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Learning from the Salvation Experience of Rahab

August 11, 2012

Scripture includes Rahab among those whose faith God highlights for our profit: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace” (Heb. 11:31). The inspired account about Rahab and her dealings with the Israelites (Josh. 2:1-24; cf. 6:25) illustrates several aspects of how a sinner is saved.

First, her faith resulted from her hearing about what the Lord had done in delivering His people and in destroying others (through His chosen judicial agents, the Israelites):

⁹ And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. ¹⁰ For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

Rahab was not saved by hearing a message only about the Lord as the One who saves those who are His; she heard a message that also informed her of the Lord as the One who judges those who are wicked. Every sinner should be given clear teaching that solemnly testifies to both truths (cf. Acts 10:42-43; 17:30-31).

Second, her faith included her believing that what the Lord and His chosen judicial agents (the Israelites) had done was righteous. This point is clear from her willingness to receive the Israelites in peace instead of informing the authorities of their presence and turning them over to them.

To be saved, a sinner must be persuaded that God has been and always will be just in everything He has done and will do. In particular, he must be prepared to acknowledge the righteousness of God in how He saves repentant sinners and destroys the unrepentant wicked.

Third, her faith evidenced her turning from whatever her former religious beliefs had been to believing in and confessing the Lord as the God of heaven and earth:

¹¹ And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

Such acknowledgement of the uniqueness of the Lord as the only true God is essential for the forgiveness of one’s sins (Rom. 10:9-10).

Fourth, having publicly confessed who the Lord was, she asked for mercy from His judicial agents:

¹² Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: ¹³ And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

With the exception of those who cannot knowledgeably pray to Him, God grants mercy only to those who ask Him for it.

Fifth, they covenanted with her to grant her mercy in the future judgment that would come on the sinners among whom she lived—provided she continued to act in keeping with her initial proper acceptance of God’s message and of His agents:

¹⁴ And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

¹⁵ Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

¹⁶ And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

¹⁷ And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

¹⁸ Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father’s household, home unto thee.

¹⁹ And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

²⁰ And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

²¹ And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

Her salvation experience thus included repentance and faith (cf. Acts 20:21), public confession of the Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9-10), a request for mercy from God (mediated through His judicial agents; cf. Acts 10:42-43; Rom. 10:13), and doing works fitting for saving repentance and faith (cf. Acts 2:38; 26:20).

These same elements will characterize the salvation experience of every sinner who repents toward God, believes in Jesus Christ, and manifests the genuineness of his salvation by persevering in the faith to the end. Those who do so will, like Rahab, not perish eternally with those who do not believe.

In Evangelism, Theology

Honor Christ by Honoring Your Pastor!

August 7, 2012

In God’s final revelation that is specifically directed to His churches (the book of Revelation), we learn at least four distinctive aspects about the pastor of a church in relation to Christ.

1. He is a special representative of Christ

John wrote “to the seven churches which are in Asia” (Rev. 1:4). He informed them that the glorified Christ declared to him: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches” (1:20).

This statement compared with Paul’s teaching many years prior that ministers are “the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 8:23) reveals that because a pastor is one of the stars who are the glory of Christ, he must be one who furnishes people with a right opinion of the unique excellence of Christ. He is thus a special representative of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:20-21).

2. He has a special relationship with Christ

In his description of the glorified Christ, John writes that “He had in His right hand seven stars” (1:16). He later reports that Christ Himself spoke of that same fact three times (1:20; 2:1; cf. 3:1).

Although every believer is in Christ’s hand (John 10:28), these four statements suggest that the pastor, the “angel” of a church, is in some special sense in Christ’s right hand. He, therefore, has a special relationship to Christ.

3. He has a special responsibility to Christ

The glorified Christ directed John to write letters to the pastors of seven literal churches in Asia Minor in the first century (Rev. 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). In those letters, He confronts those pastors in pointed ways about their relationship to Him and their service to Him (e.g., “for my name’s sake hast labored” [2:3]). He demands faithfulness of them (e.g., 2:10, 25) and warns of dire consequences for them and their churches if they fail Him (e.g., 2:5, 16; 3:3).

4. He has a special reward from Christ

The glorified Christ speaks of a crown belonging to the pastor: “Behold I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (3:11; cf. 1 Cor. 3:5-17 and Peter’s instruction to elders: “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not way” [1 Pet. 5:4]). In view of this special reward, the pastor must persevere in his faithful service to Christ.

Because of these special characteristics of pastors in relation to Christ, we need to continually be mindful that we honor Christ by honoring these who are His special servants whom He has graciously gifted us with (Eph. 4:11ff.). Let us, therefore, diligently honor Christ by honoring our pastors!

In Exhortation, Theology

Let’s Profit Fully from Jesus’ Remarkable Dealings with This Very Needy Woman!

August 3, 2012

All the Synoptics record how a woman with an incurable hemorrhage received miraculous healing through her “impersonal” touching of Jesus (Matt. 9; Mk. 5; Luke 8). Jesus’ subsequent remarkable dealings with this very needy woman pertain vitally to an aspect of Christian worship in churches today that many more believers need to profit from fully:

²⁴ And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

²⁵ And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, ²⁶ And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

²⁷ When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. ²⁹ And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

³⁰ And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? ³¹ And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? ³² And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. ³⁴ And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague (Mark 5).

In manifestation of her genuine but not well-developed faith in Jesus, this woman came from behind Him and furtively touched Him in order to be healed of her terrible affliction. Knowing immediately what had happened, Jesus acted in a forceful but gracious manner that compelled her to fall down before Him and acknowledge everything to Him “before all the people” (Luke 8:47).

Jesus thus did not allow her merely to receive her healing in an impersonal transaction that did not require public personal interaction with Him and public acknowledgement of her neediness and testimony to what He had done for her. Only when she had honored Jesus with a public confession of all the truth about what had happened did He give her assurance of her faith and instruction to leave in peace and wholeness.

Jesus’ dealings with this woman to bring about a fitting public response from her supports the proper use of “come forward” style invitations that exhort sinners to come forward and testify publicly if God has ministered graciously and specifically to them in an unmistakable manner to confront them with their sinfulness and minister to them to bring them to Himself.

A number of commentators expound about Jesus’ remarkable dealing with this very needy woman in ways that are consistent with this application:

There is nothing better for those that fear and tremble, than to throw themselves at the feet of the Lord Jesus, to humble themselves before Him, and refer themselves to Him. . . . We must not be ashamed to own the secret transactions between Christ and our souls; but, when called to it, mention, to His praise, and the encouragement of others, what he has done for our souls, and the experience we have had of healing virtue derived from Him. And the consideration of this, that nothing can be hid from Christ, should engage us to confess all to Him (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1787; bold text is in italics in original).

Dumb [in the sense of not speaking] debtors to healing mercy, be rebuked by the narrative of the Lord’s procedure towards this healed woman. He suffered her not, as doubtless she would have preferred, to depart in silence, to pour out her secret thanksgivings, or at some private meeting to testify her love to Jesus. He would have her, in spite of her shrinking modesty, to come forward before all and declare what she had done and how she had sped. Thus, in her own way, was she a preacher of Christ. And such witness will He have from all His saved ones. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (David Brown, JFB, 3:155; bold text is in italics in the original).

She desired secrecy, because an open appeal to Jesus for healing, involving a public disclosure of her condition, would be too embarrassing. . . . The whole ordeal naturally was embarrassing to her, but Jesus knew that it was necessary to give her the assurance that she needed. . . . He required her confession to perfect [her] faith and to give her its full reward” (D. Edmond Heibert, The Gospel of Mark: An Expostional Commentary, 142, 145).

It was not enough to believe in her heart: she must as well confess with her mouth (Rom. 10:9). In front of all the crowd, she must confess, first her great need of healing, and then, the glad fact of her salvation. That it was a costly confession, we can tell from the words in fear and trembling (33). For a woman to speak in public before an Asian crowd, and above all to speak of such personal matters, would be very humbling for her, but humility is an essential within the kingdom of God (R. Alan Cole, Mark in TNTC, 161-62; bold text is in italics in original).

It turns out that the healing does not come free. Jesus forces her to step out on faith and be identified. It will not bankrupt her as the physicians had done, but she must publicly acknowledge her debt to Jesus, that he is the source of her healing. When she does, he blesses her and announces that her faith has made her well (David E. Garland, Mark in NIVAC, 221).

She wants a cure, however, a something, whereas Jesus desires a personal encounter with someone. He is not content to dispatch a miracle; he wants to encounter a person (James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark in PNTC, 165; bold text is in italics in original).

God has inscripturated the accounts of Jesus’ remarkable dealings with this very needy woman for our profit that we might learn better how to honor Jesus in public worship settings. Let’s profit fully from them in this respect by employing and participating in “come forward” style invitations in a proper manner.

In Exhortation, Interpretation

On Guiding Couples in Saying Wedding Vows versus Guiding a Sinner in Praying “The Sinner’s Prayer”

July 30, 2012

As far as I can remember, almost every wedding that I have attended has included the couple’s saying wedding vows to one another. In the vast majority of cases, they were led in those vows by someone else who directed them to repeat the vows after him.

I do not recall anyone objecting to this practice, which has, as far as I can think at this time, little to no explicit biblical support. Yet, a seemingly increasing number of people today object to a minister’s leading sinners to pray “the sinner’s prayer” and cite the supposed lack of any biblical evidence for doing so as an important aspect of their justification for objecting to the practice.

As I have argued elsewhere, there is biblical data that in principle supports a gospel minister’s appropriately guiding someone in praying a sinner’s prayer. Those who object to the a minister’s doing so, therefore, would do well to examine their perspectives about both practices and determine if there is a lack of consistency in their thinking that warrants a reassessment of their perspectives about guiding a sinner in praying “the sinner’s prayer.”

In Evangelism

Evangelism Testimony 7.26.12

July 26, 2012

This week, I had a great opportunity with a friend to witness to a middle-aged Spanish man. When we first started to talk to this man, he said that he did not want to talk about religion. He said that he respects other religions, and that he was a Catholic, and that he did not want to argue about religion.

I thought this witness was not going to go anywhere after hearing him say these things to us. My partner and I kept talking with him, however, and he opened up to us and shared much about his life.

Hearing how God had spared him on one occasion from being shot point-blank in the head by a rifle, I challenged him that God in His goodness had spared His life for a reason. As we continued to talk, he became friendlier and more open.

I asked him if he knew where he would go when he would die and shared with him a Spanish tract that has that question as it title. I even tried witnessing some to him in Spanish. Even the few points at which I was able to share something with him in Spanish seemed to help reach him, which was an encouragement to me in multiple ways.

A turning point came when I asked him if he had ever sinned. He replied that he had not. I was surprised to hear him answer that way, so I asked him if he had ever lied. He said that he had not.

Undeterred, I then asked him if he had ever looked inappropriately at a woman whom he was not married to and engaged in unrighteous thoughts in relation to her. God used that query to set him back, but he still tried to avoid acknowledging fully his sinfulness.

As our conversation continued, I challenged him about what happened on the Cross and testified to him about the Resurrection. I warned him that he would one day stand before Jesus, the God-appointed Judge, and give an account to Him for his sins.

We spent nearly our entire visitation time witnessing to this one man. We left with him assuring us that he would read the tracts that we gave him.

What started out seeming to be a very unpromising contact turned out to be an excellent witnessing opportunity! Please pray that this man will yet be saved.

I praise God for giving us another opportunity to share His glorious truth at length with another needy person!

In Evangelism, Testimony

Praying to God is Necessary for Obtaining Salvation through the Forgiveness of One’s Sins

July 24, 2012

It is very disturbing to read recently the statements that some Christians are making that either directly assert or clearly imply that praying to God is not necessary for salvation. According to these believers, people only need to repent and believe to be saved—they do not have to pray.

In order to be saved, a person must have his sins forgiven, and many passages in Scripture make clear either explicitly or implicitly that praying to God is necessary for obtaining forgiveness of sins:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14).
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Ps. 32:5).
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee (Ps. 86:5).
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Prov. 28:13).
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? (Jon. 3:5-9)
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 18:13-14).
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:42-43).
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee (Acts 8:22).
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. . . . For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Rom. 10:9-10; 13).
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

With the exception of babies, small children, and some others who lack the mental capacity to pray knowledgeably to God, praying to Him (either silently or aloud) is clearly necessary for the forgiveness of sins. Scripture does not support teaching that asserts that a person can be saved without praying to God.

Furthermore, a wrong handling of various salvation accounts in Scripture has resulted in the erroneous view that people are saved by repenting and believing without praying. The lack of explicit mention of a sinner’s praying to God in a condensed summary of how that person was saved is not evidence that they were saved without praying (see my post Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3 for an example of an account that lacks such explicit mention but still makes clear that the people did pray to God).

Moreover, an unwillingness to pray to God for forgiveness shows a lack of genuine repentance (Acts 8:20-24; see my post Forgiveness of Sin through a Directive Both to Repent and to Pray for a detailed explanation of this point). A genuine belief in God includes “crying mightily unto God” (Jon. 3:5-9 [see Learning Interpretation from an Examination of Jonah 3]; Rom. 10:9-10; 13).

Saving repentance and faith includes praying to God for the forgiveness of one’s sins. Praying to Him is necessary for obtaining salvation through the forgiveness of one’s sins.

In Evangelism, Prayer, Theology

Learning from God's Specific Will about Goats

July 20, 2012

In the many previous times that I have read through the Bible, I have not understood Leviticus 16:5-10 as an important passage about the specificity of God’s will. Recently, however, God granted me illumination about the remarkable nature of its teaching concerning God’s specific will about goats.

The Lord directed Moses to instruct Aaron about the offerings that he was to make as an atonement for the people of Israel:

Lev 16:5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶ And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.

⁷ And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

⁹ And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Aaron was to take two male goats (see Heb.) from the people for a sin offering (16:5). The people would have brought to him goats that met the requirements for the sin offerings (Lev. 4-5), and Aaron would receive them to present to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle (16:7).

Having brought the two goats to the door, he then had to cast lots for them to determine which one would be offered as the sin offering to the Lord and which one would be the scapegoat (16:8). Aaron thus was not left to his own wisdom to decide which one to use in which way.

Because the Lord was the One who determined the outcome when lots were cast (Prov. 16:33), this instruction makes clear that it was the Lord who thereby specified to Aaron which goat he would use for which purpose. The Lord, therefore, had a specific will for each goat and a specific will for Aaron about how he was to use each one.

This passage teaches us that the Lord had a specific will about matters (choice between the goat to be used for an offering and the one to be used for a scapegoat) that we would otherwise surely have thought that there would have been no difference in the choices that were to be made. If the Lord had a specific will about these goats and a specific will about which one Aaron was to use for each purpose, how credible is it to assert that He does not have a specific will for clearly important matters for us today such as who a person is to marry?

In Interpretation, Theology

Is "Heads Bowed, Eyes Closed . . ." Inherently an Unscriptural Manipulative Practice?

July 17, 2012

Many believers today hold that the giving of an invitation at the end of a service is inherently an unscriptural manipulative practice. They believe that this is especially the case if the minister instructs the congregation to bow their heads and close their eyes with no one looking around and then forcefully challenges people to respond to the message by coming forward. They often assert that Scripture provides little to no support for the giving of such an invitation.

Instead of using an invitation, some ministers end their services typically with a brief time of prayer in which people are encouraged to respond to what they have heard. Often, this instruction is coupled with a statement that the minister will be available after the service to talk with any people who are interested in learning more.

Does the Scripture support these perspectives about what should and should not be done in services after the preaching?

Heads Bowed, Eyes Closed?

Preachers routinely ask their people to bow in prayer with them in numerous contexts, such as before receiving the Lord’s Supper, ordaining deacons, and dedicating children. The (legitimate) assumption in these settings is that people will close their eyes when they bow their heads.

Scripture supports a sinner’s bowing his head (presumably with his eyes closed) in the presence of Deity, when approaching God, or encountering a messenger of God:

“And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, ³ And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant” (Gen. 18:2-3).

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ And fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:15).

“And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last” (Rev. 1:17).

These passages (and others like them) support instructing people to bow their heads and close their eyes when they are approaching God in prayer. Telling lost people, many of whom have had no prior instruction about how to approach God properly, to do so makes perfect sense and is fitting with guiding them in approaching God with humility, as they must.

No One Looking Around?

Instructing people to close their eyes should make saying that no one is to be looking around unnecessary. These words probably, therefore, are spoken to put at greater ease people who want to respond but who also worry about other people’s seeing them respond to the message.

Is this a biblical perspective? The only passage in Scripture that actually records a church service taking place does not seem to support this notion:

“But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: ²⁵ And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you [plural you] of a truth” (1 Cor. 14:24-25).

The act of falling down on one’s face and reporting to the congregation what God has done in your heart does not support merely making a private response. It also does not support putting sinners at greater relative ease for making a response. (For a fuller treatment of 1 Cor. 14:23-25, see my post The Consummation of Public Worship)

Come Forward?

Telling people to come forward after a message is consistent with the response related above in 1 Corinthians 14:25 in which a sinner who is convicted in a church service publicly abases himself and publicly reports to the congregation that God has truly worked in his heart through their ministry to him. It is also consistent with other Scriptural teaching that God requires abasing oneself from those who would come to Him for forgiveness (2 Chron. 7:14; cf. Jonah 3:5, 6, 8).

Conclusion

Instructing sinners to bow their heads and close their eyes as they approach God in prayer is biblical. Informing them about pastoral availability after the service is one possible way to encourage them to go beyond praying.

Challenging sinners whom God has convicted in a service, however, to come forward is supported by epistolary teaching showing that a fitting response in such a situation involves publicly abasing oneself and informing the congregation about what God has done for them. Such a response is consistent with other passages about what God demands from sinners who would come to him for forgiveness of their sins.

Although Scripture thus supports the use of a “head bowed, eyes closed . . .” invitation, such invitations have often been misused in years past. A minister who uses such an invitation must do so with great care so that he is not manipulative in what he does.

In Evangelism, Ministry, Preaching

Vital Instruction from Jesus for Every Believer

July 14, 2012

In chronological order, Jesus gave similar teaching four times to His disciples on three occasions:

Sermon on the Mount

(1) “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master” (Luke 6:40).

Instruction to the Twelve Apostles

(2) “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? ²⁶ ¶ Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. ²⁸ And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:24-28).

Upper Room Discourse

(3) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. ¹⁷ If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:16-17).

(4) “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).

Because Jesus repeated similar teaching about disciples/servants at least four times, these words surely comprise vital instruction from Jesus to every believer!

In Discipleship

Is God's Love for a Believer Unconditional?

July 12, 2012

Jesus taught His disciples in the Upper Room Discourse, “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God” (John 16:26-27). He seems in this teaching to say plainly that the Father Himself loves the disciples because they have loved Jesus and have believed that He came out from God.

If God’s love for a believer is unconditional, as nearly almost everyone argues that it is, how do we explain Jesus’ teaching at this time to His disciples that the cause of the Father’s love for them was that they had loved Him and had believed that He had come out from God?

In Interpretation, Theology

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