Israel today

Posted on 08/11/2024 | 2 comments

Teri Kempe wrote an article for the Daily Declaration Australia. see https://dailydeclaration.org.au/2024/11/05/why-do-people-hate-jews-and-israel/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet&utm_campaign=your-daily-digest-newsletter-total-posts_2

Here are my comments.

There are too many criticisms I could make of this article. However I will limit these to just two or three.

The state known today as “Israel” is NOT God’s chosen instrument. Of course, under the Old Covenant through Israel all the nations would be blessed by the seed of Abraham. The promise was made to Abraham and because we believe in his seed Jesus (Mat 3:9, Rom 4:13-25, Gal 4:28-31), we enjoy living in the New Covenant inaugurated by the Lord Jesus. See Galatians 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

In the New Covenant documents the people of God are those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-10 , Titus 2:14, Heb 3:6, Heb 8:13). Jesus said to the people of Israel their end had come (Mat 21:43, 23:29-38).

From the time of Christ’s crucifixion in 30 AD to 70 AD, God gave the disobedient Hebrews 40 years to repent and accept Jesus as the Messiah. Paul explained why God patiently waited (Rom 11: 28-31). Then 40 years later all unbelieving Jews perished.

Yes, many Christians have accused Israel of genocide against the people of Gaza and Lebanon and for good reason. See e.g., https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/col-macgregor-the-top-priority-for-israel-is-to-make-gaza-unlivable-expel-all-survivors/

As Christians, we have a divine calling (Isaiah 62:6-7) . Under the New Covenant. Our divine calling is to follow Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit and make all his disciples, “teaching them to follow all that I commanded you.”

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Gleanings from Hebrews: Meeting Together

Posted on 04/11/2024 | Leave a comment

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews was a Hebrew Jesus follower, a leader or apostle in the new Jesus movement that was created in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit in about AD 33 (Acts 2).

The letter was written sometime around AD 62-66. Hebrews 1:2 calls it “the last days”, an expression meaning the End Times, that is the last days of Israel as the people of God. 

It was written when Jesus’ followers were new Christians though still identified as Jewish. They were the true people of God, people “who remain confident in their hope in Christ” (Hebrews 3:6). These believers were opposed and persecuted by those fake Israelites, who refused to accept Jesus (Hebrews 10:32-36) and as a consequence were under the judgment of God.

Please note, Hebrews was not written to us but it can be useful for us, it can be very important for us.  The letter is full of warnings not to fall away—important for us today.

Many passages in this letter affirm that the recipients were the real people of God who met together and not those who rejected Christ

But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ”. (Hebrews 3:4-6) Thus God says all who remain confident in our hope in Christ are the true people of God! This is true for us today despite those who hold the ridiculous myth that Israelites are “the people of God”.

See also Hebrews 3:13-14:  You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 

These readers were expecting his soon, second-coming Kingdom. See Hebrews 9:27-28: . . . . after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.

It’s important to see this letter was not written to us. Though not to us, it can be very important for us.  The letter is full of warnings not to fall away. For today’s Christian this is just as important.  For “Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb 13:8).

Now looking at Hebrews 3:13-14:  You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 

For those first believers, it was still “today” because “tomorrow” they expected Jesus’ return, and the age to come! But for us today, the Word of God still insists that we warn each other every day.

Now let’s look at Hebrews 10:24-25.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Our author here emphasizes the importance of community and mutual encouragement among those Century 1 believers, and especially because the Lord’s coming for them was imminent.

For us today, we may not be expecting the Lord’s soon coming as they did, yet what God says here is critical to be applied.

Ask yourself.

Do you, does anyone, today seriously consider ways to motivate fellow believers to such acts when gathered together? No, hardly ever. People leave that up to their pastor or minister. You may legalistically attend “church”. But the Lord wants us to meet together (Grk ekklesia) rather than attend a ‘service’ or organisation. In church services how can we possibly encourage one another, sitting in pews and relying on a minister? Satan has convinced today’s churchgoers to be inactive—many waiting for some mythical soon ‘rapture’ event.  Many churchgoers just sit, observe or go to sleep in church services. Whereas these first century believers were to be salt of the earth and the light of the world as Jesus taught and eagerly awaited his imminent return.

This is the main, if not the only, passage in scripture that clergy use to urge people to “come to church”. The sole one! And then what to pastors do? They do everything and the people do nothing.

Again see Hebrews 12:15. Here’s another ‘each other’ just one of about 100 :  Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.

God’s word commands us to act and make arrangements to care for one another in our believing community. How do we do that? Certainly not by relying on the gifting of some overworked pastor.

So how can we today obey God’s word and actually do as he says?

There is no better way than to meet together in an informal setting of fellowship and community and allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be present.

You can start meeting with one other believer and Jesus promises to be with the two or three! Matthew 18:20

You can start or join a home church—look up www.oikos.org.au, people who “see a movement of God where simple churches are started in houses, cafes, work places, clubs, parks, markets, schools – making Jesus accessible to every Aussie and impacting every corner of our nation”.

We can use the phone to exhort and pray. We also can use email posts and social media, ‘Zoom’ sessions as many believers do.

But let’s do it!

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Are We Still Sinners?

Posted on 22/07/2024 | 2 comments

The Bible states that humans are naturally inclined towards disobedience and rebellion against God. Christians also believe that salvation from sin is achieved through faith in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to atone for the sins of humanity. That changes everything!

However many want to think of themselves as sinners. So a lot of church liturgy demands confession, that assuming we always need forgiveness

Jesus does not go on accusing people of sin or calling us sinners!

Consider John 3 16-17:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  God’s picture of us now!

Consider the adulterous woman in John 8: Where are those who condemn you? Go and sin no more! (a promise not command).

Consider many of the parables: pictures of how God sees us! E.g., more joy in heaven over one who repents than over the 99 who need no repentance; the lost (prodigal) son; the Pharisee and the tax collector—who is justified?

Yes, Jesus did refer to some people as ‘sinners’ in the Bible. It was the church leaders, Pharisees who called some people ‘sinners’. For example, in Matthew 9:10-13, Jesus is criticized by those religious leaders for eating with tax collectors and ‘sinners’. Jesus responds by saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but ‘sinners’.”

Consider Paul:

Sin is something we experience, yes; but it’s not who we are. We have a choice! We can choose to say ‘NO’ to sin, even as we battle against it.  The Christian says “choose life.” Stop sinning!

But I say,  walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other,  to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit,  you are not under the law. . . . .   24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. see Galatians 5:13-26.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Eph 2:10

Romans 5 says we have all sinned but and come short of the glory of God, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Fit for eternal life! And while we were enemies Christ died for us.

Consider 1 John 1: “. . . our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” God is a loving Father who wants to bless His children. We are not his enemies, through Jesus we are his friends—He sees you as a friend! We have opened the door to Him and He has come in. This is our identity!

Consider famous Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s response to Richard Dawkins 2023

Her spiritual journey from Islam, to atheism to Christianity is extraordinary. Richard Dawkins criticised it, highlighting Christianity as being “obsessed with sin.” But Hirsi said I find that Christianity is actually obsessed with love. And that the figure, the teachings of Christ as I see it, and again, I’m a brand new Christian, but what I’m finding out — which is the opposite to growing up as a Muslim and the message of Islam — but the message of Christianity I get is that it’s a message of love, it’s a message of redemption, and it’s a story of renewal and rebirth.

And so, Jesus dying and rising again for me symbolises that story. And in a small way I felt like I have died and I was re-born.

I quote from a good article from the highly recommended Daily Declaration:

Tony Baines says it so well in this 9 May 2024 article:

“What is the true identity of man?

To discover that, we need an infinite, infallible reference point – God Himself.

Human beings cannot tell you what your true identity is. That can only be uncovered by going to someone infinite and infallible outside ourselves. You have to see yourself through the eternal eyes of God.

When we learn to see that way, we can view everything through love.

He is the One who saw you before time began. He sees your new creation spirit (Eph 2:10).

And when we see that new creation spirit, our eyes and ears open to Heaven’s possibilities. We can live out of the reality of our new identity, through His grace and truth.

Knowing our new inner identity (2 Cor 4:16), we can get to know the Holy Spirit through prayer. Our progress in building this relationship with God depends on several factors. What is our willingness to surrender to Him? What time will we give Him?

God is unchangeable and self-sufficient. He doesn’t live in the constraints of time. He lives in the realm of eternity.

Before you were lost in Adam, you were found in Christ Jesus. He chose you before time began and before you ever sinned (Rev 13:8). Let’s remember that we are unconditionally loved – and forever in His love (Eph 1:13–14). We are blameless in His sight, highly esteemed, adopted in His beloved Christ (Eph 1:6). This is the true identity of the one who has been born again (1 Peter 1:23).

Learn to see yourself through the eyes of the eternal God. If you see yourself through the wrong lens, it will introduce you to a world of shadows, following in the fallenness of Adam. In that place, we get lost in shame, blame, confusion and fear.

But if you hold to the true gospel of Jesus Christ, you will see yourself through the eyes of God — the One who held you in Himself before time began. You will see yourself in the new creation image of Christ (Eph 3:16).

If you do that, you’ll know your value and identity. You are blameless and without accusation in His sight through His glory and grace. Always!”

Prayer

“Jesus, we need You. Please help us Holy Spirit. Come in like a flood, help us love. May we have an overwhelming compulsion to dive deeper into the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, would You beautifully begin to reveal deep revelations of emotional healings necessary for each of us. May Your glory come upon us so strongly that wounds are healed and strongholds are torn down.

Please manifest Yourself within the new creation born inside every beloved believer. Let us deepen our foundational identity in Jesus. May we learn to cast aside our old selves, and instead live out the true reality of the new creation spirit.  Amen.”

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Is the Rapture teaching Biblical?

Posted on 07/02/2024 | Leave a comment

The Rapture is a comparatively recent teaching. It did not gain momentum until proclaimed by John Nelson Darby, the founder of the Exclusive brethren in England just 200 years ago. It was picked up by an American lawyer called Cyrus Scofield who produced the Scofield Bible. This contains the text of the KJV, but it is full of Scofield’s own annotated commentary. More than any other factor, it is Scofield’s notes that have caused generations of Western evangelicals to accept that God demands their uncritical support for the modern State of Israel. Scofield also highlighted the concept of the Rapture, the bodily ascent to heaven by Christian believers, in his notes about Thessalonians 4:17.

I have researched this subject and found many reasons to reject this teaching and here they are.

First, the teaching of the rapture violates the expectation of the believers who eagerly awaited the return of Christ. It was the hope of believers in the first century that Jesus would return in their lifetime based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:30-34. They eagerly awaited this event to complete their salvation:

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:27-28 my emphasis)

Second, the parables of Jesus, the gospels and the whole NT is all about the coming Kingdom of God, coming to the believers here on earth, from heaven where it has always prevailed. The kingdom was coming down and not going up. The kingdom was already in Heaven! Such a great expectation!

 Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  (Mat 6:10)

 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev 21:2)

1 Thessalonians 4:17 is not about believers going up to heaven! The remaining believers affiliated with Christ would be seized (Grk harpazo) into a meeting in the air (Grk, aer), the word Paul used for the space just above the earth’s surface (see 1 Cor 14:9 and Eph 2:2). This ‘meeting’ (Grk., apartesis) is not merely any meeting. The word also occurs in Mat 25:1, 6 and Acts 28:15.  It’s about people going from their city or place to meet and welcome a dignitary and escorting that person back into their city or place. This meeting is in the ‘air’, not in Heaven. Christ comes out of heaven with the resurrected ones who had ‘slept’, to meet together with those who ‘remain alive’ who welcome Him to this planet, not upwards into Heaven !

Third, by teaching that saints would somehow float up to Heaven, it minimizes the expectations of millions, because only a very select few would experience it—those alive at His coming. On the contrary, Paul’s language in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 means that ‘we all will be with the Lord always!’ After His return, he abides in us! See John 14:

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  (John 14:2)

Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. (John 14:23)

Fourth, it also violates the promises in both OT and NT—what all the faithful were expecting, from Abraham to the present (See Heb 11:1-38 and especially vs 39-40).

Fifth, it introduces a dispensation that Christ never taught—this is totally absent from His recorded teachings.

Sixth, it violates Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 on the nature of the resurrection of the dead.  When the physical body dies it decomposes and is no more. Our physical bodies are not fit for Heaven. We need a spiritual body to be in heaven. The Rapture teaching denies this in suggesting bodies floating up to Heaven. So Paul insisted:

it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (15:43-44)

We shall all die. Even Jesus had to die! As it says in the Letter to the Hebrews:

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. (Heb 9:27-28, my emphasis)

Seventh, it interrupts the flow and spread of the kingdom of God on earth, leaving a wide gap in the people of God by taking them away which is clearly not what Jesus prayed for. See John 17:

I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17:15-16)

Jesus second coming restores us to that state before the Fall. Complete atonement! Rendered sinless for His presence. Further, He promised His disciples He would come within their lifetime:  

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:27-28)

Until the return of Christ your redemption is incomplete! When our great high-priest has appeared for us out from the heavenly sanctuary having offered his own blood (as per Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9), we are assured our salvation is complete (Heb 9:28). He came out long ago!

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Expecting Jesus?

Posted on 29/01/2024 | 2 comments

What do you expect –what do you imagine the Coming of Jesus to be like?

Did you know that there are over a hundred passages by New Testament authors that anticipated Jesus’ return? Were the apostles mistaken? Many sceptics think they were misled.

Here’s one: C.S.Lewis, the famed Christian apologist wrote: “the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proved to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass till all these things are done.’ And He was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.” From The World’s Last Night

So what were Lewis and other sceptics expecting? And what are you expecting?

Perhaps you, like countless others, expected the wrong thing and thus concluded that He has not come as promised after 2000 years?

Just like the Jews they expected Jesus to come in a physical body appearance. And He didn’t. Nor did He promise to come like that.

The Jews also thought He was literally coming to stand and physically rule on the earth, a deliverer from the Roman occupational forces. That’s why they rejected the teachings of the apostles. And He didn’t come like that nor did He promise to do so.

Perhaps you thought He should come with visible signs like “the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken” (Mat 24:29).

Well the fact is that sort of terminology was understood by Jews who knew their scriptures to mean judgment upon a nation—the collapsing of cosmic entities is a common motif in judgment prophecies, e.g. Isa 13:10, 19:1,24:18-20, 34;8-15, Ezek 32:7–8; Joel 2:28 Acts 2:19-20.

Should we interpret the Bible “literally” in every instance? No. We must interpret each text as it was intended to be understood in its context and as understood by its original audience, the Jewish apostles.

The fact is most people fail to understand that His coming was a coming in judgment against the unbelieving Jewish generation who had perverted God’s word and rejected Jesus’ claims and teachings. This is clear from  passages like Mat 23:29-39, 1 Thes 2:19f.

But Jesus also taught many times that there would be much more to His Coming than merely the judgment upon Israel. His Second Coming in judgment would be the fulfilment of the eschatological promises to Israel.

The Old Covenant Age ended in AD 70 with the destruction of the temple. All the genealogical records were destroyed along with the temple. That day, the nation of Israel ended and the whole system of temple sacrifices for sin with it and forever. It was the end of the age—not the end of the world.

Today, many Christians expect the same sort of future return of Christ that the Jews expected for the second coming of Elijah—that is, a literal physical return in his previous body. This is a mistaken expectation.

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The Mystery of Israel — a film

Posted on 28/10/2023 | Leave a comment

This is a film by David Sorensen he made very soon after the attack by Hamas upon Israel on 7th October 2023. I urge you to watch it and refer it to others. See at https://stopworldcontrol.com/israel/

This will open your eyes to what is happening behind the scenes.

It is important for us not to take sides. We need to pray for the ceasing of all hostilities and for innocent civilians to be protected and even more for them to experience our Lord Jesus at this time.

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To Whom Do You Listen?

Posted on 23/10/2023 | Leave a comment

This article is by my good friend Jane Blakey

To whom then shall we listen?

We all remember this. 
Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”.
For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

‘And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear Him“‘. (Mark 9:2-7)
Not to Moses AND Elijah AND Jesus.
But, listen to Jesus! Hear Him.

Over this weekend, I have been thinking very much of the New Jerusalem, the city that has foundations that Abraham looked forward to. That one whose designer and builder is God. That better country, a heavenly one where God has prepared a city. (Hebrews 11: 8-16)
I am thinking of the promises made to Abraham and his offspring – to one. To Jesus, the seed  of Abraham – and of those who are Christ’s and who thereby are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:16 & 27-29).

My thoughts are on the two Jerusalems: Mt Sinai in Arabia that corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem who is in slavery and of the one who is our mother – the Jerusalem above that is free (Gal 4.:22-31, especially 25 & 26).
THIS is the city and the better country that Abraham was looking for; the city of his seed Jesus and of Abraham’s descendants – those who are in Christ.
Here, ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’. (Gal.3:28)

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, HE said to her:
‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain NOR in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. But  the hour is coming and is NOW here, when true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth.’ (John 6:21-24)

There is almost an obsession in some Christian circles with the earthly city of Jerusalem and the land. 
Yet, how can there be a mixture of that which is of the Old Covenant and that which is of the New Covenant? This was anathema for Jesus. His analogies were stark!

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins.” (Mark 2:22)

And again; “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. For the patch will pull away from the garment, and a worse tear will result.” (Matthew 9:16)

Paul perhaps was even blunter.
For Paul, the earthly Jerusalem was represented by Hagar and the one who was born of the flesh who persecuted the one who was born of the Spirit. Paul exhorted the believers in Galatia to do this: ‘Cast out the the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. So, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman’.’

There seems to be confusion in the Christian church. A confusion of Covenants.
To whom do we belong and where is our city?
It is the city Abraham was seeking, the city of God, the HEAVENLY Jerusalem! The words of our Lord and God Jesus and the thoughts and writings of that great theologian Paul are profound truths.

Simple, Biblical Christianity.

Much love dear friend.
Jane.

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First Peter 2–More still

Posted on 26/09/2023 | Leave a comment

In Peter’s first letter and verse 18 we now come to what are sometimes called the “household codes” we find in some New Testament letters. These are typical of apostolic texts that are properly interpreted today only by understanding first centry Roman Empire contexts. These first-Christians lived within these social and domestic limits. They were urged to follow these codes within their overall commitments to following Christ.

18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds  favor with God.

Today we Christians do not have to be subject to codes like these. As we saw in the last post, verse 16 we are to “live as free men . . .”. Yes, we have the laws of our country which we are to follow. The whole intent of Peter writing is for his hearers to present an excellent presence in their world. We should do and be the same! That’s the whole tenor of Peter’s letter. As we saw last time Peter reminds us that Jesus “is your example, and you must follow in his steps.”(1 Peter 2:21)

Although today we do not have any similar structures, we can be guided by the Christian values that Peter promoted. He (like Paul in his letters) was not requiring anything new but addressing an existing social system in the Roman world.

Peter’s aim was to strengthen the importance of imitating Christ in household relationships, in spite of Roman culture. These passages can point us to Jesus.

It is essential to read these household codes together and not individually. When Peter writes “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands” (3:1) we must notice the context to understand what Peter meant by “in the same way.” there’s zero in the the preceding paragraph about men and women—it’s about masters and slaves. Paul put it similarly in his letters.

We must not impose modern-day marital dynamics using ancient social constructs. Wives in the Roman world, under pater familias, were regarded as chatels of their husbands and could be disposed of by the head.

s Gordon Fee explains in his “The Cultural Context of Ephesians 5:18-6:9: 

“In this kind of household, the idea that men and women might be equal partners in marriage simply did not exist. Evidence for this can be seen in meals, which in all cultures serve as the great equalizer. In the Greek world, a woman scarcely ever joined her husband and his friends at meals; if she did, she did not recline at table (only the courtesans did that), but she sat on a bench at the end. And she was expected to leave after eating, when the conversation took a more public turn.”

In their day, we can see just how radical Peter and Paul must have sounded when they instructed husbands to love their wives as much as Christ loved the church and to be willing to give their lives for them!  Or to remember that they too are slaves to Christ and have a master in heaven. Or not to provoke their children, but to be patient with them.

How sad that words that would have sounded so liberating to those who first heard them are today so often used to oppress and silence. The teachings of Peter and Paul under the Gospel encouraged multitudes of women into Christian communities.

So once again, our central question: Is the point of the household codes to declare pater familias the only godly household structure for all of time, or is the point of the household codes to declare Jesus Christ as the example to be followed no matter the societal norms? 

Let’s talk more next time.

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1 Peter 2 –more

Posted on 07/09/2023 | Leave a comment

As we look at Peter’s first letter to people in various places we see how he was encouraging them, preparing them for a most important, earth-shattering event was to take place. The Jerusalem temple and the Jewish religion as known for centuries, would be destroyed and replaced by a new creation (Mat 21:33-46). This would impact them and many Jews where they lived.

Here we look at the next section of chapter 2 beginning at 2:11-12:

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles (pagans)

, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Here Peter calls on his readers to be excellent people as they live before an observing pagan society. They are to be different, just if they were foreigners and exiles who stand out in contrast to those who live participating in sinful desires. By calling them foreigners and exiles he is not suggesting anything like the escapist mentality seen in songs like this:

This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through . . . . . . . And I Can’t Feel At Home anymore.’.

NO. The Holy Spirit is calling us today to live exemplary lives before a watching world. While God has put us here in this world, this is our home now. Paul wrote about being at home here in the body as useful for others though to be with Christ is far better. (Phil 1:22-25). At home here we are to be the ‘light of the world’ and the ‘salt of the earth’. Dispensationalism is a gross error and demon inspired with its ‘get me outta here’ mentality. This terrible doctrine has made countless Christians powerless and failures. That idea is far from the prayer of Jesus we find in John 17:15-18.

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.  As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Did you notice that Peter wrote ‘that they may glorify God on the day of visitation’? The original Greek strongly implies Peter was referring to the (second) Coming of Jesus! Compare this phrase to a similar used by Jesus in Luke 19:44. All the more reason for these people to be full of good deeds if Jesus was coming to visit his audience! (NASB footnote explains ‘I.e. Christ’s coming again in judgment’.)

 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Here Peter in these five verses continues to focus on their having exemplary behaviour because of ‘the Lord’s sake’. There are human institutions that are there in the Roman world to prevent lawlessness and chaos. Note he says these are sent by him’ (God)! This was at a time when believers were subject to persecution. It is always doing the will of God to do right. At least we today should be thankful to God if these powers maintain good law and order.

Clearly, Peter believed that believers were free under the gospel of the kingdom. But such freedom must not mean we are free to do evil but free to be doing right. They then, and we today, are to see ourselves as ‘bondslaves of God’—what a fantastic privilege—we are not bondslaves of men!

Why ‘honour all people’? Supremely because all bear the image of God. We don’t have to honour their deeds or character. But we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.

‘Fear God’ is such a short command but so significant. It is the loss of the fear of God in people today that has led to the disappearance of morality. If there is no fear of God we have lost the basis for decency, goodness. Anything goes. Whatever I can get away with. If there is no fear of God, there can be no love of God. There is no higher authority than God. As Matthew Henry commented, ‘It is the fear, not so much of punishment as of his disapprobation; not so much the dread of suffering as the dread of doing wrong.’ It is the fear I felt lest while nursing in amy arms my newborn child she should slip out of my arms.

Honour the king, Peter enjoins his hearers. For us, we may be very devout in private but if our actions seen by people in society regarding lawful authority are defective and not proper it will be seen as of little value.

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Posted in Bible Study, Discipleship, Eschatology, Good versus evil

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Now here’s an amazing miracle

Posted on 27/08/2023 | 2 comments

by ~ Chris G. Bennett (UK)

For those of you who haven’t known me long, here is a healing testimony from 2009 in Denmark — when I was being launched into ministry by my mentor.

I was in Denmark, ministering one evening in 2009, I think it was. We were in a prayer meeting and we were asked by a lady, called Bente, if we would come to Copenhagen to pray with her husband Frank as he was very depressed.

A serious storm which closed all the bridges was stilled around the house while we were praying — but that’s another story.

Frank was a Christian biker who had been involved in a very serious accident. He, and his Harley, were mown down by a van driven, I believe, by a lady doctor, who saved his life at the scene!

He was very severely injured — shattered legs and many minor injuries. The Royal Copenhagen Hospital had told him that he’d never walk without help nor without pain again.

Just to give you an idea, one leg was so badly broken that it was now five inches shorter than the other!

Curvature of the spine had set in and many other injuries had manifested which “couldn’t be healed” — they gave Frank no hope — only drugs to lessen the pain.

The next day, three of us arrived at Frank’s second floor apartment in a Copenhagen suburb. Fortunately for him the lift worked. Frank was standing on his balcony, leaning on two walking sticks.

My mentor, Peter, called out to him, “Are you Frank?”

“Yes!”

“Are you ready to be healed?”

“Yes!”

Frank met us at the door. He had great difficulty manouvering even round his home. We learned that he’d just spent an enormous sum on hand-made built-up shoes that would allow him to walk a bit easier, but the hospital had told him that he’d only get worse until he ended up wheelchair bound and a hopeless cripple.

Peter, John, and I, our ‘team’ on that trip, prayed then turned to Frank. Peter called out words of knowledge — John and I prayed and ministered to Frank.

We sat him on a chair. We prayed first for his shortened leg. We knew something special was about to happen when his shortened leg grew those five inches!

The hair stood up on our necks!

Then we stood Frank up and I watched his spine straighten out — like dominoes, each vertebrae clicked back into its proper position!

He squared his shoulders and everything came up straight! He stood — straight.

For the next hour, Peter called a condition, John and I ministered, Frank was healed of 20-odd injuries and conditions.

Tinnitus, knee problems, various other leg and ankle problems, pelvic misalignment, double vision, various aches and pains — every single one was healed by first revelation, then by laying on of hands and prayer!

Frank began, gingerly at first, then confidently, walking around. He laid his two sticks down saying, “I no longer need these!”

We were all praising God. We left him and Bente singing praises.

The next day, Frank had a hospital appointment to discuss further therapy to help him maintain mobility.

The consultants didn’t even recognise him as he walked, unaided and completely upright into the office.

At Franks request, all medical checks to verify his miracle were formally attested and passed to a Christian doctor in Frank’s Church.

The consultant admitted to his miracle. What happened? “Jesus has healed me!”

He is a walking, talking miracle!

He still lives in the Copenhagen area; still rides a big Harley Davidson; still runs a Christian biker ‘gang’ spreading the good news of Christ among bikers.

Glory to God!!

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