A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Deuteronomy 13 (Part 3)

So, do we Gentiles need to be circumcised in order to be included in the people of God? God forbid! Acts 15:1, 28-29—1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” … 28 “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” Circumcision of the flesh has been done away with as a sign of a covenant. We are now no longer circumcised in the flesh, but of the heart. Romans 2:29—But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. The signs of the New Covenant are Baptism and the Lord’s Table.  These are not things which save us (as circumcision brought the Old Covenant believers into that first covenant) but rather show the world that we are in a saving covenant with God. Baptism shows that we have been declared dead to sin and alive to God (see Romans 6:4), and the Lord’s Table (instituted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:17-20; Mark 14:22-25, and reiterated by Paul in 1st Corinthians 11:24-25) is what we do to proclaim His sacrifice on our behalf, that we do belong to Him and His body and His blood were given for us. As Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” We are not literally eating the literal flesh or literally drinking the literal blood of Christ (after all, He said, “this wine is My blood”, not “My blood is this wine” before He went to the cross) but rather we are proclaiming to the world that we are tasting the heavenly gift, and we believe that what He did on the cross was real. This is the New Covenant that Jeremiah wrote to us about. 

And this New Covenant has caused the Old Covenant to be done away with. Hebrews 8:13—In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. The word translated “obsolete” is the Greek πεπαλαίωκεν (pepalaioken, from the root word παλαιόω [palaioo, “to make (passively, become) worn out, or declare obsolete”]). The Old Covenant is no more. It is done, finished, completed, finito, fin, no mas. Whereas under the Old Covenant bulls and goats and turtledoves had to be killed for the sins of a person every time that person sinned to make atonement for that person, this New Covenant was different: when a person sins, the blood that has been spilled but once by the Lamb of God is what makes atonement for those sins! Hebrews 8:12—Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ONCE! The spotless Lamb of God shed His blood ONCE. Then He took that blood into the Tabernacle in Heaven, offered it up to the Father as the payment for all the sins that would ever be committed by God’s elect, and that blood bought our atonement for all eternity! Whereas under the Old Covenant the high priest had to go into the Holy of Holies once every year with the blood of goats to ask for forgiveness for the sins of the people, our new High Priest has already done that. And He only had to do it ONCE. Hebrews 8:25-26—25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Morgan G. Campbell tells us

 

The pre-eminent thought in this section is that now in the priesthood of Christ a place of worship, unlocalized and unlimited, is provided. Wherever is found the soul who will come to God through Him, there He is as Priest, with the value of His own sacrifice, providing redemption and acceptance; and, moreover, having exhausted judgment in the process of His death, He hides from coming judgment all who trust in Him, changing the dread of that awful assize into the glorious hope of His own second appearing. 

The last and final prophet God sent us is the Man we have been speaking of, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our King, our High Priest, and our final Prophet. Hebrews 1:1-2—1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. Everything the prophets spoke and wrote in the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ, and Christ pointed backward to them to indicate to His hearers that He was the One of whom they spoke. One of the first prophecies He gave was about how He would, in His body, replace the temple that Herod had spent decades building. John 2:19—Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The reactions of those who heard Him say this are a good example of why we need to read Jesus’ words carefully and to not always take them at face value. Many times He spoke to the people in parables, especially to those who stood against Him (see Matthew 13:35). Why did He speak in parables? He did so to separate those who believed in Him and who were careful in understanding what He was saying in His role as Prophet from those who simply heard what He said and counted Him a madman. But they all thought He was saying that He would destroy Herod’s temple and rebuild it three days later. This saying followed Him all the way to the cross, when it was used by His opponents to blaspheme Him (see Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29). But He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:21). He was saying to them that once they put Him to death, He would rise from the grave three days later. Which He did. 

Another early prophecy He gave was about the gathering of Gentiles with the physical sons of Isaac in the Kingdom of God, while those who depended on their familial lineage would be cast out. Matthew 8:11-12—11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  We have already seen from Romans that we Gentiles are now counted as being among the people of God. And here, Jesus was saying this after He healed from afar the servant of a Roman centurion. And this would happen again in Acts 10, when Peter was sent to the house of another Romans centurion. He feared entering the man’s house, with Cornelius being a Gentile. Acts 10:28—“You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.” It was not considered lawful for a Jew to enter the home of a Gentile. “Where does it say that?” Well, it doesn’t. There is no Scriptural prohibition against this. Peter had still not learned the words of our Master when He said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (see Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1). For He said to His disciples about these Pharisees, “'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'” (Matthew 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7). This was another place where they substituted their own thoughts for the commands of God. They despised the Gentiles and forbade them from entering the house of a Gentile. And Peter, a devout Jew, got carried away in this hypocrisy (see Galatians 2:11-13). But this episode with Cornelius was an early fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy about Gentiles entering the Kingdom of God. 

Now, think about it. With all these prophecies, from Moses and from Isaiah and Jeremiah, and others given by Haggai and Obadiah and Nahum and Agabus (Acts 21:10-11) and so many others including Jesus—prophecies which foretold the judgement of God on the people for their insolence and disobedience—how can anyone stand on a stage today and simply proclaim good things and health and wealth and peace and safety? It is because there is no fear of God in them. They do not fear the wrath of God because they do not believe in the wrath of God. They don’t care. All they want is to see the money rolling in from giving people some treacly, watered-down, easy-on-the-ears feel-good story about how God will do for them if they command Him to do so. They don’t see God as God, they see Him as an ATM. He does not exist for His glory; He exists to give them handouts and morsels. These self-appointed “prophets” will not speak out against injustice and oppression; they will not decry immorality; they will not cry and moan against those who mock God, because they would be crying out against themselves. In short, we do not have prophets as the ones we read about in the Old Testament. “But what about Ephesians 4:11 and 1st Corinthians 12:28? Where it says that God gave some to be prophets for equipping the church?” That is true. God gave some to be prophets in the Church. But what does this mean? That there are some who speak from God only good, smooth things? That they only speak peace and safety? No friend, the true prophets today do not speak words that those hearing will rejoice over (although they may). They speak forth (the meaning of the Greek προφήτης [prophetes]) the word given to us in Scripture. Now, if there be one who speaks harsh words things that are hard for the hearer to hear, and if they speak things that line up with the word and character of God, then that one is speaking by the gift of prophecy. But telling people that if they send the “prophet” money and God will rain down wealth into their lives? That is not prophecy, that is borderline blasphemy. 

God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. Jesus was our last true prophet (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19), although the gift of prophecy still exists today. But one should be careful in exercising this gift. Deuteronomy 18:20—20 “‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’” The one who presumes to speak a word from God—a word which God has not commanded him to speak—that one was to be put to death. Today God does not put these “prophets” to death immediately; He allows them to store up their sin for the Day of Judgment. For those who speak words not given to them by God as if they were given to them by God, and which do not come to pass, impugn the righteousness of God. For if they presume to speak from God, and that word does not come to pass, then they make God a liar, and who will trust Him? 2nd Peter 2:1-2—1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. But if one speaks a word which aligns with the character of God, and they do so through the gift of prophecy given to them by God, then they will speak true words and they will glorify God and edify the Church. 1st Corinthians 14:3—But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. Why is this? Because true edification and true exhortation and true comfort are found in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do we have eternal life? We do if we know and follow Him. Will we be able to endure persecution? Yes, because He ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to lead us. Can we be sure that we are saved? Of course! Jesus told us that none can snatch us out of His hand and no one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29). Speaking forth these truths and others found in the very words spoken to the writers of Scripture by God, and warning others to listen to these words and teaching them to follow Christ and His commands to love God and love our neighbor—that is true prophecy. 

The Church will always need the gift of prophecy, and those who speak as prophets. That is what keeps the Church on the narrow way. But if one takes the mantle upon themselves and speaks presumptuously words not given to them by God, they risk destruction for bringing shame to the name of God. If we do prophesy, let us do so carefully and tread lightly when we do so. Let us not be as the false prophets that Peter warned us about and bring swift destruction upon ourselves. Let us speak those words which will bring to mind the love and grace of our Lord, keep the church focused on Him, and bring glory to God.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

Series: Systematic Theology

Here, in summary, are the posts in the series entitled "Systematic Theology." I'll be the first to admit that it's, maybe, a couple hundred pages shorter than Grudem's masterpiece. It may not be as deep as his, but I do hope you will find it useful.

Lesson 1--The Importance of Doctrine
Lesson 2--God the Father
Lesson 3 (part 1)--God the Son
Lesson 3 (part 2)--God the Son
Lesson 4--God the Holy Spirit
Lesson 5--Angels
Lesson 6--The Doctrine of Man
Lesson 7 (part 1)--Salvation
Lesson 7 (part 2)--Salvation
Lesson 7 (part 3)--Salvation
Lesson 7 (part 4)--Salvation
Lesson 8--Sanctification
Lesson 10 (part 1)--The Second Coming of Christ
Lesson 10 (part 2)--The Second Coming of Christ

Systematic Theology--Lesson 3, God the Son (part 2)

Last week we talked about the two natures of Christ. We saw that not only do we need to understand that he was fully God, but it is also necessary that we believe He was fully human. That if anyone does not believe He had a body of flesh and bone, they are in fact Antichrist. 1st John 4:2-3; 2nd John 1:7. He is very clear that one must believe Christ came in the flesh. So that’s who Christ was. Today we’re going to look at what Christ did and is doing now and will do. We will look at His death, what it accomplished. And we will look at His resurrection and what it accomplished. And we will look at what He is doing now and what He will do one day. We begin with The Death of Christ, specifically The Accomplishment of His Death.

Are we under the Law of Moses? For saints, those who know Christ as their Lord and Savior, then the answer is NO!
Romans 8:1-2—There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.
Galatians 5:18—But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 6:14-15 (KJV)—For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid!
And this brings us to the words of Christ in Matthew 5:17-18 (NASB)—“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Christ did not come to abolish the Law—He came to fulfill it, and to redeem us from its curse and its penalty.

Paul tells us in Galatians 3:13—Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. If you recall, John the Baptist—no relation to John the Methodist—was in Bethabara, baptizing people in the Jordan River, and along comes the Messiah, Christ Jesus, and what does John cry out? John 1:29—“Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!” He saved us by taking our sins upon Himself.
2nd Corinthians 5:21—He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Isaiah 53:5—But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Not a fair trade—but it fulfilled the Law. I like this quote from Martin Luther--"This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners, for by a wonderful exchange our sins are not ours but Christ's; Christ's righteousness is not Christ's but ours."

The Old Testament Day of Atonement—Yom Kippur—was symbolic of the coming Christ. The High Priest would take two goats, draw lots, and whichever goat was declared the “scapegoat” this would be the one to bear the sins of the people. Leviticus 16:21-22—Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel… putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness… Think about this: When Christ hung on that Cross, He was our scapegoat—God laid upon Him all the sins of all those who would ever believe, and He was sent into the wilderness of death. The Passover also typified Christ. The Passover was celebrated to remember when God led the people out of slavery, when He spared the people because of what? The blood of a lamb on their doorpost.
Exodus 12:5-7—“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year…And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”
1st Peter 1:18-19—you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
1st Corinthians 5:7—For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

If we are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God—as a lamb without spot or blemish—then eternal death will pass us by because of the blood of Christ, our Passover. That’s the death of Christ and what it accomplished.

Next we are going to look at The Resurrection of Christ. Matthew 20:18-19--“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” Jesus is telling His disciples—AGAIN—that He must go to Jerusalem to die. Nobody believed Him. But let’s look at The Evidence of His Resurrection. First there is The Empty Tomb. He ain't there! When John and Peter and Mary Jesus’ mother and Mary Magdalene—when they got to that hole in the side of the hill they all saw the same thing—nuttin’! He ain't there! One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is Matthew 28:5-6—“I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” HE IS RISEN! There are not three more beautiful words in any language. Not only do we have the empty tomb. We also have The Eyewitnesses. Acts 1:3--He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. 1st Corinthians 15:3-8—Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. He appeared to His apostles. He appeared to Mary His mother and to Mary Magdalene. He appeared to the travelers on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to over 500 people at one time—and He appeared to the apostle Paul over a year after His resurrection.

Then we have the soldiers guarding the tomb. Roman soldiers were a very meticulous lot. They were always on guard to do their duty at all times. And if it meant guarding a hole in a wall and keeping a bunch of Jewish fishermen from stealing the body of their teacher—if that’s what they had to do, they did it under pain of death. They weren’t about to die for a bunch of pitiful old Jewish guys. So it’s a pretty safe bet that when they told the chief priests what they saw they meant what they said. Matthew 28:11-15—Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. They saw the angel come down. They saw the stone get rolled away. They saw Jesus walk out of that tomb. Can you imagine what they said as they stormed into the high priest's office? “What kind of god was this man? We didn’t sign up for this!” When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed…; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. Matthew wrote his gospel at least 10 years after the death and resurrection of Christ. So this story was still going around. And just to show you how long a good fish story can last, Justin Martyr wrote in the year 170 AD—a full 140 years after the resurrection—that there were still many Jews who still believed the story.

These eyewitnesses are evidence of His resurrection. In Acts 25, Paul has just appeared before the governor Festus. King Agrippa arrives and wants to hear about this Paul. So when he gets there, he is greeted by Festus who tells him, Acts 25:17-19 (NASB)—"So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive." Then besides the empty tomb, besides the eyewitnesses, we have The Existence of the Church. I like this quote by Frank Harber--"It was not the teachings of Jesus that was the centerpiece of early Christian proclamation; rather, it was the message that the crucified Messiah was now alive."

So, we have all this evidence. Empty Tomb. Eyewitnesses. Existence of the Church. What does it all mean? In other words, what are The Effects of the Resurrection. For one, It Proved Jesus’ Claims.

In Mark 8:31-32, Jesus foretold His death. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly.
And in fact, the Old Testament bears witness.
Hosea 6:2—After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
In John 2:19, He told the Pharisees “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”

The resurrection also Provided Victory.
1st Corinthians 15:55-57—O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:37—we are more than conquerors—literally, we super-conquer—through Him who loved us.
Death is one enemy we can never defeat. But, because Christ has conquered the grave, He gives us that victory also.

Which brings us to the next point, It Previews Our Own Resurrection. In 1st Corinthians 15, Paul spends 6-7 verses telling us how useless our faith is if Christ is not risen. Our preaching is empty, our faith is futile, we are false witnesses, we are still in our sins, and above all else, we are of all men the most pitiable! BUT… 1st Corinthians 15:20-21—But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

Firstfruits. In the Old Testament, the Israelites, if they were planting 10 acres, what they would do was they would plant 1 acre. Then about a couple weeks later they would plant the other 9 acres. The first acre they planted would come up first, and this was dedicated to the service of God. This one acre was kinda like a guarantee for the rest of the harvest. And what was this one acre of fruit called? Firstfruits. Christ’s resurrection is the firstfruits of our own resurrection. Check this out. As Jesus hung on the cross, after He gave up the ghost and died, listen to what happens in Matthew 27:52-53—graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. This was a sign that Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by the Father. And it was a sign to us that we too would be raised.

It Paved Our Way Into God’s Presence. In the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, you had the Holy Place, and behind that you had the Most Holy Place. Who could go into the Most Holy Place? The high priest How often could he go in there? Once a year. What did he have to have? The blood of bulls and goats. We read in Hebrews 9-10 that the temple and the tabernacle were symbolic of Heaven. Christ has entered into the TRUE Most Holy Place—not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood. Hebrews 9:23-26—it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often …but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And He has purified us for His own sake. Titus 2:12-14—For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

And because He has purified us, we can now go into the very presence of God the Father!
Hebrews 4:16—Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Christ has become our Mediator between us and God.
1st Timothy 2:5—For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.

And all this was made possible the minute Christ gave up the ghost and died. We talked about how the graves were opened, and the dead were raised. What else happened when He gave up the ghost? Matthew 27:51—And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. God the Father accepted the sacrifice of His Son upon the Cross, He has broken down the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14-15), we can go into His presence any time we need to.

So, brings us to our last point, what will He do on that last day? He will judge. There will be two separate judgments. The Judgment Seat of Christ, and The Great White Throne. We read about the Judgment Seat (Bema) of Christ in 1st Corinthians 3:11-15—For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Now, can anybody tell me what false doctrine has been built upon this passage? PURGATORY. The Romish system uses this verse to justify their belief in Purgatory. Wrong. This passage does not talk about saints having their venial sins burned away. It is talking about all the dead works we believers did, that did nothing for the kingdom of Christ, being burned. Notice what it says. If anyone's work is burned... The person's WORK will be burned--not the person themselves. 2nd Corinthians 5:9-10 (ESV)—So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

That is for believers. The unbelieving will stand before the Great White Throne, where they will be judged against Christ. Romans 2:16 speaks of the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. All those who died in their sins will stand at this Great White Throne. Revelation 20:11-15—Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it…And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened…And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books…Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. There are people who say “Well, when I get there, I'll make my case and He’ll have to listen.” Well, He might just give that person a chance to make their case. But then He’ll look at them and He may say something like, “You were pretty good. But you weren’t perfect. I was.” Matthew 5:48—“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Romans 3:19—Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. They are judged against the Law. They are judged against Christ—who fulfilled the Law. This will be the “day when all things are accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). Next week we will look at God the Holy Spirit, probably the most misunderstood member of the Trinity. If you want to start an argument with a Christian, talk about the Holy Spirit.

50 Answers to 50 Mormon Answers to 50 Anti-Mormon Questions (Answer 23)

Wow, it's been a while. This series left off back in August with Question 22. I've now got a little bit of time (spring break next week), so we can resume our journey of untangling the sophomoric attempts by FAIR (Foundation for Apologetics and Information Research) to answer, in their own unique and convoluted way, some rather straightforward questions from Tower To Truth. We pick up with #23

Tower To Truth Question:

23. Why does D. & C. 42:18 say there is no forgiveness for a murderer when 3 Nephi 30:2 says there is forgiveness for him?'

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FAIR Answer:

Doctrine and Covenants 42 is "the law of the Church" and pertains to those who are baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who by baptism are adopted into the house of Israel. 3_Ne. 30:2 pertains to those who are still "Gentiles" and who are not yet "numbered with [God's] people who are of the house of Israel." For a member of the Church to commit murder there is no forgiveness, whereas a person who has not yet made baptismal covenants may, under certain conditions, be forgiven. Some Lamanites repented and were forgiven of their murders (see Alma 24:10-12).

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My Response:

Alma 24:10-11 (all emphases mine)--
10 And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son.
11 And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain—
12 Now, my best beloved brethren, since God hath taken away our stains, and our swords have become bright, then let us stain our swords no more with the blood of our brethren.

Did you notice a couple things there? This passage claims that our sins are forgiven by the MERITS of Christ--not by His blood. But....

• Colossians 1:19-22--For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death...


• 1st Peter 1:18-19--you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot...


• Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14--In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins


• Revelation 1:5--To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

All of these verses talk about how we are redeemed, purchased, forgiven, washed by Christ's BLOOD--not His "merit." (This idea almost sounds like Roman Catholic doctrine, where, if we come up a little bit short in our efforts to be perfect, we can ask for a withdrawal from the "treasury of merit" that was built up by Saint (insert name of favorite saint here).)

A couple things here. First, LDS theology says that Jesus became a "God" based on His merit--that through obedience to eternal laws He attained godhood. That of course is a lie. Jesus is God because HE IS GOD--and for no other reason. He did not have to "earn" His title as God.

Second, we don't "get God to take away our sins"--as if we do enough to have God look at us and say, "Way to go!! You're such a good person, I'm going to save you!!" He looks down at a world of horrible, wretched, filthy sinners and grants repentance to some, draws them to Himself, and saves them from His wrath--not because we are somehow "good enough" (a most laughable concept if I ever heard one yet is, nonetheless, being taught in even many "Evangelical" churches), but simply because of His grace.

Now, to the main point I want to make. This particular exchange is almost perfect for showing the most glaring difference between Mormonism and Christianity. According to Mormonism, the blood of Jesus can cleanse you from sins--with a few exceptions. See, you can kill someone before you become a Mormon and get forgiveness no problem. But if you commit murder after you join the LDS system, there is no forgiveness.

Truth of the matter is, it does not matter when you commit murder. Even if you kill someone after you come to know Christ, if you ask forgiveness and you truly belong to Him--He will forgive. King David had Uriah killed after following God. Peter would have killed Malchus if he had his way. And yet these and many like them were still saved by the blood of Christ.

Because, you see, God's forgiveness is not bound by time. In fact, in the book of Revelation refers to Christ as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8)--even though He was slain thousands of years after the foundation of the world. So if a person is truly saved, it does not matter if they commit a particular sin before or after they get saved--God can forgive that sin.

And contrary to another lie told by the LDS church, there is no sin that cannot be covered by the blood of Christ--even murder.

Our Lord Jesus Christ--Tempted? Or tested?

We have a thread going over at DefCon about Mark Driscoll’s comment that Jesus had desires to “know” a woman. This was one of those issues that I knew what I believed, but had never formed a biblical defense for it.

Some of my fellow DefCon bloggers and I have been dialoging with a fellow about how Driscoll was wrong in his comment. So, over the weekend (when I haven’t been studying for class) I have been formulating a biblical defense of not only the sinlessness of Christ, but the fact that He did not have even the desire to sin. And rather than fill up the combox, I decided to post my defense here.

The Scriptures we will focus on are:

Hebrews 2:18—For in that He Himself has suffered (lit., experienced) being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:15—For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
James 1:13-15—Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Galatians 1:17—For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Genesis 3:15—“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Some other verses we will look at later: Luke 22:31; 1st Corinthians 5:5; 1st Timothy 1:20; Job 2:6.

Since we know that Scripture does not contradict Scripture, and that Christ was without sin, how do we reconcile the fact that James said God cannot be tested with evil, yet the writer of Hebrews tells us that Christ was tested in all things like we are? The answer is not simple, but here is (briefly) what I have learned from studying this subject. And I do not claim to have perfect knowledge of it, but I have read what some great men of God have had to say about it, and I think I’m getting close.

Let us begin with James 1:14, which tells us that a man is tempted (tested) when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Go back to the Garden (Genesis 3). Man had not fallen yet. So who had to test the first people? Satan, because man had not yet been stained by sin. Satan enticed our parents with their desire, which was what? To be like God. Since then, every man (and woman) who has ever lived has sought to live their own way, and to put their own desires above those of God. Our desires lead us to rebel against God and His commands. Always have, always will.

That is why James said in 1:13 that we cannot say we have been tested by God—because we are not in fact tested by God, but by our own lusts. (Coram, I think that’s what you were getting at in your email, which led me to do some more digging.). Christ, however, did not have those desires and lusts because He did not have the sinful nature that we inherited from Adam. That’s why the writer of Hebrews said that although Christ was tested in all points like we are, He was without sin. He was tested in all the same areas we are—but not in the same fashion that we are. He was the seed of woman, and not man. So Satan himself had to come after Christ because Christ did not have sin dwelling within Him. Therefore, (a) Satan had nothing to use to lead Christ to sin, and (b) Christ would never lead Himself to rebel against the Father. So while Christ may have been tested to see if He would sin, He could not be led to harbor a desire to commit sin.

We, however, are tested by our own lusts. James 1:14—But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Christ had no such lusts. We are tested from within, Christ HAD TO BE tested from without. God allows us to be tempted and tested by our own desires to see whether we will follow our flesh or whether we will follow the Spirit. That’s why He doesn’t make us perfect when He saves us. (That is, He does take away our sins, but He does not take away our humanity). Because Jesus did not have that struggle within, He had to be tempted by Satan himself. Christ is able to sympathize with us in our temptations—not because He had the same sinful feelings we have, but because He came face-to-face with THE tempter. Christ was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So now we come back to James. When we are tested by our flesh, the temptation gives birth to lust. And lust when it is fully grown brings death (1:15). Christ experienced temptation (Hebrews 2:18) but only because it was brought to Him, not because it was within Him. He did not have the internal struggle against sin that a born-again believer has. There was no place inside of Him for the “seed” of sin to grow and bring forth lust (and by extension death). When we are being tested by our desires, a war begins inside of us because the Holy Spirit dwells within (1st Corinthians 6:19), yet we are still trapped in these bodies of flesh (Romans 7:24). So what happens? The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another (Galatians 5:17). The Spirit is leading us to follow God, while the flesh is leading us be our own God.

Again, Christ faced no such struggle because His one and only desire was to do the will of the Father. He could be led to stray even when He was at the point of death. Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23—Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. He would not so much as take anything to dull the pain of the torture He was enduring.

Consider some others who were handed over to Satan:

Some were so faithful to God that nothing this world has to offer could entice them to sin.

• Luke 22:31-32—And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
• Job 2:6—And YHVH said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”

Others had fallen away, and the only way to bring them back was to let them see for themselves the master they were serving with their sins.

• 1st Corinthians 5:1, 5—It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!...Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
• 1st Timothy 1:18-20—…wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some, having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

So to conclude, I would sum up this issue like this: While Satan may have tested Jesus, to see if He would sin, and while Satan tried every way he could to lead Jesus to sin, there was no way that Jesus would have ever even considered sinning against the Father—because He did not have our sinful nature. We, however, are tested by our own fleshly lusts and desires that bring forth nothing but death.

Here are what some others have had to say about the verses from Hebrews and James:

Hebrews 2:18:

• Albert Barnes says of the biblical meaning of “tempt”—“It means to ‘put to the proof;’ to try the nature or character of; and this may be done either:
  (1) by subjecting a person to ‘afflictions’ or ‘sufferings’ that his true character may be tried - that it may be seen whether he has sincere piety and love to God; or.
  (2) by allowing one to fall into ‘temptation,’ properly so called - where some strong inducement to evil is presented to the mind, and where it becomes thus a “trial” of virtue.”
• John Gill—“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted... By Satan, at his entrance on his public ministry, and a little before his death; which was done, not by stirring up sin in him, for he had none, nor by putting any into him, which could not be done, nor could Satan get any advantage over him.”

Hebrews 4:15:

• Adam Clarke—“His mind, or human soul, being free from all sin, being every way perfect, could feel no irregular temper, nothing that was inconsistent with infinite purity.”
• Robertson’s Word Pictures—“This is the outstanding difference that must never be overlooked in considering the actual humanity of Jesus. He did not yield to sin. But more than this is true. There was no latent sin in Jesus to be stirred by temptation and no habits of sin to be overcome. But he did have ‘weaknesses’ (astheneiai) common to our human nature (hunger, thirst, weariness, etc.). Satan used his strongest weapons against Jesus, did it repeatedly, and failed.”

James 1:13:

• John Gill—“he may be tempted by evil men, and with evil things, but he cannot be tempted ‘to evil,’ (as the Ethiopic version renders it)…”
• Robertson on the use of the Greek word apierastos, (“cannot be tempted”)—“Verbal compound adjective ([negating beginning alpha] and peirazw), probably with the ablative case…Only here in the New Testament. Hort notes apeiratos kakon as a proverb (Diodorus, Plutarch, Josephus) ‘free from evils.’ That is possible here, but the context calls for ‘untemptable’ rather than ‘untempted.’”