Peace with God Produces the Transformation; Looking at Shalom

 Rom 5:1 NKJV Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
 
Col 1:19-20 NKJV For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, (20) and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

I think that we can learn a lot about what God has done through Jesus Christ by understanding the meaning that God had given the Hebrews for the word Shalom. Peace is far more then an end of hostility and what we normally think of when we hear or say peace. The Strong's definition of Shalom should shed some light on the subject. Here is the definition as it is in the Strong's Lexicon,

 

H7965 shâlôm shâlôm  shaw-lome', shaw-lome' From H7999; safe, that is, (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, that is, health, prosperity, peace: - X do, familiar, X fare, favour, + friend, X greet, (good) health, (X perfect, such as be at) peace (-able, -ably), prosper (-ity, -ous), rest, safe (-ly), salute, welfare, (X all is, be) well, X wholly.



Shalom has a far more holistic meaning than one would think. It includes safety, welfare, health, prosperity, peace etc. So then, one can rightly conclude that Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have safety, welfare, health, prosperity and peace with God." And, likewise, Col 1:20 says "and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made us safe, healthy, prosperous, at peace through the blood of His cross."

 

So then, when Paul says that Jesus *is our peace* he means that Jesus is our Shalom which is our safety, welfare, health, prosperity and peace. This precious gift and status is the source for all of the transformation that happens in the life of a saint.  However, to have this transformation really take place supernaturally, one has to understand and believe this concept. This is the source of love for God that translates into the desire to obey Him. There is more to say on this and we will develop the idea in subsequent posts.

Contending for the faith; What should that mean to modern day reformers?

Jude 1:3  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

What was the specific occasion that the epistle of Jude was written too? When you read the context is was most likely to overcome Epicurean Gnostics. What essentially did the Epicurean Gnostics believe? To put it simply, they believed that the flesh was not permanent and that what one did in the flesh did not really matter. They believed in a direct divide between flesh and spirit and thus only were concerned with what the spirit believed. It was this particular heresy that Jude, and the author of second Peter addressed.  

In fact, these are the ones that Peter likely made the following statement about… (2Pe 3:15-16)  And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,  (16)  as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. Unfortunately, current evangelicals along with Messianic Jews have simply relegated these scriptures to those they accuse of antinomianism. This is overly simple and patently false.

There is no connection between those who believe that the penalty of the Law has been abolished to promote deep, abiding love for God, and these Epicurean Gnostics that taught that there was no reason to control the flesh. Paul taught that the grace and mercy of God would lead to a real love for God that would in turn lead to genuine repentance and transformation. He never excused the flesh and neither does anyone who teaches, and believes that the penalty of the Law has been abolished.

The fact is that the antinomian accusers, and the Messianic Jews distort Matthew 5:17-21. They deny that jots and tittles have in fact been removed from the Law, and that all has been fulfilled. (see this blog post)… So then, what application can the statement contending for the faith have in today’s Christianity?

The answer is that we should contend for the gospel in its pristine purity. What is the gospel in its pristine purity you ask? It is the fact that God has reconciled humanity… God was in Christ reconciling the world… not imputing sin and rather, imputes righteousness for believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We should vigorously contend against all who view and read the scripture in a legal, constitutional way. Jesus taught a solely redemptive hermeneutic and redefined the word of God to mean the gospel, or Jesus the living gospel. We should vigorously contend and demand that… *the faith* once delivered to the saints is the above defined gospel of God’s grace… that it is grace and grace alone that will produce true love for God and that ultimately, the love for God will produce transformative obedience.

Redemptive decrees; why they must have precedence in the scripture

What are redemptive decrees? Why are they important, and why must they have precedence over other messages of scripture? These are just some of the questions that must be asked to and answered by evangelical Christianity today. If we do not eliminate the legal constitutional reading of scripture, and replace it with a redemptive reading there will always be a schizophrenic message to the gospel, and legalism will always have precedence over grace.

The first question is what are the redemptive decrees? The answer is that they are declarative statements in the scripture that… if they are not true as they stand alone, then are not true at all, and further then, the person who wrote or spoke the decree is actually misleading the hearers or readers. The decrees cannot be modified by other statements, especially by statements made by other authors on other occasions. Here is an example of a redemptive decree:

(Rom 10:9-13 ESV)  “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  (10)  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  (11)  For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."  (12)  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. (13) For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."”

This is the kind of statement that must be true or it is not. Salvation must come from confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart. That is the sole criteria for being saved. Paul says that it is the word of faith, or the gospel that they proclaim. This simply put is a concise statement of the gospel… the gospel is that if you confess and believe you will be saved.

There are many such decrees found in the various passages of the scripture. Some are in the Old Testament and some are in the New Testament. However, in order for people to be able to rest in Jesus, that is, achieve the Sabbath Rest described in Hebrews chapter four, the redemptive decrees must have precedence over all other messages in scripture. This is why Jesus taught a strictly redemptive hermeneutic (John 5:39-40 & Luke 24:27-43-45.)

The fact is that today; within evangelical Christianity, people already give greater importance to some scriptures over others, and they ignore others all together. For example, the admonition that women are to keep silent in the church (1Corinthians 14:34) is not followed or accepted as being pertinent today. Likewise no one is selling their daughter as a concubine (Exodus 21:7-11.) How do they choose which to follow and which not to follow? All too often it is based on cultural preference and what is culturally accepted instead of understanding that the redemptive decrees have precedence over all other messages, and that all other admonitions are occasional and must be understood within their cultural, historical and literal context and specifically what they would have meant to their intended audience.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest

Mat 11:28-30  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."

What did Jesus mean when he spoke these words? What was the labor, how are they heavy laden, and rest… rest from what? As far as I'm concerned, these words are not spoken nearly enough to encourage the saints of God. It seems to me, that here in the 21st century, 2000 years after Jesus gave this invitation, all too many of God's children continue in meaningless labor with heavy burdens too great to bear. And when I say this, I am speaking of those who are walking daily in the Christian life. Yes, people are still laboring too much, and excessively burdened. The reason in my view is that the gospel is not properly understood, nor taught in its purity.

I think back to a quote by the theologian D. Martin Lloyd-Jones. He said “that if preachers were not being accused of being too soft on sin, they were not preaching the gospel.” Unfortunately, it is hard to find preachers in this day and time that are being accused of being too soft on sin. In evangelical orthodoxy, one of the main focuses of all preaching is sin. So, how are the saints laboring, and what are they laboring against? Sin!… I would argue that they're not laboring successfully for the most part, but they are laboring to their psychological and spiritual detriment.

I think it's fair to say, that Jesus meant that they were laboring under a legal-constitutional reading and understanding of Scripture. Why do I say that you ask?... By his use of the word yoke. Notice what Peter said in acts 15; (Act 15:10)  “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” When Peter was speaking of the yoke that neither the father's nor the current generation was able to bear… He was speaking of the yoke brought on by the legal-constitutional reading of Scripture.

Think about it for a minute, when one looks at the Scripture as a legal constitutional document, it immediately takes on a burden of unbelievable proportions. James stated that if you break one of the commandments you have broken them all. This places a tremendous pressure and burden on the individual to comply with the legal letter of the law. To fulfill this in a legal constitutional way is impossible. I think we can rest assured that God never intended to have the law used in a legal constitutional way… In a way that would allow individuals to establish righteousness. That's why Paul told the Romans that the Jews, were trying to establish their own righteousness by a legal constitutional reading of Scripture and thereby overlooked the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God comes from faith in the grace and mercy of a loving father.

Resting in grace equals the Sabbath rest

Heb 3:18-19  And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  (19)  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.

A very important recurring theme in my paradigm shift is the role that grace plays in the gospel and subsequently in the transformation process. In my view, the New Testament points out very clearly that the transformation process is brought about by believing the gospel, in other words by faith. In the letter to Hebrew Christians, in chapters 3 and four, the author uses the Exodus and Israel's failure to enter the promised land as a metaphor for believing and resting in the gospel. In fact, the commandment that states remember the Sabbath to keep it holy is a prefigure of the Sabbath rest. The reason that Israel was not allowed to work on the Sabbath at all was because it represented resting in the gospel of grace and God's love.

In the familiar story from the Exodus we see 12 spies sent out (one from each tribe) to spy out the land that God had promised to give them. Instead of believing God when he said that he would give them this promised land, 10 of the spies came back with a fearful report of giants in the land, stating that it would be very difficult to gain the victory. Now, this was when God had already guaranteed that he would give them the land. If they believed God, they would have been willing to do whatever they had to do to enter that land without fear. They would have realized by faith that it was really theirs in the first place. Only two spies, Joshua and Caleb came back with a report stating that they could and should take the land… It would be no problem. The people voted, and chose not to believe Joshua and Caleb. This angered God and he swore that none of the unbelieving generation would be able to enter the land of promise. Moses got to see it from the mountaintop but only Joshua and Caleb and their families were allowed to enter the Promised Land. It was the land of rest and prosperity.

In the Hebrews passage, the writer explains that there is a yet available Sabbath rest for the people of God. Since God had rested from his work from the seventh day forward, the Hebrews writer suggests that individuals in the new covenant era, could rest from their work, just as God rested from his. So what is the work that the believer could rest from? The answer is simply the works of the law. One could completely trust God's grace, and rest in his provision, and thereby stop working to develop his or her own righteousness. It is easy to see that the Sabbath rest spoken of in Hebrews chapters three and four is really resting in God's grace by faith.

It amazes me that so many evangelical Christians work so hard to achieve their own righteousness, thereby not submitting to God's righteousness, when God clearly states through the writer of Hebrews that they should completely rest from their work.

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

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.