The Glory of Christ Before Creation
“And now, glorify me, Father, with yourself, in the glory, which I had with you before the cosmos existed.”
(John 17:5)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word with God, and God was the Word. This one was in the beginning with God.
(John 1:1-2)
In these last days he spoke to us through the Son, whom he established as heir of all things, through whom he also created the ages. Who being the radiance of the glory and the exact image of his essence, also bearing all things in the word of his power; after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
(Hebrews 1:2-3)
The one who was from the beginning, the one we have heard, the one we have seen with our eyes, the one which we have seen and touched with our hands-concerning the Word of life.
(1 John 1:1)
Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God, was with God from the beginning, came to earth to take on flesh, suffer, and die for a sinful people, and was then exalted back into glory to the praise of his glorious name, forever and ever, amen. This is one of those passages of scripture that we need to come back to over and over again, not only for our devotional nourishment, but also to remind us and embolden us against those who reject the spiritual truth that this short verse sets before us.
There are many in this world who like to think of Jesus as a wise teacher and some form of exalted man. The Jews claim that Jesus was a prophet, but nothing more; the Muslims claim he was a prophet who ascended into heaven. The Mormons hold that Jesus was a divine human, one who, by a perfect life, was given the reward of being a god. Many “New Agers” hold that Jesus was a form of mystic, a guru from which wise lessons can be learned, and atheists hold every position possible from that he was a wise teacher to that stories of him were manufactured by the church to gain power—a great conspiracy theory. Yet, the Bible is clear that Jesus is God and he was never created, but has always existed as the second member of the Trinity. Jesus speaks here of the glory he had with the Father (as they are one) before the cosmos began. Oftentimes the term ko/smoß (cosmos) is translated as “world in our Bibles, and such is a legitimate translation, but in the context of this passage, the cosmos is meant to include the whole of the created order—all there is, everything that exists in the universe, the visible and the invisible which came into being through the Son (Colossians 1:16). Here, Jesus is reminding us that when Genesis 1:1 begins with the language, “In the beginning God…” it is speaking about him. Thus, if you deny that Jesus is God or that he was pre-existent, then you are denying the Bible itself as well as what Jesus taught about himself. Such is true of all false religions.
Yet, what does it mean for Jesus to speak of desiring to be glorified with the glory he once had? Is this to imply that Jesus somehow lost his glory during the time of the incarnation and had to gain it back? Not exactly. The Apostle Paul addresses this question to the Philippian church, describing Jesus as having veiled his glory in flesh for the purpose of coming and redeeming his people (Philippians 2:6-8). In turn, God has publicly glorified his Son, not only exalting him above all creation, but in the last days, that exaltation will be public to all of the world and then every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11)—some to glory and some to their own condemnation (John 3:18).
Beloved, how clear it will be on that day, yet, do not think that it is so unclear today. God has given us his word and plainly taught us that no man can be saved apart from faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Romans 10:9; 1 John 2:23). And God has testified as to the truth of his word through signs and prophesies all fulfilled in history. And to we who believe, the Spirit testifies in our hearts (1 John 5:7). If such is true, why are Christians so often timid in sharing that which we know is true? Some will say, I suppose, that they don’t wish to offend, yet will not be concerned about offending if a conversation about politics arises. Others will say that they don’t feel equipped enough or knowledgeable enough to speak on these matters, yet never pursue that knowledge through a study of God’s word. Loved ones, let us not make excuses, but prepare ourselves well to engage the culture and speak of what we know to be true. It will only be in doing so that this culture will be turned from its wicked ways and will repent; will you not be a part of God’s great work of salvation by sharing truth with an unbelieving world, one person at a time?
No Nice Christians!
I don’t want any nice Christians in our church! In fact, I don’t want to see nice Christians anywhere in the world! Okay, now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean. The English word, “nice,” comes from the Latin word “nescire.” Nescire has as its root word, “scio,” which is the verb, “to know.” The “ne” prefix negates the term. Thus, the term “nescire” means “to not know” or “to be ignorant.” When the term originally came into Middle English, it meant the equivalent of “stupid.” Over time, the usage of the term changed from being stupid to being unthreatening (someone who knows nothing is not a threat!) to being pleasant to be around. Slowly, the term continued to change in its usage to the way we use the term today (pleasant or agreeable).
Thus, at least in the original sense of the word, I don’t want to see nice Christians in my congregation or even in the world. I want Christians to know what they believe and why they believe what they believe. I want them to be strong enough in what they do know to stand against those who would challenge their beliefs. In fact, I would argue that part of the reason the American church is in the mess that it is in is because of nice Christians—at least in the original sense of the term.
God speaks of this very thing through the prophet Hosea. In the fourth chapter of Hosea, God begins by lamenting that there is no knowledge of God in the land (Hosea 4:1) and as a result, the people’s lives are filled by swearing, lying, adultery, and bloodshed (Hosea 4:2). And when we get to verse six of the same chapter, God makes a devastating statement: “My people are ruined because they are without knowledge.” In other words, the knowledge of God (understanding that true knowledge comes through a relationship with God—Proverbs 1:7) is what keeps us healthy and whole as God’s people—it prevents us from utter ruin.
But look at what else Hosea records in this verse: “Because you have rejected knowledge, so I reject you from being a priest to me; and because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.” This is covenantal language, as when God makes his promises to his people, he consistently makes them with their posterity (Genesis 12:7; 17:19; Deuteronomy 12:28; Acts 2:39), thus the threat of discipline is not only pronounced against God’s people, but also against the generations that will follow them. In addition, Jesus uses similar language in Matthew 10:32-33, where he says that those who confess him, he will confess before his Father and those who deny him, he too will deny—all connected to the lack of knowledge of Him.
Now, it is fair to say that as Christians, we ought to be pleasant people to be around, but pleasant should not be our goal—loving should. So nice really should not be something that we strive for as an attribute even in the modern usage of the term. More importantly, though, we should strive to be knowledgeable in the things of God. To cite the old King James language, “study to show yourselves approved” (2 Timothy 2:15) because the Scriptures are profitable to prepare you for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Strive never to be nice—be loving, but also be knowledgeable in the Truth so that you will always be prepared to make a reasoned defense of the hope you have within you (1 Peter 3:15).
Seeking Your Good
“On behalf of the house of Yahweh, our God,
I will seek out good for you.”
(Psalm 122:9)
Do you intentionally seek out the good of those in your Christian fellowship? This does not mean that you do them a favor now and again when they ask, but do you intentionally go out of your way to bless those around you even apart of their asking. Such is what the psalmist is stating. The Hebrew word that he uses in the second clause is the word vq;b” (baqash), which means to diligently search something out—to hunt it down or to demand of yourself that you find what you are looking for.
One of the things I love to do is to rummage through stacks of old books looking for those rare treasures that often get buried and forgotten. I have been known to haunt the shelves of used book stores, happily spending hours looking for books. It is granted that different people find their interest in different things, but I think that most people like hunting for treasure in one sense of the word or another. Some enjoy bargain hunting at yard-sales, some online. Some enjoy combing the beaches with a metal detector and some love reading a good mystery novel, searching the pages diligently for clues. The recent popularity of pirate movies and stories in American culture is once again a testimony that we enjoy hunting things out.
Yet apply this to the life of the church. What would it look like in a congregation if the members were as diligent in seeking ways to bless each other as they were in seeking bargains for themselves. What if, instead of being students of the value of worldly goods, we became students of one another, doing so with the intention of bringing good into another’s life. Understand, too, that the motivation for doing good is not so that others will do good to you, but simply to bless another individual and by doing so, honor God. How different our churches might be.
Beloved, on behalf of the house of God—our God—let us diligently seek to do good to one another and to those who visit with us. Indeed, how different our fellowships would look if our members were going out of their way to bless each other—even to the point of demanding of themselves, I will make sure that I bless this person or that person today.
Peace be with You
“May there be peace within your walls—
peace in your palace.
On account of my brothers and of my companions,
I will now say, ‘Peace be with you.’”
(Psalm 122:7-8)
Indeed, how important the blessing of peace is. We have already discussed the value of peace in connection to freedom from one’s enemies—the ultimate peace coming from God himself who sent his Son, Jesus, to suffer and die to bring us freedom from the great and final enemy, death (notice too how God connects his “peace” to his people with his covenant faithfulness and mercy—Jeremiah 16:5). In light of that, let us reflect for a moment on how often the blessing of peace is offered by the authors of the New Testament:
“To all those in Rome who are beloved of God and called holy: Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Romans 1:7)
“Therefore, having been justified as a result of faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
(Romans 5:1)
“But may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in the believing, that you may abound in the hope that is in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)
“Grace to you and peace, from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Corinthians 1:3)
“Peace to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Ephesians 6:23)
“And the peace of God, which exceeds all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:7)
“Now, may the God of peace wholly sanctify you himself—and the whole of your spirit and soul and body be kept blamelessly—until the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:23)
“Pursue peace with all, and the holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”
(Hebrews 12:14)
“But the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown by those who make peace.”
(James 3:18)
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord.”
(2 Peter 1:2)
“Peace to you. The friends greet you, greet the friends according to the name.”
(3 John 15)
“May mercy be to you and may peace and love be multiplied.”
(Jude 2)
“John, to the seven churches in Asia. Grace to you and peace from the one who is and who was and who is coming and from the seven spirits in front of his throne.”
(Revelation 1:4)
These are only a sampling of the promises and blessings of peace that are found in the New Testament—again, a peace that can only be found in Jesus Christ. My prayer is that we would commit ourselves to the task of praying for peace for our churches, but also that we seek to work out peace in the lives of those around us—for indeed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). As Jesus reminded his disciples on the night that he was arrested:
“Peace I leave you; the peace which is mine, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you; do not let your heart be troubled nor be afraid.”
(John 14:27)
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
“You must pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love you rest at ease.”
(Psalm 122:6)
Beloved, how do you pray for the church? The word that we translate as “pray” in this passage is the Hebrew word, la’v’ (shaal), which more literally refers to the way someone might plead or beg for something. There is a sense of desperation in its tone. Beloved, is this the way in which you pray for the church? Do you plead with God for her purity and for her peace? Are you committing yourself to intercede on her behalf, not just for her witness, but for her genuine peace as well. Just as the psalmist is commending ancient Israel to do this for Jerusalem, how desperately important it is for us to do so for the church—both for our local congregations and for the witness of evangelical churches throughout the world.
But what do we mean by “peace”? The term ~Alv’ (shalom) means more than rest from war or personal comfort without oppression, though certainly those elements are included and those elements should be at the heart of our prayer life. Indeed, we should long for the day when the scoffers and nay-sayers who mock the church are brought into judgment and they can no longer tear down God’s people. At the same time, the call for peace, in the Hebrew tongue also anticipated the coming of the Messiah (for the Hebrews today, it still does—at least in their mindset). It is a longing for the great redeemer that God had promised to send to his people…though the Jewish people rejected Him. And praise the Lord that the Jewish people rejected Christ, for this rejection made way for the Gospel to go out to us, the gentile believers! When we see the mighty plan of God unfolded in this way, all we can do is to say with the Apostle Paul:
“Oh the depth of riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unfathomable are his judgments and inscrutable his ways!”
(Romans 11:33)
Thus, when we pray for peace, we pray with the knowledge that God has already sent his Messiah in Jesus Christ and assured for us, his people, the peace that “passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) which will “rule in our hearts” (Colossians 3:15) and be a testimony of a mind that is set upon Jesus Christ (Romans 8:6). Indeed, our Lord, said, “my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27) and it is because of this that our hearts need not fear or be troubled by the things of the world. We have a confidence that the peace of God has been offered in part to us already and that there is a guarantee given to those who are trusting in Jesus Christ that such peace will be enjoyed in its fullness in the world to come, thus as we pray for that peace here and now, we also pray to hasten the day of our Lord’s return. Indeed, “come Lord Jesus, come!” (Revelation 22:20).
Beloved, let us pray for the peace of the church so that our minds and hearts might rest assured. There are many trials and difficulties that must be faced in this fallen world and there are many challenges that must be met, yet the church of Christ has been promised victory; let us be a part of that mighty day and engage the world’s lies with Truth, knowing that the Messiah has come and his name is Jesus Christ.
The Testimony of Israel
“Which is where the tribes go up—the tribes of Israel—
as the testimony of Israel;
to give praise to the name of Yahweh!”
(Psalm 122:4)
Have you ever thought of your church attendance being part of your testimony? I am not simply referring to a testimony of praise to God, but a testimony before the nations that God is living and active in your life. It is easy for us to nod some level of agreement to this statement, for the fact that we choose to attend church rather than do other things on Sunday is a constant reminder to unbelievers of our faith, but let us take it one step further…how about the demeanor or attitude that you take about going to church with your non-Christian acquaintances? Do you make it seem like you would rather be out goofing off with them, but you have to be in church? Do you fall over yourself apologizing for not being able to do the things that the others are doing? What message does such a stance send regarding the desires of your heart for the Sabbath day?
Loved ones, what a contrast the Biblical model presents to our more modern practice! Our joyful attendance upon the Lord’s worship is to be our testimony. We are not to grumble, but we are to shout to the world that Christ is alive and that he is the only source of salvation for mankind! We are to proclaim that there is only one name by which mankind can know salvation and that he has given us the great privilege of knowing him in that way. Beloved, we have been given a wonderful and awesome gift, why be silent about it? Why grumble and mutter about obligation? Our worship is the place wherein which we gather with those of the redeemed to enter into the greatest wonder and joy that life can ever bless us with—the presence of Jesus Christ our Lord! What a wonderful opportunity to testify to the nations by testifying to our neighbors that one can find life and life abundantly in Jesus Christ the Lord!
My prayer for you this day is that you see your worship as part of your testimony and that you become intentional about how you come into the gathering of the faithful. Do you come in with a shout of joy or do you come in with a groan and a whimper? How you come in communicates a world of truth about your heart’s state. Loved ones, do not fall into the traps that the world sets for us—never apologize for your faith, but boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and that you look forward to the day wherein God’s people gather to make a public testimony of the greatness of our God.
The splendor of the king, clothed in majesty,
Let all the earth rejoice; all the earth rejoice.
He wraps himself in light, and darkness tries to hide,
And trembles at his voice, and trembles at his voice!
How great is our God!
Sing with me—
How great is our God!
And all the world will see,
How great, how great is our God!
-Chris Tomlin
Jerusalem Built as a City Joined to Itself
“Jerusalem, which has been built—as a city;
one which has been joined together to itself.”
(Psalm 122:3)
The actual city of Jerusalem is interesting in its layout. The city walls enclose multiple inter-connected hills and mountain peaks, which were joined as a single layout. Literally, it is a city that has been “joined together to itself.” And because of its geography, multiple walls, and internal access to fresh water, the Romans considered this city to be the most defensible city in their empire. Were it not for intense in-fighting and squabbling amongst rival factions, some have suggested that it would have been difficult for Rome to have sacked the city in 70 AD.
Once again I am going to make an intentional jump in comparison, connecting the city of Jerusalem to the institutional church—both being the place of meeting for the worship of the people of God. Assuming we can grant this connection, it is remarkable how similar the two can be. Churches are made up of people who come from various backgrounds of life: different economic strata; different levels of education; different experiences; different age groups; different cultural backgrounds, etc… People who might never socialize together were they left outside of the church are brought together within the church for the worship and glory of Jesus Christ. Jesus, himself, describes the church using the analogy of a body with all of its many parts—all joined together and interconnected for a single purpose. Like Jerusalem, the church has been “joined together to itself” in Jesus Christ.
Yet, to take the analogy further, how often we find ourselves divided within the body due to petty disagreements and differences. How often we find ourselves warring against the bonds that bind us together. How often the secular world is able to conquer the church because the church has broken down its own defenses and destroyed its own unity. Beloved, how sad it is that we are often guilty of doing the enemies work for them!
With all of the varied gifts and strengths that God has given to the church, the church should never find itself overcome by the world—her spiritual walls are too thick and her natural territory is too defensible. We should be able to stand strong against any onslaught that the enemy might bring in our direction. How often we fail. Loved ones, be reminded by the words of the psalmist—we are a church that has been joined together with itself; may we work to strengthen and encourage that unity, not to undo the strength we have been afforded.
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like that to that above.
Before our Father’s throne
We pour our ardent prayers;
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one
Our comforts and our cares.
-John Fawcett
“I am no longer in the world, yet they are in the world, and so I come to you. Holy Father, guard them in your name which you have given to me in order that they may be one just as you and I.”
(John 17:11)
Standing in Your Gates
“Our feet are standing in your gates,
Jerusalem.”
(Psalm 122:2)
At first, this might sound like a pretty mundane statement—of course your feet would stand within the gates of Jerusalem—they would do so several times each year when you went down to Jerusalem for the festivals. But there is more to this statement than the literal image of the psalmist physically standing in Jerusalem’s gates. To begin with, the idea of standing carries with it some theological significance. Where one “stands” marks with whom one will be numbered. King David begins Psalm 1 with the statement that those who do not “stand” in the way of sinners will be blessed. Psalm 76:7 (76:8 in the Hebrew text) declares, “who can stand before you from the onset of your anger.” Again, this speaks not only of physically standing up (though that is included), but also speaks of one being able to stand upright and without blame before the judge of creation coming in wrath over sin.
Thus, when the psalmist speaks with joy of standing in the gates of Jerusalem, it speaks of how he was being numbered amongst the other people who belong to God’s great city. The psalmist is proclaiming not simply that he has made the trek up to Jerusalem but he belongs there and that sense of belonging is a good thing for he is numbered amongst other faithful pilgrims who also belong to this great city.
In a sense, we can once again parallel the heart of this passage with our place in the church. All too often people “go to church” but never feel a sense of belonging to the church. How we need to change that mindset in our culture. Not only must we strive to be numbered amongst the righteous by God’s own grace, but also to be seen as amongst those who really belong to Jesus Christ by word and action and that our feet would indeed be numbered amongst those who stand in the gates of the church of Jesus Christ.
Let us Go to the House of the Lord
“A Psalm of Ascents; of David.
I rejoiced when ones said to me,
‘Let us go to the house of Yahweh!’”
(Psalm 122:1)
This psalm begins with a wonderful statement that is alien to the experience of many American Christians: “I rejoiced” when it came time to go to the house of the Lord. Now, your temptation might be to argue with me and say that every Christian is now a temple of the Holy Spirit, so there is no longer any “going up” to the temple in Jerusalem (or elsewhere) and thus one cannot make a parallel between the Temple and the Church building. All of that may be true on a surface level, but let’s hear the heart of the psalmist. Why is he glad to go to God’s house? Not only is it the place where he can enter into God’s presence, but it is also the place where he can gather with other believers in fellowship and in common worship and it is a place where he can go and sit under the instruction of the priests of God’s Word. Though there are some theological nuances that we must be careful with, there really are a number of similarities in sentiment as to why the psalmist is rejoicing—this gathering is something that he has been looking forward to for a long time. Hmmm…can we say the same thing about our gatherings on Sunday morning with the other believers? Do we look forward to Sunday all week long, or is Sunday worship just something we do?
This is an important question to ask in a culture where the mindset that many take is that they can worship on the golf course just as well as they can worship in the pew. It is also an important question to ask in a culture where the institutional church is being rejected and being replaced by the “emergent” church—a group that rejects the institutional church altogether. So how do we answer this question? Is it a good thing for us to gather with other believers in the Christian age or must this psalm be relegated to the Jewish church?
To begin with, we must never forget that Christian fellowship was given to the church for her edification. The church is described as a “body with many parts” in 1 Corinthians 12 as well as a building made up of many stones in 1 Peter 2. This idea sets before us the initial reality that if we are going to be believers in Jesus Christ, we are going to have to do so in community and in relationship with other believers. In addition, this community and fellowship is not something that we are to dread, but instead is something that “makes our joy complete” (1 John 1:4). Indeed, the hymnist is correct when he refers to the church as a “happy throng.”
Yet the joy of the church does not come from fellowship with other Christians; one can find that at a variety of social gatherings. The joy comes from Jesus Christ. Not only is Christ in our midst, he is binding us together as one body of Christ to his own glory and honor and to our joy and satisfaction. Indeed, we ought rejoice when our brother or sister in the faith says, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” For that is an invitation not only for joyful fellowship, but for joyful fellowship before Jesus Christ’s throne of grace as one body—united in faith before a living God. Let us rejoice and be glad!
Defending Job’s Wife
Recently, I read an article that really came down hard on Job’s wife because of the statement that she makes to her husband, to “curse God and die.” The author went as far as to suggest that this was a woman who clearly had no faith and was a blasphemer because of the statement that she made and her unwillingness to follow her husband’s example. Granted, Job’s wife does not follow her husband’s example, but that being said, we need to be very careful about making judgments about her character and about her faith.
All too often, when folks come to texts like these, the matter of primary concern is, “What is the doctrine in question?” or “What moral or ethical principle can I learn?” And while texts like this do raise moral and ethical questions, when we look to answer these questions first, we oftentimes lose the people who are living out the event. Job and his wife are not fictional or allegorical characters, but they are real, historical people—human beings like you and me. They come complete with worries and fears, good days and bad days. They struggle with the same kind of struggles that you or I would struggle with, and Job’s wife, more-so than others in the narrative, needs to be looked at through this lens. We need to see her humanity and her hurt and as a result, we need to discuss her character flaws with compassion and not analytical scorn.
Look to other characters in scripture that have committed equally heinous sins. Look to King David who had his friend murdered to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba. Look at Peter who denied our Lord three times and then later, after Pentecost, still falls into fear of the Judaizers and had to be rebuked by Paul, “to his face.” Look at Abram and Sarai who doubted God’s promise and tried to force God’s hand through Hagar. Look at God’s people through history and their stumbles and failures, their doubts and their fears, and when we look at Job’s wife in this light, we see her very differently. Granted, we never see her recanting her statement, but she is restored in the end alongside of her husband. Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad are strongly rebuked in the end; Job’s wife is not.
Remember something as well, it is not just Job that is going through this trial, but Job’s wife is going through the testing and trial as well. Are not Job’s children also the children of his wife? Are not the lands, the wealth, and the property of Job also the lands, wealth, and property of his wife? Thus, in all these things, she has lost and suffered and hurt and grieved right alongside of Job—and been faithful, according to the account. Now, though, she sees the hand of trial turn upon her husband to the point where he is reduced to a wretched state, covered with sores and scraping himself with pottery shards, sitting in ashes. And it is here, at this point, that she breaks down and makes the comment that is recorded above.
Let me pose the question, how many confessing Christians have you known through the years who have come to this point? How many Christians have sought euthanasia for a loved one to end their suffering? Is this not the same thing as what Job’s wife is advocating? How many confessing Christians have been so overwhelmed by the grief over the loss or suffering of a loved one, that they have railed against God in anger and rage? Even many of the theological giants have gone through such crises—C.S. Lewis does us the favor of allowing us to see his inner doubts and fears about God as he watched his wife, Joy, wither and die of bone cancer. Friends, if you do not see her grief in these matters, you will interpret her badly, but when you see her grief you will see that these are not the words of a faithless blasphemer, but are the words of a fearful, hurting believer who is not able to bear what she sees taking place in the body of her husband.
The beauty of this whole event, and of our own lives when we face such trials, is that God is bigger than our grief. He is gracious in our doubts and merciful to us even in our anger. And sometimes we need to be brought by God to that point where we can just stop and be still, finding peace in Him—even in the midst of our lack of understanding. He is like a loving Father that once he has loved and held his child through a fit of rage, sits calmly with them and comforts that child in the wake of the fit. The beauty, loved ones, is that we don’t need to understand, simply trust that God understands and will work even the most horrendous things for our well-being. Thus, the next time you are ready to condemn Job’s wife, remember that she is human and remember that you are too; that ought to show her in a different light.
Is the Bible Inerrant?
One of the things we talk a lot about in church circles is the authority of scripture—that it is given by God and is designed to instruct us in every area of life. One of the terms that we use when we speak of why the scriptures are authoritative is the term “inerrant.” But I have found that while we often throw that term around, a lot of times, people aren’t entirely sure what the term means.
To be “inerrant” means far more than something has no errors in it. When I was in school, I regularly had “error-free” mathematics tests; when I was in seminary, many of my Hebrew vocabulary tests were found to be “error-free,” but none of these were inerrant. The word inerrant means not only that something has no errors, but that it is incapable of making an error. The Oxford American Dictionary defines “inerrant” as “incapable of being wrong.” One writer described the inerrancy of the scriptures in this way: “They are exempt from the liability to mistake.”
So why do we ascribe such a nature to the scriptures? To begin with, they are God’s word, and if God is incapable of making a mistake, then his word also must be incapable of making a mistake—remembering that those who wrote down God’s word were “moved along by the Spirit” as a ship is blown by the wind filling its sails (2 Peter 1:21). In the language of the Apostle Paul, scripture is exhaled by God (2 Timothy 3:16) and thus is the source of all training and guidance for the believer. These are God’s words and not man’s and thus we ought to expect them to carry the authority and attributes of God’s character and not man’s character.
It is granted that there are many these days that doubt the inerrancy of scripture. For some, it is a plain matter of unbelief. For others it is misinformation or not having studied the evidence. For others it is the fear that if one acknowledges these words to be the inerrant word of God then one must submit one’s life to scripture’s authority and demands, and such is true. Regardless of the reason that people doubt, Scripture has withstood every test and challenge that has been leveled at it.
There is one other thing that is worth noting about such a book as we have. Not only are the scriptures our only guide for faith and life, but they are the only book to guide us as we go to our deaths. The Bible shows us Jesus Christ, our need for him as a redeemer, and his promise that if we trust in him in life, confessing him with our lips and believing in him in our hearts, he will confess us before the Father and guarantee us eternal life in paradise. For the one who is facing death, this is the kind of knowledge that brings peace and enables them to leave this world with grace and not fear. It is no wonder that the Scriptures are what most people ask to have read to them on their deathbeds, and not Shakespeare or Coleridge. The Bible is the one book that transcends death because it was written by a God who died and rose again—promising that he would do the same for us.
Education Versus Programming
(the following is excerpted from my essay, “Teaching Image Bearers, not just Warm Bodies,” which is part of the compilation: Docens Coram Deo: Teaching Before the Face of God. This book is written as a festschrift in honor of Bob Grete and Harold Thomas, the founders of Rocky Bayou Christian School, on the school’s 35th anniversary. Copies can be acquired at the above link; I served as the editor of this Festschrift.)
As mentioned before, the naturalistic model sees the human mind as nothing more than a super-computer, capable of processing and retaining a vast array of data which is then manipulated by genetic programming in such a way as to output a result that we commonly describe as thought. Thus, in principle, educating a human is akin to programming a computer. Yet, if humans are altogether different than a computer, what must our approach to education be?
The beginning of the answer to that question is found in the very meaning of the word, “educate.” The English word derives from the Latin verb, educere, which literally means, “to lead out. Thus, the purpose of education is not so much that of putting in, but bringing out. Now one might argue that children are not born with an innate knowledge of history, mathematics, or even of the Bible and thus, “putting in” is an important part of education. And indeed, that is where instruction comes in—instruction coming from the Latin verb, instruere, which literally means, “to pile in.” Yet notice the relationship of these two terms. Instruction is not the end goal—education is. In other words, you instruct towards the end of educating a student—you pile in mathematics, history, science, and Bible not so that a student will be full of ideas (many of which a student may never use again in life), but you instruct so that something will be brought out in them. What needs to be brought out? It is the image of God that they bear which needs to be brought out.
In the fall, the righteous image of God in man has become warped, distorted, mangled, and bent, but not lost (Genesis 9:6; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9). We are born in the state of sin (Psalm 51:5), by nature we do not seek righteousness (Romans 3:10-11), we are at enmity with God (James 4:4), our hearts are corrupt (Mark 7:21), we commit sin through both action and inaction, and we sin with our intentions (Matthew 5:21-48) as well as with our activities. In addition, when we break a portion of the Law, we are guilty of breaking it as a whole (James 2:10). There is nothing good in us by nature (Romans 7:18)—we have been corrupted by sin in every aspect of our being. Of course, education is not a substitute for the work of the Holy Spirit in redemption and sanctification, yet it is a tool by which the Holy Spirit can and does use, both in the process of growth in grace and to enable parents to fulfill their God-given mandate to raise up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4; Deuteronomy 4:9; Proverbs 22:6).
Thus, if our teaching reflects only the idea of giving students information, we are not fulfilling our calling. When little Billy asks, “Why do we need to study literature?”, it is not enough to tell him that he needs the knowledge of literature so that he will be able to communicate ideas with others in this world, nor is it enough to tell him that God has called him to take dominion of the world, and that means taking dominion of the literary culture as well as the geography. These statements both may be true, but they are yet insufficient. We must also be telling little Billy that he is made in the image of God and that God loves language and that God loves expressing himself through every form of language; thus, if he is to reflect that image of God faithfully, he needs to nurture within himself that same kind of love for language and the study of literature is designed to help nurture that love and appreciation for the expression of ideas through language. I have applied this to literature, but the same argument can and should be applied to every discipline of study. There is a reason that we expose students to a broad array of academic studies rather than allowing them to concentrate their studies in a particular area of interest, and it is not to make students more “well-rounded,” but it is because God’s character is reflected in each of these disciplines and to reflect the Imago Dei, each of these disciplines must be applied to our character. Thus, if we are to educate and not program, and if education is a tool used by the Holy Spirit in sanctification to bring out the Imago Dei, we must instruct in every academic discipline.
Foundational Biblical Principles to Classroom Management
Some initial thoughts as to some Biblical principles that ought to shape the way Christian schools and Christian teachers order their classrooms. These thoughts are not meant as exhaustive, but instead are meant to be a Biblical foundation upon which a philosophy of Christian education can be built.
1. The interaction with students, from instruction to discipline, must be built on the principle that students bear the image of God (Genesis 1:26), and though that image was twisted and deformed as a result of the fall through the entrance of sin and death (Romans 5:12), the image of God was not lost in the fall (Genesis 9:6). Thus, a large part of the role of Christian education is that of “straightening” the fallen person—helping to restore the person in such a way that they accurately reflect the image of God. As Christ is the perfect reflection of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), it is into the image modeled for us by Christ that we seek to direct the transformation of our students. The life and well-being of the child is seen by scripture in a special way (Psalm 127:3; Matthew 19:14; Mark 9:42). How we handle sin in the classroom as well as education in the classroom must be seen in this context, and teachers are to understand that they are to be held to a higher standard than others (James 3:1).
2. Education is a divinely ordained responsibility of parents, but particularly that of the Father as the covenant head of the household (Ephesians 6:4; Genesis 18:19; Deuteronomy 4:10; 6:7, 20-21; 11:19; 32:46; Psalm 78:5; 2 Timothy 1:5). It is also noted in scripture that the Levitical priests were to come alongside of the parents for the purpose of educating their children (Leviticus 10:11; Deuteronomy 33:10; Judges 13:8; 1 Samuel 12:23; Ezekiel 44:23; 2 Chronicles 15:3) as part of the larger covenantal community of believers (Exodus 6:7; Leviticus 26:12; Matthew 2:6; Romans 9:25; 2 Corinthians 6:16). There are also occasions where others within the covenant community who had particular gifts and skills were gifted to teach (Exodus 35:34). While it is recognized that God’s people can learn things from non-believers (1 Kings 5:6; Acts 7:22), the Bible presents teaching as an activity to be undertaken by the covenant community. Though the Levitical Priesthood has fallen away and been replaced by Christ (Hebrews 7), all believers are now priests (1 Peter 2:9; Isaiah 66:20-21) and thus responsible to fulfill the Levitical functions which are not a part of the sacrificial system as that role has been fulfilled by Christ alone (Hebrews 10:10-14). Hence, Christian parents must not only seek to oversee the education of their children, but they also have a Biblical mandate that the education of their children is done by Christians, and not by non-believers. In turn, teachers must be mindful that they are serving as proxies for the student’s parents, not as replacements and are to instruct in such a fashion as to honor the parents for whom they are acting.
3. The teacher must understand that the Biblical end of education is to equip the students to obedience to God’s commands so that their days may be long in the land (Deuteronomy 5:33; 11:9). Hence, children are also commanded to honor their parents (which implies an honoring of their instruction) so that their days may be long in the land (Exodus 20:12). The Biblical idiom of “living long” does not so much refer to long physical life in the land as it refers to the life and essential health of the covenantal community of the faithful in the land which God had given them. This language, though, is later applied to the church (Ephesians 6:3) under the auspices of living faithfully in the world. To accomplish this, teaching is to include the law for righteous living (Exodus 24:12; 2 Kings 17:27) and also instruction in more mundane areas (2 Samuel 1:8; Exodus 35:25; Isaiah 28:23-29). In addition, scripture mandates the teaching of the history of God’s acts (Exodus 12:14; 2 Samuel 1:18; Psalm 66:5). Thus, teaching that is scriptural (and hence mandated to be done within the community of faith) is teaching that covers every discipline of life and is designed so that the believer may walk in reverence and obedience to the commands of God (Deuteronomy 14:22; Micah 4:2; 1 Peter 1:16). The implication of this marks Christian teaching as being something distinct from secular (the Greek model) education. For the heathen, religion and faith have no bearing on one’s thinking, philosophy, or ordinary life; for the Christian, knowledge of God lived out in faith is everything—there is no aspect of life that religion is not meant to touch and inform. Hence, the Christian classroom needs to reflect that principle.
4. Discipline is a God-given tool by which education is furthered (Hebrews 12:5-11; Psalm 50:16-23; Proverbs 12:1; 13:24; Revelation 3:19). It is designed to keep children from vicious teachings and error, to suppress feelings of bitterness of students who have been wronged, to punish wrongdoing, and to show the repulsive nature of sin and the pains that are associated with it. Said discipline should be non-preferential and balanced to suit the infraction. Discipline also should not be designed to break, humiliate, or discourage the child from a pursuit of a God-honoring life. It should be firm, but delivered with a spirit of kindness and not vengeance or anger. Ultimately discipline should build up not only the student being disciplined, but the entire class as well. Finally, once discipline is administered, the student is to be considered as justified as to the law of the classroom and should be reinstated to the covenantal community of the class in question without lingering reminders of said sin.
A few final thoughts about the childhood education that Jesus would have received:
- Synagogue schools were funded by the parents of the children attending. The education of poor students was funded by donations given in the temple or at Sabbath worship.
- Teachers were salaried by the synagogue and were not allowed to accept money from wealthy families lest favoritism be given.
- Teachers were forbidden from losing their patience with students for not understanding concepts, but were expected to be able to make them plain to all.
- Kindness was encouraged and schools used the strap in discipline, not the rod.
- Parents were prohibited from sending their children to schools in other communities for the purpose of eliminating rivalries and to maintain the educational level of the town.
- Leviticus was the first book taught to children (particularly Leviticus 1-8).
- Other passages of scripture that were found in Children’s primers were: the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41); the Hallel Psalms (Psalms 113-118); and The Creation and Flood narratives (Genesis 1-11).
- To the Jew, the study of scripture was of greater importance than any other study they could pursue. The culture considered it profane to even learn a trade apart from a study of the scriptures. The study of trades did not replace scriptural study, but flowed out of scriptural study.
Part of a Traditional Jewish Morning Prayer:
“These are the things of which man eats the fruit of the world, but their possession continues for the next world: to honor the father and mother, pious works, peacemaking between man and man, and the study of the law, which is equivalent to them all.”
(Peah 1:1)
Angry with God’s Mercy (Jonah 4:1)
“And it was evil to Jonah—a great evil—and he burned over it.” (Jonah 4:1)
In case you hadn’t noticed Jonah’s attitude toward the Ninevites by his lackluster sermon in Nineveh, the true feelings of our wayward prophet come out as we move to the final chapter of this story. Most of our English versions water down the wording of this verse some, putting Jonah in a little better light; only Young’s Literal Translation seems to grasp the full strength of the situation when they translate it, “It was grievous to Jonah.” Literally, the Hebrew reads that it was evil to Jonah and then emphasizes again that it was a great evil to Jonah! Just as the Ninevites’ idolatry was evil in the eyes of God; God’s mercy toward the people of Nineveh was evil in the eyes of Jonah. And not only that, his anger burned toward God on account of this mercy. You can almost picture Jonah, standing at the edge of the city with clenched teeth and fists, his face red with rage, and steam coming out of his ears. This guy is about to explode.
It is easy to want to find excuses to water this image down a bit. Nobody likes to see one of the Biblical heroes completely lose his cool—especially when it comes to God’s mercy. But the reality is that Jonah was human and Nineveh was the winter capital of the Assyrian Empire, people that the Jews desperately hated. These two nations were fierce enemies and no good Jew in his right mind would want to see the people of Nineveh blessed. These people of Nineveh were violent pagans and idolaters; there was nothing in them that seemed redeemable in the eyes of Jonah. Yet, these people repented and God showed them mercy. This kind of thing was just simply not right and proper! God had some teaching to do with his prophet.
It is easy to jump on Jonah’s case and start wagging our fingers in accusation. Oh, how sophisticated we have become in sending missionaries to all the corners of the earth. See how we have such a broad view of God’s mercy toward the nations! At the same time, what about those ministries to people groups we don’t particularly like? What about ministries to the street people in our culture or to the prostitutes? What about ministries to the drug users in our culture or to the gay community? Sometimes we are a little less comfortable about the mercy of God when dealing with these folks. Probably about the closest we can get to how Jonah felt toward the Ninevites would be the feeling of a black pastor working with Ku Klux Klansmen or that of a white pastor working with Black Panther members. Jonah was more than out of his comfort zone; he was in enemy territory.
Yet, beloved, that is exactly the way God works! When Jesus gave the apostles the great commission, he did not qualify what “all the corners of the earth” meant—he simply said, “go.” When we begin to come to terms with just how grievous our own sin is, then how can we who have already received the mercy of God begrudge another from receiving it? Oh, how we are like Jonah, though, when we see God’s blessings poured out somewhere other than on ourselves. Beloved, let us keep Jonah always before us as a reminder that we should rejoice in the mercy of God to all who would repent and believe—let us rejoice as the angels rejoice when one sinner comes to faith—even if that sinner is one we don’t particularly like.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
Bind my wandring heart to thee.
Prone to wander—Lord, I feel it—
Prone to leave the God I love:
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for thy courts above.
-Robert Robinson
Is God Changing His Mind? (Jonah 3:10)
“And God saw their works, that they had turned from their way of the evil, God grieved over the evil which he had threatened to do to them and he did not do it.” (Jonah 3:10)
Now, before you go running off to burn all of your copies of John Calvin’s Institutes and to declare to me that this verse proves that God changes his mind, let’s stop for just one minute and see what it is that is going on in this passage and place it in the context of the rest of God’s revelation. As well, let us keep Ephesians 1:11 and Job 23:13 before us, being reminded that God has ordered all things (not just some, but all) according to his will. Also, God’s will is perfect and right and he does not need to go back to the drawing board periodically to modify his plan to suit the happenings of the world.
God is infinite, timeless, changeless, and boundless; there is no measuring him or constraining his will and plan. At the same time, we are finite and bound by time. For us, there must always be a chronological sequence of actions and reactions—we understand cause and effect, not infinite design. Thus, God condescends to us within history, not because history in some way binds him, but because he wishes to be understood and this is the only way we will understand his revelation. Thus, at times, when God’s activities are described in manners like this, they are described in terms of cause and effect that we might be able to understand what it is that God is doing.
Thus, the language here is not the language of God changing his mind, but it is describing in terms that we can comprehend, all that is going on. Was God’s threat to destroy the city a real one then? Yes, indeed! At the same time, God intentionally moved on the hearts of the king of Nineveh and the people of the city and brought them to repent of their sins. God is a God of mercy, and in bringing them to repentance, he relented of his threat to destroy the city (at least for a time). This is the mercy of God.
Beloved, this mercy of God is the most important thing that you walk away with from this verse or even this chapter of Jonah. God is merciful and kind and those who repent of their sins and turn to God through his son, Jesus Christ, will find forgiveness—that is not just a nice, theological statement, but this is revealed fact. What God has promised, he will do and he does not change his mind mid way through the process. Friends, cling to the mercy of God that is in Jesus Christ. Remind yourself that if God is willing to forgive even the Ninevites, he will also be willing to forgive you of your sins and even the most vile pagan of his or her sins as well. There is no sin too terrible that the blood of Christ can not wash it clean—this is God’s promise to us, and oh, what a blessed promise it is!
Arise, my soul, arise,
Shake off your guilty fears;
The bleeding Sacrifice in my behalf appears;
Before the throne my Surety stands,
Before the throne my Surety stands,
My name is written on His hands.
-Charles Wesley
Fasting (Jonah 3:7-9)
“And he made a proclamation, saying, ‘From the learning of the king and his great ones—neither man or beast, nor cattle or flock should taste anything. Let them not pasture nor let them drink water. Rather, they shall cover themselves with sackcloth—man and beast—they shall call to God in strength, and each man shall turn from his way of the evil and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn from his wrath and we will not perish.” (Jonah 3:7-9)
And here we have the king’s proclamation and call to national repentance (or at least city-wide repentance). The proclamation begins with a rather formulaic introduction—“from the learning of the king and his great ones.” We could probably translate this more idiomatically as: “according to the wisdom of the king and his nobles” or “This is the discernment of the king and his advisors.” The general idea is to clearly communicate the authority that this proclamation has. Not only, thus says the king and those governors that are under him in power, but assuming that the king is either the wisest or has access to the wisest men in the area—here is the wisdom of all of these fellows.
The king’s response is to call a fast. Fasting is an important element in the Christian faith that we often ignore in our self-centered culture. When Jesus was preaching what we know as the Sermon on the Mount, he made the assumption that faithful believers did fast. His language is unambiguous, he does not say “if you fast,” but Jesus clearly states, “when you fast” (Matthew 6:16). Given the importance that scripture places on fasting, it would do us well to build an understanding of just what fasting is and what it should be used for.
Perhaps it would be best, though, to first set out a few things that fasting is not. First of all, fasting is not accidental. Because you had a busy day and decided to work through lunch does not mean that you had a fast. Because you forgot to take lunch with you does not mean that you had a fast. As a young man, when my parents were serving liver or tuna-fish casserole for dinner, I often told them that it was my evening to fast as a way of getting out of eating dinner. Though I called these things fasts, they really were nothing of the sort.
Fasts are also not to be done for the praise of men. When fasting, Jesus says, the people around us should not recognize that we are fasting—that is unless they are fasting with us (see Matthew 6:17-18). Fasts are not to be detrimental to your health. God means for our times of fasting to build us up in faith, not for them to tear us down. That means that if you have serious dietary restrictions like diabetes or anemia, you should consult with your doctor before embarking on a time of fasting (it is worth noting that I do know of people with diabetes who do fast, but who take special precautions when doing so). Also, if you happen to be recovering from a sickness or are fighting an illness off, you need to eat to keep up your strength and you should consider postponing your time of fasting until you are well. Though fasting may be done during a time of intense grief and mourning, as a whole, it should be a positive experience, not a detrimental one.
Lastly, fasts should be irregular. They should be the exception in the life of the believer, not something that you do in the course of habit. When we do things on a regular basis, our fallen human nature begins to take things as a matter or routine and habit, and that often decreases the value of such an experience to the participant. Fasting is meant to stretch you and teach you to rely more strongly on the provision of God—routine does not do this.
The point of fasting is not simply that you are giving up food for a time, but that you are subjecting your physical body for spiritual purposes. All too often our lives are dictated by the desires of our flesh. We eat when we get hungry and we sleep when we get tired. In fasting, you submit your body to the needs of your spirit.
Fasting is something that can be done individually or corporately. What we have here in the Jonah account is an instance of a corporate fast and it is done in conjunction with a national tragedy (in this case, the preaching of Jonah). There are certainly plenty of reasons in our day that would spur on a corporate time of fasting within the church. The world threat of terrorism that is going on today, the wholesale slaughter of unborn babies in our own nation, and the way the evangelical church in our culture is losing the purity of its witness are a few examples that might spur us to fast as a body of believers.
On an individual level, scripture gives us a number of examples of reasons to fast. Fasting is something that is done in connection with intense grief over the effects of sin, as David fasted for his dying child after his sin of adultery (2 Samuel 12:16). It is to bear witness to our contrition and humiliation before God, as was part of the king’s motivation in Nineveh. It is meant to stir up our devotions and to set our minds to God, especially when it comes to matters of spiritual discernment. Before choosing Paul and Barnabas to go as missionaries, the church in Antioch was involved in fasting to guide their wisdom (Acts 13:2). In turn, Paul and Barnabas fasted and prayed before choosing elders in the churches they established (Acts 14:23).
Yet, we must always keep before us the fact that while fasting is an important part of the life of the believer as well as being an important aid to prayer, it is not a sure-fire means to getting what we want. God is not a gumball machine in the sky, just because you put a quarter prayer in, does not mean that you will get a sweet treat out. God has ordained all things from before the beginning of creation and when you pray, led by the Holy Spirit, you are praying for those things that God desires you to pray for. You are not changing God’s mind, but are gloriously being allowed to participate in the redemptive plan of God. Often, God will use prayer and fasting to put your heart and mind in the right place so that he can work through you. Never forget what God spoke through the prophet Joel: “rend your hearts, not your garments.”
Beloved, never forget the importance of fasting, but when you do so, do so for the right reasons. Never do it out of a sense of personal holiness, but do it in brokenness. Never do it for the praise of men, but do it in secret—God will know the motivations of your heart. God places no value in empty ritual, but seeks to conform you to his heart, and fasting is one of the means that he uses to do just that.
Thoughts on Structuring a Discipleship Program
Recently, I was asked for some input on how I would structure a discipleship program if I were to have about 6 months of fairly intensive time to work with a small group of men. I thought that I would share my initial thoughts here.
When I began doing homeless ministry, I spent some time looking at some of the sermons found in the book of Acts to gain some insight into a model to base evangelistic preaching/teaching on. The model I came up with covered things in this order: 1) God’s glory, 2) man’s fallen state, 3) the work of Christ, 4) the promise of salvation coupled with the hope of ongoing sanctification in this life.
Unpackaging this in terms of a longer study would look something like this:
I. God’s Glory
a. Who is God?
i. names of God which reflect God’s character
ii. character traits of God
b. What has God done?
i. Creation
ii. Ordaining and Governing history
II. Man’s Fallen State
a. What does it mean to be made in God’s image?
i. the doctrine of the Imago Dei
ii. human dignity as a result of the Imago Dei
iii. the doctrine of the Imitatio Dei (how do we imitate God?)
b. What happened when Adam and Eve sinned?
i. Genesis 3
ii. The promise of a redeemer in Genesis 3
iii. Inherited sin guilt and the impossibility of our paying God back that sin debt on our own merit
c. How has the fall corrupted and contorted the Imago Dei?
i. Our aversion to the things of God and suppression of the truth
ii. The problem of pain–why do bad things happen to good people?
III. The Work of Christ
a. Who is Jesus and why is a Savior important?
i. the person and character of Christ
ii. the names of Christ
iii. the Old Testament prophesies of Christ
iv. The work of a mediator and paraclete
b. How Did Christ save us?
i. the preexistence of Christ
ii. the humiliation of Christ in life and in death
iii. the exaltation of Christ and his ongoing work as mediator at the right hand of God the Father
IV. The Promise of Salvation and the Hope of Sanctification
a. Who is the Holy Spirit?
i. the person of the Spirit
ii. the work of the Spirit
b. What is Faith and how is that tied to salvation?
i. The nature of Faith (Hebrews 11:1)
ii. Regeneration, Conversion, Repentance
c. What does it mean to be saved?
i. Justification
ii. Adoption
d. What happens next once I am saved?
i. Sanctification as a means to prepare for glory
ii. Living all of life “Coram Deo” or “Before the Face of God”
iii. 2 Peter 1:3-11 and adding to the faith as “Partakers of the Divine nature” (untwisting the Imago Dei–like having broken bones set)
iv. The fruit of the Spirit
v. The gifts of the Spirit
vi. Glory
To be Dynamic or not to be Dynamic, that is the question… (John 12:44)
I received a very interesting question recently regarding the translation of John 12:44. The English Standard Version (ESV) translates the passage this way: “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.’”
The New American Standard Bible (NASB) renders it: “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.’”
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translates it: “Then Jesus cried aloud: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.’”
The King James (KJV) renders it as follows: “Jesus cried and said, ‘He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.’”
Okay, okay, there is not a lot of difference to be found in the translations above; yet look at how the New International Version translates this passage: “Then Jesus cried out, ‘When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.’”
For what it is worth, the New Living Translation (NLT) and the Contemporary English Version (CEV) render this verse in a similar way to the NIV.
When I was initially asked about this, the person was doing a Bible study and comparing different translations—an excellent habit to get into—and the variation between the NRSV and the NIV was what caught her eye. She said, ‘this seems to change the meaning.’
My initial instinct was to check my Greek testament to see if there was a textual variant in play, but that was not the case. This case has to do with translation methodology. There are different philosophies in Bible translation—at one extreme being a literal translation where every word from the original text is rendered as closely as possible into English. Then, at the other extreme you find paraphrasing, where the author of the translation communicates what their understanding of a particular passage happens to be. In the middle is a philosophy called “dynamic equivalence,” which seeks to translate the passages concept for concept as closely as possible. Now there is certainly a spectrum that these philosophies cross as some are either more literal or more paraphrased than others, but this presents the broad categories at least (for more on translation philosophies see some of my other blogs in this category).
Now back to John 12:44. In the case of this verse, the word “only” is not in any of the Greek manuscripts that are available to us. But instead, the translation committee of the NIV (and other dynamic equivalence translations) felt that the inclusion of the word “only” would help to clarify the meaning of Jesus’ statement. Yet, rather than clarify the statement, it seems to confound it. In the passage, Jesus is saying to his disciples that if we believe in Him, we are not really setting our faith in him but in the Father, who sent Christ. God is one, it is impossible to put one’s faith in Jesus Christ without resting one’s faith in God the Father, and visa-versa. The same applies to the Spirit as well, the three persons of the Trinity are not separable. Jesus is speaking of the unity of the Godhead.
When you include the word “only” in the translation, the passage loses this sense of unity that Jesus is speaking of and interjects the idea that it is possible to believe in one member of the Trinity and not the others, potentially even suggesting a divisibility in the Trinity. This is opening the door to serious Trinitarian error, suggesting a divisibility within the Godhead, a form of polytheistic error.
My purpose in writing this is threefold. First, I think that it serves as an excellent example as to the differences between an essentially literal translation like the ESV or NASB translations and the dynamic equivalence models like the NIV and the NLT. My second purpose is to illustrate the value of reading multiple translations side by side in your Bible study (unless you are going to learn the original languages. While my third purpose is not to knock translations like the NIV, it is to remind folks that the NIV is not the best Bible to be working from for serious Bible study.
Please do not misunderstand me, if you love the NIV and that is the only Bible you have or the only Bible you can understand, then please read it. Read it with gusto! God will bless your reading of the NIV, the NLT, or even my least favorite, the Message. God will bless the reading of anything that approximates his Word. Even the NASB and ESV have flaws. My point is simply to say that for Bible study, where you are trying to get as close to what John (or whoever the writer happens to be) is actually writing. To do that, you ought to seek to have several essentially literal translations at your disposal to compare so that you can get a clear sense of what is being said.
One final note: as pastors we have the responsibility of teaching and guiding our flocks on the path of truth. But this responsibility does not lie with pastors alone. It resides with church leaders, with parents, and with every Christian believer. We must teach ourselves to recognize error in our culture and in our churches so that we can take a stand for the faith that was once and for all time delivered to the saints.
What does Church Architecture Point Toward?
With the coming of the reformation, particularly with the coming of Calvin’s reformation in Geneva, came a shift in the architecture of the Church building. In the architecture of the medieval Roman Catholic church, the central item in the front of the church—the area that everything in the church pointed, so as to direct one’s attention toward—was the altar. In the Roman Catholic service, it is the Mass that is central to worship, and since the altar was central to the Mass, the altar was made to be the focal point of the church.
Yet, for Calvin, it was not the Mass that was central—in fact, the Mass was done away with altogether as being unbiblical and in contradiction with Christ’s sacrifice being once and for all time as pointed out in Hebrews 10. For Calvin, the Holy Scriptures were central along with their exposition and proclamation. Thus, as a result of the Calvinistic influence, the pulpit and the scriptures were moved to the central part of the church symbolizing its importance and its centrality to worship.
This abovementioned transition is fairly well established in history, but I began to reflect recently on other changes that seem to be taking place in church architecture as churches move away from a traditional church model to a more non-traditional, assembly room/warehouse model of worship. Architecturally, what is center? In many instances, the stage has been cleared as to place nothing at the central point. One of the trends that ties in with this has been a move toward a translucent pulpit, almost as if nothing is there at all.
Now, I confess that I have a bias toward a traditional church worship and traditional church architecture with the Lord’s Sacred Desk (the pulpit) placed centrally in the church to visually make the statement, “This is the most important thing we do!” And, I suppose that by posting these views here I will be stepping on the toes of some folks even in my own denomination who have embraced a more non-traditional model. I know that when you are reaching out to unchurched folks, many times they feel intimidated by the traditional elements of church architecture and worship—then again, is church supposed to be about making people comfortable or is it supposed to be about pointing toward Truth (and Truth never makes people feel comfortable, not even me). The traditional architecture and the scriptures presented remind us that we are part of a tradition that is far older than we are.
But can we set our biases to the side for a moment and pose the question as to what this new, non-traditional architecture points toward? In other words, what does the eye focus on, what does the church layout communicate as being central? I would suggest that in the absence of the pulpit or the altar, what is presented as central is the man, whether that man be the pastor or the worship leader, it seems to be the man that all of the eyes turn toward. It is also worth noting, and this is where many more toes are going to be stepped on, that preaching has also reflected this change. The systematic and consecutive exposition of scripture has largely been replaced by topical and practical preaching. This does not mean that the preaching is not laced with scripture, it is, but the scripture becomes secondary to the topic and the topics tend to be very anthrocentric, dealing more with how to live in this world than with how God has revealed himself to this world.
In making this assertion, please do not think that I am rejecting application in a sermon—sermons must be laced with application, but I would suggest that application needs to be drawn out of the scriptures, while in the non-traditional model, the scriptures are used to support the application. In the first, the scripture is the primary focus, in the latter, the application is the primary focus. In a very real sense, this is reflected in the changed architecture where no longer is every eye drawn to the pulpit, but where every eye is drawn toward the man. Every decision we make carries with it ramifications, and I think that we must be careful in seeking new models and contexts for church worship, for when we change the focal point, oftentimes other changes follow as well.
Those who are Far Off: Zechariah 6:9-15
“And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord.”
-Zechariah 6: 15a, ESV
The prophet has given us a great and grandiose picture of the coronation of the coming Messiah in this passage. A crown with many diadems will adorn the royal head of our master, the Lord Jesus. But Zechariah does not end only looking toward the far future, he closes this passage with a reminder that Yahweh has not forsaken them to failure even in their age. Yes, this reconstruction of the temple is only a shadow and a pointer to the temple of Christ that will come, but it is a reminder that God is faithful to his covenant people. More help is on its way. Ezra will come and Nehemiah will be on his heels.
How often we tend to get discouraged and frustrated with God. We act as if God has abandoned us to our state and are completely oblivious to what God has in the works. How often we pitch in the towel before the event has run its course? And how often have we had to beg forgiveness for out own lack of faith when we see God’s providence delivering us from the very jaws of our enemy.
We need passages like this to remind us that we do not stand out on the battlefield alone. We are not only surrounded by a cloud of witnesses but reinforcements are on the way. We should never fear loosing our last arrow, throwing our last spear, or breaking our last sword in the battle against the enemy for new supplies will arrive as we need them. Yet we will never be able to stockpile them. Just as the Israelites received manna in the desert as a daily provision, so we too will receive provisions from God as they are necessary. What a wonderful God that we have that monitors our daily needs and is in the business of constant provision.
The next time we are tempted to cry out like the martyrs in heaven, “how long,” let us turn to this passage and remember that reinforcements are on their way. Instead of crying out “how long,” we ought to cry out “where can I serve you next.”
Strong Horses: Zechariah 6:1-8
“When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth.”
-Zechariah 6: 7a, ESV
How impatient are the angels of God that have been ordained to extend Justice to the world and how great is God’s grace, even toward unbelievers, in staying their hand until His time is at hand. And the impatience of the angels is not a sign of their weakness. They are responding properly and correctly to the way we as a people have abused and misused the very name of God. Swift justice is deserved upon mankind, yet God’s long-suffering patience is such that he would endure the abuse of man so that the full number of elect will be brought into the kingdom. What amazing grace we have received!
In Zechariah’s day, the angels were permitted partial success, and God is yet restraining their destructive work. How the judgments pile on the head of unbelievers. Not only do they live in rebellion to the true and righteous law of God, but they interpret the staying of God’s hand as more time granted for them to revel in their wickedness. They squander their time rather than repent of their ways.
Yet, we in the church have also been guilty of being lax in proclaiming God’s message of grace and judgment to the culture around us. Think about it, Scripture remembers Noah the carpenter as a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2). He had no pulpit and no congregation of thousands that came to hear him preach. He simply had his faithful lifestyle and the testimony of the ark which he built. His evangelism was successful toward his family, and there is also much to be said for that. How often we are willing to compromise the truth of the gospel in order to be liked. The praise we should seek is not that of men, but the title of “good and faithful servant,” offered by Christ.
The Lady in the Basket: Zechariah 5:5-11
“And he said, ‘This is Wickedness.’ And he thrust her back into the basket and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.” -Zechariah 5: 8, ESV
The contrast that Zechariah paints here is stark. While wickedness in the land both then and now is not small, for it is a great stench that rises up from the idolatry of our land, it shows the comparative smallness of wickedness in comparison to God’s goodness, holiness, love, and righteousness. We are also reminded that no matter how bad things get, God is always in control for he wrote the book in the first place. The lead weight on the lid to the basket is also a reminder to us of the weight of the law when brought to bear on sin. While sin may seem great, it is nothing, and those consumed by sin are simply being kept for the final judgment and punishment in the lake of fire.
We must be faithful in our witness to the world that there is hope and redemption, but that it is not in the basket, rather it is in him who controls the outcome of that basket. There is hope in Jesus and in Jesus alone.
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