Posted in Daily Living • Humility • Marriage • Paul Teachings • Women

Washing

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Ephesians 5:25–28 ESV. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

What does Paul mean by directing husbands to wash their wives with the Word? He tells believing husbands to love their wives as Christ loves His congregation (the word “church” is only used in translations) and follow His ways with our wives in a similar fashion. One of the ways we do this is by washing our wives with the Word as we are washed. But if all of us are already washed with the Word, then why are we directed to wash our wives in the same way? One of the possible meanings is given us by the Christ when He washed the disciple’s feet.

John 13:10 ESV. Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

John 15:3 ESV. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

So even though we all have been “cleansed by the washing of water with the Word” in our initial salvation, we still need occasional cleaning with the Word and repentance. When we sin, we need repentance and cleansing with the Word. Jesus told the disciples that they were clean but just needed a little touchup. The word “wash” is used a great deal in the Bible, and mostly means to bathe the body or garments. A few times, it means to cleanse the heart. For instance, Jeremiah uses it to encourage washing the evil from the heart.

Jeremiah 4:14 ESV. O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

There’s also washing of wounds and washing the body for burial. Pilate is recorded as washing his hands of the crucifixion of Jesus, attempting to imply he was guiltless. Baptism is said to wash away our sins in Acts 22:26 through identification with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul illuminates this idea further in his first letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Washing a wife with the Word sanctifies her in a manner similar to baptism. Apparently, husbands are tasked with study and application of the Word to their wives (and one assumes children). Of course, the husband ideally would be applying the Word to his own life first. This structure reverses the events in the Garden of Eden, where Eve bit on the arguments of the serpent and “washed” her husband in her word, which resulted in the Fall of both of our parents.

It’s a spiritual action to wash my wife with the Word. I wash, and then I help wash her as she needs it. We might even compare it to washing the disciple’s feet in humility as shown to us by Jesus. As we read through the Bible, I regularly explain the meaning of a text (or what I think is the meaning) and possible applications to her. She shares her insights with me also. We have conversations on a daily basis as we work our way through another stretch of Bible reading. We read at different rates but we still go through the Bible once a year, discussing parts as we go.

Hebrews 4:12–13 ESV. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

I’ve studied college level books a little more than my wife, so I help her with different perspectives and word definitions gained from my studies, which improve her understanding of some difficult parts. This, I think, is part of washing my wife with the Word. Of course, the more we read and the more we do what we read the more we change to conform to God’s will. It’s not just reading a few words here and there, like after a church service where the message is almost immediately forgotten by lunchtime.

1 John 2:3-6 ESV. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Together we remind each other of God’s Words as we seek applications of it in daily living. God’s commands, actually given by and amplified by Jesus, help us with our transformation from sinful people into the image of the Christ (Romans 8:29). As we wash our wives with the Word, we participate with the Holy Spirit to change each day and be more like our Messiah and Savior. Washing also doesn’t help much unless we actually do what we read, so washing our feet, so to speak, helps each of us clean off and improve our practice, transforming and renewing our minds to avoid being conformed to the world.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Shalom.

Posted in Adultery • Balance • Church • Comfort • Fruit • Gospel • Law • Love • Messianic Movement • New Covenant • New Testament • Old Testament • Translational Bias

Body Search

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It’s not a title of a movie mystery. I’m not going to write about police officer’s arrest techniques. No gloved hands are going to be used in this search. The Body for which I’m searching in modern times is the one presented in the Bible. Luke helps me out with the search for the Body by describing how it acts.

Acts 2:42–47 ESV. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

According to this description, the Body of Christ devotes itself to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, taking meals together and praying with one another. We can get an idea of the composition of the apostle’s teaching by reading the letters they wrote. For instance, Paul (though not one of the twelve) tells believers not to go beyond what is written.

1 Corinthians 4:6 ESV. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

Their letters weren’t written until the late ’60’s A.D. or so, and they weren’t collected and called the New Testament by the Church until about 200 A.D. So Paul is commanding the teaching of the misnamed Old Testament. The apostle’s teaching from the Law, Prophets and Writings (called the Tanakh or Torah) was energizing the actions of the Body at that time. Peter adds that false prophets and teachers from among you will secretly bring in destructive heresies, and through their sensuality, the way of righteousness is blasphemed (2 Peter 2:2).  He continues:

2 Peter 2:20–21 ESV. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

The “way of righteousness” from which they will turn back, he says, is the “holy commandment” delivered to them. The holy commandment is also known as the Tanakh, which includes the new covenant or the law written on a soft heart of flesh (Hebrews 8:8-12 quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26). Peter’s part of the Body of Christ exhibited this new covenant.

Obviously, “all who believed” who were in the Body at the time of Peter were behaving very differently than those in churches we see today. Given the difference in behavior between the believers back then and churches now, we might be led to think the Body doesn’t exist in the present. But it’s still around, it’s just scattered here and there, and mostly represented by individuals. Believers who are devoted to the apostle’s teaching (the Torah, meaning “instruction”) have been silenced or driven out of most organizations due to the twisted, ear-tickling teachings of what Jesus (and Paul) called ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Matthew 7:15 ESV. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Acts 20:29–30 ESV. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

2 Timothy 4:3 ESV. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

Those of the Body who really want to follow all of the apostle’s teachings on God’s precious, loving Words cannot associate with these ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. If the Body member tries to stay in a congregation or organization that is not following the new covenant, but insists on following it themselves, they are labeled divisive people and asked to leave.

By the time I was 40, I had been a part of about 15 different churches in 10 denominations (and been asked to leave on occasion), so I’ve had quite a bit of experience. I was a youth leader twice, an elder in a Bible church once, and taught adult Sunday school. For about the last 25 years we have not gone at all, anywhere, mostly because we aren’t allowed. It would be nice if we could find a place, but we “gather together” with our family and just follow the Word. We’ve found closeness with each other, our Father and Messiah, which is lacking in most congregations anyway. I also find that I’m much more able to get along with those of different beliefs or even non-belief than I did when I was simply a churchgoer, even if they can’t get along with me. We are part of the Body without attending a church filled with ravenous wolves.

Many, many churches are biased towards doing what is right in their own eyes. One Messianic group of which we were part tried hard to institute and keep non-biblical Jewish traditions such as using a pointer to read sections of the Bible in Hebrew and parading around a Torah scroll in their services. But one of the leaders went to his wife (who was not genetically Jewish) on Yom Kippur and started a divorce in order to marry a genetically Jewish woman. The rest of the leadership did not ask him to leave the congregation, as they should have according to Scripture. Oddly, the new marriage didn’t last either and neither did the congregation.

Isaiah 59:14 ESV. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.

Another group we were with for a while decided that the Word (the Law) was only for Jews. Gentiles could follow if they wanted but were then treated as second-class members. Their “first fruits” were not from the Bible. A third group teaches “one law” for everyone, but at the same time says that the “Hebrew perspective” (read, “bias”) is the primary way to translate and apply the Word. Instead of a resource for Torah, they prioritize Jewishness and expel people like us.

Self-titled Christian congregations all have a range of negative attitudes against God’s Word (especially the Law) and Body members are encouraged to find other congregations if they don’t toe the line, which was the case with Calvary Chapels. A similar congregation allowed a witch in and found out later she was having intimate relations with the married pastor. Still another so-called Messianic group allowed a married pedophile adulterer to stay in the congregation which caused many to leave.

1 Corinthians 5:2 NASB95. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

In another instance my family was disinvited by the pastor of a community church (after one of his people invited us) because he said we were “all about rules and regulations” (the irony was lost on him). He only teaches the ear-tickling parts of the Word and did not regard the Bible as absolute truth. Then there was the Vineyard pastor (formerly a part of Youth With A Mission) who said in a sermon that he wanted to “throw theology out of the church.” Since the word “theology” means “God’s Word,” I guess he was successful because no one in that church (or many others) teaches the whole of the Word the way God commands.

1 Corinthians 5:6–8 ESV. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Congregations “doing what is right in their own eyes” as the Bible negatively puts it, do not follow all of the Word and therefore do not love God and do not act like the Body in Acts 2:42-47. Instead, they love comfort and ear tickling. It is a loving act to “remove the evil from your midst” for the sake of repentance, and to welcome the formerly evil person back in the event they change their ways. Allowing a witch, homosexual, or adulterer to stay and continue their sinful, destructive behavior is not a loving act (Romans 1:18-32).

Romans 1:32 ESV. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Apparently, we would have to approve of those destructive lifestyles to be accepted. Our family doesn’t believe or conform to these lifestyles, so we just aren’t perfect enough (in their systems) to attend any modern congregation. It’s a sad state of affairs when Body members who insist on following all of God’s loving instructions are the ones who are cast out of these congregations, while unrepentant sinners are allowed to stay. Right is wrong and wrong is right, and so people of the Body of Christ find themselves homeless. But we won’t be homeless forever. God promises those who are faithful to His Word that we will receive the gift of eternal life and have a home in His Kingdom forever.

Mark 10:29–30 ESV. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Those of you who are part of the Body, having discovered that all of the Word is for all believers and are trying your best to hang on to it and follow with all your heart, soul and strength, be encouraged. This world will not last, and those who disdain to repent and obey the whole of His loving gospel are on the way to a different place other than His Kingdom.

2 Thessalonians 1:5–8 ESV. This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Shalom

Posted in Bible • Church • Continuity & Discontinuity • Daily Living • Hypocrisy • Isaiah • Law • Translational Bias

Word

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The word “word” is used frequently in modern times as an equivalent for the word “truth.” One might say “truth” as an agreement for someone’s statement of an apparent truth. Interesting considering that God’s Word is the original and final “truth.” Jesus said it best.

John 17:17–19 ESV. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Believers are sanctified by the truth of God’s Word; all of God’s Word, whenever spoken at any time and to any audience.

However, most who say they “believe Jesus” do not regard His Word as truth. They pick and choose what they want to do and ignore the parts they don’t like. One of the latest examples is a part of the Lutheran Church (the ELCA or Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). They have decided that certain parts of the Bible are “harmful and patriarchal.” This type of belief is no surprise considering that the Church as a whole is not in the Bible in the first place, and has been chopping up the Word into pieces using only those pieces they like since about 200 A.D.

The Church (all of it, not just the Lutherans) has consistently preached a hollow Jesus with philosophies of men in place of much of His teaching.

There would be many blessings if we could say “word” to a pastor’s or rabbi’s teaching. But we can’t because most of them do not speak the truth, and so the blessings go wanting and hearers are sinking in a sea of feel-good messages without the substance of God’s Word. They’re not delivering solid help for daily living by properly explaining all of what God offers.

Isaiah 10:1–3 ESV. Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?

The word “iniquitous” (or iniquity) is “evil,” “false,” or “wicked.” Iniquity is literally “lawlessness” or “no law.” So the sentence could read “Woe to those who speak evil, wicked, false and lawless pronouncements.” When the words of a teacher are without or against God’s Word, including His Laws (or instruction), they are evil, false, and wicked. No Law means no truth, since all of God’s Words are truth. If we want to say “word” or truth, teachers need to give us something to work with, and actually speak the truth of God’s Word.

Isaiah again records a word from God about those who do not relay His Words like they should.

Isaiah 29:9–10 ESV. Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink! For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).

This is on the heels of the admonition from God about leaders and teachers who refuse to take in and adapt to God’s Word given by the prophets and the Law through Moses. They are convicted of so many refusals to speak and do God’s will that they are like the very young who have to be taught in tiny little pieces, so He will teach them by the lips of foreign peoples.

Isaiah 28:10–13 ESV. For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people, to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; yet they would not hear. And the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Then Isaiah really drops the hammer about the cause of the lack of teaching the whole Word. It is due to worship that is not in the heart and is only evident on the lips. In other words, they say they follow God but do not teach all of God’s Word nor do they actually act on them.

Isaiah 29:13–14 ESV. And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

Though this is in the so-called Old Testament, it is not only quoted by Jesus in the New, He identifies these as hypocrites who leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. A hypocrite speaks one way and acts differently. Jesus directs His comments to the leaders of Israel (at the time of Isaiah), but they are also directed at leaders of today who say “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” like He’s a lucky rabbit’s foot, then ignore and refuse to follow all the words of Jesus so evident throughout the Bible. They say one thing (believe in Jesus) but do what’s right in their own eyes.

Mark 7:6–8 ESV. And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

We are overloaded with hypocrites in modern times. Time to repent and just do what He says.

Word to The Word.

Posted in Daily Living • Gospel • Healing • Hypocrisy • Relevance • Righteousness

Salvation

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A biblical definition of salvation starts with the simple idea of rescue from God’s judgment. He will judge the world and every person in it for sin, but He also made a way out by providing the sacrifice of His only begotten son. And according to many church teachings, all you have to do is believe, say it once, and you’re saved. These teachings are derived from sections of the Word such as what Paul writes in Romans (using Deuteronomy 30:14).

Romans 10:8–13 ESV. But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I say “derived” because most of the teachings just use Scripture as a touchstone and then soar off into the atmosphere in a gaseous cloud. What would ground the teachings better is if they used more of the Bible instead of the gas of dreamy opinions.

There’s biblically much more to belief than just saying “I believe” or raising the hand and going forward. A person who believes in the heart is not just thinking it sounds good; his belief transforms his entire life with an acceptance of all that God imparts to us. It reorients goals of living and connects the soul to our eternal God with all of His glory, especially as to how truly magnificent and powerful is the sacrifice of our Messiah. In return, it seems a small thing to bring the light of all of God’s instructions for us into every corner of our formerly dark lives.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Those who wear the wool coverings of a sheep yet do not follow God’s Law (actually His instructions), what Jesus calls “workers of lawlessness,” will have to depart from Him. If they do such “mighty works” as casting out demons or prophesying, they will be told “I never knew you.” This applies to all those so-called “evangelists” that put on shows of healing and raising from the dead (whether actual or not) yet teach that all you need to do is raise your hand and go forward. Sorry, but that is not salvation.

Truly saved people give over their lives and everything they do and own to God, because it is the least we can do (and He owns it all anyway). We sell everything we have, inside and out, to gain the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 13:44–46 ESV. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

In salvation, we discover a kingdom that is worth more than anything this world can offer. It is so valuable that whatever we can sell is worth it. Our lives are reoriented towards bringing as much of the kingdom as we can buy. We gain fellowship with our God and our Messiah Jesus the Christ. Together they are the source of life, light, love and blessings that cannot be measured.  Our purchase of the kingdom includes an initial return in the form of God’s Word lived out wholly and completely day to day. This is much more than raising a hand and going forward. That might be the start, but it is certainly not the end.

Hebrews 6:1–3 ESV. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

A real salvation moves from the elementary doctrines listed here to maturity. The mature person constantly practices, learns and grows in the faith. We “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). As James says, faiths without works is dead, and even the demons believe, but their works are not of God. In other words, they do not obey God though they “believe.”

James 2:18–19 ESV. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

Obedience to all of God’s Word is the difference between someone who merely believes, and one who has been saved. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Knowledge of God comes from His Word. All of His Words. Any word that He chooses to speak, including His life-giving Laws.

Romans 10:16–17 ESV. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Isaiah 1:16–17 ESV. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Shalom

Posted in Daily Living • Law • Love • Paul Teachings • Repentance

Perfection

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Matthew 5:43–48 ESV. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

People who don’t read the Word and just rely on a leader’s teachings do not really understand the message of Jesus here. When confronted with this text, one reaction is to say that Jesus paid for all my sins, so that means I’m perfect in the eyes of God. Another is to defend oneself by saying everyone is sinful so there’s no way anyone can be perfect. A third option is to simply ignore the words of Jesus. Another one of those “Don’t confuse me with facts my mind is made up” moments.

The truth from Jesus is we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. This is a big pair of pants to fill and seems completely out of our reach at first. That is, until you come to understand the meaning of the word “perfect.”

To be perfect is to need nothing in the spiritual realm or maybe even the physical. It does not mean a person never makes a mistake or sins. It means that we are fully equipped as well as forgiven. Our heavenly Father lacks nothing; nothing can be added to Him that He needs, and nothing He has can be taken away. We have forgiveness in Christ, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, so we have everything we need to behave as Jesus does and accomplish whatever tasks the Father assigns to us. If we falter, we confess and repent, pick ourselves up and keep going.

John 14:30–31 ESV. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Jesus tells us that the deceiver has no claim on Him. The deceiver couldn’t find even the tiniest sin so he could accuse Him before the Father. There was no lever he could grab to make Jesus obey him. The King James Version says it a little differently in that the deceiver “hath nothing in me.” No part of Jesus belongs to the deceiver, and he couldn’t use any weakness against Him. Jesus lacked nothing.

We do actually lack something though. We are still in these bodies of flesh, and we are prone to drifting away from the Word on occasion. We can lose sight of the goal and falter in our walk, which is why the text includes the thought of “be perfect.” In my understanding, this includes the idea of a process. We have the tools; we just need to learn how to use them and keep using them.

Paul reinforces the thought of progression, when he tells us that he isn’t perfect (though blameless according to the Law), but will “press on to make it my own.”

Philippians 3:12–15 ESV. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

David in Psalm 143 says that “no one living is righteous before you,” which gives us another consideration to throw in the mix. Here he acknowledges that we cannot claim anything from God on the basis of our own perfection or righteousness, but we need God’s mercy and faithfulness. That mercy is provided in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. The specter of death no longer weighs on us, so we are free (in Christ) to “be perfect” or to take our perfect gifts and pursue perfection.

God’s Law is the perfect guide for us to follow to perfection. Like the banks of a river, His loving and compassionate Word keeps us on track to our goal. If you’ll accept the illustration, we are also on the river of His living water, and at the same time, we are both at the goal and on our way to the goal. We are perfect but also on the way to perfection, that is, our new bodies and eternal life with God.

Deuteronomy 11:26–28 ESV. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

James puts it another way. He equates trials with a testing of faith producing steadfastness, which if allowed to have its full effect will result in being perfect, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2–4 ESV. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Another type of perfect is described by Paul, though he doesn’t use the specific word, is in loving one another, living quietly minding your own affairs and working with your hands. This is so you will be “dependent on no one” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12). Perhaps this only applies to making a living, but it gives us another thought to include with perfection. God desires that we strive to be complete or perfect, lacking in nothing spiritual or even physical, while we follow His Words in every area of our lives. Shalom.

Posted in Atonement • Daily Living • Faith • Repentance • Righteousness • Salvation

Irredeemable

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A dictionary says that irredeemable is “being beyond remedy, hopeless.” In a biblical sense, it means that someone has refused God’s offer of salvation because the heart is so hard it won’t listen. It can happen even to people who claim to be following Jesus. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:

Hebrews 6:4–6 ESV. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

If it can happen to people who have seemingly converted, it can also happen to the unconverted. Israel is an example of a mixture of hard hearts and soft hearts. Those who believed (and believe) in Jesus and do what He says are soft hearted, while those who don’t are mostly irredeemable. Hearts get so hard they are just unreachable.

Irredeemable can also be applied to unforgiving people. Those withholding forgiveness are told specifically by Jesus that they are irredeemable in places like Matthew 6:14.

Matthew 6:14–15 ESV. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 Lack of forgiveness freezes the unforgiven in time, because in the view of the offended there is now no remedy for the offense or sin. The supposed offender is locked in place. Jesus paid the blood price for sin, but the unforgiving person is mocking that sacrifice. They have deemed someone “irredeemable.” But according to Jesus, by declaring thusly, they place themselves in the actual irredeemable boat. Those who don’t forgive will not be forgiven.

No one is irredeemable according to God. All are eligible for redemption if he or she wants it. Jesus paid the price for our redemption, redeeming us from slavery to sin and death with His painful and bloody death on the cross. However, people can make themselves irredeemable by the refusal of this momentous action on their behalf. There is no other payment for our debt of sin, so refusing the sacrifice of Jesus leaves one with no option but to pay for sin with his or her own death (meaning the lake of fire).

Revelation 21:8 ESV. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

The choices are either eternal life or eternal death. Believers press on to eternal life with confession, repentance and the Holy Spirit. The writer of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95 (in Hebrews 3:7-11) which is a plea to avoid being irredeemable by the hardening of the heart.

Psalm 95:7–9 ESV. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. There are many chances in life to confess Jesus and repent of doing what is right in our own eyes. The more they are refused, the harder the heart becomes. If you hear his voice, respond and do what He says. Your heart of stone can be turned to flesh and eternal life will be yours as long as your heart stays soft and you persevere.

Shalom

Bruce

Posted in Church • Continuity & Discontinuity • Dogma • Judaism • Law • Rapture • Salvation • Tradition

Falling Away

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2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 ESV. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

The word “rebellion” here in the English Standard Version is translated in the NASB95 version as “apostasy” and in the King James as “falling away.” It is number 646 in the Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon.

ἀποστασία: apostasia, to forsake, falling away, defection, apostasy.

Clearly, Paul is saying that there is an apostasy before the man of lawlessness is revealed. But who is falling away from what? In other verses, rebellion or apostasy is applied to Israel departing from the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. On the other hand, the Church applies this to itself (falling away from the Church) because they think they are a replacement for Israel. The problem with that is the Church is not in the Bible and has never been the point. Israel is the point. The Church has been falling away from God for centuries.

Hebrews 3:12–13 ESV. Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

In Hebrews 3:12, the phrase “fall away” is translated from a slightly different word meaning to “depart from,” “to desert,” “excite revolt,” or “become faithless” (Strong’s 868 aphistemi).  It’s the same basic word as apostasy, just with a different spelling.  

Hebrews 3:14–15 ESV. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

The rebellion referred to by the writer is the one where Israel refused to go into the Land as instructed by the Lord through Moses. He is equating this rebellion to the concept of apostasy.

Hebrews 6:4–6 ESV. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

In Hebrews 6, the phrase “falling away” is a different Greek word transliterated parapipto but means ultimately the same thing – to depart from worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It can also mean to deviate from the right path, turn aside or wander, all of which are just a little more descriptive in describing apostasy.

Israel, at the time of Paul, was generally trying to follow God, even if not the Messiah Jesus the Christ. Paul was working very hard to reach as much of Israel as he could with the good news of God with us, and many thousands had converted, but the majority still wanted to go it on their own. This resulted in the failed rebellions against Roman authority of 70 A.D. and 135 A.D. The rebellion against Roman authority was much different than rebelling against God, although in those rebellions both were combined.

The falling away mentioned in Thessalonians is most likely a falling away from God by Israel, before an agreement is made by the Beast with Israel just before he is exposed for what he really is. In my understanding, the falling away spoken of by Paul will also be the result of Church congregants finding out that their leaders have been lying to them for centuries, or people in Israel choosing to side with the Beast, or both. All the nifty philosophies of men that church or genetic Israel buys into will be revealed as so many illusions.

Falling away from God is not the same as falling away from the Church. A person who simply attends Church or is part of physical Israel never was “saved” (John 3). A person can go to church or synagogue for a lifetime and still not be saved. Salvation is permanent, but the evidence of salvation is a life that is dedicated to following all of our Father’s instructions.

 Simply being a member of a non-biblical club or a genetic group is not salvation. Most congregants of any Church or synagogue have been misled into thinking that their group is equivalent to the Body of Christ (or the Kingdom of God) and so apostasy is a hard idea to swallow. But The Church and synagogue are just a man made organizations with a few cultural appropriations from the Bible pasted on and have not taken the place either of Israel or the Body of the Christ.

When the average superficial follower of God or denier of Jesus of whatever stripe finds out that the whole of God’s Word has always been a part of salvation, some will decide to follow but many will be resentful and fall away. Believing in Jesus without doing what He says; not believing in Jesus as the Messiah; believing genetics alone gets you in the kingdom; a rapture that doesn’t happen when you think; a tribulation to endure and so on will cause a massive disillusionment with leaders of all flavors.

Matthew 24:10–11 ESV. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

Jesus uses another word to describe falling away which is transliterated as skandalizo (Strong’s 4624). It means literally to “offend,” or “entice to sin” and even “to cause to fall away.” Apparently, before the Beast is revealed there will be pressure to abandon the God of Abraham which includes “lawlessness.” This factors into the meaning of the other words to give us an idea that the lie or strong delusion (2 Thessalonians 2:11) will add to the pressure of falling away by many. Some of those who fall away may find salvation anyway, so those of us who are mature will need to help them if possible.

Shalom

Posted in Daily Living • Grace • Holy Spirit • Law • Love • Marriage • Paul Teachings • Women

Submitting

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The foundation for submitting is built on submitting to God first. Believers submit to every applicable word that is written for each of us. Some of God’s words are for men, and some are for women. Some are for husbands and others are for wives, and some apply to all of us equally.

It’s a blessing and an honor to submit to all of our Father’s instructions. But sometimes we get out of balance and emphasize instructions for other people while forgetting to check ourselves first. Such is the case in marriages where we husbands frequently have more expectations for our spouses than we expect of our own walk.

There are men who demand that a wife submit to him without considering God’s instructions first for husbands. Submitting to God’s instructions will determine how wives submit to husbands. Men demand an unbalanced submission without regard to their own complete submission to our Father. In a marriage context, there are more instructions for a husband than there are for a wife. For instance, a husband is tasked with washing his wife with the Word.

Ephesians 5:25–32 ESV. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Submission to God depends on our view of Him and is directly related to how well we know Him. If He seems to us to be a remote, arbitrary tyrant who makes rules that we can’t possibly obey, then we will resist submitting to Him. If, however, He is a loving, forgiving, merciful and compassionate God who encourages us to follow His ways because they are life-giving and easy to obey, then submission for both husband and wife is a piece of cake.

In fact, God loves us so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son to restore us as sons and daughters. All we have to do is accept what He did and follow His ways, just like we do with an earthly, loving father. If we expect a wife to submit, then we must first be like an earthly, loving copy of our Father. Yeshua/Jesus is a beautiful example for us to follow.

1 Corinthians 11:2–3 ESV. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

Husbands have the responsibility to void a wife’s vow if he hears of it and does not agree, as we are instructed in Numbers 30. If a husband divorces his wife and she marries another then is divorced from that man, the previous husband may not remarry her. The husband has authority over his wife’s body (and she over his), which applies to care and concern for her well-being as well as for intimate relations according to Paul in 1 Corinthians 7. Husbands are not to divorce their wives even in the event of unbelief, so long as she wants to stay married.

Women have a tendency to go their own way (and husbands aren’t guiltless in this either), which has been the trend since the Garden. Just because our Father said “he will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16) does not give license to be a tyrannical despot. A wife can’t be forced to change, but they can generally be led to change. Men are the leaders (or rulers if you will) which means we are to lead our families to the Father as we follow His example.

1 Corinthians 14:33–35 ESV. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

We like to use this Scripture from Paul to keep women from speaking in our assemblies (which is another subject) but the flip side is that husbands are to answer our wives’ questions and teach them. This implies that the husband is taking time to study and learn, and reinforces unity. If a wife is being “washed” well, she will probably have fewer questions anyway. Husbands are also admonished to avoid harshness (which includes being a tyrant) with their wives.

Colossians 3:19 ESV. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Husbands have many godly responsibilities, and we should take care to apply ourselves to those first and many of the other issues will solve themselves. If a husband is pointing his finger at a wife’s failings, it is probable that his own lack of submission to his responsibilities is lacking. A wife will generally follow and submit to a husband if he is following God’s instructions for him because it’s in her nature to respond to love. Peter amplifies our focus.

1 Peter 3:7 ESV. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

A woman thinks and feels in ways that her husband finds puzzling at the least. It can be frustrating because men and women are – news flash – different. Men tend to think objectively, and women subjectively, or more according to her feelings. Wives and husbands can both be wrong, and both act according to pride, the flesh or sin nature. Understanding and forgiveness go a long way in encouraging submission in both parties.

Galatians 5:25 ESV. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Shalom

Posted in Division • Divisive • Paul Teachings

Divisive People

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I like to define my terms when studying or talking to people. It saves time getting to someone’s meaning instead of arguing because of misunderstandings. My definitions come from the Word as much as possible, especially, of course, when studying or talking about what God requires from His people. His Word regulates our individual behavior and our relationships in the best way possible, if we let it.

Many times in churches, I have been told that I’m a “divisive person.” This comment came on the heels of observations I made of the differences between what was being taught in a church and what is in the Bible. In other words, someone would say a teaching or a verse was in the Bible and if I knew that it wasn’t, I would say so. The result was that I was given the “divisive person” label and was asked to leave.

I wanted to find out if I was a divisive person, so I took some time to study about division or divisive people in the Bible. The first “divisive person” in the Bible is God. He divided Adam and Eve from Himself and the Garden of Eden. Later, He divides His people from the rest of the world at the time.

Exodus 8:23 ESV. “Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”

Here God was speaking through Moses to Pharaoh. He was going to lay plagues on the Egyptians but not on Israel. This divisive pattern continues throughout His Book. Those who follow God are divided from those who don’t. Even if we don’t see it, our Father takes note of the people who want Him and follow His ways and writes them in the Book of Life. People who don’t want God or His ways are divided from the flocks of people like goats from sheep.

There was division between people because of the teachings of the Christ (Luke 12:51; John 7:43, 9:16, 10:19) but Paul says there should be no divisions among you (1 Corinthians 1:10). However, later in the same book (11:18-19) he says there must be factions among you so that those who are genuine may be recognized.

1 Corinthians 11:18–19 ESV. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.

A telling verse, misused by many, is written by Paul for us in Romans.

Romans 16:17 ESV. I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

What is “the doctrine that you have been taught?” What were the people of the time taught? Was it word of mouth, or was there, perhaps, a book? We need to know this so that we can correctly determine what is legitimately divisive. Thankfully for us, the question is answered by Paul many times when he speaks of “what is written.”

1 Corinthians 4:6 ESV. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. What is written is the book we call The Bible or Word of God today. At that time it was known as the Law, Prophets and Writings (later the New Testament was included). So to be a divisive person is to go beyond what is written in the Bible and create obstacles contrary to what the whole of the Word teaches.

All too often, however, a person is labeled divisive because they disagree with the doctrine of a particular church and not the Word of God. The church doctrine taught is rarely from the whole Bible. Generally it’s just a misinterpreted single verse or a couple of verses, and that usually just from the misnamed New Testament. Or perhaps it’s from the so-called church fathers. A little wool goes a long way to cover the furry gaps in the Church teachings.

For instance, Paul tells us there is only one body (Ephesians 4:4-6). This is obvious from even a cursory reading of the Bible. Yet the Church (all of them together) insists on creating itself as another body (and a whole bunch of bodies). Church doctrine also says that the Father rejected the Jews because of the crucifixion and created the Church instead. This is not what the written Word tells those who really want to follow God. We are grafted into God’s kingdom started by Him a long time ago. Paul gives us some more clarity about divisive people.

1 Timothy 6:3–5 ESV. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

It’s biblically obvious that the real divisive people are generally those who divide themselves from the Word. If I am considered divisive because I disagree with non-biblical teachings, then I’m actually dividing from people who have left the Word. I’ll let Elijah have the last word on divisive people as he confronted Jezebel’s false prophets.

1 Kings 18:21 ESV. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

Shalom

Posted in Comfort • Daily Living • Fear • God • Natural Man

Artificial Intelligence is Stupid

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People are getting over-intense about artificial intelligence or AI. There is a lot of fear-mongering over lost jobs (which might happen), robot armies (which probably won’t happen), and taking over the world (which most assuredly won’t happen). The big reason? Artificial intelligence isn’t really all that intelligent. In fact, it’s dumber than the rocks it operates in (computers) and however infallible it seems to some it is made by men (and let’s make sure to include women) and men (or women) are imperfect and very, very fallible.

Consider the computer itself. A nice tool, and we can hardly do without them in some instances. But as nice as they are, they still wig out on a regular basis. The “blue screen of death” is common despite improvements in the operating system. Applications won’t run properly sometimes, and we have to keep paying all kinds of money for the next big (hopefully working better) thing. Imperfect men (and women) simply cannot create or make anything that doesn’t have flaws and drawbacks. We are not all-knowing (only one Person has that character trait) and since wisdom (or even smarts) is lacking so are the things we make.

This includes AI. Artificial intelligence is a product of the same fallible men (and women) that build cars that break down, planes that fall apart in the sky, and governments that make mistakes on a regular basis. At best it is another tool to do some work. They do a lot of repetitious work, but the results are only as good as the person operating. The old axiom, “Garbage in, garbage out” was aptly applied when beginning to get work out of computers. I’ve been working with computers since high school (back when dinosaurs were still running around in places other than a movie screen). When I started learning about them and using them it was only about three decades after the room-sized computer ENIAC was invented. At that time they had not even been using transistors very long. ENIAC used thousands of vacuum tubes and the term “bug” was literal bugs getting into the workings and causing parts to fail.

The “bugs” in artificial intelligence are not actual insects maybe, but it is still loaded with them. It is inevitable when considering the works of man. So I don’t fret about AI at all. God is still the only one without bugs, and all of His works are also bug-free. He allows some of man’s works and puts limits on their working, so that all nations will know that He is the Intelligence without artifice that works perfectly all the time.

Shalom, Bruce