Tag: Paul

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Do As I Do

Just before Gideon goes to battle, he tells his men to “watch me,” “follow my lead,” and “do exactly what I do.” His men did and God used their collective actions to throw the enemy into complete confusion. As a result, a great victory was won. Gideon’s actions were worthy of emulation.

From a spiritual perspective, Paul said the same thing. He says what you have seen me do, you should do, too.

Frankly, I’m not sure I would want anyone to do everything I did. Yes, I do believe that I have some worthy qualities, but certainly there are a few areas that are not worthy of emulation, at least not all the time.

You may be familiar with the saying, “Do as I say, not as I do” Well, Gideon and Paul are bold enough to effectively say, “Do as I do.”

Would you be confident enough in your actions to tell someone to “Do everything you see me doing”?

[Judges 7:17 and Philippians 4:9]

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Biblical References in Jude

As covered a few weeks ago, the book of Jude contains three cryptic references to ancient non-biblical texts.  In addition, Jude also includes references to biblical accounts.

The first is in verse 6, where Jude mentions angels who abandoned their role and their home.  This is likely a nod to Genesis 6:1-4, which talks about the son’s of God marrying the daughters of man.

That is a bit perplexing itself, but at least it is the Bible.  (Alternately, some scholars think Jude is referring to an ancient non-biblical text, The Book of Enoch.  I opt for Genesis 6.)

Another non-biblical reference is found in verse 17-18.  Here Jude cites other apostles who warn that in the last days there will be scoffers who follow ungodly desires. 

Although the New Testament of the Bible did not exist at the time of Jude’s writing, he may have been privy to Paul’s and Peter’s letters or more likely, he simply heard them — or heard of them — issuing this warning. 

Jude’s words are recorded almost verbatim by Peter in 2 Peter 3:3, as well as being alluded to in 2 Peter 2:1-3.  Likewise, Paul, in his letters to Timothy, covers this theme in 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1-5, and 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

Last, and perhaps most significant, is references to Cain, Balaam, and, Korah, which I will address in future posts.

Jude was certainly well read and well-informed, peppering his letters with many references and illustrations.  Though they would have been helpful to his audience then, that is not so much the case today.

Even so, Jude’s central warning to guard against ungodly people in the church is well founded — and timeless.

[Jude 1:6, Genesis 6:1-4, Jude 1:17-18, 2 Peter 3:3, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Timothy references]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Who is Jude?

In the Bible, there is only one mention of a man named Jude.  That lone reference occurs in the opening greeting of the letter that he wrote.

However, Jude is a variation of Judas.  Apparently, Judas was a common name two thousand years ago:

  • Judas Iscariot: who betrayed Jesus
  • Judas (not Judas Iscariot): another follower of Jesus
  • Judas son of James
  • Judas the Galilean
  • Judas on Straight Street: whose house Saul (Paul) went to after his encounter with God
  • Judas (called Barsabbas): an early missionary
  • Judas, a brother of Jesus

We can rule out Judas Iscariot, because he committed suicide before this letter was written, while Judas the Galilean is an historical reference.  That leaves five others for possible consideration.

Another clue is that Jude is the brother of James.  There are also several James mentioned in the Bible.  Do any of those men named Judas have a brother James?  The answer is yes.  Jesus had four brothers (technically half brothers): James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.

It is quite possible that Jude is Jesus’ brother.  Regardless of who he is, it is his message — warning against ungodly people in the church — that matters.

[Jude 1:1, mentions of Judas, Matthew 13:55]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Holy Communion

In my prior post, entitled Cannibalism, Communion (aka the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist) was seen as a spiritual invitation to salvation.

Communion is a symbolic rite reminding us of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us as the solution for the wrong things we have done.

This is all good.

However, Paul warns against the abuse of this important ritual.  He is critical of those partaking in the practice of communion in “an unworthy manner” and “without discernment.”  The result of this mistake is “judgment” and becoming “weak and sick,” even dying.

He advises the proper approach to Communion is via self-examination, the result of which will most likely be proceeding with reverence and humility.  Perhaps that’s why it is often called “Holy Communion.”

[Learn more about Communion and read 1 Corinthians 11:27-31]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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You are In Christ, Crucified with Him

The apostle Paul writes to the church in Galatia about being “crucified with Christ.”  In his letter to the church in Corinth, he states, “You are in Christ.”

That is a hard concept for me to grasp, yet, the phrase “in Christ” occurs some 90 times in the Bible.  It appears in about half of the New Testament books, from Acts to 1 Peter, encompassing the writings of Luke, Paul, and Peter.

What does it mean to be “crucified with Christ” and to be “in Christ?”

Watchman Nee, in his book Sit, Walk, Stand, offers a most helpful illustration.  He says, “If I put a dollar bill between the pages of a magazine, and then burn the magazine, where is the dollar bill?”

It is turned to ashes, along with the magazine.  What happens to the magazine also happens to the dollar.  “Their history has become one.”

“Just as effectively,” he continues, “God has put us in Christ.  What happened to him happened also to us.  All the experiences he met, we too have met in him.”

“Our history,” he concludes, was “written in Christ before we were born.” We were crucified with him.

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Jesus is the Reason

In studying the short letter to Philemon, we’ve looked at the central players of Paul (the author), Philemon (the recipient), and Onesimus (the subject).

There are also brief mentions of eight others: Timothy, Apphia, Archippus, Epaphras, Aristarchus, Luke, John-Mark, and Demas.

The foundational character, however, is Jesus.  He is mentioned more often than any other in this letter, a total of six times.

The reality is that without Jesus, none of this matters.  He is the ultimately the reason why this letter was written and he is the reason why each person was mentioned.

Without Jesus, Paul would not have been a missionary; without Jesus, Onesimus would have no desire to return to his master; and without Jesus, Philemon would have no reason to show mercy and offer forgiveness. 

And it is because of Jesus that each of the eight other characters are worthy of inclusion.

Jesus is the reason for the letter to Philemon — and the entire Bible.  Without him, nothing else really matters.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Demas, the Deserter

Whereas John-Mark had an early collapse and then made a comeback, Demas started strong but ended in failure.

Demas began well.  In Paul’s letter to Philemon, Demas is called a co-worker and in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Demas sends his greetings.  Clearly he was involved with Paul’s ministry in a helpful and supportive role.

However, in one of Paul’s darker moments, he sadly laments that Demas “loved the world” and “deserted me.”  Despite his one-time standing as a co-laborer of Paul, Demas did not finish well.

Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”  Demas first looked back and then he went back, turning his back on Paul, on ministry, and on God.

Unlike John/Mark who started poorly and finished strong, Demas started well and finished poorly.

Looking on our past, we see both successes and failures.  Today we stand at a crossroads.  What will our future look like?  Will we turn our back on our faith like Demas or finish well like John-Mark?

[Philemon 1:24, Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:10, and Luke 9:62]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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The Comeback of John-Mark

A person who keeps resurfacing in the Bible is a man with two names.  Sometimes he is Mark and sometimes he is John.  For clarity, Luke often refers to him as “John, also called Mark” John-Mark for short.

John-Mark’s story begins in Acts.  When Peter is miraculously released from prison he heads to the home of John-Mark’s mom, Mary.  They are praying for Peter at that time; John-Mark is likely a part of that prayer meeting.

Later, Barnabas (John-Mark’s cousin) and Paul take him on a missionary journey, but John-Mark bales on them early on and returns home, to Jerusalem. 

Later, Barnabas wants to give his cousin a second chance, but Paul adamantly disagrees and the two-part company over John-Mark’s failure.

However, the story doesn’t end there.  John-Mark makes a comeback and wins Paul over.  In Paul’s various letters, he affirms their relationship, calls John-Mark a coworker, and asks the church to accept and welcome him.  John-Mark is also affirmed by Peter.

John Mark rushed into ministry before he was ready — he didn’t “count the cost” — and did not prove to be faithful.  Despite his poor start, he turned things around and finished well, helping both Paul and Peter. 

He is likely the author of the gospel of Mark.

[Acts 12:12, 25, Acts 13:5, 13, Acts 15:37-40, 2 Timothy 4:11, Philemon 1:24, Colossians 4:10, 1 Peter 5:13, and Luke 14:28]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Doctor Luke, a Quiet Man with a Lasting Influence

Luke was another companion of Paul. He wrote the Gospel of Luke and The Acts of the Apostles. Despite having penned two major books in the Bible—comprising about 25% of the content in New Testament—Luke is only mentioned three times in the Bible, so we don’t know too much about him.

First, we learn that he is a “dear friend” of Paul’s and a doctor.  He is also esteemed by Paul as a “fellow worker.”  Third, in one of his darker hours, Paul laments that “only Luke is with me.”  As such, we see Luke as faithful and persevering.

We also know that Luke was a participant observer in many of the events he recorded in the book of Acts.  We see this through his first-person narratives and the use of the pronoun “we.”

Although Luke was not a leader or an apostle, his contribution to our faith and understanding of Jesus and his church is significant.  Doctor Luke’s ministry function was not leading or preaching, but rather playing a silent and almost unnoticed supporting role .

His work was quiet, but his legacy lives on, loudly influencing Jesus’ followers two millennia later.

[Colossians 4:14, Philemon 1:24, 2 Timothy 4:11, and Acts 16:10-16, 20:4-15, 21:1-18, 27:1-29 & 37, 28:1-16]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Aristarchus Suffers for His Faith

Another of Paul’s friends, mentioned in his letter to Philemon, is Aristarchus.  We first hear of Aristarchus in Acts.  We learn that he is a Macedonian from Thessalonica who is traveling with Paul on one of his missionary journeys.

Later, when Paul is sent to Rome as a prisoner, Aristarchus (along with Luke) travel with him.  Aristarchus is both loyal and supportive.

Aristarchus is also esteemed by Paul as a fellow worker, as well as being mentioned as a fellow prisoner.  Just like Epaphras, Aristarchus’s assistance to Paul and service to God does not preclude him from suffering.

While righteous suffering for our faith is not a given, it should not be viewed as an anomaly either.

If we do suffer, however, it is important to suffer for the right thing.  If we suffer because of something foolish we said or did, that is not suffering for God, but suffering for our shortsightedness.  There is nothing noteworthy or Godly about that.

[Acts 19:29, 20:4, & 27:2, Philemon 1:24, and Colossians 4:10]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.