Titus 3:1-2 – Remind them to submit to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.
One of the beautiful things about Paul’s letter to Titus is how all-encompassing his instruction is that is still relevant for all believers. Many believers today will use this letter primarily for understanding the qualifications for leaders within the congregation of God, which is the bulk of the first chapter. However, as the little letter continues, we find instruction regarding all types of individuals who were coming to faith in then Messiah. While Paul’s primary reason for writing was to assist Titus in overseeing congregations in Crete, it gives us insights into the very practices and characteristics that were expected of God’s people in that day and age.
As we can see in the verses highlighted above, out of all of the positive aspects that was to be demonstrated by believers, God’s people were expected to be peaceable. Yeshua clearly illustrated this principle within his teaching.
Matthew 5:7, 9 – Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. … Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
In order to be peaceable, an individual must have a forgiving, merciful attitude. Peace can typically only be had when one party relinquishes the right to force their position or rights on another. According to Yeshua and Paul, this relinquishing responsibility, this forgiving attitude, falls to the believer. This is how peace is accomplished, when one is forgiving of another’s “incorrect” position, looking beyond that to the more significant aspect of saving the relationship.
This is the same principle in how God has provided salvation for all people:
Titus 3:4-5 – But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us –not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy…
God’s mercy is the only thing that has allowed mankind to come to him in spirit and in truth. God relinquished his right to be severe (even though he would be justified in doing so) so that he could demonstrate his sincerity in desiring restoration. God created peace by being willing to save the relationship with all of mankind through his mercy. This is what mercy is: the extension of a forgiving attitude. When we realize that God has been offering this to us, it incites a yearning for repentance, and to modify our rebellious stance towards him.
This is how peace is created: “to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people.” This is the peace that brings salvation to the world.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service.
Ephesians 4:32 – And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
We see so much strife and anger in this day and age. People are spending inordinate amounts of time and energy endorsing popular slogans, political parties, and national movements for or against some agenda or another. To our collective shame, much of it is also stemming from those who claim to be believers, those who say they have trusted in the God of the Bible.
Our age of social unrest is little different than that of the first century believers. Besides being caught up in one of the most revolutionary times in the life of God’s people, they were also subject to political wrangling not only of Rome, but of their own countrymen. Civil disputes, especially among themselves, were rampant; in many respects the nation was on the verge of civil war. The Jewish state had rarely been as factious and divisive politically, and families were pitted against one another.
Yet into this fray, Paul writes that believers should be kind and compassionate, forgiving one another. They should be nice people in a world that is not nice.
Colossians 3:12-13 – Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.
Critical to this “niceness” is the idea that their forgiveness should be patterned on the forgiveness that God offered them. If we take Paul’s advice at face value and look to God’s precedent and pattern of forgiveness, we may be able to see some ways that we can faithfully represent him as his people in this world.
Psalm 103:8-14 – Yahweh is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love. He will not always accuse us or be angry forever. He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. For he knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.
First of all, God is stated to be abounding in chesed, the Hebrew word for kindness and faithful goodness. He is slow to anger. His patience is long and he is willing to suspend judgment until absolutely necessary. Even when his anger is expressed, it is momentary and brief in the overall scope of his dealings with mankind. His anger does not linger with slow-burning constancy. When he does express his justice at unfaithfulness, it is not as would be deserved; it is comparatively light for the injustice that has been committed. Most importantly, when he forgives, it is complete. It is illustrated as being as far as east is from west; complete opposites that stretch away infinitely from one another. Certainly within the family of believers, he chooses to relate to us a compassionate parent, not as an authoritarian stranger. His compassion for the bond of faith is as of a loving parent to his children. Ultimately, his dealings with mankind are based on the generous and sobering understanding that we are temporary individuals, we are not permanent to this time and place.
If we could learn to review, accept, and enact God’s principles, forgiving others in the same manner he is forgiving of us, imagine how we could be a force for good and “niceness” in the world today. By applying the same type of faithfulness and compassion with others, and certainly among the family of believers, we could have lasting impact in our efforts to reduce strife and anger in our world.
We are all only here for a short amount of time as temporary pin-points of light within an entire galaxy of humanity. Let’s remember we are all dust, extending God’s kindness and mercy, his chesed, while we can.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
The life of believer is one of curing and preservative influence, a life that makes a difference by simply being what it is.
Matthew 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
In the Bible, salt is useful for seasoning food, but also has a symbolic meaning. We read that the sacrifices of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, were required to have salt included.
Leviticus 2:13 – “You are to season each of your grain offerings with salt; you must not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God. You are to present salt with each of your offerings.
In their Old Testament commentary, Keil and Delitzsch write:
The meaning which the salt, with its power to strengthen food and preserve it from putrefaction and corruption, imparted to the sacrifice, was the unbending truthfulness of that self-surrender to the Lord embodied in the sacrifice, by which all impurity and hypocrisy were repelled.
This purifying and preservative effect of salt was widely known and those qualities were symbolically applied to covenants and agreements to demonstrate their enduring nature. Keil and Delitzsch continue:
The salt of the sacrifice is called the salt of the covenant, because in common life salt was the symbol of covenant; treaties being concluded and rendered firm and inviolable, according to a well-known custom of the ancient Greeks (see Eustathius ad Iliad. i. 449) which is still retained among the Arabs, by the parties to an alliance eating bread and salt together, as a sign of the treaty which they had made. As a covenant of this kind was called a “covenant of salt,” equivalent to an indissoluble covenant (Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5), so here the salt added to the sacrifice is designated as salt of the covenant of God, because of its imparting strength and purity to the sacrifice, by which Israel was strengthened and fortified in covenant fellowship with Jehovah.
For Yeshua to apply the symbolism of salt to the life of a believer shows how strongly he views the sacrificial, distinctive, and enduring nature of the believer should be in this world.
The apostle Paul also leverages this imagery when writing to the congregation at Colossae. Salt is used here as a symbol of gracious speech, carrying the idea of extending favor to others.
Colossians 4:5-6 – Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.
The context of Yeshua’s identification of believers as the salt of the earth comes amidst similar admonitions to be the light of the world, being filled with mercy, peace, and humility outlined in the Beatitudes. All of these qualities are demonstrated to have a distinct impact on the world around us: seasoning over flavorlessness; light over darkness. The life of believer is one of curing and preservative influence, a life that makes a difference by simply being what it is. Salt can’t help but be salty; light can’t help but shine. These are the very natures contained within the things themselves that alter whatever they touch or wherever they can be seen.
We are instructed by Yeshua that these qualities of grace and compassion are inherent within believers, and should be the identifying marks that leave changed circumstances and environments in their wake as they travel through this life.
Let us not lose our saltiness and be cast aside; let us strive to be whom God has called us to be, and so honor his name and calling.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
Luke 17:3-4 – Take heed to yourselves: If your brother should sin, rebuke him; and if he should repent, forgive him. And if he should sin against you seven times in the day, and seven times should return to you, saying ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
Forgiving someone when they have wronged us almost always feels like a huge effort on our part. Whatever they have done or said, we have been slighted, misunderstood, or worse, harmed in some way by someone’s offense against us. If we are able in those instances to gather our senses and relate to them how we have been slighted, they will many times be remorseful and apologetic of having overstepped a boundary. When we remember and enact these words of the Messiah, we can feel very spiritual and obedient by forgiving the harm that may have been done.
But what if that individual turns right around and commits the same offense or another transgression against us? How does that compounded offense make us feel? We even have a saying for it, it’s as if they have “added insult to injury.”
In no uncertain terms, Yeshua commands us to continue the forgiveness and release that we originally offered to them when they are demonstrating remorse at having offended us. Seven times, or “seventy times seven” times, the number is irrelevant, because the emphasis is on the repeated nature of the offense. Usage of the number is not meant by Yeshua to be a literal definition of how many times forgiveness must occur, but a hyperbolic way of illustrating the importance of repeated forgiveness.
Why is this a significant aspect of the believer’s daily walk? Repeated forgiveness is necessary for one very good and simple reason: because we as believers repeatedly ask for forgiveness for our offenses against God. Have you ever approached God sincerely asking for forgiveness for saying something harmful to someone else, only to reflexively and without thinking to do it again later that same day? If we have the expectation that he will forgive us when we are genuinely repentant, then we should do likewise.
But what are we to do in the case of the fellow believer does not repent or does not ask for forgiveness for having wronged us? Are we obligated to continue to fulfill this level of repeated forgiveness?
Yeshua provides some additional insight to this type of scenario in Matthew 18.
Matthew 18:15 – “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.
This sounds right in line with what Yeshua was teaching us in the Luke passage above. However, here in Matthew, he continues with a different portrayal of events, a different reaction by the brother who has offended us.
Matthew 18:16-17 – “But if he won’t listen [i.e., does not repent], take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. “If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the congregation of believers. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the congregation, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.
According to Yeshua, the fact that we are to repeatedly forgive repeated offenses is dependent on the repentant nature of the individual who has offended us. If they are not sincere in repenting of a transgression and are instead deliberately causing harm, then Yeshua has also provided a method for dealing with them.
While this formal aspect of congregational involvement dealing with the unrepentant fellow believer is less practiced today, it is no less valid. Of course God desires that we forgive those who may do something against us when they are sincere in recognizing the offense. However, we are not expected to be doormats for fellow believers to take advantage of the generosity of our forgiveness.
Therefore, the limit of forgiveness with fellow believers is non-repentance. There is no obligation for continued forgiveness when there is no repentant attitude on their part. However, there does need to be involvement with others to bring closure to this type of behavior. This process ensures fair dealings and purity within the congregation of believers.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
Those who claim to be a child of God should act like their Father.
Genesis 6:5-8 – Then Yahweh saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. So Yahweh was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Then Yahweh said, “I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.
As bad as we may think that our societies are today, the generation of Noah’s day was far more corrupt. God had observed that all people had become wayward from the purity and simplicity of the original intent of his Creation. God had created man in his image to rule and reign as righteous representatives over his Creation. Yet, instead, people had chosen to use their gifts and abilities in the service of wickedness and evil.
In his justice and righteousness, God determines the elimination of wicked humans is necessary in order to stop the rampant disobedience and chaos from continuing as it had. However, in his compassion for obedience and righteousness, Noah finds favor in God’s eyes. God enacts a plan that allows his human representatives to continue on the earth, albeit through the family of one righteous and obedient man, Noah.
Throughout the Bible, we find God’s wrath and justice is constantly contrasted with his mercy, grace, and compassion. In fact, this is the very description God provides of himself as he reveals himself to Moses:
Exodus 33:18-19 – Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.” He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘Yahweh’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Compassion is tied up within the very name or character of God. His presence and revelation of himself is in itself an act of grace and compassion that we may know him more, and learn of his righteous expectations for all mankind. For those of us considering ourselves as a child of God, then we should likewise have grace, mercy, and compassion embedded within every fiber of our being. This should be our demonstration to others that we are truly his children.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive at https://core-of-the-bible.simplecast.com/ or your favorite podcast streaming service. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
When we are forgiving of others, we are not only setting an individual free from condemnation, we are also setting ourselves free from the emotional bondage created by our insistence on holding that condemnation over their heads.
Core of the Bible podcast #28 – The maturity of forgiveness
In this episode we will be exploring the topic of forgiveness, especially as forgiveness reigns over judgment, and how forgiveness is a sign of emotional and spiritual maturity.
Yeshua stated it this way:
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:36-37
When we typically think of the quality of forgiveness, it’s usually placed as a virtue that is opposite hatred. To forgive is to love and not to hate. However, in this passage, we find that mercy and forgiveness are placed in direct contrast not with hatred, but with condemnation and judgment.
In Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, it says “Seek not to judge at all. If you must judge, be not eager to condemn.”
Albert Barnes writes: “This command [to not judge] refers to rash, censorious, and unjust judgment.” He continues this thought by saying, “people are prone to be severe judges of others.”
Of course, it’s easy to condemn someone else, but that type of condemnation is not always based on all of the facts. Additionally, if we are overly judgmental of others, we may be guilty of committing the same acts.
For example, consider the passage of the woman caught in adultery in John 8.
John 8:3-11 – Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. “In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? ” They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
Recognize it was primarily the scribes and Pharisees who were confronted with their hypocrisy.
Or consider the situation of David when the prophet Nathan confronts him on his affair with Bathsheba:
2 Samuel 12:1-7, 9, 13 – So the LORD sent Nathan to David. When he arrived, he said to him: There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very large flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest. David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan: “As the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! “Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.” Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD God of Israel says: You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife – you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.” … David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Hypocrisy and unjust judgment go hand in hand. Barnes concludes: “the heart is deceitful. When we judge others we should make it a rule to examine ourselves on that very point. Such an examination might greatly mitigate the severity of our judgment; or might turn the whole of our indignation against ourselves.”
When we are condemning and judgmental, we are are out of balance with God’s ideal, and we then place ourselves in the path of accountability with God himself.
Matthew 7:1-2 Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Yeshua teaches us to not be critical of others. In this teaching, he highlights that there is a balance, or a universal equity that God maintains. If an individual is overly critical of others, the same level of critical judgment will be applied to them. This is not only conveyed in the treatment received by others, but in respect to our ultimate accountability to God.
Albert Barnes writes, ” You shall be judged by the same rule which you apply to others. It refers no less to the way in which people will judge of us, than to the rule by which God will judge us.”
John Gill adds, “Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; censure not men’s persons, and judge not their state, or adjudge them to condemnation for every offence in practice, or because they differ in principle, lest you should be treated in like manner by others; and especially, lest you should fall under the righteous censure, judgment, and condemnation of God.”
This condemnation by God is not always recognized by others because the timing of this judgment does not always immediately follow an infraction. However, the Bible promises that justice will always be realized in the balance of God’s Creation, in his time.
Now by contrast, there is fair judgment as a legitimate function of our abilities, and it provides a necessary distinction between right and wrong. We rely on our judgment to ensure that fairness is being practiced or demonstrated. Consider what Albert Barnes writes in regard to this aspect of judgment:
“Christ does not condemn judging as a magistrate, for that, when according to justice, is lawful and necessary. Nor does he condemn our “forming an opinion” of the conduct of others, for it is impossible ‘not’ to form an opinion of conduct that we know to be evil. But what he refers to is a habit of forming a judgment hastily, harshly, and without an allowance for every palliating [or disguised] circumstance, and a habit of ‘expressing’ such an opinion harshly and unnecessarily when formed. It rather refers to private judgment than ‘judicial,’ and perhaps primarily to the customs of the scribes and Pharisees.”
This fairness type of judgment is not a complex function of humans. For example, even toddlers can recognize when playmates are being fair or unfair when it comes to sharing toys.
However, where judgment becomes problematic is when it is no longer used as a tool of objective equity, but when it becomes a method of abusing our relationships with those who may not agree with us. We may be quick to pronounce judgment before understanding all of the facts of a particular situation, or we may be over-zealous to condemn a quality that we ourselves demonstrate on occasion, just as David did.
Once we have embedded our perception of a situation, or closed our mind to new data about what may have actually happened, we have shut off the potential for further interaction or possible reconciliation, and when that happens, condemnation typically results.
Now that we have detailed many different aspects of judgment and condemnation, let’s focus on the balance of forgiveness. By contrast, forgiveness is a quality that sits outside of judgment. When judgment is the primary objective, the possibility of forgiveness becomes diminished. When maintaining or restoring a relationship is a primary objective, then the potential for forgiveness increases. Both are necessary, but both serve different purposes.
Forgiveness is a more abstract quality that requires an increased level of maturity over just determining what’s right and wrong. There has to not only be a recognition of a wrong that has been committed, but another “something” beyond the understanding of that wrong or that perceived imbalance of equity, that is still willing to reach out to the other individual to maintain a positive relationship.
Referring to Vincent’s Word Studies, the Greek word for forgive has another nuanced meaning.
“Lit., release. … Christ exhorts to the opposite of what he has just forbidden: “do not condemn, but release.”
When we forgive someone, we release them from condemnation; that’s what forgiveness is. The condemnation appears to us as a deserved punishment for some infraction. However, forgiveness provides a release; that person is now set free.
Additionally, a release is just as effective emotionally for us because now we no longer have to hold that infraction against that individual. Holding grudges consumes large amounts of emotional energy that can be better used in building positive relationships. When we are forgiving of others, we are not only setting an individual free from condemnation, we are also setting ourselves free from the emotional bondage created by our insistence on holding that condemnation over their heads.
Here’s an interesting perspective that you may not have considered when reading this passage in Luke 6. Following closely on the heels of this admonition to forgiveness, Yeshua then introduces the blessings of generosity.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over – will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Rather than making this solely about giving of our resources to needy individuals (which is still an important and valid concept), if we keep the immediate context of judgment and forgiveness, we find that this concept of generosity actually applies to the topic at hand and connects forgiveness with generosity. When we forgive, we are being generous; generous with our mercy, generous with our emotions, and generous with our friendships. This generosity of action, according to Yeshua, leads to that generosity being returned to us many times over. When we are generous forgivers, forgiveness comes back to us over and over.
The Expositor’s Greek Testament commentary puts it this way:
this form of mercy is suggested by Matthew 7:2, [to] be giving, implying a constant habit, and therefore a generous nature.— good, generous measure; these words and those which follow apply to man’s giving as well as to the recompense with which the generous giver shall be rewarded.—pressed down, shaken, and overflowing…”
John Gill presents an interesting analysis of the cosmic retribution or balance that was evident among the Hebrew thinking of the day, and is also evident within specific patterns and stories presented in the Bible.
“And with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again. This was an usual proverb among the Jews; it is sometimes delivered out thus, “measure against measure”; but oftener thus and nearer the form of it here, “with what measure a man measures, they measure to him”: one might fill up almost a page, in referring to places, where it is used in this form:”
And he provides the following biblical examples:
“With what measure a man measures, they measure to him”; so the woman suspected of adultery, she adorned herself to commit sin, and God dishonoured her; she exposed herself to iniquity, God therefore stripped her naked; the same part of her body in which her sin begun, her punishment did.
Samson walked after his eyes, and therefore the Philistines plucked out his eyes.
Absalom was lifted up in his mind, with his hair, and therefore he was hanged by it; and because he lay with his father’s ten concubines, they therefore pierced him with ten lances; and because he stole away three hearts, the heart of his father, the heart of the sanhedrim, and the heart of Israel, therefore he was thrust with three darts: and so it is with respect to good things;
Miriam waited for Moses one hour, therefore the Israelites waited for her seven days in the wilderness;
Joseph, who was greater than his brethren, buried his father;
and Moses, who was the greatest among the Israelites took care of the bones of Joseph, and God himself buried Moses.”
This commentary and excerpts from Jewish writings demonstrate the ubiquitous nature of this principle recognized by Jewish writers throughout their history and their writings. All throughout God’s word we see this balance of righteousness being meted out. This principle applies in all situations, at all times.
Through recognition of the reality of this universal balance that God maintains, on even the most basic of levels we should be challenged to grow in maturity in our relationships and our dealings with others. If we are truly intent on keeping God’s word and honestly serving him in all things, then our hearts should be filled with love and forgiveness and it will in like fashion be returned to us, many times over, both from men and God. As we continually plant seeds of forgiveness through acts of mercy, we will find they will ultimately blossom into genuine and reciprocal love.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
We are always accountable to
God for how we treat others.
“So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.””
Matthew 18:35
In this parable of the unforgiving servant, we find a challenging passage that strains our modern understanding of our relationship with our heavenly Father. Yeshua describes how the forgiveness we receive from the Father is contingent on the forgiveness we provide to others.
In the parable, after being forgiven of his debts to his master, the servant is brought back before the master because he was not showing the same kindness to someone who was indebted to him. While many somehow extrapolate this passage into eternal torment for nonbelievers, the overall message of this teaching is instead explaining how, due to his unjust treatment of others, the one who was previously forgiven became accountable for those things for which he had previously been forgiven.
If we take this parable at its face value, stripping away the thousands of years of doctrinal excess that have been built upon ideas of justification by faith and eternal salvation, we arrive at a place in which Yeshua is teaching his followers that they are always accountable for how they treat others. To be forgiven by God is not a carte blanch status to claim some sort of favored status and then treat others any way of their own choosing.
In the same way, we must remember that we are always accountable to God for how we treat others in every aspect of our daily lives. Believers are not exempt from consequence. This should be a sobering reminder: God wants us to be good people who represent him accurately and fairly. And by conscious forgiveness with others, that is, sincere forgiveness from the heart (v. 35), only then do we show what his forgiveness looks like to the world. In so doing, we thereby maintain the privilege of forgiveness with the Father.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
Believers have a Resource to overcome trials and affliction.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Paul is writing to the Corinthian believers in a measure of sympathetic unity. He and Timothy were suffering tribulation, and likewise the assembly was also suffering persecution. Paul writes that the tribulation he and Timothy were undergoing was strengthening their own faith, and he is wanting to encourage and strengthen the rest of the believers with the comfort they were receiving from God the Father.
Paul first honors God with the title of “Father of mercies” (or compassions). It could also be rendered “compassionate Father” or “merciful Father.” That compassion and mercy are inherent in the nature of God is evident from the very first time God proclaimed his character to Moses at Sinai.
Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him [Moses] there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin…
Exodus 34:5-7
Paul is conveying to the believers that the mercy and compassion he and Timothy were receiving in their time of tribulation was benefitting them so that they wanted to share that benefit with the believers who were likewise suffering.
Paul also describes God as “the God of all comfort.” The Greek word translated as comfort conveys exhortation and encouragement. In its literal sense, it means to come alongside and to speak to, or on behalf of, someone. It is the role of a counselor or advocate. Paul is relating that God’s Spirit is present in their trials and encouraging and defending them that they may continue to work successfully for the kingdom. And just as God has come alongside himself and Timothy, God is willing and able to come alongside the believers.
Yeshua foretold this very aspect of God’s resource of strengthening and encouragement that would be available for believers through the trials they would encounter. He is quoted as using the same Greek word of exhortation and comfort that Paul was to use later on in his letter to his Corinthian audience.
John 14:25-26 I have said these things to you, while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
John 15:26-27 “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Yeshua knew that the disciples would need this resource of God’s Spirit to accomplish the work that God had in mind for the early believing community, and as they testified about him.
The work goes on to this day, and because it does, that same Resource is available for believers today: the encouragement in tribulation, the Advocate against those opposing us; the One who comes alongside us and is very present in the current situations we experience when we are actively seeking the kingdom. God is, and always has been, present through his Spirit in the lives of believers to strengthen, encourage and defend.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas; though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah. There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High. God is in her midst…
Psalm 46:1-4
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If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
Stockpiling Gods blessings causes stagnation and lifelessness.
But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
1 John 3:17
The apostle John uses some interesting phrasing in this verse. He describes ignoring the needs of a brother as a closing of the heart. He then asks rhetorically, if someone’s heart is closed, how can the love of God be in them?
The love that God has shown to us as believers is not a closed-loop system. It’s not as if we receive everything we need or want from God and then call it good and ignore everyone else.
I once heard an illustration of the water features of Israel as being representative of this principle. The Jordan river flows with fresh water from the mountains into the Sea of Galilee. There, the water teems with fish and all sorts of living creatures. Historically fisherman have worked their boats and nets and the Sea has provided its bounty for the surrounding communities.
The Sea of Galilee has fresh water because the besides being fed by the Jordan, it also empties on its southern edge to continue the Jordan river on its way. The water continually flows through the Sea as the river heads on its course.
However, as it enters the Dead Sea, the water has no outlet. The incoming fresh water merely stockpiles in the lowest regions of the area, where evaporation produces a lifeless stew of salt and brine that does not support any fish population.
This illustration shows that without an outlet, the water becomes stagnant and lifeless. In a similar way, if we merely receive the blessings and abundance God has provided us and do not share that bounty with others, our lives can become lifeless and unproductive, as well.
John drives home his admonition with the following statement:
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
1 John 3:18
We should not just say we have compassion for others, we should demonstrate it with real actions based on the truth of God’s Word.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
According to Yeshua, we are called to be as distinctive and useful as salt while on this earth, otherwise we really have no purpose.
Core of the Bible Podcast #22 – The transformational power of salt in each generation
In this episode we will be exploring the topic of compassion, and how Yeshua uses a metaphor of salt, drawing on its various qualities to show how believers can transform relationships in every generation.
Yeshua stated it this way:
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” -Matthew 5:13
This is such a fascinating saying of Yeshua. It actually appears to be a standalone saying that is recorded for us in several other passages as well.
Mark 9:50 – “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty [again?] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Luke 14:34-35 – “Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
So, there are a couple of aspects for us to explore. First and foremost, Yeshua seems to be cautioning against losing a salty flavor, because then salt becomes useless, and is only good to be thrown out and walked upon. Secondly, he is encouraging the retention of saltiness because it provides a measure of peace.
Now, in today’s jargon, saltiness has a connotation of someone being abrasive or rude. So in order for us to have a better understanding about what Yeshua was saying, it may be helpful for us to see how salt is used in the Bible.
Of course, one of the most famous examples has been Lot’s wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt after disobeying the command to not look back at the judgment being poured out on the plain of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 19:24-26 – Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked [back,] and she became a pillar of salt.
Later on, within the instructions of the sacrificial offerings, the grain offerings were commanded to be offered with salt as well.
Lev 2:13: “Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt; neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.”
Also, salt is mentioned in the context of covenants with the idea that since salt acts as a preservative and therefore the covenant would have an everlasting nature to it.
Num 18:19: “All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your seed with you.””
Salt is also a means of causing fruitlessness, destroying the ability of an area to produce vegetation or grow anything.
Judges 9:45 – Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who [were] in it; then he razed the city and sowed it with salt.
Conversely, salt can restore that which is not useful by purifying it for safe and healthy use, as in the case of Elisha and a spring of water.
2 Kings 2:19-21 – Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought [it] to him. He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer.'”
In the context of the Sermon on the Mount where we are taking our passage today, Yeshua is cautioning his hearers to not lose their saltiness, their distinctive nature and unique influence. The flow of this teaching moves immediately after this saying into the city on the hill parable.
Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does [anyone] light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
The primary meaning of the salt reference in the context of the city on the hill is a reference of Yeshua to his own people for their unique place in the world. God had called Israel out of the nations to be distinctive, a people ruled only by him who would follow his ways as an example to the rest of the world. They were the physical forerunner of the prophetic Zion, the city on the hill that all nations would stream to to learn his ways.
Psalm 86:8-9 – There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, Nor are there any works like Yours. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.
Isaiah 2:3 – And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Haggai 2:6-7 – “For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. ‘I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.
Yeshua was reminding his hearers of their unique calling in the world, to not lose their distinctiveness amidst the corruption and evil of their day. They were to remember that they, as Israelites who were believing in God’s Messiah, were that city on the hill. Through their faithfulness and commitment to the Kingdom of God and his Messiah, God would ultimately reach out to all nations in compassion and hope.
Yeshua choosing the metaphor of salt was enlightening on many levels. Just like Lot’s wife and Abimelech overthrowing the city of Shechem, if they retained their saltiness, it would represent a measure of finality in judgment upon that rebellious generation. But the metaphor also recalls the seasoning of offerings, as many of them would be giving their lives in the persecution that was going to come upon them after his death. Finally, their saltiness would have a purifying effect among those whom he was calling, and would be a preservative of the peace and unity that God intends for all believers.
JUDGMENT
As salt is a type of judgment, the generation of Yeshua had filled up the measure of wickedness that God could tolerate, and they were about to be wiped out. This is the urgency contained in John the baptizer’s message to repent, and likewise Yeshua’s message of repentance.
Matthew 3:1-2 – Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 – From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Yeshua spared no words of condemnation upon the corrupt leadership of his day.
Matthew 23:13 – “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Luke 11:42 – “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every [kind of] garden herb, and [yet] disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
There are numerous other examples of this type of denunciation of the corrupt leadership; just type in the word “woe” into any Bible app to search many other instances where this is the case. The generation alive at the time of the ministry of Yeshua was under the pending condemnation of God, and he spent most of his time in public conveying the urgency and finality of the coming judgment upon them.
Matthew 12:41-42 – “The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. “[The] Queen of [the] South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Luke 11:50-51 – so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house [of God;] yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’
Yeshua knew that the time was at hand and those who were unrepentant would not be spared. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all convey the urgency of that message of judgment.
Matthew 24:34; Mark 13:30; Luke 21:32 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
The fact that Messiah was raising up believers was as if he was sowing the salt of destruction among the corruption of that day. While this may not sound very compassionate, the fact that God was providing opportunities for the leaders to repent demonstrated that at the heart of judgment lies compassion in the admonition for repentance.
Each generation likewise needs to understand the judgments of God, and it is only with this type of salty compassion that believers can continue the transformation of the kingdoms of the world into the Kingdom of God.
OFFERINGS
Since salt was also to be used among the offerings of the sacrificial system, Yeshua was letting his hearers know that one of their purposes of transformation was also to be a seasoning of sacrifice for others. This would come to pass as many of the believers would perish in the persecutions of the first century. Here is a collection of verses about Yeshua warning his believers, and then those things coming to pass.
John 16:2 – “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
Matthew 23:34 – “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
uke 11:49 – “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and [some] they will persecute,
Luke 21:12 – “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
This aspect of sacrificial transformation was exhibited starkly in the martyrdom of Stephen after he had boldly confronted the leadership with the truth of God’s word.
Acts 7:51-53, 57-58 – “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who received the law as ordained by angels, and [yet] did not keep it.” … But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they [began] stoning [him;]
Acts 8:1 – And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Acts 11:19 – So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.
This type of persecution and sacrifice drove the apostle Paul to remind the believers of the underlying mission: the love of Messiah was to be the continual motivator in all distress, and a reminder even to their enemies.
Romans 8:35 – Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Romans 12:14 – Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Romans 12:1 – Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship.
The love that had been shown to the believers was to be exhibited in the compassionate outflow of that love to others.
PURIFYING
Remembering back to the incident with Elisha at the well of water, we can discern that salt has a purifying aspect as well. In his letters to Timothy and to Titus, Paul reiterates this dynamic with each of them to be conveyed to their congregations
1 Timothy 4:12 – Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but [rather] in speech, conduct, love, faith [and] purity, show yourself an example of those who believe
Titus 2:6-8 – Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, [with] purity in doctrine, dignified, sound [in] speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:11-14 – For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age … Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
The grace of God purifies God’s people for good deeds. This message is all through the Bible. believers are encouraged to be engaged with good actions and doing positive things for others.
Psalm 34:14 – Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
Psalm 37:3 – Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper
2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.
1 Timothy 6:17-18 – Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share,
Hebrews 13:16 – Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.
Yeshua even goes so far as to instruct us that it is not just enough for us to do good to our friends and family, but those who are adversarial to us, as well:
Luke 6:27 – But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
With all of these admonitions to be doing good things, the purification that takes place in the lives of believers should result in compassionate opportunities for service to enrich the lives of those around us.
PRESERVING
Finally, in Mark 9:50, Yeshua says to “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” We can see that salt also has an everlasting quality as a preservative that is related to peace. Just as the everlasting nature of covenant was illustrated with salt, the preserving nature of salt is that it would facilitate an everlasting peace.
John 16:33 – “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Romans 8:6 – For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
Romans 12:18 – If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Romans 14:19 – So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.
Galatians 5:22 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
In reassuring the believers in Philippi, Paul relates an aspect of the Spirit of God in providing his people peace in the midst of anxious situations.
Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
The outworking of this peace should then be evident within the lives of believers. Since salt is a preservative, we need to apply that preservative to the compassionate peace and unity that should be evident among the people of God.
Ephesians 4:1-3 – I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep [i.e., preserve] the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
In summary, let’s review where we started within this teaching of Yeshua on the Sermon on the Mount.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” -Matthew 5:13
According to Yeshua, we are called to be as distinctive and useful as salt while on this earth, otherwise we really have no purpose. Drawing on this metaphor, an encounter with a believer should be a unique experience, one that carries a distinctive taste amidst a world of bland, personal opinion and selfish actions. As we have seen, salt can be an instrument of destruction, but also has properties of sacrifice and purification, along with qualities of preservation. These are the characteristics and influences that a believer should have on those around them. These stem from a godly and compassionate heart that wants to influence others for their good through this transformational nature of salt.
If you enjoy these daily blog posts, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive here. Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
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