Christianity, Part 2

I concluded the first essay in this series with the clause, “So here I must decide.” That’s true in the sense that faith is an ongoing choice. It is misleading if the reader assumes that choice is to be made by the puny power of my rational mind.

By the time I can stare down my Christianity and say, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,1 the initial choice has already been made. [F]or it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure,2 is how Paul described it. Led by the Holy Spirit, continuously bathed from the inside out in Jesus’ own love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, the choice to trust Him becomes a relatively simple matter of not resisting Him.

That the initial choice was made in a non-rational way, however, doesn’t make that choice itself irrational. There are good reasons for making that choice. In real time, however, those reasons have come more like rationalizations after the choice was made rather than preceding and causing the choice. Those reasons do help, however, to sustain that choice on a day-to-day basis.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself,3 Jesus said. I will draw is not particularly tricky. It was ἑλκύσω (a form of ἑλκύω) in Greek, a first person indicative verb in the future tense. “The indicative mood is a statement of fact or an actual occurrence from the writer’s or speaker’s perspective.”4 In other words, as Jesus says this He believes that He will draw all to Himself.

This is quite powerful as reasons go. Any rational argument against it must explain: 1) how Jesus was wrong and 2) when He changed his mind. My religious mind might imagine any number of scenarios from its own experiences and feelings, but for the mind of Christ this is a very high bar, practically insurmountable.

If Jesus were to ask me, “Why did you believe that I would draw all to myself?” my account is simple and direct: That is what you said. If He asked why I believed that He would fail to draw all to Himself, things become more complicated.

When I believed that Jesus would fail to draw all to Himself, I didn’t put it in those words. At that time I didn’t think about giving an account to Jesus but if I had it would have gone something like this:

I didn’t believe that you would fail. I believed that you would do everything in your power but salvation depends ultimately on the individual believer.

Jesus’ next question is obvious: “Why did you believe that All authority in heaven and on earth has [not] been given to me”?5

This was the authority on which Jesus’ command to disciple all nations is based. And his saying that No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him6 refutes the idea that people choose Christ apart from being drawn by God. The people-must-save-themselves-through-their-own-faith version of Christianity is weakened by the flesh much like the law. It is not what God has doneBy sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.7

If I take Jesus at his word and assume that He draws all to Himself before anyone is sent into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels8…and that is an assumption. I don’t see any way to limit Jesus to this moment but I’m intrigued by the possibilities of this moment…then I can believe that all gathered before his glorious throne have been drawn to Him and like Paul [they themselves] serve the law of God with [their minds] but with [their] flesh [they] serve the law of sin.9

So from where do the cursed come? Who are those to whom Jesus says, Depart from meinto the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels10? [H]e will separate people (literally: themselves) one from another11 must be very different than I imagined when I imagined that the righteous and the wicked were different, already separate, people.

I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin12 was a compromise Paul also described with the words: when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members [Table]. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?13

I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin was acceptable to Paul as a compromise in the hope that God would deliver him through Jesus Christ: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!14 If those standing before Jesus’ glorious throne are about to experience that deliverance, I get a different image of that day when, according to [Paul’s] gospel (i.e., good news), God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.15

The cursed standing to Jesus’ left are not like the evil (πονηροί, a form of πονηρός). You brood of vipers! Jesus said to religious leaders. How can you speak good, when you are evil (πονηροί)?16

After I got over thinking that Jesus was simply rude and abusive, I bypassed thinking He was ignorant seeking information, but I rested for a while on the idea that He was constantly perplexed by human nature. Now, however, I assume He asked a legitimate question, inviting the Pharisees to think deeply about how they spoke anything good.

I relate to that from my own experience with None is righteous.17 The moment I accepted that premise as true, my arguments against it became prima facie evidence that Jesus was in fact drawing me to Himself. If no one seeks for God18 is true, and I was seeking for God, then the source of my seeking was something other than my unrighteousness self.

Jesus said (Matthew 7:9-11 ESV):

Or which one of you, if his son asks19 him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if20 he asks21 for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil (πονηροί), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

It fits then that the cursed standing on Jesus’ left are the distilled sin condemned in the human flesh of those on his right. This distilled sin condemned in human flesh never gave food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to a stranger, clothing to the naked, nor the time of day to those who were sick or in prison, things the evil (πονηροί) do often for people they care about.

As this distilled sin condemned in human flesh stares at the glorified Christ, looking much like when He was transfigured before [Peter, James and John], his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became22 white as light,23 I can almost hear them sneer, when did we see you?24

Peter said to Jesus [at Jesus’ transfiguration], “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses25 and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say,26 for they were27 terrified.28 The righteous on Jesus’ right don’t seem terrified necessarily, just disoriented. None seems to recall this moment from Scripture. They, too, question when they have ever done anything for anyone like their glorified Lord.

My sheep hear my voice, Jesus said, and I know them, and they follow me [Table]. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.29 Though I called the cursed, “the distilled sin condemned in…human flesh,” it seems more likely that it is the righteous led by the Holy Spirit who heed his command to go30 out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.31

In his sermon on the mount Jesus said (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV):

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.32 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [Table] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Now I would understand these many as the distilled sin condemned in the flesh of Christians standing on Jesus’ left. This is not to say that there is no corresponding many who heard his command to go out from their midst, and be separate from them standing on Jesus’ right, just that in this passage we are hearing the arguments of the distilled sin that was condemned in their flesh. It boasts in the work of God as if it were its own. It supposes that it should be rewarded along with the new creation it plagued for a lifetime.

One of the wonderful possibilities of this moment is that I won’t see my doppelganger. The glorified Lord separates us one from the other, like trying to see something on the other side of the sun. But it is sobering to consider: Who will I be at that moment?

Will I myself be the righteous new creation on Jesus’ right, marveling at my glorious Lord, wondering what I ever could have done for Him? Or will I identify more with the distilled sin condemned in my flesh, arguing that He should reward me for all the wonderful things that I have done for Him?

When I was barely escaping from a life of atheism, sex, drugs and rock n’ roll, Paul’s words kept me from despair (Romans 7:13-20 ESV):

Did [the law] which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure [Table]. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin [Table]. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me [Table]. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me [Table].

The more I believed Paul’s saying, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh,33 the more I began to see God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as the good in my life, and the more I began to view me myself as the evil. My Pastor warned me about thinking and speaking like this (which should not be taken to imply that he would endorse all I’ve written here). I thought I understood what he was saying, even paid some lip service to it. Writing this essay has cast it in a new light and reminded me of an incident with my son.

I walked through the living room one afternoon as he played a video game. He was driving a car, racing away from the police. As I walked out of the room I said, “You’re never going to drive one of my cars.” He stopped playing and hurried to catch up to me to ask, why. “You’re training yourself to hit the accelerator when you hear a siren rather than the brakes.” The next time I noticed him playing that video game, he had turned off the siren and the police chase, and simply played it as a road race game. He turned out to be a very good driver.

I certainly don’t want to train myself to identify with the distilled sin condemned in my flesh. Part of my prayer for all is to ask that “we know by faith your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control springing up within us to eternal life from your Holy Spirit.” I’ve changed “your Holy Spirit” to “our Holy Spirit,” not to claim any credit for myself but to take ownership of all that I have been given in Christ.

According to a note (26) in the NET Paul quoted from Isaiah 52:11. The table below compares the relevant portions of the Greek of 2 Corinthians 6:17 to Isaiah 52:11 in the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:17a (NET Parallel Greek)

Isaiah 52:11b (Septuagint BLB) Table

Isaiah 52:11b (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητε ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς ἀφορίσθητε ἐξέλθετε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς, ἀφορίσθητε

2 Corinthians 6:17a (NET)

Isaiah 52:11b (NETS)

Isaiah 52:11b (English Elpenor)

come out from their midst, and be separate go out from the midst of it; be separated go ye out from the midst of her; separate yourselves

2 Corinthians 6:17b (NET Parallel Greek)

Isaiah 52:11a (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 52:11a (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε

2 Corinthians 6:17b (NET)

Isaiah 52:11a (NETS)

Isaiah 52:11a (English Elpenor)

and touch no unclean thing and touch no unclean thing and touch not the unclean thing

According to a note (28) in the NET the last clause of 2 Corinthians 6:17 was a paraphrased quotation from Ezekiel 20:41. The table below compares the relevant portion of the Greek of 2 Corinthians 6:17 to Ezekiel 20:41 in the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:17c (NET Parallel Greek)

Ezekiel 20:41b (Septuagint BLB) Table

Ezekiel 20:41b (Septuagint Elpenor)

εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς προσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς προσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς

2 Corinthians 6:17c (NET)

Ezekiel 20:41b (NETS)

Ezekiel 20:41b (English Elpenor)

I will welcome you I will accept you I will accept you

According to a note (29) in the NET 2 Corinthians 6:18 was a paraphrased quotation of 2 Samuel 7:14 and Isaiah 43:6. The table below compares the Greek of 2 Corinthians 6:18 to 2 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 7:14 in the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:18a (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Samuel 7:14a (Septuagint BLB) Table

2 Kings 7:14a (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ἔσομαι ὑμῖν εἰς πατέρα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθε μοι εἰς υἱοὺς ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν

2 Corinthians 6:18a (NET)

2 Reigns 7:14a (NETS)

2 Kings 7:14a (English Elpenor)

and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son

The table below compares the Greek of 2 Corinthians 6:18 to Isaiah 43:6 in the Septuagint.

2 Corinthians 6:18b (NET Parallel Greek)

Isaiah 43:6b (Septuagint BLB) Table

Isaiah 43:6b (Septuagint Elpenor)

καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθε μοι εἰς υἱοὺς καὶ θυγατέρας ἄγε τοὺς υἱούς μου ἀπὸ γῆς πόρρωθεν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας μου ἀπ᾽ ἄκρων τῆς γῆς ἄγε τοὺς υἱούς μου ἀπὸ γῆς πόρρωθεν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας μου ἀπ᾿ ἄκρων τῆς γῆς

2 Corinthians 6:18b (NET)

Isaiah 43:6b (NETS)

Isaiah 43:6b (English Elpenor)

and you will be my sons and daughters bring my sons from a land far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth bring my sons from the [land] afar off, and my daughters from the ends of the earth

Tables comparing Ezekiel 20:41; 2 Samuel 7:14 and Isaiah 43:6 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Ezekiel 20:41; 2 Samuel (Reigns, Kings) 7:14 and Isaiah 43:6 in the BLB and Elpenor versions of the Septuagint with the English translations from Hebrew and Greek, and tables comparing the Greek of Matthew 7:9, 10; 17:2; Mark 9:5, 6; 2 Corinthians 6:17 and Matthew 7:21 in the NET and KJV follow.

Ezekiel 20:41 (Tanakh)

Ezekiel 20:41 (KJV)

Ezekiel 20:41 (NET)

I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, I will accept you along with your soothing aroma. I will display my holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

Ezekiel 20:41 (Septuagint BLB)

Ezekiel 20:41 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐν ὀσμῇ εὐωδίας προσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ ἐξαγαγεῗν με ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καὶ εἰσδέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν ἐν αἷς διεσκορπίσθητε ἐν αὐταῗς καὶ ἁγιασθήσομαι ἐν ὑμῗν κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν λαῶν ἐν ὀσμῇ εὐωδίας προσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ ἐξαγαγεῖν με ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν λαῶν καὶ εἰσδέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν, ἐν αἷς διεσκορπίσθητε ἐν αὐταῖς, καὶ ἁγιασθήσομαι ἐν ὑμῖν κατ’ ὀφθαλμοὺς τῶν λαῶν

Ezekiel 20:41 (NETS)

Ezekiel 20:41 (English Elpenor)

In an odor of fragrance I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and take you in from the countries, those in which you were scattered, and I will be hallowed among you in the eyes of the peoples. I will accept you with a sweet-smelling savour, when I bring you out from the nations, and take you out of the countries wherein ye have been dispersed; and I will be sanctified among you in the sight of the nations.

2 Samuel 7:14 (Tanakh)

2 Samuel 7:14 (KJV)

2 Samuel 7:14 (NET)

I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to Me for a son; if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: I will become his father and he will become my son. When he sins, I will correct him with the rod of men and with wounds inflicted by human beings.

2 Samuel 7:14 (Septuagint BLB)

2 Kings 7:14 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν καὶ ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀδικία αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐλέγξω αὐτὸν ἐν ῥάβδῳ ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἐν ἁφαῗς υἱῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγὼ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ εἰς πατέρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται μοι εἰς υἱόν· καὶ ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀδικία αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλέγξω αὐτὸν ἐν ράβδῳ ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἐν ἁφαῖς υἱῶν ἀνθρώπων

2 Reigns 7:14 (NETS)

2 Kings 7:14 (English Elpenor)

I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me, and if his injustice comes, then I will punish him with a rod of men and with attacks of sons of men, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And when he happens to transgress, then will I chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men.

Isaiah 43:6 (Tanakh)

Isaiah 43:6 (KJV)

Isaiah 43:6 (NET)

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’ and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’ Bring my sons from distant lands, and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

Isaiah 43:6 (Septuagint BLB)

Isaiah 43:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)

ἐρῶ τῷ βορρᾷ ἄγε καὶ τῷ λιβί μὴ κώλυε ἄγε τοὺς υἱούς μου ἀπὸ γῆς πόρρωθεν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας μου ἀπ᾽ ἄκρων τῆς γῆς ἐρῶ τῷ Βορρᾷ· ἄγε, καὶ τῷ Λιβί· μὴ κώλυε, ἄγε τοὺς υἱούς μου ἀπὸ γῆς πόρρωθεν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας μου ἀπ᾿ ἄκρων τῆς γῆς

Isaiah 43:6 (NETS)

Isaiah 43:6 (English Elpenor)

I will say to the north, “Bring them,” and to the southwest, “Do not hinder; bring my sons from a land far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth– I will say to the north, Bring; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from the [land] afar off, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

Matthew 7:9, 10 (NET)

Matthew 7:9, 10 (KJV)

Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

Matthew 7:9 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 7:9 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 7:9 (Byzantine Majority Text)

ἢ τίς |ἐστιν| ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν αἰτήσει ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ η τις εστιν εξ υμων ανθρωπος ον εαν αιτηση ο υιος αυτου αρτον μη λιθον επιδωσει αυτω η τις εστιν εξ υμων ανθρωπος ον εαν αιτηση ο υιος αυτου αρτον μη λιθον επιδωσει αυτω
Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Matthew 7:10 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 7:10 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 7:10 (Byzantine Majority Text)

καὶ ἰχθὺν αἰτήσει, μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ και εαν ιχθυν αιτηση μη οφιν επιδωσει αυτω και εαν ιχθυν αιτηση μη οφιν επιδωσει αυτω

Matthew 17:2 (NET)

Matthew 17:2 (KJV)

And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

Matthew 17:2 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 17:2 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 17:2 (Byzantine Majority Text)

καὶ μετεμορφώθη ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔλαμψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, τὰ δὲ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο λευκὰ ὡς τὸ φῶς και μετεμορφωθη εμπροσθεν αυτων και ελαμψεν το προσωπον αυτου ως ο ηλιος τα δε ιματια αυτου εγενετο λευκα ως το φως και μετεμορφωθη εμπροσθεν αυτων και ελαμψεν το προσωπον αυτου ως ο ηλιος τα δε ιματια αυτου εγενοντο λευκα ως το φως

Mark 9:5, 6 (NET)

Mark 9:5, 6 (KJV)

So Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Mark 9:5 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 9:5 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 9:5 (Byzantine Majority Text)

καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Πέτρος λέγει τῷ Ἰησοῦ· ραββί, καλόν ἐστιν ἡμᾶς ὧδε εἶναι, καὶ ποιήσωμεν τρεῖς σκηνάς, σοὶ μίαν καὶ Μωϋσεῖ μίαν καὶ Ἠλίᾳ μίαν και αποκριθεις ο πετρος λεγει τω ιησου ραββι καλον εστιν ημας ωδε ειναι και ποιησωμεν σκηνας τρεις σοι μιαν και μωσει μιαν και ηλια μιαν και αποκριθεις ο πετρος λεγει τω ιησου ραββι καλον εστιν ημας ωδε ειναι και ποιησωμεν σκηνας τρεις σοι μιαν και μωσει μιαν και ηλια μιαν
(For they were afraid, and he did not know what to say.) For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

Mark 9:6 (NET Parallel Greek)

Mark 9:6 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Mark 9:6 (Byzantine Majority Text)

οὐ γὰρ ᾔδει τί ἀποκριθῇ, ἔκφοβοι γὰρ ἐγένοντο ου γαρ ηδει τι λαληση ησαν γαρ εκφοβοι ου γαρ ηδει τι λαλησει ησαν γαρ εκφοβοι

2 Corinthians 6:17 (NET)

2 Corinthians 6:17 (KJV)

Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

2 Corinthians 6:17 (NET Parallel Greek)

2 Corinthians 6:17 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

2 Corinthians 6:17 (Byzantine Majority Text)

διὸ ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν καὶ ἀφορίσθητε, λέγει κύριος, καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε· καγὼ εἰσδέξομαι ὑμᾶς διο εξελθετε εκ μεσου αυτων και αφορισθητε λεγει κυριος και ακαθαρτου μη απτεσθε καγω εισδεξομαι υμας διο εξελθετε εκ μεσου αυτων και αφορισθητε λεγει κυριος και ακαθαρτου μη απτεσθε καγω εισδεξομαι υμας

Matthew 7:21 (NET)

Matthew 7:21 (KJV)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21 (NET Parallel Greek)

Matthew 7:21 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)

Matthew 7:21 (Byzantine Majority Text)

Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι· κύριε κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ᾿ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ου πας ο λεγων μοι κυριε κυριε εισελευσεται εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανων αλλ ο ποιων το θελημα του πατρος μου του εν ουρανοις ου πας ο λεγων μοι κυριε κυριε εισελευσεται εις την βασιλειαν των ουρανων αλλ ο ποιων το θελημα του πατρος μου του εν ουρανοις

1 Acts 4:19 (ESV)

2 Philippians 2:13 (ESV) Table

3 John 12:32 (ESV)

5 Matthew 28:18 (ESV) Table

6 John 6:44a (ESV) Table

7 Romans 8:3, 4 (ESV)

8 Matthew 25:41b (ESV)

9 Romans 7:25b (ESV) Table

10 Matthew 25:41a (ESV)

11 Matthew 25:32b (ESV) Table

12 Romans 7:25b (ESV)

13 Romans 7:21b-24 (ESV)

14 Romans 7:25a (ESV) Table

15 Romans 2:16 (ESV)

16 Matthew 12:34 (ESV)

17 Romans 3:10b (ESV)

18 Romans 3:11b (ESV)

22 The NET parallel Greek text, NA28 and Stephanus Textus Receptus had the singular ἐγένετο here, where the Byzantine Majority Text had the plural εγενοντο.

23 Matthew 17:2 (ESV)

24 Matthew 25:44b (ESV) Table

28 Mark 9:5, 6 (ESV)

29 John 10:27, 28 (ESV)

31 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 (ESV)

32 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had the article τοῖς preceding heaven. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

33 Galatians 5:16 (ESV)

Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 6

Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches [of Jericho which had been devoted to yehôvâh].  The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) was furious (chârâh, ויחר; Septuagint: ἐθυμώθη, a form of θυμόω; ʼaph, אף; Septuagint: ὀργῇ, a form of ὀργή) with the Israelites.[1]  I’m still considering the third occurrence of yirʼâh (ויראתך) in the Bible, the word I’d hoped would distinguish the fear of the Lord from ordinary fear.  I’ve skipped ahead a bit to explore what life was like for Israel under law as the sharp tip of the sword of divine judgment.

I notice right away that Achan stole some of the riches (chêrem, החרם) but yehôvâh was furious with the Israelites (literally, “the sons of Israel”).  Achan’s was the “perfect” crime.  No one but yehôvâh knew what he had done.  For Joshua it was business as usual.  He sent men from Jericho to Ai[2] as spies.  They reported that Ai would be easy to take: Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small, the spies said.  So about three thousand men went up, but they fled from the men of Ai.  The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them[3]  The impact was immediate and devastating (Joshua 7:5b-9 NET):

The people’s courage melted away (mâsas, וימס) like water.

Joshua tore his clothes; he and the leaders of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) until evening and threw dirt on their heads.  Joshua prayed, “O, Master (ʼădônây, אדני), Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה)!  Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us?  If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan!  O Lord (ʼădônây, אדני), what can I say now that Israel has retreated before its enemies?  When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us from the earth.  What will you do to protect your great reputation?”

In the previous essay I wondered “if I should simply accept that yirʼâh, similar to the fruit of the Spirit, comes from God.”  At this particular moment Joshua didn’t believe—This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify (yirʼâh, ויראתך) them when they hear about you[4]—was a supernatural fear given by yehôvâh.  Clearly, he thought that fear originated from the uninterrupted triumph of Israel’s army: They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed…[5]  The Lord (yehôvâh, יהוה) responded to Joshua (Joshua 7: 10-12 NET):

Get up!  Why are you lying there face down (Table)?  Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment!  They have taken some of the riches (chêrem, החרם); they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions (Table).  The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation (chêrem, לחרם).  I will no longer be with you, unless you destroy what has contaminated (chêrem, החרם) you (Table).

Here it didn’t matter whether Joshua’s command to the army was yehôvâh’s command or whether Joshua had understood Moses correctly, for yehôvâh took full responsibility for Joshua’s command[6]: Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment!  The one caught with the riches (chêrem, בחרם) must be burned up along with all who belong to him, because he violated the Lord’s covenant and did such a disgraceful thing in Israel.[7]  I’ve written about what happened to Achan, his sons, daughters, ox, donkey, sheep, tent, and all that belonged to him[8] elsewhere.  Here I want to consider the alternative.

Achan’s confession reads: I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, two hundred silver pieces, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels.  I wanted them, so I took them.[9]  Achan was one of the soldiers who annihilated (châram, ויחרימו) with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.[10]  He had hacked and slashed his way through every living thing in the city to purge out wickedness from the promised land, and then became that wickedness himself.  If we fault yehôvâh for dealing with Achan and all that was his in the way that he had dealt with others we would fault Him just the same for showing Achan mercy (James 2:8-13).

But that was then; this is now (Matthew 18:32-35 NET):

“Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!  Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’  And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed.  So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”

This is one of the places from which the fathers of the Catholic Church have derived the doctrine of purgatory.  “I have even heard elderly friends tell me how their Catholic schoolteachers would threaten unruly schoolboys with lurid descriptions of the fires of purgatory!” [11] Robert Stackpole wrote parenthetically.  I didn’t grow up Catholic so I never actually feared this particular passage.  We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin,[12] scared me as an adult returning from atheism.

It has a Logic 101 quality that spoke to me early on.[13]  So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart—seemed more like a clever turn of a phrase.  By the time it clicked with me it caused no fear, but granted me permission to forgive.  It helped me to locate and distinguish the Holy Spirit from that cacophony of voices, if you will (that variety of impulses, if you will not) inside me.  It gave me strength to stand against my religion and its many reasons for withholding forgiveness: “you will appear weak, they will gain an advantage, they will never learn, they don’t deserve forgiveness, only God can forgive sins,” etc.

If I examine my fear of the knowledge that everyone fathered by God does not sin, the first thing I notice is that it didn’t cause me to flee at that particular moment in my life.  I searched the Bible instead, “looking for loopholes” perhaps but seeking understanding.  The first understanding I received appealed to the philosophical bent of my mind and though it seems like a loophole to many, it helped me to locate and distinguish the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 7:13-20 NET):

Did that which is good, then [e.g., the law], become death to me?  Absolutely not!  But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.  For we know that the law is spiritual – but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.  For I don’t understand what I am doing.  For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.  But if I do what I don’t want, I agree (σύμφημι, a form of σύμφημι) that the law is good.  But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me.  For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.  For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

Being led by the Spirit came much more slowly for me.  Mr Stackpole highlighted the problem: “the merits of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross are promised to those who repent in faith.  The real question is, What about those whose repentance was weak and half-hearted…”[14]  Purgatory wasn’t the answer in my religious circle, but the quality and quantity of heavenly rewards.  The “weak and half-hearted” would be “hippies” in the social hierarchy of heaven.  Colin Smith wrote: “I trust that you will want to join me in storing up treasures in heaven, knowing that our righteousness is a gift from God in Christ Jesus, and that we serve a generous God who promises great rewards (100x!) to those who trust him and serve him faithfully.”

I didn’t know that my righteousness is a gift from God and probably thought that would be cheating.  How could my position in the social hierarchy of heaven be a gift from God?  And the common Bible verses quoted seemed at first reading to confirm my understanding of justification by faith and sanctification by my works: If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss.  He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.[15]  Jesus taught, “But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.”[16]  And Paul instructed Timothy, Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.  Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others.  In this way they will save up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the future and so lay hold of what is truly life.[17]

Thank God I am such an accomplished sinner.  Praise God that his Holy Spirit would not “help” me earn my social position in heaven by “my” good works as He kept me hungering and thirsting for his righteousness.  I no longer feel any obligation to referee between purgatory and heavenly rewards.  Both explanations were designed to encourage me to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness[18] here and now.  Neither was as effective on me as a hunger and thirst for righteousness,[19] which I assume has come from God.

The alternative—that a hunger and thirst for Jesus’ righteousness originates with me—doesn’t scan.  I’m not that kind of guy.  A desire to be right?  That’s me.  A desire to appear righteous to you?  Okay, that’s probably me, too.  But the hunger and thirst for righteousness which I now have did not originate with me.  So what do I know about yirʼâh?

Well, I’ll start with what I don’t know: I don’t know whether yirʼâh was a supernatural fear from God or the natural result of confronting an army that took no prisoners and captured no slaves.  I know that yirʼâh was effective to accomplish God’s purpose to eradicate the wicked people who inhabited the promised land: It mustered[20] their armies to march to their deaths.  I don’t think Israel had anything like the confidence in yehôvâh which would be required to slaughter a peaceful, welcoming people.  I’m thinking that yirʼâh may have become the one Hebrew word to describe the combination of yârêʼ and ʼâman: they feared (yârêʼ, וייראו) the Lord, and they believed (ʼâman, ויאמינו) in the Lord.[21]  And I have a compelling contrast between Rahab, an Amorite prostitute and innkeeper, who feared yehôvâh and Achan, an Israelite soldier and thief, who did not.

I don’t have the hard-edged definitive kind of knowledge I like but I have enough encouragement to continue studying.  Besides, the hard-edged definitive kind of knowledge I like is really only useful for judging you—which brings me to the most bitter irony: When I take the name of yehôvâh/Jesus in vain by judging you for sins I share I lower the bar (Ezekiel 16:52-63), so to speak, and make it easier, if not expedient, for Him to show you mercy (Romans 11:29-31).  When the Holy Spirit has his way with me and I live his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control[22] I condemn you who are not led by the Spirit of God.[23]  The only way I can live with this most bitter irony, and continue to hunger and thirst for his righteousness, is to pray daily:

“My persistent prayer for justice”[24] for all who call or have called or will call on our Father in heaven[25] “is for the mercy on which everything depends,[26] for it does not depend on human desire or exertion but on You who shows mercy, for You have consigned all to disobedience (ἀπείθειαν, a form of ἀπείθεια) so that You may show mercy to all.”[27]

If He can save an accomplished sinner such as I am, I see no reason or excuse why He can’t or shouldn’t save a sinner like you.

[1] Joshua 7:1b (NET)

[2] Joshua 7:2a (NET)

[3] Joshua 7:3b-5a (NET)

[4] Deuteronomy 2:25a (NET)

[5] Joshua 6:21a (NET)

[6] Joshua 6:16-19 (NET)

[7] Joshua 7:15 (NET) Table

[8] Joshua 7:24 (NET) Table

[9] Joshua 7:21a (NET) Table

[10] Joshua 6:21a (NET)

[11] What’s All This Talk of ‘Purgatorial Purification’? Part 2

[12] 1 John 5:18a (NET) Table

[13] It’s been a long time since I took Logic 101 so I checked again online that modus tollens is valid and found a reasonable exception.

[14] What’s All This Talk of ‘Purgatorial Purification’? Part 2

[15] 1 Corinthians 3:15 (NET)

[16] Luke 12:20, 21 (NET)

[17] 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NET)

[18] Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

[19] Matthew 5:6 (NET)

[20] King Sihon was hardened for this purpose.

[21] Exodus 14:31 (NET)

[22] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

[23] Romans 8:14 (NET)

[24] Luke 18:1-8 (NET)

[25] Matthew 6:9-14 (NET)

[26] Romans 9:14-16 (NET)

[27] Romans 11:28-36 (NET)