"Do Christians have to keep asking for forgiveness for their sins?"

Question: "Do Christians have to keep asking for forgiveness for their sins?"

Answer: A frequent question is “what happens if I sin, and then I die before I have an opportunity to confess that sin to God?” Another common question is “what happens if I commit a sin, but then forget about it and never remember to confess it to God?” Both of these questions rest on a faulty assumption. Salvation is not a matter of believers trying to confess and repent from every sin they commit before they die. Salvation is not based on whether a Christian has confessed and repented of every sin. Yes, we should confess our sins to God as soon as we are aware that we have sinned. However, we do not always need to be asking God for forgiveness. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, all of our sins are forgiven. That includes past, present, and future, big or small. Believers do not have to keep asking for forgiveness or repenting in order to have their sins forgiven. Jesus died to pay the penalty for all of our sins, and when they are forgiven, they are all forgiven (Colossians 1:14; Acts 10:43).

What we are to do is confess our sins: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). What this verse tells us to do is “confess” our sins to God. The word “confess” means “to agree with.” When we confess our sins to God, we are agreeing with God that we were wrong, that we have sinned. God forgives us, through confession, on an ongoing basis because of the fact that He is “faithful and just.” How is God “faithful and just”? He is faithful by forgiving sins, which He has promised to do for all those who receive Christ as Savior. He is just by applying Christ’s payment for our sins, recognizing that the sins have indeed been atoned for.

At the same time, 1 John 1:9 does indicate that somehow forgiveness is dependent on our confessing our sins to God. How does this work if all of our sins are forgiven the moment we receive Christ as Savior? It seems that what the apostle John is describing here is “relational” forgiveness. All of our sins are forgiven “positionally” the moment we receive Christ as Savior. This positional forgiveness guarantees our salvation and promise of an eternal home in heaven. When we stand before God after death, God will not deny us entrance into heaven because of our sins. That is positional forgiveness. The concept of relational forgiveness is based on the fact that when we sin, we offend God and grieve His Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). While God has ultimately forgiven us of the sins we commit, they still result in a blocking or hindrance in our relationship with God. A young boy who sins against his father is not cast out of the family. A godly father will forgive his children unconditionally. At the same time, a good relationship between father and son cannot be achieved until the relationship is restored. This can only occur when a child confesses his mistakes to his father and apologizes. That is why we confess our sins to God—not to maintain our salvation, but to bring ourselves back into close fellowship with the God who loves us and has already forgiven us.

Our Liberty In Christ

Our Liberty In Christ

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

OUR POSITION AS SONS OF GOD

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).

We have seen the divine classification of the human race into, 1.) the natural man, 2.) the babe in Christ, 3.) the carnal Christian, and 4.) the spiritual Christian. We must bear in mind, however, that the last three of these, and the responsibility to grow from spiritual babyhood to full maturity, have to do entirely with our experience and conduct as believers and not at all with our position in Christ.

The believer’s position in God’s sight, be he but a babe or even a carnal Christian, is that of a full-grown son, simply because God sees him in Christ, His perfect Son.

How justly proud the Father was of His Son when, having beheld him already “numbered with the transgressors” at His baptism, He broke through the heavens to exclaim: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

And now, in infinite grace, God tells us that He “hath made us accepted in the Beloved [One],” “complete in Him” and seated with Him in the heavenlies, far beyond the reach of all accusers and even of the law itself (Eph. 1:6; Col. 2:10; Eph. 2:6).

It is in the light of these glorious truths that we are to live, walking worthy of our high and holy calling; worthy of our position in Christ (Eph. 4:1; II Tim. 1:9). To go back under the law now would be to repudiate our position in Christ.

Nowhere is this more clearly expressed than in Galatians 4:1-7, where the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, deals with our position in Christ as full-grown sons, and our consequent freedom from the law.

SONSHIP

“Now I say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all;

“But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

“Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:1-7).

In looking up the word “adoption” in a Bible Dictionary, some years ago, we were disappointed to find the following definition:

“Adoption is an act by which a person takes a stranger into his family, acknowledges him as his child, and constitutes him heir of his estate….In the New Testament, adoption denotes the act of God’s free grace…by which, on being justified through faith, we are received into the family of God, and made heirs of the inheritance of heaven.”

That this is the meaning of the English word adoption in present popular usage, no one will deny, but that it is not the meaning of the Greek word rendered “adoption” in the Authorized Version, is clear from its usage in the New Testament and especially in the passage quoted above.

The adoption of children as we speak of it today refers to the taking of other people’s children into one’s family, but the word “adoption” (Gr., huiothesia) in the Authorized Version of the Bible means simply “placing as a son,” i.e., as a full-grown son. In the passage from Galatians, above, it affects those already children! This is not to deny, of course, that a stranger could also be taken in and given a place as a full-grown son, but the point is that Bible “adoption” does not refer to mere acceptance into the family, but to a declaration of full sonship, with all its rights and privileges. 1

BABES ARE UNDER TUTORS AND GOVERNORS

Full-grown Sons are Not

In the life of the Hebrew boy there came a time, appointed by the father, when “adoption” proceedings took place and the boy was formally declared to be the father’s son and heir.

Prior to that time he had been a son, indeed, but “under tutors and governors.” He had been told what he might and might not, what he must and must not do. In this he differed nothing from a servant, though “lord of all.”

But finally the child developed into a grown son and the “time appointed” arrived. He would no longer need overseers to keep him in check. There would now be natural understanding and cooperation between father and son. And so the “adoption” proceedings took place—a formal and official declaration that the son had now entered into all the rights and privileges of full-grown sonship.

Such is the meaning of the word “adoption” (huiothesia) in the writings of Paul.

OUR “ADOPTION” IN CHRIST

Prophetically speaking, the “adoption” pertains to God’s covenant people Israel (Rom. 9:4) and this honor was offered to them by grace after they had failed to attain to it under law. The favored people rejected the distinction, however, and continued going about to establish their own righteousness, so that the fulfilment of this purpose now awaits a future day.

But God was not taken by surprise, for it was His secret, eternal purpose to show that all blessing is wrapped up in Christ. While Israel remains in unbelief, therefore, all who will trust in the perfect, finished work of Christ may have the “adoption” which Israel rejected—and more.

Thus the apostle writes historically, when he says:

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4,5).

“The fulness of the time,” when Christ died, is where prophecy and the mystery meet, for we come into the place of fullgrown sonship, not in fulfilment of covenant promises but rather in fulfilment of an eternal purpose kept secret until Paul. It was God’s gracious plan to make us “holy and without blame before Him, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children [placing as sons]” 2 (Eph. 1:4,5).

But how could He make us, sinners of the Gentiles, “holy and without blame before Him” and give us the honor of “adoption”?

There is only one answer: “by Jesus Christ,” and it is eternally “to the praise of the glory of His grace” that “He hath made us accepted in the Beloved [One]” (Eph. 1:5,6).

Thus the simplest believer is immediately given a place in Christ at God’s right hand as a full-grown son with all the rights and privileges of sonship, and forever free from the bondage of the law. It can but dishonor God to fail to recognize this position in Christ or to walk in the joy of it.

Yet the best of us fail and must often acknowledge with shame that we have not walked as the sons of God. The question arises, then: Does this imputed “adoption” work experientially—this giving us a place of sonship in Christ. Does it produce the desired results in the conflict that goes on between “the flesh” and “the spirit”?

DOES IT WORK?

The Apostle Paul deals with this matter at considerable length and insists that an appreciation of our position in Christ is the only thing that can help us to live a life truly pleasing to God.

The Galatians probably thought that they were pleasing God by voluntarily adding the law to grace in their lives in an attempt to overcome the flesh. But while they were giving themselves more things to obey, the apostle points out that by placing themselves under the law they were “disobeying the truth” and dishonoring Christ, who had died to deliver them not only from sin, but from the law (Gal. 3:1,13; 5:7).

Furthermore, their attempted solution to the problem was false. It is true that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” and that “fleshly lusts…war against the soul” (Gal. 5:17; I Pet. 2:11) but the Galatians, like many believers today, were unaware of the true nature of the flesh, whose “lusts,” or desires, are expressed not only in the release of the baser passions but often also in the attempt to make something of one’s self; to be one’s own god. This form of flesh-expression is as contrary to the Spirit as other grosser forms.

Recalling Abraham’s attempt—and failure—to help God through the flesh, the apostle says:

“For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

“But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise” (Gal. 4:22,23).

The comparison between these two sons of Abraham the apostle likens, not to living in open sin and living righteously before God, but to living under the law and living under grace. The son born after the flesh, says Paul, represents the principle of law in Christian behavior, while the son born of promise represents the principle of grace.

Nor—note it carefully—does the former help and encourage the latter, as though placing ourselves under the law might help us to grow in grace. On the contrary, they are opposed to one another:

“But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now” (Gal. 4:29).

This desire to make something of one’s self by becoming subject to the law is an expression of the flesh as antagonistic to the Spirit as any moral sin. With regard to it the apostle says:

“If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing….Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law” (Gal. 5:2,4). 3

What need of Christ, if one can make something of himself? This was what had kept Israel from being saved:

“For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:3,4).

It will not be until the people of Israel cease struggling to establish their own righteousness, and find their all in Christ, that they will be saved and “adopted” at the same time, so that men will say: “Ye are the sons of the living God” (Hos. 1:10).

The Galatians, of course, had already been saved by grace, but now they “desired to be under the law” (Gal. 4:9,21). This amounted to a repudiation of Christ’s finished work, was disobedience to the truth and—sheer folly. “Are ye so foolish,” asks the apostle, “having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3).

In Paul’s epistle to the Romans we learn that “the law…was weak through the flesh” and that “the carnal mind [Gr., “the mind of the flesh”] is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:3,7). How, then, can subjection to the law help us live holier lives?

But “what the law could not do…God, sending His own Son,” accomplished.

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Rom. 8:4).

Galatian believers may seek to help God out by subjecting themselves to the law, and offering Him its works, as Abraham sought to help God out by marrying the bondwoman and offering Him her son,

“Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman….Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 4:30; 5:1).

“The works of the flesh,” regardless of the law, “are manifest,” and they are all bad (Gal. 5:19-21). “But the fruit of the Spirit” is all good and, in its nature, needs no law to prompt it (Gal. 5:22,23).

As we have seen, the Holy Spirit does not take supernatural possession of us and cause us to do His will, but by God’s grace He dwells within us, always ready to help (the law was always ready to condemn!). Thus we may have spiritual victory in any situation. What God provides by grace we must appropriate by faith, always recognizing that He has already given us a position at His right hand in Christ and seeking to please Him out of sheer gratitude.

The only way, then, to grow experientially to a place of full sonship, with the liberty and privilege it implies, is to recognize that we are full-grown sons in Christ.

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15).

“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

“This I say, then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16).

THE SPIRITUAL USE OF LIBERTY

Christian liberty is a priceless possession. It can be abused, of course, but legitimately used it is an ever-flowing source of spiritual joy and power.

God’s purpose with regard to the liberty of the believer in Christ is aptly summed up for us in one short verse in the Galatian letter. Falling naturally into three parts, the verse reads as follows:

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;

“Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,

“But by love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13).

We have already seen that, as the cause of spiritual decline in Israel was always their departure from God’s Word to them through Moses, so the cause of spiritual decline among believers today is always their departure from God’s Word to us through Paul.

Now, if anything is made unmistakably clear in the epistles of Paul, it is the fact that believers in this present dispensation of Grace have been delivered from the law and “called unto liberty,” and the failure of God’s people to appropriate and enjoy this liberty today results in spiritual decline as surely as did the failure of the people of Israel to observe the law of Moses in their day.

Could anything be plainer than those passages in this same Galatian epistle, where the apostle says by the Spirit:

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

“But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24,25).

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons….

“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:4-7).

In the light of this it would be unbelief and disobedience to place ourselves back under the law, even though all the Word of God, including the writings of Moses, is for us and “profitable.” Indeed, when the Galatians, at the dawn of the dispensation of Grace (the dispensation of Law having scarcely passed away) “desired again to be in bondage,” so as to obey more of God’s Word, Paul rebuked them sternly, calling them “foolish” and “disobedient” (Gal. 3:1; 5:7) because in going back to the law they had repudiated the further revelation given by God through him and the liberty which Christ had purchased for them with His own blood.

Thus, to reject the liberty of sonship and go back to the servitude of the law is to repudiate not only the Word of God, but the Word of God to us, and this must necessarily result in spiritual decline.

It is not for us to decide how we can best please God. It is for us to hear, believe and obey Him. This alone is the course of true spirituality. Indeed, the apostle remarks on the relation of true spirituality to our liberty in Christ, saying:

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh….If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:16-18).

To depart from these instructions is to depart from the will of God for our lives and go backward spiritually.

Little wonder, then, that when the Judaizers sought to bring the believers at Antioch under the law, “Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them” (Acts 15:2). Little wonder he contended so vigorously with those “who came in privily to spy out [their] liberty which [they had] in Christ Jesus” and “gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with [the Galatians]” (Gal. 2:4,5). Little wonder that he wrote to the Galatians, who were being influenced by the Judaizers:

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).

Surely we, who live nearly two thousand years after the law, should not, at this late date, be tempted to return to it again. Christ has died:

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances [decrees] that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross….

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

“Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [substance] is of Christ” (Col. 2:14-17).

These and many other Scriptures on the subject of the believer’s liberty in Christ are too clear to leave room for controversy. To hesitate to accept and enjoy this God-given liberty is a sign, not of spirituality, but of carnality; not of humility, but of pride.

LIBERTY NOT LICENSE

The fact that we are given perfect liberty in Christ does not, however, mean that we should spend our lives in gratifying our own fleshly desires. Just the opposite is the case. We’ve been delivered from the bondage of childhood and given the liberty of fullgrown sons (Gal. 3:24; 4:1-7) and this advance from infancy to maturity in itself implies the acquisition of a sense of responsibility.

The doctrine of our liberty in Christ does not support, but rather refutes, the false theory that those who are under grace may do anything they please. Paul was “slanderously reported” in this connection (Rom. 3:8) but there were carnal believers then, as there are now, who actually did use their liberty as license to gratify their own desires. To turn from liberty to license in this way is fully as serious an error as to turn from liberty to law.

Many a believer, motivated only by his own fleshly desires and not at all by love for Christ or others, has indulged in pleasures of the flesh and of the world, justifying himself on the ground that he is under grace and has liberty in Christ. Taking others down with him in his spiritual declension, he complains of any who would help him that “They are trying to put me under the law.”

Such are actually guilty of departing from grace, for “the grace of God…hath appeared”:

“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world [age];

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;

“Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Peter emphasizes this truth when he exhorts believers to live,

“As [truly] free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness [as a pretext for evil] but as the servants of God” (I Pet. 2:16).

And John further emphasizes it, when he says:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him” 4(I John 2:15).

Paul, the great apostle of grace, left no room for doubt as to his attitude toward worldliness and fleshly indulgence, for he said he was “crucified unto the world” (Gal. 6:14) and exhorted the Roman believers to “reckon” themselves “dead indeed” to the sins of the flesh, explaining that sin should not have dominion over them because they were not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:12-14). Moreover, he wrote by inspiration, so that his words to the Galatians and the Romans are also God’s Word to us.

“For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh…” (Gal. 5:13).

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY THE VEHICLE OF LOVE

The apostle is not negative in his attitude in this matter, only cautioning us against the abuse of our liberty. He is positive, explaining how our liberty should be used for the glory of God and for the good of ourselves and others:

“By love serve one another.” Here is an admonition so simple that none can misunderstand it, yet so sublime, so all-comprehensive, that it covers the whole range of the believer’s behavior toward his fellow-members in the Body of Christ.

If we but stop to consider the wonder of the fact that we should be entrusted with liberty—full and free—as fullgrown sons, while yet beset by temptation and sin, and often failing; if we contemplate the infinite love and condescension—and the infinite cost involved in bestowing this liberty upon us; if we reflect that this liberty, on the other hand, is give to us, not as unregenerate sinners, but that it is given to us in Christ, as those who have been crucified, buried and raised with Him, to “walk in newness of life”—if we take the time to consider all this it soon becomes evident that the only right use of liberty is “by love [to] serve one another.”

It is important to remember that we have been “called unto liberty,” but it is equally important to take care that we exercise this liberty in a life of usefulness for others. It is important that we “stand fast” in our God-given liberty, but it is equally important to heed the exhortation:

“…take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak” (I Cor. 8:9).

Referring to the eating of meat and observing of days, the apostle exhorts:

“Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way….But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably….Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth” (Rom. 14:13-22).

With regard to eating meat offered to idols, the apostle says further:

“Knowledge puffeth up, but charity [love] edifieth [builds up]….we know that an idol is nothing in the world….Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge… Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth…” (I Cor. 8:1-13).

As the late Dr. Bultema has well put it: “We have no right to cast aside our liberty, but we have liberty to cast aside our rights.” This is the very essence of Galatians 5:13.

Outside of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, Paul himself was probably the greatest example of this use of Christian liberty.

Writing to the Corinthians he reminded them that he had the right as an apostle and as their benefactor under God, to live well and to expect them to care for his needs so that he might “forbear working.” Advancing argument after argument from daily life and from the Scriptures to support him in this contention, he reminded them that they owed him their financial support (I Cor. 9:1-14). But he also wrote to these carnal Corinthians:

“…Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ….For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (I Cor. 9:12-19).

Referring again to his use of his liberty in Christ, he says:

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

“Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth” (I Cor. 10:23,24).

There we have it again. We have been set at liberty, not that we might indulge in the gratification of our own desires, but that we might live for others. Nor do we lose anything by this; this is true liberty, for “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Thank God, we’ve been “called unto liberty.” Through Christ we can breathe the air of freedom. But to fully enjoy this freedom we must take care not to use it as an occasion to serve self, but rather as the means by which, in love, we may serve one another.

What is the Great Tribulation

Question: "What is the Great Tribulation?"

Answer: The Tribulation is a future time period when the Lord will accomplish at least two aspects of His plan: 1) He will complete His discipline of the nation Israel (Daniel 9:24), and 2) He will judge the unbelieving, godless inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 6 - 18). The length of the Tribulation is seven years. This is determined by an understanding of the seventy weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27; also see the article on the Tribulation). The Great Tribulation is the last half of the Tribulation period, three and one-half years in length. It is distinguished from the Tribulation period because the Beast, or Antichrist, will be revealed, and the wrath of God will greatly intensify during this time. Thus, it is important at this point to emphasize that the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation are not synonymous terms. Within eschatology (the study of future things), the Tribulation refers to the full seven-year period while the “Great Tribulation” refers to the second half of the Tribulation.

It is Christ Himself who used the phrase "Great Tribulation" with reference to the last half of the Tribulation. In Matthew 24:21, Jesus says, "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall." In this verse Jesus is referring to the event of Matthew 24:15, which describes the revealing of the abomination of desolation, the man also known as the Antichrist. Also, Jesus in Matthew 24:29-30 states, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." In this passage, Jesus defines the Great Tribulation (v.21) as beginning with the revealing of the abomination of desolation (v.15) and ending with Christ's second coming (v.30).

Other passages that refer to the Great Tribulation are Daniel 12:1b, which says, "And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time." It seems that Jesus was quoting this verse when He spoke the words recorded in Matthew 24:21. Also referring to the Great Tribulation is Jeremiah 30:7, "Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it." The phrase “Jacob’s distress” refers to the nation of Israel, which will experience persecution and natural disasters such as have never before been seen.

Considering the information Christ gave us in Matthew 24:15-30, it is easy to conclude that the beginning of the Great Tribulation has much to do with the abomination of desolation, an action of the Antichrist. In Daniel 9:26-27, we find that this man will make a "covenant" (a peace pact) with the world for seven years (one “week”; again, see the article on the Tribulation). Halfway through the seven-year period—"in the middle of the week"—we are told this man will break the covenant he made, stopping sacrifice and grain offering, which specifically refers to his actions in the rebuilt temple of the future. Revelation 13:1-10 gives even more detail concerning the Beast's actions, and just as important, it also verifies the length of time he will be in power. Revelation 13:5 says he will be in power for 42 months, which is three and one-half years, the length of the Great Tribulation.

Revelation offers us the most information about the Great Tribulation. From Revelation 13 when the Beast is revealed until Christ returns in Revelation 19, we are given a picture of God's wrath on the earth because of unbelief and rebellion (Revelation 16-18). It is also a picture of how God disciplines and at the same time protects His people Israel (Revelation 14:1-5) until He keeps His promise to Israel by establishing an earthly kingdom (Revelation 20:4-6).

Is Seed Giving Scriptural?

Is Seed Giving Scriptural?

2 Peter 2:1,”… but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

What do you think it means to deny the Lord? Many would say that any person or group that doesn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God would be denying the Lord and that would be true enough. False religions like Islam and Hinduism would fall into this category. Most orthodox Christians would include the pseudo Christian cults like Jehovah’s Witness’, Mormons, and others of that ilk. And they would be correct but are these false teachers Peter is referring to here?

If you look closely you will see that Peter says these false teachers will be “among you”. Since he was writing to a group of born again, Spirit filled believers, we must conclude that he is not talking about the obvious false religions or even pseudo Christian cults. The false teachers he is speaking of will be found within the Body of Christ.

Now how do you suppose that false teachers will get away with denying the Lord among a group of believers?

The word denying as it is used here is the Greek word arneomai {ar-neh’-om-ahee}. It is the same word used in Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him….” Used in these contexts, the word means to contradict.

So a teacher that contradicts the Lord is in fact denying Him. He may say that Jesus is Lord. He may speak right sounding words claiming to be born again and he may have the biggest Bible you’ve ever seen but if his works or teaching contradicts the words of Jesus he is denying Him.

For example, when Benny Hinn claimed in 1999 that Jesus would physically appear at one of his upcoming crusades, he was contradicting the specific words of the Lord Jesus.

Math 24:23 -26
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

By making the claim that Jesus would physically appear at one of his crusades Hinn contradicted (denied) the words of the Lord and proved himself to be a false prophet and false teacher according to 2 Peter 2:1.

The so called principle of seed faith giving was first popularized by Oral Roberts almost 50 years ago. It proved to be so profitable to him that he essentially based his entire ministry on it. As with any other profitable venture others soon followed. Today it is used by virtually every “Faith” preacher, the majority of Christian television networks, and almost all TV preachers in general. It has even found its way into many mainstream and denominational churches.

How does seed faith giving work. It is loosely based (very loosely as we will see) on the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Using the illustration of sowing seed, people are instructed that if they will give money to the church, the ministry, the TV network, the man of God, etc, God will multiply it back to them 30, 60, or 100 times more than they gave. In fact now days, about all you ever hear about is the 100 fold return. The 30 and 60 fold returns have pretty much been dropped altogether.

That’s a pretty good deal wouldn’t you say? Give God $1 and get back $100. Give God $100 and get back $10,000. Give God $10,000 and get back a cool million. And not only that, but you can also sow money and get back other things. Things like salvation for relatives, healing for incurable diseases, and deliverance from various demonic influences! That’s right; all you have to do is send your seed (meaning money) to the man of God!

Is this really what the parable of the sower is all about? What do you think? Let’s examine this important parable.

Luke 8:4-8 NASB
When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Jesus explains the parable

Luke 8:11 NASB
Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

Now right here anybody with even a minimal level of reading comprehension should be able to see that this parable has nothing to do with money. The seed is the word of God. Even a brand new baby Christian should be able to look at this and say “I don’t think these fellows are teaching this correctly”

Let’s continue with Jesus’ explanation

Luke 8:12-15 NASB
Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

This parable is about what happens when the word of God is sown or revealed in the heart of a person. It may be the most important parable Jesus taught. Why do I say that? Because Jesus said this:

Mark 4:13
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

Jesus is saying that if you don’t understand this parable you won’t understand any of the parables he taught. This is a foundational teaching!

By misapplying the parable of the sower, these false teachers do great damage to God’s people. First, by falsely claiming that God works like some kind of cosmic slot machine, but the real damage is in the fact that believers are robbed of the true meaning of this teaching.

The parable of the sower is at work every time God’s Word is revealed to you. In fact it is at work right now in many of you who are reading this.

I know that many of you will read this and say “I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that my favorite preacher would preach a false message” You’ll reject what I’m saying. You’ll actually be rejecting the words of Jesus.

The devil has come already to steal this word from you.

Some of you will hear what I say and receive it gladly. “Glory to God” you’ll say, “preach it brother…. Hallelujah” But you won’t take the time to really meditate on this word. You won’t really apply it.

And then a testing will come, a test to see if you really believe, trust in, rely on, and adhere to what you claim to believe. Testing is because of the word sown in your heart. You’ll be challenged. God Himself will allow that challenge, that test.

Will you pass the test? Or will you revert back to your traditional thinking?

And of course some of you will hear and believe but you won’t give this word the proper place in your life. You’ll think about it for a while. You’ll decide that it’s right but then you’ll get on with your life. You’ll get busy with your job, your family, your daily responsibilities and it will recede further and further into the recesses of your heart until it has no real value to you.

"Why is the Virgin Birth so important?"

Question: "Why is the Virgin Birth so important?"

Answer: The doctrine of the virgin birth is crucially important (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:27, 34). First, let’s look at how Scripture describes the event. In response to Mary’s question, “How will this be?” (Luke 1:34), Gabriel says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). The angel encourages Joseph to not fear marrying Mary with these words: “What is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Matthew states that the virgin “was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Galatians 4:4 also teaches the Virgin Birth: “God sent His Son, born of a woman.”

From these passages, it is certainly clear that Jesus’ birth was the result of the Holy Spirit working within Mary’s body. The immaterial (the Spirit) and the material (Mary’s womb) were both involved. Mary, of course, could not impregnate herself, and in that sense she was simply a “vessel.” Only God could perform the miracle of the Incarnation.

However, denying a physical connection between Mary and Jesus would imply that Jesus was not truly human. Scripture teaches that Jesus was fully human, with a physical body like ours. This He received from Mary. At the same time, Jesus was fully God, with an eternal, sinless nature (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14-17.)

Jesus was not born in sin; that is, He had no sin nature (Hebrews 7:26). It would seem that the sin nature is passed down from generation to generation through the father (Romans 5:12, 17, 19). The Virgin Birth circumvented the transmission of the sin nature and allowed the eternal God to become a perfect man.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/virgin-birth.html#ixzz3L79ECl9n

DAVID’S ADULTERY AND MURDER

2 Samuel 11 – DAVID’S ADULTERY AND MURDER

“In the whole of the Old Testament literature there is no chapter more tragic or full of solemn and searching warning than this.” (G. Campbell Morgan)
A. David’s adultery.
1. (2 Samuel 11:1) David stays home from the war against the Ammonites.
It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
a. In the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle: In that part of the world, wars were not normally fought during the winter months because rains and cold weather made travel and campaigning difficult. Fighting resumed in the spring.
b. David sent Joab . . . But David remained at Jerusalem: David should have been out at the battle but he remained behind. In 2 Samuel 10:1-19 Joab and the army of the mighty men were preserved against the Syrians and the Ammonites but they did not win a decisive victory. The decisive victory came when David led the battle at the end of 2 Samuel 10:1-19. Both through custom and experience God told David, “You need to be at the battle.” But David remained at Jerusalem.
i. The principle of Galatians 5:16 rings true: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If David had his attention where God wanted it, he would never put it where God didn’t want it. “While Joab is busy in laying siege to Rabbah, Satan is to David, and far sooner prevailed.” (Trapp)
ii. Nevertheless, it is wrong to think that this was the beginning of the chain of events David followed all the way down to adultery and murder. David showed his disregard God’s plan for marriage many years before when he took more than one wife (1 Samuel 25:42-43, 2 Samuel 3:2-5). David’s practice of adding wives showed a lack of romantic restraint and an indulgence of his passions. This corrupt seed, sown long ago, has grown unchecked long enough and will now begin to bear bitter fruit.
iii. “As I think of what happened, of this I am sure, that it did not happen all at once. This matter of Bathsheba was simply the climax of something that had been going on in his life for twenty years.” (Redpath)
iv. Therefore, staying home from the battle merely provided opportunity for the long-standing lack of romantic restraint and indulgence of passion to display itself.
2. (2 Samuel 11:2) David encounters temptation.
Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
a. David arose from his bed and walked on the roof: The Hebrew verb form of walked suggests that David paced back and forth on the roof. He couldn’t sleep and was uneasy – uneasy because he wasn’t where God wanted him to be.
b. He saw a woman bathing: There is little doubt that this woman (later called by the name Bathsheba) acted immodestly. Though it was evening and apparently the time when most people were asleep, certainly she knew that her bath was visible from the roof of the palace. Any immodesty on Bathsheba’s part did not excuse David’s sin, but she was still responsible for her wrong.
i. We must be an occasion for sin in others, even in how we dress. Paul’s word 1 Timothy 2:9 is relevant here: the women should adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation.
c. He saw a woman bathing: David’s sin was not in seeing Bathsheba. It was unlikely that he expected or planned to see her. David’s sin was in choosing to keep his eyes on an alluring image after the sight came before his eyes.
i. Christians – men, especially – must learn to never let their eyes (or their mind) rest on alluring images except for what “belongs” to them in marriage. Our eyes must “bounce” off of an alluring image that comes in sight.
ii. David’s many wives did not satisfy his lust. This was because you can’t satisfy lusts of the flesh, because they are primarily rebellious assertions of self. It wasn’t so much that David wanted Bathsheba; it was that he could not be satisfied with what God gave him.
iii. The principle would be illustrated in an exaggerated way in the life of Solomon, David’s son. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. David and Solomon show us that if one woman isn’t enough, 1000 women aren’t enough.
d. The woman was very beautiful to behold: Bathsheba’s great beauty made the sight tempting. But the real strength of temptation often does not lie in the quality of the tempting object, but in the state of heart and mind of the one being tempted. David had long been “prepared” to stumble at this very point. Even so, this temptation was not too strong for David, no matter how beautiful Bathsheba was.
i. For example, Joseph was more severely tempted to commit sexual immorality than David was here, but he fled that temptation.
ii. David looked at Bathsheba and said “beauty” but God saw this as ugly. The pleasures of sin deceive us like the bait hides the hook. We must call it what God calls it – sin. We want to say, “affair” but God says “adultery.” We want to say, “love” but God says “lust.” We want to say “sexy” but God says “sin.” We want to say, “romantic” but God says “ruin.” We want to say, “destiny” but God says “destruction.”
3. (2 Samuel 11:3) David pursues the temptation.
So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
a. So David sent and inquired: David could have ended the temptation by leaving the scene at that time, even after entertaining the temptation for a while. Instead, David put himself into a more tempting situation.
b. Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam: From this David learned that the woman came from a notable family. She was from the upper classes. Her father was Eliam, one of David’s Mighty Men (2 Samuel 23:34). Her grandfather was Ahithophel – one of David’s chief counselors (2 Samuel 23:34, 2 Samuel 15:12).
c. The wife of Uriah the Hittite: From this David learned that Bathsheba was married, and the wife of another of David’s Mighty Men (2 Samuel 23:8; 2Sa_23:39). He also learned that this woman’s husband was away, because the Mighty Men were away in battle against the Ammonites. This knowledge made the situation far more tempting. David began to think, “I could get away with this.”
i. David committed adultery in his heart up on the roof. Now he knows that he has an opportunity to commit adultery in practice. Adultery in the heart and mind is bad; adultery in practice is far worse.
ii. David should have received the news of the woman’s identity as a warning. He learned that this woman was related to men close to David. In taking Bathsheba David sinned against Uriah, Eliam, and Ahithophel – each men close and important to David.
4. (2 Samuel 11:4) David embraces the temptation.
Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
a. The David sent messengers, and took her: In this the man after God’s heart went against his own heart, following through on a lustful impulse. David ignored every warning and way of escape God set before him.
i. “In the expression he took her, and she came to him there is no intimation whatever that David brought Bathsheba into his palace through craft or violence, but rather that she came at his request without any hesitation, and offered no resistance to his desires. Consequently Bathsheba is not to be regarded as free from blame.” (Keil and Delitzsch)
ii. “We hear nothing of her reluctance, and there is no evidence that she was taken by force.” (Clarke)
b. He lay with her: David knew this was wrong, yet he did it. It’s hard to explain David’s thinking here, because he wasn’t thinking. He acted on feeling and impulse instead of thinking.
i. If David thought about all this, he would see that the cost was so much greater than he wanted to consider at the time. If David knew that this illicit pursuit of pleasure would directly or indirectly result in:
· An unwanted pregnancy
· The murder of a trusted friend
· A dead baby
· His daughter raped by his son
· One son murdered by another son
· A civil war led by one of his sons
· A son who imitates David’s lack of self-control and it leads him and much of Israel away from God
ii. The same kind of ruin comes of adultery today. We think about all the children who went to bed without daddy at home because of the terrible attack on our country on September 11, 2001. But far more children go to bed every night without daddy in the house because of adultery.
iii. At this moment David agreed with the world’s understanding of the purpose of sex, seeing it primarily as the pursuit of a pleasurable experience. With his many wives, David may have never really understood God’s purpose for sex: to be the “cement” that helps bond together a one-flesh relationship.
c. She was cleansed from her impurity: This confirms that Bathsheba had recently had her menstrual period and was not already pregnant when David committed adultery with her.
i. It seemed like David “got away” with this sin. But he and we could only think that if we believed the sin was something good God wanted to keep from David. David did something harmful and destructive to himself and others and harm and destruction will come of it. Just because David wasn’t caught at the moment doesn’t mean that he got away with anything.
5. (2 Samuel 11:5) Bathsheba’s message to David.
And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
a. And the woman conceived: David and Bathsheba didn’t plan on this. They were terrified both at the “problem” of the pregnancy itself and that it meant that their adultery would be found out.
b. So she sent and told David: Her message “involved an appeal to him to take the necessary steps to avert the evil consequences of the sin, inasmuch as the law required that both the adulterer and adulteress should be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10). (Keil and Delitzsch)
B. David murders Uriah.
1. (2 Samuel 11:6-11) David attempts to cover his sin.
Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
a. Send me Uriah the Hittite: When David heard the disastrous news of Bathsheba’s pregnancy he should have used it as a prompting to repent. Instead, David did what most unrepentant sinners do: hide his sin. He wanted to draw Uriah back home to have relations with Bathsheba to give a reason for her pregnancy.
i. The whole concept of hiding our sin is deceptive. Our sin is never hidden before God and only hidden with difficulty from our conscience. Our hidden sin hinders our fellowship with God and others and is a barrier to spiritual life and power.
ii. “The real question for us all is: Are we prepared to face sin? Not to discuss someone else’s sin, but to face our own.” (Redpath)
iii. The answer to hidden sin is confession and repentance. To whom should we confess? The answer is in the question, “Whom have we sinned against?” “If you sin secretly, confess secretly, admitting publicly that you need the victory but keeping details to yourself. If you sin openly confess openly to remove stumbling blocks from those whom you have hindered. If you have sinned spiritually (prayerlessness, lovelessness, and unbelief as well as their offspring, criticism, etc.) then confess to the church that you have been a hindrance.” (J. Edwin Orr)
iv. “As soon as ever we are conscious of sin, the right thing is not to begin to reason with the sin, or to wait until we have brought ourselves into a proper state of heart about it, but to go at once and confess the transgression unto the Lord, there and then.” (Spurgeon)
b. David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered: This was David’s awkward attempt to pretend that nothing happened. David gave every appearance that things were normal when before God nothing was normal or right.
c. Go down to your house: “David’s design was that he should go and lie with his wife, that the child now conceived should pass for his, the honour of Bath-sheba be screened, and his own crime concealed. At this time he had no design of the murder of Uriah, nor of taking Bath-sheba to wife.” (Clarke)
d. The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents: This shows that Uriah had a passion for the glory of God, even though he was a Hittite and not a native Jew.
e. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife: This shows Uriah as a man of great integrity. He was a true “team player” who did not want to enjoy the comforts of home as long as his fellow soldiers endured hardship on the field of battle.
i. “David had expected and hoped that Uriah would prove to be like himself; instead he proved to be a man of integrity, whose first loyalty was to the king’s interests rather than to his own pleasure.” (Baldwin)
2. (2 Samuel 11:12-13) David’s second attempt to cover his sin fails.
Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
a. Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart: David lied to Uriah, knowing that he wanted to get back to the battle front as soon as possible. He hopes that Uriah will treat the coming evening as his last before returning to battle and be with Bathsheba.
b. When David called him, he ate and drank before him: David hoped that getting Uriah drunk would weaken his resolve to identify with his fellow troops. Yet Uriah did not go down to his house, refusing to enjoy what his fellow soldiers could not while the battle still rages.
i. Uriah is a good example of how Christians should conduct themselves as fellow-soldiers in the spiritual battle. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. (Romans 12:15-16)
ii. David was drunk with lust when he slept with Bathsheba; he hoped that making Uriah drunk with wine would bring the same result.
c. But he did not go down to his house: Some commentators believe that Uriah suspected some infidelity in Bathsheba, and avoided her out of jealousy. “It is like he smelt something.” (Trapp)
3. (2 Samuel 11:14-17) David sends Uriah to battle with his own death sentence in hand.
In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
a. David wrote a letter to Joab: Meyer imagines Joab saying, “This master of mine can sing psalms with the best; but when he wants a piece of dirty work done, he must come to me.”
b. Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle: Having failed to cover his sin, David wanted Uriah dead. Many adulterers secretly wish death would free them to marry the object of their adultery. This is the very heart of murder even if the deed is not done. David had the power to act on his wish.
c. And sent it by the hand of Uriah: David trusted the integrity of Uriah so much that he made him the unwitting messenger of his own death sentence.
i. “This was the sum of treachery and villany. He made this most noble man the carrier of letters which prescribed the mode in which he was to be murdered.” (Clarke)
d. That he may be struck down and die: David commanded Joab to arrange Uriah’s death. Though it was hidden by the raging battle, Uriah was murdered just as surely as if David killed him in his own home.
i. “If a child was to be born, Uriah’s lips, at least, should not be able to disown it.” (Meyer)
ii. “David was better while a servant than when a king; for being a servant, he feared to kill Saul his adversary, but becoming a king, he basely slew his most faithful friend and dutiful subject.” (Trapp)
iii. “Though we mourn over David’s sin, yet we thank God that it was permitted, for if he had not so fallen he had not been able to help us when we are conscious of transgression. He could not have so minutely described our griefs if he had not felt the same. David lived, in this respect, for others as well as for himself.” (Spurgeon)
e. Uriah the Hittite died also: Joab did exactly what David commanded. He knew it was wrong but simply followed orders and murdered Uriah at David’s order.
i. If not immediately confronted, one sin and take a wretched course. David indulged his sensual lusts for years and ignored God’s warnings and ways of escape. He allowed temptation to turn into lust and lust to turn into adultery. When the consequences of his adultery threatened to expose his sin he covered it first with deception and then with murder. Satan could never tempt David with the entire package at once, but he could deceive him with it piece by piece.
4. (2 Samuel 11:18-25) Joab sends word of Uriah’s death back to David.
Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’; then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’“ So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”
a. Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth: This is a reference to Judges 9:50-57, where Abimelech was killed by coming too close to the walls of a city under siege. The idea is that Joab knew it was a bad military move to get so close to the walls, but that he did it anyway on the command of David.
b. Uriah the Hittite is dead also: David heard these words with relief. He thought that now he could marry Bathsheba and give a plausible explanation for her pregnancy.
c. The sword devours one as well as another: This was a proverb regarding fortunes of war. It was a way of saying, “These things happen.” David said it to his own guilty conscience as much as he said it to Joab.
5. (2 Samuel 11:26-27) David marries Bathsheba.
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
a. When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead: We have no reason to believe that Bathsheba knew that David arranged the death of her husband. It is likely that David concealed all this from Bathsheba. At the same time, she was partly relieved to hear of her husband’s death.
i. “There is little doubt to be made but that she was inwardly glad, considering her danger of being punished an adulteress, and her hopes of being now made a queen.” (Trapp)
b. And she became his wife: This was nothing new for David. He had added wives before, so now he simply adds another.
i. “David is sort of a hero now, in the eyes of the people. He has taken into his harem, the poor, pregnant wife, the widow of one of his fallen captains, so that the people say, “My look at the way he stands behind his men! He takes care of their widows when they are killed in battle. My what a marvelous king!” (Smith)
c. The thing that David had done displeased the LORD: This is the first mention of God in the chapter. God witnessed every event and read the intent of every heart, but His displeasure is only implied until this specific statement.
i. David’s state of heart in the intervening year is reflected in Psalms 32:1-5 : Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
ii. Psalms 32:1-11 shows that David was under intense conviction during this time and that all the joy in his life evaporated away. David knew the stress and agony of living a double, false life. He found no relief until he repented and got right with God again. “The better the man the dearer the price he pays for a short season of sinful pleasure.” (Meyer)
iii. David was in that terrible place where he had too much sin in him to be happy in God, but he had too much of God in him to happy in sin. Because David was a man after God’s heart, God will draw David to repentance and restoration.
iv. “When there is the most necessity for confession, there is often the greatest tardiness in making it. It was so in David’s case. . . . I think I can see why he could not have gone straight away from the sin to confession, for the sin prevented the confession-the sin blinded the eye, stultified the conscience, and stupefied the entire spiritual nature of David.” (Spurgeon)

"What is kingdom theology?"

Question: "What is kingdom theology?"

Answer: At its most basic definition, kingdom theology is simply the area of theology that studies the Kingdom of God. In that sense kingdom theology is a legitimate and beneficial part of theology as a whole. But there are also whole theological movements labeled as “kingdom theology,” so one must be careful to understand how the term is being used.

Basically, kingdom theology divides human history into two broad periods of time: the “present evil age” and the “age to come.” The first started with the fall of man and will last until the Second Coming of Christ. The “present evil age” is marked by sin, sickness, death, disease, war, and poverty. In it Satan is seen as the ruler of the world (Ephesians 2:2 and 6:12), although his rule is limited. The “age to come” is when the Kingdom of God rules, providing eternal life and freedom from sin, sickness, and suffering. It is a time of universal peace on earth and God’s sovereign reign over all of creation.

One type of kingdom theology is what is sometimes referred to as the “already but not yet” view of the Kingdom of God. This view, popular among Charismatics, teaches that the “end times” began with the ascension of Christ into heaven. It is also called “inaugurated eschatology” because the life, death, and resurrection of Christ are seen as inaugurating, or ushering in, the beginning of the last days. Those who hold this view believe that the Kingdom of God is already here but has not yet been fully consummated.

Kingdom theology teaches that, ever since the time of Christ, both ages are in play. So, while the Kingdom of God is already begun (inaugurated by Christ) and Christ is already ruling from heaven, the full benefits of the Kingdom have not yet been realized, and we still suffer the effects of the fall. Because the Kingdom of God is still “not yet” here in all of its glory and power, Christians still suffer sickness and death. Until Christ returns physically, we will not experience the fullness of the Kingdom of God. Among the adherents of kingdom theology, there is a debate about the degree to which the power of the Kingdom is manifest today. One of the more extreme positions is that God has already rid the world of sickness and death, if we would only have enough faith to believe it.

Kingdom theology became a popular teaching in the Vineyard movement and was embraced by Charismatic leaders such as John Wimber. A distortion of kingdom theology has influenced the Latter Rain Movement and other aberrant theological systems. Some groups do not see a distinction between the two ages and assume the full benefits of the Kingdom are available right now. This leads to many outlandish and unbiblical claims concerning miracles, a Christian’s ability to live totally free from sickness and disease, and other errors.

Taking the biblical concept of kingdom theology to unbiblical extremes, some claim that the miracles performed by modern-day “prophets and apostles” are greater than anything done by the original apostles. This erroneous teaching has spawned a whole movement of unbiblical and sometimes heretical teachings such as Kingdom Now Theology and Dominion Theology. The teaching is also popular among “Word of Faith” teachers.

The basic premise of kingdom theology—that the Kingdom of God is in effect now—is true. God is the sovereign ruler over all things, and we know from Scripture that Jesus Christ is “at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). Jesus is “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Where some proponents of kingdom theology go wrong is in their belief that all the Old and New Testament promises of the Kingdom of God directly apply to Christians today.

The teaching that salvation brings a total healing of all diseases and problems right now does not come from Scripture. Jesus said that His kingdom is “not of this world” right now (John 18:36), and He taught His disciples to pray, “May your Kingdom come soon” (Luke 11:2, NLT). The promises of the Kingdom await a future and more complete fulfillment at Christ’s Second Coming.

Extreme forms of kingdom theology, such as the Kingdom Now doctrine, have many problems. First of all, such teachings diminish the need for Jesus to return. After all, if the fully realized Kingdom of God is in effect for Christians today, why does Christ need to return at all? Second, Kingdom Now theology makes God dependent on man and his faith; in order for God to accomplish His will, we must have faith and claim the promises (usually taken out of context). God’s rule is diminished and His sovereignty attacked by many Kingdom Now teachers. Man controls his own destiny through his words and the power of his faith.

Starting with the false teaching that God “lost control” of the earth when Adam and Eve sinned, exponents of extreme kingdom theology believe that God has been looking for a “covenant people” who will take back control of the earth from Satan. Through the power of their faith and by following “last-days apostles and prophets,” the church will regain dominion over the kingdoms of this world—including the “kingdoms” of sickness, disease, and financial problems. Those who embrace this teaching are looking forward to, as God’s covenant people, taking control of the government, education, science, and every other aspect of the world. They believe this will be achieved as believers use the miraculous gifts of the Spirit before the return of Christ.

Kingdom theology, when correctly understood, is certainly compatible with true, biblical Christianity. The danger comes from those who distort the theological construct into an unbiblical doctrine. Proponents of kingdom theology can run the gamut from sound Bible teachers, to outright heretics. We should be careful to avoid broad-brushing the entire movement and instead judge each teacher or church by comparing what they are teaching to Scripture.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/kingdom-theology.html#ixzz3Kvd7jFGe