A CORRESPONDENCE INDEX
OF
SCRIPTURAL MISCELLANY:
Volume One
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©2013 Valerie Lynn Stephens
ISBN #: 978-1-304-80915-5
The “Angel of Yahweh” is what theologians call a “Christophany” & is the preincarnate appearance & prophesy of Jesus Christ. The corresponding Scriptures can be found in the following biblical passages: (Genesis 16:7-2, 21:17-18, & 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2, Judges 2:1-4, 5:23, 6:11-24, 13:3-22; 2 Samuel 24:16; & Zechariah 1:12, 3:1, 12:8).
The “Pneumatomachians”, or “fighters against the Spirit” was a group led by Eustath circa 373 A.D. who preached the false doctrine of the Holy Spirit & the Son Jesus Christ as merely being of “like” substance with the Father.
The Scriptures which repudiate this as a necessarily false teaching are the following: (“I & the Father are one.” John 10:30); (John 10:38 “...The Father is in me & I, in the Father.”) (John 14:20 “...I am in my Father, & you are in me & I am in you.”) (John 14:26 “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things & will remind you of everything I have said to you.”)
The Word of God supports gender equality, as all of His children are called in service to Him each according to the gifts he has given us. (Romans 12:6 “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”) (Acts 2:17-18 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons & daughters will prophesy, your young men will will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men & women, I will pour out my Spirit & they will prophesy.”)
(Romans 10:11-13 “For as the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew & Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all & richly blesses all who call on Him, for “Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.”)
(Romans 16:1-2 speaks of Phoebe, a deaconess of a church in Cenchrea & Paul's command to his brothers in Christ to assist her with equal deference as a servant of the Lord.) Out of all scriptural passages, there is one in particular which stands out & which has been distorted to justify the maiming & unjust oppression of girls & women throughout human history.
However, when we call upon the Holy Spirit to clarify our exegetical discernment, taking the whole passage in context, we hear the scripture's message in a completely different way.
The scripture referred to reads as follows: (1 Corinthians: 11:3-12 “Now, I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, & the head of the woman is man, & the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head-it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover her head, since he is the image & glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman from man. For this reason & because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head. In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also is man born of woman. But everything comes from God.”
The “sign of authority” referred to initially could be interpreted in light of the Genesis 6 account of the “Nephilim” mating with the women of the earth at that time. Yet the NIV interpretation of this passage merely calls them “the heroes of old & men of renown” thereby bringing into question that the “Nephilim” were actual “angels” or “sons of God”. Nevertheless, everyone besides Noah & seven others were destroyed by the Flood, therefore, we must interpret “because of the angels” to refer to Mary, the mortal womanly bearer of Christ the Messiah Himself, as the angel Gabriel prophesied & administered to her personally.
And last but certainly not least, Romans 2:11 speaks most clearly & plainly: “For God does not show favourtism.”
Contrary to some false teachings, Jesus Christ was granted freedom of choice & will by God the Father concerning his crucifixion & all other events & circumstances of his earthly life & ministry.
The scriptural correspondence is found in: (John 10:17-18 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down & authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”)
This understanding of this particular passage is significant because it not only verifies that Jesus struggled with the same temptation that we all do to “go His own way”, but it also reminds us that we, too, must weigh our choices very wisely in accordance with the will of our heavenly Father.
There was a specific place in the history of Jesus' life & ministry when the Holy Spirit was granted to his followers, according to (John 7:37-39 “On the last & greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood & said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me & drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been glorified.”)
The Feast referred to in this passage is the Jewish “Feast of Tabernacles”, which Jesus attended in Galilee, as he hid away from those Jews seeking his life in Judea, as the Father had revealed to him that his time had not yet come. (John 7:6 'Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come...”) Jesus was also a defender of parents of malformities when he admonished those who were passing quick judgment on parents of a blind man: (John 9:2-3 “...Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”)
Believers & followers of Jesus Christ are given an “indwelling” of “the Holy Spirit” to guide & protect them. The scripture which speaks of this is: (John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father & he will give you another counselor to be with you-the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you & will be in you.”) Another key passage is found in (Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised him from the dead is living in you,...then he will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.”)
In theology, the doctrine of “dichotomy” defines man as a being of both material & immaterial (spiritual) aspects. The Scripture which supports this view is found in: (James 2:26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works (or deeds) is dead.”)
There is also another concept, that of “trichotomy” which separates the human person into three parts: body, soul & spirit. It is important to note, however, that the spiritual aspect of any human being comes directly through the grace, divinity & holiness of God the Father himself, & not through our own inward human qualities.
The bible in fact makes many semantical & ontological distinctions between “the soul” & “the spirit, namely Hebrews 4:12. ” The soul (Greek “psyche”) (the Hebrew term “nephesh” denotes both “life” & “soul”) is the human psychological aspect of the human being, & the “spirit” comes only by & through, & works only for the purpose of God Himself. Therefore, it is a key distinction to be made since, being holy, the spirit which is God & comes directly from God must remain dichotomized from “the soul (the “flesh”).
Theologian Charles C. Ryrie put it aptly by classifying soul as that which denotes the totality of a person's make-up, & “spirit” to denote that which refers solely to the immaterial or spiritual aspect of a person. Despite the theological & semantical debates about the specific terms “soul” & “spirit” often being used interchangeably many times in biblical texts, the most significant issue to focus on is that concerning total dependence of humankind on the Triune God (God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son & the Holy Spirit) for complete sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 “...May your whole spirit, soul & body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”)
Although the idea that our loved ones (& ourselves) go straight to heaven after the death of our physical bodies, there is no scriptural precedent for this belief. As a matter of fact, the Scripture itself corrects us in this kind of fallible thinking in : (John 3:13 “No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.”)
There is also another verse in the same book which Jesus' stated to his disciples “Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, & then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; & where I am, you cannot come.” (John 7:33:34)
Another strong (& intriguing) verse can be found in: “1 Timothy 6:16 “... (Christ) who alone is immortal & dwells in unapproachable light whom no one can see nor has seen.”) And yet another which speaks: (“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake.” Daniel 12:2) Another key scriptural passage can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:23 “but each in his own turn: Christ, the first-fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”
And also in 1 Corinthians 15:50 “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh & blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” We must therefore not only wait our turn for entrance into God's holy kingdom but must also first be judged each & everyone according to our deeds. (Revelations 20:13 “...and each person was judged according to what he had done.”) But we mustn't fret, for he will also “...reward each person according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:24-28)
The gift of God's grace & atonement offered through his Son Jesus Christ is not an “indulge in every sin” card. As a matter of fact, it is much more challenging to follow Judeo-Christianity than to follow atheism or agnosticism. Yes, God loves us “unconditionally”, but only when we submit ourselves to His will, & allow Jesus Christ to be the intercessor for us in relation to the Father.
We are sanctified & justified only through Christ alone. (John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth & the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”) Indeed, following Christ does come at a sacrifice to each & every one of us. Thus, perhaps the word “unconditional” is a misnomer & needs revision in our fallibly reductionistic (& often conveniently so) classifications of God's character & holy attributes.
Moreover, His Holy Writ is very implicit & explicit in its warning that we (believers) must pay the price in submission of our flesh to the works of the Spirit. (Romans 12:1-8 “Therefore, I urge you, dear brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.”) (Matthew 24:13 “...but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”) (Romans 13:14 “...Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ & do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”) And last but not least: (1 John 3:4-6 “but you know that he appeared that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who live sin him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”)
And yet we who are in Jesus have all the joy & hope because: (Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin & death.”)
Although many people who insist on the practice of veganism as being the only ethically & morally sound dietary consideration, the Scriptures clarify this issue for us in a few passages. The first instance of God's provision given to the first man, woman & creatures of the land is, of course, found in Genesis 1:29-30 “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth & every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth & the birds of the air & all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.” If one stops here in their biblical reading, specifically the first chapter of Genesis, one could very well reason that the first of God's creation, man, woman & the beasts of earth, air & water were indeed what we would today call “vegetarians” or “vegans”.
However, if we read on up to Genesis 9:3 God commands to the first man & woman: “Everything that lives & moves will be food for you.” But interestingly enough, there is also a New Testament Scripture which makes an allowance for lesser dietary restrictions. It is found in Mark 7:14-17 “Again Jesus called the crowd to him & said, “Listen to me, everyone & understand this. Nothing outside of a man can make him unclean by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.”
And Jesus further expounds: Mark 7:20-23 “He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance & folly. All these evils come from inside & make a man unclean. After he had left the crowd & entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don't you see that nothing that enters into a man from the outside can make him unclean. For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, & then out of his body. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods “clean.”)
And last but certainly not least, the key Scriptural passage which settles this particular issue of theological debate in Romans 14:1- 4 “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, & the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
All in all, however, The Lord of course does not advocate the cruel & deliberate mistreatment of animals: Proverbs 12:10 “A righteous man cares for his animals.”
The Scripture which acknowledges an “age of moral accountability” is to be found in: Isaiah 7:16 “But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.” Although it does not give a specific age when this “age of accountability” has been breached, we can assume that it is more important to remember that all are born into sin & are in need of the atonement & grace found through faith in & surrender to Jesus Christ & His will alone. Genesis 8:21 “...even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” And: Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
Jesus makes an allowance for divorce in cases of marital infidelity (adultery): Matthew 19:9 “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, & marries another woman shall commit adultery.”
The common maxim “Physician, heal thyself.” is indeed taken from Scripture & something Jesus himself said to the Jews in the synagogue when he was in Nazarene: Luke 4:24 “Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your own hometown what we have heard you did in Capernaum.'” “I tell you the truth, he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
The Apologetics concept of “irreducible complexity” (first coined & expounded upon by scientist Michael Behe) is strongly supported by the Word of God in: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-19 & verses 24 & 25: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.” And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be?” “But God has combined the members of the body & has given great honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.”
According to 1 John 3:2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God & what we will be has not yet been made known.” no one possesses specific knowledge about what is to come in the afterlife of God's domain, including what our “new bodies (“incorruptible” 1 Corinthians 15) will be like.
This scripture furthermore also debunks many myths & fallacies of the theory of atheistic macroevolution, since these theories claim such a phenomena as reasonably arising solely out of the means of human advancement & capabilities. Yet as scripture reminds us throughout its passages, God alone is sovereign.
One of the choicest scriptures we can meditate upon throughout any given day which can lend us the focus that we need to live righteous, upright lives in accordance with God's will is by far most explicitly stated in: Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Yes, God's love is always unconditionally available to us, but entrance into his kingdom in the life to come requires submission to God's will in the here & now. But we are consoled & again encouraged by God's Word: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you...then he will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.” Romans 8:11
Furthermore: “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit & not in the old way of the written code.” Romans 7:5-6 And last but not least: “...there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me (us) free from the law of sin & death.” Romans 8:1-2 22
Although Romans 8:28-30 is often used by Calvinists to support their doctrine of pre-election, there exegetical error becomes clear once the whole passage is taken in context. Again, they are applying the fallible hermeneutic methodology of assuming specificity when generality is meant. Here is the whole passage: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:28-30”
To clarify, those applying Calvinistic methods of exegesis fail to see the generality inherent in this passage. In other words, “those God foreknew & predestined” refers not to specific individuals, rather, to all who choose to love & honour God through submission to His will alone, & of anyone who believes in & “takes up their own cross (Matthew 16:24)” & follows His Son Jesus Christ.
In accordance with God's attributes of holiness & perfection, he could not & does not ever violate the dignity of each & every human individual which he grants freedom of choice to submit to him.
Therefore, the major flaw inherent in the Calvinistic doctrine of Pre-election is that it not only assumes favourtism shown to some of God's children, (“For God does not show favourtism.” Romans 2:11) but it also violates the spiritual law & truth that each individual's salvation must be systematically worked out “in fear & trembling” up until their very last day on this earth. (“...continue to work out your salvation in fear & trembling, for it is God who works in you according to his good purpose.” (Philippians 2: 12-13)
This is very evidently thus, both a logistical & ontological antinomy (contradiction or paradox). The divine attribute of God's (& Christ's) omnipresence is verified in: Ephesians 4:10 “He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill all the universe.”
The oft criticised “fundamentalist” doctrine of “Original Sin” is both implicitly & explicitly supported by many scriptural passages, namely the following: Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Romans 7:18 “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh.” Luke 18:19 “No one but God alone is good.”
Yet no one is hopelessly depraved, or irredeemable. For we can indeed, find justification & sanctification through true repentance & living in Christ, but mostly through faith itself: Galatians 3:24 “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” Romans 23:23-26 “...For all have sinned & fall short the glory of God, & are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just & the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
One scripture which does specify in one regard what our resurrection bodies will be like in comparison to our current earthly, mortal ones is found in: Matthew 22:30 “At the resurrection people will neither marry, nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.” (meaning they will be non-procreative)
If ever there were a Scripture which discouraged racist attitudes towards one another it is found in: Acts 17:26 “From one man he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth.”
The scripture where God set the human life expectancy cap is found in: Genesis 6:3 “Then the Lord said, “My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
The use of the word “man” in writings, both sacred & secular, to denote both sexes is actually not meant to be construed chauvinistically. The Scripture which supports this is found in: Genesis 5:2 “And when they were created he called them 'man'...”
Furthermore, on another interesting note, the name “Adam” was given due to its phonetic resemblance to the Hebrew word for “man.” The Hebrew word “adamah”, from whence the word & name “Adam” derives, also denotes “ground”, not coincidentally the same “dust” from whence God formed man (including that of the female species “woman”) (or more scientifically put: from whence God used the “raw materials” of his Creation to create all creatures great & small in it, as well as all else in it).
The Greek term “theopneustos” means “writing breathed by the breath of God Himself” and hence refers to all Holy Scripture. “All Scripture is God-breathed & is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting & training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
“Eisegesis” is a theological term referring to the reading of our own fallible human interpretation into any Scripture. “Exegesis”, or the reading of meaning out of or strictly from text alone with the aid of the Holy Spirit to guide the reader of Scripture is how we are called to interpret Scripture. (Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you & prove you a liar.”
Angels of the Lord are sometimes sent to keep humans from harm, either from that of their own sinful or merely fallacious impulses and desires, or from the potentially evil and/or erroneous actions of others. One prime example can be found in the story of Abraham & Isaac (Genesis 22:12). 32 God alone is sovereign over life (Deuteronomy 32:39 & Job 1:21) and has appointed a day for everyone's death (Psalm 90:10 & Hebrews 9:27). 33 The Scripture which supports the truth that only God alone can create life from its most fundamental level is found in (Exodus 8:18-19 “But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not...The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”).
The Triunity of God is supported by the following Scriptures: (Matt. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2; and are also foreshadowed/prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures to be found in: Psalms 110:1; Isaiah: 63:7, 9-10; Proverbs 30:4).
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