: Pisidian Antioch and Syrian Antioch. Antioch of Syria, also known as Antioch on the Orontes River, was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire. Only Rome in Italy and Alexandria in Egypt were larger. Syrian Antioch (current-day Antakya, Turkey) was situated on the Orontes River about 20 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea and approximately 300 miles north of Jerusalem. From its founding in 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator, Syrian Antioch was a busy seaport trade hub possessing a lively mix of people from different cultures and religions with high intellectual and political status Antioch of Syria played a significant role in the book of Acts and the earliest developments in the spread of Christianity. The city was home to many Diaspora Jews—those deported through captivity who had chosen to remain living outside Israel but maintained their Jewish faith. These Hebrews engaged in business and enjoyed full rights of citizenship in the free city of Syrian Antioch. Through them, many Gentiles in Antioch were drawn to Judaism and, eventually, Christianity. One such Gentile convert was Nicolas from Antioch. He was among the seven Greek-speaking (Hellenist) leaders chosen to serve as deacons in Jerusalem (Acts 6:1–7). The intense persecution that broke out in Jerusalem after the death of Stephen prompted some Jewish believers to flee to Syrian Antioch (Acts 11:19). When leaders in the Jerusalem church heard of the considerable number of Gentile conversions taking place in Antioch, they sent Barnabas there to minister to the growing congregation (Acts 11:22–25). Barnabas sought out the apostle Paul in Tarsus and brought him to Antioch, where together they taught the mixed assembly of Jewish and Gentile believers for a whole year. It was here at Antioch of Syria where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). In Syrian Antioch, the Christian prophet Agabus foretold of a great famine that would strike the Roman world. The enthusiastic Christians in Antioch responded to the prophecy with generous offerings to help the Jerusalem church when the famine hit. Barnabas and Paul carried these gifts to the elders in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27–30). The city became the launching site of organized Christian foreign missions work when Barnabas and Saul were set aside by the leading of the Holy Spirit and then sent out from the church in Antioch of Syria (Acts 12:25—13:3). This first-ever missionary journey that took Paul and Barnabas into Asia Minor ended when they returned to Antioch of Syria and reported to the assembled church everything that God had done (Acts 14:24–28). Another city called Antioch in the Bible was located between the districts of Phrygia and Pisidia in Asia Minor, west of Iconium, in the southern part of the province of Galatia. Pisidian Antioch was founded by Antiochus I and refounded by Augustus as a Roman colony. Augustus populated the city with thousands of his veterans and their families. Pisidian Antioch became a key landmark on Paul’s first missionary journey with Barnabas. Paul was invited by the elders to preach in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch, and the two missionaries were enthusiastically received by the townspeople there (Acts 13:14–44). But a group of Jewish leaders who were jealous of Paul’s popularity began to slander him (Acts 13:45). Thus, Paul and Barnabas turned their attention to the Gentiles, many of whom rejoiced and believed in the Lord (Acts 13:46–48). Their message of salvation spread throughout the region until Jewish persecutors finally ran Paul and Barnabas out of the city (Acts 13:50). As a result, Pisidian Antioch was a place where Paul and Barnabas “shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection,” just as Jesus had instructed (Acts 13:51; cf. Mark 6:11). The same jealous, unbelieving Jews from Antioch of Pisidia followed Paul and Barnabas to Lystra and stirred up more trouble for them. Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, and left for dead. Paul revived and later returned to Pisidian Antioch, despite the dangers there, to strengthen the church and appoint elders (Acts 14:19–23). Paul also used his experiences of suffering and persecution in Antioch of Pisidia to teach and encourage his young protégé Timothy (2 Timothy 3:11). Although Bible scholars have long debated the matter, many believe that Paul’s epistle to the Galatians was written to the church in Pisidian Antioch and the nearby churches in Lystra and Iconium, all of which were in the Roman province of Galatia at the time of Paul’s active ministry. Whatever the case, both Pisidian Antioch and Syrian Antioch were noteworthy locations in Paul’s ministry as an apostle and in the early expansion of the Christian church. One of Jesus’ closest apostles, Peter, spoke with the authority that Jesus had given him (Matthew 16:19). Peter implored the people to repent of their sins and be baptised in the name of Jesus, and to devote themselves to the love and care of everyone in their community. Also, just as Jesus had commanded, they were to keep his presence alive in the breaking and sharing of bread (Acts 2:37-47). Despite the early Church experiencing struggles and persecution, the number of Christians grew. Many of its members had witnessed first-hand the miracles, teachings and the resurrected Jesus. They shared these encounters with others. At the same time, assent to the belief that Jews, and non-Jews, could belong to this Christian community began to develop. Thus, the story of Jesus spread across the lands. Those who accepted the truth of Jesus, and expressed their faith in him, were initiated as followers of Christ by receiving Baptism, and each Sunday they would partake of a special meal, which they called the Eucharist Roman Catholicism traces its history to Jesus during the period of Roman occupation in the early 30s of the Common Era Over a period of years after Jesus’ life and death his followers spread out across the world to form a “universal” (Greek, katholikos) church with the bishop of Rome holding primacy. With the conversion of Emperor Constantine in 313 CE, Christianity became legal and eventually was recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Paul was 100% Jewish AND Preaching to The Gentiles The Jewish Roots of modern day “Christianity” (What is Jewish or Judaism? Defining that would clear up a lot of Confusion I’ve never been given any information from my Jewish family about what that means.. it’s a non explainable secret that can’t be questioned or interfered with.. That’s understandable, that’s GRACE; Open mindedness and Closed mindedness) The reason why Following Christ is more cohesive and united is because of the unified foundation, Christ the Cornerstone what what Jewish non believers at the time Named This New Way was “Christian” The Very First communities were called Judeo-Christians (like messianic Jew second coming) because Christianity at that time was still merely a Jewish 'sect' or school amongst many others. Around this time, dissensions emerged between the Greek or Hellenistic Jews and the Hebraic Jews, known as the Hebrews. The Way wasn’t called “Christian” for many years after the resurrection Its Judaism without Jewish customs or traditions …or are you referring to lineage or heritage? …or… Customs, family, or religion? What does Hebraic Roots mean, is that a family heritage line? Preaching the TRUTH continues until the fulfilling of the gentiles then all Israel with be saved WE need to define Israel, to define that further Did Paul enforce the Mosaic Law, did he follow the Mosaic Law, was he under the Mosaic Covenant prior to the new? Was it his culture and tradition, or was it his genealogy? What is gentile? is it non follower of mosaic law or non Jewish lineage? Is it genetics? A hierarchy? A sense of non privilege? is this based on outward behavior to the law of Moses? there’s too much disunity with the term These DISTINCTIONS have been evaporated in the body of Christ for 2k years True Judiasm in the sense of what is the highest Truth has destroyed those lines, as it should, for centuries now That doesn’t minimize all of Gods different covenant peoples placement In his ultimate Plan of Redemption The descendants of Paul Are the Remnant of Jewish Heritage that Took a New Covenant 2k years ago (is that heritage, is it Israel, genetics, religion, nation, culture, customs, tradition? Is it the mosaic covenant, followers of Moses, law keepers, keepers of the Torah (old covenant) keepers of tradition, history, genealogy,) what is it? The Apostles and Prophets that established the church found messiah 2000 years ago, the ORIGINAL messianic Jews, the original messianic seal in Jurusalem was the symbol before just the fish became known that is not replacement theory, it’s a truth realization Israel can find her messiah at any point they so wish and he will be over the moon with joy that they figured it out The original Apostles were Jewish and included ““gentiles “ This distinction has not existed in the fullness of Truth since the time of messiahs First Coming still Jewish roots that included gentiles with the seed of abraham Today, there is a brand “New Wave” of messianic Jews Emerging That is why there is a SECOND COMING Messiah is Jesus Christ, the fully revealed Word of God that was revealed through the Apostles and Prophets The full counsel Jesus Christ is Messiah That is the true Judaism, without barriers and distinctions It’s not a replacement, it's a consummation, a fulfillment The heritage, rituals, and previous covenants all point to what is fulfilled in the Knowledge of Grace and Truth the CROSS Is end of the mosaic law in a sense that it has been fulfilled In the Law of Christ The Laws PURPOSE was to REVEAL sin and bring us to CHRIST, once we have been brought to Christ We no longer need the Law As it is written on our hearts, heart circumcision (basically the law of attraction and natural consequences, Love Your Neighbor as Yourself) That is precisely Seeds of Abraham A FULL knowledge of TRUTH Not battle for true heritage.. However, it doesn’t minimalist the other covenants, it fulfills it the Holy Spirit spoke with different target audiences of various heritages throughout ministry in order that the scriptures would be fulfilled Same Jewish God, Revelation revealed through grace dispersion Called CHRIST, highest authority that conquered death at the Right hand of God Roots still the same they just looked differently at his first coming than perceived by mainstream Judaism today it’s the Second Wave of messianic jews SECOND COMING I grew up with Catholic and Jewish knowledge, but knew way more about Jewish customs than Christian The first Church of Jerusalem, “The Catholic Church” yet wasn’t called for hundreds of years The original apostles and original messianic Jews 2k years ago Christ was Jewish AND a Prophet the first apostles followed the Greater prophet known as Christ Messianic Judiam started 2k years ago at his first coming through the Catholic Church The doctrine of the Eucharist and Mary The secret church in Jurusalem was kicked out Thats why Paul preached elsewhere, to gentiles, the Apostles were Jewish and the majority of their established church until they brought the message to gentiles Messianic Judaism, the remnant was not carried through Judaism The original messianic church was carried through what is so called known the catholic church rabbinic Judaism ran parallel to the fully revealed catholic doctrine of Prophetic revelations. the fully revealed word The Holy Eucharist is the embodiment of Messiah in Christ Everything previous points to this Messianic believers in the Jewish culture must not have converted or admitted affiliation with Christianity It’s not heritage that makes you a TRUE Jew It’s the fully revealed knowledge of Christ Messiah that comes through heart circumcision The First Church in Jurusalem was not called Messianic Judaism at the time, it was a sect of Judaism “labeled JudeoChristian” by non believers they called this new movement of Judaism “The Way” which later became universally dubbed “christian” in 300 AD WHEN it became “the LEGAL religion” it was Judiasm at the time of his ministry that witnessed HIM or was at the scene close enough to be convinced what Jesus said was true, and BOTH gentiles and Jews needed to be told and included in this new revelation it took centuries for the traditions of Judiasm to phase out, as more gentiles were included The remnant of Jewish believers…. is that Jewish believers who followed Christ and continued to include gentiles? Or is it Judiasm or the Jewish heritage that now believes? It wouldn’t make sense that a 2k year family line outwardly remained Jewish while Secretly believing in Jesus ”remnant” ……What does that look like? Is that the believers 2k years ago that carry the holy scriptures of the first eye witness of Christ who were jewish or are they new converts of Judiasm who are just now finding him? How could there be a remnant that believed in Messiah but Never associated with him outwardly for 2k years? if the remnant was a family line, they weren't professing Christian’s if they wouldn’t identify with christ? The covenants all have unfolding, redemptive purposes that all weave together to reach the same destination at the purposed time My Jewish friends that I grew up with are not, will not, have not been interest in Jesus, period They’re not interested in messianic Judiasm, they’re not interested in videos, or perspective, or knowledge, or history, or reasoning, or experiences, or testimonies, or refutable proof, they ain’t budging, period. She bought the little dog, sent out very expensive purple engraved invitations, and decided there was NOTHING ELSE but that one little dog My experience with my Jewish friends is that their beliefs are all unique, Some are not religious but cultural, a long family history and heritage, some are non religious but keep the heritage or genetic family association, Some believe it’s their ethnicity, some value keeping all Jewish calendar holidays active The family I grew up with were descendants of the tribe of Levi, holocaust survivors, very strict and follow customs and rabbinic Judiasm, holidays and culture religiously, seclusive in the Jewish community, their history, heritage, traditions and customs are primary they study Hebrew and Temple is community life a very Jewish way of speaking parables, but are by in large integrated in mainline society.. The Messianic Jewish believers Today are likely as CLOSE to Yeshua as they were at his first coming!! Meeting Yeshua was a life shattering, life altering moment for Me, like Paul I too persecuted Christian’s because of my Jewish affiliation and had to over come IRREFUTABLE, MASSIVE DOUBT, I needed irrefutable PROOF to believe It was a BRIGHT LIGHT, hit by a bus” experience that continued to increase, tenfold All Israel will be saved… WHO is Israel and why? Judiasm birthed the Messiah, but true Judiasm is the holy scriptures preserved through the true messianic church of Jerusalem, somehow called catholic today, They Carry The Ark of the Covenant The Catholic Church was entirely Jewish before it was ever KNOWN under that NAME Protestants phased out of Catholicism… then much later baptists… and much later Pentecostal and false cults like unbiblical prosperity theology and Word of .faith heretical movements when mass integration comes…. traditions fade But the Good News is back at it Roots for the first time in 2k years The Messiah now Fulfills the Davidic Covenant The Old Testament is certainly relevant, the old covenant is not yet because it’s not yet integrated into the fullness of Christ Replacement theory in my opinion is an insufficient term That draws attention to division? we can always reword and repackage something to make it more appeasing to a specific audience.. right? If we are still using the language of old and New Testament (which we do to address 99% of the population that needs to hear the gospel) Then bringing this knowledge into covenant theology will take more than human effort but a divine will and spirit avoid of human effort otherwise known as Faith The Rebirth of Messianic Judiasm is the fulfilling of the Nations that the Gospel Reaches the ends of the earth.. Full Circle All Israel will be Saved, So there’s a remnant who are destined to Not accept Messiah Love the Butterfly shirt! My next piece is entitled, “I beat my boyfriend at guitar hero” because I did. I knew you eagles fans liked guitar hero. I’ll wear the shirt to the next 10th grade frat party;) |
A crowd of
thousands surrounds
Jesus as he tries
to teach
His disciples
(Luke 12:1)
A man calls out, demanding
Jesus
force his brother
to share an inheritance
(Luke 12:13).
We don't know any details about the situation. Did this man receive anything?
Is his brother older and the sole heir of their father?
Those details aren't given since they're not the point of the story.
Jesus is giving the disciples
important information about
sacrifice
in the kingdom of God,
but He
breaks to teach the crowd
some basics.
This squabble about money is not worth His time.
What is worthwhile is redirecting the man's priorities.
So, Jesus tells a parable about a wealthy farmer who has
accumulated enough grain
to live in leisure for several years. Yet the farmer dies that night.
He has spent so much time accumulating wealth,
he forgot about his relationship with God.
Now, he has no wealth
and no relationship with his Creator
(Luke 12:15–21).
After returning to the disciples for a bit, Jesus will speak again
to the crowd.
He will scold them for
not understanding that God's kingdom is near
and explain
what they need to do because of it:
make peace with people
they have wronged and with God
(Luke 12:54—13:9).
This is not the first time Jesus is called on
to settle
a dispute among siblings.
While visiting Mary and Martha,
Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened
to His teaching.
Martha stayed in the kitchen
to fix the meal.
Finally giving in to frustration,
Martha
told Jesus to send Mary back to help.
Jesus told her that Mary
had chosen
what was best and He would
not send her away
(Luke 10:38–42)
Jesus has just told His disciples
that
He will act as judge in the
end times,
validating their relationship
to Him
(Luke 12:8).
Now, in a different context, He says He is not a judge.
This "judge"
refers to an official who is commissioned
to determine legal matters.
It is the same word used in Luke 12:58 when
Jesus tells the people to reconcile
with each other personally,
without resorting to legal authorities.
“Arbitrator" is unique
to this verse.
It refers to one who decides between one thing and another.
This passage does not mean that religious leaders should never be involved with arbitration. In Acts 6:1–4, the apostles commission deacons to
resolve unfair practices.
In 1 Corinthians 6:4–6,
Paul chastises the
church in Corinth for resorting
to secular courts
instead of
resolving issues in-house.
Jesus merely means that
He has greater priorities--training the disciples--
than negotiating for bickering brothers
who should be able to
resolve the issue on their own
(Luke 12:57–59).
In 2 Timothy 3:1–9, the apostle Paul
warns Timothy
of increasing moral deterioration
that will afflict humanity in the
latter days.
He describes such godless people
as “lovers of themselves” (verse 2)
and
“lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”
They put themselves
on the central throne of their affections
in the place of God.
Paul has false teachers
and their devotees in mind when he elaborates:
“always learning but never
able to come
to a knowledge of the truth”
The women Paul mentions are easy targets for false teachers
because they are vulnerable—“burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires”
(2 Timothy 3:6, NLT).
The weight of guilt from unrepented sin impairs one’s judgment, leaving a person susceptible to temptation and further bondage to sin (Psalm 31:10; 32:3–4).
In this weakened state, one loses the ability to discern truth and make upright decisions. These women, wanting to appear wise and well-educated, became ardent disciples of the counterfeit teachers.
They were always learning
whatever new doctrine
the false teachers promoted,
but in doing so,
they were never
able to understand God’s truth.
In Paul’s first epistle to Timothy, he gave a similar warning
against false teachers:
“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly
that in the last times
some will turn away from the true faith;
they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings
that come from demons”
(1 Timothy 4:1, NLT).
The inclination
to follow deceitful teachings
is not unique
to women nor to the end times.
Since the early days
of the church, both men and women
have been
“always learning”
the
latest faddish teachings
and
self-pleasing doctrines.
Paul stresses that the
tendency will increase as we draw closer
to the end times
(2 Thessalonians 2:3–9; 2 Timothy 3:1).
On 2 Timothy 3:7, Warren Wiersbe writes,
“These false religious leaders
take advantage of
the problems people have,
and promise them
quick and easy solutions.
They
‘worm their way in’ and soon control
people’s lives.
It is not long before these leaders
grab
their followers’ loyalty, money,
and service.
And their ‘converts’ are
worse off
than
they were before.
They still
have their problems,
but
they have been
duped into thinking
that all is well”
(Wiersbe, W., The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2, Victor Books, 1996, p. 250).
Always learning is a fitting description
of people who
continually search for other people’s advice.
Paul tells Timothy,
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen
to sound and wholesome teaching.
They will follow their own desires and will
look for teachers who
will tell them
whatever their itching ears want to hear”
(2 Timothy 4:3, NLT).
These types of people mainly
want
self-satisfying experiences
and
feel-good sensations
rather than serious truth.
People who look for truth in the
wrong places
will never be satisfied
(Ecclesiastes 7:24–29; 8:16–17; 1 Timothy 6:7–10).
Instead, they will fall prey to
spiritual swindlers
and pseudo-Christian charlatans
controlled by deceiving spirits.
Only those who are
born of God’s Spirit
can comprehend spiritual truth
(1 Corinthians 2:14).
Only by believing the gospel message of salvation
in Jesus Christ
and entering a relationship with Him
do we come to
the soul-satisfying knowledge of truth
(John 4:7–14; 8:31–32; 14:6; 16:12–15; 18:37–38; 1 John 5:20; 1 Timothy 2:3–6;
Colossians 2:2–3; 1 Corinthians 10:3–4).
Paul charges Titus, “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine”
(Titus 2:1).
Such a mandate makes it obvious that sound doctrine is important.
But why is it important?
Does it really make a difference
what we believe?
Sound doctrine is important because
our faith
is based on a specific message
The overall teaching of the church contains
many elements,
but the primary message is explicitly defined:
“Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures [and] . . .
he was raised on the third day according
to the Scriptures”
(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
This is the
unambiguous good news,
and
it is “of first importance.”
Change that message,
and the basis of faith
shifts from Christ
to
something else.
Our eternal destiny depends upon
hearing
“the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”
(Ephesians 1:13; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14).
Sound doctrine is important
because the gospel is a sacred trust,
and we dare not tamper
with God’s communication to
the world.
Our duty
is to deliver the message,
not to change it.
Jude conveys an urgency in guarding the trust: “I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 1:3; see also Philippians 1:27). To “contend” carries the idea of strenuously fighting for something, to give it everything you’ve got. The Bible includes a warning neither to add to nor subtract from God’s Word (Revelation 22:18-19). Rather than alter the apostles’ doctrine, we receive what has been passed down to us and keep it “as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13).
Sound doctrine is important because what we believe affects what we do. Behavior is an extension of theology, and there is a direct correlation between what we think and how we act. For example, two people stand on top of a bridge; one believes he can fly, and the other believes he cannot fly. Their next actions will be quite dissimilar. In the same way, a man who believes that there is no such thing as right and wrong will naturally behave differently from a man who believes in well-defined moral standards. In one of the Bible’s lists of sins, things like rebellion, murder, lying, and slave trading are mentioned. The list concludes with “whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:9-10). In other words, true teaching promotes righteousness; sin flourishes where “the sound doctrine” is opposed.
Sound doctrine is important because we must ascertain truth in a world of falsehood. “Many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). There are tares among the wheat and wolves among the flock (Matthew 13:25; Acts 20:29). The best way to distinguish truth from falsehood is to know what the truth is.
Sound doctrine is important because the end of sound doctrine is life. “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). Conversely, the end of unsound doctrine is destruction. “Certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 1:4). Changing God’s message of grace is a “godless” thing to do, and the condemnation for such a deed is severe. Preaching another gospel (“which is really no gospel at all”) carries an anathema: “let him be eternally condemned!” (see Galatians 1:6-9).
Sound doctrine is important because it encourages believers. A love of God’s Word brings “great peace” (Psalm 119:165), and those “who proclaim peace . . . who proclaim salvation” are truly “beautiful” (Isaiah 52:7). A pastor “must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9).
The word of wisdom is “Do not remove the ancient landmark which your fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28, NKJV). If we can apply this to sound doctrine, the lesson is that we must preserve it intact. May we never stray from “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
Timothy had incredible advantages. He was taught the Word of God by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5), and he was discipled by Paul and served with Paul in ministry for years. Timothy knew the Word of God and was well-equipped. Even still, Paul tells Timothy that he needed to be diligent in the study of the Word and in rightly dividing the Word of truth. Without that continuing diligence in the Word, Timothy would not be able to stand firm, and he would not be able to maintain sound teaching. Paul warned Timothy to pay attention to himself and to his teaching (1 Timothy 4:16). Because all Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, it is exactly what we need in order to be equipped for every good work God intends for us (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Paul encourages Timothy to be diligent to present himself as a workman approved by God who would not need to be ashamed because he was rightly dividing or accurately handling the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). First, Paul’s instruction makes it clear that the study of the Bible is work. It takes effort. It takes diligence. We need to be committed to doing that work if we desire to be equipped for what God intends us to do in life. Second, Paul helps us to focus on the idea that this work in the Word is not about the approval of other people. Rather, it is God who is assessing how we handle His Word, and so we are studying His Word for Him. Also, we understand that, if we are diligent, we will not need to be ashamed because we will have been faithful with the remarkable stewardship of His Word. Sometimes we may take for granted that we have His completed Word—the Bible. We may be unaware of how many people suffered and died to provide us the freedom and opportunity to own our own Bibles and read them in our own language. How sad would it be if we took this—one of the very greatest of freedoms—and were not diligent to make the most of it?
Paul’s final comment in 2 Timothy 2:15 is helpful because it tells us what success looks like in the study of the Word: to be “rightly dividing” the Word of truth (NKJV). The Greek word translated as “rightly dividing” is orthotomounta--ortho means “right or proper,” and tomounta means “to cut.” Literally, success in handling the Word is to cut it properly or correctly. This is farming imagery, as a farmer who is plowing a field would seek to cut straight furrows in order to plant rows of seed. When plowing, a farmer would look at a point on the other side of the field and focus on that point to ensure the line cut in the dirt was straight. This is what the good student of the Word is doing, as well: remaining focused on the goal or outcome and being diligent to handle the Word of God properly. To rightly divide the Word of truth is to “cut it straight.”
Ultimately, in studying the Word, we are trying to understand what the Author has said and not allow our own opinions or views to cloud the meaning of what He has written.
When we are diligent to “cut straight”—to rightly divide the Word of truth—we can understand what He has communicated in His Word and be well-equipped for what He would have us to do and how He would have us to think.
Romans has the theme of faith
(Romans 1:16–17).
Paul addresses the process by which
faith is produced in the heart
in Romans 10:17:
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
The first eight chapters of Romans contends with the ideas of positional salvation through faith (Romans 1:18—5:21), the process of growing in holiness through faith (Romans 6:1—8:17), and the future glorification Christians will receive because of faith (Romans 8:18–39). Chapters 9—11 of Romans works from the implied question, “Has God then failed to fulfill His promises to Israel?”
It is within this context that Paul gives the reason for the Israelites’ lack of salvation; namely, they lack faith (Romans 9:32; 10:4). The Israelites are saved through faith in Christ, just like the Gentiles. Eternal salvation does not distinguish between Gentile or Jew but is received through belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:12–13; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8; Galatians 3:23–29).
In the lead-up to the statement that faith comes by hearing, Romans 10:14–16 explains the requirements for a series of actions to take place. In order for one to “call on the name of the Lord,” he or she must believe. In order to believe, one must hear (or receive the report). In order for one to hear, another has to give the report. And that other won’t give the report unless he or she is sent.
Paul continues in Romans 10:17 to summarize the argument thus far: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (NASB).
“Faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis, which means “belief, trust, or confidence in someone or something.” It is key to the book of Romans and is used 40 times in the book—three of those occurrences appearing in chapter 10. The verb form of the word is also used 21 times within the book and most often translated as “believe.”
If faith comes by hearing, then what does Paul mean by “hearing”? In this context, it is not simply the physical receiving of sounds by the ear as most English speakers would understand the term. “Hearing” seems to designate something more—the receiving or acceptance of a report. Note the use of the word, translated “message” in Romans 10:16, as Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1: “Lord, who has believed our message?” In Isaiah’s day, the Lord had provided Israel with a message, but the prophet laments that few actually received it. The “hearing” was not attached to simple sounds but to a message or report given. In Romans 10, Paul makes the point that the good news has been given and the people of Israel have heard (Romans 10:18).
The nature of the gospel is a report: a report of God saving people from the wrath they deserve. In order to believe the report, one must receive the report! Faith comes by hearing. It is not a guarantee that the report will result in faith, as Paul makes clear in Romans 10:16. For just as the Israelites refused to believe the message of Isaiah, every human today can refuse to believe the message of the gospel.
The nature of “hearing” also does not require the physical act of hearing with the ear. The report simply needs to be received. For instance, someone could read the gospel through GotQuestions.org and receive it by faith, without an audible word being spoken. As long as the message can be received fully, the medium does not affect the outcome. The content of the message must be “the word about Christ.” As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5, the message is “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (NASB). Faith that leads to eternal salvation comes after “hearing”; that is, after receiving this message concerning Christ.
The Word of Faith movement
grew out of
the Pentecostal movement
in the late 20th century.
Its founder was E. W. Kenyon, who studied the metaphysical New Thought teachings of Phineas Quimby. Mind science (where "name it and claim it" originated) was combined with Pentecostalism, resulting in a peculiar mix of orthodox Christianity and mysticism. Kenneth Hagin, in turn, studied under E. W. Kenyon and made the Word of Faith movement what it is today. Although individual teachings range from completely heretical to completely ridiculous, what follows is the basic theology most Word of Faith teachers align themselves with.
At the heart of the Word of Faith movement is the belief in the "force of faith." It is believed words can be used to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health and wealth). Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God’s sovereign will and that God Himself is subject to these laws. This is nothing short of idolatry, turning our faith—and by extension ourselves—into god.
From here, its theology just strays further and further from Scripture: it claims that God created human beings in His literal, physical image as little gods. Before the fall, humans had the potential to call things into existence by using the faith-force. After the fall, humans took on Satan’s nature and lost the ability to call things into existence. In order to correct this situation, Jesus Christ gave up His divinity and became a man, died spiritually, took Satan’s nature upon Himself, went to hell, was born again, and rose from the dead with God’s nature. After this, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to replicate the Incarnation in believers so they could become little gods as God had originally intended.
Following the natural progression of these teachings, as little gods we again have the ability to manipulate the faith-force and become prosperous in all areas of life.
Illness, sin, and failure are the result of a lack of faith, and are remedied by confession—claiming God’s promises for oneself into existence. Simply put, the Word of Faith movement exalts man to god-status and reduces God to man-status. Needless to say, this is a false representation of what Christianity is all about. Obviously, Word of Faith teaching does not take into account what is found in Scripture. Personal revelation, not Scripture, is highly relied upon in order to come up with such absurd beliefs, which is just one more proof of its heretical nature.
Countering Word of Faith teaching is a simple matter of reading the Bible. God alone is the Sovereign Creator of the Universe (Genesis 1:3; 1 Timothy 6:15) and does not need faith—He is the object of faith (Mark 11:22; Hebrews 11:3). God is spirit and does not have a physical body (John 4:24). Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27; 9:6), but this does not make him a little god or divine. Only God has a divine nature (Galatians 4:8; Isaiah 1:6-11, 43:10, 44:6; Ezekiel 28:2; Psalm 8:6-8). Christ is Eternal, the Only Begotten Son, and the only incarnation of God (John 1:1, 2, 14, 15, 18; 3:16; 1 John 4:1). In Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). By becoming a man, Jesus gave up the glory of heaven but not His divinity (Philippians 2:6-7), though He did choose to withhold His power while walking the earth as man.
The Word of Faith movement is deceiving countless people, causing them to grasp after a way of life and faith that is not biblical. At its core is the same lie Satan has been telling since the Garden: “You shall be as God” (Genesis 3:5). Sadly, those who buy into the Word of Faith movement are still listening to him. Our hope is in the Lord, not in our own words, not even in our own faith (Psalm 33:20-22). Our faith comes from God in the first place (Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 12:2) and is not something we create for ourselves. So, be wary of the Word of Faith movement and any church that aligns itself with Word of Faith teachings
The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1–4. The apostles shared the gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages. The crowds were amazed: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:11). The Greek word translated “tongues” literally means “languages.” Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language the speaker has never learned in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians 12—14, Paul discusses miraculous gifts, saying, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?” (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his or her own language, but it is useless to everyone else unless it is interpreted/translated.
A person with the gift of interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he did not know the language being spoken. The tongues interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (1 Corinthians 14:13). Paul’s conclusion regarding tongues that were not interpreted is powerful: “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19).
Is the gift of tongues for today? First Corinthians 13:8 mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10. Some point to a difference in the tense of the Greek verbs referring to prophecy and knowledge “ceasing” and that of tongues “being ceased” as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the “perfect.” While a possible interpretation, this is not explicitly clear from the text. Some also point to passages such as Isaiah 28:11 and Joel 2:28–29 as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God’s oncoming judgment. First Corinthians 14:22 describes tongues as a “sign to unbelievers.” Using this verse, cessationists argue that the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70), the gift of tongues no longer served its intended purpose. This view is also possible, but the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand the gift’s cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.
At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God’s Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6–12). It would be exercised in the church in agreement with the command God gave through Paul, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God” (1 Corinthians 14:27–28). It would also be in accordance with 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
God can definitely give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him or her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they did not have to go to language school and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language. However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the manner it did in the New Testament, despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased or is at least a rarity in God’s plan for the church today.
To be spiritually blind is not to see Christ, and not to see Christ is not to see God (Colossians 1:15-16; 2 Corinthians 4:6). Spiritual blindness is a grievous condition experienced by those who do not believe in God, Jesus Christ, and His Word (Romans 2:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:12). Those who reject Christ are the lost (John 6:68-69). Being spiritually blind, they are perishing (2 Corinthians 4:3-4; Revelation 3:17). They choose not to accept the teachings of Christ and His authority in their lives (Matthew 28:18). They are blind to the manifestations of God as revealed throughout His Word and Jesus Christ (John 1:1; Acts 28:26-27). They are described as those who “do not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Peter spoke of such people as “scoffers [who] will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires” (2 Peter 3:3; see also Proverbs 21:24; Jude 1:18). Those who reject Christ and His Word are spiritually blind and cannot understand the truth of the Scriptures. The truth sounds foolish to them (Isaiah 37:23; 1 Corinthians 1:18). The Bible describes those denying God as fools (Psalm 14:1; Matthew 7:26). Because of their blindness and rejection of God and His Word, they are in a perilous, unsaved condition (John 12:48; Hebrews 2:2-4).
The spiritually blind are simply unable to understand God’s Word (Matthew 13:13; Deuteronomy 29:4). Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17). Paul echoed this when he told the believers in Rome, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him” (Romans 8:8-9). Those outside of Christ are not of God because their lives are steeped in the things of the world with all its passions, their eyes blind to the Spirit of God. The Apostle John said, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” but that person’s love “is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16).
The cause of spiritual blindness is made quite clear in the Scriptures: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Paul refers to Satan as the “god of this world.” Extraordinarily evil (John 8:44), Satan destroys the flesh (1 Corinthians 5:5), masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and is the cause of all temptations (Luke 4:2; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Corinthians 7:5). He revels in scheming against and trapping the unbelievers (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:26). Satan’s goal is to devour the weak who fall prey to temptation, fear, loneliness, worry, depression, and persecution (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Without God and left to ourselves, we easily succumb to the devil’s schemes. We can become so mired in the affairs of this world and its moral darkness that, in the end, God turns us over to spiritual blindness and eternal condemnation (John 12:40; Romans 1:24-32).
As believers, we have the Spirit of God reigning in our lives to ward off the debilitating effects of Satan’s power and the world’s influence (1 John 4:13). John tells us, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). Satan wars within and without us. His weapons are deceitful and crafty schemes to make us doubt and stumble (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 4:14). Yet God has provided us with powerful weapons to ward off his flaming arrows (Ephesians 6:10-18). As believers we can overcome the evil one and remain in the Light and never become spiritually blind. For, in truth, Jesus has given us His wonderful promise: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Paul, in his prayers “for saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1, ESV), asks that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (verse 17).
Prior to his prayer for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, Paul reminds the Ephesian believers of the blessings God has bestowed upon them (Ephesians 1:3), their adoption as children through Christ (verse 4), the wisdom and insight they have been given (verse 8), and “the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ” (verse 9). He also reminds them that they have been “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (verses 13–14). Now he desires for them to be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Since Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (John 14:17), the spirit of wisdom and revelation that Paul prays for cannot refer to the initial gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s reference could easily be to an attitude or frame of mind (although the NIV and ESV capitalize Spirit, other translations such as the NASB and BSB translate it as “a spirit,” and the NLT simply has “spiritual wisdom and insight”). If not the Holy Spirit, then what does Paul ask for in his request for “the spirit of wisdom and revelation”? The key is in the phrase that follows, “in the knowledge of him” (ESV), or “so that you may know him better” (NIV).
Paul had commended the Ephesians for their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love toward all the saints (Ephesians 1:15), but now he is asking God to give them a deeper and greater understanding of the mysteries of His character and will, to know Him more thoroughly and intimately. Now that they have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, Paul desires Him to grant them more understanding and greater insight. The “wisdom” is a better understanding of the doctrines of God, and the “revelation” is a clearer picture of the divine character and will. In the NLT, the prayer is that believers would have “spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” The AMP translation has Paul asking that God “may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him.”
God is infinite, and He can never be fully known by finite creatures. We all need wisdom from above. No matter how far we may advance in our understanding of God, there is an unfathomed depth of knowledge that remains to be explored. Scripture is full of admonitions to grow in our knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 4:15).
Paul outlines some of the mysteries he wants the Ephesians to understand through this spirit of wisdom and revelation. He desires them to grasp “the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance” (Ephesians 1:18). This is the hope of eternal life, which Paul refers to as the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV). We inherit the riches of eternal life through Him who saved us and called us to holiness in Christ before time began (2 Timothy 1:9). Paul also prays the Spirit will reveal God’s “incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19)—power so great it raised Jesus from the dead. It’s a power that we can only comprehend as we possess the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
The spirit of wisdom and revelation is not some mysterious blessing given to a special few, and it is not the ability to speak as a prophet. Rather, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to help the people of God understand the things of God more fully and completely.
An alarming epidemic of spiritual adultery and “friendship with the world” ran rampant in the early church (James 4:4). James passionately told his readers to repent from their wicked ways and return to the Lord: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8, ESV).
God desires His followers’ wholehearted loyalty and devotion (Exodus 34:14; Mark 12:29–31). Believers who stray from the Lord must submit themselves to God and draw near to Him again through repentance.
“Purify your hearts, you double-minded” was James’ clear and distinct call to inner purification—to recognize and confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. His language closely resembles that of the psalmist: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24:3–4).
James branded the believers “double-minded” because they continued to live with one foot in the world while claiming to love and worship God. Their vacillating was dividing their loyalties. A similar charge was issued against the people of Isaiah’s time: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). Earlier, James noted that double-minded people are “unstable in all they do” (James 1:8).
The apostle John acknowledged that the true children of God who look forward to Christ’s return “purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). The Lord Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). The term pure here indicates the absence of impurity, contamination, or filth. It suggests a single-mindedness of purpose that is free of distractions.
Double-minded people lack purity of heart. The Lord desires His followers to be laser-focused in heart, mind, and purpose (Matthew 6:33). The greatest commandment, Jesus said, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
The apostle Paul explained that God looks for servants who commit their entire being to Him: “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts” (2 Timothy 2:21–22, NLT).
Anything that distracts us or has a contaminating influence on our lives will divide our loyalties and soil our hearts, rendering us ineffective kingdom servants. A pure heart is evidenced by openness, clarity, and an uncompromising desire to please the Lord in everything we think, say, and do. Purity goes beyond just cleaning up our outward behavior (“cleanse your hands”) to the internal purification of heart, mind, and soul (“purify your hearts”).
In reality, humans are incapable of purifying their own hearts. David prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). God is the only one who can make us pure in heart and single in mind. It is the shed blood of Jesus Christ His Son that “purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7) and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that cleanses our lives (Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Peter 1:2). Christ provided the necessary sacrifice for sin so that we could receive God’s forgiveness (John 1:29; Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 9:12–22; 1 Peter 1:18–19).
God’s Word commands us: “Purify your hearts, you double-minded.” And God’s Word—the Logos, who is Jesus Christ—makes the command possible. Since we can enter God’s presence “by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19–22, ESV).
The idea of “circumcision of the heart” is found in Romans 2:29. It refers to having a pure heart, separated unto God. Paul writes, “A Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” These words conclude a sometimes confusing passage of Scripture regarding circumcision and the Christian. Verses 25-29 provide context:
“For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”
Paul is discussing the role of the Old Testament Law as it relates to Christianity. He argues that Jewish circumcision is only an outward sign of being set apart to God. However, if the heart is sinful, then physical circumcision is of no avail. A circumcised body and a sinful heart are at odds with each other. Rather than focus on external rites, Paul focuses on the condition of the heart. Using circumcision as a metaphor, he says that only the Holy Spirit can purify a heart and set us apart to God. Ultimately, circumcision cannot make a person right with God; the Law is not enough. A person’s heart must change. Paul calls this change “circumcision of the heart.”
This concept was not original with the apostle Paul. As a Jew trained in the Law of Moses, he was certainly aware of this discussion from Deuteronomy 30. There, the Lord used the same metaphor to communicate His desire for a holy people: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Physical circumcision was a sign of Israel’s covenant with God; circumcision of the heart, therefore, would indicate Israel’s being set apart to love God fully, inside and out.
John the Baptist warned the Pharisees against taking pride in their physical heritage and boasting in their circumcision: “Do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).
True “children of Abraham” are those who follow Abraham’s example of believing God (Genesis 15:6). Physical circumcision does not make one a child of God; faith does. Believers in Jesus Christ can truly say they are children of “Father Abraham.” “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).
God has always wanted more from His people than just external conformity to a set of rules. He has always wanted them to possess a heart to love, know, and follow Him. That’s why God is not concerned with a circumcision of the flesh. Even in the Old Testament, God’s priority was a spiritual circumcision of the heart: “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done” (Jeremiah 4:4).
Both Testaments focus on the need for repentance and inward change in order to be right with God. In Jesus, the Law has been fulfilled (Matthew 5:17). Through Him, a person can be made right with God and receive eternal life (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). As Paul said, true circumcision is a matter of the heart, performed by the Spirit of God.
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” He spoke these words as part of His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7), in which He had said it was foolish to store up treasures on earth where “moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19–20); rather, He urged us to store up treasure in heaven where it will last forever. The obstacle that prevents us from wise investment is the heart. Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be (Matthew 6:21). We follow what has captivated our hearts, and Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters.
In Jesus’ warning that we cannot serve two masters, He specifies money (or “mammon” or “wealth” in other translations) as a master in opposition to God.
Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to abandon all other masters. He called Matthew from the tax collector’s booth (Matthew 9:9). Matthew obeyed and walked away from extravagant wealth and dirty deals. Jesus called Peter, James, and John from the fishing docks (Mark 1:16–18). To obey Jesus’ call meant that they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything they’d worked for. Jesus called Paul, a successful Pharisee, with the words, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16). Those words will never make it into a mass-market ad campaign for Christianity—but maybe they should, because that’s what it means to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). We must forsake everything else, no matter the cost (Matthew 10:34–39).
The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). This means He guards what is rightfully His. He is righteously jealous for our affections because we were created to know and love Him (Colossians 1:16). He is not jealous for His own sake; He needs nothing (Psalm 50:9–10). He is jealous for us because we need Him (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37). When we serve another master such as money, we rob ourselves of all we were created to be, and we rob God of His rightful adoration.
Jesus’ claim to us is exclusive. He bought us with His own blood and delivered us from our former master, sin (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Romans 6:17). He doesn’t share His throne with anyone. During Jesus’ time on earth, some people followed Him for a ways, but their devotion was superficial (Luke 9:57–62). They wanted something Jesus offered, but they weren’t committed (Mark 10:17–22). Other things were more important. They wanted to serve two masters.
We cannot serve two masters because, as Jesus pointed out, we end up hating one and loving the other. It’s only natural. Opposing masters demand different things and lead down different paths. The Lord is headed in one direction, and our flesh and the world are headed in the other. A choice must be made. When we follow Christ, we must die to everything else. We will be like some of the seeds in Jesus’ parable (Luke 8:5–15)—only a portion of those seeds actually bore fruit. Some sprouted at first but then withered and died. They were not deeply rooted in good soil.
If we attempt to serve two masters, we will have divided loyalties, and, when the difficulties of discipleship clash with the lure of fleshly pleasure, the magnetic pull of wealth and worldly success will draw us away from Christ (see 2 Timothy 4:10). The call to godliness goes against our sinful nature. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we remain devoted to one Master (John 6:44).
The Bible mentions rewards that await the believer who serves the Lord faithfully in this world (Matthew 10:41). A “great” reward is promised to those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake. Various crowns are mentioned (in 2 Timothy 4:8, e.g.). Jesus says that He will bring rewards with Him when He returns (Revelation 22:12).
We are to treasure the Lord Jesus most of all. When Jesus is our treasure, we will commit our resources—our money, our time, our talents—to His work in this world. Our motivation for what we do is important (1 Corinthians 10:31). Paul encourages servants that God has an eternal reward for those who are motivated to serve Christ: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23–24).
When we live sacrificially for Jesus’ sake or serve Him by serving the body of Christ, we store up treasure in heaven. Even seemingly small acts of service do not go unnoticed by God. “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:42).
The rich young man loved his money more than God in Matthew 19:16–30, a fact that Jesus incisively pointed out. The issue wasn’t that the young man was rich but that he “treasured” his riches and did not “treasure” what he could have in Christ. Jesus told the man to sell his possessions and give to the poor, “and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (verse 21). The young man left Jesus sad, because he was very rich. He chose this world’s treasure and so did not lay up treasure in heaven. He was unwilling to make Jesus his treasure. The young man was very religious, but Jesus exposed his heart of greed.
We are warned not to lose our full reward by following after false teachers (2 John 1:8). This is why it is so important to be in God’s Word daily (2 Timothy 2:15). That way we can recognize false teaching when we hear it.
The treasures that await the child of God will far outweigh any trouble, inconvenience, or persecution we may face (Romans 8:18). We can serve the Lord wholeheartedly, knowing that God is the One keeping score, and His reward will be abundantly gracious. “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
False apostles are people who masquerade as Christian leaders, get other people to follow them, and then lead them astray. A true apostle is one who is “sent” by God as an ambassador of Jesus Christ with a divine message. A false apostle is a pretender who does not truly represent Christ and whose message is false.
In 2 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul addresses the problem of false apostles invading the Corinthian church. He describes the false apostles as “those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about” (verse 12). The book of 2 Corinthians is one of Paul’s more “sarcastic” letters, as he contends with the church to recognize the error that had crept into their midst. He contrasts his selfless service with that of the “super-apostles” (verse 5) who were seducing the church with their smooth speech and apparent wisdom. These impostors were pretending to be true servants of Christ, but they did not know the Lord. They were deceivers, preying on gullible Christians in Corinth to profit themselves and boost their ego. Paul chides the church that they “even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face” (verse 20). He even compares these impostors to Satan himself, who also “masquerades as an angel of light” (verse 14).
Paul warned the Ephesian elders about false apostles as well: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29). They must have heeded his words, because in Revelation 2:2, Jesus commends the church at Ephesus for spotting the false apostles in their midst and rejecting them.
False teachers and false apostles have been plentiful throughout the history of the church. They still infiltrate unsuspecting churches and have even led whole denominations into heresy and apostasy (see 1 Timothy 4:1–4). Scripture gives us clear warning if we will pay attention. First John 4:1 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
The following are some ways we can identify false apostles:
1. False apostles deny any or all truths about the identity and deity of Jesus Christ. In 1 John 4:3–4, John warns his readers against Gnostic teaching; the test, he says, is Christological: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” There are many ways a spirit may deny that Jesus is the Christ. From demonic cults to denominations that have veered away from the gospel, evil spirits are always behind the slander of Jesus. Any teacher who attempts to take away from or add to Jesus’ finished work on the cross for our salvation is a false prophet (John 19:30; Acts 4:12).
False apostles can arise anywhere the Word of God does not reign supreme. From organized churches to home Bible studies, we must always be on guard against “new teachings” or “revelations” that are not subject to the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
The phrase the whole counsel of God is found in Acts 20:27. In his farewell speech to the elders of the Ephesian church, Paul says, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26–27, ESV). Declaring the whole counsel of God is what made Paul “innocent” of anyone’s choice to turn away from the truth. Paul had fulfilled his ministry among the Ephesians.
Paul spent several years in Ephesus prior to this speech. When he first arrived in Ephesus, Paul had found some disciples who had only heard of John the Baptist and did not yet know of the completed ministry of Jesus or the coming of the Holy Spirit. After bringing them up to speed by presenting Jesus to them, Paul baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:4–5). Paul then spent time teaching in the synagogue and, when he was opposed there, taught at the lecture hall, and “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). Verse 20 says, “The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Later, a group of merchants in Ephesus started a riot over the positive impact of the gospel in their city. After the riot ended, Paul said goodbye to the disciples in Ephesus before going to Macedonia. Several months later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul called the Ephesian elders to Miletus to meet with him. It is here that Paul reminds the Ephesians that he had “not hesitated to proclaim . . . the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27).
Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV) or “the whole will of God” (NIV) or “the whole purpose of God” (NASB) in that he spoke the complete gospel. He had given them the whole truth about God’s salvation. He also revealed to them the “mystery” of God (Ephesians 3:9), which in the context of Ephesians 3 is God’s extending His plan of salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews.
Despite the opposition Paul faced in Ephesus, he continued to share the good news in its entirety. He did not shrink back from his duty but proclaimed the whole counsel of God. He tells the Ephesian elders, “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:19–21). Paul shared everything that God had revealed with everyone who would listen—and even some who wouldn’t.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders that, having given them the whole counsel of God, he is innocent if any of the Ephesians choose to turn away from Christ. Like the prophet Ezekiel, Paul had been a faithful watchman: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself” (Ezekiel 3:17–19; cf. 33:1–9).
Paul emphasizes “the whole counsel of God” as a way to affirm the completion of his duties toward the Ephesians and to remind them of the truth. Paul warns, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29–31).
The whole counsel of God includes some things that are difficult to hear—the fact that we are dead in sin and deserving of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3) and the fact that we cannot save ourselves through works (Ephesians 2:8–9). The gospel is a call to repentance and faith. Believers will face persecution (John 16:33) and likely be considered foolish. But none of these things can dissuade us.
We should follow Paul’s example and also preach the whole counsel of God. All Scripture is inspired, and all of it is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). We must preach it in its entirety and allow the Holy Spirit to use His sword as He sees fit (Ephesians 6:17). Paul did not share half-truths or only parts of the gospel; rather, he shared all of what God has revealed. We must do the same.
To let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, we must spend a great deal of time in the Bible learning about Him. We must cherish His Word in our hearts, as the psalmist put it in Psalm 119:11. Paul adds that there are some ways that we ought to express the word of Christ dwelling richly in us. We ought to be teaching and challenging each other with thanksgiving and songs (Colossians 3:16). Ultimately, letting the word of Christ dwell richly in us should help us to do everything in the name of Jesus, that is, according to what He has communicated that He desires (Colossians 3:17). Paul explains in the context what it looks like to let the word of Christ dwell richly in us.
In the exhortation to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” Paul provides a vital way to assess whether we are walking according to God’s design. Recall that we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10). God has a design for our lives, and He has revealed that design in His Word. If we aren’t spending time in the Bible, listening to what God has said there, then we are missing out on the riches of walking according to our calling (see Ephesians 4:1). We ought to be known as people in whom God’s Word dwells richly
John 21
“Cast your net
on the right side of the boat
and
you will find a catch”
is a phrase from the Bible, John 21:6.
It appears in a passage
where Jesus
tells his disciples to cast their net
on the other side of the boat
after a night of unsuccessful
fishing.
The phrase is often used to mean that when
things aren't working out,
it's because you're fishing on
your own side
instead of on God's side.
Some say that the passage is a distinction
between
effort and faith-filled effort,
and that it's more fruitful to pair effort
with faith
Regular nourishment for the soul
is vital
for the Christian life,
just as physical food is for the body.
Jesus emphasized
the importance of spiritual food when He was tempted by Satan:
“Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God”
(Matthew 4:4, NET).
Man is both physical and spiritual, which is why spiritual food is just as important as physical nourishment. This spiritual food is “every word that comes from the mouth of God” God has spoken to us in His Word, the Bible. His Word imparts life
(John 6:63)
The Bible often speaks of the spiritual food we need:
God’s Word provides milk (1 Peter 2:2); it is meat (1 Corinthians 3:2) and bread (Deuteronomy 8:3; Job 23:12); and it is sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103). The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty” (Jeremiah 15:16).
Scripture’s use of food metaphors demonstrates the importance of ingesting God’s Word, of making it a part of us. Scripture is not something merely to study or read but to be “eaten” by God’s people. We read the Word, but we then pause to “chew on it” a while, meditating and reflecting on the meaning and application of what we’ve read
(see Psalm 1:1–3)
On a couple occasions, Jesus spoke of another type of spiritual food. After Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples brought Him some food from town. But He did not partake, saying, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32). This puzzled the disciples, whose minds were stuck on physical food, and Jesus explained: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (verse 34, ESV). Later, after feeding the 5,000, Jesus referred to faith, salvation, and His sacrifice using a food metaphor: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (John 6:54–55).
We need
spiritual food—that is to say
we need
the Word of God,
we need
to do the will of God,
and we need
Jesus Himself
Jesus asked Peter three times,“Do you love me?” as recorded in John 21:15–17. This occurred when Jesus was having breakfast with His disciples soon after His resurrection. Jesus used this opportunity to encourage and exhort Peter about his upcoming responsibilities and even to prophesy the manner in which Peter will die.
By asking Peter, “Do you love me?” three times, Jesus was emphasizing the importance of Peter’s love and unswerving obedience to his Lord as necessary for his future ministry.
Jesus begins by questioning Peter about His love for Him, and each time Peter answers in the affirmative, Jesus follows up with the command for Peter to feed His sheep. His meaning is that, if Peter truly loves his Master, he is to shepherd and care for those who belong to Christ. His words reveal Peter’s role as the leader of the new Church, the Body of Christ there in Jerusalem that will be responsible for spreading the gospel after Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
It is possible that by His repeated question Jesus is subtly reminding Peter of his three denials. There’s no doubt those denials and how he felt when Jesus turned to look at him at that moment were seared deeply into Peter’s mind (Luke 22:54–62). It wasn’t lost on Peter that Jesus repeated His question to him three times, just as Peter previously denied Him three times.
There is also an interesting contrast when you look at the Greek words for “love” used in John 21:15–17. When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” in John 21:15–16, He used the Greek word agape, which refers to unconditional love. Both times, Peter responded with “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you,” using the Greek word phileo, which refers more to a brotherly/friendship type of love. It seems that Jesus is trying to get Peter to understand that he must love Jesus unconditionally in order to be the leader God is calling him to be. The third time Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” in John 21:17, He uses the word phileo, and Peter again responds with “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you,” again using phileo. The point in the different Greek words for “love” seems to be that Jesus was stretching Peter to move him from phileo love to agape love.
Whatever the reason for the three-fold “do you love me?” question, Jesus was impressing on Peter how important his new role of tending the flock of Christ’s followers would be. When someone repeats instructions to us over and over, we quickly understand that it’s extremely important for us to heed them.
Jesus wanted to make sure
Peter understood this vital charge
He was tasking him
with and the ultimate reason for it,
to follow Him and glorify God
(John 21:19).
Jesus gave Peter a three-fold command to “feed my sheep” in John 21:15-17. Each time Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” it was in response to Peter’s three-fold declaration of love for Jesus. The setting was one of the last of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances to His disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for them, and then commissioned Peter with the task of feeding His sheep and tending His lambs.
The three commands, although often translated the same way, are subtly different. The first time Jesus says it, the Greek means literally “pasture (tend) the lambs” (v. 15). The Greek word for “pasture” is in the present tense, denoting a continual action of tending, feeding and caring for animals. Believers are referred to as sheep throughout Scripture. “For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Psalm 95:7). Jesus is both our Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and the Door of the sheepfold (John 10:9). By describing His people as lambs, He is emphasizing their nature as immature and vulnerable and in need of tending and care.
The second time, the literal meaning is “tend My sheep” (v. 16).
In this exchange, Jesus was emphasizing tending the sheep in a supervisory capacity, not only feeding but ruling over them. This expresses the full scope of pastoral oversight, both in Peter’s future and in all those who would follow him in pastoral ministry. Peter follows Jesus’ example and repeats this same Greek word poimaino in his first pastoral letter to the elders of the churches of Asia Minor: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers” (1 Peter 5:2).
The third time, the literal translation is “pasture (tend) the sheep” (v. 17). Here
Jesus combines the different Greek words
to make clear the
job of the shepherd of the flock of God.
They are to tend, care for, and provide spiritual food for God’s people, from the youngest lambs to the full-grown sheep, in continual action to nourish and care for their souls,
bringing them into
the fullness of spiritual maturity.
The totality of the task set before Peter,
and all shepherds, is made clear
by Jesus’ three-fold command and the words He chooses.
What is this food
with which shepherds are to
feed
the flock of God?
It can be no other than the
Word of God.
Peter declares that Christians are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it, we can mature in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2). As early as the book of Deuteronomy, we see the Lord describing His Word as food for His people who live not by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from His mouth
(Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus reiterates this thought in His temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4).
The importance of the
Word of God
as food for our souls
cannot be over-emphasized.
Clearly, the job of the shepherds of God’s people
is to provide them
with the pure milk of the Word of God
so they can move on to the meat and solid food
of the spiritually mature
(Hebrews 5:12-14).
Pastoral ministry should be primarily
one of pastors
feeding their people the Word of God.
Only then can pastors declare,
as Peter did,
their love for the Lord Jesus.
Jesus said “a tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33). When looking for “fruit,” here are three specific tests to apply to any teacher to determine the accuracy of his or her teaching:
1) What does this teacher say about Jesus? In Matthew 16:15-16, Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and for this answer Peter is called “blessed.” In 2 John 9, we read, “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” In other words, Jesus Christ and His work of redemption is of utmost importance; beware of anyone who denies that Jesus is equal with God, who downplays Jesus’ sacrificial death, or who rejects Jesus’ humanity. First John 2:22 says, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”
2) Does this teacher preach the gospel? The gospel is defined as the good news concerning Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). As nice as they sound, the statements “God loves you,” “God wants us to feed the hungry,” and “God wants you to be wealthy” are not the complete message of the gospel. As Paul warns in Galatians 1:7, “Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” No one, not even a great preacher, has the right to change the message that God gave us. “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:9).
3) Does this teacher exhibit character qualities that glorify the Lord? Speaking of false teachers, Jude 11 says, “They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” In other words, a false teacher can be known by his pride (Cain’s rejection of God’s plan), greed (Balaam’s prophesying for money), and rebellion (Korah’s promotion of himself over Moses). Jesus said to beware of such people and that we would know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20).
For further study, review those books of the Bible that were written specifically to combat false teaching within the church: Galatians, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude. It is often difficult to spot a false teacher/false prophet. Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15). Only by being thoroughly familiar with the truth will we be able to recognize a counterfeit.
Jesus alerts us to “watch out for false prophets” in Matthew 7:15. He compares these false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus also tells us how to identify these false prophets: we will recognize them by their fruit (Matthew 7:20).
Throughout the Bible, people are warned about false prophets (Ezekiel 13, Matthew 24:23–27, 2 Peter 3:3). False prophets claim to speak for God, but they speak falsehood. To gain a hearing, they come to people “in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). No matter how innocent and harmless these teachers appear on the outside, they have the nature of wolves—they are intent on destroying faith, causing spiritual carnage in the church, and enriching themselves. They “secretly introduce destructive heresies,” “bring the way of truth into disrepute,” and “exploit you with fabricated stories” (2 Peter 2:1–3).
The false teachers wear “sheep’s clothing” so they can mingle with the sheep without arousing suspicion. They usually are not up front about what they believe; rather, they mix in some truth with their falsehood and carefully choose their words to sound orthodox. In reality, they “follow their own ungodly desires” (Jude 1:17–18), and “they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed” (2 Peter 2:14).
By contrast, a true prophet teaches God’s Word fully (Deuteronomy 18:20). Wolves in sheep’s clothing twist God’s Word to deceive or influence the audience for their own purposes. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).
The best way to guard against wolves in sheep’s clothing is to heed the warnings of Scripture and know the truth. A believer who “correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15) and carefully studies the Bible will be able to identify false prophets. Christians must judge all teaching against what Scripture says. Believers will also be able to identify false prophets by their fruit—their words, actions, and lifestyles. Jesus said, “A tree is recognized by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33; cf. Matthew 7:20). Peter described false teachers as having “depraved conduct” and who “carouse” as “slaves of depravity” (2 Peter 2:2, 13, 19). If a teacher in the church does not live according to God’s Word, he is one of those wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Here are three specific questions to identify false prophets, or wolves in sheep’s clothing:
1) What does the teacher say about Jesus? In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and the Father are one.” The Jews understood Jesus’ statement as a claim to be God and wanted to stone him (John 10:33). Anyone who denies Jesus as Lord (1 John 4:1–3) is a false prophet.
2) Does the teacher preach the biblical gospel? Anyone who teaches an incomplete or unbiblical gospel is to be eternally condemned (Galatians 1:9). Any gospel apart from what the Bible tells us (1 Corinthians 15:1–4) is not the true good news.
3) Does this teacher exhibit godly character qualities? Jesus said to beware of teachers whose moral behavior does not match what the Bible says. He says we will know wolves in sheep’s clothing by their fruits (Matthew 7:15–20)
It doesn’t matter how large a church a preacher has, how many books he has sold, or how many people applaud him. If he “teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,” then he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing (1 Timothy 6:3).
The narrow gate, also called the narrow door,
is referred to by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:23-24. Jesus compares the narrow gate to the “broad road” which leads to destruction (hell) and says that “many” will be on that road. By contrast, Jesus says that “small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” What exactly is meant by this? Just how many are the “many” and how few are the “few”?
First, we need to understand that Jesus is the Door through which all must enter eternal life. There is no other way because He alone is “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). The way to eternal life is restricted to just one avenue—Christ. In this sense, the way is narrow because it is the only way, and relatively few people will go through the narrow gate. Many more will attempt to find an alternative route to God. They will try to get there through manmade rules and regulations, through false religion, or through self-effort. These who are “many” will follow the broad road that leads to eternal destruction, while the sheep hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him along the narrow way to eternal life (John 10:7-11).
While there will be relatively few who go through the narrow gate compared to the many on the broad road, there will still be multitudes who will follow the Good Shepherd. The apostle John saw this multitude in his vision in the book of Revelation: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10).
Entering the narrow gate is not easy. Jesus made this clear when He instructed His followers to “strive” to do so. The Greek word translated “strive” is agonizomai, from which we get the English word agonize. The implication here is that those who seek to enter the narrow gate must do so by struggle and strain, like a running athlete straining toward the finish line, all muscles taut and giving his all in the effort. But we must be clear here. No amount of effort saves us; salvation is by the grace of God through the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). No one will ever earn heaven by striving for it. But entering the narrow gate is still difficult because of the opposition of human pride, our natural love of sin, and the opposition of Satan and the world in his control, all of which battle against us in the pursuit of eternity.
The exhortation to strive to enter is a command to repent and enter the gate and not to just stand and look at it, think about it, complain that it’s too small or too difficult or unjustly narrow. We are not to ask why others are not entering; we are not to make excuses or delay. We are not to be concerned with the number who will or will not enter. We are to strive forward and enter! Then we are to exhort others to strive to enter before it’s too late.
When wealth becomes an idol, it also becomes our downfall. Jesus illustrated this in the parable of the rich fool, which teaches the foolishness of trusting in riches without keeping God as the center of one’s life (Luke 12:14–21). Jesus, who knows our hearts, warned us about trying to serve two masters (Luke 16:13). We cannot love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength if we also love money (Mark 12:30). God will not share His throne.
Proverbs 30:7–9 is a prayer that models the right attitude about wealth: “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” When our daily prayer is that God will meet all our needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19), we remind ourselves where our help comes from (Psalm 121:1–2). Any abundance beyond that daily sustenance is a gift from the Lord, and we are to use it wisely. When we consider that all we have and all we are belongs to God, we are more careful to use it all for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). When we see wealth as an investment entrusted to us by its rightful Owner, we are more likely to keep it in right perspective.
Philippians 4:19 speaks of God’s abundant provision for believers. Paul writes, “My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Here, the phrase riches of his glory is a testament to God’s gracious ability to meet the needs of His children.
In the immediate context of Philippians 4:19, Paul expresses gratitude to the Philippians for their financial support during his imprisonment. The support was sent through Epaphroditus, a partner with Paul in the ministry of the gospel. Because of their generosity, Paul assures the Philippians that God will not overlook their good deed: “My God will meet all your need according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). This assurance is a wonderful reminder that God’s provision for believers is not limited to human resources but flows from God’s infinite storehouses of glory.
In Scripture, God’s glory is associated with His majesty (Psalm 8:1), power (1 Chronicles 29:11), and presence (John 1:14). The glory of God is manifested in all His attributes together. It is the beauty of His nature, eternal and excelling in splendor.
In Ephesians 3:16, Paul prays that “according to the riches of [God’s] glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (ESV). Likewise, in Romans 9:23, Paul mentions “the riches of his glory [made] known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory.” In both passages, God’s glory involves His nature and His active engagement with believers. The glory of God provides a spiritual treasury of blessings for those who trust in Him.
The “riches of his glory,” according to Paul, are found “in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). This suggests that the riches of God’s glory are made possible through the finished work of Christ. In Christ, believers have access to every spiritual blessing from the Father. Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3, ESV). Through the finished work of Christ, believers have access to an overabundant supply of blessings that are more than sufficient to meet our needs.
God’s abundant grace is part of the riches of His glory. Paul writes, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9, ESV). Here, the word rich refers not to material wealth but to the spiritual riches that come through the sacrificial death of Christ. He became an earth-bound pauper so we could know the abundant fulness of heaven.
In short, the “riches of his glory” in Philippians 4:19
refers to the abundant resources with which
God meets the needs of believers.
He possesses all things, and
He has an inexhaustible ability to supply their needs.
Because God is infinitely glorious and infinitely gracious,
He is able and willing to provide for every need.
This assurance is rooted
in the person and work of Christ,
who is “full of grace and truth”
(John 1:14, ESV).
One of the central goals of the book is to present Joshua as an ideal leader. Throughout the book, Joshua most often is compared to Moses. But lest we forget Joshua's tribal identity, the author makes use of a strategic allusion to another ideal leader in the Torah. For this exact phrase ("so the LORD was with") is also used to describe Joseph. "So the LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian" (Gen 39:2; see v. 21).
An intentional analogy between Joshua and Joseph is quite likely when we consider three additional details in the book. First, Joshua really is a "son of Joseph" (he's from the tribe of Ephraim). Second, the book of Joshua ends by highlighting the fulfillment of Joseph's request to bury his bones in the land of promise (compare Josh 24:32 with Gen 50:24-25). Third, Joshua and Joseph are the only two people in the Hebrew Bible who die at the age of one hundred and ten years old (compare Josh 24:29 with Gen 50:26).
Within the book of Joshua is a network of analogies comparing Joshua to other great leaders (in Joshua chapters 2, 9-10, he is also compared to Abraham). And a network of analogies to Israel's great leaders in the Torah continues all throughout the Former Prophets (Joshua - 2 Kings): Samuel is likened to Joseph and Moses (see 1 Sam 1-3); David is likened to Joseph (see 2 Samuel 11); Elijah is compared to Moses (see 1 Kings 19); Elisha is compared to Elijah and Moses (see 2 Kings 2:13-14). And these ideal-leader analogies also appear in the Latter Prophets and the Writings as well.
By discovering this network of analogies we realize how much all the prophetic authors of the Hebrew Bible longed for the coming of Israel's greatest leader. And this perfect leader will not only be the net sum of the virtues of all Israel's very best leaders, but he will not have any of their flaws. No wonder, therefore, the Gospels constantly draw comparisons between Yeshua and these great leaders in the Hebrew Bible. And Yeshua is not only the sum total of all their best qualities, he is far, far greater.
And in terms of a practical application, we must always remember who our true leader really is in this politically charged and highly divided world. Yeshua is the only leader truly worthy of all our allegiance. And lasting change will not come to our nations through a ballot box, but through the Son of David when he finally takes his seat upon David's throne!
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this" (Isa 9:6-7).
EaRly Voting
Foreign Affairs are Heavily Woven!
If individuals take
voting seriously, and knowledgeably
as they should,
the sum
total of policy alignment
will be a
reflection of your value system
Followers of Christ Follow him,
not human leaders
Christians aren’t united
because of
voting affiliation,
they are united because
of their
freedom to Vote
Americas Foundation is
Rooted
in a foundational
value system That WE the People,
ALL are
Created Equal
under God In All Ways,
including ideological Diversity
and the Freedom to Seek
Truth
under
God and not Men
People don't represent policies, rather,
policies represent people;
Polite reminder as Community Citizens
to
mindfully understand the policies we vote for
and
their likely vitality without being swayed
by outward
presentation of human Character
The obstacle of a straight and narrow path
is not difference of perspective,
but that
Truth is peacefully upheld
We are not of this world, but we live in it
The sufferings and trials of
this world
are part of life.
But, in remembering that we are “not of this world,”
we know that
such things are just for a little while
(1 Peter 5:10).
The knowledge that we are not of this world
gives Christians
hope even in the darkest times
(1 Peter 1:6 –9).
This broken place is not where
we ultimately belong,
and it is not where we will stay
(Hebrews 13:14).
“We are receiving a kingdom
that
cannot be shaken”
(Hebrews 12:28).
Christians, as part of Jesus’ kingdom, are
not of this world.
We have been adopted as heirs of heaven
by God Himself,
and that is where our citizenship is
(Titus 3:7).
Until our King returns, we wait
(Titus 2:13),
and we hope (Romans 5:5), and
we do what we can to bring others into
the “not of this world” relationship
with
Jesus Christ
The Hebrew word adamah means
“land,” “ground,” or “soil.”
The New American Standard Bible
translates
adamah as “ground” 64 times
and
“land” or “lands”
114 times.
Related to adamah is the word adam,
which
means “man” or “mankind.”
Of course, adam is also used as the proper name of
the first man, Adam.
Most scholars believe that the words adamah, Adam,
and Edom stem from a
root word
with the basic meaning
of “red.”
The word adamah could then be more literally translated
“red ground,”
and the name Adam could
be said to mean
“red man” or “man from the red dirt.”
“sign of Jonah”
was used by Jesus
as a typological metaphor for
His future
crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
Jesus answered with this expression
when asked by the Pharisees for miraculous proof
that
He was indeed the Messiah
It is this three days that Jesus was referring to when
He spoke of the sign of Jonah.
Jesus had already been
producing miracles that were witnessed by many.
Jesus
had just performed a great sign in the Pharisees’ presence
by healing a deaf man
who was possessed of a demon.
Rather than believe,
they
accused Jesus
of doing this by the
power of Satan
Jesus recognized their
hardness of heart
and refused to give them further
proof of His identity.
However, He did say that there would be one further sign forthcoming,
His resurrection from the dead.
This would be their final opportunity to be convinced.
Jesus’ paralleling of the Pharisees with the people of Nineveh is telling.
The people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways (Jonah 3:4–10)
after hearing Jonah’s call for repentance,
while the Pharisees
continued in their unbelief
despite being
eyewitnesses to the miracles
of Jesus.
Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they were culpable for their unbelief, given the conversion of the people of Nineveh, sinners who had received far less evidence than the Pharisees themselves had witnessed. Interestingly, from the time of Jonah’s preaching, the people of Nineveh
had 40 days to repent,
and they did,
sparing their city from destruction.
From the time of Jesus’ preaching,
the people of Jerusalem had
40 years,
but they did not repent
and Jerusalem was destroyed.
God would often use signs (or miracles)
in the Bible to
authenticate His chosen messenger.
The Lord provided Moses with several miraculous signs
in order to prove to others
that he was appointed by God
(Exodus 4:5–9; 7:8–10;19-20).
God sent down fire on Elijah’s altar
during
Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal
(1 Kings 18:36–39).
He performed this miracle to prove that the
God of Israel
was the one true God.
Jesus Himself would perform many
miracles (or “signs”)
to demonstrate His power over nature
(Matthew 4:23; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 8:22–24; John 6:16–24).
The “sign of Jonah”
would turn out to be Jesus’ greatest miracle of all.
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead
would be
God’s chief sign that Jesus was
Israel’s
long-awaited Messiah
(Acts 2:23–32)
and establish Christ’s claims to deity
(Romans 1:3–4).
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.
In Greek, the phrase is
Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ
When we take the first letter from each word in that phrase,
we have ΙΧΘΥΣ,
which happens to be the Greek word
for “fish”
(ixthus or icthus—the spelling can vary in English).
Some versions of the Christian fish symbol contain the Greek letters
inside or underneath the symbol itself.
The Christian fish
symbol
also brings to mind several events
in Jesus’ ministry.
Twice,
Jesus provided a miraculous
draught of fish for His disciples
(Luke 5:4–7; John 21:4–6).
He ate fish with His disciples on at least two occasions after His resurrection
(Luke 24:42; John 21:13).
The miracle of the temple coin involved a fish
(Matthew 17:27).
And of course the feeding of five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand started
with a lunch that included fish
(Matthew 14:15–21; 15:32–38).
During the early days
of
Christianity,
Christians were often put
to death
for practicing their
faith,
so they worshiped in
secret places
A fish painted or etched on the outside
door of a house
let other Christians know
that
they would be safe and welcome
inside.
The ancient catacombs in Rome
are filled
with images of fish,
carved
there by Christians hiding from
persecution.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
Savior
is a wonderful summary of biblical
Truth
regarding the Lord,
and the Christian fish symbol
is a
beautiful way to express
Faith in HIM
But following Christ involves
much more
than sporting an
ixthus on the back of
one’s CAR
Jesus spoke
often of the necessity
of inward TRUTH
as opposed to outward
shows of religion
Those who use a
Christian fish symbol should
make SURE
they
actually KNOW Christ,
TRUST Him as Savior,
and
OBEY Him as Lord.
Jesus told the
Parable of the Fig Tree--
Luke 13:6-9--
immediately after reminding His listeners
of a
tower over the pool of Siloam
(John 9:7)
which unexpectedly fell and killed
eighteen people.
The moral of that story is found
in Luke 13:3:
“Unless you repent, you will likewise perish.”
To reiterate this moral,
Jesus tells the
story of the
fig tree, the vineyard owner,
and the gardener
who took care of the vineyard.
It was a mercy that God kept us from the tree of life. By barring access to the tree of life, God showed compassion in His omniscience. Knowing that, because of sin, earthly life would be filled with sorrow and toil, God graciously limited the number of years men would live. To live eternally in a sinful state would mean endless agony for humanity, with no hope of the relief that comes with death.
By limiting our lifespan,
God gives us enough time
to come
to know Him and
His provision for eternal life
through Christ
but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition.
In His great love, God provided One who would redeem fallen mankind. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, but through another Man, Jesus Christ, redemption through the forgiveness of sin is available to all (Romans 5:17). Those who avail themselves of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will be resurrected to see the tree of life again, for it stands in the middle of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, where it bears “twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2
The three entities in the story all have clear symbolic significance. The vineyard owner represents God, the one who rightly expects to see fruit on His tree and who justly decides to destroy it when He finds none. The gardener, or vineyard keeper who cares for the trees, watering and fertilizing them to bring them to their peak of fruitfulness, represents Jesus, who feeds His people and gives them living water. The tree itself has two symbolic meanings: the nation of Israel and the individual.
As the story unfolds,
we see the vineyard owner
expressing
his disappointment at
the fruitless tree.
He has looked for fruit
for
three years from this tree,
but has found none.
The three-year period is significant
because for three years
John the Baptist and Jesus
had been
preaching the message of repentance
throughout Israel.
But the fruits of repentance were not forthcoming. John the Baptist warned the people
about the Messiah coming and
told them to
bring forth fruits fit for repentance
because the ax
was already laid at the
Root of the Tree
(Luke 3:8-9).
But the Jews were offended by the idea they needed to repent,
and they rejected their Messiah
because He demanded repentance from them.
After all, they had the revelation of God, the prophets, the Scriptures,
the covenants, and the adoption
(Romans 9:4-5).
They had it all, but they were already
apostate.
They had departed from the
true faith
and the
true and living God
and created a system of
works-righteousness that
was an
abomination to God.
He, as the vineyard owner, was perfectly
justified in
tearing down the tree that had
no fruit
The Lord’s ax was already poised
over the
root of the tree,
and
it was ready to fall.
However, we see the gardener pleading here for a little more time.
There were a few months before the crucifixion, and more miracles to come, especially the incredible miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which would astound many and perhaps cause the Jews to repent.
As it turned out,
Israel as a nation still did
not believe,
but
individuals certainly did
(John 12:10-11).
The compassionate gardener
intercedes for more time to water
and fertilize the fruitless tree,
and the gracious Lord of the vineyard
responds in patience.
The lesson for the individual is that borrowed time is not permanent.
God’s patience has a limit.
In the parable, the vineyard owner
grants another year of life to the tree. In the same way,
God in His mercy grants us
another day, another hour, another breath.
Christ stands at the door of each man’s heart
knocking and seeking to gain entrance
and requiring repentance from sin.
But if there is no fruit, no repentance,
His patience will come to an end,
and the fruitless,
unrepentant individual will be cut down.
We all live on borrowed time; judgment is near. That is why the prophet Isaiah wrote,
"Seek the LORD while he may
be found;
call on him while he
is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the
evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will
have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon"
(Isaiah 55:6-7).
Reading from Genesis 2, we notice several plays on
the word adamah:
“There was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground [adamah]. Then the Lord God formed a man [adam] from the dust of the ground [adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man [adam] became a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and
there he put the man [adam] he had formed.
The Lord God made all kinds
of trees
grow out of the ground
[adamah]”
(verses 5–14).
Then in Genesis 2:15, we read this:
“The Lord God took the man [adam] and put him in
the Garden of Eden
to work it and take care of it.”
So, not only is Adam formed from adamah and
named after adamah,
but he is now assigned with working the adamah
and
cultivating the plants that come from it.
After Adam’s sin, God curses both Adam and adamah:
“To Adam [adam] he said . . . ‘Cursed is the ground [adamah] because of you; through painful
toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life’”
(Genesis 3:17).
Then God said that the curse on Adam will result
in his return to adamah:
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you
return to the ground [adamah],
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return”
(Genesis 3:19).
The Bible teaches that mankind has an intimate relationship with the earth (see Genesis 2:5). Adam was formed from the earth, was responsible for the curse brought upon the earth,
is tasked with cultivating the earth,
eats the produce of the earth, and at death
returns to the earth.
As children of Adam,
we are earthly--
we have a connection with
adamah.
And that is why we must be born again
(John 3:3)
Only a relationship with Jesus Christ
can break us free
from the Adamic curse and
the
Adamic fate.
The first Adam subjected us to a curse;
but Jesus,
the “Last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45),
gives us a blessing.
Contrasting Adam with Christ,
Paul writes,
“The first man was of the dust
of the earth;
the second man is of
heaven”
(1 Corinthians 15:47).
The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
is the
most important event in history,
providing irrefutable evidence that
Jesus is who
He claimed to be – the Son of God.
The resurrection was not only the supreme validation of His deity; it
also validated the Scriptures,
which foretold His coming and resurrection. Moreover, it authenticated
Christ’s claims that He would be raised
on the third day
(John 2:19-21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34).
If Christ’s body was not resurrected, we have no hope that ours will be
(1 Corinthians 15:13, 16)
In fact, apart from Christ’s bodily resurrection, we have
no Savior, no salvation, and no hope
of eternal life.
As the apostle Paul said,
our faith would be “useless” and
the life-giving power
of the gospel would be altogether eliminated.
Because our eternal destinies ride on the truth of this historical event, the resurrection has been the target of Satan’s greatest attacks against the church. Accordingly, the historicity of Christ’s bodily resurrection has been examined and investigated from every angle and studied endlessly by countless scholars, theologians, professors, and others over the centuries. And even though a number of theories have been postulated that attempt to disprove this momentous event, no credible historical evidence exists which would validate anything other than His literal bodily resurrection. On the other hand, the clear and convincing evidence
of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is overwhelming.
Nonetheless, from the Christians in ancient Corinth to many today, misunderstandings persist relative to certain aspects of our Savior’s resurrection. Why, some ask, is it important that Christ’s body was resurrected? Couldn’t His resurrection have just been spiritual? Why and how does the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantee the bodily resurrection of believers?
Will our resurrected bodies be the same as our earthly bodies?
If not, what will they be like? The answers to these questions are found in the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, a church that he established
several years earlier during his second
missionary journey.
In addition to growing factions in the young Corinthian church, there was rampant misunderstanding of some key Christian doctrines, including the resurrection. Although many of the Corinthians accepted that Christ has been resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:1, 11), they had difficulty believing others could or would be resurrected. The continuing influence of Gnostic philosophy, which held that everything spiritual was good whereas everything physical, such as our bodies, was intrinsically evil, was essentially responsible for their confusion regarding their own resurrection. The idea of a detestable corpse being eternally resurrected was, therefore, strongly opposed by some and certainly by the Greek philosophers of the day (Acts 17:32).
Yet,
most of the Corinthians understood that Christ’s resurrection
was bodily and not spiritual.
After all, resurrection means “a rising from the dead”;
something comes back to life.
They understood that all souls were immortal
and at death
immediately went to be with the Lord
(2 Corinthians 5:8).
Thus, a “spiritual” resurrection
would make no sense,
as the spirit doesn’t die and therefore cannot be resurrected. Additionally, they were aware that the Scriptures, as well as Christ Himself, stated that His body would rise again on the third day. Scripture also made it clear that Christ’s body would see no decay (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27), a charge that would make no sense if His body was not resurrected. Lastly,
Christ emphatically told His disciples it was His body
that was resurrected:
“A spirit does not have flesh
and bones
as you see I have”
(Luke 24:39).
Again, however, the
Corinthians’ concern was regarding their personal resurrection.
Accordingly, Paul tried to convince the Corinthians that because
Christ rose
from the dead, they also would rise
from the dead some day,
and that the
two resurrections – Christ’s and ours –
must stand or fall together,
for “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even
Christ has been raised”
(1 Corinthians 15:13).
“But Christ has indeed
been raised from the dead,
the first fruits
of those who have
fallen asleep.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive”
(1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
When Jesus Christ
was resurrected, He became
the “first fruits”
of all who would be raised
(see also Colossians 1:18).
The Israelites could not fully harvest their crops
until they brought a representative sampling
(first fruits)
to the priests as an offering to the Lord
(Leviticus 23:10).
This is what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22;
Christ’s own resurrection was
the “first fruits”
of the resurrection “harvest” of the believing dead.
The “first fruits” language Paul uses
indicates something to follow,
and that something would be
His followers – the rest of
the “crop.”
This is how Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours.
Indeed,
His resurrection requires our resurrection.
And to allay their concerns regarding
connecting the spirit
to what was deemed an undesirable body,
Paul explained to them the
nature of
our resurrected bodies
and how they would differ from
our earthly bodies
Paul likened our deceased earthly bodies
to a “seed,”
and God would ultimately provide
another body
(1 Corinthians 15:37-38)
that would be like
Christ’s glorious resurrected body
(1 Corinthians 15:49; Philippians 3:21).
Indeed, just as with our Lord,
our bodies which are
now perishable, dishonored, weak, and natural
will one day be raised into bodies
that
are imperishable, glorious, powerful,
and spiritual
(1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
Our spiritual bodies
will be perfectly
equipped for heavenly,
supernatural living.
After Jesus rose from the dead,
He appeared to the disciples
on a number of occasions.
John 21 records the third of those instances and includes the notable mention of 153 fish. Peter and the others had just witnessed another miracle of Jesus involving a large catch of fish, and
“Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.
It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn”
(John 21:11).
On this occasion Jesus appeared to His disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, as they were in their boat returning from an unsuccessful night of fishing (John 21:1–3). Jesus, whom they had not yet recognized, called to the disciples from the shore, asking them whether they had caught any fish (John 21:4–5). After the disciples responded that they had not, Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the right (starboard) side of the boat. They did, and they caught so many fish in the net that they couldn’t bring the nets in (John 21:6). John quickly realized the man on the shore was Jesus, and he told Peter.
Peter jumped in the water—presumably to swim to shore to see Jesus (John 21:7). The other disciples, meanwhile, came in the boat, being only about 200 cubits (or 100 yards) from the shore (John 21:8).
When they arrived at shore, Peter went back into the boat to help them collect the fish, and they counted 153 fish—and large fish, at that.
While there were so many fish, the net did not break
(John 21:11).
The meaning of the 153 fish in John 21:11 is evident from the context. As career fisherman, the disciples would not have been strangers to the process of tallying their catch. These were apparently big enough fish to put strain on the fishermen and the nets (though, miraculously, the nets were not torn). That John mentions the number of 153 fish emphasizes the fact that something extraordinary had happened, because Someone extraordinary was there. The 153 fish provided further evidence to the disciples that the resurrected Jesus had power over nature just as He had demonstrated before His crucifixion. Earlier, John had recorded that Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2), healed an official’s son (John 4), healed a lame man (John 5), fed 5,000 people from five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6), walked on water (John 6), healed a man who had been born blind (John 9), raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11), and rose from the dead Himself (John 20). The 153 fish in John 21:11 might seem insignificant compared to these magnificent signs, but to an audience of fisherman who had failed to catch even one fish during an entire night of work, this remarkable catch provided more evidence that their belief in Jesus was well placed.
Just a few verses before John records the catching of the 153 fish, John explains that his purpose in writing was so that people would believe in Jesus and have life in His name
(John 20:30–31).
There were many signs and works of Jesus that John could have recorded, but he chose to record those included in the Gospel of John so his readers could have confidence that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
(John 20:31),
and that
He is indeed equal with God
(John 5:18).
In Deuteronomy 6:8–9 the Lord speaks of His laws, saying, “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” A related passage says, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 11:18–20). Write them on the doorframes, tie them on your hands, and bind them on your foreheads. Were the Jewish people to take these commands literally?
Doors and Gates: The Jewish tradition of placing a mezuzah on the doorpost is based on this passage of Scripture. The mezuzah (the Hebrew word for “doorpost”) is a small piece of parchment usually containing this line from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” An extra-biblical Jewish tradition requires that these words be written by an approved Jewish scribe called a sofer stam. The parchment is folded or rolled, placed in a small case, and attached to the right side of the doorway of a home at shoulder height. Tradition dictates that it be placed within 30 days of moving into a new home.
Foreheads/Hands: Since ancient times, Jews have practiced the tradition of using phylacteries (also called “tefillin”). Phylacteries are small leather boxes that contain portions of the Law of Moses. The boxes are strapped to the wrist and to a sort of headband so that one literally carries the laws of God over his eyes and on his hands. Jesus mentions this practice in Matthew 23:5: “They make their phylacteries wide.”
Despite the literal application of these verses by traditional Jews, many Old Testament scholars believe the commands were meant to be figurative. Exodus 13:9 and 16 also suggest God was using figurative language to emphasize the importance of obeying His laws. Later prophets argued that the emphasis of the Law was on matters of the heart rather than external ritual. Micah, for example, noted, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
In summary, many Jews have taken the concept of putting God’s laws on doors, hands, and head literally, yet the emphasis in these passages is on the importance of the Law. The Law of the Lord is perfect, according to Psalm 19:7. Psalm 1 emphasizes the importance of meditating upon God’s Word both day and night. We should never forget it; it should be a part of our daily lives. The Word belongs in our hearts, not just on our foreheads.
God said that when He saw the lamb’s blood on the doorframe of a house, He would “pass over” that home and not permit “the destroyer” (Exodus 12:23) to enter. Any home without the blood of the lamb would have their firstborn son struck down that night (Exodus 12:12-13).
The Bible also mentions scarlet thread or scarlet yarn as part of the tabernacle’s curtains (Exodus 26:1) and the high priest’s ephod (Exodus 28:6), along with threads of gold, blue, and purple. Scripture does not comment on the significance of those colors in the curtains or ephod, but some commentators surmise that the gold, blue, and purple foreshadow Christ’s glory, heavenly origin, and kingly position, while the scarlet thread represents Christ’s atoning work on the cross through the shedding of His blood.
Another significant mention of scarlet thread is in Joshua 2. Two spies had been sent to Jericho in advance of the Israelites’ taking of that city. The spies were hidden in Jericho by Rahab the harlot, who expressed her faith in Israel’s God and protected the spies (see Hebrews 11:31). Rahab allowed the Hebrew spies to escape from Jericho by letting them down through her window by means of a rope made of scarlet thread. As they departed, the spies told Rahab, “Tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window” (Joshua 2:18), with the promise that she and her household would be kept safe in the coming invasion. By faith, Rahab obeyed:
“And she tied the scarlet cord in the window”
(verse 21).
Later, when the walls of Jericho fell down and
the Israelites took the city,
Joshua commanded that Rahab and her family be spared
(Joshua 6:22–23).
Marking her home was, of course,
the “cord of scarlet thread.”
It’s easy to dismiss the color of Rahab’s rope as mere coincidence, but the scarlet color is significant.
The rope in her window
was a sign of her faith and led to her salvation,
as she was
not destroyed with the rest of Jericho.
The scarlet rope—the color of blood—worked for Rahab much as the blood of the Passover lamb had worked during the exodus: every home marked with blood was spared death that night (Exodus 12:13).
God’s mercy and forgiveness of Rahab the harlot was signified
by a rope of scarlet thread,
which becomes a symbol of
the blood of Christ.
The New Testament
establishes a relationship between this prototypical
Passover lamb
and the consummate Passover Lamb,
Jesus Christ
(1 Corinthians 5:7).
the fulfillment, an outcome, and/or marks the arrival
the consummation, fulfillment and outcome
of the
New Covenant when Christ's second coming
brings the
Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven
(Rev 11:15)
At the time of Jesus, there was the sacrifice of the lambs in the Temple, but also the Passover (pasch) meal. The Passover Seder or “order” featured in the meal four cups of wine. Within the Passover meal, there were two regulations that had to be followed – first, before the lamb was to be eaten, several hours of fasting were required, beginning around 3:00pm. The fasting we do as Catholics before we receive the Holy Eucharist in Mass is a similar function to the fasting in the Passover meal. The second regulation was that the drinking of the four cups of wine was deemed mandatory.
The Cup of Sanctification (the kiddish cup) –The first cup was the “introductory rites” to the Passover meal. The Passover meal begins in the evening, sometime around “nightfall.” The father gathers with his family at a large table and reclines to celebrate the freedom won by God in Egypt. The first cup is mixed with water and wine. After the mixing occurred, the father begins with the formal blessing over the cup. After the blessing, the food is then brought out, which includes unleavened bread, bitter herbs, a bowl of sauce, and the roasted lamb, which is known as “the body” in traditional Jewish sources. Appetizers were also brought out, however, the actual meal had not yet started.
The Cup of Proclamation (the haggadah cup) –The second cup would be mixed, but not drunk. The father would “proclaim” what the Lord did for Israel in Egypt. The son then asks the question – why is this night different from other nights? The son’s question is connected to the drinking of the second cup. The father would then answer by quoting a specific section from the Scriptures (read Deuteronomy 26:5-11). This exchange between the father and the son displays how the Passover meal looks back to the exodus and redemption the Israelites received by God in Egypt. The father then explains the parts of the meal – unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and the lamb. Explaining the significance of the meal was essentially the center of this part of the meal. To express their thanksgiving to God, the family would then sing the Hallel (“praise”) Psalms 113 and 114.
The Cup of Blessing (the berakah cup) –The third cup would be mixed and this is where the supper officially begins. The family would finally eat the lamb and the unleavened bread. Because customs change over time, it’s hard to figure how this actually was staged, but it seems that there was a blessing over the bread, there was a serving of a hors d’oeuvre, which consisted of a small morsel of bread, and at the end the main course was eaten. Once the meal was completed, the father recited another blessing over the third cup and it was consumed.
The Cup of Praise (the hallel cup)
The remainder of the Hallel Psalms (115-118) would be sung. Psalms 115-118 are known as the Great Hallel. These psalms may not mean much to us today, although it is important to learn their significance, they were well known to Jesus and his Apostles since they would sing them each year for the Passover. The Hallel Psalms were a “script” for the one offering the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 116). Once Psalm 118 was sung, the fourth cup was drunk. At this point, the meal was finished. An interesting side note is that Jesus would have seen his own fate in these hymns.
In context of the Last Supper, we must ask the question –
Did Jesus finish the meal and how many cups did they drink?
First, Jesus vowed not to drink of “fruit of the vine”
until the coming of the kingdom of God.
Here he is speaking of the fourth cup. Second, after the third cup,
Jesus and Apostles “sing a hymn” (Hallel Psalms) and
then “went out,”
however nothing was drank. Both Matthew and Mark
speak of this in their Gospels.
In the end, Jesus makes reference
to the fourth cup, but possibly refuses to drink
it at the Last Supper.
He does not finish the meal…yet!
At this point,
Jesus and his Apostles make their way to
the Garden of Gethsemani
(read Matthew 26:36-46).
Here we read that Jesus prays three times for
the cup that he must drink.
The cup (or chalice in some translations)
is the fourth cup,
the final cup of the Passover meal.
Between the giving of his body at
the Last Supper as the sacrifice and
one of the cups as his own blood,
Jesus classifies his body as the New Passover.
Once the meal is over,
his blood will be poured out,
and
Jesus will be dead.
He does not finish the meal in the Upper Room
because it
will finish with his death on the cross.
The fourth cup in relation to Jesus’ death on the cross is also known as the Cup of Consummation.
Nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that Jesus drinks the final cup on the way to the cross. But when we look at the final moments of the life of Christ on the cross, we notice that he does drink of “the fruit of the vine.” However, in Mark 15:23, he does drink since the wine is filled myrrh, which would have dulled his sufferings. In Matthew 27:48, it states, “a sponge…filled it with vinegar” is lifted up for him to drink. The most overt explanation of this comes from John 19:28, which states that Jesus requests a drink and says, “I thirst.” After drinking of the vinegar given to him, in John 19:30, Jesus says, “It is finished.” When Our Lord speaks these words, he is not referring to his life or his mission, but he is referencing the meal started at the Last Supper. Here on the cross, Jesus finishes the Passover meal, and drinks the fourth cup.
The prophet John the Baptist recognized Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29),
and the apostle Peter links the lamb without defect (Exodus 12:5)
with Christ, whom he calls
a “lamb without blemish or defect”
(1 Peter 1:19).
Jesus is qualified to be called One “without blemish”
because
His life was completely free from sin
(Hebrews 4:15).
In Revelation, John the apostle sees Jesus as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6).
Jesus was crucified
during the time that the Passover
was observed
(Mark 14:12).
The Bible says believers have symbolically applied the
sacrificial blood of Christ
to their hearts
and thus have escaped eternal death
(Hebrews 9:12, 14).
Just as the Passover lamb’s applied blood caused
the “destroyer” to
Pass Over each Household
Christ’s applied blood causes God’s judgment
to pass over
sinners and gives life to believers
(Romans 6:23).
Psalm 118 is one of the Hallel psalms,
also called
the “Egyptian Hallel,” a short series
of psalms
(Psalm 113—118)
incorporated in the celebration of
the Passover.
The final psalm is sung
in the
festive processional as the people
enter the temple gates
to worship
In Psalm 118:26, the congregation welcomes the vindicated king, singing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.”
Originally, this psalm depicted Israel’s exodus
journey from Egypt to
their eventual arrival at Mount Zion.
But its celebratory welcoming of the king was ultimately
fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
All four gospels quote Psalm 118:26: “Jesus was in the center of the procession,
and the people all around him
were shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David!
Blessings
on the one who comes in the
name of the LORD!
Praise God in highest heaven!’”
(Matthew 21:9, NLT; see also Mark 11:9; Luke 19:38; John 12:13).
The term translated
“blessed is”
comes from the
Hebrew word barukh (literally “to bless”)
and is most often used of God.
But in Psalm 118:26
it speaks of the king figure who comes in God’s authority.
Faithlife Study Bible explains that barukh
“describes bestowing someone with special power or declaring
Yahweh to be the source of special power.
In that regard, it means praising Yahweh for who He is” (Barry, J. D., et al, entry for Psalm 103:1, Lexham Press, 2012, 2016).
With the words, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” the ancient psalm praises God for who He is: “The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us” (Psalm 118:27).
The blessing also forecasts His future coming
as Israel’s Messiah.
During passion week, we hear the echo,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,”
as the people of Christ’s day
recognize
Jesus as the long-awaited One.
Earlier, when Jesus lamented
over Jerusalem,
He predicted to the Pharisees,
“Look, your house is left
to you desolate.
I tell you,
you will not see me again
until you say,
‘Blessed is he
who comes in the
Name of the Lord’”
(Luke 13:35).
Jesus identified Himself as the
“stone the builders rejected”
(Psalm 118:22; cf. Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17)
who would bring
salvation to all who prayed to Him,
“Save us, Lord!”
(Psalm 118:2).
Through His crucifixion and resurrection,
Jesus was the
“living stone rejected by men
but in the
sight of God
chosen and precious”
(1 Peter 2:4, ESV).
He became the chief cornerstone
(Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33),
“and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame”
Romans 10:11; cf. 1 Peter 2:4–8).
Jesus came in the “special power” of Yahweh.
He was vested with all the authority
of His Father God.
Jesus spoke with God’s authority so that
“the people were amazed at his teaching”
(Mark 1:22).
He drove out unclean spirits (Mark 1:21–28, 39; Luke 4:31–37), healed the sick, and forgave people’s sins (Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 7:48). Jesus controlled the elements (Matthew 8:23–27), raised the dead to life (John 11:38–44), and cleansed the temple (Mark 11:27–33),
all by God’s mandate.
“All authority in heaven and on earth” was given to Jesus by His Father
(Matthew 28:18),
including the authority “to judge”
(John 5:27)
and to lay down His life in sacrifice for the sins of the world
(John 10:18).
God “granted him authority over all people that
he might give eternal life
to all those” God had given to Him
(John 17:2)
“Blessed is he who comes
in the
Name of the Lord”
is a declaration of praise and recognition
that
Jesus Christ
is the
Savior of the world
who came in the
power and authority of God
“have come in my Father’s name,”
said Jesus (John 5:43).
All that Christ did was commissioned by His Father.
Everything Jesus said and did
was to
glorify His Father
and
accomplish the work of making Him
known
to humans so that they might
be saved
(John 17:1–24).
Once we receive God’s strength at salvation, we can
begin to
“understand the incredible greatness of
God’s power
for us who believe him.
This is the same mighty power
that raised Christ
from the dead and seated him
in the place of honor
at God’s right hand in the
heavenly realms”
(Ephesians 1:19–21).
The Lord enables us to
“be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”
(Ephesians 6:10).
Psalms 113—118 are known as the Hallel Psalms, or simply the Hallel (Hallel means “praise”). While many psalms praise God, this set of psalms became associated with Passover due the mention of the deliverance from Egypt in Psalm 114. The focus on the exodus is the reason these psalms are also sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Hallel.
These psalms were recited at Jewish feasts, especially Passover. Depending upon which tradition was being followed, one or two of the psalms were recited before the meal, and the rest after.
Here is a brief description of each of the Hallel Psalms:
Psalm 113 is a short psalm of praise without reference to any historical context. Verse 3 may be the best known from this psalm: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (ESV).
Psalm 114 is also a short psalm that poetically relates the Hebrews’ deliverance from Egypt: “The sea looked and fled. . . . The mountains skipped like rams. . . . [the Lord] turns the rock into a pool of water” (verses 3–4, 8).
Psalm 115 is slightly longer and contrasts those who trust in the Lord with those who trust in the idols of the surrounding nations. “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them” (verses 4–8, ESV).
Psalm 116 is written from the perspective of an individual who has been delivered from a dire situation. “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (verses 1–2, ESV).
Psalm 117 is both the shortest psalm and the shortest “chapter” in the Bible, with only 2 verses (although psalms are not technically chapters). This is the whole psalm: “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” (ESV).
Psalm 118 is the longest of the Hallel Psalms. It admonishes both the nation and the individual to praise the Lord and expresses confidence that the Lord will save those who call on Him. It begins and ends with the well-known exhortation, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (ESV). Also well-known is verse 14: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (ESV).
Taken as a group, the Hallel Psalms focus on deliverance, both nationally and individually. It is quite possible that, when Jesus finished the Last Supper and He and His disciples sang a hymn (Mark 14:26), the hymn that they sang was this group of Hallel Psalms. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the Passover meal and infused it with new meaning. The salvation that He promised was not deliverance from physical danger or human bondage but salvation from spiritual bondage and the grave danger of the penalty of sin.
In the conclusion to the great chapter on salvation, Paul in Romans 8:31 asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” This may be an allusion to one of the Hallel Psalms: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:6).
The Hallel Psalms were a fitting passage to be included in Passover celebrations and fitting for today’s New Covenant believer to celebrate salvation from the power and the penalty of sin.
EaRly Voting
Foreign Affairs are Heavily Woven!
If individuals take
voting seriously, and knowledgeably
as they should,
the sum
total of policy alignment
will be a
reflection of your value system
Followers of Christ Follow him,
not human leaders
Christians aren’t united
because of
voting affiliation,
they are united because
of their
freedom to Vote
Americas Foundation is
Rooted
in a foundational
value system That WE the People,
ALL are
Created Equal
under God In All Ways,
including ideological Diversity
and the Freedom to Seek
Truth
under
God and not Men
People don't represent policies, rather,
policies represent people;
Polite reminder as Community Citizens
to
mindfully understand the policies we vote for
and
their likely vitality without being swayed
by outward
presentation of human Character
The obstacle of a straight and narrow path
is not difference of perspective,
but that
Truth is peacefully upheld
We are not of this world, but we live in it
The sufferings and trials of
this world
are part of life.
But, in remembering that we are “not of this world,”
we know that
such things are just for a little while
(1 Peter 5:10).
The knowledge that we are not of this world
gives Christians
hope even in the darkest times
(1 Peter 1:6 –9).
This broken place is not where
we ultimately belong,
and it is not where we will stay
(Hebrews 13:14).
“We are receiving a kingdom
that
cannot be shaken”
(Hebrews 12:28).
Christians, as part of Jesus’ kingdom, are
not of this world.
We have been adopted as heirs of heaven
by God Himself,
and that is where our citizenship is
(Titus 3:7).
Until our King returns, we wait
(Titus 2:13),
and we hope (Romans 5:5), and
we do what we can to bring others into
the “not of this world” relationship
with
Jesus Christ
The Hebrew word adamah means
“land,” “ground,” or “soil.”
The New American Standard Bible
translates
adamah as “ground” 64 times
and
“land” or “lands”
114 times.
Related to adamah is the word adam,
which
means “man” or “mankind.”
Of course, adam is also used as the proper name of
the first man, Adam.
Most scholars believe that the words adamah, Adam,
and Edom stem from a
root word
with the basic meaning
of “red.”
The word adamah could then be more literally translated
“red ground,”
and the name Adam could
be said to mean
“red man” or “man from the red dirt.”
“sign of Jonah”
was used by Jesus
as a typological metaphor for
His future
crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
Jesus answered with this expression
when asked by the Pharisees for miraculous proof
that
He was indeed the Messiah
It is this three days that Jesus was referring to when
He spoke of the sign of Jonah.
Jesus had already been
producing miracles that were witnessed by many.
Jesus
had just performed a great sign in the Pharisees’ presence
by healing a deaf man
who was possessed of a demon.
Rather than believe,
they
accused Jesus
of doing this by the
power of Satan
Jesus recognized their
hardness of heart
and refused to give them further
proof of His identity.
However, He did say that there would be one further sign forthcoming,
His resurrection from the dead.
This would be their final opportunity to be convinced.
Jesus’ paralleling of the Pharisees with the people of Nineveh is telling.
The people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways (Jonah 3:4–10)
after hearing Jonah’s call for repentance,
while the Pharisees
continued in their unbelief
despite being
eyewitnesses to the miracles
of Jesus.
Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they were culpable for their unbelief, given the conversion of the people of Nineveh, sinners who had received far less evidence than the Pharisees themselves had witnessed. Interestingly, from the time of Jonah’s preaching, the people of Nineveh
had 40 days to repent,
and they did,
sparing their city from destruction.
From the time of Jesus’ preaching,
the people of Jerusalem had
40 years,
but they did not repent
and Jerusalem was destroyed.
God would often use signs (or miracles)
in the Bible to
authenticate His chosen messenger.
The Lord provided Moses with several miraculous signs
in order to prove to others
that he was appointed by God
(Exodus 4:5–9; 7:8–10;19-20).
God sent down fire on Elijah’s altar
during
Elijah’s contest with the prophets of Baal
(1 Kings 18:36–39).
He performed this miracle to prove that the
God of Israel
was the one true God.
Jesus Himself would perform many
miracles (or “signs”)
to demonstrate His power over nature
(Matthew 4:23; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 8:22–24; John 6:16–24).
The “sign of Jonah”
would turn out to be Jesus’ greatest miracle of all.
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead
would be
God’s chief sign that Jesus was
Israel’s
long-awaited Messiah
(Acts 2:23–32)
and establish Christ’s claims to deity
(Romans 1:3–4).
Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.
In Greek, the phrase is
Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ
When we take the first letter from each word in that phrase,
we have ΙΧΘΥΣ,
which happens to be the Greek word
for “fish”
(ixthus or icthus—the spelling can vary in English).
Some versions of the Christian fish symbol contain the Greek letters
inside or underneath the symbol itself.
The Christian fish
symbol
also brings to mind several events
in Jesus’ ministry.
Twice,
Jesus provided a miraculous
draught of fish for His disciples
(Luke 5:4–7; John 21:4–6).
He ate fish with His disciples on at least two occasions after His resurrection
(Luke 24:42; John 21:13).
The miracle of the temple coin involved a fish
(Matthew 17:27).
And of course the feeding of five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand started
with a lunch that included fish
(Matthew 14:15–21; 15:32–38).
During the early days
of
Christianity,
Christians were often put
to death
for practicing their
faith,
so they worshiped in
secret places
A fish painted or etched on the outside
door of a house
let other Christians know
that
they would be safe and welcome
inside.
The ancient catacombs in Rome
are filled
with images of fish,
carved
there by Christians hiding from
persecution.
Jesus Christ, God’s Son,
Savior
is a wonderful summary of biblical
Truth
regarding the Lord,
and the Christian fish symbol
is a
beautiful way to express
Faith in HIM
But following Christ involves
much more
than sporting an
ixthus on the back of
one’s CAR
Jesus spoke
often of the necessity
of inward TRUTH
as opposed to outward
shows of religion
Those who use a
Christian fish symbol should
make SURE
they
actually KNOW Christ,
TRUST Him as Savior,
and
OBEY Him as Lord.
Jesus told the
Parable of the Fig Tree--
Luke 13:6-9--
immediately after reminding His listeners
of a
tower over the pool of Siloam
(John 9:7)
which unexpectedly fell and killed
eighteen people.
The moral of that story is found
in Luke 13:3:
“Unless you repent, you will likewise perish.”
To reiterate this moral,
Jesus tells the
story of the
fig tree, the vineyard owner,
and the gardener
who took care of the vineyard.
It was a mercy that God kept us from the tree of life. By barring access to the tree of life, God showed compassion in His omniscience. Knowing that, because of sin, earthly life would be filled with sorrow and toil, God graciously limited the number of years men would live. To live eternally in a sinful state would mean endless agony for humanity, with no hope of the relief that comes with death.
By limiting our lifespan,
God gives us enough time
to come
to know Him and
His provision for eternal life
through Christ
but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition.
In His great love, God provided One who would redeem fallen mankind. Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, but through another Man, Jesus Christ, redemption through the forgiveness of sin is available to all (Romans 5:17). Those who avail themselves of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross will be resurrected to see the tree of life again, for it stands in the middle of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, where it bears “twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2
The three entities in the story all have clear symbolic significance. The vineyard owner represents God, the one who rightly expects to see fruit on His tree and who justly decides to destroy it when He finds none. The gardener, or vineyard keeper who cares for the trees, watering and fertilizing them to bring them to their peak of fruitfulness, represents Jesus, who feeds His people and gives them living water. The tree itself has two symbolic meanings: the nation of Israel and the individual.
As the story unfolds,
we see the vineyard owner
expressing
his disappointment at
the fruitless tree.
He has looked for fruit
for
three years from this tree,
but has found none.
The three-year period is significant
because for three years
John the Baptist and Jesus
had been
preaching the message of repentance
throughout Israel.
But the fruits of repentance were not forthcoming. John the Baptist warned the people
about the Messiah coming and
told them to
bring forth fruits fit for repentance
because the ax
was already laid at the
Root of the Tree
(Luke 3:8-9).
But the Jews were offended by the idea they needed to repent,
and they rejected their Messiah
because He demanded repentance from them.
After all, they had the revelation of God, the prophets, the Scriptures,
the covenants, and the adoption
(Romans 9:4-5).
They had it all, but they were already
apostate.
They had departed from the
true faith
and the
true and living God
and created a system of
works-righteousness that
was an
abomination to God.
He, as the vineyard owner, was perfectly
justified in
tearing down the tree that had
no fruit
The Lord’s ax was already poised
over the
root of the tree,
and
it was ready to fall.
However, we see the gardener pleading here for a little more time.
There were a few months before the crucifixion, and more miracles to come, especially the incredible miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which would astound many and perhaps cause the Jews to repent.
As it turned out,
Israel as a nation still did
not believe,
but
individuals certainly did
(John 12:10-11).
The compassionate gardener
intercedes for more time to water
and fertilize the fruitless tree,
and the gracious Lord of the vineyard
responds in patience.
The lesson for the individual is that borrowed time is not permanent.
God’s patience has a limit.
In the parable, the vineyard owner
grants another year of life to the tree. In the same way,
God in His mercy grants us
another day, another hour, another breath.
Christ stands at the door of each man’s heart
knocking and seeking to gain entrance
and requiring repentance from sin.
But if there is no fruit, no repentance,
His patience will come to an end,
and the fruitless,
unrepentant individual will be cut down.
We all live on borrowed time; judgment is near. That is why the prophet Isaiah wrote,
"Seek the LORD while he may
be found;
call on him while he
is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the
evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will
have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon"
(Isaiah 55:6-7).
Reading from Genesis 2, we notice several plays on
the word adamah:
“There was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground [adamah]. Then the Lord God formed a man [adam] from the dust of the ground [adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man [adam] became a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and
there he put the man [adam] he had formed.
The Lord God made all kinds
of trees
grow out of the ground
[adamah]”
(verses 5–14).
Then in Genesis 2:15, we read this:
“The Lord God took the man [adam] and put him in
the Garden of Eden
to work it and take care of it.”
So, not only is Adam formed from adamah and
named after adamah,
but he is now assigned with working the adamah
and
cultivating the plants that come from it.
After Adam’s sin, God curses both Adam and adamah:
“To Adam [adam] he said . . . ‘Cursed is the ground [adamah] because of you; through painful
toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life’”
(Genesis 3:17).
Then God said that the curse on Adam will result
in his return to adamah:
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you
return to the ground [adamah],
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return”
(Genesis 3:19).
The Bible teaches that mankind has an intimate relationship with the earth (see Genesis 2:5). Adam was formed from the earth, was responsible for the curse brought upon the earth,
is tasked with cultivating the earth,
eats the produce of the earth, and at death
returns to the earth.
As children of Adam,
we are earthly--
we have a connection with
adamah.
And that is why we must be born again
(John 3:3)
Only a relationship with Jesus Christ
can break us free
from the Adamic curse and
the
Adamic fate.
The first Adam subjected us to a curse;
but Jesus,
the “Last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45),
gives us a blessing.
Contrasting Adam with Christ,
Paul writes,
“The first man was of the dust
of the earth;
the second man is of
heaven”
(1 Corinthians 15:47).
The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
is the
most important event in history,
providing irrefutable evidence that
Jesus is who
He claimed to be – the Son of God.
The resurrection was not only the supreme validation of His deity; it
also validated the Scriptures,
which foretold His coming and resurrection. Moreover, it authenticated
Christ’s claims that He would be raised
on the third day
(John 2:19-21; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34).
If Christ’s body was not resurrected, we have no hope that ours will be
(1 Corinthians 15:13, 16)
In fact, apart from Christ’s bodily resurrection, we have
no Savior, no salvation, and no hope
of eternal life.
As the apostle Paul said,
our faith would be “useless” and
the life-giving power
of the gospel would be altogether eliminated.
Because our eternal destinies ride on the truth of this historical event, the resurrection has been the target of Satan’s greatest attacks against the church. Accordingly, the historicity of Christ’s bodily resurrection has been examined and investigated from every angle and studied endlessly by countless scholars, theologians, professors, and others over the centuries. And even though a number of theories have been postulated that attempt to disprove this momentous event, no credible historical evidence exists which would validate anything other than His literal bodily resurrection. On the other hand, the clear and convincing evidence
of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is overwhelming.
Nonetheless, from the Christians in ancient Corinth to many today, misunderstandings persist relative to certain aspects of our Savior’s resurrection. Why, some ask, is it important that Christ’s body was resurrected? Couldn’t His resurrection have just been spiritual? Why and how does the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantee the bodily resurrection of believers?
Will our resurrected bodies be the same as our earthly bodies?
If not, what will they be like? The answers to these questions are found in the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, a church that he established
several years earlier during his second
missionary journey.
In addition to growing factions in the young Corinthian church, there was rampant misunderstanding of some key Christian doctrines, including the resurrection. Although many of the Corinthians accepted that Christ has been resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:1, 11), they had difficulty believing others could or would be resurrected. The continuing influence of Gnostic philosophy, which held that everything spiritual was good whereas everything physical, such as our bodies, was intrinsically evil, was essentially responsible for their confusion regarding their own resurrection. The idea of a detestable corpse being eternally resurrected was, therefore, strongly opposed by some and certainly by the Greek philosophers of the day (Acts 17:32).
Yet,
most of the Corinthians understood that Christ’s resurrection
was bodily and not spiritual.
After all, resurrection means “a rising from the dead”;
something comes back to life.
They understood that all souls were immortal
and at death
immediately went to be with the Lord
(2 Corinthians 5:8).
Thus, a “spiritual” resurrection
would make no sense,
as the spirit doesn’t die and therefore cannot be resurrected. Additionally, they were aware that the Scriptures, as well as Christ Himself, stated that His body would rise again on the third day. Scripture also made it clear that Christ’s body would see no decay (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27), a charge that would make no sense if His body was not resurrected. Lastly,
Christ emphatically told His disciples it was His body
that was resurrected:
“A spirit does not have flesh
and bones
as you see I have”
(Luke 24:39).
Again, however, the
Corinthians’ concern was regarding their personal resurrection.
Accordingly, Paul tried to convince the Corinthians that because
Christ rose
from the dead, they also would rise
from the dead some day,
and that the
two resurrections – Christ’s and ours –
must stand or fall together,
for “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even
Christ has been raised”
(1 Corinthians 15:13).
“But Christ has indeed
been raised from the dead,
the first fruits
of those who have
fallen asleep.
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
For as in Adam all die, so
in Christ all will be made alive”
(1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
When Jesus Christ
was resurrected, He became
the “first fruits”
of all who would be raised
(see also Colossians 1:18).
The Israelites could not fully harvest their crops
until they brought a representative sampling
(first fruits)
to the priests as an offering to the Lord
(Leviticus 23:10).
This is what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22;
Christ’s own resurrection was
the “first fruits”
of the resurrection “harvest” of the believing dead.
The “first fruits” language Paul uses
indicates something to follow,
and that something would be
His followers – the rest of
the “crop.”
This is how Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours.
Indeed,
His resurrection requires our resurrection.
And to allay their concerns regarding
connecting the spirit
to what was deemed an undesirable body,
Paul explained to them the
nature of
our resurrected bodies
and how they would differ from
our earthly bodies
Paul likened our deceased earthly bodies
to a “seed,”
and God would ultimately provide
another body
(1 Corinthians 15:37-38)
that would be like
Christ’s glorious resurrected body
(1 Corinthians 15:49; Philippians 3:21).
Indeed, just as with our Lord,
our bodies which are
now perishable, dishonored, weak, and natural
will one day be raised into bodies
that
are imperishable, glorious, powerful,
and spiritual
(1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
Our spiritual bodies
will be perfectly
equipped for heavenly,
supernatural living.
After Jesus rose from the dead,
He appeared to the disciples
on a number of occasions.
John 21 records the third of those instances and includes the notable mention of 153 fish. Peter and the others had just witnessed another miracle of Jesus involving a large catch of fish, and
“Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.
It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn”
(John 21:11).
On this occasion Jesus appeared to His disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, as they were in their boat returning from an unsuccessful night of fishing (John 21:1–3). Jesus, whom they had not yet recognized, called to the disciples from the shore, asking them whether they had caught any fish (John 21:4–5). After the disciples responded that they had not, Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the right (starboard) side of the boat. They did, and they caught so many fish in the net that they couldn’t bring the nets in (John 21:6). John quickly realized the man on the shore was Jesus, and he told Peter.
Peter jumped in the water—presumably to swim to shore to see Jesus (John 21:7). The other disciples, meanwhile, came in the boat, being only about 200 cubits (or 100 yards) from the shore (John 21:8).
When they arrived at shore, Peter went back into the boat to help them collect the fish, and they counted 153 fish—and large fish, at that.
While there were so many fish, the net did not break
(John 21:11).
The meaning of the 153 fish in John 21:11 is evident from the context. As career fisherman, the disciples would not have been strangers to the process of tallying their catch. These were apparently big enough fish to put strain on the fishermen and the nets (though, miraculously, the nets were not torn). That John mentions the number of 153 fish emphasizes the fact that something extraordinary had happened, because Someone extraordinary was there. The 153 fish provided further evidence to the disciples that the resurrected Jesus had power over nature just as He had demonstrated before His crucifixion. Earlier, John had recorded that Jesus turned the water into wine (John 2), healed an official’s son (John 4), healed a lame man (John 5), fed 5,000 people from five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6), walked on water (John 6), healed a man who had been born blind (John 9), raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11), and rose from the dead Himself (John 20). The 153 fish in John 21:11 might seem insignificant compared to these magnificent signs, but to an audience of fisherman who had failed to catch even one fish during an entire night of work, this remarkable catch provided more evidence that their belief in Jesus was well placed.
Just a few verses before John records the catching of the 153 fish, John explains that his purpose in writing was so that people would believe in Jesus and have life in His name
(John 20:30–31).
There were many signs and works of Jesus that John could have recorded, but he chose to record those included in the Gospel of John so his readers could have confidence that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
(John 20:31),
and that
He is indeed equal with God
(John 5:18).
In Deuteronomy 6:8–9 the Lord speaks of His laws, saying, “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” A related passage says, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 11:18–20). Write them on the doorframes, tie them on your hands, and bind them on your foreheads. Were the Jewish people to take these commands literally?
Doors and Gates: The Jewish tradition of placing a mezuzah on the doorpost is based on this passage of Scripture. The mezuzah (the Hebrew word for “doorpost”) is a small piece of parchment usually containing this line from Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” An extra-biblical Jewish tradition requires that these words be written by an approved Jewish scribe called a sofer stam. The parchment is folded or rolled, placed in a small case, and attached to the right side of the doorway of a home at shoulder height. Tradition dictates that it be placed within 30 days of moving into a new home.
Foreheads/Hands: Since ancient times, Jews have practiced the tradition of using phylacteries (also called “tefillin”). Phylacteries are small leather boxes that contain portions of the Law of Moses. The boxes are strapped to the wrist and to a sort of headband so that one literally carries the laws of God over his eyes and on his hands. Jesus mentions this practice in Matthew 23:5: “They make their phylacteries wide.”
Despite the literal application of these verses by traditional Jews, many Old Testament scholars believe the commands were meant to be figurative. Exodus 13:9 and 16 also suggest God was using figurative language to emphasize the importance of obeying His laws. Later prophets argued that the emphasis of the Law was on matters of the heart rather than external ritual. Micah, for example, noted, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
In summary, many Jews have taken the concept of putting God’s laws on doors, hands, and head literally, yet the emphasis in these passages is on the importance of the Law. The Law of the Lord is perfect, according to Psalm 19:7. Psalm 1 emphasizes the importance of meditating upon God’s Word both day and night. We should never forget it; it should be a part of our daily lives. The Word belongs in our hearts, not just on our foreheads.
God said that when He saw the lamb’s blood on the doorframe of a house, He would “pass over” that home and not permit “the destroyer” (Exodus 12:23) to enter. Any home without the blood of the lamb would have their firstborn son struck down that night (Exodus 12:12-13).
The Bible also mentions scarlet thread or scarlet yarn as part of the tabernacle’s curtains (Exodus 26:1) and the high priest’s ephod (Exodus 28:6), along with threads of gold, blue, and purple. Scripture does not comment on the significance of those colors in the curtains or ephod, but some commentators surmise that the gold, blue, and purple foreshadow Christ’s glory, heavenly origin, and kingly position, while the scarlet thread represents Christ’s atoning work on the cross through the shedding of His blood.
Another significant mention of scarlet thread is in Joshua 2. Two spies had been sent to Jericho in advance of the Israelites’ taking of that city. The spies were hidden in Jericho by Rahab the harlot, who expressed her faith in Israel’s God and protected the spies (see Hebrews 11:31). Rahab allowed the Hebrew spies to escape from Jericho by letting them down through her window by means of a rope made of scarlet thread. As they departed, the spies told Rahab, “Tie this cord of scarlet thread in the window” (Joshua 2:18), with the promise that she and her household would be kept safe in the coming invasion. By faith, Rahab obeyed:
“And she tied the scarlet cord in the window”
(verse 21).
Later, when the walls of Jericho fell down and
the Israelites took the city,
Joshua commanded that Rahab and her family be spared
(Joshua 6:22–23).
Marking her home was, of course,
the “cord of scarlet thread.”
It’s easy to dismiss the color of Rahab’s rope as mere coincidence, but the scarlet color is significant.
The rope in her window
was a sign of her faith and led to her salvation,
as she was
not destroyed with the rest of Jericho.
The scarlet rope—the color of blood—worked for Rahab much as the blood of the Passover lamb had worked during the exodus: every home marked with blood was spared death that night (Exodus 12:13).
God’s mercy and forgiveness of Rahab the harlot was signified
by a rope of scarlet thread,
which becomes a symbol of
the blood of Christ.
The New Testament
establishes a relationship between this prototypical
Passover lamb
and the consummate Passover Lamb,
Jesus Christ
(1 Corinthians 5:7).
the fulfillment, an outcome, and/or marks the arrival
the consummation, fulfillment and outcome
of the
New Covenant when Christ's second coming
brings the
Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven
(Rev 11:15)
At the time of Jesus, there was the sacrifice of the lambs in the Temple, but also the Passover (pasch) meal. The Passover Seder or “order” featured in the meal four cups of wine. Within the Passover meal, there were two regulations that had to be followed – first, before the lamb was to be eaten, several hours of fasting were required, beginning around 3:00pm. The fasting we do as Catholics before we receive the Holy Eucharist in Mass is a similar function to the fasting in the Passover meal. The second regulation was that the drinking of the four cups of wine was deemed mandatory.
The Cup of Sanctification (the kiddish cup) –The first cup was the “introductory rites” to the Passover meal. The Passover meal begins in the evening, sometime around “nightfall.” The father gathers with his family at a large table and reclines to celebrate the freedom won by God in Egypt. The first cup is mixed with water and wine. After the mixing occurred, the father begins with the formal blessing over the cup. After the blessing, the food is then brought out, which includes unleavened bread, bitter herbs, a bowl of sauce, and the roasted lamb, which is known as “the body” in traditional Jewish sources. Appetizers were also brought out, however, the actual meal had not yet started.
The Cup of Proclamation (the haggadah cup) –The second cup would be mixed, but not drunk. The father would “proclaim” what the Lord did for Israel in Egypt. The son then asks the question – why is this night different from other nights? The son’s question is connected to the drinking of the second cup. The father would then answer by quoting a specific section from the Scriptures (read Deuteronomy 26:5-11). This exchange between the father and the son displays how the Passover meal looks back to the exodus and redemption the Israelites received by God in Egypt. The father then explains the parts of the meal – unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and the lamb. Explaining the significance of the meal was essentially the center of this part of the meal. To express their thanksgiving to God, the family would then sing the Hallel (“praise”) Psalms 113 and 114.
The Cup of Blessing (the berakah cup) –The third cup would be mixed and this is where the supper officially begins. The family would finally eat the lamb and the unleavened bread. Because customs change over time, it’s hard to figure how this actually was staged, but it seems that there was a blessing over the bread, there was a serving of a hors d’oeuvre, which consisted of a small morsel of bread, and at the end the main course was eaten. Once the meal was completed, the father recited another blessing over the third cup and it was consumed.
The Cup of Praise (the hallel cup)
The remainder of the Hallel Psalms (115-118) would be sung. Psalms 115-118 are known as the Great Hallel. These psalms may not mean much to us today, although it is important to learn their significance, they were well known to Jesus and his Apostles since they would sing them each year for the Passover. The Hallel Psalms were a “script” for the one offering the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psalm 116). Once Psalm 118 was sung, the fourth cup was drunk. At this point, the meal was finished. An interesting side note is that Jesus would have seen his own fate in these hymns.
In context of the Last Supper, we must ask the question –
Did Jesus finish the meal and how many cups did they drink?
First, Jesus vowed not to drink of “fruit of the vine”
until the coming of the kingdom of God.
Here he is speaking of the fourth cup. Second, after the third cup,
Jesus and Apostles “sing a hymn” (Hallel Psalms) and
then “went out,”
however nothing was drank. Both Matthew and Mark
speak of this in their Gospels.
In the end, Jesus makes reference
to the fourth cup, but possibly refuses to drink
it at the Last Supper.
He does not finish the meal…yet!
At this point,
Jesus and his Apostles make their way to
the Garden of Gethsemani
(read Matthew 26:36-46).
Here we read that Jesus prays three times for
the cup that he must drink.
The cup (or chalice in some translations)
is the fourth cup,
the final cup of the Passover meal.
Between the giving of his body at
the Last Supper as the sacrifice and
one of the cups as his own blood,
Jesus classifies his body as the New Passover.
Once the meal is over,
his blood will be poured out,
and
Jesus will be dead.
He does not finish the meal in the Upper Room
because it
will finish with his death on the cross.
The fourth cup in relation to Jesus’ death on the cross is also known as the Cup of Consummation.
Nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that Jesus drinks the final cup on the way to the cross. But when we look at the final moments of the life of Christ on the cross, we notice that he does drink of “the fruit of the vine.” However, in Mark 15:23, he does drink since the wine is filled myrrh, which would have dulled his sufferings. In Matthew 27:48, it states, “a sponge…filled it with vinegar” is lifted up for him to drink. The most overt explanation of this comes from John 19:28, which states that Jesus requests a drink and says, “I thirst.” After drinking of the vinegar given to him, in John 19:30, Jesus says, “It is finished.” When Our Lord speaks these words, he is not referring to his life or his mission, but he is referencing the meal started at the Last Supper. Here on the cross, Jesus finishes the Passover meal, and drinks the fourth cup.
The prophet John the Baptist recognized Jesus as “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29),
and the apostle Peter links the lamb without defect (Exodus 12:5)
with Christ, whom he calls
a “lamb without blemish or defect”
(1 Peter 1:19).
Jesus is qualified to be called One “without blemish”
because
His life was completely free from sin
(Hebrews 4:15).
In Revelation, John the apostle sees Jesus as “a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6).
Jesus was crucified
during the time that the Passover
was observed
(Mark 14:12).
The Bible says believers have symbolically applied the
sacrificial blood of Christ
to their hearts
and thus have escaped eternal death
(Hebrews 9:12, 14).
Just as the Passover lamb’s applied blood caused
the “destroyer” to
Pass Over each Household
Christ’s applied blood causes God’s judgment
to pass over
sinners and gives life to believers
(Romans 6:23).
Psalm 118 is one of the Hallel psalms,
also called
the “Egyptian Hallel,” a short series
of psalms
(Psalm 113—118)
incorporated in the celebration of
the Passover.
The final psalm is sung
in the
festive processional as the people
enter the temple gates
to worship
In Psalm 118:26, the congregation welcomes the vindicated king, singing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.”
Originally, this psalm depicted Israel’s exodus
journey from Egypt to
their eventual arrival at Mount Zion.
But its celebratory welcoming of the king was ultimately
fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
All four gospels quote Psalm 118:26: “Jesus was in the center of the procession,
and the people all around him
were shouting, ‘Praise God for the Son of David!
Blessings
on the one who comes in the
name of the LORD!
Praise God in highest heaven!’”
(Matthew 21:9, NLT; see also Mark 11:9; Luke 19:38; John 12:13).
The term translated
“blessed is”
comes from the
Hebrew word barukh (literally “to bless”)
and is most often used of God.
But in Psalm 118:26
it speaks of the king figure who comes in God’s authority.
Faithlife Study Bible explains that barukh
“describes bestowing someone with special power or declaring
Yahweh to be the source of special power.
In that regard, it means praising Yahweh for who He is” (Barry, J. D., et al, entry for Psalm 103:1, Lexham Press, 2012, 2016).
With the words, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” the ancient psalm praises God for who He is: “The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us” (Psalm 118:27).
The blessing also forecasts His future coming
as Israel’s Messiah.
During passion week, we hear the echo,
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,”
as the people of Christ’s day
recognize
Jesus as the long-awaited One.
Earlier, when Jesus lamented
over Jerusalem,
He predicted to the Pharisees,
“Look, your house is left
to you desolate.
I tell you,
you will not see me again
until you say,
‘Blessed is he
who comes in the
Name of the Lord’”
(Luke 13:35).
Jesus identified Himself as the
“stone the builders rejected”
(Psalm 118:22; cf. Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17)
who would bring
salvation to all who prayed to Him,
“Save us, Lord!”
(Psalm 118:2).
Through His crucifixion and resurrection,
Jesus was the
“living stone rejected by men
but in the
sight of God
chosen and precious”
(1 Peter 2:4, ESV).
He became the chief cornerstone
(Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33),
“and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame”
Romans 10:11; cf. 1 Peter 2:4–8).
Jesus came in the “special power” of Yahweh.
He was vested with all the authority
of His Father God.
Jesus spoke with God’s authority so that
“the people were amazed at his teaching”
(Mark 1:22).
He drove out unclean spirits (Mark 1:21–28, 39; Luke 4:31–37), healed the sick, and forgave people’s sins (Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 7:48). Jesus controlled the elements (Matthew 8:23–27), raised the dead to life (John 11:38–44), and cleansed the temple (Mark 11:27–33),
all by God’s mandate.
“All authority in heaven and on earth” was given to Jesus by His Father
(Matthew 28:18),
including the authority “to judge”
(John 5:27)
and to lay down His life in sacrifice for the sins of the world
(John 10:18).
God “granted him authority over all people that
he might give eternal life
to all those” God had given to Him
(John 17:2)
“Blessed is he who comes
in the
Name of the Lord”
is a declaration of praise and recognition
that
Jesus Christ
is the
Savior of the world
who came in the
power and authority of God
“have come in my Father’s name,”
said Jesus (John 5:43).
All that Christ did was commissioned by His Father.
Everything Jesus said and did
was to
glorify His Father
and
accomplish the work of making Him
known
to humans so that they might
be saved
(John 17:1–24).
Once we receive God’s strength at salvation, we can
begin to
“understand the incredible greatness of
God’s power
for us who believe him.
This is the same mighty power
that raised Christ
from the dead and seated him
in the place of honor
at God’s right hand in the
heavenly realms”
(Ephesians 1:19–21).
The Lord enables us to
“be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power”
(Ephesians 6:10).
Psalms 113—118 are known as the Hallel Psalms, or simply the Hallel (Hallel means “praise”). While many psalms praise God, this set of psalms became associated with Passover due the mention of the deliverance from Egypt in Psalm 114. The focus on the exodus is the reason these psalms are also sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Hallel.
These psalms were recited at Jewish feasts, especially Passover. Depending upon which tradition was being followed, one or two of the psalms were recited before the meal, and the rest after.
Here is a brief description of each of the Hallel Psalms:
Psalm 113 is a short psalm of praise without reference to any historical context. Verse 3 may be the best known from this psalm: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!” (ESV).
Psalm 114 is also a short psalm that poetically relates the Hebrews’ deliverance from Egypt: “The sea looked and fled. . . . The mountains skipped like rams. . . . [the Lord] turns the rock into a pool of water” (verses 3–4, 8).
Psalm 115 is slightly longer and contrasts those who trust in the Lord with those who trust in the idols of the surrounding nations. “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them” (verses 4–8, ESV).
Psalm 116 is written from the perspective of an individual who has been delivered from a dire situation. “I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (verses 1–2, ESV).
Psalm 117 is both the shortest psalm and the shortest “chapter” in the Bible, with only 2 verses (although psalms are not technically chapters). This is the whole psalm: “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” (ESV).
Psalm 118 is the longest of the Hallel Psalms. It admonishes both the nation and the individual to praise the Lord and expresses confidence that the Lord will save those who call on Him. It begins and ends with the well-known exhortation, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” (ESV). Also well-known is verse 14: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (ESV).
Taken as a group, the Hallel Psalms focus on deliverance, both nationally and individually. It is quite possible that, when Jesus finished the Last Supper and He and His disciples sang a hymn (Mark 14:26), the hymn that they sang was this group of Hallel Psalms. At the Last Supper, Jesus took the Passover meal and infused it with new meaning. The salvation that He promised was not deliverance from physical danger or human bondage but salvation from spiritual bondage and the grave danger of the penalty of sin.
In the conclusion to the great chapter on salvation, Paul in Romans 8:31 asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” This may be an allusion to one of the Hallel Psalms: “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:6).
The Hallel Psalms were a fitting passage to be included in Passover celebrations and fitting for today’s New Covenant believer to celebrate salvation from the power and the penalty of sin.
So the LORD said to Joshua,
'Rise up!
Why is it that you have fallen on your face?
Israel has sinned,
and they have also transgressed
My covenant
which I commanded them.
And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, for they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst" (Josh 7:10-12).
Israel's army had just been completely routed by a few soldiers from the city of Ai because of Achan's disobedience (Josh 7:1). We cannot properly appreciate God's response to Achan's sin unless we consider it against the backdrop of Joshua's dialogue with the captain of the LORD's army. When Joshua asks the divine warrior, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" (Josh 5:13), the captain answers him with a one word response.
"No!"
One of the purposes of the book of Joshua is to remind us the God of the universe is not Israel's personal tribal deity. He is not their good luck charm. Nor is he ours! But sometimes we act as if God's primary purpose in the universe is to find us a parking spot. No doubt, God loves to bless his children with good gifts, and delights in providing for our needs (which at times includes a convenient parking spot).
But we must remember we are here to do God's bidding, he is not here to do ours. Like the people of Israel at the time of Joshua, we must also make difficult choices about whose side we're on. And this choice is particularly challenging when it comes to money. Achan's sin was actually not in taking some treasures from Jericho. Achan's sin was in taking those treasures and not giving them to God. He chose to put them in the wrong tent: his own (not God's). God is indeed for us (see Rom 8:31), but he is not our genie who is always on our side.
God is our master. We are not his.
And one of the clearest ways to see who is master
and who is servant
in our personal theology is the way we relate money.
But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. 'So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians'" (Exod 3:19-22).
September 11 2001, a date with no particular significance, became a permanent sacred memorial day in America's national calendar. October 7 2023 is, on so many levels, a day which will ever be a day in Israel's calendar associated with America's 9/11.
But it is absolutely essential to point out that October 7 2023 was already a day marked with special significance in Israel's calendar for nearly 3,500 years! The 21st of Tishrei 5784 (October 7 2023) was also the final day of Succoth, a day when Jewish people around the world celebrate the giving of the Torah (Deut 31:10-11; Neh 8:18).
As providence would have it, on the same day Israel faced yet another horrific national tragedy, we were also gathered around the Torah scroll, physically embracing and celebrating the gift of God's eternal word. Look again at Exodus 3:19-22. Therein, God makes a very detailed promise to Moses about Israel's future deliverance. And in Exodus 12:35-36, everything God promised comes true down to the finest of details.
As painful as the 21st of Tishrei 5784 has now become in our modern calendar, let us never forget that the 21st of Tishrei is also a day in our calendar when we have been holding onto God's irrevocable promises for the entire history of our people! And just as God fulfilled all his promises to Moses nearly 3,500 years ago, so He will do it again!
Romans has the theme of faith
(Romans 1:16–17).
Paul addresses the process by which faith is produced
in the heart in Romans 10:17:
“Faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard
through the word about Christ.”
The first eight chapters of Romans contends with the ideas of positional salvation through faith (Romans 1:18—5:21), the process of growing in holiness through faith (Romans 6:1—8:17), and
the future glorification Christians will receive because of faith
(Romans 8:18–39).
Chapters 9—11 of Romans works from the implied question,
“Has God then failed to fulfill His promises to Israel?”
It is within this context that Paul gives
the reason for
the Israelites’ lack of salvation; namely,
they lack faith
(Romans 9:32; 10:4).
The Israelites are saved through faith in Christ,
just like the Gentiles.
Eternal salvation does not distinguish
between Gentile or Jew
but is
received through belief in the person
and
work of Jesus Christ
(Romans 10:12–13; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8; Galatians 3:23–29).
In the lead-up to the statement that faith comes by hearing, Romans 10:14–16 explains the requirements for a series of actions to take place. In order for one to “call on the name of the Lord,” he or she must believe.
In order to believe, one must hear (or receive the report). In order for one to hear, another has to give the report.
And that other won’t give the report unless
he or she is sent.
Paul continues in Romans 10:17 to summarize the argument thus far:
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (NASB).
“Faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis, which means “belief, trust, or confidence in someone or something.” It is key to the book of Romans and is used 40 times in the book—three of those occurrences appearing in chapter 10. The verb form of the word is also used 21 times within the book and most often translated as “believe.”
If faith comes by hearing, then what does Paul mean by “hearing”? In this context, it is not simply the physical receiving of sounds by the ear as most English speakers would understand the term. “Hearing” seems to designate something more—the receiving or acceptance of a report.
Note the use of the word, translated “message” in Romans 10:16, as Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1:
“Lord, who has believed our message?”
In Isaiah’s day, the Lord had provided Israel with a message, but the prophet laments that few actually received it.
The “hearing” was not attached to simple sounds but to a message or report given.
In Romans 10, Paul makes the point
that the good news
has been given and the people of Israel have heard
(Romans 10:18).
The nature of the gospel is a report: a report of God saving people
from the wrath they deserve.
In order to believe the report, one must receive the report!
Faith comes by hearing. It is not a guarantee that the report will result in faith, as Paul makes clear in Romans 10:16. For just as the Israelites refused to believe the message of Isaiah, every human today can
refuse to believe the message of the gospel.
The nature of “hearing” also does not require the physical act of hearing with the ear. The report simply needs to be received. For instance, someone could read the gospel through a sermon and receive it by faith, without an audible word being spoken. As long as the message can be received fully, the medium does not affect the outcome. The content of the message must be “the word about Christ.”
As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5, the message is “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (NASB).
Faith that leads to eternal
salvation comes after “hearing”; that is,
after receiving
this message concerning Christ.
The book of Galatians
was a corrective
letter
written by Paul
to the people within the region
of Galatia.
The Christians there were being convinced that the law of Moses must be followed even
though such legalistic demands are contrary to
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
(Galatians 2:21; 3:1–5).
The people of Galatia were
“deserting Him who
called you by the grace of Christ,
for a different gospel”
(Galatians 1:6, NASB).
Ultimately, this “different gospel” taught that, while Christ may have declared the Christian righteous at the point of belief, one was still required to live a life under the burden of the Mosaic Law.
The people of Galatia were living according to the
works of the law, not by faith,
and Paul sets for them the example of
how to “live by faith”
(Galatians 2:20).
Whenever someone believes the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3–5), that person is identified with Christ in the past (being positionally declared righteous), present (growing into righteousness), and future (being presented as perfectly righteous).
Both the past and present aspects are seen in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul contrasts living by faith with dying to the law: “through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God” (verse 19).
This truth
is further expounded in Galatians 3:3,
“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (NASB).
The implied answer is “no!”
It is by faith, apart from the law,
that one is
presently being perfected.
Paul utilizes the concept of being “in Christ” (or “in the Lord”) 13 times in the book of Galatians. Instances of this point to the position of the Christian church (Galatians 1:22); the freedom the Christian has because of Christ (Galatians 2:4); the justification one receives through Christ (verse 17); the means by which one should live (verse 20); etc. (for all instances, see Galatians 1:16; 3:14, 19, 26, 28; 5:6, 10; 6:14).
The idea that we live by faith focuses on the present aspect of the Christian’s identity in Christ. In Galatians 2:20, Paul utilizes the phrase “in the body,” pointing specifically to the physical life of the Christian, as lived “now.” Living by faith is an act that takes place while the Christian is alive on the earth. This idea of presently being “in Christ” is critical to living by faith.
What is the object of the faith by which one should live? Paul continues in Galatians 2:20, “and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (NASB, emphasis added). The object of the belief, trust, or faith by which the Christian is to live is Jesus Christ! To live by faith is to live trusting Jesus, who loved us to the point of dying in our place (John 3:16), purchasing our salvation. This trust should be a constant throughout the life of the believer.
The Galatians were being told to live by works, ultimately placing the power in themselves. The gospel tells us that Jesus accomplished the necessary work; Jesus paid the price, and it is through Jesus that the Christian has freedom and power to live as he or she ought.
The Christian is justified by
faith in Jesus
(Galatians 3:10–14; Romans 4:3; Titus 3:5),
progressively made holy by
faith in Jesus
(Galatians 2:20; Titus 2:11–15),
and glorified because of
faith in Jesus
(Romans 8:1, 28–30).
All praise, honor, and glory are given
to Jesus Christ,
the Savior of the world
(1 John 2:1–2).
The glory of God is the beauty
of His spirit
It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but the beauty that emanates from His character,
from all that He is. The glory of man—human dignity and honor—fades (1 Peter 1:24). But the glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away.
It is eternal
Moses requested of God, “Now show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18).
In His response, God equates His glory with “all my goodness” (verse 19). “But,” God said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live”
(verse 20).
So, God hid Moses in “a cleft in the rock” to protect him from the fulness of God’s glory as it passed by
(verses 21–23).
No mortal can view God’s excelling splendor without
being utterly overwhelmed.
The glory of God puts the pride of man to shame: “Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, The haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day”
(Isaiah 2:10–11, NKJV).
Often, in the Old Testament, the manifestation of God’s glory was accompanied by supernatural fire, thick clouds, and a great quaking of the earth. We see these phenomena when God gave the law to Moses: “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.
The smoke billowed up from it like smoke
from a furnace,
and the whole mountain trembled violently”
(Exodus 19:18; see also Deuteronomy 5:24–25; 1 Kings 8:10–11; and Isaiah 6:1–4).
The prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of God was full of fire and lightning and tumultuous sounds, after which he saw “what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the
likeness of
the glory of the Lord”
(Ezekiel 1:26–28).
In the New Testament,
the glory of God is revealed
in His Son, Jesus Christ:
“The Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth”
(John 1:14).
Jesus came as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of [God’s] people Israel” (Luke 2:32). The miracles that Jesus did were “signs through which he revealed his glory”
(John 2:11).
In Christ, the glory of God
is meekly veiled,
approachable, and knowable.
He promises to return some day
“on the clouds of heaven, with
power and great glory”
(Matthew 24:30).
Isaiah 43:7 says that God saved Israel for His glory—in the redeemed will be seen the distillation of God’s grace and power and faithfulness. The natural world also exhibits God’s glory, revealed to all men, no matter their race, heritage, or location. As Psalm 19:1–4 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 73:24 calls heaven itself “glory.” Sometimes Christians speak of death as being “received unto glory,” a phrase borrowed from this psalm. When the Christian dies, he or she will be taken into God’s presence and surrounded by God’s glory and majesty. In that place, His glory will be seen clearly: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
In the future New Jerusalem, the glory of God will be manifest: “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp”
(Revelation 21:23).
God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8; cf. Exodus 34:14). Yet this is the very thing that people try to steal. Scripture indicts all idolaters: “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:22–23). Only God is eternal, and His perfect and eternal attributes of holiness, majesty, goodness, love, etc., are not to be exchanged for the imperfections and corruption of anything in this world.
In 1 Corinthians 10:23, Paul explores the nuance between freedom from the law and glorifying God:
“‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up.” In this passage, Paul makes the point that liberty is limited by love. We should not cause other Christians to stumble through exercising our “rights.” We should avoid activities that may not cause problems for us but will cause temptation or worry others. We can give glory to God whether we eat or drink or whatever we do by keeping the good of others in mind when exercising our freedom in Christ
This statement, “all have sinned,” is found
in Romans 3:23
(“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”)
and in the last clause of Romans 5:12
(“…because all sinned”)
Basically, it means that we’re all lawbreakers, because sin is the violation of God’s law (1 John 3:4). Sinfulness is the general characteristic of all mankind; we are all guilty before God. We are sinners by nature and by our own acts of transgression.
In Romans 5:12 the point of “all sinned” seems to be that all humanity “participated” in Adam’s sin and were condemned to death even before they themselves deliberately chose to sin; in fact, that is exactly what Paul confirms in Romans 5:14. Within this passage (5:12-21), Paul explains how and why the “death sentence” for Adam’s sin has come upon the entire human race.
We are all sinners because Adam passed on his sinful condition that leads inevitably to our personal sin and death. All share Adam’s death sentence as an inherited condition (the “sin nature”) that is passed down to and through the human race and that every child brings into the world. Even before a child can be held accountable for personal sin, he or she is naturally prone to disobey, to tell lies, etc.
Every child is born with a sin nature.
“The Lord looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see
if there are any who understand,
any who seek God”
(Psalm 14:2).
And what does the
all-seeing God find?
“All have turned aside, they have together
become corrupt;
there is no one who does good, not even one” (verse 3).
In other words, all have sinned.
Jesus said
“a tree is recognized by its fruit”
(Matthew 12:33).
When looking for “fruit,”
here are three specific tests to apply to any teacher
to determine
the accuracy of his or her teaching:
1) What does this teacher say about Jesus? In Matthew 16:15-16, Jesus asks, “Who do you say I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and for this answer Peter is called “blessed.” In 2 John 9, we read, “Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” In other words, Jesus Christ and His work of redemption is of utmost importance; beware of anyone who denies that Jesus is equal with God, who downplays Jesus’ sacrificial death, or who rejects Jesus’ humanity. First John 2:22 says, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”
2) Does this teacher preach the gospel? The gospel is defined as the good news concerning Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). As nice as they sound, the statements “God loves you,” “God wants us to feed the hungry,” and “God wants you to be wealthy” are not the complete message of the gospel. As Paul warns in Galatians 1:7, “Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” No one, not even a great preacher, has the right to change the message that God gave us. “If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:9).
3) Does this teacher exhibit character qualities that glorify the Lord? Speaking of false teachers, Jude 11 says, “They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.” In other words, a false teacher can be known by his pride (Cain’s rejection of God’s plan), greed (Balaam’s prophesying for money), and rebellion (Korah’s promotion of himself over Moses).
Jesus said to beware of such people
and that we
would know them by their fruits
(Matthew 7:15-20).
For further study, review those books of the Bible that were written specifically to combat false teaching within the church: Galatians, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, and Jude. It is often difficult to spot a false teacher/false prophet. Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15).
Only by being thoroughly familiar with the truth will we be able to recognize a counterfeit.
When Jesus cleared the temple
of the
moneychangers and animal-sellers,
He showed great emotion and anger (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22).
Jesus’ emotion was described as “zeal” for God’s house
(John 2:17).
His anger was pure and completely justified
because at its root was concern
for God’s holiness and worship.
Because these were at stake,
Jesus took quick and decisive action.
Another time Jesus showed anger was in the synagogue of Capernaum.
When the Pharisees refused to
answer Jesus’ questions,
“He looked around at them in anger,
deeply distressed at
their stubborn hearts”
(Mark 3:5).
Many times, we think of anger as a selfish, destructive emotion that we should eradicate from our lives altogether. However, the fact that Jesus did sometimes become angry indicates that anger itself, as an emotion, is amoral. This is borne out elsewhere in the New Testament. Ephesians 4:26 instructs us “in your anger do not sin” and not to let the sun go down on our anger. The command is not to “avoid anger” (or suppress it or ignore it) but to deal with it properly, in a timely manner. Jesus cleansed the temple of the money-changers and sellers of merchandise because of His disgust at what they had made of God’s house of prayer and His zeal to purify it from the abuse of ungodly men. Judea was under the rule of the Romans, and the money in current use was Roman coin. However, the Jewish law required that every man should pay a tribute to the service of the sanctuary of “half a shekel” (Exodus 30:11–16), a Jewish coin. It became, therefore, a matter of convenience to have a place where the Roman coin could be exchanged for the Jewish half shekel.
The money-changers provided this convenience but would demand a small sum for the exchange. Because so many thousands of people came up to the great feasts, changing money was a very profitable business and one that resulted in fraud and oppression of the poor.
Also, according to the Law, two doves or pigeons were required to be offered in sacrifice (Leviticus 14:22; Luke 2:24). Yet it was difficult to bring them from the distant parts of Judea, so a lucrative business selling the birds sprang up, with the sellers gouging the faithful by charging exorbitant prices. There were other merchants selling cattle and sheep for the temple sacrifices as well. Because of these sellers who preyed on the poor and because of His passion for the purity of His Father’s house, Jesus was filled with righteous indignation. As He overturned the tables of the money-changers, He condemned them for having turned God’s house of prayer into “a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). As He did so, His disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”
Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple is described in John 2:11–12 as having occurred just after Jesus’ first miracle, the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. John makes it clear that it was “after this” that He went to Capernaum, where He “stayed for a few days.” Then in the next verse (verse 13), John tells us that the “Passover of the Jews was at hand” (NKJV). These verses trace Jesus’ movements over a short period of time from Cana in Galilee to Capernaum and eventually to Jerusalem for the Passover. This is the first of the two times Jesus cleansed the temple. The Synoptic Gospels do not record the temple cleansing mentioned in John 2, instead only recording the temple cleansing that occurred during Passion Week.
The second cleansing of the temple occurred just after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem the last week of His life. This second cleansing is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not in John. There are differences in the two events, aside from their being nearly three years apart. In the first cleansing, temple officials confronted Jesus immediately (John 2:18), whereas in the second cleansing, the chief priests and scribes confronted Him the following day (Matthew 21:17–23). In the first event, Jesus made a whip of cords with which to drive out the sellers, but there is no mention of a whip in the second cleansing.
So there are two recorded occasions when Jesus cleansed the temple—the first time at the beginning of His public ministry, and the second time just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified.
Jesus is described as
the author and perfecter, or finisher, of our faith
in Hebrews 12:2.
An author is an originator or creator, as of a theory or plan. The Greek word translated “author” in Hebrews 12:2 can also mean “captain,” “chief leader” or “prince.” Acts 3:15uses the same word: “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses” (KJV), while the NIV and ESV use the word “author” instead of “prince.” From this we can deduce that Christ is the originator of our faith in that He begins it, as well as the captain and prince or our faith. This indicates that Jesus controls our faith, steers it as a captain steers a ship, and presides over it and cares for it as a monarch presides over and cares for his people.
The Greek word translated “perfecter” in Hebrews 12:2 appears only this one time in the New Testament. It means literally “completer” or “finisher” and speaks of bringing something to its conclusion. Putting the two words together, we see that Jesus, as God, both creates and sustains our faith. We know that saving faith is a gift from God, not something we come up with on our own (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that gift comes from Christ, its creator. He is also the sustainer of our faith, meaning that true saving faith cannot be lost, taken away or given away. This is a source of great comfort to believers, especially in times of doubt and spiritual struggles. Christ has created our faith and He will watch over it, care for it, and sustain it.
It is important for us to understand that God in Christ is not only the creator and sustainer of our saving faith, but He is also the sustainer of our daily walk and the finisher of our spiritual journey. For if God in Christ is not the author of our new life, and if Christ is not the finisher and perfecter of our faith through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling power, then we are neither born again nor are we a true follower of Christ. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Philippians 1:6; Ephesians 1:13-14).
From a human perspective,
the idea of
sitting in heavenly places is challenging
to grasp,
especially on this side of eternity.
Nevertheless,
this is the experience of everyone
who is
redeemed by God’s grace:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--
by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus”
(Ephesians 2:4–7, ESV).
Astonishing as it may
sound,
Christians are united
with
Jesus Christ
in
His resurrected life
(Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:4).
The apostle Paul prays for the Ephesians to understand “the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:19–20, NLT).
A little later, in Ephesians 2:4–10, Paul explains
that the greatness of
God’s incredible power toward believers
is rivaled by the magnitude of His love, mercy, and grace.
Before salvation, we were spiritually dead in our sins because our “sinful nature was not yet cut away,” but then God made us “alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins” (Colossians 2:13, NLT; see also 1 Corinthians 15:22). Our transgression no longer separates us from God (Colossians 1:21–22; Romans 8:38–39) because we now share in the life of Christ (Romans 8:11). Since Christ is seated “at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms,” so too are we in a spiritual sense. Since we have been “raised to new life with Christ,” we can now set our sights “on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand” (Colossians 3:1, NLT). Physically, we still live in the natural world. But God, by His great power, and because of His immense love, mercy, and grace, raised us from our spiritually dead status to new life in Christ. We now sit in heavenly places.
To sit in heavenly places is more than a figure of speech. It is a spiritual reality for the believer. Because of our union with Christ, we reap the benefit of His position of divine authority (see Psalm 110:1; cf. Acts 2:34–35). He is our Head and our Representative. Peter taught, “Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority” (1 Peter 3:22, NLT; see also Philippians 2:9–11). The gates of hell will not overcome the church (Matthew 16:18; see also 1 John 2:13) because we are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37; see also 1 John 5:4–5) who gives us the victory (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Our spiritual seat in the heavenly realms is a position of high honor, much like being seated at the VIP table of a Presidential luncheon. We have been given the royal privilege of being enthroned with the Son and will one day partake of His glory. If we let this spiritual truth sink in, it will change the way we think and live. Because we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, our position in heaven is secure, but we must never forget that we don’t deserve our place there.
We did nothing to earn it, but God graces us with it anyway
(Ephesians 2:8; 4:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5).
As we sit in heavenly places while still living on earth, we have access through Jesus Christ to all of heaven’s privileges and spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3–14). The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is available and working on our behalf as we walk in this world (Ephesians 1:18–19; Acts 17:28; 1 John 4:9). We have the whole armor of God at our disposal to help us “stand against the devil’s schemes” and stand firm “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:11–12).
Habakkuk 2:4 includes the well-known statement
“the righteous will live by faith.”
What does this mean?
The context helps us to understand God’s intent in this passage. The whole verse reads, “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.” “His soul” is a symbolic reference to Babylonia. This nation had become proud or “puffed up.” As a result, they were unrighteous and facing God’s judgment.
In contrast, the righteous (or the “just”) would
live by faith in God.
By contrast, the righteous are humble in God’s eyes and
will never face God’s judgment.
Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted three times in the New Testament. Paul quotes it in Romans 1:17,
emphasizing the idea that righteousness by faith is for both Jews and Gentiles:
“For in the gospel a righteousness of God
is revealed from faith to faith,
just as it is written,
‘The righteous will live by faith.’”
Then, in Galatians 3:11, we read,
“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law,
for
‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
Here, Paul stresses that we are
justified or made right before God
by faith.
The Law has no ability to justify anyone. As Habakkuk had recorded, people have always been saved by faith, not by works. Habakkuk 2:4 is also quoted in Hebrews 10:38.
In the third century, Rabbi Simla noted that Moses gave 365 prohibitions and 248 positive commands. David reduced them to eleven commands in Psalm 15; Isaiah made them six (33:14-15); Micah bound them into three (6:8); and Habakkuk condensed them all to one, namely—“The righteous shall live by faith” (from P. L. Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, #1495).
Christians are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and we walk in faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Only by faith in Christ are we made righteous (Romans 5:19). Paul further expounds on this truth in Galatians 2:16, saying,
“We know that a person is not justified by works of the law
but through faith in Jesus Christ,
so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified
by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,
because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
It is Christ’s righteousness that saves us, and
the only way to
receive that gift is to trust in Him.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”
(John 3:36).
When Habakkuk wrote, “The righteous shall live by his faith,”
he was echoing a
timeless truth first modeled in Abraham’s life (Genesis 15:6).
The righteous man will “live” in that
he will not face
God’s judgment; rather, in return for
his faith in God,
he has been given eternal life.
Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life.
The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one
of the four who is truly saved,
because salvation’s proof is fruit (Matthew 3:7-8; 7:15-20).
In the wilderness of Judea, John the Baptist began his ministry of preparing Israel to receive her Messiah, Jesus Christ. Enormous crowds went to hear John (Matthew 3:5) as he traveled through the region “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). Many people received John’s message, confessed their sins, and were baptized (Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5). These baptisms stirred up such a commotion that the Pharisees and Sadducees went out to investigate. Aware of their insincerity of heart, John said, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”
(Matthew 3:7–8).
John spoke severely, challenging these religious leaders’ spiritual pride and hypocrisy head-on. They needed to know that God’s judgment for sin was coming. Baptism is an outward symbol of true heart change. John’s baptism was a “baptism of repentance.” Repentance is the act of changing one’s mind that results in a change of actions. Sincere repentance involves turning away from sin both in thought and action. When the crowds came to John for baptism, they were showing their repentance and identifying with a new life. The Phariseesand Sadducees were detached observers at John’s baptism.
They claimed to have repented of their sins--
sins they eagerly pointed out
in others--
yet they lived as sinners,
all the while denying their own guilt.
The religious leaders of John’s day had refused to submit themselves to God. They thought they were good enough by way of association with Abraham through their Jewish heritage (see Matthew 3:9; John 8:39). But their religious rituals and spiritual “pedigree” were not enough to please God. The only way for sinners to enter a relationship with God is through genuine repentance and faith. These religious leaders should have been setting an example and taking the lead. Instead, they lived in self-righteous, hypocritical denial of their spiritual condition.
John the Baptist warned, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). The tree represents Israel. If Israel did not repent, it would be cut down and destroyed (see Luke 13:6–10). Only those who genuinely repented and began to produce good fruit would be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Luke’s gospel gives further insight into what it means to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. John told the people, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’
That means nothing,
for I tell you,
God can create
children of Abraham from
these very stones’”
(Luke 3:8, NLT).
John’s baptism of repentance was meant to be the start of a brand new, continuous life of producing fruit in keeping with righteousness. Our family tree won’t earn us a place in heaven or give us an automatic claim to God’s promises. John told the Sadducees and Pharisees who took pride in their lineage to take a more humble view: just as God had made Adam from the dust of the ground, God could raise up children of Abraham from the stones of the wilderness.
At John’s preaching, the people began to ask, “What should we do?” (Luke 3:10). In other words, “What is the fruit in keeping with repentance?” “John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same’” (Luke 3:11).
He told the tax collectors
in
the crowd,
“Don’t collect any more than
you are required to”
(verse 13).
He told the soldiers,
“Don’t extort money and don’t
accuse people falsely--
be content with your pay”
(verse 14).
Such actions
were the “fruit” of repentance
in that they showed
the
genuineness of the change of heart
The believer’s ability
to produce fruit in keeping with repentance
depends wholly
on our intimate fellowship with
Jesus Christ,
who said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if
it is severed from the vine,
and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.
For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5, NLT). The root will naturally produce fruit.
Fruit in keeping with repentance is the evidence (as well as a result) of a changed mind,
transformed life, and ongoing communion with Jesus.
In the Parable of the Growing Seed, Jesus tells of a man who scatters seed on the ground and then allows nature to take its course. As the man who sowed the seed goes about his business day by day, the seed begins to have an effect. First, the seed sprouts; then it produces a stalk and leaves, then a head of grain, and, finally, fully developed kernels in the head.
Jesus emphasizes that all of this happens without the man’s help.
The man who scattered the seed cannot even fully understand how it happens—it is simply the work of nature. “All by itself the soil produces” (verse 28).
The parable ends with a harvest.
As soon as the grain is ripe, the sickle is employed,
and the seed is harvested.
This happens at just the right time.
Jesus did not explain
this parable, as He did some others. Instead,
He left it to us to understand its meaning.
Taking the seed to be the Word of God,
as in Mark 4:14, we can interpret the
growth of the plants
as the working of God’s Word in individual hearts.
The fact that the crop grows without the farmer’s intervention
means that God can accomplish
His purposes even when we are absent or unaware of what He’s doing.
The goal is the ripened
grain.
At the proper time,
the Word will bring forth its fruit,
and the Lord of the harvest
(Luke 10:2) will be glorified.
The truth of this parable is well illustrated in the growth of the early church: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Just like a farmer cannot force a crop to grow, an evangelist cannot force spiritual life or growth on others.
To summarize the point of the Parable of
the Growing Seed:
“The way God uses His Word
in the heart of an individual
is mysterious
and completely independent of human effort.”
May we be faithful in “sowing the seed,” praying
for a harvest,
and leaving the results to the Lord!
In Romans 8:38–39, the apostle Paul articulates one of the most profoundly comforting reassurances in Scripture: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godthat is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The psalmist echoes Paul’s conviction that neither death nor life can separate us from God’s love: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there!” (Psalm 139:7–8, NLT). God is present everywhere. There is no place we can go and be cut off from His presence. The Bible also tells us that God, by His very nature, is love (1 John 4:8, 16). And if God is love and exists everywhere, then it stands to reason that nothing and no place can isolate us from His love.
Paul relates a laundry list of things that could potentially have the power to barricade us from God’s loving presence: life, death, angels, demons, the present, the future, powers, height, depth, and anything else in all creation.
With that last item, nothing is left out! And then Paul affirms that
none of these
things are powerful enough
to create a barrier between
us and the boundless love of God
in Christ
Everything in all the universe, whether in this present life or the life to come, is under God’s sovereign control and the dominion of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord
(Ephesians 1:22; 1 Corinthians 15:27–28; Hebrews 2:8).
God displayed His great love for us on the cross (Romans 5:8; John 3:16–17).
On Calvary, Jesus Christ triumphed over all things, including death and every living enemy, by offering His life in our place (Colossians 2:15).
When we receive God’s gift of salvation, we are “buried with Christ” through baptism and “raised to new life” by “the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead” (Colossians 2:12, NLT). Paul continues, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away
by nailing it to the cross”
(Colossians 2:13–14, NLT).
The redeemed of the Lord
are made spiritually and eternally alive in Christ.
We died and were buried with Jesus and then raised and
restored to newness of life.
Not one thing in this life or even in death
can ever cause lasting harm to us
because Jesus Christ rescinded all charges against us.
For this reason, nothing and no one will ever
be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ.
We belong to the Lord forever
(Isaiah 43:1; John 1:12; 10:28; Romans 8:15; 14:8).
We may sometimes feel like
our pain, sorrow,
and loss distance us from
God’s affection.
But to this deception, Paul asks,
“Can anything ever
separate us from Christ’s love?
Does it mean he no longer
loves us if we have trouble
or calamity, or are persecuted,
or hungry, or destitute,
or in danger, or threatened with death?
. . . No, despite all
these things, overwhelming
victory is ours
through Christ, who loved us”
(Romans 8:35–37, NLT).
When we feel separated from God’s love,
the problem is not any lack on His part.
The hindrance comes from our perception.
When instability and insecurity threaten us, our confidence
must rest securely
in the knowledge of God’s love for us and not
in our own feelings.
Human love is often erratic, weak, fluctuating.
Doubt, circumstances, and fear can obscure our awareness of the Lord’s presence.
We must stand on the sure promise of God’s Word that His love never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:8).
It is never-ending
(Lamentations 3:22).
The Lord’s faithful love endures forever
(Psalm 136:7, 13, 21).
God does not promise us a life
free of affliction,
but He does promise to be with us through
anything and everything
we face
with His all-powerful, steadfast
agape love.
For believers in Jesus Christ, God’s love
is a constant supply
poured out by the Holy Spirit
(Romans 5:5).
His love can be counted
on in the calamities of life
and
leaned upon in the
crisis of death.
It has been said that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. The Lord Jesus frequently used parables as a means of illustrating profound, divine truths. Stories such as these are easily remembered, the characters bold, and the symbolism rich in meaning. Parables were a common form of teaching in Judaism. Before a certain point in His ministry, Jesus had employed many graphic analogies using common things that would be familiar to everyone (salt, bread, sheep, etc.) and their meaning was fairly clear in the context of His teaching. Parables required more explanation, and at one point in His ministry,
Jesus began to teach using parables exclusively.
The question is why Jesus would let most people wonder about the meaning of His parables. The first instance of this is in His telling the parable of the seed and the soils. Before He interpreted this parable, He drew His disciples away from the crowd.
They said to Him,
“Why do You speak to them in parables?"
Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it" (Matthew 13:10-17).
From this point on in Jesus’ ministry, when
He spoke in parables,
He explained them only to His disciples.
But those who had continually
rejected His message
were left in their spiritual blindness
to wonder as to His meaning.
He made a clear distinction between those who had been given “ears to hear” and those who persisted in unbelief—ever hearing, but never actually perceiving and “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).
The disciples had been given the gift of spiritual discernment by
which things of the spirit were made clear to them.
Because they accepted
truth from Jesus,
they were
given more and more
truth.
The same is true today of believers
who have been given the gift of
the Holy Spirit
who guides us into all truth
(John 16:13).
He has opened our eyes to the light of truth
and our ears
to the sweet words of eternal life.
Our Lord Jesus understood that truth is not
sweet music to all ears.
Simply put, there are those
who have neither interest in nor regard
for the deep things of God.
So why, then, did He speak in parables?
To those with a genuine hunger for God, the parable is both an effective and memorable vehicle for the conveyance of divine truths. Our Lord’s parables contain great volumes of truth in very few words—and His parables, rich in imagery, are not easily forgotten. So, then, the parable is a blessing to those with willing ears. But to those with dull hearts and ears that are slow to hear, the parable is also an instrument
of both judgment and mercy.
In the New Testament,
the Greek word phroneo is often translated “mind” and
most often refers to a person’s understanding, views, or opinions,
as in “But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples,
he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’
he said.
“You do not have in mind the
concerns of God,
but merely human concerns’”
(Mark 8:33).
Another example:
“But we want to hear what
your views are,
for we know that
people everywhere are talking against
this sect”
(Acts 28:22).
(Paul has wanted to visit the church in Rome for years (Romans 1:9–12; 15:23) but his heart is for the Jews (Romans 9:1–5). He finally has the chance. He reached Rome three days prior, under the guard of Julius, a centurion. He is now under house arrest, chained to another Roman guard. Fortunately, the Jewish leaders agree to meet him in his apartment. He explains how he was falsely accused but held by the Roman governors because the Sanhedrin would have caused problems had he been released. In fact, he could have pressed charges against the Sanhedrin for false testimony. The Jewish leaders in Rome don't know what he's talking about—they haven't received any word about him from Jerusalem (Acts 28:17–21).
They have heard about this new sect, however. "Everywhere" is vague. The gospel had certainly spread abroad and was very often not accepted by local Jewish leaders. Paul was an infamous and hated figure among Jews in several places. Most significantly, he was despised in the province of Asia in southwest modern-day Turkey. Jews in this region were among the first to condemn Christianity before it had even spread beyond Jerusalem (Acts 6:8–14). Jews from Asia also accused Paul of bringing a Gentile into the temple (Acts 21:27–29). Another significant location is Thessalonica. When Paul and Silas started preaching there, the Jews became jealous of their following and nearly started a riot. When the missionaries moved on to Berea, the Thessalonian Jews followed them and harassed the city so much the new believers sent Paul to Athens (Acts 17:1–15).
The Jews in Rome would have gone to Jerusalem on occasion for religious feasts and may have met Jews from Thessalonica or Asia there. It's also possible they, like Priscilla and Aquila, went to Corinth when the emperor temporarily expelled Jews from Rome in AD 49 (Acts 18:2). If so, they would know that although the ruler of the Corinthian synagogue agreed that Jesus is the Messiah, many others did not (Acts 18:1–17).
The Jews in Rome will not react so violently to Paul—perhaps because of that Roman guard—but not all of them will accept what he has to say. Paul, saddened and frustrated, will reaffirm his mission to the Gentiles during his two-year stay. He will then be released, but Luke's account ends there (Acts 28:23–31).)
Here, “your views”
is the translation of the word in question.
In order
to have the mind of Christ,
one must first
have saving faith in Christ
(John 1:12; 1 John 5:12).
After salvation, the believer lives a life under God’s influence. The Holy Spirit indwells and enlightens the believer, infusing him with wisdom—the mind of Christ. The believer bears a responsibility to yield to the Spirit’s leading (Ephesians 4:30) and to allow the Spirit to transform and renew his mind (Romans 12:1-2).
We are not to be conformed to this world. Paul is using the word worldhere to refer to the spirit of the age. In other words, world refers to the popular worldview that rejects God and His revelation. As unbelievers, we are naturally conformed to the world (Ephesians 2:1–3).
As believers, we are no longer conformed to this world because we no longer belong to the spirit of this age. We have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).
Therefore, rather than continuing to conform
to this world,
we are to be transformed
by having our minds renewed.
It is interesting to note that Paul says that we must
be transformed by the renewing of our “minds.”
The mind is the key to the Christian life.
The reason why non-Christians do not respond
to Christian truth is that
they cannot discern spiritual truth
(1 Corinthians 2:14).
The only way to replace the error of the world’s way of thinking
is to replace it with God’s truth,
and the only infallible source of God’s truth is
His revealed Word, the Bible.
There are no shortcuts.
There is no magical formula for renewing our minds.
We must fill our minds with God’s Word.
As Jesus prayed to the Father,
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth”
(John 17:17).
The practice of casting lots is mentioned seventy times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament. In spite of the many references to casting lots in the Old Testament, nothing is known about the actual lots themselves. They could have been sticks of various lengths, flat stones like coins, or some kind of dice; but their exact nature is unknown. The closest modern practice to casting lots is likely flipping a coin.
The practice of casting lots occurs most often in connection with the division of the land under Joshua (Joshua chapters 14-21), a procedure that God instructed the Israelites on several times in the book of Numbers (Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2). God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in order to determine His will for a given situation (Joshua 18:6-10; 1 Chronicles 24:5,31). Various offices and functions in the temple were also determined by lot (1 Chronicles 24:5, 31; 25:8-9; 26:13-14). The sailors on Jonah’s ship (Jonah 1:7) also cast lots to determine who had brought God’s wrath upon their ship. The eleven apostles cast lots to determine who would replace Judas (Acts 1:26). Casting lots eventually became a game people played and made wagers on. This is seen in the Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ garments (Matthew 27:35).
The New Testament nowhere instructs Christians to use a method similar to casting lots to help with decision-making. Now that we have the completed Word of God, as well as the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide us, there is no reason to be using games of chance to make decisions.
The Word,
the Spirit, and prayer are sufficient
for discerning God’s will today--
not casting lots, rolling dice, or flipping a coin.
The phrase
the whole counsel of God is found
in Acts 20:27.
In his farewell speech to the
elders of the Ephesian church, Paul says,
“Therefore I testify to you
this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,
for I did not shrink from
declaring to you the whole counsel of God”
(Acts 20:26–27, ESV).
Declaring the whole counsel of God
is what made Paul
“innocent”
of anyone’s choice
to turn away from
the truth.
Paul had fulfilled his ministry among
the Ephesians.
Paul spent several years in Ephesus prior to this speech. When he first arrived in Ephesus, Paul had found some disciples who had only heard of John the Baptist and did not yet know of the completed ministry of Jesus or the coming of the Holy Spirit. After bringing them up to speed by presenting Jesus to them, Paul baptized them “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 19:4–5). Paul then spent time teaching in the synagogue and, when he was opposed there, taught at the lecture hall, and “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10). Verse 20 says, “The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Later, a group of merchants in Ephesus started a riot over the positive impact of the gospel in their city. After the riot ended, Paul said goodbye to the disciples in Ephesus before going to Macedonia. Several months later, on his way to Jerusalem, Paul called the Ephesian elders to Miletus to meet with him.
It is here that Paul reminds the Ephesians that he had “not hesitated to proclaim . . . the whole will of God” (Acts 20:27).
Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” (ESV) or “the whole will of God” (NIV) or “the whole purpose of God” (NASB) in that he spoke the complete gospel. He had given them the whole truth about God’s salvation. He also revealed to them the “mystery” of God (Ephesians 3:9), which in the context of Ephesians 3 is God’s extending His plan of salvation to Gentiles as well as Jews.
Despite the opposition Paul faced in Ephesus, he continued to share the good news in its entirety. He did not shrink back from his duty but proclaimed the whole counsel of God. He tells the Ephesian elders, “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:19–21). Paul shared everything that God had revealed with everyone who would listen—and even some who wouldn’t.
Paul tells the Ephesian elders that, having given them the whole counsel of God, he is innocent if any of the Ephesians choose to turn away from Christ. Like the prophet Ezekiel, Paul had been a faithful watchman: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself”
(Ezekiel 3:17–19; cf. 33:1–9).
Paul emphasizes “the whole counsel of God” as a way to affirm the completion of his duties toward the Ephesians and to remind them of the truth. Paul warns, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29–31).
The whole counsel of God includes some things that are difficult to hear—the fact that we are dead in sin and deserving of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1–3) and the fact that we cannot save ourselves through works (Ephesians 2:8–9).
The gospel is a call to repentance and faith.
Believers will face persecution (John 16:33)
and likely be considered foolish.
But none of these things can dissuade us.
Though the mind of Christ is foolish to human
understanding
We should follow Paul’s example and also preach
the whole counsel of God.
All Scripture is inspired, and all of it is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). We must preach it in its entirety and allow the Holy Spirit to use His sword as He sees fit (Ephesians 6:17). Paul did not share half-truths or only parts of the gospel; rather, he shared all of what God has revealed. We must do the same.
Paul, in his prayers “for saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1, ESV), asks that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (verse 17).
Prior to his prayer for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, Paul reminds the Ephesian believers of the blessings God has bestowed upon them (Ephesians 1:3), their adoption as children through Christ (verse 4), the wisdom and insight they have been given (verse 8), and “the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ” (verse 9). He also reminds them that they have been “marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (verses 13–14). Now he desires for them to be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Since Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (John 14:17), the spirit of wisdom and revelation that Paul prays for cannot refer to the initial gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s reference could easily be to an attitude or frame of mind (although the NIV and ESV capitalize Spirit, other translations such as the NASB and BSB translate it as “a spirit,” and the NLT simply has “spiritual wisdom and insight”). If not the Holy Spirit, then what does Paul ask for in his request for “the spirit of wisdom and revelation”? The key is in the phrase that follows, “in the knowledge of him” (ESV), or “so that you may know him better” (NIV).
Paul had commended the Ephesians for their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love toward all the saints (Ephesians 1:15), but now he is asking God to give them a deeper and greater understanding of the mysteries of His character and will, to know Him more thoroughly and intimately. Now that they have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, Paul desires Him to grant them more understanding and greater insight. The “wisdom” is a better understanding of the doctrines of God, and the “revelation” is a clearer picture of the divine character and will. In the NLT, the prayer is that believers would have “spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.” The AMP translation has Paul asking that God “may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him.”
God is infinite, and He can never be fully known by finite creatures. We all need wisdom from above. No matter how far we may advance in our understanding of God, there is an unfathomed depth of knowledge that remains to be explored.
Scripture is full of admonitions to grow in
our knowledge of Christ
(2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 4:15).
Paul outlines some of the mysteries he wants the Ephesians
to understand
through this spirit of wisdom and revelation.
He desires them to grasp
“the hope to which he has called you,
the riches
of his glorious inheritance”
(Ephesians 1:18).
This is the hope of eternal life, which Paul refers to as
the
“upward call of God in Christ Jesus”
(Philippians 3:14, ESV).
We inherit the riches of eternal life through Him
who saved us and
called us to holiness in Christ before time began
(2 Timothy 1:9).
Paul also prays the Spirit
will reveal God’s
“incomparably great power for us who believe”
(Ephesians 1:19)
—power so great it raised Jesus from the dead.
It’s a power that we can only comprehend
as we possess
the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Second Peter 3:18 tells us to
“grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
To grow in grace is to mature as a Christian.
We are saved by grace through faith
(Ephesians 2:8–9),
and we mature and are sanctified
by grace alone.
We know that grace is a blessing
that we don’t deserve.
It is God’s grace that justifies us, sanctifies us,
and eventually glorifies us in heaven.
The sanctification process, becoming more like Christ,
is synonymous with growing in grace.
We grow in grace by reading God’s Word and letting it “dwell in us richly” (Colossians 3:16) and by praying. Those actions by themselves don’t mature us, but God uses these spiritual disciplines to help us grow.
Therefore, maturing in our Christian life is
not about what we do,
but about what God does in us, by His grace.
The more grace we have and ask God for, the more mature as Christians we will be.
To grow in grace does not mean gaining more grace from God. God’s grace never increases; it is infinite, it cannot be more, and according to the nature of God, it could never be less. He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should be saved (John 3:16). How much more grace could there possibly be than that?
But to grow in grace is to grow in our understanding of what Jesus did and to grow in our appreciation of the grace we have been given.
The more we learn about Jesus, the more
we will appreciate all He has done,
and the more we appreciate His love and sacrifice for us,
the more we will
perceive the never-ending grace of God.
Peter also confirms that we need to grow in our knowledge of Jesus and to have that intimate relationship with Him because the more we know of Him, the more of Him will be seen in our lives. Paul said in Colossians 3:1–4: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
The Scriptures contain all the knowledge we will ever need to learn of God, His Son, and His Spirit, at least in this life. God`s desire for those He has saved is their sanctification and transformation. He wants us to become more holy like Himself. He wants to transform us into the image of His Son. The way to do this is by meditating on the Scriptures and applying their principles to our lives
Then we will prove 2 Corinthians 3:18: “We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord.”
The Hebrew word for
"messiah" is māšīaḥ
(מָשִׁיחַ)
It literally translates to "anointed one”
In Jewish eschatology,
the Messiah is a future Jewish king who will
be anointed
with holy oil and rule the Jewish people
during the Messianic Age.
The Messiah
is often referred to as melekh mashiach
(מלך המשיח),
which literally means "the Anointed King"
The olive tree is mentioned frequently in the Bible, from as early as the time of the flood when the dove from the ark brought an olive branch back to Noah, to Revelation 11:4, where the two witnesses are represented as two olive trees. As one of the most highly valued and useful trees known to the ancient Jews, the olive tree is significant for several reasons in the Bible. Its importance in Israel is expressed in the parable of Jotham in Judges 9:8–9: “One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored,
to hold sway over the trees?’”
In Luke 17:20–21, Jesus says, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (NKJV).
The context of Jesus’ statement is a question put to Him by His Pharisee detractors who had asked when the kingdom of God would come
(verse 20).
Jesus’ answer was that the kingdom of God was not coming in the manner the Pharisees were expecting. The kingdom would not be inaugurated with spectacle or splendor; there would be no great and magnificent leader who staked out a geographical claim and routed the Romans; rather, the kingdom would come silently and unseen, much as leaven works in a batch of dough (see Matthew 13:33).
In fact, Jesus says, the kingdom had already begun, right under the Pharisees’ noses. God was ruling in the hearts of some people, and the King Himself was standing among them, although the Pharisees were oblivious to that fact.
Various translations render the Greek of Luke 17:21 various ways. The phrase translated “within you” in the KJV and NKJV is translated as “in your midst” in the NIV, NASB, and NET; “among you” in the NLT and HCSB; and “in the midst of you” in the ESV. Earlier versions of the NIV had “within you” with a marginal note suggesting “among you.” There is obviously a difference between saying “the kingdom of God is within you” and “the kingdom of God is among you.”
“Within you” comes off as an unfavorable translation, seeing that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees
at the time. Jesus was surely not saying that the kingdom of God resided within the Pharisees’ hearts.
The Pharisees opposed Jesus
and had
no
relationship with God.
Jesus in other places denounced them
as “whitewashed tombs” and “hypocrites”
(Matthew 23:27).
The better translation would be “in your midst” or “among you.” Jesus was telling the Pharisees that He brought the kingdom of God to earth. Jesus’ presence in their midst gave them a taste of the kingdom life, as attested by the miracles that Jesus performed. Elsewhere, Jesus mentions His miracles as definitive proof of the kingdom: “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20).
There are three popular interpretations of Jesus’ words in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom of God is within you (or among you): 1) the kingdom of God is essentially inward, within man’s heart; 2) the kingdom is within your reach if you make the right choices; and 3) the kingdom of God is in your midst in the person and presence of Jesus. The best of these interpretations, it seems, is the third: Jesus was inaugurating the kingdom as He changed the hearts of men, one at a time.
For the time being, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). One day, however, the kingdom of God will be manifest on the earth (Isaiah 35:1), and Jesus Christ will rule a physical kingdom from David’s throne (Isaiah 9:7) with Jerusalem as His capital (Zechariah 8:3).
The Holy Spirit is referred to as the “deposit,” “seal,” and “earnest” in the hearts of Christians (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30). The Holy Spirit is God’s seal on His people, His claim on us as His very own. The Greek word translated “earnest” in these passages is arrhabōn which means “a pledge,” that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest. The gift of the Spirit to believers is a down payment on our heavenly inheritance, which Christ has promised us and secured for us at the cross. It is because the Spirit has sealed us that we are assured of our salvation. No one can break the seal of God.
The Holy Spirit is given to believers as a “first installment” to assure us that our full inheritance as children of God will be delivered. The Holy Spirit is given to us to confirm to us that we belong to God who grants to us His Spirit as a gift, just as grace and faith are gifts (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through the gift of the Spirit, God renews and sanctifies us. He produces in our hearts those feelings, hopes, and desires which are evidence that we are accepted by God, that we are regarded as His adopted children, that our hope is genuine, and that our redemption and salvation are sure in the same way that a seal guarantees a will or an agreement. God grants to us His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that we are His forever and shall be saved in the last day. The proof of the Spirit’s presence is His operations on the heart which produce repentance, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), conformity to God’s commands and will, a passion for prayer and praise, and love for His people. These things are the evidences that the Holy Spirit has renewed the heart and that the Christian is sealed for the day of redemption.
So it is through the Holy Spirit and His teachings and guiding power that we are sealed and confirmed until the day of redemption, complete and free from the corruption of sin and the grave. Because we have the seal of the Spirit in our hearts, we can live joyfully, confident of our sure place in a future that holds unimaginable glories.
The phrase unsearchable riches of Christ comes from Ephesians 3:8–9: “To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things” (ESV). The Greek for “unsearchable riches” is translated “boundless riches” in the NIV.
The Greek word translated “unsearchable” describes something that cannot be fully comprehended or explored. In other words, there is no limit to the riches of Christ; they are past finding out.
Try as we might, we can never plumb the
depths of Christ’s worth.
Paul delineates some of these riches in Ephesians 1:7–14:
redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, the knowledge of the mystery of His will,
the message of truth,
the sealing of the Holy Spirit, and the guarantee of our inheritance.
These are spiritual riches with eternal benefits,
and we cannot fully comprehend them.
Jesus taught two short parables that emphasize the
value of eternal life
and
the kingdom of God:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he hid it again,
and then in his joy went
and sold all
he had and bought that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (Matthew 13:44–46). Like a hidden treasure or a pearl of great price, admission to the kingdom is of incalculable worth—and it is Jesus Christ who grants the admission. The unsearchable riches of Christ are on display in every believer’s heart.
The unsearchable riches of Christ cannot be fully traced out. “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9),
so the riches of Christ
include all that God is.
The unsearchable riches of Christ
are the Glory of God, the
TRUTH of God,
the Wisdom of God, the Life of God, and
the Love of God.
In Christ,
God
“has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing”
(Ephesians 1:3).
In Christ are hidden
“all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”
(Colossians 2:3).
In Christ, God “has given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3).
In Ephesians 3:8 Paul refers to himself as “less than the least of all the Lord’s people.” This humble statement is then contrasted with “the boundless riches of Christ.”
Paul describes himself
as the lowest of believers
while lifting Jesus up
as
the greatest of all.
Every believer, in like humility, acknowledges the all-surpassing goodness and grace of God: “The LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11).
Christ’s riches that He makes available
to us
are not material but spiritual.
The unsearchable riches of Christ provide salvation to everyone who believes (John 3:16; Romans 1:16). We may be the worst of sinners, yet Jesus can forgive us and transform our lives (Romans 12:1–2). It is the gift that truly keeps on giving, as we are changed, by God’s Spirit, into “loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled” people (Galatians 5:22–23, CEV).
King Solomon was a man of great riches and wisdom, and his fame spread throughout the known world. Dignitaries from other countries came to hear his wisdom and see his lavish display of wealth (1 Kings 10:24). Scripture says that Solomon had no equal in the earth at that time: “King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth” (verse 23). Yet, for all that, Solomon’s riches were not unsearchable. They could be quantified; the gold bars could be counted, and he had no inexhaustible supply of silver. Besides that, Solomon’s riches were only the temporal treasures of this world. Jesus is “greater than Solomon” (Luke 11:31).
The treasures of Christ are inexhaustible,
they are unsearchable, and they are forever.
We tend to seek assurance of salvation in the things God is doing in our lives, in our spiritual growth, in the good works and obedience to God’s Word that is evident in our Christian walk. While these things can be evidence of salvation, they are not what we should base the assurance of our salvation on. Rather, we should find the assurance of our salvation in the objective truth of God’s Word. We should have confident trust that we are saved based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.
How can you have assurance of salvation? Consider 1 John 5:11–13: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (emphasis added). Who is it that has the Son? It is those who have believed in Him (John 1:12). If you have Jesus, you have life. Not temporary life, but eternal. And, according to 1 John 5:13, you can know that you have this eternal life.
In Matthew 11:27, Jesus states, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (ESV).
The Greek word translated as “know” means
“to become fully acquainted with.”
The Father and Son
are fully acquainted with one another because
the Son was eternally begotten
of the Father (John 1:1–2, 14; 3:16).
No one knows
the Son better than the Father,
and no one knows
the Father better than the Son.
In the Old Testament, the word know often refers to deep, personal, and intimate knowledge of someone or something. Speaking to Israel, God says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2, ESV). God created every family (Psalm 24:1), but He made a special covenant with Israel. This is a unilateral covenant. There is nothing Israel did—or could do—to be chosen. It was solely because of God’s sovereign grace. In doing so, God intended for Israel to know and experience His love on a deep, personal, and intimate level.
God knows us both collectively and individually. Psalm 139:1–3 says, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways” (ESV).
God knows everything about us, including the number of hairs on our heads
(Matthew 10:30),
and still He accepts, loves, guides, and protects us.
How wonderful is it to
be completely known by God!
Jesus is completely known by God, as stated in Matthew 11:27. No one knows the Son except the Father. Here, Jesus articulates the personal and intimate relationship between Himself and the Father. While we may come to know some things about Jesus, such as His being the eternal Son of God and the Messiah, we can only “see in a mirror dimly” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV). The Father, however, has total and complete knowledge of His Son: “I am the good shepherd, I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:14–15, ESV).
The Father’s knowledge of his Son includes the Son’s divine nature, thoughts, emotions, and will. This is reflected in John 10:30, where Jesus declares, “I and the Father are one.” Although we strive to know and experience Christ through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers, we must acknowledge that full and complete knowledge of the Son is not presently available. For this reason, Paul prays to God that we “may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18–19, ESV).
No one knows the Son except the Father, and so, for us to know the Son, the Father must reveal Him to us. Jesus declares, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). The Father draws us to His Son through the Word. Scripture, then, is how we come to know Jesus. But without a personal relationship with Him, we will not be transformed by what we read.
When Jesus was on the cross,
both
the apostle John and Mary the mother of Jesus
stood nearby
In John 19:26–27 we read, “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” The clear understanding of the passage is that Jesus commanded John to care for Mary after His death.
Mary was most certainly a widow at this point in her life and also an older woman. Though she had other sons, Jesus chose John to provide care for Mary after His death. Why? Jesus’ brothers did not become believers until after His resurrection (John 7:5). Further, Jesus’ brothers were not present at His crucifixion. Jesus was entrusting Mary to John, who was a believer and was present, rather than entrusting her to His brothers, who were not believers and who were not even present at His crucifixion.
As the oldest son in His family, Jesus had a cultural obligation to care for His mother, and He passed that obligation on to one of His closest friends. John would have certainly obeyed this command. Mary was most likely one of the women in the upper room and was present when the church was established in Jerusalem (Acts 1:12–14). She probably continued to stay with John in Jerusalem until her death. It is only later in John’s life that his writings and church history reveal John left Jerusalem and ministered in other areas.
This is also confirmed by Acts 8:1 that reads,
“On that day a great persecution broke
out against
the church in Jerusalem,
and all
except the apostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria.”
John was still in the city at this time
(perhaps one or two years after the resurrection)
and was still there three years after the conversion of Paul (Galatians 2:9).
There is no contextual proof within Scripture itself that would point to Jesus broadening Mary’s role as “mother” of all Christians. In fact, Catholic teaching can only point to early church leaders as proof that Jesus meant to establish Mary’s “motherhood” to all believers in Christ or that Mary was a cooperative participant in salvation.
John took Mary into his home to care for her; “from that time on Mary became the mother of all believers.”
The beauty of John 19:26–27 is reflected in the care Jesus had for His mother, as well as the care John provided for her. Scripture clearly teaches the importance of caring for widows and the elderly, something Jesus personally applied during His final hours of His earthly ministry.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, would later call such care for widows
“pure religion.”
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).
By referring to Himself
as the
True Shepherd,
Jesus was invoking imagery that would have been
familiar to His hearers.
He used the symbols of sheep and their shepherd several times, referring to Himself as not only the “True” Shepherd, but the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), and the Door of the sheep (John 10:7). The three declarations in John 10 present a complete picture of the Lord who is our Shepherd (Psalm 23).
In order to understand what Jesus intended to convey with sheep/shepherd imagery, we must understand the Middle Eastern shepherd of biblical times. His job was a dirty and dangerous one. Many times all the shepherd had to fight off lions and other wild animals was a staff with a crook. He willingly put his life on the line for his flock. At night, he would put the flock in a makeshift pen that had only one way in and out. The shepherd would open to door to the pen, call the sheep by name, and they would come in and settle safely for the night.
Sheep are skittish animals and “spook” easily. Because they knew the shepherd’s voice, they would calm down and follow him and nobody but him.
Several flocks can mix together, and when the flocks’ true shepherd speaks, they separate and follow him. If a thief comes, the sheep will not follow him because they do not know his voice. At night the shepherd lies down at the gate to the pen, to give his life if necessary to protect his flock. And the thief can only climb in over the fence because the shepherd is guarding the gate.
Jesus is the True Shepherd to the sheep
(true believers)
who are His.
We know Him, we recognize His voice, and
we follow only Him
(John 10:27–28).
What Jesus is saying here ties right
into John 14:6:
“I am the way, the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except by me.”
Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd who gives His life
willingly for His sheep
(John 10:11),
but He is the also the “gate” or “door” of the sheep
(John 10:9).
In this metaphor Jesus presents Himself as the One who gives salvation, the One who offers access to heaven. So, Jesus is the True Shepherd who guards His sheep, the Good Shepherd who gives His life for them, and the Doorway to heaven for the sheep who know Him and are known by Him.
Jesus also says there were many who
came before Him
pretending to be good shepherds.
But, He says, they are thieves and robbers who come
in among the flock.
He is alluding to the false shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees
who did not love the people,
nor were they willing to sacrifice for them.
These self-appointed and self-righteous false shepherds
led the sheep of Israel astray from
the true knowledge of the Messiah, clinging to a works-based religion
that could not lead to salvation
(Ezekiel 34:1–31).
false shepherds still abound today, more interested in fleecing the flock,
than in feeding and protecting the sheep
as true under-shepherds to
the
TRUE
Shepherd, the Lord
Jesus Christ
To continue to love the world the way unbelievers do will cripple our spiritual growth and render us fruitless for God’s kingdom (Matthew 3:8; Luke 6:43-45; John 15:1-8).
In John 12:25,
Jesus took this thought a step further when He said, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Not loving the world extends to our own lives
as well.
Jesus said if we love anything more than Him, we are not
worthy of Him
(Matthew 10:37-38).
While difficulties are rarely enjoyable when
we experience them,
these hardships are
only a “momentary, light affliction”
(2 Corinthians 4:17, NASB)
for the Christian.
Our difficult circumstances have the ability to produce good fruit in our lives and to
remind us of what matters
eternally.
The context of Paul’s statement is important: “We do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18, NASB).
Difficulties abound in life: with relationships, jobs, health, and day-to-day activities. Christians are not exempt from these difficulties; in fact, they may experience even more than their fair share: earlier in the same passage, Paul described some of the troubles he and others faced as “jars of clay” in this world (2 Corinthians 4:7). When difficulties arise, they might seem monumental, and they have the ability to incapacitate us. However, believers have hope that even the worst suffering experienced on earth is only “light and momentary troubles” compared to the glories of eternity in heaven. Life here on earth is but a vapor (James 4:14), but our eternal life in glory, yet unseen, will make the affliction worth it all. In fact, the troubles we have today are achieving for us a lasting benefit: “They produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT).
The Holy Spirit living within believers is the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, and He assures us that we, too, will be raised from the dead (2 Corinthians 4:14). This truth allows us to keep an eternal perspective when we go through hardships.
In Romans 5:3–5, Paul reminds us that we can “glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” When we trust God through our suffering, we allow Him to shape our faith and character. Even when it does not fully make sense to us why we are going through difficulties, believers have hope that their suffering is not purposeless.
Through our momentary, light affliction,
we can choose to draw near to God and
even thrive in the hardship,
filled with the hope that our troubles
grow our character and faith.
We remember that this world is not our final home.
There’s something better coming,
“surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent
splendor and an endless blessedness!”
(2 Corinthians 4:17, AMP).
When we go through hard times, let us “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Let us choose to walk by faith and draw near to God, who is “our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
The Bible mentions rewards that await the believer who serves the Lord faithfully in this world (Matthew 10:41). A “great” reward is promised to those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake. Various crowns are mentioned (in 2 Timothy 4:8, e.g.). Jesus says that He will bring rewards with Him when He returns (Revelation 22:12).
We are to treasure the Lord Jesus most of all. When Jesus is our treasure, we will commit our resources—our money, our time, our talents—to His work in this world. Our motivation for what we do is important (1 Corinthians 10:31). Paul encourages servants that God has an eternal reward for those who are motivated to serve Christ: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving”
(Colossians 3:23–24).
When we live sacrificially for Jesus’ sake
or serve Him
by serving the body of Christ,
we store up
treasure in heaven.
Even seemingly small acts of service do not go unnoticed by God. “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (Matthew 10:42).
Some with more visible gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12) such as teaching, singing, or playing a
musical instrument might be tempted to use their gift for their own glory.
Those who use their talents or spiritual gifts coveting
the praise of men rather
than seeking God’s glory
receive their “payment” in full here and now.
The applause of men was the extent of the Pharisees’ reward (Matthew 6:16). Why should we work for worldly plaudits, however, when we can have so much more in heaven?
The Lord will be faithful to reward us for the service we give Him (Hebrews 6:10).
Our ministries may differ, but the Lord we serve is the same. “The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor”
(1 Corinthians 3:8).
The rich young man
loved
his money more than God
in Matthew 19:16–30,
a fact that
Jesus incisively pointed out.
The issue wasn’t
that the young man was rich
but that
he “treasured” his riches and did
not “treasure”
what he could have
in Christ.
Jesus told the man to sell his possessions
and
give to the poor,
“and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me”
(verse 21).
The young man left Jesus sad,
because
he was very rich.
He chose this world’s treasure
and so did
not lay up
treasure in heaven.
He was
unwilling to make Jesus his treasure.
The young man was very religious,
but
Jesus exposed his heart of
greed
We are warned
not to lose our full reward
by following
after
false teachers
(2 John 1:8).
This is why it is so important to be in God’s Word daily (2 Timothy 2:15).
That way we can recognize false teaching when
we hear it.
The treasures that await the child of God will far outweigh
any trouble, inconvenience, or persecution we may face
(Romans 8:18).
We can serve the Lord wholeheartedly, knowing that
God is the One keeping score,
and His reward will be abundantly gracious.
“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know
that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”
(1 Corinthians 15:58).
Paul clues us in concerning the thorn’s purpose: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations.” So, God’s goal in allowing the thorn in the flesh was to keep Paul humble. Anyone who had encountered Jesus and was commissioned personally by Him (Acts 9:2-8) would, in his natural state, become “puffed up.” Add to that the fact that Paul was moved by the Holy Spirit to write much of the New Testament, and it is easy to see how Paul could become “haughty” (KJV) or “exalted above measure” (NKJV) or “too proud” (NCV).
Paul also says that the affliction came from or by a “messenger of Satan.” Just as God allowed Satan to torment Job (Job 1:1-12), God allowed Satan to torment Paul for God’s own good purpose.
No one likes to live in pain. Paul sought the Lord three times to remove this source of pain from him (2 Corinthians 12:8). He probably had many good reasons why he should be pain-free: he could have a more effective ministry; he could reach more people with the gospel; he could glorify God even more! But the Lord was more concerned with building Paul’s character and preventing pride. Instead of removing the problem, whatever it was,
God gave Paul
more overwhelming grace and
more compensating strength.
Paul learned that
God’s “power is made perfect in weakness”
(verse 9).
The exact nature of Paul’s thorn in the flesh is uncertain. There is probably a good reason that we don’t know. God likely wanted Paul’s difficulty to be described in general enough terms to apply to any difficulty we may face now. Whether the “thorn” we struggle with today is physical, emotional, or spiritual, we can know that God has a purpose and that His grace is all-sufficient.
Paul had many things about which he could have boasted. His experiences were incredible. He lists some of them in 2 Corinthians 11:22–28 to illustrate that, while he above others might have reason to boast in his own flesh—his experiences and his abilities—he would only boast in Christ.
Paul recognizes that we have no real power in ourselves except for Christ in us, and he explains
in Philippians 3:4–7 that,
even though he has quite a list of impressive achievements,
he counts all those as loss for the
sake of Christ.
They are worthless--
even having negative value--
in comparison to the JOY
of
KNOWING Christ
In 2 Corinthians 12:1 Paul provides an example of how a person should not find his or her identity and confidence in personal achievements because only God’s grace is sufficient. While showing mercy means not giving to someone what he does deserve, showing grace means giving to someone what he doesn’t deserve. God shows grace in giving us life and providing for us and strengthening us for the path ahead. That grace is sufficient—it is all we need.
To illustrate the principle, Paul tells of a man who was caught up to the third heaven and saw and heard indescribable things. This man was remarkably privileged, and it seems apparent in the context that Paul is talking about himself. He adds that, because of the greatness of the revelations he was given, he was also given a thorn in his flesh that would keep him from exalting himself (2 Corinthians 12:7). While Paul tells us very little about the nature of this “thorn” (what he also refers to as a messenger from Satan), he makes clear that its purpose was to help ensure his humility. Paul begged God that this thorn might go away, and God repeatedly said no to Paul’s request.
God’s response to Paul is found
in 2 Corinthians 12:9--
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power
is made perfect in weakness.”
God was reminding Paul that the strength behind Paul’s ministry was not Paul’s experiences or abilities, nor was it the absence of difficulty. On the contrary, Paul’s ability to be faithful in ministry and survive incredibly difficult times was due to God’s grace. God’s grace is sufficient. When we are weak, God’s strength is even more evident. Paul could rejoice and boast in God because Paul knew the power that God exerted in Paul’s life through God’s grace. Paul could then boast in God’s strength, recognizing that, even when we are weak, God is strong. He provides the strength for us to withstand whatever challenges are before us.
Paul illustrates this same idea in Philippians 4:11–13. He explains that he has learned how to be content in any circumstance no matter how severe. When things are going well or when things are going badly, Paul knows that contentment doesn’t come from circumstances—contentment comes from recognizing that we can do whatever God intends for us to do through Christ who strengthens us.
God is so gracious
to provide strength when it is needed so that
we can find
our identity, our confidence, and our contentment
in Him.
This is what God meant
when He said that His grace is sufficient--
it is all we need.
The word apostle means “one who is sent out.” In the New Testament, there are two primary usages of the word apostle. The first is in specifically referring to the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. The second is in generically referring to other individuals who are sent out to be messengers/ambassadors of Jesus Christ.
The twelve apostles held a unique position. In referring to the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:14 states, “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” The twelve apostles are also referred to in Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:14; 4:10; 6:7; 9:35; 14:10, 17, 20; Luke 6:13; 9:1; 22:14; John 6:71; Acts 6:2; and 1 Corinthians 15:5. It was these twelve apostles who were the first messengers of the gospel after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was these twelve apostles who were the foundation of the church—with Jesus being the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20).
This specific type of apostle is not present in the church today. The qualifications of this type of apostle were: (1) to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1), (2) to have been explicitly chosen by the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15), and (3) to have the ability to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12).
The responsibility of the twelve apostles, laying the foundation of the church, would also argue for their uniqueness. Two thousand years later, we are not still working on the foundation.
Paul said, “I am chief,” not “I was chief of sinners.”
As an apostle, he never strayed from the heart of the gospel—that “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”
(Romans 5:8, NLT).
God’s salvation was always intended for sinners (Matthew 1:21; Mark 2:17). Paul kept his past depravity and ongoing corruption at the forefront of his mind because he saw it as an essential companion to the full apprehension of grace.
Paul testified to the church in Corinth, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:9–10). To the Ephesians, he said, “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
The more we comprehend the weight and extent of our sinfulness, the better we can grasp the magnitude and scope of God’s forgiveness and grace at work in our lives.
When we recognize and remember the truth about ourselves—our old way of life with our weaknesses and failures, our lack of hope and purpose, and our utter helplessness apart from God—we remain exceedingly humble and grateful for what Christ has done for us. Like Paul, we rejoice and “thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. . . . But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was!
He filled me with the faith and love
that come
from Christ Jesus”
(1 Timothy 1:12–14, NLT).
We don’t beat ourselves up in self-defeating condemnation
(Romans 8:1);
rather, we give praise, glory,
and honor to God for His generous gifts of mercy
(1 Timothy 1:16),
grace (Ephesians 3:7; 4:7), peace with God (Romans 5:1),
membership in the family of God (Ephesians 2:19),
and eternal life in His presence
(1 John 2:25).
Some of us may have started out like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, so profoundly unaware of our sinfulness and need of salvation that we prayed, “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers” (Luke 18:11, NLT). But, eventually, we ended up like the humble tax collector who “would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13, ESV).
Paul called himself “chief of sinners” because he, like the tax collector, was acutely aware of his sinfulness and understood how much that sinfulness had cost his Savior. This self-identification is the discovery of every person whose eyes have been opened, whose conscience has been awakened, and whose heart has been pricked by the Holy Spirit. It is the humble posture of every believer who acknowledges he is utterly helpless and dependent on God for salvation (Romans 5:6). It is the admission we all must make: “Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the chief.”
In 1 Corinthians 2:9, the apostle Paul made a statement that has thrilled and intrigued believers for many generations: “But as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived’—God has prepared these things for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9, CSB).
As part of a more extensive teaching about the difference
between human wisdom
and the wisdom in the
message of the gospel,
Paul borrowed from the book of Isaiah:
“For since the world began,
no ear has heard and no eye has seen
a God like you,
who works for those who wait for him!”
(Isaiah 64:4, NLT).
The believers in Corinth were relying on human wisdom to deal with problems in the church. They were valuing worldly intelligence and philosophy above the Christian message. Paul taught that God’s wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12–14) and only understood by the spiritually mature. If the world’s rulers had understood the message of the gospel, they would never have crucified Christ: “Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord” (1 Corinthians 2:6–8, NLT).
Paul summed up mature Christian wisdom as the message of the gospel: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV). Wisdom is the message of Jesus Christ crucified. Long before the world began, the heavenly Father chose to send His Son to die on a cross and become the way of salvation.
And in His inscrutable wisdom, God planned to bring along all those who love Him to share in His glory.
This is what no ordinary human eyes have seen—the revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. No unregenerated ears have heard and received the truth in the gospel message of salvation. No unenlightened minds have perceived the mysteries of God, for they are beyond human thinking.
True wisdom that pierces the senses can only be received and understood
through a special revelation from the Spirit of God:
“For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets”
(1 Corinthians 2:10, NLT).
Just as the Corinthians relied on worldly wisdom, many Christians today still search in all the wrong places for discernment and insight. We think we are making wise decisions, all the while ignoring the counsel of God’s Word. Just as Paul wanted the Corinthians to grow up into maturity, God calls us today “to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, ESV).
God wants to do so much more for us, in us, and through us if we let Him have His way: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21).
Many Christians apply 1 Corinthians 2:9 as a promise of future blessings in heaven. This application has merit, but our heavenly home was not the immediate context of Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 2:9 or of the prophecy in Isaiah 64:4. The primary meaning of eyes have not seen what God has planned for those who love Him points to the mystery of the gospel, which is not understood by natural means. The human mind cannot comprehend it because God’s Spirit alone reveals it.
Paul rightly applied Isaiah’s words to support his case that only the spiritually mature can grasp the mysteries of God. Those who see from an earthly perspective with human eyes have not seen all the blessings God has prepared for His children. More beauty and worth are in the message of the gospel than anyone can comprehend apart from the Holy Spirit. The unsaved truly do not know what they’re missing. But there are still unseen wonders that even mature believers are yet to apprehend.
Such is the richness and depth of God’s plan of salvation.
If we apply what no eye has seen to what awaits us in heaven, we can correlate it to many rewards promised in Scripture. James speaks of one such anticipated marvel that God has prepared for those who love Him:
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because,
having stood the test,
that person will receive the crown of life
that the Lord has promised to those who love him”
(James 1:12).
Even though God has revealed some of His glory to us (1 Corinthians 13:12), the human mind cannot fully grasp the marvelous blessings God has in store for His children. Since the Bible does not tell us a lot about heaven, limited details dim our view. Whatever wonder we’ve seen before, heaven’s guaranteed to be better. Whatever joyous news we’ve heard already, heaven’s news reaches far beyond. Even the most incredible wonders we can dream up fade before the realities God has planned for those who love and follow Him. We know it will be the most incredible experience of our lives to be with the Lord in heaven, but for now, we can only imagine how outstanding it will be.
Paul repeated this teaching in 1 Corinthians 7:23, but with an emphasis on spiritual freedom: “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.” Believers are set free from the dominion of sin through the death of Christ (Galatians 1:4). Our spiritual freedom comes at the price of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Consequently, since we now belong to Christ, we must not let ourselves come under the control of other humans.
Paul’s phrase become slaves of human beings was meant metaphorically. We are not to let human ideas and worldly systems rule over us. Legalism, for example, should not rule us; we are not bound by the rules of men. Rather, we are “responsible to God” (1 Corinthians 7:24). Jesus Christ alone is our Master.
In one sense, the blood of Christ paid for our liberation, setting us free from sin; but in another inference, His sacrifice changed our ownership, making us slaves to God alone. “You were bought with a price” means God was willing to obtain possession of us on Calvary by paying the ultimate price—the blood of His own Son
(Acts 20:28).
In 1 Corinthians 13:8–13, the apostle Paul compares the Christian virtue of love to other highly prized spiritual gifts and finds them all lacking. Love is uniquely superior (verse 8). As Christians, we share in giving and receiving the grace of God’s love (see 1 John 4:8, 16). This earthly experience of God’s divine love gives us a taste of His perfect grace and glory. Through the love of Christ poured into our hearts (see Ephesians 3:17; Romans 5:5), we participate to a limited degree in the full perfection we will know and enjoy when we stand in God’s presence in eternity: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall
know fully, even as I have
been
fully known”
(1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV).
Paul explains that spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are temporary and partial. Eventually, they “will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless” (1 Corinthians 13:8–10, NLT). In our current state of existence, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are valuable to us and to the church, but their worth will run out when we are face to face with the Lord in heaven. These gifts only give us an obscured, unfinished picture of our spiritual reality, and they will ultimately pass away.
Paul uses two illustrations to explain this truth. First, he employs the example of a child maturing into adulthood: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11). Right now, we are like children playing with plastic toys that will wear out and become unusable. One day we will trade them in for the enduring, grown-up, perfection of eternity. Second, Paul contrasts looking at someone in a dull, dimly lit mirror with meeting that person face to face. In the Greco-Roman world, mirrors were fashioned out of polished metal discs that reflected a blurred, imperfect image, nothing like seeing someone up close, in vivid, eye-to-eye clarity.
Thus, now we see in a mirror dimly is Paul’s figure of speech
for “now we have imperfect knowledge and understanding.”
The New Living Translation renders the imagery like so:
“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror,
but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
All that I know now is partial and incomplete,
but then I will know everything completely,
just as God now knows me completely”
(1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT).
Flawless understanding
and unrestricted knowledge of matters
pertaining to God and His kingdom
will only be achieved
when we meet Jesus Christ in person.
The apostle John affirms
that our
knowledge of Jesus
is partial now
but will
become clear when we
see Him
face to face:
“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he
has not yet shown us
what we will be like when Christ appears.
But we do know that
we will be like him,
for we will see him as he really is”
(1 John 3:2, NLT).
Within the Scriptures, we have the complete revelation of God, but our understanding of it remains limited (see 1 Corinthians 8:1–3). As we grow in the faith, we undergo a process of spiritual maturation as individual believers (2 Peter 3:18) and together as the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11–16). Paul calls this progressive development toward Christian maturity “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, ESV). It is our heavenward journey of intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Along the way, we must stay laser-focused on Jesus, who is the trailblazing forerunner of our quest (Hebrews 12:1–2). He demonstrates the way through His perfect obedience to the Father (John 4:34; 5:30; Luke 22:42). As the Author and Perfecter of our faith, He not only inspires us, but Christ also empowers us to grow toward our heavenly stature. He starts the good work in us and “will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
In the meantime, until the Lord returns or we reach heaven, we have limited understanding and knowledge—we see in a mirror dimly. But one day our onward and upward growth in ever-increasing degrees of Christian maturity will culminate in heavenly perfection as “we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).
In 2 Corinthians 2:17—7:4, the apostle Paul sets forth a defense of his apostolic ministry. In verses 4:1–6, he focuses on the transparency of his ministry. Paul renounces secret and underhanded methods, stating that he does not “try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this” (2 Corinthians 4:2, NLT). Paul contends that, if the message of the gospel seems hidden, it is not because he has tried to hide anything. Rather, it is obscured to those who are perishing (verse 3) because “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Who is the “god of this age”? We can eliminate the possibility that Paul is referring to the one true God here. This “god” is blinding minds and keeping people from Christ and His gospel. So, the god of this age must be an evil being.
One clue as to the identity of the god of this age is that his rule is temporary. The exact phrase god of this age is found nowhere else in the New Testament. The original Greek word (aiōn) in 2 Corinthians 4:4, translated as “age” (NIV, CSB, NKJV) or “world” (ESV, NLT, NASB, KJV), means “an era of time or an epoch.” This god’s reign has a limited span.
Another clue on the identity of the god of this age is the use of similar titles in the Bible. Ephesians 2:2 speaks of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” and “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” In John 14:20, Jesus refers to “the prince of this world.” If all these appellations point to the same being, we have a ruler who wields temporary authority over the ungodly and blinds their minds to God’s plan of salvation. The obvious identity of the god of this age is the devil, or Satan.
As the god of this age, Satan maintains a significant influence on the values, thoughts, beliefs, and objectives of the unsaved people of the world. Satan himself claimed to rule the world in one of his temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4:8–9). But Satan does not control this present world completely. He is not the ultimate authority. God is still the sovereign Lord of the universe. Satan is only a “god” in the sense that he controls the lives of unbelievers and blinds their minds to truth. The unredeemed serve and worship Satan (even if they don’t realize it) as if he is their divine master.
As the god of this age, Satan possesses a powerful dominion over this present, fallen, dark world of sin and death (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13; 1 John 5:19). From a biblical perspective, this evil age began with Adam’s fall, not with the creation of the world. Humanity’s rebellion against God was initiated by Satan (1 John 3:8; John 8:44), and people got “caught up in the cosmic and supernatural uprising of Satan against the one true and living God” (Barnett, P., The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, the Bible Speaks Today, InterVarsity Press, 1988, p. 82).
The Bible teaches that, before salvation, we “were dead in [our] transgressions and sins, in which [we] used to live when [we] followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts” (Ephesians 2:1–3). Blinded as unbelievers, we served and followed Satan, the god of this age. But through God’s mercy and grace, we received the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Our Lord died on the cross “for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4). The redeemed become partakers of God’s heavenly kingdom (Hebrews 6:5). In the age to come, God’s kingdom will be fully revealed, and every wrong of this present age will be made right (Luke 18:30).
In predicting His death, Jesus said, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31), and He assured His disciples that “the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11). Jesus is the King of kings, and He came into this world “to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8). Until the final judgment, Satan has been allotted an “hour—when darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53). But his time is limited.
As the god of this age,
Satan’s greatest superpower is deceit
(Revelation 12:9).
He blinds people’s minds to spiritual truth
(John 3:19–20; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 4:17–19; 2 Thessalonians 2:9–10).
Jesus stated that Satan “has always hated the truth,
because there is no truth in him.
When he lies, it is consistent with his character;
for he is a liar and the father of lies”
(John 8:44, NLT).
Thankfully, God has made
His light shine in
the hearts of believers
so that they are no longer blind to
His TRUTH
(2 Corinthians 4:6).
Nevertheless, Christians must stay firmly rooted in the Word of God (John 17:17; Psalm 119:11; 2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 1:23) and put on all of God’s armor so that they can stand firm against Satan’s deceptive strategies (Ephesians 6:11).
When we read of the "world" in the New Testament, we are reading the Greek word cosmos. Cosmos most often refers to the inhabited earth and the people who live on the earth, which functions apart from God. Satan is the ruler of this "cosmos" (John 12:31; 16:11; 1 John 5:19). By the simple definition that the word world refers to a world system ruled by Satan, we can more readily appreciate Christ’s claims that believers are no longer of the world—we are no longer ruled by sin, nor are we bound by the principles of the world. In addition, we are being changed into the image of Christ, causing our interest in the things of the world to become less and less as we mature in Christ.
Psalm 90, the only psalm attributed to Moses, is titled “A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God.” The prayer opens with these words: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations” (Psalm 90:1). Considering the forty years (or one third of his life) Moses spent wandering in the wilderness with no fixed dwelling place, it’s no wonder he would say, “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!” (NLT).
The word translated “dwelling place” in the original Hebrew language means “refuge, shelter from danger or hardship, habitation.” Many of the psalms describe God in similar terms: “Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent” (Psalm 91:9–10, ESV). “You are my hiding place,” says Psalm 32:7 of the Lord, “You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalm 71:3declares, “Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come” (NASB95).
The concept of God as our dwelling place expresses the stability, dependability, and eternal constancy of God. Perhaps better than most, Moses understood and could accurately communicate the permanence of God in the believer’s life. Moses continued the portrayal in Psalm 90:2, “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” God is our fixed address for all of time and eternity. Moses uttered this assurance again to the people of Israel as they were about to enter the Promised Land: “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27, ESV). Moses wanted the people to comprehend that God Himself had always been and would always be their permanent, immovable, unshakeable, eternal home. The Lord was their place of shelter and refuge, and His everlasting, all-powerful arms would forever be under them to uphold and carry them through life.
Describing God as our dwelling place is also a picture of the unbroken, intimate fellowship God desires to have with His people. He longs to bring us home, near to Himself, so we can dwell in His courts and “be satisfied with the goodness” of His house and the holiness of His temple (Psalm 65:4, ESV). He wants our desire to match His own so that we might pray like David, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD” (Psalm 27:4).
David loved being in God’s presence (Psalm 26:8). He often prayed, “I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings” (Psalm 61:4). Like the Lord’s “dwelling place,” “refuge,” or “house,” His “tent” is a symbol of His presence and protection. Only God’s children can say to Him, “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).
Today we experience the richness of God’s presence through a relationship with Jesus Christ (John 6:51–58; 15:1–17). Jesus came to dwell among us so that we might live with God forever (John 1:14). Before we accepted Christ as Savior, we were living far apart from God (Ephesians 2:12). But once we were united with Christ, we were “brought near by His blood” (Ephesians 2:13). Through His death on the cross, Jesus Christ provided “access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:18).
Now and forever, true believers can experience God as our dwelling place, enjoying the fullness of joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11). In the “panorama of time and eternity,” God is our dwelling place from the ancient days of Moses to the new heavens and earth when, “behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:3, ESV).
A pure heart is evidenced by openness, clarity, and an uncompromising desire to please the Lord in everything we think, say, and do. Purity goes beyond just cleaning up our outward behavior (“cleanse your hands”) to the internal purification of heart, mind, and soul (“purify your hearts”).
Jesus had a lot to say about sanctification in John 17.
In verse 16 the Lord says,
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of it,”
and this is before His request:
“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (verse 17).
In Christian theology, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers
enter into this state when they are born of God:
“You are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us wisdom from God,
righteousness
and sanctification and redemption”
(1 Corinthians 1:30, ESV).
The sanctification mentioned in this verse
is a once-for-ever
separation of believers unto God.
It is a work God performs, an integral
part of our salvation
and our connection with Christ
(Hebrews 10:10).
Theologians sometimes refer to this state of holiness before God as “positional” sanctification; it is related to justification.
While we are positionally holy (“set free from every sin” by the blood of Christ, Acts 13:39), we know that we still sin (1 John 1:10). That’s why the Bible also refers to sanctification as a practical experience of our separation unto God. “Progressive” or “experiential” sanctification, as it is sometimes called, is the effect of obedience to the Word of God in one’s life. It is the same as growing in the Lord (2 Peter 3:18) or spiritual maturity. God started the work of making us like Christ, and He is continuing it (Philippians 1:6). This type of sanctification is to be pursued by the believer earnestly (1 Peter 1:15; Hebrews 12:14) and is effected by the application of the Word (John 17:17). Progressive sanctification has in view the setting apart of believers for the purpose for which they are sent into the world: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18–19).
That Jesus set Himself apart for God’s purpose
is both the
basis and the condition of our being set apart
(see John 10:36).
We are sanctified and sent because Jesus was.
Our Lord’s sanctification is the pattern of and power for our own.
The sending and the sanctifying are inseparable.
On this account we are called “saints” (hagioi in the Greek), or “sanctified ones.” Prior to salvation, our behavior bore witness to our standing in the world in separation from God, but now our behavior should bear witness to our standing before God in separation from the world. Little by little, every day, “those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV) are becoming more like Christ.
There is a third sense in which the word sanctification is used in Scripture—a “complete” or “ultimate” sanctification. This is the same as glorification.
Paul prays in 1 Thessalonians 5:23,
“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely,
and may
your whole spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(ESV).
Paul speaks of Christ
as “the hope of glory”
(Colossians 1:27)
and links the glorious appearing of Christ to our personal glorification: “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). This glorified state will be our ultimate separation from sin, a total sanctification in every regard. “We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
To summarize, “sanctification” is a translation of the Greek word hagiasmos, meaning “holiness” or “a separation.” In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ. In the present, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness. In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness. These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (maturity), and the presence of sin (glorification).
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” He spoke these words as part of His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7), in which He had said it was foolish to store up treasures on earth where “moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19–20); rather, He urged us to store up treasure in heaven where it will last forever. The obstacle that prevents us from wise investment is the heart. Wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be (Matthew 6:21). We follow what has captivated our hearts, and Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters.
Jesus’ call to follow Him is a call to abandon all other masters. He called Matthew from the tax collector’s booth (Matthew 9:9). Matthew obeyed and walked away from extravagant wealth and dirty deals. Jesus called Peter, James, and John from the fishing docks (Mark 1:16–18). To obey Jesus’ call meant that they had to leave behind everything they knew, everything they’d worked for. Jesus called Paul, a successful Pharisee, with the words, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16). Those words will never make it into a mass-market ad campaign for Christianity—but maybe they should, because that’s what it means to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
We must forsake everything else, no matter the cost
(Matthew 10:34–39).
The Lord describes Himself as a “jealous God”
(Exodus 34:14).
This means He guards what is rightfully His.
He is righteously jealous for our affections
because we were created to know and love Him
(Colossians 1:16).
He is not jealous for His own sake; He needs nothing
(Psalm 50:9–10).
He is jealous for us because we need Him
(Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37).
When we serve another master such as money,
we rob ourselves of all we
were created to be, and we rob God of
His rightful adoration.
Jesus’ claim to us is exclusive.
He bought us with His own blood
and delivered us
(1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23; Romans 6:17).
He doesn’t share His throne with anyone.
During Jesus’ time on earth, some people
followed Him for a ways,
but their devotion was superficial
(Luke 9:57–62).
They wanted something Jesus offered,
but they
weren’t committed
(Mark 10:17–22).
We cannot serve two masters because, as Jesus pointed out,
we end up hating one and loving the other.
It’s only natural. Opposing masters demand different things
and lead down different paths.
When we follow Christ, we must die to everything else. We will be like some of the seeds in Jesus’ parable (Luke 8:5–15)—only a portion of those seeds actually bore fruit. Some sprouted at first but then withered and died. They were not deeply rooted in good soil.
Daniel 12:2 summarizes the two very different fates facing mankind: “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Everyone will be raised from the dead, but not everyone will share the same destiny. The New Testament reveals the further detail of separate resurrections for the just and the unjust.
Revelation 20:4-6
mentions a “first resurrection” and identifies those involved
as “blessed and holy.”
The second death (the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14) has no power over these individuals.
The first resurrection, then, is the raising of all believers.
It corresponds with Jesus’ teaching
of the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14)
and the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29).
The first resurrection takes place in various stages.
Jesus Christ Himself
(the “first fruits,” 1 Corinthians 15:20),
paved the way for the resurrection of all
who believe in Him.
The event which divides the first and second resurrections seems to be the millennial kingdom.
The last of the righteous are raised to reign “with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4),
but the “rest of the dead [that is, the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished”
(Revelation 20:5).
What great rejoicing will attend the first resurrection!
Jesus proclaimed Himself
to be
the “Alpha and Omega”
in Revelation 1:8; 21:6; and 22:13.
Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Among the Jewish rabbis,
it was common to use the first and the last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to denote the whole of anything,
from beginning to end.
Jesus
as the beginning and end of all things
is a reference
to no one but the true God.
This statement of eternality could apply only to God. It is seen especially in Revelation 22:13, where Jesus proclaims that He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
One of the meanings of Jesus being the “Alpha and Omega” is that He was at the beginning of all things and will be at the close. It is equivalent to saying He always existed and always will exist. It was Christ, as second Person of the Trinity, who brought about the creation: “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3), and His Second Coming will be the beginning of the end of creation as we know it (2 Peter 3:10). As God incarnate, He has no beginning, nor will He have any end with respect to time, being from everlasting to everlasting.
A second meaning of Jesus as the “Alpha and Omega” is that the phrase identifies Him as the God of the Old Testament. Isaiah ascribes this aspect of Jesus’ nature as part of the triune God in several places. “I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last I am He” (41:4). “I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). “I am he; I am the first, I also am the last” (Isaiah 48:12). These are clear indications of the eternal nature of the Godhead.
Christ, as the Alpha and Omega, is the first and last
in so many ways.
He is the “author and finisher” of our faith
(Hebrews 12:2),
signifying that He begins it and
carries it
through to completion
He is the totality,
the sum and substance of the Scriptures,
both of
the Law and of the Gospel
(John 1:1, 14).
He is the fulfilling end of the Law
(Matthew 5:17),
and
He is the beginning subject matter
of the
gospel of grace through faith,
not of works
(Ephesians 2:8-9).
He is found in the first verse of Genesis
and in the
last verse of Revelation.
He is the first and last,
the all in all of salvation,
from the
justification before God
to the
final sanctification of
His people.
Jesus is the
Alpha and Omega,
the first and last,
the beginning and the end.
Only God incarnate
could make such a statement.
Only Jesus Christ
is
God incarnate
Colossians 1:27 is a powerful verse:
‘God has chosen to make known among
the Gentiles
the glorious riches of this
mystery,
which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Let’s start by clarifying that the apostle Paul is writing to believers in Jesus Christ—the “you” whom he addresses. He calls them “the Lord’s people” in the previous verse (Colossians 1:26). The “Gentiles” are non-Jewish people.
A “mystery” in the New Testament is simply something that was hidden in times past but has now been revealed by God.
The former mystery, now understood, is that
Christ in us
is the hope of our future glory.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon certain people to empower them for service, but then He would leave again. New Testament believers have a different experience, as the Spirit indwells us permanently. The permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit given to New Testament believers was a “mystery” to the Old Testament saints. After Jesus ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us, never to leave (John 14:16–17; 16:7). Jesus told His disciples, “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father . . . and I am in you” (John 14:20).
The Holy Spirit seals us for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). In other words, the Spirit’s presence in our hearts guarantees our ultimate salvation. Though we are in this world, we are not of it (John 17:16). God will continue to work in us until He is finished perfecting us (see Philippians 1:6). This forward-looking guarantee of perfection is what is meant by “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The J. B. Phillips translation of Colossians 1:27puts it this way:
‘The secret is simply this:
Christ in you!
Yes, Christ in
you bringing with him
the
hope of all glorious things
to come.”
The hope of glory is the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore us and all creation
(see Romans 8:19–21 and 1 Peter 5:10).
This hope is not a wishful thought,
but the confident, expectant, joyful knowledge
that we are being changed by God
and will one day see Christ
face to face, having been conformed to His image
(Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2).
The hope of glory includes our resurrection: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Romans 8:11). It includes a heavenly inheritance: “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3–4). The Spirit of Christ within us is the “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14).
Christ’s presence in us is the hope of glory, and this truth is full of “glorious riches.” Our once dead, darkened spirits are made alive. Christ is in our hearts, and we know that there is life beyond this earthly existence—a life that will be glorious beyond all imagination.
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NASB).
With those few words—“from glory to glory”—Paul sums up our entire Christian life, from redemption and sanctification on earth, to our glorious eternal welcome into heaven. There is a great deal of content packed into those few words. It’s all so important that Paul labors at great length, from 2 Corinthians 2:14 through the end of chapter 5, to open his readers’ eyes to a great truth. Let’s see why that truth matters so much.
The same Greek word for “glory” is used twice in the phrase from glory to glory, yet each usage refers to something different. The first “glory” is that of the Old Covenant—the Law of Moses—while the second is that of the New Covenant, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both have astonishing splendor.
The Old Covenant was given to Moses directly from God, written by God’s own finger (Exodus 31:18). That root of our Christian faith is glorious indeed; it’s the glory we’re coming “from.” Yet the New Covenant, the glory we’re going “to,” far surpasses that of the Old.
The transformation is from the glory of the Law. Like the stone it was written on, the Law was inflexible and absolute, applying to all Israelites without much regard for individual circumstances (Hebrews 10:28). Though holy, good, and righteous in itself (Romans 7:12), the Law was, for us sinners, the letter that kills us (2 Corinthians 3:6). The Law was an external force to control behavior. In addition, stone, despite its strength, is earthly and will eventually wear away. The Law was merely a temporary guardian (Galatians 3:23–25) until something better came along.
The transformation is to the glory of the New Covenant, which far surpasses the Old in every way. It forgives us of our sin and gives us sinners life (John 6:63). It is written on believers’ hearts by the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 3:3), so our obedience to God springs up from within us by God-given desires rather than by threats of legal punishment. In place of a cold set of writings as a guide for pleasing God, we now have Father, Son and Holy Spirit making their home with us, fellowshipping in loving intimacy, teaching us everything we must know and do (John 14:23; 16:13). That position in Christ is as permanent, eternal, and spiritual as God Himself, rather than temporary and earthly.
Paul is intent on directing Christians to focus on the spiritual glory of the New Covenant rather than the physical glory of the Old, as many Jews in his day refused to do. He compared the two types of glory by recalling how Moses absorbed and reflected God’s glory for a time after being in his presence (2 Corinthians 3:7–11, 13; cf. Exodus 34:29–35). Though Moses’ glow had a spiritual cause, there was nothing spiritual about the effect—any person, regardless of his relationship with God, could see the glow on Moses’ face, which he covered with a veil.
Not so the glory of the New Covenant. That can be seen only with a believer’s spiritual eyes—what Paul is doing his best to open, so that we discern the gospel’s glory. So he writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
But, as we move from glory to glory, there’s something even more important about the glory of the New Covenant that Christians must understand: its supernatural power to transform us. And that brings us to God’s ultimate purpose and destination for every believer, to transform us into the image of His own beloved Son (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:28–30; Philippians 3:20–21).
Before he finishes with the topic of being transformed from glory to glory, Paul presents yet one more astonishing claim:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).
This is the invitation the Lord makes
to all Christians,
to have our lives radically transformed here and now,
by opening our eyes to see
the glorious journey He is taking us on “from glory to glory.”
The Old Covenant that God had established with His people required strict obedience to the Mosaic Law. Because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), the Law required that Israel perform daily sacrifices in order to atone for sin. But Moses, through whom God established the Old Covenant, also anticipated the New Covenant. In one of his final addresses to the nation of Israel, Moses looks forward to a time when
Israel would be given “a heart to understand” (Deuteronomy 29:4, ESV).
Moses predicts that Israel would fail in keeping the Old Covenant (verses 22–28), but he then sees a time of restoration (Deuteronomy 30:1–5). At that time, Moses says, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (verse 6).
The New Covenant
involves a total change of heart
so that God’s people
are naturally pleasing to Him.
The prophet Jeremiah also predicted the New Covenant. “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. . . . This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (Jeremiah 31:31–33). Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and to establish the New Covenant between God and His people. The Old Covenant was written in stone, but the New Covenant is written on hearts.
Entering the New Covenant is made possible only by faith in Christ,
who shed His blood to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
Luke 22:20 relates how Jesus, at the Last Supper, takes the cup and says,
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (ESV).
The New Covenant is also mentioned in Ezekiel 36:26–27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”
Ezekiel lists several aspects of the New Covenant here:
a new heart, a new spirit, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and
true holiness.
The Mosaic Law could provide none of these things (see Romans 3:20).
The New Covenant was originally given to Israel and includes a promise of fruitfulness, blessing, and a peaceful existence in the Promised Land. In Ezekiel 36:28–30 God says, “Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. . . . I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.” Deuteronomy 30:1–5 contains similar promises related to Israel under the New Covenant. After the resurrection of Christ, God in His grace brought the Gentiles into the blessing of the New Covenant, too (Acts 10; Ephesians 2:13–14). The fulfillment of the New Covenant will be seen in two places: on earth during the Millennial Kingdom,
and in heaven for all eternity.
We are no longer under the Law but under grace (Romans 6:14–15). The Old Covenant has served its purpose, and it has been replaced by “a better covenant” (Hebrews 7:22).
“In fact the ministry Jesus has received
is as superior to theirs as the covenant
of which he is mediator is superior to the old one,
since the new covenant
is established on better promises”
(Hebrews 8:6).
Under the New Covenant, we are given the opportunity to receive salvation as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8–9). Our responsibility is to exercise faith in Christ, the One who fulfilled the Law on our behalf and brought an end to the Law’s sacrifices through His own sacrificial death. Through the life-giving Holy Spirit who lives in all believers (Romans 8:9–11),
we share in the
inheritance of Christ and enjoy
a permanent,
unbroken relationship with God
(Hebrews 9:15).
To be sanctified is to be “set apart.” Synonyms for sanctified are holy, consecrated, and hallowed. The Bible speaks of things being “sanctified,” such as Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:23) and gifts to the temple (Matthew 23:17); days, such as the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8); names, such as God’s (Matthew 6:9); and people, such as the Israelites (Leviticus 20:7–8) and Christians (Ephesians 5:26).
For a thing to be sanctified means it is set apart for a special use. Sinai was set apart from all other mountains for the giving of the Law. The temple in Jerusalem was set apart from all other locations for the worship of the one true God: “I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there” (2 Chronicles 7:16).
Things that are sanctified are reserved for God’s purposes and should not be used for mundane tasks.
The night Babylon fell, King Belshazzar “gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets . . . from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them” (Daniel 5:2).
It was one of Belshazzar’s final acts, for he was killed that night by the invading Persians. God’s name is “hallowed” (Luke 11:2) and any flippant or disrespectful use of His name is profane.
Jesus spoke of Himself as being sanctified in John 17:19;
in other words,
He is holy and “set apart” from sin.
His followers are to be similarly set apart from sin and for God’s use
(see 1 Peter 1:16).
People who are sanctified are born again and therefore part of God’s family (Hebrews 2:11).
They are reserved for God’s use.
They know “the sanctifying work of the Spirit” in their lives (1 Peter 1:2).
To be sanctified means that God has been at work in our lives.
Under the Old Testament Law, the blood of a sacrifice was required to set things apart unto God: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood” (Hebrews 9:22). Blood was sprinkled on tabernacle furniture, on priestly clothing, and on people. Nothing was considered sanctified until it had come in contact with the blood. This was a picture of the spiritual application of Christ’s blood for our salvation—we are “sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2).
Just as the temple
of old was sanctified for God’s use, our bodies,
temples of the Holy Spirit,
are set apart for God’s holy purposes (1 Corinthians 6:19).
To be sanctified means
that God’s Word has had an effect on us.
It is “through the word”
that God cleanses us and makes us holy
(Ephesians 5:26; John 17:17)
God invites us sinners to come to Him “just as we are” and receive His mercy and forgiveness. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit begins His amazing work of transforming us into the image and likeness of Christ. To be sanctified means that God loves us too much to let us stay the same.
The apostle’s prayer is for all believers, everywhere: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
In Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays to His Father, saying, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
In this verse, Jesus communicates two important facts:
God’s Word is truth—God’s Word
equals truth--
and it’s by that truth that God
sanctifies us,
or sets us apart
for holy service to Himself.
In the same prayer, Jesus prays for His disciples and all
who will believe in Him through the gospel
(John 17:20).
Believers accept God’s words (John 17:6) and
accept Jesus as God’s Word
(John 17:8).
God is truth,
and His truth brings salvation to all who accept it
(Titus 2:11).
Further, God’s written and living Word will sustain believers
as they are in the world
(John 17:14).
In the High Priestly Prayer in John 17, Jesus confirms that He brought the message of salvation to the world: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Jesus’ mission of bringing the truth has been accomplished (John 17:4), and He turns the focus of His prayer to God working through the disciples and other believers. He confirms that believers will be rejected by the world for believing “Your word is truth,” but believers are also assured joy, God’s protection from the evil one, and sanctification by God’s Word (John 17:13–19).
The Old and New Testaments both affirm that the words recorded in the Bible are God’s words and that they are true. Since God cannot lie, His Word is truth: “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless” (Psalm 18:30). Since God is eternal and unchanging, His Word is always the same: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35; cf. Isaiah 40:8). Jesus uses the Word as He rebukes the devil who was tempting Him: “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4; cf. Deuteronomy 8:3).
If we want to know truth, we will look in God’s written Word (2 Timothy 3:16–17) and look to Jesus Christ (John 14:6; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 1:3). John refers to Jesus Christ in John 1:1–2, saying, “In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” The Word is God’s total message, and Jesus embodied that full message, which is why He is called the “Logos,” or “Word,” of God (Colossians 1:19; 2:9). God is truth. His Word is truth. Salvation comes by accepting Jesus and agreeing that “Your word is truth.”
Jesus said, “Your word is truth.” When we look at the Bible, we see truth. The Bible does not merely contain the truth; it is the truth. Every word is truth, in every part of the Bible. “The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6). This is the doctrine of the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture.
How we respond to God’s written Word and the Word made flesh has an eternal impact on us. Since God’s Word is truth, rejecting the Bible and rejecting Jesus is rejecting God Himself. Believing, cherishing, studying, and obeying God’s Word is the key to salvation, understanding God, and living abundantly (John 10:10). No matter what we may face in this world, we are sustained by the truth prayed over us in Jesus’ prayer: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).
Second Corinthians 2:15 says, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” To understand what the apostle Paul meant when he said that Christians are the “aroma of Christ,” we must look at the verses immediately surrounding the expression: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?” (verses 14–16).
For Jewish people, the apostle Paul’s analogy of “the pleasing aroma of Christ” would present an immediate association. In the Old Testament, the scent of burnt offerings was described as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Genesis 8:20–21; Leviticus 23:18; Numbers 28:27). For the Gentiles, this phrase would suggest the scent of incense being burned as an offering to the gods. However, Paul had a more specific picture in mind.
The apostle was speaking to the Corinthians about recent events in his ministry of evangelism. Despite all the difficulties and disappointments he’d faced while traveling from city to city spreading the gospel, Paul was able to reflect on God’s goodness with thanksgiving. The apostle then compared this ministry of evangelism to the triumphal military parades that were common at that time in the Roman world.
Paul’s metaphor would be readily understood by his audience, with the apostle and his co-laborers portrayed as victorious soldiers in a triumphal procession. During these Roman military parades, captives of war would be marched through the streets as garlands of flowers were carried and incense was burned to the gods. The aromatic perfumes wafted on the air as spectators and those in the procession breathed in their fragrance. At the parade’s finale, many prisoners would be put to death. Thus, the aromas were pleasing and life-giving to the victors, but they were the smell of death to those who had been defeated.
In Paul’s analogy, he separates humanity into two groups: those on the path of salvation and those on the road to destruction. The aroma spread everywhere by the ministry of evangelism was the knowledge of God as victor. Christians who spread the gospel are members of God’s victorious army led by Jesus Christ. Believers are like the aroma or fragrance spread during the victory processions. Both the victors and those perishing smell the aroma; however, it has a different meaning for the two groups. For the victorious army and its peoples, the aroma would relate to the joy of triumph. But for the prisoners of war, the fragrance would be associated with defeat, slavery, and death.
This brilliant metaphor contrasts Christian and non-Christian responses to hearing the gospel. To non-Christians, those on the road to destruction, believers who preach the gospel spread the smell of death, as it were. To Christians, those on the path to salvation, they produce the fragrance of life.
Overwhelmed by the extreme importance of this ministry of spreading the gospel, Paul exclaimed, “And who is equal to such a task?” The implication is that no one is worthy. Paul was astounded that God would appoint humans to share in this task. Later, in 2 Corinthians 3:5–6, Paul affirms that our ability rests solely on God:
“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
Second Corinthians 3:6 says, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” With these words, Paul summarizes the key difference between the Old and New Testaments: the first covenant was based on obedience to the written law (the “letter”), but the second covenant is based on the blood of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
There are two parts to this answer, as we
look at both the letter and the Spirit.
First, what does Paul mean by “the letter kills”? Simply that the Old Testament Law, which is good and perfect (Psalm 19:7), reveals all people as law-breakers (Galatians 3:10). The law “kills” in that the penalty for breaking God’s law is eternal death in hell (Romans 6:23; Revelation 21:8). As God told Moses the lawgiver, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33). Even if you sin only once in your whole life, it’s the same as breaking all of God’s laws (James 2:10), just as breaking only one link in a chain breaks the whole chain.
The written law—“the letter”—was chiseled in stone by the finger of God and is the unchanging standard by which all are judged. The law cannot give us righteousness or eternal life in heaven (Galatians 2:16). It can only condemn us as sinners, and the sentence is death. Heaven is where perfection is required (Matthew 5:20, 48; 19:16–21), and “the law made nothing perfect” (Hebrews 7:19).
Second, what does Paul mean by “the Spirit gives life”? Simply that the Holy Spirit rescues us from our hopeless situation. God saves us from death and grants us eternal life when we are born again through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:6), and, later, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
The words I have spoken to you—they are Spirit and they are life”
(John 6:63)
The Holy Spirit was active in the Incarnation of our Savior (Luke 1:35). It was through the Holy Spirit that Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice to God for our sins (Hebrews 9:14). The Spirit is the cause of the new birth (John 3:3–8). It is the Spirit who lives in believers (John 14:17), seals them (Ephesians 1:13), and sanctifies them (Romans 15:16).
The Spirit gives life in that He enables us to reach God’s ultimate goal for us, to be transformed into the glorious image of God’s own Son (2 Corinthians 3:18; also see Romans 8:28–30). Until the day that we see Christ, the Spirit intercedes with God on our behalf, ensuring our continued forgiveness and preserving the promise of God (Romans 8:26–27).
In 2 Corinthians 4:7, Paul makes a beautiful statement that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” The context helps us understand what is the treasure in earthen vessels (other translations say “jars of clay”).
Paul is exhorting his readers that, even though there
is great difficulty
in their ministry, he is encouraged
(2 Corinthians 4:1).
He acknowledges that in his ministry he had received mercy and that he and the others who shared that ministry are not losing heart (in this case he is also referring to Timothy, see 2 Corinthians 1:1).
They could have confidence because they were walking in
the truth of God’s Word
and not in their own cleverness or craftiness
(2 Corinthians 4:2).
Because their confidence was in His truth and not their own ability,
they could fulfill their ministry
with good conscience even as God could observe their actions
(2 Corinthians 4:2).
Even though Paul and Timothy’s gospel-proclaiming ministry was at times met with rejection, it was not because of any flaw in the good news itself. Unbelievers suffer from a blindness of the mind and are unable to see the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4). Because of this great need, the message of the gospel is so important.
They weren’t
proclaiming or promoting themselves;
rather, they were
serving others by
proclaiming the message of
Jesus Christ
(2 Corinthians 4:5).
The light that Paul and Timothy were proclaiming had come from God—that same God who had originally created light (Genesis 1:3) and who had determined that Christ would come to provide light to humanity (John 1:4–9).
God had accomplished the creation of light and the coming of Jesus. What He determines shall happen; it will indeed take place, and God had shone light in Paul’s and Timothy’s hearts that they would be equipped to present the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ and the eternal life He provides (2 Corinthians 4:6).
It is for this reason that Paul explains that they have the treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7) and why that is significant.
Paul says elsewhere that, if he will boast, he will boast in the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:17). He is doing exactly that here when he says that they have the treasure in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7). The marvel that Paul is communicating is that, even as Paul and Timothy (and presumably the other disciples) were proclaiming Christ, they were not fulfilling this responsibility in their own power. Instead, God had provided the life, the power, and the message. Paul understood that those who were doing the actual proclaiming were simply earthen vessels—with no glory or merit of their own. As he said to the Corinthians in his previous letter, “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Such lowly and humble people were given an incredible treasure—the personal and lifegiving knowledge of Jesus Christ in their own lives and the good news to proclaim to others.
This shows how surpassing is the strength and power of God, and those who hear the message can be encouraged that the power is from God and His truth. The power does not originate in the cleverness or strength of people.
As God uses broken and imperfect people, we can also be encouraged that God can use us to accomplish important things and that, when we use the tools He provides, the power is not our own, but His.
We are simply earthen vessels / jars of clay; the treasure is
God’s gift inside.
Paul was a highly educated, brilliantly qualified teacher of the law, yet he did not depend on his own competence in his ministry as an apostle of Jesus Christ: “And we have such trust through Christ toward God.
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves,
but our sufficiency is from God,
who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant”
(2 Corinthians 3:4–6, NKJV).
Genuine ministers of Christ
can have rock-solid confidence,
but only as they
depend wholly
on the Lord and His grace.
In 2 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul confronts the ideas and practices of legalistic false teachers who brag about their “letters of commendation” (2 Corinthians 3:1). These powerful, self-reliant men were challenging Paul’s authority and apostleship. They thought Paul lacked the necessary credentials and resources to be a competent minister. Paul asserts that we (he and all genuine Christian ministers) don’t need to depend on human-supplied credentials because our sufficiency comes from God. In 2 Corinthians 3:5, the Greek noun translated “sufficiency” means “the quality of being able to meet a need satisfactorily, or being fit enough, capable, competent, or adequate for the job.”
In a similar warning to the Philippians about false teachers, Paul explains that, perhaps more than anyone, he has good reason to trust in his own competency: “Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault” (Philippians 3:4–6, NLT).
Humanly speaking, Paul was overqualified for the job. Nevertheless, he puts “no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). He does not rely on his rich heritage, religious zeal, theological training, or natural ability.
Everything that defined and qualified Paul
as an apostle was
credited to God and His grace:
“For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church. But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results.
For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was
not I but God who was working through me by his grace” (1 Corinthians 15:9–10, NLT).
Paul claims
no credit and takes no glory for himself
but gives it all to God
and the power of His marvelous
grace.
“Our sufficiency is of God” is not a declaration of false humility. Instead, it is a pronouncement of confidence in God’s competence, acknowledging that there is only one source to draw from as ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ—the unlimited supply of grace poured into us through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, the apostles recognized that their “great power” to “testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” came from “God’s grace,” which was “powerfully at work in them all” (Acts 4:33).
God’s grace is the only letter of recommendation we need (Acts 14:26; Romans 15:15–16).
Paul admits that in all his dealings he
“depended on God’s grace” and not on his own “human wisdom”
(2 Corinthians 1:12, NLT; see also 1 Corinthians 2:1–5).
Our sufficiency is of God means that none of us are fit, capable, or satisfactorily qualified by our human efforts or aptitudes to minister to the hearts of lost people. Only God can enable us or make “us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant” (2 Corinthians 3:6, ESV). Our success in ministry comes from God alone, as Paul eloquently illustrates throughout his letter: “We ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.
This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. . . . Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. . . . We live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. . . . All of this is for your benefit.
And as God’s grace reaches more and more people,
there will be great thanksgiving,
and God will receive more and more glory”
(2 Corinthians 4:7–15, NLT; see also 2 Corinthians 5:18).
Our sufficiency is of God, and His grace is all we need
(2 Corinthians 12:7–10).
