Reading Bible Verses in Context, part 1

Since most of us have more alone time at home and may be having church online, I am hoping that my fellow Christians are spending more time reading the Bible for themselves. In view of that, I want to share some ways to read the Bible with better understanding.

I want to start with the subject of reading the Bible in context. Those of you who are educated in these things might be tempted to nod your head and  stop reading this post because you know all about that. But I encourage you to keep reading because my guess is that you are as guilty of this as anyone else. You take scriptures out of context or simply ignore the context in determining the meaning. We have all done it. 

Before we get into this, though, I want to make sure I am not misunderstood. Even when we get into the various ways we can better understand the Scriptures, I am not saying that we can figure it all out in our heads. We cannot. We have the Holy Spirit to teach us and to lead us into all truth. (John 14:26; 16:13) Always look to Him for understanding, first and foremost, then use the other tools that can aid our minds in grasping the truths of the Bible. 

First, I want to admit that certain verses that we often quote and use are well understood even without a lot of context. Take John 3:16. We quote that verse, we understand it correctly, we use it correctly so we do not have to take too much time talking about the context. 

But even in this instance, if someone knows nothing about Christ, nothing about sin, and nothing about eternal judgement, then he would not have any idea what this verse is actually saying. A uniformed pagan might ask "Which god?", or, "Since God has given His Son to give us everlasting life, how can I find Him?" He might understand nothing of the cross much less about sin or redemption or faith. The context of the whole Bible would have to tell him those things.

So, let's look at an example of a verse that is commonly misunderstood and misapplied because the context is not carefully considered. 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst." So Paul calls himself the "worst of sinners" or, as some translations say, "the chief of sinners". I have heard this many times used to "prove" that we should consider ourselves to be sinners of the worst sort if we want to be humble Christians. After all, if the great Apostle Paul whom we consider to be among the best Christians ever thought of himself as the worst sinner, how should we see ourselves? We should see ourselves as awful sinners as well. Right? 

Wrong. The context has been completely ignored. Let's look at the whole passage. 

"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." 1 Timothy 1:12-16

When you read this in context, Paul is not saying that he was the worst sinner when he wrote this, but before he was saved. Although he uses the present tense to say "worst of sinners", it is clear that he is talking about the time he "was a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man." He used the past tense there because he was no longer that man. That man was saved by the merciful Savior Jesus. Paul is telling Timothy to use him as an example of the mercy that Christ shows to sinners. 

Perhaps you have met, or have been, one of those who think that God will not save them because they have been so bad. Paul uses himself as proof that God will save the worst of sinners. 

So to use this one verse to prove some idea that we are still sinners after salvation is just not tenable. We must consider the context of all that Paul has said along these lines. 

"God exhibits his love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more, then, being justified now by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Romans 5:8-9 Notice that "sinners" is referenced in the past tense. The implication is that we were sinners until we received our justification by the blood of Jesus.

"For if, by the offense of one, death reigned through one, much more so shall those who receive the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness, reign in life through One - Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17 Righteousness (not just a legal kind of righteousness) is a gift and has nothing to do with works.

"Not having my own righteousness (which is of the Law) but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness which is from God by faith." Philippians 3:9 We obtain righteousness from God by faith.

"For He has made him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we should be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21 The strongest statement in the New Testament regarding our righteousness. The context here reveals that he is talking about us being made new creations in Christ, brand new people with a new nature. 

I could quote more verses, but if you study these things (in context, of course) you will find that Paul consistently says that we were sinners but have received the gift of righteousness and received it by faith. We have been new creations, created in righteousness and true holiness. (2 Cor. 5:17; Ephesians 4:24) Thank God that though we were sinners, we were saved, that is, made righteous, by faith in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross. 

So I encourage everyone to study the context of every passage, both the immediate context of where that verse is, but also the context of what else the Bible says about that subject. Let's not build our theology on verses ripped out of their context to prove our theology. Sometimes our more used verses, taken out of context, have led us into misunderstanding and poor theology.

I hope that this has been enlightening  or, at least, challenging. I encourage comments and questions - even arguments. However, the Comments Section of this blog does not seem to work, so put in the Facebook post or email me at brian.scarborough@aol.com

NEXT TIME (maybe): Using the context to interpret too narrowly. 

The Departure of the Church

I occasionally watch on television a Bible teacher who teaches concerning Bible prophecy. Consistently, he talks about the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. So, I began to wonder why he beat this drum so often. After all, there are many subjects in Bible prophecy to discuss. Why always the pre-trib rapture? Isn't that a fairly settled subject in charismatic circles? I have discovered that it is not.

Before we go further, I need to define some terms. The Tribulation period refers to the seven year period right before the Second Coming of our Lord. You can read about the Second Coming in Revelation chapter 19. That event is followed by the Millennial Reign of Christ when He will rule the earth from Jerusalem for 1000 years. (Some recently have revived the idea that Christ will return after the Millennium, but Revelation chapters 19 and 20 are quite clear: the Millennium will follow the Second Coming, not precede it.)

The prophet Daniel in about 535 B.C. spoke about 70 seven year periods that would precede the reign of the Messiah. 69 of those seven year periods took place before the messiah was "cut off", or crucified. Because the Jews had rejected their messiah, that last seven year period has been put off until Israel is ready to accept Jesus. In the meantime, God formed the Church to preach the gospel to all nations. So that last seven year period has been delayed until the Church finishes its task of preaching the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. After that, God will again "restart the clock" and the seven year Tribulation period will begin. 

The teaching regarding the pre-tribulation rapture of the church states that before that Tribulation period begins, the church will be resurrected and caught up into heaven thus missing that time of judgement. This has been the teaching especially in Baptist and charismatic circles for a long time. Yet, there have always been those who disagreed with that scenario putting the rapture in the middle or at the end of the Tribulation.

The most recent departure from the teaching of the pre-trib rapture has come from Jewish Christians and others who have a real heart for Israel and the Jewish people. They have brought the church great blessing by showing us things like the meaning of the feasts that God commanded the Israelites to keep. They have noted that some of the church has viewed the church as replacing the Jews in the plan of God. That view regards all prophecies regarding Israel as applying to the church only. They do not believe that God will have any more dealings with the Jews as His own people. He is done with them. Until the nineteenth century, this was the standard view in every church. 

But when God brought the Jews back into Palestine after the world wars, many Christians began to see that God was beginning to restore the Jewish people back to the Promised Land as He said He would in the prophets. So many Christians began to see the Jews and the Christians as two peoples of God each with a distinct place in the overall plan of God. The old idea of Christians replacing the Jews was largely pushed aside. 

Recently, though, another idea arose which rejects the distinction between the church and the Jews as separate peoples of God. After the Six-Day war in 1967, many Jews began to accept Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. Of course, they had a desire to see their Jewish brethren accept the Lord and were big supporters of Israel. 

However, some began teaching that Israel and the church were one. Scriptures like those in Romans chapter 11 were used to "prove" that God "grafted" the church into the Jewish people. Hence, the church and the Jews are really not separate, but belong to the same covenant and have the same purpose. A careful reading of these passages must cause us to draw another conclusion. What the church is grafted into is not Israel or the Covenant (Law) of Moses, but the Abrahamic Covenant. Paul called Christian believers "sons of Abraham" not "sons of Israel". The Abrahamic Covenant created both the Jewish nation (Israel) and the church. 

Regarding the Jewish nation, God promised Abraham, "I will make you a great nation." Regarding the church, God promised "In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed." Gen 12

Paul consistently said that the church is not under the Law of Moses, but confirmed that we are children of Abraham, the father of faith, and that we have the blessing of Abraham. 

So we now have a situation where some are saying that the church will go through the Tribulation and not be raptured beforehand. They view the church and the Jews as one people of God. It would make sense then that the church and the Jews would share the same destiny. The church, though, is made up of believing Jews and believing Gentiles. Unbelieving Jews are not part of the church. The unbelievers (Jews and Gentiles alike) will go through the Tribulation. The church, having fulfilled its commission will go to be with the Lord. 

The NT also confirms that the (unbelieving) Jewish nation and the church (believing Jews and Gentiles) are distinct. "Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Gentiles or to the church of God." (1 Cor. 10:32) Paul did not teach that the Jews and the church are 'one'. 

Some might counter this argument by noting Ephesians 2:14-16, "He Himself is our peace, who has made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." 

Doesn't that say that the Jews and believing Gentiles are one in messiah? No. It is saying that believing Jews and believing Gentiles are one. Paul says this several times in his letters. The point that Paul is making is that the divisions created by the Law of Moses between Jews and Gentiles are gone IN CHRIST because no believer, whether Jew or Gentile, is under the Law. It was the Law that brought a separation. Jews would not even eat with Gentiles. In Christ, we are in full fellowship with one another.

Paul teaches the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [of the Lord beginning with the Tribulation] will not come unless the falling away comes first." (2 Thess. 2:3) The Greek word that is here translated as "falling away" would better be translated "departure", meaning the departure or rapture of the church. The word is 'apostasia' and it literally means 'departure'. The reason it has been translated as 'falling away' is that is what it means in 1 Timothy 4:1, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith." The assumption has been made that 'departure' must mean 'departure from the faith'. But Thessalonians says nothing about departure from the faith. The context is the place of the church at the end of the age.

I discovered this many years ago in my own studies. Some years later I found one commentator who agreed with me. Now this view, that the word means 'departure' and not 'falling away', is becoming increasingly accepted in Christian academic circles. I expect it to become the standard view in time.

Additionally, we also need to read this passage in view of the Jewish marriage ceremony. In that ceremony, the bride waits for her bridegroom to come to her home and take her to his home. Although legally they are already married, they would not live together until that time. Note John 14:2-3 " In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." A bridegroom, in preparation for this event, would build on his father's land and prepare a place for her to live with him. When all preparations were done, he would come to get her. This is precisely the idea in 2 Thessalonians. 

For this, and many other scriptural reasons, we should maintain the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. 

Shalom.

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There Is Nothing New Under The Sun

When I first began studying the OT prophets, I looked for prophecies pertaining to Christ, particularly regarding His first coming. That was my main interest. Obviously, I spent much time in Isaiah as he had many prophecies about Christ, especially chapter 53 which tells us about His crucifixion. After that, I began to become interested in the end times and prophecies regarding that. Of course, that has to do with the second coming of Christ which is in our near future.

But I sort of glossed over the other prophecies about how Israel continually disobeyed and fell short of keeping their covenant with God. And I mentally cringed at the awful judgments pronounced, and carried out, against God's people. Over the years, though, I began to see the justice of God's judgments and I saw how patient He had been with them. They were rarely faithful to the covenant they had made with the Lord. They committed idolatry upon idolatry, and oppression and murder and adultery for hundreds of years before God brought the "promised" judgments. I used to wonder about how God could do such "terrible" things to His people and now I wonder how He put up with them so long. Still, I have not spent much time reading about these things. Not many Christians do. It does not seem all that interesting.

Occasionally, though, someone comes up with a new idea that revives interest in a neglected part of the Bible. Recently, some scholars have begun to view the prophets in a new way. They see the prophets not as enforcers of God's covenant, but as visionaries who began to see Israelite society in a new and different way. They cried out against what they saw as social injustices and told them that God was displeased with them as a result. In other words, the prophets were creative and foreward-looking. They wanted a brand new society based upon new principles and new revelations of God's justice.

These same scholars, and their followers, believe that the church should do the same thing. Preachers and believers should have a "prophetic voice" that cries out against various injustices and inequities in our society. Some have begun to do so. Sadly, however, this so-called "prophetic voice" often sounds a lot like the secular progressives raging against things they don't like and for things society has rejected throughout history. They promote things like gay marriage and abortion "rights". They promote activism in areas like climate change. They talk about how capitalism is "oppressing" the poor.

(I am tempted to give a lesson in economics at this point. Criticizing capitalism for poverty is like criticizing a goose because she did not lay enough golden eggs for everyone. One of the leading scholars teaching this stuff is actually a Marxist - talk about ungodly! But I digress.)

I will not read the prophets that way. I must take another approach. And I am doing so. Recently, I began an in-depth study of the prophets, beginning with Isaiah, focusing on the basis on which they condemned Israel for its sins. I have discovered, thanks to some wonderful conservative commentators, that the prophets did nothing "creative". The only real, new revelations they had was of the coming of the messiah and the kingdom of God. Regarding sins, they simply applied the Law to their current situation. The Law of Moses, especially Deuteronomy 28-33 and Leviticus 26, contain curses or punishments that Israel would incur if they violated the covenant stipulations. The prophets proclaimed that Israel would suffer the exact thing that God had told them they would suffer if they violated the Ten Commandments and the other laws in the Torah.

You can go through each prophet and what they said would happen to Israel and then trace it back to an exact curse in the Law. Scholars have numbered each type of curse and often just refer to them by number. You can do this verse by verse. So, there is nothing "creative" about the prophets. They did not discover a new way to order society. They looked back to the Law of Moses and saw that the Israelites were disobedient. They told the people that God was going to punish their disobedience in precisely the way that He said they would. And we have the historical books of the OT to show us that this is what came to pass.

But those who teach that the prophets had a new vision based on some new "revelation" for Israelite society miss this key point. They also miss the point that the canon is closed. There will be no additions to the Bible. God has not changed His mind about homosexuality or anything else. I will not accept any so-called "revelation" or insight that someone gets that is contrary to the Bible even if it seems just and right to modern society. Any prophecy or revelation has to be in line with the Bible. Otherwise, it is to be rejected. God is not giving out new revelations to straighten out the church or society.

Of course, some would point out that God has raised up people like Martin Luther King Jr. to correct injustices in our society. That is true. But if you listen to his speeches and read his writings, you will discover something very interesting. He had a vision of a just society not just for his people but for all. He did it by calling people back to the Bible and to the Declaration of Independence that says that all men are created equal. He pointed out that many whites were hypocritical in proclaiming the Bible and maintaining prejudice and discrimination against blacks. King was, in this sense, a conservative calling us to live by the standards of the Bible and by the ideals of the Declaration. The problem was not that we needed a new vision of what justice is, we simply needed to apply the principles we were supposed to be living by in the first place. No new revelation was necessary.

The prophets should never be read as if they were a manual for us to become social justice warriors. They should be read for what they were: applications of the Word of God given at that point and exhortations to keep that same Word. Therefore, we should do the same thing. We should constantly harken back to what God said in His Word (mainly the New Testament) and apply it in our lives, in our churches, and in our society as we able.

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What is Leviathan?

[I realize that this little study might seem a bit 'nerdish' to some people since it regards the definition of an obscure word in the OT. However, please read through it all and get the real lesson that I finally get to at the end. As before, the comments section is not working. If you have any questions or comments, please email me at brian.scarborough@aol.com Thanks for reading.]

Sometimes I run across a word, especially in the Old Testament, that I do not understand, and since it usually is not that important, I do not bother to study it out. One of those words has been the word "Leviathan".

Though I had been puzzled by what the word means or what/who it refers to, I had never bothered to really study it out - until now. The reason I have done so is that someone who is considered a prophet declared that he had a revelation from God about this "Leviathan". That caught my interest. He said that God showed him that Leviathan was a powerful evil spirit who has "been awakened" and is becoming active and that we must all watch out for him. I was skeptical of this because of the fact that spirits do not sleep or remain dormant for hundreds or thousands of years and then wake up to cause havoc. Evil spirits cause problems whenever they have the opportunity. They do not "wake up" since they do not sleep.

So, I thought I would study it out myself and see what I could come up with. There did not seem too much to work with because the word "Leviathan" is only referenced five times and only in the Old  Testament. It is twice in Job, twice in Psalms and once in Isaiah where it is used prophetically about the End Times.

The one thing that stands out about most of these references is that Leviathan is some kind of sea creature or sea serpent. But that itself does not tell us much. This is where historians of the ancient world come in handy. Scholars say Leviathan may be an actual sea creature (perhaps no longer extant) or a mythological creature of the pagan religions. This sea monster represented the forces of chaos. One commentary on Job indicates that "to awaken Leviathan is to 'annihilate the existing order and plunge into catastrophe'". Some call it "the chaos monster".

Thinking this through we have to understand what things can be like on the sea or ocean. Things can get very chaotic. Winds and waves can toss a ship all around and sink it in minutes. A body of water that is usually calm can become deadly in a short period of time. This represents what life can become for people, families or even a nation. Things go along fine and then the unthinkable happens. A terrorist attack or a natural disaster can throw people into a disorder and chaos.

Let's go back to the scriptures again and see if we can understand better what the biblical writers were telling us.

"In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." Isaiah 27:1 KJV

The expression, "in that day", refers to the Day of the Lord in prophecy which is the Tribulation Period followed by the Millennial Reign of Christ. So, now we must see if there are any parallels in the New Testament to this passage. And we do find a couple.

"Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Revelation 12:7-9

"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished." Revelation 20:1-3

Notice that the dragon of Revelation who is Satan and the Devil is also called a serpent just as Leviathan was in Isaiah 27. To me, this is quite clear. Satan and Leviathan are the same. There is not a separate spirit apart from Satan called Leviathan. 

Leviathan is actually an older concept than Satan is. Or, rather, the force that causes trouble and chaos in this world was called in very ancient times 'Leviathan'. Later, God revealed to Israel as late as the Babylonian Captivity that there was a fallen angel originally called Lucifer who fell and became 'Satan'. (It might seem strange to us, but there are no direct references to Satan before Isaiah 14.) After the Captivity (6th century B.C.), there are no more references to Leviathan but only to Satan. So, the New Testament never uses the term and, in fact, the Greek language had no word for it. 

I have written all the above to say this. If you think that you have a revelation from God regarding some part of the Bible, study it out thoroughly in the Word before you seek more revelation on it and insist that it is all from God. If you don't you are opening yourself up to deception. This person who proclaimed that some ancient spirit was back from who knows where and that we have to watch out for him is, frankly, deceived. Leviathan is an ancient spirit, but we now know him as Satan.

All right, you might say, but why make a big deal about this fellow who thinks that Leviathan is some special evil spirit apart from Satan. Well, there is a tendency among some Christians today to focus too much on Satan and evil spirits. Now I believe in the activity of Satan and his demons and in spiritual warfare. But the Bible does not reveal a whole lot about any evil spirit other than Satan, a fallen angel. We do not have names of these evil spirits. We are sometimes given different classes of demons (principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness) and types of demons (unclean spirits is a general term for evil spirits, but there are spirits of divination and others). 

But some have focused on certain spirits and assigned them names and claiming that it is scriptural. (Jezebel comes to mind.) Then we are warned to watch out for these spirits and given a list of things these spirits do which look remarkably like what Paul calls the works of the flesh - strife, envy, etc. What this does is cause us to focus on evil spirits, real and imagined, instead of the Lord. Books about some so-called evil spirits are multiplied and those who are on the lookout for these spirits are considered spiritual themselves. 

I lived through that era in the charismatic world when we had the so-called "deliverance ministries". It was not pretty. We were told that there were demons in everybody and everything. Thank God, I was delivered from the deliverance ministry. That does not mean that I reject deliverance from demons or for the need for them to be cast out when necessary. But the incessant focus on the devil is unhealthy and unscriptural. The Bible tells us how to deal with the devil in very simple terms. "Resist him, firm in the faith." "Put on the full armor of God … " It says to "be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil … seeks whom he may devour."

But what happens when we start watching out, not just for Satan, but for Leviathan and Jezebel and whatever supposed evil spirit we are told about. Now we have a multitude of evil spirits to be aware of. This can make us demon-minded. We are no longer "seeking those things that are above", but those things on the earth especially evil spirits. You know, it seems like the old errors of the past, like the so-called deliverance ministries, just crop up in a different form later on. Once the church realizes and understands the activity and reality of the spirit realm, especially evil spirits,  Satan is happy to give us a lot of "fake news" regarding what he is up to. He likes attention from the church though he hides himself from the world. 

Therefore, anything that is revealed to us must be tested by the Word. The Word is final authority. Too many times we have gotten a little revelation and then turned it into a big revelation by adding to it and distorting the original revelation we were given. And sometimes we did not really get a revelation at all. We must "test all things, hold fast to what is good". Then discard the rest. 

I am glad that we live in a time when the spiritual gifts are flowing. I want more of them. But if we are not careful we will get drawn off into error and deception. This has happened in the past and God has had to shut down the flow of revelation because immature and "enthusiastic" Spirit-filled believers could not handle it. 

We need, in these last days, more than ever to keep disciplined and focused on Jesus and the Word of God. Yes, we need the Spirit, but we need to put the Word first and the Spirit second. That is the divine order and it will keep our attention on the right things.

Two Words of Wisdom

The title I have given this blog post might be a little misleading. The expression, "word of wisdom', is a spiritual gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12. It refers to the revealing of God's purpose and plan. However, that is not the subject of this blog post. Rather, I am talking about two New Testament Greek words which are translated as wisdom - 'sophia' and 'phronesis'. These words have similar meanings that even overlap a bit. They can be used interchangeably at times, but we want to look at their differences in the New Testament. We will primarily use the epistle of James for this study.

The Greek word 'phronesis' is a word for a type of wisdom or intelligence. It is more specifically a type of wisdom relevant to practical action, implying both good judgement and excellence of character and habits, or practical virtue. 

The Greek word 'sophia' is a word which means "knowledge of the divine plan, the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and executing His counsels". (Thayer's Greek Lexicon) 

Sophia is the "thousand foot high view", so to speak,while 'phronesis' is about solving a practical problem what now. 'Sophia' answers questions like "Why do things like this happen?" and phronesis answers questions like "What do we do right now?".

Now we will examine the book of James and learn about both of these concepts. 

James 1:2-5 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face temptations, tests and trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." [I have added "tests and trials" to "temptations" because the Greek word is the same for all three.]

I assumed, at one time, that the word for wisdom here must be 'phronesis'. It seemed to me that James was telling us to pray that God would give us practical steps to get out of the trial we are in. But the word is actually 'sophia'. We need to read what follows in the first chapter of James to see what he means.

James 1:13-17 "When tempted, tested or tried, no one should say, “God is tempting, testing or trying me.” For God cannot be tempted, tested or tried by evil, nor does he tempt. tested or try anyone  … Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

James is not just interested in practical wisdom - how to handle the situation we are in - he is interested in us knowing what is going on in a larger sense. The first thing he wants us to 'get' is that God is not behind our problems or temptations. Only good things come from Him. In fact, it is hard to receive practical wisdom sometimes unless you understand what is 'going on'.

If we think that our trial comes from God, we will give in to them and not seek His aid. Let's take sickness, for example. If you think that God has caused your sickness, or is allowing it so that you He can teach you something, or get you closer to Himself, or make you holier, then it will hinder your faith for healing. 

When it comes to healing God is your answer, not your problem. Peter made this very clear when he talked about Jesus' ministry. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, healing all who were oppressed by the devil." (Acts 10:38) "Many followed Him and He healed them all." (Matthew 12:15) All whom Jesus healed were oppressed by Satan and He healed all who came to Him for healing. That means that sickness is not from God but from the devil. The NT is consistent on this fact.

But James is not just interested in having us understanding where our problems originates. He wants to know how to respond to the trial as well. At the end of his epistle, James does give us practical wisdom (phronesis) regarding sickness and other things. "Is anyone among you sick? Then call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him." (James 5:14-15)

James wants us to have wisdom, both 'sophia' and 'phronesis'. He wants us to understand what in the world is going on and that God only brings good and not evil into our lives. And He also wants us to have practical wisdom to get out of our evil circumstances and back into the good that He wants us to have. So do I.

[Note: When I suggest that James wants us to pray for 'sophia'-wisdom in chapter one, I do not want to leave the impression that you cannot pray for phronesis-wisdom as well. We often need God's wisdom to know what to do and to be led by His Spirit for He always makes a way of escape.]

[Addendum: Above I mentioned the spiritual gift of the 'word of wisdom' as a revealing of God's purpose and plan. To further explicate this, I want to add that the word for wisdom here is 'Sophia' not 'phronesis'. Many have been teaching that the spiritual gift of the word of wisdom is about giving practical advice to those who need it. This is not the case. Sophia reveals God's purpose and plan in the mind and will of God about the future. We should not confuse the spiritual gift if the word of wisdom with the practical advice we might be able to give to one another.]

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The Holy Spirit as Teacher, part 3 - Humility of Mind

This is the third of a series of posts on the Holy Spirit as the Teacher of the Church. I encourage you to read the first two posts before reading this, though this post will stand on its own.

In my previous post I showed how sometimes we make errors in interpreting the scriptures, thinking the Lord has showed us something when He has not. And I showed how scholarship can keep us from certain errors.

This does not mean, however, that Bible scholars, or any teachers, are infallible. Naturally, scholars are very intelligent and well-educated people and, as such, tend to rely on their own ability to figure things out and understand them. Unfortunately, this is a major source of pride. Pride, especially intellectual pride, is a dangerous thing. "Knowledge inflates with pride." (1 Corinthians 8:1)  "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)

What conclusion can we draw? When someone becomes proud in their knowledge about the Bible, God can't teach them much anymore. They become increasingly unteachable. This happens even if they are honored in their church or in academic circles.

I have to say that I have benefited enormously by Bible teachers and scholars, but I have been aware right from the beginning that scholars often rely on their own understanding and too frequently make monumental errors, even believing and teaching heresy at times. Pride is a great danger to the scholar - and to us all. Today, many supposed conservative, orthodox Bible scholars deny certain portions of the Bible. (I have gone into more detail on this in previous posts.)

In times past, evangelical scholars affirmed the entire Bible as the Word of God, but it is becoming increasingly common for many to deny certain portions of it. Take, for example, the times when God told the Israelites to drive all the Canaanites out of the Promised Land or to kill every person in battle. That seems pretty bad, doesn't it. But instead of trying to learn from the Holy Spirit why God did this, they simply deny that God ever said it at all. It seems unjust to them, and since God is not unjust, then He must not have said it. The Israelites must have been wrong about what God said.

No, it is these scholars who are wrong about what God said. I, too, have had trouble understanding why God did some of these things. It seemed wrong to me as well at one time. But I did not reject the scriptures because of this. Rather, I accepted it as God's Word and figured that I simply did not understand. As time went by, He showed me little by little that His judgements of the Canaanites was just and right. I understand justice and judgment much better than I did before.

In other words, my mind became renewed to the truths that I struggled with because I maintained a teachable spirit and a humble mind. Now some people think that I was being intellectually dishonest. If I did not think that these things were right, then I should have rejected them. But I was actually submitting to the Word of God despite my own way of thinking. I knew that the Bible was right so there was something wrong with my thinking. That is intellectual humility. We have to say to ourselves that God is smarter than we are, that God knows what is right even when we think He's wrong.

Some are touting their "intellectual honesty" by rejecting parts of the Bible, not realizing they are rejecting God Himself. They have a different idea of who God is than all that the Bible teaches. They have made God in their own image as a result. He is now subject to their idea of who God ought to be and what He ought to do. This is pride and idolatry.

Now some would ask, "What if we have doubts about certain things? Is it okay for Christians to doubt?"  But I think that is the wrong question. The question should be, "What do we do when we experience doubts?" A doubt is really a temptation not to believe what God has said. There is no sin in being tempted to doubt some things, but it is a sin to yield to it. We cannot end up saying that the Bible is in error. It is not. Our thinking can be in error, but His revelation cannot be. Therefore, the fault is in us and not in His Holy Word. We should not have to be intellectually persuaded of every last thing in the Bible for us to accept it all as God's Word. We have to have the humility to accept what we do not understand or even what does not seem right to us.

What we need is humility of mind, an attitude that believes what God has put into the Bible no matter that we may think otherwise. It is not being "authentic" or "honest" to reject the Word because we believe we have a better way of thinking. Our "honesty" is really a species of pride and will prevent God from teaching us and giving us understanding of those very things we question. Questions are fine; rejecting God's answers is not.

There are many things through the years that I have not understood, but I did not reject those things. I just assumed that my mind was not renewed to that particular thing, and that God would show me as time went by. The book of Proverbs says that it takes wisdom to understand justice and judgment. (1:3). It also says not to be wise in your own estimation. We gain wisdom from the Word and from the experience of life (assuming we are paying attention). Therefore, our understanding of things like God's judgments may be lacking when we are younger in the Lord.

When we do not understand something or we think that something in the scriptures cannot possibly be right, it should cause us to dig deeper into the Word, not find theories that supposedly reconcile what we think with what the Bible teaches. That corrupts the Bible and makes it an idol of our own making.

Some have accused those who hold to the Bible no matter what as making an idol out of it.  But it those who try to remake the Bible in their own image by imaginatively reinterpreting it in light of their self-assumed enlightened thinking that truly make it an idol. When we exalt our own minds above God's Word, we rebel against Him. Being true to oneself is sin. Being true to God and the Bible is righteousness.

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