236. How Did The World Come To Be In Such A Mess? There is an answer in Romans chapter 1! And a message of hope!

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

There are many who are saying in 2017 that we are living in an upside down world where “good” is called “evil” and “evil” is called “good”. Others say that the world is in chaos, out of control. Still others are saying it’s as though darkness is overcoming the world and  we are living in a world of unreality, a world of madness. Evidence of that is seen in recent months and years where we have seen nonsense being espoused by some scientists in their writings about “extreme” global warming threats.  Or office bearers in Medical and Law bodies in Australia making pronouncements that their organisations had certain views concerning sexuality issues. But they did not have the right to speak on behalf of their members who had not been consulted. They were reprimanded by many of their own members for misrepresenting their views.  Or we might think of politicians who are taking their countries further and further into debt with seemingly no desire to do anything about it! It is a sad world indeed when one cannot accept as truth what many scientists, medicos and legal folk are saying whilst we are being led into an ever -increasing national debt.

Why is the world like this? I wrote about this some 5 years ago when I was studying Romans chapter 1. The passage talks about a world in rebellion against God and how He has handed people over to do their own thing, to do what they wanted to do. They responded by misusing the free-will they were given. The passage also tells us what takes place as a result. That sad story is being played out before our eyes at the moment throughout the world. The following is that article which I think is still highly relevant today. It is actually my extended paraphrase of Romans 1.

Reproducing Article No. 87 written in August 2012
“How Did The World Come To Be In Such A Mess?” Well it’s pretty clear really! We’ve turned our back on God. When you turn your back on God you can get into a hell of a mess (literally). God has shown us in His book (the Bible) how we are meant to live but we have ignored what He said. What we did know, we didn’t act on anyway! But how about people who don’t have Bibles? How do they know how they are meant to live? A good question! But there is an answer. God showed a lot about Himself in the world He made. For example the more you study the world the more you realise that you didn’t make it. Neither did your wonderful parents or grandparents! It shows such intricate design and order that it is obvious that no human could ever have designed it or created it. Some supernatural being must have done it. A being who is above nature, who made it all.

We can paint beautiful life-like flowers on canvas but we can’t make them live. We can harness the wind to derive energy, but we can’t produce the wind ourselves, (well some blowhards do better than the rest of us but it is infinitesimal in the grand scale of things.) We use some explosives to do a bit of damage but a violent tornado or earthquake does far more damage in a matter of moments. We marvel at the food chains in the world and marvel that it is all so coordinated, as though someone planned it that way. It is indeed a short-sighted person who says that there is not a supernatural being who made it all. Seeing the order and the power in creation is meant to lead everyone to know more about this being. The creation does bear witness to the existence of a Creator whom people are meant to “search out” in whatever way they can.

However the Bible says that instead of searching out more about this Creator God, humans refused to acknowledge His existence. They refused to thank Him for the privilege of living in the wonderful world He had made.  By taking their focus off Him as creator they began to think silly thoughts about God and to live as though He didn’t exist. This led to more foolish thinking. In fact what happened was this. They made their own gods. They did this in three ways.

I). Firstly they tossed aside the evidence that the creator God had shown in His creation. In its place they made images to be their gods. Some looked like humans. Others looked like birds or animals or even (shudder, shudder!) nasty looking reptiles. Fancy thinking that lifeless images could compare to the creator God!

II). Secondly they rejected the truth about God that He had revealed about Himself. They began to live a lie. They realised that they had strong feelings. But instead of expressing those feelings appropriately in the way the Creator God wanted, they did their “own thing” independently of God.   Their focus went from being on the Creator God to being focussed on the creation itself. It’s as though they were saying, “We don’t need you Creator, if you exist that is. We can manage this world. We are sufficient of ourselves to run the show. We don’t need you even if you do exist!”

So God did something very significant. It’s as though He said, “Well if you want to run your own show, I’ll let you do it. I gave you free-will in the hope you chose to worship and follow me. But I’m now handing you over to do what you want to do”. What happened? They did what they wanted to do!

III).  Thirdly, they rejected God in rejecting His order in creation. Some women, for whatever reason, felt an attraction towards other women. So they acted on it and formed same-sex relationships. It was not what God wanted (Genesis 2:24). It was contrary to the purpose for which God had created the world and the people in it. Some men also, for whatever reason, gave up the way God had made the world composed of males and females. They turned their backs on women and focussed their consuming passion on other men. And expressed their passions inappropriately from God’s point of view. He saw it as shameless. He saw it as an error on their part. He saw their actions as coming from a debased mind. But you can’t act contrary to what God wants and not expect consequences.  One of the consequences was that God continued to hand them over to do what they wanted. What they continued to do was not what He wanted for them. But He gave them a chance to turn to Him to act in the ways He wanted them to act. They refused His help to become the people He wanted them to become.

Was God just picking on those who were involved in same-sex activity? No, of course not!  He is against everything that is harmful for His creatures. The following are some of the things that earn the displeasure of God when people turn away from Him. It is not only anti-social behaviour, but anti-God behaviour as well.

Other signs of rebellion against God in His world

People who lose their focus on God to whom they are accountable, wrongly focus on other people. They can become nasty to them. Instead of being righteous people they can become filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They can be filled with many anti-social attitudes and actions. Their envy may lead them to destroy others by harbouring murderous thoughts towards them, creating strife, being deceitful and being malicious. They continue on this downward spiral by gossiping about people, by slandering them, by being insolent to them.  They maintain haughty, boastful attitudes and fail to have due respect to those who brought them into the world. They may even try to work out how they might inflict even more damage on those they don’t like. As those who have given up on God they have nothing to offer in relationships. In short they are the “less than they might be people”, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

There is a very, very sad thing that happens. The people who are guilty of any or all of the things mentioned above in their rebellion against God, also encourage other people to do the very same things. They actually applaud those people when they do the things that are anti-God and thus anti-social, Rom 1:32.  Although they know full well God’s just sentence–that those who practice such things deserve to die–they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.

The very sobering thought behind all this is that when people turn away from God and act in rebellion against Him, as seen above, He takes them seriously. He purposely hands them over to do what they want to do apart from Him.  Freedom to rebel. Freedom to run their own lives. Freedom to ruin the lives of others through inappropriate speech and behaviour which is repugnant to God.

So there is the answer. The world is in a hell of a mess because the powers of darkness run rampant in a society which has turned its back on God. People unknowingly become the puppets of evil powers even while they think they are running their own lives.  St Paul once wrote to Timothy a church leader who had to deal with people who were false teachers. He advised Timothy how to behave, 2Ti 2:24-26  “The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, (25)  instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth. (26)  Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will.”  How scary to realise that when you think you are running your own life, that it is the Devil who is “calling the shots”.

Is there any hope? Yes, amazing hope through amazing grace. The transforming power of God is available to make new creatures out of those who turn from their rebellion against God. To those who have focussed on creation, to now turn to focus on a relationship with God through Christ. As ‘The Message’ version of the Bible puts the words of 2 Corinthians 5:14-19, (14)  “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused centre: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat.(15)  He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.(16)  Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore.(17)  Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!(18)  All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. (19)  God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.”

Do you want to get out of the mess you have gotten into in life? As ‘the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step’, so the change in your life can begin with a simple prayer to God.

Prayer:- “Lord, I am sorry for running my own life apart from You. I’m sorry for all the hurt and pain I caused others as I lived that way. Please forgive all my sins and transform my life by Your Holy Spirit so that I can become more like Jesus in all I say and do. I ask this in Jesus’ name. AMEN.”

(PS. The words in the article above are really an extended paraphrase of the words in Romans chapter 1:18-31. I will write in more detail on this passage in future articles. But read the passage now and get blessed!)

Blog No.236.  Jim Holbeck. Posted on Wednesday 6th September 2017

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235. What insight does Romans 1 have to the same sex marriage debate? Does it favour a “Yes” or “No” vote?

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

In the last few articles I have looked at an article that appeared recently on an ABC website. The writer was attempting to show that the Bible did not argue against same sex marriage.  She did correctly emphasise that when one examines Bible verses, one should also look at the context of those verses to understand them properly. Unfortunately as I did that with the verses she quoted, I came to opposite conclusions to what she had written.  I found I did the same as she wrote about Romans 1. These are her words from that article, “In Romans 1:26-27, Paul condemns people swapping out their usual partner for one of the same gender. He claims this is a result of idolatry and uses it as part of his argument for why one should only follow (his) God. It is typical of the strong “them and us” rhetoric of the ancient world, serving a larger argument and is not a statement on sexuality per se.” [Rather a brief summary of such an important passage of scripture, and one that takes great liberties with the text it would seem.]

I remembered that I had done a summary of some articles on Romans 1 some years ago. Just a few minutes ago I discovered that I had done so exactly 4 years ago today! It was blog [No 129]. Summary of Romans 1:17-32. Human Rebellion against God. This is what I wrote then and I am posting it here for your convenience. Remember this was in September 2013 and all I can say it that the world situation has gotten much worse since then.  The following is that article.

4th Sept 2013. What has gotten into some of the world leaders in recent months? Some have taken gigantic strides in directions that were not expected. Some seem intent on changing the world as we know it, into an image they have created in their own minds. Now they want to see this vision reproduced in their own countries and even in other nations. Are we looking at world-changing visionaries in our midst? Or are we seeing the results of human wisdom gone mad? Humans out of control?

Once again chapter 1 of St Paul’s letter to the Romans has some answers for us. Recently I wrote some material on this chapter where I showed that three of the major factors in today’s world can be explained from its message. It is a description of human rebellion against God in three main facets of life.

1). In Rom 1:17-23, [blog 123] we saw that human rebellion against God leads to idolatry in which God is replaced by aspects of His creation. It means that Jesus, His agent in creation, is also not accorded His God-given position as Creator and Lord of His universe. One of the factors I noted in the articles was this. If folk reject God, they also reject His declaration that humans are made in His image. If people are merely different bits of this world structure then they (particularly the foetus or near-born or newly-born) can be disposed of at will because they are expendable “bits” with little present significance. There are many national leaders actively supporting almost unlimited abortion on demand. But some of them are not content with that. Now they want to have that particular concept of abortion on demand extended to other countries as well. There is talk that some of these leaders might want to make the acceptance of wide-spread abortion a qualification for receiving aid from the “richer” country! To stop “populution”? Or to extend their longed-for “power”?

God (YHWH) doesn’t see this “option” as wise management of human resources. He has a name for abortion done purely for the convenience of the person or the family or the nation. It’s called “murder”. Jesus once warned about putting stumbling blocks in the way of the young, Luke 17:1 “He said to His disciples, “Offences will certainly come, but woe to the one they come through! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” If causing the young to stumble brings such condemnation, then what does the supporting of the extinguishing of the young, merit?

We need to wake up! Humans in rebellion against God are destroying fellow humans who are made in the image of God. He says they are! As such they are to be protected and valued! Not destroyed!

2). In Rom 1:23-25 [blog 124] we read that this rebellion takes on a sinister turn. Humans created by God reject their Creator AND begin to worship and serve “something created”. This is what false religion is all about, when humans begin to take their eyes off God as the pre-eminent One in the universe and begin to exchange the truth about Him for a lie. The lie is this; that something or someone can take His place. Such people put their focus onto something or someone else, a part of God’s creation. Instead of following God’s commandments and His revelation of His will in the Scriptures, they place their allegiance in things or people.

We noted in a previous article that Jesus as the Creator-Redeemer of humans was called “the truth” and that His teaching is to be followed and not rejected nor added to. He was called also the “wisdom of God” for His words were the Father’s words. His wisdom was obvious to all who heard Him. We read in Mat 13:54, He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him? Paul called Him the “wisdom of God” in 1Cor 1:23-24, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Similarly in 1Cor 1:30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption

True religion is based on the wisdom of God rather than the wisdom of the world. One way of assessing all the present day religious movements is to look at how they operate and what are the ideologies and the motivations behind their actions. The wisdom of God (YHWH) in James 3:17 is described like this, … the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favouritism and hypocrisy. What a wonderful peaceful world it would be if we lived by the wisdom of God! As we examine all the current religious movements are they marked by these qualities? If they are, then they appear to be elements of true religion operating with God’s wisdom especially when they exhibit true love knowing “God is love” (1John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.)

If the religious bodies today are not characterised by these qualities, they may not be of God. Religions or ideologies operating from a human source of wisdom rather than a divine source have these features seen in James 3:14-16, bitter envy, selfish ambition, bragging, defying the truth. James writes here that this “wisdom” it is not from above, from God. It has to do only with the dimension of the human senses. It may be demonic, influenced by the powers of darkness. The outward expression of worldly wisdom is disorder and every kind of evil. A quick glance at our daily papers sees the evidence throughout the world of disorder, murder, the absence of love and utter evil in some of the religious movements. It would seem that false religion is alive and expanding on planet earth. It is false religion that brooks no rivals. True religion looks to God for wisdom on how to behave and to live in the peace of God that passes human understanding.

We need to wake up! Humans in rebellion against God are worshipping and serving the lie that you can replace Him with something or someone! He brooks no rivals. However He offers all people a relationship of peace with Himself through His Son Jesus Christ.

3). Romans 1:26-27. [Blog 125] We saw in a previous article that this passage speaks quite openly about homosexual practice and God’s attitude to it. In Leviticus chapters 18 and 20 He declared His repugnance. “Abomination” and “detestable” are never pretty words. How much more when they come from the mind of God Himself! If He used such words to describe these activities, it is sad that His people today are being labelled as homophobic for simply expressing what He said. But people in rebellion against God will reject His words especially when they come through fellow humans.

Recently we have seen that some national leaders are not only in favour of homosexual practice, but are pushing for same-sex marriage. One leader even wants to send expert teams out to other countries to help facilitate the acceptance and legalisation of same-sex marriage in those countries. Foreign aid with a twist! Again is it a case of such leaders being world-leading-visionaries who are taking the world into whole new expressions of freedom and liberty? Or something quite different!

But what if? What if there is a God who has revealed Himself in the Bible and through Jesus, and whose revelation we have in the Holy Bible, the Scriptures? What if He told us almost 2000 years ago that He had dealt with people in rebellion against Him and delivered them over to “do their own thing”. What if people presume He doesn’t exist or isn’t concerned when they do things He had forbidden and are not struck down dead as a result? What if the words of 2Peter 3:9 are true, “The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” What if His apparent failure to deal with human sin is not a sign of His pathetic weakness, but of His incredible patience and amazing grace and astonishing love in giving them time to turn from their rebellion against Him, to seek His forgiveness and to find true peace with Him as the true God?

We need to wake up! Humans in rebellion against God are encouraging practices that God has strongly condemned in unmistakeable terms! He isn’t going to change His mind! He isn’t going to adapt to cultural changes! He isn’t going to water down His word to gain more acceptance or to elicit a greater following! He has spoken! Clearly! Definitively!

A realistic appraisal of the whole human situation. Romans 1:29-32

God’s appraisal! We have seen in a previous article that these verses apply to every human ever born who has been rebellious against God. That’s all of us except for Jesus. We may look at these verses and pat ourselves on the back that we are pretty good in comparison with some notorious sinners in this world. But when we come to words such as greed, envy, disputes, deceit, gossips arrogant, proud, boastful, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful, we realise that we ourselves have failed to get a perfect score in those areas of life. It means that we are sinners just like the ones we have judged as being guilty of sin.

Only one way for all of us

There is only one way out of our predicament for all of us because we are all sinners in the sight of God. And that is by accepting His offer of forgiveness and salvation in Christ. It is a free gift to us in Him. It is an offer coming from His grace and love. But it is not cheap grace! It meant that Jesus the Son of God, the Messiah, had to die for the sins of all the peoples of the world throughout the ages. His death brought the possibility of forgiveness and new life for every person who would receive them in Christ. But “receive them” is the operative phrase. What is happening in today’s world is that people are making their choice. To seek truth in the God of truth, or to turn their backs on Him and to continue on in their rebellion.

Perhaps when St Paul wrote Romans chapter 1 at the inspiration of the Spirit of God he did not envisage a world as rebellious as it is now. But God did! In His love He has warned us through St Paul in this chapter that human rebellion would always take the form of idolatry, false religion and sexual inappropriateness. In His love He has warned those rebelling against Him in this way. However He also warns each and every one of us in the latter verses of the same chapter that we can’t criticise others, for we too are guilty before Him. The fact that we seem to be free to do whatever we wish without punishment may be an indication that the words of 2 Peter 3:9 are true, “The Lord … is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” Repentance from all of us! No exceptions!

A Prayer for someone to pray who feels they are not right with God

Dear Lord. You have shown us so clearly in Your word that none of us can stand before You, trusting in who we are or in what we have done. We have all rebelled against You in many and various ways. I confess that I am guilty before You and I need Your forgiveness and love.

I have learned that Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross so that I might have forgiveness. I have learned too that He rose from the dead and is alive today.

I invite You Lord Jesus to be my Saviour from sin and to be the Lord and Master of my life. Come into my life to make me a new creature and to guide and strengthen me to live as I should, from this day forward.

I thank You by faith for the victories I shall experience in life with Your help. Please accept my thanks in Your precious name of Jesus. AMEN

Blog No.235.  Jim Holbeck.  Posted 4th September 2017

 

 

 

 

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No 234. What the New Testament really says about same sex relationships in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Why we should vote “No” to change the definition of marriage to include same sex relationships

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

In previous articles we have looked at a recent article on this topic written by an Australian theologian. She gave some helpful material showing that homosexuality was practised to some extent in both Roman and Greek cultures in New Testament times.  She wrote, “In Graeco-Roman society, there was an acceptance that men might be attracted to other men. Even if married (to a woman) and often prior to marriage, a wealthy man might have a young male lover or male partner. In educational settings, several ancient authors comment on the male-male mentoring that often included pederasty (sex with boys). The main ancient objection to male-male sexual activity was that one partner had to take the “woman’s role” of being penetrated. In a patriarchal society, to be masculine was to be the active partner, whereas to be passive was deemed feminine and shameful. Then she adds, “These attitudes find their way into the New Testament in various forms. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:10 list a wide group of people who will not “inherit the Kingdom” without changing.”

We will look at those verses.  In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the words referring to male sexual activity in 1 Cor 6:9-10 are these, [malakós,  μαλακός meaning soft or effeminate] and [arsenokoítēs,  ἀρσενοκοίτης  from ársēn, a male, and koítē, a bed. Thus it is translated as a man who lies in bed with another male.]

Recent translations of these verses, agreed upon by hundreds of Biblical scholars from various denominations throughout the world, represent their consensus rather than being the translation of individual scholars. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 in the following recent versions [NOTE 1] those described as the unrighteous or wrongdoers who will not inherit the kingdom of God include the following.

New Revised Standard Version. (Published 1989)  1 Cor 6:9  “  Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers

English Standard Version. (2001). 9,  “… neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers,

New International Version. (2011)  9 “…Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10  nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers

Christian Standard Bible. (2017)  9. ..No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers.

Modern English Version. (2014)  9 … Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners

Lexham English Bible. (2012)  9 ..” Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners, 10 nor thieves, nor greedy persons, not drunkards, not abusive persons, not swindlers

One has to conclude that an abundance of modern scholars see these terms in 1 Corinthians 6:9 as describing homosexual relationships, in spite of the arguments by other modern scholars that the verse is not referring to homosexuality. [As the writer of the article put it, “To translate it as “homosexual” is problematic for two reasons: it is unlikely Paul had any concept of sexual orientation and he was certainly not describing a committed adult relationship.”] She appears to be reading modern day unproven theories about sexual orientation into the text. What Paul is talking about in verse 9 is not the condemnation of sexual orientation but of sexual practice.

Is it just a matter then of deciding which scholars to agree with or can more light be shed on these verses from the context? We will again take the advice of the writer of the article and search the context. Fortunately, we will discover that the immediate context does help us grasp more of the meaning.  Verses 9 and 10 are followed by these words in verse 11 and they are almost identical in all the versions above, 1Cor 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

 Paul was writing to believers in the Greek city of Corinth. It was a city noted for its licentiousness and immorality. In verse 11 he addressed them directly and truthfully, “And such were some of you.” It was probably true that many of the converts to Christ had been involved in immorality including homosexuality. In fact the city was renowned throughout the world of that day for its sin. So much so, that “the word ‘Corinthianize’ was used to refer to unmentionable sins.” [NOTE 2]

But something major had happened to them so that they were no longer to be characterised in that way.

  • They had been “washed” [apoloúō, ἀπολούω meaning to wash or bathe]. The only other reference in the New Testament is in Acts 22:16, where Ananias tells the newly converted Saul of Tarsus (St Paul) Act 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.” The baptism would be the symbol of the reality of the cleansing of his sins by God. [There may be here an echo of the words of Job in Job 9:30 in the Greek Septuagint [LXX] version where Job says, “If I wash [apoloúō, ἀπολούω] myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, 31 yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. 32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together.” Job realised that though he might try hard in a vain effort to cleanse [apoloúō, ἀπολούω] himself from his sin, ultimately only God could thoroughly cleanse him. Paul knew the Corinthian believers had been washed clean!]
  • They had been “sanctified.” [hagiázō; ἁγιάζω]. The root meaning of this verb is “to be separate,” separated from sin and separated to God and to His purposes. That process had begun in the Corinthian believers but a separation from the sin in their former lives had already taken place. Paul had already described them as “sanctified” in his opening greeting in 1Cor 1:2 “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” They had been set apart [sanctified by the Holy Spirit] to live for a new Master.
  • They had been “justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” “Justified” [dikaióō, δικαιόω] means to be made right with God through Christ and that occurs when people put their trust in Him or “in His name”. The Holy Spirit was God’s agent in bringing them to faith and thus to being justified, made right with Him.

By the way, the writer did mention 1Tim 1:10 as seen in my first paragraph above.  How does that verse affect our discussion? The verse is seen in the context where Paul is denouncing false teaching. 1:8 “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9  understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10  the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11  in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.”  The underlined phrase here is the translation of the word [arsenokoítēs, ἀρσενοκοίτης] which we saw above, meant men who lie down with men, that is “practise homosexuality”.

The list of people ignoring or disobeying the law are listed in verses 8-10 and what is common to all of them is that their lives are being lived in a way “contrary to sound doctrine”. That obviously means that homosexual practice as well as all the other sins mentioned, are contrary to God’s revealed character and will as seen in His word.

Summing up. If we take the word of God seriously it would be very dangerous policy indeed to vote “Yes” in favour of bringing same sex relationships under the definition of “marriage” out of some misplaced “compassion” or sense of “fairness”. God did say to every human, and Jesus affirmed it in His teaching, that the priority of loving and obeying God is foremost, Deut 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Voting “NO!” seems to be more in accord with His character, plans and purpose for His ongoing blessing on the human race.

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[NOTE 1]. The dates of publication of the translations are in the brackets.

[NOTE 2] A quote from Professor KJ Foreman’s Commentary on “Romans, Corinthians” in the Layman’s Bible Commentary series, page 65. As he also unforgettably remarked on the same page, “If you could get a church going in Corinth, you could get it going anywhere.” The transforming grace of God had touched the people of Corinth as they heard and responded to the gospel message about Christ.  They were changed! Remarkably so! By God!

Blog No.234. Jim Holbeck. Posted Monday 28th August 2017

 

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233. What relevance do Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 have to changing the definition of marriage in Australia? Should I vote “Yes” or “No” to same sex ‘marriage’?

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

As I mentioned in the previous article, the ABC on its website published an article by an Australian theologian which examined some of the Bible’s teaching relating to marriage. Part of that article had these words, “Two of the laws of Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13) are the sum total of what the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) says about same-sex activities. They call a man lying with another man instead of his wife an “abomination”. The imagined scenario is a married man committing adultery with another male. Again, we need some context. Yes, this verse clearly condemns adulterous homosexual sex in calling it an “abomination” (to’ebah), but here are all the other things also called an “abomination” in the Bible.” The writer then listed many of those abominations. She concluded, “As you can see, there is quite an assortment of ancient laws, some of which seem to make good sense (such as no child sacrifice) and others of which the majority of Christians no longer keep (such as eating pork and wearing a wool-silk blend). To claim one set as timeless truths while ignoring the others is patently hypocritical and goes against the grain of the text itself.”

Well let’s take the advice of that writer and look at the context for these verses, Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. The writer of the article unfortunately [and most probably unintentionally] gives the impression that there are only a few occurrences of the word “abomination” (Hebrew to’ebah) which are those mentioned above. However, a quick look at a concordance gives the number as 126 occurrences. Admittedly they are not all translated as “abomination” but have similar meanings. The reference in Lev 18:22 in its context is immediately followed by these verses which include the same Hebrew word for “abomination”. The words are underlined as follows. Lev 18:26 “But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God.”

We note the seriousness of what God saw as “abominations” in these verses. God’s people had to follow the laws He had given them. That meant everybody, including those strangers sojourning among them. They were not to live in the same way as the nation in that area lived before them, for their sin polluted both the people and the land [because they had done all of the abominations mentioned in chapter 18.]   The warning is given to the people of God that if they did “any” of those abominations they would be cut off from the people.  Note it says “any” not some or a few but “any!” In other words they were to do none of those abominable things. They were never to practise any of those abominations and never to make themselves unclean by doing any of them. Stern words! God could not be clearer in saying to His people, you must do none of these things that I have called an abomination, not one, ever!  What was included among the abominations? The practice described as an abomination in verse 22, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.”

The author of the article on the ABC website seemed to be suggesting that the abomination occurred when a married man had homosexual intercourse with another man, “We should note first that the imagined scenario is a married man committing adultery with another male.” To some that would seem to be reading into the text what is not there. It does indeed appear to be an “imagined scenario”. The “You” in “You shall not lie with a male” seems to be referring to all males, not just married males. The abomination seems to be in the male to male action itself and not simply when a case of adultery occurred. That is made clearer in the passage from Leviticus 20:13.

The reference in Lev 20:13 to abomination also seems to be in relation to same sex encounters,  “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” Again in this reference there is no need to see this as just a married man having sex with another man. It seems to refer to any man. The Hebrew word here for “man” is [‘ı̂ysh] which can be translated as ‘man” or husband.” But it is pushing the boundaries of common sense to say it should be translated as “husband’ in this verse. Why? Because the same word is used in this passage to say that a “man” [‘ı̂ysh] should not lie with or have sex with the following, Lev 20:10 with the wife of his neighbour. 11 with his father’s wife, 12 with his daughter-in-law, 13 with a male as with a woman 14 with a woman and her mother also, 15 with an animal, 17 with his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, 18 with a woman during her menstrual period 19 with his mother’s sister or father’s sister, 20 his uncle’s wife, 21 his brother’s wife.

In this verse, Lev 20:13, the action is described as an abomination committed by both parties and a penalty is also added. Both were to be put to death. Why was such severe punishment to take place? The answer may be found in the context where God declared in the final verses of the chapter that He wanted His people to be holy and set apart for Him. His people were privileged to be His people but they had the following obligations.

  • To live by all His rules and statutes so that when they came to the land God had given them, they would not be vomited out, Lev 20:22 “You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.”
  • To not walk in the customs of the nations that God would drive out before them. He detested their practices. His own people were not to do them. Lev 20:23 “And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them.”
  • They were to live for Him and be separate from the culture and practices of other nations, Lev 20:24 “But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.”
  • To not mix that which God declared clean and unclean. Lev 20:25.
  • To be His and His alone as His holy [separated] people. Lev 20:26 “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”

The laws in Leviticus give us an indication of the character of our God. He describes what He dislikes as being contrary to His holy nature. He expects His people to be holy like Him and that means not participating in practices that He has deemed to be abominable or detestable in His sight. That was particularly so as He led His people towards their promised land, and tried to protect them for being contaminated by adopting the customs of the peoples through whose lands they would journey.

We may not agree with or understand His reasoning in all His statutes and rules and commands, but this is His world and He sets the rules for His creatures and especially for His people to follow. He has told us in His word what He likes and what He dislikes, even calling some of those dislikes, “abominations.” The amazing thing is that He is gracious and wants to fulfil His promises for His people, 2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” [NOTE 1] 

In the meantime, we are to live for Him as Peter went on to write in 2Peter 3:14 “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” Seeking to become spotless and blameless before Him certainly means doing nothing He dislikes. If God expressed His displeasure with male to male sexual encounters as He appears to do in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13, then there seems to be no way of broadening the definition of the God given institution of marriage to include same sex relationships.  That should mean a resounding “NO!” vote in any plebiscite to change the definition of marriage to include same sex relationships.

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[NOTE 1] In a series of articles I wrote on “repentance” (summarised in blog No. 230 ) I made the point that repentance [metánoia, μετάνοια] means a change of mind accompanied by a change in attitude and in behaviour. It means turning from sin to God to ask Him to forgive us and to give us the grace to help us overcome the temptation to sin in that way (or in any other way) again. It is a sobering thought to realise that the so-called delay in the coming of the Lord in judgment is not a sign of weakness. Rather it is a sign of His grace being extended to all of us to give us time to repent of our sins and to turn to Him in true repentance and faith. Sadly that time is coming to an end for those who have not yet heeded His call to repent.

Blog No.233. Jim Holbeck. Posted on Saturday 26th August 2017

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232. Why does our national broadcaster appear to support only the “Yes” side of the same-sex vote? (The story of Sodom.)

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

An article [by an Australian theologian] published on the ABC website [NOTE 1] recently, made a number of claims about same-sex marriage. Included in the presentation were some statements which a number of like-minded scholars affirm as well. But are they right in doing so?

One statement is this. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 has nothing to say about homosexuality.  The author of the article acknowledges that the story in Genesis 19 is where the terms “sodomite” and “sodomy” originate, and that it has long been associated with biblical condemnation of male homosexual sex. Her conclusion is that it refers to gang-rape and not male homosexual sex. In the story in Genesis 19 Lot offered hospitality to two angelic beings. However they must have seemed in appearance to be like young men. Soon after, the men of Sodom of all ages surrounded the house, and called out to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” What did they mean by saying that they wanted to “know them?” Was it simply that the men of Sodom wanted to say something to them like “Hi fellas! Welcome to Sodom! We just felt as a group that we’d like to get to know you a bit better. Do you want to join us down at the pub for a beer?”

I looked at this some time ago in blog No 85 [Note 2] where I commented, ‘{The word for “know” is (yada). It has many meanings but it can mean knowing a person sexually such as in Gen 4:1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” It is also used in the same way in 1Kings 1:4, where David’s servants try to keep David warm by selecting a young woman to lie in his arms. Abishag was found and brought to the king. Even though she was very beautiful and attended to the king, he “knew” her not. In other words he did not know her sexually. Another reference to (yada) being used to describe sexual relations is in the story of Rebekah where she is described as a virgin in these words, Gen 24:16  The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known.

In the story in Genesis 19:8 Lot knew what the men were after, namely sexual relations with his guests. He offers his virgin daughters (who have not known [yada] any man) to the men so that the men of Sodom might do to them as they pleased. Rather a despicable attitude but he wanted to save face with his guests at the cost of his daughters’ well-being. However the men of Sodom lusted for the men and would not accept the offer of the daughters. Judgment followed upon those men [as Lot’s family were divinely protected.]

 Many modern versions of the Bible spell out the meaning of “know” referring to sexual relations. For example the Holman Christian Standard Bible puts it, Gen 19:5  They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!” Lot’s offer of his daughters is translated as, Gen 19:8  Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man. I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want to them. The NET Bible also puts it starkly, “Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!” The daughters are described in this version as those who have never had sexual relations with a man.

 It is obvious why the term “sodomy” came into use. It described the sexual activity between males as seen in the city of Sodom.’} That is brought out in Jude 1:7 where Jude describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of God’s punishment for what He saw as evil in His sight. The reason given for the destruction was not that on one occasion the males of the city had tried to rape two visitors to town [and by God’s intervention, been unsuccessful]. Rather it was because they “indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire”. The word for “Sexual immorality” is [ekporneúō, ἐκπορνεύω] meaning to practise immorality or lewdness. The phrase “pursued unnatural desire” is made up of a number of words. They are [apérchomai,  ἀπέρχομαι meaning to go after or pursue] and [héteros, ἕτερος meaning different or another of a different kind] and [sárx, σάρξ meaning flesh] ie., they were going after or pursuing strange or different flesh. As the Baker’s New Testament Commentary puts it, “Therefore, when the men of Sodom were interested in sexual relations with men, they perverted the created order of natural intercourse. That is, the men of Sodom did not desire females (see Gen 19:8-9); instead, these men demanded homosexual relations with the men who visited Lot.”

 The judgment on Sodom was God’s response to what some would call a widespread sexual proclivity in the city as 19:4 indicates, “all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.” [The words, ‘All the men’. ‘From every part of Sodom’. ‘Both young and old’ show how widespread and deep seated was the lust among the males of the city. They were accountable to God for their lust. He acted to prevent them from putting their desires into action. Nevertheless a greater judgment upon the city was soon to follow.]

It would appear then that the author’s conclusion that Genesis 19 is only about gang-rape and not male homosexual sex is questionable to say the least. However we are fortunate in Australia that the national broadcaster (the ABC) is meant to be balanced in its presentations. So I am looking forward to it publishing or presenting arguments in favour of the historical interpretation of this passage. It hasn’t happened yet to my knowledge but perhaps I just need to wait a little longer!

In the meantime we will investigate in the next article whether the author’s second point is correct when she affirms that the 2 laws of Leviticus (18:22 and 20:13) are “the sum total of what the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) says about same-sex activities” and are not necessarily verses that can be used as arguments against same sex marriage.

[NOTE 1]  The ABC stands for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and it operates  under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.  Part of the charter has these words, “It also imposes general duties on all ABC employees to, amongst other things, act honestly, in good faith and for a proper purpose.”  Many assume that this should mean in practice a fair and balanced treatment on all the topics it presents or on which it reports. (Such as a balance for the arguments for the “Yes” and “No” cases for the coming postal vote in Australia. The vote will be about altering the definition of “marriage” in the Marriage Act to include same sex relatioships.)

[NOTE 2] I have written on this and similar themes a number of times over the years and on request linked them together in one blog to enable folk to be able to click on any topic mentioned in the blog that they wanted to investigate. That blog number is 195.

Blog No.232. Jim Holbeck. Posted Friday 25th August 2017

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231. REPENTANCE. How do we pray expressing our repentance to God?

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

Having completed some articles on repentance I thought that it might be helpful to include some prayers that might help those who wanted to confess their sins to God in repentance. Such prayers don’t have to be expressions of brilliant prose or poetry. Nor do they have to be complicated theological treatises. A prayer uttered in sincerity such as “O God, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me!” or even the prayer, “Help!” will reach the Father’s ears and will enable Him to begin a deep work in that person so that they can experience His forgiving love. Any prayer, no matter how simple, no matter how haltingly it comes out, provided it comes from one’s heart, will always get His attention!

When I became a believer way back in 1958 I began to be exposed to prayers from the 1661 Book of Common Prayer used in Church of England and Anglican churches around the world. They were a bit longer than the simple prayers above but as I prayed them over the years I began to see the depth of meaning in the various phrases. I found them helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the incredible love and mercy of God in forgiving sinners.  Prayer Books have changed over the years but Anglican churches are meant to be based on the theology expressed in the Book of Common Prayer as well as in the 39 Articles of Religion. [NOTE 1]

I would like to share with those who have never seen or prayed those prayers what the words were and also what we had in mind as we prayed the prayers.  I have included below in the 2 columns the actual words of the Prayer of General Confession Prayer [in the left column] and the description of what many of us were doing or thinking as we prayed the prayers [in the right column.] They are from the service for Morning and Evening Prayer in the first table and from the Holy Communion service in the following table. I hope they bless you as they have blessed me over the last 60 years!

THE MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER SERVICES in the 1661 Book of Common Prayer.  These are the introductory words, “A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all kneeling.”

A GENERAL CONFESSION WHAT WE ARE DOING AS WE PRAY THE GENERAL CONFESSION
“ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father, We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, We confess to God that we have not lived in the ways He wanted us to live
 We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, We confess that we have lived by our own plans and desires
We have offended against thy holy laws, We confess that we have not fully obeyed God’s holy laws
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, We confess we are guilty of sins of omission [the good things we should have done but failed to do]
And we have done those things which we ought not to have done, We confess we are guilty of sins of commission [the bad things we did do]
And there is no health in us: We confess that we are sinners at heart always needing God’s grace to live as we should
   
But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offenders; We plead for mercy as those who have offended against God and are deeply grieved because we offended Him. [NOTE 2]
Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults, We plead for forgiveness as we confess our faults
Restore thou them that are penitent, We plead for restoration to a closer fellowship having turned our backs on Him in sinning against Him
According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord: We recognise that God has promised through Jesus that He will have mercy, and that He will spare and restore all those who have sinned against Him and who confess their sins to Him
And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.” We recognise that we need His ongoing grace [and we humbly ask Him for it] to enable us to live lives that bring glory to God

THE HOLY COMMUNION SERVICE in the 1661 Book of Common Prayer

Introductory words. “Then shall this general Confession be made, in the name of all those that are minded to receive the holy Communion, by one of the Ministers: both he and all the people kneeling humbly upon their knees and saying,”

A GENERAL CONFESSION WHAT WE ARE DOING AS WE PRAY THE GENERAL CONFESSION
“ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men: We confess that we acknowledge God to be both our Maker and ultimately the Judge of all people
We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, We acknowledge and confess before Him that we have sinned against Him in numerous ways. We also confess to Him that we are deeply sorrowful for having done so
Which we from time to time most grievously have committed, We confess that there have been times when we did not live in obedience to Him and to His laws. We confess they were grievous sins in the sense that they grieved Him [and brought grief to us and others as well.]
By thought, word, and deed, We confess that there has been sin in our thought life; in what we have said and in what we have done
Against thy Divine Majesty, We confess that our sin is a sin against the majestic God Himself. [In the words of the prodigal son as he pleads with his earthly father for forgiveness, “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you.”] Every sin is a sin against God. Firstly because we have flouted His laws and commandments. Secondly because we have not turned to Him for His grace to help us overcome the temptation to sin.
Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We confess that sin provokes God’s wrath and anger because it is a breach of love against our neighbour and against God as well. Sin destroys. [Note 3]
We do earnestly repent, We confess that we are earnest and sincere [In Australia being ‘fair dinkum’] in telling Him we are sorry and want to turn from all sin to live for Him always
And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; We confess that we are heartily sorry [we mean it from the depth of our hearts] that we have done wrong
The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; We confess that whenever we reflect on those sins we realise, to some extent, the impact those sins had on others. So we have a renewed sense of grief that others we sinned against may still be hurting because of those sins. We are grieved too because as believers we realise that we have grieved God’s indwelling Holy Spirit by our sin.
The burden of them is intolerable. We confess that sin brings a burden to those who carry the guilt of sin, BUT
Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Forgive us all that is past; BUT! Having got all those things off our chests by confessing them before Him, we ask God for mercy as the merciful One. We Him to forgive us because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. [Remembering that the ground of all forgiveness is the atoning death of Jesus on the cross for us. Our confession of sin and asking for forgiveness are the means by which we access and experience that forgiveness which is ours in Him.]
And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, We ask for His grace to be upon us to bring us newness of life, so that from this moment forward we may live to please Him.
To the honour and glory of thy Name; We express our desire that we might live in such a way as to bring Him glory and honour.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” WE acknowledge that all this has to be through Jesus Christ, in His name,  for as Paul wrote in Romans 11:36, “For from Him and THROUGH Him and to Him are all things.”

[NOTE 1.] The words in the Holy Communion service above seem to have come initially from the Order of Communion in 1548.  They are of some interest to me because a Bishop Holbeck of Lincoln [and Rochester] was part of the group of bishops who drew up that service. Whether he was a relative of mine or not I am not sure. But it would be nice to think so! It appears he was a great supporter of Archbishop Cranmer who was the main architect of the Book of Common Prayer services.

[NOTE 2] “Miserable offenders?” Who wants to be miserable? Isn’t being a believer about experiencing the joy of the Lord? Yes! Of course it is! But note that the words are not “miserable believers” but “miserable offenders.” That is how we come to God having recognised that we have sinned against Him [offended Him] and brought grief to Him and to others. Having confessed those sins to Him we should no longer be miserable but joyful, praising Him for His forgiveness and love!  [Whilst continuing to pray for healing for those whom we might have hurt by our sin.]

[NOTE 3] God’s wrath is His settled disposition towards sin and not a sudden flaring up in anger like our human wrath. He hates sin! Why? Because HE ALONE recognises the magnitude of the damage it does to those who are sinned against as well as the damage done to the one who commits the sin. If we could only recognise how gross sin is in the sight of a holy God then we might take more care not to give in to the temptations we face!

Blog No.231.  Jim Holbeck. Posted Saturday 19th August 2017

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230. Summary of My Recent Articles on Repentance

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

It may be in some churches around the world that if the preacher began the sermon with the word “Repent!” there would be quite different reactions or responses to it.

There would be some who might think, “How rude. I’m just as good as everybody else here! Probably better!”

Or another person may think, “Great topic. This mob needs to hear this.”

Or another, “Gee, I hope Henry listens to this. He might be reminded to repay the money he owes me!”

Or another, “This could be a bit threatening. I’m out of here! Where’s the nearest exit?”

Perhaps a few might think, “I really need to listen to this. It seems to be important. Jesus began His preaching with that word. What does it really mean? Do I need to repent?”

It is probably true to say that repentance does not feature greatly in some preaching circles.  There may be an emphasis on asking Christ to come into one’s heart or giving one’s life to Him with no mention of the need to repent at all. However if John the Baptist and Jesus  both began their ministries with the message for their hearers to repent, then it must be important not to neglect it!

What I have done in the preceding articles is to give some biblical teaching on repentance. It is the first of the 3 R’s in the diagram I posted in blog No. 220 which aims to give an overview of the essential elements of the Christian life. In that article, I mentioned those elements as 3R’s [1. Repentance. 2. Renunciation. 3. Receiving Christ.] Then there were 3 S’s. [4. Submission to Christ as Lord.  5. Spirit filled continually especially looking at the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit. 6. Sharing in fellowship and ministry.] (There is an audio of a sermon preached on this topic there as well.)

An understanding of all these elements is important in seeking to grow in Christian maturity. But another use of this material could be in praying with people or in counselling to ensure that every aspect of their Christian life is possible of being addressed.

 So here are the previous articles for your convenience. You just need to click on the link number to be taken to that article. [Or you can simply use the Index  on the right.]

 No.221. REPENTANCE. Everyone needs to repent of sin to have victory over it. But just what is sin?

No.222. REPENTANCE. The need to repent of sin. But what is sin? Gaining a little understanding of some New Testament words for sin.

No.223. Repentance. What is it? What it is not! What it is! The example of King David.

No.224. REPENTANCE. As seen in the ministries of John the Baptist and of Jesus.

No.225.REPENTANCE IN THE MINISTRY OF THE EARLY CHURCH. St Peter’s messages remain a challenge to us today!

No.226. REPENTANCE. Saul the Persecutor became Paul the Preacher of Repentance.

No.227. REPENTANCE. Lessons from the writer to the Hebrews. A Personal testimony of a transformed life.

No.228. REPENTANCE. The apostle John urges repentance for everyone in his epistles.

No.229. REPENTANCE. In the Book of Revelation. The message for today!

No.231. REPENTANCE. How do we pray expressing our repentance to God?

[NOTE] I hope to cover the other 5 elements in future articles. Unless the Lord comes before then and the articles will no longer be appropriate, for the time for people to repent will then be over!

Blog No.230. Jim Holbeck. Posted on Wednesday 16th August 2017.

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229. Repentance in the Book of Revelation. The message for today!

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

If there is no mention of the word “repent” in the epistles of John, he certainly makes up for it in the Book of Revelation where it is mentioned 12 times! The book begins with these words, Rev 1:1 “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” It expresses a description of the revelation of the future that God gave to Jesus to share with John the apostle while he was exiled on the Island of Patmos. In later chapters John shares the messages with the angels of 7 churches so that the peoples in those places might take note and repent.

Revelation 2:4-5. The first reference to the word “repent” [NOTE 1] comes in the message given to the angel of the church in Ephesus to share with the believers in that church. Rev 2:4 “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” In this case what was it that the church in Ephesus needed to repent of? After an affirmation of the church for some good qualities John records the Lord’s criticism of them that they had lost their first love. They had fallen from where they had been before in their relationship with God. They were challenged to repent of their attitudes and behaviour and to produce the works they had performed before they fell.

Revelation 2:14-16. The second reference to “repent” is in the message to the church in Pergamum, Rev 2:16 “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.” Rev 2:14 “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” In Israelite history Balaam had seduced the Israelites to forgo their God-given laws and to become like the other nations. That meant becoming involved in forbidden activities such as eating food sacrificed to other deities and engaging in sexual immorality. Obviously, many in Pergamum had fallen to those sorts of temptations. They also failed to remove the false teachers who had influenced the church for evil.

 Revelation 2:20-22. The third reference was in the message to the church in Thyatira. Rev 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.” It seems that there was a false teacher in the church who had the attributes of Queen Jezebel in the time of King Ahab. She obviously encouraged many in the church to eat food sacrificed to idols and to engage in sexual immorality. However in the mercy and providence of God He allowed her time to repent and to turn away from the evil she was promulgating. Judgment was inevitable,  Rev 2:22 “Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works.” She was guilty and would bear punishment for what she had done and also for failing to take notice of God given opportunities for her to repent. Likewise those whom she led astray would also be punished but there was still time for them to repent. That involved changing their minds about her false teaching and sinful behaviour and confessing them as evil in the sight of God. It meant also that they had to confess their own sin in repentance and seek the Lord’s forgiveness.

Revelation 3:1-6. In this reference to the church in Sardis they are accused of being dead and asleep. Rev 3:1  “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you”. The Lord is not influenced by reputations. He deals in realities. The church was reputed to be a live church but He saw it as being spiritually dead. He warned them that they needed to wake up and build on the good that still remained in the church.

 What was it that drew such criticism from the Lord? The works they had begun, they had failed to complete. There was a lack of commitment in the church and they were resting on their laurels. The way forward for the church was to repent of their failures and to live in accordance with the teaching they had received. If they did so they would join the few who had remained faithful in the church, described here as those “who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” 3:4. For those who did repent and turn back to Him to live victorious lives He promised eternal security, 5 “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Repentance was the key to forgiveness for the past and to guarantee blessing in the future.

Revelation 3:14-22.  The message to the church in Laodicea didn’t mince words. It was a challenge to them to turn back to God, yet it had words of encouragement in it as well. God saw them as lukewarm in their works, nauseous to Him and liable to be spat out, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Rev 3:15-16.

 They also saw themselves as being self-sufficient and not needing to rely on their God. He saw them differently, “You are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” If they wanted to be rich then they needed to come to Him in repentance to receive the gold He offered. If they wanted to appear to be well clothed, they needed to clothe themselves with the garments He alone could provide, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen.” 3:18. [NOTE 2].  For their blindness, they needed to receive the salve from Him that alone could bring them sight, “salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” 3:18.

 Repentance on their part would be a response to the love of their God, as He reminds them, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Rev 3:19. He was motivated to help them do so. They just needed to open their lives to His presence and He would have fellowship with them, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20. Not only that but their repentance and openness to God will enable them to have victories where once there had been defeats, “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Rev 3:21.

 In Revelation 9:20- 21 the picture is of a coming judgment. People had not repented of their various sins and judgment would fall on them. But it is interesting to see what sins they needed to repent of, “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” It is an extensive list and mentions the breaking of many of the commandments given to them in the Decalogue, the 10 Commandments. They hadn’t repented of what they had done. Nor had they given up the worship of various types of idols. Nor had they repented of their sins of murder, involvement in sorcery and in sexual immorality. They could and should have repented of all these things. They chose not to. For that they were accountable to God.

 Revelation 16:9-11. The final reference to repentance comes in Rev 16:9-11 where the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath are poured out. In this passage, we read of people’s rebellion against God.

That rebellion is seen in the following. They “bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.” 16:2. They had “shed the blood of saints and prophets”. 16:6. They had cursed the name of God, “cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.” They had “cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.” No repentance means no forgiveness!

It is amazing to realise as we look at all these verses in the book of Revelation, that humans find it so difficult to recognise their sinfulness and to repent of it.

It reminds us of the poignant words in Rom 10:21 where God expresses His concern even for His own people, “But of Israel he says, ‘All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.’” Disobedient and contrary people always need to repent. Even now!

Or we might think of the lament of Jesus as He spoke about Jerusalem because of their rejection of Him as their Messiah. Mat 23:37  and Luke 13:34, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” [NOTE 3]

Or how deeply Jesus was moved to tears as He drew near to Jerusalem and knew what the future entailed for the city because of the rejection of Him by its people, “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:42-44.  How sad that so many inhabitants of Jerusalem would never have gotten around to repenting of their rejection of their Messiah! How many today have not yet repented of sin and turned in faith to God for His forgiveness!

——————————————————————————————————————————— [NOTE 1]  As we have seen in previous articles, the word for “repent” is [metanoéō; μετανοέω] meaning to change the mind and also to change one’s behaviour. One definition for repentance might be “a change of mind accompanied by a change in behaviour.”  It involves turning away from sin and turning to God.

[NOTE 2] There is here almost an echo of the words in Isa 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

[NOTE 3] The Authorised Version puts it so starkly, “and ye would not!”

Blog No.229.  Jim Holbeck. Posted on Wednesday 16th August 2017

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228. REPENTANCE. The apostle John urges repentance for everyone in his epistles

Posted on August 14, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

The word “repentance” does not seem to appear in John’s epistles. However there are connections. In the epistles he uses the word “confess” to make the same sort of plea to his readers to turn from their sin to God. It is the Greek word [homologéō,  ὁμολογέω]. It is composed of two main parts, [“homo” meaning “the same”] and [“logeo” meaning to “say” or to “speak”.]  Combined they mean to “say the same as” or to “agree with.” The word is used in 2 different ways in the epistles.

The first way it is used, is for people to confess or agree with the truths that God has made known. For example, in 1Jn 2:23 John declares this truth, “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” It is confessing the Son to be the Son of God, a revealed truth to the disciples. Likewise in 1Jn 4:2 John affirms this truth, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” God had revealed that Jesus was the Son of God who had come to earth. When a person confessed that truth, they were agreeing with what God had revealed. To fail to confess Jesus had come in the flesh was the rejection of what God had revealed. It was contrary to God’s revelation. It was an expression of the spirit of anti-Christ, 1Jn 4:3 “and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” The same truth is seen in John’s second epistle, 2Jn 1:7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.” In this sense, to “confess” the truth of the incarnation of Jesus was to agree with God’s revealed truth about Him.

 On the positive side, those who confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, were agreeing with God’s revelation to His people. They were on His side. It was a sign that they had been born again and were now indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Thus they were able to confess that truth, 1Jn 4:15 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

The second way the word is used, is found in just one verse in John’s epistles, but it is highly significant. We see the background in the previous verse, 1Jn 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Deception is terribly deceptive! One doesn’t know one is deceived until one comes out of that deception!  That’s the sad part, that many who have been deceived don’t know it, and may never know it! It’s only the light that reveals the darkness.  But one must be willing to let the light shine in!

We allow the light shine in by seeking to get right with God and by maintaining that closeness.  That means that we need to be honest with Him and to tell Him we have sinned and need to be forgiven, 1:9 “If we confess our sins [hamartía, ἁμαρτία] [NOTE 1 below]. John encourages us by telling us what happens when we do so sincerely, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Here the confession is not about confessing some truth concerning Jesus. Rather it confessing the truth about ourselves. It means recognising that some or many of our words or actions have not been in accord with God’s will or His laws. We decide to agree with His verdict on those actions or words and confess them, as He sees them, as sin. God is “faithful” to His promises regarding forgiveness for sin and “just’ because Jesus has secured forgiveness for us through His death and resurrection. God is “faithful and just” because justice has been done and His mercy has been extended to those who come to God in repentance and in faith in Jesus.

That truth is further brought out in verse 10, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”. The word “sinned” is the verb version of “sin’ in verse 9. The meaning as we saw then was to “miss the mark”, to “err”, to “do wrong”. It would be a brave soul indeed [as well as a deceived one] to say that they had never sinned! But it takes courage to admit it. When one does admit it, blessings follow, especially the blessings of forgiveness and peace as we saw in Psalm 32:1, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin [hamartía, ἁμαρτία] is covered.” David added that when he didn’t declare his sin, he went through physical and emotional turmoil. Peace came when he actually confessed it to God, 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity [hamartía, ἁμαρτία]; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” God covered over the sin that David had uncovered before Him and David had peace. [NOTE 2]

What else does John have to say about human sin [hamartia, ἁμαρτία] and the need for repentance in his epistles?  He further describes such sin in the following verses.

In 1 Jn 2:1-2, John expresses the purpose of his letter as an attempt to prevent them from sinning, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.” However he has an answer for those who do sin.  Jesus paid the price for human sin through His death on the cross and is their advocate before the Father when they acknowledge their sin before Him. “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” It seems that John is envisaging that those who recognise their sin should repent of it, confess it and claim forgiveness through what Jesus has done in His sacrificial death for sinners.

In 1 Jn 3:4-5, John declares that those who sin are law breakers and are guilty of lawlessness. The latter [anomia, ἀνομία] is one of the words we have seen being used for sin. “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. The good news according to John is that Jesus “appeared” or came to earth to take away sins by His sacrifice on the cross. 5 “But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” The sinless One died for sinners and as Paul wrote in Eph 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Forgiveness is available, but only in Him.

1 Jn 3:8-9, John takes a tough stand regarding sin. He describes those guilty of ongoing sin as being under the control of the devil.  “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” But Jesus came to break the hold that the devil had over humans, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. He makes the claim that there can be victory over sin because they are indwelt by the Son and thus can have power over sin in their lives, 9 “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” They can be victorious over sin because they have been changed by the grace of God. As Peter wrote, they had become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2Peter 1:4. They were to realise they were different and were to act accordingly.

In 1 Jn 5:16-17, John pens some difficult words, “If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.” It seems that John has believers in mind. If they do happen to sin, all is not lost. They can repent and claim the forgiveness which is theirs in Christ. They live in the sphere of God’s grace and forgiveness because they have trusted in Christ and received Him as their Saviour.  But as John goes on to add, “There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” While there has been much conjecture regarding the term “a sin that leads to death”, it seems that John has in mind those who are not living in the sphere of God’s grace and forgiveness. They have rejected Christ and have no desire to repent of their sins or to receive Him or to submit their lives to Him. Whilst they continue to live in rebellion against God’s purposes in Christ, they place themselves beyond the realm of redemption. That is spiritual death.

John finishes his epistle with encouraging truths for believers

There is victory over sin for the believer, 1Jn 5:18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.” Jesus gives ongoing victory to believers.

Believers belong to the family of God and are “in Him” who is the true God.  1Jn 5:19 “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”  Being [and abiding] in Jesus means abiding in the truth and being willing and able [by the grace of God] to turn away from sin.

However John recognised the power of the evil one [NOTE 3] and ends his letter with a simple warning, 1Jn 5:21 “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” As the Cambridge Bible For Schools and Colleges put it so well, “From the idols; those with which Ephesus abounded: or again, from your idols; those which have been, or may become, a snare to you.”

The commentary helpfully continues,” This is the last of the contrasts of which the Epistle is so full. We have had light and darkness, truth and falsehood, love and hate, God and the world, Christ and Antichrist, life and death, doing righteousness and doing sin, the children of God and the children of the devil, the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, the believer untouched by the evil one and the world lying in the evil one; and now at the close we have what in that age was the ever present and pressing contrast between the true God and the idols.”  Believers touched by the power of God and indwelt by the Son had a choice. The choice of walking in darkness as they once had done or the choice of living lives of repentance, remaining in the light and thus being victorious over the evil one and over the allure of evil and of idols.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

NOTE 1.  This is one of the words for ‘sin’ that we looked at in Blog No. 222 which lists a number of the words used for ‘sin’ in the New Testament.

NOTE 2. It is interesting to see that the words which are used in this verse for the various types of sin, are also used frequently for “sin” in the New Testament. Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin [anomia, ανομιαν] to you, and I did not cover my iniquity [hamartía, ἁμαρτία]; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions [anomia, ανομιαν] to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity [asebeia, ασεβειαν] of my sin.

NOTE 3. Mention is made of the of the devil in 1 Jn 3:8, 10 and of the evil one in 1Jn 2:13, 14, 3:12, 5:18, 19.

Blog No.228.   Jim Holbeck. Posted Monday 14th August 2017

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227. REPENTANCE. Lessons from the writer to the Hebrews. A Personal testimony of a transformed life

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Jim Holbeck

He staggered out of the room in which we had just previously had lunch together. He was ashen faced and trembling violently! During lunch he had asked me a question from Hebrews 6. I had given him some sort of answer, and then I went back to work in the main part of the laboratory. It was about 2 hours later that he staggered out of the lunch room. I had never seen him or anyone else like this before. He had always been the laid-back supercilious atheist frequently mocking my new-found faith in Jesus Christ. He had been shocked when I told him I was now going to church. But as we shared lunch breaks in the oil analysis room he had begun to ask questions about the Bible.  He even asked me if he could borrow a New Testament in modern language. So during our short lunch breaks I would be reading the Bible as a brand-new Christian while he, the well-known atheist sat there reading my little New Testament. Week after week.

But on this particular day something different happened during lunch. It was going to be life changing! For both of us! He asked a couple of questions which were fairly easy to answer. Then he asked me to explain these words from this translation of Hebrews 6:1-6, “So then let us once for all quit the elementary teaching about Christ and continue progressing toward maturity; let us stop relaying a foundation of repentance from works that mean only death, and of faith in God, 2 of teaching about ceremonial washings and the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and final judgment. 3 And we will progress, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who have once for all been enlightened and have experienced the gift from heaven, who have been made sharers of the Holy Spirit 5 and have experienced how good God’s message is and the mighty powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen by the wayside — it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt.”

A difficult passage to explain at any time! Especially when one was only a few months old in the faith oneself! I remember saying to him something like this, “Henry, [not his real name] I don’t think verse 4 applies to you because as an atheist you haven’t yet experienced being enlightened or the gift from heaven or received the Holy Spirit.” However, after I left the lunch room he kept on reading the passage until suddenly the Spirit of God came on him and he was deeply convicted of sin. That’s when he staggered out saying to me, “It all true isn’t it? It’s all true! What have I got to do?” What a shock it was to me to see him in such a disturbed state and to hear the fear-filled words he was uttering! I told him what I felt he should do. Next day I took him to my minister who led him to the Lord in prayer. It was an amazing change!

The following Sunday, this avowed atheist [who was always being sought after by the newspapers to give an atheistic view on various topics] picked up his little New Testament, and shocked his neighbours by walking a short distance to the local Anglican church. This he continued to do for the remainder of his life whilst becoming a lay reader helping in services, then a lay preacher preaching at services, then a member of the Diocesan Synod representing his parish and later a member of General Synod representing his diocese in the all-Australian Synod. Not a bad sort of change for a once avowed atheist!

On that day, I saw how powerfully the Spirit of God could convict even the most hardened sinner of their sin as they read His word! I saw how quickly the Lord could change someone from being an avowed atheist to being a committed believer! I saw true repentance in action, coupled with a new deep faith in Jesus Christ! I saw the outward evidence of a new birth taking place before my eyes!

Well what does the book of Hebrews have to say about repentance? There are only 3 references but they are all very significant. The first reference is in Heb 6:1 where the writer urges the readers to grow in maturity, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance [metanoia,  μετάνοια] from dead works and of faith toward God.”  As we have seen in previous articles, the preaching of the early church centred on those two basic elements, namely the need for people to repent and also the need for people to put their faith in Christ.  Those were essential elements but they were not the only elements of the Christian faith. Maturity came from finding out more of the unsearchable riches they possessed in Christ and how they might grow to fullness of life in Him.

The second passage is the one I mentioned above that had such an impact on my friend in the laboratory, Heb 6:4 “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” We note in passing that the writer is not saying that it is impossible for such people to be restored “to salvation”. Rather it is “to repentance”.  As the passage in the version I gave him put it, “It is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance.” People who deliberately sin after having been enlightened, become hardened and may never again experience the liberating effect of their initial repentance. The writer is issuing a warning for believers to always walk in the light and not be led astray from the truth in Jesus.

The final verse regarding repentance in Hebrews is Heb 12:17. The writer had been urging his readers to take hold of the grace of God and never to let bitterness come in which might defile the person and affect others as well. They should walk in holiness, getting all their Christian priorities right. There was no place for moral or personal sin. Esau is mentioned as an example of someone in a privileged position who got his priorities wrong by rejecting his birthright for a single meal when he was hungry. The writer then used that illustration to warn his readers, Heb 12:15 “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.” The lesson is drawn that when one rejects one’s privileges, one may never recover them, no matter how sorrowful one may feel, 12:17 “For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, [literally “no place for repentance”, metanoia, μετάνοια] though he sought it with tears.” Esau had despised his birthright [Genesis 25:34, …Thus Esau despised his birthright] and even a change of mind about his birthright and a new desire to recover it, could bring it back in spite of all his tears.

 These passages above give some indication as to the necessity of true repentance in the Christian life. As I recall my experience of what had happened to Henry in the laboratory almost 60 years ago I am reminded of what was preached in Acts 11 about repentance. Peter had been telling his fellow Jews what had happened as he shared the gospel with the Gentile Cornelius and his other Gentile friends. The Holy Spirit had come upon them and they repented and believed in Jesus. Peter remarked, Act 11:17 “If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” After a silence his fellow Jews responded, Acts 11:18 “When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Repentance was a gift given by God to Gentiles who were open to learn of Him.

Repentance was a gift given by God to my Gentile friend Henry as he sat there pondering that passage from Hebrews 6. He chose to do something about it by cooperating with the Spirit’s ministry in him by repenting of his sin and by committing his life completely to Jesus. He was glad he did! I too was glad he did, because it showed me as a brand-new Christian the immensity of God’s love and power to transform those whom we may think would never, ever repent and turn to God for forgiveness and life! If Henry could and did, then perhaps we need to bring before the Lord the person or people we have been thinking would never be interested!

Blog No.227. Jim Holbeck. Posted Sunday 30th July 2017

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