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Embodiment

Monday, May 06th, 2013 | Author:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.  This is the deceiver and the antichrist.  2 John 7  NASB

Flesh – The Greek word translated “flesh” is sarx.  It is quite clear that John believes Yeshua came en sarki, “in the flesh.”  And it is quite clear that John does not believe that Yeshua’s coming in the flesh made Him sinful.  He was a human being without sin.  He was in the flesh yet He did not sin.  Right?

John’s claim raises some important and difficult issues for the doctrine that being born human makes us sinful.  That doctrine is generally called “sinful nature.”  It teaches that ever since Adam, the very fact that we are born in the flesh means that we are born with a sinful nature that causes us to sin.  According to this idea, we are all sinners not because we each choose to sin but because we were born that way.  This is why the NIV chooses to translate that Greek sarx with “sinful nature,” not “flesh,” in Paul’s letters.  But this is a theological concept, not a linguistic one and the NIV translation hides this fact by pretending that Paul meant sinful nature when he used the word sarx.

Of course, if having flesh means being sinful, we have a big problem.  Yeshua had flesh.  This would imply that He was sinful.  Not acceptable.  So how do we get around this?  Well, we start by claiming that since He was the child of the Holy Spirit and not a human father, He did not inherit sinful nature from Joseph.  But what about Mary?  Yeshua was the product of two, not one.  So, the sinful nature issue still applies – as long as Mary was born in the flesh.  Voilá, the solution appears.  Catholicism invents the “Immaculate Conception,” the doctrine that Mary was miraculously prevented from sinning from the time of her conception.  In this way, she did not pass sin on to Yeshua because she too was without sin.  I suppose that helps explain why Mary is often held in higher regard than her son.  She is a woman who never sinned and she experienced sinless perfection first.  Doctrine trumps reason.  Of course, since there is no Scriptural evidence for this claim, it rests on the authority of the Church.  Protestants reject Mary’s sinlessness – but for some unexplainable reason, some Protestants continue to assert the notion of transferred sinful nature.  Perhaps Luther didn’t really leave the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church as far behind as we imagine.  He remained a descendant of Plato who actually originated the ideas behind this theological notion.

So when does sarx mean “sinful nature”?  Well, actually, never.  It only means “sinful nature” when I already embrace the doctrine from Plato.  Sarx just means “flesh,” but how you read it depends on you, not the text.  But you already figured that out, didn’t you?

This leaves us with the crucial question.  If Yeshua was fully human, then why didn’t He sin?  Don’t tell me it was because He was God.  That pushes you toward Docetism.  Don’t tell me it was because his mother didn’t have a sinful nature.  Tell me how the idea of sinful nature got there in the first place – and then ask yourself whether or not the story of Yeshua makes any sense if that doctrine is true.  Is He like us, or isn’t He?  Can we be like Him, or can’t we?  Is obedience up to you or is it all Adam’s fault?

Topical Index: sinful nature, sarx, flesh, 2 John 7, Immaculate Conception

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A Philosophy of Sin

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 | Author:

You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Romans 8:9 (NIV)

Sinful Nature – The NIV takes theological liberty with the Greek text by translating the Greek word sarx as “sinful nature” rather than “flesh.”  The translation committee had a prior theological understanding of the doctrine of sin and this understanding shaped the way they treated the word.  But the idea of sinful nature stands in contrast to the Hebraic concept of sin and since Paul (Sha’ul) is a Jewish rabbi, it is very unlikely that he would have adopted a view of sin that is not reflected in the Torah.  That means we need to reconsider our idea of sin if we have been influenced by the Greek-Christian view.

Abraham Heschel comments on this crucial revision.  “There is an awareness in many religions of a blindly working guilt, of sin as a situation in which man is begotten, of sin which is involved in man’s very being and stands far above the ability of the individual man.  Sin is not conceived as something that happens, but as something that is and  obtains regardless of man’s relationship to the gods.  ‘Since we are what we ought not to be, we also necessarily do what we ought not to do.  Therefore, we need a complete transformation of our mind and nature.  That is the new birth.’  . . . To the prophets, sin is not an ultimate, irreducible or independent condition, but rather a disturbance in the relationship between God and man; it is an adverb not a noun, a condition that can be surmounted by man’s return and God’s forgiveness.”[1]

Did you notice that the grammar changes the theology?  What’s the difference between an adverb and a noun.  An adverb expresses a relation of circumstance, manner or cause.  A noun expresses an actual state, substance or thing.  If sin is an adverb, it is about a relation between God and man.  If it is a noun, then it exists as an entity in itself.  Do you see the difference?  We often speak of sin as if it had independent existence, as if it were some kind of spiritual condition or substance.  In other words, my sin becomes a “thing,” something I have like my gender or eye color.  But in Hebrew, sin isn’t a thing.  It is a relation that occurs between God and me.  It happens.  It is a dynamic that changes with the actions involved.  My sin is not something that inheres in me.  It is a description of a present condition of my relationship.  When I am acting in accordance with the image of God, I experience right relation.  When I act against His character, I experience broken relation or sin.  Clearly, the experience of sin is directly connected to my actions (thoughts and deeds), not to my simply being alive.  Repentance is a return to actions that bring about right relation.   Sin happens.  So does righteousness.  It depends on what I am doing.

Obviously, God has something to say about the relationship between sin and righteousness.  That is another discussion.  For now we need to realize that sin is a function of behavior.  It is not a quantity that must be removed or a substance that I am born with.  It is all about what I do – each and every day.  God says He will never alter His willingness to bring me into right relationship with Him.  He will always accept my decision to turn to Him.  But I have to choose what I am going to do about His invitation.  What I choose to do either encourages the relationship or frustrates it.  Even James assumes this dynamic when he says that sin is knowing what is the right thing to do and not doing it.

Today you can live in right relation.  Today you can choose not to frustrate your relationship with God.  Today you can be free of sinful actions.  Just do the right thing.

Topical Index:  sinful nature, sarx, theological assumptions, Romans 8:9

[1] Abraham Heschel, The Prophets, Vol. 2, p 8.

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Carnal?

Friday, August 07th, 2009 | Author:

because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able {to do so,} Romans 8:7

The Mind Set On The Flesh – How are you doing in your fight for sinless perfection? Are you winning the battle every day or have you suffered defeats? Are you a sanctified soul or a carnal Christian?

Do these questions bother you?  They should.

Somewhere along the way, Christianity embraced the Greek metaphysics of the body/mind/soul split. When this alien concept crept into Christian thinking, it eventually led to the postulation of a carnal Christian, the believer who has confessed Christ as Savior but does not live with Christ as Lord. This is the person whose life is characterized by actions that do not glorify God but at the same time claims God’s forgiveness and acceptance. The “carnal” Christian has a body under sin’s control but a soul that belongs to God. What? Does that mean God saves only part of this person? Does that mean that what happens in my body doesn’t really matter as long as my soul is saved? A careful reading of the Bible endorses none of this Greek nonsense, but it certainly is a popular way of explaining behavior. Perhaps we need to take another look at Paul’s famous comments about “carnal” Christians (the King James translation of this phrase).

The critical Greek word is phronema. This word covers the entire translated phrase, “the mind set on”. Phronema means “what one has in mind, purposes or thoughts.” In this case, Paul says the purpose or thoughts of this mental condition is sarx, the flesh. This should remind us of the passage in Genesis 6:5, “the intent of the thoughts of the heart.” But notice that the Hebrew equivalent does not suggest a split spiritual state where men confess God but act disobediently. In the Genesis equivalent, the thoughts of their minds were given over to evil and, as a result, God brought judgment upon the earth. These were a long way from the “carnal” Christian bifurcation we find today. In Genesis, intent and purpose in thoughts leads directly to judgment, not excuse. In the ancient world, if your mind was filled with purposes of the flesh, you were not standing in God’s grace. You were not redeemed. You died in the flood along with all the other evil people in the world because the mind whose purposes and intents are determined by sarx is the enemy of God. In Hebrew thought, this is yester ha’ra run amuck.

Paul is a Jewish Messianic rabbi. Do you suppose that he entertained the Greek tripartate division of human beings (body, mind and soul)? Not likely. Paul’s anthropology was homogenized; the neshama or nefesh was one person all mixed up together embodied in this world. God doesn’t save the soul and leave the body to rot. That’s Greek, not Hebrew. So, if Paul would never have accepted the division of human being into parts, then how could he possibly suggest that spiritual existence could be divided between the carnal and the spiritual? If the purposes and intents of my mind (read neshama or nefesh) are filled with hostility toward God, doesn’t that force us to conclude that such a person is not redeemed? After all, this person is an enemy, not a humble seeker. This person is dominated by the yester ha’ra, not struggling against the evil inclination in order to be obedient to the Lord.

Does that mean that Christians are only those who no longer experience the fight for personal holiness? Of course not. That fight goes on for a long, long time. But the person who isn’t fighting probably isn’t domesticated to God. I am either motivated to obey and struggling to do so, or I am capitulating to the evil inclination and comfortable with the result. I am either fighting for God or fighting against Him. There are no fence-sitters in this war.

Topical Index: yester ha’ra, sarx, phronema, mind, body, soul, Genesis 6:5, Romans 8:7, carnal

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La mentalidad pecaminosa

Friday, August 07th, 2009 | Author:

La mentalidad pecaminosa es enemiga de Dios, pues no se somete a la ley de Dios, ni es capaz de hacerlo. Romanos 8:7

¿Carnal?

La mentalidad pecaminosa- ¿Cómo va usted en la batalla por la perfección sin pecado? ¿Está usted ganado la batalla a diario ó ha sufrido derrotas? ¿Es un alma sacrificada ó un cristiano carnal?

¿Le molestan estas preguntas? Deberían.

En algún punto del camino, el cristianismo abrazó la metafísica griega de la división del cuerpo/mente/alma. Cuando este concepto alienígeno se escabulló en el pensamiento cristiano, eventualmente conllevó a la postulación del cristiano carnal, el creyente que confesó a Cristo cómo su Salvador pero que no vive con Cristo cómo su Señor. Esta es la persona cuya vida se caracteriza por las acciones que no glorifican a Dios pero que al mismo tiempo claman el perdón y aceptación de Dios. El cristiano “carnal” tiene un cuerpo bajo el control del pecado pero su alma le pertenece a Dios. ¿Qué? ¿Significa eso que Dios salva sólo una parte de la persona? Una lectura cuidadosa de la Biblia no apoya nada de estas necedades griegas, pero ciertamente es una manera popular de explicar el comportamiento. Quizás necesitamos ver una vez más los famosos comentarios de hablo acerca de los cristianos “carnales” (la traducción de la Reina Valera acerca de esta frase).

La palabra crítica griega es phronema. La palabra cubre la frase traducida entera “Puesta la mente en-mentalidad” Phronema significa “lo que uno tiene en mente, propósitos ó pensamientos”. En este caso, Pablo dice que los propósitos ó pensamientos de esta condición mental es sarx, la carne. Esto debería de recordarnos del pasaje en Génesis 6:5, “las intenciones y pensamientos del corazón”. Pero notemos que el equivalente hebreo no sugiere una división espiritual donde el hombre confiesa a Dios sino que actúa de manera desobediente. En el equivalente de Génesis, los pensamientos de sus mentes se daban a la maldad y, cómo resultado, Dios traía el juicio sobre la tierra. Estos están muy lejos de ser la bifurcación de cristianos “carnales” hoy en día. En el antiguo mundo, si tu mente estaba llena de los propósitos de la carne, no estabas parado en la gracia de Dios. No eras redimido. Moriste en el diluvio junto con todas las demás personas del mundo porque la mente cuya intención y propósitos eran determinadas por sarx era el enemigo de Dios. En pensamiento hebreo, esto es yester ha´ra volverse loco.

Pablo es un rabino mesiánico judío. ¿Usted cree que el entretuvo la división tripartita griega de los seres humanos (espíritu, alma y cuerpo)? Probablemente no. La antropología de pablo estaba homogenizada, el neshama ó nefesh era una persona toda confundida en su cuerpo en este mundo. Dios nos salva el alma y deja que el cuerpo se pudra. Eso es griego, no hebreo. De manera que si, Pablo nunca hubiera aceptado la división de los seres humanos en partes, entonces ¿cómo puede sugerir que la existencia espiritual puede dividirse en lo carnal y en lo espiritual? Si los propósitos e intenciones de mi mente (leído como neshama ó nefesh) están llenos de hostilidad hacia Dios, ¿no nos obliga eso a concluir que tal persona no es redimida? Después de todo, esa persona es un enemigo, no un buscador humilde. Esta persona está siendo dominada por el yester ha´ra, no luchando contra la inclinación maligna para poder ser obediente al Señor.

¿Significa eso que los cristianos son sólo aquellos que ya no experimentan la lucha por la santidad personal? Claro que no. La lucha sigue por un largo, largo tiempo. Pero la persona que no esté luchando probablemente no está domesticada a Dios. Yo ó estoy motivado a obedecer y estoy en la lucha por hacerlo, ó estoy capitulando a la inclinación del mal y cómodo con el resultado. Yo ó estoy luchando por Dios ó luchando en Su contra. No hay observadores en la banca en esta guerra.

Índice de Tema: yester ha´ra, sarx, phronema, mente, alma, cuerpo, Génesis 6:5,

Romanos 8:7, carnal

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But How Do I Do That?

Monday, July 20th, 2009 | Author:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  Galatians 5:16

By The Spirit – We are at war, not just with a post-modern, godless culture, but with ourselves.  That’s what makes it so difficult.   It’s hard enough to face the fame and fortune monster that wants to make everyone an addict to self-indulgence, but it’s all the more difficult when we realize that we have an enemy within.  Our own flesh wages war against us.  Now, what do we do? 

Paul tells us that the answer is to walk by (or in) the Spirit.  We recognize the Hebrew idiom “walk.”  It means to conduct yourself according to a particular way of living.  For Paul, this is following the guidebook of Torah.  But that doesn’t mean we blindly carry out the rules and regulations.  Torah obedience requires walking in the Spirit.  In fact, this is so important that Paul puts it first in the Greek text (de pneumatic peripateite – “in Spirit walk”). 

Paul does not say that the opposite of being guided by the Spirit is fulfilling the desires of the sinful nature.  He simply uses the Greek word sarx.  In fact, the phrase is epithumian sarkos (lust or passion of flesh).  In Hebrew, this is listening to and obeying the yetser ha’ra – the evil inclination.  That evil inclination is built into every one of us.  It is the power, passion and energy that makes us truly human when it is submitted to the domestication of God.  Under the guidance of the Spirit, with the reins of the Messiah, all this human energy becomes a mighty source for creative partnership with the Lord.  But without domestication, epithumia (lust) oversteps the divine boundaries and pushes the fence beyond the Tree.  It brings death.  All of Paul’s advice about making no provision for the flesh, being obedient to the Spirit and working out salvation with fear and trembling pushes us to see just how powerful this inner enemy really is.  But this enemy can be turned into the greatest ally we could ever have.  That is the goal. 

How do I make this monster within me into a cooperative colleague?  It doesn’t take meditation, incantation or invitation.  It takes walking.  Just start taking the steps of obedience.  Find that place where you are out of alignment with God’s instruction book and correct it.  Maybe it’s as simple as keeping Sabbath, or changing diet, or saving money for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  Maybe it’s just helping someone in trouble or blessing your children or saying the Shema.  Walking by the Spirit is not some deep, secret mystery reserved for angels and mystics.  With open heart, each of us just start following God’s directions.  And life begins to change.

No excuses, please.  No rationalizations, alterations or exceptions.  Walking is a way of life.  It is practice, practice, practice.  We all make mistakes.  So what?  Keep going and you will find that the Spirit has been prodding you all along.  Passion becomes your partner in the practice of godly perfection.

Topical Index:  de pneumatic, by the Spirit, walk, Torah-obedience, sarx, Galatians 5:16

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