Monthly Archives: November 2014

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November 24, 2014

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Jesus, The Bible

Why does it Matter if Jesus was Married

Another book has been recently published that claims to have discovered new evidence that Jesus was married and had children. Claims such as this one have popped up over and over again in recent years. They are certainly not new claims, dating back to within a few centuries of Jesus life. Those who propose this theory today declare it will have a huge impact on the church. According to them, once people realize Jesus was married and lived a normal family life everything we think about church will be changed. Some people look at this issue and wonder what the big deal is. Who cares if Jesus was married or not. Why is it such a big deal if Jesus was married?

The ones claiming to have discovered evidence of Jesus’ marriage actually have no sound historical evidence on which to base their conjectures. At best they are dealing with ancient documents written several hundred years after Jesus with an agenda to teach a new doctrine about Jesus. The claims of Jesus’ marriage always begin with a number of presuppositions about the Bible. Most importantly the originators of such claims have already concluded the Bible is not the Word of God and Jesus is not who the Bible says He is. Despite their errors about the Bible they are correct in recognizing that if it were proven to be true that Jesus was married then it would change everything we think about Christianity. This matter matters because if Jesus had a wife and kids, then He is not the person described in the Bible. If Jesus is not the person described in the Bible, He is a fraud and all Christianity is a tragic hoax.

I am not saying this important because it would have been sinful for Jesus to be married. Nor am I saying this is important because it helps support certain ideas about the role of women in the church. This issue is important because it affects the credibility of the gospel writers and the truthfulness of the New Testament. The gospels give no hint, no indication, not the slightest inkling of a notion, that Jesus was married. Despite some modern day fanciful imaginings about Mary Magdalene, the Bible gives no suggestion that He had a relationship with her that was different than his relationship with any of His other female followers. The Bible tells us of Jesus’ parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. Why would it say nothing of a wife or children? We know that Peter, the other apostles and Jesus’ brothers were married and that Paul was not. Why do we have declarations of the marital status of all these other individuals but not Jesus? The Bible is silent on the matter and in this case the silence of the Bible speaks volumes about Jesus’ marital status. He was not married.

Jesus could not have been married. Besides the problems inherent with the sinless Son of God fathering children who would have been born free from sin and not under Adam’s curse, for Jesus to have been married would have distracted from His purpose. Even as a twelve year old boy, Jesus knew He was to be about His Father’s business. Jesus was never distracted from His purpose. Throughout His life He was on a direct collision course with the cross and never let anything turn Him from that. The time He spent preaching, doing miracles and teaching His disciples was all in preparation for the cross. A wife and children would have not furthered His work of redemption.

The Biblical impossibility of Jesus being married puts the claims of Jesus’ marriage in a serious category. These are not just idle claims that have little impact on the gospel or the truth of the Bible. If Jesus was married, then the history of Jesus presented in the New Testament can not be accurate. If Jesus was married, the entire New Testament is worthless. If Jesus was married, the gospel is a fraud and the gospel writers charlatans. This issue matters because the silence of the Bible on Jesus’ marriage seriously undermines it’s believability in all other matters. This is not just a difference of opinion between Godly men about a secondary figure in Christianity. We are talking about the spreading of false teaching concerning the One who is central to all Scriptures and on Whom our faith rests.

Those who insist Jesus was married have already decided that the Bible was not written by the men the Bible says wrote it. They have already determined that the Bible is not the Word of God. They have rejected any possibility of the Bible being historically accurate or, more importantly, spiritually accurate. Their conclusions about the Bible lead them to seek means to discredit the Bible, no matter how ridiculous those means become. Despite their unbelief, a normal reading of the New Testament reveals that Jesus is the Son of God who became human to die for the sin of men. He was not just a good man. He was the God-man who bore the wrath of God for the sin of mankind. Jesus never married. He never fathered children. To teach otherwise is to deny the reliability and accuracy of the Bible.

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November 21, 2014

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The Bible

Why Four Gospels?

The New Testament begins with four books collectively called “the gospels”. Each gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, tell the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The first three gospels are so similar in content that they are often lumped together in one bunch called “The Synoptic Gospels.” Since all four gospels tell of the same person, and since they cover similar events, why do we need four of them? Why couldn’t one gospel have told us everything we need to know about Jesus?

The question fails to take into consideration one very important fact. The gospels were first written to a specific audience of people. The gospel of John is the only one that may have been written with a more worldwide scope. The gospel of Matthew was written to the Jewish people. The gospel of Mark was written to Gentiles. The gospel of Luke was written to a single person, probably a Roman and possibly as part of a prepared defense of Paul’s ministry. Matthew, Mark and Luke were probably written within 5-10 years of each other. The gospel of John was written 20-30 years after the other three gospels and was probably written for distribution among a group of churches in modern day Turkey.

Though all four gospels share a similar purpose, to show Jesus as God and Savior, they each have different emphases because of the audience to which they were written. For example, Matthew was written to show the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. This different purpose means Matthew, while giving very similar information as Mark and Luke, emphasized certain things and communicated some things in a different fashion. Mark’s gospel is a brief gospel presentation intended to confront the readers with Jesus and call them to faith in Him.

We also have four different gospels that the testimony of one man will be confirmed by the others. The Bible provides two or three witnesses as the standard for verification of a claim. The four gospels verify the testimony of the others, especially the synoptic gospels. Some have speculated that Matthew, Mark and Luke look so much alike because they all borrowed from one another or they borrowed from another gospel that has since been lost to us. Matthew, Mark and Luke look so much alike because they are factual accounts of the same events. Accurate eye witnesses are going to agree together. Collusion and conspiracy is not necessary, just honesty. The gospels confirm the truth of one another, assuring us anew that the facts recorded are historical and reliable.

We have four different gospels because God used four men to reach four specific groups of people with the truths of His Son. The entire church today benefits from having all four gospels. We cannot look back and speculate that one gospel to everyone would have been better than four gospels tailored to the education, religion and needs of four different audiences.
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November 17, 2014

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Death, Heaven, Hell, Resurrection

What is the resurrection?

Some time in the future there will be a restoration to life and judgment of every person who has ever lived. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” All men will one day be resurrected to be judged by God.

First there will be a resurrection for the saved. That resurrection takes place during the rapture, an event made popular recently in the Left Behind series of books and movies. The Bible reveals to us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that the dead bodies of the saved will be restored to life and taken up to meet Jesus. The saved who are still alive at the time of the rapture will then be taken up to meet Jesus.

Those who have been raptured will be taken into heaven and judged by Christ for how they have served Him. As His servants, they will answer to Him for how they have used what He has given them and how they have worked for His kingdom. This judgment is not a judgment of sin, for the believers sin has been taken away. This judgment is a judgment of stewardship, in which the believer is rewarded or rebuked depending on the faithfulness of his service for Christ.

Eventually, the believer will enter into a perfect eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth. This perfect eternity has nothing to do with floating around on clouds and playing harps. The Bible tells us almost nothing about this eternity. What we do know comes from Revelation 21 and 22. For the believer, eternity will be completely free from all sin, sorrow and suffering. All who are saved will live on this earth in faithful service to God, glorifying and enjoying Him forever.

Long after the believer’s resurrection will be the resurrection of the unsaved. Just before God wipes out this universe He will bring before His throne for judgment all who have died without trusting Jesus. Revelation 20:11-15 gives a terrifying picture of this event. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

All the unsaved will stand before God and be judged for their disobedience to His Word. Because they have not believed in Jesus, God finalizes their condemnation. This judgment is not a second chance at salvation, but is the final official declaration of their guilt before God. All those who have not believed Jesus for salvation, Satan and all the demons will be condemned and sent into the Lake of Fire forever. In the lake of fire they will suffer for eternity, paying the penalty of their rebellion against God.

The resurrection of the saved is a resurrection to life and eternal joy. The resurrection of the unsaved is a resurrection to death and eternal suffering. None have to endure the eternal suffering of the Lake of Fire. When He died on the cross, Jesus paid the consequences and suffering of sin. He extends salvation to all who will turn to Him and trust only Him for forgiveness of guilt and cleansing from sin. God promises eternal life to all who believe Jesus to salvation.

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November 12, 2014

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Death, Heaven, Resurrection

What Happens After Death?

The question of what happens to a person after death is a matter of great importance. If there is some sort of existence after death, we do very well to understand as much about it as possible. We are wise to learn what it is like, if there is a place of reward or  punishment, joy or sorrow.

Opinions about the afterlife cover a broad spectrum of ideas. Some believe nothing happens after death. The body is placed in the ground and the person no longer exists anywhere in the physical or spiritual universe. Some believe the spirit of the person is reborn in the body of another creature to atone for wrongs done in previous lives. After many such reincarnations the spirit is finally able to be peacefully united with the universe. Some believe the spirits of good people go to heaven and the spirits of bad people go to hell. The list could go on and on. Truly many questions exist about the afterlife.

The first and most important thing to consider is that no one has died and returned to life to tell us what things are like on the other side. Yes, people have had visions or dreams in which they claim to have seen heaven, hell or the spirit world. Whatever your opinion of their claims, one thing is certain, they did not die and return to life again. Beyond that, even if someone did claim to die and return from the dead to tell us what it is like, there would be no way to prove his claims.

Capturing evidence of the afterlife is impossible. The issue of understanding what happens after death begins with recognizing you are going to have to believe someone’s view of the afterlife. Will you believe the Vikings and their visions of Valhalla? Will you believe Buddhist or Hindu concepts of Nirvana? Will you believe the Muslim ideas of Paradise? Will you believe the Atheist’s idea of death as final? Will you believe the Christian teachings of Heaven? One’s understanding of what happens after death is a matter of faith. You must decide who you are going to believe. I invite you to believe the information that comes directly from the One who created man, who has died and returned to life, who created Heaven and Hell and who has told us what happens to those who die. The Bible is the only reliable source of information about what happens after death.

The Bible teaches that man is a living soul. When God created man He breathed into man the “breath of life and man became a living soul.”(Genesis 2:7)  God formed man out of the dirt, but He gave to man something else, something that was not from dirt but directly from God. He gave to man a spirit, a soul, which does not crumble away or cease to exist but lasts forever. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” So the first thing we need to know is that death does not end our existence. Our body returns to dust, but our soul returns to the God who created it.

At death, God deals with the soul of man according to his relationship with Christ. John 3:18 says “He that believeth on (Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Before we die our fate is already decided based upon whether or not we have believed in Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

At death the soul goes immediately into heaven or hell. In Luke 16 Jesus tells about two men, one rich the other a beggar. These two men died and one went immediately into heaven and the other directly into hell. We know this was immediate because the man in hell prayed that someone would go tell his brothers lest they also come to hell. The entered immediately into a place of punishment or blessing, without long delay, a time of sleep, limbo or purgatory.

The deciding factor in where the soul goes is if you have turned to Christ for salvation. This issue is not decided based upon whether you have been good, gone to church faithfully, been baptized, confirmed or prayed over. The decision is made by you. If you believe Jesus is God the Son who became a man, died on the cross to forgive your sin, rose from the dead three days later and if you have confessed Jesus as God trusting in only Him to remove your guilt God declares you will have eternal life in His presence. If you trust Jesus for salvation you will enter into heaven and live forever in joy. If you do not, you will enter into hell and be forever separated from God in sorrow and suffering.

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November 12, 2014

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God

What gender is God?

John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit”. God does not have gender as we thing of it. God is not a man or woman. Neither is God androgynous, that is, He is not a blending the two genders together. God is Spirit and completely outside the male and female frame of reference He has given to mankind.

What we know about God we know from His Word. In the Bible God tells us what He wants us to know about Himself. Anything we know about God comes from God’s Word. In the Bible God only refers to Himself using masculine terms. God the Son, Jesus, taught us to pray, “Our Father, which art heaven.” He repeatedly refer to God as His Father. Throughout the Old and New Testament God is always referred in masculine terms. While it is not proper to say God is a man or that God is male, it is equally improper to say God is a woman or female. God is God and God always describes Himself to humanity using masculine terminology. That is why we refer to God as He. That is also one reason why it is incorrect to refer to God as she or it.

We don’t get to define or describe God for Him. God defines and describes Himself and demands that we submit to His explanation of Himself. Some have said the masculine pronouns are used only because the writers of the Bible were men writing in time of male dominance and seeking to support their patriarchal ways. That supposition denies the Divine inspiration of the Bible. According to 2 Peter 1 the men who wrote the Bible wrote as “they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The books of the Bible are not “cunningly devised fables.” The words of the Bible are those words which were spoken by God. The men who wrote these words wrote only what God wanted them to write. Their writings are not distorted by culture or prejudice. Their writings are directed by God’s own Holy Spirit. God has revealed Himself using masculine pronouns, and we need to refer to Him according to the revelation of Himself that He has given in His Bible.

We cannot know anything about God other than what He has told us about Himself. God is far greater than anything we can ever imagine about Him. While God is far greater than our ability to understand, He is never anything other than or contrary to what He has told us about Himself in His Word. We must turn to the Bible and allow God to teach us who He is and what He is like.

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November 10, 2014

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Are there different levels in heaven?

The Bible doesn’t give any indication that Christians will be placed in different levels of blessing or importancs in heaven. The Bible does teach that God’s servants are rewarded for their faithfulness and obedience in serving Him (1 Corinthians 3:8). However, the Bible seems to indicate that these rewards are not kept but are given back to Jesus as an act of worship and recognition that He alone is worthy to be praised (Revelation 4:11). We also know that during the time when Jesus reigns over the whole earth as King in Jerusalem certain faithful disciples will be given positions of leadership and responsibility in that kingdom. However, those positions of authority will be as part of Jesus’ earthly government during His thousand year reign. This period of time, known as the millenium, will end with a final great rebellion led by Satan and then the ultimate destruction of the universe as we know it. After that God will create a new earth and new heaven. In the newly created eternally perfect universe, which is what most people refer to as Heaven, the Bible doesn’t tell us anything about certain people having positions of special privilege or rank. What the Bible does tell us about this state is found in Revelation 22, “And his servants will serve Him, and they shall see His face.” It seems that in heaven, those who are saved will have equal status as God’s servants and equal access into His presence. There will not be any low level Christians or VIP saints.

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November 8, 2014

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Who was Cain’s wife?

In Genesis 2 the Bible tells about God’s creation of man and woman. Genesis 3 tells about humanity’s sin and the awful consequences of that sin. Genesis 4 tells us about the first two children born into the world. Those two children were Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel in his rage at being refused by God for his disobedient sacrifice to God. Cain is driven out of the land where his parents lived and condemned to be a fugitive for the rest of his life. Genesis 4:17 says, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch.” If you have followed along up to this point, there seems to only be three people on the planet. Adam, Eve and Cain. So, some ask, where did Cain find a wife? With a little bit of thought, the answer is not that difficult to figure out. Obviously, there is a jump in the story line. The tale jumps from Cain being cast out to the increase of Cain’s family. In the gap between Cain’s banishment and Cain’s marriage Adam and Eve had more children, probably many more children. We don’t know how much time passed before Cain took a wife, but it’s possible that Adam and Eve’s children married and had children. We know from later in the book of Genesis that people married closer family members than we do today. In fact, it is not until the book of Leviticus that we find it forbidden to marry siblings, half sibling and in laws. In Genesis 4 the most obvious answer is the right answer. Cain probably married a sister, or maybe a niece. His wife came from the only available population of humans, the descendants of his parents Adam and Eve.

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November 6, 2014

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Current Events, Marriage, The Bible

Why did God allow people in the Old Testament to have more than one wife?

He didn’t. God established the standard for marriage on the day He created man. God made one man and one woman. He put them together in the garden as man and wife. The Bible tells us because of God’s created design, “A man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:25) The design of marriage, one man with one woman, has not changed since creation. The Bible also tells how man sinned and soon began to operate in opposition to God’s design for marriage. As a result, we find in the Bible men like Jacob, David and Solomon who had multiple wives and concubines. This fact is often brought up in arguments to show that Christians who insist marriage is a permanent union between one man and one woman are being foolish. According to this line of arguing, the Bible does not insist on one man-one woman marriage. Does the Bible allow for a different definition of marriage? Absolutely not. Certainly there were men in the Bible who did not marry according to God’s plan and design. Those men were not always condemned in the Bible for their disobedience. The lack of direct condemnation of a person’s example does not prove God did not view that action as sin. We can find in the Bible a number of examples of disobedience that are not directly condemned. For example, in the book of Judges a man killed a woman and cut her into pieces. The Bible does not explicitly condemn that specific act of murder, so are we to assume that the Bible actually approves of murder despite it’s clear commands to the contrary? Of course not. That would be foolish. Because people in the Bible do things that are forbidden elsewhere in the Bible does not mean the Bible has changed and now God approves of their actions. Second, those who make the case that God somehow approves of polygamy because he allowed it in the Old Testament make it sound like the Old Testament is filled with polygamists. The fact is, there are very few saints in the Old Testament who were polygamists. Two very common examples are David and Solomon. God did not approve of David’s sin, nor did He excuse it. God had commanded in Deuteronomy 17:17 that the kings of Israel were not to have multiple wives. David is called a man after God’s own heart, yet we know he had several wives. David and Solomon were in clear disobedience of that command and they paid an awful price for their disobedience. Because of David’s polygamy, his family was ripped apart and he had to deal with open rebellion by one son and covert rebellion by one of his generals. Solomon’s case was even worse. Solomon’s many wives led him away from the worship of God into idolatry. One other example is the patriarch Jacob. Jacob’s multiple wives are actually a part of his punishment for deceiving his father Isaac and result in great turmoil within his family. The Bible clearly defines marriages as one man permanently joined to one woman. The Bible never approves of polygamy and shows abundant examples of the dire consequences when we fail to follow God’s design.

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November 6, 2014

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Apostles, Church

Was Paul Married

No. Paul was not married. We know this from 1 Corinthians 7:7-8. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul discusses several questions the church had about marriage and singleness. In that discussion he tells them, “I would that all men were even as I myself. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.” Paul is stating that he is single. Paul is not giving a command to never get married. Paul goes on in that chapter to teach that it is not wrong to get married, and if one is already married they should not leave their spouse. In other books Paul highly praises marriage and teaches some of the most wonderful truths about marriage. Paul is not giving a command that church leaders should remain single. In the book of 1 Timothy Paul teaches that pastors should be “the husband of one wife” and later Paul says teaching that forbids marriage is a “doctrine of devils”. Paul does not place any restriction against marriage for those who are church leaders. If anything, it seems preferable for the pastor to be married. Paul himself was single and recommended singleness as a great way to serve the Lord, but singleness is not required of anyone by the Bible.

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November 6, 2014

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Jesus, Uncategorized

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

Yes he did. All four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, mention Jesus’ siblings. For example, Matthew 13:54-56 says, “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” The people of Nazareth refused to believe that Jesus is God the Son sent to save men from sin. They said instead, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” They knew Joseph and knew that Jesus had grown up as Joseph’s son. They also knew Jesus mother, Mary. And then they looked around the crowd and began to identify Jesus’ siblings. These names cannot be names of cousins and distant relatives, because the people are talking about Joseph and Mary and the children of Joseph and Mary. Te people said of Jesus, “His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?” Jesus grew up in a family with at least seven children, himself, four brothers and at least two sisters. After Jesus birth, Mary and Joseph had children together, the half-brothers and half-sisters of Jesus.