My Experiences with Praying in Tongues

Posted on 12/31/2024 by Paul Pavao

Believing in Jesus

I was raised Catholic. When I was saved at 21 (in 1982), my introduction to Protestant Christianity was foreign to me, brand new, and exciting. It was also mostly Pentecostal. 

My boss, Sgt. Roger Thomas, is the one who opened me up to Jesus, and I’m certain it was much more his prayers and his joyful, kind demeanor than the many words he said to me. On the weekends, he was assistant pastor at a Church of God in Christ, a black and solidly Pentecostal church.

I actually surrendered to Jesus after a Wednesday night service at a (mostly white) Assembly of God church. A two-hour talk with Robin Whitley led to me agreeing that Jesus was the Son of God. I said it knowing that meant I had to listen to him, and as soon as “yes” came out of my mouth, I was flooded with joy. It seemed like the whole world had changed. 

I prayed inwardly, “God, what did you do to me?”

God answered in a way I still can’t explain 42 years later, “I just baptized you in my Holy Spirit.”

Praying in Tongues for the First Time

Two days after I was saved, I went back to the Assembly of God for a Bible study, Robin came up to me immediately, and I told him what had happened to me on Wednesday. I had not told him that night. I had said nothing about the most amazing experience of my life because I had not wanted him to think he “won” our conversation. (Sheesh! Even I marvel at the stupidity of that thought.)

But even after I told him that God had told me he baptized me in the Holy Spirit, he said I still needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit because I had not prayed in tongues. 

For the next two weeks I was very confused because I did not yet know that when God tells you something and a human tells  you something different, you should ignore the human.

While I did know that I should believe God over Robin, I was confused about whether I needed to speak in tongues. Remember, I was not just newly saved, Protestantism was a whole new culture I had never experienced. I had only had conversations with one committed Protestant follower of Jesus in my whole life. As far as I knew at that point, 2 days into the journey, everyone I met at church had had the same amazing experience as me and every one of them prayed in tongues.

I prayed every day for two weeks that God would give me the gift of languages. (Let’s use modern English from here on. Referring to “languages” as “tongues” is archaic.) During that time I read a tract that suggested I try starting with a couple words to sort of “kick start” the gift. I tried that, and it didn’t work.

Back in those days, Pentecostal churches spent a lot of time praying, even the “Pentecostal lite” Assemblies of God. Two weeks after my first Friday night Bible study, I went again and was on my knees praying, when words I did not understand came flowing out of my mouth. There was no striving, no trying to form words, they were just there. 

From then on, I could pray in a language or languages I did not understand. For the next couple years, praying in languages felt like a natural part of my prayer life and made me feel close to God.

An Experience with Praying in Unknown Languages

Very early on, certainly within the first 9 months I was a Christian, I went to work, midnight shift, and our swing shift electrician had dropped a bolt in an F-15 cockpit. This is really bad because as the plane does maneuvers, a lost object can move around, block linkage, and prevent steering. He had spent most of his shift trying to find the bolt, but without success.

I went to plane, and I searched for over an hour, pulling this and that control box. The F-15 is a joy to work on. Everything is in easily removed modules, and a cockpit in a fighter jet is small. The seat had been removed, so it should have been no problem to find it, but it was. After something over an hour, I got out of  the cockpit and walked around the plane for 15 minutes, praying in an unknown language. 

God told me where the bolt was.

I wasn’t sure how the bolt could have found its way under the map case but, as far I as was concerned, it did.

I needed an extension to remove the map case, so I headed to the tool room to get one. My boss (the night sergeant, not Roger Thomas) was there, and when I told him I thought the bolt was under the map case, he told me it was impossible. He wouldn’t let me get the extension, and he sent me back out to the plane. 

I wasted my time looking in places I’d already looked for about 15 minutes, and then I told myself, “This is stupid. God told me it’s under the map case.”

I went back to the tool room, didn’t go in until I made sure my boss wasn’t there, grabbed the extension, pulled the map case, and retrieved the bolt. I don’t think I ever told my boss it was under the map case.

Another time, at the Assemblies of God I was attending, I felt like God wanted me to give a “word,” a few-second message, to the congregation. I was new to Christianity and a timid person, so I told God that if someone gave a message in tongues, I would give my message as an interpretation. Now, I was at that church 9 months, and over those 9 months I only heard a person speak out loud in tongues 3 times. This was one of those times. Almost instantaneously, someone spoke out in tongues.

The end of that story, which makes me cringe to this day, is that I was too timid to speak out despite the instantaneous answer to prayer. Someone else did, though, simply quoting a verse from John that was quite similar to what God had told me to say. 

About a year later, I told that story to a guy who was against praying in other languages. His response was, “That’s asinine.” There’s no sense continuing a conversation with someone who reacts like that, so I left to find a dictionary. I’d never heard that word before. (It means “utterly stupid or silly.”)

Change Over Time

Finding that bolt happened in 1982. For about 15 years, probably because of all the controversy over praying in unknown languages, I wondered if my “gift” was even real. I’ve been praying in an unknown language or languages for 42 years, though, so there’s been 25 years of growing comfortable that my fellowship with God is enhanced by the gift. 

Even when I’m praying in a language I do not understand, I sometimes know, internally, what or whom I’m praying for, and I’ll jump from English to the unknown language and back again. 

I’ve become quite settled with praying in other languages as an aide to my fellowship with God and my prayer life.

Theology of Praying in Tongues

I know the arguments of Pentecostals that everyone should pray in tongues. If the Book of Acts were the only book in the New Testament, there would be no doubt that they are right. But Paul, who rejoiced that he prayed in tongues more than any of the Corinthians (1 Cor. 14:18), also asked “Do all speak in various languages?” in a rhetorical tone that demands a “no” answer in 1 Corinthians 12:30.

Their argument implies that those who do not speak in various languages are lesser Christians because Pentecostals associate speaking in languages with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Thus, those who speak in languages have the fullness of the Spirit, while those who don’t have a lesser portion.

I can tell you from 42 years of fellowship in many churches in many places that this is nonsense. People who don’t speak in tongues are as righteous and unrighteous as those who do. Tongue-speakers are not more righteous, insightful, or loving than other Christians. They’re the same, some great, some good, some not so good.

On the other hand, I like and mildly agree with Demos Shakarian’s statement back in the 1960s that “We Pentecostals have the same piece of steak as everyone else; we just keep it in the frying pan while most leave it in the freezer.”

This isn’t always good. A zealous, boastful hypocrite is a horrible thing to behold.

One of the most well-known Christians of the second-century, a man who was taught as Christian in Smyrna, in modern Turkey, and then was sent as a missionary to Gaul (modern France), all the way across Europe, wrote:

In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V:6)

I think we Christians are prone to thinking that our theories about what the Bible says have some authority, even though they are just our own interpretations of the Bible. For me, as a teacher, it is my responsibility, when I make an assertion about what the Bible teaches, to show that my interpretation is a reasonable enough that my hearers/readers will walk away convinced by the same clear Scriptures that convinced me. Even more importantly, I believe that I and all teachers should dump our theory when reality shows it to be false.

What I mean by this is that the quote above shows us, in reality not theory that speaking all kinds of languages did not disappear when the New Testament was complete, so that particular interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13 is false. 

It also tells us that, in practice, not everyone spoke in tongues around AD 185, when this was written. Because that same author also claimed that the whole Church–from barbarian Europe to Rome, the capital of the empire, to Turkey and the Middle East, and to North Africa–held to one truth “just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart” (Against Heresies, Bk. I, ch. 10), then we can conclude that the apostles did not teach their churches that everyone should be speaking in tongues. Surely that would not have been forgotten by all churches in the course of just a century. 

Remember, too, that the first quote from Irenaeus, he is speaking with great honor of those who were spiritual, and understood mysteries, tying that together with those who had the gift of various languages. Churches that honored speaking in unknown languages would not have forgotten that they were taught that everyone should do so.

Anyway, my point is that observations of reality, of what actually happened–tongues did not pass away after the New Testament was completed and not all spoke in tongues–trumps our theoretical interpretations of Scripture. 

A Final Observation

Praying in unknown languages is an awkward subject in many non-Pentecostal churches. What is humorous, to me, is that when I’m part of a church where praying in unknown languages is rarely mentioned, when even one person finds out that I do, invariably numerous others in the church will let me know they do as well. 

To all you Baptist pastors, “They are among you.”

Honestly, though, I think most Baptist pastors know that. 

Note: There is a very interesting book, a testimony of going to China alone and into the worst part of Hong Kong, called Chasing the Dragon, by Jackie Pullinger and and Andrew Quicke. Ms. Pullinger had her converts there praying in unknown languages every time they face withdrawal and experience some amazing success there. (“Chasing the Dragon” seems to be a popular title, so make sure if you try to purchase the book that it is the one by Jackie Pullinger.) 

Posted in Bible, Early Christianity, Miscellaneous, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , | Leave a comment

God’s Stubborn Love and Abundant Pardon

Posted on 12/09/2024 by Paul Pavao

All of us who are not oblivious to our own weaknesses have prayed the opening lyrics to Kathy Troccoli’s “Stubborn Love”:

Caught again, Your faithless friend
Don’t You ever tire of hearing what a fool I’ve been?
Guess I should pray, but what can I say?
Oh, it hurts to know the hundred times I’ve caused You pain
Though “Forgive me” sounds so empty when I never change
Yet You stay and say, “I love you still”
Forgiving me time and time again.

Yesterday I wrote about resurrection and eternal judgment as part of a post on the “elementary principles” or “first things” of Christ. In such situations, what I believe is a teaching gift from God kicks in, and I draw Scriptures together into a picture of “the faith” as it was delivered to the saints by the apostles (Jude 1:3). Often, I am doing that purposely to contrast “the faith” as it was delivered by Martin Luther and John Calvin to the evangelicals specifically and the Protestants in general.

I have learned over my decades of writing and teaching, though, that what I say is not always what people here. More and more then, I have had to intensely focus on the mercy of God. I do not want to compromise God’s standards, nor justify sin, but the reality is that almost all of us know the feeling behind Kathy Troccoli’s words in “Stubborn Love.” They’re very similar to the words in Casting Crown’s “East to West.”

Maybe I should learn from John’s first epistle, arguably the harshest, scariest letter in the New Testament (next to Hebrews?). He does not wait till the end to emphasize the mercy of God, he begins with it … before he goes on to teachings significantly scarier than what I wrote yesterday.

This is especially true if we can understand what John means by walking in the light. First let me write out 1 John 1:7-2:2:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And he is the “at-one-ment” for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

In the verse that precedes this section John says that if we claim to have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness, then we are liars. It is easy to conclude from this that walking in darkness is walking in sin, and walking in the light is walking in purity. That conclusion is wrong, however.

John writes about walking in the light in his Gospel as well. No one knows whether John is quoting Jesus in these verses or explaining Jesus’ words to Nicodemus, but they have biblical authority either way:

This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God. (Jn. 3:19-21)

Notice that this passage does NOT say “he who does good” comes to the light, nor that his deeds are “good,” but instead it is he who “does the truth” and his deeds are “done in God.”

I don’t believe this passage, nor 1 John 1:7, are about good deeds, but about deeds that are exposed to God. Paul wrote, “… everything that reveals in light” (Eph. 5:13). He also wrote:

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Eph. 5:9-10, NASB)

Notice in this passage that “goodness, righteousness, and truth” are not the light, but “the fruit of the light.”

Light is that which exposes. We do not immediately live in mature righteousness when we become Christians. Instead, Peter describes a progression in which “if these things are in you and increasing” they make us always bear fruit (2 Pet. 1:3-8). Both Peter and the writer of Hebrews speak of those who are not mature, but need milk (Heb. 5:13-14; 1 Pet. 2:1). We should know the Lord more and obey him more as we grow older in him (cf. 1 Jn. 2:12-14). We are, however, immediately children of the light when we are saved (Eph. 5:9).

The point is that walking in the light means exposing your deeds to God even if they are evil … especially if they are evil. If you do so, you can have unhindered fellowship with those who are around you because you are not pretending to be something other than what you are. You also have ongoing purification from the blood of Christ (1 Jn. 1:7).

You should live holy, but that is not what walking in the light means. Walking in the light means exposing your deeds to God and to others (privately to those who will pray for you) so that you can receive the fruit of the light from God and the prayers of those who are close to you (James 5:16).

God is a God of great mercy. Even under the Old Covenant, the Israelites knew to flee to the Lord because of his abundant pardon (Isa. 55:7). Perhaps the most repeated phrase in the Old Testament is “his mercy endures forever” (cf. Ps. 136).

Perhaps the most telling use of that phrase is in Lamentations 3:21-23. Lamentations is a lament about the captivity in Babylon. It has just begun, and Jeremiah is pouring out his heart in sadness for Judah’s sin that has caused God to destroy Jerusalem and the temple. He knows they will be there seventy years for their sin, but right in the middle of that loment, he writes:

This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23)

As we believe the frightening words that are written in chapters 2-4 of 1 John–and the words from Scripture in my section on eternal judgment a few days ago–let us first remember the words of 1 John 1:7-2:2. He does want us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12); he does want us to “make every effort” to add virtue to our faith (2 Pet. 1:5) and to “make every effort” to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10); but he also wants us to know that when we falter, he has made “abundant” (Isa. 55:7) provision for our stumbling growth.

I write about 1 John 1:7-2:2 all the time. Maybe I can post the longer version from my book, Rebuilding the Foundations (available wherever books are sold) on this blog sometime so it’s quickly available. Here today, I will leave out my arguments and just expound this passage from my perspective.

1 John 1:7-2:2 not only tells us that God knows we will sin, but it refers to those who claim they don’t as liars. The 1 John 2:1-2 part says the goal is not sinning, but God has a provision if we do. That’s the mildly encouraging skeleton.

The great part is what John says about walking in the light. It is easy to think in the context of John’s letter that “walking in the light” means walking in righteousness. No, it means “walking in the open.” It means exposing your deeds to God and man. We are to confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9), and we are to confess them to men as well (James 5:16).

When we do our deeds before God, exposing them to God, and letting God shine his light on them, 1 John 1:7 says that we will have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus will continually cleanse us from sin (the Greek is the word from which we get catharize … look up catharize). This is because, as Paul says in Ephesians 5, the fruit of the light is righteousness, goodness, and truth.

Be out in the open, expose everything to God and as much as possible to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and God will abundantly pardon, give you fellowship, and continually catharize you. It doesn’t get much better than that. Or does it?

Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find favor for help in time of need. (Heb. 4:16)

God is on a mission because your destiny is to be conformed to the image of Christ so that Jesus can have many brothers and sisters (Rom. 8:29). This is God’s mission, to make you just like Jesus.

You may be a faithless friend, like Kathy Troccoli sang. You may wonder how God could possible forgive you one more time, and part of it is that he’s expecting you to forgive like he does. Your foolish repetition of stupid sins you hate helps you know how merciful he expects you to be to others.

Don’t bail out on him. Don’t turn you back on him. If we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself (2 Tim. 2:13). We are his workmanship (Eph. 2:10). He expects us to cooperate, to make every effort, but he knows exactly how good or bad you will be at that, and if you are loyal to him, you will get to see his provisions for your weakness.

That same verse says that if we deny him, he will deny us, so be fiercely loyal. Give yourself to loyalty and honoring God, this is the first and greatest commandment. If you do it, your will find that your miserable failures help you fulfill the second greatest commandment, to humbly love others a yourself, and even to esteem them above yourself as worthy of more honor! (Php. 2:1-4).

Let’s fight the good fight. If you don’t want to ashamed when Jesus comes, remain in him (1 Jn. 2:28) through thick, thin, stupidity, and failure. Stay on the potter’s wheel, and do not be flung off!

Posted in Bible, Gospel, Holiness, Rebuilding the Foundations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Which Denomination Gets It Right?

Posted on 12/09/2024 by Paul Pavao

I was asked  about which major denomination* (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant) gets it right (in my opinion). I want to share my answers in a post. My first answer:

The persons or churches that devote themselves to love and good works by encouraging one another to walk in the Holy Spirit, subdue the flesh, and seek first the kingdom of God.

My second answer:

I think the practice of the Orthodox, especially in the matter or icon veneration and overconfidence in their traditions, is a deal breaker. On their preservation of apostolic theology, though, I have learned a lot from them. The Roman Catholics have destroyed the faith of the apostles by ridiculous papal decrees and centuries of irreligious behavior by their pope and clergy. The Protestant Reformation was insufficient to restore the faith once for all delivered to the saints from the Catholics because sola Scriptura is neither scriptural nor practical.

No church so large as Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox has recovered from the introduction of the public–sons of Belial who walk by the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience–into the church and its affairs. Paul gives a long warning about this in 2 Cor. 6 and a short one in 1 Cor. 5.

Individual churches can and are rescuing themselves from the influence of proud & wicked men, but as long as education is honored above righteousness, it seems to me we are fighting a hopeless battle. As long as only the few are doing the exhorting (the super important parakaleo-ing, cf. 1 Thess. 5:12-14; Heb. 3:13; 10:24-25), the church is crippled.”

*Note: By definition, “Orthodox” and “Catholic” and “Protestant” are “denominations” because there name differentiates them from other Christian organizations. I was neither trying to make a religious nor polemic point by using the term.

Posted in Church, Early Christianity, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The elementary principles of Christ

Posted on 12/03/2024 by Paul Pavao

I am slowly–very slowly–building a curriculum for discipleship. I wrote a post about 3 weeks ago on the skeleton of that curriculum: 1. Becoming a Christian; 2. Living like a Christian; and 3. Staying a Christian.

It is certain that if I want to write about becoming a Christian, then I must include the “message of the first things of Christ” mentioned in Hebrews 6:1-2. Most translations use something akin to the King James’ “elementary principles of Christ.” My rendering is more literal, though the “message of the first things of Christ” is equivalent to “elementary principles of Christ.”

The writer of Hebrews, possibly Paul but hotly debated, gives us six teachings that are the “first things” or “elementary principles” of Christ:

  1. Repentance from dead works
  2. Faith towards God
  3. Teaching of baptisms
  4. Laying on of hands
  5. Resurrection of the dead
  6. Eternal judgment

Meyer’s New Testament Commentary tells me that these are doublets. Repentance from dead works goes with faith towards God; the teaching of baptisms goes with the laying on of hands; and the resurrection of the dead goes with eternal judgment.

On the issues of Greek grammar structure, Meyer is light years ahead of me. I’m  a beginner, and he is an expert. I am going to simply believe him. It seems obvious that repentance and faith go together and that resurrection and judgment go together. Once he said that baptisms, plural, and the laying on of hands were together, that link seemed obvious to me as well. I’ll explain that link below.

If I were teaching a class, I would explain these doublets as quickly as possible, then leave the juicy (=fun) details to a discussion that would consume most of the class time. Let’s do this blog post that way.

Repentance from Dead Works and Faith Towards God

As I said, this connection is obvious. Jesus began his preaching ministry with, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Not so obvious is what dead works are. “Dead works” is only used twice in the New Testament, both times in Hebrews. The other is Hebrews 9:14:

… how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Meyers gives a simple definition of dead works: dead works are works that do you no good (“in themselves vain and fruitless”). Paul’s goal in Romans is to convince Jews (and teach Gentiles) that it is more powerful to believe in God through Jesus Christ than to try to do good deeds by your own power in obedience to the law. Faith in God brings favor and the Holy Spirit which transform and empower you to do overcome sin and do good, to obey the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the body (e.g., Romans 6:7-14; 8:1-13).

If you ignore the call of God to a covenant of faith which produces righteousness, then you will live in dead works, walking by the flesh rather than the Spirit. Your works may not even be evil; they’re just “vain and fruitless.”

As Christians we have repented of these dead works and entered into the promises given to Abraham by faith. Speaking of which, I always loved the song “I’m a Covenant Woman.”

The Teaching of Baptisms and the Laying on of Hands

When I was a new Christian, this was a puzzle to me. I had an idea of what this might mean, but the dissension over baptism, baptisms (of water and the Holy Spirit), speaking in languages, and laying on of hands between Baptists and Pentecostals distressed and confused me.

How wonderful it was to find the writing of the apostles’ churches (“early church fathers”) and see their strong emphasis on baptisms, baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit. Three things make me confident that they knew exactly what the writer of Hebrews meant by the teaching of baptisms and the laying on of hands.

  1. They were too close to apostolic times to have forgotten a “first principle of Christ.”
  2. There universal practice was to baptize in water (by immersion, but if water was not available, then pouring three times over the head, once each in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, e.g., Didache 7), then anointed the baptized person with oil, laying hands on them, and praying for them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (e.g., Tertullian, “On Baptism,” chs. 6-8).

The teaching of baptisms refers to the baptism in water, where sins are forgiven and the sinner is born again or “regenerated” (John 3:3-5; see also Justin Martyr, “First Apology,” ch. 61), and baptism in the Holy Spirit, wherein the saints are empowered for their new life. The laying on of hands was a part of this (see link in #2 above). These are the baptisms, plural, that all Christians receive. Paul mentions this in his letter to Titus:

… not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5)

Note: From experience, I know many will miss my point and tell me, “See, see! We are not saved by works.” I, of course, know this is true. We are transferred from darkness to light, born again, and created in Christ Jesus to do good works by faith and apart from works. We do not, however, inherit God’s kingdom at the judgment by faith, but by works (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 25:31-46; cf. Rev. 2-3).

Now, we see in Scripture that laying on of hands was also done to appoint elders (1 Tim. 5:22), impart gifts (1 Tim. 4:14), and send missionaries (Acts 13:3), but this article is about Hebrews 6:1-2 and the “first things of Christ.” Appointing elders is not a “first thing,” nor is sending gifted men into the world.

The “teaching of baptisms and laying on of hands” is a doublet referring to our first salvation, being born again in the baptisms of water and Spirit, the latter done with the laying on of hands. You can see this throughout Acts, but just Acts 19:1-6 makes a fine example.

Note: From experience, I know I will get a lot of pushback on baptism because evangelicals don’t want to believe it has anything to do with being saved. This is despite the fact that baptism is repeatedly said to be for the release of sins and that Galatians 3:27 tells us that baptism is how we put on Christ. Obviously, God has been quite flexible with us, saving many by faith without baptism but baptism, according to Scripture, is supposed to be what we do as an initiation rite into the church. We believer, and therefore we are buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him to new life when we come out of the water. It is a powerful symbol that has been poorly replace by a sinner’s prayer.

The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment

The resurrection of the dead is the hope of all Christians. In Romans 8:18-25 the day on which God redeems our bodies is such a glorious day that the whole creation rejoices. In fact, God’s creation waits with eager expectation for that day. For me, it brings to mind a dog’s wagging of both tail and body in its eager expectation of its master’s return. I want to be like that dog in the way I wait for my Master.

We have to qualify for this day, however. Paul describes his great effort to attain to that day in Philippians 3:8-14, then tells us in 8:15 to have the same mind. He does make a promise to us that that day will find us “holy, without defect, and blameless” if we continue grounded and settled in the faith.

I am scared for Americans like you and me, though, that we don’t know what it means to be grounded in the faith. Too many of us feel free to ignore things Jesus taught. For example, how many Christians agree that if we are slapped on one cheek–which implies insulting, not a fist fight–we should turn the other? Mr. T, the famous actor from the 70s and 80s doesn’t. His words to the public were, “I’m a Christian, but I’m not Jesus. If you hit me on one cheek, I’m gonna hit you back.”

Worse, though, is our attitude about riches. It does not look to me like we believe that it is so difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God that it requires a miracle of God. I have never heard a sermon that would help me decide whether a retirement account equates to storing up riches on earth. I’ve almost never heard someone teach that wanting to be rich is a trap that leads to many foolish and harmful lusts. These lusts “drown men in ruin and destruction” (1 Tim. 6:19).

You’d think that in the richest, or almost richest, nation in the world, the New Testament warnings against wealth would be trumpeted and repeated often. Instead, the only one constantly trumpeting publicly about wealth are prosperity preachers teaching the very opposite of those warnings.

It takes generosity to save a rich man (1 Tim. 6:16-19). It is by generosity that a “good foundation” is laid up “against the time to come” (eternal judgment), so that we may “lay hold of for eternal life.”

Doesn’t the wording of that passage sound like Paul’s words in Philippians 3:8-14?

Peter tells all of us, not just the rich, to live in fear of that day throughout “the time of our sojourning here” (1 Peter 1:17). In fact, by saying “If you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to our works,” he is telling us that warning is for Christians alone. The lost don’t necessarily know that there is coming a day when God will judge everyone by one Man (Acts 17:31).

We cannot pick and choose the verses we like as though the Bible were a buffet. We ignore all the verses warning us about eternal judgment (by works) at our peril. We try to brush off Jesus’ warning that one day we Christians along with everyone else will be divided into sheep and goats, differentiated only by their treatment of the needy (Matt. 25:31-46), by calling it a judgment of the nations. Do we really thing the sheep and goats are nations, or that nations do not consist of people?

More amazingly, I have heard Christians, and even pastors, teach that when we stand before the Bema seat of Christ, rather than the Great White Throne judgment of Revelation 20, that only our good works will be judged. I guess they missed the “whether good or bad” at the end of 2 Corinthians 5:10.

The Bible tells us that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12), but we spend our time on assurance instead. Yes, we are able to work out our salvation because God is at work in us both to desire and to do his will, but let’s not forget Paul’s application of working out our salvation in the very next chapter! (Php. 3:8-15).

I write all the time about the resurrection (of life for the righteous and of condemnation for the wicked–John 5:27-29) and eternal judgment a lot on this blog and on Facebook, and I hope I have said enough here to explain why. If you have questions about what I have written here, I write a lot on Facebook and this blog about resurrection and eternal judgment; I have at least dozens of other verses that I cover on this subject.

Unfortunately, resurrection and eternal judgment is supposed to be a “first thing,” but evangelical tradition has just about erased it from our mind. If you want the short version of how resurrection and eternal judgment work, search the word “if” in the New Testament or just keep your eye out for it as your read your Bible, then read Jesus’ letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3. There Jesus gives us a picture of how he will judge on the last day, judging those 7 churches by their deeds without every mentioning their faith.

On the subject of resurrection and eternal judgment I beg you with the apostles that you do not be deceived.

Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. (Eph. 5:5-6)

Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (1 Jn. 3:7)

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Verses Evangelicals Ignore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Contrasting John with the Rest of the New Testament

Posted on 11/29/2024 by Paul Pavao

I wrote about this subject back in 2020. I did not provide a lot of Scripture, though; I just pointed out the kind of differences there were. In this post, I want to list some of the Scriptures that show that …

  1. John is the only New Testament writer who says we have eternal life now; the others treat eternal life as a reward at the final judgment.
  2. John uses the Greek present tense, which indicates ongoing action, so much that I have to conclude that John’s emphasis is on the state of the believer right now, today, not in the past or future.
  3. John’s in the only Gospel in which Jesus indicates throughout that he is the Christ. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus hides the fact that he is the Christ until the last week of his life. 

I will not cover #3 in this post because it is covered in my 2020 post. I wound up covering points #1 and #2 together because point #2 is the explanation of point #1. They fell into place together nicely.

These are big, and important, differences, so let my tell you my purpose in bringing them up. If we realize the differences, we can understand them and see how John’s underlying beliefs are the same as the other NT writers. If we ignore them, we can ending up conflating John and Paul’s writing styles and grossly misinterpret Paul, which has indeed happened to the majority of Christians in the United States. It has made us followers of Reformation tradition rather than the apostles’ tradition, which was once for all delivered to the saints, and for which we should be contending (Jude 1:3).

I don’t fault the Reformers for this. The Roman Catholic Church had not just lost the faith, but had abandoned it for governmental power and idolatry by the time the Reformers came on the scene. They almost had to start from scratch, and it is easy to miss the fact that there are differences between the various NT writers.

John Unique Use of Eternal Life and the Present Tense

I’m sure you already know that John teaches that we have eternal life now. We all know John 3:16 and “God so loved the world that he sent his Son so that whoever is believing in him will … be having eternal life.” Even more direct is John 6:47, “He who is believing in me is having eternal life.”

There are many more such verses, and in all of them, “believing” and “having” are in the present tense, indicating ongoing action. I am convinced that John is indicating that what you’re doing now should keep going into the future. What is true in you now is what is true of you always. Thus, he writes, “They went out from us, and it was proof that they were never of us.” How you are now is how you always are.

That can seem bizarre to me, and I suspect to a lot of you. In Matthew 25:12, for example, the groom tells the 5 foolish virgins that he never knew them. It doesn’t seem possible that he never knew them because they were with the 5 wise virgins waiting for him. In the same way, he will tell people who cast out demons and did mighty works in his name, but who lived in iniquity, that he never knew them (Matt. 7:22-23).

The explanation is simple, though. Jesus doesn’t just want to know we exist, he wants to get to know us as his friends, children, and brothers.

This idea is expressed twice in Ezekiel where God says:

When I tell the righteous that he will surely live; if he trusts in his righteousness, and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but he will die in his iniquity that he has committed. Again, when I say to the wicked, “You will surely die;” if he turns from his sin, and does that which is lawful and right; … he will surely live. He will not die. None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done that which is lawful and right. He will surely live. (Ezek. 33:13-16; cf. Ezek. 18:21-24)

God does not just say that if you return to an iniquitous life, your previous righteousness won’t save you. He says it will be forgotten! In the same way, if you repent of a wicked life, your wicked deeds will be forgotten.

This is the idea John expresses in his Gospel and letters. For example, in 1 John 3:15, John writes:

The one hating his brother is being a murderer, and you have known that no murderer is having eternal life in him.

“Hating,” “being,” and “having” are all in the Greek present tense. The idea is that if hating is happening in your life towards a brother, you are being a murderer. 

It is very possible that John is focusing on what we are right now, not because of Ezekiel 18 and 33, but because of the gnostics. Historically, there is no doubt that both John’s Gospel and his letters are meant to refute the gnostics that were thriving in Asia Minor, where John lived in the last years of his life. His disciple Ignatius, too, wrote letters to the churches around Asia Minor in either AD 107 or 116. Those letters directly address the gnostics in his refutation of them.

John wanted to root them out, and the best way was to point out that their immoral lifestyle marked them as not being followers of the real Christ. Basically, he was saying, “I want you true believers, who are giving yourselves to obeying Jesus, know that you have eternal life, but don’t let those evil gnostics pretend they have eternal life. You can tell the real from the fake by whether they live righteously or wickedly” (1 Jn. 3:7–12; 5:13).

Whatever the reason, the other New Testament writers do not write the same way. For all of them, we have the life of Jesus in us now, but we will not have eternal life until the judgment.

Matthew’s Use of “Eternal Life”

In Matthew 19:16-29, a young man comes to Jesus asking how he can “have” eternal life (v. 16). Jesus tells him to keep the commandments (v. 17). The young man asks which ones, Jesus gives him several commandments, and the young man says he’s kept them (vv. 18-20). So Jesus tells him that if “he wants to be perfect,” he should sell all his goods and give the money to the poor. The man left sad (vv. 21-22).

Jesus then explains to the disciples that only God can get a rich man into the kingdom of heaven. This prompts Peter to ask what the apostles will receive for forsaking everything. Jesus tells them “in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory,” they will have 100 times what they’ve given up, plus eternal life.

Matthew 25:46 is even more direct. It is the end of the Judgment of the Sheep and the Goats, and Jesus sends the wicked into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life eternal.

Mark’s Use of “Eternal Life”

Mark 10:17-30 tells the same story as Matthew 19:16-29 with the same use of “eternal life.” It’s the only use of “eternal life” in Mark.

Luke‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

In Luke 10:25-30, Luke tells a story very similar to the one that is in Matthew and Mark, but it’s about a “lawyer.” Jesus tells him to keep the 2 greatest commandments, the lawyer asks who his neighbor is, and Jesus answers with the story  of the good Samaritan. Jesus did not say anything about eternal life, but the lawyer did ask how to “inherit” eternal life. “Inherit” implies that eternal life would be an afterlife reward.

In Luke 18:18-30, Luke repeats the story that was in Matthew and Mark, and Jesus tells the apostles that they will receive eternal life in the age to come.

Acts (also written by Luke)

The reaction of the Jews and Gentiles to Paul’s Acts 13 sermon is the only use of “eternal life” in Acts. It is used in verses 46 and 48. Both uses can be understood either as a reward at the judgment or as a current possession. However, since it is Luke who wrote Acts, he meant “eternal life” they way Jesus used the term in his Gospel.

Paul‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

Romans 2:6-7 – “[God] “will pay back to everyone according to their works; to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life.”

I really cannot quote Romans 2:6-7 without saying that those prefer to get their traditions from the Reformers rather than the apostles typically do not believe it.

Romans 5:20-21 – “ The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

I would argue that this use of “eternal life” could be understood both ways. (If you disagree, feel free to argue for your position in the comments.)

Romans 6:22-23 – “But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification and the result of eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 6:22-23 is interesting. Verse 22 is a prefect match for Romans 2:6. Not only is “eternal life” clearly a reward at the judgment, but it is a reward for serving God, which produces the fruit of holiness. Verse 23, however, calls “eternal life” a gift. 

Roughly 1,600 years ago, John Chrysostom gave an explanation for these two verses that I love, love, love. He points out that although Paul can call death the “wages” of sin, eternal life cannot be the “wages” of righteousness because every part of righteousness is a gift already. We cannot get wages for God creating us in Christ Jesus to do good works (Eph. 2:10), which allows us to live in joy. We cannot call it wages that God gives us eternal life for basking in the beauty of holiness and the fullness of joy that is in God’s presence.

Galatians 6:7-9 – “Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.”

Once again, Paul used “eternal life” as the fruit of sowing to the Spirit. Those who sow to the flesh will reap corruption instead. It’s good not to miss that Paul ties “not growing weary in doing good” to the reaping of eternal life. This is a verification of Romans 2:6-7, although Romans 2:6-7 leaves out the fact that God gives believers the Holy Spirit so that we can be those who patiently continue to do good.

1 Timothy 1:16 – “However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.”

This verse, too, could be interpreted either way.

1 Timothy 6:12 – “Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.”

If “eternal life” is future for Timothy, who we know is a Christian, then again Paul is talking about eternal life as a reward at the judgment rather than a current possession of the Christian.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 – “Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.”

Here good works are laid up in store for the rich so that they may lay hold of eternal life. This is a good time to point out that riches ought to scare us. Jesus said that treasures on earth can bring our heart down to earth, away from treasures we stored in heaven (Matt. 6). In the story that Matthew, Mark, and Luke repeated, Jesus says it is harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, basically so impossible that only our miraculous Father can make it happen.

Okay, let’s move on.

“Titus 1:1-2 – Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began.”

I could argue that Titus 1:2 refers to eternal life as a future reward because of the use of “hope,” but it’s unnecessary at this point. We have seen that all the clear references to eternal life in Paul’s letters are as a future reward. 

Titus 3:7 – “… that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Once again, we see that in Paul’s letter to Titus, eternal life is a hope, not a current possession. That is the last use of eternal life in his letters.

Jude‘s Use of “Eternal Life”

Jude 1:21 – “Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”

For Jude as well, eternal life is a future hope be obtained by remaining in God’s love.

Reconciling John and the Other New Testament Writers

As I pointed out when I was covering John’s Gospel and letters above, one of the main reasons for John’s focus on “now” is because he was refuting the gnostics and warning his flock that Christians must live like followers of Christ. A “gospel” that does not call for obedience is not truth (cf. Romans 1:5; Acts 26:20), and a “gospel” that does not produce obedience to God is not good news.

“Gospel” means “good news,” and the Greek word was usually used in regard to the announcement of a new king. Our Gospel is that Jesus Christ is the new King. He is the King over every king. In fact, he is the King over spiritual principalities, spiritual powers, and over “spiritual wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20-22; 6:12). God is putting everything under his feet (1 Cor. 15:25-27).

Being saved by that King, Jesus, is powerful and changes your life. Paul said he was going around producing obedience to the faith (Rom. 1:5). A “gospel” that does not call for and produce obedience is not the Gospel of power (Rom. 1:16) that the apostles proclaimed. Paul’s Gospel produced righteousness from person to person as each person believed (Rom. 1:17). That is why he never backed down when Jews or Judaizers challenged his Gospel. His teaching produced righteous people; theirs didn’t. 

That said, there are two key passages we should know that explain John’s use of eternal life versus the other NT writers:

John 5:27-29 – “[The Father] also gave [the Son] authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man [human]. Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.”

1 John 5:11-12 – “The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.”

John 5:27-29 reminds us that John’s theology is not different than that of the other NT writers. He knows that on the last day, God will judge between those who have done good and those who have done evil. Life will be rewarded only to the good.

1 John 5:11-12 lets us know that we only have eternal life now because Jesus is inside of us. His life is eternal life. If he is in us, then of course eternal life is in us. For John, “eternal” describes the life itself, not our possession of it.

Thus, here is a critical area where we must understand the difference between John and the other NT writers. I have personally been guilty of claiming all of the NT writers were using eternal life like John. “Eternal” describes the life not our possession of it. We don’t have life eternally while on earth; we have life that is eternal in and of itself currently on earth.

That thought, of course, is pertinent to every discussion on eternal security. The “once saved, always saved” side says it’s impossible to lose eternal life because you have it eternally, and the “you can lose your salvation side” says that your possession of that life is not eternal.

Neither is exactly correct. 

For John, the life is eternal in itself, not your possession of it. The other NT writers, however, treat eternal life as a reward at the judgment. At that time, it is true that even your possession of eternal life is eternal. Immortality, which currently belongs to God alone, will be rewarded to the righteous at the judgment (Rom. 2:6-7). 

John does not disagree with this. We have eternal life now because Jesus’ life is in us. 1 John 1:1-2 gives us a good picture of  this:

“That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us).”

This passage, beginning John’s letter, and 1 John 5:11-12, near the end of the letter, explain John’s perspective on eternal life. Jesus is eternal life, and the apostles had seen him and touched him, and now they were out talking about the eternal life that was with the Father and came down to earth to dwell with humans.

This is a delightful perspective, and John uniquely gives that to us.

Do not be deceived, however, only those who are actually doing righteous have the Son in them, have eternal life, and are righteous as Jesus is righteous (1 Jn. 3:7). I did not add “do not be deceived.” It is John who told us in 1 John 3:7 not to let anyone deceive us about this.

The other NT writers don’t refer to the life of Jesus as eternal. They only refer to eternal life as eternal once we have it eternally. Until then, they just say “life,” but their emphasis on that life is every bit as strong as John’s. 

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.”

As always, I hope that makes the Bible clearer for you.

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Through the Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How to Read the Bible: First, Don’t Misinterpret Paul and Matthew based on John

Posted on 11/25/2024 by Paul Pavao

This was a response in a comment to a reader who asked me about where to start to read the Bible:

I tell people to read Mark first because it was the first of the Gospels. Matthew and Luke had access to it and expanded on it.

Then read Acts because that continues the story of the Gospels. Mark is the story of Jesus, and Acts is the story of the apostles, though primarily the apostle Paul.

You can also do Luke then Acts because Luke wrote both books, so that would be more smooth. Or you can do Matthew then Acts just because you like Matthew better for some reason. That would all be the same.

After that, I would alternate letters and Old Testament books, but there are a LOT of options. If you get YouVersion on your phone, you can find all sorts of annual reading plans. I would suppose the Bible Gateway app does the same.

My first point, is to really get one of the first three Gospels and the Book of Acts before you read the epistles, and especially before you read John which is so unique. Sometimes we act like the Bible is all one book, but it’s not. It is very important to know the difference between the way John writes and the way all the other apostles write. John’s way of thinking is not just unique, it is important and critical, but if you interpret the rest of the New Testament writers as though they were John, you will misinterpret them (like so many American Christians do).

Here are the two biggies:

1. John lives in the present tense. He writes as though what is true now always has been true and always will be true. This teaches us that if we move from being in love with Jesus and making the world to be only the slightest influence on us to being influenced strongly by the world, then we move from being in the state of knowing to God to being like one who does not know God. The first epistle of John is short, and you can see this clearly in that letter, but the Gospel of John is just like it.

2. John speaks of “eternal life” as the current possession of the believer because he knows that the life of Jesus is eternal life. Other writers, though, distinguish between the life of Jesus as it is in us as Christians, just calling it “life,” and speak of “eternal life” as a reward for doing good (e.g., Rom. 2:6-7; Matt. 25:31-46–the judgment of the sheep and the goats).

Finally, you do have to read the Old Testament eventually, and it will shed a LOT of light on the New Testament writings, but do start with one Gospel, not John’s, then read Acts, then go anywhere you want with that foundation. It will save you from problem evangelicals have with the Bible because they have you read John first, then misinterpret everything else because you think they are writing like John.

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Through the Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rejoicing Over the Judgment of the Wicked

Posted on 11/23/2024 by Paul Pavao

To read Ezekiel 18 and then Psalm 98 right after one another was an astonishing revelation. My Bible reading plan had me do that because I’m reading through the Psalms one at a time as I read through multiple chapters in the prophets. I’m sure the connection of Ezekiel 18 and Psalm 98 was “coincidental.”

Ezekiel 18 is God’s defense of his way of judging, that it is just. I think we would normally be frightened by this chapter because it explains the judgment of the wicked  that is both ongoing and coming on the last day (cf. 1 Peter 1:17). When Ezekiel 18 is immediately followed by Psalm 98, though, the truth is obvious.

The judgment of the wicked sets all things right. It brings the justice that the earth and its peoples cannot provide. It is a day of rejoicing, when the wicked are punished, and the righteous are permanently set free from the troubles of this life.

Let’s be the righteous, not the wicked. Ezekiel 18 describes the actions of the righteous thoroughly–James 1:26-27 provides the short version–and describes the actions of the wicked as simply not doing what the righteous do.

What I would like to see happen is that we take note of Ezekiel 18 and Psalm 98 and, rather than rejecting them as “Old Testament principles,” seeing that the judgment of  the wicked is central to Jesus’ and the apostles’ teaching. I have pointed out 1 Peter 1:17 and James 1:26-27, but it is so important to realize that Paul’s letter to the Romans begins by laying a foundation of Ezekiel 18 principles. Romans 1 ends by saying that those who do such things are worthy of death (v. 32). Romans 2 begins by saying those who “patiently continue to do good” will be repaid with eternal life (v. 7).

Paul does not spend the rest of Romans contradicting the foundation he laid in chapters 1 and 2. Instead, he explains how to become part of the righteousness that is revealed from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), and to live as proof that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation (Romans 1:16), by the favor (grace) that moves us from ungodliness and worldly lusts to new creations who are zealous for good works (Tit. 2:11-14; cf. also Eph. 2:10).

Let’s teach these things with the authority of Jesus that he gave to Paul and Timothy, not letting anyone despise us (Tit. 2:15)

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Become a Christian

Posted on 11/12/2024 by Paul Pavao

A friend of mine suggested that people want to know:

  1. How to become a Christian
  2. How to live as a Christian
  3. How to stay a Christian

He and I want to work towards a course, a curriculum, that addresses these questions. Today, I want to share my thoughts on becoming a Christian and list some other questions and topics that question brings up:

Let’s begin with preaching to the lost. I used to call this “preaching the Gospel,” but “Gospel” is too big a word. You may have wondered why Matthew’s, Mark’s, Luke’s, and John’s “memoirs” (term borrowed from Justin Martyr) are called “Gospels.” “Gospel” can be used to mean the entire teaching of the Christian faith, as can “faith” (cf. Jude 1:3), and “truth.”

When you meet an unbeliever, you do not want to be obligated to present the Gospel as thoroughly as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did. Eventually, you do, but how do you begin so that you can lead up to the whole Gospel? Well, we have examples from the apostles in the Book of Acts, both with Jews and Gentiles.

I wrote a booklet [“The Apostles Gospel,” 2013)  discussing and outlining the preaching of the apostles in the Book of Acts. The result of my research is that the apostles were always building to one main point: Jesus rose from the dead, and his resurrection proves that he is Christ (Messiah) and Son of God (to the Jews), and Lord and Judge of the living and dead (to the Gentiles).

We all know that Jesus said that the apostles would be his “witnesses” after the Holy Spirit came upon them, but we rarely ask, “Witnesses of what?”

Each of the first 5 chapters of Acts tell us that the apostles were witnesses of the resurrection (Acts 1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:31). This makes sense if the initial purpose of their preaching was to convince their hearers that Jesus rose from the dead, proving that he is Messiah, Son of God, Judge of the living and the dead, and Lord.

Paul tells us that we can be saved by confessing that Jesus is Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10). Again, this lines up with the preaching of the apostles that we see in Acts. Paul also said at the beginning of his letter to the Romans that he was “set apart for the Gospel of God …” and that this Gospel concerned” [God’s] Son, who … was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord …” The purpose of this Gospel was to “obedience of faith among all the nations for his name’s sake” (Rom. 1:1-5).

Today, at least among evangelicals, our initial preaching to the lost focuses on Jesus’ death on the cross, and we want our hearers to believe that Jesus died for theirs sins so that they can be forgiven. This is a stark contrast to Paul and the other apostles whose initial preaching concerned the resurrection, and who wanted their hearers to believe Jesus rose from the dead so that they would obey the Gospel.

Hopefully, this is a good time to point out that “preaching,” in the New Testament, always, refers to proclaiming Jesus’s resurrection to the lost. Speaking to the saved, the church, was called “teaching.” Thus, when Paul said he was a preacher and a teacher, he was saying that he was both an evangelist and a shepherd. All the apostles had to be both because they were both converting the lost and forming them into churches.

So, in answer to the question, “How does a person become a Christian?,” we must respond, “By confessing with his/her mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in his/her heart that God raised him from the dead.” This, of course, means becoming obedient to that Lord and the precepts of the rest of the Gospel/faith that they will be taught after baptism.

This brings us to baptism, which is the first step of obedience once a person believes (cf. Gal. 3:27, and all the baptisms in Acts). The first step of faith is to be buried with Christ in baptism and raised again to a new life, the very life of Christ in us, so that we become servants of God rather than servants of sin. This is thoroughly and plainly explained in Romans 6. Unless you are taught in advance to misinterpret Paul’s letter to the Romans and question what Romans 6 says, you cannot misinterpret such plain teaching.

Questions and Topics Arising from This Essay

  • The resurrection and the “Lordship Gospel”: Romans 10:9-10, John 20:31, and other passages. This must include the apostles as witnesses “of the resurrection.”
  • Definition of terms: Gospel, faith, truth, preach, teach
  • Water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit, though the baptism in the Holy Spirit belongs as much in the section on how to live as a Christian as much as it does in this section.
  • Though I did not mention repentance in this initial article, repentance is included in the initial preaching of the apostles to the lost from the very first sermon to the last (Acts 2:38; 24:25). In fact, Paul describes repentance as the very heart of his preaching (Acts 26:20).
  • The final judgment of the living and the dead as it would have been understood by the Jews and by the Romans and Greeks because Paul brought it up in his initial preaching to Gentiles (Acts 17:30; 24:25). If Paul wrote Hebrews, then he also referred to eternal judgment as an elementary principle of the faith in 6:1-3.
  • The atonement, and a definition and explanation of “faith,” “grace,” and living by the Holy Spirit must be relegated to the “How do we live as Christians?” section because those things were not taught to Christians until they believed that Jesus was Messiah and Lord, were baptized, and were beginning their Christian life. A definition of “faith” is not needed to understand Romans 10:9-10 but is needed to understand Paul’s assertion that we walk by faith, not sight (2 Cor. 5:7) and his command to “continue in the faith grounded and settled” (Col. 1:23).

My Purpose for this Essay

The goal of this essay–this collection of thoughts, was to think through the topic of becoming a Christian, thus allowing me to collect some additional topics to address in the curriculum being developed.

Posted in Bible, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What the Bible Says about Baptism

Posted on 10/12/2024 by Paul Pavao

The following are verses about water baptism in the New Testament followed by excuses I have personally heard in an attempt to justify the tradition that baptism is a symbolic public testimony.

Mark 16:16 – He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
Excuse: This verse only condemns those who don’t believe, not those who are not baptized. (This excuse would not be a problem if this were the only verse we explain away.)

John 3:5 – Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.”
Excuse: The water here is not baptism, but our fleshly birth. We’re born in a sack of water. (I like David Bercot’s response: “If Jesus did not mean water here, then he was a terrible communicator, because everyone thought he did for about 1700 years.”)

Acts 2:38 – “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”
Excuse: The word “for” (Gr. eis) can be translated as “because of.” (Yes, it can in the rare occasions when context calls for it.)

Acts in general – All baptisms are immediate, the Philippian jailer’s baptism (Acts 16) was not in public nor before the church, and there is no “sinner’s prayer” anywhere.
Excuse – Really? (No one seems to know this, so they’re surprised. Then they go away and apparently never think about it again.)

Acts 22:16 – Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Excuse: Some scholars say “Be baptized” goes with “arise,” and “wash away your sins” goes with “calling on the name of the Lord.” (Isn’t it funny that the act that involves water doesn’t go with “wash away”?)

Romans 6:3-4 – Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
Excuse: this is all symbolic, not actual

Galatians 3:27 – For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Excuse: this is Spirit baptism

Colossians 2:12 – … having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
Excuse: same as Galatians 3:27

Titus 3:5 – Not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit …
Excuse: “the washing of regeneration” is something other than water baptism.

1 Peter 3:21 – … in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Excuse: The words after “baptism … now saves you” mean that Peter said, “Baptism now saves you (but not really).”

I’m sure I missed a verse or two, but these should be sufficient to display the problem. From my earliest days as a Christian, back in Florida in 1982 and 1983, the barrage of excuses Christians use to avoid things the Bible at least seems to say plainly, has bothered me.

I have found that those “difficult verses” that we are forced to talk about mostly disappear when we stop making excuses for disbelieving the primary meaning of verses. In fact, once we stop making excuses we wind up believing the same things the apostles’ churches believed and wrote about after the apostles had died, rather than having to refer to those apostolically taught churches as a bunch of legalists.

The road there can be confusing–how can Romans 2:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9 both be true?–but the arrival is peaceful and satisfying.

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Early Christianity, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Verses Evangelicals Ignore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rebooting Redemption, Part IV: Jesus Paid the Price for What?

Posted on 09/24/2024 by Paul Pavao

Warning: my links to Greek definitions are at StudyBible.info, which can be slow to load. I don’t know why, but the site is so useful I bear with it.

Link to Part 1. I have a link there to all the other parts.

I frequently cringe when I hear “Jesus paid the price.” I “frequently” cringe because singers and preachers frequently say Jesus paid the price. They almost never, however, mention what he paid for. 

If they did, they would probably get it wrong because most of us have never studied the subject in the Bible. Just as they repeat “Jesus paid the price” like a mantra, so they have been given a preset understanding of what Jesus paid the price for before they ever open a Bible or a Bible school textbook.

Let’s begin this post by pointing out that the average church-attender has no idea what “redemption” actually means because pastors never talk about it. In my World English Bible, Ephesians 1:7 reads:

… in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses …

Here is what Ephesians 1:7 really says:

… in whom we have the release by ransom through his blood, the [Jubilee] release of trespasses … (Apostolic Bible Polyglot)

The Greek word translated “redemption” in several places in our Bibles actually means release by ransom. So one thing Jesus paid the price for was our ransom. The Greek word for “forgiveness” throughout Paul’s letters actually means “release.” Thus, Ephesians 1:7 actually tells us Jesus paid a ransom to release us from trespasses.

A ransom from trespasses?? Does that make any sense? And who would receive a ransom paid to release us from trespasses.

Let’s track this idea in the Scriptures:

You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

So we were “all” living in the lust of our flesh and dead in our transgressions and sins, doing what “the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience” wanted us to do. This strongly implies that we really were slaves and captives to “trespasses.” (Transgressions and trespasses are the same word in Greek.)

Romans says it more clearly:

… our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)

But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18)

In Romans, Paul says we were in bondage to “sin” rather than specifically using “trespasses,” but we all agree Paul is referring to the same thing. Ephesians 2, he combines them, saying that we were dead in “trespasses and sins.”

Note: The Gospels also show that the words “sins,” “trespasses,” and “debts” refer to the same thing. For example, when Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer in Luke, he tells us to ask for release of “sins” (Luke 11:4), but Matthew reports that he told us to ask for the release of “debts” (Matt. 6:12), then warns that if we do not release the “trespasses” of men, our trespasses will not be released, either.

We were in bondage to and were dead in our trespasses and sins, but Jesus paid a ransom to release us from that bondage. So … the awkward question that arises is “to whom did Jesus pay a ransom.”

To Whom Did Jesus Pay a Ransom?

Let’s take the awkwardness out of the question. Jesus paid the ransom to “the rulers of this age,” but keep in mind that the ransom was himself. We were in bondage to the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). It is the god of this world, the devil, who uses his demons to enforce our slavery to sin and trespasses. Jesus gave himself by dying and entering directly into their hands in return for the release of mankind.

Let’s look at this surprising passage, also written to the Corinthians:

But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor. 2:7-8)

Why was God’s wisdom spoken in a mystery, in hidden wisdom? Because if the devil and his cronies had figured it out, they would never have crucified “THE LORD OF GLORY.”

They had no idea what they were getting into, even though Jesus dropped hints. After the Jewish leaders accused him of casting out the devil by the power of the devil, Jesus responded:

If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can’t stand, but has an end. But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder unless he first binds the strong man; then he will plunder his house. (Mark 3:26-27)

If the “spiritual forces of wickedness” (Eph. 6:12) had been paying attention that day, rather than insulting Jesus, they might have figured out the warning. “Once I get into your domain, demon princes, I am going to bind up death and the devil and plunder your house. I am taking everything (and everyone) you have. They are all going to be mine.”

Jesus paid the ransom of himself. He entered Hades, and he preached to the dead there (1 Pet. 4:6). The Bible uses powerful military words to describe his resurrection:

Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Col. 2:15)

The Greek of this verse is extremely pictorial. Jesus “stripped” off the principalities and powers the way a person would strip off clothes that a skunk had sprayed. He stripped them off, threw them away, and had nothing more to do with them. “Wholly divested” is among the definitions given of apekdoumai.

The image of “triumphing over” the principalities and powers is ever stronger. He did what Roman generals did. He paraded them in triumph, making a spectacle of their captivity to him. Not only were they not able to keep their ransom, the incarnated Son of God, but they became his captives, completely bound and helpless before him.

Paul uses less militant words in describing the scene in Ephesians.

When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people. Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:8-10)

Here Paul simply tells us that Jesus went into the earth, then ascended “leading captivity captive” and giving gifts to us. Those who had held both us and him captive were now his captives. Jesus went on to ascend above the heavens, becoming “the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23) for the church.

I love the way Paul describes “far above all the heavens” earlier in Ephesians:

I … don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him … what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,  far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:16-23)

I like to tell people that Paul was beginning to list off names that Jesus was above, but he just ran out of words. “Jesus’ name is above rulers, above authorities, above powers, above dominions, uh … ran out of words … He was above everything, everyone, every name. If you can think of it, he was above it, not only in this age but even in the next one Jesus is just ABOVE!”

I want to argue that the PPP version, the Paul Pavao Paraphrase would be an exciting read, LOL!

Jesus Paid the Price for … US!

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ. (1 Pet. 1:17-19)

To redeem is to buy, even in English. If you redeem something it is now yours. In Greek, that purchase is specified to be by ransom, but either way a purchase has happened. If you redeem an item from the store, that item is now yours, however you redeemed it.

Clearly, the Bible teaches the same thing. Jesus bought us with his blood and suffering. He paid the price … for us. He owns us.

I want to emphasize just one thing, among many, that this does for us.

What Our New Master Does for Us

Again, this is just one thing among many.

In the modern age, you often hear that because of Jesus’ death you can relax. Your sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus. As you can see in the 2 passages in the previous section, being purchased by Jesus should cause you to relax, but to relax into your new lifestyle. Jesus did say he is bring rest and giving us a yoke perfectly fitted for us (Matt. 11:30), but a yoke is for working. Relax into that perfectly fitted, comfortable yoke, but don’t think the yoke does not involve effort.

Here’s your new lifestyle:

So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. (Php. 2:12-13)

Here is the one thing God has done for you that I am going to focus on. There are many more things God has done for you. You, of course, could write your own article, if you are a Christian, on all the things God has done for you.

I want to focus on Romans 7. When you were a slave to sin, trespasses, and spiritual rulers of the darkness of this world, you not only had to fight the urges of your flesh, but you had to fight “sin in the flesh” (Rom. 7:8-11, 14-17, 20, 23-24). Paul talks about “sin” almost as though it were an entity. Verse 17 says, “So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.”

Weird, huh?

No matter the explanation for this, Jesus has solved it:

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom. 8:2-4)

Actually, what I love most about this passage, though I highlighted something different for the purposes of this article, is “For what the law couldn’t do … God did.” Romans 7 is all about what the “holy, righteous, and good” law could not do. What it couldn’t do, however, God did.

God did what the law could not do by “sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.” “For sin” is generally understood by scholars to mean “an offering for sin.” I can’t comment for or against that, but it seems to me to be a consensus among scholars.

Anyway, Jesus becoming flesh and offering himself for us “condemned sin in the flesh.” In other words, that “sin which dwells in me” that Paul talked about in Romans 7 is condemned, and thus removed in Romans 8. In its place is the Spirit of God, and if we walk according to God’s Spirit, we won’t do what the flesh wants, we will do what our Master wants (cf. also Galatians 5:16).

This is a critical thing. The NIV and other translations like to translate the Greek sarx an “sinful nature” rather than “flesh.” That translation is impossible in Romans 8:3. If you used it, Romans 8:3 would say, “… sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful sinful nature and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the sinful nature.” It’s just an impossible translation.

No, sarx means flesh, and the flesh is our body. We used to be plagued by sin in the flesh, but now we are only plagued by the flesh. It is different. If you are really a Christian, you have experienced this. Rather than the spiritual forces of wickedness feeding your flesh towards sin (sin in the flesh), the Holy Spirit is feeding your spirit towards overcoming the natural desires of the body.

Walking in the Spirit so as to overcome the flesh is central to the New Testament and especially to Romans and Galatians. We miss a nuance of this:

Your flesh fights for survival. It needs to eat, drink, be safe from the weather, and it needs to procreate–to have sex–in order to perpetuate the species.

There are things that need to happen for the survival of the body, and there are things that need to happen for our spiritual survival. Our Master, Jesus, calls us to subdue the needs of fleshly survival and care about the needs of spiritual survival. This is why he says:

Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

Think of the competing needs of our body and our spirit when you read this passage:

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will save it. (Mark 8:35)

Or when you read this passage:

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Rom. 8:12-13)

The flesh used to have a sting that gave it uncontrollable power over you. That is being in bondage to sin (Rom. 6:6), but we are no longer in bondage. The body of sin has been done away with (again, Rom. 6:6). Put better a few verses later:

For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace [God’s favor]. (Rom. 6:14)

Yes, we still fight the flesh, but it no longer has the sting of “sin” that has been in the flesh. In Christ, that sting has been removed, and the desires of the flesh return to their natural intensity that, as almost all Christians know, is still somewhat intense.

But we are no longer just ourselves. We have been created anew in Christ Jesus to do good works (Eph. 2:10). Grace has come to teach us to live righteously, godly, and sensibly in this present age (Tit. 2:11-12). We do not merely follow in Jesus’ footsteps, though we do that (Heb. 12:1-2), we walk by his life in us (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:1-4).

This is redemption, Jesus ransoming us from the authority and power of the devil and demons, coming under the authority of the One whose name is above every rule, authority, power, and dominion, and thus receiving the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and set him above the rulers of this age. That very power is at work in us!! (Eph. 1:19-23).

Knowing what redemption is, I say to you:

ARISE, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
–Isaiah 60:1-3 (NKJV)

Posted in Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Gospel, Holiness, Modern Doctrines, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment