7. A Herald to Jesus of Nazareth's Bride

The Church in this country is at a time in which there will be no Isaiah 64:1-3 without Joel 2:13 first.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

This is episode seven of my version of an audiobook. The book I wrote titled A Herald to Jesus of Nazareth's Bride in the United States of America. And so this episode is going to begin with stone number five. This one is titled The True Gospel. Paul wrote, I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Jesus and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion, are trying to pervert the gospel of Jesus. But not even if we if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, let them be under God's curse. If someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, well if you received a different spirit than the spirit you received, or different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. Again, all the cults should be concerned about that. Obviously, the way a person is birthed physically has impact on his or her physical health. A physically healthy, or I'm sorry, a healthy physical birth generally results in a physically healthy human being. Same is true spiritually. When a person is reborn correctly, this has impact on the quality of their spiritual life. A proper spiritual rebirth has a better chance of producing a spiritually healthy follower of Jesus of Nazareth. Fact, the gospel has been changed not only in the Catholic Church, but also in Protestant, evangelical, and even charismatic congregations. For example, many confuse the living God's mercy with his grace. This God's mercy is about not giving a person what they deserve if that person repents. This God's grace is giving a repentant person the power upon their heart to resist sin and to seek his righteousness. Thus, mercy and grace are not the same things. Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2. For it is by grace, again, divine power upon the human hearts, the Greek word codis, you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, undeserved mercy. Not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works by his grace. Again, that's empowerment, both on the inside to become like Jesus and on the outside to do ministry like Jesus did, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The false gospel that is preached across this country allows people to feel that they're okay with the living God, even though they resist his righteousness and persist in deliberate sin. In addition, people are told this is okay because God just so loves them, as if love is the most important quality of the living God. So let's talk about John 3:16. There are some issues with this verse I wish to point out. First, all but one English translation translates verse 16 incorrectly. Yes, as in not correct. The second issue concerns who is speaking in verse 16 through 21. Then there are some important resulting misunderstandings that need addressing. Here's the HCSB's version. For God loved the world in this way, he gave his one and only Son, or only begotten, so that everyone who believes, it's the Greek word pistis, it means trust, in him will not perish but have eternal life. The first two words in this sentence, in the best Greek manuscripts we have of the Gospel of John, are hutos, gar. The Greek word hutos means so, and the Greek word gar means for. So the sentence begins, so for God love. The word so is not modifying the word love. Thus it is incorrect to translate this as God so, as in intensity or quantity, love. That is not what is being communicated in verse 16. The fact that the first two words in verse 16 are so for, plus gar, how would one smooth that out that out that phrase in a modern English? Wouldn't we say therefore or thus? And that is exactly the case here. The HCSP adds the footnote, this footnote, to the addition of the phrase this way. The Greek word huitos commonly translated in John 3.16 as so or so much occurs over 200 times in the New Testament. Almost without exception, it is an adverb of manner, not degree. For example, see Matthew 1.18. It only means so much when modifying an adjective. See Galatians 3.3, Revelation 16, 18. Manner seems primarily in view in John 3.16, which explains the HCSP's rendering. Therefore, this God did not so love the world, placing the word so to modify how intensely or how much he loved is incorrect. And translators know this. Why then don't the publishers correct this error? Simply because they know that they will lose sales of their Bibles due to Americans thinking the correct translation is wrong, for people in this country are so used to hearing John 3.16 is God so loved. Here is a good English translation of John 3.16, which includes the verb tenses that are not clear in most English translations. Therefore, God loved one time in the past the world and gave one time in the past in a sacrificial way, his only natural son, Jesus of Nazareth, was a man. So that all who believe go on trusting and go on obeying, and might never be ruined beyond recovery, but go on having everlasting and abundant life. Second, if you have a red letter edition of the Bible, verses 16 through 21 are not the words of Jesus. John stopped recording Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus in verse 15. Verses 16 through 21 are John's words of explanation of what Jesus said to Nicodemus. One piece of evidence of this is the transitional phrase, therefore, of Hutosgar that I just talked about. A.T. Robertson's word pictures of the New Testament explains, Hutosgar. This use is quite in John's style in introducing his comments. In verse verses 16 through 21, John recapitulates in summary fashion the teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus. But another smacking in the face, obvious reason we know, verse 16, and following are not the words of Jesus, is also right there in verse 16. It is the title the one and only, or only begotten. Jesus never ever referred to himself this way. Jesus's consistent title for himself was the Son of Man. But do you know who did refer to Jesus as the one and only or the only begotten five times? John did. Chapter 1, verse 14, chapter 1, verse 18, of course, here in 3.16, 3.18, and 1 John 4.9. Next, many people in this country seem to think that John 3.16 is the ultimate passage lost people need to hear. And in thinking that this, they ignore the audience to whom John wrote this letter. To Jewish believers, not unbelievers. Chapter 20, verse 30 and 31, John writes, Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may keep on believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Further, when Christians begin sharing a gospel by telling unregenerated people that the living God loves them, they're doing something that neither Jesus nor the apostles nor the early church ever did. The telling of the gospel does not begin with God loves you. They have what and who they in their unregenerated state thinking of a God. In other words, they have an idol. Additionally, the best an unregenerated person knows about love is some sort of human love, not holy love. Thus, telling an ungenerated person that God loves them only serves to confuse them. This is why the apostles never ever told people that God loves them. Instead, the true gospel, the one the apostles preached, begins by confronting a person with the fact that they are a sinner, something even an unregenerated person can comprehend. Who rightly deserves an unregenerated person who rightly deserves eternal separation from holy God? And the fact that this approach has fallen out of vogue due to our overly sensitive society should not change how the church preaches the apostolic gospel. The church is to tell people the truth, no matter how people feel about it. And just to be clear about this, this God's love, where there's a lot of confusion about this, even in the church, let's look at it. In English, we have one word for love, love. So when I say I love my children, or I love five guys' hamburgers, what does that mean? Should I love my children with the same kind of love I have for five guys' hamburgers? Hopefully not. However, there's no way in English to know the difference based on the word love. But in ancient Greek, there are three words that express the idea of love. The first word is the word eros. Eros simply means passion or love of the heart. Even though it is not used in the New Testament, it is a good word for Jesus has passion, lots of passion. And there's nothing wrong with passion. For what for what spot for what spouse, much less Jesus himself, would want a relationship with a Spock-like robot. Plus, passion is not only love passion, there's also anger passion, something Jesus of Nazareth absolutely expressed on various occasions. For angry passion shows that one cares deeply about something or someone. However, one downside to eros is that it sometimes wanes. Passion or love of the heart can have good days and bad days. It can be fickle with ups and downs. Thus, the writers of the New Testament did not think Eros was a good general word to use for this God's love. For although they knew Jesus had passion, what the experience of real love from him had more than just passion in it. The next ancient Greek word translated love is the word philetto. This word is used in the New Testament. This kind of love is the love of the mind. And in English we tend to use the word like, as in we like somebody or something, which is a formal love. This Greek word is where we get the English word fellowship, which entails hanging out with people we like. As good of a word as phalao is, love of the mind can also be fickle. For some days one may like a person, and then some days one may not like them. Once again, the writers of the New Testament did not think Philao was a good general word to use for this God's love. For although they knew Jesus liked certain things as well as disliked others, what they experienced of his love had more than just a form of liking in it. Then there's the ancient Greek word agape. The writers of the New Testament chose a Greek word that was seldom used in literature or common documents of the day. The word agape, which is love of the will, to express this God's love. And I believe one of the primary reasons they chose this word agape was because it was not commonly used, thus it stood out as being different, which was what their writers wanted to emphasize about this God's love, the love that was different from human love. Some have said that the word agape means unconditional love. This is false. The phrase unconditional love is a phrase from psychology. It is not the meaning of the word agape. The living God's love absolutely does have conditions. Repentance and the right kind of belief or trust, for example. In fact, Jesus gave a good example of agape in his parable of a good Samaritan. But one of the points of this parable is that the Samaritan acted out of agape. That is, even though the Samaritan disliked this Jew and he knew the Jew disliked him, he acted out of his will to do what this Jew needed, and not because he had love of the heart, Eros, and not because he liked Aleo, him. Thus, translating agape with the English word charity, which is exactly what the old King James Version of the Bible does, is a good English word for agape. For the living God does not have love of the heart for sinners, as in he just so loves them. Neither does he like sinners, as sinners are his enemies. See Romans 5 10, 1 Corinthians 15, 25, Philippians 3 18, Colossians 1 21, Hebrews 1 13, Hebrews 10 13, Hebrews 10, 27. Thus, thus he hates them and the sin they commit. Examples, Acts 12, 21 through 23. It's not biblical to say God loves the sinner but hates the sin. For example, although Yahweh swore to never completely wipe out mankind as he did with the flood, he is going to purge the earth of those who refuse him as their king. In fact, there are three rounds of purging. First, purging is the period of time from Pentecost to the last three and a half years of this age. During this period, people have the opportunity to hear the gospel of the kingdom, Matthew 24, 14, and the gospel of this God's righteousness, Romans 1, 17, and to repent. Some will respond with repentance, but most won't. Those who don't will be purged. The second purging is during the final three and a half years in which Jesus, the Lamb of God, pours out 18 or so judgments, the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls upon the earth. Jesus' goal during this will be to reach the most people at the deepest heart level to produce sincere repentance. Some will respond, most will not. Those who do not respond with sincere repentance will be purged. The third purging occurs after a thousand years of Jesus' rule and reign on the earth. Revelation 20, 1 through 3. Satan will be released from a prison and allowed to draw people away from Jesus. And there will be people who will not like Jesus' kingship, even after experiencing him and his leadership for a thousand years. Thus they will reject him, and as a result, they will be purged. To be crystal clear, Jesus, the Lamb of God, is giving people every opportunity to repent, to change their ways with the Holy Spirit's empowerment, and to come under his authority as their bridegroom king. Those who refuse will be tossed into the biggest crematory ever built, the lake of fire. However, the living God is willing to have agape, a charitable act of his will, to show undeserved mercy to his enemies who will repent and who will seek to obey him because they love him, not because they're trying to avoid hell. In short, the living God did for humans what he knew they could not do for themselves in crucifying Jesus. But this God has terms and conditions as to a person accessing him, his mercy and his charity. If a person does not accept his terms and conditions, that person is not accepted by holy God. For this is a righteousness issue, not a love issue. The living God gave Jesus as a pro as a propitiation for sin, not because he just so loved people. He did this in order to meet his righteous penalty for sin, death. Certainly he understood that there is no way for anyone to make it without his charitable help. But being charitable was not his point. Again, meeting the penalty for sin was his point. For without such propitiation, just being charitable would not have accomplished anything. Why? Because sin is a serious issue. No matter how loving, kind, merciful, or understanding holy golly God is, he cannot compromise his holiness by compromising with sin. People's sin, sins must be dealt with so that it is possible for the living God to have a relationship with them. According to this verse earlier, 1 John chapter 1, this is the message we've heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. We claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in the darkness, we lie and we do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we'll have fellowship with one another, humans and this God. And the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. Certainly, no one is perfectly perfect, but there's a difference between being a pig and being a sheep. And although both get into the mud, the pig does so on purpose, because he really does want the mud. Pigs seek the mud. Pigs live in the mud. Pigs love the mud. Sheep, on the other hand, when they get into some mud, which they sometimes do out of foolishness, they immediately know the mud is mud and thus a bad thing. So when a sheep gets into some mud, they immediately begin to cry out to the shepherd to come get them out of the mud. A sheep does not like the mud, want the mud, or considers the mud good in any way. In fact, it is this God's agape, undeserved mercy, offered as a charitable act of his will, that Jesus illustrates for Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when he refers to the bronze snake that was lifted up in the desert, saying that he too must be lifted up as a bronze snake. In this one comment, Jesus is pointing Nicodemus to the following lesson about Yahweh's love found in Numbers chapter 21. Here's that story. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the one true living God, had performed ten cataclysmic events. Called plagues by the Egyptians, but miracles by the Hebrews. Then this God provides his leadership to Israel with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. Then this god holds off the Egyptian army as he parts the Red Sea so his people can cross safely, then collapsing the walls of water to destroy one of the most powerful armies on the earth at that time. Then Moses leads the people to the very spot where he encountered this god, Mount Sinai, where this god marries Israel. Then this god gives the people manna and quail, even water from a rock. But still, the people are whining and wanting to return to Egypt, the world, and to the familiarity and stability of slavery. Finally, this god's patience comes to an end. He sends hundreds, maybe thousands, of snakes into the camp of Israel. Poisonous snakes. And the snakes are biting people, men, women, and children, and they're dying. Once the people realize this is a judgment, they run to Moses, asking that he go to this God on their behalf and appeal to him to stop the judgment. Moses agrees to do this, approaches this God in the tent of meeting, and says something like, Yahweh, the people are sorry. Would you please take away these snakes so that no one will die? Yahweh says, No, absolutely not. Moses must have said, Uh, but Yahweh, the snakes are the problem. Can't you just take them away? The people are really sorry. Yahweh says, I said no. The snakes stay. But here's what I'll do: make a snake out of bronze, attach it to a pole, and go stick it on top of that hill over there. Then tell the people that win, not if, they're bitten by a snake. If they will if they look at that bronze snake on a stick and trust that I'll be charitable and show mercy, they won't die. Jesus is pointing to Nicodemus with this story. This God does not owe anything, anyone anything except hell. Everyone deserves to be bitten by the snake of judgment, to die as a result, and to be put out with the trash. That's what everyone has earned and deserves. However, with a charitable act of this God's will, God A, if one looks to Jesus, the ultimate snake on a stick, who took upon himself what everyone deserves, and if one then trusts that this God will be charitable if they're willing to repent, then this God will have mercy. Romans 9, 15 through 18. So please hear this. This God's goal isn't to keep people out of hell. His goal is to gather citizens for a kingdom of righteousness, and thus to have a pure, lovesick, faithful bride. Jesus of Nazareth is not offering a get out of hell free coupon, and neither is he selling fire insurance for the fire, for the lake of fire. These are not his offers. He is, as a charitable act of his will, willing to forgive sin, to be charitable toward his enemies, not because he's so he's so in love with them, or even likes them, but because he knows no one will make it if he doesn't offer his help. However, his help comes with two conditions that of a person being willing to repent and to follow him in seeking to live this life his way. He knows no one does this perfectly, and he still calls people to seek to be perfect. Matthew 5 48. In rebuttal to what I just detailed, there are surely those who would be quick to quote 1 John 4.8, affirming that this God is love. Well, this God is love. But John says much more about who this God is in his first letter than the fact that he is love. John also says that the living God is life. Chapter 1, 1 through 2, Chapter 5, 11 through 12. And he is light, chapter 1, verse 5, that he is faithful, chapter 1, verse 9, that he is pure, chapter 3, verse 3, and that he is righteous, chapter 3, verse 7. Note that John makes three more references to this God's holiness than to his love. When he called it light, pure and righteous. So while it is true that this God is a God of love, his love is holy love. Everything, every quality, and every characteristic about this God is founded upon the foundation of holiness, not love. Realize that there are things this God cannot do, and compromising his holiness is one of them. Thus, John 3 16, when translated correctly and explained correctly, is wonderful. It's just not the gospel in a verse. I'll continue in the next episode.

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Up to heaven, up to home. Father, lift me up, holy your name. Father, lift me up. Holy is your name. I be lifted up from the earth, Jesus said I will draw every person to me.