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No Fault Guarantee

Thursday, October 25th, 2012 | Author:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.   Jude 24 NASB

Blameless – This is a word that comes from the ritual of sacrifice.  It is amomous.  It means, “without a blemish or spot.”  It describes someone who has been declared “not at fault.”  It is the perfect word to use when we cry out, “Wait.  It’s not my fault!”  The only problem is that when it comes to personal sin, it is always our fault.  So this word is also connected to another picture.  It reminds us of the sacrificial lamb of the Passover, an animal that had to be without external or internal impurity.  Yeshua’s sacrifice was the fulfillment of that Passover pattern.  He was the completely pure substitute sacrifice for our sins.  Now Jude tells us that because of this sacrifice, God will enable us to stand in His presence as if we were completely pure.  Because of Christ, we will be considered “not at fault.”

The biblical text divides all humanity into two categories; just two, no more.  We are either guilty or blameless.  Standing guilty before God is not a happy affair.  Isaiah recognized his unworthiness when he encountered God.  He shouted out, “Woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips.”  In the presence of God, the prophet Isaiah recognized he was guilty and if a man chosen to be the prophet expresses that kind of unraveling, how do you suppose we would fare?  We are all unclean.  The stain of sin carries severe penalties.  But Jude tells us that there is another way.  It doesn’t happen because we erase all those impure things from our lives.  Our attempt to “make up” for our failures doesn’t erase anything.  We can’t erase past disobedience and present rebellion.  We are declared blameless because Christ makes us blameless.  And, just like the Passover lamb, the only way that we can be made blameless is for something to die in our place.

Won’t it be nice to be blameless some day?  Won’t it feel good to know that all those bad things we did, all those nasty words we said, all those hurts we caused will all be cleaned up and washed away?  Can’t you just imagine how liberating that will be to stand before God without fear?  But wait!  That has already happened.  Being blameless before God is the status we already have the moment we turn life over to the Messiah.  He didn’t die so that some day in the far distant future we can come before God as pure.  He died so that we can be pure now!  Yes, I know, those old memories of terrible deeds still linger.  But they are just memories, not present reality.  We don’t have to hide from God anymore.  We can stand up and say, “Father, here I am, all cleaned up because of your Son.  Use me the way You wish.”

If you know the liberating power of being clean, you have no fear in front of God.  You can enjoy His presence.  He welcomes you.  You get His “no fault” guarantee.

Topical Index:  blameless, amomous, no fault, Jude 24

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Delbert McClinton

Wednesday, February 08th, 2012 | Author:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy  Jude 24  NASB

Blameless - The English translation comes from a combined Greek word (amomous) meaning without spot or blemish.  There are connections between this word and non-Christian sacrificial rituals, but in the Christian context, the word is a metaphor for the absence of any internal imperfection.  In the New Testament, it is used to describe the sacrifice of the Messiah as the Lamb of God.  It is also found in the legal context implying that the one who is blameless is legally innocent.

In this verse, the word is applied to God’s children, followers of the Messiah.  It is important to note that this verse places the power and agency in God’s hands.  In other words, we who believe are not found blameless because we earned that status by believing.  We are blameless because God takes the active role in sustaining our right standing before Him.  Just as God counted Abraham righteous, so He counts us righteous.

Everyone who has experienced the life-changing power of Yeshua HaMashiach knows the truth of this verse.  Blame is a word that describes how we felt over and over while the sin ruled our lives.  Blameless describes a condition that is a gift to us.   But it is not our doing.  If we think that once we accept the lordship of Yeshua we somehow get an injection of more “will power” to put us on the straight and narrow, we will soon discover failure again.  If Yeshua is to be our antidote for sin, we will have to take the dosage daily, hourly, even moment by moment.  We do not maintain our walk because we take control of our sinful behavior.  That is the pathway to relapse and destruction.  How many times did we think that all we needed was another church service, another prayer or another commitment.  Now we see that we were still trying to tell God how He should fix the problem. We had not given Him the right to control life even in the middle of our religious “will power.”

We are kept purified because we have allowed God’s grace to keep us from stumbling.  We have surrendered to His will and it is by His will that we can stand forgiven and free.  Submission and surrender mean that we stop telling God how to fix us.  We just let Him do what He wants.

Delbert has it right.  

Topical Index:  amomous, blameless, Jude 24

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Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 | Author:

as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. Philippians 3:6  NASB

Blameless – If we were to use the Josh McDowell technique of “Evidence That Demands a Verdict,” we would have to say that Paul was either a liar, a lunatic or saying something that we can’t imagine to be true.  We could throw in the extra possibility that he was simply theologically in error, but since we want to hold that his words are inspired, that would be a hard one to defend.  Do you think Paul was a liar?  Was he telling the truth when he said he was blameless according to the standard of righteousness found in the Torah?  The Greek word isn’t ambiguous.  It’s amemptos, literally “without fault.”  The same word is used to describe Zacharias and Elizabeth (Luke 1:6) and the divine intention for every believer (Philippians 2:15).  Obviously, human beings can be amemptos.  (By the way, the word is only used five times in the New Testament and none of these are about Yeshua).  The Hebrew parallel is naqiy, “innocent,” “clean” or “free from blame” (e.g. Genesis 44:10 and Job 22:19).  In either language, this is not something we readily attribute to ourselves.  So, once again, was Paul lying?  Was Luke?  It seems that answer must be “No.”  Whatever amemptos means, Paul and Luke are using it correctly.  Men and women not only should be blameless, they can be blameless.

Wait!  What about “in sin did my mother conceive me” and all that Augustinian-Lutheran guilt and sinful nature stuff?  Will we quickly rush to the solution that Paul is describing himself before he realized his true spiritual condition and his need for Christ?  Was Paul just delusional?  He thought he was blameless but he was really blinded by his sinful nature.  But what about Luke?  Were Zacharias and Elizabeth also insane?  Maybe we need to rethink where this is going.  Maybe our idea of “blameless” has been influenced by factors we don’t find in the Scriptures.

What does it mean to be blameless?  The Hebrew suggests that naqiy means free of liability for an offense (innocent).  The word is used to describe proper conduct in normal life as well as ritual purity.  It involves both ethical and moral immunity.  In other words, it is the human condition that does not need forgiveness.  But didn’t Paul himself argue that everyone sins and deserves punishment?  Didn’t Paul proclaim that everyone needs forgiveness?  Then how is it possible for him to say that he was blameless?  Perhaps there is a difference between the righteousness found within the Torah and the idea of sin expressed in Romans 3:23.  Could it be that even if I keep all of the Torah I am still in need of a savior?  Could it be that my blameless state with regard to executing God’s instructions doesn’t actually have anything to do with my need for grace?  Could it be that Torah-keeping is not an alternative to God’s grace but rather directions for living that any man can actually fulfill?  Then I could this day proclaim that I too am blameless as to the Law, but I still stand in need of His favor.  Maybe, just maybe, we have so mixed up the needed distinctions that we no longer believe men can actually do what God wants.  Wouldn’t that be a convenient excuse?

Topical Index:  blameless, amemptos, naqiy, Philippians 3:6, Romans 3:23, sinful nature

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Hebrew Perfection

Thursday, January 13th, 2011 | Author:

The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7

Perfect – What is perfect?  We usually think of perfection in mathematical terms.  So perfect means without error.  100% correct.  No mistakes.  This Greek orientation leads to dilemmas for verses like Matthew 5:48.  We can understand how God can be perfect, but how can God expect me to be without error or mistakes?  It seems impossible.

We need to start over.  The Hebrew concept of perfect is not the same as the mathematically-based Greek view.  Here the word is tamiym.  It means “blameless or complete.”  Over half of its occurrences in Scripture describe an animal used in sacrifice.  Let me assure you that there is no animal on earth that is without error.  The category of correctness doesn’t apply to animals.  To be perfect for a sacrifice, the animal needs only to be without spot or blemish.  This standard is a moral one, not a cognitive one.  I might get every answer on the algebra test wrong and God would still count me “perfect,” as long as I am in alignment with His instructions.  Conversely, I might be the smartest, most correct person on earth (do I hear the name “Solomon” in the background?) and still be hopelessly imperfect in God’s eyes because I reject, ignore or disobey His Torah.

What is perfect?  The psalmist gives us the bedrock picture of perfection – God’s Torah.  He employs both meanings of tamiym in this statement.  First, God’s Torah is morally blameless.  There is nothing in His Torah that leads to sin or to ungodly actions, in front of Him or in front of other men.  Living according to Torah is the epitome of shalom – peace with God and peacefulness among men.  Secondly, God’s Torah is complete.  Everything I need to know about what really matters in life is in Torah.  Of course, that doesn’t mean Torah tells me how to balance my checkbook or find the quickest route to work or dozens of other trivial or not so trivial tasks in living.  But from a Hebraic perspective, Torah tells me everything that really matters – and what matters most of all is that my life is pleasing to God.  Think about that.  If my life is pleasing to God, does anything else really make a very big difference?  If my life is pleasing to God and God is sovereign over all life, don’t you think He will take care of me?  Yeshua had something to say about birds that applies to this kind of dependence.

The consonant root of tamiym is Tau-Mem-Mem.  Its derivatives are translated “integrity,” “complete,” “perfect” and “entirely.”  It implies soundness, full health, what is completely truthful and what is ethically upright and undefiled.  Notice these ideas are found in activities.  What is truthful meets God’s standards in speech.  What is upright meets His standards in behavior and thought.  What is pure meets His standards in ritual. Torah is the complete edition of God’s standard, not the abridged handy pocket guide for successful living.  That’s why the study of Torah is one of the three most important spiritual disciplines of Judaism.  Of course, the purpose of studying Torah is not the collection of information.  It is the restoration of the “soul,” as we shall see.

Topical Index:  perfect, tamiym, blameless, Psalm 19:7

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Fill Me Up

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | Author:

Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Psalm 26:1

In My Integrity – Would you be able to make this request of the Lord? Can you honestly say you have walked with integrity and trusted God without wavering? That scares me. I know myself too well. So, how could David say such things? His life seems to have had its own share of disobedience. Is he so much different than I am?

When I read this verse in English, I stagger under the implications. How can I expect God to vindicate me? I go away discouraged and disillusioned. I’ll never make it. My sins overwhelm me. But when I read this verse in Hebrew, things change.

The Hebrew word here is tom. It’s an unusual word because it apparently comes from two distinct verbal roots. The first meaning of tom is to see something come to an end. You will find the word in Ezekiel 15:5, for example. Basically, it means to be completed or finished. It is commonly translated in Greek with teleios. That’s important because of the connection to Matthew 5:48. You’ll see why in a minute.

The second verbal root of this word describes moral uprightness or blamelessness. It’s used in the sacrificial system to describe the offering brought to the temple. Sometimes it’s applied to human beings, as in Song of Songs 5:2 where it describes the faultless beauty of the beloved. Of course, there is the very strange object called the thummin (Exodus 28:30), a word that comes from this same root.

What’s important about this word is that it is essentially ambiguous. You can only tell which meaning should be used from the context. Sometimes it’s about completion; sometimes it’s about blamelessness, and there’s no way to tell which one unless we examine the context of the passage.

David certainly uses the word in the sense of blameless. He claims that he has faithfully trusted the Lord and that his manner of life is blameless. Wait! What about Bathsheba (and a few other notable events)? David’s use of this word must mean his manner of life is in the direction of God, not that he has never fallen along the way. In other words, he has walked with integrity because he has not allowed sins to permanently derail him. He knows repentance and forgiveness, and on that basis, he claims blamelessness. David stands before the Lord a forgiven sinner, not a faultless saint.

Now let’s look at that difficult passage in Matthew 5:48. Have you ever wondered why the Greek translation of Yeshua’s reference to Leviticus is so messed up? Leviticus doesn’t say, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It says, “Be holy for I am holy.” How could the translator make such an enormous error? Why did he use teleios instead of agathos? Do you suppose he chose this Greek word because Yeshua used the Hebrew word tom in His commentary on the Leviticus passage? If He did, then the inherent ambiguity would allow the translator to choose either teleios or agathos and still be correct. Did Yeshua tell us to be fully complete or to be blameless – or maybe both at the same time? Maybe walking toward the Lord with a forgiven heart is the same as being complete. What do you think?

Topical Index: tom, blameless, complete, teleios, agathos, Psalm 26:1, Matthew 5:48

For today’s picture, click here – Antigua, Guatemala

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M for D

Monday, May 04th, 2009 | Author:

I have set YHWH always before me, for He is at my right hand. I shall not be shaken. Psalm 16:8

Always – If you read this word in Hebrew you’ll notice something right away. Because Hebrew is written only in consonants, many times a small change makes a very big difference. The rabbis noticed, for example, that rearranging the consonants often reveals another facet of the message (remember the bricks?). Sometimes all it takes is a different vowel (remember engraved?). Here we notice that a change in the last letter produces a significant enhancement to our understanding. You see, in Hebrew the word for always is tamiyd (the consonants are Tav-Mem-Yod-Daleth). Only two other words have the same series of beginning consonants. They are tamiym and tummiym. The first word means blameless or complete. Half of its occurrences are about sacrifice (a blameless offering). With respect to time, it refers to a complete period like a day or a year or Sabbath weeks. Of course, it also describes God’s ways which are blameless and perfect. The second word describes a very unusual vehicle for determining God’s will. We usually translated this into English as Thummin. It had something to do with casting lots but after the exile, it disappeared from Hebrew ritual.

Only three words. Now, how does each one help us understand the others? “I have set YHWH always before me. I have set His blameless ways before me. I have asked for His guidance in order to do His will. I am complete in His ways. At my right hand, He provides my direction. I have made myself a sacrifice before Him. He will complete me.”

David is a Hebrew poet par excellence. His facility with the language is powerful. Don’t you suppose that he might have recognized all these interesting connections with a word that has only two other combinations in the entire language? If he did, isn’t it nice to know that setting God before us involves perfection, blamelessness, completion, direction, sacrifice and holiness? Simply by changing a D to an M, another layer of meaning is revealed. What an exquisite way for David to include so many other concepts! But what would you expect from an inspired poet?

Set YHWH always before you. All the rest follows.

Topical Index: always, tamiyd, tamiym, tummiym, blameless, complete, lot, Psalm 16:8

 

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