The Dogs

The Dogs

I share my home with my darling wife, two dogs, and two stupid cats.  The cats and the wife have days where they really don’t like me much.  However, the dogs just love me.  Every morning, I open my eyes and as I peer to my side of the bed, there my dogs are.  They are happily resting and waiting for our routine to start.  I get out of bed, stumble around the bathroom, get dressed, and then leave the bedroom.  At this point my English Shepherd pops up to follow me.  We go to the kitchen, take morning pills, then pour a cup of coffee.  Often, I will plop down on the couch for a bit and wake up.  The shepherd lays down on my feet happy to be there.  At some point, I head upstairs to start my studies.  This is when the Bluetick Hound comes and joins us.  The hound comes and gets a pat on the head, greets the shepherd, then they lie down as I try to work my brain.The Dogs

While I regularly work on articles, lessons, or word studies, my most frequent activity in the morning is listening to lessons online.  I imagine my dogs have listened to more lessons than many people.  They have heard lessons on baptism, premillennialism, marriage, and many books of the Bible. The list would be quite extensive if I wrote it all down.  I know I have a drawer with piles of lesson notes that the dogs have been present to hear.

Typically, around 9 am, the hound lets me know it is time for her to go outside and bark at the brush for 15-20 minutes.  The shepherd joins her and then they beg to come back in to eat some breakfast and be in my presence as I finish up my morning studies.  Next on our agenda is a few hours of outside work, some lunch, and then some late afternoon study.  Finally, at the end of the day, the bluetick heads to bed while the shepherd typically gets in one more lesson with me and my darling wife.

Did you know the words dog and dogs appear a combined 65 times in the King James Bible?  (Cat does not appear once.)  There really aren’t many kind comments you are going to find about dogs in the Bible, but there are some.  The Bible makes it clear comparing someone to a dog typically isn’t a compliment.  It is pointed out that dogs enjoy vomit.  They can be noisy.  They will howl.  They sleep a lot.  Unfortunately, the term is lumped into this verse from Revelation 22:15 – “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”  However, it is mentioned they can work with a flock (my shepherd would like that).  They will clean up the crumbs from your table (my hound would like that).  They will lick your sores if you have them.  And last but not least, a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Regarding my two pups again, the question might be asked, “With all the exposure to Biblical investigation and analysis, how much has it helped them?”  The truth is, when you get right down to it, and you consider the serious nature of scripture, all the exposure to the spoken words of the Bible has not done them a bit of good.  They are dogs.  A human can understand, will benefit from, and needs the Word of God in their life.  A dog? No.  My dogs certainly do recognize a number of words I use such as: sit, stay, get back, outside, lay down, go get it, are you ready, and treat.  However, when it comes to spiritual matters, dogs do not understand.  God put them here as beasts upon the earth for man.  He gave man authority over them.  Dogs are good companions, but they aren’t human.  They aren’t made in the image of God.  They are not eternal.  According to Ecclesiastes 3:21 and 12:7 a dog’s spirit goes to the ground while the spirit of a man returns to God.  God values man above all his creation.  A dog’s life is not comparable to the value of a human.

I am thankful to God for dogs.  My two bring me a lot of joy.  Studying about the occurrence of their mentions in the Bible has been interesting, but it only benefits me, and you if you take a look too.  It is amusing to see the dogs stare at the computer or television screen as if they knew what was going on.  Yet, they don’t.  Therefore, I just love them and enjoy them which is what God intended.

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Never Give Up

Never Give Up

Dating all the way back to elementary school, I have loved sports and competition.  The mind set has always been “We can win this!”, regardless of who the opponent was.  The score may have been lopsided, but my motto was “Never Give Up!” My brain always told me that there was some key or action that would counteract anything the other team could do.  The issue was figuring out what that key was and working together to win.  To win may mean doing something completely out of character, position, tradition, orthodoxy, etc.  To accomplish this meant communication, trust, resilience, and despite the belief that a win could be had, humility.

We have not seen the final victory of God over this world.  God has communicated that it will happen.  “Death is swallowed up in victory”.  He has throughout the Old Testament demonstrated His power to deliver and conquer despite seemingly overwhelming odds from a human point of view.    God provides a clear path in scripture of how to overcome the world and by the hands of angels, judges, prophets, Jesus, and apostles communicated this frequently.

God never fails those whose ears and heart are open to His direction.  A statement like this implies that the recipient of communication trusts the giver of the message and engages in the course of action provided.  Someone who simply says, “I believe” or “I have faith” or “I trust” and does nothing, really did not have trust.  This is the sentiment provided in the second chapter of the book of James.  Do you trust God?  Then engage in His plan for victory.

There are times in scripture, where God has tested the faithful.  They did not see victory instantly.  They lost battles.  They were scattered.  They failed momentarily.  They were allowed to engage in the foolishness of sin.  Yet, in resilience, Israel finally marched away from Egypt, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, and the people of AI fell to Israel.  Of the men of Judah in the days of Nehemiah as they tried to rebuild the city wall it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing.  There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” Yet, they continued and finished the wall despite harm threatening from all sides.  David in his foolishness, committed adultery and was guilty of the murder of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah.  Upon the confrontation of his sin through Nathan, David could have given up.  Yet, David was resilient in repentance.  He did not give up.  He acknowledged his failure, and continued His walk with God.

Communication, trust, resilience, all of these are fine attributes to have within a team and a relationship with God.  However, these falter if not joined with humility.  The Pharisees had put themselves in the seat of Moses.  They saw themselves as guides to the blind.  The shared the communication of God with the people.  There was an appearance of trust in the many works that they observed and commanded.  Truly, there was resilience in holding to the commandments of the Old Law even when the teachings and signs of Jesus and the apostles confronted them.  A blameless Pharisee zealous for the Law of God named Saul persecuted the Christians vigorously.  Did He know the communication of God?  Yes. Did he trust God? Yes.  Was he a resilient man?  Yes!  Yet, until Saul humbled himself before God, there was nothing he could have done to see the victory over this world.  It is the poor in spirit to whom belongs the kingdom of God.

There is a similarity in the book of Esther to scriptures in Revelation.  The Jews of Esther’s time were subject to an edict initiated by Haman an official of the king of the Persian Empire.  The Persians controlled most of the known world and the edict called for the elimination of all the Jews in the kingdom.  Why not give up and renounce God?  It appeared the end of the people of God was at hand.  Similarly, in Revelation 20, Satan and the nations of the world emerge immanently positioned to destroy the Church of God.  In Esther, the Jews are given victory by the hand of God.  The same occurs in Revelation 20 despite what appeared to be overwhelming forces.  The world menaces wickedly as a Goliath in comparison to the small shepherd boy of the faithful, yet, for those that hear the Word of God, trust in it, endure in their obedient faith, and submit themselves to the Almighty God, the band of believers which compose the Church will be victorious.

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God Created Good

God Created Good

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth.”  Within days, God would make mankind. Man did not know good from evil, but he did know what God had commanded him to do and what not to do.  God declared what He had created was good.  When a child is still in the womb, the apostle Paul directed by the Spirit of God declares a child has “done nothing either good or bad” (Romans 9:11).  The prophet Ezekiel proclaims the Word of God in Ezekiel 28:15 declaring the king of Tyre was blameless in his ways from the day he was created (all children are).  Ezekiel 18:20 teaches that a son does not inherit the sins of his father.  Finally, Matthew 18:3 “…Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Men are encouraged to be like children, because Children are good and innocent, not sinful.  All the above being presented, when someone living a life contrary to the pattern established by scripture makes the statement “God made me this way”, what is to be made of it?God Made Me

Micah 6:8 “He has told you, o man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humble with your God?”  Walking humbly with God, is when someone avoids living a lifestyle identified as sinful in the eyes of God.  God created man good, so when man does something evil, it is their own choice.  James 1:14-15 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”  Making the choice to sin is what all mankind apart from Jesus has done. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”.  However, though a person chooses to sin, they can also choose to walk in righteousness instead of sin.  Sin does not have to become an individual’s way of life.  God did not make man that way.  The idea God made man sinful is completely false.

Today, our society rightly teaches a person that they have the choice to engage in homosexuality, have sex with someone to whom they are not married, commit adultery, engage in watching pornography, drink alcohol, use marijuana and other drugs socially, dress immodestly, pretend they are not their biological sex, gossip, cheat, be unkind, be dishonorable to their parents, lie, disobey law, create their own morality, and so much more.  Television, radio, the internet, universities, high schools, elementary schools, government officials, and the world around them screams “Your body! Your choice!”  Yes, they are right.  God gives man the choice to obey Him in righteousness or to commit sin against God and man to their own destruction. Acts 17:30-31 “… And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness…” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9  “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;” This is the end result of the choices the world is encouraging you to make.

You are lying to yourself if you think God made you to engage in sin.  In fact, “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”.  The good God wants us to walk in is characterized by “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control”.  This is what God has created you to represent. God created you in His image.  Jesus was the “exact imprint” of the nature of God.  He taught that those who saw Him, had seen the Father.  If he was the image of God, and He was sinless, then that is exactly how you were created.  If you are engaged in sin, break free from that captivity.  Return to the abundant life of purity God created you to fulfill.

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Baptism Washes Away Consequences?

Baptism Washes Away Consequences?

“All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God”.  “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  “The wages of sin is death”.  “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’”  “Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  These passages summarize the plight of those who have sinned and those who repent and are baptized living faithfully in repentance going forward.  I was once asked if baptism washes away all sin.  The answer, is yes, if there was repentance.  However, baptism does not wash away all consequences of sin previously committed.Baptism washes

A predominant New Testament example of this is the Apostle Paul.  Paul, named Saul before his conversion, was a devout Jew.  However, in his persecution of Christians (all in earnest intention) Saul was guilty of sin.  Following his baptism, His sins were forgiven.  However, this did not change the fact that Paul had previously associated himself with violence against Christians.  “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.”  Paul had to live with the consequences of his actions.

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.” Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthian Christians.  They had been washed in the waters of baptism and their sins had been forgiven.  However, the fact they had lived different lives at one point is still recalled.  It is a joy they once were those things, but the world will rarely forget and there are consequences to the prior behavior.

I was involved in the conversion of a man who had murdered another.  He is serving time in jail for a sentence of around 45 years.  He was baptized in jail.  Baptism washes away repented of sin.  He is a brother in Christ.  However, he is still suffering the consequences of having murdered.

I have attended congregations with men who committed crimes against youth.  Those men were not allowed to be alone with or near any youth.  In cases where this occurs, there is often a person assigned to be in that person’s presence until they leave the property.  They were still suffering the consequences of their sin.  Baptism did not wash away the consequences.

There are men and women today who prior to becoming Christians divorced their spouses even though there was no adultery committed.  The apostle Paul addresses this situation in I Corinthians 7.  He tells the married couple they should not separate or divorce, but if this happens, they are to remain single or reconcile. Whether the spouses are Christians or not, they are accountable to God’s Law.  Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9 both establish whoever divorces except for the reason of fornication, commits adultery when they remarry.  They also cause the new spouse to be an adulterer.  But what if one repents and is baptized?  Is there sin forgiven?  Yes.  However, what is the sin? If it is just having left their wife, they have two choices be single or reconcile.  If it is the sin of adultery, the adultery is forgiven when the relationship is left.  The verb tense of “commit adultery” identifies the sin continuing indefinitely in that relationship.  The consequences also of having been previously married never go away.  Scripturally, there cannot be another marriage to someone else.  Secularly, if you were married and owe alimony or child support, those consequences also stay.  Did you burn other relationships when you divorced?  Baptism washes away repented of sin, but does not wash away all consequences.

Consequences of good and evil actions may follow us our whole lives.  It would be great if they all disappeared at baptism.  Unfortunately, this is not reality.  Do not let someone fool you into believing the foolishness of a totally clean slate at baptism.  Yes, repented of sin is forgiven, but you are still going to have to live with what you have left behind until you are called home to glory.

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Verb Tenses

Do Verb Tenses Matter?

If there was a survey done of the Church seeking to discover how many Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew scholars there are alive today, we would find a very, very small number.  This is true even extending this out to the public at large.  It is often stated, “You do not need to be a Greek scholar to understand the Bible”.  I believe this is true.  There is a difference, however, between being a Greek scholar and utilizing readily available tools to examine the words of the Bible originally written in other languages.  There are individuals who have given their lives to studying these languages and they have provided definitions of words, idioms, grammatical structure, verb tenses, and more.  Their work is born true through more ancient documentation than we could examine in a lifetime.  That work enables us to investigate, understand, and confirm the divine inspiration of scripture more thoroughly.

Do verb tenses matter?  Consider the following statements:

 Grandma will die. Grandma is dying. Grandma is dead. Grandma died.

Understanding the meaning of the English statements above relies directly upon understanding the verb tenses.  Yes, verb tenses matter.  Jesus addresses the Sadducees in Matthew 22:23-33 regarding the resurrection.  He quotes scripture which the Sadducees should have known and should have inferred there is life after death.  Jesus’ argument centered on the verb tense in verse 32: “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”  The present tense confirms life extends beyond our time on this earth.

I Corinthians 7:15 is a common passage in which people go to attempt to provide a second exception for divorce.  They examine the phrase “Is not bound (under bondage, enslaved)” and determine that a divorce may occur because an abandoned spouse is not maritally bound anymore.  First, this points to another fact: Words have meaning.  Yes, they have meaning and the word “bound” here never means the bond of marriage.  There is another word for that in the Greek.  This word is used regarding slavery.  Thus, if a spouse is abandoned, they do not need to follow the other as if they were a slave.  Their choices have already been stated by Paul in verse 11, remain single or reconcile.  Second and equally important, the verb tense of “bound” which is the perfect tense causes it to mean “Had not been in bondage and is not under bondage”.  Which means if it could grammatically refer to a marital bond (it cannot), that bond never existed.  Thus, that meaning which is taken by those looking for a second divorce exception is completely illogical.

One more example of the importance of verb tenses in understanding scripture, Matthew 19:9 reads, “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”  Many have attempted to claim that being baptized or even the repentant prayer of a Christian removes the need to divorce the individual with whom they have committed the sin of adultery.  The verb tense of the word “adultery” does not allow for it to be a one-time occurrence.  I.E., they married an unauthorized individual therefore they committed an instance of adultery.  Rather the tense of this word is linear present tense providing the meaning of continuously committing adultery while being in that relationship.  Whether one was a Christian while entering into that sin or whether they were an unbeliever when entering that sin and regardless of the action of baptism or a repentant prayer, the condition of committing adultery is not removed until the individual changes that relationship status.

Verb tenses matter.  They matter in our English language, and they matter in all languages.  The tools of understanding are at our feet.  The question remains as to whether we are willing to pick up and utilize those tools.  You do not have to be a language scholar, but you do need to be “a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

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