Delegation of Authority: The Holy Spirit

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dove

…the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove…
(Luke Chapter 3)

When we last spoke about how Authority had been delegated to Adam, and that God did not take it back immediately when Adam sinned, I couldn’t leave it alone without pointing out that one of the many awesome truths of the purpose that Jesus came to fulfill was in taking the Authority that man forfeited. We looked at how Jesus had to be born a man, but not from man’s seed (to inherit sin), so the virgin birth was required so that Jesus (the Word Made Flesh) could come and lay down His life:

John 10:11-18 (ESV) 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Praise the Lord! Notice here, that Jesus clearly states His purpose, His Authority, and that He received it from God the Father. Now, remember that our charge is given to us in the Great Commission, but let’s look at it again in Matthew:

Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV) 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Notice the “therefore”. A cute little saying I heard growing up in Sunday School regarding taking the time to understand the context of scriptures was, What’s the ‘therefore’ there for? Here, it is telling us that our charge to Go and make disciples of all nations… is based in the fact that All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus… who is then giving us the charge to Go…

Now, let’s talk about the Holy Spirit. In the book of John, we see Jesus making several attempts at preparing the disciples for what was about to take place (crucifixion, resurrection, & ascension). In hindsight, we can see that Jesus was speaking quite plainly. But He knew (and said as much) that they just wouldn’t understand what He was telling them. Let’s take a look at the promise of Jesus to send a Helper:

John 15:18-27 (ESV) 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:1-15(ESV) 1 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit is called our Helper, (the Greek word here is Paracletos, one called alongside to help; or Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor) and the Spirit of Truth. But Jesus doesn’t just identify Whom He will send, but for what purpose, to bear witness about Jesus. But here is something very cool (at least, I thought so)… this was already the role of the Holy Spirit. Only before, He took His marching orders from God the Father.

Luke 3:21-22 (ESV) 21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Praise the Lord. What is different now, is that before Christ, God sent His Spirit to speak the Word of the Lord through Prophets, Priests, and Judges over Israel. The Spirit of God was only available to whom God had called for His purpose. Now Jesus is sending the Holy Spirit to all who hear and place their faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, being baptized in the Name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Remember, that God keeps His promises. In Acts 2, the promise of Jesus Christ to send the Holy Spirit takes place on the day of Pentecost. It is a momentous event. Peter’s first sermon is amazing, and I strongly recommend studying it closely. But for this blog, we are going to key in on how the crowd responds to the conclusion of the sermon, and Peter’s response to the question:

Acts 2:36-41 (ESV) 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Praise the Lord! This promise is for us, we who are far off, those of us whom the Lord Our God has called to Himself through His Word! I want to turn quickly to one more passage of scripture before we close this out. Now, remember that role for which Jesus said He was going to send the Holy Spirit. Bearing that in mind, let us look to 1 John 4:

1 John 4:1-6 (ESV) 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

It is not a sign of doubt, unbelief, or insubordination to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. We are told to do so. Don’t let anyone silence you out of fear of being labeled a “critical person” or worse, for having a “spirit of criticism” simply because you aren’t yielding to the move of every spirit. For the role of the Holy Spirit is not to bring glory to Himself… but to Jesus Christ. Do we rely on our emotions? No. Remember that Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14), so knowing the Word of God is critical to identifying rightly the Spirit of Truth from the many spirits of error. I hope to dive into 1 Corinthians 12-14 sometime, but I will say that spiritual discernment is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the body of believers (the Church), but knowledge of the Word of God is still necessary to properly operate in the Gifts of the Spirit.

I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and that you’ve found some blessing in these bible studies. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His Will,
In Him,
Jorge

Discipleship: Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry III

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Apprentice

Repro. of painting by Emile Adan, copyrighted by Braun & Co., N.Y.

To switch things up a bit in this series, I’d like to take a look at one of the Apostles. Today, Let’s take a look at the Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry of the Apostle Paul.You might be thinking, “woah, that’s a huge jump from Gideon to Paul”. It is, but I believe that once we’ve finished going through this study, you’ll realize that ultimately, it doesn’t matter whose life we study, what we see is God at work in and through these men of faith. I’m so excited to get into this, because the Apostle Paul went to great lengths to provide us with what we need to know about God’s redemptive work first in Paul and then through him, but all of the work was done by Him.

Paul (formerly Saul)

Our first introduction to Saul comes in Acts 7. But I don’t want to dive right in without some context first. In the first 5 chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, we see the Apostles launch in the Ministry of the Gospel, the Great Commission. We will study this time in the near future, but for now let me just say that these sermons are powerful. The Spirit of God works mightily in His Church. The Church grew so large that the Apostles could no longer see to every detail of the needs of the brethren while also devoting sufficient time to prayer and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in Acts 6, the Apostles promote seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, to be promoted as deacons, so that the Apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. We will also take a closer look at the New Testament model for Church structure. So many projects in the queue, Praise the Lord! But I digress, one of the chosen men was Stephen. Men of various synagogues tried to trip Stephen up but couldn’t, due to the work of the Holy Spirit, so they got false witnesses to testify against him in front of the Sanhedrin. When it is finally Stephen’s turn to respond to the accusations against him… he launches into an astounding sermon beginning in Acts 7:2. How he ends the speech, and what happens next always brings a tear to my eye…

Acts 7:51-60 (ESV) 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8:1-3 (ESV) 1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

Now take a second look at what is happening to the church in Jerusalem. Had the church done something wrong? No. Is this punishment from God? No. This punishment is from men. The church scattered, the apostles remained. Emotionally, this is a devastating blow to go from the victory, boldness, and blessing that seemed to be the norm in the first 6 chapters of Acts. For they made great lamentations over him [Stephen]. Make no mistake, God is still in control. We would do well to remember these times in Jerusalem when our ears are being tickled with prosperity doctrine that ignores the reality of the Gospel, or when we are encouraged to anchor our faith to our emotions. Our faith needs but One Anchor, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us continue…

Acts 9:1-9 (ESV) 1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

We are pausing here, to note that as yet we do not have the Call of God upon Saul’s life. Only that Jesus saw fit to stop Saul from sinning against Him. Jesus stepped in. Jesus intervened. He made Himself known to Saul, in a powerful, and divine way. Saul needed to repent, as do all who are born in sin. I think it is worth noting that Saul’s response realizing he was woefully in the wrong and persecuting the Son of God. He neither ate nor drank for 3 days (and I think he’d have gone longer had God not sent someone to him). Let’s continue reading…

Acts 9:10-20 (ESV) 10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

So many things going on in this passage.  Very clearly, we see the Calling that God has placed on Saul in v15… and just as quickly we see that this would be an extremely heavy burden to bear, where it not for the fact that God is the one who completes the works He has started. Now, remember at the start of this series that I said that these “phases” I’m using to break down the Call, Apprenticeship, and Ministry might not always be distinct phases. Paul wasn’t without training. It’s not like he was all zeal and no substance. His zeal was anchored in his understanding of the scriptures. He was dead wrong because he was dead in sin. Let’s look at how he describes himself later:

Philippians 3:3-6 (ESV) 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Galatians 1:11-24 (ESV) 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His Grace, 16 was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Paul makes it abundantly clear, time and time again, that he was dead in his sin and it was but by the Grace of God that He chose to reveal His Son Jesus to Paul. Paul needed no further teaching because he had already studied and memorized the Law and the Prophets (as to the Law, a Pharisee) and everything he was doing while dead in his sin he did in accordance with the Law (as to righteousness under the law, blameless) to punish the blasphemy. For you see, there is no middle ground with respect to the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Either He is the Son of God, being equal to God, and having been with God since the beginning, or He is a liar and a blasphemer. There is NO OTHER OPTION. What Paul (then Saul) lacked, was the revelation that Jesus was not a man making empty claims of deity, Jesus is in-fact the Son of God. Once that revelation was given to him by the Grace of God, Paul was then able to accept who Jesus really is. As Jesus spoke identifying Himself as the Bread of Life there is a comment He makes that I feel is reflected in the story of Paul’s conversion, John 6:43-44 (ESV) Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”

Paul was immediately ready to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And all who heard of Paul’s conversion, glorified God. God uses Paul mightily as His Apostle to the Gentiles. God inspires Paul to write 15 epistles to the churches, two of which contain such marvelous examples of seeing the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Old Testament (Hebrews and Romans). He was not alone in this, for when we look at Stephen’s final sermon, and look at Peter’s sermons, we’ll see that truly all of the Apostles had their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ grounded in the Law and the Prophets. In closing, I’d like to share a wonderful quote from Graeme Goldsworthy… that I put into a graphic for a different purpose, but I think it works well here, too.

fbbanner

May the Lord bless and keep you always,
In Him,
Jorge

Justified By His Grace – Broadcasts – Truth For Life

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Justified By His Grace – Broadcasts – Truth For Life.

JustifiedbyHisGrace

Today, I spent my blog time trying out a new Welcome page and moving the blog roll.
I found this broadcast to be a refreshing reminder.

May the Lord Bless you and Keep you,
In Him,
FS

CTT|”I know the plans I have for you…”

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CTTTimes seem a bit tough right now. Depending on your frame of reference, you might be convinced that we (as a nation) have fallen on very hard times. Despite the truth of God’s Word being that we should lean on Him and rest in His Grace at all times, we tend to search for God in trials rather than in peace, in drought rather than in plenty. There is, however, a temptation for those who look to rapid expansion and exponential growth as the basis and litmus for right-standing with God, to misuse the Scriptures. In today’s Complete The Thought, I’d like to address one of the scriptures used to propel the lopsided teaching of prosperity that has led to many a mega-church rise to celebrity status. I’m not here to ascribe malice nor to engage in slander against celebrity leaders; rather, to bring focus to God’s Word in context.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Clearly, this is a message of hope. It is normally quoted as a generic message of God’s planning for all of His Children, and it is quoted to remind Christians that God has good plans for us not evil. On its own, that isn’t a bad thing (how could it be?). However, when the person quoting this scripture goes on to describe God’s plans for welfare as being rich & prosperous (treasures on earth?) to each individual… things get slippery. But let’s take this one step at a time. The first thing about this quote is that we don’t have any clear indicators of the audience based on the quote alone. Is it to an individual or to a people? Is God referring to some “as yet unrevealed future and hope” or is He referring to something specific? Why is He sending this message to the individual/people and why would God need to clarify that His plans are not for evil… what could possibly lead anyone to think that about the Lord God? What is expected of the individual/people to do while the plans for welfare unfold? These are critically important questions that MUST be asked before we can blindly fall head-long down the rabbit hole of an ear-tingling theology promising prosperity.

Let us begin… at the beginning of the chapter:

Jeremiah 29:1-3 (ESV) 1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon…

So, very clearly, this is a letter Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the Exiles, during the Babylonian Exile. So immediately, we are given the audience. It is to the exiles, those taken out of Jerusalem (elders, priests, prophets, royalty, officials, craftsmen, metal workers, etc. also see 2 Kings 24:10-16) by the Chaldeans to Babylon. Zedekiah is currently left in place as king in Jerusalem, under the will of Nebuchadnezzar. Let us continue reading…

It said: 4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is the One who sent exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. This wasn’t a fluke and it didn’t catch God off guard. In fact, He goes on tell them to build houses, plant gardens, marry hand build families… they were going to be there for a while. So, they have fallen on hard times, and God was making 2 things abundantly clear to His children in exile… 1) it was punishment and 2) it was going to be for a long time. The next point is interesting, God calls out liars claiming to prophesy in the Name of the Lord. God instructs the exiles do not listen to the dreams that they dream…I did not send them. Let us continue on…

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

A long time, indeed. After seventy years, God will visit the exiles and fulfill His promise. What promise? His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:

Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV) 12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:7a (ESV) 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.”

The future and a hope is to serve as both a reminder and an encouragement that God has not forgotten His promise to Abraham and to his descendents. For us, this means that God is still going to bring about His promise of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. For that to happen, God will have to bring Israel out of exile and back into Jerusalem so that they will rebuild the Temple.  This promise is to God’s people, of which we are a part thanks by the blood of Jesus Christ. Once their prescribed term of punishment is over (70 years) then God is telling His people to turn to Him (repent), call upon Him, pray to Him, and seek Him with all their hearts, and He will answer them. Look at what Jesus taught in Luke 11:5-13. God is still faithful to His promises and to His Word. This passage isn’t about prosperity, but about the love of a Father to care for His children, even while they are being disciplined. So let’s wrap up the remainder of the letter…

Jeremiah 29:15-23 (ESV) 15 “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the Lord concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’ 20 Hear the word of the Lord, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’”

Judgement is coming to the false prophets, and the judgement that is upon Israel will be carried out (and in some ways made deeper by their refusal to pay attention to God’s words sent by the prophets). God will make an example of 2 false prophets in particular, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire.

Are we promised riches and prosperity as part of being redeemed by the Blood of Jesus? As heirs and joint-heirs with Christ, in heaven, yes. On earth? We have other promises, mostly about meeting our needs, and joining in Christ’s suffering. Is prosperity evil? No. Is it the goal of Christianity? No. Is Jer 29:11 about prospering? Not in context. It’s about the Sovereignty of God, and His Faithfulness to keep His promises, even in the midst of discipline, so that His promise of the Messiah will be kept… by Him. Here, as in all areas of the Bible, we have a message of God’s saving Grace, and the lengths He went to for us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 29 is good news. We should study it more often. The biggest thing here is that this so-called prosperity doctrine is incomplete gospel. We aren’t promised a life of lavish luxury here on earth. In fact, we are told time and time again that we will face trials of many kinds. And we will face discipline, for we are the children of God. Yes. He is the perfect Father, which means that while His gifts are undoubtedly, unquestionably Good, they are Good by His standards, not necessarily by ours. And as our perfect Father, He disciplines us so that we might grow and yield peaceful fruit of righteousness…

Hebrews 12:7-11 (ESV) 7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

May the Lord bless and keep you,
In Him,
FS

An imperfect picture of the Perfect Love of the Father

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I’ve been spending a great deal of time reading the Scriptures and praying for understanding of the whole of scriptures in relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There has been a great deal of growth, and yet I feel like I’m only scratching the surface. I hope you can relate to that feeling. Lately, I’ve been trying carefully to re-evaluate every aspect of my doctrine to make sure that what I believe is in line with the Scriptures. I’ll admit, it’s not fun. We usually like to start with those beliefs we didn’t trust, or that we suspected were unBiblical, but when it comes to challenging our own… *sigh*… it can be rough. My personal growth has been what I would call a Renaissance of the Preeminence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all of Scriptures.  I’m learning that a common pitfall in Evangelical circles, is to allow ourselves to somehow graduate from the Gospel and move on toward living a Holy life. The problem is in the false-notion that we can (or should) graduate from the Gospel. There is nothing beyond the Gospel, because the Gospel is everything. Outside of the Gospel, there is no hope of living a Holy life. So, instead of graduating, what happens is we allow our focus to fall from the grace of the Gospel, back under the Law.

Galatians 5:1-6 (ESV)
5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

The Apostle Paul is not encouraging any sense of Lawlessness. I have no desire to encourage or condone lawlessness. So where’s the balance? I can cite several places where Paul is rebuking those who fall from grace and back into Law… and also where James is rebuking lawlessness. I know (intellectually, theologically, scripturally) the answer is, “in Jesus Christ”.  I’d like to share an object lesson I believe the Holy Spirit gave me over the weekend.

Photo of my beautiful daughter

“Daddy… you mad?”

I am the father of a wonderful 4-year-old son, and a beautiful 2-year-old daughter. Lately, my daughter has been pushing the limits of her authority and testing the patience of her parents. She’s always been strong-willed, and quite the ham, but lately she has become very aware of her desires and quite capable to communicate those desires. She has been testing the waters in matching her will against ours. If you have toddlers now, or can remember when your kids were at this age, you know that this is simply a part of growing up. It isn’t rebellion, but it is a resistance to submission of will. Naturally, it is my duty to rebuke, reprimand, and even admonish such willful acts of disobedience, so I must, though it breaks my heart to do so. My son generally just needs a strong word. He may not understand (or even want to) why he was “in trouble” but he acknowledges he was reprimanded and then we have to build him back up. My daughter… will fight. Over the weekend, she disobeyed direct commands (stop that, don’t play with that, come here, pick that up) to varying degrees of defiance. In a few cases, this lead to punishment, tears, and a few instances of “telling on daddy” to mommy. A funny thing also kept coming up… once all was said and done, she apologized, we hugged, and reaffirmed our love for each other… she’d ask me later, “Daddy… you mad?”. I’d tell her, “no, honey, I’m not mad. It makes Daddy mad when you don’t do what I tell you to do, but I’m not mad now, and I still love you very, very much”. She’d smile at me and continue playing, sometimes hamming it up with an overwhelming tackle of a hug. As we were putting the kids to bed this past Saturday evening, and I started thinking about how I relate to our Heavenly Father.

Luke 11:11-13 (ESV) 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

As a father, I am an imperfect picture of the Perfect Love of Our Heavenly Father. Yes, my daughter is learning what it means to please and displease me, her earthly father. But those lessons are being taught and reinforced within the context of my love for her as my daughter. At no time… ever… is there any question that I love my daughter. None. And in my flesh, I am evil. How much more… is a powerful statement. One of the most dangerous lies of the devil, is when he accuses God of malice in His correction/punishment of our disobedience. Do not allow the enemy to twist the consequences of disobedience or the fleshly failings/stumblings that are going to happen, into doubt of your standing with God. Just as my daughter doesn’t stop being my daughter just because I had to correct her wrong doing, we don’t stop being Children of God simply because we failed to be Holy. Our performance was not what saved us in the first place!

Ephesians 2 (ESV)
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. One in Christ 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Christian life, is a life lived in Christ. We are being built together, joined together, grown into a holy temple in the Lord… but Jesus Christ is the cornerstone. You cannot make (or keep) a wall straight, if you take your eyes off of the cornerstone. When we fall out of alignment (and it will happen while we walk in the flesh), the Holy Spirit will work us back into alignment. Do not mistake the rebuke and correction of the Holy Spirit for malice. There is no room to question God’s love, for Scripture makes it clear that He loved us while we were dead in our sins. We don’t reject the Law and the Prophets, we don’t ignore them one bit, not a single iota, because in doing so we would lose sight of depth and width of that for which Jesus gave Himself as the final sacrifice.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV) 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The problem is not the Law and the Prophets, it’s in allowing your focus to move off of what Christ did for us and onto an obligation to fulfill the whole law ourselves, something we are incapable of doing apart from Christ! How does that pan out?

  • theology that declares that God hates you because you sinned
  • theology that limits the forgiveness paid by Christ to only those sins you committed before you were “saved” (leaving you to seek penance through the Law to make up for sins committed after you “received Christ”)
  • theology that declares you “owe it to God” to fulfill the Law
  • theology that tells you that you need to prove to God how much you love Him by performing works of the Law

So, in closing, we should expect to get corrected, rebuked, and punished for wrong doing… as Children of God in Christ Jesus, for the maturing of the Church. We will mess up and He will correct us. But we remain, forever, His children. Bless the Lord for His Love, His Kindness, His Mercy, and His Grace. Amen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jorge