Progressive Revelation and the New Humanity: New Humanity Part 11

Joh 16:12-13  "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  (13)  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."

Was Jesus earthly ministry the ultimate revelation of the kingdom? There are many who say yes. I have met some so called, "red letter" Christians that emphasize Jesus and play down the apostle Paul. I admit that evangelical dogma, especially the dispensationalists, have missed the boat. Especially in not taking the Sermon on the Mount seriously. But what about the revelation that Paul received? What about justification and grace. What about the abolishment of the law? What about the righteousness of God? What about Jesus Christ being the end of the law for righteousness? What about peace with the Father? How exactly does the indwelling Holy Spirit transform? What about continuous progressive revelation? Is the Holy Spirit still declaring things to come? These are all valid questions based on the above verse. One thing is certain, His disciples at the time had not received the complete revelation of the kingdom. In fact, he told them that he still had things to tell them that they could not bear now and this was allegedly within days and hours of his crucifixion. So what were these many things that He had to tell them?

Many liberal theologians, who do not believe in the divinity of Jesus and rather just believe that he was a great prophet and moral teacher have arrived at these conclusions because they think that there are two Christianity's. One of the Jesus of the synoptic gospels and the other of Paul. There is however, two very important witnesses that resolve the apparent chasm as I see it. One is Doctor Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke as well as the Acts of the Apostles, and the Apostle John. Luke shows a stark difference between the period of his gospel, and Acts, where on the Day of Pentecost, the beginning fulfillment of the passage from John's gospel was fulfilled. The Gospel of John then begins to allude to justification by faith without using the term and the importance of faith in Jesus.

What was the difference in Luke's writings? It was the role of the Holy Spirit. In Luke's Gospel, it is written that the Holy Spirit came and alighted on Jesus upon his baptism. So then, during Jesus earthly ministry his disciples saw and felt the influence of the Spirit as they were with Him. I believe that the source of the great love they had for Jesus was His great compassion for the disenfranchised and His willingness to stand up to the religious authorities and point out their monumental hypocrisy. They were amazed by the miracles He wrought and were completely taken with the powerful anointing he had. He was the prince of peace, and wherever He went their was peace even in the middle of a storm. The spiritual power he had was so strong that his mere saying I AM HE knocked down a Roman Cohort which is at least 500 soldiers and there were also temple police with them as well. The fact is that his disciples were continuously in the presence of the Holy Spirit when they were with Him. It was a charisma that had it's own powerful attraction. In fact, the Greek word translated anointing is Krisma. When the Holy Spirit arrived on Pentecost the entire dynamic changed. It began to indwell the saints. In the presence of the Spirit there is love, joy and peace and Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that there is freedom/liberty. It must be noted that at Pentecost and later at Cornelius home it was the preaching of the cross that brought the anointing. Paul says that the preaching of the cross was God's dynamite. It is foolishness to the world but it is the transforming power of God. The word translated power is dunamis, where we get the word dynamite from. So yes, the difference in large part is the Holy Spirit, but how exactly does the indwelling Holy Spirit operate in believers who are striving to be disciples of Jesus? How is the transformation accomplished? And what about the revelation of things they could not bear before the cross event?

First, let's look at the case of Paul. We are all familiar with the story. He was a Pharisee, a Hebrew's Hebrew who was zealous for the Torah beyond most of his contemporaries. He could trace his linage to the Tribe of Benjamin, and he studied at the feet of one of the most important Rabbis of the first century, Gamaliel. He lead a search to rid the world of the blasphemous followers of Jesus, and was the leader no doubt of the stoning of Stephen. We are also familiar with the story of how Jesus Himself met him on the road to Damascus while he was on yet another quest to kill, punish, and raise havoc with Christians. But, it is what happens directly after that encounter that has import in this topic of discussion. Sorry, but here I need to give you a fairly large portion of the New Testament scripture.  Eph 3:1-13  "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles  (2)  if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,  (3)  that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly.  (4)  When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ  (5)  (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit),  (6)  namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.  (7)  I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power.  (8)  To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ  (9)  and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan – the mystery that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things.  (10)  The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms.  (11)  This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,  (12)  in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ’s faithfulness.  (13)  For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory." Here Paul speaks of mystery. I have underlined and emboldened parts of this long passage because I want to emphasize what I see in it. This will make it easier, for you the reader, to see what I see although no doubt you would see it on your own, but perhaps my emphasis will aid the process.

The first emboldened underlined part of the above passage is "the stewardship of God's grace." In the King James it reads the dispensation of God's grace. The Greek word rendered stewardship here is οἰκονομία which means according to Strong's (administration (of a household or estate); specifically a (religious) “economy”: - dispensation, stewardship.) Paul is stating that he has had a new economy or stewardship revealed to him. I want to emphasize that I am not a dispensationalist as it is understood in evangelical theology. I would call myself a proponent of New Covenant theology without the Calvinistic trappings so common with the movement. Never the less, I do believe that there was a drastic change after the resurrection.  But, it was still partial with and already/not yet eschatological focus that was awaiting the New Heaven and Earth, or the age to come. Hopefully I will untangled the New Heaven and Earth a little later in this article.

It is safe to conclude that Paul was teaching this mystery that was only revealed to him. In the beginning, he brought this gospel of grace to the Jews as was commanded, "to the Jew first and then to the Gentile." But when the Jews began to try to kill him for this gospel, he was given leave by the Holy Spirit to take it to the Gentiles. Here is where the already/not yet tension comes into play. It appeared for all intents and purposes that God had two competing yet sanctioned programs in the earth. It was the Torah and the Temple, and it was the Christ followers of the New Covenant. Certainly Moses, the Torah and the Mosaic Covenant were given by God. It was in the Torah that one was made familiar with Adam and Abraham and Moses. But Paul, and the other apostles were patiently awaiting the "manifestation of the sons and daughters of God." It was really eye opening for me to read about this "manifestation" in the NLT. Rom 8:19 NLT  "For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are." Of course, they were awaiting the time when Jesus prophecy about the Temple and Jerusalem would be fulfilled and God would by the destruction of the temple place his seal of approval on the Christ followers who were a temple made up of living stones providing a tabernacle for God's Spirit on earth so that He could dwell in them by the Holy Spirit. Until such a time you had the non-believing Jews saying that they were the sons and daughters of God, and likewise, you had the Christ following Jews and Gentiles saying that they were the true followers of God. Interestingly, all of the first century apostle's either were killed or quit writing before the temple's destruction since it was a center point of the final weeks of Jesus teaching, and they would have surely mentioned it had it already happened. 

Here is where I believe that another mystery is being revealed by the Holy Spirit in this age. It is the mystery concerning the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and Earth and the New Covenant. Could it be that even here in our time the Holy Spirit is still revealing the ramifications of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus? Paul eluded to it in the already/not yet period that he taught in. Gal 4:23-26  "But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.  (24)  These things may be treated as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar.  (25)  Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.  (26)  But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother." The mother of all even during the already/not yet period was the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, a Spiritual Jerusalem if you will allow. The death, burial and resurrection had inaugurated the New Jerusalem but it was awaiting the manifestation of the real sons and daughters of God when the Temple would be destroyed. We have not had revelation heretofore on the New Jerusalem, and yet, it was prophesied in Isaiah to coincide with the time of the New Covenant. Could it be that the Holy Spirit continues revelation as people advance to be able to bear it? Could the Holy Spirit be using a reaffirming and refreshed understanding of the original gospel of grace revealed to Paul, to further our understanding of the New Jerusalem, and the New Heaven and Earth? This would require a revelation of how the Holy Spirit transformed in the first century.

Here is how I believe the Holy Spirt transforms by the preaching of the cross. It transforms through the proclamation of God's grace in Christ. It transforms by confirming the fact that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself not counting sin against humanity. It transforms by the further knowledge that God made Jesus, the one who did not even know sin (unbelief) to be made sin for humanity so that therein, the first declaration of God about humanity in Genesis 1:31 would be the accepted standard. You are righteous because I declared it way back then and I have not changed my mind. The Holy Spirit confirms this to us, and it brings instantaneous peace with Father. It ushers in the Sabbath Rest. After all, Jesus said come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. He went on to say that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. The Holy Spirit confirms easy yoke light burden. From this declaration confirmed by the Holy Spirit when one hears the gospel of grace, cause one to love God.

My experience in preaching over the years is as follows. When I would proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, and proclaim the benefits entailed in that, there was/is a powerful peace that attends the message that I have always thought of as the "real anointing." It is true charisma that had nothing to do with me or the way I spoke. It changed the entire atmosphere. When the gospel is proclaimed the glory cloud travels up into the atmosphere and brings peace all around. Saints rejoice and praise God for real and begin to have genuine love for God and each other. I believe this is what took place in the first century church and is precisely why the author of Hebrews encouraged the saints to meet often. It was to renew the mind to the mercies of God. The reason, the Holy Spirit used confirmation of the mercies of God to bring about transforming change in the people, and in this setting, the setting of no condemnation, the setting of sabbath rest, the setting of absolute peace with Father sprang a supernatural love that allowed the saints to effortlessly love one another. It became easy to love their enemies, to do good to them that despitefully used them, to go the extra mile, to turn the other cheek, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless and visit the sick and those in prison. It was a natural out flow of the preaching of grace to give of their substance to those who had needs, and it is the transforming force that the Holy Spirit wishes to create a New Humanity with.

Revelation is on-going, and a community willing to wrestle with fresh revelation is the order of the day.

What if what we call orthodoxy is the combination of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Strong Delusion of 2Thess 2?

Is it possible that Orthodoxy is in reality the "strong delusion" of 2 Thessalonians chapter two? Likewise, is it possible that Orthodoxy is the combination of the "leaven of the Pharisees" and the strong delusion? Let's begin with the definition of orthodox. According to the dictionary, orthodox is "of a person or their views, especially religious or political ones, conforming to what is generally or traditionally accepted as right or true; established and approved." For contrast the definition of heresy is "a belief or opinion contrary to orthodox, religious doctrine."

For all of us that have ever been called a heretic, stinging and damning as it may sound, it is not really as forceful a put-down as connotation would have one believe. And by the same token, orthodox is not nearly so sacred a position connotatively that one must fear straying from. I mention orthodoxy and heresy because it will not doubt play a role in what I am asking in the title questions. 

In Matthew chapter 16 Jesus warns his disciples to beware or the leaven of the Pharisees. A few verses after the warning he defines their leaven as their doctrine, and in Luke he calls it hypocrisy. Leaven of course in this case is a metaphor for something naturally taking over a substance. In this case, He meant that the doctrine, teaching of the Pharisees was like leaven and once it was introduced it would permeate their doctrine. So then, did this warning of Jesus prevent the leaven of the Pharisees from taking over? I personally think not. I rather believe it was a prophetic warning that indeed this would happen.

Moving on to Acts and the Apostle Paul; you can read this in Act 20:28-32  "Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.  (29)  I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.  (30)  Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.  (31)  Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears.  (32)  And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified." I have underlined and emphasized some portions of this. Now I ask, is this only to the Ephesians, or is it likely that this will be widespread among all the communities that Paul established? Of course, it only make sense that this is a broader warning that Luke records was given to the Ephesian elders. Paul no doubt is warning about the fulfillment of Jesus prophecy about the leaven of the Pharisees.

Now moving along to Thessalonica. Paul says this; 2Th 2:9-12  "The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders,  (10)  and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  (11)  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false,  (12)  so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned." I have again underlined and emboldened parts of this passage that I want to draw specific attention to showing all of the passage in it context. What was the truth that they refused to love? More than likely it is the message of God's grace that Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders about.

It becomes likely that Jesus prophecy about the leaven of the Pharisees, Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders, and Paul's additional warning to those is Thessalonica was in fact the same warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. So naturally, the doctrine of the Pharisees is very important. What are some of the distinguishing characteristics of the doctrine of the Pharisees? Well, the one I would mention first is that following the oral law, the Mishna made it so that their followers could live the law blamelessly. Paul mentions that as a Pharisee, with the righteousness that comes from the law he was blameless. Luke explains in chapter one of his gospel that Zechariah the father of John the Baptist was living blameless. Next would be the importance of the Mishna. The Mishna was oral tradition that explained to the Jews what the law actually meant, and provided an explanation of what was law keeping and what was law violation. In other words, it was tradition. It was humanities reasoning about what God wanted. These seem to be the two things that Jesus criticized most in his earthly ministry among the Jewish people.

Why then do I think that orthodoxy is the leaven of the Pharisees and the strong delusion? It can best be identified by a very early writing traced back to Qumran. It is called the "Didache." Didache is the Greek word for teaching or doctrine. The Didache is the written down "correct understanding" of the message of Jesus. It is the compilation of the sermon on the mount, the law and some of James and DOES NOT have the word GRACE in it except on one occasion and it is not then speaking about grace as Paul explained it. Yet Luke records the phrase "word of his grace" twice when referring to the gospel. I will include the two examples which are quite forceful. Act 14:3  "Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands." Likewise it is mentioned again in Act's twenty where Paul is warning the elders of Ephesus to not forget to focus on the word of his grace.

Further, when you look at Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost he mentions the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus but does not rehearse any part of the sermon on the mount. This same Peter is called by God to the home of Cornelius, a God fearing centurion, realizes that the Gentiles too can receive the good news of the kingdom and preaches the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and before he has finished the Holy Spirit falls on all in Cornelius house. Peter did not present the sermon on the mount as the gospel. Paul tells the Corinthian believers that the gospel he preached was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, it was the preaching of the cross. I have heard some argue that Paul only preached this to the Corinthians long after he had established his ministry and to that I say that he preached it immediately after his conversion and the fact that it was finally written down in a letter to the Corinthians does not in any way show that it was not his gospel from the beginning.

Orthodoxy has been so appealing because it claims to be linked back to the first century church. But is it? The fact is that there was a silence from the Christian community from roughly 70AD forward until 110AD at the earliest. There is strong evidence that the works of John were written prior to 70AD. In my view, the doctrine that came about from the early church fathers did not resemble the doctrine found in the New Testament. This I think is evidence that the leaven of the Pharisees, and the strong delusion of 2 Thessalonians became fulfilled prophecy. 

Because I say that the gospel of grace, explained in detail in John's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and in the entirety of the works of Paul, which is at least two thirds, and probably three quarters of the entire New Testament writings, is an integral part of the gospel does not mean that I diminish the sermon on the mount or that I must do so. Loving ones enemies is definitely a part of Christian dogma that is important and should be strived to accomplish. Turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless,, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and prisoners is also an important part of Jesus teaching. The kingdom of God is a non-violent kingdom. All of these things can be true without diminishing the power of the cross.

Finally, I believe that the operation of the gospel of the cross and grace is mostly misunderstood and not often articulated by any. How does the indwelling Holy Spirit transform? I believe it is from the gospel of grace. Once a person is put at peace with Father based on being justified by the faith of Jesus, not their individual faith, but by the faith in Father that Jesus had. After all, Jesus is the representative Last Adam. But we are the first Adam. Adam in Genesis is a metaphor for all of us. Jesus is a metaphor for all of us now that redemption has been accomplished. In us, all humanity is subject to death... in Jesus all humanity has been made alive, at least that is the case if you believe Paul. So then, this justification is the catalyst for real love for Father. Real love for father comes from peace with Father. This real peace begins to well up in joy, and patience, and kindness, and gentleness, and self control. However, to have this work supernaturally one has to be continually reminded of being justified by the faith of Christ and how He accomplished that in his death, burial and resurrection.  

Who killed Jesus? An atonement theory for the New Humanity: New Humanity Part 10

Eph 2:15 NRSV  "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one "new humanity" in place of the two, thus making peace,"

I try to keep the cross in mind every day, but this is a time of the year when everyone seems to reflect on its meaning. Therefore, I have been inspired to write the atonement theory that I have settled on. Of course there are several atonement theories to choose from and even more variations of them. I would like to mention three: Penal Substitution, Ransom Theory, and Christus Victor. Here is a ever so brief description of the three. The penal substitution theory is based on the need for God's justice to have punishment for sin and thus Jesus had to die in our place to satisfy God's justice. The ransom theory posits that Adam and Eve gave creation and themselves to Satan in the Garden and Jesus had to pay the ransom to free humanity from its barging with the devil. The Christus Victor theory explains that Jesus entered death and hell and overcame them and Satan when God raised him from the tomb. Of the other theories, I reject the moral example and moral influence theory as they do not adequately deal with the death, burial and resurrection and miss the transaction that took place with the cross event.

So what should the "new humanity" make of these? I think that there is likely a synthesis of two of these three; the penal substitutional and the Christus Victor theory. but let me clarify the penal substitution aspect. I reject the premise that God's justice demanded someone die and that he poured his wrath out on Jesus. This aspect of the atonement did not appease God. It was not God that needed Jesus to die for punishment of sin. It was humanity. The human conscience, Freud called it the superego, develops a sense of guilt as it progresses in human growth in early childhood. Therefore, there is an innate sense of guilt in all of humanity. This guilt promotes a sense of fear, and dread for the unknown aspects of death and beyond. The writer of Hebrews addresses this very matter. Heb 9:14 NRSV  "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!" Here is the bottom line... Jesus words in Matthew twenty six explain humanities need. Mat 26:28 NRSV "for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." It was not poured out for the Father's benefit. It was shed to cleanse our consciences. In other words, it is humanity that believes that a price must be paid to satisfy humanity missing the mark. In this way, Jesus' own sacrifice of himself puts that problem to rest.

Now for the Christus Victor aspect of the atonement. It actually describes all facets of the atonement because Jesus was victorious over all. What then did the atonement accomplish? The answer is a lot and here is a numerical list: 

1. It reconciled humanity to the Father. Father, knowing the need of the human conscience provided the Son, his Word, to enter humanity to fulfill this reconciliation, and in this way, the Father too entered humanity, and suffered with Jesus on the cross. The reconciliation brought peace with the Father to humankind because of being justified by the faith/faithfulness of Jesus. Jesus was totally convinced in the Love of the Father and realized that dying so that the Father could raise him from the dead was the only perfect solution.
2. It overcame death and hell. By hell, I mean Sheol, the grave and not the elaborate hades that would ultimately be crafted into Dante's Inferno. Heb 2:14-15 NRSV  "Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,  (15)  and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death." The defeat of Satan happened on the cross, in the grave, and through the resurrection. 
3. It instated the New Covenant awaiting the consummation when the Old Covenant system would be destroyed and done away with. Jesus quoted Hosea chapter six when he said that the Jews should go learn what is meant by I desire mercy and not sacrifice and burnt offerings. It was a system born out of an age of inferior understanding that was simply a metaphor for what the New Covenant would establish.
4. It provided the means for humanity to have the continuous indwelling of the Holy Spirt, the Spirit of Christ. While it is also the Spirit of the Father, its function is to testify of the risen Jesus, the redemption he brought and to be a catalyst for supernatural agape love that results from our awareness of the extreme length that God was willing to go to redeem humanity from the power of sin and death.
5. It provided justification for all humanity. Rom 5:18 NRSV "Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all." I laugh at the linguistic gymnastics that many go through within the ranks of evangelical Christianity to prove that Paul did not mean all when all is written. Of course, all does mean all in this case and the atonement achieved justification and life. John in his gospel wrote that in Jesus was life and the life was the light of humanity, but they did not comprehend it.

The atonement reaps two results. One is victory over death and Satan, and the other is reconciliation with the Father from the consequences of acquiring the knowledge of good and evil. The knowledge of good and evil is the source of humanity's ability to judge and likewise the source of humanity's innate guilt. That aspect of the human condition is what demands a penal substitution of sorts. Again, not to satisfy God but to satisfy humanities conscience. Col 2:13-15 NRSV "And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses,  (14)  erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.  (15)  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it." There you have it, Christ was/is victorious and in that has made humanity victorious as well.

So who killed Jesus? No one. He willingly submitted to death by crucifixion to accomplish all that I have stated above. Who benefited from His death, burial and resurrection? I did, how about you?

Correcting a gross misunderstanding of John 16:8

Joh 16:8-11 NRSV  "And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  (9)  about sin, because they do not believe in me;  (10)  about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;  (11)  about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned."

How many times have you heard someone say that the Holy Spirit convicted them? I know I have heard it many, many times. They get it from John 16:8 in the NKJV and many other modern versions. Here it is from the ESV, Joh 16:8  "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" The question becomes, is this what Jesus meant in the words recorded by the apostle John? To that my answer is a resounding NO!

Look at the above passage from the NRSV. It reads that he, the Spirit will prove the world wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment. It reads exactly the same way in the NIV. In the Unvarnished New Testament, by Andy Gaus it reads... "And when he comes he will show the world better about wrongdoing and justice and condemnation" This certainly sheds a different light than the way it is in the NKJV and so many modern translations including the KJV which states he will reprove the world which means convict.

First off, the people who say the Holy Spirit convicted them would be wrong based on how it reads even in the King James, as verse nine explains that the conviction is about unbelief. But, the way it is rendered in the NRSV, the NIV and the Unvarnished New Testaments sheds a completely different light on the meaning. So the question that comes to mind is how does/did the Holy Spirit prove the word wrong about sin, righteousness and judgment? Well the answer to that comes in verse nine. It is not believing in Jesus. I have often written how the writer of Hebrews equates sin and unbelief in his discussion of the Sabbath Rest in chapters three and four. He uses unbelief, sin, synonymously. throughout the entire epistle. John explains it this way:3:18  "Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." It is important to point out that those condemned are those condemned to suffer through the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

Righteousness is having the character and characteristics of God. We know that God is love/agape so righteousness is love/agape. It is the love that Jesus described in his parables. It is the love that has the shepherd go after one lost sheep to find it and return it to the fold. Love is exemplified by the Father of the prodigal that ran out of the house to greet him when he was still a ways off. Love finds justice and comfort for the poor and disenfranchised. Righteousness is filling a need when it is brought to light. This is what the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Counselor brings to light. Righteousness explains that God's heart is to make sure that all the lost, broken, poor in spirit are made whole. This is the righteousness that the Holy Spirit brings to light.

Finally, we come to judgment. It says that the ruler of the world is judged. This is the ruler of the world that tempted our original parents to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The problem is that this knowledge simply makes each of us judges. It does not guarantee that we judge rightly. In fact, Jesus said this to the religious establishment of his day. Joh 7:24 NRSV "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." The Pharisees were judging him according to their reasoned understanding of the law, but they did not have righteous judgment. Only with one indwelt by the Holy Spirit is there even a chance for righteous judgment. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he judged Satan and made a spectacle of him with the cross according to Paul. The former ruler of the world was judged at the cross event. The promised counselor, comforter, has been poured out from Pentecost forward. The first century saints listened to the comforter and thereby turned the religious world upside-down.

This is yet another glaring example of how off course evangelical dogma is. They misunderstand sin and try to become sin managers. They have adopted the righteousness of the Pharisees which Paul criticized in Romans 10:1-4. He said that in trying to establish their own righteousness they have not submitted to God's righteousness. Sadly that can be said about most of Christendom. Finally, the Holy Spirit is ever willing to supply righteous judgment. He would help us stop judging ourselves and one another and judge according to God's judgment which we are the righteousness of God in Jesus.

Finally, the word that is rendered convict is elengkho; its first meaning is confute, which means to prove wrong and the second meaning is convict. The way it really makes sense with a correct understanding of Jesus and the Father is confute not convict. However, with the leaven of the Pharisees which I believe strongly influenced orthodox doctrine from the second century forward, convict would be the best choice. I am confident that when Jesus was speaking this to John he meant confute.

I once again hear the lyrics of the song in my minds ear.... "when will they ever learn, when will they ever... learn?"

From Before the Foundation of the World

Eph 1:3-6  "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,  (4)  just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.  (5)  He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,  (6)  to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

This is a passage that gives insight that predates Genesis chapter one. There is another such passage in the New Testament and it is found in John's gospel; it was the very first thing he wrote. Joh 1:1-5 NASB  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  (2)  He was in the beginning with God.  (3)  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  (4)  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  (5)  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Both of these passage relate to incidents before creation, that is before the world was created, and is why I say that it predates Genesis chapter one. These two passage explain the how and why of creation. One of the questions that has always been in my mind since I was a teen or before is why do we, and why does anything exist?  In the Ephesians passage you see the why. In the John passage you see the how. God created by His Word, that is the how, and it was done to the praise of his glorious grace, that is the why?

Now that we clearly know the how and why, let's ponder the implications of this knowledge. What should it mean to us today? Well first off, It is ultra important to realize that God's Word is Jesus of Nazareth. John says this: Joh 1:14 NASB  "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." He is the one who Paul says is responsible for us having every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Further to the point, He is full of grace and truth. And not only that but John also says in the same passage that the law was given through Moses but, grace and truth came through Jesus. This tells us that the law was not really grace or truth. Paul explains that the law was a pedagogue/teacher/tutor to drive us to Jesus.

Now that we know for sure that Jesus was in fact the creator of everything that exists, and that there is nothing that exists that was not made by him. It is instructive to see what Paul says about this: Col 1:16-17 NASB "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  (17)  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Paul and John are in perfect agreement but, Paul adds some revelation knowledge. The universe and everything in it is held together by the Word of God. I hope you are seeing just how majestic Jesus really is. However, keep this in mind as we move along. It is to bring praise to His glorious grace. The glorious grace of who? The Father, however His Word is full of grace and truth. In fact, the Son/Word is the source of the Father's grace.

So then, looking at the implications of this and what it means today. This should immediately come to mind. God's purpose in creation was redemption. Yes, you did not misread what I have just written. God created the universe and humanity to redeem them. If God's purpose in creation was redemption, and it is quite obvious that it was, then how likely is it that God would create the universe and humanity if He thought that most of the humans who ever lived would be destined to spend eternity in torture. It is interesting that Paul writes this in the middle of his letter to the Romans; Rom 5:18  Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. No matter what version you choose to read it indeed says justification leading to life for ALL. Now that is good news! And, I can see that it would definitely lead to the praise of God's glorious grace.

The thing that I want to emphasize in this post is that if God had redemption as his purpose in creation then does it not make sense that He will do exactly what is necessary to redeem humanity? He certainly did. At the ripe time in history, He had his word take on human flesh to redeem humanity. Now, think about this... if God purposed to redeem humanity before creation, created with this as the purpose, when Jesus told him "it was finished," then what part was left undone?