“CAN YOU USE MY DIRTY HANKY?”

THE ONE VERSE THAT DESTROYS

 "WORKS SALVATION"

I have written in another blog post about one verse that destroys the macro-evolution theory. Well, here it goes again, there is also one verse in the Bible that, if taken seriously, would seem to put to rest the notion that any good thing I do can ‘merit’ anything toward my own salvation; or, would destroy the doctrine of  a  ‘works salvation’ or 'works righteousness'. 

Before I get to the verse I would like to explain what is being referred to as ‘works salvation’ so there is no question as to what is being said. By ‘works salvation’ I am describing the doctrine that is widely held by most all other religions and cults outside of mainstream reformed, evangelical Christianity- in this post I am addressing only the Christian doctrine of ‘works salvation’. This doctrine would hold to the belief that in addition to Christ’s death on the cross for the remission (putting away) of sin, and His atoning sacrifice, there are ‘acts’ or ‘works’ that one who believes in Jesus  must do to 'earn' or 'assist' in his or her salvation. These works that are done give merit to an individual and help procure their eternal salvation by not only manifesting the individuals sincerity but also by satisfying or indulging the sin debt owed on a daily basis subsequent to their initial belief in Christ as savior or acceptance into a system that they believe will ultimately save them. This merit, or righteousness, that is bound to the individual by these ‘works’ can obtain the individuals salvation, or release from punishment due as a result of their sin; however, immediate sin will affect salvation and can even separate an individual from God so that salvation is not possible. Thus, you will find that some formal ‘act’ of repentance or penance whether by acts of contrition or confession ‘must’ be done to bring one back into favor with God and once again procure salvation. I believe this is a good, though not perfect or thorough, description of what is being referred to in this post as ‘works salvation’.

Now to that verse, that one verse that simply destroys the doctrine of any type of ‘works salvation’. The verse referred to is found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 64:6- “We have all become like one who is unclean,and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” ESV

Did you pay special attention to the words that were underlined? Those are the words that destroy the doctrine of ‘works salvation’. “But wait”, you say, “that can’t be what it means, I mean, surely my good works are worth something, right? You must have taken Isaiah’s words out of context!” Good point. Context is always ‘King’, so let’s take a look at the context before we get into the meaning of the verse.

In this section of Isaiah the prophet is bringing the word of the Lord to a nation (Judah) that has experienced a time of prosperity under King Uzziah and Jotham due to extensive building projects and relative peace. It was during this time and with the influence of some allies with nations that didn’t serve the Lord that we find Isaiah giving out this word. Some commentators believe that starting in chapter 63 you have a prayer of captivity and in chapter 64:1-12 you have a prayer of the remnant; nevertheless, it is recorded for us as the word of God from Isaiah's pen. You see, the people of Judah had turned their hearts away from God during this time of prosperity in Judah and begun to serve ‘other gods’ along with the Lord. They would still perform their ‘religious duties’ but their hearts were far from God: this type of  'religion' sounds eerily similar to what we have going on in the United States, doesn't it?  Because of this deep sinfulness of their heart (and ours), God called them out and lets them know that he is not ‘fooled’ by their false worship and service but rather is appalled at them for it (just like He is not fooled by us or our false worship).

That is the context: a sinful, prosperous nation, turning away from God in their hearts while still maintaining their 'religious duties' and a prophet bringing the word of God to them in answer as to why He is not delivering Judah as he has always done in the history of the nation Israel. And God answering the question with the reason: He will answer the prayer of the righteous, yet 'all' are unrighteous! It appears we have a dilemma here doesn't it?

Now let's pick up the study in chapter 63 with the people asking ‘Where is God?’ and recounting how even though from the beginning and through the Exodus, God was with them and delivering them even at times when they turned on him. They don't understand why God isn't 'delivering them now' so they are asking and seemingly pointing a finger at God in verse 17 as the reason for their sin:

‘O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?’ ... and asking Him to "look down from heaven and see,..."  ESV

As we enter chapter 64 we see the writer, Isaiah, asking the Lord to not just 'look' but to tear open heaven, make the mountains quake as a fire is kindled, and come down so the people of Judah will turn back to Him – fire would be that purifying fire of God’s loving judgment on the people of Judah’s sinfulness which is being manifested in daily life and religion as well as judgment on the nation’s that are leading them away. By the time we get to the verse in question, 64:6, we see that Isaiah is putting himself alongside the rest of the sinful people of Judah exclaiming in verses 5 and 6,

“You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” ESV

Notice the intentional removing himself from ‘…him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways…’ Why would Isaiah the prophet include himself with those whose 'righteousness are like a polluted garment." if he didn't believe it to be so? He wouldn't have! He believed that even his 'works' his 'good works' were detestable to God. Why? Because he knew and believed the underlying premise of the prayer that he just lifted up to God- and this is the main point of all that we have been discussing so far: everyone's works, no matter how 'good' you may think they are, are a filthy, polluted, garment before God's perfect righteousness! And let me speak to the words that are used for 'polluted garment' ,or, 'filthy rag' as used in many translations. These words  are from the Hebrew words that mean, 'defiled' or more literally 'menstruation rag or cloth'. So, what Isaiah intentionally says about himself as well as everyone else (the Hebrew is also in the plural) is that any 'good work' that we try to give to God out of our own effort is like handing God a dirty 'menstruation rag'; you might as well say, "Here God, you can use my dirty handkerchief", but worse! So you can see, that works that are done out of our own effort are repulsive to God no matter how good we may think they are!

Now, there are other verses in the Bible that speak to the same 'Reformation doctrine' (Grace alone by Faith alone); however, none so vividly as this one verse in Isaiah. Now, you may be saying,  "That's all well and good for the 'Old' Testament, how about the New Testament, show me something from the New!" Well, there is one verse that also demolishes the 'works righteousness' belief in the New Testament, but before we get to that verse let's look in the book of Romans, 7: 18-19:

For I know that nothing (ouk) good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not (ouk) the ability to carry it out.  (19)  For I do not (ouk) do the good I want, but the evil I do not (ouk) want is what I keep on doing (prasso).  ESV

What we need to notice in these verses are the two Greek words, ouk and prasso. Ouk is an absolute negative which is translated by none, nothing, etc. and has the meaning of absolutely not; prasso, translated as 'doing', has the meaning of habitually doing or practicing over and over again. So, the verse would read like this if the words were translated with their complete meaning:

"For I know that (absolutely nothing good at all) dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but (absolutely no) ability to carry it out. For I do not (do anything at all, absolutely none) of the good that I want, but the evil I (absolutely do not want to do) is what I keep on doing (habitually doing and practicing over and over)."

The importance of these verses from Romans can't be understated: in ourselves, we cannot do anything good. If you read the entire 7th and 8th chapters (actually all) of Romans you will find that the only answer to the dilemma of this 'indwelling sin', this 'total moral depravity', is Christ. Jesus is our only answer and we will see how when we examine the New Testament verse that demolishes 'works salvation', so lets move on to Ephesians 2: 8-10:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Eph 2:8-10 ESV

There it is. Are there other places in the Bible that we could use as a foundation to our argument? Absolutely, many of them. But this section of Ephesians chapter two completely destroy any of the self-works salvation, or, works righteousness type of false doctrines that many have bought into. If you have bought into the doctrine that when you die you will be ushered before the gates of heaven and your works will be 'weighed' in the balances and if your good outweighs your bad- you've made it, your in, heaven is now your home! Or, if you are involved in any kind of religion that requires some demands on you to perform good works or deeds that will somehow give you merit to either get to heaven or be released from some punishment, you have also bought into the lie of 'works righteousness'. As should have been obvious from the verses that we dissected above, no one, not any except God alone, who came wrapped in flesh (John 1:14), has been able to have any righteousness of their own and certainly cannot claim any merit or right standing before a holy God- see Rom 10:3-4:

For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  ESV

So, let's do a little dissecting of the verses from Ephesians as we wrap up beginning with verse 8:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  Eph 2:8 ESV

Even though this verse speaks for itself, I think it would be good to take a look at a few of the words before moving on to verse 9. Grace: Grace in this instance is the Greek word charis, which means gift, or a gracious act on the heart. Saved: is the word sozo which has the meaning of saved, delivered or protected. Faith: the word pistis which means moral conviction, reliance or trust. Not: this is the word studied above, ouk- an absolute negative. Gift: the word doron which means sacrifice, gift or offering. Putting it all together we could read the verse like this:

"For by this gracious gift you have been delivered, saved and protected through conviction and trust. And this (deliverance) is absolutely in no way your own doing; it is a sacrificial offering and gift of God."

Now let's move on to the next verse:

"not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  Eph 2:9 ESV

We start once again with the word Not: ouk- absolute negative. Result: ek which has a meaning that derives from origin and is best translated 'out of'. Works which is the word ergon, the meaning is toil, effort, or act. No one: is the word tis which means some or any person. The other word meanings are what they appear. So, the verse can be:

"Not in any way out of effort, toil or act, so that no one (or any one) may boast."

And now we move to verse 10:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  ESV 

Once again let's magnify a few words. We Are: is the single word esman which is a plural and means all of us. Workmanship: is the word poiema which has the meaning of product, thing fabricated or thing made. Created: the word ktizo which means fabricated or manufactured. In: is the word en and means on or by. For: is the word epi which is a word of superimposition of what has been distributed or given out. Works: is the same word ergon as studied above. Prepared Beforehand: this is one word in the Greek, proetoimazo, which has the meaning of preparing in advance. Should Walk: is the single Greek word paripateo which means to walk all around or be occupied with. So let's see how this verse can be translated:

"For all of us are the fabricated design, built and manufactured by Christ Jesus and superimposed with the good works, effort and toil, which God prepared in advance, that we should completely walk all around in them."

When you go back and put these verses from Ephesians all together you will see that we (all of us that are saved) are not saved by anything at all that we have done. Our salvation and deliverance is only by the gift and grace of God and not by any works, acts, effort or toil that we do; so there can be no boasting at all in 'our' good deeds. No, we are saved by God's grace and the 'good works' that 'we' do are completely the works of God that he has created before we were created so that he could superimpose these works; could apply these works onto us like the caption that is superimposed over a movie or photograph, so that once we were saved we could walk completely in the works that God prepared for us. These are the works that will last for all time, His works!

So, what have we learned through this study. We have learned that anything that we (any of us) consider a 'righteous deed' or our own 'righteousness' is considered completely worthless and even appalling to God. We have learned that, whether in the Old or New Testament, when consistently and contextually studied and interpreted, salvation from evil or salvation to heaven is in no way attributed to any of our own works. We can neither save ourselves or assist in our salvation from evil or to heaven. We have seen that any 'good works' that are done by men which have any merit before God are only those works that were created by God ahead of time and then placed upon individuals (superimposed) as He chooses. That we (any person) cannot establish a righteousness of our own because we don't have righteousness of our own and any rightness or righteousness that we may have can only come from Christ Jesus. As a matter of fact, a good summary of what we have learned can be taken from a scripture in 2Corinthians, so let me close by quoting that scripture:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (18) All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (21) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  2Co 5:17-21 ESV

Randy

THE THREE "I's"

 THE THREE "I's"

2Ti 4:3-4 (NAS95) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Hi everyone, 

Wow! Another week flying by- at least for me it has been- at any rate, I hope you  are all having a blessed and joy filled week. 

I’ve been thinking about Scripture and the Gospel a lot for quite a while now, and I am more convinced than ever that what we have been learning about false teaching being ‘heretical’ (that’s a  ‘hard’ word but I think appropriate) when it comes to belief in Scriptural Inspiration, Inerrancy and Infallibility (3 I’s) and the teaching of the True Gospel (doctrine), is essential to keeping us ‘on the Path’ of the obedient walk of discipleship (the daily, sanctifying, glorifying, life we will live until Jesus comes.. or we go!). We have been looking into this issue the last couple weeks, but this week we will ‘separate’ the Gospel into two parts- Man and Jesus- because the Gospel has to do with both, and false teaching will distort both of these ‘doctrines’. I can’t wait to go through this with you on Sunday. 

For now, I want to leave you with a teaching by Alistair Begg that dives right into this subject we will be looking at- "The Apostles Teaching".  It was either this one or a John MacArthur sermon, "You Can Trust Scripture"- Had a hard time choosing so I will just include the link to both for those of you who would really like to take some time to look into what true ‘doctrine’ means and why should we ‘trust’ the Bible? I will also include the transcripts for those who would rather read than listen. 

Enjoy, and see you all Sunday!

Randy

Alistair Begg

https://youtu.be/RZA5K6RifF4

John MacArthur

https://youtu.be/VILPlRcmfXc

DON'T BELIEVE EVERY SPIRIT!

 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1Jn 4:1-6)

Hi everyone,

Hope you all are having a blessed week! In the passage from 1 John, he says that ‘every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.’ And, every spirit that doesn’t is ‘of the antichrist,..’ So, it must be pretty significant that one ‘confesses’ that Jesus came in the flesh, but why? 

What was happening doctrinally during this writing of 1 John is what the apostle John was addressing. At this time there was a ‘false teaching’ being pushed in the church that said all ‘flesh’ was totally sinful and only the spirit was not sinful, because of this, it was being falsely taught that Jesus could not have ‘come in the flesh’ or he would have been sinful. Trying to ‘justify’ their own twisted thinking, they were teaching a false doctrine so significant that the apostle thought it needed to be addressed. This teaching of which I speak was called Gnosticism- and in John particularly, a form of twisted Gnosticism introduced by a heretic named Cerinthus. Cerinthus was putting his twist on ‘who’ Jesus was during the time of the apostle, and John was refuting his teaching. Cerinthus actually taught that Jesus was born in the flesh by Mary and Joseph, that he had such a superior knowledge (gnosis) that the logos (Spirit of wisdom) came on Jesus at his baptism (symbolized by the dove) when he became ‘Messiah’ (Christ). When Jesus faced suffering and death the Spirit left Jesus and the body died but the Spirit of Christ lives on. So, what John is saying here is that if you believe that Jesus Christ didn’t ‘come in the flesh’- that He is, and was, both God and man- then you are believing an antichrist teaching and are of the antichrist! John took false teaching seriously, and so should we. 

This is why the past couple months we have been studying some of the present day ‘antichrist’ teachings and what scripture has to say in its own defense! Yes, that’s correct- scripture, God’s Word, will defend itself; that is why it is so important for us to know the Word- it is only by God’s infallible, inspired and inerrant Word that we have the sure foundation to stand on against any and all false teaching. The warning is just as pertinent and serious today as it was in John’s day! We will wrap up this teaching Sunday as we look at scriptures that describe false teachers and talk about the warnings and how they apply to our lives in today’s church. I’m attaching below a Steve Lawson bible study that covers this portion of 1 John 4 and speaks about false teachers in the church. 

Enjoy, and talk to you all this Sunday!

Randy

First a reading from A.W. Tozer in ‘The Purpose of Man’. 

“You are a mirror of the Almighty, and this is the reason you were created in the first place. This is your purpose. You are not created so that you might only take something over here and put it over there—work. You were not created only that you might develop your brain so that you can speak with a cultured accent—education. Neither are we here to enjoy ourselves, even the pure pleasures of life. Nor are we here for the thrills life brings. All the holy prophets and apostles teach that man fell from his first estate and destroyed the glory of God, and the mirror was broken. God could no longer look at sinful man and see His glory reflected. Man failed to fulfill the created purpose of worship to his Creator in the beauty of holiness. He forgot this, forfeited it by sin and is busy now finding other things to fill that emptiness. It is terrible what people will look to if they lose God. If there is no God in their eyes, then they get something else in their eyes; and if they do not enjoy worshiping the great God Almighty that made them, they find something else to worship. If a person does not have God, he has to have something else. Maybe it is boats, or maybe it is money, amounting to idolatry, or going to parties or just simply raising the devil. They have lost God, and they do not know what to do, so they find something to do, which is why all the pleasures in life have been invented.”

And why false teaching appeals to so many!

The Bible Study: Steve Lawson  1 Jn 4:1-2

https://youtu.be/JZWp-eUYW8s

 

THE COMFORT OF BEING 'LUKEWARM'! [THE PATH DEVOTIONS]

“"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"” (Rev 3:14-22)

Hi everyone,

Wow, that passage from Revelation really speaks to a church that has the confidence that they are on the right track, and yet, God says that they are ‘wretched, and miserable and poor and blind and naked’- not a very accurate self-assessment! So, what can make a ‘church’ so confident that they are doing good, when in reality, God sees them in such a disgusting light? One word: Lukewarm. God hates the ‘lukewarm’ churchgoer: He wants us to be Hot for him, or ‘cold’ against Him. Why? Because ‘lukewarm Christianity’ leads people to death (eternal or relational) by its works based religion, its moralistic deism, or it’s ‘easy believism’ (words without conversion): all void of a true relationship with The Savior due to a misunderstanding and misapplication of Scripture. For those who have drifted into ‘lukewarmness’, He says for them to open their spiritual eyes, and, He is using discipline to try and guide them back into True relationship with Him. For those who are lost, He is knocking at the door, saying, ‘open your spiritual ears and hear the knocking so you can open the door to a relationship with Me’. In both cases, God wants a relationship, not a stagnate, lukewarm ‘religion’. 

Many in the church today have either drifted into some type of ‘lukewarm Christianity’ with a moralistic bent or a situationally ‘purpose driven religion’; or, have been led by false teaching into a ‘lukewarm comfort’ and false assurance while having an unconverted and unrepentant heart. That is what this last couple months of instruction about false teaching has hopefully helped us to see: these dangers are all around us and could very well be in our midst. Let’s all be diligent in our own walk with God to stay Hot and remember that we have in our possession the ‘salve’ of Truth to give to those around us who have become ‘lukewarm’, so they can see clearly the relationship they need with Him; or, by the power of the Gospel, direct the ears of others who don’t yet know him to the sound of Him knocking so they can open the door and experience the ‘radiant heat’ of His presence for the first time!

This Sunday we will be completing our study on the doctrine of ‘The Church’ and then finishing with a look at scriptural warnings specific to false teachers like those we may be familiar with or heard about. Until Sunday, I will leave you with a reading from A.W. Tozer that is really relevant to our discussion about Mankind and the Church. 

Enjoy, and See you all Sunday!

Randy

Quote from, "Experiencing The Presence Of God" by A. W. Tozer -

"I have noticed that in recent years a serious error has developed among religious people in general. I fear that its focus is on what I will call a Christ-less nature mysticism. This is even invading what is termed as the evangelical church. When the fall of the year comes around, these nature mystics imagine a little man with a paintbrush painting the leaves, and some get very watery eyed about this. Again, in the spring, when the frogs begin to make their music in the little ponds, man’s thoughts turn to love and the kind of things the poets write about. That is very dangerous, because if it is cross-less —without redemption, without Christ and without a proper reconciliation—it can be deadly. Yet, there are churches spending millions of dollars on fabulous buildings, but the congregation never hears a thing, year in and year out, about reconciliation. 

Today’s church faces the danger of a cross-less Christianity. A preacher will get up in front of the congregation and talk so piously about the “Great All Father.” Or he might say, “This we ask in the spirit of Jesus.” He did not ask it in the name of Jesus, but in the spirit of Jesus. He was a nice fellow, not wanting to offend anybody and surely too nice to embrace the cross. This does not represent the biblical focus of Christianity. We must get back to the idea of a priesthood. We must get back to the idea of God on one side and man on the other, and the two of them alienated from each other. This alienation is not by the fault of God, but by the fault of man. We must get back to a sacrifice and a priest who can come between God, who is holy, and man, who is unholy, and bring the two of them together. That is priesthood."

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Are You Serious?

“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” Proverbs 16:25 NLT

I guess what prompted me to write this is that I have been hearing a lot of statistics lately that are alarming. Things like, ‘30% of our high school students in Christian families think that gay marriage is acceptable.’ Or, ‘Over 30% of high school students in Christian families believe that living together before you marry is a legitimate way to see if two people are ‘right’ for each other.’ I hear that many of the people that are confessing Christians, believe that there is no conflict between being a practicing homosexual, or having sex outside of marriage, and the Bible. What I have to ask myself when I hear such claims is “Are you serious?” And I don’t mean that remark in the common vernacular that means, “You’ve got to be kidding?” I mean it as it is written, “Are you really serious when you make those claims?” The reason I say this is that I think there must be a disconnect between what ‘Confessing Christians’ are saying and what they really know to be true; or, we have many christians that don’t take the Word of God (The Bible) seriously. 

For those that know what the Bible teaches and yet hold to a different stance on subjects like those mentioned above, I have to ask you, why do you call yourself a Christian? I’m not trying to be mean, I’m asking a serious question. Maybe to be clear we need to define what is meant by ‘Christian’*. This gets into an even deeper hole of un-clarity due to the word ‘Christian’ having so many interpretations in our society. Some may say that a christian  is one who is raised in a christian home, they don’t hold to any particular belief but consider themselves christian because they aren’t Hindu, Buddhist or Islamic. I believe that many of us in the United States hold to this type of belief- they say they are christian, but they cuss a blue streak, don’t attend church (many do which is even more puzzling), believe that you get to heaven if your good outweighs the bad, get drunk, are full of hateful prejudice… you get the picture: they think that being raised in a ‘christian’ home is what makes you a christian even if you don’t actually understand what the Bible teaches about what it means to be a real Christian. 

Others are of the more ‘new age’ christian church, even though they may not consider themselves ‘new age’ and may attend a Catholic, Baptist or any other christian church’. These are those who say that the bible is one holy book out of many, and that we christians believe it to be true (but not The Truth); and, they say, there are other paths to god. They know what the bible says, or to be more precise, what they believe the bible says, but they evidently don’t think it’s serious when it speaks of belief in Jesus as the ‘only way’ to gain heaven or eternal bliss after death; and by contrast, was saying that if you don’t believe in Him as the only way to heaven, then you will go to an eternal hell. They see the different paths to god  in each of the different religions and truly believe that each one ‘must be convinced in their own mind’ of what ‘real truth’ is. Maybe you remember the infamous words of the one who sentenced Jesus to death, Pilate, “What is truth?” Well, I guess according  to the new christian, Pilate had his truth too!  Now this approach would be good if it wasn’t for one thing: the Bible and the Truth- I know, you are saying that is two words, and you’re correct in the number, but if you know the Bible- take a look at John 17:17- then you will see that the Bible (Word) is Truth! 

You see, the Bible says that there is only one way and one Holy and True word of God; it doesn’t give any alternative or wiggle room. The Bible in essence teaches that you either believe it as truth or not: it is an ‘either or’ proposition, not a ‘this and that’ proposition. So, you see, if the Bible is true (it either is or not) then my beliefs or your beliefs don’t hold any weight if they don’t align with what the Bible teaches: we are like someone trying to row a boat away from the middle edge of the Niagara Falls; even though ‘you think you can’, you are going over the falls! Now, you have the choice to either believe the Bible or not, but not to take only the parts you want and still consider yourself a Christian in the true biblical sense: the Bible doesn’t give you that option and neither did Jesus. 

Let’s get back to the question, “Are you serious?” Are you actually serious about Jesus, the Bible (his Word), and belief in an afterlife as the Bible teaches: The Truth? If you are then you will need to ask yourself the other question, “Do my beliefs line up with the Bible?” If you have truthfully examined your belief system in light of the Bible and can say that you hold to the truth of it, great! If you don’t know, then you need to read the Bible for yourself (don’t let someone else answer this life-determining question for you) and see if the Bible’s teachings are what you believe. Don’t look at the Bible and try to find a verse here and there to substantiate ‘your’ beliefs, but actually read the context of the Bible and see if what you believe is actually taught in the Bible. Remember, it is an ‘either or’ proposition, you either believe the Bible or you don’t. At the very least we need to be honest with what we actually believe and why we believe it. Yes, the Bible has some hard teachings that we may not like, however, if it is true then I accept even those things that I don’t like or don’t make sense to me as the true Word of God; or, I reject the Bible as the true word of God and say so, I don’t pick and choose those things I like even though the Bible itself doesn’t give me that option. I am honest with myself and others. At any rate, you don’t want to come to that day when, like we all will, you close your eyes in this life for the last time never having given any real time considering what Jesus said; what the Bible said; and, do I believe it? You may think it doesn’t matter, but, I sure wouldn’t want to leave this question unanswered, do you?

So, are you serious? If you are a Christian, are you serious about your belief in the ‘entire’ Word of God? If you’re not, then maybe you need to be more serious about if you really are a ‘Christian’ or not. It’s time for us all to examine ourselves and ask that question:

“Are We Serious?”  

“1You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”  2 Timothy 3: 1-5 NLT

"(2) I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone, (3) since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you. (4) For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you. (5) Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?"  2Co 13:2-5 NASB95

*The use of Capitalization or not throughout the article is intentional.

Jesus: The 'One and Only' High Priest!

Sometimes I think that people get confused when they hear the word ‘Priest’. There are priests in many if not most of the major religions of the world: Buddhist, Judaism, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and the list goes on. The question that I would like to address today is, “What does the Bible say about the priest or the priesthood?”

The full definition of a priest according to Merriam Webster is: “:  one authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion especially as a mediatory agent between humans and God; specifically:  an Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic clergyman ranking below a bishop and above a deacon.” And that is exactly what we find in the Bible when it is referring to the priest, whether it was the pagan priest or the Jewish priest. Here I want to concentrate on the Jewish Levitical Priest and then move on to see how this priesthood is represented as it concerns the New Covenant. I won’t be going into extensive detail on the rituals or rites they performed, but will be concentrating more on the place or significance of the priesthood in the old and new covenants.

The priesthood is first introduced to us in the book of Genesis by a priest that meets Abraham on his way back from a victorious battle in ‘The Kings Valley’ in which he rescued his nephew Lot. This priests name is Melchizedek. Now, Melchizedek is not a Jewish priest (the Jews were not so named yet) but was only described as “a priest of the Most High God” who brought out bread and wine for Abraham to enjoy and before leaving Abraham gives the priest a tenth of all the ‘spoil’ that was captured during the battle just won. We will see Melchizedek again but not until the time of the New Covenant. It is many years after this encounter with Melchizedek, after the death of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph; after 400 years in slavery to the Egyptians, that we again see a priest in the Bible.

After Moses was raised in Egypt, was cast out of Egypt and was again brought back to Egypt to bring out the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt that we are introduced to a new priesthood given by God to the Hebrew people: the Levitical priest.  Moses and his brother Aaron were descendants of the patriarch Levi, one of the 12 children of Jacob. Moses was the deliverer of Israel from slavery and Aaron was his mouthpiece. Once the Israelites were out of Egypt and free from their slavery we find this written in Exodus 28:1 as God speaks to Moses and says, "Call for your brother, Aaron, and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Set them apart from the rest of the people of Israel so they may minister to me and be my priests.” God was establishing a priesthood for the nation of Israel: The Levitical priesthood. It would be a priesthood based on one’s birth not by education, choice or appointment. If you were born a ‘Levite’ you would be in the priestly line. Here is how it is explained in the New Testament book of Hebrews: “…Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi,..” Hebrews 7:5.  So, the Levitical priesthood was born and continued until the time of Jesus.

The duty of the Levitical priest was to serve at the temple. Different priests would have different duties and they would take their turns coming to the temple to do their service at their appointed time. The people would bring their sacrifices, their offerings and their tithes to the priests and the priests would offer them to God and receive their portion of these as the law allowed. The high priest was one who was appointed as was Aaron in the beginning of the office. He would be the one who served during his life as High Priest by entering the Holy of Holies once a year and taking in the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the nation. He, as well as the other priests, would offer sacrifices for his own sins and then offer the atoning sacrifice and the sprinkling of the blood. Here again let’s look to the book of Hebrews to give a more clear understanding: Hebrews 9: “1  That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth. 2There were two rooms in that Tabernacle.^a In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place. 3Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room^b called the Most Holy Place. 4In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.6When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room^c as they performed their religious duties. 7But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle^d and the system it represented were still in use.” This was the role of the priest in the ‘old covenant’.

There was a problem with this system, however, and it had to do with the cleansing of one’s sin. You see, this form of priesthood because it was made up of mortal sinful humans as priests and because the animal, blood sacrifices it offered were only able to ‘satisfy’ the lawful requirement but not make a permanent ‘fix’ for the problem of sin, could not save anyone. Hebrews 3: 1-3, “1The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. 3But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year. 4For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” And then when it was the right time Jesus came to satisfy the requirements of the law by his death on the cross and initiate the New Covenant. This was the solution that the righteous God had planned and required to bring eternal salvation to mankind.

When the new covenant was established after the death of Jesus on the cross, the old covenant and its continuous line of human priests was done away with. Jesus became the new High Priest, it was not a continuation of the old way but He established a brand new priesthood that was not based on any of the requirements of the old type priest. Jesus was said to be the new Melchizedek!

Look at this passage from Hebrews 7:  “1This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.”…” 11So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?^b  12And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe. Jesus Is like Melchizedek 15This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”^c  18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.’”^d  22Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God. 23There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save^e those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. 26He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.^f  27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.”

This passage is pretty much self-explanatory, yet I do want to point out a few things so we don’t look past them. First, notice that the reference to Melchizedek is to show that Jesus is a brand new line of priest. That he has no beginning and no end; that his priesthood will never end and there will be no other priesthood like those of the old covenant. Second, that Jesus will be able to do something that the old priest could not do: he will live forever and be able to bring eternal salvation to those who come to God through him because he will forever live to intercede with God on their behalf. Lastly, there will not be a need for any other priests since He will live forever and will hold the priesthood permanently. Notice in verse 24 where it says that “because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever.” The word here translated as forever is a Greek word aparabatos which carries the meaning of ‘not passing from one to another’. Here is the same verse from the Jubilee translation, “but this man, because he continues forever, has the intransmissible priesthood.” In other words, because Jesus will hold the priesthood permanently there will be no need for multiple priest, Jesus will be the mediator and interceder forever and for all. Anyone who says they are serving under or going to a priest, other than Jesus, who is in the line of Melchizedek are serving a counterfeit priesthood and are actually calling Jesus’ death and his permanent priesthood insufficient. They are trying to re-establish a priesthood that has been done away with and this is what is being warned against in these words from Hebrews.

Now, with a New Covenant which has resulted in a new priesthood, we have a new way to approach God for the forgiveness of sins and to bring our petitions. We can go directly to the one who died on the cross to make this new way to God possible. This one, who when he died on the cross, was the cause for the veil that had separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple to be torn in half, signifying the end of the old way of people needing a priest to approach God. Jesus is now the way, there is no other, it has been done away with. This is why anyone who has accepted Jesus, his death and resurrection, and trusted him as their savior can now approach God through Jesus at any time. Notice how this is explained in Hebrews 10, “19And so, dear brothers and sisters,^f we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20By his death,^g Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

To sum up what has been taught here, we have no need for any other than Jesus to approach for the forgiveness of our sin. I know that many say that they believe the apostles of the lord were given the power to forgive sins; however, the verse that they use to ‘proof-text’ the doctrine for apostolic succession of the priesthood say’s nothing about apostolic succession or confession of sin, as a matter of fact it sounds an awful lot like the verses at the end of the Lord’s prayer. Let’s look at these verses in question. First we will look at John 20, “19That Sunday evening^b the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. 20As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Notice that nothing is said here of confession or of succession. The only thing we can say about this is that we know that it will not disagree with the plain commands in other scriptures that explain no one except God can forgive sins. I would also like to point out that at no time in the writings of the New Testament do we find any of the apostles forgiving anyone’s sin, they always direct people to Jesus or God for forgiveness. Even in the Lord’s Prayer, which we will look at next, Jesus does not direct anyone to a priest but to the Father for the forgiveness of sin. If this were a declaration of the apostle’s ability to give forgiveness or absolution of sin it surely would have been exercised and recorded in his word, especially if it were a necessity for one’s forgiveness.

So, if it isn’t for forgiveness what did the command mean? It is possible that it was being said that now, with the Holy Spirit, the disciples of Christ would have the strength to forgive sin. Remember that the disciples themselves asked for this when Jesus said that they would need to forgive someone 7 times a day: Luke 17: 3b “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. 4Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” 5the apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” Let’s also look at the prologue to the Lord’s Prayer: Matthew 6, “9Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. 10May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 11Give us today the food we need,^a   12and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. 13And don’t let us yield to temptation,^b  but rescue us from the evil one.^c  

14“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Did you notice the similarity to the passage from John? And once again it is speaking of the forgiveness of others. And what we need to remember from the passage in John is that they were locked up and afraid of the Jew’s who had just put Jesus to death, they more than likely had much to forgive. Then Jesus comes, gives them the Holy Spirit and then tells them they are being ‘sent out’ with this power to forgive and lead men to Him. This seems to be the more natural reading of this passage. We should never force a passage to fit our doctrine, rather let the scripture form our doctrine.

Since Jesus has fulfilled the law and became the High Priest of the New Covenant, he has torn down the barrier between God and men and has made a way for all who believe to come to the very presence of God through him. Jesus is the only priest we need, he is the only priest that can take your sins and give you eternal forgiveness. Don’t fall into any other system that tries to establish again a priesthood that cannot save: the Word doesn’t leave that option, Jesus is the only way.

Randy