August 6, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Go away, I’m a sinner!

Go away, I’m a sinner!

Luke 5:1-11 is a tremendously powerful little story. Jesus sees two boats, and the fishermen washing their nets—after a long night of catching nothing. The fishermen are Peter, James, and John, partners in a fishing enterprise (v. 10).

Jesus gets in the boat, and He tells Peter to go out deep and put out the nets. The nets they just finished washing after a fruitless night. Peter tells Jesus they just caught nothing, but unhesitatingly adds, “But at Your word, I’ll let down the nets.”

Right away, we see Peter is one of the believing people. He’s not quite sure about the idea but he’s willing to go along in faith. Jesus is already catching Peter.

Of course, they go out, and they catch so many fish that their nets tear from the weight, so they signal to James and John in the other boat to come, and they fill both boats so full that they start to sink! This is an obvious supernatural event, not just good timing—Jesus didn’t just see some fish swimming around in the water and decide to take advantage of the situation to make a point. No, this is a ridiculous amount of fish.

And Peter seems to know right away that Jesus isn’t just Master (v 5), he’s Lord (v 8). And his reaction reminds me of Samson’s parents (Judges 13):

And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife.Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these.”

Peter sees Jesus as Messiah and he’s—amazed? ashamed? afraid? Maybe all three. I love that what comes to his mouth is I’m a sinner! Everybody else is amazed at all the fish, and Peter’s not even thinking about the fish, he’s thinking, wow, this is God, and I’m a wretch! Just like Manoah, who realizes the angel was in fact God and—we’re going to die!

And what does Jesus say? Don’t be afraid! Crazy incredible words. Face to face with God in flesh and He says—don’t be afraid? He sees right at Peter’s heart and… is kind. This is a gloriously kind response! He could have left Peter hanging in his terror, but He reassures him instead! And then this tremendous sentence—from now on, you will be catching people! What a small sentence, a small illustration, of a huge thing that was going to change Peter’s life forever, to the very very end. Peter, who is going to go around with Jesus now, and preach His message, who is going to be His follower through His death, who is going to wait for the resurrection, who is going to play a huge role in establishing the church, who is going to write epistles that Christians through all the millennia thereafter are going to read and be drawn by—Peter is in the people-catching business for good.

And, again, what do they do? They take their boats to the shore and walk away from their lives and livelihood—to follow Him.

August 4, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on What is Prayer (Part 1 of 4)

What is Prayer (Part 1 of 4)

John Bunyan ~ modernized, with Scripture quotes from the HCSB.

I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. – 1 Corinthians 14:15

PRAYER is an ORDINANCE [law] of God, to be used both in public and private. It is such an ordinance that it brings those with the spirit of supplication into great familiarity with God; and is also so powerful in action, that it gets great things of God, both for the person that prays, and for those who are prayed for. Prayer is the opener of the heart of God, and a means by which the soul, although empty, is filled. By prayer the Christian can open his heart to God, as to a friend, and obtain fresh testimony of God’s friendship to him.

I might spend many words in distinguishing between public and private prayer; as also between that in the heart, and that with the vocal voice. Something also might be spoken to distinguish between the gifts and graces of prayer; but eschewing this method, my business shall be at this time only to show you the very heart of prayer, without which, all your lifting up, both of hands, and eyes, and voices, will be to no purpose at all. “I will pray with the Spirit.”

The method I will use is this: 1) To show you what true prayer is. 2) To show you what it is to pray with the Spirit. 3) What it is to pray with the Spirit and understanding also. And, 4) To make some short use and application of what shall be spoken.

WHAT PRAYER IS.

First, what true prayer is. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, for such things as God hath promised, or according to the Word, for the good of the church, with submission, in faith, to the will of God.

In this description are these seven things: 1) It is a sincere; 2) A sensible; 3) An affectionate, pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ; 4) By the strength or assistance of the Spirit; 5) For such things as God hath promised, or, according to his word; 6) For the good of the church; 7) With submission in faith to the will of God.

Prayer is sincere.

For the first of these, it is a SINCERE pouring out of the soul to God. Sincerity is such a grace as runs through all the graces of God in us, and through all the actions of a Christian, and is the motivation of them, too, or else their actions are not any thing regarded of God. And so also in prayer, of which particularly David speaks, when he mentions prayer:

I cried out to Him with my mouth,
and praise was on my tongue.
If I had been aware of malice in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
Ps. 66:17-18

Part of the exercise of prayer is sincerity, without which God doesn’t consider it prayer in a good sense (Ps. 16:1-4). Then “you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:12-13). The lack of sincerity made the Lord reject their prayers in Hosea 7:14, where he says, “They do not cry to Me from their hearts,” that is, in sincerity, “rather, they wail on their beds.” They prayed only for a pretence, for a show in hypocrisy, to be seen of men, and applauded by men. Sincerity was that which Christ commended in Nathaniel, when he was under the fig tree. “Here is a true Israelite; no deceit is in him.” Probably this good man was pouring out of his soul to God in prayer under the fig tree, and in a sincere and honest spirit before the Lord. The prayer that hath sincerity as one of its principal ingredients is the prayer that God looks at. Thus, “The prayer of the upright is his delight” (Prov 15:8).

And why is sincerity essential to prayers that are accepted of God? Because sincerity carries the soul in all simplicity to open its heart to God, and to tell him the case plainly, without equivocation; to condemn itself plainly, without dissembling; to cry to God heartily, without complimenting.

I have heard Ephraim moaning,
“You disciplined me, and I have been disciplined
like an untrained calf.
Restore me, and I will return,
for you, Lord, are my God.
(Jeremiah 31:18)

Sincerity is the same in a corner alone as it is before the face of the world. It knows not how to wear two faces, one for an appearance before men, and another for a short snatch in a corner; but it must have God, and be with him in the duty of prayer. It is not referring to lip-labour, for it is the heart that God looks at, and that which sincerity looks at, and that which prayer comes from, if it be that prayer which is accompanied with sincerity.

Prayer is sensible.

Secondly, prayer is a sincere and SENSIBLE pouring out of the heart or soul. It is not, as many take it to be, even a few babbling, prating, complimentary expressions, but a sensible feeling there is in the heart. Prayer has in it a sensibleness of diverse things; sometimes sense of sin, sometimes of mercy received, sometimes of the readiness of God to give mercy, and so on.

A sense of the want of mercy, by reason of the danger of sin. The soul feels, and from feeling sighs, groans, and breaks at the heart. For right prayer bubbles out of the heart when it is overpressed with grief and bitterness, as blood is forced out of the flesh by reason of some heavy burden that lies upon it (I Sam 1:10; Psa 69:3). David roars, cries, weeps, faints at heart, fails at the eyes, loses his moisture, etc. (Psa 38:8-10). Hezekiah mourns like a dove (Isa 38:14). Ephraim bemoans himself (Jer 31:18). Peter weeps bitterly (Matt 26:75). Christ has strong cryings and tears (Heb 5:7). And all this from a sense of the justice of God, the guilt of sin, the pains of hell and destruction.

The ropes of death were wrapped around me,
and the torments of Sheol overcame me;
I encountered trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
“Yahweh, save me!”
(Psalm 116:3-4)

And in another place, “My hands were continually lifted up
all night long” (Psa 77:2). Again, “I am bent over and brought low; all day long I go around in mourning.” (Psa 38:6). In all these instances, and in hundreds more, you see that prayer carries in it a sensible feeling disposition, firstly from a sense of sin.

Sometimes there is a sweet sense of mercy received; encouraging, comforting, strengthening, enlivening, enlightening mercy, etc. Thus David pours out his soul, to bless, and praise, and admire the great God for his loving- kindness to such poor vile wretches. “

My soul, praise Yahweh,
and all that is within me, praise His holy name.
My soul, praise the Lord,
and do not forget all His benefits.
He forgives all your sin;
He heals all your diseases.
He redeems your life from the Pit;
He crowns you with faithful love and compassion.
He satisfies you with goodness;
your youth is renewed like the eagle.
(Psa 103:1-5)

And thus is the prayer of saints sometimes turned into praise and thanksgiving, and yet are still prayers. This is a mystery; God’s people pray with their praises, as it is written, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6). A sensible thanksgiving, for mercies received, is a mighty prayer in the sight of God; it is unspeakably effective with Him.

In prayer there is sometimes in the soul a sense of mercy to be received. This again sets the soul all on a flame. “You, Lord of Hosts,” says David, “have revealed this to Your servant when You said, “I will build a house for you.” Therefore, Your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to You” (2 Sam 7:27). This provoked Jacob, David, Daniel, with others–a sense of mercies to be received–which caused them, not by fits and starts, nor yet in a foolish frothy way, to babble over a few words written in a paper; but mightily, fervently, and continually, to groan out their conditions before the Lord, as being sensible—sensible, I say, of their wants, their misery, and the willingness of God to show mercy (Gen 32:10,11; Dan 9:3,4).

A good sense of sin, and the wrath of God, with some encouragement from God to come to Him, is a better Common-prayer-book than that which is taken out of the Papistical mass-book, being the scraps and fragments of the devices of some popes, some friars, and I know not what.

Prayer is affectionate.

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, and an AFFECTIONATE pouring out of the soul to God. Oh, the heat, strength, life, vigour, and affection, that is in right prayer!

As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.
(Psa 42:1)
How I long for Your precepts!
(Psa 119:40)
“I long for Your salvation!
(Psa 119:174)
I long and yearn
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh cry out for the living God.
(Psa 84:2)
I am continually overcome
with longing for Your judgments.
(Psa 119:20)

Notice this, “My soul longeth,” it longeth, it longeth, and so on! Oh, what affection is here discovered in prayer! The same thing you have in Daniel. “Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for Your own sake, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Dan 9:19). Every syllable carries a mighty vehemence in it. This is called the fervent, or the working prayer, by James. And again, “Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently” (Luke 22:44). Or had his affections more and more drawn out after God for his helping hand.

Oh! How far are the majority of men with their prayers from this prayer, that is, PRAYER in God’s account! Alas! The greatest part of men make no notice at all of the duty; and as for them that do, it is to be feared that many of them are very great strangers to a sincere, sensible, and affectionate pouring out their hearts or souls to God; but even content themselves with a little lip-labour and bodily exercise, mumbling over a few imaginary prayers. When the affections are indeed engaged in prayer, then, then the whole man is engaged, and in such a way that the soul will spend itself to nothing, as it were, rather than go without that good it desires—even communion and solace with Christ. And so it is that the saints have spent their strengths, and lost their lives, rather than go without the blessing (Psa 69:3; 38:9,10; Gen 32:24,26).

All this is far too evident by the ignorance, profaneness, and spirit of envy, that reign in the hearts of those men that are so hot for the forms and not the power of praying. Scarce one of forty among them know what it is to be born again, to have communion with the Father through the Son; to feel the power of grace sanctifying their hearts: but for all their prayers, they still live cursed, drunken, whorish, and abominable lives, full of malice, envy, deceit, persecuting of the dear children of God. Oh what a dreadful thunder is coming upon them! Such that all their hypocritical assembling themselves together, with all their prayers, shall never be able to help them against, or shelter them from.

Again, It is a pouring out of the heart or soul. There is in prayer an unbosoming of a man’s self, an opening of the heart to God, an affectionate pouring out of the soul in requests, sighs, and groans. “My every desire is known to You,” says David, “and my sighing is not hidden from You” (Psa 38:9). And again, “I thirst for God, the living God. When can I come and appear before God? I remember this as I pour out my heart” (Psa 42:2,4). Mark, “I pour out my soul.” It is an expression signifying that in prayer the very life and whole strength goes to God. As in another place, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him” (Psa 62:8). This is the prayer to which the promise is made, for the delivering of a poor creature out of captivity and thralldom. “But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Deut 4:29).

Prayer is to God.

It is a pouring out of the heart or soul TO GOD. This shows also the excellency of the spirit of prayer. It is the great God to which it retires. “When shall I come and appear before God?” And it argues that the soul that truly prays to God sees an emptiness in all things under heaven; it sees that in God alone there is rest and satisfaction for the soul. “The real widow, left all alone, has put her hope in God” (I Tim 5:5). So saith David,

Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.
In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and fortress.
Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.
For You are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.
(Psa 71:1-5)

Many speak of God with their words, but right prayer makes God his hope, stay, and all. Right prayer sees nothing substantial, and nothing worth looking after, except God. And that, as I said before, it does in a sincere, sensible, and affectionate way.

Prayer is through Christ.

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God, THROUGH CHRIST. This “through Christ” must needs be added, or else it is to be questioned, whether it be prayer, though in appearance it be never so eminent or eloquent.

Christ is the way through whom the soul hath admittance to God, and without Him it is impossible that so much as a single desire should come into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (John 14:6). “Whatever you ask in My name”; “if you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it” (John 14:13,14). This was Daniel’s way in praying for the people of God; he did it in the name of Christ. “Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of Your servant. Show Your favor to Your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake.” (Dan 9:17). And so David, “Because of Your name, Yahweh,” that is, for Your Christ’s sake, “forgive my sin, for it is great” (Psa 25:11).

However, it is not every one that mentions Christ’s name in prayer, that does indeed and in truth effectually pray to God in the name of Christ, or through him. This coming to God through Christ is the hardest part that is found in prayer. A man may more easily be sensible of his works, indeed, and sincerely too desire mercy, and yet not be able to come to God by Christ. That man that comes to God by Christ, he must first have the knowledge of him; “for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists” (Heb 11:6). And so he who comes to God through Christ must be enabled to know Christ. Lord, says Moses, “please teach me Your ways, and I will know You” (Exo 33:13).

This Christ can be revealed by no one except the Father (Matt 11:27). And to come through Christ is for the soul to be enabled of God to shroud itself under the shadow of the Lord Jesus, as a man shrouds himself under a thing for safety (Matt 16:16). Thus it is that David so often terms Christ his shield, buckler, tower, fortress, rock of defence, etc., (Psa 18:2; 27:1; 28:1). Not only because by him he overcame his enemies, but because through him he found favour with God the Father. And so he saith to Abraham, “Fear not, I am your shield,” etc., (Gen 15:1).

The man then that comes to God through Christ, must have faith, by which he puts on Christ, and in him appears before God. Now he that has faith is born of God, born again, and so becomes one of the sons of God; by virtue of which he is joined to Christ, and made a member of him (John 3:5,7; 1:12). And therefore, secondly, he, as a member of Christ, comes to God, as a member of him, so that God looks on that man as a part of Christ, part of his body, flesh, and bones, united to him by election, conversion, illumination, the Spirit being conveyed into the heart of that poor man by God (Eph 5:30). So that now he comes to God in Christ’s merits, in his blood, righteousness, victory, intercession, and so stands before him, being “accepted in his Beloved” (Eph 1:6). And because this poor creature is thus a member of the Lord Jesus, and under this consideration has admittance to come to God; therefore, also by virtue of this union, is the Holy Spirit conveyed into him, whereby he is able to pour out himself, to wit, his soul, before God, with his audience. And this leads me to the next, or fourth particular.

Prayer is by assistance of the Spirit.

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate, pouring out of the heart or soul to God through Christ, by the strength or ASSISTANCE OF THE SPIRIT. These things are so dependent upon one another that it is impossible that it should be prayer, without a joint concurrence of them. For though it is never so famous, but without these things, it is only such prayer as is rejected of God.

For without a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart to God, it is but lip-labour; and if it be not through Christ, it falls far short of ever sounding well in the ears of God. So also, if it be not in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, it is but like the sons of Aaron, offering with strange fire (Lev 10:1,2). But I shall speak more to this under the second head; and therefore in the meantime, that which is not petitioned through the teaching and assistance of the Spirit, cannot be “according to the will of God (Rom 8:26,27).

Prayer is for the things God has promised.

Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart, or soul, to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, FOR SUCH THINGS AS GOD HATH PROMISED, &c., (Matt 6:6-8).

It is “prayer” when it is within the compass of God’s Word, and it is blasphemy—or at best vain babbling—when the petition is beside the book. David therefore in his prayer kept his eye on the Word of God. “My life,” he says, “is down in the dust; give me life through Your word.” And again, “I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your word” (Psa 119:25-28; see also 41, 42, 58, 65, 74, 81, 82, 107, 147, 154, 169, 170). And, “remember Your word to Your servant;
You have given me hope through it” (ver 49). And indeed the Holy Spirit doesn’t immediately quicken and stir up the heart of the Christian without the Word, but by, with, and through the it, by bringing the Word to the heart, and by opening of it, whereby the man is provoked to go to the Lord, and to tell him how it is with him, and also to argue, and supplicate, according to the Word.

This is how it was with Daniel, that mighty prophet of the Lord. He, understanding by books that the captivity of the children of Israel was hard at an end, according to that word made his prayer to God. “I Daniel,” he said, “understood from the books,” that is, the writings of Jeremiah, “according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be 70. So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.” (Dan 9:2,3). So that I say, as the Spirit is the helper and the governor of the soul, when it prays according to the will of God; so it guides by and according to, the Word of God and his promise. Hence it is that our Lord Jesus Christ himself did make a stop, although his life lay at stake for it: “Or do you think that I cannot call on My Father, and He will provide Me at once with more than 12 legions of angels? How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?” (Matt 26:53,54). As who should say, Were there but a word for it in the scripture, I should soon be out of the hands of mine enemies, I should be helped by angels; but the scripture will not warrant this kind of praying, for it says otherwise. It is a praying then according to the Word and promise. The Spirit by the Word must direct, as well in the manner, as in the matter of prayer. “I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also” (I Cor 14:15). But there is no understanding without the Word. For if they reject the word of the Lord, “what wisdom is in them?” (Jer 8:9).

Prayer is for the good of the church.

This clause reaches in whatsoever tends either to the honour of God, Christ’s advancement, or his people’s benefit. For God, and Christ, and his people are so linked together that if the good of the one be prayed for, to wit, the church, the glory of God, and advancement of Christ, must be included. For as Christ is in the Father, so the saints are in Christ; and he that touches the saints touches the apple of God’s eye; and therefore pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and you pray for all that is required of you. For Jerusalem will never be in perfect peace until she is in heaven; and there is nothing that Christ desires more than to have her there. That also is the place that God through Christ has given to her. He then that prays for the peace and good of Zion, or the church, asks in prayer that which Christ has purchased with his blood, and also that which the Father has given to him as the price of it.

Now he that prays for this, must pray for abundance of grace for the church, for help against all its temptations; that God would let nothing be too hard for it; and that all things might work together for its good, that God would keep them blameless and harmless, the sons of God, to his glory, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation—this is the substance of Christ’s own prayer in John 17. And all Paul’s prayers also ran that way, as one of his prayers eminently shows:

And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, ¹⁰so that you can approve the things that are superior and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
(Phil 1:9-11)

This is but a short prayer, you see, and yet full of good desires for the church, from the beginning to the end; that it may stand and go on, and that in the most excellent frame of spirit, even without blame, sincere, and without offence, until the day of Christ, let its temptations or persecutions be what they will (Eph 1:16-21; 3:14-19; Col 1:9- 13).

Prayer submits to the will of God.

Because, as I said, prayer doth SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF GOD, and say, Thy will be done, as Christ has taught us (Matt 6:10); therefore, the people of the Lord in humility are to lay themselves and their prayers—and all that they have—at the foot of their God, to be disposed of by him as he in his heavenly wisdom sees best. And yet, not doubting that God will answer the desire of his people in a way that shall be most for their advantage and his glory. When the saints pray with submission to the will of God, it doesn’t mean that they doubt or question God’s love and kindness to them. But because they at all times are not so wise, and that sometimes Satan may get that advantage of them, and tempt them to pray for that which, if they had it, would neither prove to God’s glory nor his people’s good. “

Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.
(1 John 5:14-15)

That is, what we ask in the Spirit of grace and supplication, for, as I said before, that petition which is not put up in and through the Spirit it is not to be answered, because it is beside the will of God. For the Spirit alone knows that, and so consequently knows how to pray according to that will of God. “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (I Cor 2:11). But more of this hereafter.

Thus you see, first, what prayer is.

[Here ends the first quarter of Bunyan’s “Discourse on Prayer.” By “modernizing” I mean occasionally replacing archaic words, often replacing archaic typographical conventions (paragraph breaks, formatting), and very rarely rearranging sentences. Time permitting, I hope to get to the rest of the discourse.]

August 4, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Nazareth Vs. Capernaum

Nazareth Vs. Capernaum

Next up, Luke 4:31-44. Here, Jesus goes back to Capernaum, the place where he had been doing miracles that the people in Nazareth wanted done in Nazareth, and… He does more miracles.

The parallels here seem pretty obvious. Jesus goes to the synagogue, on a Sabbath, and stands up to teach. It doesn’t say what His message was, but “they were astonished at His teaching because His message had authority.” And no negative remarks, apparently! This message that Jesus had authority is consistent through the Gospels and a real encouragement to me of His divinity and truth—even his enemies acknowledged that He was actually accomplishing things.

Anyway, so He’s in the synagogue. In Nazareth, they asked for a miracle, and in Capernaum, He actually did one: a man with a demonic spirit interrupted and accused Jesus of being a Nazarene and of being the Holy One of God. And then Jesus does the miracle: he tells the demon to be quiet and come out. And the demon comes out, without hurting him.

The people are all amazed and have ears for… his “message”. They recognize the authority over demons, and it builds their interest in his teaching. And news spreads. So the opposite of Nazareth in every way.

Then there was more. He leaves the synagogue and goes to see Peter, whose mother-in-law was sick, and He showed His authority over sickness, and she responds by… serving. She gets up and gets to work. Then all the sick of Capernaum come, and He heals them all, and casts out more demons, but forbids them to tell that He is the Messiah.

I’m not sure here why he forbids them to tell, except that it seems a bad message to be heralded by demons, of all people, but it is interesting and confirming that they recognized Him right away.

Finally, He bids farewell to Capernaum, over the objections of the people. They tried to stop Him leaving, but He says, “I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

This too seems to clearly echo His words in Nazareth, of being anointed “to preach good news to the poor”, “to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus came with a message, the Gospel. The same Gospel that was preached to Abraham, and the same Gospel Christians preach today. He preached it even in Nazareth where it was rejected, and He preached it in Capernaum where the people accepted it eagerly. The good, liberating, healing, enriching news of the kingdom of God, that God’s favor was at hand.

August 3, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Propostions on Faith

Propostions on Faith

Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory, Book 1, ch. 3

A life of godliness is our living unto God as God, as being absolutely addicted to him.
A life of faith is a living upon the unseen, everlasting happiness as purchased for us by Christ, with all the necessaries thereto, and freely given us by God.
The contrary life of sense and unbelief, is a living, in the prevalency of sense or flesh, to this present world, for want of such believing apprehensions of a better, as should elevate the soul thereto, and conquer the fleshly inclination to things present.
Though man in innocency, needing no Redeemer, might live to God without faith in a Redeemer; yet lapsed man is not only unable to redeem himself, but also unable to live to God without the grace of the Redeemer. It was not only necessary that he satisfy God’s justice for us, that he may pardon and save us without any wrong to his holiness, wisdom, or government; but also that he be our teacher by his doctrine and his life, and that he reveal from heaven the Father’s will, and that objectively in him we may see the wonderful condescending love and goodness of a reconciled God and Father, and that effectually he illuminate, sanctify, and quicken us by the operations of his word and Spirit, and that he protect and govern, justify and glorify us; and be the Head of restored man, as Adam was the root of lapsed man, and as the lapsed spirits had their head: and therefore we must wholly live upon him as the Mediator between God and man, and the only Saviour by merit and by efficacy.
Faith is a knowledge by certain credible testimony or revelation from God by means supernatural or extraordinary.
The knowledge of things naturally revealed (as the cause by the effect, &c.) is in order before the knowledge or belief of things revealed supernaturally.
It is matter of natural revelation that there is a God; that he is infinite in his immensity and eternity, in his power, wisdom, and goodness; that he is the First Cause and ultimate End of all things; that he is the Preserver and overruling Disposer of all things, and the supreme Governor of the rational world, and the great Benefactor of all mankind, and the special favourer and rewarder of such as truly love him, seek him, and obey him: also that the soul of man is immortal; and that there is a life of reward or punishment to come, and that this life is but preparatory unto that: that man is bound to love God his Maker, and serve him, with all his heart and might; and to believe that this labour is not vain: that we must do our best to know God’s will, that we may do it. This, with much more, (of which some part was mentioned, chap. 1,) is of natural revelation, which infidels may know.
There is so admirable a concord and correspondency of natural divinity with supernatural, the natural leading towards the supernatural, and the supernatural falling in so meet where the natural endeth, or falls short, or is defective, that it greatly advantageth us in the belief of supernatural divinity. Nay, as the law of nature was exactly fitted to man in his natural innocent state; so the law and way of grace in Christ is so admirably and exactly fitted to the state of lapsed man for his recovery and salvation, that the experience which man hath of his sin and misery, may greatly prepare him to perceive and believe this most suitable gospel or doctrine of recovery. And though it may not be called natural, as if it were fitted to innocent nature, or as if it were revealed by natural ordinary means, yet it may be so called, as it is exactly suited to the restoration of lapsed miserable nature; even as Lazarus his restored soul, though supernaturally restored, was the most natural associate of his body; or as bread, or milk, or wine, though it should fall from heaven, is in itself the most natural food for man.
The same things in divinity which are revealed naturally to all, are again revealed supernaturally in the gospel; and therefore may and must be the matter both of natural knowledge and of faith.
When the malicious tempter casteth in doubts of a Deity, or other points of natural certainty, it so much discrediteth his suggestions, as may help us much to reject them when withal he tempteth us to doubt of the truth of the gospel.
There are many needful appurtenances [accessories] to the objects of a divine faith, which are the matter of a human faith. (Of which more anon.)
Christ, as Mediator, is the way, or principal means to God, as coming to restore man to his Maker. And so faith in Christ is but the means to bring us to the love of God, though in time they are connexed.
Knowledge and faith are the eye of the new creature, and love is the heart; there is no more spiritual wisdom, than there is faith; and there is no more life, or acceptable qualification, or amiableness, than there is love to God.
All truths in divinity are revealed in order to a holy life; both faith and love are the principles and springs of practice.
Practice affordeth such experience to a believing soul, as may confirm him greatly in the belief of those supernatural revelations, which he before received without that help.
The everlasting fruition of God in glory being the end of all religion, must be next the heart, and most in our eye, and must objectively animate our whole religion, and actuate us in every duty.
The pleasing of God being also our end, and both of these (enjoying him and pleasing him) being in some small foretastes attainable in this life, the endeavour of our souls and lives must be by faith to exercise love and obedience; for thus God is pleased and enjoyed.
All things in religion are fitted to the good of man, and nothing to his hurt: God doth not command us to honour him by any thing which would make us miserable; but by closing with and magnifying his love and grace.
But yet it is his own revelation by which we must judge what is finally for our good or hurt; and we may not imagine that our shallow or deceivable wit is sufficient to discern without his word, what is best or worst for us; nor can we rationally argue from any present temporal adversity or unpleasing bitterness in the means, that “This is worst for us, and therefore it is not from the goodness of God:” but we must argue in such cases, “This is from the goodness and love of God, and therefore it is best.”
The grand impediment to all religion and our salvation, which hindereth both our believing, loving, and obeying, is the inordinate sensual inclination to carnal self and present transitory things, cunningly proposed by the tempter to insnare us, and divert and steal away our hearts from God and the life to come.

The understanding of these propositions will much help you in discerning the nature and reason of religion.

August 3, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Miracles: Not for everyone.

Miracles: Not for everyone.

So, my next goal for reading is to read through Jesus’s “sermons” as set out in the book of Luke. It struck me on my last read-through (which was rapid) that there was an enormous amount of meat in only a handful of verses—over, and over, and over again—and that to really get at what Jesus was saying was going to take some time. I want to try to write it out here to make myself pay attention!

So, beginning in Luke 4:16-30.

The first thing I notice here is the sovereignty of God. Jesus didn’t ask for Isaiah, for a Messianic passage; rather, it “was given to him.” So Jesus picks out this prophecy of Himself, reads it, and sits down.

And the crowd is amazed at his graciousness and pleased with him, except not so pleased because—wait, isn’t this Joseph’s son?

Jesus rebukes them. They’re just interested in His miracles, He asserts, referencing Capernaum. But He cuts them off: pointing out starkly the many widows of Israel who starved in the days of Elijah, yet Elijah only went to one; and of the many lepers of Israel who were not healed in the days of Elisha, yet only one.

The people are enraged, and try to kill Him.

Many things in Jesus’s sermonette. 1) The divinity of the text and power of the Spirit in providing it. 2) Jesus compares himself to Elijah and Elisha, which is obviously enraging all by itself. 3) Jesus points out that the greatest prophets were not even called to all of Israel—a hint, I think, of the “not all Israel is Israel” that Paul would later make explicit in Romans 9:6… and an indicator that it’s been that way, and understood by the faithful, from the beginning. Elijah and Elisha’s blessings were only bestowed on a few, though they were in the midst of the entire nation; the nation was in rebellion (Ahab, Jezebel, and their children), and the mercies—the ministry, the miracles—were only directed to a handful. Lastly, 4) if we consider not just Nazareth, but the kingdom of Israel as Jesus’ “hometown,” this echoes His rejection by political Israel as well, from the very earliest days of His ministry.

July 14, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Practical Helps Against Anger

Practical Helps Against Anger

Richard Baxter

Direct I. The principal help against sinful anger is, in the right habituating of the soul, that you live as under the government of God, with the sense of his authority still upon your hearts, and in the sense of that mercy that hath forgiven you, and forbeareth you, and under the power of his healing and assisting grace, and in the life of charity to God and man. Such a heart is continually fortified, and carrieth its preservatives within itself, as a wrathful man carrieth his incentives still within him: there is the main cause of wrath or meekness.

Direct. II. Be sure that you keep a humbled soul, that over-valueth not itself; for humility is patient and aggravateth not injuries: but a proud man takes all things as heinous or intolerable that are said or done against him. He that thinks meanly of himself, thinks meanly of all that is said or doneagainst himself. But he that magnifieth himself, doth magnify his provocations. Pride is a most impatient sin: there is no pleasing a proud person, without a great deal of wit, and care, and diligence. You must come about them as you do about straw or gunpowder with a candle. Prov. xiii. 10, “Only by pride cometh contention.” Prov. xxviii. 25, “He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife.” Prov. xxi. 24, “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.” Psal. xxxi. 18, ” Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.” Humility, and meekness, and patience live and die together.

Direct. III. Take heed of a worldly, covetous mind; for that setteth so much by earthly things, that every loss, or cross, or injury will be able todisquiet him, and inflame his passion. Neither neighbour, nor child, nor servant can please a covetous man; every little trespass, or crossing his commodity, toucheth him to the quick, and maketh him impatient.

Direct. IV. Stop your passion in the beginning, before it go too far. It is easiest moderated at first. Watch against the first stirrings of your wrath, and presently command it down: reason and will can do much if you will but use them according to their power. A spark is sooner quenched than a flame; and this serpent is easiliest crushed in the spawn.

Direct. V. Command your tongue, and hand, and countenance, if you cannot presently quiet or command your passion. And so you will avoid the greatest of the sin, and the passion itself will quickly be stifled for want of vent. You cannot say that it is not in your power to hold your tongue or hands if you will. Do not only avoid that swearing and cursing which are the marks of the profane, but avoid many words till you are fitter to use them, and avoid expostulations, and contending, and, bitter, opprobrious, cutting speeches, which tend to stir up the wrath of others. And use a mild and gentle speech, which savoureth of love, and tendeth to assuage the heat that is kindled. Prov. xv. 1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” And that which mollifieth and appeaseth another, will much conduce to the appeasing of yourselves.

Direct. VI. At least command yourself into quietness till reason be heard speak, and while you deliberate. Be not so hasty as not to think what you say or do. A little delay will abate the fury, and give reason time to do its office. Prov. xxv. 15, “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft answer breaketh the bone.” Patience will lenify another’s wrath; and if you use it but so long, as a little to stay yourselves, till reason be awake,it will lenify your own. And he is a fury, and not a man, that cannot stop while he considereth.

Direct. VII. If you cannot easilier quiet or restrain yourselves, go away from the place and company. And then you will not be heated by contending words, nor exasperate others by your contending. When you are alone the fire will assuage. Prov. xiv. 7, ” Go away from the presence of a foolish man when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” You will not stand still and stir in a wasp’s nest when you have enraged them.

Direct. VIII. Yea, ordinarily avoid much talk, or disputes, or business with angry men, as far as you can without avoiding your duty: and avoid all other occasions and temptations to the sin. A man that is in danger of a fever, must avoid that which kindleth it. Come not among the infected, if you fear the plague; stand not in the sun, if you are too hot already. Keep as far as you can from that which most provoketh you.”

Direct. IX. Meditate not on injuries or provoking things when you are alone; suffer not your thoughts to feed upon them. Else you will be devils to yourselves, and tempt yourselves when you have none else to tempt you and will make your solitude as provoking as if you were in company;and you will be angering yourselves by your own imaginations.

Direct. X. Keep upon your minds the lively thoughts of the exemplary meekness and patience of Jesus Christ; who calleth you to learn of him to be “meek and lowly,” Matt. xi. 29. “Who being reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not; leaving us an example that we should follow his steps,” I Pet ii. 21, 23. Who hath pronounced a special ” blessing” on the ” meek,” that ” they shall inherit the earth,” Matt, v. 5.

Direct. XI. Live as in God’s presence; and when your passions grow bold repress them with the reverend name of God, and bid them remember that God and his holy angels see you.

Direct. XII. Look on others in their passion, and see how unlovely they make themselves, with frowning countenances, and flaming eyes, and threatening, devouring looks, and hurtful inclinations; and think with yourselves, whether these are your most desirable patterns.

Direct. XIII. Without any delay confess the sin to those that stand by (if easier means will not repress it); and presently take the shame to yourselves, and shame the sin and honour God. This means is in your power if you will; and it will be an excellent, effectual means. Say to those that you are angry with, I find a sinful anger kindling in me, and I begin to forget God’s presence and my duty, and am tempted to speak provoking words to you, which I know God hath forbidden me to do. Such a present opening of your temptation will break the force of it; and such a speedy confession will stop the fire that it go no further; for it will be an engagement upon you in point of honour, even the reputation of your wit and honesty, which will both suffer by it, if you go on in the sin just when you have thus opened it by confession. I know there is prudence to be used in this, that you do it not so as may make you ridiculous, or harden others in their sinful provocations. But with prudence and due caution it is an excellent remedy, which you can use if you are not unwilling.

Direct. XIV. If you have let your passion break out to the offence or wrong of any, by word or deed, freely and speedily confess it to them, and ask them forgiveness, and warn them to take heed of the like sin by your example. This will do much to clear your consciences, to preserve your brother,to cure the hurt, and to engage you against the sin hereafter: if you are so proud that you will not do this, say no more you cannot help it, but that you will not. A good heart will not think this too dear a remedy against any sin.

Direct. XV. Go presently (in the manner that the place alloweth you) to prayer to God for pardon and grace against the sin. Sin will not endure prayer and God’s presence. Tell him how apt your peevish hearts are to be kindled into sinful wrath, and entreat him to help you by his sufficient grace, and engage Christ in the cause, who is your Head and Advocate; and then your souls will grow obedient and calm. Even as Paul, 2 Cor. xii. 7—9, when he had the prick in the flesh, prayed thrice, (as Christ did in his agony,) so you must pray, and pray again and again, till you find God’s grace sufficient for you.

Direct. XVI. Covenant with some faithful friend that is with you to watch over you and rebuke your passions as soon as they begin to appear;and promise them to take it thankfully and in good part; and perform that promise, that you discourage them not. Either you are so far weary of your sin and willing to be rid of it, as to be willing to do what you can against it, or you are not: if you are, you can do this much if you please: if you are not, pretend not to repent, and to be willing to be delivered from your sin upon any lawful terms, when it is not so. Remember still, the mischievous effects of it do make it to be no contemptible sin. EccL vii. 9, ” Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.” Prov. xvi. 32, ” He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.” Prov. xv. 18, “A wrathful man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.” Prov. xix. 11, “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”

July 13, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Richard Baxter on Anger

Richard Baxter on Anger

Anger is good when it is thus used to its appointed end, in a right manner and measure: but it is sinful,

When it riseth up against God or any good, as if it were evil to us: as wicked men are angry at those that would convert and save them, and that tell them of their sins, and that hinder them from their desires.
When it disturbeth reason, and hindereth our judging of things aright.
When it casteth us into any unseemly carriage, or causeth or disposeth to any sinful words or actions: when it inclineth us to wrong another by word or deed, and to do as we would not be done by.
When it is mistaken, and without just cause.
When it is greater in measure than the cause alloweth.
When it unfitteth us for our duty to God or man.
When it tendeth to the abatement of love and brotherly kindness, and the hindering of any good which we should do for others: much more when it breedeth malice, and revenge, and contentions, and unpeaceableness in societies, oppression of inferiors, or dishonouring of superiors.
When it stayeth too long, and ceaseth not when its lawful work is done.
When it is selfish and carnal, stirred up upon the account of some carnal interest, and used but as a means to a selfish, carnal, sinful end: as to be angry with men only for crossing your pride, or profit, or sports, or any other fleshly will.

In all these it is sinful.

Consider how much other sin immoderate anger doth incline men to. It is the great crime of drunkenness, that a man having not the government of himself, is made liable by it to any wickedness: and so it is with immoderate anger. How many oaths and curses doth it cause every day! How many rash and sinful actions! What villany hath not anger done! It hath slandered, railed, reproached, falsely accused, and injured many a thousand. It hath murdered and ruined families, cities, and states. It hath made parents kill their children, and children dishonour their parents. It hath made kings oppress and murder their subjects, and subjects rebel and murder kings. What a world of sin is committed by sinful anger throughout all the world! How endless would it be to give you instances! David himself was once drawn by it to purpose the murdering of all the family of Nabal. Its effects should make it odious to us.

And it is much the worse in that it suffereth not a man to sin alone, but stirreth up others to do the like. Wrath kindleth wrath, as fire kindleth fire. It is two to one but when you are angry you will make others angry, or discontented, or troubled by your words or deeds. And you have not the power of moderating them in it, when you have done. You know not what sin it may draw them to. It is the devil’s bellows to kindle men’s corruptions; and sets hearts, and families, and kingdoms in a flame.

–Richard Baxter, from A Christian Directory

June 2, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on On headcoverings

On headcoverings

To begin with, the Scripture (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, HCSB):

Now I praise you because you always remember me and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. ³But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ. ⁴Every man who prays or prophesies with something on his head dishonors his head. ⁵But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved. ⁶So if a woman’s head is not covered, her hair should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should be covered.

⁷A man, in fact, should not cover his head, because he is God’s image and glory, but woman is man’s glory. ⁸For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man. ⁹And man was not created for woman, but woman for man.¹⁰This is why a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. ¹¹In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. ¹²For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things come from God.

¹³Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? ¹⁴Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory?For her hair is given to her as a covering. ¹⁶But if anyone wants to argue about this, we have no other custom, nor do the churches of God.

Now, the very clear teaching is in v 6: she should be covered.

Covered When?

It is largely uncontroversial that this is talking about corporate worship. Verse five specifies “prays or prophesies,” and it is here that the best argument against headcovering is founded: that women only need to have their heads covered while speaking aloud in church. That, however, makes the whole passage pointless because Paul also forbids women to speak in church. So… what can it mean? I think it is better to read it in the context of church life (as the entire passage is) and leave the question of whether women are prophesying out loud or not in church to a different discussion.

it can’t mean to cover always because it gives a single context—when praying or prophesying

it can’t mean to cover only when speaking formally in worship because then why bother mentioning it at all

My thought is that either this means quiet prayer / participatory prayer, or else maybe the early church was less formal and people were speaking to each other. But I think this has nothing to do with the headcovering question, rather the issue of “women prophesying” at all, and how that looked in corporate worship, and it’s better to separate the question and say, whatever was proper for women to do in church, they should be covered.

Paul’s arguments

The passage is straightforward, but essentially, Paul argues:

This is a tradition. Verse 2. There is scant biblical evidence but firm Talmudic evidence that headcovering was the de facto Jewish tradition and law. This is what converted Jews would have done. At any rate, by the time Paul is explaining it, it’s a tradition of the Church.
This is an example of headship. Verse 3-5. Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman. It is dishonoring to man’s head to cover it (man’s head is Christ); it is dishonoring to woman’s head to not cover it (woman’s head is man).
To be uncovered in church is the same as to shave your head. Verses 5-6. It is “disgraceful,” Paul says. More on this below.
Because of Creation: men should not cover their heads because they are God’s image and glory, but woman is man’s glory. Verse 7. It shows the created order and purpose (woman was made for man).
As a symbol of authority: verse 10: this is why headcoverings. It’s to show the authority of the man over the woman, and to show (in men) the authority that the man has.
Because of the angels. Verse 10. Nobody knows what this means. That’s really the bottom line. Some people suggest that it’s talking about modesty, either because of the bad angels (cf. Genesis 6) or to not tempt the good angels (see Ecclesiastes 5:6). Another possibility is that the practice of covering is in imitation of the angels, Isaiah 6:1. Another possibility is based on a few verses (and a lot of tradition) that suggest the angels are present (witnessing) in corporate worship, and that consequently doing things properly is even more important… but really, nobody has a clue what this means.
Because nature teaches it. Verses 13-15. Nature teaches that women need a covering beyond what men have.
Because it is a tradition. Verse 16. This verse is often misinterpreted, but this seems to be the best understanding: don’t argue with everything I just said, because this is what everybody in the churches of God does. This is our custom.

The Two Coverings

This is the essence of one of the most confusing aspects of the passage—the “hair” covering and the “wear a covering” covering. Throughout Paul appeals to the natural reality of women having long hair, and some get confused and say that the long hair is the covering he refers to.

This does not, however, make sense.

Fundamentally, it doesn’t make sense because the Greek word in 15—“her hair is given to her as a peribolaion”—is not the same Greek word used in verse 6—“she should be katakalupto.” They mean two different things. Paul could have used the same root for each but chose not to. This misunderstanding never could have arisen from reading the Greek, because the key point doesn’t match up. Paul commands that women be katakalupto but long hair is a periobolaion.

Even on the surface, though, the passage makes no sense if we understanding “long hair” to be adequate covering. Substitute “long hair” in place of “covered” and it disintegrates. Verse 5-6:

But every woman who prays or prophesies with [shaved hair] dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved. So if a woman’s head is [shaved], her hair should be cut off. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should [have long hair].

I think what Paul is trying to say in this passage is that there are two coverings. There is one covering, long hair, which is recognized even by natural man, and which is God’s gracious gift to women everywhere as a natural sign of femininity (and in turn, submission). This teaches us even in our wretched state that women should be “covered” with long hair. In the church, however, when we are approaching the things of God—and woman is the glory of man, not of God (verse 7)—there is another covering required, because in worship of God, it is proper to veil the glory of man.

When Paul says, then, “every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since that is one and the same as having her head shaved” (verse 5), I think he means head uncovered in church is the same thing as having no hair outside of church. I.e., lacking the proper covering for the proper context (lacking a covering for church, lacking long hair outside church).

Objection: it’s just cultural.

There are a few different ways people intend this objection. The first, is that the Bible is not culturally inerrant, is used likewise to dismiss the passages about homosexuality, women speaking in the church, etc., so I’m not even going to bother with it. We can’t dismiss the passage simply as no longer relevant.

Which brings us to the first legitimate question, which is, is the specific expression of the principle here merely cultural? I.e., why not just wear wedding rings?

Well, I think the answer to this is in Paul’s if in verse 6: “if it is disgraceful… she should be covered.” And one might argue that it is no longer disgraceful for women to have short hair, but I think that argument is folly and degeneracy. It still makes news when celebrities shave their heads, or even get ultra-feminine pixie cuts. Chemo patients buy wigs, or wear scarves—if they’re women. Men don’t wear wigs and certainly don’t wear scarves to cover their baldness. I think Paul’s if is still answered with a “yes,” political correctness aside.

Secondly, our culture doesn’t have a parallel expression to fall back on: wedding rings are only for currently-married women and… men. Paul is fundamentally talking about a symbol of gender here.

I can see the argument that skirts might apply, but then we have the problem that skirts have nothing to do with heads (whereas the meaning of headcoverings clearly connects the metaphorical headship with literal heads), and don’t actually cover anything. If Paul meant “the women should dress like women,” he surely could have said so, and then in cultures that practiced headcovering, there would be headcovering, and in cultures that wore skirts, there would be skirts. But he made a very explicit argument based on headship, and cemented his argument by saying that women already have one sort of covering on their heads—long hair.

Further, Paul’s arguments have not a word about culture: he bases it on tradition, Creation, the angels, and nature. None of which have changed.

In other words, every single thing in the passage points to it being culturally transcendent.

Further, while evidence is unsure, it seems the practice of Corinth was not to cover their heads. Paul was teaching something contrary to Corinthian culture.

OBJECTION: It’s only mentioned in this one passage.

I really don’t understand this objection, but it’s common.

What difference does it make? It’s fifteen verses of clarity. Maybe the Corinthian church was the only one sufficiently un-Jewish to have not already had and known the tradition. Or whose native culture didn’t practice headcovering. Or maybe by the time the other letters were written (only 1-2 Thessalonians were earlier), word had gotten around. Who knows? This isn’t one vague verse to build a doctrine on; it’s a entire coherent argument with multiple supporting points.

Objection: It’s not clear what “covering” means.

More precisely, the difficulty is that “covered” seems to possibly mean completely covered, like a burqa, which then would contradict Paul’s prohibition on “e.g. braided hair,” which implies that hair was visible.

I think it is sensible to admit that there is legitimate confusion here, as on the “women prophesy in church?” question. But the confusion doesn’t infringe on the question of whether or not “head covering” is necessary, only what it should look like.

Except for the possibility of “because of the angels,” no part of Paul’s argument appeals to modesty:

none of his premises are based on modesty
modesty would not sensibly stop applying when outside the church
if covering the hair was what Paul had in mind (for modesty’s sake), then it would not make sense to call uncovered long hair a “covering” as in verse 15.

Thus, it seems most sensible to me to view this passage chiefly as saying women need to have “authority” on their heads, as symbolism, not modesty.

Moreover, the word argument is a poor one: the word is used frequently in the Septuagint and seems to be used just as “covering,” even if the etymology would seem to indicate something severe. (And it never refers, incidentally, to hair). This is a detailed overview, although I don’t know the veracity of the source.

Historical practice

Finally, while it has no impact on the text, it’s worth noting that headcovering has been the universal practice of the Christian church from the beginning until the 20th century, and continues today in many countries and many denominations and even other religions (Mennonite, Amish, Brethren, Catholic, Orthodox, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.).

The historical practice makes it hard to sort out what commentators “would have” thought in a different cultural setting, but there’s no doubt that they held headcoverings were exactly what the passage is teaching, as this blog post ably shows.

May 23, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Further Thoughts on the Broken Covenant

Further Thoughts on the Broken Covenant

I have found some more places where it was prophesied that the covenant would be broken if Israel disobeyed.

1 Kings 9:6-7, after dedicating Solomon’s Temple, Yahweh appears to Solomon and tells him:

If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands—My statutes that I have set before you—and if you go and serve other gods and worship them, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for My name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples.

Moses prophesied that because of their failure to keep the covenant, God would “provoke” Israel with a people “who are not a people (Deuteronomy 32:21, ESV):

They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

God covenanted with the house of Levi forever, but when they disobeyed (1 Samuel 2:30):

Although I said
your family and your ancestral house
would walk before Me forever,
the Lord now says, “No longer!”
I will honor those who honor Me,
but those who despise Me will be disgraced.

And further, He said their iniquity “will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering” (1 Samuel 3:14).

Samuel warned that if Israel continued to do what was evil, “both you and your king will be swept away” (1 Samuel 12:25).

Like Moses, Joshua warned that the covenant would not be able to be kept (Joshua 24:19-20,27, hcsb):

But Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to worship Yahweh, because He is a holy God. He is a jealous God;He will not remove your transgressions and sins. If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, He will turn against you, harm you, and completely destroy you, after He has been good to you.”

May 23, 2014
by julie
Comments Off on Calvinism in the Old Testament

Calvinism in the Old Testament

Isaiah 64:4-7, ESV:

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

Deuteronomy 32:39:

See now that I alone am He;
there is no God but Me.
I bring death and I give life;
I wound and I heal.
No one can rescue anyone from My hand.

1 Kings 8:46 says:

When they sin against You—
for there is no one who does not sin

1 Kings 8:58 says our obedience is at God’s will:

so that He causes us to be devoted to Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, which He commanded our ancestors

And indeed David says our disobedience is also at God’s will (2 Samuel 16:10, hcsb):

He curses me this way because the Lord told him, ‘Curse David!’

David also gives God full credit for David’s own righteousness (2 Samuel 22:29-37, hcsb), which David had just finished discussing earlier in this song, and then turns to discuss who gets the glory for it:

Lord, You are my lamp;
the Lord illuminates my darkness.
With You I can attack a barrier,
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
God—His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
..
God is my strong refuge;
He makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.
He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of Your salvation; Your help exalts me.
You widen a place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.

Job speaks in Job 9:2-3,15-16,20 (hcsb):

but how can a person be justified before God?
If one wanted to take Him to court,
he could not answer God once in a thousand times.

[…]
Even if I were in the right, I could not answer.
I could only beg my Judge for mercy.
If I summoned Him and He answered me,
I do not believe He would pay attention to what I said.
Even if I were in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, my mouth would declare me guilty.

And again in Job 12 (hcsb):

Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are His.
¹⁴Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released.
¹⁵When He withholds the waters, everything dries up,
and when He releases them, they destroy the land.
¹⁶True wisdom and power belong to Him.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
¹⁷He leads counselors away barefoot
and makes judges go mad.
¹⁸He releases the bonds put on by kings
and fastens a belt around their waists.
¹⁹He leads priests away barefoot
and overthrows established leaders.
²⁰He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders’ good judgment.
²¹He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms^[ad] the strong.
²²He reveals mysteries from the darkness
and brings the deepest darkness into the light.
²³He makes nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges nations, then leads them away.
²⁴He deprives the world’s leaders of reason,
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
²⁵They grope around in darkness without light;
He makes them stagger like drunken men

Job, Job 23 (hcsb):

But He is unchangeable; who can oppose Him?
He does what He desires.
¹⁴He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me,
and He has many more things like these in mind
¹⁵Therefore I am terrified in His presence;
when I consider this, I am afraid of Him.
¹⁶God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me.

Elihu, Job 33 (hcsb):

For God speaks time and again,
but a person may not notice it.
¹⁵In a dream, a vision in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber on their beds,
¹⁶He uncovers their ears at that time
and terrifies them with warnings,
¹⁷in order to turn a person from his actions
and suppress his pride
¹⁸God spares his soul from the Pit,
his life from crossing the river of death.
¹⁹A person may be disciplined on his bed with pain
and constant distress in his bones,
²⁰so that he detests bread,
and his soul despises his favorite food.
²¹His flesh wastes away to nothing,
and his unseen bones stick out.
²²He draws near to the Pit,
and his life to the executioners.
²³If there is an angel on his side,
one mediator out of a thousand,
to tell a person what is right for him
²⁴and to be gracious to him and say,
“Spare him from going down to the Pit;
I have found a ransom,”
²⁵then his flesh will be healthier than in his youth,
and he will return to the days of his youthful vigor.
²⁶He will pray to God, and God will delight in him.
That man will see His face with a shout of joy,
and God will restore his righteousness to him.
²⁷He will look at men and say,
“I have sinned and perverted what was right;
yet I did not get what I deserved.
²⁸He redeemed my soul from going down to the Pit,
and I will continue to see the light.”
²⁹God certainly does all these things
two or three times to a man
³⁰in order to turn him back from the Pit,
so he may shine with the light of life.

Elihu, Job 35:

Do you think it is just when you say,
“I am righteous before God”?
³For you ask, “What does it profit You,
and what benefit comes to me, if I do not sin?”

Elihu, Job 37:

Teach us what we should say to Him;
we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.
²⁰Should He be told that I want to speak?
Can a man speak when he is confused?

Job, after God tells him his righteousness is unsufficient (Job 42):

I had heard rumors about You,
but now my eyes have seen You.
⁶Therefore I take back my words
and repent in dust and ashes.

Psalm 14:1-3, hcsb:

The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.
²The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
³All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.

Psalm 25:7-14,hcsb:

Do not remember the sins of my youth
or my acts of rebellion;
in keeping with Your faithful love, remember me
because of Your goodness, Lord.

The Lord is good and upright;
therefore He shows sinners the way.
⁹He leads the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
¹⁰All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth
to those who keep His covenant and decrees.
¹¹Because of Your name, Yahweh,
forgive my sin, for it is great.

¹²Who is the man who fears the Lord?
He will show him the way he should choose.
¹³He will live a good life,
and his descendants will inherit the land.^[d]
¹⁴The secret counsel of the Lord
is for those who fear Him,
and He reveals His covenant to them.

Psalm 51, hcsb:

Wash away my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
³For I am conscious of my rebellion,
and my sin is always before me.
⁴Against You—You alone—I have sinned
and done this evil in Your sight.
So You are right when You pass sentence;
You are blameless when You judge.
⁵Indeed, I was guilty when I was born;
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

16 You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it;
You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷The sacrifice pleasing to God is^[z] a broken spirit.
God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

Psalm 53, hcsb:

God looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.
³All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.

Psalm 58:3:

The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth.

Psalm 80:19:

Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.

Jeremiah 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— ²⁶Egypt, 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.”