As we continue to read through the New Testament, I receive great comments from a number of you. This comment came from a thoughtful reader of Scripture and a serious disciple:
"You've asked that we share our impressions from the 90-day reading of scripture. I have something from from Acts 14:22b that we read on Sunday: "They (Paul and Barnabas) said, 'We must suffer many things to enter the kingdom of God.' " (NCV) The statement comes on he heels of Paul's having been stoned and nearly killed. He obviously knew what it meant to endure physical suffering for the cause. That said, the statement hit me with a deeper meaning this time around. Suffering is a way that God brings us under his "kingdom rule." Suffering (physical, emotional, spiritual) is a necessary discipline in learning genuine heart obedience. We have to embrace suffering as a means of learning to surrender our wills to the will of God. It's not just a matter of gaining Heaven; suffering is part of discipleship and is necessary in order that Christ be formed in us. This, of course, tracks with what James (Jas. 1:2-3) had to say about suffering producing endurance. I was just caught by the way the statement is phrased here. Suffering for Christ allows Him to set up rule in our hearts and lives."
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Sin against the Holy Spirit
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Luke 12:10)
What is the “sin against the Holy Spirit?”
The “sin against the Spirit” warning occurs in Matthew, Mark and Luke, each time in a slightly different form. Luke's account gives its full discourse context.
In Luke 12 Jesus is issuing a strong warning against the hard-heartedness of the religious leaders of the Jews. Though they had been entrusted with the law, they had used it to their own ends. Pompous in their authority, they were using the Word of God in ways that harmed others. Eventually they would use it to have Jesus murdered. When Jesus arrived preaching the Kingdom of God, they rejected his authority, calling His work, which was empowered by the Holy Spirit, satanic (11:14-23).
In this context Jesus warns that one can be forgiven of speaking against Him, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
To understand Jesus’ warning, first we must understand that the word blaspheme means more than merely saying bad things. To blaspheme is to reject someone totally, cursing them and opposing them even to the point of blood. To call the work of the Holy Spirit satanic, as the religious leaders were doing, is to position oneself in an unchangeable position against God Himself. Blaspheming the Spirit indicates that one has chosen to call evil good and good evil. This is precisely what some of the religious leaders had done: seeing the undeniable power of Jesus but having hearts so hardened by their pride, they were forced to reject with all their hearts the work of God and to call the Spirit's actions satanic.
Clearly not all religious leaders did this. Indeed, many priests who rejected Jesus during His ministry later accepted Him and were converted to Him (Acts 6:7). Even the prominent Pharisee, Paul, who earnestly opposed the work of Jesus at first later accepted Him and became the leading ambassador for Christ among non-Jews, actually performing miracles through the Spirit He had earlier resisted! Blasphemy against the Spirit, then, should not be confused with a refusal to accept Christ or even the work of the Spirit. All humans have done this at one point or another in life! Blasphemy against the Spirit is that dreadful position that a few have taken in history in which they have hardened their hearts to the point that they will never repent, and, because they will never repent, they remain permanently lost—beyond any hope of forgiveness because they are beyond any hope of coming to Christ. Thus, though God is willing to forgive all sins (1 John 1:7-10) and wants all sinners to repent and be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), some people have so hardened their hearts that repentance and subsequent forgiveness is simply impossible. They will never be forgiven—not because God refuses to forgive, but because they refuse to repent.
Since you are reading this post, you are not guilty of such sin. Indeed, if you can repent of a sin, you can be sure it is not the sin against the Spirit. For those who want to follow Jesus, the promise of Scripture is much brighter: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)
What is the “sin against the Holy Spirit?”
The “sin against the Spirit” warning occurs in Matthew, Mark and Luke, each time in a slightly different form. Luke's account gives its full discourse context.
In Luke 12 Jesus is issuing a strong warning against the hard-heartedness of the religious leaders of the Jews. Though they had been entrusted with the law, they had used it to their own ends. Pompous in their authority, they were using the Word of God in ways that harmed others. Eventually they would use it to have Jesus murdered. When Jesus arrived preaching the Kingdom of God, they rejected his authority, calling His work, which was empowered by the Holy Spirit, satanic (11:14-23).
In this context Jesus warns that one can be forgiven of speaking against Him, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
To understand Jesus’ warning, first we must understand that the word blaspheme means more than merely saying bad things. To blaspheme is to reject someone totally, cursing them and opposing them even to the point of blood. To call the work of the Holy Spirit satanic, as the religious leaders were doing, is to position oneself in an unchangeable position against God Himself. Blaspheming the Spirit indicates that one has chosen to call evil good and good evil. This is precisely what some of the religious leaders had done: seeing the undeniable power of Jesus but having hearts so hardened by their pride, they were forced to reject with all their hearts the work of God and to call the Spirit's actions satanic.
Clearly not all religious leaders did this. Indeed, many priests who rejected Jesus during His ministry later accepted Him and were converted to Him (Acts 6:7). Even the prominent Pharisee, Paul, who earnestly opposed the work of Jesus at first later accepted Him and became the leading ambassador for Christ among non-Jews, actually performing miracles through the Spirit He had earlier resisted! Blasphemy against the Spirit, then, should not be confused with a refusal to accept Christ or even the work of the Spirit. All humans have done this at one point or another in life! Blasphemy against the Spirit is that dreadful position that a few have taken in history in which they have hardened their hearts to the point that they will never repent, and, because they will never repent, they remain permanently lost—beyond any hope of forgiveness because they are beyond any hope of coming to Christ. Thus, though God is willing to forgive all sins (1 John 1:7-10) and wants all sinners to repent and be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), some people have so hardened their hearts that repentance and subsequent forgiveness is simply impossible. They will never be forgiven—not because God refuses to forgive, but because they refuse to repent.
Since you are reading this post, you are not guilty of such sin. Indeed, if you can repent of a sin, you can be sure it is not the sin against the Spirit. For those who want to follow Jesus, the promise of Scripture is much brighter: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)
Monday, July 27, 2009
News from the Future Ministry Training Camp
Just a quick word to say that our Future Ministry Training Camp is awesome! Ten young men, three associates and I are camping out in the elementary hall of the building having an absolute ball learning what full time ministry is like. Exquisite food, lots of laughter, loads of friendships, and a little bit of work ... we really are having the best time of our lives.
Give us a prayer. I'll post more as time permits ....
Give us a prayer. I'll post more as time permits ....
These Just In From Thomas Merton
"It is in the darkness of faith that the soul is united to Christ, and in this darkness the Holy Spirit, like an inexhaustible spring of living water, irrigates the dry wastes of the soul that is exhausted by attachment to the things of sense. This living water revives the soul and makes it capable of a love and compassion which are the most powerful of all spiritual forces because they are the power of God Himself in us: and God is Love."
"Sun rises in mist with thousands of very soft explosions and I am entirely splashed with designs coming through the holes in the lace wall of trees. Everything in the world is transparent. The ferocities of mankind mean nothing to the hope of light. You are right, preserve your hopes."
"Sun rises in mist with thousands of very soft explosions and I am entirely splashed with designs coming through the holes in the lace wall of trees. Everything in the world is transparent. The ferocities of mankind mean nothing to the hope of light. You are right, preserve your hopes."
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bodily Resurrection
As you read through the Gospel of Matthew, I wonder if you noticed the spectacular event of the bodily resurrections that occurred at the death of Jesus. Matthew (and only Matthew) states that when Jesus gave up His Spirit "The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people." (Matt. 27:52-53)
In the Scriptures resurrection is a bodily phenomenon.
The Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul. Indeed, many peoples have believed in the immortality of the soul. Christianity did not come preaching merely another version of the immortality of the soul. Christianity came preaching that the immortal soul would re-inhabit the body, and a resurrection of the body would occur.
Think about it for a moment. The soul is not what dies; the body does. For this reason, the soul cannot be "resurrected"; it never died. It is the body that needs re-surrecting. The doctrine of the resurrection preached by Christians challenges the doctrine of the immortality of the soul by suggesting that God intends to redeem the whole of a person--body and soul.
Below I have listed a few Scriptures that discuss bodily resurrection, but before reading these, I want to challenge you to think about why this doctrine is so important (Paul says that without the doctrine of resurrection, we are hopeless--1 Cor. 15:12ff). The doctrine of the bodily resurrection assures us that God cares deeply about all of His creation. God intends to redeem not just "the spiritual." God wants to ransom the entire world. Indeed, Paul teaches us that the entire creation "groans" as it awaits God's liberation of it from the bondage of decay (Rom. 8:20:21)
The doctrine of the bodily resurrection teaches us that we should care about the God's creation, especially His creation of our bodies. So we are taught to treat our bodies as temples of the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:23). We are taught to live pure lives in our bodies. We are taught to use our bodies in obedience to God. Because God loves all of His creation, my body matters. Indeed, it matters enough that, one day, God will raise it up in immortal form and offer it back to my soul. The graves will literally open. The body will literally rise. And we will be whole again--body and soul--forever in God's presence.
The next time you sing about that place "where the soul of man never dies," remember that the immortal bodies God will give us at the great resurrection will be there, too. And, like the soul that never did die, these bodies will live with God forever.
Here are a few other Scriptures on the bodily resurrection.
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Rom. 8:11)
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Phil. 3:20-21)
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom. 8:22-23)
"But someone may ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?' How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." (1 Cor. 15:35-44)
In the Scriptures resurrection is a bodily phenomenon.
The Greeks believed in the immortality of the soul. Indeed, many peoples have believed in the immortality of the soul. Christianity did not come preaching merely another version of the immortality of the soul. Christianity came preaching that the immortal soul would re-inhabit the body, and a resurrection of the body would occur.
Think about it for a moment. The soul is not what dies; the body does. For this reason, the soul cannot be "resurrected"; it never died. It is the body that needs re-surrecting. The doctrine of the resurrection preached by Christians challenges the doctrine of the immortality of the soul by suggesting that God intends to redeem the whole of a person--body and soul.
Below I have listed a few Scriptures that discuss bodily resurrection, but before reading these, I want to challenge you to think about why this doctrine is so important (Paul says that without the doctrine of resurrection, we are hopeless--1 Cor. 15:12ff). The doctrine of the bodily resurrection assures us that God cares deeply about all of His creation. God intends to redeem not just "the spiritual." God wants to ransom the entire world. Indeed, Paul teaches us that the entire creation "groans" as it awaits God's liberation of it from the bondage of decay (Rom. 8:20:21)
The doctrine of the bodily resurrection teaches us that we should care about the God's creation, especially His creation of our bodies. So we are taught to treat our bodies as temples of the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:23). We are taught to live pure lives in our bodies. We are taught to use our bodies in obedience to God. Because God loves all of His creation, my body matters. Indeed, it matters enough that, one day, God will raise it up in immortal form and offer it back to my soul. The graves will literally open. The body will literally rise. And we will be whole again--body and soul--forever in God's presence.
The next time you sing about that place "where the soul of man never dies," remember that the immortal bodies God will give us at the great resurrection will be there, too. And, like the soul that never did die, these bodies will live with God forever.
Here are a few other Scriptures on the bodily resurrection.
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." (Rom. 8:11)
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Phil. 3:20-21)
"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom. 8:22-23)
"But someone may ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?' How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." (1 Cor. 15:35-44)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The New Testament -- What Are You Discovering?
Some of us are reading the New Testament through for the first time; others of us have read it many time. But all of us are likely discovering new things in our reading (or at least old things anew). I have been delighted with the many responses that readers have sent me. If you are having a significant experienc in your reading, why not send me an email telling me about it?
Here are a few of the many expressions I've received:
"I am lovin' it. Of course I love to read but this is somehow different. Here I am always looking for a book to read and I had one under my nose all along."
--Cindy
"Just had to share. I’ve been studying the Pentateuch with John Risse and it has really opened my eyes to Matthew. Matthew is written from the objective for the Jews to understand. Or at least that is what it seems. I am recognizing things from the Pentateuch in Matthew. This really opens my eyes to a deeper understanding for the book of Matthew. Hmmmm."
--Sara
"[My wife] and I were talking about a few points as we read the New Testament:
1. Jesus experiencing all emotions that many of us experience some of, such things as sadness, compassion, humility, crying, ridicule, etc., etc. as well as all temptations. There are so many examples of His emotions and His great boldness and complete unselfishness.
2. Jesus over and over saying "I tell you the truth." when he spoke to groups of people in teaching them and preaching the Gospel and using parables. I think He wanted their attention to listen to what He was about to say. Maybe you could elaborate on why Jesus said that over and over.
3. Over and over, the New Testament says that people were "amazed" (sometimes it says "astonished") at Jesus' teaching. There are even examples of the Pharisees being "amazed' at Jesus teaching and knowledge. My favorite miracle is the healing of the centurion's servant because the Bible says that Jesus was "amazed" at the centurion's faith. He did not need to touch Jesus or have Jesus come to his home."
--Jim
"I read in Don’s email about the New Testament challenge and the scripture memorization. We have the first week of the NT readings from his email. Is it possible for someone to email us the rest of the information so we can participate as well? It would just be great to do it and really encouraging to feel like we were participating with our brothers and sisters at NB. Also the sermons on podcast are such a blessing to us. Keep up the good work."
--Marisa
Here are a few of the many expressions I've received:
"I am lovin' it. Of course I love to read but this is somehow different. Here I am always looking for a book to read and I had one under my nose all along."
--Cindy
"Just had to share. I’ve been studying the Pentateuch with John Risse and it has really opened my eyes to Matthew. Matthew is written from the objective for the Jews to understand. Or at least that is what it seems. I am recognizing things from the Pentateuch in Matthew. This really opens my eyes to a deeper understanding for the book of Matthew. Hmmmm."
--Sara
"[My wife] and I were talking about a few points as we read the New Testament:
1. Jesus experiencing all emotions that many of us experience some of, such things as sadness, compassion, humility, crying, ridicule, etc., etc. as well as all temptations. There are so many examples of His emotions and His great boldness and complete unselfishness.
2. Jesus over and over saying "I tell you the truth." when he spoke to groups of people in teaching them and preaching the Gospel and using parables. I think He wanted their attention to listen to what He was about to say. Maybe you could elaborate on why Jesus said that over and over.
3. Over and over, the New Testament says that people were "amazed" (sometimes it says "astonished") at Jesus' teaching. There are even examples of the Pharisees being "amazed' at Jesus teaching and knowledge. My favorite miracle is the healing of the centurion's servant because the Bible says that Jesus was "amazed" at the centurion's faith. He did not need to touch Jesus or have Jesus come to his home."
--Jim
"I read in Don’s email about the New Testament challenge and the scripture memorization. We have the first week of the NT readings from his email. Is it possible for someone to email us the rest of the information so we can participate as well? It would just be great to do it and really encouraging to feel like we were participating with our brothers and sisters at NB. Also the sermons on podcast are such a blessing to us. Keep up the good work."
--Marisa
The Church's Book with Dr. Tom Alexander
Can you trust your Bible?These are days in which the Bible is under serious assault by the media, by Hollywood, by left-leaning theologians, and even by the typical guy in the street. If you follow current popular reports you know that you there are those who claim that the Bible is full of errors, there are books that were maliciously excluded from the Bible by the early church, that the Bible as we have it is the result of a Catholic conspiracy, that the Jesus of the Bible never existed, and so forth.
In light of so many challenges, it is important for faith that we learn how the Scriptures came to be, how to describe their divine origins, and what criteria were used to determine which books were included in the Bible.
Join us on August 16 for a one-day seminar designed to answer these questions and leave you confident and encouraged.
Dr. Tom Alexander is professor of Bible at Harding University and a brilliant New Testament Scholar. His Ph.D. is from Emory University. You'll like him, and you'll appreciate what he has to say.
8:00 In the Steps of the Savior: Recognizing the Value of Scripture
9:30 The Production of Scripture: Inspiration and Why It Matters
10:30 In the Steps of the Savior (repeat from 8:00 service)
6:00 The Formation of the Biblical Canon: Recognizing the Church's Rule of Faith and Practice
7:00 Media Madness: Distortions of the Biblical Canon in the Public Square
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