UNITY - What God DOES NOT WANT!

These things I command you, so that you will love one another. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you

Jn.15:17-19

So...our topic is UNITY!  Do you really want to know what it is?  Turn on your TV and you

will see all the time, what it is NOT! The world loves to show you how unified it is doesn't it? War? Crime? Violence? Lying, cheating, stealing, murder, we could go on and on. But what you see on the outside is only the tip of a much larger iceberg beneath the horizon.  This was Jesus' point in the sermon on the mount (Mt.5-7) to the people of His day and ours. You think that Murder is the problem? No...there's plenty underneath the surface that has lead to it, that if it is not dealt with - has not changed you in the slightest. Here are some things to think about from this point of view:

1. There are two things to remember as concerns God's will regarding this and Jesus stated them in one phrase. "And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt.22:37-39)." 
2. 2.) Where it concerns how I feel about myself, or my arrogance that I feel that because I have not done what the world has done or what this person over here did, bear in mind that before God and outside of Christ, "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." Rom 3:12
3. 3.) Be careful that self righteousness doesn't overtake you. It is easy to say that I'm a good person, I haven't done like other people, etc. Remember, you at one time before Jesus, WERE them! (Eph.2:1-3)

What God DOES NOT WANT!

The biggest thing to remember here, is that Jesus said that those who would be part of Him, would NOT be like, act like, or take on the looks of the world at all!  Remember John's teaching, "For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn.2:16,17). "I'm not a murderer!" you say. God says back, have you hated someone without cause? Have you spoken about someone to the damage or their character behind their back? You say, "I'm not a liar!" God would say, "Have you always spoken the truth?" Have you fudged on something to make your side look better than someone else's but you know it is not? Understand, God doesn't want any part of the world in you, and if you are serious about being godly, you will work to not only eradicate the behaviors on the surface from your life, the hidden ones will need work too.

It is hard work, don't fool yourself. But is eternity with God worth it? You tell me! You want to be like the world? Go right ahead. Just remember that life after this one, has a world in which the things of this world have no part. 

Jim

Emotions - Intellect? Which Does God Like Better?

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Mk.12:28-31

Many when they hear these words, hear commandment. DO THIS! It is the Shema after all, the affirmation of God above all things.  Yet, have you ever stopped to consider the depth of what Jesus is saying here, that is THE greatest thing of all the Bible?  LOVE….yes, simple word, yet deep. How much do you love life, eating, breathing? Jesus states that our love for God should be more.  Not just kind of love him, He wants you to love him passionately. ALL of your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. God doesn't want to just be in your head. He wants an integral, deep, emotional relationship with you.

This isn’t difficult to understand, when we comprehend that just because God is a Spirit (Jn.4:24) does not mean that God has no emotions. Read the scripture and you will see it is replete of descriptions of God’s feeling joy, grief, pain, and hatred toward sin and many other things. He gets frustrated with people, feels joy, compassion, pity….and the deepest of all love

Your ability to feel is a gift from God. The ability to love, create, be faithful and loyal, kindness, generosity are all emotions that are attached to the good things in life. While emotions may not always seem like a gift, but even the negative ones have a purpose. In this, as with all things, there are some things that we need to learn to avoid.  Emotionalism is the extreme of saying the only thing that matters in life is how you feel. This view is very egocentric, where everything is based on you. Everything in life is based on your emotions without thought of intent or basis of faith. Yes, God wants us to feel, because He feels. Yet, it is not how we feel that is to control our lives. That is why Jeremiah states,, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jer 10:23).  If left to myself and my emotions – I would self-destruct. Man does not have that capacity within himself.  That is why we need a compass, to point the right direction, give the right wisdom, and share the right advice (Psa.119:105; Jn.17:17; Rom.10:17; 2 Tm.3:16,17).

On the other hand, to go all Mr.Spock from Star Trek and obsess on stoicism is equally bad. To say feelings aren't important at all, and the only thing that matters is your intellect and your will is to ignore the fact that faith while based on verity of testimony of scripture, is an emotional response.  It is the answer of the conscience in response to what God has put before the soul (1 Pet.3:21).  Paul reminds us,  “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom 10:10). Did you notice the progression?  When the heart is convinced and believes, the mouth cannot keep from confessing. Why? Because it is the emotional response!  Some Christians have decided that it doesn't really matter how you feel and downplay emotions. That’s not right. God gave you your emotions for a reason, and he wants you to worship him emotionally — with all your heart and all your mind.

All of you…that is what God wants. Including your knowledge and your emotions. He doesn't want one over the other…He wants them BOTH!  Are you giving them to God? 

Jim

HELL and the NEW TESTAMENT

This is the third and final discourse on this subject in this series. Interesting to say the least, is the statement made by some, that the writers of the New Testament (Jesus' disciples) are "virtually silent on the subject." Well, in one aspect, they are correct. Only two mention it specifically. Yet, this does not mean that they are silent on the matter.

In a previous blog post, we reviewed that Jesus HIMSELF did speak upon the subject directly, and indirectly. The parable of the Wheat and Tares speaks to it as well. Paul talks about what will happen in the end of time and found it enough to encourage his hearers "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. The implication here is simple, what happens if one is a thief and caught? In the physical world, they are arrested, tried and if found guilty sent to jail or prison. If so in the physical world, Paul assumes that his audience knows that this is also true in the spiritual world, and that they do not want to face this outcome.

Let's now place out attention on the books of Acts to Revelation and ask ourselves of the writers that DO mention it specifically, WHAT do they say?

1. James 3:6 "And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell." HELL - in this passage is our familiar word "gehenna." It means the same here as we have seen it mean before. What is James saying, is that the person that is unable to control their tongue has their destiny before them. Just like you would pour a trail of gasoline, or gunpowder and light it - both will track back to their original source. In this case, the course is "gehenna," the place of eternal punishment.
2. 2 Pet.2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; ..." This passage is interesting because it introduces us to a couple of things. 1.) Angels that have sinned and 2.) Hell here is the word "tartarus” I cannot speculate on the "angels that sinned" part because I know nothing of the realm. I know here only what the text says, that evidently they can-did and there is punishment/judgment awaiting them as well. What is interesting here, is Peter's use of a pagan term to talk about what awaits these. Perhaps this is due to the audience to which he is writing. Let's explore the term. "tartarus" - is a word associated with Greek and Roman mythology. The Greeks viewed this as the lowest corner of the deepest abyss. It gained its conception from the deepest recesses of castles where prisoners were taken for either severe incarceration to be shut off from the outside world altogether, or to be taken for the purposes of torture. The Romans viewed this as the place where sinners go, a world once entered that you could never leave, guarded by hydras and overseen by a sleepless whip master to assure that those who entered never rested either. Now, what do you think Peter is trying to tell people here? That this is to be considered a vacation in Hawaii? He adds more. Peter also used the expression that these are "reserved in chains of darkness (KJV)" This expression is questioned, because some manuscripts contain it and others do not. What is interesting, is that the EARLIEST manuscripts of Peter's statement here, record this as being bound in chains in gloomy pits or corn bins. These were the dark "root cellars" of the day, that contained no light and were cool and damp (to preserve the vegetables placed in them). For humans, this was a bad place to be "housed" because they were infested with all sorts of snakes, rodents and insects. Notice that the text here says that they were "held" in this place to await Judgment. Peter's words, not mine.
3. Revelation - has four distinct places where it talks about this, but it does not come out and call this HELL. Yet, the imagery used is unmistakable for the serious reader.

• In Rev.2:11 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death." Here, to the audience, John states the words of God given to Jesus and revealed to John, that there is something beyond a physical world with a physical death. There is a 2nd life and a 2nd death. Those in this passage who overcome, will not be harmed or injured by this 2nd death (at this point not defined other than this).
• Rev. 20:6 "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." Now, let's stick to point here because its easy to jump off the deep end and start all sorts of speculation on 1000 years, etc. Our study regards further definition of this 2nd death that we learned of in Rev.2:11. Notice again, that those who have part on the 1st Resurrection are not affected by the 2nd death. What is the first resurrection? Rom.6:4 "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life"
• Rev.20:12-15 "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." This is a scene of judgment. The DEAD are the DEAD those no longer living in a physical world. Either they have died physically (implied by text) or they have been changed (1 Cor.15). They are now immortal spiritual beings standing before the judge. The text here says that they are judged according to what was written in the books and what they had done. Now at this point, death (taking of physical life) and Hades ( the realm or dungeon that housed the dead) are no longer required and are thrown into "the lake of fire." We are told here that this "lake of fire" is "THE SECOND DEATH." Now notice vs.15, because it tells you of those judged in the previous verses whose name was not found written in the book of life, was "thrown INTO the lake of fire (i.e. 2nd death)." God's words, not mine.
• Rev.21:7,8 "The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." Here again, the one who conquers, who is part of the 1st Resurrection, is not affected by the 2nd death. They are God's and part of God's heritage. Yet, those who are wicked have their heritage as well. It is 'the lake of fire (i.e., the 2nd death)." Notice further descriptions are given that it is a lake that "burns" with "fire and brimstone." What is the imagery cast here? A lake the burns with fire and brimstone, even to the people of this day would conjure images of a lava pit in a volcano. Doubtless they would have the image of either the Santorini eruption, or Mt.Vesuvius, both of which they would have know about at the latter part of the first century. They would have understood, that to be caught in something like this would be an unimaginable and painful death.

Someone will jump in here and say, "but there's nothing in this that says that this is eternal!" Well...first, whether eternal or not this isn't the point. The point is, is this something that you want to go through? Not from what I can see the text describe. Second, go back to Jesus' own use of the terminologies that we have been discussing. It was HE that used expressions such as "their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched (Mk.9:48)" and "weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth (Mt.13:42; 24:51)."

You may argue with men, you may disagree with me. That's fine, because I'm not the one you have to argue with. Remember Jesus' words in Jn.12:48 "he one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day." He and God are the one's you have to argue with. Are you sure you want to do that?

CONDEMN - OR HAVE MERCY! - WHAT SAY YOU?

Many who are "outsiders" would describe Christians in general as being judgmental. We might scuff this off as their being ignorant of Christ, or the way of God. Granted, there may be times when these perceptions are biased, but if we take a sincere look inside our hearts it is hard to deny that there is truth behind these perceptions. What is perhaps just as disturbing is that many times we don’t even realize the nature of our own hearts. So, if we feel that part of the problem is ourselves, how do we change that? If you are still unsure on whether you struggle in this area, take the following short quiz.

Take out a piece of paper. Write two names near the top: “Rahab” and “Woman at the Well.” Now write a short description of each person. Write whatever pops into your head first. (If these biblical characters are new to you, read about them in Josh. 2 and John 4).

• Now, what about Rahab? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Harlot - prostitute! Yet, do we consider that she is one of the few women mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a woman of great faith? But what is she more often called? Rahab the Faithful, or Rahab the Prostitute? Do we even mention that she was in the genealogy of Christ? Yet, we frown upon her because of what she was, we do not praise her for what she became.
• Now, how many wrote something about the woman at the well being immoral? It is interesting, that many have the perception that immorality is what she has become most known for, yet the actual biblical text says nothing of the sort. She might have been. We might even say, "Well the text does say that she had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband." She could have been immoral, or each of her husbands could have died leaving her to return to her father childless and without a provider for her, and in her day that certainly would make her an outcast. But, we naturally assume the worst. Why not try to assume the best? Let’s say that the text made it clearer, and said specifically that she really had behaved in immoral ways. Why is it that this is still the first thing we associate her with? Do we even stop to think that she believed Jesus was the Messiah and brought many people to hear him? Do we stop to consider that it was through her that many came to believe (Jn.4:39)? What faith she must have had!

These two women are not alive in our time, but it shows us that even when it comes to the deceased we can have negativity. None of us are immune to a critical or judgmental attitude. We sometimes are so quick to criticize the wrongs in society , yet in turn, so slow to do what we know is right. Scripture clearly says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins” (James 4:17). Sin can be a sin of commission (i.e., done deliberately) or of omission (i.e., something that should have been done but was not). The Bible also says, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). All sin is the same in God’s eyes. Some sins might yield worse consequences than others, but we are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23).

The "prodigal brother" could not find compassion in his heart for his returning brother. He could NOT see the good! He states, "'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' (Lk.15:19,20)." He could not see the faith it took for the son to return, or the attitude with which he had to return. He should be judged! He disobeyed! What say you?

Be careful of your answer - it may come back to bite you (Heb.4:12)!

Jim

Jesus on HELL!

This entry is prompted by some research I did as a result of a recent interview done on with an Evangelical preacher. The interview was streamlined as "There is NO HELL." In this interview, there was no scripture referenced, but the gentleman postulated something that is not new at all, but all too familiar - "..a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering..”

There are many who make such statements. Some would have us believe that HELL is just a fable made up by the Roman Catholic Church in its infancy in order to keep its parishioners inline, or so says one priest. Another man states, "It only stands to reason, then, that this same Jesus, who was completely appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn billions of people for an eternity!"

So....I asked myself (with no bias in mind to defend anything accept what the scripture itself teaches) if this could be true? I know the following things to start off with:

1. 1Jn 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." -- So we will put these thoughts to test with the scripture since they say this is not taught in the scripture.
2. Rom 3:4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged." God's word stands the test of time, men and proclamations of men. God will prevail, and His word will prevail after men and the words they speak are long gone!
3. John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. God's word is the truth. Men can flap their gums all they want, but unless God says it, it is not spiritual truth!

When speaking of "eternal hell" there are a couple of things that we must enter the discussion being aware of. First is that the older versions, especially the KJV or "authorized" version uses the word "hell" indiscriminately to refer to the grave, the place where the spirit goes upon death, and the eternal destination of the wicked. Most modern versions correct this, especially in the American Standard and New American Standard versions. For the purposes of our discussion and study, our focus will be on "eternal hell" the eternal abode of the wicked.

So, let's let Jesus speak on Hell. Does He confirm or deny its existence? This research then will be limited to the gospels, since this is where Jesus speaks personally - that is He is in person speaking, no one is saying it for Him.

The term HELL in the sense of eternal hell, is referenced by the greek word "Gehenna." This word occurs 15 times in the New Testament and 11 of those times, it us used by Jesus personally. The word is taken from the Hebrew term that means "the valley of Hinnom." This referred to a literal place outside of the city of Jerusalem, that was basically the city dump or landfill of the day. It was the place where all trash within the city, all carrion, dead bodies of criminals or paupers who had no one to claim them were taken and thrown. It gained infamy in Old Testament history and thus became absolute anathema to the Jewish people, when children were sacrificed to the god Moloch there (Josh. 15:8; II Kings 33:10; Jer.2:23; 7:31-32; 19:6,13-14). For this reason the valley was thereafter deemed to be accursed, and "Gehenna" therefore became a figurative equivalent for "hell."

Jesus uses THIS term in the following Mt.5:29,30; Mk.9:43; Lk.12:5

Now, a couple of notes on these passages that reflect upon the same instance. Jesus is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding adultery and how that to "look upon a woman so as to lust after her, he has committed adultery already in his heart." He then states, that it is better to pluck out an eye or cut off a hand and go through life maimed, than for "your whole body be thrown into hell" Let's now make some observations on this statement.

• The term HELL here is our term GEHENNA. Thus, there is no mistaking what Jesus is referencing.
• Jesus uses the word "cast" here, which means to throw. It is actually a gardening term, stating what one does when one finds a weed growing in a garden. The weed is plucked and "cast" or thrown out of the garden because the gardener does not want it growing there. Noticed here, Jesus says "the whole body be cast into hell."
• INTO - means to take from one place and put into another. This same term is used in Col.1:13, where it states we are transferred FROM the kingdom of darkness INTO the kingdom of God's dear Son. So, Jesus is stating that the "whole body" because of the sin it carries in an unrepentant person, will be cast or thrown INTO Hell! It will be taken out of God's garden and thrown into this place.
• THE WHOLE BODY - It is obvious, that the physical body decays and goes back to the dust from which it came (Gen.3:19) or "sheol" the grave. But, we are told that the spirit does not have flesh and blood as human bodies do (Lk.24:39), thus it does not decay but continues to exist (Lk.16:19-31). Jesus here states that a spirit of evil, is plucked from God's garden and cast INTO - Hell - Gehenna!

Mt.23:23 Jesus speaking to the Jewish Pharisees and scribes of His day, states to them, "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"

• HELL here is our familiar term again, Gehenna
• “damnation” here comes from the greek word "crisis" which means to meter judgment
• He is stating that because of their teaching, judgment would be metered to them and that judgment was HELL! Why? Is Jesus judging them? No...He did not come to judge. He came to proclaim God's truth. It is the truth that is judging them (Jn.12:48) and their refusal to heed that word or walk according to it. Thus, they judge themselves!

FURTHER ON Mt.5:22; Mk.9:43,44,46,48; Lk.12:5

• In Matt.5:22 and Mk.9:43 the descriptive phrase accompanying HELL or Gehenna is used --> Fire. Whether literal or figurative this word only has one meaning - FIRE. You cannot get around it. And, this makes sense, as in Lk.16:24 the rich man stated that he was tormented in the “flame.” What is the flame? If this is a spiritual place with something that is not flesh and bone, how can it burn? I DON'T KNOW! All I know is that Jesus states this, uses these words to describe it. Whatever it is - the associative idea being put with it is THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO GO THERE!
• In Mk.9:43,44,46 and 48, Jesus uses a further designation to describe this fire one that is "never quenched." The word used for this, is a familiar word to us “asbestos,” and means perpetual, unending. We use asbestos to retard flame to protect. There it is the flame that is asbestos - or never stops burning!
• Mark 9:48 - Jesus uses a peculiar phrase in a continuing description of this place. He states, "where their worm does not die." The term "worm" here its primary and first definition is maggot. Notice again the eternal descriptor that THEIR worm does not die! If something does not die it is eternal. What is THEIR WORM? Maggots, eat infectious, diseased materials. In the physical world, their life cycle is short, after they eat their fill, they go on to become flies. But there, they do not die, they do not get their fill, they continually feed and eat. What are they feeding on? The souls infected with sin and cast into the place where these worms abide for eternity and the flame or torment does not end.

Now, if you wish to argue with this, be my guest. These are Jesus' words, not mine. But, before I end this post, let me share one more thought. Jesus makes this statement in Luke 12:4,5 "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!"

There are those who state, "..a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering..” Is that what Jesus says?

The Problem With Jesus

The Problem With Jesus

"And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,

"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Matt.9:11

The Pharisees had a problem with Jesus. He didn't act like the other teachers and was often seen in the company of people that were of an unpleasant crowd (in their estimation). Sinners were not here for compassion, sinners were here to be rebuked, disciplined, scolded for their abhorrent behaviors! They often would be found "sitting by (Lk.5:17)" watching him as he would be found eating and drinking with "sinners."

The author of the book of Hebrews explains that high priests were chosen to represent men before God and God before men. The high priest, although he was able to enter into the presence of God as no one else could, was still human. His humanity meant that the high priest, understanding human weaknesses himself, could deal “gently” with the “ignorant and wayward.” This unique word in Heb. 5:2, which the ESV translates “gently,” could also be translated “holding his emotions in restraint.” When confronted with ignorance or even error, the faithful high priest kept control of his passions and held his anger in check. Many Christians could do with a lot more of this quality! Yes, sometimes people’s sins may call for anger! Jesus was angry at the “hardness of heart” of some of the Jews, yet, He was also grieved by it. The Gospels spend much more time expressing Jesus' compassion, being moved in his heart, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. (Mk.6:34)."

There’s ignorance (being unlearned, untaught) and then there’s ignorance (suppressing the truth, refusing to learn or listen). Of those who aren't walking the narrow path, there are those who are misled and deceived, confused spiritual strays – and there are those who stubbornly insist on their own way. We use compassion – listening, seeing the other’s perspective, trying to identify our shared feelings in someone else – to know the difference.

The Pharisees were not wrong to confront error. In the context of what Jesus considered the second greatest commandment, the Jews were told not to hate a brother. They were to rebuke a neighbor in the wrong, either so as not to share in his sin or else to rescue him from it. All was to be done neither in vengeance nor with a grudge, “but you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev.19:17,18).” Paul told Timothy to rebuke those who persisted in sin ; he told the Ephesian Christians to “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (Eph.5:11).” James writes that bringing someone who has wandered from the truth saves the sinner’s soul from death and “covers a multitude of sins (Jas.5:19,20).”

If the Pharisees had a problem with the sinners Jesus ate with, or with Jesus for eating with them, how should they have handled it? Certainly not by ignoring or downplaying sin, and not by gossiping as they did. Did you notice how the Pharisees attacked Jesus’ disciples for Jesus’ behavior? They got an answer only because Jesus overheard the criticism. We ought to have a zeal for God’s Word that mimics Jesus’ own. But the Son of God was never wrong! When He rebuked the scribes and Pharisees it was because without a doubt they had misinterpreted or misapplied the Scriptures. He knew when and how to be gentle, or tough. We, on the other hand, must always approach reproving others (or even approving them) infused with humility. We are not infallible; our arguments on others’ wrongs could be wrong themselves. Unlike the Lord, even when we’re right we may not always choose the best approach to a situation.

How could the Pharisees have reconciled Scriptural teaching on keeping separate from sinners, rebuking sinners, and at the same time being merciful to them? Perhaps they could have approached the situation with humility, considering their own weaknesses (Gal.6:1-3). Perhaps they could have done a “heart check” for uncontrolled anger or grudges. The Pharisees might have had compassion for the sinners (and Jesus), trying to understand why they were what they were. Would they have laid down their lives for the ones they were criticizing and arguing with? “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends,” said Jesus (Jn.15:13). One of the Lord’s criticisms of the religious lawyers of His day was that they loaded people “with burdens hard to bear,” and they were totally unwilling to help people with those burdens. Were the Jewish religious teachers willing to live under the same obligations they placed on others? Could they? Did the scribes and Pharisees love the people they were correcting enough to climb down out of the judgment seat and give them a hand?

"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."

2 Tim.2:24-26

This Article Adapted from a book manuscript

"Arguing Like Jesus

by Kerry Gately, pgs.98-104

CRUELTY!

CRUELTY!

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,

as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Eph 4:29

Cruelty is a deliberate infliction of pain or suffering, an action that displays a quality or characteristic of being cruel. We associate cruelty with people that are evil and void of conscience, someone with malicious intent. Murder is a cruel act in and of itself but in certain circumstances can be even more heinous and cruel by things that take the act itself to the extent of torture. We don't often associate godly things with cruelty, because of the negative its nature.

We have the truth, God's word that can set us free! Its wisdom can show us the paths to walk, and its pages testify to the grace that God gives. You and I are told to study it, examine it, search it, and live it. We are told in 2 Tim.3;16,17 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." Yes! -- reproof (to convict) - we're going to slap them in chains! Correction - we're going to take a stick to them! Instruction in righteousness - for all that evil living that they are doing, we're going to rake them over the coals of God's word! But -- is this the attitude that Jesus tells us to have? I agree, that there is a time and place for all things. There is a time, when someone is doing wrong, that we need to convict them of the wrong, sometimes more sternly than others. Yes, there is a time to correct, again sometimes more sternly than others. And....there are times to rake people over the pointed edges of the word of God! But, I find these times few.

We wax bold with God's word because it makes us righteous, but we should take care to heed Paul's warning in 1 Cor.8:1, that"..knowledge puffs up.." The same word that tells us to do the things that we mentioned above also warn you and I as followers of Christ

1. Eph 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
2. Col 4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
3. Jas 3:10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
   

Just because we "have" the truth, does not mean we can use it indiscriminately. Again, God's word itself reminds us, Heb 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." It is two edged, meaning that what I use, can come back and cut me as well. If I use God's word in judgmental, harsh, and cruel ways, I may be speaking truth, but what does God's word reveal of my own intention?

Let's take care in our zeal to defend the word of God, that we do not under the guise of proclaiming "righteous judgment" inflict with our voices, actions, and mannerisms a cruelty that God does not. It is true that we must let the Bible speak for itself, and it does so very clearly. But it does not need our emotional embellishment, nor does it need our baggage attached. This is why Jesus warned the Pharisees, Matt. 7:5 "You hypocrite! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you will see clearly, so that you can remove the splinter from your brother's eye! "

Jim