Tag: Jesus the Messiah

Paul’s God

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 7 & 8

Poetry: Proverbs 20

New Testament: Acts 14

As we look at chapter 14 of Acts, we are going to go back to the idea that one way we can learn is by studying what isn’t said. This chapter becomes even more unique and interesting when you look at it from this perspective. In context with the surrounding chapters, Paul and Barnabas are traveling to Jewish synagogues in order to convince the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. This chapter is no different; the Jews are still stubborn and are stirring up the crowd and even trying to kill them. But when Paul saw a lame man who had the faith to be healed, he immediately healed him through the power of God. Their message is interrupted by the people claiming that Paul and Barnabas are gods who have come down to earth. This was common Greek mythology of the time.  At the sound of this accusation, Paul and Barnabas immediately reject its legitimacy and instead give the one true living God the glory.

Paul describes the power of God and all the things that He has done for His creation. Paul takes a little intermission from the message of Jesus in order to stand up for the name of Yahweh. From a Trinitarian perspective, Paul’s approach should raise some red flags because he failed to mention how God “came to earth”. If Paul held trinitarian beliefs, then he would have used this as a preaching opportunity to connect the name of Jesus to the pagan beliefs of gods visiting earth. If I were Paul, and for the sake of the argument, I was theoretically a Trinitarian, then I would have told the crowd, “Hey, I’m only a human but the real God did come down to Earth, but you rejected him!” This would have been a Trinitarians’ dream opportunity to take the crowds’ presuppositions about gods coming to earth and use it to present Jesus as God in human form. Logically, this would allow Paul to connect with their understanding of gods and use it to preach the true God. Instead, he didn’t mention a human form of God, neither does he even mention Jesus at all. But instead, the issue at hand in the mind of Paul is solely on rejecting the crowds claims and giving all the glory to God. Jesus did not even cross his mind, instead he was focused on defending the authority and power of God. But it is not as if Paul said the wrong thing or missed an incredible opportunity to share the gospel. In fact, Paul even urges the crowd to turn from “these worthless things to the living God”. The only possible ‘worthless things’ that the crowd was discussing in this chapter was that the “gods have come down to us in human form”. Therefore, it seems that Paul is urging the crowd to disregard their pagan and Greek mythological beliefs about God and believe in the God who created the heavens and earth. 

And when you combine this argument with the argument that Paul did not correct the Jews on their understanding of the Messiah, along with the fact that Paul never explains the Trinity, then I would consider it to be enough evidence to suggest that Paul did not hold Trinitarian beliefs. If we believe that the Bible is God’s inspired word to reveal himself to His creation, then it seems like we should be able to see God being accurately revealed.

Acts is the perfect book to study how Paul and the other apostles preach and reveal God and the Messiah to the crowds. We can learn so much from the theological lessons found in the book of Acts, hopefully you can keep an eye out for more theological truths as you continue through the book. 

-Makayla Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. In Acts 14 Paul is stoned and left for dead – and then continues on with his missionary journey – sharing the good news. What is so important about the message he is preaching? Is it that important to you?
  2. What can you learn about Paul’s God from his preaching (and what he didn’t preach) and from his life? Do you worship the same God?
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New Testament in Context

Old Testament: 2 Samuel 5 & 6

Poetry: Proverbs 19

New Testament: Acts 13

The entire Bible can be traced back to Genesis 3 where we see the fall of man from the paradise that God had desired for His creation. From this foundation we can then add Genesis 12 where God calls Abraham and gives his descendants the promise of a future land and nation. And in chapter 49 of Genesis, we see God promise a leader through the line of Judah. Throughout the Bible we see common themes continually come back and connect to these three promises. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy focus on the establishment of the people into a nation with a complete constitution. The book of Joshua tells the tales of battles fought to conquer the land. And the books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the restoration of the nation of Israel to the land after the exile. And the other books follow a story of attempts to find a leader who is good enough to sit on the throne forever. 

In chapter 13 of Acts, Paul uses a very similar tactic of preaching the gospel to the Jews. The Jews would have understood the promises of a land, nation, and a leader, and they also knew that they were ultimately waiting for the leader — the Messiah. Therefore, Paul presents the history of the Israelites starting with when God led the people out of Egypt and going through the period of the Judges and then Kings. 

Paul highlighted a couple leaders in his overview, but they all turned out to be sinful. Even seemingly good men who sat on the throne made mistakes that did not reflect the leader the world needed. Another problem with these leaders is that they all ended up dead. Paul brings up this point in verse 36-37 when he says, “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.” He does this to clearly contrast Jesus from the other leaders that the Jewish people adored like David. His purpose was to convince them that the Jesus they killed was the Messiah because God raised Him from the dead so that he would not see decay. Paul knew that the best way to prove this to the Jews was to use scriptures like Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10 to make his point. He also mentions that Jesus was seen by many witnesses after God raised him from the dead. 

Throughout his sermon to the Jews, he makes a clear distinction between God and Jesus. For example, he states that God was the source of the power that raised Jesus from the dead. He also uses the titles of Father and Son to describe the relationship between God and Jesus. 

The result of this sermon is that many Jews and Gentiles received Jesus as the Messiah. They asked Paul to return and preach again the following Sabbath. But the message also faced opposition by the Jews who were jealous of Paul’s preaching and his popularity among the crowds. In response, Paul goes back to Isaiah and quotes 49:6 in order to prove to the Jews the prophecy of the Gentiles being included into the promises of God. This sermon caused even more persecution for the early church but nonetheless the truth was spread throughout the entire region and both Jews and Gentiles came to believe in Jesus. 

-Makayla Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. What does this tell us about the importance of the Old Testament as the context for the New Testament?
  2. Would you say that you have a good understanding of the Old Testament? Or is this something that you could spend more time studying?
  3. Why do you think some of the Jews accepted the truth of Paul’s sermon while others became jealous?
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In the Flesh

2nd Epistle of John

2 John 7

The elect lady and her children, 2 John 1

This short epistle is written to “the elect lady and her children”. Most commentators believe “the elect lady” refers metaphorically to a congregation or church as whole, and “her children” are individual members within the church. Being a “child of God” was a consistent theme of 1 John (see 1 John). The children of God make up a family of those who believe the human Jesus is the Christ, and they are to love one another as brothers and sisters (1 John 5:1). In the last verse of 1 John 2 the author sends “the elect lady” greetings from “the children of your elect sister, i.e., from the believers of another congregation with children (see more comments about the “elect lady” in the REV Bible commentary).

The coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, 2 John 7

The verse that particularly jumps out at us in this epistle is verse 7:

“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

We believe that “the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” means that the Messiah has come, and that he is the real human being, Jesus.

When John was writing there was already a teaching, today called Docetism, which claimed that Jesus wasn’t a real human being but only “seemed” or “appeared” to be a human. “Docetic” is from a Greek word meaning “an apparition, a phantom” and therefore Jesus only “seemed” to be human. According to this theory Jesus couldn’t be “flesh”, a real human, since the world and flesh are corrupt the “spiritual Christ” couldn’t be directly involved in it.

Traditional Christianity is not entirely docetic but tends toward Docetism since it claims that Jesus only “took on flesh”. If Jesus only “took on flesh” then he is not a real human being, not a real human person. Unfortunately, traditional Christian belief by definition denies that Jesus the Messiah is a real human person. Because, if Jesus is an eternally pre-existent God-person, he can’t be a real human-person, because then he would be two persons (a god-person and a human-person). So traditional Christianity beginning in the centuries after Jesus was on earth began to say that Jesus was a god-person who only “took on flesh”. But a pre-existent god-person who only “took on flesh” is not really a human person. He only “seemed” to be a human person.

John tells us differently. He emphasizes that Jesus is a real human person.

“Jesus” is the name of the child born in Bethlehem, not the name of a pre-existent deity. This Jesus is the Messiah (Christ) who has “come in the flesh”. “Christ, Messiah” is never a title for God himself in the Scriptures. It is a title for the “Anointed” one chosen by God.

Jesus didn’t just seem to have flesh (Docetism), and didn’t just seem to be a human person (Traditional Christianity).

Jesus the Messiah has real human flesh (now raised from the dead, glorified, immortal).

Jesus the Messiah is a real human person, not a god-person just dressed up in human flesh.

See our comments on 1 John 2:22 and 1 John 4:2 earlier this week for more description of what John did NOT say when he said that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”

“Don’t receive him into the house”, 2 John 10

2 John 10 is a verse that can easily be taken out of context and abused. “If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting.” A person can make up any false doctrine, and then say if someone doesn’t agree with it, “don’t receive him into the house”.  This is what Traditional Christianity has done. Traditional Christianity, denying that Jesus is a real human person, made up a false doctrine in the centuries after Jesus, claiming: “Jesus is pre-existent eternal God who took on flesh”. Then once that false doctrine was established, Traditional Christianity said: “Don’t let anyone who doesn’t agree with this doctrine into the house”. See our comments to 1 John 2:19 (this past Sunday) about many anti-christs who have come into the world.

God, and God’s Son, 2 John 3

The beautiful greeting that the author sends God’s children is also a fitting departure blessing.

“Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.”  There is only One God, the Father. Jesus the Messiah (Christ) is God’s Son, and we as God’s children are Jesus’ brothers and sisters.

 

Bill & Stephanie Schlegel

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