scripture

And when you pray…

Faithful Stewardship 1 Comment

PrayingIt has been a couple of months since we last looked at prayer. Since then, we’ve been reviewing Sovereignty of God, His Word, the Gospel of Jesus, Discipleship… and I think it is important to revisit the topic of prayer. So, lets start with a quick review of how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught his disciples to pray:

Matthew 6:7-15 (ESV)
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Notice the first half of the prayer begins in full acknowledgement and praise of the sovereignty of God. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name sets the stage for the foundational basis of prayer. Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven and He taught us to do likewise (because in/through Jesus we are made free to call the Lord God our Father). The next part of the prayer is where I really want to focus on today. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Our first request does not come from us. Our first request is that God’s Kingdom come, and that God’s Will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven. His Sovereignty. His Will.

God’s Will is done in Heaven. Jesus isn’t instructing us to pray that God’s will be done in Heaven, we are to ask that God’s Will be done on earth, in the same way that it is done in Heaven. This is to keep us, and our prayers, firmly rooted in the Will of God. Any attempt to twist this into somehow us giving God permission to execute His Will on Earth is false. The sovereignty of God is immutable. This is an acknowledgement that while we will make our petitions to God in prayer, He remains sovereign, and we acknowledge that above all else, it is His Will we desire to be done on earth just as it is done in Heaven. This is about submission to God, our Heavenly Father, in prayer. Now, I encourage you to take some time to read the context of this instruction fully, so start in Matthew 5 and read all the way through Matthew 7. I believe that the overall theme of this sermon is to clarify the role of Jesus Christ (to fulfill the Law & Prophets Matt 5:15), even to the extend that He clearly makes the case that apart from Him no one has access to Heaven because they are incapable of fulfilling the Law themselves (v22). In Chapter 6, Jesus moves into the need for total submission to God the Father in all things, even our good works according to the Law, and that we stop doing good things for our own glory. Including how we are to pray by specifying that we pray in accordance with His Will.

Matthew 6:3-4 (ESV) 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 (ESV) 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) 16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And now, Jesus moves into addressing our motives. So, we’ve seen Jesus address the practice of good deeds not for recognition of men, but in full submission to God who sees in secret. Now he’s moving our motives.

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Interesting. We’ve been taught how to be blessed by God if we improve the way we give to the needy, pray, and fast… and immediately Jesus addresses money. Often, blessings are interpreted as money. Why? We walk in the flesh and are easily tempted. But Jesus makes a very strong point here, that we are NOT to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth; rather, we are to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. You see, when we seek the blessings of God in such a way that demands we receive our blessings on earth, we are trading permanent, heavenly treasures for temporary ones where moth and rust destroy. But it isn’t just about making a poor trade, it’s about who we are submitting ourselves to. No one can serve two masters… Jesus didn’t leave a third option, either you are serving money (wealth, prosperity, Mammon), or you are serving God. Again, you cannot serve God and Mammon.

Jesus moves straight from there, back to addressing the basic needs of mankind. He does so, by highlighting again the Sovereignty of God, but also His Goodness.

Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV) 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Seek first the kingdom of God… and again, take another look at how we are told to pray up in v9-14. “Your kingdom come” is also included in the prayer taught in the account in Luke 11 when the lesson is a response to the disciples asking Jesus how they should pray. That prayer is shorter, and I believe that praying for God’s kingdom to come is praying for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and no doubt it served as a reminder of the full lesson Jesus taught here in Matthew. Because nothing happens in God’s Kingdom that is not within His Will. Nothing. That is the immutable sovereignty of God.

Whenever the topic of prayer comes up, the enemy will attempt to silence you and your prayers. He does so in many ways, but we’ve seen here a few already

  • Unforgiveness (v14)
  • Vanity/Self-righteousness (v1,5,16)
  • Lust of the eyes (v22)
  • Slavery to Mammon (v24)
  • Anxiety (v25)

These are big items found in this one chapter. Now, let me take a moment to ask you to turn to James 4. You may have read this a few times before, but take a moment now to read what James had to say in light of Matthew 6, 7 (I know we didn’t really cover Ch7 here, but I will leave that for your study, or if God allows, a subsequent post).

James 4 (ESV)
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

The question or objection that comes up whenever the subject of prayer is discussed generally falls under “yeah, I tried that, I prayed, and nothing happened”. Now there are so many reasons why a prayer may not have been fulfilled, that I generally take a deep breath and wait for a softening in the countenance of the person posing the question (because it’s normally presented as an accusation). Against whom is the accusation being levied? Is it against me? What have I taught that is of myself? Hopefully nothing; therefore, there is no need to be offended, or to take offense at the accusation neither should I worry about defending myself. But I was sharing what Jesus said in Matthew Ch 6. So, is the accusation against Jesus or God, the Father? I don’t need to speak for Him. James cuts to the heart of the matter, and I think it reflects the instruction we received in Matthew 6.

Prayer was an essential part of Jesus’ life, and should be an essential part of our lives. There are no secrets to prayer. There are no secrets to unlocking the key to prayer. Jesus openly taught how to pray, and again gave instruction to His disciples and God the Father ensured that the lessons would be preserved for us in His Scriptures. We must submit to God’s sovereignty, and make our petitions to Him fully acknowledging His Will. We don’t always get our way, because it’s not our will, but God’s Will. Let’s look at Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane:

Matthew 26:39 (ESV) 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

In closing, I don’t want to pluck prayer out as some request roulette mechanic. The goal of prayer must be submission to God, and He does speak to us through His Word and by His Spirit so that we are not left completely unaware of what His Will is. Your kingdom come... He has shared so much with us already if we would just… read… the… Bible. Anyway, I love the way the Apostle Paul closes the letter to the Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 (ESV) 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, too.
FS

Exegesis and Eisegesis

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bookshelfI’ve been studying the Scriptures a lot lately, particularly the Old Testament. I’ve also been studying about the study of Scriptures. Side-note: I’m finding that I had to repent of some overly negative perspectives on some Christian denominations. There are a couple of terms that I seem to run into at every turn, and I thought maybe some of you have run into these terms a time or two. Any discussion, writing, speech, sermon, etc. of the Word of God that goes beyond reading the texts will fall under one of two categories exegesis or eisegesis (sometimes written “isogesis”).

  • Exegesis [ek-si-jee-sis] — noun, plural ex·e·ge·ses [ek-si-jee-seez] critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible.
    • Origin: 1610–20; < Greek exḗgēsis an interpretation, explanation, equivalent to ex- ex-3 + ( h ) ēgē- (verbid stem of hēgeîsthai to guide) + -sis -sis
  • Eisegesis [ahy-si-jee-sis] — noun, plural eis·e·ge·ses [ahy-si-jee-seez] an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter’s own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text.
    • Origin: 1890–95; < Greek eisḗgesis, equivalent to eis- into + ( h ) ēge- (stem of hēgeîsthai to lead) + -sis -sis

As stewards of God’s Word, we should endeavor to keep our interpretation of Scripture fully within the realm of exegesis and we should avoid Eisegesis. The simplest example is what happens when false prophets predict the return of Christ despite Matt 24:36, Acts 1:6-7, and the clear warning in Rev 22:8, they put their own ideas, bias, calculations into the texts to come up with a date. Most of the time its far more subtle and usually involves taking a passage of scripture out of context. Eisegesis can be done in ignorance, fear, or for selfish gain. The motives are not for us to discern, but the Holy Spirit for only God knows the heart of man. We are, however, to discern sound doctrine (Titus 2) and Biblical teaching.

As always, our focus should be on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not on seeking out false-gospels or false-prophets. We don’t need to study false teaching to identify that which is false. It is far better to devote yourself to the study of Truth, so that anything that contradicts Truth is false.  We would do well to guard our hearts so as not to give the devil an opportunity. Our zeal for the preservation of the Word of God must not become an occasion for sin. We must teach the word correctly, and we must endeavor to correct others in keeping with Galatians 1:6-9, Titus 1, 1 Timothy 1:3-7 while also keeping with Matthew 18:15-20, Galatians 6. For those teachers who are beyond our reach (sphere of influence, authority, etc.), we make every effort to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as indeed we should regardless of the presence or absence of false teaching) and trust in God to deal with those beyond our reach. When it comes to the leaders in your church, remain humble in your demeanor and tone.

Hebrews 13:7-9 (ESV) 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

We must bring correction to the leaders (elders, pastors, overseers, deacons, etc.) when we feel they are in the wrong, in humility and appropriately according to scripture, so as not to be a burden to them. That submission does not mean that we are to accept everything they claim to be the Word of God. Hopefully, understanding the differences between exegesis and eisegesis will help identify warning flags.

So, how do we do this? Well, the first recommendation I have is to devote time throughout the week to read the Word of God. If the only time you open your Bible is when you are told to “open your bibles to…” on Sunday morning, I’m sorry to say that you will be ill-equipped to catch scripture being presented out of context. What’s worse, is that if eisegesis goes unchallenged for a long time, there will be less and less emphasis on the “open your bibles to…” and possibly some extra-biblical references or personal revelation presented as substantiation. By that point, many will be attending several sermons without ever opening the Bible, even within the sermon. If you are in such an assembly, you are fully reliant upon the teacher to be correct in all of his ways. So, step one is to read the Word of God. I also recommend taking notes, or taking the notes your Church gives the congregation home. During the week, explore the scriptures and see for yourself the context of the passages used, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your study. I promise you that He will show you things, even if the sermon was perfect… because you are giving the Holy Spirit time to speak to you through His Word. Finally, if there is something that you find troubling, reach out to your leadership in private (Matt 18) and ask the questions. I find that most of the correspondence Pastors receive are either antagonistic, accusatory, or solicitation… rarely is it the result of careful study of Scripture. You may find the ensuing discussion very encouraging.

I pray the Lord God bless and keep you,
In Him,
FS

Discipleship: Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry

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Apprentice

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

So, we’ve spoken a bit about delegated authority within the Scriptures. I’d like to continue in that thought by looking at several examples throughout the Old Testament. But I don’t want to lose sight of the end-goal of this series, so I want to anchor each post in this series in the Great Commission found in the book of Matthew:

Matthew 28:16-20 (NASB) The Great Commission
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is our mission. All of the scriptures are about Jesus Christ, and He left us with this charge before He ascended into Heaven. The book of Mark also records the Great Commission and summarizes the portion that I want to focus on for this study. The two accounts should be taken together. I believe that a strong case can be made for the modern church having made huge strides at following the “preaching the Gospel” as summarized by Mark (though the argument wains a bit when we look at the signs that follow believers)… but what I struggle to find is a modern-day understanding of “making disciples”. I suspect it will become increasingly difficult to connect or appreciate what it means to make disciples or to even be a disciple, because I believe that culturally we have lost sight of the concept of apprenticeship. Why? I blame individualism; however, having something to blame does not in itself address the problem. So, to explore the concept of Discipleship, I want to start out by breaking down discipleship into 3 major steps or phases: the calling, apprenticeship, and ministry.  Taking the 2 accounts of the Great Commission, we are called by Him through the preaching of the Gospel, then we are to become disciples of the Word (apprenticeship) and then go out and be partakers in the Great Commission ourselves. I’m breaking this down only as a generalized theme, and am in no way trying to make hard-lined separations so that you must be in one phase or the other.

Adam

Let’s start by returning to the Genesis account of Adam and the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 1:26 (NASB) 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Here we have God announcing the purpose of man before He creates man, “…let them rule…”. We have our calling. Our purpose was determined before we were created. Now, on the grand scale, since we know that in the Kingdom of Heaven we will reign and rule with Christ; therefore all of man’s earthly existence fits in the apprenticeship phase… sure, but that is not where I want to go. For apprenticeship, and what that means in our daily walks, lets look at the individual call of Adam.

Genesis 2:8,9,15 (NASB) 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food…15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it…

Here, we have a garden that God planted and caused to grow, and then He places Adam in the garden to cultivate it. Here we have our first apprenticeship. God showed Adam how to cultivate His garden. Adam sins against God and fails his task, sending all of mankind into darkness and cursing the very ground he was supposed to cultivate and forfeiting his delegated authority over to whom had fathered Adam’s sin, the devil.

Genesis 3:21-23 (NASB) 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Now, here our phases are broken somewhat, because the story of Adam is one of man’s failure and of God’s Sovereignty, Grace, Love and provision. We’ve already looked at how Jesus came to fulfill God’s plan and redeem all of mankind by paying the debt of Adam, by offering Himself as the Pure Spotless Lamb of Sacrifice. However, even after the fall, we have Adam being given his ministry, “to cultivate the ground from which he was taken“. I also like that we still have Adam being taught by God in that He, “made garments of skin…and clothed them“.

Abram (Abraham)

Let us now jump ahead a bit to another individual about whom we’ve discussed recently. Paul writes in Romans 4 about how Abram’s faith in God was credited to him as righteousness before the covenant of circumcision. Let us turn now to Genesis 12 which starts out with God’s calling of Abram:

Genesis 12:1-4 (NASB)
12 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Seventy-five years old when God first calls Abram! I remember wringing my hands unsure of what God wanted from me as a 20yr old college failure. But I digress, here in Genesis we have a rather sudden and out-of-the-blue call of God to Abram. In Chapter 11 we have the lineage from Noah to Abram, Sarai, and Lot. Aside from some basic family data, the only thing we know about Abram at this point is that God has a plan and a calling for Abram… and its BIG. To this point, Abram has done nothing deserving of the call of God, just as Adam had done nothing to deserve his calling. The Bible… is about God. Also notice that there is no delay in moving from Calling to Apprenticeship, “So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him“. What we will see here is that Abram has a long way to go before he can start experiencing the call on his life. He lies to Pharaoh in Egypt which almost leads to adultery (however, God intervenes), he and Lot have to part ways due to land not supporting both their wealth, and Lot takes the better looking land. Not exactly an explosive start to his calling, eh? Then the Lord speaks to him again

Genesis 13:14-17 (NASB) 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”

So, we see here God is continuing to reveal to Abram all that He intends to do in Abram’s life, and for his descendants. In Gen 14, we see 4 kings (Chedorlaomer’s team) come against 5 kings in the region (Bera king of Sodom’s team), and prevail against them, ransacking Sodom and taking with them Lot and his possessions. Abram rises up and defeats Cherdorlaomer and the kings with him and rescues Lot. That’s no small feat, not in the slightest. The Bible is quick to point out to whom goes the credit for such a feat…

Genesis 14:18-23 (NASB)
18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

19 He blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

Abram declines the “fulfill your calling quick” scheme. No doubt with all of the spoils of war, Abram could indeed have made himself a great nation. But he knew better, because he feared the One who had called him, and remembered that it would be He who would bring His Will to pass. Abram’s faith was not in the schemes of men (though he will still falter on this point regarding his wife… but hey… God’s Grace is truly amazing!); rather, it was in the Word of God. In Chapter 15, we see Abram ask God directly, “Oh Lord God what will you give me since I am childless…” and God answers him with a promise that his heir would come from his own body. It is then, that Abram believed in the Lord God and it was credited to him as righteousness (now we’ve come full-circle to Paul’s explanation of justification by faith in Romans 4). God’s call to Abram was a mighty call. And God had to work with Abram for many years. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham after establishing the covenant of circumcision and He had to deal with Abraham both in blessings and in rebukes. Twenty-five years after being called by God, Abraham finally has his son, Isaac. Abraham is 100 years old by the time a son is born to him. In the very next chapter, God tests Abraham. Now, I pray that we never have to deal with this level of testing to move on from apprenticeship to ministry, but Abraham passes the test for which he had been studying for 25 years (since the God called him):

Genesis 22:15-18 (NASB) 15 Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Abraham didn’t do anything to invite God’s call on his life, anymore than Adam did. But what Abraham did after God initiated the call on his life: he believed in the Lord, and obeyed His voice. As Christians, we’ve been grafted into God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham through Jesus Christ, who bore within Himself the punishment for the sin of all mankind. We’ve been granted an inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven, where we will reign and rule with Christ as heirs and joint heirs.

But what is our calling now? Remember the Great Commission (Mark 16 & Matthew 28). That is a calling for all of us who’ve answered the call of the Holy Spirit on our lives, to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. That is not to say that we don’t have individual callings. God has a plan for each of us made before we were born (Psalm 139:16) and when we are made alive in Christ, He gives us gifts and callings:

Ephesians 4:11-16 (NASB) 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

It takes time, we will stumble along the way, but God is faithful to complete His work in each of us. Not everyone has the same calling, and we really have no say in what our calling will be, nor can we randomly pick a calling from the Bible and implore to grant us that calling. God does the calling, and the teaching, and the perfecting. What do we do? In closing this post (we’ll be revisiting this topic), let us turn to James 4:

James 4:7-10 (NASB) 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

We submit to God. Please know that I am in no way claiming to have succeeded in this myself. I struggle as you. I stumble just as you stumble (maybe even in the same areas). And like you, I put my hope in Jesus Christ. For apart from Him, I am nothing.

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

God’s Covenant with Abraham

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the Western Wall

the Western Wall

As I’ve recently devoted myself to the study of the Old Testament as a basis and a foundation for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I am reminded that I am not a Jew, a descendant of Abraham. I cannot establish my lineage to any of the tribes of Israel; therefore, I fall under the Gentile category. Now, by the Sovereignty and Authority of God, His Word, and His appointment of Paul as an Apostle of Christ, I take on faith what the scriptures say… that through Christ, I’ve been adopted into the Kingdom of Heaven. We looked at how Jesus Christ presented Himself as the atoning sacrifice, forever paying the debt incurred by Adam. Was God’s covenant with Abraham only with his descendents? Let’s take a look at the covenant, and then lets see what Paul has to say about it. My goal here is to continue to break down the artificial divide between the Old and New Testaments that contemporary Christianity has erected thereby treating the New Testament as its own, self-reliant, text.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB)
12 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

In Abraham, all of the earth will be blessed. But this wasn’t the end of it… God later establishes a covenant with Abraham

Genesis 17:1-8 (NASB)
17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am God Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be blameless.
2 “I will establish My covenant between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly.”
3 Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. 8 I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

What an amazing covenant, such a blessed gift. An everlasting covenant, and this is God’s chosen people. In the generations that would follow, the children of Israel (Abraham > Isaac > Jacob (who God renames Israel)) find their identity as God’s chosen people in the circumcision. In fact, this becomes a recurring problem in the early church, when the Jews in the church started teaching that the Gentiles who believed the Gospel had to be circumcised (Gal 5:1-12).

Romans 4:1-17 (NASB) Justification by Faith Evidenced in Old Testament
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
And whose sins have been covered.
8 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”
9 Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

Paul, a Pharisee, knew the Law and the Prophets. The Holy Spirit revealed to him the Truth in the Old Testament that it was not the circumcision that earned Abram his righteousness… it was his faith in God that was credited to him as righteousness. In fact, he makes the case that the circumcision is a sign affirming the circumcision of the heart that happened when Abram believed God. So, being saved by grace, through faith wasn’t invented in the New Testament… it was the very method by which Abram was saved and chosen by God. The circumcision of the heart being made more important than physical circumcision is NOT a new testament invention… but simply a revelation of the truth of what was already there in Genesis. In fact, take some time to read through the book of Hebrews… Paul makes his case to the Jews and in Ch 11 he just has to stop short so he can move on to the next point, let see how he does it:

Hebrews 11:32-34 (NASB) 32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Time will fail me if… Paul is saying that if we look throughout the Scriptures, we will find again and again that it was by faith that all things were given to them in God’s Will. We don’t become Jews, we remain in the category of Gentiles, as far as bloodlines and Earthly inheritance. However, in Christ, we are all declared sons of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:14-17). If then, our identity is in Christ Jesus and we live by the Spirit of God, then we are made the sons of God. From there on any squabbles about Jew/Gentile becomes little more than that of the firstborn son and the second (an issue of authority/blessing NOT equality for they are both sons).

In closing, I’d like to include the following passage from Hebrews 12 as a prayer for us as we continue studying God’s Word and applying it to our lives in full submission to Him:

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB) 12 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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