A Paradigm Shift For Thoughtful Evangelicals

He will save his people from their sins

2012-02-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

She will bear a son, and you shall call his nameJesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
(Mat 1:21 ESV)

I would like to spend some time looking atsalvation and eternal life. Are they synonymous? This plays an important rolein determining how we look at what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The question,what exactly did Jesus accomplish on the cross, comes to mind. Let me begin bystating that the terms salvation, savior, sin, redemption, and reconciliationhave a lot of connotative baggage that has accumulated over the course of theyears in Christian dogma. These concepts stray so far from the grammaticalmeaning of the words that the first century believers would understand, thatthey are barely recognizable by their intended first century meaning.

In this post I want to give you a heads up on howI am looking at these terms of late. This, like so many of my views, has beenevolving over the last decade. So let me answer my question from above. Whatdid Jesus accomplish on the cross? First, he reconciled the world to God soreconciliation is of first importance. Secondly, he brought forth the assuranceof eternal life. Church dogma calls that salvation, but I am not so sure thatthe catch all words saved, salvation, and save are really synonymous withreconciliation and eternal life. We should not be asking the question are yousaved to people? Rather, we should be asking the question do you know you havebeen reconciled?

I see salvation, saved and savior as terms thatare more ensconced in the first century situation. The Romans called Caesar savior,(soter Greek root.) The term savior or soter was used in the context of thefirst century situation. Rome, through Caesar, had bought peace to the world, (PaxRomana.) While it is true that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, brought salvation tothe world, it was through peace with God based upon the ministry ofreconciliation. First and foremost Jesus would bring salvation to the firstcentury believers from the impending judgment facing the Jews. This wasaccomplished. Most of the believers saw the signs of the times and went toPella before Jerusalem was surrounded and invaded.

Now I will turn to the word sin. In Hebrew it wasthe word chata (missing the way) and in Greek it was hamartia (missing themark.) Sin is the most misused word in all of Christian doctrine. When we lookat the verse quoted at the beginning of this post, “for he will save his peoplefrom their sins,” it must be noted what that mean to the first century readers.At the time of the gospels, the Gentiles had not yet been included in thecovenant. When the writer of Matthew wrote “he will save* his people* fromtheir sins” he meant that Jesus would save the Jews from missing the mark.

How did they miss the mark? Well, the main way wasby believing that religion made them acceptable to God. They misunderstood thegift of the Torah, the prophets, and all that they had been given as God’schosen instrument. They were in reality the people chosen by God to bring forththe ultimate message of reconciliation; namely, the promise to Abraham that in*his seed* all of the nations of the world would be blessed. They hadcompletely missed the mark in that area.

Where am I taking us next on this journey? Well, Iwant to try to rediscover the apostle’s doctrine or teaching that will enableus to really help impact the kingdom of God. If we are under a strong delusionin current church doctrine, then perhaps it also extends to salvation andreconciliation. Perhaps if we gain a more biblical view of salvation,reconciliation, and sin we may find that we possess *really truly good news* toproclaim to the world.

If the new heavens and earth are already here what does that mean?

2012-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

Ihave used a lot of key stokes this far, a lot of jots and tittle’s so to speak,in showing that evangelical’s should have a paradigm shift in their doctrineand dogma. It should be a much more inclusive doctrine that portrays God as trulylove. We need to shake forever the concept of “Sinners in the hands of an angryGod,” and instead look to Papa.

Hereis what I have shown so far:

Jesusand his followers redefined the term word of God to mean either the gospel, orJesus the living gospel.
Hetaught his followers a redemptive hermeneutic that saw him as the fulfillmentof the Law and the Prophets, the Old Testament.
Jesususage of gehenna, translated hell in the KJV, was prophetic aimed at thedestruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Inthe new covenant, obedience is the obedience of faith, and it is obeying thegospel which is equal to believing the gospel.
Transformationcomes automatically as the result of believing that God is not counting sinagainst us, in fact God remembers sin no more. This comes from believing in thegospel.
TheNew Testament writings are transitional looking forward to the final judgmentof the Jews under the Old Covenant.
Godmade Jesus’ enemies his footstool in 70AD with the destruction of the templeand Jerusalem and he vindicated the believing Jews at the same time.
Wehave been restored to a twenty-four seven relationship with the Father in thelast Adam.

Howthen should we live? We should live in love. First, love for Father God and hisglorious grace, and then, love for one another. We should rest in the securityof the finished work of Jesus, and encourage each other to trust him, rest inhim, and grow in the grace and the knowledge of our loving God, our Lord JesusChrist.

Weshould proclaim to the world that God reigns; He has a kingdom, we are all init, and encourage all to be reconciled to God. If Paul had the ministry of reconciliationin the transition period, how much more do we have the ministry ofreconciliation today? We should be reconciling the world in love. This is theway to be the body of Christ. The world needs to be convinced that God was inChrist reconciling the world to himself not counting sin against anyone. Thatis why he made the one who didn’t even know the concept of sin to be made sinfor all of us so that we could be confident that we are the sons and daughtersof God.

Thereis no room for negativity… no room for judgment… no room for greed… no room forcondemnation. If our goal is to bepleasing to God we must remember Hebrews 11:6. Our faith in the finished workof the Lord Jesus Christ is the only thing that pleases God. He takes pleasurein nothing else.

Turned over to a strong delusion thereby believing what is false

2012-02-06T09:20:00.000-08:00

“and with all wicked deception for those who areperishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ThereforeGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, inorder that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasurein unrighteousness.”
(2Th 2:10-12 ESV)

It is my contention that much of evangelical Christianity’sdoctrine and dogma is this strong delusion. I have shown in previous posts (here)that 2Thessalonians was written to the first century saints and not some later,still future generation. When Paul wrote "that they did not believe the truthbut had pleasure in unrighteousness" he is speaking of those who did not believein and who crucified Jesus; In other words, the first century unbelieving Jews.

Who was the man of sin you may ask? I would say inall likelihood, it was John of Gischala. He was the leader of the rebels thattook over the temple just prior to the Roman siege. According to Josephus, hekilled the high priest and put his own puppet in place of him. He, not Godwould decide who and who not should be the high priest. He set his regime up inthe temple. He killed all of the dissidents.

So then, what is the strong delusion you may ask?I believe it is the leaven of the Pharisees which is their doctrine (Matthew16:12.) The strong delusion is the inclusion of the doctrine of the Phariseesin church dogma and doctrine. Paul warned that grievous wolves would come innot sparing the flock (Acts 20:29.) He also said that false brethren came inamong them to spy out their liberty (Gal 2:4.)

Today we have many evangelicals that act likemodern day Pharisees. Our seminaries have adopted the hermeneutical position ofthe Pharisees which is grammatical historical hermeneutic; Jesus and his firstcentury followers used redemptive historical hermeneutic. We insist on calling the entire scripture theword of God like the Pharisees when Jesus and his apostles defined the word ofGod as the gospel, and Jesus, the living gospel. The leaven of the Phariseessuggests that we are acceptable to God based upon our ability to develop lawbased righteousness. While the evangelicals pay lip service to faithrighteousness, they in reality, demand law righteousness. I find it fascinatingthat much of Jesus’ rebuke in Matthew chapter 23 could just as easily beleveled against the bulk of evangelical Christianity. Evangelical Christianitysays that faith allows one to enter the covenant but obedience to the law iswhat proves one was really converted.

After a two years of this blog it should becomevery apparent that we have lost the way. We are off the mark in so many ways.We have in fact been given over to a strong delusion and we believe what isfalse. I find it encouraging that so many are waking up from this stupor today.Many are rising up and beginning to become critical of the status quo. Many arequestioning the principals that here-to-fore they were obliged to accept. For this I praise God and I hope that moreand more Christians of conscience will rise up and stand up for the gospel ofGRACE!

Heaven and Earth Passed Away; By Pastor David Curtis

2012-02-04T09:46:00.000-08:00

In view of Melanie's question, I think it would be good to reprint this article by Pastor David Curtis of Berean Bible Church. Here is a link to the original article but I am providing it here for ease of reading. I must warn you that this is a long post in comparison to most of the others but it is necessary to see how heaven and earth could have passed. Please read it carefully.

Heaven and Earth Passed Away

By Pastor David Curtis

We looked last week at the timestatements in the Bible as to the coming of the Lord. We saw that he said hewould come -- while some that were standing there were still living; in thatgeneration; soon; quickly; at hand; he said his coming was near. Everywherethat the Bible talks about the Lord's coming it gives us a time statement. TheNT saints fully expected the Lord to return in their lifetime. How could wepossibly miss this? Yet the majority of believers today, some two thousandyears later are still saying that the Lord will return soon. Can thesame event be imminent at two different periods of time separated by twothousand years? Someone said to me that they felt that the Lord said he wascoming soon because he wanted every generation to be watching for Him. Thinkabout that. What that means is that when he told the first century believersthat he was coming back soon, he really didn't mean it, he was giving themfalse information to keep them looking for Him. Can you live with that? If thatwas the case what else did he tell them that wasn't true? Do we have a God whointentionally deceives men? Isn't it much easier to simply believe what Jesussaid and believe that he came back in the first century?

What is at stake here is theinspiration of Scripture. If Jesus was mistaken or if he lied to us then whatgood is the rest of the Bible? There are those opponents who say that if youbelieve that Jesus came back in the first century then you don't need to readyour Bible any more. I don't understand that argument, but if Jesus didn't comeback in the first century, when he said that he would then you might as wellthrow your Bible out because if it isn't inspired, it isn't any good. I believethat the Bible is the inspired Word of God and therefore without errors.

Christianity is intellectual, faithis understanding and assent to what God has told us. God says in Isaiah chapter1, "come now let us reason together." This is importantbecause you are a product of your thinking. Proverbs 23:7 says (NKJV) "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

What is really frightening aboutthis is that in our culture thinking is not really that important. Do yourealize this? We are not so concerned about thinking as we are about two otherthings, emotion and pragmatism. We're concerned about feelings,and we're concerned about success. We're not so concerned about thinking.People don't ask the question, is it true, is it right? They ask thequestion, does it work and how will it make me feel. Emotion and pragmatism.This is tragic, especially because it has taken over the Christian Church. Evenin theology, it's sad to say, the issue is not always is it right or true, butwill it offend or upset someone. We worry about how the truth will make peoplefeel. In Acts 17:11 the Bereans were noble because they searched thescriptures, not to see if these things felt good, or to see if these thingsworked, or even to see if these things would offend, but to see if these thingswere "so," to see if they were right and true. Some folks havesaid to me,"If I believe that Jesus came back in 70 AD it might effectsome areas of my life. Such as; will a mission board take me, will I beaccepted at certain colleges, could I work in an AWANA program?" Listen,please listen to me carefully. Those are the wrong questions! The first,the foremost, the only important question that we need to ask is: IS ITTRUE? If it's true we'll have to live with the consequences that the Lordgives us, but the issue here is truth, is it true?

Proverbs 23:23 (NKJV) Buy the truth, and do not sell it,Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

When I first came to see as truththe fact that the Lord had come in 70 AD and all prophecy had been fulfilled myfirst objection was, "This means we are living in the new heaven and thenew earth!" My response to that was "Yea right! If this is theNew heaven and earth we got ripped off." Why did I feel that way? It wasbecause I was looking for a physical fulfillment of 2 Peter 3 andRevelation 21-22. I thought that those passages were speaking of physicaltruths, I now know differently, I didn't understand apocalyptic language.The thing that changed my mind was seeing how the OT Scripture used the conceptof heaven and earth. Lets look at how the Bible uses the concept of heaven andearth, I think you'll see that it is not always used physically.

Lets start by reading 2 Peter 3.Most Christians would say that this is the end of the world as we know it, thedestruction of planet earth. It sure sounds that way doesn't it? That is how Ihad always seen it.

One of the major areas of difficultyin understanding correctly "heaven and earth" in the New Testament isthe misunderstanding of how God referred to nations by this phrase in the OldTestament. Seeing the biblical concept of "heaven and earth" in theOld Testament will help us greatly in correctly understanding its use in NewTestament passages. Rather than to assume that each time we encounter thephrase, we are to immediately think of this physical universe and its elements.

Genesis 1:1 (NKJV) In the beginning God created the heavensand the earth.

Now is this literal or figurative? Ithink that this is clearly literal. I believe in a literal six day creation. Doyou? Or do you believe that because with the Lord one day is as a thousandyears, and a thousand years as one day that creation took six thousand years?

Leviticus 26:14-20 (NKJV) 'But if you do not obey Me, and donot observe all these commandments, 15 and if you despise My statutes, or ifyour soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments,but break My covenant, 16 I also will do this to you: I will even appointterror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes andcause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemiesshall eat it. 17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated byyour enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee whenno one pursues you. 18 'And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I willpunish you seven times more for your sins. 19 I will break the pride of yourpower; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 Andyour strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield itsproduce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

God warns Israel that she mustlisten and obey Him in the commandments that He has given them. God usesvarious terms and expressions in describing what it will be like if theydespise His statutes, but notice particularly verse 19: "and I will breakthe pride of your power, and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earthas brass." Compare Genesis 1:1 with Leviticus 26:19, are the terms"heaven and earth" to be understood in the same way? They clearly donot mean the same thing in each verse. Notice how the character of Israel'sdisposition in God's view is personalized, "YOUR heaven" and"YOUR earth." So the terms "heaven" and "earth"belong or relate to Israel, they evidently constitute a "heaven" and"earth."

Isaiah 1:1-2 (NKJV) The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz,which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And theyhave rebelled against Me;

Who is God speaking to here thephysical creation? No, he is speaking to Israel. I think we can see this ideaclearly if we look at Isaiah 51

Isaiah 51:15-16 (NKJV) But I am the LORD your God, Whodivided the sea whose waves roared; The LORD of hosts is His name. 16 And Ihave put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand,That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say toZion, 'You are My people.'"

The time of planting the heavens andlaying the foundation of the earth that is referred to here, was performed byGod when He divided the sea (ver. 15) and gave the law (ver. 16),and said to Zion, Thou art my people; that is, when He took the childrenof Israel out of Egypt, and formed them in the wilderness into a covenantnation. He planted the heavens and laid the foundation of the earth: that is,brought forth order, and government.

This idea is seen more clearly as welook at other passages where mention is made of the destruction of a state andgovernment using language which seems to set forth the end of the world, as thecollapse of heaven and earth.

Isaiah 13:1 (NKJV) The burden against Babylon which Isaiahthe son of Amoz saw.

In this chapter God is talking aboutthe judgement that is to fall upon Babylon. The word burden is the Hebrew wordmassa', (mas-saw') an utterance, chiefly a doom. This introduction sets thestage for the subject matter in this chapter and if we forget this, ourinterpretations of Isaiah 13 can go just about anywhere our imagination wantsto go. This is not an oracle against the universe or world but againstthe nation of Babylon.

Isaiah 13:6 (NKJV) Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!It will come as destruction from the Almighty.

Isaiah 13:9-13 (NKJV) Behold, the day of the LORD comes,Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; AndHe will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and theirconstellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in itsgoing forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine. 11 "I willpunish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I willhalt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of theterrible. 12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than thegolden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earthwill move out of her place, In the wrath of the LORD of hosts And in theday of His fierce anger.

Now remember he is speaking aboutthe destruction of Babylon but is sounds like world wide destruction. Theterminology of a context cannot be expanded beyond the scope of the subjectunder discussion. The spectrum of language surely cannot go outside the land ofBabylon. If you were a Babylonian and Babylon was destroyed would it seem likethe world was destroyed? Yes! Your world would be destroyed.

Isaiah 13:17 (NKJV) "Behold, I will stir up the Medesagainst them, Who will not regard silver; And as for gold, they will not delightin it.

This is an historical event thattook place in 539 BC. When the Medes destroyed Babylon the Babylonian worldcame to an end. This destruction is said in verse 6 to be from the Almighty,and the Medes constitute the means that God uses to accomplish this task. Thephysical heaven and earth were still in tact, but for Babylon they hadcollapsed. This is apocalyptic language. This is the way the Bible discussesthe fall of a nation. This is obviously figurative language.

In Isaiah 24-27 we see the invasionof Israel by Nebuchadnezzar. He carries them away to captivity. Notice thelanguage that he uses.

Isaiah 24:3-6 (NKJV) The land shall be entirely emptied andutterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word. 4 The earth mournsand fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty peopleof the earth languish. 5 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants,Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken theeverlasting covenant. 6 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And thosewho dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth areburned, And few men are left.

Isaiah 24:19-20 (NKJV) The earth is violently broken,The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly. 20 The earthshall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Itstransgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again.

What I want you to see in theseverses is how God refers to Israel as the earth. He says the earth is utterlybroken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly...theearth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like acottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shallfall, and not rise again" (Verses 1,3,4,19,20) Notice how many times Godreferred to Israel as the "earth." This is apocalyptic languagespeaking of the destruction of the people of Israel.

In Isaiah 34 we have a descriptionof the fall of Edom, notice the language that is used.

Isaiah 34:3-5 (NKJV) Also their slain shall be thrown out;Their stench shall rise from their corpses, And the mountains shall be melted withtheir blood. 4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavensshall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As theleaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. 5 "For Mysword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on thepeople of My curse, for judgment.

This is Biblical language todescribe the fall of a nation. It should be clear that it is not to be takenliterally. Lets look at one other OT use of this language.

Nahum 1 (NKJV) The burden against Nineveh. The book of thevision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 God is jealous, and the LORD avenges; The LORDavenges and is furious. The LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, And Hereserves wrath for His enemies; 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,And will not at all acquit the wicked. The LORD has His way In the whirlwindand in the storm, And the clouds are the dust of His feet. 4 He rebukes the seaand makes it dry, And dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, Andthe flower of Lebanon wilts. 5 The mountains quake before Him, The hillsmelt, And the earth heaves at His presence, Yes, the world and allwho dwell in it.

The subject of this judgement isNineveh, not the physical world. This is the way God describes the fall of anation. If this language describes the judgement of God on nations, why, whenwe come to the New Testament, do we make it be the destruction of the universe?It is only because we do not understand how the Bible uses this apocalypticlanguage. With this understanding of how "heaven and earth" is usedin the OT lets look at 2 Peter 3.

This was by far the text that Istruggled with the most. I could not understand how we were in the New heavensand the New earth. As you read different commentaries you will read thingslike, "this is by far the strongest passage to prove the consummation oftime, the termination of the earth as we know it."

2 Peter 3:1-2 (NKJV) Beloved, I now write to you this secondepistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 thatyou may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

Peter is reminding us of what hasalready been said. The NT does not contain brand new prophecies that justdropped out of the sky containing new information. 2 Peter 3 is just areiteration of what has already been written by the prophets that spoke before.Peter gives us a key to interpretation. That key is that what he is saying hasbeen written by the OT prophets. Keep that in mind.

2 Peter 3:3-4 (NKJV) knowing this first: that scoffers willcome in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying,"Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."

Peter said that these scoffers wouldcome in the last days, when are the last days?

Micah 4:1 (KJV) But in the last days it shall come to pass,that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top ofthe mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flowunto it.

Micah prophecies that God's kingdomwi ll be established in the last days.

Acts 2:14-20 (NKJV) But Peter, standing up with the eleven,raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell inJerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 "For these arenot drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 "Butthis is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to passin the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on allflesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall seevisions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on Mymaidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Bloodand fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And themoon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

So according to Peter the last daysbegan at Pentecost and these last days included and ended with the great andawesome day of the Lord.

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NKJV) God, who at various times and invarious ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these lastdays spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things,through whom also He made the worlds;

The "last days" refers tothe last days of the house of Israel, the last days of the Old Covenant. Thelast days are the period from 30 AD to 70 AD. Isn't it interesting that duringthat time the scoffers were already asking, "were is the promise of Hiscoming?" If they were questioning His coming then, about 35 years afterhis death, what would they be saying today, two thousand years later? They knewthat his coming was to be soon.

Now some use the argument fromverses 5-7 that the world was destroyed in Noah's day and the world will bedestroyed again. Lets consider that argument.

2 Peter 3:5-7 (NKJV) For this they willfully forget: that bythe word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standingout of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existedperished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth whichare now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day ofjudgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Peter says that the world consistedof heaven and earth, and that they were destroyed by water and perished. Weknow that substance of neither heaven or earth was destroyed, but it was theevil men that were destroyed. Peter makes a distinction between the heaven andearth of Noah's day, which were destroyed and the heaven and earth that existedthen which were to be destroyed by fire. The literal visible fabric of heavenand earth were the same after the flood as they were before the flood. Letsremember what we saw in the OT as to the apocalyptic use of heaven and earth.The destruction of heaven and earth refers to the civil and religious state,and the men of them. What was it that really perished in the flood? Look atverse 6 -- by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded withwater. It was the world that perished, right? Now what does the word worldmean? It is the orderly arrangement of society, it wasn't the dirt. Now howdo you go from an ungodly society that was destroyed to the destruction of theentire universe? The literal earth was not destroyed. What is to bedestroyed is the ungodly nation of Israel. Nowhere do the Scriptures teach thatthe physical creation will be destroyed. Notice what God said after theflood of Noah's day.

Genesis 8:21 (NKJV) And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma.Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground forman's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; norwill I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

Now, folks will say that the Lorddestroyed the earth by water one time and He'll destroy it by fire the nexttime. Is God's promise here to just change his method of destroyingeverything. Is there comfort in being destroyed by fire instead of water? Or ishe promising not to destroy the earth again?

Psalms 148:4-6 (NKJV) Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,And you waters above the heavens! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, ForHe commanded and they were created. 6 He also established them forever andever; He made a decree which shall not pass away.

What decree did God make concerningthe establishment of the heaven and the earth that will never pass away.?Genesis 8:21! God said that he would never again destroy every living thing.God can be trusted, He keeps his word.

2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV) But, beloved, do not forget this onething, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand yearsas one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some countslackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perishbut that all should come to repentance.

We looked at these verses last week,they are simply saying that God keeps his promises.

2 Peter 3:10 (NKJV) But the day of the Lord will come as athief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, andthe elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that arein it will be burned up.

What is "the day of theLord?" It is a time of judgement on Israel, it is the end of the OldCovenant age. We have a parallel passage in:

Matthew 24:42-44 (NKJV) "Watch therefore, for you donot know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 "But know this, that ifthe master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, hewould have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44"Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour youdo not expect.

Peter is talking about Jesus secondcoming at the end of the Jewish age. When the Lord comes, the heaven and earthof the Old Covenant age will pass away. Let me give you a question here tothink about -- where is the millennium in Peters discussion? Peter is talkingabout the Lord coming and when He does we go right into the New heaven andearth.

When we read the word, elementshere we think of the scientific idea of the elements of matter, all the atomsof the universe burning up. But is this what the word elements means? The Greekword for elements is stoicheia (stoy-khi'-on) it is only used seven times inthe NT.

Galatians 4:3 (NKJV) Even so we, when we were children, werein bondage under the elements of the world.

Galatians 4:9 (NKJV) But now after you have known God, orrather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarlyelements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?

Colossians 2:8 (NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you throughphilosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according tothe basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:20-22 (NKJV) Therefore, if you died with Christfrom the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in theworld, do you subject yourselves to regulations; 21 "Do not touch, do nottaste, do not handle," 22 which all concern things which perish with theusing; according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

Hebrews 5:12 (NKJV) For though by this time you ought to beteachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles ofthe oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

In Strong's Exhaustive Concordanceof the Bible, the literal meaning of the word is "element, rudiment, principle."In other words, this is the elements of religious training, or the ceremonialprecepts that are common to the worship of Jews and of Gentiles. Obviously,this "stoicheia" (stoy-khi'-on) is not about atoms or destruction ofthe universe.

2 Peter 3:11-13 (NKJV) Therefore, since all these thingswill be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct andgodliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, becauseof which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements willmelt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look fornew heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

What is being dissolved? The OCsystem is being dissolved not the universe. Where do we have a promise about anew heaven and earth? Peter was surly thinking of the book of Isaiah, chapters65 and 66.

Isaiah 65:17 (KJV) For, behold, I create new heavens and anew earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

If you read Isaiah 65 and 66 youwill notice that before God creates the new heavens and a new earth, He willpour out His wrath against Jerusalem, His rebellious people (Isa. 65:1-7,11-17; 66:3-6, 15-18, 24). When God created the new heavens and earth, noticethat the physical death will remain (Isa. 65:20, 66:24), home construction andagriculture will continue (Isa. 65:21-22), we will have descendants (Isa.65:23, 66:22), the Lord will hear their prayers (Isa. 65:24),there will beevangelism (Isa. 66:19). The new heavens and earth therefore, cannot bereferring to the eternal state; it must be referring to a period in humanhistory. This is the period of the Kingdom of God which Christ rules in thehearts of the believers. The Kingdom of God is made without hands (spiritual -Dan. 2:34, 44-45; c.f. Col. 2:10-11). If we take the statements from thescriptures at face value, then we should conclude that the first heavens andthe first earth passed away and was replaced by the glorious reign of the LordJesus Christ, the kingdom without end. Notice that in this New Heaven and earthrighteousness dwells, as it does in the New Covenant.

2 Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV) For if the ministry of condemnationhad glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

Lets wrap this up by looking at afew more passages, turn with me to Luke 21.

Luke 21:20-22 (NKJV) "But when you see Jerusalemsurrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 "Then letthose who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst ofher depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 "Forthese are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may befulfilled.

Jesus is speaking here of thedestruction of Jerusalem, an event that was to occur forty years from the timethat he spoke. He said that in that event "all things written would befulfilled." What does "all things" mean? Does itreally mean all things? Look what Jesus said in Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) "Do not think that I came todestroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot orone tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Jesus does not have in mind heresome specific statement of prophecy. He is not talking about a judgement ofIsrael, he is not speaking about a specific aspect of his atonement. The Jewishidiom "the law and the prophets" means the totality of the OTrevelation. Jesus said he did not come to destroy it but fulfill it.Jesus is saying here in Matthew 5 that the old law has to be fulfilled, everyjot, every tittle has to be fulfilled before it can pass away. If 2 Peter 3 isbased upon the OT prophets, and it is, and if 2 Peter 3 has not been fulfilledthen we are still under the OC law. That is quite simple. Do you believe thatwe are in the NC? If we are then the OC must have passed away. And if the OChas passed then 2 Peter 3 has been fulfilled.

Matthew 5 is not limited to anyparticular prophecy, it is a comprehensive statement encompassing the entiretyof the OC revelation. Christ is not here simply speaking of the Word of God,it's talking about the OC revelation. It is not speaking of the NC, it had notyet been ratified.

Conclusion

"There are three heaven andearth time periods in 2 Peter 3, and the change from one epoch of time toanother was referred to as a passing of heaven and earth. The object of thatexpression was to show a change in God's dealings with man rather than achange in the literal, material constitution of the world itself"

Futurists teach that the New heavenand earth of Revelation 21 and the New Jerusalem of Revelation 22 is the savedof all ages, the bride of Christ at the end of the millennium, when all thingshave ended and we have embarked into eternity: They have entered eternity; sin,death, hades and Satan have all been cast into the lake of fire. Remember thatall evil has been disposed of, God has healed the Church of her ills, sin hasbeen finally purged from her so that only a grandiose description of her cantruly tell of her beauty. The futurists teach that the earth will be a physicalparadise at this time, but is that what the Scriptures say?

Revelation 22:1-2 (NKJV) And he showed me a pure river ofwater of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of theLamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was thetree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit everymonth. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

When we look at this verse, aquestion immediately comes to mind: why would the nations need healing? If oneadopts the futurist view, then one is at pains to explain this tree. Ifhowever, one adopts the preterist view, the explanation is quite easy. Does theNew Covenant gospel age end, or is it truly an everlasting covenant as Hebrews13:20 (KJV) says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from thedead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of theeverlasting covenant."

Although Christ's return vindicatedthe witness of the first-century church, God didn't mean for the rest ofhistory to be anticlimactic. His plan for us is an ever-deepening experience ofChrist's presence, and an unfolding realization of his sovereignty over allthings.

God called Israel to be a light tothe nations, to lead all people into a covenant relationship with the Father.His purpose for his church, the "Israel of God," is the same. We areto be calling the world to drink of the living water of the gospel. Let's befaithful to our calling.

Revelation 22:17 (NKJV) And the Spirit and thebride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Andlet him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of lifefreely.

Answering Melanie’s Question II

2012-02-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

Today I want to continue with my answer to aquestion that was on the comment section of the last blog post “Repayingwith affliction those who afflict you” I think that this is a veryimportant question and, if we are ever to get our theology right this questionmust be answered. You can find the firstpost on this topic here: AnsweringMelanie’s Question

Melanie asks this question
“just finished reading the unraveling ofrevelation by Patrick Stone. Have you read it? It's along this same line. If weare past revelation, then where does that leave us?”

A while back I wrote a post entitled Heaven and earth must have passed; Jots andtittles have disappeared!.It is quite short, and it may be good to re-read it as we progress on inanswering Melanie’s question. As I mentioned in the last post, Paul took a vowand sacrificed in the temple in Acts chapter 21 which was at the very end ofhis ministry. At that time *all* had not yet been fulfilled. While it is truethat Jesus had arisen from the dead, was seated at the right hand of gloryawaiting his enemies to be made his footstool, the judgment of the Jews andJerusalem still had to be accomplished; the veil being rent was a sign of whatwas to come which was the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. When thathappened… then… all would be fulfilled which was written. The day of the Lordwould have come. So then, when Paul took the vow and sacrificed in the temple,the Old Covenant still had some force. If he did not sacrifice then he wouldhave been defying Jesus words in Matthew 5:17-19. Paul did not relax one of thejots or tittles. He did not want to be least in the kingdom so therefore, hesacrificed and took a vow.

Is thereanyone in Christianity today that would say that a Christian *MUST* eat the Passoveror be circumcised? The answer is possiblysome Messianic Jews, but certainly no one else. However, if heaven and earthdid not pass then all of the Jews whether believers or not would be required tobe circumcised and partake of the Passover. And, further as the above referencedpost explained non Jewish Christians would also have to be circumcised andpartake of the Passover.

So then,there must be a way in which heaven and earth passed and all was fulfilled. Ifnot, then Christianity is in trouble right now. We are not following the law.Here is where the transitional aspect of the New Testament comes into play.Gentiles were *NOT* to be circumcised, in fact Paul states in Galatians that ifthey were to become circumcised, Christ would be of no value to them(Gal 5:1-4.)Why were Gentiles not to be circumcised? It was because soon thetransition period would end, the judgment of the Jews would come, the templeand Jerusalem would be destroyed and ALL would be fulfilled.

We will continue on with these thoughts in the next blog post.

Answering Melanie’s Question

2012-02-02T15:54:00.001-08:00

Today Iwant to answer a question that was on the comment section of the last blog post“Repaying with affliction those whoafflict you” I think that this is a very important question and, ifwe are ever to get our theology right this question must be answered.

Melanie asks this question
“just finished reading the unraveling ofrevelation by Patrick Stone. Have you read it? It's along this same line. If weare past revelation, then where does that leave us?”

I am a preterist. What I mean by that is that Ibelieve that the prophecy of the New Testament writers was written to theintended readers of that day. I believe that Jesus and his apostles expected animminent fulfillment of prophecy during the generation of the first centurybelievers that was contemporary with Jesus. I believe that the book ofRevelation and the so called “little apocalypses” in the gospels were writtenabout events that would be fulfilled within the generation that was contemporarywith Jesus and his followers. Further, I believe that the day of the Lord was aprophecy about events that would happen to the unbelieving Jews that rejectedand crucified Jesus.

So, Melanie’s question is about these beliefs andthe ramifications they pose. If these prophecies happened contemporaneously withthe first century believers, what does that mean to us? What about the heaven’smelting? … heaven and earth passing? … the new heavens and earth coming? Theseare all valid questions. There is one problem however; answering thesequestions demands that one sees nuance. That has been the prime mission of thisblog thus far. I have tried to offer an alternative that squares better withwhat is written in scripture; One that is equally as valid as the currentaccepted norm of doctrine and dogma. In fact, I have suggested quite stronglythat we must see that the current accepted doctrine is just absolutely wrong; wrongabout the definition of the word of God… wrong about purpose of the scripture…wrong about the use of the law… wrong about the transition that took place inthe New Testament writings, and wrong about the timing and fulfillment of NewTestament prophecy.

What is the significance of the destruction of thetemple and the dispersion of the Jews from Jerusalem? This is indeed a veryimportant question. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that I grew up in afundamentalist Baptist Church… that I was there every time the doors openedfrom infancy to my early twenties, I really never was made aware that thetemple and Jerusalem was destroyed or that Jesus prophesied that it would be.It had no place in the doctrine that I was taught. Further, for much of myadult life it has never been addressed in any of the churches I have attended.Yet, it was addressed time and time again in the New Testament.

The New Testament writings show a time oftransition; a time between two covenants, two ages. While the Old Covenant waslimping back in the first century it still had some efficacy. There were twoside by side groups that claimed to be God’s chosen people; one was theunbelieving Jews with their temple and worship, and the other was made up of believerswho saw themselves as a temple growing, made up of living stones, with JesusChrist as the chief cornerstone. One group was persecuting the other. To anoutsider it would appear confusing. As long as the temple stood the Jews wereobligated to temple worship. It was an important part of their spiritual lives.Paul participated in temple sacrifices when he returned to Jerusalem (Acts21:26.) This was in his final years. He would soon be taken to Rome as aprisoner, and yet he still sacrificed in the temple. The reason was simple.Paul was in a transition between the end of the Mosaic age and the age to come…the new covenant age.

It should be clear that the destruction of thetemple would mark the end of the old covenant. By destroying the temple andfulfilling Jesus prophesied words God was putting the final stamp on the NewCovenant and the age to come, the kingdom age. With the destruction of thetemple, God would vindicate the followers of Jesus. He would vindicate the newtemple made up of people. He would usher in completely the New Covenant. Withthe destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, God would make Jesus enemies hisfoot stool.

So back to Melanie’s question; where does thatleave us? It leaves us strictly in the New Covenant. It puts us in the age tocome. It makes us, who are the believers, the New Jerusalem. It is the restoration of allthings. Humanity has once again been restored to God in the last Adam. There isbut one covenant. It is the New Covenant. God is not remembering sin. We havethe ability to bring forth the kingdom of God. That is precisely what we shouldbe doing but unfortunately we are settling for the kingdom of church. That wasa transitional structure while they were awaiting the judgment of Jesus enemiesin the first century.

I have a lot more to say about this. Melanie’squestion needs a more specific answer but this will have to do for today. Thisblog post is nearly twice as long as usual and I like to present this in smallbite size chunks that can be digested slowly.

Repaying with affliction those who afflict you

2012-01-20T19:45:00.001-08:00

2Thess1:5-10 This is evidence of the righteousjudgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, forwhich you are also suffering-- (6) since indeed God considers it just to repaywith affliction those who afflict you, (7) and to grant relief to youwho are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heavenwith his mighty angels (8) in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance onthose who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our LordJesus. (9) They will suffer the punishment of eternaldestruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of hismight, (10) when he comes on that day to be glorified inhis saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimonyto you was believed.

Several times we have discussed audience relevancewhen looking at the writings of the New Testament. Here is an interesting case.Paul is writing to the saints in Thessalonica. The Thessalonica church is madeup of the believing Jews that Paul convinced in Acts chapter 17 and theGentiles that also believed as a result of Paul’s preaching.

Paul founded the church In Thessalonica (Acts17:1-4.) He went into Thessalonica,found a Jewish synagogue, and began to preach the gospel to them. Some of themalong with some Greeks that attended the synagogue became believers. It did nottake long for the Jews to become jealous of Paul and cause problems (Acts17:5-10.) They tried to stir up the authorities by claiming that he was seditious against Caesar. As a resultPaul and company went on to Berea, and though they found more noble Jews therethat searched the scriptures, the Jews from Thessalonica were able to stir uptrouble for them there also. So much so that Paul was forced to leave town.

Despite all of the turmoil and persecution thatthe unbelieving Jews perpetrated on the church, the Thessalonian believers werevery faithful to the gospel and the news of their love spread abroad (1Thess1:4-6.) This is the historical context behind the message of Paul to theThessalonians in both of Paul’s letters to them.

So, when he wrote to them in 2 Thessalonianschapter one, he was referring to this situation and this specific persecution.Further, it was brought about in large part by the unbelieving Jews in Jerusalemthat were part of the rulers. Look at what Paul says to them in the aboveindented passage: (6) sinceindeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, (7) and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when theLord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels (8) in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God andon those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (9) They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from thepresence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (10) whenhe comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at amongall who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.I have underlined the parts of the passage that I would like to use to pointout the thesis of this blog post.

First off he says that it is just to repay withaffliction those who afflict you. This has to mean the first century believers.It cannot be put off two thousand years later. The you in this passage is the Thessalonians.So then, the affliction is coming to the unbelieving Jews in the first centurythat are contemporary with the audience that Paul is addressing. Jesus iscoming in flaming fire and vengeance against the unbelieving Jews in the firstcentury. To see this any other way does violence to the clear meaning of thetext.

Therefore, you cannot push the rest of the letterout past the time of the audience of the letter. 2Thessalonians 2 and the manof sin, the strong delusion and everything else covered in the letter aredirectly attached to the first century time frame. It can be no other way. Inview of this we must find a way in which Jesus came in flaming fire in thefirst century and that has to be with the siege of Titus of Rome in 70AD.

The Last Adam; In His Presence in the Present

2012-01-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

1Co 15:45 Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a livingbeing"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

We have taken a long look at the significance ofthe destruction of the temple, Jesus enemies being put under his feet, and thefull instatement of the New Covenant. At the destruction of the temple the OldCovenant, that was obsolete since the time of Jeremiah, vanished. So then, whatdoes that mean practically? Look at the above scripture; the first Adambecame a living being; the last Adam became a life giving spirit. What if thereis more than meets the eye to the later statement? What exactly does it mean tobecome a life giving Spirit? Well, for sure it means that because of the lastAdam eternal life is possible for all. Howdo I know this you may ask? Well, look at this: 1Co 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christshall all be made alive.” This explains it clearly.

Still, what if there is more? What if the oldheavens and earth was the Old Covenant, and the new heavens and earth was thenew covenant? David Curtis makes apowerful case for it here.But, let’s just assume for a moment that he is right. This means that we areliving right now in the New Heavens and Earth. It means that the New Heaven andEarth has been available to all who would believe it since the destruction ofthe temple. It means that what we have learned to call church doctrine isreally, the strong delusion of 2Thess 2:11.

Recently my wife has been ill; some sort of a virusor something. She was on the phone withher sisters and they prayed for her to be healed. One of her sisters, anevangelist, prophet and co-pastor quoted the passage from Isaiah which says “byhis stripes we are healed.” She went on to prophetically proclaim that beinghealed is a place. That struck a chord with my spirit as I believe that to bethe case. The place is the presence of God and it is in the present moment. Ithas been ever since the new heaven and earth have been with us. We simply mustbelieve it!

The truth is that in the Last Adam we have beencompletely restored to relationship with the Father. We walk and talk in hispresence 24/7. We are always in his presence! The reason is that in reality welive in the present, and in the present is his presence. It does not matterwhether we feel it or not. It is what is true. However, we really only tap intoit by faith and trust; We only benefit from his presence when we acknowledgeit.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that we arealways in his presence? Yes, but only if you realize that Jesus has made usrighteous before the Father all the time. We can stand in that presence with acleansed conscious because of the blood of Jesus. In Him we are therighteousness of God! Please begin to believe the truth about who you are andwhose you are. This will not only bring healing… it will bring a peace thatpasses understanding!

The significance of 70AD and the destruction of the temple: Part IV

2012-01-04T10:15:00.001-08:00

1Co15:54-57 When the perishable puts on theimperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass thesaying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (55) "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is yoursting?" (56) The sting of death is sin, and the power ofsin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us thevictory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have posited before in this blog that I see theEpistle of Hebrews as the Rosetta Stone of the New Covenant. I am certain thatit was written to Hebrew believers to help them with the transition ofcovenants we have been discussing in this series. If you look at Heb 9:8; “The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holyplace had not yet been disclosed while the firsttabernacle was still standing.” Here we can clearly see that the firsttabernacle, the temple was a stumbling block into seeing the true temple ofGod. Almost every version of the bible including the King James Version rendersHebrews 9:8 with just this wording. In fairness, the Young’s LiteralTranslation renders it *still has a standing.* That, is really differencewithout a distinction because when the temple was destroyed with *not one stoneleft upon another that was not unturned* (Jesus predictive prophecy), it alsono longer had a standing. When it was gone it lost its standing.

Moving on with the correlation between death andthe Old Covenant let’s turn to another passage in Hebrews. Hebrews chapter two isvery similar to 1Corinthians 15:21-58. That is, the same concept is being discussed. First we’ll show thecorrelation between 1Co 15:54-57 with Hebrews 2:14-15. “Since therefore thechildren share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the samethings, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death,that is, the devil, (15) and deliver all those who through fear ofdeath were subject to lifelong slavery.” Remember, the sting ofdeath is sin and the power of sin is the Law. Yet, here we see the explanationof the victory. If you read Hebrews 2:6 through 2:18 there is a reference toeverything being put under Jesus feet. This is similar to 1Corintians 15:25 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” Who were Jesus enemies? The answer is that itwas the unbelieving Jews that forced his crucifixion. They were put under hisfeet in 70AD at the destruction of the temple and the dispersion of the Jews. Thatsimply put was the day of the Lord’s wrath.

Think about it; God came to tabernacle with themand they rejected and crucified him. How much more of an enemy can one havethan to be rejected because of their interpretation of a book? Look at John 7:47-49 “The Pharisees answered them,"Have you also been deceived? (48) Have any of the authorities or the Phariseesbelieved in him? (49) But this crowd that does not know the law isaccursed." They reject God in the flesh because of their interpretationof the Torah. Here is a classic example of the letter killing. They wereadhering to the letter of the Law and missed the Spirit in their midst.

It should be becoming increasingly obvious thatwhen the temple was destroyed and Jerusalem fell that Jesus enemies were putunder his feet. The last enemy was death and remember the sting of death is sinand the power of sin is the Law. The New Covenant, the new and better way wasthe *only* covenant in force from the destruction of the temple forward. Andwhat was that you ask? “For I will forgive their iniquity,and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:34d. )

The significance of 70AD and the destruction of the temple: Part III

2012-01-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, andthe mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that iswritten: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where isyour victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victorythrough our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1Co 15:54-57)

Moving on from the last post we will continue ourlook at the significance of 70AD and the destruction of the temple. In thefirst post of this series we showed that God’s desire to tabernacle, dwell withhumanity has been around from before the foundation of the world and mostcertainly was evident in creation, and in the last post we took a look at theabove text and Paul’s meaning of overcoming death.

In this post it would serve us well to spend sometime looking through the eyes of the first century Jews both believers andnon-believers as well as the believing gentiles. The message of the Torah, both the first fivebooks of the Old Testament, and subsequently, the entire Tanakh… the thirtynine books of the Old Testament was a very important part of the Jewish story.Because of that, there was a deep seated mindset that would place a great dealof importance on the Old Covenant… the Mosaic Covenant. Still, at the beginningof the first century CE there was also a great anticipation of the end of theage and the beginning of the age to come. The Jews called it Olam Ha Bah. Thething that is very clear from all the writings of the time including theTalmud, the expectation of the end of the age was imminent. They were notexpecting the end of the age to be more than a few years away at the time ofChrist.

This in large part was due to the prophecies ofDaniel; specifically Daniel’s seventy sevens prophecy found in Daniel 9:24-27. Atimetable was specifically spelled out in that passage to the end of the agewhich was to fall within three and onehalf years after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Daniel had given a specific timeline to theend of the age and the beginning of the age to come. This was linked to all ofthe references to the day of the Lord found in the Old Testament Prophets. Acareful read of the New Testament documents attests to the fact that all of thefirst century believers, and most of the non-believing Jews held to thistimeline.

Further to the point, the Jews had been taughtthat the tabernacle/temple was the dwelling place of God on the earth from thetime of Moses forward. This would explain why there was so much debate anddisagreement among the believing and non-believing Jews when Jesus began tospeak of himself as the tabernacle… temple. It was offensive to non-believingTorah observant Jews to have Jesus speak of himself as being the dwelling placeof God on the earth. Stephen made it abundantly clear in his sermon found inActs chapter seven that God was no longer dwelling in the temple (Acts 7:48.)It was this part of his sermon that got him stoned.

And yet, there were so many thousands of sincereJews that believed wholeheartedly in the Torah and in the Mosaic Covenant; But,there was a transition going on in their midst. The transition was from the OldCovenant to the New Covenant. To the first century observer it would appearthat God had two confusing programs. (1) The Jews, the Mosaic Covenant and thetemple and (2) Christ Jesus and his followers, a new temple built with living,breathing stones. This was the reasonfor setting a deadline. There was to come a time in the future whereby Godwould judge between his people and establish his true covenant once and forall. It would be synonymous with the day of the Lord, and the destruction ofthe temple and Jerusalem. According to Daniel, the deadline was 30AD, three and one half years after theresurrection of Jesus…. However, God and his marvelous grace allowed a fortyyear grace period whereby he allowed the two Covenants to exist side by side,limping along… not willing that any should perish but that all should come torepentance 2Peter 3:9.

The significance of 70AD and the destruction of the temple: Part II

2011-12-31T05:59:00.000-08:00

1Corinthians15:54-57 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts onimmortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death isswallowed up in victory." (55) "O death, where is your victory? Odeath, where is your sting?" (56) The sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, whogives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In partone of this series we looked into humanities problem because of the firstAdam. We also saw that from the very beginning, God’s plan, was to dwell amonghumanity. He wanted to be loved and praised by mankind from before thefoundation of the world (Eph 1:4-6 .) Whenever you see the phrase* from beforethe foundation of the world* you can understand that it means that, whateverwas from before the foundation of the world, was the prime consideration forcreation. Paul explains in Ephesians chapter one that God chose us in Christ,that is, he chose to redeem us, from before the foundation of the world, and itwas to the praise of his glorious grace! Therefore, God created the earth withredemption as the first purpose of creation and it was to glorify his grace andbring praise to him for it. This is the catalyst for true love for God. God’splan to gain true love was amazing… it was to be gained through his gloriousgrace. Glorious grace means a grace that metaphorically shines forth brightly.

The first question to ask is this; what is meant bythe clause *the sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law?* It is really quite simple when you thinkabout it. The power that sin has on humanity is put forth in the law. The OldCovenant established ones righteousness by obedience to the law (Lev 18:5.)Obedience = life and disobedience = death. Therefore, 1Corinthians 15:56 is equating death with the law. The lastenemy death is in fact the law with its ordinances. When Paul speaks of Christ’senemies being put under his feet what does he mean exactly? Who were Jesusenemies? The answer is first and foremost it was the Sanhedrin, the rulers ofthe Jews. Where did they get their power? The answer is from the Old Covenant,from Moses, and the Mosaic system. The destruction of the temple was to be thefinal act of God to show that he accepted Jesus sacrifice and that he wasmoving forward solely with the New Covenant. When you look at Jesus statementsabout the destruction of the temple, and the end of the age (*Not World,)* inlight of the final transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant… then and *onlythen* does it begin to make real sense.

The question for this post is this; when does/didthe perishable put on the imperishable and the mortal put on immortality? Theclear answer is that this was accomplished in Christ. It is not something thatawaits accomplishment. It is already a done deal… completely a finished work.If we know that we are immortal in Christ and the scripture promises that weare then, it must be that the perishable (you and I) have already put on theimperishable eternal life. Likewise, it must be that the mortal (again, you andI) have put on immortality or, in other words, we have overcome death and deathis swallowed up in victory. What happens at death now? Does one go in theground awaiting the resurrection? Of course not… most believe Paul when he saysthat absent from the body is present with the Lord. So then the answer to theabove question is that the mortal has already put on immortality… in otherwords, death *has* been swallowed up in victory. It is a current reality.

We are moving along on this question but stillhave a lot of ground to cover, but again, the post is getting a little long sowe will end it right here. Part III should be following soon.

The significance of 70AD and the destruction of the temple: Part I

2011-12-23T10:27:00.001-08:00

1Corinthians15:54-57 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts onimmortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death isswallowed up in victory." (55) "O death, where is your victory? Odeath, where is your sting?" (56) The sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, whogives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The temple was the symbol for the Old Covenant andthe Mosaic economy. All of Jewish religious practice was brought to fruition inthe temple sacrifices. The purpose was to build a sanctuary so that God coulddwell among the people Exodus 25:8. The temple was the symbol of God dwellingamong the people. When you look at the scripture as the story of redemption, ittells the story of *the* God who has always desired to dwell among his people…his creation.

In the very beginning, the Garden of Eden was thesanctuary that God had prepared to dwell with his people. Now then, whether you take Genesis two andthree literally or allegorically, the result is the same. It describes humanityin a state of innocence not understanding either good or evil. There was onlythe assumption that it was good based upon God’s declaration in Genesis 1:31.Therefore, if God declares that it was good how could anyone question the fact?Based upon God’s declaration it must in fact be good. The problem is this; itwould only be possible for one to believe this completely if they were in astate of naïve innocence. They would have to be oblivious to the knowledge ofgood and evil.

The minute the knowledge of good and evil isintroduced into the equation one would have to ask the questions; am I good, oram I evil? What is good and what is evil? These questions are at enmity withGod’s declaration. He has already declared that humanity was very good. Still, oneis left with a dilemma. If humanity remained in the innocence they would haveno way of truly worshipping God because they would be void of choice. Theywould simply accept without question his declaration; their relationship with him would be automatic,similar to that of a robot and its creator. There is no real chance for love.On the other hand, humanity armed with the knowledge of good and evil, wouldhave to question what was good and what was evil especially and mostimportantly, are they good and acceptable to God?

The result of receiving the knowledge of good and evil wouldultimately lead to judgment. That is, those with the knowledge of good and evilwould be capable of judgment. Judgmentis the opposite of faith. Judgment is based upon understanding the differencebetween good and evil and judging one way or the other. Faith is accepting adeclaration or situation as true and acting accordingly. This is why the authorof Hebrews said that without faith it is impossible to please God. He goes onto say that one must believe that God exists and that he rewards all whodiligently seek him.

Herein lies humanities problem. They have theknowledge of good and evil, and they have the ability to judge. Unfortunatelyhowever, they no longer have the innocence of being able to believe God withoutjudgment so their judgment is not based upon faith in God’s declaration.Further, because of mortality, the sentence received for gaining the knowledgeof good and evil, humanity usually judges in their own favor when they have thepower to do so, and here you have the catalyst of all sin and selfishness. Itis a quandary indeed. It is easy to begin to see the result of the fall in realhuman terms. Therefore, humanity was given the Law that would declare good andevil from God’s perspective. Unfortunately, humanity was not given God’sunderstanding and perspective, and thereby was unable to render righteous judgment based upon theLaw.

As the story progressed, Jesus, the *last Adam,* became the new tabernacle for God to dwellamong his people. With Jesus on the scene the temple was rendered obsolete.This was the reason that the temple would one day be destroyed. It had servedits purp0se as a figure or type. With Jesus on the scene a new and better waywas made for God to dwell with his creatures, and, when Jesus returned to theFather, a way was made for God to dwell among his people in their heart. Wehave a lot of ground to cover here and this is but a good beginning. It isgetting longer than I like so I will end it right here.

In this particular post we have taken a look at*the first* Adam and what his/her part was in the story of redemption, and haveset the ground for looking at how the story progresses. We will over severalposts get to the significance of the destruction of the temple after the death,burial and resurrection of the Lord. You may already be putting it together inyour mind but get ready for the continuation of the story.

What and when were the last days according to the New Testament writers? Could theologians get it wrong for 1800+ years? Part II

2011-12-13T10:53:00.001-08:00

A whileback I posed this question; Could theologians get it wrong for 1800+years? I would like to continue with a series thatwill show biblical evidence that they did get it wrong. First off, we shouldreally take into consideration the intended readership… i.e., the audience thatthe New Testament authors targeted. Who was the New Testament written to andfor? It is fairly well accepted that the gospels were written to specificcommunities and the epistles identify their intended audience.

We all toooften just assume that it was written to us in the twenty-first century andthis is especially the case when it comes to references to the last days or theend of the age. However, the text does not back that idea up at all. When youlook at the epistles to Timothy, Paul distinctly states that he is in factwriting to Timothy (2Tim 1:1-8.) This means that the entire epistle is writtento Timothy. While it is true that others can benefit from what Paul wrote toTimothy it is clear that one must acknowledge that Paul wrote the letter toTimothy.

So then,when Paul addresses Timothy in Chapter three warning him that in the last daysdifficult times will come he is specifically speaking of the last days thatwill come to pass in the life of Timothy. It is a mistake to push this messageout 2000 years beyond Timothy’s life and the occasion for the writing of theletter. In other words, the distortion of the scripture and the selfish messagesof the false teachers teaching false doctrine is a phenomenon that Timothy mustdeal with. You can see this theme throughout both epistles written to Timothy. It is abundantly clear in 1Tim 1:3-4: “As Iurged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you maycharge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, (4) nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promotespeculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.” The epistle to Timothy was meant to combatand counteract problems that had already arisen.

When Paulwrites “But know this; difficult times will come in the last days” he istelling Timothy that he is going to see the last days of the end of the age. Ihave written many posts in previous blogs that shows the imminent expectationof the end of the age in all of the New Testament writings. Just search imminence or imminent in the search function of the blog and you will see a plethora of these posts. The imminence began with Johnthe Baptist telling the Pharisees that the axe was already at the root… it wasforetold by Jesus reference to the withering fig tree… the end of the age thatthey were looking forward to was the end of the Mosaic age. It was predictedthat it would be concurrent with the destruction of the temple.

I want toshow with the next few posts that when one pushes the end of the age… the lastdays… out two thousand years they end up doing violence to the clear meaning ofthe text and what was written. Here we take a beginning look at the imminencythat is so prevalent in all of the New Testament.

What willthis series of posts do for us? Hopefully it will help us certify the fact thatthe New Testament writings were transitional while the temple still stood andthat the transition between the Old Covenant (Mosaic Law Economy) and the NewCovenant (New Heaven and Earth) has completely taken place and that the onlycovenant in operation today from God’s view is the New Covenant.

“Able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” ; why the evangelical doctrine of scripture misses the mark!

2011-12-06T09:16:00.001-08:00

Most of the people that I see being set free by theHoly Spirit are in a process of taking two steps toward freedom and then onestep backward. One of the main reasons for that is the evangelical orthodoxdoctrine of scripture. When it is viewed as the inerrant word of God then allof its messages tend to have equal value. How many times have you heard somepreacher or seen a bumper sticker that essentially says, “God said it--- Ibelieve it --- and that settles it!” … or… the saying… “it’s tight but it’sright!” Both of these statements are way too narrow and quite naive. There are way too many accepted exceptions to themeaning of certain scripture passages to make either of those catchy sayingstrue in any sense.

The first question that any thinking saint shouldask is this; Is there an overriding theme that one should bring to examiningall scripture? What is the overriding theme? Is it that the scripture is theinerrant word of God? One would think so in view of the current evangelical doctrineof scripture. However, that is not the overriding theme that Jesus and hisimmediate followers brought to the scripture. It is a long, long way from it!As I have shown in so many different posts on this blog… Jesus and the writersof the New Testament redefined the phrases ---word of God --- word of truth --- Word --- word of his graceto mean either Jesus the living Word or, the *gospel* the message of the livingWord. If you do not believe this just go to the search function on this blogand search *word of God* or *word of truth.* The scriptural evidence isoverwhelming and 100% indisputable!

Before you get all upset and blow a cork… Ibelieve the following about scripture:

It is inspired and given by God
It is profitable for teaching
It is profitable for correction
It is profitable for reproof
It is profitable for training in righteousness
It will equip the man/woman of God for good works

I believe all of the above bulleted list. I believeit completely. The fact is that I can believe this within the framework of theoverriding theme of the bible. The overriding theme of the bible according toJesus and Paul is redemption. It is*only* all of the above mentioned things in a redemptive sense. When Paul gavethat list in 2Timothy 3:16 & 17 hedid not give it until he had stated the overriding theme and purpose in verse15. The prime, and only purpose of the scripture is “ to make one *wise* unto*salvation* which is in Christ Jesus.” Jesus stated the same thing in John5:39-40 and Luke 24:27, 44-47. Take the time to read those passages and see foryourself the overriding theme and purpose.

Much of evangelical Christianity has alreadythrown out the rigid take on scripture by allowing women in the pulpit. If oneis to take the *tight but right* approach to the scripture, then, one wouldhave to *not allow* women preachers based upon 1Timothy 2:11&12 and1Corinthians 14:34-35. One of the passages says that the Law/Torah prohibitsit!

We should start viewing scripture the same waythat Jesus and the New Testament writers did. When we do, we will be able toconcentrate on The love of the Father and begin to allow that to transform usinto the image of Jesus.

Perfect love casts out fear!

2011-12-03T16:26:00.001-08:00

One of the main traits that is prevalent among manyevangelicals is fear; Fear of upsetting God. In fact, many have their entirelives driven by fear. Fear is the catalyst for all that they do and say. Theyare always metaphorically looking over their shoulder, wondering if they havemessed up and if they should quickly repent? And yet, John wrote in his epistlethat perfect love cast out fear… what did he mean, and should Christians fear?In my view the answer to the question is that he meant that they should notfear.

Let’s take a closer look at the passage that the clausecomes from.

1Jn 4:16-18 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides inhim. (17) By this is love perfected with us, so that wemay have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we inthis world. (18) There is no fear in love, but perfect lovecasts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has notbeen perfected in love.”

For context one should read the entire passagefrom 1John 4:7-19 It explains that God is love and, that it is *not* motivatedby our love for God but rather, the motivation comes from God’s love for us.That is… the love that was manifested inthe death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is the catalyst for our love. It is what will make us love God and our sister/brother.Jesus demonstrated Fathers *perfect love.* How you ask? He made him who knew nosin to be made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him!The perfect love that casts out fear then is the redemption purchased by Jesusonce for all.

Look again at the above passage of scripture. Inverse sixteen John states that he and the saints have come to *know* … and….*believe* the love God has for each one. If one abides, lives, rests in thislove they automatically abide in God and by the same token--- God abides inthem. The purpose as stated above is to have confidence in the/a day ofjudgment…. any judgment. Believers should not be afraid of God! How muchplainer can it be? In fact, he goes on to point out that if you fear you have*not* been perfected in love. As I have shown so many times in so many ways onthis blog *resting in Jesus* --- *resting in redemption*--- * resting in theFather’s love,* is the very ground, the firm foundation of our relationship witha loving Father who does not condemn. This is what it means to be perfected inlove. Resting in Jesus is equal with being perfected in love. I wish that Icould make it more plain!

Allow the perfect love of the Father in Jesus tocast out all fear. You do not have to fear punishment… not if you are restingand trusting and clinging to the Father’s love! This is what will bring truelove for the Father, true relationship with the Father and a natural desire toplease him by loving your sister/brother.

Why current evangelical doctrine is off the mark; looking at law and grace; part III

2011-12-01T14:15:00.001-08:00

In the last two articles (Part1& Part 2)I have discussed the roll of grace in the gospel, and specifically, the waythat grace is the catalyst for transformation. This entire blog is dedicated toexplaining a paradigm shift that I believe will be beneficial for any believersearching for a more consistent view that will help make Christian doctrineseem more congruent and less schizophrenic; A view, where 1John 4:8 & 16 can make sensewithout any possible contradiction. One can be confident that God is lovewithout convoluting the definition of love to include torture and various otherdamnations.

So then, if grace is the catalyst fortransformation what roll should law play? To answer this question in thesimplest manner I would suggest that it should be used for direction. Not as alegal requirement but as a guide. One of my favorite verses is found in theepistle to the Galatians. “Gal 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, forwhatever one sows, that will he also reap. (8) For the one who sows to hisown flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to theSpirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” I can hear you pausing now andsaying *damn Joe* you have written one hundred and forty posts aboutunconditional grace and this is one of your favorite verses? ;) Yes, it is oneof my favorite verses because it explains very succinctly the law of karma…what goes around comes around.

The problem with the cautionary scriptures residesin the view that the Law of God has eternal consequences and punishment. I don’tthink that the scripture suggests that at all. I think our understanding of thescripture and the grammatical historical hermeneutic of the Scribes andPharisees leads one to believe it but, I think that in using Jesus and hisfollowers heremeneutic, redemptive historical hermeneutic that one can come tovery different conclusions about the eternal consequences of the law.

If one is not being adjudicated righteous byobedience to the law--- the law, can lose its damning qualities and begin tohave instructional, tutorial, guiding qualities. It can be used as an ideal toreach toward instead of a taskmaster that must be met or suffer pain of direconsequences. It can be a reflection of the heart of Father God explaining howhe would have us treat one another.

Galatians 6:7-8 is the description of the realityof what will happen especially in this life. Humanity has instituted laws toregulate behavior for the good of the society or group. Murder will be punishedby life in prison. These penalties are not eternal they are temporal and theyactually work well in deterring unwanted behavior. I know from experience thatbad choices, selfish choices will result in bad results. Yet, within God’sgrace I have found redemption of my worst failures. This is not just in eternalterms… the redemption for me has been temporal. I am sure that it is that waywith many of you.

Eternal consequences are mitigated by grace. Thereis much more to say on this but I think that it will be better addressed insubsequent posts. What if we treated the law as a guide and not as a yardstickto be met? How would that change things? How would that allow grace totransform us? Especially if the entire ecclesia was on the same page. I candream can’t I?

Why current evangelical doctrine is off the mark; looking at law and grace; part II

2011-11-30T06:55:00.001-08:00

Have you ever told some fellow believer about theextent of God’s grace only to have themtell you that no one should think that they could take advantage of God’s graceand get away with it? It seems to methat there is a fear of encouraging sin by most Christians when it comes toacknowledging grace. On the other hand, D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, a Welsh preacherof the twentieth century, once made the comment that if one is not accused ofbeing too easy on sin they are not preaching the gospel. I personally agreewholeheartedly with D. Martyn Lloyd Jones and I think that there is amisunderstanding of law and grace by most evangelicals.

In all this fear and caution about being tooliberal with grace, the real point of the gospel is missed. One of the mainproblems with current evangelical dogma is the importance the law holds in the life of a believer. Here is the mostcommon view that evangelicals teach and believe. Once a person is truly converted by faith inChrist, they then receive, supernatural power to become more law abiding orlive closer to the commandments. Further, they believe that law obediencedemonstrates that a person is truly converted. Martin Luther, the greatdefender of grace said it this way; “faith alone saves but, faith that saves isnever alone”--- meaning that one will see law obedience form a truly convertedperson. This has been the “party line,” if you will allow me to use the phrase, for most of the history of theChristian Church.

Actually, I think the New Testament teachessomething very different from this. Nowthis difference may sound like it is without distinction but, let me assure youthat it is not and, that it is a very important distinction in the growth of abeliever toward being conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. That… beingformed into the image of Christ… ought to be the goal.

So then, here is the reality of the situation as Iread the New and Old Testaments. JesusChrist paid the price for *all* sin… one time… for all. That is past, present and future sin.Truly believing this fact brings peace with God, that is, all enmity is gone!The peace is the result of not having to worry about judgment. In Christ allhave been adjudicated righteous. By faith, one must apprehend this peace, holdon to it and persevere. That is what brings about the peace. Peace with God isthe catalyst for love for God. The love for God that is generated by havingpeace with God is the catalyst for obeying God. If the peace is broken for anyreason the love automatically breaks and obedience stops as fear ensues. Fearis the opposite of peace. One cannot have peace with God when fear is present.The law brings fear. When one is forced to find acceptability to God throughlaw they immediately loose the peaceful effect of grace.

Resting in the finished work of Jesus no matterwhat is the only thing that over time brings and sustains peace with God in themind of the believer. Renewing the mind is a constant shifting of focus to God’sgrace in Christ and the peace that it brings. The peace as stated earlier bringslove for God and the love for God brings love to others and love does noteasily violate God’s law. In this state of love the believer is slowly but everso surely being conformed into the image of Jesus which is apape/love.

Here is why the false system has worked for solong. Some people’s sin is easier to see, more socially unacceptable thanothers. People can separate themselves from the big issues, sex, drugs, alcohol…they can change their manner of speaking…. They can easily look converted tothe eye of another but, down in their heart they are full of fear and hatred.No matter how much they say they love they cannot really truly love. You knowthis is speaking to you don’t you?

Only peace with God from unlimited grace can trulyproduce love!

Why current evangelical doctrine is off the mark; looking at law and grace

2011-11-16T05:02:00.001-08:00

While there are a multitude of differing doctrinal positions within evangelical Christianity, there are essentially two positions that are always at odds, and result in most of the overwhelming confusion that besets would be saints. The two mutual exclusive views can best be defined by asking the following two questions. What is the position taken on the tension between law and grace and which is the over-riding concept?To further define the two positions, it offers clarity, to explain the view they hold for law and/or grace. The positions in these two divisions are simply put… (1) those who emphasize law and (2) those who emphasize grace.

The ones who emphasize law, at the end of the day, are called legalists by those who emphasize grace, and the ones who emphasize grace are called easy believers and their doctrine is called easy believism or anti-nomianism by those who emphasize law. So, which position is right? The answer is really quite simple when you sit back and look at it.

In the New Covenant, the only covenant that Gentiles are under GRACE is the driving force. Grace is the motor that runs Christian doctrine. Grace has the first and foremost position. Here are three biblical reasons:

The law was given through Moses… but… grace and *truth* came through Jesus Christ
Where sin abounds…. Grace abounds all the more
You are *not* under law… you are under *grace*

First off, John 1:17 tells this. The law is neither grace nor truth. Grace and truth was something that had to come later and it came through Jesus. This alone should assure one that grace is the prime mover, grace drives the gospel train. Grace has priority over law and that is just a fact. Many do not want to hear it but just because they have plugged their ears does not mean that they are right. The opposite is true they are plain wrong and it is a woefully sad truth. The reason is that in their law emphasis, they damage those who have been set free from guilt by grace. This is precisely why the law kills and the Spirit gives life.

Secondly, Romans 5:20 further explains that grace is the prime mover, that *grace*… not law… drives the gospel train metaphorically speaking. Here is the fact plain and simple. One cannot out-sin grace! This may offend the sensibilities of the legalist camp but it still remains an indisputable truth. Even when Paul goes on to ask if one should sin so that grace can abound… even that… does not overthrow the simple truth that one cannot out-sin grace.

Finally, Romans 6:14 states it so plainly that anyone with the slightest command of language can understand that grace… not law… is the prime mover; it is driving the gospel train so to speak. Paul’s admonition in Romans 6:15 notwithstanding, grace is the catalyst. It is the ground. It is the foundation for faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

This all goes to establish peace with God and love for God. Faith in the grace message is the catalyst for loving God and truly loving God is the prime mover in transformation. It will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, ever be the law. The Law will not ever provide peace with God and it therefore CANNOT produce the fruit of the Spirit.

What does a solely redemptive hermeneutic mean to faith and practice?

2011-10-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

So far, the articles of this blog have establishedthe fact that Jesus, his apostles and, first century followers redefined thephrase word of God and put a totally redemptive focus on the scripture. Withthis in mind; what should it mean to our faith and practice?

First and foremost, it changes the method ofobedience. It shifts from a read and do obedience to what Paul called theobedience of faith. The exact meaning of the phrase can best be understood byexamining the original language. This phrase is found in Romans 1:5 &16:26. It is HUPAKOEN PISTEOS and it means the attentive hearing of faith. Pauluses a similar idea in Romans 6:17 when he says you have “obeyed from theheart” HUPAKOUO KARDIA.

It seems to me that the obedience of faith andobeying from the heart are essentially the same concept. It is interesting andinformative that Paul uses this term to describe obedience. It is a contrast toread and do, law obedience. How does obeying from the heart and the obedienceof faith differ from read and do obedience? Actually it is in the motivationfor the obedience… you could even go so far as to call it the catalyst for theobedience. To explain further… it is the source of the obedience. In the first instance,read and do obedience-- it is merely thecognitive awareness of what needs to be obeyed and the expectation that theknowledge will result in obedience.

In the case of the obedience of faith-- faith… not the law is the focus. In theobedience of faith the prime method of obedience is believing; believing is theobedience. All other obedience growsfrom faith and belief. This is where the redemptive focus comes into play. When one shifts the definition of the word ofGod to gospel instead of scripture, the focus automatically goes from lawobedience to faith obedience. This is precisely why the Lord and his apostleschanged the definition and the hermeneutic. It was in anticipation of theredemption that had drawn nigh.

Further, the obedience of faith puts the emphasison the promises and the performance of God. It directly removes it from theperformance of humans. This allows us to have peace with God and rest in hismercy and grace. The mercy and grace of God is the source of growing obedience,but the obedience has all been fulfilled in trusting God in Christ. TrustingGod’s mercy and grace promotes the development of the fruit of the Spirit.Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness goodness, kindness and temperance flow from trusting God’s grace with theobedience of faith.

So then, why does current church doctrine put suchgreat emphasis on read and do obedience? I believe that the answer isprophesied in Matthew 16:12 and 2Thess 2:11. Much of current church doctrine isthe leaven of the Pharisees and the strong delusion. This is precisely thereason that there is so much burn out in people that are on a tread mill tryingdesperately to please each other and subsequently please God. The leaven of the Pharisees works to abrogatethe gospel of God’s grace.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers VI

2011-09-20T07:52:00.001-07:00

Wouldn’tit be wonderful to interpret the scripture just as Jesus did? Wouldn’t it behelpful to use Jesus hermeneutic in all biblical interpretation? Is it possibleto understand and employ Jesus hermeneutic? If Jesus had a specific hermeneuticand, if we could understand it, why wouldn’t the followers of Jesus use hishermeneutic only? The answers to all of these questions should be a resoundingyes/of course. Jesus most definitely taught his followers a unique distinctivehermeneutic so I will try to uncover it.

Lookingat Jesus and his followers presuppositions:

#3 The scribes and Pharisees –- the rulers ofthe Jews were apostate and in danger of the imminent day of the Lord’s wrath,foretold of in the prophets, which would come to their generation. Ultimately,the hermeneutics of Jesus would overthrow the specularia of Moses and establishbut one covenant… the new covenant. Jesus of Nazareth was the unique promised Messiah.

Allof the history of the scripture…. the entire story was pointing to one grandplan of God. God was going to set to rights the creation by bringing forth theMessiah. If one missed the Messiah, they missed God and his plan. Missing theMessiah was the ultimate example of missing the mark -- sin. When the Jewsincited the Romans to crucify Jesus, they in effect killed their only Messiahand that is the ultimate apostasy. Rejecting and killing God Incarnate was theultimate final apostasy.

Usingscripture as a justification (John 7:46-49) the Jews rejected Jesus forreligious and hermeneutical reasons. This was after God proclaimed this tothem:

Exo 25:8-9 And let them make me a sanctuary;that I may dwell among them. (9) According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle,and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

God had become the tabernacle and dwelt amongthem and they rejected him. This is the ultimate apostasy.

Hebrewsthe Rosetta Stone of the New Covenant:

One of the ways that God could speak clearlyto the Jews was to employ their hermeneutical devices in speaking to them. The bulk of the New Testament writings aremade up of DRASH that helps to interpret the Old Testament Prophecy. Of all thebooks in the New Testament, Hebrews is directed at Jewish believers who were indanger of joining the unbelieving Jews in the apostasy of rejecting Jesus asMessiah.

One of the main presuppositions of thescribes and the Pharisees was called the specularia of Moses. By this theymeant that all of the scripture must be filtered through Moses writings. Theyused Numbers 12:5-8 as the proof text for this Mosaic Specularia. DRASH usesphrases from the scripture to show interpretation. Hebrews chapters one throughthree establish the supremacy of Christ. Chapter three explains the supremacyof Christ over Moses and there is DRASH in the passage as the writer of Hebrewsuses the language of Numbers 12:7 in referring to Moses being faithful in allof God’s house, and then the writer goeson to say that Jesus was greater than Moses thus overthrowing the earlierMosaic Specularia.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers V

2011-09-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lookingat Jesus and his followers presuppositions:

#2 The end of the age was nigh i.e, it waswithin the first century time frame. All of the Old Testament prophecies wereabout to be fulfilled in the first century time frame

WereJesus and his first century followers expecting the end of the age to be theend of the space time continuum? Why would anyone think they were? You can layit partially at the feet of the King James translators and partially at the useof metaphor and hyperbole.

Matt KJV 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto himprivately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall bethe sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

The above verse from the KJV translates theGreek word aeon to be world when itshould have been translated age. Aeon is an age not a world. So then, Jesus andhis followers like all the Pharisees and many other Jews were expecting animminent (within their generation) end of the age. Likewise they were looking forwardto Olam Ha Ba, the age to come. It issafe to say that none of them were expecting a cataclysmic end of the world.Even though you see language like the elements burning and melting it was notmeant to be literal. In Jewish prophecy it was metaphoric and hyperbole. Starsfalling, coming on clouds etc. were merely prophetic figures of speech.

They were however, expecting a regenerationof the world. They were expecting God to make all things new and establish theage to come. One of the principle prophecies of the time that pointed to thiswas Daniel 9:24-27. The seventy weeksput the fulfillment of the prophecy in their time frame.

Here is Daniel 9:24 in bulleted form:

Dan 9:24 "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city,

to finish the transgression,
to put an end to sin, and to atone foriniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal both vision and prophet,
and to anoint a most holy place.

This is one of the main reasons that there isso much imminent expectation in the New Testament writings. Here are a list ofsome of the blog posts that have dealt with the end of the age.

Onwhom the end of the ages has come

Youwill not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes

ThisGeneration Part I

ThisGeneration Part II

Whenwill these things be?

Check these posts out and you will see thepresuppositions that Jesus and his followers brought to their understanding ofscripture concerning the end of the age.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers IV

2011-09-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

Lookingat Jesus and his followers presuppositions:

#1 Jesusand his followers redefined the phrase/term word of God, word, word of truth,word of the truth, from scripture to either Himself the living word or thegospel.

Ihave already written several posts on this subject. I will list them all belowso that you can look at them one by one. I would suggest that before you dothat you read through this post completely so that you do not need to beclicking backward and forward.

If you read these posts you will see thatoverwhelmingly Jesus and his followers defined the phrases word of truth, wordof God, word of his grace and word as the gospel or Jesus the living gospel. Sohere is the point of this post…. If Jesus and his followers defined the word ofGod, word of truth and word as the gospel or himself the living word… why wouldhis followers define the word of God, word of truth, word as the scripture?

The fact is that this presupposition changes ourview greatly. First, not every message of the scripture has equal value. Somemessages of the scripture take precedence over others. Even the Phariseestaught that. For them, Mose and the five books of the Torah had preeminence andprecedence over all others. Interestingly, the book of Hebrews, chapter threeoverthrows the preeminence of Moses. So then, Moses has to be viewed throughthe lens of Jesus and his followers.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers III

2011-09-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to interpret the scripturejust as Jesus did? Wouldn’t it be helpful to use Jesus hermeneutic in allbiblical interpretation? Is it possible to understand and employ Jesus hermeneutic?If Jesus had a specific hermeneutic and, if we could understand it, whywouldn’t the followers of Jesus use his hermeneutic only? The answers to all ofthese questions should be a resounding yes/of course. Jesus most definitelytaught his followers a unique distinctive hermeneutic so I will try to uncoverit.

In the last couple of posts I have looked at Luke24:27,44-47. I have shown that first and foremost Jesus and his followers useda hermeneutic that showed that He was the Messiah and the complete focus of thescripture. This is especially reinforced in John 5:39-40.

John 5:39-40 You pore over the Scriptures because youthink you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. (40) And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.

Therefore Jesus taught that the sole purpose ofthe scripture was to direct the reader to him so that they could come to himfor life. This is evidence of one of the presuppositions that Jesus brought toscripture interpretation and it is a good time to answer the followingquestion; what were the presuppositions that Jesus brought to hisinterpretation of scripture?

Jesus and his followers redefined the phrase/termword of God, word, word of truth, word of the truth, from scripture to eitherHimself the living word or the gospel.
He, Jesus was uniquely the promised Messiah
The end of the age was nigh i.e, it was within thefirst century time frame
He, Jesus was installing and instituting the NewCovenant
He, Jesus was instituting the Kingdom of God
The scribes and Pharisees –- the rulers of the Jewswere apostate and in danger of the imminent day of the Lord’s wrath, foretold ofin the prophets, which would come to their generation
All of the Old Testament prophecies were about tobe fulfilled in the first century time frame
After the resurrection, the Spirit continued toteach the hermeneutic of Jesus to his followers who wrote the New Testament.
Ultimately, the hermeneutics of Jesus wouldoverthrow the specularia of Moses and establish but one covenant… the newcovenant

Each of these presuppositions will be examined ingreater detail as these posts move along. Interestingly, these presuppositionshave led to the establishment of presuppositions that I in turn bring to theentire text of the bible. It is my view that these presuppositions must be usedin any hermeneutic that claims to be Christian.

The definition of the term/phrase word of God isJesus or the gospel in the New Testament writings
Progressive revelation is a rule of thumb for allChristians
The Old Testament must be viewed based uponprogressive revelation
Progressive revelation found in the New Testamentmust alter the understanding of things written in the Old Testament
Redemption was the basis for creation
Jesus and his followers interpretation of Old Testamentpassages preempts earlier interpretations.
Jesus alone is the Israel of God and all *inChrist* inherit that same position
Obedience under the New Covenant is the obedienceof faith -- Paul called it obeying from the heart also.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers II

2011-09-05T14:39:00.001-07:00

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to interpret the scripturejust as Jesus did? Wouldn’t it be helpful to use Jesus hermeneutic in allbiblical interpretation? Is it possible to understand and employ Jesushermeneutic? If Jesus had a specific hermeneutic and, if we could understandit, why wouldn’t the followers of Jesus use his hermeneutic only? The answersto all of these questions should be a resounding yes. Jesus most definitelytaught his followers a unique distinctive hermeneutic.

Should everyday Christ followers be concerned withhermeneutics at all? The answer to this question is also yes. I was at ameeting one time where a self-appointed apostle presided and was teaching. Hemade the comment that one should not worry about hermeneutics as the word isfrom Greek philosophy and is not in the bible. It is sad some of the thingspeople teach. They get an idea and decide that they can proclaim it even if itis not true.

The fact is that the Greek word diermeneuo is found in Luke 24:27. It isdirectly related to the Greek word ermeneuo(the *h* sound is not written in Greek but it is pronounced) which ispronounced hermeneuo, and is wherethe word hermeneutics comes from. So then the fact is that Jesus employedhermeneutics in Luke 24:27.

Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all theProphets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all theScriptures.

In the above passage the word diermeneuo is translated as interpreted. So then, Jesus usedhermeneutical interpretation with his followers and taught them theinterpretation method that he used. What was that lens you ask? It was a lensthat saw Jesus as the Messiah. While it is true that the scribes and Phariseeshad a Christo-centric, messiah centered hermeneutic; the thing that differentiatedJesus from them was that he saw himself as the Messiah and the center of allscripture. Therefore he alone was able to show how the scripture propheciesapplied to him. His hermeneutic was Spirit directed. The scribes and Phariseeshermeneutic was scripture directed. In fact, the Pharisees declared that he wasnot the Messiah based upon the scripture when they asked; “has any of usthought that he was the Messiah? Yet, this group that does not know thescripture is accursed” (John 7:47-49.)

In other words, the scribes and Pharisees weredepending on their interpretation of the scripture to be able to identify theMessiah, and their interpretation worked in the opposite… they determined byscripture that Jesus was not the Messiah. This is important because it showsthat Jesus and his follower’s interpretation must have precedence over allother methods of interpretation. This creates a top down hermeneutic in whichone has to view the Old Testament prophesies in view of the Spirit filledinterpretation of Jesus and his followers.

This would mean that for one to properly interpretany scripture, one would have to read the entire scripture Genesis toRevelation without making any interpretation and only then make theinterpretation in light of the revelation provided by Jesus and the NewTestament writings.

Check out the blog post “The hermeneutics of Jesusand his followers I;” here.

The hermeneutics of Jesus and his followers I

2011-09-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

The answer to the first three questions is yes andthe answer to the fourth question ought to be yes and why it isn’t baffles me.I realize that there are number of hermeneutical lenses that one can use butwhat is completely perplexing is this question; why wouldn’t followers of Jesususe his hermeneutic exclusively? Can someone please answer that for me? Ifthere is a good reason to not use Jesus hermeneutic then I would like to hearit. The fact remains from my perspective that there is no reason not to use thehermeneutic of Jesus and his followers.

So then, what is the hermeneutic of Jesus and hisfollowers? In short, it is a solely redemptive Christo-centric hermeneutic thatuniquely sees Jesus of Nazareth as the fulfillment of the entire Jewish scripture.I am speaking of both the Torah and the Tanakh; i.e., the thirty nine booksthat make up the Old Testament, and Jesus hermeneutic, is found in the pages ofthe twenty seven books of the New Testament. A large portion of the NewTestament text is the explanation of --the interpretation of --the OldTestament in a solely redemptive, Jesus of Nazareth centric, way.

The foundation of Jesus hermeneutic is found inLuke chapter twenty-four. It can be specifically found in Luke 24:27 &44-47. I will post each of these passages here.

Luke24:27 “Then beginning with Moses andall the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in allthe Scriptures.”

Luke24:44-47 “Then He told them, "Theseare My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everythingwritten about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must befulfilled." (45) Then He opened their minds to understand theScriptures. (46) He also said to them, "This is what iswritten: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, (47) andrepentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all thenations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

One of the more important parts of the abovepassages is verse forty-five. He opened their understanding. I will show laterin a post that this is related to the Lamb opening the scroll in Revelationchapters five and ten.

What is included in a hermeneutical system orlens?

The method of interpretation of a text
The presuppositions that go into the writing of atext
The historical setting and context of the time ofthe writing of the text
The authority of the message of the text

In this series I will look at how Jesus viewed andformed these precepts into his hermeneutical lens. Further I will show that whilethe first century church embraced these principals completely the early churchfathers abandoned many in favor of the hermeneutical principals of the Scribesand Pharisees.

What is the gospel?

2011-08-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

It gnaws continually at your inner spiritual knowledge; You can't quite put your finger on it, but you know something is just not right. As much as you love the Lord, you feel that the way the gospel is presented just doesn't make sense. And yet, you cannot seem to prove it; even to yourself. You have given up trying. You never voice what you really believe because you are afraid that someone might call you a heretic and yell at you or, that they might accuse you of not really being saved. Friend, you are not alone. No, you are merely proving that you have been born from above. You know deep in your heart that God is a God of mercy love and grace and yet when you voice it, someone always says well you don't know God very well. The truth is that they do not know God.

One of the many questions that plague many believers is, what is the gospel? It should be such a basic well known fact but it is shrouded by a myriad of interpretations of the content of the gospel.

Some churches call themselves full gospel churches as if some churches do not have the full gospel. John Macarthur has written a book entitled The Gospel According to Jesus as if, this gospel is different than the accepted gospel. This causes great confusion and indecision as to meaning of the gospel. Can the question ever be answered?

What did Paul say?

1 Corinthians 15:1-4, KJV "1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" This alone is the gospel or Paul is an unreliable witness. How can I make this statement? Well, if one believes that Paul is inspired by the Holy Spirit, then, this becomes one of God's sovereign decrees of redemption. No one can waffle on the gospel or Paul has misrepresented this bold declaration. What does he say first? "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you"This is very clear language. Paul is telling them that he is going to explain the gospel in its entirety to them. this is the gospel he preached. Then he adds even more, "which also ye have received" So, this is the gospel he preached and it is the gospel they received. Look at this passage line by line and precept by precept. One could not make it any plainer. He is intending to present by declaration (a forceful word) the gospel he proclaimed. This is such a clear statement with such a precise intent that it would be impossible to believe that the gospel would be anything other than what he is now declaring. Further, if the statement is not the full gospel then Paul is unreliable. He solidifies this position by making the following additional statement; which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. This is not only the gospel he proclaimed. It is also the gospel that the Corinthians believed and it is the gospel by which they stand. But he doesn't stop there. He goes on to say that it is by which also ye are saved.

These statements are examples of Holy Spirit inspired sovereign decrees of God Almighty. The plain fact is that the gospel cannot be any more or less than what Paul is about to proclaim. If it were Paul is unreliable. The gospel is the epitome of reductionism. The following is the gospel in its entirety. for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; (4) And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: Thats it. It is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus and that is all. The message of chapter fifteen is that the resurrection of Jesus made possible the resurrection of everyone else. The good news is that there is a resurrection and one can take part in the resurrection by believing the good news.

For a further look into the gospel we must look at Acts Chapter ten. This is an interesting and familiar story. It tells of the first Gentile conversion. Cornelius was a Roman Centurion and the account of his conversion and the conversion of all in his household is very instructive as to the scope, content, and nature of the gospel message. We will look at the passage. Act 10:1-2 Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a Centurion of the band called the Italian band, (2) a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, who gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. The chapter opens telling of the qualities of Cornelius. He had wealth, power and position because he was a Centurion. Cornelius was a devout man. By devout it is meant that he was pious or religious. There were three more qualities mentioned in his bio. He feared God, he was generous with the poor, and he prayed without ceasing. By Puritan standards, this man was a exemplary individual. He would have been a great candidate for Promise Keepers. The fact we find, in reading the account is that his high standard of moral conduct was not sufficient before God to give him salvation. The Great Deception on the other hand, has humanity convinced that this type of behavior would show that he was a child of God and would keep him safe in that status. The clear fact however was that Cornelius was lost and hell bound without the sovereign intervention of the grace of God.

He was visited by and angel that told him that his prayers had been heard by God and that he should send to Joppa for Simon Peter who was lodging with Simon the Tanner. While this was going on, Peter ends up on the roof ofSimons home at the time for dinner. While waiting for his meal to be served he fell into a trance and had a vision of a great sheet with each of the four corners tied full of all kinds of four-footed animals. A voice in the vision tells Peter to get up kill the animals and eat. Peter protests because he does not want to break any of the Jewish dietary laws by saying that no unclean animal has ever touched his lips. The voice went on to say three times. Peter, do not call that which God has cleansed unclean. This message has great allegorical significance but Peter does not realize it at the time. In the meantime Cornelius men arrive at the door to beckon Peter to come with them to meet with Cornelius. When Peter arrived and found out why he was sought he understood that the gospel was to be given to the Gentiles also. After all, with Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, slave nor free. The gospel is for all who will believe.

Why has the gospel been made so complicated? The answer lies in the Great Deception. It has been called a strong delusion. 2Thessalonians 2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. God has sent this delusion. God has given us the great deception. Why? The reason is, from the beginning men would not believe the simplicity of the gospel. And, to this very day, you have men, deceived such as John MacArthur, not only believing a lie but also perpetuating it.

The gospel is so simple; It is almost Zen

2011-08-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

1Co 9:16 HCSB "For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because an obligation is placed on me. And woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" These words ring clear to me personally and I suggest that they are meant for everyone who has felt the call to proclaim the gospel of God's mercy, grace and love. So once again, I am faced with answering the question what is the gospel?

In my view, there is no clearer proclamation of the gospel than Isaiah chapter 53. It really must be placed in the greater context of chapters 52-54. The gospel preacher or herald is spoken of clearly in Isa 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" So then, the gospel is the message of peace between God and humanity, and the assurance that God is in control at all times. It was brought to fruition by the faith, life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Isa 53:12 Therefore I will give Him the many as a portion, and He will receive the mighty as spoil, because He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.

How can I say that it is so simple? What is the nature of the simplicity? Paul states it in 1 Corinthians 15.

1Co 15:1-8 Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. (2) You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you--unless you believed for no purpose. (3) For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, (4) that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, (5) and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. (6) Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. (7) Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (8) Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me.

That is the simple gospel and there is no more. If there were more to the gospel, then, Paul would not be able to say that it was the gospel he proclaimed, the gospel they received, the gospel they have taken their stand on and the gospel by which they were/are saved. If the gospel is more than that… If it takes more than belief, then, Paul is being untruthful.

Why do I say that it is almost Zen? Well, mainly because Zen stresses the experiential over the theoretical. I believe that the gospel is definitely first and foremost experiential. People experience the peace with God based upon the gospel proclamation. That is how it works. That is the source of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

It is interesting to me the amount of people that I know who have this gospel experience, and in spite of what others say and teach, they know at the most basic level that they are in fact a child of God, and are in relationship with Him via Jesus. It is also interesting that they maintain this ever certain relationship in spite of the teaching they receive by institutional Christianity.

Until Christ be formed in you

2011-08-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

This post is the combination of several posts that deal with the transformation process. Of the many things lacking in current evangelical doctrine this is one of the most important. It will help move from read and do legal reformation to be and believe spiritual transformation.

Earlier, we discussed the pattern of Paul’s letter to the Romans. We observed that it took the following pattern. First, it laid out the need of all humanity both Jews and, Gentiles; it moved on to an explanation of the redemptive decrees, the source of the Sabbath Rest and, finally it began to look at reasonable service. It flows this way for a reason as rest is the source of the reasonable service. Paul writes I beseech/urge you brothers/sisters by the mercies of God that you present yourself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service….spiritual worship (Rom 12:1)

Notice that it is the mercy of God that is the catalyst for the reasonable service. Remember James….”mercy always triumphs over judgment.” What is the mercy of God Paul was writing about? Answer; it is the redemptive decrees that make up the Sabbath Rest.

It is observable that throughout the biblical writings there are statements that can best be described as God’s redemptive decrees. These are statements… that if one ties a condition to them….they end up being untrue. Here are examples; “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that -whosoever believes- in him shall not parish but have eternal life;”-- “that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved;”-- “There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus;” -- “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness;” -- we could go on indefinitely but, you get the idea…these are proclamations that cannot be modified if they are true. They are either true or they are not and, if they are not true they are really worthless.

We have already looked at James and Paul earlier and, we discovered that James was not really saying what most evangelicals have suggested he was saying. The works were not Law works…they were not read and do instructions but rather, were indicative of a heart changed and they were aimed at loving ones brother realizing that mercy always, always, always triumphs over judgment.

The reason for this is that rest is the foremost aspect of the transformation. While there will be no transformation without recognizing the need, there can be no spiritual transformation without the rest. Rest is a term that includes all of the definitions of faith. We are using the Amplified Bible definition of faith which is clinging to, relying on, trusting in and having a settled confidence. It is not merely a mental assent. Still, this rest---faith is the catalyst of the transformation.

Further, real spiritual transformation can only operate if and when a person is resting in Jesus completely. Anything short of transformation from rest is in fact fleshly motivated reformation and is not really transformation at all. Transformation comes from renewing the mind daily to the gospel of grace.

I read a blog post recently on wrecked.org written by George Elerick. It was entitled, Vampire Christians: Jesus was more than the cross. The point of the post was this… a large amount of evangelical Christians see Jesus only as the provider of forgiveness of sin via his cross and his blood and, they focus their attention and effort on sin management. This attitude and idea limits the view of the total transformation expected in the disciple. After all, Paul states that the saint is to be conformed into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29.)

In (Gal 4:19) Paul says the following; “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” For Paul, having Christ formed in the Galatians meant that they were resting in the gospel; that they were justified by faith and not the works of the law…essentially, they were resting in Jesus and all of the benefits wrought by his death burial and resurrection including the forgiveness of sin.

We have taken an in-depth look at the concept of need, rest and, reasonable service and we see it as being the natural flow of the transformation and, we have shown that the Sabbath Rest of Hebrews 4:9-10 is the catalyst for the transformation. In short, it is resting in Jesus no matter what may come that produces the love for God, that when focused on, will transform the saint out of love and gratitude toward God for the redemption found in Christ Jesus.

Paul realized that any read and do formula for walking in the Spirit would lead to a fleshly attempt at reformation. In fact, reformation will not lead to transformation. Anyone believing in original sin will understand this. Remember, we identified original sin as the condition of human mortality coupled with the knowledge of good and evil. The survival instinct leads ultimately to greed and the knowledge of good and evil helps one in power to justify greed. This is the source of all sin in the world and, for one to be absolutely sure about their eternal life…by the design of a loving God, is the catalyst for transformation.

This is the first step in transformation but, it also requires one to be a part of a community that can help to keep one accountable. It is in accountability that the ultimate transformation will take place. It has to be loving accountability that is seasoned with grace. Loving accountability is the missing ingredient in most if not all evangelical churches…there are some that have accountability but it is a read and do kind of accountability and it works as a legal code. This legal code accountability works against transformation.

It is in this area that the importance of the redemptive focus of the scripture plays the most important part. When we acknowledge that Jesus and his disciples redefined the word of God, word of truth and, word to mean either the gospel or Jesus and, when we see that Jesus taught a solely redemptive interpretation of scripture…one that saw him as the Messiah, we can escape the tendency to have a read and do mentality. This alone will be the force to bring about transformation in the saint of God.

What does the term loving accountability mean and, what does it look like in practice? First, it is a matter of heart which is really a mind set. This is hard to explain but I will try to articulate it as best I can. When the scripture speaks of heart it means; the center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion; the center of emotion, especially as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect; capacity for sympathy; feeling; affection; spirit, courage, or enthusiasm. This definition is right out of dictionary.com. I want to emphasize capacity for sympathy and intuition.

Jesus said, (John 7:24) Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." He was referring to their view of Sabbath breaking. They were criticizing him for healing on the Sabbath. He pointed out that circumcision was not considered work on the Sabbath but, they were accusing him of working and breaking the Sabbath for healing a man. Righteous judgment always allows mercy to triumph over judgment.

The Pharisees were trying to hold Jesus accountable to the Law but, they were not using righteous judgment. They were judging solely on the basis of their interpretation of the Law. In other words, they were not judging from their heart. The driving force in all accountability must be grace and truth. Notice this passage of scripture; (John 1:17) For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Let’s try to break it down.

While the Law was given through Moses…the grace and truth found in the Law, had to be interpreted by Jesus Christ (Luke 24:27; 44-45.) This reinforces the idea of the redemptive purpose of all scripture. It is not that grace and truth was not present in the Law but rather, it was hidden…awaiting the mystery of Jesus Christ and God’s redemptive plan to be revealed. Therefore, grace and truth must always have precedence over judgment.

Back to loving accountability…it must always be used by believers that are trusting and resting in the grace of God, i.e., the gospel message. Loving accountability will be used to help the saint renew the mind to their positional state in Jesus. The saint, according to Paul, is the righteousness of God in Christ. This becomes the first part of loving accountability. Now then, after the mind has been renewed to the position one holds in Christ…it is then possible to look at the reasonable service instructions and explain why following them is God’s best for the individual. Grace must always be the driver.

What must not be done under any circumstances is to judge the saint. Allow the scripture and, the Holy Spirit residing in the saint to be the corrective force. I am not saying that one cannot lovingly correct someone or, lovingly point out what the scripture says about a matter but, it must not be done in judgment with a law mentality. No, it must be from a redemptive, merciful and loving perspective that allows the saint that has come for accountability to be open and honest with the accountability partner. It also helps to have the accountability partner to acknowledge that they are not perfect but a work in progress awaiting Christ to be formed in them also.

What is discipleship? Let’s look at the definition of the word disciple. Here is the definition from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (e-sword:) “The word is found in the Bible only in the Gospels and Acts. But it is good Greek, in use from Herodotus down, and always means the pupil of someone, in contrast to the master or teacher…. In all cases it implies that the person not only accepts the views of the teacher, but that he is also in practice an adherent.” Essentially, a disciple is a student that follows a specific teacher or master and adopts his/her teaching and lifestyle. Therefore, a disciple of Christ Jesus is a student of the teaching of Jesus who adopts the lifestyle of Jesus.

Frankly speaking, I think that discipleship is what Paul had in mind when he called the believers the body of Christ. In other words, the life of the body should be the lifestyle of Jesus…(discipleship)…especially, his compassion, service and healing. The world should see the life of Christ manifested in the corporate expression of Jesus in the earth. Now, while it is true, that to a degree, people will see Christ in the members of the body severally, the true expression of Christ in the world is the body jointly fitting together.

Discipleship is the place that the individual can submit to accountability. A person can become a closer adherent to the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus through mutual accountability in the body….but, it must be stressed here, that this accountability and submission cannot operate at a legal level as is the current practice of the church in general. Rather, it must be from the place of grace and mercy absent of judgment. Individuals must be encouraged to ask for the accountability help from other members of the body. In order for this to happen; they must be able to trust that they will not be judged but instead, lovingly encouraged into accountability. Further, it must be understood that all are in process and all will be in process as long as they live on this earth. Perfection should not be the goal. Growth toward being conformed into the image of Jesus should be the goal…it should always be a marching forward and, this would be possible with a redemptive focus on scripture coupled with loving accountability.

This should come in the form of the individual believer reaching out to the body in general to provide strength and accountability. People would naturally do this if it wasn’t for the fact that when they do, they are judged in far too many cases and the accountability comes in the form of legal instructions. They are in essence given a law to follow.

The church should abandon this legalistic approach. It should stop viewing the bible as the law, legal code and, begin to look at it as the story of redemption. Only in the redemptive view can the reasonable service instructions be used in a proper way. My point in all of this is that, almost universally, especially within the ranks of evangelical Christianity, the reasonable service admonitions are used in a very legal sense. When used this way, it becomes a legal code, a Law that kills the spiritual life of the body. Therefore individuals are left to work it out for themselves with only the aid of the flesh.

I am certain that the first century church was taught the idea of graceful accountability and that it was not legal accountability.

Yesterday we looked at accountability. This was in relation to the reasonable service instructions found throughout the pages of the New Testament. Earlier we discussed need, rest and reasonable service. We looked at how Romans is divided into three major sections. Romans 1:18 – 3:20 shows the need for redemption. Romans 3:21 – 11:36 provides the redemptive decrees that one can rest in and, Roman 12:1 – 16:20 gives the reasonable service instructions. You can find this pattern in many of Paul’s epistles but the need is spelled out best in Romans.

Being conformed into the image of Christ; being a disciple of Christ; requires that one continually grow more Christ like. The reasonable service instructions are there to help one in this endeavor. We are currently exploring how to use the scripture, especially the reasonable service instructions in a way that is consistent with the new covenant dynamic.

The new covenant dynamic considers two essential points. (1) The law is written on the minds and hearts of the believer via the indwelling Holy Spirit and… (2) God is not remembering sin at all. The driver of the new covenant dynamic is found in Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." This verse is pre-eminent.

We stated that the goal should not be perfection but growth toward being more Christ like and, here, there is perhaps need for some clarification about the biblical use of the term perfect. Jesus said the following in the Sermon on the Mount. (Mat 5:48) “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It is important to look at the definition of perfect in this sense. The Greek word translated as perfect in this passage is teleios. It means to be complete.

On the other hand, if you look at the definition of perfect or perfection on dictionary.com you will find the following: “1.conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type: a perfect sphere; a perfect gentleman. 2.excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement: There is no perfect legal code. The proportions of this temple are almost perfect.” the definition we have of perfection today is not comparable to the definition used in the Greek of Jesus time.

In other words, we should not be moving toward perfection as found in definition number one above…that is a status we are given in Christ but, rather, we should be ever moving forward toward perfection. Let’s read what Paul said in this matter: Php 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. This is the purpose in the reasonable service instructions and loving accountability. Pressing on toward the mark and the mark is Jesus Christ himself.

What was God’s goal in redemption?

2011-08-07T10:38:00.001-07:00

When one listens to most of the messages, of most of the pastors, of most of the churches, in evangelical Christianity one could conclude that God’s goal in redemption was to produce more ethical, morally upright people. That indeed seems to be the goal of most sermons. Redemption will make you a better person is how the theme goes. Week after week, Sunday after Sunday this theme is droned on over and over again. In other words God’s goal in redemption is/was behavior modification. Is this really true? I do not believe it is!

God’s goal in redemption was to re-establish relationship with humanity out of love for his creatures. It was to restore to humanity the understanding of God’s love and acceptance of mankind in spite of mankind’s ability to judge good and evil. It appears that of all the creatures God created man alone has the ability to judge right and wrong, good and evil. Man alone has a sense of ethics and morality.

Lions, tigers, rattlesnakes, grizzly bears merely do what they need to do to survive. They eat when they are hungry and attack if they are confronted. In other words they simply do what they were designed to do. There is no morality in their behavior only natural reactions to varies stimuli.

In fact, this was the great challenge of the fall. In order for humans to judge between good and evil there had to be an ethics of sorts. We had to look to ourselves or to a higher power to establish acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Yes, moral codes are indeed necessary. They preserve life and prevent pain inflicted by greed. However, do they make us acceptable or unacceptable to God? Do they alter God’s view of his purpose in creating us? Does God judge a grizzly bear for being a bear? Of course not!

As we read the story of redemption in the bible it begins with humanity in relationship with God and fully aware of the relationship it has. Further in the story humanity has no idea of right and wrong, good or evil but simply the awareness of being in relationship with God. The analogy is made that humanity could and did walk and talk with God in the cool of the morning. A little further along and humanity partakes of the ability to understand that there is good and evil, right and wrong. Immediately, humanity assumes that it (humanity) is evil for grabbing this knowledge. This judgment is in view of the instruction from God not to. Suddenly there is the awareness of breaking a rule and a wondering of how God views this.

The truth is that God expected it as it was in fact humanity being itself… being what it was created to be…. A morally sentient being. In reality God’s view of this is not different that his view of a bear, lion, rattlesnake etc. Each is being what they were created to be. In the fall, humanity was being what it was created to be.

Now back to redemption and God’s goal... purpose, motive. In Ephesians chapter one it is explained that it was to the praise of his glorious grace. God’s goal in redemption was to re-establish the relationship that He had with humanity before they gained the knowledge of good and evil and thus became moral beings.

Finally, redemption properly understood will assure one of God’s love, acceptance and grace and if we rest in that knowledge by faith it will improve our behavior morally but that was not God’s goal.

There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; Hebrews the Rosetta Stone for understanding the New Covenant

2011-08-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Pease forgive the long post. This is a repost of four separate posts that should be read together and therefore I am including them in one longer post.

This post will begin a series of posts looking at the New Covenant. We have acknowledged that the New Testament shows covenants in transition. We have looked at the Jew – Gentile distinction found in the book of Acts and other places and will look at it in greater depth as we explore the New Covenant. To recap this view it can be seen that the New Testament writings transitioned from John the Baptist the last Jewish Prophet through Jesus, Prophet, Priest and King… to the cross and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus… to the day of Pentecost and the birth of the Jewish church… to Cornelius’ house and the inclusion of the Gentiles… to Acts 15 where the elders made rulings on the Jew – Gentile distinction… to the letters of Paul and others that began to look at the New Creation, lively stones etc. All of this was looking forward to the point of total transition where the New Covenant alone would stand all by itself. Furthermore, they were anticipating a time when all of the Jewish prophecies would be fulfilled. And, they thought that it would be imminent. Audience relevance becomes ultra important in properly understanding this transition. The first question one should ask when looking at the New Testament writings is what would the audience that it was written to think?

It seems to me that so much of modern evangelical doctrine does not properly address and consider this all important audience relevance. This generation, the generation alive in the first century, the generation that had gained adult status during the ministry of Jesus is the audience that is being addressed. The old folks during this time might say that they would perhaps not live to see the fulfillment but, surely the young adults would. It was expected that they would view the fulfillment of all things; the passing of the one covenant and, the complete installation of the New Covenant; the end of the age and, the dawn of the age to come. This is what was considered to be the case when one looks at audience relevance and, there can be no other conclusion.

Personally, I think that the book of Hebrews sheds great light on the passing of the old covenant and the installation of the New. The focal point for this event is the destruction of the temple. The tabernacle/temple of the Old Covenant was a pattern for the temple of the New Covenant. The New Covenant temple would not be a stone and mortar building. The New Covenant temple would be made up of living stones that would actually be the arc of the covenant, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and the place whereby God would dwell with men forever. After all the purpose of the tabernacle was stated clearly in Exo 25:8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. The purpose of the Old Covenant and the tabernacle/temple was to foreshadow God’s desire to indwell humanity. In subsequent posts we will look at how Jesus then became the tabernacle/temple of God while here on earth and, how he merely became the firstborn of a living temple for God to dwell in on the earth.

In the last post we began to look at the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant that is found throughout the pages of the New Testament. We began to look at Hebrews. In this post we will look at an overview of Hebrews that explains the transition of the New Covenant which will culminate with the destruction of the temple. In other words, we will show that the Hebrew believers were suffering persecution at the hands of the non-believing Hebrews and, if that wasn’t enough, Nero was beginning to persecute Christians in general i.e., both the Jew and Gentile Christians. It is reasonable to believe that the non-believing Jews were telling the believing Jews that they should repent from their faith in Jesus and, go back to being good Jews…There were no doubt some that were saying that the persecution of the Christians was God’s punishment on the Christian Jews for following Jesus.

Therefore, the writer of Hebrews, set out to show the superiority of Jesus and the way in which the Old Testament scripture spoke of the New Covenant and, specifically how Jesus was the Messiah. He further went on to explain how Jesus and, faith in him as Messiah, was superior to the Judaism of the day and the Mosaic Covenant.

No doubt, there were some Jewish non-believers who were telling the believers that Jesus was just an angel… that he performed good works among them but was not really the Messiah. The writer spends a lot of ink explaining that Jesus was in fact the son of God and, was far superior to the angels.

He goes on to show that Jesus was superior to Moses. In the gospels it becomes evident that many of the Jews, especially the Pharisees were claiming that because of their understanding of Moses Jesus could not be the Christ. Joh 7:47-49 ESV The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? (48) Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? (49) But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." It is obvious from this passage that the Pharisees did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah based upon their reading of the Law.

According to Jesus…the Pharisees and Jews were trusting in Moses. It is natural that they would do this with their view of specularia and Numbers 12:6-8. Jesus on the other hand was telling them that they received the Law and Prophets so that it could point to him so, that in believing in him, they could have and, find life. The gospel in the Old Testament was that Abraham’s seed would bring blessing to the whole world… the Jews thought that it meant them and, Jesus was showing them that it meant him… the suffering servant that would represent Israel. He told them in John’s gospel the following: Joh 5:45 NKJV Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. In reality Jesus explained that had they really believed Moses they would believe him because Moses wrote solely of Him.

The unbelieving Jews were still trusting Moses when the book of Hebrews was written and, they were still claiming that those who trusted in Jesus were accursed because they did not know the law.

In the last post we began looking at the Sabbath Rest spoken of in Hebrews chapter four. This is one of the most important notions in the entire description of true discipleship. For one to be an effective disciple of Christ it is necessary that they are resting in Jesus and his accomplishments. The letter to the Hebrews explains very succinctly what those accomplishments were. Notice this verse: Hebrews 1:3bAfter making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And in another place it is written: Heb 9:14 ESVhow 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 serve the living God. This is precisely the point of the rest.

Did Jesus speak of the rest in the gospel accounts? The answer is yes; Mat 11:28-30 ESV Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." These words came upon the heels of upbraiding the towns that had rejected him. He was telling the Jews that they were working unnecessarily. What was the yoke? Well, Peter explained it in Acts fifteen. He asked the apostle’s why they should put a yoke on the gentile believers that neither we nor our fathers could bear? The yoke was law righteousness. Notice I did not say obedience…that is another matter that will be explained in this series at a later time. Law righteousness suggests that one gains righteousness or right standing from the works or, doing of the Law.

Jesus said, “take my yoke upon you” and then…he goes on to say,,,”my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The easy yoke and the light burden is the Sabbath Rest, available after the death burial and resurrection and, the writer of Hebrews explains that in great detail. Jesus explained that he had finished/accomplished the work that he came to do (John 17:4).

Since Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) and, since God had purposed redemption to the praise of His glorious grace from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4-6) it becomes easy to see why one should be able to rest in Jesus and his accomplishments. In fact, this is what the Sabbath Rest is all about. The Sabbath Rest equals resting in Jesus. Next we will look at what the author of Hebrews has to say about the Sabbath Rest.

What exactly is the Sabbath Rest? The answer is a rest from working for acceptability before God and, salvation at any time. One cannot work to achieve salvation and, one cannot work to maintain salvation. In other words, it is descriptive of one totally resting and relying, totally trusting and, totally confident of the redemption, salvation and, the forgiveness of sin brought about by the death, burial and, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you may be asking the question…So? Isn’t that what everyone believes?

My answer is no. That is really not what everyone believes. In fact, while most of evangelical doctrine states the above…it is obvious by actions and attitudes that most do not believe that grace alone is what keeps the saint. This is even true of those who claim to believe in the perseverance of the saints…i.e., that once a person is truly saved, that they will be kept saved, by the grace of God. Why do I say this? Because of the attitude that is reflected in Calvin’s statement….”faith alone saves but, faith that saves is never alone.” This idea renders salvation to be only evidenced by the reformed obedient life and, it puts the saint on a working contract with God.

The Sabbath Rest on the other hand, when properly understood and believed, becomes the catalyst for the reformed life and in some folks, especially those with addictive personalities it takes more patience than in others. Unfortunately, when the saint finds that they can easily conform to the behavioral standards set up by evangelical doctrine and dogma they are cheated of really understanding God’s grace. This quite frankly makes them judgmental and leads to sin…instead of loving their brother/sister, they become a judge condemning them. They are robbed of joy as they remain always concerned that their behavior is not good enough to really please God. This opens the door for the accuser of the brethren, Satan (Rev 12:10), to bring condemnation forcing them to work still harder. The reason for this is that like our first parents (Gen 3:8-10) we naturally hide our nakedness from God…our spiritual nakedness.

Heb 4:3 ESV For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. …..and…..Heb 4:9-10 ESV So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, (10) for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. I suggest that you carefully read the entire passage from Hebrews 3:7 thru 4:11 realizing that in 4:12 thru 4:16 the Word of God as used in the passage is Jesus and not the scriptures. The passage ends with the concept of going boldly to the throne of grace to find grace and mercy whenever it is needed.

The dynamic of the Sabbath Rest is that grace alone is driving the train taking one to discipleship. It is the engine, if you will allow the metaphor that ultimately over time produces the transformation. Paul said in Romans three that one should realize that it is grace that leads to the repentant life. The Sabbath Rest is resting in Jesus period.

For those of you who follow the blog regularly, I will be blogging three to four times each week and not everyday from now on. I will certainly blog everyday if the need arises but, right now it seems to me that three or four posts a week will cover the material in a year….after that, we’ll see what direction the blog takes then.

The spirit of heaviness

2011-07-30T07:57:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a ten day trip to Memphis to visit my wife’s relatives. One thing that I noticed profoundly was what I would call a spirit of heaviness over the region. It has been a couple of years since I visited the bible belt. In thinking about this spirit of heaviness that I experienced I thought of Isaiah sixty-one. Jesus introduced verses 1 through 2a as his immediate mission statement. It underscores his redemptive-gospel focus. He stopped at 2a because 2b was descriptive of his other mission which was to come into play after the cross and his rejection by the majority of Jews. The ensuing forty years with the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem would be the vengeance of God proclaimed in Isaiah 61:2b.

However, that brings me to the rest of the Isaiah 61 passage focusing on verse 3. This describes what he was going to do for each and every one who embraced the gospel.

Isa 61:3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."

The spirit of heaviness was from the crushing weight of a legalistic system that demands obedience to the letter of the law to gain acceptability to God. The law was not given to make man acceptable to God ever. It was given for two reasons that are different than a system of read and do obedience that makes one righteous. It was given to drive humanity to God’s mercy for acceptance and to present a way of living, that when followed, would bring about a healthier, happier life. I am in agreement with Paul in saying that the law is good (Romans 7:12.)

But, when it is used as a method of being righteous and acceptable to God it becomes a heavy task master. This is why the redemptive-gospel focus that Jesus and his apostles taught is so very important. Without the solely redemptive focus the law brings about the spirit of heaviness.

I find it amusing, that when Isaiah prophesies that Christ will bring the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that most of the evangelical churches make praise a legal requirement which in turn makes praise and worship service a drudge. The spirit of heaviness comes from a legalistic approach to God’s law and praise has become a spoken legal requirement which is quite ironic in my view.

The church does not lessen the bonds and chains it rather makes them tighter and more formidable. The Jews had 613 mitzvahs or laws and the church has over 800 and it is growing. This comes from not recognizing the method of transformation in the gospel message. The method of transformation proscribed in the gospel is to simply rest in the validity of God’s mercy in Christ, and from a place of certain rest, allow the love of God to begin its restraining and constraining function. This process never even begins today as it is still birthed by the legal requirements put on believers and this brings about a spirit of heaviness that at times is insurmountable. In other words, the law is not being used lawfully (1Tim 1:8.) As long as that is true there will always be a spirit of heaviness without the true garment of praise, and if we rest in Jesus, the garment of praise will be automatic 24-7!

The Holiness Fallacy

2011-07-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

-Here is a re-post of an article that I wrote fifteen years ago. I think it makes an important point.

I am going to bring to light an idea that has been germinating in my mind for some time now. I will call it "The Holiness fallacy". While I know that if this is read it will stir up some hostility, it is my belief that it is much needed. So it is with this in mind that I will boldly jump forward. This idea comes from reading in the scripture. The entire text can be found in Matthew 7:15-23 but in the beginning I will just focus on verses 21-23.

21 "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven." 22 "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?" 23 "And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!"

You might ask; Why do you think this points to the holiness church? Well, I have several good reasons. Reasons, that I can defend with an accurate reading of Scripture. After all, we are cautioned to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman without need of shame, being able to rightly divide the word of Truth.

Let's take these verses line by line. "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven." This clearly states as a warning that there will be some who say "Lord, Lord" who will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The next phrase becomes the qualifying statement; "but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." The qualifying statement then is he who does the WILL of My Father in heaven. The people alive in Jesus' day who this would pertain to were the self-righteous Pharisees who rejected Jesus. They were not doing the will of the Father! John 6:40 says this: "And this is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

It could not be made plainer the will of God is a belief in Jesus, period. It is not a belief in Jesus plus a certain way of walking and talking! It is not belief in Jesus plus talking in tongues, although there are those who twist the scripture to prove this point; to their own peril I warn. The holiness brethren, I call them brethren, because I truly believe that many are brethren (although deceived brethren.) They are caught in the faulty belief that God accepts them on the basis of their behavior, and even if it is in response to redemption, and not to keep it, they are simply incorrect. It is WRONG to conclude that the holy life is a life kept holy by walking in the law after salvation. The WILL OF GOD is strictly and simply faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus.

The scripture predicts here in Matthew that many will say " Lord didn't we prophesy in Your name, didn't we cast out demons in Your name? Didn't we perform many wonders in your name?"

Think about this. The only people on this earth who are doing these things are those in the Holiness Church. Further, the only ones who have done these things since the original Apostles, in the last two thousand years is the Holiness Church! This scripture can be directed at NO ONE ELSE!

"And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!"

In order to clarify this verse we must once again go into the book of John. John 15:10-14 and then again verse 17. 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love just as I have kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love. 11 "These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13. "Greater love has on one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. 14 "You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.......... 17 "These things I command you , that you love one another."

This is a place where Jesus refers to the law. He clearly states in verse 10 that we should keep His commandments just as He had kept the Fathers commandments (the decalog). What is Jesus' commandments then? Simply to love one another. But is that so simple? It's not that simple because He adds the phrase love one another as I have loved you. How did He love us? The answer is simple; completely. Can we love others that way? The answer would again be no. But, we need to look further into what scripture has to say about it.

Deuteronomy 6:5

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

It is impossible for man to keep this commandment on his own! I may fear God, but I can't truly love Him out of fear. And from man's vantage point, there is no other possible way to view Him. I, as a man am at His mercy. Only when I see the true extent of that mercy, can I love Him.! Now I'm going to cut right to the point. If we are in constant fear of displeasing Him then we don't love Him. We are afraid of Him, but when we say we love Him we're lying! The Apostle John chose to say it this way in 1 John 4:10-11 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins . Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

We can't love. Not God, not our neighbors, nor ourselves, unless we truly know the extent of God's grace and my friend I can testify that it is limitless!

So let me bring this back to the Holiness Church. They shout and say they love God, but their beliefs and practices show that they are afraid of God! Now the truth of the scripture is this; the only ones who should be afraid of God are those not trusting in Jesus and His cleansing blood. See, if I'm trusting in how I dance: if I'm trusting in how I speak in tongues, or what Church I go to, or how many times I go to Church; if I'm continuously caught in secret self-condemnation, or wondering if someone else is really up to par spiritually, or thinking that if I could only be as Spiritual as so and so, that this would make me holy enough and acceptable to Him, I am fooling myself! I should be longing to be as spiritual as Jesus. I should be enjoying the peace that comes from knowing that Jesus died for my mess.

THINK ABOUT IT PLEASE! Do you think that Jesus suffered on the cross just so that you and I could get saved, only to be put in a situation, where we could not live HOLY enough to keep our salvation. ARE WE SO EGOCENTRIC AS TO BELIEVE THAT OUR SALVATION DEPENDS ON US? PLEASE! Let's use our minds!

What I'm trying to say is this, for us to keep the commandments of Jesus we have to love one another the way He loved us. The only way we can ever possibly do this is to realize how limitless God's love and mercy is toward us. The Apostle John made it perfectly clear in 1 John 3:20-23:

20 For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment; that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

These verses explain the "Law of Christ." Under the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28), humanity has been given the the "Law of Christ." This new covenant is a covenant of agape?. It is referred to as "the perfect law of liberty" by James (James 1:25). This is the law of LOVE!

Face the fact. The only condemnation that Jesus ever spoke anywhere in scripture was directed at self-righteous Pharisees. Even, in the second and third chapters of Revelation His strongest criticism was to those who were of the synagogue of Satan again the self-righteous.

While the Holiness Church spends its time condemning fornicators and drunks, the neighborhoods round about them, continue to sink into the black hole of despair. Where is the love? The fact is no one can love from a place of fear and condemnation. Sadly, the scripture has been twisted and perverted by the leaven of the Pharisees. My hope is that God's people will truly get SAVED and fall on the stone to be broken, and then remain broken of self-righteous and condemning attitudes and trust in the BLOOD OF JESUS!

A fresh look at the parable of the sower; the seed, the word, the gospel

2011-07-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have used up a lot of key strokes in this blog showing you that Jesus and his disciples redefined the phrase, the word of God, with gospel and himself the incarnate gospel. With this in mind I have posited Mark 4:11-20 and have substituted the term gospel for word. Gospel is in purple font and italics.

Mar 4:11-20 And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, (12) so that "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." (13) And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? (14) The sower sows the gospel. (15) And these are the ones along the path, where the gospel is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the gospel that is sown in them. (16) And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the gospel, immediately receive it with joy. (17) And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the gospel, immediately they fall away. (18) And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the gospel, (19) but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the gospel, and it proves unfruitful. (20) But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the gospel and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

So what exactly is the gospel? In short, it is the redemptive action and purposes of God being fulfilled in the earth. God has set to rights the entire creation in Jesus Christ. He did it by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. As Paul explained it, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (2Cor 5:19.) Jesus, the last Adam restored the relationship that the first Adam had before the fall. Further it is a done deal… accomplished (John 19:30.)

Faith is the method of apprehending this gospel reality. It all begins in the mind… that is, in a renewed mind. The key then, to having the word/gospel stick enough in order to bear fruit is faith. It will produce thirtyfold, sixtyfold or a hundredfold depending upon the level of faith developed and faith is a process of growth ever increasing as it ebbs and flows. This is the secret or mystery of the kingdom of God. The fruit is restoration.

Biblical Obedience; the obedience of faith

2011-07-09T09:37:00.001-07:00

When one looks at the English definition of the verb obey, one finds the following; to carry out or fulfill the command, order, or instruction of; to carry out or comply with (a command, for example). Likewise, the term obedient has this definition in the English dictionary; dutifully complying with the commands, orders, or instructions of one in authority. Therefore, the main thrust of obedience as we understand it, is an action or actions. In other words, it is compliance with a command or doing something.

The biblical definition of obey, obedience, obedient, obeyed is somewhat different. The difference is in the method of compliance and motivation for the obedience. The idea is most clearly explained in Romans 1:5. The verse reads;through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, In the Greek it is HUPAKOE PISTIS, which is best translated as the attentive hearing of faith. The translation above, which is from the English Standard Version (ESV), is the correct one and it is translated incorrectly in the King James Version as well as some other versions. In the King James Version, Romans 1:5 reads obedience to the faith. Obedience to the faith more clearly means a series of obedient actions as opposed to the obedience of faith which means that faith is obedience or the act of obedience is faith. Now here is an interesting fact about the phrase HUPAKOE PISTIS; it is found in another place in Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is also found in Romans 16:26. I will quote it here from the King James Version: (Rom 16:26) But now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: So then, we see that the King James translators rendered it obedience to the faith in one instance and the obedience of faith in another. The fact that is interesting about this is that both instances Paul is generally stating the gospel. This is true of Romans 1:5 but is equally true of this passage which is a benediction pronounced in verses 25-27.

Rom 16:25-27 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages (26) but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- (27) to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Notice that Paul is once again announcing that the gospel had been kept secret for long ages but was now revealed to all nations to bring about the obedience of faith to the gospel. Therefore the obedience of faith is the obedience of believing the gospel. The obedience that God demands is faith in the gospel message.

This is indeed interesting. In Romans 1:5, the KJV translators translated HUPAKOE PISTIS as obedience to the faith and in Romans 16:26, they translated it obedience of faith. Please forgive my apparent skepticism, but it seems to me like there was an agenda in this translation. In fact, except for the Amplified Version, the KJV stands alone with the Douay-Rheims (Roman Catholic) and the Good News Translation, again (Roman Catholic). In all of the other major translations, i.e., the NASB, NIV, NRSV, etc., it is translated the obedience of faith.

What does this mean? Well, it eliminates the very legalistic view of scripture and it also eliminates the necessity of absolute action obedience. This would be a good time for clarification. It is not that the obedience of faith, HUPAKOE PISTIS, will not produce obedient action. It will. But, the action is not the obedience. The action is a response to the obedience. Some further clarification, the phrase is obedience of faith (HUPAKOE PISTIS) therefore, faith is the obedience. Thus, the more obedience of faith present, the more a response in obedient action will be seen.

Let’s look at Romans 6:17 with respect to this discussion about the obedience of faith. (Rom 6:17 NKJV) But God be thanked that [though] you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Obeying from the heart to a form of doctrine is putting faith and trust in the doctrine, or in other words, it believes that the doctrine is the true doctrine. Likewise, obeying from the heart is brought about from love. One would never say that one who obeys out of fear was obeying from the heart. Obedience that is generated from fear of consequences is not heart obedience. Heart obedience is the type of obedience that comes from a heart of love as would be given to a loving parent. For example, a child has been born into a family where the parents love them very much. Rules are made for the well-being and safety of the child. One such rule may be; do not touch the stove; it will burn. Now then, the child obeys from the heart by believing that the parent loves them, knows best, and has their welfare in mind. It is not simply following the command; do not touch the stove. If the child stays away from the stove it will be because of heart obedience. Now then, suppose that the child touches the stove and is burned, the child will not be driven out of the family for the disobedience. The child will experience the pain of the burn. It is important to understand that when Jesus introduces God as the Father, he is establishing the metaphor of the loving functional family as the pattern or type for the family of God in Him. Therefore, it is reasonable to think of obedience in the light of a loving family.

However the loving family illustration is not sufficient to explain the good news properly. The good news is what one must believe from the heart. This is the good news of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and the way in which these events reconcile the sinner to God. In order to understand obeying from the heart, one must understand the definition of faith. Faith is not just an acknowledgement of fact but rather is an abiding trust. True faith completely rests in and trusts the blood of Jesus and his atoning sacrifice for all sin, past present and future. True faith completely rests and trusts in the fact that the person of faith is made righteous and given the very righteousness of God as a free gift for placing trust in Jesus. True faith is obedience from the heart and it is the obedience of faith.

The obedience of faith is more important than action oriented obedience. Back to the KJV and the predominant teaching of Christendom for the past 2000 years which is explained by the phrase obedience to the faith instead of the obedience of faith. This teaching is centered on the idea of the obedience to the faith. Obedience to the faith includes following a set of rules that defines what the faith is. The faith becomes a term to describe a religious system. The faith is a life-style and mode of behavior. Ones being obedient to the faith will produce through specific actions, the life-style/mode of behavior that is associated with the faith. On the other hand, the obedience of faith focuses on faith. In this case it is faith in God through Christ Jesus. Obedience of faith, properly exercised and understood, will produce the same kind of godly behavior as the obedience to the faith will; But, without the fear of failure and disobedience.

Fear of failure and disobedience robs the saint of God from the joy of salvation. Thus, the one who is obedient to the faith, will never experience the joy of the one who understands the obedience of faith. The obedience of faith builds faith. We stated earlier that increased faith increases obedience. The answer to living a godly life is more faith. The way that faith is increased is by the trials and testing that are experienced. As we see the faithful love of God expressed in His total forgiveness in Christ and as we see him deliver all of our needs according to His riches in glory, our faith in Him grows, our love for Him grows, our fellowship with Him grows and likewise our godly behavior grows showing an outward appearance of greater and greater obedience. This is the obedience from the heart and it is the obedience of faith.

What about obedience in the Old Testament? Well, the word used for obey and obedience in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word SHAMA pronounced shaw-mah’. It means to hear intelligently and thus is akin to the Greek word HUPAKOE which means to hear attentively. There is very little difference and so obedience in the Old Testament was also the obedience of faith.

Is orthodox doctrine the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Part II; Read and Do vs. Be and Believe.

2011-07-05T11:41:00.001-07:00

In the last post we looked at Jesus warning concerning the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. We showed how their doctrine of scripture was a main part of the leaven. In this post we will look at the method of reacting to scripture. The Pharisees and the Sadducees had a read and do concept of obedience. On the other hand, Jesus, his followers, especially Paul taught a be and believe concept of obedience. The read and do construct brings about reformation in an individual and the be and believe facilitates transformation. However, in order for the be and believe construct to work; the read and do construct has to be completely eliminated.

The foundation of the be and believe construct is imputed righteousness. It is the result of the righteousness of God imputed to individuals based upon their trust in God. Being declared righteous is the all important ingredient in the be component of be and believe. It brings about “state of being” righteousness. It also allows one to truly love God. From this love of God comes the fertile ground for be and believe obedience.

Likewise, the be and believe obedience is brought about by relationship with God via Jesus and the Holy Spirit. This is the definition of transformation; It all stems from faith and trust in God. Jesus desires to have intimate relationship with each of us. When one believes this and participates in the relationship with Jesus via the indwelling Holy Spirit or Spirit of Christ The closeness of the relationship blossoms and, the fertile ground for be and believe obedience is enhanced and transformation takes place.

Conversely, the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees in orthodox Christian doctrine has the believer locked into read and do obedience. It was never meant to be this way but this is the precise reason that the metaphor of leaven is so perfectly descriptive. Just like yeast permeates dough, the doctrine of read and do obedience has permeated Christian doctrine completely.

Certainly our common sense, the knowledge of good and evil that works in us tells us that read and do obedience is correct and that be and believe obedience is silly. Certainly we cannot just be and believe we think. There must be a read and do that we must perform. This is precisely the problem that Jesus came to overcome. He came to overcome our commons sense; The common sense that realizes that God could not possibly love or approve of us; The common sense that tells us of course we must DO something to be acceptable to God. Yes friend, the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees is the common sense that has us improperly interpret scripture. It is the common sense that demands that reject the redemptive focus of Jesus and his followers and adopt the read and do method of Moses.

Is orthodox doctrine the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

2011-06-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mat 16:6,11 & 12 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." …..(11) How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (12) Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus warned his followers to beware, look out for, and avoid the doctrine/teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. This is not simply a warning but also a prophecy. If they were not going to be confronted with the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees there would be no reason for the warning. Therefore, one can count on the fact that his followers were confronted with the doctrine of the Pharisees. Further, it is obvious from the warning that they would be tempted and deceived by the doctrine/teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. It follows that one must be aware of the warning in perpetuity. One of the main premises of this blog is that Orthodox Christian Doctrine is off the mark and my diagnosis is that it has been affected by the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees which is just like leaven. It automatically permeates the body of Christ.

A very informative book that I recommend everyone have in their personal library is entitled Everyman’s Talmud by Abraham Cohen. The reason I like it so much is that it categorizes the teachings of first through third century Judaism in a systematic theology format. In other words it gives a good picture of the teachings or doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees which Jesus referred to. The Talmud is comprised of writings that are meant to exegete and interpret the scripture. It gives a clear understanding of what the Jews taught about everything from God to man. It includes but is not limited to such categories as the soul, God, Prophecy, man, sin, repentance and, revelation etc.

One of the first teachings to look at is their doctrine of scripture or revelation to humans. Just like in Christian systematic theology, the Talmud gives a doctrine of scripture. One of the points made in the Talmud is that of all the prophets Moses is pre-eminent. It is referred to as specularia and is based upon Numbers 12:6-8. In this view the other prophets are not as important as Moses. I have written several posts about specularia in the past.

The Epistle to the Hebrews establishes a new specularia. It has Jesus preempting Moses. What does that mean? Well, since we have shown over and over again in this blog that Jesus redefined the phrase Word of God this is one place where Christian Orthodoxy should take some instruction. The Word of God, according to Jesus and his followers, is the gospel and Jesus, and... the scripture is the scripture. Identifying scripture as the word of God puts the Old specularia, the preeminence of Moses in place. This is the reason that there is so much legalism in evangelical Christianity.

It is my firm belief that while Jesus taught a new hermeneutic that saw him as the Messiah-- the early church fathers actually incorporated the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and it has spread like leaven. Leaven is a perfect metaphor for the way that the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees have impacted orthodox Christian doctrine.

The Day of the Lord

2011-06-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

Is the day of the Lord or, the day of the Lord’s anger a day for the entire world or, is it a day of judgment prophesied to Israel alone? I say that it is the latter. It is a warning to Israel. In fact, God plainly states that he will use the Gentiles to bring about this judgment. This causes a very different understanding of biblical prophecy. The day of the Lord is not a cosmic judgment against the whole world, but rather a day of judgment for those who have been specially called and chosen by God to bring forth the Messiah and his kingdom.

When one gets this wrong the entire prophetic scenario is then wrong. When one looks at the actual prophecy of the judgment called the day of the Lord a very different scenario comes into view. The day of the Lord came. It was accomplished between 70 and 135AD. In 70AD Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed and in 135AD Jerusalem was literally plowed under and all of Israel was dispersed from the land (Luke 19:41-44.) This was the fulfillment of the day of the Lord’s anger and should be seen as such.

Here are just a few of the references to the day of the Lord that clearly shows who it was prophesied to:

(Lam 2:22) "You have invited as to a feast day The terrors that surround me. In the day of the LORD's anger There was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne and brought up My enemies have destroyed."
(Eze 30:3) For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles. (Joe 2:11) The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? (Zec 14:1) Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst. (Mal 4:5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

The time of the Gentiles… that is, the time when the Gentiles will overrun Jerusalem and drive Israel out is the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a time when the spoils of Israel will be divided up among the Gentiles in the midst of Israel.

Jesus stated unequivocally that Elijah had indeed come. He said that it was John the Baptist. John had acted as the final prophet to warn of the impending day of the Lord. Still Israel did not listen and Jesus warned them of it.

Matthew 23:37-39 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! (38) See! Your house is left to you desolate; (39) for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'BLESSED is HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' "

When we misunderstand the identity of the day of the Lord it is little wonder that we misunderstand all of the prophecy in the bible.

Jesus teaching on hell; II

2011-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Read Mark 9:30-40 in context:

"Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."

Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me." Now John answered Him, saying, "Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side.

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where 'THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.'
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched— where 'THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.'

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire— where 'THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.' "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."”
(Mar 9:30-50)

So then, is Jesus teaching eternal punishment in this passage? It is not very likely. Remember that we saw in the last post that his midrashic use of Isaiah 66:24 pointed to the destruction of the temple. Jesus is clearly laying out for his disciples the precise sins of the unbelieving Jews. They are teaching the little ones NOT to believe in him. They are using the Torah as a reason to not believe that Jesus is the Messiah (John 7:49.) It is bad enough that they are rejecting him but, they are teaching the young not to believe.