New Feature: Scriptural Cross Referencing

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Jay F Guin

I’ve just installed a new feature, from Biblefox, that cross-links all posts here at OneInJesus based on the scriptures cited.

Now, if you click on a scripture link, not only does the text of the scripture pop up, but so does a list of all other OneInJesus posts citing the same scripture. You can click on one of the references to see what else has been said or discussed here on that verse.

Pretty cool what the programmers can do, isn’t it?

 

 

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Real Restoration: The Law and the Nature of God

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Jay F Guin

Desktop potter's wheelWe tend to think of the Law of Moses as a bunch of arcane, archaic rules about what to eat and not eat. I think it’s better to view the Law as God’s self-revelation to the Israelites. Consider, for example, Deuteronomy —

(Deu 10:12-13 ESV) 12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?”

God explains that his commands are not designed to please himself, but rather are for the good of the Israelites. God doesn’t command arbitrary things just to test our faith. Rather, his commands are for our own good — even if we don’t understand why. God’s commands are expressions of his love for us, not demands for us to show love for him by passing arbitrary tests. Continue reading →

Posted in Real Restoration, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

1 John 2:22-29 (“What you heard from the beginning.”)

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Jay F Guin

FearWhat you heard from the beginning

(1Jo 2:22-26 ESV) 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us–eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

“The Christ” means “the Messiah” or, most literally, “the Anointed One” or “the King promised by the prophets.” The false teachers denied that Jesus is the Christ. Perhaps they taught, like many Gnostics, that he is the Son of God — deity — but not a descendant of David. After all, only a descendant of David — born of the flesh — could sit on David’s throne. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, 1 John, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Buried Talents: Why Were the Apostles All Men?

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Jay F Guin

Reader Kirsty recently asked why all the apostles are male?  I answered in the comments, but I think the topic merits a post.

Kirsty,

Regarding why Jesus chose male apostles, I think you have to start with why Jesus chose 12: why 12 people?

The Jews were a people steeped in symbolism. Whereas we Westerners tend to prefer the literal and the syllogistic, the Jewish (and Eastern) mind is much more about story and symbol. So what would 12 men symbolize? What story does the appointment of 12 men tell?

Obviously, the 12 tribes of Israel. Hence, they symbolized the totality of all Israel. But the 12 tribes are the descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob — twelve men. Thus, they also symbolize the 12 men — who are (in the Eastern mind) the 12 tribes.

Now, if the 12 apostles are the 12 sons of Jacob, who would Jesus be? Who was the leader of the 12 sons of Jacob? Well, that makes him symbolic of Jacob, the father of the 12.

And Jacob’s other name is Israel. By selecting 12 male apostles, Jesus was (among many other things) symbolically staking a claim to being Israel — in symbol and also in prophetic fulfillment.

I have written a post, which won’t show up for a while, on the interpretation of Isaiah’s Servant’s Song, and when you read it, this will make better sense. The symbolism matters at several levels.

For example, we are baptized into Jesus, and so we become a part of the true Israel. Jesus is the true Israel and so those who are within him are a part of the true Israel.

This understanding gives us a different understanding of the prophesies and the crucifixion. But that’s all for a later post.

For now, the reason the apostles were all male is that the 12 sons of Jacob were male — and that Jesus had to become Israel, to pay the price for Israel’s sins, to demonstrate the life Israel was and is supposed to lead, and to bring the nations into Israel.

Posted in Role of Women, Uncategorized | 25 Comments

It’s Friday! (Time to Plan for Your Sunday Nap)

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Jay F Guin

(From the Sacred Sandwich)

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Real Worship: Part 7: Hebrews 10

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Jay F Guin

The assembly in light of the New Testament texts

Hebrews 10

You’ll notice that there’s not much in the “worship” passages about the Sunday morning assembly. The scriptures certainly assume that God’s people will gather together, but the assembly is never called “worship.” And yet it’s a modern assumption that the assembly is worship, and while many would concede that the rest of life is worship, too, the assumption is that the assembly is the deepest, truest worship.

There are arguments to be made, but I think we make a serious mistake if we simply leap from “assembly” to “worship” and start talking about how to “do worship” as though there’s some semi-secret rulebook for how to conduct the assembly — a secret, Christian Leviticus hidden in the silences and inferences.

Indeed, the evidence is that we shouldn’t bother looking for such a thing. Indeed, the scriptures rather plainly deny that possibility. Continue reading →

Posted in Real Worship, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

1 John 2:20-21 (the Anointing)

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Jay F Guin

Fear

(1Jo 2:20-21 ESV)  20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.  21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

Before we discern the meaning of “anointing” as metaphor, we need to understand what the word meant to John and his readers as Jews. David was the anointed. “Messiah” means “anointed one.” “Christ” is the Greek for “anointed one” and is the exactly same thing as “Messiah.” To be anointed to be made a king.

But priests are also anointed —

(Exo 28:41 ESV)  41 And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, 1 John, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

1 John 2:18-19 (the Last Hour, the Anti-Christ)

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Jay F Guin

Fear

(1Jo 2:18-19 ESV) 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

This is a passage filled with difficulties. Who is the antichrist? What does John mean by “it is the last hour”? Let’s start with the second question. Continue reading →

Posted in 1 John, 1 John, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Real Restoration: Exodus; God’s Purpose in Israel

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Jay F Guin

Desktop potter's wheelThe Torah is hugely important in understanding the New Testament, and we could spend the rest of 2011 and much of 2012 just sorting through that truth. We’ve already seen that much of God’s covenant with Abraham is repeated and expanded in the Law of Moses.

This won’t be nearly adequate to cover the ground, but let’s reflect on a couple of key points —

First, the Exodus is repeated referenced by Jesus and the New Testament writers as a “type” of Christianity. That is, we are told over and over that Christianity is very much like the Exodus. We see this, for example, in the vocabulary of the New Testament —

* “Redeem” means to free from slavery.

(Exo 6:6 ESV) Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.

(Luk 1:68 ESV) “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people …”

God frees us from sin and Satan’s realm just as God freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Continue reading →

Posted in Real Restoration, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Passover 2.0 :)

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Jay F Guin

It’s that time of the year, you know …

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments