Real Bible Study

Daily Bible Nugget #403, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (KJV)

2Co 5:17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (Noyes NT)

My Comment:

In my preceding “Daily Bible Nugget” I discussed Romans 12:2, and the fact that we must be “transformed by the renewing” of our minds. That process takes place once we become rightly related to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Many people think they are Christians. One of the tests to know if you really are a Christian is to check whether what is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5:17 is really true of you. In your life, have the “old things” truly passed away? Have “all things” become new?

If you truly belong to Christ, there should be some rather clear or obvious results that can be seen in your life. Genuine believers in Christ have an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. They are eager to feast upon the spiritual food, the spiritual nourishment, found in the Bible (1 Peter 2:2). They take time to read the New Testament regularly. They are on a path that brings about spiritual growth (2 Peter 3:18).

If you truly are properly related to Jesus Christ, the power of His Holy Spirit is producing the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23) in your life. What Paul calls “the works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19, 20, 21) no longer characterize you.

Your friends will notice the change that has taken place in your life. They “are astonished that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot” (1 Peter 4:4), and they may say evil things about you.

Now it may be, if you have been a genuine Christian for a long time, perhaps since you were quite young, it may not be so much a change that friends and associates and acquaintances may notice, but they can tell you are not like them. If such people do not notice that you are any different from them, that may be evidence that you are not really walking close enough to Jesus Christ for them to notice, and you really need to draw closer to Him by reading and obeying His word.

Posted in Daily Bible Nuggets, Practical Application Bible Studies | Tagged 2 Corinthians 5:17, A true Christian will experience a radical change, Daily Bible Nugget #403 2 Corinthians 5:17, The fruit of the Spirit characterizes true Christians | 2 Comments

Daily Bible Nugget #402, Romans 12:2

Posted on February 24, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (KJV) Rom 12:2 Don’t be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him. (CEV, Common English Version)

My Comment:

Many who may consider themselves to be Christians might well find out, if they carefully read the Bible, that they are not living a life that is pleasing to God.

It ought to be the goal of every Christian to please God in every aspect of life.

The key to this is to “let God change how you think.” How does this happen? God speaks to us through His written word found only in the Bible. Is the Bible out-of-date, or does it teach what is suited to our time and situation? I believe the Bible still speaks to our day. Its advice and guidance never goes out of date. So to let God change how you think, you must read and study the Bible, and especially the New Testament.

The power to live according to God’s will comes by means of the working of the Holy Spirit taking place in your life. As you read and believe the message of the New Testament, you will experience regenerative change (Titus 3:5). Old things will pass away, all things will become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

If this change is not happening in your life, you are not yet properly related to God. A proper relationship to God can only happen as the result of reading, believing, and obeying God’s Word in the Bible. A proper relationship is a synergistic affair: you must do your part, and God will do His part (Philippians 2:12, 13).

We must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Most fundamental to this growth in grace is our regular reading and study of the Bible. All of us must make time in our life daily to read Scripture. That is the only food for our spiritual lives that God has provided.

If you are not motivated to regularly read the New Testament, then you do not have, in terms of spiritual life, the real thing. You must become properly related to God so that He can work in your life and produce the fruit (Galatians 5:22, 23) that is pleasing to Him, something we all ought to fervently desire if we really are to be considered true Christians.

Posted in Daily Bible Nuggets, Practical Application Bible Studies | Tagged Changing how we think, Daily Bible Nugget #402 Romans 12:2, How to be rightly related to God, Romans 12:2, Spiritual Transformation | Leave a comment

Daily Bible Nugget #401, 2 Corinthians 13:14

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

My Comment:

Perhaps no single verse in the Bible can be said to “prove” the doctrine of the Trinity. But if one has their wits about them, it ought to be passing strange that such associations of the three Persons, God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit are associated together throughout the Bible (see Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Isaiah 42:1) just as though they indeed belong together, and are mentioned on a footing of equality. Because of this feature in the Bible, those who have studied this issue carefully, by the Rule of Necessary Inference, believe in the Bible doctrine of the Trinity.

Unitarians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity. They all argue strongly against it in their support of Monotheism. But to deny the Trinity, they must ignore or suppress the evidence in the Bible that contradicts their position, and often turn some Scriptures upside down or on their head with strange, out-of-context interpretations that are unsupported by a clear reading, a plain reading, of the text itself in context.

There is an article linked on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” discussion thread titled “Ten Ways the Bible Disproves the Trinity” LINK which I intend to answer here, rather than on Facebook, because it always takes more words to answer a mistaken opinion or argument than it does to present it.

TEN WAYS THE BIBLE DISPROVES THE TRINITY ANSWERED:

The Claim:

Now, if the Trinity represents the truth about the nature of God Almighty, and was preached by Jesus (peace be upon him), then one would expect this to be reflected clearly throughout the Bible. Moreover, one would not expect to find anything which negates the doctrine. What follows are ten reasons, taken from the Bible, that disprove the doctrine of the Trinity.

1. God does not change.

The Bible describes God as unchanging in nature:

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. [Malachi 3:6]

They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. [Psalm 102:26-27]

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,who does not change like shifting shadows. [James 1:17]

Trinitarians believe that God temporarily took on flesh when the second person of the Trinity, the Son, entered into humanity as Jesus. At this point God was subject to the limitations of human beings, such as needing to eat, drink and sleep, because of the human nature of Jesus. Once Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended back to God, he took on a new glorified, spiritual body and is free of all the limitations he had when he was here on earth.

Because Trinitarians believe that Jesus did not cease being God whilst he was here on earth, there is conflict with the statements of the Bible that affirm God’s unchanging nature. You can’t have an unchanging God on the one hand, and a ‘person’ of Him that is changing. If Jesus took on a human nature, whilst at the same time still being God, then the implication is that in becoming man, the nature of God changed. When Jesus then ascended and took on a glorified, spiritual body, whilst still being God, then the nature of God changed once again.

The use of Malachi 3:6 to support this argument is invalid. In context, God is declaring that He does not change, and because this is so, the Israelites and their nation continue to exist, for God does not go back upon His covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the point Malachi makes in Malachi 3:6.

The idea in context at Malachi 3:6 has nothing to do with the wrong supposition that the pre-existent second member of the Trinity, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, must experience “change” to become Incarnate as a human being and be born of the virgin Mary; this has nothing to do with God experiencing change in His eternal, unchanging nature.

The Bible is clear, even if we were to read the Old Testament alone, that the second member of the Trinity appeared on earth repeatedly in human form as the very visible, tangible, audible, Angel of Jehovah. Anyone who has a Bible and access to an extensive collection of cross references may prove this by starting at such passages in the Bible as Genesis 17:1 or Genesis 22:15 or Exodus 3:2. Make a study of the Theophanies and/or Christophanies found in the Bible (for Theophanies, see cross-references given for Genesis 12:7; for Christophanies, see cross-references given for John 8:56; John 8:58; John 12:41). It is probable, since John 1:18 declares no man has seen God at any time, that this must be a reference to God the Father, who is spirit, John 4:24, and not visible to human eyes. Yet people are said to have seen God in the Old Testament (see Judges 13:22 and its cross references). This being so, the necessary inference to be drawn is that all instances of seeing God are instances of seeing the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His pre-incarnate form.

But since the Bible clearly declares that people have seen God, Who appeared in the form of a man (Genesis 18:2) before the first advent of Christ, then if the Muslim use of Malachi 3:6 which asserts God does not change is correct, then how explain the apparent contradiction? How can God who is unchanging appear on earth to be seen by men in the form of a man?

Therefore, the argument that “God does not change” has nothing to do with the supposed claim against the doctrine of the Trinity.

2. It compromises God’s absolute perfection.

God Almighty by definition is absolutely and eternally perfect in nature, He cannot degrade into a worse state and He cannot improve into a better state.

We’ve already seen that belief in the Trinity necessitates that the nature of God changed. This raises an uncomfortable question: was the nature of God more or less perfect when He took on flesh and entered into humanity? If He was more perfect before becoming human, then this implies that God’s perfect nature was temporarily compromised whilst Jesus was here on earth as a man. If however He was more perfect after becoming human, then this implies that God was eternally inferior in nature beforehand. Both propositions are blasphemous.

Certainly God has a perfect nature. His nature is unchanging. But the testimony of the New Testament is clear that Jesus Christ has an unchanging nature:

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

It is clear from the testimony of the New Testament to Jesus Christ that He was absolutely sinless. He never committed a sin (1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 4:15). Jesus did not possess a sinful nature (Luke 1:35; John 14:30). Jesus challenged his enemies to find any sin in Him (John 8:46) and they did not do so. John the Baptist testified of Jesus Christ, calling Him “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Peter speaks of Christ as being “without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19). This surely speaks of a perfect Savior, qualified to die for our sins, qualified to make Atonement on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25).

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

It is a mistake to suppose “that belief in the Trinity necessitates that the nature of God changed.” The Bible declares otherwise.

Was Jesus more perfect before becoming a human? The Bible declares Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Those who deny the Trinity deny the deity of Christ. They apparently must deny that Jesus Christ, though one Person, possessed two natures: a Divine nature and His human nature. This is the doctrine of the “hypostatic union” of two natures in one Person. Upon His Incarnation, Jesus Christ permanently possessed these two natures in one person. Jesus Christ, therefore, was never at any time less perfect than He was before His Incarnation, and is declared in Scripture to still be perfect ever after His resurrection bodily from the dead and His ascension into Heaven.

Therefore, the contention that the doctrine of the Trinity “compromises God’s absolute perfection” is false and not in accordance with what is revealed in Scripture.

3. All persons of the Trinity are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. [Matthew 12:32]

If the three persons of the Trinity are equal in importance and all are 100% God, then why is speaking a word of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit an unforgivable sin, while doing a similar act against the Son, Jesus, can be forgiven? Since only the Holy Spirit has the right to not be blasphemed against, it seems that some persons of the Trinity are more equal than others!

Apparently the Muslim apologist I am citing is unaware that each member of the Trinity has its unique offices and responsibilities. Jesus taught that one of the offices or responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to reprove or convict and convince men of their sinfulness, of their sin (John 16:8). In Matthew 12:32 and its context, the Jewish leaders were refusing to believe in and accept Jesus Christ, even though He (1) healed the sick, (2) forgave sin, though only God can forgive sin–yet by their own postulates, the Jews believed that only God could heal, so Jesus proved He can do both, see Mark 2:5-8; (3) had power over nature itself when He calmed the storm at sea, see Mark 4:31-41; (4) possessed creative power demonstrated when He multiplied the loaves and fish to feed five thousand men besides women and children, see Mark 6:37-44. In context at Matthew 12:32 the Jewish authorities were attributing to the power of Satan what was evidently done by the power of God, thus they were resisting the conviction based upon tangible evidence brought by the Holy Spirit. This sin was unforgivable then and if persisted in by anyone today who refuses the testimony of the Bible to the Person of Christ that He is without question the Divine Son of God, the Savior of the world, is unforgivable today, and will result in the loss of salvation and a most unfortunate eternal destiny where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47, 48).

4. Jesus acknowledges that he has a God.

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” [John 20:17]

Trinitarians attempt to explain such statements away by saying that it was only the human side of Jesus being subservient to God, not his divine side. The problem is that later in the Bible, after Jesus has ascended and cast aside all human limitations, he is still saying “my God”:

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. [Revelation 3:11-12]

So their explanation of the human side of Jesus doing the talking falls apart when he is still using the same language of subservience as he did whilst he was here on earth.

Jesus Christ in His human nature certainly speaks of God the Father as “my God.” This is very correct. Yet Jesus Christ even now still possesses, since the Incarnation–His having become a man–a human nature. For all eternity forward He is and will always be a man. He is called “the man Christ Jesus” well after His ascension to heaven in 1 Timothy 2:5. The hypostatic union continues forever. Subordination does not imply inequality. It simply reveals the arrangements among the Persons of the Godhead, the Trinity, as to their respective offices with respect to the redemption or salvation of mankind.

Therefore, the fact that Jesus Christ acknowledges that He has a God is no argument against the doctrine of the Trinity.

5. Jesus surrenders his kingdom to God.

Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. [1 Corinthians 15:24-28]

If Jesus is fully God, and an equal member of the Trinity, then why does Jesus give back his kingdom to God the Father when our world comes to an end? In addition, why is Jesus made subject to God after he has surrendered his kingdom over? Clearly, God is forever supreme over all, including Jesus.

Here is a case of assuming what is to be proved. The text of Scripture as cited from 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25, 26, 27, 28 does not state that Jesus hands over his kingdom to God, but rather “the kingdom.” This is a very interesting instance of a Figure of Speech used here that exhibits “intentional obscurity.” This means that when the Apostle Paul penned these words he purposely wrote this text to be obscure to avoid persecution from either Jewish or Roman authorities (see John 11:48; Acts 17:7) should this letter fall into the wrong hands. See my note at 1 Corinthians 15:24 in my book, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, for a full discussion of this passage and examples of other instances of “intentional obscurity” in the New Testament.

Jesus does not give up His own kingdom, but those kingdoms He has subdued (Revelation 11:15), for the Messianic Kingdom on this earth will never end (Daniel 7:14; Luke 1:32, 33).

6. Not defined anywhere in the Bible.

The nature of God is undoubtedly the most fundamental aspect of a religion. Scripture should provide a clear picture of who our Creator is, otherwise how can we be expected to properly worship that which we don’t understand?

If God wanted humanity to believe in His Triune nature, then why isn’t it clearly and explicitly defined anywhere in Scripture? There is no statement to be found anywhere in the Bible where God is described as being three co-equal persons, Father Son and Holy Ghost. This is in spite of the fact that there were numerous opportunities that were presented to Jesus where he could have spelled this out in detail:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [Mark 12:29-33]

It’s important to note that the Jewish understanding of the commandments rejects all notions of God being a Trinity. So in the passages above, by simply repeating the commandment about God being One, Jesus is re-affirming the Jewish understanding of God’s nature and therefore rejecting the Trinitarian understanding. This was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to correct the Jew’s misconceptions about God and give him the Trinitarian understanding of God being three co-equal persons, Father Son and Holy Ghost. As we have seen the exact opposite is the case, his answers provides ammunition to use against the Trinity.

Because there is a lack of a clear, explicit statement in support of the Trinity, what we find is that in order to support the doctrine of the Trinity using the Bible, Trinitarians have to cobble together bits and pieces of unrelated scripture in order to try and form a picture of a Triune God. Is the Bible a book of guidance or a Da Vinci code?

To argue that “Scripture should provide” a clear explanation of these matters is an appeal, in part, to the principle of “rationalism,” which when it comes to understanding what the Bible has to say is a false principle. Who are we to demand that God rewrite the script to suit our way of thinking, our demands?

Even the Scripture writers themselves testify that they did not fully understand what the Holy Spirit inspired them to write (see 1 Peter 1:10, 11, 12 and Daniel 8:15).

The Bible is not written in the form or format of a systematic theology. To learn its truths we must “Search the Scriptures” (John 5:39; Acts 17:11). To determine what the Bible actually teaches about a subject of interest to us, we must take into account all that the Bible says or reveals about that subject, and often related subjects. Not everything about a given subject of interest is necessarily stated all in one passage of the Bible.

To do Real Bible Study, therefore, we must use appropriate tools for Bible study, such as Bible concordances and collections of cross references given in reference Bibles or The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, or my expansion of that well-received venerable work, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or my work Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible. I have now finished preparing a new work which is far more complete and accurate than the previously named resources, but I cannot tell you the title of it yet because the title has yet to be determined.

Trinitarians do not merely “cobble together bits and pieces of scripture in order to try and form a picture of a Triune God.” Rather, we carefully study Scripture according to the Rules of Interpretation given here in the October 2010 Archives listed to the right on this page. We read carefully, and by drawing the proper necessary inferences, we arrive at the truth of what the Bible teaches.

The Jews of the time of Jesus Christ were expecting a Messiah. They thought they knew their own Scriptures well. They knew about messianic prophecy in the Hebrew Scriptures. Yet, they either failed or refused to recognize the Messiah when He came at the appointed time and manner revealed in Scripture. Humanly speaking, they failed to draw the Necessary Inference about the coming Messiah when they did not observe two different classes of messianic prediction found in the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament. What they failed to see, even refused to see, was that Messiah must first suffer, and only then enter into His glory (Luke 24:26; 1 Peter 1:11).

The same procedure in careful Bible study required to properly gather and understand messianic prophecy is the method that must be employed to learn the truth about the Bible doctrine of the Trinity.

The Jews failed at both.

7. Fabrications inserted into the Bible to support the doctrine.

An appeal is made to the text of 1 John 5:7 as it stands in the King James Version and its underlying Greek text, a text known as the Received Text.

Since no one appeals to this passage today to support the doctrine of the Trinity, such an argument is moot. It has nothing to do with the truth or alleged falsity of the doctrine of the Trinity. There is plenty of other evidence in the Bible for the Trinity.

8. Trinitarian scholars manipulate the Bible to protect the doctrine.

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. [John 17:3]

This statement in the Bible is devastating to the doctrine of the Trinity, as it clearly identifies God as the only true God to the exclusion of Jesus. Here Jesus defines his own position as the Messiah, distinct from the Godhead, which consists of the Father alone.

In fact so devastating is this statement, that major pro-Trinitarian scholars of the past have resorted to manipulating the Bible in order to protect the doctrine of the Trinity. We note the remarkable comment of the celebrated Church Father Augustine. Augustine of Hippo is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity. It was so difficult for Augustine to harmonise John 17:3 with the doctrine of the Trinity, that this immensely influential church leader actually restructured Jesus’ words to accommodate both the Father and Son in the Godhead. Augustine, in his “Homilies on John”, boldly asserts that John 17:3 means:

“This is eternal life, that they may know Thee and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent, as the only true God.” [1]

This daring alteration of the Bible seriously distorts the original meaning of the words in order to include Jesus in the Godhead. Such forcing of the text merely exposes Augustine’s desperation to protect his creed in the Bible.

Most Christians today are unlikely to know of this information about Augustine’s citation of the text of John 17:3. I do not know of any contemporary scholarship that handles John 17:3 this way.

But I would assert that The New World Translation produced by the Jehovah’s Witnesses most certainly does “manipulate the Bible” to protect their anti-Trinitarian doctrine. They mistranslate John 1:1 to read “and the word was a god.” They carefully eliminate every reference to the Holy Spirit as a Person. And much more. So when it comes to just who it might be in our day that would manipulate the very text of Scripture to support false doctrine, it would seem that Jehovah’s Witnesses have clearly done just that.

9. God is above Jesus in hierarchy.

But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. [1 Corinthians 11:3]

This statement was uttered after Jesus had ascended and cast aside his human limitations. If the Trinity is true, then surely Paul (the author of the above statement) would have uttered something along the lines of “man is the head of a woman, and God and Christ are the head of man” which would imply a horizontal relationship between the persons in the Trinity. Clearly, God is above Jesus in this hierarchy, implying no co-equality between them, and thus there is no Trinity.

If only it were that simple, the argument might be swung in favor of the Muslims, Unitarians, and Jehovah’s Witnesses and their denial of the Trinity.

As I stated above, this is an argument based upon rationalism. It seeks to rewrite the script. It fails because it cannot account for other things Paul wrote that declare precisely the contrary (Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13, etc.).

The persons of the Trinity are revealed in Scripture to each assume particular offices and roles in the Godhead. That God the Father assumes a position in hierarchy above Jesus the Son of God does not disprove the doctrine of the Trinity. Subordination does not imply inequality.

10. Necessitates the belief in three gods.

Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” [John 1:24-25]

Here John has described a ‘trinity’ of persons, the Messiah, Elijah and the Prophet. These are three distinct persons, each with their own will, personality and function. What they share in common is their nature, humanity.

No one in their right mind would say that the Messiah, Elijah and the Prophet are three persons in one human, even though they all share in the same nature – humanity. Yet this is exactly what they are saying with regards to the Trinity. Clearly, Trinitarians believe in three separate gods, not one, just as they believe in three separate human beings. This is a clear violation of what Moses, Jesus and all the Prophets of the Bible taught: God is One.

Of course this comparison misses the point completely. When the Jehovah Witnesses came to visit me for four years, they had a similar numerical argument against the Trinity. How, they asked, can 1+1+1 = 1? I said, simple. Consider that 1x1x1 = 1. What Biblical authority can you cite to require addition rather than multiplication? The argument either way has no validity to what the Bible teaches about the Godhead consisting of Three Persons, each of whom is called God in Scripture itself, and each of whom possess the several incommunicable attributes of God. But since only God can possess these incommunicable attributes, yet Scripture attributes them to both Jesus the Son of God and to the Holy Spirit, as I have frequently posted on this site from my note on Matthew 28:19 in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, we have positive proof for the doctrine of the Trinity that it is plainly taught by Necessary Inference in Scripture itself.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions | Tagged 2 Corinthians 13:14, Daily Bible Nugget #401 2 Corinthians 13:14, Islam and Christianity Debate Group discussion, Jehovah's Witnesses mistaken about the Trinity, Malachi 3:6 explained, Ten Ways the Bible disproves the Trinity, Ten Ways the Bible disproves the Trinity Answered | 1 Comment

Daily Bible Nugget #400, Matthew 5:20

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

My Comment:

Just what did Jesus mean when He said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, or we will by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven?

On the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” this question arises from the question posed by a very astute Muslim participant.

The Question:

What does it really mean to enter the kingdom of heaven other than being saved? Jesus is clearly talking about salvation here, because one cannot go to heaven unless saved. Jesus says, “except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribe of the Pharisees, ye shall by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Put simply, there is no heaven for anyone unless they are better than the Jews. The question then arises: How could anyone be better than the Jews by not keeping the laws and the commandments?

My Response:

Farid EL Moustain I must commend you for asking very good questions!

The kingdom of heaven is not heaven. The expression is confined to Matthew’s Gospel. It occurs 32 times, though one additional instance by ellipsis is found at Matthew 25:14. The first occurrence is Matthew 3:2.

In Matthew there is a progression of thought or usage. We first read that the kingdom of God is “at hand.” This is not a reference to personal salvation itself.

Matthew 8:11, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 8:11 shows that the kingdom of heaven takes place upon this earth, in accordance to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” This is a quotation by Jesus of Psalm 37:11.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3 “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is not itself salvation, but requires that one be converted and become “in Christ” to be saved in order to enter into it.

Jesus charged the scribes and Pharisees saying, “for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.” So it is possible for some very religious people who carefully follow the law of Moses, even the law of God, to actually be on the wrong track spiritually, and to be guilty of hindering others, preventing them from entering the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 23:13).

Matthew also uses the expression “kingdom of God” a few times, about 5 times in all. Most of the time Matthew avoids using the word or name “God” out of respect for the Jewish audience to whom he is writing. The expression “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” are equivalent expressions, for many sayings of Jesus Matthew records using “kingdom of heaven” are given in other Gospel accounts using the words “kingdom of God.” So there is no intended difference. Those who argue otherwise are confusing the kingdom of God with the sovereignty of God.

A very striking instance of Matthew’s use of “kingdom of God” is seen at Matthew 21:43, where Jesus warns “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” The Jewish leaders, because they rejected the Messiah, Jesus Christ, have been set aside in the plan of God temporarily, and did not experience the fulfillment of the Messianic and kingdom prophecies in their day. Had they received the Messiah Jesus Christ, they would have experienced the promised kingdom of God in their midst then and there. Jesus had to strike a careful balance, humanly speaking, in His teaching and in His exercise of Divine power or omnipotence and omniscience so as not to unduly predispose the reaction of people and leadership in a manner to force or coerce their belief and reaction either way. Like Jesus said to the Jewish leaders, “If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). The fact that the nation of Israel would reject the Messiah and the nation would subsequently be set aside for an indeterminate length of time was predicted in Micah 5:3, “Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.”

From all this it should be evident that the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is still future. It is entered only by true faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Other references to the kingdom of God declare that the practice of grievous sin and/or the living of a sinful lifestyle will exclude a person from the kingdom of God, as specified in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “1 Co 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

1 Co 6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

The kingdom of God and/or the kingdom of heaven include the millennial reign of Christ upon this earth, but the kingdom of God upon this earth is by no means limited to the 1000 year period we call the millennial period. The Lord Jesus Christ will return at His Second Advent to rule on this earth forever, as specified in Luke 1:32, 33, “Luke 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Other passages in Scripture speak of the eternal rule of Jesus Christ upon the earth, among which is Zechariah 14:9, “Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.”

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Perhaps now you will have greater insight and understanding of the Biblical meaning of “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God.”

Our righteousness indeed must be better or greater than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. But this does not involve us in somehow keeping the commandments of God better than they did. For those who have truly believed on Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, He by the power of His Holy Spirit regenerates us, renews us, creates in us a “new man,” such that “old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” Jesus Christ creates a new life in us that is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit creates in us the fruit of the Spirit, not by our own efforts, but by what the Holy Spirit supernaturally performs in us. The fruit of the Spirit is spoken of by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22, 23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Those who are truly “in Christ” are no longer under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions | Tagged Daily Bible Nugget #400 Matthew 5:20, Islam and Christianity Debate Group discussion, kingdom of God explained, kingdom of heaven explained, Matthew 21:43 explained, Matthew 5:20 | 2 Comments

Daily Bible Nugget #399, Psalm 119:89

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Psalm_119:89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

My Comment:

The Bible, the very written Word of God, has not been changed.

Evidence demonstrates that over the nearly 2000 years that have intervened since the New Testament portion of the Bible was written, it has not been changed. Both the Hebrew text and the Greek text are well-established as evidenced by the manuscript witness to the Bible text. No other ancient work of literature has anything near the quantity, quality, and ancientness of manuscript evidence that the Bible has.

Nevertheless, not only Muslim apologists, but supposedly Christian teachers claim that the Bible has changed.

One such Christian writer who seems to be cited quite often on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” discussion threads I saw today is Dr. Bart Ehrman. I wonder if 2 Peter 2:1, and 2 Peter 2:2 may well apply to him. His falling away from the faith is surely being used by Muslims to discredit the Bible.

I wrote against him before in January of 2006 on the Timebomb website religious discussion board. Let me share in full what I wrote back then with no concern now about post length, but rather concern to fully present the truth backed by careful evidence:

1-21-06 How many have read Ehrman’s book on the Bible?

Whoever “Ehrman” might be, he apparently has not done his homework to come up with a book title like that (“Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” ).

First off, the Bible has NOT been changed.

The passage in John 8 belongs there. Scholar Dean Burgon provides the evidence for that in his often reprinted work The Woman Taken in Adultery: A Defense of the Authenticity of S. John 7:53–8:11..

Burgon interestingly comments at the beginning of his essay, “There was never a time–as far as any knows–when these twelve verses were not where they now are–and to all intents and purposes they are what they have always been. Is it not evident then that no merely ordinary method of proof–no merely common argument–will avail to dislodge twelve such verses as these?”

Burgon shows that these very verses have been in evidence back to the second century of our era. Jerome in the Latin Vulgate did not hesitate to retain them (A.D. 385). It is present in the ancient Latin version of John’s Gospel which precedes Jerome. Jerome states this passage “is found in many copies both Greek and Latin.” If I recall correctly, Jerome specifically cites a portion of the Greek text in the passage making it obvious that he had at hand the text in Greek as we have it today.

The text has been in use in the Eastern (Greek) church as far back as records go, where 9 of the twelve verses form the special lesson for October 8. Burgon comments, “It would be impossible to adduce in evidence a more significant circumstance. Any pretense to fasten a charge of spuriousness on a portion of Scripture so singled out by the Church for honor would be nothing else but monstrous.”

I quickly count thirty feet of shelf space in my personal library devoted to the subject of textual criticism and the original languages of Scripture. I have been reading and studying this material since the late 1950s.

It is absolute nonsense to suppose there has been some plot to change the text of Scripture. The very book title “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” by Bart Ehrman betrays the author’s absurd mindset against readily verifiable facts about the lineage of our present Bible text.

I have often said that there is less question regarding the textual certainty of the New Testament than there is question of the certainty of the English text of Shakespeare. In my own personal library here I have the published texts to prove it. There is no question of the certainty and accuracy of the Hebrew text.

As for the notion:
Quote:
He also claims the Trinity (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is also a later interpolation.

–if this is an accurate report of his claims, such claims are equally absurd and misinformed.

That is as much of the original Timebomb post I shared minutes ago on the Facebook discussion thread in the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group.”

My original Timebomb post continues with an unanswerable defense of the Bible doctrine of the Trinity:

As for the notion:

Quote:

He also claims the Trinity (God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is also a later interpolation.

–if this is an accurate report of his claims, such claims are equally absurd and misinformed.

I notice on some of the Religion threads on this Timebomb site that several posters are quoting from the New World Translation. This supposedly doctrinally neutral translation (read the claim in the preface, the “translators” state they have attempted to avoid the “snare of religious traditionalism” allegedly present in other translations but absent from their own) is rabidly anti-trinitarian because it is published by an organization that is Arian and Unitarian in their doctrine. Slim chance for translation accuracy to be found there!

Texts of Scripture that might indeed display the truth on these matters are in that translation so garbled as to be unintelligible–I suspect on purpose–to hide the truth present in the original language text. Notice their lack of clarity in rendering Isaiah 8:20, where the NWT reads, “To the law and to the attestation! Surely they will keep saying what is according to this statement that will have no light of dawn.” Try any other translation you may choose, and it will doubtless be clearer. I believe the garble is presented in this text to weaken one of the strongest texts in support of the sufficiency, authority, and perspicuity of the Scripture. The King James Version reads “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” The text clearly states that any truth that does not precisely match what is written in the Bible is false.

Notice how the translation of Hebrews 1:8 is so garbled that it is meaningless, rendered by the NWT as “But with reference to the Son: ‘God is your throne forever and ever, and [the] scepter of uprightness.” Again, read as many other translations as you will, they won’t be as tortured as this. The NT text is a citation of Psalm 45:6, which in the NWT is likewise garbled. The King James Version renders Hebrews 1:8, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” No wonder the NWT translators garble this one–can’t possibly let the New Testament writer in the Greek text as translated into English represent God the Father addressing His Son as “O God,” can we?

Hebrews chapter 1 is a very troublesome chapter indeed, what with verse 6 stating “Let all the angels of God worship him,” speaking of Jesus. This seems to be a difficulty when Jesus himself says (Matthew 4:10), “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” If only God is to be worshipped, yet Scripture clearly records the command for the angels to worship Jesus, then we have another one of those troublesome inferences that need to be drawn again.

The same troublesome chapter presents Jesus as the creator, as does John 1:1-3, and Colossians 1:16, “For by him were all things created.” Of course, the doctrinally “unbiased” New World Translation finds it necessary to add to the Scripture text here by inserting the word “other” four times. The NWT stands alone in this deviancy at this passage. I challenged some Watchtower visitors who brought up this text to me just two weeks ago to show me another English translation that likewise found it necessary to insert “other” here like they did. Originally, the 1950 NWT did not bracket the word “other” as subsequent printings do now. But the false doctrine of the Watchtower and their NWT force them to insert the word “other.” I suspect they might know that if Jesus is the creator, then Jesus must be God, because only God can create.

All three persons of the Godhead are said to create: Genesis 1:1 (Father), John 1:2, 3 (Son), Job 33:4 (Holy Spirit). You could read the NWT for a life time, and be in total darkness that the Bible actually presents the Holy Spirit as a person. That truth is nearly totally erased in the NWT.

Is the Holy Spirit a person? In linguistics, semantics, and grammar, verbs can be “personal” or “non-personal.” Some verbs can be used only of persons. In Ephesians 4:30, the NWT reads “Also, do not be grieving God’s holy spirit, with which you have been sealed for a day of releasing by ransom.” The King James Version reads “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

You can only grieve a person, not a non-person, or an influence, or emanation. This text alone absolutely proves the Holy Spirit is a person. There are many more such texts and evidences that prove the Holy Spirit is a person, from Genesis chapter 1 until the book of Revelation. At Genesis 1:2 the Holy Spirit is said to have “moved upon the face of the waters” (King James Version); “God’s active force was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters” (New World Translation); “but the Spirit of God was brooding on the face of the waters” (Rotherham’s The Emphasized Bible translation). Rotherham notes “The beautiful word “brooding”–an exact rendering of the Hebrew–is most suggestive; since it vividly describes the cherishing of incipient life, as a preparation for its outburst.”

But notice that word “brooding,” it is a verb which is personal, not non-personal, again proving from the very language and expression of Scripture that the Holy Spirit is a person. So when I read on a recent thread in this forum that the poster faulted the NIV, claiming it was a “Trinitarian” translation, I fault the poster for making such a blatantly false statement himself. Doesn’t he recognize that the New World Translation is blatantly anti-Trinitarian in its translation of the Scripture?

Recall that in Mark 2:8 and context the observers of the miracle of healing Jesus performed were thinking in their hearts, “Who can forgive sins but God only?” in response to what Jesus had said to the man He healed, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” It was likewise a Jewish postulate that only God could perform a healing miracle.

Recall in context Jesus commented, (my paraphrase) “Which is easier to say, be healed, or thy sins be forgiven thee?” Clearly, that Jesus claimed to forgive sins and to heal, of the two claims, the claim to perform a miracle of healing was plainly verifiable by the visible result, and furnished the basis to believe His claim to forgive sins. But if the notion that “Who can forgive sins but God only?” is correct (and it obviously is), then what inference must be drawn from this incident recorded in Mark’s gospel? I hardly need spell it out further for those who have even a modicum of common sense and reading ability and intelligence enough to draw a valid conclusion from an obvious intended inference. Those who can’t make the valid inference are clearly prevented from doing so by their prior blindness to spiritual truth.

The Bible from the first chapter in Genesis until the last chapter in the book of Revelation is filled with all the evidence one could ever desire to prove the doctrine of the Trinity. Clearly, the Father is called God. The Son is called God (John 1:1. 20:28. 1 John 5:20). The Holy Spirit is called God (Acts 5:3, 4). Each of these three distinct persons in the Godhead share the incommunicable divine attributes of (1) eternity: Romans 16:26 (Father), Revelation 22:13 (Son), Hebrews 9:14 (Holy Spirit); (2) omnipresence: Jeremiah 23:24 (Father), Ephesians 1:23 (Son), Psalm 139:7 (Holy Spirit); (3) omniscience: Acts 15:18 (Father), Jon 21:17 (Son), 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11 (Holy Spirit); (4) sovereignty: Ephesians 1:11 (Father), Matthew 8:27 (Son), 1 Corinthians 12:11 (Holy Spirit); (5) immutability: Malachi 3:6 (Father), Hebrews 13:8 (Son), Matthew 12:32 (Holy Spirit); (6) immensity (Jeremiah 23:24 (Father), John 3:13 (Son), Psalm 139:7 (Holy Spirit). Since only God can possess the incommunicable divine attributes (even God Himself cannot communicate, delegate, or give these attributes to any created being, for such would be a contradiction in terms), yet in the Bible these attributes are ascribed alike to God the Father as well as to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit (as proven in the cited texts above), all three persons MUST be God. There is no other explanation which properly agrees with all the statements of Scripture.

The argument I have just presented is an unanswerable argument. I discussed the strength of absolute arguments in a prior apparently thread-killing post before. And as for the Booklist’s reviewer’s comment:

Quote:

He further explains why textual criticism has frequently sparked intense controversy, especially among scripture-alone Protestants.

Don’t get me started. Firstly, textual criticism is divided into the lower criticism and the higher criticism. The lower criticism is a painstaking, scientific, inductive study of all the manuscript evidence. Higher criticism is nonsense. It is philosophical, not scientific, based on a worldview looking for flimsy arguments to support it, not arguments based on solid painstaking textual evidence. I have probably hundreds of volumes in my library pertaining to both.

As for the comment about “Scripture alone Protestants,” someone must be writing with Romanist blinders on. Since the Bible is the agreed upon sole primary source document we have which is the final authority in matters of faith and doctrine, it seems that any who call themselves Christians must, to be Biblical, meet the challenge of adhering to beliefs that are supported and not contradicted by what is taught in the Bible.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions | Tagged Bart D. Ehrman refuted with finality, Bible proof of the doctrine of the Trinity, Daily Bible Nugget #399 Psalm 119:89, Dean Burgon on the legitimacy of John 8:1-11, Proof the Holy Spirit is a person, Psalm 119:89, Trinity proven from Bible | Leave a comment

Daily Bible Nugget #398, 1 Corinthians 2:13

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

My Comment:

The Bible clearly claims divine inspiration for itself. Its claims are abundantly substantiated by (1) fulfilled Bible prophecy, (2) the power for good that the Bible exerts upon individuals and nations who properly receive it, (3) its internal doctrinal consistency though written by nearly 40 different writers on several continents over a period of 1500 years in three languages, (4) the authenticity demonstrated by its accurate historical and geographical record, (5) the testimony it receives from Jesus Christ Himself–the one Person who has experienced physical death and returned to tell us about it, having been raised physically from the dead by God after three days in the tomb, all in accordance to specific Bible prophecy.

But some do not believe, and cite modern scholars and scholarship to the contrary, as in the following portion of a discussion on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” to which I responded today.

The Opening Claim:

Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, a renowned Bible scholar and professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, writes in his book “Jesus Interrupted”, “The Bible is filled with discrepancies, many of them irreconcilable contradictions. Moses did not write the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John did not write the Gospels.”

The further claim:

There are many contradictions and discrepancies in the Bible that become evident to you when you look at the Bible with an open mind from an unbiased perspective. These contradictions are plain and clear to such an extent that you wouldn’t need to consult a Bible scholar to point them out to you. For instance, in John 13:36, peter says to Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” A few verses later Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going” [John 14:5]. And then a few minutes later, at the same meal, Jesus upbraids his disciples, saying, “Now I am going to the one who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?'” [John 16:5]. Now either Jesus had a very short attention span or there is something strange going on with the sources for these chapters, creating an odd kind of disconnect.

My Responses:

The way you are citing Scripture fails to heed the context. You do not seem to understand the subject of hermeneutics. Anyone can come along and take a bit of text here, and another bit of text there, and come up with a contradiction or an absurdity.

The Bible states,

Judas went and hanged himself.

What thou doest do quickly.

Go and do thou likewise.

But that is not a proper way to cite the Bible to come up with anything resembling what it actually teaches.

The odd kind of disconnect is your reading the Bible in a manner that does not legitimately represent how the Bible or any other work of literature was ever intended to be read.

I have written of Dr. Ehrman on these discussion threads here before.

His scholarship is slipshod and unreliable. I have been pursuing studies in the reliability of Scripture on a scholarly level since before 1958, and for all the intervening years since then.

Careless readers may find many so-called discrepancies in the Bible. I have two four-foot shelves right here in my personal library of books written by unbelievers, agnostics, and atheists that are full of such nonsense.

Anyone who makes such claims against the Bible has not studied the subject of Biblical Introduction. Such a person has not studied and carefully digested the subject of apologetics. They have likely never read one solid work of meticulous scholarship written to defend the truth of the Bible.

Have they read and thoroughly studied William Paley’s little volume, Horae Paulinae? No.

Have they read Leslie’s Short and Easy Method with the Deists? No.

Have they read David Nelson’s work, The Cause and Cure of Infidelity? No.

Have they read Irwin H. Linton’s work, A Lawyer Examines the Bible? No.

Have they read Simon Greenleaf’s The Testimony of the Evangelists? No.

Have they read Robert Dick Wilson’s Is the Higher Criticism Scholarly? No.

Have they read Mark Hopkins, Evidences of Christianity? No.

Do they really know anything about the subject? No.

It makes for a very instructive Bible study to learn what the Bible says about itself.

1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

This statement in the Bible is one of many of its claims to divine inspiration.

This is a specific claim to verbal inspiration. Divine inspiration of Scripture is asserted also at 2 Timothy 3:16, as is the divine inspiration of the Scripture writers, 2 Peter 1:21.

Failure to accept the Bible’s own testimony to itself has closed this Book to so-called “modern scholarship” (a misnomer if ever there was one!). Much modern scholarship is dishonest, for instead of explaining the Bible, it attempts to explain away the Bible, refusing to honestly come to grips with its claims and message.

In an effort to escape the Bible’s obvious message, dishonest scholarship has tried to deny its authenticity and authorship, ascribing, for example, the books of Moses to multiple late authorship; denying the unity of Isaiah; asserting that the gospels, particularly John, are of late origin, and do not reflect the so-called “historical Jesus,” but views and traditions of the early Church of the third or fourth century—not explaining, of course, how books can be quoted or translated before they were written, or how such stupendous claims could be foisted upon a gullible public long after the possibility of disproof by eyewitnesses has passed.

The only way to get at the message of the Bible is to be completely open to its message. To approach Scripture with humanistic and naturalistic (i.e. anti-theistic) presuppositions is to try to twist Scripture to fit a world view which it most emphatically will not support. The only valid approach to Scripture is to be honest to its claims and message and grant its right to set forth a theistic, supernaturalistic world view.

To deny the possibility of miracle (as Hume and his modern counterparts) is to deny the possibility of history, for both are based upon the record of eye-witness testimony, and such denial is absurd.

There are more pathways to truth and knowledge than an arbitrarily narrowly defined so-called “scientific method.” Like missing the right exit on a freeway, continued advance in the wrong direction is not progress; genuine progress will require a return to where we went wrong, and a fresh start in the right direction.

Much “scholarship” needs to recognize it has pursued a wrong path, and recognize that it needs to return to sound principles of former generations of reverent, truthful, believing scholarship.

It is neither truthful nor fair scholarship to approach a work of literature from a consistently unsympathetic and hostile world view in the attempt to legitimately understand its message. Rather, in our attempt to understand a work of literature, we must let it speak for itself.

The task of scholarship is to place the reader as close as possible in sympathetic relationship to the viewpoint of the original writer and recipients of the literary work, and not to attempt to explain it away in an effort to force it to agree with popular contemporary philosophical presuppositions.

Much more could be said to directly answer the apparent discrepancies pointed out in the Gospel of John, but that would make this already 1303 word long post too long for most readers, but if any who read this suppose there is not an answer available, just post a comment below.

Well, I’ll break down and post the answer to the alleged conundrum Dr. Bart Ehrman thinks he found, since the solution is so direct and simple after all:

The answer to the supposed discrepancy between the three passages in John that Dr. Ehrman cites, namely, John 13:36, John 14:5, and John 16:5 is simple.

Peter had asked, “Lord, thither goest thou?” and Thomas much the same in John 14:5, both of whom had received an answer.

But now, at the time when Jesus was speaking this at John 16:5, none of them asked this question, because, as the next verse states, their hearts were filled with sorrow.

Notice the prominent characteristic of John’s witness to the events he records: he is a careful listener, even at times an eavesdropper, so what John records here is hardly a discrepancy or contradiction worthy of any notice at all. To see discrepancy here is the mark of a very careless, unobservant reader, grasping at straws, trying to make an argument which is unsupportable by the evidence in context.

John tells us early in his Gospel, John 2:22, that not until after the resurrection of Christ did the disciples more fully understand some of the things Jesus said while they were with Him.

Now why couldn’t Dr. Ehrman figure this out?

But now this post is 1522 words long!

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Bible Historicity and Validity, Daily Bible Nuggets, How to Study the Bible | Tagged 1 Corinthians 2:13, Daily Bible Nugget #398 1 Corinthians 2:13, divine inspiration of the Bible, how not to read the Bible, reading list of essential books that defend the Bible | Leave a comment

Daily Bible Nugget #397, Matthew 10:5-6

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

My Comment:

Moslems continue to cite Matthew 10:5-6 to prove that Jesus came only for the “lost sheep of Israel,” and did not come for the benefit of the Gentiles at all.

This time they even cited a Koranic text from Sura 43:59 to establish their position.

the Quran also confirms it when Allah said ” He [‘Iesa (Jesus)] was not more than a slave. We granted Our Favour to him, and We made him an example to the Children of Israel (i.e. his creation without a father).[Sura 43:59]

This would appear to me rather shaky evidence indeed, but this is the proffered interpretation of that Koranic text.

But that the Muslims are mistaken about what the Bible teaches concerning the extent of the ministry of Christ, and who that ministry and Gospel is for, was my intention in the following response.

My Response:

Phaisal Aziz, you have not at all addressed the FACT that Matthew 10:5-6 which you cited speaks only of the specific mission Jesus gave his disciples on that occasion. That directive of Jesus is not the only directive He gave. In Mark 16:15 He commanded that the Gospel be preached to the whole world, to every creature. The same command is reflected in Matthew 28:19-20. The same command is reflected in Acts 1:8. The same message is reflected in Luke 24:46-47.

Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Notice that Matthew 10:5, 6 represent the directive Jesus gave to his disciples for their first mission, restricted indeed to the nation of Israel, for of course the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was sent to His own people. Yet we read in the first chapter of John’s Gospel that Jesus came unto his own people, and his own people received him not. This was all in accordance with the predictions contained in the Old Testament Prophets.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Notice that the mission and message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is extended now to the whole world, to every creature. You cannot correctly use Matthew 10:5, 6 which takes place early in Christ’s ministry to contradict, limit, or deny the final commission of Jesus Christ to His disciples to bring His Gospel to the whole world. Anyone who does that proves that they do not understand the Gospel at all. And if the Koran at Sura 43:59 teaches that the ministry of Jesus Christ was strictly and always limited to the Jewish nation, then it is obvious that on this point the Koran is mistaken, and cannot therefore be considered the word of God.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Notice that Matthew 28:19 commands the disciples of Jesus Christ to “Go…and teach all nations.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore, is not limited to the Jewish nation.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Notice the systematic progression of the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ commanded and outlined in Acts 1:8. The disciples were commanded to start from Jerusalem, progress to all Judea, to extend their ministry to Samaria, and finally to the uttermost part of the earth. The Bible record, and history itself, show that is exactly what the disciples did.

Luk 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Luk 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

Luk 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Notice that Jesus commanded that the disciples were to preach repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name AMONG ALL NATIONS, beginning in Jerusalem. Therefore, it is clear that the message of Jesus Christ was not confined to “the house of Israel,” but was intended for all nations.

Furthermore, Jesus Christ Himself extended His ministry directly and in person to the Samaritans, starting with the account about the woman at the well found in the Gospel of John, the fourth chapter.

Joh 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

Joh 4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Joh 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

I am sure you have access to the rest of the story. I will not quote it all here. But the point is, Jesus told the woman about her past marriage history, and by this display of His omniscience, the woman realized that Jesus must be a prophet. She entered into a religious discussion with Him, and told Him what she believed about the Messiah who was to come. Jesus told her plainly, I am He. The woman believed His words, and went and told the townspeople, who came out to see Him at her urging and invitation, and they, meeting Him themselves and hearing His word, also believed, and asked Jesus to tarry there with them.

Joh 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

Joh 4:40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of his own word;

Joh 4:42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Notice what those Samaritans came to believe: “[We] know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” It is clear that the Samaritans did not believe that Jesus came only for the “lost house of Israel.” Clearly, they understood that Jesus is the Saviour for the whole world.

Anyone who reads the Bible intelligently must come to the same conclusion.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions, False Religions | Tagged Answering Muslims about Jesus Christ, Answering Muslims about to whom Jesus came, Daily Bible Nugget #397 Matthew 10:5-6, Did Jesus come only for the "lost sheep of Israel"?, Proof Jesus came for the Gentiles, Proof Jesus came for the whole world, Proof Matthew 10:5-6 was a temporary command, Sura 43:59 | Leave a comment

Daily Bible Nugget #396, Hebrews 4:15

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

My Comment:

The posters on the Islam versus Christianity debate group are at it again, denying that Jesus Christ was sinless. Those, like many followers of Islam, that do not believe the truth taught in the Bible, seem very reluctant to face the evidence that proves what they believe about Jesus Christ is mistaken.

My Response:

No mere man is or was sinless, but the testimony of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, is very clear that Jesus Christ was absolutely sinless. I wish you had access to the Bible study tool I created to make it possible to find out from any verse in the Bible what the rest of the Bible has to say about its subject. That would make all these things very clear to your understanding.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Notice “Yet without sin.”

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Notice “that holy thing.” Jesus was not born with a sin nature like the rest of us. He was absolutely holy.

Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

Notice Jesus ALWAYS did what pleased the Father.

Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Joh 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

Joh 8:47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Notice Jesus challenged his very hostile audience to find some fault in him, to prove that he had committed so much as one sin. No one has ever succeeded in doing that. Even Pilate said of Jesus, “I find no fault in this man” repeatedly.

Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Notice that Satan, the prince of this world, found nothing in Jesus to which he could appeal. Jesus was altogether without fault, and without sin.

Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Notice that Jesus was declared, actually determined, to be the Son of God with power, but notice He is always associated with holiness, always apart from sin. Notice also that the absolute proof that Jesus is the Son of God is the FACT that Jesus Christ arose bodily from the dead.

1Pe 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Notice that Peter testifies that Jesus Christ was sinless.

I have shared with you only some of the statements found in the Bible that teach the careful reader that Jesus Christ was absolutely sinless, but these are enough statements in evidence to prove this is the uniform teaching of the Bible.

To dig deeper into Hebrews 4:15 carefully study the cross references for this verse which I share below:

we have. He 5:2. Ge 19:21. Ex 23:9. *Is 53:3-5. Ho 11:8. Mt 8:16, 17. 12:20. *Phil 2:7, 8. high priest. ver. He 4:14. +He 2:17. 3:1. 9:11. 10:21. *Ro 8:34. Ep 2:18. be touched. Gr. sumpatheō (S#4834g, only here and He 10:34). Ge 42:24. +*Ex 3:7. 28:29, 30. Nu 18:1. Jg 10:16. Est 4:5. Jb 2:11. 31:37. $Is 40:11, 12. $Is 42:3. *Is 53:3. Je 45:2. Mt 9:36. 14:14. 15:32. 20:34. 27:34. Mk 1:41. 4:38. 6:34. 7:34. 8:2. 10:49. Lk 7:13. Jn 5:6. +*Jn 6:37. 11:33, 35. 1 P 3:8. Re 8:3. infirmities. or, weaknesses. Gr. astheneia (S#769g, Mt 8:17). Not sufferings, but weaknesses, moral and physical, which predispose to sin and facilitate it (Vincent). He 5:2, 3. 7:28. %He 10:26. 11:34. Nu 15:22-29, %Nu 15:30, 31. Je 31:8. Ro 6:19. 8:26. in all points. or, according to all things. He 2:14, +He 2:17. Mt 21:18. 26:38. Mk 4:38. Lk 8:23. Jn 4:6. tempted. Gr. peirazō (S#3985g, He 2:18). See on He 2:17, 18. +*He 12:3. =Ge 39:9. *Is 63:9. *Mt 4:1. 26:42. Mk 1:13. +*Mk 12:15. *Lk 4:2, 13. 22:28. *Jn 4:6. *Jn 11:33, 34, 35, 53, 54. 22:28. like as. He 2:17. +*Ps 50:21. Is 53:3. Ro 8:3. we are. FS63K, +Ge 37:13. or, “but was tried according to all things, according to (our) likeness, apart from sin” (F/S 127). %Ro 7:21. yet. *He 7:26. *Is 53:9. Jn 8:46. **2 Cor 5:21. +*1 P 2:22. *1 J 3:5. without. or, apart from. Gr. chōris (S#5565g, Mt 13:34), at a space, that is, separately or apart from (Strong). He 7:26. 9:28. **Jn 14:30. *James 1:13, 14. sin. or, excepting sin, or, sin apart. Gr. hamartia (S#266g, Ro 6:1). Scripture teaches the impeccability of Christ. In answer to the question “Was Christ able not to sin, or not able to sin?” the Scripture teaches Christ was not able to sin. Since He possessed two natures (1 Th 4:16n), a human nature and a divine nature, which nature was in control? Logically, the divine nature must have been in control of the human nature. Since Jesus was both God (+*Jn 20:28, 29n) and man (Phil 2:7. 1 Tim 2:5), and it is impossible for God to sin or to be tempted with evil (Titus 1:2n. **James 1:13), Jesus could not sin, neither could he be tempted with evil, for there was nothing of our sinful nature in Him to which Satan could appeal (Jn 14:30). Though he was tempted in all points like as we, yet this temptation was never to sin. His human nature was subject to weariness and hunger, and the suffering of death, but never sin. Had Jesus been able to sin while on earth in his human nature, but merely did not, then he is still able to sin in the human nature which he still possesses (1 Tim 2:5), and the divine plan of redemption is ever in jeopardy—a doctrine incompatible with Scripture. Thus the significance of the qualifying phrase “without sin” can be understood to teach Jesus not only did not sin, was able not to sin, but, possessed of a divine nature, could not sin. He 7:26. 9:28g. =Ge 39:9. +*Lk 1:35. Jn 4:34. *Jn 8:29, *Jn 8:46. +*Jn 14:30. Ro 1:4. Titus 1:2. James 1:13. *1 P 1:19. *+1 P 2:22.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions | Tagged Daily Bible Nugget #396 Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 4:15 with more cross references, Muslim belief that Jesus sinned disproven, The Bible teaches Jesus was sinless, the sinlessness of Christ | 2 Comments

Daily Bible Nugget #395, Exodus 24:4

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Exo 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

My Comment:

Some of the Muslim posters on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” discussion thread deny that Moses wrote the books attributed to him in the Bible. As usual, like many others today, they are learning their mistaken ideas about the Bible from what I call “poisoned wells,” sources written by authors who do not believe the Bible, and do not believe in the supernatural. Note carefully the Bible claim, “Moses wrote.”

My Response:

It is very clear from the Bible itself that Moses wrote the Torah, or first five books of Moses. See Exodus 24:4. That is the uniform testimony of the rest of Scripture, as may readily be learned by studying what the rest of the Bible itself says about it by using cross references.

Since not everyone has access to a reliable source of good cross references, I will share just a few of them with you:

Exo 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Exo 34:27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

Num 33:2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

Deut 31:9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

Deut 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
Deut 31:22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

Jos 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;

Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

Notice that the Bible says Joshua wrote words in the book of the Law of God, and this surely accounts for the written record we have about the death of Moses.

2Ch 17:9 And they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the LORD with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people.

2Ch 34:14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.

What was found in the house of the Lord was undoubtedly the autograph copy of the book of the Lord written by Moses.

Literally, “a book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses;” i.e. as Dr. Kennicott understands it, “in the handwriting of Moses;” for, says he, though there are fifteen places in the Old Testament which mention “the law of Moses,” and “book of Moses,” yet this one place only mentions “the book of the law in, or by, the hand of Moses.”

Finding this copy had a profound effect in that day. It led to a genuine revival of faith in God and His word.

“These scriptures suffice to refute the assertion of some in our time that the book which Hilkiah found in the temple was of comparatively recent compilation, with the name of Moses attached to it to give it authority in the eyes of the king and his people. The assertion is as absurd as it is wicked. That which was brought to light once more was God’s own revelation to His people, against which, unhappily they so frequently transgressed. In the stirring times of Josiah, when the Spirit of God was working to give Jehovah’s poor fickle people one more opportunity, the rediscovery of the book of the law had tremendous effect upon the heart and conscience of the king; and, we may hope, upon the hearts and consciences of many of his subjects (W. W. Fereday, Josiah and Revival; p. 35).

Ezr 3:2 Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

Neh 8:1 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
Neh 8:2 And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
Neh 8:3 And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
Neh 8:4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
Neh 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
Neh 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Neh 8:7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.
Neh 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

Dan 9:11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
Dan 9:12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
Dan 9:13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

Mar 12:24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?
Mar 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
Mar 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
Mar 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.

Jesus plainly taught that those who do not know the Scriptures, including the “book of Moses,” which He cited on this occasion to refute the error of the Sadducees, are in great error–are greatly mistaken in what they believe. The same is still true today. You need to read carefully the witness of the Bible to itself, for the Bible is the Word of God, and we dare not contradict what the Bible teaches or we will be against God, and reap His full judgment against us in that case.

Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

From this answer of Abraham we learn that the Sacred Writings contain such proofs of a divine origin, that though all the dead were to rise, the proofs could not be more evident, nor the conviction greater; and that to escape eternal perdition, and obtain eternal glory, a man is to receive the testimonies of God, and to walk according to their dictates.

Joh 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Joh 5:45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.
Joh 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Joh 5:47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Please pay very close attention to what Jesus said about what Moses has written.

Jesus said that anyone who truly believes the words of Moses will believe in Jesus Christ, for Jesus said, “for he wrote of me.”

Then Jesus declared, “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”

That points very sharply to the spiritual problem anyone has who does not truly believe in Jesus Christ and all that He said.

You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe from the Bible. You must believe it all, to find the truth and to become properly related to God Himself.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Bible Historicity and Validity, Daily Bible Nuggets | Tagged Bible testimony to Mosaic authorship of the Torah, Daily Bible Nugget #395 Exodus 24:4, Exodus 24:4, Exodus 24:4 states Moses wrote, Moses wrote the books attributed to him, Proof the Bible declares Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch or Torah | 1 Comment

Daily Bible Nugget #394, Isaiah 9:6

Posted on January 24, 2016 by Jerry

The Nugget:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

My Comment:

Isaiah 9:6 is a prophecy of the Messiah. The names and titles given to the Messiah in this prophecy are most significant and worthy of careful study. Those who deny the full Deity of the Messiah, such as the Muslims and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, can be answered rather decisively by a careful study of this verse. The Jehovah’s Witnesses argue that Jesus is called “mighty God” but never “almighty God.” The Scriptures, studied carefully, declare otherwise. Muslims argue “God is All-Powerful … But Jesus Was Not.” Today I addressed this second argument in a series of five that has been presented for discussion on the “Islam and Christianity Debate Group” Facebook page. See immediately below for what I trust will be an informative Bible study on this issue.

My Response:

Responding to the second point of Farid EL Moustain‘s excellent post above which said:

2- God Is All-Powerful … But Jesus Was Not

While Jesus performed many miracles, he himself admitted that the power he had was not his own but was derived from God when he said, “Verily, verily I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do…” (John 5:19). Again he said, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which has sent me.” (John 5:30) But God is not only All-Powerful, He is also the source of all power and authority. That Jesus, of his own admission, could do nothing on his own is clear proof that Jesus is not all-powerful, and therefore that Jesus is not God.

I believe this argument is mistaken because it does not properly distinguish between the voluntary subordination of Jesus Christ to God the Father, and the essential equality of Jesus Christ to the Father. Subordination does not necessitate or imply inequality.

The Bible, and particularly the New Testament, repeatedly gives evidence that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was all-powerful. In theological terms, Jesus Christ is omnipotent.

The Messiah was predicted in the Old Testament by the titles given to Him to be All-Powerful, Almighty, or Omnipotent:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Notice at Isaiah 9:6 the title “The mighty God.”

Considering the cross references to related passages of the Old and New Testament will show more clearly what this title indicates about the Messiah:

The mighty. Is 1:24. +Is 10:21 (*S#1368h). Is 44:6, 8. 45:3, 6. +Is 49:26. 60:16. Dt 7:21. 10:17. Ne 1:5. 4:14. 9:32. Ps 45:3. 50:1. **Ps 89:19. +Ps 99:3. **Je 32:18. Zp 3:17. Mt 11:21. Lk 9:43. **Ep 1:21, 22. +**Re 1:8n. Re 7:10, 12.

God. Heb. El, +Ex 15:2. Is 10:21. 12:2. 40:10. *Is 45:24, 25. *Ps 45:3, 6. *Ps 50:1. **Je 23:5, 6. Ezk 34:24. Zc 13:7. Ml 3:1. *Mt 1:23. *Lk 1:47, 76. **Jn 1:1, 2. +*Jn 8:24, 58. +**Jn 20:28. **Ac 20:28. Ro 1:20. **Ro 9:5. Phil 2:6. Col 2:9. *1 Tim 6:14-16. **Titus 2:13. He 1:2, 3, +**He 1:8. *1 J 5:20.

I will provide here the text of the most clear of these references. For the title “mighty”:

Psalm 89:18-19. Psa 89:18 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

Psa 89:19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

Jeremiah 32:18. Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,

Ephesians 1:20-22. Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Revelation 1:8. Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8 contains an allusion or quotation from Amos 4:13 from the Greek Septuagint which is the version of the Old Testament frequently quoted from when the New Testament cites the Old Testament.

The English translation of the Septuagint text of Amos 4:12-13 which I have at hand reads:

“Therefore thus will I do to thee, O Israel: nay because I will do thus to thee, prepare to call on thy God, O Israel.

“For, behold, I am he that strengthens the thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims to men his Christ, forming the morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earth, The Lord God Almighty is his name.”

Notice, therefore, that this Old Testament prophecy in Amos 4:13 states that “The Lord God Almighty” is the name of the Messiah, who is called Christ.

It is also interesting to note that a careful study of the LXX (Septuagint) usage and renderings show that “Almighty God” and “Lord of Hosts” were by them considered equivalent.

Posted in Apologetics Issues--Other Faiths, Daily Bible Nuggets, Doctrinal Discussions | Tagged Amos 4:13 explains Revelation 1:8, Daily Bible Nugget #394 Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 9:6 calls Messiah the "mighty God", Isaiah 9:6 with fuller cross references, The Omnipotence of Christ proven from Scripture, Titles of Messiah in prophecy ascribe to Him omnipotence | Leave a comment

Real Bible Study

Daily Bible Nugget #403, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Daily Bible Nugget #401, 2 Corinthians 13:14

Daily Bible Nugget #400, Matthew 5:20

Daily Bible Nugget #399, Psalm 119:89

Daily Bible Nugget #398, 1 Corinthians 2:13

Daily Bible Nugget #397, Matthew 10:5-6

Daily Bible Nugget #396, Hebrews 4:15

Daily Bible Nugget #395, Exodus 24:4

Daily Bible Nugget #394, Isaiah 9:6

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