Monica Hill continues to look at the spiritual ‘manifestations’ of 1 Corinthians 12.

This article is part of a series. Click here to access the archive.

“to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

“…the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3)

“Be eager to prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:39)

In this series we have already looked at the ministry of the prophet in Ephesians 4 and also at the natural gift of prophecy in Romans 12, which is often related to the proclamation of the word of God.

Although these two gifts come from the same root as the manifestation of prophecy mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, and all three are often linked together and have much in common, there are also many differences which we need to explore here.

What is a Prophecy?

Bringing a word of prophecy as a specific message from God is almost always a manifestation of the Spirit given to an individual just as the Spirit wills, and will usually be in response to a specific situation in the community or the nation (we will deal later with prophetic words for individuals, which often contain words of knowledge, although we broached this last week).

Words of prophecy or ‘prophetic words’ are not ‘owned’ by individuals or given only to those who have a prophetic ministry. Any mature believer who has a close relationship with God will be listening for his word and receiving his guidance all the time – it will be part of his or her daily life. The Lord desires that we are open and eager to share the good things we have received with others - especially those things that build up the Body (this may well include scriptural words of Jesus and of course, prophecy will never undermine Scripture).

When a mature believer is willing to be a messenger, God can use them to speak to the rest of the Body concerning the fellowship, the nation or the world. Edmund Heddle highlights examples from the New Testament of reasons for the use of prophecy – to warn of trouble ahead, to foretell a future event, to appoint church workers, to mobilise for action and to bring enlightenment.¹

Prophetic words are not ‘owned’ by individuals or given only to those who have a prophetic ministry – they can be given to any mature believer.

Having received a word of prophecy, the messenger is then tasked with portraying this word from God to others in the Body of Christ. This should always have as its main purpose that of building up believers in some way. The Spirit will not only give the word, but will also alert the messenger to what they should be doing with it – and usually will also open up opportunities for it to be delivered.

Figure 1.Many people think that ‘prophetic words’ always have to be given in the first person, as a direct word from God, in order to be authentic. But giving it as a word in the third person – ‘This is what I hear the Lord saying to me…’ - can be tested by hearers more easily, not only for its validity (see section below on Weighing Prophecy), but also for its source.

Distinguishing Between Spirits

The manifestation of ‘distinguishing between spirits’ is listed alongside ‘prophecy’ in 1 Corinthians 12 and is an initial safeguard which should always be exercised immediately that a prophecy is given. When an individual receives a word, others who have the allied gift of ‘distinguishing between spirits’ should, on hearing it, be judging whether it really is from God, or from an evil spirit, or - what is often more likely - from the messenger’s own spirit.

This is not testing the message as such, but identifying the source, and does not preclude the necessity to test every word that is received. As we can all be aware, there are many times that a message can start off well but then be influenced by the messenger who at times is tempted to ‘help God out’ – to express it more clearly and perhaps slightly change the emphasis! Many messages can be like the curate’s egg – ‘good in parts’ - and just because this happens, it does not mean that the whole word should be ignored.

A Word About Discernment

Distinguishing between spirits is not the same as ‘discernment’. The latter is not an instant gift given to specific individuals but can be seen much more as a fruit which comes with experience, available to ALL believers as they mature in their faith and become fully in tune with biblical teaching.

All believers should be able to discern between right and wrong and should be able to give reasons for this from Scripture.

Distinguishing between spirits is a gift given to specific individuals – discernment is a fruit which comes to all believers as they mature.

Prophecy in Practice

We are given a good example of prophecy being exercised wrongly in the local church in what went on in Corinth, from which we also get the teaching Paul gave to bring things back into order. We get the impression that this community of new believers were not good advocates for the faith and needed much help - from which we can also benefit!

The lovely passage on the nature of true love in 1 Corinthians 13 places the exercise of prophecy in context, so that all can be aware of what is needed as the gifts are being exercised. The great love poem used at so many weddings follows Paul’s significant teaching on how everyone is part of the Body of Christ, in which he emphasises that if love for one another is not shown and does not surpass everything, whatever gifts believers feel they have will be of no significance (1 Cor 14:1-5).

This is in spite of, or even because of, the fact that they were competing for what they felt were the ‘greater’ gifts. Instead, they were challenged to “try to excel in those that build up the church” (1 Cor 14:12).

Weighing Prophecy

There is a list of 12 ‘tests of prophecy’ elsewhere on this site with which we should all familiarise ourselves so that we can learn from the mistakes of the Corinthian church. Additionally, the same instructions apply to us today as did to them: “Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said”.

The fear of interrupting someone who speaks authoritatively in our society does not often permit us to follow these instructions: “if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged”. This is because “The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace” (1 Cor 14:29-33).

The Corinthian church is a good example of how not to do prophecy!

In addition to helping promote orderly worship, this certainly also helps us to understand that we should not be in a trance when giving a word from the Lord – we can be in control of our mouths, our minds and all our actions when we prophesy and we can be fully aware of what God is saying to others through us – but without adding to the word or distorting it.

‘Prophecies’ to Individuals

More recently in some circles the practice has been to bring prophetic words to individuals, who may also be identified by a word of knowledge. This needs to be followed up very carefully, as it can often mistakenly lay the recipient open to thinking that any word brought afterwards is a prophecy that will come true – especially if it promises healing.

Furthermore, there may be all sorts of reasons why people receive words for others and choose to make them public – so continue to test prophecies.

Finally…

Prophecy is NOT tongues, which is speaking TO God (we will look at this in more depth next week), but it is FROM God and given especially for believers to edify and build up the Church, so that the Church can be the prophet to the nation.

Witnessing a whole church prophesying can be very powerful – especially to unbelievers. An unbeliever can be convicted of sin by hearing a prophetic word and in this way it can have power:

But if an unbeliever or an enquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’ (1 Cor 14:24-25).

Finally, the manifestation of prophetic messages to the Church needs to be linked to the expounding of the word of God. The prophetic dimension of Christian life is often missing in the prayer life of the Church as there is a lack of expectation that God speaks to his people today.

Without this expectation, and without the manifestation of prophecy from God to each one of us, there will be no significant declaration of his word relating biblical truth to contemporary world events. But if preachers expound the word of God from the pulpit and draw attention to its teaching on these matters, it would transform the witness of the Church today.

References

1 See Heddle, E, 2016. Spiritual Gifts. Issachar Ministries. See also Figure 1.

Diana's death was a merciful release for an undeserving nation.

Near my home there is a bridge on a bend of the road where a young man lost his life in an accident. Friends and relatives decorated the bridge with bunches of flowers in plastic covers which have remained for more than a year.

Little shrines like this are now to be seen throughout the land in towns as well as the countryside in what appears to be a new form of religion as Christianity declines in Britain.

With Bible-believing Christians becoming an endangered species, an agnostic population is developing its own religion. Grieving relatives who have little hope of seeing their loved ones in the life hereafter worship at these plastic altars to the dead, creating a kind of necropolis.

Flowers marking the spot of a fatal road accident. See Photo Credits.The Areopagus

It reminds me of the Apostle Paul arriving in Athens and seeing the vast array of shrines to Greek gods. He began telling people about the resurrection of Jesus and some of the local philosophers who loved to debate new ideas invited him to address the Areopagus, an outcrop of rock known as the hill of Mars, which served as the seat of the ancient and venerable supreme court of Athens (Acts 17:19-34).

Paul saw the opportunity to tell them about Jesus but wisely began by referring to an altar he had seen dedicated ‘To an unknown god’. In their polytheistic society, the Greeks were keen not to offend any of the gods by missing one of them, hence this shrine which Paul used to begin his message. His objective was to introduce them to the true God of Creation.

Death of Diana

The plastic altars that are spreading across Britain are symbols of the ‘unknown god’ that have become widespread in the past 20 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, when a vast mountain of flowers in plastic bags was built up outside Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace.

With Bible-believing Christians becoming an endangered species, our agnostic population is developing its own religion.

The 20^th anniversary of Diana’s tragic accident was recognised in August this year with more flowers in London and the two princes paying homage to their late mother.

The People’s Princess

The vast outpouring of grief 20 years ago was something never before witnessed in this nation and it took most people by surprise, including the Queen and our political leaders. Newly appointed Prime Minister Tony Blair described Diana as the ‘people’s princess’ which neatly encapsulated the public mood.

Diana was seen as a tragic figure – a beautiful woman deserted by her husband – millions of women in Britain could identify with her. Her TV interview about her divorce in which she had said that there were always three in her marriage touched a chord in millions of hearts. She was the lonely girl deserted by a heartless husband. In crying for her, millions were crying for themselves in socially acceptable grief.

An Orphan Spirit

Diana epitomised the ‘orphan spirit’ that is prevalent in Britain today as family life continues to crumble under the relentless attacks of those who wish to destroy the whole structure of our civilisation by attacking its Judeo-Christian foundations.

Her dispute with 'The Firm' – Prince Philip's nickname for the monarchy into which she had married - became the driving force in her life. She cleverly manipulated public opinion so that she was seen as the helpless victim of a cruel, all-powerful Establishment.

Diana epitomised the ‘orphan spirit’ that is prevalent in Britain today as family life continues to crumble.

Destroying the Monarchy

Her desire for revenge became far more than a personal dispute with her husband. It took on the character of a demonic force determined to destroy the monarchy, bringing chaos and confusion to the nation and tearing down all its major institutions that have held the United Kingdom together for centuries.

In taking as a lover the Muslim son of Mohamed Al Fayed, a man who hated Britain and who had acquired ownership of Harrods by disputed business dealings, Diana struck a blow, not only at the House of Windsor but at the Christian heritage of the nation.

If she had married him the consequences for the future of the nation were incalculable. This is why many people suspected that her death had been engineered by the Establishment to preserve the nation, but Christians saw it as the hand of God and his mercy towards an undeserving nation.

The plastic altar in The Mall in the heart of London at the funeral of the people’s princess represented the new religion of the British people – a nation grieving for its lost soul, deserted by the God of our fathers – now worshipping at the altar of ‘the unknown god’. Our condition is like that described by the faithful remnant of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem who cried out to God for his forgiveness:

Our offences are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offences are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled on the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. (Isaiah 59:12-15)

Our nation is grieving for its lost soul.

Turning the Nation

Do we have to wait until ultimate tragedy and social disintegration strike Britain before we cry out to God for forgiveness, as the faithful remnant did after the destruction of Jerusalem? Those who understand the times and can see the destruction looming over Britain if the social anarchists continue their divisive and destructive ways must break their timid silence and proclaim truth into the nation!

The plastic altars to unknown gods will not save us! There is no other hope than confessing our sins before the Lord and asking him to heal our land. The loving promise of God is:

If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. (Jer 18:7-8)

Originally written for HEART of Sussex, October 2017 issue.

Monica Hill begins the final portion of her series on the spiritual gifts.

This article is part of a series. Click here for the full archive.

“Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…”

Having spent some time studying the spiritual gifts in three of the lists given in the New Testament we come now to the most controversial and most often misunderstood list in 1 Corinthians 12.

They are controversial because these gifts were neglected for many centuries, especially in the West once the Church was established, as they were felt to be relevant to the 1st Century Church only. They were misunderstood when re-discovered by the Pentecostal movement at the beginning of the 20^th Century, and even now there can be various interpretations of the meaning of these more experiential gifts.

Setting in Context

We need to start first by looking at the context in which Paul delivered his teaching on this list of nine ‘gifts’ – which more rightly should be termed ‘manifestations’ of the Spirit. This comes from the Greek pneumatikon, which has connotations of invisibility and power. Some of these ‘manifestations’ sound very similar to the gifts we have already studied, but they are also very different.

The Corinthian church was not a united community of believers and they must have caused Paul much heartache. He had to battle not only against a strong Greek culture and systemic thinking but also against immoral behaviour in the church, which affected its witness.

The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were neglected in the Church for many centuries.

Practical Help

1 Corinthians is a very practical book and shows Paul’s concern for this infant community, especially when there was so much division among the members. One of his practical concerns was very much for the use (or against the misuse) of the gifts or manifestations he lists in chapter 12.

In chapter 11 he endeavoured to get relationships in the church right and was especially concerned about the behaviour of its members in their worship times and when celebrating the Lord’s Supper. His concern was to combat their brazen concentration on themselves rather than thinking of others and this is reflected through the next two or three chapters.

Call for Unity

The ‘manifestations’ listed in chapter 12 have an emphasis on unity and use for ‘the common good’. They emphasise that the gifts are all coming from the same Spirit, although they may be of different kinds.

No one person owns these gifts (1 Cor 12:11) – they are available to any true believer and are only given as the Spirit wishes. As Edmund Heddle says “The initiative in the operation of these gifts must remain in the hands of the Spirit and once his purpose is completed the manifestation of the gift will cease”.¹

The Body of Christ

There then follows the lovely passage from verse 12 to the end of the chapter about the Body of Christ being many parts but still only one. Its analogy with the human body – every part is needed and none is more important than the others – is well worth reading and emphasising again and again.

The chapter concludes with a series of rhetorical questions. The translation of verse 31 can be confusing in some versions. I personally do not think it should be read as a challenge for believers to strive for the greater gifts - in view of the arguments that these are given by the Holy Spirit as he sees fit, how can this be? Rather, I believe that it is ridiculing what the Corinthians were trying to be seen doing and goes on to show them the better way of love.

As such, a better translation of 1 Corinthians 12:31 is “But you are striving for the greater gifts! And now I will show you the most excellent thing”. The love poem that follows in chapter 13 is not an intrusion into this section on spiritual gifts but complements it superbly. It can be used for individuals and is of course perfect for marriages - but do read it again thinking particularly of its relation to the use of gifts in the fellowship of believers.

No one person owns these gifts – they are available to any true believer and are only given as the Spirit wishes.

Practicalities

In chapter 14 we look again at the practicalities arising when the Corinthian assembly were using (or misusing) some of the most controversial of the manifestations – gifts of prophecy and tongues. Note how Paul attempted to deliver good teaching from a distance, some of which we will use when we study these specific manifestations in detail.

Need for Harmony

In the next few weeks we will be looking at the nine gifts mentioned here – but we will be looking at them in groups, as none of them should stand alone. Those speaking in tongues need others with the gift of interpretation alongside them; those prophesying need others to distinguish between the spirits bringing the prophetic words and a special kind of faith is needed for gifts of healing and miraculous powers.

When these work in harmony, the Lord’s name will be praised and blessed.

References

1 Heddle, E, 2016. Spiritual Gifts. Issachar Ministries, p16.

 The first - and most controversial - ministry gift of Ephesians 4.

This article is part of a series – click here for previous instalments.

“It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13, emphasis added)

While there is much that we can read in the New Testament about the original apostles appointed by Jesus, their calling and the role they fulfilled in the burgeoning Church, there is a divergence of opinion today on whether or not there are, or ever can be, modern-day apostles.

It can be a very divisive subject – but the one thing that all should be agreed on regardless is that the role of an apostle, as it was understood in the Early Church, can and should be carried on in the Church today – a role which, incidentally, has no equivalent in the secular world!

Who WERE the Apostles?

Christ appointed 12 of his disciples to be apostles and named them in Matthew 10 and Luke 6. Following the defection of Judas Iscariot and the ascension of Jesus into Heaven, the remaining 11 (Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James) were praying.

They felt the importance of replacing Judas, who had betrayed Jesus, with “one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:21-22). There were two nominations - Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. After prayer they cast lots; “the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26).

There is a divergence of opinion today on whether or not there can be modern-day apostles.

The Apostles mentioned in the New Testament all had three things in common – they had to have been personally called by Christ, been taught by him directly for several years, and seen him alive after his resurrection (Acts 1:17, 22, 25).

Paul was the one exception, and he had to make a strong case for his inclusion as he had not been one of the disciples at the time of Jesus’ death. In fact, he had been the opposite – distinctively anti-Jesus - yet he too was offered and accepted a specific God-given task.

Ananias had been told by the Lord to seek out Paul after his Damascus experience, “for this man [Paul] is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15-16). Paul’s qualifications were that he had seen the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ and witnessed him perform miracles, and that he had also seen the imparting of the Holy Spirit to baptised believers. He describes himself in Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle - sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead”.

Commissioning

There are others described as ‘apostles’ in the New Testament: Barnabas became an apostle (Acts 14:14) of the congregation of Antioch, Syria. Other men also are referred to as ‘apostles of congregations’ in the sense that they were sent forth by such congregations to represent them. James the brother of Jesus was commissioned to become a leader among the apostles in Jerusalem, but he still met the same requirements placed upon Paul.

Today, commissioning and the laying on of hands carries on the apostolic succession of the Pope in Roman Catholic churches, although most denominations also commission members they consider to have the right qualifications to other, different tasks and many also lay on hands to confirm this.

The first Apostles were all personally called by Christ, taught by him directly and saw him alive after his resurrection.

The Meaning of ‘Apostle’

The word ‘apostle’ is taken from the Greek word apostolos meaning simply ‘sent forth (or of)’ or ‘one who is sent on a mission’. But this does not mean that all who receive a calling from God and are sent forth to share the Good News with those who have not heard it, or who have had hands laid on them, or who are commissioned to plant churches, or for any other reason, are to be called apostles today.

Those who are sent out can often also be called evangelists or teachers, but ‘apostle’ gives the impression of having been given the authority to break new ground – and all are called to some kind of leadership. Apostles are often linked with prophets in partnership; they are seen to need each other.

This particular passage in Ephesians 4 ensures that the five roles designated are part of a team – all of whom are needed in our churches today – and usually in the leadership. This is essentially a team of people called by Christ himself “to equip his people for works of service”. They are not a hierarchy leading from the top – but a group who, having had special privileges, are then also given a special commission to equip and enable others so that they can be on the front line.

The end result is “so that the body of Christ may be built up” – there can be no role for individuals here who do not also have right relationships with others in the areas within which they operate.

Passing on the Baton

Jesus’ final commission to the original apostles just before his ascension to his Father was to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20).

This carried with it the assumption that the continuance of the true faith was in their hands. They were responsible for ensuring that the faith remained true to all who heard it so that the baton could be passed on to succeeding generations. They needed the Holy Spirit to do this and their fruit would be that others followed Jesus.

‘Apostle’ gives the impression of someone given the authority to break new ground.

In practice, the first apostles continued to meet together in Jerusalem, ministering to the large number of disciples there, which included many Jews. They acted as a focal co-ordinating and consulting point for the spreading Church, remaining linked throughout Paul’s ministry and beyond.

There are glimpses in Paul’s letters of their continuing role and their relationships with the expanding Church, although it was Philip who first took the Gospel to the Samaritans and Paul who then took it farther afield, with Thomas reputed to have taken the Good News to India. By the time of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, there was no longer a Christian representation of the Jewish section of the Church and “building up in unity” had become a major issue.

In order for the baton to be passed on from one generation to another successfully, the wider apostolic role is also definitely still needed – but it is one that is sorely missed in the Church today.

If you have any other comments to add about apostles and their role – past and present - please add them below.

What underlies the BBC's efforts to re-shape British culture?

Last week we commented on the BBC’s deliberate promotion of the transgender element of the LGBT agenda. This week, Dr Clifford Hill offers a biblical-sociological framework for understanding just why the BBC is trying to reshape society to fit these values.

*****

The Apostle Paul was way ahead of his time in teaching principles that are in accord with the modern discipline of Sociology, whose founding fathers (such as Durkheim and Weber) were early 20^th Century scholars. Paul perceptively outlined a five-stage theory of social change in his letter to the Romans, written from prison in Caesarea, around the year AD 60.

Paul had travelled widely across the Roman Empire and was a keen observer of human nature. He had lived for several years in the city of Ephesus with its fertility cults and sex symbols in full view of the public – the relics of which can still be seen by visitors today. He had experienced an incredible amount of hardship and suffering through pursuing his missionary zeal. He described some of his travel experiences:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea…I have laboured and toiled and often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. (2 Cor 11:23-27)

But whilst being an intrepid traveller, Paul was also no mean scholar who ably debated with the Greek philosophers in Athen’s famous Areopagus. Paul brought his vast resources of knowledge and experience to focus upon the forces of social change that he perceived to be at work in the Roman Empire, that would inevitably lead to the decline and fall of that great empire.

He wrote about this in the opening chapter of his weighty theological treatise to the Christians in Rome. Luther, when a professor in the University of Wittenberg, declared Romans to be the greatest book in the Bible. It sets out Paul’s mature thinking about the current condition of humanity in the context of God’s eternal purposes.

Romans 1 sets out Paul’s mature thinking about the condition of humanity in the context of God’s eternal purposes.

Paul’s Analysis of the Forces of Social Change (Romans 1:18-32)

Stage 1 (verses 18-21): Paul begins with a statement that human beings in rebellion against God deliberately become involved in the leading of society astray from fundamental truth rooted in God’s principles and good design. Paul says that when people suppress the truth about Creation, they are at beginning of a slippery slope towards the degradation of hearts and minds. In other words, once you deny the central truth of the existence of the God of Creation (which can be understood clearly by all human beings), you open the way to the whole gamut of forces of social and moral corruption. Every true perspective on life becomes warped. Paul’s teaching is that once you reject the truth you automatically come under the sway of the forces of darkness.

Stage 2 (verses 22-23, 25): The second stage in the degradation of society comes when human beings pass from the denial of the God of Creation into idolatry. Paul recognises that all human beings have an innate tendency to worship something or someone. Once the basic truths of Creation are denied, people seek alternatives and find them in bits of wood and stone or anything created by human hands – which they worship.

Modern forms of this idolatry include worship of wealth and property (just consider the preponderance of TV programmes about finding the perfect house – e.g. seeking A Place in the Sun or Location, Location, Location - plus our worship of cars which we fondly clean and polish, the jewellery we wear, the fashions we parade and the wealth we own). They also include worship of people – including celebrity cults or the adoration of self. In our era, the individual is now god.

Stage 3 (verse 24): The third stage in this social change is the relaxation of personal and corporate morality, when we begin to cheat on our partners. In Romans 1 the emphasis is on sexual desire, but cheating can extend to every area of life (e.g. finances, relationships, legal responsibilities). We abandon standards of truth and integrity and we worship our bodies and our “sinful desires”.

Stage 4 (verses 26-27): The fourth stage is where human beings are no longer content with simply indulging their God-given sexual desires but “[exchange] natural relations for unnatural ones”. Paul describes this delicately: “men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another”.

Stage 5 (verses 28-32): The fifth and final stage in the corruption of society, Paul says, is God giving people over to “a depraved mind”. This is a vital stage and a tipping point – a point at which society has deliberately refused and rejected God’s efforts to rescue them to such an extent that God gives them over to their chosen course of rebellion, allowing them to become completely enslaved and deceived by it. He does not necessarily abandon them to this forever – but it is by far the more painful road for humans to walk, and many can be lost forever as a result.

Human beings in rebellion against God deliberately become involved in the leading of society astray from fundamental truth.

Brainwashing and Reversal of Truth

In national terms, this means the whole mindset of society becoming warped through being brainwashed with false teaching. This includes the deliberate injection of false values into our children – the calculated, strategic changing of society by social engineering to make everyone conform to a false ideology. This is what happened in Germany in the 1930s, when the majority of the population accepted the Nazis’ ideology of a super race, and acquiesced to the murder of 6 million Jews.

Social engineering produces human minds so corrupted that they completely abandon the whole concept of ‘truth’– in fact they reverse truth. In the words of the Prophet Isaiah:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (Isa 5:20)

Paul says that at this stage in the corruption of society, the mindset of humanity is so degraded that people can no longer recognise the truth and are no longer aware of the forces of evil that are driving them towards destruction. He says:

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice…They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Paul sees this as the final degradation of humanity leading to what we would describe today as a ‘dysfunctional society’ – or the end of civilisation.

Paul’s analysis is sociologically sound, though written c.2000 years ago. It is a timeless way of understanding any society – no matter what culture, geographical location or place in history. It would be interesting to take a poll of a cross-section of the population in Britain today asking which stage in this framework of social change we have reached.

What is your assessment?

Author: Dr Clifford Hill

Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

This week: Paul's Slennett's prophecy about an earthquake in Britain.

The words of this prophecy came to Paul Slennett at an Intercessors for Britain meeting in 1989. He was woken abruptly in the night and found himself writing the words as if they were being dictated. I helped Paul to test the prophecy and we then wrote a book together entitled Earthquake in the City.

Despite being closely involved in the publication of the prophecy I, nevertheless, am endeavouring to take a neutral position in writing this article, including it in this series for the purpose of communal testing. If it is from God, then it carries a serious warning which must prompt a response. Even if at this late stage it is shown to be an invalid prophecy, then it must be rejected.

The Big Picture

Over the last few weeks an overall picture of what God is saying to our nation may have been building up as we have taken seriously the task of testing prophecies about Britain given over many years. Aspects of these prophecies may be especially relevant in light of the coming Referendum on 23 June, relating to our membership of the EU.

If we have our Bibles open while testing these prophecies, and if the prophecies themselves are valid, we should find that they fit well into the overall framework of prophetic fulfilment in which we live. For any age there are particular details within the general picture and to fill in these details is one reason why God may speak.

Another reason why God has spoken through prophecy through the ages is that at such times his own people have become rather negligent in discerning the times. Unfortunately, it is at such a time that the prophetic voice is often rejected. "Why should God speak through that man or woman and not to me?", might be the response, or, "We are doing fine, so why am I being confronted with these rantings?" or, plain and simple, "I don't want to listen". The prophetic task is never easy, and testing prophecy is just as hard as delivering it.

Sometimes God speaks through prophecy when his own people have become negligent in discerning the times.

Paul Slennett's Prophecy

The following is Paul Slennett's prophecy, in full:

My children, the alarm bells are sounding all over Europe, for judgment is being spoken out over the nations. Over your nation, Great Britain, a mighty earthquake is about to occur, an earthquake that will swallow up the whole City. Whole companies and city institutions will collapse in this earthquake, some never to rise again.

My judgment that has been withheld for so long must now be unleashed on your nation in order that my church repent and lead this nation in repentance, for I am a righteous and holy God, just in all my ways, a God who longs to show mercy, but one who will no longer tolerate the unrighteousness of my dear church. It is out of love that I visit this nation with judgment - you must know that this must always be the case. My children, repent now before it is too late, for already the day of my return draws near and you must not be found wanting, like the virgins who did not fill their lamps with oil; but awake, my children, and be my watchmen, and speak with a prophetic voice of the judgment that is about to come upon the nations.

If you repent and turn from your wicked ways, I will visit your nation, Great Britain, once again, not with judgment, but with revival power, and I will protect you from all the strategy of the enemy.

In regard to Europe, come out of her, my dear children, for she will align herself with the Beast and the False Prophet who will arise and appear for just a short while. My children, take heart, for I am with you always. Do not give up, but pray without ceasing and see the salvation of your God.

Weighing and Testing

Here are some points to consider:

• To whom is the prophecy addressed? 'My children' seems to imply that it is to the Church within the nation.
• What are the 'alarm bells'? When the prophecy was presented to the leaders of an Intercessors for Britain meeting, there were unusual weather patterns over Europe, but much more has happened since then. If valid, perhaps the prophecy was given much earlier than was thought at the time. Did God foresee, in 1989, the border and migrant problems in Europe and also the fragile economic conditions that are visible now? What else might these warning bells be?
• What would the nature of the earthquake be? This has caused much discussion, especially during the writing of the book. With physical earthquakes in many other countries, could this be a physical earthquake coming even to London, or is it a metaphor for a financial shaking? We have already experienced financial shaking and economists predict there is more to follow.
  • On the side of the physical earthquake, the very weekend when Kingsway were about to decide whether to publish the book, a national newspaper contained a warning from the British Geological Survey that Britain is overdue for a major earthquake, which we received at the time as a prophetic confirmation. Such earthquakes have occurred historically around once every 200 years. The mainstream media occasionally report with some sensationalism an impending, devastating quake,¹ although experts can never predict with accuracy when, where and with what magnitude such an event may occur. However, it remains that a significant earthquake occurring in Britain is a scientific possibility.
  • When we consider the way God gave advanced warning of the Hillsborough stadium disaster and our recent reflections on how we might have brought warning, we realise how important it is to test this part of the prophecy. Additionally, there have been some Christians who have had dreams or visions of buildings collapsing in London, but what is the Lord really saying? Perhaps if we prayerfully test this prophecy together then he will give further insight and take away our uncertainties.
• It was while this prophecy was being tested, during the writing of the book, that insight was given concerning the centrality of the Coronation Oath to our nation, against which we can assess the nation's falling away from God's ways, especially in the liberalisation of many of our laws.
• Notice that a condition is given in the third paragraph (which we look for in relation to Jeremiah 18:7-8).
• The reason why it is particularly important to test this prophecy at this time is that it includes a clear injunction to come out of Europe. During the writing of the book we reasoned that the only way out would be if a treaty could be re-negotiated, but at the time we foresaw no way, outside of an act of God, for such an opportunity to come about. Now, with such an opportunity, do we really see this as given by God?
• It may seem alarming to speak of the Beast and the False Prophet in regard to the EU, but is this similar to what Boris Johnson spoke about (in a more political way) last weekend, when he warned about the EU fulfilling, in a different way, what the Nazis had in mind?
• If the prophecy is valid then what is the timing? How does it fit with the overriding prophecy from Haggai concerning the shaking of the nations, which we believe is imminent (if not happening right now)? Could it be that we are being shown no less than the fall of cities in the anti-Christian world foretold in Revelation 18:19? Could this be the importance for Britain of taking a first step to repentance by coming out of the EU?

If this prophecy is correct it will fit into the general picture of other prophecies that we can see being fulfilled. Please join us in testing it very carefully, and do contribute to the discussion.

Next time: Some recent prophecies received by Prophecy Today UK.

References

1 E.g. see Connor, S. Expert predicts 5.5 magnitude earthquake could hit London at any time. The Independent, 16 September 2010.

When Christianity loses its Hebraic foundations, it loses its vital focus on community...

Introduction

Following on from our previous study, we recall that Paul would have seen no new concepts in his apostolic ministry. He used the Tanakh (Old Testament) as his Scriptures. He understood the glorious revelation of what God had in mind in all the years leading up to that time, now fulfilled through Jesus. For example, he would have understood:

• how the covenant with Abraham was to be fulfilled.
• how the New Covenant that Jeremiah foresaw (Jeremiah 31) was fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah.
• that what God promised for Israel came to clarity through Jesus.
• in what manner Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles.
• the basis of the Olive Tree metaphor.
• that sin needed a permanent remedy.
• the types and shadows of the Tabernacle in the wilderness.
• the balance of Law and Grace.
• the heart principles of Torah.
• the balance of justice with mercy and of faith with works.

He would also have reflected on the Feasts and Sabbath and seen the reason for the days of preparation for the coming Messiah. And his mindset would have been the building up of the Covenant family of God.

Revelation of the Word

Paul's revelation of Jesus, a bright shining light from the dim shadows of understanding, would have stood in context because of his rabbinical training. The preparation of his understanding of the Tanakh (Old Testament) makes the revelation of the Gospel not only rooted, but also understood through the contrasts that were made.

Take, for example, the concept of salvation. This was not a new concept with the New Testament. It is a constant theme with over 150 direct references in the Old Testament, of which over 60 are in the Psalms. The Psalms deal with mankind's response to all the travails of life. Their application is first to the trials of this life, developing into a Messianic expectation that looks to a permanent separation of the righteous from the wicked, and to an eternal life free of the pressures in this life.

For Paul, the revelation of Jesus made perfect sense in view of the Old Testament, in which concepts like salvation and the coming Kingdom are constant themes."

Jesus confirmed this when he spoke the parables of the Kingdom, bringing faith and hope to those who were downtrodden with no human means of escape or salvation. There are also glimpses of the future Kingdom in the Tanakh, such as in Job and the Psalms:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:1-27)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. (Psa 23:4-6)

It needed the revelation that Paul had directly from Jesus to understand the greatness of the salvation brought through Jesus. This did not change, but shed fresh light on his earlier training in the Scriptures. The whole world needs this same revelation. This is the Gospel message, echoed by the writer of the Hebrews:

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Heb 2:1-4)

Paul would have known that the Hebrew word for salvation- Yeshua -became the name and ministry of the Son of God, whom Christians re-named Jesus.

Without the revelation of the eternal purposes of God, it is only ever possible to interpret the Bible in earthly terms."

Without the revelation of the eternal purposes of God, it was only possible to interpret the shadows of the Gospel message in earthly terms. Even with the scholarship of the Rabbis, there was misunderstanding and disagreement about the future hope for Israel:

For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection -- and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. (Acts 23:8)

From the same source material as the Jewish Rabbis of his day (the Tanakh – Old Testament), however, Paul understood its true fulfilment in the life, ministry, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus. His understanding linked Heaven to earth. There was both a promise for eternal life and an application to this life.

The Man and the Message

Pause, and imagine Paul travelling from place to place through the countries surrounding the Mediterranean. He was both the man and the message. He was a prepared vessel, ready to share the Good News of Salvation from his very inner being, from the foundation of the Gospel to its fulfillment in Jesus.

He traveled from place to place sowing the good seed, pouring himself out, as it were (Phil 2:17). All this was before the Church Councils that re-defined Christianity as a new thing, separate from its Hebraic foundations.

Now let us turn briefly to the application Paul had in mind for building community on this earth.

Community

One of the most important consequences of the Gospel message, understood against its Hebraic background, is that it is linked to community. It was Greek philosophical thinking that turned the message of salvation into an other-worldly theological concept, often overly detached from application to this world. The Gospel of salvation can become the end, not the beginning, preached Sunday after Sunday to those already converted, forgetting the fact that we should be building a mature witnessing community in this world.

Paul and the other apostles had a 'this-world' perspective of the Gospel: it was a beginning, not an end, to be played out in community."

Paul and the early Apostles would have had a 'this-worldly' perspective of the Gospel message, emanating from their Hebraic background of being rooted in the community of Israel. Salvation is personal but the consequence, on this earth, is to strengthen family and community.

Greek Humanism

By way of contrast, consider what Greek philosophy has imposed on the Christian Church. Greek humanist thought would have been unimaginable to Paul on his apostolic journeys, as he sought to invite Gentiles into the ancient family of faith promised to Abraham and fulfilled in Jesus.

Contemporary author and lecturer John Carroll has seen in humanism what many Christians have not seen. In Humanism: The Wreck of Western Culture (Fontana, 1993), he has a telling message relating to the post-Reformation Church. Carroll's main thesis is that the Greek philosophies, on which humanism is founded, fail to answer the deepest questions of mankind – namely those associated with death.

In his book, Carroll also sees elements of failure in the Church as well as in the humanistic world. The humanism of the Renaissance was not completely washed away from the emergent Church of the Reformation. The author makes a brief, but perceptive, analysis of the Protestant Church that emerged at the time. He writes of the great work that was done in many ways to bring the message of personal salvation, but he also notes that this was at the expense of community:

The Puritan's constitutional inability to relax in the world combined with its reliance on his own conscience to undermine the role of both priest and church. Protestantism is in essence, under Calvin's huge shadow, a conglomerate of one-man sects loosely held together by a common metaphysics. Its achievement was to create another powerful individualism with which to counter the new humanistic individualism. The cost was the decline of community. Once there is a faith alone and Calvin's conscience, the vital unifying role of family, village and town has been eclipsed. The Reformation threw out the incense and holy water, the chanting, the bleeding madonnas and most of the sacraments. It burned the relics and smashed the statues; it banned the dancing. It found, however, that the Church it occupied had cold floors and bare walls. The communal warmth had gone. (p62, emphasis added)

Paul's Gospel message emerged from the community of Israel, and was based on a covenant community that expanded to include those saved from the Gentile world. When the Hebraic roots of the Gospel message are neglected, Greek shadows replace them and so the Gospel loses its community setting. This is one of the most important aspects of restoring the Hebraic foundations of the Gospel message.

When the Hebraic roots of the Gospel message are neglected, Greek shadows replace them and the Gospel loses its sense of community."

In the section entitled 'Salvation: Escape or Involvement?' in Our Father Abraham, Marvin Wilson echoes the same thoughts:

The Hebrews boldly affirmed their God-given humanity. Again and again in Scripture we see that their identity was found in society, not in isolation from others. They did not view the earth as an alien place but as a part of creation. It was on earth alone that human beings' highest duty and calling could be performed – namely, that of bringing glory to their Maker through the praise of their lips and the work of their hands. (p179, emphasis added)

For Study and Prayer

If Paul visited a church in the Western world today, would he recognise it as emerging from the Middle Eastern context of his day?

Next time: Our inheritance from Israel and the Jews

Continuing his study series, Clifford Denton looks at the Apostle Paul's preparation for ministry.

Introduction

In these studies, our central purpose is to trace the origins of Christianity, the continuity from Old Testament to New Testament and the parting of the ways between Jews and Christians. By carefully considering these things we might come to the conclusion that now is our timely opportunity to return to our origins and repair what has been damaged in identity, relationship and witness.

Before the apostles were empowered to share the Gospel with the Gentiles, the Gospel message came first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:6, 15:24). In earlier studies we considered Acts 15 and the Hebraic background of Paul who, at the appointed time, became the Apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13). The Gospel message then began to move out under the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

From the time of Ezekiel, the message to the scattered tribes of Israel and Judah was that individuals were responsible for their own sins (Ezek 18). This was a preparation for the Gospel, first offered to Israel and then to the Gentiles. The Gospel message is to individuals: a call through repentance and faith to accept the free gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus the Messiah. Yet, salvation has often been emphasised at the expense of community. It is Hebraic to think in terms of building community. Thus Paul preached the Gospel and also emphasised the community of Jewish and Gentile disciples in Jesus – the One New Man (Eph 2:15).

Paul's Ministry

If we consider the timing of Paul's ministry it helps us to understand the scriptural background to his message. We recall that Paul wrote to Timothy:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

What was "all Scripture" in Paul's day? It is thought that he wrote this letter from Rome in about 63 AD- quite late in his ministry. The earliest written Gospel account may have been compiled as late as 60 AD. We are unlikely to find exact dates for the New Testament writings, but these approximate dates help us to understand the context of Paul's ministry.

Paul came from the background of Judaism, where the writings of the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets and Writings of the Old Testament) were the recognised Scriptures. What was later to become the 'New Testament Canon' took some years to emerge. Also, the Church Councils such as Nicea (325 AD) had not yet taken place, which would re-define Christianity heavily biased towards the New Testament and more loosely linked to its Old Testament origins. The earliest Christian references to the various books of the New Testament begin from about 70 AD, so we can assume that Paul's 'Scripture' was the Tanakh, the Old Testament. This formed both the model and mindset for the community of faith to which Gentiles were invited. His teaching saw the Gospel message as the fulfillment of the shadows of all that went before.

We know from historical evidence that Paul's mentions of 'Scripture' were references to the Tanakh- that is the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings of the Old Testament."

The Spread of the Gospel

We can picture Paul on his missionary journeys, writing letters to the new congregations and to his friends between about 49 and 63 AD. He heard about the teaching of Jesus when he was still a zealot for traditional Judaism. Then, after a dramatic and personal meeting with the risen Messiah, he took time aside to reflect on these things, before embarking on his ministry to the Gentile world. He described this when he was in Jerusalem around 57 AD (recorded in Acts 22:3-21).

To get a sense for the timings of Paul's ministry, a broad timeline is useful:

• 33-34 AD: Paul was converted 'on the road to Damascus'.
• 34-43 AD: He then went to Arabia and Damascus for some years, where he had direct revelation concerning the Gospel. This was before any written record of New Testament Scripture.
• 43 AD: Paul visited the elders in Jerusalem and went to Antioch.
• 47-48 AD: Paul's first missionary journey.
• 49 AD: The Apostolic Council (Acts 15) was held in Jerusalem.
• 49-51 AD: Paul's second missionary journey.
• 52-56 AD: Paul's third missionary journey.

A study of the maps of his three missionary journeys is also helpful (along with a study of the New Testament records):

Paul's first missionary journey

Paul's second missionary journey.

Paul's third missionary journey.

Being Prepared for Ministry

Paul wrote about his call and experiences to the Galatians, and the whole picture of Paul's life and ministry within this time-frame is written in the Book of Acts:

I make known to you, brethren that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, "He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God in me. (Gal 1:11-24)

We see that Paul, deeply schooled in the Tanakh, came to a dramatic revelation of the risen Jesus, being taken aside for a time of preparation. Here he considered the revelation of Jesus in the context of his former training in the rabbinical schools, still having the Tanakh (Old Testament) as his reference Scriptures. The way Jesus fulfilled the promises of the Torah, Prophets and Psalms came by personal revelation. The sources, therefore, of Paul's Gospel ('good news') to the Gentiles came out of his personal study and prayer with the Scriptures of the day as his reference point, and through revelation by the Holy Spirit. This was the "all Scripture" of 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Paul was rooted in the Messianic expectation of the Old Testament, and his personal preparation for ministry was through a revelation of Jesus as the fulfillment of this."

This, then, is the background from which we should consider the Gospel message brought by Paul to the Gentile world and later described to us through his letters and through the Gospel accounts. In a similar way, our foundational source for the Gospel message is the Tanakh (Old Testament). Without this foundation, the New Testament is out of context.

We, like Paul, should be rooted in the Messianic expectation of the Torah, the Prophets and Writings. We learn this from the walk of two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, where we also learn that Jesus confirmed what we have suggested to be Paul's position - the Gospel message emerged from the shadows of the Tanach:

Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

For Study and Prayer

Consider how we might preach the Gospel message by using the Old Testament and the Gospel accounts.

Next time: Paul and the spread of the Gospel Part 2

Clifford Denton concludes his study of the Apostle Paul's attitude to Torah.

In order to recover Christianity's intended relationship with Israel, we must study the way they grew apart. There are a number of historical factors that began in the First Century and continued up to the present day – it was a gradual process more than a one-off event. It is important to consider each of these factors carefully.

In this study we will continue to consider Paul's attitude to Torah. It was inevitable that theological differences would occur between the disciples of Jesus and the existing rabbinical sects, so the developing tension would always have the potential of causing a rift. Nevertheless, when we read Romans 11:11 we might wonder if the Christian Church has fulfilled its particular calling to provoke the Jews to jealousy, when some branches of Christianity are all but unrecognisable as the authentic fulfillment of Old Covenant promises.

Has the Christian Church become so estranged from its roots that it now fails to provoke Jews to jealousy with its fulfilment of Covenant promises?"

It is therefore reasonable to reassess Paul's perspectives in order to recover the balance we need.

Need for balance

Above all, nevertheless, we must remember who we are in the Lord Jesus as we study these things and not lose our New Covenant inheritance through any form of imbalance. Time and again, Paul emphasised that disciples of Jesus were saved by grace. Theirs was a walk of faith, according to the life of the Holy Spirit. We must not detract from this wonderful liberating truth. We who are saved by faith must not return to the external obligations of ritual halakhah.

Yet, Paul also knew that the Lord Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, had taught:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:17-19)

There is a balance for New Covenant believers to achieve between walking in the liberation of grace through faith, and not rejecting God's law."

Paul the Apostle taught the life of the Spirit; he also had the depth of understanding of Torah to use the Scriptures to teach heart principles. For example, he used Deuteronomy 25:4 (concerning feeding oxen who tread the grain) to argue the case to care for those who teach the Gospel (see 1 Cor 9:9, 1 Tim 5:18).

Linking the New with the Old

The New Testament is not a new law book to replace the Law of Moses, so we will find only a few examples of Paul's way of thinking to link back to Torah. The more we consider this, however, the more serious our own quest to connect new with old should appear. Consider, for example, a principle illustrated in passages such as Ezekiel 26:2-3:

Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, 'Aha'...Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you...

Tyre came to nothing because the people did not respond correctly to the Babylonian captivity of Judah, thinking they should mock the people whom their God had abandoned. Could Paul's understanding of this be behind his statement in Romans 11:18-21:

...do not boast against the branches...do not be haughty but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either...

Paul's biblical mindset led to his understanding of weighty matters concerning the God of Israel, some with important prophetic significance.

For fear of Judaising, many Bible teachers have barely begun to handle the Scriptures so fluently as Paul."

For fear of Judaising, many Bible teachers have barely begun to handle the Scriptures so fluently as Paul. Over the centuries there have been many alternative standpoints from which Scripture has been taught. Let us, therefore, consider these.

Two extremes

In Our Father Abraham, Marvin Wilson gives the example of Marcionism- a set of Church teachings originating in Rome with Marcion of Sinope, in the 2nd Century AD. Wilson writes (p108):

To some degree, Marcion appears to have been influenced by the dualistic teachings of Gnosticism. Thus he held that the world, with its appalling evils, was created by a Demiurge (a term Gnostics borrowed from Platonism). This cruel god of battles and bloody sacrifices, so Marcion contended, was revealed in the pages of the Old Testament. He insisted that since an evil world could not be created by a good God, the Old Testament was really the Demiurge's book and hence of lesser status than the New. The Old was the great antithesis of the New and thus was demeaned as being imperfect, offensive, and unedifying.

But the New Testament, Marcion insisted, revealed the true God in the coming of Christ from heaven. Unlike the Demiurge, this God was a God of love. Marcion argued that the New Testament, being Christ's book (not that of the Demiurge), was unquestionably superior to the Old Testament. Furthermore, in his quest to demote the Old Testament from its recognized position of authority, he began to extol the writings of Paul, which held that Christians were "free from the Law" (cf Galatians 5:1). He contended firmly that the Church was wrong in attempting to combine the gospel with Judaism. Indeed, Marcion's principle goal was to rid Christianity of every trace of Judaism. Hence Marcion became the archenemy of the "Jew God".

Wilson goes on to point out that Marcionism is still prevalent in the Christian Church today albeit in another guise. By contrast, he also writes of another sect of Early Christianity called the Ebionites (p25):

The Ebionites, a Jewish-Christian sect which flourished for several centuries after A.D. 70, are most likely a continuing reflection of the Judaizing movement. An ascetic group, committed to poverty as a life-style, the Ebionites upheld the whole Jewish Law but rejected Paul's letters on the grounds that he was an apostate from the Law.

These are two extreme examples of the many views Christians have taken on Paul's teaching. They show that the consequences of our worldview, mindset or way of thinking can be profound, ranging from antinomianism to legal bondage.

Olive Tree Theology

In Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel (Jewish New Testament Publications, 1988) David Stern explores three types of theology, which he terms Covenant, Dispensational and "Olive Tree". Of the first two he writes (p16):

Christian theologians have usually followed one or two approaches in dealing with this subject. The older and better known one is generally called Replacement theology or Covenant theology, although it is also appearing these days under other names; it says that the Church is "Spiritual" Israel or the "New" Israel, having replaced the "Old" Israel (the Jews) as God's people.

More recently there has developed in Protestant quarters Dispensational theology, which, in its more extreme form, says that the Jewish people have promises only on earth, while the Church has promises in heaven.

David Stern goes on to remind his readers of the Olive Tree metaphor of Romans 11, inventing the term "Olive Tree theology". This was the way that Paul considered the Covenant community to be defined. Gentiles are grafted by faith into an existing body in which Jesus the Messiah is central, and where the roots go back to the Patriarchs and the Covenants.

Paul defined the New Covenant community as branches grafted by faith into an existing tree, rooted in the Patriarchs and Old Testament covenants, in which Messiah Jesus is central."

How does the Torah fit into Paul's Olive Tree theology? Since Covenant history for Israel was Torah-based (intended to be understood in the right way), we from the Gentile world, with a different background to our lives, must be careful not to read into what he says through our own preconceptions, thereby misunderstanding what he is really teaching us.

Let us consider Paul's way of thinking a little more.

Paul's Way of Thinking

We can start in a number of places to anchor Paul's way of thinking. Following David Stern, Romans 11 is one place, where Paul brings balance to his teaching to the Romans about how the Gentiles were saved by grace through faith, entering the existing community of Jewish disciples of Jesus the Messiah.

Acts 15 is another place, where we see Paul and the other apostles and elders grappling with issues of halakhah for Gentile converts and deciding that the Torah is not to be a set of obligations, but is to be learned, in its fulfilled sense, through the Holy Spirit. A new and living halakhah was being launched into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit, but the Covenant heart was still founded on the Torah of God.

We could also start in Galatians and find a strong word against the wrong interpretation of Torah which deprives the believer of his freedom in Messiah.

Wherever we start, we must conclude that Paul does not teach that the Torah is replaced by something else. Instead, Paul leads the believer to trust in God and live by faith, recognising the value of the written Torah as a guide and inspiration. He shows great trust in God rather than man (including those Rabbis who, with strongly held traditional interpretations, did not recognise the Messiah) for the willingness to guide each believer on to maturity, within the context of the believing community.

Wherever you start in Paul's writings, he does not teach that the Torah is replaced by something else. Instead, he leads believers to trust in God and live by faith, valuing the Torah as a guide and inspiration."

In Romans 7:12 he recalls that though the flesh is too weak to obtain salvation for a person by striving for righteousness, the Torah is nevertheless holy:

Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

In writing to Timothy, he upholds the Torah as the foundation of teaching:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Here, we must interpret 'Scripture' as the existing Tanakh (Torah, Prophets and Writings – what came to be called the Old Testament by Christians). The New Testament was still emerging and was not yet united as a single document.

Walking with God

Yet, we sense that Paul is urging his students on to a personal walk with God rather than the ritual lifestyle that typified Israel before the coming of Messiah and the giving of the Holy Spirit. He also exhorted Timothy:

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. (1 Tim 1:8-11)

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. (Gal 3:24-25)

Paul sees that New Covenant faith is like the faith of Abraham that leads a person to walk with God. That is the goal of Torah. He sees Jesus the Messiah as central to the fulfillment and goals of Torah, like the objective one sees through a telescope when one is on a journey (to a destination). This is the "end" or "goal" of the Torah in Romans 10:4, which is the pivot point of the teaching in the Letter to the Romans, where Paul shows the chief and central context of the Torah is Jesus the Messiah:

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Rom 10:4)

Thus Paul's mindset is completely Christ-centred whilst also being Torah-centred. He sees beyond his Rabbinical training whilst not denying his roots. He sees a need for the grace of God and the fulfillment of the sacrificial system for sin permanently accomplished in Jesus, so that the punishment for sin of those who believe is also nailed to the cross (Col 2:14). He exhorts us to freedom in Jesus and a walk in the Spirit of God with the Torah on our hearts.

Paul's mindset is completely Christ-centred whilst also being Torah-centred: he urges believers on to freedom in Jesus and a personal walk with God with the Torah on our hearts."

Those who read Paul as denying Torah and breaking from Covenant history have not understood his background, and have misunderstood his message of freedom from sin in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Balanced Perspective

Since Paul is so central to the teaching of the New Testament, many books have been written concerning his relationship with Torah. The secret is to first assess the context of Paul's call and understand the background from which he came. Then it is possible to walk through this theological minefield without danger, recognising the error of those who are reading into the Scriptures what they have already decided that Paul would say, to justify their bias.

The issue is balance. Paul does not exhort us to come under the yoke and limits of rabbinic Judaism. This led to the powerful letter the Galatians. Salvation is by grace alone and through faith, leading to a walk in the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the gift of God to a disciple of Jesus. The authority of the rabbis to interpret Torah had, inevitably, become bondage to external show rather than spiritual relationship.

Nevertheless, we must recognise that the roots of Judaism are also the roots of Christianity. Christianity must not be a replacement but a fulfillment of Torah. Indeed a new form of legalism within Christianity, perhaps equivalent to a sect of Rabbinic Judaism, is not the goal either, but a continuity of biblical Torah founded in covenant history which leads to the faith of Abraham in the context of knowing all of God's teaching. Paul leads us to a maturity which bears the fruits of justice and mercy through love, whilst living humbly in the protection of Jesus for the shortcomings of our lives.

Paul encourages us towards the faith of Abraham: walking with God, knowing his teaching and bearing the fruits of his Spirit, whilst living in the protection of Jesus for our own short-comings."

The curse of the law (Gal 3:13) was the curse for disobedience (Deut 27). It was this curse that Jesus took upon himself so that we could be free, not to sin but to walk with God under the leading of his Spirit. It was not that the Torah of God was a curse, but that we needed help because of our inability to attain the righteousness that is at the heart of Torah.

For Study and Prayer

In Ephesians 5:18 Paul writes, "be filled with the Spirit." In a similar passage, Colossians 3:16, he writes, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." How might a Christian fulfill Romans 11:11 by a balanced walk in word and Spirit?

Next time: Paul and the spread of the Gospel.

How are we to understand Paul's teaching on 'the law'? Clifford Denton considers the Torah-based society from which God called the Apostle to the Gentiles.

The series in context

In these studies we are considering the way the Christian Church has become distanced from Israel. The parting of the ways began in the first century, quite soon after the time of the first apostles. The apostles themselves, whilst recognising that the New Covenant distinguished their interpretation of Torah from the existing rabbinical schools, would nevertheless have seen their faith as fulfillment of ancient promises to their people, not in terms of the separation that occurred later in the Christian Church.

Engaging with Paul

The teaching of the Apostle Paul is central to the New Testament – yet his teaching is often interpreted in different ways, depending on the mind-set of the reader. If, in our way of thinking, we do not consider the context of his life and teaching we might read Paul's letters through a wrong filter and draw imbalanced conclusions. We will consider how Paul's approach to Torah is consistent with the view that Christianity has deep Torah roots that are intended to bear good and lasting fruit in our lives. This is consistent with the Sermon on the Mount and all else that is the background to the New Covenant.

As an aside, we will use the Hebrew term Torah in this study, rather than the English word law, which has become less precise in our day when we seek to understand the Scriptures. The root meaning of Torah is teaching and instruction, while nowadays the concept of law is often derived from a Greco-Roman framework. Certainly, Paul would have used the Hebrew word Torah, just as Jesus would have done when he spoke to his disciples in their native tongue. It may take some time, but perhaps words like Torah and halakhah should be as familiar to Christians as other Hebrew words such as Hallelujah and Amen!

If we are to understand Paul's approach to 'the law' in a balanced way, we must consider the context of his life and teaching."

Recap: the series so far

We have already noted the importance of understanding the religious environment of Jesus and the apostles. For many centuries Torah had been the central focus of Jewish life. The oral traditions as applications of God's teaching were considered to be on an equal footing with the written Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and it was the responsibility of every generation to interpret God's teaching into a lifestyle that God could bless. Let us recap a little as we also extend our study.

Elders of the community took counsel together and defined the legal framework of life based on the Bible's teaching. This was known as halakhah, from the verb halakh, to walk. When we read the word law in our New Testament we are looking at a complex term. The biblical meaning is rooted in the intent of Torah- God's teaching to his people.

However, it is not as simple as that, because each person must decide how to apply this teaching to every aspect of his or her own life. Therefore the word law or even the word Torah itself means the relevant application of God's teaching. This depends on current circumstances and is subject to interpretation; Paul the Apostle knew this.

When we read the word 'law' in our New Testament, we are looking at a complex term that refers not only to God's teaching, but also to its interpretation and application."

The Hebraic mindset is one of action rather than philosophy. This is why the Talmud is still so important today in Judaism. The Jewish mindset is to know what to do, practically, in relation to God's teaching, trusting the Rabbis and traditions for the interpretation. The Talmud consists of the Mishnah (Oral Torah) and a commentary on the Mishnah. What became the Mishnah was the background to Paul's own studies as a Jew, along with the Hebrew Scriptures.

The rabbinic responsibility that was familiar to Paul is described in the introduction to Danby's translation of the Mishnah (OUP 1933):

It was the Rabbi's task to bring together the mass of Halakoth, the work of many generations, handed down in the form of miscellaneous collections of oral teachings, stored in many memories, and growing ever more complicated and unwieldy by reason of controversy between rival teachers and contradictory traditions; to reassemble this material and to present it as a single coherent whole, arranging it systematically, abbreviating arguments, summarizing discussions, rejecting what seemed superfluous, sometimes in disputed cases giving his own ruling, or adding arguments if they seemed called for.

The Torah, whether written or orally transmitted, is not static. It was the current accepted interpretation into halakhah that was the law, so to speak, constantly interpreted for new situations. It seemed revolutionary when Jesus said that the entire Torah and the prophets hung on the two principles of loving God and loving one's neighbour, but when that foundation was secure, teaching for all circumstances of life followed. Paul was to bring about a transition from conventional rabbinic Judaism to teaching the walk of God (halakhah) with the Torah written on the heart.

Paul's teaching encouraged a transition from traditional rabbinic Judaism to teaching the walk of God, with the Torah written on the heart."

Striving for perfection

The zeal of the Rabbis, at least in their own eyes, was not so much that they claimed perfect interpretation, but that they saw their mission as striving for that perfection. This fits with the accusation of Jesus that they strained out gnats and swallowed camels (Matt 23:24).

Some from the Jewish world of today also realise a failure to do what God expects, and that this has brought God's judgement upon them. In a recent commentary, Popular Halachah: A Guide to Jewish Living (ed. A. Tomaschoff, 1985), we read in the chapter entitled Serving the Creator:

Because of the sins of our forefathers, we were driven from our land, the land of Israel. Exile, dispersion and suffering caused many of our people to neglect the study of the holy language (Hebrew), to forget the Torah and to assimilate among the gentiles. But God has promised the eternity of the Jewish people: "And yet for all that, though they be in the land of their enemies, will I not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, nor will I break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God." (Leviticus 26:44)...Go forth and search for the nations of old; where are they today? They have vanished! Not so the people of Israel who live on forever more. What is the secret of their survival? There is but one answer: The Torah! "And you who cleave unto the Lord your God, you are alive, everyone of you, to this day." (Deuteronomy 4:4) Our sages explained it this way: The children of Israel who clung to God, the Source of Life, have come to possess life everlasting.

If Israel would return to God in true repentance, then will He fulfill unto us His promise which He gave us through the prophets, His servants, to gather in the remaining exiles from the four corners of the earth, to restore us to the land of our inheritance, and bring us the Messiah who will rebuild the Temple and restore Divine Worship and the holy mountain, in Jerusalem.

Here we find a contemporary echo that would also have applied in Paul's day. At that time there was a Messianic expectation arising within Israel, having been dominated by Rome for many years. It expresses the heart of the Jewish hope for the future despite all past failures, to cling to God through right interpretation of Torah and remain embedded in the flow of covenant history, preserving traditions and searching out contemporary meaning.

Of course, we discover from the New Testament that even with such zeal there was a striving for self-righteousness that brought some blindness to personal sin even among the Scribes and Teachers of Torah (e.g. Matt 23), and also blindness to the revelation of Jesus as Messiah.

In the midst of zeal for interpreting Torah, there was often a striving for self-righteousness that brought blindness to sin and to the revelation of Jesus as Messiah."

This was the nation, for example, that was so zealous for the Law that they would still seek to put false prophets to death, in accordance with their understanding of Torah (Deut 13:1-5). It was a dangerous nation in which to appear as a teacher or prophet- yet zeal for the interpretation of Torah was unquestionable!

Paul Emerges from this Background

Consider carefully the following statements, which Paul made about himself. The first two are about his background, his misplaced zeal and his conversion (note that it was after he had studied the Bible and the traditions of the Jews under a prominent Rabbi of the day that the Lord chose to use him as an apostle):

I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers' law, and was zealous toward God as you all are today. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders, from whom I also received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring in chains even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' (Acts 22:3-8)

So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. (Acts 9:1-6)

Paul, being deeply grounded in the Old Testament Scriptures, could transfer this knowledge to an understanding of New Covenant fulfilment – types and shadows coming into clear focus. Surely, if he was any less grounded he would not have had the same authority to teach what he now understood.

For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (Phil 3:3-6)

Paul's early upbringing and training made him a prepared vessel for his later ministry as Apostle to the Gentiles. Just as Jesus did not come to change the teaching of God, but to bring perfect understanding to it, so Paul emerged from his background to a fulfilled understanding based on the established Torah foundations of his life – the teaching of God, to be rightly interpreted. He had been prepared by God to bring the New Covenant gospel to the Gentile world.

For Study and Prayer

• Review Paul's letters in the New Testament. Also review the promise of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-35. Do you think that Paul saw his ministry as the authentic fulfilment of the teaching of the Old Testament or as establishing a completely new religion?

Next time: We will consider further Paul's teaching.