Who Is My Neighbor?

3 August, 20133 August, 2013Marissa

Some time ago, I was reading through the parable of the good Samaritan, and asking much the same question as the certain lawyer who prompted the parable: “who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-37). The parable itself makes this answer pretty clear, but I still decided to look up the Greek word for “neighbor,” just to see if there was something I might have missed.

The word is plesion (G4139). It means generally the same thing as our English word “neighbor,” someone who lives near us. Even so, I found the way Zodhiates phrases the definition in my study Bible worth sharing:

It means neighbor, fellow man or fellow creature, indicating primarily an outward nearness or proximity. Occurs in Luke 10:29, the parable of the Good Samaritan, which teaches that he who is outwardly near us should be the object of our concern in spite of the fact that there are no ties of kindred or nation between us.

Other words, if someone is anywhere near you — if you can see, hear, or know of them — they are your neighbor and you have a responsibility to them.

Love Your Neighbor

Thinking about this fact has made me feel guilty on numerous occasions. For example, I had classes with some people I disagreed with and flat-out didn’t like, but at least for the four hours a week that we were in the same classroom, they were my neighbors.

Jesus Christ said, “the first and great commandment” is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” The second commandemnt “is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 37-40). The commands to love sum up a main message of the Bible.

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

It is vitally important that we learn to love our neighbors. And not just the ones we like, because the same word for love — agape — is used when Jesus tells us, “Love your enemies” (Matt. 5:44).

Learning to Love

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis said, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” Acting as if we love a person is a better first step than trying to develop warm fuzzy feelings for someone we don’t like. The feelings we usually associate with love are optional, caring about the person’s well-being is not.

Agape (G26) and its root word agapao (G25) are best defined as “affectionate regard, good will, benevolence.” They indicate “a direction of the will” and differ “from phileo (5368), to love, indicating feelings, warm affection” (Zodhiates). The agape kind of love can involve emotions, and frequently does, but it is more concerned with an active decision to care about the well being of another person. Love is a choice, and if we want to become like God, it is a choice we must learn to make.

Being Born of God

27 July, 201326 July, 2013Marissa

In many ways, this is a continuation of two previous posts, but I think it will be the last on this topic (at least for a while). As part of the adoption process that makes us younger brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, we must go be “born again” (most translations put it).

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Pet. 1:22-23)

In James, it is said that the Father “brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (1:18, NKJV). This verse, along with many verses talking about the change wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, give us an idea of what being “born again”involves.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14).

Becoming God’s Family

Once we receive the Holy Spirit and God and Christ start working in our lives, we begin the process of becoming part of Their family. Because we have been adopted and redeemed, we are called children of God.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:1-2)

Though we are considered part of God’s family now, as long as we continue in faith, there is much more promised to us in the future.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … 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 the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3, 5-8, NKJV)

Being born “of the Spirit” involves a change of heart and character that will allow us to enter the kingdom of God. It is a process that begins with Jesus Christ’s sacrifice making us fit to be adopted into Their family, and continues until our death or Christ’s return.

New Life

The word used to describe us as “born” of God is gennao (G1080). It is a general word for producing offspring, used of both begetting and bearing children. Zodhiates says it is also “spoken of God begetting in a spiritual sense which consists in regenerating, sanctifying, quickening anew, and ennobling the powers of the natural man by imparting to him a new life and a new spirit in Christ (1 John 5:1). Hence, Christians are said to be the sons of God (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 3:26; 4:6).”

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:7)

This new life and new spirit that we partake of when God and Christ begin the process of making us their children transforms our lives. As we become part of God’s family, the characteristics of God will become more and more evident in our lives until we receive “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pet 1:4-5).

Our Elder Brother

20 July, 201320 July, 2013Marissa

Since writing about adoption last week, I’ve been pondering related aspects of becoming children of God. I described what is called “adoption” in Romans 8 and 9, Galatians 4, and Ephesians 1 as “the process by which we become God’s children.” There is much more to it, however, and I’m hoping this post will begin to explore our relationship to God and Christ as people who They want to become members of Their family. To do this, I think it is important to spend time studying our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 2:9).

Only Begotten

It should be obvious that our relation to God as His children is different than the relationship Jesus has as His Son. After all, “the Word was with God, and the Word was God” before He became “flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:1, 14). As such, John uses a different Greek word to distinguish Jesus Christ from believers who are called children of God. The word is monogenes (G3439), meaning an only child. Zodhiates says the word appears to “serve to distinguish the Sonship of Christ to God from that spoken of other beings, i.g. Adam (Luke 3:38), angels (Job 1:6), or believers (John 1:12).”

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but He that believeth not is condemned already, because He hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

Firstborn

Though He is described as the only begotten Son of God, Christ is not intended to be an only child. Rather, God has predestinated us “to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29). The word for “firstborn” is prototokos (G4416), and it is used as a title of Jesus Christ in five NT passages. In all these cases, Zodhiates points out that the word can mean firstborn child, but also and identifies “Christ as the preeminent or ranking member of the group” in Romans 8, and indicates an “an inherent right [to rule] by virtue of His nature” when the word is used in Colossians 1.

In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:14-18)

One meaning Zodhiates does not discuss is the first one that popped into my head. I would be curious to know why it isn’t in his dictionary, simply because it seems to obvious to me and I wanted to at least read a reason for it’s exclusion.

“Firstborn” implies there are other children. If I did not have siblings, I would be an only child. Since I have a younger brother and sister, I am a firstborn. Similarly, Christ being called the “firstborn of the dead” reassures me that He is not the only one who will be resurrected, simply the first. Calling Him the “firstborn among many breathren” gives me hope that I might be counted worthy to be one of His younger siblings.

Jesus The Christ

8 July, 20138 July, 2013Marissa

I’d like to share a quote from a book I picked up a couple weeks ago. I still haven’t decided whether or not I like Mysteries of the Middle Ages by Thomas Cahill, but it has given me several things to think about. For example, there is an interesting footnote to page 50, in which the author discusses the shift from approaching Christianity through a “Jewish conceptual framework” to a Greco-Roman view that disconnected Christianity from its Jewish roots.

By the time of Constantine, Jesus was already shedding his Jewishness; and the Greek word Christos (Christ), meaning ‘Anointed One,” a translation of the Hebrew mashiach (messiah), had become in effect Jesus’s surname.

The problem with this is that treating “Christ” simply as a surname can make us lose sight of an important aspect of Who He is and what He was sent to do. His names have meaning, but too often we pay no more attention to those meanings than we would to the fact that the names John Doe mean “God is gracious” and “a female deer.”

Christ, the Anointed, is a title that God gave Jesus. It is so important that it quickly became part of His name — the name “Jesus Christ” is used 198 times in the New Testament and “Christ Jesus” 58 times. “Lord and Christ” is how Peter referred to Jesus in his Acts 2 sermon.

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on My right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:32-36).

Looking For a Messiah

Having read from the scriptures we know as the Old Testament (some were discussed in this post last week), the Jews of Christ’s day were expecting an Anointed Savior to appear from the Lord. When Andrew (who became one of the 12 disciples) first met Jesus, he said, ““We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ)” (Jn. 1:41, NKJV). Even the Samaritan woman who Jesus spoke with at the well said, ““I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things” (Jn 4:25, NKJV). In reply, Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He.”

The fact that the Jews were expecting the Messiah — the Lord’s Anointed, or masiyach (H4899) — is why He is referred to as “the Christ” seventeen times in the gospels. It is why John’s Gospel was written, so “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name” (Jn. 20:31).

What Was He Anointed to Do?

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. (Luke 4:18-19)

This scripture is one Jesus chose to read as He taught in the synagog at Nazareth on the Sabbath. After reading it, He said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). Quoted from Isaiah 61, this mission is what His anointing included. Here in Luke and Acts 10:38 are the only places I’ve been able to find where the word “anoint” is used this way in the NT, but I think it is safe to say that the anointing Jesus received from God included other roles, such as High Priest (Heb. 5:1-10).

If we forget the meanings contained in Jesus’s names, we lose sight of much more than just the Jewish roots of our faith. The fact that Jesus is the Christ, the One chosen and Anointed by God, is one of the founding principles of our faith, and should not be ignored if we seek to follow and honor Him.

The Lord’s Anointed

6 July, 20135 July, 2013Marissa

It happened again — I intended to write a post about one thing and got sidetracked by a different verse. This time, it was Psalm 2 out of The Holy Bible in its Original Order.

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Christ, saying, “Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us.” (Psalm 2:1-3)

The word translated “Christ” in this version is typically translated “anointed” (compare texts from the NKJV, NIV, and ESV). This is from the Hebrew word masiyach (H4899), which we typically Anglicize as Messiah. As pointed out in John 1:41, Messiah is, “being interpreted, the Christ.”

Messiah

Looking at the use of this word in the Old Testament, it is translated several ways. The first time it appears, it is referring to “the priest that is anointed” (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16; 6:22). Since it usually refers to a consecrated person, it can also be used of kings (1 Sam. 24:6; 2 Sam. 23:1) or God’s people (1 Chron. 16:22; Psa. 28:8).* Warren Baker and Eugene Carpenter say in their dictionary that the concept of “Messiah, as a Savior is not fully developed in the Old Testament. .. this concept is developed later, during the New Testament period and fits better with the parallel Greek word christos.”

Daniel’s prophecy is the only place where masiyach is translated Messiah in the KJV.

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (Daniel 9:25-26)

Christ’s Kingdom

Though masiyach is only translated as Messiah once, its usage in the OT may not be as disconnected from the NT as Baker and Carpenter seem to think. Take 1 Samuel 2 for instance. Hannah’s prayer of thanks after Samuel’s birth ends with a prophecy:

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of His anointed.(1 Samuel 1:10)

This seems to me like it could be a prophecy of Jesus Christ coming, and I’m not the first to think along these lines. Writing in the early 18th century, Matthew Henry said,

We have reason to think that this prophecy looks further, to the kingdom of Christ, and the administration of that kingdom of grace, of which she now comes to speak, having spoken so largely of the kingdom of providence. And here is the first time that we meet with the name Messiah, or his Anointed. The ancient expositors, both Jewish and Christian, make it to look beyond David, to the Son of David. Glorious things are here spoken of the kingdom of the Mediator, both before and since his incarnation; for the method of the administration of it, both by the eternal Word and by that Word made flesh, is much the same.

His Anointed

Though Henry does not not draw the same conclusions about the following verses, I would like to bring them up as well. When the Lord rejects Eli’s sons from being priests because of their sins (1 Sam. 2:22-36), He says,

I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in Mine heart and in My mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35)

Neither The Holy Bible in its Original Order nor the NKJV capitalize “anointed” in this verse, but I could easily see this as referencing two God-beings. It is a similar situation in chapter 12, when Eli addresses the people after anointing a king over them.

Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before His anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.

And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand. And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness. (1 Samuel 12:3-5).

I would love to hear my readers’ thoughts on these verses. Could they be references to the Lord’s Anointed? or am I reading too much into this?

*according to Strong’s Dictionary and The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. See “About” for complete citations.

Praying For You

28 June, 201322 June, 2013Marissa

I’ve written about prayer before, but I want to shift the focus this time from praying for everyone (1 Tim. 2:1, 8) to praying for our brethren. There are numerous examples of praying for those close to us and who share our faith. Jesus prayed for His disciples and “for them also which shall believe on Me through their word” (John 17:20). Paul mentions that he prays for the brethren (Rom. 1:9; 2 Cor. 13:7; Eph. 1:16; Php. 1:4, 9; Col. 1:3, 9; 1 Thes. 1:2, 3:10; 2 Thes. 1:11; 2 Tim 1:3; Phm. 1:4 ) and instructs his readers to pray for each other, for him, and for others in ministry (Rom. 15:30; 2 Cor. 1:11; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2-3, 12; 1 Thes. 5:25; 2 Thes. 3:1; Heb. 13:18). James tells us to “pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (Jas. 5:16).

Each time Paul says that he is praying for the brethren, he mentions specific things he is praying. In Romans, it is that he will be able to visit them shortly. In 2 Corinthians, he prays that they would “do no evil.” In Ephesians, he asks “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him”. Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, and Philemon record general requests made on someone’s behalf.

In Colossians and 2 Thessalonians, Paul gives more extensive lists of specific things he was praying for. These can serve as a model when we are praying for each other. The focus is on spiritual matters, praying for a person to increase in knowledge and develop a closer relationship with God.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Col 1:9-11)

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thes. 1:11-12)

From James 5:16, we know that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Prayer is one of the most helpful things we can do for another person. We should never feel like, “I just don’t know what I can do to help” as long as we are able to pray.

I’m going to end this post with a lovely prayer recorded in Psalm 20 as translated in The Holy Bible in its Original Order. Usually I prefer the King James for Psalms, but the translation for this psalm makes the prayer seem more personal, and God’s help nearer.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob set you on high, may He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion. May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah. May He grant you according to your own heart and fulfill all your plans.

We will shout for joy in your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up banners; may the Lord fulfill all your prayers. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright. Save, O Lord; let the King hear us when we call.