"Free Indeed" Notes

 FREE INDEED!

John Piippo

***

Luke 4:18

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

 

Gal. 5:1 – For freedom Christ set you free.

The verb translated “has set us free” is in the aorist tense. In Greek this refers to a single, past action that is now completed.

          “Tetelestai!”

          IT IS…    ACCOMPLISHED!

So, in the most definitive way, Paul tells us that Christians have been set free. 

***

Scot McKnight - The implications of this Christian freedom as Paul develops it are vast and far-reaching, but essentially he sees freedom as a reality effected (accomplished)  in and through the Christ-event,

·        which has broken the power of sin

·         

·        covered the guilt and stain of sin

·        and erased the past;

·         

·        … which has crushed all enslavement to self, to religious convention, to the present powers of evil, and to cosmic forces;

·         

·        … and which has triumphed over every force that dominates humankind, including human mortality itself.

·        FREE FROM

He teaches that freedom in Christ is being set free from the power of sin and death (Rom. 6:7, 18, 22; 8:2).

          Rom. 6:7 - anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

***

Watchman Nee writes, “It is a great thing to see that we are in Christ!

Think of the craziness of trying to get into a room in which you already are! Think of the absurdity of asking to be put in!

If we recognize the fact that we are in, we make no effort to enter.”

***

NOTE: This is the Neil Anderson stuff.

          It’s also the Steve Backlund stuff.

 

ANDERSON – WHO I AM IN CHRIST

I am God's child.

As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ.   I have been justified.   I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child.   I am free from condemnation.   I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God.   I may approach God with freedom and confidence.   My chains are gone!   I’ve been set free!   Mission…   accomplished!   Because the Son has set me free, I am free indeed. (John 8:36) The Message - So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.

 

BACKLUND

Because the Son has set me free, I am free indeed. (John 8:36)

I am free from all spiritual bondage.

I am free of all worry and anxiety. The peace of God guards my mind and heart. (Philippians 4:7)

I am not who my past says I am, but I am who God says I am.

I have been set free and released from all bondage through what Jesus has done for me. (John 8:36, Galatians 5:1)

Every day I make the choice to walk in the freedom Jesus paid for me. 

Every generational curse was broken at the cross; therefore, I am victorious and free from addiction.

Today is the day of my breakthrough — I am free! 

 

Backlund, Steve; Rice, Tracy. Declare It: Includes Declarations for 96 Different Life Situations (p. 129). Steve Backlund and Tracy Rice. Kindle Edition.

***

“Would your problems be over if you died?”

“Yes”.

“Congratulations, because… you have died!”

Praise God, you have died with Christ!

This is what Galatians 2:20 means. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (NIV).

Yes, some of us used to be alcoholics and addicts.

Others still believe they are and still behave that way, but Scripture is clear that it is in the past for every born-again child of God.

First Corinthians 6:11 says, Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men^[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And 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.

 

McKnight -  “Being free” is the liberation of a person’s spirit from everything that shackles it to sin and ugliness;

AND…  “being free” is the liberation of a person’s spirit to do what God wants, to be what God wants, and to enjoy the life God gives us on this earth.

***

Freedom in Christ is FOR following and serving Christ.

Gal. 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

This shackle has been broken, and it can only be described as personally liberating— liberating the person to do what God wants.

          Freedom has its boundaries.

***

Gal. 5:13 - For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

 

The great German pastor, Helmut Thielicke, states this sharply when he says that “real freedom, on the other hand—the freedom ’to become what one should’—must be defined as a definite form of bondage or obligation, in a word, as what one should do. Real freedom is a bondage and nothing else.”

***

Those who have been set free have become slaves of Christ (1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6), God (Rom. 6:22), and righteousness (v. 18).

***

Freedom is a reality effected (accomplished)  in and through the Christ-event,

·        which has broken the power of sin

·         

·        covered the guilt and stain of sin

·        and erased the past;

·         

·        … which has crushed all enslavement to self, to religious convention, to the present powers of evil, and to cosmic forces;

·         

·        … and which has triumphed over every force that dominates humankind, including human mortality itself.

·         

Paul teaches that freedom in Christ is being set free from the power of sin and death (Rom. 6:7, 18, 22; 8:2).

          Rom. 6:7 - anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

          MISSION….  ACCOMPLISHED.

*** 

Those who have been set free have become slaves of Christ (1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 6:6), God (Rom. 6:22), and righteousness (v. 18).

1 Cor. 7:22 - For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. 

***

In 2 Cor 3 we are told that the Israelites, because of their sin (remember the golden calf),  could not see          Moses’ face that was shining with the glory of God.

          They had spiritual cataracts clouding their eyes.

There was a veil between them and the glorious presence of God.

2 Cor 3:14 - their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed,

2 Cor 3:16 says…

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 

¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

The freedom 2 Cor 13 talks about is a freedom from the veil of hard-heartedness that is unable to enter fully into the transforming presence of the Lord.

2 Cor. 3:18 - And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 

You cannot consistently live the unveiled life before the Lord and not be transformed.

Sin creates a veil that prevents people from seeing God's glory and understanding what is true. 

  Gordon Fee - Vv. 17-18 – For those who have the Spirit the veil is now removed: such unveiling therefore means “freedom.”

The “freedom” that comes with the removal of the veil means that people now have access to God’s presence so as to behold the “glory” which the veil has kept them from seeing.

The “glory” turns out now to be that of the Lord himself.

In beholding this glory God’s people are thereby “transformed into the same likeness, from glory to glory.”

“The Spirit, who applies the work of Christ to the life of the believer, is the key to the eschatological experience of God’s presence. With the veil removed from the hardened heart, God’s people enter into freedom.”

***

Now... some book-selling, if you are interested. :)

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Deconstructing Progressive Christianity

31 Letters to the Church on Praying

31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship

Encounters With the Holy Spirit (co-edited with Janice Trigg)

We Live In an Age of Cheap Grace

 

                                                         (Woman, praying in Jerusalem)

(This is from my book Deconstructing Progressive Christianity, p. 201.)

In 1970 (yikes!) I became a follower of Jesus. I was twenty-one. (You do the math.) One of the first books recommended to me was Dietrich Bonhoeffer's monumental The Cost of Discipleship. I didn't grasp it all at the time. I did understand Bonhoeffer's distinction between "costly grace" and "cheap grace." It reminded me of the apostle Paul, when he wrote, What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2)  

Eric Metaxas, in his biography of Bonhoeffer, argues that the Lutheran Church's drift into cheap grace was a factor in allowing Hitler to come to power. (See Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy) Metaxas says that cheap grace means "going to church and hearing that God just loves and forgives everyone, so it doesn’t really matter much how you live." Anyone who believes that, and self-refers as a follower of Jesus, has drifted into heresy. Yes, orthopraxy is important. 

Tim Keller writes that, today, we live in an age of cheap grace.  "Many Christians want to talk only about God’s love and acceptance. They don’t like talking about Jesus’ death on the cross to satisfy divine wrath and justice. Some even call it “divine child abuse.” Yet if they are not careful, they run the risk of falling into the belief in “cheap grace”—a non-costly love from a non-holy God who just loves and accepts us as we are. That will never change anyone’s life." (Foreword to Metaxas.)

Dr John Piippo | How To Pray Effective Prayers!

REMEMBER (Please read this)

 Please read this.

https://hollydcollins.blogspot.com/2024/06/remember.html

                                                      (Heidi Baker at Redeemer)

Why Pray, If God Already Knows What I Am Going to Pray?

 

                                      (Green Lake Christian Conference Center, Wisconsin)

If God already knows what I am going to pray before I pray it, why do so? 

Because: This is about a relationship, not a religious ritual. 

Think of a loving parent who already knows what their child is going to say, and allows them to say it without interrupting. This is about us, being real and authentic in that relationship. Like a loving parent is proud of their child’s transparency before them. “We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us,” wrote C. S. Lewis. To put it another way, we must trust God with what God already knows.

As you pray, you can trust God with what he already knows.

(From my book Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God, pp. 303-304.)

A Week of Remembering

 

Today I wrote this letter to my church family.

***

Good morning, Redeemer family!

Yesterday morning I spoke on 1 & 2 Chronicles. These books "chronicle" what God has done for the Israelites.

As we read Chronicles we are reminded of how God is with us, has not abandoned us, and goes before us.

Chronicles says, don't forget who God is and what he has done! 

Linda and I built remembering into our spiritual lives over fifty years ago. We have chronicled many things Go has done for our church, and for us.

We have long discovered that remembering these things keeps hope alive in our hearts.

Yesterday I handed out journals, and challenged our people to make this a week of remembering. When God reminds you of something he has done, in your life, and in our church family, write it down.

I invite you to join me this week, and make it a Week of Remembering.

Blessings!

PJ

"Arsenokoitais" (ἀρσενοκοίταις) in 1 Timothy 1:10 (et. al.)

I'm re-posting this for some friends. In response to this. The fallacy in this argument is that New Testament scholars pay far less attention to how a Greek word was translated historically (in various versions of the Bible) then how the word was understood in its first century context. We study words in their original context so as to understand their meaning. How, e.g., a particular German Bible translates a word is largely irrelevant. Or, how the King James translates a word is largely irrelevant to the scholarly discussion of the meaning of the text.

The intra-Christian discussion on the acceptability of same-sex marriage inevitably goes to the meaning of the word arsenokoitais. Someone asked me about this, again, recently. It is, arguably, the intra-Christian dialogical issue. Because Jesus-followers value highly the biblical text. (Note: everyone has their sacred authoritative texts, even atheists. For Jesus-followers this means the words and ideas of Jesus.)

Note: David Gushee, in Changing Our Mind, has a chapter called "Two Odd Little Words." The two "odd little words" are arsenokoites and malakoi. Note how Gushee spins the discussion by the chapter heading he uses. His conclusion is that these are "two obscure Greek words whose uncertain translation renders use of them for the LGBTQ issue problematic." (p. 74)  (Progressivist Christian Colby Martin, in an act of ad hominem denigration, calls them two "goofy" words. See my book Deconstructing Progressive Christianity, p. 163. For a broader discussion see pp. 163 - 168.)

Yes, I read the entire chapter in Gushee. No, I have not changed my mind about these two words. Nor have Michael Brown, N. T. Wright, Ben Witherington, Craig Keener, D. A. Carson, Andreas Kostenberger, Robert Gagnon, et. al. Precisely because, for four decades of studying the "two odd little words," I remain with these scholars. These two words - like it or not - disaffirm same-sex sexual relationships. Because I believe that, and books like Gushee's are unconvincing to me, I continue to affirm this: marriage is between and man and a woman. It would be inauthentic for me to say otherwise.

See also Greg Johnson, Still Time to Care. Especially chapters 14 and 15, where Johnson goes in-depth on arsenokoitais and malakoi, plus he digs into hermeneutical issues.

***

We read in 1 Tim. 1:9-11:

⁹ We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine ¹¹ that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

The Greek word translated here as "homosexuality" is arsenokoitais (ἀρσενοκοίταις). In the Christian theological discussion about homosexuality there is debate over the meaning of this word. This sends me running after commentaries and scholarly studies about this term. Here's what four of my most admired New Testament scholars say. But first, a few remarks. (Arguably the most thorough study of arsenokoitais is in Robert Gagnon, The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics, pp. 387 ff.)

1. My interest is: What does the biblical text say. My interest is not: What would I like the biblical text to say. I'll admit to often discovering things I wish the text did not say because, for example, it severely confronts or challenges me. So be it. This is not always easy. I wrestle with the biblical text every week preparing for Sunday mornings. Note also: My core interest is not what various Bible translations say (KJV, NIV, etc.). No New Testament scholar looks to (in the sense of dependence) on translations of the Bible, but to the original languages, and the socio-cultural, socio-rhetorical context.

2. It's easy to find persons who support what one might like the text to say. I know there are scholars with contrary opinions. What, then, shall I do? My answer: look to scholars I have found credible over the years. I am not always in agreement with them. But when they speak, I am listening.

3. I also read scholars I admire who argue against what I think the text says. (See, e.g., the Gagnon-Via book below.) One must read the counter-arguments to one's position.

4. Remember that most (nearly all) words are polysemous; i.e., they have multiple meanings. For example, 'bear' can mean 1) to carry (a load); 2) to endure; 3) an animal (noun); et. al. That in itself does not make the word 'bear' exceptionally "tricky," or any "trickier" than translating a word like arsenokaitais.

5. I expect this discussion will only interest those who embrace Jesus and follow after him. For all of us in this camp, issues like this are important. And, of course, there's a whole lot more to following after Jesus than this issue. Over the years I have dialogued with many homosexually oriented Jesus-followers who want to know what the text says, more than what do others think it says. That, too, has always been my passion.

6. And... homophobia is a sin. Can we discuss, in love? 

Here we go...


Ben Witherington

"The word [arsenokoites] literally and graphically refers to a male copulator (cf. Sib. Or. 2:73; Greek Anthology 9.686), a man who has intercourse with another man... It is true that this term can refer to a pederast (an older man who has sex with a younger man or a youth), but the term is not a technical term for a pederast; rather, it includes consenting adult males who have sexual relationships in this manner, as well as any other form of male-to-male intercourse." (Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians, Volume 1: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Titus, 1-2 Timothy and 1-3 John, 198)   

Some want arsenokoitais to mean "pederasty." Witherington thinks that, while it can, in the Pauline context this is not what it means. Remember: words are polysemous, having mutliple context-dependent meanings.

Andreas Kostenberger

Kostenberger has a lengthy section on arsenokoitas in God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation (with David Jones). After summarizing various views on the meaning of arsenokoitas, Kostenberger concludes:

1. "In light of the discussion of teaching in the Old Testament and the book of Romans above, it appears very unlikely that what is universally condemned in the Hebrew scriptures might, in New Testament times as well as ours, be acceptable." Arsenokoitas most likely refers to "the general practice of homosexuality."
2. "It appears like that the term arsenokoitas, which does not seem to appear in the extant literature prior to the present reference, was coined by Paul or someone esle in Hellenistic Judaism from the Levitical prohibition against males "lying or sleeping with males" (Lev. 18:22...). This suggests that the term is broad and general in nature and encompasses homosexuality as a whole rather than merely specific aberrant subsets  of homosexual behavior." This is important since some want to make arsenokoitas refer specifically to pederasty.
3. The argument that Paul's use of arsenokoitas refers to pederasty falls short on six counts: a) There was a clear and unambiguous word for pederasty, the term paiderastes; b) "The attempt to limit Paul's condemnation to pederasty... is contradicted by Paul's reference to the male partners' mutual desire for one another in Romans 1:27"; c) "In the same passage in Romans 1:26, Paul also condemns lesbian sex, which did not involve children, so that an appeal to pederasty does not adequately account for the prohibition of same-sex relations in this passage.";  d) "Even if (for argument's sake) Paul were to censure only pederasty in the passages under consideration, this would still not mean that, as a Scripture-abiding Jew, he would have approved of homosexuality as such. Quite the contrary. In contrast to the surrounding Greco-Roman world (which generally accepted homosexual acts). Hellenistic Jewish texts universally condemn homosexuality and treat it (together with idolatry) as the most egregious example of Gentile moral depravity."; e) "Not only is Paul's view of homosexuality as contrary to nature in keeping with the foundational creation narrative in Genesis 1 and 2, but it is also illumined by prevailing views of homosexuality in contemporary Greco-Roman culture." (See the entire text for much more on this); and f) "Ancient sources do not support the idea that homosexuality was defined exclusively in terms of homosexual acts but not orientation." Paul refers to both. Some scholars erect a false dichotomy between the two, and then use the false dichotomy to reason that the concept of "homosexuality" has changed, thus arsenokoitas should not be translated as "homosexuals."

For "these and many other reasons" Kostenberger concludes that attempts to limit arsenokoitas to "a narrower subset of aberrant homosexual behavior must be judged unconvincing."

Note: I think Wesley Hill's Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality is an important text in the broader discussion. 

Craig Keener

"Scholars have disputed the meaning of the term translated "homosexuals," but it seems to mean those who engage in homosexual acts, which were a common feature of Greek male life in antiquity." (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 464) 

Michael Brown

Brown's chapter on these "two odd little words" is in his book Can You Be Gay and Christian? Brown did his PhD in ancient and Semitic languages at New York University. (Note: I did my PhD in philosophical theology at Northwestern University. My dissertation was on the semantics of metaphorical language as referential to religious experience.)

David Bennett

See Bennett's A War of Loves, Appendix 1.

Robert Gagnon

An important text to read, for any who are interested, is Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views, by NT scholars Robert Gagnon and Dan Via. Note that while Via takes the pro-gay marriage stance he agrees with Gagnon that if one simply took the biblical texts one could not arrive at that conclusion.

One result of reading this book is that I picked up Gagnon's massive study The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics.  

Here are some reviews of Gagnon's book. It's important to see these lest we think that Gagnon is just some uneducated spin-meister trying to force his own opinion down our throats.

Here are some reviews of Gagnon's book:

"...In its learnedness, [Gagnon's] book will...be in the vanguard of its position and cannot be ignored...." -- Martti Nissinen, University of Helsinki, and author of Homoeroticism in the Biblical World (From the Jacket Flap)

"...the fullest and best presentation of the conservative position....expressing the case same-sex intercourse sympathetically and convincingly." -- I. Howard Marshall, Professor of New Testament, Emeritus, University of Aberdeen, Scotland (Blurb Inside Book)

"...the most thorough examination of the scriptural and theological...perspectives on same-sex relations....a tour de force." -- Marion L. Soards, Professor of New Testament, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (From Jacket Flap)

"Gagnon has offered a learned, judicious, and comprehensive examination of the biblical testimony....fair and compassionate...a major resource...." -- Brevard S. Childs, Sterling Professor of Divinity (Hebrew Bible), Emeritus, Yale Divinity School (From Inside Book)

"Gagnon's book is an extremely valuable contribution to the current debate....I recommend this book wholeheartedly." -- C. E. B. Cranfield, Professor of Theology (New Testament), Emeritus, University of Durham (From Inside Book)

"Gagnon's incisive logic, prudent judgment, and exhaustive research should make this book a dominant voice in the contemporary debate." -- Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, O.P., Professor of New Testament, Ecole Biblique, Jerusalem (From the Back Cover)

"I believe that this volume will become a classic in the ongoing discussion of the church's...response to homosexuality." -- Duane F. Watson, Professor of New Testament, Malone College (From Inside Book)

"I know of no comparable study of the texts and interpretive debates that surround homosexual behavior." -- Max L. Stackhouse, Stephen Colwell Professor of Christian Ethics, Princeton Theological Seminary (From the Jacket Flap)

"No Christian concerned with homosexuality can afford to ignore this book." -- John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford (From the Back Cover)

"This is a brilliant, original, and highly important work,...indispensable even for those who disagree with the author." -- James Barr, Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible, Emeritus, Vanderbilt University (From the Back Cover) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

People Who Meditate on God-thoughts Become People of Substance

                               

                         (A piece of hard cinnamon toast and a cup of hot chocolate for breakfast)

When I was a youth pastor in the 70s at First Baptist Church of Joliet, Illinois, we had a big kid named Dan, who one day boasted, "I can put an entire Big Mac in my mouth and swallow it whole." We said "No way!!!" So, we drove to McDonald's and bought a Big Mac for Dan.

Was this an idle boast because he wanted a free meal? Dan - who was a football player at Joliet Central H.S. - inserted the Big Mac in his mouth. That was the last we saw of it. I am certain Dan saw more of it later than he wanted. If you don't take small bits and chew your food it will not get assimilated to your physical body.

The Psalmist wrote, "Lord I love your law. I meditate on it day and night." (Psalm 119:97) Meditation is a slow-cooker, not a microwave. Meditation is like a cow chewing its cud, not a kid inhaling a Big Mac. Meditation on God-thoughts allows the Spirit to assimilate them to your spirit, and even to your physical body. This results in a heart that is liberated from the cares and preoccupations of one's daily business.

To meditate on God's thoughts in Scripture is to be self-exegeted by Scripture. Bible "study" can keep God's thoughts at an objective distance. Meditative Scripture reading is my spirit simmering in the flavors and spices of the mind of Christ. As I am studied by Scripture I am empowered by the Spirit.

Meditative praying produces inner change. I must choose this day what my meditation shall be, for so shall the shape of my heart be formed. 

Tim Keller writes:

"Persons who meditate become people of substance who have thought things out and have deep convictions, who can explain difficult concepts in simple language, and who have good reasons behind everything they do. Many people do not meditate. They skim everything, picking and choosing on impulse, having no thought-out reasons for their behavior. Following whims, they live shallow lives."