Pontius Pilate’s Handwashing Is Unwarranted: The Business of Christian Education CIX

¹ “If in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, ² then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. ³ And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. ⁴ And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. ⁸ Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ ⁹ So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Matthew 27:24-26

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 governs the practice of washing hands as a sign of innocence.  Things happen that we have no knowledge of.  Often things happen without our knowledge at all.  Our lack of knowledge of what happens is our excuse from our responsibility in bearing the burden of guilt imposed.  In the case of someone slain in the open country as described in Deuteronomy 21, the ritual of washing hands must be conducted in order to proclaim the innocence of the people living the nearest of the slain body.  The elders of the people are the ones representing the people and thus they would be the ones declaring innocence provided truly they know nothing of who killed the slain man.  In the ritual an atonement offering must be prepared.  In this case a heifer.  A heifer is a female cow that has not borne a calf.  The requirement is added in Deuteronomy that the heifer must be one that has never been worked and never pulled in a yoke.  The heifer then must be brought to the valley with pure running waters by the elders of the city.  There they have to break the neck of the heifer.  Then the elders must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck is broken and declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed.”  There the declaration of innocence is completed, and thus the people of the city is free of guilt.

The Hermeneutics of Hypocrisy

¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and 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. ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

           

            The Hermeneutics of Deception inevitably breeds the Hermeneutics of Hypocrisy.  The disintegrated mind is no longer able to strive for unity.  The disequilibrium has destroyed the core integrity of the mind.  They deceive themselves enough and the result is that they become distorted.  The schizophrenic mode has shattered and divided the soul.  As the false equilibrium settles in, the mind compensates the distortion and separates the thought and the action, the logic and the feeling, the “instinct” and the behavior, the words and the conducts.  The gap widens very quickly as the false equilibrium takes over the mind.  Pretty soon the person is no longer able to be accountable for his/her thoughts, words, and actions.  Conscience is slowly dying, suffocated under the new regime of the false equilibrium.  Deception kills conscience.  So a new framework must be created in order to survive the distortion.  As conscience no longer pokes and alerts the mind of the deviation it takes, and no longer strong enough to remind the mind to return to where it’s supposed to be, the new normal is established within, that it is okay to be distorted, that it is okay to be disintegrated.  Therefore, hypocrisy becomes

The Compromise Christians Make for Homosexual Movement – The Real Meaning of Sin

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Matthew 5:27-30

           

            Seldom people look at the matter of sin deeply as the matter of desire.  Often what is understood is only that sin is a matter of behavior.  As long as one does not actually practicing sin then one does not sin.  Such is the common understanding.  Tendency, desire, hidden thought, hidden motive, and so on, is not considered sin.  Many people try to separate the desire and the actual conduct

Jesus Christ Builds through His Words

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:1-11

           

            We build our house using physical matters, bricks, mortar, woods, cement, steel, concrete, and so forth.  But how are we to build character?  We certainly can’t use food, or drink, or any other physical matters.  As we all know, as all teachers know, as all philosophers and wise man and the gurus and religious leaders all over the world throughout all ages know, building one’s character starts with words.  The right words, the correct words, the true words, the eternal words, those are the words that one uses to build character.  Empty words, lying words, evil words, false words, will only damage one’s soul and destroy one’s character.  Humanity strives for the building up of human character.  For humanity’s success depends greatly on human character.  A strong nation can be seen from whether the people of the nation have strong character or not.  A wise king knows how to compile all the right words, the true words, the eternal words, in order to instruct the people and build their character strong.  Confucius knew this secret 2,500 years ago, and thus he passed down the words of heaven to his disciples.  And his disciples wrote them in what we now know as “the Analects of Confucius.”  Great dynasties rose in China, all owed their success to Confucius.  The Greeks rose to become the great nation they were, they owed it to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  The maxim “Know Thyself” became their cornerstone of their glory.  All nations in the world carefully keep the important words that they may pass on from generation to generation in order to continue the character building of their people.  For they all know that without the building of the character of their people, their kingdom will crumble.

            Greater than any philosopher, founder of religion, teacher, king, prime minister, counselor, or guru in this world, is Jesus Christ the Son of God.  All others borrow their words from something or someone else.  Their words do not originate from themselves.  They compose words through observation of the world.  They hold on to words that have been passed on by their ancestors.  But Jesus speaks words that originate from himself.  For he himself is the Word, the Eternal Logos.  Peter admits in John 6:68-69 saying: “⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”  And the Apostle John received a revelation from the Holy Spirit to write John 1:1-3: “¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  In him the entire universe has been made.  The Creation account in Genesis 1 records that God spoke his words and the world came into being.  For each day God created through speaking his words.  On the sixth day, God created man in a special way.  Genesis 1:26-27 records:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

God created man in the image of God, after his likeness.  Both male and female God created them in the image of God.  Our ancestors Adam and Eve were created in the image and the likeness of God.  1 Adam and 1 Eve – Adam the man and Eve the woman – were created as the ancestors of all humanity.  They were created in a special way in a special manner with special plan according to a very special pattern.  They were not created through the process of evolution, like some people would argue.  And the image of God is Jesus Christ himself as revealed in Colossians 1:15-20:

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

Jesus is the Eternal Logos.  He is the Word himself.  Flowing within us is the word of God.  And ever since the creation of Adam and Eve, God could then communicate with his creation through intelligible words, as documented in Genesis 1:28-30:

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.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

These words that God communicated to the first man and woman have not the same quality with the words that brought the universe into being, but these words are words of command, words of communication to reveal God’s intention and will to his creation, and words of communion to build relationship.  This never happened before on earth.  That was the very first time since the world was created.  God communicated to man as if he communicated with the persons in the Trinity in Genesis 1:26.  And ever since, the Holy Scripture continues to record God’s words that he communicates to humanity.

            When Jesus incarnated, he spoke words of eternal life to the people.  Through those words he built his people.  Those who have ears they hear.  Those whom the Father has drawn to himself, listened to Jesus’ words.  Through the words of Jesus, their life was reoriented.  Through the words of Christ, their life was reordered, rebuilt, according to the pattern of the true image of God, Jesus Christ himself.  Unlike other philosophers, religious leaders, and the like, Jesus spoke the original words out of himself.  For he is God himself.  He and the Father are One.  John 10:30 records the saying of Jesus: “³⁰ I and the Father are one.”  This word of God is what Jesus called as the truth.  In his high priestly prayer Jesus prayed for his disciples and all who would believe in the word, John 17:17: “¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  And three chapters before he prayed this prayer, he declared to his disciples in John 14:6: “⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Jesus is the truth himself.  Then Jesus commanded his disciples to abide in him in John 15.  The abiding that Jesus meant was the abiding in his word.  The word of Jesus becomes the key for staying in Jesus.

            Jesus is not present with us today in his bodily form.  But he is present with us in Spirit and in his truth – his word.  God is building his people up on the foundation of his word, the eternal word.  Ephesians 2:18-22 speaks of this building:

¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The apostles and the prophets spoke only of the word of God.  They did not speak their own words.  They did not speak of other people’s words.  They spoke only the word of God, the word of Christ Jesus.  The Old Testament and the New Testament are the foundation of the building up of the people of God.  Jesus Christ himself is the cornerstone that puts the two Testaments together.  As his followers, we dwell in his word.  We abide in his word.  Abiding in his word produces within us abundant fruit.  Without abiding in his word we cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit.  Being unproductive the branches will be good only for burning.  Only the productive branches are kept.  The unproductive branches are cut and thrown into the fire.

            Therefore, it is a contradiction to believe that we abide in Jesus while at the same time rejecting to dwell in his word.  If we are lazy to read the Scripture.  If we don’t bother to reflect and meditate on his word.  If we don’t put any effort whatsoever to find time to listen to the word of God.  How can we say that we abide in Jesus?  For Jesus only builds his people through his words.  The only way to abide in Jesus is if we abide in his words.  David reflects on the necessity to abide in the word of God and says in Psalm 1:

¹Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

⁴ The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Only abiding in God’s word will produce in the life of man the fruit of the Spirit as described by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23: “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.”  The fruit of wickedness, on the other hand, which is the product of the life not abiding in the word of Christ, is described by Paul in Galatians 5:19-21: “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.”  The end result of wickedness is that those who practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God.

            The aim of Jesus’ work to build up his people is for the saints to produce the fruit of the Spirit.  And in the end to inherit the kingdom of God, together with him.  All character building teaching will find no problem with the fruit of the Spirit as spelled out by the apostle Paul.  Everybody in this world knows that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control are highly desirable characters that they want everybody to have and produce.  These nine characters, which is the fruit of the Spirit, can only be built through the word of Christ.  God has prepared all the infrastructure of humanity to match the word he has spoken.  The creation of man testifies of God creating Adam and Eve in the image of God, Jesus Christ, who is the eternal Logos – Word himself.  So when the word of God is spoken to us, our own construct matches the word.  However, the Fall jeopardizes the match.  So man is confused.  The holy word of God is rejected by man.  For man has died in sin.  But the salvation in Jesus revives man.  Whoever believes in Jesus has received the renewal of their infrastructure.  Once again their construct matches the Holy word of God.  For when man is redeemed in Christ, Christ then dwells within the heart of man.  The Eternal Logos himself dwells within the heart of every believer through the Holy Spirit, and thus the holy word of God is no longer rejected.  Instead, the word of God starts working in the life of the believer, to build them up.  To restructure their life according to God’s will.  To start producing in them, the fruit of the Spirit.

            And now, as Jesus has been made known in the world of man, as the savior, the Lord, the King, and God himself, our life is to be rooted in him.  We are being brought back to him, to enter into his kingdom that he is establishing.  Jesus is building up the people who will enter into the kingdom.  The process of sanctification is necessary to cleanse us.  The word of Christ sanctifies us.  The word of Christ is the truth.  And the truth sanctifies us.  Because man has always been confused of what is true or what is not true.  This is because man took it upon themselves the task to judge what is true or false.  Back in Genesis 3, Eve and Adam were facing a test.  The test to whether to believe in the word of God as the only truth or to believe in the word of the serpent as the competing truth.  They had to choose.  Instead of choosing one or the other, they stepped outside their boundary, and made judgment for themselves.  Therefore they left faith in God, and used their own faculty to judge which is right or not.  Their very act turned humanity upside down.  Ever since that event, humanity never knows what is truly true.  They are always confused.  Choosing which one is true becomes a huge task.  The rise of science gives pseudo confidence on man.  They think that through science man may know the absolute truth.  Instead of knowing the truth, man has become more confused than ever.  Scientists in the 21^st century have begun to question the absoluteness of the Newtonian Physics, which for so many centuries has been held as an absolute truth.  Albert Einstein’s Relativity Theory started the challenge.  And now, instead of being certain of the absolute truth in the physical world, scientists begin to see its relativity.  But in the Holy Scripture we find the absolute truth.  And this can only be accepted through faith.  Faith in the word.  Faith in the word of God.  Just like what Paul says in Romans 10:17: “¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

            

Listen to what Jesus says:

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

 ^{- The Business of Christian Education XCVII -}

True Forgiveness vs. Fake Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵ So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 18:21-35

           

            Many people today, including Christians, or especially Christians, have their understanding of forgiveness mistaken.  Many believe that forgiveness can be given one sidedly even

The Rise of False Biblical Homosexualism Argument

^{The Business of Christian Education XCI
1} Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. ² And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

³ And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” ⁴ He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” ¹¹ But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. ¹² For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

Matthew 19:1-12

           

            The whole world is now in total confusion.  In the midst of all the wars, epidemic, terror attacks, racial injustice, the issue of homosexualism does not cease.  It continues to dominate discussions in many arenas.  In the politics, in the media, in the classrooms, and even in the church.  A lot of attempts have been made to rename and re-categorize homosexual practice as something normal, an alternative lifestyle, and even human right.  In the name of tolerance their proponents push further so as to force those who say that homosexual practice is wrong to convert or else.  In that sense, their “tolerance” has not been applied to themselves for they cannot tolerate the people who are against homosexual practice.  People use big words such as love in order to

Why Pornography is Wrong

  ^{The Business of Christian Education LXXXIX}

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Matthew 5:27-30

           

            In a world that is confused with what is right or wrong, issue of sexuality too is blurred.  The Hollywood imagination has influenced cultures around the globe.  The explicit sexual themes or scenes have often dominated movies.  One says at one time that there is almost no Hollywood movies without sex scenes.  Except perhaps kids movies.  Sex has become exalted in this generation.  No longer is it a taboo thing.  Sex is celebrated, even to the point of

Why Cohabitation is NOT the Way It is Supposed To Be

¹ Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ² But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. ³ The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵ Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

1 Corinthians 7:1-5

           

            Cohabitation has become a trend in the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries.  This living arrangement arises as a very viable alternative to marriage life due to the increase of marital problems.  Many sociologists agree on the above 50% rate of divorce that occurs in the North America.  The statistics is troubling because then the imagination of marriage that lasts forever is shattered.  The romantic children stories that can be found in classics such as Cinderella is but a dream that does not correspond with reality.  People grow skeptical of the idea of “till death do us part” kind of marriage.  So some then try to be cautious before finally

Acceptance As Is and Spiritual Growth

¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:11-16

           

            The common mistake Christians often make through adopting the today’s philosophy is by forcing God to accept them as they are.  This philosophy has influenced Christian theology so as to picture God as the god who in his love does just accepting his people as they are.  The message from the pulpit has also been altered so as to relieve the people of the duty they ought to do as demanded by God.  Some argue that people come to the church expecting to be “lifted up” by soft message about God’s grace, mercy, and love.  Consequently, they come to church wishing that the minister won’t speak to them of God’s law, of his will as

The Ten Commandments, True Freedom, the Exploitation of Human Rights, & the Abandonment of Human Responsibility

¹ And God spoke all these words, saying,

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Exodus 20:1-17

           

            When God speaks his commandments to Israel, he gives the sole reason why his commandments must be followed, namely because Yahweh is the God of Israel.  The mind of the people must be drawn to God alone.  He is the reason why all the items in the commandments must be done.  God’s commandments provide the foundation of human responsibilities.  Since the beginning of time

The Illusion of Freedom vs. the Sacred Duty of Man

¹⁷ These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

2 Peter 2:17-22

           

            Peter is giving a stern warning to the people concerning the coming of false teachers, who “¹…will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them.”  And because of these false teachers, “²…many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.”  Peter warns the people of how dangerous these false teachers are, since “³…in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”  And worse, “¹⁰…Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones.”  And Peter compared them to angels, who even with greater might and power do not go so bold as to “pronounce blasphemous judgment before the Lord.”  Peter then exposed their depravity saying: “¹²But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of

The Potential Fallout of Modern Pastoral Counseling : The Business of Christian Education LXXXI

¹ So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:1-8

           

            One of the most used biblical passages for pastoral counseling is Philippians 2:1-8.  The kenosis theology is used as the basis for pastoral counseling.  Jesus Christ emptying himself becomes the ultimate model for pastoral counseling practice.  In this model, counselors are expected to allow the counselee space to speak out what is in his/her mind.  Counselors are then expected not to bring their own agenda to the mix, but instead counselors are supposed to allow the counselee’s agenda to fill the counseling session.  In order to achieve such ideal, counselors are equipped with the main tool, which is called listening.  James Dittes speaks about this in his book “Pastoral Counseling: The Basics” and also Garth Thompson in his “Listening is More than Hearing.”  The discipline of listening becomes a must for any pastors who wish to conduct a pastoral counseling.  As listening is then armed with “emptying oneself” it becomes a very effective tool to

The Excuses to Embrace Homosexualism : The Business of Christian Education LXXX

² For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. ⁷ For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

1 Thessalonians 4:2-8

           

            Paul specifically instructed the people in Thessalonica to abstain from sexual immorality.  The body must be treated in holiness and honor.  Disregarding this instruction is not disregarding man, but God.  Paul was serious about this matter of sexual immorality.  His address here about sexual immorality is an important one because he particularly touched this subject and separated this offense from any other kinds of sin.  And in our age today, the most current issue of sexual immorality is the issue of homosexualism.  This issue rose to prominence in the past two decades.  2013 became a historical year that documented the victory of the gay rights movement with the US Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage.  Ever since June 26 2013, the church of God has been struggling in her dealing with this touchy subject.  It is important therefore to come back to the Holy Scripture to find out what God says about this subject.  Sadly, there are many Christians who have been led astray by the world’s perspective and thus take side with the world in