And You

Ephesians 1:17 - 2:3
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Paul's words transition out of direct prayer and into teaching, his words drift from asking into explaining. Paul describes exactly what happened when God worked His mighty power. It does remain part of the overall prayer but I think from God's perspective, God knows what He did in Messiah when He was raised from the dead. But we don't fully know that. Almost as if Paul is saying, "Lord I pray that they would be able to see what I've seen." Paul's words then quietly start to become part of the answer to the prayer. The focus shifts from direct requests to details. And in chapter two verse one, the focus shifts entirely off of God and onto us, to me: "And you."

"And you." Simple yet awesome words! They pull in the entirety of my union with Messiah. Do I understand, do I see the details of exactly what happened when Messiah was raised from the dead? And you. Obviously I wasn't physically raised from the dead, so resurrection is only true in me through my union with Messiah. Paul provides additional detail in Romans chapter 6, verse 5 for example: "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection." The usage of "if" in that verse, taking into account Paul's rhetorical line of questioning in that chapter, I understand to be "since". Since I have been united together with Him!

"And you." I was dead. Dead, dead, dead. As dead as the physical body of Jesus in the tomb. Dead in sin. Dead man walking. Not just dead, but also a strange zombie-like creature. Staggering around seemingly alive, but not really, just infused with the animating influence of the age, driven by darkness, pushed around by the prince, the chief rebel. But no more! I see all of this as part of the amplifying detail of the request that Paul mentioned earlier. Paul asked God that I would know the magnitude of His power toward believers. Paul then gave a glimpse of the details of that: I need to know that the awesome greatness of that power is based on what He worked in Messiah. And what did He work in Messiah? Yes He physically raised Jesus from the dead, yes He exalted Jesus to the position of absolute authority in all the universe. But He also worked me into Messiah, he also worked every believer into Jesus. He worked into Messiah the capacity for the full gathering together into One.

"And you." Paul's prayer is that I know Him. I know what He worked in Messiah when He raised Him from the dead. I know His calling has given a pregnant expectation. I know what is in His people, the abundance of the radiating glory of His inheritance in His chosen ones. I know the magnitude of His power. But Lord, if I don't see myself as fully in Him, as fully resurrected as Jesus, then I need to keep asking for the Spirit of wisdom and uncovering. If I'm unable to live confidently un-zombie-like, then I need to see more of Him. Me in Him, as fully resurrected as Him, is included in the knowledge of Him.

The Fullnes Of Him

Ephesians 1:22 - 23
And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Paul states matter of factly as past tense accomplished: all things are under the feet of Jesus. Just as equally certain and as fully accomplished as the resurrection. And just as equally certain and fully accomplished is God's view of the Community. It is His Body. It is the fullness of Him. By definition. It is what it is.


Hebrews 2:8-9
"You have put all things in subjection under His feet." For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus...

And painfully, just as certain as the resurrection, and just as matter-of-factly stated in the book of Hebrews is God's reminder: "But now we do not yet see all things put under him." Accomplished but not yet visible.

But we see Jesus. Or do we? What are the implications of the accomplished but not yet visible contradiction. How have we compartmentalized the true but not visible? If I'm confused by that or if I've compartmentalized it off into an Alice In Wonderland fantasy funhouse, I might not be seeing Jesus either. I might have Jesus locked away in the Santa Clause category. And I probably won't be seeing the Community of His Body as His fullness either.

The Community, His Body, is His fullness. There are deep doctrinal wells to dig and theological tricks that can be played with this. But I don't think the heart of the matter is captured by saying that the only meaning of His Body being His fullness is that the mystical Body of Christ universal is filled with or will be full of His presence. Any more than saying my body is filled with me. My body is me. It is my fullness, it's all I've got. I'm not capable of functioning in this visible realm somewhere else in another form. Yes I understand people have described out of body experiences. But the body is my fullness in the sense that I am a unified integrated whole of flesh-spirit. I understand the need to identify body-soul-spirit separations. I understand the need to emphasize that our true identity is not based on our physical being only (nor our stunningly good looks). But we need to be careful not to drift too far toward platonic or gnostic exaggerated divisions. The living creature, the thing alive that God created and that bears His image is flesh-spirit. It is a body in this visible realm. All other living creatures lack the breath of God. Angels lack the dusty wrapping of flesh. So until Jesus wraps up visible reality and I burst forth in a new body of glory, I am a spirit-flesh experiment, part animal, part spirit, all image of God. For now, for here, my body is my fullness. I must glorify God in my body, not while my consciousness is in a trance.

The Community, His Body, is His fullness. It is His flesh-spirit experiment in this visible realm. Yes His Spirit works outside of, independent of His Body. And no we are not Jesus. And Yes Paul describes in Ephesians chapter four the process of building up the Body until it comes to a completion reflecting the stature of the fullness of Messiah. There is the growth of equipping children to become men, of every part learning to work effectively. But the Community is His Body, it is His fullness. For here, for now.

Not In My Family

I read a couple of articles recently describing living conditions in the Middle Eastern city-state of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is a very young, very modern city built (and still under construction) by extremely poor foreign workers imported primarily from African and Asian countries. These workers face hellish living conditions and have become a sort of permanent underclass, hidden in plain sight. Here are some excerpts:

"The people who really built the city can be seen in long chain-gangs by the side of the road, or toiling all day at the top of the tallest buildings in the world, in heat that Westerners are told not to stay in for more than 10 minutes. They were conned into coming, and trapped into staying.

In their home country Bangladesh or the Philippines or India these workers are told they can earn a fortune in Dubai if they pay a large upfront fee. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them, and they are told their wages are a tenth of the rate they were promised.

They end up working in extremely dangerous conditions for years, just to pay back their initial debt. They are ringed-off in filthy tent-cities outside Dubai, where they sleep in weeping heat, next to open sewage. They have no way to go home. And if they try to strike for better conditions, they are beaten by the police.

I met so many men in this position I stopped counting, just as the embassies were told to stop counting how many workers die in these conditions every year after they figured it topped more than 1,000 among the Indians alone."

As the workers live in virtual slavery, foreign nationals (mostly from European and other Western nations) and Dubai citizens either revel in their absolute control or nervously look the other way while enjoying the fruit of the doomed lives. Young women, imported as household maids, are doomed. Young men, imported as construction workers, are doomed. Doomed to years of enslavement in the economic households of foreign businesses, years of enslavement in the physical households of foreign families. Are there chains and whips, shackles and torture? No, not really. Those are not really needed when the state, its police and court systems, are the instruments of coercion and control. What is so bad about this situation, say in comparison to other examples of the modern human slave trade? Where is the stomach turning evil? It is in the conspiracy of silence among those enjoying the Dubai lifestyle, many of whom I'm sure would claim to be Christian, or if not Christian, all of whom would claim to be civilized.

The question started going through my mind as I lay awake this morning: what if one of those workers were part of my family? Would I allow days, weeks, months to slip by knowing that my son or daughter was being held against their will? I'm reminded of stories splashed all over U.S. national media of those who have lost a family member to kidnapping or had a family member go missing overseas. The affected family's life changes in an instant. They drop everything. All thoughts now revolve around finding, recovering, freeing the son, daughter, sister, brother. As I lay thinking, the phrase "not in my family" kept coming to mind.

What would I allow to happen to a family member? Where would I draw the line saying, life has now changed? What would it take for every waking moment to be devoted to the recovery of the lost? In reality, my family lines are drawn so close that I would probably risk economic devastation (meaning drop everything right now) to rescue my wife, daughter or son. The closest ties, the blood relatives, those physically and emotionally dependent, are first in line: the "immediate" family. There would be a point reached, a line crossed where continuing to build a personal future no longer mattered. There could be no personal future that included my own captivity nor a future that included the captivity of someone essentially part of me. I would probably have to prepare for a day or two, perhaps take a week to get things in order (so as not to risk the safety of the immediate family) before dropping everything to help rescue a mother, father, brother, or sister. More distant relatives would probably get as much assistance as possible without risking my own economic devastation.

But yet the thought keeps coming back, "not in my family." Whose family? What am I a part of? What "immediate" tie binds me to another person? My own blood of course. The bonds of the marriage covenant with my wife. The blood of Jesus. Or does it? How tightly am I bound, how closely am I related to others by the blood of Jesus? There is the "right" answer to that question and then there is the real answer. The right answer is one that I could repeat as a doctrinal statement, could recite from memory, could regurgitate as an empty platitude. I could murmur something to the effect of the body of Christ, members of one another, one member hurts, all hurt, etc. Then there is the "real" answer. The real answer would be one that I could repeat as a lifestyle, could recite from experience, could reconstruct by personal example. Practically speaking the bonds are to those who look like me, with those who agree with me, among those who are me. The real answer is that my family ties, the bonds that would cause me to risk life and limb, are with myself and with small short distance extensions of myself.

The real answer is that practically speaking, I no more see myself as part of the same family as a teenaged Ethiopian girl who loves Jesus but is trapped in Dubai as I do to the Queen of England. That sounded confusing, let me rephrase it. Practically speaking, I have tighter bonds of care and concern for our family dog than for the family of God. Yes, the problem is me. For a host of complex reasons (ok that is a cop out, it is because I'm emotionally lazy) I have not worked at keeping up close emotional ties to my own extended physical family. But even with a certain emotional distance, I would go to great effort to rescue a physical family member.

But yet the thought keeps coming back, "not in my family." My wrestling with these thoughts is touching on a deeper issue. I've been lazy in my relationship with the family of God. I imagine that Jesus would be just as offended as I would be if someone were to suggest to me that the blood tie that binds my immediate family together is a symbolic, metaphorical (or even better, theological) concept. That sounded confusing again, let me rephrase it. Practically speaking, I think disciples of Jesus have tighter bonds of care and concern for the family dog than for the family of God. That sounded offensive, let me rephrase it. I think most Christians' practical notion of the family of God extends only to the social construct of a weekly church meeting of people who all look basically alike. I think most Christians are comfortable having relegated the idea of being in the family of God bound together by the blood of Jesus to nothing more then theological symbolism. Yes they might say, as Christians we are part of the family of God, but it is a mystical, symbolic, universal truth. No the Father would say, the Spirit of adoption crying out daddy in each one of my children is a real and practical as well as spiritual and invisible bond.

Not in my family. What do I allow to happen to Jesus' family members before the line is crossed? When do I finally decide that any future that includes family members being enslaved and entrapped is no future at all? No I'm not pleading for increased missionary zeal to rescue the spiritually lost. That is a different topic. I'm hearing the Lord Jesus say now, physically, in the real world "not in my family". Not in my family should there be sons and daughters physically enslaved and abused. Not in my family should there be brothers and sisters ignoring the actual physical captivity of their own family.

What would such a future be like, facing every day knowing there is an immediate family member in captivity? You would either be spurred to tireless action or numbed to deaden the emotional pain. Make your choice: spurred to action or numbed to death. Ah... I see it has already been made. Re-choose then, you're not in a dentist's chair, numbness does you no good. Numbness is in fact deadly.

Family Of Dog

Recently I was in a courtroom participating in a judge's mentoring program. Along with four other men, I was presented as a role model and mentor to a young man in a bit of trouble with the state authorities. Four typical American men; church going, middle class. Solid men, each with a history of giving out of themselves, giving into the life of others. Lost young men, each starting to establish a history of hurt and confusion.

Earlier that morning I went out to breakfast with my son. There were three men at a table near us having, from what we overheard, one of their regular breakfast meetings together. They were Christian men and by all appearances, solid, typical American Christians: church-going middle class. But interestingly enough, one of the men was having an issue with his college aged son. The son seemed to have no clear goals, no ambition, and had been somewhat aimlessly drifting through life. While discussing that, their conversation touched on the possibility of military service, its pros and cons. What struck me was the narrowness of the viewpoint. There was an assessment of the risk (avoid the army or marines, you might have to actually go to war) and a discussion of the benefits (you get paid while being trained in a skill, free college tuition). But there was no sense of any passion for a cause, no fire of a mission, no giving up of selfish goals in pursuit of a greater cause. In fact the whole tone of the discussion seemed to be an avoidance of risk. What a tragedy. A young man from a family of believers with no goals, no identification with the mission of Jesus, no burning passion to right the world's wrongs, no sense of calling to anything.

There must be a motivational force, there must be a piercing call that penetrates the fog of confusion and the cocoon of selfishness. What tribe, what family, what cause could pull otherwise aimless youth into something that clears the fog and breaks open the cocoon? Hey, I know--it is the family of dog. We should start a movement called the Family of Dog. What does dog stand for? I don't know, just something other than god. Even though that is what we are, calling yourself the family of god sounds cultish. Family of dog sounds like a joke, meaning you could get away with all sorts of crazy, irreverent behavior while simultaneously living with passion and zeal. And maybe actually accomplishing something.

Family of dog, the pack. But the word dog has to stand for something, doesn't it? D for dead. O for or. G for God. Family of dead or god. Family of those who see absolutes: life is either dead or God. In this family, only the Big Dog (you know, Jesus) gets to rule. All others submit.

Or the word dog doesn't stand for anything. It just means dog. The family of dog. Strip away all other convention and formality. In a world that could collapse at any moment, where the poles could shift at any point, what should a young person live for? Or worse yet, in a world where there is no point, why even get out of bed in the morning? What really is the point of living if not to satisfy your flesh right now. Reject all pretense, strip off all external packaging, get to the real truth. In the family of dog, it doesn't matter what you look like, are you part of the pack? Are you enforcing the freedom of a new world order: the Order Of Dog. What is the Order Of Dog? It is the pack protecting its young, the old, the feeble. It is the pack protecting itself from predators. In fact, the pack itself is a predatory pack. But in this case, it hunts and take down predators. Its food is to do the will of the Big Dog. All the while having incredible fun together. Family of Dog. Order of Dog.

We are not a culture very familiar with the sheep and pastoral symbolism of Israel at the time of Jesus. But we are familiar with dogs. In fact, some large percentage of Americans probably count a dog as their most intimate companion. Maybe there is a divine reason for the domestication of dogs, for the intertwining of the species. Why not use the dog, lets say the African Wild Dog, as a vehicle for spiritual symbolism? Here goes. Theology of Dog.

1. The African Wild Dog reproduces at any time of year.

2. Females will disperse from their birth pack at 14 - 30 months of age and join other packs that lack mature females.

3. Males typically do not leave the pack they were born to.

4. In the African Wild Dog, a group of related males form the core of the pack.

5. The females depend on access to males that will help to rear offspring.

6. In a typical pack, males outnumber females by a factor of two to one.

7. Only the dominant female is usually able to rear pups.

8. Packs do not over-extend themselves by attempting to rear too many litters at the same.

9. Mature members of the pack including males may be left to guard the pups while the mother joins the hunting group.

10. There are separate male and female hierarchies in the pack. Gender groups will split up if either of the alphas die.

11. In the female group, the oldest will have alpha status over the others, so a mother will retain her alpha status over her daughters.

12. In the male group, the youngest male or the father of the other males will be dominant.

13. If two loner separate-gender groups meet, if unrelated they can form a pack together.

14. Dominance in a pack is established without blood-shed, as most dogs within a group tend to be related to one another in some way, and even when not this can occur.

15. The pack has a submission-based hierarchy, instead of a dominance based one. Submission and nonaggression is emphasized heavily, even over food they will beg energetically instead of fight. This is likely because of their manner of raising huge litters of dependent pups, so if one individual is injured the entire pack would not be able to provide as much.

16. The African Wild Dog hunts in packs. It is a cursorial hunter, meaning that it pursues its prey in a long, open chase. Nearly 80% of all hunts end in a kill. Members of a pack vocalize to help coordinate their movements.

17. After a successful hunt, hunters regurgitate meat for those that remained at the den during the hunt, such as the dominant female and the pups. They will also feed other pack members, such as the sick, injured, the very old that cannot keep up, or those who stayed back to watch the pups.

Ok, no real theology here, but it just drips with spiritual symbolism. At least I think so. At heart we are a submission based predatory pack; we have huge numbers of dependent pups; we protect and provide for the pack's young, sick, and elderly; we reproduce any time, all the time. Or we ought to be those things. Sure, some dog lifestyle doesn't fit, I've conveniently ignored those aspects. But in Jesus, we've become hunters, we are a predatory pack, not preying on the innocent but on the predator of the innocent.

Hebrews 2:14 - 15
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Ecclesiastes 9:4
But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Repentance

A. The Basis for Understanding Repentance

The Great Commission

Repentance is part of the Great Commission, the final instructions of the resurrected Lord, as recorded in Luke.

Luke 24:44 - 49
Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Instructions to Paul
Repentance is part of Jesus' initial set of instructions to Paul.

Acts 26:14 - 20
I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Repentance Is a Foundational Principle

Hebrews 5:12, 6:1
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God;
...
Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.

Notes:
1. Law, Prophets, Psalms (or writings) are three major divisions of Hebrew Scriptures. All mention of Messiah must be fulfilled.

2. Jesus opened the minds of the disciples allowing them to understand the Scriptures, and then lays the foundation for what has happened and what will soon happen: it is written and it must happen.

3. Repentance and remission (meaning release and freedom as in Luke 4:18, which is Isaiah 49:8) of sins should be preached (meaning to proclaim, to announce also as in Luke 4:18). In the New Covenant a disciple is the one who "preaches". A disciple is not all "preachy" as in you should do this, you should do that from the "I'm right, you're wrong perspective"; but simply announcing: this is what has happened, these things are now true. And yes that does include, "you should now change your mind and you must now change your way."

4. There is an underlying process at work: things that are written are being fulfilled. Things stated by God to be true, but not yet visible are becoming visible. Disciples are witnesses of that awesome fact. Disciples are not under a crushing burden of being solely responsible nor are they passive observers. Disciples are participating witnesses joining in the intent of God to accomplish His plan. Words that are written down (the plan of God, reality from God's perspective), disciples are now announcing and witnessing the results.

5. We must get behind words wrapped in religious or institutional meaning: minister means servant, preach means to announce, gospel means good news.

6. Paul is sent to Gentiles to open their eyes. Eyes must be opened in order for them to turn: darkness to light; from power (authority, legal dominion) of Satan to God.

7. Jesus talked to Paul in Hebrew. Become familiar with "Hebrew-isms". Lots of indirect references to God (the prodigal son said, I've sinned against Heaven; modern observant Jews often refer not to God but to ha-shem, "the name") and His dwelling (the mountain, Zion, the city of God), lots of hinting back to Hebrew Scriptures, lots of literary parallelism.

8. Repentance is one of the first principles (elements, molecular building blocks) of the oracles (sayings) of God. It is one of the elementary teachings of Messiah: the first, one of the starting points of the word of Messiah.

B. Foundation in the Hebrew Scriptures

Ezekiel 18:30 - 32
"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"

Jeremiah 18:5 - 10
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.

Notes:
1. There are two main concepts of repentance used in the Hebrew Scriptures. One refers primarily to men: to turn, to change your direction, change the way you're walking. The second is used of both God and men: to repent, to feel sorry, to sigh deeply, breathe strongly, a change of heart, a change of mind.

2. God can feel deeply sorrowful, can change His mind, and can have a change of heart. Men can feel deeply sorrowful, can change their mind, can have a change of heart. But only men must change their way.

3. God to men: repent, change your direction, change your way, turn back to me and live. God about Himself: If you turn, I will relent (repent, change my mind).

4. What does it mean for God to repent?

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

Genesis 6:6
And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

The passage from Genesis indicates the Lord was sorry (the Hebrew word is repented). The Lord changed his mind? That appears contradictory given the passage from Numbers. But the wording in the book of Numbers pairs "lie" with "repent". From that perspective the verse is communicating that God does not change His mind with intent to deceive. A distinctive feature of the Hebrew Scriptures is literary or poetic parallelism: repeating the same thought twice using different words. For example, note the pattern in these five verses from Psalms 33 where the thought in the first half of the verse is repeated in the second half using different words (i.e. in verse 7 gathering water as a heap is parallel with laying up the deep in storehouses):

Psalms 33:6 - 10
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

5. God does repent. He communicates his deep sorrow over losing fellowship with man. He is grieved, is sorrowful over the loss of intimacy with his children. When men turn God communicates that His intent has changed. But He doesn't lie, intentionally try to deceive. He doesn't turn from going in a wrong direction, doesn't choose a new personal direction.

6. There is a key concept mentioned by both Ezekiel and Jeremiah: individual responsibility. In the coming day when men's hearts will change, one generation's twistedness will not be blamed on a previous generation.

Jeremiah 31:29 - 30
In those days they shall say no more: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.' But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Ezekiel 18:2 - 4
"What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge'? "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

C. Preparation for the New Covenant

Luke 1:17
It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Luke 3:3 - 6
And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT. EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE FILLED AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL BROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED PLACES SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT AND THE ROUGH WAYS SMOOTH; AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.' "

Malachi 4:5 - 6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Isaiah 40:2 - 10
"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD's hand Double for all her sins." The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." The voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever." O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!" Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him;

Notes:
1. An angel announces to Zechariah, father of John the Baptist: you will have a son, he will fulfill the prophet Malachi, and he is the one who causes the turning to begin. Luke indicates that John is fulfilling Isaiah: the one who prepares the way.

2. John's message is to announce an act of righteousness (immerse yourself) indicating that you are turning (repentance) for forgiveness and freedom from sin. In the preparing of the way, repentance is linked with a baptism associated with the forgiveness and cleansing from sin.

3. The point of turning is to make ready a people prepared: it emphasizes a people, a body. The turning, the preparation is not just for new or variations of religious ceremonial activity. It is for the New Covenant: new hearts, new spirit, what Paul later describes as the new creation.

4. Luke's translation includes the phrase "all people will see the salvation of God". This is similar to other name of God constructs found in the Scriptures: Elohim in saving form. Reading in English, we miss the Hebrew connection to the name of Jesus. Salvation of God in Hebrew is "yeshuat Elohim". The angel tells Mary to call the baby's name Jesus (yeshua) for he will save (yoshia). As Isaiah mentions: say to the cities of Judah: behold your God, the Lord God will come with a strong hand, His arm will rule. God in saving form is on the scene.

5. The things written that had to be fulfilled: get people out into the wilderness, announce that iniquity is pardoned; the time had arrived to turn back to God. That deep sorrow over sin, the change of heart, the turning of the direction of life is as if an impassible road (as in those mountains and valleys of the Fellowship of the Ring) has become a smooth and straight highway, a straight path into the heart of God. The Glory of God is being revealed.

6. The preparing of the way is get people ready, get a prepared people together, prepare the way. One of the earliest names for these people was "The Way":

Acts 9:1 - 2
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

D. Announcing the New Covenant

Mark 1:14 - 15
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

John 20:21 - 23
So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Notes:
1. Jesus announced the good news of the kingdom of God. It was written, it must now happen. The way is prepared, good news is announced. Behold your God, His arm will rule. The time is now to change your heart and mind; time to change the direction of your life.

2. The time is fulfilled, a people are ready, and a people are prepared. As Paul mentions to the Galatians, "in the fullness of time God sent forth the Son." The timing of God is linked to a ready people.

3. The people who are ready, they repent and believe: turning with a change of heart toward God and believing (the eye-popping realization) in the incredible good news: even though we've offended the majesty and holiness of the Father, we are reconciled, iniquity is pardoned, God in saving form has arrived, the Ruling Arm is here.

4. As the Father sent Jesus, disciples are sent: carriers of the announcement of forgiveness and release from sin. The word of God, things that are written are being fulfilled, coming to pass in visible reality. God said "light is" and "light is".

E. Applications in Acts

Acts 2:36 - 38
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:30 - 33
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him." When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.

Acts 11:15 - 18
And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."

Acts 26:20
but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Notes:
1. First announcement on the day of Pentecost: can you imagine the horror they felt, this Jesus you crucified is Lord and Messiah (the chosen one, the Coming One that all the Prophets were talking about). You killed him, your actions caused the most grotesque suffering imaginable. They were cut to the heart, saying what shall we do? Because they were experiencing the deep inner sorrow and remorse, there was a simple answer: repent, be baptized, and you will receive. You will receive: meaning we trust the work of the Holy Spirit. The proof is in the pudding: repentance is followed by receiving.

2. Second announcement: you murdered him. The hearers were horrified in a different way, this was a threat to the power structure.

3. God grants repentance that causes new life: not just change of direction, but permanent state of mind.

4. Men are commanded to turn but God grants repentance: paradoxical balance between the responsibility of men to exercise their will and turn and the sovereignty of God who grants repentance. For example:

2 Timothy 2:25 - 26
in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

5. Paul in summary: all people should change their mind, change the direction of their life, turning to God. There are always corresponding life changes that result: works befitting repentance.

F. Different Types of Repentance

Hebrews 6:1
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.

Acts 13:15 - 16, 26
And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.
...
"Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

Acts 14:9 - 17
This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet!" And he leaped and walked. Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."

Acts 17:2 - 3, 6 - 7
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ."
...
But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king Jesus."

Acts 17:18 - 31
because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

2 Corinthians 7:8 - 11
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!

Isaiah 53:4 - 6
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 40:2 - 3, 6 - 9
"Comfort, yes, comfort My people!" Says your God. "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned. The voice said, "Cry out!" And he said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever."

Notes:
1. People are in different places, at different starting points. Different changes of mind are required. What are we announcing to people?

2. To the Hebrews: repentance from dead works. The temple is no more, the sacrificial system is done. There is only one source for atonement.

3. To Jews and "God fearers" (Gentile pagans who have started the turn, those kinds of people starting to embrace the idea of Creator God): Jesus is Messiah, Jesus is the One, the only One.

4. To Jews and Gentiles: the resurrection of Jesus.

5. To Gentile pagans: turn from useless (empty) things to the living God. He's no longer allowing nations to walk in their own ways.

6. To Gentile pagans: the Lord of Heaven and Earth, you ought not to think the nature of God is like something shaped by man's devising.

7. To Gentile pagans: there is an appointed day of judgment. Summarized in

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

8. To all: there is a different king. Jesus is king, Jesus is the Lord.

9. To those who've become separated from communion with God, needing restoration to intimacy: godly sorrow, only a true remorse precedes a change of direction leading to change in actions.

10. To all: all have turned each to their own way. I recognize that the penalty for my selfishness (that "I am god, there is no other" nature) was placed on Jesus. It was because of my corrupt nature and twisted choices that the lamb was slain. I am included in that group that Peter announced to "you murdered Him."

11. To all: iniquity is pardoned, we are reconciled to the Lord. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4).

12. To all: All flesh is grass, the grass withers, flowers fade, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Hinted at by the prophets looking forward: when preparing the way, what shall I cry out? As the ones who continue to prepare the way, we're in the wilderness, in the desert announcing, reminding modern day practical pagans: on our best dressed days, in our most glorious accomplishments, we're only grass withering and fading away.

G. Repentance as a Permanent State of Mind

Genesis 2:25
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Genesis 3:8 - 10
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Romans 8:8, 20 - 21
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
...
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Ephesians 3:11
according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord

Ephesians 4:22 - 24
that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

2 Corinthians 3:14 - 18, 4:3 - 6
But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
...
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 25:1, 6 - 10
O LORD, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
...
The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day, "Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain.

Philippians 3:3 - 8
For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

2 Corinthians 11:3 - 4
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Revelations 21:2 - 5, 9 - 11, 22 - 23
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
...
"Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
...
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

Notes:
1. Man's original ability to enjoy unashamed and intimate communion: clothed in Glory of God, naturally and intimately aware of relationship with God.

2. The original act of disobedience broke that communion. All men now separated from the life of God, drained of the Glory, are empty. All of existence, all identity and meaning can now only be found "in the flesh" and those that are in the flesh cannot please God. Consider a giant art museum, filled with gaudy frames, with each frame self-aware and primping, but each frame is empty. Not what the Artist had in mind. The sum total is summarized in Ecclesiastes 1:2: vanity of vanities, all is vanity (emptiness).

3. All of creation is subject to corruption. Everything decays; everything rots away. The old man, all of its identity, its search for meaning, is based on the flesh only.

4. God has accomplished an eternal purpose, the plan He has always had in mind. The glorious liberty of children of God, summarized by Paul in Ephesians as all things being "gathered together into One, in Him", delivered from the bondage to corruption.

5. When you turn, when repentance is granted, a veil, a covering is lifted. With permanently unveiled faces we behold the Glory of God. Which God? Oh yes, that one, the One who spoke light into existence. He's the one who has spoken light into existence on the inside of us. It is on the mountain (Zion, the city of God, the dwelling place) that the covering is removed. The eternal purpose is accomplished, past tense. Yet there is the uncomfortable paradox of things stated in past tense, but "we do not yet see." But we can "taste the good word of God" and we can taste "the powers of the age to come."

6. The permanent state of repentance, the counting, the reckoning, the considering (coming to final conclusion in your mind) that compared to the surpassing value of knowing Jesus, compared to the treasure of communion with the Holy Spirit, everything else is excrement.

7. There is an initial but also a continual repentance, putting on of a renewed (young again) spirit of your mind. In the spirit of your mind, the putting on of the new creation, you are no longer a slave to sin. No longer is the deepest part of you, the deepest sense of your identity based on the emptiness of the flesh and subject to the stench of corruption.

8. Paul warns of the danger of a re-deception. The most critical danger for a believer is not false doctrine, but a re-turning, a going back again. Paul frames that as the mind becoming corrupted away from the simplicity (singleness, sincerity, generosity) and purity of Messiah.

9. The people prepared are the reward for the Lamb. The people prepared are the dwelling place of God.

The Spirit of Uncovering

Ephesians 1:15-18

Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling

Paul prays for certain people. He has become aware of those who are marked by faith in the Lord Jesus and who are known for having love for all the saints. First and foremost Paul is full of thankfulness, he's overflowing with gratitude for a people who trust Jesus and who in turn love those whom Jesus has called out to be His own.

The first item Paul mentions is that He wants God to give those people something. Paul starts by revealing his desires that are reflected in his own prayers. His first desire is a gift from God, that God would give something. That something is a spirit. All other items on Paul's prayer list in this section of scripture depend on that. In particular, the second item (the eyes of our understanding, what we see with our heart, being flooded with light) depends on God having first given a spirit. The flood of new understanding of the ways and purposes of God, the flood of seeing God Himself comes only after having first received a gift from God, a spirit. Paul wants others to receive a gift from God. Paul knows that people need a spirit that brings two things: wisdom and revelation. But the spirit doesn't really bring those, it is the spirit of those. God gives the spirit of wisdom, the personal presence of wisdom. God gives the spirit of revelation. Revelation means an uncovering, the personal presence of an uncovering, the presence of a ripping off of the covers.

Having received the gift of that spirit, then inside of you is the flow, the breeze, the moving currents of wisdom. Inside of you is the flow, the almost imperceptible yet also massive and moving energy of an uncovering. In you, in your thoughts and emotions, are movements. In you is the motion of a force that uncovers God to you. The spirit, the breath, a gentle breeze or even a brisk windy gust of an uncovering of God to you, but happening in you. The Spirit of Uncovering. Then the eyes of your understanding are flooded with light, with new awareness. Then you realize that you possess a new and confident expectation. Looking at yourself in the mirror you realize you are bursting, you're pregnant! There's something alive and growing inside you now, you are expecting! The Spirit of Uncovering has caused you to know the hope of His calling. You now have confident expectation as a general attitude. You realize you are one of those that the Master has called out to be one of His own. Using the words that Jesus mentioned about Paul: you are his chosen vessel. He needed you as a carrier. You hold Him and carry His presence, His Spirit. You have received the Spirit of Wisdom. You carry the Spirit of Uncovering.

For The Simple

Psalms 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.

Let's face it, in the Hebrew Scriptures that Jesus had in mind, being simple is not really a good thing. In the Psalms and Proverbs, a simple person is kind of like a fool or a dummy. In our age, being a dummy used to be really bad, now not so much. In fact, there is an abundance of information available for dummies. Seems like a dummy can even make a killing on the stock market or start a successful business. You name it, dummies can do it. Admitting you are a dummy is not all that bad. Similarly, being simple in our day and age is no longer such a bad thing; it is in fact a desirable lifestyle. And in the New Covenant Scriptures, believers are called to live with simple devotion to Jesus. The Apostle Paul mentions to the Corinthians that the minds of New Covenant believers should be marked by a simplicity of Jesus.

So we have a bit of a contradiction. A Proverbs simple person is not so good, the kind of person who lacks understanding. The Proverbs simple are the bad kind of naive, silly enough to be easily seduced, easily led astray, happily marching off to their own destruction. A New Covenant simple person on the other hand is pretty awesome, the uncluttered kind of person who values the worth of Jesus above all else. The New Covenant simple are the kind who walk in undistracted devotion to Jesus. Their eyes have been opened to the glory and majesty of the One whose eyes are a flame of fire, whose face shines like the sun in its full strength.

So is being simple good or bad? Yes. Both. But how can that be? How can both be true? Simple. Truth is a person, the glorious Person of Jesus. Truth is not a logical proposition nor is it an airtight philosophical system. Truth is the universal consciousness, the infinite, personal, creator God, the most elevated of the elevated consciousnesses, the most enlightened of the enlightened ones. I love those new-agey sounding terms! I especially love knowing that His name is Jesus!

Knowing that truth is a Person, leads us to a handy wisdom key. But I hate wisdom keys. Talking about wisdom keys makes you think of Jesus in a "think and grow rich" or "how to win friends and influence people" kind of way. It sort of tempts you to visualize Jesus doing public relations and coming up with a genius marketing plan.

So instead of a wisdom key, knowing that truth is a Person leads us to a view of the scriptures and even life itself that allows for reconciliation between two disagreeable statements. What is that view? Parallelism. Note that I'm not really talking about the literary parallelism of the poetry of the Hebrew scriptures here. It is parallel thinking, knowing that two streams of thought, seemingly contradictory, can both be "true" at the same time, where "true" with a small "t" means an accurate description of reality. Two statements that appear to contradict each other, at least to our peanut sized brain and pigeon holed eyes, can both be an accurate description of reality. Parallelism is a recognition that surface level inconsistencies exist in the visible world, uncomfortable incongruities that can only be resolved by seeing the Lord Jesus above all else. Only the Person of Jesus is the grand unified fact of all reality.

What is meant by parallelism? Parallelism is hinted at by verses of scripture that appear to say opposing things. For example, Proverbs 26:4 - 5 says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own eyes." Two verses, two opposite commands. The understanding comes from picking up the context implied by the other words in the verse, but two parallel universes nonetheless. In one world the fool shouldn't be answered, in another world the fool should be answered. As another example, Galatians chapter 6 verse 2 and then verse 5 says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ...For each one shall bear his own load." Another short section of scripture with two seemingly contradictory commands. In one world we bear one another's burdens, but in another parallel universe each person bears their own load.

Those are two very simple examples of course. They are not too difficult to understand by examining the context of the seemingly opposing verses. But they do illustrate the point that the scriptures contain statements that appear to be contradictory while both being true at the same time. Parallelism--only resolvable in the Person of Jesus.

Back to our verse: the entrance of the Word of God giving light, giving understanding to the simple. What kind of simple are we going to talk about? Both kinds. And who are we talking about? Us. We are them. We are both kinds of simple at the same time, the Proverbs foolish simple and the New Covenant Jesus simple. Yes we are His Body, His Bride, the dwelling place of the God in the Spirit, the fullness of Him who fills everything, the ones through whom the multifaceted wisdom of God will be displayed. And yet we are also the Galatians about whom Paul lamented, "You foolish people, who has bewitched you?" We are the Colossians about whom Paul wondered, "Why do you submit yourselves to ceremonial rules?" We are the Corinthians about whom Paul sarcastically states, "You tolerate being enslaved, being devoured, being taken advantage of; you allow folks to exalt themselves over you; you even put up with being smacked around on the face!" And sadly enough we are those about whom the Lord Jesus Himself said, "You have left your first love. You tolerate Jezebel, who leads my servants astray." Yes we live in two parallel worlds at the same time. We have met the foolish simple and it is us. Get used to it.

From a longer historical perspective, it appears to me that the Body of Messiah has, like a naive and witless youth, been led astray, been seduced. Proverbs chapter seven gives us the overview of a seduction. It's an exhausting mix of religious sounding language (She has peace offerings, she's paid vows), vainglorious flattery (She came to meet you, to seek your face, its all about you!), relentless pursuit (Lurking on every corner, she's everywhere!), and enticing offers of unique, you-might-never-get-this-chance-again pleasures (She has colored colorings, spicy spices, and spread beds). All targeting the poor boy whose understanding tank is empty.

Proverbs 7:7-18
And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, a young man devoid of understanding, passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. And there a woman met him, with the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious, her feet would not stay at home. At times she was outside, at times in the open square, lurking at every corner. So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him: "I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows. So I came out to meet you, diligently to seek your face, and I have found you. I have spread my bed with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love.

Is it incorrect to see ourselves in that narrative? I don't think so. I hear a genuine question from the Holy Spirit to Galatians everywhere, "How is it that you turn back to weak and worthless worldly principles? You seem to want to be enslaved all over again." I hear a valid concern from Pauls everywhere, "I fear for you that perhaps I have labored over you in vain." I sense an open question from the Master Himself, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith in the earth?" But even though the question is open, at the same time the case is closed--we know there is a guarantee of His inheritance. We know He has chosen ahead of time that there are people from every tribe and tongue who are conformed to the image of Messiah, who are the Bride.

But we remain in need for the Word to give us light, to give us understanding. Like a silly young man devoid of understanding, the Body of Messiah has been taking its fill of counterfeit love. It has embraced things that the Master Himself said "shall not be so among you." Proverbs chapter nine highlights an interesting parallelism of two voices calling out to the simple, two worlds wooing the hearer, two dramatically different outcomes, but both starting with the same single phrase, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here."

The foolish woman, calling out to the foolish simple:

Proverbs 9:14 - 18:
A foolish woman is clamorous; she is simple, and knows nothing. For she sits at the door of her house, on a seat by the highest places of the city, to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their way: "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here"; and as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, "Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant." But he does not know that the dead are there.

The simple are also being wooed by a different voice, the Wisdom of God.

Proverbs 9:1 - 6:
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; she has slaughtered her meat, she has mixed her wine, she has also furnished her table. She has sent out her maidens, she cries out from the highest places of the city, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding.

On one hand the foolish simple are seduced by a voice promising fulfillment and pleasure. On the other hand, the Wisdom of God calls out with the same cry, same words: "Hey simple, turn in here." On the one hand, having been seduced by counterfeit love wrapped in religious sounding language, the simple end up in the company of death. On the other hand, partaking in the bread and wine of the true Wisdom of the Creator, the simple end up in the sweetness of life. The call of death sounds oh so close to the call of life. But Wisdom is the call of the Creator, the cosmic Artist, the one whose fingerprints are all over the world that sparkles with color and beauty, the one who says, "I made you, you are my image. You sparkle with My beauty." Wisdom calls out to those addicted to stolen sweet water and secret bread, to those perhaps only just now realizing the slowly percolating stench of death: eat my bread and drink my wine and live.

We are the foolish simple, hearing the call of the Creator, beginning to partake of the true bread and wine, the true feast, beginning to turn away from the deadly embrace of counterfeit love. The opening of His Word gives light, it gives us understanding, it gives us the eye opening awareness to distinguish between death and life. At the same time we are the simple of the New Covenant, the Jesus simple, those who are hear the same call, "Hey you simple, turn in here." We do see in our day and age the insatiable appetite for more that comes from having tasted the real Bread of Life, the yearning that comes from having entered into the simplicity of Jesus. We are the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Jesus. We are the foolish simple yet we are also the Jesus simple. His word is light and understanding for the simple.