How to be Confusing 101

You're probably wondering how you can best confuse people, really tie them up in knots, right?  I thought so.  Who wouldn't?  And by the way, you're doing a great job of it.

For those not sure of the basics, let me give you a few pointers.  The easiest way to confuse people is to present a portion of Scripture without first setting up the scene.*  Don't tell them who the audience is or what the circumstances are.

For example, teach Psalm 50 without first making sure everybody knows the audience is Israel:

He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah. “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God (Ps 50:4-7).

Also make sure nobody knows what the circumstances are.  Keep secret that at the time Psalm 50 was written Israel had made a covenant** with God and were under the Law, that this chapter forecasts judgment to come because of their wickedness, and that the faithful among them are promised the salvation of God. 

But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips (Ps 50:16)?

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Ps 50:23; cf. Ps 50:8, 9, 14)

Pointing out these circumstances on the front end would make sense of verse 23 — "...to one who orders his way right I will show the salvation of God!" — and we don't want that, do we?  

Or do we?  

Important questions that could be raised in people's minds are: "Salvation is by faith plus works?  I thought it was by faith alone?"

And they would be right, wouldn't they?  Psalm 50 was written about Israel under the Law — faith plus works.  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:21-26).

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom 4:5).

Of course be sure to present the timeless principles in this chapter; principles that are obviously pertinent for all people no matter who they are or when they lived.  Like, God sees through our hypocrisy; God is the Mighty One, the heavens declare His righteousness for He Himself is judge; God is not dependent on our generosity since He owns everything, etc...  But the confusion you raise by not first setting up the scene will probably cause people to think only about how confused they are instead of how they can apply these principles to their lives. 

Hmmm...maybe you should rethink this?      

Well if you're still on board, here's a great way to wrap things up; sure to mess up the best of them.  End your talk by leading everybody to pray the very next Psalm — Psalm 51.  After all, once we're saved do we need to pray, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."?  No, that took place the moment we placed our faith in Jesus Christ! And do we need to plead Psalm 51:11 — "Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me."  Hardly. This is confusion at its very best. Keep at it and you'll be a pro in no time!***


*All Scripture is for us, but not all is written directly to us or about us (2 Tim 3:16-17).

**The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant made between God and the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai (Ex 19-24). The blessings that God promises are directly related to Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic Law. If Israel is obedient, then God will bless them, but if they disobey, then God will punish them. At the time of the covenant, God reminded the people of their obligation to be obedient to His law (Ex 19:5), and the people agreed to the covenant when they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” (Ex 19:8).

***Psalm 51 was written by David, upon whom the Holy Spirit descended because he was the chosen one of God (1 Sam 16:13). The Holy Spirit departed from Saul when he was no longer the chosen one (1 Sam 16:14). But now we are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee for the day of redemption (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13; 4:30).  He will never leave or be taken from us.

Questions to ponder...

ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

WHY DO THEY LOCK GAS STATION TOILETS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL BREAK-IN AND CLEAN THEM?

IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

IF THE POLICE ARREST A MUTE, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

Interesting tidbit - 19

Q:  What exactly does our Lord mean when He uses the word "generation" in Matthew 23:36 and Luke 11:51?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation (Matt 23:29-36).
 
Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation (Lk 11:47-51).


A:  The word "generation" can have many different meanings.  Its most common meaning refers to those who are born to their parents, of natural lineage, or descendants.  For example, the natural lineage of Jesus Christ is given in Matthew 1:1-17.  He was born from this traceable line of descendants.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matt 1:1)

In this context the natural lineage is the meaning of the word "generation."  When Jesus Christ spoke to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and Luke 11, He was speaking to a diverse group of Pharisees. They were not all from the same natural lineage.  Many of them were from different parents. This being the case, the most common definition of the word "generation" does not fit in this context.

Sometimes the word "generation" refers to a group of people who live at the same time, such as the "baby boomer" generation. This meaning cannot apply because God's judgment did not fall on the Pharisees that were in His immediate presence when he talked of "this generation." The Pharisees who were there died without experiencing this judgment.

There is another meaning to the word "generation" which helps us understand how the Lord used it in Matthew 23 and Luke 11. Here the word refers to those who belong to a certain group, who are similar in thought and belief, those who are related by way of actions or faith.

God uses the word "generation" in this way many times in Scripture. For example, He has a "generation" of men of faith, men who have been declared righteous.  All who are in this generation are related one to another because God has declared them righteous. This generation of the righteous is ongoing and added to daily, as men come to Jesus Christ through faith. This generation spans all of time and is not natural but spiritual.

There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous (Ps 14:5).

Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob (Ps 24:6).

His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed (Ps 112:2).

Jesus Christ used this meaning of the word "generation" when He spoke with the Pharisees. During His conversation, Christ talked about all those who make up the generation of Pharisees beginning with Cain, and not just those in his immediate presence. Christ has the whole spiritual lineage in view, all the Pharisees, from the first to the last. This evil generation is described in Proverbs:

There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother.
There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
There is a generation—oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men (Prov 30:11-14).

It is rebellious and murderous, filled with those who are self-righteous, and puffed up with their own goodness. The description of this generation matches the description of the Pharisees by the Lord Jesus Christ.  This generation is spiritual and continues to grow even through our day.

If you look without, you are distracted.  If you look within, you are depressed.  If you look at Jesus Christ, you are at rest.

Galatians 3:1-9

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 

 

"Justification is the act of God removing from the sinner his guilt and the penalty incurred by that guilt, and bestowing a positive righteousness, Christ Jesus Himself in whom the believer stands, not only innocent and uncondemned, but actually righteous in point of law for time and for eternity. This is what God did for Abraham when he believed Him.  This is what the Judaizers were attempting to merit for themselves by their own good works."

 

"This is a definite statement of the proposition which Paul wishes to prove.  The emphasis is upon the fact that the believing ones are blessed with salvation, rather than those who depend upon good works as the Judaizers did.  The word faithful is added as a descriptive word in order to impress upon the reader that the important thing about Abraham was the fact that he chose the faith way of salvation rather than depend upon personal merit and good works.  The word here does not speak of faithfulness of life in the sense of fidelity, but of the fact that Abraham believed God.  And well might Abraham have depended upon good works, from a purely human standpoint.  Excavations in the city of Ur where Abraham lived, reveal the fact that Abraham was not a wild desert sheik, but an educated, wealthy, sophisticated citizen of the world, a man living in and ostensibly partaking of a state of culture and opulence little dreamed of by the person who is unfamiliar with the ancient civilizations of the past.  Abraham was no ignoramus with a gullible faith.  With all his cultural back ground, and in spite of it, he saw that much of that with which we have to do, is taken upon faith, including the way of salvation.  Those who exercise a like faith to Abraham, share with him in the same salvation which he received from God."

Philippines 3:12-16 - Pressing toward the goal

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.


Scroll down to Brother Paul Stewart - Sunday School - July 14, 2013 here:

http://faithbiblechurch.weebly.com/audio-messages.html

Excellent on how to live "by that same standard to which we have attained."


 

Redeemed

Recently I heard this phrase used:  "We are all in the process of being redeemed."  Can this be true?  Are believers really being bought on the installment plan?

Our English word "redeem" is actually a translation of three Greek words:

Agarazo: to buy at the market.

Ex-agarazo: to buy out of the market.

Lutro: to set free (upon receipt or payment of the ransom price)

The Easton Bible Dictionary explains redemption more fully:

[It is] the purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom. The Greek word so rendered is apolutrosis, a word occurring nine times in Scripture, and always with the idea of a ransom or price paid, i.e., redemption by a lutron (see Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). There are instances in the LXX. Version of the Old Testament of the use of lutron in man's relation to man (Lev. 19:20; 25:51; Ex. 21:30; Num. 35:31, 32; Isa. 45:13; Prov. 6:35), and in the same sense of man's relation to God (Num. 3:49; 18:15). There are many passages in the New Testament which represent Christ's sufferings under the idea of a ransom or price, and the result thereby secured is a purchase or redemption (comp. Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Gal. 3:13; 4:4, 5; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Titus 2:14; Heb. 9:12; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; Rev. 5:9). The idea running through all these texts, however various their reference, is that of payment made for our redemption. The debt against us is not viewed as simply cancelled, but is fully paid. Christ's blood or life, which he surrendered for them, is the "ransom" by which the deliverance of his people from the servitude of sin and from its penal consequences is secured. It is the plain doctrine of Scripture that "Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which he exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether natural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners" (Hodge's Systematic Theology).

Hodge couldn't be more emphatic — our debt has been fully paid.  It is not being paid little by little, bit by bit.  Christ died to pay the penalty against us once for all.

Hebrews 9:11-15 speaks of this — "he entered once for all into the holy places ... thus securing an eternal redemption."  If believers are all in the process of being redeemed, as being claimed, wouldn't Christ have to be dying again and again (Heb 9:6-10)?  (See also Once for all.)

Hebrews 9:11-15 — But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Titus 2:14 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for us, "that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works." Our Lord died to redeem us from all iniquity, and He redeemed us unto Himself to be his people. He desires that we should be zealous of good works, but as believers we belong to Him now — bought outright, paid in full.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14).

No, we aren't being bought on the installment plan.  We are fully redeemed now. We were "bought with a price" and "redeemed to God” (1 Cor 6:20; Titus 2:14). We were "redeemed from the curse of the law" (Gal 3:13). And some day our mortal bodies will be made incorruptible and perfect (Rom 8:22-24). What a glorious day that will be!

May I suggest that instead of saying, "We are all in the process of being redeemed," a more appropriate statement might be, "We are all in the process of being sanctified"?  But even then we must be careful, for the Bible speaks of sanctification as being both already completed (positional) and in the process of being completed (practical).  We should be clear about which one we are speaking.  (See also Who we are - part 3.)

Redeemed—how I love to proclaim it!

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed through His infinite mercy,

His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed, redeemed,

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;

Redeemed, redeemed,

His child, and forever, I am.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,

No language my rapture can tell;

I know that the light of His presence

With me doth continually dwell.

I think of my blessed Redeemer,

I think of Him all the day long;

I sing, for I cannot be silent;

His love is the theme of my song.

 

by Fanny J. Crosby