Tag Archives: Eternal Life

A Vast Inheritance

29 Monday May 2023

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Welcome, Everyone, to this week’s new post on Renaissance Woman!

I had thought He Loves the World would be the last in my current study on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and would also serve as a good segue into my study on the Full Armor of God.  And yet, when I looked at my notes, I found I had more to say.  Therefore, this week I am continuing my look at the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and Jesus’ explanation of the parable as found in the 13th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel.

Last week I looked at the Greek word translated “world” in Jesus’ words: “The field is the world.”  That word is kosmos and I shared a few passages of scripture where the word kosmos occurs.  One such passage was 1 Corinthians 11:32 which says, “But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world (kosmos).”  The Apostle Paul is speaking specifically of the Lord’s Supper when he writes this but I do want to take a look at the ideas of judgment and condemnation within the context of other scriptures.

The main interpretations of the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares say the Wheat and Tares represent two different types of people who are being left alone to grow together-either within the church itself or the world-until some future day when the tares are gathered together to be burned in the furnace and the wheat is gathered into the barn.  Sometimes declared but always inferred is some far off day of judgment where unbelievers are condemned and believers receive their reward.  My biggest problem with this is that the Nowness of our day to day lives is utterly ignored. 

Let us consider John 3:18-21 which says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world (kosmos) and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

This is not a passage I have ever heard a sermon on nor do I hear it quoted by fellow believers.  The message is clear.  Those who do not believe are condemned already.  The words Jesus spoke were true for everyone who listened to Him then and they are true for us now.  And, we are not left to wonder what He meant by condemnation: “and this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”

There is an echo of this statement later in John’s Gospel in the record of Jesus’ conversation in the upper room before his betrayal and crucifixion.  Speaking of the Holy Spirit, He says, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged” (John 16:8-11).  There is a “not yet but in the immediate future” idea to these words of Jesus because the Spirit was not yet given because He had not been glorified (See John 7:39).  That future Jesus was referring to was NOW during the day of Pentecost.  Peter quotes the Prophet Joel in Acts 2 saying “I will pour out of My spirit on all flesh”.  The Spirit has been poured out, continues to be poured out, and the time to which Jesus was referring began then and continues into our now.  The Holy Spirit is here and now the very presence of God on the earth and He is convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. 

Sin, righteousness, judgment, condemnation…all of these are concepts deserving of devoted studies.  The point I am attempting to stress is the truth of Now.  So much of what I see and hear coming out of Christendom pushes everything off until some far off future.  This is only possible because of the marginalization-and in some cases outright denial-of the active presence of the Holy Spirit in the newness of our lives.  There is a circulating doctrine that the activity of the Spirit has ceased.  Any gifts were merely to authenticate the ministry of the Apostles and, once the Bible was completed, there was no more any use for them or, indeed, the Holy Spirit Himself (See article linked below).  I suppose that is why the best some denominations have to offer is a promise that, if you believe in Jesus now; you get to go to heaven when you die.

Does the Bible really say that?  I haven’t been able to find a passage issuing me that promise.  What I have found is 1 John 5:10-12: “He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.  And this is the testimony; that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  This sounds like a Now promise to me: not one I have to wait until some far off second coming nor experience physical death before I can claim it.

There are also passages like 1 Peter 1:3-9 which says, ““Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious that gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith-the salvation of your souls.” 

This passage-and others like it-do speak of a future date of perfection, fullness, receiving a body like His, the restitution of all things, an inheritance reserved in heaven, etc.  It’s obvious we don’t have everything promised now because how many of us are walking around in bodies that can’t die?  I do agree there is so much yet to come but that doesn’t mean we stagnate now.  We believers are not a group of thumb-twiddlers waiting for some far off day when ZAP! Fullness of God is ours.  Our inheritance might be reserved in heaven but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t already exist in its entirety and, I would point out, we are of One Spirit with Jesus Christ and we are seated with Him in Heavenly places.  Who is to say this inheritance is not ours now to appropriate and enjoy?

Jesus also says of the Holy Spirit that, when He comes, He will both “honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you” (John 16:14, Amplified).  What is the “mine” that Jesus is speaking of? Let us read verse 15 also: “Everything the Father has is Mine.  That is what I meant when I said the He will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) them to you” (Amplified).  Wow!  If that is true, and I would not dare call my Savior a liar, then just what are the limits to how we can live now?  What if there aren’t any?

You may be wondering how all of this relates to the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares and, to answer that, I need another post.

Until then, let us not be robbed of what is ours now but may the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the hope if His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in us, the Saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe.  May we understand that He is light and life.  In Him, we have eternal life and we have it right now.

To be continued…

References

Understanding Cessationism from a… | Zondervan Academic

Greek Tenses Explained – Ezra Project

Hellenistic Greek: Lesson 9: The First Aorist

The Comparative Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

My Missing Piece

12 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by in Isaiah 45:7, Studies

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Hello and welcome to Renaissance Woman where, this week, I am returning to my Isaiah 45:7 study.  I am still in the beginning stages of studying “evil” with the intent of understanding just what God meant when He said, “I create evil.”

I must say, it does appear to be a hopeless undertaking.  I looked up “evil” in the Davis Dictionary of the Bible and found this as the first sentence: “The origin of evil is a problem which has perplexed speculative minds in all ages and countries”.1  The Hastings Dictionary doesn’t appear to hold out much hope either because, at the end of the entry for “evil”, I found: “The speculative question of the origin of evil is not resolved in Holy Scripture, being one of those things of which we are not competent judges”.2

These two statements did almost obliterate an enthusiasm already dampened by the sheer vastness of the subject of evil.  If such august personages as Aquinas, Calvin, Plato, and Plotinus have turned their minds to the subject of evil and failed to find a definitive answer as to its nature and source, what hope did I have?

Well, firstly, I do not seek to provide a definitive answer.  Even if I were to do so, the odds against anyone else agreeing I had done so are astronomical.  And yet, my enthusiasm was restored during the retreat I attended earlier this month as I sat in the airport terminal reading a book while waiting for my flight.  The book was “Authors and Their Public in Ancient Times” by George Haven Putnam.  I both laughed and somewhat sadly acknowledged the truth of what he wrote in his introduction.  Mr. Putnam spoke about his reasons for writing what he called an “essay” stating it was to “trace, as far as might be practicable, from the scattered references in the literature of the period, an outline record of the continuity of literary activity, the methods of the production and distribution of literature, and the nature of the relations between the authors and their readers”.3  He then when on to write:

“The majority of my reviewers were ready to understand the actual purpose of my book and to recognise that my part in the undertaking was limited to certain general inferences or conclusions as to literary methods or conditions.  In one or two cases, however, the critics, ignoring the specified purpose and the necessary limitations of the essay, saw fit to treat it as a treatise on classical literature and devoted their reviews almost exclusively to textual criticisms and corrections.”4

This made me chuckle but it restored my enthusiasm because, no matter what I discover or what conclusions I draw at the end of this study, someone will argue.  Knowing and accepting that is liberating.  Some arguments are useful but there are those who argue for the sake of arguing.  I cannot tell you how many times someone has argued against something I have said but has done so by picking up a phrase or even a single word, constructing their argument on that, and ultimately ignoring the material point I took some pains to make.  This is irritating and yet these critics are also useful because I have learned-and am continuing to learn-how not to fall into the trap of arguing back and forth about something that really had no bearing on the main point in the first place.  I include “am learning” because there are still times when my mind gets caught up in refuting this or that and it takes a moment to mentally step back and realize, “wait a moment: we’re not even talking about the same thing!”

And so, expecting arguments and not expecting a definitive answer on the origin and nature of evil, just why am I conducting this study?  1 Peter 3:15 instructs us to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you”.  That is what I am seeking to get out of this study.  I want to understand as much as I can so I at least have both a scripture and study based answer for any question I am asked.  The question specific to this study is; “why did God say He creates evil?”  Since I am trusting the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth, I am looking at the scriptures that pop into my mind as I am conducting the study and the first scripture is Psalm 8:5.  For the sake of context, I’ll begin quoting in verse 3: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him?  For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.”

The bit of scripture that popped into my mind was “you have made him a little lower than the angels”.  You might be wondering what that could possibly have to do with evil so allow me to tell you how and why I got here.  This translation: “a little lower than the angels”, is not accurate.  The Modern Young’s Literal has it, “and cause him to lack a little of Godhead.”  The Amplified renders it, “but little lower than God” but adds [or heavenly beings] as a disclaimer while the NIV says, “little lower than the heavenly beings” but adds the footnote “or than God”.

The Bible fascinates me and one thing that keeps me wondering is why the translators have chosen to translate certain passages the way they have.  The only answer I have is that their theology couldn’t hold up to what the original language is actually saying and they thus translated passages to say what they thought they ought to say.  This particular passage is one such case in point.  If you have a Strong’s concordance, I encourage you to open it to the “Angels” entry and look at the list of numbers.  You’ll see 4397, 4397, 4397, 4397…and then you’ll see 430.  4397 relates to malak in the Hebrew and it means “to dispatch, as a deputy or messenger”.  This is the word usually translated as “angel” or “angels”.  430 is the word Elohim which is not translated as “angel” or “angels” anywhere except Psalm 8:5.  It is, however, very often translated as “God”.  For example, in Genesis 1:1 “God” = Elohim. 

The word translated “lower” is the Hebrew chacer (H2637) and it does mean “to lack.”  I looked it up in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon and over and over again the word is used to mean “lack”.  It is only by stretching both the intent of the words and the imagination that one can came up with “lower than the angels” as a correct interpretation of Psalm 8:5.  The Hebrew says, “made to lack from God” though I quote it to myself as “lack from Elohim”: I prefer the Hebrew word.

It is because “lack from Elohim” is how I have long thought of Psalm 8:5 that it popped into my mind as I was looking up “evil” in the Dictionary of New Testament Theology.  I read through a brief comparison of the different theories on evil and then read, “Whichever cause is regarded as the basis of evil, even when it is seen as hamartia (Sin), it must not be regarded as personal guilt, for it is not the result of a free and responsible personal decision but of a lack.  It may be the lack of knowing the divine providence (Socrates), or of the working of a cosmic power.”5

I read that, Psalm 8:5 popped into my mind, and I took a moment to consider the evil in the world as the result of a lack.  A lack of what?  With Psalm 8:5 in mind, I must first consider it as a lack from all that God is.  This lack is the will of God for he made man to lack and, more than that, called man good.

I turned my mind to consider man placed in the garden with the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Man at this moment had the very breath of God in them and were not yet subject to death but had to look elsewhere for the source of their life.  They could eat freely from the Tree of Life but Life was something both exterior to them as well as interior.  That Life was provided by God in the form of the tree (exterior) but it was as they ate of its fruit that they would know Life (interior).  Man did lack from Elohim because Man did not have their own source of life to draw on.  In choosing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, man really did believe a terrible lie.  Already without a source of life in themselves, they decided to make themselves their source anyway and decided it was right to know good and evil for themselves.  Of course the result was death.

I take a look at my own life and breathe a massive sigh of relief.  I do not have any life in myself!  I have no resources to meet my own needs much less the needs of others around me.  I can pretend with all my might and I might even fool a few people along the way but I am NOT enough.  The relief comes in knowing I was not designed to be.  I was made to lack from Elohim.  I was made to know Him alone as the source of my life.  And, what a blessed gift to be alive now.  I am not holding onto a promise of one to come who would one day crush the head of the serpent and restore to me what was lost.  The One has come!  Everything that was to be done, He did! 

Jesus Christ IS now, this very moment, my life.  He is my missing piece, the One who perfectly fits me because I was designed to live in union with Him (See Ephesians 1).  I no longer attempt to fit myself to anything else because I am complete in Him (Colossians 2:10).  What a blessed rest!

I have been meditating on Deuteronomy 30:19-20.  Moses declares he has set before the people of Israel life and death.  He begs them to choose life so that they may “love the Lord your God that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days”.  I pray to utterly know this truth for myself and I pray it also for each of you.  May we know Jesus for in Him is life and that life is the light of men.

Amen

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

  1. Davis, John D., Davis Dictionary of the Bible, Royal Publishers, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee, 1973, Page 234
  2. Hastings, James, Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, Fifth Printing, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2001, Page 247
  3. Putnam, George Haven, Authors and their Public in Ancient Times, Third Edition, Cooper Square Publishers Inc., New York, New York, 1967, Page iv
  4. Ibid., Page v
  5. Brown, Colin, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume I, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967,1971, Page 562

Other References

The Comparative Study Bible, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Brown, F., S. Driver, and C. Briggs, The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Eighteenth Printing, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2018

Strong, James, LL.D., 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