The Spirit Searches

Greetings to all readers! We’re going to be continuing on this fine Sunday our study on the doctrine of the Trinity. We’re in the New Testament now and in the Pauline epistles and namely, the first epistle to the Corinthians. Many of our passages focus on the deity of Christ, but today, we’re going to be looking at the deity of the Holy Spirit mainly. I want to touch briefly on another passage before that, but then we go to the main text. We’re going to be reading 1 Corinthians 2:9-11.

9However, as it is written:
“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him” 10but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

First, let’s say something about verse 9. How many people have heard this passage and said that this is talking about Heaven? Now I agree on an applicational basis, this could very well apply to Heaven, however, as the apostle is writing it at this point, he is not talking about Heaven. Instead, he is talking about the incarnation.

This should be something that brings joy to us. In Paul’s mind, the incarnation gets the description of what we would use to describe Heaven. Paul is telling us that the love and grace of God is so amazing that we could not even begin to think about what he did for us, and that was sending his Son to die for us. If the revelation of the Son is that good on this Earth, think about how the revelation of the Son will be in eternity.

However, verse 11 is the main focus of what we wish to speak about and that is the Spirit searching the deep things of God. Paul is using this argument to point to the knowledge of the Spirit and how the Spirit knows the deep things of God. He uses an analogy in relation to the spirit of a man.

Who knows a man? It is only the spirit of the man that knows the man. The spirit of the man is nothing external to the man. You have a spirit within you. It is that spirit that knows what is within you and is probably the same spirit that Paul refers to in Romans 8:26-27.

God’s spirit is also not external to him. It is his Spirit that knows his very being from the inside-out as it were. (This is the best way I can express it. I in no way wish to apply corporeality to the very nature of God nor do I wish to say the Spirit is a part of God.) The only way the Spirit can know all that there is of God is if that Spirit has the full nature of God. In this passage then, Paul is ascribing full deity to the Spirit.

I would recommend using this passage on Jehovah’s Witnesses if the opportunity ever came up. Most of us turn to passages like Acts 5 and 13 which have been used earlier and are good passages. My preference however is to go where I don’t think my opponent is expecting and use that passage. This is one that would fit within that criteria as while Witnesses know many verses, they tend to not have a systematic theology.

We shall continue our study further tomorrow.

The Lord of Glory

Hello everyone. We’re back to continue our study on the doctrine of the Trinity in the Scriptures. Last night, we started going through the book of 1 Corinthians. We’re going to continue that tonight looking at verse 8 mainly. We’re going to start at verse 6 to make sure we get all of the surrounding context:

6We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Lord of Glory. It has been said to be the most exalted term that Paul ever uses to describe Christ. This is in the context of God using that which the world despises to shame it. He who the world despised as shameful was actually the Lord of Glory.

This term shows up a few times in the Book of Enoch. Let’s see what it says. (The Book of Enoch is an apocryphal book not included in the canon.)

22:14

14 Then I blessed the Lord of glory and said: ‘Blessed be my Lord, the Lord of righteousness, who ruleth for ever.’

25:1-5

1 And he said unto me: ‘Enoch, why dost thou ask me regarding the fragrance of the tree,
2 and why dost thou wish to learn the truth?’ Then I answered him saying: ‘I wish to
3 know about everything, but especially about this tree.’ And he answered saying: ‘This high mountain which thou hast seen, whose summit is like the throne of God, is His throne, where the Holy Great One, the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King, will sit, when He shall come down to visit
4 the earth with goodness. And as for this fragrant tree no mortal is permitted to touch it till the great judgement, when He shall take vengeance on all and bring (everything) to its consummation
5 for ever. It shall then be given to the righteous and holy. Its fruit shall be for food to the elect: it shall be transplanted to the holy place, to the temple of the Lord, the Eternal King.

Chapter 27:

1 Then said I: ‘For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this
2 accursed valley between?’ Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: ‘This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here
3 shall be their place of judgement. In the last days there shall be upon them the spectacle of righteous judgement in the presence of the righteous for ever: here shall the merciful bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King.
4 In the days of judgement over the former, they shall bless Him for the mercy in accordance with
5 which He has assigned them (their lot).’ Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and set forth His glory and lauded Him gloriously.

Chapter 36:

1 And from thence I went to the south to the ends of the earth, and saw there three open portals
2 of the heaven: and thence there come dew, rain, and wind. And from thence I went to the east to the ends of the heaven, and saw here the three eastern portals of heaven open and small portals
3 above them. Through each of these small portals pass the stars of heaven and run their course to the west on the path which is shown to them. And as often as I saw I blessed always the Lord of Glory, and I continued to bless the Lord of Glory who has wrought great and glorious wonders, to show the greatness of His work to the angels and to spirits and to men, that they might praise His work and all His creation: that they might see the work of His might and praise the great work of His hands and bless Him for ever.

Paul, a good rabbinical Jew trained in the finest education of his religion would have known about these passages. However, he did not hesitate to use the terminology used in them for YHWH and apply that terminology to Jesus.

What does that tell us about Paul’s view of Jesus? It tells us he wanted Jesus to have the highest place of all. How can this be without having a truly Trinitarian concept of Jesus being fully God and fully man?

The Eternal Wisdom

Hello everyone. We’re getting ready tonight to continue our walk through the Scriptures with the doctrine of the Trinity. Tonight, we start going through the book of 1 Corinthians. Last night, I left us with an argument that God is the only wise God as Scripture says and that he has never been without his Wisdom. I also pointed out that Jehovah’s Witnesses do often point to Proverbs 8 and say that that refers to Jesus when it speaks of Wisdom creating. I happen to agree with them. Tonight, we’re going to see why that’s a problem for them. Our main verse will be 1 Corinthians 1:24, but I will get verses 20-25 to make sure I have the surrounding context for you:

20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

For the early Christians spreading their message, it was a shameful one. People would say “You want me to follow that man? You think he was a king? You think he is God? Are you serious? He was crucified. That’s no place for God to be and that’s no place for a king to be.”

It’s worth noting that the Christians never changed this stance. It would have been beneficial to them, but Christians throughout the ages have stuck to the historical facts as they were in regards to their faith. Jesus was crucified. It was never denied. Jesus did miracles. We cannot deny that either. The incarnation was a real event. The resurrection happened. Even though the world may not believe these, we must.

Yet what the world calls foolish, Paul points out was the wisdom of God at work and he could be using a pun here in that the working of the Wisdom of God was a manifestation of God’s wisdom. In other words, God was shown as wise by having his Wisdom come to Earth and atone for our sins.

Look at verse 24. Christ is called the Wisdom and the Power of God. This could work well with Power, but the Jehovah’s Witnesses are already giving us Wisdom. Let’s go with that. The syllogism will look like this.

Jesus is God’s Wisdom.

God’s Wisdom is eternal.

Jesus is eternal.

This is what is called a bulls-eye syllogism. All three propositions are A propositions. If the premises are true and the syllogism is valid, the conclusion follows. This is a valid syllogism so what we have to ask is if the premises are true.

The Witnesses have already granted us the first one and make sure they grant you that before you use this argument. That way they don’t have an escape hatch. Now we move on to the second. Is God’s Wisdom eternal?

This brings us to last night’s blog. If his Wisdom is not eternal, then we have a God who is temporal. We have a God who was unwise at one point and somehow in his lack of wisdom created wisdom and brought wisdom upon himself.

It is far easier to believe Jesus is eternal. If Jesus is eternal, then he cannot be created as the Witnesses say he was. (At least not in a temporal sense.) Granted, that might not mean they accept his deity fully, but it does mean that they need to re-examine their claim that Jesus is a temporal creation and if he’s not that, then what is he? Could he very well be one with the full nature of God eternally?

Hopefully, that’ll give them something to think about.

Was God Foolish?

Hello readers! My thanks goes out first to Fred for his comment. I have one caveat I wish to throw out about my arguments. I do believe they’re good arguments or else I wouldn’t advance them. However, use caution with JWs not because the arguments are bad, but because you can’t assume the JWs will listen to argumentation. I prefer using a slow and steady method with JWs and slowly raising up questions. I don’t advocate it too much, but I think there is something to friendship evangelism when dealing with the cults.

For tonight, we’re going to be wrapping up our study of Romans and looking mainly at Romans 16:27, but we will start at verse 25. I also urge the reader to go through Romans 15 and see how many Trinitarian passages there are in the sense of a passage that speaks of God, Jesus, and the Spirit. For now, let’s get to our text:

25Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him— 27to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Some of you might be wondering what this has to do with the Trinity. The answer is in the title. We know from texts of Scripture such as Malachi 3:6 that God doesn’t change. That means that God has never been without his wisdom. He has been eternally wise.

I have earlier advocated the view that when we hear about the wisdom of God in Proverbs 8, that we are actually hearing about Jesus. Jesus is God’s Wisdom. The great joy of using this passage is that this is ironically ones Jehovah’s Witnesses will use when they want to speak of Jesus being created.

However, let us consider the implications of what this would mean. If Jesus is God’s Wisdom, which we will agree to, (And let’s suppose you don’t agree with my interpretation. If the JW uses this argument on you, you can still use this to deal with them.) then if Jesus came into being at a point in time, that would mean that God’s wisdom came into being at a point in time.

If that happened, then that would mean God has not been eternally wise. He created wisdom and then he took on the wisdom that he created somehow. Thus, we have a God who is temporal and a God who changes, but not only that, which is problematic enough in itself, we have a God who was foolish at one time in that he created wisdom and then gave it to himself. (Not to mention how can an unwise being call into being wisdom?)

Is that the case then? Was God foolish before he created wisdom? How could anyone think such a thing? However, if wisdom is a created thing in a temporal sense and there was a time when Jesus was not and Jesus is God’s Wisdom, then it follows that there was a time when God’s Wisdom was not.

Thus, when you meet with the JWs and they bring up this passage, ask them about it. Do they really think God was foolish at one point? It would be best to get them to agree that this is Jesus first if they use that and then when they want to deny that God was never foolish, that he has always been as verse 27 says, “the only wise God”, then you can say “So you think God’s Wisdom is eternal?” They will have to say yes. At this point you will say “But isn’t Jesus God’s Wisdom?” They’ve already said yes. Finally, you give the logical conclusion.

And if you don’t know what that conclusion is, then I guess you’ll need to read tomorrow’s blog.

Watchtower. Make Up Your Mind

Hello everyone. We’re continuing our study of the doctrine of the Trinity this evening and tonight, we’re moving ahead to Romans 14. If anyone has a copy of the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, I recommend getting it so you can highlight these verses if you’re one to do such a thing. We’re going to be looking at Romans 14:5-12. First, we post it from the NIV:

5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written:
” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ ” 12So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Now the NWT of the Jehovah’s Witnesses:

5 One [man] judges one day as above another; another [man] judges one day as all others; let each [man] be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day observes it to Jehovah. Also, he who eats, eats to Jehovah, for he gives thanks to God; and he who does not eat does not eat to Jehovah, and yet gives thanks to God. 7 None of us, in fact, lives with regard to himself only, and no one dies with regard to himself only; 8 for both if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. Therefore both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah. 9 For to this end Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you also look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written: “‘As I live,’ says Jehovah, ‘to me every knee will bend down, and every tongue will make open acknowledgment to God.’” 12 So, then, each of us will render an account for himself to God.

As I usually do, I posted more than I wanted to comment on so my readers could be sure I was giving the proper context to the passages. Our first point to be pointed out will be that there is an interesting exchange between Jehovah and Lord in the New World Translation. They change the word “Lord” to Jehovah throughout, however what happens when we get to verse 9? All of a sudden, the Lord is no longer Jehovah.

Yet throughout the chapter, we have no reason to believe the Lord is anyone other than Jesus. The New World Translation however is not translating based on the text but on their own bias. (Especially since Jehovah is not found in the Greek manuscripts and you can be sure that they don’t in Romans 10:9. (Although they suddenly change that in Romans 10:13.)

However, consider also the quotation of Isaiah 45:23 in verse 11. Let’s look at that verse in Isaiah.

23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.

Paul uses this passage later on in Philippians 2:9-11, a passage we will enjoy looking at later.

9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

In Isaiah, there is no doubt YHWH is talking about himself, but in this passage, it is talking about Jesus. Consider what the NWT says however. All will bow down to Jehovah. Naturally, while Philippians 2:11 says Jesus is Lord, the NWT does not translate that as “Jesus is Jehovah.”

The NWT is trying to avoid the obvious implication. Jesus is to be Lord over the dead and the living. He is the Lord of life. He is the Lord of life for he is fully God. The inconsistency of the NWT is quite revealing at this point. Perchance we should consider that if the NWT translators have to change the text this much, maybe it’s because that if it’s translated correctly, it does honestly teach that which the Watchtower denies.

Jesus is WHO?!

Hello everyone. Before diving into the waters tonight, I’d like to thank Dan for his comment yesterday. I see your point, but I can’t say I agree entirely. However, it is a secondary issue. I’d also like to thank all my friends who dropped by in the post that I made to be for my friends. It was great to get to see you all and I hope that we can do it again soon sometime.

Tonight, we’re going to be continuing from what we said last night about Romans 10:9 and the identity of Jesus in that verse. We’re going to start again at verse 9 and go all the way to verse 13. If you need to review last night again, that’s fine.

9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Our first Scripture quotation in this passage comes from Isaiah 28:16 and is seen as a way of avoiding the scourge of death. Isaiah tells of a stone being laid in Zion and whoever trusts in that stone will not be disturbed. That stone is the foundation. The reference is pointing to Psalm 118:22

The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;

This became a favorite verse of the New Testament writers. Jesus was that capstone that was laid. The one that had been rejected by all had become the hope of all Israel. However, our main point will be what happens in verse 13. Paul tells us there that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The reference is Joel 2:32.

And everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance,
as the LORD has said,
among the survivors
whom the LORD calls.

What is important for our purposes today is what ties in to verse 9. Who is the Lord in Joel 2:32? It is none other than YHWH. Paul has said that if you believe Jesus is Lord, you will be saved, and then comes to a verse with calling on YHWH and says that if you call upon the Lord, you will be saved.

Paul saw calling Jesus Lord and calling him YHWH then as one and the same. This is interesting when we look in the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and see that in Romans 10:9, they translated Kurios as Lord, but when they get to Romans 10:13, all of a sudden it gets translated as “Jehovah.” This would be quite a shift in the Christocentric argument of Paul however.

The conclusion is that Paul knew exactly what he was doing in quoting this text and what it meant. A Jesus who is less than deity is a Jesus who cannot save. For Paul, to call upon Jesus meant to call upon YHWH. Jesus was one who had the full nature of YHWH and because of that, he could and CAN provide salvation.

Jesus vs. Caesar

Hello everyone. We’ve had a week of various other topics so tonight, we’re going to get back to our main focus, the doctrine of the Trinity. Last we left, we were in the book of Romans. We’re going to be in chapter 10 tonight. Keep this blog in mind as tomorrow will continue what is being discussed here tonight. Our main verse is going to be Romans 10:9, but I want my readers to be sure of the context of the passage so we’re going to start at verse 5:

5Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.” 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the deep?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

In this passage, Paul is further describing the way of salvation and how one can be saved. He points out that God is not distant to the people. He is right there in their midst. Yet in describing this righteousness, he sees it all focused in Christ. You don’t have to climb the mountain to Heaven and bring Christ down in order to be righteous. You don’t have to go down to the realm of the dead and bring Christ up in order to be righteous. Christ has come and we can be righteous in him. He did not remain in Heaven and he did not remain in the empty tomb.

What is the way of salvation? It is to believe that Jesus is Lord and confess that. What does that mean? Well the idea is that Jesus is kurios, which is the way the name of YHWH was translated when the Septuagint was being written. Here is the contrast that the Christian community had.

No Jew would say “Jesus is Kurios.” That was the position that was reserved for YHWH. To say that would be considered blasphemy. On the other hand, neither would a Greek say that. Why? Because you had one kurios and that was Caesar. If you said Jesus is Kurios, you would be guilty of treason.

The Christians were making a strong claim and this is the claim that got them in trouble with the Romans and set them apart from the Jews. Worship God? Sure. Okay. The Romans could tolerate that. To claim another person was God and that that one was Lord alone? No. Not at all. That was infringing upon the rule of Caesar. The Romans thus saw the Christians as a threat, especially since the one they were preaching spoke often about his kingdom.

And yet, they made the claim. Why? Because they believed it was true. This claim was most likely made at baptism where they were identifying themselves with Christ and saying he was their Lord instead of Caesar. This didn’t mean they were insurrectionists wanting to overthrow Rome. They weren’t. The Romans didn’t know any better however and weren’t wanting to take any chances.

However, as was said, the Christians made the claim and they survived. They ideology never changed. They always knew what they were confessing. Jesus is Lord and God. It was a claim they were willing to die for. Are we willing to do such today?

To My Friends

Hello everyone! I’m back! I had a marvelous vacation where I was and so tonight, I would like to send a shout to all my friends through the blog and give some thoughts on friendship. It was marvelous getting to see some old friends again and some new friends for the very first time and ponder how much had changed.

Friends are a unique gift as I’ve said. If you’re with your family, you are with people that love you usually because you were born in that position. I realize not all families are this way. There are some families that don’t have love between certain members.  Friends are people who always love you by choice. You are not forced to be someone’s friend. You can be encouraged to be a friend, but it is always a choice on the other person’s part to include you in the circle of friends.

Many of my friends have been with me through a lot and seen the changes that I’ve made in my life. I particularly think of when we got to the testimony time. The things I said I found hard to say even though they were things that were known. I will admit I was very cold in the room that I said them and I was extremely tired at the time, but I wonder if it was just also something so emotional that I found myself breaking up in what I said, and this is someone who has been said to be skilled as a public speaker.

There were memories that were made there that will last a lifetime. I think of the gift exchange also. All of the comments that were made with everyone in the white elephant game wanting everyone else to steal their gift. (I encourage readers to look up the white elephant game if they want the details and want to know about “stealing gifts.”)

I think about having us sit around the breakfast table sharing in the morning, and our group is one I feel comfortable around. I enjoyed our talk on the topic of the cults and getting to go to the arcade. I know one of you at least has a picture of me rocking out on the Guitar Hero game. (What all serious apologists do in arcades.) All of the inside jokes made for a unique ocassion.

I think it was Chesterton who once said that each of us is a great “might-not-have been.” For all of us, there was a possibility that we would not be. Now if we were not, none of us would ever notice that the other were not. We don’t say “Wow. It would be nice if Bob had ever existed.” We have no idea of Bob if he never existed.

We can say that for most everything. When we are with friends, let us consider that they might not have been as well. Each person in your life then that you know and celebrate is a blessing of God for you. There was a chance they would never have been and it’s important to take the time to consider that they are. It is a shame that we in the church don’t take the time to be amazed that things exist, including friends.

So to each of you I was with, I am thankful that you exist. One of the gifts I got at the conference was a wooden item that said “friends” and had barnyard animals on the top. Why did I get it? Because I believe it. Friends are important and I wanted a reminder everyday about the friends that I have in my life.

To my friends then, I salute you, and am thankful that you are not “might-have-beens.”

Happy Birthday!

I’m stepping away from the Trinity study tonight to do a tribute like I often do on birthdays. Also readers, I will be away on vacation tomorrow and won’t be back until Sunday evening. Will there be blogs there? I don’t know. If nothing comes up, don’t panic. I’m alright. I’m just away.

Tonight, I make a tribute to my best friend I’ve got in this world. That would be my roommate. We chose this path together to continue our studies and it’s been nearly two years and I’ve found you to be a friend through thick and thin.

I remember the time that our neighbors were giving me problems where they were parking way too close to my car just because they thought I was parking in “their spot.” I would have to get in on the passenger side just to get in, nothing easy with my back. What do I find that Saturday morning when I wake up? It’s early in the morning and although you like to sleep in, you’re outside in the parking lot taking pictures.

We’ve already been on numerous adventures such as the drive up north to meet some friends. Tomorrow, we’ll be going south to meet others. We’ve driven to the beach and we’ve been to conferences together as well as seen numerous debates.

I am constantly amazed that you put up with all my bizarre idiosyncracies yet in the end, I find you’re by my side and I really don’t believe I could do most of the things that I’m doing in this town without having a friend like you by my side. It is something that brings stability in a world that is usually experienced in chaos.

I often think of how this started because you contacted me in what was seemingly an out of the blue manner one day. I didn’t know you from Adam and now look where we’ve come to. All because of that one approach, I now find that I have a true friend. Wherever the path leads from now, I see the friendship over time growing deeper and stronger.

Aristotle spoke more of friendship than of any other virtue and what a value it was to have true friends. I believe he was right. I smiled recently when I read some of his Nicomachean ethics and how he said that friendship reaches its highest level in living together. It is then that you truly seek to bring your friend into your life as much as possible and give them the highest trust that can be given between humans aside from a marriage covenant.

Friends are different from family. We sense that we have an obligation often to love our family. Most people that we do love as family are people that we probably wouldn’t form a bond with if they weren’t family. Friendship is different. No one is forced to be a friend with another. Friendship is instead chosen.

Friendship often begins with a common bond that the two friends have in common. For us, it was interest. We both love apologetics and we both love the Final Fantasy series.  If you come in here and you see me playing the After Years, I know we can immediately have a conversation. While I don’t really understand much of what goes on in Final Fantasy XI, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the conversations about it, and I do.

This also makes me ponder friendship in eternity. What does Heaven do with friendships? It certainly doesn’t destroy them. It instead perfects them. It makes them be what they were meant to be all along. While we do work to build each other towards sanctification, we still fall short here. I wonder what it will be like in Heaven when we dwell as perfected human beings. What will our friendship be then? It is fascinating.

I’m pondering now how you were surprised for your birthday, but you knew something was coming still. It was just where and when. It’s this knowledge that we know our friends won’t forget the important events of our lives. We know that about them. It’s a unique event as friends seek to celebrate one another.

That’s what a birthday is ultimately. It’s a chance for others to celebrate that that person really exists and for a person to marvel the gift of their own existence on their own birthday. Each person who celebrates the birthday of another is saying “I am happy that you are a part of this world.” However, we do not just mean this world but rather our world. That somehow our paths got crossed.

Tomorrow, we begin an adventure together, but as I ponder it, it is true that everyday is an adventure. Friendship is a never-ending story that continues on into eternity. Each day is just writing another chapter of that story.

I think now of something a friend told me who loves the Lord of the Rings. It is of how Frodo and Sam see the end of their journey and wonder what tales will be told about them. Frodo plays the part of one of their children and says “You left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the Brave – I want to hear more about Sam. Frodo wouldn’t have gotten far without Sam.” Sam sees him as mocking and says that he was being serious about the stories. Frodo says he was serious about his own comment as well.

This is friendship. Friends can do well on their own, but when they come together, both are for the better. There is no one first and then the other. Friends fight side by side. Happy birthday my friend, and thank you for being by my side.

God Over All?

Hello everyone. Today we continue our look at the doctrine of the Trinity moving to one of the texts that is covered in the great work of Murray J. Harris, Jesus as God. We’re in the book of Romans and tonight, we’re in the ninth chapter. Our main focus will be verse 5, but it gets built up to by verses 1-4 so we will have Romans 9:1-5.

1I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

Paul is speaking about his love for his brethren, the Israelites, and how they are the ones to whom the promises of God came. He wraps it up by saying that from them came even Christ and then surprisingly says “Who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

That seems odd to many people. Why would Paul suddenly have a reference directly using God in reference to Jesus here? For some, it is more likely that he is here referring to the Father instead of to the Son. Is that the case?

First off, the term “theos” in the NT does not always refer to the Father. It can refer to the Son and it can refer to pagan gods. The term can also refer to satan. It is by no means limited. When it is used of the Father however, it seems to more often take the role of a proper name, which is why Jesus is never called Theos when the term “Father” shows up.

More often than not, Jesus is referred to as Kurios, or Lord. This could be seen as a wise move on the part of the early church in distinguishing between the Father and the Son. I have been in dialogues with someone saying the New Testament never uses God in reference to a triune being. Let’s suppose that’s true. It would not counter my position at all. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was since Theos more often refers to the Father and Kurios to the Son.

Note also that as Harris points out, the main usage of Paul does not have to be the exclusive usage. Because Paul generally uses Theos to refer to the Father in the Trinity, it does not mean that he is obligated to do so every time.

Note also that this whole passage is about Christ. It is out of place to speak about, and from them is Christ, but don’t focus on him because God is over all blessed. For Paul who sees Christ as the greatest blessing to the world and that Israel was seen as despised and rejected at the time, it would make sense that he’d want to counter them being the lowliest of all by saying the blessing that came from them goes all the way to the top.

What does this passage tell us then? It tells us that Jesus is fully human in that he descended from the patriarchs. It also tells us that he is the Messiah. Furthermore, it gives him the nature of full deity by saying he is God over all. Finally, it says that he will be eternally praised. Thus, we have here one of the strongest statements of the deity of Christ in the New Testament.

That’s it for today! See you next time!