"Justified by Faith"
Word study, especially New Testament word study should enhance our understanding of God but when used incorrectly, has produced almost all the Christian cults in the world today. This logically tells the critical mind that there is so much more beyond word study and which maintains common sense that expositors have to be deliberately conscious of. Hence, the title, "Man Shall Not Live by Word Study Alone!"
Almost all expositors agree that we have to interpret according to context. However, this is easier said than done. Context has to SERIOUSLY take into account common sense principles of progressive revelation. Very often, sometimes almost always, preachers and expositors ignore or forget the TIMELINE CONTEXT of the passages they study.
We have a blog that points out that the New Testament is a commentary on the Old Testament. This is not theory, this is fact from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself in the famous Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:17-19, Christ authenticated the Old Testament as the "Word of God" when the New Testament was NON-EXISTENT! This is what we mean by TIMELINE context.
The TIMELINE context is the application of the principle of PROGRESSIVE REVELATION, that God reveals a piece of the puzzle one at a time until the complete pieces are given in the New Testament to form the picture that God wants us to see. The new piece has to fit with the older pieces and NOT CONTRADICT IT! Otherwise, the full picture of revelation is never completed properly.
The issue of Justification by Faith alone is questionable when all our references to the principle comes solely from Paul. Paul never intended to ignore the gospels. Neither did he imagine that his epistles would be canonized. In fact, Paul was quite knowledgeable of the life, teachings and even personal revelations of Jesus Christ. Hence, we need to understand Paul's discussion of justification by faith in the light of the gospels which teach the willingness to die and leave all for the gospel, for the kingdom or for Christ.
Martin Luther, the great reformer and monk-scholar of Hebrew and Greek missed this key exegetical tool. His Hebrew and Greek "word scholarship" forgot the timeline context of the inspired word that he was trying to explain and thus concentrated almost entirely on Paul's epistles for his systematic theology. John Calvin, quite obviously, committed the exact same mistake and even went farther overboard!
Peter was correct when he cautioned that some of Paul's writings were "hard to understand which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15-16). Yes, VERY PROPHETIC indeed if Peter saw what was happening today!
Here are some examples of today's subtle but very distorted interpretations because they violate the TIMELINE CONTEXT. We start with the one that could mean life or death.
Matthew 5:48 - "Be perfect as the Father is perfect". A Pauline cultist would readily say that Christ meant that when He becomes our Savior, God considers us perfect in his sight. Nothing could be contextually farther from the truth. The principle may be true but THAT IS NOT WHAT CHRIST MEANT! (Note that these are also the words from God [Leviticus 19:2] and Peter [1 Peter 1:15-16])
First, the context of the sermon on the mount is Kingdom mindset, behavior and practice. Obviously, Christ was giving clear examples like turning the other cheek instead of giving way to human nature responses when responding to any and all offenses. Note that Christ DID NOT give room for any exception to all of the sermon on the mount teachings. In fact he concluded it with a tree being known by its fruit and not all who say "Lord, Lord" will even make it to the door of the kingdom! This means that many who claim that Jesus is their Lord will REALLY NEVER MAKE IT! Contextually, entrance to the kingdom will ultimately be determined by "fruit" quality.
Second, Christ also stated as a matter-of-fact to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:21, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” That is nowhere close to justification by faith alone! James version of justification by works was more accurate and much closer to what Christ meant (James 2:24)!
Doctrine-wise, the Eastern Orthodox church seems to have it right since their statements of faith usually declare that one is "saved by faith and works".
Third, if expositors were truly aware of TIMELINE CONTEXT, they should interpret any and all of Paul's writings with an Old Testament and Gospels perspective. Expositors know that Paul is a Torah scholar, yet they interpret him like Paul came from the USA with no Jewish background. Expositors know that Paul knew the teachings of Christ in the gospels but they interpret him like the gospels were under the Old Testament dispensation. There are still some cults today that seem to assume that Paul wrote the King James version of the Bible. So these so-called exegetes interpret Paul like the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were never written.
Fourth, the gospels AND Christ emphasized the primary importance of the Great Commandment as CARDINAL DOCTRINE (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke ). By "cardinal", we mean that NOBODY CAN GET TO HEAVEN without believing this in their heart. This is where the chicken-or-the-egg dilemma comes in. Does God chose a person regardless of desire? or does a person need to be a seeker of God first before he is "chosen" to be a kingdom participant? A diligent research will find that except for the prophet Jeremiah, all the Bible characters were seeking God first in one way or another before God called them. Paul, for example, thought that he was obeying God by persecuting Christians. Negative action, yes, but Paul's intentions were that of a God-seeker. Ironically and paradoxically, although Jeremiah was chosen by God from the womb (per Word study), it was Jeremiah himself who wrote God's declarative promise in Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek me and find me WHEN you seek me with all our heart"! That should solve the chicken-or-the-egg issue by an explicit declaration of Scripture instead of an inferential interpretation. Besides, the Law was originally given to a people who were yet unsaved, and the first law was "You shall have no other gods..." Hmmmm.
Fifth, the gospels AND Christ himself emphasized the life-exchange requirement for salvation. One cannot get eternal life without giving up his physical life! Christ declares "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-37; Luke 9:24-25). Wow! Three different authors of different backgrounds and they say the EXACT SAME thing! This is a SHOUT of God and not just a whisper. We need to pay attention and take this to heart. It is a matter of life and death, eternal life or eternal doom.
So, is one justified by faith or not? Biblically, one is indeed justified by faith, BUT....the English does not give justice to the real meaning in the Greek and the time it was written and for what purpose. Paul's justification by faith was never meant to be the "formula" for salvation. The concept was always discussed in relation to works. Paul simply used it to contrast the difference between those seeking to be justified by their goodness or good deeds vs. that of being justified by faith in the finished work of the the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin (singular) of the world". Hence, that is not the whole story, neither is it the whole gospel. However, it is definitely the post-resurrection door to the kingdom of heaven and no Scripture passage can contradict that.
However, there is more to the story of salvation as Paul himself explains in Romans 6.1-11, it is clear that we only get the resurrection life of Christ if we have died to sin at our justification. All verbs for death are in the past tense meaning that death to self occurred when we were justified. Only when we have died to self are we TRULY justified, " For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. " Romans 6:7. Furthermore, only when we have been set free from sin can we live the divine resurrection life of Christ in our bodies, "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." Romans 6:8
The issue of Justification by Faith alone is questionable when all our references to the principle comes solely from Paul. Paul never intended to ignore the gospels. Neither did he imagine that his epistles would be canonized. In fact, Paul was quite knowledgeable of the life, teachings and even personal revelations of Jesus Christ. Hence, we need to understand Paul's discussion of justification by faith in the light of the gospels which teach the willingness to die and leave all for the gospel, for the kingdom or for Christ.
Martin Luther, the great reformer and monk-scholar of Hebrew and Greek missed this key exegetical tool. His Hebrew and Greek "word scholarship" forgot the timeline context of the inspired word that he was trying to explain and thus concentrated almost entirely on Paul's epistles for his systematic theology. John Calvin, quite obviously, committed the exact same mistake and even went farther overboard!
Peter was correct when he cautioned that some of Paul's writings were "hard to understand which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures" (2 Peter 3:15-16). Yes, VERY PROPHETIC indeed if Peter saw what was happening today!
Here are some examples of today's subtle but very distorted interpretations because they violate the TIMELINE CONTEXT. We start with the one that could mean life or death.
Matthew 5:48 - "Be perfect as the Father is perfect". A Pauline cultist would readily say that Christ meant that when He becomes our Savior, God considers us perfect in his sight. Nothing could be contextually farther from the truth. The principle may be true but THAT IS NOT WHAT CHRIST MEANT! (Note that these are also the words from God [Leviticus 19:2] and Peter [1 Peter 1:15-16])
First, the context of the sermon on the mount is Kingdom mindset, behavior and practice. Obviously, Christ was giving clear examples like turning the other cheek instead of giving way to human nature responses when responding to any and all offenses. Note that Christ DID NOT give room for any exception to all of the sermon on the mount teachings. In fact he concluded it with a tree being known by its fruit and not all who say "Lord, Lord" will even make it to the door of the kingdom! This means that many who claim that Jesus is their Lord will REALLY NEVER MAKE IT! Contextually, entrance to the kingdom will ultimately be determined by "fruit" quality.
Second, Christ also stated as a matter-of-fact to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:21, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” That is nowhere close to justification by faith alone! James version of justification by works was more accurate and much closer to what Christ meant (James 2:24)!
Doctrine-wise, the Eastern Orthodox church seems to have it right since their statements of faith usually declare that one is "saved by faith and works".
Third, if expositors were truly aware of TIMELINE CONTEXT, they should interpret any and all of Paul's writings with an Old Testament and Gospels perspective. Expositors know that Paul is a Torah scholar, yet they interpret him like Paul came from the USA with no Jewish background. Expositors know that Paul knew the teachings of Christ in the gospels but they interpret him like the gospels were under the Old Testament dispensation. There are still some cults today that seem to assume that Paul wrote the King James version of the Bible. So these so-called exegetes interpret Paul like the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were never written.
Fourth, the gospels AND Christ emphasized the primary importance of the Great Commandment as CARDINAL DOCTRINE (Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke ). By "cardinal", we mean that NOBODY CAN GET TO HEAVEN without believing this in their heart. This is where the chicken-or-the-egg dilemma comes in. Does God chose a person regardless of desire? or does a person need to be a seeker of God first before he is "chosen" to be a kingdom participant? A diligent research will find that except for the prophet Jeremiah, all the Bible characters were seeking God first in one way or another before God called them. Paul, for example, thought that he was obeying God by persecuting Christians. Negative action, yes, but Paul's intentions were that of a God-seeker. Ironically and paradoxically, although Jeremiah was chosen by God from the womb (per Word study), it was Jeremiah himself who wrote God's declarative promise in Jeremiah 29:13, "You will seek me and find me WHEN you seek me with all our heart"! That should solve the chicken-or-the-egg issue by an explicit declaration of Scripture instead of an inferential interpretation. Besides, the Law was originally given to a people who were yet unsaved, and the first law was "You shall have no other gods..." Hmmmm.
Fifth, the gospels AND Christ himself emphasized the life-exchange requirement for salvation. One cannot get eternal life without giving up his physical life! Christ declares "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-37; Luke 9:24-25). Wow! Three different authors of different backgrounds and they say the EXACT SAME thing! This is a SHOUT of God and not just a whisper. We need to pay attention and take this to heart. It is a matter of life and death, eternal life or eternal doom.
So, is one justified by faith or not? Biblically, one is indeed justified by faith, BUT....the English does not give justice to the real meaning in the Greek and the time it was written and for what purpose. Paul's justification by faith was never meant to be the "formula" for salvation. The concept was always discussed in relation to works. Paul simply used it to contrast the difference between those seeking to be justified by their goodness or good deeds vs. that of being justified by faith in the finished work of the the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin (singular) of the world". Hence, that is not the whole story, neither is it the whole gospel. However, it is definitely the post-resurrection door to the kingdom of heaven and no Scripture passage can contradict that.
However, there is more to the story of salvation as Paul himself explains in Romans 6.1-11, it is clear that we only get the resurrection life of Christ if we have died to sin at our justification. All verbs for death are in the past tense meaning that death to self occurred when we were justified. Only when we have died to self are we TRULY justified, " For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. " Romans 6:7. Furthermore, only when we have been set free from sin can we live the divine resurrection life of Christ in our bodies, "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." Romans 6:8
No comments:
Post a Comment