THE SPIRIT, THE WORD. AND SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

 

 

Because we are filled with the Spirit, we want to become more like our Savior and are grieved to see we are not more like Him.

 

We know that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) but forget that the Gospel, the Word of God, is also the power of God unto sanctification and transformation.

 

The Israelites also had the Gospel, although it wasn’t laid out as plainly as in the NT. However, even the sacrificial system abundantly revealed that they were sinners who needed the mercy of God. The substitutionary slaughter of thousands of sacrificial animals communicated this along with the mercy of God, who forgave their sins.

 

Likewise, when King Solomon had dedicated the Temple, he prayed:

 

·       “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you.” (2 Chronicles 6:36-39)

 

From the truths embedded within their religious practice, it should have been clear to them that they were all sinners who were in desperate need of God’s mercy.

 

Instead, the Israelites hardened their hearts against these abundantly apparent truths. Paul likened it to their having a veil over their eyes and hearts, preventing them from understanding what should have been obvious. Instead, they convinced themselves that they could be good enough for God (Romans 9:30-33).

 

Consequently, their self-righteous veil had to be removed by the Spirit so that they could understand God’s Word through Moses:

 

·       But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:14-18)

 

What do we now behold? By the Spirit, we can now behold and understand the transformative Word. It was the Spirit by His Word which had painfully convinced me that I could never be good enough for God. He had to stripe away my arrogance before He would lift me up. If He hadn’t done this, I would have interpreted any blessings as proof of my moral sufficiency and entitlement.

 

The Gospel is also the power of God unto sanctification. The Spirit illuminates the Word through our regenerated, born-again minds and hearts to transform us into the likeness of Christ:

 

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

 

Although this verse doesn’t mention the Word, the renewal of the mind depends on the Word, as many other verses reveal:

 

·       “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3)

 

Therefore, Jesus prayed:

 

·       “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

 

Sanctification is a process. It includes holiness, understanding, and is a matter of cleansing and renewing, by the Spirit through the Word, of our old attitudes:

 

·       Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word. (Ephesians 5:25-26)

 

This means that the Word is central to our growth in Christ. This might sound strange to us today. Instead, we tend to think that becoming more Christlike is a matter of therapy, having a mountaintop experience, or being good enough.

 

While our Lord might use these things, sanctification is fundamentally the work of the Spirit through His Word. It is like how God created man by using the earth and the woman, by using Adam’s rib. But it was also like how God created the world through His Word alone.

However, He invites us to partake of His work and His Word. Therefore, we are to meditate on His Word, day and night (Psalm 1:1-3).

REJECTING THE SCRIPTURES IS TO REJECT JESUS

 

 

Why do many reject the Scriptures? They accuse them as not conforming to their worldview, as sexist, homophobic, and even as morally deficient, or even try to reinterpret the Scriptures to align with their own beliefs. Let’s take the example of women in church leadership positions.

 

I think that the Scriptures are clear on this issue, although we might not approve of its answer.

 

Although many women followed Jesus, He never appointed any to a leadership role; nor did He even appoint one as an Apostle.

 

Even though the Bible distinguishes the male role from the female role, in terms of their value before God, there is no distinction between male and female (Galatians 3:28); nor is one more any more an image-bearer than the other (Genesis 1:26-27). Nor is one role lessor than the other. Instead, we even find a distinction of roles within the Godhead:

 

·       But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11:3)

 

Even though the wife’s role is subordinate to that of her husband, so too is the Son subordinate to the Father. However, this doesn’t make Him any less God than the Father. So too the wife is no less important than her husband. There is even a sense that both must submit to one another:

 

·       The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (1 Corinthians 7:3-4)

 

Jesus had even argued that the one who serves is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Nevertheless, there are role distinctions as there are within the Trinity. Jesus consistently submitted to the Father:

 

·       “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:49-50)

 

Therefore, there is nothing demeaning about submission. Jesus therefore taught:

 

·       “The kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-27)

 

Perhaps the woman even has a more important role:

 

·       Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:11-14; 1 Corinthians 14:33-35)

 

Some wrongly reinterpret such verses as only applying to the “unruly women” of Paul’s day. However, he did not justify this teaching based upon the changeable conditions of his day but on the unchanging creation order and the fact that the woman had been deceived and not the man.

 

This does not connote any inferiority in the woman. Instead, each gender has its own strengths and weaknesses. They are designed to be complementary.

 

Besides, elders were all to be men:

 

·       Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (1 Timothy 3:2)

 

Nevertheless, there are a couple of verses where women do seem to have a leadership position, but these are the exception. Nevertheless, the teachings clearly prohibit the woman from ruling the man. Nevertheless, God always uses less than optimal situations and people.

 

This Biblical teaching might be repugnant to some. However, we must put first things first - God’s Word, even if we fail to understand its rationale. We cannot demand God conform to our understanding and preferences, as we tend to do in many areas of our lives.

 

Instead, as we conform ourselves to His Word, we demonstrate our love and appreciation of His surpassing wisdom:

 

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” (2 John 1:6)

PRAGMATISM, SELF-INTEREST, AND MORALITY

 

 

Atheist, Tim Urban, has courageously written that we need religion:

 

·       I’ve spent most of my life thinking “the more atheists, the better.” Looking back, this now feels like a “be careful what you wish for” hope. It’s easy for non-religious people to look down on religion, but we take for granted the extent to which a good society is good because of the moral structure it provides. https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/how-we-changed-our-minds-in-2021

 

However, true to an atheist, Urban believes that it’s just a matter of latching on to the “moral structure” provided in the major religions, which has been fine-tuned over centuries of use.

 

However, I think that this is a matter of building your house on sand. It might look good until the tsunami comes. The sand I’m referring to is pragmatism. According to this philosophy, we are always doing cost/benefit analyses to determine what gives us the best results for the least cost. Urban surmises, I think correctly, that the “moral structure” of the Biblical Faith offers lots of benefits. Just look at the success of the West while it still held to the Biblical Faith!

 

However, can secularism retain this “moral structure” when removed from the God who gave and underpins it. For example, who is willing to pass up a job advancement if it only requires one “little white lie?” For the faithful Christian, this might be tempting, but pleasing his God of truth is more important.

 

The atheist might agree with his moral inheritance and conclude that it would be wrong to lie. However, he is confronted with a dilemma. He has adopted this moral system because of its benefits. However, he perceives that he will derive greater benefits through the one lie, and these benefits might last for a lifetime.

 

Eventually, he will live his life as he always had. Self-interest and its immediate benefits will gradually take charge as it does over every New Years resolution.

Webinar - IMMANUEL "GOD WITH US”

Webinar - IMMANUEL "GOD WITH US”

Isaiah 7:10-14 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11"Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; ask it either in the depth or in the height above." 12But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!" 13Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

NT FULFILLMENT-- Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin sh all be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

CHALLENGES:

1.     "Immanuel" is merely a name like Daniel or Nathaniel ("El" always means "God" in Hebrew) and not a description of the nature of the person.

2.     The Hebrew word "almah," translated as "virgin" in Isaiah 7:14 can possibly be translated "young maiden."  Furthermore, if Isaiah had wanted to unequivocally say "virgin," he could have used the unequivocal word, "betulah," in this context. “Betulah” always means “virgin.”

3.     The prophecy of 7:14 was given to King Ahaz (ca. 735 BC) as a divine sign of what God had promised him--that the two northern kings, Pekah (Israel) and Rezin (Syria), who were threatening his own nation of Judah, would soon be destroyed (Isaiah 7:1-16). The birth of Jesus, which took place over 700 years later, couldn't possibly have been a sign for Ahaz. It’s therefore faulty reasoning that insists that the first century Jesus fulfills this prophecy.

4.     Isaiah's prophecy had already been fulfilled by the birth of Isaiah's son. Isaiah had prophesied to Ahaz that the promised events of the demise of Damascus (Syria) and Samaria (the Northern kingdom of Israel) would precede the “sign”-child’s maturation.

·       “Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings,” (Isaiah 7:15-16).

·       “Then I (Isaiah) went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Call his name Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz; for before the child shall have knowledge to cry 'My father' and 'My mother,' the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be taken away before the king of Assyria,’" (8:3-4).

 

THE CASE FOR MULTIPLE FULFILLMENT:

·       “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan!... Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’ 3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. 4Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, ‘Take away the filthy garments from him.’ And to him He said, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.’ 5And I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head…8Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH…And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day,’” (Zech. 3:1-9).

• “Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12Then speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the Lord. 13Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; so He shall be a priest on His throne,’’” (Zech. 6:11-13; Psalm 110).

  • Genesis 32:22-30 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. 24Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed." 29Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. 30So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."
    

  Genesis 48:15-16 He blessed Joseph, and said, 1.     "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, 2.     The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, 3.     16The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;”

  Hosea 12:2-4 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah,  And will punish Jacob according to his ways; He will repay him according to his deeds.3In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his maturity he contended with God. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;

   

• Could Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz have been a prefigurement of Messiah as Joshua had been? “Here am I (Isaiah) and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion,” (Isaiah 8:18).

 

THE CASE FOR A MORE GLORIOUS FULFILLMENT OF “Immanuel”

Three Mentions of Immanuel

·       “Inasmuch as these people refused The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah’s son; now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them The waters of the River, strong and mighty—The king of Assyria and all his glory; He will go up over all his channels And go over all his banks. He will pass through Judah, He will overflow and pass over, He will reach up to the neck; And the stretching out of his wings Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel,” (8:6-8).

·       “Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us (“Immanuel” in the Hebrew),” (8:9-10).

 

Three Mentions of a Divine Son

·       “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this,” (9:6-7).

• Isaiah 11:1-10 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord…6"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.10"And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse…And His resting place shall be glorious."

 

Three Mentions of “Yeshua” (“salvation”)

• Isaiah 12:1-6 2Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation. 3Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 6Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!"

 

THE PROPHECY WENT FAR BEYOND AHAZ.

·       “Then he said, ‘Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you (plural) a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel,’” (7:13-14).     

A natural birth is hardly a “sign” (7:14).

“”Almah” translated as “parthenos” (virgin) in the LXX, 180 BC.

“Immanu—El”  “GOD with us”