Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commandments" and "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word." These are not conditional statements that are placing a demand. It does not mean "your obedience proves your love." It is a promise. It means "love will cause you to obey."
If you love your wife you won't leave her. However, the fact that you don't leave her doesn't mean that you love her. You don't prove your loving by just hanging around. But your staying with her is motivated by love. It is because of love that you stay with your wife. Likewise it is because of love that we obey God's commandments. You can however keep the rules and not even know God just like you can stay with your wife and not show her one bit of love. Obedience is just a fruit, an outward evidence, of inward love.
Obedience does not produce love. Love does produce obedience and it is God's love for us that produces our love for Him!
Love only exists in a relationship. Doing can be an expression of love but love comes from knowing not from doing.
The word Jesus uses for love describes a self-giving love. You only give yourself to someone you trust. The more you trust the more you are willing to give and share. Trust, or faith as it is often called in the Bible, is what opens the way to the growth of knowing, and loving, and giving. Trust means you consider God to be trustworthy enough to know, that He is truthful about Himself, and loving enough to be encountered.
Jesus commanded us to "love one another just as He has loved us." As John later wrote "We love because God first loved us." It is His love that shows us how to love. Jesus is essentially saying "I will love you so much that you will love one another, obey my commands, and my love will for you makes us friends. I will fulfill the requirement of loving. I chose you and chose to love you so much that you will love me and love others. I will be loving enough for the both of us. You will love because of me and you will love with my very own love."
Scriptures Referenced:
"If you love me you will obey my commandments" (John 14:15)
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (John 14:23)
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I loved you." (John 15:12)
"We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
In Context: "Forsake not.." & "I can do all things.." Revisited
There were no chapter or verse separations in the original texts of
scripture. The presence of these separations cause us to read a chapter
or memorize a verse yet have no understanding of the story and the
context.
Many bible studies are based around "reading a chapter" when the next chapter often in the first few verses clarifies what the previous was about. I have come across places in scripture where chapter breaks the context and where verses break the sentence. Many of those places are very popular such as:
Hebrews 10:24-25
"Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
A small portion of this text is used to get people to frequent a church building when the meeting doesn't even involve the "one anothers" mentioned not just in the context but in oft quoted verse itself. "One another" means "each and everyone involved." In a typical church service a few perform in front of many and the many have little to no interaction with anyone. The modern church service bares almost no resemblance to the assembling that is being talked about here in Hebrews. Today there are a few big mouths talking to a multitude of passive ears. Is an impersonal and non-interactive monologue (sermon) the same thing as everyone "encouraging one another"? Obviously not. Yet "forsaking not the assembling" as it is taught has ignored the context and come to be taught as "You must sit in the audience at church every week or you are in sin."
Philippians 4:12-13
"I have experienced times of need and times of abundance. In any and
every circumstance I have learned the secret of contentment, whether I
go satisfied or hungry, have plenty or nothing. I am able to do all
things through Christ who strengthens me."
Of course "all things" is still "all things" but I find it interesting that contentment, one of humanity's most elusive features, is the context in which Paul says "I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is often taken as a license to follow my own selfish ambition in God's name and chase after "greatness" rather than God enabling me to be content with wherever He has me right now.
Read The First Visits: In Context: "Forsake not the assembling..", In Context: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Many bible studies are based around "reading a chapter" when the next chapter often in the first few verses clarifies what the previous was about. I have come across places in scripture where chapter breaks the context and where verses break the sentence. Many of those places are very popular such as:
Hebrews 10:24-25
A small portion of this text is used to get people to frequent a church building when the meeting doesn't even involve the "one anothers" mentioned not just in the context but in oft quoted verse itself. "One another" means "each and everyone involved." In a typical church service a few perform in front of many and the many have little to no interaction with anyone. The modern church service bares almost no resemblance to the assembling that is being talked about here in Hebrews. Today there are a few big mouths talking to a multitude of passive ears. Is an impersonal and non-interactive monologue (sermon) the same thing as everyone "encouraging one another"? Obviously not. Yet "forsaking not the assembling" as it is taught has ignored the context and come to be taught as "You must sit in the audience at church every week or you are in sin."
Philippians 4:12-13
Of course "all things" is still "all things" but I find it interesting that contentment, one of humanity's most elusive features, is the context in which Paul says "I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is often taken as a license to follow my own selfish ambition in God's name and chase after "greatness" rather than God enabling me to be content with wherever He has me right now.
Read The First Visits: In Context: "Forsake not the assembling..", In Context: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Friday, May 20, 2011
Replacing the Joy of Knowing God with a Place
We have made the issue of the afterlife about heaven and
hell. Jesus didn't come to offer us heaven or hell. He came to offer us
life. The choice isn't heaven or hell but life and death (see John 3:16-18).
What type of life did Jesus offer? Eternal life. What is eternal life? Jesus Himself told us, "This is eternal life to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent" (John 17:3).
So the real issue is about knowing God now and forevermore not about a place we go to after we die. Once again we have replaced a person with a place. We have removed God from the question about what happens when we die and made it about a destination. Jesus, who is life, came to offer us Himself, a life where we get to know Him and His Father in love from now to eternity.
What type of life did Jesus offer? Eternal life. What is eternal life? Jesus Himself told us, "This is eternal life to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent" (John 17:3).
So the real issue is about knowing God now and forevermore not about a place we go to after we die. Once again we have replaced a person with a place. We have removed God from the question about what happens when we die and made it about a destination. Jesus, who is life, came to offer us Himself, a life where we get to know Him and His Father in love from now to eternity.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Already Holy
God has already made us
holy. The word "saint" means "holy person." In fact it is the same Greek
word used for the holy in Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 1:15 says "as He who did call you is holy, you also, become holy in all your behavior." So since we are holy our behavior should be holy.
Calling a child bad for doing one bad thing leaves the impression that you think they are bad instead of just what they've done is bad. That is a very damaging thing. Our behavior is not who we are. So we need to realize that we are holy even though we do not always behave holy.
1 Peter 1:15 says "as He who did call you is holy, you also, become holy in all your behavior." So since we are holy our behavior should be holy.
Calling a child bad for doing one bad thing leaves the impression that you think they are bad instead of just what they've done is bad. That is a very damaging thing. Our behavior is not who we are. So we need to realize that we are holy even though we do not always behave holy.
Conversation about Christ
Because Christ is our life we should easily be able to talk about Him with others.
I
think that training and preaching are part of the problem. Churches
give expectations and instruction about something that should be
natural. People who want to share Christ with others are stricken with fear and burdened with pressure because of the "standards" they feel
like they need to live up to.
Talking about God should just be a natural talking just like you would naturally talk about sports. Imagine if someone came along and said to you that you have to talk about sports "just so" and you have to learn and include these certain facts and questions into the conversation. Talking about sports becomes a performance that you can either succeed or fail at depending on if you can transfer your love of sports to the other person. It is no longer fun, spontaneous, and natural because of the standards.
Talking about God should just be a natural talking just like you would naturally talk about sports. Imagine if someone came along and said to you that you have to talk about sports "just so" and you have to learn and include these certain facts and questions into the conversation. Talking about sports becomes a performance that you can either succeed or fail at depending on if you can transfer your love of sports to the other person. It is no longer fun, spontaneous, and natural because of the standards.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Commit Yourself to God?
God is the one committed and dedicated to me. He who began His work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ's return (Philippians 1:6). Will I finish His work for Him? It is God who works in me to desire and to act according to His good purpose (Philippians 2:13). If I try to commit or dedicate myself to doing good for God I put myself under law like obligation, I try to live by external obligations or expectations rather than trusting God to live through me and guide me.
The idea that "God wants all of our life" is short sighted. Jesus Christ is our life as Colossians 3:3 states. We were dead in sin before He gave us life through new birth. God already has all of our life. God is our life!* (*Note that this is a rejoiceful tone not an angry tone).
We think that we need to live for God but the truth is that we need God to live for us. We need to trust the indwelling God to live through us. We can do nothing apart from Him and Jesus lived this example. He said that He could do nothing without the Father.
The idea that "God wants all of our life" is short sighted. Jesus Christ is our life as Colossians 3:3 states. We were dead in sin before He gave us life through new birth. God already has all of our life. God is our life!* (*Note that this is a rejoiceful tone not an angry tone).
We think that we need to live for God but the truth is that we need God to live for us. We need to trust the indwelling God to live through us. We can do nothing apart from Him and Jesus lived this example. He said that He could do nothing without the Father.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Intellectual Knowledge vs. Relational Trust
In some sense I don't think it does matter what I believe. It does
matter who I trust. If you as my friend have some wrong information
about me that doesn't mean I will disown you. Neither will Jesus disown
those who trust Him if they are wrong concerning facts about Him. God
values our relationship with Him more than us knowing a checklist of
facts about Him. The Holy Spirit will lead God's children to all truth.
Of course it is better to know the truth (facts) about the Truth (Jesus)
but we should never let what we believe cause us to be less loving
towards others.
There are only a handful of falsehoods that disqualify someone from being able to know Christ. The bible says in various ways that whoever trusts in Jesus will have eternal life and Jesus defines eternal life as knowing The Father and The Son. Jesus came first to the Jews so they had some idea of who He was. Still Jesus nor the apostles handed out a written test to see if someone could earn grace by their knowledge of God.
Trusting Christ is the qualification. Jesus said that the will of the Father is to trust in the Son. Jesus even once answered the question "What should we do that we might do the works of God?" by saying, "This is the work of God that you trust in Jesus Christ whom God sent." The very work of God is trusting in Jesus! I would hate to have to take a works based or knowledge based test to earn grace from God.
We can only know the real Christ through the spirit not through doctrines and facts. Paul said, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Falsehood is terrible but none of us know God fully and all of us are wrong about Him in some way at least in the sense that we don't know Him fully yet.
Focus: Essential Doctrines or Essential Person?
I guess the question for those who push essential doctrines is, "Is it more wrong to be mistaken about Jesus or to be ignorant about Jesus?" Truth is very important to live and grow by but I think God examines the heart far more than the head when it comes to salvation. Did the thief on the cross know that Jesus was born of a virgin?
The facts/truth about Jesus does not replace knowing Jesus spiritually as the basis of whether someone is a Christian or not. We can know the right things without knowing God. The right things are very important but not as important as the right One, Jesus. You could know a lot about me but if you've never encountered me in your life then you don't really know me at all.
How do we define what is essential? If someone trusts Christ in their life but gets even one of these "essentials" wrong or is ignorant of one of them does that mean they are not a Christian? This mindset is similar to being saved by works but instead of a checklist of deeds to do it is a checklist of facts to believe.
Those who push for essential doctrines as the basis of unity are really looking for a non-relational agreement between entities (church institutions, denominations, organizations). Our focus should be on the essential person of Jesus. We can "believe" all of the essential doctrines and not know the essential person of Jesus Christ. You can have all the essential ingredients of a pie but if no one makes the pie out of those ingredients having "the essentials" doesn't mean squat. Belief in doctrines doesn't produce salvation, trust in Christ does.
There is a grave danger in a "gospel of doctrines" that says "if you consider this list of things to be true then you know God." To expose that absurdity here is a comparative saying, "If you believe these 3 facts about George Washington then he is your best friend."
Agreeing vs. Loving
We look so hard at "who is Christian and who is not" & "who is wrong and who is right." We are so preoccupied with 'Christianity at large,' the 'church in America,' and tons of people we have never and will never meet. The only thing we should be looking for is "Who does Christ want to love through me today? How do I follow the Spirit of God in me today so that I may love whoever God puts in my path today?"
I'm not talking about compromising the truth but I don't think every occasion a falsehood comes up is my opportunity to correct someone. Jesus withheld truth from people. It was in His wisdom. We are in Christ just as Christ is in the Father so we can determine when to do this too. We should "accept one another as Christ has accepted us." That means, like Jesus, we meet people where they are. It means we humbly understand that no one has it all figured out despite our systematic theologies.
God wins people by His love. One way of loving is telling people the truth about God but you don't have to "have it right" or even accept my words about God for me to love you, whether you are a Christian or not. If the truth (facts) causes us to love someone less then we are not following The Truth (Christ).
If I'm more concerned about someone agreeing with me about facts than I am about enjoying the Father with them then I have a problem. We don't need to get our facts\truth straight we need to get our faith\trust straight. God will get us to the facts in His wise timing if we go to Him in faith.
It is the same thing when Paul said, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." At first glance that doesn't sound like much but Jesus is the illimitable God and He is all we need to know. In the Truth there are all the many little truths that God desires we know.
There are only a handful of falsehoods that disqualify someone from being able to know Christ. The bible says in various ways that whoever trusts in Jesus will have eternal life and Jesus defines eternal life as knowing The Father and The Son. Jesus came first to the Jews so they had some idea of who He was. Still Jesus nor the apostles handed out a written test to see if someone could earn grace by their knowledge of God.
Trusting Christ is the qualification. Jesus said that the will of the Father is to trust in the Son. Jesus even once answered the question "What should we do that we might do the works of God?" by saying, "This is the work of God that you trust in Jesus Christ whom God sent." The very work of God is trusting in Jesus! I would hate to have to take a works based or knowledge based test to earn grace from God.
We can only know the real Christ through the spirit not through doctrines and facts. Paul said, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Falsehood is terrible but none of us know God fully and all of us are wrong about Him in some way at least in the sense that we don't know Him fully yet.
Focus: Essential Doctrines or Essential Person?
I guess the question for those who push essential doctrines is, "Is it more wrong to be mistaken about Jesus or to be ignorant about Jesus?" Truth is very important to live and grow by but I think God examines the heart far more than the head when it comes to salvation. Did the thief on the cross know that Jesus was born of a virgin?
The facts/truth about Jesus does not replace knowing Jesus spiritually as the basis of whether someone is a Christian or not. We can know the right things without knowing God. The right things are very important but not as important as the right One, Jesus. You could know a lot about me but if you've never encountered me in your life then you don't really know me at all.
How do we define what is essential? If someone trusts Christ in their life but gets even one of these "essentials" wrong or is ignorant of one of them does that mean they are not a Christian? This mindset is similar to being saved by works but instead of a checklist of deeds to do it is a checklist of facts to believe.
Those who push for essential doctrines as the basis of unity are really looking for a non-relational agreement between entities (church institutions, denominations, organizations). Our focus should be on the essential person of Jesus. We can "believe" all of the essential doctrines and not know the essential person of Jesus Christ. You can have all the essential ingredients of a pie but if no one makes the pie out of those ingredients having "the essentials" doesn't mean squat. Belief in doctrines doesn't produce salvation, trust in Christ does.
There is a grave danger in a "gospel of doctrines" that says "if you consider this list of things to be true then you know God." To expose that absurdity here is a comparative saying, "If you believe these 3 facts about George Washington then he is your best friend."
Agreeing vs. Loving
We look so hard at "who is Christian and who is not" & "who is wrong and who is right." We are so preoccupied with 'Christianity at large,' the 'church in America,' and tons of people we have never and will never meet. The only thing we should be looking for is "Who does Christ want to love through me today? How do I follow the Spirit of God in me today so that I may love whoever God puts in my path today?"
I'm not talking about compromising the truth but I don't think every occasion a falsehood comes up is my opportunity to correct someone. Jesus withheld truth from people. It was in His wisdom. We are in Christ just as Christ is in the Father so we can determine when to do this too. We should "accept one another as Christ has accepted us." That means, like Jesus, we meet people where they are. It means we humbly understand that no one has it all figured out despite our systematic theologies.
God wins people by His love. One way of loving is telling people the truth about God but you don't have to "have it right" or even accept my words about God for me to love you, whether you are a Christian or not. If the truth (facts) causes us to love someone less then we are not following The Truth (Christ).
If I'm more concerned about someone agreeing with me about facts than I am about enjoying the Father with them then I have a problem. We don't need to get our facts\truth straight we need to get our faith\trust straight. God will get us to the facts in His wise timing if we go to Him in faith.
It is the same thing when Paul said, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." At first glance that doesn't sound like much but Jesus is the illimitable God and He is all we need to know. In the Truth there are all the many little truths that God desires we know.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Notes on Jesus' Teaching on the Mount: Why Jesus Taught the Law, The Two Builders
Intro from 3/8/12
I was going through The Merged Gospels, an excellent harmonized translation of the 4 gospels that puts it in one narrative (I liked it so much I bought the eBook and the audio), and these notes are me figuring out and being taught by the Spirit that Jesus taught the law before the cross to show people their need for a savior. God revealed this to me through a pure reading of the scriptures with revelation from the Spirit because I had heard no one teach this truth before this. My thoughts here are specifically of those from Jesus' lengthy teaching on the mount. Along with my notes I recommend reading Matthew 5-7 & Luke 6:20-49 or buying The Merged Gospels and going through Stories 54-79.
Intro from 4/21/11
It is very difficult to determine the context Jesus is speaking in here. He is teaching His disciples in front of a crowd before He brings grace through the cross. Jesus knows that 11 of His disciples will remain in Him. It seems to me that in parts of this Jesus is clarifying the old covenant laws. He gives many works to attain righteousness ideas including forgiveness being contingent on forgiving others. Many of these things only make sense before the cross which is from when He speaks. We too often run to applying everything scripture says to ourselves. At least we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus' 12 disciples usually didn't understand what He was saying either. Still there is a lot more mystery than our prideful academic minds wish to admit about scripture. We try to say, "Well this is what He really meant.." to fit our preconceived view of things. So there are some wonderful things I see here and plenty of wonderful things I have yet to see.
Notes on Jesus' Teaching on the Mount
Why Jesus Taught the Law
Jesus starts this off with talking about the law and how He has come to fulfill it. I think Jesus is saying that He is so important that even if heaven and earth were no more the law would still be in effect. He is the only way for the law to be fulfilled and the only one who can accomplish all things.
To me Jesus is more showing us how hard it is to keep the law than He is giving us new commands to live by. Jesus basically points out "You think you can keep the law? Well it is much more than the externals. It is much harder than you think. These commands go to the heart. If you can't keep them you are in danger." He repeatedly points out that we are in danger if we can't keep the commands. He shows us God's even higher standard of love and compassion. He raises the bar higher to make it even more clear that we cannot keep His commands and to show us our need for Him.
Pluck out your eye, cut off your hand, allow an enemy to strike you. Under grace our actions do not put us under danger of fire. So Jesus is talking to people under the law before His sacrifice. He is showing that it is even more impossible to keep the law than had ever been thought. The scribes and Pharisees are externally perfect but Jesus' standard is internal also. So how can anyone be saved? With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible!
Jesus said that no one comes to the Father but through Him. This means there is no other way. It means that you cannot know the Father by keeping the law.
We usually look at commands as what to do but God is also showing us what we cannot do. We need His mercy, favor, forgiveness & strength.
I see this scripture as Jesus setting up people's need for His grace more than anything else. Jesus turned the cheek to the point of death on the cross. Yes it can be good to do what Jesus talks about here but we can never do it without Him living it first as He did. He fulfilled the law and now He fills us full with Himself which is the only way for us to keep the commands He desires us to keep. He writes His law on our hearts because He Himself is there in our hearts to do so.
The Two Builders
Jesus finishes His discourse saying, “Therefore, every one who comes to Me, who hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a wise man who built his house, who digs deeply and places a foundation on the rock. And the rain descended, and a flood came to beat the rivers violently. They came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it was not strong enough to shake it, and it did not fall, for it had been founded well on the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not do them, will be compared to a foolish man who builds his house on the sand - earth without a foundation. And the rain descended, and the rivers burst through, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and immediately it fell, and its fall and the ruin of that house was great.”
Anyone who 1. comes to me 2. hears my words 3. does them.
Jesus wraps all of this up very well. Hearing His words and doing them are useless without first coming to Him. Jesus is the rock not the hearing and the doing. Hearing and doing is the "digging into the rock."
Notice Jesus says "Whoever hears my words and does not do them."
The wise builder came to Christ, heard His words, and did what Jesus said. The unwise builder heard the words of Christ and didn't do them. The unwise builder never came to Christ! The hearing is present in both builders. Not only is the doing missing but, more importantly, the coming to Christ is missing. Even after we know Christ we must still come to Him before doing what He said. We must trust Him for the who, when, where, and how of doing what He asks us. The Bridegroom should not be thrown away in favor of the book. The Spirit should not be thrown away in favor of the scriptures. They work together. The living Word works with the written words. The Spirit works with the scriptures all for our benefit and purification.
I was going through The Merged Gospels, an excellent harmonized translation of the 4 gospels that puts it in one narrative (I liked it so much I bought the eBook and the audio), and these notes are me figuring out and being taught by the Spirit that Jesus taught the law before the cross to show people their need for a savior. God revealed this to me through a pure reading of the scriptures with revelation from the Spirit because I had heard no one teach this truth before this. My thoughts here are specifically of those from Jesus' lengthy teaching on the mount. Along with my notes I recommend reading Matthew 5-7 & Luke 6:20-49 or buying The Merged Gospels and going through Stories 54-79.
Intro from 4/21/11
It is very difficult to determine the context Jesus is speaking in here. He is teaching His disciples in front of a crowd before He brings grace through the cross. Jesus knows that 11 of His disciples will remain in Him. It seems to me that in parts of this Jesus is clarifying the old covenant laws. He gives many works to attain righteousness ideas including forgiveness being contingent on forgiving others. Many of these things only make sense before the cross which is from when He speaks. We too often run to applying everything scripture says to ourselves. At least we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus' 12 disciples usually didn't understand what He was saying either. Still there is a lot more mystery than our prideful academic minds wish to admit about scripture. We try to say, "Well this is what He really meant.." to fit our preconceived view of things. So there are some wonderful things I see here and plenty of wonderful things I have yet to see.
Notes on Jesus' Teaching on the Mount
Why Jesus Taught the Law
Jesus starts this off with talking about the law and how He has come to fulfill it. I think Jesus is saying that He is so important that even if heaven and earth were no more the law would still be in effect. He is the only way for the law to be fulfilled and the only one who can accomplish all things.
To me Jesus is more showing us how hard it is to keep the law than He is giving us new commands to live by. Jesus basically points out "You think you can keep the law? Well it is much more than the externals. It is much harder than you think. These commands go to the heart. If you can't keep them you are in danger." He repeatedly points out that we are in danger if we can't keep the commands. He shows us God's even higher standard of love and compassion. He raises the bar higher to make it even more clear that we cannot keep His commands and to show us our need for Him.
Pluck out your eye, cut off your hand, allow an enemy to strike you. Under grace our actions do not put us under danger of fire. So Jesus is talking to people under the law before His sacrifice. He is showing that it is even more impossible to keep the law than had ever been thought. The scribes and Pharisees are externally perfect but Jesus' standard is internal also. So how can anyone be saved? With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible!
Jesus said that no one comes to the Father but through Him. This means there is no other way. It means that you cannot know the Father by keeping the law.
We usually look at commands as what to do but God is also showing us what we cannot do. We need His mercy, favor, forgiveness & strength.
I see this scripture as Jesus setting up people's need for His grace more than anything else. Jesus turned the cheek to the point of death on the cross. Yes it can be good to do what Jesus talks about here but we can never do it without Him living it first as He did. He fulfilled the law and now He fills us full with Himself which is the only way for us to keep the commands He desires us to keep. He writes His law on our hearts because He Himself is there in our hearts to do so.
The Two Builders
Jesus finishes His discourse saying, “Therefore, every one who comes to Me, who hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a wise man who built his house, who digs deeply and places a foundation on the rock. And the rain descended, and a flood came to beat the rivers violently. They came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it was not strong enough to shake it, and it did not fall, for it had been founded well on the rock. And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not do them, will be compared to a foolish man who builds his house on the sand - earth without a foundation. And the rain descended, and the rivers burst through, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and immediately it fell, and its fall and the ruin of that house was great.”
Anyone who 1. comes to me 2. hears my words 3. does them.
Jesus wraps all of this up very well. Hearing His words and doing them are useless without first coming to Him. Jesus is the rock not the hearing and the doing. Hearing and doing is the "digging into the rock."
Notice Jesus says "Whoever hears my words and does not do them."
The wise builder came to Christ, heard His words, and did what Jesus said. The unwise builder heard the words of Christ and didn't do them. The unwise builder never came to Christ! The hearing is present in both builders. Not only is the doing missing but, more importantly, the coming to Christ is missing. Even after we know Christ we must still come to Him before doing what He said. We must trust Him for the who, when, where, and how of doing what He asks us. The Bridegroom should not be thrown away in favor of the book. The Spirit should not be thrown away in favor of the scriptures. They work together. The living Word works with the written words. The Spirit works with the scriptures all for our benefit and purification.
Loving the Law More than Others
On a Sabbath Jesus entered into a synagogue and taught. And, behold,
there was a man there who had his right hand withered. And the scribes
and the Pharisees were watching Him, whether on the Sabbaths He would
heal him. And they questioned Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbaths,” that they might find an accusation against Him. But He
Himself, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “What man among you who
has one sheep which falls into a ditch on the Sabbath, would not lay
hold on it and lift it? He said to the man who had the withered hand,
“Rise up and stand here.” And rising, he stood. Then Jesus said to
them, “I will ask you about something. How much better, therefore, is a
man than a sheep? Is it lawful on the Sabbaths to do good, or to do
evil; to save life, or to kill?” But they were silent. “So it is lawful
on the Sabbaths to do good.” And looking around on them all with anger,
being grieved for the hardness of their heart, He then said to the man,
“Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was
restored whole as the other. But they were filled with anger. And the
Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians, and
spoke with one another against Him, about what they might do to Jesus,
how they might destroy Him. (From Matthew 12:9-14, Mark 3:1-6, Luke
6:6-11)
This is one of the most heartbreaking accounts I've come across in scripture. The Pharisees hearts are so hard that they are more dedicated to the law than they are to loving others. Their heart conditions become obvious when they go on to plot to kill Jesus. They care more about their self-righteousness, praise from men, & the written law than they do about God and others. It is no wonder that Jesus was so harsh with them. Jesus Himself was angry and grieved because of their hardness of heart.
Scripture makes it clear that love summarizes the law. Legalism then is when law exists without love. Jesus asked if it was lawful to do good or heal on the Sabbath. In the Pharisees minds not working on the Sabbath trumped love & compassion. The law was more important than love to them which is absurd in God's eyes as the law was all about love. They viewed the law as arbitrary at best and a vehicle for their own self-righteousness at worst.
This is one of the most heartbreaking accounts I've come across in scripture. The Pharisees hearts are so hard that they are more dedicated to the law than they are to loving others. Their heart conditions become obvious when they go on to plot to kill Jesus. They care more about their self-righteousness, praise from men, & the written law than they do about God and others. It is no wonder that Jesus was so harsh with them. Jesus Himself was angry and grieved because of their hardness of heart.
Scripture makes it clear that love summarizes the law. Legalism then is when law exists without love. Jesus asked if it was lawful to do good or heal on the Sabbath. In the Pharisees minds not working on the Sabbath trumped love & compassion. The law was more important than love to them which is absurd in God's eyes as the law was all about love. They viewed the law as arbitrary at best and a vehicle for their own self-righteousness at worst.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
How "Preach" is Used with Bias in Translating the Bible
I've noticed in personal study that a translator bias/indoctrinated by
tradition bias appears when using the word "preach." When "kerusso,"
one of the primary Greek words translated as "preach," appears in the
context of someone who is not Jesus or apostles it is not translated as
"preach" but as "proclaim."
Mark 5:19-20 talks of the man who had the Legion of demons cast out of Him.
Jesus said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
The word kerusso was properly translated as "proclaim" there but when referring to Jesus or apostles the same Greek word is translated as "preach." This gives us an underlying idea that only special people "preach" and the common man "proclaims." But truly scripture offers no distinction. This same thing also happens in Mark 7:36 & Luke 8:39.
What I'm pointing out here is that there is an unwarranted clergy/laity style bias that appears when translating the Greek word kerusso. I don't think the word preach should ever be used in a bible translation because when we hear it we think of a non-interactive monolog (a sermon) which is never what scripture refers to.
Mark 5:19-20 talks of the man who had the Legion of demons cast out of Him.
Jesus said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
The word kerusso was properly translated as "proclaim" there but when referring to Jesus or apostles the same Greek word is translated as "preach." This gives us an underlying idea that only special people "preach" and the common man "proclaims." But truly scripture offers no distinction. This same thing also happens in Mark 7:36 & Luke 8:39.
What I'm pointing out here is that there is an unwarranted clergy/laity style bias that appears when translating the Greek word kerusso. I don't think the word preach should ever be used in a bible translation because when we hear it we think of a non-interactive monolog (a sermon) which is never what scripture refers to.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Who or What is the Bible About?
Wordle is a site that generates "word clouds” from text that you provide. The larger the word the more often it appears in the text. I had the ability to put the entire text of The Bible in using the World English Bible translation. It shows the top 150 non-common words (common words are "a, the, and"...).
See if you can figure out who the Bible is about.
The Bible
The Old Testament
The New Testament
The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John)
See if you can figure out who the Bible is about.
The Bible
The Old Testament
The New Testament
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Alive to God in Christ Jesus
Romans 6:11 says, "Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus."
It is often taught that "you need to be broken over your sin." It makes us think that we have to force brokenness but forcing brokenness produces self-focused guilt. Guilt drives us away from our loving Father because it makes us feel like He loves us less because of what we've done. Instead He is loving towards us and wants us to know that our sins are totally forgiven and that His blood constantly cleanses us of any unrighteousness we come into contact with. Because of Jesus sin can never stain us!
Brokenness is not something to force. You are either broken about your deeds or you are not. God doesn't want you to bash yourself with guilt He wants you to draw near to Him and experience His accepting love for you.
To be dead to sin is to count sin as nothing. God does not hold our sins against us so we need not hold our sins against ourselves. Instead of focusing on sin, negative behavior, guilt, & shame I turn my heart to God and go on living my life for God as if the nothing had never happened though I will mend relationships as necessary if I caused others harm.
Romans 6:8-14
"Now if we died with Christ, we trust that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace."
Sadly we too often focus on the wrong side of what God is telling us in this scripture. We strive to "consider ourselves dead to sin," "to not let sin reign in our body," "to not present our body to sin."
God does not intend for us to focus on or strive to "be good." God intends for us to focus on Him and His goodness.
I am alive to God in Christ Jesus. I am to present myself to God as one who is alive from the dead so I may enjoy and display the gift of His righteousness. I am not under law. I am under grace. Law means I have to perform to please. Grace means I have been given every good thing by a loving God. Dead to sin means I don't think about sin thus I focus not on my deadness to sin but on His gracious love for me. When someone dies it is better for us to remember their life than to dwell on their death. I am dead to sin because I am alive to God. He's alive! I'm alive! We're in love!
This post has been heavily revised and edited on 1/26/12. It does not fully represent my life in April 2011. I have changed it to share the accurate truth with others.
It is often taught that "you need to be broken over your sin." It makes us think that we have to force brokenness but forcing brokenness produces self-focused guilt. Guilt drives us away from our loving Father because it makes us feel like He loves us less because of what we've done. Instead He is loving towards us and wants us to know that our sins are totally forgiven and that His blood constantly cleanses us of any unrighteousness we come into contact with. Because of Jesus sin can never stain us!
Brokenness is not something to force. You are either broken about your deeds or you are not. God doesn't want you to bash yourself with guilt He wants you to draw near to Him and experience His accepting love for you.
To be dead to sin is to count sin as nothing. God does not hold our sins against us so we need not hold our sins against ourselves. Instead of focusing on sin, negative behavior, guilt, & shame I turn my heart to God and go on living my life for God as if the nothing had never happened though I will mend relationships as necessary if I caused others harm.
Romans 6:8-14
"Now if we died with Christ, we trust that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace."
Sadly we too often focus on the wrong side of what God is telling us in this scripture. We strive to "consider ourselves dead to sin," "to not let sin reign in our body," "to not present our body to sin."
God does not intend for us to focus on or strive to "be good." God intends for us to focus on Him and His goodness.
I am alive to God in Christ Jesus. I am to present myself to God as one who is alive from the dead so I may enjoy and display the gift of His righteousness. I am not under law. I am under grace. Law means I have to perform to please. Grace means I have been given every good thing by a loving God. Dead to sin means I don't think about sin thus I focus not on my deadness to sin but on His gracious love for me. When someone dies it is better for us to remember their life than to dwell on their death. I am dead to sin because I am alive to God. He's alive! I'm alive! We're in love!
This post has been heavily revised and edited on 1/26/12. It does not fully represent my life in April 2011. I have changed it to share the accurate truth with others.
Unity through God's Love
Unity cannot be forced. Unity and conformity are not the same.
Colossians 3:14 says that "Love is the perfect bond of unity."
The only way to unity is through the love of God.
1 John 4:10-11 says, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love one another."
Unity comes from realizing how much God loves us then loving others because of His love for us and His love them.
1 Corinthians 13:2 says, "Without love we are nothing"
You simply need to learn more and more how much God loves you and His great love will lead you to love Him and others in freer ways than you ever thought possible.
Colossians 3:14 says that "Love is the perfect bond of unity."
The only way to unity is through the love of God.
1 John 4:10-11 says, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love one another."
Unity comes from realizing how much God loves us then loving others because of His love for us and His love them.
1 Corinthians 13:2 says, "Without love we are nothing"
You simply need to learn more and more how much God loves you and His great love will lead you to love Him and others in freer ways than you ever thought possible.
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