The "Word" to Live By

Key Concepts in Romans 3:24-26

2007-08-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 22, 2007

Key Concepts in Romans 3:24-26
by Dan Trygg

This passage of Scripture is "pregnant" with significant words that are very important to grasp in order to get a handle on what the New Testament is teaching. In order to help us, we need to look briefly at the background of these terms, since they are somewhat obscure to us in modern-day English.

1.) Justification -- "being justified" -- This is primarily a "law court term". It was the common
word used to describe being acquitted of a charge in a court case. In the eyes of the law,
and in the eyes of God in this passage, to be "justified" means to be "declared innocent".
It meant that you were viewed and treated as innocent, "just-as-if-I'd-never-sinned",
...whether you really were innocent, or not. The Greek word is a participle form of the
same word as "righteous" or "righteousness", hence "being righteous-i-fied" or "being
made right" would be a good translation. What does this mean? It means that God views
and treats you as a righteous person, not as a sinner.

2.) Freely -- This word is an adverb, describing or modifying the verb, "being justified". How
are we justified? Freely, without cost, as a free gift, for nothing, or without any causal
action on my part -- these are all definitions of the same Greek word.

3.) Grace -- "by His grace" -- This phrase tells us where the free justification is coming from.
Other options for this word are: "unmerited (unearned by us) favor, graciousness,
good will or generosity". Clearly, the grace or graciousness comes out of the richness
and fullness of His good heart toward us.

4.) Redemption -- Lit., "from ransom" -- This is a term that refers to buying something out of
bondage, indebtedness, or obligation to another by paying a price or ransom. It was used
in the Old Testament for property and the slavery, or bond-service, of Israelites (e.g.,
Leviticus 25:23-34). It was also commonly used in the general Greek culture as a slave
market term for buying a slave out of bondage to another, setting him free by paying the
purchase price to return to his real home and identity.

5.) Propitiation -- This word refers to the just means, methods or place where the release,
removal and satisfaction for sin is made. This word was used in the Greek Septuagint
translation for the "mercy seat", which was the lid that covered the ark of the covenant in
the Holy of Holies. It was upon this mercy seat that blood was sprinkled once a year on
the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) as a satisfying offering to indicate God's acceptance
of the people's worship of the past year (Lev. 16). The blood was also put upon a goat,
which was led out into the wilderness and released, symbolically taking the sin of the
people outside the camp. In the Greek culture, the emphasis of this word was that it
referred to the sacrifice necessary to placate the anger of the gods. Paul's use of the term
here is that God displayed the redemptive payment of Jesus as a satisfactory, just means,
method, and location by which His wrath and judgment against sin could be satisfied and
removed. Jesus became the sacrificial offering to appease and remove wrath, so that
none could question God's justice and integrity. Cf. I Jn. 2:2; 4:10.

What Comes With Justification?

2007-04-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 22, 2007

What Comes With Justification?
by Dan Trygg

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:1-5

The first half of the first verse sets the stage for this entire paragraph, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have…” Paul begins to describe the benefits that accompany the new standing we have before God. The foremost and most important benefit is that now we have peace with God. We were once considered children of wrath by Him, because of our sin (Eph. 2:1-3). Now, because we have claimed the redemption price of the Lamb, Jesus’ death for our sin, we are no longer objects of His wrath. The debt and offense of sin has been removed, so God does not perceive us as enemies any longer. Instead, we are His friends (Jn. 15:13-15), and He actually delights in us, because we have believed that Jesus came from God, and we have chosen to love Him (Jn. 16:26,27). Note that the peace we have with God is “through Jesus Christ”. We haven’t made the peace, Jesus did. Only He was able to offer a sacrifice that was satisfactory and sufficient to purchase peace (propitiation - Rom. 3:25). We have only aligned ourselves with Him, and have accepted Him as our Peace (Eph. 2:11-18).

By means of Jesus, and His sacrifice, we now have access to grace, and even to God the Father. Before, we did not. We were excluded from God’s presence and had no hope of finding acceptance with Him. Through Jesus, all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, can have access to the Father (Eph. 2:11-18). What does this mean? This word picture is taken from the royal court of most kings of that time. You could not just come to visit the king. Most people were never permitted into the king’s royal throne room. Only a matter of supreme importance to the interests of the king or the country would warrant being granted an audience with him. Kings were people of great power, so their time was very valuable. Their time and attention was preciously guarded. In the book of Esther, for anyone to come into the king’s presence without being invited was punishable by death, unless the king chose to spare you by lifting his scepter toward you. Even Esther the queen was afraid of entering into his chamber without being called for, because she was afraid that he might not acknowledge her (Est. 4:11), his own wife! With that background, we can appreciate better what Paul is saying here. In Christ, we have free access to the King of the Universe! He will always welcome and acknowledge us, and even be favorably inclined toward us, because of Jesus. Proverbs 3:32 tells us that God is intimate with the upright, and Psalm 25 indicates that He is willing to teach the humble, and even has secret counsel to share with those who revere Him. None of this would be possible if it were not for the sacrifice of Jesus’ life on our behalf. Just as the veil of the temple, which separated the most holy place from the common people, was torn from top to bottom at the time of Jesus’ death (Matt. 27:51), in the same way Jesus opened the heavenly throne room to all of us who trust in Him. By the blood of Jesus, we can come openly and boldly into God’s presence in prayer, knowing with full assurance that He will accept us and hear our concerns (Heb. 10:19-22). Once again, the offering of Jesus’ life was a free gift, an act of grace, which God freely gave to us. By faith we have obtained access to this grace, and it has become ours. The Greek verb tense indicates that the grace has become ours. We didn’t just get it at the point we believed, but we got it and still have it. We obtained it, and it remains ours. We are still covered by grace, and we stand and remain standing in this grace.

The next phrase is kind of interesting, “and we exult in hope of the glory of God”. I don’t know about you, but I don’t use the word, “exult”, very often. The NIV renders it as “rejoice”, but that doesn’t quite grasp the whole meaning, either. The word basically means to “boast”. In a context like this, it also takes on the flavor of joy and delight. In other words, we could translate it as, “we take delight in, and love to talk about, the hope of the glory of God”. What does this mean? Remember, this is the second time the word “glory” occurs in this book. The first time was in 3:23, “…for all have sinned, and lack the glory of God”. This gives us some context for understanding 5:2. What we were lacking, now we have an opportunity to partake of, once again. With justification comes a renewing of the influx of God’s glory into our lives, through the Holy Spirit. This is something to not only get excited about; it is something to crow about, to boast about! It is not something we have done, so we are not boasting in ourselves. We are boasting in God and His incredible salvation. Who else, besides followers of Jesus, actually have the abiding presence of God’s Spirit come to dwell in their hearts to fill them with His glory?

“But not only this, rather we can also boast in our difficult-circumstances.” Why can we boast? Because we know that God can use the testings and afflictions in our lives to produce perseverance, which can bring about proven character, which, in turn, works out the very hope we have been talking about, the glory of God established and made visible in our lives.

This is very similar to what James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, wrote about in his letter, “Consider every joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have a complete effect, so that you may be mature and whole, lacking in nothing” (Jas. 1:2-4).

Note the similarities:

(1.) we will experience trials or testings of our faith;

(2.) testing of our faith produces perseverance;

(3.) remaining steadfast under trial produces mature character, wholeness and equipping in our faith.

Note, too, that our response to the trial is critical. The temptations would be to

(a.) compromise our beliefs;

(b.) give in to the test and engage in sin; and

(c.) give up too soon, so that we do not get the full benefit from the test.

The man or woman of faith will look beyond the immediate test to see the eternal perspective. They will remember that God has permitted the test in order to strengthen them. They will rejoice that God can even bring growth and benefit out of such a difficult circumstance.

We also have the assurance that our hope is sure. We will not be disappointed or put to shame for believing in Jesus, or for remaining true to Him under trial. How can we know that? Because God has poured out His love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit which He has given to us. We have an internal witness of God’s love, the Spirit, who testifies to us that we are children of God (Rom. 8:15-17). He is given to us to be a seal of God’s ownership upon our lives, a down payment, or engagement promise that Christ will return to completely fulfill the salvation He has begun in us (II Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13,14; 4:30; Phil. 1:6). The reality of the presence of the Spirit in our lives is a guarantee that God will keep His promise to us.

Verses 6-10 serve as a further support that our hope is dependable. Paul reminds us of the contrast of God’s magnanimous grace in light of our absolute inability and unworthiness to deserve His love or concern.

Christ died for us

(1.) while we were powerless; and,

(2.) while we were undevoted to Him (vs. 6).

We had nothing whatever to offer God to motivate Him to action to save us, …nothing based upon any performance on our part, or even based upon a mindfulness toward Him. In verse 7, the apostle points out that a person may be willing to die for someone whose life was especially good or valuable. In our case, however, God demonstrated His love for us while we had done nothing good or valuable. In fact, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (vs. 8)! Verse 10 tells us that we were even God’s enemies when He sent Jesus into the world to die for us! Since God, at such great personal cost, showed His love toward us when we were so very unworthy, how much more will He be willing to do to save us, now that we have responded to Him? If He gave Himself for us totally when we wanted nothing to do with Him, how much more do you think He would be gracious to us, now that we have become His children? If He sent Jesus to save us when we were powerless and hostile in mind toward Him, how committed do you think He will be to those who show an interest in following Him? There can be no doubt about it. We can be certain that He will save us.

Finally, we take delight in, and love to talk about, God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. Once we understand the incredible love and grace of God, we cannot help but glory and boast in Him. He is awesome, and His love is beyond our ability to fully comprehend (Eph. 3:14-19). How can we not boast in and take delight in our Father in heaven, who has loved us with such great love? How can we not brag on our Savior, who gave Himself totally for us, when we had done nothing for Him? In addition to what He has already done for us, we have the further promise from Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” There is nothing that He would withhold, …nothing that He will not do, …no length to which He will not go, …no price He would not pay, to ensure that those who have trusted in Christ Jesus will be saved to the uttermost, to the complete fulfillment of God’s salvation plan (Heb. 7:25). Nothing will stand in His way. How can we not love Him who first loved us with such love?

What this Blog is all about

2007-04-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

Every week I prepare a teaching for our little Church called The Ekklesia Fellowship. Each week I post that weekly teaching. In our church gatherings, because they are purposely small, we provide and actually encourage dialogue about the topic on which I teach each week.

This space will be no different. I want to encourage you to post questions and make comments about what you read here. Wrap your arms around what is said and "try-on" the teaching to see how it fits you. Maybe you have a personal experience that demonstrates first hand what the teaching is about. Maybe you have an insight into the Word, that will ad to what the teaching says. Maybe you disagree with my conclusions or exegesis of the passage.

Please be free and encouraged to express all this, but please do so in a way that seeks to edify.

Speak the truth in love.

But SPEAK!!!!!

I look forward to reading your responses and insights, which I'm sure will minister to others as they read what you have to say.

God Bless,

Dan

Christ Our Savior And Our Life

2007-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 8, 2007

Christ Our Savior And Our Life

by Dan Trygg

"…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." I Peter 2:24

The plan of God in dealing with sin centers upon the human child born to Mary in Bethlehem. We could explore the details of what God did through Jesus, and why He chose to do it as He did, for many pages. For our purposes here, however, I want to simply introduce four concepts for our discussion:

(1.) Christ for us; (2.) Christ as us; (3.) Christ together with us; and (4.) Christ in us.

(1.) Christ For Us -- Most of us are familiar with this concept. Basically, it means that Christ paid for our sins instead of us. It is like we owed a debt, and we had no ability to even begin to pay it back, so God sent Jesus to pay our debt. In the OT, if someone committed a crime against someone else's property, e.g., theft, robbery, vandalism, or abuse, the judgment of the law was that he/she had to make restitution. If he could not afford to do so in such a circumstance, he could be sold into slavery to repay the debt. In such cases, a close relative could step forward to pay the amount owed in order to free the debtor from his indenture. This person was called a "kinsman redeemer" (e.g., Lev. 25:23-55). Redemption means that a price had to be paid for the release of the debt and the debtor.

Jesus has come from God to be our Kinsman Redeemer. No human could ever pay for the sins of another, since we all have sinned, and the penalty for sin is death (Psa. 49:7,8; Rom. 3:23; 6:23). Anyone who had ever sinned, even one time, would only be able to pay for his/her own sin. It would do no good to offer to die for another. More than money was required to satisfy the debt of sin, it was life itself (I Pet. 1:18,19). From a legal standpoint, once we recognize and acknowledge that we are sinners, the question is, "How can my debt of sin ever be paid for?" Christ's death for us answers this question. Jesus, as a perfect sinless human, was able to offer Himself as a sacrificial payment for the sins of all people. As God the Son, His life was infinitely precious, worth much more than the lives of the entire human race. He paid our debt for us, by offering His very life in exchange for our freedom (Heb. 9:11-14,22-28). This was the meaning of His cry from the cross, “It is finished!”. The Greek word (tetelestai) was the word merchants of that day wrote on the bills of people who paid off their debts. It meant, “paid in full” or “account closed”. This is consistent with what Jesus Himself had said, "The Son of Man came ...to give His life a ransom for many" (Mk. 10:45). As Paul later observed, "…in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Eph. 1:7; cf. I Pet. 3:18). Jesus’ life was the redemption price which God provided to buy us out of our hopeless debt of sin. All we must do in order to benefit from His provision is to accept His payment offered on our behalf by repentance and faith. Repentance is a change of perspective and purpose. Faith is trusting His provision and faithfulness to do for us what He has offered, and living as if this is true by choosing to follow Him. God expects us to follow (Matt. 28:19,20).

(2.) Christ As Us -- This second aspect of Jesus' work to deliver us from sin has to do with substitution. This idea of paying our debt would not be possible unless Jesus could somehow "stand in" for us. The idea of substitutionary atonement was solidly imbedded in the mind of the Jewish people. They clearly understood that when they offered up an animal on the altar, it was "standing in" for them. They would lay their hands upon the animal, signifying their identity with it and symbolically placing their sins upon it, ...and then they would slay it, signifying their own death. They were taught that the life of an animal or person was in its blood. They were made aware of this principle every day, because they had to butcher and prepare their meat in special ways to avoid eating any blood (Gen. 9:4). The entire OT sacrificial system was based upon this fact, “the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life within it that makes atonement” (Lev. 17:11). The word, “atonement” meant “covering”, so God permitted them to offer the blood of animals as a temporary covering for their sin, until a provision could be made to remove them (cf. Rom. 3:25). In a way similar to the OT sacrifices, Jesus voluntarily took our place. Like a lamb led to slaughter, His blood was shed, and the punishment that was meant for us was forever removed, because His sacrifice was of so much greater value than mere animal offerings (Heb. 9:22-10:10; Isa. 53:1-12; II Cor. 5:21; I Pet. 2:24; Rom. 5:6-11). Somehow He managed to take the punishment which God's wrath demanded, so that God has no more wrath to pour out on those Jesus represented. The death blow that was meant for the rest of us fell upon Him (Isa. 53:8).

(3.) Christ Together With Us -- This third concept is not as familiar to most people who have been exposed to Christian teaching, because it has not been well taught, and it is difficult for people from our cultural background to understand. The concept has been given fancy names by different theologians. Some refer to it as federal headship or corporate personality or as representative solidarity. Basically, the idea is that Jesus somehow represents humanity so perfectly and completely that when He acts, it is as though we also act, ...likewise, when something is done to Him, it is also done to all those He represents. To us, as individualistic-minded Westerners, this makes no sense. To the Eastern mind, however, -- where the group is the center of one's identity, not the individual -- this concept is not difficult to grasp. Paul discusses this in Rom. 5:12-21; I Cor. 15:21-23,45-49; and II Cor. 5:14-17. In his own conversion experience, the resurrected Jesus referred to this reality when He asked Paul, "...why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4; cf. Mt. 25:40) This "in-your-face" encounter he had with this statement of Christ's solidarity with His people probably is why this apostle seems to appreciate and refer to this concept more than anyone else in the NT. It is the basis for most of his teaching about growing as a Christian in Romans 5-8.

As incredible as it may seem, what Paul teaches is that:

When Jesus was crucified, we also were crucified;

When Jesus died, we also died;

When Jesus was buried, we also were buried;

When Jesus rose from among the dead ones, we also rose from the dead ones to newness of life.

This is fundamental Christian doctrine. If we do not understand this, or at least learn to apply its reality on a practical level, we will not be able to move into maturity. The basis for freedom from bondage to the flesh, from the power of sin, and from the demands of the law are firmly established upon the reality of our union with Christ in His death, resurrection, and even His ascension (Eph. 2:5,6). The fact that there is a "new person" that we can "put on", as well as an "old person" that we can now "put off" is also founded upon this same principle.

(4.) Christ In Us – This fourth component of God’s provision deals with the power to live as Jesus would live. In Colossians 1:26-29, Paul speaks of a mystery that was unknown and hidden from past generations, but which has now been manifested to God’s people. This mystery is described by the apostle as “Christ in you, the hope of the glory”. What glory? The glory or radiance of God’s abiding presence within us (cf. Jn. 1:14; Heb. 1:2; II Cor. 3:4-4:6; Jn. 17:20-22). This is crucial. This is where the power for change in our lives comes from. It is Christ in us. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, “I have been crucified in Christ. I (myself) no longer live, but Christ in me lives. But now what life I live in flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up on my behalf.” Christ lives in me. How does He live in me, if He is sitting up in heaven at the Father’s right hand? Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in each believer. Jesus spoke of this in Jn. 14:16-18. The Holy Spirit is sent to live within us, so that we would not be alone, desolate or friendless. He is sent to be our Helper, one who will empower and enable us to do what we cannot do on our own.

I still have the choice regarding how I want to live, …by my own self-understanding and self-strength, …or by the power, wisdom and leading of Jesus who lives in me. In either case, I will get the consequences, or resulting fruit, of my choices. If I choose to live by self-understanding and self-will, then I will get the same results I have been getting up until now in my life. My life will, at best, be ruled by human ingenuity and self-discipline. It will still be a very limited, human existence. At worst, it will be foolish, wasteful, self-centered and self-destructive. If I choose to live by the leading and power of the indwelling Christ, however, then the consequences and fruit of my life will be very different. People will see something in us that is hard to explain or relate to from their own experience. We will do things that sometimes don’t make sense to them. We will be willing and able to serve and help others joyfully, and seem to be refreshed by it. They will see a new joy in our lives, a new freedom. We will begin to grow and make changes in our lives. We will have a new motivation to put aside destructive patterns in our lives, and choose to establish healthy ones. We will become more gracious, kind and compassionate toward others. We will be willing to help others, with no strings attached. Our lives will be characterized by amazing love, incredible peace, overflowing joy, remarkable patience, abundant kindness, wonderful goodness, positive faith, consistent dependability and persistent self-control, the fruit of keeping in step with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16,22,23).

Overseeing One Another

2006-11-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: November 26, 2006

"Overseeing" One Another

by Dan Trygg

"Y'all pursue peace with all, and the set-apart-ness without which not anyone will see the Lord, looking-over

...lest anyone [might be] coming-short away from the grace of God

...lest any root of bitterness sprouting up might incite as a mob, and by means of it many might be contaminated

...lest anyone [might be] sexually immoral or profane, like Esau, who for one meal sold his own birthright. For you know that afterwards, wishing to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for an opportunity for a change-of-mind he did not find, even though with tears he earnestly sought for it." Hebrews 12:14-17

We have been examining passages that advocate interactive Body-life, the ministry interplay God intended for us to exercise one to another. It is amazing how much of the New Testament is really about this dynamic, and yet most people are largely oblivious to it. This is partially due to a lack of clarity in translation, and partially due to the model of "doing church" that most of us have been nurtured under. The Scriptures clearly tell us to "examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good" (I Thess. 5:21). The Protestant Reformation was the result of such questioning, and it has been a corrective toward health. The reformers, however, carried over many of the beliefs and practices of Catholicism. It is up to us to rediscover and utilize the power of the priesthood of all believers as God originally intended, by setting us to work at building up each other and watching out for one another in ways the Bible describes.

As we come to chapter 10 in the book of Hebrews, the writer has been addressing Jewish Christians who have been considering retreating from their new found faith back into Judaism. In chapter 10, he (or she) recounts the strong faith they have exhibited in the past (10:32-39), enduring trials, difficulties, and persecution for their faith in Jesus. Chapter 11 lists example after example of recognized OT heroes of faith, people who also endured similar struggles in their pursuit of God's will for their lives. Chapter 12, then, begins with an admonition to put off the encumbrances and sins that hinder, and exhorts them to run with perseverance the "faith-race" set before them. Remember that Jesus Himself endured shame, reproach and suffering, and they have yet to come close to the level of opposition which He faced. Furthermore, they should not be surprised that their Christian experience should sometimes be painful, for God is a Father who disciplines and reproves His children. He desires to deepen and mature our character, and sometimes that means He must confront our sin. Discipline is no fun. It is painful, for the moment, but it produces a good result. Therefore, they should pull themselves together, and cooperate with the purposes of God, so the lessons He desires to teach could be quickly learned, and they would have a chance to heal. To stubbornly resist Him will only extend the time when we are under discipline, and we will only be miserable.

This is the flow of thought leading up to our selected verses. At this point, the author definitely changes over from the theoretical to the practical, giving application to specific areas for their attention. Note the following:

(1.) The admonition is addressed to them as a group. The Greek verb form indicates that the imperative is made to "y'all". This is important to understand, as we follow the passage down through what is being said.

(2.) The main verb is "pursue". This indicates an ongoing process. This is descriptive of either (a.) a long-term objective that will take an extended time to reach; or (b.) a situation that requires continual attention because of a tendency to degenerate from the ideal; or (c.) an ideal that is not necessarily attainable, but is worth striving for. Probably aspects of all three of these delineations come into play as we attempt to live this out.

(3.) There are two main objects of our pursuit advocated in this sentence, peace and holiness.

Peace is reconciled relationships. It is not just the absence of hostility; it is the establishment of friendship. It is important to see that this is a pursuit, not an absolute command. It is not within our power of control to actually cause everyone around us to be our friend. That is why the apostle Paul, in Romans 12:18, said, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." It is not always possible. Obviously, Jesus Himself did not succeed at "having peace with all men". There were some who hated Him, and ultimately killed Him. He, on His part, however, did not hold a grudge toward anyone, as evidenced by His prayer for their forgiveness on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34). We are to attempt to be peace-makers, to do what we can to promote understanding and forgiveness, ...to even love and serve our enemies to show them our hearts (Lk. 6:27-35), ...to build bridges, not walls. Ultimately, however, we cannot force their friendship.

Holiness is setting ourselves apart from what is common in order to be devoted to God. A passion to know and serve God drives our choice to live as dedicated to Him. Not just any so-called "holiness" is in mind, it is "the holiness", i.e., the holiness which the writer had mentioned in verse 10. God disciplines us for our benefit, so that we might share in "the holiness of Him" (or, as Peter writes, "that [we] might become partakers of the Divine nature" -- II Pet. 1:4). This holiness will be the required nature of all those who dwell in the presence of God in eternity, for there will be no sin or uncleanness there (Rev. 21:27). It is available to us now, if we will pursue it and learn to walk in it.

(4.) We are given more specific instruction how to carry out our group pursuit of peace and holiness by giving us the responsibility of "overseeing". Verse 15 begins with a very significant word. It is a participle, an

"-ing" word that is used to indicate the process we are to follow to accomplish the task we are to be about. It is a present-tense form, emphasizing the continual, ongoing nature of this process. The word is a form of episkopeō, which literally means to "look over", or to "oversee", something. The noun form, episkopos, is the word often translated as "bishop" (Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; I Tim. 3:1,2; Tit. 1:7; I Pet. 2:25), another title for an elder. "Overseeing" was one of the functions involved in shepherding the flock of God's people (Acts 20:28; I Pet. 5:1-3). This is important background to understand, because the thrust of the use of this word encompasses all of that background, and brings it to this verse. Then the verse gives the responsibility of oversight to all of us, not just to the "overseers". It is a shared responsibility. There are some who will be more obviously involved in carrying out this duty, but it is not something exclusive to them. It is a job that belongs to us all. This goes against the grain of hierarchy, and definitely emphasizes God's interest in functionality, not positions of power or influence. It is also an example of wisdom. If the essential element of "overseeing" is to "keep one's eyes open" and watch what is going on in peoples' lives, then it is obvious that any one person, or even a group of people, will always have a limited vantage point. By giving the responsibility to all of us to be "overseeing" each other, it is more likely that problems will be noticed more readily, simply because more people are being watchful for them.

There are three specific things mentioned that we are to be watchful for:

(a.) ...lest anyone [might be] coming-short away from the grace of God. This is a very broad picture. The word translated as "coming-short" means to "lack, be in want of, to be destitute, to be inferior, to be missing, to fall behind (as in a race), or to fail to reach the goal, to come late and miss out on". It is important to see that it is Christians that are in view. This is not about salvation, it is about living up to the privileges and potential God has given. We are to watch out to see any place someone is missing out on, lacking, or failing to grasp God's grace.

(b.) ...lest any root of bitterness sprouting up might incite as a mob, and by means of it many might be contaminated. We are to be watchful for any "root of bitterness springing up". Bitterness is unresolved anger or resentment toward God or another person, ...the very opposite of peace. The word comes from a root word meaning to "fasten on" or to "adhere to", to "stick like pitch", thus, it refers to anger that has become “stuck” to someone. Bitterness originates there, but festers until it has a harsh, putrid flavor to it. It is described as a "root" because it may start out as a small incident, but it grows larger and larger, and produces a bitter fruit. The word picture of the rapidly infectious nature of this problem is captured by the word "springing up". It means to sprout, or shoot up. Interestingly, this verbal form comes from a word meaning to puff up, or swell up, from which the springing forth originates. We are to watch for the development of bitterness among us, because when it does come forth it "incites like a mob", and can turn the minds of others quickly to see the negative and become poisoned with the same attitude.

(c.) ...lest anyone [might be] sexually immoral or profane. The word translated as "sexually immoral" is the Greek word pornos. It originally meant "sex for hire", coming from a root word meaning "to sell". A pornē was a prostitute. In time, the word came to also mean fornication, or any other sexually immoral acts. The word translated as "profane" means to be “common, open to anything”. It comes from a word picture of "walking across the threshold", like anyone could just come and go as they please. It is the very opposite of holiness, i.e., "dedicated for a sacred purpose". A profane person has no scruples, especially about things pertaining to God, so they have no self-imposed restraints or boundaries.

…as Esau, ...found no place for repentance... Esau is used as an example of a man who did not properly value the things of God, and wasted himself on other, more immediate fleshly interests. Later on, he missed an opportunity for something he did desire, but there was no way to change things. The message is that life consists of opportunities that come and go, sometimes with no second chance. Don't waste the grace and opportunities God has provided, or they may be gone for ever. We are to watch for attitudes and behaviors that indicate that someone is not taking seriously his or her calling to be dedicated to God. If we love and value that person, we will speak up about the shortsightedness of his or her behavior. We will not just turn away, while others are enticed by sin. It is our job to call one another to the twin standards of love and holiness.

Watching Out for One Another

2006-11-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: November 19, 2006

Watching Out For One Another

by Dan Trygg

"Watch, brothers and sisters, lest it will be in anyone of y'all an unsound heart of unbelief to withdraw away from the living God. Rather, encourage yourselves according to each day, as long as it is called 'Today', in order that not anyone out from y'all might be dried-up-and-made-stiff in a delusion of the error." Hebrews 3:12,13

Several passages in the book of Hebrews emphasize Body-life interaction and accountability for the growth, support, and stability of individual Christians. In the context of the book, the unknown author is writing to Hebrew Christians who appear to be faltering in their commitment to Jesus. They have trusted in Him as their Messiah, but having undergone rejection and ostracism from the Jewish community, as well as persecution, imprisonment, and the loss of their goods, some are beginning to question whether they made the right choice. Some are considering just dropping the focus on Jesus, and attempting to quietly return to their pre-Christian Jewishness. The writer is attempting to show them the importance of remaining true and steadfast to their allegiance to King Jesus, and their testimony as Christians. He (or she) does this by comparing the old Mosaic covenant with the new one established in Christ; by reminding them of the faithfulness of others in the face of suffering and persecution (including Jesus Himself); and by utilizing the history of their forefathers to illustrate how those who kept shrinking back in unbelief not only missed out on the blessings of God, but also incurred His wrath and judgment. The clear message of the book is, "This is the 'better way'. Hang in there, and keep pressing on after Christ in obedience. Those who persist, through faith and patience, will be partners with God in His work, as well as sharers of His blessings."

The message of our chosen topic verse has to do with our responsibility (and privilege) to watch out for each other in the Body of Christ. Our culture tells us to "look out for number one". Often our church culture emphasizes the teaching that says, "look to yourselves, lest you, too, be tempted", implying that we ought to concentrate on minding our own business, and not become busybodies and gossips. While there is a legitimate issue there, we have seen that God set things up so that we would be paying attention to one another’s lives, in order to assist one another in getting through life's struggles together. In addition to this, too often we have painted a picture of the problem of "falling away" that is too simplistic, too black and white, too judgmental. As a result of translations that render the Greek from this perspective, and as a result of preaching that follows this same tack, we miss some of the practical, real-life counsel that God intended for us to gain from this verse. So, let's take a fresh look at this from the nitty-gritty, human-experience angle to see what we can learn from what has been written.

"Watch" -- Though often translated by such phrases as "take heed", "take care", or even "beware", this Greek word, blepō, is one of the most common words used for the act of seeing, i.e., to look at with the eyes; to behold; to gaze upon; to be aware of, perceive, or discover with the senses; or, metaphorically, to consider, regard, discern and understand mentally, i.e., with the "mind's eye". It describes a more vivid or earnest "looking" than some of the other Greek words, implying a more curious, investigative quality of contemplation. How we understand this depends on how we see the entire context. From my English-language, Western church background, I have always understood this as a warning, a "take heed to yourself", a "watch out" or "pay attention" because there is danger up ahead for me. It could be understood this way. The Greek would allow for this. On the other hand, because of the New Testament emphasis on interactive Body-life, and especially because of Hebrews 10:24 (where we are clearly told to consider, or take note of, one another), I am beginning to look at this very differently. I think, now, that the writer was directing the believers to watch out for one another. It is a practical word about interactive Body-life, not so much an introspective warning. Why? Because we can do something practical to help one another, if we see someone else in the unhealthy state of mind the verse describes. It is very difficult to "kick yourself into gear", however, if this is happening to you. I think this will become more clear as we go along, so allow me to get more of the pieces out on the table before I try to put them together. The word is also plural, "Y'all watch..." The responsibility is given to us all.

"lest it will be in anyone of y'all" -- We are to be watching in order to avoid a potential problem. The word, "lest", could also be translated as "in order that ...not", e.g., "in order that it will not be in anyone of your group". The word translated as "it will be" could mean "to exist over time in the future". It does not necessarily mean that our watching will keep it from occurring altogether, rather our vigilance can keep it from continuing.

"an unsound heart of unbelief in the to withdraw away from the living God" -- The word I have rendered as "unsound" is often translated as "evil". When we perceive it that way, we automatically think that the person with this kind of heart is wicked, and is choosing to resist God out of stubbornness and spite. However, the word can also refer to something of bad quality, something sick or in poor condition, something diseased or unhealthy. If we translate it this way, suddenly we see this as a problem that possibly we can help with. Then the passage becomes one of caring for the "sick hearted". The rest of the phrase helps to further clarify. This is a sick heart "of unbelief in the to withdraw from ...God." The word translated as "unbelief" is just a negated form of the word for faith, a heart of non-faith, or non-trust. The consequences of remaining in that state can be devastating, but "unbelief" is something we all experience at times. It was the problem of the father of the demoniac in Mark 9:24, "I do believe; help my unbelief!" When the Lord appeared to Thomas in John 20:27, He said, "...be not unbelieving, but believing". Paul, in II Tim. 2:13, declares that "if we are faithless (unbelieving), He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself." So, it is possible for Christians to experience unbelief, and God is willing to minister to us even at that point, if we cry out to Him. What further complicates this scenario in Hebrews 3, however, is that this unbelief is motivating the person to withdraw from God, instead of draw nearer to Him for help. The word literally means to "stand away from", usually translated as to leave or depart, but it can also mean simply "to avoid, to withdraw from, or to keep one's self from". So, the person we are to be especially concerned about is one whose heart becomes unhealthy in unbelief and begins to withdraw, or avoid, God.

The next verse gives another word picture for the danger being described. We are to take action in order to keep anyone from among us (definitely, the focus is on us caring for one another in the group) from "being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin", or, as I translated it above, "in order that not anyone out from y'all might be dried-up-and-made-stiff in a delusion of the error". One thing that the Greek clearly says to us here is that this person is not choosing to harden himself. The verb is a passive form, meaning that the person is being acted upon, i.e., it is happening to him or her. The person is not embracing or pursuing the hardness or the unbelief, but they are very much being affected by it. The word picture for "harden" is so helpful here to understand what is going on. The person is becoming "dried-up-and-made-stiff". There was a time when this brother or sister was soft and pliable, but because of circumstances and inner turmoil, they have lost trust, withdrawn from God, and have begun to dry up inside and become jaded in heart. This withdrawal from God, in itself, could be the "error" mentioned at the end of verse 13. The Greek word refers to a "mark-missing", …an attempt to do what they thought was right or good but it missed the target…, an error or mistake. At some level inside, they think they are doing what they need to do for themselves. They think this is the best way, the way that will be less painful. This is complicated by deception. They no longer see things clearly. They will not probably be able to reason their way back to God, at least in the frame of mind they are in. The problem is compounded further if they are back "medicating their pain" with some old behavior designed to make them feel better (Eph. 4:17-19). At least temporarily they will not feel the emptiness so acutely, being "numbed out" by their pleasure-seeking, and they may once again think that they can find the answers to their problems apart from God.

What is to be done? How do we help someone who is in such a state? Most versions translate the beginning of vs. 13 as "exhort one another". The word "exhort" sounds to me like an "in-your-face" kind of admonition, an "I'll-tell-you-what-to-do" in a "tell-it-like-it-is" kind of style. The word in Greek, however, is the word, parakaleō, which means "come alongside to help". It is more often translated as "comfort, encourage, cheer up, or entreat" than "exhort". Certainly, the word picture of "coming alongside to help" is a much more tender, gentle, caring image than simply "exhort". This is more emotional support than instruction, …"being there" to give an emotional "cup of cold water" to refresh their parched souls. It is being the truth in love. When they can no longer think the truth, we can walk it out with them. They need more of our caring presence than just our words. Cf. I Thess. 5:14. Speaking the truth is important, but we need to come alongside as a servant, willing to help. We must listen to discern what is really needed to move them out of their quagmire. Easy or pat answers will not cut it. Their emotional state does not permit them to think clearly, so a teaching will not, by itself, solve the problem. We must give them hope by our willingness to “come alongside”.

Furthermore, the verb is addressed to the entire group, "y'all encourage". We are all able to minister to one another, if we walk in love. The responsibility does not just fall on some counseling corps. It is Body-life. The verb is also ongoing, present action, "y'all be coming alongside to help". This is reinforced by the surrounding words. We are to do it "according to each day, as long as it is called 'today'". In other words, don't put it off. Be ready, be regular, and be responsive to the opportunities and needs as they come up. Don’t let “hardness” settle in.

Prepared to Build Up

2006-10-29T03:41:00.000-08:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc
www.dtminc.org
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568

Today’s Date: October 29, 2006

Prepared To "Build Up"
by Dan Trygg
"And He gave on the one hand apostles, but also prophets, but also evangelists, but also shepherds and teachers, for the equipping/mending/adapting of the saints toward work of service, toward building-up of the Body of Christ."

Eph. 4:11,12

"So what is the outcome, then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building-up." I Corinthians 14:26

Here in these two passages, we see both the stated intent of Paul's understanding of his role in ministry, and the application of that intent in the local church. We see both the big picture, as well as the practical instruction given to a particular group to implement this vision. We observe both the theoretical principle, and see the attempt to work that out in a nitty-gritty, down-to-earth specific gathering of believers. We are party to the coach's general game plan, and we also get a brief glimpse of a practice session, where we watch him "work the team", giving specific pointers and direction to sharpen their play. We need to understand this entire concept of "building up", or "edification", from both perspectives. Why? Because we are to be both players and trainers, ...students and teachers, ...receivers and givers, ...those in need of healing and growth, while at the same time we are to be helping others to heal and grow. We are to be the recipients and beneficiaries of the mending and equipping process, while at the same time being prepared to help, heal, and equip others. In fact, it is in doing this service to others that our own healing and giftings become energized and full of vitality. It is as much for our own movement forward in maturity and health, as it is for the benefit of those we serve. We ourselves are strengthened and deepened, empowered and encouraged, fine-tuned and sharpened, as we go about the business that God has for us to do.

In order to more clearly understand this whole process, let us meditate a bit on some of the truths that become evident as you study more about this whole area of "building up" one another.

(1.) We all start out as relatively un-equipped and unskilled at doing this work. This is important for us to note, because we all experience feelings of discomfort, inadequacy, or confusion in working out this process. None of us comes "ready-made" as a full-grown, entirely equipped, mature and well-seasoned veteran of ministry. That should be obvious, but too often we compare ourselves with other people and feel timid, shy, or awkward in our attempts to share, or reach out to one another. There is no other way to grow, however, than to work through and past those uncomfortable feelings and begin to do. We find the will of God in our lives by "testing out by trial", by experimentation (Rom. 12:2). That does not mean we should throw all caution to the wind, and go on without any understanding at all. There is value in study, forethought, observation of what others' do, sharing of ideas, debriefing, etc. There is also the reality that tired people need to rest, wounded people need to heal, and confused people need time to get their bearings. It's not about getting on a "ministry treadmill" from the get-go. My observation, however, is that fear and lack of confidence are two of the biggest hurdles to overcome in this process. The fear and uncertainty is natural, normal, and, to some degree it is even healthy, because it makes us slow down and think through what we are going to do. The emotion is a signal to tell us, "Be cautious. Unfamiliar territory ahead. Pay attention." When it keeps us paralyzed, or we find ourselves just holding back from any experimentation at all, then possibly we are treating the flashing yellow light in our emotions as if it were a stop light. We need to reevaluate what we are feeling, and ask ourselves if we are giving our fears too much power. Getting a new perspective on "the yellow flashing light" can free us to proceed, even though it may feel scary.`

(2.) Expect to be "urged into action" by others.

The functions of the gifts mentioned at the beginning of Ephesians 4:11 are intended to help you acquire perspective, skills, and motivation in order to get you involved in the ministry God has for you to do.

The apostles, as God's "sent ones", are people who generally come in and get things started, and then move on. They are representatives of Christ, ones who have a pioneer spirit, a determination to establish a new ministry in an area or setting where there is none. Whether you think of them in terms of the original apostles, or are open to the possibility of modern day people functioning in this type of role, these are folks who care about the growth and effectiveness of the ministry they initiated, and will attempt to bring needed correction or direction to a church to help it on its way (e.g., the return visits and letters of Paul). They also inspire us with a vision for planting other ministry groups.

Prophets

speak what God reveals to them to say to His people. Paul indicates in I Cor. 14:25, that the message of a prophet is often very direct, sometimes even revealing the thoughts and secrets of the heart. This may take the form of correction or admonition, but in any case it is intended to be for edification ("up-building"), exhortation (lit., "a coming-alongside-to-help"), and comfort. Quite often it is given in confirmation of a course of action, or to address the need to change one's ways. We can also learn from the example of prophets among us to listen for God’s voice.

Evangelists

, too, are given to equip us for the service, to "up-build" the members of the Body. These folks have a passion for proclaiming the Good News to those who have yet to hear it. Their passion, and their example, is meant to agitate, motivate, and remind us to keep the mission of the kingdom of God before our mind's eye. Christ sent us to seek and save that which was lost, to even assault the "gates of hell", the strongholds of the enemy, to free those in darkness and bondage to sin. Evangelists in our Body will serve to keep that burden and focus on our heart. If they are actively using their gift, their experiences will also give us practical examples of how God can use someone in the lives of others. We can learn much that is practical from them, if we are open to learn. They will press our comfort zone, however, because this is their passion. Not all of us are to be exactly like them, but we are to be equipped and motivated by them, to some degree, …enough so that we can effectively "do the work of an evangelist" (II Tim. 4:5), even if we don’t have that spiritual gift.

Shepherd-teachers

are also ones who will motivate and direct us. They observe who we are, and attempt to help us find where and how we fit in the Body. They bind up our wounds, attend to our hurts, and feed us (in teaching) what they perceive we need in our spiritual diet to move toward health and maturity. They also monitor our interaction with others in the flock, to teach us to get along together. They have a passion for the flock, as well as for the individual. We can learn from their example to teach and shepherd others, even though we may not be gifted as they.

All four of these "equipping gifts" are people who communicate the word of God, in one form or another. In each case, because they are teaching new information to people, the truth will confront and will require change. This does not necessarily mean a hard confrontation, though it could be at times. Often it is in the form of an encouragement, a prodding, urging and prompting toward growth.

Finally, there is the "one another" ministering our brothers and sisters in Christ will do for us in the Body. The "equipping ministry" does not just belong to people with the specific gifts mentioned in vs. 11. It is part of what we are all to do for each other. We are all to be "truthing in love" one to another (Eph. 4:15,16). As we do this, we help mend and equip one another, and we help one another find our place in the Body. We are also to watch out for one another, caring for one another, serving one another. Part of the equipping process is that we learn to do for others those kinds of things that were helpful to us (II Cor. 1:4; II Tim. 2:2). The expressions of the equipping gifts become practical ministry models and "tools", which are then employed by the rest of us.

(3.) The purpose of "church", the gathering, the ekklesia, is to be a place where we come together to mend, encourage, equip, and learn to work together.

It is not to be the root of our relationship with God. Our relationship with God should be cultivated and active all week long. We should be developing a consistent walk with God throughout every day. The very word, "disciple", implies that we are to be people of "discipline", meaning that we have a plan, …and develop habits…, that are designed to help us grow. Bible reading, prayer, fasting, fellowship, intentional giving and serving, are ways that we can deepen our spiritual walk.

Why do we come together?

To worship God? I do not see that as our primary purpose for meeting. I see no place in the New Testament where that is given as the main reason for gathering together. The word "ekklesia" refers to those called out to meet for a purpose. God has given us a purpose, an assignment, if you will, that we are to accomplish in our meetings. It is to build one another up, ...to heal, restore, mend, equip, educate, impart skill to, encourage, experiment, nurture, and fortify one another, and to bring us into partner-relationship with one another so that we might be able to accomplish what God has for us to do in this world. That is the assignment God has given for us to accomplish in these meetings. Think about it. It makes sense. We can worship God all day long, any day, when we are apart. God wants us to make full use of the time we are together, when we can employ our gifts and strengths toward edifying one another. God is already full. He does not need our worship. Now, having said that, let me say that we do worship when we are together, because He is the source of our life, and we do enjoy Him and love to sing His praises, and it does edify us to do so, …and because we are free to enjoy the frosting on our cake.

Refocus your thinking. Why am I here? I am here to build up others, and to be built up in Christ. I am here to learn new skills and insight, and to be equipped. I am here to encourage others, and to be encouraged. I am here to move others to take risks in new growth areas, and to accept the challenge to face risk and change in mine.

Why the Name “Ekklesia?

2006-10-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Info: (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. :

Today’s Date: October 22, 2006

Why the Name "Ekklesia?
by Dan Trygg
"…upon this rock I will build My ekklesia; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." Matthew 16:18
Where Do Our Beliefs and Practices Come From?

We are so entrenched within our cultural traditions about "how to do church", or "how to know and serve God", that it is difficult for us to see where our ideas and expectations come from.

What practices and concepts have solid Biblical precedent? What do we do, or think about "spirituality", that really has its roots in church history or pagan culture, not Scripture? I fear we have unknowingly come to accept some of these beliefs and practices as so normative as to be unquestionable. They have come to be virtual non-negotiables, as though these practices were the very measure of "orthodoxy", or "canonicity". Any deviations are quickly labeled as "heresy", or at least regarded with alarm and suspicion. In some cases, it could be argued that we, like the Jews of Jesus’ day, have come to "nullify the commandments of God for the sake of our traditions", "teaching as doctrines the precepts of men" (Mt. 15:1-9).

Could it be that some of what we commonly do in our culturally expected ways of meeting together actually is in conflict with what God's word tells us should be taking place? Does our approach, and the belief-system underlying it, actually frustrate and hinder the very things that the Scriptures tell us are supposed to happen when we meet?

The Lord Jesus lived at a time such as this. Occasionally, He was confrontational about some of the unhealthy dynamics of what was being done in God's name. It was obvious, however, that He was not going to be able to reform the synagogue system. That would have been fighting a fight with virtually no chance of winning. The fact that the system was so entrenched, was scattered around the world, and was protected by a "good-old-boy" network of religious traditionalists made such an objective virtually unobtainable. A reform movement capable of revitalizing such an established, fortress-minded institution would, in the best-case, be an uphill battle, and would require years of effort.

Instead of attempting such a crusade, or encouraging His disciples to do so, He did the unexpected. He initiated an entirely new movement. Instead of trying to rehash, rework, and reform the old, He inaugurated an entirely new wineskin for the new wine He was going to introduce. He did not just turn His back on Judaism, however, nor did He throw away the past strengths and valuable spiritual lessons that had been part of Israel's pilgrimage. He unwrapped an Old Testament "word-picture package" and uncovered a gem that had been ignored and neglected for generations. He brought out into the sunlight a word picture that had history and prophetic destiny.

Jesus presented things in a way that allowed His disciples to continue to legitimately identify with the OT people of faith, to value and preserve their life-lessons, and yet not be compelled to continue the stuffiness and limitations of the religious traditions that had crept in over time. His choice of this OT image, and even of the particular word He used to describe it, has deep and far reaching ramifications for how we are to understand the Church.

In order to appreciate the significance of these things, we must lay down a little background information:

The Synagogue

The synagogue, that has carried down to modern times, first originated during the Babylonian exile (586 B.C.), after the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed. It is interesting to note that there is no Biblical direction or mandate from God to start such meetings. No one really knows how they began, but they arose as an attempt by the Jewish exiles to keep themselves together, and to pass along the teachings and faith of their people.

The name, "synagogue", is derived from one of two words used in the Septuagint Greek OT to translate the Hebrew words for the "congregation" of Israel. Originally, it was a general Greek term used for any kind of gathering, sacred or secular. By the time of the NT, however, its usage had become so identified with these Jewish religious gatherings, and the buildings they met in, that it was only rarely used in any other context anymore.

Synagogue meetings were primarily founded to preserve the national identity of Israel. It was a neighborhood meeting place where the Scriptures were recited and read, where prayers were given, songs were sung, and a sermon was preached. The main thrust was to pass along the Bible stories and teach people what it meant to be a follower of God. It became a weekly tradition to go to synagogue on Sabbath days. In addition, synagogue schools were developed where Israelite children were taught to read and were instructed in the Law during the week. Jesus and the apostles would have attended such a school. Moreover, we know from Lk. 4:16 that it was His custom to attend synagogue on Sabbath days.

All in all, synagogue practices were very similar to those that have developed in Western church history, and continue to be used in most church meetings across our land on any given Sunday. They are as entrenched in our own thinking and expectations about religious gatherings as they were in Jesus’ time.

Jesus and the Ekklesia

It is interesting, however, that while Jesus came to fulfill the OT promises, He did not see His ministry as simply building upon the synagogue model of meeting together, or the other religious institutions of His day.

He did not just teach in the synagogue on Sabbath days. He taught in a multitude of places and at various times. He spoke to groups of all sizes. He especially determined to spend in-depth time living with, and instructing, His small interactive group of twelve disciples. These men would have been steeped in the religious traditionalism of Judaism. They were not expecting any special changes regarding how things should be done. Yet, when Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah (Mt. 16:16), Jesus introduced the beginning of a new movement. He used a different Greek word, ekklesia, for the people He was going to build.

Ekklesia was the other main word that had been used in the Septuagint translation to render the Hebrew words for "congregation" into Greek. Unlike "synagogue", it still retained its generic, non-religious meaning for a "gathering" or "assembly". The word had not become tainted with religious connotations. In fact, in the common Greek of the day, it was often used for a political caucus. It was the perfect word to use to start a new movement because the term had no preconceived, set patterns for how it was to look, or what they were to do when they gathered.

By choosing to call His followers the ekklesia (meaning "assembly" or "called out [ones]") instead of the synagogue, Jesus did two things: He succeeded in identifying His people with the OT people of God, establishing continuity with the OT prophecies and promises, and He also differentiated what His people were to be and do from the religious system of His day. By this word choice, He freed His people from any necessary suppositions that they must follow the expectations or methods established by the synagogue system. In other words, He liberated them to be different, to be creative and distinct in how they thought of themselves and what they were all about. They were not to be just "more of the same". The ekklesia would be the people of Jesus, those assembled for a purpose, those "called out" from everyday life, "called out" to meet together to accomplish some end.

Whatever it was to become, the ekklesia was not to be a NT synagogue

, though there is significant evidence that oftentimes Jewish converts attempted to merely carry over the dynamics of their religious experiences in Judaism into their new faith. In Jesus, the entire direction was to change, however.

Instead of having an isolationist, protectionist mentality, where the goal was primarily to pass down the beliefs and practices from one generation to another, Christianity was to be an aggressive movement, preparing and equipping followers to bring the light of Jesus’ love and truth into a world filled with darkness, sickness, bondage and despair in order to set people free to know and serve God.

Under the old way, the treasure to be guarded was the Law, and the practices prescribed therein. Under the new Way, the Holy Spirit came to live within believers. He would write the Law upon their hearts, to be lived out in their lives. He was the "treasure" that was living within them (II Cor. 3:2-6,17,18; 4:6,7). This was not to be "guarded", or "kept hidden". It was to be released and expressed outwardly (Matt. 5:14-16). The purpose of the ekklesia was to help believers get in touch with this inner power, and teach them to express it outwardly toward others in truth and love.

The gathering of believers was to not only be a place of instruction, but also of experimentation. Believers were to build each other up and come alongside one another to speak encouragement, affirmation and instruction into one another’s lives. They were also to hold one another accountable to grow and fulfill God’s calling on their lives. In fact, they were even to plan to agitate each other to express love and do good deeds to further the Kingdom of God.

In the synagogue, there was to be uniformity, and leaders presided from "up front" to guarantee that things did not change. In the ekklesia, however, everyone can lead, everyone can share and contribute, if they are prompted by the Spirit, as long as things are done in a respectful, orderly fashion, and what is shared is for the building up of the believers (I Cor. 14:26-40). The expectation of those in the gathering should be to see what new practical thing God would bring to light or lead them to do, since He is a living and creative God (I Cor. 2:6-13).

The NT gathering was not to be a free-for-all, or just an opinion forum, however. All things were to be tested and evaluated against the revealed word of God (I Cor. 14:29; I Thess. 5:19-22; I Cor. 4:6; I Tim. 1:3-8). Again, the purpose of the gathering was not to simply pass along doctrines and traditions. It was to build up and equip a people to become mature, fruitful followers of Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Eph. 4:12,13; Col. 1:9,10). In order to do that, God’s plan was to assemble us into small family-type groups, where we can be ourselves, talk about real issues, and we can speak into one another’s lives to heal, stimulate and equip each other to discover and do God’s will.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

2006-10-15T18:34:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Info: (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. :

Today’s Date: October 15, 2006

What Must I Do To Be Saved?
by Dan Trygg

"’Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ ³¹ They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved’" Acts 17:30,31
"As He spoke... , many came to believe in Him. ³¹ So Jesus was saying to those... who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’" John 8:30-32
"After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." Acts 14:21,22
"You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." Matthew 10:22

What must I do to be saved? That is one of the most important questions we could ask. People have different answers. Even Bible scholars debate this issue. One of the problems about answering this question accurately is that people have different ideas of what "saved" means. Saved from what? Saved for what? Unless we understand what God’s perspective on this is, we will not grasp what is involved in "being saved". For many people, this just means, "What must I do to get my ticket to heaven? What must I do to be saved from the punishment of hell?" That perspective too narrowly defines the problem. If that is all we have in mind as we search through the scriptures, then we will come up with an answer that is too easy and simplistic. We will totally miss what the purpose of Jesus’ coming was all about, and our idea of what "being a Christian" is will be too shallow.

Jesus did not come just to purchase and give out "tickets". He came to purchase and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, …a people redeemed from every lawless deed, and zealous for good deeds (Tit. 2:14). According to this verse, Jesus came to save us from bondage to sin and lawlessness, and He came to save us for Himself, …to be a people who would live for Him, eager to do what is fitting and good.

Are you still interested in "being saved"? Are you willing to lay aside your agenda, or the American dream, in order to be devoted to God? Are you willing to stop living sinful and selfish lives, and become wholehearted servants of God? Are you willing to dedicate yourself to becoming eager and zealous to do God’s will by serving others? Really? Will you be eager to babysit kids? Will you be zealous to give rides? Will you jump at the opportunity to get involved in the lives of people no one else wants to get involved with? Will you readily rise up to address the need of the moment, whether that is to open your home for a meeting, or a guest, …or if it means leading a study group?

Do you still want to "be saved"? Really? Are you willing to eagerly give yourself to seeking God? Will you fast and pray to discern His will? Will you readily set aside time to study His word, so you can be equipped to serve Him (II Tim. 3:16,17)? Will you enthusiastically give yourself to work His plan? Will you devotedly gather with other believers to build them up to serve the King? Will you fervently stimulate, encourage and lead others? Will you put aside shyness, embarrassment, and discomfort to do the will of God in building His Kingdom? God wants to "save" you from that self-conscious fear and make you to be a bold warrior for His Kingdom.

Do you want to "be saved"? It will cost you a little discomfort, a little apprehension, but if you will "believe" and "trust" in Jesus, you will find new things happening in your life.

You will find God will make you into a new person. God will save you from yourself, if you will trust Him enough to eagerly do His will (Mk. 8:35). Do you want to be saved from selfishness? Then readily serve others.

God has a plan for those to whom He gives new life. He wants to form and shape them to become people who can do good works (Eph. 2:10). Why? Because as we do those good works, we demonstrate the loving heart of God. People will see it and recognize the presence of God in us. We don’t even have to think of what to do. God will bring the opportunities to us. We just have to walk out what He puts in us in those situations.

In I Peter 2:9, the aged fisherman refers to this same idea, "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…" Again, we are saved, not so that God can be our servant, but so that we can be His. He has called us out of darkness to serve Him. We are saved to be a holy people, people who are dedicated to Him, ones who chose to "abstain from fleshly lusts" and choose to "live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God…"(I Pet. 2:12). Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Sounds like Peter’s idea of what it means to be saved closely corresponds with Paul’s and Jesus’ teachings (Tit. 2:14; Matt. 5:16,17). Oh, and Peter adds the notion that we are to talk about God’s wonderful character and deeds with others.

Is this what you want when you ask, "What must I do to be saved?" Do you want to be able to do those things? Do you want to stop living sinful, self-centered lives? Do you want to be able to live for God? Do you want to have lives that are full of good deeds, and be able to speak confidently about how wonderful it is to know God? If so, I have good news.

The scriptures are very clear: The righteous live by faith. Paul answered the Philippian jailer’s question, "What must I do to be saved?" with a simple answer, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved." Very simple, right? Or, is it? What does it mean? Is it to just mentally agree with an idea, or is it to trust in Jesus enough to yield my will to Him? Clearly, it is not simply about knowing and believing the right information, because James tells us that even the demons believe (2:19), …and shudder! Faith without works is dead. Faith without action, without a tangible outworking in choices, is empty, profitless, meaningless. It will do no more for you, than you do with it. It is self-deception. That statement, "The righteous live by faith" means that faith is the guiding compass of their life choices. They live out their faith. Their trust in Jesus guides and empowers them to do what they otherwise would not attempt. When they trust in God in this way, He works in them, and on their behalf.

There is a fine line which biblical writers spent a great deal of time trying to clarify. It has to do with good works. On the one hand, we can’t purchase our salvation by good works or self-effort. Why?

First of all, we could never pay for, or off set the negative results of our sin by good deeds. There is no cosmic scale, where good deeds balance out evil acts. The outworking of sin (even for any single sin) is death (Rom. 6:23).

Secondly, we are selfish sinners at the core, and self-effort and self-discipline will only cause us to measure ourselves against others and take glory in our advancements toward self-righteousness. God hates such prideful striving. He condemned it all as sin, and rejected every human self-effort to be "good enough" as arrogant posturing. The truth is that, as sinners, we could never produce pure goodness or love from our sin-infested hearts.

God’s plan was put us into Jesus as our representative Sinbearer, put Him to death in our place (and put us to death in Him), and apply the payment for sin to anyone who will simply trust in Him for deliverance. This was a free gift to any and all who would ask for it.

More than that, however, to those who call on and take Jesus as their Deliverer and Master, God offers the privilege to become His children, ...to be radically transformed in our inner being, to be "born from above".

This new nature is like a good tree that can bear good fruit. In fact, this is where salvation leads, to bearing the fruit of good works. So, we can’t earn our own salvation by good works, but good works should be the outcome of a transformed life. The difference is that we know that the good fruit which comes from our lives is from the activity of God in us, and it humbles us and motivates us to honor Him, instead of filling us with pride as it did before we knew Jesus.

So, do you want to be saved? Accept the grace of God in Jesus. It is totally free, …but it will cost you everything. If you accept Him, He must be the Master, as well as your Savior. You must die to self-pride and selfish living, and give up all rights to a self-directed life. If you trust Him to cover you with grace to make you God’s child, then you must live by that same kind of trust as God’s child.

Notice that, in John 8, Jesus was not impressed by some Jews who had come to believe in Him. He could see that they had only become convinced mentally that He was the Messiah. They had not yet submitted to Him actively as their Messiah, their King. He told them, "If you continue in (live in, abide in) My word, then you are truly My disciples, and you will experientially-know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Notice that there is an ongoing process of learning, growth and development which Jesus alludes to.

Do you want to "be saved"? Jesus would say to you, "Are you willing to be My disciple? Will you trust Me enough to read and obey My word?" If you are not willing to do that, do you really "believe in Jesus"?

What about the "purifying process" referred to in Titus 2:14? Do you trust in Jesus enough to purify yourself from sin or destructive behaviors? If the Holy Spirit has shown you that God wants you to stop doing something, and you do not make that change, are you living by faith? Are you believing on Him? Are you continuing in His personal word to you? If you are not trusting in Him, who are you trusting in? What is stopping you from obeying Him?

Do you want to "be saved" from that sin or that habit? "Trust in the Lord Jesus." He never said it would be easy. In fact, He said just the opposite, …"the way is narrow (restrictive, pressing) that leads to life" (Matt. 7:14). Do you want the "easy way", or do you want "life"? They are incompatible. If you want life, then you must choose the more difficult path. The other path leads to self-destruction, and draws you away from God’s calling. The Jesus path leads to self-maturation in godliness. You choose.

Paul said we enter the Kingdom of God "through many hardships". Do you want to walk in God’s will, His Kingdom? Then you must go through difficulty to get there. It is not easy to follow Jesus. There is opposition and resistance from within our own selves, as well as from the world around us. Do you want to "be saved" from the way that leads to destruction? Then you must choose a different path, one that will set you in the face of this resistance, one that will challenge you to believe in Jesus for your moment by moment walk.

Do you think that growing into God’s will for your life will be easy? Have you been paying attention? No. It will be difficult. But Jesus will be empower you and will help you, …if you trust in Him.

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Walking Wisely

2006-10-08T03:10:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

www.dtminc.org

Today’s Date: October 8, 2006

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Walking Wisely

by Dan Trygg

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit."

Ephesians 5:15-18

This passage has much to say to us, even though it is only three verses long. It is written in a manner designed to produce introspection and self-evaluation, if we take it seriously. Please, take some time to begin to ask the Holy Spirit to show you how He wants you to live your life more effectively. Write down the things that come to mind as you go through this study, and ponder them, asking for further direction and clarification.

"Therefore be careful how you walk". Again, when you come to a "therefore" in the text, the first question you should ask is, "What is the ‘therefore’ there for?" "Therefore" is a logical connector. It indicates a conclusion being drawn from previous information. It ties this verse back to Paul's previous argument. We mentioned also that this is the fifth time in the past two chapters where the apostle used the image of "walking about" to describe their lifestyle choices, and to direct their attention to what it means to live effectively as a Christian:

First, it was to "walk as worthy (or, "worthily") of the calling" which they had received as redeemed ones. This was defined as being humble, meek (teachable, gentle), patient, showing forbearance to one another in love, being quick to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the Body. In the following verses, he describes how we are gifted by God to join together with other believers to bring about maturity in the Body of Christ. Through serving one another by expressing truth (what is "real") with each other in love, we grow up in every way into Christ. As we all learn to interact together honestly and lovingly, we discover how to encourage the proper working of each person according to their gifts, and the entire Body causes the growth of the Body for the building up of itself in love (4:1-16).

Second, it was to "walk about no longer as Gentiles (unbelievers) walk about"

, which was further defined as living in futile, empty, vain thinking, ...living as practical atheists, ...living as though God were not part of the equation, ...trying to cope with our inner feelings of emptiness, pain, loneliness, and inadequacy by not facing them, by pushing them aside and "numbing ourselves out" with a never-ending pursuit of pleasure, ...hoping that the "feel good" experiences would succeed in overcoming the inner emptiness. Paul's solution to counteract this tendency was to "put aside" the old behaviors, and learn to live life according to who you are as a new person in Christ. Part of this requires that, instead of hiding our true selves, we "get real" with each other, because we are interdependent parts of one another in the Body of Christ. This "getting real" includes getting healthy anger out on the table, not stuffing it to avoid conflict and unwittingly giving the enemy opportunity to make it grow into bitterness or deeper hurts. It includes finding our place as productive givers, ...working to help others in need, instead of taking from those around us. It means putting aside destructive, hurtful, or unwholesome speech patterns, and learning to speak and relate to one another in ways that are kind, helpful, tender-hearted and forgiving. -- 4:17-32.

Thirdly, it was to "walk in love, according as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us" in service to God. Walking in love means self-restraint, giving ourselves (our past behaviors and former lifestyle) up in order to serve God. We are to imitate God, as beloved children, not live lives that are antithetical to what He stands for. Immoral sexual behavior, "any uncleanness", greed, or even inappropriate humor should not be found among us who have been dedicated to serve God. These may be habits and life patterns that we have grown very accustomed to, and are "second nature" to us. Nevertheless, if we are to live as "holy ones", ones dedicated to serve God, these must all go. We must "give ourselves up", ...that is, give up our old selves, our old customary ways of living life, ...in order to make way for a new self, a life that is a "fragrant aroma" to God. -- 5:1-6.

Fourth, we are to "walk about as children of light, ...trying to learn (by experimentation) what is pleasing in/to the Lord". We are not to participate in the "unfruitful deeds of darkness" (which are not pleasing to God, or profitable for us), but to expose them. We do this by "turning the light on", i.e., either by what we say or by the contrast of our own behavior next to their own. The fruit of light is all goodness, righteousness and truth. What is the fruit, or end results, of the "unfruitful deeds of darkness"? Nothing good or productive. Invest yourself in learning what will produce good results, …goodness, righteousness and truth…, in your life and in those around you.

With this kind of background in Paul's argument to this point, we can see the import of his statement, "be careful how you walk". Literally, the Greek says, "Therefore, y'all watch ("Look!", "Take heed!") as accurately (diligently, with exactness, care and precision) how (or, in what way, in what manner) y'all walk about". There is a clear tone of seriousness communicated here. This is an exhortation to focus carefully on the business at hand, or something will be lost, or missed, in the process. The next few phrases deepen this sense of urgency and importance.

"...not as unwise, but as wise"

-- The Greek word for "wise (person)" here is sophos. The word for "unwise" is just a negated form of this same word. Sophos means "prudent, enlightened (as to the realities of life, and how to deal with them), shrewd, clever, one with practical wisdom and skill in living life". It is not so much descriptive of the person who is well educated intellectually, or even theologically, as of the person who has common sense, who knows what needs to be done, and does it. Paul is saying, "Don't be as the person who doesn't know what is going on, one who doesn't have a clue concerning what life is all about, and has no prudence or practical understanding. Rather (and the word in Greek is a strong word for contrast), be like the one who knows what life is about, who has the perception to understand what to do, and has the skill and inventiveness to deal with the practical realities of life (especially what I just described in my argument above)

effectively."

"...making the most of your time, because the days are evil." -- Literally, the Greek is "(for yourselves) continually buying out (as in setting free, redeeming, securing for your own use, or rescuing [i.e., from loss or misapplication]) the time, season or opportunity". The subject is still "y'all" from the first clause. It is clear that Paul had in mind not only the idea of making good use of the time we have, but also to free up time that would otherwise be consumed by things that are of lesser importance and wasteful. Why must we "watch" for this? "...because the days are evil". In other words, we live in a world that is designed by the enemy to rob us of our life energy in countless ways that will hinder us from ever considering, or pursuing, the true realities of life. There are a million and one "opportunities" demanding our time and attention, if we will give ourselves to them. Every moment we invest there, however, is a moment lost forever to anything else. Every dollar we spend there cannot be spent anywhere else, unless we can sell our poor investment to recoup some of the cost. Time, however, cannot be regained. It is gone forever. We "redeem" or "set free" our time and resources by stopping waste and making priority decisions for God. We must be proactive.

"So then do not be foolish, but understand the will of the Lord." --

The word translated as "foolish" literally is "unthinking". To turn this admonition into a positive statement: "Be thinking about this." To be foolish or "unthinking" is to be unaware, both of the big picture of the spiritual battle being waged around us and of the consequences of the choices we make. The word translated as "understand" literally means "to send together". Paul is advocating that we pay attention to clear teaching of the scripture, the circumstances around us, the experiences and people that come into our lives, and the inner leading of the Holy Spirit so that we can discern God’s direction for our lives. Like putting together a puzzle, the individual pieces sometimes seem pretty obscure, and can be hard to recognize. When you begin to piece them together, however, a picture begins to take shape, and it is easier to see how other pieces fit. In a similar way, we must learn to assemble the pieces of God’s communication to us so that we can more clearly see the patterns of His leading in our lives (e.g., Acts 16:6-10).

"and do not be drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit..." -- The word "and" here definitely links this statement with the preceding sentence. Being drunk with wine is only one example, though a very common trap, of the larger concern, i.e., the problem of "dissipation". I've always had difficulty with why the translations are not more clear on this verse. This word is often understood in its extreme form as "total abandonment to sin". Listen to the words used to translate this: "debauchery, dissolution, profligacy, prodigality". I do not use those words in my everyday speech. Do you? Basically, the root word means "excess" or "recklessness" or "dissipation". "Dissipation" took on new meaning to me when I saw it in the context of this passage. It just means that you have chosen a course of action that "dissipates" your life energy, your limited quantity of time, talent, and resources on something that is unprofitable, wasteful and unproductive, as far as the perspective of your calling in the Lord. A "debauched" person is someone whose life is totally dissipated, one who has ruinously spent his life for sensual pleasure and drunkenness. I think that overstates the case to where we miss the point. Paul is less concerned that we might become total immoral slime balls, than he is attempting to stress the need to "seize the day" (carpe diem). If we do not proactively choose to "purchase time and opportunity for ourselves", we will probably passively give in to the many demands, or suggestions, that our culture (and the enemy) would press upon us. In so doing, we will miss the high calling of God for our lives, and our Body. Following Jesus is a full-time affair, requiring complete commitment, if we desire to see God's full plan unfold for us.

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Walk As Children of Light

2006-10-01T03:06:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

www.dtminc.org

Today’s Date: October 1, 2006

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Walk As Children of Light

by Dan Trygg

"...you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them..."
Ephesians 5:8-11

The first message communicated by this section of Ephesians is Paul's repeated emphasis that our identity has changed, and along with our change in identity is a change in our entire purpose in life. This is communicated in numerous ways throughout this letter. In 1:1 Paul addresses believers as "saints", i.e., "holy ones", "ones set apart from a common, everyday existence and dedicated to a special purpose". As ones set apart to God by faith, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (1:3). We are now "adopted children" (1:5), redeemed and freely forgiven from sin (1:7), and dedicated to the praise of His glory (1:6,12,14). Paul prays that we might come to see and understand who we are now, what we have been called to, and that we might come to perceive God's provision for living it out (1:15-19). We had been dead in sin; now we are alive in Christ (2:1-9), having been created by God as fine handiwork to accomplish the good works He brings for us to do (2:10). We have been Gentiles, outsiders and strangers to the OT covenants of promise, and distant from the people of Israel. Now in Jesus we, along with the Jews who have been faithful, have become an entirely new humanity. We are ones brought near by Christ's blood, reconciled to God and having free access to Him (2:11-18). We are no longer strangers; we are fellow citizens with all God's dedicated ones, and members of His house (2:19). In fact, we are like living stones being assembled together into a holy temple, a dwelling place for God's Spirit (2:20-22; cf. I Pet. 2:4-12). God will not only dwell with us, but He lives in us.

Because of this remarkable and very high calling which we as former Gentiles have, …a calling which had not been clearly perceived before…, Paul himself had been raised up by God with a dual purpose: {1.} to plainly declare what had previously been hidden: namely, that God had now made Gentiles to be fellow heirs, fellow members of the Body, and fellow sharers of the promises of God in Christ (3:1-7); and, {2.} to proclaim to these redeemed Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, ... to bring God's plan into visible expression so that His multi-faceted wisdom might be displayed through the church to the spiritual beings observing in heavenly places (3:8-10). For this reason, the apostle prays that we might come to experience the love of God in a deep, transforming way. Thus we might "be filled up to all the fullness of God" (3:14-19), and be able to fulfill this amazing calling and purpose.

There is a significant shift in the apostle's message at this point. Having laid down a solid foundation to help us understand what God has done for us in Christ, who we now are and why we are here, from 4:1, Paul begins to exhort or encourage us to walk out our calling. In fact, the word, "walk", is used five times in chapters four and five (4:1,17; 5:2,8,15). In Greek, the word translated as "walk" means "to walk about", implying "to live one's life", or "to conduct oneself", or "to carry out the day-to-day business of living", etc. The word picture describes a process, a journey, a habitual mode of living. In each instance the word occurs, we are also given a comparative to further describe the manner in which we are to live life:

{1.} In 4:1, it is "walk about in a manner worthy

(lit. "worthily", or "as worthy") of the calling with which you were called". Paul goes on in the next few verses to describe what that means to him.

{2.} In 4:17 it is "walk about no longer just as the Gentiles walk about, in the futility

(uselessness) of their minds (perceptions of reality, world-view)". Again, in the next few verses, the apostle further explains what he means by that statement.

{3.} In 5:2, it is "walk about in love, according as Christ also loved us, and gave Himself up for us."

Again, surrounding verses in the context give more clarity as to what Paul meant, whether by positive example or negative contrast.

{4.} In 5:8,

our verse for today's study, it is "walk about as (or like) children of light". Actually, the Greek word order is significantly different. It is "now you are light in the Lord; as children of light walk about". Again, the context is designed to indicate what Paul had in mind by using that word picture.

{5.} In 5:15,

it is used one final time to encourage life lived in a manner that is accurate, precise, and careful, in contrast to a way of living life that is foolish, unwise, wasteful, "un-thinking", or reckless, "Therefore be careful (lit. "as carefully, precisely, exactly") how you walk about, not as unwise, but as wise...". Again a clearer picture develops as the following verses are carefully examined.

Zeroing in on the passage for today's discussion, what does it mean to "walk about as children of light"?

(1.) The first message which the context clearly emphasizes is that our identity has changed, and so has our purpose or direction in life.

We are children of light, no longer "darkness" (vs. 8), or "children of disobedience" (vs. 6; cf. 2:1,2). Therefore we no longer have a real basis for sharing in the practices or inheritance that comes with that old territory or identity (vss. 7,11). They are no longer consistent with who we are, or why we are here.

(2.) To "walk about as children of light" describes a process that will bear fruit over time.

The use of the phrase "fruit of light" in vs. 9, compels us to see our spirituality, our approach to ministry, and the impact of our lives in terms of the natural process of growth, maturity, and yielding fruit illustrated in the world of nature around us.

Three principles that emerge from the world of nature are that:

(a.) Plants and animals bear fruit "according to their kind", or in accordance with their inner nature. If we abide in the new Christ-nature in us, which is good, righteous and true, then we will naturally bear fruit resembling His heart.

(b.) The farmer's job is generally to supply the proper nutrients, and to remove any competing influences (such as weeds, predators, or unhealthy, unprofitable growth). We need to take care that we feed our spiritual selves what will help us grow, and avoid those things that would tear us down or be negative.

(c.) There is almost always a process of growth and maturation involved before fruit can be produced. In spiritual maturation, this will be a function of time, learning and exercising that new nature.

When nature, nurture and maturation come together effectively, the reproductive impact is usually multiplied, not simply a replacement. Growth comes primarily from the inner nature of the plant or animal. A wise farmer adjusts his or her expectations and methods to the nature and condition of the plant or animal. Not all methods will be equally beneficial to all. We are not like everyone else, though there are basic disciplines which we would all profit from.

(3.) Part of "walking about as children of light" is the discovery process of trial and error.

Discovering God's will for an individual, and for a group, is an ongoing process of "testing out by experimentation" to find "what is well-pleasing, pleasurable, gratifying to/in/with/by the Lord" (cf. Rom. 12:2; Phil. 1:9,10; I Thess. 5:21; I Tim. 3:10). This is usually translated in terms of what pleases God. The Greek, however, could also refer to what brings us pleasure or fulfillment in Him, or with Him. The search should cover both aspects. We should be looking to see what God is blessing, ...discovering what the Father is doing, so that we could be involved in that activity (Jn. 5:19). We also need to come to see how we work most effectively, what is "well pleasing to us in the Lord". For example, a plow horse will never be good at racing, and a race horse will never excel at pulling heavy loads. God's word says that we are His workmanship, His fine craftsmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepares beforehand that we might walk in them (Eph. 2:10). God does not generally use a screwdriver for a chisel, or a knife blade to turn screws. Sometimes we want to get involved in doing things that God has not designed us to do, or intends for us. One of the ways we discover God's will for us, individually or corporately, is to see what seems to work well, what seems to be consistent with who we are becoming. It is important to see also, however, that the uncomfortable feelings, and the "stumbling steps" of learning something new to us, do not necessarily mean that we are pursuing the wrong thing. Ease and effectiveness come from the combination of both natural ability and the mastery of skills. The process of discovering God's well-pleasing design for us is an art. Learning to interpret the signals we receive in our trial-and-error process is part of maturing. The signals may be capable of being understood in different ways. We must keep our minds open, and be willing to entertain various options, until we discover what God is saying to us.

(4.) Walking about as children of light will mean not only avoiding unfruitful deeds of darkness

(lit., "the works, the unfruitful ones of the darkness"), but rather even exposing them (vs. 11). Some of us begin to cringe at the sound of this verse. It is important to see that, primarily, we expose the darkness by being the light. This verse is not saying that we all are supposed to get confrontational with people in sin. No. Some of us might, indeed, be called to that kind of service, but I would say that is not normative (cf. I Thess. 4:9-12). Often verses like this can be an excuse for spiritual abuse, judging attitudes, and obnoxious behavior. It is generally enough to "be the light", i.e., to express our own inner hearts by actions of love and graciousness. If we do that, those who are loving darkness will begin to see themselves, and their actions, against the backdrop of our lives (Mt. 5:14-16; Jn. 3:19-21; I Pet. 2:12).

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Putting Aside Unhealthy Emotions

2006-09-24T03:05:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

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Today’s Date: September 24, 2006

Living Consistent With a New Identity: Putting Aside Unhealthy Emotions

by Dan Trygg

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." Eph. 4:31.

Again, it is essential that we see this remark set in the context of Paul's interest in helping the Ephesians to develop healthy Body-life, and in helping them to understand how to "put off the old person" and to "put on the new person. This is not just a command. It is not a "thou shalt not" in isolation from any context. The apostle gives us this background setting so that we can understand this imperative in a healthy way, ...and so that we can begin to understand how we might approach this whole area of emotion.

The first, and most evident, observation is that these are all emotions and expressions of anger. What is anger? Anger is a natural inner response to something that is hurtful or invasive coming into our lives. Anger can be a good thing. It is an involuntary emotional reaction to pain, or the threat of pain. As an emotion, it provides motivation to act to somehow resolve an unpleasant experience. Some psychologists refer to emotions as "energy in motion", energy that arises naturally from within in the face of threat, hurt, or perceived mistreatment of some kind. In this simple way, anger can be a healthy, beneficial emotion that serves a very positive purpose in our lives. Just five verses earlier, Paul was advocating, even commanding, these same individuals to "get angry", ...so experiencing the emotion of anger is not the problem he is attempting to address.

What is the problem? Most of these words listed refer to ways of dealing with, or expressing, the simple emotion of anger. I think the issue Paul wants to address has to do with, "What do I do with the angry feelings I experience?" Let's take a closer look at some of these words:

(1.) "bitterness" -- the Greek word, pikria, comes from a root word meaning "to cut, to prick", referring literally to a cutting, sharp, pointed, keen, pungent experience to the taste or smell, a decidedly unpleasant, irritating and repugnant experience (Jas. 3:11; Rev. 8:11; used in the LXX for "bitter herbs" in Ex. 12:8; Num. 9:11). Metaphorically, it is used to describe an equally distasteful, unpleasant attitude or emotional state (Jas. 3:14; Heb. 12:15; Acts 8:23; Rom. 3:13,14; Mt. 26:75; Col. 3:19). We must draw a further distinction between life experiences that "taste bitter", i.e., they are pointedly pungent, repugnant painful events that happen "to us", and we experience that revolting bitter flavor of that pain, versus a person who has become bitter. A person who has become bitter is generally nursing their sense of anger, resentment, or outrage at being unfairly treated. Instead of processing their painful, bitter experiences, they continue to hold on to them, reliving them and rehearsing their outrage and resentment, until the flavor of their own attitude, speech, and behavior is full of bitterness. They themselves become rank, noxious, or poisonous to others. People will either be repelled by them, and quickly turn away from them or avoid them (which they will notice, and which will serve to only build deeper hurts, feelings of rejection and resentment), ...or people will identify with their bitter feelings and begin themselves to be embittered, spreading the poison to others (Heb. 12:15).

(2.) "wrath" -- this is the Greek word, thumos, referring to a type of anger that is quickly burning, hot, and often issues in an outburst or explosion of rage. One's agitated inner feelings pour out in a rush of strong passion, much like the eruption of a volcano. Often, once vented, it quickly subsides, though not necessarily. Everywhere in the NT, when it is used of human emotion, it is presented negatively.

(3.) "anger" -- the Greek word, orgē, a settled, abiding intent of the mind to confront, resolve, set right, or take revenge upon someone who is perceived as invasive, hurtful, unjust, or unfair to oneself or others. It is more slow to rise that is thumos, but it is more lasting in nature. It tends to be more deliberate, and controlled, as well. For this reason, it can be more productive toward bringing about a good result, though it is not above selfishness, either. This is the same kind of anger that Paul commanded the Ephesians to employ in vs. 26.

(4.) "clamor" -- the word kraugē in NT Greek is an onomatopoeic word, said to imitate the cry of a raven. It was used for a variety of loud verbal outcries, from wails of lamentation (Rev. 21:4), to cries for help (e.g., Heb. 5:7), to a proclamation (Mt. 9:27; 25:6), to a cry of fright (Mt. 14:26). Here, in this context, it probably refers to angry shouting, or raising voices in an argument.

(5.) "slander" -- the Greek word, blasphēmia, from which we derive the English word, "blasphemy", comes from the Greek, blapto (to injure or harm) and phēmē (speech), . It literally means "injurious speech", referring to any damaging, shaming, contemptuous speech toward another. To call people names, to "downgrade" them, to verbally abuse them in any way, is what this word is describing. It can be done to the person directly (as in verbal abuse), or about the person to others (i.e., slander or defamation of character).

(6.) "malice" -- the Greek word is kakia, and it is related to kakos, a very broad word for evil. Generally the opposite of excellence and virtue, it refers to what is useless, inadvisable, injurious, destructive, and mischievous. It refers more to the badness of quality, inner character, or nature of the person than to the outward actions or results. Kakia generally refers more to ill-will, hateful feelings, and the inner desire to injure or "get back" at someone.

So, what is Paul really teaching here? The verb in this sentence is a passive imperative, the action directed more toward the emotions, and only secondarily toward us: "let [it] be put away from you". Actually, the verb means "to lift, carry, remove, take up". It is followed by the prepositional phrase "away from y'all". What the apostle is telling us is to permit or allow these negative emotions and attitudes to be lifted away from us. The opposite of "let [it] be taken away" would be to not allow it to be removed, i.e., by holding onto it, or resisting, in some fashion. Interesting. Why would we hold onto such things? Remember the context. This entire section is the application of what Paul had developed in vss. 17-24, concerning learning to put off old strategies of living that we formerly employed when we lived as "practical atheists", and learning to put on an entirely new identity, an new life dynamic that includes God, ...one that requires that we renew our perception of reality and discover how to operate in this world by very different principles. This verse is more of the application of that truth. Why do we hold on to such negative, pain-filled emotion? Because it is what we know how to do. Because we have not learned how to live differently.

There is another prepositional phrase, which has unfortunately been poorly translated, which helps to tie all of this together. The phrase, "...along with all malice", sounds like Paul just added one more negative attitude to the list of emotions and dispositions in the verse. The Greek preposition, sun, literally means "together with", and the word translated as "malice" means the evil inner character, the hostile desire to injure those who have offended or hurt us. What Paul is teaching is that we can allow these negative emotions to be taken away from us together with all inner evil, i.e., in the application of "new-creation living". Put off the old person, with its former practices and attitudes, and put on the new person, a person with a different, good inner character.

Now, we tend to hear this as, "Stop feeling those negative emotions!" In reality, however, the way Paul is writing is assuming that we will experience them. How can we allow them to be taken away, if they do not exist in our experience in the first place? Our emotions are not voluntary. They are automatic responses to the appearance of the world around us, usually based upon our past experiences. In other words, our past experiences often have set us up to respond to certain triggers, things in the present that "look like" or "feel like" things that happened to us in the past. These "trigger events" will cause an emotional reaction to surface. It will come up automatically, ...we do not choose to feel it. This is important to understand. To feel strong emotional feelings does not mean that we are not spiritual, or that we are being disobedient in any way. It is like any other temptation that is presented to us. We do not choose it, but we must deal with it. What Paul says we ought to do is allow these emotions to be taken away with all the other "old man stuff" that we set aside in order to walk in our new identity. It is interesting to see that he did not simply say, "Put those emotions aside!" In reality, we simply cannot do that. We must process them. We must address them. To will ourselves to ignore them, is like willing yourself to not feel that a stove is hot. It is not possible. The emotions are there to tell us something. They are there to warn us, to bring to our attention something that is hurting, or potentially a problem, that must be dealt with.

How do we do this? By reorienting our perspective to include God

, our loving Father Who cares for us, and will comfort us, ...Who has promised to work all things [even the painful, abusive, and unfair things] together for good, ...Who will vindicate us and bring about justice, and will ultimately wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4).

When we let Him be in charge, when we let Him be our help, our emotions will automatically begin to change, because our perception of reality is different.

Two other observations:

(1.) The verb tense indicates a point-of-time action. This doesn't mean it will all be settled in a moment. What it means is that we must choose to reorient and process this emotion "at the moment, in the moment, and for the moment". We can't choose now for tomorrow. It may come up again, and we will have to deal with it again.

(2.) Even the proper anger, orgē,

mentioned in vs. 26, is not to be "lived with". We are to deal with what it is pointing out to us (i.e., the offense or injustice), and then "let it be taken away", so we can move on in the joy of the Lord.

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Be Angry and Do Not Sin

2006-09-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

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Today’s Date: September 17, 2006

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Be Angry and Do Not Sin

by Dan Trygg

For those of us who have not understood the benefits of anger, or have not appreciated its "God-like" characteristics, the subject of anger makes us a bit uncomfortable. If we were raised in a cultural background, that has taught us that expressions of anger, or even the emotion of anger itself, were taboo, then we may have difficulty allowing ourselves to "get in touch" with our own anger in a clear and beneficial way. If we have spent most of our lives attempting to suppress, control, and even deny this emotion, then we can expect that we will find it somewhat strange to now "tune in" to those feelings. We may even find that our "tuner" needs some readjustment, because we don't clearly perceive the anger that we have. If our church background communicated to us that "being angry" was synonymous with a lack of self-control and was "unspiritual", then Paul's words to us here in Ephesians 4:26 are going to sound out of place, and will be hard for us to interpret and process clearly.

The truth is that, for the sake of personal spiritual maturity and for the purpose of producing healthy, effective relationships in the Body of Christ, the apostle Paul was an advocate of healthy anger. More than that, he expressly commands us to "be angry". Since there is no basis for the "yet" in the NASB rendering, "be angry and yet do not sin", the phrase actually may be teaching that we will sin if we do not get angry! In other words, Paul is trying to encourage the Ephesian Christians to make use of the motivations of a healthy anger to get things out in the open that need to be addressed. He is not qualifying anger, here, he is advocating its correct use. He is not trying to "put a lid on anger", rather he wants Christians to "take the lid off" to examine and understand what the anger is there for, and to confront what needs confrontation.

Even though there is much teaching in certain church circles that downplays, devalues, or even discourages "feeling emotions", a simple, cursory reading of the Bible should make us aware that emotions are very much a part of the nature and experience of God Himself. Instead of rejecting emotions as bad, or dangerous, we should recognize that they are, in fact, one very important aspect of our "God-likeness". Being created in the image of God not only means that we were made with an intellectual capacity to understand and communicate with God, or a volitional capacity by which we can choose to relate to Him and express His will in action. We also have been created with an emotional capacity, by which we can not only appreciate and experience God's goodness, but we can also become a means by which we can express God-like characteristics in relationships. Anger, and other emotions, are part of the marvelous way in which God created us to bear and express His image. To disregard, or dis-employ, them is to hide, cover, and distort the likeness of God which we have been created to express. This actually robs God of the "glory" (radiance, emanating representation, reputation) which He intends to be demonstrated and expressed through humanity. To strip us of our emotional qualities forces us to live at what is a sub-human level of existence. We cannot accurately represent or glorify God without fully-functioning, healthy, expressive emotions. Anger is certainly one of them.

Three Types of Anger

In the NT, there are three basic root words which are used to describe anger.

Briefly, they are:

(1.) Orgē (pronounced "or-gay"). Originally the word was used to describe any natural desire, impulse or disposition, but by NT times, it had come to refer to anger as the strongest of all passions. This noun form occurs some 36 times in the NT, 28 times of God's wrath toward sinful men - Mt. 3:7; Mk. 3:5; Lk. 3:7; 21:23; Jn. 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 2:5 (2x),8; 3:5; 4:15; 5:9; 9:22 (2x); 12:19; 13:4,5; Eph. 2:3, 4:31; 5:6; Col. 3:6,8; I Thess. 1:10; 2:16; 5:9; I Tim. 2:8; Heb. 3:11; 4:3; Jas. 1:19,20; Rev. 6:16,17; 11:18; 14:10; 16:19; 19:15. In addition, the verbal form, orgizomai, occurs on 8 more occasions, all descriptive of human anger - Mt. 5:22; 18:34; 22:7; Lk. 14:21; 15:28; Eph. 4:26; Rev. 11:18; 12:17. There is also an adjectival form, orgilos, which is found in Tit. 1:7. Orgē refers to a mental bent or impulse to act against some invasion upon a person by another, or to act to right a wrong, or bring vengeance upon some injustice.

(2.) Thumos, a noun, occurs 18 times in the NT - Lk. 4:28; Acts 19:28; Rom. 2:8; II Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20; Eph. 4:31; Col. 3:8; Heb. 11:27; Rev. 12:12; 14:8,10,19; 15:1,7; 16:1,19: 18:3; 19:15. In addition, a verbal form, thumoō, occurs once in Mt. 2:16. Of these, eight times it is used to describe the wrath of God poured out in explosive judgment at the end of the age. All other occurrences are presented as undesirable, though we must conclude that there at least could be a righteous, appropriate expression of this kind of anger, since God Himself will do so at the proper time.

{Interestingly, the most common word for patience in the NT is makrothumia (lit. "distance from explosive [thumos] anger). This is the word also used in the Greek Septuagint version of the OT to translate the quality of God's character rendered as "slow to anger". The Hebrew word for this actually means "long of nostrils", which again means "distance from explosive anger".}

The word, thumos, is derived from thuo, meaning "to rush". Thumos is, then, a strong passion or emotion which rushes upon, or out from, a person. (A derivative form, epithumia [lit. "a rushing upon"] is the word translated as "strong desire, passion, or lust".) By NT times, the word had come to be used almost exclusively for anger. Thumos refers to a rapid swelling of agitated inner feelings of rage, which quickly blaze up, are explosive and powerful in their expression, and then quickly subside. The problem with this kind of anger is the unpredictable, explosive force with which it can come. It can quickly burn out of control, and be "out of perspective" and "inappropriate to the situation" because of the extreme force which often is behind it. The word itself is descriptive of one's inner emotional experience, while the focus of the word, orgē, is more descriptive of the intent or desire to act to resolve the situation. Thumos is more an impulsive reaction, while orgē is more a settled condition of the mind.

(3.) Aganaktēsis originally referred to having physical pain or irritation. By NT times, however, it had come to mean the experience of emotional pain, irritation, hurt, or grief over an action or situation judged to be wrong, unfair or inappropriate resulting in annoyance, displeasure, anger and indignation. Note that, while orgē is a mental bent to act, and thumos is an explosive reaction, aganaktēsis is descriptive only of one’s inner experience of irritation or displeasure. The word itself communicates nothing about response. The noun occurs once, in II Cor. 7:11, while the verbal form, aganakteō, occurs 7 times - Mt. 20:24; 21:15; 26:8; Mk. 10:14,41; 14:4; Lk. 13:14. Mark 10:14 and II Corinthians 7:11 give us clear examples where this type of anger can motivate positive action. This is the proper response to the inner pain or irritation. In one scenario (Mt.20:24; Mk. 10:41), the irritation was held inside. Jesus saw it, however, and chose to address the issue. In most of the other examples, the indignation did motivate some expression to confront, question or challenge the action that caused the irritation, although the emotion was misguided by a poor understanding. In fact, in those cases where others were irritated with Him, Jesus also spoke up to clarify or correct their perception. Their irritation became an opportunity or occasion for Him to speak to the matter.

Anger As A Tool For Growth

In our context of Ephesians 4:26, the choice of the word orgizomai indicates an intent to act to resolve whatever problem has caused an offense. The form of the word here is in the middle voice, which means the subject does the action, but it in some way affects or limits him. This is often understood as acting "to or for oneself". In other words, it is not just some outward act. The act of getting angry in this fashion profoundly involves the person. He or she voluntarily acts in a way that limits, influences, affects or benefits him or herself. That makes sense. Note, too, that this is a verb, a chosen action, not just a feeling. The feeling comes up in response to the offense, and then you choose to embrace or respond to the feeling. In other words, you do not just let the offense go by, you get involved. You get out of your comfort zone to speak what is on your heart. You take a risk to act, to make right what you see is wrong, ...to put up a boundary where someone has hurt you, or someone else. You resolve an inner conflict by bringing it up with another person to work it out. You will be affected by that process. You put yourself at risk, you do what may be difficult, but you also benefit from "getting it out on the table".

It is important to see that Paul did not use thumoō. He did not advocate that we explode at each other, or that we erupt like a volcano on each other. That kind of explosive rage is not profitable to create reconciliation. The orgē, however, is meant to be our ally in promoting healthy relationships, and emotional and spiritual maturity. It provides a signal to us that something is wrong. We have been offended or outraged at something that we felt was wrong. It is not only OK to feel those feelings, we are commanded to feel them and move on them, in some way. The emotion of this kind of anger is meant to propel us into action. Now, we still have a mind and a will, here. We still have to evaluate and decide how to respond appropriately to the situation. We are responsible to express ourselves respectfully and lovingly, for growth and edification.

The point of Paul's command, however, is: Do something about it! Do not "stuff" what you are feeling. Resolve it. It could be that you will be the one to benefit by bringing it up, or, it could be an issue that someone else needs your perspective on. It may be something that the Holy Spirit wants to communicate His heart to the Body, etc. Nothing beneficial will happen, however, if you do not move to resolve the inner feelings of anger you feel. The next phrase, "do not let the sun go down on your wrath", uses a different word for anger, one which literally means, "the thing that provoked the anger". Do not let the sun go down on the provoking offense. Deal with it. It is for the good of all, and it keeps the devil from finding a foothold in you, or in the relationships of the Body.

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Speaking What is Healthy

2006-09-10T02:56:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

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Today’s Date: September 10, 2006

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Speaking What is Healthy

by Dan Trygg

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, rather if any is good toward edification of the need, ...in order that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

Eph. 4:29,30

This is the first time, in this context about intercommunication among members of the Body, that Paul finds it necessary to specifically address the need to restrain or limit what we say to each other. Up until this point, his concern was to encourage us to open up and share ourselves, and our concerns, honestly with each other. We have masqueraded so long behind a false front that we need to learn how to open up and "be real" with each other. The truth is, however, that most of us have learned by painful experience that it has been unsafe to "be real" in this way. We originally designed our facade to protect ourselves from those who would misuse our vulnerability to hurt us. The world has not been a safe, nurturing place, ...a place where we could share our pain, insecurities, or inner thoughts without fear of ridicule, reprisal, or rejection. It was inevitable that if the Body of Christ is to be such a place, there must be limitations placed upon how we talk with each other, as well as on the content of our interaction. In addition, as a community of people attempting to live out the reality of the "new-person dynamic" in our lives, this directive by Paul helps to clarify for us what the characteristics of this new life would look like (as well as what it would not look like). He does this to enable us to learn to walk in the flow coming from the Holy Spirit abiding within us.

As we have mentioned before, the entire paragraph, beginning in 4:25 and proceeding through 5:2, was comprised of applications of what Paul had covered in 4:17-24. There he had encouraged the Ephesian Christians to no longer live as people who do not know God choose to live out their lives. Instead, put aside the old way of life, with its unproductive practices, and learn to walk in the new life God has put within our hearts. There is both a negative and a positive aspect of what Paul teaches regarding "living the Christian life". There is a "putting off" aspect, and there is a "putting on" aspect. There is a learning to "not do" what we have always done before, or what we may be tempted to do now, that is not of God, ...and there is a learning how to "do" what we have not been accustomed, or skilled at, doing. There is a measure of self-restraint, or self-control, involved in both aspects, but it is important to see that the Christian life is not simply about self-restraint, which would be tantamount to legalism, and would leave us wallowing in the swamp of self-effort. Instead, it is about realignment. It is about discovering how to tune into and catch the character, leading and flow of the Spirit of Christ which is in us (if we belong to Jesus – Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:9,15) and learning to express ourselves in accordance with that. It does involve the abandonment and "disowning" of the old behavior and mindset, as well as "putting on", "owning", or "incorporating" a new mindset, and a new relationship with God. The inner leadings coming from the indwelling Holy Spirit will naturally suggest, and produce, different outward behavior as we choose to give ourselves to walking them out. The topic of the verses we are looking at today must be seen in light of this larger picture, in order to be correctly understood and processed.

The word translated as "unwholesome" is the Greek word, sapros, which literally means, "rotten" or "putrid", but often was metaphorically used to describe anything that was corrupt, impure, foul, vicious, or depraved. It also was used to describe things that were bad, or of poor quality, and generally unfit for use. It is in this latter way that Jesus used the word in the Gospels (Matt. 7:17,18; 12:33; Lk. 6:43; and Matt. 13:48). These are the only other instances of this word occurring in the NT. For anyone familiar with Jesus' teaching, the connection would not be missed. The entire point of Jesus' instruction in the contexts of Matt. 7:17,18; 12:33 and in Lk. 6:43 is that a person's real heart will be made evident in their actions. He uses the word picture of a tree to illustrate the principle: "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits." In this Matt. 7 passage, the thrust of His teaching was about those who would masquerade as genuine prophets, but are in reality phony. Eventually, their true nature and orientation will surface. In the Matt. 12 context, Jesus is dealing with the issue of speech (as Paul does here in Eph. 4), especially as it regards blaspheming the Holy Spirit, or Himself. On this occasion, there is a small shift in what He has to say, "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree rotten, and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good person out from good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of evil treasure brings forth what is evil." Again, the true nature of a person is revealed by their actions. (Thus, our speech reveals if we are in tune with the Spirit, or living out of our old fleshly nature.) Note, however, that speech comes from the treasure of the heart. It is a product of our experiences, especially whatever we have seen as valuable and have "stored away" within.

As new creatures in Christ, the application of these principles is clear:

(1.)

We have been born from above, and have been made new. Our new nature in Christ is good, and (according to Jesus' teaching) will naturally produce what is good in speech and behavior (Rom. 6:11; 7:4; I Jn. 3:9), if we learn to walk in it.

(2.) We may still have "evil treasure"

, i.e., old speech and behavior patterns that we learned in our B.C. days, that remains part of our mind (perception of reality). This must be recognized, and our perception of reality must be renewed, in order to practically "put off" the old person and learn to walk in our new nature.

(3.)

This transformation process involves revelation (from the Holy Spirit, self-awareness, and from the feedback of others), learning different options, and making different choices. A partnership between God, ourselves, and others is required to bring about the quickest, most effective changes in thought and behavior.

(4.)

An important step in this process is exactly what Paul is advocating here: Do not give yourself to express the unhealthy, "garbage-behavior" anymore (Rom. 6:12-23). Don't even let a word from that old source, that old storehouse, come out from your mouth. Why? Because when you do that, you are reconnecting with that old identity, that "old program", instead of your new identity, your new inner source of direction (the Holy Spirit) and your new character of established life-patterns (II Pet. 1:5-7). [Important: God is less concerned about how our sin may be offensive to Him than He is about the set-backs, bondage and further injury we cause to ourselves and others by choosing old behaviors. Through it all, His heart remains steadfastly committed in love toward us. His resolve is to fully deliver us from every remnant of evil in our lives. He knows He will win in the end. Do not allow failures to distance you from Him. Without Him, we can do nothing. Cf. Jn. 15:5.] We are not to think in terms of "act good in order to become good". Rather, Paul is exhorting us to "act as the new, good person you really are". We are not "acting in order to become something we are not", rather we are acting consistent with the change which has already been accomplished in us, i.e., acting in agreement with who we really are on the inside.

The phrase, "Let no unwholesome word come out from your mouth" means that Paul puts the unavoidable responsibility upon us to be in charge of our own words. Though translated negatively, the Greek is actually stated in direct, positive terms: "Every rotten (sapros) word not (y'all) let it come out from the mouth of y'all". "Every unwholesome word" is all inclusive. Anything that would be unhealthy, or of inferior quality, is to be excluded. "Rather, if anything good (healthy, beneficial, advantageous) towards edification of the need" -- This phrase gives some positive direction to our thinking. Instead of being unhealthy and destructive, is there anything that could be said that would strengthen, or build up, the lack (need, want, hurt, vulnerability, weakness) of the other person(s)? For further clarification, Paul adds, "in order that [purpose clause] it may give (at a point in time) grace (graciousness, favor, unmerited favor, kindness, blessing -- It is the same word as is used to describe God's grace.) among the ones hearing". If we say anything, it should be something that would bring about an openness of heart, a feeling of acceptance, a "binding-together" and "building-up" where there is a sense of emptiness, need or want, ...the exact opposite of the effect of "unwholesome words". The idiom "to give grace" commonly meant "doing a kindness to someone", implying action going above and beyond the call of duty.

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God". What is the purpose of this statement? How could we grieve the Holy Spirit? The word "grieve", also means to "injure" or "pain". The fact of the matter is that we can cause pain, grief and injury to the Holy Spirit. How? Because this verse is linked to the previous verse, it would seem that we grieve Him when (a.) we walk in old, destructive, sinful patterns; and (b.) we hurt one another, causing isolation, division, estrangement, and the cementing of old sinful strategies of self-protection. Again, the whole purpose of Body-life is to enable the interactive dynamic that allows Jesus to be most clearly and visibly seen, i.e., through our love for one another (Jn. 13:34,35; Eph. 4:15). We have all been "sealed" together in Him, bought and kept by the same grace and on the same terms for the purpose of freedom, yet our words and actions continue to express and inflict the evil Jesus came to deliver us from. When we continue to hurt one another by our unkind remarks, or when our words reinforce old attitudes and thought patterns that keep us "stuck", is it no wonder that He is grieved that we continue to hurt ourselves and frustrate the plan of God?

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Speaking Truth in the Body

2006-09-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting

Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc

www.dtminc.org

Today’s Date: September 3, 2006

Living Consistent With Our New Identity: Speaking Truth in the Body

by Dan Trygg

"But truthing in love, we might grow all things into Him who is the head (i.e., the source and one who bring us to completion), Christ…" Ephesians 4:15
"Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity." Ephesians 4:25-27

Following down from Eph. 4:17-24, let’s see how Paul seeks to implement our new identity experientially.

"Therefore" -- This is a logical connector indicating that what Paul is about to write flows out of what he has already written. Whenever you see a "therefore", ask yourself, "What is it there for?" This is not the most common word translated as "therefore". Literally it means "on account of which". It even more closely ties this section back to vss. 17-24 as the application of the principles taught there, ...specifically -- "walk no longer as the Gentiles walk..." and "put off the old person, …be renewed in…your mind, and put on the new person…". Paul had described a manner of living life that the unbelievers had practiced (vss. 17-19), an approach to life that is inconsistent with our new birth and walking in the Spirit (vss. 20-24). Now, he is getting down to specific application of how to walk out "truth in Jesus". Now the nitty gets gritty.

"laying aside falsehood" -- A literal translation would be, "(for yourselves)-putting-away-from-you-(at a point in time) the phony...". The form indicates that we are intensely involved in this action, and it affects or limits us, in some way. The "point in time" quality of the form means that we are to deal with it "at the moment, in the moment, and for the moment". The action prescribed is a one-time event. Paul does not say we should always and forever be doing this, ...that would be too much for us. Nor, does he say that we can make a choice in the moment that will settle this issue once and for all. No, what he tells us is that when it comes up, put it aside at that moment, in that moment, and for that moment. That is as much as we can do. This is a form of the same word used in vs. 22 for "put off the old person". The logical connection is inescapable. This is how we do that.

The word translated as "falsehood" is the Greek word pseudō. Paul is not talking so much about telling lies as he is concerned about our tendency to be phony, to wear a mask, to project an image or "false front" to impress others, or to keep ourselves hidden, safe, in-vulnerable. The apostle encourages us to "put aside the mask" with each other. Now you can understand why this is an action that intensely involves and affects us. We have created our "mask" to hide our weakness, our hurts, our defects, our fears. To take off that mask is to expose ourselves, to "come out into the light of day as we really are". The verbal form is a participle, an "-ing" word that is not the main verb, rather it is an action we do as or while we do the main verb. The two actions are inter-related. In other words, as we put aside the phoniness, we can speak what is real to one another.

"speak truth each one with his neighbor" -- There is an important shift that takes place in the language here that is hidden in our English translations. The context of the action moves from everybody ("y'all speak truth"), where the entire group is in focus, to shift over to a context that can only be described as very personal and private ("each one with his neighbor"). In other words, the appropriate context for speaking truth, in the manner that Paul is suggesting, is primarily at the personal-relationship level. Why? First of all, it is "safer". You can more effectively monitor the reaction of the person with whom you share your thoughts, and can adjust what you share accordingly. If you expose yourself entirely to a large group, you run the risk of being mistreated by certain unhealthy individuals that may be in the group. Secondly, truth is more effective on a personal level. The interaction can be very specific. Application will likely be more readily apparent than the "shotgun approach" that a group teaching would require.

This is reinforced by the use of the word "neighbor". In English, this word is a noun that most people understand as "the person who lives next door to you". In the New Testament Greek, however, the word is a translation of an adverbial phrase, literally a "neighbor" is "the near (one) ". This is, indeed, commonly used for someone living nearby (spatial proximity), but we too narrowly limit the term to just that. Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30-37) was given in response to the question, "Who is my neighbor?". There, the conclusion was that the "neighbor" to be loved was anyone in proximity who had a need. Furthermore, the despised Samaritan was the only one who "proved to be a neighbor" to the hurt traveler, because he "felt compassion and came to him" and served him. The idea of availability seems to be the point at issue in defining who proves to be a neighbor to you. Someone who will value you enough to help you, even at great personal cost, is someone available and willing to be "near" you in your time of need. That is someone demonstrating himself to be a true neighbor. The Samaritan showed that it is possible to "act the part of the near one" without any relationship history there at all. Love can motivate us to "draw near to" someone, even when we do not have the natural factors of day-in and day-out interaction and familiarity. The basis for our "nearness? -- "because we are members of one another". More than simply living next door to someone, we all are like limbs in the same body (Rom. 12:4,5; I Cor. 12:12-27). (Note this is an actual, organic, spiritual unity, …like a limb on a tree or a part of your body…, not a listing on a membership roll.) The words "of one another" translate a reflexive pronoun in Greek. What that means is that the relationship described is reciprocal. You are a limb of me, and I am a limb of you. Thus, we have a common basis of interaction, and a common interest in helping each other. Your health, vitality, and maturity will affect me, and my health and well-being will affect you (I Cor. 12:26). We are interdependent. The focus turns to the corporate reality once again.

(In spite of the high-minded ideals that I have just described, we would be foolish to ignore the obvious. There are "near ones" in life. We can, and often do, develop relationships with some people that provide a safe, natural environment for "letting down the mask" and "speaking truth". A "near one" in this context would be someone we have developed "relational proximity" with, i.e., we have gotten "close to" them. Sometimes this creates an environment where "we can talk about anything", i.e., there is a natural "ease" in communicating. At other times, we choose to put ourselves into "relational proximity" with someone that we otherwise might not "hang out with" (e.g., a mentor or counselor) for the purpose of accountability and growth. Hopefully, such "near ones" will truly help us grow. Some of these relationships may actually keep us stuck in old or immature behavior. We may find ourselves easily talking about and rehearsing old, fleshly attitudes and behaviors. This is not helping us. We need friends who will help us grow and mature in Christ, not keep reinforcing old ways of thinking and living. Others may direct us in ways that are contradictory to the things of God. Their counsel is from the world, not God. Sometimes we will need to distance ourselves from "near ones" who are at cross purposes to our growth in Christ. This can be difficult, but is necessary.)

What does it mean to "speak truth"? (Note that it does not say, "speak the truth". Paul is not talking about rehearsing Bible verses or engaging in theological discussion here. Same with Eph. 4:15 -- Literally, "truthing in love", not "speaking the truth".) The word for "truth" is actually a negated form of the word for something hidden, unnoticed, ...something that is actually there, but has not been perceived, or has been ignored. To speak truth, then, is to bring the hidden thing out into the open, ...to point out and explain what has been overlooked, ...to take note of what was unnoticed, to bring to awareness what the person did not perceive, or ignored. It is important to see that what is "truth", or what is "reality", already exists, whether we are aware of it or not. Speaking truth is simply pointing out what actually is there, not making something up, or somehow creating something that did not previously exist. With regard to ourselves, it is being honest about what is going on inside of us, or about what is real about our lives.

"Be angry, and yet do not sin" -- I think it is absolutely fascinating that this verse is the further application of what Paul has been building in the previous verse. Emotional honesty, bringing out into the open feelings of anger that have been unseen, unnoticed, or "covered over" by our mask of phoniness, is the first, most important and urgent application that the seasoned, Spirit-led apostle advocated concerning "speaking truth". Paul wants us to bring our hidden feelings out into the open. He wants those who have not noticed them to see them clearly. There are two parts to this equation: On the one hand, we who feel hurt or angry need to be able to express our pain in order to be understood and comforted. On the other hand, we who have been insensitive and hurtful need to see what the consequences of our words and actions are. We are the ones who are not seeing the truth clearly. We are oblivious to, or in denial of, the pain we cause to others. Both parties are to benefit from an honest exchange. The relationship is to be deepened as the result. The goal is to come to resolution. Healthy anger is not a license to strike out, but it does provide motivation to speak up where we have been offended. God wants true harmony, not pretense.

You will notice that the word "yet" is in italics in the NASB. It is not there in Greek. Literally, Paul commands us, "Y'all (for yourselves) be angry and do not miss-the-target". In my background, anger was a negative emotion that was disapproved of. I have always understood this verse as putting a cap on my anger, as reinforcing the messages that I learned growing up. I am suggesting, however, that Paul is advocating exactly the opposite. Anger can be our ally in promoting healthy relationships and in molding godly character. What I believe this verse to be saying is, "Be honest, ... be angry and do not miss out on what the anger is to produce." We sin, we miss-the-mark, by covering up our anger. Paul is encouraging us to no longer hide it behind a mask, but to make use of our anger as the tool God intended it to be. Anger is there to tell you something is wrong that needs to be addressed. As we speak honestly, and respectfully, about our feelings, hopefully we will help one another work through the issues behind our anger, and we will grow as a result. In order to have harmony, we must communicate in love, respect one another, and listen. If we cover up our anger, the offense goes unaddressed, bitterness grows, and the enemy can fracture our relationships. We must work through our concerns, so that the enemy cannot find a way to cause division (Eph. 4:27).

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Walk By The Spirit

2006-08-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: August 27, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Walk By The Spirit
by Dan Trygg

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law…. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." Galatians 5:16-18,22-25

We have been discussing the idea that God has made available to us an entirely different way of living life. We are no longer to continue living as we did before we knew Jesus. When we yielded to Him as our Savior and Master, God gave us an incredible gift. He gave us life from above. We were born from above, by the power of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:3-8; Tit. 3:5,6). At that point, the righteousness of Christ was applied to us, and we became offspring of God, born of His nature, born of His very sperm (Rom. 4:3-5; I Jn. 3:1,2,9). This has introduced a new dynamic into our being. The old, fleshly nature still remains until Christ returns, but our identity and citizenship has changed. At the core of our being, we have become new people, new creatures. We were sinners by nature and by choice, and we were under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness (Col.1:13; Eph. 5:8). Now, we are citizens of the kingdom of God, holy ones or "saints", part of God’s very family, children of light whose destiny and inheritance is with God (Col. 1:12; Eph. 2:19).

This present world system is corrupted with sin, deception and rebellion toward God. We formerly lived according to its influence, according to the ways we have been taught since childhood (cf. I Pet. 1:18). It was pretty much all we knew, so we learned to live pursuing those things and experiences we were encouraged to believe would be gratifying and fulfilling. Paul puts it this way, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind" (Eph. 2:1-3). Notice the two areas which tend to govern or determine our behavior, "the desires of the flesh and of the mind".

The "desires of the flesh" indicate that we tend to live for sensual comfort and pleasure. Comfort and pleasure, while parts of God’s original plan and provision for humankind, have been taken out of the proper context of relationship with Him to become ends in themselves. Pleasure and comfort were meant to enhance our relationship with God. These blessings were to draw our attention to our Creator, Who gave them to us and made us able to enjoy them, and give Him thanks, honor and praise. Instead, we ignore or suppress our awareness of God, and give ourselves to pursuing sensual pleasure and comfort without any regard for Him (Rom. 1:18-25). This is the way we used to live, the way those who do not know God tend to navigate through life (Tit. 3:3; I Pet.4:3). Their perceptions of God and life have been darkened, so they tend to avoid dealing with their inner pain or emptiness, and seek sensual pleasure and stimulation as a distraction or medication (Eph. 4:17-19).

When we first come to Christ, our minds are similarly darkened, but the light has dawned (Prov. 4:18), and we can at least to begin to renew our thinking (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2). Unfortunately, the "desires of the mind" are still very strong in us. Actually, the word translated "mind" is plural. It may be better translated as "indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts". We tend to live out what we think works, …what we think is beneficial for us, …what we think is going to be fun or entertaining, …what we think will keep us from the uncomfortable state of boredom. This is all based upon our understanding, which has largely been the by-product of growing up in our culture, conditioned by our family and our life experiences. When we live by the desires of our thoughts, we pull from our understanding of what is good, profitable and pleasurable to do. If our understanding is truly "darkened", however, then we are not going to perceive the whole picture accurately. People tend to choose to do what they think will benefit them the most, short term or long term.

Both of these sources which used to govern our behavior are affected by sin, and are unreliable. Note that both of these sources that commonly inform and drive human behavior have been divorced from any relationship with God. To live the old way is to live independently. We act as if we have the answers on our own, or that we are self-sufficient. We do what we want, what we think is best.

Repeatedly, the scripture admonishes us to no longer allow ourselves to be led by fleshly desires (Rom. 6:12; 13:14; II Tim. 2:22; Tit. 2:12; I Pet. 1:14; 2:11; 4:1-3). In fact, God warns that through fleshly desires many believers will be led astray, or get stuck in their spiritual development (Mk. 4:19; I Tim. 6:9; II Tim. 3:6; 4:3; II Pet. 2:18; 3:3; Jude 1:16,18). This is serious business for Christians! Peter states it quite strongly, "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from fleshly desires that wage war against the soul" (I Pet. 2:11). Following fleshly desires will not only distract us, and render us ineffective, they will kill us. We need to stop playing with the enemy!

Similarly, our natural thoughts are not as God’s thoughts, nor are our ways like His (Isa. 55:8,9). Our hearts are deceitful, corrupted by sin (Jer. 17:9). The evil within us affects our judgment, even leading to making foolish and insane decisions (Ecc. 9:3). If we want to walk with God, we cannot rely upon our own understanding (Prov. 3:5,6). There is a definite difference between setting our mind on the things of God, or on things from a human perspective, a fleshly mind, or even a mind set on earthly things (Matt. 16:23; Rom. 8:5-7; Phil. 3:19). The mind set on the flesh is opposed to the things of God, and leads to death. It is also possible to be deceived by so-called spiritual experiences, if we get all inflated with self-importance by a fleshly mind (Col. 2:18). Similarly, there will be believers whose minds are corrupted, who are argumentative and become obsessed with godliness as a means of getting wealth (I Tim. 6:5). Their focus is on earthly things, not things of the kingdom. We are to have nothing to do with such people.

We are to love God with all of our minds (Matt. 22:37), which means that we don’t stop using our minds, but they need to be oriented in the right direction, and get their input and instruction from the living God, both His revealed word and from the Holy Spirit. Whereas we are encouraged to renew the mind, …reprogramming our general understanding of life, God and His will from the revealed truth of the scriptures…, we still are not to rely only upon our human judgment. The Bible says that there is another source of information to guide us through life, the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul sets the notion of being led by the Spirit in direct opposition to the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16,17). Similarly, a mind set on the Spirit is diametrically opposed to a mind set on the flesh, or on earthly things (Rom. 8:2-14; cf. Phil. 3:13-21; Col. 3:2).

Jesus specifically mentioned that He was sending the Spirit to be a Counselor like Him (Jn. 14:16). The word translated as "counselor" in that verse means "one-called-alongside-to-help". The word implies several things.

First, it implies that we will need help. We can’t handle things, or figure things out, on our own.

Secondly, God has assigned someone to assist us with what we cannot do on our own.

Thirdly, we must ask for his help.

Finally, Jesus gives us another important piece of information about this "helper" in the next verse, "He …will be in you". He dwells inside the believer! In Jn. 7:38,39 Jesus described how the Spirit would flow "out from your belly". The word "belly" meant the entire body cavity. Figuratively, it referred to the seat of thought, emotion and choice, especially deep and more intimate feelings. The Helper speaks to us from the deep places of our being. Instead of living for comfort and pleasure, or simply out from our understanding, we can receive guidance from Him.

Who is this Helper? The "Spirit of truth" (Jn. 14:17). Note also that Jesus says that the "world" (i.e., those who do not know God) does not have this resource of information and guidance. This would help explain why Paul says that a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. To an unbeliever the perspective brought by the Spirit seems foolish, and he cannot understand the teaching or guidance of the Spirit (I Cor. 2:14). It is as foreign as trying to explain what you see to a person who has been blind from birth. Someone led by the Spirit is being guided by a source of information and direction that others are not aware of. No wonder they can’t figure out why a Spirit-led person thinks or acts as he or she does! It is a mystery to them, because they don’t receive the same revelations or directions that the Spirit-led person is able to receive (I Cor. 2:15,16).

The Spirit has come to reveal to us the things that God has made available to us (Jn. 16:14; I Cor. 2:12). He leads us in truth, and communicates what He receives for us from the Father (Jn. 16:13). He also communicates to the Father on our behalf, in ways that are acceptable to Him (Rom. 8:26). He reveals mysteries, things hidden from the knowledge or understanding of other people, as well as empowers us to do things that are not possible by our own strength (I Cor. 12:4-11; 14:24,25; cf. Acts 13:9-11). He empowers us to witness, even giving us what to say at the moment of opportunity (Jn. 15:26,27; Acts 1:8; Matt. 10:19,20). He gives words of specific direction to guide us to accomplish God’s purposes (e.g., Acts 8:29; 10:19,20; 13:2). Such specific, personal words of direction or counsel from God (Gk. – rhēma) are called the "sword of the Spirit", given and used to fight spiritual battles (Eph. 6:17). More than just information, however, the Spirit fills our emptiness, and gives us life that we do not have in ourselves (Jn. 6:63; 7:38,39; II Cor. 3:5,6).

Being led by the Spirit is presented as a normative experience for Christians. It is something that is available to every child of God (Acts 2:38,39; Rom. 8:9-17; Gal. 4:4-7; 5:16-25). The early Christians expected it. If believers were not experiencing the Holy Spirit, they sought God about it (Acts 8:14-17). Being able to hear from and respond to the Spirit is the key to victory over sin and self. If we are not hearing from, and being led by the Spirit, we are not benefiting from our inheritance in Christ. It is essential that we pray to know the reality of God in our lives (Eph. 1:15-20), and that we dedicate ourselves to receiving the opening of this relationship in our experience.

Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Putting On the New Person

2006-08-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: August 20, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Putting On The New Person
by Dan Trygg

"…in reference to your former manner of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and to renew yourselves in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:22-25

We have been studying Paul’s teaching regarding implementing the life of Christ in our experience. We have seen that the basis of this is that we were put into Jesus, and joined with Him in His death, burial and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-6; II Cor. 5:14; Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:9-15). This is not just metaphorical language, it is a metaphysical reality. It actually happened. The scripture always talks about it in a past tense. We don’t have to die with Christ as some future event or experience; we did die with Him.

Because He took us into Himself in this way, we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Sin no more has a legal claim upon us, neither does the Law or the flesh, or any curse, covenant or generational tie. We have been set free from all of these by virtue of our death in and with Christ. This must be a settled truth in our thoughts, if we are to experience our freedom. Even though these old voices from our past may call out to us, we are no longer bound to obey them. We are legally free to serve our new Master, Christ, that we might bear fruit for God (Rom. 7:4-6). If we do not understand this, however, and count on it as true, we will never fully benefit from Jesus’ work in our experience in this life. It is like winning a door prize for being the one millionth customer in the grocery store you frequent. They take down your name, address and telephone number, and inform you that you have won a year’s worth of groceries. They give you a credit card, which you can use to claim your groceries every time you shop. All you have to do is present the credit card and your I.D. each time you shop. If you do not understand what they are saying, or if you don’t really believe it, you will never count on the legitimacy of that card. You will continue to shop as you always have, paying for your groceries out of your own pocket, and the gift card will do you no good in your practical experience. So, the first step is to count on what Jesus did as true, and choose to "cash in" what He has made available to us.

The way we "cash in" on what Jesus did is to put off the old identity and its old ways, develop a new perspective on who you are and how to live, and put on a new identity and the new practices that go along with it. This may sound simplistic, but it is what Paul tells us in the verses above, is it not? Of course, it isn’t just a simple one-time decision that we never have to face again. The "put off" and "put on" are in-the-moment choices, …decisions we can make for "now", as we face a given situation. By contrast, the "renew your mind" piece is an ongoing verbal form. We need to keep gaining new ideas, more information, a wider perspective and a broader selection of options we could choose from, as far as how to approach situations in life. If we only know what we know, we are doomed to keep doing what we have known to do up until now. We can’t change if we don’t recognize or understand what we could do differently. There are two verses in Proverbs that tell us what the "beginning of wisdom" is. The first is 9:10, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", i.e., when we truly recognize we are accountable to a holy God, we begin to realize that we can’t go through life in selfishness, or it will not turn out well for us in the end. We begin to look for ways to change. The other passage is 4:7, "the beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with all your inquiring, get understanding." The Hebrew word for "wisdom" means more than just information. It is about knowing what to do. God exhorts us to renew our minds, to find other options, to discover how to do life differently.

This brings us to our study for today, "put on the new self". What does that mean? The Greek verb is enduō. It is carried over into the English in the King James translation of Lk. 24:49, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." The word actually means to "put on" or "clothe yourself". It occurs 27 times in the NT. 15 times it is used literally, i.e., for getting dressed in actual clothing. Four times it is used in word pictures of putting on figurative clothing or armor, e.g., the armor of light (Rom. 13:12), the armor of God (Eph. 6:11), the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14; cf. Isa. 59:17; Job. 29:14), or the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of the hope of salvation (I Thess. 5:8). The remaining eight occurrences are figurative or metaphorical. They use the commonly understood image of getting dressed to help us understand a spiritual truth. Let’s examine these passages.
"…this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality" (I Cor. 15:53). These two occurrences speak of how our mortal bodies will be changed when Christ returns. They will put on the imperishable, immortal nature of Christ, the "Last Adam" (vss. 21-23,45). Paul is following the same flow of thought as in the passages about the "new person". Our hope of future transformation is based upon being joined to Jesus, who incorporated us into Himself as the "Last Adam". As in Adam all die, so also all who are "in Christ" shall be made alive. Just as He was raised and glorified, so shall we be, because we will bear His image.

"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Gal. 3:27). The word picture is that when we were joined to Jesus, we put Him on like a suit of clothes. In the context, Paul says we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (women, too). Why? Because you are clothed with Christ. This is the basis of equality in the church. There is no distinction racially, economically, or even on the basis of gender, because we all are one in Christ. We wear Christ. In the Spirit, we should see Him when we look at one another. Thus we are all full heirs, and share the same rights, privileges and status in the Kingdom of God.

"And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high" (Lk. 24:49). It is unfortunate that this is translated passively. It obscures an important aspect of what Jesus said. The Greek word is a middle voice, which means that the subject is doing the action, but he or she is intensely involved in the action, or is limited or affected by the action in some way. Every instance of enduō in the NT is in the middle voice, because to get dressed is an action that requires your involvement and affects you. It is no different here. Listen to the difference in the translation, "…stay in the city until you clothe yourselves with power from on high". That implies that they had to do something. Clearly, they understood it that way, for they immediately cloistered themselves to seek God until the Spirit came upon them (Acts 2:12-14). For our discussion, it is important to see that Jesus told the disciples to "put on" the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, it is possible for us to do the same.

"The night is far gone; the day has come near. So then let us put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Rom 13:12-14). This passage provides a good bridge for talking about the passages in Colossians and Ephesians at the same time (Col. 3:5-14; Eph. 4:22-24).

The verb, enduō, actually occurs twice, but the first occurrence is more along the lines of a normal metaphorical use, "put on the armor of light". Note, too, that the "put off" vs. the "put on" contrast is stated in vs. 12. The words here are exactly the same root words as in Eph. 4:22,24 and Col. 3:8,10,12. The word translated as "put off" literally means "put at a distance" (cf. Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:8). Here, we are admonished to put away the "works" or "deeds" of darkness. This is a little more concrete, tangible and practical than "put off the old person" (Eph. 4:22) would seem to be. Paul takes the same approach in Colossians, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. …8 But now you must put them all at a distance: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have taken off the old self with its practices" (Col. 3:5,8,9). (The verb in verse 9 is actually derived from the same "dress/undress" word, here meaning to "strip off and remove" the old person and its evil practices. This is even more picturesque than simply "put the old person at a distance" and strongly reinforces the word picture of undressing and dressing. It is like stripping off some dirty clothes, stepping out of them, and putting them in a pile at a distance from you, so you can put on some fresh, clean clothes. Note that Paul also employed a different word picture, "put to death", to add to the imagery of how to address the old ways and practices – Col. 3:5) In a similar way, when speaking in Colossians of "putting on", Paul exhorts them to put on the attitudes and practices that would be consistent with their new identity, since they already have put on the new person (3:10,12f.). This is different than Ephesians, where the apostle seems to encourage the believers to "put on the new person" in the moment, for the moment, at the moment we become aware that we have experientially drifted from walking in the new life. Back in Romans 13, Paul simply tells us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (vs. 14).

What does all this mean? (1.) We already have a new identity. We are new creatures, with new, righteous natures. But, (2.) we also have the dynamics of our old nature still with us. (3.) To live consistent with the new life of Christ in us, we must consciously put aside the old identity, mindset and behaviors. Then, (4.) we are to consciously put on our new identity, mindset and worldview. The essence of this is that we welcome Christ to live in and through us (Gal 2:20). We choose to put on the Holy Spirit. We orient our hearts and minds to be led by Him, and seek to do His will. This word picture of changing clothes is helpful, because we can relate to it simply. If we find ourselves in the old "garments", we simply choose to reject that once again, put that way of thinking and operating away from ourselves, and clothe ourselves with Christ by asking Him to lead and guide us (Rom. 8:14), and by choosing to behave in ways that we know express His heart.

Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Radical Transformation

2006-08-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: August 13, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Radical Transformation
by Dan Trygg

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

The word in Romans 12:2 that is translated as "be transformed" is the Greek word, metamorpheō. It means "to change the essential form or nature of what you are", or "to become something entirely different from what you are". In the NT, it is used four times. Twice it is used to describe the transformation that came over Jesus when He was transfigured on the mountain before His three disciples. In fact, it is a form of metamorpheō that is translated as "He was transfigured". The description of Matthew was "and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light" (17:2; cf. Mk. 9:2). Whatever happened, there was no natural explanation for it. His essential nature was changed before them. Suddenly He became luminescent, and even His garments were illuminated.

Another place the word is used is II Cor. 3:18. There, Paul is making a comparison between the dynamics of the old covenant, which was law-based, exterior to the inner heart of people, and the new covenant, which is internal in nature, empowered by the Spirit within. Moses was the giver of the old covenant law, and the greatest example of its glory. He was privileged to meet with the manifestation of God’s presence, and saw a bit of His "afterglow" (Ex. 33:18-23). Being in the presence of God’s glory radically affected the appearance of his face. When he returned from meeting with God, the surface of his face radiated the glory of God. In his case, however, this was only an outside-in, skin deep effect, much like the dynamics involved in being in the sun too long. Most of us have experienced that. We might not even be aware of it, but others can see our skin beginning to turn red. In a similar fashion, Moses did not know that his face glowed (Ex. 34:29). Others told him about it. Furthermore, just as the sunburn begins to fade, the appearance of the glow on Moses’ face would diminish with time. He did not want people to see the fading away of this glory, so he would cover his face with a veil. When he met with God, he would remove the veil and get "recharged", so to speak. He would then speak to the people, and they would see the glory radiating from his skin. After delivering the message from God, Moses would again cover his face, so that people would not see the fading glory (vss. 34,35). It is clear that Moses himself was not "transformed", it was only the appearance of his skin that was temporarily changed.

Paul used Moses’ experience to draw a distinction between the old covenant and the new. The old covenant did nothing to change or transform the heart. It was external. It was a list of attitudes, behaviors and duties to be performed or avoided in order to be pleasing and acceptable to God. The law was an accurate portrayal of what God’s holy nature and morality required of those who would be in communion with Him. The problem was the weakness of our human flesh (Rom. 8:3). The law didn’t deal with the sinfulness of our inner hearts. In actuality, what the law could only do was show us how bad off we were (Rom. 7:7). In a sense, the law set us up to fail, simply because it asked us to do what we could not maintain. The sin nature, that which rebels against restriction and which selfishly wants to do what is evil, is actually aroused by the law. The law not only shows us where we fail, but also is used by the sin nature to deceive us and cause us to choose sin, which leads to spiritual death (Rom. 7:8-13). This is so much the nature of the reaction of sin to the law that Paul says, "apart from the law, sin is dead" (Rom/ 8:8), and "the power of sin is the law" (I Cor. 15:56). Of course, the law was never intended to solve our sin problem. No one can be justified by works of the law, because no one can keep it perfectly (Gal. 2:16; Jas. 2:10). By exposing sin, and making us aware of both our accountability to God, and that our sin brings us under His wrath (Rom. 3:19,20; 4:15), the law is a tutor that brings us to the end of our self efforts, the strivings of the flesh, and prepares us for the good news of the righteousness God gives us freely by faith in Christ (Gal. 3:21-29).

Christ provides a righteousness which is credited to us when we trust in Him. God knew we could not ever be righteous enough on our own to satisfy the demands of His holy nature. Jesus came to be a corporate head for humanity, a representative who could take our place, and even take us into Himself (Rom. 5:12-19; II Cor. 5:14). As He died, not only were our sins paid for, and the just requirement of the law fulfilled, but also our old sinful selves were put to death with Him. His righteousness is counted to those who trust in Him. Furthermore, as Paul tells us, if we were united with Him in His death, we shall also be united with Him in His resurrection (Rom. 6:5). The power of the resurrection is the basis for the new creative power of the Holy Spirit which makes us new creatures when we come to Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Jn. 3:3-5). In spite of what we may see and feel, the apostle John tells us, "now we are children (offspring) of God" (I John 3:2). That new inner nature is not able to sin, being born from God’s own seed, and having been created in holiness and righteousness of the truth (I Jn. 3:9; Eph. 4:24). To use Jesus’ word picture, it is a "good tree" that can only bear good fruit (Matt. 7:17,18). So then, if we receive this gift of righteousness, and are born from above, we are to live by the dynamics of that new life. We are no longer to live by the old way, trying to keep the law by our own efforts. If we try that, we will get the same pitiful results as before. It is like we make Christ to be of no practical benefit to us (Gal. 5:2-4).

Instead of living by the dynamics of the old covenant (the law), we are to live by the power and leading of the Spirit inside of us (Gal. 5:5,16,18,25; II Cor. 3:5,6; Rom. 8:6,14). In the OT, that was the difference between the old covenant, and the new covenant that God was going to establish for His people. He was going to give them new hearts and put a new Spirit within them, His Spirit. This would make obedience possible (Ezk. 11:19,20). The Spirit would cause them to walk in His ways (Ezk. 36:26,27). Jesus instituted this new covenant (Lk. 22:20), and we have the promised Holy Spirit, so that we could thus be transformed. This change comes from the inside out. Instead of restraining the old sinful nature, our focus can now be on following the new desire to do God’s will, which the Spirit causes to rise up within us (Phil. 2:12,13). Giving ourselves to follow our heart’s desires is liberty (II Cor. 3:17). The more we get to experientially know God, …the more we understand His love and His delightfulness…, the more we find ourselves transformed or transfigured (metamorpheō) into becoming increasingly like Him. This comes from the Spirit within us (II Cor. 3:18). Unlike Moses’ temporary glory, which was only skin-deep and soon faded away, this transformation is from our inner being, and increases in intensity as we continue to grow.

The final passage in the NT that contains the word, metamorpheō, is Rom. 12:2. There the form is an imperative, a command. Literally, it would be translated "transform (yourselves) by the renewing of your mind". Like the II Corinthians passage, this change comes about as we understand more of who God is, and what He has done in our lives. As we become comfortable in our relationship with God, …established in His love, discerning the promptings of His Spirit, and growing in His grace…, and we begin to grasp how to put off the old way of living and walk with Him according to the inside-out working of His life, then we can begin to "test-out-by-trial-to-discover the will of God" in our lives. Our lives will radically change as we live out the inner working of His Spirit within us. Everyone will see the difference, and will recognize that God is at work within us. The key to this outward change is the growing understanding that we are not who we once were. God has put an entirely different nature within us that we must come to understand. There is an entirely different way to live than what we have known up to now. The command to "to change the essential form or nature of what you are", or "to become something entirely different from what you are" is only possible because God has put a new life and a new nature within you. The "transform (yourselves)" of this passage is based upon this premise, ...otherwise it would be an impossible command. We are different than we used to be. We just need to learn to tap into that new life, and express it in our behavior.

The word "metamorphosis" is a direct derivative of the Greek word, metamorpheō. The clearest example of this radical transformation in the world of nature is the change that takes place in the life of a caterpillar as it becomes a butterfly. It is hard to imagine that the graceful creature flying around from flower to flower could ever have been a worm-like caterpillar. The transformation is so incredible! It had multiple sets of legs as a caterpillar; as a butterfly it has only six. Its mode of transportation changed from crawling through undulating its wormlike body, to flapping wings on its back. As a caterpillar, it was an eating machine, chewing up many leaves with its mandibles; as a butterfly, it no longer chews anything, but nourishes itself from nectar sucked through its long, coiled tongue. The change in its form, and its manner of living is so dramatic and complete that it is almost incomprehensible that it could be the same creature. This transformation happens mostly within the cocoon, away from human eyes. Even this stage, however, is not without effort. Time lapse photography reveals that the bug inside the shell of that receptacle moves, wiggles and struggles, as its body is reworked and the new form takes shape. When it emerges, it must fight and struggle against the confining, constrictive hole it manages to open in the cocoon. This process requires great effort, but is necessary, so that the fluids contained within its wings could be wrung out as it emerges. Finally, it must stretch out those new wings and flap them, so that they open up properly and dry. When its transformation is complete, it must learn to use these new appendages to fly away and start its new life. This natural metamorphosis is meant as an illustration of what we must go through in our transformation. The inner working is there, but we must work hard to work out the salvation that God’s Spirit is working in us (Phil. 2:12,13).

Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Renewing the Mind

2006-08-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: August 6, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Renewing The Mind
by Dan Trygg

"…but to be renewed in the spirit of your minds" Ephesians 4:23

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

As we survey the NT, it is not surprising to find that the apostle Paul repeatedly referred to certain key concepts which he felt were necessary to communicate to the various groups of believers with whom he corresponded. Among these repeated themes is his teaching about our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, and how that is to be practically applied in our lives. By comparing and cross-checking his writings, it becomes evident that there are four steps Paul refers to that will help us to implement Jesus into our experience. We have been in the process of examining these during the past several weeks. So far, we have covered:

1.) Choose to consider yourself to be dead to sin (i.e., without any need to fulfill its demands) and alive toward God (i.e., open, available and ready to do His will). This is the practical result, the realization, of our union with Him in death & resurrection.

2.) Choose to "put off" or "put distant" the old self, and the behaviors characteristic of your former life. Do not keep on making yourself available to express the old patterns of life, or to fulfill the desires of sin. In other words, as often as you are conscious of a tendency to do things in the old sinful manner, put that aside and consciously implement a new way of living life.

Of course, you cannot choose a different course of action unless you are aware of other possibilities, which leads to the next principle, our topic for today:

3.) Be renewed in your mind.

In Ephesians 4:23, the NASB translates the beginning phrase of the verse as "and that you be renewed...". In the Greek, however, the phrase begins with the word "but", i.e., "but to be renewed in the spirit of your mind". Our first observation about this verse is that Paul intended to set at contrast what he is about to say here from the "former manner of life" spoken of in the previous verse. Verse 22 admonishes us to "put away from ourselves the former manner of life". In contrast to that old, negative way of living, the apostle now begins to tell us in positive terms how to live life differently.

The verb form here is a continual, ongoing-action infinitive. Thus, renewing the mind is a process, not a simple decision. The understanding we currently have did not develop overnight; neither will our ability to gain a new understanding. Learning to walk with God by the power of the Spirit is an ongoing developing process.
Most versions translate the infinitive passively, "to be renewed". The form could also be understood as being in the middle voice, "to renew (for yourselves) in the spirit of the mind/perception of y'all", or even, "to renew (yourselves) in the spirit of your minds". The middle voice would indicate that we must be intensely involved in this process. Renewing the mind will take our active effort, and will affect us, change us and limit us.
The word translated as "mind" (nous) is the same as that used in verse 17 to describe the lifestyle of the Gentiles. They walk about "in the futility of their mind". By using the exact same word (there negatively, ...and now as the focal point of change), we cannot escape the emphatic contrast he is setting up. The old mind was futile, empty and vain. It needs to be reprogrammed.

It is amazing how much of the New Testament teaching is directed to the thinking process, the habitual thought patterns, discernment, deception, world view and self-concept, etc. The Greek word, nous, means more than just the organ of the intellect, however. It is also the faculty of perception, attitude, imagination, and discernment. From the beginning, our encounter with the truth of God demands a change in world view. The word for "repentance" is metanoia, another word from the same root. Metanoia literally means to "change your mind, change your perception of reality". Coming to faith is accepting a paradigm shift, seeing reality in a way that includes the gospel truth of God, and choosing to live life according to that new perception.

From that introduction to a new, drastic shift in the way we see reality, we are to continue in the process of clarifying our understanding and perception of it. There are three aspects to this:

(a.) "...be renewed in the spirit of your minds" -- Eph. 4:23. This would seem to address the attitude or orientation of the mind (e.g., I Cor. 4:21). This also is a conscious decision, which means we must evaluate whether we have an attitude that is spiritually in tune with God, or not. If not, we must learn to readjust our focus to see things from the God-perspective. This will change our attitude.

The word "spirit" also could literally mean "wind or breath". If you substitute this idea into the phrase, how does the word picture change for you? "Be renewed in the breath of your mind." Doesn't that sound like "take a breath of fresh air", mentally? Be refreshed, renewed, and invigorated in your minds, …which have previously been stale, stuffy, and lifeless in their former thought patterns.

It is interesting that Paul uses a little different word here than in the other passages about renewing the mind. There (e.g., Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10; Tit. 3:5) the apostle uses a word meaning "to renew, make-different-again". Here, the word choice means to renew in the sense of "to-make-young-again". This fits the image of "to re-fresh" very well. Our attitude can easily become jaded with sarcasm, cynicism, fear, bitterness, etc. due to the painful experiences we may have had to deal with, or as a result of our exposure to the "spirit of the age" in advertising, movies, television and other media. We need to recover the innocence and freshness of a youthful spirit in the attitude of our perspective of reality. Otherwise, we will continue to live in the old, empty perceptions of life, and will have difficulty putting on the new person.

(b.) "Set your mind on spiritual things" -- Col. 3:1-3; cf. Rom. 8:5-9. It is interesting to note that Paul uses a different verb to express this thought. The Greek word, phroneo, describes more the thinking process than nous does, i.e., the thoughts themselves, more than one's total perception or understanding. It describes what you have in your mind, or what you give your conscious attention to. To set your mind on spiritual things means to think spiritual thoughts. Choose to incorporate the reality of the work of Jesus into your daily life. Think about spiritual concepts and how they relate to you. Exercise an awareness of God's presence in your life, and expand your horizons to include "the things above". Think about the spiritual warfare going on around you and others, …and the fact that God wants to use you to affect that conflict. This brings a new perspective by which all of life can be reinterpreted.

Renew your perception or world view -- Rom. 12:2; Heb. 5:14. This component deals with not
only the content of our belief-system itself (theology), but also how we see and interpret the world around us. In practical terms, it presents renewal of the mind (nous) in the context of learning to discern God's purposes and desires for your life, and, at times, for others as well.

It is important to see that, according to Rom. 12:2, the change in one's world view (including one’s self-concept) is to lead toward the discovery-by-experimentation of God's desire for us as individuals and as a group. Paul wrote, "transform (for yourselves) by the renewal of your perception toward-the-end-that to-test-by-experimentation-to-discover-and-approve the will of God…" It is clear that the change in world view will motivate or enable us to go on the search for better ideas. We only know what we know, and if we don’t discover different ways to operate, we will not be able to change. Where will we find wisdom? We are to search for it (Prov. 2). Wisdom has to do with practical skills and guidance. Wherever we find it, we are to gather it up as hidden treasure. We should not fear to look beyond the walls of the church community. Many have discovered wise counsel, even though they may not know God. Truth is truth, wherever it is found. What is important is that we learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. Discernment is a mark of maturity. We are to "test all things, and hold fast to what is good" (I Thess. 5:21)

The words of Paul, "that you may prove (test-out-by-trial-to-discover) what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect", indicate an active, learning-by-doing and trying-different-options to find what works for you. God gives us permission to experiment. In fact, experimentation is the only way to learn some things, including discovering God's will for your life. The end result of the process will be a mature, discerning person, one who has trained their faculties of discernment by study, exercise and experimentation to be able to discern good from evil, right from wrong (Heb. 5:14).

You can see that the process of renewing the mind is a very large, comprehensive endeavor. It will require not only education and informational learning, but also introspection and active experimentation. Because we are on the inside looking out, there is a lot about our attitudes, thoughts and abilities that we simply cannot see clearly (blind spots). That is why these verses are set into the context of community. We need the interaction and feedback of others to help us in this process. God’s plan was that we help one another discover and implement truth in our lives.

Living Consistent With a New Idenity: Putting Off the Old

2006-07-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 30, 2006

Living Consistent With A New Identity: Putting Off the Old
by Dan Trygg

" …in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit…" Ephesians 4:22-24

Last week I referred to four steps that Paul delineates to help us bring the reality of Jesus into our lives:

(1.) The first of these was to choose to see yourself as a new person, based upon what Jesus has done on your behalf. Paul repeatedly stated the fact of our union with Christ in a variety of different applications or examples (Rom. 5:12-19; 6:3-11; 7:1-6; I Cor. 15:20-23,42-49; II Cor. 5:14-17; Gal. 2:20; 5:24,25; Col. 2:8-15; 3:11), so that the reality would begin to sink home in our thinking. Somehow we were incorporated into Him, so that when He died, we died; and when He was raised, we too received resurrection life, the basis for the born-again, "new person". The death of our old self was so real and complete that, in effect, the apostle says, "Take it to the bank." In his own words, "Consider (add-it-up, having-looked-at-all-the-facts,-now-draw-the-conclusion) yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus". We are commanded to see ourselves in light of the truth-claims Paul explains to us. This is a choice. It may not feel like we are different, but we are to choose to think of ourselves as a new, clean person. More than just forgiven and cleansed, we are an entirely new creature (II Cor. 5:17).

(2.) The second step was "to put away from you according to your previous life-patterns the old/former person..." (Eph. 4:22). The way to "put away", or "put distance from", the old self is by not giving in to old behavior patterns. You really are no longer that old person anymore, so stop doing what you used to do.
The verb here is an example of a Greek middle voice. The voice of the verb communicates the direction of the action. In English, our verbs have either an active voice, where the subject is acting upon another object (e.g., "John hit the ball.") or passive, where the subject is the recipient of the action (e.g., "John was hit by the ball."). The ancient Greeks had a third option, referred to as the middle voice, where the subject is doing the action, but the action in some way also affects him or her. The subject is either intensely involved in the action, has a self-interest in the act, or the action somehow directly limits or impinges upon his or her life. To attempt to communicate this idea, grammarians translate this nuance by the phrase "for him/herself". Following our example, a middle voice verb would be translated as "John (for himself) hit the ball." This would then mean that John was intensely involved in hitting the ball. This was not just another turn at bat. He was really putting himself into this. Or, to use another example, in Hebrews 8:10, where God says, "This is the covenant that I will make...", the word translated as "make" is in the middle voice. It could legitimately be translated, "...I will (for Myself) make...". This means that God is saying that either He is intensely involved in making this covenant, or that He has a self-interest in the outcome, or that He is voluntarily binding Himself by its terms (i.e., making the covenant will limit, bind, and restrict Him in some way). Now, in Greek you could use either format, active or middle voice, depending on whether or not you wanted to communicate an insight into the personal involvement of the subject in the action. In our example from Hebrews, in the previous verse (8:9), the description of making a covenant is in the active voice, focusing on only the outside action. By using the middle voice in vs. 10, the writer reveals something of God's inner awareness of His choice.

The way this all relates to Eph. 4:22 is that Paul is really saying, "to (for yourselves) put-away/put-distant the old person according to the former habitual-behavior". By using the middle voice here, Paul recognizes that:

(a.) This is a voluntary action on our part. God does not see this command in terms of behavior only. He expresses it in terms that acknowledge our inner process. He desires that we do this with our eyes open.

(b.) Moreover, God wants us to choose to put aside these behaviors willingly, "for ourselves". Some teachers emphasize the death to self so much that they totally miss that there is always an element of self-interest to be found in obeying God. God has designed things so that, at least at some level, there will be a reward for righteousness. He is never shy about appealing to that as a motivation for trust and obedience. He does not just bribe us, or manipulate us, but He does assure us that His way is the better way. He desires us to choose to do what we do from willing hearts. How can we do that if we do not believe that it is the best thing for us to do?

(c.) Our choices will limit and affect us in some way. We do not stop doing habitual, familiar behaviors without a sense of loss, without a struggle to no longer continue in old patterns, or without an uncomfortable sense of disorientation because we are not accustomed to living life differently. We have to overcome inertia of the soul, the tendency to keep moving through life in the same direction we have.

(d.) This will require intense involvement on our part. This is not a simple decision about something ''out there", i.e., something outside of ourselves, remote, distant, or disconnected. This choice goes against everything we are familiar with, everything we have learned that has become our inner road-map. If we relax, if we go back into "default mode", we will probably drift right back into "old-person-behavior". To turn the tide, to redirect the flow, to change directions will require some intense concentration, effort and vigilance on our part.

There is another important aspect of the word choice that Paul was guided to use here. The kind of action described is a point-of-time, single decision. This means that we make this decision in-the-moment, at-the-moment it comes to our awareness, for-the-moment. Paul is describing an episode, an incident which we face, where we must choose to "put away" the old behavior. It is important also to note what the verb form is not implying.

(a.) It is not saying that we are to continually "put away" the old person. Even if we could maintain an ever-present, habitual mindset of putting off the old person, it would be the wrong focus. The important conscious awareness to cultivate is to abide in Jesus. We cannot do that and be thinking about putting away the patterns of the old self at the same time. So, the focus of our continual action is to be on the positive (e.g., abiding in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, thinking of the things above), while the need to zero in on this decision to "put off the old" is described as an episodic choice, …in-the-moment, at-the-moment, for-the-moment.

(b.) It is not saying that we are able to make a single choice that will have ongoing results. In other words, it does not indicate that we can put off the old self, and its behaviors, by a single, once-for-all decision. Apparently, that is no more within our power to do than is it possible to be continually putting off the old person. We can make a commitment in-the-moment. That is a turning away from the old self with its practices. This opens up new possibilities, which we can then focus on. If we mess up, we make another in-the-moment choice to "put off the old" and refocus on the new. We can’t make, and keep, a once-for-all commitment. That’s just not possible for us, right now. So, don’t be surprised or discouraged if you stumble or fall. What Paul is saying is choose to get up and get back on the right track.

In Romans 6:12-14, Paul utilizes a different word-picture for this same part of the process of learning to walk in our new identity. Instead of commanding us to "put off" the practices of the old self as a single, in-the-moment act, he speaks in terms of not ongoingly allowing sin to rule in our lives. Sin has been on a roll in our lives. We are to no longer permit it. He doesn’t tell us what to do, specifically, but the implication is to break up the sin pattern. (This is where the at-the-moment, in-the-moment, for-the-moment choice to "put off" would seem to fit.) What he does say is that we are to no longer be presenting our members (your body, mind, mouth, tongue, etc.) as tools to express sin any more. The verb tense here describes ongoing, repeated action, …a repeated withholding of our availability to express sin. We belong to God now. We have been bought with a price. Our allegiance, responsibility, and accountability are to Him. When confronted with a temptation to serve sin, we are to repeatedly refuse to participate. Instead of "put off the practices of the old self", here Paul exhorts us to not get involved with them at all.

We are to see ourselves as "employed" in service to God, and therefore unavailable to express or fulfill the notions of the old life. This is an interesting picture, isn't it? It seems we will partner with, or serve, either God or sin, since both have an active agenda for our lives. To do nothing would still be to-not-serve-God, and thus it would be to miss-the-mark, or to sin. So here we are, workers with our toolboxes, people with our innate gifts, talents, abilities, time, energy, and resources. We either will actively serve God, or our actions will expend our life energy to serve something other than His will.

In the Ephesians word picture, it is like God is calling us off the job that we were employed in, saying, "Stop! Don't work here. Bring your tools and work for Me." -- The emphasis is leaving the old construction site, the old activity, the old employment. It is a momentary choice. As often as we might find ourselves at this old construction site, we are to choose to pack up and leave. In this word picture in Romans 6, the emphasis is on refusing to go to the old site. It is like the old boss and crew stop by and want us to work for them today. Our responsibility is to consistently, repeatedly refuse to go with them. This is a mindset of repeatedly resisting temptation when it comes. "No, thank you. I am working for God, now. I don't have time to do both. I have fully committed my tools, time, and abilities to serve Him."

Implementing Jesus

2006-07-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 23, 2006

Implementing Jesus
by Dan Trygg

"But y'all did not experientially-learn the Christ in this way..." (Eph. 4:20)

Ephesians 4:20 is set in contrast to vss. 17-19. In those verses Paul warned the believers to no longer live the way that Gentiles (unbelievers) live, ...in vain, empty thinking, ...in separation from the life of God because of ignorance and hard-heartedness, ...by stuffing their pain, and medicating themselves with an unending pleasure-search. After describing what to avoid, he reminds the Ephesians that they "did not experientially-learn the Christ in this manner". It is important to see that, first of all, he is not talking about simply intellectually coming to a belief in Jesus, i.e., hearing the gospel and assenting to the idea that Christ came to die for our sins. The word translated as "learn" (Gk. - manthano), or more literally "experientially-learn" is a verb meaning "to learn by doing or experiencing, to discover by investigation, to find out by inquiry, to acquire a skill or ability by virtue of use, practice, or training". It is the same linguistic root from which the word "disciple" is derived. A disciple is an active follower, a pursuer, an implementer. The first contrast between the vain, empty thinking of unbelief versus the life of faith is the active, experiential, "choosing-oriented" nature of discipleship. You could endlessly think and intellectually learn information without ever "experientially-learning", "personally discovering", or implementing anything (cf. Jn. 6:45). Paul is not talking theology, he is focusing in on personally, practically finding out who Jesus is for us in daily life.

Furthermore, he plainly states that we did not, and will not, discover Jesus in this practical, personal, applicable way by approaching life by the old methodology. The phrase, "in this manner", or "in this way", refers to the ineffective, ignorant, atheistic, avoidance-oriented approach to life which characterized the old "pattern of life". Paul is contrasting two very distinctive modus operandi, i.e., ways of dealing with life.

"if indeed you heard Him and were taught in/by Him, according as it is truth/reality in the Jesus" (4:21)
Paul seems to be saying, "If you really did correctly hear Jesus, and if you were accurately taught the truth concerning Him, you would know what I mean when I say that it is not in accordance with that 'former manner of life'." His use of the past tense draws our attention back to the choice we made in becoming a disciple of Jesus. What was the original proposition which we were confronted with? Was it not the reality that we had made a mess out of our lives, or that we could see that we were sinners, and needed to give ourselves to God to be led by Him? Jesus' expression of this in Mt. 16:24-26 could be translated in it this way, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him/her deny/disown/disregard himself, and take up his/her cross and follow Me. For whoever might wish to save his/her life/soul/self shall lose/ruin/destroy it; but whoever might-lose/bring-to-nothing/put-to-death/be-deprived-of his/her life/soul/self for My sake will find/discover it. For what will a person be profited, if he/she gains the whole world, and forfeits/loses his/her life/soul/self? Or what will a person give in exchange for his/her soul/self/life?"

What is the point of this teaching? Is it not that our lives are valuable? Instinctively, naturally, we know that, …and somewhere deep inside we want to be all that we can be. We want to preserve, fulfill and keep safe who we are. The rub is, according to Jesus, that anyone who attempts to do this on his or her own will spoil themselves. Their lives, their individual strengths, qualities and unique abilities will not come to fruition. They will waste themselves, and somehow in the process they will even lose or destroy who they really are. For all the talk about death to self that occurs in religious circles, isn't it interesting that annihilation of self is not at all what Jesus has in mind? In fact, the goal of the process Jesus is advocating is that we will ultimately find our "self/soul" and "guard/keep/protect it unto/into age-type (eternal) life" (Jn. 12:25). The point is, however, that we cannot effectively manage our own lives. We do not have the perspective, -- either about life, eternity, or even our own selves --, to begin to successfully "live life to the full". Bottom line, Jesus says that the only way to ultimate self-discovery, self-preservation and self-fulfillment is through giving God the authority to direct all of our affairs. We must disregard our selfish interests, our self-directed lives, "in this world" in order to discover and preserve our true selves. At some point, that is the proposition all of us must face who will follow Jesus. We must give Him the right to call the shots for us. We must voluntarily give our selves to Him to develop, direct and dispense. In the giving away of our lives, we begin to find a new, better life, ...a life that will be abundant, rich, and full.
"...to (for yourselves) put away from (at a point in time) y'all {according to the former habit-pattern/ conduct}
the old person, the (one) [presently, ongoingly] being corrupted/ruined/destroyed/led-astray/seduced
according to the strong-desires of the deception, (4:22)

Paul moves on to delineating what learning the "truth in Jesus" for my Christian walk entails. There are three parts to this process which he describes here in Ephesians. In Romans 6, however, he includes another step, which precedes these. Before getting to that, however, he lays down the "together-with" foundation, i.e., how we were united with Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection (vss.1-11). He writes, "…do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (vss. 3,4). This becomes the basis of our deliverance and freedom from the power of the sin that is resident with us, "the former person (old man) was crucified with Him in order that the body of the sin might be 'idled down'/ disengaged/made ineffective, in order that we might no longer serve-as-slaves to the sin" (vs. 6).

[Neither Eph. 4 nor Rom. 6 teach that sin's presence in our lives has ceased to be. In both passages, it is spoken of as still being present with us, even though it is no longer who we are. The Eph. passage says that the "old man", or former self, is still being corrupted, or ruined by deceitful strong-desires. Rom. 6 teaches that it was crucified with Christ. Whatever that means, it obviously does not mean it has ceased to exist. It has been "nailed to the cross", so to speak, but it can still have some kind of influence on us, if we allow it to. It is still present with us, but its co-crucifixion with Jesus somehow has made it possible for the "body of sin" to be disengaged, or rendered ineffective.]

In Rom. 6:7, the apostle emphasizes the importance of dying in order to be finally freed from the bond of sin. This teaching of co-crucifixion, co-burial and co-resurrection is clearly repeatedly in the NT (Rom. 6-8, Gal. 2:19-21; 5:24; 6:14-16; Gal. 2:19,20; Eph. 4:21-24; Col. 2:6-14,20-24; 3:1-17). The idea of the "identity change" produced by this union with Christ is basic to understanding and applying "the truth that is in Jesus" in Ephesians 4.

This brings us to the first of the four principles mentioned above:

(1.) Reckon yourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The word translated as "reckon" literally means "add it up (for yourselves)", "draw the conclusion (for yourselves)", "(for yourselves) consider yourselves". We are commanded to make a mental shift in regard to our self-perception. This is a choice. God commands us to "(for yourselves) look upon yourselves as corpses toward sin on the one hand, but on the other hand living (ones) toward God by/in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 6:11; cf. Col. 3:5).

(2.) "Put off the old person". If that is not clear enough for you, Paul makes it more specific, "according to the former habitual pattern of life" In other words, you put off the old person by putting away its former practices, i.e., don’t give yourself to do as you used to do. In Colossians 3, Paul uses the same word to "put aside" former attitudes and behaviors (vss.5-8), while using a different word picture for putting off the old person (vs. 10). The word used is to "unclothe yourself from, strip off, undress yourself from" the old person. Note the connection of the next phrase, "with its evil practices". To put off the old person is an identity shift that also requires you to put aside old behaviors.

(3.) Be renewed in the spirit of your minds. If you are a new person, with a new identity and new Holy Spirit power resident within you, then you need learn how to view and live life differently. The Greek words convey both the notion of restoration as well as building thought patterns and obtaining a perception of reality which is entirely new and fresh, something which did not exist before (Eph. 4:23; Rom. 12:2; Col. 3:10). This does not happen overnight, and requires conscious effort on our part. We must have new information to think differently, and we also must take control of our thought life to stop old thought patterns and assert new ways of thinking. Thus, this step requires not only learning new information, but also the choice to think differently. The NT repeatedly speaks of studying God’s word, of watching the example of others, of the value obtaining input from others, and of directing your thoughts in profitable ways as practical steps to bring about change (II Tim. 3:16,17; II Thess. 3:7; Eph. 4:15,16; Phil. 4:6-9).

(4.) Put on/clothe-yourselves-with the new person. What does this mean? Paul gives us a clue by saying that this new person "has been created in righteousness and true holiness". In other words, there is a new life, a new identity resident within us. It is the result of new life which is born from above (Jn. 3:3-6). Although we may not always see or feel it (I Jn. 3:1,2), this new life is our new self, our new identity. It is Christ’s life in us, instead of our old self-life (Gal. 2:20). We need to consciously "put it on", because we are not used to living from that new inner self. Note that Paul says that this life "has been created in righteousness and true holiness". Instead of being sinful, it is righteous. As long as we abide in the power of Christ in us, as long as we operate from this new inner nature, it will be natural for us to live righteously. It will come from within. Just as a tree bears fruit according to its nature, Jesus said that a good person will produce good behavior. Learning to tune in to that new nature, and the leading of the Spirit within, requires conscious choice and devoted discipline. God will teach us, if we will walk with Him.

The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access

2006-07-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 9, 2006

The Torn Veil, A New and Living Way of Access
by Dan Trygg

"And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place." Ex. 26:31-34

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split." Matthew 27:50,51

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Hebrews 10:19-25

It would be easy for us to skim past the significance of the rending of the veil in the temple, which took place as Jesus died. Since most of us have not been steeped in an understanding of the OT temple, we do not have a frame of reference to grasp what was happening. Matthew, Mark and Luke all mention this event, however, because it was an extremely powerful testimony of God’s direct response to Christ’s finished work upon the cross. It was a powerful word picture used in early church teaching to demonstrate the effectiveness of Jesus’ death to reconcile humanity to God, and to unite all people into a new brotherhood in Him.

What was this veil? What was it for? In the building of the Tabernacle, God commanded Moses to make a veil or curtain to hang between the Holy Place, where only the priests could go, and the Holy of Holies, where God’s abiding presence was (Ex. 26:31-35). It was made of blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twined linen. It was to be woven together by skilled craftsmen, and was to have the images of cherubim woven into it. Its purpose was to separate the Holy of Holies, where the ark of the covenant and the manifest presence of God were, from the eyes and activity of those in either the Holy Place or from those who were common people outside of the Holy Place. God’s holy presence was to remain undisturbed. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. That was only once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a large, elaborate tent compound designed to give a series of buffer zones between this holy God, and the people of Israel, so that the holy presence of God could travel and dwell in the midst of His people (Ex. 25:8).

The veil stood for the unapproachableness of God. He was absolutely holy, pure and righteous. Evil cannot abide in His presence (Psa. 5:4). Those who attempted to approach Him, or the holy objects, without following the proper precautions and instructions of God, perished. On several occasions, fire came out from the sanctuary and consumed them (Lev. 10:1-3; Num. 16:1-7,16-18,35-40; I Sam. 6:19,20; II Sam. 6:1-7).
In the Temple of Jesus’ time, this curtain was intricately woven of seventy-two twisted braids of twenty-four threads each. It was sixty feet long and thirty feet tall. Because of the size, it had to be quite thick to support the weight. (Up to four inches thick, by some accounts.) As you can imagine, a curtain such as this would be very sturdy, and yet have significant ability to flex and give. To rip it in half would take a tremendous force. If it were to tear, you would expect it to tear horizontally, because of the weight, not vertically.

During Jesus’ crucifixion, darkness came over the land, as He was bearing the sin of the world. As He finished His sin-bearing work, when He cried out and gave up His Spirit to the Father, the veil in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51; Mk. 15:38; Lk. 23:45). Both Josephus (War VI. 299), a Jewish historian of the first century, and the Jewish Talmud (Mishna, Mid. ii. 1; iv.7), a collection of rabbinical teachings, mention an earthquake in the Temple. The Talmud even says that this occurred 40 years before the destruction of the Temple, which would have been the same time as Jesus’ death. It does not say what damage was done, but hints at some great disaster.

What is the significance of this event? There are two main lessons drawn from this event by the writers of the NT. The first and foremost is that the way into the presence of God has been opened up to us. God Himself tore the veil so that we would see that entrance into the Holy of Holies has been granted to all of us. The Jewish leaders misunderstood this event as a disaster, as a virtual defilement of the Holy of Holies, and hastened to cover up the opening, and repair the curtain. They missed the point. God was indicating that, because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, our sin has been removed. We are now welcome to come into the presence of our Holy God. In Hebrews 4:14-5:10, the author describes how Jesus was designated by God to be a high priest for us. In 6:19,20, the writer mentions how our hope of salvation is like an anchor for our souls, a hope which is safe-and-sure, confirmed-and-reliable, a hope that is entering into the inner place of the veil, where Christ went in as a forerunner on our behalf, becoming a high priest forever. This is a very interesting picture, since the former practice was to tie a rope around the high priest’s ankle, so his body could be pulled out if he perished before the Lord on his annual visit to the Holy of Holies. Here, we have the exact opposite picture. Christ has gone into the Holy of Holies and has planted an anchor there, one which we are tied to. He is called our "forerunner". The reference is to a spy or scout, who would lead the way. He has gone before us to lead us also into this inner place. The rope of promise is not to pull us out of the inner place, but to lead us in.

Jesus’ priestly ministry was not in the earthly Tabernacle or Temple, which were but shadows of the true heavenly dwelling place of God. Now, God was establishing a new and greater covenant than the Israelites had known under Moses (Heb. 9:1-10:18). Instead of making a temporary atonement through animal sacrifices in an earthly sanctuary, Jesus came into the very dwelling place of God in heaven and offered His own blood to cleanse us once and for all. By this act, we have been sanctified and perfected in God’s sight once and for all time (vss. 10,14). There is no additional offering that need be made to be acceptable to God, and to open the way into the inner place behind the veil.

Look at Hebrews 10:19-21. It is very powerful. "Therefore, brothers and sisters, having confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new (lit., freshly-killed) and living path-way inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is of His flesh, and (having) a great priest over the house of God…" Jesus opened up to us another pathway into the very Holy of Holies, a way that was purchased by His death and made sure by His resurrection. The blood of Jesus continues to speak as though it were an eternally present offering (Heb. 12:24), a freshly killed sacrifice. The only way into the presence of the Holy One is by the cleansing blood of Jesus. Note, however, this entrance is not by virtue of a dead sacrifice, but one that was "freshly-killed and yet living". The way in through the curtain is through Christ. He is the Great Priest, who has gone before us into the Holy of Holies, has satisfied the Divine wrath by the payment of His own life, has redeemed us out of condemnation and bondage to sin to live for God (sanctified us), and has perfected us by the power of His resurrection life which dwells within those who have trusted in Him. By the outworking of that new nature, which comes from His resurrection power living in us, all that is corrupt will fall away, when He returns to claim us for Himself, and we will shine like the sun in the power and glory of new life (Matt. 13:43). As the apostle John said, "Whenever He will appear, we will be like Him…" (I Jn. 3:2). Then, we will be able to see Him and dwell with Him. We will be comfortable in His presence, because we will be pure and holy, like Him.

Following the argument in Hebrews 10 a few more verses (22-25), we see that there are three possibilities which open up to us that were not there before Christ. They are translated in English with the phrase "let us", which is meant to convey the excitement of a possibility made available which we, by all means, should make use of. They are not commands, however, but new options which Christ has made available to us. They are:

(1.) We might now draw near to God. We are able to come with sincere hearts, fully assured, knowing that we have been sprinkled clean before God by the blood of Jesus. We are clean inside and out, and can freely enter into God’s presence, …so, let’s go there!

(2.) We might now be holding fast the confession of hope without wavering, because God is faithful. Jesus established and purchased a better covenant, based upon better promises, and a better provision. We don’t have to doubt or be wobbly in our faith. We can be confident that we are acceptable to God in Christ, …so, be strong in faith!

(3.) We might now consider one another for the purpose of sharpening up, stimulating or agitating each other to love and good deeds, not abandoning our gathering together, but encouraging one another, …so, get involved in building one another up! This third point might seem kind of a strange conclusion to draw from the idea of Jesus’ dealing with our sin and bringing us through the veil into the Holy of Holies, but Paul refers to this same notion in Ephesians 2:11-22. Christ not only reconciled us to God, but also to each other. In the Temple in Jerusalem, there was a dividing wall that separated the Gentiles from the Jews. By tearing open the curtain, and bringing people of every race and background directly into the Holy of Holies, God had removed all that divides us from each other. He has, in fact, made us a new people, members of His household. He cut through all the ordinances and religious traditions and brought us all before Daddy’s throne, where we are all on equal footing. He established peace, and gave us all the same access to the Father. Together we are being built into a spiritual house. God dwells in us. The verb in vs. 22 is usually translated passively, but it could also be understood as something we are to be actively doing. "In Him y’all are jointly building yourselves up into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." We do that when we speak the truth to one another in love, each exercising his or her gifts to build up one another (Eph. 4:15,16), stimulating one another to grow.

The Suffering and Death of Jesus For Us

2006-07-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: July 2, 2006

The Suffering and Death of Jesus For Us
by Dan Trygg

"Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." Isaiah 53:1-6

"I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting." Isaiah 50:6

"…His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men." Isaiah 52:14b

Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, begins to capture the incredible torment that Jesus went through, physically, for us. Even though God had spoken very descriptively through Isaiah the prophet about the extent and nature of His sufferings, we cannot fully grasp what He went through for us. He was repeatedly struck in the face, endured humiliation and became the butt of their humor as they mocked and beat him. They spit in His face, and in mock tenderness reached to stroke His beard, only to pull out handfuls of it in scorn. They whipped Him, reducing His muscled back, sides and legs to a shredded, bleeding pulp. The entire Roman cohort (600 men) gathered to pay their scorn and mock the King of the Jews, one-by-one adding his share to the humiliation and the beating of His face and body. They wove together a wreath of thorns and jammed it on His head. As they mocked Him, they beat Him about the head with the cane reed they used as a mock scepter. We know that Jesus was sentenced by Pilate by 6 a.m., and was put on the cross by 9:00 a.m. (Jn. 19:14 [Roman time]; Mk. 15:25 [Jewish time]). What happened in those intervening hours must have been horrific. If Isaiah’s prophecy was borne out, that His appearance was marred more than any man, then He must have been virtually unrecognizable. The repeated beatings, the swelling, then being beaten again by numerous people, left Him a pulverized swollen, black and blue, bleeding and oozing mess.

Jesus began the journey from the governor’s palace to the place of execution. He started out carrying His own cross, as was customary for condemned criminals. Normally, the scourging took place at the execution site, right before being nailed to the cross, so that the victim would still be fit enough to carry his cross. In Jesus’ case, however, Pilate had given the order for Him to be scourged earlier, hoping to satisfy the crowd and intending to release Him. By this time, some three hours later, He was so weakened by the whipping, beatings and torture that He collapsed under the load. The Romans forced a passerby, Simon from Cyrene (modern-day Libya) to carry His cross the remainder of the way. The total distance was probably about 500 yards, or less, through the winding streets of the city. Although the exact site is unknown today, we do know that it was near a main road coming in from the country. The most likely spots would have been to the West or North of the city.

Many of our romanticized depictions of this event fall away when we remember the Roman purpose for this torturous death. The intent was to make a spectacle, an example, of the condemned. Therefore, the crosses were placed quite near the busy roadway, and the condemned were probably fairly close to the ground, only suspended one or two feet above the ground, not elevated high up, as is often portrayed. The closer to the eye of the passerby, the better. The Romans wanted the torturous death struggle of the victims to be clearly seen, and vividly emblazoned on the mind of those who had to walk by. Each person was stripped totally naked. No loincloth was given to preserve any sense of modesty. Again, the point was to totally humiliate, debase, and remove any dignity that the condemned person may have had. When Jesus and Simon had arrived at the designated spot, Jesus would have been stripped, placed upon the cross, tied to the beams with rope, and nailed through the hands into the crossbeam, and through the ankles or feet to the vertical beam. Often the feet rested upon a small shelf, to allow the victim to partially support himself, and thus extend the suffering.

Crucifixion was considered the most horrific and painful way to die in the ancient world. It was universally feared by all. The "genius" of this execution method lay in the fact that, as the person weakened, and began to slouch, it was impossible to exhale. Because the arms would keep the chest expanded, unless the victim stood or pulled himself up, he could not get fresh air. Of course, any such movement would aggravate the already swollen and painful impalings. The agony of this form of execution was prolonged and extremely painful. The swelling of the wounds, the lack of fluids, produced traumatic fever and an excruciating, pounding headache. The unnatural placement of the body, coupled with the inability to move, caused severe, agonizing cramping of the muscles. In addition, the sun, insects and even birds would further increase the level of torture upon the exposed flesh. The victim was left in this exposed, helpless condition until eventually the resources of his body gave out and he suffocated to death. As he struggled to breathe, with each breath came excruciating pain and cramping, as he had to push and pull himself erect enough to exhale and inhale. This became more and more extreme, as the body failed. The panic of suffocation, the desperate struggle to get another breath, added to and extended the torture, until the victim slumped into complete body failure and death. It was not uncommon for victims to last for two or three days upon the cross.

While all of this was beginning to overtake Jesus, the physical struggle was not the most significant pain and torment He endured while upon that cross. There was another dimension which Jesus was experiencing which would not have been visible to the eyes of the onlookers. Isaiah prophetically told us that He would bear our sorrows and griefs. He was punished for our transgressions. Peter tells us that He bore our sins in His body while on that cross (I Pet. 2:24). II Corinthians 5:21 tells us that somehow He, who was sinless, became the very embodiment of sin for us. He bore the chastening which we deserved, so that we might have reconciliation with God, instead of His wrath. This makes little sense to us in modern-day, individualistic America. God had introduced the background of substitutionary atonement way back in the garden of Eden. The skin coverings for Adam and Eve’s nakedness required the death of animals. The entire sacrificial system depended upon the notion that an animal could serve as a substitute for the guilt of the worshipper. The problem with animal sacrifices, however, is that their lives were not of equal value in exchange for the life of the one offering the sacrifice. The notion of substitution was clear, but the means was inadequate. Jesus, however, was a voluntary sacrifice of infinite worth. If He could take sin upon Himself, and actually pay for it through His death, then it would be more than temporarily covered. It would be removed forever (Heb. 9:11-10:22).

The agony of soul, which had been momentarily revealed in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:38; Lk. 22:44), was where the real struggle with death that Jesus endured lay. In order to set humanity free from the penalty and power of sin, He had to pay the full price for our sin while on that cross. Somehow He had to experience, and endure, an intensity of punishment that would more than offset the wrath of God which was accumulated by the sin of every person who ever lived on this planet. Isaiah tells us that "by oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?" (Isa. 53:7,8). He took the death stroke which really belonged to others. He paid the price for them, so they would not have to experience God’s wrath, if they would only accept this provision from above. Like the serpent on the pole, which God provided to Israel in the wilderness, to escape the death of snakebite, in Jesus God was providing another source of healing and deliverance hung upon another pole, so that those who look to and trustfully yield in Him may receive life (Num. 21:4-9; Jn. 3:14,15).

The soul-struggle, and the cost of sin, are revealed by two telling comments of Jesus from the cross. The first is the cry of agony, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken Me?". More than just a quote from the 22nd psalm, it was Jesus’ experience at that moment, as the wrath of God was poured out upon Him and He experienced the horror of total abandonment by the Father. Soon after, however, He cried out, "It is finished!" (Jn. 19:30) The word uttered was actually the word written upon contracts and bills which had been fulfilled, "Paid in full!" So, while the mockery of His enemies continued (Matt. 27:39-44), and His physical body was struggling to survive, and He was experiencing all the horrors and torture of that form of execution, He was also taking upon Himself the sin of the world, and the full wrath of the Father was poured out upon Him to the very end, so that He could say, "There, it is done. Paid in full."

This spiritual battle was also reflected in the natural world by the darkness which came upon the land from noon until 3:00 p.m., followed by the earthquake upon His death (Matt. 27:45-54). Just as the natural world was affected by Adam’s sin, subjected to futility and death (Rom. 8:19-22), so through the death of Christ it was being redeemed. The victory was also evidenced by the way in which Jesus died. He did not die of crucifixion. He gave up His spirit. He Himself had told the disciples that no one could take His life from Him (Jn. 10:17,18). He had the power to give it up at will, but no one could take it from Him. Thus, we see that He cried out, "Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit!", and He breathed out His life (Lk. 23:46; Jn. 19:30). The events surrounding His death, and the manner in which He died, were strange enough that the attending guards became frightened and exclaimed, "Surely this was the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54).

Maturity: Fulfilling the Message of God Among Us

2006-06-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: June 25, 2006

Maturity: Fulfilling the Message of God Among Us

"And y'all, formerly being alienated-away-ones and hostile-ones in the understanding by evil acts, 22 yet now He reconciled in the body of His flesh by means of the death to present y'all set-apart-ones and unblemished-ones and irreproachable-ones in His sight, 23 if indeed y'all continue-on in the faith, [being] having-been-founded-and-still-founded-ones and settled-and-steadfast-ones and not being-ones-dislodged away from the hope of the good news which y'all heard, that being preached in all creation under the heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant. 24 Now I rejoice in the sufferings on behalf of y'all, and I complete the things lacking of the afflictions of the Christ in my flesh on behalf of His Body, which is the gathered-assembly (ekklesia), 25 of which I became a servant according to the stewardship of God given to me to fulfill the message of God toward y'all, 26 the mystery having-been-hidden-away-from-view from the ages and from the generations, -- but now it was made visible to His set-apart-ones, 27 to whom God purposed to make known what [is] the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the nations, which is Christ in y'all, the hope of the glory; 28 Whom we continuously-proclaim, reminding every human-being and teaching every human-being with all skill, in order that we might present every human-being mature in Christ; 29 unto which [purpose] also I labor-to-exhaustion intensely-struggling-against-opposition according to the inworking-energy of Him inworking in me in power." Col. 1:21-29

This section of Scripture is interesting from the standpoint of the number of players involved. There are four perspectives presented in this passage, any of which we could follow and find instructive. There is the perspective of the believers in Christ at Colossae, the recipients of God's grace in Christ whom Paul seeks to serve and mature. There is the perspective of Christ, Who gave Himself on behalf of human beings to reconcile us to God, and to present us before Him holy, blameless, and irreproachable. There is the perspective of God, Who is behind this redemptive work, has prepared the way for it for centuries, and Who has now taken action to make known the hidden message of His heart to all people. And, finally, there is the expression of Paul's own heart, who has been given a stewardship by God as a servant of the good news of Jesus' coming to fully carry out its implications among human beings from all nations, serving them by proclamation, education, and even admonition to the end that they might grow up to the full potential of what God desires for them in Christ, who lives within them. What can we learn by approaching this from the vantage point of the apostle who has shared with us here a bit of himself?

Paul saw himself as having been given a stewardship from God (cf. Eph. 3:1). He called himself a servant (Gk. -- diakonos) of the gospel, the good news of the salvation brought about in Christ (Col. 1: 23; cf. Eph. 3:7). In I Cor. 9:16, he tells us that he felt a necessity, compulsion or constraint having been laid upon him, by virtue of his calling and gifting (Acts 26:14-18; Eph. 3:1-13). This was not a compulsion where he could not stop from doing it, though that may have been the case also. The force of the context indicates that Paul saw this as a responsibility, a trust, which he was given, and concerning which he would someday be required to give an account. He could do it eagerly, or begrudgingly. That was up to him. In either case, the point was that he had a job to do, and he was responsible to get it done. He had a clear sense of this trust and responsibility. He also saw himself as a servant (diakonos) of the Church, in that it was his role to "fulfill, complete, carry out" the message of God. How did this work? He had a clear understanding of how Christ could live in His people, and of God's purposes for them, …and he intended to do whatever it took to bring this potential to pass in actual experience.

In both cases, by using the Greek word diakonos, Paul was seeing himself in a supportive, assisting role, being "at the ready" to serve in practical ways the two-fold interests of the gospel message: (1.) the proclamation and spread of the message; and (2.) the implementation and activation of the message in the learning laboratories of the local meetings of the saints. Both parts needed to be done. Neither dimension can effectively be done without the other. Diakonos was not a religious word. It was a hands on, practical, "get it done" kind of word. It was a "table waiter", "domestic servant" type of label. It had no connotation of religious worker, or clergy vs. laity, or professional vocation. If anything, it was more a blue collar type of term that emphasized making oneself available to do whatever it took to get the job done.

OK. *****First application: What is the stewardship that God has placed on me? He says He has gifted me and placed me in the Body of Christ to fulfill a function, to get a job done. Is that not a trust? Is that not a responsibility? Will I have to give an account for what I have been entrusted with? Am I seeing that clearly, and living accordingly? Does it matter if I don't want to do what I am asked to do? Will I be any less responsible? Furthermore, will my action or inaction affect anybody else? Does it matter if I "opt out"? Also, based upon the origin of the word, would you expect "ministry" (diakonia) to be a gloriously fun and immediately rewarding experience all the time? About as fun as mopping the floor, changing diapers, or serving others while they eat, right? Are you willing to make yourself available to do whatever it takes to get the job done that God has assigned to you?

A second observation about his experience in walking out his calling is that Paul met with obstacles and resistance. As a servant (diakonos), one who lived for others, he repeatedly experienced inconvenience to himself. It is the nature of choosing to love others that their interests will often be at apparent cross purposes with our own. If it were not so, everybody would be loving. The truth is, that we cannot consider the interests of others as more important than our own, and not experience sacrifice at some point (cf. Phil. 2:1-11). Paul chose to put aside the inner resistance of self-interest in order to serve others. Secondly, Paul also experienced resistance in others. They did not want to change or be changed. Their growth and change would require Paul's attentive involvement in their lives as a change agent. They needed to be taught about how the good-news of Jesus' death and resurrection could be applied to their lives, they needed to be reminded of these truths, and they needed to be held accountable for growth. Resistance from other believers is not a new thing. Paul dealt with it repeatedly. Inertia is as much a factor in human growth as it is in the laws of physics. Count on it. If you want to be a change agent, persistence is required. The need for forgiveness and repetition come with the territory. Admonishment and confrontation are also necessary if we are to truly be able to help one another mature. Finally, there will be obstacles in both the natural and the supernatural realms. Some of this is the result of the limitations of our human existence in this world. Paul did not have a "money tree". To do what he did required that he give up some creature comforts and security. He couldn't "have it all", and God did not change the rules just for him. To devote himself and his resources for the sake of the Kingdom generally meant that his resources and energy were used up, and no longer available for other things. In other words, he sacrificed in order to do God's will. He experienced both suffering and afflictions as a result of his choice to do what God was asking of him. He also experienced persecution, ridicule and harassment from people, in addition to, or in conjunction with, the spiritual opposition he faced.

*****Second application: Don't be surprised that the way is hard, or that there are dry times, or that people don't seem to "get it", or don't want to change. Expect it. You are going against the grain. Did you ever have to go to work when you didn't feel like it? This is for a temporal responsibility. How much more should we "press on" when the outcome clearly is eternal, in that it is Kingdom business?

A third observation is that Paul clearly and passionately knew what he was trying to accomplish. He was trying to proclaim and implement the "glory-giving" of God among believers. The "mystery" which had been hidden, but now is made known, is that God would come to dwell inside His people, "Christ in you, the hope of the glory".

What is this "hope of the glory" business? Well, in Rom. 3:23, Paul tells us that part of the fallen human state is that we "lack the glory of God". Jesus, in Heb. 1:3, is described as the radiance [outflashing] of God's glory. This is re-emphasized in John 1:14, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, ...full of grace and truth". Jesus was full of the glory of God, meaning that He radiated God's character and likeness from His life, and it was seen by others. Humanity was made in the image of God, and we still bear that likeness in some fashion, but it is like a light bulb, or electrical appliance, without an adequate power source. The old batteries, the remnant of God's creative life that remains with us apart from Him, are not enough to fully energize our capabilities to express the imprint of the design of God, which is part of our makeup. The "glory of God", the "new covenant glory" that Paul said belonged to every Christian, and was greater than the outward luminescence seen on Moses' face (II Cor. 3:5-4:6), is the indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9-17). So, in essence, what God has done for us in Christ, is to place an unlimited power source inside of us, so that we could also radiate His glory.

There are three aspects to this "glory-giving".

First, it is a one-time event that comes to us the moment we are born from above, and we receive the Holy Spirit. From that moment on, we are no longer children of darkness. We are sons and daughters of light (Eph. 5:7-21; Jn. 12:36; Mt. 5:14-16).

Secondly, there is an ongoing process of learning to respond to and express that inner light of God's Spirit outwardly to the surrounding world. Our job is to learn to be filled with the power of that indwelling Spirit, and to clearly, faithfully and effectively radiate what He has put inside of us in accordance with our God-designed nature. Our job is also to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow in their capacity and willingness to be "light-shiners".

Thirdly, there is a future hope of complete deliverance from every obstacle and misalignment. When Jesus returns, then the sons and daughters of glory will be revealed (Rom. 8:18-25). They will "shine forth as the sun" (Matt. 13:43). There will no longer be any darkness of sin within us to obscure the inner light.

*****Third application: Are you giving yourself diligently to "plugging in" to the indwelling power source of the Holy Spirit? Are you responding to His initiatives of energy desiring to express His inner life through you? If not, you will not experience the power flow, and you will not experience the freedom and joy of being empowered and liberated to be the real inner you that God has designed.

Finally, Paul would not let up on these people. He was determined to see them come to maturity. Are you willing to be as insistent with others? Will you allow people to be as insistent about your growth and maturity?

Delivered Up By Envy, Delivered Over For Expedience

2006-06-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc.
1789 Iglehart Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104-5215 : Info: Phone (651) 283-0568 : www.dtminc.org

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Today’s Date: June 25, 2006

Delivered Up By Envy, Delivered Over For Expedience
by Dan Trygg

" For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered Him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous Man, for I have suffered much because of Him today in a dream.’ 20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus." Matthew 27:18-20

"From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.’ 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ 15 They cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ 16 So he delivered Him over to them to be crucified." John 19:12-16

We recently saw how the Jewish religious leaders had arrested Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and had run Him through a semblance of legal steps in order to sentence Him to death, and remove Him from the scene. Never mind that they had illegally compressed what was normally a three-day process (at least) into a few hours. They were desperate to get Him out of the way before the city woke up, and Jesus’ supporters could respond in any way that may impede their plot. Thus, we see that they did not waste any time in getting Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. The Romans had removed the right of capital punishment from the Jews, reserving that power to themselves alone. According to law, a Roman court could meet any time after sunrise. John 19:14 tells us that the proceedings before Pilate were all done by "the sixth hour". This included a first appearance before Pilate, an appearance before Herod, and a second appearance before Pilate, all by 6:00 a.m.! Before most people in the city had really gotten their mornings started, Jesus had been tried and convicted by the Jews, and had been brought before the Governor, who delivered Him over to crucifixion, the Roman death penalty for those who were not Roman citizens.

As long as the Galilean contingent, those who were especially loyal to Jesus, did not find out what had happened, and appear before the governor, the chief priests and elders had a good chance of getting what they wanted. Certainly a good percentage of the crowd that appeared before the courtyard of Pilate, and followed the proceedings to Herod’s residence and back again before Pilate, were strongly under the influence of the enemies of Jesus. When you consider the early time of these events, who would have been milling about the city looking for a court hearing to attend before breakfast? Furthermore, considering that this was also the day after the Passover meal, when friends and family came to town for the feast, the size of the crowd at that early hour is even more peculiar. The "public gallery" was heavily stacked against Jesus, so that Pilate certainly did not get an accurate perception of the popularity of Jesus by the multitudes He had ministered to. This explains also the way in which the chief priests were able to motivate the crowd to call for Jesus’ death so profusely. From the representation Pilate would have seen in attendance, certainly Jesus would have appeared unpopular to the extreme.

We have the interviews with Pilate recorded in more detail by John’s gospel (18:28-19:16). The charges the Jews brought against Him were that "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a king" (Lk. 23:2). The only charge which Pilate seemed to take interest in pursuing was the last of these. Recorded in all four gospels is His question, "Are You the King of the Jews?" Each of these four witnesses record Jesus’ affirmative answer, but John gives us more detail. In His account, Jesus asks Pilate if this question was his own, or because others had brought this accusation against Him (18:34). Pilate dismissed Jesus’ probing, saying, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation, and the chief priests have delivered You up to me; what have you done?" To this, Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Pilate responded, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness of the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." At this, Pilate said, again probably dismissively, "What is truth?" This was enough for him. He knew now that Jesus had done nothing wrong, but had merely been delivered up by the Jewish religious authorities because of envy. He was no threat to Rome, or to the peace. He went out to the chief priests and the multitudes and said, "I find no guilt in this man" (Lk. 23:4).

That was not the end of the matter, however. They kept on insisting that He was worthy of death, claiming that, "He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from Galilee, even as far as this place" (Lk. 23:5). Upon learning that Jesus was a Galilean, Pilate was more than glad to send Him to Herod, so that he himself would not have to deal with Him. Luke alone records Jesus’ visit to Herod, who happened to be in Jerusalem for the Passover (Lk. 23:5-12). Herod was initially pleased to see Him, but when Jesus did not perform some miracles, or even answer his questions, he grew weary of Him. With the chief priests and scribes standing there, vehemently accusing Him, Herod decided to send Him back to the Roman governor, after first mocking Him and treating Him with contempt.

Upon His return, Pilate made a stronger effort to release Jesus. He summarized his findings, which had been confirmed by Herod, that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death. He appealed to a well established custom, where the Roman governor would release one prisoner as a show of clemency (and of confident power) in honor of the Jewish holiday. He tried to offer to release to them "the King of the Jews", making light of the situation. The crowd rejected his offer, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas" (Jn. 18:39,40). Tradition says that Barabbas’ first name was also Jesus. The name "Barabbas" literally means "son of a father", probably indicating that he was an illegitimate child. He was a notorious criminal, an insurrectionist, or violent revolutionary against Rome. He was also a murderer and a robber (Mk. 15:7; Jn. 18:40). He was not even a good guy in the eyes of the Jews. He was not a folk hero, like Robin Hood. He was a criminal, in everyone’s eyes. He was, in reality, everything that the chief priests and elders were falsely ascribing to Jesus. They were trying to make the case that Jesus of Nazareth was a revolutionary, a rabble rouser and insurrectionist, and a threat to Roman stability, which He was not. Barabbas, on the other hand, was worse than all they had ascribed to Jesus. Partly in reaction to Pilate’s arrogance, the chief priests moved the crowd to cry out for Barabbas, and to call out for Jesus’ death. Unbeknownst to them, they were rejecting the true King, the virgin-born Son of God, who was innocent of all charges, in order claim Jesus Barabbas, the illegitimate child of an unknown father, who was guilty of all Jesus of Nazareth was accused of, and more. They were rejecting the King of heaven in exchange for an earthly wannabe.

While this was going on, Pilate received a message from his wife, saying that she had suffered greatly in a dream about Jesus, and warned him to have nothing to do with Him (Matt. 27:19). This motivated him all the more to release Jesus, but seeing the insistence of the crowd, Pilate thought he might appease them if he gave them some measure of what they wanted. He determined to punish and publicly embarrass Jesus, ordering Him to be scourged, saying, "I will punish Him and release Him" (Lk. 23:16). A Roman scourging utilized the infamous "cat of nine tails", a whip consisting of leather strips with bits of bone or lead attached to them. The weight of the lead would increase the punishing force of each blow, and the sharp bits of bone would penetrate the flesh, tearing it as the whip was pulled back. By the time a scourging was completed, a man's back and legs would be a shredded, pulverized, bloody mass. Victims of a Roman scourging often died under the whip, or as a result of the beating. After the scourging, the soldiers had taken it upon themselves to mock and beat Jesus, making a crown of thorns, beating Him in the face, and arraying Him in a purple robe. When Pilate called Him out, he again asserted that he had found no guilt in Him (Jn. 19:4).

When Pilate tried to release Him again, the Jews played their trump card. They cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar." Pilate already had a somewhat checkered administrative record. His arrogance and high-handedness had offended the Jews on more than one occasion, and he knew that he did not need any more negative feedback from those in his charge. Tiberius Caesar had become very intolerant of any rumors of insurrection. To dismiss the charges against Jesus would not play well with his superiors. He would have some explaining to do. Even if his actions could be explained, he would be under the emperor’s eye of suspicion, which was never a healthy place to be. He was cornered, and he knew it. Rather than take a stand on principle, it was politically expedient to give this Man over to their wishes.

The governor knew that this was unjust, though he could make a defense for condemning Jesus to die on the cross. This was a distasteful business, however, and it bothered him. Matthew records (27:24) that he ordered a basin of water to be brought to him, and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves," putting the responsibility upon His accusers. They responded, "His blood be upon us and on our children!" He had Jesus brought out before them, proclaiming, "Behold, your King!" They cried out, "Away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests then exclaimed, "We have no king but Caesar." (This was a serious contradiction to their professed faith that God Himself was their only true King, and His Messiah would come to reign as His earthly representative.) Having had the last word, and having clearly, on record, established his loyalty to Rome, so there would be no grounds for accusations, Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified.

Thus, Jesus was delivered up to the governor because of the envy of the Jews, and delivered over by him to crucifixion out of fear and political expedience. None of these rulers had the backbone to stand up for truth and justice. This truly was the "hour and the authority of darkness" (Lk. 22:53).

An A.S.I.D.E. About Church

2006-06-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: June 18, 2006

An A.S.I.D.E. About Church
by Dan Trygg

"But truthing in agape, we might grow all things toward Him, who is the head (source, origin, the one who brings to completion), Christ, ...out from whom all the Body, being tightly fitted together and being knitted together by means of every bond of support according to the in-working in proportion of each individual part, by agape makes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself." Eph. 4:15,16

We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary for Ekklesia! This is a reprint from Sept. 13, 1998, an oldie, but a goodie. It is good to review why we "do church" as we do. We are called to meet together for a reason. If we don’t understand why, we won’t see the significance of what we do. -- Dan

We have been talking about our gatherings with one another as being similar to a huddle in a football game, or as a dugout in a baseball game. When we come together, we meet to help one another refresh and refocus to get back "out there" to "play ball" in the various playing fields of our lives. Or, they are like team meetings, training classes, or interest groups of virtually any kind imaginable. The point is that our meetings are times spent aside from the regular business of everyday life, ...times where we meet with others to share struggles, to talk over mistakes, to learn new methods and solutions to problems, to strategize and collaborate together to enable us to be more effective at whatever it is we do, and to encourage us to go back to our everyday business with new vigor and motivation. Analogies and word pictures are only illustrations. They are imperfect comparisons that help us to see aspects of life more clearly. Sometimes it takes a few analogies or comparisons to help us get a handle on a truth, a principle, or a "piece of reality" that we had not fully grasped before. The piece of reality for your consideration here has to do with "What is church for, anyway? How does it work? What am I supposed to be getting out of it?" Allow me to make some observations to stimulate the thinking process a bit, and then follow up with some principles that I believe would help us to clarify our thoughts and expectations about what "church" could be for us.

First, church is not to be our life, it is to help us to live life more effectively. To put it in terms of some of our illustrations: The huddle is not the game; the game is the game. The huddle is only there to help us play the game more effectively. In the same way, the training seminar, or the strategy session, is not the job for which I was hired (unless I am the one hired to give seminars). What I do at my desk is what I was hired for. Training or strategy meetings are only there to enable me to do my job more effectively. In the same way, church is not life; it is an "aside", a time set apart where we can gather with others to prepare ourselves to do life more effectively. Church is not "where it's at". It is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. It is an artificial environment which is intended to, as the apostle Paul says, "equip [us] to do a work of service". For what end? "To build up the Body of Christ" [A much larger vision than a local church!], ...until we all might grow up to maturity in understanding, discernment, experiential relationship with God and Christlikeness of character, ...so that, instead of being tricked by the wiles of the enemy, we might grow all things into Jesus, out from whom the Body, being joined and knitted together through "truthing in love" and the unique functioning of each individual, might cause the growth of the Body toward the building up of itself in love. The endpoint is maturity for everybody, represented by discernment, intimacy with God, and a character of righteousness and love. In other words, church is to be a place where we get equipped to live life well.

Second, church will not tell me everything I need to know. As with the corporate world, there are general principles and policies that may be applicable to everyone, but no one has exactly the same responsibilities, doing the same work in the same way. Like most businesses, and most teams in any setting, the church is to be an interactive, interdependent community of specialists. To some extent, because I face a unique set of tasks, and I am a unique person, I will need to find my own way to get the job done well. No one does exactly what I do with the exact same set of variables, tools and abilities. I will need the freedom to find what works for me. Like the sports analogy, that will be a process of self-discovery, moving from learning certain fundamentals, ...to gaining insights through watching others and getting instruction and feedback from coaches and teammates, ...to finding a position that corresponds to my gifts and abilities, ...and then learning how I can best play my position by experimentation, by analysis and feedback, and through a growing accumulation of experience. In order for me to be at my best, I need a community of support that will accommodate me, ...one that will accept me for who I am (and who I am becoming), ...one that will encourage me to grow and experiment, ...one willing to change and make modifications together with me. I also need to be willing to encourage and accommodate others.

Third, I need to take ownership for my own growth, as well as for my own part in helping others to grow. According to the NT, growth will not just "happen to us", we must pursue it. We must invest ourselves to "make it happen". A huge element of my own growth, as well as of my own personal fulfillment, is that I have been made to help others. The process of maturing is growing from being totally dependent upon others, through an adolescence of self-discovery and individuation, to a place where I have the strength and perspective to offer help and support to others. We will never grow up if we remain passive. We will never really learn to play the game, if we stay on the sidelines. Furthermore, others need what we have to offer. They will never benefit from what God has designed and intended for us to supply to them, unless we become strong and able to supply it, ...and unless we learn to interact with others in such a way that we can offer our strength in a way that is safe, appropriate, and helpful to them. Some of us spend a lot of time working on the first part, but have not developed the latter part. What is the strength for, if we cannot relate to others in such a way so that we can offer help when they need it, ...and they will take it from us? Others work on the latter part, but not the former. What good is it to have relationships with others, if we have no sound, dependable insights or strength to offer them when they need us? Both parts of the equation are necessary, ...and are our responsibility, like it or not. It is quite clear that the New Testament plan for the church and the individual believer is that everyone is to participate, ...everyone has something significant to bring to the table to share with others.

I mentioned that our meeting together is an artificial environment, a "time-out" from our everyday existence, ...an aside, like the dugout or the huddle or the business strategy meeting, to recharge, refocus, retool and to risk. Using the word, "aside", following is an acrostic to help us zero in on what our gathering together is to accomplish:

Affirmation of value -- Many of us have been deeply hurt by abusive family backgrounds, or we suffer from feelings of insecurity. The enemy is well known for his relentless accusation and slander against us. It is part of his technique to debilitate and isolate humankind, and to keep them under fear and domination. He magnifies our failings, and "beats us up" with criticisms and self-recriminations. Since this is true, and since we are to be a community of love, the importance of spoken and outwardly expressed affirmation from one another is very important. God has outwardly expressed His valuation of us on the cross. We should follow His lead, and express affirmation to one another on a regular basis. The Biblical "holy kiss" was one way to do that. Giving hugs, where that is comfortable to both parties, and sincerely greeting one another are a beginning way of expressing this. Taking time to listen, and speaking relevant words of value and appreciation for the person will bring this deeper. We need the emotional support and upbuilding that comes from a community of people who truly care for us.

Support in difficulty -- The Bible talks of "weeping with those who weep", and that we truly are "members of one another". If one member is hurting, we all will be affected by their pain and struggle. Love calls us to "be there" for one another when we go through hard times. When we gather together, and someone shares their burden or pain, part of our purpose in meeting is to rally around that person to serve them, and to help them with their load.

Instruction -- The four-fold ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11,12 are all "word gifts", in that they all share the common feature of declaring God's word to people. This activity will help all of us to be "equipped", or "fitted-out" or "mended-and-restored", as we have need. Since a big part of the maturation process is about renewing the mind, proclamation and teaching play a big role in helping us lay a foundation in that area. Beyond these more specific giftings, however, there is the instruction that can happen if we will share life-lessons with each other, or practical applications of truth we have learned by experience in our own walk. The word "admonish" simply means to "bring to mind". A "reminding ministry" is something that many more of us can do than just a few "preacher types". "Truthing in love" implies an instructional element, as well. This is Body-life activity.

Discipleship -- Jesus commanded us to make disciples: active, obedient followers. A discipline is a voluntary strategy for growth. Discipleship is putting ourselves into relationship with others for the purpose of growth and accountability. God's plan for the church, Body-life, is a system of such relationships. He intends for us to take advantage of the support, insights, and common accountabilty which can be ours when we meet together.

Encouragement to risk -- Since so much of our progress in growth is dependent upon discovering by experimentation (Rom. 12:2), and pushing back the boundaries of the unknown and uncomfortable, risk-taking is part and parcel of what it takes to grow. When we gather, this should be a key element of our interaction. We need encouragement (giving-courage-within-to-face-the-fear) to do what does not come naturally or easily.

I think we should think of ourselves as a strike-force in training, meeting to prepare and strategize about taking territory away from the enemy. We are to get our mission objectives from God, and with all seriousness and discipline, set about to accomplish what He wants.

Drinking the Cup

2006-05-21T03:36:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: May 21, 2006

Drinking the Cup
by Dan Trygg

"And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then He said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with Me.’ 39 And going a little farther He fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And He said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ 42 Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, Your will be done.’" Matthew 26:37-42

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." Hebrews 12:1-3

Often, in our desire to honor and magnify Jesus, we lose sight of a critical aspect of His story. He became human. The writer to the Hebrews explains the rationale for the necessity of Jesus’ humanness in 2:9-18. He partook of flesh and blood so that, through His death, He might render Satan powerless. In this way, He might deliver us who, by virtue of our fear of death, have been held in captivity and slavery to the devil all of our lives. Therefore, the writer says, He was obligated to be made like us in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God, to make a satisfactory atoning sacrifice for our sins (to pay the legal price for our sins). AND, since He was tempted in the things He suffered, He is able to come to our help when we are tempted.

A key ingredient of what we are told here is that Jesus came to deliver us from the fear of death, so that we would no longer be held captive or be enslaved by the devil. It is not by coincidence that, when Satan and his demonic host were thrown down from heaven in Rev. 12, the voice from heaven declared that those who get victory over him do so because of the blood of the Lamb (legal price paid by Jesus) and because of the word of their testimony (their affirmation that they have personally become a Christ-follower) and because they did not love their life even to death (they preferred to follow Christ no matter what). Victory over the enemy comes in no other way. We need to personally be redeemed and protected by the blood of Christ, and we must choose to put aside any obstacle to obedience, no matter what the cost.

Remember what Jesus said? "He who loves his or her natural-self-life ruins it; but the one who hates (disregards) his or her self-life in this world will protect it for eternal life" (Jn. 12:25). In this context, Jesus is explaining a foundational principle of how the power of the kingdom of God is released in this world. Using the example of a grain of wheat, Jesus pointed out that unless the seed went through death and burial, it would remain alone; but if it dies, it will bear much fruit. Jesus was speaking not only of the impact of His life, laid down on our behalf, but also concerning the impact of our own lives. If we are willing to lay down our self-agenda (our fear of death) to follow God, others will come to life as a result. The problem for us is that God’s ways are often counter intuitive. They go against our natural desire to protect self-interest. We must die to self, to experience resurrection life from God.

This brings us right back to Jesus’ struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane. The very name of the place was a word picture of what was happening within its enclosure. "Gethsemane" means "oil press", a place where olives were broken, crushed and pressed in order that the precious oil within could be released and gathered up. Jesus was experiencing a pressing and crushing process, emotionally and spiritually, …the beginning of the agony which would bring our deliverance from death and the release of the life of the Spirit on our behalf.

The inner turmoil had actually come upon Him at times before. He had been speaking to His disciples about His suffering and death at the hands of the authorities for nearly a year, since the time of Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:21). As the time approached, this inner struggle increased. On Palm Sunday, He told His disciples, "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name" (Jn. 12:27,28). Again, at the last supper, He "became troubled in spirit", as He told His followers that one of them would betray Him (Jn. 13:21).

Now, as they entered the "oil press", the weight of His agony began to come upon Him in fuller measure. He left eight disciples by the entry and retreated further into the garden with Peter, James and John in order to pray. At that point, He began to become very sorrowful and uncomfortable. He told them that His soul (natural-self) was deeply grieved (the word implies "encompassed or surrounded by grief or sorrow"), to the very point of death. This agitation and grief increased so much that Luke records that He actually began to sweat blood, with great clots of it falling from His body along with His sweat. This condition has been documented as occurring under extreme duress.

This is recorded for us so that we would know the level of deep struggle and discomfort He endured.

Why is this so important? Because we must know and be assured that He went through something that was even greater than our worst trials or nightmares. Why do we need to know this? Because He is to be our example and guide when we are facing difficulty and inner struggle.

Did you ever face something where you felt like you would just die if you didn’t give in to your desire to deliver yourself? Do you know that agitation of soul when trying to hold out against temptation? Have you experienced incapacitating fear or dread at facing some kind of difficult circumstance? Ever feel like you want to turn around and run the other way? Ever felt like you would "die a thousand deaths" if you had to go through some embarrassing circumstance, or own up to some disappointing failure in your life?

Jesus was facing all of that, and more. He was going to die the deaths of several billion people, so they wouldn’t have to. In fact, He was going to take the punishment of hell for them. The Bible says that the punishment that was due them was laid upon Him (Isa. 53:4-6), including yours and mine. He who knew no sin was about to become sin on our behalf (II Cor. 5:21). He was going to feel slimed, dirty, …and be treated with wrath by the Father. He was going to be rejected and abandoned by both God and people.

Just in the natural alone, He knew full well what was awaiting him. He was going to be beaten, abused, spit upon, stripped and hung naked, exposed and helpless before hundreds of passersby. He was going to be mocked and jeered at by His enemies. He was going to experience the most horrendous shame and the most excruciating death imaginable.

This was the "cup" He was asked to drink. He had to choose it voluntarily.

Take note of Jesus’ very human struggle in the garden. "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me…" He did not want to go through with this. He did not want to experience the pain, or endure the shame, that awaited Him. Now, I said that Jesus was to be our guide and example.

What did He do when He faced His deepest struggle?

(1.) He shared His burden with others, and asked them to pray. We also need to get others into the loop for support and accountability.

(2.) Then, He brought the matter to God Himself, because it can only be settled there with Him. He asked for prayer support, but then He got alone with God to hear from Him directly. He couldn’t afford to rely simply on the opinions of others. That was already evident from past experience (Matt. 16:21-23; cf. Acts 20:22,23; 21:10-14).

Jesus did more than pray once, however. He advocated two other things:

(3.) Watchfulness and

(4.) Perseverance in prayer. "Stay alert and continue to pray that you may not enter into temptation…" (Matt. 26:41). Jesus saw the need for ongoing alertness and ongoing prayer to avoid being caught up into temptation. By His example, it is also what you must do to weather the test. We must not be naïve, as though the prayer will keep us from being tested. Rather, the prayer will ready us to discern and deal with temptation when it comes.

(5.) Avoid the temptation, if possible. How many times did Jesus do that? Jesus’ often left the scene in order to avoid being pulled into conflict (e.g., Jn. 4:1-3). Notice what He says, "Watch and pray in order that you might not enter into the test." Tests will come, but we should turn away from them, not allow ourselves to be teased by them, or be worn down by allowing negative thoughts or people to continue to pummel us. Don’t go in into the temptation.

In fact, we are to do exactly the opposite, we are to (6.) look for the way out. The apostle Paul tells us that God will provide a way out, an egress, so that we might be able to bear up under it" (I Cor. 10:13). The word used by Paul is not the normal word for endurance ("remain under"). This word is from a root word meaning to "lift, bear, lead or carry away" with a prefix "under". The idea is that we might bear up under and carry the weight until we can get out of the situation, …not that we would remain in the test.

(7.) Know your limitations. Our abilities are limited. "…for on the one hand the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Jesus knew that our inner person wishes to do right, but we get drawn away by the weaknesses of the flesh. This was Jesus’ dilemma here in the garden. His spirit wanted to do the Father’s will, but His flesh drew back in fear and dread. Don’t depend on self-will alone to carry you through, because your sinful heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9). If you are having difficulty, take steps to get help or get out of the situation, if possible. At least, get a break.

(8.) Submit to God. How do we do that? Go to the Father and verbalize to Him that you want to do His will. "Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." Jesus verbalized His submission to the Father three times on this occasion (Matt. 26:39,42; Mk. 14:39). Doing the will of God is of premier importance. We will never lose if we obey Him. He will never cheat us. Satan will. He is a thief and a con man who wants to steal from us, kill us and ruin our lives. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has shown us that the heart of God is to love us, bless us and lead us in ways that are good (Jn. 10:10,11; Psa. 23).

(9.) Pray through to victory. Jesus exemplifies the experience to which many others have also testified. At times, it is possible to pray through to victory. Jesus came to the place of total submission, of death to self-will and a resolve to serve His Father no matter what.

(10.) Press through to a vision of the blessings of obedience. The text from Hebrews tells us that He rose from prayer with joy in His heart. He was able to see with God’s viewpoint. Thus, the shame and abuse He faced were put into the perspective of eternity, where they paled into insignificance (Rom. 8:18; II Cor. 4:16-18).

Jesus' Last Supper

2006-05-15T03:01:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: May 14, 2006

Jesus’ Last Supper
by Dan Trygg

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."'" Matthew 26:17,18

Jesus seems to have anticipated that Judas would be watching for an opportunity to tell the authorities how to find Him apart from the crowds. What better opportunity than to seize Him as He prepared to eat the Passover?

We should not be surprised that Jesus had taken special precautions to reserve a place without the knowledge of any of His disciples. The question in vs. 17 clearly tells us that they did not know, even up to the very day of the Passover, where they were going to meet for dinner. Mark’s account reveals that Jesus sent two of His disciples into the city, telling them to watch for a man carrying a jar of water (14:13). This was an unusual occurrence, since usually women carried vessels of water on their head. The man would have been noticeable to anyone looking for such a signal. The disciples were to follow this man to whatever house he enters. Then, they were instructed to speak to the owner of the house, and to ask him, "The Teacher says, ‘Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’" He would then show them a large upper room where they could prepare for the meal. Jesus kept the other disciples in the dark about where they were going. He showed up at the pre-arranged location in the evening, with His disciples in tow (Mk. 14:17). This prevented Judas from having an opportunity to learn of the location and report to the chief priests.

At the table, Jesus revealed how He had earnestly desired to eat this Passover with them before He would suffer, for He would never again eat it until "whenever it might be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Lk. 22:15,16). What did He mean? He was looking forward to this last Passover meal with them, because He was about to fulfill everything it represented. He had come for this very purpose (cf. Jn. 12:23-27). He was the Lamb who came to take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29).

So, what was the Passover all about? Remember the story of Moses? God had commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Pharaoh, who was oppressing the people of Israel, kept refusing to let the people go. God sent nine plagues, exposing the impotence of the Egyptian gods before Yahweh the Creator. The tenth plague was the final blow to compel Pharaoh to send Israel out from Egypt. It was the plague of the firstborn. In Exodus 4:22,23 the rationale behind this plague is revealed, "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Yahweh, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, 'Let My son go that he may serve Me'; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."'" This may seem harsh, but the Egyptians had been guilty of murdering thousands of Israelite babies. This was both judgment for the sins of their nation, as well as God’s great revelation of who He really is and the liberation of the nation of Israel. God revealed to Moses that He was going to go through the land and kill every firstborn creature, both of man and beast (11:5). If, however, the Israelites would slaughter a lamb, and put some of its blood on the two doorposts and lintel of their houses, God would pass over their houses, and no one therein would be harmed. "For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments-- I am Yahweh. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations…" (Ex. 12:12-14a).

Jesus came to be the fulfillment of the Passover lamb (I Cor. 5:7). God would look upon His blood and pass over the sins of those who taken refuge under its sign.

According to John’s account (13:1-17), He arose from supper to wash their feet, giving them an example of humility and service. He was the greatest of them all, the Lord and Teacher. Yet, He made Himself to be like the lowliest of servants to care for their comfort, when apparently none of them was willing to take initiative to offer this customary rite of hospitality. Possibly this experience reminded Him of Mary’s willingness to serve Him in this way just a few days before, and He became troubled in spirit (or, by the Spirit), and revealed that one of them would betray Him (Jn. 13:18-21). Interestingly, they all became deeply grieved and asked Him, "Surely, not I, Lord?" They had been with Jesus long enough to know that they were all capable of such sin and weakness. No one suspected Judas more than anyone else, …or even their own selves! After warning them that the one who betrays Him would come to a horrible end (Remember the word "woe"? It means "calamity, destruction, or horror".), they continued their meal.

While they were eating, He took bread, and broke it. Giving it to the disciples, He said, "Take, eat; this is My body, which is given on behalf of you; do this in remembrance of Me" (Matt. 26:26; Lk. 22:19). After supper, He took a cup and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." The apostle Paul adds the words which had been delivered to him, "…do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me" (I Cor. 11:25). The significance of this action was not missed by any. Although they did not fully realize the reality of what Jesus was soon to fulfill, they did know that they were celebrating a commemoratory meal, the Passover. Now, in this setting, Jesus gives them a new commemoratory ordinance. The Passover meal had commemorated the redemption of Israel from bondage to Egyptian servitude, a redemption that was culminated by the formation of a national covenant with God at Mount Sinai and the promise of a new land. What Jesus was introducing here was a meal commemorating our redemption from bondage to sin, which is culminated in a personal new covenant with God, the creation of a new spiritual humanity (Eph. 2:11-22) and the promise of a new heavens and a new earth. The Passover meal was celebrated yearly, the communion meal was to remind them of the new covenant "as often as they ate or drank" of the meal.

The new covenant which Jesus spoke of was not a new concept. Those very words had been used by Jeremiah the prophet (31:31-33). Whereas the former covenant had included the giving of the Law on tablets of stone, and through the teachings of Moses, the new covenant would be written upon their hearts and their minds, so that it would be lived out in their day-to-day choices. Ezekiel had spoken of this (11:19,20). Israel had not walked in the ways and teachings of Yahweh. Instead, they walked like the nations that were around them. Ezekiel prophesied that the glory of God would abandon Jerusalem. They would be captured by their enemies and exiled from the land of promise as punishment for their sin (chapters 4:1-11:13). Then, he began to prophesy about a restoration to come. Though they would be scattered among the nations, God will gather them back to the land of promise. They will remove their detestable things and evil practices, and God will give them a new heart and put within them a new spirit.

This had been the age-old problem which had been recognized by Moses nearly a millennium before. The reason that the Israelites could not obey God was that their hearts were not changed (Dt. 29:4). They had the same sinful, self-centered, "uncircumcised" hearts that every human being has had since the time of Adam’s sin. We are sinners by nature, and therefore become sinners by choice. Moses also had prophesied that Israel would sin, experience God’s disciplines, and eventually be banished from the land of promise (Dt. 28:15-68). He too had spoken of a time when God would regather His people from the nations where they had been exiled, and would restore them to Palestine (Dt. 30:1-10). At that time, God will "circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live" (vs. 6). The change of heart would make possible a new way to live (cf. Prov. 4:23).

Later, Ezekiel would teach the same truths, "I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people and I will be their God" (11:19,20). Ezekiel returns to this same theme later, and states it even more strongly, "I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; …and I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances" (34: 25b-27). Thus the possession of a new heart makes possible a life of obedience, and when we follow the Spirit, we will walk in God’s ways.

It is important to see both aspects. We are new creatures, with a new capacity for righteousness than we had before, but we also are dependent upon a living relationship with God through the Holy Spirit in order to be motivated and empowered to live differently. He will work in us to desire to do His will, and to empower us to perform it (Phil. 2:12,13). Nevertheless we still must choose to walk in agreement with Him. If we try to choose to obey God from our old heart and strength, we will get the same frustrating results that we would expect to get from our fallen, human abilities. If, however, we operate out from the new heart, actively following the leading and energizing empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we will walk with God in obedience and righteousness.

Eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood was not a new idea to the disciples, either. Jesus had used this word picture before, after the feeding of the 5,000 (Jn. 6; Matt. 14). It had probably been more than a year since Jesus had delivered that message that had been so offensive to their ears. The point of Jesus’ teaching was that He was to be their source of life. He was the bread of life, having come down out from heaven to give life to the world. He plainly told them that they had no life in themselves (Jn. 6:53). In order to obtain that life, they needed to eat His flesh and drink His blood. To abide in His life, we must continually gnaw on Him and continually drink of His blood (vs. 56). This was not meant to be literal, or magical. It was meant to be a word picture expressing to us that Jesus is our source of life, and we must continually receive the sustenance and vitality which comes from Him, in order to experience life which comes from above.

How Much Do Regard or Disregard Jesus?

2006-05-07T03:29:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: May 7, 2006

How Much Do You Regard or Disregard Jesus?
by Dan Trygg

"When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, 2 ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.’ 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.’ 6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table. 8 And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste?’" Matthew 26:1-8

"But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and many undiscerning and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." I Timothy 6:9

Chapter 24 and 25 of Matthew were Jesus’ teaching about His coming and the close of the age. Most of what He talked about in this discourse was about events very distant in the future. This chapter begins with a reality check. After concluding His prophetic sermon on the future, Jesus reminds His disciples, "You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be delivered up to be crucified." This serves as a reality check for the reader, as well, as the apostle uses these words to pull our focus back to the main core of the gospel story, Jesus’ sacrificial death on our behalf. Jesus did not let the apostles linger long over future dreams of glory. He brought them right back to the present, because there was much to be done.

The information about His future coming is not to be a focus of our thinking, either. It is meant to keep us on task, to remind us that we will have to give an account to Him when He returns. Now, lest the apostles get caught up in fruitless discussion about things over which they have no control, the Lord brings them immediately back to the present, so their focus would be on what is taking place around them. (Note that He did the same thing after His resurrection. In Acts 1, they ask Him, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" His response? "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; rather, you shall take power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses… to the remotest parts of the earth" [Acts 1:7,8].)

Matthew uses another literary device to pull us back into the storyline. Verse 3 begins with "then". The Greek word underlying that translation means "at that time", so what Matthew does is place verses 3-5 alongside of Jesus’ conversation with His disciples. In other words, at the very time Jesus was pulling His disciples’ attention back to the reality of His impending crucifixion, the chief priests and elders were gathered in the court of the high priest, Caiaphas, counseling together to seize Jesus by treachery and kill Him. Both groups, though separated geographically, were simultaneously discussing His demise. What a dramatic way to pull us back into the larger story! Note that the gathering at the high priest’s house included not only the chief priests, but also the elders of the people. The outcome of their discussion was that they did not want to arrest Him during the feast (of unleavened bread), so that they might avoid a riot among the people. They needed to arrest Him secretly, when there were no crowds.

There is some debate about how verses 6-16 fit into the sequence of events. Some see a discrepancy between the synoptic gospel accounts and the gospel of John. On the surface it appears that the anointing of Jesus at Bethany occurs on Tuesday evening in the first two gospels, while John records it as having taken place before the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, probably late on Saturday evening. (This would have been a perfect time for Jesus to travel into the vicinity of Jerusalem without being detected. Most people, having stayed home for the Sabbath, would not have ventured out after sundown. If Jesus and His disciples had lodged a short distance outside of the Jerusalem area, they could have packed up and come to Bethany after sundown.) It is important to remember that John wrote his account much later than the other three gospel accounts. On numerous occasions, he supplies information not included in the earlier gospels, often expanding on, or clarifying, events briefly summarized or abridged by the other writers. This is an example of such an occasion. A closer look at the Greek structure in Matthew and Mark reveals that their accounts of the anointing at Bethany could be flashbacks to what had happened earlier, not a continuation of the storyline. In other words, they offer a further explanation for the gathering of the chief priests and elders, and are to be understood as background information.

From John’s account, we find out that the unnamed woman was actually Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus (Jn. 11:1-12:11; cf. Lk. 10:38-42). From these passages we learn that Mary and her family had a long standing relationship with Jesus. The Lord had considered Lazarus one of His special friends. Furthermore, Mary had been a devoted follower of His teachings for some time. Jesus had encouraged this by allowing her to sit at His feet as did the other disciples, a practice which most rabbis of the day would not have permitted. It may also be that their home served as a base of operation, a place where Jesus could safely stay on His visits to Jerusalem (cf. Mk. 11:1,11,12,19,20,27; 14:3; Mt. 21:17). At feast times the population of Jerusalem could easily triple in size. Finding desirable places to lodge or camp close in to the city could be a challenge. Having friends offer their home would simplify things greatly, and would have been appreciated. From all these factors, it is clear that there was a well-founded basis for her respect and admiration of Him. The immediate reason for her lavish display of devotion is also quite understandable. Jesus had recently raised her brother from the dead. To say she was grateful is a gross understatement.

John supplies us with further details regarding the vial of ointment which Mary used. According to his record, it was not just "very costly", as Matthew puts it, …it was worth more that 300 day’s wages! It was nearly twelve ounces of pure spikenard, a very rare spice imported from the Himalayan region. This was truly a gift fit for a king. For this family to even have such a treasure in their possession indicates that they must have once had much wealth. The fact that the sisters were serving, however, indicates that they were now too poor to afford to hire domestic help, which was very inexpensive and commonly employed in that day. How do we account for this disparity? Matthew and Mark refer to the house as the "home of Simon the leper". We know nothing more than this detail. He probably was the father of these three siblings. Whether he was still alive is never revealed, but his malady could easily have been the cause of the family misfortunes of recent years. So in the midst of their current relative poverty, the family still had a treasure left over from better times, …probably kept against the day that it might need to be sold, but representing the prosperous time in which these siblings grew up. It was more than a possession. It represented the former pride and glory of their family’s past. Yet now Mary, probably in agreement with her brother and sister, approaches Jesus while He was reclining at the table, breaks the alabaster vial, and anoints His head and feet, wiping the excess off His feet with her hair. Instantly, the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Note that in the reaction of the disciples there is no sense of impropriety or sexual innuendo. What Mary did was in no way inappropriate. To anoint the head and wash the feet of guests was a common practice of hospitality. She took the place of the lowliest of servants to do this, but transformed this menial task into a precious act of honor and devotion by giving of her very best, the vial of ointment. By wiping His feet with her hair, she identified herself with the fragrance which He now carried. The disciples’ only objection was the waste of the expensive perfume.

We find out from John that it was Judas who initiated this protest (12:4). John also reveals that Judas had a selfish interest, in that he had been embezzling funds from the ministry collection box. He was offended because he wanted the money for himself. His concern was not to honor Jesus for Jesus’ sake, but to get wealth and honor for himself. Following Jesus was a means to an end. For Judas, the end was his own personal gain and glory. Mary’s action cut against any self gain, so he objected that it was "waste". When Jesus defended Mary’s action, even commending her, that seems to have been the last straw for Judas. He left the company (The word translated as "then" is the same as in vs. 3, usually referring to action at that time.) in Bethany and proceeded into the city to visit the chief priests to find out how much they would pay him to deliver Jesus up to them. The thirty pieces of silver which they offered was the price of a common slave (Ex. 21:32), an amount probably equivalent to 120 day’s wages, or a little more than a third of the value of the ointment which Mary had just "wasted" upon Jesus. The chief priests’ offer was no great reward. It was more of an insult, and reveals how little they thought of Jesus (cf. Zech. 11:12). He didn’t even haggle with the priests for more. Judas betrayed Jesus more out of spite than money.

Having made arrangements with Judas, the chief priests called together the council of priests and elders to prepare them for the possibility of Jesus’ arrest. If Judas succeeded in delivering Jesus over to them in secret, they would have to act fast to get everything accomplished according to law, and still keep the crowds of people unaware of what was happening. The council agreed that Jesus must not be arrested publicly. How much the chief priests actually revealed to them is unknown, but they agreed on this point. Thus, the wheels were set in motion.

I Tim. 6:9 very poignantly states the principle operative in Judas’ life, which was in such direct contrast to Mary’s heart and actions. Paul writes, "The ones wanting to be rich fall into a test and a snare and many undiscerning and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." The word translated as "destruction" is the same as the word for "waste" in Matt. 26:8. Mary freely gave her best to Jesus. In Judas’ eyes she had "wasted" her treasure on Him. She could have made better use of it, in his mind. Jesus, however, commended her for her act of devotion. Judas’ desire for gain, however, led him down a reckless path. He was tested by this incident, and chose to go after self-interest. In the end, he was led by his undiscerning passion for more, and was caught in a trap that brought him to ruin and waste. Instead of "wasting" something, his entire life ended as a tragic waste. How about you? Are you living to regard Jesus highly, by freely giving your devotion and obedience to Him, or are you disregarding Him, by being stingy with time, money and your attention. Those who honor Him, He will honor. The lives of those who disregard Him will end up as "waste", because they lived only for the here and now.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

2006-04-30T03:16:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 30, 2006

The Judgment Seat of Christ
by Dan Trygg

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" Matthew 25:31,32
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." II Cor. 5:10

Last time, we briefly looked at Matthew 25:31f, as one of several word pictures Jesus used to emphasize the need for His followers to stay alert and be faithful to live a life that is consistent with their Master’s wishes. In this brief account, Jesus will come to judge the nations at the end of the age. The point of the story is that, in God’s mind, the way we treat other people is tantamount to treating Jesus in that same way. If we meet the needs of those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, imprisoned, then "to the extent you did it to the least of these, My brothers and sisters, you did it unto Me" (vs. 40).

To God, this is putting our faith to work, where the rubber meets the road in the nitty-gritty situations of life. To faithfully express God’s love and concern for people in these situations is valued by God as part of the good fruit He is looking to produce in our lives. It brings to us His pleasure, blessing and commendation, as well as the promise of inheriting the kingdom prepared by God from the foundation of the world (vs. 34). The disregard of the needs of others, however, is quite harshly judged. According to Jesus, those who do not help the poor, needy, lonely, sick and imprisoned are condemned by Him to the lake of fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (vs. 41).

To treat people with disregard and disdain is seen by Him as a personal affront, as though they had treated Him in the same fashion (vss. 42-45). Note that it is Jesus Himself, …who taught that He came to show the Father’s love for us, who also willingly gave Himself to die on our behalf…, who here teaches that there is an eternal punishment for those who do not live to honor God by serving others (vs. 46). In fact, Jesus talked more about hell (gehenna) than any other person in the Bible. It is important to see that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone who faces such an end, but His justice demands that there be recompense for living selfish, evil lives (Ezk. 18:20-28;33:11).

The notion that God is a righteous Judge over mankind is not a new theme. It is a strong, foundational belief and teaching throughout the OT. This theology is the basis for the NT understanding of God as Judge, as well.

God was believed to be the Arbitrator and Judge in the affairs of men in this life, bringing wrath and destruction upon evil people and lifting up the cause of the righteous (Gen. 16:5; 31:53; Ex. 5:21; I Sam. 3:13; 24:12,15; I Kg. 8:32; II Chron. 6:22; Job 23:7; Psa. 9:19,20; 68:5; 75:7; 94:2; 96:10; Ecc. 3:17; Isa. 11:4; Ezk. 7:27; 18:30; Heb. 10:30; 13:4).

In a similar way, God was seen as arbitrating disputes among nations, judging and guiding them, even circumscribing the times and boundaries of their existence (Gen. 15:14; Judg. 11:27; II Chron. 20:10; Psa. 67:4; 110:5,6; Isa. 2:4; Ezk. 21:28-32; Dan. 4:17,25; 5:18-30; Joel 3:1-12; Amos 1:3-2:16; Nah. 1:1-3; 2:13-3:5; Acts 17:26).

He is repeatedly called the Judge of all the earth (Gen. 18:25; I Sam. 2:10; I Chron. 16:33; Psa. 9:7,8; 75:2,3; 82:8; 94:2; 96:13; 98:9; Rom. 3:6; Heb. 12:23; Rev. 20:11-15). In Daniel 7, we even have a vision of the court of heaven, before God’s throne, where judgments are made concerning the affairs of men and nations. In that particular scene, the judgment was made against an evil kingdom that will devour the entire earth, and power was given instead to "the Son of Man", who will come on the clouds of heaven. This sovereignty will be handed over to the saints, who will rule under His authority (vs. 27; cf. I Cor. 6:2; Rev. 5:10).

The significant addition that the NT brings is the revelation that the final judgment of humankind will be mediated through Jesus.

Jesus Himself introduced this in John 5. He said, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father" (vss. 22,23 – italics for emphasis). And again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man" (vss. 25-27). It is important to see that this was probably the second Passover feast mentioned in John’s gospel (2:13; 5:1), so this declaration came fairly early in His ministry, approximately one year into His 3½ year public life.

There were other teachings of Jesus which implied His role as Judge (e.g., Matt. 7:21-23; 10:32,33; 13:41-43).

One clear passage is Matt. 16:27, "For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay each person according to what he has done."

Of course, Matt. 25:31f is also very plainly a scene of sorting out the evil and the good, and pronouncing judgment upon the wicked.

These are not the only passages that speak of Jesus as the judge of humankind. This teaching was a significant theme in the preaching and teaching of the apostles.

In fact, Peter taught, "And [God] ordered us to proclaim to the people, and to solemnly testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42; cf. I Pet 4:5). Paul, preaching to the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens, declared, "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to people that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness by means of a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead" (Acts 17:30,31).

Note what Paul said. In his teaching, it was still God doing the judging, but He was doing it through Jesus Christ.

In Rom. 2:16 he says basically the same thing, "…on the day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men through Christ Jesus."

In Rom. 14, he wrote, "If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God" (vss. 8-12). Note who is the Lord of the dead and of the living. It is Christ.

Here, Paul says we must all stand before the judgment seat of God, but in II Cor. 5:10, he calls it something else, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

Furthermore, in II Tim. 4, he again states that it is Jesus who will judge the living and the dead. He is giving a charge or exhortation to Timothy, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, the One being about to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom…" Here, both God and Jesus are put together, but it is clear that it is Jesus who will judge the living and dead. He is the One who will appear again and bring His kingdom. Paul refers to this again in vs. 8, "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." The word for "appearing" is the same as in verse 1, a reference to Jesus’ return. Jesus is "the righteous Judge", who will give rewards to those who have been faithful in serving Him.

Even the great white throne judgment, described in Rev. 20:11-15 must be understood from this perspective. Some scholars want to suggest that this is the final judgment by the Father, and that there is a separate "judgment seat of Christ" where Jesus judges the believers. That does not take seriously enough the passages we have been studying. An easier solution is to see that Jesus is sitting on the throne of God next to His Father (Heb. 1:1-4; cf. Matt. 26:64). Since Jesus clearly taught that the Father will judge no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, should we not suppose that it is Jesus on the throne who will actually dispense the judgment upon those brought before Him?

Why is it that the Father does not involve Himself in judging? Why has He appointed Jesus to carry this out?
First of all, this is a glimpse into the mystery of the inner workings of God’s nature. Just as in the work of creation, where we are told that all things were created out from the Father, through the Son, by the work of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 8:6; Psa. 104:30; Gen. 1:2), in a similar fashion, God will judge the world at the initiative of the Father, through the agency of the Son (the Word), and by the action of the Spirit (e.g., Isa. 4:4; 28:6; Mic. 3:8). We see a cooperative, interactive synergy at work within God’s nature, much as our minds think a thought, our mouths express it, and our hands actually do it.

Secondly, Jesus is the most qualified and suitable Person in the universe to be our Judge. Just as Jesus Himself became a human being, and experienced our finitude and weakness, in order to be a sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 2:17,18; 4:15,16), in the same way He is most suited to be an impartial, understanding Judge. He has lived among us. He knows human limitation and weakness. He has experienced temptation, and the pressures of living in human society. He is most suited to be our Judge. No one can say to Him, "You don’t understand. This is not fair!" He does understand. In fact, He has been tempted in every area, so He understands very well what it is we have to deal with as people.

In conclusion, the Bible clearly tells us that everyone must give an account of their lives to God. There are two main issues facing us at that time. Will we be judged worthy of eternal life with God? Or will our place be in the lake of fire with Satan? Secondly, what will we receive in return for our actions here? Christ is the One who will determine both of these issues. He is the Master who will return to see what we have done in His absence.

Stay Alert and Be Faithful

2006-04-23T03:11:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 23, 2006

Stay Alert and Be Faithful
by Dan Trygg

"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. " Matthew 24:36-44

This passage has been interpreted in a variety of ways. What is clear, from verse 36, is that no one knows the day or hour of Jesus’ return. The Lord makes this point quite emphatic by breaking it down more specifically. "No one" knows, not even the angels (good or evil), nor even the Son. Jesus Himself, in His earthly existence, at least, did not know the time of His return. Only the Father knows. Why is this so important? Because people will arise who claim to know the time of the Lord’s return. Such people are mistaken. At best, they are only guessing, based upon signs of the time, and their particular scheme of end-time events. Beware of such people. They will lead you into speculations and fruitless discussion, which only serve to distract us from the main focus we should have, i.e., learning to walk with God in love, from a pure heart, a good conscience and an unhypocritical faith (I Tim. 1:3-7). Anybody who claims to know the time of Jesus’ coming is suspect. God has purposely not given us all the information (Rev. 10:1-4; cf. Dan 12:4).

The second thing that Jesus tells us is that His return will be cataclysmic, like Noah’s flood. People will be operating on a "business as usual" basis, right up until the end. They will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the time that disaster overtakes them. Just as the people in Noah’s day were unaware of what was about to take place, though they had been warned repeatedly over many years by Noah’s preaching and example (Heb. 11:7; II Pet. 2:5), so it will be when Jesus returns. Noah’s contemporaries had turned a deaf ear to the warnings of God, and had focused merely on living for the here and now. Thus they were taken unaware by the rain and flood when it did finally come. Luke records a further expansion of this teaching (Lk. 17:26-37). There, Jesus not only refers to Noah, but also to Lot and the people of Sodom, "It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; 29 but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed."

I grew up in a church environment that taught that Jesus would return secretly for His church. They believed that the church would be snatched away, followed by seven years of tribulation. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago. Based upon the prophecies from the book of Daniel, which Jesus referred to as a foundation for His teachings, and what the Lord Himself taught, there is no basis for a "secret return" for the church. It is nowhere to be found in the NT. It was the expectation of Christians throughout history that they would have to face persecution. As far as can be determined, the so-called "two-stage rapture" teaching first arose in 1830. It was, unfortunately, promoted by a branch of the Plymouth Brethren, popularized in this country through the Scofield Reference Bible, and became widely taught. In church history, it is a mere blip, but in many circles today, it is taught as if it is the only sound interpretation out there. It was common in that scheme of interpretation to view Matt. 24:40,41 as referring to the snatching away of believers at this "rapture" or hidden return of the Lord for His church. It is clear, however, from the context that the people "taken away" are not taken away to blessing, but to disaster, death and judgment. Like the people "taken away" by the flood, and those destroyed by the fire from heaven at Sodom, "two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left." "Two will be in one bed, one will be taken and one will be left" (Lk. 17:34; cf. the usage of the word "taken" in Jer. 6:11; "took" in Jn. 19:17). These people are not taken away for deliverance. They are taken away to death.

What about the "thief in the night" teaching? Isn’t Jesus going to come like a thief in the night? Doesn’t that mean that He will come secretly? Yes, Jesus did use the image of coming like a thief in the middle of the night, and warned us to be watchful, because we do not know the day or hour of His appearing. However, it will be those who are not living for Him who will be taken unaware, not those who are faithful. It is a common error in interpretation to misapply or misconstrue the point of a word picture used by a Biblical author, and make it fit into our view of things, instead of using it as the author intended. That is what has happened with regard to the interpretation of the "thief in the night" word picture. This word picture was used by Jesus in His earthly ministry (Lk. 12:39; Matt. 24:43), then by Paul (IThess. 5:2), Peter (II Pet. 3:10) and, finally, John quotes it two more times on the lips of the risen and glorified Jesus in the book of Revelation (3:3; 16:15). Each use emphasizes the sudden and unexpected nature of His coming. If you look more closely, however, it becomes apparent that those who know Him, and are faithfully following and serving Him, will not be caught unawares. Paul clearly draws a distinction between "us" and "them" in I Thessalonians 5: "For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." This is actually the point of most of the times the word picture occurs. It is clear from the context that if we stay alert and are faithful, we will not be caught unawares. To those who are not tuned into Christ, He will come as a thief, but not to those who are faithfully obeying Him, and watching for His coming.

In the discourse recorded here, Jesus uses five word pictures to exhort us to remain alert and faithful.

First is the parable of the householder who, if he knew that the thief was coming, would not have allowed his house to be broken into (vss. 43,44). The punch line? "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."

Second is the parable of the slave, left in charge of his master’s household (vss. 45-51). If he is faithful and sensible, he will carry out the master’s instructions while he is gone. Upon his return, the master will commend and promote him. If the slave is evil, however, and abuses his authority, mistreating his fellow slaves and living in luxury and drunkenness, he will be caught unawares by the master’s sudden return. He will be horribly judged and be assigned a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Third is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (25:1-13). They had gathered to meet the bridegroom, when he came in procession from taking his bride from her father’s household to his own, to initiate the wedding feast. As they waited, they all fell asleep. At midnight, the cry announcing the bridegroom’s coming woke them, and they hurried to trim their lamps. The five who had not prepared in advance to bring enough oil had to go purchase more, and while thus occupied were locked out of the feast, and were not permitted entrance. The punch line? "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour" (vs. 13).

Fourth is the parable of the talents. Here, a man entrusts his servants with his resources, giving them differing amounts according to their ability. One man receive 5 talents (30,000 day’s wages), another 2 (12,000 day’s wages), and another 1 talent (6,000 day’s wages). When the master returned from his journey, he called his servants to settle accounts with him. The first two had gone to work immediately upon receiving their stewardship, and had doubled what the master had entrusted to them. Both were commended and praised by their master, and were promised promotions and larger areas of stewardship. The third servant, however, had buried his master’s money in the ground. When it was his turn to settle accounts, he gave the master what he had been entrusted with, having done nothing to increase its value at all. The master was furious. He rebuked the slave as being wicked and lazy. He commanded that the money be taken away from him, and that he be cast out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The final word picture is a scene of judgment. After Jesus returns and is established on His glorious throne, He will judge the nations. They will be judged by how they treated others, especially the "least" of them. Jesus equivocates how they treated the weak, needy and powerless with their treatment of Him. Those who treated people well, will be blessed and welcomed into the Father’s kingdom. Those who treated others poorly will be accursed and sent into the eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels.

It is important to see all of these parables in the context. They all are meant to convey the message that we need to respond faithfully and diligently to the responsibilities we have as servants of God. Being saved by Jesus does not simply mean we have received a ticket into heaven. It means that we have been purchased out from bondage to sin to serve God. We have been saved to serve. God takes this very seriously, and so must we. Those who stay on task, and do not selfishly abuse the Master’s provisions, or other people, …those who work to increase His kingdom, will be judged well. Those who do not will be rejected. Whatever faith they claimed to have was shown to be false by their actions. They did not live for God, so they will be rejected by Him. Those who stay on task will not miss the signs of the times, and be caught off guard by the Lord’s coming. Those who live for self will be deceived, and will not recognize what is happening until it is too late. They will be caught in the destruction that comes upon the wicked.

The King is Coming

2006-04-16T03:34:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 16, 2006

The King is Coming
by Dan Trygg

"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Matthew 24:32-35

"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ… 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death." I Corinthians 15:14,15,17-26

The testimony of the NT is clear. Jesus died for our sins, once for all; He rose again from the dead, and, after appearing physically to His disciples over a period of 40 days, He ascended to heaven. This is not some "cleverly devised myth" (II Pet. 1:16) that is a curiosity, or just a good story to be repeated as folklore to future generations. This is not just part of our cultural heritage. What happened in 30 A.D. in Jerusalem are historical events, which are strongly verifiable, using the same techniques and tests used to verify any other event in history. We need to look at that historical basis a bit more closely.

The importance of those events cannot be overstated. The meaning of all human history hinges upon what took place there in those days. The destiny and purpose for the entire human race are tied to what happened in the garden tomb that Sunday morning, which happened to coincide with the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits that year. Did Jesus rise from the dead, or not? If He didn’t, then there is no basis for the Christian message. It is all a sham. If He did, however, then we need to ask, "What is meaning of this event?" If we can believe the recorded teachings of Jesus, and the explanation of His disciples, who spoke with Him on numerous occasions after His resurrection, then the resurrection is the event that establishes the claims of Christ to being the Messiah, …to being even God having come in the flesh. It gives further credibility to the testimony of the apostles regarding His miracles. After all, if He could rise from the dead, then that same power could, indeed, have operated through Him to heal others.

More importantly, however, is what this means for our future. According to the apostle Paul, the resurrection of Jesus is proof given by God that He has appointed Jesus to judge the world (Acts 17:30,31). This is not some new spin concocted by Paul years after Jesus was gone. Paul is only faithfully repeating what Jesus Himself said. He claimed that "the Father will not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (Jn. 5:22,23). In Matt. 25, Jesus claims not only that He will return in glory, with the angelic hosts, to sit on the throne of His earthly kingdom, but He describes a scene which should give every man woman and child pause. Jesus says that all nations will be gathered before Him, and He will judge them (vss. 31-46). Moreover, He has the authority to send people to their eternal destiny, of either punishment or life. If this true, it does not matter what we think of our life choices, what matters is what He thinks of our life choices. We will be evaluated by Him, and His standards, not by our own conscience or by society’s morals. The NT clearly tells us that Jesus did not simply rise again from the dead to live happily ever after. That is not the end of the story.

Jesus clearly stated that He would be coming back. He rose from the dead and He will return. He is coming back to destroy the evil and corrupt power systems of this world, and establish His reign upon the earth. He taught that His people, His "generation", family or race, will remain until the end (Matt. 24:34), but He Himself is returning, and all that He taught would be fulfilled. Furthermore, those who have trusted in Him will be raised from the dead, and transformed to be like Him, both in moral purity and in physical immortality. Obviously, if He did not rise from the dead, then He was mistaken. If He died, and stayed dead, then His understanding of Himself and His mission were erroneous. Furthermore, His teachings would have no special authority, for He would have been only a man, not God. Then, as Paul said, the Church through the ages have been promulgating nothing more than a myth. People would have perished for nothing more than a made-up story. It all hinges upon the resurrection. Did Jesus rise from the dead? If so, what evidence do we have that supports that?

Evidence For The Resurrection

If everything hinges upon the event of the resurrection, what evidence is there to establish it as true?

1.) The Empty Tomb – Without an empty tomb, there would be no evidence for a resurrection. The four gospel accounts are in agreement that the tomb was empty on Sunday morning. To refute Christianity’s claims, all that would have been necessary was to show that Jesus’ tomb was still occupied.

2.) The Graveclothes – John’s account of Jesus’ burial and resurrection gives us much detail and emphasis upon the graveclothes. Normally, the deceased would be buried or entombed within a few hours of death. We see from Lazarus’ burial, that he had also been wrapped and bound in linen strips (Jn. 11:44). One thing that was unusual in Jesus’ burial was the amount of spices used in preparing the graveclothes. In preparing the body, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus used a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a 100 pounds weight. Normally, these spices were dried, so 75 pounds (these were 12 oz. pounds) would be a very large amount. It was the practice to mix the spices with oil to a gummy consistency and spread it on the wrappings as you wrapped the body. This mixture not only served as an aromatic preservative, but also dried to cement the wrappings together. Normally the body was wrapped, mummy style, from the feet up to the neck, and a separate cloth was used to wrap the head and cover the face with a napkin. When Peter and John entered the tomb and saw the graveclothes still lying there, with the napkin still rolled up by itself, John said "he believed" (20:3-8). What did they see? Not a pile of graveclothes removed from the body (If you were going to steal a corpse, why would you want to unwrap it, especially if it was all gummy and oily?), rather the body removed from the graveclothes! The wrappings were still there in the shape of the body, but Jesus was no longer within its folds!

3.) The Eye Witnesses – Eyewitness evidence is stronger if it involves multiple witnesses, in various settings and in various times. Jesus’ appearances cannot be explained in terms of emotional manipulation or crowd hysteria, because of the wide variety of people and circumstances. Some witnesses were persuaded against all expectation.

Following is a listing of the eye witness appearances of the risen Christ. Jesus appeared to:

(a.) the women returning from the angelic encounter at the tomb (Note, they went to anoint His body. They did not expect Him to be risen. There were at least four women – Lk. 24:10) – Matt. 28:1-9;

(b.) Mary Magdalene at the tomb – Jn. 20:11-18;

(c.) Peter – I Cor. 15:5; Lk. 24:34;

(d.) The two on the Emmaus Road – Lk. 24:13-35;

(e.) The ten apostles on Sunday evening – Jn. 20:19-24;

(f.) The eleven apostles a week later – Jn. 20:24-29;

(g.) A group of 500 at one time – I Cor. 15:6;

(h.) James, the brother of Jesus – I Cor. 15:7;

(i.) Seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee – Jn. 21:1-23;

(j.) The eleven on a mountain in Galilee – Matt. 28:16-20;

(k.) The eleven on the Mt. of Olives, near Bethany – Lk. 24:50-53; Acts 1:1-13;

(l.) Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias (The context indicates that they must have seen Jesus, because they were to be "witnesses of His resurrection" and they had been among the disciples from the "baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us") – Acts 1:21-26;

(m.) Saul of Tarsus – I Cor. 15:8; Acts 9:1-19.

To sum up, we have at least 522 different people who had seen the risen Christ. The scriptures record at least 13 different appearances. In several of these instances, the state of mind of those who saw Him was not at all expecting Him to rise from the dead (cf. a.,b.,c., d., e., i., and m. listed above) In fact, they were disheartened and grieving His death, which they thought was final. Jesus’ appearance to them caught them entirely off guard. The wide variety of settings (i.e., to individuals, to groups, in locked rooms, or outside in a variety of places) preclude any possibility of crowd control or manipulation.

As proof of the reality of His appearances, the witnesses testified that they

(a.) held His feet (Matt. 28:9);

(b.) clung to Him (Jn. 20:17); (

c.) saw the wounds in His hands and side (Jn. 20:20);

(d.) touched Him, specifically to be sure He was flesh and bone, not an apparition (Lk. 24:39);

(e.) watched Him eat fish in front of them (Lk. 24:41-43);

(f.) probed the wound holes in His hands with a finger, and put a hand into the wound in His side (Jn. 20:24-29).

They also had extensive conversations with Him, not just fleeting appearances, and He appeared to them "by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days". In other words, He appeared to them many more times than what we have record of, and He spoke with them and taught them much more than what they wrote down for us in our gospel accounts.

4.) The Transformation of the Disciples. - These men, who had fled the scene of the arrest, and were hiding behind locked doors "for fear of the Jews" (Jn. 20:19) were, within 50 days, openly proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection, even confronting the very authorities they had feared to their face (Acts 4:8-10). To a man, none returned to his former career. Every one of them spread the gospel far and wide. They received no wealth, fame or power for their efforts. Paul tells us they endured great hardship and abuse for their efforts (I Cor. 4:9-13). All except John died a martyr’s death. Yet none of them recanted their explanation for the faith that they possessed. Jesus is Risen!

5.) The Coming of the Holy Spirit, the Birth of the Church, and the Testimony of Believers Throughout History. There is no reasonable explanation for these events, especially the ongoing experience of believers, unless Christ actually did rise from the dead, and sent the Holy Spirit, as He said He would (Jn. 14:16,17; 15:26,27; Acts 2:32,33).

Tribulation Before the End

2006-04-09T03:29:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 9, 2006

Tribulation Before the End
by Dan Trygg

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be." Matthew 24:21

The first three rules of sound interpretation are (1.) context; (2.) context; and, (3.) context. That cannot be over-emphasized. In interpreting a passage such as Matthew 24, it is critical to take careful note of the context in which Jesus delivered this monologue. First of all, it was a response to the disciples’ admiration of the temple buildings. Jesus had said that they would be razed to the ground. Matthew 24 is an expansion, or further description of the events Jesus was alluding to by this statement. Secondly, it is also important to recognize that there are three different questions being asked by the disciples. Apparently, they were thinking that they would all happen at once, or within a short span of time, but that may not be the case. We have to ask if Jesus dealt with these questions separately or together, or even at all. Thirdly, we have to take into account the nature of the monologue. Jesus was not intending to give a blow by blow chronological description of events that would occur. He was speaking prophetically, using an established and well-known style of presentation, similar to apocalyptic literature. The apocalyptic style was dramatically employed by Daniel in his dreams and visions of the end of kingdoms and of the distant future. Typically, apocalyptic literature employs the use of a vision or dream as a key element of the presentation. Jesus does not do that here. The book of Revelations would be a more classic example of literature presented in that style. It also employs vivid description and cryptic symbolism, which Jesus uses only sparingly in Matthew 24. Other characteristics of apocalyptic literature are present in Jesus’ teaching, however. He does speak of events in the distant future, using bold and broad statements. He also speaks eschatologically, that is, He is teaching about the events of the end of the age. Specifically, He is teaching about the end-time coming of the Son of Man, the Messiah, who will come to judge the wicked and save His people. The main difference between Jesus’ teaching, here, and earlier apocalyptic writings is that Jesus is Himself this Messiah, returning to gather His own people.

When talking about prophetic events, the time factor is often difficult to sort out. It is like viewing a picture taken with a wide angle lens on a camera. The dimension of depth, while noticeable, can be significantly distorted. Things that are actually very far away may seem to be up close. A phenomenon similar to this seems to be present in prophetic passages about future events. Things which may appear close together in a prophetic declaration may actually be separated considerably by time. It is also not uncommon for prophetic statements to have an immediate, as well as a future, fulfillment. For example, the prophecy in Isa. 7:14, about the young woman (virgin) who would bear a son, whom she will call "Immanuel", was fulfilled in the immediate context by Isaiah’s own wife (7:10-16; 9:3-10), but 700 years later by Mary and Jesus (Lk. 1:26-35; Matt. 1:18-23). In a similar way, some of what Jesus says here in Matt. 24 had an immediate fulfillment, and apparently will yet have another fulfillment in the future.

Having laid out all of those considerations, let’s work through the passage. It is clear that verses 15-28 are describing some horrific "tribulation" or "affliction, distress, or trouble" that will come upon at least the people in Judea. Verse 15 makes a cryptic reference to the "abomination of desolation which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel". The term first occurs in Dan. 9:27, then again in 11:31, and a third time in 12:11. The context of chapter 9 describes the coming of Messiah the Prince in 69 "weeks" after a decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. (Most scholars see this as groupings of 7 years, meaning a total of 483 years. The decree spoken of coincided with the coming of Ezra to Jerusalem in Ezra 7:6-8, a decree from Artaxerxes I given in the 7th year of his reign, which would have been 457 B.C. Thus the 69 weeks of Daniel’s prophesy would have predicted that the appearance of Messiah the Prince would happen in 26-27A.D., the exact time Jesus began His public ministry!) Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will come with a flood. Even to the end there will be wars and desolations. Daniel 11 was a prophetic vision regarding the defeat of the Persian kings by Alexander the Great. It speaks of how his empire would be divided among his four generals, and there would be conflict between the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt with the Seleucid kings in Syria. Because Palestine lay between these two powers, inevitably the Jews were affected by this conflict. Eventually a Seleucid king arose (Antiochus Epiphanes) who stopped the sacrifice and set up an "abomination of desolation", an idolatrous altar to Zeus which desecrated the temple in Jerusalem. He persecuted and murdered many of God’s people. Daniel prophesied the Maccabean revolt, where the Jews took action, defeating the Greeks and cleansing the temple (historical background for the feast of Hanukah). Finally, in Daniel 12, the archangel Michael and two other angels spoke with Daniel about the events of the end. They mention a time of great distress, followed by a resurrection of the dead. They told him that the power of the holy people would be shattered before the events of the end take place (vs. 7). The new information here is that "from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days", or 3½ years. There is much more than I can write here, especially when the vision of Dan. 7 is also considered. Some recurring themes are (1.) a powerful opponent to the people of God will arise who will conquer and persecute them; (2.) he will stop the regular worship, and will set up something despicable in the sanctuary of God; (3.) he will be defeated and then the "son of Man" and the "saints" will receive the kingdom (Dan. 7:13-28).

This is the backdrop from Daniel that Jesus uses to speak to the disciples about coming events. Again, are we talking about a short-term fulfillment, a distant fulfillment, or both? We know that there was a short-term fulfillment in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D. The devastation was incredible. They offered sacrifices to their ensigns (foremost of which was the eagle), and proclaimed Titus as the emperor and victor. The temple was desecrated, plundered and burned. Eventually the beautiful marble stones were cut up and hauled away by people for building material, so that Jesus’ words were literally fulfilled. All that remains of those great buildings is the so-called "wailing wall", a retaining wall built to contain some of the fill used to enlarge the temple mount. In Luke’s parallel account (21:20,21), Jesus says, "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, …" When the Romans began gathering around the city, the Christians heeded the words of their Master, and fled to the mountains east of the Jordan, near Pella, and escaped the destruction of the city.

Are we to suppose that this was the complete fulfillment of Jesus’ words, or will there yet be another? According to Dan. 7:23f., there will yet arise a king who will become a world ruler. This is confirmed by Rev. 13:3-7. Note also that he, too, will make war with the saints and overpower them. This sounds very similar to the prophecies of Daniel. The NT book of Revelation is comprised of visions given to the apostle John while in exile on the island of Patmos, about 95 A.D., long after the destruction of Jerusalem. Certainly this indicates we should expect a yet future fulfillment of these elements of the prophecies given by Daniel, Jesus and, now, John.
Returning to Jesus’ prophecy, note that He specifically declared that the tribulation of those days would be the worst that had ever been seen throughout history, or would ever exist (vs. 24). In fact, Jesus says that unless the period of tribulation had been cut short, no human beings would have survived. We haven’t seen anything that severe, yet, have we? If you read of the plagues in the book of Revelation, however, you can easily see that John tells of natural catastrophes that will be on such a wide and severe scale that they would, indeed, be able to destroy all life upon the earth (Rev. 8:7-12; 16:1-21). Therefore, we have not entered the final time of the end of the age. Note, too, that Jesus said that God will not allow these plagues to continue because "the elect", His chosen ones, are still upon the earth (vs. 22). Thus it is clear from this statement, as well as all the passages from Daniel, Revelations (13:1-18; 14:9-12) and from Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians (2:1-13), that the saints, the believers, the "chosen ones" (Matt. 24:22,31) will be here through the time of the antichrist, the evil world ruler that will attack and murder the saints.

In vss. 23-26 of Matthew 24, Jesus warns of those who claim to know where Jesus is, as though He were going to come in a manner that is secret. He again warns that false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will even perform great signs and wonders to mislead, if possible, even the elect (cf. II Thess. 2:9). (Some think that the "if possible" means that the elect could not be deceived. If that were true, then there would be no point in warning us of their coming. The fact that Jesus warns us indicates to me that this is a very real and dangerous test.) To eliminate any question of confusion over so-called "hidden" "invisible" or "secret comings", Jesus plainly tells us that when He returns, His coming will be as visible as lightening shining in the sky (vs. 27). The apostle John tells us in Revelations 1:7 that "He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, …and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him." The latter part of this verse agrees with what Jesus says in Matt. 24:30. When Jesus returns, it will be very visible, and public. It won’t be a hidden, secret thing at all. People will see the sign of His coming a great ways off. There will be dramatic signs in the heavens that will immediately proceed and accompany the Lord’s return on the clouds (Lk. 21:25-27; cf. Rev. 6:12-17). When He comes, He will come in power, and the sound of a great trumpet, and He will send out His angels to gather His people from all over the world (Matt. 24:29-31). From Paul’s writings, we find out that the dead in Christ will rise from their graves, and those who are alive will be caught up to meet the Lord in the sky (I Thess. 4:13-17; I Cor. 15:50-53). When we see Him, we will be like Him (I Jn. 3:2). Our mortal bodies will be transformed, the weak and mortal being clothed with immortality (I Cor 15:35-54; II Cor. 5:4). From that time on, we shall always be with the Lord (I Thess. 4:17).

There will be trials and testings to endure throughout the age, but especially for that final generation. There will be some protection, in some cases, but many believers will also perish, giving their lives in testimony of their faith. As He had told the disciples earlier, "the one who endures until the end will be saved" (vs. 13).

What to Watch For

2006-04-02T03:24:00.000-07:00

Notes for the Ekklesia Meeting
Sundays @ 10:00 a.m. Info: (651) 283-0568 Discipleship Training Ministries, Inc www.dtminc.org Today’s Date: April 2, 2006

What to Watch For
by Dan Trygg

"… ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the summation of the age?’ 4 And Jesus answered them, ‘See that no one leads you astray.’" Matthew 24:3,4

After concluding His confrontation with the scribes and Pharisees in the temple, Jesus and His disciples departed to go out of the city. As they were leaving, the disciples were pointing out the ornate and beautiful buildings, which were indeed striking to behold. King Herod the Great (the same king who tried to have Jesus killed as a baby – Matt. 2) initiated a grand project to rebuild the temple, beginning in 19 B.C. Although Herod himself died in 4 B.C., the construction and beautification work continued up through 64 A.D. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He had cleansed the temple. In His confrontation with the Jewish leaders at that time, they mentioned in passing that it had taken 46 years to build the temple (Jn. 2:20). This gives us a solid date for the start of Jesus’ public preaching, 27 A.D. [This date is confirmed by Lk. 3:1,23, where it says that John the Baptist began his ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar. Since Tiberius became a co-emperor with Augustus in 12 A.D., this puts the beginning of the Baptist’s ministry in 27 A.D. It would appear that Jesus was baptized about six months into John’s ministry, which would have still been the same year.] Herod spared no expense to prepare for this project, assembling huge white marble stones for the main construction material. The white marble, coupled with large plates of gold which were hung on the eastward side of the building, caused the temple to shine brightly in the sun. It was located on a point of higher elevation than most of the rest of the city, so that with its various colonnades and courts on lower levels it resembled a snow-covered mountain, radiant in the sun, and visible from a great distance.

Jesus’ response to their admiration was that these buildings would be torn down. When they reached the Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley east of Jerusalem, He sat down and the disciples asked, "When will these things come to be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" What they were thinking is not clear, but the word translated as "coming" was often used to refer to a visit from the emperor. The word translated "end" is not the typical Greek word for "last" or "final", such as when we speak of "end times". This word means "completion, consummation", or even "accomplishment". The disciples were probably expecting Jesus to describe the overthrow of the current regime, followed by the ushering in of His earthly kingdom and a new age of prosperity and peace. That this was their hope and expectation is evident from Acts 1:6-8. Their question to the post-resurrection Jesus was, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" Even after His death and resurrection, they had no real grasp of what was to happen. They were hoping for the Messianic age. They did not perceive the task which lay before them. He told them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has set by His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses… to the remotest part of the earth." He directed their attention away from speculations to focus on the task at hand.

As we begin to study this chapter, it is important to recognize that we have two thousand years of church history and interpretation behind us, and there are some very different theories. If you have been in our current church culture for long, you have probably picked up at least snippets of other peoples’ beliefs concerning "end time" events. The most difficult part of coming to grips with "What did Jesus mean?" has to do with putting these predispositions aside, so that we can examine the text with an open mind and heart. That said, I also want to say that it is important to ask if there are aspects of popular theory that simply do not fit with what Jesus says. For example, one of the more popular theories today says that Jesus could come at any moment, that there are not specific signs which must be fulfilled before He comes. We must always be spiritually prepared, for He could come today. As we go through the passage, ask yourself if that idea seems to square with the tenor of what Jesus says. If not, where does this notion come from?

The next important point to make is that Jesus emphasizes, "See to it that no one misleads you" (vs. 4,11,23-25). Apparently, this is an area that will be a point of attack in the future. It is a subject that is either easy for the enemy to exploit or one which Jesus recognizes as vulnerable to deception. In any case, it is important for us to get it right, to know clearly what is going to happen, so that we are not led astray. Jesus warned that "many" will be led into deception, and even destruction, because they do not clearly understand what the Bible says about this subject. Historically, this has been the case. In every generation, people have been fooled into following some erroneous teaching in this area, or they have been manipulated into following some false or mistaken leader. Had they taken heed to what Jesus warned here, they would have avoided the hype and deception of such movements. Clearly, the responsibility is upon us to diligently teach and study this area, so that we as a people are prepared.

OK. Let’s move into what Jesus has to say. Verses 4-14 seem to be an overview of things to expect throughout the age. It is important to understand this, because we don’t want to jump to the conclusion that we are approaching Christ’s return, if we are just dealing with things that He tells us to expect to occur throughout history. What kinds of things is He talking about?

(1.) False Christs (vs. 5). There will be "many" who will come in Jesus’ name, claiming to be Him. "Many" will be led astray by these false Christs. Obviously this is a hot button. Lots of people are going to fall for these charlatans. Don’t be taken in by anyone who claims to be Christ. If someone makes that claim, or seems to be making that claim, or anything close to that, disassociate yourself from them immediately.

(2.) Wars and rumors of wars (vs. 6,7a). Jesus tells us not to get excited when wars break out. They will. We are not to be frightened into thinking that we are approaching the end of the age, just because wars are taking place. Notice He tells us not to get startled or alarmed if we hear of such events, or have to go through them. He says "it is necessary" or "it is bound" for those to happen. Wars will be part of human history throughout the age. "...but the end is not yet". This comment about the "end" clues us in to what Jesus’ focus is. He is going to teach the disciples about what to expect about the end, conclusion or completion of history will be.

(3.) Famines (vs. 7). There will be famines which will periodically occur throughout history.

(4.) Earthquakes (vs. 7). These also will occur at various times and places in human history.
As tragic as wars, famines and earthquakes are, Jesus describes them as only the "first" or "beginning’ of birth pangs (vs.8). This is an interesting word picture. It could be that Jesus is suggesting that these kinds of signs will happen with increasing intensity and frequency throughout the age. Like the birthing process, where contractions begin somewhat randomly during the last months of pregnancy, but then, once labor actually kicks in, they become stronger and closer together, it could be that Jesus is saying that wars, famines and earthquakes will exist throughout history, but will increase dramatically as we approach the end of the age. This, in fact, would seem to be true, from what we can tell from historical records. In any case, we are commanded not to be alarmed.

(5.) Persecution of believers (vs. 9). This also will be in evidence throughout the age, in all times and in every country. Persecution, even martyrdom, is to be expected. Being hated by others because we are Christians should not surprise us. They hated Him; they will hate His followers (Jn. 15:18,19). As a result of this persecution, many professing Christians will be stumbled or ensnared, and will betray other believers and disregard their lives and safety (vs. 10). (The Greek word "hate" does not necessarily mean the bitter anger that we associate with that word. It can mean to disregard or devalue another person. In this context, it could mean that some Christians will cave into pressure and will turn over other believers to authorities in order to protect themselves. Instead of loving others, they "sell them out", disregarding the lives of their former friends in order to save their own skin. Again, this is also a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history.)

(6.) False prophets (vs. 11). Again, Jesus warns that these people will "lead many astray", so we must be particularly watchful for this kind of person. The word "prophet" literally means "one who speaks before", and could refer to those who declare messages which they claim to have heard from God, or simply preachers who claim to be declaring God’s word. In any case, they are not genuine, and it is up to us to discern the truth.

(7.) Lovelessness of believers (vs. 12). Because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of the many (the saints – cf. vss. 10,11) will grow cold or be extinguished. With love extinguished, we have little left to offer the world to show the reality of Jesus in our lives. It was to be the identifying mark of the followers of Jesus (Jn. 13:34,35). When the Christians become "loveless", the church is deeply in need of revival. Love for others grows out of love for God (I Jn. 4:7,8,19-21). God is the source of agape love, and it is His character to love, so lovelessness is a symptom of an unhealthy, stunted relationship with God. Note the cause of lovelessness, here. Apparently, the lawlessness of the surrounding culture, or even the Christian culture, causes people to stop wanting to give in love, because they don’t want to be taken advantage of. Human love has its limitations. God’s love (agape) never fails or gives out (I Cor. 13:8).

But the one enduring these tests of faith until the end will be saved.

There is only one specific sign which Jesus gives in this first section which gives us a clear demarcation of time. The rest of the signs are cyclical or repetitive. They will happen at various times and places throughout history. There is one sign that we can use to see when we are getting close to the end or completion of the age. Jesus said, "This gospel will be preached as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Jesus will not come back until we accomplish the mission of telling the message of His death and resurrection to every nation.

One thing is very clear from Jesus’ teaching: His return was a long ways off. The whole tenor of the passage testifies to that, and the one specific sign Jesus gives makes it very clear. He won’t be coming back until the job is done. The idea that He could come any time does not fit with Jesus’ clear teaching. There are signs that will happen, and a job to be done, before He returns. We are not to be discouraged, misled or distracted from doing our job.