God's Soveriegnty vs. Man's Will

Well, it has been a very long time since I have posted anything, and I have felt guilty because of this. It is my God-given duty to proclaim the Gospel, and I have done poorly at that lately. So, by His grace, I have been able to devote some time to this post. It is on the sovereignty of God and its relation to salvation and man's will. This is a very controversial topic, but only because of our sin. In this post, I will briefly go over many foundational truths of the Gospel, and I beg you to pay attention and read to the end. This is not even the beginning of the wonderful grace which God has granted us to know through the Bible, but it is a good place to peer into the marvelous plan of God called the Gospel.

 

As with every theological truth, we must start with the basics. The current problem of mankind goes back to the Fall of man (and finds its origin in an eternal decree of God, but I will get into that in later posts). When Adam decided to rebel against the authority of God and submit himself to Satan, God made a most interesting decree. In Genesis 3:15, God said to Satan,

 

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel."     

In part, God is speaking of the ultimate Seed of the woman, which is Christ, the Son of God. What is extremely crucial for us to also grasp is that the first half of this verse is speaking also of two separate, non-deity seeds. In this context, God is speaking of two separate, distinct families, the offspring of two separate personages. The first is the offspring of Satan. Who are these people? According to John 8 vs. 41 and 44,

 

"You are doing the deeds of your father... You are of your father the Devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of all lies."

Here our Lord declares that those who both do and want to do the desires of the Devil are born of him. This is not mere conjecture on my part, since the Spirit reminded John again of this teaching, and he repeated it in 1 John 3,

 

"The one who practices sin is of the Devil; for the Devil has sinned from the beginning... By this the children of God and the children of the Devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother." 

So, we now know that any man who practices sin and hates righteousness is born of the Devil. Now we must ask, who specifically is born of the Devil? To answer that, we must understand that you can only be one of two seeds: the seed of the woman or the seed of Satan. In innumerable passages, we see the seed of the woman equated with the Children of God. This is especially seen in John 3. Here the Lord declares, that you must be born from above, of water and Spirit, in order to inherit the Kingdom of God (John 3:3 & 5). This is set in contrast with those born of the flesh in vs. 6. However, every man is born of the flesh. Look at your body, is that flesh or is that spirit? By virtue of your physical birth, you are a child of the Devil. From your conception you were a sinner (Psalm 51:5). This is especially frightening when we see that if one sins, he is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Since everyone has sinned (Romans 3:23), that means that all men who are born solely of the flesh are slaves to sin and thus sons of the Devil.

 

 

So, everyone (at first) is a son of the Devil, of the flesh. This is a huge problem, since this means that no man can inherit the Kingdom of God, since flesh and blood can't inherit it (1 Cor. 15:50). Thus, our Lord brings a wonderful solution to mankind's impending doom: we must be born of God (John 3:5). Easy enough, right? All you have to do is be born of God.

What is holding you back? Is this not the easiest of actions one could do? Can you not make yourself born of God? Can't you make God give you birth? Well, did you make your mother bear you in your flesh? No. It is the same with this spiritual birth. You do not have the ability to make God bear you.

"But read John 3:16! It says that if we believe in Jesus, we will be saved! Since only those who are born of God are saved, then it must mean that if I believe in Jesus, I will be born of God!" Well, I will grant you that those who truly believe in Christ are born of God. However, can you really, truly believe in Christ? “Yes”, you say. Well, let us test your assertion.

First off, if we want to know whether man is capable of believing in Christ, which is a righteous deed, we must understand his heart. This is because the heart is the wellspring, the origin, of our whole life (Prov. 4:23). So, what is in man’s heart? Well, our Lord, who knew the hearts of every man, gave a list which summarizes man’s heart in Matthew 15:19,

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”

Notice that nothing is said about love or faith or obedience here. This is because the hearts of men are desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). There really is nothing good left in there. Why? Because they are the image of their father’s heart, which is devoid of all good. So, it is only natural that they are devoid of all good and full of all evil. Thus, no man can do anything, anything, good. Nothing at all. This is especially evident as Paul repeats in Romans 3:10-12,

“There is none righteous, not even one:

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God;

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good,

There is not even one.”

This is an extremely bleak picture. If this is true, which it is God’s Word and is thus true, then no man can do anything good. Nothing good at all. In fact, it can be said that every unsaved man is just like the unsaved before the flood, with every wish of their heart always being pure evil (Genesis 6:5).

So, can you, of your own will, believe in Christ? “Yes, it must be possible!” If this is still your reply, understand that it is only possible if the Scripture is either wrong or if belief in Christ is evil. Both arguments are sick and unthinkable. Thus, you are left with the fact that you cannot believe in Christ. Moreover, since those who obey Christ are those who are born of God, and since you cannot obey Christ, you cannot make yourself born of God. To make matters worse, you don’t even want to be.

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. Because everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:19)

If you remember nothing of this post, remember this: you are impotent, hopeless, and purely evil. There is nothing in you that is good, and you in fact hate all good with all of your being. It is true that you are as much a son of the Devil as Hitler, Stalin, and even the arch-son of Hell Judas Iscariot. You cannot save yourself, nor would you do so if you had the ability. No, you prefer to have your sin and your impending doom along with it. Well, you don’t like the idea of going to Hell, where God will pour out His perfect, terrifying wrath on you forever. However, you don’t hate the idea enough to cause you to beg God for mercy. Yet, that is to be expected, since you can’t do anything good because of your own fleshly nature. So, again, you are hopeless. No, you can’t “choose Christ”, or “open the door of your heart to Him”. You can’t accept the Light because you hate the Light and absolutely love evil. Thus, you are headed straight to Hell, where God will pour out His wrath on you for eternity as a result of your rebellion against Him. You are hopeless.

Yet, there is hope, hope that comes from outside of you. This hope is birth from God. Since we have established the fact that you can do nothing good, this hope must come completely from God. Realize, birth from above is a completely new creation inside of you. Through being born of God’s Spirit, you become spirit (John 3:6). In so doing, God creates a clean heart in you, a heart that actually wants and does His will (1 John 3, Ezekiel 36). He truly gives birth to you by miraculously creating a new soul in you, which makes you His son/daughter. As a result, you will inherit the Kingdom of God, which was prepared for you since before time began (Mat. 25:34). All of this is of God, for it is by His grace, through his granting of faith to us, since this work is not of ourselves but is of God (Eph. 2:8).

One of the central tenets of the true Gospel of our Lord is that man is impotent. You are impotent. You can do nothing at all that will allow you to be saved, since you can’t do anything good. Thus, God must save you, He must birth you. Every single part of salvation, from obedience to God to “saving faith”, is impossible for man. Yet, nothing is impossible for God.

Do you understand your utter inability to obey God? Do you realize how wretched, miserable, and poor you are? Good. Are you truly broken and mourning over this fact? Good. Are you humbled before the Almighty, realizing His Greatness and your utter lack of worth? Are you craving for His righteousness as a starving and parched man for food and water? Are you now granting mercy to others? Is your heart purified? Realize, the Kingdom of Heaven is yours. Why? God birthed you, for these are the fruits only of spiritual birth. Our Lord lays it out clearly,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the Earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in Heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mat. 5:3-12)

If the above is true of you, rejoice! Be thankful, for while you were still a sinner and enemy of God, God chose you, sent His Son to die in your place, and thus demonstrated His perfect love for you (Rom. 5:8). However, remember that this was not of you. So, lay aside your pride, acting as if you somehow earned salvation. Rather, live a life of perfect humility and love towards all men. Most of all, love God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

Greater love has no man than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

You are My friends if you do what I command you.

No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

This I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:12-17)

 

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

And those whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)

 

Nothing in your walk as a Christian comes from yourself (if it is good). No, either your works are wrought in God alone, by God alone, and by His blessed Will alone, or your works are of the flesh and evil (John 3:20-21). Thank God that He gave us life by His Will. When we could not obey and submit to Him, He granted us faith and repentance in spite of our flesh and evil wills (John 1:12-13). All glory to His Name.

 

God bless.

The Law of Moses

Hello Brethren,
It has been long since I wrote, and I feel the need to break my self-imposed study time in order to deal with a major issue in the Church. I have recently devoted much time to understanding Mosaic Law and its relationship to the believer. Once many of the answers to the questions I had were revealed, I began to realize how so many people have had the same questions I did. So, I want to give you all a basic set of passages and points which I think may help clear this issue.

Firstly, let us examine what the Law itself declares about its purposes.

#1: The Law was created to cleanse Israel of their ceremonial uncleanness. This purpose is found in several passages, but let us look specifically at Leviticus 15:31. According to the NASB, “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” This verse proceeds a long list of laws which dealt with issues such as leprosy, household mold, and so on. Right before this verse, Moses is told that the priest shall offer a sin offering and a burnt offering in order to make atonement for a specific issue. Therefore, vs. 31 gives us one of the reasons for the sin offering.

Yet, if we are to truly understand the significance of vs. 31, we must do some translating from the Hebrew text. The translation from the Hebrew gives us the following sense of the verse, “Thus you shall cause the Sons of Israel to be separate from their ceremonial uncleanness, so they will not die in their ceremonial uncleanness by (making ceremonially unclean) My tabernacle in their midst.” One thing we will notice is that the sin offerings did not actually make Israel clean, only ceremonially clean. This allowed God to overlook their real uncleanness and not kill them for defiling His tabernacle. As was written in Hebrews 9:13, “…the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh…” However, this did not truly cleanse them, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1-4)

Here are other passaged mentioning the law ceremonially cleansing persons: Leviticus 21:12, Numbers 19:13, 20.

#2 The Law was meant to give life to the one who fully keeps it. According to Leviticus 18:5, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” If Israel, or an Israelite, completely kept the Law, then he would not die. This would have been a result of his own goodness. As said in Deuteronomy 5:33, “You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”
Cf. Deuteronomy 6:1-3

#3 To train Israel’s mind to be able to discern between what is clean and unclean. Leviticus 11:47, “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.” Here are some thoughts which might help guide you all in determining the meaning of this verse.

Firstly, were there animals which were truly, biologically or morally, unclean? (cf. Gen. 1:31)

Secondly, were there animals which God made that were unfit for consumption? (Gen. 9:1-4)

Thirdly, if an animal was unclean because it was unfit for consumption, then why did God make a distinction in Lev. 11:47 between “unclean” and “the living creature that may not be eaten”? If they were the same, why did He repeat Himself?

Finally, what is meant by unclean in this verse?

Now, let us consider what the Bible, outside of the Law, reveals about the Law.

#1: The Law does not cleanse men of sin. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, Israel is given the promise of a new covenant, which is fundamentally different than the Mosaic Covenant which resulted in the Law. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Therefore, we see that a fundamental difference between the New Covenant and the Mosaic Law is that the New Covenant will cleanse Israel of their sins whereas the Mosaic Law could not.

To cement this thought, here is Hebrews 10:1-4, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.  Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Thus, the Law could not truly cleanse a man from his sin.

#2: The Law was meant to bring conviction of sin. As we saw in Hebrews 10:3, “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.” As an Israelite, you had to continuously offer sacrifices in atonement for your sins. When you came to the priest in the Tabernacle or Temple, you gave him an animal to sacrifice. The priest would then kill the animal and complete the rather gruesome acts which will atone for the sins of the Israelite (cf. Leviticus 4-5). The whole time, the Israelite is being shown the consequences for his sins. Thus, these sacrifices which could not cleanse did serve as a terrifying reminder of the consequences for sin.
Another important thought to ponder, was the Law meant to decrease sin or to increase it among men? (Cf. Rom. 5:20)

#3: Men cannot be justified by the Law. According to Leviticus 18:5, the doer of the Law will live by his doing of it. However, according to Habakkuk 2:4b, “…the righteous shall live by his faith.” Thus, as Galatians 3:10-12 states, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’”

Thus, we find that the Law had an inherent weakness, ourselves. Romans 8 states, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do…”, which was to, “[condemn] sin in the flesh” and thus justify and sanctify us.

#4: Because the Law is insufficient to justify and sanctify us, God graciously grafted us gentile believers into the New Covenant. This Covenant rested upon grace. Ephesians 2 shows us this grace, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

By our death in Christ, we die to the law. Romans 7 gives us a good example of this principle,
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Therefore, Christ’s death released us from the Law, and his resurrection has made us alive to God. As a result, we are not bound by the Law, nor do we serve by it.

This may seem very controversial, but Galatians 4 gives us a good line of reasoning to demonstrate this,
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’?”

If we were justified by grace through faith, why do we think that the subsequent perfecting of ourselves would come from the Law? Remember, the Law relied upon our own works to justify us. However, since we are unable to do good of our own accord, the Law cannot be fulfilled by our works. Therefore, if you were saved and justified by grace through faith, you are also sanctified by grace through faith. Because,
“…the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)

It is the grace of God which sanctifies us, and teaches us to deny evil. This is because, “those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified (Note: by grace through faith), and those whom he justified he also glorified (Note: by grace through faith).” (Rom. 8:29-30)

Realize, we are dead to the Law. Now, we are made alive to Christ by His grace. The great hymn was right,

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me (cf. Rom. 7:24, Titus 2:11-14, Eph. 2). I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see (2 Cor. 4).

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear (cf. Prov. 1:7, Psalm 2, Revelation 14:6-7), and grace my fears relieved (cf. Rom. 8:15 and 2 Tim. 1:7). How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.”

So, Brethren, let us not return to the Law, which is but a shadow of the substance we have in Christ (Colossians 2:17). Because, “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized in Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

The Amazing Grace of the Lord be with you all.

-Christopher

P.S. Because I do not consider my interpretation of the Bible to be infallible, I ask that everyone give their thoughts on this post and others. As the Body of Christ, we are called to build one another up in the faith (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Eph. 4:12). Therefore, I ask that you all help build me up in the faith by sharing with me the truth of the Bible (John 17:17). If I am wrong, I must repent and be built up in the faith. If otherwise, I will still be built up in the faith by being forced to think over the truths of the Bible even more thoroughly.
How am I to know if I am in error if no one tells me the truth?

A Basic Introduction to the Source of Wisdom.

We know that it is necessary that a person gains wisdom, and there are several reasons why this is (not including common sense, which some seem to be lacking anyways).
The first would be to preserve his own life. (Pr. 21: 16; 1:32; 19:8; 12:13 ). The second is for the sake of others - in that he would take care of his own household (Pr. 27:23-27), wisely aid others (Pr. 29:7), and the simple cause-and-effect benefits of wise behavior that those around the wise man enjoy(Pr. 28:2) .
Thirdly, a man must be wise in order to glorify God and reflect His image, as he was designed to do when God created him. Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said ,‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…’” Being His image, it is natural that we should be like Him. Note also Adam’s responsibilities for which God made Him “Then God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, and every living thing that moves on the earth’” (Gen. 1:28) May you observe that these responsibilities (which were given to the man and His wife, the man being God‘s direct image bearer and responsible for the command not to eat of the tree of life, and woman as his helper) are things that God Himself did and does. He rules, and He made man in His Own image.

So then, it being so critical that one gain wisdom, the questions arises: How do I gain wisdom?

This question I will attempt to answer in very short form in this post.

I would like to look at Proverbs chapter 2. The author, whom we know to be Solomon, addresses this chapter to his son, whom we know to be Rehoboam. This is wisdom, however, and goes for everyone.

In brief observation, it should noted in verse 3 the conditional situation in which the son must “cry for wisdom“, and “lift up” or give his voice for her. He must plead for her. Think about were a person must be in order to do  this. They must be desperate. They must know their hopeless condition, and want earnestly the cure. Then, in verse 4, continuing the condition of verse 3, the son must get up and search for her. This isn’t a cursory glance or a brief inquiry for wisdom. The search that the son must have for her is compared to a person’s search for “silver” and “hidden treasures”. The searcher is putting their whole energy into their quest, and their whole heart is in it. Nobody half-heartedly looks for concealed treasures when they know it is there. They put all they have into it. This is their priority because they understand what they will benefit from discovering it.
It must be recognized that this is a lesser comparison. Proverbs 3:14-15 says of wisdom “For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire compares with her.” When found, even unlimited gold renders only temporal benefits to her possessor, and brings a lot of baggage along with it. However, wisdom gives not only temporal benefits, but primarily eternal ones.
Now it must be asked “Where do I look”. Let me ask you, where does wisdom come from? Look at verse 6. The Lord is the source of wisdom, specifically “From His mouth”.  So it is the things that God speaks that grants us wisdom. Where, now, do we have a given (note that) record of God’s words? So then where must we turn in order to gain wisdom, where do we dig? The inspired Scripture, the Word of God - the Bible. Also, note that at this time the New Testament was not existent. All people had were certain books of what we call the Old Testament, specifically the Law. This can be looked at more in the future, but just know that for now.
So, you are in a situation and you don’t know what exactly you should do. You need wisdom. What do you do? Roll your eyes in the back of your head and mutter a prayer to God, asking for guidance, hoping that the right answer will just pop into your mind? You must rely on what you have been taught form Scripture, not your own “Scriptural” ideas, but actual truth”. You need to be in a place where you are being taught the word of God so you can depend on what you know.

“Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth” ~ John 17:17

"Jussive in Meaning": What is Proverbs?

      The book of Proverbs is a very interesting book and, by definition, deserves and demands our attention. It is an often neglected book or, worse, misinterpreted book. I would like to record a few facts that I have been learning of this book. This post can be considered a part of my Old Testament series.
       When talking to people about Proverbs with someone, or reading writing of the book of Proverbs, one statement I here a lot is that the teachings in Proverbs is "Jussive in meaning". Now you might not have heard that before, and in case you haven't I will explain it to you.
        Proverbs was written in Hebrew, and in Hebrew grammar there is a type of imperative known as a Jussive. A jussive is nothing more than a heart felt plea, example: "I really wish you would let me in." That sentence is an example of a Hebrew jussive. So, that means that there are no commands in Proverbs so you can take it or leave it, and Proverbs is nothing more than a bunch of good ideas that may or may not apply to you.
          Now, that, personally, would bother me because that means that there is no authority behind Proverbs and that it is nothing more than pithy sayings that have no more meaning than Aesop's fables, and do nothing more than help you live skillfully. But there has to be more in Proverbs, and what is the history of the book and how would the Hebrews understand the book. and also where did the good ideas in Proverbs come from?
         Now Proverbs, by itself, really isn't a very hard book to understand just to read it at face value. Much of it is somewhat easy to understand, example: "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge but he who hates reproof is stupid." Proverbs 12:1, that is pretty straight forward but like all the books in the Bible, Proverbs is an inexhaustible well that needs to be laboured over to mine out its jewels, Proverbs 2:4-5. That is what we need to do.
        So let us consider the history of this book. Who was it written by? Solomon, Agur, and Lemual. The last two authors are unknown but we all know who Solomon is. Some say that this book is merely a compilation of wise sayings of wise men from before, and it is possible that a certain section of the book was such, but some have even said, lo, many teach that the proverbs are of Egyptian origin! Now that is absolutely ludicrous, that wicked pagan gentiles would be the origin of such a jewel in our own Bibles. Further more it makes little sense from what the book itself says, chapter 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." Now no one that knows anything of the Bible wouldn't doubt that the Egyptians feared God, although they had good reason to (one of these days I would like to write on the Exodus and its affect on Egypt), so then they could not have been the originators of the book of Proverbs. Also, it makes perfect sense that Solomon himself would write the book and that he personally thought of the proverbs by what I will write below.
          Think through what you know of Solomon. He was the son of David that inherited the throne of Israel. From early on he was characterized by wisdom, I Kings 2:9. Now there is certain event in his life that is very significant. I Kings 3:3-15, Solomon was at Gibeon which was where the tabernacle was thus he was worshipping and one night, while he was there, God told Solomon that He would give him anything that he wanted. Solomon, an example of showing some early signs of wisdom, Proverbs 2:1-6, asks for wisdom. God is pleased with Solomon for that requests and grants it and promises more. Solomon soon afterwards became internationally well known for his wisdom, I Kings 5:7. Now, how did God give that wisdom and is it possible for us to receive such wisdom?
        Now here is one of the most exciting things about Proverbs, I think, that is its origin. The origin will give us depth to the book and will answer our jussive in meaning predicament. So please turn to your Bibles to Deuteronomy 17:18-20. According to that section, what was the king to do with the Law, why was he to do that, and what is the beginning of wisdom? I will let you make the logical conclusions. Now, read Deut. 4:5-8.  The Law was to tutor men to understand wisdom, and to convict of sins, both of which happened to Solomon, Proverbs 20:9. This is why the imperetives in Proverbs is Jussive, because all the commands have already been given in the Law!
         Do you also want to know what is amazing about this book Proverbs. It leads those who read it to salvation, II Timothy 3:14-17! In verse 15, the word "writings" is what was used to explain the wisdom literature, mainly Proverbs. Then Paul continues to say "In fact, not only the Writings but all of God's Word is beneficial".
        Well this is an over view of the book of Proverbs, and again much more can be said. As you can see there is much more to Proverbs than just a bunch of pithy saying that the Hebrews learned from the Egyptian and reorded by Solomon, but is originated from the Word of God.
   

He's Alive

Although this is not a theological post (though it is my fist post) I thought you might enjoy watching/listening to this video of a tenor named Philip Webb whom we have enjoyed listening to over the years, and still do. Although you will not see us, we were present for this perfomance a number of years ago. It was good live. :)
     Enjoy!






Thank you,
Joshua

The Eternal Gospel

Hello to all of my faithful readers. It has been an inexcusably long time since I have posted last, and for that I will apologize. I am still busy, but I wanted to write a short post so that you all would not think I have completely forsaken you. The key word in that sentence was "short", so bear that in mind (it is 12:00 at night, and I am supposed to be up by 8:00 in the morning to head to Church).

What is the Gospel? Is it, "ask Jesus into your heart, and He'll save you from your sins"? Or is it, "God loved you so, so much that He sent His Son to die for you so that He could show you that love"? Or maybe it is, "You have sinned. Because of this sin, you deserve Hell. However, since God loved you, He sent His Son to die in your place. This gift of salvation is yours, if you will just reach out and take it by believing in Christ. If you don't take it, you will go to Hell. Yet if you do take it, your sins will be forgiven and you will live in Heaven forever. Its your choice, so what will you choose?"

The answer is: none of the above. Although the third sounds closest to truth, it is not true at all. There is nothing about repentance, God's eternal plan, sanctification, rebirth, and so on, nor are any of these implied. Thus, we are left with a decent amount of good-sounding, and maybe even wise-sounding, lies which send people to Hell, for it is only by the Gospel that men are saved. (Rom. 1:16) Thus, in order to begin understanding what salvation is, we need to find what the true Gospel is.

Are you on the edge of your seat yet? Are you at all curious as to what the Gospel is? Are you currently yelling "Heretic!" at the screen since you noticed that I declared your "gospel" to be fake? Do you not care what the Gospel is? If any of the above are true, read on.

In our Church's bible study a couple of days ago, Pastor Frederico brought up a marvelous passage. Let me show you it.

"...I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people..." (Rev. 14:6)

Notice in the beginning of this verse, we find the key to what we are searching for. This is the fact that this angel is preaching an "eternal Gospel" to all the Earth. As is obvious, this Gospel has been here for all of eternity in the mind of God. One thing to note though is that we have always been saved by the Gospel, first the Jew, then the Gentile. "How is this possible!?" You ask. "Jesus had not died on the cross nor rose from the dead when Abraham, or Noah, or even Adam was living! So how could they be saved by the Gospel?" Well, maybe the Gospel is different than you thought, or maybe you are creating a false dilemma in your head since "the blood of bulls and goats [cannot] take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). Since death was the penalty for sins, the blood of the Lamb of God has always been required for men to be cleansed of their sins.

Let us continue in the passage, now that you are extremely curious as to what the Gospel is.

"...and [the angel] said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” (Rev. 14:7)

There is the Gospel by which the Elect are saved. This encompasses all of the Gospel, such as Christ's sacrificial atonement, Resurrection, Sanctification, Rebirth, repentance, and all other teachings which make up the Gospel. If you do not see it at first, read through the Scriptures and you will find that this is truly the summation of the Gospel, "Fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him who made all things."

May you all be granted increasing mercy, grace, and every other good and perfect gift from our Father and His Son, our Risen Lord,

Christopher Stahlberg

Understanding the Context of the Bible

    These are some notes I took of an essay by John Monson of Wheaton College which I felt, though I don't agree with everything he says (example: he is old earth and compares the Bible with ancient myths way to much), was helpful. Also I believe that an understanding of the context which the Bible was written in will protect one from faulty interpretations. This is a continuation of this post.  
     

    Never before has there ever been a time when knowledge of the biblical world has ever been as easily accessible as today, due to discoveries in language, archeology and geography. Yet at the same time there has never been a time when trust in biblical texts has ever been so low, in both the academia and the church. How can this be and how can contextual studies help correct this paradox?

The paradox may be explained by the philosophy prevalent in larger academic circles, which is everything in the texts must be doubted. The Bible must be deconstructed and contextualized to fit the presuppositions of the reader. That is extreme arrogance!
     It is even worse in the church as we search for a better and more satisfying religious experience, we displace the Scripture and archaeological and linguistic information that can help understand and appreciate the Scriptures even more. That is a great irony! This could be because for the past sixteen centuries the Christian community has been forced to interpret the Bible outside of its original context. That is because, until the late nineteenth century, very few extra-biblical resources. Though more likely, a widespread ignorance and faulty hermeneutic of the text itself is the cause.  But, nonetheless, whatever the origin, the paradox still exists, the Bible has been dismissed and decontextualized in a time when evidence that confirms the biblical text has abounded like never before!

     This essay argues the case for the necessity of contextual approach to interpreting the Bible. God has revealed through time, space, and culture, we must have proper prospective of those factors for a proper interpretation of His word.

Defining Original Context and Biblical Archeology

    

    The Original Context of the “Biblical World”

Doors used to enter into the “Biblical World” include:

     1)literary and non-literary sources, though mostly the texts including works of Josephus and Epic of Gilgamesh.. Those are fundamental sources for insights into the ancient world.

     1)Ancient artifacts also provide a enliven understanding of the context of the Scriptures

     3)And the geography of the Holy Land.

     This trio is essential for understanding the Scripture as the original readers would have understood it.

 

    What is Biblical Archeology?

    The basic definition of archeology is the study of human past from material remains. Biblical archeology is similar to other divisions of archeology, while focusing on the periods and places that are related to the Bible.

    “Evangelical ” Biblical Archeology?

     Biblical archeology has been used with strong apologetic motives and also to disassemble the Bible's reliability. Both have failed. The study of B.A driven for apologetic has failed for two reasons 1) the apologists themselves don't do field work. 2) Data can be interpreted both ways.

     It is better to enter the field of B.A for the purpose of understanding the Biblical world than to set out with a Bible proving agenda. For Pete’s sake, there is more to studying the Bible than trying to prove it.

   

Context in the History of Biblical Interpretation

    If B.A is the primary means of how to interpret the context of the text then it is fair to ask how the Jews and early Christians would have interpreted the text before the discipline of B.A. The clue to interpreting the Bible starts with understanding the author's perspective and how he chose to communicate it. The starting question should not be “What do I think or feel about this passage?” but rather “what does it actually say?” The text does, in fact, speak of the original context, it does speak for itself.

Context as Catalyst and Constraint for Biblical Interpretation

    Context as Catalyst

    The three components of context must be taken into consideration-text, artifact, and geography.

(1)   Geography

Geography is very valuable and useful when studying the Bible, it offers a fresh and informative look into the Bible.

Regional “dynamic” (Benjamin's territory). Benjamin's territory has been for a long while, a melting pot. It has been a very historic area, with much significance. It, among other things, was the buffer between Ephraim and Judah's territory. To the original reader the mention of the territory of Benjamin would be very significant! There are also very many examples of the assistance of geographical familiarity.

              Regional perspective. Geography can help one understand a difficult passage or understand the full meaning of a passage with the help of geography. Both Testaments use the regional geography to illustrate a fact, for example.

               Summary. Geography is a untapped but useful tool in the hand of the Bible interpreter.

(2)   Archeology

    Archeology yields more information about the biblical world than any other source (question: What other sources are there to describe the biblical world?). Archeology can greatly increase your understanding of the Bible. It will help you understand the world which the author and original audience lived.

(3)   Extra-Biblical Literature

Extra-biblical literature can also give us insight into the Biblical world. For the New Testament we have had a wealth of resources but for the Old Testament, we have had resources available only recently through the decipherment of ancient written languages. Extra-biblical literature, like archaeology, gives one insight into the ancient in which the Bible was written in.

      Thankfully the Bible is written in such a way that it is not impossible to comprehensibly understand it without an exhaustive understanding or knowledge of ancient history. If it was then we could only start to understand it recently due to the recent advancements in archaeology. It is also very important to understand, especially if you do any more study in ancient history as it relates to the Bible, two concepts; the first is that there are more differences in the ancient myths of the cultures in the Levant and the Bible than similarities. Many Biblical historians love to compare the Bible to ancient beliefs common in the ancient middle east, though they seem to forget to emphasize the differences of the Bible with the surrounding cultures. The second fact to remember is this 

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"

Dr. William Barrick

   Remember that one especially.