Inspiration of Little Words

The Importance of Little Words

There are no words in the Bible that are there by accident. When the Bible speaks of inspiration, it is not in vague terms as though God gave His thoughts to His prophets and they did their best to put heavenly thoughts into human words.

Every word of scripture, big and little, is by inspiration of God.

Every word of scripture, big and little, is by inspiration of God.

Think of how “inspired” the words were on the tablets of stone Moses received from God. Every word was specifically given by God. Paul shows the same is true of the New Testament. The American Standard expresses it best. After affirming that it had not entered the heart of any man as to what God’s  plan was for the redemption of man, Paul said, “But unto us God revealed them…which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teacheth…combining spiritual things with spiritual words” (1 Cor. 2:10-13). God gave the truth by giving those truths in the very words selected by the Holy Spirit.

The importance of the word “to.” There are those who believe that when Jesus returns from heaven in the clouds he will at that moment establish the kingdom for the next thousand years. They think this is what Daniel said in Daniel chapter seven. “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom.” At first glance it might seem as though when Daniel saw Jesus coming in the clouds at the end of time, that God would then establish the kingdom. However, read it again carefully. This is not a picture of Jesus coming from heaven. Look at one word in the text. He was not descending from heaven, but He was ascending into heaven! He came not from God but Daniel saw a vision of Jesus ascending to God. One small word chosen by God! Daniel’s vision was of Jesus’ ascension and the establishment of that kingdom on Pentecost. One word makes the difference.

The importance of the word “and.” Here is a three letter word chosen by God which so powerfully expresses eternal truth. It is a coordinating conjunction. By definition, “coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal.” Both parts are equal in importance. Look at two passages. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). In reference to salvation, by definition, baptism is equal in importance to faith. Look also at Acts 2:38. “Repent and be baptized every one of you…for the remission of sins.” In reference to the remission of sins, baptism is equal in importance to repentance.

There’s more that we will say about this next week. Just remember to look at every word when you study!

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Death

Death

At the end of our lives, our spirit shall return unto God and our bodies shall
return to the earth (Ecclesiastes 12:7). All men are susceptible to death (Hebrews
9:27). Death is the penalty of sin (Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12). Death, however,
is not the end of the existence of man: the soul of man shall live on (Luke 20:36;
Luke 23:43). Death is only to be feared if one is unprepared. (See 2 Corinthians
5:8 and Philippians 1:23).

The death of the physical Body is not what should be feared.

The death of the physical Body is not what should be feared.

  • Ecclesiastes 12:7: “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and
    the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
  • Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this
    the judgment.”
  • Genesis 2:17: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
    not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
  • Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
    by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
  • Luke 20:36: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels;
    and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”
  • Luke 23:43: “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt
    thou be with me in paradise.”
  • 2 Corinthians 5:8: “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
    from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”
  • Philippians 1:23: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart,
    and to be with Christ; which is far better.”
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The Instruction of the Scriptures

Romans 15:4

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

A lot of us misunderstand the Old Testament.

The entirety of scripture provides guidance for our lives.

The entirety of scripture provides guidance for our lives.

Some of us think it records the story of a vengeful, unmerciful, wrathful God, whereas the New Testament talks about a God of love and grace…even though the Psalms sing repeatedly of God’s everlasting love and mercy and Acts 5 informs us of him killing a husband and wife on what we would perceive to be a minor offense.

Some of us think that some of the Old Testament commandments and practices are still binding today…some of them, but not all of them, in spite of what the apostle said (Gal. 5:3).

Some of us recognize the truth that the Old Testament foretold of its replacement with a New Testament (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:7-13) which took place at the cross (Eph. 2:14-15; Col. 2:13-17)…but as a result hardly study the Old Testament and resent it when sermons are preached from it, thinking a study of Genesis through Malachi to be irrelevant.

Yet, even though the Old Law was taken out of the way at the cross, the Holy Spirit still inspired Paul both in today’s scripture passage and also in 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 to declare to Christians that they need to study it.  The Old Testament (“whatever was written in former days”) was written “for OUR instruction.”  Ours.  Christians.  The Old Testament instructs us.  To see how, read the book of Proverbs alone.  In addition, take note of how God reacted when men disobeyed the laws he had for them in that covenant (e.g., Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah, Adam and Eve, Saul, Moses, David).  See how patient he was with them while they sinned and how quick he was to forgive them when they repented (David comes to mind when he repented of the sin with Bathsheba.)  See these great men and women of faith shine as examples of faithful obedience (Noah building the ark, Eli’s charitable taking in of Samuel)…and yet still sin in terrible ways at times (Noah getting drunk, Eli being a terrible parent).  The Psalms teach us not only about God’s mercy and blessings, but also how to praise him and pray to him in good times and bad.  Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, has 176 verses, all of which extol the virtues and blessings that surround studying and obeying the Word of God.

All of these examples and more are found in the Old Testament, and when we read them and commit them to our hearts and minds…what happens?  We learn more about God and his will for us.  We learn how to endure through difficult times, and we are encouraged to keep on keeping on.  In short, we get hope.

 

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Church of Christ Beliefs

Church of Christ Beliefs

At the memorial service for a recently-deceased saint, a denominational preacher who had known well, had numerous religious discussions with, and occasionally worked alongside the deceased in a secular capacity over the years in their small community, was overheard to say something along the lines of: “Well, we had a lot of religious discussions over the years – and he sure hung onto his church of Christ beliefs! But he was never able to convert me.”

He was never able to convert me!

He was never able to convert me!

That final statement has haunted me at times ever since I heard it… just as it may well haunt him on into and for all eternity if he doesn’t get into the word of God, study, repent, and get converted. To me, it was a sort of masochistic modern-day equivalent of what the misled religious people and leadership of Jesus’ day said of Him before Pilate in Matthew 27:25 and John 19:15: “His blood be on us and on our children,” “We have no king but Caesar!”

The entire misunderstanding – and the resulting, satanically-engineered reasoning and statement that accompanies it – can be seen inherent in the phrase, “church of Christ beliefs.” What exactly are, “church of Christ beliefs” anyway? And why is such phraseology seemingly so widespread in today’s contemporary religious climate? It’s like when we seek to simply quote, read, and/or present God’s black and white, “book, chapter, and verse,” soul-saving gospel truth to those around us who are lost in sin according to God, and all we get in return is, “You have your beliefs, and I have mine” – like all belief systems are on the same level or something!?! And what I always want to respond with at that point is, “Yes; you’re absolutely right! I believe entirely and exactly every word of what God says in Scripture (Matt. 4:4). So…what is it again that you believe, instead of God’s eternal word and divine promises?”

You see, notwithstanding a few of the liberal, bible-denying and perverting colleges and publications “associated with churches of Christ,” and the few larger congregations of the Lord’s church which have promulgated and/or decided to join them in their culturally and pride-driven trip down the wide path towards eternal destruction by seeking to please people instead of pleasing God (Gal. 1:6-10), by and large the vast majority of “churches of Christ” (Ro. 16:16) still cling to and insist on faithfully following the “old paths” (See Jeremiah, chapters 5 + 6) of Spirit-driven and dictated, divinely-inspired and God-breathed Scripture (2 Ptr. 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).

And the recently-departed saint mentioned at the beginning of this article was apparently no exception. He had, from everything I have ever heard about him, for decades believed exactly what God said – nothing more and nothing less than God’s “book, chapter, and verse” truth – regarding things such as the one church (or body) of Christ; the one faith, one baptism, one way of salvation, and Spirit and truth worship commanded by, and instructed in, God’s holy  word (Eph. 1:22-23, 4:4-6; Ro. 16:16-17; Acts 2:37-41, 22:16; Rom. 6:1-23; Gal. 3:26-27; 1 Ptr. 3:21; Jn. 14:6, 4:23-24; Matt. 15:1-14; Mk. 7:1-13; and etc).

So what the denominational preacher’s statement actually meant, and how his actual statement should therefore have been literally worded and expanded to explain, was in the one way, arena, and wording which he could never, in his currently biblically-ignorant and blinded mindset, ever bring himself to admit:

“Well, we had a lot of religious discussions over the years – and he sure hung onto every word of what God actually said in Scripture, in all of its black and white, “book, chapter, and verse” glory and clarity! But he was never able to convince and convert me into doing things God’s way! I stubbornly opposed and rejected everything he showed me God actually said on several essential life and death doctrines! Instead, I staunchly and strongly defended such things as a man-made and devised church never found, seen, or ever mentioned in God’s word; a man-made and devised way of salvation never found, seen, or ever instructed in God’s word; and even argued in defense of several humanly-desired but biblically-unauthorized additions, deletions, and changes to corporate worship!

Tragically, it strikes me as extremely obvious that this poor man had absolutely no idea of the horrifying implications of his original, public statement! You see, unlike all the denominations around us, the churches of Christ never had to come up with their own belief system – they simply take and trust God, totally at His word! Jesus said that if we love Him, we’ll obey His commandments (Jn. 14:15); that it is His words which are spirit and life (Jn. 6:63); and that it is those words which will judge us all in the last day (Jn. 12:48-50). Therefore, we in Christ’s church also do not seek to ‘judge’ (pass final or eternal sentence or judgment on) anyone – nor do I this man. We don’t have to. This, because God has also made it clear in His word, that to continue to reject and not be converted by what He said in His word, is to judge one’s self unworthy of eternal life (Acts 13:44-49). May God help all who truly want to go to heaven, to accept and obey only His word… for there is simply, no other way there!

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El Arrepentimiento de Dios en la Biblia

El Arrepentimiento de Dios en la Biblia

La primera frase que viene a la mente es “Dios no es hijo de hombre para que se arrepienta”. Es muy probable que esta frase haya sido recitada un sin numero de ocaciones por diversas personas, sin embargo la Biblia menciona tal frase específicamente en Números 23:19 y algo similar vuelve a repetirse en 1Samuel 15:29, Dios no se arrepiente. Partiendo de estos dos versículos los críticos de la Biblia han hecho “fiesta” al argumentar una contradicción en la inspiración divina. Hay muchos hermanos en la fe que han tambaleado al encontrase con estas trabas y no poder explicar correctamente. Los críticos y la filosofía siempre desacreditarán la Biblia pero los cristianos fieles responderán correctamente cada una de las objeciones que el diablo invente disfrazado de lógica. Hay varias cosas a notar, sin embargo en esta ocasión consideremos algunas de ellas sobre el arrepentimiento de Dios en la Biblia. 

Arrepentimiento de Dios en la Biblia?

Arrepentimiento de Dios en la Biblia?

  1. DIOS NO SE ARREPIENTE: La naturaleza misma de Dios imposibilita que esto suceda. Ambos versículos tienen algo en común y es el hecho que menciona a Dios no como hijo de hombre. Es decir el hombre como tal experimenta este sentimiento de arrepentimiento por algo malo que ha cometido que no debió de haberlo hecho. La implicación en cuanto a Dios es que el comete errores. Amigos Dios Jamás ha cometido errores ¡nunca!. Para Dios cometer un error, entonces El mismo tendría que suplicar el perdón y la misericordia de alguien superior a El mismo. Moises bajo inspiración divina escribe en Deuteronomio 10:17 “ Porque YHVH vuestro Dios es Dios de dioses y Señor de señores, Dios grande, poderoso y terrible, que no hace favoritismo ni admite soborno.” (BT). Muchas personas pasarán ligeramente por alto lo que este versículo está en realidad  diciendo en cuanto a la naturaleza de Dios. Será muy difícil conocer todo lo relacionado a la persona de Dios pero, El ha hecho lo posible para que podamos comprender algo de quién en realidad es El. En Hechos 17 en una de las más grandes disertaciones de Pablo él menciona que Dios no habita en templos hechos por manos de hombres, contrario a las deidades de los griegos, ni tampoco es horado como si necesitase de algo, una vez más contrario a los sacrificios que los falsos dioses de los griegos pedían a ellos. Pablo en este capítulo está presentando al Dios que está por encima de nosotros por cima de cualquier filosofo y por en cima de cualquier dios griego, El único que da vida a todos. Por lo tanto es imposible que este ser supremo comparta de la naturaleza humana al arrepentirse. Es realmente triste que hayan personas y aún hermanos que atribuyan a Dios un arrepentimiento como el nuestro.
  2. DIOS SE ARREPIENTE: ¿Acaso no es esto una contradicción rotunda al punto anterior? En Génesis 6:6 Dios, dice la Biblia: “se arrepintió de haber hecho al hombre”. También en Jeremías 18:8 el versículo vuelve a mencionar la palabra arrepentimiento que proviene de Dios, y que decir de el arrepentimiento de Dios sobre Nínive que causó tanta ira en el profeta Jonás (Jonás 3:10). Hay varias  maneras diferente de responder a estos cuestionamientos de Dios 1). La ley de la no-contradicción. Anteriormente observamos brevemente la naturaleza superior de Dios. Por lo tanto la ley de la no-contradicción nos dicta que algo no puede estar o no pude ser dos cosas al mismo tiempo. Si Dios no es humano entonces el arrepentimiento que tiene tampoco es humano, así de simple. Es nuestro trabajo indagar cual es ese tipo de arrepentimiento descartando por completo el que Dios cometa faltas. 2) Los contextos. Es fácil entender por los contextos, de que tipo de arrepentimiento el escritor está tratando de comunicar a su audiencia que Dios había sentido. Tanto en Jeremías como en Jonás las escrituras dan la idea de Dios sintió dolor en su corazón y no hizo el mal que estaba planeando hacer a ellos, se detuvo de hacerlo. El arrepentimiento humano se da después de haber hecho el mal, ¿si ve usted la diferencia?. En el caso de Génesis 6 no es la excepción, el v5 menciona que los pensamientos del hombre eran continuamente en el mal, la maldad hiere a Dios porque su naturaleza es pura, también el versículo 6 menciona que le dolió. Si hubiese sido el caso de que Dios se hubiera arrepentido en el sentido de haber cometido un error al crearlo, ¿porque entonces 1Pedro 1:19-20 menciona que Cristo estaba ya destinado para ser sacrificado como un cordero por expiación del pecado desde antes de la fundación del mundo?… ¡Oh no amigo mío! Ya Dios sabía que el hombre iba a pecar y sabía bien cual era la solución para ese problema del pecado, sin embargo cuando la maldad comenzó a proliferar esto no dejó de tocar el corazón (metafóricamente hablando) de Dios. 3) Expresión original. La explicación numero 3 tiene que ver con la expresión original, después de todo la Biblia no fue escrita en español y lo que tenemos son traducciones por lo tanto lo seguro será siempre regresar al original y observar en primera fila, claro que esto requiere estudio y el estudio tiempo, todos nosotros estamos en la capacidad de poder investigar en el original. La palabra Naw-kahm’ (Naham)para arrepentimiento en Hebreo aparece unas 108 ocaciones. Su raíz primaria tiene que ver con sentirse desconsolado, sentir pena por algo con tal fuerza que conduzca a un cambio de actitud frente al objeto por el cual se siente la pena. En este sentido Dios se arrepintió. En muchas ocaciones “Naham” es usado para dar a entender la idea de que Dios desistió el ejecutar algún juicio, pero también el Señor advierte de que puede llegar el día que diga: “Estoy cansado de arrepentirme”( Je.15:6).  También el termino es aplicado al ser humano. En una ocasión cuando hubo una guerra civil entre el pueblo de Israel  y murieron muchos de la tribu de Benjamín “Los hijos de Israel se arrepintieron a causa de ello”, pues vieron que esta tribu iba a desaparecer. Decidieron por tanto buscar una solución para que esto no aconteciera (Jueces 21:6-7). La consecuencia aún no había acontecido (que desapareciera la tribu) pero ellos tuvieron arrepentimiento. En el N.T el arrepentimiento es un tanto diferente evocado a un cambio de mente.  Dios se arrepiente sí, pero también Dios no se arrepiente. 
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