A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 10

Posted on April 14, 2024 by admin

My mother told the following story about her firstborn son:

His father worked the evening shift. Perhaps it was the only shift the young man could get. Perhaps he did it deliberately to earn more per hour. She was alone with their infant son in the afternoon in an upstairs city apartment in summer heat. She put her firstborn in a stroller and pushed him up the street to a corner dairy for a chocolate milkshake.

As they sat in the shade outside the dairy, she offered her son his first taste of chocolate milkshake. He grabbed it from her and wouldn’t let go. There wasn’t money for another. She wasn’t at all certain her husband would agree that there had been money for the first one. So, the twenty-three-year-old mother did without while her son drank too much, too soon for one so small.

I’ve heard that story many times. The time I recall most now, I was telling it myself as my sister and I reminisced after Mom’s death. Like Scrooge pleading to “sponge away the writing on this stone,”¹ I tried vainly once again to repent of a deed done before I have any memory of doing it. My sister laughed and said, “She told that story because she thought it was funny. She loves you.”

I’ve reacted to that story many different ways at different times throughout my life. I don’t think it’s funny—not now. Though I don’t recall the event, I am all too familiar with that child. He is the sin that lives in me.² He is the evil…present with me when I want to do good.³ He is the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.⁴ He is unrestrained will: “I want.”

Though I say “unrestrained,” he was constrained somewhat by his stroller and the shortened reach of his chubby little arms. Do you still think he is funny? If I shout it in German, “Ich will!” perhaps you can hear the very worst of Adolf Hitler incipient in that child’s lust, a child who wouldn’t even share a chocolate milkshake with his own mother. Grant him power and he will covet and steal; he will rape and murder; he will try to conquer the world, shrieking a damnable lie: I AM AND THERE IS NO OTHER! No one I know has caused more harm to me or the people I love. And there is no one I would rather see condemned to the lake of fire for all eternity.

In another essay I began to consider the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (KJV, Septuagint) [Table]. And in another essay I wrote:

Truthfully, my religious mind wants I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin (Romans 7:14b NET) to apply to the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.³ My old man may well be the proximate cause of my unspirituality and slavery to sin, but Paul described an I, as I am seen here and now, that is comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth:⁴For I want to do the good, he wrote, but I cannot do it.⁵

My sister was right: my mother loved me even before I was “comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image.” She didn’t grab me by the ankles and bash my brains out on the hot pavement that day. The words the only true God spoke through Isaiah the prophet to Cyrus, another old man more powerful than mine, follow:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 45:4-8 (Tanakh/KJV)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (NET)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:4-8 (English Elpenor)
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect (בְּחִירִ֑י), I have even called thee [e.g., Cyrus] by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one (bāḥîr, בחירי), I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit to me.	For the sake of my servant Iakob and Israel my chosen (τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου), I will call you by name and receive you, but you did not know me,	For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect (τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου), I will call thee by thy name, and accept thee: but thou hast not known me.
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the Lord, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.	because I am the Lord God, and there is no other god besides me, and you did not know me,	For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me.
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.	so that they who are from the rising of the sun and from its going down may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord God, and there is no other.	That they that [come] from the east and they that [come] from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside.
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.	I am the one who has prepared light and made darkness, who makes peace and creates evils; I am the Lord who does all these things.	I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above (מִמַּ֔עַל), and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	O sky, rain down from above (maʿal, ממעל)! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.’”	Let heaven rejoice from above (ἄνωθεν), and let the clouds shower down righteousness; let the earth bring forth mercy, and let it bring forth righteousness as well; I am the Lord who created you.	Let the heaven rejoice from above (ἄνωθεν), and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom [with] mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee.

Though I was born evil incarnate,⁵ not yet born from above (γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν),⁶ that evil dwelt by the grace of God in a cute and cuddly package. Most women by the grace of God find that cute and cuddly infant package adorable and appealing. I was born by the grace of God through an intensely intimate process that made my birth and my existence uniquely special to my mother. And so, I lived, not by any virtue of my own, but by the grace of a loving God who gave me a mother who loved me and hoped for me and named me Daniel, that I would grow to stand alone, if necessary, with God.

I’m torn here because I want to get back to studying the Bible but I know my mother would argue with my assessment of myself. It seems obligatory to address how I fooled my mother a large portion, if not most, of the time. I think it boils down to the same thing that surprises me now about the direct honesty of that evil infant. I can only rationalize it as naive ignorance. My earliest memory of my own motivation was that I wanted my mother, my father, anyone, everyone really, to think well of me, to speak well of me. I would attempt to do almost anything to hear their praise.

Trying to please all the people all of the time to win their praise was exhausting and led directly to what some call defiance. My little brother began life with that strategy. It seemed stupid and annoying to me, a waste of time when one is weak and unarmed. If you can’t please all the people all of the time and you can’t kill all the people all of the time, one must compromise: compliance rather than defiance is that compromise.

I tried to the best of my ability to comply as much as I was able with the demands of those I couldn’t kill or intimidate. Compliance can seem like obedience, even righteousness, to those who look on external appearance only. Compliance, to optimize my experience of winning the praise of others, fooled me, too. I wasn’t subtle enough to imagine any righteousness beyond compliance.

Jesus saying, Woe to you⁷ when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things⁸ to the false prophets,⁹ was just word salad to me. But in the right circumstances at the right time and place I could nod and “yea, verily” with the best of them, without ever hearing Jesus’ aspersion on the meaning of my life. Eventually, I was so accustomed to my strategy of maximizing praise and minimizing being screamed at by the minimal level of compliance required, even when I tried to learn from the Bible I only heard what I expected to hear.

John wrote (1 John 5:16 NET):

If anyone sees his fellow Christian (τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ) committing a sin not resulting in death, he should ask, and God will grant life to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death. There is a sin resulting in death. I do not say that he should ask about that.

The fellow Christian John described here was also an I, as I am seen here and now, an I comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.¹⁰ This I is not the same as everyone fathered by God (1 John 5:18 NET [Table]):

We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one (ὁ πονηρὸς) cannot touch him.

This I is the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.¹¹ The evil one cannot touch (οὐχ ἅπτεται) him. In other words, the old man and the new man are distinct, though both dwell together within John’s fellow Christian. The Greek word ἅπτεται (NET: touch) is a passive form of ἅπτω in the middle voice: “to fasten to, touch, grab, attach, cling; to reach, get as far as.” To my mind cannot implies οὐ δύναται in Greek: an inability, a lack of power. But this is οὐχ ἅπτεται, “does not touch.” The old man, the devil, evil does not touch the new man, period, end of statement.

Making God the subject of the clause—but God protects the one he has fathered—while not wrong exactly, is not what the Greek actually says. The subject of this clause is ὁ γεννηθεὶς (NET: the one he has fathered): “the one he has fathered protects him.” The NET translators didn’t distinguish¹² between the everyone fathered by God (πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) who does not sin (οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει) from the fellow Christian¹³ (τὸν ἀδελφὸν; literally, “the brother”) who does.

I assume that ὁ γεννηθεὶς (NET: the one he has fathered) refers to Jesus and his work on the cross in union with the new man who has been created in God’s image,¹⁴ while αὐτόν ¹⁵ (him) refers back to the singular πᾶς (NET: everyone) of everyone fathered by God.¹⁶

John made a similar distinction between his Dear friends (ἀγαπητοί, a form of ἀγαπητός) and the new man earlier in this same letter:

1 John 3:2 (NET)	1 John 3:6 (NET)
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We¹⁷ know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.	Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him.
1 John 3:2 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 3:6 (NET Parallel Greek)
ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν	πᾶς ὁ ἐν αὐτῷ μένων οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων οὐχ ἑώρακεν αὐτὸν οὐδὲ ἔγνωκεν αὐτόν

The NET translators chose whenever it is revealed for ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, where the KJV translators chose when he shall appear. Either way, we will be (ἐσόμεθα, a form of εἰμί) like him (i.e., like God, NET or like Jesus, KJV) at some future time because we will see (ὀψόμεθα, a form of ὁράω) him just as he is.¹⁸ This likeness to God or Jesus should, at a minimum, entail not sinning. And John confirmed that everyone who sins has neither seen (ἑώρακεν, another from of ὁράω) him nor known (ἔγνωκεν, a form of γινώσκω) him.¹⁹

Paul echoed and clarified this concept for John’s Dear friends (1 Corinthians 13:12 NET):

For now we see (βλέπομεν, a form of βλέπω) in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know (γινώσκω) in part, but then I will know fully (ἐπιγνώσομαι, a form of ἐπιγινώσκω), just as I have been fully known (ἐπεγνώσθην, another form of ἐπιγινώσκω).

This leads to the conclusion that John’s more absolute—has neither seen him nor known him—denoted everyone who sins (πᾶς ὁ ἁμαρτάνων) as the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.²⁰ Conversely, Everyone who resides in him does not sin, refers to the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.²¹

So, returning to the evil one (ὁ πονηρὸς) cannot touch (οὐχ ἅπτεται) him (αὐτοῦ):²² the NET translators apparently understood αὐτοῦ as a personal pronoun in the genitive case. I am more inclined to understand αὐτοῦ as an adverb: “the evil one does not touch here,” or “there.” In other words, John described the new man as a holy place where God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit meets with the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth as One.

I have lived as the old man, bereft of the new man. I am living as the new man, frustrated at times by that old man. I hope to live as the new man, separated entirely from the old man. When I began to consider the final judgment as a potential deadline for Jesus to have drawn all to Himself, I thought it was mostly for my convenience.

I have no authority or standing to tell Jesus that He can draw no one to Himself afterward, but final judgment is like an event horizon I have difficulty seeing beyond. While I am aware of no Christian theology which addresses Jesus’ drawing of all to Himself, or the impact of that drawing on the judgment of this world and the ruler of this world being driven out, I can’t now go back and pretend that I don’t hear Him saying (John 12:31, 32 NET):

Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when (ἐὰν) I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all²³…to myself.

Considering the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires,²⁴ the sin that lives in me,²⁵ as that which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (KJV, Septuagint) [Table] adds an interesting line of evidence to that convenience of my choice. Rashi’s commentary to Leviticus 16:8 reads:

And Aaron shall place lots upon the two he-goats: He would place one [he-goat] on his right and one on his left. Then, he would insert both his hands into an urn [which contained two lots, one bearing the inscription “to the Lord” and the other “to Azazel.” These lots were mixed up, and Aaron, with both hands inside the urn] took one lot in his right hand and the other in his left hand, and he would place them upon them [the he-goats]: [The one] upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to the Lord,” would be for God, while the one upon which [he placed the lot] with the inscription “to Azazel,” would be sent off to Azazel. — [Yoma 39a]

Azazel: This is a strong and hard mountain, [with] a high cliff, as the Scripture says [in describing Azazel] (verse 22 below),“a precipitous land (אֶרֶץ גְּזֵרָה),” meaning a cut-off land [i.e., a sheer drop]. — [Torath Kohanim 16:28; Yoma 67b]

Assuming that Rashi was reaching back into an actual institutional memory of this ceremony, Jesus seems to have alluded to it in his description of final judgment (Matthew 25:31-33 NET):

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people (αὐτοὺς) one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from (ἀπὸ) the goats [Table]. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Isaiah 45:4; 45:5; 45:6; 45:7 and 45:8 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Isaiah 45:4; 45:5; 45:6; 45:7 and 45:8 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing Luke 6:26 and 1 John 3:2 in the NET and KJV follow.

Isaiah 45:4 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:4 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:4 (NET)
For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.	For the sake of my servant Jacob, Israel, my chosen one, I call you by name and give you a title of respect, even though you do not submit to me.

Isaiah 45:4 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:4 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἕνεκεν Ιακωβ τοῦ παιδός μου καὶ Ισραηλ τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου ἐγὼ καλέσω σε τῷ ὀνόματί σου καὶ προσδέξομαί σε σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνως με	ἕνεκεν τοῦ παιδός μου ᾿Ιακὼβ καὶ ᾿Ισραὴλ τοῦ ἐκλεκτοῦ μου, ἐγὼ καλέσω σε τῷ ὀνόματί σου καὶ προσδέξομαί σε, σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνως με
Isaiah 45:4 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:4 (English Elpenor)
For the sake of my servant Iakob and Israel my chosen, I will call you by name and receive you, but you did not know me,	For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel mine elect, I will call thee by thy name, and accept thee: but thou hast not known me.

Isaiah 45:5 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:5 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:5 (NET)
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:	I am the Lord, I have no peer, there is no God but me. I arm you for battle, even though you do not recognize me.

Isaiah 45:5 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:5 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι πλὴν ἐμοῦ θεός καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεις με	ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ Θεός, ἐνίσχυσά σε καὶ οὐκ ᾔδεις με
Isaiah 45:5 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:5 (English Elpenor)
because I am the Lord God, and there is no other god besides me, and you did not know me,	For I am the Lord God, and there is no other God beside me; I strengthened thee, and thou hast not known me.

Isaiah 45:6 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:6 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:6 (NET)
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.	I do this so people will recognize from east to west that there is no God but me; I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 45:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἵνα γνῶσιν οἱ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν πλὴν ἐμοῦ ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεός καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι	ἵνα γνῶσι οἱ ἀπ᾿ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι Θεὸς πλὴν ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἔτι
Isaiah 45:6 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:6 (English Elpenor)
so that they who are from the rising of the sun and from its going down may know that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord God, and there is no other.	That they that [come] from the east and they that [come] from the west may know that there is no God but me. I am the Lord God, and there is none beside.

Isaiah 45:7 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:7 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:7 (NET)
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.	I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Isaiah 45:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἐγὼ ὁ κατασκευάσας φῶς καὶ ποιήσας σκότος ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακά ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα πάντα	ἐγὼ ὁ κατασκευάσας φῶς καὶ ποιήσας σκότος, ὁ ποιῶν εἰρήνην καὶ κτίζων κακά· ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιῶν πάντα ταῦτα
Isaiah 45:7 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:7 (English Elpenor)
I am the one who has prepared light and made darkness, who makes peace and creates evils; I am the Lord who does all these things.	I am he that prepared light, and formed darkness; who make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord God, that does all these things.

Isaiah 45:8 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 45:8 (KJV)	Isaiah 45:8 (NET)
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.	O sky, rain down from above! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.’”

Isaiah 45:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 45:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
εὐφρανθήτω ὁ οὐρανὸς ἄνωθεν καὶ αἱ νεφέλαι ῥανάτωσαν δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἡ γῆ ἔλεος καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἅμα ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος ὁ κτίσας σε	εὐφρανθήτω ὁ οὐρανὸς ἄνωθεν, καὶ αἱ νεφέλαι ῥανάτωσαν δικαιοσύνην· ἀνατειλάτω ἡ γῆ καὶ βλαστησάτω ἔλεος, καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἀνατειλάτω ἅμα· ἐγώ εἰμι Κύριος ὁ κτίσας σε
Isaiah 45:8 (NETS)	Isaiah 45:8 (English Elpenor)
Let heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds shower down righteousness; let the earth bring forth mercy, and let it bring forth righteousness as well; I am the Lord who created you.	Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain righteousness: let the earth bring forth, and blossom [with] mercy, and bring forth righteousness likewise: I am the Lord that created thee.

Luke 6:26 (NET)	Luke 6:26 (KJV)
Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for their ancestors did the same things to the false prophets.	Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Luke 6:26 (NET Parallel Greek)	Luke 6:26 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	Luke 6:26 (Byzantine Majority Text)
οὐαὶ ὅταν ὑμᾶς \|καλῶς\| εἴπωσιν πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι· κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς ψευδοπροφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν	ουαι υμιν οταν καλως υμας ειπωσιν παντες οι ανθρωποι κατα ταυτα γαρ εποιουν τοις ψευδοπροφηταις οι πατερες αυτων	ουαι οταν καλως υμας ειπωσιν οι ανθρωποι κατα ταυτα γαρ εποιουν τοις ψευδοπροφηταις οι πατερες αυτων

1 John 3:2 (NET)	1 John 3:2 (KJV)
Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.	Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1 John 3:2 (NET Parallel Greek)	1 John 3:2 (Stephanus Textus Receptus)	1 John 3:2 (Byzantine Majority Text)
ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ, ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν	αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν	αγαπητοι νυν τεκνα θεου εσμεν και ουπω εφανερωθη τι εσομεθα οιδαμεν δε οτι εαν φανερωθη ομοιοι αυτω εσομεθα οτι οψομεθα αυτον καθως εστιν

Back to Romans, Part 26

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ From “A Christmas Carol (Part 4)” by Charles Dickens. Movie: A Christmas Carol

² Romans 7:17b (NET) Table; Romans 7:20b (NET) Table

³ Romans 7:21 (NET)

⁴ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

⁵ Psalm 51:5 [Table]

⁶ John 3:7 (NET)

⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus had υμιν (KJV: unto you) here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text did not (NET note 87).

⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τὰ αὐτὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ταυτα (KJV: so).

⁹ Luke 6:26 (NET)

¹⁰ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

¹¹ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

¹² NET note 49

¹³ 1 John 5:16a (NET)

¹⁴ Ephesians 4:24a (NET)

¹⁵ The NA²⁸, Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τηρει εαυτον (KJV: keepeth himself) here. If one does not distinguish (NET note 49) between the new man and the sinning Christian, this becomes unintelligible: “the sinning Christian keepeth himself from sinning.”

¹⁶ 1 John 5:18a (NET) Table

¹⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δε (KJV: but) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁸ 1 John 3:2b (NET)

¹⁹ 1 John 3:6b (NET)

²⁰ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²¹ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

²² 1 John 5:18b (NET)

²³ I dropped the word people here, because that limitation is not in the Greek text: πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν.

²⁴ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²⁵ Romans 7:20b (NET) Table

The Day of the Lord, Part 7

Posted on December 28, 2023 by admin

This is a continuation of my consideration whether my assumption that Jesus called Judas Iscariot ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας (NET: the one destined for destruction) is like Jesus’ disciples’ discussion about having no bread¹ after He said: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!”² In another essay I began to look at John’s description of antichrist and many antichrists because Meyer’s NT Commentary stated that many of the Church Fathers had understood Paul’s description of the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, as the Antichrist.

I highlighted two things he wrote about their insights:³

They correctly agree in considering that by the advent (2 Thessalonians 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:8), or the day of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:2), is to be understood the personal advent of Christ for the last judgment and for the completion of the Messianic kingdom. Also it is correctly regarded as proved, that the Antichrist here described is to be considered as an individual person, in whom sin will embody itself.

Meyer’s NT Commentary continued to elaborate on the “view of the Fathers” regarding “the Antichrist…considered as an individual person” with the following caveat:

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Yet Augustin already remarks, that “nonnulli non ipsum principem, sed universum quodam modo corpus ejus i. e. ad eum pertinentem hominum multitudinem simul cum ipso suo principe hoc loco intelligi Antichristum volunt.”	Yet Augustin already remarks, that “some, not the prince himself, but the whole world, in a certain way, his body i. e. The multitude of men belonging to him, together with their own leader, want to be understood in this place as Antichrist.”

Mr. Meyer cataloged many evolving views: “[T]he view, first in the eleventh century, that the establishment and growing power of the Papacy is to be considered as the Antichrist predicted by Paul,”⁴ is a familiar one. “Yet even before the reference of Antichrist to Popery was maintained, Mohammed[55] was already regarded by the divines of the Greek church…as the Antichrist predicted by Paul.”⁵

The power which restrained Antichrist evolved as well.

The restraining power by which the appearance of Antichrist is delayed, is usually considered [by the Church Fathers] to be the continuance of the Roman Empire (τὸ κατέχον) and its representative the Roman emperor (ὁ κατέχων). Some, however, as Theodorus Mopsuestius and Theodoret, understand by it τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ὅρον, i.e. more exactly, the counsel of God to keep back the appearance of Antichrist until the gospel is proclaimed throughout the earth…Chrysostom chooses a third interpretation, that by the restraining power is meant the continuance of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit…

In recent times it has often been considered as objectionable to determine exactly the individual traits of the imagery used by Paul. Accordingly the representation of the apostle has been interpreted in a general, ideal, or symbolical sense. To this class of interpreters belongs Koppe, according to whom Paul, founding on an old national Jewish oracle, supported especially by Daniel, would describe the ungodliness preceding the last day, which already worked, but whose full outbreak was only to take place after the death of the apostle; so that Paul himself was the κατέχων.[57]⁶

Meyer’s NT Commentary continued:

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Similarly Storr (l.c.), who understands by the ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας [man of sin] “potestas aliqua, deo omnique religioni adversaria, quae penitus incognita et futuro demum tempore se proditura sit,” and by the preventing power the “copia hominum verissimo amore inflammatorum in christianam religionem.”	Similarly Storr (l.c.), who understands by the ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἁμαρτίας [man of sin] “some power, hostile to God and to all religion, which is completely unknown and will betray itself in the future at the last time,” and by the preventing power the “a multitude of men inflamed with true love into the Christian religion.”

Other opinions were cited: “Nitzsch (l.c.) thinks on the power of atheism first come to have public authority, or the contempt of all religion generally.”⁷ “Pelt…sums up his views in the following words”:⁸

Meyer’s NT Commentary	Google Translate
Mihi … adversarius illi principium esse videtur sive vis spiritualis evangelio contraria, quae huc usque tamen in Pontificiorum Romanorum operibus ac serie luculentissime sese prodidit, ita tamen, ut omnia etiam mala, quae in ecclesia compareant, ad eandem Antichristi ἐνέργειαν sint referenda.	To me… it seems that the opposite principle is a spiritual force contrary to the gospel, which until now has revealed itself most clearly in the works and series of the Roman Pontiffs, so that even all the evils that appear in the church are to be referred to the same Antichrist ἐνέργειαν.
Ejus vero ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ i. e. summum fastigium, quod Christi reditum qui nihil aliud est, nisi regni divini victoria,[59] antecedet, futurum adhuc esse videtur, quum illud tempus procul etiamnum abesse putemus, ubi omnes terrae incolae in eo erunt, ut ad Christi sacra transeant. Κατέχον vero cum Theodoreto putarim esse dei voluntatem illud Satanae regnum cohibentem, ne erumpat, et, si mediae spectantur causae, apostolorum tempore maxime imperii Romani vis, et quovis aevo illa resistentia, quam malis artibus, quae religionem subvertere student, privati commodi et honoris augendorum cupiditas opponere solet.	But his ΠΑΡΟΥΣΊΑ i. e. the highest climax, which precedes the return of Christ, which is nothing else but the victory of the divine kingdom, [59] seems to be yet to come, since we think that time is still far off, when all the inhabitants of the earth will be there, to pass to the sacraments of Christ. Κατέχον, with Theodoretus, I think that it is the will of God restraining that kingdom of Satan, lest it break out, and, if we look at the middle causes, in the time of the apostles the power of the Roman government was especially strong, and in every age that resistance, which is usually opposed to the evil arts which seek to subvert religion, the desire to increase private advantage and honor.

According to [Pelt], the chief stress lies on ΤῸ ΜΥΣΤΉΡΙΟΝ ἬΔΗ ἘΝΕΡΓΕῖΤΑΙ Τῆς ἈΝΟΜΊΑς [literally: the mystery already working of lawlessness]. Antichrist is a union of the individuality and spiritual tendency in masses of individuals. The revolt of the Jews from the Romans, and the fearful divine punishment in the destruction of Jerusalem, Nero, Mohammed and his spiritual devastating power, the development of the Papacy in the Middle Ages, the French Revolution of 1789, with the abrogation of Christianity, and the setting up of prostitutes on altars for worship, in the external world, as well as the constantly spreading denial of the fundamentals of all religious truth and morality, of the doctrines of God, freedom, and immortality, and likewise the self-deification of the ego in the internal world,—all these phenomena are the real precursors of Antichrist; but they contain only some of his characteristics, not all; it is the union of all these characteristics which shall make the full Antichrist.⁹

Ultimately, though I found some of them illuminating, Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer rejected the views developed in recent times:

It is evident that all these explanations are arbitrary. The Pauline description is so definitely and sharply marked, and has for its whole compass so much the idea of nearness for its supposition, that it can by no means be taken generally, and in this manner explained away.

While I’m grateful to Mr. Meyer for painstakingly collecting all of these opinions in one place, I don’t intend to play guess the identity of Antichrist as an individual person. That game scatters in my opinion, rather than gathering with the Lord Jesus: and whoever does not gather (συνάγων, a form of συνέχω) with me scatters (σκορπίζει, a form of σκορπίζω),¹⁰ Jesus said. So, I want to approach it differently.

Matthew Poole’s summation from his Commentary of the difficulty of knowing “what whithholdeth” the revelation of the man of lawlessness was very accessible:

And now ye know what withholdeth: the apostle it seems had told them, as of his coming, so of what at present withheld the revealing of him. And what this was is difficult to know now, though it seems these Thessalonians knew it: there are many conjectures about it. This I shall say in general:
1. It was something that the apostle thought not safe openly to declare in writing; else he would not have written of it so obscurely.
2. It was both a thing, and a person; a thing, to katecon, in this verse, that which withholdeth; and a person, as in the next verse, o katecwn, he who letteth.
3. It was also such a thing and such a person as were to be removed out of the way, not totally, but as they were hinderances [sic] of this revelation.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible echoed Mr. Poole’s first point:

It is not known precisely what is referred to by the phrase “what withholdeth,” τὸ κατέχον to katechon. The phrase means properly, something that “holds back,” or “restrains”….Of this, the apostle says, they had had full information; but we can only conjecture what it was.

This seems to be a natural consequence of the assumption that Antichrist is an unknown individual from the future. Rather than assuming that Paul, the Holy Spirit and the New Testament are keeping something from us, I prefer to experiment with the idea that ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας or αμαρτιας (NET: the man of lawlessness; KJV: that man of sin [Table])¹¹ and ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας (NET: the son of destruction; KJV: the son of perdition)¹² are other words for ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία (NET: sin that lives in me; KJV: sin that dwelleth in me),¹³ τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης (NET: the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires; KJV: the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts),¹⁴ ἐμοὶ τὸ κακὸν παράκειται (NET/KJV: evil…present with me)¹⁵ and ἡ…σὰρξ (NET/KJV: the flesh).¹⁶ I’ll work backwards through this.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh (σὰρξ) is weak,¹⁷ Jesus said of disciples who both believed and followed Him. The Greek word translated willing was πρόθυμον (a form of πρόθυμος): “ready, willing, eager, predisposed.” The Greek word translated weak was ἀσθενής: “weak, powerless; weak and easily defeated; sick, ill, unhealthy; disabled, physically weak, feeble, miserable; morally weak; weak in influence, without influence; structurally weak (e.g., weak stones unable to support).” What is born of the flesh (σαρκὸς, a form of σὰρξ) is flesh (σάρξ),¹⁸ He told Nicodemus; in other words, it is weak (ἀσθενής). And again, Jesus said to his disciples, The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature (σὰρξ) is of no help!¹⁹

Flesh (σὰρξ) and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,²⁰ Paul wrote the Corinthians. He elaborated on this point in his letter to the Romans (Romans 8:1-8 NET):

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death [Table]. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened (ἠσθένει, a form of ἀσθενέω) through the flesh (σαρκός, a form of σὰρξ). By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (σαρκὸς, a form of σὰρξ) and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (σαρκί, another form of σὰρξ), so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σὰρξ) but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh (σάρκα) have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh (σαρκὸς), but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh (σαρκὸς) is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh (σαρκὸς) is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh (σαρκὶ) cannot please God.

Prior to this, Paul had written, with my flesh (σαρκὶ, another form of σὰρξ) I serve the law of sin.²¹ [W]hen I want to do good, evil is present with me,²² he lamented as he characterized that evil as a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members.²³ For the flesh (σὰρξ) has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh (σαρκός, another form of σὰρξ),²⁴ he wrote to the Galatians. To the Ephesians he characterized this flesh as the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.²⁵ He also called this old man simply, sin that lives in me.²⁶ And to the Thessalonians he described all of this as the man of lawlessness…the son of destruction.²⁷

I’ll continue with this in another essay.

The Day of the Lord, Part 8

¹ Mark 8:16b (NET) Table

² Mark 8:15b (NET)

³ From Meyer’s NT Commentary 2 Thessalonians 2:12, Bible Commentaries on Bible Hub online.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ibid.

¹⁰ Matthew 12:30b (NET)

¹¹ 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Table

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Romans 7:19 Table

¹⁴ Ephesians 4:22

¹⁵ Romans 7:21

¹⁶ Galatians 5:17 Table

¹⁷ Matthew 26:41b (NET)

¹⁸ John 3:6a (NET)

¹⁹ John 6:63a (NET) Table

²⁰ 1 Corinthians 15:50b (NET) Table

²¹ Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

²² Romans 7:21b (NET)

²³ Romans 7:23b (NET) Table

²⁴ Galatians 5:17a (NET) Table

²⁵ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²⁶ Romans 7:17b (NET) Table, and 7:20b (NET) Table

²⁷ 2 Thessalonians 2:3b (NET) Table

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 9

Posted on December 22, 2023 by admin

In another essay I began to consider the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS) in Leviticus 16:8 (Septuagint [Table]). It led me to Paul’s continuing discussion of the death of those who were baptized into Christ Jesus (Romans 7:14-20 NET):

For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin [Table]. 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 that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me [Table]. 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 [Table].

Immediately, I was confronted with my own unbelief. My religious mind rebels against the idea that I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.¹ Why adhere to a religion that renders me unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin? The easiest way to overcome the evangelical penchant of my religious mind to fabricate a religion palatable to unbelievers is to stop thinking about religion and start thinking about truth: Set them apart in the truth, Jesus prayed to his Father; your word is truth.²

Truthfully, my religious mind wants I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin to apply to the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires.³ My old man may well be the proximate cause of my unspirituality and slavery to sin, but Paul described an I, as I am seen here and now, that is comprised of both an old man and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth:⁴ For I want to do the good, he wrote, but I cannot do it.⁵

Though this saying is too defeatist for my religious mind, its truth is readily apparent when contrasted to the lie told at the inauguration of the law.

Romans 7:18b (NET)	Exodus 19:8b (NET)
For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.	All that the Lord has commanded we will do!

Besides, I do not do the good: For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!⁶

Literally: “For I by law to law died” (ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον). I suppose I’ve wanted this I to be the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires⁷ only, but Paul wrote (Romans 12:1 NET):

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν) as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service.

I wonder if persons might be a better translation of σώματα here, but the bodies or persons to whom Paul wrote were comprised of both an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires⁸ and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth.⁹

Paul continued: so that I may live to God.¹⁰ Literally: “so that (ἵνα) to God (θεῷ) I may live (ζήσω).” The may was added because the verb ζήσω is in the subjunctive mood. Logically, it can be dropped, however, because this is a purpose and a result clause: “to God I live” because “I by law to law died.” Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live before him,¹¹ Jesus told some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection).¹²

I have been crucified with Christ (Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι):¹³ “in Christ, to Christ, by Christ I have been and am crucified with [Him].” The Greek verb συνεσταύρωμαι is in the perfect tense:

The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action.

For example, Galatians 2:20 should be translated “I am in a present state of having been crucified with Christ,” indicating that not only was I crucified with Christ in the past, but I am existing now in that present condition.

Paul continued: and it is no longer I who live.¹⁴ Literally, “and I live (ζῶ δὲ) no longer I (οὐκέτι ἐγώ),” but Christ lives in me.¹⁵ Literally, “but lives (ζῇ δὲ) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ) Christ (Χριστός).” So the life I now live in the body:¹⁶ “so which (ὃ δὲ) now I live (νῦν ζῶ) in flesh (ἐν σαρκί),” I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God:¹⁷ “in the faithfulness I live (ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ) of the Son of God (τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ),”¹⁸ who loved me (τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος με) and gave himself (καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν) for me (ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ).¹⁹

So, the I who actually accomplishes the good I want to do,²⁰ or “is present in/with me,” (but cannot do) is Christ [who] lives in me.²¹ This is in keeping with Paul’s explanation in his letter to the Galatians of an I comprised of an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires²² and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth²³ (Galatians 5:16, 17 NET):

But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want (θέλητε, a form of θέλω) [Table].

But I say (Λέγω δέ), live by the Spirit, “by [the] Spirit (πνεύματι) walk or you walk (περιπατεῖτε),” and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh,²⁴ “and (καὶ) desire of flesh (ἐπιθυμίαν σαρκὸς) you never carry out (οὐ μὴ τελέσητε).” I wrote about the strength of οὐ μὴ τελέσητε elsewhere. Jesus is the One who proved this statement true.

So, to walk or live by the Spirit, buoyed up and carried along by the fruit of the Spirit—Jesus’ own love, his joy, his peace, his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness and his self-control—is the only way I will do the good I want but cannot do. So you too, Jesus said, when you have done (ποιήσητε, a form of ποιέω) everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done (ποιῆσαι, another form of ποιέω) what was our duty.’²⁵ Though I’ve complained—“You mean, I can’t even put in my thumb, pull out a plum and say, ‘Oh, what a good boy am I’?”²⁶—I do recognize how little credit I deserve for what is effectively the Lord’s work in and through me.

This explains to my satisfaction why Paul and the Holy Spirit considered an I comprised of an old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires²⁷ and a new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth,²⁸ who want[s] to do the good, but…cannot do it,²⁹ unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.³⁰ This new desire (Romans 3:10-18), this new will, to do the will of God revealed in the law, prompted the following conclusion (Romans 7:16, 17 NET):

But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good. But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me [Table].

Literally, “But if (εἰ δὲ) what not I want (ὃ οὐ θέλω) this I do (τοῦτο ποιῶ),” according to a note (23) in the NET, “I agree with the law (σύμφημι τῷ νόμῳ) that it is good (ὅτι καλός)” or beautiful. But now (νυνὶ δὲ) it is no longer me (οὐκέτι ἐγὼ) doing it (κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ), “but (ἀλλὰ) this lives (ἡ |οἰκοῦσα|) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ), sin (ἁμαρτία)” or “but this sin lives in me.”

Here is the substance or body which cast the shadow of the scape-goat (English Elpenor) or the [goat] to be sent off (NETS). It was repeated for good measure (Romans 7:20 NET [Table]).

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

Literally, “If now (εἰ δὲ) what not I want (ὃ οὐ θέλω) I ([ἐγὼ]) this do (τοῦτο ποιῶ), it is no longer me (οὐκέτι ἐγὼ) doing it (κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ), but (ἀλλὰ) this lives (ἡ οἰκοῦσα) in me (ἐν ἐμοὶ), sin (ἁμαρτία)” or “but this sin lives in me.”

Paul continued (Romans 7:21-25 NET):

So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members [Table]. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin [Table].

Paul seemed simultaneously frustrated and calmly resigned to reside in this body of death (τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου) for a season, trusting the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.³¹ The Lord described the scape-goat ceremony as follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Leviticus 16:21, 22 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 16:21, 22 (NET)	Leviticus 16:21, 22 (NETS)	Leviticus 16:21, 22 (English Elpenor)
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness.	Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready.	And Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the lawless acts of the sons of Israel and all their offenses and all their sins and shall put them on the head of the live goat and shall send it away into the desert by the hand of a ready person.	and Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and he shall declare over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their unrighteousness, and all their sins; and he shall lay them upon the head of the live goat, and shall send him by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off (גְּזֵרָ֑ה); and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.	The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible (gᵊzērâ, גזרה) land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.	And the goat shall bear on itself their offenses to an untrodden (ἄβατον) region, and he shall send off the goat into the wilderness.	And the goat shall bear their unrighteousnesses upon him into a desert (ἄβατον) land; and Aaron shall send away the goat into the wilderness.

I’ll pick this up in another essay. A table comparing Exodus 19:8 translated from the Hebrew of the Masoretic text and the Greek of the Septuagint follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Exodus 19:8 (Tanakh)	Exodus 19:8 (NET)	Exodus 19:8 (NETS)	Exodus 19:8 (English Elpenor)
And all the people answered together, and said: ‘All that HaShem (יְהוָֹ֖ה) hath spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people unto HaShem (יְהוָֹֽה).	and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה) has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ, יהוה).	And all the people with one accord answered and said, “All that God (ὁ θεός) said we will do and heed.” Then Moyses carried the words of the people up to God (τὸν θεόν).	And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God (ὁ Θεός) has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God (τὸν Θεόν).

Tables comparing Exodus 19:8; Leviticus 16:21 and 16:22 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing the Greek of Exodus 19:8; Leviticus 16:21 and 16:22 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.

Exodus 19:8 (Tanakh)	Exodus 19:8 (KJV)	Exodus 19:8 (NET)
And all the people answered together, and said: ‘All that HaShem hath spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people unto HaShem.	And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.	and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπεκρίθη δὲ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁμοθυμαδὸν καὶ εἶπαν πάντα ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ θεός ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα ἀνήνεγκεν δὲ Μωυσῆς τοὺς λόγους τοῦ λαοῦ πρὸς τὸν θεόν	ἀπεκρίθη δὲ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁμοθυμαδὸν καὶ εἶπαν· πάντα, ὅσα εἶπεν ὁ Θεός, ποιήσομεν καὶ ἀκουσόμεθα. ἀνήνεγκε δὲ Μωυσῆς τοὺς λόγους τούτους πρὸς τὸν Θεόν
Exodus 19:8 (Septuagint NETS)	Exodus 19:8 (English Elpenor)
And all the people with one accord answered and said, “All that God said we will do and heed.” Then Moyses carried the words of the people up to God.	And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God.

Leviticus 16:21 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 16:21 (KJV)	Leviticus 16:21 (NET)
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness.	And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:	Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready.

Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἐπιθήσει Ααρων τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν καὶ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιθήσει αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ ἐν χειρὶ ἀνθρώπου ἑτοίμου εἰς τὴν ἔρημον	καὶ ἐπιθήσει ᾿Ααρὼν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαγορεύσει ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν υἱῶν ᾿Ισραὴλ καὶ πάσας τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν καὶ πάσας τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἐπιθήσει αὐτὰς ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ χιμάρου τοῦ ζῶντος καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ ἐν χειρὶ ἀνθρώπου ἑτοίμου εἰς τὴν ἔρημον
Leviticus 16:21 (Septuagint NETS)	Leviticus 16:21 (English Elpenor)
And Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the lawless acts of the sons of Israel and all their offenses and all their sins and shall put them on the head of the live goat and shall send it away into the desert by the hand of a ready person.	and Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and he shall declare over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their unrighteousness, and all their sins; and he shall lay them upon the head of the live goat, and shall send him by the hand of a ready man into the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:22 (Tanakh)	Leviticus 16:22 (KJV)	Leviticus 16:22 (NET)
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.	And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.	The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.

Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint BLB)	Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ λήμψεται ὁ χίμαρος ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτῷ τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν ἄβατον καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ τὸν χίμαρον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον	καὶ λήψεται ὁ χίμαρος ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτῷ τὰς ἀδικίας αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν ἄβατον, καὶ ἐξαποστελεῖ τὸν χίμαρον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον
Leviticus 16:22 (Septuagint NETS)	Leviticus 16:22 (English Elpenor)
And the goat shall bear on itself their offenses to an untrodden region, and he shall send off the goat into the wilderness.	And the goat shall bear their unrighteousnesses upon him into a desert land; and Aaron shall send away the goat into the wilderness.

A Shadow of the Good Things, Part 10

¹ Romans 7:14b (NET) Table

² John 17:17 (NET) Table

³ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

⁴ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

⁵ Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

⁶ Galatians 2:19-21 (NET)

⁷ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

¹⁰ Galatians 2:19b (NET)

¹¹ Luke 20:38 (NET)

¹² Luke 20:27 (NET)

¹³ Galatians 2:20a (NET)

¹⁴ Galatians 2:20b (NET)

¹⁵ Galatians 2:20c (NET)

¹⁶ Galatians 2:20d (NET)

¹⁷ Galatians 2:20e (NET)

¹⁸ Both πίστει and the article τῇ are in the dative case. Perhaps, this could be understood as “in faithfulness I live to” the Son of God, but that strikes me as the selfsame lie as All that the Lord has commanded we will do! (Exodus 19:8b NET)

¹⁹ Galatians 2:20f (NET)

²⁰ Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

²¹ Galatians 2:20c (NET)

²² Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²³ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

²⁴ Galatians 5:16 (NET)

²⁵ Luke 17:10 (NET)

²⁶ From Little Jack Horner on Nursery Rhymes online.

²⁷ Ephesians 4:22b (NET)

²⁸ Ephesians 4:24b (NET)

²⁹ Romans 7:18b (NET) Table

³⁰ Romans 7:14b (NET) Table

³¹ Romans 7:25b (NET) Table

My Deeds, Part 3

Posted on March 7, 2018 by admin

There is a table representing my unstudied view of the relationship of the clauses of Revelation 2:26-29. I’m considering the clause, who continues in my deeds until the end, because it tugs the hardest at me to return to my own works. I’ve begun to try to understand τὰ ἔργα μου, translated my deeds, with a study of τηρῶν (a form of τηρέω), translated who continues. The most basic understanding of τηρῶν is: Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked…^[1] It means to keep, not to lose or discard.

To review, the NET translation of John 14:21 confirms both my initial belief and practice, that obeying Jesus’ commands was the path to loving Him, knowing Him and being loved by Him and his Father. Refining the translation obeys to keeps lowers the standard a bit but doesn’t alter the order of events, that Jesus and his Father loved me because I first loved Jesus (by keeping his commandments, not losing or discarding them). But this argument was preceded by another, outlined below:

If you love Me…

John 14:15a (NASB)

…you will keep (τηρήσετε, another form of τηρέω) My commandments.

John 14:15b (NASB)

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides (μένει, a form of μένω; present tense) with you and will be (ἔσται, a form of εἰμί; future tense) in you.

John 14:16, 17 (NASB)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Galatians 5:22, 23a (NASB)

I have not come to abolish [the law or the prophets] but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:17b (NET)

…love is the fulfillment of the law.

Romans 13:10b (NET)

He who has My commandments and keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) them…

John 14:21a (NASB)

…is the one who loves Me…

John 14:21b (NASB)

I will love Jesus and keep his commandments by the Holy Spirit who abides with me and will be in me. If I concede to the old man (Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-11), fighting for its own survival by attempting to lose or discard Jesus’ commandments, though it may not alter God’s love for me, I have ceased to love Him with the love that is the fruit of his Spirit, the love that is the fulfillment of the law, no matter what I tell myself and no matter how much emotion I feel for Him.

In this essay I’ll consider John’s explanation, And the person who keeps (τηρῶν, a form of τηρέω) his commandments resides in God, and God in him,^[2] but I’ll back up first to take a run at it (1 John 2:28, 29 NET):

And now, little children, remain (μένετε, a form of μένω) in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back. If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness has been fathered by him.

The Greek word translated fathered was γεγέννηται (a form of γεννάω). John didn’t leave us wondering what he meant by it: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God…^[3] He had a unique understanding of the word μένετε as one of the twelve Jesus sent out with the following instruction (I’ve included Luke 10:7 though it was addressed to the seventy-two others Jesus appointed and sent on ahead of Him).

Mark 6:10 (NET)	Luke 9:4 (NET)	Luke 10:7 (NET)
[Jesus] said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area.”	Whatever house you enter, stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) there until you leave the area.	Stay (μένετε, a form of μένω) in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay. Do not move around from house to house.

I understand what it means to stay in a house, to not move around from place to place. But what does it mean to stay in God? A few verses prior to this John wrote (1 John 2:24 NET):

As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain (μενέτω, another form of μένω) in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, you also will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in the Son and in the Father.

So I remain in the Son and in the Father if Jesus’ teaching remains in me. Here is Jesus’ teaching on the subject (John 15:4, 5a NET):

Remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in me, and I will remain in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain (μένητε, another form of μένω) in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains (μένων, another form of μένω) in me – and I in him – bears much fruit…

In other words, remaining in Jesus (and his Father) by remaining in the teaching I have heard from the beginning of my new life in Christ (assuming that teaching was the Gospel of Christ) brings forth the fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is the fulfillment of the law. Jesus continued, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.^[4] I don’t think He meant that I couldn’t become a hypocrite, an actor playing at righteousness more or less skillfully. Jesus warned, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.^[5] But I can’t do the righteousness that fulfills the law apart from remaining in Jesus by remaining in his teaching.

Jesus continued teaching his disciples (John 15:6 NET):

If anyone does not remain (μένῃ, another form of μένω) in me, he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and are burned up.

He listed some impediments either to hearing in the beginning or to what was heard from the beginning remaining (Luke 8:11-15 NET):

Now the parable means this: The seed is the word of God (ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ). Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in a time of testing fall away (ἀφίστανται, a form of ἀφίστημι). As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked (συμπνίγονται, a form of συμπνίγω) by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling (κατέχουσιν, a form of κατέχω) to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

If you remain (μείνητε, another form of μένω) in me and my words remain (μείνῃ, another form of μένω) in you, Jesus continued, ask whatever you want, and it will be done (γενήσεται, a form of γίνομαι) for you. My Father is honored by this, that you bear much fruit and show that you are (γένησθε, another form of γίνομαι) my disciples.^[6] The words if and whatever are the same Greek word ἐὰν. I understand this request as related to, and bracketed by, bearing fruit. I’m unsure about translating ἐὰν whatever. In my case it led to unbelief while—ask [if] you want, and it will be done (or, become) for you—has led to some faith-confirming results. Jesus continued (John 15:9, 10 NET):

Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain (μείνατε, another form of μένω) in my love. If you obey (τηρήσητε, another form of τηρέω) my commandments, you will remain (μενεῖτε, another form of μένω) in my love, just as I have obeyed (τετήρηκα, another form of τηρέω) my Father’s commandments and remain (μένω) in his love.

This is how I understood this passage even when the Bible I read translated τηρήσητε keep and τετήρηκα kept. “Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments,” reads the sermon notes for John 15:9-17 on Sermon Writer online. Here, and other places like it, I turned from being led by the Holy Spirit, especially if my behavior was too embarrassing too often to confess any longer, to take charge of my own righteousness in my own strength.

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children,^[7] John continued. The note (1) in the NET reads:

The ἵνα (Jina) clause is best understood (1) as epexegetical (or explanatory), clarifying the love (ἀγάπην, agapen) that the Father has given to believers. Although it is possible (2) to regard the ἵνα as indicating result, the use of ποταπήν (potapen, “what sort of”) to modify ἀγάπην suggests that the idea of “love” will be qualified further in the following context, and this qualification is provided by the epexegetical ἵνα clause.

I think option (2) is the better understanding. The sort of love the Father has given to us is not the Father’s feeling for us, but a very practical gift: It is the love that is patient, the love that is kind, the love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.^[8] This love may be shared in. It is the fruit of his Spirit, the fulfillment of the law. This love may be remained in or may be left behind. If I leave God’s love behind to run ahead in my own strength God’s love has not and does not change. If I do not remain in his love I strive way too hard to become a highly-skilled hypocrite rather than receiving the love he has given us. He gave us this sort of love in order that we should be called God’s children. Paul concurred with John (Romans 5:5b; 7:6b; 8:3, 4, 14 NET):

…the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us…

…so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

“To remain in Jesus’ love,” the entry in SermonWriter reads, “suggests being immersed in Jesus’ love—surrounded by Jesus’ love—comforted by Jesus’ love—empowered by Jesus’ love. Imagine a swimming pool filled, not with water, but with Jesus’ love.” All analogies have their problems but this one isn’t too bad. Ordinarily one tries not to drown in a swimming pool. A pool of Jesus’ love is really only threatening to the old man (Ephesians 4:25-5:5; Colossians 3:12-17). The believer lives and breathes in its environs, in fact, only in its environs. This pool travels with the believer, but the believer can leave the pool. A believer leaving the pool of God’s love does not change God’s love at all. Leaving only changes the believer’s access to, and appreciation of, God’s love. Jesus’ and John’s point was, don’t get out of God’s love.

Here is John again (1 John 3:1-10 NET):

(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God’s children – and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure).

Everyone who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin also practices (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away (ἄρῃ, a form of αἴρω) sins, and in him there is no sin. Everyone who resides (μένων, another form of μένω) in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. The one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone who has been fathered (γεγεννημένος, another form of γεννάω) by God does not practice (ποιεῖ, another form of ποιέω) sin, because God’s seed resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered (γεγέννηται, a form of γεννάω) by God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) righteousness – the one who does not love his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός) – is not of God.

Now if I do what I do (ποιῶ, another form of ποιέω) not want, Paul wrote believers in Rome, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.^[9] It is better to greet John’s and Paul’s explanations with faith than with fear or mockery. But the Spirit of God relentlessly dragged me back when my default position was to “chuck this whole religion thing.” He was kind and patient when my default position became do-it-myself sanctification, when I said in so many words, “I can’t trust You with something as important as MY righteousness.” Jaco Gericke had a very different testimony. I rationalize this difference with Paul’s conclusion: So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.^[10] Others rationalize it as individual free will.

When I was young righteousness was a matter of good habits developed through willpower because Jesus had saved me. Now I can see this as a childish misunderstanding of potentially good teaching. But at the time I saw Jesus’ salvation only as a reason, why I should do righteousness, never as a cause, how I could do righteousness. My willpower proved to be unequal to the task. I am weak-willed vis-à-vis righteousness. So I tend to minimize the effect of my will and magnify the effect of God’s mercy. Now that I understand that Jesus’ salvation causes righteousness I have replaced willpower with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Of course, I still don’t recognize any habit in me toward the good apart from that daily infusion of his love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

On the other hand, I proved to be quite willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked regarding my sin. So I tend to see free will as more useful, or more conducive, to sinning. I don’t tend to argue the point because I can see how one who had more success than I did could regard willpower as helpful in the pursuit of righteousness. Still, I keep my mind open to the possibility that the preachers of free will may have taken more credit for that righteousness than they deserve.

Little children, John continued, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.^[11] As Jesus tried to teach me about the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,^[12] I got tripped up here quite often. I thought, especially if my performance was less than perfect when I had attempted to trust Him, that his teaching was not his teaching but me playing word games, loving with word (λόγῳ, a form of λόγος) or with tongue (γλώσσῃ, a form of γλῶσσα). “No, you really have to do it,” I heard many times from my elders if I tried to share what I thought I had been learning. How I ever thought that obeying rules in my own strength might become loving in deed (ἔργῳ, a form of ἔργον) and truth (ἀληθείᾳ, a form of ἀλήθεια), I can’t explain apart from being willful, stubborn, rebellious and stiff-necked. Now I assume that loving with word or with tongue corresponds to my hypocrisy, while loving in deed and truth corresponds to being led by his Holy Spirit.

John continued (1 John 3:19-24 NET):

And by this we will know that we are of the truth (ἀληθείας, another form of ἀλήθεια) and will convince our conscience in his presence, that if (ἐὰν) our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things. Dear friends, if (ἐὰν) our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, and whatever (ἐὰν; or if) we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him. Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment. And the person who keeps his commandments resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in God, and God in him. Now by this we know that God resides (μένει, another form of μένω) in us: by the Spirit he has given us.

I want to conclude this essay by addressing one of the statements in the entry in Sermon Writer directly:

The emphasis is love. Love begins with the Father and flows through the Son to the disciples (v. 9). It is contingent on obedience…Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments.

The demonstrably false statement—“Jesus promises to love the disciples if they obey his commandments”—mischaracterizes God’s love and remaining in his love. First, consider Jesus’ teaching on the nature of the Father’s love (Matthew 5:43-48 NET):

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they? So then, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus’ love for me is not equivalent to, or contingent upon, my remaining in his love. Jesus loves me because God is love and Jesus remains in his Father’s love. If and only if I remain in his love I will bear the fruit of his Spirit, the love which is the fulfillment of the law, and obey him thereby. It is not that his love, or even remaining in his love, is contingent upon some open-ended obedience of mine but that my obedience is contingent upon his love and my remaining in his love.

Here the misdirection of translating forms of τηρέω with forms of obey becomes evident. To keep Jesus’ commandments, not to lose or discard them, has much more in common with his words remaining in us than it does with any form of obey. Even as I write this I hear the quibble in my head: “But you have obeyed: you have remained in his love by clinging to his teaching.” I write this quibble off to the religious mind.

I acknowledged the religious mind as nothing more than the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh, but the term still serves a useful purpose for me. I expect the carnal mind or the outlook of the flesh to be focused directly on sin. The pretense of the religious mind is its focus on righteousness, albeit a righteousness of its own derived from the law with a keen desire to justify itself by law. Consider Jesus’ teaching on the subject (Luke 17:10 NET):

“So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.’”

As I’ve written before, we have this attitude not because we are in some wretched social condition but because our deeds have been done in (or, by) God^[13]…for the one bringing forth (ἐνεργῶν, a form of ἐνεργέω) in you both the desire (θέλειν, a form of θέλω) and the effort (ἐνεργεῖν, another form of ἐνεργέω) – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.^[14]

Back to Father, Forgive Them, Part 3

Back to To Make Holy, Part 5

Back to Atonement, Part 3

^[1] Revelation 16:15b (NET)

^[2] 1 John 3:24a (NET)

^[3] 1 John 5:1a (NET)

^[4] John 15:5b (NET)

^[5] Matthew 5:20 (NET)

^[6] John 15:7, 8 (NET) Table

^[7] 1 John 3:1a (NET)

^[8] 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NET)

^[9] Romans 7:20 (NET)

^[10] Romans 9:18 (NET)

^[11] 1 John 3:18 (NET)

^[12] Romans 3:22a (NET)

^[13] John 3:21b (NET)

^[14] Philippians 2:13 (NET)

Romans, Part 72

Posted on March 27, 2016 by admin

In this essay I continue to consider Contribute (κοινωνοῦντες, a form of κοινωνέω) to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality.^[1] But I’m looking at the dark side of contributing (or, sharing in), specifically (2 John 1:9-11 NET):

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, because the person who gives him a greeting shares (κοινωνεῖ, another form of κοινωνέω) in his evil deeds.

My religious mind hears evil deeds in English as some sin, preferably one to which it is not particularly prone—molesting young boys, for instance—and fixates on that as the meaning of evil deeds. In Greek, however—κοινωνεῖ τοῖς ἔργοις (a form of ἔργον) αὐτοῦ τοῖς πονηροῖς (a form of πονηρός)—is just as likely to mean “shares (or, contributes to) his works full of labours, annoyances, and hardships.” This is the more likely meaning, in fact, in reference to the New Testament ἐκκλησία. Religious people tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.^[2] Jesus said (Matthew 11:28-30 NET):

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (ἀναπαύσω, a form of ἀναπαύω). Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (ἀνάπαυσιν, a form of ἀνάπαυσις) for your souls (ψυχαῖς, a form of ψυχή). For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.

As I continue to distinguish the teaching of Christ from that of religious people I consider Love the Lord your God…with all your soul^[3] (ψυχῆς, another form of ψυχή). After Jesus’ Father revealed (Matthew 16:16, 17 NET) to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, and after Jesus instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ^[4] (Matthew 16:21-27 NET):

From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) for my sake will find it. For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή)? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life (ψυχῆς, another form of ψυχή)? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Granted, there is a lot packed into this passage. First to love y^ehôvâh with all your soul (or, life), is to become a follower of Jesus, y^ehôvâh incarnate, made human flesh as a man. If anyone wants to become my follower, Jesus said, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. I’ll consider deny himself as it is demonstrated here. It was revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. Peter thought he knew who the Messiah was and what He had come to do.

When the Messiah said that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, Peter said, This must not happen to you. I assume that Peter didn’t even hear the part about being raised on the third day or his response would have revealed a different confusion. All Peter heard was that the Messiah he and his people longed for would suffer at the hands of his religious leaders and be killed.

When Jesus called Peter Satan, He did not mean that Satan is the true representative of man’s interests. He meant that Peter’s words appealed to that fleshly part of Jesus’ own humanity as Satan had tried to do in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12, 13, Luke 4:1-13 NET). Peter accepted Jesus’ rebuke, picked himself up and followed all the way to what he perceived was a last stand (John 11:7-16 NET; cf verse 16) in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:10, 11, Matthew 26:51-54, Mark 14:47, Luke 22:49-51 NET), without ever fully understanding what Jesus’ meant until after the resurrection.

Like Peter, I thought I knew what Jesus’ final statement meant: For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm, Paul warned Timothy. The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds. You be on guard against him too, because he vehemently opposed our words.^[5]

The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds, is an allusion to Psalm 28:4 according to a note (19) in the NET. A comparison of the Greek texts follows.

Paul (NET)	Parallel Greek	David (NETS)	Septuagint
Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm. 2 Timothy 4:14a	Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ χαλκεὺς πολλά μοι κακὰ ἐνεδείξατο 2 Timothy 4:14a
The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds. 2 Timothy 4:14b	ἀποδώσει αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ 2 Timothy 4:14b	Give them according to their works, Psalm 28:4a	δὸς αὐτοῖς κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν Psalm 28:4a
		and according to the wickedness of their practices; Psalm 28:4b	καὶ κατὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων^[6] αὐτῶν Psalm 28:4b
		according to the works of their hands give them; Psalm 28:4c	κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν δὸς αὐτοῖς Psalm 28:4c
		render them their due reward. Psalm 28:4d	ἀπόδος τὸ ἀνταπόδομα αὐτῶν αὐτοῖς Psalm 28:4d

“He’s making a list / And checking it twice / Gonna find out Who’s naughty and nice…He sees you when you’re sleeping / He knows when you’re awake / He knows if you’ve been bad or good / So be good for goodness sake!”^[7] No, my parents never tricked me into believing in Santa Claus. They didn’t even trick me into believing that Jesus was born on December 25^th. Christmas was the arbitrary season the Church chose to celebrate Jesus’ birth. I made this connection to being repaid in keeping with my deeds, thinking, I suppose, that parents made Santa Claus in Jesus’ image. But children were never good for goodness’ sake. They wanted presents, rewards, rather than a lump of coal.

This was essentially my understanding of good works. They had nothing to do with salvation except that I should want to do them because Jesus did a “good work” for me, dying for my sins. Good works were done primarily for rewards. No one knew what these rewards might be but no one wanted to be left out when everyone else was receiving rewards for their good works. As I got older, good works merited good things happening to or for me here and now, while bad works merited the opposite, karma, in a word. Fear is the key motivation, whether fear of social embarrassment or literal harm.

And again Paul wrote, But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! He will reward each one according to his works.^[8] According to a note (16) in the NET this is a quotation from Psalm 62:12 and Proverbs 24:12. The Greek texts are compared below.

Paul (NET)

Parallel Greek

David (NETS)

Septuagint

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

Romans 2:5

κατὰ δὲ τὴν σκληρότητα σου καὶ ἀμετανόητον καρδίαν θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ θεοῦ

Romans 2:5

And to you, O Lord, belongs mercy,

Psalm 62:12a

ὅτι τὸ κράτος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ σοί κύριε τὸ ἔλεος

Psalm 62:12a

He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6

ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Romans 2:6

because you will repay to each according to his works.

Psalm 62:12b

ὅτι σὺ ἀποδώσεις ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Psalm 62:12b

Mercy above is ἔλεος in the Septuagint. Later in the same letter to the Romans Paul recalled the long name (Exodus 33:19 NET) of y^ehôvâh: I will have mercy (ἐλεήσω, a form of ἐλεέω) on whom I have mercy (ἐλεῶ, another form of ἐλεέω), and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy (ἐλεῶντος, another form of ἐλεέω).^[9] For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy (ἐλεήσῃ, another form of ἐλεέω) to them all.^[10] “Go and learn what this saying means,” Jesus said to religious people, “‘I want mercy (ἔλεος) and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^[11] And, “If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy (ἔλεος) and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”^[12]

Paul (NET)

Parallel Greek

Solomon (NETS)

Septuagint

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

Romans 2:5

If you say: “I do not know this person,” be aware that the Lord is familiar with the heart of everyone, and he who formed breath for all, he knows everything,

Proverbs 24:12a [Table]

ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃς οὐκ οἶδα τοῦτον γίνωσκε ὅτι κύριος καρδίας πάντων γινώσκει καὶ ὁ πλάσας πνοὴν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς οἶδεν πάντα

Proverbs 24:12a

He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6

ὃς ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Romans 2:6

he who will render to each according to his deeds.

Proverbs 24:12b [Table]

ὃς ἀποδίδωσιν ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ

Proverbs 24:12b

Here, though the familiar fear-of-the-Lord usage is evident, Solomon’s purpose was that His son Rehoboam as a prince and eventually king of Israel would, “Rescue them who are led to death, and buy back those who are to be slaughtered; do not delay!”^[13] In each of these verses the Greek phrase translated according to his deeds (or, works) is κατὰ τὰ ἔργα (a form of ἔργον) αὐτοῦ (according to their works is κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν). But Jesus made a minor change when speaking this way to his disciples, to those who followed Him, who loved y^ehôvâh with all their soul or life: ἀποδώσει ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὴν πρᾶξιν (a form of πρᾶξις) αὐτοῦ. Jesus’ followers will be rewarded according to their practice as opposed to their works.

Do they live by the Spirit (πνεύματι περιπατεῖτε)? Are they led by the Spirit (πνεύματι ἄγεσθε) or by the flesh? Their works of the flesh (τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός) as isolated incidents are already forgiven, condemned in the flesh. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.^[14] Of course, if they practice the works of the flesh they were never Jesus’ followers to begin with: Those who practice (πράσσοντες, a form of πράσσω) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!^[15]

The hope for Jesus’ followers is the Sabbath rest…for the people of God: For the one who enters God’s rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις) has also rested (κατέπαυσεν, a form of καταπαύω) from his works (ἔργων, another form of ἔργον), just as God did from his own works. Thus we must make every effort (Σπουδάσωμεν, a form of σπουδάζω) to enter that rest (κατάπαυσιν, a form of κατάπαυσις), so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience (ἀπειθείας, a form of ἀπείθεια).^[16] But the one who practices (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) the truth, Jesus said of his followers, comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds (ἔργα, a form of ἔργον) have been done in [or, by] God^[17] (ὅτι ἐν θεῷ ἐστιν εἰργασμένα [a form of ἐργάζομαι]).

Finally, Jesus felt no need to motivate his followers with fear. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love. We love because he loved us first.^[18] Do not leave Jerusalem, He told them after his resurrection, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.^[19] And the fruit of the Spirit is love (ἀγάπη), joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.^[20]

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets, Jesus cautioned. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, a form of πληρόω) them.^[21] Love (ἀγάπη) does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love (ἀγάπη) is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα) of the law.^[22] And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me, Jesus said. Whoever finds his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (ψυχὴν, another form of ψυχή) because of me will find it.^[23]

For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter offered, no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur.^[24] But in the light of these details even those who reject the Gospel as cleverly concocted fables need to pause to appreciate just how cleverly concocted the details are. Maybe it’s not the devil in the details.

I began this essay with an oblique reference to pedophile priests. My point is simply this: I don’t believe that Catholic priests who molested children were trusting in their deaths to sin (Romans 6:3-14 NET) through faith in Jesus’ crucifixion as they molested those children. They weren’t believing their resurrection to new life (Romans 7:4-6 NET) through Jesus’ resurrection. They weren’t walking or living by his Spirit (Romans 8:1-11 NET), depending on his daily infusion of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:13-6:5 NET). I believe they relied on their own abilities as Catholic priests to live up to centuries of Catholic rules governing the behavior of Catholic priests. That is molestation (or an eruption of any other sin) looking for a time and a place to happen, because it is the practice which plays to sin’s strength: the power of sin is the law.^[25]

Romans, Part 73

^[1] Romans 12:13 (NET)

^[2] Matthew 23:4 (NET)

^[3] Mark 12:30a (NET)

^[4] Matthew 16:20 (NET)

^[5] 2 Timothy 4:14, 15 (NET)

^[6] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=e)pithdeuma%2Ftwn&la=greek&prior=tw=n

^[7] http://www.41051.com/xmaslyrics/santatown.html

^[8] Romans 2:5, 6 (NET)

^[9] Romans 9:15, 16 (NET)

^[10] Romans 11:32 (NET)

^[11] Matthew 9:13 (NET)

^[12] Matthew 12:7 (NET)

^[13] Proverbs 24:11 (NETS)

^[14] Romans 7:20 (NET)

^[15] Galatians 5:21b (NET)

^[16] Hebrews 4:10, 11 (NET)

^[17] John 3:21 (NET)

^[18] 1 John 4:18, 19 (NET)

^[19] Acts 1:4, 5 (NET)

^[20] Galatians 5:22-24 (NET)

^[21] Matthew 5:17 (NET)

^[22] Romans 13:10 (NET)

^[23] Matthew 10:38, 39 (NET)

^[24] 2 Peter 1:16 (NET)

^[25] 1 Corinthians 15:56b (NET)

My Reasons and My Reason, Part 3

Posted on March 19, 2014 by admin

“I was really hoping that I could, um, move back in here for a while,” Linda probed her mother.

“Here?” her mother asked.

“Yeah.”

“No, you know that’s not possible.”

“Why not?” Linda asked.

“How would it look for a married woman to move in with her parents apart from her husband?”

“He hits me, Ma.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” her mother sighed. “What did you do?”

“What do you mean, what’d I do?”

“What did you do to make him angry? He didn’t just hit you out of the blue.”

Linda fought off her instinctive reaction to her mother’s judgment as she searched for a diplomatic answer to keep the conversation going. “I guess I didn’t do what he wanted me to,” she said finally.

“You took a vow, a very serious vow.”

“Can’t I just stay, like, a few days, Ma, please?”

“And then what? You gonna get a divorce? What do you think we are, Protestant?”

“Ma, you just don’t understand.”

“Linda, I was…I was 18 years old when I had your sister. Unmarried…and all alone…before I met your father. I’d suffered long and hard. How dare you come here and tell me I don’t understand. I understand. Now, God gave you a husband…who provides for you. And you…Look at me. Go home to Chuck. Be a good wife. Listen to him, and obey him.”

Linda’s mother thought she was sending her daughter home to be a particular kind of submissive masochist,^[1] Mrs. Chuck Traynor (or a “normal” woman, accepting his “implicit” right to hit her as she learned to “submit to his stronger will,” all while she took no pleasure in it whatsoever). She assumed that Chuck was, what I am calling, a dominant masochist (fig. 4), someone with Linda’s best interests at heart.

fig. 4

She knew what a handful Linda could be. She had no way of knowing that Chuck was much closer to a sadistic top than a dominant masochist. And she certainly had no way to know that she was sending her daughter out to become Linda Lovelace of “Deep Throat” fame.

This scene from “Lovelace,”^[2] affected me deeply. Linda’s mother, written by Andy Bellin and played compassionately by Sharon Stone, is compellingly authentic. Though her how-would-it-look line sounds crassly self-serving today, it was the effective meaning of one of the “laws of Paul” in the seventies: Abstain from all appearance of evil.^[3] Her refusal even to “appear” to support divorce by allowing her daughter to return struck home. We didn’t drink, dance or smoke to prove how much better we were than Catholics. At least that’s what I learned, which is not the same as saying that is what I was taught. (It should be obvious by now that I learned many things I wasn’t necessarily taught.)

Linda, played by Amanda Seyfried, was lying to her mother. Her line, “He hits me, Ma,” though objectively true wasn’t the reason she showed up at her mother’s door. But I understand completely why she didn’t say, “He pimps me out for money, Ma,” to the woman who became so righteously indignant when the tie-strap of Linda’s swim top was undone to avoid tan lines. And I honestly don’t know how her mother would have responded if Linda had told her the truth.

I didn’t see this film because I was interested in Linda Lovelace, but because Amanda Seyfried chose to play her. (And now I’ll have to pay more attention to Sharon Stone.) I’ll follow any actor who gives me aesthetic moments like the mother-daughter confrontation in “Mamma Mia,” especially one who can go toe-to-toe with Meryl Streep. Sophie, the daughter played by Ms. Seyfried, was troubled about the mess she had made inviting three possible fathers to her wedding. Her mother, played by Ms. Streep, thought (hoped) she didn’t want to marry. Poor Linda Lovelace thought “Deep Throat” might be her stepping stone to becoming Amanda Seyfried (or, Meryl Streep).

I’ve never seen “Deep Throat” or anything else Linda Lovelace has done. Clips I’ve seen in documentaries, and now recreations in “Lovelace,” don’t recommend the film to me. I’ve never read her book Ordeal.^[4] I do recall sneering and scoffing when I heard about it. The mother-daughter scene in “Lovelace” made me question, why? The only answer I came up with is that I had seen pictures of Ms. Lovelace smiling. I supposed she took some pleasure in sex and public attention. Thinking and writing about my own masochism I had to repent of that sneering and scoffing.

Part of me (perhaps the submissive masochistic part) would like to tell a different story, a story about an innocent boy who rescued a stash of porn from a dumpster, hid it in the woods, read it, returned again and again to look at its pictures, and became corrupted. That’s a story I could sell to my fundamentalist Christian friends. And it’s based, at least, on a true story. It’s just not mine. It was another boy’s story when he brought that stash of porn to me and asked me to keep it away from him. He lived next door while I worked on “The Tripartite Rationality Index.”^[5]

It was summer. I had no air conditioning, not even a fan. I stayed up late until the apartment cooled down enough that I could sleep. This boy came over and sat with me at night while his mother was out, or even if she was occupied at home. She wasn’t exactly a prostitute. She got all dressed up, went out to a bar or club, picked up a man, brought him home and lived with him as long as he paid the bills. “You should marry her,” the boy said to me more than once. “She’s pretty.” She was pretty, especially when she went out to hunt. I didn’t marry her. I only talked to her once, long enough to convince her I wasn’t a child molester.

I didn’t have access to porn as a child; I was quarantined. I use that word because of a story my mother told me recently on a different topic. After I was born she spent many lonely days in the hospital at Christmastime. She heard about another woman whose baby was born in the car on the way to the hospital. She asked a nurse if she could visit that woman and see her baby. The nurse told her that neither was in the general hospital population, having given birth (and being born) in such unsanitary conditions. Though it seemed harsh to my mother at the time, it became her rationale for hell, God “quarantining” the righteous from the evil.

My mother was twenty-two-years-old. She had just given birth to her first child. And this was the authoritative word of medical science. Suddenly my childhood made sense to me. I was quarantined, not to keep me in hell, but to protect her “innocent” baby from the evil world. It was 1953; discrimination was still a matter of good taste. The problem was, the porn was already in me. And I am truly sorry that I infected the pristine female world she constructed for me with my dirty male mind and desires. (I know a Freudian would have a field day with that, but I’m being as sincere as I know how to be.)

My mother, however, was not alone in her germ theory of sin, sin as an infection from without. “I feel dead inside, no, something worse than death,” reads an excerpt from nineteen-year-old Hannah’s diary, the main character in the film October Baby. “I am still a child, a child trying to find a place in this world. I have so many unanswered questions, questions I feel but can’t even begin to speak because there are no words to express them. Something is missing. Why, God, do I feel unwanted? Why do I feel I have no right to exist? Why do I spend more time wanting to end my life than live it?”

Knowing that this was a Christian film, a pretty girl who didn’t have a boyfriend, take drugs or drink or smoke and yet felt as Hannah did, seemed to recall Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 3:10-18 NET):

There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one. Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

“Hannah, I believe that what you’re feeling is normal and is even expected,” wasn’t counsel from her Baptist minister, but from her doctor. For it was not sin that caused her to feel as if the sentence of death had been passed against^[6] her, rather it was a quasi-mystical intuition that she was a failed abortion, the truth her parents had hidden from her. They hadn’t even told her she was adopted. Once I got over that hump, it was an okay movie about a young woman dealing with an extraordinarily painful reality. And Rachel Hendrix as Hannah is a delight to watch. When the filmmaker’s finished the pro-life-message-film their financial backers paid for, Hannah, back where she started, visited a Catholic priest.

“I can’t figure out how to let go of the fact that I feel hatred for myself and others,” she told him. Another secret she had learned along the way was that she was a twin. Her elder brother was more damaged in the botched abortion and died three months after their birth. “And I feel guilty,” Hannah continued her confession. “Part of me feels like he should be alive and I shouldn’t. I wonder if he would have been a better person than me, what he would have been like. I just hate myself for feeling this way.”

So Hannah came very close to actually confessing the sin in her flesh.^[7] The priest told her about Jesus’ forgiveness, and her ability through Him to forgive others. And I should probably remember that a Christian film is intended for Christians as an audience. I’ve already written that most Christians I know don’t see themselves as “great sinners who were forgiven much and were called by God to forgive lesser sinners than themselves.”^[8] And who am I to see things so differently? For who concedes [me] any superiority? What do [I] have that [I] did not receive?^[9]

In the previous essay I quoted, “If O is willing to sustain her devotion all the way through to her own destruction, so be it. She wants to be ‘possessed, utterly possessed, to the point of death,’ to the point that her body and mind are no longer her responsibility.”^[10] To my religious mind this would have sounded (and sounds) absurd. I kept my own masochism from my first wife as a shameful secret as I resolved to follow God as Moses instructed Israel (Deuteronomy 30:15-19 NET).

Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live!

Preoccupied with my attempt to obey him in my own strength, I didn’t hear, I also call on you to love the Lord your God…and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually…^[11] So I did not love the Lord my God, walk in his ways, or obey his commandments, statutes and ordinances. And my first wife divorced me for my religion. “I don’t want to read the Bible,” she exclaimed. “Everyone who reads the Bible turns out like you!” That’s when I began to feel as if the sentence of death had been passed against^[12] me. And that’s when I began to hear, and perhaps began to choose, death instead.

For if we are out of our minds, Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised.^[13]

I began to perceive in Scripture a diminished responsibility for righteousness for one led by the Spirit: For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not?^[14] I have been crucified with Christ, Paul wrote the Galatians, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.^[15]

I sat silently in an adult Sunday school class as a woman was reprimanded for quoting this verse, because she hadn’t earned the right to say it by her own works of righteousness as Paul had done. And I was the one who had whispered it in her ear the night before as a possible path of righteousness. I never expected her to shout it from the rooftops in Sunday school!

But Paul wrote, I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!^[16] Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life.^[17] How may we live a new life? …through the glory of the Father…just as Christ was raised from the dead.

I began, tentatively at first, to perceive a diminished responsibility for sin for those led by the Spirit: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.^[18] But my religious mind (and not mine only) thinks this is a cop out. It confuses confessing sins with taking responsibility for them, though it knows full well that if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies.^[19]

“‘What does a Christian seek,’” Carmela Ciuraru quoted the author of Histoire d’O in her article ‘The Story of the Story of O,’ “‘but to lose himself in God,’ Aury, a devout atheist, once said. ‘To be killed by someone you love strikes me as the epitome of ecstasy.’”^[20] While it is still somewhat difficult for me to grasp exactly what Dominique Aury meant, I agree that to be killed by, or through, Someone I love and yet live by and through Him is the epitome of ecstasy.

I know these things because I have received them from his Spirit. But it is impossible for me to determine or to gainsay how much I feel these things through my masochism. And if my masochism is the wrath of God revealed from heaven, that is truly amazing, that the wrath of God…revealed from heaven against all [my] ungodliness and unrighteousness^[21] is also an aid in my enlightenment to, and salvation from, that very ungodliness and unrighteousness.

So, do I whip myself into a euphoric state of submission to obey God?

It’s a fair question, given what I’ve written. The primary meaning of the Greek word translated subdue is “to beat black and blue, to smite so as to cause bruises and livid spots” in Paul’s confession: Instead I subdue (ὑπωπιάζω)^[22] my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.^[23] Frankly, I have no idea if I should take this literally, nor do I care. Paul also wrote (Colossians 2:20-23 NET):

If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit (δογματίζεσθε, a form of δογματίζω)^[24] to them as though you lived in the world? “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.

I have pondered this question idly from time to time: if Paul engaged in self-flagellation as a spiritual exercise before he wrote to the Romans and the Colossians, did he continue it as a fleshly indulgence after realizing it had no true value spiritually? But I don’t know the answer to either component of that question, or even how to know how to search out an answer. I suppose I could consider it the thorn in Paul’s flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7b NET):

Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me – so that I would not become arrogant.

My elderly Pastor thought that thorn was failing eye sight, my Catholic friend thinks it was masturbation and Bishop Spong ^[25] thinks it was latent homosexuality. I feel a little ridiculous pronouncing it self-flagellation, though I’m intrigued by the possibilities for self-acceptance the Holy Spirit created by being non-specific here (e.g., Paul could have said precisely what he meant). I’ll probably wait and ask Paul.

But no, I don’t whip myself into a euphoric state of submission to obey God. I believe (I believe; help my unbelief!^[26]) the death He has given me in Christ Jesus and the fruit of his Spirit. I have whipped myself at times as a lonely fleshly indulgence.

My Reasons and My Reason, Part 4

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 9

^[1] http://www.herwoodshed.com/library/where.html

^[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovelace_(film)

^[3] 1 Thessalonians 5:22 (KJV) It might still be what Paul meant. Though the NET translation is—Stay away from every form (εἴδους, a form of εἶδος) of evil—the Greek word εἴδους was also used in 2 Corinthians 5:6, 7 (NET): Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord – for we live by faith, not by sight (εἴδους).

^[4] http://www.amazon.com/Ordeal-Linda-Lovelace/dp/0806527749

^[5] https://religiousmind.net/2012/07/27/davids-forgiveness-part-2/

^[6] 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NET)

^[7] Romans 7:18 (NET)

^[8] https://religiousmind.net/2014/01/03/torture-part-2/

^[9] 1 Corinthians 4:7a (NET)

^[10] “The Story of the Story of O,” Carmela Ciuraru, Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics

^[11] Deuteronomy 30:20 (NET)

^[12] 2 Corinthians 1:9 (NET)

^[13] 2 Corinthians 5:13-15 (NET)

^[14] 1 Corinthians 4:7 (NET)

^[15] Galatians 2:20 (NET)

^[16] Galatians 2:21 (NET)

^[17] Romans 6:3, 4 (NET)

^[18] Romans 7:20 (NET)

^[19] Hebrews 10:26, 27 (NET)

^[20] “The Story of the Story of O,” Carmela Ciuraru, Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics http://www.guernicamag.com/features/ciuraru_6_15_11/

^[21] Romans 1:18 (NET)

^[23] 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NET)

^[25] http://www.gayheroes.com/paul.htm

^[26] Mark 9:24 (NET)

The Life

Posted on November 15, 2012 by admin

In Romans, Part 31 I related Paul’s statement—if you live according to the flesh, you will die^[1]—to Jesus’ saying to Martha—The one who believes in me will live even if he dies.^[2] This connection was new to me, so I thought it deserved a little more study. In the past I would have related Jesus’ saying to Martha (John 11:25, 26 NET) to the mystery Paul expounded (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NET):

Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

In that case, those who sleep are like The one who believes in [Jesus] and lives even if he dies. That may not be wrong. But what got my attention was that Martha already believed in the resurrection. I know that he will come back to life again in the resurrection (ἀναστάσει, a form of ἀνάστασις)^[3] at the last day,^[4] she said. It was to that belief that Jesus responded, I am the resurrection (ἀνάστασις) and the life (ζωή).^[5] Suddenly I saw those verses as follows:

Jesus said to her, “I am…
…the resurrection (ἀνάστασις)…	…and the life (ζωή).
The one who believes in me will live (ζήσεται, a form of ζάω)^[6] even if he dies…	…and the one who lives (ζῶν, another form of ζάω) and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?” John 11:25, 26 (NET)

Where I could believe both statements was in Romans 8:13 (NET) once I accepted that die meant death and not eternal damnation:

Jesus said to her, “I am…
…the resurrection (ἀνάστασις)…	…and the life (ζωή).
The one who believes in me will live (ζήσεται, a form of ζάω) even if he dies…	…and the one who lives (ζῶν, another form of ζάω) and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?” John 11:25, 26 (NET)
…if you live (ζῆτε, another form of ζάω) according to the flesh, you will die…	…but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live (ζήσεσθε, another form of ζάω). Romans 8:13 (NET)

The noun ζωή was used forty-seven times in the New Testament to name the new life believers find in Christ both here and now, and in the future. It was used forty-four times with αἰώνιος^[7] and translated eternal or everlasting life. Jesus spoke of a time when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection (ἀνάστασιν, another form of ἀνάστασις) resulting in life (ζωῆς, another form of ζωή), and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection (ἀνάστασιν, another form of ἀνάστασις) resulting in condemnation (κρίσεως, a form of κρίσις; literally, judgment).^[8] Twice Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life. Peter called Him the Prince of life (Originator of life, NET). I found five occurrences that seem to refer exclusively to the resurrected life of Jesus, and six others that seem to refer exclusively to the resurrected life of people as opposed to new life here and now. It was used twice as Spirit of life, eight times as book of life, three times each as tree of life and water of life. It was used twice of Melchizedek, which I called Immortal Life. I found only eight occurrences of ζωή in the New Testament that seemed to refer to ordinary human life or mere vitality. My list follows:

Life (now and future)	Matthew 7:14; 18:8, 9; 19:17; Mark 9:43, 45; John 1:4 X 2; 3:36; 5:24, 26 X 2, 40; 6:33, 51, 53, 63; 8:12; 10:10; 11:25;^[9] 14:6; 20:31; Acts 2:28;^[10] 5:20; 11:18; Romans 5:17, 18; 6:4; 7:10; 8:6; 1 Corinthians 3:22; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 4:12; Philippians 2:16; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:1, 10; 1 Peter 3:7, 10; 2 Peter 1:3; 1 John 1:1,^[11] 2; 3:14; 5:11, 12 x 2, 16	47
Eternal Life	Matthew 19:16, 29; 25:46; Mark 10:7, 30; Luke 10:25; 18:18, 30; John 3:15, 16, 36; 4:14, 36; 5:24, 39; 6:27, 40, 47, 54, 68; 10:28; 12:25, 50;^[12] 17:2, 3; Acts 13:46, 48; Romans 2:7; 5:21; 6:22, 23; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 1:16; 6:12, 19; Titus 1:2; 3:7; 1 John 1:2; 2:25; 3:15; 5:11, 13, 20; Jude 1:21	44
Human Life	Luke 12:15; 16:25; Acts 8:33;^[13] 17:25; Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:19; Philippians 1:20; James 4:14	8
Resurrection^[14] of Life	John 5:29	1
Bread^[15] of Life	John 6:35, 48	2
Prince^[16] of Life	Acts 3:15	1
Resurrected Life of Jesus	Romans 5:10; 8:10; 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11; Ephesians 4:18	5
Spirit^[17] of Life	Romans 8:2, Revelation 11:11	2
Exclusively Resurrected Life	Romans 11:15; 2 Corinthians 2:16; 5:4; Colossians 3:3; James 1:2, Revelation 2:10	6
Book^[18] of Life	Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27; 22:19	8
Immortal Life	Hebrews 7:3, 16 (Melchizedek)	2
Tree^[19] of Life	Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14	3
Water^[20] of Life	Revelation 21:16; 22:1, 17	3

I went to this trouble because in the definition of ψυχή in Strong’s Concordance (the next word I want to consider) ζωή is described as “mere vitality.” That may be true of ζωή in Greek generally. I don’t know. It is clearly not true of ζωή as used in the New Testament, except perhaps eight times. It may be generally true of the verb ζάω even in the New Testament. I didn’t check that closely. I am suggesting that ζήσεται (another form of ζάω) in The one who believes in me will live even if he dies^[21] means the resurrected life that Martha believed in and Jesus claimed to be. And I am also suggesting that ζῶν (another form of ζάω) in the one who lives and believes in me will never die^[22] means the new life that Jesus claimed to be and Paul described as being led by the Spirit of God.^[23]

I had the most difficulty with 1 John 5:16 (NET), whether John meant mere vitality or not: If anyone sees his fellow Christian (ἀδελφὸν, a form of ἀδελφός)^[24] committing a sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος),^[25] he should ask, and God will grant (δώσει, a form of δίδωμι)^[26] life (ζωήν, another form of ζωή) to the person who commits a sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος). There is a sin resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος). I do not say that he should ask about that.

In the movie “Meet Joe Black” Anthony Hopkins’ character Bill Parrish instinctively restrained Brad Pitt’s character Death from stepping off the curb into traffic. It is an ironic and humorous moment since the body Death took was killed in traffic, standing in the middle of the street longing for another glimpse of Bill’s daughter Susan, and because Death had just bragged about how much beyond Bill’s comprehension the work of Death was. But it also displayed Bill’s character, instinctively protecting the life of his nemesis simply because he appeared in form as another human being. I assume however that John was not talking about stepping off the curb in front of an oncoming bus as a sin resulting in death.

When the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons,^[27] Jesus replied (Matthew 12:25-29a NET):

Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. So if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you. How else can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man?

Then Jesus warned, people will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι)^[28] for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι). Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι). But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (ἀφεθήσεται, a form of ἀφίημι) [Table], either in this age or in the age to come.^[29] This, I think, is what John meant by a sin resulting in death. John continued (1 John 5:17, 18 NET):

All unrighteousness is sin, but there is sin not resulting in death (θάνατον, a form of θάνατος). We know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects (τηρεῖ, a form of τηρέω)^[30] the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him [Table].

I am connecting this to the verse which precedes it. The new life, that life fathered by God that does not sin—Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me^[31]—because God protects that life and the evil one cannot touch him, is the true need of the fellow Christian committing a sin not resulting in death. That life, this grace in which we stand,^[32] fueled by the credited righteousness of God,^[33] the fruit of his Spirit,^[34] is far more important than my censure, my rebuke, even my restoration in a spirit of gentleness.^[35] And it is this life that we ask for ourselves and for all who call upon our Father whenever we pray (Matthew 6:9-13 NET):

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread [i.e., of life], and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Twilight of the Idols

Back to The Soul

Back to Romans, Part 33

^[1] Romans 8:13a (NET)

^[2] John 11:25b (NET)

^[4] John 11:24 (NET)

^[5] John 11:25a (NET)

^[8] John 5:28, 29 (NET)

^[9] Distinguished here from the resurrection (of life).

^[10] Quote from Psalm 16:8-11 (NET)

^[11] τοῦ λόγου τῆς ζωῆς might be a poetic reference to Jesus Himself, though I am reading it in context as the life message.

^[12] Eternal Life is the Father’s commandment.

^[13] Quote from Isaiah 53:7, 8 (NET)

^[21] John 11:25b (NET)

^[22] John 11:26a (NET)

^[23] Romans 8:14 (NET)

^[27] Matthew 12:24 (NET)

^[29] Matthew 12:31, 32 (NET)

^[31] Romans 7:20 (NET)

^[32] Romans 5:2 (NET)

^[33] Romans 4 (NET)

^[34] Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)

^[35] Galatians 6:1 (NET)

Romans, Part 30

Posted on October 30, 2012 by admin

So then, brothers and sisters, Paul continued, we are under obligation (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης),^[1] not to the flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ),^[2] to live according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σάρξ)…^[3] The word translated obligation above is also found in Matthew’s version of the Lord’s prayer, and forgive us our debts (ὀφειλήματα, a form of ὀφείλημα),^[4] as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors (ὀφειλέταις, another form of ὀφειλέτης).^[5] This is a powerful concept, but first I want to focus on what the flesh is not.

The flesh as Paul used it is not the body. Be careful, he warned, not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.^[6] If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα)^[7] – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly (σαρκός, another form of σάρξ) indulgence (πλησμονὴν, a form of πλησμονή).^[8]

In other words, “I self-flagellate three times a day and only eat bread and water,” is the same pride and religious thinking that got us into this mess in the first place. It is the religious impulse of the flesh of Adam.

The flesh is not sexual desire. A husband should give to his wife her sexual rights (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή),^[9] and likewise a wife to her husband. It is not the wife who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω)^[10] to her own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights (ἐξουσιάζει, a form of ἐξουσιάζω) to his own body (σώματος, a form of σῶμα), but the wife. Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.^[11] While the believer in Christ is not obligated (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης) or a debtor to the flesh, husband and wife are indebted (ὀφειλὴν, a form of ὀφειλή) to each other sexually.

Interestingly, neither the wife nor the husband possesses the ἐξουσιάζει (a form of ἐξουσιάζω; authority, power) over her or his own body. That belongs to the spouse. This is the same authority that Gentile kings lorded over their subjects as Jesus told his disciples, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority (ἐξουσιάζοντες, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) over them are called ‘benefactors.’ Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves.”^[12] It is the same control Paul would not allow anything to have over him: “All things are lawful for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me” – but I will not be controlled (ἐξουσιασθήσομαι, another form of ἐξουσιάζω) by anything.^[13] I think I’ll go the long way around and circle back to this.

While sex (and sexual desire) in and of itself is not the flesh, if I set my sights on another’s wife (or a prostitute) that is the flesh. (Or do you not know that anyone who is united [κολλώμενος, a form of κολλάω]^[14] with a prostitute [πόρνῃ, a form of πόρνη]^[15] is one body with her?^[16]) Here is where the power I spoke of earlier comes into play. If I believe that I delight in the law of God in my inner being,^[17] then the desire for another’s wife or a prostitute, which is clearly contrary to God’s law, is not my desire: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.^[18] It is like a distant early warning system, sounding the alarm which I is asserting control.

This distinction may not be so obvious for the young, the virginal, or the single. I should know. I’ve spent most of my adult life single. But I want to address that in a separate essay.

Now not everyone lumps the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together as one thing. But I have read a lot of Nietzsche, and out of deference, I suppose, for the help he has been to me I try to keep what he would call “imaginary causes and effects”^[19] to a minimum. I can posit all of this sin and rebellious desire in an old man born of Adam (as well as the credited righteousness of God and the fruit of his Spirit in a new creation born from above in the image of Christ) without feeling that any of this is my imagination. And the quantum leap (there is no time or space between energy quanta) between the old and new I describes my experience with chilling accuracy, especially in outbursts of anger.^[20]

Even as I rant I wonder, “Who are you?” For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want – instead, I do what I hate.^[21] That’s how my father used to act! And there have been times when that brought me back from the brink. (But there have also been times when that did not bring me back from the brink and I reveled in the sensual pleasure of rage.)

The main theological objection to lumping the old man, flesh, sin personified, desire of the flesh and so on together is that our old man was crucified with^[22] Jesus. It is therefore dead (and presumably gone). I take the death of Adam as my key here. God said, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.^[23] Something died in Adam when he became knowledgeable of evil.

I heard you moving about in the orchard, Adam said to God, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid,^[24] yet Adam had been naked all along. The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed,^[25] not with God, not with each other, and not with the animals. In a similar sense something has died in me, too. The old man no longer has my absolute unquestioned allegiance as me. And that is all Paul said, We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.^[26] The entire lifetime of Adam was 930 years, and then he died.^[27] And in a similar way I await that ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh,^[28] the death of this body.

I promised I would circle back via the long way. Why would Paul counsel Corinthian husbands and wives to treat each other sexually in ways that Jesus did not want his disciples to treat each other at all, and under a control that Paul himself would not allow anything to have over him? So, here goes.

If the flesh got the wild idea to seek out a prostitute I wouldn’t know where to begin to look for one. Add to that, I know me. If I had sex with a pretty young prostitute I would fall in love with a pretty young prostitute. About a decade after my first divorce it took several days for me to get the pretty nurse who administered a barium enema out of my mind. I can be a silly old fool, no doubt about it. But chasing a pretty young prostitute, saying, “I love you, I love you, let me take you away from all of this,” is a sillier old fool than I can be. I live in the Midwest. I am working class all the way. I grew up in a fundamentalist church. There is something unseemly about visiting a prostitute.

Though the Roman government had apparently put a damper on the sexual worship of goddesses (and gods) in other places, this practice still flourished in Corinth at the time Paul wrote. Visiting a temple prostitute was good and in some cases necessary for good fortune. Highly skilled sex slaves, both male πόρνοι (a form of πόρνος)^[29] and female πόρνης (a form of πόρνη), were readily available, and Paul counseled husbands and wives, because of this πορνείας (a form of πορνεία),^[30] to be that for each other. He never repented of it. He never gave it a different spin that I have found. So I assume that even that degree of sensual and sexual commitment between husband and wife was not living according to the flesh^[31] in Paul’s understanding of the term he appropriated to describe the situation of the one born of the flesh and of the Spirit.

I want to leave the pelvic sins (as I heard a clever wag call them) to ponder the wider scope of opposition of the flesh to the Spirit of God. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality (πορνεία), impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things.^[32] There is a world of sin less than a hair’s breadth and a nanosecond away from me (there is no time or space between quantum states) at every moment of my life here in this body. But I say, Paul wrote the Galatians, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.^[33] So then, brothers and sisters, Paul wrote the Romans, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh…^[34]

Romans, Part 31

Back to Young, Virginal, or Single

Back to Romans, Part 32

Back to Conclusion

Back to Sexual Immorality Revisited, Part 3

Back to Father, Forgive Them, Part 3

Back to The Day of the Lord, Part 6

^[3] Romans 8:12 (NET)

^[5] Matthew 6:12 (NET) Table

^[6] Colossians 2:8 (NET)

^[8] Colossians 2:20-23 (NET)

^[11] 1 Corinthians 7:3-5a (NET)

^[12] Luke 22:25, 26 (NET)

^[13] 1 Corinthians 6:12 (NET)

^[16] 1 Corinthians 6:16 (NET)

^[17] Romans 7:22 (NET)

^[18] Romans 7:20 (NET)

^[19] Friedrich Nietzsche: The Antichrist (part 2) http://praxeology.net/antichrist2.htm

^[20] Galatians 5:20 (NET)

^[21] Romans 7:15 (NET)

^[22] Romans 6:6 (NET)

^[23] Genesis 2:17 (NKJV)

^[24] Genesis 3:10 (NET)

^[25] Genesis 2:25 (NET)

^[26] Romans 6:6 (NET)

^[27] Genesis 5:5 (NET)

^[28] Romans 8:3 (NET)

^[31] Romans 8:12 (NET)

^[32] Galatians 5:19-21a (NET) There is no note explaining why, but adultery (μοιχεία) which heads this list in the KJV does not even appear in the Greek text from which the NET was translated. It does begin the list in the textus receptus (received text).

^[33] Galatians 5:16 (NET)

^[34] Romans 8:12 (NET)

Romans, Part 29

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

There is therefore now no condemnation (κατάκριμα)^[1] for those who are in Christ Jesus (ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ),^[2] Paul continued. I want to list some of the things that are true for those in Christ Jesus:

In Christ Jesus…
1) …born of water and spirit…What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.	John 3:5, 6 (NET)
2) …the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.	Galatians 5:17 (NET)
3) I delight in the law of God in my inner being.	Romans 7:22 (NET)
4) I know that nothing good lives…in my flesh.	Romans 7:18a (NET)
5) I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.	Romans 7:18b (NET)
6) I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!	Romans 7:19 (NET)
7) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.	Romans 7:20 (NET)
8) So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.	Romans 7:25b (NKJV)
9) There is therefore now no condemnation…	Romans 8:1a (NET)

For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.^[3] All of this was achieved by God. For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned (κατέκρινεν, a form of κατακρίνω)^[4] sin in the flesh…^[5]

Only God knows how much sin is condemned in my flesh. I have a general sense that while I’m preoccupied (and frustrated) with the opposition of the flesh that keeps me from the perfection I want (and think I should demonstrate by the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ)^[6] less and less of the sin (that is the desire of the flesh) sees the light of day. It is not expressed in the world. It is confined, trapped, condemned in dead and dying flesh.

I am the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die.^[7] This was a difficult saying for Martha to believe, many years before Paul wrote to the Romans. Jesus asked her, Do you believe this?^[8] Martha’s answer was a model of tactful diplomacy, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who comes into the world.^[9]

Jesus knew Martha’s brother was sick, but deliberately waited two more days until he died.^[10] Our friend, He told his disciples, has fallen asleep. But I am going there to awaken him.^[11] His disciples were not eager to return to Judea. Rabbi, they said, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! [Jesus had claimed to be Yahweh, John 8:58, 59 NET] Are you going there again?^[12] Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.^[13] So Jesus told them plainly that he was dead, and said, I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.^[14]

Jesus had deliberately contrived this situation as an object lesson for his disciples, but then Mary, Martha’s sister, came and fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died:”^[15]

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved in spirit and greatly distressed. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.^[16]

It was a profound moment. Only He knows how many people He killed as Yahweh, sinners, yes, but people. He planned the death of Martha’s and Mary’s brother. He knew what He intended to do in the next few moments. And yet He wept. To say that Yahweh was not empathetic with human death would be false. I’m particularly affected by the implications of Genesis 18, that before the omniscient, omnipresent Yahweh decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah he took physical form and walked its streets. But there is something even more affecting about Yahweh, born of the flesh of Adam as Jesus, standing before the tomb of a friend weeping human tears from human eyes.

Take away the stone,^[17] Jesus said. Martha, ever the proper hostess, protested, Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.^[18] Jesus responded (John 11:40-44 NET):

“Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord^[19]…who will rescue me from this body of death.^[20] The ultimate condemnation of sin in the flesh is the death of the body. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies,^[21] Jesus promised everyone born of the flesh and of the Spirit. To those who already consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus,^[22] who accept their new identities, with the mind [they themselves] serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,^[23] Jesus promised, the one who lives and believes in me will never die.^[24] To them the well-deserved demise of the body of death is a welcome relief, not a cause of apprehension.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, [Jesus] likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death,^[25] is the way the writer of Hebrews put it. Paul concluded, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled (πληρωθῇ, a form of πληρόω)^[26] in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.^[27] The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled by the righteousness of God [apart from the law^[28]] through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe,^[29] the love that is the fulfillment (πλήρωμα)^[30] of the law,^[31] the fruit of the Spirit^[32] of God, in other words, to walk according…to the Spirit. As Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill (πληρῶσαι, another form of πληρόω) them.^[33]

Paul continued (Romans 8:5-11 NET):

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.

Peter’s Way?

Romans, Part 30

Back to Romans, Part 31

Back to Romans, Part 32

Back to Romans, Part 35

Back to Son of God – John, Part 5

Back to Saving Demons, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 45

^[2] Romans 8:1 (NET)

^[3] Romans 8:2 (NET)

^[5] Romans 8:3 (NET)

^[6] Romans 3:22 (NET)