Month: June 2009

Hello everyone. We’re still going through the New Testament and trying to come to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity and the self-understanding of Jesus. Tonight, we’re also going to discuss some more about the Holy Spirit. We’ve been in the gospel of John and tonight, we will finish up John 15 with verses 26-27.

²⁶“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. ²⁷And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

The Counselor, referred to earlier is the Holy Spirit and this is an apropos name for him. The Counselor is often described in terms of enabling and healing. We see him as the one who comes alongside us and the one who groans with us when we do not know what to pray and one who intercedes for us.

He is also sent from the Son by the Father, which I believe shows a hierarchy of some sorts in the Trinity. Of course, this isn’t based on inferior natures. There seems to be a willing submission where the Son is sent by the Father and the Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son both.

This Counselor is also called the Spirit of Truth and we have seen that truth plays an important part in the gospel of John. The one who is Truth is now sending the Spirit of Truth. Christ has a continual emphasis that those who claim to be his followers ought to walk in the truth and be people of the truth.

This also means that we should seek knowledge. We ought to know that our faith is true. I am not saying there will never be times of doubt. Doubt happens and it should be worked through. However, it becomes a problem if through most of your walk you cannot say “Yes. I know this is true.”

We are also told that the Spirit will testify. We do not know for sure how he will testify, but it could be based on what Jesus said earlier about the Spirit calling to remembrance what Jesus has said. While the Spirit could certainly give new revelation, more often when it means testify, I would take it to mean that he will testify about what the Son has done in the past and what he’s doing for us today in the act of reconciliation.

If that is the case, then this would also fit with the testimony that the apostles are to give since they are to state what they have seen from the beginning. They will remember all that Christ has done throughout his earthly ministry and testify to that. This no doubt had a greater emphasis after the resurrection when according to Luke, their minds were opened and they came to understand the Scriptures more. We are continuing their testimony today in that while we were not eyewitnesses, we trust that their accounts were reliable. Of course, why we think that is another blog series altogether.

What of you? Are you continuing to testify?

I wish to thank Kabane for his comment and to say that at this point, I’m not, although I do understand someone is compiling my posts where I reviewed the book of John Loftus and who knows? Maybe sometime I’ll get around to compiling these together or maybe someone else would. My problem is I’m a terrible procrastinator. I think I’ll get to work on that next month.

We’re going to continue now our look at the Trinity. We’re almost through John 15. Tonight, we’ll be looking at verses 22-25.

²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. ²³He who hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

It seems odd to many to say that Jesus brings division, but he certainly does. When Jesus comes, the lines are drawn. One is either for him or against him. He had come as the Messiah of the Jews and now the Jews had to make a response. Unfortunately, they made the wrong one.

Jesus does not mean that the Jews would have been sinless, but that they had greater responsibility, and I think this is a principle that holds up in Scripture. God understands some ignorance I believe as we see in the speech in Lystra in Acts 14 and to the Areopagus in Acts 17. It is worse to do wrong when you know the good you ought to do than when you don’t know it.

I’m reminded about this from talking to someone last night who was telling me that she didn’t believe that Jews would go to Hell for ignorance of Jesus. Well I don’t believe that either. I believe people go to Hell for their sins, but if ignorance plays a factor, God takes that into account and is a fair judge.

How will that work with those who’ve never heard? I can’t make a dogmatic statement either way, but I will make this statement and this is one I can easily rest in Scripture. The judge of all the Earth will do right. No one will be able to say “It wasn’t fair.”

The theme of the hatred of Jesus is quite strong. Jesus was this kind of personality. One either loves him or hates him. Once you come face to face with his claims, there’s no grounds for being neutral. He doesn’t leave that option. We must get past this image we have of Jesus that he was a kind and peaceful man. In some ways, he was, but he was also an iconoclast. He destroyed false images wherever he went and he did not care how old they were or who started them or who held to them.

This is also a strong claim in that Jesus is saying they hate the Father. The one they claim to serve by crucifying Jesus is the one that he says they hate. Once again, hatred of Jesus is hatred of God and if one treats him as anything less than who he is, then they are not showing love to him.

And yet, all of this is still seen as a fulfillment of Scripture. Rest assured, God is in control regardless of your response to Jesus. You can do what you want to him. You will not change him. You will only change yourself. You will become one who loves him and thus all other things, or one who hates him and eventually all other things.

The choice is yours.

We’re going through the New Testament and coming to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. (Well I hope you are! I can only truly speak for myself.) Right now, we’re in the gospel of John and we’re in the fifteenth chapter. This chapter is the Upper Room discourse although it could be that Jesus is on the move on the way to the garden now. We’re going to be looking at John 15:18-21 tonight.

¹⁸“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.

Jesus does not paint a pretty picture for us with the message of “If the world hates you.” We seem to have this strange idea in the church today that the world is supposed to love us. Let’s not try to do anything to offend the world. Now I’m for not needlessly offending the world, but if we’re preaching the gospel, it’s going to offend people.

Christ’s message is that we can expect to be hated and indeed, the early Christians were. Christ himself was hated. When people hate us for being Christians, we shouldn’t act like this is anything new. We should accept this. Now that doesn’t mean we seek to be hated and it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re doing wrong if we have non-Christian friends, but it does mean that our message should be seen as offensive and if that happens, we shouldn’t be surprised.

Why does the world not? Because we are not of the world. We are different. We have chosen to cut ourselves off in a sense from what the world values. This doesn’t mean we live in isolation from the world. We are to be in the world but not of it. (An excellent guide to how to do this is Hugh Hewitt’s aptly named book, “In But Not Of.”)

The way the world receives the apostles will be a reflection of the way that they received Christ. Those who received Christ will receive the apostles. Those who rejected him will reject the apostles. It’s an all-or-nothing deal. After all, the apostles taught the same message that Jesus did.

If they reject the apostles, it is not because of them but because they have rejected God first. Now it could be sometimes that when we present the gospel, we do such a terrible job of it that it is us. However, when that happens, chances are either we’ll know it or someone else will point it out to us.

In our evangelism, we need to keep this in mind. Also remember that rejection of Jesus is rejection of God. You can’t have one without having the other.

We shall continue this chapter tomorrow.

We’re going through the New Testament now trying to come to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. Right now, we’re in the gospel of John. Tonight, we’re going to be going through John 15:9-17. Let’s go to the text:

⁹“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

Again, I’m not interested in getting into issues like eternal security. I’m only interested in seeing how this relates to the doctrine of God and the doctrine of Christ. I start at the beginning by saying that as the Father loves the Son, so the Son loves his disciples and find it astounding. I could not dare say to anyone that I love them the way God loves me. Now I wish I could, but I know I cannot. I do not think I could say I love myself that way or even sadly love God that way. Yet Christ says he has that kind of love. We can first ask ourselves “Who has a God kind of love but God”, and second, “How should we respond if we know God loves us that way as followers of Christ?”

To say that we remain in his love if we obey his commands is not to teach a works salvation. The idea is that those who bear fruit are those who are truly connected to the vine as we saw yesterday. If you are not connected to the vine, then you will not bear fruit. The works do not give us salvation but rather they reveal our salvation. This is also the reason for the distinction between Paul and James on faith and works. Paul talks about justification in the eyes of God and James talks about the knowledge of justification before men.

The reason for this is our joy. The Father delights in our joy and all that he asks is that we love. True love is not wishy-washy however. It does not mean accept everything. True love can tell some hard truths and Jesus often did that. True love also does not mean to have certain feelings towards a person. You cannot will that. It means to act properly towards a person.

The apostles are in a unique position to Jesus and are called friends and I believe we can have the same such position. I don’t mean in the buddy-buddy sense that we usually have today, but that we maintain a position of unique favor in relation to the Son.

What’s the requirement? Love. Christ says no greater love than that a man lay down his life for his friends. What about love for enemies? Jesus is talking to friends however and showing the best way a friend shows love to a friend. Romans 5 tells us that in fact, Jesus did lay down his life for his enemies.

How shall we respond to such love? There is only one answer. By passing it on to our fellow man.

We’re going through the New Testament trying to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Last night, we finished looking at John 14 and so tonight, we’re going to be starting our look at John 15. Our section tonight will be a little longer than others as we’re going to try to get in one section as a whole.

¹“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.⁵“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

The old joke about this passage is that if we are de branches then Jesus must be “de-vine.” The joke is cute and the point is certainly true, but it only works in English. However, this does tell us something about Christ with him being the vine.

If you were a branch in a vine, you would depend entirely on the vine for your sustenance. If you were to be separated from the vine, then you could not be capable of producing. In fact, not only could you not produce, you would be incapable of any kind of life.

That’s the point of Christ. He is the vine and the Father is the gardener who is tending the vine. We are to be in him if we are to have any sort of life. Also, if we are not producing any fruit, then we are not true branches. I leave that to my readers to work out in the eternal security debate as I take no side in it and regardless of my side in it now, I have had both sides in the past.

Christ again gives the picture. He does not say that we are rooted in God, though he is overseeing all. He is saying that we are rooted in him. We can do nothing apart from him and we are incapable of producing any true fruit apart from him.

This again tells us how Christ saw himself. He saw himself as the one bringing salvation to the people and salvation was impossible apart from one’s relationship with him. No other prophet would have spoken of himself in that way. Jesus did.

So if we come this and we realize who Jesus is, this brings us to the question of how will we respond.

And that is for you to answer.

We’re going through the New Testament now understanding the doctrine of the Trinity. I hope many of you are seeing just how much this doctrine shows up in the New Testament and how essential it is. Doing this study has been revealing for this writer also as I am seeing truths that I hadn’t taken the time to consider before. We’re going to sum up John 14 tonight with verses 29-31.

²⁹I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. ³⁰I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.

Verse 29 has Jesus giving the reason why he spoke of his death, resurrection, and ascension. If he had not spoken of it beforehand, it could have been seen as something on the lines of the dead man who came to life when he touched Elisha’s bones or other resurrections. Because Jesus predicted it, that means that everything he did was staked on that claim.

Once again, I urge my readers to keep in mind that Jesus did stake everything on this claim as should we. If Jesus rose again, then Christianity is true and philosophical objections will have an answer somewhere be they the problem of evil or questions like “What would it mean if extra-terrestrial life were found?” If he did not rise, then it’s time to pack up and go home. We’re still in our sins, if they even exist any more.

Why is Jesus’s ministry ceasing? Verse 30 tells us. The ruler of this world is coming. Jesus is going to have to deal with the forces of satan and there is indeed some eschatology here. This is the climatic battle between good and evil going on. Jesus and the devil are both going to clash at the cross. The one who knew no sin will meet the source of all sin. One of them is going to lose.

Yet Jesus says the devil has no hold on him. There is no sin on him. The battle is already won. Jesus only has to go through with it.

It is through this that the world will learn that the Son loves the Father and does what he is commanded. The Son is faithful even unto death and as we see in the prayers he prays in the garden, he did want the cup to pass through him, but he knew the will of God would come first.

What is meant by leaving? It’s a debated question but some take verse 31 to mean that the group is getting up and moving out. Some take it to mean one stage of teaching is ending and now we’re entering the time of the passion and the disciples are invited to join in on this. It could be one of these or both or some other interpretation we do not know yet.

Tomorrow, we shall start looking at John 15.

We’re going through the New Testament now and studying the doctrine of the Trinity and we’re in the gospel of John. Much of what John has said has easily lent itself to Trinitarianism. Tonight, we’re looking at a verse that I’m sure most Jehovah’s Witnesses get quite excited over. This one was also one used by Arius. It is John 14:28. Let’s go to the text.

“You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

The Father is greater than the Son? Doesn’t that disprove the Trinity? Well, not quite. Now there is some explaining that has to be done, but this is true of most any interpretation. The question in this case needs to be “In what sense is the Father greater than the Son?”

Let’s note something else beforehand. We have seen John use highly Trinitarian statements throughout this gospel be it in the prologue of John, in John 8:58, in John 10:30, and in numerous other places. it is highly doubtful that all of those are wrong and this is the right one. Of course, that could be the case, but my opponents have far more verses to explain than I do.

I will instead be giving an interpretation of this that I haven’t really seen but one that I’ve had come while pondering on this text and that I think fits in with the biblical worldview and the way society existed in the ancient world.

Jesus tells his apostles that his going is cause for them to rejoice. Now this must have seemed to be something strange to them. Yet the reason they are to rejoice is that his returning to the Father will mean the coming of the Spirit in order for them to be able to complete the mission that they have.

So what will Jesus be doing during that time? Hebrews tells us that he sat down at the right hand of the Father and we are told that he makes intercession for us. Jesus is then acting before the Father in the role of the high priest.

In the ancient worldview, the Father would have been seen as the one who was enacting a covenant. Jesus’s role in this is that he would be the one called a broker who would be the go-between between the people and the patron, who in this case would be the Father.

The Father is the one who grants the forgiveness through the Son. This doesn’t change the nature of the Son. The Son, however, has on himself a role of making that intercession on the behalf of sinners as the mediator as 1 Tim. 2:5 states. We will look more at that verse when we get there.

The greater then refers to office. It does not refer to nature. What the anti-Trinitarian will have to demonstrate is that somehow this greater refers to nature and then they will have to explain away all the other passages in Scripture that are Trinitarian.

My final stance? This one is nothing to lose sleep over. I think it fits in just fine with the biblical stance.

We’ll continue the rest of this chapter tomorrow.

We’re going through the New Testament now talking about the doctrine of the Trinity. I got to speak at my church tonight on the topic. (We’re not SDA, but we’re starting a Saturday night service.) An absolute thrill! Talking about the Trinity is a joy. I hope some of that joy rubs off tonight and you readers enjoy this post as much as I enjoy talking about it. Tonight, we’re continuing the gospel of John and we’re going to be reading verses 26-27.

²⁶But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus now states that while he will be absent, the Counselor will be there and the Father will send him in the name of the Son. Who is this Parakletos? The Spirit is the one who literally comes alongside us. In our struggles, he is the one who intervenes. It is the kind of terminology that we find in Romans 8:26-27.

This person is certainly a person and not a force as the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have us believe. He is spoken of as doing personal actions and as a counselor, and a force can certainly not be much of a counselor. As the text also shows, we see that he teaches and he calls to memory. He is an agent working on behalf of the Father, that much is certainly true, but this in no way denies his personality. It’s also noteworthy that neuter terminology is not used to describe the Spirit.

The Spirit will teach the apostles all things and remind them of what Christ has said. We do not know how this takes place, but I would wager it would come through the reading of the Scriptures whereby they would recall the words of Christ and see how those words related to what was said in Scripture.

Note also that this applies to the apostles. It is quite easy to take this and apply it to us. Now the Holy Spirit does teach us as other texts indicate, but Christ also speaks of calling to remembrance all that was said and we were not there to hear all that was said. Too many Christians today however speak in church believing the Holy Spirit has revealed something new to them. I believe that the Holy Spirit teaches us not in giving us new propositional truth, though he could, but in convicting us of what the text that we read in Scripture says. If we believe we could have something from the Spirit, let us be sure to study the Scriptures to make sure that is the source. Too many aberrant teachings have started off by people thinking they have had divine revelation.

Let’s look at the last part now. Peace. Jesus is going away and that had to be troubling. Jesus wanted the apostles to have peace. In this case, we are in the same boat as Jesus is away from us today. The call for peace is just as real and it is offered. What kind of peace? Assurance that God is in charge. The forgiveness of sins in Christ. There is no need to fear, and that is something many of us, myself definitely included, need to work on.

Tomorrow, we shall look at one of the “problem verses.”

We’re going through the New Testament trying to come to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. Tonight, we’re in the gospel of John and we’re in the upper room discourse and we will be here for awhile as this passage is full of Trinitarian truth. Tonight, we’re going to be looking at John 14:22-25

²²Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

²³Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵“All this I have spoken while still with you.

We said last time that one of the disciples would raise an objection. This is one we often hear from non-Christians. Why did Jesus show himself to so few people? Why didn’t he show himself to more? Ironically, it seems that one of his apostles had that question in mind as well. How does Jesus answer it?

Jesus begins an answer an odd way talking about if anyone loves him. Instead of talking about his actions then, he is talking about the actions of his followers. Jesus says that love of him will mean that one keeps his word. If one does that, the Father will love him and the Father and Son will come to him and make their abode with him.

Once again, stop and think about those words.

If you love Christ and you keep his commandments, the Father will love you and he and the Son will make their abode with you. This is just as incredible today as it was back then and yet, it’s something we do not think about. Being Trinitarians, we have the fellowship of the Father and the Son, something that John will emphasize later in his epistles. This isn’t to leave out the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will be mentioned later on.

It might help you to pause for a few moments before reading the rest of this blog and think about that thought. The Father and the Son, if you love the Son and keep his word, abide with you.

On the contrary, if someone does not keep love the Son does not keep his words and if you do not keep his words, you do not love the Father then for the words are truly from the Father. Once again, we see this dichotomy that comes into play with Jesus. There is no middle ground.

These are all things Jesus concludes by saying while he has been with his disciples. All things refers to not all the teachings but to this discourse. The temporal reference means that Jesus is indicating that he won’t be with them much longer.

That’s great, but how does that answer the question?

It is my conclusion that the reason Jesus does not show himself to the world is that that is our job. We are to show Jesus to the world. We are his body. We are to make his love manifest. He has privileged us to have that part in the work.

You are the answer to the question of Judas. Are you being the answer? Are you showing the Son to the world?

We’re going through the New Testament wanting to come to a deeper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. One great aspect of where we are now in the gospel of John is not only that we learn more about the Trinity, but Jesus comes to us on a practical level where throughout this, we will see what difference the Trinity makes in our day to day lives. One of the great dangers of our theology today is that we study the doctrines, but we don’t see the applicational basis of them. If we believe a doctrine, it should have some ramifications in our lives. We’ll see more of those in tonight’s passage, John 14:19-21.

¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Last time, we spoke of the seeing described in the gospel in this portion and said that it does not refer to physical sight. This can also bring us back to John 1:18 when we read that no one has seen God. It would mean that no one has fully understood him, but the Son, who is in his bosom, does fully understand him and has made him known. The world will not see Christ any more in the physical sense, but yet in a play on words, John puts it in a spiritual sense. While he’s away, the disciples will not “see” him either, but they will know of his presence and work as they carry on the ministry he started.

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias speaks of the verse “Because I live, you will also live” as a verse read to him when he was on a bed of suicide. He later found it on a tombstone of one of his relatives. Christ’s promise to his followers is that their life is based on him. This certainly has the resurrection in mind also as Christ is saying that because he is the one who conquers death, they too will conquer death. Christ is telling us something about who he is also in saying that our lives depend on him.

Verse 20 also speaks of the resurrection. The resurrection would be the seal on everything Jesus ever did and said. If he lies in the tomb, then his message was the message of a wicked blasphemer and we need not listen to him. If he rises from the dead, then that means God has given him his seal of approval. Consider again what a unique situation this is. Jesus is saying that his ministry would depend on his resurrection from the dead, a statement no one else made. This is why Paul can say that if Christ is not raised, we are still in our sins. (1 Cor. 15:19)

Finally, based on this, we ought to live as Christ has commanded us to. This does not mean that it earns us his love, but it shows that we have received it. Trusting in Christ as the one representing the new covenant enters one into the fellowship of the love of the Trinity. One is made a new creation and is a member of the family of God, not in the sense of course that one becomes a person of the Trinity, but one experiences the love of God that takes place in the Trinity. There’s an old Celtic tradition that says the Trinity was in a dance of love and man was created that he might join in the dance.

A question arises from one listening to Jesus’s message in that upper room. Tomorrow, we’ll look at it.