Over time, the modern American church has accumulated a large number of stock phrases that worship leaders use (sometimes without even realizing it). You’ve probably heard any number of these: a prayer before a sermon asks God to grant the preacher a “ready recollection of the things he has prepared”; a closing prayer asks God to “guide, guard, and direct us” before asking Him to “bring us back at the next appointed time”; a sermon ends with “come as we stand and sing”; on and on the list could go. One of the more commonly used expressions serves to mark a boundary between two actions in worship: the Lord’s Supper and the church’s opportunity to “lay something aside” as a monetary contribution to the Lord’s work (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). This expression, “separate and apart,” is meant to create a continental divide between these two actions, a divide that someone years ago felt was so clear and so important that some long-forgotten person(s) created a habit of emphasizing it twice (since “separate” and “apart” both mean the same thing).

There are of course good reasons to keep these two actions of worship separate in our minds (if not in our worship services). For starters, the Bible does not join them together. There is no command or example of the Lord’s Supper ever immediately being followed by an opportunity to give. The insistence of many worship leaders to keep these actions together “as a matter of convenience” (a statement which has itself become another stock phrase) has led some people see the contribution as kind of a “part three” to the Lord’s Supper. While it is very appropriate to give back to the Lord in light of all that He has given to us, we shouldn’t walk away from the Lord’s Supper thinking that the event it memorializes either demands a financial contribution or could ever be repaid with one. What the Lord has given us truly stands “separate and apart” from anything we might give Him.

Recently though, a worship leader did something that got me thinking about the whole “separate and apart” idea again. He introduced the Lord’s Supper with a PowerPoint slide that said, “Communion.” It’s an accurate description of the Lord’s Supper, since it is one of a number of ways this action of worship is described in Scripture. In speaking about the Lord’s Supper, Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16). “Communion” is a word that is more commonly translated “fellowship” (e.g., Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 8:4; Ephesians 3:9; Philippians 1:5; 2:1; 3:10; 1 John 1:3; 1 John 1:6-7), and describing the Lord’s Supper as communion reminds us of the rich fellowship we enjoy with Jesus because He saved us.

Well, I think it was just an accident, but on this particular Sunday “Communion” stayed on the screen, as the worship service shifted gears, and the prayer leader introduced the opportunity our congregation would have to give. This is what got me thinking. You see, the word translated “communion” is actually used on a few occasions in Scripture to refer to a financial offering made by Christians. When Paul anticipated the Corinthians contributing to the needy saints in Judea, he described it as a “liberal sharing” (NKJV) or “contribution” (ESV, NASB), which is the same word translated elsewhere as “communion” or “fellowship.” Romans reveals that the Corinthians did as Paul hoped; he describes the offering of both Macedonia and Achaia (where Corinth was) as “a certain contribution,” with the word “contribution” once again being translated from that same word (Romans 15:26). And, when Paul speaks of the Philippians’ “fellowship” (NKJV) or “partnership” in Philippians 1:6, he likely has reference to their financial contributions to his work for which he later thanks them in greater detail (Philippians 4:15-18).

Let me reiterate, the Lord’s Supper and the collection taken up on the first day of the week are NOT the same thing even though the same term describes them. Instead, the fact that the term fellowship is used to describe them both is an indication of how rich the idea of fellowship is. When John says, “we have fellowship with one another,” describing both the connection between fellow Christians and the connection between Christians and God, he is describing an intimate, relational connection that manifests itself in mutual sharing and cooperative effort. The Lord’s Supper is a fellowship meal that serves as a solemn, needed reminder that we have been “baptized into His death,” and that it is His death that allows us to “walk in newness of life” with God and with each other (Romans 6:3-4). Our financial contribution is an opportunity to pool our resources to become “God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9) and further His work in this world.

We’re used to thinking of the Lord’s Supper as “communion,” but what about our Sunday offering? How should it change the way we give to know that the money we give is another way to celebrate the connection we have with Jesus and each other? Even though Scripture warns against it, too often giving can be done “grudgingly or of necessity” (2 Corinthians 9:7), and we can treat our giving more like a donation to a charity than a contribution to an effort. But really, the latter is what it is, and what we give becomes a real way to be connected to efforts that we may never physically be a part of. Because the Philippians contributed to Paul’s work, he considered them, as he put it, “partakers [a compound word formed by the prefix “with” and the word “fellowship” – PWS] with me of grace” (Philippians 1:7). Everything Paul did, they too did. Whenever we are “willing to share [again, a word etymologically linked to ‘fellowship’ – PWS]” our money and resources, we lay “a good foundation for the time to come” and “lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

Though we do need to be careful to make sure our stock phrases don't become "vain repetitions" (Matthew 6:7), it’s not wrong to emphasize in whatever way we choose that the Lord’s Supper and the contribution are two separate actions that we undertake in worshipping God and obeying His Word. However, it’s worth remembering from time to time that both things are ways we celebrate and participate in the rich fellowship that we enjoy as Christians.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

More than one conscientious Bible reader has come to this passage and paused: “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (Mark 3:28-29). While all Biblical warnings should be taken seriously, these words carry incredible weight: “never has forgiveness… eternal condemnation.” Some variance in Greek manuscripts sometimes sees translations saying “sin” instead of “condemnation,” but the outcome is the same. If one has committed an eternal sin, he is subject to eternal condemnation. Jesus words were even echoed on another occasion, potentially applying what the Scribes did to others: “to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10; cf. Matthew 12:31-32).  Christians are used to singing about the “wonderful grace of Jesus” that is “greater than all my sin,” and proclaiming, “His grace reaches me.” These words in Mark 3 though seem to add a limitation to God’s grace and create a place that His grace cannot reach. Do they?

I think it’s important to interpret Jesus’ words while considering both their immediate and remote context. Though I would normally suggest the opposite as a procedure in Bible study, for Christians who might be reading this verse in genuine fear that they have already committed an unforgiveable sin, I would suggest beginning by reflecting on the remote context first. Any number of verses might be considered, but Peter’s words stand out, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). There’s a two-fold universal claim here: 1) God is not willing that any should perish; 2) God desires that all should come to repentance. To those who might be reading this text in fear, please realize, this verse and many, many other verses establish in stone the desire of God to forgive. What God desires, He is able to achieve in Jesus, who is “able to save to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25).

To return to the immediate context, certain scribes have just said that Jesus’ ability to cast out demons is a sign that he himself is demon possessed (Mark 3:22). Mark tells us that what Jesus says is in response to this fact (Mark 3:30). In light of this, two things occur to me: 1) There are clearly some things about the scribes behavior that are not repeatable today. We are not in the presence of Jesus and cannot see Him cast out demons, so we of course do not have the opportunity to see such a thing and attribute it to the power of a demon. 2) It’s possible that there’s simply a matter-of-factness about Jesus’ words. The scribes already had their hearts set against Jesus; if the very thing that God intended as evidence to move them out of unbelief (cf. Hebrews 2:1-4) was totally misinterpreted and maligned, what more could God do to win them?

When you fly an airplane away from an airport, there is a point that is reached which is sometimes referred to as the “point of no return.” At this point, the fuel in the airplane is no longer sufficient to return to the airport at which the flight originated. Is it possible that the scribes Jesus described had reached this point in their own spiritual journey? I would argue that it is. And is it possible for us to reach a similar point in ours? While I would argue that we can’t do what the scribes did and thus can’t commit the unpardonable sin that is described, we can so harden our hearts “through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13) that our sin becomes eternal and subject to eternal condemnation. I would never presume to know if someone had reached this “point of no return,” but I would argue that God does. Fear is probably a good sign that we have not reached that point, but faith is the only way to ensure that we never do.

It is interesting to me that Mark sandwiches this event between two other accounts. Before it, Mark lists the men who were appointed by Jesus to share in His power, men who would later become apostles (Mark 3:13-20). These men left behind everything to follow Jesus. They are joined by a multitude which pressed towards Jesus with such determination that Jesus and His apostles “could not so much as eat bread” (Mark 3:20). Whether it is the soon-to-be apostles or the others recorded in this account, the text reveals people who know who Jesus is and how important it is to be with Him.

After the unpardonable sin text comes a very different picture: “Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him” (Mark 3:31). They aren’t outside denouncing Jesus as One who is demon possessed (although at least some of them are possibly the people described in Mark 3:21 who say, “He is out of His mind”). However, they also aren’t inside the house with Him or seeking to be. No, they are satisfied with who they are and with what they have; Jesus should be with them, not the other way around. They don’t seem to be interested at least at this point in following Jesus, for Jesus’ words imply that they are not behaving like His family or doing “the will of God” (Mark 3:33-35).

As I think about these three accounts, I have to conclude that while I can’t really do what the scribes did by denying the source of Jesus’ power, I can certainly be where they are: in eternal sin and subject to eternal condemnation. Logically, I can pass the point of no return. If I’m going to avoid their fate, there really isn’t any safety in “standing outside” of what Jesus and His church are doing. Jesus’ mother and brothers were closer to the scribes when they did so than they were to Jesus. No, the surest way to avoid anything like the unpardonable sin is to run away from it. I do so by desiring to be in the house with Jesus, not by calling Him out to me, and by putting myself wherever I can be as close to Him as possible.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

The typical modern western worldview is incredibly materialistic. People reared in this part of the world are frequently taught both expressly and implicitly that everything in life is subject to scientific methods of examination. For every observable phenomenon, there must be some material explanation (even if it is not yet known); for every effect, there must be a cause rooted in the physical world.

This perspective should come into direct conflict with the Christian faith. For example, where does an answer from God to prayer fit into such a worldview? Well, it doesn’t… at least not easily. Some who embrace the western worldview while embracing faith believe that God exclusively answers prayer through the agency of materialistic causes. God heals, they might say, but only through the agency of doctors, nurses, and medicine. Their worldview causes them to see God as interacting with creation in a very hands-off, almost deistic kind of way.^[1]

There are many issues with viewing God this way. First, it is incorrect to say that materialistic explanations are always adequate. If medicine were an exact science, for example, then disease and treatment would always work the same way; every disease properly diagnosed and treated would see the same outcome. Doctors learn instead to speak of probabilities and likely outcomes instead of certainties, as some patients defy expectations through recovery while other patients expected to recover do not.

Second, God does not present either Himself or the realm in which He dwells as being totally detached from the realm in which we dwell. James for example presents God as the source of every material blessing (James 1:17). He states that our failure to ask God (or to ask Him properly) at times limits our access to these blessings (James 4:1-3), adding that righteous prayer is incredibly powerful in moving God to bring about dramatic change (James 5:16-18). The Hebrews author adds that the angels are actively serving as “ministering spirits” to us, “those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). On the other end of the spectrum, Peter warns us of the active opposition of the devil, who, “like a roaring lion,” “walks about… seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:7). Paul says that joining him are “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

So, if the Bible clearly describes both God and Satan as being active in our world, why do Christians sometimes embrace the western worldview and its detached (or non-existent) view of the spiritual realm? Sometimes, they do so because they confuse the concept of the cessation of miraculous gifts with the cessation of spiritual activity.

Christians in the first century were endowed by the Holy Spirit with miraculous gifts – nine to be exact according to the list Paul gave (1 Corinthians 12:1-11, esp. vv. 8-10). While some of these gifts may seem to be non-miraculous at first blush (“wisdom” or “knowledge” for example), it should be noted that even these were directly given “through the spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:8) and represented something given “individually” rather than something to which all had access. These gifts were given by the Holy Spirit through the agency of the “laying on of the apostles’ hands” (Acts 8:17-18; e.g., 2 Timothy 1:6).

The way these gifts were given – through the apostles – already says something about their duration. The office of an apostle is not one that Jesus intended to exist beyond the lifespan of the individuals He selected. Paul added to this the idea that the spiritual gifts apostles had and gave represented knowledge “in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12) and that the intention of the Lord was for these things to pass away as the church matured and its body of knowledge – the New Testament Scriptures, described as “that which is perfect” – became complete (1 Corinthians 13:8-12). Instead of a dim mirror (knowledge derived from spiritual gifts – 1 Corinthians 13:12), the “perfect law of liberty” allows us to clearly observe our “natural face” and “be blessed” (James 1:23).

The fact that Scripture describes the end of spiritual gifts both by implication and direct teaching does not imply that Scripture declares that either God or our adversary Satan is inactive in today’s world. The passages that were referenced above relative to prayer, angelic providence, and spiritual warfare are not limited in their duration. Concerning God, I am always careful to point out that though God’s primary purpose in performing miracles – to bear witness to the message “which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him” (Hebrews 2:2-4) – has come to an end, God has not relinquished His power or right to interact with this world as He sees fit. Though I am cautious in applying any Biblical terminology like “miracle” to anything that happens outside of the Bible and prefer an Esther 4:14 (“who knows”) and James 1:17 (if it is good and perfect, it came from God) type approach, I never want to be guilty of trying to put God in a box or of pretending to know what I do not about all He is or is not doing.

What about Satan though and his “miracle” of sorts, the first-century phenomenon of demon possession? Since western modernity denies all miraculous activity, it naturally denies this ever existed, let alone exists today. On the odd occasion when a materialistically-minded person tries to explain demon possession, he or she will usually try to say that this was merely the Bible’s way of describing mental disorders like schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder. This really does not line up with anything but the broadest details of the biblical record; biblical demons had inhuman strength (e.g. Luke 8:29; Acts 19:16), supernatural knowledge (Acts 16:16), and innately knew who Jesus and His followers were (Matthew 8:29; Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28; Acts 16:17; 19:15). Those who had demons cast out were not described as being “healed,” as one would expect if this were merely a phenomenon inside the brain. Instead, even when cast out of people, demons had personalities and still existed (e.g., Matthew 8:31-32).

So, if real demon possession existed then, does it exist now? First, it should be noted that even though casting out demons is not explicitly described in Paul’s list of the nine spiritual gifts, it is described as a spiritual gift Jesus gave His disciples during His earthly ministry (Matthew 10:8) and one He envisioned being a part of the miraculous age (Mark 16:17). It’s possible that casting out demons was an operation under the banner of one of Paul’s nine gifts or that Paul’s list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. If casting out demons was a miraculous gift (or an aspect of a miraculous gift), the cessation of the cure points to the idea of the cessation of the problem.

Second, it should be noted that though demon possession is noteworthy and frequent in the New Testament, it is notably absent in the Old Testament. The witch at En Dor seems just as surprised as Saul when her antics manage to summon Samuel (who also was not a demon! – 1 Samuel 28:12). As for Saul himself, it’s difficult to say his “evil spirit” (KJV, NASB; “distressing” NKJV and “harmful” ESV) is a demon, since over and over again it is said to come from God (1 Samuel 16:14-16, 23; 18:10; 19:9) and the effect on Saul is very different than anything we see in the New Testament. It’s possible that the New Testament describes something new and different, where God allowed a miraculous opportunity for Satan and his forces even as He poured out the power of His Holy Spirit upon early Christians. As Jesus said, the advent of casting out demons was definitely intended as a sign that “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:18-20).

Third, if demon possession was something that God intended to continue as an ongoing demonstration of the kingdom and its power, we would expect some teaching about 1) how to identify a demon possessed person (as opposed to a person under the influence of drugs or suffering from a mental illness) and 2) how to cast a demon out. It should remember that the encouragement, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29; cf. Matthew 17:21) was an instruction given to those who had been given “power and authority over all demons” by Jesus (Luke 9:1; cf. Matthew 10:1, 8; Mark 3:15; 6:7; Luke 10:19). It is not merely enough to invoke the name of Jesus to cast out demons; the Bible records the account of the seven sons of Sceva who invoked the name of Jesus to no effect (Acts 19:13-16). Also, those supposed today to be “demon possessed” do not behave in consistent ways with Biblical accounts of demon possession, and the modern exorcism practices designed to cast them out are rooted in imagination, fantasy, tradition, and myth rather than Scripture.  

Fourth, prophecy may have something to say about the end of demon possession. Zechariah spoke of a day in which “a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). To borrow from William Cowper’s hymn, this appears to be a prophecy concerning “a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins,” i.e., the spiritual cleansing found in and through the blood of Jesus (John 4:14; 19:34; Acts 20:28; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 13:11-12; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 5:6-8; Revelation 21:6). In the very next verse, Zechariah writes, “‘It shall be in that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land’” (Zechariah 13:2). The end of the gift of prophesy definitely seems to be described, especially in light of the verses that follow. What does Zechariah mean though by “the unclean spirit”? “Unclean spirit” is a frequent description given to demons in the New Testament (Matthew 10:1; 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26-27; 3:11, 30; 5:2, 8, 13; 6:7; 7:25; 9:25; Luke 4:26; 6:18; 8:29; 9:42; 11:24; Acts 5:16; 8:7). Though it is not a common interpretation of the text (why is “unclean spirit” singular?), it is at least possible that Zechariah saw both the miraculous gift of prophecy and demonic possessions coming to an end at the same time, some time after the opening of God’s fountain of forgiveness.

Fifth, it should be noted that the New Testament predicts a period in which people would falsely claim to cast out demons. Jesus will one day hear people He “never knew” claim, “have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” (Matthew 7:22-23). If Jesus will claim to have never known such individuals, it is clear that whatever they had done did not really involve casting out demons in the Biblical sense. One cannot falsely claim authority from Jesus and successfully cast out demons, as we see in the account regarding the sons of Sceva noted above. As I read Matthew 7, I can’t help but think of the people frequently described as “faith healers” in the modern world whom some more accurately describe as “fake healers.”  

In light of these considerations, it is difficult to argue that any demon possession like we see in the Bible exists today. What about the so-called dark arts though, things like paganism, witchcraft, black magic, and the like? The Bible speaks for example of “a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people (Acts 8:9). Two things should be noted about what Simon did: 1) it does not appear to have had anything to do with demon-possession, as the context describes nothing to this effect; 2) whatever Simon did, it was something very different than real miracles, which left him “amazed” (Acts 8:13). “Sorcery” is the same word from which we get our word “pharmacy,” and points strongly to how the effect Simon and other “sorcerers” could achieve worked (i.e., through drugs). Likewise, the Bible speaks about those who “practiced magic” (Acts 19:19) but the same Greek word typically translated “magic” in Acts 19 is also typically translated “busybodies” in 1 Timothy 5:13, and again seems to speak about something fake at play (etymologically, the word in these passages is literally, “work around,” things designed to give the appearance of one thing while actually being something else).

Even though “sorcery” and “magic” both seem to have something fake about them, “sorcery” is nonetheless condemned as a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20), “sorcerers” will find themselves excluded from heaven (Revelation 21:8; 22:15), and the Bible seems to uphold the actions of those who burned their books about “magic” (Acts 19:19). This speaks to some things that have always been true: 1) a follower of God should seek no blessing apart from Him or what He ordains as lawful and good; 2) a follower of God should neither captivate or control people as Simon did with the people of Samaria, nor allow themselves to be “brought under the power of any” person or thing besides God (1 Corinthians 6:12); 3) a follower of God should “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

None of the things we have discussed above denies the reality of an active enemy in Satan, or, just like with God’s work, a certain mystery about how Satan works in today’s world. Paul speaks about “the lawless one” yet to be revealed in his time, who will operate “with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). A lot of debate surrounds what Paul means by “the lawless one,” but one thing that seems to be clear from the text is that even after the first century, Satan was/is able to use his wiles to convince people to embrace his power (real or perceived) instead of loving the truth. Still, overcoming these things and being saved does not involve an exorcism or an incantation; all one has to do is love God's truth. 

As we conclude, two things seem clear. First, we must not embrace modern materialism to the point that we no longer believe in an active God or in an active enemy. Second, we must abandon anything and everything connected with Satan and His power, and wholeheartedly and exclusively embrace Jesus and His power. Jesus’ power is sufficient to supply us with our needs and to defend us from any dangers, whether physical or spiritual. As Mary Ann Baker once wrote, “Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, or demons, or men, or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.” We have nothing to fear when Jesus is near.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

One of the two things that Agur requested from God is, “Give me neither poverty nor riches” (Proverbs 30:8). He does so reasoning that either side of the wealth equation comes with temptations and potential problems: “Lest I be full and deny You, And say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:9). As sound as his reasoning is, it is sadly not the way most people in the modern world think and far from what most people would pray.

In Jesus day, most people assumed that if a person were wealthy, it was a clear indication of God’s favor. It was also assumed that poverty and/or physical ailments were likewise a sign of God’s displeasure; even Jesus’ disciples thought that “a man who was blind from birth” had gotten that way because of sin (John 9:2-3). While this way of thinking about poverty and other challenges in life is not as common today, many moderns do assume that wealth and faithful living travel together. They also tend to believe that if poor people would only work harder, exercise more self-control, and spend their money more wisely, they too would be wealthy. It’s fairly common to hear the non-biblical adage, “God only helps those who help themselves,” in today’s world.

Jesus frequently turned the whole “faithfulness brings wealth” paradigm on its head. One such occasion was when he was visited by a rich young man. When this man asked Jesus about the “good thing” he needed to do to “have eternal life,” Jesus responded with a typical list of commands from the Law of Moses (Matthew 19:16-19). The young man felt something had to be missing as he had done these things since his childhood; he asked, “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20). Jesus responded with a revolutionary idea: wealth for this young man was not an indication of God’s favor; it was actually the biggest obstacle between him and the life he desired. Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21).

To help His disciples make application of this lesson after the young man “went away sorrowful” (Matthew 19:22), Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:23-24). This statement confirms that the danger wealth presented to the young man could potentially trouble anyone. This point was not lost on the disciples, who responded with a question: if the rich, who they assumed were closest to God, faced a seemingly impossible chance at salvation (akin to a camel going through the eye of a needle), then who could “be saved” (Matthew 19:25)? Jesus responded with a very important statement that we will circle back to in a moment: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

It occurred to Peter that the disciples themselves had already followed the instructions given to the rich young man. He said, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” (Matthew 19:27). Jesus’ initial response was to affirm both the choice they had made as well as the affect this choice would have on others who made it. For Peter and the other disciples who would become apostles, this decision would lead to an important role in Jesus’ kingdom, the church (Matthew 19:28).^[1] Further, for “everyone” who follows these disciples’ example of self-denial and sacrifice, there will be benefits: “a hundredfold” blessings and “eternal life” (Matthew 19:29).

Jesus knew their hearts though, and he knows ours. Though it was/is not a common viewpoint in either Jesus’ world or ours, there are some who envision poverty as others envision wealth, assuming that there is something inherently holy or meritorious about being poor. From the Essenes in Jesus’ day to the monastic movements of the middle ages to the near deification of the marginalized by some in modern America, people throughout the ages have presented poverty as being next to godliness. Being poor therefore becomes the “good thing” that one must do to “have eternal life” (Matthew 19:16).

Do you remember though what Jesus said in answer to the question, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). The first part of his answer is very important: “With men this is impossible” (Matthew 19:26). Whether we take the common viewpoint that wealth travels with spiritual health or the less common viewpoint that poverty is true piety, in either case we have made salvation too much about us. It is absolutely true that wealth presents unique challenges and further that our sacrifices for the Lord will be rewarded; it is not true that our work either to obtain or to avoid wealth is what will bring about our salvation. To both ways of thinking, Jesus presents a corrective: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30).

It is important to note that the parable of the day laborers which begins Matthew 20 is actually a part of the same discussion. The word “for” in Matthew 20:1 serves to expand and explain the idea that the first will be last and the last will be first and provide a needed commentary on the whole wealth vs. poverty discussion. In the parable, a landowner hires some individuals at the beginning of the day, promising to pay them “a denarius a day” (Matthew 20:1-2). As the day progresses, he continues hiring individuals, even hiring some in the eleventh hour, each time promising to pay “whatever is right” (Matthew 20:3-7). When it is time for the workers to be paid, “beginning with the last,” each worker receives a denarius regardless of the amount of time he had worked (Matthew 20:8-10). Though the workers who had worked longer complained, the landowner pointed out that their complaints had no basis; the landowner could do what he wanted in paying wages (Matthew 20:11-15).

This parable illustrates something incredibly important. If we think that our work in pursuing either wealth or poverty is going to lead inevitably to spiritual blessings, we’re thinking incorrectly. While certain works are necessary to access God’s salvation, no work can ever merit salvation. It is in this latter sense that salvation is “not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:9). In the parable, it was the landowner’s prerogative to give as he chose. Likewise, salvation is subject to God’s prerogative to give as He chooses. The Bible teaches that God will give His salvation: to the rich and to the poor and to those in between; to those who have had the opportunity to sacrifice little and to those who have sacrificed much; to those who are newly converted and to those who have accumulated years of Christian service. And along the way, there are many who believe themselves to be first on all sides of the wealth equation who will actually be last (Matthew 19:30; 20:16). And again, salvation is only possible “with God” (Matthew 19:26).  

So how does wealth relate to spiritual health? The answer is that it doesn’t, at least not automatically. Wealth is simply a tool. While some jobs are made a lot more difficult without the right tools, even a good tool can do a lot of damage when used incorrectly. Likewise concerning wealth, as Agur’s prayer teaches us, riches and poverty both present spiritual challenges. Perhaps another Proverb would be incredibly helpful: “Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it” (Proverbs 23:4 NASB). Don’t make wealth your primary goal or consideration. If you have it, use it humbly and wisely; if you lack it, be content with what you have and count yourself spiritually blessed (1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19; James 1:9-10).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

It appears that the early church was in the habit of using short, repeated statements as a way of teaching and maintaining their faith. Some of these sayings are recorded in the Bible in the letters that Paul wrote to the preachers Timothy and Titus (1 Timothy 1:15; 3:1; 4:7-9; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; Titus 3:8). Paul describes these as “faithful” (KJV, ASV, NKJV) or “trustworthy” (ESV, NASB) sayings, affirming their truthfulness and encouraging these preachers to continue to teach and repeat them.

The first of these faithful sayings is the Gospel in a nutshell: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). Over the years, I have heard or seen several presentations of this text that more or less ignore the “faithful saying” part of the verse. These teachers assume that Paul was affirming this statement about his present life in Christ. The thought process is something like this: 1) In spite of all of his sacrifices and good works, Paul was still the chief of sinners. 2) Since this is true, it should be assumed that every Christian is still nothing but a sinner, and it would be prideful to assume otherwise. I’d argue that if this is true though, there’s no Gospel in the statement at all. If Jesus came to save Paul, and, even after His saving work, Paul was still nothing but the greatest sinner who ever lived, then what hope do any of us have?

I’d further argue that the context demonstrates that this interpretation misses the point of this faithful saying. Paul says very plainly in the next verse, “I obtained mercy” (1 Timothy 1:16), repeating the phrase he used earlier. He “obtained mercy” as one who “was formerly, a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” (1 Timothy 1:13). It was in these things, not his present behavior, that Jesus had shown “all longsuffering” and created “a pattern” (1 Timothy 1:16). You see, the Gospel – the good news – is that someone can be all the things Paul was, and yet, 1) experience God’s longsuffering and 2) obtain mercy. This is the “pattern” that Paul sets – not of being a sinner in spite of Jesus’ work, but of being saved in spite of his sin. Paul was not presently the chief of sinners; no, as he had previously said, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12).

So what then is the point of this early Christian saying? It achieves something similar to the prayer in the chorus of Dottie Rambo’s hymn, “Remind Me, Dear Lord.” She says, “Roll back the curtain of memory now and then; Show me where you brought me from, and where I could have been.” As each Christian examines his or her life and is totally honest about his or her sin, he or she should say, “If it were not for Jesus, I would be nothing but the chief of sinners. It is for my sin that He died, and without Him, I would be absolutely and totally lost.”

We can very easily be guilty of the attitude expressed in another hymn by Ira F. Stanphill entitled, “Follow Me.” In it, he juxtaposes his attitudes as a weary Christian soldier with some imagined responses from Jesus. He writes, “‘I work so hard for Jesus,’ I often boast and say, ‘I’ve sacrificed a lot of things To walk the narrow way, I gave up fame and fortune; I’m worth a lot to Thee.’” While not many Christians would be very likely to say such things out loud, it can be a great temptation to feel like this. The faithful saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief,” serves to keep us grounded and to remind us, like Stanphill’s hymn, that what we’ve done would amount to absolutely nothing without Jesus.  

Two back to back events in Mark’s Gospel represent two extremes in approaching Jesus. In the first event, recorded in Mark 3:1-6, Jesus is in a synagogue on the Sabbath. Present that day is a man who has “a withered hand” (Mark 3:1) as well as several Pharisees (Mark 2:24; 3:6). The Pharisees do not appear to be there to learn or to worship; no, instead, the Bible says “they watched Him,” i.e., Jesus, “closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him” (Mark 3:2). They weren’t concerned with doing right; they were concerned with being right. They would demonstrate this by telling everyone how wrong Jesus was. In their minds, they had no need of Jesus, and, seemingly, no need of God.

The second event occurs by the shores of the sea of Galilee and is recorded in Mark 3:7-10. “A great multitude” (Mark 3:7, 8) “came to Him” because of the “many things He was doing.” They did not come to judge Jesus; they recognized that they “had afflictions” and “pressed about to touch Him” (Mark 3:10). Their desperation reminds me of the amendment to the hymn “Just as I Am” by Travis Cottrell. He writes, “I come broken to be mended, I come wounded to be healed. I come desperate to be rescued, I come empty to be filled. I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ, the Lamb.” This is the opposite extreme from the attitude of the Pharisees, and is exactly the sentiment captured by the faithful saying, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

When you gather around the Lord’s table each Sunday to remember Jesus’ death, do you remember the grace that brought you there? Another set of contrasting pictures is found at the table of Simon, recorded in Luke 7:36-50. Simon has invited Jesus to have a meal at his house. He does not see Jesus as the Son of God. No, to him, Jesus is his guest. The table is his, and the honor in being there belongs to Jesus. He doesn’t need to show Jesus any special treatment; it is enough for him to have extended this invitation to Jesus. It’s possible to partake of the Lord’s Supper with a similar attitude, almost expecting Jesus to say, “Thank you,” just because you did so.

In attendance at Simon’s house, not invited, is a sinful woman. She has no right to be there, and she will not be served anything but disapproving glances by the host, Simon. She doesn’t mind though; it is enough for her to sit at the feet of Jesus. As she sits in the presence of Jesus, recognizing Him for who He is, she cries. At the same time, she notices that Jesus’ feet are dirty. So, with her tears, her hair, and some fragrant oil she had with her, she begins to wash and kiss His feet (Luke 7:38, 45-46). It is this woman, not Simon, who hears, “Your sins are forgiven. […] Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:48, 50). And it is this woman, not Simon, who represents each of us as we gather around the table to memorialize Jesus’ death.
 
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” I would argue that He succeeded, and that’s good news! I would also argue that if it were not for Him and His glorious work of salvation, only that last part would be true: “I am the chief of sinners.”

-Patrick Swayne 
patrick@tftw.org

Have you ever heard the story before about a farmer, his wife, and their old pickup truck? In case you haven’t, it goes something like this: one day a farmer and his wife were driving down the road in their old truck. This truck had bench-style seating instead of a middle console. The farmer’s wife was sitting at the opposite end of the cab from her husband. She said, “Honey, when we were newlyweds, we used to sit right next to each other when we drove in this truck. Now look at us. What happened?” The farmer thought for a moment and then replied, “Well darlin’, I don’t know, but I haven’t moved.”

Sometimes, either through the preaching or teaching of a fellow Christian or the example someone sets as they live out their faith, we become aware of the distance between us and God. The best possible response when we recognize that distance of course would be to ask, “What role did I play in creating that distance, and what can I do now to close that distance?” This was the response of some of the audience gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. When they heard Peter and the other apostles preach the reality of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and recognized their role in crucifying Him, they asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

The reason this audience wanted to do something was because the message Peter preached “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37). This is what the Word of God is designed to do. The Hebrews author says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Every encounter with Scripture is an exploratory surgery. Sometimes, because the Holy Spirit has already been at work with His inspired Word, the surgery confirms that there is no issue (Romans 8:16). Sometimes though, the surgery uncovers a cancerous mass of sin that needs to be removed. It is sin that separates, or creates distance, from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).

When literal cancer is discovered, sometimes patients refuse treatment. Likewise, sometimes people who become aware of the distance between them and God because of sin don’t take positive steps like the people on Pentecost to do something about it. Similar language to that found in Acts 2:37 is used to describe the audience that heard Stephen’s sermon: “When they heard these things they were cut to the heart” (Acts 7:54). Rather than ask “What shall we do?” though, this audience “gnashed at him with their teeth […] And they stoned Stephen” (Acts 7:54, 59).

This “shoot the messenger” response is unfortunately probably the most common response when people learn about the distance between themselves and God. God has specifically chosen “the foolishness of  the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21). Since there cannot be a “message preached” without “a preacher” (Romans 10:13-16), this means that an imperfect messenger is God’s primary vehicle for delivering His perfect message. This presents any number of opportunities for those who aren’t looking to change. They can easily dismiss the message because of the real or perceived faults of the messenger (e.g. 2 Corinthians 10:10) or, like Stephen’s audience, they can deflect their attention from themselves to someone else. No person makes for an easier target in this moment than the one who raised the issue in the first place, i.e., the messenger.  Sometimes when a message or a faithful example offends, the thought process of the offended person can be, “If I could only defeat the messenger, then I would prove that I am right.”

The lengths to which people will go in such efforts is incredible. One day in a synagogue, a group of Pharisees gathered to see what Jesus would do with a man in attendance “who had a withered hand” (Mark 3:1-2). Jesus not only healed the man on this occasion; he also called out the Pharisees by asking them a searching question (Mark 3:3-5). The Bible says, “Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him” (Mark 3:6). This is a pretty incredible outcome. The Herodians were members of an opposing sect of the Jews; as the name suggests, this sect in particular tried to curry political favor with Herod, a gentile king. For the Pharisees, Jews who emphasized purity and purposeful disconnection with sinners and gentiles, this meeting is incredibly out of character. Today, people cross similar lines when they turn to Google to find arguments against a given Biblical teaching or practice. If they find something that agrees with them, then it doesn’t really matter what else the source they discover teaches or does; all that matters is that they have corroboration for their point.

Of course, sometimes people do manage to separate the messenger from the message but still don’t respond in the right way. Like the farmer’s wife in the story above, they blame God for the distance. However, just like the farmer, it is not God who has moved. God never moves!

Ezekiel envisioned a conversation between his people and God, “Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?” (Ezekiel 18:29). Whenever our response to God’s Word is, “That’s not fair,” or, “I don’t think that should matter,” or, “The Bible’s wrong for saying that,” or other statements like these, we’ve really not understood what we’re saying and what we’re doing. We’re saying that God is right and we’re wrong (which is never true – Romans 3:4), and we’re effectively trying to sit in God’s seat and judge as though we were God. Isaiah describes how ridiculous this is when he says, “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?” (Isaiah 45:9 NASB). God, our Maker, has every right to tell us we are wrong and encourage us to change.

When we hear or see the Word of God preached, taught, or lived in the life of a fellow Christian and become aware of our own sin, we need to fight the temptation to be angry at the person or at God. Our wrath in such a moment will never work God’s righteousness (James 1:20). We need to learn to slow down and listen without speaking or reacting (James 1:19). It’s natural and good for us to test the messenger and his message against the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1). If the message is true, then it is time for us, not God or anyone else, to move. As Acts 2:37 and Acts 7:54 illustrate, the difference between a lifegiving surgery and a potentially mortal wound lies not in the skill of the surgeon but the response of the patient. May God help us to develop soft hearts, open ears and eyes, and eager minds.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

The Holy Spirit points out on two separate occasions that the members of the early church were incredibly generous in responding to each other’s needs (Acts 2:44-45; 4:34-35). The fact that it then goes on to highlight the generosity of a man named Joseph (who earned the nickname “Barnabas”) is worth noting (Acts 4:36-37). Just as Michael Jordan did in those dominant 1990’s Chicago Bulls basketball teams, Barnabas evidently shined brightly in a team full of stars.

Pausing over the details, we can see the picture the text paints which demonstrates why his generosity was so noteworthy. The text says that Barnabas was from Cyprus. Since the Gospel had not yet gone to Cyprus as of Acts 4 (it would only do this later after the persecution of Saul, cf. Acts 11:19), it’s reasonable to conclude that Barnabas had been converted on a trip to Jerusalem, perhaps on the day of Pentecost itself. Like the Pentecost converts, he had evidently determined to stay in Jerusalem so that he could continue “steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine” (Acts 2:42). This decision would have meant that he had to establish an entirely new life for himself in Jerusalem, including finding work and a new place to stay. His land in Cyprus would have served as both a tether to his old life and an emergency fund if things didn’t work in Jerusalem. By both selling it and giving away the money, he cut the tether and deprived himself of the security it provided. It’s no wonder that the apostles called him, “Barnabas,” literally, “the son of encouragement.” To the Jewish mind, “son of encouragement” would have meant something like, “one who is equal to encouragement,” or perhaps, “encouragement personified.”
 
There were probably other things that earned Barnabas his nickname besides his generosity. Though we aren’t told as much about Barnabas’ life as we might like to know, the story of his life that we are told is one littered with encouraging actions. When Saul (who would later be known to the world as Paul the apostle) first became a Christian, people had a hard time believing his conversion was real. He had been notorious both for being a Pharisee (Acts 23:6; 26:5; Philippians 3:5) and for being a great persecutor of the church (Acts 8:1-3; 9:1-2; 22:3-5; 26:9-11; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; Philippians 3:6; 1 Timothy 1:13). When soon after his conversion, Saul “tried to join the disciples,” the Bible says, “they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). The very next verse says though that “Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus” (Acts 9:27). Barnabas believed every detail of Saul’s story and recommended that Saul be extended full fellowship as a Christian brother.

Barnabas’ decision shows a great deal of trust. Had Saul been pretending, Barnabas might have been among the first to be arrested and perhaps even killed. Even if he somehow escaped this, he might have born the weight of knowing that he had personally brought persecution into the midst of the church. However, as an encourager in tune with the heart of a God who “is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), Barnabas knew that trusting Saul in full forgiveness of his past was the right thing to do. After all, as Saul himself would later write, love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
Barnabas therefore shows us that two kinds of trust are incredibly important in the Christian life. One, we must trust God enough to be courageously generous with what he has given to us. Two, we must trust others, even if it comes at a risk or a potential cost. However, Barnabas also teaches us that trust can go too far.

Barnabas would eventually trust Saul so much that he would seek him out and enlist him in the work he had started doing with the church in Antioch. Through their efforts, the church at Antioch grew to the point that it was able to send the two of them out as missionaries. At some point either before they were sent out or, perhaps more likely, after they had returned from their first mission trip, Peter made a visit to Antioch. Everything went well until “certain men came from James,” and Peter, “fearing those who were of the circumcision,” “withdrew and separated himself” from the Gentile Christians in the church there (Galatians 2:12). “The circumcision” is rendered “the circumcision party” (ESV) or “the party of the circumcision” (NASB) by some translators in an effort to point out that it was not merely those circumcised but those who thought everyone, whether Jew or Gentile, needed to be circumcised in order to be faithful to God. These individuals pressured Gentile Christians to adopt Jewish customs (principally circumcision) and withdrew their fellowship from them if they did not do so.

Unlike Peter, Paul never lost sight of “the truth of the gospel” regarding this matter (Galatians 2:14). He knew that the Gospel had made it so, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing” (1 Corinthians 7:19). He also knew that forcing people to be religiously circumcised in order to enjoy fellowship with Jewish Christians represented a partial return to the Old Law, i.e., the Law of Moses. He knew that God would not be pleased with this “pick and choose” mentality concerning the Old Law. Those who turned to part of it would have to turn to all, and in so doing it could be said of them, “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Paul saw it all very clearly, so he went to Peter and “withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed” for both a breech in the fellowship of the church and for the potential his actions had to lead individuals away from grace.

The text says something different about Barnabas in all this: “And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy” (Galatians 2:13). So why was Barnabas, a missionary to the Gentiles who had perhaps spent years enjoying fellowship with them without requiring religious circumcision, now shunning those who weren’t circumcised? I would suggest: 1) it wasn’t because he was “of the circumcision” party; 2) it wasn’t because he feared those of that party like Peter did; 3) it certainly wasn’t because he harbored any prejudice towards Gentiles. The text says he “was carried away,” but this also does not mean that Barnabas was a “jump on the bandwagon” type of person. Remember, he was prepared to stand alone with Saul and believe his conversion story when everyone else was afraid. I would suggest the reason was trust; whether he trusted Peter, the ones who came from James, the other Christians who were caught up in this, or some or all of the above, he acted based on trust rather than “the truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:14).

When does trust take us too far? It is not when we take a step in faith that robs us of some degree of stability or security. It is not when we believe someone’s story about themselves. It is also not when trusting someone puts us at a disadvantage or potentially causes us to suffer loss, or when we forgive someone and give them a second chance. The story more commonly told regarding Barnabas involves him trusting a young man named John Mark after this man had previously disappointed him (Acts 12:25; 13:5, 13; 15:36-40). Giving John Mark a second chance seems to have made an eternal difference in his life (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1:24). No, trust only goes too far when it causes us to lose sight of “the truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:14).

May God help us to learn from Barnabas to be more trusting people. May He also help us not to trust anyone so much that we lose sight of what His Word says.  

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

You open your eyes and see nothing. No matter how many times you blink, no matter how much you rub your eyes, all you can see is darkness, darkness so thick that you could cut it with a knife. You get on your hands and knees and crawl across the ground, dizzy from the loss of one of your sensory perceptions. People walk to and fro around you, bumping into you and stumbling over you whenever you cross their path. They yell at you, telling you to get out of the way, but do not offer a helping hand. You hear the laughter of children and then feel the shove of a small hand on your side. Had you been able to see, the shove wouldn’t have meant anything, but in this impaired state, you fall over. Kicked and stepped on, you finally make it to a wall and prop your back up against it. Your state is hopeless; you feel helpless. But then, you feel something land on your lap. You pick it up and feel the shape and features of a coin.

If you followed along, you have just stepped into the weary and worn shoes of blind Bartimaeus. To imagine a day in this man’s shoes is difficult for many of us. One of the things many of us take for granted the most, besides perhaps the sun that shines on our heads and the air that we breathe, is our God-given ability to see. It is truly a blessing to be able to open our eyes each day and see the wonders of God’s green earth: “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1).

However, a far greater blindness than the one Bartimaeus experienced darkens the eyes of many today: the blindness of sin exacerbated by turning a blind eye to the word of God, the only lamp that provides any light unto our spiritual path (Psalm 119:105). As pitiful as Bartimaeus’ situation was, it is nothing compared to the plight of a soul separated from God. Thankfully for Bartimaeus, a solution to his problem was near. And thankfully for the blind sinner, the same solution to an even greater problem likewise is near (cf. Romans 13:11). Jesus was the answer to Bartimaeus’ blindness, and that same Jesus is able to save people from their sins and thus their spiritual blindness (Matthew 1:21; Luke 4:17-21).

Some obstacles stood in the path between Bartimaeus and the answer to his blindness. The first obstacle was the blindness itself; he could not see Jesus even though He was walking down the very highway on which Bartimaeus sat and begged. Fortunately, Bartimaeus still had his ears, and as the Bible records, “he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth” (Mark 10:47). Bartimaeus believed that Jesus was near but also knew that this was not enough for him to receive his sight. As a result, he tried to call out to the Lord, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). The second obstacle then reared its head: those around him “warned him to be quiet” (Mark 10:48). Thankfully, these people did not stop Bartimaeus, who “cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:48). Jesus heard, “stood still and commanded him to be called” (Mark 10:49).

Some obstacles stand between the blind sinner and Jesus as well. The sinner is surrounded by the blinding influence of the world and false religion. His schools have taught him that he is nothing more than an animal. People he thought to be religious have told him that one religion is as good as another. Yet, the sinner still has ears if he will listen: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).
Having heard the pure Word of God ring out in a multitude of darkness and having believed it, a sinner can call out to the Lord by obeying His simple commands to repent, to confess the name of Jesus, and baptized, just like another formerly blind man was told: “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Sinners must ignore other obstacles like the cries of their friends and family who try to silence them by saying things like “It is silly to be baptized,” or, “One church is as good as another,” or, “You don’t need Jesus.” No, they must cry even louder to the Lord by obeying His voice. Upon doing so, a sinner is called by Jesus in that he or she becomes one of the “called out” – a member of the church (1 Peter 2:9). The sinner is no longer lost and no longer blind.

Bartimaeus asked and received his sight. A sinner has only to call upon the name of the Lord in faithful obedience in order to receive the remission of his sins and his spiritual sight. However, the story must not end there; it did not end for Bartimaeus. In the parallel account recorded in Luke 18:35-43, we learn that after he was healed Bartimaeus “followed Him, glorifying God” (Luke 18:43). The Christian, whose sins have been cleansed by the saving blood of Christ, must faithfully follow Jesus all the days of his life (Revelation 2:10). The person who dies a faithful follower of Jesus will be rewarded by the “Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6), just like Bartimaeus was.                  

-Patrick Swayne

In the movie The Princess Bride, there is a scene in which the villain, Prince Humperdinck, is attempting to marry a young maiden named Buttercup against her wishes. Fearing that his sham of a wedding ceremony is at risk of being halted due to some commotion outside of the castle where the ceremony is being held, Humperdinck tells the officiant, “Skip to the end.” When things are still moving too slowly for his liking, he tells the officiant, “Man and wife. Say, ‘Man and wife.’” The confused clergyman says, “Man and wife,” and Buttercup is rushed away.

Later, when Buttercup’s true love, Westley, appears to rescue her, Buttercup laments, “Oh Westley, will you ever forgive me?” explaining, “I got married. I didn’t want to. It all happened so fast.” Confidently, Westley told her that it never happened. He asks, “Did you say, ‘I do’?” Buttercup responds, “Well, no, we sort of skipped that part.”

It’s pretty widely acknowledged that certain things simply cannot be done unless… well, they are. A person can’t simply declare himself to be married, nor can even a qualified marriage celebrant simply declare two people to be married apart from their wishes. A successful marriage involves three things in agreement: human intention (i.e., of a man and a woman to marry each other), God’s will (i.e., God’s word identifying two people as able to be married, and God’s action in joining them together), and obedience to societal laws or customs (i.e., being subject to the governing authorities and their rules about marriage, which God calls us to do – Romans 13:1-2). None of that can be “skipped.”

When we come to difficult instructions in the Bible, it becomes very easy to… sort of skip that part. Some of the greater temptations to do so surround Jesus’ instructions regarding conflict inside God’s family, “the church.” Jesus says,


As we reflect on this teaching, we see several things that we must not skip.

First, don’t skip to the end. It is becoming very common in today’s world to hear people promote setting boundaries for yourself, pursuing self-care, and protecting yourself in moments of intrapersonal conflict. There is definitely some wisdom to these things; after all, the Bible says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). It’s hard to love your neighbor if you don’t love yourself to some degree! At the same time, Timothy was warned that “perilous times will come” when “men will be lovers of themselves” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). It is reasonable to protect yourself from imminent danger. It is unreasonable though to use self-care as an excuse to skip all of Jesus’ instructions until you reach one that you like such as, “Let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). Jesus did not die on the cross so His followers could build walls between one another; in fact, He died to break down walls of separation (cf. Ephesians 2:14).

Second, don’t skip the word “sins” (Matthew 18:15). Sometimes in intrapersonal conflict, people confuse the word “offense” in the Bible with the idea of being offended. Offense in the context (Matthew 18:7) is not talking about when somebody does something I don’t like or even something that produces a negative emotion in me. Instead, it’s talking about when someone does something sinful against me or to lead me into sin, as per the previous verse, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin” (Matthew 18:6). Likewise, the word Jesus uses in our text is “sins.” Sin is defined in Scripture as lawlessness (1 John 3:4), pointing to the reality that God’s law defines what is or is not sin. When we feel offended, we need to pause to make sure that it is God’s standard and not ours that has been broken. These two standards are simply not the same (Isaiah 55:8). In the case of something that is only an offense against my personal standard, while it may be wise to follow Jesus’ next step (“go and tell him his fault between you and him alone”), the rest of the text does not apply.

Third, don’t skip the first step that involves another person: “go and tell him his fault” (Matthew 18:15). Have you ever been totally unaware of something that was very obvious to others? I think any honest person would admit he or she has. Even though we might be aware of this about ourselves, sometimes we fail to see how that same thing might apply to others. “He ought to know better,” we might think, or, “She should know how this affects me.” We need to operate under two assumptions in order to follow the example of love, which “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). First, we need to ascribe the best possible motives to the behavior of our brothers and sisters until their repeated, unrepentant, sinful behavior keeps us from doing so. Second, we need to believe that our brothers and sisters in Christ will make their wrongs right if they are given a chance to do so. 

Fourth, don’t skip the word “alone” (Matthew 18:15). Our natural tendency when we are hurt due to the behavior of someone else is to find someone to agree with us about what has happened. Unfortunately, another natural tendency really hurts us here: the tendency to believe the first one who speaks to us about any conflict (Proverbs 18:17). Talking to another person first is typically counterproductive. First, it reinforces the negative feelings the behavior has stirred up as we relive the event through retelling. Second, because the person we are talking to is likely to agree with us, it reinforces our feelings of superiority and indignation, removing the “spirit of meekness” Paul encourages us to put on in our approach (Galatians 6:1). Third, rather than cover sins as love does (Proverbs 10:12; 1 Peter 4:8), it expands the impact and influence of sins.

As a side note, Christians sometimes struggle with what to do when someone has skipped this important part and has come to them wanting to talk about a problem with another person. What should a Christian do when this happens? For starters, don’t be afraid to refuse to hear something. It may seem unfriendly and unloving to turn away someone who has come to you wanting to talk, but it is actually more unfriendly and unloving to facilitate sinful behavior. Someone sinned against can actually become a sinner by ignoring Jesus’ command in Matthew 18:15 and choosing instead to become a talebearer or a gossip, which is frequently condemned in Scripture. Asking simple questions like these will help you determine a person’s motives and intentions: 1) Have you talked to this person? 2) When are you planning to do so? 3) Why did you come to me first?

If a person genuinely seems interested in obeying Matthew 18:15 and simply needs advice or help in doing so, recognize that taking an advisory role creates several obligations. First, because you cannot simply trust the first thing you hear and because some matters are not as black and white as a hurting person might believe them to be, you owe it to the supposed offender to eventually hear his or her story. It is foolish to draw conclusions before you have truly heard a situation out (Proverbs 18:13), and you simply have not heard a situation out when you have only heard one side. Second, though a person might not have sinned against you, if he or she really has sinned against God, you need to be a part of the effort to “restore such a one” (Galatians 6:1). Third, while it is best if the one who is directly sinned against leads in any restoration effort (this is what Jesus says!), if he or she refuses to do so, it does not free you from your obligation to talk to someone in sin and seek his or her repentance. Strangely, sometimes people who are told something negative about a fellow Christian see any continued involvement in the matter as gossip, when in fact involvement is what is required of any true peacemaker.

Fifth, don’t skip the goal in all of this: “If he hears you, you have gained your brother” (Matthew 18:15). Note carefully, the aim of confrontation after we have been sinned against is not: 1) to get restitution for perceived or real loss, 2) to get a satisfactory apology, 3) to be vindicated or proven right, or anything like this. Jesus wants us to be focused on one thing: gaining our brother back. If sin has driven our brother towards Satan and driven a wedge between the two of us, restoring that brother and removing that wedge should be the only thing that we are interested in. We should try our best to remember the father in Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son who was more interested in his son’s return than in his confession (Luke 15:11-32). It is very appropriate for someone who truly repents to apologize and make restitution where possible (2 Corinthians 7:10-11), but we should be more interested in a soul than we are in our own satisfaction. As the very next parable Jesus tells in Matthew 18 demonstrates, we should be ready to offer full forgiveness to our brother, remembering the forgiveness that we have received from our God (Matthew 18:21-35).

Sixth, don’t skip the part involving two or three witnesses: “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’” (Matthew 18:16). “Witness” here does not refer to people who testify to the brother or sister’s sin (since they would be expected to carry out the first step themselves). Instead, it refers to impartial witnesses who can establish “every word” between you and the one with whom you are in conflict (Matthew 18:16). Like the situation envisioned in 1 Corinthians 6, each witness should be “a wise man among you” who is able “to judge between his brethren” (1 Corinthians 6:5). Jesus assumes in the text that a brother or sister really has sinned, but a possible outcome of bringing impartial witnesses is that they may 1) determine the conflict is not over a matter of sin but of opinion or personal standards, 2) determine that both of you bear fault in the matter at hand, or 3) determine that you alone are actually the one who has sinned and the person you are accusing is innocent. It is incredibly important to obey Peter’s command in this step of the process, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5).

Connected to this point, it is important for those called as witnesses not to skip what is expected of them: “if he refuses to hear them” (Matthew 18:17). It is impossible to hear someone who is silent. Further, the word translated “witness” is connected to the verb frequently translated in the New Testament as “testify.” Therefore by definition as well as according to Jesus’ words, witnesses are not supposed to keep silent. No matter which of the four outcomes discussed above is discovered through the mediatory process Jesus envisions (i.e., 1) there is no sin, 2) the accused brother/sister is in sin, 3) both the offender and offended are in sin, or 4) the one claiming to be offended is in sin), the witnesses are called by Jesus to speak, to join the chorus seeking restoration and unity.  

Seventh, don’t skip the instructions related to the church: “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church” (Matthew 18:17). Once an offended person and two or three impartial witnesses have been unable to encourage someone to repent, Jesus envisions 1) the whole church being told and 2) the whole church speaking to the brother or sister in sin. This rarely followed step is described as a last-ditch effort to try to win back the person who has sinned. It is not standing against the person; it is standing with God and all the angels, who long for the person’s repentance and restoration.

Eighth, don’t skip the final instructions, but also don’t skip why the rest of the Bible says they are there. Only at the very end of this process which now involves the whole church does Jesus say concerning the unrepentant sinner, “let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17). Heathens (“gentile” – ESV, NASB) and tax collectors were people on the fringe of the Jewish world with whom most Jewish people did not regularly associate. Peter explains typical Jewish behavior towards these individuals when he tells Cornelius, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation” (Acts 10:28).

Is the goal though simply to cut these people off and be through with them? Other passages which speak about this subject help us to understand what Jesus is commanding here and why:

• “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them” (Romans 16:17).
• “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ” (1 Corinthians 5:4-8).
• “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person” (1 Corinthians 5:11).
• “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
• “And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother” (2 Thessalonians 3:14-15).
• “Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11).
• “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20).

When these passages are considered alongside of Jesus’ words, a very different goal appears. The goal is not to cut off or be through with a person, but 1) to acknowledge across the entire church that a person is in sin and therefore in real spiritual danger; 2) to cut off normal, friendly, brotherly relations to send a clear message to the sinner regarding this spiritual danger; 3) to encourage all contact with the sinner to work exclusively towards repentance and restoration; 4) to protect the church from the leavening influence of sinful behavior. Some people claim such a process would only drive a person further away, but the one example of this process being carried out in Scripture at the church at Corinth resulted in repentance (2 Corinthians 2:5-11).

Jesus words as well as the many other passages which support them represent some of the most ignored words in all of the Bible. But can we – should we – just skip this part of Jesus’ will for our lives? As Christians, we know that Jesus’ words “will judge [us] in the last day” (John 12:48). Matthew 18:15-17 records Jesus’ words. Let’s make sure we don’t have to give an answer one day regarding why these words were never followed in our local congregation of His church. If we skip Jesus’ words about forgiving others, He will one day say regarding our own forgiveness, “It never happened” (cf. Matthew 6:12, 14-15; 18:35; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:37; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

“We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). This simple statement forms the backbone of the entire Bible, as it summarizes Scripture’s story about the actions of a loving God to seek and save fallen man. Not only is the statement beautiful; it is also revolutionary when compared to other books of religion and philosophy. Manmade holy books and their corresponding religions do not tell the story of God seeking man. Instead, they describe how man can seek or even in some cases become God, a noble, but ultimately fruitless endeavor. “Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?” (Proverbs 30:4). The answer remained, “No one,” until God came down to enable man to go up (cf. Ephesians 4:8-10).  

Two pictures summarize on the one hand the emptiness of manmade faiths and on the other the efficacy of the faith once and for all delivered by God (Jude 1:3). Interestingly, both involve the voluntary shedding of blood, and both occur on mountains.

To view the first picture, we must ascend to the top of Mt. Carmel, located at the northern extent of Biblical Israel’s ancient territory. Here, over 2700 years ago a prophet named Elijah waged a war for the hearts and minds of a nation torn between serving the God of heaven and serving the gods of the earth. Addressing his fence-sitting audience, Elijah said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him” (1 Kings 18:21).

To settle the matter for those seeking the truth, Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a test. They would call upon their god to send fire to consume their offering while He called upon the one true God to consume his. Students of biblical history know how the challenge ended. God consumed Elijah’s offering, but Baal, deaf, dumb, and dead as he was, was of course powerless to consume the offering made by his prophets.

The picture as it stands teaches a very clear lesson, but we can learn more by looking closer. To call Baal’s attention to their pleas, his prophets tried everything. They spent half a day crying to Baal, even leaping upon the altar in their frustration. After midday, the record says they took even more drastic measures, “So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them” (1 Kings 18:28). The prophets thought that if they shed their blood, Baal would spring into action (it was even “their custom” to call upon him in this way!). Of course, there was no action, because there was no Baal. He was a figment of their imagination.

Herein lies the tragedy of this first picture: the manmade faith and the god it upheld were powerless to honor the sacrifice of the prophets. Their blood flowed to heaven, but no voice responded and no hand was extended. It is exactly the same with each pursuit of every philosophy and every faith created by man.

The second picture we will consider is even more tragic, though for a different reason. From Mount Carmel, we travel south to a hill called Mount Calvary (Luke 23:33), also sometimes called Golgotha, literally, the place of the skull (Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). On this hill over 700 years after the events that formed our first picture, Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was crucified by wicked, cruel, indeed, “lawless hands” (Acts 2:23). The conclusion of the events of that tragic day is recorded by John: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34).

In this picture lies a beauty that far exceeds its tragedy. You see, in manmade faiths like the one held by the prophets of Baal, the blood will always flow the wrong way: from man to heaven. Because of this, the results will always be the same: nothing of any real benefit, whether earthly or eternal. The Christian faith is entirely different, and this is what makes it beautiful. The blood that flowed at Calvary did not flow from man to Heaven but from Heaven to man. God did not ask for our blood; instead, He gave the blood of His only begotten Son (John 3:16; Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25; 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; 2:13; Colossians 1:14, 20; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7).

Can you see why John said, “We love Him because He first loved us”? God has not called us to outdo or even to equal His sacrifice to gain His attention. He simply asks for our faithfulness. What a blessing to serve a living God instead of a dead religion!

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’” (Matthew 28:18). More than once, I’ve asked in a one-on-one Bible study or a Bible class, “How much is all?” The answer I’m typically looking for is, “All.” However, this is definitely one use of the word “all” when we need to do a little bit of thinking in order to fully appreciate Jesus’ claim and what it means for us.
 
For starters, what exactly is “authority”? The word Jesus uses here is exousia, a very rich word with the following potential definitions: 1) a state of control over something, as in freedom of choice, right; 2) the potential or resource to command, control, or govern, as in capability, might, power; 3) the right to control or command, as in authority, absolute power, warrant; 4) the power exercised by rulers or others in high position by virtue of their office, as in ruling power, official power; 5) the bearer of ruling authority, whether human (authorities, officials, government) or in the spiritual realm; 6) the sphere in which power is exercised, as in domain.^[1] We can rule out the sixth definition, given “domain” is effectively what is indicated by the later words, “in heaven and on earth.” We would do well though to keep in mind the remaining definitions as we examine Jesus’ claim alongside of what the Bible says elsewhere about exousia.

Exousia is found over one hundred times in the New Testament. Not surprisingly, a number of these references are about Jesus. Even before His post-resurrection claim to have “all authority,” “He taught… as one having authority [exousia]” (Matthew 7:29; cf. Mark 1:22) and demonstrated over and over again that He had exousia over the spiritual realm (Mark 1:27; Luke 4:36) as well as over sin and forgiveness (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24). His authority was noted by those whom He encountered (Matthew 8:8-9; 9:8; Luke 4:32; 7:6-8) and was only ever questioned by those who coveted it (Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 11:28-33; Luke 20:1-8).

Jesus Himself though said some things about exousia that should be kept in mind as we interpret His claim in Matthew 28:18. First, He made it very clear that exousia was something He had been given by God the Father (John 5:27; 10:18). This is in complete harmony with what Paul would later teach. Paul says that exousia was something “put… under His [i.e., Jesus] feet” (Ephesians 1:21-22) and adds elsewhere that the idea that someone would put something beneath someone else’s feet naturally exempts him from being put there (1 Corinthians 15:27). In fact, Jesus may have claimed exousia over heaven and earth but added that the “times” and “seasons” remained in the Father’s “authority” (Acts 1:7) as well as “power [exousia] to cast into hell” (Luke 12:5). Paul indicates that the aim of Jesus is to return His authority to the Father “that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24, 28).  

Second, Jesus made it very clear that exousia was something He intended to share. Several references are made to the exousia Jesus gave to His disciples as He sent them out to cast out demons and perform other confirming miracles even as they preached the coming of the kingdom (Matthew 10:1; Mark 3:15; 6:7; Luke 9:1; 10:19). They were given this power to confirm the revelation of “so great a salvation” (Hebrews 2:3-4; cf. Acts 8:19) and an even greater sharing of exousia, where Jesus shared and continues to share “the right [exousia] to become children of God” (John 1:12), the “right” to partake of a special altar of forgiveness (Hebrews 13:10), and the opportunity to escape death’s “power” (Revelation 20:6). This opportunity and the corollary blessing of “eternal life” was the very reason the Father gave Jesus exousia (John 17:2).

Jesus ultimately granted exousia to the apostles “for edification” (2 Corinthians 10:8; 13:10), that we might be both shown through their example and taught through their words “[Jesus’] commandments,” do them, and have the “right [exousia] to the tree of life” (Revelation 22:14). Some exousia has also been granted to angels (e.g. Revelation 18:1), who identify as fellow servants with the apostles (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). Like the apostles, these faithful angels use the authority granted to them to work under the authority of Jesus for the benefit of “those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).

Third, both Jesus and the chroniclers of His life indicate the presence of exousia that gives no allegiance either to the Father or to Jesus. Reference is made to “Herod’s jurisdiction [exousia]” (Luke 23:7; a clear example of that sixth definition listed above) and the desire of Jesus’ opponents “to deliver Him to the power and the authority [exousia] of the governor” (Luke 20:20). When Pilate claimed to have exousia, Jesus did not deny it, but rather said, “You could have no power [exousia] at all against Me unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:10-11). Jesus spoke of how His disciples would be brought before “the synagogues and magistrates and authorities [exousia]” (Luke 12:11).

So, did these competing forces vanish when Jesus made His claim to have all exousia? Paul commands after Jesus’ claim, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities [exousia]” and speaks of “the authorities [exousia] that exist” (Romans 13:1; cf. Titus 3:1). He’s referring to earthly authorities, i.e., human governments and their duly appointed officers. These authorities don’t merely exist; just like Pilate’s authority (John 19:10-11), they exist by “the ordinance of God” and should be respected by Christians (Romans 13:2-4). Exousia is used to describe several earthly governing authorities in Scripture that exist even after Jesus’ claim (Acts 9:14; Acts 26:10, 12).

The New Testament speaks of many authorities that “were created through [Jesus],” (Colossians 1:16) and that exist alongside of His authority (Ephesians 3:10). While these authorities have indeed “been made subject to Him” (1 Peter 3:22; cf. Colossians 2:10, 15) and while He is the only one to whom true “power [exousia]” belongs (Jude 1:25), many of these authorities do not behave as though this is true. Paul speaks of “the power [exousia] of darkness” from which we as Christians have been “delivered” (Colossians 1:13) and yet against which “we wrestle” (Ephesians 6:12). Chief among these opposing forces is “the prince of the power [exousia] of the air,” Satan (Ephesians 2:2).

Satan has authority (Acts 26:18), and, according to the book of Revelation, even has some ability to grant authority (Romans 13:2, 4). The book of Revelation is full of references made to those who somehow were given exousia (Revelation 6:8; 9:3, 10, 19; 11:6; 13:5, 7, 12; 14:18; 17:12). It can be easy to conclude either in light of the symbolic descriptions of this power being exercised or the real world events that took place during the Roman empire that these passages indicate that all of this comes only from Satan. It’s important though to keep in mind a couple of passages from Revelation relative to exousia: 1) Jesus was then and forever remains the one able to grant “power [exousia] over the nations” (Revelation 2:26); 2) God retained ultimate “power [exousia] over these plagues” (Revelation 16:9); 3) This statement rings true in the midst of and in spite of everything else the book records: “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power [exousia] of His Christ have come” and Satan “has been cast down” (Revelation 12:10).

So how can Satan have exousia if Jesus has all of it “in Heaven and on earth” and if he “has been cast down”? While part of the answer seems to lie in the function that Satan seems to perform in testing men’s faith (cf. Job 1-2), another important part of the answer lies in a negative example in revelation where people gave “their power and authority [exousia] to the beast” (Revelation 17:13), which itself had derived power from “the dragon,” Satan (Revelation 13:2, 4). Satan often tries to convince people that he has all the power to give if people will give him their allegiance (he even tried to convince Jesus of this same thing – Luke 4:6). The fact remains though that Jesus does have all authority (Matthew 28:18) and that authorities only exist as He and His Father allow them to exist (John 19:11; Romans 13:1). Like human governments, Jesus allows Satan’s authority to exist beneath His own.

This brings us to what is absolutely the most important part of our study of exousia. Remember, exousia does have as one of its possible translations, “freedom of choice.” Students of the Bible recognize (or should) that humans have freedom of choice; the Bible’s use of exousia demonstrates how this is possible. Jesus, the one who has all exousia, allows Satan to continue to work in this world so that we can actually exercise our exousia – so that we can choose to serve Jesus or choose not to do so. Yes, as Paul points out, God does have exousia over us akin to the power a potter has over clay (Romans 9:21). Make no mistake though: the potter illustration is not intended to convince us that God has any desire to shape us in a negative way. “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13)  God’s hands always and only shape for good! The potter illustration is intended rather to show that even when we refuse to be shaped into something good, we will still find ourselves as a part of God’s overall rule and His overall plan. While life lasts though, we can always be reshaped (Jeremiah 18:1-6).

Jesus told a parable that uses the term exousia in a way that helps us to understand how Jesus can have all of it while we evidently also have some of it to yield either to Him or to Satan. Jesus says that our present situation awaiting the coming of the Lord “is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority [exousia] to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch” (Mark 13:34). Jesus has granted us the opportunity to freely choose what we do in the hopes that we will be faithful so that He can reward us with much. This is demonstrated by another parable where Jesus speaks of exousia. There, the master in the parable says, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority [exousia] over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). How we use the freedom of choice granted to us determines whether we are likewise rewarded by our Master, Jesus.

There are many things life over which we have exousia. Peter for example reminded Ananias and Sapphira concerning their money, “While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control [exousia]?” (Acts 5:4). Several passages teach either by example or encouragement that while we have exousia we should not simply use it to do what we want: 1) Fathers had “power” over their “own will” in first century Corinth and how they would guide their daughters relative to marriage but were encouraged to keep in mind “the present distress” (1 Corinthians 7:26, 37-38); 2) Christians should not use their “liberty” to “become a stumbling block to those who are weak” (1 Corinthians 8:9); 3) Each Corinthian woman had “authority on her head,” but, like “the angels,” she should learn submission and headship and express that in culturally appropriate ways (1 Corinthians 11:10). 4) Paul had the “right” to receive the financial support of the church, but did not do so among the new converts in Corinth or in Thessalonica, fearing it would “hinder the gospel of Christ” (1 Corinthians 9:4-6, 12, 18; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-9).

Tragically and all too often, people choose to yield their authority to Satan, ignorantly or purposefully buying into his perpetual lie that it is really God who wants to take our authority, our power away. No, in reality, Jesus is the one who already has all authority, power, domain, or whatever else might be meant by exousia. Yet it is a sign of how glorious and worthy of worship He is that He willingly grants some of that exousia to us and even to Satan so that we can truly have the freedom to choose Him or not. To borrow from John, let’s not give our “power and strength to the beast” any longer (Revelation 17;13). Though it does not contain the word exousia, another passage from Revelation serves as an appropriate conclusion: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Jesus said, “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). What should we do though when our “yes” or “no” comes into direct conflict with the revealed will of God? Should we keep our word at the expense of breaking one of God’s commands? At first glance, this is what seems to be happening in Joshua chapter 9 when the Israelites made a covenant with the Gibeonites. Closer examination though reveals that perhaps there is more to the story.

For those who might not be familiar with Joshua 9, it is a small part of an historical narrative describing how God’s people claimed the land that He had given to them. The land is identified in multiple places as “the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites” (Exodus 3:17). God gave His people land that already belonged to others to accomplish at least four things: 1) to reward the faithfulness of Abraham and His progeny (Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 18:19); 2) to demonstrate His faithfulness in keeping promises (Genesis 26:3; Exodus 6:8; 12:25; Deuteronomy 9:5.); 3) to providentially judge the “complete” iniquity of the people who lived in the land (Genesis 15:16; Deuteronomy 9:4); 4) to create a nation that would provide a blessing to all families and nations through a “Seed,” namely, Jesus (Genesis 12:2-3; 18:18; 22:18; Galatians 3:16). So, both to promote good and to punish evil, the previous inhabitants of the land had to be driven out and destroyed (Deuteronomy 9:3).

Gibeon was among the cities of the land of Canaan given to the Israelites (Joshua 18:25; 21:17). While its inhabitants are sometimes called Gibeonites in the Bible, they belonged to the family of the Hivites (Joshua 9:7; 11:19). The Hivites are identified multiple times as one of the people groups that God wanted to be driven from the promised land. Without any mitigating factors, the Gibeonites, like all Hivites, should have been driven out and destroyed as the Lord commanded. Even the Gibeonites themselves were aware of this fact; speaking to the Israelites, they say, “your servants were clearly told that the LORD your God commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you” (Joshua 9:24).

Joshua 9 describes a very different story than these facts would lead us to expect. When the Gibeonites heard what the Israelites did “to Jericho and Ai” (Joshua 9:3), the Bible says “they worked craftily,” developing a plan to trick the Israelites into thinking they were “ambassadors… from a far country” (Joshua 9:4-6). Their goal was to establish a covenant with the Israelites before they found out who they really were. The text records something that went in their favor: the Israelites “did not ask counsel of the LORD” (Joshua 9:14). Their plan worked perfectly; “Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them” (Joshua 9:15).

Three days later, the Israelites discovered that they had been tricked and that the Gibeonites really “were their near neighbors who dwelt near them” (Joshua 9:16). To a man though, “all the rulers” of the Israelites “said to all the congregation, ‘We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them’ (Joshua 9:19). The Gibeonites were granted a serving role in the Israelite community that from the author’s point of view continued “even to this day” (Joshua 9:27). This of course brings us to our question: is keeping our word more important than keeping God’s Word?

Perhaps the best place to begin would be to ask the question, “What did God think about this covenant? Again, the text points out that the Israelites “did not ask counsel of the LORD” (Joshua 9:14). The events of Joshua 7-8 would lead us to believe that not seeking the Lord’s counsel in this endeavor was not a good idea. Further, seeking or not seeking the God’s counsel seems to be a theme in the historical narrative going forward, with occasions of doing so or not doing so bringing about dramatic consequences. At the very least, we can conclude that it was wrong for them not to have asked God what to do.

The remainder of the chapter provides no details concerning the Lord’s impression of the covenant. However, in the very next chapter, the covenant is put to the test. When several Canaanite kings heard about the peace Gibeon made with the Israelites, they determined that rather than attack the Israelites, they would “attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel” (Joshua 10:4). When Joshua heard about this, he “ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor” (Joshua 10:7) to defend the Gibeonites and keep Israel’s covenant.

It is at this point that God speaks. He does not rebuke Israel for creating the covenant nor
does He in any way advise breaking it. Instead, He says, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you” (Joshua 10:8). Effectively and emphatically, God said, “Keep this covenant.” In fact, God went so far as to perform not one but two miracles, sending large hailstones down upon the opponents and causing the sun and moon to stand still in response to Joshua’s prayer (Joshua 10:12) so they could have enough time to defeat their enemies. The latter is one of the greatest miracles in Biblical history; the text records, “And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the LORD heeded the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel” (Joshua 10:14).

Later Biblical history seems to underscore the fact that the Lord supported this vow. Years later, God held the entire nation of Israel responsible for how Saul had “killed the Gibeonites,” bringing a famine for three years (2 Samuel 21:1-2). Far from being a place that was stigmatized, only brought under the protection of God’s people via obligation, Gibeon is noteworthy for having been a place where the tabernacle was set up (1 Chronicles 21:29) and where the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream (1 Kings 3:4-5). The Gibeonites even seem to have eventually been enfolded into the nation of Israel. Later biblical history sees Gibeonites involved in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3:7) and numbered among, “The number of the men of the people of Israel” (Nehemiah 7:7, 25).

So, the Lord was at least eventually in favor of the vow. But was the Lord in favor of it simply because it was made? Are vows so powerful that they supersede God’s commands? Were, for example, the individuals “who banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul” (Acts 23:12) duty bound before God to do so?

Paul himself gives an emphatic answer: “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). If it were true that human vows transcended God’s will, that statement would read exactly the opposite. Further, the Law of Moses actually made provisions for escaping vows spoken “by a rash utterance” (Numbers 30:6; cf. vv. 3-16). While these provisions do seem to have been primarily given in light of gender and family dynamics, they promote the principle that human vows do not transcend God’s will and do not have to kept at all costs.

So if that is true, why are the Israelites called to keep a vow that appears to be contrary to God’s command? A thorough study of vows under the Law of Moses leads one to the conclusion that vows seemed to dwell in the world of voluntary restrictions, voluntary freedoms, and personal choice. So, one possibility is that even though God had given them the land, He also allowed them to exercise some measure of autonomy as relates to governing it and making (or not making) agreements and/or extending mercy. The same provision seems to have existed relative to crimes subject to capital punishment. David’s sin regarding Bathsheba warranted death for them both (Leviticus 20:10), but this punishment was not carried out. Could God have allowed Israel to extend a similar leniency to the Gibeonites? Wasn’t a similar leniency extended to Rahab and her family?

There’s actually a lot of similarity between the case of Rahab and the Gibeonites. Like Rahab (Joshua 2:9-10), the Gibeonites had heard about the Israelites, their deeds, and their God (Joshua 9:9-10). Like Rahab (Joshua 2:11), the Gibeonites were afraid (Joshua 9:24). Like Rahab (Joshua 2:12-13), the Gibeonites desired mercy from the Israelites (Joshua 9:25). And like Rahab (Joshua 2:4-5), the Gibeonites told a lie to preserve themselves (Joshua 9:3-13). The difference of course is that Rahab lied to her own people while the Gibeonites lied to the Israelites. It could be argued though that both Rahab and the Gibeonites had faith (albeit an incomplete faith based upon incomplete evidence) and that God chose to providentially reward the Gibeonites just as He had rewarded Rahab.

The lasting lesson of Joshua 9 is not that we can use vows, promises, and oaths to get out of obeying the Lord’s commandments. Our word is not more important than God’s. Instead, there are at least two important thoughts to take from this text. First, if we do not consult the Lord when making big decisions in life, we might find ourselves being taken advantage of. Second, and perhaps most importantly, God expects us to keep our word as relates to sacrificing personal liberties and freedoms even if we are taken advantage of. When we keep our Word to the undeserving, we mirror our God who continually does the same thing. The transformation of the Gibeonites also demonstrates that sometimes keeping our word helps someone to have the chance to keep God’s.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Growing up in a rural part of the state of Georgia that eventually was swallowed up by the ever-expanding city of Atlanta, I was conditioned to accept change as a part of life. One thing that did not seem to change though, at least not while I was growing up in the 90s and early 00s, was a general respect that people had for Christianity and the Bible. My hometown might have been quickly suburbanizing, but it was still in the so-called “Bible belt.” My teachers taught me amoeba-to-man evolution, but more than one of them said, “I don’t really agree with this, but I have to teach it.” My school friends weren’t members of the Lord’s church, but most were churchgoers. They believed the Bible is God’s word; they believed sex should wait for marriage, didn’t curse, and didn’t do drugs. My peers in the church were the same. In this environment, even if people didn’t fully know, do, or in other ways pursue what was right, they generally had an idea of what it was.

Ideas though don’t always or even often correlate to actions. As I grew older, I discovered that many people I knew simply abandoned that sense of right that we all knew. I don’t know what happened to many of my childhood friends outside of the church as we lost touch after high school, but I remember having a conversation with one while he was in college and I was in preaching school who described trying alcohol (something we both had been committed to avoiding when we were in high school). I learned the sad story of another friend who hated how his parents behaved while they were drunk and who told me he would never drink; he died due to an alcohol overdose. As I think about my friends in the church, it isn’t much better; far too many of them fell away from the faith, falling captive to the very things we were told in Bible classes and sermons to avoid.

What is right is established by God’s Word. God’s Word is powerful, living, and active (Hebrews 4:12); it contains the truth which can set us free from all kinds of things that enslave us (John 8:31-32). I never want to discount that power. At the same time, respecting what was right, and, especially in the case of my church peers, knowing what was right proved not to be enough for many.

I can remember going through some study books in high school classes with titles like “Biblical Truths for Today’s Teens.” Besides typically being written a couple of decades before “Today,” they honestly felt like big lists of “don’ts.” And it seemed so simple: if you just didn’t think, do, or say those clearly sinful things, things would be good and God would be happy! Again though, while the truths behind these “don’t’s” were powerful and real, they clearly were not enough.

My hometown has continued to change dramatically since I lived there. I drove through several years ago as an adult, and it was already at that time almost unrecognizable. I doubt anyone going to school, even right there in the Bible belt, would find the kinds of teachers and friends that I found. In many places outside of the Bible belt, that since of “right” has been gone for a long time (if it was ever there). More than one young adult has shared with me their reality, one of growing up surrounded by atheists and agnostics rather than churchgoers and believers. If “right” wasn’t enough in my childhood, it certainly isn’t enough now.
 
It wasn’t until several years after I finished high school that I heard a preacher talking about something that (to me at least) was revolutionary. Instead of just saying, “Don’t have sex before marriage,” he encouraged us to give some thought as to how that might be done. He described secular dating as practice for divorce and a well-traveled pathway to sexual sin. He said that “Make no provision for the flesh,” an instruction given by Paul in Romans 13:14, meant that Christians should date differently. Young men and women should vet out their prospective partners and determine their character before dating; they should establish habits that (surprise, surprise) made no provision for the flesh. It wasn’t rocket science, but no one had ever told me when I was a teen the simple things he suggested like, “Meet up in public,” or, “Don’t go over to each other’s houses if you're going to be the only ones there,” or, “Don’t sit in a parked car alone.”

There are some people who might interpret these suggestions as legalistic. They certainly could be; any time we impose a restriction that God does not impose and bind it as though it were God’s law, we are being legalistic. At the same time, we should understand that Scripture upholds taking an instruction like Romans 13:14 and doing exactly what that preacher did with it by discussing how it could be carried out practically. This is what the wisdom, prudence, and discretion that the Proverbs encourage are all about. Is the father of Proverbs 7 being legalistic when he talks about the naïve young man who passed near the house of the immoral woman and encourages his son not to go anywhere near her? No, I would suggest that he is being wise. Spiritual maturity demands that we move beyond simple right and wrong in order that we might seek what is best, “that you may approve the things that are excellent” as Paul prayed (Philippians 1:10)

Truly, “right” alone has never been enough. Adam and Eve knew exactly what was right, but it did not prevent them from ignoring it (through ignorance or intention) and doing what was wrong. “Right” is upheld and given strength by a steadfast commitment to practicality and intentionality.  Paul’s command, “do not be conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2), is not about keeping in mind a list of things that must not be done and simply not doing them. It is about thinking about the unique pressures of different places and different stages of life and adopting intentionally countercultural, otherworldly habits so as to not be shaped by them.

Christians, “we are not ignorant” of our enemy’s “devices”; there is no reason that “Satan should take advantage of us” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Let’s give God’s word real power in our lives by pursuing it in a way that’s practical and real. If we do, we’ll be equipped for whatever challenges our changing world might bring.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Many years ago, an elderly sister motioned for me to come over to her before a Sunday morning Bible class. She had been absent for a while, and she wanted to know what our next study was going to be about. “I hope it’s not the old Bible,” she said, adding, “I hate the old Bible!” After a little probing, I came to realize she was talking about the Old Testament.

Even if there aren’t very many who would go so far as to call the Old Testament “the old Bible” or vocalize this attitude towards it, there are many followers of God that have effectively torn their one Bible into two pieces, forming two very separate books, one of which is very neglected. It’s a little too common to find Christians who haven’t spent much time with the Old Testament, let alone given it the study it deserves. Here are some reasons why every follower of God should study the Old Testament:

1. The Lord never changes (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) – I have an idea that some people who approach the Old and New Testaments as though they were old and new Bibles also may unconsciously think that there are two Gods – one old and one new. However, the same God who inspired the Old Testament also inspired the New. No understanding of God’s nature can be complete unless it takes into account the information given in both the Old and New Testaments.
2. The Old Testament is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) – The Old Testament is not something that man put in our Bibles to confound us; it was something God gave to complete us. Paul told Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” More literally, he said that all scripture is God-breathed; it came from the mind of the Almighty! While the New Testament is Scripture, Paul references what Timothy had known from the time he was a child (2 Timothy 3:15), which could only refer to the Old Testament.
3. The Old Testament helps make us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 3:15) – Again, the “Scriptures” Paul is talking about in this passage are those in the Old Testament. No walk with God is complete without a walk in His book; and no walk in His book is complete without a walk in the Old Testament. The reason so many received the gospel after only hearing one sermon in the book of Acts was that they had studied their Old Testaments. Paul described the Old Testament as a tutor which leads people to Christ (Galatians 3:24).
4. You can’t understand much of the New Testament without first understanding the Old (Acts 2) – The scripture reference I gave for this thought is Acts 2; many others could have been put in its place. In this passage, Peter makes no less than three direct references to Old Testament passages. Large portions of the New Testament, including Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, simply cannot be understood without a proper knowledge of the Old Testament. As Augustine once said, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.”
5. The Old Testament helps us to know Jesus through promise and prophecy (1 Peter 1:10-12) – Sprinkled throughout the Old Testament are incredible pictures of Jesus Christ. For example, how did the Ethiopian Eunuch learn about Christ? With the help of Phillip, he was able to discover Him in Isaiah 53. We learn about Jesus Christ not just from the gospel accounts, but from the prophetical pictures of Him in the Old Testament. The Old Testament gives us a richer understanding of who Jesus is and what He did.
6. The Old Testament provides evidence that the Bible is indeed inspired through predictive prophecy (2 Peter 1:19, 20) – Though there are far too many illustrations of this point to include here, here are a few:
   • Isaiah 44:28-45:1 names Cyrus and describes his mission as the one to return the Jews to their homeland nearly 200 years before he took power – before the people of Judah were even taken into captivity! History both confirms Cyrus’ name and his actions. People often try to date the book of Isaiah later because of this profound prophecy.
   • Ezekiel 26 describes the destruction of Tyre in fantastically precise detail. The city being made like “the top of a rock” (Ezekiel 26:14) describes to a T what Alexander the Great did when he tore down the mainland city of Tyre to build a bridge across the sea to the island city.
   • Daniel predicts the fall of Babylon and describes subsequent empires perfectly (ch. 2).
7. The Old Testament gives examples of God’s care for the righteous and His wrath towards the wicked (Romans 11:22) – The God of the Bible is a God of both goodness and severity; He is a Being that inspires both love and respect. Some people limit His love and goodness to the New Testament and further limit His judgment and wrath to the old. Yet, as stated before, the Lord never changes, and examples of both His love (e.g. His mercy towards sinful patriarchs in Genesis) and His wrath (e.g. the Noahic flood) are found in the Old Testament.
8. The Old Testament shows us what faith can accomplish (Hebrews 11) – Of course, we would all like to follow the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but too often we fall short. Our greatest encouragement in this pursuit lies in our cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) – the living examples of men and women who overcame their shortcomings to serve God through faith. Their faith can be our faith, and their triumph can give us hope.
9. The Old Testament can help us defend our faith and hope (1 Corinthians 9:3; 1 Peter 3:15; Jude 3) – How do we know the Bible is from God? How do we know that Christianity is the only road to eternal life? The inspired pages of the Bible prove it to us. Though the Bible is not a science, mathematics, history, or geography textbook, when it speaks of these and other areas, it speaks with total accuracy. Christianity is the only religion based upon a flawless and perfect book; all others are based upon manmade documents filled with imperfections.

Many more things could be added to this list. Hopefully this is enough to establish the point: The Bible must not be divided into two different books, with one being judged to be important and the other unimportant. Instead, the whole Bible must be used; in its entirety, the Bible provides us with “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). If we desire both to stand before God and to equip ourselves against the wicked one, we must be girded with truth (Ephesians 6:14) – the whole truth. Paul made a declaration that we should strive to emulate both in our personal study and in our teaching: “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Being around a new convert can be an extremely encouraging experience. For those like myself who grew up attending the gatherings of God’s people from birth, babes in Christ provide a much-needed reminder that the kingdom of Christ is a pearl of great price.

Chantelle and I were blessed to get to know one such sister at a previous congregation we attended. She was so generous and so hospitable in addition to being so clearly zealous for the Lord. She had us into her home and even let us borrow her car on a couple of occasions. However, as a candle burns brightly before it burns out, this sister also “burned out” and stopped attending church.

After we and several others tried to reach out to her, she finally told one of the brethren a major factor in her decision to quit. She had observed the behavior of the older women of the congregation (who were long-standing members) and determined that she didn’t want to be in an environment where she might become like them as she too got older.

We are quick to garner encouragement from new converts; we are also quick to judge them if they leave. We can be especially harsh when we hear reasons for leaving like the one above. However, Jesus taught us to turn judgment inward before we turn it outward (Matthew 7:1-5). What can we learn from this sister?

Upon closer examination, this sister did two things that all of God’s people desperately need to do: 1) she thought about what she was becoming as she got older, and 2) she assumed that spiritual progress ought to apply to women as well as to men. My experience has been that if God’s people think about progress for anyone, it’s about making boys into elders. Can we say that we have given much thought about making girls into worthy widows?

Obviously, widowhood is not something that God’s people should strive for; inherent in widowhood is tragedy (I’ll say more about this later). However, the Bible speaks of widowhood as a reality some will have to endure and expects women who encounter that reality later in life to have prepared themselves to become worthy of not only the church’s admiration, but also its financial support. Let’s explore the text that lays out this expectation before considering some points of application.

As the text opens, Paul encourages Timothy (and through Timothy, the church) to “Honor widows who are really widows” (1 Timothy 5:3). James encourages Christians “to visit [look after – HCSB]… widows” as a part of the practice of pure religion (James 1:27), but when Paul considers enrolling (v. 9, 11 – ASV, ESV) widows in a program of perpetual care, he tries to get Christians to think of widows beyond the common tragedy they have experienced.

In terms of her family: Does she have family that can be relied upon (v.4)? If so, she is not “left alone” and therefore not truly a widow in one sense of the word (v. 5). If her Christian family does not care for her (v. 16), they are worse than unbelievers (and ought to be subjected to church discipline) (v. 8). It is worth noting though that Paul describes widows who are worthy of support as having brought up children through good works, which possibly argues for there being something more to the honor/enrollment he commands than financial support.

In terms of her age: If a widow is under the age of 60 (v. 9), then Paul sees her as a younger widow (v. 11). Paul says younger widows will struggle with the temptation to “[live] in pleasure” (v. 6), to gossip (v. 13), or to marry again, something “enrolled” widows must not do (v. 11-12). Paul’s will for these younger women is to marry (v. 14) and avoid the fate of those who “have already turned aside after Satan” (v. 15). They too are not in Paul’s words, “really widows.”

In terms of her behavior: A widow is worthy of special honor for something much more important than her age or even her need. To put it simply, she has lived honorably before her husband died and is living that way now.

Before her husband died, she honored him as her one and only and is known for her devotion to him as “the wife of one man” (v. 9). She is also known for good works, first as relates to raising her children and second as relates to governing her home. Her home was always open to guests, and her hands were always full with works of service. She gave what she could to those who had need, and “devoted herself to every good work” (v. 10, ESV).

Now that her husband is gone, she has not lost her faith; if anything, she is more committed to God than ever and has a powerful habit of prayer (5). She is neither self-indulgent nor man crazy (v. 6, 11-12; yes, that does sometimes happen, even among older women) and doesn’t waste her time with sinful talk (v. 13). She devoted herself to good work before her husband died, and all signs point to her continuing to do so as she moves on from her loss (v. 10). This kind of woman is worthy of honor and support as long as she lives.  

This text offers many rich points for reflection. Rather than focusing on cultivating benevolent programs in local churches for the care of widows (which is a neglected and needed study), let’s consider what we as individuals can take from this text.

Some thoughts for everyone: Man’s plan for old age is retirement and enjoyment; it is a time to travel, enjoy grandchildren and family, and do whatever you couldn’t while you were working. However, the pattern for this period of life tends to play out as follows: a few good years of fun and freedom followed by a few years of frustration as the body fails and ultimately dies (Ecclesiastes 12:2-7). Man’s plan is incomplete and unrealistic at best, and at worst deepens the temptation towards depression we experience in old age. This text ought to serve as a reminder that God’s plan and man’s plan are not the same, and ought to motivate us to reconsider if we have bought into the wrong plan.

Some thoughts for widows: Sisters, you have each experienced a tragedy. God understands what you are going through – He lost a loved one too when Jesus died – and He cares about you deeply. There are references to you throughout the Bible; God has taken every step to ensure you will be provided for all the days of your life. This text is here to remind you that though you have lost the most precious and important person in your life, your life is not over; God still has a plan for you.

As hard as it might be to hear, God’s plan is for you to move on. Grief is like arthritis; the more you stay still, the harder it is to move. By all means, grieve; use the Psalms to work through the feelings of loss and abandonment you no doubt are experiencing. However, set your aim on moving on.

Moving on doesn’t look the same for everyone. Younger widows, you can see God’s plan for you in this text, can’t you? As hard as it might be for you to imagine giving your heart to someone else, as the old hymn says, “There’s nothing worse than being alone.” God doesn’t want you to be alone as you move forward. He doesn’t command you to marry again (1 Timothy 5:14; “desire” in the ASV), but He truly believes that it is what is best for you.

Older widows, God understands that you reach a point in life where starting over just isn’t an option. God still doesn’t want you to be alone. He designed His church with you in mind; there’s a work for you to do. God saw you as being just as worthy of regular support as a preacher or an elder, especially if your family is not willing or able to help you (1 Corinthians 9:14; 1 Timothy 5:3, 9; 5:17). Of course, you can pray (although you already know that – 1 Timothy 5:5), but I think God had more in mind for you than that. No one is supposed to eat without working (2 Thessalonians 3:10). It may very well be that this text envisions a reward for the abundant work you have done in the past. It may also be though that God wants you to take on a new work, perhaps in the counseling department of His church.

Widows (young and old), you know much about much about life. You’ve experienced the joy of the greatest union that exists on earth and the pain of losing that joy. Your experience is incredibly valuable, and I believe at least part of the future that God has planned for you involves using that experience to guide those younger than you through the tragedies they no doubt too will face. Older people generally have wisdom to impart, but the wisdom you’ve gained through experience is special and will allow you to connect with some in a way no one else can. I hope you will put your wisdom to use.
 
Some thoughts for widowers: Brothers, it’s possible that when you read passages like this you think that God has forgotten you. He hasn’t. Your grief is real, and you’re not meant to just swallow it and move on. Still, God knows that you know that she was created differently than you. You probably saw over and over again that while she was the fairer (and often wiser and more capable) sex, she was also the “weaker vessel” (1 Peter 3:7). You know why God has gone to such lengths to care for her. That doesn’t mean you’re just meant to ignore this passage. Use this passage as a reminder if you need it: just as God had a plan for widows in the church, so too does He have a plan for you. If her experience is valuable, yours is too.

Some thoughts for wives: Sisters, I know the last thing in the world you want to think about is the possibility of your man going to be with God. However, it’s so important that you at least consider it and consider what kind of person you would be if that were to happen. The person you are becoming now is the person you will be then.
Wives, what are you doing today to ensure that you will be a woman of prayer who “trusts in God” when you are old (1 Timothy 5:5)? How are you preparing your children now to ensure they will care for you when you are older so they don’t deny God’s pattern of faith (v. 4, 8, 10, 16)? How are you preparing yourself not to live in pleasure (v. 6) or place any relationship above your relationship with Jesus (v. 11-12)? How are you preparing now to not be a gossip when you’ve got too much time on your hands (v. 13)? Are you devoted to husband? Is your home open to guests? Are your hands open to the afflicted? Is your heart set on good works?

There can be little doubt but that you will find the behavior required by these questions difficult and at times overwhelming. Don’t forget what this text is also teaching you – there is a wealth of knowledge and support available in older sisters who have lived well. You need these mothers (v. 2) as much as they need your love and support.

Some thoughts for husbands: Brothers, I know that you want to protect and provide for your family. In your heart of hearts, you probably feel as though you always will. The reality is though that if Christ does not return first, you will leave this earth and probably do so before your wife. Are you preparing your family now so that this separation is only a temporary one, so that there will be a reunion in heaven? Are you helping your wife to prepare for the future God wants for her once she’s alone?

Whether or not your wife raises faithful children who will honor her after your death is largely your responsibility (Ephesians 6:4). Further, what hope does she have to be devoted to you if you’re not devoted to her (1 Timothy 5:9)? To “[lodge] strangers” if you hate having guests over? To “relieve the afflicted” if you’re stingy or wasteful with the family’s money? To “diligently [follow] good works” if you’re barely paying attention during the Sunday morning announcements after worship (v. 10)?

By all means, take from this text that God wants you to help widows both in your blood family and in the church. But don’t forget that this text is also a reminder to you to help your wife become the woman God wants her to be.

Some thoughts for the young and unmarried: Brothers, look carefully at this passage. As you do so, remember, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing” (Proverbs 31:30). The kind of girl you want to marry is the kind of girl that is becoming this (1 Timothy 3:11 and Proverbs 31:10-31 might also help).

Sisters, look carefully at this passage. This is what you want to become. A good man can help you get there; a bad one can make becoming this incredibly difficult. Think about this passage (as well as 1 Timothy 3:1-10, 12-13; Titus 1:5-9) when thinking about a future husband.

I hope this text has given each of us something to think about. Spiritual progress in the kingdom of Christ was never meant to be limited to men; women have something wonderful to strive for when they reach old age. From the ashes of the tragedy of death can rise the beauty of a woman who is worthy of honor, love, and support as long as she lives.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Some of the most dreaded words you can hear as a minister are, “We tried that before.” These words are rarely meant to be informative; they are almost never followed by, “And here’s what we learned for next time,” or “But it’s probably about time to try it again.” No, they’re typically meant to be dismissive; they become a shorthand way for saying, “That action is a waste of time, because it didn’t achieve what we think it should have.” They’re not words typically spoken because the action in question has been examined in light of Scripture and judged to be unfaithful; they’re spoken because the outcome observed after past efforts isn’t the one expected or desired.

It’s very dangerous to get into the habit of judging outcomes rather than actions. Paul told the Galatians, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). The Holy Spirit did two things through Paul’s pen here to ensure that the teaching of this verse would be underlined and highlighted in our minds if not in our Bibles. First, He told us to anticipate active deception relative to this truth. Second, He told us that misunderstanding this passage can lead to active, open mockery of God. This passage is so important and immutable that sometimes people refer to it as “the law of sowing and reaping.”

Sometimes we assume that the deception and mockery that are warned against here all relate to those who believe that their fleshly behavior won’t yield corruption. Could it be though that the devil is also trying to convince us that our spiritual behavior won’t yield the results that God promises? Shouldn’t we connect the teaching of this text to “he who sows to the Spirit” in Galatians 6:8 and the further encouragement in Galatians 6:9 to “not grow weary while doing good”? Sometimes, a people who have given into deception and judged an activity based on outcomes end up not sowing to the Spirit and/or growing weary in doing good simply because they do not believe that a given activity will work.

To prepare His disciples for the Judgment Day, Jesus told two stories about a master who left his servants with some money. The master’s intention in both stories was for this money to serve as an investment; they were to take the money and multiply it through business transactions. In one story, each servant was given the same amount (Luke 19:11-27); in the other, each servant was given a different amount, “to each according to his own ability” (Matthew 25:14-30). In both stories, there was a servant who knew his master’s intentions but, fearing that he would do the wrong thing, did nothing (Matthew 25:24-25; Luke 19:20-21). In both stories, this was exactly the wrong thing to do in the eyes of the master; the master makes it clear that he would have been pleased with even a minimal effort. In the absence of any effort though, the master had no choice but to withhold his blessings (Luke 19:22-26) and punish a man who was ultimately a “wicked and lazy servant” (Matthew 25:26-30).

As we reflect on these stories, we recognize that there are some things which we have been given equally (e.g., the Gospel message) and other things with which we are uniquely and individually blessed. However, with no thing that we are given by God are we meant to do nothing. This is the real danger of, “We tried that before.”

It is right and good to evaluate our efforts to ensure that we are doing the most we can possibly do for the Lord. As we do this, old methods and ministries may die out and be replaced with new ones. As Paul evaluated his ministry in Asia Minor and other places, he concluded, “But now no longer having a place in these parts… I shall come to you” (Romans 15:23-24). There was nothing wrong with Paul concluding that a ministry opportunity had itself concluded; what would have been wrong is if nothing ever arose to take its place. Some churches might very well conclude that door knocking, Gospel Meetings, and other such efforts are no longer effective. However, the Lord is likely to ask these churches one day, “Well, what did you do instead?” If these parables are anything to go by, the Lord will one day be far more pleased with the church that continued to use old, outdated methods than with the church that did similar things at one point but then proceeded to do nothing in the name of progress.  

Doing something guided by the Word is always better than doing nothing. As we act, again, we must remember this: there is a great deal of deception surrounding Christian sowing and reaping. Reflecting on Galatians 6:7-9 reveals at least four key avenues of deception:

• Deception surrounds our view of ourselves: “he who sows” (v. 8). Sometimes, the problem isn’t the means or the method but the messenger. Good work can easily be undone by a half-hearted, double-minded, or in some other way improperly motivated worker. Good work can also be undone by sin in the camp (cf. Joshua 7); as Paul said, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9).
• Deception surrounds our view of Christian work: “he who sows” (v. 8). Galatians 6:7 is very careful to point out that sowing can either be carnal or spiritual. Sometimes, Christians confuse activity with faithfulness and fully invest in activities which don’t actually involve sowing spiritual seed. There is nothing wrong with engaging in activities that have secondary benefit. Playing games, watching movies, going fishing/hunting, etc., with Christian brothers and sisters can help strengthen the bonds of friendship and fellowship. However, if all of our effort is placed in these things, nothing spiritual can ever grow.
• Deception surrounds our timelines: “in due season” (v. 9). Sometimes, our timeline is not what it should be. God’s timeline and our timeline are often very, very different (2 Peter 3:8). Sometimes, God calls us to persist in an effort for a lifetime without seeing the fruit of our labor (Hebrews 11:13). A good work we do now may not see its effect until decades or even generations later; some work will not “become clear” until “the Day will declare it,” a likely reference to the Day of Judgment (1 Corinthians 3:13).
• Deception surrounds our expectations: “we shall reap” (v. 9). Sometimes, we simply are not good judges of outcomes. It is sometimes assumed that an effort has failed because there are few/no visitors, no baptisms, and/or no visible responses amongst the members of the church. We can forget that God’s word “shall not return to [Him] void” (Isaiah 55:11) and that our labor “in the work of the Lord” is never “in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The prophet Jeremiah was told that his life-long ministry would be to a people who would fight against him (Jeremiah 1:19). Likewise, Ezekiel was told that his audience, “the house of Israel,” was “impudent and hard-hearted” and that they would “not listen” to him (Ezekiel 3:7). Jeremiah and Ezekiel ought to remind us that faithful work for the Lord is never determined exclusively by earthly outcomes. Sometimes, the only treasures that we get from an effort are “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). At all times, bountiful harvests come from “God who gives the increase,” not from our efforts (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

Keeping one eye on the Word of God and the other on ourselves, our efforts, our timelines, and our expectations can help us overcome all this deception, act, and in acting realize God’s promise: “in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). May we trust this promise and not place our trust in earthly outcomes.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Imagine the scene: a wife comes home to discover that her husband has prepared a romantic evening for the two of them to enjoy. He has made dinner, lit candles, put on some mood music, and adjusted the lighting for maximum effect. Before ushering his wife to her seat, he takes her head in his hands. “Your head is so beautiful; your face, your eyes, your ears, your nose, your hair, it’s all so perfect!” he exclaims. He then glances down, grimaces and shudders, “If only the rest of you weren’t so ugly.”

I can’t imagine that evening went very well after that; can you? No amount of praise that is heaped on one part of your spouse can overcome the insults you give to his/her other parts. Also, no amount of care and service can make a spouse forget that you do not love him/her in his/her entirety. Every spouse wants to hear sentiments like those sung by John Legend, “All of me loves all of you / Love your curves and all your edges / All your perfect imperfections.”

With all this in mind, I want you to reflect on these words penned by the apostle Paul: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). The idea that the church is Jesus’ body is not a one-off illustration for Paul or the Spirit inspiring him; over and over again, he returns to it. When we were baptized, we were placed by God’s Holy Spirit into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). In that one body, we work together to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ” (Ephesians 4:15; cf. Colossians 2:19). There is only “one body” even as there is only “one Lord” (Ephesians 4:4-5), and in that “one body” we are “individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5). “There should be no schism in the body,” Paul warns, “but… members should have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25).

Totally ignoring this often repeated illustration, there are many today who say, “Give me Jesus, not the church.” Effectively, they are guilty of treating Jesus exactly how the husband in our imagined situation treated his wife. Peter writes to Christians who, like us, never had the opportunity to see Jesus in the flesh; still, he knows their hearts and says of Jesus, “whom having not seen you love” (1 Peter 1:8). Yet, for those who want Jesus without the church, the question is begged, “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20). It is impossible to love Jesus, the head of the body, without loving His body, particularly since Jesus “loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25).

What if the husband in the illustration above were only to highlight very specific portions of his wife’s body that he absolutely despised? Would that be OK? Again, no! And yet there are also many who try to love Jesus’ body, the church, in this same way. They try to befriend, love, and care for certain members in Jesus’ body, while avoiding, ignoring, or even downright hating other members. Again, Paul said, “ members should have the same care for one another,” not differing levels of care based on personal preferences or personality fits (1 Corinthians 12:25). Whether in the human body or Jesus’ body, no member can say to another, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21). “No,” Paul says, “much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary” (1 Corinthians 12:22).

So, the next time you are tempted to think that the church does not matter, remember that it was so important to Jesus that “He purchased [it] with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). And, the next time you are tempted to think that the church would be better off without a certain person, remember that brother or sister you do not like is “the one for whom Christ died” (Romans 14:15). It is impossible to love Jesus without loving all of Jesus, including the many souls who have been added to His body.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

At the Korean War memorial in Washington D.C., there’s a short reminder carved into a granite wall: “Freedom Is Not Free.” Americans tend to take their freedom, in particular religious freedom, for granted. Yet the New Testament gives its testimony again and again to the reality that Christian freedom has never been guaranteed, even for the men specifically commissioned by Jesus with unique and incredibly important ministries. Paul was one of these men. As he wrote his epistle to the Ephesians, he identified as, “Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1). Paul had been imprisoned not simply because he was a Christian but because of his Christian ministry to the gentile world. He had been imprisoned to make them free.

Paul reminds the Ephesians of his imprisonment again in Ephesians 4:1. Having given his freedom so that they might obtain theirs through Jesus Christ, he makes one request of them: “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” Why does he make this request? Even though Paul had helped them to secure their freedom in Jesus, their failure to take meaningful steps consistent with their Christian calling would render all that he had done “in vain” (Philippians 2:16). Having granted a fellow soldier an opportunity at freedom and life by giving his own, a character in the movie Saving Private Ryan leaned in and said with his dying words, “Earn this.” Though it would be some time after Paul wrote Ephesians that he would eventually die, Paul is effectively saying the same here.

What does a worthy, consistent Christian walk look like? Though Paul would eventually say many things about moral, Christian living in the remainder of his letter to the Ephesians, he begins with the most natural behavior for one who has been made free in Jesus. Christian freedom is not about having Jesus as your “personal Savior” as is so often said; it is about Jesus tearing down walls of sin and human separation (Ephesians 2:14) to reconcile people “in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:16). It is about making people “fellow heirs, of the same body” (Ephesians 3:6). It is about uniting all saved people in “the church, which is His body” (Ephesians 1:22-23). The first and most consistent thing that we can do as Christians in our walk with Jesus is pursue unity with other Christians.

Yes, for Christians freed by the blood of Jesus, unity is paramount. It wasn’t just the pleading wish of the imprisoned Paul; it was the dying wish and prayer of Jesus Himself (John 17:20-23). Its importance can be seen in the price Paul expects us to pay to pursue it. Paul says Christians who are interesting in living consistently with their calling will exhibit: 1) lowliness/humility; 2) gentleness/meekness; 3) longsuffering/patience; 4) forbearance/tolerance toward their fellow Christians in love; 5) an intense effort and diligence to keep/preserve the unity and peaceful bonds Jesus created between us through the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:1-3). The word translated “endeavoring” carries with it both the idea of effort and speed. It is the first priority of a worthy Christian walk, and its importance can be seen in both the imprisoned Paul and the crucified Jesus. Again, if Jesus died to abolish “the enmity” and “create in Himself one new man” from the divided segments of humanity, how can we say we are following Him when we do not try to maintain it (Ephesians 2:15)?

As Paul is quick to point out though, this is not token unity or agreeing to disagree. No, unity is principled. Paul describes the unity he wants us to keep, saying, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). There can no more be said to be more than one system of belief in the New Testament (“one faith”), one response to that system of belief to accept its salvation (“one baptism”), one church of saved believers (“one body”), or one aim and desire of the Christian walk (“one hope”) than there can be said to be one God, one Lord, and one Holy Spirit. The unity found in God defines the kind of unity He desires in His believers; it is not token unity but true unity.

It’s easy to see the work required to bring about unity as a chore or a burden; after all, it calls for major character modification as Ephesians 4:2 suggests. However, Paul would have us see something different when we think about this pursuit: unity is perfecting. He says, “But to each one of us grace was given” (Ephesians 4:7). What grace? Grace can be found in the individuals Jesus commissioned and equipped to help us to better understand our role in the body (Ephesians 4:11-12) and the mutual effort the entire body makes toward unity and growth (Ephesians 4:13). It is in the focused pursuit of principled unity, not swayed by false teachers or their teaching (Ephesians 4:14), that we can find true growth and God’s gracious supply (Ephesians 4:16). “Unity of the faith” is the product of one who truly has “the knowledge of the Son of God”; it allows one to be fashioned into “a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

Our freedom was obtained at a price and is maintained at a price. Key to that maintenance is the pursuit of unity. However, as the text illustrates, the person who treats principled unity as paramount and pursues it discovers in their pursuit the perfecting grace of Jesus Christ. Please, do not try to pursue Jesus on your own or in your own way; let’s pursue Him together and strive “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:13).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

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Some of my earliest memories involve the rich, dark soil around my childhood home in Michigan. I loved digging holes, and Michigan was a great place to do it! The soil was soft, and the summer weather was great (neither thing could not be said of Georgia, where my family eventually moved). I had one hole that I was particularly proud of, because it was deeper than I was tall (at six years old or so). For all the pride it gave me, it also gave me a lot of frustration, because the deeper I went, the more soil from the piles around the rim fell back into the hole.

I would venture to guess that almost every Christian experiences a similar kind of frustration at one point or another. In order to follow Jesus, we have to dig out the “root[s] of bitterness” and other dirt-y sins (pun intended) from our heart (Hebrews 12:15). In the early stages of digging, things tend to go pretty well, as surface level sins are cast out of our hearts and out of our lives. The problem tends to come as we let the shovel of God’s word go deeper into our hearts and discover things that are more deeply embedded; we tend to find that as we cast those things out, it is very easy for them to tumble back in.

Colossians 3 speaks about the need to “put off” sinful behaviors like “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language […] since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:8). If you have ever deeply struggled with these or other sins, you might have found this command challenging. I remember a skit Bob Newheart once did in which he pretended he was a psychologist. No matter who came into his office, he had one simple piece of advice to offer: “Stop it!” His clients obviously were not very happy, and I think it’s safe to say that many Christians who have attempted to follow similar advice have not wound up very happy either.

To borrow from the proverb, Christians who try to live their lives in the negative find that as they think in their heart, so they are (cf. Proverbs 23:7). The more they think, “Stop _________,” or “Don’t do _________,” the more these things tend to occupy their thoughts and their lives. This is because Christianity was not meant to be lived in the negative.

One summer after we moved away from Michigan, my Mom drove us back up for a visit. We even visited our old home. As we walked around the yard, I was excited to see what had become of my hole. I was very disappointed (and somewhat perplexed) to see that the new owners had filled in my hole… with rocks. As I reflect on this memory now, two thoughts come to mind: 1) It’s really strange that they didn’t just fill the hole in with dirt; 2) Rocks are actually an excellent way to keep dirt out of a hole.

Just a few verses after Paul tells us to “put off” sinful attitudes and behaviors, he says that there are some attitudes and behaviors we must “put on” (Colossian 3:12). This is how Christianity is meant to be lived. It is not about taking things out of your life, not doing things, and not thinking things; it is about replacing inferior, sinful behavior for superior, moral behavior. It really is easier to subtract when you add; the person who adds Christian attitudes and behaviors finds it a whole lot easier to subtract sinful ones.

Paul introduces what Christians need to put on with three powerful points of encouragement in Colossians 3:12 that we should meditate on anytime we’re finding this process of replacement difficult. First, if we are in Christ having put Him on in baptism (Galatians 3:27), we are already “the elect of God,” i.e., the ones whom God has chosen. Second, though we must continually “pursue […] holiness” in order to “see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14), God has already made us holy and will continue to work in our lives “to present [us] holy, and blameless, and above reproach” (Colossians 1:22). Third, even before the instruction to “put on,” Paul makes it clear that we are “beloved,” valued and treasured by God, even “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). God’s view of us as “the elect of God, holy and beloved,” is not contingent upon our having already “put on” all that he wants us to think, do, and become; it is our motivation to pursue these goals with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind.

So, the next time you are finding spiritual subtraction challenging, try to begin with addition! Remember, the best way to keep dirt out of a hole is to put something else in it.

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Paul tells us that “the grace of God […] has appeared […] teaching” (Titus 2:11-12). What this grace teaches is incredibly important, for this is not just any grace but “the grace […] that brings salvation.” God’s saving, teaching grace instructs us negatively (to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts”) and positively (to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age”). However, it also guides us towards an important goal: “we should live […] looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

I was born in the southwest corner of the southern peninsula of Michigan and spent the first few years of my life there. I remember distinctly the powerful thunderstorms that would roll off the lake and unleash their might and fury on my small town. I remember waking up at least once to the flashes of lightning and peels of thunder and thinking that Jesus had returned. It was “glorious,” for sure, but it filled me with terror instead of “blessed hope.”

I had this experience because even though I had heard the teaching surrounding Jesus’ second coming, I had not understood it as an expression of “the grace of God that brings salvation.” This is not to say that the prospect of the Lord’s coming should always inspire the same emotion. In fact, the coming of the Lord is a fearful thing to those who “know not God […] and […] do not obey the gospel.” To them, Jesus will come “in flaming fire taking vengeance” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). However, even in the context of that truth, God’s teaching grace describes the prospect of Jesus’ coming as something that should have given the “troubled rest” (2 Thessalonians 1:7).

The devil hates God’s saving, teaching grace. He wants very much for us to dwell in a place of fear, for fear is the enemy of saving faith. Though fear can be initially motivating (Jude 1:23), if it is allowed to dwell in our hearts, it will rob us of our confidence and drive us towards inactivity. The one talent man in Jesus’ parable confessed, “I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground” (Matthew 25:25). Fearful inactivity places us alongside of “the demons” who “believe – and tremble” (James 2:19). No, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind,” and, “perfect love casts out fear” (2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18).

As grace teaches us, it not only guides us to look for the “appearing of […] Jesus” but to see it as a “blessed hope.” This is because it guides us to transform our behavior even as we trust in God. Those who allow teaching grace to shape and mold them are freed from fear and inspired with confidence. To them, the coming of Jesus is not to judge but to reward. Paul saw the second coming as a day when he would receive “the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:8). This vision seen through the eye of faith was not for him “only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” Note, Jesus does not reward those who have feared His appearing in life but those who have loved it.

We could learn a lot about where faith should take us by reflecting upon Paul or upon John who prayed relative to Jesus’ coming, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). However, another worthy goal would be to develop the faith of Simeon. Simeon did not live to see the resurrection let alone the second coming. Instead, he waited his entire life to see the first coming of Jesus, to see the birth of “the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). Simeon knew that Jesus would usher in judgment that would reveal “the thoughts of many hearts” (Luke 3:35). He knew His coming was “destined for the fall […] of many in Israel” (Luke 3:35). However, grace still taught Simeon that the coming of the Lord was “peace […] salvation […] light […] glory […] and [the] rising of many” (Luke 3:29-34). Simeon was right; even when the Lord comes in judgment, He always also brings these things.

What does the Second Coming of Jesus mean to you? For some, it is a day that inspires false confidence because though they have been active for the Lord they have not been obedient to His will (Matthew 7:21-23). For others, it is a day that inspires fear either because grace has not yet had a chance to teach them what Jesus’ coming truly means or because they have chosen to dwell in inactive fear rather than in obedient faith. For those in whom saving, teaching grace has formed saving faith, the coming of the Lord is a “blessed hope.”

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

During our family Bible time recently, one of my sons requested for us to sing, “O Worship the King.” Anyone who knows me well knows that one of my passions is both trying to “sing with the understanding” as Paul instructs and encouraging others to do so (1 Corinthians 14:15). I had therefore already planned on discussing some of the archaic language in this hymn with my kiddos before we started singing but was especially sure to do so after I noticed that my other son was flipping pages in his song book because he already had the words memorized (which was all at once both good and bad). As we discussed the words, I was struck by the powerful descriptive terms applied by the hymnwriter to Jesus and how relevant they are today.

Jesus is of course first identified in the hymn as “the King.” Though some deny the reality of Jesus’ present kingdom, Jesus now has “all authority […] in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). He is now sitting on “the throne of His father David” (Luke 1:32; Revelation 3:21). Jesus has everything that you would expect a monarch to have: a territory (heaven and earth), a law (“the law of Christ” [Galatians 6:2]), and citizens (those “conveyed […] into the kingdom” whose “citizenship is in heaven” [Colossians 1:13; Philippians 3:20]). Since Jesus is both the King and God’s son, He deserves worship (Psalm 2:10-12). However, the hymn’s further descriptions demonstrate that this is not the only reason Jesus should be worshipped.

Jesus is next identified as “Our Shield and Defender.” One of the sadder trends in the United States over the past couple of years has been the “No Kings” rallies. I’ve often thought that if the people who attended these rallies really understood what life was like under an actual despotic monarchy or some other form of truly authoritarian government, they’d be grateful instead of protesting (in fact, they almost certainly would not be allowed to protest!). This isn’t what makes these rallies sad though; it’s sad that these people don’t know what it’s like to have a King who uses His power to serve as a Shield and Defender. Jesus might have all authority, but it’s incredible to think that He “always lives to make intercession” for His kingdom’s citizens (Hebrews 7:25).

I had to really pause when I came to the next description in the hymn, “the Ancient of Days.” The description is found in Daniel 7 and seems to refer to God the Father, as the Ancient of Days is the one who gives “One like the Son of Man” His kingdom in a prophetic vision that was fulfilled when Jesus ascended into Heaven to begin ruling over His kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). Did the author of the song misinterpret the text, or was He joining Biblical authors in applying descriptive terms that reference the Father to Jesus? Isaiah for example even used the term “Everlasting Father” to describe Jesus (Isaiah 9:6-7). While Jesus is unique in personhood from the Father, He shares His attributes. In fact, Daniel’s vision pictures the Ancient of Days with a “garment […] white as snow” and “hair […] like pure wool,” and both descriptions are later used of Jesus (Matthew 28:3; Revelation 1:14). In Jesus “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

After discussing the “bountiful care” and tender mercies of Jesus, the hymn concludes with a salvo of descriptions that powerfully reinforce what the previous descriptions establish. Jesus is “Our Maker,” for He was the One by whom, “All things were made” (John 1:3; cf. Colossians 1:16). However, Jesus is not the god of Deism, the watchmaker god who started creation and left it alone; He is our “Defender” as the hymn previously says. To what extent would Jesus go to defend us? He can be called our “Redeemer” because He was willing to pay our earned “wages of sin,” i.e., “death” (Romans 6:23) and purchase us “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). And yet, in spite of all we owe Him, He was and is willing to call us “friends” (John 15:14-15) so that we too can call Him “Friend.”

While I don’t want to belittle the political concerns of those who cry “No Kings,” my hope for both them and everyone else is that they would give themselves the chance to discover the “King of Kings,” Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 6:15). One day they will “confess that” this King “is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). It would be far better before then if they could “Worship the King,” knowing Him as “the Ancient of Days” who is not only their “Maker” but also their “Shield,” “Defender,” “Redeemer,” and “Friend.”           

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it” (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17). Mark and Luke both record this, but neither author gives any further context to the statement other than the events that surrounded Jesus saying it: 1) Some children were brought to Jesus so that He might bless them; 2) The disciples rebuked the ones who had brought them; 3) Jesus was “greatly displeased” with this and told His disciples not to hinder the children (Mark 10:14); 4) Jesus encouraged the children to come, because, as He said, “of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14); 5) Jesus made the above statement and then blessed the children. So, if the context does not explain it, what does it mean to receive the kingdom of God as a child?

I don’t believe there’s only one answer to this question. Whenever we are given a broad, open ended instruction without much context in Scripture, I believe we’re meant to meditate upon it in light of both reason and the rest of God’s revelation and draw as many warranted conclusions as we can. I think one conclusion we should reach relates to the way we receive the seed of the kingdom, the word of God. When we read Scripture, we should attempt to read it as a child would.

I have had the opportunity over the course of my life to read a lot of articles and books about the Bible. Sometimes, I marvel at the conclusions reached or missed by the authors I have read relative to clear, Biblical texts. Sometimes, authors will go to great lengths to deny the clearest, simplest meaning of a given passage. However, I have also had the opportunity on many occasions to sit across the table from someone in a Bible study and see that person reach the clear, simple meaning of a passage he or she had read for the very first time without any help from me. These people have become a living illustration to me of what it means to receive the word of God as a child.

Because Peter was the first, I will be the second to admit that there are some passages of Scripture that are “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). Further, I will also admit alongside of the Ethiopian eunuch that there are some conclusions that are hard to reach “unless someone guides me” (Acts 8:31). When Jesus ascended on high to take the throne of His kingdom (Ephesians 4:8-10; cf. Daniel 7:13-14), the church, He equipped certain individuals for the work of guiding and teaching so that they could teach others (Ephesians 4:11-16; cf. 2 Timothy 2:2). Having said all of this though, there are many passages of Scripture that we can and should take at face value just as a child would.

Each Sunday evening, I am blessed to be able to teach the Bible to a group of children who come early before worship starts. My aim is to get them to learn the books of the Bible by getting them to learn chapter associations. For Matthew, the current book they are studying, they’ve learned to associate “the birth of Jesus” with chapter one, “fleeing to Egypt” with chapter 2, and so on. Before I teach them the association, I overview the chapter with them, which seems to help the association stick a little better.

Some of the harder chapters to overview in this fashion are chapters that contain teachings rather than historical events. It occurred to me though this past Sunday as I tried to boil down the teaching of Matthew 7 that there was actually value in what I was doing for more than just my target audience. By attempting to summarize the chapter for children, I was actually attempting to read the text as a child and take from Jesus’ words the big, simple ideas He was teaching. I drew five simple lessons out of Matthew 7:

• Don’t be harder on others than you are on yourself.
• Ask, seek, and knock for blessings from God.
• Treat others as you want to be treated.
• Look only at what others do and don’t pretend you know what they are thinking.
• Do what Jesus says, not what you think He says.

Is there more to Matthew 7 than this simple list of conclusions that I created? Absolutely. As with the rest of the Bible, there is so much depth and nuance in Jesus’ words! It’s easy though to get caught in the depth and riches of Scripture and lose sight of the big picture. As you might do with a picture on a computer screen, it’s possible to zoom in and examine the pixels of a Bible text for so long that you forget what the picture looks like. It’s hard to do that though when you’re attempting to read Scripture as a child.

I want to offer two lessons therefore in closing. First, before accepting some convoluted explanation of a relatively clear passage of Scripture, ask, “How might a child understand this?” And second, as you study rich passages of Scripture full of meaning, be sure to step back from time to time and think about the big, simple lessons that God is trying to get you to put into your life. Doing this will no doubt help you receive the word of God and the kingdom it proclaims as a little child. 

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

Sometimes when I am trying to explain the differences between the four accounts of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to someone, I’ll use my hand as an illustration. I’ll begin by showing the palm of my hand as an illustration for Matthew and then reposition my hand twice, still palm up, for Mark and Luke. When I want to illustrate John though, I flip my hand over. While there are a few parts of John that overlap with Matthew, Mark, and Luke (like there are a few parts of my hand that are visible whether it is palm up or palm down), for the most part, John records an entirely different set of circumstances in Jesus’ life than the other Gospel writers record. John’s account is still the Gospel (like the back of my hand is still my hand), it’s simply a very different perspective.

The main reason for the differences between John and Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is that while in the case of the latter three the writers seem to be presenting the life of Jesus with groups of people in mind, John was guided by the inspiration of God to write with a purpose in mind. He even says exactly what that purpose is: “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30, 31).

So, why should we believe in Jesus? Below is my attempt to construct a list of reasons to believe in Jesus taken from the book of John. While my list is intended to be thorough, I make no claims that it is exhaustive. You’ll note that many reasons are related to claims that Jesus made.  While these claims would not stand alone as evidence, they demonstrate that Jesus’ life was not posthumously rebranded by His disciples. Jesus made profound claims and then demonstrated the reality of those claims both through His works and the many lives He touched. I hope this list inspires you to reread this beautiful account and make a list of your own so that together we may say alongside of Peter, “Also we have come to believe and know that [Jesus is] the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69).

Reasons to Believe in Jesus from the Book of John:

• The witness offered by John the baptizer (1:7, 15, 29-34; 3:31-36)
• Seeing the glory of Jesus through His deeds and teaching (1:14; 13:31-32)
• The grace and truth seen in Jesus (1:17)
• The fact that Jesus was able to see Nathaniel before He met Him (1:48)
• Jesus’ ability to transform water into wine (2:7-11)
• Jesus’ prediction and knowledge of His death, resurrection, and ascension (2:18-22; 3:14-15; 6:61-62; 7:33-34; 8:21, 23; 12:32-33; 13:3, 36; 14:12, 19; 16:5, 16, 22; 18:4, 31-32)
• Jesus’ ability to know what was in man (2:24-25)
• Jesus’ claim to have come from Heaven (3:13)
• Jesus’ ability to offer living water (4:10-14; 7:37-38)
• Jesus’ ability to know all the Samaritan woman ever did (4:16-18, 29, 39)
• The testimony of the Samaritans (4:42)
• Jesus’ healing of the nobleman’s son without even seeing him (4:50), and the nobleman’s witness of faith (4:53)
• Jesus’ ability to heal the lame man (5:5-11), claiming to do so on the basis of His Sonship and equality with God (5:16-23)
• Jesus’ claim to hold the key to life, death, judgment, and the resurrection (5:24-29)
• The multiple witnesses to Jesus spoken of in chapter 5:
• John the baptizer (5:33-35)
• Jesus’ works (5:36)
• The Father (5:37)
• The Scriptures (5:38-39)
• Moses (5:46-47)
• The feeding of the 5000 (6:11)
• Jesus walking on the water and miraculously transporting the boat across the sea (6:19-21)
• Jesus’ claim to the bread God sent into the world and the one who holds the key to everlasting life (6:32-58)
• The witness of Peter (6:68)
• Jesus’ ability to see into Judas’ future (6:70-71; 13:10-11, 18-30; 17:12)
• Jesus’ keen awareness of the timeline of His ministry (7:8; 12:23, 27)
• Jesus’ profound teaching (which was not influenced by any teacher but God) (7:15-18)
• Jesus claiming to be sent by the Father (7:28-29)
• The testimony of the officers of the Pharisees (7:46)
• Jesus’ claim to be the light of the world (8:12; 9:5; 12:35, 46)
• The multiple witnesses spoken of in John 8:
• Jesus Himself (8:14-18)
• The Father (8:18, 26-29, 54-55)
• Abraham (8:56)
• Jesus’ claim, “I am” (8:24, 58)
• The ability of Jesus’ words to make us free (8:31-36)
• Jesus’ claim to proceed forth from God (8:42)
• Jesus’ claim to keep people from death (8:51)
• Jesus’ healing of the blind man (9:6-7) leading to the blind man’s witness (9:35-38)
• Jesus’ claim to help all people to see (9:39-41)
• Jesus’ claim to be the Door and the Shepherd of God’s people and the One who owns them (10:7-16)
• Jesus’ power to lay down His life and take it up again (10:17-18)
• The witness of Jesus’ works (10:25, 32, 37-38)
• Jesus’ claim to be able to offer life to His sheep (10:27-29)
• Jesus’ claim to be one with God (10:30, 33, 36)
• Jesus’ ability to know Lazarus’ condition without being with him (11:11-14)
• Jesus’ claim to be the resurrection and the life (11:25-26) as evidenced by His raising Lazarus from the dead (11:39-44)
• The witness of Martha (11:27)
• The antagonistic witness of the Pharisees (11:47)
• The voice of God from Heaven (12:28-30)
• Jesus’ claim to have been granted authority from the Father (12:47-50)
• Jesus’ claim of going to prepare the Father’s house for believers (14:1-3)
• Jesus’ claim of being the way, the truth, and the life (14:6)
• Jesus’ claim of being a demonstration of the Father to mankind and of being connected to the Father, as proven by His works (14:8-11; also throughout chapters 13-17)
• Jesus’ ability to take our prayers to the Father’s throne (14:13-14; 15:7, 16; 16:23-24, 26)
• The connection between Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit (14:23-26)
• Jesus’ many works “which no one else did” (15:24)
• The witness of the Holy Spirit (15:26; 16:7-15)
• Jesus’ claim of glory before the world was (17:5, 24)
• The witness of the apostles (17:6-8)
• Jesus’ clear claim of oneness with the Father (17:21-23)
• Jesus’ claim of a heavenly kingdom (18:36-37)
• The fact that the enemies of Jesus knew what He claimed about being the Son of God (19:7)
• The incredible way Jesus fulfilled Scripture in the events surrounding His death (13:18; 17:12; 19:24, 28, 36-37)
• The empty tomb (20:1-8)
• Mary’s witness of the resurrection (20:15-18)
• The disciples witness of the resurrection (20:19-21; 21:13-14)
• Jesus’ power to convey the Spirit as He promised (20:22-23)
• The witness of Thomas (20:24-29)
• The miraculous catch of fish (21:5-7, 11)
• Jesus’ knowledge of the future for Peter and John (21:18-23)
• The witness of the apostle John himself (21:24)

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

When Jesus’ command translated “forgive” in passages like Matthew 6:12-15 and Matthew 18:35 is found as a noun in other parts of the Bible, it’s sometimes translated as “remission” (e.g., Acts 2:38) or “liberty” (e.g., Luke 4:18) instead of simply as “forgiveness” (though that word is used too, e.g., Ephesians 1:7). This clues you into the rich meaning behind this word. Built into the noun are ideas such as the full payment or pardon of debts and the release from legal or financial obligations and/or guilt. Also built into it is the idea of a confinement that has come to an end, a liberation from captivity. The verb is even broader in meaning and can carry ideas like sending something away. This reminds me of the words of the Psalmist, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

If all these ideas are contained in the words “forgive” and “forgiveness,” what would be true of situations where forgiveness has not taken place? Before we received “redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Ephesians 1:7), the Bible describes us as having been subject to the legal ramifications and earned “wages of sin,” namely, “death” (Romans 6:23). It also describes us over and over again as being “slaves of sin” (Romans 6:6, 16, 17-18, 20). Without forgiving and forgiveness, we find ourselves subject to the opposite realities of the beautiful pictures formed by the meanings behind those words. Instead of full pardon and a completely paid debt, we find ourselves owing a debt we cannot pay. Instead of “the glorious liberty of the children of God,” we find ourselves subject to “the bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). Instead of the weight of sin being removed far away, each of us must say, “my sin is always before me” (Psalm 51:3).

Jesus' command to forgive though is not quite the same as the circumstances that led to the forgiveness we received from Him. When we sin against God, neither God nor Jesus are under any obligation to forgive us. This is why translators emphasize that salvation is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15-16). It is different when we sin against each other.

On the part of a person who has done wrong against another person, not much is different. Sinning against God places us in bondage and debt before God, but so does sinning against a person. Jesus' words, “inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40) seem to apply to sin as much as they do to the good we either do or fail to do. In fact, many sins against God are also sins against others.

What’s different when one person sins against another is the obligation that is placed on the one who has been sinned against. Jesus’ command to forgive creates an opportunity to respond to sin with sin. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6 and 18 demonstrates that our forgiveness before God is directly tied to our willingness to forgive others.

This means that any situation calling for forgiveness creates two sets of chains. These chains bind the offender and offended together, pulling them towards each other. The offender is called to leave his gift “before the altar,” knowing that he can’t even properly worship until he is “reconciled” with his brother (Matthew 5:23-24). The offended is called to “go and tell” the fault he has suffered to his brother alone (Matthew 18:15), escalating the matter to involve others only if this appeal fails (Matthew 18:16-17). Forgiveness requires the offender to seek forgiveness and render whatever fruits are worthy of repentance (cf. Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:8). It also requires the offended to seek to offer forgiveness to whatever degree is possible and to be willing to extend forgiveness if/when the offender repents (Luke 17:3-4).

Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness is intended to bring liberty to and restore fellowship between people. Unfortunately, setting it aside has resulted in many tragic pictures of people choosing chains instead of freedom. Sometimes the offended and the offender sit in chains together; the latter sits in the chains of his offense while the former sits in chains created by disobeying Jesus’ command to forgive. Sometimes only the offender sits in chains, not seeking the forgiveness that a Christian is willing to give. And, perhaps saddest of all, sometimes only the offended sits in chains, refusing to forgive “one another, even as God in Christ forgave” him or her (Ephesians 4:32).

How joyous it will be on the day of judgment when people who have forgiven each other and have been forgiven by God stand hand in hand with each other, with all the chains of their past gone and forgotten. How sad it will be though when people who sought God’s forgiveness but failed to seek it from others or extend it to others discover that chains still bind them and will do so for all eternity. Jesus once concluded a parable on forgiveness with these words:

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org

In the first century church, gentiles were far more likely to have come from what we would describe today as an “unchurched” background, i.e., a background without any kind of foundation in Biblical faith. For every God-fearing Cornelius (cf. Acts 10:1-2), there seem to have been countless more like the Corinthians who, prior to being “washed… sanctified… [and] justified” by Jesus were “fornicators… idolators… adulterers… homosexuals… sodomites… thieves… covetous… drunkards… revilers… [or] extortioners” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Jews on the other hand were far more likely to have been “instructed out of the law” (Romans 2:18) and to have come to Jesus from a position of faith in God and in the Old Testament Scriptures.

With that in mind, you can almost imagine the way some first century Jewish Christians might have reacted the first time they heard the material recorded in Romans 1, a chapter which enumerates the many sins of the Gentile world. Knowing nods and hearty amens might have come forth as they heard the chapter conclude, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32). It may have caught some of those Jews off guard when Paul then said, “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans 2:1).

Just as Romans 1 had done with the Gentile world, Romans 2 outlines the sins of the first century Jewish world as it existed without Jesus and His Gospel. While people in the Jewish world were not typically guilty of the same sins as their gentile counterparts, they were still guilty: of hypocritical judgment (Romans 2:2-3) and of practices (Romans 2:21-23) that were inconsistent with the Law that they felt themselves to be equipped to teach (Romans 2:20). They needed Jesus just as much as the Gentiles did.

How was it that people to whom were “committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2) found themselves unaware of how much they needed Jesus? After all, the law was supposed to be like a “tutor” to bring people “to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). Well, it seems to have been related to the way they read their Bibles. In Romans 3:10-18, Paul draws a series of quotes from the Old Testament (Psalm 5:9; 10:7; 36:1; 14:1-3; 140:3; Isaiah 59:7). These passages constantly reference “they,” “them,” “those,” and “his.” It is very possible that some of those who read these verses heard all of those third person pronouns and said, “Thank God this is not about me.”

After quoting from all of those passages in Romans 3, Paul says this: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law” (Romans 3:19). This implies something very true and very powerful: God never intended for me to read the Bible solely so that I could think of the implications of Biblical teachings and truths for others. No, He intended for me to apply the words first to myself.

Whether it’s the Old Testament or the New Testament, the laws of God do a fantastic job of providing us with “the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). We should never react to receiving this knowledge though by opening our mouth to discuss everyone else who could benefit from this teaching or to discuss why it does not apply to us. No, only one response is appropriate: “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19).

Praise be to God that while the Old Law had no final solution to that guilt (Hebrews 10:1-4), the “righteousness of God” apart from that Law “is revealed… through faith in Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:21-22). Please remember though that as you read Jesus’ Law, “the Law of faith” (Romans 3:27), that just like the Old Law, it was not written for someone else. It was written for you and for me. It is impossible for Jesus to make you righteous if you already believe that you are. As Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32).

-Patrick Swayne  
patrick@tftw.org