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Fruit of the Spirit-Peace

12 Monday Apr 2021

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is…peace” Galatians 5:22

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!  This is the beautiful greeting used by the Apostle Paul in each of his letters and it is my greeting to each of you as, this week, we take a look at the Fruit of the Spirit which is peace.

The Greek word translated “peace” in all the scriptures I’ll be discussing is eirene (G1515).  The Strong’s Concordance gives me this definition: …from a primary verb eiro (to join), peace, prosperity, one…set at one again.  How beautiful Luke 2:14 becomes: “Glory to God in the Highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”  God Himself has come to bring peace on earth, to set everything at one again. So the heavenly hosts proclaimed.  Jesus Himself said something different: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)  These two scriptures appear opposed to one another.  I have heard some believers say that Jesus came to save us from the wrath of the Father but no…looking at these two scriptures it seems to me God wants peace on earth and Jesus said nope-not peace but a sword.  Do we Christians have a divided God?  Can one member of the Trinity be at odds with another? 

Such a thing is impossible in the God who has revealed Himself as One.  There are all of the scriptures where Jesus says “The Father and I are One” but let’s look at John 1:1; “The Word was with God and the Word was God”.  The word “with” in the Greek is sun (G4862) and means “union, with or together.”  No separation but union.  They are One in being and One in purpose.  Keeping this in mind, I took a closer look at Matthew 10:34.

My NKJV says “bring peace” but the KJV has “send peace”.  I looked up the Greek word and found ballo (G906) which carries the basic meaning of to throw or cast.  Here I see peace is not something imposed from without but rather, something central to a group of individuals.  The disciples carried it with them when they were sent out, it was something they could bestow, and it was something they could remove (see all of Chapter 10 of Matthew, specifically verse 13).  Chapter 10 of Matthew described terrible happenings, schisms between families, great tribulation.  There’s a similar passage in Luke’s Gospel but the word there is division rather than sword.  (Luke 12:51) 

Division or sword?  I think it’s both.  The word translated “division” in Luke 12:51 is diamerismos (G1267) and means “disunion (of opinion and conduct), division” while the word for “sword” in Matthew 10:34 is machaira (G3162) and means “a knife, i.e. dirk, fig. war, judicial punishment-sword”.  I find these two passages aren’t saying entirely different things though because, machaira is derived from mache (G3163) meaning “a battle, i.e. fig controversy-fighting, strive, striving” and, tracing further to the primary verb machomai (G3164); I find “to war, i.e. (fig) to quarrel, dispute:-fight, strive.”

Not that the sword mentioned by Jesus could not be and has not been a literal one.  History has recorded the people of God being put to death and, indeed, many times delivered up to death by a close friend or family member.  It is happening today in parts of the world.  To the shame of what it is to be Christian, the literal sword has been wielded by Christians.  I am not talking about being part of a military or defending one’s nation but am talking about killing another in the name of God thinking it brings Him honor.  This is not the way Jesus gave to peace.  “My kingdom is not of this word.  If My kingdom were of this word, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”(John 18:36) 

This thought continues in the New Testament and is perhaps best put into words by the Apostle Paul: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4)  No, the sword, or the far more advanced weapons of this day; are not for the hands of Christians to usher in the Kingdom of God.  Neither do we declare another human as our enemy because “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Perhaps all this is easy for me to say.  I do not live in a country where I am under threat of death for speaking what I believe.  That is true.  My life is not in danger (I hope) but I have experienced divisions.  I know the pain of separation because of my faith.  I can speak to the truth of Luke 12:51 if not to Matthew 10: 34, and I can also speak to the truth of the peace of God centered in Jesus.

His peace is to us in the midst of whatever we may face.  “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and “Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives do I give unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

His peace is also, quite literally, a fortress.  Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  The word “guard” here is phroureo (G5432) and means “to be a watcher in advance i.e. to mount guard as a sentinel (post spies at gates), to hem in, protect; –keep (with a garrison).”

What a peace is this!  It is not given by the world, it is not given to the world, and it can never be found there.  The Hastings Bible Dictionary says, “The transition from OT to NT usage (of peace) strikingly illustrates the inwardness of Christianity.”  The entry for peace also contains a quote from G.G. Findlay: “Peace on earth is to flow from the peace of Christ that rules in Christian hearts.”  The will of God is peace on earth but this peace is found only in Jesus.  It is the fruit of Christian lives because of His Spirit in us.  May the Spirit open our eyes to the reality of His peace and then may we go into our daily lives with our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  (Ephesians 6:15)

Amen.

References:

Unless notes otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

Hastings, James, Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., Reprint from the edition originally published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1909, March 2001, Page 696-697

Strong, James, LLD., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Oh Joyous Day!

05 Monday Apr 2021

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But the Fruit of the Spirit is…joy…Galatians 5:22

I am continuing my look at joy this week.  When I started this series, I wondered whether or not there was an intention to the ordering of the attributes comprising the Fruit of the Spirit.  As I read John 15:11, I think that answer is yes.  This verse states, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may remain full.”  Jesus said this right after speaking on the vine and the branches, abiding in Him, and keeping His commandment to love.  Looking at this verse in the context of the full passage, I see His Joy flows out of His love. 

This love is described in the passage we all know so well: “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”  (John 3:16, Amplified).  If ever there was a verse to Selah (Pause and calmly think of that!), it’s this one.  It’s quoted too quickly, passed over without pondering what is said here, and I think there is an all too quick assumption that I understand what this means.  Familiarity breeding complacency, as it were.

The One who is Agape loved us so much that He gave Himself to and for the entire world that we might not be lost.  I know the word is “perish” in almost every translation but the Greek word is the exact same word translated “lost” in the beautiful parables shared in Luke Chapter 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the son who was lost.  The word is apollumi (G622) and is also the same word used in Luke 19: 10 where Jesus says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  I recently watched a pastor on You Tube and, while I did find his message interesting, I was a taken aback when I heard him say, “Jesus came to save you from hell.”  Well…I understand why he’s saying that but that’s not what Jesus Himself said.  He came to seek and save that which was lost.  He also said that he came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

I think the word “might” does make this passage sound uncertain.  We might have life the same as it might rain.  The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament gives this passage as: “I came that life they may have and abundantly may have.”  It’s a bit awkward, I know.  The Modern Young’s Literal Translation has it better: “I came that they may have life and may have [it] abundantly.”  Using “may have” to translate the Greek does make sense (echo G2192) as it means to hold as a possession or the ability to hold.  The New World Dictionary does say “might” and “may” can be used interchangeably but, while “might” is used to express a shade of doubt or smaller degree of possibility; the first definition of “may” is to be physically capable of doing, ability or power.  I see the meaning of the Greek repeated here and find a whole other pathway of study opening before me!  For the sake of this post, I don’t find any uncertainty in John 10:10 nor do I find any indication this life is reserved for a future time.

John 3:16 is quoted like eternal life is reserved for the future.  If we’ve made the right decision, believed the right thing, we won’t perish, i.e. go to hell after we die.  That’s not what the scripture is saying.  Jesus called us “lost”.  Now.  He came to seek and save that which was lost and he came that we would have abundant life.  Now.  Jesus does not leave us in ignorance of what this life is and, again, I don’t see that it’s something I have to die and go to heaven to attain.  “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

Another passage reserved for the future is, “…I go to prepare a place or you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”  In every church I’ve been in, I’ve heard that interpreted to mean this is something that won’t happen until Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom.  I recently heard Malcolm Smith teach on this passage.  Mr. Smith said there is nothing in the conversation Jesus had with His disciples, a conversation spanning chapters 13-17 of John’s gospel, which indicates Jesus meant something that was to take place in the far out future.  After speaking these words, Jesus was betrayed, tried, crucified, buried, rose again, ascended to the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit.  He thus finished the work God the Father sent Him to do, and through His Spirit, brings us into union with Himself.  The place is prepared for us now.  I had not ever heard this scripture interpreted this way.  It arrested me and I had to meditate on it for quite some time.  

I agree with Mr. Smith’s interpretation.  I do not remember if Mr. Smith quoted this scripture but, if this passage is something that does not take place until the end of the age, how is Ephesians 2:4-7 possible?  That passage states, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loves us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  I cannot get around the now-ness of all of these verses.  I was dead in my trespasses, lost.  He came and sought me.  I have been made alive in Christ Jesus, now.  I sit with Him in heavenly places, now. 

Because I no longer believe this passage is referring to something that happens after we die or when Jesus returns, does this mean I don’t believe in Jesus returning?  No.  I believe there is still coming the times of restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).  Jesus refers to Himself as the one “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”  (Revelation 1: 8)  The point of this post is to stress the importance of knowing the Jesus who is NOW!  The Christian world has just finished commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Yesterday (Sunday) came the declaration, “Christ is risen!” and the answer, “He is risen indeed.”  Yes, He is.  In His own words, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.” (Revelation 1:18)

I honor He who was.  I anticipate He who is to come.  My joy is in He who is alive and alive in me now.  He inhabits every moment of my life.  May we all see it!  I pray the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to behold it.

Alleluia!  Amen.

Unless notes otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

Reference Materials Used:

Guralnik, David B., Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second College Edition, William Collins + World Publishing Company, 1976

Marshall, Reverend Alfred., D. Litt., The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1958

Strong, James, LLD., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1990

Young, Robert, Modern Young’s Literal Translation New Testament With Psalms & Proverbs, Greater Truth Publishers, Lafayette, Indiana, 2005

Fruit of the Spirit-Joy

29 Monday Mar 2021

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“But the Fruit of the Spirit is…joy” Galatians 5:22

This week, I am looking at Joy.  It has been an interesting week.  It has not been the headlines in my country alone that have been full of violence, hate, anger, and despair.  No, the violence that has and is taking place in my own country is taking place around the world.  In the midst of all that is going on, how can I talk about Joy?  Is it cruel to even mention Joy as a Fruit of the Spirit when there is so much suffering?  I must talk about Joy because it is part of our inheritance in Jesus Christ and is not affected by the evils of this world.  It would be cruel of me if I presented Joy in the Spirit as something we believers could have if we were just better Christians and if I suggested that, since we suffer, we must be failing God in some way.  That is not true.  That is not in the scripture.  That is not what I find in the heart of the God who loves me.  Our Joy is His Joy and it is the gift freely given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

There is a fallacy regarding the Christian life and I don’t have to look very far to see it perpetuated.  This fallacy is that somehow, we who are partakers of this New Covenant Life in Jesus Christ, have the best of everything, are never touched by sorrow or disease, and lack nothing.  If we do not have the best, experience loss or sickness, and have any sort of need, we have failed in some way to lay hold of our inheritance.  I do not find a scriptural basis for this without doing some serious carving up of the New Testament.  In order to believe this, I have to hold very tightly to a few select scriptures and utterly ignore everything else.  When I look at scripture as a whole, I find the opposite is true.  Jesus Himself tells me, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  The truth of this is carried into the Acts of the Apostles where the souls of the disciples are strengthened by the words, “We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.”  (Acts 14:22)

The word translated “tribulation” is the Greek word thlipsis (G2347) and has the definition of pressure, affliction, anguish, burden, persecution, tribulation, trouble.  Thlipsis comes from thlibo (G2346) which means to crowd, afflict, narrow, throng.  Here I see a picture of being surrounded by so many problems and difficulties, and sufferings, there isn’t room to move or even breathe.  I have a story that might help give you a picture of this, if you’ll bear with me.

I have always been a lousy athlete especially when it came to team sports.  Basketball in particular was my nemesis.  I can’t count how many times I would be practicing dribbling the ball, the ball would hit the top of my foot, and go shooting off like an arrow.  I spent most of my time chasing the ball and hurting myself than I ever did actually playing basketball.  However, the town I lived in was small and everyone had to have a chance to play.  Now, there was another girl who was a fabulous athlete.  No matter what sport-team or otherwise-she took part in, she excelled.  I am simplifying a bit but the odds of my scoring any points, no matter how often I “kept my eye on the ball” and “followed through” were astronomical.  And so, my one job, if I could manage it, was to get the ball to this girl.  There came a time during a game when I’d managed to retrieve the ball on the rebound.  I couldn’t do much with it and the other team was coming for me.  I found myself on my knees, curled around the ball, staring at the feet of the members of the other team while they all surrounded me.  I was completely hedged in.  There was nothing I could do.  I couldn’t get up.  I called this girl’s name and, all of the sudden, saw a pair of hands I recognized.  I got the ball to her and every member of that team lost interest in me.

I do not mean to trivialize the horrors that beset us in this life.  I tell this story because this is what I picture when life does this to me.  There are times when I am on my knees, curled around myself to protect myself, so beset by tribulations I can’t see anything else.  But I am of good cheer because there is a name I can call on and He is always there.  He lifts me in His hands and I can trust Him to work all things together for good because I love Him and I know I am called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8: 28, paraphrased) When I deliberately picture myself in His hands, when I focus all my attention on Him, my sorrow is swallowed up in Joy.

How can I say this?  Life is not a basketball game.  There is terrible suffering and there is death.  How can I say death is good?  I do not.  Death is an enemy.  I do not know how God is going to take all the horrible things humans have done to each other since Cain slew Abel, all the sicknesses and diseases we have suffered, and work them for good.  I do not have a satisfactory answer on why God continues to allow such sufferings other than the one I find where, while speaking of humankind, the Writer of the Hebrews says, “For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him, But now we do not yet see all things put under him.  But we see Jesus…” (Hebrews 2: 8-9)

I see Jesus.  I see the One despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, the One who bore my griefs, carried my sorrows, was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities, the One by whose stripes I am healed. (Isaiah 53: 3-5, paraphrased).  I count myself among the blessed mourners, blessed not because I mourn but because I am comforted.  My comfort comes from the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, the Comforter Himself.  I am not ashamed because I do not always feel joy.  My heart breaks, I grieve, I get tired of living a life in pain: all of this is real and I feel it.  But, I look through all of that to Jesus in whom I live, and move, and have my being.  My life is hid in His.  I am aware of Him always with me, undergirding me, infusing His strength in me.  It is His Joy that is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10) and my feelings eventually align with this truth.  It is no longer I who live, it is Christ who lives in me and I rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.  (1 Peter 1:8)

My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the sweet, tho’ far-off hymn
That hails a new creation;
Thro’ all the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul—
How can I keep from singing?

What tho’ my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Saviour liveth;
What tho’ the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging;
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it,
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing;
All things are mine since I am his—
How can I keep from singing?

-Robert Wadsworth Lowry, 1868

All scriptures quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1982

Fruit of the Spirit-Love

22 Monday Mar 2021

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“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love…” Galatians 5:22

As I began this study, I wondered whether or not there was intention behind the order in which the Fruit of the Spirit is listed.  Was Paul, because he listed love first, saying it’s the most important?  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul does say, “and now abide faith, hope, love, these three: but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)   

While I was looking up the word “love” in my reference materials, I came across the following: “Love is the highest characteristic of God, the one attribute in which all others harmoniously blend.”1 I found I agreed as I considered the rest of the list in Galatians 5:22 & 23: the other Fruit of the Spirit were not a possibility without love and they did both blend with and flow out of love.  Perhaps Paul did deliberately list love first.

Jesus certainly considered love of highest importance.  He stressed its importance during the conversation that took place in the upper room.  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” and then again; “These things I command you, that you love one another” (John 15: 12 and 17, respectively).  What is this love He, and the writers of the New Testament, consider so important?

The Greek language does something I wish English did and that is it distinguishes between types of love.  There is eros or sexual love, there is storge for familial love or affection, there is philia to describe social love or friendship, philanthropia for a broader ethical sense of kindness and humanity, and then there is agape.2 While phileo (verb-John 16:27) and philanthropia (Titus 3:4) are used in connection with the love of God, it is agape (the noun) or agapeo (the verb) that are used most often.  Agape (G26) means love, affection, benevolence and agapeo (G25) means love in a social or moral sense. 

I don’t know about you, but these definitions from Strong’s Concordance don’t succeed in opening my eyes to the awesomeness of agape.  My reference materials do attempt to explain the meaning further.  Vine’s Expository Dictionary has “the characteristic word of Christianity…used to describe the attitude of God toward His son…the human race…and to such as believe on the Lord Jesus Christ…to convey His will to His children concerning their attitude toward one another…and toward all men…to express the essential nature of God.”3  The Hastings Dictionary says, “agape, signifying primarily a voluntary, active affection, has brought…into the NT the deeper sense of spiritual affection, the love that links God and man and unites soul and soul in the Divine communion.  Like philia, it implies reciprocity, fellowship,–if not existing, then desired and sought.”4 I liked the entry in Unger’s Bible Dictionary best: “We must derive our conceptions of God from the special revelation which he has given of Himself; and this declares His love as strongly as His existence.”5 I will come back to this in a moment.

1 John 4:8 states, “He who does not love (agapeo) does not know God for God is love (agape).  God is, in His very nature, love.  I have found value in reading the entries for love/agape in my reference materials but I find it is scripture itself that gives me the clearest picture of this love that God is.    

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most spectacular passages in all of scripture. It explains agape. I cannot fathom why the translators of the King James Bible used “charity” to translate agape in this passage and yet translated it “love” elsewhere.  While other versions did make the correction back to “love”, I have heard this passage quoted with “charity” and I think that word sucks the vibrancy out of it. The passage is meant to be a joyous revelation of the very heart of God.  Let us take a look at it again keeping this in mind:

Love suffers long.  Love is kind.  Love does not envy.  Love does not parade itself.  Love is not puffed up.  Love does not behave rudely.  Love does not seek its own.  Love is not provoked.  Love thinks no evil.  Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth.  Love bears all things.  Love believes all things.  Love hopes all things.  Love endures all things.  Love never fails. 

Again, “We must derive our conceptions of God from the special revelation which he has given of Himself; and this declares His love as strongly as His existence.” “Love had its perfect expression among men in the Lord Jesus Christ.”6 “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).  There are so many more commentaries, expositions, and scriptures I could quote if I had space.  I hope these few are enough for each one of us to see that perfect love that God is has been made manifest to us in His Son.  That love is the same love with which we are commanded to love each other.  Is this a burden placed upon us believers?  Are we to strive to love like Him and hope we don’t fall short?  Of course not!

The word “commandment” in the passages I quoted earlier is a fascinating one.  It is entole (G1785) meaning injunction, authoritative prescription, commandment, precept.  Entole comes from entellomai (G1781) which means enjoin, give charge, give commandments, injoin.  Entellomai can be broken down into its components and here’s where it gets extremely interesting.  I haven’t got the space to share the definitions in their entirety so I encourage you to look them up for yourself.  Briefly, the meanings are these:

En (G1722) denoting fixed position in place, time, or state…instrumentality…a relation of rest…give self wholly to

Telos (G5056) to set out for a definite point of goal, the conclusion of an act or a state, ultimate or prophetic purpose, an impost or levy (as paid)

Do you see it?  The onus isn’t on us at all except as it relates to our keeping ourselves in Him, entering into His rest, and remaining in vital relationship with Him through His Spirit!  God so LOVED-AGAPEO-the world that He gave His son and Jesus has done it all!  He is the One who has ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things! (Ephesians 4:10)  We who hope to love as Jesus did know we can do so, not in our own strength but because “the love (agape) of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5)  It is His Spirit in us that bears fruit and the beginning of this fruit is His love.

  1. Unger, Merrill, F., Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1982, Page 668
  2. Hastings, James, Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, Fifth Printing, Hendrickson Publishers, USA, 2001, Page 555
  3. Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1997, Pages 692-693
  4. Hastings, James, Hastings Dictionary of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, USA, 2001, Page 555
  5. Unger, Merrill, F., Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1982, Page 668
  6. Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1997, Page 693

Other References: The Comparitive Study Bible, Zondervan, 1984; The New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982; The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990

Testing the Fruit

01 Monday Mar 2021

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Photo by Kai-Chieh Chan from Pexels

This week, I find myself still in 1 John 4.  Specifically, his admonition in verse 1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  I have seen stories of those claiming to be prophets and/or claiming to have received prophetic messages from God.  Statements made by these prophets have since turned out to be untrue.  No doubt I need look no further to see what John meant by false prophets. 

Here is where I find study important when I am attempting to understand scripture.  I bring whatever I believe a word means to scripture when I read it and this can be dangerous when I thus interpret the meaning of a passage.  Whenever I read the word “prophet” I know that means “someone who says what God is going to do in the future”.  A modern day prophet is someone like the Old Testament prophets but better because that person is (ought to be) spirit-filled.  Or, at least I assume I know because that’s how the word has been used and is thus the definition foremost in my mind when I read scripture but; is that really what the word means?  It is important to me that I know and so I turn to my Strong’s Concordance.

The Greek word translated “false prophet” is pseudoprophetes (S5578).  What’s cool about studying Greek is the words can be broken into parts and their meanings looked at.  Pseudoprophetes can be split into pseudes which means “untrue, i.e. erroneous, deceitful, wicked–false, liar” and prophetes (S4396) which, while it does mean “a foreteller (“Prophet”)” it also means “An inspired speaker, a poet;-prophet”.  Prophetes can be split into its parts of pro (S4253) and phemi (S5346).  Pro means “fore, i.e. in front of, prior to” and phemi means “to show or make known one’s thoughts”.  My trusty Vine’s Expository Dictionary has: “PROPHETES, one who speaks forth or openly, A), a proclaimer of a divine message…one to whom and through whom God speaks.”1  With just this bit of study, I see that a prophet can be but is not necessarily someone who foretells the purposes of God in the future.  Rather, anyone who stands up and claims to be speaking on behalf of God is a prophet which would include any teacher, pastor, writer, etc. 

I see this is so when I look at Hebrews 1:1-2 and Revelation 19:10.  The Hebrews passage says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” and the Revelation passage says, “…for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  It bears repeating: God speaking by His Son and the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.  To me, these scriptures say it isn’t just a prophet’s declaration of the future I need to be testing but also I need to be testing whatever is said by anyone claiming to speak on the word of God.  I sincerely hope my words are being subjected to the same test.  What test?

 For further clarification, I turn to the words of Jesus Himself.

In Matthew 7: 15-20, Jesus warns to beware of false prophets.  He says “you will know them by their fruits” in verse 16 and says it again in verse 20: “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”  Jesus speaks about two kinds of fruit in this small passage.  “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” He asks and then continues, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit…every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:16-17, 19).

How can there be both good fruit and bad fruit?  In the parable of the Vine and the branches recorded in the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel Jesus says, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you aide in Me.”  To me, this says there’s fruit and no fruit, not good fruit and bad fruit.  Does Jesus contradict Himself?  Can both passages be true?

I find my answer to that is yes but only when I consider the life that flows from the vine to the branch in terms of the Holy Spirit.  There is Jesus and there is Me.  We are separate in a sense (We can’t ever be truly separate as in Him all things hold together as described in Colossians 1:17.  That’s a vast subject I don’t have space to address here).  And yet, His life is my life because His Spirit lives in me.  I am only aware of His life in me because the Spirit reveals it to me.  This is true of every believer so how can a believer bear bad fruit?  When I return to Matthew 7, Jesus says “I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you’.” (Verse 23). 

Intimacy with Jesus Christ is the answer.  When I realize I abide in Him, that apart from Him I can do nothing, that I need the flow of His Spirit every moment of my life, the fruit I bear will be good fruit.  If that flow is stifled or diminished somehow, I would still bear fruit but it would be shriveled, tasteless, perhaps rotten fruit.  I wonder if this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said “do not quench the Spirit” in 1 Thessalonians 5:19. 

In the very next verse Paul says, “Do not despise prophecies.”  Prophecies are important.  Teachers of the Word are important.  Knowing the difference between good fruit and bad fruit is important.  Galatians 5: 22-23 tells me what the fruit of the Spirit is, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”  Here is an entire list of Spirit fruit I can taste for myself, savor, become familiar with as they become part of me.  It’s only by tasting the good fruit that comes from a life in the Spirit that I can recognize the taste of the bad fruit when it is served up to me.

  1. Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1997, Prophet, Page 894

From Whence I Came

28 Monday Dec 2020

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I had planned for this week’s post to close out on my study of John 3:5 but I find there is an interpretation of “born of water” I would be remiss if I didn’t address.  That interpretation is the one that states being born of water is in reference to our physical birth.  I had personally discounted this interpretation because I had no found no scripture using “born of water” to mean physical birth.  I had found “born of a woman” but never “born of water”.  I had looked at various blog posts that discounted this interpretation but was looking up my scripture reference in the Mirror Study Bible and saw that John 3:5 was translated as “unless someone is born out of water (the womb) and Spirit, there would be no possible connection with the realm of God!” 1 

When I first started this series and was talking it over with my mother, she said she’d always thought being born of water meant physical birth because of the rush of water that announces an imminent birth.  She had been taught so in her church.  While I personally have never heard this interpretation, I’ve also never heard a sermon on John 3:5 so don’t have any idea how prevalent this interpretation might be.  And so, in the interests of being thorough, I am going to take a look at the possibility that being born of water is referencing the physical birth.

At first glance, this interpretation appears obvious.  Nicodemus does ask how it’s possible for a grown man to return to the womb and Jesus does reply with “that which is born of flesh is flesh” (John 3:6).  The Mirror Study Bible translates John 3:6 as, “Whatever originates out of flesh is flesh; but what is sourced in Spirit is spirit” and then has the following commentary: “The Message says, when you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch.  But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit”.

Let us continue in the Mirror Study Bible for two more verses.  John 3:7; “Don’t be so surprised when I say to you [manity – plural!] You couldn’t get here in the flesh unless you got here from above! (See John 1:10 These are the ones who discover their genesis in God beyond their natural conception!  This is not about our blood lineage or whether we were a wanted or an unwanted child – this is about our God-begotteness; we are his dream come true!  We are not the invention of our parents! [You are the greatest idea God has ever had!]) John 3:8; We can observe the effect the wind has and hear its sound whenever it touches objects – yet those objects do not define the wind; it comes and goes of its own accord – if life was not born out of the spirit in the first place, it would not be possible to detect spirit influence at all!  We are spirit-compatible by design! (Spirit is our origin!  Not our mother’s womb!…) 

This confuses me a bit.  What is Mr. du Toit saying here?  Is he saying while the Spirit is our true origin, we must be born into a physical body in order to-he says have a possible connection but other translations say see, enter-the Kingdom of God?  If so, I have a massive question I must lay before my Heavenly Father.  What about all the children who don’t make it through the birth process?

While seeking an answer in scripture to that question, I found I had to ask another: when does life begin?  I’ve heard various people say life begins at birth and others say it begins at conception.  What does the Bible say?  The Bible appears to share a truth so massive my mind can hardly fathom it.  The Writer of the Book of Hebrews, in talking about the Priesthood of Melchizedek, says it is a higher priesthood than that of Levi because “even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him” (Hebrews 7:9-10) This scripture suggests Levi was alive in his great-grandfather decades before his physical birth.  And yet, there is a scripture that takes all of humanity’s origins back further than Abraham because “as in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 13:22).  The first human made a choice that affected every one of his descendants.  It affected me so I had to be in Adam all those millennia before my actual birth.

The Bible does make clear the fact that God knew us before our physical birth.  God says to Jeremiah, “before I formed you in the womb I knew you: Before you were born I sanctified you” (Jeremiah 1:5).  One of my favorite Psalms contains a passage that echoes God’s words to Jeremiah: “You formed my inward parts: You covered me in my mother’s womb…my frame was not hidden from you…you saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” (Psalm 139: 13-16) The Gospel of John says “All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.”  Consider Colossians 1:16: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him.”  Ephesians 1:4-5 says “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the pleasure of His will”.   

When I meditate on these scriptures, especially Colossians and Ephesians, I think I have not yet begun to fathom my origin.  Regarding John 3:5, I do not agree that “born of water” means a physical birth and then being born of the Spirit is the being born again.  In fact, the Greek word that has been translated again is anothen (G509) and would have been translated more accurately as from above, or anew.  (I’ve addressed this here) I believe born of water and the spirit were meant to explain being born anew and conducting this study has convinced me that the being born from above has nothing to do with water baptism.  Do I think a human has to be born physically and live some time on this earth in order to be then born into the Kingdom of God?

I do think this human existence is of immense value.  I think every life matters to God in a way we humans don’t understand unless His Spirit opens our eyes.  I know death is an enemy but one that is defeated by Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15, Revelation 1:18) therefore I do not believe the death of this body in some way thwarts God.  I do know that “in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-in Him.” The Amplified Bible puts it beautifully: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. (For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.) To Him be glory forever!  Amen (so be it). (Romans 11:36)

Amen.

To be continued…

  1. “Scripture taken from THE MIRROR. Copyright © 2012. Used by permission of The Author.”

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Baptize to Repentance

14 Monday Dec 2020

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In this week’s post, I continue looking at John 3:5 and the question; does “born of water” refer to water baptism?  I have yet to be convinced it does because I cannot find anything that suggests water baptism being performed by John would have occurred to Nicodemus in answer to Jesus’ words.  I had hoped I would find an easy answer in the Old Testament thinking that the phrase “born of water” might have been used somewhere and so I looked through my lexicons looking for said phrase.

I couldn’t find it.  I do admit I might have missed it: to be thorough I looked up “born” and, since James 1:18 in the King James Version uses “begat” rather than “birthed” or “born”, I looked up “begat” as well.  There was a great deal of begetting in the Old Testament.  Knowing I may not have read the scripture lists with as detailed an eye as I ought, I went to Google.  The search engine was not able to return a single instance of the phrase “born of water” in the Old Testament.  Just for fun, I looked up “water” and encountered many phrases I’d like to take a look at another time (what does it mean to drink the water of iniquity?) but found nothing that suggested someone intimate with the Old Testament scriptures like Nicodemus would associate the water baptism of John with being born anew/born of water and spirit. 

What was the baptism of John?  Mark 1:4 tells me it was a baptism to the repentance of sins.  I want to take a look at the word repentance because it doesn’t mean in this passage what general usage says it means.  My New World Dictionary defines repentance as “a repenting or being penitent; feeling of sorrow, etc., esp. for wrongdoing; compunction; contrition, remorse.”  Repent is further defined as “to feel sorry or self-reproachful for what one has done or failed to do, be conscious-stricken or contrite, to feel such regret…as to change one’s mind about…”  Repentance is made up of the Latin “re-again” and “poenitere-penitent.”1

There is a word for this in the New Testament: metamellomai (G3338).  It is the word used in Matthew 27:3 where Judas “repented” and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.  It is a word that expresses “a desire that an action might be undone, express regrets, or even remorse, but does not imply an effective change of heart”2.

I am careful whenever I find someone using the word repentance.  It’s critical to understand what is being said.  Is repentance being used to mean “to be afflicted in mind”, “to be troubled for our former folly”…”a being displeased for what we have done”?3  Is repentance being used to mean performing penance over and over again?  If so, then it is not the same repentance used in accordance with the baptism of John.  The Greek word used there is metanoia (G3341) and “where there was a difference made (in meaning), metanoia was the better word, which does not properly signify the sorrow for having done amiss, but something that is nobler than it…metanoia and its verb refer to a true change of heart toward god.”4

I found an article online that said that baptism was used for ritual cleansing of Gentile proselytes and that John applied it to the Jews themselves: all needed to have a true heart change toward God.  No wonder that the Pharisees refused to step into the water! (See Mathew 3:5-9).  And, this is why I am convinced that Jesus never meant baptism when he spoke to Nicodemus about being born of water and spirit.  I doubt that it ever would have occurred to Nicodemus-religious leader and teacher of Israel-that he needed to have a change of heart toward God.  

I must also take into consideration the fact that Jesus could not have meant water baptism because John’s baptism was a forerunner to what did not yet exist.  Christian baptism is the physical demonstration of the identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and has a much deeper significance than the baptism of John (See Acts 18:24-26, 19:1-5).  I cannot agree with Dr. Vincent when he says “Jesus’ words included a prophetic reference to the complete ideal of Christian baptism”5.

Yet I do agree Jesus clearly expected Nicodemus to know what He meant.  Nicodemus’ place among the upper echelons of the Pharisees meant he could not be in ignorance of all that had happened in recent years.  Consider first the coming of the wise men as related in Chapter 2 of Matthew’s gospel.  Their appearance troubled Herod the king and all Jerusalem (verse 3) and Herod had to call the chief priests and scribes to him to inquire where the Christ was to be born (verse 4).  Here’s a thing that blows my mind: the priests and scribes are called into the presence of the king to answer the wise men, they quote the prophet Micah, and then what…go their way?  No one seemed the least bit curious.  Selah!  (pause, and calmly think of that!)  Then comes the devastating slaughter of the children in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18, Jeremiah 31: 15).  Then there is John the baptizer.  He quotes Isaiah and declares he is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23, Isaiah 40:3). 

I wonder if Jesus expected one so familiar with the prophets and not ignorant of what had been happening in the region, to recognize who he was meeting at night.  I wonder if that is what Jesus meant when he asked, “are you the teacher of Israel and do not know these things?”  I wonder if when Jesus said “you must be born of water” he wasn’t thinking of His own words to Jeremiah when He called Himself the “fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13, 17: 13) and of his words to Ezekiel when He promised a new heart and His own Spirit. 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13)

To be continued…

1.  Guralnik, David B. Editor in Chief, Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, Cleveland * New York, William Collins + World Publishing Co., Inc., 1976

2. New Koine Greek Textbook Series Supplements, 2nd Edition, Richard Chenevix Trench’s Synonyms, Repent, 2018, 145-146

3. New Koine Greek Textbook Series Supplements, 2nd Edition, Richard Chenevix Trench’s Synonyms, Repent, 2018, 145-146

4. New Koine Greek Textbook Series Supplements, 2nd Edition, Richard Chenevix Trench’s Synonyms, Repent, 2018, 145-146

5.  Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John Chapter 3:5. Born of Water and the Spirit, Page 92

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A New Heart

07 Monday Dec 2020

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Conducting a word study on a passage is an undertaking most fascinating.  Sometimes, as I trace the words to their roots in the original language, a picture forms that makes the scripture leap off the page.  Other times, while the original meaning doesn’t reveal anything surprising, the words usage-or lack thereof-in other scriptures proves to be fascinating.  Such proved to be the case with my word study on Ezekiel 36: 25-27.

A quick recap: I decided on the word study when I was referred back to this passage by several different sources I used in my study of John chapter 3.  I found it fascinating that both the sources that assured me that the “born of water” in John 3:5 did mean water baptism as well as those that assured me it did not referenced me back to Ezekiel 36.  I decided to see for myself.

I do try not to undertake any study with preconceived ideas as to the meaning of scripture.  This is not easy as I have been a Christian all of my life and still find I carry ideas picked up from my church going days that are based on a doctrinal tradition rather than scripture.  The Holy Spirit is steadily rooting those out but, during this study, I caught myself mentally linking scriptures together that do not necessarily mean what I think they mean.

What do I mean?

It’s probably obvious by now that I do lean towards the interpretation that “born of water” does not mean water baptism but does, rather, mean an inward working of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  (See last week’s post)  My study of Ezekiel 36: 25-27 seemed to bear this out.  God does say He “will sprinkle clean water” and “will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.”  Despite this, I do think it’s a stretch to infer water baptism from this passage and even more of a stretch to think Jesus would have expected Nicodemus to make the association.  There is no mention of the ritual cleansing established in the law in all of chapter 36. The cleansing mentioned in my study scriptures is an intention of God and comes from the hand of God.  Verse 22 states “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake…” John’s baptism was to the repentance of sins and I intend to go into this in more depth next week.  Suffice for this post, the Greek word translated repentance is metanoia (G3341) and means a change of mind1.  Important, necessary, but I do not see how such a baptism is synonymous with Jesus’s expounding on what it means to be born anew in John 3:5.  I am becoming convinced such a thing is a work of God inside of us rather than an outward immersion in water and these verses in Ezekiel seem to make this clear. However, I am not interested in bending scripture to support my own conviction:  I want to know the truth and am open to my word study showing me otherwise.

It didn’t do so. Verse 26 states “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”  Here I find that same dual action of God described in John 3:5.  I was so excited!  “I get it!” I exclaimed to myself and my mind was flooded with other scriptures.  This is what metanoia must look like because Proverbs 23:7 says “as he thinks in his heart so is he” so this change in heart would of course result in a change of mind.  And then, thought I, Matthew 5:1 says “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” and I just bet that “See God” in this passage is the same as “See the Kingdom of God” in John 3:5. 

I do not wish to get into an argument over translations of the Bible, i.e. which is better/more accurate/most useful.  What I do wish to say here is that, just because a translator used the same English words in different passages, does not mean they are the same words in the original languages.  The words translated “see” in these two passages in the King James Version are not the same in the Greek.  The Hebrew word translated “heart” in my study scriptures is not the same as the Hebrew word translated “heart” in Proverbs 23:7.  Does this mean I am wrong in my assumptions?  Not necessarily.  What it does mean is that there are layers of meanings in these scriptures not immediately evident when I read them in English and are thus worthy of more study.  It also shows me how important it is to lay aside all my preconceived notions and focus only on what’s in the text.  It is supremely exciting to see that there is something new to discover.  Word studies do feel a bit like unearthing buried treasure.

And so, what treasures did I find in Ezekiel 36: 25-27?  As I conducted my study, I couldn’t help verses from Psalm 51 from coming to mind.  On a whim, I took a look at the words for “clean”, “heart”, and “spirit” in Psalm 51:10 and compared them to the same words in Ezekiel.  They were, each one, the same Hebrew.  Perhaps such a thing ought to be obvious but, since I found other Hebrew words translated “clean”, “heart”, and even “spirit” in other passages, I thought it best to verify. 

Do you know Psalm 51:10?  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”  This is a cry of David’s heart after the fiasco with Bathsheba.  It has been the cry of my heart many times.  As my study unfolded, it seemed to me that the promise of God in Ezekiel 36 was in answer to David’s plea in Psalm 51.  David cries out for a clean heart and right spirit and God promises a new heart and spirit.  Indeed, He promises His spirit (verse 27).

That’s all well and good, I imagine some of you saying, but what does that have to do with the material point?  Not a thing.  Nothing in this study led me to the conviction that these verses in Ezekiel ought to have suggested the water baptism being performed by John to the mind of Nicodemus. Still, I find I cannot unequivocally say that “born of water” in John 3:5 does not mean baptism.  There is still study I need to perform.

To be continued…

  1. Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, 1997, Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 952.  

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The Mind of a Man

23 Monday Nov 2020

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A fun photo I thought reminiscent of meeting at night

This week’s post continues my looking at John 3:5.  I have asked myself if “born of water” in this verse really does mean water baptism.  I spent some time on the internet since last week’s post and have seen the same number of blog posts insisting it does mean water baptism as there are posts that insist it does not.  This week, I return to the reference materials I have at hand in attempts to answer the question to my own satisfaction.  As always, I thank the Holy Spirit for being my guide and teacher and opening my eyes to what He would have me see.  Then, I open Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament and begin to read.

I must begin by saying the commentary for Born of Water and the Spirit is beautiful.  Dr. Vincent says wonderful things about baptism which I may end up sharing in future posts.  I must also say that I don’t disagree with anything he says about baptism, especially; “baptism considered merely as a rite, and apart from the operation of the Spirit does not and cannot impart new life.1”  Despite this, I still have a quibble with the assumption that water baptism is what Nicodemus should have realized. 

In order to look at John 3:5, I have to back up to John 3:3 where Jesus says “…unless a person is born again…”  Dr. Vincent expounds on the meaning of the word “again” listing its usages and translations in the New Testament.  Again is translated “From the Top” (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, John 19:23), “From above” (John 3:31 & 19:11, James 1:17 & 3:15, 17) “From the Beginning” (Luke 1:3, Acts 26:5), and “again” (Galatians 4:9)2.  Dr. Vincent concludes his exposition of this verse by stating the closest rendering of this phrase is “except a man be born anew”; a rendering which would explain Nicodemus’ confusion. 

I do find there is agreement on one thing: that Jesus’ words in verse 5 are His explaining what He meant in verse 3.  Being “born of water and the spirit” is synonymous with being “born again or anew.”  Dr. Vincent says, “Thus Jesus’ words included a prophetic reference to the complete ideal of Christian baptism–‘the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost’ (Titus 3: 5; Ephesians 5:26)3. 

Before I go any further, I must ask consider Nicodemus himself.  Was he someone genuinely seeking answers from Jesus-the “anxious inquirer”-or did he come to Jesus as a member of the Pharisees as a class who, anxious to keep their leadership in religion, desired to discover whether they could come to an understanding with this new teacher?4  I am not ready to declare myself certain one way or another.  What I do say with certainty is Jesus expected Nicodemus to understand what he was saying and I find these arguments for water baptism rely heavily on the New Testament.  It may be too easy for us, partakers of the New Covenant, looking at scripture from the finished work of Christ, to infer meanings that simply would not have been in the mind of a 1st century Pharisee.  To suggest that Jesus was speaking prophetically of the ideal of Christian baptism and then to chastise Nicodemus for not understanding when Jesus was not only at the beginning of His ministry but no one knew for certain what was happening; does make Jesus appear a bit unreasonable.  Even writing that last sentence I know I too am referencing the New Testament-2 Corinthians 2:8 in fact-and so I resolve to forget the New Testament for a moment.

Nicodemus would have had the scriptures called the Old Testament in my bibles.  As a teacher of Israel (John 3:10), Nicodemus would have been familiar with them in a way I can only imagine.  Is it possible, then, for me to get inside the mind of this man?  Not without help certainly and, for that, I turn to The Complete Jewish Study Bible.

When I look up my study text, I find an article entitled ‘“Born Again” John 3:3’.  This article tells me what the concept of being born again might have meant to Nicodemus.  The article states Nicodemus had reached the age of a senior citizen and had already met the Pharisee requirements of being “born again”, that there were six ways of being “born again” in Pharisaic Judaism, that Nicodemus was already qualified in four of those ways, and that the other two would have been impossible for him.  The two this article says were impossible for him were 1, a Gentile was said to be “born again” if he converted to Judaism and 2, Nicodemus would have to have been crowned as king. 

The four requirements Nicodemus already fulfilled were:

  1. When a Jewish boy becomes bar mitzvah at thirteen, he is said to be “born again”.  Nicodemus was well beyond the age of thirteen, had already experienced his bar mitzvah and was thus already “born again”. 
  2. Marriage.  When a Jewish man married he was said to be “born again.”  A member of the Sanhedrin must be married so Nicodemus already fulfilled this requirement since he was already a member of the Sanhedrin. 
  3. A Jew could be “born again” when ordained as a rabbi.  Jesus calls Nicodemus rabbi/teacher (verse 10). 
  4. The head of a rabbinical school was said to be “born again”.  Jesus said Nicodemus “held the office of teacher in Israel” (verse 10) which meant he was already head of a school.5

I found this article fascinating but perhaps it doesn’t really move me toward answering my material question of equating water baptism with being born of water.  The Complete Jewish Study Bible has some commentary on verse 5: “Born from water and the Spirit”.  In Judaism, immersion in water is directly linked to ritual cleansing of the body, while the Spirit enables people to turn from sin and live a holy life.  “Born from water” in its grammatical construction refers to the Holy Spirit (Ezekial 36:25-27; John 7:38-39).  There is no necessary reference to the mikveh (ritual cleansing bath) here.  Rather, the grammatical construction (hendiadys) indicates that “water” is a descriptor of the Spirit, as in Ezekiel 36:25-27.6

This is not the first time I’ve been pointed to Ezekiel 36:25-27 from both sides of the argument.  I have learned to pay attention when the same verse or concept keeps popping up and, thus, I will continue this study next week.

  1.  Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John, 5. Born of Water and the Spirit, Page 92.
  2. Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John, 3. Be born again, Page 90.
  3. Vincent, Marvin R., D.D., Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament Volume II, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Gospel of John, 5. Born of Water and the Spirit, Page 92.
  4. Eiselen, Lewis, Downey, The Abingdon Bible Commentary, 1929, The Abingdon Press, Inc., John Chapter II, the Interview with Nicodemus, Page 1069.
  5. The Complete Jewish Study Bible, 2016, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, Gospel of John, Supplementary Article “Born Again” John 3:3, Page 1525.
  6. The Complete Jewish Study Bible, 2016, Peabody, Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, Gospel of John, Commentary, 3:5, Page 1524

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Continue to Part Three