Commiting Adultery with a Tree and True Repentance

It is the latter half of the 7th century BC, about one hundred years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians. Josiah has been king of Judah for over a decade. He has been ruthlessly opposing idolatry in both the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the fallen Israel in the north. Jeremiah, the Prophet, receives a word from the Lord.

Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to Me;' but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it... I had sent [Israel] away and given her a writ of divorce... Because of the lightness of [Judah's] harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees... Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but rather in deception." Jeremiah 3:6-10

Israel goes after idols. God destroys her by means of the Assyrians, "a writ of divorce." Judah see it and commits idolatry anyway, even more so than Israel. God calls this "committing adultery with stones and tress" (idols are made of wood).

In Context: Judah is in the middle of an incredible religious revival. God says Judah's repentance is not "with all her heart, but rather in deception." Judah has put away the idols, is rebuilding the temple, restoring temple worship, and celebrating Mosaic feasts. That wasn't enough. What else could God want?

He didn't want their actions. He wanted their motives.

God is not so much concerned about what we do as He is with why we do. Sure, the people of Judah put away their idols, but they still liked their idols. God wanted them to like Him over their idols, not just put Him first.

God wants us to treasure Him over our sin, not just do "churchy" things instead of sin. If you serve God without loving God, you haven't yet served Him fully. True repentance is more than just a change in direction. It is a change of being. You become a new person. The only way to ever stop committing adultery with the tree is to love your wife more than you do the tree, so much more that you forget about the tree altogether.

Exclusivism and Predestination

From a Christian perspective, there are about three ways to look at the relationship between Christ and other world religions.

1. Exclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven, period. If you do not respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you cannot be saved.

2. Inclusivism - Jesus is the only way to heaven. But, all roads lead to Jesus. If you are a sincere believer of any religion, you will ultimately be saved--through Jesus. As C.S. Lewis explained it, God will credit your service to your particular god as though it were service to Jesus.

3. Pluralism - All roads are equally right. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and every other religion you can think of is an adequate route to heaven.

The Bible firmly supports exclusivism, the first option. Many Christians feel this is inadequate for a loving God. God is all good. But he is not only good. (I'll save that for another post.)

Many would raise the question, "What about a man on a desert island who has never heard the gospel but truly wants to believe in God? He just hasn't heard. Can a loving God send him to hell for being born in the wrong time and place?"

Three Considerations:

1 - Wanting to believe in God, or being a seeker, is not sufficient grounds for salvation.

2 - The man is not innocent. He is a sinner like the rest and does not deserve a "second" chance to follow God. Neither did we.

3 - The man does deserve to go to hell because of his sinfulness, not because of his lack of knowledge. We are not gnostic.

These things being said, the Bible answers this question for us in Romans. Paul writes in chapter ten verse 17, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from by the word of Christ." If you don't hear the gospel, you cannot have faith in it. So what is the fate of our deserted-island man?

Romans 8:29 reads, "For those whom he foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (NASB). This has been understood in two basic ways in baptist circles. 1) God saw into the future and predestined those He would save, and 2) God saw into the future those who would believe and predestined them. Either way, God predestined those who are going to be saved.

If (1) is true:
The man on the desert island is either predestined to be saved or not. If so, the gospel will indeed reach him, and he will respond. If he is not, the gospel may or may not reach him and he wouldn't respond anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get it to him.

If (2) is true:
God looked into the future already and determined who would choose Him. If the man on the desert island was going to choose God, then God would have predestined him to "be conformed to the image of His Son." Romans also says that you cannot have faith without the gospel. So, God would also have to direct the gospel to reach that man if he had been predestined because of foreseen faith. If he did not have foreseen faith, he would not be saved anyway. Nevertheless, it is our responsibility to get the gospel to him.

It doesn't matter what view of predestination you hold to, those who are elect will be saved. The question about the man on the desert island really doesn't matter.

P.S. I'm an exclusivist, and I hold to the first option on predestination.

The ESV Study Bible

This is the Newest edition to my library. I love it. I did not realize when I bought it that it came with full online access to all of its material on the internet. I can read my ESV Study Bible anywhere there is an internet connection.

Some great scholars have put this study Bible together. It has tons of articles in the back ranging from Bible Doctrines to the Reliability of the Bible. This is a great addition to any library, and just so you know, it is perfectly alright to have more than one study Bible. This way you get lots of great resources. This one is a must.

Is the Kingdom of God Within You?

No. I have often heard people quote Luke 17:21, to argue that it is "in our hearts." Unfortunately, the NIV translates the verse to read, "The kingdom of God is within you." Put that together with American-self-centered-biblical hermeneutics and you read that the Kingdom of God is in your heart or soul. Every time we see the word "you" in the Bible, we immediately assume that the text is talking about "me." The wise Bible reader would be safe to assume that "you" in the Bible is plural rather than singular, and you would be right most of the time. This means that when we read "you," we should think "us" instead of "me."

Nearly all other languages have fixed this problem. They all have a plural form for "you." In English, we just have the one word. But in the South, we have fixed it. We have the glorious word, "Y'all," standing in the plural. "You" means that person I'm talking to, and "Y'all" means this group I am talking to. It is singular vs. plural. The Biblical "you" is almost always the Southern "y'all." Let's read the verse in Southern.

"The Kingdom of God is within y'all." (NRDT, Non-Revisable Dixie Translation)

This changes the meaning entirely. The kingdom is not within me. It is within us. Now let's examine this in context.

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The last time the Pharisees were in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said this about them. "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts..." (Luke 16:15 NASB). Clearly, Jesus knows what is in the hearts of the Pharisees. And it is definitely not the Kingdom of God. Jesus told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God is "within you." More accurately, the translation should be, "Among you, or in your midst." He is actually saying that the Kingdom of God is right here in front of their faces and they are so stupid that they can't see it.

The Kingdom of God is not within us. We are in the Kingdom of God.

Matt. 5:20 - "...enter the Kingdom of God.
Matt. 7:21 - "but he who does the will of my Father... will enter."
Mark 10:23 - "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God."

Just three examples of people entering the Kingdom. It is not the other way around.

Baptist Distinctives and the SBC

There are several distinct beliefs that Baptists across the board hold to. They are the core building blocks that distinguish Baptists from other denominations. Each belief by itself is not necessarily limited to baptist circles. It is the combination of beliefs that create the Baptist distinctive. Sugar, flour, and eggs may be common to cookies, cakes, and any other number of goodies, but the specific quantities and other ingredients are what separate them in very obvious ways. Baptists share most of their beliefs with other denominations, but the particular recipe is unique.

Let's consider some Baptist distinctives and contrast the ways many Southern Baptist Churches understand them.


1. Believer's Baptism by Immersion

This is probable the most core doctrine in Baptist belief. Baptism is only administered to those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, not to infants (who cannot profess faith in God). This can be called credo-baptism. Is this what Southern Baptists believe? Yes, but it is not what they practice. They practice a hybrid form of pedobaptism (infant baptism). Instead of baptizing infants who have not made a profession, they baptize children who recite a prayer. The sign of the covenant is repeating after me.


2. Regenerate Church Membership

Baptists have been adamant that only saved persons should be memers of the church. People should not be born into church membership. They should only be admitted when they are saved, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. How do Southern Baptists fare on membership? Some denominations practice pre-regenerate church membership. For example, they allow children and infants to be members of the church who aren't 'saved,' yet. Southern Baptists practice unregenerate church membership. That is, they allow into membership anyone who will attend and hopefully tithe to the church with no regards to genuine salvation or spiritual fruit. Regeneration is unnecessary, only initial participation (because they will likely quit coming after a year or so but perpetually haunt the church roll).

3. Priesthood of All Believers

Who can approach God in prayer? Not just super religious, it's all regenerate souls. We are called a nation of priests. We are all accountable before God. We pray directly through Jesus to the Father without the need of any super religious intercessor. Surely Southern Baptists adhere to this, we don't have any priests? Kinda. But not really. Sure, we all pray to God without having to go through a priest, but we leave praying often and fervently to the pastor. We are content to say mealtime prayers and a quick prayer before we go to bed and think ourselves a priesthood. I'll give the SBC a semi-priesthood of all believers.

4. Congregational Church Polity

The essence of congregational church polity is found in Acts 6:5, "The statement found approval with the whole congregation..." (NASB). The church did not need some one to be king over them because Christ sits as King directly over the hearts of all believers. We never see them cast lots after the coming of the Holy Spirit because God was leading them directly. Things found approval or disapproval with the whole congregation because they were in unity following the Holy Spirit. Is this what Southern Baptists do when we practice the democratic process? No. We practice majority rule. It is quite different from congregational polity. Regardless of the Spirit's impression on our hearts, we rule by whatever the majority thinks. This would probably be sufficient if we also practiced regenerate church membership. But, since we do not, majority rule is open for disaster.

Stay tuned for: The Lord's Supper and Baptism, Missions and Evangelism, Biblical Authority, and more...

God and Evil

I had to write a short answer in my philosophy class as to how I would answer someone who questioned the co-existence of God and evil in the world. A short blog on God and Evil will not exhaust the subject. But there are some basic truths that the Bible does teach that we can hold onto in the face of evil in this world. Here are four.

1. Evil does exist. (it's not just a perspective)

There is no question about this one. Evil is all around us. When children die and friends and family are stolen by disease or the relatively innocent suffer, it is evil. The Bible does not hide this fact or try to smooth it over. It is not the elephant in the room that no one talks about. The Bible addresses evil head-on. It is out there and we have all experienced it to some degree.

2. God is all-powerful and all-good. (omnipotent and omnibenevolent)

The Bible also affirms that God can do all things, and that He has no evil in His being at all. He is all light. There is no darkness. Job wholeheartedly exclaims that He can do all things. This is where most people would raise an objection. If God is perfectly good and all powerful, why would he let evil exist in the world? He is more than capable. He should be more than willing. Why doesn't he get ride of evil altogether? Or why did he let it exist in the first place? Oddly enough, this is not a question that people asked in ancient times. Many ancient religions saw evil as a basic part of reality and accepted it as so. The Bible goes a little further and shows that it is intimately connected with human sin, but still doesn't exactly answer the question. The Bible just affirms that God hates evil, is all good, and all-powerful -- end of story. This may not be as satisfactory as we want, but this is what the Bible affirms.

3. Evil is subverted to the purposes of God.

More encouraging to most than the first to truths, we can have great hope in the face of evil because of this truth. Evil is completely subverted for the purposes of God. This means that no matter how hard evil tries, God's will triumphs. Evil fails to accomplish its goals. This is not to say that Evil happens and then God "fixes" it. Sometimes, we see clear evidence that God even plans to do good through evil events. Consider the story of Joseph. His brothers sell him into slavery. They "intend" evil against Joseph. We are told later in Genesis that God intended this for good. The evil of the brothers was so subverted by God that it was even planned to be used for good before it happened.

This is most clear in the cross. God was not surprised when Jesus died on the cross. It was the plan from the beginning. Revelation speaks of the Lamb as being slain before the foundation of the world. God knew he was going to send Jesus to die on our behalf before we had even sinned. The most evil event to ever happen in history was the murder of our Lord. He was the only truly innocent being to ever die, and that for the sins of others. Yet, God subverted that evil for the supreme good of mankind, allowing us to have fellowship with God for all of eternity. How much hope should this give us in the face of evil knowing that somehow, some way, God is working out thing for good, even when we can't see it.

4. Evil will cease; it has a time limit.

This is the greatest part. One day, evil will be vanquished. There will be no more tears, no more sorrow. We will know perfection. I cannot even imagine what the world will be like "When we all get to heaven." We just know that "we will understand it better by and by." And that some glorious day "I'll fly away" to that "sweet Bullah land." No matter how bad things get I know that "I am bound for the promised land." Have you noticed that we like to sing about this. There is a reason that the Bible uses the word "hope" when referring to the rapture. We can have hope because we know that the place we are going is not to be compared with our present suffering (Romans 8:18).