The New Commandment Contrasted with the Royal Law

Posted on by BETH

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34).

The ‘new’ command is not the same as the ‘Royal Law’ (love thy neighbor as thyself) (Lev. 19:18; James 2:8).  They are very different.  The Royal Law has a different subject of its love.  The Royal Law directs its love toward the neighbor.  That can be anyone in need (Luke 10:29-37).  The new commandment directs that love only toward ‘one another,’ God’s children, ‘the least of these my brethren,’ not just anyone (John 13:34,35).

Neither is the ‘new’ command the same as the Royal Law in the content of that love.  The love of the Royal Law, is to love as we love ourselves – ‘love thy neighbour as thyself.’  The ‘new’ command  is to love ‘as I have loved you.’  Jesus’ love and our love are very different.  His love is far greater.  The Royal Law is satisfied with our love, but the new command requires us to grow to have Jesus’ love.

The new command is not all-encompassing.  It does not direct us to have Jesus’ love for his Father, his enemy, his neighbor or his friend.  The new command singularly directs us to love each other as Jesus loves God’s children (“as I have loved you”).  Jesus’ love toward God’s children is ‘perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4).  As long as we are lacking in any one part of Christ’s love, we can not love God’s children with Jesus’ complete love. He did not lack any part.  We must grow to have all of the parts of Christ’s love in our hearts in order to obey the new commandment.  This is identical with the ‘perfect love.’

We can not obey the new command the first day we hear it.  We can immediately obey the Royal Law.  Our love for ourselves already exists.  It is merely a question of redirecting that same love toward our neighbor.  However, loving one another as Christ loves us, can not be accomplished the same day.  To love as Christ loves, takes 1)knowing the love of Christ and 2) growing into that complete love which Christ has.  This surely is a new and beautiful commandment.  This is New Testament discipleship, the aim of the great commission, the purpose of God.

Called to Partake of the Divine Nature

Posted on by BETH

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:3-4)

What is the divine nature? He tells us plainly that the divine nature is love – God’s love.   “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (I John 4:16).  If God dwells in us, it is divinity dwelling in us.  Love is God’s divine nature.  Christ “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15).  Jesus said “. . .he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).  If we are partakers of the divine nature we are like Christ. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus concluded his teaching on our being like God in love by saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).  This also is describing the nature of God and directing us to be partakers of it.

Whether he describes his purpose as making us like Christ, filling us with all of his fulness (he is love), making us partakers of his divine nature, making us perfect, or giving us the perfect love, it is all the same – namely, he wants to form his love in us.  This is the mark, goal, purpose and aim for the race he has set before us.  He describes this mark in yet another way.

PERFECT LOVE

Posted on by BETH

‘Perfection’ in the scriptures seen in the last posts seems to be an abstract description.  In what are we to be perfect?  He identifies his perfection as he describes what it means to be perfect.  “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” (I John 4:17). The complete expression is “perfect love.”  The “perfect love” is defined in this scripture as being “as he is,” that is, like Christ.  This is not after judgment day.  He says “Herein is our love made perfect . . . in this world” (I John 4:17).  Earlier the Lord gave the same definition for perfection as being like Christ in his letter to the Ephesians:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (Eph. 4:11-12).

He first lists the gifts Christ gave which comprises the entire teaching force of his church.  Then he describes the purpose of his giving these teachers to the church.  The first purpose listed is “for the perfecting of the saints.”  The word ‘Perfect’ here (katartismos) is the noun form of the same word for perfect in Luke 6:40 (katartizo) – which is to be like Christ.  The teaching force of God’s church was thus to make us like Christ.  This same teaching force wrote the scriptures – which, he states, were written for the same purpose: “All scripture is inspired of God and profitable. . .  That the man of God may be perfect (artios)” (2 Tim. 3:17).

He states this same truth in yet another way.  The description is even more specific in his definition in the next verse.

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:  (Eph. 4:13).

His ultimate purpose – is to go on “unto a perfect man.”  In verse 12 he used the word ‘katartismos’ but in 13 he uses a different Greek word; ‘teleios.’  ‘Teleios’ is the most common word which is translated ‘perfect’ in the New Testament scriptures.  He then defines this word ‘perfection (teleios)’ as being in “. . . the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).  No matter which Greek word is used, perfection is defined as being like Christ.  Nor is that all.  This is the identical purpose he gives in the previous chapter – stated in different terms.

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Eph. 3:14-20).

The Lord’s ultimate purpose is that the Ephesians would be “filled with all the fulness of God.”  This is the same as being like Christ.  Christ has all the fulness of God in him (Col. 2:9) for he is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person” (Heb. 1:1-3).  Whether his disciples are “filled with all the fulness of God,” “partakers of the divine nature,” ‘perfect’ (artios), “perfect” (teleios), or are in “the image Christ,” it is all one and the same.  This is God’s purpose, aim, goal, or mark for the race, for each of his children.  The automatic response is often: “I can’t do it.”  That is correct.  We can not fulfill God’s purpose – alone.  The power is not in man but it is in the God who, immediately after he states his ultimate purpose states that He is: “. . . able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).

We can not do it, but God can work in us!  What is our part?  He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask!”  We can not do it, but we can ask God to work this in us.  We can ask to become like Christ, and God is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask. . .”  We can ask to be rooted and grounded in love and to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.  We can ask to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge.  Our Father is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask. . .”  The power of God is not what is lacking!  The faith in us is what is lacking!  We need to seek and trust him!  If we ask for a fish, he will not give us a scorpion.  If we ask for the heart of Christ, “. . .  how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him” (Matt. 7:11)?  He knows how to give good gifts to his children.  He knows how to give eternal gifts (2 Cor. 4:18) which includes the hope of glory, which is Christ in us (Col. 1:27).  This was Paul’s ultimate goal. Paul pointed to this very mark in his description of his race to the mark (for the prize).

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:12)

Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: (Col. 1:28).

Paul’s aim for all of God’s children was to “present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”  If that were Paul’s goal, it ought to be our goal also.  This was God’s purpose, for Paul said: “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily” (Col. 1:29). God was working mightily in Paul for the same purpose – to present every man perfect in Christ.  The Hebrew writer encouraged God’s children to go on unto the same goal: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6:1).  Paul told the Corinthians: “For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection” (2 Cor. 13:9). “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect” (2 Cor. 9:11). Paul’s testified to his fellow-laborer’s prayer: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12). James shows God’s highest purpose for each of his children when he says:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4).

Peter was used to teach the very same purpose:

 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you (1 Pet. 5:10).

John tells how to attain perfection and shows the power it has on judgment day: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him”  (I John 2:5).

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us (I John 4:12).

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world (I John 4:17).

One major reason that the New Testament was required to replace the Old Testament is because the Old Testament law could not make the comers perfect.

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? (Heb. 7:11) “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (Heb. 7:19).

Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience (Heb. 9:9).

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Heb. 10:1)

Four times the Lord states that the reason there had to be a new covenant is because the Old Testament could not make a man perfect.  What was his goal in the Old Testament?  What is his goal now?  Paul was used to show us that the New Testament scriptures were given for that very purpose, “That the man of God may be perfect” (2 Tim. 3:17).  Thus far we have seen that God used Matthew, Luke John, Paul, Peter, James and (if it were not Paul) the writer of the Hebrew letter, to direct us to go on unto perfection.  Keep in mind that “perfection” in the scripture is to be like Christ (Luke 6:40).

Eight Baptisms in Scripture

Posted on by BETH

In the scriptures there are at least eight baptisms in the history of Israel and the church with eight very different purposes.  There was the ordinary washing of animal sacrifices according to the Old Testament law (Heb. 9:10).  There was the baptism in the cloud and sea into Moses (1 Cor. 10:1, 2) and  ordinary washing of hands (Baptizo is translated washing in the English) (Luke 11:38).  John the Baptist taught water baptism for the remission of sins. Jesus took part in a special baptism (Mark 10:38).  The apostles were baptized in the Holy Spirit after the cross (Matt. 3:11, Acts 1:5).  There was a baptism in fire (Matt. 3:11), and the water baptism Jesus commanded after the cross (Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38).  The Pharisees added different doctrines of baptisms according to their traditions (Mark 7:4-8).

New Testament baptism is described as a “likeness” of Christ’s burial (Rom. 6:3-6).  Notice in these verses how that baptism is involved with Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  Those who are buried with Christ, must first be “crucified with him” (Rom. 6:6).  After the old man is dead, then is he ready to be “buried with him by baptism” (Rom. 6:3,4).  We are crucified and buried with him so “. . . that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).   Our  “. . . old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Rom. 6:6).  Only after the old man has been crucified and buried, are we in a position to “put on the new man which is renewed in the image of” Christ (Col. 3:10).  Thus baptism is the second step of the disciple uniting with Christ in the likeness of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.

The scriptures further tell us what else baptism does.  When we “have obeyed that form of doctrine” we are “then made free from sin” (Rom. 6:17,18).  This is precisely what happened to the apostle Paul when he was told to “arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins” (Acts 22:16).  The Jews on Pentecost were also obedient to the Lord’s command to “be baptized for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).  The promise to all men is: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:15,16).  He further describes baptism in relation to Noah, who obeyed God and was thus saved by water when it carried him and his boat, while all the others drowned.  “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us” (1 Pet. 3:20, 21).  This is the same obedience by which “we are all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13), “which is his church” (Eph. 1:22,23).

After the cross only one baptism is valid (Eph. 4:4-6).  Not even John the Baptist’s baptism was valid after the cross (Acts 19:1-5).  If, after the cross, the Lord rejected even the baptism which he commanded for John the Baptist, he will surely reject any baptism which man adds.  Preaching another baptism is included in preaching another gospel and is cursed by God (Gal. 1:6-9).  We must be very careful to receive and teach only the baptism of Christ.  Why be cursed for following the wrong teaching?  We must not add to it nor diminish anything from it.

We will return to our study concerning baptism after we see what our Lord teaches concerning the third command in the great commission.

LESSON 12: Saul Spared Agag and the Booty

Posted on by BETH

“But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly” (1 Sam. 15:9).

Saul is one of the most tragic figures in the Old Testament. Head and shoulders above all the other men in Israel, he began his reign with great promise but ended it in shame.

“And he (Kish) had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people” (1 Sam. 9:2).

As Israel’s first king, Saul had the opportunity to be an example for all future rulers, but his covetousness for the praise of men and for power over them, was his downfall.

Saul had other admirable physical qualities that made him fit to be received by Israel during the period immediately after the last judge.  Because of his stature, he was quickly accepted by the people.  Furthermore, the Lord used him as a good military leader, as shown by his victories early in his reign.  Here we have a king who was not only is a warrior himself, but a man whose sons were also warriors.  Note that his son Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines comes the first year after King Saul was anointed (1 Sam. 14:6-16).

One of Saul’s first sins was his failure to wait for Samuel at Gilgal (1 Sam. 13:8-9). The Philistines had gathered together against Israel with a large army and the Israelites had fled to hide themselves.  Saul had to know if God wanted him to go to battle or not, and in order to approach God, he had to offer a sacrifice.  There he assumed the role of a priest by making a sacrifice to ask for God’s blessing and to seek God’s counsel. His excuse for acting as a priest was totally unacceptable:

And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering” (1 Sam. 13:11-12).

He was willing to force himself to disobey God so he could win the people’s favor.  Strangely, he determined to disobey God in order to persuade God to help him. Saul knew he had done wrong, but he justified his sin instead of following the law exactly (Lev. 3:5 and Lev. 6:9-13).  There is no doubt in this incident that he knew that only the priests of God (descendants of Aaron) were to offer a sacrifice, and he knew Samuel’s purpose and promise was to do just that.  So why is he so faithless in following a command of God he knows to do?  He feared losing the people! He coveted their allegiance.

Another sin followed soon afterward. After defeating Moab, Ammon, and Edom, Saul was told by Samuel to go to war against the Amalekites and to “…slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Sam. 15:3). Saul carried out his instructions well except for two things: he spared the life of Agag, the king, and saved the best of the animals. When he returned from the battle, he lied to himself and to Samuel and told Samuel that he had “performed the commandment of the Lord.”  He imagined that disobedience to some of God’s commands was acceptable.  Samuel approached Saul that day with a heavy burden on his heart.  King Saul’s problem was that he had turned back from following God.  During the night of the battle, God had spoken to Samuel and said, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments” (1 Sam. 15:11).

At the end of verse 15 we see that Samuel was grieved and cried all night to the Lord—interceding for Saul that he might remain Israel’s king.  Saul was a mighty man of valor and a great military leader, but his covetousness of the people’s praise and allegiance had overtaken him, causing him to sin greatly.  Was being a military leader enough?  Was having a handsome well-liked king the plan God had in mind for Israel?  No, God was seeking a man who would obey all His commands—a spiritual leader whose thought was not for himself, but for serving God by training the people in righteousness. King Saul had not remembered the one who had set him up as king, given him his power nor why.  God had called King Saul to do His (God’s) work, not his own.  King Saul’s first and foremost thought should have been, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people (Psa. 116:12-14).

From that time forward, Saul exhausted his total strength and power to pursue one whom he perceived to be his enemy, when his greatest enemy was actually himself.  He wasted all his time and energy in fruitless attempts on David’s life because he could not accept that God had removed him from being King over Israel.

QUESTIONS:

  1. Was it natural for King Saul to be afraid of the Philistine’s great and strong army and to seek God’s help?
  2. Did King Saul try to do what was right in God’s sight by asking God if he should go against the Philistines?
  3. Who were the only ones that God allowed to offer sacrifices to him? (Lev. 1:7-9; Lev. 3:5 and Lev. 6:9-13)?
  4. Was King Saul a descendent of Levi or Aaron?  Give specific BCV here.
  5. Why was King Saul wrong to offer the sacrifice?
  6. Was King Saul justified in doing evil that good may come (Rom 3:8)?
  7. Even though King Saul had the right desire to draw near to God, did he approach God according to God’s law?
  8. What does God say must happen when someone draws near to him (Lev. 10:1-3)?
  9. Had King Saul turned back from following God (1 Sam 15:11)?
  10.  If King Saul was not fighting Israel’s battles for the Lord, for whom was he fighting them (1 Sam 15:24)?
  11. Whose voice did King Saul obey: God’s or the people’s (1 Sam 15:24-26)?
  12. How many of God’s commands did King Saul obey when he killed all the Amalekites?
  13. How many commands did King Saul disobey (1 Sam. 15:8-9)?
  14. Whose will did King Saul do when he feared the people and obeyed their voice?
  15. How many commands did King Saul tell Samuel that he obeyed?
  16. Does God accept man’s obedience when they are not willing to obey all of his commands (James 2:9-10)?
  17. When God told Saul that He had rejected him from being king, did King Saul listen to God’s correction?
  18. When God told King Saul that he had appointed another man to be king over Israel, what should King Saul have done?
  19. When King Saul refused to obey God to give the kingdom to God’s chosen man, was he justified in seeking God to know if he should fight against the Philistines as king of Israel?
  20. What did King Saul spend most of his time doing, instead of obeying God?