Unlearning Tradition, Relearning Scripture

Category: Personal

  • The Eschatological Divide

    The Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible defined “eschatology” as

    The department of theology which is concerned with the “last things,” that is, with the state of individuals after death, and with the course of human history when the present order of things has been brought to a close. It includes such matters as the consummation of the age, the day of judgment, the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, the millennium and the fixing of the conditions of eternity.

    Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, StudyLight.org

    The Book of Revelation has been the most neglected writings in the New Testament. It is rarely preached or taught from the pulpit due to the perception that it can cause division. Whenever it has been taught to Christians, controversies—often leading to arguments—ensue. As a result, many Christian congregations avoid the book, not by the members but at the insistence of their leaders. However, the relevance of Revelation cannot be ignored. Like the final words of a dying man, it conveys the last messages of Jesus Christ to the Old Covenant people of God.

    The underlined phrase from Hastings sheds light on the current confusion surrounding eschatology. However, if we adjust this idea by replacing some words, we may be able to explore the unity of Scripture without contradictions. Please compare the statement below with Hastings’ original.

    “Eschatology concerns the ‘last things,” with the state of individuals after death, and with the course of human history when the Old Covenant of God has been brought to a close.”

    I simply change the phrase “the Old Covenant of God” to “the present order of things.” Oops! That statement could already spark controversy, though it might be nothing for ordinary readers.

    Currently, biblical scholars recognize at least four different perspectives on the Book of Revelation and prophetic literature. None of these views is considered heretical or false teaching, as each is supported by passages from Scripture. The issue lies not with the Scripture itself, but with its interpretation. All four proponents of eschatology affirm the absolute authority and inerrancy of the 66 books of the Bible. Therefore, the problem ultimately stems from human error, a point on which all sides can agree.

    Despite Christianity’s two-millennia-long history, many arguments and debates remain unresolved. This is why none of the four perspectives of eschatology are classified as heresy or false teaching; for now, they are simply considered “debatable.”

    The four views of eschatology, namely the Futurist view, the Preterist view, the Historical view, and the Idealist view.

    Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson was a required reading for us during my time at seminary. It spanned four semesters in our Systematic Theology class. I have a particular interest in this subject, especially because it addresses the topic of death, which I feel compelled to explore in search of the truth about what happens after we die. If you’ve read all my blogs, you may know that I came to faith following the tragic death of my only son. I shared my journey in a blog post titled “Regarding Wilmer.”

    Here is an excerpt from Christian Theology, by Willard J. Erickson:

    At this point it will be helpful to note a system which is used to classify the various interpretations of prophetic or apocalyptic material in Scripture. While it is often most utilized as a means of classifying interpretations of the Book of Revelation or, more generally, all such prophetic literature, the system can also be applied to distinguish views of eschatology:

    1. The futuristic view holds that most of the events described are in the future. They will come to fulfillment at the close of the age, many of them probably clustered together.

    2. The preterist view holds that the events described were taking place at the time of the writer, Since they were current for the writer, they are now in the past.

    3. The historical view holds that the events described were in the future at the time of writing, but refer to matters destined to take place throughout the history of the church. Instead of looking solely to the future for their occurrence, we should also search for them within the pages of history and consider whether some of them may be coming to pass right now.

    4. The symbolic or idealist view holds that the events described are not to be thought of in a time sequence at all. They refer to truths which are timeless in nature, not to singular historical occurrences.

    Christian Theology, Unabridged, one-volume edition p.1154, by Millard J. Erickson

    I understand that the definition provided can be difficult to grasp, even for those who deeply appreciate Scripture. This complexity often arises from the perceived vagueness of some biblical passages. That’s why attending seminary can be beneficial for many. Even after I left the organized religious system and began my ministry independently, I encouraged someone to enroll in the same seminary, and he did. He is now serving in a local congregation.

    I would like to express my gratitude for my professors during my time at the seminary. They provided me with solid training and equipped me well for studying the Bible. However, it’s important to acknowledge that, much like learning to drive a car, while skills can be taught and acquired, true excellence comes with practice and real-world experience. I want to clarify that I am not claiming to have achieved excellence, but rather that I feel eligible to engage in exegesis (the critical explanation or interpretation of a biblical text) and to apply hermeneutics (the knowledge required for interpreting the Bible).

    The futurist view is likely the most familiar perspective for many people. Scripture contains revelations and prophecies that speak of the future; to them only a portion of these prophecies has been fulfilled, while the rest are still pending. Since the 1970s, numerous novels and films have been created about the anticipated Second Coming of Christ, contributing to its popularity. Additionally, the Scofield Reference Bible from the early 1900s has had a significant impact on Christians for over a century.

    In this context, there’s a video teaching by Bruce Gore that offers a comprehensive analysis of the dominant futurist view and explores its questionable origins. The futurist perspective comes in various forms and continues to evolve.

    Herewith also is a shorter video from Ben Witherington III, a professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. However, I encourage you to invest the time to watch Bruce Gore’s more detailed video, as it is well worth it.

    Many pastors today, being futurists, often claim that Jesus Christ is coming soon. However, many may not realize that according to the dispensational futurist view, the kingdom of heaven has yet to arrive. In contrast, Jesus Christ clearly stated the presence of God’s kingdom, as seen in Matthew 12:28.

    But if it is by the Spirit of God that I [Jesus Christ] cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

    Studying the Bible is essential. If you clicked on the link for the Scofield Reference Bible, you’ll find that GotQuestions.org offers positive remarks about it. However, Bruce Gore and Ben Witherington III have differing opinions. Their disagreement isn’t about the Bible itself, but rather about its notes and commentary.

    It has been two millennia since the Book of Revelation was written, where Jesus promised He is coming soon, not just once, but repeatedly, as stated in Revelation 1:1-3.

    The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” (Revelation 3:11)

    “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7)

    “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:12-13)

    “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

    Proponents of futurism, particularly the dispensationalist view commonly associated with contemporary Christianity, are known for their constant vigilance in searching for signs that could indicate the impending arrival of the Second Coming. In light of our current situation, the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked both excitement and fear, with many believing that Jesus Christ’s return is near. However, we can look back to the early 1900s when the “Spanish Flu” pandemic likely generated similar expectations. If that had been the case, Christians would have been proclaiming that Jesus was coming soon for a century now. I find it difficult to consider a hundred years as “soon.” Unfortunately, the futurist perspective may have become akin to the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

    Here is a well-reasoned and valuable presentation by Bruce Gore on the historical context of the Book of Revelation. To view it, click on the highlight. I won’t delve deeper into this perspective, but it’s worth noting that it is also futurist, clearly overshadowed by futurist interpretations.

    Below is an excerpt from GotQuestion.Org on the idealist view. Click the link to read.

    In the idealist interpretation, the symbols in Revelation are not normally thought to refer to specific individuals and historic events but to typical individuals and events. For instance, every generation will have an “antichrist” and a “mark of the beast”—any number of individuals, world leaders, or empires who exalt themselves against God are the “antichrist,” and those who follow those leaders receive his “mark.” Some part of the church is always going through tribulation, and there will be martyrs in every generation. The idealist interprets Revelation as the ongoing struggle between God and His people and Satan and those who follow him.

    The idealist perspective’s refusal to recognize a singular fulfillment of biblical prophecies, viewing them instead as repeated events throughout human history, may unintentionally align closely with the futurist approach. However, the issue arises from the implication that there would be no actual fulfillment of these prophecies, even if this conclusion has not been explicitly stated.

    The Preterist view stands apart from the other three interpretations, but that shouldn’t lead us to dismiss it outright. I admit that I was once guilty of this during my seminary days. I recall a moment when my professor briefly introduced the idea that the second coming might have already been fulfilled. Not a single student in the class considered this possibility or took the initiative to reexamine the Scriptures; it was dismissed without thought. Perhaps that explains why the professor didn’t delve deeper into the topic.

    The professor may find himself in trouble later for exploring and teaching certain ideas, given the strong influence of futurism among local congregations across the country. If you’re familiar with Martin Luther’s struggles during the Reformation in the 16th century, you can understand the potential challenges he might face if he were to delve deeper into the Preterist view. Herewith is a short video explaining the Reformation.

    Looking back, despite its shortcomings, the Reformation opened the floodgate for believers to freely study and rediscover the original teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles.

    “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers”

    ESV Bible, Acts 2:42

    Yet, like any movement, left in the hands of man, combining Scripture and human ideas, the Reformation movement somehow went south. To read more about my perspective on the Reformation, click on this link “Reformation Went Poof!“

    Again quoting Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson, here is the written discourse of Charles Harold Dodd (7 April 1884 – 21 September 1973). Though not an adherent of the Preterist view per se, he is actually considered a proponent of Realized Eschatology.

    In formatting his eschatology, Dodd pays particular attention to the biblical references to the day of the Lord. He notes that whereas in the Old Testament the day of the Lord is viewed as a future matter, in the New Testament it is depicted as a present occurrence

    Christian Theology, Unabridged, one-volume edition, p.1159, by Millard J. Erickson

    “Present occurrence” means, at the time of its writing – first-generation Christianity. Herein lies the strong argument for a Preterist view of the Bible. It has been more than a decade since I became a Christian. As you can read from my blog “Regarding Wilmer,” it was due to the death of my only son that I became a Christian. The reality of death came staring at me. All my previous beliefs failed to answer a simple question about human existence – what happens after death? To make the long story short, my earnest desire to find the answer to life’s most practical question and in the course of studying and leading Bible studies, I was led back to that brief moment in the seminary when we were asked if we would consider the possibility that Jesus had returned.

    It was a struggle. I often found myself wanting to ignore clear and obvious biblical passages that indicated Jesus had indeed returned, all to avoid rejection, ridicule, and persecution. However, I eventually surrendered to the teachings of Scripture. My quest to deepen my understanding of the Bible has been rewarding. I was able to reconcile the seemingly loose ends of biblical teachings, particularly regarding the unity of Scripture’s eschatology on the topics of death and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

    A few years ago, my pastor friend, who also believes that Jesus has returned, and I had a friendly discussion with another pastor friend who is a futurist. We posed an important question: “Where do Christians go after death?” His response was, “There are actually three possibilities to that question.” He couldn’t confidently say, “A Christian goes straight to heaven,” even though we often hear that in funeral services. Is this idea just a cliché meant to comfort grieving families? Surely that was not the intention. The issue arises from conflicting passages that oppose each other, especially when we consider the eschatology surrounding death alongside the future return of Jesus Christ.

    To support my point, I want to highlight that my futurist pastor friend is not alone in facing this dilemma. While some may confidently assert that Christians immediately go to heaven upon death, I challenge anyone making that claim—who also believes that Jesus has yet to return—to provide biblical passages that back it up. The reality is more nuanced. I’m quoting an excerpt from Thomas G. Long, a professor at Candler School of Theology, who addressed the question: “Do they go directly to heaven or hell, or to a holding place until Christ returns for the final judgment?”

    “There are two images in the New Testament about what happens. First, the Resurrection Day, when the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised up incorruptible. If you only had that image, what we would imagine is that when people die, they lie in some intermediate state awaiting the great Resurrection Day.

    “The other image, however, is that death contains no victory over us at all. As soon as we die, we are with God. We get this in the Book of Revelation where John looks up and already the saints who have died are praising God around the throne. In terms of linear time, we can’t work this out. We’ve got two competing images: You either wait until the general resurrection or you go immediately to be with God.

    “But the imposition of linear time on what is an eternal idea is what creates the contradiction. I don’t try to make a theologian out of Einstein, but he did show us that events that happen in sequence can also be events that happen simultaneously. If Einstein can imagine that in terms of physics, theologians can imagine it also in terms of the intrusion of eternity into linear time – that we are both immediately raised and raised together.”

    With such an answer, it seems to me that there is no assurance that a Christian can immediately enter heaven after death. Don’t you think that poses a serious dilemma? If the Bible relies on science to explain its teachings, it raises significant doubts about the security of salvation. This is the impact of what could be called an “eschatological divide.” The doctrine of salvation is closely tied to the eschatology surrounding Christ’s return. Without a comprehensive understanding of this return, we may feel as if we’re left in a precarious situation. Clearly, the futurist perspective leaves us wanting for answers.

    Fellow pastors, we can’t be pulling people’s legs just to comfort them. The Bible, in Ephesians 4:11-14, said:

    And He [Jesus Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds [pastors] and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

    Since we all affirm in unity that Scripture is true and authoritative in matters of life and death—without error—shouldn’t we approach justice with the Words of Christ? We ought to explain our declarations with firm conviction, supported by clear and valid Scriptural passages. After all, by faithfully fulfilling our duty to Christ Jesus our Lord, we will be rewarded accordingly with the unfading crown of glory.

    “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.“

    1 Peter 5:2-4, ESV

    It is a misconception to believe that this passage is no longer relevant if Christ has returned. Jesus Christ is the King Eternal, and His reign has no end. Therefore, pastors must continue to seek the approval of Christ Jesus, the Chief Shepherd of God’s flock.

    I understand that many questions need to be asked and answered. However, I also recognize that it can be challenging to absorb everything at once. This is the goal of this blog: to unlearn traditional beliefs and relearn the teachings of Scripture. As the saying goes, “Patience is a virtue.” With time and dedication to reading and studying the Bible, you too will come to see the light.

    In conclusion, all of my citations come from the futurist perspective, with the exception of Bruce Gore, who is a partial Preterist. If you find futurism lacking in substance, I recommend starting with a couple of videos: one by Bruce Gore and another by Kenneth Gentry, who is also a partial Preterist, discussing the dating of Revelation.

    Disclaimer: We do not fully endorse all the sites or sources we have cited; our endorsement is limited to the ones we share here. Additionally, we cannot claim to have watched or listened to all the videos or teachings that those sites have posted. Over time, you will learn to discern which sources to embrace or disregard.

    Blessings!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • Life Comes After Death

    In the last decade or more, the call for discipleship has become the norm for many Christian congregations. This has become the trend in the hope of increasing their numbers, which they believe is the byproduct of successful discipleship program.

    The Bible spoke of the disciples of John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14), the disciples of the Pharisees (Matthew 22:15-16), some claims to be disciples of Moses (John 9:28), but in our modern context, it is about being a disciple of Jesus Christ, which rightly should be, for that is the call of the Bible.

    The Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defined “disciple” to be a learner, one who follows one’s teaching. Though a disciple was not only a pupil but an adherent, hence they are spoken of an imitators of their teacher – see John 8:31-32.

    So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

    See also John 15:7-8.

    If you abide in Me [Jesus Christ], and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified [that is, if you abide by Jesus Christ and His words], that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.

    In other words, a disciple of Jesus is someone who adheres to the Words of Christ; that is, to live by the teachings and Words of the Lord, which, make no mistake, should be the proper understanding and application of discipleship. So there is a cost or discipline in discipleship; see Matthew 16:24-28.

    Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

    Jesus Christ clearly demands full surrender to Him. Anyone wanting to follow Him or be His disciple, see verse 24: “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”

    Confronted by Matthew 16:24, I often hear people ask this question: “What does it mean to deny oneself and carry his cross, then follow Jesus?”

    To answer that question, we must first consider what it meant for Jesus to carry His cross. He spoke of His impending death – see Matthew 16:21-23 – which was the background for Matthew 16:24.

    From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

    Matthew 16:24-28 therefore was a teaching of Christ for the disciples to emulate, contrasting the attempt of Peter wanting to prevent the impending death of Jesus via crucifixion. So we see Jesus in Matthew 16:25 saying “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

    Of course, Jesus wasn’t asking His disciples to commit themselves to death for no reason. Rather, Jesus was teaching them to emulate Him; He was obedient to the will of God the Father even to the point of death. See Philippians 2:5-8; the apostle Paul said:

    Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

    Hence, Jesus went on telling His disciples to be obedient to the will of God, contradicting the words of Peter. See Matthew 16:22 “And Peter took Him [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.‘”

    See also Matthew 16:26-28.

    For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. (Matthew 16:26-28)

    Peter actually meant well, not wanting Jesus to die, yet it was not the will of Jesus but of the Father that by His death and resurrection those who believe in Him might have eternal life; see John 3:16.

    For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

    In Matthew 16:27, Jesus spoke about His Return and coming judgment that would occur within the lifetime of His disciples; see Matthew 16:28 “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

    Hence, it make no sense for any of them to preserve their life at the cost of losing eternity with Jesus Christ, see Matthew 16:25-26.

    For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul.

    Now having understood Jesus’ words to the disciple, we come right back to His opening statement to His disciples; see Matthew 16:24.

    Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

    Jesus called the twelve disciples for a specific mission; see Matthew 10:1-7, 16-23.

    And He [Jesus] called to Him His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

    “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

    The twelve disciples were to witness about Jesus Christ and tell people about the coming kingdom of heaven. And once again, Jesus assured His disciples that His Return would be in their lifetime (Matt. 10:23). So in spite of the impending dangers to their lives, they ought to continue and be obedient to their call. So once again, see Matthew 16:21-28.

    From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save His life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

    Since the twelve disciples were no longer around, then Jesus Christ must have already returned contrary to the traditional believe and teaching. If not, then Jesus failed in His promise, and the disciples were taken for a ride, which of course I do not agree. So how are we to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus?

    See 1 Peter 4:1-2.

    Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

    To be a disciple of Jesus then is to live henceforth according to the will of God, no longer according to the former ways of human passions. The apostle Paul teaching the same explained in Romans 6:3-4.

    Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

    The Christian baptism is not for membership of a local congregation; rather it’s a declaration of death – dying to our old self, therefore, having a transformed life. And it’s not simply a declaration but a reality that the Christian person must live by, for Jesus Christ died a real death. For only then may we truly experience the resurrected life of the Risen Lord and have an eternal life with Him. So Paul, in Romans 6:5-11, continued on saying:

    For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

    The Christian walk is never easy, so often said, but there is no Christian to speak of unless he/she have been transformed – just like the butterfly coming out of its cocoon. The caterpillar stops eating, hangs upside down from a twig or leaf, and spins itself a silky cocoon or molts into a shiny chrysalis, looking like it has dried up and died. Yet, within its protective casing, the caterpillar radically transforms its body, eventually emerging as a butterfly.

    Scripture said, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with Him.” That is the very essence of discipleship – living a life of faith in Christ Jesus and adhering to His teaching and Words. Indeed, just as Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me (Matthew 16:24),” hence, we too, wanting to be disciples of Jesus Christ, ought to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and die to our former passions, then follow Him.

    Now, if we have truly died to our former passions, following Jesus would no longer be burdensome but a joyful journey, always thankful to God for His unmerited and bountiful grace, living a life of faith in Christ alone.

    A blessed New Year to everyone! Thanking God for my first blog of the year. Let us continue our walk with the Lord, by unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture. To better understand our visitation, you may want to read my previous blogs “The Dilemma of Tradition” and “Scripture vs. Tradition”.

    Shalom!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • The Runaway Bridegroom

    I went into a writing hiatus due to the ongoing festivity. Also it is a good time to take the backseat, relax, and recharge, Lord willing, for another year of blogging. The last blog I had written, “Scripture vs. Tradition,” got a good number of viewing and response. To think that I haven’t even shared it on my best media platform. Thanks be to God that He has provided me a platform to share God’s truth.

    Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people got married this year. That is actually good, for the idea of marriage was introduced at the very beginning of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. See Genesis 2:18,21-24.

    Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” … So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

    It seems odd that Genesis 2:24 should be applied to Adam’s circumstance, his taking of a wife in Eve, for Adam does not have a human parent whom he should separate from as suggested by numerous Bible commentaries. There must be another meaning to Genesis 2:24 that would still be consistent with the context of Genesis chapters one and two – the story of God’s Creation.

    The apostle Paul quoted Genesis 2:24 (“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”) in two separate letters written to the church; see 1 Corinthians 6:12-17.

    “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

    The context of Paul’s discourse clearly was about the church, the body of Christ. Paul was rebuking the church for bringing their disputes before the courts of men; see 1 Corinthians 6:5-11.

    I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers! Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

    The apostle Paul teaches that Christ is the Head and the church is His body; see Colossians 1:15-23.

    He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

    In Romans 12:4-5, the Bible said:

    For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

    Next, 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.“

    As can be seen above, Paul’s use of the word “body,” he meant the church, and Christians are individual members of the church. The church then is not the the building but the people of God. The church also is joined to the Lord and becomes one spirit with Him, hence here is a clear application of Genesis 2:24 having been quoted by Paul; see 1 Corinthians 6:15-17.

    Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.

    Understanding Genesis 2:24 from the perspective presented by Paul through 1 Corinthians 6:12-17 should enlighten us about the union of the church with the Lord. Scripture then, through Genesis 2:24, had prophetically foretold God’s New Creation; see 2 Corinthians 5:17.

    Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

    The “church” then is the New Creation of God. The other quotation of Genesis 2:24 by Paul may be found in Ephesians 5:31-32.

    “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

    Both in Ephesians and 1 Corinthians, Paul’s quotation of Genesis 2:24 spoke of the union or betrothal of Christ with the church while waiting for the Wedding Banquet – the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Yes, until the Return of Christ Jesus consummating His kingdom, the church remains in betrothal, not yet married to Christ. See 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Paul, speaking to the church, said:

    I wish you [the church] would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you [the church], since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

    It surely is important to know and believe the Jesus Christ of the Bible, not based on conjecture of men but by the Word of God. For the Bible alone is the revelation of God for anyone to know Him, His message and promises.

    It is of most importance to bear in mind that the Wedding Banquet of Christ and the church as taught by Jesus to His disciples would occur at His Return; see Matthew 24:44 to Matthew 25:13.

    Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom His Master [Jesus Christ] has set over His household [Kingdom of heaven], to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom His master will find so doing when He comes. Truly, I say to you, He will set him over all His possessions [God’s kingdom]. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect Him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the Bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them [no readiness], but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the Bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the Bridegroom! Come out to meet Him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the Bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But He answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

    In Matthew 25:5, “As the Bridegroom was delayed,” the delay was not a deviation from Jesus’ promise but according to the plan of God; see 2 Peter 3:1-9.

    This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

    The passing of the heavens and the earth refers to God’s old covenant with Israel becoming obsolete. Yes, the Mosaic Covenant in Mount Sinai had become obsolete; see Hebrews 8:13.

    In speaking of a new covenant, He [God] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

    Therefore, it’s not literal passing of heavens and earth as has been taught. See Isaiah 66:1, Scripture said:

    Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me, and what is the place of My rest?

    God declared heaven to be His throne, why then would He literally destroy even His place of throne? Can you see the irony of misunderstanding Scripture?

    See also Deuteronomy 31:24 to 32:1.

    When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger through the work of your hands.” Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.”

    I did not write the whole of Deuteronomy 32 due to its length. It would be good though to read the entirety of Deuteronomy 28 to 33 for better comprehension. The Mosaic Covenant making Israel God’s people rest upon the condition of obedience to the Law. In Deuteronomy 32:1, Moses’ utterance of heavens and the earth was a covenant-making terminology. Therefore, the metaphorical expression “destruction of heavens and the earth” then speaks of the abolition of the covenant.

    Furthermore, there’s no real delay that was not according to God’s grace. The “delay” was actually the time for the preparation of the harvest; see John 4:34-38.

    Jesus said to them [His disciples], “My food is to do the will of Him [God the Father] who sent Me and to accomplish His work [the New Creation]. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

    Again, the presume delay concerning Jesus’ Return for people who witnessed His Advent was simply a period for the preparation of the harvest – the preaching of the Gospel for the deliverance of Jews who would believe so be saved and the increase of wickedness of all who refused Jesus so as be judge for God’s final punishment. That explains Jesus’ command to His disciples before sending them out to preach the Gospel; see Matthew 10:5-7,23.

    These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ … When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

    See Matthew 10:23; again Jesus clearly proclaimed that His Return would be at the lifetime of His apostles. There is therefore no argument regarding Jesus’ return, and with His return, the Old Covenant would pass away while ushering in His New Covenant.

    See also Matthew 24:34-36.

    Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place [the Second Coming with the destruction of the Jewish temple]. Heaven and earth [Mosaic Covenant] will pass away, but My words will not pass away. “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.“

    Oh yes, Jesus said, “No one knows that day and hour except God the Father.” Christ was referring to the Zechariah 14:5-9, specifically verse 9.

    And you shall flee to the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him. On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will be King over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and His name one.

    For the sake of argument, it might not be known to Jesus while He was still on earth, but He surely knew the day and the hour after His ascension because He said so; see Revelation 1:1-3,7.

    The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near … Behold, He [Jesus Christ] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    In Revelation 1:7, “Every eye will see Him,” again a quotation from Zechariah 12:10.

    “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

    Jesus received the revelation from God the Father and He gave it to John, His apostle, and He told him the time is near, He is coming! Once again, this agrees with the timetable of Jesus that His Return would be in the generation of His apostles (Matthew 16:27-28 and Matthew 10:23).

    And as I have shared earlier, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the time of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 25:10), of the Bridegroom and His church (Revelation 19:7-8), and also the time of His judgment against Israel (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16), thereby destroying the Jewish temple and abolishing His First Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant (Matthew 24:1-3,34-35; Hebrews 8:13).

    Jesus Christ indeed is the Bridegroom who was to come; see Mark 2:18-20.

    Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to Him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the Bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.

    See also John 3:25-36. Here John the Baptist witnessed that Jesus is the Bridegroom.

    Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John [the Baptist] and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, He is baptizing, and all are going to Him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’ The one who has the bride is the Bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices greatly at the Bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what He has seen and heard, yet no one receives His testimony. Whoever receives His testimony sets His seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent utters the words of God, for He gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

    As I had mentioned earlier, Paul, in 2 Corinthians 11:2, clearly said the church prior to the return of Jesus was still in betrothal with the Lord. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary explained the concept of Jewish betrothal.

    Betrothal is a mutual promise or contract for a future marriage. In Hebrew custom, betrothal was actually part of the marriage process. A change of intention by one of the partners after he or she was betrothed was a serious matter, subject in some instances to penalty by fine. A Jewish betrothal could be dissolved only by the man’s giving the woman a certificate of divorce. A betrothal usually lasted for one year. During that year the couple were known as husband and wife, although they did not have the right to be united sexually. Betrothal was much more closely linked with marriage than our modern engagement. But the actual marriage took place only when the bridegroom took the bride to his home and the marriage was consummated in the sexual union.

    When did Jesus, the Bridegroom, took His bride to be home with Him? See John 14:3.

    And if I [Jesus Christ] go and prepare a place for you [the disciples], I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.

    The Advent of Jesus then is the coming of the Bridegroom betrothing the church to Him, as prophesied by the Old Testament Prophets of God and announced by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ Jesus, announcing His coming so the kingdom of heaven indeed is at hand. See Matthew 3:1-3.

    In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

    Jesus also announced the same; see Matthew 4:17.

    From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

    See also Luke 17:20-21.

    Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He [Jesus] answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

    The evidence of God’s kingdom rests on the reality that Jesus Christ came, for He declared, “For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” Moreover, it cannot be observe or seen, for Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say ‘Look, here it is! or ‘There!”

    It is ironic then that many who profess to be Christians remain adamant, refusing to believe Jesus’ declaration that He would return to consummate His Reign and Kingdom before the demised of His first generation disciples; see Matthew 16:27-28.

    For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

    And let me remind everyone, Jesus made clear that the reality and presence of His kingdom cannot be observed or seen by the natural sight for it is a spiritual kingdom, right here in the midst of our present existence. Evil may continue to exist around us, but in God’s kingdom, which we may be part by faith in Christ Jesus, we are safely in the hands of the “Mighty Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6)”.

    By the way, Isaiah 9:6-7 is often quoted in reference to the Christmas festivity. But bear in mind that Isaiah 9:6-7 is not simply a declaration of Jesus’ birth, more so His reign, kingship, and of course kingdom.

    To further understand the reality of God’s reign and the fact that Jesus had returned just as He had promised in numerous occasion and teaching, you may want to read my blog “Scripture vs. Tradition”.

    Now going back to the theme of Marriage or Wedding Banquet – at the time of Paul, before the Return of Christ Jesus, the church remained betrothed to the Bridegroom; the marriage or union of Christ and the church had yet to be completed. I mentioned earlier that Paul did quote Genesis 2:24 and applied it to the relationship of Christ and the church. But before Paul, it is of most importance that Jesus Christ also quoted Genesis 2:24 (“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”). See Matthew 19:1-9.

    Now when Jesus had finished these sayings [Jesus’ teachings about the “Kingdom of Heaven” cf. Matthew 18:1-4], He went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. And Pharisees came up to Him and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

    Isn’t it clear that God’s creation of man and his wife was to be one flesh, joined by God in union with Himself? See the Trinity God’s declaration and purpose in creation (Genesis 1:26-27).

    Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

    The Trinity God is in perfect union with each Person of the GodHead – God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. So for man to be created in God’s image and likeness, it also spoke of the same perfect unity. Man (male and female) were in perfect unity with God before the fall. But due to the disobedience of both Adam and Eve, breaking God’s Covenant with them, mankind is no longer in unity with God. They were banished from the Garden of Eden – the picture of God’s presence with man.

    Thanks be to God for His grace. See 1 Corinthians 15:22-26; Paul wrote:

    For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

    As I have explained in my blog “Scripture vs. Tradition”, without the Return of Christ Jesus completing His kingdom, there is no resurrection yet. And death occurred in Genesis, immediately after Adam and Eve broke God’s covenant, just as God declared it would be once they disobeyed Him and ate the forbidden fruit. Again, as I have mentioned in my other blogs, it was a spiritual death that occurred – the alienation of man from God so they were banished from the Garden of Eden. Physical death came hundreds of years later, not immediately as pronounced by God, which is a natural consequence of man’s departure from God’s presence for what remains of man was his natural composition. Man was made from dust, thereby susceptible to decay. So the resurrection then is a spiritual one. Christians were made alive in Christ Jesus by faith. The resurrection or restoration of God’s union with man into the Garden of Eden was fulfilled after His Return – the Wedding Banquet.

    The coming of the Bridegroom was announced by John the Baptist, some two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ came announcing His building of the church; see Matthew 16:13-19.

    Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this Rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

    Jesus Christ alone would build His church through the preaching of the Gospel. The church would fully be united with the GodHead – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – with the Return of Christ, at the Wedding Banquet of Christ and the church.

    Christ Jesus, not Peter, is the Rock by which the church would be built. See Ephesians 2:11-22.

    Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both [Jew and Gentile] one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God [the church], built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

    See also, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4.

    For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

    Christ Jesus indeed is the Rock, the Cornerstone by which His church is built. The church was betrothed to Christ at the time of Paul and the first generation Christians until the Wedding Banquet was consummated at the Return of Jesus. And bear in mind that Jesus promised to return before the demised of His immediate disciples – Peter, James and John and the rest of His apostles (cf. Matthew 10:23; Matthew 16:27-28).

    Now, if it will be insisted that Jesus hasn’t returned, then there will be two possibilities only. As Christians, we hold on to the inerrant Word of God or the Scripture. Therefore every pronouncement of Jesus is true. So first, they must assume that the apostles are still alive today waiting for the return of Jesus, which of course is an impossibility. Then second, Jesus is not true to His Word, His pronouncement had fail, which I reject and am left with no choice but to understand and accept that the traditional teaching about Jesus’ Second Coming is erroneous, for it cannot stand the scrutiny of Scripture.

    Hence, believing that Jesus Christ had fulfilled all His promises, He then is the Bridegroom who came just as He had promised and He was/is not a runaway bridegroom – knowingly or unknowingly projected by the traditional and popular teachings today. Actually, not only today but at the onset of the belief or teaching that Jesus has yet to return.

    So sad that many who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ fail to read and check the validity of each teaching and claim that is based on the imagination of man, not the Word of God. Quoting a Scripture here and there but denying or ignoring the context or background for which it was spoken is a dilution of the the Word of God, of which Jesus had forewarned against; see Revelation 22:16-20.

    “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

    At the beginning of my blog, I shared that I took a rest from writing to relax and recharge. But due to the Reason of the Season, I was compelled to write this blog. However, due to the length of the discussion that would ensue, I have to end here for the moment. An understanding of the Wedding Banquet, vis-a-vis the church, is essential to our faith and walk. We shouldn’t simply celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and hope for the coming of His kingdom; rather, we ought to celebrate the festivity with the knowledge that the reality of His Kingdom is present and existing now. Glory be to God and Him alone!

    Blessings everyone!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • Scripture vs. Tradition

    It is traditionally believed that Jesus Christ’s Second Coming is yet to happen. Many claim the fulfillment of the Savior’s return is imminent – about to happen. Not surprising, for Jesus Christ did say, “I am coming soon,” four times actually in the Book of Revelation.

    See Revelation 3:11; “I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.”

    Also Revelation 22:7; “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

    Again Revelation 22:12; “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done.“

    Finally, Revelation 22:20; “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

    Actually that’s not all, the Book of Revelation overwhelmingly declared the soon coming or return of Jesus Christ. Let me make clear, though, “it’s soon to the audience of John, not to us,” the introductory and closing remarks of John in Revelation declared it clearly that “the time is near.”

    See Revelation 1:1-3

    The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to his servants [John] the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    Next, Revelation 22:10-20

    And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

    In Revelation 22:18-19, what was/is the point of Jesus’ warning “not to add nor take away from the words of the book of this prophecy”? The Book of Revelation clearly speaks about the imminency of Christ’s return, which was the hope of the early church. So the warning has to do with false prophecy concerning His soon return. Do we see evidence of such danger on prevailing letters with that of Revelation? See 2 Timothy 2:15-19.

    Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

    The biblical concept for resurrection and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ are synonymous events. 2 Timothy most clearly was the last of Paul’s letters. He spoke about his soon departure and the soon Return of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:6-8). By departure, Paul was talking about his martyrdom for the faith.

    For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.

    Clearly Paul was anticipating the imminency of his death, and he was looking forward to the yet coming Judgment Day of Jesus. In 2 Timothy 2:17-18, Paul made clear that the claim of Hymenaeus and Philetus were false; the resurrection had not yet occur because the Judgment Day had yet to come. The resurrection spoken by both Hymenaeus and Philetus denied the resurrection foretold in Daniel 12:1-4.

    At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people [Jews]. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people [Jews] shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.

    But how could the resurrection of the last day have occurred if the Jewish Temple was still standing at the time Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy? Paul obviously was still looking forward to that Day; see 2 Timothy 4:8.

    Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.

    Daniel 12:2 actually provided a clue when it would occur saying, “And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time,” which was quoted by Jesus in Matthew 24 when He spoke about the destruction of the temple. See Matthew 24:15-28.

    So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be [Matthew 24:21 cf. Daniel 12:2]. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

    Bear in mind the context for Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:15-28 was from Matthew 24:1-3.

    Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. But He answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

    I have said this in my other blogpost, but let me reiterate it again. The disciples of Jesus clearly understood with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple then it’s the Coming of the Christ. They understood it because Isaiah prophesied about the final destruction of the Jewish Temple. Read Isaiah 24-27; it’s simply too long to include here. Perhaps I can write about the passage sometime soon. I hope it’s soon.

    Anyway, centuries after the destruction of the Jewish Temple, Julian the apostate, a Roman Emperor years after Constantine, tried but failed to rebuild the Jewish Temple. You have to understand Rome was still the empire in power during those time, yet despite Julian’s approval and support, the Jews fail to rebuild it – simply because in Isaiah 25:2, Scripture said, “For you have made the city [Jerusalem] a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.”

    Oh yes, Jerusalem is back in the map of Israel since 1948, but until today, despite attempts, the Temple has not been rebuilt. In fact, the Dome of Rock, an Islamic Mosque, stands on the ground of the old Jerusalem Temple. War surely would erupt, and the Jews must win the fight, before the mosque may be destroyed then the rebuilding of the temple perhaps may commence. If God’s word said, “it wouldn’t be rebuilt,” then what would proponents for a rebuilt Jewish temple be? Pro or against God’s Word?

    The idea of the Tabernacle was first mentioned in Scripture after the confirmation of God’s covenant made with Israel at Exodus (Exodus 19-24); see Exodus 25:1-9.

    The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for Me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

    At the time of David and Solomon, the tent of tabernacle was made into a temple, which God approved upon the wishes of David, who desired a better dwelling place for the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 7:1-2). The temple therefore was the sign of God’s presence with Israel. Without the temple, then God’s presence was no longer with Israel. So even if Jews are back in Palestine, without the temple Jerusalem ceases to be the city of God. Israel of today is no longer the Israel of the Bible. Isaiah 25:2 had been fulfilled saying “For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the foreigner’s palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt.”

    A pastor friend believing in the concept of a rebuilt Jewish Temple followed by the Second Coming of Jesus once said, “Don’t be too sure that it would not be rebuilt, it may happen before you know it.” My answer to him is simply to read Deuteronomy 18:18-22, for Scripture say it would never be rebuilt, but religious people say it will.

    I will raise up for them a Prophet [Jesus] like you from among their brothers. And I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And whoever will not listen to My words that He shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

    It has been almost two thousand years since the final destruction of the Jewish Temple. Claims upon claims have been made, but the temple remains in ruin, just as Jesus told His disciples (Matthew 24:2). Everyone is free whatever he/she chooses to believe, but I will always choose to believe Jesus Christ, His Word, the Scripture.

    So back to our discussion about Daniel 12 and Matthew 24, Jesus clearly warned about talks on the fulfillment of His Return before and after the destruction of the temple. That was exactly the error of Hymenaeus and Philetus; they spoke of the occurrence of the resurrection while the temple was still standing. It is silly then that some claiming to know Scripture used 2 Timothy 2:17-19 to refute the idea that Jesus had already return. To think that two verses before, Paul wrote, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the truth (2 Timothy 2:15).” Without a doubt, the destruction of the Jewish Temple, as understood by Jesus’ disciples, was the Return of Christ Jesus and the time of the resurrection (Matthew 24:1-3). It’s the completion of Jesus’ New Covenant and the passing of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 12:22-29).

    The Return of Christ also signaled the completion of God’s Kingdom here on earth. See Matthew 6:9-10; Jesus, teaching His disciples about prayer, said:

    Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

    See also Matthew 5:1-5

    Seeing the crowds, He [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

    In the Beatitude of Jesus, the blessedness of the meek is that they shall inherit the earth. How then could Jesus destroy the earth with fire as taught by tradition if it is part of the inheritance of the blessed people of God? Don’t you find that ridiculous?

    The prayer that Jesus taught His disciples was for God’s kingdom to come on earth. Why then would Jesus destroy earth?

    Despite the numerous mentions of imminency of Jesus’ return, the traditional Christian teaching continues to deny and declare that Jesus Christ is yet to come. We have to remember that the revelation of Christ, revealed none other but by God the Father to Jesus (See Revelation 1:1; “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants the things that must soon take place”), which was written down by John (the apostle) through the revelation of the Returning King, was announced almost two millennia ago, to real people and audience – the first century church. It made no sense to them (the first-century church) to believe the message of imminency if it would occur beyond their lifetime, and it makes no sense to us that Christ Jesus promised to return soon yet it has been two thousand years now. Obviously if we are sincerely seeking the Word of Truth, we need to recalibrate the traditional presupposition concerning the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming.

    The Gospel of Matthew spoke on the theme of the “Kingdom of Heaven” repeatedly – 32 verses altogether. The Book of Daniel revealed to us that Four Gentile kingdoms would rule over Israel before the appearance of God’s Kingdom. See Daniel 2:36-45.

    This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king [Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon], the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand He has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. Another kingdom [Mede and Persia] inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom [Greece] of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom [Rome], strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom [Fourth kingdom] shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings [iron & clay] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

    According to the prophecy, the kingdom of heaven would appear during the time of the Fourth Gentile kingdom – Rome. Remarkably, Jesus Christ came announcing the imminent coming of God’s kingdom. See Matthew 4:17.

    From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

    The apostle Paul in turn clearly explained that the Kingdom of Heaven would fully be realized at the Return of Jesus Christ. See 1 Corinthians 15:22-26.

    For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

    Incidentally, Paul was not talking about a physical resurrection. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:22 again: “For as in Adam all die.” Back in the Garden of Eden, God warned Adam and Eve that the moment they ate the forbidden fruit, they would surely die. Did they die? They lived on and had numerous children later. Certainly God’s Word cannot be thwarted, neither does it change. Then, a death must have occurred. Yes, of course, but it was a spiritual death – the breaking of God’s Covenant. Consequently, the resurrection must also be spiritual – Jesus’ offer of a New Covenant. Again, continuing with 1 Corinthians 15:22, “So also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Just as it was a spiritual resurrection, so God’s kingdom on earth is spiritual as well. See John 4:21-24.

    Jesus said to her [Samaritan woman], “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

    Without a doubt, Scripture has a unified declaration concerning Jesus’ Second Coming. Several times, John, in Revelation, said, “The time is near.” Jesus, on the other hand, repeatedly said, “I am coming soon.” Everyone who insists and says otherwise, here is the question for you: “What is the meaning of ‘soon’ for you?”

    Scripture versus tradition – why believe tradition over the Word of God? To have more insights on the topic of tradition, you may want to read my previous blogpost entitled “The Dilemma of Tradition”.

    May God grant everyone the discernment to differentiate truth from error.

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • The Dilemma of Tradition

    Everyone is born into a tradition one way or the other. The practice of tradition was to keep the status quo. Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, spoke of tradition. See 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15.

    But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

    The tradition that which Paul and his co-workers promote, however, was not from man but by the Spirit and the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord. This was not the tradition held by the Jews, though the tradition or truth of the Gospel may be seen through the Old Testament Scripture.

    Standing before King Agrippa, Paul, explaining the conviction of his faith, said, “To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” (Acts 26:22-23)

    Here is the proof that Paul was telling the truth: Acts 26:23 was a quotation from Isaiah 49:6. But for the purpose of context and clarity, let us see Isaiah 49:1-6.

    Listen to Me [Jesus], O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called Me from the womb, from the body of My mother He [God] named My name [cf. Matthew 1:20-21]. He made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid Me; He made Me a polished arrow; in His quiver He hid Me away. And He [God the Father] said to Me [Jesus], “You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely My right is with the LORD, and My recompense with My God.” And now the LORD says, He who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him; and that Israel might be gathered to Him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and My God has become My strength— He [God] says: “It is too light a thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make You as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

    On the other hand, Paul described the tradition that should be rejected – those which he previously also held; see Galatians 1:13-14.

    For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

    The Complete Word Study Bible Dictionary defined “Judaism” as the religious system held by the Jews. Its teachings emanate from the Old Testament Scripture, especially from the Law of Moses as found from Exodus 20 through Deuteronomy, and also from the traditions of elders (Mark 7:3-13), some of which the Lord Jesus condemned. The main emphases of Judaism are circumcision and Sabbath-keeping.

    Judaism that was from the Old Testament Scripture, if rightly interpreted and applied, should support the New Testament Scripture – the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles. It was the tradition of elders that Jesus rejected and condemned. See Mark 7:3-8.

    (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. ) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And He said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

    Washing here was not that of keeping proper hygiene but ceremonial washing, a tradition declaring themselves clean.

    Doubtless, circumcision and Sabbath also were important concepts in the Jewish faith. See Genesis 17:1-2,4-7,9-14.

    When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless, that I may make My covenant between Me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

    “Behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

    And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

    It is clear that circumcision was the condition or sign binding God’s covenant with Abraham and the Jewish people, even among foreigners seeking to be in covenant with the LORD. Sabbath, on the other hand, was a covenant binding commandment, see Exodus 20:8-11.

    Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

    The Jews were insistent in observing circumcision and Sabbath, yet Jesus made a case that complicated perfect observance of both; see John 7:21-24.

    Jesus answered them [the Jews], “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

    Paul explained the true essence of circumcision, see Romans 2:25-29.

    For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

    In another letter of Paul, he explained further. See Colossians 2:11-14.

    In Him [Christ Jesus] also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism [death], in which you were also raised with Him [resurrection] through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.

    In Christ, circumcision then is no longer of flesh but a circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29), which requires repentance and the transformation of a person. The Christian man is dead – buried with Christ in baptism – and made alive living a life for the glory of God. Colossians 2:11-12 is no way, as alleged by some, a call for water baptism, specifically that of infant baptism. Paul was calling believers into a new life with Christ Jesus our Lord, so it’s about obedience to the Lord and His Word.

    The Jews, by their rejection of Christ Jesus, have corrupted the true teachings of the Old Testament Scripture; hence was rejected and condemned by the Lord. The traditions that they held, Paul said “an empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). That was/is the dilemma of tradition – that is, according to man. Therefore, true Christianity should hold on to Scripture alone, nothing more or less, and with a right interpretation. See 2 Timothy 2:15-16.

    Do your [Timothy] best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness …

    After the ascension of Christ, at the time of the Paul and the other apostles, false teachings have clearly emerged. It was from within the church; see Acts 20:28-30.

    Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

    See also 1 John 2:18-21.

    Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

    At the time of Jesus and the early days of Christianity, the opponent of the church was the Judaism but later, it’s the Judaizers. The Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defined this sect as the “early converts to Christianity who tried to force believers from non-Jewish backgrounds to adopt Jewish customs as a condition of salvation”. Evidence of this movement within the early church first emerged in A.D. 49, when certain men came from Judea and taught the brethren – ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’ (See Acts 15:1).

    That was the reason why Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, wrote, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him [God] who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)

    Again, on his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you [the church] to one Husband [Jesus Christ], to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-4)

    Obviously, the enemy of the truth of the Gospel was both from within, as there were from outside the church. In our present time, many call themselves Christians, but it would be interesting to verify if everyone who claims to be of the faith truly has one truth of the Gospel. Especially since, there are a lot of denominations, different claims and interpretation of the Bible. Don’t you think it’s scary that we might have believed the false?

    Unlearning Tradition, Relearning Scripture aims to study, learn and teach the absolute truth of the Scripture. It was quite a journey, come to think of the tradition that we previously held. It is traditionally held that Jesus Christ has yet to return, though He repeated hinted that He’s coming in the generation of Jew that crucified Him and of His apostles.

    See Matthew 26:63-64.

    But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

    What was that Jesus had said to the high priest? Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders that they would see Him – seated at the right hand of power – come in judgment. The allusion to His coming on the clouds of heaven points to His fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14.

    I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

    Obviously the Scripture spoke of a spiritual kingdom; Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

    Paul, on the other hand, said, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)

    In Matthew 16:27-28, Jesus told His apostles (see Matthew 16:21).

    For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what He has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

    A lot of known theologians, checking on their commentaries and writings, confronted by Matthew 16:27-28 and suggested that Jesus must have lost His mind, either due to the pressure of His ministry or His impending death. Let us be truthful. If we insist that Jesus hasn’t return, though His Words did promise to do so, then we are making Jesus to be a liar and not truthful. That was my moment of transition, knowing that Jesus is trustworthy and true.

    In Matthew 10:23, Jesus sent out His apostles (Matthew 10:5), telling them their mission, persecution and suffering (Matthew 10:5-22), and the assurance of His return in their generation saying, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.“

    The same claim and promise may be seen in Paul’s and the other New Testament writings of the Bible. But many times we may have simply read through without carefully discerning what truly was written. If the Word of God is clear, should we choose to believe otherwise? To do so, again, is the dilemma of tradition.

    Allow me then to challenge you to read your Bibles, thoroughly discerning the truthful teaching of the Scripture. Let Scripture alone reveal the truth, not the commentaries – modern or centuries old traditions that were/are according to men. Jesus Christ and His Scripture alone is infallible and trustworthy. Jesus Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death” (John 8:51). Let us seek to be sure then that what we have believe were/are the Words of Christ.

    Blessings!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • The Irony of Disobedience

    The Bible in Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 said,

    What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. Is there anything about which someone can say, “Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time.

    ÜTruly there is nothing new under heaven. The human existence is an unending cycle of struggle and nothing is ever permanent except the capacity to commit mistake. Oh yes, man isn’t perfect and always susceptible to error. I believe that is a fact that no one can deny.

    My wife and I have been doing discipleship with people of different background and age, and we both agree that only one thing is constant – no matter how well they know Scripture, people just can’t resist the temptation of disobedience. On the other hand, I suppose every Christian mentor would agree that the calling of Christ Jesus for discipleship and salvation involves TOTAL SURRENDER to Him.

    The Synoptic Gospels told of a story about a rich man who came to Jesus Christ and sought to inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27; Luke 18:18-27). The man claimed to have lived according to the commandments of the Mosaic Laws (Matthew 19:20; Mark 10:20; Luke 18:21), yet Jesus implied something remains lacking. See Mark 10:21.

    As Jesus looked at him, He felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    Isn’t it obvious that subsequent to following Jesus, obedience or total surrender is demanded by Christ?

    See also, Matthew 19:21.

    Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    The same, isn’t it? The condition for obedience is required, so again Jesus said, “Then come, follow Me.” Perhaps some may argue that in other English translations, it’s “and”, not “then”. Would it matter? The instruction of Christ was clear; the man ought to obey His command first before following Him.

    Finally, Luke 18:22.

    When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

    As we can see, all three Gospel writers – Matthew, Mark and Luke – they all pointed out that though the rich man claimed adherence to the Mosaic Law, it wasn’t enough. Jesus asked the rich man to sell everything then come follow Him.

    It definitely was not about living a destitute life and giving everything for the poor. See John 12:3-8.

    Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.”

    Rather, it’s about the condition of one’s heart. See Matthew 6:19-21.

    Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

    It was pointed out by the Scripture, his great possession or wealth became a hindrance for him to truthfully follow Christ, hence Jesus asked him to sell everything. See Matthew 19:22. “When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.“

    Also, Mark 10:22. “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.“

    And again, Luke 18:23. “But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.”

    Twice in Matthew, Jesus suggested that it is better to cut off a person’s hand if it leads him to sin. See Matthew 5:30.

    And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

    Now see Matthew 18:8.

    And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.

    The point of Christ was/is to deny the ways of Adam – transgressed the covenant and dealt faithlessly with God. See Hosea 6:7.

    But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with Me [God].

    Christ’s desire was/is that people should come before Him with sincere intention and with complete trust and faith in Him. In other words, Christ Jesus demands total surrender.

    Total surrender means putting our faith in Christ Jesus alone, not on worldly goods, exactly what the rich man was doing. The Scripture did say,

    For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

    It is important to note that all three Gospel writers in relation to the story of Jesus, and the rich man had its context telling their audience/readers the prerequisite or demands for entrance to God’s kingdom. See Mark 10:15. “I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then followed by the encounter of Jesus and the rich man.

    Same with Matthew 19:14. “But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.‘” Then we have the narrative of Jesus and the rich man.

    Finally, Luke 18:17. “I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” It was followed by the same story of Jesus and the rich man.

    A lot of times, as I teach the Bible, each time we came across the above passages, there seems to be a common concern among my audience, so they ask, “Do I really need to sell everything to inherit salvation?” Some would even deny the words of Christ and suggest otherwise. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ is clear and timeless. It was true for that man and for everyone else who seek to follow Jesus Christ or have eternal life – no if’s and no but’s.

    The prophet of God, in Jeremiah 17:9, said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

    The problem of mankind may be seem from the first humans found in Genesis, Adam and Eve. It is clear from Genesis chapter two that everything man needs for existence and enjoyment was provided by God. See Genesis 2:7-9.

    Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

    Also, Genesis 2:15-23.

    The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

    Nothing was lacking for man; God allowed man to have everything He created. Oh yes, perhaps some will say, “Nope, God denied something from man – the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17).”

    Allow me to clear out this confusion. God denied nothing from man and everything He created was good, even the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. See Genesis 1:31.

    God saw all that He had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

    See also 1 Timothy 4:4.

    For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

    The tree of knowledge of good and evil was good in itself, but God made a covenant with man or a commandment as soon as man was placed inside the Garden of Eden. See Genesis 2:15-17.

    The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

    In other words, man’s breaking of God’s covenant made them realized good from evil, and the evil were them – Adam and Eve – not the fruit that they ate making them evil. That’s the irony of human disobedience. The same is true for everyone, both Christians and non-Christians alike, for just as God demand faith in Christ Jesus for eternal life, so obedience is required for eternal fellowship with Him.

    Now, on the topic of death as punishment for Adam and Eve once they broke God’s covenant, it must be clear that the penalty for their sin was immediate as can be seen in Genesis 2:17. “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

    The judgment was immediate and executed. So Adam and Eve died, but it’s obvious that it is not physically, for they continue to exist and even have children, therefore it’s a spiritual death.

    The evidence of death was evident when they hid from the presence of God, and they found themselves naked. Again, nakedness here did not imply physical nudity rather a spiritual one. For after God formed both Adam and Eve, later Scripture said, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25).

    Spiritual death clearly refers to man’s disfellowship with God; they were no longer in covenant relationship with God. Next, man was banished from the Garden of Eden where the Tree of Life was/is, so the natural consequence of humanity henceforth was to die physically due to human natural composition. Remember, man was made from the dust of the ground; see Genesis 2:7.

    Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

    See also Genesis 3:17-19.

    And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

    The composition of mankind was from the dust of the ground which is susceptible to erosion and decay, so the physical existence of mankind was now limited to our present reality, after which everyone returns to the dust.

    The apostle Paul spoke of the same truth in his letter to the Corinthians. See 1 Corinthians 15:47-49.

    The first man [Adam] was from the earth, a man of dust; the Second Man [Jesus Christ] is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven.

    That is the reason and purpose of God in Christ Jesus our Lord – to redeem His creation back in fellowship with Him at the Garden of Eden, where the Tree of Life is. Hence, the coming of Jesus Christ indeed was/is the essence of Gospel. See Luke 22:19-20.

    And He [Jesus Christ] took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.

    See Matthew 26:39.

    And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

    By “this cup,” both in Luke 22:20 and Matthew 26:39, Jesus spoke of His crucifixion and death as suitable offering for Him to commence His New Covenant.

    See also, Matthew 26:26-29.

    Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

    The fullness of the New Covenant will be completed when Christ Jesus finally reigns in His Father’s kingdom or God’s kingdom.

    Now, in Hebrews 9:15, Scripture said,

    Therefore He [Jesus Christ] is the mediator of a New Covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

    Interestingly, Scripture continued on, so Hebrews 9:28 said,

    So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

    The Second Coming of Christ then is not detach, as suggested by many, from the doctrine of salvation. For it is clear that only after Jesus had appeared a second time would salvation be completed.

    The Coming (First and Second) of Jesus Christ then was the offering of the New Covenant – a second and the last chance we may say for man to be restored back into fellowship with God and live eternally. But it is not a corporate spiritual restoration of mankind but individually, and only available to anyone who truthfully professed faith in Christ Jesus. Again, faith and obedience to Christ Jesus is intrinsically bind together; it cannot come one after the other as can be seen from the invitation of Jesus Christ to the rich man in the Synoptic Gospels. Again see Mark 10:21.

    And Jesus, looking at him (the rich man), loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

    So we see, no one can truthfully claim to have been following Jesus Christ without obedience to Him. See John 8:21, Jesus addressing the Pharisees “So He [Jesus] said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

    Now see John 13:36.

    Simon Peter said to Him [Jesus Christ], “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward.”

    Then in John 14:3-6, Jesus said,

    “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

    Do you now understand what it meant to be “following Jesus”? Jesus said “Where I am you may be also (John 14:3).” That should be clear enough, don’t you think? The call to “follow Jesus” was/is an invitation for eternity.

    Now, see Luke 18:24-27.

    Jesus, seeing that he [the rich man] had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But He said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

    The disciples clearly understood that entrance to God’s kingdom means salvation (Luke 18:25-26). And salvation is possible only with God (Luke 18:27). Jesus Christ alone is the means by which anyone could come to the Father (John 14:6). Isn’t it ironic that many are similar to the rich man, they wanted worldly riches and eternal life? But Scripture had clearly said that “no one can have both.” See Matthew 6:24; Jesus said,

    No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

    So the Beatitude of Jesus Christ makes sense now. See Matthew 5:3-12.

    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

    Nowhere did Jesus say, “Blessedness is having an abundance of material wealth,” so why be envious of them who have much in life? Rich or poor, we all need Christ Jesus for our salvation. Seek Him in truth and spirit. Worry not about your daily needs, for Christ Jesus promised to provide. Do not fall victim into the irony of disobedience.

    “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Jesus Christ), and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

    “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)

    Blessings!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox. By the way, subscription is free and with no hidden cost.

  • Reformation Went Poof!

    Herewith is a video from National Geographic to provide a brief summary of the Reformation event. Not endorsing entirely nor rejecting whatever was written along with the said video on its website, simply because I haven’t read or checked its entire content – except the video itself. Neither am I endorsing subsequent videos from the same website.

    October 31 marks the Reformation Day that occurred in 1517, with the German monk Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses against Roman Catholicism. It was a document against the abuses and erroneous assertions of the Catholic faith that were not based on Scripture.

    I have been a student of the Bible for a little over a couple of decades now. The effort of Luther that day should be recognized, but somehow I feel bad that the Christian faith then failed to go back and redeem the true teaching of the Scripture. A lot of Christian denominations came out of the Reformation. Today, it’s far worse; it became “to each his own”. Biblical passages simply became the springboard of most preachers, ignoring the original intention and context of the Scripture.

    Though we can’t totally blame the Christianity of Luther’s time, Luther and his contemporaries had to counter the offensives done by the Catholics. But in later years, the then pillars of Christianity, having a better control of their prevailing circumstances, seemed to have been lost in the woods. The Christian faith has not been fully recovered; it’s not completely the same as that of first-century Christianity.

    Yet, the Word of God is living and active. Anyone who sincerely seeks to study the Scripture will find the true teaching of Jesus Christ and the apostles, but the Bible needed to be understandable to people. Hence, one other major contribution of Luther in aid of restoring the Christian faith has to be his work translating the Bible from the lesser-known Latin language to the common languages of the people; namely, German, English, and French.

    Today we have more than enough English translations, not to mention many other languages of the world, so no one should be excused from learning the truth. Though a little understanding of proper exegesis (the science or discipline in the interpretation of biblical text) would certainly be needed, which I believe should be taught to everyone who sincerely seeks to follow Jesus Christ. It is an essential part of discipleship.

    I beg to disagree as claimed by some that it’s fine for 21st-century Christianity to be a bit different from that of the first. Simply because the Gospel message is for all time, it cannot be modified or altered.

    The apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6 said,

    There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

    How then could Christianity have allowed so many denominations, diverse teachings, and interpretations?

    Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 14:33, Paul made clear and said: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints.” Can we honestly say Christianity henceforth after the Reformation Day has unified teaching about the truth?

    Sorry to say that it appears even after more than 500 years later, the Reformation has gone poof. The only way for the truthful teaching of the Scripture to be restored rests on our faithfulness to Scripture alone.

    It is therefore my prayer that God would raise more and more Bible-seeking believers. It is one thing to believe and another to believe the truths of the Scripture.

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox. By the way, subscription is free and with no hidden cost.

  • Jonah to Nahum, A Story about God

    The Old Testament Points to the Cross

    Without a doubt, the story of Jonah is better known than that of Nahum, though both books spoke of God’s judgment against Assyria. In traditional Sunday school setting, perhaps the focus of Jonah’s story would often be that of his adventure – he was swallowed by the great fish for three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17) – and that of his miraculous survival after he had prayed to God for mercy (Jonah 2:10). A serious study of the book however would reveal that the subject of Jonah’s story was God and His great mercy and love for His creation. See Jonah 4:10-11.

    And the LORD said, “You [Jonah] pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

    God obviously does love and care for His creation, see Matthew 5:44-45, Jesus Christ said:

    But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

    However, God’s love expressed through Jesus Christ, that alone brings salvation; see Romans 5:8-10. The apostle Paul writing to the believers in Rome said:

    But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

    Again see Acts 4:10-12.

    Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

    Continuing on our topic, it is noteworthy to know that from within the Old Testament Scripture Jonah was mentioned once outside his book (Jonah); see 2 Kings 14:23-25.

    In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke by His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was from Gath-hepher.

    Let me get this out first, there were two Joash in 2 Kings. One was the father of Amaziah king of Judah and the other father of Jeroboam II king of Israel.

    Next, understand that after the split of the monarchy under David and Solomon, Jeroboam the son of Nebat became the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The other half, the southern kingdom, was known as Judah. Jeroboam the son of Josh or Jeroboam II was the fourteenth king of the northen kingdom of Israel. Also, Joash and Jehoash were the same person, the father of Jeroboam II; see 2 Kings 13:25.

    Then Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities that he had taken from Jehoahaz his father in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the cities of Israel.

    Jehoahaz was the twelfth king of Israel, Jehoash or Joash the thirteenth king and Jeroboam II the fourteenth king of the northern kingdom of Israel.

    Jonah then had not always been a reluctant prophet of God as seen from 2 Kings 14:25 quoted above. Also, since he had or started his ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II, Jonah then could be contemporaries with Hosea and Amos or he was shortly ahead of them; see Hosea 1:1

    The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

    Now see Amos 1:1.

    The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. (Amos 1:1)

    All three prophets – Jonah, Hosea and Amos – had their ministry during the reign of Jeroboam II. On the other hand, Jonah and Nahum should be seen as Book 1 & 2 of God’s judgment against Assyria. Nahum prophesied in the time between the Assyrian capture of Thebes in Egypt which is known to have occurred in 663 or 661 B.C. (Nahum 3:8-11), and the final destruction of Nineveh in 612 B.C. (Nahum 2:8-13). Source for the dates of Nahum are taken from the Complete Word Study Bible. Nahum was a seventh century B.C. prophet; Jonah, on the other hand was an eighth century B.C. prophet of God.

    An online website, History World, under History of Assyria narrated that the Assyrian empire was the greatest then destroying the northern kingdom of Israel and the coastal cities of Phoenicia in the late eighth and early seventh century B.C, next was Thebes of Egypt, far up the Nile sacked in 663 B.C. Exactly as it was detailed in Scripture.

    Jeroboam II reigned in the northern kingdom of Israel 41 years (2 Kings 14:23). Zechariah succeeded him and he reigned for six months (2 Kings 15:8), followed by Shallum who reigned only for a month (2 Kings 15:13), then Menahem ruled for 10 years (2 Kings 15:17). During his reign, Assyria came against the land of northern Israel but then they left after Menahem paid tribute to the king of Assyria. Pekahiah succeeded Menahem and he reigned for two years (2 Kings 15:23), and second to the last was Pekah who reigned 20 years (2 Kings 15:27). In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Assyria again came and captured territories of the northern kingdom. This time people were exiled as captives to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29). It was also Pekah king of Israel who connived with the Syrian king in attacking Judah, the other half of the former monarchy of the unified Israel (2 Kings 16:5). Pekah however was murdered by Hoshea. He was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and he reigned 9 years (2 Kings 15:30; 17:1). It was during Hoshea’s reign that the northern kingdom of Israel fell completely into the hands of Assyria and the whole of the northern kingdom of Israel was exiled and scattered (2 Kings 17:6). With the end of the northern kingdom of Israel, Scripture made an important remark; see 2 Kings 17:7-8,15.

    And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced … They despised His statutes and His covenant that He [God] made with their fathers and the warnings that He gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

    See also 2 Kings 17:18-20.

    Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

    Altogether after Jeroboam II who reigned 41 years, the succeeding kings reigned a total of 41 years and 7 months. Also, Assyria had practically and constantly theatened the northen kingdom of Israel after the reign of Jeroboam II, all 41 years beginning with Menahem’s reign. Since it was barely seven months after the reign of Jeroboam II when Menahem came to power, perhaps Jonah saw firsthand the oppression of Assyria against his homeland. He was from Gath-hepher, a border town of Zebulun, one of the ten tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jonah must have wondered why God had favored Assyria, sending him to preach His divine judgment. Jonah knew God would relent from His judgment once Assyria turned to Him for forgiveness; hence, he disobeyed God’s call and went the opposite direction, see Jonah 4:2-3.

    And he [Jonah] prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

    Perhaps we could relate to Jonah’s displeasure and anger. After all, his own homeland had been threatened by the Assyrians whom God have forgiven. Did God really favored Assyria over Israel? Could Jonah be asking as well, “Why can’t God offer the same favor and forgive Israel too as He had done for Assyria?”

    Remember I explained earlier that Pekah the king of Israel connived with Syria to attack Judah. The combined attack did occur, but they just can’t conquer Judah (2 Kings 16:5). Also, it was by God’s design that Israel should fall into the hands of the Assyrian because they have broken God’s covenant (2 Kings 17:7-9,13-15). Yes, Judah also did the same against God, yet they were spared? See 2 Kings 17:18-20.

    Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. Judah also did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of his sight.

    God seemed to have relented on His earlier judgment against Nineveh because Assyria was His vessel of vengeance against Israel; see Isaiah 7:7-9.

    Thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you [King Ahaz of Judah] are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

    God never backed down from His word, and He changes not. Israel was punished according to the stipulation of God’s Covenant with them; see Deuteronomy 28:15.

    But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all His commandments and His statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

    Continue with Deuteronomy 28:25-26.

    The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.

    Also Deuteronomy 28:33-34.

    A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.

    And again Deuteronomy 28:36-37.

    The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.

    Finally Deuteronomy 28:45-49.

    All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes that He commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand …

    No wonder then, at the time of Pekah king of Israel, Isaiah 7:17 said:

    The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!

    As you can see, first, Nineveh turned to the LORD for forgiveness with God’s judgment by Jonah. Perhaps a second reason – God is sovereign and He knew all things, so Assyria was preserved for God’s purpose against Israel. Same with Judah, though they have followed Israel and disobeyed God’s commandments (2 Kings 17:18-19) yet they were preserved for the meantime until the coming of Jesus Christ, see Isaiah 7:13-14.

    And he [Isaiah] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.“

    See also Matthew 1:22-23.

    All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet [Isaiah]: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us).

    This passage spoke of the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:13-14, the coming of Jesus Christ. At that time, Jerusalem together with its temple which was in Judah was the known nation of the Jew. But within forty years after the crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, Jerusalem (Judah) was destroyed and the surviving Jews were scattered for close to two millennium fulfilling exactly Deuteronomy 28.

    It is therefore not surprising that Jonah failed to comprehend God’s purpose. Truly, just as God said in Isaiah 55:8-9,

    For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

    At this point, having understood how God’s word remained true and was fulfilled in history, let us learn to always trust God, especially when times are tough, perplexed and doubtful. Always put our faith in God for He alone holds our future and He is good. Let us also obey God’s word though circumstances may seem to suggest otherwise. For no one can ever thwart His good purpose and will, He alone reigns sovereign.

    In conclusion, Jonah was an eighth century prophet during the reign of Jeroboam II as mentioned in 2 Kings 14:25. Biblical scholars have differing dates for Jeroboam II. Both Easton Bible Dictionary and Smith Bible Dictionary dated his reigned 825-784 B.C. But taking the dating from the Jewish Virtual Library, it should be around 789-748 B.C. Jonah then should be a hundred or so years ahead of Nahum ministry – after 663-661 B.C. but before 612 B.C.

    As I have said earlier, history proved true God’s word. It is ironic that God illustrated His impending judgment against Assyria by their own capture of Thebes. See Nahum 3:8-11.

    Are you [Assyria] better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall? Cush was her strength; Egypt too, and that without limit; Put and the Libyans were her helpers. Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains. You [Assyria] also will be drunken; you will go into hiding; you will seek a refuge from the enemy.

    I have mentioned earlier that an online website (History World, History of Assyria) proved to us the fulfillment of God’s Word. We having the benefit of history now see the truthfulness of God’s word so we should also learn that most of the time it is only on hindsight that we get to see God’s good purpose for things that He have allowed into our lives.

    Also as I have said earlier, both Jonah and Nahum preached about God’s judgment against Assyria. In Jonah’s time, Nineveh repented so God relented upon His judgment; in Nahum’s, the LORD affirmed with finality His destruction of Assyria. See Nahum 2:8-13.

    Nineveh is like a pool whose waters run away. “Halt! Halt!” they cry, but none turns back. Plunder the silver, plunder the gold! There is no end of the treasure or of the wealth of all precious things. Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale! Where is the lions’ den, the feeding place of the young lions, where the lion and lioness went, where his cubs were, with none to disturb? The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. Behold, I am against you, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall no longer be heard.

    Jonah and Nahum indeed are the stories of God’s justice, mercy and grace. Assyria, Israel and Judah were mere actors portraying God’s greater purpose in creation. Judah was spared for awhile simply because the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Immanuel, would be brought into the world through them. Scripture is not simply telling us stories of people but of God’s character and His divine purpose for salvation. Life is complex and profound. It is easy to be led astray by the humps and bumps of life causing us to made choices or decisions base on human perspective. Never leave God out of the equation of life. Focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, He alone should be at the center of our life and the decision we make. Only then may we truly glorify and honor God.

    Blessings!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox. By the way, subscription is free and with no hidden cost.

  • Flock of Cult

    An online dictionary defined “cult” as a misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing. Come to think of it, a lot of Christians haven’t even read a single book of the Bible, they simply rely on the teaching of a pastor, taking his every word as gospel truth. Worse, some even would chose to believe the pastor more than the Word of God.

    The authority of the pastor to teach comes from the inerrant truths of the Scripture, not from claims of divine inspiration but was devoid of truths from the Word of God. No pastor could justify as God’s Word by simply picking a verse or two here and there, unless first exploring the context then explaining the message of the Bible. Without a doubt, the Bible’s message is timeless but we need to respect its immediate audience, background, and time statement. The last one is often abused by preachers and teachers of the Bible today.

    For instance, Jesus declared before His disciples and said:

    “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28).

    It was obvious Jesus was telling His immediate audience – His immediate disciples “Peter, James, John and the rest,” not us – that His Return would be within their lifetime. Go tell pastors or any other Christians about this statement from Jesus Christ. I have seen a lot just shrugging it off, not realizing that if we doubted Jesus’ promise here, how then do we believe John 3:16, also a promise of Christ Jesus our Lord?

    For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

    Ironic, isn’t it? That a lot of Christians choose to believe what is comforting to them but not necessarily every Word of God? Isn’t that the behavior of a cult?

    The apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians spoke of Christians deserting the grace of Christ and were turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-7). To the Corinthians, Paul warned against people preaching another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). It is therefore important that we are believing the Jesus Christ of the Bible and understand the Gospel as presented by the Scripture.

    So Paul made it clear and said:

    Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

    Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ; he authored almost half of the New Testament writings of the Bible. Every book or writing within the New Testament Scripture has authorship of an apostle of Jesus Christ.

    Paul wrote the epistles of Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. I believe Hebrews also. Luke, on the other hand was a travelling companion of Paul, he wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts.

    Peter was behind the epistles of 1 & 2 Peter. Mark, on the other hand, derived his authority to write a Gospel (Mark) from Peter.

    John authored the Gospel of John, Revelation and lastly, the epistles of 1st, 2nd, and 3th John.

    James, the brother of Jesus, who became an apostle and leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:13-20), wrote the epistle of James.

    Jude is the same person as Judas (Not Iscariot) mentioned in John 14:22. He was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, brother of James the son of Alphaeus, also known as Thaddaeus in Matthew 10:3. If you have doubts, do a comparison of Matthew 10:2-3 with that of Acts 1:13. But bear in mind that in the Greek, it’s “Judas of James, and James of Alphaeus.” The words “the son” was added by translators, meaning James and Judas were brothers. The same may be said of Luke 6:15-16. See Jude 1:1.

    Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.

    Finally, the apostle Matthew wrote one of the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew) of the Bible. So we have all 27 books of the New Testament Bible written under the authority of an apostle of Jesus Christ. And they all agreed and preached the same Gospel, so Paul made it clear that no one should preach a different gospel but the Gospel that was from the Lord Jesus Christ. See Galatians 1:6-12.

    I am astonished that you [the Galatians] are so quick deserting Him [God] who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we [the apostles] or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

    For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

    For I would have you know, brothers, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

    Every author of the New Testament Scripture lived within the first century of Christianity. No writings could have been done after the fall of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple in 70 AD for the simple reason that Jerusalem and the temple were at the center of the Jewish faith, yet none of the New Testament writers spoke anything on the aftermath of its destruction.

    The truths about Jesus Christ and the Gospel may only be determined from within the Scripture, both New and Old Testament writings of the Bible – Scripture alone. The 66 books of the Bible were the only inspired writings of men who spoke from God (2 Peter 1:20-21), inerrant and the sole source of truth.

    Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

    The apostles of Jesus Christ may no longer be with us, but by God’s divine providence, we have the authoritative writings of men who spoke from God written down, preserved, and available for us to know the truthful teaching of God’s Word.

    If you treasure the Bible and your salvation, let us not be part of the flock of cult. Challenge yourselves to read the Bible. Join Bible studies that teach people how to properly read and study the Scripture, not simply seeking to hear comforting words from the preacher or pastor. The apostle Paul, in his last letter to Timothy, commanded him saying:

    I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by HIs appearance and His kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    Those words were spoken to Timothy when the last few living apostles were still around, and yet the danger of straying away from the truth was already present. How much more today, we are living about two millennia away from the immediate disciples of Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we be more careful of what to believe or not?

    Listen to the exhortation of Peter for pastors/elders:

    So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker of the glory that is going to be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

    Lastly, the apostle Paul said:

    Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)

    What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of My Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 18:12-14)

    Those were the words of Jesus Christ to His disciples, and it continues to resonate today through the Scripture, the Word of God. It was, and still is, the desire of Jesus Christ our Lord that we all be under His flock. Listen then to the words of the Bible, not the pastor if it isn’t according to the inerrant Word of God. Seek true undershepherds (1Pe 5:1-4; Acts 20:28) of Christ Jesus; those who holds only to the Words of Christ and rightly handles the truth (2Tim 2:15).

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.

  • Psalms 34 & 35, the Messianic Psalm of Jesus Christ

    John chapters 13-17 covers the story of Jesus Christ with His disciples. The story begins with Jesus and His disciples taking the Passover Meal, so it’s the 14th of Nissan – the beginning of the Jewish Spring Festival. The Jewish day begins at sundown (6pm) to sundown (6pm) – the following day to us. It was the last moments of the Lord with His disciples. John 18 narrates the occasion of His arrest by the temple guards and the betrayal of Judas Iscariot.

    John 13:30 tells us that Judas had departed after Jesus had handed him the morsel of bread. So beginning at John 13:31 to 17:26, it’s Jesus Christ and eleven apostles. These chapters of John’s Gospel were the last words of Jesus Christ to His eleven remaining disciples.

    Jesus spoke of His glorification; see John 13:31-32

    When he [Judas Iscariot] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him at once.

    Jesus spoke of His departure; see John 13:33

    Little children, yet a little while I am with you. you will seek Me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’

    Jesus spoke of the New Commandment; see John 13:34

    A new commandment I gave you, that you should love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

    Jesus spoke of His Return; see John 14:3-4,6; also John 14:18-21

    And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going … I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:3-4,6)

    I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. (John 14:18-21)

    Jesus spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit; see John 14:25-26

    These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper [Advocate], the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

    Jesus spoke of the tribulation of His disciples; see John 15:18-25

    If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hated you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his Master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of My name, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates Me hates My Father also. if I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

    Jesus Christ, in John 15:25, quoted Psalm 35:19. “Let not those rejoice over Me who are wrongfully My foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate Me without cause.”

    Psalms 34 & 35 does speak of David’s suffering. He was unjustly hated by Saul. But these two psalms are messianic psalms prophesying about the unjust persecution and suffering of Jesus Christ. So the story of David actually foreshadowed the betrayal and suffering of Jesus Christ by His own people – the Jew – and that He was hated for no cause. This further affirms my previous assertions in my blogs entitled “Immanuel, Our Confidence”, “Jesus Christ, Our Righteousness”, and “The Son of Man, Our Redeemer” that Psalms 34 & 35, both psalms of David, were Messianic prophesies concerning Jesus Christ.

    Amazing, isn’t it? The Lord God truly is sovereign over all things. By divine providence, David’s life and righteousness foreshadowed that of Christ Jesus our Lord. Bear in mind that the context of Psalms 34 & 35 were those of David’s life involving his battle against Goliath, his faithful service to Saul and his anointing as God’s appointed King over Israel. Psalms 34 & 35 was written many years before David’s sin with Bathsheba. Psalms then are not simply utterance of praise or lament; Jesus said the Psalm/Psalms were Laws of the Jews (Luke 24:44).

    In conclusion, the Bible really is a unit. The Old Testament Scripture is a commentary to the New Testament Scripture and vise-versa. Moses, the author of the First Five Books of the Old Testament Scripture – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – existed 1600 years before John, author of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament Scripture. Yet, both spoke of the same truth – the end of Old Covenant Israel.

    In this time of the pandemic, there is no other assurance other than the Bible. But the Bible must be understood and interpreted according to its intent and purpose. We must not fall into the mistake or errors of the past, the traditions that have no real biblical basis. Neither should we be led astray by modern preaching that have no regard of the biblical context, time statement and audience relevance. Don’t just listen to Sunday preaching, read along the Scripture to see if indeed what was said was from the inerrant teaching of the Scripture.

    Blessings!

    If you want to follow our journey of unlearning tradition and relearning Scripture, you can stay updated by heading to our about page and subscribe directly to receive notifications in your inbox.