1 Corinthians 1:7-9

There is a strange connection between knowledge and lacking in gifts. This connection will be examined more within the letter but having full knowledge is connected to not lacking in any gift. Here is the verses starting in 4:

I give thanks to my God always, concerning you, for the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus, that in all, You are made rich in Him, in all words and all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ confirmed to you, so that you may not be lacking in anything gift, waiting on the revelation of our Lord, Jesus Christ; who also will strengthen you until the end, blameless in the day of the our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by you were called out into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord.(My Translation)

 Being made rich is connected to knowledge. This knowledge is about Jesus, as seen in the "testimony of Christ." So the argument is "You are made rich in Him... so that you may not be lacking in anything gift." God has richly provide knowledge of Christ so that we do not lack in any gifts while we wait for Jesus. Knowledge thus is connected to being ready for the Lord's return. He richly provides what we need to be blameless for His coming. We seek this knowledge by reading and meditating on God's word as it provides sufficient knowledge of Him. God does not disconnect knowledge with faith, Our faith is rooted in a knowledge of God. It is Jesus who strengthen with the this knowledge so that we may be presented blameless before God. As we look for growth, we should not forget that God is the one that gives knowledge richly so that we can be sustained till the end by never lacking in his glorious gifts.

A Relfection on The Tree of Life from Genesis and Revelation.

Most of the time when people talk about Genesis 2 and 3, the focus, which is what the author intended, is on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet tucked away within this narrative is another tree. This tree represents the eternal life that God desired humans to have with Him. In fact, it is only mentioned in two places in the narrative, 2:9 and 3:22-24. It bookends the narrative and also shows the chose that Adam and Eve had. Out of all the trees mention in this narrative, only these two trees are mentioned by name. They represent life and death. The narrative focuses on the Tree of Knowledge because that is what happened in the history. Adam and Eve never was able to eat of the tree that would have given them eternal life.

Now, the only other places that the tree of life is mentioned is in Proverbs and Revelation. Now, Proverbs describes general principles that people within the covenant of God should follow based on God's law. In general, they are work out better than sinning. The results that are found with Proverbs shows some actions lead to life. The qualities or actions in Proverb do not lead to eternal life but allows the person to experience a fuller life in this sin-soaked world.

Revelation, on the other had, gives us a great projection of the future where the people of God will partake of the tree of life without any guards. The Bible bookends itself with this tree for it is with God. In fact, Revelation 22:2 also mentions a river in the a similar way to Genesis next to the tree of life.

This comes with great application. God has always desired for humans to dwell with Him forever. The Bible shows that only pure and righteous humans can dwell with Him. That is why Adam and Eve were sent away from the Garden. The rest of the Bible describes how bad the world is, even thought it was good before the fall. The Bible becomes clear that a savior is needed and Jesus is that savior. Those that are saved by Jesus will be able to partake of the Tree of  Life in Heaven when they dwell with God. Before those that are saved get to Heaven, we eager wait and desire the Lord and long for our resurrected bodies in glory.

Covenant with David

I was doing my morning devotional through Table Talk today and it was on Jeremiah 33:14-26. This passage explained that God was going to establish David's throne forever. This was a time when Jerusalem was being attacked before they were sent into exile because of disobedience. Four times in this passage, God stress that He will have a descended from David on the throne forever. He also adds that priests will be offering sacrifices forever. The only way that this is to be broken is if someone can stop the sun and moon from shining at their appointed times.

This passage demonstrates the faithfulness of God because Jesus is the king that will rule forever. Understanding God faithfulness helps us to remain steadfast to God's promises. 2 Peter 3:9 says that we should count human slowness to God. God will do what he has promised. 2 Peter is context of future judgment, yet we know that God has promised believers now. Verses like Romans 8:28-30 show that Christians have promises now that God will be faithful to give. We can have faith in God when bad happens because He uses bad for our good. Trials and suffering happen to make us more like Jesus.

Seeing that God is faithful, live in this knowledge that God will give what He promise because He gave the ultimate promise of salvation through His Son, Jesus. 

1 Peter 1:1-2

I am changing what I am doing on this blog in order that I may kept going better. I will keep this blog strictly for posts about what I reading or studying for papers and sermons that deal with the Bible. I am hoping to blog more often than I have currently been doing. I will try to post meditations here without getting to personal. Meditations may come from the Greek text (they will be taged as "Greek"), even so, I will never assume you know Greek and will provide translations. I also hope to start some different series.  School may delay these posts. I will try to stick with less technical language.

1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

 This salutation brings a lot of theological important right from the start. Particularly to the people that Peter is addressing. Peter calls them "elect," "foreknew," "set apart." All three members of the Trinity are present in this. The term elect has overtones from the OT where God called certain people to select a particular nation called Israel. These people are elected based on God's foreknowledge1

and in setting them apart (sanctification) with Spirit. These elect called for obedience to and being cleanse by Christ.
I want to camp out at obedience and cleansing in relation to God's foreknowledge and the setting apart by the Spirit. There is a relation to these actions, that is, God's foreknowledge and "sanctification of the Spirit" procede obedience and cleansing. Dr. Thomas Schreiener notes in the NAC commentary of 1 Peter that sanctification here means a setting part.

1:Here foreknowledge means that God knows who is elect. Add predestination to this would be incorrect though predestination includes God's foreknowledge.

What does it mean to deny yourself and pick up your cross? Part 2

Here is part 2 of my study on just 16:24. This part will only deal with the imperative portion of the text. You can read part 1 here. Remember, I am not a scholar by any means although I am in school learning to become a biblical scholar. This is using the tools that I have learned in Greek class and inductive Bible Study class to open the Scriptures more. There could be errors that I have made.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

In the last post, I looked at some context surrounding the text and also looked at the conditional part of the If-Then statement.

Starting with "let him deny." It is in the Aorist tense and middle deponent voice. A middle deponent voice is translated as an active voice. This shows an ambiguous past action of denying. The word for "let him deny" is ἀπαρνέομαι and means "to forget one's self" or give up one's self and interests. In this case, the interests are the person who wants to follow Christ. Christ requires that you do not get and interest that are of your thinking. He does not answer that interest you should have but that will be answered later. Not only interest does Christ required but one also must give up his life. Remember, Jesus has just rebuked Peter for not having the interest of God (Matt. 16:23). So that is one thing that Peter did not understand that he was required to do to follow Jesus. Peter had is own interests in mind when he rebuked Jesus for saying that he will not die.

The next verb is take up. It is αἴρω and means "to take upon one's self and carry what has been raised up". It is also in the aorist tense and it is actually in the active voice. The person is to bear the cross. That is what Jesus was talking about throughout this passage. He is telling His disciples that He will bear the cross and now He is telling them that they must also bore the cross. This shows the denying one's self. The cross was the Roman execution tool for non-Romans. Jesus is saying that they must be willing to lose their life.

The final verb is follow, or ἀκολουθείτω. It is in the present active imperative. This is a current action. The person that wishes or intends to follow Christ, they must be currently following Jesus. This is not just tagging along. The Greek actually means "to cleave steadfastly to one, conform wholly to his example, in living and if need be in also death." This would be like becoming a disciple of Christ and willing to give your desires and be willing to die. This verb answers whose interests we should and the reason for laying down are life.

This is huge and needs to be understood. Jesus wants you to desires what he wants and to become like him. John talks about this is 1 John 2:9, "whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." There is this growing to be walking like him. This is so big in this church culture that appeals to the what we want. This may seem radical, and it is, but this what a Christian following Christ should be doing. This become like Christ shows what Christ really was like. This shows that Christianity is different and then opens the door to witnessing to people. What a way to live so God is honored.

Note: all Greek letters and quotes are from BlueLetterBible.com.

What does it mean to deny yourself and pick up your cross? Part 1

This blog post was the morning devotional for my Bible study. Because it has taken to long to do the next part, so here is the first part. I want to first inform you that I am not a scholar by any means although I am in school learning to become a biblical scholar. This is using the tools that I have learned in Greek class and inductive Bible Study class to open the Scriptures more. Please discern my work for errors. Thanks.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Lets start back on verse 13. Verse 13 starts the story where Peter proclaims to Christ that Jesus is the Son of Man. Now in verse 21, Matthew records that Jesus tells His disciples that He will suffer many things in Jerusalem at the hand of the religious elite. Jesus also says that He will be killed and raised up on the third day. This was the sign of Jonah that Jesus talked about in 16:6 to the Pharisees. Verse 22 tells us about the other side of Peter. Matthew records that Peter told Jesus to the side and rebuked Him about this foretelling of His death. Peter was denying what God had said. (This could be its own blog post on Where Theology Meets Life but I need to continue.) Peter then felt the heat when Jesus rebuked him, calling Peter Satan in verse 23. The main rebuke was about Peter not having the mind of God. (This is also another post and could relate to the saying of people who are too heavenly minded are no earthly good.)

So after this little exchange between Peter and the Lord, we come to verse 24. Jesus is now addressing all the disciples. Jesus starts with an "if, than" statement. The conditional part of the statement is, "If anyone would come after me." We will look at this first. "Anyone" in the Greek has a meaning of "certain ones." This noun gives not limits on who can follow Christ. The verb that used with it shows that it is limited. Now in the Greek, the word that is translated as "would" is actually present tense. The word used is θέλω (thelō) which means to will or intend. This includes the to desire or wish (which is how the NASB translates it.) This verb shows a current desire to come after Jesus. This verb is the main verb of the clause and show that the certain ones are the ones with a desire. This limits the people to those that will come after Jesus.

Next verb is come. It has a meaning to follow. In its location, it applies to Me. That Me is Jesus. The verb come is in the Aorist Active Infinitive. Aorist is past-tense, Active voice means that the subject is currently doing the verb, and infinitive mood is used to not limit by number and person. In this case, "to come" shows that everyone can come to Jesus who desires. This gives the sense that they are following him. "After" is an adverb and is talking about following as a guide. So both "to come" and "after" show a following after Jesus.

1 John 2:18-27

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. ²¹ I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us— eternal life.

²⁶ I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Continuing on through chapter 2. John starts to warn about the coming antichrist and the lesser antichrists. As John addresses new Christians, he tells them that is the last days. The world is going to be coming to an end when Christ returns. Peter warns the people in his first epistle, "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." (4:7) Luke in the book of Acts quotes Peter saying "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams(.)' " (2:16-17) It is clear to John that the final hour is here since there is a rise of antichrists. The Antichrist has not yet come but other false teachers and prophets have already came to deceive the Christians. So John is warning the new Christians in Asia Minor that the spirit of the antichrist is upon them.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Paul gives us what the Antichrist is going to do when he comes, Matthew 24:15 and also Daniel 8:9-11 and 11:31-38. This is not the focus of John at this point. John is preparing to talk about the antichrists that are coming now. Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves(,)" and Matthew 24:24 "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (,)" explain that many false teachers will come some appearing to be like Christians. So John is warning this new Christians that false teacher are here now. In verse 19, John starts to explain the different characteristics of an antichrist. The first characteristic is the fact that antichrists will rise and leave Christian groups. John is providing these new Christians a test of preservation. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 states that some will depart from the faith by evil spirits, while Paul explains to the Ephesian Elders that will arise and take away disciples (Acts 20:29-30). These antichrist are going to appear like Christians and might more some time. In due time, they will leave and take some disciples, if possible, with them.

John stresses that if they did not leave, they would be Christians but since they did leave that are not. Note to stress, not all be people that leave a Christian group or church is not a believer. Some leave because of doctrine issues or style issues. Some also leave because they were not of the faith. This last group is what John is referring to. The elect will prevail and continue to worship with Christians. Psalms 37:28 states that "For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off." John also says that once some on is in the hands of God, they can never get plucked out (John 10:28-30).

Another reason that Christians would remain in Christian circles is that they have an anointing from the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul tells the people in Ephesus that they get the Holy Spirit as a deposit for the inheritance that is to come in Heaven. Not only is it a deposit, it also allows us to know all things (vs 20). The Holy Spirit is what informs us when we are lied to by the antichrists. John writes in his gospel, that the Holy Spirit "will bear witness about (Christ) me." (15:26) The Holy Spirit is our build in lie detector for false teachings. We know all truth because the Holy Spirit passes the truth to us from God the Father. So John stress that lies are not in truth.

Take notice that John also tells these young Christians that they already know the truth. This truth is the message that they heard from the beginning (1 John 1:1). This is the Gospel message. The truth that they need to understand is the truth for which John testified to them when they first started to believe. John testified to them what he say when we was with Christ. This is the truth which John wants them to get a hold of. This truth, which John told them, has no lies in it. So John is warning them, that no lie is of the truth.

So in verse 22, John gives us the 2nd characteristic of an antichrist. An antichrist is going to deny Christ. So not only have they left the church or fellowship, they deny Christ. Since John warned them that lies are not part of the truth, he says a liar will deny Jesus. This lie is from the spirit of the antichrist. That make the readers remember that John is of the truth. Verse 23 John tells us that no liar is of God, no one that denies the deity of the Son will have God the Father. This is not the only time John has said this. He repeats it many times in his gospel where he says know Christ know the Father (8:19), Jesus and God are one (10:13), and hate Jesus you hate God (15:23 & 24). This marks shows that Jesus and God can not be separate in anyway. Look at many of the false religions and we see this very denial of Jesus and others saying that there are more than one way to heaven.

John makes an urge to the readers of the letter that they must remain in the truth that was taught to them when they first believed. This is an important message that we to must remember. Since the antichrist is going to deny the deity of Christ, we must remember that only Christ is way to get to Heaven. The truth that we read in the Bible is still valid today as it was when John wrote this letter. Remaining in this truth is what lets us remain in Christ and God the Father. This is a parallel with John 15 where John tells us about the Christ as the vine. This truth of the gospel keeps us with Christ and therefore with God the Father. This truth also gives us the promise of eternal life (vs. 25). This when we came to God on his terms and trusted him to save us from his holy wrath because of our sinful condition. Salvation in Christ is a promise of eternal life with him in paradise.

As the truth is that Jesus is the Son of the living God and God, we see that they not only will the antichrist deny the deity of Christ but he will try to deceive people. The antichrist are trying to deceive the Christians that they left to follow them in their destructive ways. Christ tells us that they will come and try to deceive the elect if they can (Mark 13:22). Paul mentions quite about that false teacher will deceive the members of the different churches. How much more must we remain in the truth that saves us now? They are people now trying to deceive the elect. A good example is the universal atonement that all will be saved by Christ even if they do not believed in him. What a preposterous idea that the Bible does not even mention. Again the way to defend against these false teachers in the Spirit that transcends all understanding. The same Spirit that John talked about in verse 20. This is the key to defend our souls from the evil one. Walk in truth of the Gospel. This is what John wants us to understand. That only God can helps us and that is through his Holy Spirit, that same Spirit that was given to us by God as a deposit for our souls.