Category: Biblical Literacy

The Moment Everything Changed

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedience, WorshipLeave a comment

Romans 3:21–24 (ESV) But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…

Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…

In the opening movements of both Romans and Ephesians, the apostle Paul builds a sobering, uncompromising case regarding the true nature of human lostness. In Romans 1–3, he exposes how humanity actively suppresses the truth, trading the majesty of the immortal God for the ultimate delusion of self-sovereignty. As a consequence of demanding autonomy, God judicially hands humanity over (paradōken) to the dark custody of its own desires, leaving every mouth silenced and the entire world held guilty under the tyrannical power of sin.

Ephesians 2:1–3 echoes this exact verdict with equal gravity: before grace intervenes, we were not merely struggling, misguided, or spiritually sick—we were spiritually dead in our trespasses, captive to the spirit of this world, and by nature children deserving of wrath. Together, these passages construct a completely hopeless courtroom where moral effort is useless and every door to self-salvation is firmly slammed shut.

Yet, God did not leave us to execute our own sentence. In both epistles, this hopeless courtroom is shattered by a glorious divine pivot. In Romans 3:21 (“But now…”) and Ephesians 2:4 (“But God…”), the person and work of Jesus Christ break into history.

Where the Law stood only to condemn, Christ is presented as our propitiation (hilastērion)—the One who stepped into our execution, bearing the full weight of divine wrath on the cross to satisfy holy justice and pay our redemption price in full.

Through His resurrection, God not only legally justifies unrighteous sinners as a free gift, but relationally makes us alive together in Him—raising us out of the grave of sin and seating us with Christ in the heavenly realms. Left to ourselves, we were trapped under sin and death; BUT GOD, through Jesus Christ, transformed condemned prisoners into resurrected co-heirs.

The climax of this grand narrative unfolds in Ephesians 2:8–10, where the mechanics of our rescue are laid bare as pure, unmerited grace. Paul declares that our salvation comes through faith—a mechanism that strips away all legalistic self-reliance and excludes any possibility of human boasting (kauchēsis). Salvation is entirely a free gift (dōron), not earned by our performance or moral striving. Yet, grace does not leave us passive; it produces dynamic transformation.

We are God’s poiēma, (where we get the word Poem) His handcrafted masterpiece or divine workmanship, created in Christ Jesus specifically for good works that God prepared in advance for us to walk in. Where our autonomous self-rule once produced spiritual death, God’s grace transforms us into living monuments of His power, bringing the “obedience of faith” to life as our new identity in Christ.

Are you resting today in the illusion of your own good behavior, or have you yielded your self-sovereignty to the grace of The Lord Jesus Christ, the only One who takes you from execution to resurrection?

Chain of Evidence

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Prayer, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

Romans 3:9–18 (ESV) What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

There is a profound difference between making an occasional mistake and living as a captive.

When Paul steps into the courtroom in Romans 3, he doesn’t present humanity as good people who sometimes stumble. Instead, he uses a deliberate phrase: we are all “under sin” (hypo hamartian). In the original language, this construction describes living under the governing authority, dominion, and legal custody of an occupying power.

Sin is not merely a bad habit we practice; left to ourselves, it is a tyrant that holds us in captivity, shaping our internal desires and blinding our vision.

To prove this universal captivity, Paul builds a chain of Old Testament Scriptures that traces the full scope of human fallenness from the inside out:

  • The Mind & Will (vv. 10–12): We do not naturally seek God or understand His spiritual reality on our own terms; we turn aside toward our own autonomy.
  • The Speech (vv. 13–14): Our words reveal the spiritual condition of our hearts, exhaling bitter curses, deceitful flattery, and the subtle poison of self-centeredness.
  • The Path (vv. 15–17): Our self-rule inevitably causes destruction and misery in our relationships because we reject the way of peace.

When we search for the engine behind all this brokenness, Paul points to verse 18: “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The root of human rebellion is not a lack of moral instruction or intelligence. It is the quiet, deliberate removal of God from our daily horizon. It is pushing the holy Creator out of our view so that we can play the king of our own lives. And once God is dethroned in the human heart, self-justification takes over.

When a defendant stands trial, the immediate human instinct is to offer excuses, highlight past good deeds, or compare oneself to worse offenders. Yet, the true purpose of God’s holy Law is not to offer a ladder for self-salvation, but to act as a mirror. It exposes our true spiritual condition until every defense fails, every self-righteous excuse is stripped away, and “every mouth may be stopped.”

Standing silent before a holy Judge can feel terrifying. But in God’s redemptive design, this total silence is the precise place where grace begins.

As long as we are still defending our own goodness, making excuses for our self-reliance, or relying on our moral effort, we will never look for a Savior. God exposes our total bankruptcy under the power of sin so that we will finally drop our self-defenses, stop trying to justify ourselves, and look to the only One who can set us free!

The pitch-black courtroom of Romans 3:19 sets the stage for the most glorious words in the entire letter: “But now…” (v. 21). The Law silences us so that Christ can speak for us.

So I must ask myself – Is there any area of my life where I have removed the “fear of God” from before my eyes, choosing my own preference or autonomy over His authority? Is there any area where i am trying to justify myself before God through moral effort, or have I yielded to the free gift of His rightousness in Christ?

Lord God, Holy Judge and Merciful Father,

I humble myself before You today. I acknowledge that apart from Your grace, I am powerless against the hold of sin and self-rule. Forgive me for the times I have removed Your holy fear from my sight, pursuing my own way and making excuses for my heart. Thank You that You do not leave me silenced and condemned in the courtroom. Thank You for breaking the tyrannical power of sin through the ransom paid by your son Jesus. I drop all attempts at self-justification and place my full trust in the righteousness of Christ alone. Teach me to walk in the reverence of Your holy name and the joyful freedom of Your grace. Amen.

No Excuse

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

Romans 2:1 (ESV) Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

If you haven’t already figured it out, I’m currently digging into a personal study on the Book of Romans. I thought it would be a great time to jump back into blogging—hopefully to encourage you as well as myself to dive deeper into the Scriptures and move toward what Paul calls the “obedience of faith.”

In Romans 1, Paul takes us on an uncomfortable tour through a culture in free fall. We watch humanity suppress the truth, trade the Creator for creation, and sink into a downward spiral of brokenness and self-sovereignty.

It’s easy to watch that unraveling from a safe distance. We sit back, shake our heads, and feel an intoxicating sense of moral clarity. We feel safe sitting on the judge’s bench while Paul prosecutes “them”.

Then comes Romans 2:1, and Paul springs a brilliant rhetorical trap.

The Sudden Mirror

With one single word—“Therefore”—Paul swings the entire, crushing weight of Chapter 1 directly at the moralist and the religious insider. He shifts from the broad, distant “them” to an intensely personal “you” (O anthrōpe—“O man”).

Paul steps directly into our private courtrooms, grabs us by the lapels, and pulls us off the bench.

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” (Romans 2:1)

Why does judging others make us guilty? Because our ability to diagnose evil in someone else proves that we actually know the moral law exists.

When we point an accusatory finger at another person’s pride, deceit, or rebellion, we demonstrate that we understand God’s standard. Reusing the exact legal term from Chapter 1 (anapologētos—“without excuse”), Paul reveals that our own moral outrage becomes the very evidence that convicts us. We know the law, yet in the quiet, hidden corners of our hearts, we harbor the exact same roots of pride and self-rule.

Judging According to Truth

We so easily forget that God’s judgment is kata alētheian—according to truth.

God does not evaluate us based on our religious credentials, our outward reputation, or how loudly we condemn the culture around us. He evaluates absolute reality. Before His holy eye, hidden pride and self-righteousness are just as much an act of cosmic treason as outward lawlessness.

How do we fall into this delusion? Paul exposes our hidden logic in verse 4:

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

To “presume” (kataphroneō) means to treat with contempt or look down upon. We despise God’s grace whenever we mistake His patience for His endorsement. When God holds back immediate judgment for our secret sins, our proud hearts whisper, “I must be doing just fine because God hasn’t called me out.”

We weaponize His forbearance as a shield against self-examination rather than letting it melt our stubbornness into repentance (metanoia). Every day of unpunished sin is not proof of our moral superiority; it is proof of His staggering patience, begging us to stop pointing fingers and come home.

When we refuse, verse 5 warns that our “saving up” of moral status is a terrifying illusion. Using the language of banking (thēsaurizō), Paul warns that a hard, impenitent heart is simply making daily deposits into an account of divine wrath.

Kneeling at the Cross

Paul’s intent in Romans 2 is not to crush us with guilt, but to strip away our false security. He dismantles our need to compare ourselves to others so that we can finally see our true need for Jesus.

The Gospel does not ask you to manage your image or validate yourself by judging the world. It calls you to step down from the judge’s bench, lay down your self-righteous defense, and kneel at the foot of the cross where mercy is offered freely to those who have no defense left.

A Prayer for the Heart

Lord Heavenly Father, forgive me for the hypocrisy of my own heart. I confess how quickly I jump to the judge’s bench to point out the sins of others while ignoring the subtle self-rule and pride within myself. Thank You that Your judgment is based on total truth, and thank You that Your patience with me is so rich. Teach me never to treat Your mercy with contempt. Step me down from the bench today, strip away my self-righteousness, and anchor my heart solely in the righteousness of King Jesus. Amen.

What area of your life is Paul’s “Therefore” speaking into today?

Two Sides of Divine Justice

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedience1 Comment

Romans 1:16–18 (ESV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 1:17 and 1:18 mark a pivotal transition in Paul’s letter. Verse 17 concludes the thesis statement of the entire epistle, while verse 18 initiates Paul’s extensive, sobering diagnosis of humanity’s true condition.  We must be careful, though, because the artificial chapter and verse divisions (added centuries later) often cause readers to treat verse 17 as a triumphant conclusion and verse 18 as the start of a completely separate topic. Paul’s original readers would have experienced this as one continuous, seamless thought. In fact, verse 18 begins with the conjunction “For” (gar in Greek), directly connecting it to verses 16–17.

Paul deliberately uses parallel language to force a direct comparison. Both the righteousness of God and the wrath of God are actively being revealed (apokalyptetai).  Verse 18 explains why the Gospel in verse 17 is necessary in the first place. Without the reality of divine wrath against truth-suppression, the revelation of saving righteousness loses its urgency and meaning.

Divine wrath in Paul’s theology is not an emotional temper tantrum or an arbitrary outburst of divine frustration. It is God’s holy, settled, and judicial opposition to moral evil. The bright light of saving grace in verse 17 shines with breathtaking clarity only against the pitch-black backdrop of divine judgment in verse 18. Without verse 18, salvation (v. 16) has nothing to rescue humanity from.

How can a Holy God reveal both righteousness and wrath without contradicting His own nature? Because both flow from the exact same source: God’s absolute, unyielding moral justice.

When we look at the culture around us, and inspect the hidden corners of our own hearts, we witness humanity in an active state of suppression. Paul writes that people “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (katechontōn, literally “stifling” or “holding down” the truth like a coil).

Listening to a Tim Keller sermon recently, he reminded me of a subtle shift happening in modern Christianity: churches are increasingly giving in to cultural pressure and scrubbing the word SIN from their vocabulary. In its place, we find gentler substitutes like “mistakes,” “brokenness,” or “bad habits.” While comfortable, these terms reshape our diagnosis into an internal psychological wound or a social misstep rather than a spiritual crisis. By contrast, Paul’s diagnosis in Romans 1 is far more severe. He defines sin as cosmic treason—the deliberate suppression of known truth, the refusal to offer God praise and gratitude, and the idolization of self-autonomy. When we soft-pedal sin, we rob humanity of the truth. Without a biblical framework for sin, we remain blind to our deepest reality: that our fundamental issue is not that we are flawed, but that we are in active rebellion against a holy Creator.

God’s truth is not secretive or hidden. Creation itself screams His eternal power and divine nature so clearly (Psalm 19) that humanity is left anapologētous, without a legal defense in the court of heaven. Yet, in our natural state, we choose to stifle what we know about God to preserve our own illusion of self-autonomy.

Humanity’s core problem is not a lack of intellectual information; it is a posture of self-sovereignty. We refuse to honor Him as God or give Him thanks. As a result, our thinking becomes futile, our foolish hearts are darkened, and we exchange the glorious, immortal Creator for decaying, created idols.

God’s justice in verse 18 responds to this rebellion judicially: He gives humanity over to the very choices they insist on making. But God’s justice in verse 17 offers a miraculous remedy: at the cross, God satisfied the full penalty His own justice required, allowing Him to remain entirely just while gifting a righteous legal standing to anyone who trusts in Jesus.

To understand Paul’s gospel is to realize that faith (pistis) is not merely intellectual assent to a set of spiritual facts. In Romans 1:5, Paul defines his whole apostolic mission as bringing about the “obedience of faith” (hypakoē pisteōs) among all nations. In the 1st-century Roman context, when an emperor took power, heralds declared a “gospel” (euangelion) demanding political allegiance from the empire’s subjects. Paul boldly hijacked that imperial vocabulary. He proclaimed that true, cosmic authority does not belong to Caesar or to the individual self. It belongs to Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen King.

To step into the grace of Romans 1:17, you must stop the truth-suppression of Romans 1:18.  You cannot receive the gift of God’s saving righteousness while actively sitting on the throne of your own life. Real faith is an act of joyful submission, a complete surrender of your self-autonomy to the King who bought you with His blood.

So, is there a specific area of your life (relationships, career, habits, finances) where you are holding down God’s clear truth to maintain control or pursue self-autonomy? What is one practical step of surrender that Jesus is asking you to make right now?

Dangers in Scripture Memorization

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Prayer2 Comments

Psalm 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

While listening to a lecture, the professor mentioned something that made me think: does memorizing Bible verses really help if we don’t understand their context?

Memorizing the Bible is important, but doing it in isolation without context, meditation, or application can lead to unhealthy paths. The Bible is not just random sayings; it is a unified story of God’s redemption found throughout all of scripture.

So then, what are the dangers that we encounter in just basic scripture memorization?

  1. Verses learned in isolation can be misapplied. Take Romans 3:23 as an example: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This verse is often quoted, but it’s important to understand its context. Chapter 3 discusses the universal issue of sin and justification through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul highlights that both Jews and Gentiles are sinners and fall short of God’s glory, regardless of their background. Romans 3 is crucial in the book of Romans, leading to discussions on justification by faith and the importance of living a life of faith in response to God’s grace. Memorizing just this one verse, without reflecting on the entire passage, loses its richness.
  2. Memorization can become mechanical, like quoting lines from movies or reciting song lyrics without ever engaging our hearts.
  3. Focusing only on snippets can distort the larger theological and historical flow.
  4. It can be used to argue, manipulate, or judge rather than be used for edification.
  5. It can become a means to pride – Look how many verses I have memorized!

Psalm 1 tells us the true transformation away from sin is found in delighting in God’s word and meditating on it day and night. Memorizing the whole of Psalm 1 is a better exercise as it provides the context and richness of why we delight and meditate on God’s word.

So then, how should we memorize scripture?

Memorize in context: Learn passages or sections rather than isolated verses. This preserves flow and meaning. Reflect on the context of the entire passage or chapter of the book the verse is in.
Pair with meditation: Use reflective journaling so verses move from head to heart.
Seek Application: Ask simple questions like “How does this verse shape my choices today?”
Balance with study: Explore historical, linguistic, and theological contexts to avoid misinterpretation.
Pray Scripture: Turn passages into prayers to help ensures they transform your inner life, not just your memory.
Memorization is a doorway, not the destination. The danger lies in stopping at recall rather than pressing into understanding, transformation, and obedience.

When paired with meditation, context, and application, memorization becomes a powerful tool for spiritual growth rather than a hollow exercise.

Spirit of God – Part 3

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

In part 2 of this series, we finished by looking at passages from the Old Covenant and will now turn our attention to the New Covenant and the work of God’s spirit through the Messiah of Israel…Yeshua, Translated in English as Jesus.

It is in the New Covenant that we are given further insight into the actions of God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit is shown to descend upon Jesus giving him power and enablement for the ministry before him.

I again want to stop here for just one moment and remind ourselves that the actions of God’s spirit here in the New Testament are still given in descriptive ways for us to have a better understanding of the actions and work of the invisible God, whose very essence is spirit. So when we see terms of being led by the spirit or speaking against the Holy Spirit, the writers are communicating to us, the actions of our God in ways that we can understand yet ever so poorly our God. It is Jesus who through the apostle John, will provide us with the fullness of this understanding when he makes this statement about God – “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”” (John 4:23–24, ESV)  Did you catch that – God is spirit!!

I spent a couple weeks in Israel and had the opportunity to talk with some Jewish Brothers who are now following Jesus, and they expressed this in a way that made more sense to them. They said that the Spirit is the manifestation of the power of God and that Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh. To these men, the Trinity doctrine that is very prevalent throughout all of Christianity is to them taking those anthropomorphic expressions of the one God who is Spirit and breaking Him into individual persons. This in essence is bringing God down to our human level and borders on the same views that the pagans had of their Gods and the limitations they would have as more human-like in form.  Are these valid arguments or not is one of those areas that can lead to division in the body. Since the early church fathers there have been discussions, councils, and development of doctrine regarding the nature of God both for our own understanding and also to combat false prophets and ideas. The best we should do is to remain open about the study of God’s character while still being on guard to doctrines and ideas that the scripture simply does not support.

As people who are followers of Jesus, what do we take away from all of this? Well, we have a foundation in the Scriptures of God’s spirit already at work in the lives of His people, and with the resurrection of our Lord, the actions of the Spirit of God have been renewed or refreshed in the people that God is calling back to himself. What are those things that we see of the Spirit in the New Testament?

First, as in Genesis, He gives life. Jesus expressed this in the passage that we quote so often – “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”” (John 3:3–8, ESV) Being born of the Spirit is considered the new life of every believer called by God.

Then what happens after that? The spirit (whom we are told is sent forth from the father and son – another expression for our benefit) will teach us (Jn 14:26), bear witness to the life of Jesus (Jn 15:26), guide us in all truth (Jn 16:13), represent the power of God in the lives of his people (Acts 1:8, Rom 8:26, 15:13), bears witness to our spirit that we are His children (Rom 8:16, Gal 4:6), instills in us the qualities of God’s character (Gal 5:22), and as it is in Genesis, the Spirit Speaks. (Rev 2:29, 3:6, 3:22) Finally, just as with the people of God in the Old Testament, the Spirit can be grieved or quenched by the sinful actions of His own people. (1 Thess 5:19, Eph 4:30)

So, as followers of this amazing God and the example he has given us in His Son Jesus, what should we do with this amazing gift of His presence living within us. A fresh expression of Life given from the creator of all things. I think Paul wrote it best when he penned 2 Tim 1:6 – “For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:6–7, ESV) The power of God, that resurrected Jesus from the grave is the same power that lives in each one who truly follows Jesus, and that power enables us to live a life that is an expression of Love and Self-Control. We just have to choose to allow him to be in control rather than I, for I is the center of sIn. God in His grace and mercy has refreshed his presence in the lives of those who choose to accept this wonderful gift, so then how shall we live?

Spirit of God – Part 2

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedience, Worship1 Comment

Continued from Spirit of God Part 1

Throughout the Torah, the early writings that were given to the people of God through Moses contained many examples of God’s spirit and His action in the lives of His people. Not only would the spirit be attributed to creation and life, but it would be seen as the power of God working in and through His chosen people. Examples of this can be seen in passages like Ex 28:3, 35:31, Nu 11:17, 11:25, Dt 34:9. Later writings would also have similar descriptions of God’s spirit at work in his servants. Sometimes anthropomorphic terms would be used to describe the work of the spirit in such a way to emphasize importance or urgency in the Spirits action like we see in 1 Sam 11:6 – “And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.” (ESV)  The Spirit which is present everywhere and at all times is shown here to rush upon Saul, giving urgency to what the Spirit was doing through Saul.

Later on in the scriptures, David would pen various psalms (Ps 139:7-10) that would also give us more insight into the very essence of God. In many Eastern cultures, their gods were more like humans and were not present everywhere at all times, but in the Psalms, David shows us that God’s spirit is present everywhere and at all times. Throughout the scriptures, God’s spirit would be attributed to His presence, so we could understand that the very essence of God is present everywhere and at all times.

In the prophets we would see even more of the Spirits actions in the lives of his people when they would show that from the Spirit would flow wisdom and understanding, yet, the prophets would also repeat the original theme of life and creative power like in Isaiah – “Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:” (Isaiah 42:5, ESV) It is also shown that it is God’s spirit that enables men to continue to carry His image to a world that has lived in darkness and chaos. (Is 61:1)

The prophets also show us another aspect of the very presence of God, that in our rebellion and sinfulness we can grieve the Spirit, which is just a way of showing that we are grieving God. “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore, he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,” (Isaiah 63:10–11, ESV)  In this very passage the He is God and it shows that He is the one who is in the midst of His people, and it is His spirit, the very essence of who He is that is grieved.

A beautiful passage where we see future actions of the ruah is the wonderful promise to all the people of God is Ezekiel 36:25-27. It is here that God tells His people that he will gather them from the places they have been scattered and cleanse them. Then he tells them that he will give them a new heart, a new or fresh spirit, He will put His Spirit (ruah – breath) within them so that they will walk in His ways. “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25–27 ESV)  This should drive the reader straight back to Genesis and the ideas regarding God as the Life-giver.

A similar passage is also given in Jer 31:31, where it is tied to a new or refreshed Covenant that will be given to the people of God. ““Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jeremiah 31:31–34, ESV)  If you ponder these passages you will see an interesting parallel to God’s spirit and God’s Torah. In Ezekiel God says he will put his spirit in them and cause them to walk in His Torah, whereas in Jeremiah he says that he will put his Torah in them and that they will Know the Lord.

This opens the door to the world of the coming of God in the flesh as the Messiah of Israel. We will continue to explore these ideas found in the New Testament in Part 3.

The Spirit of God…Part 1

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedience1 Comment

“And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2, ESV)

            What kind of images does this opening passage from Genesis create in the mind of man? What might this new nation of people that have been redeemed from Egypt by the hand of God think when they heard “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”? The Spirit here is called the ruah of Elohim which can mean breath, wind, or spirit of God. This Spirit of God would become an active agent of God’s power manifest throughout His creation, and would also become a very hotly debated aspect of the nature of God down through the history of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions. Here in the opening of the book of beginnings we have a picture of the Earth formless, void and covered in waters, possibly an expression of chaos and disorder, and the Spirit of God hovering or vibrating over the face of these waters. Many of the creation stories of the ancient eastern cultures feature a theme of chaos to order, with chaos being very much associated with water. It was also expected that order would follow out of this chaos.[1]  So, here in the beginning of Genesis we begin to see one aspect of the Spirit of God’s power and actions in the creation story, bringing order out of chaos. Later when God creates man in His image is it then possible that one of man’s roles as an image bearer (one who acts as a representative of God) is to also continue to bring order out of chaos. (subdue the earth)

God would continue to give us more insight into His very nature as the scriptures would unfold to His people. At this point, we should stop for one moment and consider a very important aspect of how God has revealed himself to man. It is through His Word, and in His Word, we have ways in which God has described himself in terms that we can relate to.  One way this is done is through what is called in the theological world an anthropomorphism. What that means is that God describes himself with human-like terms that we can associate with. When it says God’s righteous right arm, it does not mean that God who is spirit and invisible has arms or legs or anything else of that nature, but that for us to understand an aspect of His nature that is how He is described. This is very important to keep in mind, if we forget that basic concept we can begin to bring God down to our human level rather than keep him exalted.

That said, God’s Spirit, the very essence of who he is, is first revealed in the very opening passage of the scripture. It is the ruah of God that is hovering over the waters closely followed in the text with God speaking. What would Spirit, a word that also means breath mean to a people that had just some come out of Egypt?

Breathing is what shows life, so the Spirit would be seen as the source of life, and it is that source of life that is later shown to have given life to the first man. (Gen 2:7) We now have a theme about the very nature of God in that it is He that gives life to all things. We see this theme, as well as the creative theme, vividly displayed when Job says “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4, ESV).

We will continue this Journey to discover more about the Spirit of God in Part 2.

[1] A Study on the dual form of Mayim, Water; Min Suc Kee, Ph.D. University of Manchester (England), teaches Bible at the Korea Baptist Theological University in Daejeon, South Korea

Let not your hearts be troubled

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”” (John 14:1–7, ESV)

If we stop and consider the year 2020 what things come to mind, maybe it is the fires in Australia that killed three billion animals, or perhaps the flash floods that followed when the rains came. Out in the oceans there have been 26 tropical storms, 25 named storms, 9 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. In the pacific there have been 13 named storms, 4 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. There have been 45,939 wildfires in the US with 8.3 million acres burned. 2020 is the 10th consecutive year that has seen 10 Billion dollar weather or climate disasters. In Africa and the middle east there where record setting locust invasions that in places devoured 90% of the crops. The great lakes, once at all time lows have overflowed and are taking out many homes along their coasts. There is political unrest in many countries and finally the great plague of covid-19.

There is so much we could worry or be fearful about, but Jesus told his disciples to not let their hearts be troubled but to believe in God and in him. Jesus told them that he is going away to prepare a place and that he will come again. Thomas does not understand, asks to know the way. Jesus responded with these words:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.

This statement is one of the many “I Am” statements that Jesus says. The Faithlife study bible puts it this way:

Jesus uses seven metaphorical “I am” statements to define His role as Savior and Messiah . These sayings also carry strong overtones of being claims to divinity. He identifies Himself as the bread of life (vv. 35, 48, 51), the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), the gate for the sheep (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way and the truth and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1).[1]

All these terms are very personal, revealing characteristics of our Lord that should drive us to a more intimate relationship with our savior. His desire for us it to be ready, to be focused on him and not all the things going on around us. My favorite “I am” saying is that Jesus IS THE TRUTH, he is the embodiment of all that God has revealed to us in the scriptures. Therefore, we should be spending time in the scriptures and in prayer, finding quality time with our savior, not just facts and doctrine, but to know the one who holds all things in His hands yet desires to be in our midst.

Martin Lloyd Jones once made this comment regarding the study of scripture:

“What foolish creatures we are! Many of us are not interested in doctrine at all; we are lazy Christians who do not read, do not think, and do not try to delve into the mysteries. We have had a certain experience and we desire no more. Others of us, deploring such an attitude, say that, because the Bible is full of doctrine, we must study it and grapple with it and possess it. So we become absorbed in our interest in doctrine and stop at that. The result is that, as regards this question of the love of Christ, we are no further on than the others because we have made doctrine an end and a terminus. In this way the devil trips and traps us and robs us of our heritage. If your knowledge of the Scriptures and of the doctrines of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has not brought you to this knowledge of the love of Christ, you should be profoundly dissatisfied and disturbed. All biblical doctrine is about this blessed Person; and there is no greater snare in the Christian life than to forget the Person Himself and to live simply on truths concerning Him….We should never study the Bible or anything concerning biblical truth without realizing that we are in His presence, and that it is truth about Him. And it should always be done in an atmosphere of worship.2 

Today, so many of the people who call themselves Christian are just going through the rituals, yet God is far from their hearts. Jesus gave us a wonderful parable regarding how we should be waiting for His return:

““Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:1–13, ESV)

Where are you today with your relationship to Jesus. Are your lamps ready to receive the bridegroom when he comes, or has the bridegrooms delay lulled you to sleep? Have you let the oil burn away so when he does come you will not be ready to enter the marriage feast? Oil in Scripture often represents the Holy Spirit and we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit in abundance in our lives so that we will remain in tune with God so we are prepared when He returns. Yet we can grieve and quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. Both of these are similar in their effects. They hinder a godly lifestyle. This happens when a believer sins against God and follows his or her own worldly desires. The only correct road to follow is the road that leads the believer closer to God and purity, one of repentance and humility, one that takes us farther away from the world and sin. 

We must prepare and be ready, but not out of ritual but through relationship. The passage I started this blog with (John 14) was a very intimate time that Jesus was having with the disciples in the last two weeks of His life. Let these words ring deep in your heart. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also..

Jesus in the book or revelation warns the churches of the sins that have creeped into the body, the apostles warned of difficult times and great apostasy, but in the end the simple message to all of them was to repent. Let’s get on our knees and repent, not only as individuals but as the body of Christ.

[1] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 6:35). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

2David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Unsearchable Riches of Christ—Studies in Ephesians, Chapter 3

The Torah of Yahweh (Part 2)

On By rcannata7In Biblical Literacy, God's Word, Walk of obedienceLeave a comment

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This one was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5, LEB)

In the book of John we start with a beautiful expression of “the Word”. The faithlife study bible comments on it this way…

The “word of Yahweh” evokes associations with creation, divine revelation, personified wisdom, and the law of Moses. The “word of Yahweh” and the law had already been closely related in prophetic poetry (see Isa 2:3). The “word” is the agent of creation in Psa 33:6, but divine wisdom is personified and depicted in that role in Prov 8:22–31. In the deuterocanonical book Sirach 24:23, this personified divine wisdom is connected to the law of Moses, similarly given preexistent eternal status in Jewish tradition (see the rabbinic text Genesis Rabbah 1.1). Jesus is connected with divine wisdom also in 1 Cor 1:30. By choosing this language, John makes Jesus the very power and essence of God.[1]

John ends his opening thoughts with this statement…

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17, ESV)

Many Bibles insert the word “but” between Moses and grace. It is not there in the original text. Careful study of this verse reveals that instruction was given to Moses, how to live it correctly comes through Jesus. Put another way – the instruction is the Grace of God, revealing to us how we are to live, and Jesus is the one who demonstrates it to us and enables us to carry it out by His Spirit.

Recently I have been listening to some old sermons from the late Rev Billy Graham. The more I listened that more I realized that he provided solutions to many of our greatest problems through the word of God and the saving grace of Jesus the Christ. He literally lived out and preached 2 Tim 3:16 –

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)

Do we believe what Paul wrote in this verse; I mean do we really believe it? The unfortunate thing today is that we have turned so many verses into short pithy quotes and out of context promises that we throw at people without first demonstrating the compassion and mercy that Jesus showed.

Scripture should be used, yes, but done so through prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit who is the one who brings those words to life in us. It needs to be kept in the full context of what is written and not just popped out and used like a pill.

I think back on Psalm 1 and ask myself, do I delight in the Torah of Yahweh, if so, how do I show it? Do I spend quality time meditating on His words or do I fill my mind and life with unfruitful junk food.

Listen carefully to your prayer life, what is you main focus. A life filled with God’s word should be more upward focused, seeking His will and not our own. God already knows our needs and desires before we even ask. Is your prayer life guided and driven by His Word and the Spirit or do you find yourself continually praying a laundry list of what you want God to do? Try this exercise – allow scripture to guide your prayer life. Develop a discipline of spending a rich amount of time in God’s word and not filling your mind with junk. (Facebook, Netflix, games, social media, Instagram etc.) These are ok when we limit our time with them, but the greater amount of our time should be reading and praying in God’s Word.

[1]Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Jn 1:1). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.