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Tag: Jesus Christ

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Second Letter of Paul to Timothy 3:14-15 NKJV

The Apostle Paul will now show his successors, including at the time of his impending execution Timothy in Ephesus, how they must refute false teaching by focusing on Scripture.
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Today's look at 2 Timothy within our SERIES of Apostolic Faith is primarily TOPICAL with focus on SCRIPTURE and its related terms. - RH 
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Scripture is…

Many of us tend toward an easy answer of quoting scripture as a single and particular verse within a chapter, within a book, within a category of books, i.e. the Torah. Yet this epistle of Paul and books of the Prophets often point to additional books for origin, application and/or context.

the Scriptures are books

Paul reminds Timothy: “.. you have known the Holy Scriptures..”, translated from the Greek: τὰ [ho] ἱερὰ [hieros] γράμματα [gramma] οἶδας [you have known].

No doubt you recognize the Greek word for Scripture – gramma, as grammar.
- γράμμα grámma, gram’-mah; from G1125; a writing, i.e. a letter, note, epistle, book, etc.; plural; learning:—bill, learning, letter, scripture, writing, written.
Writings

Yet let’s not miss that the Apostle Paul points Timothy to the ‘scriptures‘ [plural] and more importantly with specific reference that those writings that are “holy.”

Biblia

The earliest Christian use of ta biblia (the books) in this sense is said to be 2 Clement 2:14 (c. a.d. 150): “The books and the apostles declare that the church . . . has existed from the beginning.” (Compare Dan. 9:2, “I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures,” where the reference is to the corpus of Old Testament prophetic writings.) Greek biblion (of which biblia is the plural) is a diminutive of biblos, which in practice denotes any kind of written document, but originally one written on papyrus.

A term synonymous with“the Bible” is“the writings” or “the Scriptures” (Greek hai graphai, ta grammata), frequently used in the New Testament to denote the Old Testament documents in whole or in part. For example, Matthew 21:42 says, “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” (en tais graphais). The parallel passage, Mark 12:10, has the singular, referring to the particular text quoted,“Haven’t you read this Scripture?” (ten graphen tauten).

Source: The Origin of the Bible – Tyndale Publishers

Old Testament

17:14 וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה כְּתֹב זֹאת זִכָּרוֹן בַּסֵּפֶר וְשִׂים בְּאָזְנֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ

And the LORD said to Moses,

“Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua..

Exodus 17:14a – Masoretic Text, Revised Standard Version

Strong’s H3789 – kāṯaḇ (for write) is the same Hebrew word used in the giving of the Commandments.

And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai,
two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written H3789
with the finger of God.
Exodus 31:18 KJV

“Write this as a memorial in a book,” the LORD instructs Moses to give to his successor Joshua.

New testament

Some pastors and teachers wander from the Truth of Scripture by dismissing Old Testament Law and especially the Prophets from the hearing and remembrance of their church.

“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

.. there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.

“But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

New Testament Gospel of John 5:43, 45b-47 NKJV

The Lord Jesus Christ, however, connects His own testimony to that of the Hebrew Bible:

“.. he (Moses) wrote [γράφω – graphō] about Me, ” states the Lord Jesus. And the Christ or Messiah of Israel adds:

“But if you do not believe his (Moses’) writings [γράμμα – gramma], how will you believe My words [ῥῆμα – rhēma]?”

This, in addition to being a frequent warning of Christ, became an Apostolic word of warning written in several epistles to A.D. first century pastors.

a word from The Apostle Peter

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words [rhēma] of eternal life

Gospel of John 6:68 – Jesus’ Apostles remain faithful as the Lord’s crucifixion approaches

BUT THE WORD^G4487 OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER.”

And this is the word^G4487 which was proclaimed to you as good news.

1 Peter 1:25

I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles..

2 Peter 3:1a-2 LSB

Peter’s Steadfast Purpose and the coming Day of the Lord

All Scripture…

Paul in his second pastoral epistle to Timothy also provides a remembrance of Scripture for generations to follow.

Second Timothy 3:15 (RSV)

speaks of “the sacred writings”

(ta hiera grammata), and the next verse says,

“All Scripture is God-breathed”

(pasa graphe theopneustos).

In 2 Peter 3:16 “all” the letters of Paul are included along with “the other Scriptures” (tas loipas graphas),

by which the Old Testament writings and probably also the Gospels are meant.

ibid.

It is written…
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Is the phrase familiar? 
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- as it is written in the book of the law of Moses – Joshua 8:31
- Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. – 2 Kings 23:21
- Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [sēp̄er] it is written [kāṯaḇ] of me.. – Psalm 40:7
Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’[Jesus, quoting Isaiah 54:13]

Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

Gospel of John 6:43-45 NKJV

Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written H3789 of me.

Psalm:40:7 (WLC 40:8) אָז אָמַרְתִּי הִנֵּה־בָאתִי בִּמְגִלַּת־סֵפֶר כָּתוּב עָלָי׃

כָּתַב kâthab, kaw-thab’; a primitive root; to grave, by implication, to write (describe, inscribe, prescribe, subscribe):—describe, record, prescribe, subscribe, write(-ing, -ten).

Strong’s Number H3789 matches the Hebrew כָּתַב (kāṯaḇ),
which occurs 226 times in 212 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

The Holy Writings of God dominate the remembrance of Old Testament faith and New Testament credibility.

Theopneutos – inspired by God

God CANNOT be wrong!

Yet Satan would ask, “Did God really say…?” (And so do false teachers.)

3:16 πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος

theopneustos –
- given by inspiration of God –
  - KJV & others
- inspired by God –
  - CSB, NLT & others
- God-breathed –
  - LSB, NIV & others
- [given by divine inspiration] –
  - AMP
- breathed out by God –
  - ESV
“Every scripture inspired of God,” the ASV translates.

“Every scripture is inspired by God,” reads the New English Translation.

“Every scripture is divinely inspired,” in the Darby translation.

“every Writing is God-breathed,” states Young’s Literal Translation.

Pivotal Proof, IF you believe

How do false teachers oppose God and Christ?

First, in order to turn faithful saints of the church against God false teachers must attack Scripture. They do this with the subtlety of Satan with a simple turn of a word. For when all is said and done, false teachers insist that God is wrong and that they know why.

In a section headed, SCRIPTURE PROVIDES INSTRUCTION FOR SANCTIFICATION (which of course false teachers want no part of), John MacArthur writes:

Some scholars suggest that All Scripture is inspired should be translated,

“All Scripture inspired by God is..,”

which would leave open the possibility that some Scripture is not inspired by Him. But that rendering would make the Bible worthless as a reliable guide to divine truth, because we would then have no way to determine which part of it is inspired by God and which is not.

Men would be left to their own finite and sinful devices and understanding ot discover what part of the Bible may be true and which may not, what part is God’s Word and what part is human conjecture.

THE MACARTHUR NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARY – 2 TIMOTHY, P.142

MacArthur definitively adds:

Many men who wrote Scripture, such as Moses and Paul, were highly trained in human knowledge and wisdom, but that learning was not the source of divine truth they recorded. David was a highly gifted poet, .. but it was not the source of the divine truths in those psalms.

ibid. p.143

Does 2 Tim 3:16 prove the inspiration of all Scripture or just some?
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excerpt from: A POPULAR HANDBOOK ON BIBLE DIFFICULTIES 
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PROBLEM:

Some think that the word “all” should be replaced by “every.” Plus, one believe that.. “is” should be placed after.. not before.

SOLUTION:

[edited excerpt] .. those that translate this verse with “is” after “God” make it sound like there are some scriptures not inspired of God. “all” should be translated, “every” if the definite article is missing. However, whenever the word “Scripture” (graphē) is used in the NT, it always refers to authoritative and inspired writings— never the opposite…

Paul’s context here refers to “the Holy Scriptures” (1:15) Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother had taught him (2 Tim 1:5), and this could be none other than the whole Jewish OT.

WHEN CRITICS ASK, Norman Geisler & Thomas Howe, pp 505-506

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ — ALL SCRIPTURE given by inspiration of God, and…

4 Profitable Imperatives

The Apostle Paul then continues to instruct Timothy and readers of his pastoral epistle in HOW TO APPLY the TRUTH of GOD-BREATHED SCRIPTURE.
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By 'profitable,' Paul means helpful or advantageous 
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Once again, let’s just list Paul’s MUST DO list from various translations noting also the interralationship of these actions of applying Scripture.
- doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, teaching, rebuking, reprimand, correcting, training, [in righteousness], conviction [of sin], reproof
- “omnis scriptura divinitus inspirata
  - et utilis ad docendum ad arguendum ad corrigendum ad erudiendum in iustitia’
    
    from the Latin Vulgate
WE resist many of these Scriptural imperatives; but the Apostle Paul assures Christ-followers that GOD breathed-out the Commandments WRITTEN in the BIBLE.
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Let's simplify Paul's four-point list in 2 Timothy 3:16
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1. DOCTRINE – didaskalia
2. REPROOF – elegchos
3. CORRECTION – epanorthōsis
4. INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS – paideia en dikaiosynē
Doctrine, learning, teaching or Instruction

The Scriptures serve as a comprehensive guide for teaching and imparting knowledge about God, His will, and His ways. … The Bible provides moral and spiritual guidance, helping believers understand the nature of God and the principles of His kingdom.

BibleHub.com

proof, conviction:—evidence, reproof.
- a proof, that by which a thing is proved or tested
- conviction
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence G1650 of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

correction, improvement of life or character,

restoration to an upright or right state – a derivative of the base of G3717; to straighten up:—lift (set) up, make straight.

And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up…

And He [Jesus] laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Gospel of Luke 13:11,13 NKJV

ἐπανόρθωσις – a straightening up again, i.e. (figuratively) rectification (reformation):—correction.

Paul assures Timothy that Scripture can rectify that false teaching which has made your spirit and life crooked with sin.
Instruction in righteousness –

the whole training and education of children

(which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment)

It also includes the training and care of the body
παιδεία paideía, pahee-di’-ah; from G3811; tutorage, i.e. education or training; by implication, disciplinary correction:—chastening, chastisement, instruction, nurture.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath,

but bring them up in the

TRAINING [G3809]

and admonition of the Lord.

Paul’s protégé and young pastor to the saints at Ephesus, will not overlook his apostolic example as the type of righteousness required in the instruction of Scripture.

That the man of God may be perfect

thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:17 KJV
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One last word here about ALL SCRIPTURE, before the Apostle pushes on to PREACH THE WORD. 
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ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ – that perfect may be

Perfection (used in the King James Version) refers to perfection in Christ.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Gospel of Matthew 5:48 KJV – Jesus teaching the crowds in the Beautitudes

Other translations use ‘complete.’

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Revelation of Jesus Christ to John: 3:2 ESV – To the Church in Sardis

Still other translations point the preacher of God to Scripture as essential to be: fit, adequate, capable, or proficient.

ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος – of God the man

The Apostle is addressing the man of God, a technical phrases used only of Timothy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament it is frequently used as a title for one who proclaimed the Word of God. In this context, man of God refers most directly to Timothy and, by extension, to all preachers.

John MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 2 Timothy, p.162

πρὸς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν – unto all works good
- πρός – pros – unto, to the advantage of
- πᾶς – G3956 – pas, all (17x in 2 Timothy)
  - ALL, again same as in ‘all scripture’
- ἔργον ἀγαθὸν, ergon agathos, lit. works good
  - (and in the Greek, followed by ‘thoroughly furnished.’
And Paul’s practical preparation for the man of God gives good reason:

The Apostle prescribes SCRIPTURE as a preacher’s tools, useful for building good works among the saints of their church.

ἐξηρτισμένος – thoroughly furnished
- throughly [KJV prior to 16th c. archaic]furnished
  - unto all good works.
ἐξαρτίζω exartízō, means: to furnish perfectly; to finish, accomplish, (as it were, to render the days complete).

One instance of this concept takes place when John the Baptist objected to Jesus that Christ should be baptizing him.

And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now:^G737 for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Matthew 3:15 KJV

Scripture Written – the Word Spoken

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said…

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

Genesis 1:1-3a, Psalm 99:6 KJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Gospel of John 1:1-2 KJV

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Gospel of John 1:8, 10:27 KJV – Spoken by JESUS Christ

Next: Preach the word! – 2 Timothy 4

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
February 20, 2026
Son-Man Risen!
“Are you the King of the Jews,” the Prefect Pilate had asked JESUS just three days ago?

βασιλεύς King ?

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

But my kingdom is not from the world.”
Gospel of John 18: ESV 36 [in context John 18:28-40 AKJV]
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Case dismissed! This Man is NO threat to Rome or Jerusalem, Pilate COULD have said (had the Governor cared more about the Truth than public opinion.)
 
SO instead HE WAS CRUCIFIED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE and THREE DAYS AGO was BURIED in a GUARDED TOMB!
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The Jews had wanted a king more powerful than the Herod. Now these powerful pastors can celebrate THEIR Passover and finally dismiss this prophet JESUS saying,

The King is DEAD! Long live the King.

“Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar,” these Elder accusers of JESUS had taunted. The hereditary Chief Priests might no longer need to limp around the bloody temple sacrifices in order to please the multitudes.

YET since the rising of the sun three days later, some witnesses now report the RISING of the SON-MAN, JESUS!

Resurrection witnessed

The leaders of Herod’s temple (for it had been rebuilt by the Great Herod who left many of the common areas of the courts unfinished) did NOT need any interruption of their indulgences and ceremonial place of authority over worshipers of God obligated to come to THEIR temple twice yearly.

BUT even before THEY managed to convict and crucify the Christ so many followed the leadership of Jerusalem also sought to kill Jesus’ Apostles and most of all Lazarus.

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there [Bethany], they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he [JESUS] had raised from the dead.

So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Gospel of John 12:9-11 ESV
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The Temple leadership, however, failed to seize and kill Lazarus (again) but seemed satisfied to crucify the Christ said to raise Lazarus from the grave. 

(But how could such a thing as that have really happened, those many men who did not believe in the resurrection questioned?) 
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Jesus knew how these would REJECT Him not only because they did NOT believe Scripture, but also because these religious leaders could never envision their Messiah (the Christ, of whom the gentiles spoke) would be given the authority to raise the dead.

For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Gospel of John 5:22-25 ESV

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority to execute judgment,
because he is [the] Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out,
those who have done good to the resurrection of life,
and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Gospel of John 5:27-29 ESV – Jesus claiming the Authority of the Son-Man Messiah

Jesus certainly had demonstrated this Authority of the Christ by raising Lazarus from death!

The LEADERS of JUDAH knew rejected the Truth they knew; but even the most faithful worshipers sometimes doubt the veracity of Holy Scripture.
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Does this sound familiar?
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Son-Man, can these bones live?

+ Note: Lit. “son man” – the Hebrew does not use articles bēn ‘āḏām – בֶּן־אָדָם
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Picture yourself standing near Golgotha, where rotted bones of the crucified eventually fall to the dust. See any scene of a low valley of graves where flesh and bones decay in the dust and loved ones lament over the lifeless souls of their past..
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Ezekiel 37: KJV

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath [רוּחַ]came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Resurrection Prophesied

And at that time Michael the great prince shall stand up, that stands over the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not been from the time that there was a nation on the earth until that time: at that time thy people shall be delivered, even every one that is written in the book.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame.
Daniel 12:2 Brenton Septuagint Tran slation

Christ holds His priesthood permanently

The problem of the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas is no different than that pointed out by the author of the book of Hebrews.

And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25-27 LSB
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AND don't miss this about the necessity that the CHRIST should become the Perfect Sacrifice for our sins.
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For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

What must you do to be saved?

The Son-Man, JESUS (SAVIOR) Son WHO IS One with the Father and the Holy Spirit — Messiah [Christ] prophesied in Scripture IS the Very WORD of the LORD God!

THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY?

Good News!

Spurgeon on Lazarus and resurrection
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Charles Spurgeon, the renowned English preacher of the 19th century provides us with further thoughts about what happened to Lazarus and those who already had mourned over his death.
THOUGH HE WERE DEAD - 14 September, A.D. 1884, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington G.B.
John 11:24-26
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- here is the comfort which we may each one safely take, namely, that when Jesus comes the dead shall live.
- Then we are also told that when Jesus comes, living believers shall not die. After the coming of Christ there shall be no more death for his people.
- Resurrection with Jesus is resurrection indeed. Life with Jesus is life indeed.
- I think that Jesus meant that even now His dead are alive. Again, even now his living do not die.
Beyond these few brief points of comfort for the bereaved Spurgeon continues with a notable Scriptural truth WE tend to avoid:

Methinks, first, this text plainly teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is the life of his people.

We are dead by nature, and you can never produce life out of death: the essential elements are wanting..

.. The life of a Christian in its commencement is in Christ alone, not a fragment of it is from himself, and the continuance of that life is equally the same; Jesus is not only the resurrection to begin with, but the life to go on with.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The multitudes of Jerusalem loved Jesus’ teaching and loved Jesus’ humility. YET many who yearned to gather in the Temple REJECTED the greater love of a Savior willing to die on the Cross rather than life the life of a great teacher.

the resurrection and the life

Spurgeon pleas with those with ears to hear teaching on the power of Jesus raising Lazarus and what the Christian disciple must do:

“I tell you you must learn that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Hearken to that great “I,” that infinite EGO! This must cover over and swallow up your little ego.

“I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

WHAT ARE YOU?

Less than nothing, and vanity; but over all springs up divine, all-sufficient personality, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

.. further [Spurgeon points out],

“he that believeth in Me”: that is it.

He does not say, “He that loves me.”

my Lord and my God!

The GOOD NEWS of the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST!

Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are those who did not see, and yet believed.”
Gospel of John 20:29 LSB

Alleluia!

Talk of JESUS . com

Christ IS Risen!

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
March 31, 2024
christianity-lite Doctrines of the Christ-less Era
Are christian pulpits erasing Christ’s Biblical line of DOCTRINE?

a Christ-less Church of the Common Era

JESUS Christ was the SON worthy of Christians who once worshiped like this:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
First Letter of the Apostle Peter 1:3-5 Legacy Standard Bible
- HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ preached from the pulpit of your Common Era church?
- IS SCRIPTURE INSCRIBED on the doorposts and gates of YOUR COMMON ERA CHURCH?
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃ דְּבָרִים

(Deuteronomy) 6 :4

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart..
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 ESV

And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
From the LAW of Moses – Deuteronomy 6:9 King James Version

a HOLY Gospel or a Common Era Jesus?

SOMETHING CHANGED, but I’m not certain when.

In the year of our Lord 1959, I joined our local Christian church and the Pastor presented me with a Revised Standard Version of the HOLY BIBLE, which our membership class had studied beginning with the first five books of the Law in addition to discussing key verses from the New Testament.
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So the A.D. 1950's apparently were not yet a time when Christians walked away from God's HOLY BIBLE.
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As children of Christian parents we were expected to become part of our local church and community. Some did so begrudgingly and others of us out of duty to family. What else could we do? And everyone I knew seemed to ‘go to church’ one place or another.

We referred to God and Jesus as ‘Lord,’ addressed adults as ‘Mister‘ or ‘Missus‘ [so and so] or if we didn’t know them sir or ma’am.

Our pastor and preacher was to be addressed as, Reverend, just like most of our parents addressed him. (Even children understood what reverend meant as to respect due to this man and his piety associated with God’s leadership of our church.)

Before the Common Era

SOMETHING CHANGED during the 1960’s, continued to change into the 70’s and yet more beyond the close of the 20th century.

Many churches still EXPECTED Christians to stand in acknowledgment of GOD’s HOLY Word as WE bowed in silence to hear proclaimed:

“THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO .. [Matthew, Mark, Luke or John],”

and then the Holy Scripture was read.
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christianity-lite churches of 2023 of the Common Era can hardly imagine it!

Some imagined it to have been liturgical routine rather than intended due reverence for the HOLINESS of God's Very Word.
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The dichotomy of holiness as separation of GOD ABOVE ALL and JESUS CHRIST as LORD of ALL seemed to blur into a common division from contemporary culture.

Christians loved their Christ of Christmas and Easter, while ALL the world (mostly US) awaited a dismissal of JESUS as just another sweet lord of some days of a future passed.

A.D. 1960 – Do you remember when?
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Source for most: Year 1960 Fun Facts, Trivia, and History
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- JFK was elected the first Roman Catholic President of the U.S.
- The average family income was $5,600
- and a new house cost $16,500.
- The starting salary for a teacher was $5,135. It was $4,400 for a police officer and $9,400 for an engineer.
- A slice of pizza cost 15 cents, a McDonald’s hamburger was also 15 cents, and candy bars were five cents apiece.
- The minimum wage was $1.00, (family members no min. I made .50/hr. in the 60’s)
- Farmers made up 8.3% of the U.S. labor force.. about 3,711,000 American farms.. about 303 acres apiece.
- Over 90% of American households had at least one TV,
  - and about 65% of Americans were churchgoers.
- The FDA approved the world’s first commercially produced birth control pill.
  - The Roman Catholic Church opposed its use (even by married couples)
  - Protestant churches and other religions still expected NO SEX before marriage and discouraged any divorce.
Why did christians erase the LINES of Scripture?

Churches had to re-imagine JESUS for a post-Christian world of members who no longer wanted to GO TO CHURCH.

Christians of OUR future world will embrace a Jesus Christ SUPERSTAR along side our flawed antagonist apostle Judas who seemed to be just as I am. WE are the world, too.

Among our [*] secular friends WE continued to claim that WE are ‘believers,’ BUT we no longer liked to be identified as MEMBERS of the [*] BODY of CHRIST.

a few definitions erased and eroded
```
*SACRED [now archaic in the Common Era] once meant separated from the common sin and evil of the world in order to remain HOLY [on GOD's side of good and evil] and used in 700+ verses in the HOLY BIBLE.

*SECULAR [also archaic to Common Era culturaly inclusive speech] pointed outward to a world separated from the SACRED by clear BIBLICAL LINES of DOCTRINE. 

The Body of Christ and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ point to HOLINESS only attainable through Christ as symbolized in HOLY COMMUNION.
```
So clearly defined Biblical church lines of religion blurred

AND antiquated doctrine retired and relegated into the annals of church history.

The Church of our Lord OR christians of the Common Era?
- HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ preached from the pulpit of your Common Era church?
  - Rarely, since in a post-Christian world HE is now a familiar pronoun for a more familiar jesus who embraces believers of every culture into gatherings for the anonomous ME.
- IS SCRIPTURE INSCRIBED on the doorposts and gates of YOUR COMMON ERA CHURCH?
  - god forbid! For holy means separated and WE are together.
  - Therefore the BIBLE bows down to OUR corporate vision to which WE must preach to include ALL the world for the love of our culturally correct Jesus.
    
    Just call Him KING; NEVER Prophet or Priest, which would separate HIM from the multitudes of the world WE seek to gather. AND remember,
    
    MOST books of the BIBLE are OFFENSIVE to seekers of other beliefs; consequently NO Scripture on the walls (or church building or worship screen up front).
    
    THE BIBLE HOLY? – Prophets, Priests and gods forbid!
christianity-lite

a graceful LIFE

RE-imagining jesus

for a culturally-correct

church of the Common Era

christianity-lite is weightless witness of Christ-less preaching to the Scripture-starved chaff of Common Era culture
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

In the context of Western culture and because of growing biblical illiteracy in our churches, the content has often been highly eroded. It has been made light and insubstantial, replaced by a set of self-focused interests.
David F Wells – GOD IN THE WHIRLWIND, p.188

The challenge of Teaching GOD’s Truth

SOMETHING CHANGED between the years of our Lord in centuries past and these last days of the Common Era.

God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19 ESV

It wasn’t God.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 ESV

And it was not Jesus Christ (re-branding HimSELF for a Common Era church).

“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings..” the letter to the Hebrews continues in 13:9a.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be equipped, having been thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Second Letter of the Apostle Paul to the pastor Timothy 3:16-17 LSB

It wasn’t God’s HOLY BIBLE that changed..
```
(although some have intentionally smudged scripture by their own rewording).
```
COULD IT BE THE COMMON ERA CHURCH (members, not the building so much) THAT HAS CHANGED?

..it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Lord OR just another king of culture?
```
Let the church of these last days of a Common Era hear the prophesy of John the Baptist:
```
“And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals;
Gospel of Matthew 3:10-11b LSB
- DO YOU WORSHIP JESUS IN TRUTH AND WITH THE HUMILITY OF JOHN?
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
The GOSPEL of Matthew 7:21-23 Legacy Standard Bible

DOCTRINES of the COMMON ERA CHURCH – To Be Continued… God-willing
September 30, 2023