GraceConversation: Exegesis of Phil’s Proof Texts

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Jay F Guin

grace7I’ve posted three posts working through the texts cited by Phil Sanders in “Proposition One Response from Phil.”

Part One (Galatians, Liars, Blindness, Truth)

Part Two (Repentance, the Factious Man)

Part Three (Conclusions: How God saves people despite imperfect doctrine)

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What Is Truth? “Truth” in Hebrews, James, and 1 & 2 Peter

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Jay F Guin

jesus-the-way-the-truth-the-life“Truth” in Hebrews

(Heb 10:26-27)  If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

This is the only use of “truth” (aletheia) in Hebrews, but the writer is clearly speaking of the moment of our salvation. There’s certainly a sacrifice for sins available for the lost, if they’ll accept Jesus. But for those who’ve already obtained knowledge of the truth — who’ve accepted the gospel — rebellion exacts an awful price. See Heb 6:4-6. Continue reading →

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What Is Truth? “Truth” in Paul, Part 2

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Jay F Guin

jesus-the-way-the-truth-the-life“Truth” in 2 Thessalonians

(2 Th 2:9-13)  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

Again, plainly enough, the truth is what we believe to be saved — it’s the gospel. Continue reading →

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What Is Truth? “Truth” in Paul, Part 1

Posted on April 26, 2009 by Jay F Guin

jesus-the-way-the-truth-the-lifePaul writes frequently about a concept he calls “the truth.” Often, he doesn’t bother to define it, assuming his readers are familiar enough with the term to understand his meaning. And it’s clear that he’s not speaking of any truth of any kind. Nor is he speaking of anything that Bible says that is true.

“Truth” in Romans

(Rom 1:18-19)  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

(Rom 1:25)  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.

(Rom 2:2)  Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.

(Rom 2:8)  But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

(Rom 2:17-21)  Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth — 21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

This “truth” is a truth about God, and this truth is a reflection of God’s will, but it’s nature isn’t quite clear yet in Romans. “Truth” certainly includes —

(Rom 1:20)  … God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Paul’s point, of course, is that even the Gentiles, who are without the Torah, are nonetheless sufficiently aware of God and his will to be condemned for their sins and so need a Savior.
Continue reading →

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Grace Conversation: Latest Posts and Tips on Keeping Up

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

grace7Todd Deaver and I have posted a number of posts over at GraceConversation.com —

If you, like me, have trouble keeping up with the comments and posts, this is how I do it —

* I subscribed to the posts via RSS in Google Reader by clicking the icon in the righthand column for “Subscribe in a Reader.”

* As each post appears, I click on the post’s caption to get the full text of the post and the comments. Just below the text of each post, in tiny, orange print, is a link that says “RSS 2.0.” Click on that link, and you’ve subscribed to comments for that post.

I’m still learning all this internet/HTML/WordPress stuff. If someone knows an easier way, please let me know so I can share it.

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What Is “Truth”? John’s Gospel

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

jesus-the-way-the-truth-the-lifeIn the last post, I considered John’s use of “truth” in 2 John 1-4 to refer to the truth about Jesus, that is, that he is the Messiah (Christ) come in the flesh. The next point I want to make is that this usage of “truth” is typical of the New Testament as a whole — and radically changes our interpretation of several passages.

In this post, we consider the meaning of “truth” in John’s Gospel — where “truth” is a recurring, uniting theme.

On reading figures of speech

I should point out that “truth” is, of course, not always used in this sense. Sometimes it just means that something is true. But this specialized meaning is far more common. Continue reading →

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What Is “Truth”? The “Teaching of Christ” in 2 John

Posted on April 25, 2009 by Jay F Guin

jesus-the-way-the-truth-the-lifeI should explain to the readers the reason for the length of the previous post on 2 John and the rest of this series on “truth.” In conversations at this site and over at GraceConversation.com, the advocates for the conservative position rely not only on 2 John 9 but several other verses that speak of people being damned for denial of the “truth.”

The traditional interpretation is that “truth” is all Biblical truth, and thus those with the wrong position on instrumental music (etc.) are lost and ought to be disfellowshipped. It’s time to put a final end to those arguments, because they are based on very unsound, careless exegesis, as I’ll show in this and the next 3 posts.

Let’s talk about a central prooftext in the conservative arsenal —

(2 John 1:9)  Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

The argument frequently made is that someone who teaches error on some hot button issue, such as instrumental music, is damned because he “does not continue in the teaching of Christ.” Of course, Jesus said nothing about singing a cappella, and so the apostolic teaching found in the rest of the New Testament is added to “the teaching of Christ.”

You won’t have to look far to find this very argument made at GraceConversation or in comments here at OneInJesus, and many other places. This is a classic conservative argument. And the verse sure seems to say that those who are in error do not have God, which surely means they’re lost. But I have never once in my life accepted that interpretation. Continue reading →

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XP3: Wanted (2): I Want It

Posted on April 24, 2009 by Jay F Guin

YouthSilly Activity

My wife bought a Pin the Tail on the Lion game from DollarTree — for a dollar. It’s a Daniel in the lion’s den kind of thing. Another dollar bought a box of sidewalk chalk.

I taped the lion poster to the garage wall and used the chalk to draw a large circle — 10′ diameter or so — with an X in the middle. The circle extends to the wall where the lion poster is.

“Kids, we’re going to play Pin the Tail on the Lion. Do you want to play the preschool version or the advanced version?” [Unanimous insistence on the advanced version] Continue reading →

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Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: Preview, Part 2

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Jay F Guin

rabbijesusThe following are additional excerpts from Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, with a few reflections at the end by me. (Buy the book!)

Discipleship

Chapter 4 explains the meaning of “disciple.” We think it means learner or student, but there was much more to it than that.

Modern Christians have sometimes been confused about what discipleship is, equating it with “discipline.” Of course discipline is vital to the spiritual life. … But the overall goal of discipleship is not simply to grow in self-discipline, but to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

(page 58) Continue reading →

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The Blue Parakeet: Missional Listening

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Jay F Guin

parakeetMcKnight argues that if we love someone, we’ll listen to his words. Therefore, our Bible reading must be a listening reading.

Now, this seems pretty elementary, but consider what it contradicts –

* Reading to prove yourself right

* Reading to prove your opponent wrong

* Reading to answer your questions (as opposed to reading to learn what the correct questions are!)

All these are plainly in contradiction to love for God. Rather, in acting this way we set ourselves up as the standard by which God’s will should be judged. We pick those verses that defend our preferred views and don’t bother to listen to the others. Continue reading →

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