Salvation

Great Commission Baptism and Infant Baptism Part 1

“Buried unto death in Christ, rise again to walk in newness of life.” – my pastor when I was baptized thirty-four years ago at the age of thirty-one.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Jesus Christ giving the Great Commission to His church in Matthew 28:19-20.

THE BEAUTIFUL PLAN – THE GREAT COMMISSION (MATTHEW 28:19-20)

Almost four years ago, on December 20, 2021, I had posted an article (Post #471) presenting the beautiful picture given to us by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. In these two short verses, known as the Great Commission, Jesus instructs His church of their responsibilities in making disciples and thus in building His church to the end of the age. The picture is simple and elegant. First, the church is to proclaim the gospel “in Jesus’ name to all the nations” (Luke 24:47), “even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Those who respond in repentance and faith are to be publicly baptized as a testimony of their faith and are then to join themselves to a local church to be taught all that Jesus commanded. And this same pattern of proclamation-unto-faith and then baptizing and then training in righteousness is to continue through the church until the Lord returns. This is the basic blueprint for how Jesus is going to build His church (Matt. 16:18). The purpose of Post #471 was to reveal that blueprint and then display the beauty of Jesus’ disciple-making plan in operation in a local church. (It might be helpful to read that post before reading this one.)

BAPTISM OF DISCIPLES AT THE CENTER

At the very center of this Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), this divine plan for making disciples of all the nations, is the command to baptize disciples. The risen Lord Jesus, to whom has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (28:18), commands His church to baptize disciples. This article will not take the time to explain the reason that Jesus commanded the baptism of disciples, but we will insist on the fact that Jesus commanded the baptism of disciples. The Lord of the church has told us to baptize (i.e., immerse) those who confess Jesus as Lord and our obedience to Jesus requires that we do so.

A DISTORTED APPROACH

Despite the unambiguous command in the Great Commission to immerse disciples, there are many in the Christian church who do not obey the Lord’s command regarding baptism but instead practice a man-made alternative. In this article (Post #719), I will critique one of these “other plans,” namely paedobaptism, which is more commonly known as infant baptism. We will see that ignoring the beautiful pattern that Jesus gave to His church in the Great Commission distorts the entire task of disciple-making. We will also see that an erroneous practice of baptism produces much confusion about salvation.

PAEDOBAPTISM (INFANT BAPTISM)

First, we consider the unbiblical way in which infant baptism (IB) is practiced. (NOTE: I will use the abbreviation “IB” when referring to infant baptism.) As we noted in Post #471, IB is a foundational practice in all Catholic churches and all Protestant denominations that descend from the Catholic Church. In this practice of IB, a minister of the church sprinkles a little bit of water on the head of an infant (or young child) being presented by its parents. After invoking the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the minister declares that the passive, unaware, and sometimes unconscious infant has now been “baptized” and is therefore a member of the church. All of this ceremony is done without the slightest participation by the infant and is done without any biblical warrant.

Now, regardless of how this practice of IB is justified by the church (and the ways of justifying the practice of IB vary widely between denominations and even within the same tradition or denomination), it should be observed that violence has been done to the Great Commission. The pattern for making disciples that Jesus gave His church in Matthew 28:19-20 was “Go and evangelize unto faith and salvation” followed by baptism followed by teaching by the church. But the pattern for the church that practices IB begins with something they call “baptism” and ignores or overlooks the critical starting point of the faith and salvation of the disciple. Having thus ignored Jesus’ prescribed pattern for making disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) and invented their own (Romans 10:3), the church is now also on their own for the other steps in the disciple-making process.

QUESTIONS RAISED BY IB IN THE CONTEXT OF MATTHEW 28:19

In Matthew 28:19, the risen Lord Jesus unambiguously commanded the baptism of disciples. But this command provokes significant questions for the church that “baptizes” (sprinkles) infants. For example, since Matthew 28:19 is explicitly about the baptism of disciples, we should ask the IB church, “Is the infant being presented for ‘baptism’ a disciple?” For if the infant is not a disciple, then, according to Matthew 28:19, this sprinkling-as-baptism ceremony is meaningless, for this is a ceremony which only baptizes disciples. But if, on the other hand, the infant is deemed to be a disciple by the IB church and is therefore eligible for “baptism” (sprinkling), we must ask, “How and when did they become a disciple?” Were they born as a disciple? If they were not born as a disciple, then the infant must have become a disciple between birth and their sprinkling ceremony, because, as we have already seen, Matthew 28:19 is only for the baptizing of disciples. What occurred between the infant’s birth and his sprinkling ceremony that changed him from not-disciple to disciple? There are other questions which could be mentioned here, but the main point is that the practice of IB raises many questions.

But as interesting as these questions are, of far greater significance are questions about how IB relates to salvation. In His Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, we have already seen Jesus presenting the church with her task which begins with the church going (“Go, therefore!”) and proclaiming the gospel message so that some will call upon the name of the Lord and be saved (Romans 10:13-15). Thus, Jesus begins with salvation. Then those who “call upon the Lord” are the disciples who are baptized, and those disciples are then taught obedience in the context of the church. And the church is to be engaged in this task until the end of the age. The Lord’s plan is simple and clear: proclamation results in salvation which is celebrated in baptism which is then worked out with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13) in the local church. Go-Baptize-Teach-Repeat. By this means the Lord Jesus will build His church (Matthew 16:18).

Next time we will see how infant baptism confuses and distorts the New Testament’s clear teaching on salvation as contained in the Great Commission.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 10/10/2025                 post #719

Isaiah 45:23 – Every knee will bow to Jesus

OVERVIEW. An exegesis of Isaiah 45:23 by considering other passages in Isaiah and passages in the New Testament about Jesus.

“I have sworn by Myself,
The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

Isaiah 45:23

The context of this verse is the LORD speaking to the “fugitives of the nations” (45:20). He calls them to gather themselves and come, draw near “you fugitives of the nations.” Who are these “fugitives of the nations?” Remember that “the nations” are the Gentiles. Consider also that “fugitives” calls to mind scattered aliens (1 Peter 1:1), those who are being “persecuted but not forsaken” (2 Cor. 4:9), fleeing from one city to the next (Matthew 10:23). These fugitives of the nations are the elect from among the Gentiles, those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Rev. 7:9), whom the LORD has called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

The LORD commands the fugitives to “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (45:22). Later Jesus says the same thing with different words: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). A connection between Isaiah’s prophecy and the first advent of the Lord Jesus is beginning to emerge.

Now looking at our theme verse, the LORD says, “That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.” But we also note that the apostle Paul quotes this verse in Philippians 2:10 and explicitly applies this to the Jesus. Every knee will bow to Jesus. Thus, Jesus is the LORD. Jesus is the one to whom all the ends of the earth must turn for salvation.

Peter declares in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no other name.” It is only the name of Jesus by which we must be saved.

So, the LORD says, “Turn to Me and be saved.” Peter says that Jesus is the one by whom we must be saved. Necessarily then, Jesus is the LORD and the name of the LORD is Jesus.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 6/13/2025                 #718

Thoughts on religion (Part 1): Satan’s purposes

OVERVIEW. An essay on religions. This article focuses on the purposes for which Satan has created religions.

“I must admit that I am doctrinally weak.” These were the words that Elisabeth said to me when I had mentioned that some of the beliefs of the Mormons were a bit strange. Elisabeth and I were dating at the time. She was a Mormon, having recently come into that group through her sister’s influence. Through a couple of Mormon “missionaries,” I was being exposed to this group’s teaching and found it pretty hard to believe. And so I made my comment to Elisabeth.

This anecdote serves as an introduction to a series of reflections I had recently about religions and about how these philosophes gain and then maintain their control over men and women. This article is a record of some of these reflections.

BASICS OF RELIGION

Before we get too far along, it will be helpful to establish some basics about religion. All religious systems are conceived by the prince of the demons and are brought into the world as Satan insinuates his ideas into the minds of sinful men.

THE PURPOSES OF RELIGION ARE TWO-FOLD. Since the fall in Genesis 3, when sin entered the world (Romans 5:12-14), all mankind has experienced two great problems from their sin: guilt and death. Religions are Satan’s response to these two great problems, because religions are intentionally designed to deceive people about their guilt from sin and to deceive people about death.

GUILT. One of the purposes of any religious system is to provide its adherents with a way to ignore their conscience so that their guilt is assuaged. Because all men have a conscience and because a complete copy of the Law is written on every man’s conscience (Romans 2:14-15), all people experience guilt every time they violate the moral Law of God. The only way to truly remove the guilt from your sin and to rid your conscience of its shame is by true repentance and by faith in the Lord Jesus. But religions are designed to provide a man-made counterfeit that pretends to remove guilt through man-made works and efforts or through man-made ideas with the result that the religious adherent is deceived into believing their guilt is no more.

DEATH. The second purpose of religious systems is to deceive their adherents regarding the nature of death.

When the LORD God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He warned the man with the most terrifying prohibition possible. The LORD God warned man by threatening death as the consequence of disobedience (Genesis 2:17). Death is the most severe threat man can experience. Thus, the threat of death should be the most terrifying threat to us.

But Satan is the deceiver of mankind. What the LORD God threatens for our good Satan twists so that we will be deceived. And so he said to the woman, “You surely will not die!” (Gen. 3:4). The talking snake convinced Eve that there was some wiggle room in what God had commanded. The snake was persuasive, so the woman was persuaded that the threat of death was not that bad. And, ever since, the serpent of old has been persuading fallen mankind that death is not really that bad and deceiving them that God does not really intend to destroy some of His creatures in the lake of fire. Religion is one of Satan’s primary tools for deceiving man about death.

OBSCURING CHRIST AND THE CROSS

To this point we have spoken of religion as Satan’s means of deceiving mankind about the peril of his situation before a holy God. When presenting the gospel to unbelievers, this explanation of religion as putting a veil over the realities of guilt (sin) and death can be a helpful introduction to proclaiming the atoning death of the Lord Jesus and how it solves our two great problems. So certainly, Satan has created religions for deception and distraction.

But there is an even more significant purpose for the invention of religious systems and philosophies. Satan’s primary purpose for religion is to obscure the cross of Jesus Christ and to remove the glory of the Lord Jesus. Consider 2 Cor. 4:3-4:

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Paul expressly teaches that “the god of this world” (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the glory of Christ. Satan hates Christ and he hates the cross and therefore his primary goal is to bury Christ’s triumph on the cross in the deepest depths of Sheol. Religion, consisting in fallen man’s pathetic and futile efforts to achieve his own righteousness, is Satan’s primary means for obtaining this goal. So, religion in all its myriad forms is never a way to gauge your goodness but is, in fact, the primary way Satan blinds your mind and obscures the cross of Christ, which is the only way of salvation (Acts 4:12).

In a future post I will continue my musings about religion and will consider the effects of religion on fallen man. We will also consider ancient religions and “next gen religions.”

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/22/2025                 #717

Vessels of mercy (Romans 9:23)

POST OVERVIEW. Examining the phrase “vessels of mercy” in Romans 9:23 and understanding how this relates to God’s glory and our resurrection glory.

GLORY

This study is a mini-study of our glory as mentioned in Romans 9:23. This is related to our resurrection (the subject of my upcoming book) because, in the resurrection, we who are fallen but have been redeemed enter into glory.

23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. – Romans 9:23-24

CONTEXT. Paul’s main subject in this section of Romans is the sovereignty of God in salvation. God, and God alone, is the one who decides who will be saved and who will perish. “He has mercy (unto salvation) on whom He desires, and He hardens (unto condemnation) whom He desires” (Romans 9:18). The apostle’s argument in Romans 9 is complex and our purpose here is not to unpack this difficult passage. Rather, our purpose is to notice that our future glory is related to God’s glory and is a demonstration of His mercy as manifested in His calling unto salvation “not Jews only, but also Gentiles” (9:24).

GOD’S GLORY. We must first distinguish between God’s glory and our glory as used in Romans 9:23. God’s glory emanates from Himself and is of His very essence. God is, by nature, wholly glorious. Also, God’s glory is both infinitely vast and complex. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). God created the entire universe to display His glory, and yet we know that “Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You” (1 Kings 8:27). But the universe is only one aspect of His glory, for His glory extends into things both visible and invisible, in heaven and on earth. God, in His condescension, has made Himself known to His creatures, and His supreme demonstration of His glory is His “granting to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that we may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The point is that the riches of God’s glory have been made known by means of His preparing beforehand (in eternity past; Eph. 1:4) for glory (i.e., glorification) chosen vessels of mercy. In other words, God’s infinitely vast and complex glory is supremely displayed in the glorification of His redeemed people, these vessels of mercy.

AND OUR GLORY. By contrast, the natural man, because he is, by nature, fallen and corrupt, seeks to destroy glory. Man is a complete stranger to glory and cannot obtain even the smallest part of it unless God, in His mercy, chooses to bestow it on us. But, praise God, in the resurrection this is exactly what happens to these redeemed vessels of mercy, that “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52) all the elect will be glorified. This is our glory.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 9/4/2024                     #710

No sin is excusable (from Romans 6:23)

NO SIN IS EXCUSABLE. The believer must realize that no sin is excusable. For the believer, from the smallest sin to the greatest, every sin by itself demands the death of Jesus on the cross. Whenever the believer becomes aware that he has sinned, it should serve as a reminder of what Christ has accomplished on the cross. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23b), and this means that the recompense for any single sin is likewise death. No sin is excusable because, for the redeemed, every sin requires the death of the Son of God.

Man’s fallen natural tendency is to justify their sin or explain their sin away, but this is an act of salvation by works. The one who explains away sin is subtly despising the death of Christ and is saying, in essence, that his particular sin or this particular sin is not that bad and therefore does not really merit the atoning death of Jesus. “I don’t need Jesus to die for this. I can handle this one on my own.” “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who may ascend into heaven?’ (that is to bring Christ down) or ‘Who may descend into the abyss?’ (that is to bring Christ up from the dead)” (Rom. 10:7). Instead of minimizing sin and dismissing a “little” sin as not worth a thought, the believer acknowledges that every sin is inexcusable. There is no justification for sin. At no time and under no circumstances is any sin simply dismissed and brushed away. God will never excuse (i.e., regard as trivial and so forget) even the smallest sin. “The wages of sin is death.” “The soul that sins will die.” “The day you eat of it (Gen. 2:17), you shall surely die.”

BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS, ALL SIN IS FORGIVABLE. But the believer also knows that, while no sin is ever excusable, all sin and any sin is forgivable. We know that, for the believer, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The believer knows that “he has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24) and “has been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20) and knows that his “old self has been crucified with Christ in order that our body of sin might be done away with” (rendered powerless; Romans 6:6). For the believer, every sin however “minor” is acknowledged as an act of rebellion against the Holy One of Israel. And, at the same time, every sin reminds the believer that the Savior willingly endured the full wrath of God and died to grant complete forgiveness to the believing sinner. “In Him, we have redemption in His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). Praise the Lord that all our inexcusable sin has been forgiven by the blood of the Lamb.

“But how can a man be in the right with God?” (Job 9:2). How, indeed! By the cross.

“Come now and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). How? By the death of Jesus.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 May 30, 2024.             #704

Romans 8:29-30 – Predestined to resurrection glory

OVERVIEW. How the resurrection fits into “the golden chain of salvation” (Rom. 8:29-30). [This article is part of my upcoming book, “The Resurrection: when the church is glorified,” to be published in 3Q 2024.]

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

INTRODUCTION

In considering the biblical passages about the resurrection, we must not overlook Romans 8:29-30. Here in the “golden chain of salvation,” we see that the resurrection is the final link and the intended end of God’s redemptive plan. That is, in eternity past, the Lord desired to have, for all eternity, “a great multitude which no one could count standing before the throne and before the Lamb, crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (Rev. 7:9-10). Therefore, before the foundation of the world, He foreknew and predestined those people whom He would, in time and space, call and justify, and whom He would glorify in the resurrection on the last day.

EXEGESIS OF THE PASSAGE

GOD SOVEREIGNLY ACTS. Before we begin our exegesis, there are two observations we should make about this passage. First, we notice that God is the subject of all the verbs. God is the One taking the action and people are the passive objects. These acts come about solely on the basis of God’s sovereign action and are independent of any human activity. So, God foreknew and God predestined and God called and God justified and God glorified.

ALL THE SAME PEOPLE. But second, we should also realize that the object of each verb in the passage applies to exactly the same group of people. Consider that in 8:29, God foreknew a particular group of people. Then that same group, He also predestined. Then in 8:30, that same group that was predestined is also called, and that same group is justified, and that same group is glorified. What we see is that, in salvation, God acts on the same group of people from foreknowledge (election) all the way through to glorification. This means that the group of people whom God foreknew (chose, elected) in eternity past will be the exact same group of people who are glorified and worshipping before the throne in eternity future.

Now we will look at the passage phrase by phrase.

8:29. THOSE WHOM HE FOREKNEW. In this verse, foreknew carries the same meaning as chose or elected. Those whom God foreknew were specially considered and chosen in eternity past based on God’s sovereign wisdom alone. In eternity past, God determined to redeem these particular underserving sinners as objects of His mercy.

8:29. HE ALSO PREDESTINED. Here predestination speaks of God’s actions in eternally decreeing both the objects and the goal of His plan of salvation. The objects of predestination are those whom He foreknew. This act of predestining was also accomplished in eternity past.

8:29. TO BECOME CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. Knowing the objects of God’s predestination, we now find out the goal of the plan of salvation. Those whom God foreknew were predestined unto a salvation that is in conformity with the glorified image of Jesus. “Conformed to the image of His Son” means that those who were predestined will certainly be glorified like Jesus. And the event of the glorification of the saints is the resurrection. Thus Romans 8:29 ends with the resurrection, when we are conformed to the glorified image of our older Brother.

In Romans 8:29, we saw the objects of God’s salvation and the goal of His salvation; namely, in eternity past, God predestined to resurrection glory those whom He foreknew. In Romans 8:30 we will see what God did in time to bring about the resurrection glory of His elect, those whom He foreknew. In other words, Romans 8:29 tells about the end, but 8:30 tells about the means.

8:30. WHOM HE PREDESTINED, HE ALSO CALLED. This references the effectual call of the Holy Spirit which brings the dead sinner to spiritual life and compels him to believe in the Lord Jesus. God will effectually call all those whom He predestined.

8:30. WHOM HE CALLED, HE ALSO JUSTIFIED. The call of God leads to faith in the Lord Jesus and his faith is reckoned to the believer as righteousness (Romans 4:3, 5; Galatians 2:16; 3:6, 24, 26) and the believer is declared righteous and is thus justified. God will justify all those whom He effectually calls.

8:30. WHOM HE JUSTIFIED, HE ALSO GLORIFIED. The certain destiny of all those whom God has declared righteous is eternal glory. All those who were justified in life will be raised to eternal glory in the resurrection. The final link in the chain of salvation is the link between this perishable and the imperishable and between this mortal and immortality.

SUMMARY

From Romans 8:29-30, we have shown that the resurrection and the eternal glory that follows were clearly in God’s mind as He foreknew and predestined His elect in eternity past.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 5/22/2024                   #702

Seeing the resurrection in 1 Peter 5

POST OVERVIEW. A careful examination of 1 Peter 5 reveals that our future resurrection unto glorification is implied in several of the verses in this chapter. In this article, we are looking for the resurrection of the saints. (See also Post #690 on January 31, 2024, for an examination of the resurrection in 1 Peter 1.) This article will appear in my upcoming book, “The Resurrection: when the church is glorified.”

Although not the central theme of 1 Peter, the future resurrection of all believers on the last day appears in various places in this epistle. This article looks at the appearances of the resurrection in 1 Peter 5.

TWO IMPORTANT RESURRECTION IDEAS

Before we begin the examination of 1 Peter 5, we need to discuss two important ideas about the resurrection.

First, resurrection is essentially about the glorification of the believer. Resurrection is the event that inaugurates our glorification. On the last day, at the last trumpet, all believers, whether asleep or alive-and-remaining (1 Thess. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) will be glorified as they rise and meet the Lord in the air. Again, the resurrection is the initiating event of the eternally glorified state of all believers. At the resurrection, we will be glorified and will continue eternally in that glorified state. So, the resurrection begins glorification.

Second, when we read about our future glory, we should at least mentally note the connection with the resurrection. Both the resurrection and our eternal glory constitute our hope, but in slightly different ways. As the finish line ends the effort and the suffering of a long foot race, so the resurrection ends the trial and the suffering of life here on earth. We persevere to the end, pressing toward the goal for the prize, knowing that there is a finish line not far ahead that will end the difficulty of the race. And so we endure the hardship with hope, knowing that soon we will rise immortal in the resurrection.

But we hope also in our glorification because the knowledge that we will eternally be glorified helps us see the brevity of our earthly distresses. When we compare our tribulations in this life with the glories that await, we can indeed view these trials as “momentary light afflictions which are producing for us an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:18). We can say with the apostle Paul, “For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

We see, then, that the resurrection and our future glory overlap and blend into one another. Our glorification unto eternity is our hope and that glorification is revealed at the resurrection. The resurrection is to glorification as birth is to physical life and as new birth is to eternal life. The resurrection is the inception of our glorification.

Whenever the Scriptures mentions our future glory, the resurrection is necessarily in view because the resurrection is the event that begins our eternally glorified existence. Thus we can think of in these terms: “our glorification at the resurrection.”

DISCOVERING THE RESURRECTION IN 1 PETER 5

5:1. In 5:1, Peter says he is “a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed.” We also recall from earlier in the epistle (1:5) that all believers are “protected by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.” These two verses speak about the same thing: namely, of the resurrection of the saints on the last day. In 5:1, Peter is saying that he also (meaning “he along with all believers”) will share in the glory that will be revealed at the resurrection. Similarly in 1:5, the apostle teaches that God Himself is now protecting our salvation, a salvation which will finally be revealed in its glorious fullness in our resurrection on the last day.

In other words, in 5:1, Peter exhorts obedience based on our soon-coming glorious resurrection and in 1:5, he teaches the doctrinal truth that our salvation will remain completely secure until our soon-coming glorious resurrection. In both cases, we can be confident that our glory will soon be revealed. (Consider the same teaching in Col. 3:4 – “When Christ who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”)

5:6. We turn now to 5:6, where Peter is addressing the issue of humility. Because “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble” (5:5), the apostle commands believers to humble themselves so that God may exalt them “at the proper time.”

But now what is “the proper time” when God will exalt the believer? Notice Peter speaks of the proper time, indicating that there is one proper time when all believers will be exalted. When is that time? Of course, we know that the time when all believers will be exalted is at the resurrection. So, Peter is commanding believers to humble themselves now “during the time of your stay on earth” (1:17), as they “live the rest of the time in the flesh (in the body)” (4:2) “that (ἵνα) He may exalt you (glorify you) at the proper time” (at the resurrection; 5:6).

Therefore, as obedient disciples, we humble ourselves under God’s sovereign hand, rejoicing as we persevere through life’s circumstances, patiently waiting for the promised resurrection when we will be exalted (glorified).

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. – 1 Peter 5:10

5:10. As Peter concludes his letter to these scattered and suffering believers, he makes two more allusions to the resurrection and to our future glorification.

We will begin by examining the phrase, “(God) who called you to His eternal glory in Christ.” This phrase contains two significant theological concepts: first, the doctrine of God’s calling of believers and second, the doctrine of our future eternal glorification.

DIVINE CALLING. The doctrine of God’s divine calling of believers states that we are unable to respond to the gospel, because, in our natural state, all mankind is spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1). Therefore, God Himself must call a person out of darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). (See also Colossians 1:13; etc.) Unless and until God calls a person out of their spiritual deadness and darkness, the person is helplessly trapped in their sin. God’s calling of an individual is not conditioned on anything about the person nor is it dependent on anything the person does or does not do. Whom God calls and whom God does not call and the timing of God’s calling of an individual are entirely within the sovereignty of God and therefore are outside the control of man. This doctrine also teaches that the calling of God to a natural person dead in their sins cannot be resisted or refused. That is, when God issues His divine calling, the individual human must respond. When God issues His divine call, the sinner comes to life and emerges from their spiritual tomb.

JESUS’ DIVINE CALL TO LAZARUS. This is perhaps best illustrated by the story in John 11 of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days. He was thoroughly and completely dead. You might say he was extremely dead. He was so dead that his sister said, “By now he stinketh.” But Jesus, as God in human flesh, “cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ The man who died came forth” (John 11:43-44). Jesus sovereignly commanded Lazarus to get up and come out of the tomb and Lazarus, even though he had been dead for four days, could not resist or refuse the command. God called and man the creature obeyed the call. It is the same with all those whom the Spirit of God calls to eternal life. Those who are dead in their trespasses and sins are made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:1, 5) so that we might experience everlasting joy and “so that in the ages to come He (God) might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). (See also Rom. 8:28, 30; 9:23-24; among many other Scriptures that explicitly teach this doctrine.)

CALLED TO ETERNAL GLORY. Having seen the nature of God’s divine call, we will now explore the purpose of God’s divine call. The text says that “the God of all grace (has) called you (i.e., all believers) to His eternal glory in Christ” (1 Peter 5:10). The meaning of this is not difficult to discern. When we were chosen by God in eternity past (1:1), our divine calling by God in time and space was guaranteed, so that we would certainly attain to God’s eternal glory in Christ. And when will God “Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you”? That is, when will you receive your eternal glory? You will receive your eternal glory when you are glorified in the resurrection. The event that changes us from disembodied spirits or living embodied mortals into glorified immortals is the resurrection.

SUMMARY

What we see then is that Peter ends his letter in much the same way he began. At the beginning of the letter, in 1:3-5 the apostle had spoken of a “living hope,” of an “imperishable inheritance,” and of a “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” We saw that these were references to the resurrection and that this teaching about our future glory encouraged these persecuted believers to rejoice in suffering.

Now, at the end of the letter, Peter again exhorts us to endure our present suffering “for a little while” (5:10) because soon the God of all grace will call us into our eternal glory at the resurrection.

So, we rejoice in the hope of our resurrection through whatever trials and suffering we experience here in this short life.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 2/20/2024                   #694

The resurrection in 1 Peter 1

POST OVERVIEW. Here we take a careful look at three verses in 1 Peter 1 to discover how the fact of our future resurrection should give us confident hope today.

Although not the central theme of 1 Peter, the resurrection, both of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and of all believers on the last day, appears in various places in the first chapter of 1 Peter. This article looks at the appearances of the resurrection in 1 Peter 1.

God the Father has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. – 1 Peter 1:3

THE CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS. Here Peter explicitly mentions “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Thus the resurrection of Jesus is presented as an established fact that Peter does not need to prove. The apostle Peter was an eye-witness to the crucifixion and then to the empty tomb. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:5, after the Lord’s resurrection, He appeared to Peter (Cephas) first. Peter saw the glorified Jesus Christ ascend to heaven in the cloud (Acts 1:9) and he heard the two “men” (angels) say He would come back the same way He left. Peter was as certain of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as a human being can be.

LIVING HOPE. So Peter is not here arguing for the resurrection of Christ, but he is encouraging these scattered believers by telling them what the resurrection of Jesus means to them. The historical fact of Jesus’ resurrection has given to all believers a “living hope” that, as Jesus was glorified in His resurrection, so all believers will be glorified in their resurrection on the last day. The “living hope,” then, is the confident anticipation of that day when we will receive our eternal resurrection bodies. Believers have a living hope of future resurrection because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead in glory as first fruits (1 Cor. 15:20-23).

who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – 1 Peter 1:5

WHAT SALVATION? The apostle here speaks of a salvation that will be revealed in the last time. In this verse, “in the last time” refers to the last day. But what “salvation” will believers receive on the last day? We remember that all believers have already been saved by faith (Eph. 2:8-9). We also know that all living believers are being saved through our sanctification. But in the future, “in the last time” all the believers of all time will be saved in glorification at the resurrection. Therefore, this “salvation ready to be revealed” again refers to the resurrection of the believer on the last day.

fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:13

What exactly is this “grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ?” We know that the “revelation of Jesus Christ” refers to Jesus’ Second Coming, His παρουσία. Jesus’ παρουσία is described in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 and in that passage, it is clear that Jesus’ παρουσία occurs at the same time as the resurrection of the saints, on the last day. Thus, the “grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” is a reference to the resurrection of all believers. In 1 Peter 1:13, therefore, the apostle is instructing believers to fix their hope (see “living hope” 1:3) on their resurrection when Jesus returns.

To confirm this interpretation, consider Colossians 3:4. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” What Paul is teaching in this verse is that when Christ returns in glory, we will also be glorified. So, when we consider 1:13 in the light of Col. 3:4, we conclude that “the grace to be brought to us” is our resurrection in glory. Therefore, our hope is fixed on the resurrection.

SUMMARY

What we have seen is that, in 1 Peter 1, the anticipation of the resurrection of the saints on the last day gives believers confident hope as they face the various trials (1:6) of life between the advents in a fallen world.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 1/31/2024                   #690

Deut. 21:10-14. The gospel in taking a wife from the captives.

POST OVERVIEW. A careful exegesis of Deuteronomy 21:10-14 reveals that the gospel of Jesus Christ is foreshadowed here.

(Scriptures covered: 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:10; 3:4, 5; Eph. 2:12-13; 4:19; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rom. 6:3, 4; Phil. 3:19, 20-21; 1 John 3:2; Rev. 7:9; 20:11-15)

Deuteronomy repeats much of the Law that has been revealed in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but the book also adds laws that are only declared in Deuteronomy. In Deut. 21:10-14, we encounter one such law as Moses gives instructions about the lawful procedure for taking a wife from a captive people. As I read and re-read this passage carefully, I began to see in this situation and in these procedures a clear foreshadowing of the gospel.

BEGINNING AND ENDING SITUATIONS. The law in Deut. 21 concerns what happens when Israel defeats its enemies in battle. When the LORD delivers an enemy into Israel’s hands, the enemy will be made captive. Now, among the captive people there is a beautiful woman. This woman is an orphaned (21:13) member of a defeated people, a people who do not know the LORD. She has no reason for hope. Yet by the end of this short passage, the woman has a husband and has been enfolded into the covenant people of the LORD. When we see such a turn of events in the Scripture, we should sit up and pay attention and see if there might be hidden here a picture of the gospel of our salvation.

We will explore several New Testament passages to see the gospel here.

FROM GODLESS PEOPLE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD

1 Peter 2:10a. Peter says of those who reside as aliens (1:1; figurative for all disciples of Jesus), “you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” The woman is part of an unnamed people who have been defeated and made captive to Israel. She is part of “not a people.” Her people have no laws, they have no tabernacle, they have no knowledge of the LORD. They have no past and they have no future. They are a people who are “not a people.”

And so are we before we know the Lord Jesus. No matter what Genealogy.com tells us about our ancestors, we are part of “not a people.” We have no glorious past and we have no idea of our future. We are “not a people” heading nowhere. But then the Lord calls us by His grace and we are made part of the people of God. Now we are part of the covenant people. We are now those who will be gathered around the throne praising the Lamb (Rev. 7:9f) rather than those who will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).

In Deut. 21, the woman once was not a people, but now she was part of the people of God. In the gospel, this is our story as well.

FROM NO MERCY TO IMMENSE MERCY

1 Peter 2:10b. “You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” The beautiful captive woman in Deut. 21 was a part of a conquered people. Beautiful women who are part of a conquered people do not anticipate mercy from their conquerors. So this woman expected the worst. Defeated people receive the consequences of being defeated. In these situations, being beautiful was a curse. But instead of abuse and humiliation, she is adopted into the midst of the conquering people. Instead of the shameful treatment usually given to conquered women, she becomes the wife of one of the people of the LORD. She had not received mercy, but now she has received immense mercy.

And so it is with everyone who has come to faith in Jesus. Before we know Jesus as Lord, we are among the condemned, justly deserving the LORD’s wrath. We are guilty of the crimes of which we are accused and expect to receive a just recompense for those crimes. But instead of the judgment we deserve, we hear the amazing words of the grace of God contained in the gospel. From the ranks of the condemned we are raised to new life, are cleansed from our filthy sins and are adopted into the kingdom as members of the true church, the bride of Christ.

FROM EXCLUDED, HOPELESS STRANGERS TO WASHED AND SANCTIFIED SAINTS

Ephesians 2:12-13.

12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

In her captive state, the beautiful woman was “separate from Christ.” She had no knowledge of a Messiah or a Savior. Her people were separated from the Holy One of Israel. No connection. She was “excluded from the commonwealth of Israel.” She was not a Hebrew and therefore could not enter into the covenant with the LORD. She was not just separated from Christ by her ignorance, but she was excluded from Israel because of her people of birth. She was a Gentile, and so she was excluded from Israel. And she was a “stranger to the covenants of promise.” Because Israel was in the covenant with the LORD, they had access to all the amazing promises that the LORD has given to His people, but this captive woman had never heard one single promise from the LORD. She was a stranger to all the riches of the LORD’s grace. She knew nothing about forgiveness, salvation, joy, fellowship, holiness, grace, mercy, hope or peace. As a captive these were beyond her imagination. She had no hope and was without God in the world.

But when she was chosen out of the captives and brought into the house of the covenant people and had been cleansed from her former uncleanness and had been given a new identity, then she had been brought near to the LORD.

And this is exactly our story, for in this passage in Ephesians 2, Paul is writing to Gentiles like you and me. We were separate from Christ and we had no hope and were without God in this world. But then the Lord brought the gospel to our ears and He graciously chose to open our hearts to Christ and to His salvation (Acts 16:14). Spiritually He brought us into His house and shaved our head and trimmed our nails (Deut. 21:12). We removed the old filthy clothes of our old life (Zech. 3:3-5; Col. 3:9) so that “we were washed, we were sanctified, we were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11).

NEW IDENTITY

2 Cor. 5:17. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Formerly this woman identified with a rejected, outcast people who “did not know God and were slaves to those which by nature are no gods” (Gal. 4:8). Her past identity was full of superstition and idol-worship and confusion; peace and joy and hope were not even possibilities. But then she was taken captive by someone who followed the LORD and her past identity was put to death and forgotten. Notice that she shall “mourn her father and mother a full month” (Deut. 21:13). This period of time is given for her old identity to die. This mourning indicates that her old life and her old identity are irretrievably gone. The mourning punctuates closure and finality. Mourning here serves the same purpose as burial. Whatever is appropriately mourned will never come back again. “The old things passed away.” But now a new life replaces the old life, the life of a member of the people of the LORD. Now she identifies with the covenant people of God who enjoy His blessings and hold to His promises. Her new identity includes hope, joy, and peace and now she can be among “the holy women who hoped in God” and “adorn themselves with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4, 5).

Again, this picture is a foreshadow of what we who worship Jesus have received in Christ. Before we knew Jesus as Lord, our identity was to “glory in our shame and to set our minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). We were trapped in a life of “giving ourselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness” (Eph. 4:19). We had been born in Adam, our failed federal head, who had given us our slavery to sin. We carried the guilt of sin and wore the label of “sinner.” Our identity was a shameful identity, yet there seemed to be no escape. “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). It seemed that the only out was our death.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death” (Romans 6:4a). “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3). Since the only way out of our trap was to bring about our death so that we could rise again to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4c), the Lord made our death possible through the gospel. “Now if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom. 6:5). The old things of sin and shame have passed away and, in the future, we have been promised an eternal glorified body with which to worship Jesus forever (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2).

SUMMARY

One of the delights of carefully and thoughtfully reading the Old Testament is the discovery of these foretastes of the gospel sprinkled throughout. We have seen that in Deuteronomy 21:10-14, in this story about the law of marrying a beautiful captive, the gospel is displayed in the mercy that this woman received and also in her new identity with the privileged people of God.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/26/2023                 #686

Luke 18:18-30 – Do you seek eternal life or life with Jesus?

POST OVERVIEW. An examination of the encounter of the rich young ruler with Jesus in Luke 18:18-30. What is eternal life and how do we obtain it?

“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Each of the synoptic gospels records Jesus’ encounter with the so-called “rich young ruler.” We will be exploring the account in Luke 18:18-30 in this study and asking ourselves, “What was the nature of this wealthy ruler’s search?”

The ruler’s opening question for Jesus seems promising enough. “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). This fellow is seeking eternal life and he is asking Jesus how he can obtain it. Nothing wrong with that! But upon a moment’s reflection, there could be room for concern. He calls Jesus, “Good Teacher,” not “Lord.” Does that mean this fellow sees Jesus as just an exalted rabbi or does he acknowledge that Jesus is God in human flesh and is, therefore, Lord of all? Also, he asks about “inheriting eternal life.” That is a curious expression, since it suggests that eternal life is passed down from one generation to another or maybe from one person to another.

DIFFERENT OBJECTIVES

Upon further reflection, we see that this wealthy religious ruler is seeking something very different from what Jesus is offering. The ruler seeks eternal life as the entire goal of his search, a commodity obtained in a brief transaction, but Jesus is offering Himself to anyone who will worship Him, life everlasting in unending fellowship with the living God.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ETERNAL LIFE?

Perhaps it would be better to define what we mean when we say, “eternal life.” The ruler of Luke 18:18ff defined eternal life as living forever without the fear of death while still getting to keep all his wealth. The eternal life he wanted cost him nothing of value. He wanted to keep living as he was living but without the prospect of death. His eternal life was rich-ruler-centric. The emphasis was on duration of life, not on relationship with the living God.

But the eternal life that Jesus offers (John 3:16) begins in this physical life when a person surrenders everything to Jesus (Luke 5:11, 27-28; 9:23; Phil. 3:7-8) and follows Him in obedient worship. The one who possesses this eternal life experiences fellowship and relationship and joy with Jesus Himself and also with those who are joined to Jesus’ one body, the church. This eternal life emphasizes the quality of life. This is true life, real life, a “raised to newness of life” (Rom. 6:4) life, a “take hold of that which is life indeed” (1 Tim. 6:19) life, a “made alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:5) life. Jesus Christ offers those who follow Him a resurrection life now in which those who believe in Him will never die (John 11:26). True eternal life is the life that believers possess now, even though we see through a mirror dimly (1 Cor. 13:12), and that we will possess in its glorified fullness for all of eternity as we stand before the throne praising the risen Lamb (Rev. 7:9-12). This eternal life is entirely Christ-centric.

WHAT MUST I DO?

The ruler had asked the Lord a direct question and the Lord gave the ruler a clear answer. The ruler asked, “What must I do?” and Jesus replied with a simple two-step plan for obtaining eternal life (18:22). If the ruler does these two actions, he will have eternal life – guaranteed. First, sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor. Second, come, follow Me. That’s all. Do these two things and the Lord of the universe has guaranteed you eternal life. Notice that these two steps were entirely within this man’s ability. The instructions were not vague or ambiguous and there were no prerequisites to these two actions. The ruler could have easily done both of these steps immediately. Yet he refused to do either one. Instead of responding to Jesus with trusting obedience, “he became very sad” (18:23). And so the ruler went away without eternal life. He got to keep his law-keeping (18:21) and his wealth and his comfortable position in respectable society, but he forfeited everlasting fellowship with the King of kings in the kingdom of God.

ALL OF US MUST MAKE THIS SAME CHOICE

The answer that Jesus gave to the rich young ruler is the same answer He gives to any who would obtain eternal life in any geography and in any age. Regardless of how our question is phrased, the answer is the same. If you would inherit eternal life, you must surrender everything and come, follow Jesus.

Of course, these steps are to be understood figuratively, but a figurative understanding of these two steps does not diminish their reality. Step one is for you to surrender everything to Jesus. Jesus demands that those who come to Him have first surrendered all. He will be King over everything in your life or He will not be your King at all. To receive all that He is you must first give away your ownership of all that you are. You come to Him figuratively naked and penniless, on bended knees, offering Him your life for service.

And step two is to follow Him wherever He leads. As a disciple of Jesus, you have surrendered your independent plans and your bucket lists and your selfish ambitions and you have, instead, consented to listen for His voice to walk on the path that He chooses. Whether He leads you along pleasant and peaceful paths or He leads you into the dark and dangerous valley, you must follow where He takes you. The eternal life you seek requires that you surrender everything to Jesus and obediently follow where He leads.

Have you done that?

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/13/2023                 #682