Jesus vs. Paul?

Misunderstood Verses #2

Matthew 6:14-15: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. ~ Jesus

Ephesians 4:32: And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. ~ Paul

Recently I've become aware of a teaching that proposes that Jesus and Paul are at odds in these two statements. They say that Jesus says our forgiveness (which has to mean our salvation, since no one I'm aware of teaches one can be partially forgiven and go to heaven) is based on our forgiveness of others - that is our performance. Paul tells us that we forgive others because of how completely God has forgiven us.

The resolution they provide seems simple enough: Jesus was talking about a different era in God's redemptive history. Before the cross, before the resurrection, before Pentecost, whenever, God dealt with people on the basis of their performance. But now God deals with us based on Christ's all-sufficient work on the cross. It sounds plausible, because Hebrews tells us about the new and living way we have in Christ. But some (not all) who teach this are overzealous for the new and living way. In their exuberance they overlook a God who has always shown mankind mercy and grace.

If Jesus was saying that there was a time (obviously it had to include the time that Jesus was speaking) that God's forgiveness was conditional on our action, then that must mean no one from that era will be in heaven. I don't think I need to post any references to the fact that man can in no way earn God's favor, since if you've read this far you are interested enough in Scripture to understand that. God's grace has never been in this time or any other time based on man's performance.

To de-emphasize God's grace in previous times is to do injustice to our unchanging God and the great heroes of the Old Testament. Genesis 15:6 tells us, "He (Abraham) believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." Three times in the New Testament (here, here and here) this verse is quoted as an illustration of the way we all must come to God. I'm thankful for the more complete revelation we have in Christ, but all God ever required, requires now and will ever require is belief in him.

So if Jesus was not saying that forgiveness is based on our performance, what did he mean? And how are Jesus' and Paul's statements rectified? To me it seems simple, because the key is in another verse in Ephesians: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (2:10) If we as believers are ordained by God to walk in good works, is it not reasonable to assume that forgiveness will be one of those good works? And if so, then truly one who can never find it in their heart to forgive their fellow human knows nothing of the love, mercy and forgiveness of God.

We as believers will fail to forgive one another completely. If we wouldn't, why would Paul need to encourage us to forgive in the second verse above? We certainly deal with the works of the flesh in our hearts and lives. But we are just as certainly on the road to being the people God wants us to be. God promises to work in our lives to bring us farther on that road, but the journey won't be complete till we get to heaven.

The New F-Word?

This will be the first in a series of articles about verses that I think have been misapplied down through the years.

Misunderstood Verses #1

Matthew 5:22: And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

For most of my life, I've heard this verse explained to mean that Jesus does not want us to use the word "fool" to describe someone. I suppose that's not the best thing to say to a person, but I believe Jesus had a much deeper and more profound message than just that. If you think Jesus was adding another four-letter word to the list that nice people don't say, then you are missing the point.

I'm told the Aramaic (the dialect of Hebrew spoken in Palestine during Jesus' time) word "raca" means "empty-headed." Seems to me that's not much different than "fool." But you could be brought to the council for saying one and not the other. Why bring someone who uses one insult before the council and not another? The logical assumption is that "raca" was a profanity in Jesus' day.

Photo Credit

Every society has profanities - words, gestures, etc. They vary from culture to culture. My dad served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the Marines. He never did and still doesn't talk about very much of what he experienced there, but one thing I remember him talking about was the fact that an innocent-looking (to Americans) "come here" gesture was a vile profanity in Vietnam. One of the things they trained foreign soldiers before they arrived in Vietnam was to not use that particular gesture.

Profanities are a part of the human experience. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I'm not quite sure, but the fact remains every society has them. In Jesus' day, one of the worst things you could say was "raca." It was apparently so bad that even saying it in public would get you sent before the religious authorities. The religious authorities in Jesus' day had limited but real power. They couldn't criminally punish, but they could embarrass people in front of the community in a way that kept most people in line with Jewish customs.

What kind of words are so bad that Jesus would say they are worse than cuss words? Very simple: words that hurt and leave a lasting impression on their victims. It might not be pleasant, but think back: every one of us can remember something someone said that cut us to the core like a knife. Maybe it was a classmate or group of classmates at school. Maybe a coworker or a boss. Sadly for some folks it might be something a teacher or even their parents said. I could be wrong, but I'd be willing to guess the person who said memorably hurtful things to you didn't use a string of four-letter words. Even if they did, it wasn't the cuss words that hurt you nearly as much as what they were saying beyond those words.

This, I believe, is the point Jesus was making here. The religious authorities of Jesus' day (and lots of people today) thought saying swear words was the worst sin you could commit with your mouth. As long as they didn't say those words, they thought they were doing pretty good. But Jesus said real sin goes a lot deeper than that. Words spoken in anger, pride and condescension can do lasting damage to people, regardless of whether there are cuss words thrown in or not.

I'm not saying you ought to go around cussing a blue streak. Jesus didn't say the council was wrong for punishing people who swore. What Jesus was warning against was the attitude that says as long as I'm not saying the words on somebody's naughty list then whatever I want to say is fine. It's not fine. Paul said that our words should "impart grace" to those who hear them. That should be the ideal that you and I should strive for: to be the kind of people whose words bring encouragement and grace to others.

TOMS: Matthew 7

For an introduction to this series, click here.

Dec. 11, 2006

This chapter completes the Sermon on the Mount. Remember that the theme of this entire sermon is the fact that outward righteousness is not good enough to obtain favor with God. This chapter jumps from topic to topic, more so than the first two chapters. Of course the chapter divisions are not part of the original text, but they are there for our convenience.

The chapter opens with Jesus talking about comparisons. We humans tend to overlook our own faults, but we are quick to point them out in others. This is the passage where Jesus says, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" (7:3)

Next Jesus talks about how God the Father gives us good things. Then we get into the longest section, about true and false conversion. Jesus begins by talking about the narrow and the broad gates: "For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (7:13-14) Next Jesus tells us that the way to tell if someone is converted is by their fruit. Every person who is truly born again will live a changed life. Yes we still sin, yes some will seem to turn away, but God will not allow one of His children to stray forever.

At the end, Jesus combines the theme of true and false religion with the overall theme of man's inability to earn salvation. There are some who seem outwardly to be followers of Jesus, but they really are not. Jesus says there will be many who will tell Him at the judgment that they did all kinds of wonderful things for God, but these "good" things are not what is required. Faith is required. Then Jesus tells the story of the houses built on the rock and on the sand. True religion and true faith will act upon what we read from Scripture and hear taught.

Ironically, the crowd's reaction indicates they they were like the foolish man: only interested in hearing the Word, not actually obeying it. Notice how Matthew describes their reaction: 
"And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes." (7:28-29, ESV) 

No repentance. No great move of people to believe in Christ. These people just heard the best sermon ever delivered, and their reaction was, "Well, that was interesting. He certainly has a unique style." They were blind to their need. They were so full of their self-righteousness that they didn't really consider the message Jesus was teaching them. All they were interested in was comparing Jesus' teaching to others they liked.

(This last paragraph is my addition today. I had another paragraph here, but in the eight years between then and now I have modified my view.)

There is a lot of conjecture about to what extent the Sermon on the Mount, the gospel of Matthew and all of Jesus' recorded teaching apply to Christians in the post-Apostolic age. My opinion is this: unless it is obvious that Jesus was speaking to Jews under the Law, whether the disciples or to a large crowd, we should assume Jesus is speaking to us today. I know people who try to relegate everything Jesus said to another era. I have every confidence that they are true brethren in the Lord, but in my opinion they are mistaken. There are some of Jesus' difficult sayings that Christians down through the ages have struggled to understand and live out. It is awfully presumptuous on our part to read through the struggles of some of those great people of faith and assume that they were foolish and we have it figured out because we can just assign what Jesus said to a different era. Our modern Western mindset likes to have a logical explanation for everything, but God can shatter those explanations. He certainly has in my life. He is still teaching me to embrace the mysteries I find rather than try to fit them into a theological grid. It's just my experience, your mileage may vary.

TOMS: Matthew 6

For an introduction to this series, click here.

Dec. 10, 2006

Once again we continue with the Sermon on the Mount, the centerpiece of Matthew's gospel. As we stated yesterday, the theme of this great sermon is that our weak attempts at righteousness cannot please God. He demands perfection, and the only way to attain perfection is to put your faith in God. Jesus is demonstrating what Paul meant in Galatians when he said that Moses' law is our schoolmaster (I like the King James translation at 3:23 better than the ESV, which renders it guardian). No one can keep the law, and therefore we would be doomed without the work of Christ to save us.

Chapter 6 begins with Jesus telling us that good works done to impress others are wasted, as far as God is concerned. Jesus' statement that the hypocrites sound a trumpet when they give alms is probably an example of overstatement, but it could be the origin of our phrase "tooting your own horn."

Jesus then talks about prayer. He says not to be like the hypocrites, who make long public prayers. Then He gives what is commonly called the Lord's Prayer. The point of this prayer is not that we should memorize it and say it every day. The point is that our prayers should be simple and should just be a reflection of our needs that day. Next Jesus mentions fasting and says that this also should be done in secret, and not for a show. The whole point of this section is that we should do our good works in private, and not to make a show for people.

Jesus says a lot about rewards in this chapter. This chapter includes the famous passage about laying up treasures in heaven where they cannot be lost. Never once does Jesus say not to seek rewards in heaven. On the contrary, He often encourages us to seek rewards, in this passage and elsewhere. Sometimes we think that if we do good with a selfish motive of any kind, that's sinful. But that's not what Jesus says. If we do things with a motive of temporal reward, that's sinful. But if we do things with a motive of heavenly reward, that is an honorable motive.

The last section of the chapter tells us not to be anxious. This is a very common sin, more common than any of us will realize, yet as far as I can remember, I have only heard two sermons on the subject. Worry is a sure sign of a lack of faith. God has promised to take care of us. When we worry about things, it tells God that we don't expect Him to work things out for our good. I know this is a major problem in my life, and I would suspect that it is for you as well. We all need help in this area.

TOMS: Matthew 5

For an introduction to this series, click here.

Dec. 9, 2006

It's hard to do an amazing passage like this justice in what little space I have here, but here goes.

Many volumes of books have been written on the Beatitudes alone. In case you don't know, a beatitude is a pronouncement of a blessing, whether it comes from God, or a religious leader. The lesson of the Beatitudes is that God's values are different from man's. Man values proud, confident and assertive people. God values people who come to Him broken and completely reliant on Him.

The main point of the entire Sermon on the Mount is found in 5:20: "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus then goes into some examples of how true righteousness goes deeper than just external obedience. He speaks of murder vs. anger, adultery vs. lust and divorce, swearing falsely vs. taking oaths, resistance to evil done to us, and loving your enemies.

Don't miss the significance of this. The Pharisees were seen as the most holy people in Israel at that time. But it wasn't just the Pharisees. Many people in Jesus' audience were no doubt like the rich young ruler, who said that he had kept the whole law his whole life. Jesus is saying sin is more than failure to follow a group of rules. Sin is a matter of the heart. I've never murdered anyone, but I have been angry with people. Sin is a very serious matter. Immediately after Jesus says that lust is the same as adultery, Jesus says that it would be better to pluck an eye out or cut a hand off than to die in sin.

The end of this chapter sums it up: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (5:48, ESV) We cannot achieve perfection on our own - we have to look to God for help, and that is the entire point of Jesus' sermon.