Changing Clothes for the Last Time
September 24, 2021 at 3:10 pm | Posted in II Corinthians | 2 CommentsTags: 2 Corinthians 5, assurance of salvation, commentary on 2 Corinthians, death for Christians, ghosts, glorified bodies, purgatory, Sunday School lessons on 2 Corinthians, the Holy Spirit
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
II Corinthians 5:1
Paul’s focus on the eternal gave him great assurance, and helped him to see everything in the temporal through the lens of the eternal. Just as the Old Testament Tabernacle ministry was not permanent, the tabernacle in which we live our lives is dissolving. Our bodies are breaking down, losing stength, and starting to malfunction. This will discourage us and drive us to fear unless we remember that our earthly bodies will one day be replaced by glorified bodies. Those bodies will be indestuctible and incorruptible.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
II Corinthians 5:2
These groans might be audible or they might be inward. They might be groans of suffering or they might be groans of longing. The leaving of our earthly bodies and the leaving of our earthly home is something to look forward to rather than to dread.
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
II Corinthians 5:3
This seems like an obvious idea. The only way not to be naked is to be clothed, but when a person dies, his earthly “clothing” (his body) is still lying there in the form of a corpse and his soul is no longer present. His soul has not escaped into an ephemeral mystery realm. No, the person’s soul has changed houses and changed “clothes.”
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
II Corinthians 5:4-5
The Holy Spirit is like a deposit or a down payment on the Christian’s eternal life. He is not meant to reside in this world permanently in its present condition. He reminds us that we belong to another world, another Kingdom, another home.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
II Corinthians 5:6
There is no intermediate state for believers: no probationary holding pen; no earth-wandering spirits; no purgatory; no reincarnation, no soul-sleep.
Why Corona?
September 20, 2021 at 1:10 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: coronary, Coronavirus, covid, crowns, heart disease
Question: I thought the corona virus was a flu-like virus that affected the respiratory system. Why is it named after a heart disease?
Answer: This is not really a Bible or church question, so you will probably find a better explanation on a medical website, but I imagine you are thinking of the term for things related to the heart: “coronary,” which does come from the same root-word as “corona.” My understanding is that the Covid-19 virus is named the corona virus because the virus looks like it has little crowns protruding from it when viewed under a microscope and “corona” was the Latin term for a garland or laurel wreath worn around the head like a crown. The reason that things related to the heart are called coronary is that the anatomists who identified the blood vessels that support the heart saw that they surround it like a crown.
“Corona virus” and “coronary” have similar etymology, but they are not really medically related.
As an aside, the word most often translated as “crown” in the New Testament is the Greek word stephanos, from which we get the name “Stephen.”
Two Requirements: Light and Eyesight
September 16, 2021 at 11:13 am | Posted in Biblical Eyesight, II Corinthians | 5 CommentsTags: 2 Corinthians 4, Biblical assurance, Biblical light, Biblical persistence, commentary on 2 Corinthians, eyesight, perseverance, Sunday School lessons on 2 Corinthians, supernatural light, vision
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
II Corinthians 4:1
II Corinthians Chapter 4 starts off with Paul explaining his reasoning for not quitting – for not giving up – and his reasoning relates back to Chapter 3 which explained why Gospel ministry itself is so glorious. It is better than the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant, which were certainly glorious, but had a fading glory. The New Covenant does not. Moses had to hide his face as the glory faded so the people would still listen to him, but Paul and the Apostles did all their ministry out in the open – observed by all.
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
II Corinthians 4:2
We should live openly and honestly, too, not only in our personal lives, business dealings, and relationships, but in the way we present the Gospel and talk about the Bible, not resorting to trickery or gimmickry or salesmanship. However, this raises a question: If forthrightness about our message is so important, why isn’t it more effective? The problem is not with the message – the Light is plenty bright enough – but light can only be received by functioning eyes.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
II Corinthians 4:3-4
Lost people suffer from sensory deprivation. You don’t heal blindness by making things prettier to look at. Satan has blinded their minds, so we need supernatural enlightenment on both ends: the power of the light and the healing of the eyes.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
II Corinthians 4:5-6
This really highlights Jesus’s glory and diminishes our own, which is the way it should be.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
II Corinthians 4:7
It also helps to explain why such a valuable treasure is entrusted to such frail and faulty caretakers.
Starting in Verse 8 Paul is not bragging; he’s explaining. He and his missionary team were not like the false teachers. They were persistent, but their persistence wasn’t based on their unbreakability. The fact that they were breakable gave them the assurance that God’s power would be evident.
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
II Corinthians 4:8-11
True Christian ministry, of necessity and by its very nature, must be rife with paradoxes.
So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
II Corinthians 4:12
Death brings life, and weak vessels show strength. Practically, today, we must be near death and willing to talk about death. We serve a risen Savior, but He can’t have risen without dying first. We try to hide our weaknesses, but our weaknesses demonstrate our trust in the Lord. The main thing lacking for most of us is a willingness to speak boldly. Bold speech comes from bold belief.
We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
II Corinthians 4:13-15
So, in summary, this is how Paul, and how you and I, can keep going when what we fear most or expect least suddenly shows up and everything gets really hard.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
II Corinthians 4:16
Remember that God is not throwing you back because of your weakness. No, He’s advancing you forward: renewal.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
II Corinthians 4:17
The worst suffering here will seem like a mosquito bite compared to the eternal glory prepared for us.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
II Corinthians 4:18
Our eyes have been opened – no more Satanic blindness – so don’t waste them looking on the material and the temporal. Focus them on the spiritual and the eternal.
Foreshadowing a Greater Rebellion and Its Resolution
September 13, 2021 at 12:46 pm | Posted in II Samuel | 2 CommentsTags: 2 Sameul 18, 2 Samuel 13, 2 Samuel 14, 2 Samuel 15, 2 Samuel 16, 2 Samuel 17, Absalom, commentary on 2 Samuel, Shimei, Sunday School lessons on 2 Samuel
And Absalom her brother said unto her, Hath Amnon thy brother been with thee? but hold now thy peace, my sister: he is thy brother; regard not this thing. So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom’s house.
II Samuel 13:20
Absalom might might have been furious about what Amnon had done to Tamar, but he saw an opportunity also – an opportunity to get closer to the throne. He began to plot revenge. Two years later he exacted that revenge: he had his servants kill Amnon.
And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.
II Samuel 13:39
I believe that this description of David is intentionally vague – sort of a studied ambiguity. David longed for Absalom for two reasons. He longed to be reconciled to his son, and he longed to see justice done. This was a problem for David, and God faced a similar situation with you and me: how to execute justice and exercise mercy at the same time. God is the only one ever able to completely satisfy justice while graciously extending mercy, and He did this in the death of Christ Jesus on the Cross.
Joab convinced David to bring Absalom back, but Absalom stole the hearts of the people. Absalom was popular, purposeful, and patient, but why did Ahitophel, David’s best advisor, join Absalom’s rebellion? It may have been because Bathsheba was his granddaughter and he still harbored some resentment toward David.
David fled Jerusalem to protect the people of Jerusalem. He had been in the wilderness before, but he was 60 years old now. There was a time when he fled from Saul the spear-thrower, but now he was hounded by Shimei the rock-thrower.
And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
II Samuel 16:7
Hushai, a double agent working for David, convinced Absalom to disregard Ahitophel’s advice, and to gather a large army and go into battle himself (mainly by appealing to his pride and imagination). Absalom was killed when his hair got caught in a tree.
The Stones that Put Out a Conflagration
September 10, 2021 at 2:32 pm | Posted in Joshua, The Stones that Don't Cry Out | 4 CommentsTags: Achan, Biblical stoning, commentary on Joshua, Joshua 7, stoning, Sunday School lessons on Joshua
Here is the crucial lesson from Joshua Chapter 7:
Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
Joshua 7:12
God loves His people, but He will not help them to sin, and He will not bless partial obedience. That’s the ultimate revelation of why His anger (prefaced in Verse 1) had been kindled: not hubris, not prayerlessness, but a failure to delineate the holy (the dedicated-to-God) from the accursed. God had not sent His people into the land of milk and honey so that He could be misidentified and confused with the other, immoral, unholy gods.
And here is His remedy:
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
Joshua 7:13
The remedy was sanctification, confession, repentance.
In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man. And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Joshua 7:14-18
Imagine the dread and fear of Achan as the net closed ever more tightly around him.
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
Joshua 7:19
Joshua addressed Achan paternally, and required him to take an oath.
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:20-21
Achan had looked left and right and ahead and behind, even down, but not up.
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:22
The confession was enough to establish what happened, but the objects needed to be addressed.
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:23-25
Old Testament stoning involved pushing the convicted man off a nine-foot platform, dropping a heavy stone or slab onto his head, and then witnesses throwing rocks at him. The carnage commanded against sin in Canaan by God was not only directed at the pagans, but, here, near the beginning of this new era in salvific history, toward His own people if necessary to establish God’s hatred of that sin (see Ananias and Saphira). We will see in Joshua Chapter 8 that if only Achan could have waited, he could have helped himself to enemy spoil after the following battle.
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Joshua 7:26
“Achor” is a play on Achan’s name, and it meant “trouble.” Harboring sin in our churches, our homes, ourselves, will lead to trouble. Sin will complicate your life – in the worst way.
Why the Thigh?
September 8, 2021 at 12:32 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 CommentsTags: Bible Q&A, Biblical Q&A, Exodus 1, Genesis 24, Genesis 32, Genesis 46, Genesis 47, Jacob, Jacob and the Angel, thighs
Question: Do you know what the deal is with the thigh in Bible verses like Genesis 47:29 and Genesis 32:25?
Answer: I believe it is used differently in different contexts. In passages like Genesis 24:2-3 and 47:29 it may be used euphemistically to refer to the male reproductive organs. Placing the hand under the thigh was a symbolic way of swearing or taking an oath and invoking a man’s future descendants as collateral against keeping his word. The same Hebrew word translated as “thigh” in Genesis 24:2 and 47:29 is translated as “loins” in Genesis 46:26 and Exodus 1:5. But in Genesis 32:25 it is more literal. There, “thigh” means part of the leg or hip joint, so that Jacob’s thigh/hip was dislocated by the Angel.
Scofflaws
September 6, 2021 at 3:28 pm | Posted in Inlaws, Outlaws, and Scofflaws | 2 CommentsTags: 1 John 2, antinomianism, Colossians 2, Exodus 20, Jeremiah 31, John 14, John 15, Jude, Psalm 119, Romans 6
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
I John 2:3-5
I called the first lesson in the series on legalism “Inlaws” because it dealt with the false belief that a person could be justified before God by keeping “within” His law – by obeying God’s law well enough to earn salvation, eternal life, and a home in Heaven. This is a false view of the Law and salvation because no one can keep the Law, and because it spurns the only means of salvation given by God to mankind: Christ and His Cross.
I called the second lesson “Outlaws” because it dealt with the belief that outside, or beyond, God’s laws, additional extrabiblical safeguards are needed to prevent people from breaking them – or from coming too close to breaking them. This type of legalism promotes a false, outward view of spiritual maturity, and it always tends toward hypocrisy. Although perhaps well-intended, it infringes on the liberty won for us by Christ, and it hinders our fellowship with God in the Spirit and our relationships with other believers.
I could have used the term outlaws for this third lesson in the series because we think of an “outlaw” as someone who breaks the law and tries to live outside of it, but I think the better term is scofflaw, because someone who scoffs at the law isn’t necessarily seeking to have a wrong relationship to it; he instead behaves as if the law is irrelevant to him: he scoffs at it. This is not a type of legalism, but it is often the result of an unbiblical condemnation, or a wrong view, of legalism. Its common name is “antinomianism.”
Anti = against; nomos is the Greek word for law. For example, “astronomy” = the laws of the stars or heavenly bodies. “Economy” = the law of household management. Legalists are people who are wrongly oriented toward the law of God. Antinomians are people who believe that the law of God can be ignored.
Exodus Chapter 20 contains the 10 Commandments, which are the clearest summation of the Law in the Old Testament. Although they are found in the Old Testament, they also have an application for New Testament Christians. Classically, there are thought to be three “uses” of the Law. The first use is to use it like a mirror (which I like to call the reflective use). The Law shows us what we are really like when our lives are held up to God’s standards of righteousness. It shows us we are wicked sinners who need a Savior, so I believe that it is the most important use of the Law. The second use of the Law is sometimes called the civil use of the law. (I like to call it the restrictive, or restraining use.) If adopted by society, the Law will not prevent crime or sin, but it will hinder it and produce a culture where we have the freedom to preach Christ. The third use is the one that condemns the scofflaws (the antinomians). Some people call it the teaching use or the didactic use; I like to call it the revelatory use. The Law reveals God’s nature, character, and attributes, and it can also serve as a guide as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our sanctification to help us know that we truly belong to Christ and that we are making progress in our sanctification – which is a valid ground for assurance of regeneration/salvation. This is why we can’t, although we must avoid legalism, turn into scofflaws.
Scofflaws make an artificial distinction between love and duty.
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
Love and duty are inextricably linked: duty and devotion. If you are a parent, do you love your children? Of course you do, but does this mean you do not also owe a duty to them as their parents? Again, of course you do. Even within the Trinitarian Godhead itself there is this combination of love and duty and obedience.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:10
We do not “have to” obey God’s law in order to show our love for Him. That’s a backward understanding of our duty. We “get to” obey God’s law because He first loved us. So, let’s try to make sure we don’t cavalierly disregard God’s law just because we are not – nor should we desire to be – “under it” when it comes to salvation.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:14
What does it mean here to say that, as New Testament Christians, we are not “under the law?”
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17
Those laws were for a certain people at a certain time and place. We are not bound to obey the Old Testament ceremonial laws. They have been fulfilled in Jesus. They were intended to keep God’s people holy and undefiled in preparation for the Messiah, and they were always intended to point to Him even before He appeared. However, the “moral” laws are still applicable. We hesitate to use the word “binding” on Christians today, because the moral laws are graciously given to us by God in order to please Him, and because they demonstrate to a lost world that we are becoming something which we could not be apart from God’s power: holy.
O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
Psalm 119:97
This is not bondage to the law. This is joyful meditation – a way to get to know God better and draw closer to Him. Look at the jubilant exclamation. A true Christian rejoices to know and to do God’s law.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:33
This is a prophecy of the Old Testament concerning the New Covenant. Obedience to God’s law would not be external righteousness, nor a failed attempt at meritorious righteousness. New Testament Christians have new hearts, and God’s law is written on their hearts. A lack of concern about obeying God’s law could be a sign of false conversion. A belief that God’s law is irrelevant because salvation is by grace alone through faith alone can be a symptom that licentiousness is disguising the absence of real grace.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude v.4
The Deep End 
The First Rock Star
September 27, 2021 at 1:53 pm | Posted in Biblical firsts, II Samuel | 6 CommentsTags: 1 Samuel 18, 2 Samuel 14, 2 Samuel 15, Absalom, Biblical celebrity, commentary on 2 Samuel, death of Absalom, Lester Roloff, Sunday School lessons on 2 Samuel
One of the interesting things to note in the thrilling, true, and historical accounts of the first earthly kings of Israel, Saul and David, in the Books of I and II Samuel, is the role of fame (and sometimes notoriety) as Israel takes on a real “national consciousness.” At first blush, it seems that Saul and David were, in some sense, the first “celebrities” of Israel. This can be seen in the way the people made songs to highlight their exploits.
I Samuel 18:6-7
However, closer inspection shows that, at least in the case of David, “hero,” might be a better description than “celebrity.” After all, David had done the great deeds the people ascribed to him by the power of God, and to the glory of God.
David’s son, Absalom, is another story. Absalom can be more properly described as a celebrity, for his reputation and popularity were more manufactured than earned.
II Samuel 14:25-26
II Samuel 15:2-6
In his sermon, “And the Mule Walked On,” Lester Roloff called Absalom the first “hippie,” because of his long (I Corinthians 11:14), luxuriant, red, and heavy hair, which he publicly combed out and trimmed once a year as the people admired and swooned. I think a better description of Absalom might be the first “rock star,” since his fame and popularity were based on vanity rather than substance.
When Absalom revolted and declared war on his father, King David, the Lord, in a classic case of “reaping what you sow” (or what you comb), arranged it so that Absalom’s hair got caught in the boughs of a tree as he rode underneath it on his mule. The mule kept going, and Absalom hanged there, helpless and ridiculous, until his enemies came and turned him into a human piñata, ending his life.
Let us remember Absalom, and be careful of seeking the praise of men over the approval of the Lord.