Jesus Paid It All?

Posted on 11/13/2013 by Paul Pavao

I’m back on the “Jesus Paid It All” bandwagon again.

I saw a blog I won’t reference because I really liked it. I’ll link to it some other time when I’m not using it to point out an error that infects evangelicalism.

The blogger has some good things to say, but one of them reminds her that “Jesus has paid the price for all of us.”

I wish I could believe that she means what Peter means when he speaks of Jesus purchasing us with his precious blood. Peter meant that we were purchased by him, and therefore we owe him our life and obedience:

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of the King Jesus. As obedient children, do not conform yourself to your previous lusts which you had when you were ignorant, but as he who has called you is holy, so be holy in all your behavior. … Because you know that you were not redeemed with perishable things, like silver or gold, from your empty way of life received by tradition from your fathers, but by the precious blood of the King, as of a lamb without spot and without blemish. (1 Pet. 1:13-15,18-19)

She doesn’t however. She means, I’m certain, that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so that we can have a ticket to heaven apart from works.

Problems with Jesus Paid the Penalty

1. The Terminology Is Unscriptural

Scripture never uses Jesus paid the penalty. In fact it never uses “Jesus paid.” It does say that we were bought with a price. That price, our purchase price, Jesus did pay, so that “we should no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us and rose again” (2 Cor. 5:14).

2. There Is No Penalty To Be Paid

The only thing God asks in order to forgive sin is repentance. This is all over the Scriptures, both under the old covenant and under the new. When David sinned, he said God didn’t want sacrifice and offering. He wanted a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He promised forgiveness for that kind of repentance not just to David, but to any wicked person who would repent (Ezek 18:21-23; 33:14-16).

3. The Doctrine that God “Must” Punish Sin Is Blasphemous

I suspect that well-meaning Christians will avoid the charge of blasphemy because they don’t think through what they are saying.

God must punish sin?

It’s in almost every tract I’ve sin. God is merciful and he “wants” to forgive sin, but he is also just and he “must” punish sin.

What kind of crazy teaching is this, that the God of all the universe must do something he doesn’t want to do? What greater God is forcing him to do this? Is it a cosmic rule of the universe, greater than God himself, that has God in an arm bar and is forcing him to submit.

The idea is unscriptural, ludicrous, and blasphemous because it puts something above the will of God.

4. The Problem Is Not God

God has always had a way out for us. It has always been true that if we would simply repent and walk in his ways, then all our wickedness would be forgotten (Ezek. 18:22).

The problem is us. According to Romans 7, because of the sin in our flesh, the lusts of our body, there is no law that we can obey.

So what solution does Paul describe? Does he describe the penalty of our sins being forgiven because of Jesus’ death?

No, Paul says that Jesus’ death cured the sin problem so that we can repent, have our sins forgiven and forgotten, and go on to live in righteousness.

The end of Romans 7 is Romans 8:

There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in King Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, for the law of the Spirit of Life in King Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death [i.e., from Romans 7]. What the Law could not do [described in Romans 7], God did. By sending his Son in the likeness of our sinful flesh, as sin offering, he destroyed sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (vv. 1-4)

Note here that it does not say that if we walk according to the Spirit we can set our mind on the Law and fulfill the Law. No the righteous requirement of the Law—not the Law itself, which was made for fleshly Israel, and awaited the expansion and fullness brought by Jesus’ new Law (Heb. 7:12)—will be fulfilled in us if we keep our eyes on the Spirit and on King Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father.

Paul later gives another reason, exactly similar to this one in Romans 8, why Jesus died:

For to this end the King died, rose, and lived again: that he might be Lord of both the living and the dead. (Rom. 14:9)

The Breadth of the Atonement

I cannot possibly sum up the meaning of the atonement in a one-thousand-word blog post. In fact, neither I nor any human can sum up the meaning of the atonement, period. Gene Edwards, by wisely using pictures and parables rather than mere explanation and teaching as I do here, may do the best job of all of helping us understand the cross … and to understand that the cross is way over our head. We should cherish it, embrace it, let it crucify us, and learn its depths in our spirit.

There is much more to the atonement than I describe in this post, though the “more” does not include God being forced to punish sin nor Jesus “paying the penalty.”

I can, though—I hope—save us from the crazy idea that God had to kill someone, just anyone, because we sinned and he “must” punish sin.

I can, I hope, save us from the idea that the penalty of all our sins are paid for so that if we just believe, no matter what we do, we’ll go to heaven. It’s not true. Just read on, all the way from Romans 8:1-4, which we quoted above, out to Romans 8:13. Read Galatians 5:19-21 and its corollaries, 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and Eph. 5:5. If we practice such things, we will find they are not paid for at all, no matter what we believe.

If I can get you to see those Scriptures, for they seem to be hidden from our sight and thought, then I can save you from having all your fear of God stolen by a doctrine that is at the heart of the problems I described yesterday.

For I did not speak to your fathers, in the day that I brought them out of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. This is what I commanded them, “Listen to my voice and obey all that I command you that it may go well with you.” (Jeremiah 7:21-22)

If you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s deeds, then conduct yourself throughout the time of your traveling here in fear. (1 Peter 1:17)

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. (Proverbs 16:6)

Related articles

The following articles are examples of the modern idea of Jesus paying the penalty for our sins. I think we all have to look at whether or not the idea is scriptural. Does this idea fit all of Scripture, or does it leave you with many contradictory verses? If so, you need a better idea, no matter how sweet it seems.

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Daily Passage on Works: Matthew 7:24-27

Posted on 11/12/2013 by Paul Pavao

The following passage ends the Sermon on the Mount, and “these words of mine” refers to the words of Matthew 5-7.

Day 27:

Matthew 7:24-27: Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the  floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat on that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.

The Purpose of This Exercise

“Works,” as a word, has become almost a cuss word in many Evangelical circles. Affirming constantly that we are to be careful to maintain good works, as Titus is told to do (3:8), is frowned upon. Doing so requires constant reminders that we are not saved by works.

This is not what we find in Scripture. The apostles don’t apologize for exhorting us to good works. They don’t apologize for warning us, and they certainly don’t stop to remind us that we are saved apart from works.

We are at 27 passages so far. I’m shooting for 180, six months worth.

Somehow, it seems to me, that 180 exhortations to good works, without apology and without reminders of our salvation by faith alone, should be sufficient to motivate us to follow those examples.

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To Speak or Not to Speak

Posted on 11/12/2013 by Paul Pavao

Do you ever get in a situation where you are wondering whether to confront a false teaching or just to let it go for the sake of peace? I find myself in that situation a lot. Evangelical theology is terrible. Even what’s good is tradition-based and not Scripture-based. Evangelicals claim the Bible as their “sole rule of faith and practice,” but the reality is that they ignore or explain away dozens of verses, maybe hundreds.

Hmm. Maybe that should be my next experiment, after or along with the daily passage on good works I’m doing.

On the other hand, if you want to find people who are devoted to following Jesus, people who actually obey him, many even in radical ways, among the Evangelicals is the most fruitful place to look. (The rest of you can get as angry as you want. I’d prefer you would get jealous, rather than angry, but either way it’s just true.)

Evangelicals have no place to get haughty. There’s a very convicting book devoted to the failure of the Evangelical Gospel. It’s called The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. You can get it just about anywhere; I’m certain it’s on Amazon. The statistics given by Ronald Sider in that book are backed up on a regular basis by The Barna Group. George Barna is a famous Christian pollster, and I’m sure he’d like to be just a pollster, reporting the wonderful success of Evangelical teachings, rather than the controversial figure he has become for reporting the frightening truth about divorce, abortion, ignorance, and unbelief among “Christians” in America.

Charles E Hackett, the national director of the Division of Home Missions of the Assemblies of God, once said:

A soul at the altar does not generate much excitement in some circles because we realize approximately ninety-five out of every hundred will not become integrated into the church. In fact, most of them will not return for a second visit. (Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort; The Way of the Master [Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004] p. 61)

As Ray Comfort points out is his book, Hell’s Best Kept Secret, it doesn’t do us much good to cite the 5% who are really converted when we are creating 19 backsliders for every convert we produce. Can we really compare those kind of results to Paul’s?

For I am confident that he who has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of King Jesus (Php. 1:6)

It is true that there were problems even in Paul’s churches, but what church today could tell its whole congregation that it is confident that God will continue the good work he has begun until the day of Christ Jesus? The fact is, George Barna tells us that 60% of all professing Christians admit that they are either backsliding or stagnant in their Christian faith. They are not growing towards being presented blameless and holy in the Lord’s sight on the last day.

I have spent the last 18 years in a congregation where we could be confident that God was continuing the work in every person. We could promise people that if they would stay, the grace of God would work on them and conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.

That congregation still exists and consists of around 150 people because we’ve got around 50 in various states and countries teaching people not only the power of God that comes through the proclamation of the name of the King, Jesus the Lord, but also teaching them the power of the church, its unity, and God’s love for it.

I know there’s something better.

It’s hard to avoid taking every opportunity possible to say something to shut down the machinery of tradition that grinds up 95% of those who make a profession of faith and leaves 60% of the survivors struggling just to keep their head above water.

It’s just as hard to say something that angers the 2% of the professing ones that are left, who think they are growing and in most cases are, and who are reaching out to those that struggle. They think their way worked for them, so it should work as well for all these others. Sometimes it does.

But it’s just not what the apostles gave to the church.

So I just keep walking the line.Why did I say all this? Because tomorrow’s post is a discussion of a statement I found on a zealous young lady’s blog, citing a tradition almost all us Evangelicals take for granted. Thought through, the tradition is horrific—in my opinion, if we understood what we were saying, blasphemous. For many of those struggling, whom I mention above, it breaks their will, steals their fear of God, and cripples them in the battle against the devil, who by means of his demons, seeks to devour both us and them.

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Daily Passage on Works: Hebrews 10:26-31

Posted on 11/11/2013 by Paul Pavao

Today’s passage is from the NASB because it is the translation that is the most careful with Greek verb tenses. In a passage like this, that is important. Greek verb tenses can indicate continuous action or just a snapshot. In Hebrews 10:26, the writer uses a verb tense that means ongoing activity. It is not one willful sin that is terrifying (though may God grant us to tremble at even one), but ongoing sin. The NASB communicates this accurately.

Day 26:

Hebrews 10:26-31: For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Purpose of this Exercise

“Works,” as a word, has become almost a cuss word in many Evangelical circles. Affirming constantly that we are to be careful to maintain good works, as Titus is told to do (3:8), is frowned upon. Doing so requires constant reminders that we are not saved by works.

This is not what we find in Scripture. The apostles don’t apologize for exhorting us to good works. They don’t apologize for warning us, and they certainly don’t stop to remind us that we are saved apart from works.

We are at 26 passages so far. I’m shooting for 180, six months worth.

Somehow, it seems to me, that 180 calls to good works, without apology and without reminders of our salvation by faith alone, should be sufficient to motivate us to follow those examples.

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Not Secretly and Not Deep Down

Posted on 11/11/2013 by Paul Pavao

Long ago a deacon at a church I attended told me he’d like to get together with my wife and I. He couldn’t tell me what it was about, but he assured me it was spiritual.

It sure was. It was Amway, and he tried every tactic he could think of to tempt me to long for the riches of this world.

“Deep down, ” he said, “you know you want a BMW. Admit it!”

This is a bad example because for some reason I was born without the longing for a BMW, or a Ferrari, or whatever hot car that most people long for. I’ve had my own struggles, and most of the typical fleshly lusts, and I have not spent my life as an icon of self-control. Cars, however, would be a pretty stupid thing to tempt me with. As long as I had a reliable car to drive, I’d trade a Camaro (my favorite sports car) for a box of Chips Ahoy™ cookies, especially if you threw in a half gallon of milk. A Camaro and a box of cookies have equal value to me.

The point, however, is not a specific desire, but our desires.

My fleshly desires are not “deep down,” and they are not secret. My friend said, “Deep down, you know you want it.” Others say, “Secretly, you desire it. Admit it!”

It’s not secret! It’s not deep down! I don’t have to admit it—we don’t have to admit it—because we’ve never been hiding it.

We are overcoming the desires of the flesh, not hiding from them. We are crucifying the passions of our body, not pretending they don’t exist.

I’m a human being. Sometimes I want revenge. Sometimes I want attention (which is not always bad). Sometimes I want fame (which, as a desire, is always bad). Sometimes I want money. Sometimes I just want to relax and taxe some time for me (also not always bad, just usually).

Either way, it’s not a secret. No one makes me more tempted by reminding me that I travel this world in a body that must be disciplined and brought under control so that I do not perish like my deacon friend certainly will if someone has not gotten him to obey the Gospel of King Jesus.

It’s also not “deep down.” It’s right on the surface. It’s a battle I fight every day, gladly, because I am not just human. I am a partaker of the divine nature, and I strongly oppose the evil demons (1 Pet. 5:8-9) and the lusts of my body (Rom. 8:12-13) because I know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18).

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Daily Passage on Works: Galatians 5:24

Posted on 11/10/2013 by Paul Pavao

Day 25:

Galatians 5:24: Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its lusts and desires.

Purpose of This Exercise:

“Works,” as a word, has become almost a cuss word in many Evangelical circles. Affirming constantly that we are to be careful to maintain good works, as Titus is told to do (3:8), is frowned upon. Doing so requires constant reminders that we are not saved by works.

This is not what we find in Scripture. The apostles don’t apologize for exhorting us to good works. They don’t apologize for warning us, and they certainly don’t stop to remind us that we are saved apart from works.

We are at 25 passages so far. I’m shooting for 180, six months worth.

Somehow, it seems to me, that 180 calls to good works, without apology and without reminders of our salvation by faith alone, should be sufficient to motivate us to follow those examples. Does that not seem reasonable to you?

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The Prosperity Gospel and Two Covenants

Posted on 11/10/2013 by Paul Pavao

The Prosperity Gospel gets its knocks. Deservedly so.

Too often, though, our answer is merely to throw verses at it, and we miss the main point, a point that is crucial to our understanding of many facets of the Christian life.

It’s not like throwing verses isn’t intellectually effective. Jesus told a parable against storing up treasures on earth (Luke 12:16-21). He told us that the only way to be his disciple is to forsake all our possessions (Luke 14:33). He told us specifically not to store up treasure on earth (Matt. 6:19). Paul tells us that those who want to be rich are laying a trap for themselves (1 Tim. 6:9).

Those aren’t the only such passages. I’m sure some of my readers are chomping at the bit, wanting to add more verses to that list.

There’s something more, though, and it has to do with the verses prosperity teachers would give us in retort.

The Carnal Old Covenant and the Spiritual New Covenant

Verses that Prosperity preachers use include things like:

  • Length of days is in her [Wisdom] right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. (Prov. 3:16)
  • The crown of the wise is their riches. (Prov. 14:24)
  • You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he that gives you the power to get wealth. (Deut. 8:18)

There are so many more such verses that we need to stop there.

The difference between these “prosperity” verses and the “anti-prosperity” ones that we’ve looked at is that all these prosperity verses are in the old covenant.

It is important for us to know the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. It affects everything.

The old covenant and the Law of Moses, which are the same thing (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 4:13), were given to a fleshly nation. The new covenant is the old covenant “filled up” or “expanded” for a spiritual people.

That is why Moses could prescribe food laws, but Jesus and Paul could say that food cannot defile (Mk. 7:15; 1 Cor. 6:13). That is why Moses could prescribe a law about oxen, but Paul could say that God doesn’t care about oxen (1 Cor. 9:9-10).

More controversially, that is why a weekly physical rest on the Sabbath, one of the ten commandments, could be called a shadow by Paul (Col. 2:16-17) and replaced by a spiritual rest in Hebrews (ch. 4).

It is also why earthly riches can be a fruit of wisdom under the old covenant, while the new covenant warns that our riches are to be in heaven.

Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the Law but to bring it to fullness (Matt. 5:17—”fulfill” is a mistranslation of the Greek πλεροο). The Law took into account the hardness of the hearts of fleshly Israel (Matt. 19:8). One cannot put new wine into old wineskins, Jesus said (Matt. 9:17).

So Jesus both made the wine new, by expanding or bringing to fullness the Law of Moses, and also by making fresh wineskins out of us. We who are spiritual Israel can handle the bubbling, expanding wine of the new covenant. The unregenerate Jewish nation could not.

  • He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, whose circumcision is of the heart and of the spirit, and whose praise is from God. (Rom. 2:28-29)
  • We are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Jesus Christ, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Php. 3:3)
  • In him you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body of sins by the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, in which you are also risen with him by faith in the working of God who has raised him from the dead. (Col. 2:11-12)
  • Are you so foolish? Having begin in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3)
  • Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt. 6:19-21)
  • Pay attention and beware of greed! A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of things he possesses. (Luke 12:15)
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Daily Passage on Works: 4 Days at Once

Posted on 11/09/2013 by Paul Pavao

Apparently, this isn’t the daily passage on works. A couple days in the hospital, a spell of fatigue, and I’ve been out of the loop a solid week. Sorry. Let’s catch up. We need four passages to do that:

Day 21-24:

Galatians 5:19-21: Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolotary, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Colossians 1:28: We proclaim him, admonishing every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ.

Ephesians 5:3-10: But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of theses things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were foremerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consistis in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Romans 8:12-13: For we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for you live according to the flesh you will die. If, however, by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live.

Purpose of This Exercise

“Works,” as a word, has become almost a cuss word in many Evangelical circles. Affirming constantly that we are to be careful to maintain good works, as Titus is told to do (3:8), is frowned upon. Doing so requires constant reminders that we are not saved by works.

This is not what we find in Scripture. The apostles don’t apologize for exhorting us to good works. They don’t apologize for warning us, and they certainly don’t stop to remind us that we are saved apart from works.

We are at 24 passages so far. I’m shooting for 180, six months worth.

Somehow, it seems to me, that 180 calls to good works, without apology and without reminders of our salvation by faith alone, should serve as sufficient example that we ought to follow it. Does that not seem reasonable to you?

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Francis Chan on the Church

Posted on 11/09/2013 by Paul Pavao

There is nothing dearer to my heart than the church. Evangelicals have forgotten what the church is, and Roman Catholics have warped it into a misled international organization.

The church is the fullness of him who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23) and the pillar and support of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). More practically, it is the place where God sets the solitary in families (Ps. 68:6). Those who have not experience church life have no idea of the love, beauty, and power in it. The devil does, and he opposes the appearance of the family of God, the church, wherever it might appear.

Let me stop there and let Francis Chan say this much better than I can:

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David the Prophet

Posted on 11/07/2013 by Paul Pavao

Yesterday I discussed Melchizedek and the incredible revelation that is in Psalm 110.

Psalm 110 was written by King David. Today I want to talk about why David was such a great prophet.

David Believed God

We know from the incident with Uzzah, son of Abinadab (2 Sam. 6), that David didn’t really know the Law of Moses as a young man. As a young king, he tried to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem, but he transported it on an ox-cart. When the ark shook, Uzzah grabbed it, and God killed him for touching it.

David went home for three months, and he apparently spent that time reading the Law. When he came back it was with Levites and poles to carry the ark the way it was supposed to be carried.

Ignorance, however, didn’t stop David from believing God. He was a worshiper of God from a young age. Even as a shepherd, he was a warrior, doing his job protecting the sheep with all his heart. He tells us that he killed both lion and bear in defense of his sheep, all in preparation for his battle with Goliath and later for his time as shepherd of God’s sheep.

David Loved God

The attitude David showed when he found out that Goliath was mocking the armies of the living God shows his attitude toward God. He was fiercely defensive of Yahweh. The Psalms show an honor and love for God that had to have begun while he was still tending flocks for his father.

David Loved the Word of God

There is no expression of praise for the commands, precepts, statutes, and laws of God than Psalm 119, unless it be the much shorter Psalm 19, also written by David. He not only loved the Scriptures, and the words that came to him from the prophets, but he was convinced that the teachings that came from God were the route to victory, joy, conquest … in a word, they were everything. He knew they were to be obeyed and not just said.

We Can Be the Same

There’s not a lot of “deep” insight into David in this post. It’s simple. David believed God like a child, loved God, and loved his teachings. He diligently applied those teachings to his life, and he became king, prophet, psalmist, and the eternal house of Jesus was from his bloodline.

We may not be called (well, are not called) to be everything David was, but we are called to be “all we can be.” The route to that is the same as it was for David: believe God, love God, and love the teachings of God.

Hearing God

I have had conversations over the last couple years with two people over the internet, and I have had long-term and recent discussions with local friends that have trouble even understanding what “hearing God” means.

I’m going to dodge that whole issue and talk about what’s normative in Christianity. What is normative is that we would all receive the Spirit, that our old men would dream dreams, and that our young men would prophesy (Acts 2). It is normative that when we come together, the prophets would speak one by one, and that all of us would bring a psalm, a revelation, a language, an interpretation, etc.

I don’t care if you believe languages have passed away or are unimportant. That’s not the point. The point is from Adam to whoever the last Christian mentioned in the Bible is, God has been speaking with his people both individually and corporately. Surely, 1 John is one of the last letters written that we have in our “New Testament,” and it tells us that “the Anointing” will lead us into all things, be true and not a lie, and make us people who “know.”

That can only happen if we have the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” that Paul prayed we would have.

Mind you, I think it is important–nay, mandatory–to remember that the Anointing leads “y’all,” not just you by yourself, into reliable truth. Individuals confidently relying on Jesus and the Scriptures alone cannot be trusted (Heb. 3:13). It is the church that is the pillar and support of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). Nonetheless, the church is nothing more than the sum of its members, the body of Christ, and it finds the truth by “speaking the truth to one another in love” (Eph. 4:11-16).

David was a prophet to whom great truths were revealed. The foundation of that friendship with God that produce the revelation of God in his life was his free, abandoned, passionate, fearless love for God and his confident trust that whatever God said was the best way to live.

That is our route to fellowship with God as well.

<p style=”margin-left: 40px; font-face: Garamond; “>You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. From now on, I do not call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. Instead, I have called you friends because everything that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. … In that day, you will ask me nothing. Truly, truly, I tell you that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. (Jn. 15:14-15; 16:23)</p>

 

 

 

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