Is there healing in the atonement?

A friend writes asks about 1 Pet 2:24-25, where Peter alludes to Isa 53:4-6 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” He states: I have always taken this to mean that by His stripes we are “forgiven”, not “physically” healed of some infirmity, though certainly, by being forgiven of something, especially of our sins, there can certainly be a physical healing as well. I have always bounced this verse off the verse in Isaiah 53:5 where it says that “by his wounds we are healed”. I’ve been hearing a lot of teaching where our physical healing comes through His stripes that He bore for us….

Thanks for the question! I know of three perspectives on this question of “healing in the atonement.” I agree with one, partially affirm the second, and wholly reject the third. (more…)

Published in: on January 4, 2012 at 3:19 pm  Comments (4)  
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“Dear Paul: We are sorry, but you are unqualified to be our apostle…” [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

Paul had a precise idea of how to serve God. He worked day and night with his own hands; he risked his life and his health; he “served” the churches and did not exploit them. As a teacher he acted with patience and consideration: when people wanted answers he gave them careful, detailed explanations. He communicated the gospel in a way that anyone could understand (1 Cor 9:20-22).

From what we can glean in 1 and 2 Corinthians, that church wanted a different breed of apostle:

Church at Corinth, Achaia

Wanted: an apostle with style

The church in Corinth is seeking applicants for the position of apostle. We wish to avoid leaders who do not measure up to the highest standards of Christian ministry. Hence we insist that all candidates fulfill the following conditions:

Professional demeanor

  • We want a man who holds his head high, not one with a slavish attitude of “service.” We want to show the appeal of the gospel for people with ambition.
  • He should own a vehicle; travel by foot gives the impression that one is a loser. (more…)
Published in: on November 1, 2011 at 11:04 am  Comments (2)  
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Where is MY special someone?? [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

The New Testament gives no formula for choosing a husband or wife. Yes, in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul speaks a widow who wishes to marry ‘is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord,’ that is, only if the new husband is a Christian. Apart from the instruction that Paul gives in that chapter is directed to very specific questions about singleness and marriage. He does not offer a full set of rules. In short, the apostles are concerned that we marry a Christian and that we live righteously within marriage; they say nothing about how to figure out which Christian to marry. In the first century and in many cultures, it is not the young people who decide on a mate, but rather parents or other members of the family or tribe. In many Latino cultures up to the 20th century the Catholic church used to require for example signed permission from both fathers.

The Western church of today adds to the apostolic teaching and at times sets it aside. Christians have adopted a romantic view of marriage that has more to do with 19th century philosophy and Hollywood movies than the New Testament. What comes out is the assumption that there is a special someone for everybody, that you have to find just the right person, that marriage vows are not as important as following your heart.

Despite the single story of Rebecca in Genesis 24:10-21, God never promises in his Word to give us a special revelation to show whom we should marry. (more…)

Published in: on October 24, 2011 at 4:01 pm  Comments (2)  
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Does God have “his man” to pastor a church?

A friend writes in to ask whether a church should have a pastor or multiple leaders. I respond:

As I read it, the NT teaches that the apostolic churches were led by a group of elder/overseers. (more…)

Published in: on August 8, 2011 at 11:19 am  Comments (5)  
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What comes before the Day of the Lord: the final “apostasy” or the “departure” of the church?

According to 2 Thessalonians, Timothy brought Paul a question from a panicky church: Has the Day of the Lord come? Paul ties together language of the return of Christ from his own oral teaching, the Matthean tradition, Daniel and 1 Thessalonians. No indeed! he says, and I can prove it. Has the Man of Lawlessness appeared? Then no, the Day of the Lord has not come (2 Thess 2:3).

The other marker is more controversial: an “apostasy” or “falling away” (apostasia, ἀποστασία). The word might denote a political rebellion. Nevertheless, “falling away” in Judeo-Christian contexts usually refers to a spiritual apostasy. In the Apocrypha, many Jews apostatized from Yahweh in 1 Macc 2:15 (NRSV) – “The king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein to make them offer sacrifice” to Greek gods. Paul himself was accused of teaching Diaspora Jews “apostasy from Moses” (Acts 21:21). The verb form also appears in a warning against apostasy in Heb 3:12 and in the Lukan version of the Parable of the Sower to speak of those who fall away because of persecution (Luke 8:13). Paul uses the verb (aphistemi, ἀφίστημι) of the end-time falling away once in 1 Tim 4:1; he uses the noun form (apostasia, ἀποστασία) only here in 2 Thess 2:3.[2] Most Bible versions render the term correctly: “falling away” (ASV, KJV, NKJV); rebel, rebellion (CEV, ESV, GNB, NIV, NLT, NRSV, RSV), revolt (GW, NJB), apostasy (HCSB, NASB).

But wait! A few Bible students have suggested that 2 Thess 2:3 should be translated not as the “apostasy” but as a “removal” or “departure.” That is, the church is taken away from the earth, with the rest of the population “left behind” for the tribulation.[3]

Can this interpretation hold up? (more…)

Published in: on June 30, 2011 at 9:20 pm  Comments (11)  
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1 Thess 4:17 – “meet the Lord in the air” in the original Greek

Since the Rapture has made headlines lately, here are some observations.

The New Testament was written in Greek. Some argue that it was originally done in Hebrew, but they cannot provide ancient Hebrew (or Aramaic or Syriac) manuscripts to back that up. All of Paul’s churches used Greek as their principal language. Paul himself had grown up speaking a dialect of Greek known as koine. It is for this reason that many serious students of the Scriptures decide to study that language, just as many others study Hebrew.

Unfortunately, much of what we hear about Greek in books or from the pulpit is false or misleading. For example, some preach that the word agape means “divine love,” whereas phile means “human love or affection.” This is simply not the case, and the words are often interchangeable in the New Testament. I shudder every time I hear the words “I know that it says thus-and-such in your Bibles, but the Greek really says, etc.” Listen: English Bible versions – with a few exceptions – were carried out by leading experts in the field of the original languages, who have gone to great lengths to express the meaning of the original in English. You can trust your English Bible.

Yet, every once in a while there is a gem in the original Greek that is difficult to communicate in English. For example, the NIV of 1 Thess 4:17 has, “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” The other versions are similar and equally reliable. In my forthcoming commentary on 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Zondervan) I opted to translate verse 17 as: “we who still live and remain will be taken up together with [those who were dead] in the clouds to welcome the Lord in the air.” “To meet,” a verb in most versions, represents a Greek preposition and noun, “for a meeting” (eis apantesin). Nevertheless, a verb in English captures the original Greek equally well.

But one might ask, what happens after the Christians meet the Lord in the air? Where do they go? (more…)

Published in: on May 25, 2011 at 9:43 pm  Comments (12)  
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Look before you leap; pray before you preach

Once upon a time, Paul told the new believers in Thessalonica: “So, for this reason we give thanks to God without fail: because when you received the proclaimed word from us, that is, the word of God, you received it, not as a human message, but as what it really is, the word of God” (1 Thess 2:13).[1]

With these words, Paul communicates that behind the apostles’ success was that they prayed. And in fact, later on he asks them, “pray for us, brothers and sisters, that the word of the Lord might run well and be glorified by its hearers, just as it was with you” (2 Thess 3:1).[2] The successful sharing of the word is prayerful. Paul did not write books on “Proven Methods for Successful Evangelism.” Pastors did not travel to Corinth and lay down bags of denarii to see his PowerPoints on “The Seven Irrefutable Principles of Preaching.” Although it can be proven that he used methods, the heart of the matter for Paul is that neither strategy nor methodology can bring down the power of God from heaven. (more…)

Published in: on April 29, 2011 at 2:47 pm  Comments (8)  
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Do you really “preach the Word”?

It is no simple thing to preach the Word of God. Powerful dark forces are arrayed to draw us away from our task. They regularly succeed in doing so.

I bring this up because this week I saw several FB references to “what [famous North American preacher] Rob Bell said in his book Love Wins” and it took me a while to track down who was Rob Bell and what it was he said. (more…)

Published in: on March 4, 2011 at 7:27 pm  Comments (8)  
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Martyrdom Fantasy Camp

“Martyrdom Fantasy Camp,” by Gary Steven Shogren, with deep respect and prayers for those who suffer for the name of Christ.

Asia Bibi

A Christian Pakistani woman named Asia Bibi was beaten and arrested in June, 2009. Her crime consisted of stating that Jesus was the resurrected savior, and that Mohammed could not save. She was convicted of blasphemy on Nov 8, 2010 and sentenced to the death penalty. Asia is 37, and has a husband and two young children. She is being kept in prison while her attorney appeals the case.

On New Year’s, a bomb went off at a church in Egypt as worshipers were leaving a midnight service. It killed 21 and wounded 79.

Since the overthrow of Hussein, Iraqi Muslim extremists have begun open violent persecution against the church. On Oct 31, 2010, terrorists entered a church with automatic weapons, killing 59 and injuring 80 others. Hundreds of thousands have fled the country. (more…)

Published in: on January 3, 2011 at 9:26 pm  Leave a Comment  
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How did they train disciples in the Early Church?

Paul didn’t just pass out workbooks and tell his disciples to fill in the blanks for next Sunday. He didn’t go on TV and tell millions of people how to live, then pack up and go home. No, he was a day-to-day living model of how a Christian should live: “you became imitators of us and of the Lord” (1 Thess 1:6a); “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). This method is traditionally known as mimesis.

Christian leaders must assume that they are always being watched and imitated. In this way they ar (more…)

Published in: on November 11, 2010 at 6:20 pm  Comments (8)  
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