Sun., Aug. 8 Bible Class notes – John 1:13, cont’d.

John 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

“but of God”

Things that will not save you:

     (in addition to blood, the will of man and the will of the flesh)

     Your desire to be saved (although desire should be there).

     Baptism (Mar_16:16)

     "The Sacraments" (Last rites, confession, penance)

      Saying or praying a prayer.

      Walking the aisle

      Making a decision for Christ.

      Keeping the Ten Commandments

      Doing good works

What is it that will save you: Jesus! Jesus saves!

[The following is from a forum that I participate in]:

To believe one possesses some volitional will to assent to the truth of the Scriptures despite their clear teachings is to assume one can believe without any initiative by God, that is, one is performing a work to save oneself. But the Scriptures are clear, in that the unsaved…

- is deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9).
- is full of evil (Mark 7:21-23).
- loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
- is unrighteous, does not understand, does not seek for God    (Romans 3:10-12).
- is at enmity with God (Romans 8:7-8)
- is helpless and ungodly (Romans 5:6).
- does not seek God (Romans 3:11)
- is dead in his trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
- is by nature a child of wrath (Ephesians 2:3).
- cannot understand spiritual things (1Corinthians 2:14).
- is a slave of sin (Romans 6:16-20).

We are not “born again” as a result of something we have done, but solely on the basis of God's sovereign will and power.

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The Father elects to salvation, the Son dies to procure salvation, the Spirit applies salvation

John 6:44         

Romans 9:15; Romans 9:16; Romans 9:18-26

Genesis 1:1, Pt. 2 — Elohim

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning God... .” The word translated as God is Elohim. Elohim is the plural of El. I find it significant that the first reference to the One True God is a plural word. The Hebrew Scriptures insist that God is One, yet here a plural word is used. Elohim, when referring to God, is always singular. It does support the Christian view of the Trinity: One God in three persons. The word denotes majesty and power.

Creation teaches us several things about God and clearly points to him.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)

What can we know about God from viewing his creation? We know the following:

• God is wise
• God is powerful
• God is a master craftsman, an artist
• God owns us

That God is wise is evident from his created works. Some scientists, or should I say “pseudoscientists,” would have us believe that we are here merely by a fluke, an accident of nature. In our modern age with so much knowledge, why do educated but foolish people still think we descended from monkeys?

How is it that we could have developed over millions of years and eons of time from a single-cell that somehow from somewhere received life from who-knows-what? If Darwin was right then why do we still have handicapped people? Why do some who are ill, lame, mentally deficient, and otherwise not as strong as robust people often outlive those who are superior to them in their intellect and health?

How did it come about that an entity incapable of thought developed thought? How did it develop a reproductive system as intricate as found in humans today? How did it develop an immune system? Wouldn't a more simple life-form, long before it evolved into homo sapiens, have died off from a virus or bacteriological infection?

No, believing in evolution is just plain silly — and stupid — and takes a great more faith than believing that God created man.

But before God made man he had to make a place for us. His wisdom is evident in man's home, the Earth. Tucked safely away in one of the arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, our planet is relatively free from interstellar storms and other dangers of the Universe. We are placed at an optimum distance from the Sun so we neither get too cold nor too hot. And this is just the beginning of the display of God's wisdom evident through creation.

That God is powerful is also evident in creation. If we confine what God did in forming Earth, we see only a minuscule display of God's power. When we compare the feats of mankind against what God has done, our power is dwarfed by his.

Creation displays the craftsmanship and the artistry of God. Again, it is no mere coïncidence that the stars are placed where they are. That the Big Dipper points to Polaris, the North Star, is not an accident. We see his artistry and craftsmanship throughout nature: in flowers and trees, in sects and animals, on land and in the depths of the sea. Everywhere we look, we see the marvelous handiwork of God.

Finally, we understand that because we too are God's creation we are not our own, but belong to God. It then stands to reason that if God created us he can tell us what to do. He can hold us accountable for what we do and he will ultimately reward us according to what we have done. And therein is the heart of the matter when it comes to evolution. Deny creation and its God and then one does not have to consider the possibility of the eternal consequences for his actions. However, such denial only helps one (if the word help can be used at all) in this life: it does not change the outcome. We shall all stand in judgment before God. Those that have honored him will receive eternal life; those that have disobeyed him will receive eternal damnation.

Sunday 6.13 – John 1:1-5, cont’d

And the Word was God

and the Word was God

not "a god," as the Jehovah's Witnesses render it.

They do not render "En arche" as "in a beginning" even though there is no definite article there.

New World Translation:

1  In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. [but they only believe there is one god].2  This one was in [the] beginning with God. 3  All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.

The Greek does not allow the definite article because “and the Word was God” is a predicate.

If this passage read: "and the Word was [the] God, then it would also have meant "[the] God was the Word. That is not what John wanted to say.

Albert Barnes:  "There is no variation here in the manuscripts, and critics have observed that the Greek will bear no other construction than what is expressed in our translation - that the Word 'was God.'

"This is the foundation of the doctrine of the Trinity:
1.    that the second person is in some sense “distinct” from the first.
2.    that he is intimately united with the first person in essence, so that there are not two or more Gods.
3.    that the second person may be called by the same name; has the same attributes; performs the same works; and is entitled to the same honors with the first, and that therefore he is “the same in substance, and equal in power and glory,” with God."

John Gill: "...not made a God, as he is said here after to be made flesh; nor constituted or appointed a God, or a God by office; but truly and properly God, in the highest sense of the word...."

Robertson:

And the Word was God (kai theos ēn ho logos). By exact and careful language John denied Sabellianism by not saying ho theos ēn ho logos. That would mean that all of God was expressed in ho logos and the terms would be interchangeable, each having the article. The subject is made plain by the article (ho logos) and the predicate without it (theos) just as in Joh_4:24 pneuma ho theos can only mean “God is spirit,” not “spirit is God.” So in 1Jo_4:16 ho theos agapē estin can only mean “God is love,” not “love is God” as a so-called Christian scientist would confusedly say. For the article with the predicate see Robertson, Grammar, pp. 767f. So in Joh_1:14 ho Logos sarx egeneto, “the Word became flesh,” not “the flesh became Word.” Luther argues that here John disposes of Arianism also because the Logos was eternally God, fellowship of Father and Son, what Origen called the Eternal Generation of the Son (each necessary to the other). Thus in the Trinity we see personal fellowship on an equality.

Vine:

In the third proposition, the Word was God, the article was omitted because Θεὸς described the nature of the Word and did not identify his person.

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As the Gospel comes to a close, Thomas worships the Logos and says, "My Lord and my God," (Joh_20:28). May our study of this book cause us to do the same.

Joh_1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.

The writer reiterates what he has just said in v. 1.

    Not a mere restatement, but a reptition which shows the     importance of the statement. Here, the emphasis is on     his pre-incarnate relationship with his father, not as a     created being but as the eternal son.

Discuss "eternal sonship"

    Isa_9:6

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John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus Christ is the Creator.

All things

    things visible and things invisible

    things terrestial and things celestial

What is required to create?

    omniscience

    omnipotence

    infinite wisdom

        these are all attributes of diety.

There is nothing excepted

    Matter is not eternal

    Created beings did not create

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John 1:4,5  In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (5) And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

What is life?

Does this refer to:

    plant life?

    animal life?

    human life?

    spiritual life?

    a combination?

In him was life -- inherently; Joh_5:26

Barnes: “He was the agent by which the vegetable world became animated; by which brutes live; and by which man became a living soul, or was endowed with immortality.”

It refers pre-eminently to spiritual life:

Joh_6:33;     Joh_11:25; Joh_14:6

and the life was the light of men

    light = knowledge

        Jesus shows us the way to the Father

        Jesus shows us the truth

        Jesus shows us the Father

Vincent: “It is not said that the Word was light, but that the life was the light. The Word becomes light through the medium of life, of spiritual life, just as sight is a function of physical life.”

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Note: these notes are primarily for the benefit of my Sunday Bible class; therefore, I will neither post nor respond to Arian comments.

God Won't Make You Do What You Don't Want to Do

“God is a gentleman and won’t make you do anything you do not want to do.” This is the quote I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post. I considered in that post the first portion of the quote,; viz, God is a gentleman. Today I want to address the latter clause: “and won’t make you do anything you do not want to do.”

Again, we must examine the statement in the light of the Scriptures. What does the Bible have to say about that? Does the Bible make any direct statements supporting that quote? Does it allude to the possibility of it being true? Does it make any direct statements to the contrary? Does it allude to the possibility of it being false?

In yesterday’s blog I presented evidence that God is not a gentleman and, more than that, not always gentle. Today I will show that the second part of the quote is just as false.

Let us start with the book of beginnings, Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis God created Adam and Eve. Did He consult with them and get their permission to bring them into existence? Did God consult with you and ask if you wished to be born? When Adam sinned and fell from grace, did God commiserate with him about leaving the Garden? Did He not summarily expel them? Did He ask Eve if she would like to endure agony during childbirth? Did He ask Adam if he’d like to pull weeds the rest of his life?

We look a little farther in Scripture and we come across the prophet Jonah. “Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me,” (Jonah 1:1-2)
Did God make Jonah go to Ninevah? You may answer, “No,” and you would be correct. God expects His people to obey Him. Did Jonah go? Sure, after God made him willing to go. Did Jonah do what he did not want to do? He sure did.

Now, let’s go to our day and age to people like you and me. Does God make us do things we do not want to do? He certainly does. Does anyone you know want to go through the torture of cancer? No one in their right mind would. Yet how many people experience the debilitating diseases of cancer? This is done against our will.

And how about death? All of us are bound to die. Just the other day a young man of my acquaintance died. He was having fun, living life to the fullest. His recreation was innocent enough yet it led to his demise. He had no desire to die. He had no anticipation of death. He did not know that his life would be required of him. He left behind a beautiful wife and an infant son. This was not what he wanted. God made him do what he did not want to do.

We forget that God is sovereign. He owns us. “Look, every life belongs to Me,” God says to the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:4). God owns us because He made us; He is our Creator. As our Sovereign, God can and often does make us do what we do not want to do. Sometimes God gives us the option of disobeying Him, as He did with Jonah, but makes us pay through the nose (or the whale’s belly) for our disobedience. In the end, God will have the final say, rewarding us for what we have done whether good or evil.

God Is a Gentleman — or Is He?

I cannot count the number of times I have heard preachers, Bible teachers, and others say, “God is a gentleman and he will never force you to do what you do not want to do.” Like so many errors, repeat it often enough and people will believe it.

Perhaps you believe this is true. Support your view with Scripture. Can you find one verse — or even one sentence in the entire Bible that will back you up?

Is God a gentleman? Let's see what He says about that. I think it goes without saying that a gentleman is first, foremost, and always a man. A gentleman is a gentle man or perhaps, a gentry man (gentry being derived from Old French for gentleman).

Before we can determine if God is a gentleman, we must first ascertain if he is a man. That answer is specifically answered in God's word, the Bible. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). Do you see that? “God is not a man.”

In case there is any doubt, or if you reason that that is just one verse, here is another: “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.” (1 Samuel 15:29).

The Scriptures are clear: God is not a man. If God is not a man, how then could He be a gentleman? To call God a gentleman is to dishonor Him, putting Him on a level with His creation.

We must think of God as He is or we are guilty of mental-image idolatry. We must worship God in truth. We do not have the liberty to misrepresent Him or to portray Him as He is not.

God is God. Is that to say that God is not gentle? No. God is often quite the opposite: “With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory,” (2 Samuel 22:27). Was God a gentleman when he chased the Canaanites out of their cities with hornets (Exodus 23:28)? Was God a gentleman when he killed in a mass slaughter all the firstborn sons in Egypt on the night of the first Passover? Was God a gentleman when he drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea?

Will God be a gentleman when he comes back in the person of Jesus Christ “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (2 Thessalonians 1:8)? There is nothing in the Bible to warrant calling God a gentleman.

Thankfully, God is a merciful and a gracious God and acts kindly toward all those that seek His face and desire to do His will. To those whose hearts are bent toward honoring God, God is gentle, kind, and compassionate. To those whose hearts are contrary to God, God will show Himself contrary.

“Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (5) But after your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; (6) Who will render to every man according to his deeds: (7) To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: (8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, (9) Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile,” (Romans 2:4-9).

One God — or many?

The Bible, which is the word of God and the only authoritative and authentic revelation which we have of God, affirms from beginning to end that there is only one God. This one God eternally exists in three persons. This, too, is taught throughout the Bible.

In the creation narrative (Genesis, chapter 1) God is called Elohim. Elohim is the plural form of El, a generic name for God or a god. Elohim is always translated in the singular, as God, when referring to the Creator. This is necessitated by the singular verb.

Deuteronomy 6:4 is recited by every practicing Jew. It says, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD. Literally translated it reads: "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our Gods is one Jehovah. Notice that the name Jehovah and the verb "is" are both singular while "Gods" is plural.

Some use the creation account to promote a theory of many gods. Others, citing Deuteronomy 6:4, say there is but one God. Who is right?

One axiom is always true: Scripture does not contradict scripture. Truth is not self-contradictory. Therefore, when an apparent contradiction appears, one must dig a little deeper and compare scripture with scripture.

Many passages can be cited wherein God says he alone is God. In Isaiah 45:5 God says, "I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God besides me." There is but one God. Those that believe there are many gods, those that believe they are a god, and those that believe they may become a god are mistaken.

That this one God exists in a plurality of persons is also true. Both the creation story and Deuteronomy 6:4 indicate that. Biblical revelation is progressive and it is not until the New Testament era that this truth is made clearer. Limited space prevents a thorough presentation of the Trinitarian belief at this time.

The Bible teaches that God is one. The Bible teaches that God the Father is God. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God. The Bible teaches that God the Holy Spirit is God. This is a mystery and we cannot fully comprehend it. But lack of understanding does not negate truth. As God grants us opportunity, we shall develop these statements in the future.

When Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (Matthew 3), the heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove. He also heard a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  In this scene God the Father speaks to God the Son while God the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, lights upon Him. Here, the Trinity is present: the One God, the three Persons.

How May We Know There Is a God?

Many claim there is no God. Others say there is a God but he is unknowable. Some will go only as far as saying there may be a God. Some think there are a myriad of gods and that we mortals can become gods. There are theists, deists, pantheists, polytheists, atheists, monotheists, agnostics, and the confused, who honestly don't know what to believe.

The Bible is the written revelation of God. It is god's letter to the human race. The Bible tells us about God. It does not tell us all about him, but it tells us enough to authenticate the fact that there is a God. Some things about God can be known through nature, as well. The Apostle Paul informs us that through nature we may ascertain the divinity of God because we can see his power and his handiwork.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Romans 1:18-20

The Bible is the only book which God himself has given to mankind. It contains all that is necessary for us to know concerning salvation, life after death, how to live a life pleasing to God, and about God himself.

Other faiths and religions have their own holy books. None of them is self-authenticating. All of them disagree with and fall short of the Bible in expression, in morals, in ethics. None of them faithfully reveals the one transcendent and immanent God of the Bible.

There are those who raise objections to the Christian view of the Bible. One group, for instance, says, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly." However, they don't seem able to point out the incorrectly translated parts.

Is the Bible translated incorrectly? Dr. Richard Lloyd Anderson of Brigham Young University says: “It is easy to get lost in debate on details and fail to see the overwhelming agreement of all manuscripts to the historical record of the New Testament gives every reason to assume a fairly stable transmission of the documents we possess. Similarly, we can state the same for the Old Testament.”

The United Bible Societies has documented every difference between the extant Greek manuscripts. The oldest extant text of the entire Hebrew scriptures is the Leningrad manuscript, dating back to A.D. 1009 or 1008. The accuracy of this manuscript has been confirmed by comparing it with portions of the Hebrew scriptures, especially the prophecy of Isaiah, found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Among all the variants there are no substantial differences nor any changes affecting the Christian faith. We may safely conclude, based on objective evidence, the Holy Bible is a reliable revelation pointing us to Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe.