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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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Part 3 of Rebooting Redemption: Ezekiel 18, the Final Judgment, and Repentance

Posted on 09/18/2024 by Paul Pavao

A lot of things have happened since August 28, but I am trying to get back on track today. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t.

I am going to keep these shorter. Today I just want to talk about Ezekiel 18:20-30. Here’s verses 20b to 24. Verses 25-30 just repeat the points made in 20-24:

“The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him. But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. None of his transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live. But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.

There are only 3 relatively complete passages on the final judgment, at least on the topic of how we humans will be judged. Ezekiel 18:20-30, Matthew 25:31-46 (“the judgment of the sheep and the goats), and Revelation 20:10-15 (the Great White Throne judgment). Tell me in the comments if you know of any other.

In all of them the judgment is simple. Some people are righteous, and they will live, and some are wicked, and the will die. Matthew 25:31-46 makes it clear that life and that death are permanent (eternal).

We like to think that Jesus changed that when he died, but he didn’t. Jesus did not change God nor the judgment. Instead, Jesus died to change us. This is why Paul talks about the final judgment in very similar words to Ezekiel:

Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; who 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; but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath, indignation, oppression, and anguish on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom. 2:1-9)

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. (Galatians 6:7-9)

Romans 2:1-9 does not sound any different than Ezekiel 18:20-30. Galatians 6:7-9 only sounds different in the sense that it takes into account that Christians have been given the Spirit to help them “not be weary in doing good.” Of course, Paul goes on to explain the gifts we have obtained through Jesus death to equip us to do good, most notably the Holy Spirit, but also God’s favor (grace).

I think I’ll just end there and keep this short and simple.

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Part 2 of Rebooting Redemption: An Ancient Perspective on Jesus’ Atonement

Posted on 08/28/2024 by Paul Pavao

Yesterday, I said I would cover the other Greek words for “redeem” or “redemption” in the New Testament, but yesterday was a really long post. I can’t do that again today, so I am just going to provide something to think about.

Romans 2:6-7 says:

… [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 …

Everyone, including me, agrees that the problem with this verse is in the next chapter. God has consigned Jew and Gentile alike under sin, “For all have sinned and fall short of the kingdom of God.”

I have been told that because we have all sinned, God found a different plan for eternal life. Rather than rewarding eternal life to those who patiently continued to do good, he would pay for their sins by the blood of Jesus, and he would reward eternal life to those who believe in Jesus. In my experience, most of the time that has meant believing Jesus died for their sins.

Of course, proper faith is not believing that Jesus died for our sins, but believing that Jesus is Lord because God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9-10; compare also the apostles’ sermons in Acts, which I wrote about in a booklet called Apostles’ Gospel.) John 20:31, too, tells us that John’s Gospel was written so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah, King) and Son of God.

God had a better idea than scrapping the plan to reward the righteous. He would send his Son to rescue humans from the dominion of sin and the devil, equip them with the Holy Spirit, and empower them to overcome the flesh by his good favor (grace). Galatians 6:7-9 makes it clear that God has and always will reward those who live righteously. It even includes a warning not to be deceived about that.

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.

Can you see how much this is like Romans 2:5-8? He has given us his Spirit, but the flesh and Spirit (spirit?) war with each other (Gal. 5:17). If we walk by the Holy Spirit, we will overcome the flesh (Gal. 5:16). Paul calls it “putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit” in Romans 8:13.

If we sow to the Spirit, we will receive eternal life. If we sow to the flesh, we will perish (“reap corruption”). In verse 9, he adds that if you know this is true, then you should “not be weary in doing good.” That certainly means the same thing as “perseverance in doing good,” the wording Paul uses in Romans 2:7.

In Galatians 6:7-9, Paul is simply telling us that the solution to Romans 3 is to sow to the Holy Spirit, whom we received by confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead. If we do sow, we will reap eternal life … and we will be able to do good without growing weary.

This is why Paul says in Romans 8:12-13, as he wraps up his discussion on how not to live out Romans 3 or Romans 7: “Brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live.”

Jesus died so that we would be righteous people, patiently continuing to do good. Lots of verses say this. The most recent addition to my list is 1 Peter 2:24:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.

The clearest, though, is Titus 2:11-14 because it covers the purpose of God’s favor (grace) as well:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

It seems important to me that the next verse says, “Say these things and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one despise you.”

Part 3 has been written. I will link all the parts at the beginning of Part 1.

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Rebooting Redemption: An Ancient Perspective on Jesus’ Atonement

Posted on 08/27/2024 by Paul Pavao

Purpose of This Series of Posts

Part 2 , Part 3 , and Part 4 are written. Honestly, I probably wrote too much and got too far into the definitions of “redeem” and “redemption” in this first post. You should skim this one, but catch the outline at the beginning. The others are shorter.

In this series of posts I hope to chat in an organized way with those who, having read the New Testament, are already aware that the doctrine of “eternal security” (or “once saved, always saved”) has serious scriptural difficulties. My goal is to show you that what you have already understood deep in your heart as you have read your Bible is what the Bible actually teaches. I cannot tell you how many people have told me, “I always knew these things were true” after listening to me teach.

If you have not read the New Testament, I have to ask you to read the passages I show you; otherwise, you will just be taking my word against someone else’s, and there will be a lot of Scripture in these posts. Take them slow.

When Paul was called before the Roman governor Felix, “he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.” This terrified Felix (Acts 24:25). The importance of “righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come” is closely tied to a correct understanding of the main purpose of the atonement.

I don’t claim to understand God’s whole counsel and plan in sending Jesus to die on a cross and rise again, but I do understand the main purpose of the atonement. It is stated repeatedly in Scripture. (I won’t hold you hostage on what passages those are. Titus 2:11-15 is the most thorough, but verses like Acts 3:26, Romans 14:9, and 2 Corinthians 5:15 concisely state the purpose.)

Rebooting our Understanding of the Atonement

I use “reboot” in the title purposely. If you try to amend, adjust, modify, or add to the idea that God punished Jesus in order to appease his wrath towards us, you won’t understand what I am writing. If you bought into the idea that “God is merciful and wants to forgive sin, but he is just and must punish sin,” then you won’t understand what I am writing because that idea, despite being popular, is false.

  1. God has always forgiven sin without sacrifice and without blood.
  2. There is a judgment to come at which Christians will be judged by their works (by what they did).
  3. At that judgment, those who “patiently continued to go good” by “sowing to the Spirit” will receive eternal life, but those who were self-seeking and did not obey the truth because they “sowed to the flesh” will reap corruption (die).
  4. The purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection was to ransom us from our slavery to “the god of this world,” to free us from the dominion of the desires of our body, to purge our past sins–and even our past lives–by his blood, and thus reconcile us to God and empower us, both in desire and ability, to do good so that we can face the final judgment with confidence.

I know I have written about these things before, but I am hoping in this series to chat about these things in an organized way, hoping it will be engaging and memorable. I will be thinking about covering these main 4 points, but because I am chatting, I will be bringing up important overall points as well.

Also, because this is a chat, I am hoping for comments and questions!

Rebooting Redemption

“Redemption” is a great word, especially in the New Testament. According to my Bible app, which can only search the King James Version, “Redeem,” “redeemed,” or “redeeming” occurs 11 times in the NT.

Lutrosis (Strong’s number 3085)

In Luke 1:68, Zacharias prays over the newly born John the Baptist, saying that God has visited and redeemed his people. In this verse, the Greek word is lutrosis, which has a primary meaning of “ransom,” but carries the idea of deliverance or liberation (studybible.info). What Zacharias meant by being ransomed was …

“… salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;to show mercy toward our fathers, to remember his holy covenant,the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him without fear.”

This word is also used in Luke 2:38 where Anna, the very old prophetess, is talking about the newborn king with everyone “looking for lutrosis in Jerusalem.” Hebrews 9:12 says Jesus entered the “holy place” of the temple in heaven, “once for all” with his blood, because he had obtained “eternal lutrosis.”

Hebrews 9:12 is interesting because 3 verses later he says Jesus’ death (“a death”) occurred for an apolutrosis, not just a ransom, but a “release by payment of ransom” (studybible.info) for transgressions that occurred under the “first covenant.” Rather than discuss Hebrews 9:15 here, let’s look at epilutrosis, and the verses in which it occurs.

Epilutrosis (Strong’s number 629)

Hebrews 9:12-15 is a whirlwind of deep ideas. As I touch on those, remember that I am prioritizing the clear main purpose of the atonement, not the many deep truths covered in Hebrews! Nonetheless, since my research on “redemption” brings us to this passage, let’s at least address them.

Old Testament priests were mortal and sinned. They had to bring the blood of bulls and goats into the “holy place” of the earthly temple and cleanse it regularly (cf. Exodus 29:38-44, where the daily offerings are to sanctify the temple so the Lord can meet with Israel at its door). Jesus, being sinless and immortal, offered his blood to cleanse the heavenly temple “once for all,” and this “cleanses our conscience from dead works,” so we can serve the living God.

There is controversy over what “dead works” means (Heb. 9:14), but we do not have to trouble ourselves with that definition because they are being left behind no matter what they are. All my readers, whether they agree with me overall or not, will agree with me that we must go on to “living works,” which are works empowered by the life of Jesus in us, for apart from him we can do nothing (Jn. 15:5).

Finally, we see in Hebrews 9:15 that Jesus has mediated, or we can just say, established a “new covenant” because he has “released by ransom” the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Let’s pause here and comment on “Jesus paid the price.” What price does the Bible say he paid? He can’t have paid everything because Jesus himself said we have a cost to count (Luke 14:28). The price we have to pay, in context, is renouncing everything we have (Luke 14:33).

Jesus “paid the price” for several things, but above all, he paid the purchase price for us. He bought 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. 6:19b-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)

The nice thing about my stated purpose of chatting is that we can run down important rabbit trails. This one is really, really important.

Look at those two verses. Do they take your breath away like they take my breath away? That is not a rhetorical question. Maybe they don’t. Maybe you are doing so well at glorifying God in your body and spirit that you’re not convicted by 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Maybe you’re so comfortable with the idea that God will judge you impartially according to your works that your fear is not fear and trembling, but a healthy respect.

By the way, the word “reverent” in 1 Peter 1:17-19 above is added. Peter uses the word phobos, from which we get the English word “phobia.” It just means fear. It can mean any kind of fear. In fact, we have to combine the word “fear” in 1 Peter 1:17-19 with the word “trembling,” which Paul uses in Philippians 2:12, where he tells us to work out our salvation with “fear and trembling.”

Now, it is both true and vitally important that Philippians 2:13, the very next verse, says that God is at work in us so that we can both want to and do his will. I love the idea that energein, the word Paul used for “work,” is also the word we get “energy” and “energize” from. I am relatively sure most translators would not object to my saying that God is “energizing” us to desire and do his good will.

That said, Paul did not write Philippians 2:13 to contradict Philippians 2:12. We have to “work out” our salvation with fear and trembling “for” or “because” we are energized by God through his Spirit. There would be no sense in telling a non-Christian to work out their salvation in any manner because God is not energizing them by the Holy Spirit. We, however, because we are saved, and thus moved by God to desire and do his will, we sure better go ahead and do it.

Never let us think that because we are saved, things are just going to happen. Paul never thought that way. He disciplined his body like an Olympic athlete to bring it under subjection because he did not want to be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27). And we must not try to twist “disqualified” into anything other than being condemned on the last day because Paul contrasts disqualification with being in the faith in 2 Corinthians 13:5. In other words, to be disqualified is the opposite of being in the faith.

And 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 is not the only place where Paul describes his fight for salvation at the future resurrection. He talks about “pressing forward” so that “by any means” he might attain to the resurrection in Philippians 3:7-15.

Pay attention, too, to the connections between these verses. In Philippians 2, Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and in Philippians 3 he gives us a picture of what that looks like.

I’ve chatted my way to a long post, so let’s stop here. What we have looked at today, I think, is how we are called to live and how to think about the coming judgment, though all I was trying to do was define redemption. We have to live and think that way even though Jesus died for us, our sins have already been forgiven, we are empower by the Holy Spirit, and our past sins have been purged (cf. 1 Pet. 3:8-9).

As we go through redemption more in the next post, hopefully, covering all 3 of the words for “redeem” that we have not covered, we have worked our way back to the outline I gave in the introduction.

Chats are slow … but thorough, and my favorite way to teach (and learn). You’re getting to journey through the Scriptures with me the way I do it. If my chains of verses leading to other verses don’t just fall into place easily, I’m probably off track. But when we can swing through the Scripture like a gibbon through a forest, you can know we are on track with something powerful.

I love watching gibbons. They’re so free and happy, they might be the loudest celebrators in the jungle!

Also, I have not edited this yet, so if you catch typos, please tell me in the comments. I am pretty sure I will get around to editing this, maybe when I move the group of posts to Christian-history.org or into a booklet.

I will link future posts in this series here.

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The Day of Atonement and the Goat for Azazel

Posted on 08/23/2024 by Paul Pavao

I looked up the Kyle-Delitzsch commentary on Lev. 16:8, where a lot is cast for two goats on the day of atonement, one for Yahweh and one for Azazel. Kyle-Delitzsh is, or at least used to be, a prince among commentaries. They write:

“The words, one lot for Jehovah and one for Azazel, require unconditionally that Azazel should be regarded as a personal being, in opposition to Jehovah. … We have not to think, however, of any demon whatever, who seduces men to wickedness in the form of an evil spirit, as the fallen angel Azazel is represented as doing in the Jewish writings (Book of Enoch 8:1; 10:10; 13:1ff.) … but of the devil himself, the head of the fallen angels, who was afterwards called Satan; for no subordinate evil spirit could have been placed in antithesis to Jehovah as Azazel is here, but only the ruler or head of the kingdom of demons. The desert and desolate places are mentioned elsewhere as the abode of evil spirits (Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14; Matthew 12:43; Luke 11:24; Revelation 18:2). The desert, regarded as an image of death and desolation, corresponds to the nature of evil spirits, who fell away from the primary source of life, and in their hostility to God devastated the world, which was created good, and brought death and destruction in their train.” (Biblehub Commentaries on Leviticus 16:8)

My comment: In the Book of Enoch, Azazel was not the head of the Watchers who married human women (Gen. 6:4). He was, however, the leading teacher of immorality among them, and is mentioned first later in Enoch.

This may be your first encounter with the “scapegoat” actually being the “goat for Azazel,” but it definitely was “for Azazel” and not “the scapegoat,” though “goat for release” is a good translation of Azazel’s name.  Also, Azazel was described as buried in a specific place in the desert, bound in chains, alive but in darkness. A later Mishnah suggests the Israelites made an effort to throw the goat down a rocky cliff, directly to where Azazel might be buried.

You might also have heard that the Jews tied a scarlet cord around the goat’s neck. What a sweet depiction of what they actually did! They tied the cord around the goat’s neck and around a rock, and they used the weight of the rock to take the goat down the cliff to be killed by the rocks on it.

I got this information from various sources, but primarily from Gospel over Gods by Tyler Gilreath (2021, Gilreath Publications).

Early Christian References to Azazel

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. I, ch. 15, par 6 (c. AD 185), attributed by Irenaeus to “that divine elder and preacher of the truth,” supposed by some scholars to be Pothinus:

Marcus, thou former of idols, inspector of portents, skill’d in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic, ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error, … which Satan, thy true father, enables thee still to accomplish, by means of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel …

Note: Marcus was a gnostic teacher, still alive when Irenaeus wrote this. Pothinus was an elder (likely) of the church in Smyrna under Polycarp as bishop. Smyrna is where Irenaeus grew up and knew both Pothinus and Polycarp.

From Origen, Against Celsus, Bk. VI, ch. 43 (early third century):

And, further, who else could the destroying angel mentioned in the Exodus of Moses4492 be, than he who was the author of destruction to them that obeyed him, and did not withstand his wicked deeds, nor struggle against them?  Moreover (the goat), which in the book of Leviticus is sent away (into the wilderness), and which in the Hebrew language is named Azazel, was none other than this; and it was necessary to send it away into the desert, and to treat it as an expiatory sacrifice, because on it the lot fell.  For all who belong to the “worse” part, on account of their wickedness, being opposed to those who are God’s heritage, are deserted by God.

Note: Don’t take Origen’s word as gospel! He was a highly respected teacher in his day, but he loved to speculate. When he asks something like “Who else could the destroying angel be?,” he is arguing, not passing on apostolic tradition that has been preserved in the church and handed down to him. I would take the idea that Azazel was the destroying messenger of the Exodus with a few grains of salt. The point of this quote is that the early churches knew who Azazel was, knew about the Book of Enoch (which is quoted by Jude in the Bible), and knew the goat of Leviticus 16 was the goat for Azazel.

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