Old Testament Insight into Fellowship

Old Testament Insight into Fellowship

The word “fellowship” is not something you will quickly find in the Old Testament.  The following is likely the verse you will find:

Psalm 94:20-23 – “… Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?”

The thought presented in the verse is an interrogative statement.  It is asking a rhetorical question to make the point that God cannot fellowship sin. When leaders use their power to sin, God will not be in association with those individuals.  The same is true of all men.  God will not recognize someone as His own if they engage in sin.  To underline this point consider:

Isaiah 59:1-2Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

When sin is present there is a separation that exists between the one carrying sin and God.  “Separation” and “Fellowship” stand at opposite ends of understanding.  They are akin to unity and disunity.  When individuals or groups are in fellowship with each other they have a common sharing.  They stand together not apart.

When you are in fellowship you have a common sharing.

When you are in fellowship you have a common sharing.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Everything was good, because it was in harmony with the Word of God.  However, when the day arrived in which man disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, sin entered the world.  The fellowship of God and man separated.  Of course, long before the formation of the heavens and the earth, God had a plan of unity through the blood of His Son.  This is widely believed to be shadowed in the wording of Genesis 3:15 and it becomes clearer as the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament are laid down.  This article will now examine a few Old Testament examples  to better demonstrate how God views fellowship.  Remember, the writings of the Bible prior to the covenant in Christ were recorded so that we might learn from them (Romans 15:4).

Genesis 6 records a timeframe in man’s history in which nearly everyone had turned their back on God.  Yet, there was one man, a preacher of righteousness, who did not.  Noah was that man.  He walked with God (Genesis 6:9).  If God viewed the worldly walk of man the same as a righteous walk, then there would have not been a flood.  However, God saw the wickedness and suffered grief over creating them (Genesis 6:7).  This was not what He wished for man.  He wanted them to choose to be something better.  Noah had chosen better.  So God instructed Noah to build an ark.  There was not one instruction which Noah did not obey.  When all of mankind were drowning in the waters brought on by their own sinfulness, the love of God kept Noah alive.  God does not fellowship sin.

In Exodus 32, Moses has received the Ten Commandments from God.  He is coming down the mountain and he sees that Israel has set itself up a Golden Calf as a god. They are worshipping it and committing other immoral acts.  God would have destroyed these sinful people.  Yet, Moses’ words caused God to spare them.  Still, Moses called out “Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me.” (26) He was calling for a separation between those who would walk in sin and those who would serve God.  Moses then commanded those men with him to go and slay those in sin.  Some 3,000 were slain before that punishment ceased.  Moses then went to God seeking the forgiveness of the people.  God said, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.” (33) God does not fellowship sin.

In Leviticus 20:24-26, Moses is providing instruction to the people of Israel for when the take the Land of Canaan.  In Genesis 15 God told Abram that the iniquity of the Amorites (people of Canaan) was not yet full.  By the time Israel came to the land, God was ready for the people of Canaan to be destroyed.  Their cup of sins was full to the brim.  God does not fellowship sin.  God had separated the people of Israel from those of the World.  God’s desire was that the people be Holy, Pure, and devoted to Him.  God even provides an example for them in a type.  They were to be aware of the difference between clean and unclean animals and avoid the unclean.  Clean and unclean, holy and profane, pure and worldly cannot unite.

Ezra 6 records the decree to allow Israel to leave captivity in Babylon and return to build the House of God.  They speedily work and build the temple “according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” (14)  They put in order the service of God for the temple and the priests offered sacrifice for the sins of the nation.  They did so according to the Law of Moses.  “…all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat and kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy.” (21-22) Notice the people sought after God by separating themselves from those of the world.  They understood what fellowship means.  The people of God cannot embrace sinfulness.  God does not fellowship sin.

Ezra 9:1-2 records the same timeframe as Ezra 6.  The people thought they had separated themselves from the heathen.  However, it becomes apparent that was not the case in full.  The people still had marriages from the people of the land.  This was against the command of God.  Ezra upon hearing this tore his robe and other God fearing men trembled over this sin.  Ezra prayed to God for forgiveness of the people for this sin.  Then in Ezra 11 the transgression was made known to the people of Israel and they separated from their wives – even the wives with whom they had children. Why?  God does not fellowship sin.  God had commanded them and they feared disobeying Him.  They had just spent 70 years in captivity for sin.  Nehemiah 9 and 10 cover this same time frame and the repentance of Israel over their sinfulness.

So that the impression that God only cared about Israel is not given, consider the books of Jonah and Nahum for a moment.  Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh.   There he was to tell the people to repent of their sinfulness.  Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire and the people were not the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  They were not Israel.  Yet, as with the Amorites before Israel came to the promised land, God did not want Nineveh to live in sin.  How many other prophets did God send to sinful nations?  We have no record.  God does not want man to perish (2 Pet 3:9)!  We do know that Israel was to be an example unto the nations.  We also know that Nineveh would be an example.  As Jonah called for the wicked nation to repent, the preaching and sign of his resurrection from the deep convicted them.  They repented, from the king downward, crying unto God and changing their lives.  God does not fellowship sin.  Sadly, a century later, sin would again reign in Nineveh.  God had given that people a chance.  They did not heed the warnings of the generations before them.  The book of Nahum speaks of the might of God – His power, justice, patience, and love.  Yet, it also speaks of the coming judgment of God and the fact Nineveh would be an example of how God feels about sin.

In the New Testament (Acts 18) the man Apollos was able to teach Jesus using only scriptures we know as the Old Testament.  He looked at the things written beforehand to convict men.  Certainly, we can look to the Old Testament examples to teach about fellowship.  Does God want us to yoke ourselves together with the world?  No he does not.

Deuteronomy 5:29 – O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

Our God in his infinite wisdom and infinite love wants us to keep ourselves pure and holy.  He wants us to learn the examples of Adam and Eve, Israel, and Nineveh.  He desires that we trust in Him and acknowledge His wisdom not our own.  In doing so and allowing Him to direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6), we will be in fellowship with him and one another.

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Thou Shalt Have No Other gods Before Me

“Thou Shalt Have No Other gods Before Me”

God must come first in one’s heart and life. Jesus said that this has the highest priority: the first and greatest commandment: “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38). God knows that by putting Him first and being dedicated to Him only that nothing else competes. This enables the seeker to truly appreciate God in his/her life. Jesus taught that nothing else should be in competition with God (and certainly not be held equal to God). He said in Matthew 6:24: “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” God does not compete with other masters; one will ultimately give way to one or the other.

There is only one God.

There is only one God.

Jesus exemplifies this attitude. In Matthew 4, Satan sought to tempt Jesus: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’” Jesus responded, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:7-10). There was no competition. God’s place demands priority even over so-called necessities: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Nothing is to be considered in competition with God. No thing should be regarded as having any place next to God—God is supreme; He is the greatest!  God bless you, and I love you.

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Redeeming the Time?

What Time Is It?

Imagine a situation where you were annually given half a million dollars. You were told to invest it wisely, and the profit from how you invested it each year would all be yours. How much time would you devote, knowing that in the next decade you would be investing over $52,000,000?

Are you using your time well?

Are you using your time well?

This would never happen—right? Well, there is a parallel that happens every year. We know there are twenty-four hours in a day (with each of them having sixty minutes in it) and 365 days in a year. Every year we make a conscious decision about how we will invest the 525,600 minutes given to us. How are you using these precious minutes? What investment are you making?

Should there be any surprise that God speaks about using our time wisely? Perhaps the clearest statement of this truth is found twice in the Bible. Paul specifically told two churches, “Redeeming the time” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5).  As we think about how this applies to our lives, we should soberly look at the minutes/hours we give to God.

Think about how little time we spend in worship and adoration of God. If the only time we do this is that hour between 10:00 a.m. and 11:19 a.m. each Sunday morning, add it all together and the total time invested in praising God each year would be 4,108 minutes. Each of us has been give 525,600 minutes each week, but we foolishly invest about 4,000 of them in His presence and devote over 520,000 on ourselves. If you change these numbers to dollars instead of minutes, you would readily see that you are not making wise investments. He said, “Redeem the time.”

Now I recognize that many of those other minutes are committed to work, rest and nutrition, but still the numbers are staggering. I also know that you could add to the smaller number those minutes spent in private devotions, reading and meditating on His word, but for far too many Christians, this never happens. Remember that God told us, “Redeeming the time.”

How do we do this more effectively? First, recognize that we have wasted hundreds of thousands of minutes in the past. Those minutes are history. We are writing the future as we think about how wisely we use the fifty million minutes we can receive the next decade. I know we are far too busy. However, we might consider that when we say, “I did not have the time to do this,” we are giving an excuse and not a reason.

Having recognized our misuse of time, we then must make specific changes in our lifestyles. It may be we are overlooking opportunities around us to use our time more wisely. Let’s think about this together in next week’s bulletin.

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Spiritual Junk Food

Don’t Fill Your Life with Spiritual Junk Food

Satan is real, and he knows how to keep humans preoccupied with things that ultimately don’t matter much. Humans spend countless hours enjoying things like sports, crafts, and various hobbies. While these things are not wrong in-and-of themselves, they can often take our focus away from things of eternal importance. Sadly, in our culture these activities are so popular that most Christians never question them or consider how much time they devote to such activities. As a result, many Christians are physically fit and talented at their hobbies, but they are starving spiritually.

What is it that truly satisfies you?

What is it that truly satisfies you?

Sadly, many congregations feed this problem. Rather than digging deeper into the word congregations will plan fluffy and fun activities that entertain. Rather than feeding the flock, many elderships have become masters at entertaining the flock and keeping them busy.

All the while our congregations get spiritually weaker as souls starve for the Word.

Here’s what I intend to teach my children regarding feeding their souls.

One of the toughest things I can teach you is how to “stand.” In discussing putting on the whole armor of God, Paul wrote, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…” (Ephesians 6:13-14). Paul stressed the importance of being able to stand. My job is to teach you how to stand, even when culture is trying to push you in a different direction.

There will be many times in your life that you feel like a salmon swimming upstream going against current, while all the other fish are swimming downstream. Your friends may fill their lives up with sports activities or become obsessed with hobbies. Stand—and feed your soul.

God did not create you to simply be on this planet and have fun.

Many people try to fill the void in their life with hobbies and entertainment. But the only thing that can truly fill you is when you feed your soul.

If you find your life too busy please get into His Word and grow. I hear many sermons and many people talking about getting into God’s Word—but few actually take the time to dig deeply. Spend time observing God’s creation and praising Him. Spend time reflecting on how small you are in the grand scheme of things and give God thanks. Spend time evaluating your life, areas you fall short, and confess these weaknesses to Him. Spend time meditating on heaven and spending eternity with Him. Spend more time in prayer, allowing Jesus to intercede on your behalf. Spend time lamenting on those who are sick or suffering and look for ways to help them. In other words, feed your soul!

Let me encourage you, set aside the media that is trying to invade your lives and fellowship with others. Sit around a table with some friends and enjoy fellowshipping with them. Take meals to those who are shut-in or sick. Spend time sitting with them or listening to them talk about “the good old days.” Turn off the television and open your home up for Bible studies. In other words, feed your soul.

Look for ways to do good to others. Reach out to those who may be hurting financially. Join hands with those who are building homes for the less fortunate. Take time to do mission work. Get out and knock-doors or teach at a VBS. Feed your soul.

I should caution you that if you heed my advice you will find hobbies and sports do not fulfill you the way they used to—your heart will long for something more. You will crave real connections and activities that have a deeper purpose. You will begin to look at things differently. You will be actively living the life Christ intended you to live!

So, look for ways to feed your soul!

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Unconditional Election

Unconditional Election

If one holds to the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity and thereby believes that all of mankind is so utterly depraved that they cannot respond to the grace of God, one has to believe in the Calvinistic doctrine of Unconditional Election in order to have any sort of hope for salvation. John Calvin knew this. He said, “Predestination we call the eternal decree of God, by which he has determined in himself what he would have to become of every individual of mankind. For they are not all created with a similar destiny; but eternal life is fore-ordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, he is predestined either to life or to death.”

Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows...

Round and round she goes, where she stops nobody knows…

In other words, we cannot respond to the grace of God due to being totally depraved and lost in sin. Therefore, the only way any of us have any hope of salvation is for God to have already made up his mind to step in and choose to disregard the sin of some of us and give them salvation anyway. This doctrine, sometimes called the doctrine of predestination, is the basis of the Calvinistic tenet of Unconditional Election: the idea that God chooses some of mankind before they are born to be saved unconditionally.

However, the Scriptures teach that God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34-35; Rom. 2:11; 10:12; Eph. 6:9). He shows no favoritism of any kind. This goes against Calvinism’s teaching that God has chosen only some of us for unconditional salvation rather than all of us. If both Calvinism and the Word of God are true, why would God have chosen only some of us for unconditional salvation instead of everyone? Isn’t that showing partiality?

The Scriptures also teach that God wants everyone to be saved (John 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:4; Tit. 2:11; 2 Pet. 3:9). If John Calvin’s doctrine of Unconditional Election is true, God has chosen only some of mankind for unconditional salvation, not all. Logic dictates that if God has determined some of us to be predestined for salvation, he has also predetermined that the rest of us are destined for an eternity in hell. If both Calvinism and God’s Word are true, why wouldn’t God choose to save all of mankind unconditionally if he wants us all to be saved? Why would he have already decided that some of us will spend eternity in hell if he doesn’t want anyone to go to hell?

Any serious student of the Bible is familiar with the numerous warnings found within its pages. We are warned about Satan and his deceptions (1 Pet. 5:8; Eph. 4:27; 6:11; James 4:7). We are warned to avoid sin in order to avoid eternal punishment in hell (Matt. 5:22, 29-30). Christians are warned about the possibility of losing their salvation through unrepentant sin (Heb. 10:26-31). However, if Calvin is correct and God unconditionally elects some of mankind to be saved, then why would any of these warnings be in the Bible? Why would God tell those whom he has already chosen to be unconditionally saved to be on the alert for Satan? After all, if he has already decided that I’m going to be saved unconditionally, what can Satan do about it? Why would God warn those whom he has already decided are going to spend eternity in hell that they better not sin or else hell will be the result? Why the warnings about falling away from one’s salvation? If he’s already decided that hell is going to be where I end up, then it doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do. In fact, if God has already decided that I’m going to be saved no matter what, then why in the world would I even need to bother to go to church, read my Bible, obey the gospel, or uphold any sort of morality?

This reveals one of the major flaws in the doctrine of Unconditional Election. Under Calvinistic predestination, it would be possible for salvation to be given to a sinner who has never read the Bible or been part of the church. It would be equally possible for eternal condemnation to be given to a Christian who has read the Bible repeatedly and done his or her absolute best to faithfully live by all of its tenets and principles. In this way Calvinism really tries to make Christianity like Islam. Nonetheless, the Bible doesn’t teach what Unconditional Election proposes. One cannot hold to Calvinism and the Word of God without contradicting one or the other. Since God’s Word is truth (John 17:17), Unconditional Election is false.

However, Calvinists try to hold to both anyway. They cite Romans 8:28-30 as support for their doctrine of predestination: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (ESV). Calvinists cite the mention of predestination in this passage as proof that God unconditionally predestines some of salvation. However, such notions are proven erroneous when this passage is considered alongside the entirety of Scripture (Ps. 119:160).

Paul is telling us that God causes all things to “work together for good” (which would include obtaining eternal life in heaven) for two specific groups of people: “those who love God” and “those who are called according to his purpose.” One cannot love God without choosing to obey his commands (John 14:15; Josh. 24:15); our works of obedience, along with faith and God’s grace, justify us (James 2:24; Tit. 3:7). Likewise, the purpose for which God called those for whom he will cause all things together for good is to follow Christ’s example of doing good and enduring suffering as a result (1 Pet. 2:20-21). God calls us through the gospel (2 Thess. 2:14), which calls us to obey Christ (Matt. 28:19-20). Therefore, Paul in Romans 8:28-30 is referring to those who love God by their obedience, those who faithfully and obediently respond to the gospel call.

God did not randomly predetermine some of us for unconditional salvation and others for unconditional condemnation. He HAS predetermined that those who obey his gospel and obey his Son will be saved (Heb. 5:9), not the lucky few randomly selected for unconditional salvation. This is why we are to proclaim his gospel to all (Mark 16:15).

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