No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries

Episode 114 - Of the Father's Love Begotten - Make Way for the King Part 2

November 22, 2021
No Trash, Just Truth! - Proverbs 9:10 Ministries
Episode 114 - Of the Father's Love Begotten - Make Way for the King Part 2
Show Notes Transcript

Continuing in our series, Make Way for the King, where we look at the earthly life and mission of Jesus, in this episode, "Of the Father's Love Begotten,"  we delve into the boy, Jesus, at the Temple, His baptism, His relationship within the Trinity with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and His Transfiguration. Join us as we defy politicians and "medical professionals" who say we need to cancel Christmas, by, instead,  magnifying the reason to celebrate Christmas all the more!

Angels We Have Heard On High by Podington Bear is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License

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Episode 114 – Of the Father’s Love Begotten 

          Welcome back! So, Rose, I have a question for you. Did you ever go anywhere as a family and when you got home you realized that you left one of your kids behind?

          Well, Chris, I actually have! Terrible mother story here. We have 4 kids. The first 3 are close together, like 1 year and then 2 years apart. Our 4th is 5 years later. One Sunday we were at church and Sunday School, and my husband was working so I was alone. After Sunday School, I rushed the kids into the car and got halfway home when one of my older 3 said, “We forgot Bo.” Bo was our youngest and 4 at the time. I turned around and sped back to church. I ran into the lobby only to find Bo’s Sunday School teacher holding Bo’s hand walking around looking for me!

          I’m asking because Joseph and Mary left Jesus behind when He was 12. That’s what we’re going to start talking about today. We don’t know very much about Jesus‘s life as a boy growing up. In the last episode we talked about Jesus’s dedication at the temple and the fact that both a man and a woman prophesied over him that he was the Messiah. After that Luke to tells us that they returned to Nazareth in Galilee, and Luke 2:40 says “and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. “  We only get a few little glimpses into Jesus’ childhood, and the next one is when he is 12 or possibly had just turned 13, the time a boy would have started more rigorous training in the temple. Let’s read about it from Luke 2:41-52.

          “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” 

          Boys about this age sitting and having a Q and A with the teachers of the Law was a normal occurrence. They were catechizing these young men – like we use the Heidelberg Catechism or Westminster Catechism – Theological questions and their answers used for training. Since this started usually when they were 13, it wasn’t really unusual that Jesus would’ve gone to the temple and sat in on this. 

          No, it wouldn’t have been, but frantic parents searching for a child sometimes aren’t thinking clearly. In this instance, God uses that for a very specific purpose. It’s easy to read this text and not get some very important things that we should take notice of. First, when Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the temple, she said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  And Jesus answers her, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Some commentators almost try to soften the way Jesus’ answer comes across by saying that this whole exchange must have happened quietly, between Jesus and Mary (and maybe Joseph) and not openly in front of everyone. But the Bible doesn’t say that, and when a worried mother finally finds her son, it’s likely NOT how this would play out. And, there are other reasons why this exchange most likely took place in front of everyone.

          There are. Jesus’ answer in verse 49 is the first thing that Jesus said that got recorded. Jesus states that He “must be in [his] Father’s house” The fact that these are the first recorded words of Jesus in the Bible makes sense because the first thing He is proclaiming is Who He is…. God. That’s one of the reasons I believe this was in front of everyone. 

          Nothing we read about in the Bible is in there as just some extra text. This whole scenario playing out does several things: It gives the religious leaders of the time a heads up that Jesus is not just your average Jewish boy about to have his barmitzpha. First, they were astonished at His understanding. Second, He claims to be in His Father’s house – in other words, claiming to be the Son of God – something that we don’t know how they reacted to. Later, that claim makes them furious. Here, who knows? Did the comment go completely over their heads? We aren’t told. 

          But for Joseph and Mary, this is kind of a wakeup call. Mary’s statement “Your father and I” is contrasted by Jesus’ words. It’s a reminder to them that Joseph is his step-dad; that He has a Heavenly Father AND it’s letting them know that He was sent here with a purpose. He had things to do. Mary and Joseph both knew there was something special about Jesus. John Calvin says, “Is it not astonishing that Joseph and Mary did not understand this answer, who had been instructed by many proofs, that Jesus is the Son of God?” There are several instances in Scripture where they had both marveled at things that had happened, and yet they were frantically looking for Jesus everywhere but the temple. 

          The fact that Jesus’ work that the Father gave Him to do was in the temple is also a clue to something else: He wasn’t found in the seat of government. His work was spiritual in nature, not political. 

          This section of Scripture tells us something else too – Jesus knew he was Divine. And yet this passage ends with Jesus going home with His earthly parents and obeying them and says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”(Luke 2:52). This whole section of Scripture reflects the fact that Jesus is both fully God and fully man. 

          We don’t hear any more about Jesus’ life until about 18 years later when He’s 30ish, which is when he starts His ministry, beginning with His baptism. Matthew 3:13-17 says, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

          Lots to unpack here. John the Baptist was preaching the baptism of repentance. People are going out to John, repenting of their sins, and being baptized. That’s important because there were other baptisms in other religions going on at the time but John is calling the people to repentance. We have to be clear about that. So, what is Jesus doing here? Why is the perfectly sinless spotless lamb of god coming to John to be baptized? Certainly, Jesus does not need to repent.

          Right, and that is something that John the Baptist realizes. He realizes that he’s the one that needs to be baptized by Jesus! And he says that to him! But Jesus response is interesting it says “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”  So let’s unpack what that means. First, notice Jesus says to John, it is fitting for “us” to do this. John the Baptist was the one who was supposed to baptize Jesus. Remember, John the Baptist was specifically sent by God to do his ministry of being the voice in the voice in the wilderness preparing the way for Jesus, prophesied by Malachi in Malachi 3. By Jesus being baptized by John, it shows that Jesus approved of the baptism John is calling people to – the baptism of repentance. Jesus’ approval of what John was doing will be important when John the Baptist is put in prison later by King Herod.

          When John points out that he (himself) is the one who needs to be baptized by Jesus, not the other way around, Jesus doesn’t say, “no John you’re wrong.” John is absolutely right that he does need the baptism Jesus is going to give.  But Jesus says it will “fulfill all righteousness” if John baptizes Him. When we repent, it doesn’t mean that we are just confessing our sin; we’re turning from our sin toward God. It’s like a 180 degree turn away from your sin toward living righteously. Now, we know John was right that Jesus didn’t need baptized because of sin – He did have ANY sin! He never had to ask forgiveness or do a 180 for anything! But He’s committed to righteousness. And not just a little righteousness – ALL of it. He’s the perfect Son of Proverbs. And He is the fulfillment of all of God’s saving activity. 

 

          Jesus’ baptism is also a sign that He is willing to take on the role as our mediator. It shows He has come to switch places with sinners. And Jesus is getting ready to begin his ministry. The things that happen at His baptism show He is being set apart to do that. Cleansing with water was the first part of dedicating anyone who was going to do any priestly duties. If we go back to Leviticus chapter 8 and take a look at the consecration of the priests, they had to be set apart and the first part of doing that comes from Leviticus 8:5-6 which says “and Moses said to the congregation, this is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done and Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water.” 

          It also points to substitution. God dedicated the Levites to His service as a substitute for the firstborn males of the rest of the Israelite community being put into service. The Levites were cleansed before starting their service in the temple. 

          In those same passages that you mentioned, right after they were washed, the priest and Levites were anointed with oil. Anointing symbolically shows they were “set apart” or in other words considered holy unto God and not common. And while Jesus is being baptized the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him. Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” The Holy Spirit is anointing Jesus for His ministry work. In fact, Jesus is called Messiah, or Christ which actually means Anointed. 

          It not only fulfills prophecy of Isaiah 61:1, there’s more. In Luke’s gospel, right between Jesus ‘s baptism and His temptation in the wilderness, is a genealogy narrative. It shows Jesus is the son of God, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the son of Adam. There’s a reason – the baptism is pointing us to it. We see the Spirit, in the form of a dove, hovering over the waters. Where else do we see that? At creation, at the re-creation after the flood when Noah is on the ark and sends the dove out to fly over the waters to check for dry land, and here, the Holy Spirit as a Dove. Jesus’ baptism is pointing us to something new – a new creation – something we are as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

           The Holy Spirit hovering over the waters also points us back to creation and the first Adam who failed being tempted. Jesus as the second or last Adam (as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:45) who does NOT fail. The first Adam brought death to all humanity through his sin. Jesus brings life. Another thing that points to Jesus being the final Adam is that in Luke’s gospel, following Jesus’ baptism is a genealogy going back to Adam, followed by Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. 

          Jesus’ temptation is doesn’t come without some controversy among believers. All believers agree that Jesus did not sin. That’s not up for debate. But what is debated has to do with what theologians call the peccability (able to sin) or impeccability (unable to sin) of Jesus. The concern is whether Jesus has fully identified with us in his humanity or not. Again, the question is not whether He sinned. But given that he didn’t sin in reality, could he have in theory?

          This could be the topic of a whole podcast in itself, but for the sake of time, we’ll just mention some of the talking points surrounding the issue. To start, we have to remember what’s referred to as the hypostatic union – that Jesus has two natures – a Divine nature and a human nature. He is both fully God and fully man. We covered this extensively in the episode “1+1=1” of the No Half-Truths Allowed series based on our book of that title, so we aren’t going to cover that again here. For a quick refresher, Jesus didn’t lose His Divinity at His incarnation – He was still fully God. But He was also fully man. 

          The debate about peccability or impeccability surrounds two portions of Scripture: Hebrews 2:17-18 says, “he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” And a little later in Hebrews in 4:15 we’re told, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” The question “Could of the Son of God be tempted?” has been debated for a long time because the flip side of that is, “If he couldn’t have, could He be truly human and thus identify fully with us?”

          Obviously, Jesus in His Divine nature could not have sinned. Those who hold to the impeccability side – that Jesus did not have the ability to sin – give these reasons: First, Jesus has two natures, but those natures are united without division or confusion. The human nature of the incarnate Son has never existed separate from the second person of the Trinity. And we know that natures don’t act; persons do. Therefore, it’s the second person of the Trinity who acts. If Jesus were to sin in the capacity of his human nature, it would mean a member of the Trinity would sin, which is impossible for the holy One of God. 

          The second reason people give is that according to Ephesians 1:3-5, our salvation flows from an eternal plan. We refer to that as the Covenant of Redemption – the covenant between the three Persons of the Trinity to save a people for themselves. The point they make regarding this is that if Jesus could have sinned, his purpose born in God’s eternal plan would be called into question.

          The third reason given is that Jesus had the Holy Spirit in these ways: The Son’s human nature was a result of the Spirit overshadowing the virgin Mary (Luke 1:35). The Father gave the Spirit to Christ “without measure” (John 3:34). He was anointed by the Spirit in his baptism (Matt. 3:16).  Jesus experienced unmitigated fellowship with the Spirit throughout his human life on earth (Acts 10:38). The Holy Spirit always led the incarnate Son through holy paths of righteousness—even when those paths ventured into the way of temptation.

          And that brings us back to why we’re talking about this in regard to Jesus’ baptism – because they Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism. The last reason you mentioned is used by some who hold that Jesus was able to sin in His human nature (peccability). They believe that the Holy Spirit provided for fully-human Jesus’ spiritual needs and kept Jesus from sinning. R. C. Sproul says:

At his birth, Jesus' human nature was exactly the same as Adam's before the fall, with respect to his moral capabilities. Jesus had what Augustine called the posse peccare and the posse non peccare, that is, the ability to sin and the ability not to sin. Adam sinned; Jesus did not. Satan did everything in his power to corrupt Jesus and tempt him to sin. That would have been an exercise in futility had he been trying to tempt a divine person to sin. Satan was not trying to get God to sin. He was trying to get the human nature of Christ to sin, so that he would not be qualified to be the Savior.

I think it is wrong to believe that Christ’s divine nature made it impossible for his human nature to sin. —R.C. Sproul

At the same time, Christ was uniquely sanctified and ministered to by the Holy Spirit. In order to sin, a person must have a desire for sin. But Jesus' human nature throughout his life was marked by a zeal for righteousness. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me" (John 4:34), he said. As long as Jesus had no desire to sin, he would not sin. I may be wrong, but I think it is wrong to believe that Christ's divine nature made it impossible for his human nature to sin. If that were the case, the temptation, the tests, and his assuming of the responsibility of the first Adam would have all been charades. This position protects the integrity of the authenticity of the human nature because it was the human nature that carried out the mission of the second Adam on our behalf. It was the human nature uniquely anointed beyond measure by the Holy Spirit.[1]

          There’s a lot to chew on in this subject! Because Jesus was born of a virgin and the Holy Spirit, He was born without a sin nature. Adam and Eve didn’t have sin nature either – they had the ability to choose whether to sin or not to sin – something we no longer have. Our sin nature makes us desire sin from the inside – we fight Satan’s outward temptations, but they’re often fueled by our inward desires. The fact that Jesus didn’t have a sin nature doesn’t make His temptation any less real … he fasted for forty days before Satan tempted him to turn a stone into bread. Jesus had to be really hungry and, therefore, was tempted by that. 

          And our sin nature also makes us unable to desire the things of God until and unless the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts. Jesus, not having a sin nature, would have desired the things of God! So, there’s the debate in a nutshell, and we have to leave it there for now! But now all of you listening have a lot to look up Scripture about and meditate on! Merry Christmas! So let’s get back to Jesus’ baptism for a moment because there’s something else we need to mention. As the Holy Spirit was descending like a dove, Luke 3:22 tells us, “a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” 

          This is God the Father’s voice. There’s absolutely no mistaking the identity of who Jesus is. This fulfills Psalm 2:7, “I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” And that leads us into something else we want to talk about, but first I just want to say one more thing about baptism. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus makes it clear how are we are to be baptized. He says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

          We’re mentioning that because although we are very used to hearing that verse, there are lots of churches out there now that are starting to baptize just in the name of Jesus. But all three Persons of the Trinity are here at Jesus’ baptism, and all three Persons of the Trinity have a part in our salvation. Each Person does a part of the salvific work: God the Father chooses before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6), The Son secures our salvation through his blood shed on the cross (Ephesians 1:7-12), and the Holy Spirit applies the work of salvation to us by regenerating our hearts so we can respond to the Gospel message (Ephesians 1:13-14). 

          Because of that, we believe following the pattern laid out by our Savior is the way to go. Now, there are two places in Acts – Acts 2:38 and 10:48 – where people in the early church were baptized into the name of Jesus Christ. Ligonier ministries says, “True, the book of acts records early Christians as being ‘baptized in the name of Jesus Christ’ but Luke, the author of Acts, certainly does not want us to understand such statements as endorsing a Jesus-only baptismal formula. His remarks are shorthand for Christ’s fuller command in Matthew 28: 18-20 and they emphasize the newness of the new covenant error in its explicit identification with Jesus .”

          And some say if you’ve only been baptized in the name of Jesus only, consider getting re-baptized in the name of “the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” I think what’s really at stake here is the question, what does your church believe, and why would they only baptize in the name of Jesus only? What does your church you believe about the Trinity?  I think that’s really the issue here. Most Bible believing trinitarian believing churches follow the pattern that Jesus lays out himself. And it’s an important distinction because we have to remember we worship the triune God and that never changed and it never will change from all eternity. God is the same from all eternity through all eternity. Which leads us into our next teaching about Jesus – How does this trinitarian thing work???    

          God is an eternal Being. This means He has always existed and always will. God is one God, Who exists eternally as three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To put it a different way, God is one in essence and three in person. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons. The Bible speaks of the Trinity that way. For instance, we see the Father as God in Philippians 1:2“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” We see Jesus as God in Titus 2:13“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” 

          And we see the Holy Spirit as God in Acts 5:3-4“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.’” 

And we want to be clear – these are not just three different ways of looking at God, nor are they just different roles played by God at different times in the way that a person could be described by using three different titles. For example, many women are daughters, mothers, and sisters. To think of the Trinity in that way is a heresy called “modalism.”

          The truth that there are three different Persons of the Trinity also means that the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. You can see that in the way that the Persons of the Trinity refer to Themselves and Each Other when they say “I” or “You” or when Jesus prays “to the Father.” It’s also important to point out that God the Father did not turn into Jesus, and Jesus did not turn into the Holy Spirit! All three Persons have existed eternally, co-equally together, and we see evidence of that since all Three were there at Creation in Genesis 1:26-27“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

          And, it’s important to understand that each Person of the Trinity is fully God in and of Themselves and by Themselves, yet are not three different Gods, but one God. That’s why we can’t use the example of an apple or an egg to describe the Trinity! Not even to little kids! If you have an apple and you peel it and core it, you never have just one of those and still have an apple! It’s now an apple peel, apple core and the meaty part. That is not how the Triune God operates. And just one more thing to be clear about – there is only one God. Scripture is absolutely clear that there is only one God. Although we cannot fully understand everything about the Trinity, we need to accept this doctrine as true. If we get this doctrine wrong, it can easily lead to misunderstanding truths in Scripture and can possibly lead to heresy. 

          While we’re on the subject of the Trinity, we just want to mention a debate that’s cropping up more and more involving the Trinity, and you should be aware because it’s likely you’ll hear of it if you haven’t already. You’ll hear it referred to as one of three things: ESS which stands for Eternal Subordination of the Son or it is sometimes called ERAS (Eternal Relations of Authority and Submission) or EFS (Eternal Functional Submission).

          We plan on realming into it some when we do our next “Real Truth about” series on marriage and children. ‘Why there?’ you ask? Because a lot of the recent debate cropped up surrounding the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s  views on complementarianism, in particular how they try to support their views not only of marriage, but the roles of men and women in society in general, by saying there’s an authority structure within the Trinity, and then applying that to the roles of men and women. 

          To explain the gist of it, we all know the incarnate Son submits to the Father, as seen in the passage we all know from the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:42 where Jesus is about to be crucified and says, “"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." The point in question is: Is the Son subordinate to the Father from all eternity? Is there authority and submission within the inner life of the Trinity, even before creation and redemption? Is that what we see in verses that talk about Jesus being sent or the Holy Spirit being sent.

          The debate realms into the will of God within the Trinity and a lot more that can lead us out of orthodox Christian beliefs and into heresy if we’re not careful.  And the question of whether anything regarding the Trinity in those ways should be used to support a view of women and men and their roles in or out of marriage is highly questionable.  

          One more thing about our Savior that we want to finish up with today and that is the Transfiguration. The story of Jesus’ transfiguration is found in the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) in Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, and Luke 9:28-36. It’s mentioned only one other place and that’s in 2 Peter 1:16-19. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke it’s between accounts of Jesus telling the Apostles that He’s going to die, and it happens toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.  Only twice, in the synoptic Gospels, do we hear a voice from heaven –at Jesus’ baptism, and at His transfiguration. If the baptism signifies and initiates the opening phase of Jesus’ public ministry, the transfiguration apparently inaugurates the closing of it and opening of what’s coming next – His death and resurrection.

          Luke’s account says, “Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.”

          We don’t know if this happened in the daytime or at night. The phrase following this says, “the next day…” and Jesus did pray at night sometimes, so could’ve been at night. Jesus changes while He’s praying in this part of Scripture. We aren’t told that happens at other times when He goes off to pray by Himself. But we don’t know. But the fact that His face was altered should make us recall how Moses’ face shone when He came down from the mountain after getting the tablets of Law. 

          Moses and Elijah are there, symbolically representing the Law and the Prophets, respectively. Their appearance with Jesus confirms His fulfillment of the old covenant. As John says in John 1:14, these three “have seen his glory.” Peter wants to make booths for all three – almost putting Jesus on the same level as the other two. But then they hear the voice from heaven, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

          We should definitely heed God’s instructions, “Listen to him!” Like we said, the transfiguration is mentioned only one other place in Scripture and it’s 

2 Peter 1:16-21 which says, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

          Jesus had the last word in Scripture in his revelation given to John. We should be careful with how we handle Scripture. We shouldn’t add to Scripture or take away from it. A warning Eve didn’t heed, the Pharisees didn’t heed, and many today don’t by saying they have new revelation. Listen to Him – Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate. 

          And that’s all we have time for today! If you haven’t seen our posts about it yet, The Bible Blueprint was a finalist in the Religion category in the American Book Awards, and it is available in hardback for a limited time, which is really nice when you’re talking about a resource book. So check it out on Amazon or other major retailers!

          Have a blessed Day!

 



[1] https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/could-jesus-have-sinned