On God and gods

A new year but still an old theological debate. By the time I wrote this many had already taken the task of answering this question and thank God, more people need to speak up about this. But it is going around so I will still add my two cents. Of recent the question "Don't we all just worship the same God? The Jews, Christians and all their denominations and what about the Muslims? Isn't it all the same God of Abraham? Aren't we just looking from different vantage points reading slightly different descriptions? Haven't you seen that tolerance and co-exist bumper sticker with all the world religions represented on it? Geez! Are we all approaching the same God who just seems to give different and conflicting marching orders to different peoples? Well with the rise of Radical Islam this is a good question to ask. This is not simply the case of Christians trying to be different for differences sake, these truths have gravitas, they carry meaning. As a famous person once said, ideas have consequences. 

Well let's look at it. Let's get Biblical a moment. The word of God gives testimony about what we are supposed to believe, this is why we place such weight to what is written. This is why even the Qur'an calls Christians people of the book. So what does that book say? The Bible records for us the character and nature of God. It says:

35. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36. 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 3:35,36

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." John 13:20

He who has the Son (Jesus) has the father, he who does not have the son does not have the father. 1 John 5:12 

No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 
1 John 2:23

This is even foretold in the Old Testament.

13. I saw in the night visions,and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man,and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion,which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.  Daniel 7 

This is why Jesus frequently refers to himself as the Son of Man. The Father (God) is inextricably linked to the Son (Jesus). 

It other words there is a sense in which the Jews are approaching the right God but attempting to worship him wrongly. But can this be said the Islam? Does simply the idea that Isaac and Ishmael shared a Father in Abraham mean that a religion that rose literally hundreds of years later that pays lip service to that God mean anything? Well I think we have to seriously look at what the teachings say? How is God described what does he ask of his people? And finally, this is the linchpin, what do they say about Jesus?

This is the issue. If they acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the messiah come into the world, God's own son that shares nature with the Father then they are true, if not they are Antichrist. This is an explicit teaching of the Bible. No blogger can change this even if it wins friends and influences people. As creatures we have to come to God on his terms. 

If God condescended and humbled himself to take on the form of a human being in order to testify that he himself had the keys to death and eternal life and that nobody could approach his father, who he is himself one with, then apart from his known message and offer of redemption, are we really being intellectually and theologically honest in arguing that another religion that is hostile to that  truth is the same thing? 

If we have one math book that teaches that 1+1=2 and we have another math book that teaches that 1+1=3 then they cannot both be reliably teaching the same thing. Even if we were attending a conference on math solidarity and peace among mathematicians. I would hope that there would be enough integrity in the room for someone to stand up and say we have crossed over from math into silliness. 

The Bible is explicit. Paul specifically makes the case that even if it was an angel was to appear to you and were to preach to you another gospel that they should be accursed. Why? Because it would be messing with the very revelation from God himself, the very revelation that teaches how to have peace with God. In other words God is not going to contradict himself and confuse his people, but perhaps his enemies will...

Go and read Islamic history. This is exactly the story of how it happened. An angel from "god" appeared and gave new and conflicting testimony. A good follower of the God of Abraham would have recognized the revelation as new and quite different and thus not from the true God. They already had other books not included in the cannon. A good follower of Christ would have further asked and what do you say about Jesus? Is he Lord and God? Well the answer is clear from the Qur'an, No! He was just another prophet from (same god?) of which now Muhammad is greater.

The Bible records Jesus saying of himself from the Gospel of John:

"I am the way the truth and life no one comes to the Father but by me."

"I am the resurrection and the life."

"I am the gate, whoever enters through me will have eternal life."

and to prevent the idea of two Gods Jesus says of himself "I and the Father are one." 

This is how we get the idea of trinity along with the Holy Spirit, 3 in 1. These are exclusive Christian truths that no Jew or Muslim will claim or stand for. We have to consider theology here. If Jesus was just another one in line of people who at one time or another was privileged enough to speak on behalf of god for a bit, he really is no better than Moses, Isaiah , Jonah or perhaps even Mohammad. Jesus really should not be saying the kinds of things he said. We shouldn't be revering him the way we do and we should surely stop writing songs about the guy.

But God is a jealous God who will not share his glory with another. The writer of Hebrews writes:

The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father,   and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.”7 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire.”8 But of the Son he says,“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

So Jesus is quite different from other men. Jesus is quite different even to the angels who owe him worship. This is not another prophet in line of the prophets. This man is God's own Son who claims worship for himself. Jews recognized this which is why they put him on the cross. The Qu'ran cannot and will not claim this, in fact neither will the Jews. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says of him in Colossians 1:

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

If we want peace with our fellow man we need more than a bumper sticker understanding, we have to follow it to the source which is a man Jesus, we do not however pretend all our gods are the same. This is why Jesus came, anybody can use the word god and fill in the meaning. Hinduism literally has millions of them, our planets are Roman Gods fashioned after the Greek gods and Zeus, who was that thunder guy? We have lots of gods in our history, we are not short on gods. Just because someone in your ancestry has a common relative does not mean your gods are the same, especially with conflicting revelation.

This is why all the many denominations of Christianity share confessions and creeds. We hold that Jesus is the only begotten Son and that he and the Father are both one.  The spirit proceeds from them, their is one God with three persons we have a holy trinity. We have certain confessions that demarcate faith in God or something else. If we have these confessions in common so we can disagree on baptism and liturgy and music. This is why the counter argument that certain theologians also had different gods because they worship differently does not work. We have church history and heretic councils when their gods were actually different and wouldn't you know it, it was about the theology. 

If we agree, we can have many flavors on a Sunday morning as long as we honor Jesus Christ as Lord. When not? Well this is why Mormonism is considered a cult to Christians, they do not share the belief that Jesus is the unique and only begotten Son of God in the flesh worthy of all our worship. Interestingly enough their revelation was also given by an angel of which we were already warned about. This is why people who say they want Jesus or God but don't like theology unfortunately do not understand how it works. Jesus gave us specific testimony that we either accept or reject. The Father (God) sent Jesus because he does care and specifically want us to believe and act in a certain way, it does matter. People will always create other ways to god and even gods themselves but the Father only recognizes the way of his Son. Certain things can never be denied or else we have 1+1=3 and only silly people will agree to live in such nonsense. 

Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no one can come to the father but by me. There is no other prophet who gives aid. This is why even Jews need the Gospel. This is why Christians who know their Bibles will never agree to a statement that we all worship the same god, it is not to be petty, it is not to be belligerent, it is because it is not a simply a question of method but of who is actually on the other end of those prayers. 

Let's stop arguing for solidarity when there is none, but gain a little understanding. Instead read the Bible and see who it is we actually are seeking or not. Find out who it is you are reaching for as Michelangelo painted. Because there are many gods out there, but there is only one true God. Maybe we should find out who he is. 

thanks

Apocalypse Please?

No this not about Muse's great song but about a never ceasing stab at predicting the apocalypse. I had to comment on this trend of some "christian" groups who keep trying to predict the end of the world.

I remember seeing the book 88 Reasons The World Will End In 1988, in 1991. Even I got excited about the predicted end by the terminator machines in 1997, but it  never came. Harold Camping predicted the end would come in 1999 by some Jewish calendars and interesting mathematical calculations, but even math failed us. The millennium bug that was Y2K, the year to usher in the computer apocalypse also failed to boot.  The Mayans and some Christians thought 2012 was the end, we even got a mediocre movie out of it. And recently the rare Blood moon of 2015 align with some Jewish festivals thus the apocalypse. These are only a small handful of the times this has been done, rest assured this will not be the end literally, nor of this problem.

Christians please wise up. This has been done so many times. I have watched people I love make life decisions over our tendency to fall for panic inducing predictions that do little more than make both book profits and false prophets alike.

Christians we are called to be wise as serpents. Wisdom calls to us but we keep deciding we would rather be simple. Proverbs warns of the importance of wisdom and the foolishness of ignoring it. Christians are not stupid. We have a logical informed life changing Gospel and an intelligent and all loving wise God.

Why do we fall for this? 

Jesus himself told us that no one would know the hour or day. So why, why do we keep thinking he is wrong and these false prophets are right? 

This also doesn't mean "But we can know the year or season!" It is meant to communicate don't ask, you will not know. God does say we can read the signs but that means looks high for your redemption draws near not that it is meant for some kind of specific interpretation and it is definitely happening on this date so buy guns and sell your stock.

The guy on street corner holding the sign has at least the sense to not tack a date onto the warning. 

Might part of it be that we are so heavenly minded we are no earthy good? What I mean we have so little to contribute and less to hope for in the here and now that only the hope of heaven moves us? 

Are we maybe in danger of loving God but not so much our neighbors? If we knew the apocalypse was tomorrow shouldn't we be preaching the gospel, rather than trying to get our ducks in a row? Anticipation of his returns is every Christian's hope but it should change us for the here and now, for the better.

We should be that much better at love and ministry to the world. We should be that much better because there really is an urgency in the message. Today is the day of salvation!

There is an atheist website about pet care for after the rapture. It is mocking the whole concept for sure but it is clever in that we have not been. If we predict, freak-out and are duped by this only to do it all over again next time then where is our hope and our security really planted? It certainly isn't in Jesus' own words.

Furthermore what does this say of Christians? Well unfortunately it says we both fail to possess understanding of our own theology nor do we engage our minds beyond a fight or flight response. 

So after every mistake are we learning or is our guitar still weeping? John Lennon is spinning in his grave.

Our redemption does draw near, with every passing day it is closer than when we began, but God will come in his time and we will not know when. That is why we are told it will happen like a thief in the night. The picture is for us to prepare in such away that we are ready no matter when it is. Why? Because we do not know and will not know. The signs are a reminder of the times for the purpose of moving us to timely ministry not an indication of an expiration date.

The idea is that his return is imminent. This means we can't know the time but we are always supposed to be prepared. We are to be ready. This is the point of the parable of the 10 virgins. Be ready because we do not know when the bridegroom will come. There are things to be done for preparation. There is a way to wait. When we chase after dates we are like the foolish virgins who are not prepared and only do what is necessary after the time has run out. We sit around with our wicks not trimmed and our oil running out. We wait for the calling of the city guard to announce his return before we move into action. This is why people chase dates because they themselves are not prepared and they need something to make them move.

Part of the reason we are not told the date is to prompt a response in us now. We have to develop a life style of discipline in order to be prepared. Or else we become the wicked servant who supposes the master is still far off and beats the fellow servants and is completely caught off guard when the master arrives.

So please dear Christian stop looking to the next prophet or world event to inform you of something that God has said he will not share. Instead understand that everyday your redemption draws near and that that means live accordingly.

Many more nice looking round numbers on the calendar will come but that should not bother us . But If not, how about February 1, 2121? It has a nice calendar looking date and It is far enough in advance for me to keep some credibility. If the Lord should tarry until the date comes to pass I will be already dead and safe in his hands.

But really, why not just listen to God?

Thanks

Wrestling with 1 Corinthians 5

Where is the grace Paul?!

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

So we judge the person inside the church who claims brotherhood not those who do not. Why? Because we lack grace? No because a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Addressing sin in the church is not about legalism it is about maintaining the witness to the world of salt and light. The witness that does not openly condemn the world with words but by our deeds are the unrighteous put to shame. If we allow our good deeds to be clouded by prevailing sin then our message is totally silenced. This is why sin in the church needs to be addressed not because we are loosing our salvation or because we have a poor balance of works and grace but because our testimony is tainted. 

But doesn't Paul like, talk about grace, like, all the time?  Grace is what this man needs from God in order to address his sin. If this man believes that he can change on his own then he misses the point. Paul's point is not to get this man to fix himself but to recognize what he is doing needs correction and that he needs to reach out for grace. This guy is already trying it his own way and he needs the grace of God to help him change, if he will only lift his head. This is Paul saying you have started looking elsewhere and you need to rely on God. 

But doesn't grace mean being nice, why is Paul yelling? He sounds upset.

See we have to let the Bible define grace for us. Jesus actually talks very little of it. Paul gives us most of the information about grace. In Titus 2 he explains that grace enables us to have salvation for sure, but what it does it teach. It teaches us obedience and self-control. It informs out behavior, it enables and teaches us to be Godly. It is not blanket favor that means God looks the other way. 

The problem is we can't see the heart. For someone lost in sin trying to come to God and actively needing grace, he is granted it, but we do not see it when we see someone lost in sin saying they want God but not changing. 

Let's be honest Grace is hard to spot when someone is walking through it and forgiveness is hard to grant. We can't see people's heart but we can see their deeds. It is deeds that spread and influence in the church. Paul is concerned because the atmosphere is one where the people are arrogant and not instead grieved over the sin. The leaven had spread and the testimony was silenced. "Why go to the church? The people there are involved in more vile sin that we are." In other words the Gospel is ineffective. The message is undermined the mission is pointless and we are all wasting our time. At least that was probably what Paul was thinking. 

Thankfully Paul wasn't content to leave it there. He wanted change because there is more grace to go around. There is favor from God that enables salvation and teaches his people Godliness.

Paul absolutely does not want the Gospel of Jesus undermined by the behavior of the church. This is something that we need to take very seriously. This is why it is a big deal when a very prominent Christian leader or any leader falls into moral sin. Their sin has ramifications, their behavior has influence. Their sin speaks about the condition of the church and the condition of the Gospel. Paul is all about about grace, but grace is never supposed to undermine the message. 

Our good deeds are to put the world to shame, not that our sinfulness seems inviting. Because frankly it is not, it is off-putting. Church sin is only appealing to the nominal and hypocritical it is never appealing to the outside world. At least in the sense we think, In fact they love it because it silences us.

Paul speaks about this again in Titus.

 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

Peter says it as well.

16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Paul is all about grace. Christianity is all about grace, but do not undermine the movement. Do not undermine the message. Do not undermine the Gospel. Let God's grace teach you. 

So where is the grace? It flows down to under-gird his people and the gospel. It does not flow down to help keep the leaven alive to spread throughout the body. The little book of I John is all about this. He is faithful and just to forgive all our sins, so don't for a moment claim that you are without them. 

So Paul has grace for the repentant and harsh words for the hard of heart, but all are forgiven when we humbly come to the mercy seat of God. Grace teaches and enables salvation. 

thanks 

Jude 17-25 a Commentary

^{Finishing up on Jude.}

17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

17-18 Jude returns back to addressing the church specifically. There is a reminder to recall the words of the faithful to Christ and the apostles. They foretold that in the last times there will be scoffers. Scoffers are those who will not believe and mock at sound doctrine. They do this because of their own malcontent and they will not heed to what was already delivered to the saints; the faith in completeness. So they follow their own ungodly passions. If we are do not hold to the true faith then we are left to run after whatever passions that our malcontent urges lead.

19-20 Worse still these men lead others astray. They will cause divisions in the church because they are without the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who will bring to remembrance all the things Jesus taught and will lead the people into righteousness therefore these men are without him. This is how Jude says these men are devoid of the Spirit. If they had the Spirit they would be bringing unity and not just a unity but unity under Christ. In other words the Spirit would lead them in true unity of the scriptures and with true followers of Christ, as a major job of the spirit is to illuminate it to us. This is why they are of the world and not of the Spirit. Jude reminds the faithful to continue to build themselves up in the faith that was already once delivered to the saints that he referred to at the beginning of the letter.  Pray in the Holy Spirit because he does not lead into error as these false teachers do.  

21-22 But the loved of God along with building themselves up with the faith are to keep themselves in the love of God by holding to the faith. One way they do this is by waiting for the mercy of Jesus that leads to eternal life.  Jude seems to be saying that keeping yourself in the love of God means patience on him to deliver them unto salvation. Waiting for mercy is very different than adopting the malcontent natures of the teachers. While the loved of God keep themselves in the love, they are not to fall for the lie. What they are to do is distribute mercy to those who are being tempted and are having doubts because the false teachers. 

23 But this takes discernment. Jude says that some need mercy and some need decisive action in order to snatch them out of the jaws of these lies. This action is love keeping. Steal others with mercy and reveal the fear over their souls because of the path they are walking. But always hold the hate of the sin itself. Do not excuse the trespass of the lies and always distance yourselves from them. Stained by the flesh may be another reference to the sexual sin again, but the message is avoid the teachings that are undermining the faith and causing the doubt. 

24-25 This is a famously used doxology for the church. This is a reminder that those who hold to the faith have the assurance that God is able to keep them within it. This is not an assurance to the false teachers who have incurred judgment. Jude is making a distinction between who exactly God holds safe here. God keeps us from stumbling if we so desire him to do so by keeping in the faith. God will keep us all the way to present us to the Father in Glory. He concludes with giving praise to the only God and savior Jesus Christ. This is because Jesus is Lord but also to draw a distinction between what a true teacher of the faith believes and what these new teachers were able to say. Glory and dominion are only God's.

Jude reminds his listeners that we have the necessary truth to keep ourselves from these teachers and their lies if will will recount that we were warned about these exact problems. Jude is saying I have written you this letter so you can look at when you feel the pressure to listen to these false teachers. In the last days the scoffers will come and he was right, the scoffers are all around us. It is our responsibility to build ourselves up in the holy faith and to keep ourselves in the love by being patient on his return. But he reminds us again that God himself is at our aid in this.  Love keeps us safe and it reaches out to the brothers to help them stay in the love as well. 

We are not alone, even when it seems like so many "churches" are falling for the lie. Or being consumed with consumerism church. Sure we could reach more people if we pervert the Gospel.  But for those of us with the Spirit, we are to hold on to the once and for all delivered faith, despite what society is doing and what many churches are caving to. All we can do is uphold the Gospel, preach the Gospel, and call on the name of the Lord to help and return. Maker return, your people need you. 

Jude knew it and I pray our churches today see it as well.

thanks 

Jude 9-13 a Commentary

<sup>Continuing the series in Jude. 

9</sup> But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” ¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. (ESV)

9  Verse 9 fills the in the gap of who the glorious ones are. Taking from Jewish tradition again Jude mentions the disputed body of Moses that Michael fought with the Devil over. Even Michael who we assume would likely have the authority to pronounce a judgement on the Devil refrains but lets God be the one who brings judgment on Him. In contrast to this humility these men seem to be cavalier in their addressing of the glorious ones whether angel or demons. If Michael was prudent in his handling of the Devil shouldn't we as creatures created lower than the angels use at least a similar demeanor when dealing with the glorious ones? 

10 Continuing in this vein Jude says that these men blaspheme all that they do not understand. They act like foolish animals only using instinct instead of using their minds given to them by God. They act on natural impulses rather than relying of God. This is especially dangerous as our natural state is one that is enslaved by sin. An unconverted heart is still left to the whims of the enemy. When our natures are not under the protective hand of God then we act out the only resources available to us: our base natural desires. They reject faith because they cannot engage it without the help of the spirit. Especially in this case a faith that was given to them from God. They inform their own theology and demonology instead of letting God inform them and thus they are destroyed in their ignorance. 

11 Jude gives three more example of prideful people and groups who tried to do it there way as Sinatra famously sang. Cain who killed his brother Able out of jealousy over a better given offering to the Lord. God warned him that sin was at his door waiting to overtake him.  If he would have only repented and softened his heart, but instead he went his own way. He is the first murderer and the father of murderers. Those who do it their way. The second example is of Balaam's error, of chasing gain in order to curse the people of God. He knew that God was real and that he favored Israel but Balaam chose to align himself with the highest bidder. His own dumb ass was smarter than him in the epic tale of his donkey talking to him because he did not see his destiny of futility at opposing God. The third example is of a group of people who wanted to usurp authority from Moses God's chosen leader of Israel and perished in their arrogance and attempt at mutiny. 

12 Jude again uses three example of the emptiness of these individuals. They feast with you in secret feeding only themselves. They share in communion while they secretly undermine the whole thing. They are supposed to lead but feed only themselves, their message does not feed, their flock is starving while they are well fed. They are clouds that do not bring rain to a dry a desert. They have no purpose but to be blown around by the wind.  They cause an expectation of hope but bring only death. They are like trees with no root, they do not bear fruit and they take up space in the garden and even in that latest of the season they still do not yield a crop. 

13 Jude uses yet more imagery to paint the picture of their utter uselessness in the kingdom of God. They are waves that do not contribute to the tides but only bring a dirtier foam to coat the shores. They are stars that wander the skies in darkness. Their light does not contribute to lighting up the sky or being in one place to aid in direction on a dark night. They are futile. 

For application God does not view these people in high esteem at all.  God will not hear these people and God will not feel sorry for people who follow them either.  Jude uses so many different pictures here to communicate these men's uselessness before God. Jude seems to think that God takes the perverting of his Word very seriously, our take away is so should his people. God is calling for repentance, but will the people hear? Will we hear a message that sounds so harsh to people who are teaching his own? Will we believe that people holding the place of Pastor might have strong charges against them? This is a serious charge and it is important to note that this is after the resurrection and giving of the Spirit. It is not like these charges and call to repentance are before we moved into the softer grace filled covenant. God is very upset with the mishandling of his word and the leading of his flock astray. As James reminds not many of us should desire to be teachers because we will ensue a stricter judgment. A scary and sobering thought. This is a sobering reminder to those who desire the office of an overseer. The Bible says such desires are a good thing but we have to remember the weight of the responsibility as well. It is OK to question your leaders when they are leading the people into sin. 

thanks

 

Jude 5-8 a Commentary

Looking at part two of this short book of Jude which is uncannily appropriate for our culture today. Jude has as much to say to us as he did in the first century. 

5Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— ⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. ⁸ Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (ESV)

5 Jude is reminding the readers that Jesus, interestingly enough, who saved people from their bondage turned around and destroyed those who did not believe. He is using the picture that some people who started out with God, do not finish with him. This is a scary theology but one that is consistent in the New Testament. The need to endure and overcome and continue on. This is so prevalent through all the letters of the New Testament even though it flies in the face of our once saved always saved mindset. Rescued people can and will still be destroyed if they return to their unbelief.

6 Jude continues on to use a common Jewish metaphor of the angels trapped in there abode after abandoning their proper positions of authority.  This may be referring to the fall. Or to the Nephalim from Genesis 3 which I don't personally buy into because that tradition comes more from the book of Enoch which is not considered cannon rather than from the Genesis account itself. Either way the idea is clear these angels formerly had a place of honor but chose to leave it and are now judged. It is a similar idea with the previous verse. These men from verse 4 have abandoned God and gone their own way. An interesting thing here is in the Greek for "the eternal chains under gloomy darkness" until the judgement uses a word in the Greek only used one other time in the Bible from Job from the Septuagint, The word is TARTAROS. In Greek mythology this refers to the deepest darkest nether regions of Hades where other gods who were judged have been imprisoned. The similarity of the traditions is very interesting and may point to some other reality that we are not privy to, but the message is still the same. This kind of sin requires special judgment.  A kind for a group of people that once knew better and chose to do it anyway.

7 Verse seven is a third example of the coming judgment for those who corrupt the message of Jesus. Jude reminds the readers of the stories of Sodom and Gomorrah and their judgment for similar sexual immorality and unnatural desire just as the these false teachers have similarly bent the message of grace to allow for. These cities are an example of judgment with fire of what happens when God is abandoned and personal sensual desires are put first. Some have taken the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and tried to reduce it to simply a failure of hospitality. Well it was definitely that at the lowest level, but at the highest level it is accosting, attacking, molesting, and attempting rape and murder. I know that Ezekiel mentions a lack of hospitality as one of the sins but that was not the extent of the problem. To undermine the serious charges for the easier to swallow less political charged sin of a lack of hospitality is an exercise of obtuseness that only a culture with such a moral decline as ours can manufacture. But just in case this is our temptation Jude goes ahead and spells out that the sexual immorality and unnatural desires were the problems here. He prefaces his argument with the "Just" in other words those sins are similar to the ones that current problem paves the way for. "Just" as a lack of moral compass leads to sexual immorality and unnatural desires paved the way to the perversion that Sodom and Gomorrah were judged for. So do the false teachers application of grace and misuse of the Bible. Just as the first were judged so will the second. 

Jude 8 continues on to comment of the nature and behavior of these false teachers. He says that they rely on their dreams probably referring to the fact that they are not relying of the once delivered faith but dream up their own ways to communicate their teachings. They defile the flesh probably another reference to the sexual nature that their easy treatment of grace leads to.  They continue to reject authority.  Not sure if this is simply the authority that was laid down by the true faith or if in compounding that sin they continue to reject the disciples authority to call them out on their doctrine. This last statement is very interesting it says they blaspheme the glorious ones.

Our application is Jude says that Jesus who once forgives and brings someone near is not beyond casting that same person away if they fail to remain in belief. He gives the example of those who left Egypt with Moses but grumbled and abandoned the people of God with their behavior. This is a scary truth but a sober reminder about how this point is tied to conduct and obedience especially those of the false teachers.

Again is that God is not overlooking in grace those who pervert his teaching and use it for sexual immorality. God has laid out rules of sex that he expects his creation to follow. No amount of finagling with his own gracious nature changes what he has said is OK or not.  The scarier thing here is that God is saying a special judgments awaits those who pervert his words and lead people astray.  The take away here is that faithful followers of God need to remind people that God's word is sure even in the face of shifting culture that wants more license for their sexual preferences.  God takes this issue seriously, especially so among his own body who distort his words in order to allow this kind of behavior. This is why the church has to be careful who teaches the people. As Jesus and Paul teach a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

thanks

Jude 1-4 a Commentary

During seminary I had the task of translating Jude among other books in the New Testament and I was toying with the idea of writing a commentary and I decided, why not? Jude it one of the shorter books in the Bible.  So here it goes Jude in five blogs: 

Jude 1 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

1Now Jude is obviously not Judas who betrayed Jesus and traditionally neither is it the other disciple named Jude. This is accepted to be Jesus' actual brother Jude. This is the brother to James the guy who wrote the other book in the New Testament, also not one of the twelve. The cool thing here is that obviously the message got through to Jesus' own family. James and Jude become leaders in the first church and even the disciples seem to value their opinions as we see at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. This is quite a different attitude from the brothers who almost are chiding Jesus on when they try to get him to go to the festival from John 7. Jesus responds that the world doesn't accept him but that world accepts them, clearly making a distinction between himself and them.  So when this book is written clearly they have witnessed the power of God and come around to the idea that their own brother was sent from God.  So much so that Jude now considers himself a servant of Jesus his brother and he identifies as the brother of James rather than just saying the brother of Jesus. In part b of this verse he communicates the audience as other people called loved in God and kept in Jesus Christ.  The term kept in Jesus Christ is interesting, It may be alluding to the verses that are coming where he makes the distinction of those who will not be kept or held, but who are being kept in judgment.

2 Not much needs to be said here, he is praying for mercy, peace, and love to be multiplied to the readers of the letters obviously this could just be a greeting, but it may also be what is needed as the book goes on to talk about false teachers. A need for peace and mercy in the midst of their situation may be just what they need as an aid in their trial. 

3 Now this is interesting, Jude admits that he wanted to just write a letter about the common salvation that he and the readers possessed but that given the situation he felt much more urgency to write to them about the need to fight and defend the faith. There was something going on of such import that Jude changed his mind about what to write.  He wants them to understand that their faith is under attack and that they need to defend it, in other words, that apologetics are important. Part b of this verse is also important in that it backs up the notion that the cannon and revelation are completed for the faith. This is not to say that God doesn't speak anymore but that the Bible contains all things for life and practice already. This is also a reminder that the new revelation coming from the false teachers is not in accordance with the already delivered revelation to the saints. This is reinforcing the need for credible teachers and prophets as we will see in the following verses. 

4 Here are the people that he was warning about. Some people have crept into the church and are not easily identified other than their theology. It is their theology that causes them to stand out. The other interesting thing is that Jude identifies this as people who were designed for a certain kind of judgement that he will get to in the following verses. A key aspect of their theology? They pervert the grace that God has given and turn it into sensuality. In other words they confuse the idea of God's grace, for license for their own sinful desires. In doing this they pervert the message and end up denying the master Jesus Christ. Why? Because their message flies in the face of everything that Jesus taught and ends up undermining him as the authority. Therefore he can say that they are ungodly. They have a special condemnation as we will see in the following passage. 

What commentary is complete without a little application?  I believe the obvious one here is about false teachers, who pervert the truth of the gospel into sensuality. Does this sound at all familiar? We are currently living in a culture where some churches are deciding whether certain sins that the bible spells out to be out of bounds, are as they say, "in bounds".  These sins are of course of the sensual nature. In other words people have found teachers that have answered their itching ears and longing hearts that want to have their Jesus and sexual sins too.  Jude even nails it on the head here when he says they pervert the grace of God into sensuality. This is exactly the message: Since God is about love and grace then people should be allowed to "love" each other no matter how perverted it may be. Either Jude is a prophet or this book was just written yesterday.

thanks

 

In suspect of Institutions

I have said many times that I don't really care what politics and the world are doing. They are never going to agree with Christianity or live up to its worldview, nor should we expect them to. That is what the gospel is for. I do care when people speak as if Christians and grossly undermine its teachings. I do care when people misrepresent Christ and his church.

I was watching video of a prominent "christian" professor saying that he is in suspect of christian institutions. Now this is fine for a person to believe on his own, but what he was doing was embracing all sorts of social views in opposition to the Bible. This is also fine for a person to believe on their own but not as someone one supposedly believes in Christ. The other problem is the applause of the audience which furthers this notion that as long as Christianity is about paying lip service to Jesus it is cool, but the minute it is institutionalized it is a problem. Institutionalized means it becomes an organization it adopts methods, it has structure, rules, ways of operating, and people buy into them. Oh No!!

People like to include Jesus until he says something that excludes. So what they mean is they like Jesus but they do not like theology. This is why about 70% of Americans claim to be Christians but less than half than that do not know what being born again means. So if it has theology it is now opposed to Jesus? This silly notion that somehow Paul and Jesus are opposed theologically or worse yet Paul was all about theology and creating an institution whereas Jesus wasn't interested in theology.  Hmmm....

So is this true?   Let's take a look.

It is a popular phrase to say "I am spiritual but I don't like organized religion." I get it, the whole Catholic thing definitely did some damage back in the day. Some have seen the modern church do some as well. But what does spiritual even mean? As a Christian I know what it means. It means having to do the with the Holy Spirit who indwells us. It means allowing him to guide and thrive in your life, He is present and active. But if he doesn't and isn't why use the term?

What are you trying to communicate? Might it be that you are interested in the idea of God, but perhaps you want him on your terms?

True some people backed slavery, some backed Nazi Germany at first, some backed the Inquisition, and the Crusades and the Witch burnings. Sure some did this and sometimes it was an organization that did it. But many did not, certainly not all did. Should we really distance ourselves from theology because some have misused it? Should we really ignore large sections of the new testament because some of it has been used poorly in the past?

Jesus said it was to our benefit that he goes away so that his Spirit would come and lead us into all truth (John 16:7-14). This is what we get in the New testament. So is Jesus and the Spirit at odds as well? Jesus' instruction in the great commission was to teach all things that he taught but much still had to be delivered with the advent of the Holy Spirit.  

If we put societal whims above the pages of scripture then who really is God in this scenario?  If we say we just want Jesus but don't want any of those rules then we do not really understand Jesus at all. If you think something is not important because Jesus didn't say it directly himself then get out your scissors and trim down the new testament quite a bit.  Furthermore why buy into the Gospels? They were also written down, but not by Jesus, but by his disciples. So is it only direct quotes that count, is that what we really believe? Then cut out all the black letters from the Gospels as well.

This line of thinking is hardly Christian nor does it by any means honor Christ.

Jesus tells his disciples that his Spirit will come and lead them all into truth. This is the backdrop to the writing of the rest of the cannon. In other words Jesus is comfortable leaving the building of his church in the hands of his disciples. They are after all instructed by his Spirit; saying that this was the better set up. So to have people come along later who are undermining this organization set in place by Jesus is to not understand the Gospel or the Kingdom. It sounds more like the term institutionalized is used because we don't want to deal with all those hard verses, we just want to have only love talk and Jesus. 

But, If we care about Jesus' words, we will put stock in his church.  They may have some mess-ups in history, but that is precisely why we need all his teachings, for bringing balance. That is exactly why we need, may I say it? Fundamentals. The teachings that he left to come later after his departing, he let it be delivered from the Spirit to his apostles.

Jesus has this discussion with Nicodemus in John 3. John tells us that some people believed in Jesus but Jesus himself did not put his trust in them. He knew that people were about lip service to him but when it actually came to following him people often would walk away. Jesus starts to get at this with Nicodemus. If you think I am a good teacher and possibly the messiah and are interested in the Kingdom (an institution)  then understand you need to be born again (a rule). To follow Christ means to come to him on his terms. He gets to decide if his kingdom is a free-form, rules free, love fest or if it actually has doctrines and practices that are important. If you read the new testament you will see that he does in fact favor one over the other.

Coming to Jesus is always on his terms not on whether or not his followers have crafted a following that you find appealing or not. If we decide to distance ourselves from institutions then it should be because they have strayed from his words, not because his words form doctrines and those doctrines contain some fundamentals, because they do. If you want to extract Jesus from the Bible then fine but you are left with one of those other Jesus' that even the Bible mentions as not worth following. Think I am making this up?

1 Corinthians 2:11

1I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Even Paul admits that this line of thinking is silly. But we have people wanting the name of Jesus but not the historical man from the pages of scripture given to us from the testimony of the mouth's of his followers. So here we are. The question becomes how do you know if the Jesus you follow is the actual one? Well, you better become familiar with the one proclaimed from the Scriptures by his followers.

So If you are suspect of the institution of the church perhaps you should double check who your headmaster actually is, hmm? Because even Dumbledore was friendly, powerful and worth following, but he didn't die for anyone's sins making peace with God. He was also fiction.

thanks

A Lack of Clarity (all those versions part two)

The reason I wrote the first blog about this subject was because of a tendency I have seen to write off the Bible because "You know the Bible has changed and been re-written over the years by many different people right? You do realize this right?" In other words you are foolish to put too much stock in its pages.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen someone post this on comment sections about anything that has to do with Christianity. I know, why read the comments, it is the bane of our existence?! 

But I wrote that last one to point out that actually we have extremely accurate Bibles that highly reflect authorial intent which Christians believe were God breathed.

2 Timothy 3:16 
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

But I didn't address the other line of argumentation fully which is also used just as often: that the Bible is just not that "clear". Well I have mentioned this in passing a few times and after having read yet another article about how we all need to chill because the Bible is not that clear. I felt the need to stand up once again and defend Gotham. Not that Gotham needs my defending, nor am I Batman but the church has a history of good theology and I don't want that to go away with a flood of misinformation. Louder voices on the internet are not always good ones.

So in my response I wish the Christians would admit about the Bible though difficult can be understood with study and practice. Maybe not to full complete understanding or liking but that is why humility is important in knowing God. I may not understand everything fully but let's stop tossing babies around in bathwater.

Relevant Magazine had an article about things people need to admit about the Bible and they are right ; to undermine the scriptures is a great way to undermine the Christians faith which is very relevant to enemies of God. So I will respond to their five points.

Point 1 The Bible is not magic but a collection of Books with different Genres. Good, true point.

Point 2 The Bible isn't as clear as we'd like it to be. Um sometimes it isn't but I think that this is more of a passing blip than a point. It is awfully clear on many things. It is awfully clear on many things that people do not like. Just because we do not like something doesn't mean it becomes unclear. Let's not let the little ambiguous ones undermine its authority. It's little foxes that spoil the vineyard afterall. Well we are at it let's talk about the one you think are so ambiguous that you think we should create a principle that actually undermines its authority. See I have seen this point but people don't want to discuss it.

The example used the point of violence as God commands against it but at other times uses it as judgment. Why is God so inconsistent? It must be unclear. Well to understand this point apply your first one. In one way God is commanding obedience for his people to act as judgment on the nations, and in another he is commanding no personal vendettas. God says vengeance is mine. It is not inconsistent for him to carry out such vengeance with the hands of his people who he actively governs over. See distinctions which come about through study shouldn't make us conclude that the Bible is too difficult to make assertions, but that is always what this line of argumentation wants to argue.

Jesus often spent a lot of time quoting from the Old Testament saying it is written for his line of reasoning. It as is if he put a lot of stock in what was recorded in ink. Jesus even combated his own temptations with the words of scripture, but Satan tried to do the same. Jesus didn't throw up his hands and say "You are right Satan we are both using the same scriptures, it is just so unclear!" No, he seemed to believe that the words long written down had meaning when properly understood and applied. 

This point should be the Bible doesn't always ask easy things of us; but a lack of understanding does not mean a lack of clarity. 

Point 3 The Bible was inspired by God not dictated by God. True so what are you getting at? It seems since this was not fleshed out into any real reason, that this is simply to undermine the authority because  "You know God didn't directly say it? This is that same argument that "You know it's not in red letters so Jesus doesn't believe that!" The Bible does give testimony on what its' readers should believe about it. 

The Bible acknowledges that many people will rise up and misuse the word and that false teachers will abound. The answer is not to throw up our hands in hopelessness. No, the answer is to study to show yourself approved.

2 Tim 2:15
14Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Point 4  We all pick and choose the Bible we Believe, Preach and Defend. Well, some may I guess, but largely as a whole no we don't. But as you have displayed, the weak Bibliology that is being build on this premise will conclude from the flimsy foundation you are building with points 2 and 3.

People will do this if we continue to uphold a view of the Bible that is so grounded in man's own ability to comprehend God. But when we ground our view in the Bible's own testimony, that it does come from God then there will always be someone to point out that the Bible does in fact say something worth listening to. If this is really the truth about Christianity then we are a stupid people indeed. In fact if my Bible is simply the version that I like then who is to say who is right, or if anyone is? And for that matter why not go find one that is a little better, perhaps the book of Mormon or the Koran? See, if we have this little regard for the Bible than we really have no right to use it to make lists of 5 reasons that others should pay attention to.

Point 5 God is bigger than the Bible. Again true, to the point of obvious. But this is usually meant to mean that being spiritual is as and if not more important that understanding God's revelation. But then if you are not willing to submit to his own revelation about himself, if you are not willing to acknowledge that his delivery system was also for a reason, than who is now even bigger than God? Well, you are. All world religions believe this. They believe God is bigger than the pages of scripture so they inevitable leave them to find him elsewhere, and we get another religion. So which one will you let define your God? I will rely on the revelation that he gave from his disciples inspired by God himself. You can rely on your world experiences if you want to.

We live in the internet age where everyone is welcomed a comment. Ok sure, even I am using that privilege. But just because somebody writes something doesn't make it true, just as my own words are subject to scrutiny. I used to tell my students in ministry no speaker, no writer, no pastor, no blog, nobody is better than the word. Every speaker, writer, blogger, pod-caster whatever on matters of Christianity, God , Theology, everyone is this area is only as good as they are submitted to the word. Even Paul didn't just say "Well because I say so!" he commended the Bereans who went out studied what he said. Don't let someone convince you of something just because they are eloquent or they have a platform. Search it out, submit to God and he will lead you into truth. Solomon said it this way

Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

If the truth sets you free, it shouldn't lead into a bondage of ambiguity. Because the author is right about this thing; everyone does have their version of the truth. The question is does it reflect God's or not? Is it submitted to God? People waver, people change, people fight, people argue, people disagree, but that is people not God's testimony. James gives a warning on this matter in his third chapter.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
 
The clarity questions is really about accurately reflecting God's word or not. So take the time to make sure you are.

thanks

All those versions

So I met a guy the other day while working.  After he heard  I went to bible college got a degree in theology and had a master's from seminary he informed me that while he wasn't spiritual he did take some philosophy from different religions such as Buddhism and from Christianity and even some from satanism. He had told me that he came from a very strict southern baptist church that wanted to control everything.   He was an interesting guy.  Later I don't if he was trying to poke me a bit or what but we asked me what my specialization was and i told him New Testament and he proceeded to ask of which version of the bible.

Now I have seen this question and seen this statement to mean there are many bibles out there and they keep changing over time because it is just a man made book. I was happy to explain to him that I studied the original Greek and that our translations were actually quite accurate, but it reminded me of this common objection to the bible itself.

It is actually a good objection in the sense that if you can undermine the Word than you can dismiss the content and the religion tied to it. If that were the case.  So let's look at this objection, let's do some apologetics.

Aren't all the different versions a testimony that the Bible is unreliable?

Well a similar questions could be don't all those different denominations mean the Bible isn't clear or maybe even they are all serving a different God?  The denominations questions first because it is really quite simple. This has to do with flavor. Some like their bodies to be traditional with hymns and deeply exegetical preaching and some like the worship to be more contemporary and the message to contain smaller words easier to digest. Some like to baptize after conversion with immersion and some prefer simply sprinkling or baby baptism. But these are all preferences that allow us to worship together without always breaking off to have a debate. Some like Calvin a lot and some like Arminius. We can agree to disagree on certain things and thus continue in unity in Christ. This is why Christianity can have many denominations.

So is that how the Bible versions work? Well yes and no. Yes in that they do meet people where they are and no because they do not give different doctrine. The different versions are actually about readability not content. When a Bible does change core doctrine it absolutely does become just another book written by man. This is why the Jehovah's Witness for example are not considered Christian.  They tamper with key passages and make them out to say something completely different, they specifically undermine the deity of Christ.

Other religions such as Islam and Mormonism borrow a lot of ideas from the Bible but in the end their message contradicts, which is why they have they own books. By the way, both of these religions pay lip-service to the Bible while undermining it, they both were delivered to them by "angels".  This is specifically pointed out by Paul in Galatians 1 as something that would still not validate the message as it undermines Christ.

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

Paul again reminds that Satan deceives in 2 Corinthians 11.

¹² And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.

So Yes there are some bad books out there but the various versions of the Bible are different. They are written in such a way as to grant access to the reader's understanding. The NIV for example is what is called a dynamic equivalent to the original Greek. In other words it gives the thought for thought account of the Greek and Hebrew and communicates in a more understandable fashion to our post modern world. An ASV in a more direct translation a formal equivalence it focuses on word for word translations, it keeps all the difficult phrasing and abruptness in the language and is this more of a challenge to read but highly accurate. But these are examples of communicating mostly for accessibility not content. They will not be at odds in reflection to the original Greek. 

This is the point: we have so many of the original Greek papyrus that we can simply go back and check if our translations are reliable or not.  This is why I studied Greek in seminary to be able to work out the original text and see for myself. And our translations are quite good. I personally use the ESV as it combines the most current Greek manuscripts with an nice sounding verbiage similar to the NKJV.  So Thees and Thous aside, this is not something that the church needs to divide over and certainly no reason to decide that one version is the only one to read.  The Message and the New Living are more of a paraphrase than a true version for the purpose of putting it into the modern day vernacular. I feel that because of this we may miss out on the nuance of the 1st century message because of language barrier and cultural differences. I have a preference but I would want anyone to read what actually gets you into the Word. 

I would also add the more accurate translation the better simply to be as close to the original intent as possible, but that may be something that one needs to work up to.  If an ASV is too difficult then start with an NIV if that is too difficult start with the Living. I would hope we would work towards the ones that have the closest to the original as possible so as to not have the challenge be in our wording but in the actual commands of God. 

Here are some useful testimonies:
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

2 Tim 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work

Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

So to answer this line of attack one simple says "I have all the reasons I need to believe the reliability of the scriptures, but good sir, have you exhausted all the reasons to simply not engage? It seems to me that you run the bigger risk at being wrong among the two options. To accidentally attempt to live a life of virtue is better than to accidentally live a life that ends in hell."

thanks