|
|
Post by Admin on May 30, 2024 15:12:49 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Philemon
Mark Johnston
4 Min Read
At face value, Paul’s letter to Philemon seems like a private letter written to address a painful problem that had arisen in a Christian family in the New Testament world. It is indeed just that; but, in God’s wider purpose, He saw fit to include it in the New Testament canon for the benefit of the church through the ages.
At one level, the issue it addresses is plain to see. A slave called Onesimus apparently stole from his master, Philemon, and ran away, likely to Rome. Under Roman law, such an act carried serious consequences for the perpetrator—extending to the right of the slave owner to execute his slave if he so desired. However, in the case of Onesimus, as he tried to run away from his earthly master, he unwittingly ran into the arms of a new and heavenly Master when he encountered Jesus through the preaching of Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome.
Without condoning Onesimus’ theft, the Apostle saw this slave’s life turned around by grace. He was transformed from being seen as a “useless” runaway in the eyes of Philemon to being “useful” not only to Paul, but to his former master as well (Philem. 11). The force of this turnaround is seen in the play on words bound up with his name, Onesimus, which means “useful.” The Apostle wrote to Philemon not merely to ask that he receive Onesimus back but that he welcome him as a brother in Christ. More than this, Paul promised Philemon that he would cover the financial loss he suffered through the theft.
How do we explain this countercultural response to Onesimus’ misconduct on the one hand and Paul’s seemingly incredible request to Philemon on the other? The answer is Christ and what we become in Him when we are joined to Him in salvation.
1. Christ enables us to see our circumstances through a different lens.
Paul was in prison yet again, and yet again the Apostle responded to his incarceration not by grumbling and complaining about the situation, but rather by acknowledging God’s providence in it all. He describes himself as “a prisoner for Christ Jesus” (Philem. 1). His “reward” for faithful service was prison; but here, as elsewhere, he sees this as part of the mystery of his heavenly Father’s purpose being fulfilled both for him and through him. In this particular instance, it meant that he met Onesimus, realized that his master (Philemon) was a close personal friend, and through sharing the gospel with this runaway, saw him begin a new life in Christ.
Despite the discomfort and discouragement of his situation from a human perspective, Paul was learning that although God’s ways are often not what we would choose for ourselves, they are always what is best both for His people and for His own glory. How true this has been for God’s people through the ages. However hard it may be to recognize at the time, we know that God works according to His loving wisdom in every circumstance of life.
2. Our relationship with Christ transforms how we relate to others.
At an even deeper level, we cannot help but notice how Paul’s union with Christ radically altered his relationship with every believer who shared this same sacred bond. Personal union with Christ extends into corporate communion with all His people. That is, just as in our natural families we and our siblings share our parents’ DNA, so in the family of God we share the same spiritual DNA, so to speak, with Christ our Elder Brother and Redeemer.
For the Apostle, this transformed the way he viewed his relationship not only with the newly converted Onesimus, but also with Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus (who was thought to be a fellow-worker in the church that met in Philemon’s house). Interestingly, Paul goes on to say, “I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ” (Philem. 6). The Greek word translated “sharing” is koinōnia—often rendered “fellowship”—and refers to the visible outworking among believers of their fellowship with God in salvation.
When we enter this unique, life-transforming relationship with God through His Son, it must manifest itself through transformed relationships with others as well.
3. God’s grace becomes the hallmark of our life as His people.
The most striking and challenging note the Apostle sounds in this letter is not merely his exhortation to Philemon to welcome back Onesimus, who has so egregiously betrayed him, but that he should treat him as a “beloved brother” in Christ (Philem. 16). Philemon may have instinctively reacted against the very thought of this as unfair, but Paul asks him to do so with the promise that he personally would reimburse his friend for everything Onesimus had stolen. He also encourages him to do so by reminding him of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ—the free, unmerited favor of God—by which Philemon had received salvation and through which every aspect of his life was now being transformed. So, for all Christians, what makes us stand out in our fallen world is the Christlike grace that shapes our relationships.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 30, 2024 15:17:32 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about John’s Gospel
Mark Johnston
4 Min Read
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are traditionally labeled as the “Synoptic Gospels.” They provide a synopsis of the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus as God’s promised Messiah and the once-for-all salvation He has secured. They are not different gospels, but the testimony of three Apostolic eyewitnesses to Jesus, His unique person, and the events that secured redemption.
When we come to the gospel according to John, it is immediately apparent that, although it deals with the same subject matter, it has a distinctive angle. Instead of providing a synopsis of Christ’s life and work, it provides a selective overview highlighting the defining elements of who Jesus is and what sets Him apart as the only One who can rightly be acknowledged as “the Christ.”
John identifies this as the key to understanding his gospel toward its very end: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). This leads us into three features of John’s gospel that highlight its importance.
1. John includes eyewitness testimony that Jesus is the Son of God.
John sets out to present the case for Jesus of Nazareth’s being the Christ and lays out the kind of testimony that would stand up in a court of law. In his prologue, John makes what sounds like the most outlandish of claims. His opening words have unmistakable echoes of the first words of Genesis and its description of creation. He speaks somewhat enigmatically about the agent of creation’s being “the Word” but then links this figure unmistakably with the incarnate Son of God (John 1:14–18). What stands out in the prologue, however, is John’s inclusion of his namesake, John the Baptist, whose calling was to be “a witness” to this fact (John 1:6–8). John the Evangelist immediately goes on to spell out John the Baptist’s testimony (John 1:19–34), declaring boldly that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and, as if he were giving testimony in a courtroom, avers, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).
The theme of the strands of testimony that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world are woven throughout John’s gospel, including the testimony of Pilate (John 18:38–39), John’s own eyewitness testimony to the death of Christ (John 19:35), and even the surprising fact that Mary Magdalene is recorded as the first eyewitness of the resurrected Christ (John 20:18). The extraordinary claims of John’s evangel are substantiated by the testimony of credible witnesses.
2. John includes miracles that testify Jesus is the Son of God.
A second key feature of John is that he records only seven of Jesus’ miracles and identifies them as “signs.” In doing so, he highlights how they function to provide tangible but supernatural pointers to His being the Son of God incarnate.
Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana is described as “the first of his signs” that “manifested his glory” and led to his “disciples believ[ing] in him” (John 2:11). It harks back to God’s promise through Isaiah about “a feast of rich food” and “aged wine” (Isa. 25:6) that would mark the coming of Messiah.
The six additional signs in John’s record each highlight a particular aspect of Jesus’ being the incarnate Son. Three in particular serve as de facto visual aids to sermons Jesus delivered that were either directly linked to them or that John uses thematically in his gospel record. One is the connection between the feeding of the five thousand and the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:1–59), and another between Jesus’ “I am the Resurrection and the Life” sermon and the raising of Lazarus (John 11:17–27, 38–44).
3. John includes the Upper Room Discourse to give us insight into Jesus’ mission.
The final feature that looms large in John and provides a distinctive feature of its message is the Upper Room Discourse (John 13:1–17:26). It is as though we are allowed to eavesdrop on what Jesus had to say on that solemn occasion.
It begins with Jesus literally showing Himself to be the promised Servant of the Lord as He washes His disciples’ feet (John 13:1–20). It unfolds with Jesus’ disclosure of His impending betrayal by one of His own, but showing this was integral to God’s plan of salvation.
He goes on to speak of His going to prepare a place for His disciples and how people through the ages can be sure of getting there (John 14:1–7), then of God’s promise to send His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, through whom Jesus continues to be present with His people through the ages. Then He provides a reality check on what it means to be His follower in this fallen world—in which we “will have trouble”—but also the comfort of knowing that Christ has overcome the world and will be our keeper (John 16:33).
The scene in the upper room ends with our being able to listen in to perhaps the most significant prayer ever offered. Often referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays for the success and efficacy of His saving mission. As we begin to grasp its significance, it explains in advance the achievement of what unfolds in the chapters that follow before Pilate’s court, on Calvary’s cross, and through the empty tomb. This truly is good news that is worth believing.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 30, 2024 15:18:49 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Matthew’s Gospel
Mark Ross
4 Min Read
The first verse in Matthew’s gospel tells us three important things about Jesus that sum up a great deal of what follows.
1. Matthew is about Jesus, the Christ.
Matthew is a book about Jesus “the Christ,” that is, the promised Anointed One of the Old Testament, the Messiah (1 Sam. 2:10; Ps. 2:2; Dan. 9:25; see also Matt. 1:16–18; 2:4; 16:16, 20; 22:42; 23:8–10). Matthew’s gospel continues the story of salvation revealed in the Old Testament and is, most appropriately, our doorway into the New Testament. Matthew repeatedly refers to the Old Testament, even writing in its style.1
Matthew is, however, more than just a continuation of that story; it is its fulfillment—a point that is made with great emphasis. Ten times Matthew points out that what happened in the life of Jesus is the fulfillment of what the prophets had spoken (Matt. 1:22; 2:15; 2:17; 2:23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 27:9). Similarly, there are ten miracles in chapters 8–9 that demonstrate Jesus has complete power to bring His people the healing and salvation promised by the prophets (Matt. 8:17, citing Isa. 53:4; cf. Isa. 35:5). Matthew highlights this by his distinctive way of reporting on Jesus’ miracles, “healing every disease and every affliction” (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 10:1). It was not enough for him just to say, “every disease and affliction,” for he wanted to underscore that nothing could thwart His power—so, he repeats the adjective twice, “healing every disease and every affliction.” By the frequent use of the name “son of David” in connection with healings done by Jesus (Matt. 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30), he shows that His kingdom is one of complete blessing and deliverance for His people. Truly, He is the anointed Servant (Matt. 12:18–21, citing Isa. 42:1–3), the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, the fulfillment of all that the prophets foretold.
2. Matthew is about Jesus, the son of David.
Jesus Christ is also the promised son of David, the One whose kingdom would have no end (2 Sam. 7:13; Ps. 89:3; Isa. 9:7). Matthew provides His royal genealogy (Matt. 1:2–17), tracing His descent in three stages from Abraham to David, from David to Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon, and then from Jechoniah down to Joseph the son of David, who was the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born. By taking special notice of the deportation to Babylon, which he mentions twice (Matt. 1:11, 12), Matthew shows that God’s promises to David did not come to an end with the deportation to Babylon. Matthew has thus picked up on the final words of 2 Kings, which tell us that the line of David (despite the slaughter of Zedekiah’s five sons) was preserved during the exile to Babylon through Jechoniah (also called Jehoiachin; Jer. 24:1; 2 Kings 24:6–17; 25:27–30). Second Kings ends by anticipating the Messiah’s reign, telling us that Jehoiachin was released from prison and given a seat above all the other kings who were in Babylon. Matthew ends with the fulfillment of that passage, showing that Jesus the son of David is given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18).
3. Matthew is about Jesus, the son of Abraham.
Matthew tells us that Jesus is the son of Abraham, by which he means not merely that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham, but that He is the promised seed of Abraham, the One in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 22:18; 26:4). This “all nations” reach of the salvation that Jesus brings is very subtly introduced in the genealogy (Matt. 1:2–6) by mentioning four women: three of whom are gentiles (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth) and the last of whom is the wife of a gentile (Uriah the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11:3). Then, after the birth of Jesus, we find that God has summoned gentile wise men by a star to come worship the One who is born the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1–12, alluding to Isa. 60:1–7). When it comes time for this King to begin His public ministry, it is done in “Galilee of the Gentiles” for it is an “all nations” salvation that He brings (Matt. 4:12–17, fulfilling Isa. 9:1–2).
Among Jesus’ very first miracles are the healing of a Roman centurion’s servant (Matt. 8:5–13) and later a Canaanite woman’s daughter who was severely oppressed by a demon (Matt. 15:21–28). The feeding of the four thousand (which Mark 7:31 indicates was in the Decapolis on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee) shows that Jesus did among the gentiles what He had done for the Jews in the feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21; 15:32–38). In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus reveals that the gospel of the kingdom must be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations before the end would come (Matt. 24:14). The book concludes with Jesus’ command that His Apostles should make disciples of all the nations, which points us to the consummation of the promise made to Abraham (Matt. 28:18–20).
Jesus is the Christ, the son of David, and the son of Abraham—these are three things you should know about the Gospel According to Matthew.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
For example, Matthew uses the Greek word idou more than sixty times. It appears more than one thousand times in the Greek Old Testament and is commonly translated in English (KJV, ESV, etc.) as “behold,” but occasionally other words are used. Luke writes in a similar way, but Mark and John do not use it so frequently. Readers of the NIV beware: this English version frequently omits the word because it is not a common way for us to speak today. But Matthew and the Old Testament do speak that way: it is one of the ways the Bible puts emphasis upon a point. Matthew thus demonstrates how deeply the language of the Old Testament had permeated his soul. Notice that his first use of it (1:20) comes just before a quotation from the Old Testament that also uses it (1:23). NIV omits the word in both places.↩
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on May 30, 2024 15:19:45 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Mark’s Gospel
Brandon Crowe
4 Min Read
The gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, but it is Christologically rich. As with the other Gospels, Mark needs to be approached as a continuous narrative to appreciate its theological message. Reading Mark as a narrative means allowing the sum of the whole to inform the way we read any part of the whole.
In that light, here are three contributions from Mark’s narrative.
1. Mark presents Jesus as the divine Son of God.
Sometimes people think that the gospel of Mark shows us the human side of Jesus, whereas the gospel of John, Paul’s letters, Hebrews, and other New Testament books present Jesus as divine. To be sure, in Mark, Jesus is presented as truly man. Jesus is the new Adam who obeys God fully and restores the peace originally intended in the garden of Eden (see Mark 1:12–13).
The humanity of Jesus is often easier to see, since Jesus is clearly a man who lives and moves in the ancient world. He displays anger, compassion, fatigue, hunger, suffering, and He dies. We must affirm and rejoice in the full humanity of Jesus, for our Savior is truly human, no less than we.
Yet, if we think Mark only presents Jesus as truly human, we would drastically underestimate and misunderstand this gospel. Admittedly, too often this has been the case in scholarly accounts of Jesus according to Mark. But we should not miss the clear indications Mark gives us that Jesus is divine.
In Mark 1:1, the gospel message is the message of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This already assumes the divinity of Jesus, as future references using the language “Son of God” make clear. The next reference to “Son of God” comes at Jesus’ baptism, where the supernatural heavenly voice identifies Jesus as the Son of God (Mark 1:11). In what follows, Jesus is identified on multiple occasions by supernatural beings as the Son of God (Mark 1:24; 3:11; 5:7–10), including at the transfiguration, where we see a glimpse of the divine glory of Jesus (Mark 9:2–7). Indeed, in Mark, no non-possessed human character confesses Jesus as the Son of God until the end of the gospel, where a Roman centurion at the cross confesses Jesus as the Son of God (Mark 15:39). After the cross, we see clearly in Mark that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead as He predicted (Mark 16:1–8), and this also points to the divine glory of Jesus that was anticipated in the transfiguration.
We could also list other ways we see the divinity of Jesus in Mark, including the application of the Lord coming to His temple (Isa. 40:3; Mark 1:2–3), the authority with which Jesus forgives sins (Mark 2:5–6), His authority over nature (Mark 4:35–41), and His authority to raise the dead (Mark 5:35–43). In sum, Jesus is not only truly human in Mark, but truly divine.
2. Jesus speaks clearly in Mark about the unique, substitutionary purpose of His death.
Another key feature of Mark is the intentionality of Jesus’ death. Some have argued that the Gospels do not have a theology of atonement. But Mark refutes this position, because Jesus states clearly the purpose of His death on at least two occasions.
One of the clearest texts where Jesus speaks of the intention of His death is Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Notice the substitutionary language “given for many.” This phrasing reflects the language of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:11–12.
A second text that demonstrates the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ death is found in the words of institution at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22–25). Here Jesus shows by the bread and wine that His body and blood will be given for many. This again reflects the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53 and makes clear that Jesus intended His death to be a substitutionary sacrifice. It is therefore appropriate to continue to celebrate this meal in remembrance of Jesus’ death until He comes again (see 1 Cor. 11:23–26).
3. Without undermining the uniqueness of Christ’s death, Mark also presents the suffering and death of Christ as a model for discipleship.
One of the dangers in misunderstanding the cross of Christ is when it is viewed merely as a model of high ideals or of sacrificial love rather than a substitutionary death. To be sure, to deny the substitutionary, representative death of Christ for sinners is a theological mistake of the first order. Christ’s death is unique and pays the penalty for His people’s sins. This must be affirmed with great clarity.
At the same time, Mark does not only present Jesus’ death as a unique, substitutionary atonement. He also presents it as a model for discipleship. Three times in Mark, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection (Mark 8:31–33; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33–34), and in all three cases He weds His discussion of His upcoming rejection and suffering with a call to discipleship (Mark 8:34–38; Mark 9:33–37; Mark 10:35–45). Jesus is not only our Savior, but He is also our model for faithful living in a fallen world (cf. 1 Peter 2:21–25).
Conclusion
Mark’s gospel presents us a Savior who is truly divine, truly man, and who gives His life uniquely as a substitutionary atonement for the sins of His people. We benefit from His death by faith, even as we learn from Him that the way of glory is the way of suffering.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 3, 2024 19:59:46 GMT -5
The epistle written by James kicks off the sub-collection known as the “catholic” or General Epistles, so named because they are addressed not to specific churches or individuals but to (more or less) the entire church. In this case, the letter is penned to the “twelve tribes in the Dispersion” (James 1:1), a richly symbolic way of denoting all of God’s people scattered throughout the world. In this article, we’ll consider three things to know about this epistle.
1. Jesus’ half-brother probably wrote it.
Let’s start with authorship. Four men named “James” are contenders. James the brother of John (sons of Zebedee, Matt. 4:21) died too soon to be the author (Acts 12:2). James the son of Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3) and James the father of Judas (Luke 6:16) are too unknown in the early church to pull off simply identifying as “James” in the epistle. This leaves James the brother of Jesus (Matt. 13:55) as the most plausible contender. This James began as an unbeliever (John 7:5), but through a dramatic encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 15:7), he became a pillar of the early church and possibly an Apostle (Gal. 1:19; 2:9). Why does the identity of the writer matter?
First, James had been transformed by the power of the gospel, yet he does not press his earthly ties to Jesus for clout. He simply refers to himself as a “servant . . . of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). Second, this James makes the pivotal speech at the Jerusalem Council, drawing on Amos 9:11–12 to articulate how the death and resurrection of Christ unites gentiles and Jews under the same banner of faith, not ethnic markers or works of law (Acts 15:13–21). He experienced the gospel and preached the gospel. Third, James inserts direct teachings from his brother Jesus into the letter, such as the poor will inherit the kingdom (James 2:5; Matt. 5:3–5), mourning and laughing (James 4:9; Luke 6:25), exalting the humble (James 4:10; Matt. 23:12), and “yes”/“no” (James 5:12; Matt. 5:34–37). His brother’s gospel has become his gospel.
2. James aims to guide Christian living.
Not only is the author personally shaped by the gospel, but his aims in the letter are as well. From church fathers to modern commentators, there has been a long-running debate about the precise structure and objectives of this epistle because it does not follow the same kind of tight logic we find in a book such as Romans. But that does not mean it lacks organization altogether. It is looser because it aims at moral exhortation directed to people who are already Christian brothers and sisters (James 1:9, 16, 19; 5:19). James serves as a pastoral father figure showing Christians how the gospel should transform life, counseling his readers to choose the path of godliness, not sin. Consider the following examples:
Obedience: Put the word into practice—don’t be mere hearers (James 1:2–27).
Fellowship: Love others indiscriminately—don’t play favorites (James 2:1–13).
Obedience: Put your faith into practice—don’t have empty faith (James 2:14–26).
Fellowship: Use your mouth to bless others—don’t use it to harm (James 3:1–18).
Obedience: Put holiness into practice—don’t be like the world (James 4:1–17).
Fellowship: Love the poor—don’t pursue ungodly wealth (James 5:1–6).
Obedience: Put patience into practice—don’t grumble in affliction (James 5:7–20).
The author revisits two dominant themes of obedience and fellowship from different angles to press home pastoral lines of application, not statements of doctrine. If the gospel takes root, this is the fruit it should (or should not) yield.
3. James complements—not contradicts—Paul’s letters.
In view of such aims, we can revisit Luther’s complaint that James lacks the law-gospel clarity of Paul’s writings. The issue comes to a head in James 2:24: “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” On the surface, this seems like an obvious contradiction of Paul’s claim that “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
But not so fast. Paul’s argument in Romans (and in Galatians) moves from unbelief where law-keeping fails (Rom. 1:18–3:20), to being declared right before God through faith (Rom 3:21–4:23), to adoption and sanctification that flow from justification (Rom. 5–8). In other words, Paul’s statement about justification by faith rather than works falls in his argument about how one becomes saved.
James is making a different argument. He is speaking to those who claim to have faith (James 2:14) but lack any kind of Christian charity to go along with it (James 2:16). Such “faith” is not truly faith if it lacks resulting “works” (James 2:17). It is empty or dead, and thus no different from the bare cognitive assent that even demons exercise (James 2:19).
James, in short, is answering a different question: What does one do after being saved? How do I demonstrate that my faith is real? Though he puts his answer in very blunt terms—through “works”—his basic insight is no different than Paul’s elsewhere (see Phil. 2:12). It is just that Paul is not yet answering that side of the question when he deals with justification.
When we view things in this light, we see that James does not contradict Paul’s writings but rather complements them. It is no more an epistle of “straw” than any of Paul’s writings that portray the gospel as a beautiful resource for Christian living.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 12, 2024 19:51:30 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Jude
Sarah Ivill
3 Min Read
Many people today are tempted to surrender the fight for absolute truth, give up the belief that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and accept the plurality of beliefs around the world as valid ways of salvation. Sadly, churches have not been immune to such pervasive teaching, and indeed some have succumbed to the pressure, turning their backs on truth to embrace error. The letter of Jude, which has much to say about these issues, has often been neglected. Perhaps this is because the letter, though brief, is packed with difficult allusions that can be confusing. However, Jude’s message is especially needed today, for it reminds “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1) to contend for the faith and continue in the faith.
Jude, the author of the letter that bears his name, was the younger brother of Jesus and James, the latter of which was an important leader in the early church and the author of the letter that bears his name (Mark 6:1–6; Acts 15:13–21; Gal. 2:9; James 1:1). Notably, Jude was not a follower of Jesus during His earthly life and ministry (John 7:5), but came to saving faith after Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 1:12–14). Due to the similarity in content, the letter of Jude was most likely written around the same time as the book of 2 Peter, most likely in the mid-60s AD.
Jude’s letter reveals that he was writing to a specific church, or group of churches, in which “certain people have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). Due to the many allusions to the Old Testament and to Jewish literature, Jude’s readers were likely Jewish Christians, though some scholars believe these allusions say more about Jude’s own background than his audience.
Importantly, Jude grounds his call to action in God’s covenantal love. First, he tells believers who they are in light of who God is. Then, he calls believers to contend for the faith and to continue in it. Jude centers the thoughts of his readers on the glory, majesty, dominion, and authority of the triune God so that they are equipped to fight for the faith and remain firm in it.
1. Believers are called by God.
Jude addresses his letter to “those who are called” (Jude 1). When God calls people to Himself, their eyes are opened “so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). United to Christ by faith, believers are “beloved in God the Father” (Jude 1). Chosen in Christ “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), they are “kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). Those called by God are also justified and glorified by Him (Rom. 8:30). Therefore, God alone “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).
2. Believers are to contend for the faith.
Jude “found it necessary to write” to the believers he addressed, exhorting them “to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). He reminds believers that they must fight for the faith they hold so dear, especially in the midst of perverse teachings of grace that have crept into their churches unnoticed. To encourage them to contend for the faith, Jude reminds his readers of the judgment of God that falls upon the ungodly, using examples from the past in order to warn of judgment on the ungodly in the future (Jude 5–16).
3. Believers are to continue in the faith.
Because believers can become dull toward truth, readily accept error, pervert the true grace of God, and deny Christ as Master and Lord, Jude calls them to continue “building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 20–21). In addition, strong believers are to be merciful to the weak and help them avoid error by reminding them of the truth (Jude 22–23).
Perhaps you have given up the fight for the faith today, subtly accepting our culture’s call to embrace pluralism. Or maybe you have slipped from your belief in the central doctrines of the faith, following a different way instead. Perhaps you have given up Bible study due to a difficult season in life and need to commit again to a steadfast study of Scripture. Or maybe you need a fresh reminder that false teaching still infiltrates churches today. Perhaps you need to remember how great the triune God is in the midst of a pluralistic society. Regardless, Jude has a timely message for us all. He calls us to contend for the faith and continue in it, while grounding us in the assurance of our salvation and the greatness and eternality of God’s glory, majesty, dominion, and authority.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 12, 2024 19:54:27 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Romans
J.V. Fesko
4 Min Read
The book of Romans has left an indelible impression on the lives of God’s people throughout the ages. The early church theologian Augustine ran from God throughout his life, but God relentlessly pursued him. One day, he was sitting in his garden and overheard children singing, tolle lege, “Take up and read.” Augustine opened the Bible to Romans 13:13–14: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
The sixteenth century Reformer Martin Luther was once asked whether he loved God. “Love God?” Luther responded, “Sometimes I hate Him.” Luther feared that God would punish him no matter how hard he tried to please Him. God opened his eyes through the Spirit to understand the Apostle Paul’s famous statement: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16–17). Luther realized that when Paul wrote of God’s righteousness, he did not refer to God’s own righteousness but the gift of righteousness that comes to sinners by faith in Christ. When God opened Luther’s eyes, he said, “Here, I felt that I was altogether born again and the very gates of paradise opened up before me.”
The eighteenth century preacher John Wesley had little interest in the gospel until he attended a meeting where someone read from Luther’s preface to Romans:
While he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
These encounters with this book highlight three things that we should know about the book of Romans.
1. The gospel is a free gift from God.
First, salvation is a free gift. History is littered with religions that preach a quid pro quo message of redemption—you must perform acts of goodness in order to be saved. This was Luther’s burden that created angst and even animosity in his heart toward God. He knew that God was righteous and His law was exacting—there was no way he could perform enough good works to outweigh his sins. As King David cried out, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you” (Ps. 143:2). The same sentiment appears in a Psalm of Ascent, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Ps. 130:3). Luther was acutely aware of this truth but then, in His mercy, God opened Luther’s eyes to see that God has given the perfect obedience and suffering of Christ in our stead. This outpouring of grace is, as Paul says, “the free gift of God” (Rom. 6:23; 5:15–17).
2. Salvation is received by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Second, like Luther, by the sovereign grace of God, Wesley realized that the only way to receive the gift of salvation was by trusting in Christ alone for his salvation. As Paul writes, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3:21–22; cf. 5:1; 10:6, 17). Paul elsewhere elaborates on this truth in his letter to Ephesus when he writes: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9).
3. The gospel has freed us from Satan, sin, and death so we can walk in newness of life.
Third, when God saves us by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, He does so unto the goal of walking in newness of life; that is, living in holiness and righteousness. The gifts of the gospel and faith in Christ are not a license to sin, as Paul emphatically denies:
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! . . . We were buried therefore with [Christ] by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom. 6:1–4)
God confronted Augustine with this truth when he heard the children chanting “take up and read” and opened the Bible to Romans 13:13–14. Augustine knew he needed to repent of his sins, and only the grace of God in Christ could enable him to do so that he might live in holiness.
Three things you should know about Romans are that (1) the gospel is a free gift from God, (2) salvation is a gift we receive by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and (3) that the gospel has freed us from Satan, sin, and death so we can walk in the newness of life. Augustine, Luther, and Wesley learned these truths by God’s grace, and our prayer should be that God’s Holy Spirit would indelibly imprint them on our hearts as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jun 28, 2024 19:16:30 GMT -5
JUN 26, 2024
TheologyGeneral TheologyCovenant Theology
5 Things You Should Know about Covenant Theology
Harrison Perkins
4 Min Read
Some topics are covered frequently enough in Reformed churches that it might be easy to lose track of the basics. One such topic is covenant theology. Let’s look at five things that Christians should know about covenant theology.
1. Covenant theology is about our relationship with God.
A covenant is a formal relationship. Marriage best exemplifies this kind of relationship (Mal. 2:14). Marriage is the most intimate bond two people can have. This supremely personal and loving partnership is also a legal arrangement. Covenants work in a like manner.
Covenant theology helps us better appreciate how God relates to us. Walking with the Lord would be very difficult if He were not clear about what our relationship with Him is like. If we had to guess about things such as how God feels about us, whether He accepts us, how He accepts us, and the best ways to pursue Him, then we would frequently feel uncertain about our standing with Him.
Covenant theology affirms that God clearly explains what our relationship with Him is supposed to be like. Holy Scripture is God’s written, clear revelation of how we can have a right relationship with Him. Because a covenant is a formal relationship, God gives us certainty about our relationship with Him as He commits to us in that fixed bond.
2. Covenant theology helps us understand the relationship between works and grace.
Ephesians 2:8–9 captures a critical aspect of how Reformation Protestants have understood salvation: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,** **not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Sometimes, we struggle to explain how this free offer of salvation by grace alone relates to the point in verse 10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). How do we hold together the freedom grace brings with our responsibility to live well?
In the traditional Reformed understanding, covenant theology distinguishes between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. God made the covenant of works with Adam before the fall, and it had the condition of perfect obedience. In the covenant of grace, brought by the second Adam, Jesus Christ, God accepts us as His people by faith in Christ’s atoning work alone. These two covenants clarify that works and grace are two different and opposed ways of seeking to secure salvation and right standing with God.
Covenant theology then helps us relate grace and works because our works cannot be the basis of our relationship with God, even though good works will be produced in the lives of true believers. Because our works are not the condition of God’s covenant with believers for salvation, they cannot be the reason that we are right with God.
3. Covenant theology helps us to see Christ in all of Scripture.
Colossians 2:17 explains that many features of Israel’s religious life “are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Although the Old Testament period imposed many ceremonies on God’s people, these practices taught them about the One who had been promised in Genesis 3:15, the coming Redeemer in whom they were to place their faith. Because faith in Christ has been the only way of salvation since the fall, covenant theology reminds us that Christ is the substance of all God’s dealings with us in Scripture.
4. Covenant theology helps us to see the importance of the church.
In the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus instructed the church to disciple all nations by “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” These external ordinances of administering the sacraments and teaching God’s Word are the means of advancing our mission as God’s people.
Covenant theology reminds us not only that Christ is the substance of all the Scriptures, but also that He comes to His people to do His spiritual work upon us through the ordinary means of grace that He has given to His church. Westminster Shorter Catechism 88 reminds us that the church’s means of grace are the Word, sacraments, and prayer. These outward means, which deliver Christ as the substance of the covenant to believers, have often been called the covenant’s “external administration.” The church is a necessary part of the Christian life because it is how we participate in this external administration where we meet Christ.
5. Covenant theology helps us to have deeper assurance as we pursue holiness.
Ephesians 1:13–14 explains that the Spirit’s indwelling of believers in Christ is the guarantee of our everlasting life: “In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” We have this divine Helper to spur us forward in holiness as we walk with Christ.
Covenant theology reminds us that our Spirit-empowered holiness is a gift that Christ has earned for us. Christ has fulfilled every condition of perfect obedience on our behalf. He equips us with His Spirit so that we can pursue Him in faithfulness. This gift of the Spirit is evidence that we already belong to Christ and have the assurance of life with Him in eternity.
This article is part of the 5 Things You Should Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2024 12:07:30 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Obadiah
Max Rogland
3 Min Read
The prophecy of Obadiah can be easily overlooked since it is the shortest book in the Old Testament and tucked away among the Minor Prophets, which is unfamiliar territory to many Bible readers. The basic facts about the book of Obadiah can be learned quickly since it takes only a minute or two to read it.
The prophet proclaims the Lord’s judgment against the nation of Edom (Obad. 1–4, 8–10), a small country but one that lived with a sense of ease and security that had developed into boastful pride (Obad. 3, 12). The reasons for such confidence were twofold: It was a mountainous country that, from a human perspective, would have been easily defensible (Obad. 3–4). Moreover, Edom (often referred to by its chief city, Teman) had a reputation for possessing great human wisdom (Obad. 8–9; see also Jer. 49:7). In other words, Edom had all the strategic advantages that allowed its inhabitants to live securely. Yet the Lord proclaims that judgment will come upon the Edomites not only for failing to assist the Judeans when the Babylonians attacked them (culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile in 587/586 BC), but even more for providing active assistance to the invaders by capturing escaping Judeans and handing them over (Obad. 11–14; Ps. 137:8–9; Ezek. 25:12; 35:5). Along with these oracles of judgment, the Lord also promises that His people will be delivered and rise again through His kingly power (Obad. 17–21).
Understanding the following three things about the book of Obadiah can help us grasp its message more fully.
1. The prophecy of Obadiah displays the outworking of the Lord’s sovereign decree to Isaac concerning his sons Jacob and Esau that “the older will serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23).
The nations of Edom and Judea were descended from Esau and Jacob (Gen. 36:1–43; 49:1–28). Just as the two brothers had a troubled relationship (Gen. 27:41–45), so did the two nations that sprung from them (Edom from Esau, and Judea from Jacob). Though dishonest and deceitful, Jacob received the birthright and blessing that belonged to his firstborn brother (Gen. 25:29–33; 27:1–40). Similarly, the nation of Judea was graciously given dominance over the Edomites (Num. 24:18–19) throughout their conflicted history (see, for example, 1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:11–14; 1 Kings 22:47; 1 Chron. 18:11). The Lord’s treatment of Jacob and Israel displays God’s unmerited favor to the undeserving (Mal. 1:1–4; Rom. 9:10–16).
2. Obadiah’s vision (Obad. 1) “telescopes” God’s acts of judgment and His acts of deliverance together to make them appear simultaneous.
Obadiah speaks not only of judgment on Edom but also of the “day of the Lord” (Obad. 15), which will bring judgment on all nations (Obad. 16) and deliverance for God’s people (Obad. 17). At first glance, it sounds as if these will take place at the same time. However, the biblical prophets regularly collapse together God’s acts of judgment and salvation, much like one takes an extended telescope and shortens it into a compact unit. This manner of speaking is often referred to as “prophetic foreshortening” or “telescoping,” and being aware of this technique can help the reader avoid confusion. By understanding this common feature of prophetic oracles, one can discern that the fulfillment of Obadiah’s prophecy takes place at different times. Thus, for example, the destruction of Edom has already occurred, but the believer still awaits the “day of the Lord,” which will call all nations to judgment and bring in the fullness of salvation for the church.
3. The prophecy of Obadiah is not directly quoted in the New Testament, but the Scripture points toward its surprising fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Obadiah, along with a handful of other Old Testament books such as Esther and Zephaniah, is not quoted in the New Testament. Nevertheless, the Scriptures indicate that Obadiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in a surprising way. Over time, the Edomites were subjugated by foreign powers, and according to the Jewish historian Josephus, they fell once again under Jewish rule and were forced to receive ritual circumcision by John Hyrcanus (a Hasmonean ruler and Jewish high priest) in the late second century BC (Antiquities 13:256). As a result, these “Idumeans,” as they had come to be known, began to be absorbed into the people of Judea. This loss of their ancestral land and national identity proved to be a blessing in disguise, as people from Idumea were among those drawn to follow Jesus the Messiah (Mark 3:8–9), proving the truth of Colossians 3:11: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.” Just as Obadiah declared, deliverance was found on Mount Zion (Obad. 17)—that is, among the people of the living God who follow Jesus, the mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 12:22–24).
With the book of Obadiah, the old adage proves true: Good things come in small packages.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2024 12:25:33 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about 1 Peter
Derek Thomas
4 Min Read
Peter’s first epistle is important for Christians to study. Here are three things you should know about 1 Peter:
1. Its author, Peter, who was singled out by Jesus and called the “rock” (Matt. 16:18), uses similar imagery in this epistle.
True, there has been some discussion about this verse and what exactly Jesus meant by it, but it seems clear that Jesus is addressing Peter, who had just confessed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). One imagines that Peter was fascinated by rocks and stones after that. Interesting, then, that Peter should make a great deal of it in his first epistle by referencing rocks or stones in 1 Peter 2:4–8. He cites three passages, from Isaiah and the final Hallel psalms (Psalms 113–118, recited at Passover), that specifically mention stones or rocks.
One citation references a “cornerstone” that God “will lay in Zion”—a reference to Jesus, a stone that the builders will reject (Isa. 28:16; Ps. 118:22). Think of how the Jews in Jesus’ day rejected Him. The last reference speaks of a stone, or a rock, over which men will stumble (Isa. 8:14–15). This rock “rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him” is, of course, Jesus (1 Peter 2:4).
Peter wants his readers to understand that Christians are “living stones,” carefully and securely placed into the church that Jesus is now building, and in which Christ is the cornerstone. This building (the church) is supported by a promise: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).
2. First Peter is chiefly concerned about the shape of the Christian life.
Peter opens the letter by saying that Christians are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood” (1 Peter 1:2). Peter spends over half of the epistle talking about what sanctification looks like, citing in chapter 1 what is sometimes called the “Holiness Code” from the book of Leviticus: “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16; Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7). Then, in the rest of the epistle, he makes practical comments about how sanctification manifests itself in the struggles of daily life: submitting to authorities in places of work and society, in marriage, and in church life (1 Peter 2:13–25; 3:1–7; 5:1–11).
Holiness shows itself in very practical ways in all of life. Some of what Peter has to say seems very difficult to put into practice, but he reminds his readers, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Knowing that Jesus has redeemed us by His blood should help us to carry the cross into the most difficult situations we will be asked to face for Him.
3. First Peter is honest.
Peter does not sugarcoat his message in sentiment, but rather reminds his fellow believers that the Christian life is a “war” in which Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11). Christians may suffer for behaving badly, but sometimes they will suffer “for righteousness’ sake” (1 Peter 3:13–14, 17). Doing the “good” thing will sometimes be viewed as an offense to those who don’t know Jesus as Savior and Lord. In such circumstances we are to “honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Remembering that we serve Christ as our Master will help us make the right choices and choose the right words when we find ourselves in the war zone. In 1 Peter 4:12–19, Peter focuses on the trials that Christians might face, urging his readers to “not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).
Sounding a little like Paul in the opening section of Romans 5, Peter wants Christians to “rejoice” in tribulations (1 Peter 4:13; Rom. 5:3). Peter has in mind sufferings which seem to us to make no sense. We may suffer because we make really bad choices, but Peter is thinking of the kind of suffering Christians experience when they live holy lives and speak about Jesus with reverence and awe: “If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Peter 4:16). Peter adds the following exhortation: “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19).
Christians are not called to a bed of ease, but to a life of “obedience” (1 Peter 1:2). And obedience may often be painful and costly. These trials are tests, so that the “tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 10, 2024 7:49:22 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about 1, 2, 3 John
Ian Hamilton
4 Min Read
The Bible is full of hidden gems. Many of those hidden gems are found in the smaller books in the Bible. Most Christians who take the reading of God’s Word seriously will be reasonably acquainted with its “big books” (such as Genesis, the Psalms, Isaiah, John’s gospel, Romans, and Ephesians). My guess is that not so many are well acquainted with books like Joel, Haggai, Zephaniah, and John’s three letters.
In this brief meditation we will reflect on three things every Christian should know about John’s three letters.
1. Though these books are brief, they play an important role in the Christian’s spiritual growth and maturity.
After forty years of pastoral ministry, I have learned not to assume that Christians know their Bibles as well as previous generations did. Biblical literacy and expository biblical preaching are not as common as they once were. The general attention span of even faithful believers has been infected with the spirit of the age. The good desire to minister relevantly into the culture has often led to sermons that are more topical than expository. All of this has robbed believers of a knowledge of the Word of God that is as wide and as deep as Scripture’s totality.
Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). Paul was especially impressing this truth on this young man of God that he might embrace God’s written Word in its totality and have it shape his life and ministry. What was true for Timothy is surely no less true for every Christian.
So, we should know 1, 2, 3 John so that we might be trained in righteousness and complete Christians, equipped for every good work.
2. John’s three letters were written against the dark backcloth of heresies that were threatening the purity, peace, and mission of the church.
These heresies were not new to John’s day. Satan resurrects them regularly to derail Christ’s church, absorb it with itself, and rob it of its gospel credibility. As he begins his first letter, John writes:
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10)
Notice the triad, “If we say . . . ” (1 John 1:6, 8, 10). Why does John feel the need to write this? Because some people in the church were saying they had fellowship with God but were walking in darkness. Later in 1 John 2:19, John wrote, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” As a faithful pastor, John is warning his “dear children,” as he calls them, to be on their guard against false teaching: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5; see also 1 John 2:22; 4:1–3).
In 2 and 3 John we see more of the Apostle’s concern to shepherd his dear children away from error. In 2 John 7 we read: “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” In 3 John 9, John even warns his dear children about a particular man, “Diotrephes . . . who likes to put himself first.” John knows only too well that bad character is as deadly as bad doctrine in corrupting the life of God’s people.
3. John’s three letters model the love, compassion, and courage that should be found in every gospel minister and indeed in every Christian.
God-honoring and sheep-nourishing ministry is rooted in preaching that is not only accurate and orthodox, but also rich in compassion, courage, and tenderness. It is striking to notice how often John describes his readers as his “little children” (1 John 2:1, 12, 28; 3:18; 4:4; 5:21). His teaching to them flowed out of his love for them. How different many of our churches would be if the people knew, even felt, that their pastors carried them in their hearts and cherished their good above life itself.
John’s three letters are gospel gems. Read them, ponder them, and perhaps even make the effort to memorize them, so that you may continue to grow in the grace of our Lord.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 16, 2024 22:48:49 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about Zechariah
Michael P.V. Barrett
4 Min Read
1. The first thing to know about Zechariah is the identity of the man.
Zechariah was a common name in the Old Testament, but the first verse specifically identifies him as “the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet.” According to Nehemiah 12:1–4, Iddo was one of the priests who returned to Palestine along with Zerubbabel after the Babylonian captivity. The first order of business for those who returned to Judah after the exile was to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians. Under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the work flourished at first but then floundered because of outward pressure and inward apathy (Ezra 4, 5). Iddo, Zechariah’s grandfather, would have been involved in the initial work on the temple. Zechariah was instrumental in seeing the work brought to completion. Ironically and according to Jesus (Matt. 23:35–37), Zechariah was killed at the very temple that he was influential in rebuilding.
But before his assassination, Zechariah had a lengthy ministry. He dated his first messages (Zech. 1–6) to the second year of Darius, which calculates to 520 BC. He dated his second series (Zech. 7–8) two years later, during the fourth year of Darius (518 BC). Chapters 9–14 are not dated, but references to Greece (Zech. 9:13) suggest a later date, most likely between 480–470 BC. Altogether, Zechariah prophesied for approximately fifty years.
2. The second thing to know about Zechariah concerns his message.
The Babylonian captivity was over, but the people were not experiencing the blessing or prosperity they had expected. They faced opposition from the Samaritans, desolation in the land, hard work, and hardships. The situation seemed to be hopeless; it seemed as though the Lord had forgotten about them. Zechariah’s name means “the Lord remembers,” and just hearing his name would have been a reminder to the people that the Lord had not forgotten them.
The principal theme of Zechariah’s preaching was hope in God’s unfailing purpose. Hope is the future perspective of faith. Like all true faith, hope is objective, and its object determines its value. Hope is not a trembling, hesitant, cross-your-fingers wish. On the contrary, it is a confident expectation that God’s promises cannot be anything but true. The Godward gaze is the secret to hope, so Zechariah points the people to God—His power, His authority, His covenant faithfulness, and His Christ.
With this focus on hope, it is not surprising that Zechariah ranks as one of the most specifically and explicitly messianic books in the entire Old Testament. Focusing on God’s redemptive purpose to reverse the curse in and through Christ was key to fostering and rekindling hope in a people who in so many ways had given up hope in the face of the discouragements of the day. To see Christ was to see the heart of God’s promise and to be assured of every other word, for all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).
As Zechariah directs attention to the coming Christ, most remarkable is his attention to the mediatorial functions of Christ as the ideal Prophet, Priest, and King. His prophetic office as the representative of God is evident in Zechariah 13:7, where the Lord of Hosts refers to the Messiah as “My Shepherd” and the mighty man who is His equal, whom He Himself strikes. Matthew 26:31 links this directly to Christ and the cross. It also parallels Christ’s exposition of the Good Shepherd, where He declares that He lays down His life for the sheep and that He and His Father are one (John 10:30). The priestly ministry is most explicit in the significant messianic title “the Branch” that occurs in Zechariah 3:8 and Zechariah 6:12 in analogy with Joshua, the high priest. In addition, the whole vision of Joshua standing before the court of heaven is a beautiful picture of how God forgives and justifies sinners: the need of justification is great, the act of justification is gracious, the ground of justification (the Branch) is solid, and the demand of justification is logical. Christ’s kingship is seen in Zechariah 10:4 (the corner, the nail, the battle bow, the absolute ruler) and Zechariah 9:9, the prophecy so specifically fulfilled on Palm Sunday. Aspects of kingship associated with Christ’s second coming are also part of the hope (Zech. 14). It would not at all be a stretch to designate this prophecy as “The Gospel according to Zechariah.”
3. The third thing to know about Zechariah concerns his method.
Zechariah 1:1 says that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. One of the ways that the word came was through visions. The first six chapters record a series of visions that give a panoramic view of God’s purpose for His people from the immediate circumstances of the day to the final consummation.
Apart from the message revealed, Zechariah is a casebook on how God revealed His word through visions. First, visions were personal and internal. Only the prophet could see them. Second, the recipient of the vision was an active participant. Zechariah conversed with an interpreting angel who gave him directions as to the vision’s meaning. Third, visions were highly symbolic. The colored horses, four craftsmen, lampstands and olive trees, flying scrolls, and war wagons loaded with horses all pointed to some spiritual reality.
Another feature of Zechariah’s method was the apocalyptic tone, a kind of prediction that addressed the distant future, including the final consummation. Zechariah’s message, therefore, goes beyond post-exilic Israel. He assures the church that God is in control and that everything is on course to accomplish God’s eternal plan and purpose.
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 22, 2024 0:58:00 GMT -5
3 Things You Should Know about 2 Peter
Kim Riddlebarger
3 Min Read
1. The Apostle Peter warns the churches of the dangers of false teaching and the ungodliness that it produces.
Peter does not name these false teachers, but from his comments in 2 Peter 2:1–3, it is clear that they were once professing Christians who have since departed from the faith. Peter describes them as introducing destructive heresies, denying the Master who they claim “bought them,” while attracting a large number of followers who blaspheme the Lord. False doctrine inevitably leads to sinful conduct. Because of their apostasy, God’s judgment upon them is certain.
Based on several hints given to us by Peter, it may be the case that these people misused the letters of Paul to justify antinomian (lawless) behavior. In 2 Peter 2:19, Peter writes, “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” The Apostle goes on to say in 2 Peter 3:15–16 that there are some things in the letters of Paul “that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” Apparently, the content of Paul’s letters was distorted in the Apostolic age, even as it is in our own.
2. Peter speaks of his readers as having a righteous standing before God through faith.
Peter writes, “who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1). The faith that grants such a standing is a gift from God given through Jesus Christ—the source of the righteousness of God—and therefore something received (Eph. 2:8–9). All those who have been given such faith are said to be of the same faith as “ours” (the Apostles). Believers obtain this righteous standing before God through the instrument of faith by means of Jesus Christ—who, Peter tells us, is God.
This righteous standing is contrasted throughout the balance of 2 Peter with the unrighteous—the false teachers and those who follow them. They once knew the way of righteousness and professed to believe the gospel preached by Peter and the Apostles but have since departed from it. Peter writes that it would have been better for them to have never known the way of the truth (2 Peter 2:21), contrasting the false teachers with an Old Testament saint, Noah, who was “a herald of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). The reception of the gift of faith differentiates the righteous from those who will inevitably find themselves facing God’s judgment because they departed from the truth—such a serious matter that Peter addresses it throughout the second chapter of this letter.
3. Peter informs us that the false teachers deny that Jesus will return.
Peter has already described being with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:16–21), where he witnessed the Lord’s glory. This becomes the basis for Peter’s confidence in the Lord’s promises.
In 2 Peter 3:3–7, Peter warns his readers, saying:
Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Peter cautions that the world that existed long ago (in the days of Noah) “was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
Confusion about our Lord’s return was common in the early church (one can think of the questions and answers about the end times in Paul’s two Thessalonian letters), even as it is in our own day. Bible prophecy pundits have made so many wild and irresponsible predictions about the second coming of Jesus Christ that non-Christians no longer pay any attention to the Bible’s teaching that Jesus is going to return to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new.
To comfort his hearers, Peter reminds them:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:9–10)
So, says Peter, let the scoffers be warned while God’s people remain hopeful of the glory yet to come, because “according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
This article is part of the Every Book of the Bible: 3 Things to Know collection.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Aug 23, 2024 14:48:45 GMT -5
John Murray on Irresistable Grace
In reference to all the aspects from which God’s saving grace may be viewed we must always reckon with the reality and gravity of sin. The salvation God has provided is more than salvation from sin and its consequences. Its design embraces the exceeding riches of God’s grace and contemplates the highest conceivable destiny that could be bestowed upon creatures, conformity to the image of God’s own Son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (cf. Rom. 8:29). But no such destiny could be envisioned or achieved without salvation from sin in all its ramifications and liabilities. In order to be salvation to it must first of all be salvation from.
We cannot assess the gravity of sin unless we probe to that which is central in its definition. If we say that sin is selfishness we do state something that belongs to the character of sin, especially if we think of self-centeredness and construe this as involving the worship of self rather than of the Creator (cf. Rom. 1:25). The iniquity of sin is thereby disclosed. Again, if we say that sin is the assertion of human autonomy versus the sovereignty of God we are saying something relevant. Sin is precisely that, and it became apparent in Eden when the sin of our race began.
But we must ask: are these analyses sufficient? To put it otherwise: does not Scripture warrant and compel a more penetrating description? When Paul says that “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7), he has surely provided us with what is ultimate in the definition of sin. Sin is the contradiction of God, contradiction all along the line of God’s unique and essential glory. Nothing is more germane to God’s glory than his truth; he is truth. The tempter was well aware of this and so his strategy was framed accordingly. To the woman he said: “ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). This was blatant contradiction of God’s veracity. When the woman acceded to this contradiction her integrity collapsed and to sin she became captive. Our Lord’s indictment of the tempter is to the effect that his own fall from integrity was of the same character as that by which he seduced Eve. “He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Yes, the essence of sin is to be against God (cf. Ps. 51:4); it is the contradiction of God in the whole range of its connotation and application. When Paul wrote, “the carnal mind is enmity against God,” he added, “for it is not subject to the law of God” (Rom. 8:7). It is significant that the law of God should be specified in this connection. The enmity manifests itself in insubjection to the law of God. And not only so. The insubjection may be said to constitute the enmity, the contradiction. For the law is the glory of God coming to expression for the regulation of human thought, word, and action consonant with the image in which man has been created. So sin can be defined in terms of law as “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
The contradiction which sin offers to God and to his will, if it is not adequately described as resistance, involves and is expressed in resistance. Scripture sometimes uses this term or its equivalents to express the attitude of unbelief (cf. Acts 7:51; 13:45; Rom. 10:21; 2 Tim. 3:8; Titus 1:9). It is obvious that sin consists in resistance to the will of God. If the claims of God were not resistible, there would be no sin. The claims of God come to expression in the gospel and all rejection of the gospel and of its demands is resistance. In the gospel we have the supreme revelation of the grace of God, and Christ is the embodiment of that grace. The glory of God is nowhere more effulgent than in the face of Jesus Christ. Hence unbelief is resistance of grace at the zenith of its disclosure and overture. So to say that all grace is irresistible is to deny the plain facts of observation and experience as also of Scripture teaching. Stephen was bold enough to indict his unbelieving audience with resistance to the Holy Spirit: “Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye” (Acts 7:51). This is the enormity of unbelief; it is the contradiction of sin expressing itself in resistance to the claims and overtures of supreme love and grace. “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19).
When we speak of irresistible grace, therefore, it is not to assert that all grace is irresistible, nor is it to deny the numberless respects in which grace is resisted and resisted to the culmination of resistance in everlasting doom. In fact the truth of and necessity for irresistible grace may be most cogently demonstrated in the premise of resistible grace. The enmity of the human heart is most virulent at the point of the supreme revelation of God’s glory. So deep-seated and persistent is the contradiction that the Saviour as the embodiment of grace is rejected. It is when we recognize this that the need for irresistible grace is perceived.
In much of present-day evangelism it is assumed that the one thing man can do in the exercise of his own liberty is to believe in Christ for salvation. It is supposed that this is the one contribution that man himself must make to set the forces of salvation in operation and that even God himself can do nothing towards this end until there is this crucial decision on man’s own part. In this assessment there is total failure to reckon with human depravity, with the nature of the contradiction that sin involves. Paul tells us that not only is the mind of the flesh not subject to the law of God but also that it cannot be (Rom. 8:7). This impossibility extends to the gospel as well. It is the implication of Paul’s other word that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). But to this truth we have the most pointed and express witness of our Lord himself. “No man can come unto me except the Father who hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44); “no man can come unto me, except it were given to him of the Father” (John 6:65). Here is the witness of him who knows what is in man and who knows the Father as the Father knows him. And it is to the effect that it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for a man to come unto him except by the free gift from the Father in his secret and efficacious drawing.
The foregoing words of our Lord must be coordinated with another in the same context. “All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me, and him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). The giving on the part of the Father in this text has been understood as the election in Christ before the foundation of the world (cf. Eph. 1:4, 5) or, at least, in terms of giving to the Son correlative with or flowing from the election. But this does not by any means appear to be the action of the Father referred to in the text. There are two reasons for this conclusion. First, in this Gospel elsewhere, when Jesus speaks of those given to him by the Father, they are identified as those given to him out of the world, as those who had kept his word, as those who had known that all things given to him were from the Father, as those who had received the words given him and had come to know the truth that he, Jesus, had come out from the Father (John 17:6-8). These characterizations require much more than election before the foundation of the world; they involve a relation of faith. Second, in the more immediate context Jesus is referring to the effectual drawing and giving on the Father’s part (John 6:44, 65). So we must conclude that the giving is the giving that occurs in the actual operations of grace, defined more specifically as drawing and giving in the realm of consciousness. The constraints of the Father’s grace in the hearts of men are concomitant with or, perhaps, may be construed as donation on the part of the Father to the Son. God the Father draws men, places holy constraints upon them, calls them into the fellowship of his Son, and presents them to Christ as trophies of the redemption Christ himself has accomplished.
This constraint has been called “efficacious.” No other inference could reasonably be drawn from John 6: 44, 45. Jesus is speaking of coming unto him, that is, of the commitment of faith and of the impossibility apart from the Father’s drawing. In making the exception it is surely implied that when the Father draws the exception occurs—the person drawn does come. Furthermore, it would offend against all that may be conceived as to the nature and intent of the Father’s drawing and giving in terms of verses 44, 65 to think of these actions as ineffectual. But John 6:37 puts this beyond all question: “All that the Father giveth me will come to me.” Jesus does not say: all that the Father giveth me are brought to me. He uses the term that denotes motion on the part of the person—”will come to me.” Coming to Christ is the movement of commitment to Christ, coming that engages the whole-souled activity of the person coming. It is not that he may come, not that he has the opportunity to come, not that he will in all probability come, and not simply that he is empowered to come, but that he will come. There is absolute certainty. There is a divine necessity; the order of heaven insures the sequence.
The Holy Spirit accompanies the gospel proclamation with his sovereign demonstration and power.
It is a moral and spiritual impossibility for a person to come to Christ apart from the Father’s drawing. What we find now is that it is a moral and spiritual impossibility for the person given by the Father to the Son not to come. There is by Jesus’ verdict the invariable conjunction of these two diverse kinds of action—”all that the Father giveth me will come to me.” There is invincible efficacy in the Father’s action and this means grace irresistible.
The reality of such grace is inscribed on Jesus’ words. But the teaching also points to the necessity. The premise of our Lord’s teaching is the impossibility of faith when only human agency obtains. The agency of the Father is interposed to meet this impossibility and the impossibility establishes the indispensability of the interposition.
Thus far attention has been focused upon the action of God the Father in the constraint that issues in faith. It is highly important that this emphasis of Scripture should be appreciated. Otherwise we dishonor God the Father and our view of the provisions of salvation is seriously distorted. The love of the Father is the fountain from which all the acts and processes of redemption proceed. But we must also recognize that at the inception of salvation in possession lie the operations of grace of which the Father is agent. It is he who calls effectually into the fellowship of his Son (cf. Rom. 8:28, 30; 1 Cor. 1:9; Gal. 1:15, 16; Eph. 1:18) and he draws men to the Saviour. When sinners first experience the invincible attraction of the Redeemer, are entranced by his beauty, and invest their all in him, it is because the Father has made a donation to his own Son and placed upon men irresistible constraint. To conceive of all this as less than irresistible grace is to deny its character and impugn the efficacy of the Father’s will.
Most frequently in theology irresistible grace has been thought to find its focus in regeneration, and regeneration is specifically the act of the Holy Spirit (cf. John 3:3-8). It would be easy to say that the actions of the Father referred to above are simply different ways of expressing regeneration. This is far too simplistic and fails to reckon with the manifoldness of the operations of grace. In the design of salvation there is an economy. In the once-for-all accomplishment of redemption there is an economy. That is, there are the specific and distinguishing functions of the distinct persons of the Godhead. There is also economy in the application of redemption and we must take full account of the diversity involved. To equate the actions of the Father with regeneration is to ignore the diversity; our theology is thereby truncated and our faith deprived of the richness which the economy requires.
Regeneration is specifically the work of the Holy Spirit, and our appreciation of the economy of salvation demands that we honor him in the distinctive functions he performs.
No ingredient in the manifold of God’s saving operations bears more relevantly on the subject of irresistible grace than does regeneration. Again, our Lord’s own teaching is basic. “Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3: 3, 5). The impossibility we found earlier in connection with faith appears here in connection with understanding of and membership in the kingdom of God, and birth from above, of water, and of the Spirit is the interposition that meets human impotence. It cannot be questioned that our Lord’s assessment of man’s situation is the total incapacity in reference to what is most germane to his well-being and is to the same effect as Paul’s indictment of the natural man (1 Cor. 2:14).
The provision of grace appears in this connection, as in John 6:44, 65, in the exception, born from above, of water, and of the Spirit, the exception that insures understanding of and membership in the kingdom of God. And the certainty of this outcome is implied not only in the “except” of verses 3 and 5 but is expressly affirmed in verse 6: “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” a new person indwelt, directed, and controlled by the Holy Spirit.
It is John alone who records for us the Lord’s discourse to Nicodemus. The profound effect this teaching impressed on John’s thinking is evinced in his first epistle. On six occasions reference to regeneration occurs (1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1,4,18). Pertinent to our present interest is the emphasis upon the invariable concomitance of birth from God and new life. “Everyone who is begotten of God does not do sin . . . and he cannot sin because he is begotten of God” (1 John 3:9). “Everyone who is begotten of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). Everyone who is begotten of God does not sin . . . and the evil one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18). So the person born or begotten of God no longer lives in sin but has the victory, in a word, is converted.
When these data are placed in contrast with the impossibility of which our Lord spoke to Nicodemus, the only inference is that the new birth is invincibly efficacious and this is just to affirm irresistible grace.
It is significant that in the prologue of John’s Gospel there occur the words, “who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God” (John 1:13). The cumulative negatives reinforce the positive and the lesson is that of divine monergism. It is not what man does but what God effects and God alone to the exclusion of all human volition or agency. The same monergism is patent in our Lord’s own teaching. In John 3:3-8 we cannot suppress the analogy on which the language of regeneration turns. When a person is begotten or born according to the flesh, it is not because he or she decided for this event. It was wholly by the volition and agency of others. So in the new birth. And by whose will and agency is not left in any doubt. The Holy Spirit is the agent and he alone. In terms of verse 3 the action is supernatural, in terms of verse 5 it is by radical purification and impartation, in terms of verse 6 it is invincibly determinative, in terms of verse 8 it is mysterious and sovereignly effective.
Why should there be any reluctance to accept the truth of irresistible grace? It is God’s interposition to do for us what we cannot do of ourselves. It is God’s amazing grace to meet our hopeless impotence. Here is the gospel of sovereign mercy. In evangelism it is the only hope of its success unto the salvation of lost souls. The Holy Spirit accompanies the gospel proclamation with his sovereign demonstration and power. The lost are born of the Spirit and the fruit is unto holiness and the end everlasting life.
In concluding, may we return to John 6:37, 44, 65. When a sinner comes to Christ in the commitment of faith, when the rebellious will is renewed and tears of penitence begin to flow, it is because a mysterious transaction has been taking place between the persons of the Godhead. The Father has been making a presentation, a donation to his own Son. So perish the thought that coming to Christ finds its explanation in the autonomous determinations of the human will. It finds its cause in the sovereign will of God the Father. He has placed upon this person the constraint by which he has been captivated by the glory of the Redeemer and invests in him all his interests. Christ is made wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Here is grace surpassing; and it is grace insurmountable.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of the Essays in Reformed Theology collection and was originally published in Soli Deo Gloria: Essays in Reformed Theology: Festschrift for John H Gerstner, ed. R.C. Sproul (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Publishing, 1976).
|
|
