Tag Archives: theology

Who are the people of God?

Posted on 16/01/2025 | Leave a comment

God’s promise to Abraham came true for us down to this very day. For we who follow Jesus are the true people of God. We are Abraham’s descendants.

We are the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). The ὅσοι [‘as many as’] refers to the individual Christians, Jewish and Gentile; and ‘Israel of God’ to the same Christians, seen collectively and forming the true messianic community.” (Word Studies in the New Testament vol. 4, p. 180). It seems clear that in this verse Paul cannot be pronouncing a benediction upon persons who are not included in the phrase “as many as shall walk by this rule” (i.e., the rule of boasting only in the cross). The entire argument of the epistle prevents any idea that here he would give a blessing to those who are not included in this group. And Paul wrote: “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise”. (Galatians 3:29).

Jesus said to unbelieving Jews (Mat 8:11-12).  “I tell you this that many Gentiles will come from all over the world –from east and west–and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites–those for whom the Kingdom was prepared–will be thrown into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

See also 1 Peter 2: 4-10: . . . . . .  for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” These terms chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession, reflect Deuteronomy 7:6, 10:15, 14:2. Under the New Covenant the same applies to all believers in Christ.

And see 1 Thessalonians 1:3-4. We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people.

Replacement theology

We who insist on the above are often accused of ‘replacement theology’. I do not believe that any group has replaced “Israel”. I believe in a transformed people of God–Israel transformed at Pentecost, the remnant, all Jews from all nations of the Dispersion.

Paul wrote It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. (Galatians 3:15).

And Galatians 3:6-9: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

And again (Galatians 3:26-29: For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you (Gentiles). 

Looking at Romans 11 in the light of the above

Yes, ‘the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable’ (11:29), and “all Israel will be saved’ (11:26). Yes certainly that is true as long as it is understood that REAL Jews as Paul defined in Romans 2:26-29 (see more below). As I noted above, Paul wrote that all believers in Christ crucified are the Israel of God! (Galatians 6:16). We, both believing Jews and Gentiles, are the transformed Israel together! Thus all Israel will be saved.

Paul quotes Isaiah and God’s covenant prophesied by Isaiah (59:20-21) with Israel. So it was not ethic Israel but spiritual Israel (11:25–28). “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem to buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins” says the Lord. This is a wonderful covenantal promise about our redeemer coming buying back repentant Israelites—this is the gospel story. And His Spirit will not leave them, and nor will His (Jesus’) words (Matthew 24:35).

Does this Covenant promise the idea of inheriting the land? No. It does not suggest that the promises of the Old Testament are intended for ‘ethnic’ Jews, but are available to all Jews who believe in Christ. Because of their disobedience and idolatry (Deuteronomy 30) ‘ethnic’ Israel has lost its place as the chosen people of God.

The New Testament does not anticipate the return of ethnic Jews to the land of Israel as part of the fulfilment of God’s promises. Instead, it focuses on the gathering of God’s people from all nations, as seen in Revelation 7:9 (from every nation and tribe and people and language) and Matthew 24:31, where the gathered people are a Jewish-gentile community redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

So who are REAL Jews? Paul tells us in Romans 2:26-29: if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?  . . . . . . For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Will the Jews literally inherit the Promised Land? Moses prophesied that if Israel as a nation repented they could be regathered to the land. Then they weregiven a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster (Deuteronomy 30:15).

Unfortunately they made the wrong choice. And many continue that in wrong choice to this very day, whether they live in the nation we know as “Israel” or elsewhere. The letter to the Hebrews addressing Christians talks about entering the ‘rest’ by faith, spiritually—not a literal land. See my article here . . . . . .

See also Matthew 23:34-38. “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city.  As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.  And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Notice carefully verse 29. There is a way back for any Jew but he must welcome Jesus as sent by the Lord!

They may be grafted back again if they turn from their unbelief (Romans 11:23): But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off. And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 

Romans 11:30–36 does not teach about a kingdom with both Jews and Gentiles as distinct populations within the people of God. That would be a totally abhorrent idea for Paul (Galatians 3-6, Ephesians 2-3).

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Jesus—A False Prophet?

Posted on 06/01/2025 | Leave a comment

Jesus made many, many promises to his disciples. Some of these promises were prophesies about his second coming. Here are just a few recorded in the Gospel of Matthew: see Mat 10:23, 16:27-28.23:34-36, 24:34. However let’s just look at the last one of these in more detail:

I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Jesus and his apostles prophesied many times about his imminent second coming, and yet countless numbers of believers today still hold that no such return took place? So was Jesus wrong? Or have they have misunderstood what had been said?

Famed Christian apologist C S Lewis wrote a collection of essays, called ‘The World’s Last Night’, (Harvest Books, 1st edition, November 4, 2002). In that book Lewis wrote:

“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 be done.’ And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.”

He goes on: “It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. Yet how teasing, also, that within fourteen words of it should come the statement “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” The one exhibition of error and the one confession of ignorance grow side by side. That they stood thus in the mouth of Jesus himself, and were not merely placed thus by the reporter, we surely need not doubt . . . . . . .  he would never have recorded the confession of ignorance at all; he could have had no motive for doing so except a desire to tell the whole truth. And unless later copyists were equally honest they would never have preserved the (apparently) mistaken prediction about “this generation” after the passage of time had shown the (apparent) mistake. This passage (Mark 13:30-32) and the cry “Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) together make up the strongest proof that the New Testament is historically reliable. The evangelists have the first great characteristic of honest witnesses: they mention facts which are, at first sight, damaging to their main contention. The facts are these: that Jesus professed himself (in some sense) ignorant, and within a moment showed that he really was so. ….”

So Lewis believed Jesus prophesied that he would return in that same generation. Lewis did not attempt to twist any words of Jesus to make them talk about some future generation, like some commentators. Lewis then concluded that those prophesies were not fulfilled at that time.  So Jesus and his apostles were delusional.

Lewis’ error stems from unrealistic expectations about what Jesus had in mind: Jesus prophesied the imminent end of the world, yet the world is still here. Jesus was wrong.

But it was not to be the end of the world. In 70 AD, Jesus came and went, having finished every single thing he promised to do, and the world is still with us today.

But why did Lewis then not reject Jesus and the apostles and return to atheism? For Lewis, the high status of Christ remained! This makes no sense.  If Lewis’ ideas were correct, it would make Jesus a liar and false prophet.

The Bible defines a false prophet as one who prophesies events that do not come to pass. If someone prophesied that a specific events would take place within a specific time and that time were to come and go without the event happening, then he could legitimately be labelled as a false prophet.

So dear reader, can you see that if you think Jesus did not come just as he promised, within that generation, you must conclude that Jesus was a false prophet.

Jesus said that he did not know “the day or the hour” of his coming. But he emphatically knew the generation within which he would come—his own, and that of his first followers!

What Lewis held was the wrong notion that Jesus’ return would mean the end of the world. He then decided to question Jesus’ understanding, rather than his own. 

Dear reader, are you making the same mistake as this greatly esteemed apologist? Perhaps you should question your own understanding, rather than the Lord Jesus’ understanding? Hey?

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They eagerly awaited! 

Posted on 26/11/2024 | Leave a comment

The first Christians were awaiting the imminent return of the Saviour with great eagerness and joy. We know this from many texts in the writings of Paul in the New Testament, that they expected this momentous event ‘soon’ and possibly in their lifetime.

Recently while having coffee with a young friend, she said she was eagerly waiting for Jesus’ return. She gushed “I can hardly wait for the Rapture to come!” So young with much of her life still ahead of her! A life she could be spending serving her King here. Instead she wanted ‘out of here’.

Are you like her, awaiting the ‘soon’ return of Jesus?

Let’s examine some of Paul’s words written about 51 AD to the Thessalonians (1:9 -10):

 . . . . you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Paul, writing to believing Christians living in the Roman city of Thessalonica, expected with them, an imminent, soon return of the Lord. That is a fact.

Please read that passage again. Paul believed they (and Paul himself) were waiting for Jesus to come from heaven. Let the implications of that sink in.

Yair I know. That’s a challenge.

As we read this letter today, bear in mind we are reading mail written to believers living 2000 years ago. We must resist the temptation to think we are being addressed by Paul or by the Holy Spirit. Many people think it applies to us today. That is absurd.

This praise of the Thessalonians from Paul and Silvanus doesn’t make sense unless Jesus actually returned in their generation a long time ago. If he did not, nothing in that letter was of any benefit!

Paul knew and believed that Jesus was coming back before his generation had passed away. Of course, following Jesus’ words, Paul did not know “either the day nor the hour” of his return. But he and all the apostles knew it would occur while many would still be alive. Jesus had said it. (Mat 24:30-34)

Were they mistaken? Or more seriously, was Jesus mistaken?

If they were mistaken then their faith was in vain. For all Paul had taught these Thessalonians would have been a waste of time! That would mean the END of the Christian faith. Despair. Hopelessness. Eternal life gone. Resurrection gone. All gone. No one would be following Jesus today!

Please think logically about this.

Let me ask you who still await Jesus’ coming a very important question.

Do you really, seriously, logically imagine that those same real believers who eagerly read Paul’s words, were then terribly disappointed because if they continued to notice others of their community, one by one, passing away while Jesus still had not come, as Paul taught!

If Jesus still had not come then–which is what many modern believers seem to hold—and when the last one of those original Thessalonian believers would have passed away, can you imagine the consternation, the feelings of utter despair and loss of trust in God that would have followed?

Today, some 2000+ years have passed since those original Thessalonian believers were alive. So if you hold the view that Jesus is yet to appear a second time, it logically follows that the faith of Paul’s readers must have been totally in vain. Destroyed.

Then, no one would have ever heard the gospel! The Christian message would be dead in the water from that point.

Come on. Think about it for a minute: If Jesus’ coming was near for these believers, it cannot be near for us, can it? And if Jesus’ coming is still coming near for us today, you must conclude Paul was in gross error.

Do you see the problem? Your problem?

Ask yourself this question: if those Thessalonians were wrong by expecting Jesus to come within their lifetime, why didn’t Paul correct them? Why didn’t he write ‘no, you’ve got it wrong, Jesus won’t be coming for a long, long, time!’

But Paul did not correct them. Instead he continued to encourage them as he wrote this letter to encourage them and then followed it with another letter, which we call Second Thessalonians, with further encouragements about Jesus’ imminent return in judgment on His enemies, unbelieving Israel!

Can you see how illogical it is to expect Jesus to return a second time today if ithat event was promised for the Thessalonians? There wont be a third coming either.

If you trust Paul’s letters were and are the true Word of God, your belief is logically impossible.

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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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First Peter-Chapter 2

Posted on 10/08/2023 | 1 comment

As we look at Peter’s first letter to people in various places we see how he was encouraging them, preparing them. Preparing them for what?

A most important, earth-shattering event was to take place. Terrible judgment was about to come on many back there in Jerusalem and Judea. The fabulous temple there and the Jewish religion as known for centuries, would be destroyed and replaced by a new creation (Mat 21:43-46). This would impact them and many Jews where they lived. Here we look at the first half of chapter 2.

In this part of his letter, Peter calls on his readers to thirst for the “pure milk of the word like newborn babies, if they have tasted the kindness of the Lord” and put aside all malice, envy, slander, hypocrisy etc.

Think how much the Lord has blessed us all abundantly! There’s much more. So let’s keep thirsting after the pure milk of God’s word to grow our salvation!  So important to long for the word of God. Look, it doesn’t matter how mature we think we are. The Lord’s blessing is inexhaustible. He wants us!

Yes, grow up in your salvation. Salvation is not merely getting newborn, started. There’s a big future idea, a whole of life growth of our salvation, as Peter reminded them several times in his letter.

So where to go? Peter says go to Jesus. Where else? Jesus is the One to come to—his open arms. He is the “chosen and precious.” Quoting from Isaiah 28, Peter identifies Jesus as like the most important stone in a building. That’s the cornerstone. It has to be laid exactly, in line, dead level, plumb. Then the building will follow the right design.

“Look, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone and who believes in him shall not be disappointed”.

Jesus said if you don’t gather with him, you are scattering (Luke 11:23). Do you want to be building for God? Well, you have to strictly follow the playbook! Jesus is “the living stone that was rejected by men but chosen by God”. You have to build on the true rock, His words. Anything else is on sand. Anything else is useless. What God has not planted will be pulled up by the roots (Mat 15:13). This is serious.

This building design called for these newborns to be stones too—living stones! Each was being built up into a spiritual house for a special role of offering up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus.

And so are we today—part of the house that He is building, against which the gates of hell will not stand.

Peter wrote (v7) this precious situation belongs to the followers of Jesus. Quoting Psalm 118:22, he showed that the stone which rejected, actually became the very head of the corner! Then he added that others stumble because they are disobedient to the word not following the designer. For these, Jesus the precious stone was “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence” (Isa 8:14) and doom awaits them.

These “builders”—the disobedient, were the unbelieving Jews of that generation and their system, those who rejected their messiah, that wicked generation.

He goes on to tell his readers (v9) “you are a chosen race, you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, you are the people of God’s own possession! Peter used those very same terms as did Moses (Deut 7:6) applying them to these newborn Gentiles and Jews. There was a whole new creation being formed here, a whole new nation with the bad tenants, Jewish elites and their fleshly system will be destroyed as Jesus had foretold in Mat 21:43 and Mat 23, and a new spiritual one will be formed.

Why are his readers new-born? That they “may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” That is our role, our privilege today.

We are the Israel of God (Gal 6:16).

Peter recalls what the prophet Hosea wrote prophetically “once you were not a people but now you are the people of God. You once had not received mercy but now you have received mercy” (Hosea 1:10). This points to a mostly Gentile readership. These newbies are the true people of God! And so are we who believe today.

Applause!

All this came from the pen of Peter, a Jewish born fisherman, but now since born from above through the resurrection of Jesus with whom he had walked for 3 years, a mere 30 years had past.

Only 30 years previously Peter could never forget when they nailed Jesus to the cross and then God raised Him up 3 days later as He had foretold.

We struggle to grasp the reality, to feel, to enter in to those historic scenes—it all happened so long ago.

Peter’s readers were the forerunners of a totally new society having great responsibility, never seen before. So Peter urges them, aliens and strangers, to keep their behavior excellent among the outsiders. They may be slandered as evil by others but will see their good deeds and glorify God in the day of visitation that is coming soon.

This phrase ‘day of visitation’ is fascinating. Peter had in mind an ‘end-times’ event (see 1 Pet 4:7).

The glorious light of God’s people show that God’s judgments are righteous and this will be acknowledged in the coming judgment.

So their behaviour would be very important.

Let’s talk more about that next time.

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First Peter Letter 1

Posted on 08/08/2023 | Leave a comment

We were looking at an amazing scriptural letter by St Peter who described himself as an apostle (a sent messenger) of Jesus Christ. He wrote to people he describes as ‘aliens, strangers’—they didn’t belong here. How can that be?

He wanted to encourage them, to prepare them, for a most important, earth-shattering event was soon to take place. Terrible judgment was about to come on many back in Jerusalem and Judea. The temple and the Jewish religion as known for centuries, Judaism, would be destroyed and replaced by a new creation. This would also seriously impact them and many traditional Jews where they lived.

We read they were in various places, scattered throughout Pontos, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. These were real places in the Ancient World. It’s interesting if you check Acts chapter 2 you find those same places mentioned among the many other regions, from which people had come to Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Acts 2 describes how on that day the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them.

So Peter was addressing some of those same people who had heard him proclaiming on that day some 25 or 30 years previously. These would have gone back to their homelands and no doubt bore witnesses for Jesus by the power of the Spirit where they lived.

Peter calls them chosen by God the Father, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and sprinkled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was amazing thinking for a man who was still ‘Jewish’ (as most early believers were) to put Jesus alongside the Holy Spirit and the eternal living Lord God, the Father. One God.

Here we see a a typical salutation of a letter in the Ancient World.

Peter then reminded them about the living hope that they had through Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection is the basis of the way, the truth and the great story of Jesus. Without the resurrection there would be no faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be no Christians.

They had been truly reborn through God’s great mercy! We are all utterly dependent on his mercy. Born again to a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection of Jesus. Remember that happened only 25 or 30 years previous to his writing!

For us, it’s now 2000 years ago. That time lapse makes it harder for us but for these people it was fresh in their memory.  Just think, you can remember so many things clearly that happened 25 or 30 years ago in your life.

Jesus had been killed and then came alive!

Peter’s readers are described as a possessing an inheritance that is reserved safely in heaven for them. They were already enjoying that sure hope! They were strangers and aliens here on Earth, like we are today but there’s an inheritance waiting for us who believe that’s reserved for us in heaven too! What a fabulous investment.

In the meantime, these aliens were protected by the power of God through faith for a full salvation he says is ‘ready to be revealed in the last time’.  They believed they were in the ‘last days’ when their salvation would be revealed.

Peter mentioned this idea of the ‘last time’ several times in his writings. This salvation ready to be revealed the original word is apocalypse. That brings to mind the time of the end. Peter saw his writing as fitting into that period. His readers could greatly rejoice in this understanding, even though now for a ‘little while’, short time—not a long, long time.

A little while and then things will radically change for them. If this mighty change was in a little while for them, how can it be soon for us today?

For a short time they will have various trials. Difficulties will prove the genuineness of their faith. Really it’s when we are subject to trials that our faith is is proven, tried out.

That experience, that assurance is much more precious than gold which is perishable. Peter reminded them that the testing by fire would be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus Christ.

 His appearing, his coming and Peter goes on to say that although you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now you believe in him and you greatly rejoice with joy in express expressible and full of glory.

He went on to talk more about this wondrous salvation now experienced by God’s people.  All those OT prophets prophesied of the grace that would come. They tried to work out this mystery. We had studied them together—how they accurately foretold the coming of the messiah and the suffering that he would experience.

They never experienced what these Peter wrote to had experienced. Even the angels in heaven were ignorant of what those early believers understood. So us also today!

In view of what will take place ‘in a little while’, Peter goes on to appeal to them to modify their behaviour, to prepare themselves for action, and fix their hope completely on the grace about to be brought to you at the revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus Christ.

Clearly they were expecting the coming, the revealing, of Jesus within their lifetime.  They must not be conformed to the former life which they had in their ignorance. and so they needed to conduct themselves appropriately during the (very short) time of their stay on the Earth.

Today you and I must be prepared. We too must live appropriately. We also are not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from a futile way of life inherited from our forebears. We too have just a little while here! The Father will impartially judge according to each person’s work, Peter reminds us.    For “all flesh is as grass and withers. But the word of the Lord abides forever.”

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The Judgment of the Sheep and Goats

Posted on 06/02/2023 | Leave a comment

We read in Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples asked Him two questions (Mat 24:3) and we read His answers in what is known as the Olivet Discourse which runs from Mat 24:4 and ends in Mat 26:1. We read many promises, encouragements and warnings in answer to His disciples’ questions.

Remember the original Greek has no chapters and there is no break in the discourse—the three parables in Matthew 25 are certainly part of the Olivet Discourse and in it Jesus gives some light to the disciples’ question “when will these things be . . . ?” (Mat 24:3a)

Like the other parables of Jesus in the Olivet Discourse, this parable is set in the context of Israel and the Jews and belongs to when Jesus returns. The scenes are Jewish, of Israel, not worldwide. Jesus words are addressed to the Jews of His day, not to us! The scriptures are written FOR us not to us

These parables are part of the encouragements Jesus gave to his disciples to not give up.

Many scholars say this as a reference to “the last judgment” which they place at the end of history. Does scripture ever say this? Does the Bible even call it The Last Judgment? I think not. This judgment passage is contextually set in the coming of Jesus: “when the Son of Man comes . . . .”

Who are the people of these two groups?  They are certainly not us today!

These represent people who had claimed to follow Jesus. Both ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ were in the ‘sheepfold’ of the ekklesia. But when “the chief shepherd appears (his coming) who knows his own sheep and calls them by name” (John 10:27), he could easily separate the sheep from the goats.

Of course, Scripture teaches that all people who ever have been or shall be in the world will be judged. But what is described in this passage and demanded by the context, only concerns the many 1000’s who had  opportunity to react to Jesus’ words or to the ministry of ‘his brothers’ before his return (see John 1:11f).

So just who are ‘the least of these brothers of mine’ who are represented in this parable?

Consistently throughout the Gospel of Matthew, these are those who do His Father’s will (e.g., Mat 12:49-50). It refers to those who carry the good news of the Kingdom of God, Jesus’ disciples, His representatives, from the greatest to the least. Thus He told the disciples (Mat 10:1-42), not to take provisions with them but to rely on the hospitality of those who would receive them in His name. He ends declaring, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” (Mat 10:42) Not just the ‘least’ but ‘anyone’!

See Hebrews 2:11,17: “He is not ashamed to call His own ‘His brothers”. Note also Acts 9:4-5 where Jesus identified with persecuted believers saying to Saul “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

It is a serious error to teach that Jesus in this parable meant the poor and disadvantaged. Of course, Jesus’ people are called to render help to anyone in need. Paul put it well: “So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.”

Jesus spoke these words on the Mt of Olives that day, to encourage the disciples, reminding them of the sufferings and persecutions they would endure (Mat 10, 24:9-13). In the days to come, many would come to their aid when they are imprisoned, thirsty, homeless, naked, etc. The Book of Acts and the apostles’ letters record numerous instances of this. Likewise many would reject them and even persecute them.

Take away: Be encouraged in following Jesus and be active supporting those who are His representatives!

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Jesus’ Return–When, What Do You Expect?

Posted on 31/01/2023 | 5 comments

Did you know this? Jesus prophesied to his disciples many awesome, enormous, life-changing events would take place within the lifetime of his Jewish contemporaries: Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. (Mat 24:34) ‘All these things’ included:
the once ever, terrible great tribulation
the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, judgment on the very heart of Judaism
the awesome appearing of the sign of the Son of Man (Jesus) in the sky
the mourning and distress of the tribes (i.e., the Jews) of the land (i.e., Judea)
the unimaginable sight of the Messiah coming on the clouds with power and great glory. (24:30)

What then did those apostles expect from those words of Jesus spoken on the Mount of Olives that day?

The letters of the NT bear consistent statements showing that they believed Jesus’ return was close, coming within the lifetime of many, just as he promised. Dozens of statements by these authors demand a change in our thinking. Here are just a few: Acts 2:14-20; 1 Cor 10:11; Heb 1:2, 9:26, 1 Pet 1:20. All these texts limit them to the first century. Peter wrote “the end of all things was at hand” for him and his readers (1 Pet 4:7). John insisted that it was the “last hour” (1 John 2:18).

I have some questions to ask you if you are still waiting for Jesus’ return.

First. If his coming was close for them, how can it be close for you, 2000 years later on? That’s nonsense!

Second. Were Jesus and the writers of the New Testament mistaken? Yes? No?

Third. Just what are you expecting to experience at the return of Jesus? The end of the world, history, time?

    Look. That is a man-made idea. The ‘end’ or ‘last days’ in the NT refers to the end of an era, an age, not the end of time or the end of the world! This is a terrible stumbling block to people reading and understanding the meaning of Jesus’ words. The original text is not confusing or unclear about the meaning of ‘end’. The Jews thought in terms of ‘this age’ and the ‘age to come’ (e,g., Mat 12:32).

    Fourth. Just what do you expect to see at the return of Jesus? A physical Jesus coming on the clouds?

      The NT teaches that He forever sits at the right hand of power, masked by dark clouds of glory and “who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:16). Seeing him, John fell ‘like a dead man’ (Rev 1:17). Many assume he would be seen by human eyes and so then imagine he has not yet come. Deception! That’s another man-made idea. Now, we hear this absurd idea that at the end of the age, the earth /universe will undergo a radical renovation and the righteous of the ages, physically resurrected from the dead, will live on this “restored” earth. Is that what you believe? Where is the Biblical evidence?

      History tells us what was actually seen by people in the first century, AD66:

      A star resembling a sword; a comet for a whole year; At the feast of unleavened bread, during the night, a bright light shone round the altar and the temple, so that it seemed to be bright day, for half an hour; a few days after that feast “Before sunset chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.” Josephus, Jewish Wars, b.6, 9, 3.

      The Roman historian Tacitus reported “There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure.”

      Now, I hear from people who just long to leave this planet, and to be free of bodies that are sick and broken. The mainstream news depresses people and news of loss, tragedy and WW3 threats can be overwhelming. Many are discouraged by the delayed Rapture. It’s 50 years since ‘The Late Great Planet Earth’ was published. Keeping the faith becomes more challenging for them each day. They cry ‘will Jesus EVER rescue us from this dreadful world gone haywire?”

      That’s why many believers have a negative mindset. That doesn’t help anyone. That’s why so many are so darkened in the mind focusing on the bad all the time, mocking those that see Jesus ruling for ever. All they do is proclaim the inevitable victory of evil. There is a dark veil over their mind. Their focus is on the evil in this world, and not on the glorious gospel and Kingdom of God which triumphs and is eternal.

      Do you reject scripture if it goes against your denomination? or have you been programmed to see things by “group think” within your evangelical tradition? Cognisant dissonance? Are you reading the NT as if it were spoken TO you and not the original readers in context? No. We must understand how the original audience would have understood the texts. But the purveyors of error insist that it was written to us, arguing that prophecies and events from the 1st century are to be fast-forwarded to our day! That’s nonsense, right?

      We need to change our thinking from bad teachings and this deadly escape theology, these ‘get me outta here’ attitudes. Doom and gloom. This may be difficult for many, I get it. Everyone needs to realise that we have been lied to—the greatest deception being about Jesus’ return. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col 3:1). That’s where He is right now and that’s where our victory lies! (Rev 1:5) Let’s start living joyously in the Kingdom of God!

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      ‘This Generation’ or That?

      Posted on 06/08/2022 | 2 comments

      Jesus said:

      ‘Assuredly I say to you, THIS generation will not pass away until all these things take place’.

      Jesus spoke those unbelievable, riveting, unforgettable words directly to some of his disciples on the Mount of Olives, (Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30, Luke 21:30).

      In these passages, the context demands that he was speaking to his disciples during the week before his death and resurrection. He was not speaking to us today. That is important.

      So which generation did Jesus mean? Taking the plain meaning of the text, Jesus was referring to his own generation—the generation of those he was addressing right there on the Mount of Olives.

      When we read in the gospels Jesus’ words, we are committed to accepting those words as true, right?

      But some scholars teach that Jesus must have meant some future generation—surely he could not have been referring to his own generation!

      Thus, irrationally and against all sound hermeneutical principles, they insist he meant an unknown, vague, future generation, and they change Jesus’ word from THIS to THAT!

      Why this strange interpretation? This departure from standard grammatical understanding.

      Why? Of course, they have to avoid the obvious meaning because they are dogmatically committed to a future return of Jesus. They cannot bear to believe he spoke of the relative closeness of his coming.

      Jesus prophesied to those disciples on the Mount of Olives, several things would have to happen before His hearers’ generation had passed away. These events included the fall of the Jerusalem temple –an astounding event, impossible for Jews to accept—but also that He would return.

      Yet many of the same scholars and teachers have no problem in accepting that Jesus spoke literally about the coming fall of the Jerusalem temple. They accept that as an historical fact. Seems like they feel they have the authority to change Jesus’ words to suit their doctrine!

      Think about that for a minute.

      If Jesus meant to say “that generation”, indicating a future generation, the writers would have used either the Greek word ekeinos or tote, and not the Greek hoytos. But they used the Greek word hoytos.

      Let’s look at these words more closely.  

      The Greek word ekeinos is overwhelmingly translated as that (99x) or those (40x) — i.e., a future generation. Also in the vast majority of cases the Greek tote is translated as then (149x) or that time (4x)— i.e., a future generation.

      Thus at Mat 24:10 Jesus says “And at that time (Grk tote) many will fall away, and they will betray one . . . .” And at Mat 24:30, he said “And then (Grk tote)  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in . . .” future!

      BUT the word hoytos is translated most texts by this (157x) or these (59x)—i.e., the present generation. For example, “This (hoytos) gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world . . . .” (Mat 24:14)

      So then, there is no logical reason to exclude the plain fact that Jesus spoke of his soon coming.

      Further, there is no doubt the disciples took Jesus’ words “this generation” to mean soon, at the door, at hand. They knew His coming was imminent, perhaps even in their lifetime. We see it in all their writings.

      Their letters in the N.T. frequently reflect their expectancy of a soon coming, though the hour and day were unknown. We read of their warnings, their urgency to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God and their urgings for their readers to live righteously.

      Now let’s look at some instances of Jesus’ phrase this generation in the gospels, paying close attention to the context of each. You will see they consistently refer to the people alive then as Jesus spoke: See Matthew 12:41-42, 12:45, 17:17, Mat 23:35-36, Mark 8:12, 31:30, Luke 17:25, 21:30. That’s just a few.

      Mat 24:34f, Mk 13:30f, Lu 21:30f. NKJV. Assuredly, I say to you, this (Grk hoytos) generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

      In all three synoptic gospels! And all three carry the word assuredly! (Grk amen) and the affirmation that though heaven and earth could pass away, his words stand forever!

      So who would dare to change his plain words?

      To do so makes Jesus a false prophet or a liar!

      Conclusion

      In the Olivet discourse of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the generation named by Jesus can only mean the generation of people Jesus was addressing and this is consistent with the other numerous references of his using the phrase this generation.

      There is no logical or hermeneutical reason why we should not believe and accept that Jesus spoke literally about “all these things will come upon this generation.” (Mat 24:34).

      The letters in the New Testament frequently reflect the expectancy of a soon coming, though the hour and day were unknown. We read of their warnings, their urgency to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God and their urgings for their readers to live righteously.

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