Antinomian kryptonite

My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
Psalm 119:20 ESV

And forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
Luke 11:4a ESV (In the Lord’s prayer)

Antinomian kryptonite.

God will do this: Sowing and reaping in the context of giving.

Sowing and reaping in the context of giving: God will do this.

⁶ Now this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one should give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or from compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to cause all grace to abound to you, so that in everything at all times, having enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work. 

2 Corinthians 9:6–8

 

Lamentations: Grieve, divine sovereignty, and complete trust in the Lord.

A few things should be noted when reading lamentations.

1) Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah 17 years before the actual destruction of the temple. He writes as if these events had already happen, but the book was written as a prophetic word against Israel about the things that would happen if they did not repent. “Take for yourself a scroll and you must write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah, and until this day.”
Jeremiah 36:2 LEB

2) Jeremiah attributes all that happens to the sovereignty of God in causing the judgment that was about to fall upon the nation—yes, even in driving women to cannibalize their children in hunger.

3) Yet in the midst of this tremendous time of testing and grieve, he never questions the righteousness of God.

4) Instead, he appeals all the more to the loving kindness/covenantal love of God and his mercy. In his lamentation, he never blamed God, but always kept his eyes and his hope on God.

5) This is how we ought to grieve. Never question the goodness and faithfulness of God. Be like the author of lamentations: cling on to the Lord for your help and comfort. The trials did not drive Jeremiah away from God, it drove him all the more to God.

See, Yahweh, and take note! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat their young children of tender care? Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
Lamentations 2:20 LEB

The loyal love of Yahweh does not cease; his compassions do not come to an end. They are new in the morning, great is your faithfulness. “Yahweh is my portion,” says my soul, “Thus I will hope on him.” Yahweh is good to those who wait on him, to the person that seeks him. It is good to wait in silence for the salvation of Yahweh.
Lamentations 3:22‭-‬26 LEB

Psalm 92:6–7 on why God causes the wicked to flourish.

Take note of what the Psalmist calls those who do not understand or accept this teaching. What room is there for those who insist on the so-called doctrine of ‘common grace’, which claims that God’s purpose for sending sun and rain is to bless its recipient? As clarified by the Psalmist here, the reason God prospers the wicked is to destroy them—reprobation.

6 The brutish man does not know,
and the fool cannot understand this.
7 When the wicked flourish like grass
and all the workers of evil blossom,
it is so they can be destroyed forever.
Psalm 92:6–7 (Lexham English Bible)

7 (6) Stupid people can’t know,
fools don’t understand,
8 (7) that when the wicked sprout like grass,
and all who do evil prosper,
it is so that they can be eternally destroyed,
Psalm 92:6–7 (Complete Jewish Bible)

7 ἀνὴρ ἄφρων οὐ γνώσεται, καὶ ἀσύνετος οὐ συνήσει ταῦτα. 8 ἐν τῷ ἀνατεῖλαι τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ὡς χόρτον καὶ διέκυψαν πάντες οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν, ὅπως ἂν ἐξολεθρευθῶσιν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος.
Psalm 91:7–8 (LXX) [Corresponds with Psalm 92:6–7 in English Bibles)

Unfortunately, this emphasis of purpose is lost in many other English translations. The Septuagint uses the word ὅπως (hopos: meaning: that/ in order that/so that.) For further reading, refer to this article on Psalms 73 where the Psalmist explain that the purpose of the prosperity of the wicked is to set them on slippery places, and to cause them to fall into ruin.

1 John 5:13–15 Assurance of salvation and answered prayers.

One of the evidence of salvation (this is a promise) is that if we (i.e. believers) ask anything according to His will, He hears us and we will receive the requests that we asked from him.

 

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him.

1 John 5:13–15

Illumination as a work of the Spirit.

Finally, there can be no true understanding of Scripture without the internal illumination of the Holy Spirit… The answer to “What does the Scripture say?” is more than a matter of knowledge of the information contained in it, even that gained by the most careful exegesis, awareness of the historical situation, appreciation of linguistic forms, etc. Scripture can be understood in depth only through the illumination of the Holy Spirit… Paul wrote to the Corinthians concerning his message: “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:13).23 Without the Spirit there is blindness in reading the Scriptures; with the Spirit there is illumination in understanding the things of God.

Williams, J. Rodman. Renewal Theology: Systematic Theology from a Charismatic Perspective . Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Location: 314–322 of 41883. 1996.

 

 

 

Advancing in the Word. A promise for the believer.

Advancing in the Word. A promise for the believer.

 

And as for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you do not have need that anyone teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you reside in him.

1 John 2:27 (LEB)

 

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name—that one will teach you all things, and will remind you of everything that I said to you.

John 14:26 (LEB)

 

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask for it from God, who gives to all without reservation and not reproaching, and it will be given to him. But let him ask for it in faith, without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed about.

James 1:5–6 (LEB)

Predestination and Miracles

This is an excellent article by Vincent Cheung on the link between predestination and miracles. *Recommended reading. (Click on this link for the article)

Brief summary:
John 15:16–17
¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, in order that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you: that you love one another.

Cheung explains that predestination is for more than just bare salvation. It also includes a whole package of blessings and responsibilities. God has chosen us, and predestined us to bear fruit that will last. The Father will give us whatever we ask in his name.” By giving us whatever we ask of him, the Son brings glory to the Father. In so doing, we bear fruit and show that we are his disciples. Christians are commanded (not requested) to ask the Father for ‘whatever’ so that the Father can answer it. This is also how we show that we love one another. And by obeying God’s commandments, we also show that we love God. When something is repeated so many times in Scripture we need to pay special attention.

1) Predestination means that we are…
2) Predestined to bear fruit that will last.
3) God commands us to ask him for “whatever”
4) And God promises to give us whatever we ask of him
5) God is glorified by answering our prayers
6) This is how we bear fruit and show that we are his disciples.
7) And this is how we show that we love one another and love God.

This summary does not really do justice to Cheung’s article, so I would highly encourage you to read what he has written in its entirety.

 

 

John 3:3 in the Lexham English Bible

The Lexham English Bible translates John 3:3 very well by correctly translating the word

³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above [γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν], he is not able to see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is an old man? He is not able to enter into his mother’s womb for the second time and be born, can he?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘It is necessary for you to be born from above.’ [γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν] ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”[ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος]
John 3:3–8 (LEB)

As the LEB’s footnote  explains: “The same Greek word can mean either ‘from above’ or ‘again,’ which allows for the misunderstanding by Nicodemus here; Jesus was speaking of new birth ‘from above,’ while Nicodemus misunderstood him to mean a second physical birth”.

Kudos to the Lexham English Bible for doing a good job in translating this verse. Jesus was teach Nicodemus about the need to be born from above—spiritual regeneration.

The Temptation of Jesus and believing the Word of God

¹ Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, ² and after he had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry. ³ And the tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, order that these stones become bread.” ⁴ But he answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the highest point of the temple ⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

‘On their hands they will lift you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “On the other hand it is written, ‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹ and he said to him, “I will give to you all these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and began ministering to him.

(Matthew 4:1-11)

Jesus faced three temptations in the wilderness. The first two challenged Jesus to prove that he is the Son of God, while the third is subtler, but essentially says that same thing. The third temptation was for Jesus to worship Satan. But if Jesus was the Son of God, he should be the object of worship (c.f. Isaiah 9:6) so that to worship Satan would be to deny his status as the Son of God. But let us focus on the first two temptation here.

Why was Satan’s temptation unreasonable?

After all, if Jesus was indeed the Son of God, would it not be within his right to turn stone into bread? Later in Mathew 14:13-21, we read that Jesus does something similar. He multiplied fish and bread feeding 5,000 and even gave thanks to the Father for it. In John 2, we read that Jesus turned water into wine. So why did Jesus reply to this temptation by pointing out that, “Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” Why did Jesus appeal to God’s word as a rebuttal?

In the second temptation, Satan again challenged Jesus to prove his divinity by asking him to throw himself off the highest point of the temple—this time round, Satan quotes Scripture. Again, would it not be within the rights of Jesus to do so since the Bible promised that angels would have protected Jesus. Why would such an action “put the Lord your God to the test”? After all, immediately after this temptation, just five verses down, in Matthew 4:11, we read that angels came and attended to him. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus mentioned that he had more than twelve legions of angels at his disposal.

To understand Jesus’ rebuttal of Satan, we would do well to look at preceding passage. Just prior to the temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4. The last verse of Matthew 3 ends with Jesus’ baptism. The Spirit of God descended like a dove upon Jesus and declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” This sets the context of the temptation in Matthew 4.

The Holy Spirit had just declared that Jesus is the Son of God! It is in light of this statement that Satan comes along trying to cast doubt. He demanded that Jesus authenticated his Sonship. But since the Spirit of God had already declared that Jesus was the Son of God, any further attempt to prove his Sonship by turning stone into bread or by throwing himself from the top of the temple would have suggested some kind of doubt in the very Word of God. It was not the act of turning stone into bread, or to throw oneself off the top of the temple that was sinful. The Old Testament made it plain that angels would have lifted Jesus up if he did so. But it was wrong in this context because it would have demonstrated a lack of faith in what God had already declared— “This is my beloved Son”.

Man shall live on “every word that comes out of the mouth of God”, and “you are not to put the LORD your God to the test” is to be understood in light of what God had already declared: Jesus is the Son of God.