First, some "knew" news. Once again this was the best month ever for "The Matthew Never Knew" with a record 2000+ unique visits and 5000+ total hits. I added one of those cool cluster maps too (bottom left). I'm hoping to hit 100,000 hits by my blogs birthday 10/13
BBC blogging was much improved this month in my always-factual opinion. I had to nominate 10 posts insted of the usual 7.
Robin's Engrish Pics
Sarah's Unfortunate Event
Andrew's Mega-Church-Chat
Damien Provokes Patriotism
AP's Hidden Christ
Liz's Language Lesson
Sasha's Idol Experience
Paul's Poor Punctuation;
AP's View of Joseph
Kristi's Vulgar Child
As for a BBC poster of the month, I'm going to give it to my 'hao peng you' Aaron P for his thought provoking and versatile posts during the month (I mean, he had everything from mustard bombs to $1000 hamburgers!).
Keep posting! I'm pretty sure in 'The Message' Bible there is a verse that mentions the importance of consistent blogging. God Bless and good day!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
The Mystery of Israel
For many years and from many teachers I'd been told that the phrase in Romans 11:26a "And so all Israel will be saved" meant that prior to the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ remaining national Israelites will be converted to Christianity. In light of the context, what was Paul communicating with this phrase?
I think of Romans 9-11 as a unified argument against anti-semitism in the Church at Rome. Paul's passion for his biological brothers is impossible to ignore. He wants them to be saved, but he recognizes that being 'in Israel' is meaningless unless one is 'in' the true 'Israelite', namely, Jesus Christ. And so he re-defines Israel. He says not everyone from one of the 12 tribes is an Israelite (9:6). He says it's not by natural means that we are considered God's children (9:8). In other words, it's not about genetics. Now, then, Paul is working with 2 definitions for the term 'Israel' (national Israel & spiritual Israel).
He uses these definitions side by side throughout the argument. For instance, in 9:27 he says not all the Israelites will be saved, but only the remnant. The first group must be national Israel since part of it is saved and part of it is unsaved. The latter 'remnant' must refer to spiritual Israel since it is a completely saved entity.
Paul builds on his argument, arguing that there is really no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to salvation (10:12). Not all Israelites (must be national) accepted the good news, just like not all gentiles accepted the good news (10:16). Paul's hope is that, by his ministry to the gentiles, he will arouse national Israel to envy and see 'some' of them be saved (11:14). The 'some' of course, would be spiritual Israel. His point is that any national Israelite can become a spiritual Israelite 'if they do not persist in unbelief' (11:23).
That brings us to Romans 11:25-26a and the great 'mystery' of history:
So what of 'so all Israel' in 11:26a? Each word is important.
First, the word 'so' is not the same as the word 'then'. Paul isn't saying that after the fulness of the gentiles comes in, all national Israelites will finally believe in Christ. He's saying that the 'part' of national Israel that is un-hardened and all the gentiles who believe, together, make up spiritual Israel. The 'result' of the remnant Jews and the believing Gentiles is the collective people of God. Second, the word 'all' means just that. It can't refer to national Israel because Paul just quoted Isaiah in order to echo his prophecy that only the remnant of national Israel would be saved. Whoever 'Israel' is in verse 26a, it can't be national Israel. Third, the word 'Israel' is key and should be read as 'spiritual Israel'. If Paul is not talking about national Israel here, he must be talking about his new definition of the term, spiritual Israel. Can 'all' of spiritual Israel be saved? Yes, by definition they are all saved.
How does this teaching mesh with the other passages in Scripture that discuss the 'mystery' of the Gospel? Perfectly! In Ephesians Paul describes the 'mystery' as being that which brings all things together under one head, Christ (1:10). He says bluntly that 'this mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus' (Eph. 3:6). The only difference between Paul's description of the mystery in Romans and Ephesians is that in the former letter he's speaking against conceited believers and in the latter letter he's speaking to discouraged believers. The former needed to hear that Jews were still welcome in, the latter needed to hear that they, themselves, were full members along with believing Jews!
In other words, there are no second class citizens of the kingdom. There are not 2 groups in the people of God. God's purpose was to take believing Jews and belieiving gentiles and not only make them loving brothers, but to actually make them 1 new man (Eph. 1:15)!
The 'Mystery of Israel', then, is the beautiful truth that salvation knows nothing of geography or race. We don't need to travel to Jerusalem to be saved or be circumcised. Likewise, being in Jerusalem and being circumcised won't prevent us from being saved. The mystery of the gospel, most deeply communicated by Paul in Colossians, is that Christ (the true Israelite) lives in us! That is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27). And anyone who is 'in Christ' (notice, not 'in Israel') can take part in this wonderful hope and all the wonderful promises (Gal. 3:29).
I think of Romans 9-11 as a unified argument against anti-semitism in the Church at Rome. Paul's passion for his biological brothers is impossible to ignore. He wants them to be saved, but he recognizes that being 'in Israel' is meaningless unless one is 'in' the true 'Israelite', namely, Jesus Christ. And so he re-defines Israel. He says not everyone from one of the 12 tribes is an Israelite (9:6). He says it's not by natural means that we are considered God's children (9:8). In other words, it's not about genetics. Now, then, Paul is working with 2 definitions for the term 'Israel' (national Israel & spiritual Israel).
He uses these definitions side by side throughout the argument. For instance, in 9:27 he says not all the Israelites will be saved, but only the remnant. The first group must be national Israel since part of it is saved and part of it is unsaved. The latter 'remnant' must refer to spiritual Israel since it is a completely saved entity.
Paul builds on his argument, arguing that there is really no difference between Jew and Gentile when it comes to salvation (10:12). Not all Israelites (must be national) accepted the good news, just like not all gentiles accepted the good news (10:16). Paul's hope is that, by his ministry to the gentiles, he will arouse national Israel to envy and see 'some' of them be saved (11:14). The 'some' of course, would be spiritual Israel. His point is that any national Israelite can become a spiritual Israelite 'if they do not persist in unbelief' (11:23).
That brings us to Romans 11:25-26a and the great 'mystery' of history:
I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be savedPaul is dealing, it seems, with arrogant (or, at least, potentially arrogant) believers. The arrogance is directed against the Jews (anti-semitism). So what is the mystery that will keep them from being arrogant? I am persuaded that we should read Israel as 'national Israel'. Part of national Israel was hardened against the Gospel (the other part, ie Paul (11:1), believed). National Israel will be partly hardened all throughout the time that gentiles are being saved.
So what of 'so all Israel' in 11:26a? Each word is important.
First, the word 'so' is not the same as the word 'then'. Paul isn't saying that after the fulness of the gentiles comes in, all national Israelites will finally believe in Christ. He's saying that the 'part' of national Israel that is un-hardened and all the gentiles who believe, together, make up spiritual Israel. The 'result' of the remnant Jews and the believing Gentiles is the collective people of God. Second, the word 'all' means just that. It can't refer to national Israel because Paul just quoted Isaiah in order to echo his prophecy that only the remnant of national Israel would be saved. Whoever 'Israel' is in verse 26a, it can't be national Israel. Third, the word 'Israel' is key and should be read as 'spiritual Israel'. If Paul is not talking about national Israel here, he must be talking about his new definition of the term, spiritual Israel. Can 'all' of spiritual Israel be saved? Yes, by definition they are all saved.
How does this teaching mesh with the other passages in Scripture that discuss the 'mystery' of the Gospel? Perfectly! In Ephesians Paul describes the 'mystery' as being that which brings all things together under one head, Christ (1:10). He says bluntly that 'this mystery is that through the Gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus' (Eph. 3:6). The only difference between Paul's description of the mystery in Romans and Ephesians is that in the former letter he's speaking against conceited believers and in the latter letter he's speaking to discouraged believers. The former needed to hear that Jews were still welcome in, the latter needed to hear that they, themselves, were full members along with believing Jews!
In other words, there are no second class citizens of the kingdom. There are not 2 groups in the people of God. God's purpose was to take believing Jews and belieiving gentiles and not only make them loving brothers, but to actually make them 1 new man (Eph. 1:15)!
The 'Mystery of Israel', then, is the beautiful truth that salvation knows nothing of geography or race. We don't need to travel to Jerusalem to be saved or be circumcised. Likewise, being in Jerusalem and being circumcised won't prevent us from being saved. The mystery of the gospel, most deeply communicated by Paul in Colossians, is that Christ (the true Israelite) lives in us! That is our hope of glory (Col. 1:27). And anyone who is 'in Christ' (notice, not 'in Israel') can take part in this wonderful hope and all the wonderful promises (Gal. 3:29).
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
What's Gambling?
Assuming a negative definition of gambling (gambling = sinful), which of the following practices would you consider 'gambling':
- Crossing the street
- Being a farmer
- Buying insurance
- Using the stock market
- Raffles
- Office pools
- Bingo (church or non-church)
- Slot machines (and the like)
- Poker
- Betting on sports
Monday, June 26, 2006
Staring at the Sun
Did you ever, as a group of kids, have contests to see who could stare directly into the sun the longest? If so, it was a pretty stupid thing to do and you should have been a smart kid like me. The sun is too bright to stare at.
Last night I was reading the 'Epistle of Barnabas' and there was an interesting line that jumped out to me, "He (Jesus) revealed himself to be God's Son. For if he had not come in the flesh, men could in no way have been saved by looking at him. For when they look at merely the sun they are not able to gaze at its rays."
It made me think of all the times in my life that I wanted God to just show Himself to me directly so it would be easier to have faith. I'm starting to realize that if God answered me the way I wanted, I likely wouldn't survive such an encounter. It seems the incarnation was not just an awesome opportunity for us to 'see' God, but also an answer to the reality that in these bodies we 'cannot see' God.
Last night I was reading the 'Epistle of Barnabas' and there was an interesting line that jumped out to me, "He (Jesus) revealed himself to be God's Son. For if he had not come in the flesh, men could in no way have been saved by looking at him. For when they look at merely the sun they are not able to gaze at its rays."
It made me think of all the times in my life that I wanted God to just show Himself to me directly so it would be easier to have faith. I'm starting to realize that if God answered me the way I wanted, I likely wouldn't survive such an encounter. It seems the incarnation was not just an awesome opportunity for us to 'see' God, but also an answer to the reality that in these bodies we 'cannot see' God.
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