One In Jesus

I guess we do best to start in the Torah.

God’s election of Israel demands a response — a changed heart that submits to God’s loving will — a will that shows us what is best for us.

(Deu 10:16-19 ESV) 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

God takes no bribes, but treats all fairly — meaning that we should do the same. God cares for and demands justice for widows and orphans. Those who can’t look out after themselves have God himself as a protector — and he commands his people to follow his example. Continue reading →

In the Prophets, the NT’s Greek word for “repent” is rarely used of national repentance. But the concept of repentance is plainly taught. For example, the author of 2 Kings says regarding God’s allowing the Northern Kingdom to be carried off into Assyrian Captivity,

(2Ki 17:10-14 ESV)  10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,  11 and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger,  12 and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.”  13 Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”  14 But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. 

Their idolatry and other sins were characterized as ultimately a lack of faith. After all, if you really believed in God, and if you believed he was serious about the curses in Deu 28, you wouldn’t worship idols. Continue reading →

It’s a little surprising that the NT word for “repent” is rarely used in the OT except with regard to God himself. In fact, metanoeo, the Greek verb translated “repent” in Acts 2:38 appears only 19 times in 18 OT verses.

Of these, 14 refer to God relenting or changing his mind. Obviously, God does not sin and therefore he cannot repent in the sense of giving up sin. Therefore, metanoeo does not necessarily refer to giving up sin. Continue reading →

I skipped ahead a bit, and so we still need to cover some key passages in the prophets before we continue with the NT.

Jeremiah prophesied to the Jews of Judea shortly before and during the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s attacks on Judea.

(Jer 4:4 ESV)  4 “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

(Jer 9:25-26 ESV)  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh —  26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

This is an obvious warning, based on Deu 10, that the mere form of obedience is not good enough. God insists on hearts that love him. Contrary to over a century of really bad teaching, the Law of Moses was just as much about the heart as God’s other covenants. Continue reading →