Frankenstein's Monster and the Walking Dead

Paul continues to pound away at the counterfeit gospel spread by the Judaizers in the Galatian churches.  In essence, these spiritual snake oil salesmen have duped these new disciples into believing that Jesus may have brought them into His kingdom but its up their own rule-keeping to stay there.  

Let's face facts.  We continue to fall for this scam 2,000 years later.  That's why the apostle's letter to the Galatians is so very, very important for us today.

After contrasting God's law with God's promise (Gal 3:10-19), Paul demonstrates that these two things are not opposition but working together.  "Is the law then contrary to the promises of God?  Certainly not!" (v21).  

After following his previous argument, it would be very easy to dismiss God's law as something bad, something to be avoided, something to stiff arm.  

But the apostle let's us know that is not the case at all.  He responds to his own question with an unequivocal answer.  This is the absolute strongest language he can use.  He literally says, "May it never be!"  Heaven forbid that the law and the promise would ever be seen in opposition!

The big idea here is that God can never be in opposition to Himself.  That's completely impossible for the Lord to do one thing and then turn around to do something against that.  That's completely foreign to His nature.  

While we might not understand His ways (let's face it, they ARE mysterious!), we don't see things from His omniscient perspective.  God never contradicts Himself.  Ever.  Take that to the bank.

Paul tells us that God's law doesn't give life because that's not why He gave us the law.  "For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law" (v21).  The law is not the tool to create life.  That's not it's purpose.

Think of it this way.  If Dr. Frankenstein hooked his monster up to the Mosaic law, the creature would still be on the slab.  The maniacal doctor can scream, "Give my creature life!" all he wants.  The law is NOT a source of life.  

Since we've gone down the horror movie path, let's take it a step further.  Trying to follow the law in order to find life only transforms us into spiritual zombies.  The Walking Dead.  Only without all that nasty brain eating.

Paul goes on to conclude that if the law could give life, "then righteousness would indeed be by the law" (v21).  If we could become righteous, holy and perfect by simply obeying the law then there's no reason for Jesus.  

No need for Him to live the life we could never live.  No need for Him to die the death we should have died.  There would be no point if the law brought life through righteous and perfect obedience.

The apostle goes on to give us the two-fold purpose of God's law.  "But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin" (v22).  Understand that when Paul refers to "the Scripture," there was only the OT at the time.  

At the moment he put pen to paper, the only NT book written at this point was James.  So he's talking about the Torah.  The Law and the Prophets.  The Jewish Bible.  

He let's us know that one very important thing that God's revealed Word does is to let us know that we're all sin-sick.  Every last stinkin' one of us.  

Take a look around.  Who do you see?  They're all sinners.  That includes the one in your mirror.  Sinners.  It's universal.  

My wife and I just returned from a trip aboard the largest cruise ship in the world.  The ship holds 6,200 guests and 1,500 crew members.  

That's a total of 7,700 sinners.  Every last person on that massive craft falls short of God's righteous standard.  

That's the consistent message of the Bible (1Ki 8:46; Ps 143:2; Pro 20:9; Ecc 7:20; Is 53:6; Rom 3:9-23, 11:32).  You.  Me.  Everyone who has ever lived (with One marvelous exception!).  Everyone who will ever live.

In other words, the first purpose of God's law is to diagnose our sin.  It's to let us know just how completely jacked up I am.  

God's law is our diagnostic tool.  It's His MRI, CT scan, x-ray or ultrasound.  It doesn't heal anything.  It simply reveals our terminal condition.

The second purpose of God's law is to point us to His promise.  "So that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (v21).  In other words, God's law so devastates and destroys us that we come to see our desperate need for a Savior.  

That's the Good News.  The Gospel is His promise.  We receive His promise by placing our trust in what Jesus did for us that we could never, ever do.  

God's law could never give life.  It could never provide righteousness.  Not in a million years.  The only source of life and righteousness is Jesus.  

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6).  He is our righteousness (2Cor 5:21).  The only way we truly live is to embrace what He has done for us (Jn 3:16; Acts 10:43).  That's God's promise in Jesus.

Or we could try to gain life through the law.  We are Frankenstein's monster, a lifeless corpse on the table.  We are zombies, the living dead.  I don't know about you, but I'll take the promise, thank you very much. 

©2012 

Jay Jennings

Could Be Worse, Could Be Raining

There’s a famous scene in the movie “Young Frankenstein” that finds Dr. Frankenstein and Igor in the graveyard late at night digging up dead bodies to use in their experiments. As they chuck the coffin out of the hole, the demented doctor says, “What a filthy job.” His humpbacked assistant tries to look on the bright side. “Could be worse. Could be raining.” At this point, the skies open up and drench the duo. It is worse. It is indeed as bad as it could be. Flip over to Ezra 10:9-11 and we see another hard day made worse by hard rain. Ezra gathers every Jewish man in the temple courts to confront them for their sexual sin. If you listen closely, you might hear one of them whisper to their buddy, “Could be worse. Could be raining.” Suddenly the skies open up and drench the dudes. You might want to grab your umbrella. It’s a hard day made worse by hard rain.

So just how did we end up here? What happened that led to several thousand people called onto the carpet and standing in the rain? It’s approximately 460 years before the birth of Jesus. God has just orchestrated the return of His chosen people to the Promised Land from captivity in Babylon under the leadership of men like Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and Ezra. Call it the Exodus 2.0. After a few fits and starts, they’ve rebuilt the temple that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed and resettled the area once known as the southern kingdom of Judah. 

Things are looking up, right? Things are on a roll, right? You would think so, but what should be a time of celebration is suddenly a total train wreck. Ezra gets the news that Jewish men are shacking up with local unbelieving women (Ez 9:1-3). And we’re not just talking a handful of horny Hebrews. Early reports reveal that this includes not just a few average Joes but many of the priests and Levites as well. Hearing the horrible news, Ezra falls on his knees at the front steps of the rebuilt temple and prays to God on their behalf (Ez 9:5-15). At the end of his public prayer, a brave man named Shecaniah steps out of the crowd and encourages Ezra to do what he must do (Ez 10:2-4). The people need a strong leader to rise up when the chips are down. Shecaniah and the people tell the Big E that they have his back. Ezra steps into a storage room inside the temple to fast and pray for God’s guidance (Ez 10:6). In the meantime, the announcement is made that everyone has three days to get their carcass to Jerusalem for a mandatory family meeting (Ez 10:7-8). Be there or be square.

Seventy-two hours later, everybody was there. “Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within thee days” (v9). It’s hard to figure an estimate of the crowd. Almost 50,000 people returned with Zerubbabel during the first resettlement 60 years ago (Ez 2:64-65). Approximately 7,000-8,000 folks made the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem under Ezra just a few months back (Ez 8:1-14). The language in this passage seems to indicate that everybody was in attendance, not just the men. So it’s not hard to put the crowd somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000. But the important number is 100%. Everybody was there.

We see that it’s “ninth month, on the twentieth day” (v9). That means it’s Kislev which falls during our November and December. That’s in the heart of the rainy season when the city gets an average of 4 inches of precipitation. It’s also the coldest months of the year with an average high of 57 degrees (F) and average low of 47. So why is it important to get the latest from the WeatherCenter? Because it suddenly began to rain on the big crowd. They “sat in the open square before the house of God” (v9). There’s no place big enough for an assembly that size to meet inside. Ezra tells us that the crowd was shivering. For a couple of reasons. They were “trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain” (v9). The audience knows that the high priest is about to make a very difficult announcement. Their trembling actually began a few days back when he first got word of this mess (Ez 9:4). He’s going to deliver the bad news on the sexual sin that runs rampant in God’s people. Could be worse. Could be raining. Well, that’s exactly what happens. Not just a little shower. “Heavy rain” (v9). It’s probably in the mid 50s. It’s raining cats and dogs. It’s a cold, hard rain. Not to mention that the elevation of Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level. And you’ve been called into the principal’s office. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would be shaking in my boots too.

For the first time since this controversy has hit the papers, Ezra speaks publicly (v10-11). Earlier, he didn’t make any public statements to the people. He did pray out loud on their behalf. But he’s yet to make any public comment. Instead he’s prayed. What a great lesson in leadership! The people see and hear their high priest confess their disobedience and rebellion at the temple steps. Then he spends signifiant time alone in fasting and prayer seeking God’s guidance before ever talking to the nation. How much better would my communication be if I talked to God before opening my big yapper? 

With the cold, hard rain pounding the crowd, Ezra opens his mouth. “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel” (v10). He really didn’t need to go into gory detail. The ugly accusation has already been stated publicly several times (Ez 9:1-2, 6-7, 10-15; 10:2). They’ve “broken faith” (v10). Once again we see the Hebrew word ma’al. This means to fail to trust in the goodness and grace of God. They took matters into their own hands and took their pagan girlfriends to bed. As in verse 2, the term for “marriage” isn’t the usual word in the original language. This describes taking someone into your home. It tells us that these weren’t legit marriages but illicit relationships. I think the theological term here is “shacking up.” The result of listening to their libido instead of the LORD has “increased the guilt of Israel” (v10). God has forgiven the guilt of their sin that led to their Babylonian exile (Is 40:1-2). That’s seen in the divine stamp of approval on their return to the Promised Land (Ez 1:1, 5; 5:1; 6:14, 22; 7:6, 27-28; 8:18, 31). But their blatant sexual sin of hooking up with local pagan hotties is pegging Israel’s guilt meter.

Ezra gives these men two simple instructions. “Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do His will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives” (v11). Two points. I said it was simple. I did not say it was easy. Step one: “make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers” (v11). It’s interesting to note that the word here (Heb. towdah) can not only mean an admission of sin, but an act of praise, thanksgiving, or worship. You see, a rightful confession is an act of worship. We’re agreeing with God about who He is and who we are. He’s God and we’re not. The Bible is chockfull of the importance of confession and repentance. Solomon instructed his son, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Prov 28:13). God makes that same amazing promise through the Apostle John. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9). Be specific. Put it into words. Tell God what you’ve done. Tell Him that you agree with Him about your sin. Make confession.

Way back in the days of Moses, Yahweh made it clear that confession and repentance are the path to restoration of the relationship between He and His people. “But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against Me, and also in walking contrary to Me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land” (Lev 26:40-42). That ties right into Ezra’s identification as “the LORD, the God of your fathers” (v11). The all-caps “LORD” is actually Yahweh, God’s first name that He revealed to the mighty Mo at the burning bush (Ex 3:14-15). It means I AM WHO I AM. I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE. He’s the One who is always in the present tense. 

Yahweh represents God’s covenant name. It expresses His faithfulness and unending love that’s based on who He is and NOT who we are and what we do. God was incredibly faithful in His love to “your fathers” (v11). He’s talking about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God made a promise to bless the world through this grandfather, father, and son. It really had nothing to do with anything they did. As a matter of fact, these three men and their families aren’t exactly spiritual superstars. They’re more like a generational parade of failures, rebels, and rejects. But once again, God demonstrates His amazing ability to use losers  to spread His love to the world. He did it through Abraham and his family. And He’s still doing it today.

Meanwhile Ezra gives the people step two. “Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from the foreign wives” (v11). This is the very same word (Heb. badal) used when non-Jewish people broke away from the disgusting idol worship of their culture and bowed before the God of Israel (Ez 6:21). Ezra found out that the priests, Levites, and many Hebrews got themselves mixed up with local women and “not separated (Heb. badal) themselves from the people of the lands and their abominations” (Ez 9:1). If these dudes didn’t stop shacking up with the pagan hotties, they would find themselves “banned (Heb. badal) from the congregation” (Ez 10:8). Cut it out or get cut off.

Yeah, it was a hard day in the hard rain.

Body Parts

...because we are members of His body (Eph 5:30).

For years I drove past a business with a very curious sign.  “Roberts Wholesale Body Parts.”  My imagination ran wild every time I road by.  What in the world is inside that place?  I pictured shelves of dismembered arms, hands, legs and feet.  I envisioned boxes of ears, eyes, noses and toeses.  Was Mr. Roberts some sort of a middle man supplying a modern day Dr. Frankenstein?  OK, I’m just a bit twisted.  Most folks probably realized that this business was related to the junk yard across the road.  These body parts were car parts.  But not me.  This mysterious metal building had to be full of body parts.  Right?  Right?!?!

So what in the world does this have to do with Ephesians?  The Apostle Paul reminds us here that as followers of Jesus we’re body parts in the body of Christ.  The Lord pampers and feeds us “because we are members of His body” (v30).  Wait a sec!  Wasn’t man from Tarsus in the middle of telling married men how to love and lead their wives?  Suddenly there’s this dismembered mention of body parts.  It makes perfect sense when we back up and realize that he’s writing about the relationship between Jesus and His bride and how human husbands relate to their wives.  There’s such an intimacy between Christ and His church that they are actually one person and one flesh.   We’re “members of His body” (v30).  We’re body parts.

Paul drops the term “members” (v30) by using the Greek word melos.  This describes a limb, a human body part or generally one part of a larger whole.  Jesus uses it when talking about lopping off or poking out any body part that causes you to sin.  “It is better that you lose one of your members (Gr. melos) than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Mt 5:29-30).  Since we’re body parts in the body of Christ, it’s easy to see how this 

has come to mean one person in a Christian community.  A huge part of the apostle’s point is to realize that I’m not flying solo.  I’m only complete when I’m part of the whole.  I must remember that I’m a member.  

His purpose for reminding the Ephesians that they are body parts is because of the false teaching that’s tearing the body of Christ limb from limb just down the road in Colossae.  A team of spiritual hucksters have duped followers of Jesus into believing a false gospel of self-salvation.  According to these snake oil salesmen, Christ might be able to get you into God’s kingdom but He can’t keep you there.  We need to keep saving ourselves.  And wouldn’t you know it, they have just the list of religious rules to follow so we can do just that (Col 2:16, 18, 21-23).  After setting the Colossians straight, Paul writes to the Ephesians just 100 miles down the road.  He knows that heresy dismembers.  Trying to save myself takes my eyes off of Jesus and everyone else around me.  

I need to remember that I’m not flying solo.  I’m only complete when I’m part of the whole.  I’m complete when I’m part of the body.  His body.  There are no Lone Rangers in the body of Jesus.  Our enemy is licking his satanic chops for one of us to wander off.  He loves to get us alone.  That happens when I try to do it all on my own.  I must remember that I’m a member or I’ll be dismembered.  And Satan just loves to sink his teeth into severed body parts.

We’re not just members of any body.  We’re members of HIS body.  Jesus’ body.  Paul uses the Greek word soma.  It can mean the physical body of humans or animals or a group of people closely united for a single cause.  The apostle tells the folks in Rome that each one of the body parts has a unique role in the church.  “For as in one body (Gr. soma) we have many members (Gr. melos), and the members (Gr. melos) do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body (Gr. soma) in Christ, and individually members (Gr. melos) of one another” (Rom 12:4-5).  And because we’re part of Jesus’ body, we need to be VERY careful what we do.  “Do you not know that your bodies (Gr. soma) are members (Gr. melos) of Christ?  Shall I then take the members (Gr. melos) of Christ and make them members (Gr. melos) of a prostitute?  Never!” (1Cor 6:15).  We’re members of HIS body.  Jesus’ body.

Paul doesn’t say that we WILL be members of the body of Christ.  He clearly says that we ARE members RIGHT NOW.  This is not a pipe dream.  This isn’t something that happens on the other side of eternity.  This is a present reality.  This is right now.  In the words of the great theologian Brent Musburger, “You’re looking LIVE!”  We’re members of Jesus’ body once we place our trust in Him.  

We’re body parts.  Jesus’ body parts.

OK, this is your part.  I'd love to hear from you.  Drop a comment below and let's chat.