Scripture… As We Live It #224
This is the 224th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice to attend your local church, and to love kindness to give to support your church, and to walk humbly with your God and to volunteer for ministries that are part of your pastor’s vision? (Micah 6:8 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Scripture… As We Live It #223
This is the 223rd passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
This SAWLI is the mirror image of the previous “Scripture… As We Live It #222.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. But, now that you’ve been saved by grace, everything else depends on you: obedience, growth, etc. (Ephesians 2:8-9 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Scripture… As We Live It #222
This is the 222nd passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Since this is the only thing that is important, I’m going to stop writing right here. (Ephesians 2:8-9 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Replay: Doctrine is not doctrine anymore
Four years ago, I wrote a post called “Doctrine is not doctrine anymore.” The point of the post is to consider how “doctrine” is usually viewed today as concepts or knowledge. But, to the authors of the New Testament, “doctrine” or “instruction” or “teaching” (all translations of the same word) goes much, much beyond concepts or knowledge and instead encompasses a way of life. Think about how much different our teaching would be if we were as concerned with a way of life instead of only facts.
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Doctrine is not doctrine anymore
In Acts 2:42, Luke begins to describe the response of those first Christians after receiving the promised Holy Spirit:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42 ESV)
What does it mean that these early followers of Jesus “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”? As long as I can remember, I’ve been taught that this means that they listened to sermons by the apostles, or at least by those who had heard sermons by the apostles. So, they “devoted themselves” or they “continued in” or they “persevered in” listening to someone teach them.
This sounds good. We all know that “teaching” or “doctrine” is a set of biblical fact, so it makes sense that those early believers would spend time listening to what the apostles had to say. They studied “doctrine” so that they would know what they needed to know.
But, there’s a problem with this picture. “Teaching” or “doctrine” or “instruction” (they are translations of the same word – no difference) in Scripture does not point to something that is simply known. Instead, “teaching” points to something that is demonstrated in both word and deed. Words alone would not be considered a “teaching”; but words combined with a living example would be considered a “teaching”.
Don’t misunderstand me… When I say “words combined with a living example”, I’m not talking about a sermon with application points. “Applications points” are still words. Instead, I’m saying that someone who brings a “teaching” or “doctrine” only does so when the life of the “teacher” matches the words and is demonstrated before the ones who are learning. In other words, a “teaching” combines both words and a way of living that is witnessed and imitated by those who are learning.
Consider Paul’s words to the church in Phillipi:
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9 ESV)
Consider his reminder to the Thessalonians:
For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:5-10 ESV)
Finally, in his letter to Titus, Paul specifically connects “doctrine” and “teaching” to more than words, as he parallels “teach what accords with sound doctrine” with “show yourself”:
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. (Titus 2:1-10 ESV)
Titus was to teach with his words, but just as importantly, he was to teach with his life. For Paul, teaching with words could not be separated from teaching with lifestyle. Of course, this means that Titus would have to live his life among those he was teaching. It was not enough to simply see them occasionally. In order to Titus to teach “sound doctrine” he would have to live “sound doctrine” with the people.
So, those early believers that Luke described in Acts 2 were devoting themselves to the words and lifestyle of the apostles. They heard what the apostles said, and they saw how the apostles lived. In response to this and to the Spirit’s work in their lives, they spoke and lived in the same way. They did not simply listen to sermons about what to belief. They heard, watched, and lived with the apostles and other believers, and learned from their “living doctrine”.
What does this mean for us? It means that when we make a list of “beliefs” and call it “doctrine”, we are not using the word “doctrine” in a scriptural sense. It means that when we stand before a group of strangers and give them good, biblical information, we are not bringing a “teaching” in the way that the word is used in Scripture.
Primarily, for those of us who desire to make disciples of Jesus Christ, it means that our lives must demonstrate what our mouth is saying. We must live among and with people who are learning from us. Teaching cannot be done at a distance to an audience of strangers. Teaching (in the scriptural sense) occurs when people share their lives together, not when the teacher stands behind a podium.
How do we use the Old Testament to understand the church?
My friend Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written a very good post called “Why do you ignore the Old Testament?”
The question that Eric raises is this: “In what way should the Old Testament inform our understanding of the church and how we should interact with one another?”
As he points out, some modern organizational structures among the church are often justified and explained by referring to similar structures found in the Old Testament. Eric suggests that this is a misuse of the Old Testament.
He especially points to the book of Hebrews in which the author identifies many of those structures as “shadows” that were meant to point to Jesus Christ.
The interesting thing, as one person mentions in the comments, is that the earliest followers of Jesus did not have the New Testament. And, they were exhorted to consider the Old Testament Scriptures as important for their lives (even for their learning, according to Paul).
So, I’ll ask you, how do we use the Old Testament to help us understand how to live with and interact with one another as God’s children?
Summarizing Ephesians 1:3-10
Do remember back in English or Grammar class when you were taught to divide your papers and essays into paragraphs? Do you know why you did that? It wasn’t just to separate the paper into sections marked by indented lines. Paragraphs actually play an important part in writing and reading.
To begin, here is one definition of a paragraph: “A distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme and indicated by a new line, indentation, or numbering.”
Now, while most modern languages delineate paragraphs with “a new line, indentation, or numbering,” this has not always been the case. However, the first part of that definition is extremely important: “a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme.”
You see, meaning is not primarily found at the word, clause, or even sentence level. Meaning is primarily found at the paragraph level. In paragraphs, authors present a single theme or topic or statement, which is then backed up, illustrated, or explained within the paragraph using words, clauses, and sentences. (So, you see, words, clauses, and sentences are important because they are the building blocks of paragraphs.)
One of the things that I like to do when I begin to study a section of Scripture is to divide that section into paragraphs and try to summarize each paragraph. It’s kinda like when your English or Grammar teacher told you to make sure that you have a topic sentence for each of your paragraphs when writing an essay.
Once I summarize the paragraph, it then becomes much easier to understand what the author is communicating through the various words, clauses, and sentences within that paragraph. It also helps me not to translate or interpret out of the author’s context.
I thought I would present this exercise to my readers and see what you come up with as a summary / topic sentence for a very important section of Ephesians. Consider this passage:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:3-10 ESV)
This is usually marked in most translations as a single paragraph. In fact, it’s probably one long sentence as well.
Thinking about the passage above as a whole, how would you summarize that paragraph / sentence? What topic sentence would you write to convey what Paul was communicating in that passage?
Scripture… As We Live It #221
This is the 221st passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him Stop him, or at least ridicule him, for the one who is not against you is for you for the one who is not doing exactly what you would is against you.” (Luke 9:50 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
Ephesians, here we come?
When we gather together with other brothers and sisters in Christ on Sunday mornings, we study through a book of Scripture, or occasionally through a topic. Right now, we studying through 1 Samuel together. Usually, one person agrees to facilitate our discussion, while we all take part in working through the passage (usually a chapter or more at a time).
I love this kind of study with people who love God and love each other and seek to understand Scripture together. I’ve learned so much by studying Scripture with my brothers and sisters in Christ – both on Sundays and at other times, as the discussions on Sundays often carry over to other times when we get together at our homes, in coffee shops, even running trails around the lake.
So, like I said, we’re currently working through 1 Samuel, and David just spared Saul for the second time, which means that we’re near the end of Saul and the end of the book. We started talking about what book to study next. Almost everyone agreed that they would like to return to the New Testament for a while.
And, then I heard it – like music to my ears. Someone said, “What about Ephesians?” And, guess what, I didn’t even have to bribe her! Because, Ephesians is one of my favorite New Testament books! (It’s definitely in the top 27, anyway.)
But, seriously, I love Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, and, yes, I know all the theories about it being a circular letter and not specifically addressed to the Ephesians in a couple of older manuscripts. Still, I love the letter.
I love the structure and the flow and the focus and just about everything about it.
In fact, as I think about it, I haven’t studied Ephesians in a few years. Not too long ago, I was studying Ephesians with different groups of Christians on and off for a couple of years. It became a joke with some of my friends. “Alan, when are you going to start a study of Ephesians again?” wink wink nudge nudge
So, as I begin to think about Ephesians again, I thought I would throw this out to you. What do you like about Ephesians? Do you have a favorite passage? A favorite topic in the book? What do you wish you understood better? What do you struggle with the most in the book?
Scripture… As We Live It #220
This is the 220th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It.”
And God has appointed in the church first apostles although they won’t be around much longer, second prophets but you won’t need them after getting this letter, third teachers – you’ll always, always, always need teachers, then miracles which will obviously stop soon, then gifts of healing which will stop along with miracles, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues which will also stop – so mainly just teachers, administrators, and their helpers. (1 Corinthians 12:28 re-mix)
(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)
The verb Baptize in ambiguous contexts in the New Testament
This is the sixth and final post in a series on baptism. Primarily, my concern is to determine the various meanings of the Greek verb βαπτίζω (baptizo), and how those meanings may be used in the New Testament. So far, by examining the usage of the verb in the LXX, in Philo, and in Josephus, we’ve seen that βαπτίζω (baptizo) is very similar to the English verbs “immerse” and “plunge.” They can be used to mean “to submerge under water,” but they can also have other meanings. Thus, context becomes very important in understanding the meaning of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo).
In this post, I want to examine several passages in the New Testament that do not mention water as the medium of baptism in the context. In some cases, there is no medium mentioned at all. In other cases, the medium mentioned is not what we might expect. Thus, these passages are ambiguous – at best – in terms of the meaning of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo).
Now, before I start listing some of the passages, please note that I am not making a particular claim about these passages. I am merely recognizing that Scripture itself does specify water as the medium for baptism in some passages. And, since we have seen that the authors of the New Testament use the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) with meanings other than “to immerse in water,” we must at least acknowledge that the meaning of the verb in these passages is ambiguous.
Also, some of these passages are very popular, and some are used in doctrinal positions for certain groups of Christians. Again, I am not making a statement about the meaning of these passages. I am only suggesting that “to immerse in water” may or may not be the best way to think about the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) in these passages.
First, consider the “Great Commission” from Matthew 28:19-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
When Jesus instructs his followers to “baptize”, does he mean “immerse in water”? Perhaps. This is the traditional interpretation. However, water is not mentioned in this context at all. As we’ve seen before, when the meaning of “baptize” is “immerse in water”, we usually find water in the context. If the phrase “in the name of the Father…” was changed to “in the water…”, then we would immediately know how to interpret the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo).
Could it be, then, that instead of “immersing in water”, Jesus has something else in mind? Could it be that in order to “make disciples” (the command), we need to “immerse” people in the “name” (character, authority, etc.) of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? This seems to fit better into the context, especially when “teaching” is considered along with “baptizing”.
Again, I’m not making a definite claim at this point. I’m only demonstrating that this use of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) is ambiguous – that is, unclear from the context.
Also, consider the following passage from the second chapter of Acts:
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:37-41 ESV)
Again, the traditional interpretation of the two instances of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) in this passage is “immerse in water.” Thus, Peter was instructing the people to “repent and be immersed in water”, and three thousand people were “immersed in water”. However, again, notice that water is not indicated in this context either.
If we begin back at Acts 1:4, we read the following:
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1:4-5 ESV)
Jesus told his followers that they would be “baptized with the Holy Spirit” soon, pointing to the day of Pentecost. Later, the Spirit did descend on his followers, just like Jesus promised. In fact, the purpose of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 is to demonstrate that the coming of the Holy Spirit was predicted in Scripture, made possible because of Christ, and was available to everyone listening to his words. Re-read Acts 2:37-41 above. When people ask Peter, “What should we do?”, his response was to tell them that the Promise (the Holy Spirit) was available to them. Those who received his words were “baptized”… in water? … or in the Spirit?
These are only two passages where the meaning of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) is ambiguous, that is, the medium of immersion is not clear from the context. If you would like to consider other “ambiguous” passages, look at Acts 16:15, Acts 16:33, Acts 19:1-5, Romans 6:3, 1 Corinthians 12:13, and Galatians 3:27. If some or all of these passages are not specifically about “immersing in water,” then we should consider other possible meanings and mediums for the Greek verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) in these contexts.
Again, I still believe that John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Philip, and others in the New Testament practiced water baptism by immersion. I still believe that baptism in water is an important method of testifying to the work of Christ in a person’s life. However, this does not mean that every instance of the verb βαπτίζω (baptizo) means “immerse in water.”
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Examining the Verb “Baptize” Series:
- The verb Baptize in the Old Testament (LXX)
- The verb Baptize in Philo’s writings
- The verb Baptize in Josephus’ writings
- The verb Baptize in a context with water in the New Testament
- The verb Baptize in a context WITHOUT water in the New Testament
- The verb Baptize in ambiguous contexts in the New Testament