Sinlessness, Part 2

Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (cf. Matt. 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13). The essence of these temptations was to avoid the hard obedience and suffering that was appointed the Messiah. This testing was in some ways like Eden, it revolved around food. In the case of Adam & Eve they had all kinds of food but were prohibited the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Theirs was a test of obedience. For Jesus, he was fasting without food entirely. Jesus’ test was of obedience but also hunger.

Satan understanding Jesus to be the Son of God, appealed to Jesus’ human side in solving his temptation of hunger (Luke 4:3), authority over the whole world (Luke 4:5), and to fly from the top of the temple (Luke 4:9-11). Christ obeyed God in our place, as our representative, succeeding where Adam failed, where the people of Israel in the wilderness had failed, and where we have failed (cf. Rom. 5:18-19).

Having gone through all of this Jesus knows our frailities and is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (cf. Heb. 4:15-16). This should be a benefit to us: in every situation in which we’re tempted we should reflect on Jesus’ temptations and his disposal of them.

Sanctification

Hebrews 12: 14-17

Romans 12: 18, 14: 19

2 Corinthians 3: 18, 4: 7-10

The admonition here in this passage of the letter is addressed to believers only, not a general statement that can be applied to all men, concerning the discipline of God for His children, and the reaction of brothers in Christ to help each other as they go through the sanctification process of maturing. The straight path of Grace is the only way to break the grip of Judaism’s traditions for these believers.

Hebrews 12: 14 “Pursue peace with all, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Be focused on the the church body, especially as each of us endures discipline: Romans 12: 18, and 14: 19 give similar statements about peace, the first is a general condition; 12: 18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you be at peace with all men”; while the latter is specific to the church, 14: 19, “…so then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another,…” )

Referring to sanctification, which might be defined as ‘preparation for the holiness required to be in the presence of God’, we endure being refined, 2 Corinthians 3: 18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory….” Sanctification is that transformation process.

Hebrews 12: 15. “”See to it, (Looking diligently), that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” ( A simple truth of the New Covenant is, ‘no believer can be victimized’, for we are not of this world, so resist a bitter attitude.)

2 Corinthians 4: 7-10 Paul writes, “we are clay pots, we have the hidden treasure of Jesus Christ within, and as the world bangs against us, and cracks the surface, it is then the light of Jesus is revealed. We are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, not despairing; persecuted, not forsaken; struck down, not destroyed; …”

No one can victimizes us, for we are above the clamor and desires of this world, our eyes are focused on Jesus and heavenly things above. Therefore help the brother that is struggling.

Blessings

Karl

Yes, God Cares

Hebrews 12: 12-13

John 15: 1-2

John 1: 12

There is a time in every Christian’s life that needs to be set aside for study, for instruction, the discipline of learning and growth in maturity. All discipline for the moment seems unpleasant, but afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Hebrew 12: 12. “Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,

v. 13. “and make straight the paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed.’

We can understand this passage as a lesson to be applied individually for our own self examination and maturity, or for the corporate body of the church to care for each other. Either way, self examination will lead to a more stable relationship to the body. We individually are not separate from the body, no one stands alone, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; …”

John 15:1. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He taketh away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” KJV translates the Greek word ‘airo” as ‘taketh’ in this passage, when the better definition is ‘to take up, to lift up’. Therefore when a branch is not bearing fruit, the vinedresser ‘lifts it up out of the dirt, brushes it off, and binds it to the trellis’, which is in keeping with what earthly vinedressers do, so that it can bear fruit. To establish a doctrine for Christianity that God will graft you into the vine, then if you don’t measure up, He cuts you off is contrary to any concept of love and grace that is written in the scriptures about God’s faithfulness to.

The ending of Hebrews 12: 13 is, “…But rather healed.” Is the consistent concept in Scripture that God cares for His children.

John 1:12 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the sons of God, even to those that believe on His name, ….”

God allows testing and trials to come, because He cares.

Blessings

Karl

Sinlessness, Part 1

The NT affirms, in all of it’s descriptions, that Jesus was as near as we can tell fully human like ourselves. It also tells he was without sin and never committed a sin. This is not like ourselves. Some say if Jesus did not sin he could not be human. But Adam and Eve were human before they sinned. They chose to sin. We choose to sin.

The sinlessness of Jesus is taught throughout the NT. We see suggestions of this early in his life (Luke 2:40), Satan was unable to tempt (Luke 4:13), and the jews found no fault in (Jn. 8:46). Jesus himself proclaims he was without faults (Jn. 8:12, 29, 15:10, 18:38).

In the book of Acts, he is termed the “Holy One” or “Righteous One” (cf. Acts 2:27, 3:14, 4:30, 7:52, 13:35). Paul in describing Jesus never says he did anything approaching anything like sin (cp. Rom. 8:3, 2 Cor. 5:21).

In the book of Hebrews it says Jesus was tempted, at least from the authors perspective, but did not sin (Heb. 4:15). He is portrayed as the High Priest (Heb. 7:26) to the Jews. In line with OT thinking, Peter speaks of Jesus as “a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet. 1:19). He committed no sins (1 Pet. 2:22, cp. 1 Jn. 3:5). It is hard to deny that the NT teaches the sinlessness of Christ. It is clearly taught in nearly every book. He was truly a man without sin.

Discipline Is Not Punishment

Hebrews 12: 5-11

Proverbs 3: 11-12

Hebrews 5: 8

Isaiah 9: 8-21

These Hebrews to whom this letter is sent, having been told that Jesus Christ resisted sin to the point of a brutal death, without yielding, and they have not yet been tested to that same level of persecution, being so tried and tested as to requiring their bleeding, which indicates severe punishment/treatment. The writer continues:

Hebrews 12: 5. “…and you have forgotten the exhortation, which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son do not regard lightly the educational discipline of the LORD, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; (Proverbs 3: 11-12, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves, He reproofs…”)

V. 6 “For those whom the LORD loves He trains/disciplines, and He uses punishment in that process with every son whom He receives.” (‘Discipline is the companion of them that are in the path of righteousness, and them only.’ John Owen)

V.7 “It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as sons; For what son is there on earth whom his father does not correct.” (God has only one Son without sin, but none without sorrow. Trapp)

V. 8. “But if you are without discipline, of which you have all become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Discipline is not a sign of disappointment, but of encouragement to perfection. Darley)

V.9 “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; Shall we not much rather be subject to our Spiritual Father, and live.” (Hebrews 5: 8 If Christ had to learn about life on earth through suffering, so we must learn life in the Spirit in the same way, by being subject to our Heavenly Father’s instruction and discipline.)

V.10 “For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.” (Here, ‘we are reminded by this that nothing is more fatal to us than to refuse to give ourselves in obedience to God’. Calvin)

V. 11. “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (To endure discipline with resistance and a rebellious heart leads to destruction, but to endure with a heart of passion and a desire to be bettered by it, leads to righteousness, and peace with God. Darley.) Isaiah 9: 8-21 examples Israel’s rebellion to God.

Blessings

Karl

Human Weaknesses & Limitations, Part 3

People around Jesus at that time, apparently, viewed him like they did any other man. Even though Jesus had taught and healed throughout Galilee (cf. Matt. 4:23-25), when he came to his hometown Nazareth. There, the people who had known him and watched him grow up thought very little of him (Matt. 13:53-58). This passage says those people who knew him best, his neighbors for around 30 years, thought him an ordinary man – good, fair, and truthful. Certainly not some sort of special prophet of God who could perform the miracles of God in the flesh. Although, we will get to the fully divine, it is important to recognize those surrounding him saw him as “the carpenter’s son” (Matt. 13:55) and him as a carpenter (Mark 6:3). He was so common that when he spoke, all they could do is ask “Where did this man get all of this?” (Matt. 13:56, Jn. 7:5).

It seems Jesus was so fully human that those living around him for 30 years, even his brothers whom he grew up with, did not recognize anything more than he was a very good human being. They had no idea he was God incarnate from his appearance and manners.

Is Jesus Worth It?

Hebrews 12: 3-4

Hebrews 12: 3-4 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;”

In Jerusalem, after the resurrection, many Jews came to Christ, and as a result of their change in lifestyle in relationship to the strictness of the Law, their new understanding of the Scriptures, and their worship of Jesus. They were rejected from many parts of their heritage life. That is, places that would not sell to them, people that would not speak to them, businesses that would not hire them, or buy their products, and targeted adversarial relations with the authorities in Jerusalem, both Hebrew and Roman.

Yet the author to the Hebrews states to these believers that even now, they had not yet been arrested, chained, scourged, or even killed. Such as was the destiny of Jesus who is their example of faith. They had not yet been called to shed blood in their resistance to sin, or called to the rejection of Christianity for the sake of safety.

It is hard for we Americans to understand such adversity to Christianity as was present in Jerusalem at the time of Christ, and in the ensuing years against those who became believers. Generally speaking, we endure very little hostility, historically speaking, yet there are stories of others who have been targeted for their faith and been driven out of business, or put in jail unjustly for taking a stand against obvious sin, and have endured abuses and hostility aimed at them for being Christians.

So the call to us is to stand firm against people, and authorities who hate God, who hate Jesus Christ, and hate Christians. More and more we American Christians are encountering limits to our freedoms, and are targeted simply for our beliefs. Free speech is being suppressed, freedom of association is limited, laws are being violated in the pursuit of ‘justice,’ and Christians are systematically being silenced.

The book of Hebrews is a call to re-evaluate your faith, do you really believe that Jesus is the Savior, who can and will save you? Will you resist hostilities against you to point of Shedding blood?

Blessings

Karl

Consider Jesus

Hebrews 12: 2-3

Ephesians 1: 3-4

Galatians 5: 19-22

2 Corinthians 10: 5

Ephesians 1: 3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, v 4. “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

Hebrews 12: 2 “Let us run the race… fixing our eyes on Jesus…Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross…” The joy set before Jesus was to complete the plan of salvation, redemption for mankind, which was initiated before Adam’s sin, because of the Love of God for us. John 3: 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Hebrews 12: 3 “For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

The goal of all believers is to live holy and blameless before God our Savior. The cares of this world are immorality, impurity, sexuality, jealousy, anger, disputes, envying, carousing, drunkenness, idolatry, and such. Life on earth is full of temptations, which ultimately come to us in thoughts, before there is any action, and “we are to take our every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10: 5)

Jesus had a higher mission and goal than we do, yet He endured, out of love, such hostility and hatred that we can barely imagine. We say that we are born anew, therefore when we are troubled with rejections because of our faith, or temptations to sin, we should endure also, and look for the fruit of the Spirit to abound in: love exhibited, peace ruling our lives, joy dominating our attitudes, patience with others, kindness even while driving, goodness to our spouses, faithfulness in our commitments, gentleness in our responses, self-control in all encounters. (Galatians 5: 22)

Blessings

Karl

Human Weaknesses & Limitations, Part 2

Jesus apparently had a human mind. He went through a learning process just like all children do (Luke 2:52). He learned how to eat, talk, read, and write. He learned obedience to his parents (cf. Heb. 5:8). This ordinary development indicates the human aspect of Jesus. We also have an example of Jesus’ mind working in speaking of the day on which he will return to the earth (Mark 13:32).

There are several instances of Jesus revealing his soul and spirit with difficulty (Matt. 26:38, 12:27, 13:21). In these cases, he reveals his concern for himself. He had a full range of emotions – marveled (Matt. 8:10), sorrow (Jn. 11:35), and stirred (Heb. 5:7). Moreover, it tells that “he learned obedience” (Heb. 5:8-9). Apparently, from the perspective of those around, the older he became, the more mature he became in taking on more and more responsibility. As difficulty increases, so does suffering.

The complete absence of sin in the life of Jesus is remarkable from our perspective because of the temptations he faced throughout his life (cf. Heb. 4:15). The fact he faced temptations means his human nature could be tempted. But his divine could not (Ja. 1:13).