What Luke and Acts tell us about the Gospel of the Kingdom

Luke 1:1-4 NRSV  Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us,  (2)  just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,  (3)  I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,  (4)  so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

Act 1:1-5  In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning (2)  until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.  (3)  After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  (4)  While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me;  (5)  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Two New Testament books are most instructive in piecing together what first century Christianity was, and how it related to first century Judaism. They are of course, The Gospel of Luke, and The Acts of the Apostles. The reason is they were both written by Luke. There is little evidence to disbelieve that Luke was the author of both, and a substantial amount of evidence to believe that he was the author. What he clearly states is that he set out as a reporter that investigated the material from first hand sources. Given this, Luke becomes a most reliable source.

It also must be noted that Luke the physician was a companion of Paul's and was mentioned in his epistles. Therefore, it can easily be concluded that Luke got a lot of the input for his writing from Paul. But, Paul was not an actual eye-witness to the earthly ministry of Jesus and therefore Luke consulted others that were with Paul. Several biblical scholars believe that his chief eye-witness was Mary the mother of Jesus herself. This makes sense to me because there is no mention that his mother brothers and sisters thought that he might be out of his mind  when they went to find him as was portrayed in the Mark account. It seems likely to me that Mary would leave that part out.

John MacArthur, wrote a book entitled "The Gospel According to Jesus." In it, he emphasized the law aspects of Jesus message and, in my view, laid waste to the gospel message. What he did not consider for a minute was the transition that takes place in the New Testament. This transition is most obvious in the two works written by Dr. Luke. One could conclude that Luke wrote about two different gospels. That is not what happened at all. He merely as a good historical reporter finding the facts and presented them as they were. The facts he uncovered and wrote down show the transition very well.

Luke begins with the last Jewish Old Covenant Prophet John the Baptist. Luke presents the story of his birth, calling, and the miracles surrounding his birth and upbringing. He was the prophet that was foretold in Isaiah, "a voice of one crying in the wilderness make way for the Lord." It was a strictly Jewish message to a strictly Jewish audience. He was a prophet to the Jews, before the cross/resurrection event, and thereby was strictly Old Covenant. Jesus said as much. Luke NRSV 7:26-28  "What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  (27)  This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'  (28)  I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Jesus states simply and clearly that while John the Baptist was the greatest Old Covenant prophet he was not in the kingdom per se, and was not a gospel of the kingdom prophet.

Luke then takes up the mission and ministry of the Lord himself.  Now it should be very interesting that Luke did not dwell too much on Jesus teaching about the Mosaic Law. There is indeed a contrast between the story that Luke tells and the story that Matthew tells. The reason most scholars give for the difference was that Matthew wrote to a strictly Jewish audience and Luke wrote to a Gentile and Hellenic Jew audience. However, this also shows that there was not as strong an emphasis placed on the law as evangelical orthodox dogma suggests. Most of the references to the Law in Luke's gospel are concerning Jesus birth and youth. However, Luke did record this interesting statement by Jesus: Luke 16:16  "The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force." According to Jesus the Law was in effect until the end of the mission of John the Baptist. The writer of Hebrews explains that it was fading or passing because it was obsolete and would SOON disappear (Heb 8:13.) It would disappear when the temple was destroyed (Heb 9:8.)

Moving on to The Acts of the Apostles, there are several sermons recorded there. Most notably are those of Peter. He preached the gospel to the Jews on Pentecost, and to the Gentiles at Cornelius' house. The complete content of his gospel message in both instances was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This also agrees with what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 15:1-4. Likewise, you have Paul stating that he determined to know nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ crucified, again the gospel of grace. Finally, Paul states this:  Col 2:6-7 NRSV "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him,  (7)  rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." How did they receive Jesus? The answer is by the obedience of faith. It is clear to see that the gospel of the kingdom was in fact the gospel of grace and nothing else.

People who want the gospel of the kingdom to be more than faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus often throw out the phrase "easy believism." Every time I hear or read that phrase I have to roll my eyes and shake my head. There was nothing easy about Jesus perfect faith in the Father. He believed that in spite of the ridicule and torture that he was the unique Son of God that had a special redemptive mission. It was his perfect faith that pleased the Father. How do we know this? Because the writer of Hebrews explained that without faith it is impossible to please the Father.

So back to the "easy believism" accusation; it is not easy to believe that God declares us righteous, which means justifies us, based on faith alone. Yet, that is precisely what Paul states in Romans 5:1. It just doesn't seem right to the human mind. That is why there are so many that want to add to their faith in Christ with their works for justification or to prove justification. It matters little if one adds works to justify or simply uses works as proof of justification. The end result is ALWAYS the same. It results in death by the killing letter of the law. The gospel of the kingdom operates in a very different manner. The person who hears the gospel, believes that they have been declared righteous by the Father, that they indeed have peace with God as the result of this reconciliation, will automatically love God based on the content of the gospel message. This presents a challenge however, we need to hear the message of the gospel over and over. Every time it is preached, it ALWAYS has the same exact effect. It promotes peace and love for God the Father. Upon hearing the gospel message one automatically fulfills the greatest commandment.

This is why the writer of Hebrews admonished his intended audience to not forsake the assembling of themselves. It was to hear and rehearse the gospel over and over and not for the purpose that most churches today try to force people to be in the church every time the door opens. It was the source of renewal for the Spirit life. The saint is in continual rebirth. We are freshly born of the Spirit each and every time we hear the gospel of grace. It is not that we become spiritually dead in between hearing the gospel message, rather it is that in hearing it we become revitalized. I pray to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the saints of God will awaken to this fact, that they will forsake the leaven of the Pharisees, that they will set aside the strong delusion, and will renew their commitment to the gospel of grace which is the gospel of the kingdom.

The Gospel According to Paul: Part 2

It was a while ago that I wrote The Gospel According to Paul: Part 1. You may want to read it before you continue on with this, but hopefully this will stand alone also. I write this series because there are many Christians these days that emphasize the red letter parts of the New Testament and down play or suggest that Paul was not an apostle really connected to the actual message of Jesus. And, quite frankly, it is easy to see why one would arrive at that conclusion by reading the content of two messages that seem to be different. Many liberal theologians have suggested that the Christianity of Christ and Paul is different, and that Paul is responsible for the Christianity that exists today, especially in evangelical circles.

The truth is that there is but one gospel and that progressive revelation unveils more and more as the pages of the New Testament expand. The reason for this was that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah during his earthly mission. In fact he stated that his mission was strictly to the Jews under the Mosaic Covenant. He even asked a Gentile woman at one time should he give the children's bread to the dogs, meaning  should he give the message meant for the Jews to the Gentiles. There was a reason, he was sent strictly to the Jews under the Old Covenant as the fulfillment of the Messianic promises and prophecies.

Mat 15:22-28 CSB "Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.”  (23)  Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away because she’s crying out after us.”  (24)  He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  (25)  But she came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!”  (26)  He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  (27)  “Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  (28)  Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed." 

Now, while he rewarded her faith, he maintained that his mission and message was to the Jews only. The gospel was to be given to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. When Jesus sent out the seventy, he told them specifically not to go to the Gentiles. During the earthly sojourn of Christ the gospel was strictly for the Jews under the Mosaic Covenant. And yet, Jesus prophesied that ultimately, because of the fact that the Jews would reject Him as Messiah, the gospel would go to the Gentiles.

Fast forward to after the resurrection: Pentecost, the gospel still only was available to the Jews.  All of those who were baptized with the Spirit were Jews. In fact, the first nine chapters of the book of Acts was solely about Jews and the gospel of grace. From Pentecost forward, the gospel of the kingdom was in fact the gospel of God's grace. It is the tenth chapter of Acts where the narrative changes a bit. Peter is miraculously sent to Cornelius' house. There, the Gentiles as a group, first heard the gospel message, and upon hearing it, they were given the Spirit of God similarly to the Jews at Pentecost. There was a difference however, the believing Jews had been baptized by John the Baptizer and they received the Holy Spirit at nine in the morning on Pentecost. The Jews that heard Peter's sermon, asked what they could do? Peter told them to repent and be baptized in Jesus name and they would receive the Holy Spirit, and there were about three thousand that day added to the church. However, at Cornelius house, the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit upon hearing and believing the message Peter preached and were baptized afterward.

In both instances, the gospel that was preached by Peter was solely the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Peter did not rehearse the teaching that Jesus had given to the Jews during his ministry. For him as for Paul, the gospel was the good news of the reconciliation God provided by the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first four books of the New Testament known as the gospels, mostly refer to events that happened before the cross/resurrection event. This makes the bulk of their content Mosaic Covenant in nature. While the teaching of Jesus is timeless it was solely to Jews under the Old Covenant.

Paul was given progressive revelation. He was called the apostle to the Gentiles and he was specifically given understanding for what he called the "new creation." Jesus spoke of the new creation in less specific terms in John chapter three. He told Nicodemus that he must be born again.  Nicodemus did not understand it at the time but Jesus was really speaking to him about the new creation... i.e., being born of the Spirit. He also said that his kingdom was not of this world. That can only mean that it is a spiritual kingdom if it has reign in this world. Thus when Paul spoke of the kingdom of God, he did so with progressive revelation that went beyond the time when Jesus ministered solely to the Jews under the Mosaic Covenant.

To wrap this up let me state that from both part one and two, again I would suggest reading part one and two as a whole even though there is some distance in time between the two posts, Paul's understanding of the gospel of the kingdom is based upon spiritual reconciliation. While as pointed out in part one, salvation has two meanings... one is physical salvation from the impending destruction of the temple... and the other is spiritual salvation which is synonymous with reconciliation. The true kingdom of God is the one in which reconciliation has taken place and is completed. The only thing that humanity has to do with this situation is apprehend it by faith.

By his knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many

Isa 53:11 NKJV  "He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities."

Isaiah chapter fifty-three is a passage that clearly states the gospel mission of Jesus earthly sojourn. In fact, it is probably one of the most concise explanations of the gospel found in the entire bible either New Testament or Old Testament. Isaiah prophesied that it would be Jesus' knowledge that would justify many. What on earth does this mean you ask?

What knowledge? It was the knowledge that he had by faith. He had perfect faith in the Father. He knew for certain that he heard from the Father, that he was the Son of the Father, and that he was only doing that which he heard from the father. Look at this passage: Joh 8:28-30 NRSV  "So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.  (29)  And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him."  (30)  As he was saying these things, many believed in him". You may be asking how does this show perfect faith? I'm glad you asked that question. You can get a clue from Hebrews 11:6. It states that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God and Jesus says, I always do those things that please Him, therefore we can conclude that it is Jesus' faith that is pleasing.

So then, Jesus had knowledge by faith that God was His Father. He also knew that God was love/agape and loved humanity. Likewise, Jesus knew that he was eternal and that death need not concern him. He knew that if he was willing to die that God the Father would raise him from the dead. The key element in all of this is his faith. While the first Adam failed the faith test and brought about death, the Last Adam overcame death by his faith in the Father. That was the knowledge that he used to justify many. His knowledge allowed him to be willing to die and Paul explains it this way: Rom 4:25 NRSV  "who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification."

It should be apparent that the knowledge that justified humanity was acquired by revelation from the Spirit and believed and accepted by faith. That is why Paul speaks of "the obedience of faith." in Rom 1:5 NRSV  "through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name," My wife is a prophetess and one day the Lord spoke to her and said that faith IS obedience. That is interesting because it merely confirms what the scripture says and the scripture confirms the prophetic word. In the third and fourth chapters of his letter, the writer of Hebrews equates obedience and faith and sin and unbelief.

Commentary Romans Chapter 10:1-17

The blog post is longer than usual. Instead of being 500 - 750 words it is almost 1700 words, but it is important to read.

It is important to understand that Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven are a parenthetical explanation of why Israel, who had been given the Law and the Prophets, had missed out on the gospel and Jesus, and further, why the gentiles, were now experiencing the grace of God and were receiving the benefit of the gospel when they had not served God at all in the past.

Even though the explanation is for the Jews, those of us who are Gentiles can benefit greatly from an understanding of these three chapter passages. For my purposes, I want to focus on chapter ten, verses one through seventeen at this time and will perhaps deal with chapters nine and eleven later on.

Rom 10:1-21 KJV  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.  (2)  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. First we see that being zealous for God is not enough. The zeal has to be accompanied by knowledge.What was it that they lacked knowledge of? Paul answers in the next verse. 

(3)  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Paul has spent the first eight chapters telling about the difference between law righteousness, righteousness that comes from obeying the law, and the righteousness of God which is a righteousness imputed for having faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says above that they have been so focused on establishing righteousness by legal means that they have ignored and not submitted to the righteousness of God which is righteousness from faith apart from the law and law obedience.

 (4)  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Christ Jesus is the goal/end of the Law for righteousness. In other words, since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the only way to establish righteousness is to believe the gospel. Paul had proved in the first eight chapters that even in the Old Covenant, all who were righteous were righteous because of their faith, and for no other reason. No one is righteous because of adherence to a legal code.

(5)  For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. Here Paul is quoting Lev 18:5. He is acknowledging the reason that the Jews would believe that they could attain to righteousness from obeying the law. There is another passage that would lead the Jews to believe that they could attain to righteousness from obeying the law. Deu 6:25 KJV  “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”

(6)  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)  (7)  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)  (8)  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; Now Paul shifts gears. He quotes the passage of Deut 30 that speaks of the days of the New Covenant when Israel will have their heart circumcised by the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The passage that he refers to is Deu 30:1-6. Deu 30:1 explains that there will be a future time when Israel will have experienced both the blessings and the cursing’s of Deu 28 and makes reference to circumcising the heart. It is prophesied in Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26. Paul is saying that Deu 30:1-6 finds it fulfillment in the word of faith that they are preaching… in other words, the gospel. 

(9)  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  (11)  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  (12)  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  (13)  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. In verse 9-13 Paul explains explicitly what the word they preach is. The contents of the word of faith is stated in Romans 10:9-13; Confess with the mouth and believe in the heart; that is the condition set by Paul. Written above then, is a concise statement of the gospel. One must confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised him from the dead. This is a redemptive decree. It states unequivocally that if one confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believes in one’s heart that God has raised him from the dead, one SHALL be saved. 

(14)  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  (15)  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! In this well-known passage it is obvious that Paul’s complete focus is the gospel of Christ. He only mentions preaching in conjunction with the gospel. Preach, preaching, or preached is found in 127 verses in the New Testament and it is mentioned 134 times in those verses and it is ONLY and ALWAYS referenced with the gospel. It is used no other way. According to the New Testament writings there is no other purpose for preaching except to preach the gospel. 

(16)  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?  (17)  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Here Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1. He wants his readership to understand that he is solely speaking of the gospel. It is very important to see Romans 10:17 is saying that faith cometh by hearing the gospel. It is definitely not saying what so many popularly teach. Faith does not come from just any ole preaching of the scripture. Faith only comes from preaching the gospel. Jesus and his first century followers changed the meaning of the phrase word of God from Torah to gospel. Jesus taught a uniquely redemptive purpose to the scripture. This is plainly proclaimed in John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:27; 43-45. In the past, I have issued a challenge, to take all of the verses in the New Testament with the phrase word of God in them, and to substitute either scripture or gospel in place of the phrase. When one does that it is easy to see that their meaning in using the phrase was gospel or Jesus the living gospel and not scripture. Again, please do not think that I am downplaying the scripture or its inspired status. I am not. I am rather showing the extent that Jesus taught his followers to go to in emphasizing and underscoring the redemptive purpose of the scripture.

With this in mind let’s turn our attention to Romans 10:17. In the KJV it reads, “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” So then, let me ask the question; did Paul mean that faith cometh by hearing scripture or gospel? Well, when you look at it in context it becomes rather obvious that he meant the gospel. The sentence could easily be stated that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the gospel of Christ.

Let’s take a look at this verse in some of the new versions of the scripture.

NASB “Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

HCSB “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.”

ESV “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Why is that so? The answer is that there are a number of original Greek texts from which the translations are made, and further there are many variations within those texts. Some say word of God and some say word of Christ. The Byzantine Text or Textus Receptus which the KJV was translated from says word of God, but the Westcott Hort and the Nestle-Aland say word of Christ. The Greek is as follows: It is the rhematos christou (word of Christ) or the (rhematos theou) the word of God.

When one realizes that the first century apostles meant the gospel or the word of Christ when they wrote word of God it becomes less of a problem. The newer versions call it the word of Christ because the translating scholars believe that it is far more likely that the original scripture had the word of Christ in Romans 10:17. I believe that the original text could have had the word of God there but I have proven beyond doubt that in most cases in the New Testament, and in ALL cases from the book of Acts forward they meant gospel or Jesus the living gospel when they wrote the phrase word of God.

It does have interesting implications that go against the common explanation of this verse. Faith does not come from hearing just any ole scripture passage. Faith comes by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since rhematos (a variation of rhema) more rightly means spoken word, it would suggest that faith cometh by hearing the spoken word of Christ.

The Law of Love

John 13:34-35 KJV “ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  (35)  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Rom 13:8 KJV  “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Jas 2:8 KJV  “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:”

I get a daily prophecy in my inbox from Prophet Russ Walden over at Father’s Heart Ministries. Today’s prophecy was: “The Father says today that I am raising up a people to radically walk in the law of love. The only way to master the law of sowing and reaping is to ascend into the higher law, the law of love. As you ascend into the law of love you become a lord of the harvest. You will sow into a barren land and reap a bountiful harvest. You will sow in a time of famine and bring back a hundred fold return in the same season. You will see in your life the plowman overtake the reaper and the seed sown produce a harvest before it hits the ground.

This isn't fantasy says the Father. It is the no-fail zone of the love that NEVER fails. If love never fails then why would you ever step out of love. The wisdom of the world rejects this fact. This is the LOVE-FACT says the Father. It is not possible to fail when you live your life according to the law of love. So let love's sowing bring love's reaping and mount up with those wings of favor I have overshadowed you with into the new territory I have annexed you into - even the territory that lords over all small minded selfishness and causes you to think with My mind and love with My heart this day!”  ABOVE QUOTE FROM FATHERS HEART MINISTRIES PROPHET RUSS WALDEN.

This is why Romans 5:1 is so important. This is why the gospel is so important. The gospel alone is the only thing that will bring REAL LOVE for God into the heart of an individual. This is why it must be rehearsed over and over again. This is why no one can ever outgrow their need for hearing the gospel daily. This is why God has given us imputed righteousness. This is why God has separated our sins from us as far as the east is from the west. Yes, it is to produce in us supernatural love… agape love.

This highlights the importance of Deu 28:1. This is the condition for all of the blessings following in Deu 28. One has to somehow fulfill Deu 28: 1. This is where the gospel comes into play. Jesus did fulfill Deu 28:1-2. If I rest in him alone and not any of my works, I will love him… I can’t help but love him, and when I love him as I rest in all that he accomplished on the cross, all that his blood purchased on my behalf. That alone, and NOTHING ELSE, will make me the recipient of the blessings. That is how the Amos prophecy of the plowman overtaking the reaper will come to pass.

Believe the gospel!

Abel a picture of Christ; Cain a picture of religion

Gen 4:1-5 KJV “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD."  (2)  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  (3)  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.  (4)  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering,  (5)  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.”

We know from John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:27, 44-45 that the scripture is all about Jesus. Seeing Jesus in the scripture becomes our joy because it reinforces the gospel of God’s mercy, love and grace.  Look at this familiar story from Genesis. Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Able, it is important to see the order in which they came. Cain came first and Abel came second. What does the Apostle Paul tell us? 1Co 15:46 KJV  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. Here we see a principle. The natural comes first and the spiritual comes after. Therefore, it is easy to see that Cain was a picture of the natural and Abel is a picture of the Spiritual. This is important in our seeing Jesus in ALL the scripture. This is a New Covenant way of looking at the scripture. It is not Old Covenant thinking. One of the problems that we face today is we have New Covenant prophecy and Old Covenant theology…. Let me repeat this for effect, “we have New Covenant prophecy and Old Covenant theology.”

Abel simply brought the first born lamb without spot and blemish. It was not from his effort at all. He had nothing to do with it. He simply offered what God had perfected. Cain however, was a tiller of the soil. He worked and toiled and sweat with his hands. He cultivated and watered and no doubt worked long hours. Abel tended the sheep and likely sat in the shade watching them. God grew the grass that fed them and provided the stream that watered them. I’m going somewhere here, pay attention.

Cain had the fruit and vegetables looking good, and all polished as he brought forth to the Lord the work of his hands. He wanted God to accept his good works. Abel on the other hand, simply chose what God had done and offered it to Him. This is really a picture of us. We want to bring to God the fruit of our hands instead of relying on the sacrifice that God made on our behalf. We want to add something to the finished work of Jesus. We refuse to allow our hearts and minds to be cleansed by faith and insist that we bring something of ours. This ends up being an affront to God… a slight to God. When we demand that we bring something to him so that he will reward our performance, no matter what it is, we in a sense are saying that we do not believe that Jesus blood was sufficient.

We need to go back and read the entire chapter of Isaiah 53. Let me pull out some of it. Isaiah 53 is a sovereign decree of God. Isa 53:12 KJV  “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” God says that he will divide Him a portion with the great and that Jesus shall divide the spoil with the strong… strong what? those strong in faith in the finished work of Jesus… those who do not try to add anything, including old covenant obedience to the Law. Our obedience, our giving, our sacrifice, our praise all stems from the finished work of Jesus. He has spoiled the Devil and he will divide the spoils… will we believe???

Isn't it interesting that Cain (religious people) continue to KILL Abel (those trusting in Christ)... how?... they kill their spirits and cast them into bondage of religion.

prosperity from properly understanding the gospel

There is no doubt that there are many lessons in the parable of the sower. There is one however that can greatly affect how we view the scripture. In the parable of the sower Jesus defines the phrase the word of God. It comes from looking at two parallel accounts of the explanation of the seed in Matthew and Luke.  Let’s look at the explanation from both passages.

Matt 13:18-19 KJV  "Hear then the parable of the sower:  (19)  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path

Luke 8:11 KJV  “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”

In the Matthew passage, Jesus explains to his disciples that the seed is the word of the kingdom or in other words, the gospel. Luke records him saying that the seed is the word of God. It follows then that in Jesus vocabulary, the gospel of the kingdom and the word of God are synonymous. Actually, we have established this in many other posts in this blog, however, it is instructive to see that the redefining of the phrase word of God came from Jesus himself. Luke’s understanding is that one can substitute the phrase word of God for the gospel of the kingdom. This means that when he thought of the gospel or word of the kingdom, he automatically thought of the word of God. The two phrases become interchangeable.

This becomes very important in defining how the phrase word of God was used in the New Testament writings. For example, when Paul writes: Eph 5:25-27 KJV “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  (26)  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  (27)  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” The gospel is the washing water. Jesus has cleansed the church with the washing of the water of the gospel. This is why the gospel is so important.

It sounds like this should be an ongoing process from the Ephesians five passage. It is the way that we look continually to the cross. The cross is God’s answer for everything. It is his answer for justification, it is his answer sanctification, it is his answer for health, it is his answer for prosperity, and it is his answer for the washing process. When you add anything to the work of the cross you offend God.

So then, if one looks at this passage from Deuteronomy and believes that it is for all the seed of Abraham, both Jew, and Gentile, then one must simply look to the cross for all of the promises that follow because the cross of Christ handled these two passages once for all:

Deu 28:1-2  KJV And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  (2)  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

All of the blessings that follow in Deu 28 will overtake the one who trusts the cross and nothing else. There is nothing else to do. The passage has been handled by the cross. Perhaps one of the reasons that we don’t see more of these blessings is that we are still trying to add to the cross with our effort. That immediately offends God. When will we stop trying to do and just begin to trust?

The person trusting in the cross will give from the love for God just for knowing that Jesus did it all. Real prosperity is found only in the cross.

 

The critical importance of context; both historical context and textual consistency

Proof texting is a method of preparing sermons where a text of scripture is pulled out to make a point. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with this. However, proof texting can be misused and often is by those preaching today. If you remove the historical context and the textual consistency then you can make the bible say anything you desire.
 
Here is an example; 1Co 1:21 KJV  “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” There is a specific context to this passage of scripture. It is the foolishness of preaching the gospel that Paul is talking about. So then, if you make the statement that God uses the foolishness of preaching, meaning any preaching one may do about any subject one may choose to quote part of 1Co 1:21 is taking the passage out of its context. First, it is taking it out of its historical context, that is the context within where Paul used it and it is divorcing it from textual consistency.

The greater context of the passage goes from 1Co 1:17 all the way through 1 Co 2:16. It is a passage that explains that the gospel is foolishness to the world and it is the wisdom of God.  Perhaps the most telling of this passage is 1 Co 2:2. Paul states there unequivocally, that during his sojourn as an apostle in Corinth, he determined… purposed… made it a point to know NOTHING among the Corinthian believers than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I think that it is safe to assume that he meant the same for his entire ministry to all the Gentiles, and any Jews that he ministered too. One cannot justify the preaching of “just anything” to people by using 1 Co 1:21.

For Paul, it was the preaching of the gospel that was foolishness, and the gospel to Paul was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (1 Co 15:1-4.) Therefore, any message delivered around the foolishness of preaching must have at its foundation, and heart the gospel of Jesus Christ. It must have a New Covenant understanding at its base.

But further than this, Jesus gave a redemptive context to all the scripture. He said this in John’s gospel. John 5:39-40 KJV  “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  (40) And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” He then reinforced it in Luke 24:27, 44-45. We are  taking the scripture out of context every time we do not find a redemptive theme for what we preach and teach. If it doesn’t point to Jesus and his kingdom… notice I wrote Jesus and His kingdom, then we have no business preaching or teaching it.

We cannot present the New Covenant promises with a strictly Old Covenant mentality and theology. That is what is happening all too often in Christianity today, and quite frankly preachers should sit down sometimes, and learn.  James said it this way; Jas 1:19-20 KJV  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  (20)  For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Our understanding of the message is tainted by two thousand years of theology. We think we have it figured out but, actually just an open minded reading of the scripture will show us that we have much to learn.

 

The yoke that neither we nor our fathers could bear

Act 15:8-11 KJV “ And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;  (9)  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.  (10)  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?  (11) But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

What was the yoke Peter was speaking of in this passage? Was it circumcision or the Ten Commandments? Was it the dietary laws, the sacrifices? No, it was the sin consciousness that comes from trying to gain righteousness by the law.  Deu 6:25 KJV And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us. Inherent from our first parents, humanity has a sin consciousness that allows us to know that we are separated from God and in need of redemption. It may not be articulated as such but it is at the core of all of our problems. The fact is that no matter how we try, we cannot act good enough to cleans or purify our hearts.  That is what Peter is positing in this speech at the Jerusalem council. He was speaking of those at Cornelius house who received the Holy Spirit by believing what he had preached. When they believed their consciences were cleansed, and that is the same as saying that their hearts were purified. Demanding that circumcision and obedience to the law was necessary for salvation, i.e., reconciliation to God was the yoke.

Why did Paul say that Christ was the end of the law for righteousness in Romans 10:4? It was for this purpose; to ensure that the person, who was saved, was saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross, in the grave, and at the resurrection, and nothing else. Yes it is important to list all three aspects of the cross event. It is not just the death, but equally important is the burial and resurrection.  Justification comes to the individual that places trust and hope in the blood of Jesus… trust and hope in the entire cross event. If we would ever, once and for all, take the new covenant view of the law and righteousness, realize that Jesus took away the curses, Jesus made the promises yes, and amen; none of the blessings are commensurate on performance; people would be free to allow the Law to instruct them. It is interesting to me that the word Torah, Hebrew for Law means instruction. Instruction does not mean that it has to be a legal constitutional document. Quite frankly it is not for New Covenant believers.

Yes, the yoke is the sin conscience that is exacerbated by the Law. Verse nine of the above Acts 15 text explains, that by the message Peter preached, the Holy Ghost purified their hearts by faith. That is the same as cleansing the conscience. The writer of Hebrews put it this way: Heb 9:13-15 KJV  “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:  (14)  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  (15)  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

I want to note here that the word used in cleanse in Hebrews 9:14 and purifying in Acts 15:9 is the exact same word. It is KARTHARIZO. Therefore, it seems obvious that the yoke that Peter was referring to was the yoke that comes from a legal-constitutional reading of the Law.

This is why Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light and why John could say that his commandments were not grievous/burdensome. Jesus took the burden of the yoke upon himself on the cross to purify our conscience, and to rid us of sin consciousness, but the mixture of old covenant-new covenant theology will not allow that to happen. There are so many things that need to be re-examined and rethought.

Smack-dab in the middle of the Bible Belt

Well, I have lived in Memphis for a year and a half now, and reflecting on my new life here I had an epiphany the other day. I was looking at 2 Corinthians 10:4 and I thought about strongholds and fortresses. If you look in NASB, a version that I particularly like, (no it is not perfect, and believe me once you understand just a little Greek, you will know that there is no such thing as a perfect translation, I digress…) Anyway, I used to wonder about the word fortress that is used in many of the new translations. I always thought that stronghold was better. Not so any longer!

Of course, the Greek word, OCHUROMATON (the last two o’s are omegas and not omicrons) means castle or fort so fortress is certainly more correct than stronghold in a literal sense. But until yesterday I preferred stronghold. Thus the epiphany; I believe for good biblical reasons that the strong man that so many folk speak of is none other than Satan himself and his stronghold/fortress is as the demon of religion. That is the strong man.

I suddenly realized that religion has a stronghold in California, a stronghold in Michigan, a stronghold in New York, but here in the Mid South… smack-dab in the middle of the bible-belt it is indeed a fortress!

Stronghold does not begin to adequately describe the hold that the demon of religion has on the bible-belt. If there was ever a place where wooden legalism, devoid  of the Spirit exists, it is here. It saddens me to see that the people of God are so oblivious to it. They seem to get excited about legalism as much as they get excited for the liberating gospel of grace.  Where is the discernment?

It is almost as if Isaiah 29:10-13 is descriptive of the state of evangelicalism in the bible-belt. NASB “For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.  (11)  The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."  (12)  Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, "Please read this." And he will say, "I cannot read."  (13)  Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

The Lamb has opened the sealed scroll. Jesus showed his immediate followers that the scripture was about redemption. It is the redemptive narrative and it is NOT a legal constitutional document. Not for Christ followers at least. It was a legal constitutional document for national Israel in Old Covenant times. No so today!

Small Difference – Huge Distinction Part l

What was the point of Paul writing Galatians? Was Augustin, Calvin and Luther right, or are the “New Perspective on Paul” people closer to the truth? My conclusion is that the New Perspective people are definitely not right but, neither are many of those who have adopted the western view of Paul that was championed by Augustin and Luther. The title of this series speaks of nuance, and it seems that nuance is not something that evangelicals work well with. Especially those evangelicals that believe the bumper sticker which reads… “God said it – I believe it – and that settles it.”

The question that is raised is this; is this really what God said? This is the place that nuance comes into play. There is such a variety of evangelical doctrines that are often mutually exclusive. That alone should give pause to the bumper sticker crowd. With this in mind we will boldly move on into the discussion to identify the small difference that makes a huge distinction. What am I specifically speaking of here? The simple answer is the gospel.

Paul writes this in Galatians chapter one: Gal 1:6-9 “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, (7) which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  (8)  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  (9) As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” What were these different gospels?

In order to answer this question one has to read through Galatians’ chapters one and two. It becomes obvious in reading Galatians one and two that the different gospel demanded works of the law for justification. Galatians 2:21 states the most important factor in identifying the different and false gospel. It reads: Gal 2:21 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” The attribute that identified the true gospel was this. Righteousness *does not* come through the law. That means that one is not made righteous or declared righteous by adhering to the law.

This is precisely why I am so confident that the gospel that is preached today by most evangelicals is a different gospel. While it is true that many, if not most would say that righteousness does not come through obedience to the law, their actual practice negates that statement. This is where the small difference with a huge distinction comes into play. Nuance is the key word that I would use to explain this. It is my hope that this will help us embrace the actual gospel that Paul states was revealed to him by Jesus Christ.

This is the point where many are going to say the word antinomian with an accusatory tone. Hold your horses and wait for this series to be completed. Understand this however; Righteousness does not come through the law.  We do not receive righteousness by our obedience to the law. This is different than Old Covenant righteousness, and that is why the New Perspective people are simply off base. Deu 6:25  “Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.” Old Covenant righteousness was connected with obedience to the commandments. Not so under the New Covenant and that is where nuance comes into play. This is the source of the small difference with a huge distinction.

Faith cometh by hearing

Many of the blog posts here have been devoted to proving that Jesus and his first century followers changed the meaning of the phrase word of God from Torah to gospel. Jesus taught a uniquely redemptive purpose to the scripture. This is plainly proclaimed in John 5:39-40 and Luke 24:27; 43-45. In the past, I have issued a challenge, to take all of the verses in the New Testament with the phrase word of God in them, and to substitute either scripture or gospel in place of the phrase. When one does that it is easy to see that their meaning in using the phrase was gospel or Jesus the living gospel and not scripture. Again, please do not think that I am downplaying the scripture or its inspired status. I am not. I am rather showing the extent that Jesus taught his followers to go to in emphasizing and underscoring the redemptive purpose of the scripture.

With this in mind let’s turn our attention to Romans 10:17. In the KJV it reads, “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” So then, let me ask the question; did Paul mean that faith cometh by hearing scripture or gospel? Well, when you look at it in context it becomes rather obvious that he meant the gospel. The sentence could easily be stated that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the gospel of Christ.

Let’s take a look at this verse in some of the new versions of the scripture.

NASB “Rom 10:17  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

HCSB “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the

message about Christ.”

ESV “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” 

Why is that so? The answer is that there are a number of original Greek texts from which the translations are made, and further there are many variations within those texts. Some say word of God and some say word of Christ. The Byzantine Text or Textus Receptus which the KJV was translated from says word of God, but the Westcott Hort and the Nestle-Aland say word of Christ.  The Greek is as follows: It is the rhematos christou (word of Christ) or the (rhematos theou) the word of God.

         When one realizes that the first century apostles meant the gospel or the word of Christ when they wrote word of God it becomes less of a problem. The newer versions call it the word of Christ because the translating scholars believe that it is far more likely that the original scripture had the word of Christ in Romans 10:17. I believe that the original text could have had the word of God there but I have proven beyond doubt that in most cases in the New Testament, and in ALL cases from the book of Acts forward they meant gospel or Jesus the living gospel when they wrote the phrase word of God.

It does have interesting implications that go against the common explanation of this verse. Faith does not come from hearing just any ole scripture passage. Faith comes by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Since rhematos (a variation of rhema) more rightly means spoken word, it would suggest that faith cometh by hearing the spoken word of Christ.

Opening the scroll

Rev 5:6-9 NLT  “Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.  (7)  He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the One sitting on the throne.  (8)  And when He took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people.  (9)  And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

There is a direct correlation between the above passage and the following one:

Luke 24:44-45 NLT  “Then He said, "When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about Me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled."  (45) Then He *opened their minds* to understand the Scriptures.”

Jesus had a specific way of looking at the scripture. He saw it as expressing his purpose and destiny. It is only in seeing the scripture as Jesus sees it that one can have the scripture opened. It is only opened when Jesus and the redemption that he brings is the sole focus of the scripture. All scripture must be viewed with the understanding that Jesus is Lord and Christ and the sole purpose of the scripture.

Paul puts it another way in this passage: 2Co 3:14-16 NRSV  “But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.  (15)  Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds;  (16)  but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” Notice that the veil is only removed with a Christ-centered approach to reading and understanding the scripture.

That is one of the main obstructions to revelation knowledge today in the church. To really truly understand the scripture in the way that it was meant one must see the redemptive gospel focus. The passage that I quoted above from second Corinthians ends with an explanation of the ministry of reconciliation. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting trespasses. He made Jesus who knew no sin to be made sin for sinful humanity so that reconciled humanity could be the righteousness of God in Christ and be at peace with God.

Peace with God is the most important aspect of truly loving God. The Shema, Deu 6:4-6 NRSV  “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.  (5)  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  (6)  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.” Jesus said that this was the first and greatest commandment. i.e, loving God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might.

This commandment can only be fulfilled when one is set at peace with God because of the grace found in Jesus Christ. The scripture will only be opened when one understands the gospel of grace in its fullness and ties all the reading and teaching and preaching to it.

The uncompromised word of God

You often hear people refer to the uncompromised word of God. What do they generally mean when they use that phrase? Most of the time when they use the phrase, they mean, they teach the bible uncompromised. Is that a correct understanding of the phrase? I don’t think so; especially, if they are a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. The reason is that Jesus defined the word of God as the gospel, and he taught his first century followers to do the same. If you look at the New Testament writings you will find that predominately in the gospels, and exclusively from Acts forward, whenever you read the phrase *the word of God,* they always mean the gospel, the good news.

The follower of Jesus should then concentrate on the good news as it is presented in the scripture. When someone tells you that you should get the word of God inside you, and have it become a part of your DNA… if you are a follower of Jesus, then you should make sure that you get the gospel (good news) on the inside of you and have it become a part of your DNA.

So then you ask, what is the gospel? Galatians explains that according to the scripture the gospel was preached to Abraham (Gal 3:8.) What was the gospel that was preached to Abraham? The short answer is this… “that in Abraham’s Seed all the nations of the world would be blessed.” Galatians 3:16 explains that the promised seed of Abraham was Jesus Christ. This is how it becomes the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice that we do not find out that the Seed is Jesus in Genesis. Revelation is progressive.

How is the world blessed by the Seed of Abraham? The answer is that Jesus reconciled the world back to the Father on the cross. His birth, death, and resurrection is the good news that reconciled humanity to Father God. This is what brings peace with the Father (Rom 5:1.) But, Galatians 3:29 explains that if one is in Christ, they are then Abraham’s Seed and heirs according to the promise. This is also part of the good news. The blessings of Abraham are for believers.

This means that the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 are blessings for all those who are *in Christ.* this means that believers are automatically blessed in the city and the country; they are blessed when they come and go. They are the head and not the tail, they are above and not beneath. This is really a birthright of the new birth. When one is born again, at the new birth, they become Abraham’s Seed in Christ, and heirs of the blessings of Abraham.  

So what does this have to do with the uncompromised word of God you ask? The uncompromised word of God is the uncompromised gospel. It is the fact that the believer is the righteousness of God in Christ. God made us convenantally right in Christ and we are in line for the blessings. How did Abraham receive the blessing in the first place? Look at this passage of scripture… Gen 15:6  “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” By the same token, we receive the blessing by believing the report (Isa 53:1.)