{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Jesus said, “‘He who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believes on Me "},{"insert":"as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ This spoke He of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the Spirit which they that believe on Him should afterward receive, for the Holy Ghost "},{"insert":"had "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not yet been given"},{"insert":", because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39, KJV, NASB, Ampl.; see also Eph. 1:13-14). Real faith, real belief in Jesus that’s in accord with Scripture, then, will bring a real birth of the same Spirit that birthed Jesus, and then an ongoing walk of sanctification in that Spirit (Rom. 8:1-4, 9-17; Gal. 5:16, 25; 2 Thess. 2:13). Sanctification merely means that our saving relationship with God does not cease, that we dare not divorce ourselves from our covenantal relationship of ongoing unity and obedience—this thus makes sanctification essential for salvation and inextricably ties it to saving faith. Sanctification, in other words, is the ongoing expression of saving faith, just as Paul states explicitly in 2 Thessalonians 2:13. Jesus’ words, that they who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"truly believe "},{"insert":"will receive the Holy Spirit, also explain why Paul could write to the Galatians, denouncing works opposed to faith by asking, “Did you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"receive the Spirit "},{"insert":"by the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"works "},{"insert":"of the law, or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by the hearing of faith"},{"insert":"? . . . Having "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"begun in the Spirit "},{"insert":"are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3). This last sentence assumes not only a beginning, a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"birth"},{"insert":", in the Spirit but also an ongoing walk of obedience (of “being made perfect”) in the Spirit. The Spirit, in short, not only "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"begins "},{"insert":"or births this relationship "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through regeneration "},{"insert":"(“having "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"begun "},{"insert":"in the Spirit”), but it also takes us on toward a perfection of relationship “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through sanctification "},{"insert":"by the Spirit” (2 Thess. 2:13). As said, Paul pointedly connects sanctification with saving faith by writing that we receive “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"salvation "},{"insert":"through "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sanctification "},{"insert":"by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the Spirit "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"belief "},{"insert":"in the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13— see also Acts 20:32; 26:18). But Paul also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"contrasts "},{"insert":"this sort of direct, faithful obedience to God through the Spirit to  “works of the law,” which he further equates in Galatians 3 with works of “the flesh” (see Gal. 3:2-3). Paul goes on to say that He who “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"supplies the Spirit "},{"insert":"to you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"works miracles "},{"insert":". . . by the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hearing of faith"},{"insert":"” (Gal. 3:5). To receive this Spirit means at the very least to receive a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"supernatural"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power"},{"insert":", the power that Jesus described when He declared that, “after the Holy Spirit is come upon you,” “you shall receive "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power"},{"insert":"” (Acts 1:8, KJV, NKJV). This is a power that tangibly comes into our lives, a power that even “works miracles.” Moreover, this experience of the Spirit comes “by the hearing of faith” and provides the very ground in which saving faith continues to “stand.”\n* Rom. 8:1-4, 9-14; Acts 9:31; Gal. 5:16, 25; 1 John 1:1-8. † See The Minister’s Dialectical Handbook of Theology and Doctrine "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On the Holy Spirit"},{"insert":".\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"asdfasdf This is another test. \nTrying another Test!\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the region of Mesopotamia from which Abraham had journeyed, babies were routinely sacrificed in earthen jars or simply tossed on the town rubbish heap.92 In Canaan, where Abraham immigrated, the situation was even worse. Gods who called for the sacrifice of children were no stranger to Abraham or to the history of the region. But with Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, the simple substitution of a ram for a child indicated a dramatic reversal in a cultural setting that placed equal value on humans and animals. \nBy testing Abraham’s priority of loyalties, how he ordered his own set of values and who or what would be first in his life, God was also testing whether he would remain faithful to a transcendent vision that rejected wholesale human sacrifice along with the culture and worldview upon which such sacralized violence rested. When Abraham stared off in the distance toward Moriah and told his servants to wait while he and the boy went up the mountain to worship, he concluded by saying, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"We "},{"insert":"will come back to you,” indicating that he already knew that somehow this Yahweh was different from the multitude of regional gods that exacted human sacrifice. The same is evident in Abraham’s response when Isaac said to his father concerning the sacrifice, “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering,” and Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Both these passages indicate that Abraham, though deeply moved and feeling the weightiness of an event of unequalled magnitude, was nonetheless convinced that he was serving a God who differed radically from those of Ur or Canaan. In this context, when Yahweh fulfilled Abraham’s expectations of Him, “blessing” seems almost too tame, too domesticated, too used-up a word to describe the ineffable relief, as well as the absolute social and cultural joy, that the changes brought by this God would mean to human beings and human relationships.\n \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The fourth chapter of Romans begins with a passage that is often misinterpreted: “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?”—or, as it has been more properly translated, “What shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh has found?”—“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.’” (The word in the Greek, translated “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"accounted"},{"insert":",” is the same word used in Romans 6:11 where it says, “Likewise, you also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reckon "},{"insert":"yourself to be dead to sin.” So it is often read, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned [or credited] to him as righteousness.’”) But what Paul in fact says here is that Abraham’s “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"faith"},{"insert":"” is credited to him as righteousness. He does not say “the righteousness of Christ was credited to him because of his faith,” rather, “His faith was credited [or reckoned or accounted] to him as righteousness.” \nPaul continues: “Now to him who works, the wages are not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"counted "},{"insert":"as grace” (again, “counted” or “accounted” is the same Greek word used in Romans 6:11 where it says, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reckoned "},{"insert":"dead to sin”—so the wages of works are “not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reckoned "},{"insert":"as grace”) “but as debt” (Rom. 4:4). What Paul is saying here is that it is Abraham’s ongoing relationship of obedience to what God is telling him to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do"},{"insert":"” that the Bible views as faith, just as Paul instructed the Corinthians, in the context of testing their faith, to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do "},{"insert":"what is honorable” and to not “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do "},{"insert":". . . evil” (2 Cor. 13:7). It is Abraham’s covenant relationship with God that obediently continues in an unfolding faith, in spite of every setback, in spite of everything that seems to go wrong, every hindrance, every obstacle, every failure, every sin, every mistake— in short, every "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"test"},{"insert":". Abraham’s faith still presses on, and that ongoing relationship with God in His power is what the Bible is calling saving or justifying faith. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When we begin to know the one whom the utterance discloses, then we can determine to what extent we can open our hearts to the word and trust it. Then the word becomes the channel for an unfolding relationship, not a dead and abstract fact. This point helps us see why Jesus didn’t say, “I "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"speak "},{"insert":"the Truth,” but rather “I "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"am "},{"insert":"the Truth.” His words weren’t merely coded informational messages to be assessed in a piecemeal objectivity, but the disclosure of the One Being whose coherence and consistency gave meaning to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"of creation (John 1:1-5; 14:6-7; Col. 1:15-17). While every statement He uttered and inspired others to write in His enscriptured Word was altogether true, His desire wasn’t that we would subject His Words to piecemeal verification, validation and objective proof, but that we would open our hearts to Him and believe that He was (and now is) “speaking the truth” because He "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"the truth that ever lives. Such a truth, of course, assumes some sort of experience of the person speaking to us. Then, because we believe all this, we open ourselves to completely trust His Words. We submit our minds to His. In this case, we bring our thoughts into captivity to the mind of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), ceasing to make evaluations about God’s Word with our carnal understanding, but allowing His Word to discern the intents and thoughts of our hearts (Heb. 4:12, NKJV). In short, we return to that relationship that man had with God before Adam sought to ascertain good and evil for himself, apart from God, by eating the forbidden fruit. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The ancient Egyptians said that a great flood had been sent by the creator to destroy “sinful humanity” because men “have fought fights, they have upheld strifes, they have done evil, they have created hostilities, they have made slaughter, they have caused trouble and oppression.” Therefore this Egyptian deity declared, “I am going to blot out everything which I have made. This earth shall enter into the watery abyss . . . by means of a raging flood, and will become even as it was in primeval time.”42 The Teutonic flood myth likewise speaks of a time when “war broke out all over the earth. Brother slew brother, children no longer respected the ties of blood. It was a time when men were no better than wolves, eager to destroy each other.” Because of this, “the world was going to sink into the abyss of nothingness.”43 It was at such a time of human violence and social chaos, then, that the great catastrophe is depicted as occurring, culminating invariably in a worldwide flood. Eliade points out that all of these “myths . . . share in essentially the same symbolism: the need to radically destroy a degenerate world and humanity so that [people] can be recreated, that is, restored to their initial integrity.”44\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some interpret Romans 1:18-20 (speaking of the “wrath of God” being revealed against those who “hold the truth in unrighteousness”) as applying "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"only "},{"insert":"to those who have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"received the gospel. They may even see this interpretation confirmed by verses 21-32 in a way that makes them thank God in the manner of the self-righteous Pharisee whom Jesus contrasted to the repentant Publican in Luke 18:10-14. But then in Romans 2:1 and the subsequent verses, Paul indicates that what he has been describing in 1:18ff applies to believers as well, if those believers are mired in hypocrisy, which would then be the same as what 1:18 characterizes as holding the truth in unrighteousness. The truth of which Paul had been speaking in verses 18-20 was not only general but also included the special revelation of the gospel. From 1:18-32, God had been warning the believers and describing some of them, but they were so blind that they couldn’t see it. Then 2:1ff comes like a bucket of ice water in the face to awaken them. \nWhile these people had seen themselves as exempt from judgment, Paul says they are facing God’s wrath. They had assented to the condemnation of unbelievers without realizing that they were condemning themselves. Paul even goes so far as to say that these he is now addressing are doing the same things that he has spoken of in the preceding verses. But it doesn’t seem that he restricts his criticism to those who commit all the abominations specified toward the end of chapter 1. Rather, he is attacking those who, from Paul’s perspective, are idolaters and are therefore as surely in rebellion against God as those who commit these abominations. Yet what, according to Paul, makes them idolaters? Verse 21 explains that for Paul the essence of idolatry is a refusal to “glorify” God “as God,” which makes one “futile” in his “thoughts.” This leads such people to serve “the creation rather than the Creator” (v. 25). All the abominations Paul describes follow from this, but this refusal to glorify God as God is the essence of the problem that Paul finds both in the unbeliever and the hypocritical believer. Verses 1:16-17 indicate that the righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith.” The converse of this, then, is precisely what verse 18 describes: to hold the truth in unrighteousness. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Zane C. Hodges of the Dallas Theological Seminary acknowledges that when John says, “Whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother (3:10b, Greek),” he speaks of Christians. In Hodges’ view, the believer’s failure to “do righteousness” and to “love his brother,” merely means that he is not “of God” in these particular attitudes and actions. Yet, incredibly, this failure, Hodges believes, reveals nothing about the individual’s underlying character and relationship with God and can never have any bearing whatsoever on his salvation. This is not, however, a conclusion drawn from Scripture but rather an assumption that Hodges reads into the text based upon his theological presuppositions. That Hodges’ interpretation represents merely an exercise in question-begging is clearly seen in his accompanying interpretation of the first part of this verse: “By this [that is, by whether or not one sins] the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil [Greek].” Hodges explains: “The key word here is ‘manifest.’ A sinning Christian "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conceals "},{"insert":"his true character when he sins and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reveals "},{"insert":"it only through holiness. On the other hand, a child of Satan "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reveals "},{"insert":"his true character by sin” (Zane C. Hodges, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The Gospel Under Seige "},{"insert":"p. 62). In other words, for Hodges, what one “manifests” has nothing to do with what one actually is. Yet John says that “the children of God” are “revealed” through their righteous conduct. This means that if they evidence no “righteous conduct,” it is not because they are suppressing what they really are but because they are in fact manifesting that, though they profess Christ, they are not what they claim to be. This is what Paul warns us of when he says: “They profess to know God—to recognize, perceive and be acquainted with Him—but deny "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"disown "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"renounce Him by what they do; they are detestable "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"loathsome, unbelieving "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"disobedient "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"disloyal "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"rebellious, and [they are] unfit "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"worthless for good work (deed or enterprise) of any kind” (Titus 1:16, Ampl.). Likewise Jesus told us we could judge a tree by its fruit: the fruit "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reveals "},{"insert":"what it truly is (Luke 6:44). A “sinning Christian” (that is, one who habitually acts against the light that has been revealed to him) therefore “reveals” through his sin the fact that he is not a true Christian and must therefore come to repentance in order that he may become that which he claims to be.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\"But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"accepted by Him"},{"insert":".\" (Acts 10:35)\n\"You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"acceptable to God"},{"insert":" through Jesus Christ.\" (1 Pet. 2:5)\n\"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"acceptable to God"},{"insert":", which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.\" (Rom. 12:1-2)\n\"And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.\" (Heb. 5:9)\n\"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"serve God acceptably"},{"insert":" with reverence and godly fear.\" (Heb. 12:28)\n\"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"finding out what is acceptable to the Lord"},{"insert":".\" (Eph. 5:8-10)\n\"For he who serves Christ in these things is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"acceptable to God"},{"insert":" and approved by men.\" (Rom. 14:18)\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul starts off the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians by contrasting their present condition to their former status, when they “were dead in . . . transgressions and sins.” So it is important to note that Paul’s statements are being addressed to an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"already changed "},{"insert":"people, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"church "},{"insert":"at Ephesus comprised of people who are now "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living "},{"insert":"a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life "},{"insert":"pleasing to God, walking in obedience to Him—people who now live a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life "},{"insert":"of faith. And as Paul goes on to indicate in verses 8 and 9, it was grace that saved them and put them on the path of obedience to God, not their own power. But is Paul implying that they now have no need to obey God? On the contrary, Paul goes on to immediately say, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to do good works"},{"insert":", which "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God prepared in advance for us to do” "},{"insert":"(Eph. 2:10). So good works are in no way portrayed as irrelevant: this is the purpose for which we were “created”! These works are, however, not a human achievement but rather they are the works “which God prepared in advance for us to do,” and we are “God’s workmanship.” \nAs Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I worked harder "},{"insert":"than all of them—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"yet not I"},{"insert":", but the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"grace of God "},{"insert":"that was "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with me"},{"insert":".” So the point is not to counterpose grace and all works but only grace and humanly engendered works. In contrast to such works, Paul makes it clear that we must see the works that God has “prepared in advance for us to do” as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"works, the expression of His grace. This is what makes them nothing wherein we can boast but rather commandments of God that we must obey. As Paul also said, “Continue to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"work out your salvation "},{"insert":"with fear and trembling, for it is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God who works in you "},{"insert":"to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13). “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Work out "},{"insert":"your salvation,” but it is “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by grace you have been saved"},{"insert":", through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not by works"},{"insert":", so that no one can boast.” Our salvation is worked out within us by the grace of God. So it is not by any works wherein we can boast but through the faith that enables us to walk in obedience (Rom. 1:5) and to turn away from “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Eph. 2:2). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Consider a feature, full-length article - Section on \"Atonement\" from Essentials of Faith is 2,300 words and would be a two-page spread. It recalls to mind Bro. Asi's explanation of the Gospel to the gentleman from Arkansas... We cover bits and pieces of it in various articles throughout the Study Bible, but this is an incredible summary and should be considered for inclusion in its entirety or as part of a series.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The story of the Babylonian captivity presents a striking picture of the intimate connection between God, the people and the land. When God turned the Jews out into exile, He focused his anger on their unfaithful stewardship of the land of inheritance: “they have defiled "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"my"},{"insert":" land.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"47"},{"insert":" In an unlimited dominion arising from greed, they profaned His patterns (“The land is to have . . . a sabbath to the Lord . . . . a year of rest,”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"48"},{"insert":" and had not taken “pity [as He Himself had] . . . on his dwelling place.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"49"},{"insert":" Although he had “sent word to them through his messengers again and again . . . . they mocked God’s messengers.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"50"},{"insert":" God had spoken clearly: “If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"51"},{"insert":" Now He severed them from that special presence of Yahweh associated with His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"place"},{"insert":" of dwelling. Because “they . . . sold themselves to do evil . . . . so Yahweh was very angry with Israel and . . . . "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"he thrust them from his presence"},{"insert":",”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"52"},{"insert":" as He had said, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"So I will throw you out of this land"},{"insert":".”)"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"53"},{"insert":" Therefore, to be cast from Yahweh’s presence was to be thrust off the land—the two went hand-in-hand. While “He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant . . . . the land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed . . .”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"54"},{"insert":"  The length of Israel’s Babylonian captivity equaled the number of sabbath rest years that the Israelites had failed to give to the land.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"“Balaam” means “not of the people”—he was a loner, an independent who separated himself from the covenant relationships of the Israel of God. Yet he was nonetheless more than willing to mingle with Balak and with those outside the covenant if they offered him the right price. He therefore went forth “recklessly,” at the invitation of Balak, king of Moab, to proclaim God’sWord according to his own vested interest rather than disinterestedly standing under the control of the Spirit. He refused to speak only according to his God-ordained function in the divine order of the kingdom, and so through his counsel he caused the people of God to fall by enticing them into worldliness.\nKorah was of course one of the “men famous in the congregation” who was killed by Yahweh for rebelling against the legitimate expression of God’s authority in the spiritual nation; he is the one who said to Moses, “Are not all the Israelites as holy as you?”10*\nSee separate article on Rebellion of Korah....\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"To have truly risen to newness of life in Christ, the new believer "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"must "},{"insert":"first be filled with the same transforming Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead.  This Spirit will envelop, infill and utterly immerse him, constituting his spiritual rebirth into the kingdom of God.  The believer will walk in the Spirit of the Son.  This baptism, this infilling or birth of the Holy Spirit, is only "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"initially"},{"insert":" evidenced by what Luke, writing under the anointing of that selfsame Spirit, repeatedly describes as \"speaking in other tongues\".  In this case, speaking in tongues serves as a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sign"},{"insert":" in evidence of the gift or birth of the Holy Spirit.  So it is not, in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this"},{"insert":" expression, the utterance of tongues as a supernatural "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gift"},{"insert":" from the Spirit, which may come for the edification of the church after the initial receiving of the Holy Spirit.  One is a sign to believers of receiving the Holy Spirit; the other is a sign to unbelievers.  In the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit, the believer so surrenders himself to God's Spirit that he speaks words prompted by the Spirit, words that he does not understand and therefore that do not come from his own mind but only and directly from the Spirit of God.  He thereby begins to be united with those who have put on the mind of Christ.  God's \"laws\" are deposited \"in their mind\" and written \"in their hearts\".  This is the promise of the New Covenant as the promise reaches toward fulfillment.\nWhile tongues is only the initial "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sign"},{"insert":", the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fruit"},{"insert":" of the Spirit demonstrates that the new birth of the Spirit is genuine and continuing, that the seed has fallen in good soil.  Just as the believer must each day keep his original pledge to put the old nature to death, so he must each day renew the living Spirit within his as he prays in the Spirit, building himself up in his most holy faith\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Through “the obedience that comes from faith” (Rom. 1:5, NIV), the believer will now take a step of commitment that actually pledges his old self into Jesus’ death. This pledge comes in his submission to the waters of baptism when the believer takes on the name and identity of his new Lord and life, Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:1-5). Peter called it a “pledge” because it initiates the covenantal process whereby the believer permanently and irrevocably commits to, each day (Luke 9:23-26) and each moment of every day, putting the old sinful nature to death so that he may walk in the newness of Christ’s resurrected life. His water birth constitutes his initial commitment to a process of dying to self that lasts a lifetime (Rom. 6:3-8, 11; Luke 9:23-26). Yet the Lord is willing to “call those things that are not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17, KJV) on the condition that the believer will continue to walk by faith in obedience to God’s Word as it shines in the believer’s path (Rom. 1:5, NIV, 17; John 8:31-32; Rom. 4:12; Ps. 119:105; Prov. 4:18, NIV). This "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living"},{"insert":" by faith (Heb. 10:38; Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11-14) brings the imputation of the righteousness that, step by step, is actually imparted to the believer as he "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walks"},{"insert":" in faith (Rom. 4:5-8, 20-24; James 2:23; Prov. 4:18, NIV; Rom. 1:17; 4:12; 5:19; 2 Cor. 3:17-18; 5:21; Phil. 3:9); and baptism is the New Covenant commitment to this process and to the abiding death of the fallen nature that presupposes its realization.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The context within which the believer’s baptism pledge is lived out is the Spirit-anointed corporate Body of Christ, the Body in which “He distributes” His gifts “to each one individually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as He"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"wills."},{"insert":"” This Body is the church, which is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fullness"},{"insert":" of Him who is all the fullness of. So the church must serve the central role of expressing Christ’s lordship authority. Christ Himself is the Head of this church and King of all its authorities. In the act of baptism by immersion into the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, no substitution of titles for that holy and proper name can ultimately prove acceptable to God on the level of New Covenant relationship that He calls believers into for salvation in the context of His Body. This is so because baptism in Jesus’ own name—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Yahshua"},{"insert":", which means “Yahweh-become-Salvation”—fulfills the Great Commission of Jesus that believers be baptized in the name of the Father, the name of the Son, as well as the name of the Holy Spirit, just as the apostles also saw and therefore obeyed in the baptismal commandments that issued forth from their own mouths (Acts 2:37-41; 8:12-17; 10:44-48; 19:1-7). They believed, and as Peter testified, that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). In this sense, baptism also testifies to the incarnation of “the fullness” of God in Christ Jesus—that Jesus has come in the flesh and is still doing so in His Body (1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 7, Wms., TCNT). Baptism is in water because "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"Word, coming through "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"Body, is what will continue to cleanse believers in “the washing of water through the Word” (Eph. 5:25-27).* This baptism is by immersion because believers are being “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"buried "},{"insert":"in the likeness of His death” (Rom. 6:3-5).*\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Through baptism, we pledge ourselves to submit to Jesus Christ so that He absorbs the identity of our fallen nature into His own sacrificial life, just as a wife’s identity is absorbed into her husband’s when she takes on his name. This desire of the bride to be absorbed into the identity of her husband expresses the very essence of love that is ascending toward its transcendent source. It is exemplified in Ruth’s request that Boaz cover her with the “corner of his garment” (Ruth 3:9, NIV). As one influential study points out, this Hebrew idiom—or its alternative translation, requesting that Boaz would place Ruth “under his wing”—“is symbolic of entering into marital relations”32 (Ruth 3:9-14). The same idiom is used in Ezekiel 16:8 and speaks of God also “spread[ing] [His] wing over” or “spread[ing] the corner of His garment” over Israel (Ezek. 16:8-10). This example from Ezekiel shares many touch points with Christian baptism. In Ezekiel’s picture, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God "},{"insert":"“swore an oath” and “entered into a covenant” of marriage with His spiritual bride. This expresses the same great mystery Paul spoke of when he declared: “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"united "},{"insert":"to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery — "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"but"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I am talking about Christ and the church"},{"insert":"” (Eph. 5:31-32). John the Baptist had prepared the way for this view when he identified baptism with the coming of the Christ, whom He called the “Bridegroom,” further identifying himself as only a “friend” of the Bridegroom and suggesting that his baptism was only unto repentance, while Christ’s would join people to Him through the Bride (John 3:23-29). The context makes clear that most of the Jews expected such a baptism with the coming of Messiah (John 3:25-27). G. R. Beasley-Murray wrote that, early on, Jewish brides took a “ceremonial bath . . . in preparation for marriage.” He went on to say that, “for the bride of Christ . . . , the counterpart to this bath is baptism in which the members of the body are cleansed ‘by the washing of water by the Word.’” He saw this passage as specifically related to Christian “baptism.”33 So when Peter describes baptism as “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pledge "},{"insert":"of a good conscience” (1 Pet. 3:21, NIV), he is saying we are “pledging” ourselves to conform in all particulars to the patterns that express Christ’s identity, taking on the identity of the Bridegroom by becoming part of, and so also becoming one with, His Bride.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Many who accept the legitimacy of Mark 16:16 nonetheless have attempted to refute the seemingly clear implications of the first clause, “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” by pointing out that the second half of the verse, “he that does not believe shall be damned,” doesn’t mention baptism. They contend that baptism isn’t essential for salvation because this second clause indicates that someone isn’t “damned” for refusing to be baptized but only for not believing. \nUpon examination, however, it is hard to dignify this claim even as a fallacious argument from silence, since the clause above has already stated the indispensable importance of baptism. Moreover, how can the fact that one line of Scripture does not contain all the information in every other related line disprove what these other passages explicitly state? Finally, in this case, such an interpretation is an assumptive inference not supported by the context: it infers, in other words, that baptism must be mentioned a second time and every other time salvation is ever mentioned to make what Jesus said the first time valid and binding. It assumes, in short, that the absence of a command in one passage nullifies the presence of that command in another. \nThe same sort of argument has been used in trying to refute the seeming necessity of baptism indicated in such passages as Acts 2:38. In this latter instance, it was said that Peter didn’t mean baptism was necessary because subsequent passages such as Acts 3:19 mention only repentance, not baptism. The problem with this sort of reasoning is that Acts 3:19 not only fails to mention baptism— neither does it mention faith. So, then, does this mean only repentance is necessary and not faith? In fact, Millard Erickson and others have even referred to baptism as an “act of faith.”A If it is, then it could be understood as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"included "},{"insert":"in Mark’s second mention of belief in his verse, especially when its essentiality has already been clearly stated in the clause above. The law of parsimony demands such an interpretation on the face value of the text. H. A.W. Meyer confirms this in his insight that it would be “obvious” that a “refusal of faith necessarily excluded baptism, since such persons despised the salvation offered in the preaching of faith.”B Since, in short, they did not believe, therefore they would not obey the gospel. This would hardly nullify the need for those who embrace salvation to obey it. \nA Millard J. Erickson, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christian Theology"},{"insert":", 2d ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House Co., Baker Books, 1998), pp. 1107-1108, 1110. \nB Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Critical and Exegetical Hand-Book to the Gospels of Mark and Luke"},{"insert":", trans. Robert Ernest Wallis, rev. and ed. William P. Dickson (1884; reprint, Winona Lake, Ind.: Alpha Publications, 1979), p. 204. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"A superficial reading of Exodus 6:2-3 has often led to the conclusion that a contradiction inheres in the passage. For the name of Yahweh actually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"was "},{"insert":"known as “a name” to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, since the Genesis text tells us that the Patriarchs called upon that name (Gen. 12:8; 26:25;32:9). It is important, however, to see that the Exodus passage does not merely say that the Patriarchs did not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"know "},{"insert":"the name of Yahweh but that by the name of Yahweh “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I "},{"insert":"was not known to them.” In short, it was not the name as a combination of letters or sounds that remained unknown—rather, the unknown is Yahweh Himself but the meaning of this name would present Him to humankind in a new way, thus initiating a new level of His self-revelation, a new level specifically beginning in what He was about to do through Moses. This indicates that Yahweh was now about to manifest Himself to the Israelites in a relational and presentational "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"experience "},{"insert":"that would go far beyond the kind of relationship with God that the Patriarchs had known. In other words, something new and pivotal, even earth-shaking, is about to happen; and it revolves around the name of Yahweh. This name, in short, will become the means of revealing God in an ever more personal and powerful experience, an experience that culminates in Israel’s passage through the waters of the Exodus but that will go on with them in their new identity as a people in a new land.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\"For it is impossible "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift"},{"insert":", and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.  For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.\" (Heb. 6:4-8)\n\"For if we sin willfully "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after we have received the knowledge of the truth"},{"insert":", there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by which he was sanctified"},{"insert":" a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?\" (Heb. 10:26-29)\n\"For if, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"},{"insert":", they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness"},{"insert":", than "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"having known it,"},{"insert":" to turn from "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the holy commandment delivered to them"},{"insert":". "},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own vomit,' and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.'\" (2 Pet. 2:20-22)\n\"Brethren, if anyone among you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"wanders from the truth"},{"insert":", and someone turns him back,"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"save a soul from death "},{"insert":"and cover a multitude of sins.\" (James 5:19-20)\n\"And you will be hated by all for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end will be saved"},{"insert":".\" (Matt. 10:22)\n\"But he who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"endures to the end "},{"insert":"shall be saved.\" (Matt. 24:13)\n\"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser."},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"  "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away"},{"insert":"; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"script":"super"},"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned."},{"insert":"\" (John 15:1-6)\n\"If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.\" (John 15:10)\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The only time the phrase “faith alone” is used in the Bible is by James when he states that “if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds,” that such a “faith” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"cannot "},{"insert":"“"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"save "},{"insert":"him,” that “a person is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"justified "},{"insert":"by what he "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"does "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not by "},{"insert":"faith alone” (James 2:14, 24). Here James straightforwardly declares that salvation, or justification, comes “by what he "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"does"},{"insert":".” If this is the case, then grace-inspired works of obedience to God must be essential to faith and thus to salvation. James gives the example of Abraham’s faithful sacrifice of Isaac as being precisely what justified him (James 2:21, NKJV). If his faith sufficed apart from works, why then did James so emphatically state: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” (James 2:21-22, NASU). James did not say that works merely expressed faith but “perfected” or “completed” faith. \nAs opposed to viewing faith as merely a one-time event, Paul also uses Abraham’s example to urge believers to an unfolding, ongoing and living faith when he says Abraham is the father of all who “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk in the footsteps of the faith "},{"insert":"that our father Abraham had.” (Rom. 4:12). Abraham didn’t “believe God” and then sit down and do nothing in order to magnify his faith. He “walked” out his faith to the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fulfillment"},{"insert":"” or “completion” of all that God commanded for him in his day. Indeed, as Paul says, “the only thing that matters is faith "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expressing "},{"insert":"itself through love.” Because Abraham loved God, he "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expressed "},{"insert":"his faith by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obedience"},{"insert":"; and as he took each of his “steps of the faith” (Rom. 4:12, NKJV), his faith moved toward its perfection as it was more fully expressed in the reality of a human life “lived by faith” (Rom. 1:17; Hab. 2:4). How can one “express,” press out, something such as love except in an externalized "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"action "},{"insert":"or word? As we in turn follow on in the footsteps of the father of the faithful, motivated by love to run in the path of God’s commands (Rom. 4:12; Gal. 5:6; Ps. 119:32), we shall move toward the culmination of God’s purpose that we might all be “made perfect” together (Heb. 11:39- 40).\n A Kenneth Barker, ed., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The NIV Study Bible: New International Version "},{"insert":"(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985), p. 1883. ¶Gen. 17 and 22; 1 John 4:10, 19; Titus 3:3-6; John 3:16-17. B Packer, “Justification,” p. 594. C Barker, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"NIV Study Bible"},{"insert":", p. 1883. ¶ Prov. 4:18; Rom. 1:17-18, KJV; Col. 1:21-23; 2 Thess. 1:3; 1 John 1:5-7—see Supplemental Reading 3 for a discussion of alternative interpretations of Romans 1:17. D Packer, “Justification,” p. 594.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Acts 10 shows Cornelius and “all [his] household” being “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"saved"},{"insert":"” by an ongoing walk of faith, a walk of faith that includes experiencing the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues (Acts 10:44-48; 11:14-17). This stands in contrast to view of salvation that comes by a punctiliar faith and which insists that the new birth in the Spirit that was experienced by Cornelius and his household somehow just automatically happens the moment a person first believes. This is said to be the case whether the ‘believing’ soul realizes this new birth has taken place or not, and even whether he experiences anything at all of God or not. This, in fact, is supposedly what makes it “real faith”—that he trusts this creedal concept and the one who ministers it (usually even more than he does any direct relationship with God Himself). And both his creed and his minister tell him he has had a saving experience with God, even though he may have actually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"experienced "},{"insert":"little or nothing at all from God, except perhaps in his mind or imagination. Trusting in nothing that might be experienced as God’s presence is, in fact, what’s now deemed the highest expression of the greatest “faith.” It is not to them, in short, the beginning of an actual new life coming supernaturally from the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.* It’s more like assenting to the context and ceremony of marriage, and then, merely on that basis, saying that you’re married—even if you never even directly communicate with your so-called spouse, much less have a direct and ongoing relationship with him or her. Those, however, who hold to the model of salvation evident in the conversion of Cornelius believe that Jesus, Luke, Paul and the writer of Hebrews all refer to the “baptism,” “gift,” “infilling,” “outpouring” and “rebirth” of the Spirit as a singularly experience or event—one commonly spoken of throughout Scripture as “the Promise.”* The fact that all these different descriptions of the work of the Spirit are referred to, or summed up, in Scripture by one word, the “Promise,” indicates that all these words describe in different ways one and the same phenomenon or experience. As believers, we should expect this"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"miraculous power of the Holy Spirit to one day overshadow our own hearts and spirits, supernaturally conceiving God’s spiritual nature within us. And this is exactly what happened at the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost, when all the disciples were waiting for the experience of the Holy Spirit, of which Jesus said, “After that the Holy Spirit is come upon you,” “you shall receive "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power"},{"insert":"” (Acts 1:8, KJV, NKJV)—“and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind . . . . And they were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all filled with the Holy Spirit "},{"insert":"and began to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance"},{"insert":"” (Acts 2:1-4). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"God does not join Himself to people in just any arbitrary relationship. Instead, He joins Himself to them through a specific personal relationship. Moreover, He clearly defines the terms of this relationship in order to unify people in God, but according to God’s image rather than to merely fallen humanity’s image. This oneness can only happen, in short, if such a joining occurs within the context of the God given covenant. The covenant designates how God wants to join each of us to Himself and to the rest of His people and even to creation. It defines the nature of all our relationships as God would arrange them in love. And in the process of shaping and defining these relationships, the covenant also shapes and defines us as we submit to the patterns and forms of these relationships. For example, the covenant lays out particular relationships of voluntary authority and submission within the Body of believers: between elders and disciples, between husbands and wives, between parents and children, between employers and employees.† By our voluntary submission to the covenant definitions of our relationships, God shapes us into the image that He desires for our lives. As we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"submit in our places within all of the relationships that the covenant establishes for our lives, God changes us into those new creations that He has redeemed us to become and conforms us to His image. We can see all relationships as covenants in the sense that they form agreements of one sort or another. So we can say that covenant actually constitutes the form that defines any relationship. In general, the form of anything reveals itself in the pattern that joins together its individual constituent elements. It is, in short, the form that relates these elements to one another. God has ordained the covenant’s form in order to join His people to Himself and to one another so that each part and the whole taken altogether are conformed to God’s image and not man’s. As we submit to the form of God’s covenant, this form (as does any form) excludes from our lives particular attitudes, desires, behavior and so forth, while it includes others. So as we conform our lives to all of the details of the form of the covenant for our lives, the covenant forms our lives into the image God has ordained for us. In short, God uses the covenant to shape and mold us into His own image, the image of Jesus (Rom. 8:29). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Scripture reveals the New Testament church as the restored Tabernacle of David (Acts 15:14-18, NKJV), a dwelling that, unlike Moses’ Tabernacle, allowed access not only for the high priest (typifying Jesus, our High Priest, Heb. 8:1-2) to come before the Ark of the Covenant but for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"the Levites to do so (1 Chron. 16:1-4). Unique to this Tabernacle of David, a great variety of musical instruments accompanied and formed an integral part of the priests’ ministry directly before the Ark of God’s covenant (1 Chron. 15:16-24). Scripture shows that, as in David’s Tabernacle, in the church not only does our great High Priest commune in the presence of God, but He has also made a way for believers as “a holy priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:5) and “a kingdom of priests” (Rev. 5:10, TCNT) to experience the glories of ministering before the “mercy seat,” the place of atonement at the Ark of Covenant. The Scriptures reveal that above the Ark of Covenant, God “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dwells "},{"insert":"between the cherubim” (Exod. 25:22, NKJV; see also 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 1 Chron. 13:6; Ps. 80:1—all NKJV), and now the church occupies that place of the “dwelling of God” (Eph. 2:22; Rev. 21:1-3). And here, in the place where faithful believers find "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"direct "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"open "},{"insert":"access to the presence of God, who dwells above the Ark of Covenant, the Scriptures consistently reveal joyous praise reverberating with not only loud voices of singing but also with melodies of harps, lyres, trumpets, cymbals and other musical instruments that amplify and give expression to hearts overflowing with “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8, KJV). This open access to God gives rise to and distinguishes the unique praise of songs and musical instrumentation found among worshipers everywhere who have found this direct access: whether in heaven, in the Tabernacle of David or in the church. Wherever God’s people in heaven or on earth find this open access to His Ark of the Covenant, the place of His Presence, this full expression of praise with songs and musical instruments irrepressibly breaks forth. It is one of the signs that God has brought back “the captivity of Zion” (Ps. 126:1-2, NKJV). His people cannot truly enter into the fullness of His immediate presence with less than joyful songs of thanksgiving and praise. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The enemy of our soul always has an army of theoreticians ready to explain in much detail why all that could bring peace to us is theoretically “unnecessary,” knowing that what is not seen as necessary will remain outside the realm of possibility. So everything the Bible seems to make so clear is dragged into obscurity and the doubts that came with endless complications. One school of theology, for instance, rejects the necessity of a repentance that puts the carnal nature to death. John Walvoord, as just one example, has asserted how those of this school, including himself, “object to the teaching that believers should crucify their sin nature.” He contends that the view that the believer is in any real sense expected to die “is not supported by Scripture and actually is impossible.”6 And, certainly, it is impossible "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as a work of the flesh"},{"insert":". This is what Paul makes explicit in Romans 7 when he exclaims, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” But Paul’s immediate response is, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25, NKJV). So while we cannot crucify the “body of death” by our own power, we can do so through our Redeemer. Walvoord would, of course, claim to agree with Paul’s statement, and also when Paul states that he “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dies "},{"insert":"daily” (1 Cor. 15:31, NKJV); but Walvoord interprets it differently. For he goes on to say, “The crucifixion of our old life (not our old nature) took place when Christ died in our place. Galatians 2:20, properly translated in the New International Version, states, ‘I have been crucified with Christ.’ This truth should be appropriated by faith.”7 But what, then, did Paul die to when he “died daily” (1 Cor. 15:31), and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"exactly how "},{"insert":"does faith, if “faith without works is dead,” thus appropriate Christ’s crucifixion, and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"how "},{"insert":"does it do so in such a way that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"are actually “crucified with Him”? Does it do so merely as an assumption? Or imaginatively? What "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"precisely "},{"insert":"is the operation of faith here? Where, then, is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"death? "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"How "},{"insert":"does Christ’s crucifixion come to actually be applied to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"lives by faith? For Paul explicitly declares that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"died "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"Christ” (Rom. 6:8). So even if it is surely by faith, and was “with” Christ, what in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"us "},{"insert":"died? Was it not the sinful nature? Was it not human self-will, which forever and always displaces God’s will? Is this not why Paul said, “You do not do the things that you wish” (Rom. 7:15; Gal. 5:17) and that we must “put to death the deeds of the flesh” (Rom. 8:13)? \n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Numerous popular works confirm that the early church meant \"immersion\" when they used the Greek word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"baptism"},{"insert":"."},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"A"},{"insert":"  But most importantly, it is confirmed by the Word of God itself.  When the Bible records actual baptisms, it often describes those being baptized as coming \"up out of the water\" (Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Acts 8:39).  Obviously these people must have been \"down in\" the water when they were baptized.  John chose for his baptisms places with \"plenty of water\" (John 3:23), places for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"immersion"},{"insert":", not shallow places or places suitable only for sprinkling or pouring.  Nothing indicates, historically or Biblically, that the early church practiced baptism, which means \"immersion,\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"B"},{"insert":" in any other form than by immersion.  As has been said: \"To say baptism by sprinkling would be to say immersion by sprinkling\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"C"},{"insert":" which is a contradiction in terms and therefore senseless.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Although all power, even the power of judgment, comes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from "},{"insert":"God, this does not mean that God created the power as a force for destruction or that the nature and essence of destructive power flows personally from God. Sin deforms the power of life into the power of death: “The sting of death is sin and the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power "},{"insert":"of sin is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"law"},{"insert":"” (1 Cor. 15:56). So while the power that brings the judgment of death inheres in God’s law-Word, which was originally spoken by God for life, it is sin that distorts and so releases that power "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as death"},{"insert":"; and certainly it was not God who created sin. On the contrary, the power that sustains physical life only becomes the fire of judgment when that power is separated from God’s control. The power of judgment is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"same "},{"insert":"power that sustains life, but like the gravity of orbits transformed into the gravity of black holes, it is transformed when extended beyond the covenantal limits and purposes God established at the beginning. \nSince God gave human beings dominion over creation, creation must respond to the human attempt to take dominion apart from God. Creation itself has therefore become subject to “frustration” (Rom. 8:20), to pollution, corruption, entropy and decay. In creation, people now face the power of judgment, a resistance to the human movement away from God. God Himself remains separate from this decaying universe, but the impersonal law of Elohim, which framed the universe, which gave it definition and boundaries, remains the power of judgment that reserves the creation for fire. This destruction will only occur when humankind has finally broken through the last fetters of God’s restraint (Ps. 2:2-3; 2 Thess. 1:7-8), of God’s authority and control. Jesus said that He would not judge us, “but the very words that I speak will judge you” (John 12:48). These words carry power for life or death, depending upon whether or not humankind maintains its bounds and limits. Jesus’ words are the power of a life-giving Spirit when received in relationship to God. When abstracted from what defines God as God, they become the power of judgment, a steely ministry of death (2 Cor. 3:7). Jesus, however, in the perfect manifestation of God’s very substance, in His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"agape "},{"insert":"love, did not speak His Word to condemn people. Humanity stands already condemned (John 3:17-18). Jesus came and spoke to seek and save that which was lost, to free people from condemnation and so to set them free from the curse. Yet at the same time, by the very nature of that Word of life, when those who hear that Word reject it, they step beyond the limits of God’s power as it is expressed in the warmth of personal love and into that place beyond the bounds that define His essential nature, into the place where His power breaks and fragments into the impersonal, objective furnace of fiery judgment. \n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Matt. 7:13-14\nMatt. 19:23-26\nActs 14:21-22\nJude 3\nLuke 9:23-25\nLuke 13:24\n1 Pet. 4:18\nLuke 14:26-33\n1 Cor. 9:25-27\nHeb. 4:11\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In Numbers 18, Yahweh told Aaron and his descendants: “Everything in Israel that is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"devoted "},{"insert":"to Yahweh is yours. The first offspring of every womb, both man and animal, that is offered to Yahweh is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs” (Num. 18:14- 16; emphasis added). So while all firstborn male children were “devoted,” “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"h¯erem"},{"insert":",” to Yahweh, they were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"to be destroyed but to be redeemed at the set purchase price.† Instead of being destroyed, they were dedicated to the Lord, as was Jesus when Simeon and Anna saw him at the temple. Of course, God did later allow Jesus to be handed over to satan for destruction. But this sacrifice was not carried out "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by God"},{"insert":". He allowed it to happen for the accomplishment of His purpose. God’s role in this is revealed in Mark 12:1-12, where the owner of the vineyard sends his son to those who have leased the vineyard from him. Rather than paying their due, the vinedressers kill the son. This murder was, of course, a violation of God’s law, as was the crucifixion. Indeed, as we’ll shortly explain, it’s precisely because the crucifixion was a violation of God’s law and His justice that it could serve to destroy the power of the law and its penalties and of death itself, as well as the power of him who holds the power of death. God, however, did not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perform "},{"insert":"this sacrifice any more than the owner of the vineyard killed his own son; God did “sacrifice” His only begotten Son, but only in the sense that He gave up His Son, allowed Him to perish, in order to fulfill God’s own purpose, to liberate the captives and bring His kingdom to earth. Christ Himself “offered” up this “sacrifice for sins”—Heb. 10:12—by allowing satan to execute an unlawful murder against the Son of God.\n† This applies also to Exodus 22:29-30: “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"give Me the firstborn of your sons"},{"insert":". Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to Me on the eighth  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When Jesus breathed on His disciples in John 20:22 and said to them: “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Receive the Holy Spirit"},{"insert":",” they could not at this point have actually received the Holy Spirit, at least not as Jesus ultimately intended—the Spirit that they should later receive when they would be “born again”—because Jesus has just said above to Mary that He has “not yet ascended,” that He’s not yet been glorified. And we know what John has earlier recorded, “The Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified” (7:37-39). So when He “breathed” on them, it had to be only in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"anticipation "},{"insert":"of receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit, as most reputable commentators of many persuasions recognize.1 \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The purpose of discipleship is to bring the believer to spiritual maturity, where he can learn more and more to discern the will of God and conform to Christ's image until he walks perfectly with God and God takes him home to eternity.  This process of discipleship will always include, however, some level of submission to others for the humbling of human flesh in order that the human spirit might receive the grace of God.  This is one major purpose of the divine order God has established in the church, in the family and in the church's relation to the world, including the limits He has set to all those authorities as they are constrained by His Word.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The process of discipleship relates not only to the acceptance of principles taught to inform the believer's mind.  It must also apply to submission to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nouthetic"},{"insert":" process through which the word of admonition, encouragement, exhortation, correction and rebuke is applied in each and every aspect of the believer's life by every other believer as God leads by His Spirit.  So the believer is also pledging to participate in the binding and loosing, the retaining and forgiving of sins in the Body.  He is agreeing to love the sinner but to refuse to tolerate any sin in the Body and therefore to consistently confront sin in the church when he sees it.  He is pledging to also submit to the digging and pruning process that confronts sins and needs in his own life, agreeing that he will not merely obey mechanically and externally but will open his heart in prayer to the process of cleansing through which he can make the good confession that unites him in true oneness with those whom God has given authority in his life.  Consistent and wholly voluntary, loving and even joyous, submission to this process is the true test and evidence of the reality of a repentant soul's death to a fallen self.  Such a death is what is pledged as permanent and ongoing in baptism.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Each individual must find a place--a local expression of Christ's Body--where he can submit to his fellow members in the Body, and particularly to the leadership that Christ Himself established within the Body at His ascension.  This corporate Body of Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"\"Jesus continuing to come in our human nature\".  So the believer must submit to fathering ministry that will teach him how to \"deny himself and take up his cross daily,\" to follow the will of God and \"to say 'no' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live [a] self-controlled, upright [life] in this present age\".  \nThe goal of each believer is to enter into that true unity of the faith with his fellow believers by first entering into the unity of the Spirit that demonstrates to the world that Jesus has truly been sent.  The believer's pledge is that he will never stop short in reaching toward this goal.  The means whereby he pursues this goal is not by pressing "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"primarily"},{"insert":" but rather "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"secondarily"},{"insert":" into relationship with his brothers, giving himself to them only "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after"},{"insert":" he has given himself completely to God and knows God's will.  He must "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"first "},{"insert":"offer himself to, and press into relationship with, the Spirit of God.  The believer, by offering himself to God, seeks that place of love service through which he can become a servant to God's people, laying down his life in love in those specific relationships through which God binds each believer to His Body, through the love covenant that each ligament supplies.  As the believer binds himself in love, the flesh is restrained and limited, and the sovereignty of the Spirit in his life can be fully released.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some interpret Paul’s question of, “Do all speak in tongues?” (1 Cor. 12:30) to mean that not all will speak in tongues as evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. But is this really what he is saying? Paul first speaks of tongues in its function as a spiritual "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gift "},{"insert":"in chapter 12. Here we see that this variety of tongues is not possessed by everyone but rather is a gift to function in corporate gatherings or in other settings where it can serve the Body. The way Paul describes such spiritual gifts makes it apparent that all these "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gifts "},{"insert":"must serve specific functions: these “gifts” are given, as the Spirit “wills” (1 Cor. 12:4-11), to particular individuals "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to edify the Body of believers"},{"insert":", rather than as signs common to all as evidence of the infilling Spirit. This must be the case, for, as mentioned, listed among these gifts are “wisdom,” “knowledge” and “faith” (1 Cor. 12:4-11). Yet Paul asks rhetorically when referring to these gifts, “Do all . . . ,” “Are all . . . ,” expecting the answer “No”. Yet how could we expand his question to mean, “Do all members of the Body” have the gift of “faith,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"unless "},{"insert":"Paul is speaking of special giftings over and above a faith that is common to all? For how could we say that someone "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in "},{"insert":"the Corinthian church did "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"have faith and yet still was called a Christian? So, just as with tongues, faith is spoken of here in Corinthians in a different sense—as a supernatural gift operating situationally for the edification of the Body. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Toward the end of 2 Corinthians, we read where Paul writes of Jesus: “For though He was "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"crucified "},{"insert":"in weakness, yet He "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"lives by the power of God"},{"insert":". For we also are weak in Him, but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we shall live with Him by the power of God "},{"insert":"toward you. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Examine yourselves "},{"insert":"as to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whether you are in the faith"},{"insert":". Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Jesus Christ is in you"},{"insert":"? — unless indeed you fail the test” (2 Cor. 13:4- 5). The very need for this test tells us that the Corinthians already "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"assume "},{"insert":"that they are in the faith. But Paul says they must “test” themselves to see if they actually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"are "},{"insert":"in this faith, which Paul says does "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"stand in human wisdom but in the Spirit’s power. And this testing, because it is occurring long after they first believed, seems to further assume that saving faith must be an ongoing constant in the believer’s life—as Paul puts it, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living "},{"insert":"with Him by the power of God”— and so this faith (as a constant) can, Paul indicates, be lost. After all, why would they have to “test” whether or not they are still “in the faith” if saving faith is merely a once and for all event of mental assent and profession, an event that then stands them in good stead forever as far as their salvation is concerned? Remember, the test of whether we truly are in the faith is whether the Spirit of Christ Jesus truly dwells in us. In other words, if we pass "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this "},{"insert":"test, Paul says, then it will be because we know Christ Jesus is in us by the “power” of His Spirit, a power that Paul has just said believers must “live by” (2 Cor. 13:4-5). Note once again that Paul links saving faith to a “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power"},{"insert":"” we “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"live "},{"insert":"by,” not to merely a creed we profess our trust in. So it’s important to see here just how we know whether or not we pass the test of possessing saving faith: Paul is clearly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"saying we pass the test of whether we have Jesus in us by whether or not we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"claim "},{"insert":"to have saving faith; rather, it is just the opposite— we only pass the test and can legitimately claim to stand in saving faith if the Spirit of Christ Jesus truly lives in us. So, again, this Spirit isn’t an assumption we take for granted because we have assented to human creeds about all this but a “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power"},{"insert":"” we experience and “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"live "},{"insert":"by.” If Christ Jesus isn’t authentically in us, then we haven’t passed the test, the test that determines if our claim to saving faith is real. In Paul’s words, we’ve “failed the test.” \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some claim that the baptism spoken of in 1 Peter 3 marks a “double symbolism.” It is true that the floodwaters “symbolize” (or, more accurately translated, “correspond to”) baptism. This, however, makes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"baptism the reality "},{"insert":"that the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"flood only symbolized "},{"insert":"or typified, and we’ve here delineated baptism, not the flood, as that substantive spiritual reality. Yet in a sense, another symbolism or representation is also busily at work in the act of baptism. It is the sense in which baptism “symbolizes,” or represents, or “corresponds to” the death and burial of Jesus, as Paul makes plain (Rom. 6:5). In other words, baptism in part stands for our committed entrance into what Jesus actually accomplished through His death and burial. Yet this should remind us that it is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"work and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"person that actually saves us. He saves us by who He is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"what He did. So not even faith saves us apart from the actual life and saving work of Jesus. In this sense, we could say that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sola Christus "},{"insert":"rather than "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sola fide "},{"insert":"better characterizes Biblical Christianity and its salvation. For even faith becomes part of the instrumentality of God-given grace to take hold of who Jesus is and what Jesus did to save us in His actual death, burial and resurrection—Paul says, “By grace you are saved "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through "},{"insert":"faith” (Eph. 2:8). When he uses the words “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through "},{"insert":"faith,” it would appear on the face of it that he is straightforwardly designating the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"instrumentality "},{"insert":"of faith.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The believer's obligation is to walk in all the light that God has given him.  This differs from merely walking in whatever we choose to call \"light.\"  The only light acceptable to God is the light of His Word.  If the believer walks in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this"},{"insert":" light, no matter how limited his experienced (or imparted) knowledge of God may at first be, he is then sealed unto salvation by his faith (by his living, trusting, unfolding relationship of obedience to and love for Christ).  But a believer who walks in all the light God gives him is a believer who actively seeks, and moves into, more and more light.  For this walk in the light "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is"},{"insert":" the walk of faith that constitutes the unfolding impartation of the righteousness of God that's \"revealed from faith to faith\" but is at first only imputed.  So what light has not yet shone on the believer's path is imputed until it is imparted; but impartation, what Peter called partaking of the divine nature, represents the positive goal of salvation.  So the goal of the believer's life is to walk in an ongoing, deepening, personal relationship of oneness with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself called such a relationship \"eternal life\".  To refuse to walk in this ever-brighter light, to refuse to take the steps through which righteousness can actually be imparted, is to reject God, an act that Scripture makes plan has--apart from repentance in this life--eternal consequences.  The continuing personal relationship with Christ through which we receive our salvation requires an ever closer and more obedient walk with the One who is the light.\nScripture Chain - \"A Walk of Obedient Faith Is \"Counted as Righteousness\":\nRom. 4:3-13\nRom. 6:16\nRom. 1:16-17\nRom. 8:4\nGal. 3:5-6\nGen. 26:4-5\nJames 2:21-24\nHeb. 11:8\nHeb. 3:18-19; 4:6\nRom. 10:16\nCol. 1:21-23\nGal. 5:16-18\nGal. 5:25\n1 John 1:5-7\n1 Pet. 2:18-21\n1 John 2:5-6\nLuke 9:23\nRom. 16:26\nRom. 1:5\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"An ongoing, personal relationship with Christ requires that we be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  The believer cannot accomplish this purpose of renewal and sanctification in isolation, but can only do so by finding his place within the sanctified (literally, the \"separated\") Body of Christ, the voluntary kingdom of love that stands as God's alternative to the coercive, manipulative kingdoms of the world.  This is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ecclesia, "},{"insert":"the \"called-out\" community.  Jesus has given gifts within His Body for the perfecting of the saints so that we may all come to the unity of the faith, each member fulfilling his purpose in expressing God's love.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The first step in the process of conversion comes through dying to the reign of the corrupt, self-centered nature and turning to God in a repentance that utterly renounces “dead works” and surrenders wholly to Christ’s lordship by embracing His cross, the cross whereby believers are crucified to the world and the world to them. Repentance is dying to the death inherent in the fallen nature. This death to death requires that the individual allow God to reveal to him the essentially vitiated nature of every aspect of his fallen self, a self that cannot be merely reformed through human effort but must rather be transformed—specifically, through a powerful supernatural rebirth, which is then followed by a continual renewal toward maturation and resurrection in Christ. This total depravity is not, however, to be understood "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"intensively"},{"insert":"—that is, in the sense that everyone is as totally corrupt as they possibly can be—but rather "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"extensively"},{"insert":"—that is, in the sense that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"every"},{"insert":" aspect of human nature and life is so affected by sin that no “human faculty” (such as reason, emotion or conscience) “provides an undistorted point of contact with God.”1 Every area of human selfhood is subject to darkness and self-deception. So the individual must see his own unending potential for deception, destruction and harm when left to himself. At the same time, a deep and joyful trust in God arises in his heart when he sees the full extent of the mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ through both the sacrifice of Himself at the cross and through His resurrection from the dead. This faith has enabled him to receive and walk in this unfolding revelation of relationship with Christ through His Body. This faith that brings total, overcoming victory can only come after a repentance that goes to the root of our being because to receive this faith we must die to our fallen human confidence in all of our own ideas and perspectives, including those about the nature of saving faith and what it requires. Only then can we turn unconditionally to put all our confidence in God. Thus “repentance from dead works” results in true “faith toward God” arising in the heart of a believer. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"While there are many kinds of faith, saving faith is not merely a human assumption, something that the natural mind takes for granted about salvation as a foregone conclusion. On the contrary, faith arises from the Word of God: it comes, as Paul said, “by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. To have faith, the believer must hear the anointed Word of God, for faith can only work in accordance with the Word that God Himself speaks by way of His Spirit. So faith must be in accord with Scripture: as Jesus said, “He that believes . . . as the Scripture has said” shall receive the promised Holy Spirit. Furthermore, a believer must hear the Word of God in a certain way in order to be said to have faith. This involves several requirements. First, those who speak this Word must be “sent”. They must be anointed and directed by the Spirit of God Himself. Only if this is truly and tangibly the case can the hearer, as Paul said to those in Thessalonica whose faith had “become known everywhere,” “receive the word” and, in good conscience, “accept it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God”. This is of critical importance to the believer, since Scripture also speaks of people who heard the message of God, and yet their “hearing” profited them nothing. Such people did not receive faith through the message they heard because “they were not united by faith with those who obeyed.” They could not receive faith from the gospel message they heard because they would not receive in faith those who preached the message to them, those who themselves had believed and obeyed. In short, they refused to humble themselves and be “united in faith” with those who spoke the message. For those believers who truly hear the Word, they must then exercise the measure of faith given to every man, consent to it and participate in it. Then, to “whoever has, to him shall more be given”. In other words, faith is an ongoing walk that builds upon obedience to what has preceded. Therefore faith becomes the victory through which the believer can walk in love through this world in an overcoming life of both commitment and obedience to God and His Word. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Saving faith must be, as Hebrews 11 tells us, our absolute conviction, our certainty. We can only enter into this “certainty” of faith by coming to a place of personal and direct relationship with God, to a place where we can hear God speaking a clear, specific and absolute Word that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"must "},{"insert":"be obeyed. Only when the “sharp two-edged sword” of God’s Word has cut away all ambiguity, vagueness and uncertainty concerning God’s will does this also leave the believer with no option but to confess and do that will. True conviction brings people to a place of precision. A believer can come to a conviction only when he has been shaken until nothing but that which cannot be shaken remains—what remains, in other words, is only the conviction held to with unbroken tenacity. So when someone claims to have a conviction, he is saying that he confesses that he has only one choice before God, no matter what the outcome—this is the choice to stand upon and carry out his conviction. Absolutely nothing could make such a believer voluntarily give up a conviction that he absolutely knows comes from God. To really believe in the way that enables you to hear this precise Word of God requires something "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"active"},{"insert":" on the believer’s part, an active participation that’s based on the faith that says, “I will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"put "},{"insert":"my "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"trust "},{"insert":"in Him”. Only this trust gives us the willingness to really "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"know "},{"insert":"God’s Word. This word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"trust "},{"insert":"in Hebrews 2:13 is the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"peitho"},{"insert":", which characterizes the fully persuaded submission that God requires. It is translated in Hebrews 13:17 as “obey.” It means “to place confident trust,” “to be persuaded,” “to be confident,” as well as to simply “obey.” In other words, God calls not for a passive submission but an active submission that fully participates from the heart, a submission that arises from confidence that the word that comes to us is truly the Word of God. In contrast to walking in this absolute conviction that comes through total trust in God, Scripture tells us that the “double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” because he hasn’t died to his own will in conversion and thus cannot “receive anything from the Lord”; and he failed to receive anything from the Lord because only death in repentance removes all the obstacles to living in a faith unto righteousness. Yet if one cannot receive "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"anything"},{"insert":", then how can one receive the greatest gift of all—eternal life? To overcome any double-mindedness, we must actively consent to and participate in the Word that comes to us, pour ourselves out and into that Word, conform ourselves completely and perfectly to it, make it part of our living experience, live it, become it. So our faith must become a veritable altar of sacrifice if we would make our lives sacred. And this active consent and participation in obedience to God becomes our sacrifice of faith, our reasonable form of service. Through “the obedience that comes from faith”, we must actively participate in God’s Word, experience its reality within our hearts, to truly hear that Word. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"A believer’s walk of obedient faith is what is “counted as righteousness” before the Lord. True faith impels us to accomplish the “good works which God prepared beforehand that we should "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk "},{"insert":"in them”.  Apart from these Spirit empowered works of obedience, James says faith is “dead”. These works of faith stand in contrast to the “dead” works of the flesh which can contribute nothing to the believer’s salvation. Nothing done by an individual’s own power can bring them forward in the path of faith. But true trust in God brings them into a relationship with Him and therefore enables them to manifest those works of the Spirit that show forth their greater and more perfect conformity to God’s image. If the believer refuses to separate himself from this world’s culture of death through repentance and an ongoing walk of obedient faith towards God, he cannot hope to overcome sin in his life—he will only follow a course of ups and downs, of failed resolutions and pledges, of disillusioned hopes and self-condemning shortcomings. He must, instead, be utterly uprooted from the world and planted by God in a new cultivated garden and culture of life. Scripture makes clear that only the fruit of the Spirit—the fruit that grows to maturity by being planted and nurtured in the good soil of faith within such a culture—can give us the assurance that we are experiencing true saving faith.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"To overcome sin means entering a continual battle as did Paul, who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fought "},{"insert":"“the good fight,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"finished "},{"insert":"“the race” and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kept "},{"insert":"“the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Hebrews tells us that the mature in the Lord are “those who by reason of practice, or use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14, KJV, NASU). The Greek word for “exercised” is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gumnazo"},{"insert":". From this word we derive the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gym "},{"insert":"or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gymnasium"},{"insert":". "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Gumnazo "},{"insert":"means literally “to exercise unclothed,” to be totally vulnerable as we work to build our resistance. This same word appears in Hebrews 12:11, but the whole of Hebrews 12 focuses on the concept of spiritual exercise, of building our resistance to sin so that we may be made overcomers in everything. The chapter begins with this theme: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us. And let us "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"run with endurance "},{"insert":"the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy set before Him "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"endured "},{"insert":"the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (vv. 1-2, NKJV). The whole context of this passage is one of exertion, where physical exertion serves as a metaphor for spiritual exertion. It speaks of conflict and struggle as a way of life. In this context, trouble, tribulation and the resistance to them take on a new meaning: exercise to build spiritual strength. The passage continues: “For consider Him who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"endured "},{"insert":"such hostility from sinners against Himself lest you become "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"weary "},{"insert":"and discouraged in your souls for you have not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"resisted "},{"insert":"to the shedding of blood "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"striving against "},{"insert":"sin. And you have forgotten the word of exhortation that speaks to you as sons, ‘My son, do not despise the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"discipline "},{"insert":"or the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens and He scourges every son whom He receives. If you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"endure discipline"},{"insert":"”—the word here is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"paedia "},{"insert":"which is a racecourse, or, as it came to be understood, a curriculum—“God deals with you as sons” (Heb. 12:3-7, NKJV).We have a course to run, a path marked out for us. If it’s one of striving and resistance, if it’s one of discipline, of chastening, of hardship, of struggle, of conflict, then we can be assured that God is treating us as sons. If, however, we are without chastening, “of which all have become partakers, then [we] are illegitimate and not sons” (Heb. 12:8, NKJV). If in our lives we have no struggles, no hardships and no chastening, if in the course “set before us” we encounter no adversity, no trials, no troubles, no tragedies, no suffering, then the book of Hebrews tells us that we are illegitimate, without a father, having no inheritance. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In Ephesians 4, Paul explains the purpose of the fivefold ministry—of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. That purpose is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13). So, perfecting God’s people is the work of the fivefold ministry "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as a whole"},{"insert":". It is not the function of merely one minister. Rather, it is the function of a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"plurality "},{"insert":"of ministers,*2 of the whole fivefold ministry that serves as God’s right hand of authority. God’s use of the image of the hand to express the coordinated functioning of His authority through His designated ministries is not merely poetic. The human hand, in its form and coordinated structure, is one of the wonders of creation, and that very form contains a potential that, in the purposeful design of God, reaches toward its fulfillment in “the right hand of power.” Among surgeons, those who operate on the hand are looked upon as more skilled than those who operate on the brain. Among craftsmen and artists, when describing the creative potential realized through hand-brain coordination, many speak of the hand’s “marvelous,” even “miraculous,” nature. Unlike “a hoof or paw,” the hand “is not frozen into a specialized form . . . but is free enough—as well as sensitive and intelligent enough—to take up any number of tools and perform highly varied and exacting tasks. A marvelous entity, its very existence calls for the master craftsman to appear, to occupy it and to give it direction. It is from the emptiness of this hand that all tools, all crafts, all human creations come into being. And it is through the emptiness of this hand that a miracle could pass to leave its imprint on matter.”3 This “emptiness” of the hand reflects its need for direction from the head, which can alone guide it to the fulfillment of its function. In the Body of Christ, this spiritual function of the hand is fulfilled as the Head uses the hand to help the whole Body reach its potential fulfillment in the “perfecting” of all believers who have consecrated themselves to God (Eph. 4:7-8, 11-16). The individual functions of the fivefold ministry, like the five fingers of the hand, become fully effective only when they work together, connected to and guided by the “Master Craftsman,” the Head who is Christ. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

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{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some interpret 1 Corinthians 13:10 to mean that, with the completion of the Biblical canon, that “which is perfect” has come and so “the imperfect” (supposedly referring to speaking in tongues) has passed away, but nothing in the text says anything at all about this. Prophecies, tongues and a certain sort of knowledge all serve as means through which we can move on "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"toward "},{"insert":"the perfection promised in 1 Corinthians 13 and in other passages. This process of moving toward perfection is what Paul speaks of when he writes: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"until "},{"insert":"we all reach unity in the faith and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in the knowledge "},{"insert":"of the Son of God, to a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfect man"},{"insert":", "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ"},{"insert":"” (Eph. 4:11-13, NIV, NKJV). The coming of that which is perfect and complete is the time at which we all come “unto a perfect man” (the same word in the Greek as “perfect” in 1 Cor. 13:10, KJV) and “attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” We then cease to “be infants,” finally “growing up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Eph. 4:15). When this process is “complete” (as Rotherham translates the word for “perfect” in 1 Corinthians 13:10, and as the NASV translates it in James 1:4), we will then see Him “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12) as He returns for His spotless Bride, and we “shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2) and know Him even as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). That is when knowledge and tongues, as well as prophecies, will pass away. In 1 Corinthians 14, immediately after the words quoted above in 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, Paul goes on to say, “Follow the way of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"love "},{"insert":"and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy . . . . Everyone who prophecies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort” (1 Cor. 14:1, 3). If Paul has merely been trying to tell the Corinthians that as soon as the Bible canon is completed and the Scripture closed, prophecy will pass away, why would he then tell them to “eagerly desire the gift of prophecy”? Paul gives no indication that this is merely an exhortation to the generation that lived prior to the completion of the scriptural canon, and the context suggests the opposite.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Peter described Cornelius’s experience as exactly what had also happened to the disciples “at the beginning” (Acts 11:15), exactly what happened to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). Only now, with Cornelius and his household, it had also happened to the first Gentiles. Then it went on to happen to the “disciples” from Ephesus as recorded in Acts 19:1-6. According to Luke, these Ephesians were already believers, but Paul nevertheless asked them, “Have you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"received the Holy Spirit since "},{"insert":"you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believed"},{"insert":"?” In light of this passage, how, then, can people claim that Scripture consistently supports their "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"assumption "},{"insert":"that they "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"automatically "},{"insert":"received the Holy Spirit at the moment they first believed? How can they "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"assume "},{"insert":"that they are born of the Spirit the moment they first believe when Paul asked the already believing brothers at Ephesus, “Have you received the Holy Spirit "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"since you believed"},{"insert":"?” (Acts 19:2, KJV, NKJV). Especially must we call this very common, but also very mistaken, theological assumption into question when the Ephesians’ answer to Paul was, “We have not so much as heard whether there be a Holy Spirit”—and yet they were indeed "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"already believers"},{"insert":". Further, why, in reply to their statement about not even having heard of the Holy Spirit, would Paul immediately ask, “Unto what then were you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"baptized"},{"insert":"?” Was water baptism somehow essentially tied in Paul’s mind to receiving the Holy Spirit, as in Jesus’ command to be reborn “of water "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"the Spirit” (John 3:5)?* These men answered Paul that they’d been baptized “unto John’s baptism,” which was certainly a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"water "},{"insert":"baptism. Yet Paul preached to them the message that went beyond John’s baptism of repentance, beyond even a baptism that reconciles us by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christ’s "},{"insert":"death (Rom. 5:10)— he went on to preach the rest of the gospel that proclaims how Jesus “saved” us “by His life,” through the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:10). Christ not only provided an exit from the land of sin but also an entrance into the land of promised righteousness, the land of the kingdom only entered by the new birth in water and Spirit. As a result, these Ephesians entered Christ their Savior on a whole new and living level of reality and relationship—that is, they were immersed into His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"death "},{"insert":"by being “baptized [in water] in the name of the Lord Jesus,” as Luke informs us; and they were also immersed into His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life "},{"insert":"when they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (see Acts 19:2-7; 2:4). \n* Or, again, as when John said that Jesus Christ “came by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"water "},{"insert":"and blood” (1 John 5:6) and that “there are three who bear witness, . . . the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree in one” (1 John 5:8, KJV)? \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In antiquity, shorn hair on a woman signified her punishment for adultery,3 for it indicated a woman’s unfaithfulness to her head. In contrast, for men, Paul views cut hair, “an uncovered head,” as signifying that the man will stand accountable to God, transparently exercising the authority of the Father in true headship. The angels, who would protect the faithful and vindicate God’s righteousness through judgment, apparently also saw cut hair as a sign of unfaithfulness to God’s cosmic order, so Paul writes that it is “because of the angels” that this sign should also appear upon the woman’s head (1 Cor. 11:10). \nPaul says it is a shame for a woman “to have her hair "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"cut "},{"insert":"or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shaved "},{"insert":"off” (1 Cor. 11:6) and that it dishonors God (1 Cor. 11:5). A woman, then, should leave her hair "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"uncut "},{"insert":"so it may grow and serve as her covering, her sign of submission. This is a pattern that almost all of Christendom followed for millennia until the first half of the twentieth century, when many other patterns also fell away. Paul repeatedly focuses on "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hair "},{"insert":"in 1 Corinthians 11, mentioning it in both a negative light (as a shame to a woman when cut) and in a positive light (as a “glory” and “sign” of submission to the divine order at issue). \nNonetheless, some believe Paul’s discourse (1 Cor. 11:3-15, KJV) commands an additional "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"cloth "},{"insert":"veil on the woman’s head. The issue of cloth veils only enters the picture in these verses primarily because of a confusion over two terms Paul uses. The first confusion involves Paul’s teachings on “coverings” and the failure to see clearly that in these verses the apostle speaks of “covering” in both a spiritual "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and "},{"insert":"a physical sense. The second involves a failure to understand the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"komao "},{"insert":"(the Greek word translated as “have long hair”), that is, as uncut, well-kept hair. To dispel these two confusions will bring a consistency that underscores Paul’s explicit conclusion: “For her "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hair "},{"insert":"is given to her "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for a covering"},{"insert":"” (v. 15). \n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The book of Hebrews states explicitly that God sent forth His Son precisely in order to reveal to us this living, whole truth: “In "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"many separate revelations"},{"insert":"—each of which set forth "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"a portion of Truth"},{"insert":"—and in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"different ways "},{"insert":"God spoke of old to [our] forefathers in and by the prophets. [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, also by and through whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time—[that is,] He . . . built, operated and arranged them in order. He is the sole expression of the glory of God—the Light-being, the out-raying of the divine—and He is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfect imprint and very image of God’s nature"},{"insert":"” (Heb. 1:1-3, Ampl., NIV). \nIn other words, God created the world through His living Word (Gen. 1:3-25; 2 Pet. 3:5), His expression of Himself; and this energizing Word began going forth from the beginning, from the Genesis of the world (“In the beginning was the Word”), and kept going forth expressing fragments, bits and pieces of truth until, at the end, it fully expressed God through the form of human flesh in the wholeness of Jesus’ life (John 1:14; Heb. 1:1-3, NKJV). Thus, Jesus, as the creative Word of God, is our Creator incarnate (John 1:1-3, 10-14; Col. 1:13-20). As the only begotten Son, He was the temple made “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"without "},{"insert":"human hands” (Acts 17:24; John 2:18-22; 2 Cor. 5:1; Heb. 9:11). \nTherefore, when Jesus declared, “I "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"am "},{"insert":". . . the truth” (John 14:6), He declared Himself, as said before, to be the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"wholeness "},{"insert":"of God’s visible Being, God’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whole "},{"insert":"Word, God’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whole "},{"insert":"and living “doctrine” coming together in the singular image of a whole life, the image of God. So in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Jesus"},{"insert":", in God manifested in the flesh of His own Son, all the bits and pieces of truth become properly related through the relationship of an obedient Son to His Father. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hetaera"},{"insert":" was the ancient Greek word used to describe a type of prostitute.  Scholar and Greek mythologist Karl Kerényi notes that “in ancient Italy the close connection between death and hetaerism is especially palpable.”183 He explains that in “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The Bacchides"},{"insert":", the pedagogue refers to the doorway of two loose young women as the ‘gateway to the underworld.’”184 This in turn parallels the yet more ancient proverb that speaks of the seductress, whose “house is a highway to hell, leading down to the chambers of death,” (Prov. 7:27) chambers described in yet another proverb as “the congregation of the dead” (Prov. 2:16-19).  And, says Kerényi, “in Latin the hetaera is also described as a ‘she-wolf,’ while the Etruscan Hades as well appears on one famous tomb painting as a Wolf God. Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, were said to have been “suckled by a she-wolf.”†187 What the ancient mythographers described as the circle surrounding Greek goddess Circe (the she-wolf circling her prey) seems like a spiritual analogue for what we would look upon today in the astrophysical world as a black hole, a circle that sweeps anything that crosses its threshold into its inescapable vortex and which, in the Greek myth, leads to the realm of the underworld, the realm of Persephone, the nether city.* This is in keeping with Kerényi’s assertion that “a weaving and then again unraveling Goddess of birth and death, a Hetaera of death who dispenses pleasure and devours humans—these are possible images of a pre-Homeric, archaic Greek, and somewhat characteristic ancient Italian mythology,” both associated with Circe.188 The goal of Circe’s seduction is to “destroy” Odysseus “as a man.”189 In the myth, this means drawing him into the underworld—the circle of her womb—the abyss of the sensate, which brings a total unconsciousness of transcendence and of all which characterizes that latter realm of the above and beyond. The triumph of the goddess through the seductions of her feminine guise, then, is the triumph of a wholly immanent order over transcendence, a triumph to which the man who gives himself to this seductive self-destruction is likewise assenting. So, again, the great goddess uses lust to draw her consort to herself, but only in order to devour him and his masculinity, that is, to ingest him into the netherworld, just as occurred in the myth of Hercules. Yet this removal of him from the consciousness of transcendence and its accompanying dread of the consequences of his actions, she then calls his “immortality.”"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the matter of dress, and in regard to all God-given patterns for living, the issue of legalism or externalism is whether the form of expression is the dead, rigid form, which finds its source in merely human effort, or whether it is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living form "},{"insert":"arising from a covenantal passion for God. Is it the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obedience"},{"insert":" that comes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from faith"},{"insert":"” (Rom. 1:5, NIV; 16:26, ESV), or is its source the “fear of man” which always “brings a snare” (Prov. 29:25, NASV)? It is true, of course, the New Testament internalizes God’s Word, yet this internalizing does not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"exclude"},{"insert":" outward expression in modest dress (1 Tim. 2:9,10) but rather replaces a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"merely "},{"insert":"outward and dead expression, or ceremony and type, with the living reality that comes as the outward fruit of a transformed and ardent heart (2 Cor. 1:12, NIV). If we believe the Word, that Word will then take root "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"within our hearts "},{"insert":"to bear the fruit of faithful outward obedience (Rom. 1:5, NIV; 16:26, ESV). Such obedience is counterposed to the “will worship” or “self-imposed religion” Paul described in Colossians 2:16-23. Only those who have fallen "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"under "},{"insert":"the law become “legalistic.” They refuse to allow the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living"},{"insert":" Word as Lord "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"within "},{"insert":"their hearts and instead merely attempt to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"live up "},{"insert":"to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"external "},{"insert":"Word’s demands by their own human-centered, self-righteous works and efforts. True Christian faith, then, will not relegate all outward appearance to the category of “legalism” but instead will bring the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"inward "},{"insert":"grace that makes our "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"external "},{"insert":"words, deeds and appearance a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living "},{"insert":"expression of a deep relationship with God.  While it is true that we can wash the outside of the cup and still leave the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"inside "},{"insert":"empty and dirty (Matt. 23:25), we cannot wash the inside of the human heart, fill it to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and still fail to express and embody God’s holiness, showing forth instead only worldliness, lewdness, filth and defilement on the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"outside"},{"insert":". A good tree with good "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"invisible"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"roots "},{"insert":"will bring forth good "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"visible fruit "},{"insert":"(Matt. 7:17-18), and this cannot be legitimately construed from a Biblical perspective to be living “under the law.” \n\n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The seventh chapter of Hebrews, verses 11 and 19, tells us: “Therefore, if "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfection "},{"insert":"were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"what further need "},{"insert":"was there "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"that another priest should rise "},{"insert":"according to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"order "},{"insert":"of Melchizedek? . . . "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for the law made nothing perfect"},{"insert":"; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"a better hope"},{"insert":", "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through which we draw near to God"},{"insert":"”. This astounding passage yields several amazing insights: one, it contrasts “the law” and its “Levitical priesthood” to the new “order” of the King of Righteousness, the order of the Body of Christ; two, it makes clear that the purpose of this second order is our "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ongoing "},{"insert":"“perfection,” which comes as we “draw near to God” through this new “order”; and, three, it calls this course of perfection that comes by drawing near to God through the new order “a better "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hope"},{"insert":"” than that offered in the law. So we “draw near to God” through this new order, the order of the Body of Christ, and the ongoing perfection of this course, which Paul also wrote about to the Ephesians (4:11-16), constitutes a “better hope.” The fact that it is a “hope” instead of an accomplished fact suggests that more than a forensic, once-and-for-all justification is involved, that it must instead be a process. This new provision, then, alone promises perfection in Christ and His Body, the Body He has “prepared to do His will.” \nBut precisely how do we increasingly “draw near” and grow into Christ’s perfection? The writer of Hebrews continues: “By so much more Jesus has become a surety of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"a better covenant"},{"insert":". Also there were many priests, because they were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"prevented by death from continuing"},{"insert":". But He, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"because He continues forever"},{"insert":", has an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"unchangeable priesthood"},{"insert":". Therefore He is also able "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them"},{"insert":"” (Heb. 7:22-25). So, our salvation depends on this “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuing"},{"insert":"” priesthood that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ever lives "},{"insert":"to make intercession” for us, once again making explicit the ongoing nature of both perfection and salvation. But since Jesus has ascended to the headship of a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"Body, this necessitates a shift in how His priesthood and its intercession for us take place, as we’ve already suggested and will further see. Yes, we’re “saved” by “coming to God through Him,” but how do we now “come . . . through Him”? —Only through His own Body that lives in His sacrifice, service, love, truth and power. In short, through this Body we die into "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"death and live in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"Spirit and life (Rom. 6:3-8; Col. 2:11-13; Gal. 2:20). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul speaks of the church expressing Christ’s lordship on earth when he tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:6, 17-18 that God “made us sufficient as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ministers of the new covenant"},{"insert":", not of the letter but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of the Spirit "},{"insert":". . . . Now the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Lord is the Spirit"},{"insert":"; and where the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Spirit of the Lord "},{"insert":"is, there is liberty. But "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we all"},{"insert":", with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image”—into the same image of the Lord—“from glory to glory,” “just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"We"},{"insert":",” then, are “ministers of . . . the Spirit,” but “the Lord is the Spirit”—so Christ’s own lordship is ministering through the ministries of the church. Paul has already said that the “first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life-giving Spirit "},{"insert":". . . . The second man is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the Lord from heaven"},{"insert":",” but “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we shall "},{"insert":"also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bear the image of the heavenly man"},{"insert":"” (1 Cor. 15:45, 47, 49)—that is, “we” not only, through “differences of ministry,” minister “the same Lord,” but “we” also even "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bear the same image "},{"insert":"of “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Lord "},{"insert":"from heaven.” In short, “we”—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"Christians truly dead to the flesh and born of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit and “fitly framed together” by the Spirit— are Christ in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"form on earth, bearing the image of His Headship in measured form. This is why Paul says that, if we remain faithful to the covenanted relationship God preordained for the Body (1 Cor. 12:12-14), then we are predestined “to be conformed to the image of His Son,” “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). Of course, it’s the Body and its order of relationships that’s predestined, not believers as individuals. In other words, there "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"will "},{"insert":"be a Body of God’s own design in God’s own image, and so it’s destined to be conformed to the image of God’s own Son. But it’s not any of us as individuals who will be the full expression of Christ on earth—only an antichrist would dare to make such a claim. Rather, we all submit and conform in our individual places to God’s designated order of relationships, expressing the gifts He would serve to others through us, but it’s the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Body as a whole "},{"insert":"that’s predestined to stand as Christ’s image on earth. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"According to Heb. 7:22-25, our salvation depends on a “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuing"},{"insert":"” priesthood that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ever lives "},{"insert":"to make intercession” for us, making explicit the ongoing nature of both perfection and salvation. Paul tells us in Romans 8: “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"You "},{"insert":"[all those “saints” in the church at Rome that he’s addressed his letter to] are not in the flesh but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in the Spirit"},{"insert":", "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"indeed the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Spirit of God dwells in you"},{"insert":". Now if anyone does not have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the Spirit of Christ"},{"insert":", he is not His. And if "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"Christ is in you"},{"insert":", the body is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dead "},{"insert":"because of sin, but the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Spirit is life "},{"insert":"because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:9-10)—because, that is, the Righteous One ever lives to make intercession for us, and so the Spirit of life, of “Christ . . . in you,” is interceding for us to bring us ever deeper into His righteousness in His Body (Rom. 1:16-17; Col. 1:27; 2 Cor. 3:17-18). So Paul goes on: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you . . . . Not only that, but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ourselves "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"groan within ourselves"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":", eagerly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"waiting for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the adoption, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"the redemption "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of our bodies. For we were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"saved in this hope"},{"insert":"” (Rom. 8:11, 23). Isn’t this precisely what the writer of Hebrews said in chapter 7, verse 19, and also in the tenth chapter—that by a “better "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hope"},{"insert":"” we “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"draw "},{"insert":"near to God,” coming more and more into oneness with Him, a oneness that is our atonement, until we are “saved to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"uttermost"},{"insert":"”? Yet Paul, knocking out of the picture any single-point-in-time salvation, or any other notion of once-saved-always-saved, adds even more explicitly in Romans: “But hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we hope "},{"insert":"for what we do not see, we eagerly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"wait "},{"insert":"for it "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with perseverance"},{"insert":".” Then he continues with lines again reminiscent of Hebrews 7: “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses"},{"insert":". For "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"do not know what "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"should "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"pray "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ought"},{"insert":", "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"the Spirit "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Himself "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"makes intercession for us with groanings "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"which cannot be uttered"},{"insert":". Now He who searches the hearts knows what "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the mind of the Spirit "},{"insert":"is, because "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"He makes intercession for the saints "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"according to the will of God"},{"insert":"” (Rom. 8:24-27). Paul thus makes clear that Christ is interceding through "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"us "},{"insert":"when “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":". . . "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"bold":true},"insert":"pray "},{"insert":". . . as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"ought,” which is in the Spirit—when “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we ourselves "},{"insert":"groan within "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ourselves"},{"insert":", eagerly waiting for . . . the redemption” in which we are “saved in hope.” \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The context of 1 John 4:18 makes clear that the process which perfects love can only happen as believers "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obey "},{"insert":"God’s command to love one another within the genuine relationships found in the order of the Body. Jesus said people would be shocked at the Great Judgment because their condemnation would come from failing to have “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"done"},{"insert":"” works of love for “these the least of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"My brothers"},{"insert":"” (Matt. 25:34-46), works that should have been motivated by the grace and love of God. Likewise, John here in his first epistle begins to explain how “perfect love casts out fear” by stating, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ought to love one another"},{"insert":". No one has seen God at any time. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"If we love one another"},{"insert":", God abides in us, and His love has been "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfected in us"},{"insert":"” (1 John 4:11-12). So love is perfected in us "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"we love one another. This perfect love that casts out fear is, as Jesus said, conditional upon acquiring the grace to love our brothers and sisters. John then says that “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16) and then concludes, “By "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this "},{"insert":"["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"abiding "},{"insert":"in love] love is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfected among us"},{"insert":", so that we may have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"confidence in the day of judgment"},{"insert":"” (1 John 4:17). This means that abiding in self-sacrificing relationships of love with our brothers and sisters is what perfects love among us—it even cleanses us from sin so that we can have boldness in the day of judgment (1 John 1:7-8). As in the relationship between husbands and wives, those between the members of the Body can be perfected over time only "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"those joined together remain faithful to the pattern and order of their covenantal bonds and obligations. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Include this note from "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Knowing God by Name"},{"insert":" at the beginning of the Study Bible.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Author"},{"insert":": John the Apostle\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Date:"},{"insert":" Approx. AD 85-95\nSome claim that John’s primary purpose in penning his first epistle was to counter one of two particular forms of Gnostic heresy. The Docetic view, thought to then be prevalent in the Middle East, maintained that Jesus had only “seemed” to live in a real human body, claiming that Jesus actually remained only a spirit being. Cerinthian Gnosticism held that Jesus was only a man temporarily visited by the “Christ” Spirit, which came upon Him after His baptism and departed prior to His death. But many call into question just how prevalent Gnosticism even was during John’s life. \nMost scholars now agree that Gnosticism actually became prevalent only in the mid to late second century. James Dunn pointed out that Gnosticism “emerged in the second century,” though “individual ideas and emphases which became characteristic of second-century Gnosticism were already current in the first century.”3 At the time John wrote his epistles, Gnosticism comprised, then, at the most only scattered and unformed notions. Ben Witherington III also insisted, but much more forcefully, that “Gnostic thought only came to the fore in the middle and later parts of the second century A.D.”4 He wrote that “I, along with the majority of New Testament scholars, do not think we can really talk about there being an extant belief system called ‘Gnosticism’ in the first century A.D.,” though he concedes there may have been some “proto-Gnostic” ideas.5 Even Elaine Pagels agreed “that we have no evidence for what we call ‘Gnosticism’ from the first century.”6 Witherington further stated that “there is no evidence that Gnosticism existed before the second half of the second century”7 and that “there is no reason whatsoever to see the Gnostic movement as part of the diversity of first-century Christianity.”8 Indeed, Witherington concluded, “historians have no business talking about a Gnostic form of Christianity before about the middle of the second century A.D. There is simply no good evidence to support such a claim.”9 \nSo more than considerable doubt exists as to whether these forms of Gnosticism in fact played any prominent part in the historical context of John’s time. Yet even if John had indeed encountered, implausible as it is, some nascent form of Gnosticism during the late first century or if the Spirit through John proleptically countered what would become the second- and third-century flourishing of Gnosticism, a major question remains: was that all, or even primarily, what his epistle aimed to refute—a heretical quirk in a discrete historical moment that would come only at a later date and then vanish? Is the confession (1 John 4:2), upon which John places eternal import and consequences, only countering particular heresies during (or rather after) John’s own time? Or is it possible that this confession actually points the way toward protecting the church against all heresies throughout history because it points toward a believer’s proper relationship to Jesus and His Body, the church?\n\n3 James D. G. Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: An Inquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1977), p. 267. \n4 Ben Witherington III, The Gospel Code: Novel Claims about Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Da Vinci (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 22. \n5 Elaine Pagels and Ben Witherington III, “Scholarly Smackdown: Did Paul Distort Christianity?” Beliefnet, "},{"attributes":{"link":"http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Schol%20arly-Smackdowndid-Paul-Distort-Christianity.aspx"},"insert":"http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/04/Schol arly-Smackdowndid-Paul-Distort-Christianity.aspx"},{"insert":". \n6 Pagels and Witherington III, “Scholarly Smackdown.”. \n7 Witherington III, Gospel Code, p. 85 \n8 Witherington III, Gospel Code, p. 107 \n9 Witherington III, Gospel Code, p. 114.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Author"},{"insert":": John the Apostle\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Date:"},{"insert":" Approx. AD 85-96\nCentral to John’s message in his second epistle is that without a relationship to God’s Word as tangibly expressed in human flesh (1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 7) through His Body, we remain subject to that most pernicious of self-deceptions: we stand in danger of making what is actually merely our own impotent interpretation of God’s Word into what we soon claim actually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"God’s Word. Such an interpretation will never ultimately conflict with the deepest vested interests of our lapsed nature (Gal. 5:17). Instead, this antichrist spirit will sit in Christ’s place of authority, in His temple, and oppose that authority which is precisely what Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 2: “the mystery of lawlessness—that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority” (2 Thess. 2:7, Ampl.). What John is urging the church to keep watch for are those with a lawless and rebellious spirit that speaks by its own authority (John 5:43; 7:17-18) but claims to be speaking by God’s (2 Thess. 2:3-4).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Author"},{"insert":": John the Apostle\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Date:"},{"insert":" Approx. AD 95-96\nBy the end of the first century, the original church structure had already encountered challenges which prompted John in his third epistle to warn: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church” (3 John 9-10, NIV). Diotrephes’ love of being “first,” or love of “preeminence” (KJV), could only stand as a direct challenge that threatened to displace the preeminence of Jesus as the Head of the Body. Paul made this unique place of Christ clear when he declared that Jesus is the “Head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the preeminence"},{"insert":"” (Col. 1:18, NKJV). \nSo, Diotrephes’ own preeminence, like that of later monarchical bishops, rejected the authority and order that Jesus had given to the church as measures of His own gift (Eph. 4:13), a gift He had given when He ascended to the Headship of the church that was about to be born. Diotrephes, then, appears at the beginning of a movement toward the continuity view that rejected the given order and pattern of God. This was simply in order to set up and establish lapsed human patterns and lapsed human nature in God’s place, exalting individual members to take Christ’s place of rulership, which had been exerted through His Spirit. What happened seems, in short, to be an initial stage in what the Bible startlingly describes as, in the strictest sense of the word, the dynamic of anti-Christ, of standing in Christ’s place (1 John 2:18-22; 4:1-6; 2 John 7; 3 John 9-11). Paul, too, warned of this trend emerging in the church when, speaking to the elders at Ephesus before his final departure, he said: “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Even from your own number "},{"insert":"men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after themselves"},{"insert":". So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29-31, NIV, NKJV).\n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Latin translation of Romans 5:12 says that Adam’s sin is ascribed to all men, for “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in him "},{"insert":"all sinned,” but critics argue that the proper translation of this phrase from the Greek original is “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"because "},{"insert":"all sinned.” In other words, so the critics of the Latin translation contend, it was not through Adam’s sin that death came on all men, but rather, death comes upon all men “because” of their own sin only, as though this absolutely universal propensity of human beings to sin, one that stands without exception, could be detached from the fallen Adamic nature they inherit at birth. These critics do acknowledge that Romans 5:18 tells us that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through one trespass"},{"insert":",” that is, Adam’s sin, “the judgment came to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all men "},{"insert":"to condemnation.” They claim, however, that this “surely cannot mean that condemnation spread automatically to all men irrespective of their own acceptance of the sin principle which Adam released in the world.” But this statement sets up a false dichotomy, for it counterposes the effects of Adam’s sin to his heirs’ acceptance of that sin. Yet precisely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"because "},{"insert":"of Adam’s sin, each individual, as an heir of Adam, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"inevitably "},{"insert":"accepts “the sin principle.” At the same time, each individual’s repentance—that is, his total "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rejection "},{"insert":"of this sin principle— depends upon his recognition that he has at some point in his life already "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"willingly "},{"insert":"accepted this inheritance from Adam. \nThese critics argue that Paul draws a direct parallel between the way in which “the free gift came unto "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all men "},{"insert":"to justification of life” through the “one act of righteousness” of Jesus on the cross and the way in which Adam’s sin came upon all. On this basis, they contend that if all men are automatically sinful in Adam, then all men are also automatically saved in Christ. The interpretation of Romans 5:12 that these critics of Augustine present does not, however, stand up to scrutiny. For the context that joins verse 12 to verse 18 of Romans 5 emphasizes that Paul makes an explicit distinction between the effects of Adam’s trespass and Jesus’ sacrifice. For Paul writes in verse 15 that “the gift” of righteousness that came through Christ “is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"like the trespass” that came through Adam. And a second time Paul says in verses 16 and 17: “Again, the gift of God is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness "},{"insert":"reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” So we find that the implicit distinction of verse 18 has already been made explicit in the preceding verses (16 and 17): through “the trespass of the one man,” death came upon all men, but “the gift of righteousness” comes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"only "},{"insert":"to “those "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"who receive "},{"insert":"God’s abundant provision of grace,” that is, only to those who are "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in Christ."},{"insert":" \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some claim that the book of Acts “is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"only descriptive"},{"insert":"” and therefore not “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"normative"},{"insert":"” for doctrine. At the same time, those of this view hold that the Epistles, on the other hand, are explicitly didactic (that is, intended for instruction), and therefore ‘normative.’ This approach and its arguments collapse on several levels. First, this approach all but ignores the fact that these Epistles (or letters) were written to people "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"already in the church"},{"insert":", already born again—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"already "},{"insert":"partaking of “salvation”—and that therefore the Epistles addressed many problems that specifically pertained to those particular churches and to other churches like them after they had already begun their walk with Christ. A second and more specific problem with this view is that many Biblical passages indicate that more than just the Epistles are didactic—that much of the New Testament "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"outside "},{"insert":"the Epistles is also explicitly spoken of as comprising “teaching.”* In short, nothing in Scripture clearly indicates that the teachings in the Epistles have some sort of didactically privileged status over the teachings elsewhere in the New Testament. Thus Paul wrote that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"Scripture . . . is profitable "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for doctrine"},{"insert":"” (2 Tim. 3:16). So nothing in Scripture itself supports such a “descriptive/normative” dichotomy— a view that often openly states, or at least implies, that the Gospels and Acts should be largely ignored in our search for salvation unless whatever we draw from those sections of the Bible is supported by some “didactic” passage from the Epistles. In short, nothing in Scripture "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"anywhere "},{"insert":"states such a policy. Rather, Scripture prescribes not a categorical division between what’s normative and what’s descriptive but a categorical division of the Bible based on "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to whom "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for what purpose "},{"insert":"different books were written. \n* See, for instance, Luke 1:4; Acts 1:1-2; 2 Tim. 3:15-16; 1 Cor. 10:1-11; Gal. 3:16-29; Heb. 3:16–4:11; James 2:18-26.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some Bible translations, such as the King James and New King James versions, include what has become known as the Johannine comma—a short clause appearing in 1 John 5:7-8. While there has been much debate over the authenticity of this clause, it did not appear in any Greek manuscript until the fifteenth century. Although some believe it to have been omitted from earlier manuscripts as the result of a scribal error, the doctrinal significance of the clause has led many, including Sir Isaac Newton"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"1"},{"insert":", to suspect a deliberate forgery. Newton and others"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"2"},{"insert":" believed that the issue of “the Trinity” was the underlying motive behind the late insertion.  University of Leicester professor Gordon Campbell referred to the Johannine Comma as \"a medieval forgery inserted into Bibles to support a trinitarian doctrine that had been erected on a disconcertingly thin biblical base.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"3 "},{"insert":"New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman similarly spoke of the clause as \"the most obvious instance of a theologically motivated corruption in the entire manuscript tradition of the New Testament.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"4"},{"insert":" In spite of the support that such a clause would lend to the orthodox doctrine of the trinity, the majority of scholars on both sides of the trinitarian debate concur that the Johannine comma is, at best, a textual aberration that should be excluded from the Biblical text.  \n\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"1 Rob Iliffe, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#faa700","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=P0bObTmMazAC&pg=PA143"},"insert":"Friendly Criticism: Richard Simon, John Locke, Isaac Newton and the Johannine Comma"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"2006, p. 143 in "},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7","italic":true},"insert":"Scripture and Scholarship"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"2 Everard Bierrer, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=fUorAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA290"},"insert":"The Evolution of Religions"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", p. 290, 1906."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"George Travis, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=QwcrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA319"},"insert":"Letters to Edward Gibbon"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 1785, pp. 319–20 The value of this opposing \"evidence from silence\" became a part of the verse debate, Richard Porson responding in his letters "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=_X5AAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA372"},"insert":"Letters to Mr. Archdeacon Travis"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 1790, p 372"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#faa700","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=REYFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA333"},"insert":"A calm inquiry into the Scripture doctrine concerning the person of Christ"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", p. 333, 1817."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"Israel Worsley, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=Xik3AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA66"},"insert":"An enquiry into the origin of Christmas-Day"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 1820, p.66. The British Review reviewed the controversy and spoke of such phrases as \"tokens of intellectual weakness... culpable imbecility of mind\". "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=B9MRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA165"},"insert":"The Unitarian Controversy"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 1821, p. 165."},{"insert":"\n3 "},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"Gordon Campbell and Thomas N. Corns, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=mna5CFphX6gC&pg=PT378"},"insert":"John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 2008, p. 378."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":"4 Bart Ehrman, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true,"color":"#0b0080","background":"#f7f7f7","link":"https://books.google.com/books?id=xwkUt2kCIbEC&pg=PA45"},"insert":"The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture"},{"attributes":{"color":"black","background":"#f7f7f7"},"insert":", 1996, p. 45."},{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"“The acceptable year of the Lord” referred to the Jubilee year, which brought “the times of restitution.” Jubilee literally means, “the time of shouting.” The reason for the rejoicing was that every fifty years in Israel, “debts were canceled, slaves were set free, families reunited, lost and forfeited inheritances were restored.” We can well picture the response of those so blessed and realize why it was called “the time of shouting.” When Jesus made this reference from Isaiah, as recorded in Luke, He was effectively declaring the beginning of a new dispensation (not, of course, in any sense related to the spurious doctrine of the same name), which was to become the spiritual fulfillment of the year of Jubilee, a perpetual spiritual “year” of restoration and shouting, the promise of the utter cancelation of the human debt for sin, the freeing of sin’s slaves, the reuniting of God’s family with their Father and their brothers, the restoration of the lost and forfeited inheritance of the first Adam, the ultimate promise of the total eradication of sin, sickness, disease, death, satan and all the accompanying curses. So the message Jesus was preaching was “the acceptable year of the Lord,” the perpetual spiritual year of Jubilee.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The ancient words of Lamech to his two wives expresses the mentality of the times: “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. For any who [merely] wounded me, him I have slain; also the boy, who gave me a scratch. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (Gen. 4:23-24, Ampl., Modern Language). (This also seems to suggest Cain had even in that early time come into some position of legendary status as a power able to exact retribution against enemies, in a way similar to that depicted in other accounts of rising urban despotic chiefs.) So man is depicted as living solely unto himself, his basest desires accountable to nothing beyond himself. \nThe contemporary record of that epoch speaks of powerful warriors, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Nephilim"},{"insert":", meaning “the fallen,” who were called "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Gibborim"},{"insert":", the “heroes of old, men of renown” (Gen. 6:1-4). Archaeological and etymological evidence suggests that these were “powerhungry despots” who perverted the legitimate functions of civil government, recognizing no authority above themselves. In a remarkably similar manner to the Homeric Greek “heroes”, they seized “both women and power in an attempt to gain all the authority and notoriety they could from those within their reach” (Walter C. Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"More Hard Sayings of the Old Testament "},{"insert":"[Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1992], pp. 37-38). Lamech seems to be a prototype of such warriors. His son, Tubal Cain, said to be the first forger of metal weapons, and Nimrod were later imitators. The "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Nephilim "},{"insert":"claimed descent from men who called themselves “sons of God,” or “sons of the gods,” indicating that the usurpation of the prerogatives and titles of deity was widespread throughout the antediluvian generations (Kaiser, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"More Hard Sayings of the Old Testament"},{"insert":", p. 37). \nThe ancient Semitic record also declares that these “sons of the gods” “took wives” for themselves “from any” of “the daughters of men” that “they chose” (Gen. 6:2), as in the Greek account of Helen of Troy. Thus they continued the polygamous practices of the tyrant Lamech (David J. A. Clines, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On theWay to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays, 1967–1998 "},{"insert":"[Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998], p. 342). Scholars have characterized this description of the practices of the “sons of the gods” as expressing an “unrestrained sexuality” that “desires the destruction of the other person,” violating all given “limits,” a type of “destruction par excellence” (Clines, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On the Way to the Postmodern"},{"insert":", pp. 342-43; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Creation and Fall: A Theological Exposition of Genesis 1-3 "},{"insert":"[London: SCM Press, 1959], p. 80). These self-apotheosized rulers inverted the transcendent order by exercising unrestricted “violence and despotic authority over other humans,” practicing “titan promiscuity” (Clines, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On the Way to the Postmodern"},{"insert":", pp. 343, 342). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"God’s unique government and God’s fatherhood have been tied together since He first called forth Abram out of the matriarchal and polytheistic culture of Ur of Babylon. The last words of the Old Testament, spoken by the prophet Malachi four hundred years before the coming of the kingdom of God on earth through Jesus held out the promise that Yahweh would one day send “Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.” The prophetic word proclaimed that the refusal of God’s people to make this turn to fatherhood would bring a curse upon the whole earth (Mal. 4:5-6). \nThis “turning” that the prophet refers to is the repentance, proclaimed by John the Baptist, that would “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"prepare "},{"insert":"the way for the Lord.” Jesus said of John the Baptist that he was “Elijah, if you would receive him.” Repentance is the spiritual phenomenon that prepares our hearts for sonship. It turns us in brokenness and submission to a network of relationships that allow us to receive fully the training, the discipleship, of the Father as He brings His loving authority to bear in our lives through His Body. This discipleship conforms us to the image of His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Son "},{"insert":"through this new form of relationship of sons to fathers (Heb. 12:5-11). John the Baptist filled the role of the “breach maker” (Mic. 2:13), one who would open the way for the children to pass through as they turned from their ways and back to the path of discipleship, which unfolds to us the ways of God (Matt. 28:18-19).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Josh McDowell excluded the possibility that “us” in Genesis 1:26 could include the angels “because angels could not and did not help God create.”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"49"},{"insert":" McDowell’s dismissal of this possibility, however, rests upon a failure to recognize a critical distinction found in Genesis 1:26-27. While it’s certainly true that the angels did not “create” humans, Genesis 1:26 does not necessarily refer to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"creation"},{"insert":". The scripture says “let us ‘"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"make"},{"insert":"’ (Hebrew, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"asa"},{"insert":") man in our image.” In contrast, the next verse, does explicitly speak of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"creative "},{"insert":"act. This verse is thus singular: “So God "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"created "},{"insert":"(Hebrew, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bara"},{"insert":") man in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"his "},{"insert":"own image, in the image of God "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"he created "},{"insert":"him; male and female "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"he created "},{"insert":"them” (Gen. 1:27). The following lexical explanation points to the significance of this distinction: “The word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"b¯ ar ¯ a’ "},{"insert":"[create] carries the thought of the initiation of the object involved. It always connotes what only God can do and frequently emphasizes the absolute newness of the object created. The world "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"‘ ¯a´sâ "},{"insert":"[make] is much broader in scope, connoting primarily the fashioning of the object . . . .”"},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"50"},{"insert":" Genesis 1:27 refers to the creative initiation that God alone can accomplish. Yet it seems possible that Genesis 1:26 refers to the total process through which man, created with an unfulfilled potential, is brought into full conformity to the image of God. Scripture explicitly gives the angels a place in this process. In fact, that is the reason the angels were created: “Are not all angels ministering spirits "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sent "},{"insert":"to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14). So if “make” does imply the extensive process of fashioning man into a mature “likeness” of God through which human potentiality reaches fulfillment, then Genesis 1:26 could be a commissioning of angels as servants of God’s purpose to help “make man” into His full likeness. As mentioned above, it does seem that angels were present at the creation of man. They are referred to as stars (Rev. 1:20; Isa. 14:12) and could have been created when the physical stars came into being on the fourth day. Even satan, as a fallen angel, is referred to as the “star of the morning.” Yahweh reminds Job that whereas man was not present to view creation, yet when Yahweh “laid the earth’s foundation” and “laid its cornerstone,” “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"morning stars "},{"insert":"sang together and all the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"angels "},{"insert":"shouted for joy” (Job. 38:4-7, NIV, literally in Hebrew, “all the sons of God shouted for joy,” employing a phrase often referring to angels, Job 1:6; 2:1). As noted, Ezekiel reveals that cherubs where present in Eden (Ezek. 28:13). So in Genesis 1:26, God was perhaps announcing to “his heavenly court” His intentions to include them in the process of bringing man to maturity and completion, even though they could not participate in the act of creation. So the “let us” of Genesis 1:26 can perhaps refer to the participation of the angels. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Bible characterizes"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"the essential nature of God’s Being when it tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Of course, the Bible also tells us that “God is Light” and “God is Holy,” and these, too, are absolutely necessary to understand and follow God, but a substantive difference inheres in the comprehensiveness of how these words can be used. For instance, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"light "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"love "},{"insert":"can both be used as either verbs or nouns, but when light is used as a verb, it need not express the presence of an active and personal subject. Only love does this. So you might tell someone they should love someone else, but it’s hard to imagine how you would ever seriously instruct someone to “light” someone else. And although "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"holy "},{"insert":"can be a noun, it could never be used to substitute for a personal, active subject in the way "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"love "},{"insert":"can be used; it may describe an attribute "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of "},{"insert":"a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personal "},{"insert":"being, but it also can be used to describe an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"impersonal "},{"insert":"object (Exod. 3:5; Matt. 4:5). Only, however, a personal deity such as the Bible portrays can be described in any literal sense as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"being "},{"insert":"love. Love is not merely a situational or impersonal attribute that need not denote a personal presence but is a constitutional activity of being that speaks of personal presence seeking abiding relationship. So you would never command someone to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"be "},{"insert":"ye love” as the Bible commands us to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"be "},{"insert":"ye holy” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Both light and holiness are more descriptive attributes of the consequences of character rather than the immediate, ever-present and vital condition of an active and personal will. “Light” is what God is in expressing the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"truthfulness "},{"insert":"of His nature as love—thus "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His Word "},{"insert":"is a lamp unto my feet, a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"light "},{"insert":"unto my pathway (Ps. 119:105); and holiness describes the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"purity "},{"insert":"of His nature as love. Yet these become attributes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of love"},{"insert":", which is itself more comprehensive and all-inclusive because it is more deeply relational, personal and therefore personally compelling. Thus love alone is said to be as strong as death (Song of Sol. 8:6-7) and is also seen as a great power that we are to “put on” “above” all others (Col. 3:14). As great and crucial as truth and holiness are, they are never spoken of in the way love is. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In contrast to the spiritual nation or kingdom of God under the Headship of Yahweh, the spiritual nation made up of the kingdoms of this world has been known corporately in the Scriptures as Babylon. Scripture refers to satan as the head or “king of Babylon” (Isa. 14:4). But the king of Babylon is not the only urban political ruler in Scripture referred to as being the incarnation of satan. To the king of the great commercial city of Tyre, Ezekiel proclaims: “You were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the model of perfection, Full of wisdom "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"perfect in beauty"},{"insert":". You were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in Eden, The garden of God"},{"insert":"…"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"You were anointed as a guardian cherub"},{"insert":", For so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; You walked among the fiery stones. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"You were blameless in your ways "},{"insert":"From the day you were created "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Till wickedness was found in you"},{"insert":". "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Through your widespread trade You were filled with violence"},{"insert":", And you sinned. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God"},{"insert":", And "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I expelled you, O guardian cherub"},{"insert":", From among the fiery stones. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Your heart became proud On account of your beauty"},{"insert":", And "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"you corrupted your wisdom Because of your splendor"},{"insert":". "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"So I threw you to the earth"},{"insert":"; I made a spectacle of you before kings . . . .” (Ezek. 28:12- 17, NIV) \nThe spiritual ruler behind the kingdoms of Babylon and Tyre is portrayed as one and the same. Jesus took this much further when He spoke of satan as “the ruler of this world,” “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; John 16:11, KJV). Paul, even "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after "},{"insert":"Jesus’ death, burial, triumphant resurrection and the birth of the church, still referred to satan as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4, NASB); and John insisted that “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whole world "},{"insert":"is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NIV). So the whole world and all its kingdoms comprises a unified "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"spiritual "},{"insert":"empire in that it is ruled by a single head with many spiritual underlings who serve as “principalities and powers” of different kingdoms often in violent competition with one another for supremacy, but ultimately even the chaos of such competition, war and tension will serve the purposes of a unified world kingdom as it drives the insecure masses to call out for “peace and safety” through a global political authority that promises to end the turbulence and violence. So though Tyre appeared as a separate kingdom, it still had satan as its king, as Scripture insists, and since Babylon was the first, or the head, or source, of such kingdoms, Tyre merely participates in the spiritual reality of Babylon, one of the daughters of “the mother of harlots,” just as Rome and other empires, nations, civilizations, religions and cultures would become her daughters in the future, even to our own day. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In making a case for eternal security, some will point out scriptures such as John 10: “You do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice [these verbs are also in the ‘customary’ or ‘habitual present tense’ that shows ‘continuous action’—‘My sheep (habitually, continually) "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hear "},{"insert":"My voice’], and I know them, and they [habitually, continually] follow* Me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:26-28). “So,” they may ask, “even if the hearing is the ‘habitual present tense’ and therefore expresses ‘continuous action,’ doesn’t the fact that they shall never be snatched out of God’s hand speak of eternal security?” Only if they are also “habitually hearing” and “continually following.” Moreover, that word “snatch,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"harpazo"},{"insert":", means in the Greek “to forcibly take against one’s will.” So no one can forcibly take you against your will. But this verse doesn’t speak about "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"your "},{"insert":"own willful disobedience to God. It only refers to being forcibly taken by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"another will "},{"insert":"against "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"your own"},{"insert":". Look at the other occurrences of that word in the New Testament and see how it is used. It’s the same word used where it talks about the “catching away” of the church (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Nothing outside your will can take you out of God’s hand. Nothing can snatch you out of God’s plan against "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"your "},{"insert":"will. But your will must be conformed to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"will, just as even Jesus Himself had to pray (Luke 22:42). So you must keep on hearing. You must keep on following. You must keep on believing. You must keep on loving. You must hear His voice, the voice of the Shepherd calling His flock. And "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"He "},{"insert":"says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). \n* Leon Morris says that the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"follow"},{"insert":", in this verse, is in “the present tense denoting a habitual following.”29\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"To enter into the all-comprehensive design of the Body, the individual must eventually publically pledge, through his baptism, the fallen, death-bound human nature to an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"abiding"},{"insert":" death as he absolutely and irrevocably commits to end \"sin's reign\" in his life.  He pledges that he will surrender all within his power in order that Christ might live through him by the Spirit.  Otherwise, he necessarily finds his place and the definition of his life in the lapsed world.  There is no middle ground; there are no other alternatives.  Only by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dying"},{"insert":" to the self-willed nature that is separated from God and by then living a life centered in God's will can anyone authentically enter into and live within the Body \"prepared to do His will\".\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"No matter what persecution may befall believers, their resistance must be solely in the realm of spiritual warfare, never physical (2 Cor. 10:3-6). For the enemy against whom we wrestle is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"flesh and blood but spiritual (Eph. 6:12; John 18:36; Matt. 5:38-48; Rom. 12:9-21; Matt. 26:51-53). And Jesus’ kingdom is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"of this world, or His servants would fight ( John 18:36). Instead, we are commanded to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek, to not resist evil but to return good for evil and to overcome evil with good (Matt. 5:39, 44; Luke 6:27-30; Rom. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-9; Heb. 10:30; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Cor. 6:6-7). While the nations of this world may still stand as agents of God’s wrath and punishment (Rom. 13:1-5), surely those people who claim to stand as the very Body of Him who withstood the blow and absorbed that punishment within Himself in order to give harlots, homosexuals, thieves, murderers (and “such were some of you”) an opportunity to die to sin in repentance and find renewal by the Spirit of grace and the washing of rebirth (Titus 3:5) — surely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"those "},{"insert":"recipients of mercy — cannot legitimately become agents of God’s punishment and wrath against the very ones they themselves once were! This does not mean that the State has no legitimate authority to impose just penalties on lawbreakers. The "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"State "},{"insert":"does have such authority, and the church cannot seek to impede the State in the exercise of its God-allowed function. It must, as Jesus declared, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (Matt. 22:17-21). Yet the imposition of such penalties lies not with the church, for the church belongs to God, not to Caesar. If there were no distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God, Jesus wouldn’t have made such a distinction (Matt. 22:17-21). So the church is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ecclesia"},{"insert":", the Body “called out” of the kingdoms of this world to intercede before God on behalf of the sinner so that the latter may find a place of repentance and so "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"escape "},{"insert":"from the providential judgment of God that comes through the present world order as it stands under satan’s rule (1 John 5:19; Eph. 6:12; Matt. 4:8-9; Rom. 13:1-5). God chose us as believers to serve as ministers and ambassadors of reconciliation, not of wrath and judgment (2 Cor. 5:18-20; James 2:12- 13). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"God uses His angels, as well as satan and the fallen angels (1 Cor. 5:4-5), and the kingdoms of this world under the latter’s control (1 John 5:19) to bring judgment. For instance, Nebuchadnezzar, as well as the king of Assyria, the king of Persia and satan himself served as God’s “agents of wrath” in Scripture ( Jer. 43:10-13; Isa. 10:5, 6; 13:5, 13 with14:4-19; 44:24, 28-45:5; Job 41:34; Ezek. 21:31 and 22:30, 31 with 24:2, 13-14; 1 Cor. 5:4-5). But this does not mean they express God’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personal "},{"insert":"will or essence—only that they are at times released by peoples’ disobedience to bring the judgment upon them of eating the fruit of their own ways (Isa. 3:9-11; Prov. 1:31; 2 Chron. 6:22, 23; Job 5:2, 12-14; Ps. 7:14-16; Prov. 11:5-8, 19, 27, 29; Rom. 2:4-11; 1 Cor. 3:19; Gal. 6:7-10). So this "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"impersonal "},{"insert":"law of God (Gal. 6:7) does not express God’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personal "},{"insert":"will, which does not want any to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore Christians can never serve as instruments of coercive judgment, whether by serving in the destructive functions of the military or by administering the judgment of State power, either as judges or as members of juries (Rom. 12:14-21; 1 Cor. 5:12; Luke 12:13-14; 1 Cor. 6:1-7). We must pick up our cross and follow the One who suffered the ignominy of the unjust punishment of the State, the One who came not to judge or condemn but to save ( John3:17; 12:47). He has now revealed a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"new "},{"insert":"example for us to follow in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"New "},{"insert":"Covenant (Matt. 5:43-48; Rom. 12:21; 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:8-10; Phil. 3:8-11; Col. 1:24). As believers, we participate in the full revelation of the God who is love, not in the execution of His wrath, which lies outside of His essential being and does not express His true nature (1 John 4:8, 16; Eph. 2:4-6; Rom. 5:6-7; John 15:12-14; Matt. 5:43-45; Josh. 5:13-15; Hab. 1:12-13). Yes, the demonic powers ultimately, if inadvertently, will serve His purpose, for God made them; but He did not originally make them evil—they chose to disobey and rebel. So, now, their evil ways can serve God only negatively, in negating the gift of life through destruction and death, as God “takes the wise in their own craftiness” (Job 5:13; 1 Cor. 3:19); yet God is not the God of the dead (Luke 20:38) or of death, but of the living (Luke 20:38), and of eternal life (John 17:1-3). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The tenth chapter of Hebrews says: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to enter the Holiest "},{"insert":"by the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"blood "},{"insert":"of Jesus, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by a new and living way "},{"insert":"which He consecrated for us, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through the veil"},{"insert":", that is, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His flesh"},{"insert":", and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"draw near "},{"insert":"with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our hearts sprinkled "},{"insert":"from an evil "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conscience "},{"insert":"and our "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bodies washed with pure water"},{"insert":"” (Heb. 10:19-22). So here, believers are depicted as entering Christ’s blood sacrifice through Christ’s corporate Body, committing themselves through water immersion into Christ’s sacrificial death, as Paul also declared in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 6:3-5). And this verse in Hebrews about a “sincere heart” and a cleansed “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conscience"},{"insert":"” further recalls 1 Peter 3:21, which describes baptism as saving us through “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pledge "},{"insert":"of a good "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conscience"},{"insert":"” (1 Pet. 3:21).4 But the book of Hebrews goes on to say, “Let us hold fast the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"confession "},{"insert":"of our hope” (note that it’s “a hope,” not a done deal), and we must hold to our confession, “without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"one another "},{"insert":"in order "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to stir up love "},{"insert":"and good works, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together "},{"insert":"as is the manner of some, but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"exhorting one another"},{"insert":", and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"so much the more "},{"insert":"as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:23- 25). So this forgiveness of lawless deeds and sins that comes by entering Christ’s blood sacrifice is somehow tied to “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"assembling "},{"insert":"of ourselves "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"together"},{"insert":"” and “exhorting "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"one another"},{"insert":"” and “considering "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"one another"},{"insert":"” and “stirring up love and good works” in one another, just as Paul’s passages in Corinthians indicated that our communion in Christ’s blood and Body is tied to our immersion in His corporate Body (1 Cor. 8:11; 10:1-4; 12:13). And so Hebrews goes on to say that “if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 10:26). We have, in other words, forfeited the altar from which to “eat and drink,” the altar that is the church as the temple of God—we’ve forfeited the cup, we’ve forfeited the bread, we’ve forfeited all that makes us partakers of the Word of life that is Christ, as He lives that life out in the context of His corporate Body (Rom. 10:6-17; John 6:63, 68; 1 John 1:1). So if we sin such a sin, we’ve forfeited the sanctifying Word that purifies and perfects us (John 15:3; 17:17-19; Eph. 5:25-27; Rom. 10:8-10, 14-17); we’ve forfeited the “fellowship” of light that “cleanses us from every sin” (1 John 1:7-9). That’s all that we’ve forfeited when we forfeit the church—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"everything "},{"insert":"of Christ. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Daniel foretold as a sign of the end that “for the overspreading of abominations he [the destroyer] shall make it desolate” (Dan. 9:27, KJV) or, as in another translation, “on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate” (Dan. 9:27, NKJV). “Abomination” in the Hebrew, according to Keil and Delitzsch, refers “not to acts of abomination, but objects of abomination, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"things causing abomination"},{"insert":", and is constantly used of the heathen gods [and] "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"idol-images"},{"insert":".”191 Furthermore, “wing” or “overspreading,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kanaph "},{"insert":"in Hebrew, is a frequently used word in the Old Testament that most often has symbolic meaning. In addition to its common usage as the wing of a bird (Gen. 1:21; Deut. 4:17; Jer. 48:40), it figuratively refers to the extremity, the uttermost horizontal part of something, such as in Isaiah 24:16, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"From the ends "},{"insert":"["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kanaph"},{"insert":"] of the earth.” \nAmong all the abominations that cause desolation, the electronic telecommunications network, predominantly television and the Internet, stands uniquely as an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"eikon"},{"insert":", an idol-image, with wings, as it has the overspreading power to fly above the earth, overspreading its image to the uttermost ends of the earth, flooding the earth with its profane image, invading the innermost sanctuary of private conscience and desolating it of everything sacred. Jesus warned that the abomination of desolation “standing where it ought not” (Mark 13:14, NKJV) or “standing in the holy place” (Matt. 24:15) would serve to signal the very end of history, the consummation that brings “great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21, NKJV). Luke quoted Jesus as relating this “abomination of desolation” to armies completely surrounding Jerusalem (Luke 21:20-24). This found a partial, natural fulfillment—or “contraction”—for the Jews as Titus sacked Jerusalem. Yet the church, the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17), is spiritual Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26; Rev. 21:2); and in this culture, as the sanctuary of God, it has become surrounded by forces carried on “wings of the idol-abomination.” Through the ubiquitous informing power of the false prophet, the public image now enters “where it should not,” within the private sanctuaries of families and into the professing church. It has done so not merely through television but through the compulsory informing power of a desacralized public education; and it threatens to do so through even more overt acts of brute force in the name of the “common good” of humanity: “His [the antichrist spirit’s] armed forces will rise up to desecrate the sanctuary fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice, and place there the abomination of desolation. With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him” (Dan. 11:31-32, NIV, NKJV). \n191 C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Commentary on The Old Testament in Ten Volumes"},{"insert":", vol. 9, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Ezekiel, Daniel: Three Volumes in One "},{"insert":"(Grand Rapids, Mich.:William B. Eerdmans, 1980), p. 371 (emphasis added). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the twenty-first century B.C., more than four thousand years ago, one powerful empire controlled all of Mesopotamia and many of the surrounding lands. The captial of this empire was the city of Ur, and the powerful empire derived its name from this city. Ur ruled the most advanced empire the world had ever seen, with an efficient State bureaucracy run by government officials and temple priests controlling the whole nation and economy, much as modern Communist States have done. \nHundreds of thousands of lower class men, women and children labored to manufacture products for trade, to raise and repair the city’s buildings, roads and canals. These people were called "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gurushi"},{"insert":".  \nAt one time, the ancestors of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gurushi"},{"insert":" had been villagers owning small self-sufficient parcels of their own land, but now, they owned nothing. Historian Milton Meltzer describes how these farmers (little more than glorified slaves) had to borrow and borrow again in order to meet increasing monetary demands. Then, as “the interest rates on loans soared, . . . tenant farmers were squeezed hard by their creditors for larger shares of their crops. The poor . . . drowned in debt” to the banks."},{"attributes":{"script":"super","link":"about:blank"},"insert":"2"},{"insert":" Though nominally free, eventually the small farmers gave up their land to their creditors. Because the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gurushi"},{"insert":" had come to work only for the centralized political-economic system, consequently, families, apart from merely formal existence, began to collapse. Children were not even allowed to receive their rations from their parents but only directly from agents of the State. So, among family members, there was neither a deep sense of personal relationships nor any sense of an abiding mutual commitment.  \nYet into this crowded metropolis of Ur a Voice began to call out to one man. . ."},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"Abraham, Abraham. “Leave your country, your people, your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” The call was to leave, to come out; but it was something far more: it was a call to seek, to journey toward the promise of a great fulfillment. It was not simply a journey "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from"},{"insert":" but a journey "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"toward"},{"insert":".  \nAn irrepressible inspiration was born, an urgent longing. This man, Abraham, whom the three major monotheistic faiths—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—would call their father, was, in spite of his beautiful wife, his social standing, his political influence, his economic achievements, his material wealth, intensely dissatisfied with his life in the culture of Ur. Perhaps he did not even fully understand why. Yet, quite suddenly, he made a startling, even perhaps frightening, decision: he gathered up his family and left behind the whole heap of success and reputation and security, and he did so to take a seemingly retrogressive move toward a more primitive culture and simple lifestyle. He departed Ur and his prestige and standing in that city, that civilization, that culture, to become a pilgrim tending flocks and herds.  \nHow, one cannot help but wonder, could someone of his standing and background do such a thing? "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Why "},{"insert":"would he do it? Amazingly, he would not be the last to feel such an urge or to take such enormous steps. He would not be the last to leave behind success in one world to risk failure in seeking another.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Pergamum, described in the writings of the apostle John as “satan’s throne,” was distinguished ultimately from other cities primarily for three reasons. First, it became the model for Rome’s privatized bureaucratic setup in dealing with its provinces and draining them of financial life in order to support a consolidated empire focused on the political-economic power ultimately invested in the emperor. The second distinguishing characteristic of Pergamum among the ancient cities of Asia was that this city then became the “chief centre of the imperial cult under the early empire.”55 Third, in Pergamum, according to Gusdorf, the ruling Attalids had “made science and literature an attribute of the power and glory of the State. For "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the first time knowledge "},{"insert":"took the form of a public institution subsidized by the prince. Scholars and scientists were considered to be government officials and led a privileged life.”56 Gusdorf contends that from Pergamum and Alexandria arose the “prototype of Oxford and Cambridge,” and thus in the city called “satan’s throne” in the apostle John’s Revelation, “a cultural utopia was actually built of stones, books and men 2,000 years before Francis Bacon, in his "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"New Atlantis"},{"insert":", described the ‘Treasure Island’ of scientific research.”57 According to Gusdorf, the birth of “humanistic scholarship” as “systematic study” was developed at Pergamum and Alexandria.58 Gusdorf describes this “humanistic scholarship” as “inspiring” “an attitude that makes human consciousness the alpha and omega of all thinking. ‘Man is the measure of all things,’ . . . the individual is a centre of values.”59 In “the libraries of Alexandria and Pergamum,” according to Gusdorf, “culture became what it has since remained.”60 In short, if “satan’s throne” was planted in Pergamum, so, too, was the tree of knowledge through which he first built his epistemological kingdom on earth in the minds and lives of people. A tree of knowledge had literally grown into a great bureaucratic kingdom created by human-centered thinking. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The law regarding Hebrew slaves (Exod. 21:2-6) stipulated six years as the time of a slave’s service. This period couldn’t help but be connected with the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"circumstances "},{"insert":"that led to his enslavement. Even if a voluntary decision on his part (perhaps because of debt) may have led him to give himself to this enslavement, no voluntary commitment he had previously made could hold him to his place of service beyond the six years. In short, at the end of this term, he could freely leave. This suggests that in God’s kingdom, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ultimate "},{"insert":"tie that binds cannot be the necessity of circumstance but must always be voluntarily made from the motive of love: God’s kingdom holds together not, as with the total State, by the external constraints of compulsion (as in compulsory education) and slavery (in what Mitscherlich called the “condescending maternalism” of the Nazi welfare State, which always assumes authority over those it assumes responsibility for42). Rather, God’s kingdom holds together by the internal constraints of voluntary love, which alone “binds” all virtues “together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:14). \nIn the Old Testament, if, after the time of servitude, the “slave” had come to know his master’s will and had come to deeply love him, then he confessed this love for his master and voluntarily consented, now fully "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"knowing "},{"insert":"what serving the master meant (Exod. 21:2-6). So he eagerly sought out and consented to a covenantal, lifelong commitment of love service (Exod. 21:6). At first, the necessity of mere circumstance had brought him to this relationship, but now he knew and could freely follow his own heart. The servant would then ask his master to take him before the judges, those who conduct a trial, a test (making us think in our present context, perhaps, of Jesus’ test in the wilderness), to manifest his sincerity and readiness to assume this high level of responsibility (Exod. 21:6; 1 Cor. 11:28; 2 Cor. 2:9; 8:8; 13:5; Rev. 2:2). For believers, this typifies the trial of faith, the test of love, the crucible of commitment. It also determines if one has, indeed, the requisite mental and emotional freedom and maturity to make such an ultimate decision. The servant who wanted to remain in this love service would then "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"request "},{"insert":"his master to pierce the servant’s ear through to the master’s doorpost, the place of entrance and exit representing authority, freedom and refuge. This piercing wasn’t nose, lip, tongue or eyebrow piercing as a fad—it symbolically bound him to remain forever faithful to his pledge to the master’s household. In other words, his ear would be permanently opened to his master’s voice, to his master’s authority in governing his comings and goings. \n42 Alexander Mitscherlich, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Society without the Father: A Contribution to Social Psychology "},{"insert":"(New York: Schocken Books, 1970), pp. 252-55, 283-84.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"E. Calvin Beisner and Walter Martin both argued that the Greek construction of Matthew 28:19 requires the coexistence of three distinct persons and therefore of three distinct \"names,\" Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Beisner insisted that one of Granville Sharp's rules on Greek grammar necessitates the conclusion that Matthew 28:19 can only refer to three distinct persons.  In attempting to refute the view that the \"name\" in Matthew 28:19 referred to the singular name of Jesus, Beisner claimed that Granville Sharp's rules \"absolutely\" and emphatically require that in a series of nouns joined by the copulative "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kai"},{"insert":", if \"the article is repeated before each of the nouns,\" such as \"in the name of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the"},{"insert":" Father, and of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the"},{"insert":" Son and of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the"},{"insert":" Holy Spirit,\" then that construction \""},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"has to mean"},{"insert":" that they are "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"distinct Persons"},{"insert":".\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"A"},{"insert":"  Walter Martin followed by insisting that one cannot come \"to the conclusion grammatically or logically that the name [in Matthew 28:19] is 'Jesus.'  There are three separate names.  They are not the name, 'singular,' of Jesus.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"B"},{"insert":"  Martin insisted that it is absolutely necessary under Sharp's rules \"that the article when it's before the noun makes it a person.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"C"},{"insert":"  Beisner concluded that \"it is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"absolutely required"},{"insert":" that in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"every single"},{"insert":" instance of that grammatical construction in New Testament Greek, distinct persons are being spoken of.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"D"},{"insert":"  Here, then, is a truly Biblical absolute, according to Mr. Beisner and Mr. Martin.\nA number of problems, however, present themselves in Martin and Beisner's \"absolutely\" conclusive arguments.  According to D.A. Carson in his book "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Exegetical Fallacies"},{"insert":", Granville Sharp's rule not only does not require that a series of nouns become \"distinct persons\" when preceded by an article but even that Sharp's rule is not \"absolute,\" as Beisner and Martin claimed.  First, Carson stated that the article in a series can distinguish \"persons "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"or things"},{"insert":".\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"E"},{"insert":"  Of course, \"Father,\" \"Son\" and \"Holy Spirit\" do indeed refer to distinct "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"manifestations"},{"insert":".  So nothing, then, in Sharp's rule requires that they be distinct "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"persons"},{"insert":".  The article even under Sharp's rule, only distinguishes that different persons "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"or"},{"insert":" things are referred to; it does not \"personalize\" every noun.  Obviously, each manifestation of the God of Scripture is personal, but each manifestation is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not"},{"insert":" a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"separate"},{"insert":" person.\nYet more importantly, Beisner and Martin's insistence on the \"absolute\" and binding nature of Sharp's rule is simply false.  Carson notes Sharp's rule, \"Some grammars present the rule in a rather "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"simplistic"},{"insert":" form, such as the following: 'Sharp's rule states: if two substantives are connected by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kai"},{"insert":" and both have the article, they refer to different persons or things.'\"  Conversely, Carson notes such \"simplistic\" grammars will also insist that if only one article is present in the series, then all the nouns refer to the same person or thing.  Yet Carson calls that \"simplistic\" view a fallacy: \"the fallacy is in taking this rule "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"too"},{"insert":" absolutely,\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"F"},{"insert":" precisely what Beisner and Martin insist everyone do with Matthew 28:19.  Carson notes that in Acts 17:18 only one article refers to both the Epicureans and the Stoics, but obviously "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"two"},{"insert":" distinct groups are present.  \"At the other end of the scale,\" Carson notes, Revelation 2:26, where an article appears in both parts of the series, \"does not in context refer to two people, one who conquers and another who keeps God's word.\"  The \"fallacy,\" says Carson, \"lies in assuming the universal validity of the strict form of the Granville Sharp rule.\"  It \"is a fallacy to accept the Granville Sharp rule in its oversimplified form.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"G"},{"insert":"  Yet Martin and Beisner attempt, by the intimidating weight of an only apparent Greek scholarship, to make people accept their spurious view as the only possible position even when scriptural examples exist to the contrary.  Moreover, to repeat, even though Sharp's rule is not universal, even if Matthew 28:19 does indeed follow the general rule, the article does not require distinct "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"persons"},{"insert":" but only some kind of distinction, in this case a distinction in manifestations.  Finally, Martin's assertion that Matthew 28:19 refers to \"three separate names\" contradicts the scripture itself, which speaks explicitly of the name in the singular; the scripture, to be consistent with Martin's claim, would have to say \"in the name"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"s"},{"insert":".\"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Hyper-Calvinists frequently infer from Romans 9:22-24 that God has created some particular people to destroy in hell and others to glorify in heaven. On the contrary, it says that He “bore with great patience” these “objects of His wrath” as they came to be “prepared for destruction.” And just how were they “prepared for destruction”?—Through their own actions expressing their own will.* This passage nowhere claims that God created them for the purpose of destroying them, nor does it say that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"He "},{"insert":"prepared them for destruction. God “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"allowed"},{"insert":"” (Exodus 9:16 NASB) this to happen because only in this way could His great design be fulfilled, including His allowance for human freedom to choose, thus demonstrating the riches of His mercy to those objects of His glory “whom "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"He "},{"insert":"prepared in advance” even while showing forth the nature of both numinous wrath and power. Again, this becomes evident in the example of the Egyptians’ resistance to God’s will. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, resisted God by an act of Pharaoh’s own will. The circumstances that God arranged "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"could "},{"insert":"have brought the Egyptians to repentance. Instead, in their pride "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as Egyptians"},{"insert":", they resisted God’s will. In contrast to the humbled corporate body of Israelites who submitted to God’s will, the proud corporate body of Egyptians resisted. While the Israelites were fitted through suffering for God’s mercy by His redeeming hand, the Egyptians had fitted themselves for destruction by their self-exaltation ending in arrogant resistance. Yet God endured the Egyptians; He did not immediately allow for the destruction of this people, but, rather, He waited. Through His angels, He “sent forth” (also in the same sense as Noah did the raven and dove) His judgments, which could have humbled the Egyptians and brought them to their knees, in repentance. Instead, they were only “strengthened” in their pride, and each plague brought further resistance as the corporate body of Egypt fitted itself for, brought itself closer and closer to, destruction. So, far from speaking of God’s predetermination of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"individual "},{"insert":"human destinies, this scripture points to God’s patience and longsuffering, to His willingness, at least for a season, to permit people to choose where they will fit into the overall picture of His irresistible "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"design. \n* Rom. 2:5; 9:31-10:3; 2:17-25; 1 Cor. 10:1-11; Heb. 3:16-4:3, 6, 11.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Christ’s unjust death frees us from the guilt of sin that satan imposes on us, enabling us to make our "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"exit "},{"insert":"from satan’s dominion. But that is not the end of the story—an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"exit "},{"insert":"from Egypt is not an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"entrance "},{"insert":"into the promised land. That’s why Paul says here in Romans 5, if “we were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reconciled "},{"insert":"to God through the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"death "},{"insert":"of His Son,” how “much "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"more"},{"insert":", having been reconciled,” shall we now “be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"saved by His life"},{"insert":"” (Rom. 5:6-10). So how can we actually enter into that death in order to avail ourselves of it and find reconciliation? Paul said we “died "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"Christ” (Rom. 6:8) and were “united with Him in the likeness of His death” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"when we were "},{"insert":"“"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"baptized into His death"},{"insert":"”—this is the water baptism of being “buried with Him” (Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:11-13), married to Him in His sacrificial death whereby our consanguinity with Him, our "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"blood "},{"insert":"relationship to Him, is established when we take on His name. And so Paul added that only “he who has "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"died "},{"insert":"has been justified [literal Greek] from sin” (Rom. 6:7—see also the literal Greek of verses 18 and 22). This is because only by dying do we enter into the justification of the only justified Man, covered by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"sinless blood sacrifice. \nSo it’s not just a matter of rejoicing over what Christ suffered on our behalf, as if this means that we can merely continue down the path of worldliness and carnality, forever glorying in Christ’s sacrifice but never making any sacrifice of our own, nor even being willing to find the way to enter into "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"sacrifice. Quite to the contrary, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must not seek to save our lives but to lose them (Mark 8:35), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must “die "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"Christ” (Rom. 6:8), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must enter “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"into"},{"insert":"” “the likeness of His death” (Rom. 6:3-5), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must enter and walk in “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fellowship "},{"insert":"of His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sufferings"},{"insert":"” (Phil. 3:10), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must “take up ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our"},{"insert":"] cross daily and follow” Him (Luke 9:23), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must “follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:18-21, NIV), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must “offer up spiritual sacrifices” (1 Pet. 2:5), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must even “offer ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ourselves"},{"insert":"] as a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1-2, NIV), that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"must “now for a little while . . . suffer” (1 Pet. 1:6, NIV). All of these quotes from Scripture about the need for us to sacrifice ourselves are from key apostles or from Jesus Himself. In short, our lives, through our imperfect sacrifice, must go deeper and deeper into Christ’s own perfect sacrifice if our lives are to be saved by His sacrifice. This sacrifice on our part is not, however, a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"work "},{"insert":"of the flesh—rather, as a sacrifice, it is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"death "},{"insert":"of the flesh, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ceasing "},{"insert":"of all humanly generated works, including laboriously worked out anti-works theologies. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"If the believer's faith is genuine, if it comes forth from a true conversion experience, it must lead to an actual change in the believer's life.  He will turn away from his self-centered nature and turn toward a new life in the Spirit that pleases God in every way.  He will now surrender himself wholly to seeking and pleasing God and to doing those works that God prepared beforehand for him to enter into.  If his life does not change and these works of God do not come forth, he has not truly been converted.  The death of the old nature remains incomplete, partial (really an oxymoron, since death is always complete); and so the would-be believer will not be able to hold the lapsed nature down to the cross.  The life of faith will not continue consistently; and, unless true repentance does come, perdition will eventually follow.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Whereas before we \"were alienated from God and were enemies in [our] minds because of [our] evil behavior,\" now God has \"reconciled us in order that He might \"present\" us \"holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if indeed you continue in the faith"},{"insert":" . . . .\"  We are presented \"holy in His sight\" only \"if indeed [we] "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continue in the faith"},{"insert":".\"  And this continuing constitutes what Scripture speaks of as \"sanctification\", which is a work of the Spirit and Word of God.  Scripture tells us that without sanctification, we cannot be saved.  Sanctification is linked inseparably with the process through which we are presented \"without blemish and free from accusation\".  This freedom from accusation described as sanctification also describes justification.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Justification comes when we are declared just by imputation on the credit of our faith "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"until"},{"insert":" faith and grace "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"makes"},{"insert":" us just or righteous in God's sight by the ongoing impartation of His Word and Spirit.  The righteousness of Christ is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"imparted"},{"insert":" through regeneration, which is the impartation of the nature of God by His Spirit into repented human lives.  It brings an actual spiritual and moral transformation.  So justification "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"begins"},{"insert":" as imputation, but what is lacking continues to be imputed only so long as the believer takes the faithful steps of obedience to the Spirit through which Christ's righteousness actually begins to be imparted.  \nThis stands in contrast to what is termed \"forensic justification,\" according to which God "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"merely"},{"insert":" makes a declarative, legal pronouncement of righteousness, which "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"only"},{"insert":" and ever imputes righteousness but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"never"},{"insert":" sees it as in any way imparted, thus voiding the necessity of a direct and obedient relationship with God and reducing salvation to a mere \"mental assent\" to the Christ-idea, which is then misnamed \"trusting in Christ.\"  Yet when God imparts Himself through the Holy Spirit, Peter said we actually become \"partakers of His divine nature\", which is altogether righteous.  And this Spirit does not merely visit us occasionally, but it so constitutionally takes up its abode in us that we are reborn to become sons of God, led by His Spirit.  It now \"abides\" with us.  So in the birth of the Spirit, whereby we become partakers of the righteous God, He has thus imparted to us the seed of His own righteousness.  Therefore surely while such a declaration of righteousness is part of justification, it must also express a real and ongoing change within the believer.  So a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"merely"},{"insert":" forensic justification is not a saving reality but only a legalistic status, a legal fiction, that changes neither the fallen condition nor a human being's severed relationship with God.  At least this is all it is until it is made \"complete\" by our actions in walking on in the faith that brings obedience to God's Word.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Hebrews tells us that “now, once at the end of the ages,” Jesus “has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ” (Heb. 9:26). Yet the crucial issue for every believer becomes how we avail ourselves, “through faith” by grace, of that sacrifice. In determining this, we cannot ignore what Paul writes to the church at Rome and Colosse concerning our baptism “into His death,” our being “crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be done away with” (Rom. 6:3-6). And, again, he wrote about the “putting off” of “the body of the sins of the flesh,” when we are “buried with [Christ] in baptism . . .” (Col. 2:11-12). The very language Paul uses to describe what happens in baptism repeats almost verbatim the language used in the passage quoted above from Hebrews to describe what Christ Himself is said to have accomplished through the “sacrifice of Himself” in order “to put away sin” (Heb. 9:26). And the latter is spoken in the context of discussing “remission of sins” (Heb. 9:22; 10:18), which Luke portrays as tied to baptism (Acts 2:38). So repentance and baptism become the believer’s enactment of Christ’s crucifixion in the believer’s own life as he covenantally enters the sacrificial death of Jesus’ own human nature through the Body of Christ.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"For the believer's eternal security to be ensured, it will not suffice to merely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"begin"},{"insert":" the process that brings salvation.  Salvation can be lost unless one faithfully continues in the way God's anointed Word shows believers to go.  Since we can lose our salvation, our spiritual security lies solely in our ongoing and ever-deepening relationship with God and His people as we walk in obedience to the ever increasing light Jesus shines on our path.  Salvation comes through our relationship with the Lord, and if a believer violates and breaks that relationship through deliberate disobedience, he will be lost, unless he repents of his violation and rebellion.  Yet the believer's ability to faithfully fulfill his covenantal commitment to God and His people is not a work of the flesh.  Rather, it is the gift of God given to all those who love Jesus with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength and who have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"died to"},{"insert":" the sinful nature.  This gift comes only by the grace of God, which is the working of the Spirit of God in our lives.  Grace is not, in other words, God passing out heavenly food stamps, but God empowering us to live and be like Him.  Salvation is not a matter of going on God's welfare program.  Our need is great, but God empowers us to \"fight\" the good \"fight of faith\", not to beg.  The imagery of a life in God is repeatedly the militancy of a soldier, not the impotence of a slave, beggar or perpetual adolescent.  There is a battle of the flesh against the Spirit, and they are implacable enemies in a war for our soul that must be joined. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Salvation is both a negative and positive process. In its negative sense, it is salvation "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from"},{"insert":" death and hell and from all the power institutions and systems that revolve around the human fear of death but that actually sustain themselves through its power (Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 5:19; Col. 1:13-14; Matt. 16:18, ESV; 1 Cor. 15:54-57; Rev. 1:18; Rom. 2:5-11; 5:9; James 5:20). In the Biblical view, this especially and primarily concerns spiritual and eternal death (Rom. 7:24 with 8:2; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; James 5:20; Jude 23-24). It is, as said, deliverance from not only the guilt of sin but also from the power of sin, from all that would destroy our life in God. This does not “obscure the distinction between justification and sanctification” since, in regard to the necessity of each for salvation, the Scripture knows no distinction: "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"both "},{"insert":"are necessary for salvation. In salvation’s positive sense, it can be understood as the wholeness of life found only in the culture or kingdom ordered and given by the transcendent God. Thus salvation is also called eternal "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life "},{"insert":"( John 3:16-17; 17:3, 20-23; Phil. 3:10-11; 1 John 5:20). This salvation only comes from a relationship of covenantal oneness with the God who is life, the God described as “the God of the living” (Mark 12:27, KJV). This God brings us into oneness with a community of the living, the New Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22-24; Gal. 4:26; Rev. 21:2, 3, 9, 10; John 17:3, 20-23; 1 John 5:20). This eternal life comes by knowing the eternal God in abiding relationship (John 15:3-10; 17:3), both in Spirit and incarnated in human flesh ( James 4:5-10; 1 John 1:7; 4:20; 5:20). So Jesus said, “This "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is eternal life"},{"insert":", that they may "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"know You"},{"insert":", the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” ( John 17:3). Salvation is not, then, merely a concept intellectually assented to, but it is a living reality that we enter into by our continuing relationship with God through Jesus Christ and His corporate Body. Its completion for the believer comes only as the result of a lifelong, faithful fulfillment of the covenant vows to war against the sinful nature and to follow the Spirit as God conforms us to His image (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; 12:2), both for our individual lives and as we find our place and identity in His corporate Body.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Prov. 4:18\nHab. 2:4\nRom. 1:16-17\nRom. 4:12\n1 Pet. 1:9\n2 Pet. 1:5-11\n2 Tim. 4:7\nHeb. 6:12\nHeb. 10:35-39\nEph. 4:11-16\nHebrews 11\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the course of 1 Corinthians 7, Paul offers two explanations for his preference for the unmarried state: one, those who marry will “face many troubles in this life” (v. 28); and, two, marriage hinders complete devotion to the Lord. In general, though, the scripture portrays marriage in an extremely positive way, as a central medium for the transmission of God’s love. Jesus, of course, performed His first miracle at a marriage feast (John 2:1-11). In the Old Testament, marriage is portrayed as a duty, an obligation, for the perpetuation of the family of God. In fact, if a man died without having children, his brother was obligated to marry his wife to continue his family line, and failure to do this disgraced the living brother (Deut. 25:5-10). Moreover, Paul takes care to make clear that he by no means condemns or forbids marriage. In 1 Timothy, he tells us that anyone who forbids marriage teaches a doctrine of devils (1 Tim. 4:1-3), and even in First Corinthians 7 he takes care to point out that marriage is certainly not a sin, that those who are joined in it should remain in it and fulfill the marital obligations to one another. He further explains that he does not express his preference in order to “restrict you,” that is, to prevent someone from entering marriage if they desire to. What Paul seems to most want to nullify is everything that would attract a man and woman to each other and join them together "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"outside the will of God"},{"insert":". Apart from God’s will, such a union can only form false joints that will break in times of trouble because they are not joints of grace. But Paul saw that marriage is God’s grace for many (1 Cor. 7:2, 7-9), especially in a culture such as that of the Corinthians.\nAs believers, we have to recognize that in order to maintain a primary devotion to God, in marriage we must fight a natural tendency to fall into self-interest, self-indulgence and a general pattern of familial-centeredness rather than a God-centeredness. Marriage can certainly draw us toward concern with “the things of this world,” but it seems that we can fulfill our marital commitment without becoming totally “engrossed” and swallowed in it. We can keep our center and focus always in God (vs. 29-31), although this will not be easy. Paul wants us to recognize that “this world in its present form is passing away,” including marriages and families (vs. 31; Matt. 22:28-30), and that we must therefore beware of anything that would distract us from our primary service to the Lord, or that would lessen our devotion to Him. Paul knew that in the end only service that flowed from a couple’s supreme devotion to God could provide the grace necessary for any family to spiritually survive.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some theologians propose that God’s foreknowledge is limited in view of scriptures such as Genesis 22:12 where God says to Abraham, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"now I know "},{"insert":"that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” They believe that this passage indicates that God did not truly know that Abraham feared Him until He saw how Abraham responded to God’s command. They argue that this presents evidence for their belief that the future is known by God as being (at least in part) a realm of open possibilities as opposed to His knowledge of the future being exhaustively definite.2 \nThis interpretation of the story of Abraham and Isaac, and of other similar verses*, commits two errors of judgment: one concerning God’s will and the other concerning His knowledge. With the first, it fails to distinguish between the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"two aspects "},{"insert":"of God’s will: the internal desire, what He sets His personal will upon, and His external plan or design, the irresistible, impersonal will that can never change. The first of these is touched by authentic human repentance, human brokenness, contrition and suffering; in short, it can change. The second never changes except perhaps by miraculous divine adjustments to accommodate and incorporate human repentance. Only in the first way does God “repent” or “change His mind.” \nWhen God told Abraham, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Now I know "},{"insert":"that you fear God . . . ,” He was not commenting upon the nature of His own omniscience. Rather He was making plain the absolute necessity of Abraham’s obedience. He was telling Abraham that if the latter had failed to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do "},{"insert":"what God told him to do, then his fear of God would have been lacking and incomplete. At the very least, more testing would have been needed to bring Abraham to the point at which he would have been qualified to fulfill the purpose to which God had called him. God was saying that abstract faith alone did not suffice. In Hebrew, “to know” is not an abstraction but an experience of relationship, and “to speak” cannot be separated from “to act.”3 It was not enough for Abraham to have the concept of faith or the knowledge of God: it had to be realized in action. God knew Abraham would obey Him before Abraham actually did; but until he did, it had not yet become knowledge in the Hebrew sense of that which is experienced and not merely thought. To know God is not to merely know "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"about "},{"insert":"Him but to experience Him in relationship. For God to know us, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in this sense"},{"insert":", is also for Him to enter into our experience through the action and phenomenon of His love\n\n*Gen. 6:5-6; 1 Sam. 15:10-11, 35; Exod. 32:14, KJV; 1 Chron. 21:15, KJV; Jer. 26:19, KJV. Gen. 6:5-6; Hos. 11:8-9; Ps. 78:40; 95:10; Isa. 63:10 \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"While many in the Old Testament experienced the presence of God in a very clear and concrete way, Scripture says that they died without receiving what was promised, “something "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"better"},{"insert":"” having been prepared “for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"us"},{"insert":"” (Heb. 11:39-40); and we’re talking here about people in the Old Testament who prophesied or even performed miracles when the presence of God acted through them. As we saw that Peter declared: “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Prophecy never came by the will of man"},{"insert":", but holy men of God spoke as they were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"moved by the Holy Spirit"},{"insert":"” (2 Pet. 1:21). So the presence of God moved on them, visited them situationally, performed miracles through them or may have even abided "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"them. Yet surely we today should not expect something "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"less "},{"insert":"than all of this from an experience that the New Testament describes as “something "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"better"},{"insert":"” (Heb. 11:39-40). In fact, the key difference between the two Testaments seems to be that the Holy Spirit had "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"yet come to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"constitutionally abide within those of the Old Testament"},{"insert":". It hadn’t yet come to reconstitute them, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"regenerate "},{"insert":"them, as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reborn sons of God"},{"insert":", sons in whom God’s own nature would come to increasingly dwell in a new and transforming way. In other words, as Scripture informs us, the Promise had not yet been given. How, some may ask, can anyone "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"make "},{"insert":"such a claim? We can make this claim because Scripture says Jesus was “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"firstborn "},{"insert":"among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). This means that before Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit in Bethlehem (Matt. 1:18-23), no one else was ever previously “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"born "},{"insert":"of the Spirit,” and so no one had yet entered the kingdom of God because Jesus was “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"first"},{"insert":"born” (John 3:3, 5; Rom. 1:3-4; 8:29). And Jesus "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"was "},{"insert":"indeed “born of the Spirit,” according to both Matthew and Paul (Matt. 1:18-23; Rom. 1:3-4; 8:29). But for the rest of us, it was said even of those living in Jesus’ actual lifetime, “the Spirit had not yet been given” (John 7:37-39, NET). The seventh chapter, verse 39, of John’s Gospel makes this clear, and it tells us that this was “because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:39). Yes, people "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"did "},{"insert":"experience the Holy Spirit coming "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"upon "},{"insert":"them "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"situationally"},{"insert":",† but they had nonetheless not yet been "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reborn "},{"insert":"of that Spirit in such a way that the seed of a new nature had been planted in them with an intended covenantal permanence that would begin the process of totally reconstituting them to conform to the image of God’s Son and thus be reconciled to God. In short, the Spirit had never yet come to “abide” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"within "},{"insert":"them in increasing measure, more and more dispossessing the fallen sinful nature and replacing it with God’s own nature. This is why Jesus could say, speaking not as a man but as the Spirit that is God, “He [the Spirit of truth] dwells "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"you and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"will "},{"insert":"be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in "},{"insert":"you” (John 14:16-18). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Colossians 3:3-4 points toward two appearances, two revealings, or more precisely, two levels of one revealing: Christ will be revealed when He appears in individual bodily form from heaven as the Head of His corporate Body, the capstone of His finished corporate temple; and He will simultaneously be revealed "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"through "},{"insert":"His people "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as "},{"insert":"His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"Body, His temple, upon the earth. John also tells us: “And now, dear children, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continue in"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Him"},{"insert":", so that when He "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"appears "},{"insert":"we may be confident and unashamed "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"before Him "},{"insert":"at His coming . . . . Dear friends, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"now we are "},{"insert":"children of God, and what we will be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"has not yet been made known"},{"insert":". But we know that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"when He appears, we shall be like Him"},{"insert":", for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shall see Him as He is"},{"insert":". Everyone "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"who has this hope in"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Him purifies himself"},{"insert":", just as He is pure” (1 John 2:28; 3:1-3). Paul confirms this apocalypse of Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in"},{"insert":" His people when, in Romans, he speaks about “the revealing ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apocalypsis"},{"insert":"] of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19). This “appearing” or revelation of the reality of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in His people"},{"insert":", which both Paul and John refer to, will take place at the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"final "},{"insert":"appearing of Jesus Christ, when He returns in His individual bodily form to earth. But even now Jesus Christ already makes Himself known to and through His people as He transforms us “from faith to faith” and “glory to glory” into His image (Prov. 4:18, NIV; Rom. 1:17; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29; Phil. 3:13-16). God is making Himself “known” to the church within the confines of His covenant, revealing Himself in “ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). And as God makes Himself known, God’s people are pressing on to “know” Him (Hos. 6:3; Phil. 3:7-14; John 14:8- 14; 2 Tim. 1:12). As we all “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold” of us, we draw nearer to Him who will, “from glory to glory,” “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious Body” (Phil. 3:12-14, 21). The end of these two converging movements — of the unfolding revelation of God to His people and of His people pressing toward that knowledge of Him — will constitute that one last step whereby we shall cross the threshold of mortality. Then we shall see Him as He is, for “we shall be like Him”. This  "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"final "},{"insert":"revelation of Jesus Christ when He returns to earth as the capstone of His eternal temple culminates human history and our own walk of faith. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Just as the life of Jesus in believers moves toward culmination and revelation at the coming of the Lord (the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"parousia"},{"insert":"), so the “man of sin” moves toward revelation at the coming of the “lawless one.” Paul says that just as the power of the resurrection already works in those who believe, so also “the mystery of iniquity is already working,” awaiting release from all godly restraints in the disobedient: “Then the lawless one will be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"revealed "},{"insert":". . . . The "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"coming "},{"insert":"("},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"parousia"},{"insert":") of the lawless one is according to the working of satan” (2 Thess. 2:7-10). As the disobedient break all moral restraints, they, by failing to properly exercise their binding and loosing power (Matt. 16:19; 18:18), bring the “release of satan” spoken of in Revelation 20:1-3. As mentioned, the rebellion, or the apostasy ("},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apostasion"},{"insert":"), the breaking of all covenant restraints tying God’s people to godliness, must precede the coming of the Lord and “our being gathered together to Him” (2 Thess. 2:1, 3). The Greek word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apostasion "},{"insert":"also means “divorce,” the breaking of holy covenant. The Great Apostasy is the culmination of the progressive continuum of Babylon, the anthropocentric world system that began in Genesis with human disobedience and has proceeded throughout the history of humankind ending in the Apocalypse (Gen. 11:1-9; Gen. 10:8- 12 with Rev. 17:18; 17:1-5; Isa. 21:9 and Jer. 51: with Rev. 14:8 and Rev. 18:1-6; Isa. 47:7-10 with Rev. 18:7-8). It is a world system that ultimately expresses the spiritual power acting always in permanent rebellion against God (Ezek. 28:11-19 and Isa. 14:3-6, 9-17, 19 with Rev. 18:9-20). Babylon is the culmination of all that has refused to abide within God’s holy covenant, all that is actually “divorced” from God except in profession but that nonetheless often still claims to go forth in His name. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The culmination of prophecy’s progressive continuum will also be the culmination of the unfolding conflict between Babylon and Jerusalem, the latter the community over which God reigns as the Head (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23; Dan. 2:31-45; Rev. 17:4-6; Eph. 1:7-10; Gal. 4:22-31; Heb. 12:22-24; Rev. 21:2- 3, 9-11). This total apostatizing of world culture will also serve to declare the ultimate hostility against all those who dare to truly make Jesus their sovereign (Matt. 24:9; 10:16-25; John 16:1-3; Rev. 17:1, 4-6). Yet this very process will also bring the culmination of the spiritual nation of God, the perfecting of Jerusalem. This will happen as God’s people are inwardly constrained (under the press of extremely distressing and trying outward circumstances) to live in perfect consistency with God’s patterns of self-sacrificing love and redemptive truth. This will become a necessity in order to effectively resist succumbing to the pressures of this final conflict and the black-hole pull of irrepressible human inturning. In this ultimate furnace of affliction, as in Egypt, God’s people will be cleansed and perfected for their "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"final "},{"insert":"exodus into heaven itself (Dan. 12:10). So, at the end of time, a world centered in human self-assertion and self-supremacy will fully emerge in all of its chaos, dissolution and violence, as it is at last made ready for the final revealing, the ultimate judgment (2 Thess. 1:6-10; 2 Thess. 2:1-12). But, at the same time, Jerusalem will also be made ready, perfected as the completed dwelling for the name and the Spirit of God, until at last all those who dearly love the truth (2 Thess. 2:13) have been fully prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom (Isa. 62:5 with Rev. 19:6-9; Matt. 24:27-31; 1 Thess. 4:13-18 1 Cor. 15:51-53; Rev. 11:15-18). This culminating conflict between Babylon and Jerusalem, this "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ultimate "},{"insert":"revelation of the true nature of “the man of sin” on the one hand and of the love of Christ on the other hand, will be made manifest in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conjunction with "},{"insert":"the period generally known as the great tribulation (Matt. 24:4-13, 15-21; 1 Pet. 4:12-13; James 1:2-4; Acts 14:21-22; 2 Thess. 1:3-8; Dan. 12:1; John 16:33). The “mystery of iniquity” does not suddenly appear at the end of time, but rather it has been at work since satan first lied in the garden. But the “seed” of deception he planted in human hearts had to grow to fruition; the full consequences of sin and disobedience must become manifest. Then the “man of sin” will be fully revealed, whose unrestrained wrath will be released with equal fullness against everyone and everything that is godly (2 Thess. 2:3-8; Rev. 13:1-8). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"If, as John declared, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one,” then its institutions are at best man-made and therefore fundamentally lapsed and ultimately corrupt, which would presumably mean God would have no need of these secondhand and fallen institutions to accomplish His own purposes. He would, instead, have His own perfect design, which Paul says is the church (Acts 17:24-25; Heb. 8:1-6; 9:11; 10:5-7; Eph. 1:19-23; Col. 1:9-24). This constitutes what Scripture calls, “another country,” a “heavenly” city (or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"polis"},{"insert":"), one that we are told to seek without ever looking back or “returning” to the “country” from which we’ve departed (Heb. 11:8-10, 13-16). \nSo the church is to stand as an alternative to the kingdoms of the world, not as the agent of their forced “nationalization” into the kingdom of God. John and Paul insist that unregenerate “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"natural"},{"insert":"” things are alien to the kingdom of God (John 1:12-13; 1 Cor. 2:14) and therefore unable to inherit it (Gal. 5:19-21). The word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nation "},{"insert":"comes from the same root as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nativity "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"natural"},{"insert":"—something one is naturally born into. But to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus said we must be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"re"},{"insert":"born “from above” (John 3:3). It’s not, then, a natural but a supernatural rebirth. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"God has ordained a perfect design for all that he has created, including every human life.  For human beings in community, the perfect design resides in the functions and relationships of the Body of Christ.  Fallen humanity can find purpose and meaning only within this God-given design of the Body of Christ.  Paul's \"love\" chapter in Corinthians is planted squarely between two chapters that speak of the composition and functioning of the Body, which suggests that this Body is the supernatural expression of the love of God in a fallen world.  Every human being must choose whether he will make God his sovereign and find his place within the Body.  The Body provides the only context for every aspect of the believer's life.  There is nothing of God that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fully"},{"insert":" comes into the direct relationship of salvation with human beings outside the covenantal Body.  The believer cannot live without the Body any more than the eye can say to the hand, \"I have no need of you\".  The only other context for a human being is found in trying to make himself his own sovereign and finding his place within the world of those who live according to this same self-sovereignty.  This constitutes the corporate body of \"the man of sin\" that ever moves to displace God as God and sit in Christ's place.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Given the culture from which Abram emerged, it is evident that a change in perspectives had to occur in this man before so radical a cultural and social change as that which God apparently was seeking to institute could take place. So God would have to somehow educate Abram. Yet how would He accomplish this? One key seems to lie in how long it took Sarai and Abram to birth the promised child who was to initiate a new order of human relationships by making a new sort of family out of this troubled couple. What, then, was this unique God doing during all those years? It seems that He was taking Abram further and further out of Ur, completing what He had originally begun when He first spoke to him. But the journey was more than a departure; it was also an entry. For all along the way, through a process of alternating reduction and exaltation, through death to one world and resurrection in another, Abram was being taught and educated to a different life, a radically different view of what human beings and their meaning and purpose on earth were all about.\nThrough this wandering Aramaean, a self-exile from the great metropolitan commercial center of Ur, a different view of human relationships would come forth. Abram’s journey out of one of the earliest mass bureaucratic States resisted the dominant trend of reducing human relationships to questions of external power. Instead, we’ve seen that his was a return to a personal, voluntary social arrangement. This is one major reason why it is a vast and misleading oversimplification to reduce what happened to Abram to merely a return to the life of a desert herdsman and nomad. It is in the story of Abram that we first encounter the struggle to depart from a communality where economy and polity were preeminent and to form a new communality based on "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"socius "},{"insert":"and the sacralization of human life.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Advocates of dispensationalism, as expressed in the Scofield and Ryrie study Bibles, argue that the church will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"be present during the tribulation. To support this erroneous view, dispensationalists contend that four different gospel messages lead people to salvation, even though Paul invokes an uncompromising curse against anyone who teaches "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"any "},{"insert":"gospel other than that which he preached (Gal. 1:9). One of these “four” gospels is supposed to be the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"everlasting"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gospel"},{"insert":"” mentioned in Revelation 14:6, in the midst of the description of the great tribulation. Dispensationalists recognize that if the “everlasting gospel” mentioned in Revelation 14 were the same gospel the church preaches, the fact that this gospel is preached during the tribulation would place the church on earth during that period. Dispensationalists, therefore, claim that this “everlasting gospel” is a different message that is preached only during the tribulation, after the church has been raptured, and that this “good news” is primarily a message of impending doom. Yet the Bible clearly and repeatedly teaches that for Jew and Gentile there is only one salvation and only one gospel through which to find that salvation, namely the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Again, Paul said if anyone “preaches another gospel,” let him be “eternally damned” (Gal. 1:9). This multiplication of gospels and salvations is what philosophers and scientists call the hallmark of a deteriorating and failing paradigm—because of its growing contradictions, it must continually “multiply its entities” to cover all its multiplying inconsistencies. It does not mean the truth of Scripture is wrong but that the paradigm through which we are interpreting is wrong.\nBut, just as Jesus was broken in His crucifixion, so, too, will the members of the church complete in their bodies the afflictions that belong to Christ (Col. 1:24). Jesus was not snatched from Golgotha, and neither will the church that constitutes His own corporate Body escape from its own hour of trial. The servant is not above his Master (Matt. 10:16-39). Instead, we, as Paul declared, will “fill up in” our “flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24). Again, the church, through faithful obedience, will escape any sense of a personal wrath from God but will, due precisely to her faithful obedience, suffer the wrath that comes through satan. As Paul warned Timothy, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). A “rapture” of the church will occur, but it will be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after "},{"insert":"the time of tribulation (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 2 Thess. 2:1, 3; Matt. 24:29-31).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the garden, man and woman had a relationship with God’s Spirit, with His very Being. They walked in the garden, in the place of covenant communion, with the “cool breeze” of God’s uplifting Spirit accompanying and sustaining them. Adam was created without spot or blemish, but he was meant to enter into an unfolding relationship with God. He did not yet "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fully "},{"insert":"know Yahweh. He was not fully enlightened, for if he had been, redemption would have been impossible for him after his sin (Heb. 6:4-6). In the garden, he faced the choice of entering into that deepening relationship with God by freely partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, to which God had given him access. No mortal knows what would have unfolded if Adam had chosen that profound relationship. He did not, however, seek the way of unfolding relationship with God. He did not follow the path that would bring him into relationship with the “life-giving Spirit.” Instead, the man and woman turned away from God by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They ate the fruit of a knowledge that placed the human mind at the center of existence. \nWhen man and woman, to whom God had given dominion over physical creation, displaced the transcendent center with their own immanence— that is, with man and woman themselves—the process of death, of the separation and decomposition of the elements of life in its former unity and wholeness, began to seep into and through the world. The harmony of that creation over which people had dominion and control, with all its natural laws working together to form the perfect habitat for life, began to move toward randomness and disintegration. Human beings now shattered the intrinsic forces (the categorical imperatives internal to human life) that God had placed in creation as a positive good, a good that would hold all relationships in the balanced orbits of life in its wholeness. People shattered these forces of good by breaking the form of relationships that held such forces together. This happened in what was an increasing—and, soon, habitual and violent—revolt against all transcendent order. This began to release the energy God had originally ordained for life in an increasingly destructive way, initiating the entropic process of decay and heat-death, flinging both matter and humanity out of all the ordered relationships of the transcendent Elohim. In this view, the human Fall, with the subsequent and continuing descent of human beings toward the immanent and material, took the power and energy that God had placed within creation through His powerful Word and transmuted it on earth into a now cursed, perverted power. After the trespass at the Fall, all creation, which had been “so good,” now “groaned and travailed” as its power of life became corrupted into the power of the curse. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Jesus robed Himself in human flesh to free human beings not only from the guilt of sin but also from its power. Sin began at the fall, when man and woman disobeyed the express command of God to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All of paradise was opened to man and woman except for this one tree, but the serpent convinced them that God was unjust in depriving them of their “rights” and “freedom” to partake of this tree—that they could not consider themselves to be fully free until they had violated God’s one prohibition. The serpent also convinced them that God was lying to them, that they would not die. But it was the serpent who was the consummate liar. For when they ate of that tree, their essential nature altered. This lapsed nature made self and the immanent, material world the center of life. Self-centeredness, self-will and selfishness in the face of, and even in place of and against, God and His Word is the essence of the sinful nature.\nThis characterizes every aspect of the fallen human life. No human being can escape this nature except through the grace of Jesus Christ that brings us to a freely chosen death to this sinful nature. This death to sin, Paul said, means that no longer will we “let sin "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"reign"},{"insert":"” that we “should "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obey "},{"insert":"it”. So dying to sin becomes a matter of obedience and submission to God’s authority, an authority that severs us from every self-willed authority, including our own. This is our part in the covenant with God. Just as with Jesus in the garden, so, too, must "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we "},{"insert":"be willing to struggle to accept this death, to surrender “daily” to the death experience in repentance in regard to our baser nature as we submit to and obey God’s commandments and authority, which we have committed ourselves to in conversion. Such a death "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"must "},{"insert":"precede "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"new"},{"insert":" life: no one, in other words, can be resurrected until they first die. But God’s own eternal life always flows to those who are willing to die "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"Christ. To believe in this self-death and a subsequent resurrection comes from believing that God raised Jesus from the dead and made Him the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"first"},{"insert":"born of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"many "},{"insert":"brothers. It is to have the faith that will make one a Christian. To enter this death, burial and resurrection of Christ means to not merely assent to a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"representation "},{"insert":"of the gospel but to participate in and live out the very life of the gospel as it is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"presented "},{"insert":"in the life of Jesus Christ. For the death, burial and"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"resurrection is the gospel.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Augustus Caesar's propagandists applied the term "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"evangel--\""},{"insert":"the gospel\"--to his reign long before it was used by the writers of the New Testament in declaring the kingdom of Christ.  When we read the ancient inscriptions describing the original evangel of the Roman emperor, it becomes clear that this term was used to advance his claim to an all-encompassing dominion.  Thus, by using this same term, the New Testament writers were implicitly declaring that the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"evangel"},{"insert":" of Jesus was presenting a total counterproposal, albeit one rooted in and manifested through a completely different source and perspective.  The universal, religious, and what we today would describe as messianic, claims of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"evangel"},{"insert":" of Augustus are readily apparent from a brief summary of the ancient sources, which proclaimed: \"The emperor unites\" the characteristics of the \"god-man\" and \"saviour\" in \"his own person\"; this \"is what gives [every instance in the use of the term \"the good news,\" that is, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"evangel"},{"insert":"] its significance and power.  The ruler [that is, Augustus Caesar] is divine by nature.  His power extends to men, to animals, to the earth and to the sea.  Nature belongs to [Augustus]; wind and waves are subject to him.  He works miracles and heals men.  He is the saviour of the world who . . . redeems individuals from their difficulties.\"  All this \"good news\" is \"linked up with his person.\"  It is Augustus, in short, who \"has appeared on earth as a deity in human form. He is the protective god of the [Roman] State.  His appearance is the cause of good fortune to the whole kingdom.  Extraordinary signs accompany the course of his life.  They proclaim the birth of the ruler of the world.  A comet appears at [Caesar's] accession, and at his death signs in heaven declare his assumption into the ranks of the gods.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"A"},{"insert":"\n\"Because the emperor is more than a common man, his ordinances are ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"good tidings"},{"insert":"], and his commands are sacred writings.  What he says is a divine act and implies good and salvation for [all peoples].  He proclaims [the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"good news"},{"insert":" by his very] appearance, and [all the instances of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"good news"},{"insert":"] treat of him.\"  The first gospel was, then, the news of Augustus's birth.  One source, dating from that time, proclaimed this about his birth: \"The birthday of the god was for the world the beginning of the joyful messages which have gone forth because of him.\"  So \"joy and rejoicing come with the news.  Humanity, sighing under a heavy burden of guilt, wistfully longs for peace.  Doom is feared because the gods have withdrawn from earth.  Then suddenly there rings out the news that the [savior Augustus] is born, that he has mounted the throne, that a new era dawns for the whole world.  This ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"good news"},{"insert":"] is celebrated with offerings and yearly festivals.  All cherished hopes are exceeded.  The world has taken on a new appearance.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"B"},{"insert":"  One can readily recognize that the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"evangel"},{"insert":" of Jesus portrayed an all-embracing alternative to these claims, one deriving from an essentially different origin.\nA. Gerhard Friedrich, in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Theological Dictionary of the New Testament"},{"insert":", ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), p. 724.\nB. Friedrich, in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Theological Dictionary of the New Testament"},{"insert":", vol. 2, pp. 724-25.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apostasy"},{"insert":", from the Greek "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apostasion"},{"insert":", means “divorce.” Today, divorce between a husband and wife opens the door to State control of every aspect of the family. So, too, a spiritual divorce makes the church vulnerable to the same sort of profaning entrance of a desacralized world into the church. The spirit of betrayal and what Daniel and Jesus called the “abomination that makes desolate” will come when, in Jesus’ words, “brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death” (Dan. 11:31; Matt. 10:21- 22; 24:15). The betrayal of Jesus by Judas, “the son of perdition” (John 17:12, KJV), will, in Paul’s vision, reach its full and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"fulfillment when the spirit of the antichrist, who is also called “the son of perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3, KJV), enters into the hearts of all those apostate believers who love not the truth (2 Thess. 2:10-12). They hate the truth because, like all covenants of love, its great light insists on increasingly illuminating their lives to bring them into an ever-greater oneness with Christ and ever-greater separation from all that is dark and fallen within themselves and the world (1 John 1:5-7). Since both Jesus and Paul said this course will bring persecution (John 15:18-20; 2 Tim. 3:12), it is precisely the opposite of what poseur Christians seek, which Paul said is to “make a good impression outwardly to avoid persecution” for the cause of Christ (Gal. 6:12). So Babylon—what the prophets and apostles saw as the adulterous confusion of the world and the church—will, in John’s words, “fill her cup” with “the blood of the saints” (Rev. 18:24). In John’s graphic and horrific imagery, she will be “drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus” (Rev. 17:6). According to this New Testament view, antichrist will ultimately arise from this apostasy, this divorce. So all Christians will be tested by the increasing light illuminating their pathway, even those so lukewarm and blind that they see no such test (Rev. 3:14- 18). The supreme question in this test is, “Will it be revealed that we truly and therefore ultimately "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"belong "},{"insert":"to Jesus?” \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"A look at the immediate scriptural context of 1 John 4:2 presents convincing evidence that it speaks of Jesus coming in the flesh of believers. 1 John 4:3 states that the denial of Jesus coming in the flesh evinces the spirit of antichrist which he contrasts earlier in chapter two with the “anointing from the Holy One” that “remains "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in you"},{"insert":"” (1 John 2:20, 24). At the end of chapter 3, just three verses before his statement concerning confessing Jesus come in flesh, John writes, “By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.” (1 John 3:24). Then, as if emphasizing his point, in the scripture "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"immediately following "},{"insert":"those about confessing or not confessing Jesus come in flesh, John reminds believers, “greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). The contrast here is between “the anointing” in faithful believers and the spirit of antichrist John has just described as being in those of the world. John continues his thought by stating, “If we love one another, God remains in us” (1 John 4:12) and then reiterates in the very next verse: “By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.” Finally, in a close parallel to the confession of 1 John 4:2, John tells his readers: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God…God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God…as he is, even so we are in this world.” (1 John 4:15-17). Over and over again the context of Jesus coming in the flesh emphasizes the anointing (same Greek root as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christ"},{"insert":") Spirit coming in the lives of believers. In other words, according to John, just as He, Jesus, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"now in heaven or in the Spirit, so are we now His Body on the earth. By virtue of the infilling of the Spirit, we now constitute on earth the presence of Jesus in human flesh.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Many lexicons and commentaries point out that in 1 John 4:2 the Greek verb translated “come” appears in the perfect participle form, which shows that “Christ’s action” was “more than a temporary arrangement.”15 The Greek perfect participle here indicates “not a mere past historical fact, as the aorist would, but also the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"present continuance "},{"insert":"of the fact.”16 While both of these particular lexical studies correctly point out the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuance"},{"insert":"” of the “coming,” they then (unlike others, as we’ll see) merely assume that the continuing phenomenon at issue is only the individual incarnation of God in the individual man, Christ Jesus. Yet both the second mention of these same lines in 2 John 7 and the entire "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"scriptural "},{"insert":"context of the words suggest that the “continuing” nature of Jesus having come in the flesh is that He "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continues "},{"insert":"to come by the same Spirit into the flesh of His own "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"Body, the Body of Christ, the church. This “coming” of the Spirit in human flesh is not, then, a “mere past historical fact” but also a continuing fact.\nIn John’s second mention of this confession in 2 John 7, the verb tense seems not only to include such an interpretation but also even to require it. For here in his second epistle, John uses the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"present "},{"insert":"participle, “is coming.” This so unavoidably specifies an action continuing "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in the present "},{"insert":"that respected translators (even the most conservative) have rendered this verse as “Jesus Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continues "},{"insert":"to come” in human flesh (Wms.).*\nWhile Jesus will in the future “come” again in His individual flesh, this statement by John says He is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"now "},{"insert":"coming in the flesh. The only way Jesus is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"now"},{"insert":" coming "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in flesh "},{"insert":"is via His continuing coming in the power of the Spirit into believers both individually and corporately as Christ’s Body. Many have struggled to explain these verb tenses because they specifically indicate the continued “coming” of Jesus in the flesh. One explanation suggests that the verb merely reveals that the fleshly body of Jesus’ incarnation remains somewhere in heaven and will appear again at His second coming. In other words, in this view, Jesus is still “coming” in His flesh by remaining in a body while in heaven. Yet, as noted above, His “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"coming "},{"insert":"in the flesh” does not denote a mere "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"condition "},{"insert":"or a static fact of existence, which this view would require and which would nullify "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for "},{"insert":"human lives the very meaning of the incarnation as a direct encounter with God coming in human flesh in an ongoing relationship. So it does not seem, especially in 2 John 7, that “the flesh” is the only focus of what “continues,” but rather what “continues” is His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"coming"},{"insert":": He continues to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"come "},{"insert":"in human flesh.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul asks in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in you "},{"insert":"[that is, has come in the flesh!]—unless, of course, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"you "},{"insert":"fail "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the test"},{"insert":"?” (see also Col. 1:27). Here, then, Paul explicitly states that Jesus Christ coming in human flesh is Jesus (the Spirit) coming in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"flesh; and if this does not occur, then we fail the test concerning whether or not we are “in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5-6). In this case, we are, in short, “none of His” (Rom. 8:9). Notice that it was not merely claiming to have believed on Jesus that offered assurance that Christ was actually "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in "},{"insert":"the Corinthian believers, but rather Christ actually being in them by the power of the Spirit assured them that they had truly believed (see also John 7:37-38 and Acts 19:1-5). The language of testing and of Christ coming in human flesh used here in Corinthians suggests that Paul is speaking here of the same sort of “test” of which John wrote in his epistle. \nIn short, Jesus the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christ "},{"insert":"is still coming in human flesh—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"human flesh, the corporate Body. This isn’t, however, merely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"any "},{"insert":"corporate context, just "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"any "},{"insert":"organization, but the bona fide, anointed Body of Christ “fitly framed together” just as “God wills” (Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 12:4-14, 18). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"By virtue of the infilling of the Spirit, believers now constitute on earth the presence of Jesus in human flesh. For, as Paul admonishes his readers, “Do you not know that your bodies "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"are members of Christ Himself"},{"insert":"?” (1 Cor. 6:15). So to confess Jesus has come in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"human flesh (see 1 John 4:2 and other articles in this series) is not at all an extraordinary act or claim. While He will always remain the Lamb of God, the firstborn among many brethren, the One who received the Spirit without measure (John 3:34), Jesus Himself still repeatedly identified Himself with His own Body of believers. He told His disciples, “He who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"listens to you listens to Me"},{"insert":"; he who rejects you rejects Me” (Luke 10:16, NIV). This was a constant theme of Jesus: “He who receives "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"you "},{"insert":"receives "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Me"},{"insert":", and he who receives Me receives the one who sent Me,” (Matt. 10:40, NIV). And He also told the crowds, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name welcomes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Me"},{"insert":"” (Mark 9:37, NIV). \nLikewise, Paul did not consider it blasphemy but rather "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"commended "},{"insert":"the Galatians because “you received "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"me "},{"insert":"as an angel of God, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"even as Christ Jesus"},{"insert":"” (Gal. 4:14). Paul, of course, was not claiming to be Christ in the Lord’s second coming or in any other blasphemous sense of an individual becoming another Christ. Rather, he was only claiming status as a single member of Christ’s corporate Body through whom Christ spoke and, in this particular instance, who spoke to the Galatians through Paul’s particular gift. Paul also praised the Thessalonians “because, when you received the word of God, which you heard "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from us"},{"insert":", you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God” (1 Thess. 2:13, NIV). So the words Paul preached under the anointing were presented as the very words of God. In fact, Peter even insists that members of Christ’s Body, when under the anointing, must speak “as one speaking the very words of God” (1 Pet. 4:11, NIV). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The central message of the New Testament goes well beyond God promising fallen humankind a simple forensic declaration of righteousness. Instead, the “promise” was that His very nature would come to abide within fallen humans. Jesus told His disciples that the time would come when they would be brought before governors and councils, that intense persecution would come against them. Yet He promised ahead of time that they would not have to worry about what to say, “for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in you"},{"insert":"” (Matt. 10:16-22). Paul chided the Corinthians because they questioned his authority. He wrote, “I write to those who have sinned before, and to all the rest that if I come again I will not spare—since you seek a proof of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christ speaking in me "},{"insert":". . .” (2 Cor. 13:2-3). Paul then immediately challenged the Corinthians to prove their faith by a specific test: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Christ"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Jesus is in you"},{"insert":"—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5). So Paul’s test about a person’s faith revolves around whether Christ Jesus is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in "},{"insert":"the believer. Indeed, the consummation of the New Covenant comes only when all enemies are subjected to Christ so “that God may be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all in all"},{"insert":"” (1 Cor. 15:28).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When the book of Exodus speaks of God “hardening” Pharaoh’s heart, the word for “harden” is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"chazaq"},{"insert":",† which means, more literally, to “strengthen” or “encourage.” The phrase “harden Pharaoh’s heart” should be understood as a particular type of linguistic semitism, in which words that seem to indicate the cause of an event actually indicate that this apparent cause has merely permitted the event. Hebrew often speaks of the “permission” or the “declaration” of an event as if that were the direct cause of the event.‡ For example, the Hebrew verb "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shalach"},{"insert":", usually translated as “to send,” obviously means to simply “allow” or “let go” in Genesis 8:7-8 where Noah “released,” “permitted to fly” or “let go” the raven and the dove. Noah did not impart the power to fly to the bird, but he merely released it to follow its own nature. This is what the Biblical text implies when it speaks of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart: the Hebrew’s God allowed Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened, “let it go” its own way. From the Biblical view, then, this phrase does not mean, as many interpreters have insisted, that God actually manipulated Pharaoh’s heart to harden it. Rather, the Biblical text seems to imply that the God who “sets up kings and deposes them” allowed by His providence Pharaoh to rise to the exalted place of god-king of Egypt—He “let it go” its natural course. \nIf Yahweh had never revealed His power against Pharaoh, Pharaoh would never have been strengthened to resist His authority. The mere fact of Yahweh’s authority intervening from above into Egyptian society was enough to provoke the pride that Pharaoh took in his own authority and so “strengthened” him to rise up in opposition to Yahweh and His agent, Moses. From the Biblical perspective, then, when Yahweh told Moses that Pharaoh’s heart would be hardened, He only signaled His omniscience, His knowledge that His providence and His Word would harden Pharaoh’s heart because Pharaoh, in his arrogance, had his will permanently set against the will of the transcendent God. When Yahweh spoke His Word and released His providence, Pharaoh resisted God through an act of his own human will. This individual will of Pharaoh, moreover, represented the exalting of human nature to the very place of godhood, an ultimate manifestation of the immanent pitted against the transcendent. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth, of all spirits and all flesh.  He must therefore be the absolute and total Lord, without any exception, of every aspect of the believer's life.  This includes attitudes, words, deeds, thoughts, acts, plans, hopes, dreams and all else that constitutes that life.  This means that the believer must not only hear what his Lord says but put it into practice: that is, he must \"practice righteousness\".  Each disciple must also \"deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow\" Jesus.  This denial of self is not merely in the sense of a military or athletic discipline that requires a physical regimen of abstaining from one thing or another.  It means, rather, an unequivocal renunciation and disowning of self in total surrender to God.  It means we are no longer concerned with our own wants but only with Christ's.  This is a death to self so complete that the world holds no more attraction to us than an executed corpse would.  This is not a punctiliar notion or experience but a spiritual reality that unfolds and carries us through the process of a lifetime.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Hebrew writings make a specific "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"contextual "},{"insert":"connection between this term for God, El Shaddai, and the pouring out of blessings and fruitfulness upon His people. From this context alone, then, it seems appropriate to look upon the term as meaning One who “sheds forth” and “pours out” sustenance, fruitfulness and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"blessing"},{"insert":". “El Shaddai emphasizes God’s solicitous condescension and singular providence in the creaturely sphere,” in man and woman as related to each other by design and situated in nature through an agrarian culture. It is all but impossible to exaggerate the extent of the contrast between this view of the all-powerful God as a sustaining blessing-giver and protector to His people as opposed to the continual intimidation that characterized all the deities worshiped throughout the world known to Abram. This contrast emerges even more forcefully when we see that the “design” part of El Shaddai’s provision means that God’s power is singular in another, more significant, way: His is not an economic empowerment or a political empowerment or even a social empowerment of status; rather, it is a relational empowerment, an empowerment of self-giving love as the force that brings the freedom of expansion, moving those who follow Him beyond a stultifying life of fragmentation and into the context of the coherence and wholeness that marks all true life. This is true in the new love of a man and a woman for God, the new love of family members for one another, the new love of neighbors for each other and in the new love of a people for the land of their sojourning. Prior to this, though people surely had some feeling of natural affection for others, by far the greatest devotion was reserved for the order of Empire, and relationships were tenuous. It is here that we can particularly see the relevance of the possible derivation of the term "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"El Shaddai "},{"insert":"from the Hebrew word for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"breast"},{"insert":". For it is perhaps most appropriate to see the might of El Shaddai as gently constraining "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nature "},{"insert":"(“the creaturely sphere”) to become the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shad "},{"insert":"of blessing to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"spiritual "},{"insert":"nation of Israel in its infancy. In the new agrarian setting, nature, the natural realm, is so constrained, and even at times contravened, that the Patriarchs may be nourished from “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"land "},{"insert":"that flows with milk and honey.” From the “breast” of the Promised Land, Canaan, flows sweet sustenance as God’s people move into a new and living relationship with the land, and as their culture shifts from urban Babylon and Egypt to rural Canaan. Their culture, in short, becomes an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"agri"},{"insert":"culture. And, again—in what to the postmodern gender-inverting mind can only be a stark irony—this Hebraic God, who provides the nurturing breast for His people in their infancy, contrasts radically to the brutal, destructive matriarchal goddesses worshiped in the surrounding civilizations. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Modern sociology concurs with the Biblical perspective of the nature of the authority of the State.  As University of Bordeaux sociologist and professor of law Jacques Ellul thoroughly showed, \"Every State is founded on violence and cannot maintain itself save by and through violence.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"A"},{"insert":"  As the influential German sociologist Max Weber also detailed in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The Theory of Social and Economic Organization"},{"insert":", \"A "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"compulsory"},{"insert":" political association with continuous organization . . . will be called a 'State' if and in so far as its administrative staff successfully upholds a claim to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"monopoly"},{"insert":" of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"legitimate"},{"insert":" use of physical force in the enforcement of its order . . . . The threat of force, and in case of need its actual use, is the method which is specific to political associations . . . . Thus it is possible to define the 'political' character of a corporate group only in terms of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"means"},{"insert":" peculiar to it, the use of force.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"B"},{"insert":"  Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, founding president of Zambia, gave the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Realpolitik"},{"insert":" view: \"Some people draw a comforting distinction between 'force' and 'violence' . . . . I refuse to cloud the issue by such wordplay . . . . The power which establishes a State is violence; the power which maintains it is violence; the power which eventually overthrows it is violence . . . . Call an elephant a rabbit only if it gives you comfort to feel that you are about to be trampled to death by a rabbit.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"C"},{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The experience of the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit brings new life through the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"new birth. "},{"insert":"So the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit does not differ from the new birth but rather constitutes the new birth experience that Jesus commanded (John 3:3-8). After Peter recounted his commission from the angel to speak words that would “save” Cornelius and his household (Acts 11:13-17), he then told those gathered in Jerusalem, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them as on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ . . . God gave them the same gift as He gave us” (Acts 11:15-17, NIV, KJV). When those listening to Peter heard his explanation, “they had no further objections and praised God, saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"unto life"},{"insert":"’” (Acts 11:18). The “life” Peter is here talking about could not possibly be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"natural "},{"insert":"life but only a new "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"spiritual "},{"insert":"life. Therefore, since repentance itself is associated with the crucifixion of the sinful nature, that is, with the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"death "},{"insert":"of that nature (Heb. 6:1; Rom. 6:5-7; 8:13; Gal. 2:20; 5:24), and since it is “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Spirit "},{"insert":"that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gives life"},{"insert":"” (John 6:63) and “the Spirit "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"life” (Rom. 8:10), the Bible affirms this new life as resulting from the new "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"birth "},{"insert":"of the Spirit, an event for which repentance only prepared the way (Acts 2:3-4, 38-39; 11:18; Matt. 3:11). In short, a “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"new life"},{"insert":"” can only follow from a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"new birth"},{"insert":", and that birth must be one of the Spirit.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul notes a correspondence between the Levitical priesthood and the fivefold ministry in 1 Corinthians 9 when speaking of his right as a minister of God’s Word to receive material support from the church, which would free him to fulfill his spiritual responsibilities. In this passage (1 Corinthians 9:11, 13-14), he directly compares the work of the Levitical priesthood to that of those who “preach the gospel.” Just as the Levites, who worked “in the temple” and served “at the altar,” received their physical sustenance from the temple, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in the same way"},{"insert":",” “those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” Of course, the “same way” that the Levites received support was through the tithe. Yet more importantly for us here, Paul directly compares the fivefold ministry to the Levitical priesthood as distinct from the rest of the priesthood of believers. \nIn the Old Testament, while the Israelites as a whole were described as “a kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), only the Levitical priesthood ministered in the temple (Num. 3:5-8; 1 Chron. 23:25-32; 2 Chron. 13:10; Ezek. 45:5), with the Aaronic priesthood serving over the Levites (Num. 3:6, 9; 1 Chron. 23:27-28, 32; 2 Chron. 13:10, NIV). The New Testament reveals that all believers form a holy or royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6), but another order of priesthood also serves within the general priesthood of believers. \nThe fivefold ministry consists of those who parallel the Levitical “work in the temple” “so that the Body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:12), “the whole building” joining “together” and rising “to become a holy "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"temple "},{"insert":"in the Lord” (Eph. 2:21). “You too,” Paul tells the Ephesians, “are being "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"built together "},{"insert":"to become a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dwelling "},{"insert":"in which God lives by His Spirit” (Eph. 2:22); and then he tells them that the fivefold ministry functions “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"built up"},{"insert":"” (Eph. 4:12). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In Galatians 4, when Paul illustrated the law’s nature as a “schoolmaster,” he was using an analogy drawn from Galatia’s everyday life.40 In Galatian culture (as well as in most of the Roman world, assimilated as so much of it was from Greek culture), the schoolmaster (Greek "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"paidagogos"},{"insert":", a “child-leader”) was usually a slave-attendant who served chiefly as a guardian.41 Paul saw the schoolmaster as a slave guardian. Therefore he made explicit a parallel between his example of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"paidagogos "},{"insert":"in Galatians42 and the previous verse’s statement that “we were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"kept "},{"insert":"under the law, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shut up "},{"insert":"unto the faith.” He extended his analogy further in his example of a child’s life under his guardian.43 He described such a child as being “in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bondage "},{"insert":"under the elements of the world.” This slave-attendant schoolmaster seemed to stand distinct in Paul’s mind from the function of the child’s parents, since verse two describes this guardian as serving "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"under "},{"insert":"the father—he therefore could not be identical "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with "},{"insert":"the parents. In the analogy, then, the inheritance, the positive impartation of the righteousness of God, could not come from the slave-attendant but only from the father. \nPaul in 1 Corinthians 4:15 again made this distinction when he upbraided the Corinthians’ lack of respect for his God-given place of leadership by telling them, “Though you have ten thousand guardians ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"paidagogos "},{"insert":"in the Greek] in Christ, you do not have many "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fathers"},{"insert":".” In other words, Paul was saying that they had many “slave-attendants” who did not stand in life-giving relationship to them, but, he was declaring, “I am your father.” That is, I am the one with the burden not just to tend to or restrain you, or keep you “shut up,” but to “impart life” to you by proclaiming the coming power of the Holy Spirit in spiritual regeneration, which Paul, throughout the book of Galatians, identifies with the Promise.45 \nPrecisely this impartation of the Father’s life is what Paul sees as “the righteousness of faith.”46 “Therefore,” Paul says elsewhere to the Corinthians, “imitate me”47—imitate, in other words, the same Paul who walked in the power of the Spirit. In Paul’s example, positive impartation came only through the fatherhood of God, a fatherhood on earth that had its source in the Father in heaven.48 Positive instruction in righteousness was not, then, in this view, the province of the slave-attendant law or of the State that executed it but rather of the life-giving Spirit of the Father;49 it was an experientially internalized authority of categorical imperatives that reached into the very soul and that rested entirely on the most profound relationship, a relationship beginning with the spiritual rebirth that came from the Father above.50 \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul states that in the gospel, “the righteousness of God is being revealed* "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from faith to faith"},{"insert":"; as it is written, ‘But the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"righteous "},{"insert":"man shall "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"live "},{"insert":"by faith’” (Rom. 1:17, NASB). Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that this path leading “from faith to faith” and to the “righteousness” of which Paul spoke is an unfolding path of ever-increasing light: “The "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"path "},{"insert":"of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"righteous "},{"insert":"is like the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"first gleam "},{"insert":"of dawn, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"shining ever brighter "},{"insert":"till the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"full light "},{"insert":"of day” (Prov. 4:18, NIV; see also Mal. 4:1- 2). This is not just an “Old Testament” notion but also an intertestamental view and the view of the New Testament as well. So, for instance, First Enoch 99:10, the book to which Jude refers in his New Testament writing, reads: “They will walk in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"path "},{"insert":"of His [the Most High’s] "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"righteousness "},{"insert":". . . ; they will be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"saved"},{"insert":".” And many scriptures in the New Testament make essentially the same point (for instance, we’ve seen Romans 1:16-17 similarly juxtaposes salvation with the unfolding revelation of God’s “righteousness” “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from "},{"insert":"faith "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to "},{"insert":"faith”). The walk of faith, then, which “reveals” the “righteousness of God” that constitutes our salvation (Rom. 1:17; 4:12; 1 John 1:5-8, NASU), is a walk of ever-increasing light shining within us and directing us forward in God; for God dwells in the light (1 Tim. 6:16, KJV). In fact, “God "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"light,” and “in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5, NASB). He is “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow” (James 1:17, NASB). And God is also "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"our "},{"insert":"righteousness (Jer. 23:6; 33:16; 1 Cor. 1:30). Since Jesus, who is God manifest in flesh (John 1:1-3, 14; 1 Tim. 3:16), is “the light of the world,” this means, according to John, that “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk "},{"insert":"in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"light "},{"insert":"as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"He "},{"insert":"is in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"light"},{"insert":"”—that is, if we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk in faith "},{"insert":"as God increasingly reveals Himself to us through Jesus and His Word as expressed in and through Jesus’ corporate Body—"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"then "},{"insert":"“the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"blood "},{"insert":"of Jesus . . . will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"cleanse "},{"insert":"us "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"from all sin"},{"insert":"” (1 John 1:7), will divest us, that is, of all darkness. It is noteworthy here that “the blood of Jesus . . . will cleanse us from all sin” only “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"we "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk "},{"insert":"in the light.” So our faith is always moving us toward a goal via a certain path—walking in the light of God’s Word, within the context of Christ’s Body, toward the perfect Light that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"God (1 John 1:5-7). \n* The Weymouth and the International Standard Version translate this as “is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"being "},{"insert":"revealed.” William Mounce and John Piper also support this translation, and it is the identical word in Romans 1:18, “the wrath of God is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"being "},{"insert":"revealed.” It’s the present participle.25\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The purpose of bringing forth the reality of God’s kingdom requires an absolute refusal to compromise with sin. As Lutheran Dietrich Bonhoeffer declared, for the church “to face the stern reality of sin,” it is “necessary to point out concrete sins, and to punish and condemn them”63 (it must be understood, however, that punishment can only be defined strictly in terms of the limits of church discipline laid out in the New Testament). Bonhoeffer identified this as the “proper use of the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power of the keys "},{"insert":"(Matt. 16:19; 18:18; John 20:23), which the Lord bequeathed to His Church.”64 This “power,” which it is “essential for the Church to exercise,” depends first upon Paul’s command to “preach the word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching.”65 This authority is given, scripturally, primarily to eldership ministries (Matt. 28:18-20; Eph. 4:11-13; Heb. 13:7, 17; 1 Cor. 12:28; 2 Tim. 4:2). Yet, as Bonhoeffer noted, there is also an authority legitimately exercised by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"the members of the Body when they humbly stand in their places in Christ. Then “brotherly admonition” comes forth “from the other members of the Church” (Col. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:11, 14; 1 Cor. 5:1-7; 2 Cor. 2:6-11; Gal. 2:11-16; 1 Tim. 5:20).66 And ultimately, in cases of “open sin in word or deed,” the scriptural exertion of authority in the church depends on “formal disciplinary action,” when it is “time for the congregation to join its officers in administering the keys.”67 In such a case, the unrepentant brother or sister is extended the opportunity to “hear the [entire] church” (Matt. 18:17). Bonhoeffer concluded that, if the sinning individual is “still unrepentant, the Church must retain his sin in that Name. In other words, the sinner must be excommunicated” because the “unrepentant sinner has condemned himself already (Titus 3:10-11) . . . . He has already separated himself from it [the Body].”68 Believers must acknowledge the entire process of members hearing the Word, of having the opportunity to respond to admonition, correction and encouragement. So even the pattern of formal discipline itself has as its aim “the salvation of the sinner,” and “readmission to the community.” This “is the purpose of church discipline in all its stages.”69 This is why the Word of God must be spoken with “all authority” as commanded by both Jesus and Paul (Matt. 28:18-20; Titus 2:15). But the exercise of that authority must always be, as mentioned, carried out relationally and responsibly within the Body, ministered in God’s love for the purpose of establishing His kingdom.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In John 20:23, after having expressed to His disciples in the previous verse the necessity of first “receiving the Spirit”, Jesus tells them, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”. And this is almost exactly what He said, with only slightly different words, to Peter when He declared, “Upon this rock I’ll build "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"My church "},{"insert":". . . and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whatsoever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven"},{"insert":", and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven"},{"insert":".” So what, then, is this power of forgiveness that Jesus commits into the hands of the disciples—that is, who and what is it applicable to? “If you forgive the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sins "},{"insert":"of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"any"},{"insert":", they are forgiven them; if you retain the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sins "},{"insert":"of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"any"},{"insert":", they are retained.” \nDoes this mean merely that they have the power to forgive only those specific sins that are committed against them personally and individually? The context hardly encourages this interpretation, since He’s already long since "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"commanded "},{"insert":"them to do this sort of forgiving in the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:27-37; Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-22). Moreover, people already had this power of forgiveness in the Old Testament (Gen. 50:15-21; Prov. 19:11; 24:29; 25:21). So why does Jesus make this sound like such a unique and special commission by putting it in the context of receiving the Holy Spirit? He seems to be talking about a power of forgiveness that only comes from God Himself working through them by the power of the Spirit, just as the same Spirit worked through Jesus, even with the thief on the cross (Mark 2:2-12; Luke 5:17-26; 23:39-43). In short, He’s tying this sort of forgiveness to their coming rebirth as His corporate Body, a rebirth in the same Spirit that gave birth to Him as God’s Son (John 3:3, 5; Matt. 1:18-23; Luke 1:35). \nCan we, then, as believers, just stroll through town—go through the supermarket, the mall and such—declaring, “Your sins are forgiven. And your sins, too—they’re forgiven. Your sins, as well, are forgiven. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hmm"},{"insert":", I don’t like his looks— your sins are retained”? Can we—as one Lutheran pastor did at a funeral with a sanctuary full of strangers—wave our arms in a sweeping flourish and pronounce, “First of all, I declare by the powers invested in me that all your sins are forgiven”? No, that’s not what Jesus is saying at all, is it? He’s already made it clear—there must be a prior death to and repentance from our fallen nature: “The "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Son "},{"insert":"can "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do nothing of Himself"},{"insert":".” It’s only whatever words the Father is speaking through the Son that are “bound” in heaven or “loosed” in heaven because it’s been bound or loosed on earth (Luke 12:11- 12). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Many of the great long-term prophecies in the Bible can, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"generally "},{"insert":"speaking, be understood in the context of a “progressive continuum,” an unfolding revelation that ever moves toward the final revelation in the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment, in heaven or hell. To speak of prophecy as a “progressive continuum” indicates two primary characteristics: one, being a “continuum,” all prophecy fits together as an interrelated whole in a singular, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"progressive "},{"insert":"unfolding revelation of God’s “eternal purpose” (Eph. 3:10-11); two, it speaks, in brief, of a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuity "},{"insert":"in contrast to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"merely "},{"insert":"isolated events (though it does not exclude the latter). The continuity, however, doesn’t mean that the events merely repeat themselves as if in some cycle of existence, such as is found in Eastern religion; rather, it is a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"progressive"},{"insert":" fulfillment. Neither does “progressive” mean that our more “progressive,” less “primitive” culture has found “less embarrassing, more satisfying” ways of interpreting old and troubling prophecies. Rather, prophecy is progressive in that it moves toward the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"eschaton"},{"insert":", the final unveiling of the purpose and plan of God at the end of human history. So prophecy is not simply repeated cycles of events but rather a progressive fulfillment in that it proceeds step-by step in a definite direction, increasingly unfolding toward a predetermined end. For the church, that direction is forward and upward, moving toward the culmination of its God-ordained purpose and the return of Jesus Christ. For the world, that direction is downward, toward the total catastrophe of all human-centered efforts to create a self-sustaining world without God. In Jesus’ own idiom, just as “labor pains” intensify and come closer together as the time of birth approaches (Matt. 24:7-8; 1 Thess. 5:3), so the “progressive continuum” of prophetic fulfillment moves through step-by-step “contractions” toward birth. Yet "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"two "},{"insert":"symbolically configured “women” are engaged in this labor toward birth: what Paul called Jerusalem above, the mother of all the righteous (Gal. 4:26), and what John called Babylon, the “Mother of harlots” and of all “abominations” (Rev. 17:5). Babylon is the nurturing habitat, the “mother” of “harlotry,” of all that is outside God’s holy covenant, and of all “abomination,” all sin at enmity against, and at-tempting to displace, God. Within the world culture that is Babylon, the corporate “man of sin” — the full expression of the unrestrained fallen human nature energized by satan (2 Thess. 2:3-10) — finally comes to “full term” and is thus revealed (2 Thess. 2:6-8). Jerusalem is God’s order, which nurtures righteousness under His rulership. For those of the truth, the full expression of the Body of Christ, the corporate “perfect man” who rises to the “stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-16), comes to “full term” after centuries of a restoration that brings believers into conformity to the image of the Son of God (Rom. 8:29). The revelation of God’s righteousness in His people is manifest in the sons of God (Rom. 8:18-19). All prophetic history moves progressively toward the full expression of the “man of sin” and the Body of Christ, fulfilling the scripture which states that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Rom. 8:22, NIV). These pangs, Paul tells us a few verses later, are to conform us to the image of God’s Son, thus “revealing” us as “the sons of God” (Rom. 8:23, 29).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Luke 24:49\nActs 1:4-8\nActs: 2:1-4\nActs 2:33\nActs 2:38-39\nGal. 3:14-16\nGal. 3:22\nGal. 3:29\nGal. 4:5-6\nGal. 4:28-29\nJohn 3:3-8\nActs. 10:44-46\nActs 11:15-18\nHeb. 11:13\nHeb. 11:39-40\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Walther Günther recounts that the Greeks reserved the word translated in Jude 4 as “ungodly,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"asebeia"},{"insert":", to describe “outrage against someone, whereby established laws and ordinances are broken.”78 Werner Foerster, describes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"asebeia "},{"insert":"as “used especially for acts against the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"orders "},{"insert":"which uphold the State.”79 The Body Politic was, of course, the highest order to the Greeks. So the force this word holds to originally describe the State’s desecration would correspond in the Bible to a person committing outrage, rebellion, against the constituted divine order of the Body or, as Jude plainly put it, one who “rejects authority” (Jude 8). In the Septuagint, David defends himself against Saul, who had obviously fallen from all integrity of character but whom God had nonetheless earlier placed as king: “I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Yahweh’s anointed "},{"insert":". . . . Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rebellion "},{"insert":"["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"asebeia"},{"insert":"]” (1 Sam. 24:10-11). The “ungodliness” Jude speaks of here is, then, particularly a rebellious attack on the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"order "},{"insert":"of God, an attack for which God will hold a person guilty, even if the attack seems justified due to the failure of the particular vessels set in that order. “Ungodly” men ultimately have no respect for God’s fatherhood, from whom the whole fatherhood in heaven and earth derives its name or authority (Eph. 3:14-15), but seek only to steal its glory and destroy its authority, thus allowing it to slowly “wither from within.” According to Jude, these rebels turn the grace of God, which both convicts and grants the power to overcome, into a “license for immorality” by denying that God’s established order on earth through His Body has any real or legitimate sovereignty or lordship backing it up. They aim their slander at the very essence, the very origins, of fatherhood. Basil of Caesarea said of the person who seeks this “license,” who seeks to be “without restraint,” that he is a “soul which does not know and cannot endure the torment which discipline makes for it.”80 Such souls deny any real legitimacy to discipline and see it only as “torment” and oppression to their own pride of power. To them, the discipline of fatherhood does not express God’s love, as Scripture claims (Heb. 12:4-11), but rather mere abuse of their “precious desires” to be “free,” free from any restraints. By denying that the essence of fatherly discipline is love, like Freud, they place at the origins of all discipline, all restraints, a monstrous “austere primal father,” full of bestial envy and rage. In short, they paint the face of the wolf upon the Lamb, the face of the Luciferic cast-out son on the face of the “Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When the Israelites rebelled against Yahweh in the Promised Land, they were once again uprooted—but this time from their agricultural way of life. They were now transplanted into the captivity of an urban civilization: Babylon. While this punishment came upon the people of Judah as a whole, who had been increasingly absorbed into an urban culture seeking wealth and luxury, one particular family had escaped both this absorption and subsequent exile. This was the Rechabites. Just before Judah was carried off into captivity, Jeremiah, speaking in the name of Yahweh, commended the Rechabites for their obedience to their father Jonadab’s proscriptions. These proscriptions all went beyond Scripture, including Jonadab’s absolute injunction against drinking wine or eating anything from the vine. Jonadab also prohibited his descendants from building houses or sowing seed, commanding them instead to remain “sojourners” living in tents ( Jer. 35:7). These seemingly stringent limitations kept the Rechabites separate from both Israel and Judah, which, as said, had become increasingly absorbed into a commercial, material culture (1 Kings 20:34; 2 Kings 16:1-13; 21:1-15; 23:31-37). The Rechabites therefore remained separate from the judgment that came against Israel.\nIt was at the time of the impending Babylonian captivity of Judah, when Jeremiah spoke to the Rechabites in the temple, that the wisdom of Jonadab and the faithfulness of his children suddenly, after 300 years, came into stark focus and special relevance. This wisdom had kept them rooted in a rural culture that could not be absorbed into the ruling urbanism and commercialism. God’s special blessing on the Rechabites underscored the fact that Israel’s uprooting from the Promised Land and exile into Babylonian captivity represented not a liberation from any so-called “drudgery” of agricultural life but a straightforward act of chastisement, a punishment intended to bring the children of Israel to repentance, so that at least a remnant might seek once again to return to the ancient land of promise (Jer. 16:10-15; 32:36-44; 42:9-12). There they might once again live in accordance with the laws of Yahweh, laws inseparably intertwined with the rural way of life that God had always ordained for His people.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Revelation 20 calls the resurrection of the righteous dead the “first resurrection” (Rev. 20:4-5). This “first resurrection” is, we shall see, in fact a continuum, but here it is important to see at the start that this “first resurrection” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"includes "},{"insert":"those who have faced what is generally recognized as the signs and events of the great tribulation: Revelation 20 says that among those in the “first resurrection” are saints who had been “beheaded” for the witness of Christ, who had “not worshipped the beast or his image” and who had not taken the beast’s “mark on their forehead or hands” (Rev. 20:4). In Thessalonians, Paul ties the resurrection of the righteous dead in Christ together with what some call the “rapture” of the church. He describes this rapture when he speaks of those “who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord” being “caught up” to “meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:13-18). (The word for “caught up” was translated into Latin by the word from which we derive our word “rapture.”) But Paul says that this “rapture” of those still alive at the Lord’s coming will immediately "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"follow "},{"insert":"the resurrection of the righteous dead: “And the dead in Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"will rise first "},{"insert":"[the “first resurrection”]. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Then "},{"insert":"we who are alive and remain” will experience the “rapture” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). So if this “first resurrection” of the righteous dead must "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"include "},{"insert":"those slain in the tribulation, and if this resurrection, as Paul states, must "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"precede "},{"insert":"the rapture of those alive at the Lord’s coming (1 Thess. 4:16-17), then the rapture must take place "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after "},{"insert":"the tribulation. The scriptures confirm this in 2 Thessalonians where Paul says that the “coming of the Lord and our gathering together to Him” (the “rapture” and “first resurrection”) will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"come until “the falling away comes "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"first"},{"insert":", and the man of sin is revealed,” that is, until the antichrist spirit is fully revealed in human lives (2 Thess. 2:1, 3). Jesus Himself tells His disciples that “immediately "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after "},{"insert":"the tribulation of those days . . . He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and they will gather"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"together His elect "},{"insert":"from the four winds . . .” (Matt. 24:29-31). In order to maintain their belief in a pretribulation rapture of the church in the face of this explicit statement by Jesus that the “gathering” will occur “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after "},{"insert":"the tribulation,” some desire to limit the term “elect” to mean only the Jews. This cannot be the case, however, for Paul and Peter (in Romans 8:33, Colossians 3:12, KJV, 2 Timothy 2:10and 1 Peter 1:1-2) both use the term “elect” to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"refer"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to the church"},{"insert":", including both Jews and Gentiles (Col. 3:11, 12; Eph. 2:11-22; Acts 2:36-42 with 10:45-48). The Scriptures show, then, that the church will continue on the earth through the end of the tribulation and the Lord’s coming. \n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Jesus told Martha, after the death of her brother Lazarus, that her brother would rise again. Martha confirmed her faith in the “resurrection at the last day” ( John 11:24). Jesus, however, replied, “I "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"am "},{"insert":"[present tense] "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the resurrection "},{"insert":"and the life. He who believes in Me will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"live "},{"insert":"even though "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"he dies"},{"insert":"” ( John 11:25). Jesus, in other words, refocused Martha’s attention away from the last day resurrection and to the present. True faith in God brings a resurrection of human spirits now (Col. 2:12; Rom. 8:11; Eph. 2:4-6, 8), even though that resurrection will culminate in the last day with a bodily resurrection. We shall see* that many scriptures speak of the resurrection of those in Christ as having already occurred, and yet they also speak of the first resurrection occurring at the last day. For example, Paul tells believers that “you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"have been raised "},{"insert":"with Christ [past tense, a deed already accomplished], . . . "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"you died "},{"insert":"and your life is already "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hidden "},{"insert":"with Christ in God [perfect tense, also referring to a deed already accomplished]” (Col. 3:1, 3). Paul then speaks of Christ, “who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"your life,” echoing Jesus’ declaration, “I am the resurrection and the life.” So we have already been raised, already experience Jesus’ resurrection and life, but this “resurrection and life” is now “hidden” from the view of the world in our life in the resurrected Christ. But, Paul continues in this same sentence, when Christ “appears” at the second coming, “then you also will "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"appear "},{"insert":"with Him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The first resurrection begins with the impartation of the eternal life, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"resurrected "},{"insert":"life, of Christ, which happens after the believer dies in repentance and when he is then filled with Christ’s life-giving Spirit. Yet, even though this resurrection power is progressively revealed and unveiled to and through God’s obedient and increasingly sanctified people, as they are being transformed from “faith to faith” into His image (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 1:17, KJV), it remains an internal, “hidden” power until Christ’s appearance. The word “appear” is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"phaneroo"},{"insert":", which means “to be manifested,” “to be made visible” or “to be revealed.” At Jesus’ appearance, the resurrection life that we already have received, but that now remains “hidden” in “jars of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7) in Christ, will be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"revealed"},{"insert":". We will “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"appear "},{"insert":"with Him in glory.” The sons of God will be fully revealed as the first resurrection culminates even in the transformation of our bodies (Rom. 8:23).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The “first resurrection” does not merely occur at the end of time but begins as God imparts the resurrected life of Christ into believers who once were “dead in [their] trespasses.” God “made us alive” (past tense) with Jesus “even when we were dead in transgressions” (Eph. 2:4-5), and “God raised [past tense] us up with Christ and seated [past tense] us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6; see also 1 Cor. 15:20-23; Col. 3:1-4; Rom. 6:3-5 with 1 Pet. 3:21-22; Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:11-17, 19-23, 29; Rev. 20:4-6). So, just as the mystery of iniquity already works in the disobedient (Eph. 2:1-3 with 2 Thess. 2:1-10), even while it awaits its full expression at the end, so the power of the first resurrection has already begun its work in those who obey God’s living Word. Yet the resurrection power of God’s Holy Spirit, the “first resurrection,” will culminate, will be “revealed,” in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"bodily "},{"insert":"resurrection when Jesus appears at the second coming (1 Cor. 15:51-52; 1 Thess. 4:16-18) and God’s people are resurrected not to the old mode of existence but to a new order of never-ending life, eternal life. At the culmination of this conflict between the “man of sin” and the “Body of Christ,” between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:29), Jesus will return in like manner as He left this world (Acts 1:11, KJV). This will complete the “first resurrection” and bring final judgment on sin (2 Thess. 1:3-10). When He returns, those who have believed — first the dead and then those still alive — will be caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 1 Cor. 15:51-52; Matt. 24:31). They will then return with Him as He appears with “His mighty angels,” who with their power of “flaming fire” will take “vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Heb. 1:7; 2 Thess. 1:3- 10). This completion of the first resurrection and the bodily return of the Lord mark the final separation of the two conflicting kingdoms, which have both been unfolding since the Fall in a progressive continuum of prophecy and history. The completed kingdom of God shall appear before the eyes of all nations at the same time that the Lord appears to all humankind (2 Tim. 4:1-2; Rev. 1:7; 21:9-13). Then, after the final judgment (Rev. 20:11-15; 2 Thess. 1:3-10), shall come the ultimate and complete triumph of love, and the end of all external force, power and might, when “God is all in all” (1 Cor. 15:24-28). The kingdoms of this world, the kingdoms of sin, shall then be no more (Dan. 2:35). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"After healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:19-27; 37-40), Jesus said: “‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Son "},{"insert":"can do "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nothing of Himself"},{"insert":".’” Further, note how Mark records Jesus healing another paralytic whom four men have lowered through a roof. When Jesus heals this paralytic and forgives his sins, the scribes ask, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7). And most of us, of course, want to ask why they were offended at Jesus’ words of forgiveness more than they were impressed by the stunning miracle that He did. And the answer is—because it implicitly threatened the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"authority "},{"insert":"of their whole corrupt religious system, which in turn depended on the benevolent imprimatur of corrupt Roman power politics. \nMost to the point, Jesus forgave this man in spite of never having seen him before. So He can’t therefore be forgiving sins merely committed against Himself personally. Yet, if we take what Jesus said (about doing nothing of Himself) at the healing of the other paralytic as applying universally, which other passages indicate is indeed the case (John 5:19-20, 30; 6:38; 8:28-29; 12:44-50; Heb. 10:5-7), then He seems to be saying here that neither this power to heal nor the power to forgive resides constitutionally in His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"flesh as a man "},{"insert":"but only comes from the Spirit of the Father. So right away we see that if this helplessness of the flesh and dependence on the Spirit of the Father applies to Jesus, then it must also certainly apply to Christians who would claim to follow Him. Christians, too, after all, are called “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sons "},{"insert":"of God” and are supposed to be followers of Christ and to walk in His steps.* So we, too, should expect, if we are to fulfill the Great Commission, that we not only will be slandered as blasphemers for calling ourselves God’s sons (John 1:12-13; Gal. 4:4-7; Rom. 8:14-17; 9:8), just as Jesus was (John 10:29-37), but that we also must come into a complete dependence on the Spirit of the Father, a dependence that defines such sonship (Rom. 8:14). \nIn any case, this is also apparently just the kind of person that Jesus says must also make up His Body, the church—they can "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do nothing of themselves"},{"insert":"; and they will be slandered when they do anything in the name or the power of God, or even if they merely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"claim "},{"insert":"they have been commissioned to do so.† \n\n* John 13:15; 1 John 1:7; 2:6; 4:17; 1 Pet. 2:21; Eph. 5:1-2. \n† John 15:4-5; Matt. 10:24-25; Acts 3:11-16; 4:1-20; 5:27-29, 40-42. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In the fullness of time, when His only begotten Son stood ready to make His ministry public, God sent forth a man “in the spirit of Elijah” to prepare the way for Him, a man with a message of repentance (Matt. 3:1-3; Luke 1:17). But though Jesus said that Elijah had come to those who would receive him, He also said that Elijah was still yet to come (Matt. 11:14). Though many have come proclaiming to be Elijah, Elijah, when he comes, will not be merely a single individual. The Spirit and power of Elijah is again in the world to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, and just as an individual messenger of that Spirit came to prepare the way for the individual Christ, so today is that spirit of repentance being sent through a corporate messenger to prepare the way for the corporate Body of Christ.\nWhat is the spirit of Elijah being sent to accomplish? It is being sent to turn “the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:6, KJV), to establish the ultimate authority of and relationship with Him who is the Father of us all, Him from whom the whole fatherhood in heaven and on earth derives its name (Eph. 3:14-15), Jesus. God now seeks to establish His fatherhood over men by discipling us, “for what son is not disciplined by his father, and if we accept the discipline of earthly fathers, how much more should we accept that of the father of spirits?” (Prov. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:7-9). So the Spirit of Elijah will turn God’s people to those relationships through which God disciplines and disciples His people as a Father, bringing them into increasing conformity to His will.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"If God is not fully Lord in a person’s life, other lordships, other principalities, other powers, will begin to exercise dominion through obsessions, compulsions and addictions, especially in relation to material things. It may not be the thing in and of itself that is evil but what stands behind it and influences us through it certainly is evil. This is the sin of materialism, of covetousness which becomes idolatry. The word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"stoicheia "},{"insert":"(“principles”) was used throughout the ancient world to indicate “powers,” powers that were “understood as exercising rule and authority over and within the world of humanity.”4 According to Bauer, Danker, Arndt and Gingrich, in both Colossians 2:8 and Galatians 4:8-9, this word carries the meaning of “transcendent” (or, rather, “metaphysical” or “supernatural”) “powers that are in control over events in this world, elements, elemental spirits.” Swanson also attributes to both scriptures the meaning of “basic principles” and “elementary truths,” a definition that Arndt further clarifies as pertaining to “things that constitute the foundation of learning, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fundamental principles"},{"insert":".”5 In this sense, the word is also said to mean “any first things from which others in a series, or a composite whole, take their rise.”6 It seems, then, that what Scripture asserts here, even against the most bloated and inflated views of human pride and arrogance on behalf of human intelligence, is that all of the philosophies of the world, the human traditions of this world, the intellectual principles, worldviews and mind-sets of the human world, as well as the economic, political and religious paradigms and structures of the world—all of these “first principles,” the entire framework of the world system—are not only inspired by supernatural principles or forces but also “lie,” as John explicitly stated concerning “the whole world,” “under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). These particular powers or forces therefore enable satan to fashion the very framework of lapsed human thinking. Thus “elementary principles” has also been translated as “elemental "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"forces"},{"insert":"” or “elemental "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"spirits "},{"insert":"of the universe” (RSV/NRSV, NEB,REB, Moff.). And Paul has, in the previous chapter of Colossians, already set the stage for his discussion of these cosmic powers, speaking of “all things . . . that are in heaven and that are on earth, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"visible and invisible"},{"insert":", whether "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"thrones or dominions or principalities or powers"},{"insert":"” (Col. 1:16). So it seems that “visible” powers, systems, structures and dominions are ordered and controlled by “invisible” powers.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The name of Yahweh is indeed a strong, tower, and archaeologists have unearthed just such a \"strong tower\" dating from Herodian times and so probably standing during the time of Jesus.  It was built on the highest point of a natural hill and controlled access to the main gate of a fortified palace.  It \"rose four or five stories, a veritable skyscraper in its day.\""},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"A"},{"insert":"  A massive wall surrounded the tower, and within this wall, near the entrance to the tower, was a cistern.  This stored rainwater that fell on the tower roof and on the surface of the wall, providing an independent water supply in case of attack."},{"attributes":{"script":"super"},"insert":"B"},{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Three views concerning the time of the Exodus are prevalent: 1) that Thutmose III was the pharaoh of the oppression and Amonophis II the pharaoh of the Exodus (circa 1400 B.C.); 2) that Ramesses II was the pharaoh of the oppression and Merenptah the pharaoh of the Exodus (circa 1230 B.C.); 3) that the Exodus never took place or was a distorted recollection of some other event, such as the expulsion of the Hyksos. Since no reason (apart from simple bigotry and bias) exists to ignore the Hebrew records,¶ and left with our first two alternatives concerning the timing of the Exodus, thorough investigation of the pertinent information seems to lead, despite some plausible arguments raised by the advocates of the later Exodus, § to the conclusion that the advocates of the early Exodus have the most convincing case. Given the probable connection between the conflict with the Hyksos and the enslavement of the Hebrews, it seems almost impossible to imagine that the Hebrews would have maintained their liberty throughout most of the period of the New Kingdom and Empire. Thutmose III, the conqueror of Asia, would seem the likely candidate for the pharaoh of the oppression, and Amonophis II, in arrogant self-confidence in his warlike prowess,|| the likely candidate for the pharoah of the Exodus. The time span of these two reigns also seems to accord perfectly with the Biblical record, the eighty years of Moses’ life prior to the Exodus corresponding to the length of the reign of these two kings. In addition, this time framework for the Exodus coincides with the time at which the Bible indicates that it took place, as calculated in relation to known dates in Israel’s history. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The “seed,” or child, of the promise (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 3:16, 29) and the “seed” of the lie are implacable foes (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:29). Those who believe the lie of the serpent, that they can be their own gods, will persecute those of the truth who worship the transcendent God. This has always been the case throughout history, but prophecy always moves toward its culminating moment. At the end, the church will suffer its age-old adversary’s wrath — as the true church always has — but it will not suffer God’s own personal wrath. Daniel and Jesus warned that the wrath of the adversary will culminate in a time of trouble such as has never been (Dan. 12:1), a time often referred to as the “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21). This would, then, seem to indicate a time that will even exceed the tragic horrors of the Holocaust. And just as God tried to call the Jews out of Germany, Poland and Russia to return to Israel "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"before "},{"insert":"the Holocaust swept down upon them, so does He now also call Christians to make an exodus from spiritual Egypt (from their rootedness in the kingdoms of a fallen world and that world’s institutions of power) and to return to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"spiritual "},{"insert":"Israel and a life “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"complete "},{"insert":"in Christ” (Col. 2:9-10), a life understood as the kingdom of God.\nOne of the central purposes of tribulation is to purify the church, to perfect the temple of God for the coming of the Lord (Eph. 5:25-27 with Rev. 7:9-14; 1 Thess. 5:23). Jesus explained that the tares and the wheat, the false and the true, would grow up together during a great and long season, but in the end, they would be separated and revealed for what they truly were (Matt. 13:24-30). John the Baptist likewise announced that Jesus would separate the wheat from the chaff (Matt. 3:12, NASU). Jesus would do this with His “winnowing fork” on the “threshing floor” (Matt. 3:12, NASU). And our English word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"tribulation "},{"insert":"is derived from the Latin word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"tribulum"},{"insert":", which means “a threshing instrument.” The tribulum was usually a heavy sled with stone or iron teeth. It would be drug over the wheat on the threshing floor in order to crush and then separate the grain from its chaff. God’s purpose in the tribulation is to “harvest” the earth and then to separate the “grain” from the “chaff” by crushing the harvest in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"tribulum "},{"insert":"(Matt. 3:11-12, NASU; 24:21; Ps. 1:4; Dan. 2:32-35; 2 Thess. 1:3-10; Isa. 28:28).\nOnly after separation will the final judgment come (Matt. 13:36-43; 25:31-46; Rev. 20:11-15). The church will not be absent during this tribulation but rather will be God’s agent of evangelism during this time (Rev. 14:6; 3:9, 10, 20; 11:3-7). This must be the case, since Christ has never commissioned anyone to evangelize except the church (Matt. 28:19); and since Paul defines the church as the fullness of Him who is all the fullness of God (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:15-20; 2:8-9), for the church to be absent is for Christ to be absent and for Christ to be absent means Christ cannot “be in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). So in these views, no one undergoing the tribulation would have any hope of glory or salvation (Rom. 8:35-39). It is the church that is called to walk in Jesus’ footsteps (1 John 2:6; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:21; Col. 2:6-7). By so doing we will ultimately, like bread, be broken for feeding and blessing a lost world.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Jesus, in explaining the new birth, said to Nicodemus that “the wind blows "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"wherever it pleases"},{"insert":". You hear its "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sound "},{"insert":". . . . So it is with "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"everyone "},{"insert":"who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). The Greek word here for “wind” is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pneuma"},{"insert":", precisely the same word for “Spirit.” And the word for “sound” in John 3:8 is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"phoné"},{"insert":", translated 131 times in the New Testament (KJV) as “voice” or “voices” and only eight times as merely “sound.” In fact, the American Standard Version translated this sentence in John 3:8 as, “You hear the voice of it.” Interestingly enough, the longest discussion of speaking in tongues in the Bible, Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14, identifies “speaking in tongues” with the “sound” made by “lifeless things,” a “flute or harp” (v. 7). This word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sound "},{"insert":"is the same word ascribed to Jesus in John 3:8 when the Lord describes the “sound” heard when someone is “born of the Spirit”: it is, again, the Greek word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"phoné"},{"insert":". Moreover, as Paul continues his discussion in 1 Corinthians 14, he specifically uses this same word twice more in verses 10 and 11, where both the NIV and NASV translate "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"phoné "},{"insert":"as “languages.” In view of all this, it does not force the Scriptures at all to understand Jesus’ words (as recorded by John) to also mean, “The Spirit goes where it pleases and you hear its "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"voice "},{"insert":"or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"speech "},{"insert":"or "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"language"},{"insert":". So it is with "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"everyone "},{"insert":"born of the Spirit.” \nJames’s continuing discourse on the subject even parallels this thought of Jesus (as recorded by John), and by doing so James only further amplifies and clarifies Jesus’ words. First, James gives an example of a horse: “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"mouths, that they may obey us"},{"insert":"; and we turn about their whole body” (James 3:3-5, KJV). He then gives an example of a great ship, explaining that “they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"wants to go"},{"insert":"” (James 3:4). The wind or Spirit that Jesus spoke of and that blows or breathes “wherever it pleases” becomes, then, in James’s metaphor, the pilot who steers the vessel wherever he “wants” it “to go.” He does so with the “very small member” of the human body, the tongue, in order to steer the whole man and “set the whole course of his life,” just as the bit turns the horse where the rider desires or when the wind, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pneuma "},{"insert":"(same word for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Spirit"},{"insert":"), blows the ship and moves it, guiding it by the rudder. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Paul says “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water by the word,” (Eph. 5:25-26). G. R. Beasley-Murray,"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"in his exhaustive study on immersion, saw this passage as specifically"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"related “to baptism.”37 He wrote that, early on, Jewish brides took a"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"“ceremonial bath . . . in preparation for marriage.” Therefore, he went"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"on to say, “For the bride of Christ . . . , the counterpart to this bath"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"is baptism, in which the members of the body are cleansed ‘by the"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"washing of water by the Word.’”38\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"There is only one God. This God created the universe by His Word. This creating Word was God "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in expression"},{"insert":". Jesus was this Word in its ultimate personal and living expression, this Word made flesh. So Jesus Christ is the manifest Creator of heaven and earth, the Almighty God incarnate in human flesh. In the Spirit, He is fully God; in the flesh, He is fully man. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life as God's perfect expression of love and truth. He was crucified for our sin, died, was buried and rose from the dead. He has now ascended into heaven where He reigns as the Head of His Body. He will remain in \"heaven...until the time of [the] restoration of all things\" to \"present...to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,...holy and without blemish\".\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Holy Bible in Old and New Testaments is, in its original autographs and as revealed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the inerrant and infallible Word of God. This Word stands as the believer’s guide for faith, doctrine, truth, ethics, history, science, philosophy, lifestyle, relationships and all other matters that pertain to life in this world and the world to come. In all questions, this anointed Word has the answer and the final say. God framed the Scriptures not as propositions of logic and science but relationally. So they are to be understood not by autonomous human reasoning and intellect but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the context, order and functions of relationships He designed as Christ’s corporate Body. This is not to say that no reasoning is involved in the understanding of Scripture, but that all reasoning must be centered in God rather than in the lapsed human mind. The New Testament cannot be properly understood apart from the vision and historical context provided by the Old Testament, especially its unfolding revelation of the One God of Israel. Nonetheless, concerning which vision of which Testament prevails, whether in shifts of the role of the Law or in the unfolding revelation of God and His requirements for human conduct, the Old is to be interpreted in the greater light of the New as the latter is understood in deep relationship with the Spirit of Christ and in the context of Christ’s Spirit-anointed Body, that Body truly built on the “foundation of the apostles and prophets”. This interpretation will never, however, contradict the revelation of the Old Testament but will only show its meaning more clearly and perfectly.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When someone walks into a room and speaks to us, can we separate his presence from the words he speaks; or, rather, don’t his words (his outward expressions of his inner life) only further manifest the same person who speaks? If he is authentic, then don’t his words, in fact, give us the most essential "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expression "},{"insert":"of himself, his very essence and being "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pressing out "},{"insert":"to us in communication "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"with us"},{"insert":"? God’s Word, which is Truth, likewise expresses, presses out, His very Being. We cannot, then, separate His expression, His word, from His presence, from His Spirit, without distorting those Words and making them less than "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"His "},{"insert":"Word. So John writes that “the Word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"was "},{"insert":"God” (John 1:1) and that “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). So to attempt to separate God’s Word from the God who is Spirit is, for those who would hear it, to destroy the Word as a living expression of God. To thus worship in this way what is expressed "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apart from "},{"insert":"Him who expresses is the essence of pagan idolatry (Rom. 1:25). \nEdgar Cayce, the occult spiritualist, claimed to have read the Bible over fifty times and quoted from it profusely. Yet even such direct quotes, abstracted from the Spirit who authored them, became an instrument of distortion and destruction. As said above, satan also similarly quoted “literal” Scripture to Jesus in His hour of temptation, but he distorted the living context that only Spirit can give, even to the point that the scripture he quoted actually became a lie (Matt. 4:5-7). Was this “literal word” from the Bible, this word actually spoken by satan, properly speaking, the Word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of God"},{"insert":"? Again, Paul admonishes us to be ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter that kills, but of the Spirit that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). In other words, if the Word is cut off from God’s Spirit, if it is separated from it, then it always becomes an expression of idolatry, destruction and death—not an expression of God’s eternal life. How could “the letter that kills” even possibly be the Word of life, the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expression"},{"insert":", of the God of the living? How can we seek the Word of the living among the dead? No, this “letter” of death is not truly the Word of God but rather has become the word of one who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14; Matt. 16:23). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Apostle Peter claimed, in the second chapter of his first epistle, that those for whom the cornerstone became a “rock of offense” stumbled because of a specific form of disobedience: they could not receive as the authoritative Word of God the word that came to them through the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"human "},{"insert":"form of Jesus of Nazareth. To their minds, it was not necessary. Those “who do not believe” that God’s authority came (and still comes) in lowly human flesh could not receive the words or the life as “precious.” They therefore stumbled because of “disobedience,” which in the Greek is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apeitheo"},{"insert":", meaning “to refuse to be [fully] persuaded.” It has the same root stem as the word translated “to trust” in verse 6: “The one who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"trusts "},{"insert":"in Him will never be put to shame.” Only if they could open their hearts in trust to the Spirit that expressed itself through human flesh would they become fully persuaded that Jesus’ word was God’s Word. \nPeter said that to those who believe, “this stone is precious.” “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Precious"},{"insert":"” is translated from the Greek word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"timé"},{"insert":", meaning “honor,” “value.” It is the same word used when Jesus said, “‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"honor"},{"insert":".’ And He did not do many miracles there because of their "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"lack of faith"},{"insert":"” (Matt. 13:54-58). Matthew records specifically in this passage that “they were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"offended "},{"insert":"at him” (v. 57). This word, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"offended "},{"insert":"is the same Greek word Peter used in his passage about Jesus being “a rock of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"offense"},{"insert":"” (1 Pet. 2:4-8, KJV). So according to Matthew and Peter, dishonor shuts off the power of God from a person because without honor, without holding the Word ministered to us as God’s Word, as something “valuable” and “precious” but rather treating it as common, something to be taken for granted, mere human opinion, none of the “faith” that “comes by hearing” and none of the “hearing” that comes “by the Word of God” can occur. Jesus could not do many miracles because they did not honor Him. His Word was reduced in their heart to something common and profane, one of only many possible interpretations. They “had no room for His word,” because they could not empty themselves of themselves, of their own notions and words and ideas and feelings. Because they were unwilling to honor Jesus, which would have required them to have humbled themselves at the feet of a mere “unschooled” carpenter, the miraculous power of God’s grace could not flow down to them. Thus, Peter would later conclude his first epistle by saying that it is to the humble that God gives grace, but He resists the proud (1 Pet. 5:5). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Addressing a group of Jews who sought to kill Him, Jesus declared: “You don’t have [God’s] word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"think "},{"insert":"you have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"eternal life"},{"insert":"; and these are they which testify of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Me"},{"insert":"” (John 5:38-39). So Jesus apparently wasn’t calling them to merely some "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"conceptual "},{"insert":"Christianity based on their own private or subjective or intellectual understanding of Scripture; rather, He was calling them to a relational, existential Christianity based on God’s authority embodied in human flesh. He wanted them to come to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Him"},{"insert":"—not just to their own doctrines or creeds that professed faith in the God- or Christ-"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"idea "},{"insert":"and that claimed (by their own criteria) to be “walking in the Spirit.” “They testify of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Me"},{"insert":",” He said, and then concluded, “but you are not willing to come "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to Me "},{"insert":"that you may have "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"life"},{"insert":".” So, first, they must come to Jesus, God manifest in the flesh; then, when He ascended, they must come to, and even love, the life of Christ in the brethren, in the church. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Both"},{"insert":", according to Scripture, constitute passing “from death to life,”* and both therefore constitute coming out of ourselves and the world and then entering the life of Christ, “eternal life.” \n* John 5:24, 1 John 3:14\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The tenth chapter of Hebrews tells us that “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"never "},{"insert":"take away sins. But "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this Man"},{"insert":", after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool"},{"insert":".” In looking at this last sentence, we are reminded of Paul’s similar words to the Ephesians, that God had “seated [the Lord Jesus Christ] at His right hand in the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"heavenly "},{"insert":"places "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"far above all principality "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"power "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"might "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"dominion"},{"insert":", and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"every name that is named"},{"insert":", not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"He put all things under His feet"},{"insert":", and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"gave Him to be head over all things throughout the church, which is His body"},{"insert":", the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:19-23). Translators render the word “throughout” in various ways—“to,” “through,” “throughout”—but regardless of how it is translated, it undeniably ties Christ’s Headship to His Body in such a way that the Body becomes implicated in making “His enemies His footstool.” In other words, if the Head is now in heaven, and the feet are on earth, there can be little doubt that the “feet” refer to Christ’s Body now on earth, making His enemies His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"foot"},{"insert":"stool. When Isaiah records God saying, I will “beautify the place of My "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sanctuary"},{"insert":", and I will make "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the place of My feet "},{"insert":"glorious,” he is using a Hebrew parallelism that shows us that God’s “sanctuary” is synonymous with “the place of His feet” (Isa. 60:13, ESV). So from that time when Christ was “offered” and “sat down at the right "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hand "},{"insert":"of God,” He’s been “waiting till He makes His enemies His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"footstool"},{"insert":"”—and He does this "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"by means of the church"},{"insert":", His “sanctuary.” That is, the enemies that would work within each of us to rise up against the lordship of the Lamb—and these enemies include all the lust, the pride, the selfishness, the unkindness, the competition, the contempt, the mockery, the envy, the greed, the violence—all these enemies will be made His footstool through the ministry of the church. Redeeming love will conquer all within us that stands against Christ and will lay it at His feet, as we lay down our lives for our brothers in Christ’s sanctuary (John 15:13; 1 John 3:16). And so Paul’s explanation of the concept of Christ’s headship and His “footstool,” and the church’s role in conjunction with the latter, has made clear that this passage in Hebrews must also somehow include the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"corporate "},{"insert":"Body of Christ—“the church.” \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"To those Jews “who had "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believed"},{"insert":"” His explicit Messianic claim (John 8:31), Jesus made clear that their salvation was "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"secure forever on the basis of their initial faith. Rather, He said, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"If "},{"insert":"you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hold to "},{"insert":"My teaching” or, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"If "},{"insert":"you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continue in "},{"insert":"My word, then you are truly My disciples. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Then "},{"insert":"you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32, NIV, NASU). In response to Jesus’ insistence upon this necessity of a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuing "},{"insert":"faith, those Jews who had “put their faith in Him” (John 8:30) insisted that they possessed a standing that ensured their freedom from any necessary and ongoing relationship with God through Him, implicitly claiming an eternally secure salvation (John 8:33). Jesus responded to this that they could have “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"no permanent"},{"insert":" place in the family” of God unless they were actually set free from sin by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continually "},{"insert":"abiding in His unfolding Word to them (John 8:31-35). \nIn the effort to deny that it really is “a group of Jews who have been described as ‘believers’” whom Jesus is addressing in John 8:32ff (C. H. Dodd, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"More New Testament Studies"},{"insert":" [Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968], p. 42; George R. Beasley-Murray, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"John"},{"insert":", vol. 36 of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Word Biblical Commentary"},{"insert":" [Waco, Tex.: Word Books Publisher, 1987], p. 132), some commentators have sought to prove that those Jews addressed in verses 31ff had never believed at all. Some have suggested that a distinction is being made between “true believers in Christ” in verse 30 and other “Jews impressed with the teaching of Jesus but speedily offended by His further instruction” in verse 31. Yet George Beasley-Murray and others find “no real foundation for this distinction” (Beasley-Murray, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"John"},{"insert":", p. 132). In fact, verse 30 tells us that some of Jesus’ Jewish hearers believed in Him, and verse 31 tells us that “therefore” Jesus addressed those who had believed. So it seems evident that verse 31 begins a discourse to those who had believed in verse 30.  J. Ramsey Michaels notes that while “the grammatical construction” of verse 31 “is different from v. 30, . . . in context the two constructions are equivalents.” He explains: “In this Gospel, to believe "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in"},{"insert":" Jesus is to believe what He says, and believing His message means believing in Him as God’s messenger. There is no way v. 31 can be made to refer to a less adequate kind of faith than v. 30. In neither verse is it possible to tell from the language that the faith in view is not genuine” ( J. Ramsey Michaels, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"John"},{"insert":" [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1989], p. 155 [emphasis in original]). To quote Beasley-Murray, “There is not a hint in vv. 30-32 that the faith of the believers is inadequate or insincere” (Beasley-Murray, John, p. 132).\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"1 Corinthians 14 shows Paul, while laying down guidelines for corporate worship, speaking not only of tongues as a spiritual gift to edify the corporate church but also describing tongues as the refreshing of personal salvation. Paul applies Isaiah’s prophecy in 28:11 to the New Testament phenomenon of tongues (1 Cor. 14:21), and in Isaiah the prophet then immediately says of this “stammering lips and another tongue” that “this is the rest . . . ; this is the refreshing” (Isa. 28:12). This “rest” and “refreshing” mark the entrance into and abiding within God’s “sabbath,” the rest and refreshing of God’s New Testament salvation, where God’s Spirit works in us and we can therefore cease from our own works (Heb. 4:1-11; 1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:4-6). The book of Exodus speaks of the Old Testament sabbath in these precise terms: “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rest"},{"insert":", that your ox and your donkey may "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rest"},{"insert":", and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"refreshed"},{"insert":"” (Exod. 23:12), literally, that the stranger may "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"naphash"},{"insert":", “take a breath.” Exodus later identifies the sabbath as a “sign” between God and Israel, for on the “seventh day” God “rested and was refreshed” (Exod. 31:17). In Isaiah, it seems likely, then, that the reference to “stammering lips and another tongue” being the “rest” and “refreshing” is an allusion to the sabbath and, by extension, a foretelling of the New Testament sabbath of salvation, as the book of Hebrews describes it (Heb. 3:18–4:10). So while Paul’s distinctions concerning tongues in these chapters do not explicitly relate to tongues as the sign of the new birth (for he’s writing to those already reborn), it does refer to the same “sabbath” function of tongues as a sign of “rest and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"refreshing"},{"insert":".” \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The conditions of the common people in Ur, like those of many inner cities 5000 years later, were wretched. In practically all ancient Mesopotamian cities, streets “were narrow, winding lanes, unpaved and untended.” Without “any municipal sewage or garbage disposal system[,] all refuse was flung . . . from the close-packed, mud-brick houses into the street, where it accumulated until it rose above the level of the thresholds.”37 The people lived in crowded hovels. These were “thick-walled compound[s] consisting of several windowless rooms with shoulder-high doors.”38 Yet even the conditions of the well-to-do were abominable, largely because of the common practice of “burying the dead immediately below the floor” of the cities’ houses. At times, when a body was buried in a house, “occupation ceased” and “the front door was walled up” to make “the empty house . . . a mausoleum.”39 Usually, however, “the family continued to live there and the vault was periodically re-used.” In fact, it was “not uncommon” for people to bury “ten or more bodies” in their household tombs, “and under the floor of one . . . there were thirty infants’ graves.”40 Babies were often buried in cooking pots, “sometimes with a hint of human sacrifice,” or else thrown “onto rubbish dumps as if they were regarded as subhuman.”41 Occasionally, deceased adults were also thrown onto rubbish dumps.42 The unsanitary conditions and the stench of the basement cemeteries would have “in time” made “not merely single houses but whole quarters . . . virtually uninhabitable.”43 In addition to these thousands upon thousands of corpses, possibly a half million people packed into the district of which the city of Ur was the center.44 According to Oppenheim, in unstable times (which the evidence suggests was "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"the time) a volatile population of refugees from Mesopotamian cities—who were runaways from the temple work gangs or had been driven by “the deterioration of the soil, the breakdown of facilities for irrigation, or because they had rebelled against taxes and rents”45—roamed just beyond the reach of State control. As instability increased, these gangs grew and terrorized the cities as they often allied themselves with invaders, such as the Amorites. This increasingly occurred as the great international power and prestige of Ur declined. Eventually these roaming gangs helped to bring about Ur’s destruction.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In 1 Peter 3:21, some translations render "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"antitupos "},{"insert":"as “symbolizes,” in the phrase, “and this water,” of Noah’s flood, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"symbolizes "},{"insert":"baptism . . . .” In contrast, the more literal translations tell us that the salvation that comes through baptism “corresponds” to (NASV) or is “of the like form” to (Rheims) the salvation that the waters of the flood brought to Noah’s family. Arndt and Gingrich similarly say that “the flood is a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"typos"},{"insert":", or ‘foreshadowing’ . . . and baptism corresponds to it . . . .” Whereas "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"symbol "},{"insert":"derives from a Greek word meaning to “throw together,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"antitupos "},{"insert":"means literally to “strike back” or to “impress” as when a die casts a form. Hence, the use of “symbolizes” here obscures the nature of the relationship between baptism and the flood waters, that the baptism’s specific form refers back to the flood "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"waters"},{"insert":", therefore making the flood waters merely symbolic, as when the dove stands as a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"symbol "},{"insert":"of peace. Obviously, there is no formal relationship between a dove and peace, but here Peter tells us that the waters of the flood shows us something very specific about the form through which baptism now saves us.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"When speaking of the justification of Abraham in James 2:21-22, the apostle did not say that Abraham’s works merely expressed faith but “perfected” or “completed” it. The Genesis account makes the point quite clear when God, after repeating His covenant promise, says of Abraham, “For I "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"have known him in order that "},{"insert":"he may command his children and his household after him, that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"they may keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice so that Yahweh may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him"},{"insert":"” (18:19, NKJV). So the purpose of the covenant was that God could know ("},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"yada"},{"insert":") Abraham (in the relational sense of that word) “in order that” Abraham could be empowered to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do"},{"insert":"” right and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"command "},{"insert":"his children also “to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"do "},{"insert":"righteousness”; and only if this happened would God bring to pass what He had promised. This was the “righteousness that comes from faith,” the faith of Abraham. \nPaul also urges believers to this latter unfolding, ongoing and living faith, using Abraham himself as our example, when he says Abraham is the father of all who “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"walk in the footsteps of the faith "},{"insert":"that our father Abraham had . . .” (Rom. 4:12). (It hardly needs noting that the “footsteps” are also plural.) Abraham didn’t “believe God” and then sit down and do nothing in order to magnify his faith. He “walked” out his faith to the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fulfillment"},{"insert":"” or “completion” of all that God commanded for him in his day. Indeed, as Paul says, what “counts is faith "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expressing "},{"insert":"itself through love.” Because Abraham loved God, he "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"expressed "},{"insert":"his faith by "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obedience"},{"insert":"; and as he took each of his “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"steps "},{"insert":"of the faith” (Rom. 4:12), his faith moved toward its perfection as it was more fully expressed in the reality of a human life “lived by faith” (Rom. 1:17; Hab. 2:4). As we in turn follow on in the footsteps of the father of the faithful, motivated by love to run in the path of God’s commands (Rom. 4:12; Gal. 5:6; Ps. 119:32), we shall move toward the culmination of God’s purpose that we might all be “made perfect” together (Heb. 11:39-40). As John said, “If anybody "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obeys "},{"insert":"His word, God’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"love "},{"insert":"is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"made complete "},{"insert":"in him,” and “this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:5; 5:2-5). \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The Bible is not, and never has been, a politically correct writing. Thus we read where Solomon said, “I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all” (Eccles. 7:28). This is blasphemous to modern ears, evincing the most violent utterances of hatred, never considering that Solomon is addressing a culture turned upside down, one that has seduced him into acquiring 300 wives and 700 concubines—the “thousand” from among which he could hardly expect to find a woman that would love him with the wholehearted devotion found in God’s plan of one man, one woman. So Solomon is condemning an entire culture, one which he has almost wholly given himself over to. But most of those who so rabidly react to his words also ignore the fact that, for Solomon, there were no righteous women "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"or men "},{"insert":"(Eccles. 7:20, 27-29), that the entire Bible names only one fully righteous man who ever lived—Jesus the Messiah, in whom all must find themselves. But, instead, modern tongues superciliously chide us that we must not take the Bible “too literally,” meaning that we must not allow it to speak to us unpleasant things about ourselves, our culture or our age, unpleasant things that we would much rather dismiss or ignore. But this we cannot do if we believe the Bible is God’s Word to us for all eternity (Ps. 119:89, 152; Isa. 40:8; Matt. 5:18; 1 Pet. 1:25). So we accept that Solomon describes in this passage the scarcity of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"both "},{"insert":"righteous "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"men "},{"insert":"and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"women"},{"insert":". And that does give us pause for thought, at least if we take seriously God’s Word (which is to say, at least if we take God’s Word “literally”). In other words, in a culture that has so completely inverted the roles and functions of men and women until both are conditioned to relate to one another in entrenched ways that counter every Biblical pattern for this relationship, dare we ask ourselves disturbing questions? For instance, is it even possible to ask if a man consecrated to God, who knows God’s tangible grace in his life, would do better not to marry until God has given that one extremely rare wife that only God can give (Prov. 18:22; 19:14; 31:10)? And should a woman consecrated to God do the same? \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Elohim "},{"insert":"is the word translated in the Bible as "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God"},{"insert":"; but it is a Hebrew word that also Biblically includes other "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"elohim"},{"insert":", the gods of the pagans (Deut. 6:14) as well as evil spirits and righteous angels.*198 The righteous angels are so closely identified with the order of the one true Elohim that the Scriptures often speak as if they were God (Judges 2:1-5; 6:12-16; 13:6-23). It is the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"elohim"},{"insert":", the angels of His power, as well as the earthly “governing authorities” who are also called "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"elohim "},{"insert":"in Scripture (Ps. 82:6-7; Exod. 21:6; 22:8-9, 28), that, as “agents of wrath” (Rom.13:1-4), personally act to bring the punishment inherent in any judgment. In many passages of Scripture, God only "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"appears "},{"insert":"to personally execute the judgment of death because the Scriptures often identified these acts of vengeance as if they were direct and personal acts of God’s essential nature, just as the Scriptures identify the angels themselves frequently with God.† Even when God Himself speaks, it is as if His identity is one with the angels (Judges 2:1-5; 6:12-16). For instance, Genesis 18 tells us that “Yahweh appeared to Abraham” (Gen. 18:1) and then tells us that “three "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"men"},{"insert":"” (Gen. 18:2) stood nearby. Yahweh had, in fact, appeared with two angels. After Yahweh had said, “I will go down and see” about the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, this scripture then says that the two "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"angels "},{"insert":"left for Sodom while Yahweh remained with Abraham (Gen. 18:21-22; 19:1). The angels become God’s own vision even to the point that He refers to "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"their "},{"insert":"journey to Sodom as His own journey: “I will go "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"see"},{"insert":".” But while the angels were going to dispense wrath, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God Himself "},{"insert":"remained on the mountain with Abraham negotiating "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"mercy "},{"insert":"(Gen. 18:23-33). \n* Exod. 22:20; 1 Kings 11:5, 33; 18:24; 2 Kings 1:2 with Matt. 12:24-26; Ps. 8:5; 97:7; 138:1. \n198 Murray J. Harris, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Jesus as God: The New Testament Use of Theos in Reference to Jesus "},{"insert":"(Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1992), pp. 23-24; C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"The Pentateuch: Three Volumes in One"},{"insert":", vol. 3, trans. James Martin, in "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes"},{"insert":", vol. 1, by C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), p. 476. \n† Gen. 18:2, 21-22; 19:1-16; Exod. 3:1-6; Judges 2:1-5; 6:12-16; 2 Chron. 16:9; Zech. 3:9; 4:10.  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In discussions regarding man-woman or husband-wife relations, it is important to distinguish generally applicable scriptural injunctions from only temporary and localized instructions. In considering 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, we could agree that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"if "},{"insert":"Paul were speaking of an issue relative only to Corinthian culture, then to apply it universally would be legalistic and unwise. Yet when Paul spoke to the Corinthians about the practice of head coverings in the context of his discourse on the order of church and family relationships, he applied his words to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"every "},{"insert":"man” and “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"every "},{"insert":"woman” who prayed or prophesied (1 Cor. 11:4-5). He then concluded by saying, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"We "},{"insert":"have no other custom, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"nor do the churches of God"},{"insert":"” (1 Cor. 11:16, NKJV). In other words, he spoke of a custom adhered to by a plurality of “churches,” not merely the singular Corinthian church. (In fact, Paul explicitly addressed this whole epistle not only to the Corinthians but also to “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in every place "},{"insert":"call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"both theirs and ours"},{"insert":",” 1 Cor. 1:2.) This suggests he wasn’t speaking about some customs or fashions of the world, which constantly change, but the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"unchanging "},{"insert":"customs that God laid down for His eternal Bride. So Paul explicitly stated that whatever proscriptions he laid out in 1 Corinthians 11 should be adhered to by the other churches under his authority. For when in verse 16 Paul spoke to the Corinthians of the “custom” or “practice” (NIV) of “the churches” in regard to hair length and style (which, again, he tied directly to the nature of the relationship between husband and wife), he did not speak simply of an option but of the churches’ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"sunetheia"},{"insert":", their “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ethos "},{"insert":"together.” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Ethos"},{"insert":", according to one lexicon, refers to “a custom, usage, prescribed by law,” “a rite”10 and, according to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Theological Dictionary of the New Testament"},{"insert":", an “ordinance,” “law”11 (and the word is translated as such in the Septuagint in reference to Mosaic Law—this is also the word from which we derive our English word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ethics"},{"insert":"). This is a very different use of the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"custom "},{"insert":"than what we encounter today in Western culture. This suggests that the precepts concerning hair and head coverings that Paul established as a “custom” for the churches were to be binding, not merely an option. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Many people claim saving faith even though they have never had the type of powerful experience described in Scripture as the baptism of the Spirit, maintaining that, even before the crucifixion, Jesus’ followers had already undergone the new birth, or that they were “born again” on the day of His resurrection (John 20:22).† In this bewildering view, Jesus’ disciples were converted, regenerated and saved "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"before "},{"insert":"Pentecost—before, that is, the church was even born and the New Covenant instituted! So, when the disciples were subsequently baptized in the Holy Spirit, this is said merely to have been the “second blessing” or “infilling” and, again, therefore “not essential” for salvation. But many commentators have seen problems in such a wild scenario. \nFirst, if, as Paul said, the church is Christ’s own Body on earth, “the fullness of Him” who is “all the fullness of God” (Eph. 1:22-23; 3:16- 19; Col. 1:18-19; 2:9), then how can individual believers be born again into Christ, be covered in His sacrificial death and raised into His resurrected life "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"before "},{"insert":"the corporate New Man that now is Christ’s life, His corporate Body on earth, has even itself been born, as the church was born on the day of Pentecost (Rom. 6:3-5; 8:9-11; Col. 2:11-15)? Second, this view seems to merely "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"assume "},{"insert":"that saving faith is a punctiliar event, occurring at one point in time, instead of a process of unfolding relationship with God taking us into the mature life of our Savior* and therefore occurring throughout our entire lives.† \nIf, as some say, people were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"actually regenerated "},{"insert":"and saved "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"before the crucifixion and resurrection"},{"insert":", and nothing else was required "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"after the crucifixion and resurrection"},{"insert":", why, then, did Jesus have to be crucified and raised from the dead? Could it be that His crucifixion rent the veil in the temple in order"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":" "},{"insert":"to release the Holy Spirit in a new way and thus bring the possibility of a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rebirth "},{"insert":"into His kingdom, an entrance into the temple, into His Body of flesh, which is now the church?* \n* Matt. 7:13-14; 19:23-26; Acts 14:21-22, NASU; Jude 3; Luke 9:23-25; 13:24; 1 Pet. 4:18; Luke 14:26-33; 1 Cor. 9:25-27; Heb. 4:11. † See The Minister’s Dialectical Handbook of Theology and Doctrine "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On the Holy Spirit "},{"insert":"by Blair Adams (Elm Mott, Tex.: Colloquium Press, 1977, 1988, 2010).  * Prov. 4:18; Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17, NASU; 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:9; 2 Pet. 1:5-11; 2 Tim. 4:7; Heb. 6:12; 10:35-39; 11:1-40; Eph. 4:11-16. † See Apologetic Handbook "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"On Faith"},{"insert":".  \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Contrary to what some translations imply, the setting in place of deacons in Acts 6 did not occur by a congregational election that would express a democratic rule within the church. The New International Translation completely obscures the actual procedure by translating the apostle’s words, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them” (Acts 6:3). First, regardless of the translation, it was the apostles who initiated the selection process and therefore any authority the congregation exercised was delegated by the apostles. A more literal rendering of the verse, however, greatly clarifies the procedure that occurred. As the New King James and most other translations make clear, the apostles delegated to the church the task of “looking for,” “seeking out,” “visiting,” certain men to investigate their qualifications (Acts 6:3). The congregation had no authority to vote into office deacons or anyone else. Rather the apostles told them that they should recommend certain men “full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we may appoint"},{"insert":" over this business” (Acts 6:3, NIV, KJV). This word for “appoint” is the same used in Titus 1:5 where Paul tells Titus that he should set in order the churches “and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ordain"},{"insert":" elders in every city, as I had appointed you.” When the congregation had searched out qualified men according to the guidelines of the elders, they then “presented those men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:6). Again, the offices of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"authority"},{"insert":" within the congregation did not receive their commission from below but “from above.”   \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some claim that the occurrences in Acts of speaking in tongues were merely instances of men speaking in foreign human languages. But Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 indicate both tongues of men "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and of angels "},{"insert":"(v. 1). So this would indicate that it cannot necessarily mean that believers must always (or even ever) speak in foreign, historical languages. He has just told the Corinthians twice that there are various “kinds of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:10, 28). The word for “kind,” "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"genos"},{"insert":", means “categories” or “species,” so we must not make absolute generalizations about a phenomenon that Scripture specifies as diverse. Second, Paul says that “he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"for no one "},{"insert":"[naturally] "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"understands him"},{"insert":"; however, in the Spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Cor. 14:2). So when we speak in tongues, or what Paul called “in the Spirit,” “no one understands” us. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"God "},{"insert":"may make exceptions to this, but for believers today this must be taken as the rule. For this reason, Paul said that anyone “who speaks in a tongue” should “pray that he may interpret” (1 Cor. 14:13). Note that he does not pray for a translator (as with a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"known "},{"insert":"language) but for an interpreter. This is because it is not often a language that even "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"can "},{"insert":"be translated, since “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"no one "},{"insert":"understands” it, but a message from God that can only be “interpreted.” Paul adds that if “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I pray in a tongue"},{"insert":", my spirit prays, but "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"my understanding is unfruitful"},{"insert":"” (v. 14), indicating again that even the one speaking does not “understand” what he is saying. Finally, Paul says that if we “bless in the Spirit,” which he has just made synonymous with speaking in tongues (vv. 2, 14), then those unfamiliar with such a spiritual phenomenon can “not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"understand "},{"insert":"what you say” (v. 16). So speaking in tongues is repeatedly indicated to be a "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"supernatural "},{"insert":"utterance, one lying beyond the speaker’s or hearer’s natural ability to understand. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some of the most popularly quoted words that Evangelical believers use in order to tell people how to enter “the way which leads to life” are those of John 3:16, which declare: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believes "},{"insert":"in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV). Jesus, however, then immediately went on to explain what the notion of this faith that brings salvation means. First, He says, “Whoever "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believes "},{"insert":"in Him "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"not condemned, but whoever does "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not believe "},{"insert":"stands condemned already because he has "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not believed "},{"insert":"in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). Jesus’ next words are crucial to an understanding of saving faith as an unfolding walk in the light: “This is the verdict: "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Light "},{"insert":"has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"hates the light"},{"insert":", and will not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"come into the light "},{"insert":"for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whoever lives by the truth comes into the light"},{"insert":", so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:19-21, NIV). These words make clear that “believing” means coming into the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"unfolding "},{"insert":"light of His Word and thus “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"living "},{"insert":"by the truth.” Verse 36 of this same chapter confirms this view: “He who "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believes "},{"insert":"["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pisteuo "},{"insert":"in the Greek] in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"obey "},{"insert":"["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apeitheo "},{"insert":"in Greek] the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (NASB). This Greek parallelism makes obedience an intrinsic part of saving faith. It seems crucial to further understand that when Jesus said, “Whoever "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believes "},{"insert":"in Him shall . . . have eternal life,” this word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"believe "},{"insert":"is a present participle, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"pisteuon"},{"insert":", which in the Greek denotes a “continuous action.” So this word could be translated “is believing” or “continues believing.”22 While Jesus said that many seeds grow in the kingdom for a time, He also said that most of these die—cease to grow—before they reach maturity and fruition (Matt. 13:3-9). So we may receive the seed-promise of our salvation when we first believe, but Peter nonetheless urges us to press on to “the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"end"},{"insert":"” of our “faith,” even the “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"salvation "},{"insert":"of [our] souls,” thus making faith’s end synonymous with salvation (Rom. 13:11; 1 Pet. 1:9). Even if this word were translated “goal” instead of “end,” it still speaks of a destination “not yet” attained, as any goal necessarily suggests. So salvation is not just the beginning of a walk of faith, but it must also reach all the way to the “end,” to the “goal” that constitutes the salvation we aim for but have not yet attained. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"What is wisdom? How exactly can one define its nature and describe its workings? Wisdom is the ability to perceive relationships, not only particular, individual relationships, but the whole interlinked series and patterns of relationships within which any individual person, thing or act can truly live. This self-evidently requires a view of reality transcendent to merely human viewpoints. Wisdom enables us to perceive the form, the pattern of relationships, in which any individual act takes place, to recognize the fullness of all the interrelationships between that individual act and the wide diversity of its effects and ramifications. Wisdom, then, gives us the ability to bring something forth in wholeness, completeness, the ability to see the proper form in which something must exist in order to develop into the fullness that God intended. Again, wisdom provides us with the ability to perceive relationships. Wisdom is, in short, she who builds her house (Prov. 9:1); for what is a house but a series of relationships of various shapes and forms that together can hold the content of life?\nThis ability to perceive relationships for the accomplishment of purposeful action also represents the ability to see the meaning of things, for things receive their meanings through their relationships.  So when wisdom reveals relationships, it reveals the meaning of life itself. To look at any particular entity in isolation, simply as a shape, as an isolated "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"object "},{"insert":"for detached analysis, obscures its meaning. Wisdom alone fits things together so that the fullness of their meaning and purpose begins to show through. Wisdom is what enables us to gain the insight necessary to see how all things come together according to God’s patterns of life. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Only a transcendent perspective can explain the meaning of Job’s suffering. That meaning comes into view during a revelatory dialogue between Yahweh and the archetypal numen of immanence, the god of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"this "},{"insert":"world— "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ha-satan"},{"insert":". Satan begins by insisting that Job serves the transcendent God only because Yahweh has put a hedge around him, has blessed him, protected him, prospered him. Satan claims that if Yahweh lifts this protection, so that Job will no longer enjoy the divine blessings, then Job will abandon Yahweh. God, satan in effect accuses, has simply bribed Job. “Skin for skin,” satan declares. “Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and [Job] will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 2:4-5). Satan insists that if Yahweh would allow the unleashing of pain and loss against Job, would release satan’s own violent power of suffering and death, then satan could transform Job from a follower of Yahweh into a follower of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"ha-satan"},{"insert":", a Hebrew word translated as “the adversary.” In this view, the violent power of destruction and pain—not the love that defines God’s essential nature— reigns supreme.\nSatan’s thesis, ultimately, rests on an accusation about the debased essence of human nature. God does not claim, however, that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"human beings are not so debased; He only claims that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"some "},{"insert":"can overcome it through love. For His words were: “Consider My servant Job.” God, in effect, put forth a claim of hope for humankind and the world, but only as long as there were people like Job. So Yahweh, refusing to rule by brute force and insisting on free choice, acquiesces to satan’s act. He does so in order to demonstrate that a power greater than violence and force exists in the universe and that people can (and sometimes even will) choose to respond to that power rather than to mere threats of violence. \nJob’s faithfulness was to prove that the essence of Yahweh’s nature, selfless love, was indeed the greatest of all powers. Job participated not in a temporal but in an “eternal purpose” by making known the manifold wisdom of a transcendent deity to the principalities of darkness (Eph. 3:10-11), rulers who possessed only the authority of brute might and violence (1 Cor. 2:6-8). Job’s perseverance was to demonstrate that love could overcome all that the spirit of violence and terror could hurl against it. This would come to represent the essential message that the transcendent God of the Hebrews would time and again express on earth to and through people—the supremacy of numinous love, not as an abstract ideal, but as a relational, living power and, ultimately, the greatest of all powers, a mercy triumphing even over judgment. It is portrayed as the power alone that overcomes death and binds together wherever and whatever death would tear apart.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Some have pointed out that in 2 Samuel 24:1, Scripture says, “Again the anger of Yahweh was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah’” (NKJV). But then 1 Chronicles 21:1 says, “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel” (NKJV). In dealing with this seeming contradiction, theologian Walter Kaiser rules out “the thought that God instigates or impels sinners to do evil . . . . In no sense could God author what he disapproves of and makes his whole kingdom stand against.”482 Kaiser contends that the only sense in which it can be said that “God . . . impels sinners to reveal the wickedness of their hearts in deeds” is that He “presents the opportunity and occasion for letting the evil desires of the heart manifest themselves outwardly.”483 The goal in such cases is to provide an opportunity for repentance from hidden sins that lie buried from the light. \nBut then Kaiser notes that “according to Hebrew thinking” there is a sense in which “whatever God permits he commits. By allowing this census-taking, God is viewed as having brought about the act.”484 Yet while Kaiser speaks of satan as a “secondary cause,” here, the fact is that he is the active perpetrator of the deed, which God only allowed. In other words, it was satan who moved on David to sin, and God’s part in this lies solely in the fact that He allowed it.\nKaiser makes another interesting point about the way Scripture speaks about satan in this verse in Chronicles. He notes: “Satan is mentioned infrequently in the Old Testament. He was introduced in Job 1-2 and in the postexilic period in Zechariah 3:1. However, in both of these latter cases, the definite article is used; 1 Chronicles 21:1 does not use it. What seems important to note here is that implicit in this generic reference to satan in 1 Chronicles 24:1 is that, as Kaiser refers to satan, “this relatively unidentified but never-absent personage,”486 is the perpetrator behind other dark deeds and violent judgments attributed by the Old Testament to Yahweh. Again, the Hebrews did not, and before Calvary, could not, have a clear and consistent view of God’s never-failing love or of the true nature and role of their real spiritual enemy. So Scripture could not yet speak explicitly of that which people were yet incapable of understanding (John 12:16; 13:7). It spoke in language they could understand when it was appropriate for them to understand. \n\n482 Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hard Sayings of the Bible"},{"insert":", p. 241.\n483 Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hard Sayings of the Bible"},{"insert":", p. 241.\n484 Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hard Sayings of the Bible"},{"insert":", p. 241.\n485 Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hard Sayings of the Bible"},{"insert":", p. 241.\n486 Kaiser Jr., "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Hard Sayings of the Bible"},{"insert":", p. 241.\n\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Speaking of the judgment of the nations, Jesus states in Matthew 25:40: “And "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the King "},{"insert":"will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me"},{"insert":".’” So doing something to the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"least"},{"insert":", the very "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"least"},{"insert":", of Christ’s brothers means doing it to Jesus. Somehow, therefore, their judgment at the throne of glory seems to have already been determined by what they did to the least of Christ’s brothers on earth. Then Jesus says it again in reverse, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"not "},{"insert":"do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"to Me"},{"insert":".” So how complete is the identification between Christ and His church—between Christ and His “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"brothers"},{"insert":"”? It clearly appears to be complete enough to bring eternal judgment if we transgress against our brothers or even fail to love and care for them. \nNow let’s read Paul in Romans 14:10: “Why do you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"judge your brother"},{"insert":"? Or why do you show "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"contempt "},{"insert":"for "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"your brother"},{"insert":"? For "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ"},{"insert":".” This, too, seems to directly tie how you treat your brother to how you will be judged before God. In other words, Paul expresses here in Romans the very same thought Jesus expressed in Matthew 25, as quoted above. Again, the identification between Christ and His church, even in judgment, seems to be complete. \nLuke’s account of Paul’s conversion also confirms this in Acts 9:1, 4-5: “Then Saul, still breathing "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"threats and murder against the disciples "},{"insert":"of the Lord, went to the high priest.” As Paul came near Damascus, he “fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"you persecuting Me"},{"insert":"?’ And he said, ‘"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Who are You, Lord"},{"insert":"?’ Then the Lord said, ‘"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting"},{"insert":".’” Then we read Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:9: “I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I persecuted "},{"insert":"the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"church "},{"insert":"of God.” So he “persecuted the church of God,” but Jesus had told him, “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I am Jesus "},{"insert":"whom you are "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"persecuting"},{"insert":".” So, again, to persecute the Lord’s “disciples” was to persecute the Lord Jesus Himself. \nWhile Jesus said that God has given “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"all "},{"insert":"judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father” (John 5:22), Paul is saying much the same thing about the church when he writes in 1 Cor. 6:2—“Do you not know that "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the saints will judge the world"},{"insert":"”? Has, then, God deposited judgment in Christ, or in the church? The only way to answer this without making Scripture self-contradictory is to see the two as one continuum—God has deposited judgment in Christ, but Christ "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"in "},{"insert":"His "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"entire corporate "},{"insert":"Body—from the Head in heaven to the feet upon earth. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Augustine attempted to deal with the problems raised by ontological trinitarianism in his explanation of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 15, which tells us that in “the end,” Christ will hand “over the kingdom to God the Father” (v. 24). This does not mean, Augustine explains, that Jesus will cease reigning at this time but rather that His sonship will no longer function as the mediator between man and God, because man and God will then be fully reconciled, and so the function of Jesus "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as mediator "},{"insert":"will be fulfilled.157 But what can this interpretation possibly lead us to understand about the nature of the Godhead? What does it imply to say that Jesus will continue to reign but that the Son’s "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"function "},{"insert":"as mediator will now be fulfilled? Such an interpretation could certainly be taken to point toward a purely “economic” function of the Son. That is, it can be taken to suggest that the title “Son” refers to a specific function or manifestation of God rather than referring to the name of a “person” in the Godhead who stands ontologically distinct from the Father. \nWhatever Augustine’s opinion, this seems to be the clear implication of the scripture itself, especially when presented in its full context: “Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He ‘has put everything under His feet.’ Now when it says that ‘everything’ has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Here Paul seems to unmistakably refer to the function of the Son in economic terms: a particular task of a specific relationship is completed in the realm of space and time, and then when the task is accomplished, the Son fulfills His function. But if Augustine is right that Jesus continues to reign (and the Scriptures do seem to confirm this158), then what can this mean except that this same Jesus is also the Father as manifested in human flesh (Isa. 9:6; John 10:30; 14:9)?* After all, the Scripture nowhere speaks of more than one throne in heaven (Rev. 4:2; 20:11). \n* To be sure, the scriptures address “the Son” and say “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever” (Heb. 1:8; see also Rev. 11:15). The glorified body of the crucified Son will sit on the throne, but He will not reign as a separate person of the Godhead but as the focal point through which the Father will eternally and directly continue to manifest His essential nature.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"1 John 2:4-11 states that: “He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"whoever keeps His word"},{"insert":", truly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"the love of God is perfected in him"},{"insert":".” So if you don’t keep His commandments, then you’re lost from God and His love—according to John, you’re simply “a liar.” The “truth is not in” you. His “word does not abide” in you. Instead, the “wrath of God rests on you,” and you’re “walking in darkness.” But if you "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"keep "},{"insert":"His Word, “the love of God is perfected” in you— This is written in the proleptic perfect tense, which speaks of a state that results “from an antecedent action that is future from the time of speaking,” as in an ongoing process.2 Another example is Romans 13:8: “the one who loves his neighbor "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"has fulfilled "},{"insert":"the law.” In other words, the writer tells us that if the one he is speaking about will, in the future, fulfill the conditions necessary, then what is said about him will come to pass. In this case, John is telling believers that if we will “keep His word,” both now and in the future, we will be perfected. And we know it "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"is "},{"insert":"indeed an ongoing process because, as the famous Greek scholar A. T. Robertson showed, the phrase here, “keeps His word,” means “keeps on keeping,” and it refers to a “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"continuous "},{"insert":"keeping of Christ’s commandments.”3 \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"At the end of the creation account, after creating man and granting him dominion over all the earth, the scripture then says, “By the seventh day God had "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"finished "},{"insert":"the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"rested "},{"insert":"from all His work” (Gen. 2:2). What is the Scripture teaching here? Was God tired? Did He need rest because creating the universe turned into a difficult and strenuous task for Him?\nNo, God truly possesses inexhaustible power. David said, “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4). As the Scriptures state, “He is not a man” (Num. 23:19); He does not grow weary as we do (Isa.40:28). And creation before the Fall offered no resistance that could “work against” God’s power anyway. God “rested,” then, not because He was tired but because He had completed the work; “the heavens and the earth were "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"finished"},{"insert":", and all the host of them” (Gen. 2:1, NKJV). “Rest” denotes here "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"completion"},{"insert":", not "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"fatigue"},{"insert":". And “host,” the Hebrew "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"tsaba"},{"insert":", means “a host in marching order, a company of persons or things in the order "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"of"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"their nature "},{"insert":"and the progressive "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"discharge of their functions"},{"insert":".”218 It applies to the stars and planets in their orbits (Deut. 4:19) as well as to the angelic orders (1 Kings 22:19). Everything was in order. Everything was not only finished, but also “it was good” (Gen. 1:31). It was perfect in all its order. So God “rested” in the sense that He then "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"acquiesced "},{"insert":"to the order He had made, as Delitzsch explained.219 Creation, then, was so good, so perfect, that God acquiesced to all the laws and principles and order of creation that He had set in motion. He does not keep "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personally "},{"insert":"“pushing” the planets forward in their orbits; he does not keep on "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personally "},{"insert":"flinging waves of light out from stars. Though He spoke the universe into existence and still intervenes by His grace in human affairs, His creation of matter and energy now operates "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"apart from "},{"insert":"His own "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"personal "},{"insert":"agency. By the meaning of "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"tsaba"},{"insert":", we know that this includes the angelic host—God does not keep personally moving them around like puppets. He “rested” and therefore acquiesced to the freedom of what He created.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Soon after Jesus told His disciples to buy swords (Luke 22:36-38), they excitedly announced that they had indeed found two. Jesus replied to them, “That is enough”. Yet only a few hours later, the disciples encountered the Roman detachment of soldiers and the crowd of Pharisees, both of which came to confront Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter boldly (but one suspects, because of his later action, quite fearfully) exclaimed, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” Not even waiting for a reply, Peter “struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear” (Luke 22:49-50). At this, Jesus reveals His attitude toward their literal and audacious interpretation of His advice by pointedly rebuking Peter: “"},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"No more of this! Put your sword back in its place, . . . for all who draw the sword will die by the sword"},{"insert":"” (Matt. 26:52). He then touched the servant’s ear, healing it instantly (Luke 22:51). \nAlso, at the time of this incident, Jesus assumed as so obvious that His life and purpose involved nothing of armed might or insurrection that He reproved those arresting Him, including Judas: “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture Me?” (Matt. 26:55). Note that Jesus referred to the resisting of this decidedly godless authority as a “rebellion.” So both verses 52 and 55 show that, while Christian military advocates frequently point to this “two swords” incident for support, it actually represents here the clearest, most pointed rebuke from Jesus "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"against "},{"insert":"the use of the sword. Therefore, unless He was lying to His arresters, He could not have given His instructions about the “two swords” in any literal sense. \nNow, let’s look at Jesus’ earlier reply, “That is enough.” The disciples had announced that they had followed His advice to acquire swords and had, in fact, discovered “two swords.” Yet Jesus’ curt reply to the disciples’ announcement, “See, Lord, here are two swords,” could not, in fact, have confirmed that the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"two swords "},{"insert":"were enough; for if Jesus had intended the swords for literal use, "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"two "},{"insert":"swords would scarcely have sufficed to defend twelve men against “a multitude” of well-armed soldiers and temple guards intent on arresting Jesus. When Jesus said, “That’s enough!” it is not difficult to understand Him saying, as if to children, “Stop taking My words so literally with your carnal mind and instead hear with ears attuned to the Spirit.” In support of this view, both the subject and verb of Jesus’ reply, “That is enough,” are singular, not the plural form (“they are enough”) necessary to agree with “two swords” if that had been what Jesus was referring to. His reply is translated clearly and accurately in both the King James and the New American Standard Bible, “It is enough.” What was “enough,” then, was the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"disciples’ "},{"insert":"dull and immature but nonetheless audacious literal interpretation of Jesus’ purpose on earth—not the two "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"swords"},{"insert":". \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"In 480-479 B.C., the Persian Empire, with its massive army and navy, were all under the absolute control of one man, the Persian emperor Xerxes. This is the same ruler who, in the book of Esther, is called Ahasuerus, which actually means “king.” Xerxes means “warrior.” Xerxes was the son of King Darius, the ruler who had expanded the Medeo-Persian empire to its ultimate extent. According to the Hebrew scriptures, both Darius and his predecessor Cyrus had granted favors to the Jewish people, supporting their resettlement in the land of Israel. But Xerxes wasn’t like Darius or Cyrus.\nAt Sardis, as Xerxes was about to set out with his army on this expedition, an incident occurred that gives us insight into the character of this man who was hoping to conquer the Greeks, and who would be married to Queen Esther. The incident concerns a man named Pithius, the richest man in the Persian empire. Pithius had used his great wealth to finance Darius’s wars. When Xerxes had earlier been planning this invasion, Pithius had come to Xerxes and had told him that he wanted to help him finance his war against the Greeks. Xerxes refused the offer on the grounds that Pithius, who had been Xerxes’s father’s dear friend, had already made enough sacrifice for the Persian Empire by financing Darius’s wars at great expense to Pithius’s own fortune. In fact, Xerxes even gave Pithius a gift of 8,000 darics in silver and gold. Xerxes went even further in his seemingly generous response, telling Pithius to ask for anything, and Xerxes said that he would grant it. \nLater Xerxes had come to Sardis, gathering this enormous army, and, even if Herodotus’s 1.7 million is an exaggeration, the most conservative estimates put it at least at a half a million. Nobody today really knows, but it was at a minimum half a million foot soldiers and probably two to three times that number. So Xerxes was now ready to depart on his expedition of conquest through the gates of Sardis, and at that time Pithius approached him and reminded him of his promise to grant whatever Pithius requested. When Xerxes allowed him to make his request, Pithius asked him to please leave Pithius’s oldest son behind to take care of him in his old age. As was typical of Xerxes, he immediately flew into a rage. In his anger, he called for Pithius’s oldest son, and he ordered his strongest swordsman with the largest sword in the army to come and cleave Pithius’s oldest son in half, from top to bottom. Then he nailed each half to either side of the gates of Sardis so that the army would then march out through those two halves of Pithius’s son. Thus did he leave Pithius’s son to guard the gates of Sardis and “watch over” Pithius. This was the king that, according to the scriptural book that carries her name, Esther married and had to risk her life by going before.94 You can also see why Xerxes, who has been called by historians of the ancient world “the Adolf Hitler of his day,” served as Herodotus’s prime model for what constitutes a despot.\n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The highest usage in the Hebrew Scriptures of the word "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"yada"},{"insert":", “to know,” reveals the Biblical concept of knowledge as subject-to-subject union. This usage shows a definite relationship between the way God and people know each other and the way a husband and wife know each other, the latter in order that they may conceive children. For example, Genesis records, “Adam knew [the root here is "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"yada"},{"insert":"] Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain” (Gen. 4:1, KJV). Also in Genesis, God declares of Abraham: “For I know ["},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"yada"},{"insert":"] him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is right and just, so that Yahweh will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him” (Gen. 18:19, NIV, KJV). So when God says that He “knows” Abraham, He says something precise about His relationship, or more specifically, about the relationship of His Word, His seed, to Abraham. God’s Word has fallen like good seed into the heart of Abraham, who has entered into covenant relationship with Yahweh, and there, in Abraham’s covenanted heart, the Word conceives God’s purpose. And through that Word’s growth and development within the nurturing soil formed by that binding covenant, God’s purpose and nature grow within not only Abraham’s life but also his children’s. \nSo a person’s life can only realize God’s vision within the context of a binding covenant relationship—a deep, personal, subject-to-subject union—between the individual and God. God’s vision and patterns of life present themselves as more than mere tools or pat formulas known intellectually and then applied by people independently of God. Rather, their use depends upon a continual, living relationship between people and God. This relationship is described by the term "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"covenant"},{"insert":". Through the covenant, God enters into “whole-souled union” with people, a union that brings the true knowledge of God and His ways. Only such a union brings the oneness between a person and God that constitutes human salvation; for salvation is at-onement, total oneness with God and with all of His patterns for human life and being.* To live in God’s oneness is to live a life of integrity, of righteousness. Outside of the absolutes of covenant relationship lie adultery, fornication, prostitution and perversion, relationships that merely use the partner as an object for one’s own selfish purposes, to be later cast aside in the caprice of changing whims and moods. Only within the covenant do we treat the partner as a subject, a subject loved, respected and cared for, toward whom we assume binding, lasting responsibilities. \n* Gen. 1:26-30; 2:15; 26:3-5; Deut. 5:16; Ps. 37:9-11, 22; Isa. 24:5; 57:13; Jer. 11:1-5; Ezek. 36:4-20; 2 Chron. 36:21; Lev. 25:4-5; 26:33-35.   \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"The name Abraham means “father of a multitude,” in order words, a father whom God is educating to initiate a new social order of human relationships for His purpose in blessing families. By changing the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, God seems to be telling them that, as parents, they must see their relationship—their very identity—as something quite different now, at least if they would see His promise fulfilled in their lives. This man and woman will no longer be accepted "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"as brother and sister"},{"insert":". They must radically change and reorder their relationship by changing their very identities, their very self-conception, the very notion of who and what they are in their essential nature. To do so means they will have to depend more on God than on their old identities and images, their own personal powers and resources. The reduction that alone leads to holy exaltation must, then, now take a significant step forward. Abraham complies with this new covenant by circumcising Ishmael. Yet then he says, “Oh that Ishmael may live before You.” He’s still confined to understanding his heir as utterly "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"natural"},{"insert":". He is having great difficulty breaking this old mind-set. But God still insists, “No. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Your wife Sarah "},{"insert":"will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac, and "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"I "},{"insert":"will establish "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"My covenant "},{"insert":"with him as an "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"everlasting covenant "},{"insert":"for his descendants after him.” In other words, the son of promise will come forth only from the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"right "},{"insert":"seed with the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"right "},{"insert":"mother, which is to say the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"right "},{"insert":"family, the family of promise, the couple transcendently ordained "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"and ordered "},{"insert":"for each other in the service of God’s larger purpose for this sacralized community. This is the only way they will be given supernatural power to conceive by God’s Spirit. \n"}]}

{"ops":[{"insert":"Zechariah, together with Haggai, served as God’s prophet at the time of the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. A descendant of David, Zerubbabel, led this restoration. To Zerubbabel, who had oversight for rebuilding the temple, Zechariah proclaimed: “The word of Yahweh came to me: ‘The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that Yahweh Almighty has sent me to you. Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel’” (Zech. 4:8-10). Here God declares that the temple will be completed just as it was begun, by the hands of Zerubbabel. "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Zerubbabel "},{"insert":"means “seed of Babylon” or “out of Babylon.” God’s people were a seed coming out of captivity, out of their bondage to the world, and Zechariah assured them that the descendant of David who had led them out of captivity, a prototype of David’s greater Son who would truly set the captives free, would also lead them to the complete liberation from the systems of confusion* of a polytheistic civilization and world and into the complete restoration of the temple—that transcendent order of human relationships that counterposed the social order of civilization that rose from below. The “seed out of Babylon” would flower forth and unfold into full-orbed fruition.\n* "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Babylon "},{"insert":"means “confusion.”\n"}]}