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What Does it Mean to be Righteous?

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When I was a kid, my favorite moment in the school year was the minute the last exam finished. “Time’s up, pens down. Please remain seated until your paper is collected.”

Can you remember the sweetness of that moment?

All the work and the study were behind you; all the tests had been done. Into your mind came one of the sunniest thoughts a young person can have: School’s out for summer!

This is how it is for the believer when the gospel of righteousness takes root in their heart.

The first reaction is one of sweet relief. “Really? Jesus did it all? I don’t have to work to impress him? I can stop studying for the exam? Oh happy day!”

Many are dreading the final exam. The good news is there is no exam. Jesus already took it on your behalf, and guess what? He passed.

School’s out forever!

For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV)

New covenant maths

How many sins did Jesus commit before he was made sin? None. And how many righteous acts did you do before you were made righteous? None. God did it all.

The moment you put your faith in Jesus, you were stamped “righteous” for all time and eternity.

At one time you were unrighteous, but you were washed, you were sanctified, and you were declared righteous in the name of the Lord (1 Cor. 6:9–11).

What does it mean to be righteous?

To be made righteous means you have had a complete renovation, a Holy Spirit renewal, an entire rebuild. You have been straightened out. You are no longer the crooked person you used to be.

Whereas in Adam you had bent inclinations that led you towards sin no matter how hard you tried to avoid it, in Christ you are inclined to walk straight and true. You have a Holy Ghost gyroscope inside you that keeps you stabilized and on course. Your desire is to please the Lord.

I’m not saying you are incapable of sinning. It’s just that sinning no longer appeals. When you do occasionally sin it bothers the socks off you—“I wish I hadn’t done that”—testifying that this sort of behavior is contrary to your new nature.

“But Paul, if I’m so righteous, how come the Holy Spirit keeps convicting me of my sin?”

He never does that. That’s an extra-Biblical myth that needs to be busted. Adam didn’t need God’s help in recognizing his sin and neither do we.

Any guilt you have over wrongdoing comes from a condemning source and not the one called Comforter. There is no condemnation—not now, not ever—to those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Comforter’s conviction

The Holy Spirit will seek to convince you of your righteousness (John 16:8–10). When do you most need convincing of your righteousness in Christ? It is when you are feeling unrighteous. It is when you have just sinned.

When you sin the Holy Spirit will seek to remind you that you are still righteous because you are in Christ the Righteous One.

I appreciate this is completely different to the message many of us have heard (and some of us have preached). We have been told the Holy Spirit is like a heavenly cop who issues warnings whenever we stray.

But that’s not what Jesus said.

He said the Holy Spirit would “glorify me” (that’s Jesus), guide us into all truth (also Jesus), and convince us of our righteousness (Jesus again).

The Holy Spirit is not closing his eyes to your sin; he is trying to open your eyes to Jesus. Just as a gyroscope in a plane will always reveal the true horizon, the Holy Spirit will always point you to the Righteous One. He will always encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus.

Having been declared righteous, then, by faith, we have peace toward God … (Romans 5:1, YLT)

Do you know why so many believers have no peace in their relationship with God? They would tell you it is because God is angry with them and their sin, but the real reason is they are ignorant of him and his righteousness.

In the kingdom, peace always follows righteousness. If you are more conscious of your sin than his righteousness, you will never enjoy peace with God.

The gospel of righteousness

When you stumble and sin, an old covenant preacher will say, “Look at what you did!” But a new covenant preacher will say, “Look at what he did!”

An old covenant preacher would have you turn from every sin until you’re a dizzy sinner. But a new covenant preacher will release the grace of God that empowers you to sin no more (Tit. 2:12).

Under the old covenant you were righteous because of what you did, but in the new you are righteous because of what he did. You are declared righteous, recreated to be like God in true righteousness.

What does God want you to do with the gift of his righteousness? He wants you to receive it, walk in it, enjoy it, and to rule and reign with him in righteousness.

The gospel is not a list of things you must do to inherit eternal life. It is the blessed announcement that the righteousness you need to enter the kingdom of heaven—the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and law teachers—comes to us as a free gift through faith.

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Extracted and adapted from The Gospel in Ten Words. Did you know The Gospel in Ten Words now comes with a free study guide?

Learn more about your righteousness in Christ or check out these answers to common questions about righteousness.

Why not share this good news with friends today!

What does it Mean to Abide in the Vine?

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Abiding in the vine is the antidote to independence, and the remedy to barrenness.

Every believer knows these words of Jesus. “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). But what did he mean and how do we do it?

Jesus gives us this word-picture:

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Many look at this verse and see “abiding = bearing much fruit.” They draw a terrible conclusion: “If I want to abide, I must produce fruit.”

This is the opposite of what Jesus saying. Your job is to abide. That’s it. As you abide, the Vine himself will bear his fruit in your life. You don’t have to do a thing.

Except abide.

What does it mean to abide?

To abide means to stay, continue, or dwell. Abide is related to abode, so to abide is to make Christ your abode, your home, your dwelling place.

That’s what we did the moment we came to Christ:

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 John 4:15)

The moment you came to Christ in faith, you were placed in him and he in you. How did it happen? The Holy Spirit is the answer. “He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

Your union with the Lord is a permanent and inviolate relationship. What God has joined together, no one can separate. He will never leave or forsake you. Contrary to what you have heard, God does not lop off unfruitful branches.

But that does not mean you won’t stray or wander. If you are unsure of your position in Christ, you will be anxious and unsettled. You’ll be tempted to pursue dead works in a futile attempt to bear fruit and abide.

The opposite of abiding is trusting in yourself, relying on your own efforts, and trying to make things happen. It’s striving in your own strength instead of looking to the Lord as your source and supply.

Abide in my love

When Jesus said “abide in my love” (John 15:9), he was saying “rest in my love for you.”

To abide in Christ is to live with the complete dependence that a branch has for a vine. It’s realizing that apart from him we can do nothing.

But that is only half of the story.

Apart from him we can do nothing.
With him, we will do great things

(If need some scriptures to back up that second part, check out John 14:12, 1 Cor. 15:10, Php. 4:13, and Pro. 4:18)

Want to know God’s will for your life? Abide in Christ.

Want to discover your God-given destiny? Abide in Christ.

Want to learn the reason you are on this planet? Abide in Christ.

Abiding in Christ is the most productive, fruitful thing you can ever do.

What happens when we abide in Christ?

When you come to that place of total surrender and say, “Not my will but thy will be done,” you prime yourself for great things. The spiritual sap begins to flow from that Holy Vine into your life.

“Lord, because you have made me holy, righteous, and acceptable to God, I have you have nothing to prove.”

That’s a pretty good prayer.

“Lord, because you have done the work, I choose to rest in you. Whether I lead many to you or none at all, your great love for me never changes.”

That’s another great prayer.

“Lord, I’m done striving, done trying, done worrying. My life is yours.”

This is one of the smartest prayers you will ever pray. The moment you choose to trust instead of try, you give God space to move. And what he will do is reveal himself through you to others.

Which is pretty exciting.

Just imagine what can happen when the same Spirit that brought life to the earth and raised Christ from the dead begins to move in your life.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me finish by emphasizing our part which is to abide in the love of Christ.

How do we abide?

We abide by keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and trusting his indwelling Spirit to guide us.

We choose to rest instead of worry knowing that our heavenly Father cares for us and is well able to bring his purposes to pass in our lives.

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Share this good news with friends or in your church newsletter.

Learn more about Abiding, Resting and Union on the Grace Glossary.

Read Jesus’ words in context on the Grace Commentary.

Who Are the Grace Preachers?

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Can you recommend a grace-based church in my area?

I get asked this question a lot. What people want to know is, where are the grace preachers? Or who are the grace preachers?

As if there was a special directory of those preaching grace.

Who are the hypergrace preachers? I usually recommend Paul, John, Peter, James, and Jesus of course. And let’s not forget David, Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Joel and even Moses.

But that’s not the answer people are looking for.

Grace preachers list

About 15 years ago a prominent grace preacher thought about starting a database of like-minded churches. We all thought it was a terrific idea, but it never got off the ground. Turns out making a list of grace preachers is hard.

Where do you draw the line? What defines a grace preacher? And what is grace?

A grace preacher is anyone who preaches the unconditional love of God, with no ifs, buts, or maybes. Most preachers preach the gospel of grace, but a grace preacher preaches grace alone.

Not grace plus law or grace plus works. Just grace.

“Well, sure, we all need grace for salvation. But what about sanctification?”

Just grace.

“What about spiritual growth?”

Just grace.

“What about…”

Just grace.

In the new covenant, we stand on grace alone. All the blessings of heaven come to us by grace alone (Eph. 1:3).

Those who don’t preach just grace can be recognized by the sticks and carrots they add to their mixed-grace message.

“If you confess, you’ll be forgiven. If you do right, you’ll be accepted. If you act holy, you’ll become holy.”

Others dismiss what they call “the modern grace message,” as though grace was some kind of fad.

These are dangerous messages. You can’t mix law, works and grace any more than you can mix flesh with faith. And grace is anything but modern. The message of radical, extreme hypergrace is biblical.

Dismiss or dilute grace and you may fall from grace.

Who are the grace preachers?

A true grace preacher will always point you to Jesus and what he has done and what you can do because of what he has done. Because of Jesus you are loved, forgiven, accepted, righteous, holy, and all the other things. All your needs are supplied on account of his riches in grace (Eph. 2:7, Php. 4:19).

Your part is simply to rest in his finished work and receive by faith God’s gracious provision.

(That’s hardly a recipe for idleness, by the way. Those who are abiding in the Vine are fruitful and often work harder than those trying to make bricks without straw. But I digress.)

So how do you find a grace preacher? Here are two ways.

A list of those who preach grace

I maintain a modest list of “Grace preachers” which includes ministries, bloggers, and authors. But if you are looking for a grace-preaching church, I recommend you check out Ted Nelson’s Locate Grace Ministries.

Ted visits a lot of churches and he is personally familiar with many of the ministries he lists. He puts a huge amount of effort into maintaining his database and his website is an invaluable tool. Best of all, the database is constantly being updated as new churches get added. (Perhaps you want to add yours?)

When people ask me to recommend a grace preacher or a grace church in their area, I invariably steer them towards Ted’s Locate Grace Ministries website. It’s a much-needed resource that will only get better with time. I encourage you to check it out.

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Learn to read the Bible through a new covenant lens. Check out The Grace Commentary today.

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Special Fathers’ Day Giveaway

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Hi friends,

This Sunday is Fathers’ Day in many countries. If you are looking for something special to do with your family why not try a table reading of my script “The Good Father”?

What? “The Good Father” is the parable of the prodigal son told like you’ve never heard it before.

How? All you need is 4–8 readers.

Cost? For the next three days it’s completely free!

Where? Get it here. (The system will ask you to suggest a fair price. Feel free to put $0.)

What else? If you want to go deeper, each script comes with a link to a Leaders’ Guide (also free) with discussion questions, illustrations, and sample prayers.

Be quick, this giveaway ends Sunday June 18, 2023.

I hope your family has as much fun with this script as mine did.

Grace and peace,
Paul

Are You Wearing the Full Armor of God?

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One thing pastors like to do is dress up as Roman soldiers and preach on the armor of God. “You need to wear the full armor of God,” they say as they bash their gladii (swords) against their scuta (shields). It’s a lot of fun.

But does it work?

Apart from the memory of Pastor Frank’s paunch poking out from under a shiny breastplate, what have you really taken from these sermons? Have you put on the armor of God? Are you wearing it now? Let’s check.

Without reading on, ask yourself to list the various pieces of spiritual armor. Can you name all six?

When Paul wrote about the armor of God he was in prison or house arrest in Rome. Roman soldiers were coming and going. Inspired by their apparel, Paul wrote these well-known words:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)

Putting on the armor of God does not mean praying harder or singing louder or shouting at the devil. Putting on spiritual armor is analogous to putting on Christ (Rom. 13:14) or putting on the new self (Eph. 4:22–24).

To be clothed with the armor of God is to wear his righteousness, his truth, and his salvation (Is. 59:16–17, 61:10). It is trusting in the might of the Lord rather than standing in your own strength or leaning on your own understanding.

In Ephesians 6, six pieces of armor are listed:

1. The belt of truth (Eph. 6:14)

The devil will attack truth directly by assailing you with lies, and he will attack truth indirectly by telling you there is no truth. “There are many truths. There is your truth and my truth.” He will try to deconstruct your belt of truth by glorifying doubt and uncertainty.

Truth is not a manmade construct but is defined by the One who is truth personified (John 14:6). To be girded with truth is to define and interpret all things through the lens of Jesus Christ. When you are being assailed by Facebook philosophers or doubting deconstructors, your first response should be, “What does Jesus say?” Take your questions to the Lord and allow the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all truth.

2. The breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14)

A righteous breastplate protects your heart from the devil’s accusations and keeps you in right standing with the Lord.

The devil will accuse you of being a failure or not doing enough. Heed his lies and you will fall from grace into dead works of self-righteousness. We resist this temptation and guard our hearts by standing secure in the righteous affirmation of our Father’s love and acceptance. When the accuser points to your shortcomings, remind yourself, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus” (2 Cor. 5:21).

3. Gospel shoes (Eph. 6:15)

We stand ready and unshakeable when we stand on the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace reveals the God of peace who makes peace by making us righteous (Rom. 15:33). When the devil tries to unsettle us, we remember that God is for us and with us and in us. Knowing that we have been justified, helps us walk in peace (Rom. 5:1).

4. The shield of faith (Eph. 6:16)

Faith is resting in the confident assurance that God is good and he longs to be good to you. Faith is not wishing the devil would go away, nor is it promising to do something for God if he’ll doing something for you. Faith is trusting in your Father’s unfailing love.

The original word for shield (thureos) in this verse means a large door-shaped shield. We extinguish all the fiery darts (temptations and deceptions) of the enemy by resting in Christ. Jesus is not only the Door (John 10:7), he is our door-sized shield who protects us and keeps us safe to the end (1 Cor. 1:8).

5. The helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17)

Most spiritual warfare takes place in the battlefield of your mind. Since we are facing a defeated foe (Col. 2:15), the only way Satan can win is if he gets you to take his side. Swallow his lies and fall for his schemes, and you empower a disarmed enemy.

We refute his lies and deceptions by wearing the helmet of salvation. We take every thought captive to the obedience of the Savior (2 Cor. 10:5).

6. The sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17)

The sword of the spirit is the word of God in our hearts and on our lips. It is a most effective weapon because the word of God has power. Jesus refuted the devil in the wilderness by speaking the word of God (see Luke 4:4). In the same way, we resist the enemy’s lies by speaking forth the word of God.

The enemy’s weapons are no match for the believer who is standing firm in the full armor of God. Spiritual attacks and persecution are to be expected (2 Tim. 3:12). But by the grace of God you will win every battle.

When you are wearing the full armor of God – that is, when you are standing firm in the Lord – your enemies will come at you in one direction and flee in seven (Deut. 28:7).

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Note: This article was extracted from the relevant entry in The Grace Glossary. With new material added regularly, the Grace Glossary is your go-to source for new covenant definitions of key words and phrases.

In my next post I will be offering a special giveaway for email subscribers. Don’t miss out. Sign up today. It’s free!

Law + Works + Grace = ?

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The stories we tell ourselves shape our lives.

For example, if you buy into a narrative that says, “The Bible is a book of rules we must obey,” you will find laws to obey on every page.

If you believe, “The Bible teaches us to work for God’s favor,” you will find long lists of things to do.

But read the Bible with mindset of grace, and you will get a completely different picture. You will see what Christ has done your behalf, and how you can reign in life by receiving his abundant grace.

Law, works, or grace. Which narrative are you following?

This is an important question when reading a book like James, because James writes about law AND works AND grace. All three are in his letter.

If you did not know any better, you might think that James was saying you need law plus works plus grace. A little bit of each gives you a healthy balance.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mixing law, works, and grace is like mixing medicines. Or powerful chemicals. It’s a bad idea. In the new covenant, we are under grace, not law (Rom. 6:14–15). The law is good, but it’s no good for the believer (1 Tim. 1:9).

Yet virtually every book and sermon I have read or heard on James preaches mixture. “You need a little law + a little grace + a lot of works,” and the result is confusion and dead works.

Let me give you some examples:

  • Most commentators say James wrote to Christians, yet in places James calls his readers sinners, adulterers, and friends of the world. He says things like, “you commit murder” (Jas. 4:2). Strong words. You are not an adulterous murderer, are you? Yes, James wrote for believers, but he also wrote for unbelievers. (He says so in chapter 1.) One letter, two messages, and if you don’t know which is which you’ll be confused.
  • James said no one can tame the tongue (Jas. 3:8). It’s impossible. Yet many commentators say things like, “Watch your words and tame your tongue.” They contradict James and promote dead works. We don’t need to try harder, we need a new heart and a new tongue.
  • James wrote about a crown of life. Those who preach works dangle that crown like a carrot. “Endure trials and earn that crown.” But James says the crown is given to those who love the Lord (Jas. 1:12). It’s a gift, not a reward. Big difference.
  • The most famous scripture in James is “faith without works is dead” (Jas. 2:17). The works preachers love this verse, while faith preachers are left wringing their hands in confusion. “James is talking about works of service,” they say. Or “this isn’t a salvation issue.” Yet the context is clearly salvation (Jas. 2:14), justification (Jas. 2:21, 24–25), and being made right with God (Jas 2:23). Either way, you better get busy for Jesus. Which means faith = works. Apparently.

See the problem? Read James with anything other than a grace lens and you’ll come away condemned and confused. You will think we need a little law and a lot of works to supplement God’s grace:

  • You will watch every word lest you complain and come under judgment (Jas. 5:9).
  • You will feel a need to work to prove that your faith is not useless (Jas. 2:20).
  • You will think that God’s forgiveness is conditional and you need to confess your sins to get it (Jas. 5:15–16).

Or…

You could ditch those mixed-up messages and get yourself a grace-based commentary that reveals the “greater grace” of God that runs all through James’ letter (Jas. 4:6).

Just saying.

My new book The Grace Bible: James has just been released. It is 100% grace based guaranteed.

The Grace Bible: James will help you find the gold that is in James’ letter, and will protect you from toxic mixture. It is available now on Amazon and other good booksellers.

The Study Bible You’ve Been Waiting For

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Do you know how to use a Bible commentary? A commentary is a kind of explainer. It tells you what the scriptures mean.

Or to be precise, it tells you what the commentator thinks they mean.

Which means if your commentary was written by someone with an old covenant mindset, you’ll get an old covenant interpretation of the Bible.

Since I read the Bible through a grace lens, readers have long been asking me to write a Bible commentary. For years I said no. Who’s got that kind of time?

But then I realized that I have been writing a commentary all along. I just didn’t know it. So I took my disparate articles, notes and books and organized them into an online tool called The Grace Commentary.

The Grace Commentary is a useful tool, but some people want a physical book they can mark, highlight and giveaway.

Enter, the Grace Bible.

The first installment (1–3 John & Jude) came out last year, and the second installment (1–2 Peter) was released this Easter. But the book I most wanted to write was the third installment: The Grace Bible: James.

It has just been released.

Why am I excited about The Grace Bible: James? Because James may be the most misunderstood book in the Bible.

Faith plus works? Did James understand grace? Should his book even be in the cannon?

I am convinced that James understood grace as well as anyone. James wrote so that we might have a revelation of “the greater grace” of God. But you might not see the grace in James, especially if you are using an old covenant commentary.

The Grace Bible: James could be the most important book I’ve written and I am super excited to share it with you.

If you have trouble seeing the grace in James, I encourage you to get The Grace Bible: James today.

“The Grace Bible is a breath of fresh air and a MUST for every pastor and believer in rightly dividing scripture.” – Ben Dailey, lead pastor, Calvary Church, Irving, TX

One more thing. I have heard people say they will wait until the entire Grace Bible series is finished and then get the whole book. This is a mistake. At this stage, I have no plans to do the entire New Testament.

Each book in the Grace Bible series is a standalone title. If you only get one book, get The Grace Bible: James.

If you get James, you’ll get grace. If you don’t, you won’t.

The Grace Bible: James is available now in paperback, hardcover, and various ebook formats. A sample chapter and endorsements can be found on the Grace Bible website.

What’s With the Head Coverings?

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When I wrote my book about women in the church, my aim was to examine every verse that has been hijacked to oppress and silence women.

I wanted to show that contrary to what many of us have heard, woman are in no way inferior to men. In the new covenant of grace, women can preach, teach, and lead, and do anything God calls them to do.

But there was one verse I could not explain:

Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head…. (1 Corinthians 11:10a)

In context, Paul is talking about head coverings (scarves?). He says women who pray or prophesy in church with uncovered heads are showing disgrace to their heads (their husbands?). Their behavior is so shameful, says Paul, they might as well go the whole way and shave their heads (1 Cor. 11:5).

Whew.

When I wrote my book, I didn’t know what Paul was talking about. But plenty of people have offered their opinions. “Women wear head scarves to show they’re in submission to male authority,” says one scholar. “It is the will of God that the woman know her place,” says another.

Which doesn’t sound like anything Paul would say. Why would the apostle who wrote “there is neither male nor female in Christ” (Gal. 3:28) turn around and say women are subservient to men?

Something doesn’t add up.

There’s quite a lot going on with the head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 so I will skip the details here and focus on verse ten. If you want to go deeper, check out the relevant entries in the Grace Commentary.

Sex in the city

As always, context matters. First-century Corinth was a hotbed of sexually immorality. The city had several pagan temples including the infamous Temple of Aphrodite Porne (“Aphrodite of the Prostitutes”). The city had a promiscuous culture, so we can perhaps understand why sexual immorality had infiltrated the church (1 Cor. 5:1).

The world has not changed much. Every day we are bombarded with offerings to the goddess of erotica. Like the Corinthians, we all face sexual temptation. And like them, we need to learn how to deal with it.

Imagine you were the apostle Paul teaching the Corinthians how to deal with sexual temptation. What would you say? If you were a law-lover, you might write, “You should not even think about sinning lest you incur the wrath of God.”

Or you might say, “It is a sin to talk to or even look at a woman,” which is what some of the religious Jews believed. If they saw a woman in the street, they’d shut their eyes. For this reason they became known as “bruised and bleeding Pharisees” on account of all the posts and doors they walked into.

But Paul does not say anything like this. He doesn’t hit the Corinthians with laws or restrictions. Instead, he writes:

Because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. (1 Corinthians 7:2)

The key word in this verse is have. Husbands and wives are supposed to have each other. Do you understand? Look at how the verse appears in the Passion Translation:

Because of the danger of immorality, each husband should have sexual intimacy with his wife and each wife should have sexual intimacy with her husband. (1 Cor. 7:2, TPT)

Because there was so much illicit sex going on, the Corinthians asked Paul if they should practice celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7:1). He had a better idea. “Sex is good, provided you do it God’s way.”

A Christian marriage is a treasure worth protecting. When two people who are each living from their union with the Lord come together in marriage, the result is heaven on earth. Nothing in the diseased temples of Corinth or the dark corners of the internet can compare with that.

Which brings us to the head coverings.

The significance of head coverings

The custom in Corinth was for married women to cover their heads. So a married woman who removed her head covering in a public place was like a man or woman who removes their wedding ring before going into a bar. It’s not a good look. It sends a solicitous message.

It’s like throwing a hand grenade into your marriage.

Paul called them out. “If you are going to remove your head covering, you might as well shave your head” (1 Cor. 11:6). In other words, if you’re going to act like a prostitute, you might as well look like a prostitute.

When Paul says “the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head,” he is not saying women are subservient to men. He’s saying, “Honor your marriage.” In context, he’s reminding them what he said earlier to husbands and wives:

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. (1 Corinthians 7:4)

The body of a married women is under the authority of her husband, just as his body is under her authority. In other words, she belongs to him and he belongs to her. As the Shulammite said, “My beloved is mine and I am his” (Song of Solomon 2:16).

Put it altogether and Paul is saying something like this:

If you are married, don’t act like you are single. You are part of a one-flesh team. To disrespect the symbols of your union, whether they are scarves, rings, or something else, is to disrespect your marriage partner, mislead others, and diminish one of God’s great gifts.

Marriage should be honored by all and especially by those who are married.

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The 3rd installment of The Grace Bible comes out at the end of May. It is available for pre-order on Kindle. Patrons can get the book here.

“You Shall Surely Die”

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Once upon a time you were spiritually dead. Then you met Jesus and now you are spiritually alive.

Or so the story goes.

Like many religious phrases the idea that we were spiritually dead makes sense until you start asking questions like “what is spiritual death?” and “why isn’t spiritual death mentioned in the Bible?”

What does it mean to be dead spiritually? And where does this idea come from?

It comes from something God said to Adam in the Garden:

From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:17)

God told Adam that if he ate from the forbidden tree, he would die the same day. But Adam didn’t die, at least not straight away. He lived for hundreds of years and had lots of children (Gen. 5:4–5).

So how do we explain God’s warning?

“Since Adam didn’t die physically, he must have died spiritually.”

Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom. Makes perfect sense. Hand me a theological degree because I just solved the problem. But did I? What exactly is spiritual death?

Spiritual death defined

Spiritual death means to be cut off or separated from God. “Those who are spiritually dead are dead to the things of God,” said the 19th-century Methodist minister Joseph Benson and many others. Apparently sinners cannot communicate with God.

Except Adam did. In fact, there is more evidence of God talking with Adam after he sinned than before.

God also spoke with Adam’s murderous son Cain and many of his other descendants (e.g., Job, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc.). The Old Testament is a record of God talking and dealing with people who were supposed to be spiritually dead.

Because I’m a curious sort of person, I did a bit of digging into the meaning of spiritual death. I went looking for a definition that fitted with scripture. Guess what. I couldn’t find one. Instead, I found a lot of sloppy exegesis, like this:

“God walked with Adam in the cool of the evening but after Adam sinned that didn’t happen anymore.”

Actually, the only mention of God walking in the garden came after Adam sinned (Gen. 3:8).

“Adam was filled with the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit left him after he sinned leaving Adam spiritually disconnected and spiritually dead.”

There is not one bit of evidence that the Holy Spirit indwelled anyone before the Day of Pentecost and plenty to suggest that he didn’t (Luke 24:49, John 7:39, 16:7). If the Holy Spirit left us when we sinned, Christians would be in trouble. Happily, the Holy Spirit never abandons us (John 14:16, Heb. 13:5).

“God drove Adam and Eve out from his presence.”

Again, that’s not true. God did drive the first couple out of the Garden of Eden, but he went with them and continued to talk with them and their children. God did not wash his hands of these sinners or drive them from his presence.

It’s true that killer Cain went out from the presence of the Lord (Gen. 4:16), but he left God; God didn’t leave him.

“Spiritual death means Adam acquired a sinful nature which he passed on to his offspring.”

This is Augustine’s doctrine of original sin, another religious idea that is not supported by scripture. Adam’s transgression condemned him and his offspring (see Rom. 5:12-19), but it did not give him horns, a tail, or a sin gene to pass onto his children. Your sinful nature – when you had one – was acquired, not inherited, the result of living in a world held captive by sin.

What really happened to Adam?

What did God mean when he told Adam “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die”?

This is an easy question because God answered it. If we want to know what happened to Adam, we only need to hear the sentence of death that was pronounced on the day he sinned:

By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)

To return to the dust from whence you came describes physical death, not spiritual death. God said Adam’s body would end up in the ground and that’s what happened.

God warned Adam, “You shall surely die.” This phrase appears repeatedly in the Bible, and every time it refers to physical death (e.g., Gen. 20:7, Num. 26:65, 2 Kgs. 1:4). It has nothing to do with spiritual death, whatever that may be.

But what about when God says “in the day that you eat from it you will surely die”? That sounds like Adam would die the same day. In a manner of speaking he did. From the moment Adam ate the fruit, he began to die.

“You will surely die” can be read as “dying you will die” and Adam began dying that very day. The moment he said yes to sin, he entered death row and life as he knew it was over.

But don’t take my word for it. Let scripture interpret scripture.

Learning from Shimei

There is a story in the Bible that illuminates the surely-die passage. It is the story of a rebel called Shimei, a relative of King Saul, who became embittered after David ascended to the throne.

Shimei created trouble for the House of David and Solomon knew that he had to keep the troublemaker on a short leash. King Solomon warned Shimei to confine himself to Jerusalem. The king said that if he ever left the city, his life would be forfeit.

For on the day you go out and cross over the brook Kidron, you will know for certain that you shall surely die; your blood shall be on your own head. (1 Kings 2:37)

Note Solomon’s choice of words: on the day… you shall surely die. It’s the same warning that God gave to Adam.

And like Adam, Shimei didn’t listen.

After a couple of his slaves ran away, Shimei left the city and pursued them halfway across the country. When Shimei eventually returned to Jerusalem, Solomon had him executed just as he promised.

Shimei did not literally die on the day he broke parole, just as Adam did not literally die on the day he ate from the forbidden tree. But like Adam, his life was forfeit on the day that he sinned.

What did Paul say?

No one wrote more about the consequences of Adam’s offence than the apostle Paul, and Paul never mentioned spiritual death. Not once. “The wages of sin is death,” he said, not spiritual death, but the real, final death that closes the curtain on life (Rom. 6:23).

When Paul said, “through one man sin entered into the world… and so death spread to all men” (Rom. 5:12), he meant Adam’s transgression brought death and condemnation to us all (Rom. 5:18).

Adam put humanity on death row.

When Paul said “you were dead in your transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1), he meant you were doomed to die on account of sin. And when he said “you were made alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:5), he meant you now have everlasting life through Christ Jesus (John 3:15–16, 5:24).

“In Adam, all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). That’s the bad news. The good news is that in Christ all will be made alive.

Spiritual death sounds Biblical but isn’t. (Click on the Table below for a larger version.) It conveys the impression that unbelievers are spiritually numb and incapable of communicating with God. But if that were true, how could anyone repent? How could anyone pray the Sinner’s Prayer?

The Bible never says that natural man is spiritually dead. Instead it says he lacks fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:3), is alienated in his mind (Col. 1:3), and excluded from the life of God (Eph. 4:18).

His spirit is very much alive, it’s just not connected to the Spirit of God (John 3:5, Rom. 8:9).

Dumb things we say in church

Spiritual death, like original sin, is one of those religious phrases we should stop using. To say unbelievers suffer from spiritual death is to minimize all that Jesus did for us.

Jesus does not deliver us from some half-baked version of death that no one understands; he delivered us from real, final, pushing-up-daisies death. He did this by giving us a brand new life, one that does not end in death.

If you have been joined to the Lord you have everlasting life and a hundred blessings besides. In fellowship with the Lord, you have been made a partaker of his divine life.

With the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and keep you, you have it far better than Adam ever did.

—–

Extracted and adapted from Paul’s new book, Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? available now on Patreon.

Is it God’s Will for You to Suffer (1 Peter 4:19)

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“Paul, why are you writing a Bible commentary? There are so many.”

It’s true. There are many Bible commentaries out there. But as far as I know, there are no grace-based commentaries. Instead, there are commentaries that mix grace with works leaving you confused, anxious, and uncertain.

Let me give you an example:

Those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

What does it mean to suffer according to the will of God? Your answer to that question reveals whether you are established in grace.

Read the verse in context and we’ll see that the suffering Peter is talking about is the fiery ordeal of persecution (1 Pet. 4:12). He’s writing to believers who were enduring a painful and unjust trial because they were Christians.

Some lost their property, while others lost their lives. And apparently this was God’s will. God was behind their suffering.

Or was he.

Any time we go through trials and hardships, we may be tempted to ask, “Lord, why are you doing this to me? Do you want me to suffer? Is this your will?”

These are weighty questions that deserve serious answers. So we turn to our favorite study Bible or commentary to unpack this verse and this is what we find:

  • Some commentators, like Matthew Henry, say “All the sufferings that befall good people come upon them according to the will of God.” So yes, it is God’s will for you to suffer.
  • Others write lengthy essays that say nothing of substance.
  • A few change Peter’s words or they wriggle out of answering the question.

Depending on who you read, you will come away feeling either confused, really confused, or condemned. You certainly won’t find any comfort.

I know this because I have read many books and commentaries on the passage above and NOT ONE of them did anything to encourage or strengthen my faith. The consensus seems to be that God either wants you to suffer or he allows it because he’s mysterious and sovereign and his ways are higher than your ways.

It makes me shake my head.

Let me put your mind at ease right now: It is NOT God’s will for you to suffer, be persecuted, or mistreated for being a Christian. Peter says no such thing.

Let’s take a closer look at his words:

Those who suffer according to the will of God…

The key phrase here is the will of God, which is one of Peter’s favorite phrases. He uses it repeatedly. He says the will of God is for you to walk in newness of life by putting your faith in his Son Jesus (1 Pet. 4:2, 6).

To suffer for the will of God is to suffer for being a Christian. That’s it. Peter says so three verses earlier:

If anyone suffers as a Christian… (1 Peter 4:16)

To suffer according to the will of God is to be persecuted for your faith. It’s being bullied because you are in the will of God. So obviously God is not the one persecuting you. A just God cannot inflict unjust suffering.

This is obvious, right? Yet many who should know better don’t see it. They wring their hands and say a lot of nonsense that is baloney at best and blasphemy at worst.

Can you imagine Jesus throwing stones at Stephen or flogging Paul? It’s ridiculous. So why do we listen to those who suggest this sort of suffering is the Father’s will?

Let’s look at the next part of that verse:

…entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

If you are going through hard times on account of your faith, you can trust the Creator because he is faithful. He will never leave you or let you down. That’s good news to encourage you.

Now we come to the final part:

…in doing what is right. (1 Peter 4:19)

In the old covenant, doing right meant keeping the rules, but in the new covenant doing right is what we do when we’re living in right relationship with the faithful Creator. It’s putting your faith in the Son of God and living in submission to the will of God.

Right believing leads to right living. When your heart is settled in the faithfulness of God, you will live righteously without any conscious effort. The Righteous One will fill your heart with his righteous desires and bear his righteous fruit in your life.

Put it altogether and Peter is saying something like this:

If you are following God and suffering for it, keep trusting him. He will never fail you. Keep walking in the light of his love and grace.

Peter’s first epistle, when read through the lens of the new covenant, is a huge source of encouragement for the afflicted. It is God’s gift to the persecuted believer, and one of the most incredible letters ever written.

—

If you liked this, you will love The Grace Bible: 1–2 Peter. Available now.

Do we need a New Covenant Study Bible?

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The Bible contains the most beautiful, life-giving words. Yet many don’t see them because they’re reading scripture through the wrong lens. Consider the following verse:

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth… (1 Peter 1:17)

What does that verse mean? Many people have no idea. Or rather, they have the wrong idea because they have been raised with a mindset that says you have to perform and produce to please the Father.

Do you know what that verse means? Maybe you see three words – judges, work, and fear – and come to all sorts of scary conclusions.

“It sounds like there’s some kind of judgment coming so I’d better work hard and be afraid for as long as I live.”

Which sounds horrible. That can’t be right. Can it?

You reach for your nearest study Bible or commentary and find that, no, you’re on the money.

“God is scary, so watch yourself.”

No, no, no! Change your lens. Stop reading the Bible through an old covenant lens of rules and behavior, and put on your new covenant glasses.

If there was such a thing as a new covenant study Bible, it would highlight one word in the passage above: Father.

If you address as Father…

Do you address God as Father? I hope so because God is your heavenly Father. Jesus said so.

But do you believe it? Do you actually call God Father?

Perhaps you don’t think of God in such familiar terms. If you have been raised with an old covenant emphasis on performance, you might see God as a bookkeeper recording your sins or a judge condemning your failures.

In the old covenant, no one addressed the Almighty as Father. But after Jesus, every New Testament writer did.

Calling God Father is what makes the new covenant new.

“But what about the part where it says we are judged for our work?”

Jesus said the only work that impresses God the Father is the “work” of believing in the One he sent (John 6:29). We are judged by our response to Jesus. Did we trust him? Did we rest in his finished work or rely on our own dead works? That sort of thing.

“But if God is our Father, why do we need to conduct ourselves in fear?”

In the new covenant, the fear of God means living in reverence and awe of God. To fear the Lord is to worship him.

Put it altogether and Peter is saying, “If you know God as your heavenly Father, let your conduct on earth be your spiritual act of worship.”

In other words, live in response to the goodness of God. Which is so much better than that scary interpretation.

Read Peter’s letter from cover to cover and you will find that it is full of reasons for worshipping the God we know as Father. We worship the Lord because:

  • he redeemed us from bondage with the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18–19)
  • he has given us rebirth through imperishable seed into new life (1 Pet. 1:23)
  • he has sanctified us by his Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2)
  • he is reserving for us an eternal inheritance (1 Pet. 1:4)
  • he protects us with his mighty power (1 Pet. 1:5)

And that’s just chapter 1! Peter’s two epistles ring with praise to the Lord and all that he has done for us.

If you liked this, you will love The Grace Bible: 1–2 Peter. It’s just been released. Check out the Grace Bible website for details.

How to Test the Spirits

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Spirit, soul, and body – do you know the difference?

Your spirit is that inner part of you that connects you to the spiritual world; your body or flesh is that external part of you that connects you to the physical world; and your soul is that part of you that chooses whether you are going to walk after the spirit or the flesh.

Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Faith is the means by which we live the spiritual life. Or to put it another way, you cannot live the spiritual life by relying on your natural senses and abilities.

And if you want to walk in newness of life, the spirit comes first. This is why it is helpful to think of the spirit as an antenna that connects us to the spiritual realm. The spirit receives signals from the spiritual realm (e.g., the Holy Spirit) which it transmits to the soul, and the soul exercises the body in response to the spirit’s instruction.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1a)

Since our spirits can detect signals from any spiritual source, divine or demonic, we need to test the spirits to see if what we are hearing is from God.

For instance, if we find ourselves doubting what God has said and asking, “Did God really say?” we can be sure we are hearing from the demonic realm. Since God is unchanging, he will never contradict himself. So anything that causes you to question what God has said is not from the Holy Spirit.

A word from the devil

One of the sadder stories in the Bible concerns a man called Ananias. Ananias told a lie and died when Peter confronted him about it:

Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …? (Acts 5:3)

The temptation to lie came from the father of lies. It did not come from the Spirit of Truth. Nor did it come from Ananias himself. “Satan filled your heart” means Satan fed him a lie and Ananias swallowed it.

He never tested the spirits.

Many outrageous claims come prefaced with the words, “God told me to…” Did he really? Are you certain? Or were you fed a lie?

“God told me to divorce my wife.” Are you sure about that?

“God told me to bet the farm on a suspect business dealing.” And how did that work out?

Growing up I had a friend who blossomed into a beautiful young woman. During her late teens and early twenties about a dozen men proposed to her saying, “God told me you were going to be my wife.”

Hmm. They couldn’t have all been right.

No doubt handsome young men have heard similar things from Christian women. “God told me you were going to be my husband.”

Playing the God-told-me-so card is one of the most dangerous things believer’s do. If you ever hear it, make sure you test the spirits to see whether it is actually from the Lord.

All sorts of ideas pass through our heads; some are good, others are not-so-good. We should not act on anything without first asking, is this from the Lord?

How do we test the spirits?

We test the spirits by asking questions:

  • Does this idea (or word or message or advice) encourage me to rely on the Lord or myself?
  • Does it feed my faith or my doubts?
  • Does it release freedom or bind me in chains?
  • Does it promote man’s agenda or bring glory to God?
  • Does it glorify Christ’s righteousness or my failures?
  • Does it fill me with peace or anxiety?
  • Does it have the stench of flesh or the fragrance of Jesus?

Ultimately the test is: who does it point me to? Origin determines destination. Any spirit from God, will lead you to God.

When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26)

If the message you are hearing causes you to look to Christ or rely on Christ, you can be sure that you are hearing from the Holy Spirit.

—–

Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.

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