Argument

Atheists often ask Christians questions which go along the lines of: “Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?” or: “Can God create another all-powerful God that could destroy him?” The assumption behind these questions is usually that if God were truly all-powerful, then God could, in fact, create a rock too heavy for himself, and another all-powerful God just like himself that could destroy him. However, if that’s the case, then God would cease to be all-powerful, which would put Christianity in quite the predicament.

Response: A Misuse of Language and Definitions

The problem with this argument is that it doesn’t work, because it proposes a scenario which redefines who God is. To illustrate this point, consider this: it’s just as nonsensical as asking the question, “Can God exist and not exist at the same time?” Of course, the answer is no. It doesn’t make sense to say that God (or anything) can exist and not exist at the same time, because any thing, by definition and necessity, exists, and non-existence is nothing more than the absence of existence. To argue otherwise is to render words meaningless, which makes any further dialogue not only pointless, but impossible.

The fact that God cannot create a rock too heavy for himself to lift, or another God that could destroy him, doesn’t mean that God lacks omnipotence. It means that he actually is omnipotent, and fits the true definition of God. Let’s develop this point further.

God Cannot Contradict Who He Is

The Bible teaches that God is good, not evil (Is 61:8; Jer 9:24). C.S. Lewis, in his book “Mere Christianity”, highlights the point well that evil is not a thing that exists in and of itself, but is rather the absence of good, or the distortion of good. For example, a lie cannot exist without a truth to distort. Another example is that sex in and of itself is good, but when it is abused, for example, in rape, it is evil because it is a distortion of sex. Evil, therefore, cannot exist by itself by definition—it can only exist if there is first something good to remove or distort. This is similar to how coldness cannot exist in and of itself, but can only exist when you remove warmth, or how darkness cannot exist in and of itself, but can only exist when you remove light. In fact, the Bible plainly says:

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

The Bible here spells it out for us: God is light (good), not darkness (evil). Any darkness in the world, therefore, does not come from God, but is rather a departure from God’s light. Darkness contradicts who God is. Therefore, by definition and necessity, God cannot be both light and darkness: he is only light. Here is another example:

¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:17–18)

Here, the Bible plainly says that it’s “impossible for God to lie”. Why? Because lying contradicts who God is. God is truth, as Jesus said—who is God in the flesh (Jn 1:1, 14)—”I am the way and the truth and the life …” (Jn 14:6). Therefore, any lie in the world does not come from God, but is rather a departure from God’s truth. We could give more examples, but this should make the point clear: God can do anything, but he cannot contradict who he is—otherwise, he would no longer be God—both by definition and necessity.

How This Applies to the Arguments

So, this brings us back to the above arguments, the first of which is: “Can God create a rock heavier than he can lift?” First, we need to ask: who is God? By definition, God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present Creator of everything in existence. Because omnipotence (being all-powerful) is part of who God is, by definition, God cannot create a rock heavier than he could lift, because that is a contradiction of who God is: always omnipotent.

‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. (Jeremiah 32:17)

²⁶ The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jeremiah 32:26–27)

As for the next question: “Can God create another all-powerful God that could destroy him”? Again, part of the definition of God is that he is not only Light, Love, Truth, and Life, but he is the highest Light, the highest Love, the highest Truth, and the highest Life. In other words, God is the greatest being in existence. If there were a being who were equal with God, then God would cease being the highest being, hence in such a scenario, we no longer have God, by definition. Therefore, this scenario is also impossible, because it is a contradiction of who God is: always the highest being.

You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. (Nehemiah 9:6)

To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? (God speaking in Isaiah 46:5)

He who comes from above [i.e. Jesus] is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. (John 3:31)

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. (Jesus speaking in John 6:51)

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, the arguments mentioned at the beginning of this argument are false, because they put forth two different scenarios in which the very definition of God can be changed. The problem is, then, that if we entertain these scenarios, we are no longer talking about God, but rather a human invention—a false definition of God that we have made up. To suggest that God can use his omnipotence to undermine his own omnipotence is about as nonsensical as suggesting that God can “exist” and “not exist” at the same time. God cannot contradict who he is. Because the argument proposes a false definition of God, it is not a valid argument to use against Christianity.

The fact that God cannot contradict who he is is good news for us. Because God is good, he will never—and cannot ever—suddenly change his mind and start being evil unexpectedly, but will remain good forever. The Apostle John said, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God:

So we [i.e. Christians, those who believe in Jesus] have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16)

God is the essence of love itself, so even the most loving person on Earth (if such a person even existed) couldn’t compare to God’s love, and that will never—and can never—change. Furthermore, because God is the essence of truth itself, he doesn’t take back his promises, but is faithful to fulfil them. God has said, through the Apostle John, that even though humanity sinned against him, he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but receive everlasting life with him in Heaven.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

This is a firm promise that God has made which he will never revoke, and he invites you to accept it today. Because God cannot contradict who he is, his love will remain forever with those who believe in Jesus as their only Saviour.

See Also

• Can Atheism Account for Morality?
• Is Atheism Scientific?
• Who Is God?
• Is Jesus God?

The post Is There Anything God Cannot Do? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

To answer the question of what the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, it is best to carefully examine the relevant Bible passages. They are given below.

Mark’s Gospel

²² And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “[Jesus] is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ²³ And [Jesus] called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

²⁸ “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:22–30, ESVUK)

Matthew’s Gospel

²² Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to [Jesus], and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. ²³ And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” ²⁵ Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶ And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. ²⁹ Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. ³⁰ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³² And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:22–32)

Luke’s Gospel

⁸ “And I [Jesus] tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, ⁹ but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.” (Luke 12:8–12)

What Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit Is Linked to

First, take note of Mark’s passage. After the Lord Jesus mentions the eternal sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, Mark says, “for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit” (emphasis added). Mark uses that special word “for” to explain why Jesus warned the people about blaspheming the Holy Spirit: because they were saying that he had an unclean spirit (i.e. a demon). Thus, in Mark, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is related with saying that Jesus performs miracles not by the Holy Spirit (as he does, according to Mt 12:28), but rather by an unclean spirit or a demon.

Second, take note of Matthew’s passage. Matthew says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven” (Mt 12:30–31). Here, note that Jesus says “Therefore”—or “For this reason”—”I tell you”. This directs our attention to what Jesus just said in the previous sentence: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Mt 12:30). Thus, in Matthew, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is related with not siding with Jesus, thus putting oneself against him, and refusing to gather with him.

Third, take note of Luke’s passage. Observe what comes directly before Jesus’ warning against blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God” (Lk 12:8–9). Jesus, by speaking about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit directly after warning his disciples against denying him before people, is linking the two together. Thus, in Luke, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is related with publicly denying Jesus, as opposed to publicly acknowledging him.

It’s important to note that in the above Bible passages, Jesus does not explicitly define blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Rather, he describes what is linked or associated with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. To summarise: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is linked with when one says that Jesus performs miracles by the power of Satan, when one doesn’t side with Jesus, thus putting him or herself against Jesus, and refuses to gather with him, and when one publicly denies Jesus.

Have I Committed Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit?

With all this being said, we now get to the question that every Christian asks who has come across this passage: have I committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? A sin so great that it is the only sin that is eternal and that can never be forgiven by God?

The short answer is: no, you have not—at least not as long as you still have time to repent and believe in Jesus. In fact, it’s impossible to commit this sin before the moment we die. The reason why it’s impossible to commit the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit while we still live—and why we can say this with absolute certainty—is because Jesus forgave the Apostle Peter.

Why Jesus Forgiving Peter Is Significant

In the passage from Luke above, Jesus said that whoever publicly denies him will be denied before the angels of God, and he said this just before warning against blaspheming the Holy Spirit. We know from the Bible, however, that while Jesus was unjustly put on trial before his death and crucifixion, Peter denied Jesus three times. We read, in Luke’s Gospel:

⁵⁹ And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with [Jesus], for he too is a Galilean.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.” ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:59–62)

As we can see from this heart-wrenching account, Peter betrayed his Lord by publicly denying him three times, and felt terrible afterwards. According to Jesus’ earlier saying, a person who denies him publicly will also be denied before the angels of God. However, despite this, after Jesus rose again from the dead, Jesus found Peter and forgave him:

¹⁷ [Jesus] said to [Peter] the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:17–19)

What this shows is that even someone who has denied the Lord in his or her lifetime—a sin that is linked with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—can still be forgiven by God. Forgiveness comes when a person repents of their denial and puts their faith in Jesus as their only Saviour, just as Peter did. In fact, the Apostle Paul said that he was even worse than Peter—describing himself as the foremost (or chief) of sinners (1Tim 1:16). But after that, Paul says:

But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:17)

Paul, who was infallibly inspired by the Holy Spirit when he penned (or dictated to a scribe) this letter to his disciple, Timothy, described himself as the chief of sinners. This means that if Paul was forgiven by Jesus, even though he was the worst sinner, you can most definitively be forgiven, since you are not the worst sinner.

So, Then, What Is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit?

This brings us back to our original question: what, then, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—the one and only sin that can’t be forgiven? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus links blasphemy against the Holy Spirit with saying that Jesus performs miracles by the power of Satan, not siding with Jesus, thus putting oneself against him, and refusing to gather with him, and publicly denying Jesus. In and of themselves, these do not fully constitute blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. What does ultimately constitute blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when one does these things without repenting of them.

The best way of explaining this is by looking at the rest of the New Testament. This is because when we encounter difficult passages, like the passages on blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, we can often understand them better by looking at easier—and sometimes more numerous—passages which can shed light on them. The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not mentioned anywhere else in the entire Bible—it’s only found in the three pericopes mentioned at the beginning of this article. However, elsewhere in the New Testament, there is actually one—and only one—other sin that is also said to be unforgiveable, and that is the sin of unbelief till death—the sin of dying in a state of not having believed in Jesus for salvation. This is plainly taught in the following passages (and many more), which, as we can see, are more numerous than the handful of passages on blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

Whoever believes in [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18)

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:45–46)

… when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels ⁸ in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, ¹⁰ when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:7b–10)

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)

¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11–12)

As sinners, we all deserve eternal punishment (Rm 3:23), which is why our only chance of salvation is to accept the free gift of God, which is eternal life in Christ Jesus, while there’s still time to do so (Rm 6:23). It’s too late to repent and believe in Jesus after you die, because: “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement” (Heb 9:27). The reason why unbelief till death is an unforgiveable sin is because unbelief is refusal to accept God’s salvation in Christ Jesus. It is the equivalent of refusing to hang on to the life jacket that God has thrown to us, as we were drowning in the sea of our sins. This life is the one chance to grab hold of it and be saved, but the unbeliever who dies in his or her sins has failed to do so.

So, we have not one, but two unforgiveable sins: unbelief till death, and a mysterious sin called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—or do we? Are these two different sins, or rather the same sin with a different name? When we look at the three passages that mention blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and examine the three things that are linked with it, all three of them involve disbelieving in Jesus. Attributing Jesus’ miraculous powers to Satan rather than the Holy Spirit, choosing not to side with Jesus and refusing to gather with him, and publicly denying him, are all acts of (profound) unbelief. When looked at in this light, the other New Testament passages which talk about unbelief till death help explain what Jesus meant by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Namely, they explain that when a person continues to remain in a state of unbelief till the day they die, that is when they have committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—a sin for which they will be eternally guilty and will never receive forgiveness.

Therefore, when we compare Jesus’ teachings on blasphemy against the Holy Spirit with what the rest of the New Testament teaches on unbelief till death, it becomes clear that these are not two different things but the same. The eternal sin—blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—is none other than the sin of refusing or failing to believe in Jesus till the day you die. Every other sin can be forgiven, if only one repents of it and turns to the Lord Jesus in faith for forgiveness, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit (1Jn 1:8–10).

Why Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit Specifically (Rather Than the Son or the Father)?

An interesting question to ponder is why Jesus called the sin of unbelief till death blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, specifically, rather than blasphemy against God the Father, or blasphemy against himself (the Son). After all, technically, to disbelieve till the day you die is also blasphemy against Jesus and the Father. While the Bible doesn’t directly answer this question, we can come to an educated guess based upon biblical evidence as to why unbelief till death is a sin against the Holy Spirit more than anything.

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity (e.g. Mt 28:19; Ac 5:3–4), whose primary work on the Earth today is not to glorify himself, but to testify and point all people to Jesus (Jn 16:14–15), the Second Person of the Trinity (Jn 1:1, 14; 20:28; Col 2:9). Jesus said:

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. (John 15:26)

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13–15)

This is similar to when Jesus the Son, during his time on the Earth, lived not to glorify himself, but to glorify his Father in Heaven (Jn 8:49–50), the First Person of the Trinity. Furthermore, we know from the Bible that the Holy Spirit is the one who brings people to faith in Jesus Christ and makes people Christians (1Cor 2:10–14). For this reason, to resist the message of salvation in Jesus (the Gospel), or to speak against it, is to resist and speak against the Holy Spirit, who brings to us the message and testifies to it, and who lives and works within those who proclaim Jesus. This is exactly what we see happening in the following account in the early Church’s history, when the Deacon Stephen said to the unbelieving Jews:

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, ⁵³ you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

⁵⁴ Now when [the Jews] heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at [Stephen]. ⁵⁵ But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. ⁵⁸ Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:51–60)

Here, we see a stark contrast between Stephen, a Christian Jew, and the unbelieving Jews. Stephen, who testified to Jesus Christ, was full of the Holy Spirit. But the unbelieving Jews, who opposed Stephen’s message about Jesus, resisted the Holy Spirit. This account is a fulfilment of what we saw Jesus say to his disciples earlier, in Luke’s account on the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, when he assured them that when they get persecuted, the Holy Spirit will teach them what they ought to say (Lk 12:8–12).

So, in light of the above evidence, it seems that the reason why Jesus calls the eternal sin of unbelief till death blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, rather than blasphemy against the Father or the Son, is because the Holy Spirit is the Evangelist of the Trinity, who works through Christians to testify to Jesus in the world. So, to resist or speak against the Christian Gospel is to resist or speak against the Holy Spirit and his testimony. The Holy Spirit is the truth (1Jn 5:6–8), and those who resist him and his message resist the truth of God in Christ Jesus. Those who do so till the day they die have chosen, by their own fault, to be separated from God eternally. But thanks be to God that he continues to send the Holy Spirit into the world to bring people to faith in Jesus (1Cor 2:10–14), so that all who believe may receive the free gift of eternal life in Jesus our Saviour.

See Also

• Who Is the Holy Spirit?
• Is the Holy Spirit God?
• Is the Holy Spirit a Person or Force?
• Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

The post What Is Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

St John the Baptist was given a divine mandate by God to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4). He was prophesied to do so by the prophets Malachi (Mal 3:1) and Isaiah (Is 40:3), who said, according to the way St Mark quoted them:

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, ³ the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” (Mark 1:2–3)

According to these prophecies, John baptised people in order to prepare the way of the Lord. When one examines the Hebrew of the text in Isaiah, one will notice that the word for “Lord” in Isaiah is actually “Yahweh”, God’s personal name. In other words, John is preparing the way for God almighty himself. This is one of the passages which teaches the deity or divinity of Jesus, because the Gospels identify the Lord as Jesus himself, which means that he fulfils a prophecy that was made for God. In the Bible, no human is ever attributed to fulfilling a prophecy that was made for God himself; only Jesus is, because as the Bible teaches, he is God (cf Jn 1:1, 14).

John Baptised to Reveal Jesus

So, what does it mean that John baptised to prepare the way of the Lord? First, John explains, in the book of John chapter 1, that he came baptising in order that Jesus—the one who ranks before him—might be revealed to Israel:

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:29–34)

The time when Jesus was most clearly revealed to Israel by John was when John baptised Jesus. During the baptism of Jesus, Heaven itself was revealed in the sky, the Holy Spirit visibly descended upon him like a dove, and God the Father publicly declared Jesus to be his Son:

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:9–11)

This was why John could say to his disciples, “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God”—because John had heard the Father himself declare it in Jesus’ baptism. Jesus’ position as the Son of God refers to his unique special relationship with the Father, a relationship which the Bible teaches Jesus has had for all eternity (Jn 1:1–18). Aside from the fact that it clearly means he is not the Father, it points to his full equality with the Father (Jn 5:18–23). So, John baptised to publicly reveal Jesus for who he really is: the Son of God.

John Baptised to Prepare People for Jesus

Second, John also baptised to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. As specified earlier, Mark says that his baptism was a baptism of repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, which means that the people who came to John were people who wanted to repent of their sins. They expressed their repentance in confessing their sins before him at his baptism:

⁴ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. (Mark 1:4–5)

Repentance is more than just feeling sorrow or contrition over one’s sins, although that’s part of it. It’s when one turns their entire person or being to God—when we depend on God and trust him above all else. Repentance results in two ways of living. First, forsaking the things that displease God, which is sin (Isaiah 59:2, 15; Col 3:5–10). And second, pursuing, seeking, and loving the things of God (Lk 3:8; Jn 14:15; Col 3:1–4, 12–14). When the people went to be baptised by John, they did so because they wanted to receive forgiveness from God and to live for him, not themselves. By bringing people to repentance, John was preparing the way for Jesus, because a person who truly repents is a person who actively seeks and desires the truth of God, and so they will recognise Jesus as their Lord, the Son of God. This is what Jesus taught, when he said:

¹⁶ My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. ¹⁷ If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. (John 7:16–17)

So, we see from the Bible that John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord by baptising people in the Jordan River. And his purpose for baptising people was to reveal God, as the man Jesus Christ, to Israel, and to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming by bringing them to repentance.

John’s Baptism Points to Jesus as Baptiser

Finally, John’s baptism pointed to a greater baptism. John said, “I have baptized you with water, but he [Jesus] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). We saw a similar teaching in the reading above from John’s Gospel. John’s baptism points towards the ultimate baptism: Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit. Jesus first baptised his disciples with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and manifested himself visibly as tongues of fire (Ac 2:1–13). Today, Jesus baptises us with the Holy Spirit when we receive the sacrament of Baptism. Jesus links the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with Christian Baptism, when he declared:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

While Jesus can certainly baptise a Christian with the Holy Spirit prior to Christian Baptism (Ac 10:44–48), especially if they died before they could get baptised, the blessing of Baptism is that it assures us that our union with Christ’s saving death and resurrection is as real as the water that we were washed with (Rm 6:3–5). Jesus baptises us with the Holy Spirit so that we can be temples of the Holy Spirit, precious to God (1Cor 3:16–17). He also does so to remind us that just as we have been baptised into God’s holy name (Mt 28:19), God calls us to live a holy life (1Pt 1:15–16). We cannot do this perfectly. But when we turn our entire being to God, seeking not only our salvation from him alone, but also help from him in our sanctification, we know that we will have the requests that we ask for (1Jn 5:14–15), and that he will help us be prepared for his Son’s second coming.

See Also

• What Is Baptism?
• Does Baptism Save?
• In What Sense Is Jesus the Son of God?
• Who Is the Holy Spirit?

The post Why Did John the Baptist Baptise People? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

One of the central arguments that is brought up in favour of women’s ordination (abbreviated as “WO”) in some Christian denominations concerns the topic of equality. Many proponents argue that to ordain women into the office of pastor is to promote equality, whereas to deny women from this is inequality, hence discrimination and sexism, which is sinful. The two main Bible passages that are brought up in favour of this view is Genesis 1:27—men and women are both made in God’s image—and Galatians 3:28—there is no male and female in Christ Jesus.

They argue that in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve as equals in every way, but that since the Fall of humanity into sin, women have been constantly suppressed by men in each generation and society, who exercised cruel dominance over them. When Christ came, his saving grace and redemption on the cross brought about a new creation, in which, through Baptism, women have been restored back to their rightful place as equals with men in every way. This new creation is more than restoration to the state of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but is rather the incorporation into a new humanity in Christ, in which there are no social distinctions.

Response

The Extent of Equality Needs to Be Defined

The first, and biggest, problem with this argument is the assertion that the question of whether women can be ordained as pastors concerns equality itself. This is because Christians who deny the ordination of women as pastors will argue that they do, in fact, believe that women are equal with men. Because God created both men and women in his image, he bestowed upon them an equal measure of value, dignity, and worth. So, gender equality itself is not the issue here, and never was. The real question is: in what ways are men and women equal? It’s on this specific point where we find disagreement between traditionalists (those who deny WO) and modernists (those who support WO). Thus, the argument concerns not equality itself, but the extent of equality.

A traditionalist will argue that women are equal with, or the same (because equal simply means same), as men in value, but not equal or the same in function. A modernist, on the other hand, will argue that women are equal with or the same as men in absolutely every way, or nearly every way, in both value and function. The question of this debate is where to draw the line of equality: do we draw it at value or function?

The major problem with the modernist position is that it reduces womanhood and manhood down to mere biological differences and nothing more. This is the position of Egalitarianism, which holds that women can do absolutely everything that men can do except when biology prevents it, and is the position of WO proponents. Essentially, according to the modernist position, the only difference between a man and a woman is that women are built to bear children, but men are not. In other words, womanhood is nothing more than an appearance, just like manhood.

To a traditionalist, this is an offensive view of womanhood, because it is far too shallow and simplistic. A traditionalist will argue that womanhood does not just consist of the woman’s body, but also her behaviour, character, roles, and functions. In other words, having a more supportive role is part of a woman’s very soul and essence, just as much as childbearing is. Gender roles and behaviour cannot be dismissed as mere social constructs, because they are part of the essence of womanhood and manhood.

To say otherwise not only harms the true essence of womanhood and manhood, but it could even lead to the false view that a woman is merely a more upgraded man, because she can bear children. Or, to the contrary, it could lead to the equally false view that a man is merely a more upgraded woman, because he can perform more physical tasks due to his greater muscle mass.

All this is to say that for someone to argue for women’s ordination, on the basis of equality, and then claim that their opponents promote inequality, is an abuse of the term equality. It is a misuse, because the term equality is quite broad in scope, but they take a narrow definition of it, and then accuse their opponents of denying equality, even though their opponents are only denying their narrow use of the term. Thus, this argument is actually a logical fallacy of equivocation: using a term with more than one meaning in a statement without specifying which meaning is intended.

The Extent of Equality in the Bible: Genesis 1:27 & Galatians 3:28

We have discussed the problems with the Egalitarian/modernist position, in that it reduces womanhood and manhood down to biological differences, as well as the fact that they apply a very narrow definition of the term equality, and use it to their advantage. But this does not, at this stage, prove it’s wrong. We need to look at Genesis 1:27 and Galatians 3:28 first, to see in what ways the Bible teaches that men and women are equal. Is it in value, dignity, and worth? Or is it in absolutely every way? Genesis 1:27 says:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27, ESVUK)

Based upon this passage, we can conclude that men and women are unique in God’s creation, because unlike the animals, or even the angels, they alone are created in God’s image and likeness. Furthermore, we can conclude that since God created both the man and the woman in his image, that he values both equally, and shows no favouritism. But we cannot possibly conclude from this passage that this entails that women can perform absolutely every function that a man can perform, or vice versa. That is a huge case of eisegesis, in which someone reads into a passage something that’s simply not found there.

Some people argue that in the very next verse, because Adam and Eve both share in the leadership over the rest of creation (Gen 1:28), that this means that they share in the exact same functions. But again, that is another huge assumption that is simply not supported by the text, because the passage is about humans in relation to animals, not men in relation to women. It tells us that humanity has leadership over the animals, but does not tell us about leadership amongst humans themselves. In summary, Genesis 1:27 cannot be used to prove that men and women are the same in role and function; but we can reasonably say from this passage that they are the same in value, dignity, and worth.

The second passage, Galatians 3:28, is best understood by reading it in its context. It says:

²⁴ So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:24–29)

To be “one” is to be united. When Paul says that in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male and female, he is saying this because all Christians are united in their union with Christ, no matter who they are. Our ethnicity, social status, gender, and anything else about us that we have no control over, does not change the fact that if we are baptised and believe in Jesus, then we are equally children of God, equally united with Christ, equally offspring of Abraham, and equally heirs of the promise of eternal life. This is the plain meaning of Paul’s words when we take the context into account. There is no indication, whatsoever, that this indicates that women are absolutely the same as men in role and function.

If one takes verse 28 out of context, and forces a crudely literal interpretation on it, then one might not only conclude that women are the same as men in role because “there is no male and female”. They might also conclude that Jews and Greeks no longer exist, because “There is neither Jew nor Greek”, or that men and women no longer exist, because “there is no male and female”; we’re all “just Christians”. But this then erases the personal identity of each follower of Christ, which the Apostle here is not doing. In summary, Galatians 3:28 cannot be used to prove that women and men are equal in role and function; at most, we can use this passage to show that both men and women are equally heirs of the promise of eternal life through Christ.

The Extent of Equality in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 11:1–16; Ephesians 5:22–33; Colossians 3:18–25; 4:1; 1 Peter 3:1–7

Since we have shown that the key texts that WO proponents use to claim that women are the same as men in role and function don’t actually teach this, let’s examine if the Bible does, in fact, teach that men and women are different in role and function. St Paul says:

²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Saviour. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:22–33)

As we can see from this, the Bible says that in marriage, the husband is the head of the wife. This already tells us that in role and function, men and women are not the same. In the family, husbands are supposed to take the leadership role, and wives the supportive role. Furthermore, the Bible says that the woman is to submit to her husband in everything, as the Church submits to Christ, and that the man is to love his wife more than his own life, as Christ loves the Church and gave his life for her. This is a clearly distinct set of instructions for both genders, meaning, again, that men and women are not the same in role and function.

It should be said that when we take this entire passage together, we see that the Christian wife’s submission to her Christian husband is not at all servile, because she is submitting to a man who loves her with Christ’s own self-sacrificial love. A man who leads with Christ’s love will not rule over his wife like a tyrant and a woman who follows with the Church’s respect for Christ will not despise her husband’s authority.

This is how the Apostle Paul paints the picture of a godly, functioning marriage: it is, by nature, complimentary. The husband and wife’s roles are different, but what one role lacks, the other makes up for it; this is the view of Complimentarianism, the view which traditionalists take, which is nothing more than the teaching of Ephesians 5. Paul’s teaching here is actually a reversal of the Fall’s consequences in relations between men and women, in which the wife’s “desire shall be for your husband”, that is, fueled by envy for his position as head, “and he shall rule over you”, that is, harshly like a tyrant (Gen 3:16). Ephesians 5 upholds the distinct roles between male and female, but forbids any abuse of either position. Another similar passage is given below:

¹⁸ Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. ²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. ²² Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. ²⁵ For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. ¹ Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Colossians 3:18–25; 4:1)

As we can see here, the Bible gives separate instructions for wives, husbands, children, fathers, slaves, all Christians in general, and masters. A woman’s role in marriage is to submit to her husband and a man’s is to love his wife and not be harsh with her. Because these roles are different, this again shows that women and men are not equal or the same in role or function.

There are other passages which teach that in the New Covenant, men and women are different in function. For example, in 1 Corinthians 11:3, Paul says that the head of a wife is her husband.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11:3)

Furthermore, in 1 Peter 3:1–7, the Apostle Peter instructs wives to submit to their husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, and to adopt a gentle and quiet spirit, which is pleasing to God, while he instructs husbands to live with understanding and honour toward their wives, because they are the physically weaker partners.

¹ Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, ² when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ³ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

⁷ Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (1 Peter 3:1–7)

All this demonstrates that according to the Bible in the New Testament, within the estate of marriage and the household, men and women have their own distinct functions. Therefore, while men and women are equal in value, they are not equal or the same in function. But, as passages like Genesis 1:27 and Galatians 3:28 declare, this difference of roles does not in any way diminish either gender’s value, which are both equal in God’s eyes.

We No Longer Follow the Commandments on Slavery (Or Head Coverings)

Some modernists may reply that we no longer follow the instructions on slaves obeying their masters, because those were specific to first-century Rome that had a system of slavery, which no longer applies to us today. In the same way, they say, we no longer need to obey the instructions on wives submitting to their husbands, because although this was culturally relevant in the first-century, it is not today.

There are some major problems with this argument, though. First, it’s wrong to say that we no longer follow the instructions on slaves obeying their masters, because the central principle behind Paul’s teaching here, namely, that we ought to serve those who are in authority over us with sincerity, applies for all times. It’s true that we no longer have slaves in Western societies, but that does not mean that the commandment now becomes irrelevant, or that we no longer need to follow its central principle. That would be like saying that the Lord Jesus’ command to wash each other’s feet in John 13 is irrelevant, because we usually don’t do that in Western societies. This is wrong, however, because we still ought to follow the central principle of John 13, which is to show each other hospitality.

A similar thing could be said about head coverings for women in 1 Corinthians 11:1–16: there is an eternal principle and a cultural principle. The “symbol of authority” that a woman wears on her head, which was a veil in Paul’s day (1Cor 11:10), may change from one place or era to the next, but the authority that the symbol points to, which is the man as the head of the woman (1Cor 11:3), does not. This is because headship is rooted in the creation of male and female (1Cor 11:7–9), whereas the artificial covering is rooted in human culture. Therefore, it’s wrong to say that we simply cast aside this commandment also, which would be sinful to do. To the contrary, we ought to continue to uphold the central principle behind it, which relates to human behaviour, even if we no longer practise—or have modified—the cultural component, which is the veil that represents it.

Second, this argument is highly misleading because marriage is very different from slavery. So, to use the example of slavery to explain why a passage on marriage is irrelevant or outdated is a huge case of category error. It’s similar to saying that an employee obeying his/her employer is on the same, or similar, level as a slave obeying his/her master, which is just as false and misleading as saying that a wife obeying her husband is on the same, or similar, level as slavery. Clearly, when we are dealing with two separate institutions that are very different in nature, we need to deal with the two on a separate basis, and not on a joint basis.

This is especially evident when we look at the way that Scripture speaks of marriage and slavery respectively. The Lord Jesus and St Paul praise marriage as a sacred institution of God (Eph 5:31–32) and exhort husbands and wives to stay together in this estate (Mt 19:6; 1Cor 7:10–11), whereas with regards to slavery, Paul actually encourages Christians to become free if they can, and leave the estate (1Cor 7:21). Furthermore, Paul also puts “enslavers”—those who kidnap people and sell them into slavery—in a category of evildoers who are: lawless, disobedient, ungodly, sinful, unholy, and profane (1Tim 1:9–10).

Third, this argument ignores or fails to acknowledge the fact that while Paul does break down social distinctions between masters and their slaves, he does not do so for marriage. For example, when Paul wrote to a Christian master, Philemon, about his run-away slave, Onesimus, who had converted to Christianity after escaping and meeting Paul in prison, Paul exhorted Philemon to receive him back not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ (Phm 15–16). In regards to marriage, on the other hand, both the Apostles Paul and Peter continue to uphold the social distinctions between husbands and wives in the estate of marriage, but in contrast to the culture, they prevent husbands from misusing their position as the head of the household against their wives and children (Eph 5:22–33; 1Pt 3:1–7).

Baptism into Christ Erases All Social Distinctions

Another argument that some modernists use, which is heavily reliant upon Galatians 3:28, is that Baptism incorporates us into Christ himself (Gal 3:27); it translates us from the old Adam, or old humanity, to the Last Adam, who is Christ, the new humanity (1Cor 15:22, 45). They would then say that this new humanity in Christ has no social distinctions at all.

This argument fails, however, because the conclusion does not follow from the premise. The premise, that Baptism incorporates us into Christ and a new humanity, is correct. The conclusion is not that all social distinctions break down in Christ, but that all are equally valuable in Christ’s eyes and co-heirs of eternal life (Gal 3:28; 1Pt 3:7). All of the above Bible passages that we observed on marriage and the family are given explicitly in the context of New Covenant, Christian marriage (e.g. Eph 5:31–32). That is, they are not describing what the old humanity looks like, but the new humanity in Christ, and they still maintain social distinctions. Thus, to argue that our new humanity in Christ breaks down all social distinctions is nothing more than a manipulation and misuse of terms and definitions.

In summary, the slavery and new humanity arguments are not sufficient to undermine the New Testament passages which uphold the distinctions of function between men and women in the estate of marriage. Ephesians 5:22–33, Colossians 3:18–25; 4:1, 1 Corinthians 11:3, and 1 Peter 3:1–7 demonstrate that according to the Bible in the New Testament, within the estate of marriage and the household, men and women have their own distinct functions. Therefore, while men and women are equal in value, they are not equal or the same in function.

The Implications of The Fact that in the New Covenant, Men and Women are Different in Function

The implications of the fact that men and women have separate and distinct roles and functions under the New Covenant, at least in the realm of marriage and the household, are significant. First of all, it means that Egalitarianism, which teaches that women can do everything that men can do except when biology prevents it, because there are no social distinctions between men and women, is false. Secondly, it means that the equality argument of the modernists, namely, that to deny women the opportunity of being ordained into the pastoral office is inequality, is not necessarily true, since the Bible teaches not an equality of function between men and women, but value.

After all, if men and women are equal in value, but different in function, then traditionalists denying women the chance of becoming pastors may not at all be a case of devaluing women on the basis of gender, but rather upholding her identity as a woman created in the image of God. And if denying women from entry into the pastoral office is, indeed, a case of upholding her identity as a woman, then according to the contrary, allowing her to become a pastor would not only be denigrating her womanhood, but would even be leading her into sin, which is a state of violation against God’s will, which dishonours both her and God. For this reason, if the traditionalist position is true, then it would be the modernists who are actually guilty of sin and sexism against women.

The Argument from 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–7

But, it could be true (for the sake of argument) that while men and women have distinct roles in the realm of the home and family, that this is not necessarily true in the realm of the Church. However, there are Bible passages which uphold the distinction of functions between men and women for the Church, also. One key example is 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–7, which says:

¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. ¹ The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ² Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, ³ not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. (1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–3)

In the Bible, the terms “overseer” (or bishop) and “elder” (or presbyter) are both used interchangeably to refer to the office of pastor (Ac 20:17, 28; Ti 1:5–9; 1Pt 5:1–3). It is significant that Paul places his prohibition against women teaching or exercising authority over men in the same section in which he provides qualifications on who can and cannot be a pastor. After all, according to Paul, an overseer must be “able to teach” (1Tim 3:2), since one of their main functions is serving as the spiritual teacher of the congregation, which is manifested in their preaching of the sermon during public worship. Another of their main functions is exercising authority over the congregation, manifested in their leading of public worship, as well as deciding who can or cannot receive Holy Communion.

It is also significant that when Paul gives his qualifications, one of the criteria is that an overseer must be a “husband of one wife”, which is directed specifically towards men, as opposed to simply specifying that an overseer must be “married to one spouse”, the latter of which would have been gender neutral. Paul does the same thing in Titus 1:5–6, in which he writes that an elder must be a “husband of one wife”. Furthermore, Paul says that he wrote all these instructions so that we may know how we ought to behave in the household of God, the Church, which means that Paul is speaking specifically about roles in the realm of the Church here (1Tim 3:14–15). When taken all together, this passage tells us that since women are not permitted to teach or exercise authority over men, in the direct context on who can and cannot be a pastor, and that a pastor must be able to teach, women, therefore, cannot perform the key functions of a pastor.

Paul’s Comments on Adam and Eve Are Influenced by His Patriarchal Society

A modernist may give some counterarguments to this. They might quote verses 13–14, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.” They may then point out that it was wrong for Paul to say that only Eve was deceived, not Adam, because they both ate from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and that Paul said this only because he was influenced by his Greco-Roman society, which had suspicions that falsehoods easily ensnare women. Therefore, they say, this command should not be followed today.

There are some major problems with this argument. The first, is that in order to fully embrace this argument as one’s own, they must deny biblical inerrancy—the biblical teaching that the Bible, in its entirety, is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore free from all error (Jn 10:35; 1Th 2:13; 2Tim 3:16–17; 2Pt 1:19–21; 3:15–17). Of course, from a purely philosophical or secular standpoint, it could indeed be a “valid” argument to say that Paul was not uttering Spirit-inspired words here, but rather his own misplaced, patriarchal opinions. But then, the problem is, if the Bible is not the Word of God, but only contains the Word of God, who gets to decide which parts are the Word, and which parts are not? Evidently, the readers themselves.

At this point, the discussion breaks down, because traditionalists and modernists no longer have the same authority, but two competing authorities. The traditionalists will maintain that Paul’s words here are infallible, because the Bible is the Word of God, but the modernists will simply reply that Paul’s words here are not infallible, because it’s up to the individual or Church to decide what is the Word of God in the Bible and what’s not. Thus, it no longer becomes a discussion on women’s ordination, but rather the authority and status of Scripture itself.

The second major problem with this argument is that it assumes the worst about Paul, rather than the best. Of course, again—from a purely philosophical and secular perspective—one could assume that Paul said these words because he was writing his own biased, patriarchal opinions. However, one could also look at it from a more positive perspective, and give Paul the benefit of the doubt. This would involve considering the fact that perhaps Paul is actually making a perfectly valid and important point here, even if we may not see it at first (which would seem to be the more loving approach, at least to Paul).

When Paul says that Adam was not deceived, but Eve was, he seems to be making a reference to the order of temptation that occurs in Genesis 3, much in the same way that in the previous clause, he references the order of creation. The serpent sinned first by tempting and deceiving Eve; Eve then sinned by heeding the voice of the serpent, eating of the forbidden fruit, and giving some of it to Adam; then, Adam sinned by heeding the voice of Eve, and eating of the fruit (Gen 3:1–6). In light of Paul’s words, it is perfectly valid to believe that while Eve was deceived, or tricked, into eating the fruit, that Adam was not deceived, but nevertheless sinned by going along with Eve’s decision, despite knowing better. This does not necessarily mean that Eve was more at fault; after all, as her husband, it was Adam’s responsibility to protect his wife, which he failed to do here. Both were equally guilty of sinning in the eyes of God.

It’s also important to note that when Paul says that Eve became a “transgressor”, it does not mean that Adam did not become a transgressor; it simply means that Eve was deceived, not Adam, and that through being deceived, Eve became a transgressor. Elsewhere Paul confirms this, calling Adam a transgressor also (Rm 5:14). All this is to say that, sometimes, resolving biblical tensions is simply a matter of looking at things from a different, positive perspective, as opposed to a negative perspective, in which one simply denies biblical inerrancy, and dismisses the author’s words as mere un-inspired opinions.

Today’s Pastors Are Not the Same as the Elders & Overseers in Scripture

Other modernists respond by saying that the office of pastor today is not the same as the office of “overseer” and “elder” that Paul describes in the Pastoral Epistles. This objection is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, according to the Bible, elders/overseers refer to the spiritual leaders of the Church. We see this, for example, in Acts 15:6, where the apostles and elders were gathered together at the Jerusalem Council to discuss and make a spiritual judgement on whether or not keeping the Law of Moses was necessary for salvation. In the same way, pastors/priests of today simply refer to the spiritual leaders of the Church. Whatever name we may give this office, anyone who acts as the spiritual leader of a congregation is acting in the office of elder/overseer that Paul describes in the Pastoral Epistles.

Secondly, significant church confessions confirm the Bible’s teaching that pastors of today are elders/overseers as described in the Bible. For example, in the Book of Concord—the confessions of the Lutheran Church—the Power and Primacy of the Pope says, in paragraphs 60–62:

[In our Confession and the Apology we have in general recounted what we have had to say concerning ecclesiastical power. For] The Gospel assigns to those who preside over churches the command to teach the Gospel to remit sins, to administer the Sacraments and besides jurisdiction, namely, the command to excommunicate those whose crimes are known, and again to absolve those who repent.

And by the confession of all, even of the adversaries, it is clear that this power by divine right is common to all who preside over churches, whether they are called pastors, or elders, or bishops. And accordingly Jerome openly teaches in the apostolic letters that all who preside over churches are both bishops and elders, and cites from Titus 1:5f : For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest ordain elders in every city [and afterwards calls these persons bishops]. Then he adds: A bishop must be the husband of one wife. (Tr 60–62)^[1]

In addition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, in paragraphs 1536 and 1575–76:

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate. (CCC 1536)

Christ himself chose the apostles and gave them a share in his mission and authority. Raised to the Father’s right hand, he has not forsaken his flock but he keeps it under his constant protection through the apostles, and guides it still through these same pastors who continue his work today. Thus, it is Christ whose gift it is that some be apostles, others pastors. He continues to act through the bishops. Since the sacrament of Holy Orders is the sacrament of the apostolic ministry, it is for the bishops as the successors of the apostles to hand on the “gift of the Spirit,” the “apostolic line.” Validly ordained bishops, i.e., those who are in the line of apostolic succession, validly confer the three degrees of the sacrament of Holy Orders. (CCC 1575–76)^[2]

Moreover, the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, in the preface to the chapter on “The Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, According to the Order of The Church of England”, says:

It is evident unto all men diligently reading holy Scripture and ancient Authors, that from the Apostles’ time there have been these Orders of Ministers in Christ’s Church; Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. Which Offices were evermore had in such reverend Estimation, that no man might presume to execute any of them, except he were first called, tried, examined, and known to have such qualities as are requisite for the same; and also by publick Prayer, with Imposition of Hands, were approved and admitted thereunto by lawful Authority. And therefore, to the intent that these Orders may be continued, and reverently used and esteemed in the Church of England, no man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, in the Church of England, or suffered to execute any of the said Functions, except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the Form hereafter following, or hath had Episcopal Consecration, or Ordination.^[3]

Thus, the official position of the Lutheran, Catholic, and Anglican Church is that pastors of today bear the same office of spiritual leadership that Christ himself instituted in the New Testament. More evidence could be cited, but this will suffice. In sum, the Bible teaches that elders/overseers are the Church’s spiritual leaders, and tradition affirms this. Pastors of today are, therefore, elders/overseers, as described by the New Testament.

Paul Was Only Reacting to a Specific Situation

Another argument that a modernist might raise is that Paul forbade women from teaching and exercising authority over men in 1 Timothy 2:11–15 only in reaction to a specific incident that occurred in the first century, and that this command was not meant for all times. Therefore, they say, we no longer need to follow it. There is a fatal flaw in this argument, however: there is no evidence to back it up. There is nothing in the text itself which suggests that Paul is reacting to a specific incident here, nor is there any indication of this in any writing of the ancient Church. This is why if a modernist were asked what situation Paul was addressing, they couldn’t give a concrete answer, because the entire argument is built purely upon speculation, rather than facts or evidence.

If a traditionalist were to point this out, a modernist may reply in one of three ways. First, they may say that their speculation is actually supported by biblical themes or teachings. For example, they may say that Paul must have been talking only of a specific situation, because the Bible elevates the status of women. However, the conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premise. After all, as we have already proved with Bible passages on family and the home, women are equal with men in dignity, but different in function. So, Paul and the apostles can teach a difference of functions between men and women, all the while elevating women to an equal value with men in their status as children of God and co-heirs of eternal life. Therefore, Paul’s prohibition on women teaching and exercising authority over men in the Church (and by extension, Jesus’, who made Paul his apostle) can co-exist with the Bible’s elevated status of women.

Second, a modernist may say that it must be true that Paul was only addressing a specific situation, because traditionalists cannot prove that their claim is false. This, however, is an argument from ignorance—a logical fallacy. Of course a traditionalist cannot “prove” that it’s false (because we cannot go back in time and interview Paul)—but so what? This argument is like saying that it must be true that life is only a simulation, because it’s impossible to prove otherwise. Of course it’s impossible to prove otherwise, but that doesn’t make the argument good: it simply makes it meaningless to engage with. Therefore, because this argument lacks any evidence and depth of thought or reason, it can be simply dismissed just as easily, while traditionalists continue to offer evidence against it.

Third, a modernist may say that Paul must have been only addressing a specific situation because the Church was patriarchal, and under the influence of an unjust patriarchy, Paul was overreacting to a specific situation. However, this is nothing more than an appeal to novelty. That is, the argument is a logical fallacy, in which the arguer claims to know better than the people of the past, or would have reacted differently from them, simply because the people of the past weren’t fortunate enough to have been born in this era of supposed enlightenment. However, since we know that Paul actually honoured women by placing them as equals with men as co-heirs of eternal life (Gal 3:28), we know that this argument is false—not to mention that it seems to promote cultural elitism.

The Argument from 1 Corinthians 14:26–40

We have shown that in 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–7, the Bible teaches that men and women are distinct in function not only in the home, but also in the Church. It’s also worth examining one more passage which is crucial in this study, which is 1 Corinthians 14:26–40. This one is slightly more lengthy, but it’s worth getting the full context:

²⁶ What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. ²⁷ If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. ²⁸ But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. ³⁰ If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. ³¹ For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, ³⁴ the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. ³⁵ If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. ³⁹ So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But all things should be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:26–40)

As we can see from the phrase, “When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation” (1Cor 14:26), Paul is talking about public Church worship. So, again, this teaching falls within the realm of the Church. We also see from verses 26b, 33, and 40, that Paul’s main desire in this passage is that Church worship should be done decently and in order. Paul’s divine instructions here show how this is done. Furthermore, Paul’s instructions here seem to be addressed to church leaders (elders/overseers/pastors), which will be explained in a minute.

The hymn is rather self-explanatory, and refers to the songs that the congregation sings to worship God. The lesson refers to the Bible readings (1Tim 4:13). The revelation refers to the sermons that the elder/overseer/pastor preaches (2Tim 4:2). The liturgy of today has retained the hymn, lesson, and revelation, but usually doesn’t include the tongue or interpretation. This is because these spiritual gifts are considerably rare nowadays, so the Church has adapted accordingly. When giving the sermon or revelation, the elders could prophesy (or teach) one after the other. Two or three could speak per service, and the other prophets/elders weighed what was said (1Cor 14:29). The tongue and interpretation refer to elders with the gift of tongues speaking to the congregation in an unknown language, while elders with the gift of interpretation interpreted these words. Two or three could speak in tongues per service, so long as there was someone present to interpret them (1Cor 14:27–28).

There are two primary reasons why Paul appears to be referring to church leaders in this chapter. First, Paul’s emphasis on order in the Church (1Cor 14:40) makes it highly unlikely that just anyone could get up and prophesy/speak in tongues/interpret. The pastoral office that was established by Christ was already being used by the Church as early as the book of Acts, and it was the elders’/overseers’ responsibility to teach the congregation (Ac 14:23; 1Tim 4:11–16). Second, the Bible speaks of two different types of prophets. The first, refers to a person with the gift of prophesying into the future, that is, predicting future events (Ac 11:27–28). The second, refers to a person with the gift of prophesying for the present, by being able to expound the Word of God, which Paul clearly refers to here, since in this chapter he describes prophecy in terms that are explicitly connected with teaching the congregation (1Cor 14:3, 6, 24–25; cf. Ac 14:21–22; 1Tim 4:13; 2Tim 4:2).

Paul then says that in all the churches (assemblies/congregations) of the saints, the women should keep silent, and not speak but rather be in submission (1Cor 14:34). This does not seem to refer to absolute silence, but rather overall quietness. Verse 28 indicates this, since if no interpreter was present, an elder with the gift of tongues must keep silent (the same Greek word), but could still “speak to himself and to God” (1Cor 14:28). Paul says that this is a teaching of God’s Law (1Cor 14:34), so the charge for women to keep quiet is a divine command, and any violation of it is therefore shameful (1Cor 14:35b). Paul proceeds to defend this teaching, saying that it is a command of the Lord (1Cor 14:37)—a reiteration of the fact that it is from God’s Law (1Cor 14:34). Altogether, because God mandates that women keep quiet, rather than speak or teach, and be in submission, rather than authority, during public Church worship, this means that women cannot legitimately fulfil the office of pastor.

“As In All the Churches of the Saints” Could Be Connected to “For God Is Not a God of Confusion But of Peace”

One objection that a modernist might make to this is that linguistically, the phrase “As in all the churches of the saints” could immediately follow “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace”, so that the phrase instead reads as, “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. The women should keep silent in the churches.” They say, therefore, that Paul’s command is not directed to all churches, just the church in Corinth.

While it’s true that the passage could be translated that way, the conclusion is not necessarily true. Even if the phrase were connected to God being a God of peace, the fact remains that Paul still says that “The women should keep silent in the churches.” Paul does not need to specify that this is for “all the churches of the saints” in order for his command to be timeless. After all, Paul does not provide this designation elsewhere for certain commandments in the letter, such as his commands on marriage, divorce, and remarriage, but these are still timeless (1Cor 7:10–15).

In addition, it’s significant that Paul says that the women are to keep silent in “the churches” plural (see also 1Cor 11:16), in contrast with how he begins the letter, addressing it to “the church” singular “of God that is in Corinth” (1Cor 1:1), indicating that its scope is wider than just the church in Corinth. Moreover, when Paul is only addressing specific congregations, he specifies what region they belong to, such as the “churches of Asia” (1Cor 16:19) or the “churches of Galatia” (1Cor 16:1). Paul does not do so for this passage, which again, indicates that it’s not just for the church in Corinth. Regardless of this, the fact that Paul gives us this command means that we ought to follow it, just as we ought to follow all the commandments of the Bible. Finally, this argument does not negate the fact that Paul attributes this teaching to the Law of God (1Cor 14:34), and all Christians are bound to follow God’s Law. This again gives further evidence that he’s not simply addressing the congregation in Corinth.

The Command for Women’s Silence Was Added in Later by a Scribe (Or Was Only Circumstantial)

Another argument that modernists might use is that while all ancient Bible manuscripts, without any exception, contain verses 34–35, in which Paul commands women to be silent, a small minority of them (about half the amount of the Western witnesses—one of the three major manuscript traditions) place these verses at the end of the pericope, after verse 40, where he says, “But all things should be done decently and in order.” They say that this difference in placement indicates that these verses were not originally part of Paul’s letter, but were added in later by a scribe.

Some will cite supporting evidence for this aimed at showing the apparent “contradictions” between Paul’s command for women’s silence here, and his earlier permissions for women. For example, Paul teaches the interdependence of all Christians in regards to spiritual gifts (1Cor 12), allows women to pray and prophesy (1Cor 11:4–5), and appeals authoritatively to the “Law”, which is different from his usual use of it to introduce a specific text or illustrate, rather than prescribe (e.g. 1Cor 9:8; 14:21). They say that these apparent contradictions, along with their different placement in certain manuscripts, indicate that a scribe wrote this command later on, rather than Paul.

Let’s discuss each point one by one. The claim that because there is a difference in placement of verses 34–35 in a minority of manuscripts indicates that they were added in later, is a weak argument. This is because it’s nothing more than speculation. It is, of course, interesting to think about why a minority of manuscripts place them at the end, while the vast majority put them in the middle. Some scholars speculate that Paul himself wrote verses 34–35 as an insertion, to save space on the manuscript, which would explain why the early scribes regarded it as authentic if it really were a marginal gloss. If the location of the insertion could not be determined for whatever reason (e.g. the ink was blurred), then the scribes could put it at the end of the subject, which would be after verse 40, as seen in the Western witnesses.^[4],[5]

In short, there could be many other reasons for why or how this happened and we will probably never know for sure. But to single out one conclusion that explicitly attacks the authenticity of the biblical text and disregard all other possibilities, purely on the basis of speculation, is both dishonest and disingenuous. It also ignores the fact that regardless of where the verses are placed, every ancient manuscript contains them nevertheless, which is already powerful evidence that they’re authentic. In light of this, the validity of their argument hinges entirely on the supporting evidence that they cite, which we will now address. Keep in mind that these arguments could also be used by modernists to support the claim that this passage was only circumstantial.

Men and Women Both Have Spiritual Gifts

First, Paul does indeed teach that the Holy Spirit provides each member of the Church, both men and women, with spiritual gifts in chapter 12 (1Cor 12:7–11). But Paul’s charge for women to keep silent during public worship does not contradict the fact that women can, and do, have spiritual gifts. Public worship is only one aspect of the Christian life among many; and even if women cannot specifically teach or exercise authority over men during the liturgy, they still have roles available to them during the liturgy, like Bible reading, singing, and praying.

Outside of public worship, women have many more roles available to them within or outside of the Church. In addition, the office of pastor is only one vocation among many for Christians—an office which the majority of Christians do not hold anyway. Paul is not denying women from their use of spiritual gifts in the Christian life; he is only giving a specific divine command on gender roles within the liturgy.

Women Can Pray and Prophesy

Second, Paul’s charge for women to keep silent during public worship does not contradict his allowance for them to pray or prophesy. As noted earlier, Paul’s command for women is not for absolute silence, but rather overall quietness, and a role of submission, rather than leadership. In addition, Paul’s comments on men and women praying and prophesying in chapter 11 are not specified to be in the context of public church worship (1Cor 11:1–5), unlike the next section that he introduces on Holy Communion (1Cor 11:17–22), or in this section in discussion (1Cor 14:26). This indicates that in 1 Corinthians 11:1–5, Paul likely has private acts in mind, or just the Christian life in general, as opposed to public worship specifically.

Christian women can exercise the gift of prophecy in many different ways. They can do so as mothers instructing their children in the faith, as laywomen giving devotions, as speakers at conferences, as evangelists, missionaries, Sunday school teachers, school or university teachers, and in some cases, seminary teachers. The one and only instance in which women cannot prophesy this way is during public Church worship (1Cor 14:26; 34–35; 1Tim 2:11–15).

Paul’s Use of the Law Here Is Different

The third point, that Paul’s use of the Law here is different from other places in the letter, is false. In 1 Corinthians 9:7–10, Paul appeals to the authority of the Law to teach that pastors who labour in preaching the Word should receive payment for their work. In 1 Corinthians 14:21–22, Paul appeals to the authority of the Law to teach that tongues are a sign for unbelievers, but prophecy for believers. Elsewhere, Paul uses the word “Scripture(s)” synonymously with the Law, to which he also appeals as a source of authority (Rm 10:11; 1Cor 15:3–4; 1Tim 5:18). In the same way, Paul appeals to the authority of the Law in 1 Corinthians 14:34 to explain why women should be quiet during public church worship.

There is nothing at all in the text to suggest that this command was only circumstantial. To the contrary, the fact that Paul calls it God’s Law means that it is timeless (1Cor 14:34). As we said earlier, the circumstantial argument—that it’s true because it cannot be “proven” false—is a meaningless claim with no thought or reason behind it, much like the claim that life is only a simulation. Therefore, traditionalists can simply dismiss it, while continuing to offer evidence to the contrary. In the above points, we have shown that there is no evidence to support the claim that verses 34–35 were added in later by a scribe. Therefore, there is no real reason why we should think it was. To the contrary, the fact that it’s in all ancient manuscripts, indicates that it’s genuine.

Conclusion

In this article, we have proved: that modernists who use the “equality argument” employ a very narrow definition of the term equality, despite its wider scope; that the Bible teaches that men and women are equal in value, but not function, which is clearly seen in the realms of the home and the Church; and that the central arguments that modernists raise against traditionalists are false. 1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–7 and 1 Corinthians 14:26–40 do not allow for women to fulfill the office of pastor, and all the objections to this cannot survive against critical examination.

Hence, it is not inequality for traditionalists to deny a woman ordination into the pastoral office, contrary to what they are often accused of. It is actually an act of love, because they are obeying the Word of Christ, honouring her womanhood, and properly guiding her. To the contrary, it is sinful and sexist for modernists to encourage a woman to become ordained as a pastor, because they are disobeying the Word of Christ, dishonouring her womanhood, and leading her into violating God’s will, hence sin.

Women play a central role in the Church and their gifts should never be neglected. Sadly, it does happen sometimes that Christian women are under-utilised in the Church. But the solution is not to get women into doing something against God’s will, but rather encouraging them to use their gifts in biblical ways. Ultimately, this article was written for the sake of the truth, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ alone (Jn 8:31–32; 14:6; 18:37; Eph 4:21), and to protect women from all the unbiblical voices of society that would get them to sin and undermine who they are in Christ, under the pretence of “equality”.

See Also

• Did Jesus Support Women’s Ordination in the Gospels?
• Is Women’s Ordination Biblical?
• Is the Bible Inerrant?
• What Does It Mean That God Created Humans in His Image and Likeness?

Footnotes

1. Book of Concord, “The Power and Primacy of the Pope,” ed. Paul T. McCain et al., Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: German-Latin-English (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921), accessed August 25, 2023, https://bookofconcord.org/power-and-primacy/.
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, “ARTICLE 6: THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS,” 2nd ed. English Translation, accessed August 25, 2023, http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c3a6.htm.
3. The Book of Common Prayer, “Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons,” accessed August 25, 2023, https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/form-and-manner-making-ordaining.
4. “Examining the authenticity of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35…,” Help Me With Bible Study, accessed August 17, 2023, http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/11Church/PublicExaminingAuthenticity1CorLowerCriticism.aspx.
5. Wallace, Daniel B., “The Textual Problem of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35,” Bible.org, accessed August 17, 2023, https://bible.org/article/textual-problem-1-corinthians-1434-35.

Bibliography

Book of Concord. “The Power and Primacy of the Pope.” Edited and translated by Paul T. McCain et al. Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church: German-Latin-English. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921. Accessed August 25, 2023. https://bookofconcord.org/power-and-primacy/.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. “ARTICLE 6: THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS.” 2nd ed. English Translation. Accessed August 17, 2023. http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c3a6.htm.

“Examining the authenticity of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35….” Help Me With Bible Study. Accessed August 17, 2023. http://helpmewithbiblestudy.org/11Church/PublicExaminingAuthenticity1CorLowerCriticism.aspx.

The Book of Common Prayer. “Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.” Accessed August 25, 2023. https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer/form-and-manner-making-ordaining.

Wallace, Daniel B. “The Textual Problem of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.” Bible.org. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://bible.org/article/textual-problem-1-corinthians-1434-35.

The post Should We Ordain Women for Equality? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

The Bible’s Answer

Introduction

When this article talks about “women’s ordination”, it’s specifically referring to women being ordained into the office of pastor, not the office of deaconess. In the New Testament, the office of pastor is called “overseer/bishop” (from ἐπίσκοπος, episkopos) or “elder/presbyter” (from πρεσβύτερος, presbuteros) (see Ac 14:23; 20:28; 1Tim 3:1–7; Ti 1:5–9). While the terms “overseer” and “elder” are not brought up in the Gospels in regards to pastors, the office of apostle is, which is from ἀπόστολος (apostolos), meaning “one sent out”.^[1] According to the New Testament, the twelve apostles were all elders (pastors) (Ac 15:6, 22; 1 Pet 5:1–2), so, in this way, the Gospels do refer to the office of pastor.

The Lord Jesus’ Stance on Ordination

The Gospels tell us that the Lord Jesus Christ called and ordained (ἐποίησεν [epoieisen] in the Greek, which means “he ordained” or “appointed”)^[2] twelve men as apostles, whom he sent out to preach and cast out demons. St Mark says:

And [Jesus] went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:13–19, ESVUK)

It is these same twelve apostles (with the obvious exception of Judas Iscariot) with whom Jesus exclusively met at the end of his earthly ministry, to commission them to baptise and teach all nations, as leaders of the New Covenant Church. St Matthew says:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16–20)

These twelve men are the only people whom Jesus called and ordained as apostles in his earthly ministry, and so Jesus, who is God Almighty in the flesh (Jn 1:1–3, 14), restricted the pastoral office to men only. It’s important to note that Jesus highly exalted women when he walked the Earth. Jesus defended a woman who was unfairly criticised (Mt 26:10–13), valued Mary Magdalene’s testimony as equally as a man’s (Jn 20:17), saved an adulterous woman’s life who was harshly condemned (Jn 8:7–11), and in general talked with both women and men as equals (Jn 4:27–29). In light of this, Jesus could have easily ordained Mary Magdalene as an apostle, or Joanna, or Suzanna, or his mother if he wanted to. But he didn’t; he specifically and intentionally chose all men. Why? Because, as he said in his High Priestly Prayer, his choice of the twelve was all in accordance with the eternal will of God the Father. He said:

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. … As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17:5–7, 18)

Just as Jesus faithfully followed his heavenly Father in appointing twelve men as apostles, St Paul, Christ’s apostle (1Cor 1:1), faithfully followed his Lord, Jesus, by only allowing certain qualified men to enter into the pastoral office (1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–7; Ti 2:5–9; see also 1Cor 14:33–38).

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control. The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, …. (1 Timothy 2:11–15; 3:1–2)

This does not in any way make women (or men who are not called to be pastors) inferior to men who are called to be pastors, as if the office of pastor were some kind of litmus test for a person’s worth (which is a horrible distortion of the truth). It is simply a biblical example of the fact that women are not the same as men, and that while both are equal in God’s eyes (Gen 1:27), they also have their own unique God-given roles and responsibilities (e.g. Eph 5:22–33), which should be honoured, not denigrated.

However, there are some people who say that while the Lord Jesus did indeed restrict the apostles to just men, he nevertheless permitted women to perform the necessary functions of a pastor. Therefore, they argue, women should be ordained as pastors. Since one of the primary functions of a pastor is teaching and exercising authority over a congregation specifically during public church worship, the remainder of this article will examine if the Gospels do, indeed, endorse women to do such a thing.

Mary Proclaimed the Gospel (John 20:17–18)

Perhaps the most commonly cited Gospel passage in support of this is John 20:17–18, which takes place shortly after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared first to his disciple, St Mary Magdalene. It says:

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:17–18)

This passage is a wonderful example of one of Jesus’ female disciples faithfully proclaiming the Gospel to fellow believers. Matthew 28:1–2, 7–8, Mark 16:9–11, and Luke 24:8–11 say exactly the same thing, except Matthew and Luke also mention that there were some other women with her. But Mary and the other women’s proclamation did not take place during public church worship. Therefore, it cannot be used as a proof text for the ordination of women. It’s also worth noting that Mary proclaiming the Gospel to others, in other words, evangelism, is not a task that’s exclusively for pastors. Jesus commands all people, whether they’re pastors or not, to acknowledge him before others:

And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. (Luke 12:8–9)

Jesus was not ordaining Mary into the pastoral office in John 20, in the same way that he wasn’t ordaining the formerly demon-possessed man into the pastoral office by telling him to proclaim how much he had done for him:

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:38–39)

In these examples, location and situation are the two key factors for ascertaining that Mary and the formerly demon-possessed man did not perform an exclusive function of pastors. Jesus, on the other hand, did perform the exclusive work of a pastor, because he proclaimed the Gospel and exorcised demons from people in the synagogues, during public worship. For example, Mark 1:39 says, “And [Jesus] went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.”

Some Women Followed Jesus (Luke 8:1–3)

Another Gospel passage that could be cited regarding this is Luke 8:1–3, which talks about Jesus’ mission work and his travel companions. It says:

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. (Luke 8:1–3)

As we can see, this passage highlights that in addition to the twelve apostles, there were also some women who followed Jesus throughout his ministry, “who provided for them out of their means”. The word for “provided” here is “διηκόνουν” (dieikonoon), which means “to be an attendant, i.e. wait upon (menially or as a host, friend, or (figuratively) teacher)”.^[3] The word for “means” is “ὑπαρχόντων” (hooparkhontown), which means “things extant or in hand, i.e. property or possessions:—goods, that which one has, things which (one) possesseth, substance, that hast.”^[4] In other words, Luke is saying that the women generously provided for Jesus and the twelve’s physical and material needs. It says nothing about them preaching during public church worship, so again, this passage cannot be used as a proof text for women’s ordination.

It’s worth noting that we get the word “deacon” from the same word used in the text, “διηκόνουν” (dieikonoon). This is an office that the twelve established to provide for the physical and material needs of Christians, so that the twelve could “devote [themselves] to prayer and to the ministry of the word” (Ac 6:4). It was this same position that Phoebe held, who also provided for the Church’s physical and material needs as a deaconess (see Rm 16:1–2).

Furthermore, the task of following Jesus, like the women did here, is also not exclusive to pastors. Jesus commands all people to follow him:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23–24)

As stated under the previous heading: location and situation are key. If an example were given of a woman in the Bible teaching and preaching during public church worship, then proponents of women’s ordination might have a point. But such a passage does not exist—not only in the Gospels, but the entire Bible. In the Gospels, Jesus never commissioned a woman to preach in public church worship, nor does he ever endorse this teaching.

Anna the Prophetess (Luke 2:36–38)

The following two Gospel passages are also worth examining. The first is Luke 2:36–38, which mentions a prophetess called Anna, who gave thanks to God upon seeing the Baby Jesus:

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36–38)

Indeed, there are examples of prophetesses in the New Testament (Ac 21:9). Anna was a faithful woman who worshipped God with prayer and fasting daily. Three things can be said about this passage.

1. A prophet/prophetess is not an elder/pastor/shepherd, according to the Bible, but a different and distinct office (Eph 4:11–12). So, while pastors can be prophets as well, not all prophets are necessarily pastors. The gift of prophecy typically involves predicting future events (Ac 21:8–11) as well as bringing encouragement to others from the Word of God (Ac 15:32), but this is distinct from preaching in public church worship, which Paul clearly outlines for elders and overseers in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9.
2. In this passage, Luke is careful to mention that Anna did not make a public utterance, but that she limited her communication only to those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (Lk 2:38), by using the phrase τοῖς προσδεχομένοις (tois prosdekhomenois)—”to those waiting for….”^[5] Thus, Anna performed an act of evangelism here, as opposed to having preached a sermon.
3. The final point, which ties all three together, is that this event happened in the boundaries of Old Covenant temple worship, and according to Exodus and Leviticus, only men who were descended from Aaron could be priests (Ex 28:1; 29:29–30; Lv 21:1–24; 22:1–16).

So, again, because Anna was not performing a necessary function of pastors—teaching and exercising authority over a congregation specifically during public church worship—this passage cannot be used in support of women’s ordination.

The Women at Jesus’ Crucifixion (John 19:24b–27)

The other passage worth considering is John 19:24b–27, which talks of St Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and the Apostle John remaining by Jesus’ side at his crucifixion:

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:24b–27)

Again, this passage gives us a great example of women (as well as St John) who faithfully stayed by Jesus’ side till his death. But every Christian is called to be faithful to Jesus (Mt 16:24), so, once again, this adds nothing to the argument of those who advocate for women’s ordination. The role of a pastor specifically involves preaching and exercising authority during public church worship, something which the women here did not do, or in any other example in the Holy Gospels.

Conclusion

This article was written because there are some people who, in their attempts to support the ordination of women as pastors, claim that Jesus and the four Gospels allow women to perform all of the essential functions of a pastor. To the contrary, in this article we’ve shown that our Lord Jesus Christ did not endorse or allow the ordination of women in the four Gospel accounts. Instead, he restricted the apostolic office to men only during his earthly ministry.

We’ve shown that the passages that are brought up in favour of women’s ordination are not actually examples of women preaching in the context of public church worship, and so cannot be used as proof texts for women’s ordination. And we’ve shown that while Jesus could have appointed women as elders, since many faithfully followed him, he only appointed twelve men, a precept which Paul and the entire Christian Church followed faithfully since then. So, did Jesus support women’s ordination in the Gospels? The Bible’s answer is: no, he did not.

See Also

• Is Women’s Ordination Biblical?
• Is Homosexual Marriage Biblical?
• Is Infant Baptism Biblical?
• Did Jesus Go to Church?

Footnotes

[1] “Strong’s G652 – apostolos,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed June 19, 2023, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g652/kjv/tr/0-1/.

[2] “Strong’s G4160 – poieō,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed June 20, 2023, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4160/kjv/tr/0-1/.

[3] “Strong’s G1247 – diakoneo,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed June 15, 2023, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1247/kjv/tr/0-1/.

[4] “Strong’s G5224 – hupotasso,” Blue Letter Bible, accessed June 15, 2023, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5224/kjv/tr/0-1/.

[5] “Luke 2 – Meyer’s Commentary,” BibleHub, accessed July 6, 2023, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/luke/2.htm.

Bibliography

BibleHub. “Luke 2 – Meyer’s Commentary.” Accessed July 6, 2023. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/meyer/luke/2.htm.

Blue Letter Bible. “Strong’s G1247 – diakoneo.” Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1247/kjv/tr/0-1/.

Blue Letter Bible. “Strong’s G4160 – poieō.” Accessed June 20, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4160/kjv/tr/0-1/.

Blue Letter Bible. “Strong’s G5224 – hupotasso.” Accessed June 15, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5224/kjv/tr/0-1/.

Blue Letter Bible. “Strong’s G652 – apostolos.” Accessed June 19, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g652/kjv/tr/0-1/.

The post Did Jesus Support Women’s Ordination in the Gospels? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

The Bible’s answer to this question is no; God gives each person in the world plenty of chances to repent and thereby make themselves friends with God in this lifetime, as he himself wants everyone to come to repentance (2Pet 3:9). But he does not give us any more chances to repent after we die. The Word of God declares:

… But as it is, [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgement, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:26b–28, ESVUK)

As the above passage clearly says, all people will “die once” only, and after we die “comes judgement”, which refers to God’s final and just verdict on whether we will end up with him or apart from him in eternity (Mt 25:46). This will take place, according to the Apostle Paul, at the judgement seat of Christ (2Cor 5:10), who is to come on an unknown day and hour (Mt 24:42–44) as the Final Judge of the living and the dead (2Tim 4:1).

Who Are Those Who Eagerly Wait for Jesus?

When Hebrews 9:28 says that Jesus will come to “save those who are eagerly waiting for him”, it’s not talking about just any person who might be pleased to see him—but those who actually believe in him. This requires some explaining.

Ordinarily, every person would be condemned at God’s judgement, because we are all sinners who violate God’s commandments on a daily basis and fall short of God’s glory (1Ki 8:46; Rom 3:10–12, 23), making us his enemies (Rom 5:10) and worthy of eternal punishment (Mt 25:46). But because Jesus, in his infinite love, bore our sins in his body on the cross and died the death we deserved (Heb 9:28; 1Pet 2:24), each person in the world is given a chance to receive full forgiveness from God in this life on Earth and avoid the judgement that they deserve. The Lord Jesus Christ explained how to avoid this judgement that comes right after death in the following words:

²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son, ²³ that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:21–24)

As Jesus said, referring to himself as the Son, anyone who listens to him and believes what the Father says about him—for the Father affirms everything that the Son says (Jn 5:37–38)—”does not come into judgement”, but has passed from death to eternal life. In other words, when we believe the central truth about Jesus, that he died for all your sins personally on the cross to save you (Ti 2:13–14), and rose again from the dead on the third day (1Cor 15:3–4; Rm 10:9), we receive the redemption from sin’s consequences that Jesus won for us (Col 1:13–14). We may no longer fear death, because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life (Jn 11:25–26), in whom there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1). Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life—the one and only way to God the Father (Jn 14:6). Jesus then says:

²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement. (John 5:28–29)

Those who believe in Jesus are sanctified by the presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in their hearts (Jn 14:23; 1Cor 3:16–17; Eph 3:16–19), which is how they are able to do “good” despite being sinners, whereas those who disbelieve continue to do the “evil” that all people by default do (Rom 8:7–8). Hence, those who refuse to believe that Jesus is their crucified and risen Saviour are, in Jesus’ own words, “condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (Jn 3:18).

Where Does Repentance Come in?

We spoke about faith (or belief) in Jesus earlier, but that’s not quite the full story. The fullest expression of the way to salvation is summed up in the word “repentance” (Lk 24:46–47), which is not a righteous act, but a change of attitude, with God at work in our hearts (2Tim 2:25), consisting of both contrition and faith (Mk 1:15; 2Cor 7:10). We repent when we are truly sorry for our sins and believe in Jesus as our only Lord and Saviour (Ac 4:12; 16:31). The result of repentance is a changed life, which revolves around loving and serving Jesus (Lk 3:8; Jn 14:15). A person who repents is, from that moment on, a Christian (Lk 15:7; Jn 1:12).

The simple reason for why repentance is necessary, is because evil is incompatible with God (1Jn 1:5–6). God is holy—that is, separate from evil, and those who dwell in his presence must also be holy (1Pet 1:15–16). It’s true that the Lord Jesus Christ gives Christians his holiness, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can stand in God the Father’s presence (1Cor 1:30). But because of original sin, we still sin and fall short of God’s holiness every day, which is why repentance must be a daily event (Ps 38:3–4, 18; Mt 6:9–13). We must daily die to sin (Rom 6:6–7), so that we can continue to receive God’s mercies (Pr 28:13–14). The good news is that God is faithful, and has promised to forgive all those who do repent from the heart, as the Apostle John teaches:

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as [God] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7–9)

But we can only repent in this lifetime. It’s too late to change our minds about sin and Jesus after we die, and stand before the judgement seat of Christ (2Cor 5:10). If we die in unbelief, then we have sealed our own fate to eternal damnation in Hell (Mk 9:43–48), despite the fact that God mercifully calls all people to repent to be saved (2Pet 3:9). So, don’t provoke God by putting off repentance and assuming you will live another day (Ps 32:6; Mt 4:7). If you have not yet repented, do so right now, by confessing your sins to God, and putting your faith in Jesus as the only Son of God and the Saviour of the world, who died for you, rose again, and ascended into Heaven (Lk 24:51), so that you may live with him in Heaven forever (1Th 5:9–10).

See Also

• Who Is Jesus Christ? (Summary)
• Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?
• What Is Repentance?
• How to Go to Heaven

The post Does God Give Us a Second Chance to Repent After Death? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

In the first five days of the biblical account of creation, God created the heavens and the Earth, and filled our planet with animals and vegetation. After the fifth day, God looked down on his creation and “saw that it was good” (Gen 1:25, ESVUK). On the sixth and final day of creation, God created human beings as the pinnacle of his creation, because unlike any other creature on Earth, God created human beings in his image and likeness. After seeing his creation with human beings in it, God saw that it was not just good, but “very good” (Gen 1:31). Genesis 1:26–27 declares:

²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’ ²⁷ So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26–27, NRSV)

There have been many discussions by theologians on what exactly it means that humans are created in God’s image and likeness. What it ultimately comes down to, though, is the following main points.

1. God has given humanity higher value than any other creation.
2. God has made humanity like himself.
3. God has created humanity to be his representatives on Earth.
4. God has created humanity to have everlasting fellowship with him.

In the next few sections, we will explain in more detail each of these meanings, and look at their Scriptural foundations.

God Gave Human Life the Highest Value

The Bible itself doesn’t give us an exact definition of what the image and likeness of God in humanity is. It does, however, tell us about the implications of humanity being created this way. Dr Martin Luther, in his Lectures on Genesis 1–5, observes that God created nature and the animals without any deliberation or counsel (“Let the earth produce,” etc.), but with humanity, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26, ESVUK, emphasis added).^[1] He comments:

But here, when He wants to create man, God summons Himself to a council and announces some sort of deliberation … This indicates that man is a creature far superior to the rest of the living beings that live a physical life, especially since as yet his nature had not become depraved. (Luther’s Works Volume 1, 56)

As for how God could summon himself to a counsel, Luther says that the phrase “Let us make,” “is aimed at making sure the mystery of our faith, by which we believe that from eternity there is one God and that there are three separate Persons in one Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”^[2] In other words, God can logically speak in the first-person plural because he is a Holy Trinity, as revealed in later biblical passages (e.g. Mt 28:19; Jn 17:3; 20:28–29; Ac 5:3–4).

From the very beginning, God has always treated human life much higher than plant and animal life. We see this in the fact that after the worldwide flood of Genesis 8, God gave Noah, his family, and the rest of humanity the permission to not only eat plants, but also animals. We read:

² The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ³ Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. (Genesis 9:2–3, ESVUK)

God’s desire for humanity to rule over the animal kingdom is proof of his gracious election of humans as possessing the greatest intrinsic value over all creatures. The Lord Jesus says as much, when teaching that while God cares for little sparrows, despite their apparent insignificance, humans “are of more value than many sparrows”, and that God has even numbered all the hairs of our heads (Lk 12:7). Furthermore, right after giving humanity the permission to kill animals for nourishment, God then establishes the death penalty for anyone or anything that kills humans (whether the culprit be a human or animal), on the basis that humans are made in God’s image:

⁵ And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. ⁶ “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. (Genesis 9:5–6)

Not only does humanity being created in God’s image and likeness function as the basis for the protection of every human life, but it also functions as the basis for why all humans deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. St James teaches this, when teaching on the need for taming our tongues:

⁹ With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:9–10)

King David’s prayerful contemplation of God’s loving care towards humanity prompted him to write Psalm 8. In it, David compares the vastness and beauty of the galaxies above to the smallness and insignificance of a single human, which prompts him to ask, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:3–4). David goes on to say:

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. ⁶ You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, ⁷ all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, ⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:5–8)

Unlike the animals, God has crowned humanity with glory and honour, and even though humans are “a little lower than the heavenly beings”, that is, the angels, this is only a temporary thing, because one day Christians will judge the angels (1Cor 6:3). Furthermore, although both humanity and some angels fell into sin, Jesus did not come to Earth to help the fallen angels, but rather all of fallen humanity (Heb 2:16–17). God shows a special interest in and love for humans that is unparalleled to any other creature, because in order to save humanity from sin, God not only became a true human just like us, but he even gave up his life to ransom us from our sins by his blood. This took place when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary (Jn 1:1–14), was crucified on a Roman cross, where he bore all our sins (1Pt 2:24), died, and rose again from the dead on the third day (Php 2:5–8). The Lord Jesus said, referring to himself as the Son of Man and of God:

¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:14–16)

God went to such self-sacrificial lengths to save humanity from sin’s consequences because we alone are created in his image and likeness.

God Created Humans Like Himself

Now that we have discussed the implications of humans possessing the image and likeness of God, we can move on to discuss what exactly this image and likeness consists of. In Dr Luther’s Lectures on Genesis 1–5, he affirms St Augustine and the other Church Doctors’ understanding of the image of God in us being the powers of the soul, that is: the memory, the mind or intellect, and the will, a Trinitarian constitution which reflects God’s own Trinitarian nature.^[3] To this, though, Luther correctly adds that these have become severely damaged after Adam and Eve’s fall into sin.^[4] He also affirms the Doctors’ understanding that the likeness or similitude of God in us refers to the perfection of that image through grace, namely, that “the intellect is enlightened by faith, the memory is made confident through hope and steadfastness, and the will is adorned with love.” Dr Steinmann also affirms that the image of God consists of superior human abilities and the power of reason.^[5]

All this is to say, in summary, that God has made humans like himself—not physically, but spiritually. God is light (1Jn 1:5) and love (1Jn 4:8, 16), and because humans are created in his image and likeness, we are able to reflect God’s light and love in the world by our words and deeds (Mt 5:14–16; Jn 13:34–35; 1Jn 3:23). The Lord Jesus said:

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

The key emphasis here is that humans in and of themselves do not possess light, but rather we derive our light from the True Light, who is Jesus, by following him. We are only created in the image and likeness of God, but we are not the image of God or the exact representation of his being. Only one person fits the latter description, and that is Jesus, the God-man, who is “the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person” (Heb 1:3, NKJV). Consequently, when we choose not to follow Jesus and walk our own way instead, we exhibit the darkness of our sins.

In regards to humans possessing a will, this can be seen in the fact that God gave Adam and Eve alone the commandment to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16–17), indicating that they not only had the capacity to comprehend morality, but also the choice of whether or not to obey God, which is the function of the human will. Since the Fall, our will has been so damaged that we cannot choose to love God, unless the Holy Spirit first converts us to the Faith (Rom 8:5–9; 1Cor 12:3) through the Word of God, as it is spoken or written (the Bible) (1Thes 1:4–5; 2:13; 2Tim 3:14–16). On a similar note, the Epitome of the Formula of Concord says: “Even our first parents before the fall did not live without the Law. They had God’s Law written into their hearts, because they were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27; 2:16–17; 3:3)” (FC Ep VI 2).^[6] The Law of God in our hearts is our conscience—the moral compass inside each person which compels us to do good and gives us contrition when we do evil (Rm 2:14–16). Furthermore, the Bible says:

Also, [God] has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, ESVUK)

Because we have eternity in our hearts, we are able to ponder and seek for things that transcend this world, such as truth, beauty, life after death, as well as the existence of an almighty Creator. This affirms that humans possess an intellect and memory far unlike that of the animals. The fourth-century bishop, St Gregory of Nyssa, in The Great Catechism, summarises the image of God as being all that characterises God, in the following words:

Since, then, one of the excellences connected with the Divine nature is also eternal existence, it was altogether needful that the equipment of our nature should not be without the further gift of this attribute, but should have in itself the immortal, that by its inherent faculty it might both recognize what is above it, and be possessed with a desire for the divine and eternal life. In truth this has been shown in the comprehensive utterance of one expression, in the description of the cosmogony, where it is said that man was made “in the image of God”. For in this likeness, implied in the word image, there is a summary of all things that characterize Deity; and whatever else Moses relates, in a style more in the way of history, of these matters, placing doctrines before us in the form of a story, is connected with the same instruction.” (The Great Catechism, Chapter V)^[7]

Indeed, to be created in God’s image and likeness simply means that God created us to live forever, to know him, and to desire the divine and eternal life that God himself lives. Finally, God’s image and likeness in us includes the perfection that Adam and Eve possessed in Paradise, which was lost after the Fall. Just as God himself is perfect in every way, both in his goodness and functional attributes (Deut 32:4; Jer 32:17; Mk 10:27; 1Jn 1:5), so too was everything about Adam and Eve perfect—their bodies functioned without flaw, their minds were sharp, and their hearts truly pure. We know that Adam and Eve were perfect because prior to their sin, there was no sin, death, or decay in the world (Rm 5:12–14; 8:19–23), and because only those who are innocent, holy, and blameless can dwell in the Holy God’s presence (Is 6:1–7; Rev 21:27). After discussing Adam and Eve’s perfection in Paradise, Luther sums up the image of God in the following words: “Therefore that image of God was something most excellent, in which were included eternal life, everlasting freedom from fear, and everything that is good.”^[8]

God Created Humans Like Himself So That We May Represent Him

Dr Gordan J. Wenham, in the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, says that in the ancient world, it was widely believed that kings were in the image of God, in the sense that they were the god’s representative and governed the Earth on his behalf.^[9] He continues on to say: “Though Genesis does not define what constitutes the image of God in man, it implies that it is those human characteristics that enable him to fulfill his duty of ruling the earth and filling it with his own kind.” Because humans are more like God than any other creature it was fitting that God chose humans to rule over creation, as opposed to any other creature.

Both before and after God created humankind in his image and likeness, God issued forth the plan and command for humans to have dominion over all creatures of the Earth, which indicates that the image of God is, indeed, linked with God’s desire for humanity to act as his earthly representatives. Genesis 1:28 declares:

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

This passage indicates that being created in God’s image and likeness is connected with participating in God’s works, because just as God rules over all the Earth as Lord (Ps 97:5), so too does God want humans to rule over all the Earth in his stead. The fact that we are God’s representatives means that we ought to rule over the Earth in love, for just as justice and righteousness are the foundation of God’s throne (Ps 97:2), so too are humans to practise justice and righteousness (Deut 16:20; Ps 11:7). Part of this involves being responsible stewards who care for God’s creation, as Genesis 2:15 makes clear:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Just as Adam worked in the Garden of Eden to preserve it, so too are humans today to take care of the animals and environment around us. There is no indication whatsoever in Scripture which suggests that humans can mistreat animals or the environment on the basis that we are above them; in fact, this is outright condemned by the Bible (Pr 12:10). Furthermore, in the same way that God is the Creator of all things (Gen 1:1), God also commands all humans (who do not have the spiritual gift of celibacy) to be co-creators with him, by getting married, and giving birth to children, who are also made in God’s image and likeness (Gen 2:24; 5:1–3; Mal 2:15).

God Created Humans Like Himself So That We May Have a Relationship with Him

Original Righteousness

Dr Philip Melanchthon, in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, says that the image and likeness of God entails the original righteousness that Adam and Eve possessed in the Garden of Eden.^[10] Commenting on this, he writes:

What else was this image and likeness other than that man was created with wisdom and righteousness so that he could apprehend God and reflect God? Mankind was given the gift of knowing God, fearing God, and being confident in God. This is how Irenaeus and Ambrose interpret the likeness of God. Ambrose not only says many things to this effect, but especially declares, “That soul is not, therefore, in the image of God, in which God is not [dwelling] at all times.” Paul shows in Ephesians 5:9 and Colossians 3:10 that the image of God is the knowledge of God, righteousness, and truth. Lombard is not afraid to say that original righteousness “is the very likeness to God which God implanted in man.” (Apology of the Augsburg Confession II (I) 18–21)

In like manner, the Heidelberg Catechism states: “God created [people] good and in his own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that they might truly know God their creator, love him with all their heart, and live with God in eternal happiness, to praise and glorify him” (HC Q.6).^[11] Right after God created Adam and Eve in his image and likeness, he gave them the commandments to rule over the animals (Gen 1:28) and work in the Garden (Gen 2:15), which they followed faithfully, implying that the image of God is connected with having harmonious fellowship with God.

In the beginning, God had planned for Adam, Eve, and all their children to have everlasting, perfect fellowship with him in Paradise. The original righteousness of humanity was that which allowed Adam and Eve to dwell directly with God in the Garden of Eden, where God walked among them without hiding his presence (Gen 3:8). But all this changed after Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus wanting to put themselves in God’s place by deciding for themselves what was right and wrong (Gen 2:16–17; 3:1–7). After this, they were cast out from the Garden, lost fellowship with God (Gen 3:22–24), and sin and death entered creation (Rm 8:19–23). As a result of their rebellion, Adam and Eve lost their original righteousness and inherited the curse of original sin, which they passed on to all subsequent humans (Rm 5:12–14), in response to which God hid his presence from humanity in a cloud of fire from then on, and ceased dwelling with us directly, due to our sins (Ex 19:9, 18; 33:18–23).

The Human Soul

Furthermore, the image and likeness of God is linked with possessing a soul, because the moment God created Adam, he made him “a living soul”:

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7, KJV)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives a good definition of the soul, in the following words: “In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man” (CCC 363).^[12] The Bible says that “God is spirit” (Jn 4:24, ESVUK), so because humans have both a body and soul—a physical and spiritual aspect to our being—we can know and love God. The fifth-century Christian theologian, St Augustine, affirmed this in The City of God, when discussing that according to Scripture, the body and soul make up the whole human:

For who is prohibited from saying, in colloquial usage, That man is dead, and is now at rest or in torment, though this can be spoken only of the soul; or He is buried in such and such a place, though this refers only to the body? Will they say that Scripture follows no such usage? On the contrary, it so thoroughly adopts it, that even while a man is alive, and body and soul are united, it calls each of them singly by the name “man,” speaking of the soul as the “inward man,” and of the body as the “outward man,” as if there were two men, though both together are indeed but one. But we must understand in what sense man is said to be in the image of God, and is yet dust, and to return to the dust. The former is spoken of the rational soul, which God by His breathing, or, to speak more appropriately, by His inspiration, conveyed to man, that is, to his body; but the latter refers to his body, which God formed of the dust, and to which a soul was given, that it might become a living body, that is, that man might become a living soul. (The City of God, Book XIII, Chapter 24)^[13]

Thus, the image of God is not only related to our roles on Earth and our physical and mental capabilities, but more importantly also to the innermost part of our being, the spiritual component, which is of highest value. Jesus clearly taught a distinction between the human body and soul, and that the soul continues to live on after death, when he said:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

Because God has created us with a soul, we alone can have fellowship with him, unlike any of the animals, who live in God’s world, but do not have the capacity to know or love him. In light of everything that has been discussed so far, when we pursue a relationship with God, when we live according to his commandments, and when we faithfully represent him and care for his creation, we are fulfilling what it truly means to be human. This is because at the heart of humanity lies the image and likeness of God. But when we reject or ignore God, when we don’t follow his commandments, and when we behave cruelly towards one another and the animals, we not only rebel against God, but also human nature, and behave more like beasts with no understanding than humans (Ps 32:9).

Jesus Christ Is the Image of God

When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they lost their original righteousness, and henceforth that aspect of the image of God has been destroyed in humanity. Paul confirms this in saying that there is not a single righteous person in the world (Rm 3:10–12) and that from Adam, sin and death spread to all humans (Rm 5:12–14). There is, however, one person who never committed a single sin, and that person is Jesus Christ, the righteous (Heb 4:15; 1Pt 2:22; 1Jn 2:1). Throughout his life, Jesus not only lived in perfect communion with his heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit (Jn 5:19–20; 8:29; 15:26; 16:13–15), but he is the very incarnation of God himself (Jn 1:1, 14), and thus the very embodiment of truth (Jn 14:6), righteousness, wisdom (1Cor 1:30), and eternal life (1Jn 1:1–4). Moreover, the Bible teaches that Jesus created humanity in the beginning, along with everything else in existence (Col 1:16–17). For these reasons, Scripture says that Jesus is not only in the image of God, but that he is the image of God:

[The Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. (Colossians 1:15)

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Because Jesus lived a perfect life, he lived more like a human than any other human in existence, because in doing so he truly fulfilled what it means to be in the image of God. Although we have failed to live up to the image of God in us, the good news is that when we abide in Jesus by faith, the Holy Spirit conforms us back to the image of Jesus Christ, in whose image humanity was originally created:

For those whom [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. … ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:45, 49)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The work of Christ on the cross and in his resurrection reverses the effects of the Fall of Eden. When we put our faith in Jesus as our only Saviour, we have peace with God (Rm 5:1), and Jesus, who atoned for all our sins on the cross and intercedes for us (Heb 9:24–29), gives us full access to God the Father, by the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18; Heb 10:19–22). Because of this, when a Christian dies, he or she will not be damned, but instead raised to everlasting life and fellowship with God in Heaven, from where we will await the resurrection of our bodies that will be like Jesus’ glorious resurrected body at his second coming (1Cor 15:20–23; 40–49). In Revelation, St John caught a glimpse of what this eternal fellowship looks like in the new Heaven and Earth, in which God will once again dwell directly with redeemed humanity forever—referring to all the saints who die having believed in Christ (Rev 22:3–4). Commenting on the restoration of God’s image in Christ, Dr Luther writes:

What we achieve in life, however, is brought about, not by the dominion which Adam had but through industry and skill. … Therefore we retain the name and word “dominion” as a bare title, but the substance itself has been almost entirely lost. Yet it is a good thing to know these facts and to ponder them, so that we may have a longing for that coming Day when that which we lost in Paradise through sin will be restored to us. We are waiting for that life for which Adam also should have waited. And we duly marvel at this and thank God for it, that although we are so disfigured by sin, so dull, ignorant, and dead, as it were, nevertheless, through the merit of Christ, we wait for the same glory of the spiritual life for which Adam would have waited if he had remained in his physical life, which was endowed with the image of God. (Luther’s Works Volume 1, 67–68)^[14]

While the process of the Holy Spirit conforming Christians to Christ’s image will never be finished in this life on Earth, it will be finished the moment we die, or when Jesus returns in glory before then to judge the living and the dead (1Cor 15:50–52; 2Tim 4:1). On that day, we will finally live out our humanity fully with God in the way he originally intended, which will bring the redeemed in Christ everlasting satisfaction in their eternal home.

Conclusion

When the Bible says that God created humankind in his image and likeness, it means: that God gave humans higher value than any other creature; that God made humans like himself; that God created humans to represent him; and that God created humans to have eternal fellowship with him. More specifically, it means that God gave humans a mind, memory, and will like his, a conscience so that they can love good like him, a soul so that they can have fellowship with him, and that God originally made humanity righteous.

Although we lost that righteousness by sinning against God, he gave Christians the Holy Spirit through his spoken and written Word, who conforms them back to the image of Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer, throughout our lives on Earth. This process will finally be complete when we arrive in our heavenly home. While God does love the animals and angels, he loves humans more than any other created being because we alone bear his image and likeness. Thanks be to God for his eternal love towards us.

Notes

[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1: Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1–5, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 56.

[2] Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1, 57.

[3] Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1, 60.

[4] Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1, 62.

[5] Andrew E. Steinmann, Called To Be God’s People: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2006), 92.

[6] Paul Timothy McCain, Edward A. Engelbrecht, Robert C. Baker, and Gene Edward Veith, eds, Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 486.

[7] Gregory Nyssen, “The Great Catechism,” in The Church Fathers. The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words, trans. William Moore, M.A., and Henry Austin Wilson, M.A., ed. Philip Schaff (London, England: Catholic Way Publishing, 2014), 27807, Kindle.

[8] Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1, 65.

[9] Gordon J. Wenham, “Genesis,” in Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, ed. James D. G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 39.

[10] McCain et al., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, 78.

[11] Christian Reformed Church in North America and Reformed Church in America, Heidelberg Catechism (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2011), https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism.

[12] Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed. (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000), https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1B.HTM.

[13] Aurelius Augustinus, “The City of God,” in The Church Fathers. The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words, trans. Marcus Dods, D.D., ed. Philip Schaff (London, England: Catholic Way Publishing, 2014), 11829, Kindle.

[14] Luther, Luther’s Works Volume 1, 67–68.

Bibliography

Augustinus, Aurelius. “The City of God.” In The Church Fathers. The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words. Translated by Marcus Dods, D.D., edited by Philip Schaff. London, England: Catholic Way Publishing, 2014. Kindle.

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd ed. Huntingdon, Pennsylvania: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM.

Christian Reformed Church in North America and Reformed Church in America. Heidelberg Catechism. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2011. https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism.

Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works Volume 1: Lectures on Genesis Chapters 1–5. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1958.

McCain, Paul Timothy, Edward A. Engelbrecht, Robert C. Baker, and Gene Edward Veith, eds. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006.

Nyssen, Gregory. “The Great Catechism.” In The Church Fathers. The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words. Translated by William Moore, M.A., and Henry Austin Wilson, M.A., edited by Philip Schaff. London, England: Catholic Way Publishing, 2014. Kindle

Steinmann, Andrew E. Called To Be God’s People: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2006.

Wenham, Gordon J. “Genesis.” In Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible, edited by James D. G. Dunn and John W. Rogerson, 32–71. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003.

The post What Does It Mean That God Created Humans in His Image and Likeness? appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

²¹ And [Jesus] said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? ²² For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” ²⁴ And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. ²⁵ For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” (Mark 4:21–25, ESVUK)

Context

The key to understanding this passage is by looking at the context. Just before, the Lord Jesus had told his audience many parables (Mk 4:2), and Mark specifically records his telling of the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:3–9). In it, Jesus likens the Word of God to seeds that a sower scatters on different types of soil, which represent people, and explains the different ways people react to the Word (Mk 4:13–20). After telling the parable, Jesus was alone, and his disciples, and others with him, privately asked him about the parables (Mk 4:10). Jesus replied:

¹¹ To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, ¹² so that “they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11–12)

Here, we see two important theological truths. First, Jesus teaches that by ourselves, we cannot understand divine revelation unless God himself gives us insight.^[1] As other Bible passages teach, faith in Jesus is a gift from God the Father, through the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:3; Eph 2:8–9). Second, this “inner circle” of followers gained insight into Jesus’ teachings because they chose to inquire further, and sought to learn what Jesus meant, unlike the others, who could have asked, but instead chose not to understand Jesus’ parables. This parallels Jesus’ teaching, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mat 7:7). This is confirmed by Mark later, when he said, “but privately to his own disciples he explained everything” (Mk 4:34).

Nothing Is Secret Except to Come to Light

After explaining the Parable of the Sower, Jesus then says, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light” (Mk 4:21–22). Just as a lamp is supposed to shine in the darkness without being covered, the purpose of Jesus’ parables is not to hide truth, but impart it.^[2],[3] Jesus’ parables do so in a way that “filters” the listeners, so to speak, as when filtering liquid through a fine cloth to purify it; the disciples had to take in the truth from the parables before being able to take in more truth from Jesus later, but in order to do so they had to be willing to learn.^[4]

When we look at Mark 4:21 retrospectively, from the lens of Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice for sins on the cross and resurrection (Heb 9:27–28; 10:10, 12–14; Ac 3:14–15), the lamp could also be referring to the Gospel—the message which tells us how we can be part of God’s kingdom (that is, by accepting Jesus as our crucified and risen Saviour) (Rom 1:16).^[5],[6] In this way, Jesus is encouraging Christians to proclaim the Gospel of Christ’s marvellous light (1Pt 2:9) to the world which has been darkened by sin, rather than keep it to themselves. Because a lamp can be a metaphor for the Messiah (2Ki 8:19; Ps 132:17), it could also refer to Jesus himself, the True Light of the world (Jn 1:9–10; 8:12), who came to make known and fulfil God’s plan of salvation (Jn 3:14–16; 12:44–50).^[7]

Mark 4:22 primarily means that although Jesus’ ministry and teachings on the kingdom of God (God’s reign in Christ and his people, the Church) is presently hidden in parables, it will one day be manifested to the world.^[8],[9] This happened partially after Jesus rose again from the dead. This was when he gave his disciples a full understanding of his true identity (Lk 24:25–27), imparted upon them the Holy Spirit to teach them all things (Jn 14:16–17, 26; 20:22), and commissioned them to proclaim the Gospel, and thus build God’s kingdom, to the ends of the Earth (Mk 16:15; Ac 1:8). In this way, the Church acts as the agent through which Jesus brings the secrets of the kingdom to light in the world. This will be completed when Jesus comes again to the Earth in glory to judge the living and the dead (Mat 16:27; 2Tim 4:1), at which point every knee will bow before him “in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Php 2:10–11).

Mark 4:22 has additional eschatological implications. We will all (both Christians and non-Christians), either straight after death or when Jesus comes again, stand before Jesus Christ at his throne of judgement to personally give account for our lives—for the good we’ve done and the evil (Heb 9:27; 2Cor 5:10). There, we cannot hide anything from our Lord—for “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb 4:13). Not only will every good deed that went unnoticed be revealed before us and Jesus, but also every evil deed that we kept hidden, for Jesus did say “nothing is hidden … nor is anything secret except to come to light” (Mk 4:22). This is supported by Jesus’ parallel teaching in Luke 12:1–3, in which Jesus connects this saying with the need to be on guard against hypocrisy, adding, “Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops” (Lk 12:3).

Of course, as Christians we affirm that Jesus paid our sin punishment fully on the cross (Col 2:13–14; 1Pt 2:24; 3:18), that he has forgiven us (1Jn 1:8–10), and that if we hold fast to him in faith, there is no condemnation for us (Rom 8:1). Nevertheless, we will still face the temporary consequences for our sins. If we don’t clean up our act now, and fail to repent of some sins before we die, then we will face the shame and humiliation of our misdeeds being made public in Jesus’ presence. As punishment, our Lord may deprive us of the rewards we could have received in Heaven (1Cor 3:13–15). There is also the chance that we harden our hearts so much to the point where we fall away from the faith, and thus lose the gift of eternal life (Heb 3:12–13).

Jesus’ statement that follows this, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mk 10:23), acts as an invitation to faith. Jesus does not force, coerce, or scare his hearers into becoming Christians; instead, he gently extends the invitation for them to do so, through the power of telling parables. This is highly effective, because parables invite us to place ourselves into the story. In using parables, Jesus goes beyond appealing to our intellect, and prompts a response from our hearts. Jesus knows that not all people have faith or will be interested in believing (Jn 2:23–24), so he calls those who are interested to follow him now. This statement also shows the importance that Jesus places on listening to him carefully—for he has the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68). There is salvation in no one else (Ac 4:12).

With the Measure You Use, It Will Be Measured to You

Then, Jesus says, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away” (Mk 4:24–25). Notice how Jesus said, “Pay attention to what you hear”; Jesus’ emphasis here is on the need for us to listen carefully to him. We must not only hear, but hear properly, and seek to understand the underlying message of the parables.^[10],[11] We must be willing to humble ourselves and take the position of students, seeking to learn from Christ, our Teacher (Mat 11:29; 23:12; Jn 13:13–14).

In this context, “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Mk 4:24) means that the effort we put into listening to and learning from Jesus’ parables will correlate with the spiritual benefits that we receive from them. If we listen and respond with an open heart, like those in the inner circle (Mk 4:11), we will grow in understanding and receive spiritual blessings and God’s kingdom in an even greater measure; but if we do not, we will lose the kingdom altogether (Mk 4:25).^{[12],[13],[14]}

Mark 4:25 corresponds to the fact that we entered the world with nothing, and cannot take anything with us after we die except for the faith that is within us (1Tim 6:7). If our faith is in Christ before death, we will take with us all the spiritual benefits that come with it into the heavenly abode that he has prepared for us (Jn 14:1–3), which he bought for us at the insurmountable cost of his life (Mk 10:45). If our faith is not in Christ, then we will lose absolutely everything in this life, including our own souls to the everlasting fires of Hell (Mk 9:43–48; Lk 12:15–21).

Jesus’ saying in Mark 4:24 parallels what he said in Matthew 7:1–2, but in the latter, Jesus connects it with judging others, saying, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Mat 7:1–2; see also Lk 6:38). In this case, Jesus’ words here can also refer to the fact that how we treat others will ultimately correspond with how God treats us when we meet him face to face. If, in faith, we treat others the way we would want to be treated (Mat 7:12), God will graciously repay us with even more kindness and goodness than we gave (Mat 6:3–6, 10:40–42; Lk 6:35; 1Cor 3:13–15).

But if we harden our hearts and repeatedly treat others cruelly or shamefully without repenting—at which point it can be said that faith no longer exists in such a person (e.g., Gal 5:19–21; 1Tim 5:8; Heb 3:12; 1Jn 3:15)—God will repay us with a punishment that corresponds to our misdeeds in Hell (Ps 37:12–13; 145:20; Pr 13:9; 15:3; Mat 24:45–51). The theme of our end corresponding to our deeds is prominent throughout Scripture, as seen in the below passages.

• “For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement.” (James 2:13)
• “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14–15)
• “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.” (Luke 6:37–38a)

Conclusion

There was a lot to take in from this small Bible passage. Here are three main points to take home. 1. When Jesus returns, the secrets of the kingdom will be revealed to the whole world and it will be evident to everyone that he is truly the King of Heaven and the universe (Mk 4:21–22; Rev 17:14; 19:16). Nevertheless, it will be too late for unbelievers to repent on that day (Mat 22:11–14). In the meantime, Christians are instructed to “put the lamp on the stand” by proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to others (Mat 28:19–20; Mk 4:21; 16:15).

2. If we put in the effort of listening to Jesus’ teachings, pondering them, and applying them to our lives, God will grant us spiritual blessings in even greater measure (Mk 4:23–25; Mat 7:7). Ignoring Jesus or not taking him seriously will just lead to confusion and ignorance, and potentially apostasy (Mk 4:12; Jn 6:60, 66; Heb 3:12). 3. There is no such thing as “secret sins”, because all our actions will be made public before Jesus on the last day (Mk 4:22; Lk 12:1–3). So, let’s not become prideful, but instead humble ourselves before God (Is 66:2). If we live each day by trusting in Jesus, living under his easy yoke (Mat 11:29–30), and repenting of our sins, we will have nothing to fear when we die. In Christ there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1).

To learn how to have your sins forgiven, and spend eternity with Jesus Christ, please read the following article.

• How to Go to Heaven

See Also

• What Is the Kingdom of God?
• Where Do Our Souls Go When We Die and After Judgement Day?
• Why Did Jesus Come into the World?
• What Does the Holy Spirit Do?

Notes

[1] Edward A. Engelbrecht et al., The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 1662.

[2] Stephen S. Short, ‘Mark,’ in Zondervan Bible Commentary: One-Volume Illustrated Edition, ed. F. F. Bruce (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 1111.

[3] Alan Cole, ‘Mark,’ in The New Bible Commentary, 4th ed., ed. D. A. Carson, R. T. France, and G. J. Wenham (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015), 958.

[4] Cole, ‘Mark,’ 958.

[5] Engelbrecht et al., The Lutheran Study Bible, 1663.

[6] Lou Barbieri, ‘Mark,’ in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 1526.

[7] James R. Edwards, ‘Mark,’ in The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, ed. Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks, 2012), 1019.

[8] Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch, The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), 73.

[9] Edward E. Hindson et al., Zondervan King James Version Commentary: New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 103.

[10] Jack Norman Sparks et al., The Orthodox Study Bible (Elk Grove, California: St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, 2008), 1335.

[11] Short, ‘Mark,’ 1111.

[12] Sparks et al., The Orthodox Study Bible, 1335.

[13] Short, ‘Mark,’ 1111.

[14] Edwards, ‘Mark,’ 1019.

Bibliography

Barbieri. 2014. ‘Mark.’ In The Moody Bible Commentary. Edited by Michael Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014.

Cole, Alan. 1994. ‘Mark.’ In The New Bible Commentary. 4th ed., edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, and G. J. Wenham. Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

Edwards, James R. 2012. ‘Mark.’ In The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary. Edited by Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill. Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks, 2012.

Engelbrecht, Edward A., Paul E. Deterding, Roland Cap Ehlke, Jerald C. Joersz, Mark W. Love, Steven P. Mueller, Scott R. Murray, Daniel E. Paavola, Victor H. Prange, Robert A. Sorensen, and Michael P. Walther. The Lutheran Study Bible. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.

Hahn, Scott and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament, Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010.

Hindson, Edward E., Daniel R. Mitchell, Barth Campbell, Mal Couch, Steven Ger, Harvey Hartman, Ronald Hawkins, Fred Smith, Jon Venema, Gary Yates. Zondervan King James Version Commentary: New Testament Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010.

Short, Stephen S. 2008. ‘Mark.’ In Zondervan Bible Commentary: One-Volume Illustrated Edition. Edited by F. F. Bruce. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.

Sparks, Jack Norman, J. Richard Ballew, Metropolitan MAXIMOS, Eugen Pentiuc, Michel Najim, Peter E. Gillquist, Alan Wallerstedt, Joseph Allen, Theodore Stylianopoulos. The Orthodox Study Bible. Elk Grove, California: St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology, 2008.

The post Nothing Is Hidden Except to Be Made Manifest (Mark 4:21–25) appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

The Bible’s Answer

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16–17, ESVUK)

Just before this, St Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia that Christ, who set them free from the ceremonial laws of Moses (Gal 5:1–6), has called them to freedom, not to follow their fleshly desires, but to love one another, which is the essence and fulfilment of the law of Moses (Gal 5:13–14). Paul warned them that if they live according to the flesh by bitterly attacking and arguing with one another, they may consume each other (Gal 5:15).

St Paul then provides the solution to this: if we don’t want to gratify the desires of the flesh, then we need to walk by the Spirit. Simply put, walking by the Spirit is the opposite of walking by the flesh. When one walks by the flesh, they perform the works of the flesh, which is sin (Gal 5:19–21). When one walks by the Spirit, on the other hand, they perform the fruit (or works) of the Holy Spirit, which is virtue (Gal 5:22–23). To walk by the Spirit, then, simply means to live a life in which one actively seeks to repress their sinful impulses in order to practise virtue in accordance with the desires of the Holy Spirit, who lives within Christians and empowers them to live righteous and godly lives (Gal 3:14; 4:6; 5:25; 1Cor 6:19–20; Rom 8:13).

The whole of Galatians chapter 5 is actually a summary of the first part of Romans chapter 8; it is essentially Paul’s commentary of Romans 8, which he applies to a particular situation of his day (namely, the Judaizers insisting to the Galatian Christians that circumcision is necessary for salvation). Paul starts by saying that in Christ, the Holy Spirit has set us free from obeying the law of sin and death, so that we may obey the law of the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2) (the law of Christ and love, as per Gal 5:13–14). Then, Paul describes walking according to the Spirit, which he also calls living according to the Spirit, as setting one’s mind on the things of the Spirit, rather than the flesh (Rom 8:4–6), and by putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit (Rom 8:13), who leads and dwells in Christians (Rom 8:9, 14).

What Walking by the Spirit Looks Like

In Galatians, Paul shows us what this looks like when put into practice, by contrasting the works of the flesh with the works of the Spirit:

¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:18–23)

Paul’s phrase: “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal 5:18) means that the ceremonial/dietary/judicial laws of Moses no longer apply to Christians, because the Holy Spirit, who dwells in them (1Cor 3:16, 12:3; Rom 8:9), has put them in the new covenant (2Cor 3:5–6) of grace and truth (Jn 1:17), and because Christ has set them free from the old covenant (Gal 5:1, 13; Heb 8:6, 13) by fulfilling it on their behalf (Mat 5:17).

When Paul talks about the flesh, he is not saying that our bodies, which God created, are sinful (Gen 1:31; Ps 139:13–14; 1Cor 6:15, 18–20; 2Cor 6:16); rather, he is talking about how from birth, all people inherited original sin from the first humans, Adam and Eve (Rom 5:12–14, 18), which gives us the natural inclination to want to commit sin (Rom 7:22–23). When we succumb to these desires of our flesh, we commit sin (Jas 1:14–15). If Christians want to put to death the deeds of their sinful desires, then they need to let the Holy Spirit take lead of their lives, by actively contemplating the things of the Spirit, hating evil and loving good (Ps 97:10; Pr 8:13; Am 5:15), and putting love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control into practice.

This isn’t always easy, because we are weak (Heb 4:15), and it requires us to regularly devote ourselves to watchfulness, prayer (Mat 26:41; Lk 21:34; 1Cor 16:13; Col 4:2) and Bible reading (Ps 119: 9–11; Mat 4:4), flee from vices (1Cor 6:18; 10:14; 1Tim 6:11; 2Tim 2:22), and discipline our bodies and keep them under control (1Cor 9:27). Nevertheless, the Spirit helps us in our weakness (Rom 8:26), and God the Father always provides a way for us to endure temptations to sin (1Cor 10:13). Paul then says:

²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:24–26)

That is to say, since we Christians have been made alive spiritually by the Holy Spirit (Jn 3:5–6; Eph 2:1–2, 4–5), let us live out that reality in our daily lives. In Baptism, we died and rose with Christ, and the old sinful self was crucified with him, to set us free from sin’s power in the new life we now live in Christ (Rom 6:3–5, 6–7, 13). In Christ, we are a new creation (2Cor 5:17), which no longer lives for the self, but for Jesus, who “died for all“, so that those who belong to him may live for him (2Cor 5:15). Pride, provocation, and envy are works of the flesh; if we replace them with love/humility, gentleness, and joy, and practise them, then we are walking by the Spirit, because these are the virtues that he delights in.

Jesus Christ Perfectly Walked by the Spirit

Paul showed us what a life of walking by the Spirit should look like, but he did not provide a real-life example. In the four Gospel accounts, though, we do have a real-life example of what this looks like in Jesus Christ. The man Jesus is the incarnation of God (Jn 1:1–3, 14; 20:28–29; Heb 1:8–9), who, being one with the Father and the Holy Spirit in being (Jn 10:30; Mat 28:19), was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Lk 1:35; Jn 3:34; Ac 10:37–39).

As God, Jesus is the incarnation of righteousness itself (1Cor 1:30–31), and he lived a life of complete sinlessness and purity (1Pet 2:21–22). This means that Jesus’ life is the perfect model for what it means to walk by the Spirit. Below are some Bible passages which show the fruits of the Spirit that Jesus exhibited at various points throughout his ministry.

• Love: Though Jesus is truly God, he left Heaven and came to Earth for our sake (Jn 1:1–3, 14; Jn 6:38). Though Jesus did nothing wrong, he voluntarily gave up his life to save those who did not deserve to be saved (Mk 10:45; Jn 3:16–17; 10:17–18; 12:44–50). Jesus’ entire life on Earth was characterised by love: he miraculously fed the 5,000 who followed him out of compassion (Mk 8:1–10), looked out for the poor and needy (Lk 12:33), corrected abuse of power (Mat 15:1–9), forgave a woman caught in adultery and saved her from the death penalty (Jn 8:1–11), provided his widowed mother, Mary, with a home and caregiver before he died (Jn 19:25–27), etc.
• Joy: Jesus rejoiced in the Father’s will by the Holy Spirit (Lk 10:21–22) and always gave thanks to his heavenly Father (Jn 6:11; 11:41–42).
• Peace: Jesus praised peacemakers (Mat 5:9), opposed violence in all its forms (Mat 5:38–48), and did not fight his enemies, but instead had mercy on them, even though he could have destroyed them by his almighty power (Mat 26:50–56). Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, a symbol of peace (Mat 21:6–9), rather than a horse, a symbol of war. Furthermore, Jesus comforted his disciples so that in him they might have peace (Jn 16:32–33), and blessed them with peace after his resurrection from the dead (Jn 20:21, 26).
• Patience: Before calling the Twelve Apostles, Jesus prayed to his heavenly Father all night (Lk 6:12). Jesus also had to show patience to his disciples, who oftentimes were dull of understanding (Mat 16:5–12).
• Kindness: Jesus did not ignore social outcasts of the time, but gave his attention to them and helped them, including lepers (Mk 1:40–45), tax collectors, prostitutes (Mk 2:13–17), Samaritans (Jn 4:7–30), those excommunicated from the Synagogue (Jn 9:35–41), etc.
• Goodness: Jesus taught that it is not a sin, but morally righteous, to do good on the Sabbath, by miraculously healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath (Mk 3:1–6; Lk 6:6–11). He helped thousands of people by doing similar healings and exorcisms for them all throughout Israel (Mat 4:23–24).
• Faithfulness: When the crowd of Roman soldiers and temple guards came after Jesus and his disciples to arrest them based on false charges, Jesus stood up for his disciples, allowing them to escape while he alone got arrested (Jn 18:7–9). Even though Peter had abandoned Jesus by denying him three times, Jesus did not abandon him, but restored him to full fellowship after his resurrection (Lk 22:31–34; Jn 21:15–19).
• Gentleness: Jesus never returned violence with violence, even after a temple guard unjustly struck him during his trial before Anas (Jn 18:19–24), and even after his enemies came after him with swords and clubs to arrest him (Mat 26:47–52).
• Self-control: Jesus resisted all of Satan’s temptations, even after fasting for 40 days and nights in the wilderness (Mat 4:1–11; Lk 4:1–13). Jesus, being afraid of suffering, did not want to be crucified, but prayed that his Father’s will be done, and carried it out faithfully till the end (Mat 26:36–46).

Conclusion

Jesus walked by the Spirit perfectly, by living a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, so that in him, the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:1–4). We are not our own, for Christ bought us at the price of his precious blood (1Cor 6:19–20; 1Pet 1:18–19). So, let us give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God our Father rose from the dead and exalted at his right hand (1Pet 1:20–21), by walking by the Spirit all the days of our life.

Other Bible passages which use the imagery of walking for further study: Romans 6:4; 13:13–14; Ephesians 2:10; 5:2 Colossians 1:9–11; 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12; 4:1.

To learn how to have your sins forgiven, and spend eternity with Jesus Christ, please read the following article.

• How to Go to Heaven

See Also

• Who Is the Holy Spirit?
• What Does the Holy Spirit Do?
• Christ Is Our Life (Colossians 3:1–4)
• Are You Worthy of Jesus? (Matthew 10:37–38)

The post What Does It Mean to Walk by the Spirit? (Galatians 5:16) appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.

The Prophet Isaiah made the following prophecy concerning Jesus: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is 9:6, ESVUK). Some people assume that in calling Jesus the “Everlasting Father”, this means he must be God the Father. This is not true.

First, notice that Isaiah says: “his name shall be called…”. In other words, Isaiah is giving a list of names, or titles, which Jesus possesses. The fact that Jesus shares the same name or title as the Father, however, does not in any way mean that he and the Father are the same person; two different people can share the same name. For example, King Nebuchadnezzar shares the title “king of kings” (Ezek 26:7; Dan 2:37) with God the Father (1Tim 6:15), but no one would conclude that he and God the Father are the same person.

In addition, the counterargument could be made that nowhere in the Bible is the Father called the “Prince of Peace”—Jesus is the only person in the entire Bible who possesses this name/title. This indicates that he is, indeed, a different person from the Father, who shares some names with him, but also possesses different names. For example, Jesus is called “the Word” (Jn 1:1, 14; Rev 19:13), “the Son of God” (Ac 9:20), “the Father’s Son” (2Jn 1:3), “Immanuel” (Mat 1:22–23), and even the name “Jesus” itself (Mat 1:21), unlike the Father. Furthermore, a wholistic reading of the book of Isaiah proves that Jesus and the Father are not the same person. Later on, Isaiah records the following prophecy in which the Messiah (Jesus) says:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; … (Isaiah 61:1)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus confirms that he fulfills this prophecy (Lk 4:17–21). This clearly differentiates “God”, the “Spirit” and the “Anointed One” (Jesus) as three different persons. This is in perfect harmony with Isaiah 9:6, which teaches that Jesus is called “Everlasting Father”, but not God the Father.

Finally, the entire Bible contradicts the belief that Jesus is the Father. In the Gospel of John, Jesus identifies himself and his Father as “two people”, not one person, when he said: “In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸ I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me” (Jn 8:17–18). Furthermore, in Jesus’ baptism, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were each present simultaneously, rather than in one mode at a time:

… when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased. (Luke 16:21–22)

The Bible teaches that Jesus is God (Jn 1:1; 20:28), the eternal Creator of all things (Jn 1:2–3; Col 1:16–17). But Jesus is the Son, not the Father (1Jn 4:14; 5:11–12). The Son and the Father “are one” in being (Jn 10:30), not person (Jn 10:28–29). This is how Jesus can be “with God” and “God” at the same time (Jn 1:1). The true monotheistic God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three Persons united in the one undivided being—the God into whose name Christians are baptised (Mat 28:19), just as Christ’s Church has constantly taught for the past 2,000 years.

See Also

• Is Jesus God?
• What Is the Trinity?
• Does the Bible Teach the Holy Trinity?
• In What Sense Is Jesus the Son of God?

The post If Jesus Is the “Everlasting Father”, Does This Mean He Is God the Father? (Isaiah 9:6) appeared first on Redemption of Humanity.