Flank Attack
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 1 John 4:2 NASB
In the flesh – Understanding the Bible requires placing the writings within their historical and cultural context. We have learned that it isn’t appropriate to pull a verse from its sitz im leben (life setting) and apply it to our environment. So Paul’s statement about women wearing head coverings is specifically about the situation in Corinth in the first century, not New York City in the twentieth-first century. Most of us get this. We realize that the points made by the authors have to be contextualized. Of course, that applies to both prohibitions and exhortations. While we are pretty quick to recognize Paul’s cultural situation, we aren’t quite a quick to recognize John’s. The battle that John fought with false doctrine isn’t quite the same one that we fight, but if we contextualize John’s argument we might see how it applies today.
The big issue for John is whether or not Yeshua was really a human being. This heresy is called Docetism. It is the affirmation that Jesus was really God disguised as a man. He just looked human but he was really divine (God in the shell of a man). John counters this heresy by telling us that anyone who says Yeshua wasn’t really human is from the antichrist. Yeshua was entirely human (and, as the Church later declares, entirely divine at the same time). He was God come en sarki (in the flesh).
The Church settled this issue centuries ago, but does that mean we no longer have to contend with heretical statements about Yeshua? Unfortunately, no. The enemy simply attacks from the flank. Today we don’t fight about whether or not Yeshua was human. Today we have a different version of the heresy. Today we fight about whether or not Yeshua was Jewish! The enemy lost the battle about his humanity, so the fight simply shifted to the next level. Yes, Jesus is human, but now some believe he is Greek-Indo-European. Think about all the portraits that fill the sanctuaries of Europe. Fair-haired, dressed in European royal robes, this Caucasian “Jesus” is a far cry from a Semite. Furthermore, since the Church moved away from a Torah-obedient Jesus, even the Christian Jesus’ actions do not appear to be Jewish. The Church proclaims that Jesus came to do away with all those inadequate Semitic rules. Jesus is more like Socrates than Moses. He is one of “us.” He certainly isn’t Jewish.
John had to deal with the heresy of Yeshua as a disguised god. We have to deal with Yeshua as a disguised European, or worse, a conservative Evangelical. How should we counter such heresy? Perhaps we need to take a page from John’s playbook. F. F. Bruce issues the warning, even though he never intended his words to be applied to this problem. “Because the philosophy to which [the antagonists] endeavor to accommodate the gospel, depriving it of what makes it the gospel in the process, is current secular philosophy, the prevalent climate of opinion . . . no form of ‘worldliness’ is so inimical to Christianity as this kind of ‘re-statement’.”[1] We agree, except that the form of secular philosophy that perverts the gospel is not an attack on Christianity. It is Christianity – with its reformulation of the truth of Yeshua’s origin, culture and spiritual perspective. Today Christian thinkers are waking up to the fact that Jesus is a Jewish rabbi and the His view of the world is wedded to the Talmud, the Targums and the Tanakh. Yet how are we to convince traditional Christian believers that Jesus isn’t German, Scandinavian or American?
What is the answer? Once again, Bruce provides the needed insight. “The love of God displayed in His people is the strongest apologetic that God has in the world.”[2] What is this love of God? It is “a consuming passion for the well-being of others.”[3] Do you want others to see the vital connection between Torah and the Messiah? Are you burdened by the disaster of the heresy of Israel’s replacement or the tragedy of opposing Law and grace? Do you think that more words will win the day? No, they won’t. What wins the hearts and minds of those who are walking in the dark is compassion for them, here and now. Heaven can wait. By then, none of this will matter. What brings the victory is not what we say. It is what we do to bring the fullness of life to others. Yeshua doesn’t need another mouthpiece. He needs hands and feet willing to carry someone else’s load. How much are you carrying?
Topical Index: heresy, Docetism, en sarki, Jesus, Jewish, 1 John 4:2
[1] F. F. Bruce, The Epistles of John, Revell, p. 106.
[2] Ibid., p. 109.
[3] Ibid., p. 107.
Good morning Skip,
Thank you for the good message this morning. God has renewed my vision and desire to love His people. I am so thankful for His on going compassion and work in my life and that He is restoring my confidence to love again. Be blessed and refreshed in His compassion for YOU today!
Amein!
At this point in my spiritual understanding, I see that Yeshua was totally human but He differed in one way from us in that He inherited no iniquity or propensity toward evil and chose not to sin. What a difficult sojourn it must have been for His pure Elohim soul on planet earth.
Hi Robin,
Your comment concerns me as it still includes the idea of an “inherited propensity.” If Yeshua is really human, then he cannot be inherently different than you or me. He is not God in disguise. He does not fulfill the mission because He is God. That would make Him not human. The idea that sin is inherited is a heretical misunderstanding based in a Platonic view of life. Trace the doctrine and you will find that its inception comes from ideas borrowed from Plato, not from the Hebraic Scriptures (see Heschel’s comments). Every man, including Yeshua, has the potential for both yetzer ha’ra and yetzer ha-tov. As soon as you suggest that Yeshua has no yetzer-ha’ra, than you exempt Him for humanity. If Adam was created with both, and was sinless prior to exercises his yetzer ha’ra, then why do we need to exempt Yeshua from the same created image of Adam. The issue is not inheritance. It is submission.
Skip,
Thank you for your concern and response. I am going to do some study on this. I came to this conclusion from many Scriptures on iniquity, the Israelites being commanded not to take captive women who were not virgins and finally the virgin birth. I will respond more after studying. Do you have any study suggestions?
The best I have read from a Jewish perspective is in Heschel.
Love is a choice and so is sin. HaSatan did not force the first couple into eating of the forbidden fruit. They were purposefully deceived by cunning words, lying and empty promises. Yeshua was in all points tempted (tested) like as we are, yet he was without sin.
We must, (we must) remember-His entire sojourn here on this planet was as the Second Adam, the Son of Man. He showed us first-hand- the “how” of living. He showed (demonstrated) how to do it. Not only was it, “do as I say”, now in true servant-leadership fashion, He also demonstrated to all the world, what love incarnate was all about.
As Skip has attempted to get into our heads for “lo, these many months”- “doing speaks louder than just saying.” I said to someone just yesterday, “when all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.”. If we would only give our focused attention (kavannah) to Him, and listen closely (heed) and obey (hearken,shema) His words- we would find our lives improved radically as we are now aligning ourselves the Torah (instructions) of G-d.
We also must remember (how critical this is) to remember: Jesus is LORD. Yeshua is ADONAI. He is the LORD, our G-d. G-d incarnate. G-d was in Christ (the Annointed ONE) reconciling the world, (including, but not limited to the Jew) unto Himself. Salvation (deliverance) is to the Jew first, and also (praise G-d) to the Greek. He came unto His own (surprise, surprise- He was Jewish) and His own received Him not. He was rejected as the Messiah because He was not what the people expected Him to be- a conquering King to set them free from oppression. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. We know (now) He is the conquering King, just not in the way we expected Him to be. G-d operates outside the realm of our expectations. As I recall, (thank you Holy Spirit), His ways are NOT our ways, and His thoughts (thankfully) are NOT our thoughts. Let us also remember the “very” emphatic “nots” and “buts” of scripture. They sometimes remind me of a good “slap in the face,”- a wake-up call, if you will.
Listen again to the emphatic “but”. “But G-d demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.. Or again this “but” shows up in the words of the HOLY ONE: “but I say unto you..” Radical change, -people. Radical.
Sin is the problem, our “only” problem. One thing now separates us from having fellowship (as Adam did) and walking in the cool of the evening “with G-d.” That one thing is now identified as sin. Call it wickedness, iniquity or sin- this unholy trinity of lies and falsehood are what keep us from knowing G-d, because dear friends- He is (altogether) Holy. Sinless, stainless, spotless- and cannot look on sin. “Father, why have you forsaken me?” were the words of the Chosen ONE. Because at that moment, He was the sinless Sacrifice, the perfect Lamb, our Sin Bearer and G-d (the Father) was not able to look upon sin. “G-d made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of G-d.” (2 Corinthians 5.21)
Now I fully aware of the “oneness” of Elohim. “Hear O Israel, the LORD our G-d is ONE.” And yes, He is. ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM. Tell me this is true in the world today, and I’ll laugh on your lapel. However, the scripture stands and I am convinced, G-d’s favorite number is “one.” Dear ones, “the two shall become one flesh”- the perfect union of the human and the divine- the “union of two houses” – all found “in Christ.” We (all) are one “in Him.” He is the greater Uniter and He is the great Divider. The Bible is our Him-book. Questions?- look to Him for answers, He is (not was) more human that any who ever lived and He is (not was) YHWH incarnate, G-d in human flesh. There is a Lamb seated on heaven’s throne and we will worship Him, sing His praises, and fellowship with one another, feasting “at G-d’s table”- forever.
There is another “royal wedding” yet to be, and we all have been invited. -Will you be attending? Are you “in Christ?” I did not ask your ancestry, your economic status, your sex, your age, height or weight. The question remains for “any man,” – are you (or are you not) “in Christ?” “Let the redeemed of the LORD- say so.” Have you, friend, been redeemed? Are you “washed in the blood of the Lamb?”
“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1.18,19) Christ was crucified during Passover. – Why?
Skip, Do you believe that Yeshua’s mother, Miriam was impregnated by the Ruach HaKodesh, not a man, in the conception of Yeshua?
Wow, great question…..?????
Hi Jimmy, never received an answer on that one.
AND WOW AGAIN – i’m surprised we are back on 4.29.11 – i wondered where i was on this infamous day in history?!?!?! Skip probably got to busy & never looked back & now we are calling him to do so – come back & answer the question by Robin Jeep… 🙂 “4” months ago today… ♥
jan