Filed under: General | Tags: Divorce, Fornication, Marriage Death Camps, Unfaithfulness
A young couple in their early 20′s just got married. Oh what joy! However, about a year later the husband finds out his wife has been sleeping around with her former boyfriend who has come back into her life. Of course the husband is shocked, dismayed, and beside himself. He feels such a betrayal from the woman he loves so dearly. She decides she does not want to be married anymore to her husband and now she wants a divorce because her heart is with her other lover. According to some Christians, the judgment upon the husband is that he is now to spend the rest of his life as a perpetual virgin!
As Jesus said to the Pharisees and layers, “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.”
It’s very easy to place condemnation on others when we have never been in their shoes. Oh, God bless you that you have such a wonderful and faithful spouse and happily married, but can’t understand a brother or sister who have to now live as perpetual virgins because their spouse was unfaithful and now happily married to someone else and having children and loving life while the other spouse, whose desire for the same, has to remain alone, and fight his God-given sexual desires for the rest of his life! Really people? Come on.
Should this husband decide to remarry to a Christian woman, has children, according to you, he must DIVORCE his present wife and go back to the first wife, which is IMPOSSIBLE, because she is happily married to another man, settled and raising children from her present spouse.
If this husband does not divorce his wife, his soul awaits eternal damnation for he is said to be living in adultery. So to avoid eternal damnation, he must divorce this wife, who loves him very much and bore him children, and he is to remain single. On top of all this mess, it puts his wife in the same position! For now she CANNOT remarry but remain alone for the rest of her life!
“Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.”
The following is written by Mike Desario, and completely in line with Scripture.
This is an important message since there is a ‘marriage to death camp’ out there that teaches that remarriage is never permitted in the Bible if one has been previously married and that anyone who is remarried while their divorced spouse is still alive is living in adultery in all circumstances. These people are putting many who are remarried under harmful bondage to their merciless teachings which goes against the Lord’s desires.
First let’s look at what Jesus taught concerning this in Matt 19. Here the Pharisees come to test Jesus and ask Him if it is lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason. The key is that the Pharisees asked if it was lawful to divorce for any reason. Jesus said that whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality/marital unfaithfulness causes her to commit adultery. The “marriage to death camp” strives to remove Jesus’ exception clause here concerning marital unfaithfulness.
Moses permitted divorce for uncleanness. There were two Jewish camps and the debate was about “what was uncleanness?” One group thought if the woman merely burned the food or didn’t clean the house they could cast her out as they felt that divorce was accepted for any reason basically. The other camp said ‘uncleanness’ dealt with unfaithfulness and whoredom. Fornication comes from the Greek work ‘porneia’ which covers all bases in sexual immorality. Jesus is saying in Matt. 19 and also in Matthew 5:31-32 that Moses permitted divorce for this reason in Deuteronomy 24:1-4, and that remarriage was permitted under Moses for this reason. Moses was saying that unfaithfulness dissolves a marriage. But what the Jews were doing is that they were unlawfully dissolving marriages for any reason they chose and unlawfully remarrying. This is what the Lord is addressing in Matthew 19 for the Jewish nation.
Moses’ and Jesus’ teachings are in perfect harmony to each other for “uncleanness means unfaithfulness. Jesus didn’t teach we could cast out a wife for any reason as the Jews wanted to do, but rather He was in agreement with Moses in that unfaithfulness dissolved the marriage. And if a marriage is dissolved, then there can be ANOTHER marriage (remarriage).
Would Moses permit this, as a holy man of God, to cause people to go to hell for allowing divorce and remarriage for marital unfaithfulness? Was Moses causing people to go to hell because he was permitting them to remarry? Of course not. Deuteronomy 24 clearly tells us there is permissible remarriage allowed in the Bible. Moses sanctioned these remarriages and if Moses sanctioned them, then this means that GOD sanctioned them under certain conditions. So we see that Moses’ and Christ’s teachings line up in perfect harmony with each other. We can’t put away a wife for any reason and remarry, but only if there is marital unfaithfulness. Divorce is permitted when a marriage is spotted with unfaithfulness and it can be dissolved and remarriage is allowed in such circumstances.
In Mark 10 the exception clause is not mentioned, and because it is not, does not negate what Jesus said (“except it be for fornication”). We must remember that every gospel has some differences and Mark is relating the same thing as Matthew in Matt. 19. All the Bible harmonizes.
Divorce is not God’s original plan for sure, but neither was it God’s original plan that man fall into sin or to have a hell etc..
For genuine Christians married in the Lord with legitimate marriage under God, divorce is out of the question! We’ll never need a divorce if both are truly saved — never! We must do all we can to reconcile or else we will be bringing disgrace upon the Lord. This is a serious and weighty matter between true repentant genuine Christians. If we violate this as true Christians and remarry, then we do commit adultery.
However, if we were previously married as an unrepentant non-believer and we got divorced and remarried, but later heard the Gospel and got saved and got remarried, we DON’T have to be under bondage of the ‘married to death camp’ that says, “Oh, you have to divorce the person you’re currently married to now.” NO, you DON’T have to divorce the person you’re currently married to now. You don’t have to divorce your current spouse and scripture does not teach this and these guys teaching this are teaching doctrines of demons.
If two unconverted people are living together and attend a church, many times the preacher and his wife will try and convince this unrepentant couple to get married for appearance’s sake. This preacher will not even preach or teach about true repentance in his church. This idea of uniting two unrepentant people to get married for the sake of appearance is an abomination to God, just like most other things in the churches are an abomination, and God does not even recognize this marriage and it is not legitimate because they’re not pledging themselves under Jesus and it is just hypocrisy in the heart.
Now, let’s move on and look at a second common argument of the ‘marriage to death camp’ which involves the story of king Herod, and they use this story to try to say marriage is undissolvable. They say that two heathens standing before the bush to marry is to last forever and is proven because John the baptist rebuked Herod for having his brother Philip’s wife. But if we look further into this story, we see that John’s rebuke is because Herod violated Jewish law by marrying his dead brother (Philip’s) wife who already had a daughter which is forbidden under Deuteronomy. You WERE to marry your dead brother’s wife IF she was childless to bring forth the prodigy, BUT, if she already HAD a child you were NOT permitted to marry the dead brother’s wife. So it was forbidden in Deuteronomy what Herod had done and that is why John the baptist rebuked him. This is also verified over and over by the early church fathers.
Let’s move on to the Romans 7:1-6 argument now that the “marriage to death camp” tries to use. Here we have an illustration given about the law and that the woman is married and bound to the husband as long as he lives, but if the husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So if she marries another man while her husband is alive, she is called an adulterer, but if her husband dies, she is released from this law and not an adulterer. Wow, they love this passage and think that this passage seals their views. They think it’s absolute proof positive that marriage is till death and you can’t do anything about it.
But you see the whole illustration here in Romans 7:1-6, if you read and try to understand what Paul is talking about here, CLEARLY reveals that he’s talking about those “under the law.” He’s showing that under the law you had to be released from the bondage of the law, so that you could go and serve Christ. If you married while your husband lives, you committed adultery under the law and you would be KILLED/put to death under Moses’ law for this.
As we move on in this passage, we read this about the convert, “So my brother you also DIED to the law through the body of Christ that you might belong to God, that we might be wed to another so that you can die.” See, this is not taught in the churches about death to self, and putting away the passions and desires is not being taught at all. The cutting off of the hand, the plucking out of the eye and casting away of evil from us so we can enter the Kingdom single mindedly with a pure heart is not even part of the teaching in our day, and is another reason this teaching is perverted so easily. This verse is talking about dying with Christ so that we can marry into the family of God and be freed from the bondage of the law. It’s an illustration of being freed from the bondage of the law no longer enforced, for when we ‘died,’ we died with Christ and we are no longer legally bound to that law and we’ll see this verified further in 1 Corinthians 7. So this not only teaches that we’re free from bondage of the law to marry another, but it’s also an illustration to a legitimate and happy marriage in Christ, wed in Him and freed from the bondage of the old master of the old law that put people to death for breaking the law, and that instead, if we walk in the Spirit and not the flesh, we can fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Many great early church fathers taught all this same teaching if you take the time to research it and they did not teach the heresies being taught in our day. We have studied this issue carefully for many are being bound up/in bondage by the “marriage to death” camp teachings that are utterly false.
Now let’s move onto 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians confirms all the above about not being bound in all situations. Paul writes about people as new believers coming into the body of Christ with one spouse being saved and the other not saved and what is to happen in these situations. Paul says in this situation we’re to stay married if we can, BUT if the unbeliever leaves, then the Christian is not under bondage but rather is LOOSED. What does ‘loosed’ mean? This means he’s loosed from slavery and freed from his bonds and the marriage is dissolved. When the Bible says to ‘come as you are’ into the body of Christ, it does NOT mean to come in your sins to the body of Christ and continue to stay a child molester, adulterer, drunkard, deceiver etc.. Rather, it means that if you become saved and came into the body of Christ uncircumcised, then ‘come as you are’ and don’t seek to be circumcised, or if you came in bound to a wife, then don’t seek to be loosed/divorced; or if you’re loosed/divorced from a wife when you become saved then don’t seek a wife, BUT if you DO marry you do NOT sin. So it clearly was permitted in the early church as people were coming out of wicked lifestyles and truly repenting and being saved that they could remarry if they were previously divorced. This is not referring to virgins alone to marry (it’s not a sin for a virgin to get married), but this is clearly sharing about remarriage. If we do get remarried though, we must get married in the Lord to another true Christian and this marriage is permanent and not to be trifled with.
Conclusions:
- Remarriage is clearly shown in the Bible. See Deuteronomy 24, and the exception clause for sexual immorality was clearly recognized. Moses permitted it and if Moses permitted it, it was also sanctioned by God for Moses was a great patriarch and was not causing people to go to hell for allowing remarriage. The exception clause was also recognized by Jesus as we discussed in Matt. 19:9 and Matt. 5:32.
- People were coming to the faith as already divorced and were permitted by the apostle Paul to remarry and it was not sin. (1 Corinthians 7:27-28) Also those believers who became abandoned by their unbelieving spouses were loosed from their marriage bond and permitted to remarry. (1 Corinthians 7:15; 27-28)
- Legitimate marriages between two saved truly repentant Christians are not allowed to divorce/remarry and is out of the question. (1 Corinthians 7:10-11; 39)
- If we are involved in a marriage/divorce/remarriage that is clearly forbidden by Christ, we are in adultery and will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Rev. 21:8 etc.) Only those that truly go through a season and crisis of conviction of godly sorrow for past sins and come to God in true brokenness will ever be able to find mercy. There is mercy, but it’s not easily achieved and must be 100% sincere. We must seek God with all that is in us. Lack of real repentance shows we’ve never came to Christ in the first place and we’d better realize that grace cannot be abused for God will not be mocked.
No one is trying to mock God by permitting remarriage, but to simply share what the Bible teaches and to release people from their bondage by false teachers who try and tell them to divorce their current spouse if they were once married and divorced. These teachers scare people to death and destroy their faith with their wicked doctrine of demons. So be aware of what Scripture teaches in its fullness and dig deep into it. Seek the mercy of God before it is too late so you might have hope for your soul.
Filed under: General | Tags: Communication, Forgiveness, Mistakes, Offenses, Relationships
You know, there’s a common need that everybody has. Do you know what it is? It’s relationships. Everyone has a need for relationships. God built this need in us. God knew Adam needed someone. Everybody wants to be loved. Everybody wants to know that somebody cares about them.
Does anyone know the show Andy Griffith? There’s this little ole mountain man named Earnest T. Bass. Earnest T. Bass was this guy who was raised up in the mountains. That’s were he was born, that’s where he was raised, living in caves, living with animals, just a wild man and does all kinds of crazy things. But every once in a while ole Earnest T. would come out of the mountains and go into the town of Mayberry. What in the world would motivate a mountain man to leave his comfort zone and go into the town? He was hunting relationships. He was especially hunting him a woman. The subtle message behind those particular episodes were this; even a half little crazy mountain man, who lives with animals and caves up in the mountains, even a wild man like that, needs relationships. He wants somebody to love him.
Did Jesus need relationships? Jesus didn’t soar in from heaven and then take up residence off in seclusion somewhere away from everybody else. He was born in a family. He had a mom and a dad and brothers and sisters. He had relationships. Then when he started his ministry here on the earth, Jesus surrounded himself by 12 disciples. I want to show you what Jesus said about these guys.
John 15:15:
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
“I have called you,” what? “friends.”
What a name to be called. When Jesus started his ministry he knew he needed relationships. He immediately chose out 12 other men. This was his close circle of friends, and they ate together, they traveled together, they spent time together, they hung out together, they did the ministry together, and I’m sure they laughed together. Jesus was God in the flesh, but he was also a man, and he needed relationships.
But here’s a major issue that we all deal with. No matter what relationship we are involved with - be it friends or relatives – every relationship eventually encounters problems. I don’t care how good it is. It may not even be problems within the relationship; it may be outside forces coming in on that relationship. But the point is, every relationship encounter problems and those problems threaten to destroy the relationship. Maybe you have experienced that in your own life. Maybe you had a friend at one time who was very close, I mean, at one time nobody could separate the two of you! But now you’re not even friends anymore. The friendship dissolved. Look at marriages where two people were so in love at one time, but the marriage dissolved. We have family relatives who won’t even talk with one another.
I have learned that relationships do not have to dissolve when problems arise, they can become stronger! Jesus and his disciples are an example. They went through terrible problems, but He called those guys, “friends.” These are the same guys, when Jesus was crucified, forsook him and fled. These are the same guys who were confused, they didn’t understand, they doubted that he rose again, and they went through all kinds of turmoil. Do you know what happened? The relationship with Christ and his disciples came out stronger than it had ever been before, after the problems!
We must, to the best of our ability, seek to strengthen a relationship when we go through problems. How do we do that? Well, we’re going to learn that from our Master, Jesus.
The first way we can strengthen relationships through problems is:
1. By maintaining open communication.
How many of you have a Bible where the words of Jesus are in red? Look at something. Look at John chapter 13. Now, from John 13 all the way through, this is within 24 hours of the cross. They are about to enter the most turbulent time of their life. If you have Jesus’ words in red, look at how many words are in red. Look at John 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and then you start getting to the cross in chapter 18. There’s a lot of red ink there. What does that tell me? As the disciples were about to enter the most turbulent time of their life, Jesus kept those lines of communication wide open. He was talking, he was sharing. In fact, in John 16:25 Jesus no longer spoke to his disciples in parables, but he spoke to them plainly. Jesus knew as the problems were about to come into their relationship, he knew he’d have to have some open and transparent communication with his friends so they would understand.
There is a reference I would like for you to look at. Look at Luke 24. This is after the resurrection. They are confused, they don’t understand. After Jesus rose from the dead, look what the Bible says.
Luke 24:44 and 45.
“And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,”
“Then opened he their,” what? “..their understanding.” “That they might,” what? “understand the scriptures.”
Further down in Luke 24 I like to picture this as Jesus with the disciples by a campfire. This is after his resurrection of course. Jesus is sitting around a campfire eating broiled fish, eating honeycomb, and just hanging out talking. He’s just sitting there talking with these guys. And he’s saying, “Look guys. Let me explain to you why I had to die on that cross.” And he’s opening up the Scriptures, and he’s explaining, and he’s trying to bring understanding to them. What is He doing? Open communication. They’ve been through some problems! They have been through some hurts. They felt like Jesus let them down. They thought he would rule and reign and here he died on the cross. And Jesus is opening their understanding while sitting around a campfire, just talking, helping them understand.
Misunderstandings kill relationships.
Isn’t that true? Why do relationships dissolve? Well, because you misunderstand what he said, you misunderstand what she did, you misunderstand an action, you misunderstand what they said, you misunderstand their heart, and you misunderstand their motive. Most of the time relationships dissolve and it’s not over MAJOR issues, it’s just over misunderstandings or over a person’s personal convictions in what he allows (Rom. 14:22).
Look at the picture of this beautiful mountain. However, there’s a problem.
Why can’t we see the beauty of that mountain? Because of the fog. But what does that scenery look like when the fog is gone?
You see the beautiful mountain and how pretty it is? What can this illustrate for us? So many times we don’t see the beauty in the relationships that we have with people, because misunderstandings have clouded them. There is the fog of misunderstandings.
Communication clears the way of the fog.
If misunderstandings have clouded our relationship with people, it’s communication that clears away the fog. We have failed to see the beauty that was there. It was there. Why don’t we see the beauty anymore? Misunderstandings have clouded it up. So what we have to do is communicate. We have to talk. And what that does is, it’s like the mountain with no fog. We begin to see the beauty again. Granted there may be people where you try to dispel the fog and they refuse to listen, but as long as we have not neglected our duty to try and communicate and leave that door open.
The strongest, closest relationships will have conflict. Jesus and his disciples did. When that happens, when conflict comes, we have one of two choices. Either:
- Talk it through.
- We turn and run.
We have that choice. We either talk it through or we turn and run from the relationship. And many, many satisfying relationships have been terminated because one or both parties decided to quit talking. “I’m done. I’m not talking about it anymore.”
What a lesson we can learn from the Lord Jesus. Do we want to strengthen our relationships when we go through problems? Let us take a lesson from Jesus by maintaining open communication.
How do we strengthen relationships through problems?
2. By staying committed to the relationship.
Unfortunately, there are people who do not want to be committed to a relationship. There are some who will continue to sling mud, even after the relationship is over.
I am amazed at the level of commitment that Jesus had toward his disciples. His disciples fell asleep on him when he asked them to pray with him in the garden. These are the guys that cursed and swore and denied even knowing him. These are the guys that when Jesus was arrested, and falsely accused, they turned and fled. These are the guys that doubted that he resurrected from the dead. These are the guys that went back to fishing after they have already seen the resurrected Christ twice. The same guys.
Look what Jesus said to them after he rose from the dead.
Luke 24:49
“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
Do you mean to tell me that these guys that forsook him and fled, these guys that fell asleep on him when he needed them the most, these guys that doubted him, and he said, “Upon you?” Do you know what? Jesus knew the condition of their heart. He knew they were confused. He knew Thomas doubted him. Jesus knew Peter denied him and how regretful Peter was. Jesus was a man of forgiveness. He stayed committed to his friends.
Because of Christ’s commitment to the relationship with these friends, they went on to incredible exploits for God, leading thousands of people to Jesus. What if Jesus had ditched the relationships? Think about what would have been lost if Jesus would have ditched the relationship like we do so many times and say, “Ah, forget you. You hurt me. You really let me down.” Jesus did not ditch the relationships because his friends failed him. Jesus stayed committed, he did not hold a grudge even after they repented, and the relationships grew stronger through the problems.
Question: What do the following three things have in common?
- A diaper,
- a pair of contacts you put in your eyes,
- and a trash bag?
You don’t have a clue? They are all disposable. When the contacts get old, pitch them. When the trash bag is full, pitch it. When the diaper is soiled, pitch it. Pitch it! Done with it! History! We live in a society that loves disposable things. Now we live in a society of disposable relationships. If the marriage isn’t working, pitch it, I can find someone else. Problems in friendships? Pitch it. Forget them, I can get a new friend. Problems in family? Pitch it.
We live in a society of disposable relationships. And that’s why so many people have problems keeping a friend. Because when problems come, instead of the relationship getting stronger, they ditch it. And it’s so un-Christ like. We miss so much when we do that. Running never solves problems. There’s nothing more rewarding than a relationship that’s been through problems, and yet it comes out stronger.
If you are a follower of Jesus and in a relationship with him, do you realize how committed God is to you? God expects us to model the relationship we have with him in our relationships with each other.
Fence Mending
Now there may be some people who need to do some fence mending. They threw away a relationship they shouldn’t have. It wasn’t over Biblical reasons; it was just over pride or over misunderstandings. But for the moment, let’s bring up a Biblical reason. Just about everyone can back up what they believe with Scripture and another doesn’t quite see it the same way. There are quite a few people who have developed strong relationships until they come to that fork in the road over doctrine. I have seen many doctrinal wars and sad to say, I have been in a few myself. And because of the doctrinal differences, people part relationships. But God showed me something. Yes, even though we should earnestly contend for the faith, are we all living for Christ? I believe in time God will convict pure truth if a person is open to the truth of God. But do you know what the crutch of the matter really is? Are we living morally upright before God? We are to love our brothers and sisters and even our enemies! I only know of one time (outside of Titus 3:10) where we are to part company from another and that is when one claims to be a believer and living in outright sin. If our pleas fall on deaf ears, then it’s time to walk away or remove the person from the assembly. For those outside the faith? God will judge those.
What an awful position to be in to have perfect doctrine and know all the right scriptures but yet not know Christ. In knowing HIM we will LIVE out what we believe.
Are we a living epistle? (2 Cor. 3:3) Love opens doors, not words. By our fruit we are known. We shouldn’t be a dead letter. The world is reading us by our actions, by our words, and by what we do.
You see, a person can be 100% knowledgeable in pure doctrine, but if the same person does not do what Christ has commanded, it shows he really does not believe God, nor does he belong to God (1 John 4:7,8). If we are living for Christ, we can’t go wrong. The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and to love our neighbor. The Sermon on the Mount is our guide to living for Christ. A person doesn’t need to know one lick of doctrine if he follows the example of godly living from Jesus’ teaching on the Mount. On Judgment day we will be judged by our works, not by our gifts or doctrine.
Do you know that song “Bind Us Together”? Bind us together with chords that cannot be broken. It’s saying, “Look, no matter what comes, Lord, bind us together in these relationships with each other so that the chords will never be broken. God, keep us committed to that relationship.”
This is the last point.
How do we strengthen relationships through problems?
3. By forgiving past mistakes and offenses.
This is so VERY important. Now some people might be thinking, “Oh yeah, do you know what that person did to me?” “Do you know what that person said or even implied?” It doesn’t matter. Simply put, Unforgiveness destroys relationships.
Jesus said, “Therefore if you offer your gift on the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to our brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matt. 5:23-24)
Staying committed to a relationship is very difficult because no two people will agree with each other at every point. At some point in any relationship there are going to be problems and misunderstandings and unintentional or intentional hurting of each other. The relationship cannot stand when there is a record being kept of past offenses. When we keep a record, maybe not written but in our mind, of every past offense, every past mistake in word or deed, and then we get in a good old fashion fight with our friend or with our spouse, we bring out the heavy artillery. We start spouting off the past offenses. We’ve got all the past mistakes, all the past blunders, all the past hurts, and it’s displayed all over again.
Again, Unforgiveness destroys relationships. We’re talking about having a relationship and having it become stronger through problems, but until we learn to forgive past mistakes, it’s not going to happen.
What were Jesus’ words to his friends when he rose from the dead? What did He tell those guys who forsook him, fled, and doubted Him?
John 20:19
“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. “
It doesn’t say, “…and saith unto them, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME? You ought to be ashamed. You guys are so pathetic!” No. What were his words? “Peace be unto you.”
Very clearly, do you know one of the things he was communicating to these guys?
You are forgiven.
Forgiveness is the main ingredient in keeping a relationship with someone, but be warned, there are people who don’t care about the relationship even though you have forgiven. One of the facts we must face is that in some of our relationships there will not be complete reconciliation. Some will continue to hurt us as often as they can, or those who could care less if they ever spoke with you again. It doesn’t even matter if the person knows you have forgiven them. Forgiving is for our benefit. Forgiving simply means let go or put away. Holding onto bitterness and unforgiveness is like YOU drinking poison hoping the other person dies. We need to let go of feelings of resentment, grudges, and the need to get revenge to the person who has hurt us.
John 13:34
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another.”
More later….
Filed under: General
All the “sermons” in the world behind the pulpit will not help you survive persecution. The only way to survive is to make sure you are abiding in the Vine and depending on Christ to be your strength in times of trials and persecution. Nobody can help you stand except Jesus, even when we are scared to death! It’s coming!
Many across the world are suffering persecution right now, even unto death. When persecution comes, all the theology ever learned will not mean a thing except our love for one another and standing with one another in the name of Jesus.
Filed under: General | Tags: Authority, Gifts of the Spirit, Law, Rebuke, Ruler, Silent
Forgotten Huldah
I put the story of Huldah up because God didn’t tell women to check their brains at the door or have men rule over their conscience and from voicing their proclamation of the whole counsel of God. Contrary to popular opinion, women are not forbidden to question the teachings of men or pointing out their inconsistencies.
I didn’t realize that asking valid questions to discuss certain issues to better understand them was sinful. There are women who are approached by men with teachings that are not Biblically sound and mature women in the faith will let the error be known. The “Christian brothers” will side with the sisters and praise them for their Scriptural stand, however, when inconsistencies are shown on their part as well, all of a sudden these same women they praised previously are now chastised by these brothers and 1 Tim. 2:12 is shoved upon them and in some cases called “Jezebel”. So we have their stamp of approval when we defend the faith and prove what is false with other men as long as it does not involve them? Isn’t this called a “double standard?”
Forgotten Huldah
Yes, her name is Huldah. You might not be familiar with her, but she is mentioned in the Bible. Most likely you have never heard of her in any sermons. If you want to know anything about her, you’ll have to read the Bible for yourself.
Does anyone know that Huldah was the first woman to practice textual criticism on the Bible? She was the first person to interpret its text for men in power! Wow, I wonder if she was ever slapped with 1 Tim. 2:12 and called a Jezebel?
Huldah was called a “prophet.” She was a prophetess as well as Miriam, Deborah, and Isaiah’s wife, but we don’t hear much about Huldah. She is mentioned in 1 Kings 22 and repeated in 2 Chronicles 34. She was the key player in Judah’s history. During Josiah reign, the nation of Israel was in need of a revival in recovering its rootage. The temple was being repaired when workers found a scroll. The workers brought the scroll to Josiah for him to read. Josiah became grief-stricken and tore his clothes.
2 Kings 22:11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
13 Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
King Josiah sends the men listed in verse 12 to “enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah.” He needed to determine what “the words of this book that is found” actually meant. He needed an interpretation, so he sent his men, most likely to talk to God’s man, except that man turned out to be a woman.
14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her.
Notice that Huldah is called a prophetess and that she is married. Did God call her? Would God call a prophetess against the will of her husband? Did Shallum think he was blessed to have such a wife or did he sulk in a corner because “women should know their place”?
15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
“Thus saith the LORD God of Israel” – this woman was speaking for God, and she was speaking to men in authority. I personally think it’s a hoot that she says, “Tell the man that sent you to me.” That man was King Josiah! But compared to her communion with God, she was obviously not impressed who this man was.
16 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
Huldah, a woman, interpreted the scripture and pronounced God’s judgment.
17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
Huldah “authorizes” the Book. She declares the words of the Book to truly be the words of God. For the first time in recorded history, a writing is declared to be scripture. And Huldah, the female prophetess, was the one to do it!
Those men never doubted Huldah’s authority or pronouncement. They promptly returned to the King and told him all.
“The authority to pass judgment on this initial entry into the canon was given to a woman. At the beginning of the Bible we find Huldah; in her we discover the first scripture authority . . . How could we have lost sight of her all these years” (Swidler, p. 1783)
Look at the context of Huldah’s story. Josiah had blamed Judah in the past because of their fathers (II Kings 22:13). But Huldah rebuked those in the present (II Kings 22:17) for forsaking God.
And Huldah not only declared the authenticity of the Book, but she also interpreted its words. She prophesied against that present generation.
This passage and its sister passage in Chronicles, indicate three things.
- The King and the High Priest recognized Huldah as a legitimate authority to speak for the Lord God of Israel.
- Huldah had the authority to endorse the Book as God’s words.
- Huldah had the authority to interpret those words and apply them to that present situation – both to men and the nation.
What do conservative Christians do with Huldah? They ignore her. What authority God gave that woman! There is another woman who had authority.
Esther 9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.
Conservative Christians often do not have a biblical view of women in the ministry because they do not study the roles that women actually had in the Bible. Many actually believe and teach the women are not to have authority over men in any area of life – secular or religious. That belief, however, cannot be supported by scripture. For that matter, where it concerns the body of Christ, no one has any authority over another.
Yes, Huldah is such an important figure, but she is all but forgotten. Her fellow prophetess Deborah is also overlooked. Why? I believe that good men have misinterpreted key passages concerning women in the Body of Christ.
Now, I am a Bible Believer. Paul is clear that shepherds/elders are to be men. As far as women preaching, there is no prohibition against such. Being a preacher is not the same as being a shepherd/elder. Does not a woman “preach” every time she witnesses? Shouldn’t a woman with knowledge of the scripture be allowed to teach ANYONE who is willing to learn? (When one thinks about women preaching, the mental picture is of a woman behind a pulpit. God’s will and function for the ecclesia does not involve pulpits, stained glass windows, sound systems, pews, or elaborate buildings with a huge overhead. See: Leaving the Institutional Church)
Just men, or men and women?
Anyone who has been taught English grammar correctly knows that words like ‘man’ and very often even ‘he’ are gender inclusive words – they refer to both genders, not males only.
Gender inclusive language is all through the Bible. We ladies would be in trouble if this verse was only about males.
John 3:3
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
LET’S LOOK AT GALATIANS 6:1-7 TO REALIZE THAT WORDS LIKE “BRETHREN”/”MAN”/”HIMSELF” ETC., TO NOT MERELY REFER TO MALES ONLY, BUT TO MALES AND FEMALES ALIKE NORMALLY:
Galatians 6:1
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 2
“Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 3
“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 4
“But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 5
“For every man shall bear his own burden.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 6
“Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
Vs. 7
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? The answer is that it applies to BOTH men and woman.)
NOW LET’S LOOK AT 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-14 TO TRY AND UNDERSTAND HOW GOD USES BOTH MEN AND WOMEN IN THE BODY OF CHRIST TO FULFILL HIS MIGHT PLANS.
Vs. 1
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” (Is Paul addressing males only in this verse or are women included and do women have spiritual gifts too?)
Vs. 2
“Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.” (Is Paul addressing male Gentiles only, or both male and female?)
Vs. 3
“Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (Is Paul addressing males only here, or are women included?)
Vs. 4,5,6
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.”
(Is Paul addressing males only in these verses, or are women included? Does the Holy Spirit give spiritual gifts to women? Does “all in all” include women?)
Vs. 7,8,9,10,11
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” (Does this verse apply to men only or also to women? )
Vs. 12, 13, 14
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” (Women are also obviously members of the Body of Christ.)
LOOK AT WHAT PAUL SAID EARLIER IN THE BOOK OF 1 CORINTHIANS, WHERE HE MENTIONS THAT THERE ARE CLEARLY BOTH MEN AND WOMEN PRAYING AND PROPHESYING IN THE ASSEMBLY.
1 Corinthians 11:4
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.
NOW LET’S JUMP TO CHAPTER 14 AND LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING VERSES TO LEARN IF MEN AND WOMEN BOTH ARE BLESSED WITH SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND PROPHECY:
1 Corinthians 14:1
“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.” (This verse is about both men and women.)
Vs. 12
“Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the assembly.” (For men only or for women as well?)
Vs. 23,24
If therefore the whole assembly be come together into one place, . . . But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: (Of course here we see as well that both men and women alike can prophecy.)
1 Corinthians 14:27
“If any man speak . . .” (Paul is addressing ALL members of the assembly. In this chapter he lists the rules for speaking in tongues, which apply to both men and women.)
PIVOTAL PASSAGE
We come to a pivotal passage in 1 Corinthians 14:34. This passage is so abused to try and force women to be silent.
1 Corinthians 14:34-35
“Let your women keep silence in the assemblies: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the assembly.”
Prior to this Paul talked about spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophesy for edification and exhortation. In v. 24 he says, “but if ALL prophesy.” He did not distinguish between genders. His message was to the entire body of Christ, and he gave the order of how it is to be done because God is not the author of confusion. But as seen in the verse above, there seems to be a wrench thrown in the midst. Why all of a sudden is it a shame for women to speak in the assembly after what he just told them? What is also important to notice and is often overlooked is that the reference is to married women. What about the widows? What about the single women? Somehow something is not making sense here.
We must not forget why Paul is writing to them. In chapters 1-4 Paul writes about his ministry, reproof, and his visit. In chapters 5-6 he writes about what he heard and the things going on with these believers at Corinith. Now when we get to chapters 7-14, he is responding to questions and statements of what they WROTE to him. Note:
- 1Corinthians 7:1 Now concerning things whereof YOU WROTE UNTO ME…
- 1Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things offered unto idols…
- 1Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts… (Which does not say the nine gifts are only given to men.)
Please read 1 Cor. 14, verses 1-33 once again. Now when we get to verse 34, notice the sudden shift.
One of the things we must realize is that Paul was coming against Jewish legalism. Jesus’ worst enemies were the Pharisees and Sadducees because they had man-made traditions that went against the word of God. They did not permit women to teach in the assemblies or to even ask questions.
Now, what a majority of males have done is twist this to mean that all women are to learn from the males and just shut up.
Here is something else we must notice. Before v. 34, Paul had been speaking to the women and men and how believers are to function in the body of Christ where it concerned spiritual gifts.
What I believe in v.34 is that Paul continued to address the letter written to him, and he is shocked. In other words, what he said in verse 34 did not originate with him! What he has just quoted was not a command of God to Paul to the assembly. He was reading something these people made up! I will prove it to you. Read this verse carefully.
“Let your women be silence in the assemblies: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them as their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the assembly.”(vs. 34-35)
Here is the challenge. Where in the OT law does it say women have to be silent? WHAT LAW?
Paul knows there is no such law and is SHOCKED by what he is reading. How do we know? After Paul finishes reading he says,
“WHAT?”
Now either he lost his mind and is talking to himself, or he is questioning what he just stated.
“What? Came the word of God out from you? Or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” (v. 36-37)
Paul read about what they had to say about women and is asking if this commandment came from them. (“Also saith the law.”) It certainly came from them. It was something they made up! Paul knew it did not come from God and he let them know it. In v. 36 Paul says what he writes is from God and that they should listen to him rather than spread this false teachings.
In Chapter 12-15 Paul tells us how God wants men and women to operate in the Spirit when they are assembled together. If the women were to keep silent then he would have never included them in the matter of prophesy, praying in tongues, and interpretation. This is not to mention that Paul wants ALL to seek the gift of prophesy.
Authority in General When Sharing the Word of God
What I find interesting concerns the word “authority.” Some people seem to have this idea that a person must have many titles attached to his name or some ordination in order to be “authoritative” when it comes to expounding on the word of God. All Christians have their authority from Jesus – not in the sense to rule over anyone, but his/her responsibility to teach others about Christ. No Christian needs titles, ordination, and letters of recommendation to instruct others in the word of God.
Conclusion
God will not contradict Himself, but yet people will take isolated verses and give their own interpretation even if it contradicts the word of God on the whole. I have read comments such as:
“How can the women know the truth when the men can’t stand up for it? Before long, the women are using facebook as their pulpit, teaching men and rebuking them and say they need no longer a covering or head and man has no authority.”
Note that the above comment has nothing to do with Scriptures, but only with the Traditional Institutional Church mind-set that has been passed on for centuries. (See “Who Is Your Covering?”)
Or:
“Godly women who can keep silent who is patient, obedient, meek, gentle and most of all puts faith and trust in the Word speaks much more louder than a woman who thinks she has to have the last word, and has to teach the ignorant man and show him his error.
Or:
“Women shouldn’t be teaching because they are easily deceived.”
It is obvious that men can be easily deceived just as much as women. It doesn’t take a lot of reflection to realize this truth.
I am amazed at all the twisting of Scripture about women and are now applying it to a woman’s activity on such means of communication as Facebook. I didn’t realize the Christian men had the authority to rule Christian women on Facebook.
Nowhere in the word of God does He forbid a woman (single or married, and those wives with unsaved husbands) to keep their mouth shut in the sense that they are forbidden to use every opportunity, by any means of communication, to not let sin go un-rebuked and witness to men. Maybe they should keep their focus off the other man’s wife and read how the body of Christ is supposed to function together as a family.
Scriptures show ALL Christians, which include men and women, are verbally allowed to spread the gospel message and speak in the assembly.
“How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” 1Co_14:26
ALL Christians, men and women, are to contend for the faith.
Jude 1:3-4 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Word to the ladies: If you have ever been harassed by and wrongfully accused by certain men who tell you the ‘women keep silent and do not speak’ verses in order to try and keep you from sharing God’s truths, then I hope this Biblically meaty article encourages you to gently help show such men that this is clearly not the Lord’s will, and that God instead fully desires for women to share the Gospel and contend for the faith. I hope this article has helped reveal even more clearly to you the wonderful way that God has used faithful women in the past and up to today for His amazing and mighty purposes.
To the men: I hope you will speak the truth in love with any man that you might know who struggles with this subject and have been led to believe that only men are to contend for the faith while women are not to. I believe this is important because such men are seeking to hinder some faithful women of God from sharing truths and are thereby causing false gospels to spread among the lost and thereby jeopardizing more souls to hell.
We have God’s authority to preach boldly and confidently and are commanded to do so. It does not take a Bible degree and great education - it just takes the power of the Holy Spirit, knowledge of His truths, and a heart that truly loves God and man.
More later….
Filed under: General | Tags: Atonement, Punishment, Ransom, Redemption, Substitution, Suffer
Isaiah 53:1-7
By my friend Jonathan Whitehead
Undoubtedly, Isaiah 53 had a significant impact upon the hearts and minds of those who contributed to the production of the New Testament. In fact, every student of the New Testament that takes the opportunity to become familiar with this particular text will be greatly edified. Throughout the scope of the text we find that divine satisfaction and pleasure can be found in the sufferings of a righteous servant and that such an offering is a “gracious thing in the eyes of the Lord.” (1 Peter 2:23) There’s no doubt in my mind that the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is an important piece of literature within the Christian faith. However, I cannot say that such a feeling is mutual within the popular mechanics of Christian thought. Some would suppose that the text alone (without judicial ramifications) is not as inspiring as it should be and that we must superpose a greater message on top of the literal message so that we might find the prevailing message of modern Christendom’s “hidden” Messiah in Vicarious Atonement.
Christianity has irritated the Jewish religion and provoked their response to Isaiah 53. This has lead the modern Jewish movement to at least identify an application, if not the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. The views that are promoted today have not necessarily been accepted within the primitive Jewish community. In fact, the historical records reveal to us a great longing within the Jewish mind. They longed to understand, not necessarily the meaning, but the application of Isaiah 53. The meaning of the text had long been settled, but its application on the other hand was a different story. The historical record (Acts 8:26-40) bears witness to the fact that an evangelist of our Lord was given the opportunity to speak with a well-known and respected treasurer of the Queen of Ethiopia. The man’s name is unknown and is often referred to as the “Ethiopian Eunuch.” He was obviously a devout worshiper under the first covenant. On this particular day he had been meditating upon the words of Isaiah that are found within the text of our consideration. Phillip, the evangelist studied with this man, and after the text had been read aloud, the Eunuch asked; “About whom, I ask, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Even a man as devout and well-respected as this Eunuch lacked any sort of known fulfillment of this particular prophecy. Indeed, he understood the meaning of this passage but was at a loss of words when it came to it’s application. He asked; “Of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or someone else?” Thus, we see that the primitive Judeo-Christian mind of the first century did not suppose that there had been a satisfactory, uniformed, and authoritative understanding of the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 as we see within the Jewish religion today. The confident and modern Jewish position of Isaiah 53 has come about due to their great difficulty in addressing the primitive Christian faith.
Today, the Christian and Jewish battle over Jesus’ ministry is being fought on two different planets. While the Jews discuss the application of Isaiah 53, most Christians obscure it’s meaning. In this article I hope to secure the meaning of this particular text so that we might meet the Jews, once again, on the battlefield of the Christian faith. It is my firm conviction, based upon the empirical evidence (Apostolic Example), that an appeal to prophetic fulfillment is the most persuasive element within the Jewish mind (this is in contrast to the so-called necessity of expiation.) The impassible justice of God was foreign within the Jewish mind. In fact, any such appeal toward judicial satisfaction would have seemed to be in contradistinction to Jehovah’s revealed word in the Torah. A Jew ought to see that Jesus was the Christ because those things that were written of him had come to pass. Furthermore, when a Jew finds scriptural fulfillment in the person of Jesus, he’ll find the clarified teachings of Jehovah, redemption from the Old Testament law, and a compelling exhibition of God’s love.
It’s important for us to realize that the text of Isaiah 53 had no hidden or secret meaning that needed to be revealed in the New Testament. Admittedly the prevailing view that many Christians have toward the prophecy of Isaiah is deeply rooted in judicial substitution and divine vindication. However, and to the surprise of most, these principles are foreign to Isaiah 53 and can find no grounds within the sermons of the Apostles or our Lord. Luke provided us with an account of all that the Lord both began to do and to teach, yet the idea of divine satisfaction and vindication in the Lord’s death is entirely absent. Luke carried over into the Acts of the Apostles, giving us a detailed account of their missionary journeys along with a few sermons. However, in all the things that the Apostles taught, within the Acts of the Apostles, there’s not one hint of those Vicarious models of atonement. Never once did the Apostles appeal to the Jewish community by boasting in the idea that Jesus had “Paid it all” or that the Lord had poured out his “wrath” upon Jesus. The Apostles never stood up and preached something that was foreign to the Jewish religion, nor did they ever twist the scriptures to provide proof for their divine convictions (2 Peter 3:16). In Paul’s defense before King Agrippa he said;
“To this day I had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to the small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:22-23
If we allow our understanding of a particular text in the New Testament to twist the meaning of an Old Testament text then we’ve erred in our interpretation of the newer text. Often times it is supposed that the New Testament teaches that men under the first covenant never received absolute pardon, or if they did that it was only in prospect of the work that the Messiah would someday accomplish. However, if we are to make such an assumption we must first validate such a claim by either 1) Supplying an Old Testament affirmation or 2) Supposing that the topic of pardon had never been taught prior to the New Testament revelation. Unfortunately, such a modern claim fails to find its validity in either one of the two methods. Instead, it is a fabrication of a philosophy that has been rooted in the framework of judicial stipulations that only a lawyer could discover. Thus, in the modern Christian mind a Jew needs to become a Christian because God’s impassible attribute of Justice must be satisfied (and could only be satisfied in Jesus), when in reality a Jew needs to become a Christian because Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and that to reject the Christ is to reject Jehovah. This is the message that we see preached in the book of Acts. Peter told the men on the day of Pentecost that Jesus was the Christ and that they needed to repent because they had rejected the Christ. No one had ever been told to become a Christian becausethey had not really been forgiven, or that the only reason why they had been forgiven was because Jesus paid what they could not.
With all of that being said, I ask you to rid your mind of the modern rhetoric and allow the following text to speak for itself. Allow the text to have a practical meaning, one that is independent from the New Testament revelation and after you’ve apprehended the natural meaning of the text, ask yourself “Of who does this man speak?” Does Isaiah speak of the Nation, or a man, and if he speaks of a man, how then should this man’s days be prolonged if he should be crushed and put to death except he rise from the grave? (Vs. 10) This is the argument that the apostles made and this is the argument that convinced the Jews that Jesus was really the Christ (Acts 2:29-32).
Isaiah 53:1-12
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
To put this particular text within its proper perspective, let us first realize that the writer speaks of the suffering servant in third person – past tense. Thus the writer is being given a revelation of a man that has lived after and actually participated in the following events. He identifies himself as one of the guilty and is reflecting on his previous actions. Even though it is true that the speakers switch in the latter part of the text, it is still largely written from the third person perspective of those that had participated in the crucifixion of our Lord.
As we begin in verse 3 we noticed that the suffering servant was despised and rejected by men. Let us keep this at the forefront of our minds lest it slip away from us and lead us into error. It is strongly suggested today that Jesus was despised and rejected by the Father and that the Father took pleasure in punishing his Son Jesus for the crimes of others, but for now, let us only observe the fact that Jesus was rejected and despised by men. The suffering servant was well acquainted with grief and sorrow, and much like Job, his friends hid their faces from him supposing that God had found some sort of fault in this man. While It is true that the Lord acquired a great following during his earthly ministry, it is also true that all of those that followed him also forsook him when the time came for him to suffer and die upon the cross. Even our beloved Peter denied the Lord three times before the cock had crowed. The writer acknowledges the fact that Jesus deserved to be “Esteemed” before men, but that he had not received any such praises. More will be said of this in a moment.
“Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows…” The writer speaks of an undisputed fact. “Surely” he says, the Lord bore our grief’s and carried our sorrows but before the wandering mind barrels down the road of substitution, let us consider the historical understanding of verse 4. Let us ask ourselves “What did the Jews believe that Isaiah 53:4 meant?” It’s important for you to understand that the bearing of grief’s and sorrows has nothing to do with judicial substitution, nor does it suppose that these infirmities have been transferred to the suffering servant. To validate my claims I ask you to consider the Evangelists words in Matthew 8:17 wherein he speaks of this particular fulfillment. It may sound appealing to say that the Lord “Bore my grief’s and carried my sorrows when he died on the cross” but this couldn’t be further from the truth. The text speaks of a limited number of people, and only those who lived and walked during the days of Jesus. Jesus bore “their” grief’s and carried away “their” sorrows through his miraculous healing. Thus, the historical interpretation of such a text has always been that the Lord bore away the infirmities of men when he healed the sick and fed the hungry.
A moment ago, I wrote that the Lord did not receive the esteem that he deserved from the people. While he deserved praises, he received cursing. This brings us into the latter part of verse four wherein we read that they “esteemed” him stricken and smitten by God. “We esteemed him not…” but instead “We did esteem him stricken and smitten of God.” This fact is undeniably true to those who are familiar with the gospel story. Who can deny this attitude by those who crucified our Lord? Even those who were being crucified with our Lord questioned his divine mission saying; “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” Others said, “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross… He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” Earlier, a once blind man defended the Lord’s divine origin after he had been healed. He said, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” as he testified to the fact that “God does not hear the prayers of a sinner!” Thus, the Jewish mind could not fathom the idea of a righteous man suffering such a horrible fate. If God were with him, then why does it appear that he has left him? Was he not esteemed stricken and smitten by God? To answer in the negative is to ignore every source of historical evidence. However, if on the other hand, we suppose that their evaluation of Jesus’ fate was true then we’ve essentially repudiated the hope of the Gospel. If we suppose that their evaluation was true then we’ve essentially discovered something that Jesus did not know. Jesus rested his soul in the hands of a Father who judges righteously and who would reward a faithful servant with eternal life and fellowship if he should choose to suffer to the point of death at the hands of an offender (1 Peter 2:23; Rev. 2:10.) 1) If Jesus were truly smitten by God and punished for another man’s crime’s, how then could he continue to entrust himself into the hands of a Father who judges unjustly? 2) How can we entrust our souls in the hands of a Father who might punish his faithful children for the crimes of another?
Verse 5 identifies the fact that Jesus was punished and some would suppose that God was punishing him. However, men, because of their envy, were punishing Jesus. He was wounded and crushed because of their transgressions and this punishment brought about peace and healing. For many years after the prophecy of Malachi the Jews had been seen as those that had been forsaken by God, and the Jews partially believed it. They longed for the inheritance of their promised redemption and some (that did not believe in the resurrection) feared that the sting of death would hinder them from observing the coming of the kingdom. They were broken and they needed to be healed. They needed to know that their God had not forgotten his promise to Abraham. Thus, the death of Jesus brought about this confirmation and fulfillment of those promises. The Jews realized, after the resurrection of our Lord, that the Lord had not forgotten about His promises and that he sent his Son Jesus to gather all men together into one body that they might reign together with him. The chastisement of our Lord healed their broken heart and brought peace to those who feared death and were shut up by the Mosaic Law.
The writer then speaks in verse six of an apostasy. He identifies the fact that the Jews had erred from the fold of God. This is also confessed by our Lord when he states that he came to “Seek and to save that which is lost” and that he has come “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Nevertheless, the Lord had many more sheep who were not part of the Jewish community (the Gentiles) that were also lost. However, the force of the statement in verse six is to show that their apostasy lead to the punishment of Jesus and that the Lord allowed their iniquity to fall upon him. All that is meant by this expression is that the Lord allowed their iniquities to fall upon Jesus. Similar language is used frequently in the Old and New Testaments, namely with Job and Joseph: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away!” “What? Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord and shall we not receive evil?” It was not God that was punishing Job, but God lifted his hand of divine protection. It could be said that the Lord laid upon Job the iniquities of the Chaldean and Sabean robbers simply because he allowed him to suffer. This however does not mean that sins were imputed to Job, nor that he suffered as a penal substitution. Neither does this mean that the Lord poured out his wrath upon Job. It’s quite clear that many people have read much into the sacrificial language of the Old and New Testaments.
The writer continues to explain the way in which the Lord bore the sins of many. It is said that the Lord bore their sin because he took their punishment like a man. He did not open his mouth but allowed his accusers to bind him up and carry him to the slaughter. It may be beneficial to the honest heart to make a comparison between Isaiah 53:7 and Romans 8:36 wherein this particular text is quoted. However, Romans 8:36 speaks of Christians that are being lead into the slaughter of martyrdom. Romans 8:36 is not teaching that Christians are slaughtered by the Father and neither is Isaiah 53:7 teaching that Jesus was slaughtered by his Father.
More later….
Filed under: General | Tags: Emotions, Evil, Forgiving, Memories, Sexual Abuse, Unforgiveness
Though forgiving may be a very difficult thing to do, we must forgive just the same. If we do not forgive, God will not forgive us as recorded in the Scriptures. I hope as you read my testimony that you would know God can do the same for you. If you are having a problem forgiving someone who has hurt you deeply, just know that God looks for the willing heart and He’ll take care of the rest. To God be the glory.
Someone stated, “No murder, rapes and abortions do not occur against God’s will.”
I am going to share a little about myself, and what I share, I hope it encourages those who may have gone through similar circumstances.
As a young child, going into my teen years, I was betrayed and humiliated over a period of time by a Catholic priest and a relative. Yes, I’m talking about sexual abuse. It affects a person emotionally, physically, relationally and spiritually.
Those who have been abused know what it means to suffer silently, and how shame and guilt become your constant companion. It was years before I opened up to someone and told of my past. It was two years before that that I tried to commit suicide on two different occasions because the pain was so unbearable. Then I had become a Christian. It was a time of great joy for a couple of years, that is, until it was drilled in my head that God is in control of everything and what happened to me was no mistake. I was finding this hard to reconcile and started dwelling on my past again. And once again it brought me through great depression. I used to have a saying and that was, “I have to climb up just to reach bottom.” The thing was, I could never reach the bottom. I could not get out of this depression. The past haunted me once again, because I found out that God was ultimately responsible for what happened to me!!
Again suicide went through my mind because the pain was once again unbearable, but I knew in my heart this was wrong. It was not an option. I continued to be depressed and my anger towards God grew. It wasn’t until one day a friend suggested I see this certain Christian sister who happened to be a counselor. She encouraged me to talk with her. It took everything for me to visit this sister, because if there is one thing I didn’t want to do, it was to discuss what happened to me, but I knew this is why I was here. My feet seemed to drag and I felt as if I were outside my body. I was just numb at this point.
She got me to open up and I explained to her my past, but my question is what I REALLY wanted answered. After I finished I looked at her, sobbing like an idiot, and asked, “WHY DID GOD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME?” I do believe this was my biggest problem at that point. She looked at me for a moment and said, “Sandy, God did not allow this to happen to you, what I mean is,” and I will never forget what she said next, “God gave every person a free will. Man chose to do that to you. Don’t you think God was grieving everytime He saw you being abused? Don’t you think He was crying when you were crying – that He was hurting because you were hurting?” If I were sobbing before, I was uncontrollable now. My heart sank to the floor because I had accused God unfairly. I was begging His forgiveness.
I don’t remember anything after that, but I will tell you this much – it was a great relief. I realized at that moment that God wishes no harm on His children, and it grieves and angers Him to see innocent children suffer at the hands of evil men. It was a relief to know that God gave man a free will and He was not responsible for their evil acts, and knowing that God loved me all this time.
Now that I had that dealt with, then came the problem of forgiving my abusers. They were guilty of criminal acts, and forgiving them seemed that it would only reduce the significance of their crime, because in my mind they should be punished. So now I was harboring unforgiveness towards my abusers and God was not going to let me get away with this.
It so happened that one night, in my living room alone, I was reading my Bible. I came to the part where Jesus talked about how we must forgive others from our heart or we won’t be forgiven. I didn’t want that to happen – not be forgiven by God our Father. I struggled very hard that night with those verses. I tossed and turned and finally went to sleep. The next morning I got ready for work, but the thoughts and pain about my past did not go away, neither did the verses I read the night before. I knew what I had to do, but just wasn’t sure how to do it. As I was walking to work I said this short prayer, “Lord, I know what I read last night and you know I don’t feel like forgiving these people, but you said I must and I know that’s what I have to do. So I forgive them by faith, please supply the emotions.” Within a few minutes I can’t begin to tell you about the weight that came off my shoulders. It was the difference between night and day! God eliminated the pain from my past. Oh yes, there were times when the enemy would try to bring it back, but this time no pain with the memory, and I would say, “Yes, but they are forgiven.” It only took a couple of times and have never been bothered since!
Today people would call me a “survivor.” I wouldn’t call myself that, but rather an “overcomer!”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom. 12:21
It is good to forgive!
More later….
Filed under: General | Tags: Conduct, Damnation, Forgiveness, Good deeds, Motives, Repentance, Resurrection, Righteousness, Wicked deeds, Woks
Before Jesus came to earth to preach the Kingdom of God, we see that God always forgave sin if the person repented. This is seen throughout the Old Testament (ex. Jonah 3). If a wicked person repented, God remembered their former sins no more (Ezk. 18:21). God always gave room for mercy, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. God did not hold a legalistic account of good deeds vs. bad deeds. God looked at the entirety of a person’s character and conduct. He looks at the intent of the heart which has visible expression in one’s life. In other words, not only will our deeds be judged, but the motive behind the deeds. Some people may think that just because they did some good deed that it will score points with God. They will use deeds as fire insurance rather than a heart that is sold out for God. These ‘good deeds’ without the right motive is like a stench in God’s nostrils, just at the sacrifice rituals in the Old Testament were a stench to God when there was no true repentance in the person’s heart.
However, conduct with the right motive does matter with God. The following verses show that Jesus made it clear that conduct matters. I will quote the first verse, and you may look up the other passages.
“The hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29)
The other verses are:
Matt. 25:31-46 (What we do to others);
Matt. 7:21-23; cf. Luke 13:27; Matt. 12:33-37; (Words and deeds reflect our inner goodness or evilness, and that God will judge us based on them.)
Matt. 19:17-19 (In talking with the rich man, Jesus shows that the man should live in a certain way in order to receive a positive final judgment.)
Matt. 16:27 (It is clear that moral conduct forms the criterion for eternal life. People will be repaid according to how they have lived and behaved.)
Luke 6:37-38 (see also Matt. 7:2. People will receive the consequences of their behavior.)
Matt. 6:12-15, 18:21-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37, 11:4 (God forgives our sins on the condition we forgive others.)
Rom. 2:6-8 (Paul also shows that God will judge according to our character and lives.)
Rom. 2:15-16 (People’s own consciences will also bear witness to the righteousness of their deeds. God will judge the secret thoughts of all.)
1 Cor. 6:9-10; Col. 3:25; 2 Cor. 11:14-15 (God will punish all the wicked and immoral.)
Col. 3:5-6 (Paul says to cease doing the things God hates so that we will not be condemned. “Put to death”)
Rom. 8:13 (How we can live in order to pass judgment)
Rom. 6:23 (Paul warned to cease sinning for the wages of sin is death.)
1 Cor. 11:32 (We are disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.)
Gal. 6:8-9 (Receiving eternal life depends on whether we continue to do what is right.)
2 Cor. 5:10 (We will be judged based on our conduct.)
Peter also has the same attitude.
1 Pet. 1:17 (Judged according to deeds.)
Acts 10:34-35 (Peter moves away from the belief that God only loves and rewards the Jews. God shows no partiality.)
1 Pet. 3:9-12; Psa. 34:12-16 (Peter believed as well that final judgment is based on one’s conduct and advises and warns others to be careful how they live.)
2 Pet. 3:1-14 (Turn from evil and do good. We are to live lives in holiness and godliness.)
2 Pet. 2:6-13 (God will punish the wicked and aid those who do good, both now and ultimately at the Day of Judgment.)
Rev. 20:12; Rev. 22:12; Rev. 2:23; Rev. 21:8 (Final judgment according to works.)
The New Testament clearly shows that God will judge ALL people according to their deeds at the final judgment. God will reward the good and condemn the evil. Matt. 12:33-37; Rom. 2:14-16; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:8-9; Col. 3:24-25; 1 Tim. 5:24-25; 1 Pet. 3:10-12; 2 Pet. 2:9)
God will judge according to character and behavior. (1 Cor. 4:5; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 20:12)
God will favorably judge those who do good deeds (Matt. 19:17; Luke 6:37-38; 1 John 4:17), but condemn the wicked. (Matt. 7:21-23; Luke 12:47-48; 13:27; Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 1:18; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 2 Cor. 11:14-15; Eph. 5:3-5; Col. 3:5-6; 2 Pet. 2:12-13; 2 Pet. 3:7; Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 3:15-16, 21:8)
Judgment will apply equally to all nations and Jews will be judged no differently from the Gentiles.(Matt. 25:31-46; Rom. 2:6-11, 2:14-16, 14:10-12; Acts 10:34-35; Col. 3:24-25; 1 Pet. 1:17)
The Scriptures are clear that one will be judged according to their deeds (works). This truth is spoken of as heresy today in mainline Christianity.
The early Christians continued to affirm this truth about one’s conduct. Here is a sample where it agrees with Scripture:
The Epistle of Barnabas (written around 100 AD)
“The Lord will judge the world, playing no favorites. Each will receive according to what he has done. If he is good, his righteousness will precede him; if evil, the reward for his wickedness will be before him.” (Barnabas 4)
First Clement (written around 100 AD)
“Take heed beloved [for there will be] condemnation of us all unless we walk worthy of Him, and with one mind do those things which are good and well-pleasing in His sight.” (1 Clement 21)
“Since then all things are seen and heard [by God], let us fear Him, and forsake those wicked works which proceed from evil desires; so that…we may be protected from the judgments to come.” (1 Clement 28)
Ignatius (written around 110 AD)
“All things have an end, there is set before us life upon our observance of God’s precepts, but death as the result of disobedience, and every one, according to the choice he makes, shall go to his own place.” (Magnesians 5)
“Whoever follows [self-restraint] will be fortunate in his life, because he will abandon all his evil deeds, believing that if he abandons every evil desire, he will inherit eternal life.” (The Shepherd of Hermas 16:4)
“Do no evil in your life, but serve as the Lord’s slave with a pure heart, keeping his commandments and proceeding in his injunctions; and let no evil desire rise up in your heart…if you do those things and fear [God] and are self-restrained from every evil deed, you will live to God.” (The Shepherd of Hermas 54:5; Similitude 5.1.5)
Second Clement (written around 150 AD)
“[God will] redeem each of us, according to our deeds.” (2 Clement 17)
“Therefore, brethren, by doing the will of the Father, and keeping the flesh holy, and observing the commandments of the Lord, will we obtain eternal life.” (2 Clement 13)
Justin Martyr
“[Christians] hold this view, that it is alike impossible for the wicked, the covetous, the conspirator, and for the virtous, to escape the notice of God, and that each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his actions.” (Justin Martyr, First Apology XII. This is a recurring theme throughout both of Justin’s Apologies)
Irenaeus (written around 165 AD)
“Knowing, my beloved Marcianus, your desire to walk in godliness, which alone leads man to life eternal, I rejoice with you…” (Irenaeus, Proof of Apostolic Preaching 1)
Theiphius of Antioch (Apology to Autolycus, written around 170 AD)
“Obeying the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for himself life everlasting. For God has given us a law and holy commandments; and everyone who keeps these can be saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption.” (Theophilus Autolychus 2.27)
“He who acts righteously shall escape the eternal punishments, and be thought worthy of the eternal life from God.” (Theophilus Autolychus, XIV)
As we can see, these early Christians agree with Scripture were our conduct does matter when we face the final judgment. Jesus made this very clear as well as the apostles after the death of Christ on the cross. The message did not change. At the final judgment God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
More later….
Filed under: General | Tags: Death, Encouragement, Hurtful, Life, Prodigal Son, Sheep, Venom, Words
Paul says, “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips.” (Romans 3:10)
Whoever said, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me,” must have never been involved in interpersonal relationships.
The tongue in itself is not sinful. The tongue holds no moral quality, but yet, how it is used can bring life or death. It can tear down or build up. It can deceive, slander and discourage. What comes from the tongue and lip is the venom of asps. That is a venomous snake! This venom, when it starts to work its way in the body, brings about pain, sleepiness, heaviness and eventually physical death.
Have you been injected with the venom of asps? It may come from parents, siblings, spouse, co-workers, strangers, friends, your children and your neighbors.
The thing about being injected with this venom is that it brings about a quick death, on the other hand, words that are spoken in haste and in self-righteous pride kills one slowly because they are remembered in the heart and mind of the offended. Instead of timely words bringing comfort, encouragement and peace, it sows discord, discouragement, division, bitterness and falsehood.
All Christians at one time or another are going to face misfortune, calamity, or distress. Jesus didn’t say our life will always be joyful and bliss, but will be filled with many difficulties as well.
Did you know that one of those difficulties will come simply because you choose to live a godly life? Jesus said that those who live godly will be persecuted.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for there is the kingdom of heaven.”
In this case one will be persecuted just because they are living a godly life!
Paul repeats this in the book of Timothy,
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Tim. 3:12)
Those who live in an ungodly home or working with ungodly co-workers or live among their ungodly neighbors, somebody is going to make some kind of derogatory statement about our faith or how we live. Some might make comments, in fun of course, and with others sometimes more serious. Some family members will be outright angry with you; whether it is spouse or children, because you have set a standard that you will live and abide by.
The enemy is working very hard to distract us, and puts forth great effort of trying to get us to turn away from our God. I have experienced this at times and even recently. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel, but something inside me shouts “NO!” So what do I do? To be honest, I have a good cry. Not silently weeping, I’m talking audibly crying like a baby when it hits me hard in those very trying times as my heart earnestly seeks to hear a special word from God.
The Bible says the tongue is a very powerful thing and has much to say about that little instrument. There are about eight descriptions of the tongue in the Scriptures. Five of them are very destructive and three are good. The five descriptions of the tongue used in a destructive way are:
- A razor (Ps. 52:2)
- Poison (James 3:8)
- Sword (Ps. 64:3)
- Deadly Arrow (Jer. 9:8)
The three good descriptions are:
- Choice Silver (Prov. 10:20)
- Health or healing (Prov. 12:18)
- Tree of life (Prov. 15:4)
I had made mentioned of how “sheep bite.” Someone responded that true sheep don’t bite. It’s the wolves who bite. After I thought about it for a while, I have come to realize that person is correct. I can understand hateful words from the unsaved, but what about people who supposedly call themselves Christians? True sheep will not attack, criticize, and ostracize those facing trials in life. This is not a way to share burdens or to weep with those who weep.
Satan is going to hit us hard at times. He wants to numb us in our walk and he’ll use anyone he can, including so-called Christians. They want to inject us with their poisonous venom to make us weak and fill us with doubts. He throws accusations and condemnation at us through his servants in hopes of getting us to give up.
But the Lord knows how to touch His own through His own. I have had a few emails sent to me with encouraging words and one in particular who is going through the same trial. There was also one email where the person said, “I believe we can comfort others because God comforts us. If you can imagine yourself two years from now, comforted and healed, meeting a woman who is going through what you are going through now, and you helping her in a heart-felt way, from experience, that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to relate to her on a deep level.”
And then I received an email from a woman who inspired me to write this. She could not express her grief that she shares with me, a mom, a royal daughter to royal daughter of our mighty King. This woman expressed that she just feels numb when she thinks about my heartbreak.
It’s very hard for a parent to watch their offspring make the wrong decisions in life; taking the road of irresponsibility and getting involved with all kinds of immorality and surrounded by people who don’t really care. It brings us a little closer to God in understanding His heart and how His heart must ache when His children walk away from Him. At the same time we must make our own choices as well. We must continue to live our lives to honor God even though others do not see the need, even within our own family. The parable that Jesus tells of the father of the prodigal son is very close to my heart.
There are times we have to let our offspring go and let it be a matter of sink or swim. Either they will come to their senses or they will die from their riotous living. But like the father of the prodigal son, he must have had thoughts go through his mind that pass through ours as well like, I wonder what my son or daughter is doing now? Is she/he in trouble? Who is she/he with at this moment? What are they doing? Not only that, you think back on the times when they were younger and so innocent and you were the most important person in their life, relying on you for guidance and daily needs. You remember those times they snuggled in your arms and were safe. Then the troubling questions enter and you ask yourself if you could have done things differently. Did I do the right thing? Where did I go wrong? But now they have reached that point in life where they must decide how they are going to live, and we must let go. Like the father, we will shed the tears and just have to wait; the outcome may be joyous or we might have to face tragedy.
However, I feel sorry for those who cannot understand another’s pain; people who come into your life with unkind and thoughtless words, even from people you don’t know on a personal level. People who think they have the solutions to all life’s problems, and make accusations that are not true.
Jesus says, “But I say to you that every idle word, whatever men may speak, they shall give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.”
Speaking words of encouragement is like choice silver, health, and a tree of life. Words of encouragement are refreshing to the soul and help give us strength to continue. All of us must watch our words, even when restoring someone who may be overtaken in sin. We can speak the truth, but we can also speak it in love. It doesn’t say to restore another with accusations and rudeness, but in meekness. One may use Jesus as an example to excuse their rough words on others, but Jesus was harsh on the Pharisees, not everybody is a Pharisee.
All of us are going to face trials in life, and many of us are in it now, but what a shame when we cannot bear our hearts out to one another in fear of the venom attack of the snakes out there who claim to be Christians.
Someone wrote something this morning which said,
“God has a special way of taking you through hard times and difficult seasons, and then bringing back to you, even in a greater way, the things that you thought you lost forever. Encourage one another, even more so as we see the Day quickly approaching.”
Things are not getting better in the world today. The days are drawing to a close. We never know who we may touch with our words and how it will affect them. Will we bring life or will we bring death? Will we cause others to doubt? Will our words make them stumble? Will our words cause them to lose faith? Will they be words of healing and reconciliation?
Yes, we will have our moments of joy and celebration along with our times of trials and testing.
Some may see this as a trifle matter, but God has a lot to say about the tongue. It will not be until one has been injected with its venom at their time of trial and testing that they will not find it a trivial matter.
Just knowing that someone stands with us in prayer can be enough to not let go of the anchor of our soul. Barnes says of Hebrews 6:19,
“Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger. So with the soul of the Christian. In the tempests and trials of life, his mind is calm as long as his hope of heaven is firm. If that gives way, he feels that all is lost.”
Always hang onto the anchor in spite of what people will say to try and destroy our hope, because ultimately God is at work in our lives.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
More later….
Filed under: General | Tags: Abide in Christ, Believes, Commandments, Doctrine, Holy Spirit, Law of Christ, Obedience, Righteousness, sin, Unbelief
Paul said, “Bear one another’s burden, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)
What is the law of Christ? The law of Christ is the body of commands and teachings He taught to His disciples and they in turn were to teach every new disciple. (Matt. 28:20)
Paul equated Christ’s law to God’s law. (1 Cor. 9:21)
“To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.”
Paul told the Christians in Galatia to carry each other’s burdens, and in doing so they would fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)
Paul also said such things as “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” (Col. 3:16)
What is the word of Christ?
It has to do with everything Jesus taught and commanded! I have heard people try to get away with what Jesus taught by claiming it belongs to another dispensation in the future; that what Christ taught cannot be applied doctrinally to the Christians in the Church Age.
The word “doctrine” simply means “teaching or instruction.” It is not some mystical word that is hard to grasp. Whatever Jesus taught applied to the apostles, to those at that time, and to us! If one does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, he does not have God.
2 John 1:9 says,
“Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
As one author has well stated,
“It seems strange that men should forbid Jesus the privilege of teaching, during His earthly ministry, and great principles governing man’s relation to God – not only during the few remaining days of His brief earthly ministry, but throughout the age to follow, for which He was even then preparing His disciples. It seems even stranger that men who so easily reject much of our Lord’s later teaching as ‘not applicable to the present dispensation’ do not hesitate to accept much of His earliest teaching (to Nicodemus, for example) as being fully applicable to the present age. (One friend, in conversation with the author, even denied that our Lord’s words in John 15 have any bearing on the question of our relation to Christ today, since they were spoken ‘before Calvary’ – a few hours! What delicate, fragile hairs skilled ‘rightly dividers’ can sometimes neatly split with one swift, sure stroke of their hermeneutical broadaxe!)
It is true that Jesus made reference to certain legal and ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic economy which are not applicable today. But it is also true that He enunciated cardinal principles governing man’s spiritual relation to God which are as valid today as the moment of utterance. One of these principles, according to His teaching in the Parable of the Law of Forgiveness, is that true repentance toward God is inseparably associated with our attitude toward our fellow men and cannot exist apart from a charitable, forgiving spirit toward others.
Such true repentance, like sincere faith and the faithful retention of the saving word of the Gospel, is necessary, not merely for a fleeting moment at the occasion of one’s conversion, but continually and habitually, as an essential condition of forgiveness and salvation. ‘So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,’ warned Jesus, ‘if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.’ It is possible, warned Jesus, that Peter and others who have known the forgiving grace of God might forfeit that forgiveness. The forgiving grace of God cannot dwell in bitter, unforgiving hearts. He who refuses to forgive his brother has no real sense of need for the forgiveness of God and no just claim on His gracious forgiveness. ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’”
What does Jesus expect from us?
Jesus expects us to obey Him. He was not suggesting it, nor did He say it was for another dispensation. Jesus said true believers are those who obey Him. Jesus said if you love Him, keep His commandments (John 14:15).
We are to abide in the doctrine of Christ. When we abide in the doctrine of Christ, we are fulfilling the law of Christ and it shows that we have both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)
God’s will is expressed in the Law of Christ.
The law of Christ is anything Jesus taught in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and is considered the will of the Father. (Matt. 12:50)
Jesus said whoever hears these sayings (of Jesus), and DOES THEM, is likened to a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matt. 7:24)
The teachings of Jesus come from the Father.
Jesus said His teaching were not His own, but came from the Father. (John 7:16-17) Everything Jesus taught and commanded came from God. (John 8:28; John 12:49-50; John 14:10; John 14:24; John 14:31) Jesus obeyed the Father perfectly. Everything Jesus did was the will of God.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Teach them to obey all that I commanded you. By teaching others to obey all that Jesus commanded, is teaching the will of God.
The law of Christ is a law of the heart and mind.
When one starts talking about how we should obey Jesus, immediately the cry is, “You are teaching a works salvation!” Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible never says one can earn his salvation, but what the Bible does say iS to WORK OUT your own salvation (Php. 2:12). You can’t work out what you don’t have! On the other hand, all they teach is that one can’t help but sin every single day in thought, word, and deed. Throughout both Testaments God wants people to forsake wickedness. Jesus told people to “go and sin no more,” and Paul said, “Awake to righteouness and sin not!” But on every side we are attacked by Satan’s followers who say you can keep sinning and never die (the same lie from the Garden). Just listen to this clip ”Today’s Gospel” of what is being taught out there, and hear how God’s word refutes them!
The secret to living a holy life, free from the bondage of sin, is LOVE. The purity of your actions is not only from the mind, but from the heart. What is in your heart will fill your mind as well. Jesus called the teachers of the law and Pharisees hypocrites. They were beautiful on the outside, but inside were full of dead men’s bones. People, from the outside, can appear as righteous but inside are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matt. 23:28) It is from out of the heart that proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matt. 15:19). Jesus is not looking just for external actions to be pure, but his desire is for us to be pure in heart and mind as well.
Will the Holy Spirit be given to those who do not obey Jesus - who claim to continually sin everyday in thought, word, and deed?
Jesus said the Holy Spirit will only be given to those who obey Him.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.” (John 14:15-16)
This is corroborated by Peter.
And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:32)
John tells us,
“And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” (1 John 3:24)
The Holy Spirit whom God has given abides in those who keep the commandments of Jesus! For those who claim to sin everyday in thought, word, and deed cannot have the Holy Spirit, for they do not obey God. They even write off what Jesus said as for another dispensation and therefore it doesn’t apply to them doctrinally! Why? Because it will knock down the wall of a false teaching called Unconditional Eternal Security! When you listen to all these false teachers, and get rid of all the fluff in their sermons, it all boils down to one thing…..you can keep on sinning and you won’t die! It’s the same lie the Serpent told Eve in the Garden.
The Bible is clear that if you don’t obey and abide in the doctrine of Christ, you do not belong to Christ, nor do you have the Holy Spirit. (2 John 1:9; Rom. 8:9)
Jesus said whoever obeys His commands, he is the one who loves Him. And He who loves Jesus loves the Father. Again, if anyone loves Jesus, he will obey His teachings. (John 14:21; John 14:23)
The reverse side is true just as well. Jesus said those who do not love him do not keep His words. (John 14:24)
Jesus’ love is conditional as long as we continue to obey.
Jesus’ love is NOT unconditional. Note the condition in the words of Jesus,
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:10)
Being friends with Jesus is also conditioned upon our obedience.
“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:14)
If we hold to the teachings of Christ, we are the real disciples of His.
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
We are assured by Jesus we will never see death if we keep His word.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” (John 8:51)
It is obedience to the teachings (keeping His word) that causes the blessings. Just as blessings were promised for obedience to the law of Moses, so are the blessings promised to us based on our obedience to Christ.
One cannot have salvation without repentance followed with obedience.
The Scripture says,
“And having been perfected, He (Jesus) became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,” (Heb. 5:9)
It doesn’t say salvation is given to those who sin every day in thought, word, and deed. God does not want people to sin. He tells people to forsake their sins and follow Him. Jesus commanded that all men to repent, but modern man will tell you repentance is not part of the Gospel. It’s a lie. God wants repentance preached (Luke 5:32; Luke 24:47; Acts 20:21, etc. etc.).
There is a “godly sorrow.” “For godly sorrow worketh repentance TO SALVATION not to be repented of;” (2 Cor. 7:10)
Jesus said of the Holy Spirit,
“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” (John 16:8)
And as we read above, God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. (Acts 5:32) When a person feels the conviction of the Holy Spirit about his sinful condition, he can shrug it off, or he’ll come to God to forgive him of such a sinful life style. He will want pardon through the mercy of God. He knows his only hope is through Jesus who provided a way for his salvation and freedom from sin. He will hate his sin because he can see what it has done to him and where it will send him. He will not have a desire to do it anymore. At that point of repentance, he wants to give up sin and not do it again. Some people may be bothered for weeks under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, some may be a few days, and for some it may be on the very day (process of repentance). He will not have rest until he comes to that crucial point of “godly sorrow” that leads to salvation. He has to believe (faith) that God is able to forgive him of all the sins he has committed up to that point in his life, and his heart must be dead set against sinning again, which it would be if he is truly under godly sorrow. Jesus came to set us free from sin, that it no longer has to have dominion over us. His repentance will be proven by his deeds (Acts 20:26). One’s deeds (obedience – NOT disobedience) will prove his repentance! God will give that person strength if he will obey Him. He gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. From there, as he reads the Scriptures (needs to grow in the faith), he will be warned not to go back to the way he once walked. He can quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). The Scripture shows us certain sins will not let one inherit the kingdom of God, but instead lead one to eternal doom (Gal.5:19-21; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; Eph. 5:3-6; Rev. 21:8, etc.). The Bible doesn’t say we work FOR our salvation, but it does say to WORK OUT our own salvation, and that with fear and trembling! (Php. 2:12).
Salvation is conditional upon the fact that we continue to abide in Jesus. One who abides in Jesus will not sin. Remember, Jesus said if you love Him you will obey Him and His teachings. The Scriptures tell us,
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
The Scriptures also say,
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4)”In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” (2 Thess. 1:8)
And you want to claim that you SIN everyday in thought, word and deed? This is simply being disobedient!
Which one is it – believing or obeying?
Some Scripture passages say salvation is a result of obedience while other texts say salvation is through faith. Is this a contradiction? No. Paul said,
“By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: (Rom. 1:5)
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Eph. 2:8)
Faith comes first and obedience is the evidence of the faith. The Gospel is to be obeyed for salvation sake.
“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” (2 Thess. 1:8)
Disobedience is manifested in unbelief.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
“And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. (Heb. 3:18-19)
So if you are disobedient, sinning everyday in thought, word, and deed, you are walking in unbelief. Among the sins that will send one into the Lake of Fire, the “unbelieving” is one of them.
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
(Rev. 21:8)
The Bible is clear that a past moment of acceptance of Christ does not guarantee anyone eternal salvation regardless how they live afterward. If they don’t continue in the faith they will suffer the consequences in Hell for all eternity.
Scriptures say that there will be Christians who will depart from the faith (departing from the faith doesn’t happen to lost people!) (1 Tim. 4:1). The widows turned from Christ and started following Satan (1 Tim. 5:11-15). Demas is another example. He was a traveling companion of Paul (Col. 4:14; Phm. 1:24). They worked together and endured various troubles and persecutions preaching the kingdom of God. But what happened to Demas? Paul said, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica;…” (2 Tim. 4:10). Demas, a saved man, fell away and went back to loving this present world. He loved the world more than God. The god of this world is Satan! (2 Cor. 4:4). Demas got deceived and it affected his behavior. In his unrepentant state, he lost his salvation for he did not endure! (1 John 2:15; James 4:4)
Those who obey Jesus’s commands live in him. Paul said to examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). John corroborates Paul by saying, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” (1 John 3:24)
Those who have a true saving faith in Christ will obey His teachings and commands. Obedience is natural evidence of saving faith. Those who are disobedient display their lack of saving faith. Jesus NEVER asks us to do something we cannot do. If you love Jesus, you will obey Him, and to obey Him is fulfilling the law of Christ.
More later….
