Personal Thoughts

There may be some Biblical truth hard to understand partly because we are seeking to know some things that as Dr. Richard Trench pointed out are “transcending all human thought and failing to find anywhere a perfectly adequate expression in human language.” Some of our knowledge about the Bible could be called “empty calories” if there is no corresponding impact upon the believer. God’s Word never returns void [Isaiah 55:11] and the Gospel, in particular, is “the power of God unto Salvation” [Romans 1:16]. I know you didn’t want to be told to limit your discussion to your testimony but there are things we cannot talk about because they only inflame passion for “human thought” and we morph into zealots for a cause other than what the Savior has commissioned us for [Matthew 28:19-20]. 

Well, we can talk about such ideas but I am not at liberty here to offer a single example out of a concern that it might be something some young believer might consider foundational to their faith—though it will be shown by the Spirit to them later that it is not. So, we cannot talk about it. 

I was going to draw a labyrinth or maze [picture this] with multiple paths through it but the simplest is right through the center which I call “the path of simple faith.” The other paths lead through intellectual searches for answers that do not serve the purpose for the maze—which is, to get through it.  The maze is this life and some people can get lost in their thoughts and fears wondering if they will ever make it through.  Yet, all our Lord asks of us is to live in the faith He put in our hearts, knowing that He knows the way through the maze even if we get sidetracked.  

Real Biblical knowledge that is practical, inspired, inspiring, and empowering to live for Christ is all about the Cross. Or we might say, all about the sacrifice of Christ, of whom the sacrificial system Moses was given was all about.  The sacrifice was an extension of the Cross. The 2 words are interchangeable [or, at least, are joined] in New Testament theology. Paul testified, “I am crucified with Christ…” [Galatians 2:20] which answers to Jesus’ admonition, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24]. So when Paul urged us to give our lives in sacrifice to God’s service, he was referencing the cross we must carry as well. [Romans 8:36; 12:1].

Maybe—just maybe—we can look closer at the Old Testament sacrifices not only as a punishment Christ took for our sins but as, what Luther called—a “wondrous exchange.”  2 Corinthians 5:21:”He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” His cross was also ours! “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” [Romans 6:5]. 

The Pharisees thought the adornment of the temple—its golden overlays and artifacts—were necessary embellishments to make the Temple into a temple. They argued in Matthew 23:16 that, “Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor [his oath has value and must be kept!].” We might ask, which is more important: How the Temple looked, how cathedral-like, how richly adorned, or the reason it was build in the first place—for the sacrifices!

It is a sad day, indeed, when church people care more about the comforts: the seating and air conditioning or sound system, and the theological accoutrements: carpet color, instrument arrangement, baptistry and sanctuary furnishings—more about these—than celebrating our Lord’s sacrifice and learning more about ours!

The altar is more than the place where God’s wrath was appeased. It is the place where you and I by faith, found ourselves suspended between a past in sin and a glorious future in service to God.

Dave,

Just a note thanking you for your leadership in the study Tuesday and how grateful I am that an invite has been extended me to join in. On more than one occasion I have sought to apologize to Matt for—what appeared to me was—an overextension of my “allotted” time. But another thing about me is always seeking that common ground in Christ where we come together in unity. It is as if I imagine our little group including a few from other denominational leanings and my seeking to always include them in my heart as Hebrews 2:11 spoke of our Savior: ”He is not ashamed to call [us] brethren.” [Whatever is said, I support each believer’s understanding of Truth as I always have—Romans 14:22.] Joyce and I, now in our 80’s, are reluctant to drive the interstate any distance, which means seeking Sunday morning worship locally. We found a Nazarene church with an old fashion ambience which is like stepping into our past for an hour a week when we can make it. Physical needs sometimes keep us home.

_________

For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, – Hebrews 2:11

Two of my favorite authors are N.T.Wright and William Lane Craig who interpret the phrase “The Righteousness of God” differently and seem to be irreconcilably at theological loggerheads. But I like both; so, I wrote a book called “Essays in Righteousness” in which I refer to their disagreement as “The spaghetti and the sauce,” because both ideas belong together theologically. Myer Pearlman —I am told—once wrote about the Wesleyan-Calvinist debate that “These are the two rails the train must run on.” Quick aside—in 1988 one church declared their pulpit vacant because I as pastor wouldn’t outright endorse the idea you could lose salvation’ The next church I pestered [pastored] in 1993 dismissed me in a congregational meeting because they thought I believed you could! A District official at the time recommended I seek out a church that believed as I. Instead, I went back to college and worked the next 15 years as a computer programmer.

I discovered recently that I love A. W. Tozier’s “The Pursuit of God” not realizing until later than he was A.M. & A. and that—according to some disciples —did believe it possible to lose one’s salvation. My favorite Aunt and Uncle [now with Jesus] were A.M. & A. My maternal grandma—who bore a great influence on me in my formative years—was a catholic who talked directly to Jesus bypassing the confessional. [As you know, my brother is catholic. He has theological degrees in catholicism.] And I love and respect him dearly. And I had an uncle, one of my mom’s brothers, who was a Baptist pastor—as was my cousin, his son.

Theologically I lean R.C. Sprol instead of the “TULIP” doctrine. But with a soupçon of Pentecost; I am not a cessationist. I have a number of Assembly of God and other pentecostal friends. This group includes my beloved bride of 57 years.

Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemns not himself in that thing which he allows. – Romans 14:22

So, you can appreciate my desire to believe that Christians have sound reason for fellowshipping and working together for Christ without sacrificing their “personal” faith.

[I have even discovered that some of our theological differences—as believers— are deep rooted in the actual grammar or language of the New Testament. The Greek grammar you might get at Dallas theological wouldn’t exactly be the same as what they teach at—say— Canisius University in Buffalo, New York or Valley Forge University in PA.]

If any of this concerns you, freely discuss all this with Matt and I will abide by your advice in the matter going forward.

God bless,

John

The word ‘when’ in our Bible and in our language is easily misrepresented in interpreting it. Start, for example with:

Ephesians 5:8 [ESV] “…at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”

When was this? When did we go from darkness into the light?  ‘When’ is a believer ‘saved’? When they first step out in the aisle to go forward?  When they have finally said a heartfelt ‘amen’ to the sinner’s prayer? When they decided to attend the service in which they went forward? Before the foundation of the world….”? At what point in time is the moment “when”? Does conviction play a part and if, yes, can that take time? All we know is that once it has past, we went from darkness to light. Many Christians know they love Jesus but cannot pinpoint the moment of their salvation—’when’ they first believed.

When links 2 Events

“When” links 2 events together either in time or logically. To know the time of ‘when’ one must know the time of the event linked with it. Moses’s hands raised meant victory!  Moses’s hands at rest meant defeat.

Exodus 17:11 “And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”

In Genesis 18:33 Abraham didn’t leave until the Lord did!  We would take his example in our worship services.

Genesis 18:33 “as soon as [when] the Lord had left communing with Abraham, Abraham returned unto his place.”

There are 2 separate uses of this word in our New Testament. the event linked with “when” is said to be antecedent if it came before or first. We often translate ‘since.‘ It is said to be coincident if it is happening at the same time. We often translate ‘while.’

Coincident translated while

John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when [while] no man can work.

Luke 13:35 you shall not see Me until the time comes when [at that time] you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ”

Antecedent translated since or after

Matthew 7:28 And so it was, when [after] Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching.

Romans 13:11 can only be understood to mean “since.”

Romans 13:11 for now is our salvation nearer than when [KJV adds ‘first’ supporting ‘since’] we believed.

It seems apparent that Paul is saying in Romans 13:11 that every passing day brings us closer to this blessed hoped for event—our Lord’s return. His reason for saying this was to awaken us. Godet wrote:

“Sleep is the state of forgetfulness of God and of estrangement from Him, and the carnal security of the man of the world in this state. Awakening is the act by which man reaches the lively conviction of his responsibility, gives himself to the impulse of prayer, drawing him to God, and enters into communication with him to obtain through Christ, the pardon of his sins and divine help”

Paul is alerting us that our salvation [our Lord’s return] is sooner than when we came to faith. He didn’t need to add our word ‘first’ since ‘when’ means  the moment we came to faith. Each day brings us closer to the blessed event. But it is an alert rather than a comfort because many have rolled over in their carnality to get another 40 winks and we agree with Paul this could be an irreparable mistake as it was for 5 foolish virgins.

Here are both in 1 verse:

1 Corinthians 13:11 When [while] I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when [since/after] I became a man, I put away childish things.

Acts 19:2 He said unto them, Have [Did] you receive the Holy Spirit ‘when’ you believed? Here “when” can be grammatically antecedent [since ‘after’ you believed] or coincident [while, at the time of] believing.

J. Gresham Machen argues for the antecedent use  and is popular in Pentecostal and Catholic circles. If Acts 19:2 is best translated “since” or “after” we have viewed ‘believing’ and ‘receiving the Holy Spirit’ as 2 separate events.

Dana & Mantey Greek grammar argues for the coincident use  and is popular in Baptist and Presbyterian circles. If Acts 19:2 is best translated “while” or “at the time” we have viewed ‘believing’ and ‘receiving the Holy Spirit’ as one and the same event.

I want to believe that both are true and that the link between believing and receiving is logical and not temporal. Believing and receiving are obviously not 2 separate moments of time. Both are descriptive of the salvation experience. But the work of the Spirit has only begun then. I interpret Paul to be asking: Does your faith embrace the work of God’s Spirit within you. There is so much about our salvation to learn and He is our teacher!!!

The moral of the story?  Don’t argue when as if you can pinpoint a time when God has begun and finished whatever He is doing or promising!  Bask in the awesomeness of the fact alone that He is at work in you …

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6

 

One may wonder what the Greek scholars in Corinth were thinking when Paul told the story of the Children of Israel avoiding their leader, Moses, when he descended the mount after communing with God because his face “shone” [like the rays of the sun]. “They were afraid to come near him.” [Exodus 34:30]. “Their minds were blinded,” Paul told them [2 Corinthians 3:14]. And then he spoke of the believer in Christ: “This is not so with us,” he said. There is no covering over our faces when in the presence of the Glory of God! The “veil is done away in Christ” [2 Corinthians 3:14]. Each of us has an “open face” [2 Corinthians 3:18]. Like Moses’ in the Mount, ours are uncovered! Paul is describing the spiritual condition of our hearts [a spiritual understanding] using this analogy.

The Mirror

But, according to Paul we are not seeing the Lord’s glory directly but, as it were, reflected in a mirror [made of polished metal in Paul’s day]. Paul’s metaphor may have sounded strange to his listener. He used a term—reflected—found nowhere else in our Bible, although it is very good Greek. The “mirror” he speaks of is the Gospel. It reflects the light, the glory of God. “[The gospel] is the power of God” [Romans 1:18]. Paul went further in 2 Corinthians 3:2 saying of the believers: “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.” It was as if he was saying, “When we share the gospel story, we excitedly share your testimony as living proof of what we are proclaiming.” It is reflected in your lives!

Understanding Paul here is difficult but somehow every believer knows exactly what he is saying, even if his words are draped in a metaphor. We are not above wanting to take Paul’s thought and rework it in a way we might better appreciate its inspiration.

The Change

We are being changed, Paul told them. It is a process. It is ongoing. We might want to use the word “sanctification” but I think that deserves a different context and emphasis—howbeit, just as exciting to study.

When most believers read the word “changed” [the Greek means “underwent a metamorphosis”] they probably think of the butterfly. I, for one, do. It is the perfect analogy, even though, Paul might not have meant it that way because no Greek writer used this word of the butterfly. The butterfly’s Chrysalis was first explained in the 17th century, by the German naturalist, Maria Sibylla Merian. Aristotle “didn’t connect the caterpillar to the butterfly in a life cycle.” A.I. reads, “The transformation of caterpillars into butterflies was noticed in ancient times but misunderstood.” [Aristotle saw it as a “spontaneous generation” assuming the caterpillar had died.]

There is an exciting truth “cocooned” in this account of our being changed through a metamorphosis which is best explained using the butterfly metaphor. The caterpillar pupa undergoes a “cellular reprogramming: cells are being destroyed, repurposed, or transformed into entirely new cell types”[A.I.]. My mind is racing on ahead in excited anticipation as to how this might apply to the new you and me! Paul exclaimed, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 1 Corinthians 5:17 ] Through cellular reprogramming some larvae cells, we continue to learn, “lose their … identity and take on new roles as … the … butterfly.”

Though Paul was not likely to be referencing the butterfly as nature’s parable, we agree with Richard Trench: “Around [man] is a sensuous world … being so framed as … continually to lift him above itself – a visible world to make known the invisible things of God, a ladder leading him up to the contemplation of heavenly truth. … It is God’s world, the world of the same God who is leading us into spiritual truth.”

The butterfly analogy is limited in that we are not being made simply into another form at salvation. Paul said we are being transformed “into the same image.” Same? Yes, same as Jesus! Romans 8:29].

This word “image” has special meaning. To say we are Christlike would not be as clear and emphatic as Paul’s language is here and in Romans using the word “image.” He is our model. We are saying that God, the Master Sculptor that He is, is remaking us using Jesus as His model. This is not just outward behavior but inward nature. We are not becoming gods but we are being brought to the standard of His holiness which Jesus, Himself, lives and represents. The resemblance is eventually so complete that Paul could say “For me to live is Christ” [Galatians 2:20]. John could say “we will be like Him [God]” [1 John 3:2]. John uses the word “like” [we will look at shortly] because the reference is to our becoming holy not god. John adds, “We will see Him just as He is. I John 3:3 is the frosting on this cake: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.”

At His return, we will shed the Chrysalis of this mortal body—for good [1 Corinthians 15:53ff.].

The Model

An “image” assumes a model! My mind goes to my programming days when I was ask to present a proof of concept in code to satisfy an interest a client had in processing some kind of financial data. I would work off a business specification as my model. I coded what we called “the prototype.” The prototype was a proof that a business idea could be coded at a reasonable cost. Like the Germans might say: an abbild [image] assumes a vorbild [model]. The Greeks might call a child: the εμψυχος [vivid or living] εικων [image or reproduction] of his parents. The “image” implies an archetype [an original] from which it has been derived and drawn.

The Likeness

We are not using the word “likeness” because this word would mean a resemblance or maybe some similar features. Image is more exact. An image copies the model. In Philippians 2:7 Jesus was said to be born in our likeness of sinful men which is accurate because He was unlike us in one point—He was sinless [Romans 8:3]. My sins were “after the similitude of Adam’s” [Romans 5:14] but my disobedience was not in eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Paul taught: “we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” [Romans 6:5]. “Likeness” is a good word because Jesus death [crucifixion] and resurrection [glorification] was as the God-man, both God and man; These are more than historical events to us because He gave as newness of life: our death and resurrection [on this Aristotle would have gotten it right].

But Jesus is not just an example, He is the model! His is the spiritual image God is transforming us into up to and including our glorified bodies someday! Paul called “the Glory of the Lord,” i. e. Our glorified Lord [2 Corinthians 3:18] the “same” image which the Spirit’s work is using to model us after! “Even as by, ” that is “according to” the counsel, desire, and plan, of the Spirit of the Lord.

The Spirit

“The Spirit of the Lord” is all but a moniker for Who He is in our lives. This name refers specifically to God’s might and ability to do what He proposes to do in us. Here is an Old Testament description: “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;” [Isaiah 11:2].

In our verse it is the power and wisdom behind the perfecting of our transformation. This moniker for an omniscient and omnipotent God is first used during the period of the Judges and was especially the source of Samson’s strength. “The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him”[Judges 14:6]. And now He has come mightily upon us not to burn wheat fields but to be formed in His image.

The Perception

In closing this little talk, I ask you, how reasonable would all this sound to the caterpillar were it privileged to understand the process—if it had a Bible that promised it that someday it would take to flight. Or would it spend its time crawling around in the dirt dreaming how nice it would be to be able to fly—but alas, I am only a caterpillar.

The following 2 part series: The God-Man Part 1 and The God-Man Part 2 is a talk on the doctrine of Jesus [Christology] that He is 2 natures in 1 person. This is a truth debated for centuries before finally being endorsed within Christian theology—even though, it has been clearly Scriptural. But, perhaps, the question is: What do we mean by “nature” and “person”?

How dependent we have become on the inability of our logic to explain [explicate]—and our language to say—what we need said in a simple, clear, and emphatic voice, only to find that God’s thoughts are far above all this [Isaiah 55:9]. God by-passed intellectualism and logic by writing the truth on our hearts—as the New Covenant provides through Christ’s death and resurrection.

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. – Jeremiah 31:33-34

The Notes for this talk.

It has been a life long interest of mine to see Christianity united. It has been the Savior’s prayer for the sake of our witness [John 17:21] but church theologies have sought to endorse as vital truth ideas clearly outside the scope of the Biblical text or they have intentionally argued for one point of theology over another to lure believers into their camp. Much is based on our limited reasoning to understand God. Either way, it has engendered division which might support man’s kingdom but not God’s.

I know that there are ideas endorsed by some that are flirting with things God has—in the clearest interpretation of the text—forbidden. There are, little doubt, persons considering themselves believers on the basis of their loose affiliation with such religious ideas and who will someday stand before the Lord who will not recognize them as His people.

We do not need to confront any of this if we simply promote the Cross as the sole truth worth embracing by faith. It might be that the Holy Spirit does not need our doctrinal expertise, only our personal testimony! [Revelation 12:11]. It might be that the Fruit of the Spirit on display in a believer’s life—even imperfectly—should witness to the Savior’s crucifixion sufficient to draw others to Himself [John 12:32].

There are basic points of Christian doctrine shared by all believers—not because scholarship has underscored them but because the Spirit of God has! [John 16:8-10]. We might even say that God’s people are not as clear on some denominational teachings because the Spirit did not emphasize them. God’s people have been listening to Him all along. His sheep recognize His voice [John 10:27]. It may be that, for the sake only of gathering together to celebrate our Lord’s life, death and Resurrection many sermons have had to be endured in quiet. God’s people love each other and derive much from Christian community and fellowship.

I am looking to God to open many of the hearts of Generation Z [Acts 16:14]. I believe God will gather them together from all subcultures, religions, economic classes, races, and languages and unite them as the final miracle that will announce His return. And if we grandparents are honest with ourselves we will have to admit it is a most marvelous thing to behold. Why didn’t we think of it!

I am coming to accept as true, the Hebrew does not use synonyms like Greek does to “fine tune” a meaning of a word. Synonyms, instead, seem to be used for emphasis. Some mimic the sound that defines them, as for example, “to roar” in Hebrew recreates vocally the lion’s deep throated call [SHau’aG].

In Genesis 1:26 [“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”] “image” and “likeness” are essentially the same. “Many [scholars], … have refused to acknowledge … any … distinctions, between the two.” [Richard Trench].

A distinction however is clear in the New Testament. Richard Trench concludes from the Greek, not the Hebrew, that there is “… a distinction, … between the ‘image’… of God, in which, and the ‘likeness’ … of God, after which, man was created .…”

“a man … is the “image” and glory of God….”  – 1 Corinthians 11:7

“men … are made after the likeness of God.” – James 3:9

“Thus, the great Alexandrian theologians taught that the “image” was something in which men were created, being common to all, and continuing … after the Fall … (Genesis 9:6), while the “likeness” was something toward which man was created, that he might strive after [to] attain it” [Trench]. In Anselm’s thought: We are intellectual beings having been made in God’s image but strive to live a moral life because of His likeness.

“Such an eminently significant part is the history of man’s creation and his fall, all which [are] in the first three chapters of Genesis, we may expect to find mysteries there; prophetic intimations of truths …. And, without attempting to draw any very strict line between ”image” and “likeness,” we may be bold to say that the whole history of man, not only in his original creation, but also in his restoration in the Son [the new man], is significantly wrapped up in this double statement….” [Trench].

It seems correct to say, however, that God could never be satisfied with a humanity that only resembled Him [a likeness] with consciousness and language, etc. but did not correctly represent Him [image]. We were made in His image to copy His holiness [1 Peter 1:15]— what Peter called “the divine nature” [2 Peter 1:4].

In Colossians 3:10 believers are to live like [put on] the new man who has been “renewed [not a new beginning but a new you] in knowledge [a complete and accurate representation] after the image of him [of Christ] that created him.” Christ should be recognizable in our speech and actions, in how we live.

“The Divine Mind did not stop at the contemplation of his first creation,” Richard Trench concluded, “but looked on to him as “renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” (Colossians. 3:10); because [God] knew that only as partakers of this double benefit [image and likeness] would [we] attain the true end for which [we] were [created].”

Perhaps, we could liken the Bible to a printed circuit where inductors, capacitors, resistors, and various semi-conductors all direct or control current to perform certain computerized electronic tasks. It is all soldered together as one device which needs these components doing what they do to work. A few pieces fine tune things and even with them removed the device will still function, but some components are absolutely essential. A good repair person who fixes these circuits always see the entire board and not just individual parts of it. They know that the device operates as a single unit when it is working right.

The Church knows that the Bible has this single quality about it, also, otherwise scriptures compared to other scriptures could be contradictory and we would simply choose the ones we like, discarding the verses we don’t like. Or if some verses were “extra” having no “current” relevance to our lives or our future, we could discard them outright as historical static. But this is not the Bible I read—nor the Bible you read! Our Bible is a single work of divine inspiration in which the personalities of the individual writers can be seen like different chip manufacturers of various computer parts. But, like the computer, the Bible, viewed as a whole is important in understanding its overall purpose and value to us. There are verses in Genesis that are connected in God’s plan with verses in Revelation and some of that truth, like an electric current, flows by design through Torah law as well as the prophets’ writings.

While I am making this comparison, I recall the day a hooked a battery operated tape record to house current and blew it out. (No! I don’t know sometimes why I do what I do.) But is not God’s Word a bit like this? The voltage is the emphasis or importance God puts upon it in His plan. Some scripture requires a higher voltage—more emphasis—than some other verses, just like some computer parts need more or less power to work right. With some verses the emphasis is very low [Romans 14:22]. As Paul confessed, “by permission, and not of commandment” [1 Corinthians 7:6]. Some Biblical directives are essential for some of us but may not be as important for others. Think married compared to being single [1 Corinthians 7:32-33].

But it is the parts that connect to the entire Bible of Truth that must be valued most and one of these is what this writing is about: “You shall have no other gods before me,” says the Lord. [Exodus 20:3]. This single verse—if you were to put God’s volt meter on it—would register very high, indeed!

And the part known as Hosea’s prophecy!?

It needs a heat sink!

I just studied Hosea 2 and it challenges our understanding of God because it is the story of a broken relationship between God and Israel [Hosea 3:1] and God’s churning feelings of hurt and love. This is not the picture theology offers. I would encourage every believer to put themselves in this story in the place of Israel to remind themselves that the Spirit’s grief Paul spoke of is a real thing and is not poetic license [Ephesians 4:30]. “How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert!,” the Psalmist sympathetically winced [Psalm 78:40]. The Hebrew means that God was in pain!

We should be grateful God didn’t ask of us what He asked of Hosea: to marry a prostitute [Hosea 1:2]. The prophet would have first hand experience in God’s message for Israel. Israel’s interest in foreign gods and our Lord’s own pain brought Him to this. So Hosea was, himself, torn between letting his wife, Gomer, go when she left him for other men or God’s explicit instruction that at any cost get her back. Chapter 3:2 tells us the price for her ransom was 15 pieces of silver plus a homer and a half of barley. A homer went for 10 pieces of silver; so 1and 1/2 is worth an additional 15 pieces of silver [shekels] … or a total cost of 30 pieces of silver. This was the price of a slave [Exodus 21:32]. This was the price given Judas to betray our Lord [Matthew 26:15].

Hosea against parental wisdom, disparaged his wife to their three children claiming they were probably not his! That’s the voice of unutterable anguish. Notwithstanding, the name “Gomer,” means “to bring to completion.” The Psalmist used the verb to mean fulfillment: “to God who fulfills his purpose for me” [Psalm 57:2 ESV]. There is a demonstrable hint here of what God is thinking!

It seems sacrilegious to study this prophecy because I feel like I am engaging in gossip over another’s pain. Perhaps we insulate ourselves from any real discussion of this text by assuming the theological position that God is impassible, that because He cannot change [Malachi 3:6], he doesn’t really feel hurt. But that’s the point “I change not!” means that He still loves them! …and us!!

The second chapter is a love letter from God asking for another chance to reconcile with Israel whom He loves and wants to make happy and safe [Hosea 2:20-23]. God relates how He feels both in terms of His broken heart and His undying love. He wants to “start over” with a new covenant [Hosea 2:18]. He promises, “I have espoused you to me forever” [Hosea 2:19a; Revelation 21:2, 9].

Hosea [and God?] then mellows the tone of his words, almost as if to say apologetically to his children with a hug, “Yes, you are mine! And I will never disown you!” [That’s the voice of reconciliation [Hosea 2:23b]. We should all be awestruck with Hosea’s and God’s persistence. Divorce was never a solution!

The chapter ends with these words: “My God!”  Remember Thomas in John 20:28? Just a glimpse of such love overwhelms our ability to respond. We have no words—no definition—for such a grace! Someday we, too, will stand in His presence and proclaim, “My God!” As the songwriter penned,

When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation,
To take me home, what joy will fill my heart!
Then I will bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!

There is yet a unity available without compromise within Christianity that will give significant meaning to the “glory and honor” God has bestowed upon us [Hebrews 2:6-8] and to the angels’ inquiry into our redemption [1 Peter 1:10, 12 KJV]. Although I am no prophet, the privilege of participating in a great end time harvest of souls has more to do with the current generation and not mine. We, who have laid out the denominational boundaries that encircle our distinct theologies and the traditions we have cherished above the simple message of the Cross, are unable to see a devotion to God apart from these. It is difficult for us to share in an active fellowship and witness that speaks only of Christ! As Paul asserted, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” [1 Corinthians 2:2] This simple message alone will unite us and Christian unity is a prerequisite to an effective and powerful witness [John 17:21], which is needed in such a time as this, as Jesus prayed, This can only be accomplished by young and innocent believers, whose simple faith is solely in Christ and not encumbered with religious requirements.

There is a gospel that must be represented in the streets more than in the churches. Believers must be free to promote a simple faith in Christ and the message of the Cross in whatever words and stories God’s Spirit will employ to draw all men and women unto Himself [John 12:32]. Like missionaries that find themselves inventing motifs and speaking in parables, the believer who shares the gospel story must use themes common to the listener to share God’s love. They must refrain from defending traditional tropes that might even offend the very souls God seeks to save. The church’s old arguments though cherished are stale. If not for the sake of the work, for the sake of the angels, let us consider how we might share with our world our passion for Christ who died for us. If not for our love for souls, for God’s love for them, allow the younger generation of believers the freedom to rethink the approach to evangelism.

While visiting a 71 year old theological graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary, I, in my 30’s, thought to engage him in a discussion over some Koine Greek when he stopped me and confessed that his sole interest now was sharing Jesus with young minds and hearts. He told the story of one young man who sought to broadcast his new found faith in Christ from the town hall steps when the young man’s pastor advised against it until he “grew” a little in Christ and gained some wisdom. My 71 year old “friend” opposed this idea referring to John 4:14 where Jesus told the woman at the Well of Jacob, “the water that I shall give you shall be in you a well of water springing up.” Then my friend added, “Let the water flow!!”