Studying the Bible is the intentinal act of discovering what the Word of God says. It is an endeavor to find the meaning that the author was giving to the original audience. To understand the le, we must understand it as those who first received it would have understood it. Any meaning foreign to the original recipients is a meaning that is foreign to the Bible.
In my Bible studies, I have found five tools to be absolutely indispensable. They are:
1) A Good Bible Translation
2) A Strong’s Concordance
3) An Interlinear Bible
4) Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
5) Lexicon
We hear it from the pulpit continually, “read your Bible.” Read your Bible every day. Think
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Bible Reading is NOT Bible study.
Studying the Bible means finding the meaning the author intended to send to the original audience. We can read the Bible and learn the histories of the Old Testament. We can read the gospels and learn about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can get wisdom from Proverbs.
But to truly understand the Bible, we must understand it as the original audience did. Words have meaning, but unfortunately, often in translation from one language to another, some of that meaning is lost. It is good to study the words of the Bible in their original language.
Does this mean you have to learn Greek or Hebrew? No, but you can and should become familiar with many Greek and Hebrew words through your study.
The meanings of words and statements also come from context. The context of the sentence, the paragraph
Sadly, many, I would guess most, Christians have bad theology because they only get their doctrine from casual Bible reading, topical preaching, and Christian books. They never dig into God’s word. I have found digging in and seeing what the Bible says from the Bible is exciting and fulfilling.
God split the Red Sea, but did you ever ask WHY God split the sea? Why did he have the Israelites change direction and head back towards the Egyptians? Why did God pick that specific spot to have the Israelites cross? You can read the account of the crossing in Genesis, but when you start studying and see the significance of where they crossed, the message God was sending to the Israelites, the Egyptians and even to the inhabitants of Canaan where they were heading, it is an amazing story.
Solving this mystery was great fun for me and gave me a better understanding of the event, a greater appreciation for the greatness of God, and it inspired me to study even more about what was happening throughout the Old and New Testament, with locations and messaging.
But to solve this mystery, I needed to study out the words of the Bible, I had to study the culture
These are the tools I
1) A Good Bible Translation
Obviously, I would hope it’s obvious, in order to study the Bible, one must have a Bible. Today, there are many English translations available and they use different methods of translation. This can be very confusing when choosing a Bible.
Some Bible translation teams work hard to get a very literal, even word for word translation from the Greek and Hebrew to the English. This word for word translating is called Formal-Equivalence. Others use what is called Dynamic-Equivalence methods of translation, which simply means they are more concerned with translating the meaning of the words than the words themselves. And there are also paraphrases of the Bible which basically puts the Bible into the words and thoughts of the translators.
Although you may have your preference for reading the Bible, for studying the Bible, a literal translation will be the better choice. Many people prefer a dynamic-equivalence translation like the New Improved Version (NIV) or even a paraphrase like the Message Bible for casual reading.
For study though, a formal-equivalence translation like the King James Version (KJV) or the New American Standard Bible (NASB) is a better choice. Words will be translated with more conformity throughout the Bible, making word searches easier.
I personally only use the King James Version for both study and casual reading. I believe it is a trustworthy and accurate translation of God’s Word into English. It is the Bible I preach from and the Bible my little girls learned to read from age three. It is the Bible I recommend.
However, even though I can read and study the KJV with all confidence that it is God’s Word, I still use other tools when studying.
2) A Strong’s Concordance
Strong’s Concordance lists every word in the Bible alphabetically and references them with a numbering
Strong’s list every times a word is used and the Greek or Hebrew the English word was translated from. You can
Strong’s is very valuable in doing a word study. Many
In Matthew 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in
Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost
These two words have
Additionally,
Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].”
If you are studying out power in the English, you would miss this usage of
Hopefully, this demonstrates the importance of not just using the English.
3) An Interlinear Bible
An interlinear Bible will have the Hebrew and Greek texts with a direct English translation below each word. It will also have a gloss (short description) for the words. An interlinear Bible will help greatly in doing a proper word study. It allows you to find where and how a Greek or Hebrew word is used in context. As mentioned previously, since words are often translated differently in different places in the Bible, even sometimes in the same verse.
Psalm 82:1 says, “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” An interlinear will show you that the Hebrew word “Elohim” is used twice in this verse. An interlinear will let you see how the word is used ad the meaning it conveys.
This verse actually shows a divine council that is obscured in many English translations. As you study out the word elohim, you will see it is translated several different ways in English Bibles and can refer not only to God or gods, but to men and spiritual beings.
4) Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
The Bible is full of imagery. Word pictures that convey a meaning that the original audience would have understood are used, just as we use word pictures to give meaning today. This imagery is often unique to the people or culture it is addressed to. A Dictionary of Biblical Imagery will help you understand how various similitudes and metaphors are being used by the author to give meaning.
For example, in the ancient near east, the sea was often used to represent chaos. Sometimes in the Bible, the word sea means a body of water. Other times, it is symbolic. When the Bible says in Revelation 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea,” it is not talking about a literal sea. It is referencing the idea that there will be no more chaos and that there is perfect order when God restores his creation.
5) Lexicon
A lexicon will give you definitions of the Greek and Hebrew words used by the Bible authors. It will give the context of the words and the cultural meaning. You can study out the root meanings of a word. A lexicon will help you better understand the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words underlying your English translation.
You do not need to be fluent in Greek or Hebrew to understand some of the words used. I have heard and read many pastors saying that one should only study their English translation since they don’t “know Greek.” This is a lie. Learning the meaning of even a few words in the Hebrew or Greek texts can open up a lot of understanding. I don’t know Hebrew. But, I do know the meaning of many key Hebrew words.
For example, the word “Elohim” is used in many places in the Old Testament and is translated many different ways in the English Bibles. In the same translation, you will see Elohim translated as God, gods, “mighty ones,” and several other different ways. By learning exactly what the word means, when you come across it in various passages, you will have a greater understanding of what the original author meant when using it.
ADDITIONAL TOOLS:
6) An English Dictionary
An English dictionary will come in useful at times. This is particularly true if you use the King James Bible Translation, but in all English translations, you will at times come across a word you do not know the meaning of.
7) Halley’s Bible Handbook
Halley’s Bible Handbook is an excellent tool for the Bible student. It includes outlines of the books of the Bible, maps
8) Commentaries
Commentaries are helpful in the study of your Bible. A commentary is a book written by a scholar on the meaning of passages. A commentary will tell you how the author understands a passage and often references other men’s study on the same passage. It is very important when using commentaries to know something about the author.
Matthew’s Commentary published in the 1700s is a well-known and trusted commentary.
John Gill’s Commentary is another trusted commentary from the 1700s.
I seldom use commentaries, because they are exactly that, one man’s comments on the Bible. Commentaries are not reliable for getting Bible understanding, because how a man understands the Bible is too often clouded with his theology and preconceived ideas. If a man is a Calvinist, his theology will show through in his commentary. If a man is Arminian, then he will interpret certain scriptures completely contrary to the Calvinist.
For a new Christian, an older, respected commentary like Matthew’s or Gill’s can help, but I would hope that eventually, the student would be able to wean himself from the commentaries and using the first five tools I listed get understanding from the scripture itself.
Word of warning: there are many commentaries written that will confuse and mislead a Christian. People like the late Peter Ruckman have written Bible commentaries that have introduced many speculative and false readings into the Bible.
9) Study Bibles
I used a study Bible for several years. A study Bible is a Bible that has commentary on different passages at the bottom of the pages. Unfortunately, like commentaries, the notes in a study Bible only give the author’s interpretation of scripture. A big problem with study Bibles is that since the notes are right in the Bible, as opposed to separate like a commentary, they are often accepted by the reader as authoritative. C.I.Scofield published a study Bible in the
Study Bibles can also make for a lazy Bible student. When the reader comes to a difficult passage, rather than digging into the language, they often just read the notes at the bottom of the page and accept that one interpretation.
What Are The Seraphim and Cherubim Around God’s Throne?
The descriptions of Seraphim and Cherubim found in the Bible are exotic and fascinating, but what should we make of these descriptions are these literal depictions or simply metaphor and are metaphor and reality mutually exclusive.
Let’s start with the Seraphim. Hebrew has two words pronounced seraph. One is a noun meaning serpent. The plural is Seraphim. The second is a verb meaning to burn. Many scholars believe Seraphim means burning ones based on the verb seraph and so they exclude serpent imagery, but sometimes both options can be in play at the same time as we’ll see.
This is very likely the case with the biblical Seraphim. Most of the time the noun “seraph” appears in the Bible, a regular old snake is in view, but in Isaiah 6 it clearly refers to spiritual beings.
Isaiah 6:1 “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
The Seraphim were situated near God’s throne. They are described as having six wings. Two of them were associated with flying and they could also speak. That’s not a lot of data, but Isaiah’s audience didn’t need a lot of information because unlike modern readers, ancient people were well acquainted with the idea of Seraphim, supernatural beings whose depiction includes at least in some respect, serpentine features. This description would have made sense to them because though supernatural, the Seraphim had a conceptual connection to the terrestrial world.
The key to understanding the Seraphim is their location, the throne room of God. They were guardians of the presence of God in the ancient near eastern mind.
In the Egyptian divine throne imagery, the guardians were described as serpentine, specifically cobras. The same sort of merging of the supernatural and natural worlds is what’s going on in Isaiah. Cobras can make the skin on the side of their and upper body’s expand. Ancient people referred to this flared skin as wings. Egyptian artists exaggerated this natural trait by depicting large bird like wings on serpents. Artwork like this would have been well known in Israel. In addition, Israelites would have known that certain Seraph serpents, like cobras could spit venom burning the eyes, and so an association with burning may also be in view.
Now let’s look at some descriptions of Cherubim.
Cherubim are described a couple of ways in the Bible. One of the most well known descriptions comes from the first chapter of Ezekial.
Ezekiel 1:5-10 “Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.”
The they are simply called living creatures in his Ezekiel 1. Later on in Ezekial 10 these beings are identified as Cherubim. The Cherubim Ezekial describes are similar to the animal mixtures Mesopotamian iconography.
In fact the biblical word Cherub, it comes from a Mesopotamian term
We run into similar creatures in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 4:6-9 “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever.”
Notice that the description has changed slightly in Ezekiel. Each living creature has four faces, but in Revelation the four creatures each have a single face. These living creatures have six wings instead of four. All these creatures are described as being full of eyes all around. It’s easy to get wrapped up in these descriptions because they seem so exotic. But let’s get past the physical appearance and focus on the role these being serve all these different creatures, the Seraphim and the different kinds of Cherubim all served as God’s throne guardians.
So what’s going on here? Does God switch guardians from time to time? Do the Cherubim punch in when the Seraphim shift is over and are there multiple kinds of Cherubim identified by their different numbers of faces and wings? All that’s getting carried away with literalism and results in missing the point of the description. God has one set of thrown guardians.
Seraphim and Cherubim are spirit beings that reside in the spiritual realm, not the embodied terrestrial world. These descriptions are metaphors that tell us about the role or function of the spirits. They are in effect job descriptions. So why are the same beings described differently throughout the Bible? The answer is that different metaphors are useful to communicate the job description to different readers.
For much of Israel’s history, Egyptian iconography was widespread across the ancient near east. Even Israelites who were loyal to Yahweh and had nothing to do with other religions could comprehend Egyptian symbolism and Egyptian ideas about the spiritual world. So God’s throne guardians appear in the Egyptian form that Isaiah’s audience would have been familiar with during the times of Isaiah. There was a lot of contact with Egypt.
The same is true for Ezekiel. Ezekiel was a captive in Babylon. He and his audience for quite familiar with Babylonian imagery and ideas. So to Ezekiel, God’s throne guardians appear like the animal mixtures found in Mesopotamian artwork. Giving invisible spirits and appearance helps humans comprehend supernatural encounters, but beyond that, a spirits’ temporary appearance can also help communicate ideas through symbolism and metaphor.
Ultimately, what God wants us to know as we read these passages isn’t what a spirit
First, God wants us to grasp the fact that his presence is special. His sanctity and holiness must be guarded
Second, God is king. He is the one served by other spiritual beings, not the other way around.
Winged serpent guardians, King Tut’s throne, Cairo, Egypt.
5 Signs To Identify False Preachers And Teachers
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
2 Peter 2:1 “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
Jesus warned that many false prophets and teachers would come and deceive many people. Peter warned ofthe same thing, as did John in his epistles. There’s a lot of confusion over who these false teachers and false prophets are and many people don’t know how to identify them. So in this article, I’m going to show you five signs that you can use to identify false prophets and false teachers.
Sign Number One -Self Promotion.
False teachers and false prophets promote themselves. Even though they talk about Jesus, they’re ministries revolve around themselves. That’s why their ministry is named after them, and they have photos of themselves all over the place for everyone to see. They consider themselves to be more important than the message. They use titles of respect, like
They don’t want to present the Jesus of the Bible to you. They want to present themselves. In contrast, Jesus said that the greatest person in the Kingdom of God is the one who considers themselves last and that we should not allow the people to address us with titles of respect because we’re all brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of God.
Matthew 23:8-12 “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
Sign Number Two – Popularity.
False teachers and false prophets are popular. They tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. These conmen don’t have much conflict with the system because they teach things that people in the system already value. They are popular because they teach popular topics.
Jesus said, “Woe unto
They preach popular messages. Messages to tickle the listener’s ears. They preach that God wants you wealthy and healthy. If you have enough faith, and tithe into their ministries, God wants to bless you. Some teach that we can speak what we want and God will provide.
In this
Paul points out quite plainly, there is a heavy, heavy cost in following Jesus: “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches,” 2 Corinthians 11:24-28.
Don’t be deceived.
Sign Number Three – Disobedience.
False prophets don’t live according to the teachings of Jesus. They disobey Jesus and they justify their disobedience.
1 John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
These conmen hardly ever mentioned the teachings of Jesus. Instead, they talk about the law of Moses, the proverbs of Solomon, Paul’s epistles or any other scripture that they can twist for their own benefit, but they hardly mentioned the requirements that Jesus laid out for following him because they themselves do not practice them. That’s why even after people have been going to church for years, they hardly know anything about what Jesus taught.
They will even encourage their followers into disobedience.
In this video Pat Robertson advises that husband divorce his wife that has Alzheimer’s disease.
In this video Pat Robertson advises that husband divorce his wife that has alzheimer’s.
Another false teacher who had a huge impact on believers, particularly among the Baptists, was Peter Ruckman. He was not a
Some of the choice names Ruckman calls men who disagree with him are “jackass,” “poor, dumb, stupid red legs,” “silly asses,” “apostolic succession of bloated egotists,” “two-bit junkies,” “two-faced, tin-horned punks,” “incredible idiots,” “egotistical jack legs,” “conservative asses whose brains have gone to seed,” “cheap, two-bit punks,” and “stupid, little, Bible-rejecting apostates.” Dr. Ruckman can get pretty vulgar. He calls the New American Standard Version “more of the same old godless, depraved crap” (Satan’s Masterpiece–the New ASV, p. 67). In The Unknown Bible, p. 100, Ruckman says, “You see how people get all screwed up?”
In contrast to Peter Ruckman’s vulgarities, the Apostle James wrote:
“Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy,” James 3:13-17.
Peter Ruckman was a false teacher with great influence. He taught there were multiple means to salvation, that abortion was acceptable, and he propagated the false teaching that there was a few billion years in a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. These are only a few of
True Christians live in harmony with the teachings of Jesus. Their role model is Jesus. That’s why their lives are consistent with Christ’s message.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Sign Number Four – Lying Signs and Wonders.
Jesus said that false prophets would be able to do signs and wonders, so impressive that they could almost deceive true Christians. He said that on Judgment Day, many people would say that they did miracles in his name, cast out demons in his name, and did all kinds of signs in the name of Jesus, but he’ll say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who always did evil.
“Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity,” Matthew 7:22-23.
In contrast, Jesus did genuine miracles and healed many people, but he would tell them not to publicize the miracle. He will try to hide his miracles as much as possible because the miracles were genuine. The miracles would publicize themselves without much advertising on his behalf, whereas the phonies, these are the ones who are always publicizing the supposed miracles they do themselves. More importantly, signs and wonders don’t prove anything by themselves. Even secular magicians are able to deceive many people with tricks and gimmicks that are able to produce the illusion of a genuine miracle. So put your faith in Jesus, not in signs and wonders, or you’ll be easily deceived.
Of course the self-proclaimed faith healers claim many, many miracles. Many people have been hurt and disillusioned by the false claims of these preachers.
Sign Number Five – Materialism.
False prophets and teachers love money. They preach about economic prosperity and having a comfortable life right now. They promote the middle class or high lifestyles and they
“I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive,” Acts 20:35.
“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” 1 John 3:17
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor,” Proverbs 14:31.
The prosperity teachers tell you to give in order to recieve. The motive is what God will give you in exchange for “planting a seed” in their ministry. The money yu give is working for you, not for the Kingdom. In contrast, the Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Jesus himself said that we cannot serve two masters, that we will love one and hate the other. Ask yourself, who do these preachers love Jesus or money?
The early Christians revolutionized the world because they believed in the teachings of Jesus. They lived together and shared everything that had one with another. They would sell their possessions and their properties and give them money to the apostles who distributed it to the people who were in need. They didn’t keep the money for themselves.
Now you have five signs that you can use to identify a false prophet or teacher. So when you see these signs in a religious leader, beware because they’re probably a charlatan.
What Does It Mean To Be Separate From The World?
God has called his people to be
The church is the bride of Christ. Our affections are to be towards him. When the church chases after the world, when we love the things of our secular society more than we love Jesus, we are in a sense committing socail adultury. It’s a powerful influence. I feel like the world and the social influence and social pressures of our day are hitting us like a tsunami. They hitting us like a flood and we reel and stare at some of the things that we sense and feel and experience.
I typed in “the dangers of social networking” on Google and looked at the total. There are about 339,000 results for that search. Certainly, the majority of them are secular. Many of them are revealing the dangers of identity, fraud and crime and, all the things that are going on out there. I need to share this message that burdens my heart in the dangers that I see and the things that I feel we are facing. And I’m not going to go into a lot of detail and give a lot of practical applications, but I want demonstrate that this is a very real fight in a very real battle.
I would say it is beyond anything I have ever seen in the past. In the past Christians have been told to get rid of your television. Don’t go to the movies and don’t visit the dancehall and don’t play cards. Don’t go to the bars to get your food, go to a restaurant that doesn’t serve alcohol. Those are the kinds of things that have been preached and taught in separated churches for years upon years. Pastors taught the need for Christians to separate themselves in that way and it was relatively easy to do.
As Christians, we have tried to stay out of the red light districts of the major cities of America other than to preach the gospel at the edge, which I’ve done a few times. We have drawn a clear line of separation. But I tell you, this day in which we live, it is very, very different. All of the things that I talked about and worse are only a click away in our bedrooms and our living rooms. Today, you are able to cruise the most sin cursed world we could have ever imagined in the of your own home. God help us and deliver us.
James 4:4, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Did you read that? This is not just our common scripture that we’ve heard a thousand times and it goes to one in one ear and out the other. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not? Don’t you know, don’t you? Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Is it not common knowledge to you, that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
Absolute enmity and “whosoever, therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Now that in itself is staggering verse and statement for anybody and the gravity of it and the weight of it. I don’t know if we can even closely comprehend in our time in our day. We’re living in this world, butGod says we are to be in the world but not of the world.
God has made provision, by his grace for us to walk through this world and not be a part of the world and not be overtaken by the world. But this is talking about social
We see that men are reaching outside of Christ and the confines of the Christian Church. Outside of Christian fellowship and are committing adultery with our world, with the sin and corruption in the world. Under God’s law, adultery is illegal and they’re doing that which is illegal to do.
We see the same warning in 1 John 2:15-16 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
John says the same thing as James. “If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him.” So many Christians want to have one foot in the church or one foot in God and one foot in the world, but the Bible is telling us in both these passages and many others that that is an impossibility.
If you are a friend of the world and you love the world you are in enmity to God and the love of the Father is not in you. In other words, you cannot be a Christian.
We all know the flood that is against us and the temptations that we face. They are very real. You cannot leave your house without the world enticing you.Billboards advertise the most wicked of places that men can go. Women and men only half dress, drawing your eyes to their bodies. T-Shirts proclaim filth and degenracy. Store windows advertise ungodly fashions. We cannot help but be exposed to the filth of the sinful world.
That’s not what I am talking about. I am talking about our response to this wickedness. About the love of the world, when we go outside of the confines of the commitment of Christ and, and embrace the things of the world that draw us away from Christ. Even worse, that we allow these things in our homes through the internet and television. The internet is a useful tool, but it is dangerous.
James 4:4 refers to those who are unfaithful to their covenant with God by neglecting their duty to him and giving themselves to the indulgence of their own lusts and passions. The idea is you have in effect broken your marriage covenant with God by loving the world more than him and by the indulgence of your carnal inclinations to get it. You have violated those obligations to self mortification and self denial to which you are bound by your Christian engagement. To convince them of the evil of this, the apostle shows them what is the true nature of the friendship.
The term world here is to be understood not as the physical world that God made. We’re not talking about the mountains. We’re not talking about the lakes, the rivers and the fields and the green grass and all of that. We’re talking about a world system, a world spirit, and that which the devil is the author of. Under the control of the prince of the power of the air. That spirit that works in the children of disobedience.
Satan said to Jesus, “all this will I give you.” He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and said, “all of these, will I give you if you will just bow down and worship me.” Today, we see the promises of the world. The advertising that promises us fulfillment, happiness, if we will only forsake God and go after the things of the devil.
According John, the friendship of the world is a love of that world. The maxims which govern it, the principles which reign there, the amusements and gratifications which characterize it distinguishes from the things of God. The world insists on setting our hearts on those things and conforming to them and making them be object of our pursuit. It’s the same things which are sought by those who make no pretensions to religion. The world is set against God. It neither obeys his laws, submits to his claims, nor seeks to honor him. To love that world sets us against God and the spirit that would lead us to this, in fact, is a spirit of hostility to God.
“Whosoever, therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” It doesn’t matter who it is. There is no security from that if you choose to do it
and go that way. Whoever he may be, whether in the church or out of it. The fact of being a member of a church makes little difference in this respect for it is as easy to be a friend of the world in the church. The phrase, “whosoever will” implies purpose, intention, design. It’s supposes the heart is set on it and that there is a deliberate purpose to seek the friendship of the world.
It refers to that strong desire which often exists even among professing Christians to secure the friendship of a world, to copy it’s fashions and vanities. To enjoy its pleasures and share it’s pastimes and it’s friendships. Those that purpose to find their chosen friends and associates in the world, rather than among the Christians. Whenever that happens, wherever there is a greater desire to enjoy the company of a sinful world, than there is to enjoy the smiles and the joy and the comfort of God’s people, that is the love of the world.
When this happens, we are in trouble. We have neglected our duties, our Saviour and lost the enjoyment of true religion. We have become the enemy of God. This is the most solemn declaration the scripture makes. And it applies to many who are members of the church. You cannot be a true Christian if you’re going to be in love with that world out there.
We have churches that are full of what we consider worldly and carnal professing Christians, but God’s word calls that whole situation into doubt and into question. The Bible tells us that it’s an impossibility for us to live in that way.
I do not believe in separation just for separation’s sake. We’ve seen a lot of that in ultra conservative and traditional churches. They’d just say separation, separation, separation. You can’t do this. You can’t do that. You can’t dress this way or that way. That can be pretty dead and lead to a formalism that is also not life giving. But we need to be separated from world lusts and separated to God. Separated unto the truth, holiness and purity.
There is joy there. There is a peace that the world cannot give. The world is a hectic place. Full of activities, constantly seeking fulfillment through entertainment, physical relationships and alcohol. With God, just walking with him, spending time with Christians, stepping away from the world’s noise and business, fills Christians with joy unspeakable.
It is very important that in seeking friendship that we find our friends and our associations in our social life with the Christians. That can be difficult. Many Christians live where there are not other people who share their convictions. They get lonely. College students find themselves drawn into worldly activities, just to have the company of people. Single people can be lonely and seek companionship where the world gathers. I believe God’s grace is sufficient there.
It is important though, to seek out those of like precious faith and join them and unite with them, in order to have fellowship one with another in the things of God.
One other problem we have with spiritual or social adultery is when we prefer the amusements of the world to the activities where spiritually minded Christians find their chief happiness. This is some of the flood that I feel coming in upon us now. Going to a game, or taking a vacation will give us a reason to miss church. Parents will place nonessential, worldly activities for their children aove spiritual things. They will miss church meetings or ministry opportunities to take their child to a soccer game. Somehow the whole thing of missing a service and forsaking the assembling of yourselves together is less important than personal pleasure and activity.
Many Christians lament the that young people are leaving the church as soon as they leave home, yet fail to see that they have failed to show the importance, and the joy, of church life over secular activity. We teach our children to love the world and then wonder why they do not love God.
We must examine ourselves with the deepest seriousness to determine whether we are a friend of the world or whether we’re not. It’s going to take a little bit of a prayer and reading and study and perhaps some fasting and hearing from other Christians to find our way through the maze of this whole matter. But I believe that God is interested the showing you where your heart is and directing us out of it and helping us find our way.
Genesis 3:1-3, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
Starting back in Genesis, there was a tree in the midst of the garden that Adam and Eve were told they shouldn’t eat from or even touch. We often wonder why did God put that tree in the middle of the garden? Why did he do such a thing? And it’s very clear. You need to understand that God wants creatures of choice to spend eternity with him, to be his bride. He does not want a bunch of robots who have no choice of anything.
God has planted that tree in the midst of every one of your gardens. Likewise, and you are taught by God’s word and by his Spirit and should be by your parents, that there are some things you can touch and eat of it and other things that you cannot touch and not eat of it. And that is a decision. And that’s what God wants of everyone. He wants our hearts and our devotion just as a man or woman want that from their spouse. Not out of obligation, but out of love.
Romans 8:13 “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
God started that at the beginning and all down through the ages it is clearly repeated over and over again, “in the day that you eat or touch that thing, you’re going to die.” God has reiterated again in the New Testament. So clearly, “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.” But he that lives to the Spirit. you’re going to live and have life everlasting. And that is a choice that everyone has to make. And if you come to that and draw the line and make the right choices, then God wants to have you as his bride and spend eternity with you.
James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
Our works do not save us. Salvation comes only through the finished work of Jesus Christ and trusting in him, recieving him. But, “faith without works is dead,” James 2:20 and James 2:26. Our works, the decision we make to love God and forsake the lusts of this fallen world, show our faith is true. Let not one think he can love the world and also love God.
So I think that is very, very important that we understand that there’s a tree in every one of our gardens that way.
Numbers 33:50-53,55-56 “And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.”
The Lord is speaking to Moses and tells him that in this land of Canaan you will destroy the molten images, meaning the idols, and the high places, those places they worshipped their gods. Moses is to drive the people out of the land, that God’s people not intermingle with them. God’s people were not to have freindship with the people of Canaan or their gods. If they did, there would be terrible consequences.
God made it clear to Moses, that if the Israelites were to have friendship with the world, if they allowed the gods of Canaan, the idols and images to be in their midst, then God would not accept them, but would do unto them as he would do unto the heathen.
God made it clear to Adam and Eve, there were some things they were not to eat. he made it clear to Moses, there were things in the land they were to have no part of. And God makes it clear to us, that we are to be separated from the lusts of the world. We cannot have love for the world and love for God. We cannot worship the things the lost worship, treasure the things they treasure, if those things are in opposition to or in place of God.
The world can be very attractive and appealing. There is some fun out there and there are some things to be enjoyed, but in the end it’ll bite you like a serpent and bring destruction to your soul. It looked good, seemed good to eat, but it destroyed Adam. That’s the thing we need to know and understand. We need to make the right choices as we go through life.
Now I’d like to go to the life of Solomon. He was a godly man and he had a long reign and he chose wisdom instead of a lot of other things he could have asked for. God honored him for that and gave it to him and gave him the mightiest kingdom and the history of the world. We have never heard of any time in history where a man had a kingdom like this man.
But I want you to notice something in 1 Kings 3:1-2, “And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days.”
Now here is where I believe that King Solomon went wrong. He made affinity and I want you to get that word. That word is a marriage word. It is talking about a marriage covenant, a between a man and a woman. That’s what the way that a word is used in the Hebrew. And so we notice here that Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh with a heathen king. Now he was told clearly by the law of God never to do that, and that he should have nothing to do with a heathen like that. He shouldn’t go there. He shouldn’t have anything to do with them. And he shouldn’t take a wife from them. There were supposed to be a clear line of separation between the heathen and God’s people or Israel.
But he made an affinity, a covenant with them. He got too close and the next thing you know, he took Pharaoh’s daughter, which was strictly forbidden for him. He should have never touched her. He should have never looked at her other than seeing her for what she was, just a worldly girl. He should have kept his hands off and left her go. That’s where King Solomon, I believe, started going wrong, yet for a
Sometimes, we will perceive that we are being blessed, even in our disobedience. We will do what we know is wrong, yet things seem to be going right for you. Or we see a church member going against God’s express commands, yet prospering. We begin to think that God’s love does not demand obedience. We start slipping into the world, thinking it is okay.
But over in 1 Kings 11 we noticed something else happened. But King Solomon loved many women and they turned him to worshipping other gods.
“But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
Then did Solomon build
King Solomon loves strange women in direct violation to the scripture. He disobeyed and he had 700 wives, princesses and 300 concubines. When he was old, his wives began to work on him. They had no connection to the temple and they weren’t Jews. Solomon was old and wanted to please his wives. God had blessed him despite his disobedience. He lost the conviction to do right in the eyes of God. He may have thought, as so many do today, that God loves me and will not judge my sin.
I want you to notice something, too. He did it on the hill outside of Jerusalem. There was the most glorious temple that man had ever built and the great glory of God had come down. Things were going well for Solomon. He prospered and the kings and the queens from around the world came to see of the wisdom and wealth of Solomon.
Then at the request of his wives, Solomon went to a hill and built places of worship for other gods. On that hill outside of Jerusalem, in plain sight of the worship of God. Here the Jews were going in and out. And by that time, you know, children were born and, there was intermingling and the rules began to break down. And the clear line that they had of the God they were supposed to serve began to weaken. It was that the Jews could come down the path and make a choice whether they wanted to go to the high places of the false gods or go all the way to go to the temple to worship and the offer sacrifices for their sins. Confusion set in on top of that, it’s very evident that this thing began to corrupt. It began to take root in the minds of the people and corrupt their worship.
And from then on, for 300 years, they had those temples, they had those those high places. It was not until Josiah came along that they started hacking those things to pieces and breaking them down and to pull on the bones of the false prophets out of the tombs and burning them and destroying them and grinding them to powder.
All those kinds of things for 300 years stood there and king after king after king let them stand. Solomon made affinity with Pharoah. He married many women and had many more. He gave into his wives desires and turned from God. We can look at Solomn’s live, how God gave him such wondrous blessings and wonder how he could walk after strange women and strange gods. But look at the belssings God has bestowed upon us. The great wealth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Yet, like Solomon, we’re making affinities with carnal and worldly people and our hearts are drawn away and drawn out after these carnal and worldly things. And so the church and it’s people are being ensnared and drawn down and pull in by family gatherings, by reunions, by carnal cousins, by beer drinkers and the cigarette smokers. And we can’t say a word, it’s family, it’s friends, it’s work associates. We start letting little things of the world creep in. We make excuses for the things we allow. We will go places and do things that we would never do with our church family. We expose our children to the pleasures of the world and wonder why they end up forsaking the faith.
1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”
Solomon made a terrible mistake here. He built those temples and built those altars. And those high places were there for 300 years before God raised up a man called Josiah. Josiah tore down those high places. Josiah was a man that loved God. But for 300 years those things were a snare. Solomon not only caused himself much harm, but his actions split a nation and caused many to leave God.
When we love the world we are enemies of God. Enemies becauseour actions are not only between us and God, but because they can cause so many others to stumble and fall. When we turn our hearts from God, we can cause others to turn from God also.
1 Corinthians 10:14 “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”
1 John 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
Keep yourselves from idols. Solomon turned to idols. Today, we have many idols. Our young people have sports idols and music idols. Even so-called Christian singers are caught up in many shameful sins and indescreet fashion. And our young people emulate them. They see these people that are apparently beingblessed by God, with wealth and popularity. The message being sent, and received, is that God doesn’t judge the “little things.” That God will over look sin, if we just claim to be Christian.
Our people, good Christian people, are picking up slang language. Just pitiful slang language. I have seen Christian friends post memes on Facebook with cuss words. When I ask them about it, they defend sharing it because the message is good. The language is bad, but the message is good. That is how they defend it. If the messenger uses wicked words, how can we trust the message?
Ephesians 5:4-7, “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.”
Don’t have anything to do with them. The Bible is clear on this, yet too many Christians will not heed this command. “Oh, they’re my friends. I mean, I didn’t mean nothing by it, you know? No problem.”
We meet friends or family and we partake of the things they love. We watch sports games on television, with half naked cheerleaders and commercials promoting alcohol with them. Our children see us loving the same things the lost do. Then we wonder why our children cannot discern right and wrong. We wonder why our children, like Solomon, are lead away from God by the world.
There is a lie that many Christians cling to. The idea that in order to win the world, we must be like the world. If we separate ourselves from unGodly activities, then we won’t be able to witness to the lost. I’ve heard Christian men, even pastors, justify their love of professional sports. They say they go to the events to “be a witness.” Christian parents sending their children to government run schools, with unsaved teachers, teaching ungodly things, and defending it by saying they want their child to be a light in that world. But really, who’s winning who?
Another thing I see is what social networking is doing. It’s breaking down the doors and breaking down the reserve of boys and girls. Unconverted boys are with converted girls and converted boys are with unconverted girls, chit-chatting around and, and joking and laughing.
If you keep doing that, if you break those things down in your life, it will cause you to have affinity with the things of the world. You will be doing things that you will not want to do. You will be going places you will not want to go. You will be giving an amen to a life that you will not want to give an amen to. These associations are eroding the convictions that we have been brought up with.
Isaiah 59:14-15 “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.”
You know what the favorite scripture is in the Bible? It’s not John 3:16. It’s don’t judge, don’t judge. And they’ve shut our mouth and we can’t judge anymore. Even in the church, we can’t hardly judge without getting in trouble with each other. There is certainly a judgment that is harsh and wrong and out of place, but quoting the scripture to the situation and standing upon the belief in the practice of it, that’s what we want to see.
Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”
Meditate upon that. Don’t you walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Don’t you stand though with a bunch of sinners and spend hours and hours and hours socializing with them. I know in our workplace we often have to do that and hopefully, we have our guards up. We can survive in that, but don’t do it in your social free time. Build your affinities with godly people. With somebody who encourages you and will build your conviction and add something to you, not somebody who continually tears you down or you’ll lose out.
Psalm 1:5 “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.” They’re not supposed to be in the church. Do you believe that? We have churches trying to fill the pews with the lost, yet God says, sinners should not stand in the congregation of the righteous. We are to take the Gospel to the lost. Let them come to faith first, then bring them into the congregation.
2 Thessalonians 3:14 “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.”
“If any man obey, not our word by this epistle.” Don’t you ever let anybody tell you that Paul was a bit extreme. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:37 “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”
If you find anybody who is not willing to obeythe word by this epistle, note that man and separate yourself, don’t have come new in that crowd.
I have met many young people while ministering in juvenile detention centers. So many of them say they went wrong because of an older brother or sister, or friends, enticing them into unlawful activities. When a group of people are together, somehow the thoughts of what to do escalates in a wrong way, just naturally happens. When a bunch of children are together without supervision, what happens? One suggest the other one do something and the other one tries to out do that and so on.
1 Corinthians 5:11 “But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”
“I wrote unto you in an Epistle,” Paul says, “not to company with fornicators.” And so many people just think, there’s no way I can help him. If you want to help them, like Jesus helped him, that’s fine. Take Your New Testament in your hand, call for an appointment or knock on their door or go to see your cousins and sit down and share your heart with them and help them to see that the path they’re on is the wrong path. That way you can go all you want, but that’s so different from the social adultery that I’m talking about.
Incidentally, I don’t believe in sports evangelism either. I don’t believe in social events as evangelism. Events where you spend all your time doing what they want to do in their sinful ways, (and the sports may not be so sinful), and then at the end, just a little bit of a word about the Lord Jesus. First of all, it’s not in the Bible. Stick by the scripture and do it God’s way. And that is to go and preach the Gospel, to sit down and share the Lord Jesus Christ with them out of the scriptures and help them to see their need of a saviour and how they can have victory over sin and share your own testimony. You can do it in a nice loving way, but do it with that in mind and with that purpose. If you do it just as a secondary thought, it just doesn’t work. I don’t believe it does. I’m not saying nobody ever got converted in that way. I will not say that, but I do not believe it’s biblical evangelism.
Separation from the world is a huge subject throughout the Bible. We are on the verge of collapse in many areas and we are making affinity with the world. We are buying into the world and we are embracing it in the name of love and all of these things. And it is eroding our convictions. It is eroding our stance for Christ. It is eroding our upright moral life. And in many, many ways the churches are being broken down by these things.
I’m here to say this is a trap that is lying your door and at my door. Where you will you draw line? Will you speak up about these things, will you share your convictions with other Christians? Will you put away the things that do not bring glory to God? Come back to the tried and true proven ways of God that God’s Church has had for 2000 years and not go down the modern roads. Are you done listening to the lies of the devil?
That’s my plea. I want to stand for God and I don’t care what my neighbors and my cousins and my farmer friends will think of me. I’m going to be kind and gentle, but I’m going to say no to these things. I’m going to give some gentle reproof and I’m going to say, I don’t agree with what you’re doing and I don’t think that looks good. And I think you ought to get rid of that dress that you have that is revealing.
And if there is something wrong in my life, I want to know. Each of us can become blind to the things that are tearing us away from God. We can become complacent.
“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” And as this flood comes into your church and then into your home and into your personal life and into your business place, will you stand up and dress right and act right and talk right and seek after righteousness and truth and holiness again?
Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Should Christians Get Tattoos? What Does The Bible Teach?
This is a subject that gets really emotional and confrontational at times. Christians with tattoos tend to defend them. Other Christians, particularly older, more conservative Christians will call them out as being of the devil.
The anti-tattoo crowd will go quickly to Leviticus 19:28 “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.” The pro-tattoo crowd will counter with Leviticus 19:28 is the law and Christians are not under the law.
Both sides call, “Checkmate.” Argument over. Both sides claim victory and Christians stay divided on the issue. They both claim checkmate, yet it resembles a stalemate.
So what does the Bible Say about tattoos?
Let us first examine Leviticus 19:28. Is this verse a prohibition on tattoos?
The practice of tattooing and scarring the skin was common among Israel’s neighbors. Pagans would mark their skin to honor their gods.
Deuteronomy 14:1-2 “ Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.”.
When the law was given, the Israelites had left Egypt and were on their way to Canaan. The Israelites would have been very familiar with the Egyptian practice of tattooing their women. Soon in Canaaan, they would be among the heathen who branded themselves to show allegiance to their god or king.
God was making it plain, Israel was not to emulate these pagan practices.“Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou
“In ancient Egypt, from which we have the earliest evidence of tattooing, it appears to have been reserved almost exclusively for women. Egyptologists generally categorize these tattooed women as “prostitutes,” or at least entertainers of low status, because there are no known examples of high-class tattooed women.
In Libya, tattooing appears to have been prevalent among males. A painting from the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I (early 13th century B.C.E.) depicts Libyan male chiefs as bearing a variety of designs on their legs and arms, among them a rectangle with antennae-like ends, which is the symbol and hieroglyph of the Libyan-Egyptian creation goddess Neith. To bear tattoos of Neith—the virgin mother of the sun—was to designate oneself as a devotee and expect to be under the goddess’ protection.” SOURCE: Nili S. Fox, Ph.D., Director, School of Graduate Studies, and Professor of Bible, from an interview by Reform Judaism magazine for their Summer 2014 issue on Jews and Tattoos.
Cutting of the skin was also common among the heathen cultures. It’s purpose was to appease the gods and was often done for the dead, to secure them a better after-life. When Elijah challenged the prophets of Ba’al, we see where they cut themselves, trying to get Ba’al to act.
It is quite plain from the historical and cultural context that God forbid the israelites from marking their bodies for the dead or with the name of a god and from cutting themselves. lthough we are under the new covenant and not the law of Moses, there is no reason to belive that these practices would be any more acceptable to God today.
We can with all confidence say that no Christian should make cuttings in the flesh or marks upon their bodies to honor other gods. But what of marks that are merely for show, or have a personal meaning? Our modern culture is very accepting of tattoos as they have become more and more common. Is it a sin to get a tattoo for non-religious reasons. Leviticus is certainly referring to religious practices, not personal decoration.
This is where it gets sketchy. As Christians we would not look favorably on demonic looking tattoos. Tattos with skulls or naked ladies, or foul language would be frowned upon. They certainly do not honor God with such markings. We would say gang tattoos are wrong, but what about tattoos that show membership in other groups, such as military branches or fraternal orders?
And if some tattoos are wrong, and we accept others as being acceptable, where do we draw the line? And how many tattoos are acceptable? One, two, one hundred? Should tattoos only be placed where they cannot be seen? What about tattooing the face? It seems, that even when we want to say that the modern practice of tattooing has no relation to the markings of Leviticus 19:28, all of us would want to put a
We can fall back on the old reliable, “all things in moderation,” but what is or isn’t moderate?
I do not believe the answer to “should Christians get tattoos?” or “
The apostle Paul said, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient,” 1 Corinthians 6:12. He also went on to say,” Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 6:15.
It appears that we are free to do “all things,” since we are not under law, and yet we must make our decisions according to our position in Christ. Our decisions and actions MUST honor God and bring glory to our Lord.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s,” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
We are not our own. Contrary to the rebellious claim of so many that, “it’s my body,” when you receive Christ you give up your claim on your body. As a Christian we cannot and must not treat our body as our own, but rather recognize it as the Lord’s.
Whether we get a tattoo or a piercing, what we say, what we drink, what we eat, what we wear, where we go all need to be framed in the context of “does this honor God and does this edify the body of Christ, (the church)?”
“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not,” 1 Corinthians 10:23. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,” 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Knowing these things though, we still have the debate as to whether certain tattoos are acceptable. Do we dishonor God when we get a Bible verse tatted on our arm or a teardrop on our face? There still seems to be a lot of room for personal discernment and judgment.
I, however, want to focus on one very important question concerning our decision on whether to mark our skin or partake in other activities. Does it edify?
Paul makes it clear, “all things edify not.” As Christians we are members of the body of Christ. We are to bear each other’s burdens, lift each other up, encourage one another in the faith. Depending on our personal experiences, background and associations, we all have different views and convictions. We must be careful, very careful, not to step on one another’s convictions.
We have not all come to the same level of spiritual maturity. It is so important we do no harm to a new believer’s faith by our words or deeds.
Paul addresses this in Romans and 1 Corinthians.
Romans 14:1-8 “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”
You my believe that in your spiritual maturity, that tattoos are not a sin, but we need to be mindful of the brother who is weak in the faith. We do not live to ourselves, we are the Lord’s as is the weaker in faith.
1 Corinthians 8:4-13 “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”
Paul says that he knows he can eat meat that has been offered to idols. But he recognizes that some do not have that freedom. Some have come out of religions where such meat had significant meaning and they would in no way touch or eat it. Their conscience ruls against it. Paul says that he would in noway want to offend that brother’s conscience and would abstain from meat for the brother’s sake.
Romans 14:21 “It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.”
Romans 15:1-3 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself.”
There are Christians, especially older Christians, who really believe tattoos are of the devil. Certainly the devil has used them in pagan religions. There are young people who do not know if tattoos are right or wrong, but if a Christian they respect, particularly a leader, has tattos, they my see it as desirable. It may however not be in keeping with their parents’ wishes for them. This could cause conflict in the home.
Personally, I am against tattoos. I associate them with prison inmates, (I do prison ministry), gang members and hooligans. I cannot see one good reason for any person to mark their skin. But, our culture has changed. The associations I make with tattoos are not made by younger people today. Today, tattoos are seen as hip, cool and common. Many of the younger pastors openly sport tattoos.
Certainly, as a prison minister, I have ministered to many inmates with tattoos. Men who I have come to see as brothers in Christ. I have never made tattoos an issue in my ministry. I realize many come to Christ after already having received tattoos and others, because of their liberty in Christ have no conviction against getting them after they are saved. Who am I to judge another’s servant?
However, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself,” Romans 15:1. We must not let our liberty to get tattoos become a stumbling block to others. If getting a tattoo is going to be an offense to your parents, your neighbors or your church family, then you should not get a tattoo.
The Bible teaches that those of us that are strong in our faith, those of us that have wisdom and maturity, need to set aside our liberty for the sake of the weaker brother. It is not the weaker brother that has to be willing to accept our practicing our freedom in Christ. No, it is we who are strong in the faith that bear the burdens of the weaker. We must respect their conscience.
Despite my personal convictions, I will not tell you it is a sin to get a tattoo. But I will tell you, that as Christians we must respect the conscience and convictions of others. If a little
As with so many things in the Christian life, the decisions we make are not made based on rules, but on how our
What is nonresistance and is it a command for the Christian?
What is nonresistance and is it a command for the Christian? Why have so many churches lost this doctrine? As a Christian, I want to follow Christ. That’s the very definition of being a Christian, being a follower of Jesus.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:38-40′ “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.”
I think the verse, “but I say to you that you resist not evil” is where the term nonresistance would come from. It might not be the best description of what Jesus intended. I want to make it clear that as I understand what Jesus is saying to me, he’s telling me something different than
I want to give a working definition of nonresistance because I think it’s very helpful to understand what is nonresistance for us. If we’re going to be talking about the subject, to be able to know what we’re talking about. So I’m going to give my definition and second of all, I want to talk about how it fits into who we are as Christians because that’s when it gets really exciting for me. I want to talk about how nonresistance actually plays a big part in what it means to be a Christian in kingdom.
One of the key verses to understanding the doctrine of nonresistance is 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds ).”
This captures what nonresistance is about. It’s not about not resisting, but it’s about the right kind of resistance. We’re in a kingdom and it’s actually not a pacifist kingdom. It’s an incredibly violent kingdom. But as we’re being violent, we have to know who our enemies are and we have to know how to fight against them. Otherwise we’re fighting a ridiculous war. So the first part is this, that nonresistance means I don’t physically resist evil. I think that’s what it’s talking about there.
Nonresistance is about fighting in a way that we’re destined to win because there’s a lot of ways to fight a lot of different things. Number one, we have to know who our enemies are. Number two, we have to know how to win as Christians. We’re in this battle of the ages and we are fighting for Christ, who is going to win the battle of evil versus good, and the Kingdom of darkness versus the Kingdom. We have to know how to win. That’s what nonresistance is about. Now in this verse, “the weapons of our warfare” compares two things. They’re not carnal, which is like fleshly. That’s the way the world does things, the way the secular world works in how to deal with evil. That’s the carnal weapons. Our weapons are not carnal, but they are “mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds.”
That’s thrilling. It’s thrilling because set in front of us is our pathway to victory. When we take the weapons that we were meant to fight with, spiritual weapons, we realize that the flesh and blood things around us that the world says are our enemies, but they’re actually not. When we realize those aren’t our enemies and we really recognize, (and that’s the next verse), what our weapons are, we’re going to be able to win this.
Matthew 5 says, “resist not evil.” If somebody slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other cheek to him. Then it goes on and gives what we should be doing. What we should be doing is blessing those who persecute us, pray for them. Do good to those who hate us. And that right there is is the definition of what nonresistance is. So we got to pick, we got to pick our true enemies here and take the weapons that God’s given us and we’re going to be able to fight the right battle.
Christianity is all about the Kingdom of God. If we miss the kingdom, we miss what the Bible is about. The Bible is about Jesus Christ coming into the world as the Messiah, the king over a new kingdom. Christians have the right and the incredible responsibility to enjoy being a part of this kingdom with the Messiah who comes. When we recognize where nonresistance comes into the picture because we have been given this place in the kingdom, as a part of God’s army and when we realize that we have our part in the Bible’s narrative about the kingdom, we can pick up this idea of nonresistance. Maybe I would better call it biblical resistance, of knowing who our enemies are and fighting these spiritual enemies.
If we really understand what we’re supposed to be doing right now, we’re able to fight our battles. In the Old Testament, of course, we have the theocracy of Israel, the nation of Israel, God’s representative here on the earth. It was a real earthly kingdom set up with the rule if evil is done against you, you’re expected to respond in kind.
With the advent of Christ, that changed and that change obviously changed the law, the moral law in a way that was radical and Jesus addressed this issue of resistance specifically in the Old Testament and how it was, how he superseded it. As Christians we’re to live above the law, but the default is living in the law. Again, if you think of a body of water as the law and us being above that as Christians, as soon as we drop below that we’re in the water. We’re in the law. I think it’s important for us to remind ourselves of that.
Many people tend to use that as an excuse for not living according to the law or living according to the spirit. This ties into that concept of Jesus superseding the law. He addresses specifically in Matthew Chapter Five, not to repay evil for evil. When we do, we’re resorting to the law. We’re going back to where Israel came from. As Christians, we’re called to a higher calling.
As mentioned in 2 Corinthians, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty. “When you look at the Old Testament example of complete annihilation of sinful societies and people, we take that precedent as a type and a shadow in the New Testament of complete annihilation of sin in our lives. Of taking the mighty weapons of our warfare, which is prayer, which is
In 1 Peter 2:19-24, Peter Talks about this very principle. “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”
The amazing thing is here how we talked of nonresistance in the context of not resisting evil. So when someone starts comes to me in an evil way, I should not resist in kind. Jesus’ example takes that a step further where he suffers injustice and responds with the ultimate blessing. That’s where it can get really challenging for us, not only do we not resist evil, but we respond in grace and with good. The example of Christ is a very clear reason for me when I look at nonresistance and living that out in daily life.
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing because to this you are called, so that you may inherit a blessing. Now, if you think about it, what’s the alternative to returning good for evil? Our weapon is giving good. What’s the alternative? The alternative is if somebody comes against me with evil, he’s putting evil in the world. The bucket of evil in the world he’s putting into that bucket. So by returning evil back, I’m just increasing the evil in the world.
What happens when I return vengeance and I get even well, now listen, I have to be scared because he’s gonna come back after me again. And generations of feuding have gone on. And we’ve, we’ve heard stories of generations of, of problems you see in the Middle East, you see it in the south. I’ve heard stories of two different families that were feuding for generations, killing each other. That’s the alternative. So we don’t want that alternative.
Matthew 26:52, Christ said, “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
We don’t want violence and fear. We don’t want to live in this fear. That’s not God’s way. God’s way is truly amazing. In Romans 12:20, it instructs us to the contrary, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.”
And there’s different interpretations of what burning coals are. But I think of it this way, if I put good on that person who wants to do the evil, that makes him convicted. That’s where the burning coals are from, he will be convicted. God’s way is truly amazing.
Now, I do want to say this, that nonresistance does not mean pacifism. Pacifism seeks to exert its will by nonviolent means. Christianity seeks the Father’s will.
Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
When Jesus comes back, he’s looking for people who are going to straight away follow him, leave whatever they’re doing, and just go, if we believe in Jesus, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to turn away from what other people think about us and just follow Jesus. That’s where the reward is. If we haven’t got any flack, if we haven’t got any insults, and persecution, it is because we’re not at the battle line. And the battle line is where the war is. That’s what Jesus said. So why do I believe in notnresistance? I believe it because it’s the right way, because the alternative is bad because God’s way truly is what I want. I want God’s way.
The world has several ways to respond to evil. Different positions of response at times of conflict.
- The first one is called a preemptive strike. That means I’m going to do something evil to you before you’ve done anything evil to me. Make sure that you can’t treat me worse. That’s genuinely really looked down on in our
society, unless it’s done by the military. Military believes and promotes preemptive strikes where they attack a country before they’d been attacked, especially when they started talking about nuclear powers. That is not God’s way at all. That’s returning evil before evil has beencommited . - The next approach to evil is where you would “teach them a lesson.” So you took my pencil or you broke my pencil. I’m going to break two of yours. I’ll teach you a lesson. That’s the idea of revenge. Again, not God’s way.
- And then we can get to the idea of justice. Justice is more like, you broke my pencil, I’ll break yours. I return evil for evil. Again, God is just, but he is not looking to us to execute that justice. Scripture says we should not return evil for evil.
- The next level I would say is the at peace level. You broke my pencil and I’m not going to do anything back to you. That’s the idea of living at peace. That’s better than anything we’ve heard yet in this list, but the way of Jesus goes beyond that.
- Jesus teaches us, you broke my pencil, I will give you my pen also. We can do that from our hearts with love, caring for that person and for their needs. Then we have grasped what Jesus is asking me to do, returning good for evil, walking in the ways of loving my enemies, the ways of nonresistance.
Was this a principle of the Old Testament, to love your enemies? Was Jesus bringing something totally new, or was he teaching an Old Testament principal? In Exodus 23:4-5 it says, “If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.”
In Romans 12:20, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” This is not a command unique to the New Testament. It is actually a direct quote from the Old Testament.
Proverbs 25:21-22 “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.“
The Old Testament does not teach us to love our enemies but it teaches us to be kind to them. We can grasp being kind to our enemies, but Jesus goes a lot farther than that. He says, “Love Them. Pray for them.” The Old Testament, the law, the law can command what you should do. It cannot command the heart to change. Jesus speaks to our hearts and when he speaks to our hearts, when our hearts are full of him, full of his ways, what comes out of us will be the fulfillment of the law. We won’t need this book of the law to command us on how to treat our enemy. When you love your enemy from the inside, it comes out really easy.
Luke 6:27-36 “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
That’s how to apply the concept of loving your enemies. That is where we manfest that we are the children of the Most High. Not loving those who do us good, for even the sinner does that, but loving those who hate us. Bringing Christ’s love into the darkest places.
Would you be willing to kill someone who is not your enemy? Can you kill an enemy? If you forgive him? Will he still be your enemy? Can you hate someone that you have forgiven? Are you willing to be a pawn of a human government hating nations at their request? A pawn, a game piece in chess, which has very little value, but it’s just used, manipulated by the Chessmaster to protect more important pieces on the board. Will you be a pawn of human government hating nations at their request? Can you make war without hate, without prejudice? Is that possible? Where can you find an enemy today? Is there another nation that isn’t the enemy? Are the North Koreans your enemy? What about a different race or a different religion? What about a different denomination? Maybe it’s them or them.
Now as we look around us, we will see people selecting many different kinds of enemies. God wants to work in my heart so that I’m not holding anyone as my enemy. What about the idea of being prejudiced, where as soon as I see this kind of person, I know I’m not going to like them. Prejudice is something that God hates. That is something that he does not want in me at all.
He does not want to meet to write off the teenagers or the grandparent. What about the guy in the other car, the fellow that cuts me off in traffic? Would he be an enemy? Should I show love to him? What about next door? The guy who left his dog running on my lawn or whose cows are eating my corn or dumped the trash over the fence? We can find enemies all around us, but we are to love them. When we are kind to them, I believe that most enemies that you meet or feel or find can be turned into friends. I found it worked that way for me most of the time. When I have love inside of my heart, the walls of hatred, walls of prejudice, the walls of hate breakdown and love penetrates through there.
I’ve even seen and heard of church fights where people feel that people in their very own
This is just a testing place for me. I am just a pilgrim here. I’m passing through.
I would like to tell a story of some of Jesus’ disciples. He picked 12 disciples. Hey, pick quite some characters for his disciples. One was Simon the zealot. I don’t know if you know anything about the Zealots, but they are known as one of the first terrorist groups in the world. One of the oldest known terrorist groups. They were good at doing things against the Romans because they were zealous for the nation of Israel. Jesus picked him as a disciple. Jesus taught him the sermon on the mount. Jesus said to him the same verses I just read to you, love your enemies. James and John were two other of Jesus’ disciples. Got To love those guys. Sons of thunder was there a nickname. They must have been full of ambition and energy and decisiveness. In fact, when Jesus was ready to go to Jerusalem to be betrayed, and this is in the last month of his life, he’s been teaching these guys for years, he and his disciples pass through the country of Samaria. When Jesus sends some of them in advance and says, go to this village and see if we can find a place to stay for the night. They went to the village and the villagers figuring out that Jesus was Jewish and headed for Jerusalem, they said, “no, we’re not helping with that.”
James and John came back and said, “what are we going to do? Oh yes. Wait, remember Elijah? He called fire down upon the people that were unrighteous. Jesus, let’s call a fire down.” Jesus said, “no, no, no. You don’t know what spirits you’re of. The son of man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save, let’s go to another village.” Wow.
And then there was Peter. Peter was always saying something and so he’s easy to pick out because he had a lot of things to say. I remember the time when he came to Jesus and he said, “you know, Jesus, this thing about forgiveness, he says, I’m willing to forgive my brother seven times. How’s that? That’s a pretty good, right?” And Jesus says, “no, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” So Peter starts out with the idea of a limited forgiveness to forgive a little but not too much, not too much, but Jesus wants us to forgive to the uttermost.
And then there was a day when the Jews came to arrest Jesus. Peter knows what to do. He whips out his sword and tries to take the guy’s head off his neck. He manages to clip the fellow’s ear off. Jesus rebuked Peter and says, “Peter, Peter Puts your sword back end.” He takes the ear and heals it.
A few chapters later in the Bible, the Holy Spirit descended and touched Peter and made him a person like he never was before. Chapter five of Acts, Peter is there saying, we have to obey God, not men. Suddenly these things are falling in place in order for him. In Acts Chapter 12 is Peter is ready to be executed. The next day they’re going to take his head off and what’s he doing? He’s sleeping apparently peacefully, so peaceful. He thought he was dreaming well. His fear of death was gone now. That’s a different Peter than we saw in the garden.
In 1 Peter 2:19-24, Peter Talks about this very principle. “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” We are to follow in Christ’s steps. We are to live a life unto righteousness. We cannot be righteous if we seek vengeance. We cannot receive mercy if we seek justice when we are wronged.
God wants to bless you. Why do I believe in loving my enemies? Why do I believe in nonresistance?
There’s two concepts that come through the Bible that speak that strongly to me. The first one is God’s kingdom is not of this world. Luke, chapter six, we read, if you want to be just like the sinners, return evil for evil or good for good. God calls us to something higher. His kingdom is not of this world. In fact, that was the discussion between Pilate and Jesus.
John 18:33-37 “Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”
Jesus was talking about what just happened in the garden. My kingdom is not here. If my kingdom was here, Peter and all the rest would fight for me, that I would not be delivered to the Jews. He was specifically speaking about being freed from the Jews there. My kingdom is not of this world.
We as Christians are ambassadors and ambassadors are in a foreign country solely to represent their native country and they do not involve themselves in local politics. In fact, there was a lot of noise about this in the last election, about the Russians influencing the election somehow, but none of the Russian ambassadors cast any votes. It is illegal in the US, for the federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting. You’re not from here. You’re not. You’re not one of us, so you don’t make the decisions. Here we are ambassadors on this earth as Christians, our native kingdom is not here. It is in heaven, and so as ambassadors, we are calling the people in the country we are in to be reconciled with God. The king of our country would like you to be reconciled with him. He would like to take you to his country as well.
Hebrews 11:13-16 speaks of several Old Testament saints as it says, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had
The second concept that teaches me to be nonresistant is the concept that vengeance belongs to God. Vengeance belongs to God.
Deuteronomy 32:35 God states, “To me belongeth vengeance and recompence.”
Romans 12:17-21 “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
The reason being again, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he’s thirsty, give him drink for in so doing you will. You show heap coals of fire on his head. Be Not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. When my enemy does something against me and I do something bad in return, I believe that’s being overcome by evil. I’ve just been drawn into the same evil actions. Instead, overcome evil with good is a call from scripture. And the reason is vengeance is mine. I don’t need to take vengeance for myself. God has it all under control. He will do it in the best way. I don’t have to get my hands dirty. I don’t have to get my heart dirty. I can love from my heart without being plagued with bitterness and unforgiveness in there.
To quote Shane Claiborne, “You can’t carry a cross in one hand, and a weapon in the other.”
We can learn from the bloody pages of history. The more vigorously we try to root out evil by force, the more evil will escalate. For every Muslim extremist killed, another is created. Likewise, the more passionately we love our enemies, the more evil will diminish. This is also the story of the martyrs. For every Christian killed at the hand of evil, another would rise up, converted by their faithful self-sacrificial love. And historically Christianity spreads most rapidly when we are killed at the hands of evil doers without retaliating.
We are called to build Christ’s Kingdom. We do that by loving our enemies. Showing them Christ that they may also join the kingdom.