LOGOS- [C.U. service]
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest
in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory. Timothy 3:16
ON VIDEO [new stuff below]
.Most important dream yet?
.Arius- Athanasius
.Constantine
.Angels n Dreams
.The ball
.The cookies and the bus stop
.Wisdom literature
.Church history
.Did Jesus make a bad confession?
.How to measure success
NEW ‘THE WORD MADE FLESH’
God created all things by his Word
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.Genesis 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
In the New Testament we read that all things were made by
Jesus-
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John
1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We also read that Jesus is called THE WORD-
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his
name is called The Word of God. Rev. 19:13
In short-
The early church [4th century] had strong debates
on how to view the relationship between God and Jesus.
One leader at the time- Arius- saw Jesus as the first
‘created being’- but not worthy of the honor that we give to God [the Father].
Another leader- Athanasius- taught the deity of Christ- that
if you have ‘seen Jesus- you have seen the father’-
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Jn. 14:9
Eventually the church would hold to the belief that Jesus
was [is] indeed ‘God in the flesh’.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Tim. 3:16
Now- as I have studied the church councils down thru the
ages- I have seen the church struggle with many debates like this one.
And to be honest- I think they were too quick to condemn
some who had different ‘insights’ into the manifold wisdom of God.
For instance- some said that God manifested himself in 3
ways [instead of the view most Christians hold- God in 3 persons].
So those who said ‘God showing himself in 3 ways’ were condemned
as heretics- and there was actually a name given to these guys [If I remember-
Modalism was one of the names].
So- there were lots of debates.
But the issue was settled- and the primary verse from the
bible used was in the gospel of John mentioned above.
Here we see Jesus as the Word- he is God.
‘The Word was God’.
So- God made all things thru his Word- Jesus is called the
Word of God.
And the bible teaches us that God was manifested in the
flesh.
It speaks of the Son as the everlasting Father -
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace. Is. 9:6
And John taught us that he handled the Word of Life-
John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which
we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and
our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
John
1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and
shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested
unto us;)
One of the verses in the service I went to speaks about the
power of our words-
Death and life are in the power of the
tongue: and they that love
it shall eat the fruit thereof. Pr. 18
Yes- Gods word became flesh- he died for the sins of men-
and rose again.
Truly ‘death and life’ were seen in the incarnation of God’s
word- and his Son demonstrated both-
PAST POSTS [verses below]
The below links/parts deal with stuff I talked about on
today’s video- LOGOS
. [1486] ARIUS- a priest from Egypt who would challenge the
deity of Jesus in the 4th century. Arius taught that Jesus was the
Son of God, but not eternally the Son. He said Jesus was a created being whom
the father ‘bestowed’ son ship upon. He taught that Jesus was ‘like God’ but
not God. The emperor Constantine would call the famous council of Nicaea in 325
a.d. and the council would agree with Athanasius and say that the Son and the
Father were of ‘the same substance’ [homoousios] and Arius’s belief would be
rejected. The debate would still rage on thru out the century as Constantine
would die and the new emperor from the east would hold to ‘Arian’ views.
Eventually Orthodoxy would win out and Arianism would be rejected by the
majority of believers. I should note that many of the oriental churches would
go the way of Arianism till this day; some of these churches are not like the
modern cults that we would automatically reject, but they do hold to beliefs
that Orthodox Christianity has rejected. As I have written about before, it’s
easy to see how various believers have struggled with these issues over the
years, some of the ways people express things can be deemed heresy a little too
quickly in my view. There are believers who express the deity of Jesus in ways
that some Arians express it, and they are not full Arians! The point being,
yes- Arian went too far in his belief that Jesus was a created being, Johns
gospel refutes this belief strongly [as well as many other portions of
scripture] but too say that Jesus was/is the full expression of the father,
because he ‘came out from God’ is also in keeping with scripture. Today we
should be familiar with the issues and also use much grace when labeling different
groups of believers; and we should strive for a unity in the Spirit as much as
possible. As believers we accept the full deity of Christ, one who is of the
‘same substance’ of the father- true God from true God. He who has seen the Son
has seen the father- Jesus said to Phillip ‘I have been with you a long time,
if you see and know me, you have seen and known my father’ Jesus is God come
down in the flesh to dwell among men, the true Immanuel, God with us.
[parts]
(1226) 2ND
CORINTHIANS 4- In chapter 3 Paul said we are beholding/seeing God in an open
way as compared to the old covenant. In this chapter he shows us how we ‘see
God’. We see him in his Son. God has chosen to reveal himself to us thru his
Son. One of the first Christian councils [after the one at Jerusalem in Acts 15!] was held in the 4th
century under the Roman emperor Constantine. The reason was to bring unity to
the church on the issue of Christ’s divinity. These councils played political
roles as well as theological. After Constantine
became emperor he established the great city in the eastern empire called Constantinople . This city [named after him] became both
the theological and political seat in the eastern half of the empire. So you
had both a religious and political competition going on in the empire. Rome , situated in the
west, was feeling like she would lose her position if the eastern half started
gaining too much influence. So you had differing reasons for these councils.
But you also had sincere men who held to various beliefs at the time. The
bishop Arius came to teach that Jesus was the Son of God, but not God himself.
This created a stir in the empire and Constantine
called a council to settle the question. The debates went forth, both views
were discussed and classic Orthodoxy came down on the side of Jesus being God.
Now, there would be more councils dealing with Gods nature and Christ’s role,
but this was a defining moment in Christian history. The church [and the
scriptures] teach that God became man [incarnation] and thru Jesus we ‘see
God’. Paul also relates the many sufferings and trials he was going thru. He
says he tastes death and bears in his body the death of Jesus. He simply does
not give a picture of the Christian life that is common in today’s world. Many
believers are taught that these types of difficulties and sufferings are a result
of their lack of faith, or their inability to rightfully ‘access their covenant
rights’. Paul refutes this doctrine strongly. Paul has already mentioned those
who ‘peddle Gods word’ or who twist the scriptures for their own benefit. It
always amazes me to see well meaning believers/teachers go thru the entire
corpus of the New Testament and never see these things. It’s so easy for
preachers/teachers to read the scriptures with blinders on. Here Paul taught
that the many sufferings [both physical and spiritual] were an honorable thing,
they were his way of sharing in the sufferings and death of Christ. They were
‘death in him, but life in you’ he saw his difficulties thru a redemptive lens.
He says the present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed in us. The first verse of this chapter says seeing we
have received this great ministry, we don’t faint. I like Eugene Petersons
Message version, he says ‘just because times get hard, we don’t throw up our
hands and walk off the job’ I like that.
[parts]
(594)
. Let me cover some church history. I have had
someone argue with me about the history of Islam. Not a Muslim, but a Christian
who was saying ‘why do you say Islam started in the 7th century, it
started around the 11th’. My answer was ‘Muhammad lived in the 7th
century’. Not to hard to see this. So I thought I should cover some history.
During the time of the rise of Islam, the Christian church was already dividing
from east and west. After Constantine [4th century Roman emperor]
consolidated the Roman Empire in the 4th century he set up the
capital city of the eastern empire, Constantinople [named after him]. As time
progressed the western church would take on the form of Roman Catholicism, the
eastern [Constantinople area. Modern day Turkey-Istanbul] would be known as
‘Orthodox’. Though the official split of eastern and western [Catholic-Rome!]
churches occurred in 1054 AD, yet the division started years before. The
official split is called ‘the great schism’ of the 11th century; it
would not be until 500 years later that the church would have her ‘reformation’.
The official reason for this split was over a rather silly thing. For centuries
the Catholic church had an expression that said ‘the Holy Spirit proceeds from
the Father’ than they included ‘he proceeds from the father and the Son’. Well
the eastern brothers didn’t like Rome telling them what to believe and used
this as the official reason to ‘have the schism’. To be honest the divisions
were coming for years. After the Roman Empire consolidated under Constantine,
he tried to strengthen the eastern territories of his empire and for centuries
you had the struggle for which region would be the most influential. At first
you had 5 major areas that were divided under 5 main Bishops. As time went on
the argument would be ‘which bishop has the most say so’ and it was really a
power struggle. Finally Rome said ‘the bishop of Rome is the FIRST AMONG EQUALS
[a term that many in the Protestant strain of the discipling movement would
later embrace] he holds Peters seat’ and this is really where the divisions started.
Eventually Muhammad would rise and Islam would take control of the eastern
capital. This later became the reason for the crusades. The Catholic church
wanted to regain the territories that she lost in the east. The eastern
churches are very much Catholic in many ways. They also hold to a view of
Christianity that sees man being ‘joined’ with God and becoming pleasing to God
thru Christ’s grace uniting with us and making us like him. A perfectly
scriptural view, but a different emphasis from the strong intellectual power
that you read about from the western fathers of the church. The Catholic church
is noted for her social action in ways that the eastern church is not. So both
of these communions have good things to bring to the table. The Orthodox [eastern]
churches would not be affected by the major social and political upheavals that
took place in the west. The Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment
had major impacts on western Christianity, while not affecting the eastern
church in the same way. During the 13th- 15th centuries you would
have ‘pre reformers’ rise up in the western church. John Wycliffe, the great
Catholic Priest who was at the center of learning in France would become known
for his translating the scriptures into the common language. Then you have John
Huss and John Knox [3 Johns, scripture says 3 fold cords are not easily
broken!] who would have their own influence in western Christianity. At this
time you had whole movements of believers who would be seen as neither ‘western
or eastern’ but restorationist [the restoring of the early practices and
beliefs of the church] Peter Waldo would be the Father of the Waldensians and
in the 12th century you would have the Albigenses in the south of
France. These groups would be looked upon as ‘cults’ [though the term was not
used yet] by the traditional church. So you can see how the church has been
growing and reforming ever since the first century. Even though we see many
divisions that exist till this day, there are strides being made for unity. The
eastern and western church are very close to‘re uniting’ once again. While I do
not personally hold to the doctrine of the Pope being the occupier of Peter’s
seat, I also see him as a Christian man who is striving for unity in Christ’s church.
Some believe the whole attempt for outward unity is futile. The more ardent
Protestants see it as ‘the one world church of the anti christ’ I reject that
language out of hand. Well I hope you got something out of this short overview
of world history [real short!].
[parts]
Part of the achievements of
Constantine was his development of the eastern half of the Roman empire- whose
capitol was named after him- Constantinople.
Over a period of years the early
Roman church fought over whose bishop would have more influence- the bishop of
Rome [Pope] or the bishop in the east.
Many bishops in the Catholic
Church have disagreed over the influence of one bishop being greater than the
others [the idea that all the bishops should have an equal voice at the church
councils is called Collegiality].
This has caused splits within the
Catholic Church thru the centuries [the last big one in the 19th
century].
Eventually the early church
split- and the Eastern Church separated from Rome.
The eastern empire [called
Byzantium- the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church] officially split in the
year 1054.
Now- in church history we call
this the Great Schism- even though the Protestant split which took place in the
16th century was greater in effect.
Okay- the Protestant reformers
split over various issues- I have an entire study on the blog about this.
But the main issue became what we
call justification by faith.
Over the centuries many good men-
and average church goers- lost the main message of the New Testament- which was
a message of being saved by the grace of God.
Many well meaning Christians were
struggling to do penance in a way that sort of earned them their salvation thru
works.
[parts]
ELI’S BOOK
ON VIDEO-
.Why did Paul work to support himself and others?
.Did I relapse?
.Will you pray for me?
.Baptist- Catholic- Orthodox
.House church?
.Should we tithe?
.Law or Christ?
.Bishops
.Church history
.Russia goes Orthodox
.Moscow the new Rome?
.The Papacy
.John of Damascus
.Icons
NOTE- It just so happened that I mentioned Istanbul Turkey-
and Moscow on this teaching- a day or 2 before the recent events. I posted a
short video yesterday about the downing of the Russian plane by Turkey. https://youtu.be/LLmMWnq8uQY
Brief overview- we [U.S.] are ‘in’ Syria because we are
supposed to be fighting terrorists- and nations that support them. Russia is
also in Syria to fight terrorists.
Russia is fighting all of them [including the ones that
Turkey supports- and backs- also called ‘rebels’- some of these groups we too
support- because even though they are similar to ISIS- yet we overlook it-
because they are fighting Assad [strange- I know].
Now- Turkey is also a member of NATO- meaning we will ‘back
them up- like one of our own’.
So- in our war against terror- we will also theoretically ‘go
to war’ against any nation that threatens nations in the NATO alliance [meaning
we will defend nations that support terrorism].
Ok- Turkey shoots down a Russian plane [in Syrian airspace-
an act of war- which president Obama defended] because the Russians are also
bombing the terrorists that Turkey supports.
They shot down a Russian plane because the Russians are
killing terrorists [though the ones Turkey backs don’t have the title of ISIS].
Now- after the plane was shot down- the Russians sent in a
rescue helicopter- which too was shot at- by ‘rebels’ on the ground [who were
the terrorists Russia was bombing].
These so called rebels- shot at the helicopter- using U.S.
weapons- provided to them- wit U.S. backing [in theory- we supplied the
terrorists that killed the Russian rescue team].
Now- Russia is mad- and we are supposed to support Turkey-
even if it means war- because Turkey shot down a Russian plane- who were
targeting terrorists.
[parts]
1783- THE BISHOP
Kinda wanted to cover some contemporary issues going on in
the ‘church world’ being we just spent a few weeks in the ancient history
stuff.
But it might take too long- some current debates in
Evangelical circles concern a recent round table discussion with T.D. Jakes- a
man I like- but he got in some hot water, again- because of his background as a
Pentecostal Oneness minister.
This group has disagreed with historic Christianity on the
Trinity- and over the years some of the Reformed brothers [Protestants] have
hit him hard on the issue.
So in the recent discussion it happened again- basically
Jakes says he holds to the Trinitarian view today [One God- 3 Persons] though
his background stated it by saying ‘One God- 3 manifestations’.
You say ‘gee John- doesn’t sound like something to kill each
other over’- well- we do- trust me- we do.
I have known and been friends with Pentecostal Oneness
brothers before- and I personally accept them as Christians.
No- I don’t use the words they use when defining the
Trinity- but I don’t completely out and out reject them a total heretics.
I used to listen to Jakes- and for the most part I felt
comfortable with him- the main reason I do not tune in to these guys anymore is
the whole persona thing- ministries- ‘churches’ huge organizations- who for the
most part are clearing houses for the well intended Pastors- but the entire
image of the ministry becomes the persona of a man.
This type of atmosphere actually violates the principles we
find in the bible- that the churches in the bible did not have the image/gifts
of a person- no matter how good that person is- as the central organizing
principle of the group.
Basically- in the bible- the churches were truly centered
around the person of Christ.
And in many contemporary situations- well- everything
[especially the ‘tithes’] usually goes to the promoting of the image of a
person [TV- teaching materials- etc.].
And very often millions are spent promoting a person- which
is a violation of the principles of leadership we find in the New Testament.
So anyway- I said that to simply say I always liked Jakes-
and yes- as somewhat of a history buff- sure- I know the difficulty with his
past connections [the actual term for the ‘heresy’ is called Modalism- which
describes the belief that God is one who manifests in 3- they don’t say ‘3
persons’].
So I know the scoop- but the reason I don t watch/hear these
men anymore is because I just get turned off by the whole ‘dial 1-800- Bishop’
type thing- I mean I like reading/studying from ‘real’ Bishops.
Men like N.T. Wright- former Bishop in the Church of England-
or Bishop Sheen- a popular Catholic Bishop who you can catch on the tube every
so often- yes- ‘real’ bishops in the sense that they are well versed in a wide
field of learning- Philosophy- scholarship- church history- yeah- I like
hearing Bishops.
But in today’s world- you have Bishops ‘ordaining’ Bishops
by the boat loads- and when the way you contact them is thru a 1-800 number-
well then I think we have a problem.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John
1782- PROTESTANT REFORMATION CONCLUSION
Today let’s finish up the study on the Protestant
Reformation. We left off on Luther disputing with the church over the doctrine
of how a person becomes just in the sight of God- is it by works or faith?
Now- to the surprise of many Protestants [and Catholics!]
both sides agreed that a person cannot be justified by works.
Yes- the Catholic Church rejected what was known as
Pelagianism. In the early centuries of the church there was a Catholic priest-
named Pelagius- who taught that people had the ability within themselves to
obey Gods law and become saved that way.
He rejected the doctrine of original sin and another famous
bishop- Saint Augustine- would refute Pelagius and teach salvation comes by the
Grace of God. The official Catholic
position was to reject Pelagius and accept Augustine.
Okay- then where’s the difference?
The church council that spells it out is the Council of
Trent [named after the Italian city where the council took place in the 1500’s-
Trento].
This council is often referred to as the Counter
Reformation. The church rejected the Protestant line- but also acknowledged the
need for reform and made some changes.
This is the council where the church rejects Pelagianism-
and also says the position of Luther [Justification by Faith ALONE] was flawed.
The church appealed to the New Testament letter of Saint
James- where James uses an example from the life of Abraham [found in Genesis
22] where Abraham obeys God and is willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on an
altar.
Of course this never happens- God was simply testing
Abraham- but James says this act of obedience justified him in Gods sight.
James says ‘see how a man is justified by works- and not by
faith ALONE’.
The argument from Rome was Faith played THE major role in
justification- but was not sufficient by itself- there had to be righteous
works eventually associated with it in order for God to say ‘you are just’
[saved].
Luther disagreed and said God justified Abraham before he
had good works- we find this in Genesis 15. God says to Abraham ‘look- count
all the stars- so shall your offspring be’ and Walla- the bible also says
Abraham was justified in God's eyes the moment he believed the promise.
Who’s right?
Actually they both are.
I have taught this a few times over the years- and it would
take too much time to re-do right now.
But I believe James and Paul [the 2 who debate this in the
bible] are simply looking at different aspects of salvation/justification.
Paul emphasized faith- and James showed us how true faith
always has works with it.
When you read the statements that came out from the council
of Trent- some of them do seem to indicate that both sides might have been
talking past each other at some points.
In the heat of the day they were too quick to condemn the
other side- without really trying hard to achieve unity [like politics!].
The 6th session of Trent was the one where the
church dealt with justification [how we become saved in Gods sight].
Rome made a distinction between mortal and Venial sin in the
council- the church said that Baptism is the INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE of
justification. Yet faith is the Root- Foundation and Initial act that
justifies.
Rome also taught that Mortal sin kills the grace in the soul
that brings justification- and when a person commits a mortal sin- they need the
‘2nd plank of justification’ in order to be brought back into a
state of Grace.
This 2nd Plank is the Sacrament of Penance
[confession]. Catholic Moral Theologians use an example to show the difference
between Mortal and Venial sin.
Drinking- if you take a drink [alcohol] not a sin. If you get tipsy- Venial- and if you get flat
drunk- mortal.
This is a true teaching by the way- not making this up.
Catholic scholars are not in total agreement on all the
Mortal/Venial sins.
Some teach that missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal sin.
I just threw this in to show you the debates that take
place.
The teachings from Trent are referred to as Tridentine.
The Protestants [early on] rejected the belief that a person
can lose Gods grace once he has it- later on the Protestants would divide-
severely- over this teaching- Predestination and the Perseverance of the
Saints.
But early on all the major Reformers did indeed teach this.
Luther believed in the doctrine of Predestination just as
much- if not more- than John Calvin.
But sometimes in these history shows they get this wrong and
say Luther and Calvin disagreed on it- that’s a common mistake that you hear
every so often.
Luther actually wrote a book dedicated to the subject [The
Bondage of the Will] Calvin never wrote a book solely on the subject.
Okay- as we end this brief study of the Protestant
Reformation- you could also call it a primer on Catholic doctrine [short one].
Why is it important that we study this?
In John chapter 17 Jesus said that he desired unity for all
of Gods people- and many of these divisions- which date back 500 years- are
commonly misunderstood on both sides.
It is common in our day to run across an ex Catholic who
might say ‘you know- I left the church because I don’t believe I need to
confess to a priest’ or ‘the Catholic church teaches you are saved by works’.
The original Reformers did not have a problem with
confession- the Lutherans carried the practice over into their communion.
And like I just showed you- the Catholic church rejected the
doctrine of being saved ‘by works’ [Pelagianism] and simply emphasized the
teaching found in the bible- the book of James- and focused more on James than
Paul [who the protestants focus on].
So yes- there are still differences- but if we are not
informed- then it makes it harder to strive for unity- and at the end of the
day God does desire unity for all his people.
The other day I quoted the great Civil rights leader- MLK.
In one of his famous speeches that’s played when we celebrate his life- you
hear Martin say that not only was he seeking unity among the races- but also in
the church.
He said he wanted to see Catholics and Protestants- as well
as Blacks and Whites- sit down together- he referred to us all as Gods kids.
I think we should strive to achieve the desire of Martin-
and Jesus.
Amen.
Note- Do me a favor, those who
read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read
them on. Thanks- John
1775- WHAT DID HE SAY?
Let’s do a little review today. I know the history posts go
a little long sometimes- and many Christians do not see the value in studying
church history.
But I have found over the years that a lot of independent
type churches- good men- good people- but cut off from the broader church- well
these churches have a tendency to get off in a rut- a particular doctrine or
style of teaching- and after a while it becomes impossible to get these good
church folk back on the balanced course.
A few examples. Many years ago- as a young Pastor- I had
lots of good Pastor friends who too were doing their best to do what they felt
God wanted.
At the time- I began having difficulty with many of the most
popular interpretations of the bible that these good men were using.
[parts]
We often blame
the fall on ‘lack of accountability’. True accountability is submitting to each
other in love. It is not some unnatural structure that we create. I have heard
it taught in the way that if some outside person is our ‘covering’ and they
call us once a month and yell at us, that some how this is being humble and
being accountable. You can’t be accountable without true friendship and
relationship. We often jump to the conclusion that when one of our brothers
fall that it’s a result of a lack of accountability, when it just might be that
we allowed them to be lifted up to a place where the Lord had to humble them.
[I don’t want to judge this man, I didn’t even realize I was going to share
this but during my prayer time early this morning I continued to pray for him
and some other brothers who have fallen, and then I felt the Lord permitted me
to share this!] When we allow leaders to attain honorific titles in violation
of scripture we are unknowingly placing them in a position where Christ must
humble them.
Let me mention here the
interesting phenomena of Christians [charismatic and others] seeing the ‘need’
for believers to revert back to ecclesiastical structures. During the Jesus
movement of the 70’s, as well as the charismatic movement, there were well
intentioned brothers who felt like the freedom of ‘simply following Christ’ and
the working of the Spirit were not enough to keep the movements from going off
track. They sensed the need to have ‘structure’ for the new believers. Jack
Sparks, a brother who felt this way, eventually reverted all the way back to
Greek orthodoxy and is an orthodox priest today in California . Others like Bob Mumford and Ern
Baxter became involved in the discipleship/shepherding movement which placed an
overemphasis on the concept of covering and being in submission to authority.
These men were well intentioned, but it is my feeling that there is a degree of
arrogance and elitism that causes people to believe that somehow through
establishing ‘structure’ that they can safeguard the new Christians who where
coming to Christ at this time.
The whole phenomena of reverting back to
previous church communities is nothing new. You had the ‘oxford movement’ after
the reformation where many Anglican scholars became Catholics after studying
the church fathers and other early sources and felt that the earliest Christian
witness was Catholic. You had cardinal Newman later on also becoming catholic,
or a Frances Schaffer jr. leaving evangelicalism in order to become eastern
orthodox. In all these scenarios these are good men who are finding refuge in
‘structure’. While I consider all of these faiths to be Christian, I believe
the error of this type of thinking is we seem to believe if we add structure to
new believers this will keep them from going off track. The ‘structure’ of the
New Testament churches was nothing like this. Their safeguard was in keeping
Jesus pre-eminent in their lives and living together in Christian love and
brotherhood. When a Paul or other Christian leader saw them getting off track
[Galatians/Corinthians] the answer was not more structure, but simply refuting
the error and re-presenting Christ. It was ultimately being able to trust God
to finish the work that He started in them.
[parts]
(790) ROMANS
7:1-4 Paul uses the analogy of a married woman ‘don’t you know that the law has
dominion over a person as long as he is alive’? If a married woman leaves her
husband and marries another man she is guilty of breaking the law of adultery.
Now, if her husband dies, she is free to marry another man. The act that freed
her from sin and guilt was death! Every thing else in the scenario stayed the
same. She still married another, she still consummated the new marriage. But
because her first husband died, she has no guilt. I always loved this analogy.
For years I wondered why these themes in scripture are for the most part not
‘imbedded’ in the collective psyche of the people of God. We have spent so much
time ‘proof texting’ the verses on success and wealth, that we have overlooked
the really good stuff! Now Paul teaches that we have been made free from the
law by the ‘death of our husband’ [Jesus] so we can ‘re-marry’. Who do we
marry? Christ! He has not only died to free us from the law, he also rose from
the dead to become our ‘husband’ [we are called the bride of Christ]. Paul
connects the death and resurrection of Jesus in this analogy. Both are needed
for the true gospel to be preached [1st Corinthians 15]. Notice how
in this passage Paul emphasizes ‘the death of Christ’s body’. The New Testament
doesn’t always make this distinction, but here it does. In the early centuries
of Christianity you had various debates over the nature and ‘substance’ of God
and Christ. The church hammered out various decrees and creeds that would
become the Orthodoxy of the day. Many of these are what you would call the
‘Ecumenical councils’. These are the early councils [many centuries!] that both
the eastern [Orthodox church] and western [Catholic] churches would all accept.
Some feel that the early church fathers and Latin theologians [Tertullian,
Augustine and others] had too much prior influence from philosophy and the
‘forensic’ thinking of their time. They had a tendency to describe things in
highly technical ways. Ways that were prominent in the legal and philosophical thinking
of the West. Some of the eastern thinkers [Origen] had more of a Greek ‘flavor’
to their theologizing [Alexandria, named after Alexander the great, was a city
of philosophy many years prior to Christ. This city was at one time the center
of thinking in the East. That’s why Paul would face the thinkers at Athens,
they had a history in the east of Greek philosophy]. Well any way the result
was highly technical debates over the nature of God and Christ. The historic
church would finally decree that Christ had 2 natures, Human and Divine. And
that at the Cross the ‘humanity of Jesus’ died, but his ‘Deity’ did not. I
think Paul agreed by saying ‘we are free from the law by the death of Christ’s
Body’ here Paul distinguishes between the physical death of Jesus and his
Deity.
[parts]
VERSES-
1Corinthians
15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;1Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
If
any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
Even
so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
And
the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among
our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
But
the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison.
In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that
refraineth his lips is wise. Prvb. 10:19
9 And a
vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10 And after
he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them.
Acts- 16
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a
virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Is. 7
26 And after
eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto
you.
27 Then
saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but
believing.
28 And
Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and
my God.
John 20
21 From that
time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto
Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then
Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord:
this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he
turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence
unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.
Matt 16
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will
come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matt 16.
Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts-
re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. I deal with
issues at times that it would be beneficial for some of you to download and
save the file from the Word Press link. This creates a permanent record. The
on-line videos are only good if sites are not hacked- which has happened in the
past. Thanks- John.#
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