Would you describe Jesus as harmless?

There are many who think Jesus is a pacifist.  There are some Scriptures out there were I think you could get that idea.  I ran across another one today.  It's a verse where Paul is describing Jesus. 

Hebrews 7:26(NKJV)

For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 

The word that seems out of place to me is harmless.  Let me offer a couple of other verses to illustrate why. 

Matthew 10:34-39(NKJV)

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 

For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 

and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’  

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Revelation 19:15(NKJV)

Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 

Now let me be perfectly clear.  I am not criticizing Jesus or God here.  I'm fully on board.  What I am questioning is the word harmless to describe Jesus because I think it feeds into that pacifist view of Jesus. 

Harmless?  I don't know about you but based on the verses I provided it certainly looks to me like there are going to be a whole lot of folks suffering some harm for rejecting Jesus at some point!

Is Paul saying what I think he is saying?

Is Paul saying what I think he is saying? 

Hebrews 6:4-6(NKJV)

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 

and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 

if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

It seems to me that Paul is saying that if those who accept Christ fall away, God will not take them back.  He cites as his reason that if would be like crucifying Christ all over again and that is why God won't forgive and take you back.  Am I reading too much into that?

I think it is flat out Scripturally wrong.  Let's compare what Paul just said to what Jesus said in Matthew.
 

Matthew 12:31-32(NKJV)

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

Seems to me that Jesus is saying that there is only one unforgivable sin and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.  Now one might argue that "falling away" is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit but I think that is a stretch because Jesus even went so far as to say you can talk bad about me but you can't talk bad about the Holy Spirit. 

Seems to me that falling away would be more akin to talking bad about Jesus than blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

"...to discern both good and evil", doesn't that require a judgement?

Here is another in a long line of verses where we are told to make a judgement. 

Hebrews 5:12-14(NKJV)

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 

For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

I especially like the way this is expressed.  God tells us to use our reason, our thinking minds.  We are told to discern good from evil.  How are we supposed to do that?  By studying God's word in my opinion.  You'll get all the guidance you could possibly need to discern good from evil in God's word!

The Dichotomy of the Meek and the Bold

meek

1. humbly patient or docile, as under provocation from others.
2. overly submissive or compliant; spiritless; tame.
3. Obsolete. gentle; kind.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/meek>

bold

1. not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring: a bold hero.
2. not hesitating to break the rules of propriety; forward; impudent: He apologized for being so bold as to speak to the emperor.
3. necessitating courage and daring; challenging: a bold adventure.
4. beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action; imaginative:  Einstein was a bold mathematician. a difficult problem needing a bold answer.
5. striking or conspicuous to the eye; flashy; showy:  a bold pattern.
6. steep; abrupt:  a bold promontory.
7. Nautical. deep enough to be navigable close to the shore:  bold waters.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bold?s=ts>

Scripture tells us to be meek and yet it says that we are given a spirit of power and we are told to boldly go before the throne of God.  Isn't that a bit of a contradiction?

Matthew 5:5(NKJV)

Blessed are the meek,      For they shall inherit the earth.

2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Hebrews 4:16(NKJV)

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This is where that whole "Bible is a book of balance" thing comes in.  Let me give you a phrase credited to Teddy Roosevelt that I think paints a word picture to illustrate these three Scriptures. 

"Speak softly and carry a big stick!"

I don't know about you but that seems to catch the essence of it for me.
 

Another thought on Kumbaya Jesus.

Another thought on Kumbaya Jesus.

If Jesus is supposed to be all loving with no adverse consequences when you don't believe  then how would He have enemies?

Hebrews 1:13(NKJV)

But to which of the angels has He ever said:      “Sit at My right hand,     Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?

When we look elsewhere for safety.

We are told that our God is a jealous God.  When we look elsewhere for safety that is showing a lack of faith in God.  Here is a great example of how God views that!

Jeremiah 42:10-17(NKJV)

‘If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pluck you up. For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you. 

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. 

And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.’

“But if you say, ‘We will not dwell in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God, 

saying, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’—

Then hear now the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah! Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘If you wholly set your faces to enter Egypt, and go to dwell there, 

then it shall be that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; the famine of which you were afraid shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there you shall die. 

So shall it be with all the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to dwell there. They shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the disaster that I will bring upon them.’

Just seems a lot easier to trust God in my opinion!

Does God actively punish or just let bad things happen to punish?

I have heard others say that God doesn't actively do things to people but He will let bad things happen to them as punishment sometimes.  I disagree.  I have seen many Scripture where it says God did it.  Here is one now.

Lamentations 1:5(NKJV)

    Her adversaries have become the master,      Her enemies prosper;     For the Lord has afflicted her     Because of the multitude of her transgressions.     Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

Lamentations 1:14(NKJV)

    “The yoke of my transgressions was bound;      They were woven together by His hands,     And thrust upon my neck.     He made my strength fail;     The Lord delivered me into the hands of those whom I am not able to withstand.

I think you'd have to agree that the wording is pretty clear.  What I especially love is that in the very next sentence God explains why He is punishing her.  It's not like God just out of the blue decided to be mean and screw with her (Judah-I know the gender words get confusing here.  :).  Judah had committed many sins and God decided it was time to punish.

Does it make a difference that God sometimes actively inflicts the punishment?  Should it trouble us?  It doesn't trouble me.  Here is why.

Let's use the God the Father paradigm.  For those of you who have raised children,  did you ever sit there and warn your kid not to do something and when they wouldn't listen you let the bad thing happen and said something like "see, you should have listened!"?  (Of course I'm not talking about anything life threatening) 

On the other hand were there times that you directly intervened and inflicted the punishment on them yourself?  Did you love them any less when you did so, no matter which way you did it?

Well if that technique works for us on our kids, why wouldn't it work for God on us?  In fact who do you think thought it up?  :)

A Difference of Style?

I find this interesting. 

2 Timothy 4:2-5(NKJV)

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 

and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Here is what I find interesting about it.  Paul seems to be saying "do whatever it takes to convince people to accept Jesus.".  But is that what Jesus would do?
 

My belief is that today's Christians expend way to many resources and energy trying to convince people to accept Christ.  What should they do instead?  Present the gospel, give people a chance to choose, accept their choice, and move on.  There are more people out there that need to hear the Gospel for the first time  so that they can make a choice.  To me that seemed be the way Jesus did things. 
 

As you read the Gospels you see where more than once Jesus simply tells them that if they want to play games and ask gotcha questions, they can pound sand.  He, Jesus, wasn't going to play their silly games and answer their gotcha questions.  In other words, He wasn't going to try and talk them into it.

I guess I attribute this to a difference of style more than anything else.  Is it a big deal?  Not to me.  The Bible quite clearly tells us that we all have different strengths and abilities chosen and given to us by God to accomplish His purposes in our lives.  So it makes sense that we are all different and we are all going to approach our work for God in the way that He directs us, we won't all be doing it the same.  Pretty cool actually!

Does Scripture Put Limits On Charity?

This is one issue that I think today's Christians get wrong.  There seems to be belief that no matter what people do as far as rejecting God, they are still deserving of charity.  I disagree.  I believe that Scripture tells us that some do not deserve charity.  I offer this Scripture as proof. 

1 Timothy 5:9-16(NKJV)

Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, 

well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work.

But refuse the younger widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, 

having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith. 

And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. 

Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 

For some have already turned aside after Satan. 

If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.

Here is one Scripture, there are more, that do put limits on charity and it even gives the reasons for the limits.  I think we should learn from that!

Using the Bible to hurt...blah, blah, blah.

Here is another Scripture to refute the Facebook meme that "if you are suing the Bible to hurt people you are using it wrong".

1 Timothy 5:20(NKJV)

Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

Now you'll notice that those who say that are usually trying to deflect criticism of something that they are doing. 

This Scripture, along with others that I have posted, say just the opposite.  This Scripture tells us that we are to confront sinning publically in the presence of others.  It even tells us why it should be done. 

Now might somebody be hurt by that?  Probably.  Does that mean we shouldn't do it?  Not according to Scripture.   

So who you going to listen to?  A Facebook meme or the Bible? 

But Paul, what about that whole forgiveness thing?

But Paul, what about that whole forgiveness thing?

2 Timothy 4:14-15(NKJV)

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. 

You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

Not sensing a lot of forgiveness here.  Paul is asking God to give this guy what he deserves.  At least that is what a lot of people in our modern culture would say.  Non-Christians seem to think that we Christians should let people walk all over us and then greet them with a big wet kiss and a hug afterwards.  To do anything less shows that you didn't forgive them and are being hateful.
 

To which I say BS.  Forgiving someone but still wanting to see them punished for what they have done are two separate things.  I can think of no better way to illustrate that than to look to Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:10(NKJV)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 

Scripture tells us that Jesus died for our sins.  When we accept Jesus we get eternal life.  But as the above Scripture tells us we must still stand before the judgment seat of Christ and our rewards in Heaven will be adjusted based on the good and bad in our lives.  We get eternal life but we don't escape all punishment.   

Just another example of why it is so important to know your Bible so that you aren't led astray buy those who like to twist the Bible to their own unrighteous purposes. 

Another Scriptural strike against Kumbaya Jesus

Ran across this verse today.  As the title says, this is another Scriptural strike against Kumbaya Jesus in my opinion.

2 Timothy 4:1(NKJV)

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 

If Kumbaya Jesus is going to let everyone in no matter if the embrace or reject Him, then why does Scripture tell us that Jesus will judge the living and dead at his return?  If He was just going to let everyone in what need is there for Him to judge anything?  Hmmm?

How come God never wanted vegetables sacrificed? :)

As I was driving today a funny thought occurred to me.  In the Old Testament where it describes the sacrifices it often cites meat an fat burring on the fire and making a pleasing aroma to God.  But not once do I remember God mentioning the pleasing aroma of vegetables on the fire.

Here in the USA we are celebrating Labor Day this weekend.  A weekend when we traditionally cook on the grill.  Let's all throw a steak on the grill and send up a huge pleasing aroma to God this weekend.

Have a blessed weekend and I'll be back on Tuesday!

God and Ayn Rand - Oh the irony! :)

My favorite book in the world is the Bible.  I have spent countless hours studying it and have lost track of how many times I have read it through.

My second favorite book is Atlas Shrugged, a book written by atheist Ayn Rand.  Some people find that ironic and somewhat hard to reconcile.  I don't.  This Scripture helps explain why.

2 Timothy 1:7(NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

This is actually another of my foundational verses.  Some much in one short verse.  All through the Bible God tells us not to fear and I have given my belief that fear is a physical manifestation of lack of faith.  Well this verse also tells us point blank that God did not give us a spirit of fear.  So if we allow fear into our lives we are allowing an influence that isn't from God.

What kind of spirit did God give us?  Well first he gave us a spirit of power!  Now that seems to stand at odds with Jesus telling us the 'meek shall inherit the earth doesn't it"?  I believe that is because many people have in incorrect understanding of what is meant by meek but we'll save that discussion for another time.

Next Scripture tells us that God gave us a spirit of love.  I agree.  I think that is where our yearning to help our fellow man comes from.  Here is what Any Rand had to say about love.

"Love is the expression of one's values, the greatest reward you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of another."  Ayn Rand

I don't see any real conflict there, do you?

And lastly God gave us a spirit of sound mind.  In other words God didn't build "mind numbed robots".  He gave humans an intellect and Scripture gives us plenty of warning that God expects us to use that intellect.  Here is one example.

2 Timothy 2:14-15(NKJV)

Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

I think we can all agree that it takes a sound mind to listen to both sides of an argument and then "rightly divide the truth" does it not?

Any Rand was a champion of reason and the supremacy of the mind of man over all of the other animals on earth.  It is that reason, that intellect, that elevates us and is why I believe that God gave man dominion over all on earth.

Let me end with another Any Rand quote. 

"To achieve, you need thought. You have to know what you are doing and that's real power."

Ayn Rand

If you haven't read Atlas Shrugged I would highly recommend it.  Disregard her atheism and learn from the rest.

Who is John Galt?