What Does “Women Will Be SAVED THROUGH CHILDBEARING” Mean?
Let’s read the passage:
But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
More literally, women will be saved through the childbearing, a reference to the incarnation of Christ — the birth of Yeshua into this world. Recall what the LORD prophesied over satan during the Genesis curse:
And I will put enmity
between you [satan] and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers [Christ];
he [Christ] will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
The mighty Messiah crushed satan’s head through his birth, death and resurrection. As it is written: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8).
This is the obvious translation of the verse since the idea that women are saved through merely bearing children doesn’t even make sense. What about they myriad believing women who don’t have children for one reason or another? Not to mention, the idea that women are saved through the act of childbearing would mean that salvation is attained through works, which doesn’t mesh with the fact that the Scriptures plainly teach we are saved by God’s graciousness through faith in Christ, not by works, although genuine faith always results in works (Ephesians 2:8-9 & James 2:14-26).
Paul’s additional statement that women will be saved through the childbearing of Christ “if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety” merely points to the necessity of persevering in faith, which he stressed elsewhere to all believers, not just women (Colossians 1:22-23 & 1 Corinthians 15:2). After all, if it takes faith to be saved, it naturally follows that someone cannot be saved if they come to a point where they no longer believe due to neglecting the feeding of their faith. See this article for details.
This article was edited from chapter 6 of…
Both links allow you to LOOK INSIDE the book.
Related Topics:
Did PAUL’S MESSAGE Contradict Jesus & James’ Gospel?
What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?
Women of the Bible / Women in Ministry
Why Were WITCHES / SORCERERS Executed According to the Mosaic Law?
Once Saved Always Saved? — Answering the Best Arguments
Is It Wrong to REPRESS Negative Desires?
Libertines are hedonists who embrace the “if it feels good, do it” philosophy. I bring them up because you’ll occasionally come across people who mock “repressive values.” My immediate response is: As opposed to what — hedonistic non-values?
The core question here is this: Is repressing a desire inherently wrong? Is it unhealthy? Let’s start with the definition of ‘repress’…
To ‘repress’ means to restrain. Pertaining to our topic, it means to prevent oneself from giving way to an urge or emotion, presumably a destructive one. For instance, eleven years ago my wife’s boss (at the time) tried to kiss her on the lips at work. She instinctively backed away from him while flashing the sign of the cross, saying, “Woman of God here; woman of God!” Although he was supposedly a Christian teacher, he was upset about her reaction and forced her out of the company by the end of the summer. When Carol told me what happened, I naturally wanted to march into that office and wring the guy’s neck, literally. Good thing I repressed that desire or he’d be dead or seriously injured and I’d be in prison.
Anytime someone argues against “repressive values” — restraining an unwholesome emotion or impulse — they’re basically advocating hedonism or licentiousness. But this is folly since any spiritual or philosophical belief system of actual value includes the idea of self-discipline. After all, just because a thought/desire occurs to you or me, it doesn’t mean it should be ‘fed’ and acted on. For instance, I like vanilla ice cream. If the thought occurs to me to eat a whole gallon of ice cream every day, this doesn’t automatically mean I should submit to that desire and practice it (even under the argument that “I was born that way”). If I did, I’d eventually become overweight and it would be destructive to my health and standard of living. If I refuse to cave-in to that desire, would it mean I’m “repressed”? If so, then repression in this case is obviously a positive thing.
This principle can be applied to any thought/desire, including sexual ones. For example, say a seasoned adult man finds a shapely 14-15 years-old girl alluring and thoughts of sexual desire flash through his mind (this happens every day, all over the world). Should he feed those thoughts and, ultimately, act on them? Of course not. It would lead to a prison sentence and, when he got out, he’d have to register as a sexual predator. His reputation would be destroyed in the community as a “pedo” (even though, in this case, he’d more accurately be guilty of hebephilia or ephebophilia, not pedophilia, the latter of which concerns prepubescent children). If the guy was married or had kids, his actions could very likely destroy his family.
So, obviously, repressing unwholesome impulses is a healthy thing, not unhealthy.
This explains why genuine Christianity plainly teaches:
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Colossians 3:5-10
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:12-14
3But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. a 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7Therefore do not be partners with them.
Ephesians 5:3-6
9Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men a 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Clearly, the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16) teaches us to not flirt with negative emotions or desires by feeding them with our thought life and eventually acting on them. No, we’re to put them off…
6Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
Isaiah 55:6-8
As always, turning to God is the answer to any flesh issue or temptation…
13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. c
Romans 13:13-14
But what does it mean to “clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ”? This is a figurative reference to walking in the spirit:
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Walking in the spirit and thus being spirit-controlled is the answer to the bondage of being flesh-ruled. See this article for details or this video.
Related Topics:
How to Walk FREE OF THE FLESH by being Spirit-Controlled
How to TAKE CAPTIVE Thoughts (Noémas—Mindsets, Ideologies)
Demonic Spirits — How to Deflect Them
The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Understanding Christ’s LORDSHIP in the Believer’s Life
What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?
“Do Not Touch My ANOINTED ONES; Do My PROPHETS No Harm”
We’ve all heard this verse, but how do we properly interpret it? Who are God’s “anointed ones”? To answer, let’s go to the passage, which appears twice in Scripture verbatim:
“Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
“Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
These are examples of synonymous parallelism in Hebraic poetry wherein the first part of the verse is repeated in the second part in different words. As such, “anointed ones” and “prophets” are spoken as one-and-the-same. Both verses are contextually referring to the Israelites, God’s chosen nation in that era. So do not touch God’s people; do God’s people no harm.
Notice what the previous verse in each text says:
He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
This reveals the core message of our text: Don’t unjustly persecute God’s people or it will draw the wrath of the Almighty. Does this only apply to the Hebrews under the Old Covenant or does it also apply to God’s people today, those under the New Covenant? It does apply to God’s people today because…
- All genuine believers are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
- All the promises God made to the Israelites are ‘yes’ for those in Christ? (2 Corinthians 1:20).
We’ll look at this further in a moment. First, let’s return to our main text…
“Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
So, “my anointed ones” and “my prophets” are synonymous concepts in this text. Yet there’s an obvious distinction: All believing Hebrews could be classified as “anointed ones” (see the difference between believing Israelites and unbelieving Israelites in this article). But not all Hebrews were prophets in the technical sense, that is, inspired people who were called to speak for the LORD to the people (the word is nabi in the Hebrew and prophétés in the Greek). ‘Prophets’ would only apply to all believing Israelites in a generic sense, that is, people who (are supposed to) represent the LORD and therefore speak for the Almighty.
In a more technical sense, “prophet” here would refer to to Old Covenant prophets; the genuine ones, of course, not false prophets.
Old Covenant Prophets
During the Old Covenant era, a genuine prophet or prophetess spoke for God. In light of this, what a prophet said was equal to the Word of the LORD and kings made extremely important decisions at their word, like going to war. The primary purpose of the Old Testament prophet was to lead and guide Israel through the spoken Word of the LORD and, in fact, a lot of their words became Holy Scripture and are included in what we know today as the Old Testament, such as the books featured from Isaiah to Malachi.
For this reason, the words of a prophet had to be 100% accurate. If their words were proven to be false, they were to no longer be regarded as prophets and were even to be executed (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). If an Old Testament prophet missed it just once, they were done (which explains the need for a more immediate application to their far-flung prophecies, explained here). This, of course, didn’t happen in cases where the king and other leaders were corrupt and actually wanted false prophets to comfort them with lies, which occurred all too often in Israel and Judah. A good example is the 400 false prophets of King Ahab noted in 1 Kings 22:5-9.
The Messiah — “The Anointed One” — Was the Last Old Testament Prophet
Jesus Christ was the last person to operate in the anointing of an Old Testament prophet (Hebrews 1:1-2) and, in fact, he was The Prophet, which the Hebrews had anticipated for almost 1500 years (Deuteronomy 18:15; John 6:14 & 7:40). For those not in the know, ‘the Christ’ and ‘the Messiah’ both mean “the Anointed One” (they are Christos in the Greek and Mashiyach in Hebrew).
New Covenant Believers Are “Chips Off the Ol’ Block” of The Anointed One
Genuine Christ-ians (Acts 11:26) are born of the seed of the Christ — the Anointed One — as observed in 1 John 3:9 and 1 Peter 1:23 (‘seed’ is sperma in the first passage, which is the Greek word for sperm). As such, New Covenant believers are little anointed ones or the spiritual offspring of the Anointed One; who (super)naturally have the same spirit.
In light of this, in the New Testament era, Psalm 105:15 & 1 Chronicles 16:22 (our main text, at the top) could apply to any genuine believer who’s walking in the spirit and producing the fruit thereof, as opposed to works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). I distinguish this because any ‘believer’ who’s walking in the flesh and producing works of the flesh on a regular basis with no care of repentance (1 John 1:8-9) would certainly not be God’s “anointed one.” As the Lord plainly said, “By their fruit you will recognize them,” aka false prophets, that is, false people who (supposedly) speak for God (Matthew 7:15-23). As Paul put it, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Titus 1:16).
For instance, if there’s a Christian brother or sister who habitually engages in hateful gossip & slander, including (or especially) concerning blameless brothers & sisters in the LORD and even fivefold ministers (Ephesians 4:11-13), this exposes them as false believers. Keep in mind that ‘devil’ — diabolos in the Greek — literally means “slanderer” or “accuser” (Revelation 12:10). In other words, such false believers are acting like their father, the devil.
To elaborate, the New Testament plainly says that all genuine believers “have an anointing from the Holy One” (1 John 2:20). Those who are humble and come near to God, as observed in James 4:6 & 4:8, would be closer to the LORD and consequently have more favor — grace — compared to arrogant, carnal ones who are distant from the Almighty (Psalm 138:6).
To bring this home: If you’re a New Covenant believer who’s walking in the spirit as opposed to the flesh, and “keeping with repentance” when you miss it (Matthew 3:8 & Luke 3:8), you are an anointed one of God, called to speak for the Almighty as an ambassador of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Peter 4:11). And the LORD has your back based on the promise of our main text.
Related Topics:
What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?
Christ: “The Anointed One” — What Does it Mean? What Does “Jesus” Mean?
Distinguishing ATHEISTS, AGNOSTICS and BELIEVERS
People can be grouped into three general categories when it comes to the topic of God:
- Those who embrace atheism.
- Those who claim agnosticism.
- Those who believe in an Intelligent Creator of all things.
Let’s look at all three, as well as consider the individuals who crossover to one degree or another:
Atheists
An atheist is a person who believes there is no God, aka intelligent Creator of the Earth, Universe and all living things. The Bible flat out calls such people “fools” (Psalm 14:1 & 53:1), which is the Hebrew word nabal, meaning a stupid, senseless or wicked person.
Why would the Holy Scriptures brazenly call atheists fools, especially seeing as how a lot of really smart people are atheists, such as professors at universities? However bright and educated they might be, the Bible calls them fools because belief in God is simply a part of human make-up; it’s in our spiritual DNA. Creation itself inspires belief in a Creator and basically screams out God’s existence, as observed in these passages:
1The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4Yet their voice b goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
Psalm 19:1-4
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-20
So, belief in an Intelligent Creator comes natural to people born into this messed up world and is expected in light of the glaring evidence. They basically have to be “talked out of it” to become an atheist, which is what atheistic professors love to do in our secular universities (You can learn about this here).
But, please understand, that the LORD has compassion — sympathetic understanding — concerning our plight in this fallen world. In other words, God knows how godless our societies are and how we are brainwashed in many cases to not believe, sometimes from childhood. As it is written: “The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (Psalm 145:9).
Elsewhere, Christ said, “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23) to which the father of an ill son exclaimed: “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (9:24). This reveals that doubt can coexist with belief and that seeking God for help in overcoming unbelief is a valid action.
Agnostics
The Greek word for ‘agnostic’ is agnostos (ag-NOHS-toss), which means “unknown or unknowable.” So, an agnostic is someone who admits to not knowing the nature of ultimate reality. In short, they claim ignorance on the topic — they don’t know if there is a God or not; and, even if there is, this Creator is apparently unknowable. If you remember Ozzy Osbourne’s song from the early 80s “I don’t Know,” that’s what he was saying.
Agnostics are a step up from atheists because they’re not arrogant enough to insist that there is no God or an intelligent design behind creation. This takes humility, which is good because humility attracts God’s favor (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5 & Proverbs 3:34).
Before I turned to the LORD at the age of 20, I was an agnostic. I simply didn’t know what the truth was concerning ultimate reality and refused to arrogantly say “There is no God.”
It should be pointed out that there is sometimes a fine line between atheism and agnosticism. For instance, someone may technically be an agnostic, but be an atheist in attitude and practice.
Believers
The Greek word for ‘believer’ is pisteuó (pist-YOO-oh), which naturally means “to believe, have faith or trust.” Hence believers refer to those who believe in an Almighty Creator with the ideal of having an actual agreement (covenant, contract) with the LORD.
When the New Testament speaks of believers, it’s talking about New Covenant believers, whether of Hebraic stock or Gentile. This refers to people who have accepted the Good News of the message of Christ:
…the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Whoever confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and believes in their heart will experience spiritual regeneration— that is, rebirth within (John 3:3, 3:6; Titus 3:5).
A good verse that distinguishes between believers and unbelievers (whether atheistic or agnostic) can be observed here:
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.
To be expected, there are other types of believers, including semi-believers and false believers (who obviously aren’t really believers). Here are some examples from the Bible…
Abram Believed During Pre-Judeo-Christian Circumstances
Before there was an Old Covenant that the LORD had with the Israelites and the New Covenant that God has with believers, Abram (aka Abraham) was a believer and Yahweh acknowledged it (Genesis 15:6).
Since the holy LORD only works with fallen humans through covenants, God made an agreement with Abram (Genesis 15) and Abram complied as he received additional revelation from the Great I AM (e.g. Genesis 17:9–14 & Genesis 17:23–27).
Hebrews Who Don’t Really Believe
The Israelites in the Old Testament may have all been of Hebraic stock and had a covenant with the Great I AM, but they weren’t all believers. For instance, Numbers 13-14 details how Moses sent twelve Hebrews from each tribe into the Promised Land in preparation to take it, but ten came back with a spirit of fear, discouraging the masses, while two had a spirit of faith — Joshua and Caleb — in other words, they believed and so were true believers (Numbers 14:6-9). The ten doubters were dyed-in-the-wool Hebrews, physically, but they weren’t children of Abraham in the spiritual sense because they didn’t have a spirit of faith, aka a spirit of belief. Joshua and Caleb, by contrast, were Abraham’s true offspring, not just in flesh, but in spirit as well. For more details see this article.
Proselytes
A proselyte in the Scriptures refers to a Gentile who believes in the God of Israel to the extent of undergoing circumcision (Acts 13:43).
God-Fearers
A God-fearer likewise refers to a Gentile who believes in Yahweh and therefore observes some of the Mosaic Law, but hadn’t yet submitted to circumcision. Cornelius is a good example of a God-fearer in the Scriptures (Acts 10:2).
Those “Not Far From the Kingdom of God”
This is how the Lord described a Teacher of the Law who answered a question wisely (Mark 12:34). It shows that someone may not be a believer in the message of Christ (yet), but they’re closer to salvation than others. See this article for more insights on this.
False Believers
This refers to people who say they’re believers and do things typical of believers — like go to assembly, speak Christianese, and carry a Bible — but they actually don’t believe and therefore aren’t walking with the LORD at all. Paul made several references to such bogus believers (2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:4) with this notable insight:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
The Lord also noted false ministers in Revelation 2:2 and elaborated on the topic here:
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:15-23
Since people like this aren’t really believers, they’re either atheists or agnostics masquerading as believers because it’s in their best interest to do so or they’re doing it for carnal reasons. Such false believers can be recognized by their fruit — they don’t produce fruit of the spirit on a consistent basis, but rather works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). For instance, a ‘brother’ who constantly engages in gossip/slander concerning blameless believers and even fivefold ministers is acting like satan (Revelation 12:10) since devil — diabolos in the Greek — literally means slanderer or accuser. Such impenitent people are guilty of the sin of false testimony!
A good example of a false prophet today would be that pro-sodomite “bishop” who spoke at President Trump’s Inaugural Prayer service, which you can see here. A real bishop, by contrast, would boldly call to repentance those who foolishly engage in sexual immorality & perversion, not play their advocate (e.g. Matthew 4:17, Luke 13:5).
Related Topics:
The Seven Keys to SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages
Can You Fix Your SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION If It’s Faulty?
What Is the Principle of BINDING & LOOSING?
When the Lord taught the disciples how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13, he included this line:
Your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven
This type of prayer refers to binding & loosing or intercession, that is, releasing God’s will and kingdom to reign in people’s lives and situations on Earth, including your own. It does not refer to praying for the Millennium to come. In other words, it’s loosing God’s will into people’s lives on Earth, through prayer.
If the idea that prayer “looses” God and his kingdom to function in people’s lives sounds strange to you, it’s in line with the principle of binding & loosing, as taught by the Mighty Christ:
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
19“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
In the first passage, Messiah said he was going to give believers the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” “Keys” refer to authority or power. If you have the keys to a vehicle, you wield the power to take advantage of it. The “kingdom of heaven” of course refers to God’s kingdom, the kingdom of light. The Lord was saying that he was giving his disciples the power to take advantage of God’s kingdom. This is driven home with the second part of the verse: “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” You could put it like this: Heaven will back you up in any legitimate effort to manifest God’s kingdom on Earth via faith and love, which are the terms of the New Testament. “Faith works in love” (Galatians 5:6).
What Does It Mean to “Bind” or to “Loose”?
- The Greek word for “bind” is deo (DAY-oh), which means to literally bind up or figuratively in the sense of prohibiting or hindering.
- “Loose” is luo (LOO-oh), which means to unbind or release.
- So deo means to lock up whereas luo means to unlock.
As such, believers have the authority to hinder or prohibit the kingdom of darkness on Earth and to release God’s kingdom. The kingdom of darkness is prohibited in Heaven so we can prohibit it on Earth; the kingdom of light reigns in Heaven so we can loose it on Earth.
In the second passage Christ links the principle of binding & loosing to prayer. We bind the kingdom of darkness and loose the kingdom of light through our prayers.
Do you want God’s kingdom to reign in your life and the lives of others? Of course you do, but it has to be released through prayer. Do you want God’s will to be done in your life and the lives of others? You have to loose it via prayer. In other words, God’s kingdom will not come and reign on this Earth unless a believer releases it through prayer and action; and God’s will is not done on Earth unless the Church looses it via prayer and action. Simply put, believers have the power to bind the kingdom of darkness in this fallen world and loose the kingdom of light.
When you grasp this, you understand why the apostle stressed: “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Someone might understandably respond…
“Well if God’s so Almighty why doesn’t he just automatically do everything?”
In other words, “Why does God need believers to ‘release’ his will through prayer and service?”
It is true that the LORD is Sovereign, which means he “reigns supreme.” The Bible describes God as “the king of all the earth” (Psalm 47:7) who owns the Earth and everything in it (Psalm 24:1, 50:12; 1 Corinthians 10:26). Christ himself called Father God “Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). So there’s no disputing that the Almighty reigns supreme and “does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 103:19 & 135:5-6).
However, it’s also clear in Scripture that the devil is the “god of this age” and the “prince of this world” who rules the kingdom of darkness or Underworld, which is the dark spiritual dimension that underpins the world (John 12:31 & 14:30). Anyone who’s not part of God’s kingdom is subject to this dark kingdom because they’re “by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3); this includes everyone who doesn’t have a covenant with the Almighty, meaning all unbelievers. The following verses verify this: 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9, 2 Corinthians 4:4 and Ephesians 2:1-2.
These passages show that the “whole world” is presently under the control of the kingdom of darkness, which is why the Bible refers to this current era as “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4).
This doesn’t, of course, mean that all unbelievers are frothing at the mouth with evil, but rather that they’re subject to the kingdom of darkness, whether they realize it or not. The depth of their subjugation is dependent upon how far they choose to embrace the flesh, which is the satanic nature. It’s also dependent on how far their belief system (noéma) deviates from biblical truth.
We see evidence of Satan’s rule and influence all around us constantly: wars, crime, corruption, broken families, immorality, injustice, poverty, false religion, legalism, harmful ideologies, disunity, disease, addiction, death, etc. Don’t be alarmed, however, because the above passages show that the devil’s control is limited to those designated as “the world,” which doesn’t include blood-bought, spiritually regenerated believers, Hallelujah!
New Covenant Believers Are Not of This World
Christians are the “church” of Jesus Christ, which literally means “the called-out ones” in the Greek. This signifies that believers have been rescued from satan’s kingdom:
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Not only have we been rescued from bondage to the kingdom of darkness, we’ve been transplanted into God’s kingdom as his beloved sons and daughters!
Your Prayers Are “Powerful and Effective”!
When you pray for yourself and those linked to you—family, neighbors and people at school or work—you’re binding up the kingdom of darkness and loosing the kingdom of light, which includes loosing the angels assigned to them (Matthew 18:10). Some of the people you intercede for are lost and some are Christians who are ignorant of these things; as such, the angels assigned to them are limited in helping them, to say the least. But your prayers can release them to work in their lives, one way or another.
This doesn’t negate freewill, of course. No matter how much you pray for someone and no matter how much they’re exposed to the Word of God, the moving of the Holy Spirit and the service of angels, he or she can still stubbornly resist. And that’s their choice. You did your part; they have to do theirs. If they refuse, that’s their problem and they’ll be held accountable for it when they stand before the LORD (Romans 14:12).
Praying for those whom you regularly come in contact with is to your social relations what oil is to a bike chain. Without your prayers, the kingdom of light is hindered in these people’s lives, which includes the service of angels. When this occurs the kingdom of darkness takes advantage of the situation: Unclean spirits will naturally have more freedom of movement and therefore more negative influence, which isn’t good for the individual in question or for your relationship with him/her. Since godly believers are guaranteed to be persecuted, why open the door to unnecessary problems due to skipping out on your duty to intercede? See 1 Timothy 2:1-4.
This article was edited from chapter 18 of…
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Related Topics:
SPIRITUAL WARFARE — Do You Know What You’re Fighting For?
Praise & Worship—What’s the Difference? Why are they Important?
ALTARS & ALTAR CALLS and How They’re Relevant
What Are THE BASICS of Christianity?
Did David and Jonathan Have a HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIP?
People ask this question due to David’s grieving words over his friend Jonathan:
I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me was wonderful,
more wonderful than that of women.
The nature of their relationship was close friends and not homosexual. How do we know this for sure? Because homosexuality was expressly forbidden by the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 18:22 & 20:13) and David is described in the Bible as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22), which explains why the LORD specifically chose him to replace Saul as King of Israel.
Secondly, the Scriptures never describe their relationship in terms of “sleeping together,” as is the case when David committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:4), which you can read details about here. Nor is their any reference to the two “knowing” each other in a sexual sense (Genesis 4:1, Genesis 19:5 & Judges 19:22). Scripture interprets Scripture is a hermeneutical rule in “rightly dividing” the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15).
As such, David and Jonathan’s relationship was a platonic friendship of exceptional loyalty and commitment, which was rare amongst males in that culture and even rarer between males and females (although Solomon’s Song of Songs certainly shows the ideal). In that day, men in the Near East often viewed women as inferiors and considered wives as their possessions. (That said, the great Deborah led Israel for four decades politically, spiritually, militarily and judicially, as disclosed in Judges 4, and this was according to God’s will, as observed by Judges 2:16 & Acts 13:20).
Jonathan loved David as himself, sharing his personal possessions, such as his tunic, robe, bow and sword, which were valuable property to a military man (1 Samuel 18:1-4). Their covenant of loyal friendship was evident when Jonathan had to defend David from his own father, King Saul, who was hellbent on murdering David (1 Samuel 19:4-7).
All of this helps us properly interpret David’s grieving words over Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1:26.
Related Topics:
Homosexuality Is a Sin, BUT There’s Freedom Through Christ
Are Homosexuals “Born that Way”?
Women of the Bible / Women in Ministry
WOMEN — Were They Considered Just Property in Bible Times?
Does REVELATION 22:14-15 Support Eternal Roasting Torture?
A couple of people have written me about this statement Christ makes in the last chapter of the Bible because it sounds as if there will be wicked people right outside the gates of the new Jerusalem in the eternal age of the new Heavens and new Earth:
14“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
Revelation 22:14-15
Obviously there won’t be wicked people just outside the gates of the new Jerusalem because the new Heavens and new Harth are the “home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). It’s the place “where righteousness dwells,” not the place “where righteousness dwells in the city while wickedness dwells without.” If damned human beings will be hanging right outside the city gates then that would mean the Lake of Fire is also right outside the gates, which obviously isn’t true. The “new heaven and new earth” refer to the coming eternal age where “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”; it’s where the LORD makes everything new (Revelation 21:5).
The problem lies with the dubious rendering of the Greek text by English translators. The linking verb “are” in the phrase “Outside are the dogs” is not in the original text. This is significant because, by adding ‘are’ to this rendition of the text, it gives the impression that these people will still be alive in the era of the new Heavens and new Earth. And coupled with the word “outside” it seems like they’ll be dwelling right outside the gates of the new Jerusalem.
The Greek for “outside” is exó, which means “out, outside, (going) forth or (thrown) away.” Adhering to the hermeneutical rule that Scripture interprets Scripture, let’s look at a couple of other passages relevant to damnation that also use this word:
“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away (exó). 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age.”
Matthew 13:47-49
Christ gave this natural example to illustrate the way it will be with people at the end of this age. What happens to bad fish that are thrown away? Do they exist forever in a state of constant torment or do they suffer for a bit and then perish? Jesus follows up with verses 49-50 where he says that angels will separate the wicked from the righteous at the end of the age and throw the wicked into a “blazing furnace.” Being cast into such a furnace indicates nothing other than horrible and total incineration.
This is further emphasized by the Lord’s explanation of The Parable of the Weeds in verse 40 of the same chapter: “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.” What happens to weeds cast into fire? Obviously they burn for a little bit, but ultimately burn up. Why did Christ use unmistakable illustrations like these? Because they’re unmistakable. Only a stuffy theologian blinded by sectarianism and tradition could miss their obvious meaning.
Here’s a similar passage where exó is used in reference to human damnation:
“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away (exó) as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”
John 15:6 (NASB)
Once again, the point cannot be mistaken: The branches are thrown away into the fire where they are burned. Just like the weeds, the branches burn up in the fire; they don’t burn forever and ever without quite burning up.
Being “thrown away (exo)” in these passages is a reference to Gehenna—the Valley of Hinnom—which Christ used as an example of the lake of fire or second death (Matthew 10:28). The figurative “fire” is also an obvious reference to the lake of fire. At that time Gehenna was a perpetually smoking trash dump where all manner of refuse was cast for the purpose of disposal and incineration. It’s not a pretty picture, but it drives home a powerful point: Those who choose to be God’s enemies become God’s garbage and will thus be thrown away—exó—and exterminated, like garbage.*
* For details see this article and scroll down to the section The Example of Gehenna: “Hell.”
The comparative Greek word exóteros (ex-OT-er-us) is also used by Christ in reference to the lake of fire when he said that the damned would be “thrown outside, into the darkness” (Matthew 8:12). So when the Lord says “Outside (exo) are the dogs” in Revelation 22:14-15 he was saying that they were condemned to the lake of fire, the “second death.”
Lastly, the Greek for “practices” in Revelation 22:15 is the verb poieó (poy-EH-oh), which can be past tense, present tense or future tense depending on the context.
All this info helps us translate the original text of Revelation 22:14-15 as such:
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Thrown away (in the lake of fire) are the dogs, those who practiced magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loved and practiced falsehood.”
Also keep in mind the sequence of events of Revelation chapters 20-22. In 20:11-15 the unrepentant wicked are cast into the lake of fire to suffer the second death. Then chapters 21-22 detail the establishment of the new Heavens and new Earth, the “home of righteousness.” The wicked have already been taken care of by this point—cast into God’s garbage dump and destroyed. Revelation 22:12-21 is the epilogue of Revelation—and the Bible itself—with Christ speaking in verses 12-16 & 20.
This article was edited from chapter 5 of…
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Related Topics:
HELL (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers
Hell (Lake of Fire): Eternal Torment or Everlasting Destruction?
Sheol / Hades: The “Intermediate State” of the Unsaved Dead
RICH MAN & LAZARUS: Fantastical Parable or Literal Account?
Eternal Life (“Heaven”): Questions & Answers
Human Nature — Spirit, Mind & Body
The Believer’s “Intermediate State” (between Physical Death and Bodily resurrection)
Death — Does it Mean “Separation” as Religionists Claim? (No)
Can Believers Celebrate CHRISTMAS or Is It Evil?
Believers are free to celebrate any day they want; or not celebrate. Here’s how the Bible unmistakably puts it:
5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Romans 14:5-6
The word ‘Christmas’ simply means “a mass (gathering/celebration) focused on Christ.” So, if some believers want to celebrate the birth of Christ on a certain day, it’s all good. If some don’t, that’s fine as well. For biblical details, see this article.
The day of Jesus’ birth is not precisely known, although some place it in the early Fall for good reasons, like late September/early October. Keep in mind that those who celebrate Christmas are celebrating an event, not a particular day. For more info, see this article.
Related Topics:
HOLIDAYS—Which Ones Should Christians Observe or Not Observe?
Sabbath — What is it? Should Believers Observe It?
Law (Torah) — New Testament Believers are NOT Under the Law
Legalism — Understanding its Many Forms
The SHEPHERDS and Baby Jesus vs. the MAGI and Toddler Jesus
Is the Creator a CLOUD-LIKE BEING or Does God Have a Form?
Heaven is the spiritual realm. It’s more real than the physical realm since it already existed from eternity and it was from there that the LORD spoke into being the physical realm (Hebrews 11:3 & Colossians 1:16).
Whilst Christ said “God is spirit” (John 4:24), this doesn’t mean the Almighty doesn’t have a form in the spiritual realm, just that God is not a physical being like you & me, that is, until the Son was incarnated (Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:23). For anyone not in the know, ‘Immanuel‘ means “God [is] with us.”
You could say that Heaven itself is the LORD’s throne (Isaiah 66:1-2), but there’s an actual throne room in Heaven, the holy spiritual universe (2 Chronicles 18:18, Psalm 11:4 & Revelation 1:4, 3:21). This passage offers perhaps the most descriptive account of it:
1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits a of God. 6Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
9Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Revelation 4:1-11
This shows that God has a central presence in Heaven. While the LORD is omnipresent — and therefore knows what’s going on everywhere at the same time and is even present everywhere in this sense — God’s obviously not a cloud creature or mist being. Consider Ezekiel’s vision of the LORD’s appearance:
…the hand of the Sovereign LORD came on me there. 2I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. 3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood.
Ezekiel 8:1-3
Here’s a picture of the LORD in one of Daniel’s visions:
9“As I looked,
“thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.
10A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened.
Daniel 7:9-10
The LORD is referred to here as “the Ancient of Days, which accentuates eternal existence (Isaiah 43:13). Meanwhile the white hair is figurative of purity and wisdom, not necessarily age. As for the flaming throne and the river of fire flowing before him, this points to the Almighty’s position as a powerful judge; the supreme judge, in fact.
I don’t think words can do justice to God’s appearance to flesh & blood readers currently stuck in this fallen physical universe, but the LORD is at least giving us an idea of how to regard his personal being with verses like these.
For more insights, peruse through the articles below…
Related Topics:
Created in the IMAGE OF GOD — What Does It Mean?
What Is GLORY in the Sense of God’s (Shekinah) GLORY?