I received a great question this week. A regular visitor wanted to know, is evil a “thing” or the “absence of good”?   The writer went on to say, “I understand how evil entered creation via the fall, but it seems to me that something (evil) that had never existed before suddenly came to be.”

It seems to her that this thing we call evil which didn’t exist in God’s perfect creation had to have an origin.

“Was that Satan?” she asked. “Did he/does he have a form of destructive de-creative power to bring something to be that wasn’t?”

In essence, did Satan “create” evil? Let’s find out.

In his Gospel, the Apostle John addressed the issue of whether evil is merely the absence of good. Speaking of Jesus in terms of light and darkness, he wrote;

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:3-5)

The word translated understood here also means overcome, but either way if the darkness John referred to was simply the absence of light, as we know it to be, then by it’s very presence the light would have replaced it. Darkness is not an entity or force and can neither understand nor overcome. It always yields to light, returning only when light is withdrawn.

And if John was talking merely in terms of physical life and death, as some understand the passage, the same would be true because by definition death is the absence of life. So John had to be speaking in the spiritual sense. The light represents the Lord Jesus, the personification of good. The darkness that cannot overcome Him represents Satan, the prince of darkness and the personification of evil. So evil is not simply the absence of good.

John 1:3-5 also contains the answer to another question. Did Satan create evil? Again, speaking of Jesus John wrote, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Paul confirmed this in his letter to the Colossians.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Colossians 1:15-16)

If you read these two passages as being all inclusive, as I do, then you have to conclude that Satan, who is himself a created being, did not create evil.

Where Did That Come From?

So where did evil come from? Ezekiel and Isaiah have the answer.

The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

” ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.” (Ezekiel 28:11-13)

Through the first 10 verses of chapter 28 Ezekiel had been speaking to Ittobaal, the human ruler of Tyre, calling him the prince of Tyre. Beginning in verse 11 the Lord had him look past the the human figurehead to the power behind the throne, Satan, who Ezekiel addressed as the King of Tyre.

Some commentators see the mention of precious stones as representing the fact that Satan was clothed in light. But one fact is clear to all. Satan was created, confirming what John and Paul said. He was not created to be evil, and in fact was the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

“You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.” (Ezek. 28:14)

Satan’s original role was to head up the squadron of Cherubim who guard the Throne of God. Among men, those chosen for the palace guard are considered to be the most loyal, highly skilled, and trustworthy, the finest examples of the King’s warriors. As the leader of such a group charged with protecting the Throne of God, Satan would have been among the most admired of all created beings.

“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor”. (Ezek. 28:15-17a)

It Didn’t Need To Turn Out That Way

Like I said, Satan was not created to be evil. But like all of us, he had the potential for choosing evil. He was the most beautiful, wise, and powerful of all God’s created beings and became very proud of these things. It was this pride that caused his downfall , and when he was caught out his pride would not let him submit, so he rebelled. Isaiah 14:13-14 tells how he set out to elevate himself above the angels once again, to sit enthroned in the place of God, and become like God.

You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

In his pride Satan demanded that glory due only to God be redirected toward himself. In doing so he gave us the Biblical definitions of good and evil. Everything that yields to God or or glorifies Him is good, and everything that rebels against God or glorifies someone or something else is evil.

God Himself appears to hold this view. Look at Isaiah 42:8;

“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

Shortly after the Creation, Satan introduced this evil into the world by convincing Adam and Eve to break the only rule God had given them. This seemingly minor act of rebellion caused all of mankind’s potential for evil to be greatly magnified and made rebellion man’s natural state. Paul called it our sin nature and it turned the Creation upside down. Where Satan had been made as the model of perfection with the potential for choosing evil, mankind would hereafter be predisposed toward evil with the potential for choosing to be made perfect. (In other words, Satan had to choose evil. We have to choose good.) And what’s more Satan no longer had to personally see to every act of evil. By orchestrating that one act of disobedience he had set mankind on a downward spiral that soon resulted in a state where every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5).

Things Are Not Always As They Seem

It’s important to recognize that evil is not merely a type of behavior. In fact it’s more a function of intent. That makes evil a motivating force behind behavior. It’s easy for us to judge behavior that’s obviously destructive, cruel, or immoral as being evil. But behavior that outwardly seems to produce much good can still be considered evil in God’s sight unless it’s undertaken in submission to Him for the purpose of glorifying Him. The end does not justify the means with God. Motives must be pure to make actions pure.

This is something most people simply do not understand. We think something that looks good or produces a good result must be good. But the Bible is clear. It’s the motive energizing our behavior that really counts, no matter how good the result looks to us or to others. Like the Lord said, “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” (Matt. 7:18)

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (1 Cor. 4:5)

So evil is a spiritual power, a motivating force that began with a choice. It originated when a created being demanded to be treated as if he was the Creator and went downhill from there. The consequences of that choice are suffered by each one of us every day. It took the death of God’s own Son to reverse its effect on us, and then only if we choose to allow it.

For those who don’t, God will again say;

“I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.” (Genesis 6:13)

The choice is clear and the time is near. Even so come Lord Jesus. Selah 10-03-09

There are two popular phrases people use in connection with the End Times to discourage speculation about just when the Rapture might take place. One is “like a thief in the night”, and the other is “no one knows the day or the hour”.

It’s been suggested from time to time that I’m sometimes “overly specific” in my teaching on the subject of End Times prophecy (even though I’ve never proposed either a day or an hour) so I’ve undertaken a study of these two phrases to see if I’m guilty as charged.

Let me say from the outset that I don’t believe the day or hour of the Rapture can be known in advance by anyone on Earth because I don’t believe it’s set to happen on any specific day or at any specific hour. I believe it’s set to happen when a specific number of born again believers is reached, and I base that conclusion on my understanding of Romans 11:25.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

There are two Greek words in this verse that lend critical support to a proper understanding. The first is translated “full number”. It’s a nautical term that describes the pre-determined number of sailors necessary to operate a ship. Until the ship had its full number of crew members, it could not sail. This is why ship captains sometimes got unsuspecting  men drunk and kidnapped them late at night and then set sail immediately. And the second, translated “come in” is also a nautical term that described the ship’s arrival at its intended destination.

By using these terms, Paul was saying that the hardening of Israel’s heart will not be fully removed until the Church reaches its pre-determined number and has been taken to heaven. There’s nothing arbitrary about God’s action here.  He has already determined the number and will take the Church to its intended destination as soon as that number is reached. But as far as I can tell no one on Earth knows either the full number or the current number. All we can know is that we’ll be Raptured when the full number of Gentiles has come in and it could literally happen on any given day. Then we’ll disappear, the blinders will come off Israel and the 70th Week will commence.

Now, back to the topic at hand. What do these two phrases mean and are they intended to discourage speculation about the timing of the Rapture?

Like A Thief

When you take out the duplications, this phrase appears 4 times in the New Testament. Let’s look at each one and see what it’s telling us.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. (1 Thes. 5:1-4)

This is Paul’s only use of the phrase. It’s clear He was speaking of the day of the Lord, and that while it will come as a surprise to unbelievers, events leading up to it should not surprise us. He made no mention of the Rapture here.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10)

Here’s Peter’s only use of the phrase, and again the reference is to the End Time Judgments, not to the Rapture.

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Rev. 3:3)

“Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Rev. 16:15)

John used the phrase twice, both times quoting the Lord. In Rev. 3:3 He was criticizing the Church in Sardis, who in my opinion represents the mainline Protestants of today. He was reminding them that they’ve gotten away from His word and had better wake up and get back into it. Otherwise they won’t know when He will come to them. Notice the wording. In the Rapture He comes for us, not to us, and we meet Him in the air. The people He’s talking to will not go in the Rapture, and if they don’t wake up, even the 2nd Coming will take them by surprise. (In verse 4 we see that not everyone in Sardis is asleep. There are a few among them who will be ready for the Rapture and will walk with Him in robes of white.)

In Rev. 16:15 the world is well into the Great Tribulation, so the Lord’s warning is for Tribulation believers who will be responsible for keeping themselves saved during the most terrifying and dangerous time the world has ever known. When used symbolically, as it is here, clothing always stands for righteousness, and tribulation believers will be responsible for maintaining theirs.

Day and Hour

Now we’ll look at that other popular phrase, “No one knows the day or the hour”.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matt. 24:36-37)

After the Great Tribulation ends (Matt. 24:29) there will be various signs in the heavens. The sun and moon will go dark and the stars will fall from the sky. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear and all the nations will mourn. After that they’ll see Him coming in the clouds with power and great glory, having gathered His elect from all over Heaven to join Him (Matt. 24:30-31). This is confirmed in both  Rev. 18:14 and Rev. 19: 11-14. From both the context and the passage itself it’s clear that the Lord was referring to the day and hour of the 2nd Coming, when He’ll be coming with us not for us.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” (Matt. 24:42-44)

A few verses later, the Lord repeated the same thought, again in the context of the 2nd Coming.

The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 24:50-51)

And another few verses later. There’s no way this can refer to the Rapture because the things He described will not be done to unbelievers at the Rapture. He’s speaking of the judgments that follow the 2nd Coming.

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” (Matt. 25:13)

For the fourth time in 28 verses the Lord has said that believers on Earth at the time of the 2nd Coming will not know the day or hour of His return. This one is in the context of the parable of the 10 bridesmaids.

In previous studies I’ve shown that this parable can’t be about the church. The Church is the Bride, not a bridesmaid, there’s only one bride, not 10, and the banquet follows the wedding, it doesn’t precede it. There’s no way a newly married bride can be excluded from her own wedding banquet by a husband who claims he doesn’t know her. The parable is about tribulation survivors, 5 of whom are saved and enter the Kingdom and 5 who are not and don’t.

What’s The Point?

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”. (2 Tim. 4:8)

I’ve searched the Scriptures in vain trying to find either phrase used in connection with the Rapture. But no where can I find a single verse prohibiting or even discouraging speculation about its timing.

On the contrary, I find that the Lord rebuked the religious leaders of His time for not expecting Him, and in doing so encouraged us to be aware as well. For example, commanded us to understand Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy (Matt. 24:15), He criticized the Pharisees for not being able to read the signs of the times (Matt. 16:2-4), and had Jerusalem destroyed for not recognizing the clearly foretold time of His visitation (Luke 19:41-44). Paul warned us not to let events leading up to the Day of the Lord take us by surprise (1 Thes. 5:4), and as we see above promised that the Lord would award a crown to those who longed for His appearing. How many more reasons do we need?

So where did this idea come from? It appears that some of it can be blamed on theologians who misinterpreted the 2nd Coming parables in Matt. 24 & 25. Apparently they didn’t realize that when the Lord coined the phrase, “No one knows the day or hour” He was talking about His 2nd Coming, not the Rapture. But even then it’s the disobedient who are caught by surprise in these parables, not the faithful.

Some of it is also due to the fact that for generations church leaders have actively discouraged the study of prophecy for fear that focusing on the Lord’s return would make members less enthusiastic about funding their buildings and other Earth centered programs. They developed interpretations that allegorized it all away, making it seem like a fairy tale that no body really believes. I remember when I began to take Bible prophecy seriously my pastors warned me, “Don’t become so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” These are the scoffers Peter warned about, who say, “Where’s the Coming He promised?” (2 Peter 3:4)

But there’s still more. Even among pre-trib believers, there is a fear of the rapture because of false doctrines they’ve been exposed to. The “partial rapture” hypothesis holds that only the truly worthy will be taken, while the rest of the Church will be left behind to clean up their act during some or all of the End times judgments. Others say believers who are not also “overcomers” will be cast into the Outer Darkness at the rapture and excluded from the Millennium. These opinions erode our assurance by concluding that we won’t know if we’re good enough until it’s too late, and make us fearful that we won’t qualify.

Then there are the “secular Christians” who don’t want their so-called good life to end before they’ve had a chance to experience it all. Yes, they want the Lord to come, but not yet, not now.

And finally there are those who know that if the Lord came for us today, members of their family and circle of friends would be left behind. They don’t want the Lord to come until they know everyone they love will be taken too.

For all these reasons and more, being faced with the idea that the Rapture could be very close is not a comforting idea for lots of believers. Suggesting time frames makes it all seem too real, so they don’t like it. When they say, “No one knows the day or hour,” they mean, “I don’t want to hear about it.”

Be Quiet. You’ll Scare Them Away.

Well intended people incorrectly say that talking about the End Times confuses believers, so we shouldn’t do it. What if we get them all excited and then it doesn’t happen? they ask. It’s no secret that the church is populated by a lot of folks who have zeal without knowledge and are easily taken in by anything that promises to either make their life easier (prosperity gospel) or help them escape it altogether (rapture mania). When I came to the Lord in the mid 1980’s a book titled 88 Reasons Why The Rapture will take place in 1988 triggered some rapture mania. A year ago the so called “Blood Moon Scenario” had folks looking for the rapture during the fall feasts. And there have been several others in between. In every case a couple of hours of study proved the theories false.

Paul called the Bereans noble because they searched the Scriptures daily to verify what he taught them (Acts 17:11) And that’s the Biblically correct response to these claims. It’s not to take other verses out of context in an effort to silence them. That only introduces another false teaching. And worse, it encourages the Church to go back to sleep.

When we hear someone suggest or even insist on this time or that one, our response should not be to automatically condemn the person for “date-setting”. It should be to “search the Scriptures daily to see if those things be true” before making a decision about it.

Personally I would much rather see the Church engaged in a lively discussion about the nearness of end times events than to see us trot out the old “No one knows the day or hour” line while sticking our heads back in the sand. What subject is a more important topic for discussion today? And think of all the extra crowns the Lord would have to order. Besides, people don’t fall away when dates come and go because if they’re saved they can’t fall away. If they fall away they weren’t saved to begin with. The Lord doesn’t miss opportunities to save people because of mistakes men make. He knew those who are His before He laid the Earth’s foundations, and promised not to lose even one of us.

So come on Church. Let’s get back to our job. The Bible warns us that there’ll be false teachers and says they’ll be held accountable. But it also admonishes us to do our homework so we’ll know one when we see one. Selah 09-05-09

Last week’s question on whether homosexual believers will be taken in the Rapture or not has really sparked some interesting, even emotional comment.

As we begin this study, let’s clarify a few points. Living a homosexual lifestyle is living in sin. Both Old and New Testaments make that clear. But all believers are sinners, and we’re all living in sin of some kind. Half of us who’ve been married have also been divorced. The percentage of Christian women who’ve had abortions is the same as for non-believers. Many of us have sins we simply cannot stop committing. (These are sometimes called besetting sins.) Some don’t really want to stop committing these sins, but many have “cried out to the Lord in sack cloth and ashes” for deliverance and still can’t stop.

This is not a new phenomenon. Some of the great heroes of the Bible had sin problems they couldn’t control. Moses had trouble with his temper, David had a weakness for women, and we’ll get to Paul in a minute.

Just Do It

If you don’t have any besetting sins, praise the Lord. But dismissing someone else’s problem by saying they should just stop sinning shows an appalling lack of sensitivity. This is especially true since millions of believers have spent years trying unsuccessfully to stop doing things like smoking, drinking to excess, watching porn, etc. Others can’t control their anger, lust, appetite, or envy. Would you deny all of them participation to the rapture? Maybe the next time you hear of someone struggling with sin you should take some time to ponder the old saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” And if you don’t have any sins you can’t keep yourself from committing, why are you sinning at all?

If you’re part of the vast majority that does struggle regularly with a besetting sin, you can understand the plight of others like you. Paul had this in mind when he wrote Romans 7:14-25.

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Please read this carefully. Judging by the standards of some believers I’ve received eMails from lately, Paul has identified himself as an unrepentant sinner in these verses, because he continues to do things he knows he shouldn’t be doing. They would say that he’s either not qualified to go in the rapture or will spend the Millennium in the outer darkness, learning how to be an overcomer. (Don’t get me started on that one.)

But Paul’s reaction was totally different. He said that when he was sinning, he was not being himself. In other words, it wasn’t Paul who was sinning but the sin nature that dwelt within him. He told the Corinthians that when they accepted the Lord they became a new creation. He said that in God’s eyes the person they had been before was gone and they were now a new person altogether. He said that because Jesus, who knew no sin, had been made sin for them, they were now as righteous as God Himself. (2 Cor 5:17,21)

Here’s What Paul Meant.

When Jesus went to the cross He took all the sins of our lives with Him. (Col. 2:13-14) That means past, present, and future, from the very first to the very last. This is one of the things that makes the New Covenant so much better than the Old. Every year on Yom Kippur, Israel’s past sins were atoned for and the slate was wiped clean. But they immediately began sinning again and so the next year they had to do it all over, and the year after that and the year after that, and so on. That’s because it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin (Hebr. 10:3-4)

But Jesus offered one sacrifice for all time, past, present, and future. If you’re born again, every sin of your life has been identified and atonement has been made. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) All that’s left is for you to accept and believe. If you stop and think for just a moment, you’ll see that it’s the only way it could be, because none of us can completely stop sinning, and there’s no sacrifice left. Either the Lord’s blood has paid for all the sins of our life, or else it was an exercise in futility, and we’re all irretrievably lost.

This is why with all of Paul’s exhortations to go beyond salvation and strive for victory over our sin nature, he never threatened us with the loss of our salvation for failing. In fact, one of his strongest pleas was that we strive to live up to that which we have already attained. (Phil 3:16) In other words, become in fact what we already are in faith. But even he couldn’t do it.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25)

Here Paul tells us that the harder he tried to “be good” the more his sin nature resisted. He loved the Law of God but his sin nature made him a prisoner of sin. What a hopeless place to be, condemned to a life of disappointing the One he wanted most to please. But thanks be to the Lord Jesus who rescues us from our body of death. The new Paul, the Paul that God saw, had the motives and intentions of someone who tries to please God, even though his sin nature prevented him from carrying them out. And God, who alone can judge the intent of our hearts, chose to see only the new Paul, all of whose sins had been atoned for at the cross. He had been separated as far from his sins as the East is separated from the West. (Psalm 103:12) As far as God was concerned the new Paul never sinned at all. It was the sin dwelling in him that did it.

And then the summary statement, Romans 8:1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

One More Time

As I said earlier, living a homosexual lifestyle is living in sin. Many believers have agonized over this problem. As one who hasn’t experienced it, I can’t even begin to grasp its magnitude. They know that a just God can not condemn His children for behavior they have no control over. And yet they’ve spent years in shame and humiliation trying unsuccessfully to stop committing their besetting sin. Some finally succumb to the false conclusion that God must have made them that way. Others rebel as a way to vent their frustration. And can you imagine how much harder their challenge becomes as society in general and even many who claim to be part of the Church affirm and encourage their behavior as being nothing more than an alternative lifestyle, no better or worse than any other? Contrast that attitude with others in the Church who treat them like lepers, sinners beyond redemption. Neither opinion is correct, so what is their true circumstance? Why can’t anyone tell them? What happened to Romans 8:1? Is it only Jesus who can forgive a sin without fear of leaving the impression that he condones it?

He commanded us to love one another as He loved us, and to forgive each other as He forgave us. He was talking about how we should treat each other as believers. He never spoke a single word that encourages the condemnation of a brother or sister. On the contrary, He spoke against it. (Matt. 7:1-2 & Luke 6:37) As far as salvation is concerned, He said all who ask will receive, (Matt. 7:7) that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13), and that who so ever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

This is where the Lord’s faithfulness comes in. Having agonized on the cross for every sinful act of their lives, He could no more abandon them now than He did then. He gave them the faith to believe that He would save them (Ephes. 2:8-9) and has accepted responsibility for keeping them saved. (2 Cor. 1:21-22) When they fall into the pit of despair, He comes to pull them out. (Matt. 12:11-12) When they wander away from the flock, he goes in search of them. (Luke 15:4) Having begun a good work in them, He is faithful and will carry it on to completion, (Phil. 1:6) not losing a single one of them along the way. (John 6:38-40).

On the day of the Rapture every one who has trusted Him for salvation will disappear in the twinkling of an eye. The only thing the Church will leave behind is our accursed sin nature that’s prevented us from living the life we desire. The new bodies we’ll receive have neither flaw nor blemish, so millions of raptured believers will finally be free of their besetting sins.

None of this is meant to condone sin or diminish the destructive effect it has on our lives. Nor is it meant to say that we should learn to be comfortable around it. And if you’re thinking that they’re getting a free ride for their sin, consider that nearly every health, accident, or mortality statistic demonstrates that calling the homosexual lifestyle “gay” is a cruel joke indeed. This is especially true among males, where life expectancy is decades shorter, and accident rates are much higher. They’re also far more likely to be murdered or to commit suicide.

As Stephen was being stoned to death, he fell to his knees and cried out, “Lord don’t hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). When Jesus was hanging on the cross He looked at those who had put Him there and prayed, “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.” (Luke 23:34) This is the testimony of two witnesses, showing us the proper reaction to the sinners in our midst. We need to understand that none of us could ever deserve to go in the Rapture. We’re all sinners worthy of the worst kind of judgment. There is no such thing as a believer who’s less deserving than we are because the Church is not a merit based organization. It’s faith based. When we see a brother or sister struggling with sin we should be praying for them instead of condemning them. It could just as easily have been us.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) Selah 12-06-08

(This is an update of an article I first published in 1999.  I’ve received several eMails lately questioning the views I expressed in my study entitled “O You Of Little Faith.”  In each of them a misinterpretation of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was used to support the theory that God sometimes refuses to heal us when we ask.   Sadly, this misinterpretation is all too common among Christians today.  I’ve updated and expanded the article and offer it in response to these questions.  Be blessed.)

My Grace Is Sufficient For You

For years the Lord has been done a terrible disservice over the issue of Paul’s complaint about the thorn in his flesh, and it’s time to set the record straight. If you’ve been taught that “My Grace is sufficient for you” was the Lord’s excuse for not healing Paul, then pay close attention. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then get ready for a great example of how folks distort the meaning of scripture either to satisfy their pre-conceived notions or justify their lack of faith.

To get the context, let’s read Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Before we look at the problem, let’s review the popular interpretation. According to some, Paul’s eyesight was permanently damaged when he was blinded on the Damascus Road. Supposedly, this caused a disease of the eye common to the day especially around Damascus. Its name was opthalmia and the visible symptom was a stream of pus running out of the eyes and down the face. It was nearly as repugnant as leprosy. The popular interpretation holds that this is the thorn in his flesh Paul was referring to when he asked the Lord for healing three times and was refused.

The “lesson” of this interpretation is that even the great Paul wasn’t healed when he asked and that the Lord had actually given him this disease to help him overcome his pride. We’re to understand that God gives us disease (and misfortune as well) to help us overcome our sins, and that we shouldn’t ask for healing from something the Lord gave us for that purpose. If we do ask and don’t get healed, it’s because the Lord is dealing with us.  All this is wrapped up in the Father’s love, saying that He’s working for our good in spite of our selfish desires.

So what’s wrong with that view? Well, aside from the fact that the Lord handled our sin problem at the cross and now sees us as being with out any imperfection (2 Cor. 5:21), and that it comes perilously close to the Eastern notion of karma, the context makes it ridiculous and the translation is flawed.

What’s The Context?

Just imagine you’re the Creator of the universe. Out of your boundless love, you’ve given the life of your son to redeem your creation from its bondage to sin, and you’ve gone to great lengths to recruit someone to go around telling people about it so they can be saved. You want this person to prove that you’re much greater than all their pagan gods so you bring him right up to your very throne and show him things no other man has ever seen so He can speak with authority. (2 Cor. 12:2-4) And you empower him to heal them from their diseases (Acts 19:11-12) and even raise some of them from the dead (Acts 20:7-12).

But every time he speaks of your wonderful love and miraculous power, he has to stand there with pus running out of both eyes and explain that you gave him this disease and won’t heal him because you’re afraid he’ll become too proud.  Would he have a credibility problem? I’d say so.

Now let’s learn what the passage really says. The word for thorn literally means a pointed stake, and recalls a situation in Judges 2 when the Israelites failed to rid the land of all its previous inhabitants as God had commanded (Deut. 20:16-18).  Because of their failure to obey Him, The Angel of the Lord declared that these people would become perpetual enemies to oppose the Israelites physically and distract them spiritually.  He then coined the phrase “thorn in your sides” to symbolize their physical and spiritual opposition.  From that day to this, these people have inflicted incredible physical abuse upon God’s people.

The word torment actually means to rap with the fist, or buffet. It also comes from a root meaning to physically punish.

In both these words there’s a clear implication of physical attack. So the real story of Paul’s thorn in the flesh goes more like this. Everywhere Paul went he was physically abused. Hear his own account from 2 Cor. 11:23-26:

“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.”

Is He Dead Yet?

I urge you to study these events carefully in Acts. For example, in Philippi Paul and Silas were stripped and severely beaten with rods. The flesh on their backs was bruised and bleeding, and the pain was incredible, but they were taken to prison without medical attention, their hands and feet secured in stocks, forcing them to sit in an upright position, making sleep virtually impossible even if the pain would have allowed it.

But at midnight they were heard singing hymns of praise and the doors of the prison broke open, freeing them. They went to the home of the jailer, who washed and fed them. The miracles he had seen caused his whole family to be saved that night. The next morning when they were officially released, they walked 30 miles to Amphipolis having received no medical treatment and having had no recovery time, not even a night’s sleep. (Acts 16:22-40) The Lord had healed them.

But an earlier incident in Lystra is perhaps the most dramatic  A group of angry Jews from Antioch and Iconium had followed Paul to Lystra. When they caught up with him they took up stones and stoned him. (Acts 14:19-20)  Remember, stoning was the Jewish method of execution. It consisted of immobilizing a person, sometimes by burying him up to his waist, and then hurling rocks at his head and upper body until he died.

Believing they had been successful and that Paul was dead, they dragged his body out side the city and left it there for the wild dogs to eat. But the believers gathered around him and prayed.  Paul got up and went back into the city with them. The next day he walked 25 miles to Derbe.  It’s like walking home from your execution; it just doesn’t happen.

These are incredible examples of God’s miraculous power. Contrary to the popular interpretation, Paul was physically healed by the grace of God over and over again.  He was rescued from the open sea and even raised from the dead.  It was a great testimony of God’s strength perfected in Paul’s weakness.

The idea that God doesn’t heal people any more can’t be supported by this or any other scripture.  The real lesson here is that while God refused to eliminate the resistance to Paul’s ministry, He promised to see him through it successfully if Paul would walk in faith down the path God had set before him.  And can you imagine the faith Paul must have had, going into those towns knowing his enemies were waiting and would try to stop him again.  But each time it happened, and each time God healed him, his faith was strengthened, God’s glory was increased, and the Gospel was spread.

In the conquest of the Promised Land, God could have simply struck all of Israel’s enemies dead, but instead He required Israel to fight, telling them in advance that they would achieve victory.  The only defeat they suffered was when they disobeyed, and as soon as they confessed He gave them that victory too. (Joshua 7-8)

Jesus said that in this world we will have trials, but to take heart because He has overcome the world.  (John 16:33) What He meant by that is He may not choose to deliver you from the trials you face in this world, but He will never leave you or forsake you as you go through them, and given the chance He will miraculously restore you to show forth His glory.   The only reason Paul performed greater miracles than we do is because he had bigger faith.  The only reason he had bigger faith is because he fought bigger battles.  Selah 10-18-08

How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name; for they have devoured Jacob and destroyed his homeland.

Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need. Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.

Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. May the groans of the prisoners come before you; by the strength of your arm preserve those condemned to die.

Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times the reproach they have hurled at you, O Lord. Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Lord would avenge wrongs done against us in real time? Well in a way that does happen. A pastor friend of mine told me of a recent situation that illustrates the point.

A couple had been the focus of controversy some years previously and had left his congregation over it. Recently they came back, asking for forgiveness and restoration. Almost everyone immediately received them with open arms, but there was one small group of holdouts that was determined not to forgive and restore them. Little by little the couple won most of them over too, and it seemed as if the restoration would be complete.

Then came a Sunday when the couple received a few moments of attention during the service in connection with a ministry they’re involved in. One of the holdouts strongly criticized the pastor for permitting this, saying it had ruined her Sunday worship. As it happens, this person hadn’t become a member of the congregation until a year or two after the controversy, but she was a friend of someone who was, and had “heard all about it.”

So for several years now this person has been upset and angry over a situation she had no part in, and just the reminder of it was enough to destroy her weekly time with the Lord. She was still angry enough the next day to send off a scathing letter to the pastor, and who knows when or if she’ll ever get over it?

My question is, who’s being afflicted here? Yes, the pastor was disappointed that a member of his flock isn’t getting his message of forgiveness. And yes this person will try to get the other holdouts all spun up again. But isn’t she the real victim here? It’s her heart that’s becoming calloused and hardened, it’s her spirit that’s being quenched, and it’s her fellowship with the Lord that’s being interrupted. The couple she’s so upset with doesn’t even know her, and if they do find out how she feels, they’ll just pity her. I mean, to invest all that negative energy in something that didn’t even concern her seems to be such a waste.

So, did the Lord send down fire from heaven to consume her for attacking that couple? Well, not directly. But has her failure to obey His commandment to forgive given the devil a foothold in her mind that he can use to rob her of her joy? And will he use it to contaminate other areas of her life as well? Absolutely. We’ve all met folks whose anger has so completely soured them that even former friends no longer come around.

She’s allowed herself to become the target of a tactic that all predators seem to know intuitively. Cut the weak ones out of the flock and then attack them. If she doesn’t learn how to forgive as she’s been forgiven, she’ll find herself estranged from God and be fair game for her enemy.

If you’re harboring similar feelings of anger toward someone, justified or not, ask God right now to forgive you and to help you forgive the other person. The pain and suffering you’re causing yourself, and the spiritual danger you’re placing your self in simply isn’t worth it.

“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

“And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” (Isaiah 66:24)

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. (Matt. 25:41,46)

If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:15)

For most of the Church’s existence the belief that punishment for unbelievers is eternal was taken for granted. The above verses, especially the one in Isaiah, were the basis for what’s become known as the traditional view.

But then an alternative, called the conditional view, came on the scene. This view is based primarily on Rev. 20:12 which says that the unsaved dead will be judged according to their works. Proponents of the conditional view interpret this verse to mean that while no unbeliever can go to heaven, their punishment will be based on the quality of their lives while on Earth. Those who’ve led meritorious lives on earth will receive less severe punishment for a shorter period of time than say a Hitler or Stalin before being destroyed altogether. They claim that this view makes more sense because it shows God to be fair, making the punishment fit the crime so to speak, before mercifully ending their existence altogether.

On the surface it seems to make sense and some people are more comfortable with this view than the traditional one that appears excessively harsh to them and of no purpose other than making people suffer. But is the conditional view the result of greater enlightenment in our understanding of Scripture or just another in a long line of attempts to re-cast God’s word into a kinder gentler document as it pertains to those who’ve rejected Him?

A closer look reveals that the conditional view is decidedly biased toward the world view of unbelievers. They look at the traditional view and say, “All I did is not believe that Jesus died for me. Other than that I tried to live a good life and I helped a fair amount of people along the way. What did I do to deserve eternal punishment?”

What they don’t realize of course is that they failed to do the only thing God requires. Since the cross, God has only asked one thing of us.

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 8:28-29)

If He’s going to judge unbelievers by how they’ve done the works that He requires of them, it’ll all be over pretty quickly because without that even the good we do otherwise is considered evil in God’s sight.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matt. 7:22-23)

So much for a meritorious life!

Unbelievers don’t think rejecting the Lord is a big deal because they don’t appreciate the value of the life that was sacrificed for them, and they don’t realize that their rejection of His sacrifice has eternal implications. Because of their unbelief they’re only thinking in terms of a 70-80 year lifespan, not an eternal existence.

Surprisingly, believers who adopt the conditional view make the same mistake. In saying that it makes the punishment fit the crime and gives credit for good behavior they’re only considering Earthly things, not Heavenly ones.

So let’s take a look at this from the eternal perspective and try to understand how different it is. Unlike discipline we receive from God, His punishment is not intended to help us learn something. Rather it’s the penalty we must pay for having done something. The man who is executed or given life in prison for killing someone is not being taught that it’s wrong to kill people. He’s being punished for his crime. It’s an adaptation of the Biblical injunction, a life for a life (Lev. 24:17) On Earth we’re in a physical environment so it’s a physical life for a physical life.

But a person who rejects the pardon God provided for him has in effect murdered his own soul and spirit which have eternal existence, so the punishment has to be eternal to fit the crime. Our physical bodies are only intended to serve a temporary purpose, and that’s to house the eternal part of us for a little while. Compared to our eternal existence, putting our physical existence to death is a minor infraction. This is why Jesus told His disciples not to fear those who can only kill the body, but rather fear him who can kill both body and soul (Matt. 10:28). He was talking about Satan of course, but those who reject the Lord’s pardon for their sins turn themselves over to Satan for his disposition.

Refusing to accept the Lord’s completed work on the cross as payment in full for our sins is a crime against our eternal life and therefore the only just punishment is eternal punishment.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Genesis 2:2-3)

These two verses are much different from those describing the preceding days in the creation account. All of them included the phrase “it was evening and it was morning, day … “. Not so for the seventh day. Also the Hebrew word translated rested is Shabath (pronounced sha-BAT). We get sabbath from this word. It appears 71 times in the Bible, and 47 of those times it’s translated “cease”. It only means rest 11 times.

Will This Day Ever End?

Now obviously, the seventh day had a beginning and an end just like all the days before and after it. But the fact that there is no mention of this in the text of the creation account indicates that in a spiritual sense this day has never ended. There is no eighth day of creation. God has never taken up the work of creation again, and that’s why a word that also means ceased was used in describing His Sabbath rest.

Now don’t accuse me of promoting the “Great Watchmaker” theory of creation. That’s the one where God created the world and all that’s in it, then set it in motion, and has been just sitting there watching it run down ever since. Let’s look at what God has been doing since He stopped creating. We’ll begin in John’s Gospel.

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. (John 5:16-19)

This tells us that both the Father and the Son have so much to do that they work every day, even on the Sabbath. So what are they doing? Matthew 11:5 explains. “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

Almost as soon as the Creation was finished, it was subjected to sin. From that day to this the Father and the Son have been battling to protect us from the effects of sin in our lives.

So they haven’t been just sitting around waiting. They’ve both been working every day from that day to this, including the Sabbath. But my point is, God has never again taken up the work of creation. Where the creation is concerned he has never ceased his Sabbath rest.

In Numbers 15:32-36 we read of a man who was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. It was a violation of the commandment, but the Israelites didn’t know what to do with him. When they inquired of God, He told them to take him outside the camp and stone him to death. God was serious about not working on the Sabbath.

What’s External And Physical In The Old Becomes Internal And Spiritual In The New

But when we get to the New Testament we find that the commandment to rest on the Sabbath is the only one of the 10 Commandments not specifically repeated. In fact the most frequent reference to the Sabbath commandment in the New Testament concerns the Lord’s frequent and flagrant violations of it. On six different occasions, the Lord defended working on the Sabbath, each time showing the religious leaders of the day that their rules for keeping the Sabbath were man made, arbitrary, and counter to God’s purpose. For example the priests in the Temple desecrated every Sabbath (Matt. 12:5), and the people could water their animals (Luke 13:15) or rescue them from danger (Matt. 12:11) but they couldn’t heal a person (Luke 13:14).

In Romans 14:5 Paul taught that we have the right to either consider one day holier than the others or to regard all days the same, based on our personal convictions. And in Colossians 1:16-17 he said not to let anyone judge us in regard to a religious festival or a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. He said that these things were only a shadow of things that were coming, that the reality was found in Christ.

Somehow the Sabbath commandment was supposed to teach us something about our relationship with Jesus. So let’s find out what it is.

God created the Heavens and the Earth. They didn’t do anything to help, He did it all. At the end of six days, He rested (ceased) from His work because it was finished. He never again took up the work of creating. He made the seventh day, a day without end, holy. There was no eighth day. Then He created a memorial. From that time forward the seventh day was a day of rest where no work was permitted to remind us that when His work was finished He rested.

Since we’re trapped in the dimension of time, we can’t have any days without end. So when God set up our calendar He made every seventh day holy, and then the calendar began again. There’s never an eighth day. This was to help us to see that the seventh day, the day of rest, never ends. To underscore the importance of this, He made working on the seventh day punishable by death.

But man missed the point. We thought it was about working on the Sabbath when it was really about resting when the work is finished. Here’s how that relates to Jesus.

Jesus came to Earth with one job to do. It was to die for the sins of the people so that we could be redeemed and live forever with Him (John 1:29). He was making us into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) We didn’t do anything to help, He did it all. When He went to the cross, His work was done. That’s why His last words before He died were, “It is finished.” Then He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit (John 19:30). He never had to do the work of redemption again, for by that one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebr. 10:14) When He ascended into Heaven, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. In effect, He rested. The work of our new creation was finished.

This is why some theologians refer to the Lord’s “completed work” at the cross. It’s is also why the writer of Hebrews said that going back into the Jewish sacrificial system is relegating His death to the same status as animal sacrifices and subjects Him to public disgrace. (Hebr. 6:6) It meant that they didn’t believe the work was finished.

What Is Our Work?

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

When you believe that Jesus went to the cross for you, and that by His death all of the sins of your life are forgiven, you’ve done what God requires and the work of your salvation is finished. You will inherit eternal life. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40) When you believe that, you have entered into your life-long seventh day, your Sabbath Rest.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:9-10) Just as God never again took up the work of creation, and Jesus never again took up the work of redemption, you need never again take up the work of salvation. You’re a new creation and the work is finished. Now you rest, as they have rested.

Please read this very carefully. As we can see from the above, the folks who keep asking whether Saturday or Sunday is the correct Sabbath for Christians are asking the wrong question. The question we all need to ask is whether we’re keeping the Sabbath or not. It doesn’t matter that you say you’re born again. Any work you do to earn or keep your salvation after saying that you’ve accepted the work that Jesus did for you is evidence that you don’t believe the work is finished. This subjects you to the penalty of the Sabbath breaker in Numbers 15. His was a physical death, but yours will be a spiritual one, because by continuing to work after the work is done you’re saying that Jesus didn’t finish the job so you have to complete it and save yourself. It means you don’t believe He saved you, and that means you haven’t done the one and only thing He told you to do; “Believe in the One He has sent.” It means you aren’t saved.

If you believe that you can lose your salvation because of your behavior, it means that you don’t believe Jesus took all of the sins of your life to the cross (Col 2:13-15), and therefore you don’t believe He saved you completely (Hebr. 7:25). It means that you don’t believe God has accepted responsibility for keeping you saved (2 Cor. 1:21-22) and you have to finish the job yourself by meeting some standard of behavior. That means that you’re working to keep your self saved after your work of salvation was finished, which means you’re subjecting yourself to the penalty of the Sabbath breaker in Numbers 15. It means that you aren’t saved.

There isn’t much time left for the Church. The Lord could come while you’re reading this. Please consider these things carefully. Make sure you’re really saved by grace through faith. Not by works, lest anyone boast. (Ephes. 2:8-9) You can’t be working to become saved and you can’t be working to stay saved. You are either forever saved or you were never saved. Remember, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:5) There is no eighth day. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 05-24-08

Commentary by Jack Kelley

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:2-7)

From the Scriptures it appears that Cain knew how to bring an acceptable offering to the Lord. This is one of the clues that leads me to believe the Lord introduced a form of what would become the Levitical System right after the fall. There had to be a way for His earliest children to set aside their sins until the Redeemer He had promised to send (Gen. 3:15) came to solve the sin problem permanently. But although he knew what was right, Cain hadn’t done it and the Lord warned him that if he didn’t change there would be serious consequences. He didn’t and there were.

One of the tools used by theologians to help them understand the Lord’s Word is called “The Principle Of First Mention”. It holds that the first time an important matter is mentioned in the Bible, the context in which it appears often contains information vital to our understanding of His Word in general, not just to the specific instance. The issue in Genesis 4 is being accepted by God by doing the right thing.

Cain’s experience shows us that the Lord doesn’t condemn us for failing to do what is right without first teaching us what is right. It bears repeating that Cain knew what was right, but didn’t do it. Therefore he was acting with volition, consciously choosing a different way than the Lord had shown him.

I don’t think this is something that’s unique to Cain. There are several specific New Testament references to people who know what is right but don’t do it. I’m not talking about the sins we all commit, where we purposely do something that we know is displeasing to God. I’m talking about major disobedience that carries huge consequences. Jude called this following the Way of Cain. (Jude 1:11) Some of these people are outside the Church and some are inside. In this study, we’ll take a look at those on the outside, because the consequences of their behavior has affected all of society.

Knowing What’s Right Vs. Doing What’s Right

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. (Romans 1:18-19).

This passage in Romans is not about people who never heard the truth about God and in ignorance came up with some alternate explanation for who we are and how we got here. This is about men who knew the truth and suppressed it. They knew what was right because God made it plain to them. But they not only didn’t do it, they tried to hide it so that others wouldn’t discover it. They compounded the Way of Cain and ruined our world.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:20-23)

God has made His presence known to man, and eliminated all our excuses. These men knew God but rejected Him, and when they did four things began to happen, all of them bad.

First, their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. This means that they lost the ability to reason where the things of God are concerned. Remember Psalm 14:1, The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” A foolish person lacks the ability to reason and relies on wishful thinking. And second, they stopped worshiping the Creator in favor of the Creation.

These men held themselves out as wise, learned men, who had come up with a superior alternative to what they call the fables and fiction of the Bible. They called themselves scientists, although by definition science requires observation, and they’ve never observed their theory in action. What they were able to observe is that left alone, all things proceed from order into chaos, or devolve, and yet their theory requires things to go the opposite direction, evolving from chaos into order, without any outside assistance. Their’s is a natural law that violates natural law.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. (Romans 1:24-25)

Third and fourth, they became sexually immoral and materialistic. If this had only happened to a few, we could have seen how different from the rest of us they had become. But since their theory effectively does away with God, it caught on among others who were seeking an alternative to Him, and after a relatively few years it worked its way into the educational systems of the world in the guise of science. In order to suppress the truth, scientists and educators made sure it was the only thing taught in our schools, and after a few generations no one even thought to question it. Even many of the leading theologians went along, seeing their theory as being more sophisticated and more intellectually appealing than God’s Word. Soon this theory that’s never been observed or proven became as fact.

Seeking to end their troublesome conflict with God’s Word for good, they got Him kicked out of the educational system, perverting our legal system along the way. As they did, the standard of morality began to decline, and before long the age of materialism was upon us followed by the sexual revolution. Then pornography went public and became an accepted part of our entertainment. Soon, half of all marriages were ending in divorce. 40 million unborn children were put to death for the sake of convenience. (Anyone can look at an ultrasound and know intuitively that it depicts a human life. It took experts who know what is right but refuse to do it to convince us otherwise.) Children who were brought into the world were abandoned to the very schools that had played a major role in causing the problem.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1:26-27)

When these men saw evidence of the cause and effect relationship that Paul had warned them about, they worked to suppress it as well. They called these judgments from God alternative lifestyles, as proper as any other choice, and began teaching our children to accept and even celebrate them. They passed laws against thinking of them in any other way, in some instances making it a crime for us to remind them of God’s word.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)

It’ll All Be Over Soon

As a society we’ve acquired such depraved minds that we don’t even see what’s happening to us. We should know that we’re on a down hill slide to destruction, but we keep getting worse and worse, applauding behavior that we would have condemned in disgust only a generation ago.

Since the first judgments haven’t turned mankind back to God, a final, much more serious one is coming. This one is so bad that the Lord will remove His Church from out of the midst of it to protect us from it’s effect. (1 Thes. 1:9-10) Jesus said that it would be so bad that not one living soul would survive it unless he puts an end to it at the appointed time. (Matt. 24:22)

Already we can see signs of it building among us. But as bad as it is, it’s nothing compared to what it will be. In Paul’s day the Greek Empire was in the last days of it’s decline, gasping under the weight of the same kind of decay that’s in evidence everywhere in our world today. And Paul already saw it coming upon the Roman Empire, although the worst of it was still several hundred years away for them. In each of these world Empires people’s hearts had become so hardened and their minds so depraved that they couldn’t even figure out what was happening to them. It’s the same today.

And contrary to the wishes of my friends in the Charismatic and Emerging Church movements, the Bible mentions no great revival at the end of the age to right all our wrongs, heal all our diseases, and clean up our mess in time to hand it over the the Messiah, all bright and shiny. The reason people from those movements don’t want you studying prophecy is that their version of the End Times can not be found there.

Contrary to what they preach, this is what the Lord told us to expect. He said that in the last days the believing Church would have little strength but would keep His word and not deny His name. He said He would come for us soon and to hold on until He does. (Rev. 3:8,11) On the other hand, the apostate church would consider itself wealthy and in need of nothing, not realizing that they’re wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. All the while He stands knocking at their door trying to get in. Unable to do so, He will spew them out of His mouth. (Rev. 3:16,17,20).

None of this had to happen, of course. It all started when a few men who knew what was right decided not to do it. And the rest, as they say, is history. It’s hard to believe that all of our society’s sexual immorality, its materialism and greed, the decay of its educational system, its disregard for the value of human life, and its celebration of alternative lifestyles, all stem from its decision to ignore what it knows is right and refuse to do it. But that’s exactly what’s happened. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, worshiping and serving created things rather than our Creator. It’s the Way of Cain. Selah 03-29-08

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebr. 4:12-13)

Some people view the soul and body interchangeably, while others think soul and spirit are equivalent terms. But as believers we should think of the soul as the conscious part of us, composed of mind (intellect), will, and emotions, It’s the part of us that makes choices and controls our behavior by giving orders to the body. Our spirit is the subconscious part, an internal adviser to the conscious soul.

Both are intangible and eternal and are housed in our body which is tangible and temporal. It’s designed for use in this life, and when we die we leave it behind. Paul described our body as our earthly dwelling and spoke of how we long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling. Believers don’t desire so much to be rid of our earthly bodies, he said, as to receive our heavenly ones. He said receiving our heavenly body is the very purpose for which we were created, and that’s why God gave us the Holy Spirit at the first moment of our belief. He’s a deposit guaranteeing what is to come, which is the exchange of our earthly dwelling for our heavenly one. (2 Cor. 5:1-5)

It Wasn’t Always Like That
I believe Adam and Eve were created with a heavenly alignment of body submissive to soul which was submissive to spirit which was one with God. But at the fall this alignment was perverted and through Satan’s influence the soul began to assert itself over the spirit. Both were contaminated by sin in the process and the direct link to God was broken. In the time after the fall the soul became more assertive as man entered the period some call the Dispensation of Conscience. Man was left to decide for himself what was right and things got progressively worse until God had to wipe the slate clean and start over. This experience has been repeated again and again. Even the time of Israel’s dominance in the world, when the communication link with God was formally re-opened, ended in failure. During that period Prophets were appointed to speak to the people for God and Priests to speak to God for the people. But it wasn’t enough.

The problem was that the spirit of unsaved man is confused and uncertain because of the effects of sin and often gives bad advice to his soul, which is also contaminated by sin, making it impossible for him to please God.

The cross changed all that. Now, when we are born again our spirit becomes one with the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 6:17) and the confusion and uncertainty clears up. Our spirit begins to know right and wrong as absolutes, and as our conscience it begins to serve as a reliable guide to our soul, which is still sin infested.

The difference that being born again makes in us is so profound that we can only understand God’s word after we become believers. The natural man cannot comprehend it. (1 Cor 2:14) This explains why the Lord’s disciples were often confused about His teaching, and failed to understand much of it. They didn’t receive the Holy Spirit until the night of His resurrection. (John 20:22)

This is also why Jesus told us that our righteousness has to surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Not being born again, their efforts at keeping the law were acts of will and were often in conflict with what their spirits were advising them to do. For them it was still a matter of their soul asserting itself over their spirit. They just knew the law well enough to know when their spirits were advising them to break it. In Isaiah 29:13 the Lord had said, “These people come near to me with their lips (governed by the soul), but their hearts (spirits) are far from me.” Jesus accused them of looking like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but inside full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean (Matt. 23:27) Their obedience to the law was only intellectual assent backed up by will power.

Back To Hebrews 4
But the Lord pays special attention to the motives of our heart and judges us on our intentions, not our actions. This is what the writer to the Hebrews meant when he said that the word of God can divide soul (behavior) and spirit (motive). He’s not fooled by man’s attempts at good behavior. He knows the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. Nothing is hidden from His sight. Commenting on ceremonial cleanliness He said that it’s not what goes into us that makes us unclean, but what comes out of us. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matt. 15:17-19) Jeremiah wrote that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. (Jere. 17:9) After sinning with Bathsheba, David prayed that God would create in him a pure heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within him. (Psalm 51:10) This is what happens when we’re born again and the Holy Spirit unites with our spirit. It results in our receiving a pure heart. It’s what David longed for, but it couldn’t happen before the cross. (John 7:39)

In effect, the Holy Spirit works through our spirit to repossess our soul from its bondage to sin. But since it’s not the conscious part of us, our spirit can only work to influence our decisions. Our soul must choose to heed the advice of our spirit, in whose “ear” the Holy Spirit is whispering. This is what Paul meant when he told us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (soul). (Romans 12:2) This transformation consists of consciously choosing to allow the Holy Spirit to become the primary influence in determining our actions. This is the heavenly alignment again. God’s Spirit to our spirit to our soul. This is why the Pharisees were criticized. God’s Spirit was not within them, and so their obedience was a product of their intellect, their soul. Their spirit remained unregenerate. It looked good on the outside, but inside it was all out of order. It was form without substance, and it produced self righteousness, not humility.

The biggest problem we have is that our soul is still struggling with its bondage to sin, and therefore must constantly choose to submit to our renewed spirit. Remember the soul is where our behavioral decisions are made. Our spirit is one with the Spirit of God, but can only advise. Paul described our dilemma poignantly in Romans 7-8, saying that he had the desire to do good but could not carry it out. His spirit was one with God, but his soul sometimes rebelled. Inwardly he could delight in God’s Law, but outwardly would sometimes conform to the law of sin and death.

It’s actually the opposite of the Pharisees’ problem. They looked good on the outside but were full of evil thoughts and intentions. While the Lord condemned them, he directs no condemnation toward us (Romans 8:1) because although our soul often betrays us, our spirit is one with God. He goes so far as to separate the behavior from the believer saying that it’s not we who sin, but the sin nature that dwells within us. (Romans 7:20)

Will This Ever End?
When we die or are raptured, our transformation will be complete, and the Holy Spirit’s work of repossession will be finished. The heavenly alignment will be permanently restored, our regenerated soul in perpetual submission to our spirit which is one with God. Only then will we be ready for our resurrection bodies. It will no longer occur to us to behave in a manner contrary to God’s will, and we’ll finally be fit to dwell with Him forever.

The new body we receive will compare to the old one only in physical characteristics. The old one is corrupt and doomed to perish. The new one will be incorruptible and will never perish. (1 Cor. 15:53) We’ll recognize each other and will know God as we are known by Him. (1 Cor.13:12) No longer will things be hidden from our understanding or beyond our comprehension because our soul, where understanding and comprehension take place, will finally be freed from the bondage of sin. The immeasurable creative capacity with which the human mind was created will finally be unleashed for our eternal use and enjoyment. The tiny nuggets of talent and ability in the arts and sciences that we can only faintly glimpse now will become rich veins to be mined for all eternity.

And best of all, we’ll finally achieve our heart’s true desire, to be one with our Creator, body, soul, and spirit. Selah 10-27-07

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:8)

Within the past few days I received what is essentially the same question from four different people, each unknown to the other as far as I can tell. I had received variations on this question a couple of times in the past, but to read four eMails that were so similar in nature almost one after the other aroused my interest. I decided that maybe the Lord was trying to give me the theme for my feature study this week.

I have no idea how many of you have run into this before, but the question was this: Did Peter and Paul teach the same gospel, or was the message Peter preached to Israel different from the one that Paul carried to the Gentiles?

This “Two Gospel” view, like several other opinions critical of the Bible’s authenticity, originally came from Germany through the writings of Ferdinand Baur of the Tubingen School of Theology. Mr. Baur couldn’t find very much at all to accept in the New Testament as it was written, even disputing the authorship of several of Paul’s letters, accepting only Galatians, 1&2 Corinthians, and Romans as genuine. He also claimed that the Paul of Acts was a different person than the one who wrote these Epistles.

He then turned to the Gospels which he said were all adaptations of an earlier work. Offering his version of the so-called Q document theory, he wrote that Matthew, Mark, and Luke came from an earlier common source, possibly the Gospel of the Hebrews, while John “does not possess historical truth, and cannot and does not really lay claim to it.” (Q stands for Quelle, German for source.)

As it was explained to me in one of the eMails I received,

“the 12 taught that Jesus was the Messiah and to repent and be baptized. Everything they taught was under the law, and all of this is true (for the Jews.)

Paul, however, taught the Grace of God and revelation that the ascended Lord gave him, which says we are saved by grace through faith, not of works. If you read the bible carefully you will see that the gospels and the letters written by the 12 are written to and for Jews, not that we can’t learn from them, but our doctrine comes from the Apostle Paul (given by The Ascended Lord) to Jews & Gentiles.”

I can’t tell you how many times folks who believe differently than I do have advised me to just read the Bible carefully and I’ll embrace their position, but that’s another story.

Supporters of this view point to Peter’s message to the Jews of “repent and be baptized” while the Gentiles were never told such a thing, only that we’re saved by grace through faith. They claim that Paul received this gospel that had been hidden through out the ages by direct revelation from God, using Galatians 1:11-12 as their authority. If true, this would mean that the Jews were given a different path to salvation, one that combined faith and works, rather than the grace through faith path offered to the Gentiles.

When Baur published his opinions, in the 1830’s and 40’s, even his fellow German critics thought it was too big a departure from traditional thinking, by and large rejecting it. But it has gained popularity again in some circles partly due to Hyam Maccoby, a British scholar of Jewish background, whose book, “The Myth Maker, Paul and the Invention of Christianity”, relies heavily on Baur’s work. Surprisingly, Baur’s two-Gospel view has also been embraced by the followers of Islam, who use it to support their view that Jesus was the Messiah for the Jews only. And there is at least one TV preacher that teaches this view, basing it on an interpretation of Galatians 2:7-9 that I think is taken out of context.

But we’re interested in everything the Bible says, not just a couple of verses. Was the doctrine of Salvation by Grace a secret hidden through the ages and revealed only to Paul? Did Peter and Paul preach a different message? Did the Jews receive a different path to salvation than the Gentiles? Were the Gospels and the non-Pauline Epistles written only to them? Let’s find out.

Hidden in Plain Sight?

Was the doctrine of Grace unknown in Old Testament times? Over 1000 years before Paul began preaching, King David had this to say after sinning with Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:1-2 & 16-17)

See how David made no attempt to restore himself to righteousness through his own works. According to the Law both he and Bathsheba should have immediately been put to death. David humbled himself before God, confessed his sin, asked to be forgiven, and was. (2 Samuel 12:13)

7 centuries before Christ, Micah offered two of the most eloquent descriptions of God’s Grace to be found anywhere in the Old Testament.

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)

It’s been said that there are only two possible results from a works based plan for salvation; pride or fear. The things that God requires of man can only happen when the Holy Spirit has voluntarily been given control of his life. No amount of sacrifice will substitute.

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19)

These and dozens of other references throughout the Old Testament clearly show that the underlying message was one of God’s Grace right from the beginning. The sacrifices they offered were required as evidence of their faith in the coming redeemer, allowing God to set their sins aside until He came. Offering them in the absence of this faith was actually repulsive to God. (Isaiah 29:13-14 & 66:2-4) Once the Redeemer arrived on the scene, their sacrifices were not only not required, they were considered blasphemy. The entire letter to the Hebrews is devoted to this idea, (Hebrews 4:9-11, 10:1, 4, 14, 18) and was written, by the way, to Jews in Israel.

Did Peter and Paul convey Different Messages?
Speaking of the similarity of his message to that of the other Disciples, Paul had this to say, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.” (1 Cor. 15:3-4,11)

The confusion here lies not in the Bible, but in our misunderstanding of two words; repent and baptize.

The reason that Jews were told to repent and be baptized is that in spite of the passages I cited above, many had been taught that their salvation came from their works of righteousness. The Greek word translated repent applies to the way one thinks, not to the way one acts. It is perhaps the most misunderstood word in the Bible. When Peter told the Jews to repent and be baptized, as in Acts 2:38, he wasn’t telling them to re-double their efforts to behave more like the Law required, he was telling them to change their minds about their need for a Savior, stop relying on their efforts to keep the Law for their salvation, and receive the gift of Grace that had been extended in the Lord’s death on their behalf.

Since Gentiles didn’t have this pre-conceived notion of a works based salvation, there was no need to persuade them from it. That’s why there’s no mention of repentance for Gentiles in the Book of Acts. It certainly isn’t because they weren’t sinners in need of a Savior.

It’s clear that both Jews and Gentiles were baptized right from the beginning, although the meaning behind this practice ran much deeper for Jews than Gentiles. As it was practiced in Israel beginning with John the Baptist, the baptism was adapted from the Jewish mikvah, a ceremonial cleansing. It was so important to Jews that they were required to build a place for the mikvah before they could begin to build a synagogue. A mikvah was taken before the Sabbath and other Holy Days, before getting married, before being consecrated as a priest, and before converting to Judaism. It was also taken after any incident of ceremonial uncleanliness. It signified a cleansing from all encumbrances of the past, of entering a new phase of life in a state of ritual purity.

John called this a baptism of repentance (Matt. 3:11) because it symbolized a cleansing from the false belief that one could attain salvation though righteous works. When he told the Jews to “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” (Matt. 3:2) he wasn’t exhorting them to clean up their behavior in anticipation of the coming King. He was telling them to change their minds about their need for a Savior because their Savior had come. The mikvah symbolized this change of mind and prepared them to be consecrated as priests in the Kingdom.

Different Paths To Salvation?
When the people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the work that God requires?” they gave Him the clearest opportunity of His ministry to hand them a list. Here He was, a Jewish rabbi, standing in Israel speaking primarily to Jewish people who wanted to know what God required of them. He could have referred them to the 10 Commandments, or the Sermon on the Mount, or the 613 laws of the Torah. But how did He respond?

“The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

Then He said that it was God’s will that everyone who looked to the Son and believed in Him would have Eternal life. (John 6:40) Their salvation was based on their belief that He had come to save them, not on their behavior. Just like ours.

Much of His teaching from the Sermon on the Mount had been aimed at convincing them that they could never attain the necessary righteousness by keeping the Law. He even commanded them to “be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) This can only be achieved when God’s righteousness is imputed to us by faith. Those who advocate the different Gospel hypothesis would have us mix some combination of grace, faith, and works to arrive at the Jewish formula for perfection. But it can’t be done. Grace is defined as an unmerited favor. As soon as you add work, it’s no longer unmerited. The two don’t mix.

When the rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit the Kingdom, Jesus said, “You know the commandments.” When he replied that he had kept them all since he was a boy, Jesus told him to sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow Him. He wasn’t telling the young man to do other good works in addition to keeping the commandments. Nor was He saying that wealth is bad. He was showing him that his self reliance was insufficient. By selling everything and following Jesus, the young man would be demonstrating his willingness to rely solely on God, and he would gain his salvation by faith.

When the disciples realized what Jesus was saying, they asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “With man this impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:17-27) Neither obedience nor wealth nor both will suffice. Salvation is by the grace of God, accepted in faith.

There’s a number of other passages in the Gospels that show Jesus teaching the Jews in Israel that God’s only requirement of them is to believe in Him and accept God’s gift of grace in faith. The idea that the gospels were written only to the Jews and teach a faith plus works gospel won’t stand up to scrutiny. There is but one Gospel and one path to salvation.

Were The Gospels Written Only To The Jews?
Gospel is an old English word meaning Good News. There are four presentations of the Good News for a reason. Each was written to a different audience, and each answers a different question about the Lord.

Who Was He?
Matthew was written to the Jews. His purpose was to demonstrate who Jesus was; presenting overwhelming evidence that Jesus was Israel’s long awaited Messiah, The Lion of Judah. The genealogy in Matthew begins with Abraham and runs through King David, showing His Messianic lineage (Matt 1:1-17). The most frequently used phrase in Matthew’s Gospel is “it was fulfilled.” There are more references to events foretold in Old Testament prophecy and fulfilled in the Life of Jesus in Matthew than in any other gospel account. Partial copies discovered in the caves at Qumran suggest that Matthew may have originally been written in Hebrew. The first miracle, the cleansing of a leper, was highly symbolic for Israel. Leprosy was viewed as a punishment for sin, and cleansing a leper signified taking away the sins of the people. Matthew’s gospel ends with the resurrection signifying God’s promise to Israel that David’s Kingdom would last forever.

What Did He Do?
Mark’s gospel is actually Peter’s account and was written to the Romans. His purpose was to portray Jesus as the obedient servant of God. Since no one cares about the heritage of a servant there is no genealogy in Mark. The most frequently used phrase in Mark’s Gospel is “straight away” sometimes translated immediately, so Mark is called the snapshot gospel, giving us picture after picture of Jesus in action. The first miracle is the casting out of a demon, demonstrating that the God whom Jesus served was superior to all other gods, a matter of great importance in Rome’s polytheistic society. Mark’s gospel ends with the ascension, signifying that the servant’s job was finished and He was returning home.

What Did He Say?

Luke’s account portrays Jesus as the Son of Man, a title Jesus often used of Himself, and was written to the Greeks. It presents the human side of Jesus and emphasizes his teaching. Greeks were famous for their story telling form of oratory, so the most frequent phrase in Luke is “and it came to pass.” Most movies of the life of Jesus rely primarily on Luke’s gospel because of its flowing narrative form. Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus all the way back to Adam, the first man (Luke 3:21-38). Since the Greeks, like the Romans, were a polytheistic society, Luke also used the casting out of a demon as his first miracle, and ended his gospel with the promise of the Holy Spirit, uniting man with God.

How Did He Feel?
John wrote to the church describing how Jesus felt about peoples’ reaction to His ministry. His gospel is the most unique, based upon 7 miracles, 7 “I Am” statements and 7 discourses. John pays little attention to chronology, sometimes placing events out of order (like the Temple Cleansing in Chapter 2) for their effect in presenting Jesus as the Son of God (John 20:30-31). John’s gospel covers only about 21 days out of the Lord’s 3 1/2-year ministry. 10 chapters are devoted to one week and 1/3 of all the verses in John describe one day. His genealogy begins before time and identifies Jesus as the Eternal One Who was with God and Who is God (John 1:1-2). The most frequently used phrase in John is “Verily, verily”, or truly, truly. His first miracle was changing water into wine, an act of enormous symbolism that introduced the New Covenant, by which He “revealed His Glory and His disciples put their faith in Him” (John 2:11). John’s Gospel ends with the promise of the 2nd Coming, an event that most benefits the Church.

So why four gospel accounts? Because no single one is big enough to contain all of the attributes of Jesus. It took all four to show His four faces as The Lion of Judah (Matthew), the Obedient Servant (Mark), the Son of Man (Luke) and the Son of God (John). Trying to put all four perspectives into one account would have left us hopelessly confused. Whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, understanding all of Who Jesus was and is requires reading all four Gospel accounts.

In summary, the Two Gospel idea was originally conceived to attack the credibility of the Bible and maintain a wall of separation between the Jews and the Gentiles, even though the Lord died to tear it down. It was brought to us by the same folks who were responsible for the Documentary Hypothesis, that challenges the authenticity of the 5 Books of Moses, the deutero-Isaiah theory that challenges the authorship of Isaiah, the late-dating of the Book of Daniel that attempts to negate the power of its prophecies, and a number of other heresies all designed to downgrade the Bible in our minds from the infallible Word of God to a flawed effort by man.

Those who have resurrected this opinion from its well deserved death may have different motives, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s inconsistent with the clear intent of Scripture. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28). Selah 10-06-07