Are You Being Pruned or Cut Off?

For many of us today the scenario in which the Lord uses in John 15:1-8 may not make much sense, seeing as how many of us live in more metropolitan settings. However, to those he was speaking to it made perfect sense, because ancient Israel was a more agrarian society. In order for certain plants to grow and produce fruit there are times they must be pruned, like rose bushes for example. If you allow a rose bush to grow out of control the flowers are not as plentiful and the beauty of the buds are lackluster at best.

In times past Israel was considered to be the vine, that is why Jesus says, “I am the true vine….” showing that he is taking the place of Israel. John gives a great example of this in chapter 15 verse 2, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ^[1]” So as we grow in following Christ we must be “pruned” in order to grow. Charles Spurgeon says this about pruning, “Many trials are not sent for chastisements at all, but as preparations for higher usefulness.”Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth,” evidently not because of any offense in the branch, but because the branch is good and does bear fruit! Therefore, it is allowed the special privilege of the pruning knife that it may bring forth more fruit.” (Spurgeon 2005, 303)

Dr. Towns says, “The problem with secret discipleship is that it amounts to a contradiction in terms. Sooner or later, either the secrecy will destroy their discipleship or their discipleship will destroy their secrecy.” (Towns 2002, 125) In living a life as a branch we will produce fruit which we cannot hide, if we do not we will be removed from the vine. Some commentators believe that those who do never bear fruit, truly did not know the Lord to begin with.

We’ve all had moments in our lives, when we’ve tried to do things for the glory of God and we never consulted him about it. Christ is adamant that without him we are incapable of doing anything (Jn 15:5) Leon Morris says, “The condition of fruitfulness in Christian service is vital contact with Christ. On our own we can do nothing.” (Morris 1989, 121) What does the Lord mean when he says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.^[2]”? Tenney sums it up this way, “ To remain in Christ and to allow his words to remain in oneself means a conscious acceptance of the authority of his word and a constant contact with him by prayer.” (Tenney 1981, 152)

This passage is one that should make us all examine our lives and look a little deeper to make sure that we are developing fruit. Because in doing so we honor God, know we live for Jesus and others will know to whom we belong.

Morris, Leon. Jesus is the Christ. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.

Spurgeon, Charles H. 2,200 Qutations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon. Edited by Tom Carter. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005.

Tenney, Merrill C. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981.

Towns, Elmer. John Believe and Live. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2002.

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The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 15:2.

The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jn 15:7.

Jesus as God, Man, or the God-man?

Do you fully believe the statement that “Jesus was a man and as such could not also be God.”? I partly agree with that statement Jesus was a man, but long before he ever assumed an earthly body he was God. (Jn 1:1, 14) We know from the accounts of his genealogy in Matthew, along with the records of his birth that he was born of a woman, and she was a virgin. Like other men Jesus had emotions, he felt sorrow when his friend Lazarus died, we are told in John 11:35 “Jesus wept.” Jesus also got hungry (Matt 4:2) and thirsty (Jn 4:7). Lastly while he was on the cross he had a Roman soldier puncture his side and spill the blood from his heart sac (Jn 19:34).

As for Jesus’ deity he had it affirmed by multiple sources. On two occasions the Father spoke from heaven, once after the transfiguration (Mark 9:7) and Jesus’ baptism (Lk 3:22), on each occasion he refers to Jesus as His “beloved Son.” Jesus forgave sin, since God is only capable of forgiving sin it points to Jesus deity. He also taught people to pray to him, Mark Driscoll in his book Vintage Jesus says, “If Jesus is not God who does not live forever and is not all –knowing or powerful enough to answer our prayers, then he is nothing more than a cruel sadist for asking us to pray to him in faith.” (Driscoll and Breshears, Vintage Jesus 2007, 25)

Now one of the hardest things for our finite minds to comprehend is how Jesus could be both God and man which has become known as the hypostatic union. People have been challenged by this for centuries but the Council of Chalcedon agreed that “ Thus the two natures (physis), consubstantial (homoousios) with the Godhead in Christ’s divine nature and consubstantial (homoousious) with us as the his human nature, were coalesced in one person (prosopon).” (Elwell 1984,2001, 219) Since God is capable of doing anything when he became incarnate “in flesh” he chose to lay aside some of his divine attributes, the best explanation of this is in Philippians 2:5-11. In his book Doctrine, Mark Driscoll says, “By saying that Jesus “made himself nothing,” Paul means that Jesus set aside his rights as God and the rightful continual use of his divine attributes, with the occasional exception such as forgiving sin…. This does not mean that Jesus in any way ceased to be fully God, but rather he chose not continually avail himself to his divine rights and attributes while on the earth.” (Driscoll and Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe 2010, 231-32)

When Jesus was born he became the only ever God-man, so by him still being God he’s fully capable of forgiving our sins, and by being man he is able to understand being tempted yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus needed to become incarnate because the wrath of God can only be satisfied by blood. In the Old Testament the priest would offer a lamb for the sins of the people, but He being Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, and the great high priest making the intercession on our behalf. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we must be very careful not to down play his deity when talk about him with anyone; in doing so we no longer show him as an all mighty God, but make him into a really moral man. If we over emphasize his deity then he is no longer a personal God who we can have a relationship with because he doesn’t understand or care about our concerns.

One of the largest objections I have ever heard had to be from a Muslim Imam, saying that “there was no way that Jesus could be God because God cannot die.” There are several heretical followings concerning the deity/humanity of Christ or the lack there of. One of which is the Jehovah’s Witness movement that says Jesus is not co-eternal with the Father, but the first of all creation. They also feel that the debt Christ paid removes our original sin but we must work to earn our own salvation. The best response that I can have to these points of view is that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) and that when he went to the cross he paid the price for me and there is nothing I can do to earn my salvation (Eph 2:8-10).

Christ in his humanity is a great example because he allows me to understand that just as he relied upon the Holy Spirit to accomplish things in his life I must do so as well. Jesus prayed continually for strength and encouragement, and if Him being God prays fervently why should I do any less?

Word Count: 800

Bibliography

Driscoll, Mark, and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010.

—. Vintage Jesus. Wheaton,IL: Crossway Books, 2007.

Elwell, Water A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids,MI: BakerAcademic, 1984,2001.

Do You Really Believe That?

 

Well, I am glad you asked me what it means that the Bible is authoritative. For me to best answer that question we have to look at its root. What does it mean for anything in our lives to be authoritative? Dictionary.com states it this way “having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.”[1] To my simple understanding I accept the Bible as authoritative because it has something to say on every aspect of my life, no matter if it is dealing with my children, loving my wife, being a good steward, it literally covers everything. On the matter of the authority of Scripture, Mark Driscoll states it best in his book Doctrine, “Nothing judges Scripture. It judges everything else. As followers of Jesus, we take the stance he did and receive the Bible alone as infallible, inerrant truth from God with full authority in our lives.” (Driscoll and Breshears 2010,67)

Authority can only come from two places, it can be bestowed (given by someone) or its inherent (comes from within). According to the Baker EDT “ Because the Bible points beyond itself to God, it has conferred authority. Yet the Bible has a real authority in itself as the authentic embodiment of God’s self-disclosure.” (Elwell 1984,2001, 153) In knowing that the Bible points to God and is the disclosure of himself, it assures me that Scripture is the primary way I can get to know Him. One of the most common references to prove this point is 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which reads, “ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” ^[2] Inspiration is one thing that we cannot take lightly, because if we take the inspiration of the Bible lightly then we lie to ourselves and allow the outside chance that somewhere in human history Jehovah made a mistake. Mark Driscoll says it like this “The affirmation of the truthfulness of the Bible is inextricably tied the character of God himself. God is a truthful God who does not lie. Therefore, because God is ultimately the author of Scripture, it is perfect, unlike every other uninspired writing or utterance.” (Driscoll and Breshears 2010, 58)

I personally like to follow the biblical view of inerrancy, which basically says that the greatest belief in an infallible Bible can be found in the testimony of Scripture itself. I think I have already established a pretty strong case for the Bible being given to us by God himself. In reference to the very word of God, Jesus tells us in Matt 5:17-20 that not an iota will pass away before the Law is fulfilled (my paraphrase). One of the weaker arguments is the Epistemological argument, basically says that it must be beyond doubt and question or its just is not good enough. For me the slippery slope argument is a little bit stronger because I can reference people I have watched disavow the inerrancy of Scripture and then everything else slowly became corrupted.

One of the most common objections to the Biblical Argument is that nowhere in Scripture does it say that the Bible is inerrant. Bakers EDT tells us, “While it is true that no verse says explicitly that Scripture is inerrant, biblical inerrancy is implied by or follows from a number of things the Bible does teach explicitly.” (Elwell 1984,2001, 159) Also, some may object saying that the bible was written by men. And to them I would have to answer was it not given to these men from God first. Please do not emphasize only the human without giving proper credit to God for the largest best-seller of all time.

In knowing that the Bible is my highest authority, that was inspired by God (2 Tim3:16-17), and produced without any error, I shall live my life according to its words and wisdom to bring more glory to God. I can trust this book more than I can trust my own mind which can lead me astray, his word will never guide me in the wrong direction.

It’s been a pleasure talking with you, and if you have anymore questions please feel free to give me a call.

 

Bibliography

Driscoll, Mark, and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010.

Elwell, Water A., ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids,MI: BakerAcademic, 1984,2001.

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[1] authoritative. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/authoritative (accessed: September 04, 2010).

New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Ti 3:16–17.

Life’s a …

Life is a collection of choices. So in the end life is what you chose to make of it. Looking at the title for this blog we can let our minds race in so many directions, i know for a moment mine did. I have read in more than one book that the person we are today is because of the choices we have chosen to make over the last five years. As I look back I have made some MAJOR life decisions in the last five years, I have started and left my own business, gotten married to a woman whom I love (even though we drive each other nuts), I have had three photography jobs ( 2 i really didn't mind; the other you couldn’t pay me enough to go back to), I have a son who will be turning 2 on Tuesday. I am also finishing my BA in Religion so I can go to seminary.

So all of this to say that i have really made some drastic changes to my life over the last five years. I have had my fare share of ups and downs in my Christian walk, but I think I’m on the up swing again right now. I have begun reading my Bible again because i want to not because i have to ( i had slowed down because of all my course work and schedules), i pray a lot of short quick prayers ( hoping to get back to longer more intimate ones). I love the word of God and telling people about it, and Him. I only hope to be a man whom other men would want to be like, one who looks like Jesus.

I hope to continually work to unify the body of Christ. I look out upon my future knowing only this My Life Is… to be use to preach Christ crucified.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well !

Preach

Father’s Day 2010

It has been a very nice day overall. I got two very nice cards today, one from the boys and one from Lory. I have been stressed out a little bit lately but its worth it. Working toward my degree is reminding me how much school can drive me nuts. I am so proud of Lory, she has started driving further than she has in years, and has been doing great in school (even if she doesn’t think so). Within the last two weeks we have built a play set that was annoying but the kids love it. Dug and installed the underground fence, just have to make a few tweaks  and then hopefully we can let Joy run free. Poor Richard was diagnosed with pneumonia two weeks ago, thought he was better and we found out it has actually gotten worse. I have to say the Lord is good even when we don’t expect or deserve it. I have grown to enjoy and look forward to going to the men’s group full of outdoors men. I know the Lord is doing some great things in my life even though we are having some rough times.