Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.

It’s hard to remember that everything that happens to us is “Father filtered” and permitted only for our benefit. For God is working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

The preceding is a literal translation. Your Bible might read a little differently, but Paul’s intention was to show that God is actively involved in our lives, watching over us and only allowing things that will ultimately benefit us to occur in our lives. The catch is in the word we translate as love. Of the four Greek words Paul could have used for love, he chose agapeo, the one that describes being completely given over to the object of one’s affection, regardless of circumstance or outcome.  It’s not enough just to know who God is.  The promise only applies to those who actually know Him and love Him on a personal level.

Lots of folks who claim to know who God is often blame Him when things go wrong in their lives. They don’t realize that what they’re experiencing is often the logical and predictable consequence of their own willful behavior, undertaken without a thought about His will for them.

But those of us who  have given our hearts to Him can take comfort in the fact that at this very moment God is on His throne watching over even the most minute details of our lives. He’s orchestrating them in a way that even those things that bring pain and discomfort and seemingly contain no value for us at all are somehow working together for our benefit. We can’t always see how, but we know it’s true and that someday soon we will see and understand.

And on that day, when the physical is brought into congruence with the spiritual, we’ll also see the nobles of the nations bow down and acknowledge Him as King of the whole Earth. We’ll see this because we’ll be there, seated beside Him.

Until then we can take heart in the certain knowledge that this is already true in Heaven, for (God) raised him (Jesus) from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephes. 1:20-21) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephes. 2:6-7) Notice the words raised and seated are in the past tense.  It’s a done deal.  Have a regal day.

The post Psalm 47 appeared first on Grace thru faith.

That’s the question non-believers often ask after seeing “The Passion Of The Christ,” and it’s a good one. Why does there have to be so much violence?

The easy answer pertains to the movie. There’s so much violence in the film because Mel Gibson wanted to make it as realistic a portrayal of actual events as possible. And even a cursory look at the people and the times tells you they were both very violent. Remember, some of their mass entertainment in those days involved watching humans being torn apart by wild animals for sport.

The Romans were oppressive conquerors who brooked absolutely no violation of their enforced peace, the “Pax Romana.” Executions were public and hideously violent, and all punishment was bloody and life threatening. (The Apostle Paul, being a Roman citizen, was legally spared from the standard, excruciatingly painful forms of execution because it was believed that Roman citizens were too good for that. He was merely beheaded.)

Who Started This?

But the Romans weren’t the first, and by no means were they the most violent. The Assyrians, inventors of crucifixion, skinned people alive, chopped off their heads and mounted them on poles. The Babylonians threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego live into a roaring furnace. They threw Daniel, an old man in his 80s, into a den of hungry lions. The Jews stretched Isaiah between two horses and sawed him in half. Mark was tied up and dragged into a fire to burn alive. Bartholomew was beaten with barrel staves, crucified and then beheaded. Peter was crucified upside down. Antipas was slowly roasted alive in a giant bronze kettle. Others were boiled alive, drawn and quartered, nailed to trees—and all this in public. It was thought to be a deterrent to crime. And we think our death by injection is barbaric.

Three Theological Thorns

The harder answer pertains to theology, specifically the difficulty in making the punishment fit the crime. Sins are crimes against God and His need for justice requires punishment. Jesus came to Earth as the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). So what do you have to do to adequately punish someone for all the sins of mankind? Man’s sins are stacked up to the heavens, and God cannot ignore them.

We say, “He’s God. He can do anything. Why doesn’t He just forgive us?” The problem is, He’s not like us. He can’t express any of His attributes at the expense of any other one like we can. In other words, He can’t be arbitrary, or two-faced. If He wants to show mercy, His righteousness must first be satisfied. Before He can express His love for us, His needs for justice have to be met. If He wants to forgive our debts, someone else has to pay.

It’s said that about half of the people ever born are alive today. Each one of us has committed enough sin to warrant the death penalty. That means 13 billion people deserve to die for their sins, and a just God simply cannot overlook that. But because He so loves the world, He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) His Son would pay the penalty due us. So what does it take for God’s justice to be served, so that out of His love for us he can purchase 13 billion pardons? (Remember that although many will go unclaimed, 13 billion pardons were purchased on the cross.)

I Hate It When That Happens

Second, what sort of suffering must one man endure to demonstrate how much God hates sin? In this age of Grace, we have such a candy coated perception of sin that we’ve forgotten how much God hates it. He HATES it. He destroyed well over a million people in the Great Flood because of their sins. What would He have to do to His Son to assuage His anger over all the sins in the history of mankind?

I Told You So

And then there’s the issue of prophecy. To prove that He was the Messiah, Jesus had to fulfill all the prophecies about His life AND death. Some of them had been a matter of public record for nearly 1000 years when He arrived on Earth. Prophecies like these:

Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend. (Psalm 88:16-18)

I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting. (Isa 50:6)

Just as there were many who were appalled at him-
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness- (Isa 52:14)

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing. (Psalm 22:14-18)

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isa 53:4-6)

So There You Have It

Three huge problems to address. A lesser god would have washed his hands of us and gone away to let us die in our sins as we deserve. It took an unbelievable amount of punishment—punishment that in both intensity and duration exceeds what any other man has ever experienced—to make it possible for God to forgive us.

But Jesus, in all His love for us, agreed to endure it. And in all the blood and gore and pain and suffering let’s not forget this one thing. It was sufficient. His last words from the cross when translated literally come out “Paid in full!” And the fact that three days later He walked out of the tomb, having conquered death, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that He had done it!

You see, if Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of the world as the prophecy above states (He literally became the physical embodiment of sin), and if God cannot abide the presence of sin, then the fact that He is alive at the right hand of God today proves that the price He paid was sufficient. For if even one little sin from all those that ever have or ever will be committed by man remained unpaid at the cross, He’d still be in the grave.

But since He came out of the tomb, you can make absolutely certain that you will, too. For if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

The post Why all the Violence? appeared first on Grace thru faith.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16) The Bible has a lot to say about prayer. After all, it’s the way we communicate with our Lord. And all of it promises that God hears and answers prayers, especially those offered by two or more in agreement (Matt. 18:19). The Lord personally promised His disciples that He will do whatever we ask in His name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father (John 14:13, 15:7, 15:16). So why do so many otherwise faithful Christians have difficulty submitting their requests to God and waiting in faith for an answer? Why do we often pray only as a last resort after all our other strategies have failed, and then get upset when we don’t seem to get an answer?

Peace Beyond Understanding

In Phil. 4:4-7 we’re promised that if we rejoice in all our circumstances and fearlessly present our requests to God with thanksgiving, He’ll provide a peace that surpasses human understanding to guard our hearts and minds. There’s a lot of good stuff in those few verses, and by sincerely following this advice I’ve seen miraculous answers to prayer, in my own life and in others.

First, rejoice in all circumstances, even those you’d rather not be in. Remember the Lord warned that we’d have some difficult times in this world, but to take heart because He had overcome this world (John 16:33). He could have said, “Cheer up, this too shall pass.” Moreover, by rejoicing in all circumstances, not just the pleasant ones, we deprive the enemy of victory while making our own situation more tolerable. Besides, maybe the Lord’s going to use our problem to bring about some great blessing. He doesn’t contrive difficulties for us to make us into better people (we’re already perfect in His sight, remember?) but He is the Master at turning lemons into lemonade when we cooperate. Thanking Him in advance helps create the climate for blessing.

Next, we’re told not to be anxious about anything. We walk by faith, not by sight, remember? Just because we can’t see the happy ending doesn’t mean there won’t be one. Pray for it, thanking God in advance for seeing you through. Pray for everything, be fearful of nothing, and thankful for anything.

And here’s the best part. When you sincerely follow Paul’s instructions to the Philippians, the Lord will cause a peace to descend upon you irrespective of your circumstances; a peace that will guard your heart and mind, keeping you from having a meltdown while He works things out for your benefit. Never forget that He’s committed to working everything together for the good of those who love Him and are “the called” (the Church), according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Your world could be coming apart at the seams, and yet you can be a paragon of peace and strength to those around you because of these promises made by One who cannot lie or change His mind (Num. 23:19).

So what’s the problem?

In John 15:7 we’re told that if we remain in Him and His words remain in us, we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given us. See the conditions? If we remain in Him means if we’re in fellowship, if we haven’t let our un-confessed sins create a disconnect in our relationship that has disrupted communication. Many Christians are big on knowing what God should do for them, but not so big on their responsibility to remain in fellowship. It’s not that it’s so difficult. Just be humble enough to admit you’re a sinner and sincerely ask for forgiveness. He’s promised in advance to grant it (1 John 1:9) and it’s how we become righteous again and restored to fellowship. If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the Truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). We can’t go more than a few minutes without sinning, yet I suspect many go through much of their lives without confessing and then blame God when their prayers aren’t answered. There’s another sin to confess.

His words remaining in us means we remember and claim His promises to us, several of which I’ve enumerated above. In all of God’s miraculous work, our faith is the variable, not His ability. In reading about the miracles in the Gospels, it’s always made clear that the faith of the petitioner facilitated the miracle. The Greek word for faith means to stake our lives on His promises. If we’re willing to stake our lives on His promise to save us from our sins and rescue us from hell, why can’t we trust Him to help us find a new job, or send the money to make our mortgage payment? The devil would like you to forget His promises, but faith requires that you remember them. They’re the foundation upon which your faith is built. Ours is not a blind faith, but one justified by His promises.

My daughter Jessica was almost literally on the way to the airport when the money arrived to pay for her ticket to Brazil (no I didn’t send it!) She believed the Lord was calling her to missionary work there, so she went. When I asked her about it, she simply said, “When it’s His will, it’s His bill.”

“Ah, the naiveté of youth,” you say. But she had spent months confessing her sins, preparing her heart, and seeking His will in prayer. She had done her part and trusted the Lord to do His.

Your Faith Has Made You Well

Allison was a young woman so afflicted by epilepsy that it was literally ruining her life. She couldn’t get her degree because the stress of finals always brought on a seizure causing her to miss the exams. Her fear of a public seizure kept her from making friends. In shame, she moved from the mid-west to Utah where she became a Christian. After months and months of studying the Bible and praying for healing she had a dream that she would come to our church (she wasn’t a member), suffer a seizure there and be healed. Imagine the guts it took to walk into that church for the first time knowing that she was going to disrupt everything and suffer huge embarrassment because of her disease. But she had confessed her sins and prepared her heart, so in faith, she came. Right in the middle of the lesson she let out a scream and keeled over, bringing the service to a halt. After recovering from the shock, I gathered people around me who believed God could work a miracle and as her face turned blue from oxygen deprivation we asked Him to heal her. She sat up with a start, and the paramedics who had been called just checked her over and left. Later her doctors tried unsuccessfully to induce a seizure and so they pronounced her cured. She threw away her medication and returned home to resume her interrupted life. Years later she’s still doing fine. She had remained in Him and His words remained in her. Her faith healed her. I could relate countless other stories of prayers in faith that produced miracles, all of which involved active preparation and participation by the petitioner.

But there’s one more problem. Usually, we’re not willing to let God answer our prayers in the way He thinks best. In my prayers, I’ve learned to put forth my solution to whatever problem I’m facing, but then “remind” the Lord that I know He might have a different solution in mind, and that it’s OK to do things His way. I know that He Who sees the end from the beginning has a much better perspective, and will ALWAYS come up with a better plan than any I could fashion. Mostly He lets me have my way, but once in awhile he’ll conjure up something that knocks my socks off.

What’s The Formula?

I’m not big on “formula” prayers, but here’s a prayer outline I was given years ago that’s held me in good stead. The teacher called it the ACTS method. It’s an acronym.

• A stands for adoration. Tell the Lord how much you love Him. You don’t do it nearly enough.
• C is for confession. Always invoke 1 John 1:9 and be restored to righteousness. Remember, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
• T is for thanksgiving. Thank Him in arrears for blessings you’ve received in the past and in advance for those you’ll receive in the future. Finally
• S is for supplication. Having told Him how much you love Him, restored yourself to fellowship, and expressed your gratitude for all the ways He’s blessed you in the past, you’re now in the right position to ask for yet another favor.

To that, I’ll add one more thought. It pays to end your prayers the same way Jesus did in the garden, “Not my will, Father, but yours.” Of course, you have to truly believe the Lord can do a better job of running your life than you can. Selah

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As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matt 4:18-20)

According to John’s gospel Jesus and Peter first met after John the Baptist introduced Jesus to two of his disciples as “The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:35).  Andrew, one of those disciples, immediately rushed to inform his brother Peter that he had seen the Messiah. Peter and Andrew were fishermen from Bethsaida, a fishing village (Bethsaida means “House of Fishing”) on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus of course was known as a carpenter’s son who grew up in Nazareth, a town about a day’s walk up into the steep hills that separated the Galilee from the plains of Megiddo to the west.

Take Me To Your Leader

Andrew brought Peter to meet Jesus and within a day or two Jesus had asked them to follow Him.  James and John, another pair of brothers who were also fishermen, were the next two disciples chosen and these four became the closest ones to Jesus, forming an inner circle of sorts. And of the 12, Peter became the group’s informal leader.

Peter’s small town naiveté and unabashed machismo teamed up to make him a take charge kind of guy, and Jesus seemed to take a special delight in him. Peter’s periodic bouts of “foot in mouth” disease must have given the Lord countless hours of laughter.

But it was his courage that most distinguished him. When Jesus approached the disciples’ boat, walking on the water, it was Peter who got out of the boat and walked across the water toward him (Matt. 14:28-31). It was Peter who made the first public declaration of the Lords’ true identity as the Messiah of Israel (Matt. 16:13-16). When they were surrounded by a large contingent of armed temple guards on the night of the Lord’s arrest, it was Peter who drew a sword and cut off Malchus’ ear (John 18:10). He was ready to take on the whole bunch.

That’s why it was such a shock to everyone when a powerless servant girl scared Peter into denying the Lord three times later that night. It was so out of character for him. Jesus had anticipated this, predicting that Peter would do just that after hearing him boast that even if everyone else deserted the Lord, he would not (Matt. 26:33-34).

Reverting to Peter’s original name, the Lord had said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

What an amazing thing to say! First of all, notice that Satan had to ask permission before he could touch the disciples (the Greek word for “you” in the first sentence is plural) and then see that Jesus was already interceding for Peter. Not that he would be spared his ordeal, but that his faith would be strong enough to sustain him through it. Finally Jesus told Peter to strengthen his brothers after his ordeal was over, showing that the Lord’s prayers on Peter’s behalf had already been answered.

None of what Peter was going to do would catch Jesus by surprise, and from His perspective, none of it would cause the slightest change in their relationship. But Peter’s failure would humble him, give him more compassion and make him a better leader. And the other disciples would be comforted in that the failure of their courageous leader would somehow make their own failures easier to bear.

Paul would later write, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Cor. 1:3-4)

Someone has paraphrased these verses saying, “Our life is a ministry and our sorrows are our credentials.” Peter’s sorrows would make him a more effective minister to his flock. And the Holy Spirit would use Peter’s new-found compassion to demonstrate just how dramatic a change can be wrought in the life of a willing believer. His sermons in Acts 2:14-39 and Acts 3:11-26 must have astounded and amazed those listeners who had known him for any length of time.

Do You Still Love Me?

Perhaps the best way to understand the extent of the Lord’s faithfulness to Peter is to listen in on his so-called reinstatement. We’ll need to insert the Greek words for love to get the full impact.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” The word He used for love here is “agapeo”, which in the Greek language is the highest and purest form of love.

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love you.” But Peter used the word “phileo” which denotes a brotherly love or affection, a much less intense form of love.

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” (agapeo)

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” (phileo)

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” (phileo)

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” (phileo)

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

By backing down to Peter’s all too human level of love, Jesus completed the reinstatement, in effect saying, “I know you’re giving me all the love you can and it’s enough.”

And so it is with us. None of what we’ll ever do can catch Jesus by surprise,  and from His perspective, none of it can cause the slightest change in our relationship with Him. He knew every one of our sins before He went to the cross, and gave His life so we could be cleansed of all of them. We can’t surprise Him, we can’t disappoint Him, and we can’t let Him down. If He chooses to deliver us from a situation, He can. If not, He’s at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, praying us through it just like He was with Peter (Romans 8:34).  And like he did with Peter, He’ll use the situation to make us a better model of what His love can accomplish in the life of a willing believer. Selah 06-11-05

The post Jesus And Peter appeared first on Grace thru faith.

Recently my belief that Jesus is God in human form was challenged again. This has happened to me several times in the past and while I’ve laid out the Biblical basis for my belief in several articles I’ve never specifically addressed the common objections others have put forth. In this study, I’ll do just that.

But first I want to lay a brief theological foundation that in my opinion proves that Jesus has to be God in human form. In fact, I think it will demonstrate that if Jesus isn’t God then none of us is saved. It’s based on three points.

1. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

2. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22)

3. A righteous man for an unrighteous mankind (1 Peter 3:18)

All Have Sinned

Adam was created in the image of God. He had the freedom to choose right or wrong, the intellect with which to decide, and he was immortal. When he sinned he was exercising his right to choose, but one of the consequences of his choice was that he became mortal. Another was that all of his descendants would be born with a sin nature that would make it impossible for them to live a sin free life. That meant there was no way for them to live up to God’s standards and expect to spend eternity with Him. Without a means of redemption, they would all be hopelessly lost because since that time all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

No Blood, No Forgiveness

From cover to cover the Bible consistently teaches that it takes the shedding of blood to reverse the consequences of sin. When Adam and Eve became conscious of their sin and hid from God, He clothed them with the skins of animals. This symbolized “covering” them through the shedding of blood so they could stand before Him (Genesis 3:21). God also taught Cain and Abel that the only acceptable offering involved the shedding of blood. When Cain presented an improper offering it was rejected, and God admonished him saying, “If you do what is right will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:7). In Egypt, the Israelites were saved from the destroyer by the blood of a lamb applied to their doorposts (Exodus 12:7,13).

Later, after Moses documented it in the Torah we could see that the entire Levitical system was based on the shedding of blood. According to the amplified version of Hebrews 9:22, under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.

The Righteous For The Unrighteous

As the revelation of God’s remedy for the sins of the people progresses through the Old Testament we begin to see that the only animals acceptable for sin offerings were those that symbolize innocence in our minds. Who can think of anything more innocent than a year old lamb? It was this animal God chose to demonstrate the need for innocent blood to be shed for the remission of sin (Exodus 30:38). We also learn that these animals had to be perfect specimens, free from spot or blemish (Exodus 12:5).

From the New Testament, we learn that even these perfect innocent animals could only set the sins of the people aside temporarily. They were a model of the sacrifice God required, not the sacrifice itself. Eventually it would take the blood of a perfect, innocent man to pay for the sins of mankind (Hebrews 10:1-14). A righteous man would have to pay the price for the sins of unrighteous mankind to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

The problem was there were no perfect innocent men. From the first children of Adam and Eve to this very day there has not been a perfect sin free man among their natural descendants who could be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. We are all contaminated by our sin nature and are not acceptable to redeem mankind even if we wanted to, because we’re not perfect innocent specimens.

Many people don’t realize this, but being sin free is not just a matter of preventing oneself from doing certain things. Sin begins in our heart, in our thoughts and desires, and the heart of man is incurably wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Because of our sin nature, it’s impossible to prevent ourselves from having a sinful thought now and then. It only takes one, and no matter how fleeting it is, as soon as it comes we’re no longer sin free. The Pharisees were obsessive about keeping the Law, but Jesus said even their righteousness was not sufficient to gain them entrance into the kingdom (Matt. 5:20).

Angels can take on the appearance of men and according to Hebrews 13:2 some of us have entertained angels without knowing it. But it is strictly forbidden for angels to actually become men and those who did so in the past are even now chained in dark prisons awaiting their judgment (Jude 1:6). Even though the angels who remain faithful to God don’t sin, man cannot be saved by the sacrifice of an angel.

So then, the blood of animals could only temporarily set man’s sins aside. All natural born men are disqualified because of their sin nature. Angels are forbidden. There was only one way humans could be saved and it required God Himself to become human. And to be human, He had to come into the world in the way of all people. He had to be born of a woman.

But as we’ve seen above, when you combine the egg of an earthly woman with the sperm of an earthly man their offspring will inherit a sin nature and be disqualified. To maintain His purity, God had to be born of a woman but without an earthly father. In this way, He could be all God and all man, a perfect, innocent specimen of mankind. The one we know as Jesus is the only one in the history of mankind to be so.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebr. 7:25-26).

What Was The Question?

With that beginning, there are five places in the New Testament where testimony is given to support the fact that Jesus is God in human form. These are the verses I use to explain my belief in the deity of Jesus and naturally they are also the verses others focus on in denying it.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).

The naysayers would have us believe that because the name “Jesus” does not appear in this passage my belief that its about Jesus is just a private interpretation that can’t be confirmed. Let’s see if they’re right.

John went on to explain who “the Word” is. I say “who” because John used the personal pronoun “He” in referring to him. Verse 3 tells us all things were made through Him and without Him nothing that has been made was made. That makes “the Word” the Creator of all. Verse 10 says He was in the world and though the world was made by Him the world did not recognize Him. Even His own people did not receive Him.

John 1:12-13 say that to all who received Him and believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. In verse 14 John said the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Several translations of verse 18 (but not all) tell us that no one has ever seen God, but His one and only son, who is God Himself, has made Him known to us. Even without the testimony of verse 18, it seems clear to me that John was speaking of Jesus throughout. But there’s more.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:15-16).

Here the argument is that Colossians 1:15 says Jesus is the image of God, not God himself and that verse 16 is describing God not Jesus. But what verse 15 means is that the Son is the visible form of the invisible God. And to say that verse 16 is describing God and not Jesus is a violation of the context. Colossians 1: 15-18 are all about Jesus. They only mention God as being the invisible One of whom Jesus is the visible image.

It’s worth noting that in Colossians 1:16 Paul attributed the creation of all things to the Son. John 1:3 says the Word made everything that was made. This confirms that “the Word” and “the Son” are one and the same.

I and my Father are one (John 10:30).

These are the words of Jesus Himself and the controversy is over the Greek word translated “one”. Here’s the position of those who deny the deity of Jesus.

“John 10:30 is quite a controversial verse however when you read it in the Greek you learn that the Greeks have different words for the word one. There is a word for one in the same and a word for one in purpose. The Greek word used here is the word for one in purpose not one in the same.”

Every major English translation agrees that this verse says, “I and the Father are one”. The Greek word translated “one” in this verse was used to say the number one when counting in Greek. A plain sense reading of the verse indicates that Jesus was saying He and the Father are one. Most Bibles offer no further explanation or clarification, indicating the verse means what it says. Only those who deny the deity of Jesus have trouble accepting this. And remember, the Jews wanted Jesus put to death for claiming to be God, not for claiming to have the same goals or purpose as God.

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9)

This verse confirms Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:15 above and the statement in Hebr. 1:3 that, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” Jesus plainly told Philip that He is the visible form of the invisible God. But the naysayers use their interpretation of John 10:30 to justify their claim that in John 14:9 Jesus really meant we can see God in the works of Jesus Christ.

But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom (Hebr. 1:8).

This is God speaking about His son. Again, all the major translations are nearly identical and they all capitalize “God” to indicate the fact that the Father considers the Son to be a deity. Here’s the opposing view.

“Hebrew 1:8 is also very controversial however if you look at the previous context you can see the distinction between God and Christ. Calling someone god is actually an eastern custom. Moses was called a god in Exodus 7:1 and the children of God were also called gods in Psalms 82:6. Calling someone god is a form of respect when someone holds a high place of office. In the East servants to this day call their king lord or god. Wives also in the east refer to their husbands as lord. So calling Jesus God in this verse is just a misunderstanding from not recognizing eastern customs.”

Notice the writer of this opinion used the lower case “god” in every instance except where he was speaking of God the Father, and remember that in every translation of Hebr. 1:8 the word God is capitalized when speaking of the Son.

In the King James version of Exodus 7:1 God said when Moses went before Pharaoh with his brother Aaron, he would be “a god” (lower case “g”) to Pharaoh and Aaron would be his prophet. Other translations say he would be “as” God or “like God”. The idea here is that God was sending Moses in His place, and Aaron would speak for Moses like a prophet speaks for God. Moses was not being called God.

In Psalm 82:6 the word “god” appears in reference to the Israelites. Again note the lower case, which means it refers to a “ruler or judge”. And if you read the whole Psalm you’ll see how sarcastic God is being there. In the first verse, He referred to Himself as “God” who gives judgment among the “gods”. Then He accused them of faulty and corrupt practices and warned them to start defending the cause of the less fortunate among them and start showing mercy. In verses 6-7 He said, “You are gods but you will die like mere men, you will fall like every other ruler.” No one believes God was addressing the Israelites as deity.

It’s true that the word “Lord” is used as a term of respect for rulers, judges and perhaps even husbands in various parts of the world. But no one in these places believes the one they’re addressing is the God of the universe. The claim that a literal interpretation of Hebrews 1:8 is incorrect due to a misunderstanding of Eastern customs is an argument without merit.

I began by showing that Jesus could only be qualified to serve as the perfect sacrifice required to save us if He actually is God in human form. Now we see the testimony of John (John 1:1-2) Paul (Colossians 1:15-16) Jesus (John 10:30, John 14:9) the writer of Hebrews (Hebr. 1:3) and God Himself (Hebr. 1:8) all saying that’s the case.

I’ve said before that I don’t think you have to believe Jesus is God in human form before you can ask Him to save you. But the Bible is clear that after you’re saved you should come to understand that’s who He is. Because of the increasing presence of false teaching in the Church today and the lack of emphasis on personal study, many are not aware of the fact that it took the sacrifice of God himself to save them. When asked about it they can only repeat what they’ve heard, and sadly much of what they’ve heard is not consistent with sound doctrine.

If what you’ve read here is new information for you, I urge you to look up the references I’ve cited and study them for yourself. Paul warned us not to risk our eternal destiny on the opinions of others, but to search the Scriptures daily to see if what they say is true (Acts 17:11). It’s too important to take anyone else’s word for it. Selah 06-08-13

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Lost Son

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ” (Luke 15:3-32)

What’s Going On Here?

The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were muttering among themselves, criticizing the Lord for fraternizing with sinners. They believed that even acknowledging a sinner’s presence was wrong, and sharing a meal with a one was a sign of acceptance to be avoided at all costs. Guilt by association, they called it. It’s an attitude that’s still around. Go bankrupt, get a divorce, or even lose your job and you’ll soon find out who your friends are. If you’re lucky, one or two will come around. The rest will avoid you like the plague, as if your condition is contagious and they might catch it.

The so-called righteous people of the day placed little or no value on the lives of sinners, believing their behavior had rendered them undeserving of any effort toward reconciliation. So Jesus told them three parables to explain God’s view that sinners were actually of more urgent importance to Him than the righteous.

On one occasion He told them that He had come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and on another that it was the sick that needed a doctor, not the healthy. “I have not come to call the righteous,” He said, ” but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) Now He said, “If you had 100 sheep and one got lost you’d leave the 99 and search for the lost one wouldn’t you? And wouldn’t you be glad when you found it?”

“And suppose you had 10 coins and lost one? Wouldn’t you focus all your efforts on finding it? And when you did wouldn’t you celebrate?”

If they felt that way about material possessions that could easily be replaced, how much more important should a human soul be?

To our Creator each and every life is of infinite value; irreplaceable. He doesn’t desire that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) That’s why there’s more rejoicing in Heaven over redeeming one lost soul than over 99 who never got lost. And that’s why every time a sinner repents and receives the Lord the angels in Heaven sing for joy.

By the way, the Bible only mentions five events that cause the angels to sing. One was when God said, “Let there be light,” and the Earth came to life. Another was when the Lord Jesus was born, and then there’s the arrival of the Church in Heaven, and finally the Lord’s defeat of His enemies at the end of the age. That’s just four other times in all the history of man. But they get plenty of practice, because the fifth one repeats itself every time one of us comes to the Lord. In His view saving a single life ranks right up there with creating and saving the world.

Here’s The Point

But it’s the third parable that must have cut them to the quick, because it highlights the resentment the obedient son felt over the return of the disobedient one.

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in (to the celebration). So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

My guess is that this parable exposed their true motives for ostracizing the sinners among them. They worked hard to keep the Law and took pride in doing a good job. Those who didn’t were being disobedient and deserved to be punished. By shunning them the Pharisees were actually helping the Lord mete out the punishment. This made them feel all the better about themselves. Nothing like being on the Lord’s side to make one feel righteous.

Then comes this itinerant preacher giving these sinners all kinds of attention and actually making them feel good about themselves, giving them hope, and taking away their motivation to clean up their act. It wasn’t fair. The Pharisees worked so hard at being good and these sinners get all the attention. On top of that, the Pharisees labored to earn their ticket to eternity. If the sinners got a free pass, like Jesus seemed to be implying, what kind of example would that set? They were plainly jealous.

And so the Lord softened the blow with the last point in the parable. He had the joyful father say, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

Rewarding sinners doesn’t penalize the righteous. The Lord doesn’t subscribe to the scarcity mentality that there’s only so much to go around and giving to one means taking from another. For everyone who asks will receive, all who seek will find, and to all who knock the door will be opened (Matt 7:7-8).

And Finally …

It’s easy to spot the Pharisees’ error. They thought salvation was something they could earn, and by attempting to do so they developed a self-righteous attitude that actually placed them further in their debt of sin. The only difference between the Pharisees and the sinners, is that the sinners knew they needed a Savior. But the Lord’s compassion for them, as expressed by the father in the parable to the older son, must have worked. On the Day of Pentecost, the newborn church picked up over 3000 members, many of them Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.

The Pharisees were a group from Biblical times, but they’re not all dead yet. There’s still plenty of that self-righteous “holier than thou” attitude around, and most of us harbor some of it. So next time you feel a little jealous when some undeserving sinner repents and is saved, remember … this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And in Heaven the angels rejoice. Selah

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Part 5.  The conclusion of Paul’s case against combining Law and Grace

We’ve arrived at the final chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, where Paul has presented a strong case against combining Law and Grace. In effect, he has said the two are like oil and water; they don’t mix. Jesus died to set us free from the Law. Therefore, believers who place themselves under the Law are denying the sufficiency of the cross. A little Law mixed into Grace is like a little yeast mixed into a batch of dough. Both eventually permeate everything and cause irreversible changes.

Galatians 6

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:1-2).

In 1 Cor. 5:1-5 Paul took the Corinthian church to task for allowing a man to carry on a relationship with his father’s wife in their midst. They apparently thought they were expressing the Lord’s love by being tolerant, but he told them such behavior was not acceptable in a Christian fellowship and that as a group they should exclude the man from their fellowship.

Later, in 2 Cor. 2:5-11, Paul said their unified approach to this problem had worked and it was time to forgive and comfort the man and reaffirm their love for him. He said they should do this in order that Satan would not outwit them after all. In other words, their failure to restore him would result in just as much a victory for Satan as their earlier failure to exclude him had been.

Paul’s advice to the Corinthians gives us a model of the proper way for a fellowship to deal with sin in their midst. But in Galatians 6:1-2 he was speaking to individuals. Individual believers are called to gently restore those who are caught in sin, being careful not to become ensnared themselves. In this way, we support each other because none of us can know when we’ll be the ones needing support.

Paul mentioned the “Law of Christ” only here and in 1 Cor 9:21 where Paul said, “To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.”

The Bible offers no specific definition of what Christ’s Law is, but I believe it refers to His statement in John 15:9-12. 

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

In these references, both Paul and Jesus distinguished between the Law of God (my Father’s commands) and the Law of Christ ( Love each other as I have loved you.) Therefore I believe Galatians 6:2 is saying by lending spiritual support to a brother caught in sin and gently restoring Him we are fulfilling the Lord’s command to love each other as He has loved us. He always favors reconciliation and restoration.

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor (Galatians 6:3-6).

In these verses Paul identified the temptation he was warning them against in Galatians 6:1-2, and it’s the danger of thinking we’re spiritually superior to the brother or sister we’re trying to restore. Thinking we’re any better than someone else is self-deception. The only valid evaluation is self-evaluation. The exception is when the Lord gives us a deeper understanding of Scripture we’re being taught. In that case, we should share it with our instructor so he or she can benefit from it as well.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:7-10).

We’ve all heard Galatians 6:7 used out of context. Now let’s learn what it really means. Paul had to be warning us that adopting an attitude of spiritual superiority in the process of restoring a brother who has sinned turns it into a work of the flesh that mocks God and makes us no better than an unbeliever. Otherwise, his statement here would be in direct contradiction to his other statements that our inheritance is guaranteed from the time we believe (2 Cor. 1:21-22, 2 Cor 5:5, Ephes 1:13-14, Ephes 4:30), and that God does not attribute our sins to us but the sin nature that lives in us (Romans 7:18-20).

We’re accustomed to having our leaders make statements that contradict things they’ve said before, but God is not like that. When He commissioned people to write His word, the Holy Spirit placed in their minds what He wanted them to say (2 Tim. 3:16). That way He could make sure they didn’t contradict themselves or each other.

By lifting Galatians 6:7 out of its context we could conclude that Paul was saying our salvation depends on our behavior and we can’t allow ourselves to grow weary of doing good if we want to reap eternal life. But because of his strong and clear statements about our security in the Lord, we can be sure that’s not what he meant. He had to be speaking in the context of Galatians 6:1-6.

Our motivation in helping others who have slipped or stumbled should always be the desire to do good in the eyes of the Lord. The harvest we will reap by not growing tired of doing good to all people will come in the form of treasure in heaven our good deeds help us accumulate (Matt. 6:19-21).

See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! (Galatians 6:11).

Paul wanted the Galatian churches to be sure this letter had been written personally by him. He was concerned that his enemies would circulate forgeries in an attempt to lead new believers astray. This actually happened in Thessalonica. Between Paul’s first and second letters, the Thessalonians had received a forgery saying the Day of the Lord had already come (2 Thes. 2:1-2). 2^nd Thessalonians is Paul’s rebuttal to that forgery. Because of his poor eyesight, Paul usually had someone like Timothy write for him, but when he wanted there to be no doubt as to the authorship of a message, he wrote it himself.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.  Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation (Galatians 6:12-15).

As we know, the Judaizers who hounded Paul and tried to undo his teaching on Grace were also converts to Christianity. Many were Pharisees who were trying to combine Judaism and Christianity. Teaching this kind of hybrid theology kept them out of trouble with Jewish congregations they visited; the kind of trouble Paul always encountered on his visits to them.

Paul was reminding the Galatians that the Judaizers who were trying to bring them under the Law were unable to keep the Law themselves. This is because the Law is impossible to keep. But causing the Galatians to be circumcised allowed the Judaizers to show tangible results for their efforts.

Paul was not concerned about keeping score on Earth. He rightly said that whether a man is circumcised or not means nothing in the eternal sense. What matters is whether a man is a new creation in Christ because that is what allows him to inherit eternal life.

Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.(Galatians 6:16-18)

The rule Paul was referring to is, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation”.

Paul explained his phrase “the Israel of God” in Romans 2:28-29.

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Being physically circumcised identified a man as being of Jewish descent, but it did not mean he was saved. What identifies a person as being saved is the Holy Spirit dwelling within him, which Paul described as having one’s heart circumcised. Invisible to other people, this form of circumcision is visible to God, the only One who matters. This is what makes us Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).

Although Paul was circumcised, the physical marks he wanted to be known for were the scars he bore as a result of the beatings he had taken because of his faith in Jesus.

Paul closed his letter to the Galatians in the manner unique to him, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.”

In summary, let’s review Paul’s case.

Any so-called gospel message that contradicts the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone as presented in Paul’s letters is by definition a different gospel and puts those who teach it under a curse that dooms them to destruction.

Whether Jew or Gentile, we are not justified (rendered righteous) by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We know that Paul was not trying to marginalize the Law because in places like Romans 7:12 he said the Law is holy, righteous and good. But he was arguing against the improper use of the Law as the basis by which we are made acceptable to God. We are not justified by observing the Law but by faith in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Law cannot be fully obeyed. In order to be strict enough for God’s requirements, it has to be too strict for man’s abilities. Therefore, all who rely on the law are automatically cursed and cannot be justified before God.

Because of the cross, there is no longer any reason for anyone to go under the Law. God does not require it, and we cannot benefit from doing it. On the contrary, it could be counterproductive for us, a step backward in our spiritual growth.

That’s because we don’t get to decide which parts of the Law we want to obey. Picking any part of it obligates us to all of it. And the Law is not just the 10 Commandments. The Torah contains 613 commandments.

That means you can’t have a little bit of Law mixed with Grace. Just as a little bit of yeast will permeate the whole batch of dough to change its composition, a little bit of Law will work its way through the doctrine of Grace, changing it into something it was not intended to be. In effect, the Law cancels Grace.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. But in exercising that freedom we are to be aware of two statements the Lord made. First, He said the entire Law could be summarized in two commandments. One, we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and two, we are to love our neighbor as ourself (Luke 10:27). Second, He said He was giving us a new commandment, “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

These are not things we do to justify ourselves before God. We are already justified by faith in the Lord’s atoning sacrifice on our behalf. These are things we do as a way of expressing our gratitude for what the Lord has done for us. So if you’re looking for some laws to keep so you can express your gratitude for the free gift of salvation without any risk of getting into trouble, these are the ones to keep. 06-13-14

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Part 4 of Paul’s case against combining the Law and Grace

By now you know that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was a vigorous rebuttal to the claims of the so-called Judaizers, Jewish Christians who taught that Gentiles desiring to become Christians had to put themselves under the Law and be circumcised to be saved.

As I said at the beginning of this series, the same teaching is once again coming into the Church. Among other things, this teaching stresses keeping the Saturday Sabbath, celebrating the Jewish feasts and festivals, and observing the Jewish dietary laws. On one hand, those who teach this deny that it constitutes a return to Jewish legalism, but is a demonstration of love and obedience instead.  But on the other hand, they teach that every Christian must be “Torah observant” to live a life that pleases God. (Being Torah observant means obeying the Law of Moses contained in the first five books of the Bible. In Hebrew these five books are called the Torah.)

Therefore Paul’s letter is as timely today as it was when Paul wrote it almost 2,000 years ago. We’ll continue our study now by taking up chapter 5, which in my Bible is subtitled “Freedom in Christ.”

Galatians 5

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Galatians 5:1-6)

First, Paul said it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

To the Jews who believed in Him Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

Since the Law cannot provide a remedy for our sins but can only make us conscious of them (Romans 3:20),  anyone who is under the Law remains a prisoner of the Law and a slave to sin. By paying the penalty for our violations of the Law, the Son of God has set us free from the Law. And when the Son sets us free we are free indeed (John 8:36).

Then Paul made another powerful claim that sets the tone for the entire chapter. He said, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

In several other places Paul wrote that our eternal inheritance is guaranteed from the time we believe (2 Cor. 1:21-22, 2 Cor. 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 4:30). Therefore he had to be saying that the Galatians who were being enticed to go under the law were never saved in the first place. Otherwise, he would have been contradicting himself.

The Greek word translated fallen away here is not the more familiar apostasia, but ekpipto. One of its meanings is to fall from a place which one cannot keep. The only way we can keep our position of grace is through faith. Paul was claiming that the Galatians who were going under the Law never had the faith to be saved by grace. We are either forever saved or we were never saved.

Paul warned the Galatians that while neither circumcision nor uncircumcision was relevant in and of itself, it was being proposed to them as a sign of their acceptance of the Old Covenant. Therefore agreeing to it would obligate them to the whole Law.

This is an important point. We don’t get to decide which parts of the Law we want to obey. Picking any part of it obligates us to all of it. And the Law is not just the 10 Commandments. The Torah contains 613 commandments.

Attempting to keep the Law to justify ourselves before the Lord alienates us from Him because it denies what He’s done for us. It makes His death of no value, leaving us responsible for saving ourselves. Remember, it wasn’t the fact that the Jews had orchestrated the death of Jesus that caused their alienation from God. After all, He came to die for their sins. It was the fact that by rejecting His death as payment in full for their sins they made it meaningless to them, of less value than the animals they continued to sacrifice, that broke the relationship.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Galatians 5:7-12)

You can’t have a little bit of Law mixed with Grace. Just as a little bit of yeast will permeate the whole batch of dough to change its composition, a little bit of Law will work its way through the doctrine of Grace, changing it into something it was not intended to be. When Paul said, in that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished, he meant the Law cancels Grace.

(The Judaizers were hinting that Paul preached the Law among Jews but switched to a watered down version of the Gospel when speaking to Gentiles. His response was, “If I’m preaching the Law to the Jews then why are they persecuting me?” His frustration with them is evident.)

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. (Galatians 5:13-15)

Paul’s comments on “serving one another in love” and “loving your neighbor as yourself” tell us he was especially concerned about the Galatians’ arguments over Law vs. Grace. Their freedom was not an excuse to be argumentative to the point of sinfulness.  He called it “biting and devouring each other” and said that being in Christ meant they were free from the Law, but even the Law agreed they shouldn’t behave that way.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. (Galatians 5:16-18)

If we let the Holy Spirit guide us, our sin nature will not be able to rule our lives. But it’s an either /or situation because the two are opposed to each other and will never agree on what’s proper behavior for us. If we let our sinful nature guide our behavior we will invariably wind up doing things we don’t want to do. Even so, if we are led by the Spirit we don’t need the Law to govern our behavior.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

Please read these next few sentences carefully. Nowhere does the Bible ever accuse the Pharisees of committing the sins Paul listed here. In fact, by human standards their behavior was exemplary. And yet, Jesus said unless our righteousness surpasses theirs we will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20). No matter how good we think someone’s behavior is, unless that person is also born again, he or she cannot enter the kingdom (John 3:3). We’re saved because of what we believe, not because of how we behave.

Notice, Paul didn’t say “believers who practice the acts of the sinful nature,” in Galatians 5:21, he said, “those who practice the acts of the sinful nature.”

Also, when you see the word “practice” think of the doctor who practices medicine or the lawyer who practices law.  They are immersed in their professions all day every day.  This is what I think Paul meant by “those who practice the acts of the sinful nature.”  They are immersed in a sinful lifestyle all day every day.

Every believer has repeatedly committed one or more of the sins mentioned in Galatians 5:16-21, and Paul spoke of his own struggle with sin in Romans 7:14-20.  Therefore,  if he had meant to condemn every believer who sins he would have to condemn himself as well.  But in Romans 8:1 he said, “Therefore  there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

I believe Paul was referring to people who sin without regard for what the Bible says about it.  In my opinion, these people identify themselves as non-believers, because while I’ve never met a true believer who has no struggle with sin, neither have I met one who had a complete disregard for his or her sinfulness. The Holy Spirit convicts believers when we sin, and that conviction brings remorse which leads us to confession. Knowing how we’ll feel after we sin is part of what leads us to struggle against our inherent sinfulness.  Non-believers don’t feel any of that.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:22-26)

The differences between the acts of the sin nature and the fruit of the Spirit can be seen in the comparison of these two passages. In reading the first one we can all admit to periodically doing one or more of these things as believers, even though we strive to be led by the Spirit. In Romans 7:18-20 Paul said from God’s perspective when that happens, it’s not us but our sinful nature that’s to blame when this happens.

King David foresaw the incredible gift of Grace when he wrote,

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit (Psalm 32:1-2).

Paul’s final words on the subject, to not become conceited, provoking and envying each other, confirm that he has been especially concerned about their arguing over who was right, Paul or the Judaizers. He said those Galatians who belonged to Christ should live by the Spirit and not become conceited but should stop provoking and envying each other. These are acts prompted by the sin nature and are not appropriate for believers.

Remember, the Law was only given to point out our sins and no one can be saved by keeping it (Romans 3:20). But through faith, we can achieve a righteousness apart from the Law and be saved (Romans 3:21-24). So there is only one way to live one’s life with the assurance of pardon, and that’s by Grace through faith. We can’t have it both ways.  If we’re under the Law we can not benefit from God’s grace. If we’re under Grace, the Law is not necessary. We’ll conclude this study next week. 12-06-14

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Part 3 of Paul’s case against combining the Law and Grace

Paul has been showing the Galatians that all believers in Jesus are children of God. We are also descendants of Abraham, and heirs according to the promise God gave to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. This blessing would come in the person of Jesus, also a descendant of Abraham, who would make it possible for the Gentiles to be justified by faith. Although the promise came before the Law was given, its fulfillment came later. In the interim, the Law was given to God’s people as a guardian. Now let’s resume our study with chapter 4.

Galatians 4

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world (Galatians 4:1-3).

Paul compared the time between the giving of the promise and its fulfillment to the life of an underage heir, subject to guardians and trustees. Even though the heir really owns everything, he is not authorized to exercise any control over anything before reaching a certain age. Until then guardians and trustees appointed to act on his behalf control everything, and the heir has no more power than a slave would have.

So it was in the time between the giving of the promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Law was given as a guardian for the people. It controlled every aspect of their lives and they had no more control than slaves. In effect they went from being prisoners of sin to being prisoners of the Law.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because we are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir (Galatians 4:4-7).

In both the Greek and Roman cultures, when an heir came of age, there was a formal adoption ceremony where he legally became a son, entitled to all of a son’s rights and privileges including the right of inheritance. After that, there were no more guardians or trustees telling the heir what he could or could not do. He was authorized to act on his own.

When Jesus came to redeem those who were held prisoners under the Law, God authorized everyone who believed in His Son to receive the full rights of adoption. John was speaking of this when he said, “To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, or human decision, or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:13-14). We call this being born again.

Paul made this even clearer when he said because of our faith we have been legally adopted into God’s family, signified by the seal of the Holy Spirit guaranteeing our inheritance. The Law no longer serves as a guardian telling us what we can or cannot do. We have the full rights of sonship including the right of inheritance, which is eternal life. Therefore, there is no longer any reason for anyone to go under the Law. God does not require it, and we cannot benefit from doing it. On the contrary, it could be counterproductive for us, a step backward in our spiritual growth.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you (Galatians 4:8-11)

In their pagan past, the Galatians had worshiped things they thought were gods. When they became believers they realized their former gods couldn’t save anyone. But Paul said that by going under the Law they were repeating their previous mistakes. The rituals they were following now were different but they produced the same result—enslavement. Instead of obligating themselves to observe the pagan festivals of their past they were obligating themselves to observe the Jewish festivals instead.

I have said before that there is great value in learning about the Feasts of Israel, especially as they reveal God’s prophetic plan. Seeing how the first coming of Jesus was clearly foretold in the spring feasts, the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the second coming in the fall feasts gives us an overview of God’s plan for all of mankind. But even if we only put ourselves under obligation to the Law out of “obedience” while claiming to be saved by grace, we’re doing something God neither commands nor desires for us.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul cautioned his readers not to let anyone judge them by what they eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. He said they were a shadow of things to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ (Colossians 2:16-17).

I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? (Galatians 4:12-16).

The account in Acts 13-14 of Paul’s time with the Galatians makes no mention of this illness so we don’t know what it was. From extra Biblical sources I’ve read that the journey from the Mediterranean coast to the inland region of Galatia was an exhausting one, over rough terrain and fraught with danger, and one of these sources suggested that Paul suffered a bout of malaria as a result. Others say that because of Paul’s reference to the Galatians being willing to give him their eyes, it could have been eye trouble.

But Paul’s point was not the illness, it was the change in their attitude toward him. It looked to him like the Judaizers had succeeded in turning the Galatians against Paul. Remember, they said he was not an authentic apostle and accused him of giving the Galatians a watered down version of the Gospel in order to convert them.

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you! (Galatians 4:17-20).

Imagine the frustration Paul must have felt. After spending nearly two years in the region (46-48AD), much of it in Galatia, Paul and Barnabas had returned to Syrian Antioch. It was now several years later, and He was responding to reports that the Judaizers had undone much of his work, teaching the Galatians to abandon the doctrine of Grace and submit to the Law.

There was no love lost between Paul and the Judaizers. In 2 Cor. 11:13-15 he said,

For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

From his comments about still being in the pains of childbirth for the Galatians, it sounds like he’s wondering if they had ever experienced a new birth in the first place. He was obviously very concerned about the spiritual condition of people who, having been saved by Grace, would voluntarily go under the Law.

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.  His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise (Galatians 4:21-23).

Paul will now use three pairs of symbols to show the difference between Law and Grace; two sons, two women, and two cities. One son (Ishmael) was born in the natural way to a slave woman (Hagar). The other son (Isaac) was born according to a divine promise to the free woman (Sarah). Before you suggest that Isaac was also the result of natural childbirth, remember that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90 (Genesis 17:15-17). Ishmael, whose mother Hagar was of childbearing age, was born in the natural way. But it’s no stretch of the imagination to say that Isaac, whose mother Sarah was long past childbearing age, was the result of a supernatural birth, the fulfillment of a promise God made to Abraham. This is just one way in which Isaac was a foreshadowing of Jesus.

These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written:

“Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” (Galatians 4:24-27)

And finally, the two cities. Hagar, the slave woman, represents Jerusalem, the city of those who are enslaved by the Law. Sarah, the free woman, represents the New Jerusalem, the city of the redeemed Church, saved by grace and free from the law.

Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. (Galatians 4:28-31)

In this example, Hagar and Ishmael represent the Law and its children. Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and along with his mother was sent away, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son (Genesis 21:8-14). Sarah and Isaac represent Grace and it’s children. The Law persecutes Grace and has been sent away, for the Law will never share in the inheritance of eternal life with Grace. The children of Grace have become the sole heirs of eternal life. We are those children.

It’s important to remember that although obedience to the Law was required in the Old Testament, it was powerless to save the people because they could never meet the standards it demanded. The requirement for obedience was intended to demonstrate that fact. In Romans 3:20 Paul said, “No one will be declared righteous by observing the Law; rather through the Law we become conscious of sin.”

Without the belief in a coming Redeemer who would pay the penalty for their sins, no one could be saved by obeying the Law. The children of the Law will never share in the inheritance with the children of the promise.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6).  No matter what we were before, Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, if we are in Christ we are a new creation. The old has gone the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). If we belong to Christ, we are Abraham’s descendants and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). See you next time. 11-29-14.

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Part 2 of Paul’s case against combining the Law and Grace

In part 1 we established that the primary purpose of this letter was to contend against a group called the Judaizers, early Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile converts to Christianity also had to observe certain Old Testament rites, specifically circumcision. Some even argued that the only way for a Gentile to become a Christian was to first convert to Judaism and go under the Law.

In response, Paul presented a powerful defense of the essential New Testament truth that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. We do not sanctify ourselves by religious works or Jewish legalism, but are sanctified by faith in the grace and power of God, made manifest in the work of Jesus Christ, and energized in our life by the Holy Spirit.

There are many in the Church who need to be reminded of this today since modern-day Judaizers are once again teaching their followers the same things Paul fought against in his time. These teachers claim that Christ’s death on the cross did not end the Mosaic Covenant, but instead renewed it, and stress the need for every believer to live a Torah-observant life. Among other things, this includes keeping the Saturday Sabbath, celebrating the Jewish feasts and festivals, and observing the Jewish dietary laws. They advocate learning to understand the Scriptures from a Hebrew mindset, and some have rejected the traditional Greek based New Testament, claiming that Aramaic texts are older and more accurate.

On one hand, they deny that doing this constitutes a return to Jewish legalism, but is a demonstration of love and obedience instead.  But on the other hand, they teach that to live a life that pleases God, this Torah-observant walk must be part of every Christian’s life.

With that, let’s continue our study of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians with chapter 3.

Galatians 3

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?  Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?  So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?   (Galatians 3:1-5)

Paul knew who had bewitched the Galatians. It was a group of Judaizers who had visited the Galatian churches. They showed up after Paul left, teaching these new Gentile Christians that Paul had not given them the whole story. If they wanted to be accepted as followers of Jesus they had to put themselves under the Law.

Paul asked the Galatians a question that many believers need to be asked today. After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? (Galatians 3:3).

Variations on the “saved by grace, kept by works” theme have been around throughout the Church Age. They all imply that Jesus only began the work of our salvation, and it’s up to us to complete or maintain it through human effort. But in Hebrews 7:25 we’re told that because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Paul reminded the Galatians how they came to receive the Holy Spirit and witness God’s miraculous work. It didn’t happen because they were obedient to the Law. At the time they hadn’t been told they needed to obey the Law. It happened because they believed the Gospel.

So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.  Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”  So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Galatians 3:6-9).

The statement that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness is a quote from Genesis 15:6. Abraham was and is known primarily as the father of the Jewish people. But Paul said that all who rely on faith, Jew or Gentile, are Abraham’s children, And in another remarkable insight into Scripture, Paul said God was announcing the gospel with its justification by faith to Abraham when He said, “All nations will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). The blessing that would come to all nations would be the same justification by faith that Abraham enjoyed.

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law” (Deut. 27:26).  Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4).”  The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them (Lev. 18:5).”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Deut. 21:23). He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Galatians 3:10-14).

The Law cannot be fully obeyed. In order to be strict enough for God’s requirements, it has to be too strict for man’s abilities. Therefore, all who rely on the law are automatically cursed and cannot be justified before God. James said, “Whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles on just one part of it is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). By taking all of our violations of the Law upon Himself Jesus became a curse for us and redeemed us from the curse of the Law. This made God’s promise to Abraham available to all who believe. Therefore, like Abraham, our belief is credited to us as righteousness.

Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise (Galatians 3:15-18).

Once a contract has been agreed to it becomes binding and can’t be changed without the mutual consent of the parties. Therefore God’s promise to Abraham could not be set aside by the Law, which came later. God’s covenant with Abraham included a promise that called for a descendant of Abraham’s to be the one through whom all nations would be blessed. God didn’t say “descendants”, which would have included all Jewish people, but “ descendant” which pointed to one Jewish man, Jesus.

Let’s summarize what we’ve read so far. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. When God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, He meant that one of Abraham’s descendants (Jesus) would make it possible for God to justify the Gentiles by faith. Therefore, He was announcing the Gospel in advance. The Law, which was given later, could not change or cancel this promise.

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.  A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one (Galatians 3:18-20).

In Romans 3: 20 Paul put it this way. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by obeying the Law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. If we’re driving on a highway at 70 miles per hour and there is no posted speed limit, we can’t tell if we’re speeding or not. But if we see a sign that tells us the speed limit is 65 then we become aware of the fact that we are speeding. In like manner, the Law is a sign that tells us whether we’re sinning.

The Law was a contract between God and Israel (Exodus 19:5-6), and established the conditions under which they would be able to enjoy the benefits of the land He was giving them. The land was theirs forever (Genesis 13:15), but to live there in peace and plenty they had to obey the Law. This was how God would deal with their sins until Jesus came. The mediator was Moses and God was one party. The other party was Israel.

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.  But Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (Galatians 3:21-22).

The Law is only a shadow of the things that were to come (Hebr. 10:1). The reality, however, is Christ (Col. 2:17) The Law is not opposed to the promise, it’s purpose was to help God’s people maintain their relationship with Him until the promise was fulfilled. The Law can’t give us life because we’re prisoners of sin. Sin is our natural state and it prevents us from obeying the Law. Therefore, life can only come to us by faith in the promise, fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.  So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.  Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (Galatians 3:23-25).

The Law put very tight constraints on behavior such as a guardian might place on a child. But now that we are justified by faith, we don’t need a guardian. Our position before the Lord is based on what we believe not on how we behave. Our behavior is a sign of our gratitude.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

Our belief in Jesus gives us the right to be born again as children of God (John 1:12-13). No matter who we were before, if we’re in Christ we are God’s children and that makes us heirs to the promise God made to Abraham. Like him, we are justified by faith because our belief has been credited to us as righteousness.

We now see that the promise of justification by faith alone predated the giving of the Law by over 400 years. Once the Lord came to fulfill the promise, the Law was no longer necessary. It was a shadow of the good things that were coming, but the reality is Christ.

The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:39). See you next time. 11-22-14

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Today we begin a study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians which I’ve subtitled “The Case Against Combining Law And Grace.” Scholars are divided as to the date of this letter. Some place it in the late 40s and others in the early 50s. Either way it one of Paul’s earliest letters, perhaps even his first, and predated the Council of Jerusalem where the issue of Gentile converts to Christianity was the main agenda item (Acts 15).

The primary purpose of this letter was to contend against a group called the Judaizers. This group was early Jewish Christians who taught that Gentile converts to Christianity also had to observe certain Old Testament rites, specifically circumcision. Some even argued the only way for a Gentile to become a Christian was to first convert to Judaism, be circumcised, and go under the Law.

The Judaizers said Paul was not an authentic apostle but a false teacher who, in order to make the gospel more acceptable to Gentiles, had ignored the legal requirements of Judaism in his presentations. They felt it was their responsibility to follow Paul around and explain the “real gospel” to the Gentile churches he had planted.

One of the things that prompted me to undertake this study now is the growing number of comments I’ve received from certain elements in Christianity voicing those same opinions today, and for the same reason. Some Christians are once again claiming that we are obligated to observe Old Testament rites and regulations and that Paul was not an authentic apostle.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul presented a powerful defense of the essential New Testament truth that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone. We do not sanctify ourselves by religious works or Jewish legalism, but are sanctified by faith in the grace and power of God, made manifest in the work of Jesus Christ, and energized in our life by the Holy Spirit.

This will be an in-depth study of the Letter to the Galatians and we’ll need several installments to get through it, so let’s get started.

Galatians 1

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers and sisters with me,

To the churches in Galatia:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Galatians 1:1-5).

Acts 13-14 records the churches of Galatia as Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They were all geographically located in the south-central part of what was then the Roman province of Galatia, known today as Turkey.

The Greek word translated apostle means a delegate or messenger, one sent forth with orders. Paul always took pains to say he was not appointed an apostle by men but by the Lord Himself.

According to Acts 13:2 the Holy Spirit commissioned Paul and Barnabas to begin their first missionary journey and led them to Cyprus and then into the cities of Galatia where they formed the churches mentioned above.

Paul’s letter was his response to the Galatian churches concerning the Judaizers who visited these churches after he left.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! (Galatians 1:6-9)

Pay attention to what Paul said here. He pronounced a curse on anyone who tries to promote a gospel other than the one he has presented. Some translations render this as Paul saying, “Let him be eternally condemned.” The Greek word is anathema and means cursed, doomed to destruction.

We would expect him to come out strongly against the pagan religions that were prevalent at the time, but that’s not what we’re dealing with here. Paul said any so-called gospel message that contradicts the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone as presented in his letters is by definition a different gospel and puts those who teach it under a curse that dooms them to destruction. That means they aren’t saved, nor can they be. Where did he get the authority to say something like that?

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:10-12).

Paul said what has become known as the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith came straight to him from the Lord Himself. That’s where he got his authority.

For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Galatians 1:13-14).

Paul was a Pharisee, taught by Gamaliel who was one of the most highly regarded teachers of the time.  Paul was a rising star in Judaism who was gaining a reputation as a relentless pursuer of the followers of Jesus, showing no mercy to those he apprehended.

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus (Galatians 1:15-17).

One of the great fears of the day in Jerusalem was that belief in Jesus would spread to Damascus, a major commercial hub in the region. It was feared that if this new faith took root there it would quickly spread in all directions and there would be no stopping it. Paul agreed to go to Damascus to make sure that didn’t happen. He was on the way when He had a personal encounter with the risen Lord that changed everything. Instead of rounding up the believers in Damascus when he got there, he began teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, which so angered the Jews that they conspired to kill him.

With the help of friends, Paul escaped from Damascus and traveled into Arabia. Some say he went to Mt. Sinai and stayed in the same cave Elijah had used during his time on the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8-9). If so, the place where Moses received the Law would have been the same place where Paul received his revelation from the Lord concerning the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. After that Paul returned to Damascus where he continued teaching.

Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie (Galatians 1:18-20).

Paul is going to great lengths here to differentiate himself from the Judaizers. They were simply repeating the traditions they had been taught by men. But Paul was sent by God with a gospel he received directly from the Lord Jesus.

Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me (Galatians 1:21-24).

Paul visited Syrian Antioch and Tarsus in Cilicia, the city of his birth. While he was in Tarsus, Barnabas came to visit him from Antioch and took him back there. Together they spent a year teaching and ministering to the believers in Antioch. It was there that believers were first called Christians. And it was from there that Paul and Barnabas would later begin their missionary journey into Galatia under the call of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2).

Galatians 2

Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you (Galatians 2:1-5).

Apparently, the Lord told Paul to meet with the Church leaders in Jerusalem to confirm that the Judaizers were not speaking on behalf of the Church in Jerusalem. This is an interesting point. Paul was given a direct revelation from the Lord about the gospel he was to preach (Galatians 1:12). Even so, he was sent to the Church leadership for confirmation. Remember that the next time someone tells you he or she has a word from the Lord for you. Always seek confirmation. Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deut. 19:15, 2 Cor. 13:1).

As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along (Galatians 2:6-11).

Paul’s revelation having been confirmed, he returned to Antioch and continued his work there.

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray (Galatians 2:11-13).

There were six cities named Antioch in Biblical times. Of those, two are named in the Bible, Pisidian Antioch, the location of one of the churches in Galatia, and this one, sometimes called Syrian Antioch. It was the third most prominent city in the Roman Empire, behind Rome and Alexandria.

By the phrase “certain men from James” Paul meant Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. Some commentators identify these men as Judaizers but I don’t think so because Paul said they came from James. As we saw above, James and the other leaders had already confirmed Paul’s teaching. More likely they were Jewish Christians who were there on an official visit from Jerusalem. But either way, their presence caused Peter, Barnabas, and other Jewish believers, who had been fraternizing with the Gentile believers, to withdraw from them and resume their tradition of separation. Paul saw this as hypocrisy and called them on it.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:14-16).

Three times in two verses Paul stated in no uncertain terms that whether Jew or Gentile, we are not justified (rendered righteous) by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We know that Paul was not trying to marginalize the Law because in places like Romans 7:12 he said the Law is holy, righteous and good. But he was arguing against the improper use of the Law as the basis by which we are made acceptable to God. We are not justified by observing the Law but by faith in the completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24).

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:17-21).

I’m convinced that learning how the Levitical Feasts were observed in Biblical times, and how Jewish wedding customs provide insight into the relationship between the Lord and His Church, can be very helpful to our spiritual growth. I myself have benefited greatly from doing so. But for anyone who believes that keeping the Law is a necessary component of their salvation, I pray this study will convince them otherwise. Because if righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing.

So far Paul has made some pretty strong statements against combining Law and Grace, but as we’ll see next time, he’s just getting started. See you then. 11-15-14

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This verse from the old hymn obviously refers to the Lord in His position as King of Kings. But did you know that you may also receive multiple crowns? There are five types of crowns mentioned in the New Testament that will be given to qualifying believers immediately after the Rapture. These crowns are identified as the Everlasting Crown (Victory) in 1 Cor 9:25, the Crown of the Soul Winner in Phil 4:1 and 1 Thes 2:19, the Crown of Righteousness in 2 Tim 4:8, the Crown of Life in Jas 1:12 and Rev 2:10, and the Crown of Glory in 1 Peter 5:4.

And You Thought the Emmys Were Something

The Awards Ceremony described in 1 Cor 3:10-15 clearly distinguishes these crowns from the free gift of Salvation by sequence and purpose.  Our Salvation is granted at the moment of belief (Ephe 1:13-14) before any good or bad behavior has occurred, and marks the beginning of our new life. The events of 1 Cor 3:10-15 take place on the believers’ Judgment Day, after the rapture, and reflect the fruits of our Christian life.  (It’s important to remember that everyone involved in this ceremony is a believer).  Simply put, salvation is the gift at the beginning that makes it possible for us to earn the crown at the end.

The requirements are simple. If the motives of our heart are pure when we perform certain “acts of righteousness,” we may be earning one or more of these special rewards. But if there’s any thought of personal recognition or of earning some special credit for ourselves, we’re disqualified. The Lord told us in no uncertain terms; if we perform for the praise of men, we’ve gotten all the credit we’re going to get. We’ll receive no reward from the Lord.  But if we keep our good deeds secret He who sees all things will remember and reward us (Matt 6:1-4).

Matters of the Heart

The only acceptable motive in earning these crowns is what I call an “attitude of gratitude.”  This attitude motivates selfless acts of love, performed for no other reason than to express the gratitude we feel for the free gift of salvation we’ve received.  Both the reactions of others and the observable outcome of our efforts are irrelevant.  It’s one of the few areas of our life where we’re not held accountable for results.  The motive of our heart is the only thing that matters.

I’m persuaded that the Lord’s ways are so different from ours, and our motives are so difficult for us to discern, that it’s hard to tell what crowns we may be earning.  And this goes double where the motives of others are concerned. Hence Paul’s admonition in 1 Cor 4:5.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

Only the Lord is capable of judging the quality of of our works.  The things of which we’re proudest could be burned up in the fire, while little acts of kindness we don’t even remember could sparkle like precious gems in His eyes.

The Gift and the Prize

Understanding the difference between the Gift we’re given (Salvation) and the Prize we can earn (Crowns) gives us a great advantage in interpreting scriptures that speak of these things. The words themselves hold the clue. One doesn’t earn a gift. It’s freely given out of love with no strings attached. And it’s never taken back. So it is with our salvation.  It is the gift of God (Ephes. 2:8)

A prize  is something you qualify for and work to earn. It’s a reward for behavior, and you have to play by the rules to win.  In  2 Tim. 2:5 Paul wrote, “anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules”.  That’s how it is with our crowns.  And some of them are awarded on the basis of perseverance, requiring us to stay focused to the end.  Jesus said, “Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11).

When you understand that the Bible is God’s Word and therefore can not contradict itself, you know that if He says even once that our salvation is guaranteed, then its guaranteed. He can’t say it is in one place and then say it isn’t in another. If it appears that way, He has to be talking about two different things. And sure enough, He is. When He speaks of the gift of salvation, He says it’s unconditional, based on belief, and guaranteed (Ephes. 1:13-14).   When He speaks of the prizes we can win, He’s speaking of our crowns that are conditional, and require us to maintain certain behavior (Phil 3:13-14).  As an example, in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 Paul talked about bringing his own body under submission so that after preaching to others about the importance of living a victorious Christian life he himself would not be disqualified for the prize.

Where’s My Crown?

By the way, what do you suppose we do with these crowns, once we get them? According to Rev 5:10 we immediately turn and, bowing before His throne, place them at His feet.  In so doing, we acknowledge that even our “acts of righteousness” were made possible because of His gift to us.

If you’re working to earn the gift He’s already offered for free, you’re wasting your time and your life, and missing out on the joy of service. If you’re working to enhance or preserve His gift you risk offending Him, by showing that you think His effort was not sufficient. If you’re overwhelmed by the fact that He has accepted you just as you are, and just can’t restrain yourself; passing His love along every where you go with out any thought of reward, then one day soon He may crown you with many crowns. 08-31-13

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As evening approached the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about 5000 men besides women and children (Matt 14:15-21).

I’m Only Going To Say This Four Times

This is the only miracle Jesus performed before His Resurrection that is included in all the gospels, and so it must be important. Reading all four accounts (the one from Matthew above plus Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-13) is necessary to gain the full impact of the story, because each writer included details unique to his version. (For my article on the need for four gospel accounts, read).

The basic premise is laid out in Matthew. There were 5000 men plus an undetermined number of women and children who had followed Jesus into a remote spot having heard that He was in the area. (Remember it was only the Jewish Leadership that rejected Him. He was enormously popular with the people. That’s one of the reasons the leaders feared Him.) Some of the disciples became concerned as evening approached that the people would be hungry and there wouldn’t be anything to give them. They had located 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, only enough for one or two. When Jesus took what they had and gave thanks for it, it became more than enough to feed the entire crowd. 12 baskets full of pieces were left over, more than they had started with.

Look For The Hidden Meaning

The feeding of the 5000 turns out to be as important symbolically as is it is factually. As is frequently the case the numbers given in these accounts are spiritually significant. (I encourage you to undertake a study of the Biblical use of numbers, “Number in Scripture” a book by E.W. Bullinger being a good reference to help get you started.) When the number 5 is used you’ll often find that it’s within the context of a manifestation of the Grace of God, and 2 is the number of witness (Deut. 19:15). 12 is the number of government and often refers to Israel as well. Add to these the fact that Jesus identified Himself as the Bread of Life given for us (John 6:35), and that the fish became the symbol for believers in His Word, a name also used of Him (John 1:1), and the hidden message begins to emerge.

With these insights, we can see the message Jesus was sending: “By the Grace of God you’ll be spiritually fed as the Bread of Life gives Himself to you. The witness of His Word will sustain you and enough of the Bread of Life will be given for all the House of Israel.” Jesus likened this miracle to the giving of the manna in the wilderness, indicating that it was a foreshadowing of Him (John 6:25-40).

Let’s See You Do That Again

By the way, on another occasion Jesus miraculously fed 4000 men plus women and children (Matt 15:29-31, Mark 8:1-10). There they found 7 loaves and a few small fish among the crowd. Again Jesus made it sufficient for all and there were 7 baskets full left over. Four is the number of the Earth because by day 4 the creation of Earth was complete, (Days 5 and 6 deal with populating it) and 7 denotes divine completion, for on the 7th day the creation was finished and God rested from all His work. Here the symbolism denotes that Jesus was giving Himself to all the Earth and there is plenty for everyone’s spiritual hunger to be completely satisfied. Many scholars see this miracle being Gentile in focus while the feeding of 5000 is aimed at Israel. Put the 2 together and see that there’s enough of Him for all the world, Jew and Gentile alike. The Feeding of the 4000 is carried in only 2 gospels, a witness to both Jew and Gentile.

Back To The 5000

In his account of this miracle Mark describes the crowd as being “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34) and mentions that the grass upon which the people were made to sit down was green, recalling the phrase from Psalm 23, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” And indeed Psalm 23 describes how the Good Shepherd tends His flock. Mark also inserts an additional use of the number 5, describing how the people were organized into groups of 100’s and 50’s.
And incredibly Mark hints that the disciples actually had enough money with them to buy dinner for the entire group (Mark 6:37). So much for the notion that Jesus and His disciples were penniless vagabonds living off the land.

Luke adds what I think is the most fascinating piece of information of all: the location of the miracle. It was near a town called Bethsaida. The name is usually translated “house of fishing” and denotes their proximity to the Sea of Galilee and the town’s major industry. But the Hebrew root words making up Bethsaida provide real insight into God’s sense of humor. Beth is Hebrew for house, and sayid literally means “box lunch.” This miraculous and instantaneous feeding took place near the “House of the Box Lunch” and was perhaps the real origin of the fast food industry (just kidding).

John says that the event took place near the time of the Jewish Passover, explaining why the grass was green (it was spring time) and let’s us in on what Jesus was thinking. Would His disciples who knew Him better than anyone suggest that He had the supernatural power to feed them all or propose a merely human solution? How like us they were. With all the power of the universe in their midst, they could only devise a response based on their own capability (John 6:5-9). John also gives us the crowd’s reaction. “Surely this is the Prophet Who is to come into the world,” they said. Jesus, knowing they intended to come and make Him king by force withdrew again to a mountain by Himself (John 6:14-15). They didn’t understand that Jesus needed to fulfill His role as the Obedient Servant by first dying for their sins before accepting His destiny as King of Kings. Later He accused them of only following Him because He fed them (John 6:26). Sounds like us again.

A Lesson In Nutrition

And so in these miraculous feedings, we see the gospel story told in a truly practical manner. By giving us His Son, our God brings life to all His people Jew and Gentile, completely satisfying our spiritual hunger and sustaining us through the power of His Word. Interesting that bread is a carbohydrate, a type of food that instantly energizes us, while fish, being protein gives us staying power.

Now you know the adult version.

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Pentecost comes in the early summer (mid May-mid June). It’s the only Levitical Feast Day between the three spring feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits) and the three in the fall (Rosh Hashanna, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles). The Hebrew name for this Day is Shavuot, which means weeks, so in Israel, it’s often called the Feast of Weeks.

This is because it’s supposed to occur seven weeks after the Feast of First Fruits (Lev. 23:15-16).  Deut. 16:9 confirms this.  “Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain.” The first cutting of the grain took place on the Feast of First Fruits. Since First Fruits was the first day after the Sabbath that follows Passover, it was always observed on a Sunday. Shavuot, being seven weeks later, was always on a Sunday, too, and celebrated the beginning of the summer harvest.

But in 140 AD, following the final defeat of the Jewish nation after the bar Kochba revolt of 135 AD, the Sanhedrin changed the focus of Shavuot from the summer harvest to the giving of the Law. They did this because Shavuot was one of the three feasts all Jews were required to observe (Exodus 23:14-17 tells us Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles were the other two) and the defeated and dispersed nation would no longer have any national harvests to celebrate. From that time on, the countdown began from the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day the Israelites left Egypt. So now Shavuot can come any day of the week and takes place on the 6th day of the Hebrew month called Sivan, which is the traditional day Moses received the Law from the Lord. Making this change placed the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai exactly seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt and preserved the Feast of Weeks in Jewish life.

Christians call this day by its Greek name, Pentecost. Pentecost comes from a word that means “50 days.” That’s because there were 50 days from the Sabbath that followed Passover to Shavuot (Pentecost).

Early Christians also changed the way the various dates are determined, although we’ve retained the Sunday requirement for Pentecost. Christians now start counting on the day we call Easter Sunday, which is officially the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. We count Easter Sunday as day one, so Pentecost is always 49 days after Easter and always comes on a Sunday. By counting Easter Sunday on both ends of the span, we can arrive at 50 days (Pentecost) and still keep the celebration on the 7th Sunday after Easter.

What is Pentecost?

As I said, Jews now celebrate Pentecost (I’ll just use its Greek name to avoid any more confusion than necessary) as the day Moses received the Law on Mt. Sinai and the nation of Israel was born (Exodus 19-20). Christians celebrate it as the day the Holy Spirit came upon the Disciples in Jerusalem and the Church was born. (Some scholars see the historical and prophetic fulfillment of Pentecost in these two events.)

Acts 2 describes that day for us. On Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were all gathered together in one place when a sound like the blowing of a violent wind filled the house where they were staying and what seemed like tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as He enabled them. Just before He ascended into heaven Jesus told them to expect this (Acts 1:8) and now it was happening. Since Pentecost was one of the feasts where attendance in Jerusalem was required, there were God-fearing Jews from many other countries in Jerusalem, swelling its normal population substantially. The sound of the wind had alerted those who were nearby and as they came closer to see what it was, each one of these pilgrims was amazed to hear the disciples, who were all Galilean, speaking in his own language.

Peter got their attention and explained what was going on. It was the first public presentation of the gospel since the Lord’s death and resurrection, and when Peter had finished, 3,000 of those gathered around had accepted his message and were baptized, and the Lord continued adding to their number daily.

If you agree with my view that the parables of Matthew 13 describe the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and that the parable of the yeast (Matt. 13:33) predicts how the Church will be filled with sinners, you’ll be interested in the fact that unlike all the other Levitical Feasts that call for unleavened bread (no yeast), Pentecost calls for two loaves of bread baked with yeast (Lev. 23:17). In the Bible leaven, or yeast, is a model of sin because it causes the dough to begin spoiling.

Other Jewish Pentecost ceremonies also reveal a subtle hint of the coming Church. In synagogues, the Book of Ruth is read on Pentecost. The story of Ruth has been called “The Romance of Redemption.” It’s about Naomi, a Jewish woman from Bethlehem who lost her land due to a famine in Israel and was forced to flee into neighboring Moab (Jordan), where there was no famine.  Shortly thereafter her husband passed away leaving her penniless and alone in a foreign country.

After the famine had ended, she returned to Bethlehem accompanied by Ruth, a gentile woman who had sworn never to leave her. Ruth was a Moabite who had married one of Naomi’s sons (who also died) making her Naomi’s daughter-in-law and a destitute widow as well.

Once back in Bethlehem Naomi’s close relative, a prominent Jewish man named Boaz fell in love with Ruth and married her. In the process he also regained Naomi’s land as her kinsman-redeemer. Both these events were accomplished according to the Law. For Naomi it was the law of redemption (Lev 25:25), and for Ruth it was the law of leverite marriage (Deut. 25:5-6).

The modeling here is dramatic, with Naomi in the role of Israel, destitute and alone, Ruth as the Church, the gentile bride, Boaz as the Messiah, and the story itself as a prediction of the relationship that would involve all three of them. In the process of redeeming Israel, the Messiah takes a gentile bride. In doing so, He saves both from their destitute condition and restores Israel’s Land. The identification of the Church with Pentecost began in the prophecies of Ruth. To learn more about these incredible prophecies, and enjoy one of the world’s classic love stories, read Ruth’s Story.

By the way, Boaz was the son of Rahab, the harlot from the Book of Joshua (read “The Gospel in Joshua … The Story of Rahab“). His great-grandson David became the King of Israel. Rahab and Ruth are both listed in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 1:5), and King Solomon named one of the pillars at the entrance to the Temple after his ancestor Boaz.

When’s Your Birthday?

By tradition, Enoch, one of the patriarchs from Genesis 5, was born on the day later to be known as Pentecost. Enoch’s name means “teaching,” a primary function of the Church (Matt. 28:19-20). For this reason many scholars see him as a “type” of the church as well. Genesis 5:21-23 indicates that Enoch had a close relationship with God and was actually taken live (raptured) into Heaven before the Great Flood. Pre-Trib scholars see this event as one of several Old Testament hints that the Church will disappear from Earth before the Great Tribulation.

These same traditions also hold that Enoch was taken on his birthday. So here’s a man, identified with the Church, perhaps being born and raptured on the day that would become Pentecost, the day the Church was born. Will the Church be raptured on our birthday, too? Personally I don’t believe the Rapture of the Church will be the prophetic fulfillment of any of Israel’s Holy Days. But if I’m wrong and the Rapture does fulfill a Levitical Feast, Pentecost seems to be the most obvious candidate.

As you probably know, I believe the reason no one on Earth can accurately predict the day of the Rapture is because it’s a number specific event, not a date specific one. In Romans 11:25 Paul implied the church has a “full number,” when its ranks will be considered complete. When that number is reached the Church will “come in,” which means it will arrive at its scheduled destination, like when a ship “comes in.” Jesus said the destination of the Church is His Father’s house (John 14:2). Put it together, and I believe it means we’ll be raptured as soon as the predetermined number of Christians has been born again, no matter what day it happens to be.

Soon And Very Soon

No matter what day it happens to be, one day soon now, all who are in Christ, having heard and believed the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our salvation (thereby receiving the seal of the promised Holy Spirit) will suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth along with all children and others who are intellectually incapable of making informed choices about their eternal destiny. In one instant we will have been going about our daily routines here on Earth and in the next we’ll be standing in the presence of our Redeemer, our sins forgiven and forgotten, and all our imperfections gone. Among us will be all the faithful dead of the Church Age, reunited with perfected bodies and restored to eternal physical life. Together we will begin the most incredible journey of exploration and realization ever dreamed of, and it will last forever.

Neither we, nor the unbelieving world, will have received any advance warning of the timing for this event; it will have come totally by surprise. Maybe it will happen on Pentecost, maybe not. But one thing is certain, when it does happen, none of us will care one bit whether we had predicted it’s timing accurately. We will only express in unimaginable joy our gratitude for being there. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephe. 2:8-9)

As it is written: No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him – but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit (1 Cor. 2:9-10). You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 05-23-15.

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As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:28-29)

In the final portion of his three-chapter explanation of the relationship between God, Israel, and the Church, Paul explains that though the Jews appear to be enemies of the Gospel, God’s promises to their Patriarchs are inviolable, not conditioned on their behavior. He has preserved a remnant for these times just as He did during the time of Elijah (Romans 11:1-6). And in fact, their opposition to the Gospel has brought great blessing to the Gentile world, opening the door to Salvation to all who would enter. (See Isaiah 49:1-6 for God’s promise that this would happen.)

How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You?

God had made this same point through the prophet Ezekiel 600 years earlier. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”

“For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:22-27)

This is one of several Old Testament passages explaining that the remnant of Israel would be born again in the latter days. This rebirth would take place both in the political sense (the nation would come into existence again after a 2000-year absence) and in the spiritual sense (they will be saved by grace just as you and I are). And then God will open the storehouse of blessings He has kept for just this time. Let’s let His Word speak for itself.

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zechariah 12:10-11). As all the nations of the world gather against Jerusalem for the great and final battle of the age of man, the remnant of Israel will turn to their Messiah and petition His return. Having caused Him to reject them and leave them (Hosea 5:15) they will finally see the error of their way, admit their guilt, and petition His return (Hosea 6:1-2). “Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:3)

Accepted. Finally And Forever

“In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be, I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:11, 14-15)

“For I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:18-25)

A Time For Blessing

At that time the curse that’s afflicted Planet Earth since Genesis 3 will be lifted. The mountains and the hills will break into song and the trees of the fields will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12) There will finally be peace on Earth and good will toward men. Nation will not take up sword against nation nor will they train for war anymore. (Micah 4:3) Even the animals will live in peace. Long lifetimes will return as sickness and disease are dramatically curtailed and Earth is restored to its condition before the fall. In New Jerusalem there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain for the old order of things has passed away. (Rev. 21:4) And all the people of the Earth will be blessed. (Gen 12:3) For if Israel’s transgression means riches for the world, how much more will their fullness bring! (Romans 11:12)

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

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Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:4)

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Romans 10:1-4)

Our human nature makes us more task-oriented than results oriented. This means that it’s easier for us to identify what we need to do today than to remember what we’re trying to accomplish with our lives. (It’s easier to get the trash out every Sunday night than it is to schedule quality time with our kids each week.) Because of this tendency, we often confuse effort with results, especially with repetitive tasks. It’s no surprise then that the Israelites began to rely more and more on the religious tasks they were performing as time passed and less and less on the promise of a Redeemer. Little by little the form of their religion had overtaken the substance, and they lost sight of the fact that those tasks were designed as a daily reminder of their need for a Redeemer. Eventually the tasks became their redeemer and by the time of Jesus, many believed that their efforts at keeping the commandments were sufficient to earn their Salvation.

This was not unique to them or their time. Ask anyone today who believes in an afterlife, but isn’t Biblically literate, how they expect to get into Heaven and watch as they tick off their own list of commandments. Even though they made the list up, they believe by keeping it God will reward their efforts and they’ll go to heaven.

You’re Missing The Point

The Israelites missed the point that Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes, and that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10: 4,9). Speaking of the Messiah, Isaiah had told them that anyone who puts their trust in Him will never be put to shame (Isaiah 28:16) but having drifted away from a literal interpretation of Scripture, they lacked the knowledge to recognize Him when He walked among them. When the Lord rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday He lamented, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (Luke 19:42) Later that week He indicated that their blinding would be temporary, ending when the time of the Gentiles had run its course. (Luke 21:24)

Who Rejected Whom?

“How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard?” Paul asked in Romans 10:14. And so the Messiah had to leave until they learned to recognize Him. “You will not see Me again,” He said, “Until you say Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.” (Matt. 23:39). In the courtyard of the Antonia Fortress a few days later as Pilate condemned Him to death, they shouted, “Let His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matt. 27:25) And so it was. The people rejected Him. The Lord had no choice but to reject them.

The prophets had foreseen even these details of the Lord’s ministry: “Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.” (Hosea 5:15)

But as the Apostles concluded at the Council of Jerusalem, this rejection would last only until the Lord had finished building His church (read ). The day will soon come when they will earnestly seek Him, saying, “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” (Hosea 6:1-2) Many interpret this prophecy to mean that after 2000 years the Lord would revive them as a nation (with the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day, 2 Peter 3:8) and then restore them in fulfillment of their 1000 year Kingdom promises.

On that day the Lord will “pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” (Zech 12:10) From that day on “Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations. Their bloodguilt, which I have not pardoned, I will pardon.” The Lord dwells in Zion! (Joel 3:20-21)

Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! (Romans 11:11-12) In our conclusion next week we’ll see how the elected and rejected will once again be accepted and the whole world will be blessed beyond our wildest imagination.

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“I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy,” He said, “And I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19).

When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. Simon (Peter) has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages.” (Acts 15:13-18)

The occasion was a conference in Jerusalem to settle a dispute over whether Gentile converts to Christianity could go straight into the Church or whether they had to first become Jews. Peter, Paul, Barnabus and many other 1st century Christian leaders attended the conference chaired by James, brother of Jesus, who was by then the Bishop of the Church in Jerusalem.

What’s The Point?

The real point at issue was, if Gentiles don’t have to first become Jews, what’s to become of Israel? Has the Church replaced Israel as God’s people on Earth? James quoted from Amos 9:11-12 to remind them all that after the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles, God would return to rebuild “David’s fallen tent.” This reference was to the Nation Israel as well as its form of worship complete with Temple and ordinances. The phrase “after this” showed them that Israel was being put on hold while the Lord took from among the Gentiles a people for Himself, a reference to the Church, but that later He would again turn His attention toward Israel and restore both the nation and its worship system. Based on that conclusion these Messianic Jews, the Church’s first leaders determined that it was not necessary in the words of Peter to “put on their necks a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear. We believe that it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:10-11) From that point on any person, Jew or Gentile, could be welcomed into the Church solely upon a confession of faith and not be subject to the rituals and ordinances of Judaism.

From this conference emerged the understanding in the early church that God’s dealings with Israel and the Church are mutually exclusive. While He was focused on building the Church, Israel would fade into the background, but once His work with the church was complete Israel would again become the primary focus of His attention. So Israel was not being replaced by the Church but would reemerge as the Church reached its predetermined number. (Rom. 11:25-27) (Note: A sign that God’s work in the church is nearly finished is the growing importance of Israel in world affairs. No other nation on Earth has commanded as much attention since its reemergence as a nation. In fact, 26% of all UN Security Council meetings since 1948 have concerned Israel.)

Later Paul expanded on this theme in his letter to the Romans, clearly explaining the relationships between the Lord, Israel, and the Church in chapters 9-11. Let’s review these chapters to gain the understanding of one who attended the conference and who was known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Elected

Speaking of the Jews, Paul said, “Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” (Rom. 9:4-5). Their election as God’s chosen people was an act of His sovereign choice. He looked with favor upon Abraham, a descendant of Shem from modern-day Iraq, and offered to make of his descendants a great nation through whom all the peoples of the world would be blessed. 400 years later, when He brought them out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai the Nation Israel was born, and throughout the Old Testament, the idea is clear that God chose Abraham and his descendants simply because it was His right to choose whomever He wanted. “I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy,” He said, “And I will have compassion upon whom I will have compassion.” (Exodus 33:19).

Your Mission, If You Choose To Accept It …

In Romans 9 Paul reminds us of an interesting condition. This election was never intended solely as a birthright, automatically inherited by the children of Jewish parents. “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” (Rom. 9:6-8) While they couldn’t choose their nationality, the children of Abraham had to choose to participate in the promised blessings by obeying His instructions and believing in His promise of a coming Redeemer. Remember God’s words to the recently released captives from Egypt: “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

Isaiah explained that God chose Israel to accomplish a special fourfold mission on Earth:

to be a witness for Him (Isa 43:10),
to show forth His blessings (49:3)
to transmit the Scriptures (42:9)
to be a channel for the Messiah(49:5)

Though chosen for this mission, they had to accept it, obey His covenants, and keep the faith. Obedience would bring great blessings but disobedience would bring consequences (Deut. 30:11-20). Eventually, they disobeyed and suffered the consequences, but just how permanent would those consequences be? More next time.

The post Commentary on Romans 9-11 appeared first on Grace thru faith.

Paul’s letters to Timothy are the instructions from a mentor to a young pastor, one of the first ever, and contain advice on what to do and how to do it, as well as what not to do. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect given the relationship.

But for no apparent reason Paul tucked several warnings about the end times into various places in his instructions. These are things Paul knew Timothy wouldn’t have to deal with because he clearly described them as characteristics of the Latter Days. We’ll take them each in turn.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

When I read this one I always think of certain televangelists who espouse a perversion of the prosperity gospel. They know what they’re teaching is a compilation of half truths and outright lies, so in effect they’re twisting God’s word to steal from their followers. And without the least bit of shame they enjoy the lifestyles of the rich and famous at the expense of their contributors who, according to some reports, come primarily from the bottom 25% of the economic scale.

Taking advantage of their followers’ lack of Bible knowledge and misguided desire for a more abundant life , these predators foist one get rich quick scheme after another on their desperate flocks, bilking them out of the few discretionary dollars they have and leaving them worse off in the bargain. And they do it in the name of God. It makes you wonder what He’ll say to them come judgment time.

But the prosperity teachers aren’t the only ones in this category. There are others who teach things they know are contrary to what the Bible says. Some of these things come under the heading of conditional salvation, grace plus works, partial rapture, and other false teaching that can steal the joy of your salvation and rob you of your certainty. Their objective is to imprison you within boundaries of rules they themselves can’t follow. Read Colossians 2:8-23 for Paul’s opinion on these modern day legalists.

Then there are those who either treat the prophecies of our time as if they were already accomplished in history, or as if they’re never going to be accomplished because they’re all allegorical. These teachers also know what they’re saying can’t be reconciled with Scripture, but they ask you to believe it anyway, trusting in their superior intellect or advanced education instead of your own common sense. They take passages that can be clearly understood just as they’re written by anyone with an average intellect and make them hopelessly confusing by violating the rules of context, re-defining terms, and making that which is real into something symbolic.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Just as you become convinced that Paul is describing the unbelieving world in our time and are vigorously nodding your head in agreement, he says that these people have a form of godliness but deny its power. Then you realize he was writing about those believers in name only, who spend 6 ½ days each week living lives indistinguishable from unbelievers, grabbing all they can get from our material world by any means necessary while contributing little or nothing to the work of the Kingdom. These people lead two lives, the one they’re serious about, and the one that’s just for show. Guess which is which.

Paul was not blind to the behavior of these people, nor was this the only time he warned us to stay from them. Listen to what he told the Corinthians.

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people – not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat (1 Cor. 5:9-11).

Notice he said “anyone who calls himself a brother” instead of “anyone who is a brother.” I think he was doubting that someone who behaves in this manner could have been saved in the first place.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Here the focus is on the emerging church movement in all its various forms. In business schools, students learn to develop strategies based on a driving force. One such driving force is the market. A market driven strategy requires the business enterprise to focus on what they perceive to be the wants and needs of their target customers and adapt themselves to meet these needs in a more effective way.

Correctly predicting the growing demand for a religious organization that could meet the needs of a self centered, self sufficient generation, the leaders of the emerging church movement developed such a strategy. They took the focus off God and put it on the congregation. Entertainment replaced worship, philosophy replaced theology, and good works replaced victorious living.

Borrowing a phrase from Dominion Theology they began calling it “bringing Heaven to Earth” to make it sound more appealing to their idealistic target market. Little do their followers realize that for believers, these good works will be burned up in the fire (1 Cor. 3:14-15), and for unbelievers they’ll be woefully insufficient for entry into the kingdom (John 3:3). God has His own strategy for bringing Heaven to Earth and it doesn’t include the emerging church. Commenting on their works in his letter to Laodicea, Jesus said, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:15-16) They’re excited about the great entertainment, the stimulating talk, and the good works, but not about the Lord.

Irrespective of that, both the seats and the coffers soon filled, signs that their market driven strategy was working, and for many the emerging church was soon the place to be. This was especially true for those who had become bored with traditional Church and wanted a place where they could feel good and do good with no messages about sin and salvation to convict them. The gospel was not missed in its absence.

Besides, “All of our attempts to define the right form of the Gospel are just human interpretations,” the movement’s leaders claim. “We must avoid a naive or excessive confidence in any telling of the Gospel story, since no articulation of the gospel today can presume to be exactly identical to the original meaning Christ and the apostles proclaimed.” In a sense, they’re saying since its impossible to know what the Gospel story really is we shouldn’t put too much faith in it.

Learning about the rapidly approaching End Times and the need to be ready for it has also been skipped. Instead, the “excessive” study of prophecy is called a distraction from the real work of the Church. These things were done by design, since the goal is to have non-believers make up at least half of their congregations. The market is much bigger that way and the non-believers help move the believers away from theological absolutes, like the need to be born again and the importance of prophecy.

In the next verse of His letter Jesus offered additional criticism. “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” (Rev. 3:17) His letter to the Church in Laodicea contains no commendation for their works and offers no escape from the end times judgments, just a plea to be allowed back into their midst (Rev. 3:20).

But Wait There’s More

Over fourteen years earlier in his second letter to the Thessalonians Paul had first warned us about the apostasy of the latter days, calling it one of the signs that would mark the end of the age. In 2 Thes. 2:1 Paul began to address their questions about two events, the (2nd) coming of our Lord, and our being gathered to Him (the rapture). He was responding to information they had received saying the day of the Lord had already come. He told them not to worry because several things had to happen first.

Paul didn’t go into things like the regathering of Israel, the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week, or the building of a Temple. Israel had not been dispersed yet, and the Second Temple was still standing. He focused on events that are more gentile in nature.

A careful reading of 2 Thes. 2:3-8 shows the order in which he said these things would take place. He said the apostasy would happen first (verse 3), then the rapture of the Church when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way (verse 7), and finally the revealing of the anti-Christ followed by the 2nd Coming (verse 8). (If you don’t read this passage carefully, you could become confused by Paul’s mention of the anti-Christ in verses 3-4. But verse 8 clearly places the official unveiling of the anti-Christ after the removal of the Holy Spirit.) Even a casual observation shows that we’re well into the time of the first sign.

What should be our reaction to this? First is to remember that God’s Word said this would happen so there’s no point in bemoaning the fact that it’s happening. Instead we should be encouraged to know the end of the Age is getting closer. Jesus said the true Church would become weaker and less influential as the end approaches (Rev. 3:8). As the world moves further and further from God, those of us who follow Him will naturally feel less comfortable and be less welcome here.

If you live in the United States, stop confusing your country with your church. No believer outside the US makes this mistake, and the fact is the Church has neither a home nor a land on Earth. Our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) and we look for a city whose architect and builder is God (Hebr. 11:10).

No matter where we live in the world we have to remember that we’re aliens here and our visit is about over. Soon we’ll be going home where we belong.

In the mean time we have to stop depending on organized religion to meet our needs. In some places the Church is being forced underground. In others we’re going willingly. But either way the gulf between religion and the Church is growing wider by the day.

If you can’t find a God worshiping, Bible teaching church where you live, don’t settle for what you can get. Gather a small group of like minded believers and worship at home. Paul and Timothy didn’t have a huge bureaucracy behind them. They didn’t have million dollar buildings or professionally designed programs. They didn’t even have the New Testament. Yet they found a way to worship God, and to help others do the same.

Stop supporting groups who are trying to bring Heaven to Earth and start sending your treasure to Heaven. I could tell you stories all day along about what God can do with a hand full of people He can trust. Ask the Lord to identify a need for you to meet in His name and then work in His strength to meet it. Apart from Him nothing you do has any value to the Kingdom (John 15:5).

Dig into prophecy. It’s the single biggest topic in the Bible and more is written about our life and times than any other period in history. Know what you believe and why you believe it.

Do these things and you can make the time we have left the most rewarding and enjoyable time you’ve ever known. You can almost hear the Footsteps Of The Messiah. 03-26-11

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Here’s a good question. A website follower wrote, “For some time I have been discussing and studying Matt. 6:25-34 regarding what the Lord promised to provide for the believer. Taken literally, it seems to say that we are promised food and clothes and that’s it. Of course, that is a great deal if you do not have those things, but some argue that God has also included much more as well. I believe this but unfortunately, I can’t back this up with scripture. Can you help?”

First, let’s summarize the passage. In Matt. 6:25 Jesus said “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

I think one thing He was telling us is that we should eat to live, not live to eat. A sufficient quantity of wholesome healthy food is really all we need. What do we gain by overindulging in food and drink that can actually shorten our life? And as long as we have sufficient serviceable clothing, what else do we need? What benefit is there in strutting around like a peacock? Life should be much more important to us than these things.

And we’ll close with verses 31- 34. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The first thing we can see here is that life is far too important to be spent worrying about the future, especially where the basic necessities are concerned. And the second thing is if we’ll focus on seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness He’ll see that these needs are met. Therefore worrying about them is unnecessary.

Earlier in the same instruction, He had cautioned us against storing up treasure on Earth because it can be lost or stolen (Matt. 6:19-21). He said to store up treasure in Heaven instead, where that can’t happen. Many have also written asking how to do that, and the answer is in Mark 10:17-22. A rich young man had asked how to inherit eternal life. After the young man said he was already keeping the commandments, Jesus told him to sell everything and give it to the poor. Then he would have treasure in Heaven.

The two points to the discussion are that the young man was not happy with the answer because he had great wealth and was apparently reluctant to part with it. This proved the Lord’s point that we can’t serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). Excessive focus on material things will always get in the way of pleasing God. And the second point is that using our earthly treasure to help the poor is a way to build our store of heavenly treasure.

So far it doesn’t sound very practical. Many believe that if they don’t worry about taking care of themselves, then who will? And if we give away all of our excess what will we do when hard times come?

This is where some of the Lord’s other promises come into focus. Remember, we’re talking about life here. And what did He say about life? “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Does living from hand to mouth, having nothing to fall back on sound like a worry-free abundant life? Hardly. So there must be more to this than meets the eye. And there is, because when you have the faith to live as He told you to, some other promises start to kick in.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

When our actions demonstrate generosity, then we’ll be blessed generously in return. It’s a classic cause and effect relationship. Generous giving is the sign of an abundance mentality. It shows we know the Lord has made unlimited resources available to us so we don’t have to hoard what we have. We can share what we have with those who have nothing because we know there’s more where that came from.

This is a good time to refute the false teaching sometimes called “giving to get.” Although Luke 6:38 says our generosity toward others will determine the Lord’s generosity toward us, giving with an expectation of receiving is not being generous, it’s being greedy. True generosity carries no expectation of future reward but is an expression of gratitude for rewards already received.

If our gratitude for having our needs consistently met in the past prompts us to give generously to help others meet their needs in the present, then the Lord will reward our generosity with more blessing in the future. But if we’re only giving to others because we want more for ourselves, the Lord, who sees our hidden motives, will not respond generously.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19). Here’s a case in point. The church in Philippi had responded generously by helping to meet Paul’s needs, and he promised that the Lord would see to theirs in return. He was applying the principle of Luke 6:38.

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (2 Cor. 9:11)

This verse speaks of the escalating effect of Luke 6:38. As our generosity toward others increases so does His toward us. But His generosity will always outpace ours so that after our giving, we’ll wind up with more than when we began. He does this so we can respond to more needs. The principle here is that we’re to be a channel, not a reservoir. We have to remember that His blessings are being channeled through us to reach others in need.  As soon as we stop giving to the needs of others, we become a reservoir, storing up what we’ve been given, and the flow of blessings will stop.

But if we stay focused on giving we’ll discover that this promise contains benefits on both sides. As we become more generous toward others, benefitting them, we’ll be made rich in every way, benefitting ourselves, while enabling us to provide even more help to those in need. As you can see, this involves much more than just having our basic needs met. I think the phrase “rich in every way” includes financial, physical, and emotional security, good health, good relationships, and a much more fulfilling walk with the Lord, too. This is the answer to the question we began with. This is the kind of life we can expect.

The times in which this advice was given were not unlike our own. There was uncertainty all around. Israel’s former greatness was a distant memory and the very survival of the nation was in doubt. Individual freedoms were being curtailed and taxes were steadily increasing.  Most people were living at basic survival levels.   It was a time when people’s natural instincts were to hang onto whatever they could get.

Yet to these people both the Lord and Paul preached faith in God and generosity toward one another as the path to freedom from worry. It was good advice then and it’s good advice now. Selah 03-12-11

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The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. (Psalm 110:1-2)

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, ” ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘

If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matt 22: 41-46)

It’s pretty clear that both the Lord and the Pharisees he was addressing believed that Psalm 110 referred to the Messiah and that the Holy Spirit had inspired King David to write it. Where they differed was in their understanding of the Messiah’s origins. The Pharisees believed he would be a human descendant of King David, and nothing more. The Lord knew He was also God in the flesh, and quoted Psalm 110 to remind them that David knew this too.

Many translations show the first appearance of Lord in Psalm 110 all in caps (LORD) and the second one in lower case except for the first letter (Lord). This is to show that David was writing of a conversation he overheard, through the power of the Holy Spirit, between the Father and the Son.

There are two facts to support this conclusion.  First, Lord is a title one uses in addressing a superior, and only two were superior to the King. One was God the Father, represented by LORD and the other was God the Son, called Lord.  In effect Jesus reminded the Pharisees that David would have referred to a merely human descendant as his son, not as his Lord.

And second, in Hebrew the “word” translated LORD is YHWH, the four initials of the unpronounceable name of God, and used only of Him, while the one translated Lord is a different word, Adonai.

Responding truthfully to the Lord’s question would have forced the Pharisees to agree with David, something they weren’t prepared to do. Not then, not ever. At His trial before the Sanhedrin, the Lord’s declaration that He was the Messiah and that they would all see Him seated at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of Heaven is what stirred them to convict Him of blasphemy, a capital crime. (Matt. 26:64)

Their only problem was that the Romans wouldn’t let them execute anyone without permission.  So they took him to Pontius Pilate.  Pilate wasn’t concerned about the charge of blasphemy. That was an internal matter among the Jews. But in calling Himself a King (John 18:33-37), Jesus was confessing to treason under Roman law, also a capital crime (Matt.27:11). Even then Pilate was inclined to release Jesus, but when the crowd became adamant, he saw a way to yield to their wishes while remaining within Roman Law. That’s why he had them place a sign on the Lord’s cross that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  He was announcing that the crime for which Jesus was being executed was treason.

King Jesus, Our High Priest

David had written that the Messiah would be both a king and a priest just like Melchizedek had been. From Genesis 14:18 we learn that Melchizedek, whose name means King of Righteousness, was both a priest of the Most High God and the King of Salem, a Jebusite city that later became known as Jerusalem.  When David conquered the Jebusites he made Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and purchased the land on nearby Mount Moriah where Abraham had sacrificed Isaac several hundred years earlier for the Temple location.

Never since the founding of Israel had one man been both a king and a priest. It was forbidden. Kings came from the tribe of Judah, while priests were descended from Levi.  One king who tried to function as a priest earned the Lord’s immediate displeasure, and serves to illustrate the point. Daring to offer incense in the Temple, King Uzziah immediately contracted leprosy and was quarantined till his dying day (2 Chron. 26:16-21).  Some prophets were also priests, Ezekiel and Zechariah for example, and David was a king and a prophet.  But no one was ever both a king and a priest in Israel.

However, prophecies in Ezekiel 21:25-27 and  Zechariah 6:9-13 tell us the two offices will eventually be united when Messiah comes and that He will be both a king and a priest.   And of course in the Book of Hebrews Jesus is called our King (Hebr. 1:8) and Our High Priest (Hebr. 4:14).  This is possible because Jesus is not a priest in the Levitical sense but in the higher order of Melchizedek.  All of Hebrews 7 is devoted to this topic.

I Know I Am But What Are You?

In Exodus 19:6 Israel is called a kingdom of priests but in 1 Peter 2:9 we read, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” He was speaking to the Church, calling us a royal priesthood.   Only kings are considered royalty.

And in Revelation 1:5-6 it’s even clearer. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (KJV)

Some of the modern translations prefer the word kingdom over kings in the passage above, and it’s true, the Greek word there can be translated either way. They try to compare the Revelation passage with Exodus 19:6 to bolster their replacement theology bias, making the Church look like Israel. But to most conservative scholars it’s clear that both the context and the grammatical structure of the passage require that the Greek word be translated kings. (The same is true in Revelation 5:10 where the same phrase is repeated.)

Kings Of What?

The Bible doesn’t have a specific answer for this, but in Ephesians 2:6-7 Paul wrote,  “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” 

The “coming ages” alludes to the time of the Millennium and beyond where we’ll serve as living examples of the incomparable riches of God’s grace, seated with our King and High Priest on His throne.

Throughout human history the best kings have always been the ones most sincerely devoted to the well being of their subjects. And  the priests  were not just religious officials.  In most generations they were their society’s repository of knowledge in philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language. If these can serve as worldly models of our heavenly future, then we can assume there’s a lot more to being a king and a priest than sitting on a throne or conducting a worship service.

In the USA we don’t have a royal family so many of us don’t know what that’s like.  But people from other countries do, and they know that for the most part, “royals”, as they’re called, don’t work.  Many of them don’t even help run the countries their families rule.  They follow a higher calling,  pursuing personal interests and living lives of service.  They have no need to support themselves, so they’re free to devote all their time, energy, and intellect to the things they find to be the most fulfilling.

On Earth we all have a sin nature, so we can be drawn off the path of righteousness, and we’ve seen that happen with many royals.  And because of our fallen nature even the best of us can only achieve a small percentage of our nearly limitless potential.  But in our perfected state, these things won’t be a problem.   We’ll discover that God created us with capabilities we’ve barely used.  Now we’re like a thoroughbred race horse that has been consigned to pulling a child’s cart.  But all that will change forever at the rapture.  Finally there will be nothing to prevent us from achieving our full potential in any undertaking we can imagine.

Both Paul (1 Cor. 15:42-44) and John (1 John 3:2) made it clear that we won’t know in advance exactly what we’ll be like after the rapture/resurrection.  Our motives, our capabilities, and our  appearance may all be different.  But they both said we’ll be like Jesus. That means whatever we do will be pleasing to God and done for His glory. We can only speculate about the specifics.

Does all this exceed the limits of your imagination? Of course it does. That’s why Paul called it “the incomparable riches of His grace.” He also said, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). Having been there and seen our future (2 Cor. 12:2-4) he knew it was beyond the ability of our sin-contaminated minds to imagine.  But know this.  Being both a king and a priest will be by far the most rewarding, fulfilling calling we’ve ever had. Selah 05-11-13

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A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Zechariah 14 … The LORD Comes and Reigns

A day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city.(Zech 14:1-2)

As the final battle begins, the armies of the anti-Christ will attack and for a little while control the Holy City. It will be a terrible time for those who have not heeded the Lord’s earlier warning to flee into the desert. Their belongings will be taken from them and distributed to their enemies right before their eyes.

Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. (Zech 14:3-5)

When it looks as if all is lost, the Lord will descend to the Mount of Olives, to the place He left from nearly 2000 years ago. As He does, an earthquake will cause the Mount of Olives to split in half forming a deep valley that runs to the Mediterranean in the west and to the Dead Sea in the east. I’ve been told that on a geological survey map you can see the fault line and trace the path of the coming earthquake. It will run straight through the current Temple Mount just west of the Mt. Of Olives, causing it, the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aksa Mosque and much of the Old City to disappear into the bottom of this valley.

The Lord’s return will cause the immediate defeat of His enemies, after which He’ll make His triumphal entry into the city followed by His legions of Holy Warriors.

On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime—a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.(Zech, 14:6-9)

According to Ezekiel, the water that will fill this newly formed valley to create a mighty river originates under the Coming Temple, located a few miles to the north. Connecting Ezekiel 47 to this passage, a growing number of scholars have come to believe that the next Temple will be built just north of Jerusalem, and not on the current Temple Mount. (I’ve held this view for almost 10 years and have documented my reasons in an article called “The Coming Temple”.)

In his vision, Ezekiel saw the water flowing from beneath the south side of the Temple and Zechariah shows it doing so on the day of the Lord’s return. Since the earthquake will have buried the current Temple Mount earlier in the same day, it’s easy to see how this all fits together. In any case, when the cascading water reaches this valley, half flows east into the Dead Sea and half flows west into the Mediterranean, forever drowning the rubble from the current Temple mount.

In the idiom of the day, flowing water was said to be living because it had a voice (as in a babbling brook) and because it nurtured life, whereas a pool of still water became stagnant and caused everything in it to eventually die. The bath of purification (mikvah) had to be taken in living water. Immersion in the mikvah brought ceremonial cleansing from sin and symbolized new life. Christian baptism originated from this Jewish tradition. Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to living water in John 7:37, in that He’s the source of our new life, cleansing and nurturing us, and in Ezekiel 47 this living water from beneath the Temple freshens the Dead Sea allowing fish to thrive there again, and fruit trees to grow along its banks.

This will also be the day of fulfillment for Philippians 2:9-11; Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

But that’s not all. Psalms 2 and 110 will also be fulfilled along with a host of other prophecies, as the Messiah-King takes possession of that which He’s paid for, Planet Earth. In the process the topography of the land surrounding Jerusalem will be forever changed.

The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.(Zech. 14:10-11)

The Arabah contains the Jordan River and the Dead Sea and continues to the Red Sea. It’s the lowest place on Earth, over 1300 feet below sea level at the Dead Sea. The area south of Jerusalem will be lowered to match it, while the city itself will be elevated. And finally, for the first time in thousands of years, it will be secure, a City of Peace at last.

This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other. Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.(Zech. 14:12-14)

Shades of Raiders of The Lost Ark! A Neutron bomb liquefies flesh while leaving solid structures like buildings, and apparently skeletons, intact. Some have estimated that as many as 400 million combatants will be assembled for the Battle of Armageddon not counting animals. Perhaps this is what produces the volume of liquid necessary to form a river of blood 175 miles long and 4.5 feet deep as mentioned in Revelation 14:20.

Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

On that day HOLY TO THE LORD will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.(Zech. 14:16-21)

We also learn from Ezekiel 45:21-25 that three of the 7 Levitical Feasts will still be celebrated in the Millennium; Passover (but no lamb), Unleavened Bread, and Tabernacles. All the nations on Earth, having been repopulated by Tribulation Believers who were too late for the rapture but survived the Great Tribulation, will be required to observe these feasts. The Lord will dwell among His people, and His city will be the Holy City once again. And finally the commandment He gave to Joshua to destroy every trace of the Canaanites will have been fulfilled.

In this brief view of the End Times, Zechariah has revealed an enormous amount of information. These three chapters have given us glimpses of

1. A World Confederation aligned against Israel
2. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (The Great Tribulation)
3. The National Conviction of Israel
4. The presentation and acceptance of Jesus as their rejected Messiah
5. A National Day of Atonement
6. The Cleansing of Their Hearts
7. Purging the land of idols and false prophets

8. The partial success of the invasion of Jerusalem
9. The appearance of the Messiah with the Saints
10. The Victory of God’s People
11. A changed and renovated Holy Land
12. The establishment of the Messianic Kingdom

13. The punishment of the Nations
14. The Celebration of the Kingdom Feasts
15. The complete restoration of the people of God to a Holy Nation

No other Old Testament Prophet gives us as much detail about the End of the Age in such a brief description. Not until the Revelation, written nearly 600 years later, would such a clear presentation be made. If you listen closely, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 07-03-05

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Zechariah assumed his role as a prophet in 520 BC, a few years after Israel’s return from the 70 year Babylonian captivity. The first half of his book describes eight visions that all came to him on a single night, February 15, 519 BC. Then there’s a short interlude where he relates the Lord’s answers to questions the Jews had about their current situation. Chapters 9-14 were written nearly 40 years later. 9-11 deal mostly with prophecies for the times leading up to and including the Lord’s first coming, and 12-14 focus on the End of the Age. These final three chapters are the object of our interest because they describe the End Times According to Zechariah.

Chapter 12 … Jerusalem’s Enemies to Be Destroyed

An Oracle

This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the LORD. “I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’(Zech 12:1-5)

In case there’s any doubt about Who’s speaking, the Writer identifies Himself as the One Who stretches out the Heavens, lays the foundation of Earth, and forms the spirit of man. The fact that these verbs are all in the present tense indicates that this is an ongoing effort.

Notice the two separate thoughts here.  First the Lord says He’s going to send all the surrounding peoples reeling.  I believe this is a reference to the Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 battles that only involve Israel’s next door neighbors and will set the stage for Ezekiel 38, the battle that will reawaken Israel to the Lord’s presence.  These battles will take place before Daniel’s 70th Week begins.  Later, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against Israel, He will show His ultimate strength in the battle we call Armageddon. This battle takes place at the end of Daniels 70th Week.

“On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place. “The LORD will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the LORD going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.(Zech 12:6-9)

Jerusalem will not fall completely and the surrounding areas of Judah will be spared as well, but by the time it’s over Jerusalem will be rescued and all the attacking nations will be destroyed.

Mourning for the One They Pierced

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.(Zech 12:10-14)

But before the final battle begins, the Lord will send His Spirit of Grace, and the eyes of the spiritually blind will be opened, and they’ll behold their Messiah, Jesus, the One they crucified. They’ll all grieve bitterly, as if for a firstborn son, from the royal line of David, to the rest of Judah, represented by Solomon’s brother Nathan, to the priests of Levi and the other Levite families under Shimei, and to all the tribes and clans of Israel. It’s the National Awakening into a New Covenant relationship as foretold in Jeremiah 31:31, and both civil and religious authorities will lead the way.

By the way, there are two un-translated letters in the Hebrew text following the phrase “look upon me” in Zechariah 12:10. The two letters are the aleph and the tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Their better-known equivalents are the alpha and the omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, used to describe the Father in Rev. 1:8 and 21:6 and the Son in Rev. 22:13. The same two un-translated letters appear in the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1 following the phrase “In the beginning God …”. Are these clues that God placed there to identify Jesus as the Messiah, and to confirm His role as our Creator as well as our Redeemer? Does the use of the phrase “alpha and omega” at opposite ends of The Revelation and attributed first to the Father and then to the Son mean that they are One as Jesus claimed in John 10:30? It certainly seems so.

Zechariah 13 … Cleansing From Sin

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the LORD Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the LORD’s name.’ When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him.
“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his prophetic vision. He will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. He will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ If someone asks him, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ he will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’(Zech 13:1-6)

As they finally see and accept Jesus as their Messiah, the blood He shed on the cross will wash them clean, and the life He gave will ransom them, just as it has us. The Angel Gabriel told Daniel that six things would be accomplished during Israel’s final 490 years, and one of them, sealing up vision and prophecy, is accomplished here. (Daniel 9:24) No longer will God use prophets to communicate with man, He’ll soon be dwelling among them again, and will deliver His Word personally. Anyone claiming to be a prophet will be executed by his own friends and family if necessary, to avoid offending the Lord.

The Shepherd Struck, the Sheep Scattered

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the LORD Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones. In the whole land,” declares the LORD, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’ “(Zech 13:7-9)

Here’s an overview connecting the Lord’s first and second coming. He quoted from this passage on the night of his betrayal. (Matt. 26:31) Today many well meaning but scripturally inept Christians go running through Israel telling people that they’d better come to Jesus because two thirds of them are about to die in the coming Great Tribulation. As far as I know, not one convert has resulted from this misuse of Scripture. Even a casual reading shows that two thirds are struck down first and it’s the remaining third that the Lord brings into the refining fire, a euphemism for the Great Tribulation.

By most accounts, there were 9 million Jews alive in the days before World War 2. Six million, two thirds, perished in Hitler’s extermination programs. Many of those left alive at the end of the war came to the newly re-born Nation of Israel and became its first residents. After the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39, the Lord will gather the rest of them, not leaving any behind. This is the remaining third that will experience the Great Tribulation and upon whom He will pour out His Spirit. (Ezek. 39:28-29) It is this remaining third, the remnant of Israel, who will call on His name and be saved.

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.(Joel 2:28-32)

Next time we’ll cover chapter 14, the day the Lord arrives. See you then. 6-25-05

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Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, and set apart to the gospel of God (Romans 1:1).

Most translations of Romans 1:1 use either slave or servant in defining Paul’s relationship with the Lord, but the phrase “bond servant” is actually the most accurate. In effect, a bond servant enters into the relationship voluntarily with the understanding that it’s a lifetime commitment, with no provision for release.

This type of relationship comes from Exodus 21:1-6. According to the Law, a man who couldn’t pay a debt he owed had to become the servant of his creditor in order to work off the debt, or until the next sabbath year, whichever was shorter. If, during the time of his temporary service, he concluded that his master was a good man to work for, he could voluntarily convert his term of service into a life long commitment. In doing so he was agreeing to permanently subordinate his own interests in favor of his master’s, to do whatever the master required. This bears repeating. It was the servant’s choice to enter into a bond servant relationship with his master, but once the agreement was made he could not choose to undo it later. It was a lifelong commitment.

If his master agreed, they would go before the judges to make the arrangement official, and then the master would drive an awl through his servant’s earlobe and into the door post of the house. This was to signify that the servant had become permanently “attached” to the master’s household. According to some traditions a golden ring was inserted through the hole in the bond servant’s ear to memorialize the event.

Because of the nature and permanence of the relationship, a bond servant frequently became a trusted member of his master’s household, eventually representing him in matters pertaining to his business or personal interests.

A Divine Example

David made reference to this kind of relationship, describing how the Messiah would see Himself in service to His Father.

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—but my ears you have opened—burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8).

The writer of Hebrews put these words in the Lord’s mouth in explaining His once for all sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:5-7). The phrase “my ears you have opened” is also translated “my ears you have pierced”, recalling how the master pierced the ear of the bond servant.

This is why Jesus said He could do nothing on his own but only what He saw his father doing (John 5:19) and that he did not speak on His own accord, but the Father commanded him what to say and how to say it (John 12:49). A bond servant subordinates his will to the will of his master.

In a similar description, Paul said that Jesus, who being God in His very nature, didn’t try to make Himself equal to God, but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Phil 2:6-7). The Greek word for servant in this passage is “doulos”. It means “bond servant” and is the same word Paul used of Himself in Romans 1:1. These references stressed the voluntary nature of the Lord’s mission to die for the sins of the people.

What About Us?

So, a bond servant chose to enter into a life of service to his master, subordinating his will to his master’s, and knowing that he couldn’t change his mind and undo the arrangement later on. He was in for life.

The Greek word “doulos” appears in 112 verses of the New Testament, mostly in reference to our relationship with the Lord. It is usually translated “servant” but as we saw it literally means “bond servant.”  I believe it can serve as a model for us to consider for ourselves.

We also had a debt we couldn’t pay and chose to enter into a life long relationship with the Lord in exchange for having the debt forgiven. It was our choice to do so but once we made the choice, we gave up the right to undo the arrangement later on. In effect, we put aside our own interests and agreed to dedicate our life to the pursuit of His interests.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). This verse has been widely misinterpreted as calling the believer to a life of deprivation and suffering. But in fact it is describing the bond servant relationship. As followers of Jesus we are to put our own hopes and dreams to death in favor of the Lord’s plans for us, making our interests subordinate to His.

Paul emphasized this same idea in Romans 12:1-2 telling us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is our true and proper worship (literally, our reasonable service). He said we should no longer conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then we will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As believers, we are called to abandon the typical dreams for the future that society encourages and instead search for God’s will for our life.

When we became believers, God anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our heart as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:21-22). That means we belong to Him now. We are no longer our own, but have been bought at a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and that price is the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19). With it He wiped away all our debt, and in view of His mercy we are urged to offer our bodies to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).

Those who say that since we chose to become saved we can choose to walk away. They are applying human thinking to the equation, thinking it makes sense that it should work that way. But there is no Biblical support for that opinion. In fact, as we’ve seen, it’s not the case at all. As bond servants of the Lord we gave up our right to self determination when we surrendered our life to Him. This is what Paul meant by saying, “You are not your own, you were bought at a price.” When God set His mark of ownership on you He was claiming you as His property, the way a rancher would place his brand on the cattle he owned. Like the bond servant of Old Testament times, we belong to our Master and are not free to walk away.

Contained In The Old, Explained In The New

All Old Testament models are necessarily incomplete.   After all, they were just shadows of the things that were to come (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 10:1).  In the bond servant model the arrangement was between two men; the master and the servant. What earthly master would agree to support a servant for life without requiring a comparable amount of service in return? This was a two sided arrangement with clear responsibilities for each party. In return for being supported all his life, the servant agreed to do whatever the master desired.

But when God agreed to pardon you for the enormous debt of sin you owed and claimed you a member of His household, He placed only one condition upon you in return. He said you must believe that when Jesus died on that cross, He died for your sins. That’s all He requires of you (John 6:28-29).

Our arrangement with God is not one that requires a prior commitment to certain levels of performance. We are saved by grace through faith and not by works (Ephes. 2:8-9). While the New Testament contains numerous admonitions to live our lives in a manner that’s pleasing to God, none of them have been imposed upon us as our part of the bargain. They are presented as things we can do to express our gratitude for what the Lord has unconditionally done for us. Our willingness to do these things is what Paul called “living up to what we have already attained” (Phil. 3:16). In other words, we don’t do them in the hope of qualifying for eternal life, but as our way of saying thanks because we already have it.

Certainly Paul and other New Testament writers put these admonitions in strong terms. They knew better than most what an incredible gift we’ve been given and what an enormous price God paid to give it to us. But they never said our salvation depends on us obeying their instructions, or that our failure to perform would result in our arrangement with the Lord being canceled.

On the contrary, doing these things will result in the accrual of additional blessings, in this life and the next one, above and beyond the pardon for our sins and the gift of eternal life that we’ve already received. So the base line of our relationship with the Lord, below which we cannot go, is forgiveness for our sins and eternal life with Him. Anything we do out of gratitude for that brings extra blessings.

How much more then should we be willing to put our self centered hopes for our life aside in favor of discovering God’s will for us? Knowing He came so we could have an abundant life (John 10:10), that He is not going to impose a heavy work load on us (Matt. 11:30), and that He will always be with us to direct and empower us in bearing much fruit (John 15:5), how can we lose?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). 04-18-15

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Once in a while I’m asked to do a study on a specific portion of Scripture.  I’d like to respond to a request I received recently concerning a portion of the Sermon on the Mount commonly called “The Beatitudes”. It’s found in Matt. 5:3-12 with an abbreviated and slightly different version in Luke 6:20-23.  While everyone in the world seems to be talking about other things, it might be refreshing to think about peace for a moment. Not peace in the world necessarily, or even in the Middle East, but peace in our hearts and in our lives.  If events are leading us in the direction we think, we’ll want to remember these exhortations from our Lord.

By the way.  If you’re one of those folks who believe certain portions of the Gospels were not written to the Church, you probably include the Sermon on the Mount among them.  It is true that the Lord was speaking primarily to Israel, but if you don’t see anything there for the Church, then you need to give them another look.  This study will help you.

The Sermon on the Mount was given near the beginning of the Lord’s ministry, but already He had achieved widespread fame because of His healing power. In Matt. 4: 23-25 we learn that huge crowds were gathering around Him. They came not only from the Galilee, but from what we now know as Jordan, southern Syria, and Lebanon in the east and north, and from Judea and Jerusalem in the south. Remember, this was in a time when there were no phones or other means of long range communications and nearly all travel was on foot. These crowds gathered by word of mouth and although many were in pain, they had walked for several days to reach Him. The lame, the paralyzed, the sick, those who were demon possessed, afflicted with seizures and such had made long and arduous journeys to find Him and He healed them all.

On this occasion they found themselves in a natural amphitheater on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was and is a peaceful, tranquil place where even today there’s no sign of encroaching civilization except for a beautiful octagonal chapel over looking the sea. It was completed in 1938 with funds donated by Benito Mussolini.

Each of the groups I’ve taken to Israel has picked the area as among their favorites and has tried to linger there as long as possible. I could always sense the regret they felt at having to leave, and even though I reminded them that we had to maintain some semblance of a schedule, I admit that I always felt it too. It’s as if the Spirit of the Prince of Peace dwells there today, comforting our restless hearts with His timeless message.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:3)

According to Strong’s Concordance the phrase poor in spirit describes those who are “destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture which the schools afford.” Several times in the Scriptures, the Lord mentions the fact that an  excessive reliance upon worldly education can actually be a hindrance to entering into the Kingdom.

In Isaiah 29:13-14 He said, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Paul, who was by most accounts the towering intellect of New Testament writers, built upon this in 1 Cor 1:18-25 when he wrote;

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

As I’ve grown older and become more reflective I’m more aware of the fact that much of man’s knowledge is flawed, just as man is flawed. And some of it is intentionally so, since some who are considered intellectuals have a bias against God and use their positions of influence to further their views. Their success in making the theory of evolution the standard for public education is one case in point, among many.

We must become as little children, The Lord admonished us (Mark 10:15), and for me that meant discarding much of what I was taught in favor of taking God at His word.

But those who refuse to allow the wisdom of this world to displace their native knowledge of God and instead pursue His word for His wisdom will receive the Kingdom as their reward. Speaking of God’s wisdom, King Solomon wrote, “For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 8:35)

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Matt. 5:4)

Mourning is evidence of love and compassion. It’s a strengthened version of the Greek word for suffer from which it’s derived. To mourn is to feel sorrow or grief. When we mourn the loss of a loved one we’re expressing our grief over the reality of death. Our Lord feels the same way. He’s called a man of sorrows, familiar with grief. (Isaiah 53:3) Only one who knows sorrow and has experienced grief can effectively comfort those who mourn. As someone once wrote, “In every pain that rends the heart, the Man of Sorrows has a part.” Unlike others who claim to do so, He really does feel our pain. He’s the only one who truly understands and can offer unconditional comfort during our times of mourning.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matt. 5:5)

The word translated “meek” means mild of disposition or gentle of spirit. It’s not the same as being a doormat. Moses was called the meekest man on Earth, (Numbers 12:3) but he faced down Pharaoh, talked with God, and supervised over a million people on a 40 year camping trip in the wilderness. You can’t accomplish that by being a doormat.

My favorite paraphrase of this verse is, “Blessed are those who’ve been given everything, for they don’t have to worry about anything.” This applies to no other group as much as to the Church. We’re the ones who can approach every circumstance of our lives with a mild disposition and a gentle heart for we know that we’ll inherit the earth. We can afford to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to give generously to everyone who asks, because all that and more has been done for us. We don’t have to be concerned with the little things of this life because we’ve been given everything in the next one.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matt. 5:6)

Do you wish you could avoid sinning? Does your behavior sometimes surprise or even embarrass you? Do you feel bad about having to ask God to forgive you again and again? If so, then you hunger for righteousness. You want so badly to please Him by living in accordance with His standards. That yearning can never be satisfied as long as we’re here, but one day we’ll be changed and the most delightful thing about it will be our ability to finally live in a manner pleasing to God.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matt. 5:7)

Micah 6:6-8 is an incredible passage because it demonstrated what’s really important to the Lord almost 8 centuries before the New Covenant. Let’s read it.

With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Acting justly is hard to do, but the idea is easy to understand. Loving mercy is another matter. Micah’s answer to his own question runs exactly counter to human nature. Mercy is sometimes defined as not getting what you deserve. Mercy is something we all want for ourselves, but for everyone else we demand justice. Micah tells us that if we want to please God, we should be very careful to ensure that our own behavior comes as close as possible to His standards for justice, and we should rejoice whenever He shows someone else mercy.

That takes some doing, but the Lord said that with the measure we use it will be measured to us. Are we merciful? When some one wrongs us, do we ask the Lord to forgive them, or do we spend the next little while conjuring up clever ways to get even? Remember, if we think it, it’s as bad as having done it. To love mercy means to show it in our own actions toward others and to rejoice whenever someone else doesn’t get what he deserves.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matt. 5:8)

Like Micah 6, Psalm 24 also contains a rhetorical question or two. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His Holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. For he will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. (Psalm 24:3-5) Clean hands, no bad works, and a pure heart, no bad motives. Who can do this? As Jesus told Peter, with man this is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God. (Mark 10:27) When we’re washed in the blood of the Lamb, we’re given clean hands and a pure heart and we will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. (Matt. 5:9)

In the middle of a long list of exhortations on behavior, Paul said, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18) We can’t control the circumstances that confront us but we can control our response to them. We can be like oil on troubled waters.

For environmental reasons it’s no longer done, but in days gone by sailors deliberately poured small quantities of oil onto the water in order to forestall rough seas. The oil had a calming effect on the waves as it spread over the surface. Small quantities of oil can cover a surprisingly large area, becoming a layer just a few molecules thick. The surface tension of the oil layer has an effect similar to that of a thin skin, containing and calming the waters beneath it.

By our words and actions, we can have a similar effect on those around us, and as we do we identify ourselves as children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 5:10)

There’s a lot of persecution in the world today, but not all of it is covered by this verse. Only that which we endure in the pursuit of righteousness is mentioned. And only those who’ve truly given their hearts to the Lord will endure this kind of persecution. Those who are just going through the motions will soon fall away.

The story is often told of the little house church in the former Soviet Union where religious observance was illegal. One Sunday morning soldiers burst in and lined the small group of worshipers up against the wall. “Worshiping God is illegal,” they said, “Punishable by death. If you’ve come here by accident and didn’t intend to break the law, leave now and don’t ever come back.” About half the group quickly left. The soldiers took aim at the rest and said, “Are you willing to die for your faith? When no one moved, the soldiers put down their weapons and said, “Good. Now we know it’s safe to worship here.”

It’s an extreme example that may or may not be a true story, but you get the point. More likely you and I would just be laughed at, the brunt of some bad joke, or have our lifestyle disparaged on TV or in a movie. But some of us know people who’ve had complaints filed against them for having a manger scene on their lawn, or whose kids have been told they can’t pray on school grounds, or whose car has been vandalized because of the fish symbol on the back. And in parts of the world where it’s still illegal to be a Christian, like China and some Moslem and Hindu countries, people are dying for their faith every day. Blessed are they, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt. 5:11-12)

Technically, verses 11 and 12 above aren’t part of the 8 beatitudes that are the inspiration for Mussolini’s octagonal chapel, but they make a good summary statement. The next time someone offends you because of your faith, just smile and say thanks. It’s guaranteed to take all the fun out of it for them and it will remind you that this has been going on since the beginning. It also helps to remember that the Lord’s keeping track of all this and has promised to take vengeance on your behalf. Selah 09-17-11

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The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil-an offering made to the LORD by fire, a pleasing aroma and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. (Lev. 23:9-14)

Three Spring Feasts

Often overlooked because Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread overshadow and surround it, I think the Feast of First Fruits is the most important Feast of them all—at least from a Christian point of view.  It’s easy to miss its importance, since the Gospel accounts don’t even mention First Fruits and also seem to use Passover and Unleavened Bread interchangeably. Because of this, it can be hard to tell there were actually three feasts being celebrated at once.

Although it’s not obvious from the passage above, the Lord was referring to the Sabbath that comes after the Passover. While the Passover can fall on any day of the week which also happens to be the 14th day of the first month, the Feast of First Fruits is always the following Sunday, the day after the Sabbath after Passover. Unleavened Bread begins on Passover and lasts seven days, so First Fruits comes before Unleavened Bread ends.

The year the Lord was crucified, Passover fell on a Thursday. Three days and three nights later it was Sunday morning, the Feast of First Fruits. And for several hundred years afterward, the Sunday morning after Passover was known to Christians as Resurrection Morning.

What Day Is It?

But at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, Eastern and Western bishops of the Church disagreed over the official date for the Church’s most important Holy Day. Eastern bishops favored staying with the calculation involving Passover as Leviticus describes, since many of them were of Jewish origin, and since the Gospels had placed Resurrection Morning just after Passover.

Western bishops, being mostly Gentile, favored a date closer to the beginning of spring because there were already a number of pagan festivals held during that time and a religious holiday would fit right in. Perhaps this is when the Western church began referring to Resurrection Morning as Easter Sunday, after the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar. The Feast of Ishtar was always celebrated at the beginning of spring and involved eggs and rabbits and other signs of fertility. Even today, you can see how elements of the two have been merged together.

Eventually, (due in part to their view that since the Jews had rejected Christ Jewish traditions shouldn’t be used in selecting the date for Easter), the Western Church settled on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Soon Easter Sunday became disconnected from Passover by as much as several weeks.

The adoption of the Gregorian calendar (the one we use in the west today) in 1752 did nothing to correct this disconnect, and since the Eastern or Orthodox Church stuck with the earlier Julian calendar, we now have two dates for Easter in most years. (In 2004, the Feast of First Fruits, and Orthodox and Western Easter all came on the same day, a rare occasion.)

The Common Practice

But back to the Feast of First Fruits. Grains were planted in the fall in Israel. They germinated in the ground through the winter, shot up as soon as the weather got warm, and ripened in the spring, barley first and then wheat. The stalks were cut and stacked in sheaves for the harvesters to collect for thrashing. But harvesting or eating any of the grain was not permitted until a sample sheaf was brought to the Temple at sunrise on the first day after the Sabbath following Passover. This day was called the Feast of First Fruits. A similar ceremony for the wheat harvest took place on Pentecost, also a Sunday, seven weeks later.

As you know, the Lord required the first fruits of all their harvest be given to Him, whether plant or animal. (In the case of animals, only the very first offspring of each animal was required, not the first of each season. For humanity, a small ransom was paid at the Temple to redeem the firstborn son. (The Lord expressly forbade any form of child sacrifice.)

The priest took the sheaf of grain and waved it before the altar of the Lord as a sample of the harvest. This was called the wave offering. To be sure it was acceptable to the Lord, a year old lamb was also offered, along with about 4 quarts of flour and oil mixture and a quart of wine. The mixing fragrances of the roasting lamb, the baking bread dough, and the steam from the wine made a pleasant aroma for the Lord, and the offering was accepted. The Lord having received His required first portion, the harvest could proceed, and the grain could be ground into flour for their daily bread.

The Prophetic Fulfillment

At sunrise on the morning of the Feast of First Fruits in 32 AD, as the priests were waving the sheaf of grain before the altar, the women arrived at the Lord’s tomb to prepare His body for permanent burial. Remember, there wasn’t enough time before sunset on the day He was crucified and the following two days were both Sabbaths, so no work was permitted. (Interestingly, work was allowed on the Feast of First Fruits, although not on Pentecost.)

But the tomb was empty. He had risen, the First Fruits of them that slept. (1 Cor. 15:20) Later that day many Holy people from Israel’s past were seen in the city of Jerusalem, also having risen from their tombs. (Matt. 27:53) This was the Lord’s wave offering, a sample of His harvest of souls. I think the aroma of the Temple offering was especially pleasing to the Lord that morning. The days of substitutes were over; the real thing had come. (Hebr. 10:1)

The Ultimate Triple Play

For Christ, our Passover Lamb had been sacrificed (1 Cor. 5:7), and on the very day, fulfilling the Passover Prophecy. For seven days beginning on Passover, the Israelites ate bread without yeast in celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in fact went to great lengths to rid their homes of any trace of leaven. This Feast symbolized a promise that the sin of man, represented by the leaven, would be completely taken away. The Lord’s death fulfilled this one as well, for He’s the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) And take it away He did, as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12)

And right on schedule, the Lord rose from the grave, fulfilling the Feast of First Fruits. He is the First Fruits of them that slept, and His resurrection confirmed His victory over sin and death. And ours too, for if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9) Selah 4-18-04

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