Who Would You Say Jesus Is?

A longtime contributor to our daily devotionals, Jack Wellman writes at the site Rhetorical Jesus. His daily thoughts include a graphic element that you may use on social media with a link to the article for that day. Click the title below to read this one where it appeared first, and then take some time to look around.

Who do people say that I am? Who do you say I am?

Mark 8:27

And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?

Who Is Jesus to You?

This might seem obvious to you. Jesus is God and Man; but He is also the fulfillment of the prophesied Messiah, Who came to save us from our sins. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah Himself (Matthew 16:15); and only someone who has been given the Holy Spirit can say such a thing and mean it (1 Corinthians 12:3). Jesus said that God the Father and He are one and the same (John 10:30), signifying His deity. Jesus declared that He existed before Abraham did (John 8:58), signifying His eternality. He is declared to also be the Creator God Who made all things (Colossians 1:15-17).

He Is Lord

I once heard an old preacher say that Jesus is Lord of all or He is Lord at all, but what I think he was saying was that He is Lord for the person who has been saved. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings to even those who don’t know Christ and who have not yet bent the knee to this God-Man who is coming to judge the world (Revelation 20:12-15). Someday every single knee will bow and acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, including those who are under the earth (now dead) and who are alive at His second coming (Philippians 2:10); and every single tongue of all who have ever lived will confess that Jesus is Lord and God (Romans 14:11).

Who Is Jesus to the World?

Most of the false religions believe and teach that Jesus was a prophet and a good Man but that He isn’t or wasn’t God. But what a person believes doesn’t affect what is true. Mankind used to believe the earth was flat; they believed it because they could see with their own eyes that it looked flat to the naked eye. But today we know that it’s a sphere. The point is that just because they believed the earth was flat didn’t change the reality that it wasn’t. Since Jesus declared His divinity and it was written that He came and lived in the flesh (John 1:14), He was either telling the truth or was lying; and since we know that Jesus was sinless and that God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18, Numbers 23:19), then He must be Who He claimed Himself to be.

A Closing Prayer

Righteous Father, thank You for offering to us Your sinless Son, the perfect satisfactory sacrifice to atone for my sins, which enabled me to have a personal relationship with You for all eternity. I give You thanks for such a sacrifice for me, an unworthy sinner, and in Christ’s Precious Name I pray.

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Second Helping

Here’s another recent article by Jack Wellman with an interesting title:
If I saw a homeless man on the street, what do you think I would do for Him?

 

Keeping Jesus Centered in our Hearts

Last year at this time we introduced you to John Clark who writes at Standing Firm: Growing in the Christian Faith. This appeared there on New Year’s Day, but the year is still young, and this devotional is definitely worth reading. Click the title below to read it where it first appeared.

How Do We Keep The Glow?

‘Because of the Lord ’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘ Lamentations 3:22-23

I don’t know about you but I love the idea that comes with a “new” year. The idea that we can:

• Start over
• Fresh Start
• Start to make improvements we may have been putting off
• Areas that we consider improving: Health, money, relationships, and spiritual renewal

But why is it that we take 364 days to start working on something we could have been doing for that period, with the kicker that we may only go down the road with this plan for a month or two?

The New Year’s resolution has become a tongue-in-cheek joke if you think about it.

So the question is, how do we stay the course? How do we persevere to see it to the conclusion?

Let’s start with this, none of it will matter without Jesus being the Lord over our lives. When Jesus becomes the center of our lives, this is the filter we should look at in every area of our lives.

‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ‘ John 14:6

I used to look at my life in compartments, I had:

• My church group
• My work group
• My family group
• My friends group

And my behavior was different with each of these groups. This was a terrible way of operating my life. There needed to be more consistency in my growth. When I realized I was leaving Jesus out of the other areas of my life, it became clear why my spiritual growth was stunted.

With Jesus centered in my heart, it affected every area of my life. And living that way affected the people around me.

Stay in God’s Word

I wish I could say this is easy, but it requires me to focus on God and His will for my life over my will for my life. The best remedy for this that I have found to work the best is to read and study God’s Word as often as I can, day and night.

‘Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ‘ Joshua 1:8

Another key here is to make sure that the focus of the reading is to look for ways the Lord wants to change your heart, NOT the hearts of those around you. It is ok to want the people around you to come to know God, but the change in your life will have the most impact on those around you.

One thing that happens with a “new” start is that we tend to lose steam; we start off with promise, but that steam slowly dissipates until we fall out.

Moses experienced this when he came off the mountain after spending time in the presence of God.

‘Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ‘ 2 Corinthians 3:12-14

“But their minds were made dull…”

We have to hedge against our minds becoming “dull.” Being in God’s Word as often as possible will help with this. The Word of God does not return empty. The Word of God will have a supernatural effect on our thinking and actions. We have to discipline ourselves to stay in the Word of God.

Get involved with God’s people

Being a Christian is a team effort. We can only grow spiritually with a support group of believers.

‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. ‘ Hebrews 10:23-25

When we are available for other believers for support, we start an upward spiral that keeps moving up. The writer of Hebrews says, “we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” When I think about the word “spur,” I think about riding a horse and sticking a “spur” into the side of a horse to get it moving along.

Would you happen to have one person who will take your call no matter what happens? A person who will drop everything and come and get you if you find yourself in a pickle?

A more critical question is: are you available to drop everything to help a friend in need, no matter what time it is? I’ve heard two great ideas about this from Pastors I have been under:

► True ministry is going to be messy. – Pastor Kevin Whitacre, LifePoint Church in Chicopee, MA.

► Ministry is not convenient. – Pastor Emeritus Rurel Ausley, Crosspoint Church in Niceville, FL.

‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ‘ John 15:13

It has been my experience that when I am helping other Christians with their struggles, the Word of God comes alive.

My resolution this year is to grow closer to Jesus. I know there is no other thing that I can do that will help me become a better husband, father, brother, and friend.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Your mercy is renewed daily.

I pray that You change my heart to be more like Jesus daily. I am thankful for the sacrifice that You made to bring us to You.

Please help me read Your Word with open eyes and an open heart. Please help me to be sensitive to the Spirit in my heart, and give me the courage to follow the Spirit’s guidance.

In the precious name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!!

A Famine of God’s Word | Lordship of Christ | God Owns it All

As we did one year ago, today we are presenting a trio of shorter devotionals for you from The Bare Soul Daily Devotional by Rick Roeber (aka The Barefoot Runner). Rick’s story is one of defeating addiction and he has been a guest on The 700 Club.

Spiritual Famine

Amos 8:11 – “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord God, ‘When I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord.'”

As it was in Amos’ day, so it is now. The context of the eighth chapter of Amos is one of great apostasy. The Nation of Israel had substituted greed for charity. They no longer sought the welfare of others, only what they could selfishly obtain. Therefore, the Lord told them He would send a famine of God’s word upon the land. No longer would there be dream or vision to instruct the nation in their wickedness. The silence of God would be their eventual downfall.

Today, we have silenced God by replacing Him with our selfish pursuits. Far be it from us to miss a weekend at the lake rather than serving God in our local church! Or, how about that weekly prayer meeting God has been prompting us for weeks to attend? The world is sleeping in the dark as the church sleeps and relaxes in God’s light. However, there is coming a day of reckoning when God will hold us accountable for how we have used our time. Beloved, the days are evil. Let us make the most of each day by including God in our plans. For a day is coming soon when our lives will be laid bare before His throne where we will all give an account.

Jesus’ Lordship

Psalm 16:2 – “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.’”

When we come to the place of David, confessing Christ’s Lordship and really believing it, then great things begin to happen. We recognize how His righteousness is the only thing that can ever be “good” in our lives. Religion is replaced by relationship and romance toward the Lover of our souls. Like David, our hearts will rise in praise and thanksgiving when we truly recognize He is Lord and Master of our surrendered hearts.

The Savior tells us in the Gospel of Matthew that many will say “Lord, Lord” on that final day. Jesus further explains how He will disown those who have practiced lawlessness (Matthew 7:21-23). Christ is not talking necessarily about just the Ten Commandments. He is speaking about a love for living the character of God which is embodied in the law. The law of liberty has set us free from the bondage of the law, beloved (James 1:25). Jesus is truly our Lord when we instinctively live His commandments. This is true freedom that demonstrates itself in love for God and mankind.

God’s Ownership

Job 41:11 – “Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.”

God Almighty, the one and true God, has never sought repayment for sending His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for the sin of mankind. This is what makes Him unique among all other religions. Every other belief in God, other than Christianity, demands repayment of some kind. These faiths conclude that we must be like God, so therefore we must work to attain to His character. Or, that we strive to recompense Him in some way for all of His benefits toward us.

Truly, the only thing we can give back to God is ourselves, which He already owns. One of the truest expressions of this is giving Him our time in worship. Devotion takes on many forms, but it should never be looked at as something that makes God like or love us more. It is impossible for Him to love us more than He already does, which is infinitely. All we can truly do as believers is accept His great gift and say thank you. When we expend time in this manner, we acknowledge we can do nothing further in the grand plan of redemption.

Who Was Jesus?

As the Pharisees were regrouping, Jesus caught them off balance with his own test question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “David’s son.” – Matthew 22:42 MSG

In the part of Toronto where I spent the most time in my teen and twenties, there was conservative, King James Only church with a back-lit sign on their building which read,

What think ye of Christ?

The question is the first part of Matthew 22:42 — which the NIV translates as “What do you think about the Messiah?“ — which I’ve written about before here:

This is probably the question that should be on everyone’s lips at Christmas, at Easter, and other times as well; though you might choose a more modern rendering. The story is not content to have its hearers close the book on the final page. Rather, the book gets stuck open, simmering, percolating, demanding something of each individual with whom it comes in contact. It’s like a computer program you can’t shut down until you respond to a question in a dialog box. It stares at you, and goes, “Well? …Well? …What about it?”

Whenever you hear phrases like “great moral teacher” in reference to Jesus, you need to be aware that during his time on earth Jesus was a great teacher, the answer is selling Jesus short in so many ways.

So what answer are we looking for? The second part of I Corinthians 12:3 reads

…no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

One online writer calls this The Litmus Test of True Believers. I would agree, but want to take this one step further. While certainly Jesus is Lord to me, I want to suggest the question is best answered with a general reply that goes further than my subjective view. After all, I’m human. I could pledge support to anything or anyone but that wouldn’t mean a whole lot to anyone other than other people who have taken up the same cause.

In Philippians 2 — the section sometimes called The Philippian Hymn — Paul writes (or quotes; depending on how you understand this passage):

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
⁶ Though he was God,

–I stop there in the middle of verse 6 because not all who show up in a church on Sunday would say that ‘Jesus = God‘ even though Jesus said it himself as quoted in John 14:

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?

Another time he reveals himself as “the Christ” the anointed one.

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

¹⁵ Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

Of course, if time permits, and you can remember a longer answer, you might answer this way as Paul does in Colossians 1:

…16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.…

He is then,

1. God
2. My Lord
3. His disciples’ glimpse of the Father
4. The world’s awaited Messiah
5. The universe’s creator and keeper

and so much more. So…

What think ye of Christ?

 

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Because you never know who’s reading. You might ask why a blog called Christianity 201 would run a rather elementary article today and the answer is because you never know who’s reading. For the rest of us, success in the Christian life depends on sticking to the fundamentals. The ‘What think ye of Christ?’ question is one we need to ask ourselves from time to time.

Who is Jesus to me?

The Longed-For Leader

We had already formatted yesterday’s archived devotional by Clarke Dixon when this newer one appeared online, so with his permission, we’re giving you Clarke two days in a row!  Have your Bibles open to Psalm 72 or click the link in the first paragraph.

What a Really Great Ruler Really Looks Like

Whether we think of heads of state, or heads of families it seems so many rulers are prone to questionable, even unconscionable, decisions. What does a really great ruler really look like? Psalm 72 points the way (I encourage you to read it by clicking the link). There are some things to note:

First, this psalm is a prayer. And so we are reminded to pray for people in authority. We may hear of decisions made by dictators and elected officials, mums and dads, and shake our heads in disgust. But do we bow our heads in prayer for them? What a great change there can be for many people when there is godly change in the life and thinking of a person in authority. And if you and I stand in places of authority, we stand in the need of prayer.

Second, what is the key word of this prayer? Let us consider the first two verses:

Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son. 2 May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice. Psalm 72:1-2 NRSV

While justice and righteousness are important words, there is one word in the first two verses that shows up more often: ‘Your.’ Here is a plea for a ruler not to rule with their own sense of justice and righteousness, but to rule with God’s. Also, we are directed to the think of the people we have authority over not as ‘our’ people, but God’s. Rulers may think they are tops, but they are really stewards accountable to a higher authority. I might be pleased with how my young boys are becoming young men. But is God? They are His, my leadership in their lives needs to please God, not me. And it needs to be according to God’s standards, not mine. Notice too, that the call is made for the authorities to take special notice of the poor. Yes they are God’s too, and how they are treated will not go unnoticed.

Third. What rulers throughout history have shown themselves to be answers to this prayer? Sadly, far too many have fallen far too short of a godly rule. This is true within nations and within families. But there is one who fits this prayer precisely, Jesus the Messiah.

In the Christmas story, the magi serve a theological purpose, they point to Jesus as being the ruler this Psalm longs for. Though not precise in the details, the nations have arrived bearing gifts:

10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. 11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. Psalm 72:10-11 NRSV
11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew 2:11 NRSV

The book of Revelation paints a picture of the ruler this Psalm longs for. The king’s reign is eternal. The king reigns with justice and righteousness. The reign of the king is good news for the oppressed. The kingdom is secure. People blossom. These are things common to the king longed for in Psalm 72 and the King of kings and Lord of lords revealed in Revelation.

Jesus points to himself as the one who fulfills the longing of this prayer. He describes himself as the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd who loves the sheep, not like the bad shepherd, Herod, who killed off many young boys in an effort to rid the world of Jesus. Jesus is the good shepherd who loves the sheep, not like the bad shepherds, the religious leaders, who would seek his life. Jesus is the good shepherd who loves the sheep, not like the bad shepherd, Pilate, who would authorize his death. Jesus is the good shepherd who loves people, who helps people. The psalm longs for a king who

…delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. 13 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. 14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Psalm 72:12-14 NRSV

So precious is our blood in His sight that He shed His own blood to help us in our greatest need. All our earthly needs come and go, but our need for salvation from the sin that separates us from God is something we carry into eternity, unless of course there is an authority that can help. In Jesus there is.

If you are a person in authority, are you an answer to this prayer? Whether you are a person in authority or not, do you know the One who is the greatest answer to this prayer?

The Two Audiences

In a blog titled Christianity 201, one assumes the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is somewhat familiar.  If not, take the time to read it here.

I’ve been reading an advance copy of the book AHA by Kyle Idleman, releasing in the spring, and he noted something that my wife said we’ve heard before, but it struck me rather fresh this time. After completely digesting the story, Kyle returned to the setup that Luke provides in the first two verses:

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered…

There you see two distinct audiences for Jesus’ story: Tax collectors and sinners — interesting distinction, don’t you think? — representing the younger brother in the story who returns to his father at the end to say, “I have sinned…” and Pharisees and teachers of the law represented the older brother in the story. Kyle even hints that finding a way to reach the hearts of that second group may have more to do with how the particular story was crafted.

In many respects, this represents the two types of people who sit near us at any given weekend church service. If your church is doing it right; you’ve got people from the community who you and your fellow church members are inviting who are on the road to crossing the line of faith, or have recently come into fellowship and are seeing everything for the first time. Then, you’ve got what is probably a majority of people who have been in church since they were minus-nine months; the Sunday School teachers, choir/worship team members, committee members, ushers, elders, deacons, etc.

Is every Sunday’s sermon a Prodigal Son type of story that bridges the two audiences? I can picture myself coming to your church and preaching this story and impressing everyone with how it reaches both types of people, but then what do the following week for an encore?

I was first made to think about this when I had the privilege of hearing Keith Green in concert several times before his death in 1982.  (Did I just give away my age?) Keith was one of the most spiritually focused Christian musicians I have ever encountered and he easily bridged the gap between two kinds of audience members by stressing the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The call that Jesus makes in scripture is a call to people who are (a) hungry and thirsty and (b) people who need to have that hunger and thirst — that desire for God — perpetually stimulated. There is a saying that, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink, but you can put salt in its oats to make it thirsty.‘ (Okay, you’re probably less familiar with that last bit.)

Psalm 42:1 (NiRV) states:

A deer longs for streams of water.
    God, I long for you in the same way.

God wants to cultivate within us a hunger and thirst for Him. The person who has been a Christ-follower for 40-years needs this just as much as the person who has been a Christian for 40 minutes.

I believe it was Keith Green himself who pointed out that the word saviour occurs 37 times in the King James translation, while Lord appears 7836 times. That’s a ratio of nearly 212 to one. Our evangelistic and pre-evangelistic efforts are great as far as they go, but Christ’s intent is nothing less than that we make Him Lord over all our lives.

Bringing our lives in subjection to him is something the Prodigal Son story teaches both to the younger brothers and older brothers in the crowd; the message cuts across both demographics.

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As I approached the end of the book, there were two brief things that also struck me that I wanted to share here.

“Let’s say the Prodigal Son lived in our culture today. He would have run out of money, but then, in order to prolong the pleasure, he would have continued his wild living by racking up credit-card debt. How much more would that have complicated his story? How much worse would it have been for the son to arrive home with looming debt? Picture him saying, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I have no money, and by the way, some creditors are coming, and I owe twice what my inheritance was worth.’ The longer we try and prolong the pleasure, the greater the pain will be.”  (pp 168-9)

The other insight was in reference to the older brother:

“This is the problem with confidence in our own goodness. We begin to believe we’re going to earn something from the Father. But the Father’s house is not a house of merit; it is a house of mercy.” (p. 200)

Those of us who have been in the church for awhile need to curb the tendencies to fall into older brother syndrome, because the demand for Lordship that Christ places on us is actually greater than that placed on those who are meeting Him for the first time.

Jesus According to James

David Capes is a leading writing and scholar for The Voice Bible project. He wrote this article at HearTheVoice.com, the official blog for The Voice, where it appeared under the title, Who Does James Say Jesus Is?

I have the privilege of teaching with Dr. Peter Davids at HBU.  Peter is a world class scholar who has devoted much of his writing and research to the Catholic or General Letters.  Peter assisted with us in the theological review of many NT books for The Voice project.  I asked him recently about the portrait of Jesus in the letter of James.

According to James, Jesus is the exalted and glorious Lord who now reigns and will come again to judge the living and the dead.  James is not a Gospel, so there is no narrative of Jesus’ life and death.  Yet James draws heavily on the example and teaching of Jesus.

While modern Christians may be focused on the afterlife, James is fixed on this life and what faith in Jesus means now.  His readers claim to be following Jesus; well, are they really?  James is a teaching letter and his ethics appear close to what we find in Matthew, particularly the Sermon on the Mount.

There are no direct quotations of Jesus’ teaching in James, the closest we come to that is James 5:12 (similar to Matthew 5:35-37):

¹² It is even more important, my brothers and sisters, that you remember not to make a vow by the heavens or the earth or by anything. When you say “yes,” it should always mean “yes,” and “no” should always mean “no.” If you can keep your word, you will avoid judgment.

John Kloppenberg has made the case that James makes use of aemulatio, a rhetorical form where James takes a teaching of Jesus and conforms it to his setting. In other words, James reworks Jesus’ teaching to fit the current situation of the diaspora churches he is addressing.

So James is not all that different than what we find in the rest of the NT.  Jesus is coming again as judge.  Are you obeying him now?  James’ emphasis on Jesus’ future coming implies that their present sufferings are not without meaning; so, be patient and don’t take matters into your own hands.  Trust the judge to settle all scores.

But if James were the only account we had of Jesus’ life, we wouldn’t know much about his past.  The Church would celebrate his coming and his ascension to the right hand of the Father.  With no account of his birth, however, we would probably not celebrate Christmas.  There would be more emphasis on calling people to obedience to Jesus now.  The Church’s mission could be summed up this way: calling people to Jesus as Lord and living in the hope of his coming.

With James as our guide, the church probably would not have developed the kind of hierarchy we see in some churches.  Yet James does speak as a patriarch of sorts, a central authority writing from the mother church in Jerusalem and instructing scattered Christian communities in the tense times they found themselves in.

According to tradition, James was a member of Jesus’ family, but the letter never makes the explicit claim.  Still it must have meant something in the early Jewish-Christian communities to have been part of the family of Jesus. Later generations may de-emphasize that fact and privilege Paul and Peter over members of Jesus family.   Still it must have been “a big deal” to have had been related to Jesus.

Dr. Davids said that Paul is often misread over against James.  But if pressed, James would have agreed with Romans 10:9-10:

So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! ¹⁰ Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation.

For James, however, saving faith is faith that goes to work for the poor, faith that obeys the risen Lord, and faith that seeks wisdom from above.  So for James—as a follower of Jesus—salvation results not only a secure future with God but ethical behavior before God.

Slave: A Bible Word Study

Lots of text today, but you need to click through to read it. This is from the blog of Clay Gentry where it appeared under the title Slave: The Christian’s Identity in Christ. Note the difference between the way the word was understood then as compared with today.

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I recently presented a lesson to a small group on the slave metaphor used in the New Testament that describes Christians as Slaves of Christ. Below is my PowerPoint outline from that presentation. I did not intend for this to be an exhaustive study. Rather I hope that it will wet ones apatite to study this rich metaphor even further.

Several Metaphors Used to Describe Christians:

• Sheep,
• Soldiers,
• Athletes,
• Brothers, and
• Workers.
• However, Slaves is the most common…

Two Primary Greek Words Establish Christians as Slaves:

(1) kyrios: “master and Lord.” To confess Jesus as your “Lord” is to say He is your “master” and “owner” and you are His slave.

(2) doulos: “slave.” The Primary word used in the NT to describe Christians as slaves of Christ (124x). For the most part it is missing from the pages KJV and to a certain extent the NKJV, ESV, NASB and HCSB. Often times doulos, or its congugents is simply translated servant, or serve. In this lesson well jump around between various translations to show slave language.

American Verses Roman Slavery:

(1) Roman Slavery:

• Non Racially Based,
• Encompassed All Professions,
• Everywhere in the Empire,
• Hope of Freedom

 (2) American Slavery:

• Race Based,
• Primarily Agrarian in Nature,
• Geographically Limited to the South,
• Little/No Hope of Freedom

(3) Similarities Between the Two

• Exclusive Ownership by the Master,
• Complete Submission to the Master,
• Total Dependence on the Master.
• These are true of physical and/or spiritual slaves

Slaves of God in the Old Testament

• Egyptian Slavery as a Type for Christian Slavery (cf. Romans 6:1-14 ESV):
• Foretold (Genesis 15:13 NASB, cf. Acts 7:6)
• Realized (Exodus 1:13-15)
• Broken (Exodus 7-14)
• Freed from Egyptian Slavery to be Slaves of God or “God’s Possession” – (Exodus 19:5-6; Leviticus 25:55 HCSB; cf. 1 Peter 2:9 ESV)
• To say one was an Israelite was to say one was a “slave of God.”
  • Abraham (Genesis 26:24)* H5650 – BDB, “slave”
  • Moses (Exodus 14:31)*
  • David (Psalm 132:10)*
  • Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:6)*
  • Mary (Luke 1:38, 48 NASB)

Slaves in Jesus’ Teaching:

(1) An Element in 13 Parables (Here’s a sampling):

• Unforgiving Slave (Matthew 18:23 NASB)
• Tenants (Matthew 21:35 NASB)
• Talents (Matthew 25:14 NASB)
• Waiting Slaves (Luke 12:37 NASB)
• Unworthy Slave (Luke 17:7, 9 NASB)
• To accept these lessons is to accept we are slaves of Christ.

 (2) An Aspect of His Commands:

• A Slave is Not Above His Master (Matthew 10:24 (NASB)
• We Are to Slave for One Another (Matthew 20:25-28 ESV; 1 Corinthians 9:19 NASB)
• Love the “Master” our God With Your All (Mark 12:30)
• One Cannot Slave for Two Masters (Luke 16:13 NASB)

Slaves of Christ in the Epistles:

(1) Self Descriptions:

• The Apostles, Believers (Acts 4:29 HCSB)
• Paul (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1 HCSB)
• Timothy (Philippians 1:1 HCSB)
• Epaphras (Colossians 1:7; 4:12 HCSB)
• James (James 1:1 HCSB)
• Peter (2 Peter 1:1 HCSB)
• Jude (Jude 1 HCSB)

(2) Teachings Concerning Slavery:

• Instructions to Slaves/Masters (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-4:1; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; NASB); (1 Peter 2:18-25 HCSB)
• Kidnapping People and Enslaving Them was Contrary to Sound Doctrine (1 Timothy 1:8-11 ESV)

(3) Various Verses:

• From Slave of Sin to Slave of Christ (Romans 6:15-23 ESV)
• We are God’s Possession (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9)
• Don’t Judge One of God’s Slaves (Romans 14:4 HCSB)
• We Live/Die Per the “Master’s” Will (Romans 14:8; James 4:13-15)

Slaves of Christ in Revelation:

• Written for Christ’s slaves (Revelation 1:1, 22:6 HCSB)
• Jezebel was leading away Christ’s slaves (Revelation 2:20 HCSB)
• The Martyrs are Called His Slaves (Revelation 6:11, 19:2 HCSB)
• The 144,000 Were Marked Slaves (Revelation 7:3, 9:4 HCSB; cf. Galatians 6:17 NASB)
• Angels are Fellow-Slaves (Revelation 19:10, 22:9 HCSB

Suggested Reading:

• A top-notch book on this subject is Murry J. Harris’ work: Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ
• A notch book is John MacArthur’s book: Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ. I found the first few chapters really good, the last few were terrible.
• I’ve also benefitted from: Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken.

Holiness and Righteous Practiced to Impress Other People

George Whitten is the editor of Worthy Devotions, another Alltop – Christianity indexed website.  One of the key features at Worthy is the topical index which allows you delve into any one of a wide variety of subjects. For those of you who want to dig a little deeper, Worthy should be bookmarked — use the link at the bottom — in your computer.  The title of this post, Kiss the Son, lest He be angry! intrigued me because it’s based on a verse I remember hearing in children’s church many years ago. Now I understand it more clearly.

Psalms 2:10-12 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Revelation 5:12-13 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

In the beginning of Psalm 2, David points out that the kings of the earth are against the Lord and his “anointed” [Mashiach “Messiah” in Hebrew]. David recognized the true authority of God and advises the kings and rulers of the world, as well as their subjects, to “kiss the Son, lest he be angry.” The act of “kissing the Son” would be one of homage to a king, and would indicate submission to the kingship of the Son. Those who are wise will do so before the Son, the Messiah, comes to judge the world!

Men have often tried to appear holy and righteous before other men – but God is seeking those who will worship Him in “spirit and in truth”. This reminds me of a story of Francois Fenelon.

In the 17th century, Fenelon was the court preacher for King Louis XIV of France. On one particular Sunday when the King and his attendants arrived at the chapel for the regular service, there was no one else present except the preacher, himself.

“What does this mean?”, King Louis demanded.

“I had published that you would not come to church today, in order that your Majesty might see who serves God in truth and who flatters the King,” Fenelon replied.

Let’s be sure that our worship of God is true and faithful and that we aren’t trying to please men in doing so. Serve the Lord with a Godly reverence for who He is, and what His Son has done for you, since He is worthy of your worship, and… He is looking at your heart.

by George Whitten, Editor of Worthy Devotions

Indescribable King

This is post number 500 here at Christianity 201, and it seems fitting that it includes a video clip which is so familiar to so many people through its widespread use as a church video a few years ago, but may be new to many others as well.  It’s S. M. Lockridge’s sermon excerpt, That’s My King.  (If you’ve seen it before, maybe it’s time to view it again!)

Usually, if there’s a video clip here, it’s a worship song.  I am convinced that if you are involved in worship planning, there are three worship themes with which you can’t ever go wrong:

• communion, Lord’s supper, Christ’s death, Christ’s sacrifice, atonement
• personal surrender to God
• God’s attributes, particularly his greatness and majesty

The last category is where we land today.  All the most popular worship songs in the last decade — Majesty, Shout to the Lord, How Great is our God — are songs which speak to the indescribable greatness of God.

S. M. Lockridge (born Shadrach Meshach Lockridge!) pastored in Texas and California and was active in the civil rights movement.   You can read more about him at Wikipedia.

His words are most fitting for a blog which has as its aim being Christ-centered, and so well-suit being the 500th post here.

Here is the full text (click the ‘more’ button if it’s all not visible):

My King was born King.
The Bible says He’s a Seven Way King.
He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel – that’s a National King.
He’s the King of righteousness.
He’s the King of the ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of glory.
He’s the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords.
Now that’s my King.