Inasmuch as we were fairly bombarded in January by more "politcal" posts than I care to go back and try to count, all seeming to originate from in or around the region of our nation's capital , I thought it might be interesting to post something of a slightly different nature for a change.

I’ve always regarded Martin Luther as one of the true giants in the history of the world.

(And yeah, I know all that stuff he said about the Jews.  But, haven't we all — in the heat of battle, or in an unguarded moment — said stuff we wish we hadn't?)

But I still think he was indisputably one of the greatest of men. He had an amazing relationship with the Lord, praying several hours each day before dawn, and the way he was able to express things — he is one of the most quotable of all churchmen — was just outstanding. I think I may have posted this before, but just look at what he says in one of his first extant letters, written, as I recall, when he was only 21:

“Learn to know Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him and say ‘Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, I am your sin. You took on you what was mine; yet you set on me what was yours. You became what you were not, that I might become what I was not.’”

Now I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find a more succinct, simple, and pure description of the entire Gospel message than that.

In our day, a lot of things, mostly the media I guess, has driven us to classify just about anything as heroic — even calling someone a “hero” — for doing nothing of more significance than merely performing their job.    But hero, as well as other words like bravery and admiration, are definitely terms I would use to describe my regard for this lowly German monk (did I mention that I also am German?) who took on— and defeated — the Roman Catholic Church, an institution which held sway over pretty much most of the world in that day. 

Unlike nowadays when anyone with an extra 23 bucks in his or her pocket can throw up a website in which to opine, make fun of, or even attack anything that suits his or her fancy, in the 16^th century-Roman Catholic-dominated-world it was not so.  If one slightly opposed — or was even suspected of opposing — the religious status quo of that day, they could be deemed a heretic, for which offence they would promptly be tied to a stake and burned alive. 

In virtually single-handedly launching the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door in 1517 — wherein he questioned everything Catholic — Luther came under horrendous attack from the Church. Later, in defending himself against the inevitable charge of heresy (and thus death) at the Diet of Worms in 1521, he is said to have defiantly replied to his Catholic inquisitors,               

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures,               

"I cannot and will not recant anything.               

“To go against conscience is neither right nor safe.                

“Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God! Amen.” 

Reading those words and trying to envision the scene in my mind always moves me.  I don’t think any of us can imagine — nor still less appreciate — the magnitude of the social and spiritual pressure that was bearing down upon the emotions and soul of Luther at this time, not only from all of society, and from all of the world as he knew it, but also from the Enemy himself.

I suppose it would be somewhat akin to an outspoken person going on national TV and saying something like “Screw all the Democrats! Screw all the homos! Screw all the women’s libbers!…And oh yeah, screw all the ___________ (pick any racial slur) too!”  

I do believe that, among others, the ACLU — and depending on which epithet was used, a couple of so-called — and well-known — “reverends” — would call for his (her? AC? ) immediate stoning. 

Looking back over the years, I’m rather ashamed at the times — mostly in the work place — when I had so little courage to stand up for the Lord when someone, hostile to the Gospel, might have said something critical about this or that famous minister, perhaps about Christians in general, or even against Jesus, and instead remained silent. 

I’m not saying I think the Lord necessarily wants us to be engaging in hot-blooded debate with unbelievers/complainers in a (misguided?) attempt to defend the merits of Christianity every time some wag makes a disparaging remark. But I do think we have a responsibility to say/do something.  

I mean, don’t we? 

-joebib

Don't know if any of you have seen this recent video of Donny Swaggart condemning the Prosperity Preachers, but it is pretty good.

It's in three parts total, and here is the first one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIdTFSIj8AI&feature=PlayList&p=01B905C7DDF1517A&index=0&playnext=1 .

Enjoy.

-joebib

1:2: He was in the beginning with God. (NASB) 

The Word was already with God when the beginning began. Again, whenever that was. 

It’s somewhat interesting to see how when referring to the creation of the world, the Bible uses the terms “in the beginning” and “from the beginning.”  “In the beginning” is usually used more in association with God, while “from the beginning” is used more in association with Satan. Compare Gen. 1:1, John 1:1-2, and Heb. 1:10, with John 8:44, and 1 John 3:8 to see this. 

1:3: All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (NASB) 

The KJV and NIV translate this verse using the verb “made” instead of  “came into being.”  Not wanting to become overly laborious here, but it is important to try and understand what John is wanting us to know about this Word. The Greek verb he chose for what the NASB renders “came into being” is egeneto, and has the idea of “causing to, or bringing something into, existence.”  

So, John is saying that the Word was behind creation, which is huge because creation, as we saw earlier, is one of the Works of God Himself. 

Jesus being the Agent of creation can be seen in Hebrews 1:1-3,10, and also here: 

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  (Colossians 1:16-17, NASB)

 1:4: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (NASB) 

In these first four verses of his Gospel, we see four titles which John attributes to the Person of Jesus: the Word, the Creator, the Life, and the Light. 

John is here presenting further proof of Jesus’ Deity, in that He is the Source of Life (see also 1 John 5:11-13,20) and the Source of Light (see John 8:12 and Revelation 21:23). Jesus being “the Life” and “the Light” are themes which John repeats throughout this book (Life: see 3:36, 5:24, 8:51, 11:25, etc.; Light: see 1:8-9, 3:19-21, 9:5, 12:35-36, etc.) 

Similarly, the Psalmist connects the Word of God and Light: 

¹³⁰ The unfolding of Thy words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130, NASB)

God as Life and Light is also seen expressed together by Moses in Genesis chapter 1, as well as by David in the Psalms: 

⁹ For with Thee is the fountain of life; In Thy light we see light. (Psalm 36:9, NASB)

Man can’t know what it is to really live until He comes to Christ, and lives the life God intended for him to have. I suppose that’s the real reason why people fixate so on the shallow things of this world……booze, drugs, acquiring possessions, seeking attention/fame, building a personal empire, whatever. 

Someone once said that within every person’s heart there is a "God-shaped hole," and they will never find contentment or peace until He fills it. 

-joebib

These words, taken from the hymn BE THOU MY VISION, have been on my heart of late.  

It occurs to me that one of the most effective tools the enemy of our souls uses to keep us from that one thing which alone will transform us from carnal believers into true followers of Christ — intimacy with Jesus — is distraction. 

By distraction, I don’t just mean the obvious aspect of that which would divert our attention away from the Lord and onto something else — although there are definitely plenty of allurements in this world which are all too successful in doing just that. Stuff like busy schedules, sports, possessions, long hours at work, stress at home, too much time spent in front of the idiot box — or in front of it’s heinous cousin, the silver screen — and even friends and loved ones.

None of which, I suppose, are “sinful” in and of themselves, but any one of which can become so if taken to an extreme. (Exodus 20:3, NASB)

No, what the Lord has been impressing upon me is about being distracted from Him while doing “stuff” for Him — even in the very midst of it. 

I used to find myself getting caught up in this type of thing all the time, in past years, when I was heavily involved in various IC activities like attending services/meetings/events perhaps 3, 4, or even 5 times per week, helping out in the nursery or Sunday School, being in charge of this or that project, serving on committees, performing in plays, or even preaching and teaching. I mean, all of this is on the face of it, good stuff. Right? 

And I’m sure many, if not most, of us have been there and can relate, can’t we? I seem to remember Pope recently mentioning the total number of services/meetings he attended over the years at CBC as approaching a googleplex.

Now, what about doing something less public, less IC-like? What about reading and studying the Bible, for instance? We’re exhorted to do just that by the Bible itself, and not just to read and study it, but to think about it, to recite it, to memorize it, to meditate — and even muse — upon God’s Word. You all know the verses that say this. 

But I know from personal experience that Bible reading and Bible study can quickly morph into something from which both Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit are quite far away from.  

I remember KJC once telling me that when he used to study the Word, in the very midst of doing that, every so often, he would just stop, close his Bible or whatever he was writing in, and just close his eyes and begin to pray and commune with the Lord, and spend time with Him before going back to study. For maybe 10 or 15 minutes. I have tried to do this myself over the years, but I find that I didn’t do it nearly as often as my spirit needed me to. 

Alright then, what about prayer? Surely, we can’t be guilty of being distracted from — from missing — the Lord in prayer, can we?  

Well, again, I don’t know about anyone else, but I know for sure that I can. My wife and I pray together every morning before we leave for work, which is good, right? But, you know, sometimes, in the midst of that, my mind is not where it should be. Maybe I’m focused a bit too much on telling the Lord what I need from Him, or asking Him to do this or that in someone’s else’s life, or telling Him what He should do in this or that situation.

All of which — except perhaps the latter   — are good things to do, and which are definitely aspects of prayer, aren't they?

But what about time spent in just being before Him? In just kneeling or sitting or standing or laying there before Him — alone — and just feeling Him, and listening to Him, and communing with Him, and just allowing myself to soak in whatever He is wanting to pour into me? Although I have done this many times, I'm feeling Him call me to a deeper level of it.

I’m reminded right about now of the Lord’s admonition to the Church at Ephesus, how Jesus commended them for all their wonderful works and service which they had done to and for Him. And yet, we all know how He had just one thing against them — they had moved away from His Presence.

In the midst of the very proper stuff they were doing for Him, they had not lost, but left their 1st Love (Rev. 2:1-7, NASB). 

OK, I’m done.

Thanks for letting me open up.  

I append here the entire lyrics to BE THOU MY VISION. You can go to one of these song/hymn sites on the web (here) and (here) to read/listen to this hymn if you wish. 

(Will you forgive me if I embolden my favorite parts?) 

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

  

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

  

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;

Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;

Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:

Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

  

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

  

High King of Heaven, my victory won,

May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. 

-joebibstudent 

This article is just in from the Christian Post:

TWO OF SIX PREACHERS TURN OVER FINANCIAL DATA FOR PROBE

by Lillian Kwon 

Only two faith-based ministries have met a Thursday deadline to turn over financial documents for a Senate investigation on alleged opulent spending. Six were asked to cooperate. 

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) received the requested papers from Kenneth Copeland Ministries on Thursday and Joyce Meyer Ministries earlier this week. "

It’s good that some of the ministries are cooperating. I hope all of them will cooperate in the end," said Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Finance, in a statement. "For the focus of this inquiry, ministries are the same as any other non-profit organization. It’s a question of abiding by tax laws just like any tax-exempt group." 

A month ago, Grassley sent letters to six high-profile ministries – led by Paula and Randy White, Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Benny Hinn, Meyer and Copeland – requesting financial statements and responses to pointed questions about salaries, perks and other organizational and personal finances. The Senate probe was launched to determine whether the ministries are abusing their tax-exempt status as churches for extravagant lifestyles. 

Churches, unlike secular nonprofits, are not required by law to make their finances public. And while some of the ministries under investigation stated they comply with tax laws, churches report very little information to the IRS and very little transparency is legally required of them, according to Richard Hammar, editor of Church Treasurer Alert! and Church Law and Tax Report. 

One of the requirements to be tax-exempt, however, is that the organization does not pay unreasonable compensation. And that is a main concern of the Senate investigation. 

Recent media coverage and reports by watchdog groups have alleged the six ministry leaders of generous salaries and amenities such as private jets and Rolls-Royces. Grassley told reporters in a conference call Wednesday that he "can't be impressed" by the argument from some of the preachers that the Internal Revenue Service already monitors them, because his past inquiries have unearthed information that the IRS never knew, according to The Associated Press. 

Creflo Dollar, one of the preachers under investigation, sent Grassley a letter asking that the investigation either be referred to the IRS, which would give greater privacy, or that the Senate committee get a subpoena. 

Dollar's lawyer, Marcus Owens of Washington, explained that turning over information through a subpoena would keep the church's information from being released to the public and "guarantees you privacy," as reported by The Wall Street Journal. 

Early in the investigation, Dollar had released some information about the finances for his church – World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga. – showing that the 30,000-member church took in $69 million in 2006. 

"I generally don't make this public," he said at the time. 

Dollar along with several other pastors have raised concerns about invasions of privacy and violations of religious freedom regarding the Senate probe. 

Dismissing the religious liberty argument, Grassley said, "Forget it. They don't have a leg to stand on." 

Representatives of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., said publicly that the ministry will cooperate with the Senate request but Grassley has not yet received any material or contact from the ministry. Bishop Eddie Long, who leads the Baptist church, has called Grassley's request unjust. 

Texas-based faith “healer” Benny Hinn has asked for more time to respond. A meeting with Hinn's attorneys is set for Friday, Grassley's office said. 

Lawyers for Paula and Randy White of Tampa gave initial contact to Grassley's office Thursday but no further response has been given. 

Grassley said he's willing to give the ministries more time to respond "as long as they’re cooperating and in contact with my office." 

"It’d be very unusual if they don’t cooperate," he added. "I’ve looked at a lot of non-profit groups over the last five years, and they’ve all cooperated. The only possible exception is when I was chairman, and then-Ranking Member Baucus asked for my help in getting a subpoena for charities connected to Jack Abramoff. That was an extreme case.” 

"I expect that in the end we won't have to work hard to get all these folks to cooperate, and I'd be very disappointed if I did," the Iowa senator said.

 YTMND!

-joebib

 

This statement — or plea — which was spoken by Augustine, who lived around 400 A.D., has been on my mind, and weighing upon my spirit of late.  

The full quote is from his Confessions: 

“Why dost Thou hide Thy face? Happily, Thou wilt say none can see Thy face and live. Ah, Lord, let me die! That I may see Thee; let me see Thee, that I may die.” 

And this, in turn, hearkens back to what the Lord told Moses on Mt. Sinai when he made a similar request: 

¹⁸ Then Moses said, "I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!"…²⁰ But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"  (Exodus 33:18-20, NASB) 

Given the flack that “scholar-types” often receive for being so cold and calculating, I find this prayer to be a most intriguing look at the heart-cry of one considered to be the greatest scholar/theologian of Church History. 

It seems to me (and perhaps others may read it differently) that what Augustine was really saying, in so many words, was that to whatever degree we wish to draw close to God and experience His Presence, and His Will — however much of His Character and Attributes we wish to see absorbed, as it were, into our lives — to that same degree, our flesh, our selves, that which we want, must be surrendered to Him. 

And even though the context is that of responding to his disciples’ concern about Jesus’ greater public acclaim, I see an application of this truth in what John the Baptist said: 

³⁰ “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30, NASB)

And I think Paul saw this same principle, as well, when he admonished the Church at Galatia: 

²⁰ "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20, NASB) 

Speaking for myself, this has probably been the one of the most difficult things to develop in regard to my own relationship with the Lord…that of truly desiring what He wants in all aspects — and in all situations — of my life. No matter what the consequences and no matter what the cost.   

It’s not that I haven’t prayed for this — for God to have His way, or will, to be done — because I have, many times. It’s mostly been when I’ve joined with someone in prayer and agreed with them about some thing or another that they were wanting in their life.  You know, along the lines of  “Lord, have Your way in this situation,” or, “Lord, IF it be Your will, let ______________ get that job.” It sounds so spiritual, and even biblical, to pray like this, does it not? (Mark 14:36, NASB) 

However, I’ve been bothered by the recognition that it’s been much easier for me to pray for what God wanted in someone else’s life, and for the will of God to be done in someone else’s situation, than it was for me to want it in mine. And I must confess that most of the time I prayed for the will of God in my own situation, I don’t think I was truly interested, deep down, in what God’s will actually was.  I think the thing I was really doing — subconsciously — was wanting God to give His “stamp of approval” on either what I was wanting, or already doing, or was planning to do.  

I suppose the reason for this was that there was always that secret fear, deep down, that what God wanted for my life would probably be so terribly difficult to bear up under, that I would end up wishing I wouldn’t have asked for Him to do it in the first place.  That I didn’t trust Him enough to know what was best for my life. 

Can anyone else relate to this? 

-joebibstudent         

Having pretty much irrefutably resolved, I think — to any open-minded person who accepts the authority of the Word of God — the question of Christ’s Deity in the previous post (hopefully that was helpful, in spite of the length), let us proceed. 

Anyone who has spent any time at all in reading the four Gospels will soon notice that the Gospel of John is markedly different from the other three.  

So much so that Matthew, Mark and Luke have been grouped together and referred to under the name Synoptics, which basically means “same view.” These Gospels record many of the same parables, miracles, and teachings from the Life of Jesus in a similar style, chronological order, and oftentimes, in almost identical language.  

But John’s Gospel is another story. It is quite unique in both style, wording, and content. Scholars believe that it was the last of the Gospels to be written, probably sometime around 90-100 A.D., towards the end of John’s life. It has been surmised that at that time, John was the Pastor of the church at Ephesus, and that since he was so close to their Savior — John 13:23, 20:2, and 21:7,20 all refer to John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” — the Christians of John’s day were constantly asking him to give his account of the Good News as he remembered it: a spiritual record of the Life of Jesus. 

The Early Church Father Irenaeus (died ca. 185 A.D.) states that John wrote his Gospel to specifically refute the Gnostic heretic Cerinthus. Church history tells an interesting story of John, who upon encountering this Cerinthus in a public bath house, cried to his disciples, "Up! Let us leave, lest the building fall down upon us; for Cerinthus the enemy of the truth is among us!”

Quite a strong response to false doctrine, as well as perhaps an example for us in our day!  

John does not open his Gospel with a genealogy of the natural life of Jesus the Man, as do Matthew and Luke, nor with action as does Mark, but instead goes back to Eternity past, and describes Jesus as God Himself. 

Also, it may be noticed that the wording of the Gospel of John is different. The way he describes things, and the words he uses, are more simple and straightforward. Notice the subdued, almost understated way John begins in chapter one:  

“In the beginning” 

“was the Word” 

“the Word was with God” 

“the Word was God” 

“in Him was life” 

“the life was the light of men” 

This is especially apparent from his usage of the Greek language, which is of an extremely simple and basic construction. So much so, in fact, that all beginning students of Greek start out their study of this intricate and complex language in the writings of John, usually in this very Gospel. After that, it’s on to more intermediate Greek such as is found in James, the Gospel of Mark, and the Epistles of Peter. Finally — almost as punishment — one concludes with the baffling perplexities of Paul’s scholarly Greek, very complicated indeed. 

It should be noted that while John does use the most basic constructs of language to communicate his message, the words are nevertheless deeply profound in spite of their simplicity. Jerome (died ca. 420 A.D.), the writer of the Latin Vulgate, remarked that “John indeed excels in the depths of divine mysteries.”  

Students of the Bible have also noticed certain distinctive overall themes in the four Gospels.  

Matthew has been recognized as being directed to the Jews — it is believed to have originally been penned in Hebrew — and being replete with O.T. citations, is thought to have been written to prove the Messiah- and King-ship of Jesus. Thus, it is perhaps addressed to the religious man. 

Mark is thought to be addressed to the Roman world, to the man of action. Mark does not open his Gospel with a genealogy, but instead goes directly into the Ministry of Jesus. Inasmuch as Mark was known to be Peter’s companion (see 1 Peter 5:13 and Colossians 4:10), who also was connected to Rome — the “Babylon” reference in 1 Peter 5:13 is thought to be a reference to Rome — it is thought to have essentially been the Gospel according to Peter, and thus it truly seems to be the “Gospel of Action.” If you look up the words “straightway,” and “immediately” in a concordance, you will find that they occur in Mark more times than any other book. 

Luke is the longest of the four Gospels, and as he was probably a Gentile (compare Paul’s distinctions in Colossians 4:7-14), his Gospel has been recognized to have been addressed to the Greek world. His Gospel has more parables than the others, and is thought to have been directed to the thinking man. 

John focuses his Gospel on the Deity of Jesus Christ (see 20:31), and selects 8 major Miracles from the Life of Jesus to show this. This book has traditionally been recognized as being addressed to the believer. 

Thought: Many people say John is their favorite Gospel, the one they turn to in times of difficulty.  

Question: What is your favorite Gospel?

-joebib

Inasmuch as this post has generated open attempts at proselytization , and though I really didn’t intend for it to be a purely doctrinal/theological discussion, I think a brief detour concerning the Deity of Christ might be useful here. 

If you look at most of the world’s cults and religions, the one thing they all have in common is their view of Jesus Christ: nearly all false religions and cults deny His Deity.

I have heard people say, “the Bible does not teach that Jesus of Nazareth was God.” 

Which statement, of course, is patently false.  

These doubters would be better off saying, “I don’t believe what the Bible says about Jesus.” That, at least, is their prerogative, i.e., to disbelieve the Bible. But to assert that the Bible does not teach Christ’s Deity is intellectually dishonest. 

In fact, the NT very clearly records the Seven Characteristics of Deity as being seen in the Life of Jesus.  

At the risk of being a bit ponderous, please allow me to present the following study from my notes, culled mostly from Shedd and Thiessen, as well as Conner, for your consideration. Though I have reduced it substantially, there’s still a lot of information. I have quoted certain passages in full, and merely listed the references of others.

Perhaps this could be useful for later reference if one wished to save it to their files. 

Here are the seven areas at which we will be looking:

1. DIVINE NAMES ARE APPLIED TO JESUS.

 2. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES ARE ASCRIBED TO JESUS.

3. DIVINE WORKS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS.

4. DIVINE PRAYER IS ADDRESSED TO JESUS:

5. DIVINE WORSHIP IS ACCEPTED BY JESUS

6. DIVINE SINLESSNESS IS ASSERTED OF JESUS.

7. DIVINE PREROGATIVES ARE ASSUMED BY JESUS.

____________________________________________

1. DIVINE NAMES ARE APPLIED TO JESUS: 

A name is that by which something or someone is marked or known. In regard to the Names of God, these are descriptions of His Person, Attributes and Purposes. 

A. Jesus is called LORD, or Jehovah.   

    1) By Jeremiah: 

⁵ "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.’” (Jer. 23:5-6, NASB)  

    2) By Paul: 

³ concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, ⁴ who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 1:3-4, NASB)  

    3) By James: 

1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings. (James 1:1, NASB)  

    4) By Peter: 

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Pet. 1:3, NASB)  

    5) By Jesus Himself: 

²¹ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. ²² "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (Matt. 7:21-22, NASB)   

    6) Additionally, it is an interesting study to compare the many OT passages which refer to the LORD — Yahweh or Jehovah in the Hebrew — with the NT writings which interpret these passages as referring to Jesus.  

Here are a few:

  a. Compare Joel 2:32 with Romans 10:9-13, where Paul refers to the OT Jehovah, as Jesus.    

  b. Compare Isaiah 6:1-10 with John 12:34-41, where John quotes the OT Jehovah, whom Isaiah saw, as Jesus.    

  c. Compare Psalm 102:25-27 with Hebrews 1:8-12, where the writer of Hebrews refers to the OT Jehovah, as Jesus.    

  d. Compare Psalm 68:17-18 with Ephesians 4:7-10, where Paul refers to the OT Jehovah, as Jesus.  

B. Jesus is called Savior:    

  1) In the OT, Jehovah calls Himself “Savior,” and furthermore, says He is the only One who is Savior. (See Ps. 106:21, Isaiah 43:3,11, 45:15,21, 49:26, 60:16, Hos. 13:4 and Ps. 3:8)    

  2) Note how the NT calls Jesus, “Savior”: 

¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11, NASB) 

³¹ "He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts 5:31, NASB) 

³ but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; ⁴ to Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (Tit. 1:3-4, NASB)  

C. Jesus is called the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, Alpha and Omega:    

  1) This is a title/name addressed to the LORD, Jehovah, of the OT: 

⁴ "Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.'" (Isaiah 41:4, NASB)  

Also, see Isaiah 44:6, 48:12.    

  2) In comparing these verses from the OT to the following passages in the Book of Revelation, we see this title/name as being applied to Jesus: 

⁷ Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen. ⁸ "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”…¹² And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; ¹³ and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man…¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last.” (Rev. 1:7-17, NASB) 

Also, see Rev. 21:6, 22:13.  

D. Jesus is called “God.” 

This, after all, is the ultimate proof of Deity.    

  1) By demons. Matt. 8:29.    

  2) By Isaiah. Isaiah 7:14, 9:6.    

  3) By Gabriel. Luke 1:35.    

  4) By Peter. Matt. 16:17.    

  5) By Paul. Tit. 2:13.    

  6) By Thomas. John 20:20.    

  7) By the Father. Heb. 1:8.    

  8 ) By Christ Himself: 

⁷⁰ And they all said, 'Thou, then, art the Son of God?' and he said unto them, 'Ye say it, because I am;' (Luke 22:70, Young’s Literal Translation) 

It is sometimes claimed that Jesus never referred to Himself as "God," nor wanted anyone to think He was God, which the above verse shows to be untrue. Christ’s followers knew He asserted that He was very God, as did His enemies, which is why they opposed Him: 

¹⁷ But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working."  ¹⁸ For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (John 5:17-18, NASB) 

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2. DIVINE ATTRIBUTES ARE ASCRIBED TO JESUS: 

An attribute may be defined as the qualities of a person. There are five of these distinctly Divine qualities, called the Incommunicable Attributes, which are possessed only by God, and which are not found in His creation. All five of which are ascribed to, and manifested in the Life of Jesus. 

  A. God is ETERNAL.   

By this we mean that God has no point of beginning nor point of ending. He has always been, and will always be. He is free from all succession of time, and abides in an ever-abiding present tense. Gen. 21:33; Ex. 3:14; Deut. 33:27; Ps. 90:2; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 1:4.

    1) Jesus is ETERNAL: 

² "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." (Mic. 5:2, NASB)

The NT interprets this verse from Micah as referring to Jesus in Matthew 2:6. 

⁶ For a Child hath been born to us, A Son hath been given to us, And the princely power is on his shoulder, And He doth call his name Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6, YLT) 

¹¹ They will perish, but Thou remainest; And they all will become old as a garment,¹² And as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; As a garment they will also be changed. But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end." (Heb. 1:11-12, NASB) 

²⁴ but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. ²⁵ Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:24-25, NASB) 

¹⁸ “…and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” (Rev. 1:18, NASB)  

B. God is OMNIPRESENT.  

By this we mean that God is everywhere present at once. He transcends the limits of the universe, and is immanent in every part of it, with His whole Being. He is not bound by the constrictions of time and space. 1 Kings 8:27; Ps. 139:7-8; Jer. 23-24; Acts 17:27-28.

  1) Jesus is OMNIPRESENT: 

¹³ “and no one hath gone up to the heaven, except he who out of the heaven came down — the Son of Man who is in the heaven.” (John 3:13, YLT) 

²⁰ “for where there are two or three gathered together – to my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:20, NASB)  

C. God is OMNIPOTENT.  

By this we mean that God is all-powerful, which power is underived and irresistible. Nothing is impossible for Him to accomplish if He so wills it. God can bring to pass whatever He wishes through the mere exercise of His Will. Gen. 1:1, 17:1, 18:14; Jer. 32:17; Rev. 19:5-6. 

  1) Jesus is OMNIPOTENT:    

    a. Over demons. Mark 5:1-15; Luke 4:33-41.    

    b. Over disease. Matt. 4:23-24; Mark 1:30-34.    

    c. Over nature. Matt. 8:23-27, 21:19; John 6:6-14.    

    d. Over death. Matt. 9:18-26; Luke 7:12-17; John 11:1-46.    

    e. Over angels. 1 Pet. 3:22.    

    f. Over all things. Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-22; Rev. 1:8.  

D. God is OMNISCIENT. 

By this we mean that God is all-knowing, and knows all things at all times, immediately, simultaneously, exhaustively, and perfectly.  There is nothing that He does not know, and has not known, from all eternity. He knows all of what will come to pass, as well as what might have happened. He has nothing to ever learn. 2 Chron. 16:9; Ps. 139:1-6, 147:5; Isaiah 46:9-10; Dan. 2:28; Acts 15:18; 1 John 3:2.  

  1) Jesus is OMNISCIENT:   

    a. He knew how He would die.  Matt. 16:21; John 12:31-33, 13:1.    

    b. He knew all men.  John 2:23-25.    

    c. He knew the personal history of people.  John 4:16-19,29, 21:18-19.    

    d. He knew His betrayer.  John 13:21-30.     

    e. He knew the future.  Matt. 7:21-33, 23:34-39, 24:1-51.    

    f. He knew all things.  John 16:30, 21:17; Col. 2:3; Heb. 4:12-13.  

E. God is IMMUTABLE.  

By this we mean that God is constant and unchanging in His Being and in His Will. He remains forever the same, faithful to Himself and to His Word. 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 33:11; Mal. 3:6; Heb. 6:17-18; Jas. 1:17.  

  1) Jesus is IMMUTABLE:   

Compare Heb. 1:10-12 with Ps. 102:26-27.

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. (Heb. 13:8, NASB)  

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3. DIVINE WORKS ARE ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS: 

There are certain works that are restricted to God, and are only capable of being performed by God. We see these works performed in the Life of Jesus: 

  A. Jesus created all things. John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:1-3,10. 

  B. Jesus gives eternal life. John 1:4;1 John 5:11-13,20. 

  C. Jesus will raise all the dead and give them immortal bodies. Phil. 3:20-21. 

  D. Jesus will judge all things. Acts 10:42, 17:31; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 4:1; Rev. 19:11, 20-21. 

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4. DIVINE PRAYER IS ADDRESSED TO JESUS: 

See Matt. 8:25; Luke 5:8; Acts 1:21-26, 7:59-60; Romans 1:7-8; 1 Cor. 1:2.

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5. DIVINE WORSHIP IS ACCEPTED BY JESUS: 

Worship is only to be directed to God Himself. Ex. 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9.

 A. Jesus is worshiped by angels. Rev. 5:11-12; Is 6:1-5,10 with John 12:37-41; Heb. 1:6; Luke 2:9-14. 

 B. Jesus was worshiped by the Three Wise Men. Matt. 2:1-2,11. 

 C. Jesus was worshiped by men. Matt. 8:2, 14;33, 15:25, 28:9,17; John 9:38. 

  D. Jesus is worshiped by all creation. Rev. 5:13-14. 

Jesus never refused this worship, which would have amounted to deception — as well as blasphemy — if He was not God: 

¹⁴ — for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14, NASB) 

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" (Matt. 4:10, NASB) 

See also Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10, 22:8-9.     

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6. DIVINE SINLESSNESS IS ASSERTED OF JESUS: 

Sinlessness is derived from the Divine Attribute of Holiness. By this we mean that God is absolutely pure in all He thinks, says, and does, and maintains His own moral excellence without effort or thought. He absolutely abhors sin. Ex. 3:5; Lev. 19:2; 1 Sam. 2:2; Is. 6:1-5, 57:15; Hab. 1:13; and compare 1 John 4:14. 

The NT asserts this Holiness/Sinlessness of Jesus: 

  A. By Gabriel. Luke 1:30-35. 

  B. By demons. Mark 1:23-24. 

  C. By men. Matt. 27:19; Luke 23:39-41; John 18:38, 19:4. 

  D. By the Apostles. Matt. 27:3-4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:18-19. 

  E. By Himself. John 8:46, 15:10. 

Also compare Ps. 40:6-8 and Isaiah 53:1-12.  

The sinlessness of Jesus is important for several reasons: 

  1) If Jesus was sinful, he couldn’t be the Savior of the world.  See Heb. 7:24-28.  

  2) If Jesus was sinful, He would have needed a Savior Himself. See Matt. 1:21; 1 Tim. 1:15; and compare Luke 1:47. 

  3) If Jesus was sinful, he would not have been able to be raised, nor raise Himself, from the dead. See John 10:15-18; Acts 2:24-27; Rom. 1:4 with 6:23; and compare 1 Cor. 15:12-22. 

  4) If Jesus was sinful, He would not have been God, for God is absolutely Holy.  

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7. DIVINE PREROGATIVES ARE ASSUMED BY JESUS: 

  A. Jesus claimed to be able to raise the dead. John 5:27-29, 6:39-40,54, 11:25-26. 

  B. Jesus claimed to be the Judge of all. Matt. 25:31-34,41; John 5:22,27-30. 

  C. Jesus claimed to be able to bestow eternal life. John 4:7-14, 5:24-25, 10:27-28, 11:20-26, 17:1-3. 

  D. Jesus claimed to have All-power. Matt. 28:18.  

  E. Jesus claimed to be Omnipresent. Matt. 18:20, 28:20. 

  F. Jesus claimed that prayer should be made to Him. John 14:13-14 

  G. Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sin. Mark 2:1-12; Luke 7:36-50; Acts 5:30-31. Compare Acts 8:14-22. 

  H. Jesus claimed to have the same Glory as the Father. John 17:5. 

  I. Jesus claimed to be God. Matt. 26:63-64, 27:11; Luke 22:70. 

³⁴ Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? ³⁵ "If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God '? (John 10:34-36, NASB)

-joebib

Continuing with our discussion of the Gospel of John. 

"and the Word was God."

John is the only NT writer who refers to Jesus as the Word. In the Book of Revelation, when John sees Jesus returning to the earth at His Second Coming, he says this:

11 “And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself.  And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.” (Rev. 19:11-13, NASB) 

Though I’m not generally a big fan of the (too?) many different versions of the Bible which have flooded the market today — as I feel a lot of them play a bit too fast and loose with the words of Scripture —  I do like how a couple of them have rendered this particular verse in John 1:1. The CEV has, “The Word was with God, and was truly God,” and the REB has, “…and what God was, the Word was.”

I think these do a good job in bringing out what John was really trying to say…that this Word was equal to, or the same as, God. 

Now, the New World Translation, the official version of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, renders this verse as follows: 

1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. (John 1:1, NWT) 

In glossing through many of the other 400 or so English translations of the Bible that I could find, I notice that there are a few —  less than 1%, I suppose — which render this verse like the Witnesses do, and make the Word to be merely “divine” (little “d”), or “a god” (little “g”). Their rationale rests on their interpretation of a rule of Greek grammar known by the high-falutin title of “The Anarthrous/Articular Use of the Definite Article,” and also whether or not another grammatical rule — Colwell’s — applies.  

To save a lot of boring reading, the bottom line comes down to this: the overwhelming majority of Greek scholars behind these 400-some translations have rendered this verse with the word “God” — using a capital “G” — and thus understood John’s intention to present the Word as God Himself.  

And setting forth the Deity of Jesus is nothing new for John. A bit later in this same chapter, he states: 

¹⁸ No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (John 1:18, NASB) 

Towards the end of his Gospel, John records the confession of Thomas to Jesus: 

²⁸ "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28, NASB) 

And three verses later, John gives the reason he wrote his Gospel in the first place: 

³¹ but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31, NASB) 

Later, at the end of his life, John wrote the following about Jesus in his First Epistle: 

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20, NASB) 

In case you may be interested, in all of these four passages, John uses the definite Greek article in referring to Jesus as (the) God. 

Interestingly, the New World Translation translates this last passage very similarly to the NASB: 

20 But we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us intellectual capacity that we may gain the knowledge of the true one. And we are in union with the true one, by means of his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and life everlasting. (1 John 5:20, NWT) 

I suppose their punctuation checker overlooked the capital “G” in that verse, since it’s so close to the back of the Bible   

Question:  

Would it matter to you if the NT did not, in fact, teach the Deity of Jesus Christ? If He was merely some sort of super-angel, but not God Himself? Would it affect the way you feel about your salvation?

-joebib 

Taking inspiration from Reformed Pope's recent study on Matthew 5-7 (BTW, Pope, when are we gonna get some more of that?), I thought maybe we could do the same thing with John's Gospel, which is most people's favorite anyway.

1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (NASB)

One of the most familiar verses in the Bible, I suppose, at least to believers.

"In the beginning"

The words remind us of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God…."

The beginning…a tough concept to wrap the mind around.

I mean, what "beginning" is this? The beginning of the earth? The beginning of the universe? The beginning of heaven itself, wherever that is? I suppose one could say that the beginning goes back to eternity itself. 

Um, whenever that was.

My "beginning" was at Emmanuel Hospital, in Portland, Oregon, in 1957. Which may seem long ago to someone in their 20s, but 50 years is really nothing in comparison to a couple of thousand years, and is a mere blip on the scope in comparison to a million years. Or a billion. Or a trillion. Or a "goolgolplex," which is the largest officially named number, consisting of a one followed by a thousand zeroes.

Whenever this "beginning" was, it had to be eons and eons ago.

"was the Word,"

The Greek scholars say that this verb "was" means something like, when you go back to whenever (and wherever) the beginning began, this Word was already there, and had been there. Forever.

Kind of like backtracking a trail which leads up a mountain. When you finally get to the top, you look out into the haze and see that you're not at the beginning of the trail at all, but that it extends back from where you are, way out beyond to a mountain in the distance where your eyes can barely even focus. So, you hop back into your Land Rover and drive back to that mountain. When you get there, you find the trail continues on past it to a another mountain in the blurry distance. So, off you go, again. When you finally arrive at that one, you find the same thing…the trail goes on and on, as far as the eye can see. You notice the gas gauge is perilously close to "E," as opposed to "F," and begin to suspect that you will never get to the beginning of this trail.

In other words, there really is no specific time when the Word started or began. It just always — and already — was.

"Word" is the familiar Greek term logos, which describes the communicating of the meaning of a thought. So, the Word here is revealing someone's thoughts. Whose?

"and the Word was with God,"

Okay, so we now see the Word is in connection with God. "God" is theos in the Greek, from where we get the word theology, which literally means,"words about God," or "God-words."

So, the Word is the one who communicates or reveals God's thoughts. Sounds simple enough.

"and the Word was God."

Here's something a bit perplexing…how can the Word be with God and also be God, all at the same time?

Well, if you could explain that to the satisfaction of all, I suppose you could probably unite all world religions, and get rid of those pesky Muslims. The thought in the original is that whatever God was, and is, the Word was, and is, the same thing.

And don't let those Jehovah's Witnesses tell you that the Greek should say "the Word was a god." That's not only baloney, but violates Greek grammar as well.

And, which goes to show that some people will try anything in order to stuff their pre-conceived, pet doctrines into the Bible. Even going so far as to create their own version of the "original" Greek text, called the "Emphatic Diaglott," which all Greek scholars outside of the JW movement know is a joke.

Still though, I wonder how many of our doctrines, what we believe, are contrived, and not really biblical at all? Which we hold with great fervor and pride.

I remember one occasion, long ago, when I was defending that wonderful "doctrine" (theory) of Dispensationalism, and the whole discussion almost ended up devolving to the point of fisticuffs. "If I have to, I'll beat my doctrine into you." Great witness there, Mr. Christian. Didn't even know I was wrong, until years later.

Which makes me worry…if any — and if so, how many— of my current beliefs are wrong now?

Thoughts?

-joebib