Heb 11:17-21 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” – Part 5

[Study Aired March 11, 2021]

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 
Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 
Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 

In this section of our study of Hebrews, we will look at the “by faith” examples of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and conclude with the “by faith” actions of Jacob, who when he was dying “blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff“.

All these patriarchal stories were written for our sakes (2Co 4:15) and given by inspiration of God, and are therefore “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished^G1822 unto all good works” (2Ti 3:16-17).

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished^G1822 unto all good works.

G1822
exartizō
ex-ar-tid’-zo

From G1537 and a derivative of G739; to finish out (time); figuratively to equip fully (a teacher): – accomplish, thoroughly furnish.

Being furnished^G1822 unto all good works is accomplished “through faith” so we can understand that the worlds within us were “framed by the word of God“. The body of Christ is going through this process of being “throughly furnished”^G1822 so we can learn to worship God in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:21-24) with the goal of being able to teach (Heb 5:12). Lord willing, we will continue to be “careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving” we will make our requests known to God as lively stones (1Pe 2:4-5) whose fervent prayers avail much (Jas 5:16) bringing us peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:6-7, Act 21:4-5).

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Eph 6:18, Jas 5:13-16).
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Jas 5:13  Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith; shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Jas 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Act 21:4  And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

Act 21:5  And when we had accomplished [furnished – G1822] those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

The continual thread which ties all these stories together in Hebrews chapter eleven is the truth that these all obtained a good report through faith but did not receive the promise; God having provided some better thing for us (1Pe 1:12-20, Heb 11:39-40). These events in the lives of all about whom we are reading unfolded for the express purpose of ministering to us, to those who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples^G5179: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Co 10:11). These hoped-filled stories of faith were given to us so that we can “gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is how we are becoming “throughly  furnished^G1822 unto all good works“, through that hope of glory within us, the spirit of God, the comforter, who leads us into all truth so that by continuing in it we can be set free (2Ti 1:6-7, Joh 16:13, Joh 8:32).

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves [‘negative example of furnishing‘] according to the former lusts in your ignorance [Rom 12:1-2]:
1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [‘in our words and our works’ in our way of life (Joh 10:37-38, 1Jn 4:17, 1Pe 2:9)]
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
1Pe 1:17  And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

2Ti 1:6  Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The traditions of our fathers, these patriarchs of old, are not what is going to redeem us if we are not given to see how all these stories are connected to the life of Christ within us. It is his word which is life (Joh 6:54-58, 1Co 10:16-17) that was “foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” within us, as our hope of glory (Col 1:27). It is God who is framing the worlds within us, His word which is spirit and able to quicken us (Joh 6:63).

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ [‘the word of God‘ (Joh 17:17)], as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

The trial of our faith is precious to God, and every trial we go through is further purifying our walk with the Lord as we go from glory to glory in Him (2Co 3:17-18). Abraham, being tried [“By faith Abraham, when he was tried“] is symbolic of the work Christ is doing within us, both to will and do of our Father’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Luk 12:32, Luk 17:21). In this section of scripture, Abraham represents God the Father and Isaac represents Christ who is the one who is accomplishing these works of faith within us today “by the spirit of the Lord”.

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

God puts us through fiery experiences (1Pe 4:12-13, Rom 5:10) which require that we resist “unto blood, striving against sin”, and it takes the faith of Christ to endure such trials as was demonstrated by Abraham whose own flesh and blood, Isaac, was being offered up just as our Father in heaven has done for us in offering up Christ (Joh 3:16) whose life was represented by Isaac.

Our Father is giving us the power through Christ to present our lives a living sacrifice [‘as Isaac was literally going to be‘] through him, and it requires both our heavenly Father who is the giver of every good and perfect gift (Jas 1:17), along with the Son, to accomplish this work “on that day” of filling up “that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Rom 12:1, Joh 14:20, Col 1:24).

Christ is indeed being offered up again, through the church, if we are being baptized into His death, dying daily and being raised in heavenly places through Him (Eph 2:6). That ability to lay down our life is the promise which has been given to God’s elect whose names are written in heaven (Luk 10:20), meaning that God has purposed for the elect to overcome in this life and to be given the power to do so through the “exceeding great and precious promises” that tell us we can (2Pe 1:4). It was “he that had received the promises” who was able to offer up “his only begotten“. Those type and shadow promises to Abraham have their fulfillment in Christ for us today Who promises that nothing will separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39) which was so great toward us that He gave Christ’s life for us knowing that Christ would then be the author and finisher of the faith that was given to those who would believe in Him (2Co 1:20-22, Rom 5:10).

Luk 10:20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

2Pe 1:4  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2Co 1:20  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2Co 1:21  Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
2Co 1:22  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Abraham’s life reveals a pattern that encourages us that “the victory that overcometh the world” is “our faith” (1Jn 5:3-4), which made it possible for him to give an account of what God was able to do for him physically, “accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure”^G3850 (verse 19). That word for “figure” means ‘a parable’ – a parable that typifies what we believe God can do for us spiritually as He raises us up and accepts us through Christ “that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:3, 1Co 15:31, Eph 2:6-7).

G3850
parabolē
par-ab-ol-ay’
From G3846; a similitude (“parable”), that is, (symbolically) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral), apoth gm or adage: – comparison, figure, parable, proverb.

In this story ,the “only begotten son” Isaac represents the one seed of promise we are in Christ (Gal 3:16), revealing how we are connected as the body of Christ to God’s love that was demonstrated in giving “his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh 15:13). With God’s spirit abiding within us we are able to have “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” as He gives us the power to overcome in this age (1Jn 5:18-19, Rev 3:12-13).

1Jn 5:18  We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Rev 3:13  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

It is through Christ and the church which is His body that “the world through him might be saved” as Christ gives us the power to let go of all our earthly connections, typified by Ishmael (Gen 17:18), as He makes a way for us to resist the flesh of men, the will of men, unto the saving of our spiritual house that is accomplished by His love being shed abroad in our hearts, which enables us to lay down our life and lose it so that we might find it in Christ (Joh 3:16-17, Oba 1:21, Luk 14:26-27, Mat 12:50, Mat 10:39).

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Luk 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple [Gal 2:20].

[Hating all these various categories including “his own life also” means we are not subject to the will of men but to the will of God which will cause us to be hated by all men Mat 10:22. If we’re granted to obey the will of our Father and endure unto the end we will be saved by His righteousness “which is of God by faith”(Php 3:9)]

Mat 12:50  For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God [1Jn 5:4], who loved me, and gave himself for me.

[“By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac“: God gives us the power to offer up our life a living sacrifice through his spirit, and this living sacrifice we have become (Rom 12:1) is typified by Abraham offering up Isaac (1Pe 1:7)]

Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 

Abraham receiving Isaac “in a figure”^G3850” was for the elect’s sake (2Co 4:15, 1Pe 1:12) to remind us that this story and all the old covenant stories are parables, reminding us of what workmanship is taking place within our heavens (Eph 2:10) by the One who is framing our heavens to the glory of God with his word (Col 1:16, Heb 12:2, Heb 11:3).

There is order in God’s plan regarding what seed is called first (“in Isaac shall thy seed be called“). That Abraham begot Isaac and Isaac begot Jacob is also part of that order and is another living parable which reminds us that once we have the faith of Christ, typified by Abraham, then we become sons of God, typified by Isaac (Rom 8:9, Heb 11:18), who will endure until the end through Jacob who must wrestle with God through this life of much tribulation (Act 14:22), enduring in seeing Him who is invisible (Heb 11:27). All of this played out (‘Abraham’s, Isaac’s and Jacob’s lives‘) so we might believe that we can receive the promise of being those first fruits found in Christ in the first resurrection, typified by the new name Israel which is given to Jacob after he endures to the break of the day because of the faith that was given him to not give up, which situation was a type of the faith we now need in order to quench all the fiery darts of the devil throughout this life (Gen 32:26-28, Gal 6:16, Eph 6:16).

Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Heb 11:20  By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 
Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. 

These events of blessing, “Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau“, and then Jacob blessing “both the sons of Joseph“, are very significant moments revealing “things to come“, and those things to come are better things, better promises found in Christ (Heb 8:6). What is important to note as well is that this blessing which typifies the better promises found in Christ, who is the mediator of the new covenant, includes both “Jacob and Esau” and Joseph’s two half-Egyptian sons “Ephraim and Manasseh” who, because of the faith-filled prayer of Jacob as he leaned “upon the top of his staff“, were blessed.

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

We are blessed to know that we have both “Jacob and Esau” and “Ephraim and Manasseh” within us, as they typify the first and second Adam (1Co 15:45-47) who, with the blessing of God in our life [‘Abraham and Jacob’], will be blessed to see that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

It was “when he was a dying” that Jacob was able to bless both the sons of Joseph as he leaned on his staff which represents the power of God that was holding him up, and it is when we die daily (1Co 15:30-31, 1Pe 1:13-16) that we in turn bless each other as we lean not unto our own understanding, becoming the first to trust in God through this process that will lead to salvation and an inheritance we will be blessed to share together in the Lord (Eph 1:12-14).

1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

1Pe 1:13  Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14  As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pe 1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

God’s workmanship will become blessed and holy through a process that has been ordained from the foundation of the world, and these type and shadow examples in Hebrews eleven have been written for our sakes to encourage us and remind us that God is sovereign. In the sovereign plan of our Father there is order, and it is through faith we can understand that order and believe that “the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear“.

Greetings,

Do you have any insight from the story of Naaman?

I see true baptism, the washing of water by the word, to present us a glorious church without spots and wrinkles.

I also see that we need to wash ourselves seven times in the water, which speaks of the seven steps of salvation depicted by the seven Jewish feast to bring us into perfection.

Does this tie with the sum of God’s word?

Ybic,

M____Hi M____,

The one thing I will add is that when Naaman asked Elisha to ask God to forgive him when he bowed to his master’s god, this is what happened after Naaman humbled himself, did what was commanded, and was healed of his leprosy:

2Ki 5:15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
2Ki 5:16 But he said, As the LORD liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
2Ki 5:17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.
2Ki 5:18 In this thing the LORD pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon thy servant in this thing.
2Ki 5:19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.

Elisha quietly refused to sanction Naaman’s weakness, and his inability to pay the price for what Naaman knew to be true, by simply telling Naaman “Depart in peace”.

You and I can learn from this story that we have no dominion over the weak faith of others. Nevertheless, we must never allow the weakness of the weak to cause us to compromise our own consciences. We must never become weak while we are bearing with the infirmities of the weak. “Depart in peace” is just another way of saying “what is not of faith is sin”, without agreeing with the weak who often want those whose faith is stronger than theirs to say that their strong meat is sin. It is not sin, and he that “eats all things [strong meat] will be held up by God, just as the weaker brother will be preserved until he is able to digest and be nourished by the strong meat of being cast out of the temples and synagogues of this world “because of the word”:

Rom 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
Rom 14:15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
Rom 14:16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
Rom 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Rom 14:20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.
Rom 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
Rom 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

This story of Namaan and his interactions with Elisha, the prophet, with the double portion of Elijah’s anointing, is a type of the lesson Paul gives us in Romans 14. Elisha knew Naaman was weak in the faith, and he was not going to destroy Naaman with His meat. But neither was Elisha, under any circumstance, going to give up his meat just to accommodate Naaman’s weakness. So it was not at all hypocritical of Elisha to say “Depart in peace”, rather than ‘Sure, I will ask God to let you sin so His grace may abound in your life’, as so many seem to think “bear with the infirmities of the weak” means. Paul does indeed tell us in the very next verses to “bear the infirmities of the weak”:

Rom 15:1 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2 Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

‘Bearing the infirmities of the weak” does not mean that we can turn God’s grace into a license to sin. The Jews who were weak in the faith could not receive the fact that Christ has become our sabbath and that “He had broken the sabbath” as far as it was commanded by Moses to be kept. Christ was bearing the infirmities of the weak, but He was not exchanging His strength for their weakness, and that is not what Paul is exhorting us to do. Paul knew that it would have been a sin for the Jews, who wanted Christ dead “because He had broken the sabbath”, to break the sabbath just because Christ could do so. They did not yet have the faith to break the Mosaic sabbath as Christ had (Mat 12:1-8). The strong are able to let the reproaches of Christ fall on themselves, while the weak cannot yet do so, and it would be a sin for them to attempt to live beyond the measure of faith they have been granted. So look at what Paul says to all of us:

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime [this story of how Elisha, a man who was in type “strong… in the faith”, dealt mercifully and bore the infirmity of Naaman, a man who in type was weak in the faith] were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Elisha, just like Christ, remained strong and did not allow those who were weak in the faith to dispute about discernments of spiritual matters as Paul commands us in the very first chapter of Rom 14.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Here is what we are told is the definition of the Greek phrase translated ‘doubtful disputations’:

Here is the Greek word translated as ‘doubtful’:

διαλογισμός
dialogismos
dee-al-og-is-mos’

From G1260; discussion, that is, (internal) consideration (by implication purpose), or (external) debate: – dispute, doubtful (-ing), imagination, reasoning, thought.

Here are all the New Testament entries for this word:

G1261
διαλογισμός
dialogismos
Total KJV Occurrences: 14
thoughts, 8
Mat_15:19, Mar_7:21, Luk_2:35, Luk_5:22, Luk_6:8, Luk_24:38, 1Co_3:20, Jam_2:4
disputings, 1
Phi_2:14
doubtful, 1
Rom_14:1
doubting, 1
1Ti_2:8
imaginations, 1
Rom_1:21
reasoning, 1
Luk_9:46
thought, 1
Luk_9:46-47 (2)

This Greek word, ‘dialogismos’, is generally used in the sense that 1Co 3:20 uses it:

1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts [dialogismos] of the wise, that they are vain.

Reading all of those entries makes it clear that the holy spirit uses this word in a general sense to speak of the vain thoughts of mankind.

Now this is the word which is translated as ‘disputations’:

διάκρισις
diakrisis
dee-ak’-ree-sis
From G1252; judicial estimation: – discern (-ing), disputation.

Here are all the New Testament entries for this Word, so we can see how the holy spirit uses this word:

G1253
διάκρισις
diakrisis
Total KJV Occurrences: 3
discern, 1
Heb_5:14
discerning, 1
1Co_12:10
disputations, 1
Rom_14:1

This word’s primary definition is ‘discern’, and that is how the holy spirit uses it twice. Since here in Rom 14:1 is the only place where it is translated as ‘disputations’, and since the preceding word is normally translated as “vain… thoughts… disputings”, it is clear that this verse, Rom 14:1, would best be translated as “He that is weak in the faith, [as was Naaman and as were the Jews who believed on Christ and yet wanted Him dead (Joh 8:31-44) ], receive ye but not to disputing with those who are spiritually strong about discernments”.

That is how this 14th chapter opens up, and that is also how Paul concludes his point in the next chapter:

Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to [the doctrine and example of] Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the story of how Elisha, a man of strong faith, dealt with Naaman, a man who was weak in the faith, happened to them, and it was written down so we would know how to deal with such situations in our own lives and within the body of Christ in this day:

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We must deal kindly and patiently with those who are weak in the faith, but we must never allow the weakness of the weak to infect our own heavens or the heavens of the body of Christ, and we must be willing to let the reproaches of Christ fall on us, just as our Lord and as all of His prophets did.

I hope this is of some help to you.

YbitC,

Mike

Mike    I was asked by a friend this question:  if God doesn’t want us to kill our enemies than why did He have Israel wipe out their enemies?     I clearly see that we are not to take someone’s life literally or in our hearts by hating.  We are to love all, for God is love, and I am his son and He is in the process of perfecting that same love in me.  Plus He is Sovereign, and He causes the enemy to do what they do.  So one thought is that God told them to kill their enemies, but He tells us now to love them?     I do have another question about sin.  I see several places where it says those that are of God cannot sin.  My current understanding of this is we do miss the mark even now, but God will not hold it against us since we are his children.  For the son of the king doesn’t pay tribute for we are not under the law or its penalty? Have a very blessed weekend D____

Hi D____,
This subject is covered in quite a bit of detail in The Law of Moses Versus The Law of The Spirit.
In the sermon on the mount Christ is clearly reforming the law of Moses. Not once does Christ call it the ‘law of God.’ He always calls it “Moses’ law.”

Mat 19:8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

When we go back to the law and read it, the Pharisees were right. God, through Moses, permitted a man to put away his wife for almost any reason. Even if it was simply because he no longer “delighted in her.”

Deu 21:14  And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

… or if a man “found some uncleaness in her.”

Deu 24:1  When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
Deu 24:2  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.

This “uncleaness” had nothing to do with adultery because the penalty for that was death. This “uncleaness” could be either personal or domestic hygiene. In other words a man could put his wife away for most any reason, under the law of Moses. All that was required of the man was that he write her a bill of divorcement, “and she may go and be another man’s wife.”
Women had no such rights under the law of Moses. I mention all of this to demonstrate that Christ came as a reformer.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Christ’s appearance on the scene was “the time of reformation.” Until that time, killing their enemies and putting away unclean wives who no longer delighted them, were all types and shadows of spiritual realities of what is spiritually taking place in the spiritual lives of God’s elect since Christ:

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, [ and] not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

… or to say the same thing in other words:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So Israel’s putting away of unclean wives is a shadow of our “coming out of Babylon” and putting off the uncleaness of the flesh:

Col 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

And the “killing of anything that breathes” is our killing the sins and lusts and illicit passions of the flesh which rule our lives while we are still in the flesh and still in Babylon:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Why did God cause all of this to happen? Why is this written down? Again:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

“The ends of the aions” had not come upon the Old Testament saints. This was revealed to the prophets. They were actually made by God’s spirit to understand that all they did and all they wrote was being done, not for themselves, but for those to whom salvation would later come. It is through us that they will later be brought to God.

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace [ that should come] unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

This is a hard pill for orthodox Christianity to swallow simply because their whole doctrinal house stands on the sand of the immortality of the soul and judgment at the moment of death. Nevertheless God’s Word is true and every doctrine of men is a lie designed to keep us from knowing Him and Christ:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Your second question about “cannot sin” is addressed in 1 Peter:

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

“Hath ceased from sin” and “cannot sin” are one and the same thing. It is a matter of “abiding in sin” versus “abiding in Christ” and being of  “the same mind” as Christ. If we have Christ’s mind, then we are to reckon ourselves as dead with Christ to sin and risen with Christ to righteousness:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection

“If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” This is a daily process that requires us to “die daily” as we are daily living as “quickened together with Him.”

Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

So when John says…:

1Jn 3:9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

… the word translated ‘commit’ is also correctly translated as ‘continue’ and ‘abode.’  Here are the verses:

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue [ Greek, poieo] there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [ Greek, poieo] forty and two months.
Act 20:2  And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,
Act 20:3  And there abode [ Greek, poieo] three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.

When we “die daily” Christ increases as we decrease:

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

So then, “doth not commit sin” would better be translated ‘doth not contiue in or abide in sin.’
“Cannot sin” is then understood as ‘cannot continue to abide in sin.’

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection

Never do the scriptures teach that flesh is perfected. Quite the contrary:

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [ this] one thing [ I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Verse 15, “be perfect,” does not contradict verse 12, “not as though I were already perfect.” Rather verse 15 is explained by verse 12. Paul is being perfected as he “dies daily.”

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Finally we are plainly told:

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

I hope this helps you to see that perfection is not some thing we achieve while still in the vessel of marred clay. We have this perfect treasure, Christ, as our head and our captain of our faith. He has gone before us and has returned to be with us to the end of our age. We have this treasure, but we have it in marred and earthen vessels:

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Not even Christ’s flesh was fit to inherit the kingdom of God. But the resurrected Christ is the Christ we now know and have within our marred vessels of clay.

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more [ after the flesh].

Your brother in Christ,
Mike