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

The discipline of the Lord as training (Heb. 12:5-11)

POST OVERVIEW. Thoughts about “the discipline of the Lord” in Hebrews 12:5-11 as mostly being about the Lord calling His servants to difficult assignments for the purpose of training those servants for their future good works.

In my experience, the most common teaching about Hebrews 12:5-11 and “the discipline of the Lord” is that this discipline concerns the Lord’s taking the believer “out to the woodshed” to “discipline” him so that he won’t make the same mistakes again. This teaching also usually includes the reminder that the Lord cannot “punish” those who are in Christ Jesus because all the believer’s sins have been punished in the death of Christ. But while the Lord cannot punish the believer’s sins, He can “discipline” them. So, the teaching goes, this is what the author of Hebrews is talking about here in Heb. 12:5-11. The purpose is punishment, but we call it “discipline.”

Let me briefly critique this teaching. While I appreciate that this teaching stands firm on the doctrine that the Lord cannot punish the sins of believers because their sins have all been punished in the death of Christ, I do not believe that the author is here simply using “discipline” as an acceptable synonym for the word “punishment.”

In fact, I do not believe punishment is in view at all as the author talks about “discipline.” The context of Heb. 12:1-11 is about faithfully persevering in your faith and being steadfast in the midst of testing. In 12:1, the author refers back to our great cloud of faithful witnesses (Hebrews 11), who persevered in faith despite anguish and testing and ill treatment and he exhorts us also to run with endurance the race set before us, no matter the difficulties encountered in our race. We are to imitate the example of our Lord Jesus (12:2) who victoriously endured the shame of the cross because of the joy set before Him. When we are tempted to grow weary and lose heart (12:3), we consider how Jesus endured the hostility of sinners. The repeated theme is endurance and perseverance. In spite of opposition, the disciple of Jesus continues to press forward (Phil. 3:13-14).

Therefore, when we read that we are “not to regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (12:5), we must interpret this through the truth that, “those whom the Lord loves He disciplines” (12:6) and “God deals with you as with sons” (12:7). Those who have believed on Jesus Christ as Lord are now those whom the Lord loves. So the Lord relates to us primarily as those whom He loves. Our faith has given us the right to become children of God (John 1:12). And we are not prodigal children who are seeking our own will nor are we rebellious children needing constant correction (“discipline”), but we have become obedient children who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6). My point is that the child of God desires to please the Father. Our deepest longing is to be useful to the Master so that we will hear, both now in our soul and ultimately when we see Him face to face, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21). We can live with freedom and relate to God with joy because, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). In Christ, we are free and there is no fear of punishment (1 John 4:18).

So, if “the discipline of the Lord” is not about the believer’s correction or punishment, what is it about? The answer appears in the last verse in the passage, in 12:11. There we read that discipline is for training. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

THE PURPOSE OF DISCIPLINE IS TRAINING

The discipline of the Lord is intended to train us so that we bear “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Thus we see that the purpose of discipline is training the disciple. In this sense, then, when He disciplines us, the Lord is acting more as a loving coach than as a correcting father. As the coach’s goal is to bring out the best in the athlete through rigorous training activity, so the Lord intends to help us bear more peaceful fruit of righteousness by bringing spiritual training activities into our lives. We are to be trained by the discipline of the Lord.

We know that our earthly fathers disciplined us “as seemed best to them” (12:10). Because they were mere flesh and blood, their efforts at training us and raising us were flawed and limited. By contrast, the Father of spirits is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth and is, therefore, perfect in His discipline. Not only that, but He “disciplines us for our good” (12:10). The Lord’s training is perfectly designed and perfectly carried out to discipline us for our good. The primary motive of the Lord’s discipline is our good.

If correction and punishment are not the intentions of the Lord’s discipline, then what exactly is this “discipline” that the Lord brings into our lives to train us? What are some examples? My definition of the discipline of the Lord is: “Those trials and difficulties that the Lord brings or allows into our lives to train us to become more useful to Him for His purposes.” Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Cor. 12:7-9 is an example of this discipline. The Lord sovereignly ordained that Satan would torment Paul to keep him from exalting himself.

A COUPLE OF PERSON INSTANCES OF THE LORD’S DISCIPLINE

In my own life, I would identify two instances of the Lord’s discipline. The first instance was when the Lord called me in my mid-forties to leave my quiet life of a bachelor and to marry a widow with three kids. This season in my life stretched me in so many ways and much of that stretching was painful and difficult, but the Lord used His discipline through the means of my marriage to make seismic changes in me and to sanctify me by decreasing so many of the sinful patterns and behaviors in my life.

The second instance was the job that He gave me when we moved to Charlotte. The job was definitely the Lord’s provision, but it was also a trial in many ways. I needed to learn how to submit to a boss that I did not respect and to work in a company that was very poorly run and to accept this relatively humble employment at the end of my career when my peers were reaching the peak of their careers. The Lord left me in that job for eleven years before releasing me. I now look back at that position and see that the Lord was using that to prepare me for other good works that He had planned for me in the future.

SUMMARY. The Lord’s purpose in bringing this discipline into our lives is to train us for the work that He has planned for us up ahead. He loves us and disciplines us for our good so that we can be useful to Him and so yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness. So we accept His discipline, and we endure and we persevere and we continue to glorify Him.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 1/20/2024                   #689

Isaiah Series 03: “Do not fear, Israel, My servant” (41:8-16) Part 1

POST OVERVIEW. Another post in “The Isaiah Series,” a series of studies from selected passages of Isaiah 41-66. These posts seek to reveal the beauty and the power of Isaiah’s prophecy and to interpret the meaning of these passages so that the disciple of Jesus is encouraged in their walk.

This post focuses on Isaiah 41:8-9 where we once again examine the identity of “Israel” in Isaiah’s prophecy.

With this passage in Isaiah 41:8-16, we begin the actual devotionals of this series. The pattern for our studies will be to work our way through the passage verse-by-verse (or sometimes section-by-section) and then to conclude the study with a summary and an application.

OUTLINE OF THE PASSAGE

  • What the LORD has already done for “Israel” (41:8-9)
  • What the LORD will do for “Israel” (41:10-14)
  • What “Israel” will do for the LORD (41:15-16)

THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT. In the verses just before our chosen passage (41:1-7), the context has been one of coming judgment on the coastlands and on the ends of the earth. The peoples are afraid and they tremble as the LORD draws near for judgment, but instead of repentance and cries for mercy, the people encourage one another to be strong and to build idols that will not totter. They openly defy the LORD and His warning.

WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR “ISRAEL”

Isaiah 41:8-9. The LORD suddenly changes His gaze from the defiant nations under judgment to “Israel, My servant (and) Jacob whom I have chosen.” In fact, as we read 41:8-9 carefully, we find seven descriptions of “Israel.”

  • Israel, My servant.
  • Jacob whom I have chosen.
  • Descendant of Abraham My friend.
  • You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth.
  • (You whom I) called from its remotest parts.
  • And said, “You are My servant.”
  • “I have chosen you and not rejected you.”

THE IDENTITY OF ISRAEL. It is clear from the passage thatthese seven descriptions apply to the same group of people. That is, these are seven characteristics of one entity, whether that entity is called “Israel” or “Jacob” or “descendant of Abraham.” But the question the reader must now answer is, “Am I included in this group? Am I part of ‘Israel’?” Therefore, before we continue with our study of this passage, it is necessary that we determine the identity of “Israel.”

Why do we need to answer this question about the identity of “Israel?” We need to know the identity of “Israel” because in this passage, the LORD is addressing His message explicitly and exclusively to this one particular group of people named “Israel.” If I am a member of this “Israel,” then the LORD’s message in Isaiah 41:8-16 is intended for me and I can receive it with joy. If, on the other hand, I am not a legitimate member of this particular group named “Israel,” then the LORD’s message in Isaiah 41:8-16 is not intended for me and I cannot claim any of the blessings or promises in that passage because they are intended for someone else. Just as in our country it is illegal for me to go to my neighbor’s mailbox and take mail that is not addressed to me, so in biblical terms it is illegitimate for me to claim blessings and promises intended for another recipient. So, if I determine that I am not a member of “Israel,” it is illegitimate for me to claim anything from a passage addressed to “Israel.” For me to claim “Israel’s” promises and blessings would be stealing someone else’s mail.

WHICH ISRAEL IS THIS? In our previous post called “Isaiah Series 02,” we had presented the two possible identities of “Israel” in Old Testament prophetic passages. “Israel” could be interpreted literally as meaning the twelve tribes of the Hebrews, the physical descendants of Jacob or it could be interpreted figuratively as meaning true Israel, the elect of God. As we study this passage, we see that here the LORD is addressing true Israel, His people whom He has chosen for salvation. And so, when we read of the LORD speaking to “Israel” in this passage, we know that He is speaking to us who have believed in Jesus. In Isaiah 41:8-16, we believers are “Israel.”

Isaiah 41:8-9 (cont’d). We are “Israel” and therefore we are the Lord’s servant (41:8a, 9d). We are in Christ to be obedient servants of the Lord. Therefore, we serve the Lord by serving our fellow believers. We spend ourselves for others. We serve the Lord with good works (Eph. 2:10; James 2:14-26).

We are “Jacob whom I have chosen” (41:8b). Here the Bible obviously and unambiguously teaches the doctrinal truth that the LORD chose us for salvation completely independent of our help or merit or contribution. That is simply what it means to be chosen by the LORD. In case someone remains confused by the LORD’s message, He says again, “I have chosen you” (41:9d). It is a doctrinal fact from Genesis to Revelation that the Lord is the One who chooses His people and we who are in Christ are the chosen. The Lord is active and we are passive. Rejoice that He has chosen you! (Jn. 15:16; Rom. 9:14-23; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pet. 2:9)

Next the LORD says that “Israel” is a “descendant of Abraham.” But how can a Gentile believer be a descendant of Abraham? Turn to Galatians 3:7 and 3:26-29 and you have your answer. (See also Romans 4:16.) All those who believe, whether Jew or Gentile, are sons of Abraham through faith in Jesus.

We read further that the LORD has taken “Israel” (or “Jacob”) “from the ends of the earth and called [him] from its remotest parts” (41:9a, b). In the gospel, the mystery has now been revealed that true “Israel” includes believing Gentiles, who “are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6). Gentiles from every tribe and tongue and people and nation are being gathered in from the ends of the earth, from its remotest parts to worship the Lord and to obey Him and to serve Him in His church.

SUMMARY. Our study so far has shown us that anyone who has believed in Jesus can legitimately claim the name of “Israel” and is thus a rightful recipient of the blessings and promises which the LORD pours out in the remainder of this passage (41:10-16). The LORD’s strength and help and presence and redemption are for true “Israel” who are God’s people through faith in Jesus.

NEXT ARTICLE. Now that we know that we are the “Israel” of Isaiah 41:10-16, we will see the promises and the blessings that the LORD provides for us in the rest of the passage.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 1/8/2024                     #688

Isaiah Series 02: Who is “Israel”?

POST OVERVIEW. A post in “The Isaiah Series,” a series of devotional studies based on selected passages from Isaiah 41-66. Each devotional study will seek to reveal the beauty and the power of Isaiah’s prophecy and will interpret the meaning of the passage so that the disciple of Jesus is encouraged.

This study examines the two possible identities and interpretations of “Israel” in Isaiah 41-66.

NARRATIVE HISTORY AND BIBLICAL PROPHECY

NARRATIVE HISTORY. When reading the Pentateuch and the historical books of Joshua through Nehemiah, we are reading narrative history. These are factual accounts of what took place in the lives of the patriarchs, the kings, the prophets and select other people, and of how God led and interacted with His people, the twelve tribes of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, the physical descendants of Jacob. Because these are factual, historical narratives, we use a literal interpretive lens. That is, we assume that the events literally happened as described by the biblical authors and we interpret the proper names literally, as representing the actual person or country or place. For example, if you read the word “Babylon” in an account from the book of 2 Kings, you assume that the story is about the people of the Chaldeans who lived in the north beyond the river Euphrates. You would think about a literal kingdom and people group and king and so on. Likewise, if you read the word “Israel” in the book of Numbers, you would understand that the author (Moses) is referring to the literal nation of Israel, the twelve tribes of the Hebrews who came out of Egypt and settled in Canaan. In virtually all occurrences in narrative literature, “Israel” means ethnic Israel, the nation of the Hebrews, the physical descendants of Jacob. There would need to be a strong reason for you to interpret “Israel” otherwise.

BIBLICAL PROPHECY. With the book of Isaiah, however, the Bible enters a new genre called biblical prophecy, and this new genre requires a new interpretive lens. When reading biblical prophecy, we must be alert for figurative and symbolic meanings rather than simply the literal. But the task of interpreting prophecy is more complex still because, even when the student correctly identifies the use of a figure or a symbol, the student must then determine the meaning of that figurative or symbolic word.

This process is the essence of interpreting biblical prophecy. When reading a given passage, the first question is, “Is this passage speaking figuratively or literally?” If figuratively, the second question is, “What do the symbols mean or what do the figures represent?” Once the meaning is determined, the third question is, “Based on the meaning of these symbols, what is the message that we are to take from this passage?” It is necessary to become skilled at this interpretive process if we are to mine the true riches of biblical prophecy.

THE IDENTITY OF “ISRAEL” AND “JACOB” IN ISAIAH 41-66

There are many examples of symbolic and figurative meanings in biblical prophecy, but perhaps the most significant example is the meaning of “Israel.” In our study passage of Isaiah 41-66, we will find that the word “Israel” (and its aliases or synonyms*) occurs many times, but the meaning of “Israel” is not the same in all cases. Correctly determining the intended meaning of “Israel” in Isaiah 41-66 is crucial to understanding the prophet’s message, both in individual sections and overall, because “Israel” has major theological and redemptive-historical significance. If we correctly interpret what the LORD is saying through Isaiah, we will find the beauty and the power of the LORD’s plan and we will see that plan unfolding in both Old and New Testament. If, however, we get the identity of “Israel” wrong, we will be confused about what the Lord is doing and about how and when Isaiah’s prophecies are ever fulfilled.

“ISRAEL” – MEANING 1. LITERAL – NATIONAL, ETHNIC ISRAEL

The first meaning of “Israel” is the literal one. There are times in Isaiah when “Israel” means the same thing that it means in an historical narrative. That is, sometimes “Israel” is to be understood literally, referring to ethnic Israel, the nation of the Hebrews, the twelve tribes that came out of Egypt and settled in the Promised Land, the physical descendants of Jacob.

There are several characteristics about ethnic Israel which will help the student identify this meaning as the correct interpretation of “Israel” for a given passage. The most prominent characteristic is ethnic Israel’s persistent rebellion and disobedience. When the text is addressing Israel in their sin and rebellion and idolatry, we can assume that the prophet is speaking to national Israel. Also, if the text is speaking about an historical event that is occurring or has occurred, ethnic Israel is in view. Finally, this meaning of Israel has a temporary existence, since the idea of ethnic Israel came into being in Genesis 32:28 when “the man” who had wrestled with Jacob renamed him “Israel.” If the prophet is referring to Israel in temporal (not eternal) terms, he is speaking of ethnic, national Israel.

Usually this “Israel” which refers to ethnic Hebrews, to the physical descendants of Jacob, does not have aliases. These are “the sons of Israel,” “the house of Israel” or simply “Israel.”

“ISRAEL” – MEANING 2. FIGURATIVE – TRUE, ELECT ISRAEL

The second possible meaning of “Israel” uses the name as a figurative reference to true Israel, to those who were chosen by God for salvation before the foundation of the world. In this case, “Israel” is referring to the elect, to those who will be called to salvation and who will be justified and glorified (Romans 8:30). For them, the LORD is a Redeemer and a Savior, and so they are redeemed and saved in time. True Israel is eternal, having existed in eternity past when God elected them to salvation (Eph. 1:4) and true Israel is going to exist forever in the new heaven and the new earth as those who will be worshiping before the throne and before the Lamb forever and ever (Rev. 7:9-17).

We will see in our study of Isaiah 41-66 that true, eternal “Israel” has a number of aliases (synonyms), including “Jacob,” “Judah,” “Jerusalem,” Jeshurun,” and so on. We will make note of them as we progress through our studies.

Also, since in Isaiah we have entered the realm of biblical prophecy and are using our new interpretive lens, we now expect to encounter figurative and symbolic meanings in our study. In fact, as we progress through our studies in Isaiah, we will find that the figurative has become our default interpretation and that “Israel” as the elect of the LORD is our expected understanding of the passage.

SUMMARY

This article has presented that the idea that, in the prophecy of Isaiah, it is necessary for the student to correctly determine the identity of “Israel” in a given passage. “Israel” can be interpreted literally as meaning the twelve tribes of the Hebrews, the physical descendants of Jacob or it can be interpreted figuratively as meaning true Israel, the elect of God. Some characteristics of each of these two identities were given to help in determining which one might be correct for a given text.

In the next article, we will begin our studies with Isaiah 41:8-16 and see an application of this “identity of Israel” question.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/27/2023                 #687

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

Who is “most excellent Theophilus?” (Luke 1:3)

POST OVERVIEW. An investigation into how to correctly understand the identity of this person Luke calls “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3; also Acts 1:1).

AN OFFICIAL OF PROMINENCE?

Luke, the beloved physician and the author of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, dedicates both of his divinely inspired books to “most excellent Theophilus” (Luke 1:3). This prompts the question that I want to address, namely, “Who is this person Theophilus?” The common teaching that I have heard most often is that Theophilus was an official of some prominence and, from the context of Luke’s dedications, a personal acquaintance of the beloved physician. But before we agree with this idea that this description applies to an individual named Theophilus, we must first resolve a number of problems that are raised by this idea.

PURPOSE. The purpose of this article is to present the difficulties with the common teaching that Theophilus was “an individual official of some prominence” so that it becomes apparent that Luke is addressing his two great works to anyone and everyone who is a “lover of God” through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Theophilus, the person addressed in Luke and Acts, is any and every believer.

THE DIFFICULTIES PRESENTED

Before stating the difficulties, let me make a few comments. First, the correct identity of Theophilus is not a major issue. I am writing this article more as an exercise in thinking biblically than as a matter of great importance. Second, these difficulties are not presented in any particular order. Some points may be “thornier” than others, but the fact that there are many difficulties with “Theophilus as a specific official” gives evidence that there is a genuine weakness with this interpretation. Third, there is some overlap between these points that I am making and this overlap may lead to a feeling of redundancy. I apologize in advance if it seems that I am making the same point multiple times. So, on to the difficulties.

THEOPHILUS IS UNKNOWN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. Other than Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1, there is no mention of this person in the New Testament. There is no record of him and no reference to him. Also, Luke gives no information about him to suggest he is a specific individual. Luke is an historian of the first rank and, when he is relating the events of his gospel or the events of Acts, he usually provides detailed descriptions of virtually every character in these stories. For example, note the descriptions of Barnabas (Acts 4:36), of Lydia (16:14), or of Apollos (18:24). Yet with Theophilus, Luke provides no information at all except to indicate that Theophilus “has been taught” (Luke 1:4) and is, therefore, a believer. Even the assumption that Theophilus is some sort of official is based solely on Luke’s appellation of “most excellent Theophilus.” The only thing we know about him for sure is that he is a believer in Jesus.

THE AUDACITY OF THE PARENTS. Theophilus is a Greek word that means “lover of God.” We can deduce that his parents were certainly Gentiles and not Jews since they gave their son a Greek name. Imagine the audacity of naming your son “lover of God.” If they were pagans, then you would need to wonder, “Lover of which god?” On the other hand, if they were God-fearing Greeks, they would never have had the nerve to name their son, “lover of Elohim.” What would their Jewish friends at the synagogue think of that? All this means that it is very unlikely that there was an official of some prominence who had the actual name Theophilus.

THE PROBLEM OF DATES. There is the problem of the timing of these events. Let’s assume that “most excellent Theophilus” was thirty-five years old when Luke began writing the gospel of Luke to him. Scholars believe Luke’s gospel was written around AD 60. That means that his parents named this “official of some prominence” “lover of God” around AD 25 (AD 60 minus 35 years old), which was two or three years before Jesus began His earthly ministry. Thus Theophilus’ parents could not have been believers in Jesus Christ when they named their son. We thus need to ask why a Greek couple living in AD 25 would name their son “lover of God?”

This “date problem” is related to the next problem.

THE ASSOCIATION/RELATIONSHIP PROBLEM. Luke was a physician (“the beloved physician” Col. 4:14), which I assume means he was a doctor of some sort. Based on what we read in Acts, he probably was from the city of Troas. Luke’s main “claim to fame” was his close friendship with the apostle Paul. He traveled with Paul on the apostle’s second and third missionary journeys. As far as we can tell, there was nothing else special about Luke as a person. This, however, raises some questions when we consider the personal relationship that needs to have existed between Luke and “most excellent Theophilus.”

  • Why would “an official of some prominence” befriend a random physician from the town of Troas?
  • For that matter, why would Luke, a simple physician from Troas, befriend some random “official of some prominence?” It just seems hard to imagine the circumstances of their meeting. Doctors and prominent officials rarely travel in the same circles today, and I suspect it was the same in the mid-first century.
  • When would Luke have had time to make the acquaintance with this Theophilus and then have had more time to establish a fairly close relationship with him? We have no reason to believe that Luke met Theophilus before he met and joined Paul as the apostle took the gospel to Europe (Acts 16). We can be confident that Luke did not meet Theophilus during his missionary journeys with Paul, for Luke would certainly have mentioned such a meeting in the book of Acts to give a connection to Theophilus. Therefore, Luke and Theophilus must have met and become close acquaintances AFTER the events of Acts 28. But this, too, seems difficult to imagine. How would their meeting come about and why would Luke feel he wanted to dedicate his books to him?
  • In the first century, people did not travel much and distances were much greater than they are today. Practically speaking, this means that Theophilus would have needed to be geographically near Luke. Daniel developed a relationship with Nebuchadnezzar because he was his advisor for fifty years or so and lived in the king’s court (Daniel 1-4). Paul was acquainted with Felix because Paul was his prisoner and they chatted from time to time (Acts 24). If it had not been for these God-ordained circumstances, Daniel would never have known Nebuchadnezzar and Paul and Felix would never have known one another. In the same way, Luke and Theophilus must have been located near one another. Was there a prominent official named Theophilus near Troas in AD 60-65 who wanted to get to know a believing physician? Seems unlikely.

ANOTHER POSSIBILITY TO CONSIDER

Perhaps no single one of these difficulties is enough to discredit the notion that Theophilus was a flesh-and-blood acquaintance of Luke, but the cumulative effect of all these questions suggests that, if there were another possible understanding of Luke’s intended audience for his gospel and for Acts, we should explore that possibility.

And there is another possibility that is so apparent that it might be overlooked. What if Theophilus was not the proper name of a little-known official in mid-first century Asia Minor who was acquainted with Luke the physician, but instead “theophilus” was the word that Luke chose to describe every one of his intended readers? In other words, what if Luke carefully researched all the details of his gospel and organized all the events of Acts so that every “lover of God,” every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, “may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Acts 1:4)? What if Luke’s intended audience was not one specific believer named Theophilus but was instead any and every believer who identifies himself as a “lover of God” through Jesus Christ? I believe this is the correct way to understand Luke’s dedications.

As we consider this second possibility, we notice that all the difficulties and problems associated with the first view disappear. If Luke is writing to all lovers of God everywhere, then we no longer need to search for an individual with a highly unusual name. The fact that Luke gives no personal information about “Theophilus” now makes perfect sense, because “theophilus” now includes the three thousand people on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and includes Samaritans (Acts 8), an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), Cornelius and his family (Acts 10), Lydia and the jailer (Acts 16), barbarians, Scythians, slaves and freemen (Col. 3:11), Paul and Peter and the rest of the apostles, and the hundreds of millions of lovers of God who have been taught (Luke 1:4) about Jesus and who have believed since Christ rose from the dead in AD 30. We now understand that theophilus is not a proper name but is rather a description of every disciple of Jesus whom the Lord will raise up on the last day (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24).

CONCLUSION

After considering the difficulties presented by the view that “Theophilus” (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1) was the name of a specific individual who lived in the mid-first century, and after investigating the other possibility that “theophilus” (translated “lover of God”) was the way Luke described any and every believer who would read his gospel or the book of Acts, we have concluded that Luke addressed his great works to all believers in the Lord Jesus. If you are a lover of God through faith in the Lord Jesus, Luke wrote his gospel and Acts for you “so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4).

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/22/2023                 #685

Number 31: Judgment and grace in the slaughter of Midian

POST OVERVIEW. A careful exegesis of Numbers 31 when the LORD commanded the sons of Israel under Moses to execute His full vengeance on Midian.

In Numbers 31, we read of the LORD’s judgment of Midian through the sons of Israel. Because this story is both largely unknown by believers and is misinterpreted by those who “do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions” (1 Tim. 1:7), the episode can cause problems when it comes up for discussion. In this article, I will attempt to show, first, that there is nothing here in the judgment of Midian that should surprise the believer, and second, that there is a surprising element in this story as the LORD once again displays His grace.

SITUATION. As this episode opens, the Midianites are known to be a wicked people. In the recent past, they had caused Israel “to trespass against the LORD” (31:16). [The full account is in Numbers 25.] As a result, the LORD commands Moses to “take full vengeance on the Midianites” (31:2).

COMMENT. The LORD is commanding Moses to bring recompense on the Midianites for their wicked acts. This is temporal judgment for their sins. The LORD’s “patience toward these vessels of wrath” (Rom. 9:22) has ended and He is executing His vengeance (31:3) through Israel. So, there is nothing surprising or confusing about this judgment. Midian willfully committed great wickedness against the LORD and against His people, and they are now receiving the due penalty of their sin.

A STORY OF THE LORD’S JUDGMENT

This story, then, is clearly one of judgment. The LORD is bringing His wrath on Midian because, by their wickedness, Midian has merited the LORD’s full vengeance. We therefore fully expect there to be no mercy for Midian but instead, a complete destruction.

ASIDE: WHEN THE LORD SUSPENDS JUDGMENT

As an aside, I want to comment on how the world views the Lord’s judgment and His mercy. The Lord is a merciful God and, because of His mercy, He is constantly withholding His wrath from being poured out on man. In Romans 1:18, Paul begins his magnificent gospel treatise with a statement about God’s wrath: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” God’s wrath is revealed, but it is very rarely dispensed, even though “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

But ironically, because the Lord suspends His judgment of sin, the world presumes upon the Lord’s kindness and forbearance and patience (Rom. 2:4). Because people sin and the Lord does not bring prompt judgment, people begin to assume He will never judge. Once they are convinced that God will never judge, they go beyond that to think that He has no right to judge. The world then begins to defy God and sin with vigor because they assume they can sin with impunity. Then, when God brings a just recompense for man’s sins, the world is outraged at what they claim to be the Lord’s petulance and cruelty. Rather than praising the Lord for His kindness and forbearance and patience and repenting of their sin (Rom. 2:4), the world blasphemes Him when He brings upon them the just consequences of their sin.

BACK TO MIDIAN. We return to Midian, where the sons of Israel have been charged with the task of rendering “full vengeance” on Midian. Yet even here, where the LORD’s justice is on display and where Midian has merited a complete destruction, even here the LORD demonstrates His unmerited favor. For the Scripture says:

“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness” (Psalm 145:8)

and the LORD answers His people when they cry,

“In wrath remember mercy” (Hab. 3:2).

A STORY OF THE LORD’S MERCY AND GRACE

Earlier we had said, “There is nothing surprising or confusing about Midian’s judgment.” All sin merits a just recompense (Heb. 2:2) and the sinner has “a terrifying expectation of judgment” (Heb. 10:27). But while there is nothing surprising about the Lord’s judgment, there is everything surprising about His mercy and grace. Numbers 31 is, therefore, a very surprising chapter. What do I mean?

Notice that, while Midian’s wickedness would be justly punished by a complete destruction, the LORD does not destroy them completely. Midian is a condemned people, but some from Midian are spared. A small remnant of Midian received mercy and grace. Yes, all the men are killed (Num. 31:7, 8) and all the boys are killed (31:17a). “Every woman who has known man by lying with a man” is also killed (31:17b). All these receive the judgment they deserve. “But all the female children who have not known man by lying with a man, keep alive for yourselves” (31:18). Amazingly, the LORD commands Moses to spare all the female virgins so they can become wives for the sons of Israel. In Numbers 31:35, there were 32,000 Midianite virgins. These 32,000 received mercy from the LORD, for they did not receive the punishment due to a condemned people, but they also received the LORD’s grace, for these female children, instead of being executed in judgment, could now become wives to husbands from the sons of Israel and could thus be enfolded into the company of the LORD’s covenant people. From condemned to member of the covenant people of God – all by God’s grace.

SUMMARY

First, there are times when God’s patience and forbearance run out and He chooses to execute His temporal judgment on an individual or, as in this case with Midian, on a group of people. His judgment is always warranted and His justice is always righteous.

But second, we have seen that the LORD is inclined to mercy and is free to dispense His grace. Although we have all merited His wrath (Rom. 3:10-18, 23; Ezekiel 18:4; etc.), the Lord now suspends His wrath and judgment and instead extends to us the offer of forgiveness and free righteousness through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The mercy and grace shown to Midian in Numbers 31 is but a faint foreshadow of the mercy and grace that God now grants to all who will bow the knee to Jesus and confess Him as Lord. These will be saved.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/18/2023                 #684

Debating the contents of the Bible with an atheist

POST OVERVIEW. A tactic for the follower of Jesus to use when debating with an atheist the alleged inconsistencies or contradictions in the Bible.

Ben Shapiro, a committed Jewish person, was debating the issue of biblical slavery with a committed atheist. The atheist seemed to be getting the best of Mr. Shapiro, as he was quoting passages from the Old Testament that suggested either that the God of the Bible condoned slavery or that God contradicted Himself by saying one thing in one passage that seemed to be at odds with something else, which He had said in a different passage. Shapiro argued that God would occasionally accommodate a practice that existed at the time by giving instructions and guidelines about that practice to mitigate the damage (which is close to what a believer would argue about some of these thorny passages in the Old Testament).

It was obvious that both men were brilliant and were extremely skilled in this sort of debate, but perhaps because his opponent had a British accent and Shapiro was American, it seemed that the Brit’s arguments were superior.

But how should a disciple of Jesus address these kind of questions from an atheist? What do we do when an atheist brings up these difficult passages from the Bible?

PRINCIPLE: If the Bible is the subject of debate, the atheist’s denial of the existence of God spells doom to their every argument.

Let me explain.

In this debate with Ben Shapiro, the atheist cited the example of Deut. 21 where women of conquered nations could be taken as wives after they had been cleansed of all their uncleanness and had mourned their family for a month. But in Numbers 31, it was only the virgins of Midian who were allowed to live. (The text implies that these virgins could become wives of the Israelite men.) The atheist argued that it seemed arbitrary and contradictory that, in one situation, any woman, virgin or nonvirgin, could be spared if she were attractive, but in another situation, it was only the virgins that could be spared.

THE TACTIC PRESENTED

Whether these were the exact passages that the atheist chose and whether or not his argument was a strong one is irrelevant to the tactic I am proposing. It is the fact that the atheist is arguing from the Bible that gives the believer all the ammunition that he needs to end the debate.

Here is the dialog I would use.

BELIEVER: “So, you are saying that what the Bible says here in these passages seems to be arbitrary and/or contradictory, is that right?” (NOTE: Try to use your opponent’s own words here when you are introducing your point.)

ATHEIST: “Yes, that’s right.”

BELIEVER: “And, at least as far as we can understand it, this presents at least a logical problem and may constitute a moral problem. Would you agree with that?”

ATHEIST: “I would agree with that.”

BELIEVER: “I think I see your point. (PAUSE) I notice that you have been quoting from the Bible. In your opinion, who wrote the Bible?”

Now the atheist is in an impossible position. At this point, he has one of two choices. He either must acknowledge that the Bible was written entirely by men independent of any help or inspiration from God, which would be an answer consistent with his atheistic worldview, or he must concede that God inspired the Bible and is therefore responsible for its contents, an answer that would deny and demolish his atheism.

Without the time to think about the implications of this answer, the atheist will almost certainly opt for a reply like,

ATHEIST: “Well, the Bible was written by ordinary Jewish men a long time ago.” Something like that.

BELIEVER: “So, if I understand you correctly, your opinion is that God did not inspire the writing of the Bible. In fact, you would say that the Bible came into being independent of God. Is that correct?”

ATHEIST: “Yes, of course.”

CHECKMATE.

BELIEVER: “Well, if God was not the author of the Bible, then He also did not write the passages that confuse you. God cannot be held responsible for something He did not write. In fact, if God did not write the Bible, then He really should not be a part of any conversation about the Bible. If God did not inspire the Bible, then any difficulties you have with what the Bible says do not involve God at all but involve whoever it was that wrote the passages that confuse you. Bringing up these passages from the Bible, which, according to you, were written by some unknown Jewish men a long time ago, is really a futile exercise. Because what point could we possibly be making – if, in fact, God did not write the Bible.” (PAUSE)

BELIEVER: “I, on the other hand, am of the opinion that the Bible is breathed out by the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and that every word of this book is true BECAUSE it is God-breathed. My inability to understand every detail of this book from the mind of God does not mean that the book is somehow flawed. It simply means that God’s thoughts are higher than my thoughts.

“So, you have no point in debating the contents of the Bible, because any perceived difficulties are simply the flawed writings of ordinary men, and I believe that all the contents of the Bible are true and without error. It seems to me that our debate is over.”

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/14/2023                 #683

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

Luke 17:11-19 – Ten lepers healed, one leper saved

POST OVERVIEW. A post about Luke 17:11-19 where Jesus cleansed ten lepers of their leprosy. One of those ten lepers was also eternally saved.

In Luke 17:11-19, we read the story of our Lord healing ten lepers. While on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus enters a village and encounters ten leprous men who call Him by name and ask for mercy. As these men are going to the priests, all ten are miraculously cleansed of their leprosy. One of the ten returned, “fell on his face at Jesus’ feet,” and gave Him thanks for the healing. Jesus tells the man, “Your faith has made you well” (17:19).

THE MAN’S FAITH SAVED HIM

This story of the leprous men follows the same pattern as a number of other stories in the gospels, particularly in the gospel of Luke. A sinner encounters Jesus, the sinner believes in Jesus, often because of a miracle Jesus has performed, and Jesus announces that the sinner is saved by his or her faith. Thus in these encounters two miracles occur: Jesus performs a miracle and then a sinner repents and is saved so that there is joy in heaven (Luke 15:7, 10).

Salvation of a sinner is the issue in these stories. And because salvation is the issue, we need to correct the translation of Luke 17:19 (and others like it, including Luke 7:50*; 8:48; 18:42; Matt. 9:22; Mark 5:34; 10:52) to reflect the real focus of the story. (Translations considered are ESV and NASB.) [* Note that Luke 7:50 is correctly translated, “Your faith has saved you,” in both ESV and NASB.]

TECHNICAL DETAILS

The Greek phrase that is usually translated, “Your faith has made you well,” is:

ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε.

The verb in this phrase is σέσωκέν, which is the perfect indicative active form of the verb σῴζω, a verb ordinarily translated as “save” or “rescue.” This verb is among a group of New Testament words that are used to describe Christian salvation. “Savior” is the Greek word “σωτὴρ.” “Salvation” is “σωτηρία.” The adjective “saving” is the Greek word “σωτήριος.” Since σῴζω is the verb in this group of words about salvation, the word should be translated into English as “save” unless there is some compelling reason not to.

Returning to the Greek phrase above, the words would be literally translated as:

The faith of you has saved you, or

Your faith has saved you.

As we explore this passage further, we will see that this is exactly what is intended by our Savior. Jesus is telling the person that their personal faith in Him has rescued them from God’s condemnation and judgment and that they have now passed from death to life (John 5:24). With this as background, let’s go into the text.

EXPLORATION OF THE TEXT

In Luke 17:19, we first observe that the leper’s faith did not make him well. Jesus did. Jesus healed the leper that returned and thanked Him, but Jesus healed all ten lepers equally. They were healed whether they had faith or not because Jesus is Lord of all. So, Jesus was the one who made the leper well, not the leper’s faith.

But second, notice that the leper who returned displayed his faith in Jesus by turning back and “giving thanks to Him” (17:16). This one leper acknowledged that Jesus had healed him and he therefore submitted to Jesus as Lord. So we see that Jesus healed the leper by His divine power, but it was the leper’s faith in Jesus that saved him. Thus the correct translation of Luke 17:19 is, “Your faith has saved you.” Those without faith take whatever good things God provides and then go on without giving thanks to God or acknowledging the Lord’s mercy, but those with faith fall down before the Lord and give Him thanks. The faithful “glorify God with a loud voice” (17:15).

An examination of the other occurrences of “ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε” (see above for a list) will reveal that each instance should be translated, “Your faith has saved you.” In these events, Jesus (usually) heals the faithful and the unfaithful alike. Jesus performs these miracles of healing  to verify His identity as God the Son so that some of those who see the miracles will place their faith in Him and be saved. Thus it is the sinner’s response of faith in Jesus that saves the believing sinner. Jesus performed miracles of healing. This is objective fact. Ah, but those who saw the miracles and responded in faith were saved.

OBJECTIVE FACT AND SAVING FAITH IN THE GOSPEL

In many ways, the gospel is like Jesus’ miracles. The gospel is a message that contains facts that are objectively true for all people. The facts of the gospel are these: God is holy and will punish all sin. Man is not holy. Man is a rebel who willfully disobeys God’s commandments and is, therefore, under God’s wrath and judgment and in danger of eternal condemnation. From this objective danger all people must be rescued or they will eternally perish.

But the gospel goes on to declare that God, in His mercy, has provided a way for man to be rescued. Two thousand years ago, God sent His Son Jesus into the world to be our Savior. Unlike every other person, Jesus willfully obeyed every commandment of God for His entire lifetime. As we have seen in this story, Jesus also performed miracles that only God could perform. After living a sinless life, Jesus died on a Roman cross as God’s appointed sacrifice for sin. Then three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead to confirm that His sacrifice on the cross had been accepted by God as payment for sin. Now any sinner who repents of their sin and places their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior will be saved.

Those are the objective facts. You and I need to be saved from our sins and Jesus Christ has died and risen from the dead to provide the salvation we need. Now you and I must respond by placing our faith in Jesus as the Lord of our life.

But just as the nine lepers could be healed and yet not be saved, so you can know the objective facts about Jesus and the salvation that He offers and still not be saved. Like the lepers, we must believe in Jesus to be saved. Objective facts cannot save you. Only faith in Jesus will save you. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Then on the last day you will hear the Lord say, “Your faith has saved you.”

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 12/6/2023                   #681