Month: August 2020

Saved by grace

(Ephesians 2:8-9) – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”

(Rom. 3:20, 28) – “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin…For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

(Galatians 2:16) – “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.”

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We find the parallel account for this teaching in Mark 10:2-12. We will look at the extended version in Matthew, while comparing and contrasting the differences.

(Mt. 19:3) Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

The Pharisees are asking about a specific example, so Jesus gives a specific reply. We cannot expect him to address every reason for divorce.

This is the context for Jesus’ teaching on divorce: Is it okay to divorce for any reason? In Jesus’ day and age, rabbis had different answers to this question.

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Problem: Jesus said, “Unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 18:3). Does this mean that believers should be naïve and gullible?

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Problem: Was It Six or Eight Days?

Six Days later (Matthew 17:1) – “And six days later Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and *brought them up to a high mountain by themselves.”

(Mark 9:2) – “And six days later, Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John, and *brought them up to a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;”

Eight Days later (Luke 9:28-29) – “And some eight days after these sayings, it came about that He took along Peter and John and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.”

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Problem: Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Mt. 16:28). Preterists claim that this passage affirms that Jesus’ second coming will occur before his disciples die. For instance, Preterist Gary DeMar writes,

“If we maintain that the event Jesus is describing in these verses is still in our future, then how should we interpret Jesus’ statement that some of those with whom He was speaking would still be alive when He did in fact “come in the glory of His Father with His angels”? Some claim that the “coming” Jesus had in mind was the Transfiguration. But the Transfiguration cannot be its fulfillment since Jesus indicated that some who were standing with Him would still be alive when He came but most would be dead. If we adopt the view that the Transfiguration is the fulfillment of Matthew 16:27–28, we must conclude that most of the people with whom Jesus spoke were dead within seven to ten days (Matthew 17:1)! Hardly possible.[1]
Is this the case?”

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Problem: Jesus told His disciples that some of them would not see death until they saw Him coming in His kingdom. Yet during the life of the apostles, Jesus never returned to set up His kingdom.

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Problem: Jesus commissioned His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Yet over and over again throughout His ministry He insisted that His followers “tell no man” (cf. Matt. 8:4; 16:20; 17:9; Mark 7:36; 8:30; 9:9; Luke 5:14; 8:56; 9:21). Doesn’t this contradict His Great Commission?

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Problem: Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:19). What did he mean by this?

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Problem: Jesus tells Peter, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16:18-19). Roman Catholic scholars argue that this passage refers to Christ giving Peter papal infallibility. Is this the case?

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Problem: Roman Catholics use this passage to support their belief in the primacy of Peter, that is, that he is the rock on which the church is built. But Paul said the church is built on Christ, not Peter (1 Cor. 3:11). Is Peter the “rock” in this passage?

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Problem: Peter’s confession of Christ in Caesarea Philippi is stated differently in the three Gospels:

Matthew: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Mark: “You are the Christ” (8:29).

Luke: “The Christ of God” (9:20).

If the Bible is the inspired Word of God, why are there three different reports of what Peter said? What did he really say?

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Problem: When a Canaanite woman came to Jesus pleading for help, he told her that he “was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24). When she persisted, he said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (v.26). He eventually healed her daughter, but why did he call her and her daughter “dogs”?

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Problem: Originally, Herod was married to the daughter of an Arabian King (Aretus). They probably had a peace treaty, because Aretus’ land bordered on Israel. However, Herod wanted to divorce his wife to marry Herodias. John repeatedly said that this was not lawful. The imperfect elegen means “repeatedly.” Thus Matthew 14:4 should be rendered, “For John had been repeatedly saying to him.” But why?

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Problem: Matthew writes, “He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Mt. 13:58). Did Jesus need people to believe in him in order for him to perform miracles?

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