Category Archives: Bible study

Romans, the Sword, and the Bane of Memory Verse Theology

“Romans 13”-Quoting-Christians do so oblivious to the key context of the that text: it is addressed to Christians who are called to fear the sword of God-instituted government.

“But if you do wrong, [Christians], be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.”

Paul has just asked these Roman Christians:

“Would you have no fear of the one in authority? Then do what is good…”

The key backdrop, standing behind these verses, involves the Zealots, the 1st Century insurrectionists who picked up the sword against Roman soldiers whenever they found an opportune moment. They sought to overthrow their occupiers, their Roman enemy, and they would bring down the house with the Jewish War which would begin in A.D. 66.*

Paul writes to the Roman Christians in the Year of Our Lord 57, three years after the Jews began their return to Rome following the death of Claudius, who had expelled the Jews from Rome c. A.D. 49, following the insurrections of A.D. 46-48, and the execution of the sons of Judas the Galilean.

Judas had led an insurrection (Acts 5:37) in A.D. 6 when Judea became a Roman Province. Varus crushed that revolt with the sword, and crucified 2,000 Jews around Jerusalem (see Josephus).

In this pain-filled milieu, Paul writes to the Roman Christians, Jew and Gentile:

“Do not be conformed to this world…Bless those who persecute you…Do not repay anyone evil for evil…Do not take revenge…If your enemy is hungry, feed him…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities…”

*A fuller , annotated timeline and text, here.

Amen! I Want to Be Left Behind

I want to be Left Behind

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  Matthew 24

[Text highlighted to show the parallels: came…coming…took…taken…]

The flood ‘came’ and ‘took’ them.  “So also” The Son of Man comes and one will be ‘taken’…clear parallels. 

[The other clear parallel between the days of Noah and the days of the coming of the Son of Man: people will be going about their normal business.]

Scholars see the “taken” as being “to judgment.”  Robert H. Mounce (New International Biblical Commentary), sees this “taken” as parallel with the ‘”taken away” by the flood’ (v. 39). Others think it is ‘left for judgment (e.g. NICNT) [But this seems to be based on some presupposition rather than on the context which seems to be blatantly ignored]. Context makes clear the parallels.  But here is the key point–“The coming of Jesus marks a complete and permanent division” (Leon Morris) “. . . the decisive moment.”

“The sayings emphasize the completely unexpected nature of the Man’s coming” (AB).

THIS is the Parousia, “the coming of the Son of Man,” the Second Advent, the final judgment, (vv. 27, 29-31, 44), not some secret “beam me up Scotty!” fiction. This context leaves “Left Behind” out in the cold. [The enigmatic saying about the vultures receives a variety of educated guesses.  HERE is the best exposition that I have read.] And the context of the primary passage (which is distorted to fit the modern “Rapture” doctrine) also leaves the fiction behind. See the clear context of 1 Thessalonians– https://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/second-coming-rapture-vs-scripture-christian/

“God did not appoint us to wrath”

Left Behind enthusiasts, when told that First Thessalonians does not teach their Left Behind scenario, quickly respond with half of a verse taken from its whole context which they left behind:

“God did not appoint us to wrath”–1 Thessalonians 5:9a.

But here is the context! –This is The Day of the Lord when he comes to bring his wrath on the unbeliever and salvation for his people.

Paul began this letter with the affirmation that we “await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead–Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath”–1 Thess. 1:10. This is “the second coming” (NICNT)*…”The Advent (Parousia) of Christ” (F. F. Bruce).** This is “the day of Christ’s revelation in glory, when he comes to vindicate his people and judge the world in righteousness (cf. Acts 17:31)”–Bruce. There lies the ground of our “hope.”

Matthew 24

And here is the context of 1 Thess. 5:9a, quoted at the start, above. “Paul proceeds to speak of salvation negatively and positively. God’s purpose for us is not wrath…On the contrary, he purposed that they should obtain salvation…” (NICNT)

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…

Rahab let down the red cord and her house was saved in the midst of the judgment on Jericho which fell.

God’s people in Egypt put blood on their doorposts and were saved from the judgment on their neighbors brought by the angel of death.

We have the blood of the Lamb on our doorposts.

Paul ends this section as he began it. Reassuring those Christians that:

“whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…”

He began, at 1 Thess. 4:13, by addressing a concern of those Christians at Thessalonica:

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope…”

The exposition continues here (link). https://textsincontext.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/second-coming-rapture-vs-scripture-christian/

*New International Commentary on the New Testament, Leon Morris, 1991.

**Word Biblical Commentary, F. F. Bruce, 1982.

The Church Is Mentioned After Revelation Chapter 3, by Bible Church Online

While the Greek word for church, εκκλεσια, ecclesia, is not mentioned after Revelation chapter three, the saints, which are the church, certainly are mentioned after Revelation chapter three. Those saints are mentioned at least fifteen times after Revelation chapter three.

Church, Ecclesia

There is an argument in some circles, that since the word ‘church’ is not mentioned in Revelation after chapter three, the church is absent during that period. This type of argument is known as an argument from silence. That is a rhetorical fallacy that uses the absence of evidence as actual evidence in support of the argument. Article Continues here (link)

See Also 1 Thessalonians 4

2 Thess. Antichrist

The Protestant’s Purgatory

Left Behind. “The videos sit on my desk with a note to my family so that when I am taken they will know what happened and have another chance to be saved.” (Unless they were on that airplane which crashed into the ocean when the Christian pilot was taken.)

“As soon as the coin in the coffers ring, the soul from purgatory springs.”

Tetzel’s jingle has been replaced by the cash register’s ring, to the tune of best selling Left Behind books and movies. With “sales total over 80 million copies, according to publisher Tyndale House” (2016). Yet, a host of those readers have never read Thessalonians. Most do not read a whole letter, but just out-of-context, cherry-picked verses.

“Left Behind: The Rise of the Antichrist” movie, which shows a world where Christians have already been taken, gives the church a prime teaching moment to point Christians BACK TO THE BIBLE.

A significant sect of fellow evangelicals will invest hours and days reading the books and watching the movies. It is clean entertainment. But they will never sit for an hour, diligently study, and read the Bible in context. The context is clear. The letters to the Thessalonians teach us that Christ returns for his own AFTER the Antichrist rises.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled…that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition…

…THEN the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

…Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught,…—Second Thessalonians 2

That “coming” (parousia) and “gathering” are one event as the single article (the) makes plain. “Indeed, they are the two parts of one great event.”–Leon Morris, New International Commentary on the New Testament.

John Calvin on Second Thessalonians 1:1,2–

The meaning therefore is, “As you set a high value on the coming of Christ, when he will gather us to himself,…

…I earnestly beseech you by his coming not to be too credulous, should any one affirm, on whatever pretext, that his day is at hand.”

Second Thessalonians 2:1 is a “reference to the event described in 1 Thess. 4:17.”–F. F. Bruce, Word Biblical Commentary.

First Thessalonians teaches us about that coming (parousia) and gathering. Read it, here (link). (This is where the Left-Behinders bring more confusion.) Do it. Be a disciple. Do not settle for the bane of memes and memory verses (link). Read God’s word in context.

The Left-Behinders want us to accept their special, extra-biblical knowledge which divides this event and gives us two separate, non-biblical comings.

Contrary to brother Brainard, We have had the blessing of the First Advent. We await the Second. (link) Maranatha

“No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20)

Read. Return to God’s word. (Link)

The Last Days. The Days Between Christ’s Advents

Hebrews 1

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Acts 2

Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh

In the New Testament, the Last Days were inaugurated by Christ’s First Advent and will be consummated by Christ’s Second Advent. We, now, as did the early Christians, all live in these Last Days.

“The expression is found in the LXX [the Greek translation of the OT], where it not infrequently refers…to the days of the Messiah….in Jesus the new age, the Messianic Age, has appeared…”–The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

Too often, unknowing Christians relegate these to the future or think that only now have we entered them, as for example, when interpreting Paul’s words to Timothy:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good,…–2 Timothy 3

But Paul was describing his own day, as the concluding line shows:

“Have nothing to do with these people.” v.5

“I and the Father are one.”

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.–Deuteronomy

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.”

The Jews again picked up stones to stone him.–John 10

Deuteronomy, Chapter Six (verses 4-9), presents the first section of the “Shema” which means simply, listen; take heed; hear and do.

Birgir Gerhardsson stated that we “can almost be sure that Jesus and his disciples started and ended the day with this” [The whole of the Shema].

This practice is “firmly rooted in his time.”

Jews of his day recited this twice a day.

The Shema was “always in Jesus’ mind throughout his whole life.”


F. F. Bruce: “The previous occasion of his enemies’ trying to stone him in the temple precincts was when he made the declaration, ‘Before Abraham was born, I am’ (John 8:58, 59). The claim implicit in that declaration was similar to that made more expressly in the words, ‘I and the Father are one.’”

The Book of Revelation, Letters

Many Christians have turned this verse into a generic blessing on all who read this book.  But the same may be said of reading any book of the Bible. 

Or, they see it as a unique blessing which specifically refers to those who read this Book of Revelation. For some, it seems to almost become a magical formulation. 
[Strange that we need to say this, but when John wrote that verse, Christians did not have a Bible they could open up, and then read the last book to obtain this blessing.]

But what we have here, in context, is the standard means by which the assembly heard the message written to them—that is, someone stood before the congregation and read it to them. We see this in these New Testament instructions:

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read to all the brethren.--1 Thess. 5:27

And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.--Col. 4:1 



John writes to seven churches, and in each church, someone would stand and read this to them. Read the letters to each of these churches, and imagine yourself reading these words before  your fellow Christians. This blessing would give you much needed comfort and courage. 

The climax of this blessing is given to those who “hear”--That is, to those who heed this command to obey. 

New Living Translation
God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

Baptism for the Dead?

29 Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead?

—1 Corinthians 15

Paul begins (Ch. 15, read it) by reminding those in Corinth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of the testimony of many witnesses to the Resurrection. The primary context of verse 29 (above) begins at 15:12.

“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

The Apostle proceeds to expose the fallacy of such a belief and the consequences of it:

“If Christ is not raised your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.” v. 17

[Apparently some in Greek Corinth held unto a Greek dualistic conception of immortality that negated resurrection. Remember, in Acts 17, the men of Athens laughed at the idea of Christ’s resurrection.]

Paul concludes his appeal to their reason, and then abruptly asks the question above, in verse 29.

The theological problem with this puzzling verse has prompted a myriad of solutions. No where else in Scripture or in the Church is such a practice noted. Bromiley’s solution (ISBE) suggests, “What is the value of baptism unto death, or of the death signified in baptism, if there is no resurrection?”

Gordon Fee (NICNT) notes that were not this verse such a problem, no one would have come up with such alternative meanings. The plain sense of the text is that “they” (who?) are being baptized for those who are “dead.”

Note that Paul does not address his readers, as in verse 17, “you.” He points his Corinthian readers to, what for us is an unknown, “they.”

But in shifting gears, Paul abruptly switches from an appeal to their reason to an ad hominem argument, a la Fee.

An ad hominem can be a “strategy of using [someone’s] own beliefs…against them, while not agreeing with the validity of those beliefs…”

As for this practice of baptism for the dead, we do not know who or whom; why or how. Fee concludes, “finally we must admit that we do not know.”

What we do know is that this obscure practice “lies totally outside the NT understanding both of salvation and of baptism.”

ISBE–The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

NICNT–The New International Commentary on the New Testament