Gal. 2:11-21, Christ Lives in Me: Real or Metaphoric? (1)

One of my regular “time fillers” is, when I come across a New Testament commentary I have not seen before and I want to do a quick evaluation is to see how the commentator interprets Galatians 2:20, particularly the line, Christ lives in me! 

We have been in Ireland for a couple months now “filling in” for some friends while they are on duty back in the States.  I sit in my friends office and he has a great collection of Bible reference books.  Thus I have a plethora (love that word) of commentaries I have not seen.  So this post and whatever else follows is for my benefit.  I am thinking about this issue.  Does Christ actually live in me?  That is, do I have His life in me?  Or is this just symbolic or figurative or metaphoric language?  I will share things I have seen and occasionally make a comment on the commenters.

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International Critical Commentary, Ernest Burton, NT Professor at Univ. of Chicago.

On p135 he says it’s a “metaphor” (being crucified with Christ), not literal.  He says “It can’t be, of course.”  He takes from this metaphor three elements: 1) The participation of the believer in the benefits of Christ’s experience. (2 Cor. 5:15; Rom. 4:24-25; Col. 2:20; 3:1).  2) A spiritual fellowship with Him in respect to those experiences. (Phil. 3:10; Rom. 6:5).  3) The passing of the believer through a similar or analogous experience. (Rom. 8:17; 6:5; Col. 2:20; 3:1).

On p136 he discusses whether this “death to law” is related to Christ objectively or subjectively and says it is not decisive!  On the latter, he says the believer is free from the law by his spiritual fellowship with Christ in death.  On the former, he says the death of Christ brings an end to the reign of law (Rom. 10:4; Col. 2:14).

My thoughts: Perhaps you can see the issue here.  The death of Christ did something objective, something that is true regardless of whether I am a believer in Christ or not.  But then the question is, if I am a believer, is that objective work objective in me?  Is it real to me by virtue of Christ’s presence in me?  The spiritual fellowship he speaks of is my “in Christ” reality.  I say reality, because I see it as an objective fact that something literally has happened to me.  Perhaps Burton is not as certain it is an actual change in me.  One of the things I consider is, does the fact that something in me is “spiritual” mean that it is not “objective” or “real”?  Since I am both spiritual and physical, I consider “spiritual fellowship” to be something real.

Reading further, on p137, related to the phrase, “it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me” he says that Paul is clearly speaking of spiritual fellowship.  He says Paul has received “a new power,” which is about like saying Paul has an objective reality, something different that dwells in his physical body.  And here is one other statement: Paul’s “life is so controlled that he conceives Him to be resident in him.”  And (p138, on “the life I now live in the flesh”) he acknowledges that Paul lives a life of dependence on the Son of God.  That is an object statement about Paul and would be a bit strange if it was not based in an objective reality.

1 Kings 21:17-29, The Humility of Ahab?!

There are a couple of interesting, and perhaps significant occurrences in the time of the Kings.  One occurred in the Northern Kingdom with King Ahab, who did more evil than any kings before him (1 Ki. 16:30; 21:25), but who humbled himself (21:27), after the murder of Naboth, when his fate was sealed (21:20-23), a humbling acknowledged and rewarded by the LORD (21:29ab).  A similar situation happened with Manasseh, another extremely wicked king, king over Judah, whose evil was the reason God would no longer relent in the judgment by the Babylonians (Jer. 15:4), but who humbled himself (2 Chron. 33:12-13), a humbling acknowledged and rewarded by the LORD (33:13,19).  Perhaps the most wicked king in both kingdoms, north and south.  And the humbled themselves. 

So what are we to think about these men?  I’m not going to tell you what to think.  And I am long past making concrete statements about the hearts of men, apart from statements from the LORD Himself as to their eternal status.  To humble oneself before God is an act of faith that He recognizes.  That much I would like to show from a study of this word. 

The Hebrew for this "humbling," kana, used 36x in 32 verses, is half the time used of subduing enemies (e.g. Judges 3:30) or the wicked (e.g. 2 Chron. 28:19).  Here are the other uses which are relevant to understanding what these wicked kings did.

·       Lev. 26:41: The important first use is in the prophecy of blessings and curses in the Law. When Israel sins and is removed from the land, if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt God will bring them back. In 2 Chron. 7:14 (If my people who are called by My name humble themselves) Solomon repeated this promise in the dedication of the temple.

·       2 Ki. 21:19; 2 Chr. 34:27ab: Josiah humbled himself upon hearing the book of the Law.

·       2 Chron. 12:6,7ab,12: Rehoboam, after first rebelling, then humbled himself, and God acknowledged and rewarded him.  Their humility was expressed in the affirmation that, the LORD is righteous. 

·       2 Chron. 32:26; 30:11: In the days of Hezekiah, the king humbled himself.  And while most in the northern kingdom declined the invitation, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came for the Passover.

·       2 Chron. 33:23; 36:12: While King Manasseh humbled himself, his son Amon did not! Nor did Zedekiah humble himself before Jeremiah.

What think ye?  Certainly, the grace of God is sufficient to take in such wicked men as Ahab and Manasseh.  The Leviticus passage is quoted by Solomon because Solomon knows it is significant to the purpose of the temple in facilitating a relationship between the LORD and His people Israel.  Of course, the issue is, have I humbled myself and am I living this before the Lord now?  I Peter 5:5: … be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Psalm 119:49-64

 

Psalm 119:49-56 Zayin: In hope pray God’s word back to Him.

The first verse seems to give sense to the entire stanza.

Consider first the last half of v49.  God caused him to hope in His word.  To hope in God’s word involves a no-holds-barred kind of trust in God.  Consider, from the rest of the stanza, the extent to which the saint commits his way to God and both the commands and promises of Scripture.

·       v50: the life-giving Word is his comfort in affliction.

·       v51: the law of God is his path in the face of derision.

·       v52: he affirms his comfort is based in God’s ancient Word.

·       v53: he is indignant against those who forsake God’s law.

·       v54: he has built his home-life around God’s statutes.

·       v55: his night meditations center on God’s law.

In the end (v56) he can say he is so immersed in the Word in which God has caused him to hope that “it is mine”.  His life is becoming more and more the life of the Word.  As Spurgeon would say of John Bunyan, “Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline; the very essence of the Bible flows from him.”

This is the hope the Psalmist has.  He does not question the Word when doubts arise.  He has an absolute trust in the path laid out for him in Scripture.

But what happens when he rounds the next corner and his trial throws something else at him?  How does he respond?  Since God has caused him to hope in the Word he simply prays, “Lord, remember the word to your servant!”

It is not as if he were concerned that God would forget.  He is, in a sense, praying God’s word back to Him.  This is the surest way to pray in the will of God.  The Psalmist himself remembers God’s word for his present situation and then prays, “God, do as You said You would.”

He does what the Lord Jesus Himself did when tempted by Satan.  He simply quotes Scripture for which Satan has no answer (Matt. 4:1-11).  He is using the believer’s prime offensive weapon, the “sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17).

This kind of praying is the privilege of the one who truly hopes in God’s word, who can say of Scripture, “This has become mine!”

 

 

 

 

 

Psalm 119:57-64 Heth:  Make God your portion, your satisfaction.

There are few better thoughts in all of Scripture than to know God as one’s “portion” (v57).  Our portion is, of course, our “lot in life” so to speak.  It is what will be ours in this lifetime. 

Most people measure their “portion” according to money, pleasure or fame.  But most people also are not satisfied.  You can hear it in their complaints and see it in their endless seeking after another dollar, a bigger kick, or another promotion. 

A “portion” was what God said He would be for the Levites (Num. 18:20).  All the other tribes received land and cities of their own.  The Levites got God for their inheritance. 

Now some might think the Levites had a hard life, always dependent on God for their needs.  But anyone who thinks that way doesn’t understand the last verse of this stanza: “The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy” (v64).  In fact, a person can have nothing better than to have God as their portion. 

The trials of our lives are designed to reveal whether or not God is our portion.  In the book of Lamentations, where Jeremiah recorded his utter discouragement at the loss of all that was dear to him, God brought him to see that he still had all he needed because God was his portion (Lam. 3:22-24). 

So it is in this stanza of Psalm 119: it is revealed that the Psalmist’s portion was God.  The middle verses (58-63) describe the lifestyle of one who is finding his satisfaction in God.

·       58: he brings his petitions to God with his whole heart (i.e. he has no other heart-desire to find answers in any other portion).

·       59: he orders his daily path to follow after God.

·       60: he wastes no time in obeying God’s word.

·       61: when beset by circumstances, he stays the course laid out in God’s word.

·       62: in the odd hours his thoughts are of the Lord.

·       63: he encourages himself by fellowship with those who also seek God as their portion.

Who or what is your portion?  Are you putting your trust in your own value? or your possessions? or the next thrill?  Or can you say that your Portion fills the earth with His mercy?

2 Cor. 5:1-11, Who are the saints? (4)

Here is our final reference to the Catholic Catechism.

·       #956: “Being more closely related to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness – they do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus.”  This is accompanied by quotes from various “saints” before their death.  St. Therese: “I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth.”  St. Dominic: “I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.” 

Does Scripture speak of such things?  Some refer to John 16:7 when Jesus spoke of the value of His departure.  But He was speaking of establishing the New Covenant and sending the Holy Spirit.  That is not what “sainthood” is talking about.

Some might speak of Samuel who came from the dead to speak to King Saul.  But Samuel’s response was, “why have you disturbed me” (1 Sam. 28:15)?  Or you might speak of Moses and Elijah who appeared to Christ (Luke 9:30-31) and spoke to Him of His coming death.  But this is Christ, the Word who is God and became flesh.  We do not see this as normative.  Rather, consider Jesus’ teaching in the story of Lazarus and the rich man. No one was going to be sent back to encourage the rich man’s brothers.  It was sufficient that they had Scripture (Luke 16:27-31). 

In the preceding paragraph, all the passages were from “narrative” sections, not sections that are intended to teach doctrine.  What is the doctrine concerning believers who are now with the Lord?  In today’s passage (2 Cor. 5) they are at rest, free from the groanings of this life.  They are not doing good works on earth.  The day for preaching the gospel, carrying out the ministry of reconciliation, is over for them. 

What did the Psalmist mean when he said that the dead do not praise God any more (Ps. 6:5; 115:17; 88:10-12)?  Certainly, he was not referring to the praise they give in heaven.  Read the context.  He was wanting to be delivered from trouble so he could continue to praise God on earth.  The opportunity to “effect” good things on earth is past when we die.  For that reason, we then stand in judgment because the time of our testing is finished (Heb. 9:27).  The “witnesses” of Heb. 12:1 encourage us only by their legacy and our memory of their faithfulness.

The “prayers of the saints” in Rev. 5:8 also do not fit Catholicism.  These prayers are in “bowls full of incense.”  We are not told that the saints are praying in heaven.  It says that the prayers of God’s people on earth, which have been long delayed in being answered, are filling heaven with a sweet smell.  These are the “how long” prayers, many recorded in the Psalms (e.g. 6:3; 13:1), and many prayed by Israel when the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham was in doubt (e.g. 79:5; 80:4).  If you really want to see the fallacy of Roman Catholicism, it is in this, that they consider the Church to be the “new Israel” and that God is not going to fulfill His word to Abraham and the nation of Israel.

Jude 1:3-11, Who are the saints? (3)

We are considering some of the Catholic teaching on the “saints.”

·       #2156: At baptism Catholics receive a name, perhaps the name of one of the saints.  This person becomes the “patron saint” for that person. 

Our response, again, is to note how this detracts from Christ.  1) There is nothing in the Bible that encourages us to put our children or anyone in the care of someone other than the Lord.  This is not based in the Bible.  2) There is also nothing in the Bible that suggests that believers who have died and are in the Lord’s presence have any ability to influence or care for people on earth.  Heb. 12:1 speaks of being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.  But these are witnesses which can have two possible meanings.  Either they are witnessing us running the race (that is not likely) or their testimony of successfully finishing the race encourages us.  The latter is certainly what this means, and these “witnesses” are the Old Testament saints (believers) who were spoken of in the previous chapter (Heb. 11, often called the “hall of faith”). 

·       #2030: The Church is the source of God’s word and of grace in the sacraments. 

This is the fundamental issue in this.  Our authority as believers for anything we do comes from the Word of God.  For Catholics God is continuing to speak His word through the Church.  But Jude said that the faith we hold was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3).  At the time Jude wrote, he was standing firm on the word of God whose delivery of that word had been completed.  Heb. 1:1-3 gives the same idea, that God’s word has been completed with the coming of His Son and the confirmation of that word, by signs, wonders and miracles by the Apostles (2:1-4).  The Bible is complete.  There is no place in Scripture that calls for a continuing revelation or inspiration beyond the first century. 

Matthew 16:17-19 should be brought up here.  Jesus commended Peter, and for the sake of argument let’s conclude that Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom for the admission of people to the Church He was building.  There is no groundwork laid here for a continuing papacy or, again, for continuing revelation.  Peter used those keys in Acts, for Israel in Acts 2, the Samaritans in Acts 8, and the Gentiles in Acts 9.  With that, the door was unlocked for the entire world.  There is no need for these keys (i.e. this authority) to extend beyond the life of Peter.

And just briefly, the first Church Council (Acts 15) did not establish new structure or new doctrine for the Church.  It clarified doctrine, the doctrine of salvation and sanctification by grace.  The doctrine of “canonization for sainthood” that came into being in the 900s was an addition to Scripture, and on that basis alone should be rejected.  Even Peter, in 2 Peter 1:3-4, said that believers at that time had all things that pertain to life and godliness.  Christ alone is sufficient!  Be careful lest your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).

Phil. 3:1-11, Who are the saints? (2)

We want to quote now from Catholic sources to show they are not Biblical in their approach to “saints.”  They have taken tradition and tried to push it into Scripture.

·       In the RCC there is a process for “Canonization” (recognizing a “saint”).  The person is first noted to be a servant of God by the local bishop.  Then the Vatican notes they are “venerable” (lived a life of “heroic virtue”).  The person is blessed when it is verified that a miracle was performed through this person’s intercession.  A second verified miracle confirms their status as “saint.”  Thus, in heaven, they are fit to pray for people on earth. 

By my understanding, this had its origin in the 2^nd century church, in the death of Polycarp, who was venerated by those who knew him.  In other words, they collected bones after his death and preserved them and were encouraged by them.  However, after Constantine’s decree 313 this began to expand significantly.  But it was not until the 900’s that papal authority was exercised in the process of canonization.

Following, in this and the next post, are quotes from the Catholic Catechism (paragraph numbers are included).  Did Christ, the Head of the Church, institute this?

·       #2683: “they (the saints, in heaven) constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. … Their intercession is their most exalted service to God’s plan.” 

Jesus did not institute such a system that involves improving our prayers by giving requests to saints so they can also pray.  In John 14:12-14 what Jesus said was believers could go to the Father “in His name” and we would be given whatever we needed.  Further, Romans 8:26 tells us the Holy Spirit prays for or “intercedes” for us when we don’t know how to pray.  The Spirit is perfect for this because He perfectly knows the will of God.  A study of 2 Cor. 2:10-16 speaks of this profound ministry of the Spirit, who has been given to us that we might know the things freely given to us by God. 

·       #2684: “… followers (of a saint, i.e. pilgrims, those who seek out their burial places and their relics) have a share in this spirit” (i.e. the spirit of the saint they are pursuing).

It is one thing to remember the example of believers who have gone to be with the Lord.  But this is heresy, pursuing those who have gone before.  There is no thought in Scripture that we should do this.  Even seeking out and venerating the places where Jesus’ death and resurrection occurred are contrary to our calling.  Our pursuit of righteousness is a pursuit of Christ.  Looking unto Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2). Setting our affection on things above where Christ is and has our life hidden in Him (Col. 3:1-4).  The NT is filled with this focus on one Person: For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain … that I may know Him (Phil. 1:21; 3:10).  More on this in the next post.

Colossians 1:1-8, Who are the saints? (1)

The question from today’s passage is, “who are the saints?”  Are they a special class of Christian, different than the “faithful brethren?”  Or are both terms referring to all Christians?  The former view is that of Catholicism.  Which is true? (This is a subject brought upon us as we are in Ireland where the Catholic Church is dominant.  This question arose in the course of our Bible Study in Colossians.)

The Greek word for “saints” is hagios, which is the word “Holy” when speaking of the Holy Spirit.  The word is used 229x in the NT of which 92 refer to the Holy Spirit.  That leaves a lot of opportunity to demonstrate that “holiness” is a fitting adjective for all believers and not just a special class.  For example …

·       Heb. 12:14 states that no one will see the Lord without holiness.  In other words, the only ones to see the Lord are saints.  That indicates all believers are “saints.”

·       Eph. 1:2 has a similar beginning as Colossians, “to the saints and faithful in Christ Jesus.”  Speaking of all these recipients Paul goes on to say in 1:4, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame.  He is speaking of all believers, not just a special class.

·       Phil. 4:21 indicates “saints” are in Christ Jesus.  Paul regularly refers to all believers as being “in Christ.” 

·       Rom. 1:7 refers to saints in Rome, 1 Cor. 1:2 to saints in Corinth, as our passage refers to those in Colosse.  This is normal.  There are saints in every church.  That fits better with the thought that all believers are saints.

·       1 Cor. 1:2 tells us that “those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus” are all “called to be saints” along with the many other saints in every place.  These saints are those who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Rom. 10:13 tells us that all who call on the name of the Lord are saved people.

·       Staying in 1 Cor. 1:2, “sanctified” is the verb (saints is the adjective) and is defined thus: to render or acknowledge as holy; to separate from profane things and dedicate to God; to purity.  In 1 Thess. 5:23 Paul prays for all the believers, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely ...  This is for all Christians, not just a select few.  Heb. 2:11 says, For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.  Christ became a man so as to set apart people for Himself whom He refers to as His brethren.  Again, this is for all believers. “Sanctification” is what makes a person a “saint.”  Examine 2 Tim. 2:18-21 to see this.

·       Eph. 2:19: Believers from Jewish and Gentile background (without exception, in other words all believers) are “fellow citizens” in the family of God.

·       Col. 1:4: The love of Christians is not just for a special few but for each other.  Jesus commanded us to love the brethren (Jn. 13:34-35).

There are no instructions given to us as to how we would make a distinction between “classes” of brothers.  We will pick up that thought in the next post.  What Catholicism does is not laid on us in Scripture.  It is added “tradition.”