New Revelation?

In the days when Jeroboam I was king in Israel, a man of God (i.e., a prophet) from Judah was sent to the city of Bethel to preach against the idolatry there (1 Kings 13). God warned him not to eat or drink while at Bethel, nor to return home by the same way that he came.

After finishing his task, the man of God started for home. As he stopped to rest, he was met by an old prophet from Bethel, who invited him to his house and eat and drink. The man from Judah refused, explaining that God had forbidden it. But the old man answered that he was a prophet, too, and that an angel of God had instructed him to bring the man back with him to eat and drink. “But he was lying to him” (verse 18).

The text does not say why the old prophet lied, but it was likely because he condoned the very idolatry that the man from Judah opposed. Whatever his motive, the lie had disastrous results. The man of God from Judah believed this claim of new divine revelation and accepted the old prophet’s offer. He paid for the mistake with his life (verses 20-24).

Many of today’s religions exist because someone claimed to have received a new revelation from God. The alleged message from an angel of God to Joseph smith, Jr. was the beginning of Mormonism (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). Supposed divine revelations to Ellen G. White formed part of the teaching of Seventh-Day Adventism. Mary Baker Eddy claimed to have communication from God as she wrote Science and Health and founded the Christian Science church. Charles T. Russell, who claimed that God had revealed to him new truths, was instrumental in starting what would become the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Worldwide Church of God, under the leadership of Herbert W. Armstrong, began when Armstrong’s wife said an angel had spoken God’s will to her. Others have likewise claimed to have received some new divine message that adds to, changes, or replaces something taught in the Bible.

The old prophet of Bethel claimed to have a revelation from God that was more up-to-date. So have Smith, White, Eddy, Russell, Armstrong, and others like them. But God’s revelation of the gospel through the apostles and prophets doesn’t need updating. Jesus promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit would guide them into “all the truth”—that is, the truth in its entirety (John 16:13). If He kept that promise, then all the spiritual truth we need was revealed to those inspired men. They proclaimed what God revealed and wrote it down so that future generations would have access to it. Peter wrote “that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). Jude called on disciples to “contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

The old prophet claimed to have seen an angel. But we are exhorted to heed the gospel revealed through the Son of God, who is better than angels (Hebrews 1:1-4). And Paul warned, “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).

For the man of God from Judah, believing a false claim of new revelation proved deadly. And so is the mistake of believing modern claims of new revelation, for it will cost men their souls. Perhaps an old saying about divine revelation is worth repeating: If it’s true, then it isn’t new; and if it’s new, then it isn’t true!

The Scapegoat

In modern terms, a scapegoat is a person who gets all the blame for whatever goes wrong, even though it’s not all his fault. People are made scapegoats so that others can escape blame.

Did you know that the concept of the scapegoat came from the Bible?

In Leviticus 16, God gave the Hebrews commandment concerning the Day of Atonement. The sacrifices and rites described in that chapter were carried out year after year as the means of atoning for the sins of the people.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest selected two male goats. One goat was sacrificed as a sin offering for the people and its blood sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark in the tabernacle. The other goat was presented alive before the Lord. The high priest laid his hands on its head and confessed the sins of the people; then the goat was led out into the wilderness and released. In this way the sins of the people were symbolically laid on the head of the goat and carried out of their midst. So this goat was called the “goat of removal” or the “scapegoat.” “And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land” (Leviticus 16:22).

The commands of the Mosaic Law were only “a shadow of the good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1; Colossians 2:17). As with so many other features of the Law, the role of the scapegoat is truly fulfilled under the New Testament in the person of Christ. In His sacrificial death Jesus took our sins upon Himself and became our “scapegoat.” As Paul said, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus’ blood was “poured out for many for forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). It’s striking that the word “forgiveness” or “remission” in that verse comes from a word that means “to send away.” When an obedient believer comes to Christ, his sins are removed from his life’s record just as the scapegoat was removed from the camp of Israel.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

Walking

“Walk” is a common figure of speech in the Bible. Both the Hebrew word yalak and the Greek word peripateo literally refer to the physical act of walking. Figuratively, they denote the way a person regulates his life or conducts himself. Thus our “walk” involves everything we do. And the point is, of course, that we are to walk in a way that glorifies God.

Consider a few casual observations on walking and their connection to spiritual life.

Walking isn’t instinctive. Most animals learn to walk all by themselves within days after their birth (we’ve all seen it with baby dogs, cats, cows and horses). Humans, on the other hand, have to be taught, helped, and urged along, and still it’s a long process of learning and practice. Walking with God is not something we master all at once, either. It takes a lifetime of learning, trying—and yes, falling down—to get the hang of it. We need constant training and encouragement. “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth” (Psalm 86:11). And we need the Lord to hold our hand as we go. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4).

Walking is done by taking one step at a time. We can’t go from one place to another in giant leaps, nor are we physically capable of flying. We get there slowly, simply and methodically, by putting one foot in front of the other. Spiritual maturity is not reached by leaps and bounds, but by continuous, persistent steps forward. Wisdom, knowledge, contentment—all are attained only by daily effort. “That you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Walking can be trouble if you don’t pay attention. You have to look ahead or you’ll run into something or fall into a hole. You have to watch what’s around you or you’re liable to step into the path of a speeding bus (or in some parts of the world, stampeding livestock). You have to keep an eye on the ground or you’ll trip, slip, and stumble. The point? Pay attention to your walk, brother! “Keep sound wisdom and discretion…Then you will walk safely in your way, and your foot will not stumble” (Proverbs 3:21-23). “See then that you walk carefully, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

People recognize you by your walk. Some folks walk fast, some slow. Some walk with great strides, some with tiny steps. Some walk on their toes, others shuffle. Some bounce up and down, some sway from side to side, and others just seem to glide along. People who know you can spot you in a crowd by the way you walk. Folks identify you by your spiritual walk, too. How you conduct yourself—your speech, your habits, your temperament—distinguishes you from everyone else. “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 4:1; 5:8).

One more thing: The image of “walking” suggests that you’re going somewhere. Do you know where? “Enter by the narrow gate: for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Stop the Insanity!

Someone has said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. I like that. And it occurs to me that this is exactly what a lot of us do in one way or another. We make the same bad choices, pursue the same bad habits, and hold the same bad ideas as yesterday, but we think that today the outcome will be different. Today they will bring fulfillment and happiness.

And when repeating those same mistakes again brings us frustration and sorrow (as it always does), we just can’t see what went wrong. We blame someone or something else. And we assure ourselves that tomorrow, if we just try it again, that same old thinking and behavior will finally get us what we’re after.

That is crazy. But God invites us to turn from the insanity and pursue a better way—His way. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ezekiel 18:30-31).

Is 1 Peter 3:21 All Wet?

“…the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20-21, NAS).

A while back I referred to this passage to show the role of baptism in God’s plan of salvation. A friend of mine objected. He said I had wrongly assumed that “saves” in verse 21 means salvation from sin and judgment.

“Alright,” I asked, “then what does it mean?”

His response was essentially, “Well, it doesn’t mean that.”

So I went and looked it up. Thayer’s Lexicon says “save” in the New Testament means “to keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction; to deliver.” Of course, exactly what one is being saved from may vary with the context. But Thayer also notes how the word is usually applied to Christians: “to save in the technical biblical sense; negatively, to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment…; positively, to make one a partaker of the salvation by Christ” (610).

So 1 Peter 3:21 says that when a believer is baptized, he is delivered from some danger and brought to safety. Peter likens baptism to the rescue of Noah’s family in the ark “through water” (verse 20). Noah and his kin were saved from death in the flood, and through baptism we are saved from something at least as dangerous. But from what?

Look again at the context. The flood which Noah and his family escaped wasn’t just any flood; it was God’s judgment on sinful mankind. Since baptism “corresponds” to that, it follows that baptism saves us from the same thing—the penalty of God’s judgment.

Peter could hardly mean anything else. The salvation referred to certainly isn’t deliverance from persecution, affliction, sickness, physical death, or even temptation. The rest of the epistle shows that the very Christians to whom Peter wrote were suffering such things. And he says that baptism saves now. What could he have in view but our being saved from our past sins and brought into fellowship with God? Peter’s statement here is in perfect harmony with what he said to his troubled audience at Pentecost: “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

The reason for my friend’s objection is that he, like many people, denies any connection between baptism and salvation. But 1 Peter 3:21 makes that connection so clearly that one can only remove it by changing the meaning of “saves” in that verse. And as we’ve seen, nothing in the passage gives us any reason to do so.

Of course, the act of baptism by itself could save no one. It is Jesus’ atoning death, burial and resurrection that provide the basis of our salvation. But it is through baptism that the believer is united with Christ in the likeness of His death and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4-5). Peter’s own statement confirms the connection between baptism and the saving work of Christ: “baptism now saves you…through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Have you put your faith in Christ and been baptized into Him?