ENOUGH ONE-LINERS

CONTEXT OF SCRIPTURES

INTRODUCTION

No, I'm not going to stop being a comedian. You have to be one in the first place to stop. I have a friend who broke his finger. He ask the doctor if he would be able to play the piano when it healed. The doctor said yes and my friend was ecstatic; he had never be able to play before. Yes! It is good that I never got started as a comic. The one-liners that I have in mind are of a different nature. I am referring to out of context quotations of little segments of Scripture to prove what are sometimes major points of doctrine. This is not to say that there are not phrases in the Bible which can stand on their own. We can all name many. Every verse and phrase in the Bible does, however, have a context which, when understood, can always enhance and often will change our understanding of a particular verse. The context can be but is not limited to: God's eternal plan for man's salvation, who is being addressed, the subject being discussed, the time in which the statement took place, results of previous similar events or sayings, and the meaning of the words in the original language. In fact, the whole Bible has to be considered as a context for any verse. Historical facts can also be helpful for one to understand correctly and correctly use a passage of Scripture. This is a lesson about context.

GOD'S PLAN FOR MAN'S SALVATION WAS MADE BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE.

Matt 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, `Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"

• God chose those in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before him.

Ephesians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

• This passage does not teach individual predestination in the sense some try to use it. All who hear, believe, and obey the Gospel of Christ, by their faith and obedience are in Christ. It is these individuals, in Christ, who are predestined to adoption.

1 Peter 1:18-21 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

• Jesus was manifested by his life and in the subsequent teachings of His apostles for those who would believe in God through Him. The correct teaching is about believing or not believing. It is not about which individuals are chosen to believe. Jesus sent his apostles to "preach the gospel to every creature." He also said: "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16) Now either Jesus was a Hypocrite or every creature preached to could believe and be baptized. Paul would also be a hypocrite.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

THE UNVEILING OF THE PLAN

• The prophets foretell the fulfillment. The gospels and the New Testament canon reveal the fulfillment.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• This is a significant statement regarding the Deity of Christ. He was from the beginning and was the Word. It is He who is prophecied about and then revealed.

The Old Testament was a shadow of things to come in Christ.

• Paul says in Colossians 2:11-17.

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

• Note, in support of the statements preceding regarding those predestined and foreordained, that it is those who have been buried with him in baptism who are made alive together with him. This is the exact opposite of the Calvinistic teachings being taught in most of the world about predestination. Most who teach predestination, teach that one must be quickened (made alive) to believe. This scripture teaches we are quickened after baptism not before we have ever believed.

• Note also in this passage that the handwriting of requirements deals with the forgiveness of sins and is contingent upon one being raised with Christ through faith by baptism.

• Those things of the law were a shadow of things to come. We now must follow the substance, not the shadow, and the substance is of Christ, not the law. Hebrews 10:1 says:

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect."

• It takes the baptism with Christ to bring perfection in the forgiveness of sins.

THERE ARE MANY SHADOWS

• To list just a few

Noah and the flood

Abraham's faith, his offering of Isaac,

Moses, the lawgiver,

the deliverance from bondage,

the wandering in the wilderness and the obtaining of the promised land,

The offerings for sin,

The high priest

David as king

Of course, not every verse will have an impact on our understanding of the verse being considered. On the other hand, we cannot limit our understanding to one or two verses and we cannot consider each verse as separate and in its own complete context. I am reminded of the following story which I am pretty sure someone made up to illustrate this very point.

A young man decided one day that he was lacking something in his life and wanted to turn to God. Having heard that the Bible was the inspired word of God and that God could help people, that is exactly where he went to redirect his life. Thumbing through the pages of the Bible, it soon became evident that this redirection could take a while if he sat down and began to read from cover to cover. So being impatient he determined that he would open his Bible at random, point to a verse and then, if possible, do what it said. He gently plopped his Bible on the table in front of him, closed his eyes and pointed. The verse was:

Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. -- Matthew 27:5

Not knowing what to do with this verse he decided to use the same procedure again. This time he found his finger resting on:

And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." -- Luke 10:37

We could continue on with the young man going to the front of the Bible to find something else: "Make yourself an ark." and finally to the end to read: "If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life." I guess it would have to happen as follows. The young man, in order to have part in the Book of life, would build an ark and then hang himself.

Now some would say that the outcome would have been different if the young man would have prayed first. Others would say that such a thing would never happen. Still others would say that he was not one selected for eternal life and would have no hope anyway. The question must and should be answered from the Bible, not from human reasoning which was the root cause of the young man's dilemma from the start. The Bible of course would not support any of the above considerations.

• All are invited to study in context the following:

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

II Tim 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Hebrews 10:16"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,"

There are other passages but the idea is fundamental -- One must learn and understand God's word in order to correctly apply scriptures. There are no short cuts or easy paths. There are helps. Bible surveys in books and courses, overall outlines of the Bible, and other things help one to gain an understanding of who a teaching is to and if it applies to the student in today's times. Serving God is not a part time, temporary, or sporadic experience; rather, it is a continuing day by day existence. Pleasing God is not a momentary change of heart or life style. Instead, it involves the permanent change from a life marked with sin and occasional goodness to a life marked with consistent dedication and a continued turning from sin The bottom line is that salvation is not one shot of scripture, one shot of doing good or one spurt of enthusiasm for spiritual things. Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." cannot be considered without other scriptures, perhaps I Corinthians 10:12, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

• How can one understand John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." without understanding that belief culminates in obedience.

Romans 10:16-17 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

• How can one talk about saving grace without understanding that God's children are created for good works?

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. --

The witness of the prophets

• The prophets were witnesses before the event happened. This was by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is necessary to understand that the Prophets spoke of future events and that the canon of the New Testament reveals the fulfillment of what was prophesied.

Acts 10:43 "To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."

Hebrews 10:15-17 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," 17 then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."

Acts 26:22 "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come-- 23 "that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

John 1:45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

FULFILLED IN CHRIST

Acts 3:18-21 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 "and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 "whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

Luke 24:44-45 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Matt 5:17-18 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

THE SUBJECT -- ABOUT WHOM OR WHAT IS THE WRITING

Is the following about Parashooting or Marriage?

Advice:

Spend time preparing, everything must be just right before getting hitched up.

Choose carefully, first and of primary importance is the packaging. You could wind up with a pig-in-a-poke so to speak.

Getting into it is always a lot of trouble but getting out of it has become real easy for some.

Remember you may live the rest of your live with the one you choose.

A young man I've heard of has done it a lot of times and says he always is nervous just before that leap of faith. Before the time comes to take the plunge he gets as high as possible.

Passages of scripture have a subject. In many there are also incidentals. Both may be important for correct understanding of application.

• In I Corinthians 14 -- Is the subject singing with enthusiasm or using of spiritual gifts correctly?

• In I Corinthians 11:2-16 Is the subject head covering or the respective relationship between a man and woman and Christ? Is the covering a literal covering? or Is the word used symbolically to show that a woman has a direct relationship with God and must therefore cover her husband?

• Was Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, written to Christians or non Christians?

• Is Romans 14 -- Dealing with all opinions or dealing with things pertaining to the law?

• Does James 5:15, And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven, refer to physical sickness or spiritual sickness?

• Is the teaching of Matthew 19:3-9, Jesus discourse on marriage and divorce, to Christians, non-Christians, or Jews? Does it include those who do not serve God in the first place?

• Is the book of Revelation about some event which is allusively depicted and still to be fulfilled or is it about something that was about to be fulfilled when the book was written.

THE TIME OF THE WRITING

• The time something was written has a lot to do with understanding it.

• Was Revelation written before or after the destruction of Jerusalem? Could it have been written in the late 60's and deal with the impending destruction of Jerusalem?

Revelation 1:1-2 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

• Was the book of Hebrews written several years or just a few years after Christ died?

• Was I John written in the 2nd or 3rd century as some scholars say, or was it written shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24?

I John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

PAST PRECEDENTS

• Noah -- Jesus, Peter, and the writer of Hebrews all write about Noah who was delivered from the sinful world. Knowing about Noah contributes a lot toward understanding these passages.

• All of the examples to which the inspired writers refer can best be applied if we understand the initial story being used as an illustration.

• Jesus called himself the Son of man. Use of this term in the Jewish writings, can shed much light on the teaching of Jesus. Would not understanding the following in context help understanding of the expression Jesus used?

Psalms 80:17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.

Isaiah 56:1-2 - Thus says the Lord: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil."

• In Ezekiel the expression, "Son of Man," occurs 90 plus times. A couple of examples are:

Ezekiel 2:3 And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day."

Ezekiel 3:17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:"

• Unless one understands the prophecies of Daniel 7:13&14, he cannot understand the impact of Jesus' statement to the High Priest as recorded in Matthew 26:63-65.

Daniel 7:13&14 "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed."

Matthew 26:63-65 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!"

TO WHOM WAS IT SAID:

Was it spoken to a Patriarch -- Noah, Abraham, and others. Is is applicable to me?

• Why do I want to know about Noah?

• Events in Noah's life are compared to the coming of Jesus - Matthew 24:37-38

• Noah is spoken of as a witness - Hebrews 11:7 with 12:1

• His salvation by water is compared to Baptism - I Peter 3:20

• The salvation of Noah and 7 others shows that God did not (does not) spare a sinful world. - II Peter 2:5

• Why do I want to know about Abraham?

• I am heir to the same promise - Galatians 3:29 -And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

• Abraham is a witness - Hebrews 11:17 with 12:1

• Why would I want to know about what was said under the law or what the law meant?

• The law convicted people of sin and defined sin - Romans 3:19-20

• The prophets under the law foretold of a new earth, a new covenant of which I am a part and of a redeemer in whom I believe.

Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind."

Jeremiah 31: 31 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--

Isaiah 53:10-12 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

THE PROPHETS ARE QUOTED REPEATEDLY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON WHICH TELLS OF THEIR FULFILLED PROMISES -- THIS IS PART OF THE GOSPEL STORY.

Romans 16:25-26 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began 26 but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith: